tagged w/ Boycott
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Groups that advocate for the disabled called on Sunday for a national boycott of the Ben Stiller comedy "Tropic Thunder," citing what they say is its negative portrayal of people with intellectual disabilities.
"We are asking people not to go to the movie and hope to bring a consciousness to people about using derogatory words about this population," said Peter Wheeler, spokesman for Special Olympics, one of 22 disability groups nationwide protesting the satire.
The film, directed by Stiller, will be released on Wednesday by Viacom Inc's Paramount Pictures and its DreamWorks unit.
The groups plan to picket the movie's premiere on Monday evening in Los Angeles's Westwood community.
"That will be the start of a nationwide protest," said Wheeler. "We will continue to be vocal about the destructive effect of this film."
He said the groups are particularly offended by the film's repeated use of the word "retard" regarding a character, Simple Jack, played by Stiller in a subplot about an actor.
Representatives of the Special Olympics, the Arc of the United States, the National Down Syndrome Congress, the American Association of People with Disabilities and other groups met with studio executives last week to discuss the film, but DreamWorks did not make any changes.
Peter Berns, executive director the Arc, said in a memo the groups presented various ideas to the studio, from requesting an apology to fixing the film before its release, to producing a national educational campaign.
Chip Sullivan, a spokesman for DreamWorks said: "We have had productive discussions with representatives of disability advocacy organizations and look forward to working with them closely in the future. However no changes or cuts to the film will be made...
"'Tropic Thunder' is an R-rated comedy that satirizes Hollywood and its excesses, and makes its point by featuring inappropriate and over-the top characters in ridiculous situations. The film is in no way meant to disparage or harm the image of individuals with disabilities," he said.
The film also features Robert Downey Jr. as a white actor who changes his skin color to play a black soldier.
Sullivan said that prior to the meetings, DreamWorks had taken down an online promotion, removing references to Simple Jack it felt could appear offensive when taken out of context.
The film was shown in more than 250 promotional screenings around the country since April.
Groups that advocate for the disabled called on Sunday for a national boycott of the... more
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KefKef
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added this
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3 years ago
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Let me get this straight, McDonald's knowingly contributes to the obesity epidemic, plays an active role in helping squelch this nation's agriculutre systems, practices substandard beef and food health regulations, bioengineers food with unknown repurcussions, and yet the masses line up en masse to collect a coke, a smile, and a plastic happy meal toy.
Yet they support equal rights for other human beings who happen to be gay or lesbian and suddenly feathers are ruffled enough to get active in protest?
Wow... Let me get this straight, McDonald's knowingly contributes to the obesity... more
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It wasn't long after Bush announced that he would be attending the Olympic opening ceremony on August 8th in Beijing that Sarkozy and Fukuda, the French and Japanese premiers followed suit. And so are the three G-8 leaders, Gorden Brown, Angela Merkel and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, so what happened to all that talk of boycott?
It is interesting to compare this with the climate of the Cold War, where boycotting another country's Olympics was seen as a neat way of pooping their party. These days however, governments tend to see the Olympics as an international institution 'that brings countries together across all differences, allowing them to express their shared humanity in friendly athletic competition'. Also many campaign groups are getting more savvy, recognising potential of using the media spotlight on China to highlight their concerns, such as the latest controversial French poster campaign on human rights.
So to boycott or not to boycott? What do you reckon?It wasn't long after Bush announced that he would be attending the Olympic... more
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China has been approved as a buyer for a one-off sale of elephant ivory, with experts now believing the sale could go ahead within months. An international meeting judged that China had put sufficient measures in place to regulate ivory sales and crack down on the illegal domestic trade. The decision is severe blow for conservation organisations which argued that both the sale to and the approval of China, the world's biggest black market for ivory, would be a disaster for Africa's elephants and would lead to more poaching."We are deeply disappointed – the decision plays Russian roulette with wild elephants," said Robbie Marsland, UK director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare. "Allowing new ivory to be imported into China will stimulate demand and create a smokescreen for illegal ivory to be laundered into the legal market." China narrowly missed out on approval in 2007 but was granted permission by the standing committee of the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites), a 173-nation agreement charged with ensuring the international trade in wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival. Japan is the only other approved buyer and both can now bid for the stockpile of 108 tonnes of ivory held by Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. The ivory has been collected from culls in overpopulated areas and seizures.The issue of ivory sales has long been a contentious one. The international trade in elephant ivory was banned by Cites in 1989, but since then trading has been permitted for certain large elephant populations. China has been approved as a buyer for a one-off sale of elephant ivory, with experts... more
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The US Christian group that pressured Heinz to pull an UK commercial featuring two men kissing is now targeting McDonald's, accusing the fast-food chain of refusing "to remain neutral in the culture war".The American Family Association began a boycott campaign against McDonald's in response to the company's membership in the Washington-based National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). The AFA is promoting its boycott, including an online anti-McDonald's petition, to its more than 2.5 million members. "This boycott is not about hiring homosexuals. It is not about homosexuals eating at McDonald's," the AFA states on its BoycottMcDonalds.com website. "McDonald's has chosen … to give the full weight of their corporation to promoting the homosexual agenda, including homosexual marriage."The AFA urged its members to complain to Heinz last month about a Deli Mayo commercial that depicted two men kissing, although the advert was only shown in the UK. The commercial was pulled from the airwaves before the AFA campaign reached its peak.The group, which describes itself as supportive of "traditional family values", has previously mounted boycotts of Ford and Disney for engaging with the gay community. The AFA also maintains a news website that attracted notoriety this month for its policy of automatically replacing the word "gay" with "homosexual". Thus was Olympic sprinting hopeful Tyson Gay unwittingly renamed Tyson Homosexual, to the mocking delight of many liberal bloggers.McDonald's joined the NGLCC earlier this year and made a donation to the group. In addition, a senior executive joined the NGLCC board. The AFA also attributes its boycott to the company's sponsorship of the 2007 gay pride parade in San Francisco.Ford ceased its policy of advertising in gay media outlets after the AFA launched a boycott, but McDonald's has so far refused to end its involvement in the NGLCC or make concessions to the AFA."We treat our employees with respect and dignity, regardless of their ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or other factors," McDonald's chief diversity officer Pat Harris wrote to AFA founder Donald Wildmon in May.The US Christian group that pressured Heinz to pull an UK commercial featuring two men... more
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On Wednesday, June 25, 2008, during a live broadcast of a wedding reception on The Today Show, Kathy Lee Gifford gratuitously referred to pagans as "nasty, bad Pagans." Ms Gifford's hate speech has done harm to American pagans' ability to live in peace with our neighbors of other faiths. By allowing her hate speech to be broadcast, her direct employer The Today Show, and their network, NBC, participate in that hate speech.
This is a petition calling for, at the very least, an on-air apology. A Today Show program devoted to dispelling misconceptions about pagans and paganism would go a long way toward undoing the damage.
Signers of this petition are also putting the sponsor of that Today Show segment, Samsung, on notice that we are conducting a boycott against them until such time as we receive justice.
Sign Petition here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/quotnasty-bad-pagansquot-protesting-hate-speech-on-nbcOn Wednesday, June 25, 2008, during a live broadcast of a wedding reception on The... more
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Here's an interesting video about Viacom and Youtube and the recent decision to allow Viacom full access to users' viewing history.
From the vid description:
"Viacom vs you. Google must divulge the viewing habits of every user who has ever watched any video on YouTube, a US court has ruled.
The ruling comes as part of Google's legal battle with Viacom over allegations of copyright infringement.
Digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) called the ruling a "set-back to privacy rights".
The viewing log, which will be handed to Viacom, contains the log-in ID of users, the computer IP address (online identifier) and video clip details.
While the legal battle between the two firms is being contested in the US, it is thought the ruling will apply to YouTube users and their viewing habits everywhere.
Viacom, which owns MTV and Paramount Pictures, has alleged that YouTube is guilty of massive copyright infringement.
The UK's Premier League association is also seeking class action status with Viacom on the issue, alleging YouTube, which was bought by Google in 2006, has been used to watch football highlights."
Here's an interesting video about Viacom and Youtube and the recent decision to... more
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When Doug Manchester, owner of the Manchester Grand Hyatt hotel in San Diego, donated $125,000 to support Proposition 8, an amendment to ban same-sex marriage on the November ballot, he probably didn't think it would impact the bottom line of his business.
A gay rights group called Californians Against Hate plans to launch a boycott of Manchester's hotels. Organizers of the campaign, which is expected to be announced at a news conference today, say they believe it is the first time that gay rights supporters have boycotted a business whose owner seeks to ban same-sex marriage.
Leaders will urge the public to avoid the downtown hotel because they say that support for Proposition 8 amounts to unfair treatment of gays and lesbians.
In an interview earlier this year, Manchester said that he decided to donate to Proposition 8 because he had heard that schools that teach that marriage is between a man and a woman could be sued for discriminating against gays.
In addition, he said, he was motivated by his strong Catholic faith to believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. When Doug Manchester, owner of the Manchester Grand Hyatt hotel in San Diego, donated... more
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Two gay groups are calling for a boycott of Heinz products after the food company pulled an ad for Heinz Deli Mayonnaise that featuredÂ… DUN DUN DUUUUN! Two men having a quick kiss.Two gay groups are calling for a boycott of Heinz products after the food company... more
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The video-sharing site's users are calling for a boycott of the media giant following reports that it will view log data to prove its copyright case against Google.
Viacom has reassured the YouTube community that it only wants YouTube viewer log data to prove its copyright case against Google, but the YouTube community hasn't gotten the message. Rather, the video-sharing site's users have launched an expletive-laden counterattack, calling for a boycott of the media giant.
In the past week, the number of videos associated with the search keyword "Viacom" has increased by 871, more than 28.5%. Already on Monday, 341 new videos associated with the "Viacom" search keyword have been uploaded. (In a subsequent search, the number dropped to 320, suggesting that some anti-Viacom videos are being removed.) Mostly, the videos are critical of Viacom.
Among titles that can be reprinted on the InformationWeek Web site, user sentiment is evident: "Viacom is a Copyright Bully," "VIACOM VS YOU = BOYCOTT," and "Screw You, Viacom."
A Viacom spokesperson declined to comment. However, Viacom's publication of a statement on its corporate Web site promising to keep YouTube's data confidential shows that the company is aware of the sensitive nature of this issue.
"Viacom has been in discussions with Google to develop a framework to share this data," Viacom's statement says. "We are committed to a process that will not only comply with the court's confidentiality order, but that will also meet our commitment to the strongest possible Internet privacy protections."
(End of excerpt)
Full story at link by Thomas Claburn// InformationWeekThe video-sharing site's users are calling for a boycott of the media giant... more
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The backlash against Heinz's decision to pull a TV ad featuring two men kissing gathered pace today with an online protest and a boycott call by Gaydar Radio.
Gaydar Radio, the digital station, became the second prominent gay organisation to call for a ban on Heinz after Stonewall urged its supporters to stop buying its products.
An online petition calling on Heinz to reinstate the Deli Mayo ad has attracted nearly 2,000 signatures. In addition, a protest group has been set up on Facebook.
The backlash against Heinz's decision to pull a TV ad featuring two men kissing... more
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Worried about corporate control of the food supply? Resist and stop buying their products. Boycott corporate produce and Monsanto's control of seeds. Plant a kitchen or victory garden.
It's the New Moon now, and a good time now to plant more corn (every 2 weeks until June 20th in N.New Mexico) and you can plant cold weather plants like brachiads into July and August for autumn harvest. In our area, where the summer monsoons have started early, it is also a great time to plant fruit trees and berry bushes to feed your family for generations.
Americans, well into the mid- 1950s, planted kitchen gardens for fresh produce with no transportation costs. The Victory Gardens during World War III helped Americans be more self-sufficient.
You can grow lots of food on a very small area of earth, or even start with an empty coffee can, a few seeds and a bit of soil. A raised bed and intensive farming techniques can yield even more produce.
Nothing is more local.
There are no transportation costs or greenhouse gases used when you grow fresh greens, vegetables, berries and fruit outside your kitchen door like our grandmothers and early Americans did.
Kitchen gardens also eliminate the need for petroleum based plastic and other packaging that adds to the environmental impact and cost of store-bought food.
Check out this link to www.kitchengardeners.org for ideas, news and tips from Kitchen Garderners International - Promoting the "localest" food of all Globally.
www.kitchengardeners.org
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from TouchArt.net and OneEarthBlog.blogspot.com
in Santa Fe, New Mexico where the lavender flowers are purple, fragrant and
ready for harvest.
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Photo "Sunflowers in Carl Gawboy's Kitchen Garden Overlooking Lake Superior" by Charleen Touchette 2006.Worried about corporate control of the food supply? Resist and stop buying their... more
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By DINA KRAFT and LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: June 30, 2008
JERUSALEM — Anglican conservatives, frustrated by the continuing stalemate over homosexuality in the Anglican Communion, declared on Sunday that they would defy the church’s historic lines of authority and create a new power bloc within the church led by a council of predominantly African archbishops.
The announcement came at the close of an unprecedented meeting of Anglican conservatives in Jerusalem, who contend that they represent a majority of the 77 million members of the Anglican Communion.
They depicted their efforts as the culmination of an anti-colonial struggle against the church’s seat of power in Great Britain, whose missionaries first brought Anglican Christianity to the developing world. The conservatives say many of the descendants of those Anglican missionaries in Britain and North America are now following what they call a “false gospel” that allows a malleable, liberal interpretation of Scripture.
They insisted that they were not breaking away from the Anglican Communion or creating a schism. But if carried out, their plans would create severe upheaval in the Communion, the world’s third largest grouping of churches after the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox churches. After more than 1,000 delegates to the meeting at a Jerusalem hotel affirmed their platform statement, African women, Australians, South Americans and Indians danced and swayed to a Swahili hymn and shouted full-throated hallelujahs.
Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, who leads the largest province in the Communion, said at a news conference afterward, “It’s quite clear we have been in turmoil.”
“With this decision we have a fresh beginning,” he added.
He was accompanied by the archbishops of Uganda, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sydney, Australia, and a former American priest, the Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson Sr., whom Archbishop Akinola made a bishop of the Church of Nigeria.
A statement the delegates released in Jerusalem said that it was time to create a new province in the United States and Canada that would absorb the churches that have been outraged by the American church’s consecration of an openly gay bishop in 1993 and the Canadian church’s blessing of same-sex unions.
Bishop Anderson said the new province would unite believers in North America who had abandoned the Episcopal Church in the last few decades, over issues like women priests and bishops, the interpretation of Scripture and homosexuality.
“It brings them the hope now finally of regathering the portion of the church that scattered when heterodoxy just became untenable and many were driven out, not all at once, but over the years in different stages,” he said.
The conservatives also challenged the authority of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The current archbishop, Rowan Williams, has been a disappointment to conservatives, because he did not discipline or engineer an eviction of the liberal North Americans. The Archbishop of Canterbury historically has not had the power to decree policy in the Communion, but in the past he determined which churches belonged to the Communion.
The conservatives’ statement said that while they acknowledged Canterbury’s historic position, they did not accept the idea “that Anglican identity is determined necessarily through recognition by the Archbishop of Canterbury.”
They said that what would determine membership in their conservative alliance within the Communion is a manifesto they released on Sunday, called the “Jerusalem Declaration,” which contains 14 principles of theological orthodoxy.
...By DINA KRAFT and LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: June 30, 2008
JERUSALEM —... more
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Stonewall, a gay rights group is urging gays and lesbians and their alleys to boycott Heinz after the pulled this ad from the air featuring two men kissing. The ad aired for a week and received 200 hundred complaints. "Viewers complained it was "offensive, "inappropriate" and "unsuitable to be seen by children" and said it raised the "difficulty" of parents having to discuss same-sex relationships with their children."
Stonewall was offended by Heinz's decision and subsequently issued the boycott.
To register your support for the boycott, please visit www.heinz.com and click on the contact us button at the bottom of the page. You can also call their comment line at (800) 255-5750. Please be respectful.Stonewall, a gay rights group is urging gays and lesbians and their alleys to boycott... more
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South Korea's president apologised on Thursday for a U.S. beef import deal that sparked mass street protests against his new government and will sack close aides to try to halt a dramatic slide in public support.
Lee Myung-bak, who eased to victory in a December election with pledges of pro-business reforms and growth for the world's 13th largest economy but now has an approval rating of less than 20 percent, said he wanted to start a new chapter for his four-month-old government.
Analysts said they expect large parts of Lee's reforms, which include privatizing state firms, tax cuts for companies and mortgage relief for low-income households, to be stalled unless he can win back public support.
A parliament in which Lee's conservative Grand National Party holds the majority has yet to begin sitting because of a boycott by the left-of center opposition angered at the beef deal.
Hundreds of the 13,000 striking South Korean truckers, whose protest has paralyzed ports and cost export firms billions of dollars, reached deals with employers and returned to work on Thursday, easing a little pressure on Lee.South Korea's president apologised on Thursday for a U.S. beef import deal that... more
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Techcrunch is encouraging bloggers and website owners to not mention any AP stories due to their latest restrictions.Techcrunch is encouraging bloggers and website owners to not mention any AP stories... more
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ccolec
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3 years ago
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Andrew Strauss says England's cricketers will consider boycotting matches against Zimbabwe next summer if President Robert Mugabe stays in power.
The batsman feels both the England and Wales Cricket Board and the government have missed previous chances to send Mugabe a message by refusing to play.
He said: "In the past there've been chances to show the strength of feeling here and the government chose not to.
"If it comes down to players to do that we'll definitely have to look at it."
England are set to play three home one-day internationals against Zimbabwe early next summer.
Andrew Strauss says England's cricketers will consider boycotting matches against... more
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Purdey
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added this
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3 years ago
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From the link...
Demand for gasoline fell 5.5 percent last week compared to the same week last year, according to the weekly MasterCard SpendingPulse survey. The survey also found that, on average, demand over the past four weeks is off 6.3 percent compared to the same period last year.
All while the price is going up.
WHY NOT take demand down 60%. I say we take it down to 80% with any major.
BOYCOTT THE SORRY BIG CAP CON ARTISTS.
If you must buy anything buy it from some small cap that also sells something else other than fuel to make it. The best one around here is the QT out of Tulsa.
Tell me who you are buying from and if you are able to cut back this coming week.
I drive a ton, however I am going to do my best to limit everything by half.
From the link...
Demand for gasoline fell 5.5 percent last week compared to the... more
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The Canada seal hunt is the largest slaughter of marine mammals on earth. More than 1 million baby seals have been killed for their fur over the past four years. See how you can help to stop this atrocity. The Canada seal hunt is the largest slaughter of marine mammals on earth. More than 1... more
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As the Beijing Olympics approach faster than Ben Johnson on the juice, people around the world continue to cry foul over China's record on human rights and the situation in Tibet.
Yet how many of them can truly say they're doing their bit to change the situation?
If you've protested, take an inventory of the everyday things you own and use, and then vow to replace or remove all those that were manufacutred in China. I guarantee some of your favourite things will be in there - iPod is on my list.
Maybe we should protesting in our own backyards in order to get trade out of China by lobbying the big companies that see fit to move their manufacturing to its shores.As the Beijing Olympics approach faster than Ben Johnson on the juice, people around... more
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