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On March 1, 2007 the US Copyright Office stunned the Internet radio industry by releasing a ruling on performance royalty fees that are based exclusively on the number of people tuned into an Internet radio station, rather than on a portion of the station’s revenue. They discarded all evidence presented by webcasters about the potentially crippling effect on the industry of such a rate structure, and rubber-stamped the rates requested by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America).
Under this royalty structure, an Internet radio station with an average listenership of 1000 people would owe $134,000 in royalties during 2007 - plus $98,000 in back payments for 2006. In 2008 they would owe $171,000, and $220,000 in 2009.
There is no way for a station with 1000 listeners to make that kind of money. That’s over $11 per listener per month in 2007. No Internet radio station currently operating comes even close to that kind of income. Also keep in mind that 1000 listeners is not a large number. Popular stations like Radio Paradise, SOMA, Digitally Imported, radioio, etc have many times that many listeners.
In other words, if they are allowed to stand these rates are a death sentence for independent Internet radio stations. The only stations that would survive would be those who can afford to operate at that kind of loss, such as AOL (who would owe over $20,000,000 in 2006, far in excess of their income from radio).
Original source.
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Tell Amazon to Treat Carter's Book Fairly
To: Jeff Bezos, CEO, Amazon.com
As longtime Amazon customers, we are deeply disturbed by your treatment of Jimmy Carter's important new book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.
Under the "Editorial Reviews" heading a space normally used either for the publisher's own description of a book, or for short, even-handed summaries from listing services such as Booklist and Publishers Weekly you insist on running the complete, 20-paragraph, 1,636-word text of a review unabashedly hostile to Carter's viewpoint. You have refused to add information shoppers should have in evaluating this review: the fact that the reviewer, Jeffrey Goldberg, is a citizen of Israel as well as the United States, and that he volunteered to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces, for which he worked as a guard at a prison for Palestinian detainees. And you have refused to balance his negative review by giving comparable space to a favorable assessment of the book, even though positive reviews by qualified experts have appeared in many reputable publications.
Because giving so much space in this location to such a negative review is so unusual if not unprecedented for Amazon, and because you have refused requests from many customers that you take a more balanced approach, we can only conclude that you are deliberately trying to discourage shoppers from ordering the former President's book.
This is contrary to Amazon's own interests as a bookseller. More important, it's also contrary to the interests of understanding, peace, and justice for all parties to the Israel/Palestine conflict
We are not interested in supporting a corporation that uses its power in the marketplace in such a biased and unconstructive way on such an important issue.
Accordingly, if you do not, by Jan. 22, remove the Goldberg review, move it to the more appropriate "See all Editorial Reviews" page, or restore a semblance of balance by giving comparable space and prominence to a more positive evaluation of Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, we the undersigned pledge to:
- Stop shopping at Amazon.com;
- Completely close our accounts on your service; and
- Encourage our friends, family, and associates to do likewise.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
Sign the Petition
Original source.
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O.J. Simpsons Book and TV Special Are Canceled
November 20, 2006
By BILL CARTER and EDWARD WYATT
Bowing to intense pressure both outside and inside the company, the News Corporation today canceled its plans to publish a book and broadcast an interview with O. J. Simpson in which he was to give a hypothetical account of how he might have murdered his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman.
The company was responding to a weeks worth of ferocious criticism that included threats of boycotts of advertisers who might sponsor the television broadcast on the Fox network, refusals by stations to carry the program, open opposition from television hosts like Bill OReilly, on the Fox News Channel which, like Fox, is owned by the News Corporation and statements by stores that they might not stock the book, which was titled If I Did It. The book was to be published by HarperCollins, also owned by News Corporation.
Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of News Corporation, issued a statement today announcing that the television show would not be broadcast and the book would not be published.
I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project, Mr. Murdoch said. We are sorry for any pain this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown-Simpson.
Any projects involving Mr. Simpson have met with public outrage in the 11 years since he was acquitted of the murders in one of the most covered criminal trials in American history. He was later found responsible for the deaths in a civil trial and ordered to pay $33.5 million in restitution to the families of the victims.
Mr. Simpson, a former football star and actor, moved from his home in Los Angeles to Florida partly to protect his assets from that civil judgment. He has only occasionally appeared in public in recent years and had never stopped declaring himself innocent of the murder charges.
Todays decision to cancel the twin Simpson projects was greeted with widespread expressions of relief. Mike Angelos, a vice president of Pappas Telecasting Companies, the owner of four Fox-affiliated stations, which had informed the network Friday that its stations did not intend to broadcast the interview, released a statement today calling the networks decision a victory for the people who spoke out. The statement concluded: This special would have benefited only O. J. Simpson, who deserves nothing but contempt, and certainly no benefit.
Numerous staff members at News Corporation, and the Fox network, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity because they had been ordered not to comment about the Simpson deal, said they were thankful the company had abandoned the project. A News Corporation executive said that internally the project had been considered a disaster for the company.
Another executive said that the company had badly miscalculated the publics tolerance for anything having to do with Mr. Simpson, thinking enough time had passed for Mr. Simpson to be considered less a pariah by the public.
Neither of the two top News Corporation executives would comment beyond the statement today. Mr. Murdoch was said to be in Australia on business and not available. A News Corporation spokesman said that Peter Chernin, the president of News Corporation and the executive with direct authority over the Fox network, would have no comment.
No one at the company would discuss on the record the exact details about how the project had been accepted in the first place. But one News Corporation executive who was involved in the negotiations about the book and the television special said that Mr. Murdoch had been aware of both deals before they were announced publicly last week.
The executive said in a telephone interview that payments to representatives for Mr. Simpson would probably still have to be made for his participation in the book and the television interviews.
Standard publishing contracts call for a percentage of an authors advance, usually up to 50 percent, to be paid when a contract is signed, and for the remainder to be paid when the finished book is accepted by the publisher. The executive said that Mr. Simpsons book is covered by a standard publishing contract.
In an interview last week, Judith Regan, the publisher, said her imprint, ReganBooks, which is owned by HarperCollins, had signed a contract with a manager who represents a third party who owned the rights to Mr. Simpsons account.
Because News Corporation and ReganBooks decided on their own to cancel the book and the television special, that money is likely to still have to be paid.
A spokesman said Ms. Regan declined to comment today on the books withdrawal.
Erin Crum, a spokeswoman for HarperCollins, said today that some copies of the books have already been shipped to stores. Those books will be recalled and destroyed, she said.
Last Friday, Borders announced that it would donate the net proceeds from sales of Mr. Simpsons book to a nonprofit organization for victims of domestic violence.
Ann Binkley, a spokeswoman for Borders, said she received a call from HarperCollins this afternoon notifying her that the book would be recalled. No explanation was offered for the decision. I think everybody knows why, Ms. Binkley said.
Many bookstores, including Book Soup in West Hollywood, which had ordered eight copies, had placed orders for the book but had not yet received copies by this afternoon.
Still, the rights to the book could be sold to another publisher, said the News Corporation executive involved in the book negotiations.
There is precedent for a recalled book to be sold to another publisher and then to the public. In 1990, Vintage Books, a division of Random House, bought the rights to American Psycho, a novel by Bret Easton Ellis, after the original publisher, Simon & Schuster, withdrew from publishing it because of the novels graphically violent content.
As for the television interview, it could also be offered to other television outlets, although at least two other networks. ABC and NBC, have reported that they turned it down before it was accepted by Fox. Still, Ms. Regan who conducted the on-camera interview with Mr. Simpson and is presumed to own the rights to it could still seek a sale either to a cable channel or even a pay-per-view company.
The fact that the interview already exists on tape, executives at Fox and News Corporation said, means that it is likely to turn up somewhere, perhaps on the Internet.
But it will not show up on the Fox network. That pleased many of those who had opposed the broadcast.
Scott Blumenthal, an executive vice president of Lin Television Corporation, which had already announced it would not broadcast the Simpson interview on its five Fox affiliates, said in a telephone interview from the companys headquarters in Providence, R.I., Our actions spoke for themselves. At this point, the discussion is moot. We just felt the program was inappropriate for our markets.
Asked if he supported the cancellation of the interview by Fox, Mr. Blumenthal said: Only Fox knows whether or not they did the right thing.
Another worthy opinion:
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=8061
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Protest Starbucks
June 19 - 25, 2006
Join OCA and Food and Water Watch June 19-25, to take the Starbucks challenge and protest or leaflet Starbucks cafes in your neighborhood. Let's educate Starbucks' patrons about Fair Trade and rBGH. Help us reach our goal of 300 actions!
Despite over five years of grassroots pressure, Starbucks continues to serve milk from cows that are injected with genetically engineered recombinant bovine growth hormone, also known as rBGH or rBST. Virtually every industrial country, except for the United States, has banned the sale of rBGH milk. Milk produced from cows injected with rBGH poses serious dangers to human health and the general welfare to dairy cows.
The time has come to kick rBGH off the market, once and for all. If Starbucks, a major buyer of milk, were to reject rBGH dairy products, we could effectively eliminate it from the market.
Similarly, while Starbucks has slowly bought more certified Fair Trade coffee, it represents only a very small percentage of their total coffee (about 3.7%). Starbucks rarely offers certified Fair Trade coffee as their coffee of the day, nor has it followed its own policy of brewing Fair Trade coffee, on demand.
- 1. Take the Starbucks Challenge! Hold Starbucks to their word. Simply visit your local Starbucks and ask: "Could I get a cup of fair trade coffee?" and let us know how it went.
- Protest or Leaflet outside Starbucks stores. Download materials from the sidebar at right.
- Be sure to let Starbucks know your thoughts, either online or with their postage paid comment cards available at their stores.
For more information, please visit Starbucks Fair Trade Campaign Home.
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US: 'Day without immigrants'
1 May 2006, Los Angeles
More than 1 million, mostly Hispanic, immigrants to the United States and their supporters skipped work on Monday and took to the streets, flexing their economic muscle in a US-wide boycott that succeeded in slowing or shutting many farms, factories, markets and restaurants.
From Los Angeles to Chicago, Houston to Miami, the Day Without Immigrants attracted widespread participation despite divisions among activists over whether a boycott would send the right message to Washington lawmakers considering sweeping immigration reform.
"This country needs us. We are the strong arms that do all the tough jobs," said Donna Maria Mostache, a 43-year-old cook and illegal immigrant who marched in Los Angeles. "We can't be afraid to come out and say who we are."
The boycott was organized by immigrant activists who were angered by federal legislation that would criminalize the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants and fortify the US-Mexico border. Its goal was to raise awareness about immigrants' economic power.
Two major rallies in Los Angeles attracted an estimated 400,000, according to the mayor's office. Police in Chicago estimated that 400,000 people marched through the downtown business district.
Tens of thousands more marched in New York, along with 30,000 in Houston; 50,000 in San Jose, California; and 30,000 more throughout Florida. From New Mexico to Tennessee to Massachusetts, smaller rallies attracted hundreds more.
In all, police departments in more than two dozen US cities gave crowd estimates that totaled some 1.1 million marchers.
Rallies in Washington, D.C. were scattered, but the White House took note - spokesman Scott McClellan said US President George W. Bush disapproved of the boycott.
While most demonstrations were peaceful, a Santa Ana, California, rally of 5,000 was marred by people hurling rocks and plastic bottles at officers. Police made several arrests, but it was unclear if they were protesters.
Many carried signs in Spanish that translated to "We are America" and "Today we march, tomorrow we vote." Others waved Mexican flags or wore hats and scarves from their native countries.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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PETA protests Lagerfeld
5 October 2005
Security personnel remove an unidentified PETA activist (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) as a model presents a creation for German designer Karl Lagerfeld during his Spring/Summer 2006 ready-to-wear fashion show for Lagerfeld Gallery fashion house in Paris.
REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer
Anti-fur group cream pies American Vogue's Wintour
8 October 2005
French anti-fur activists said they struck Anna Wintour, editor of the U.S. edition of Vogue, in the face with a cream pie on Saturday to protest against her support for the use of animal fur by the fashion industry.
Wintour, dressed in a fur-trimmed black jacket, was hit in the face with a tofu cream pie as she left the Chloe fashion ready-to-wear show at the Tuileries Gardens in central Paris, members of the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said.
It was the second such attack this year on Wintour, an unapologetic fur supporter decried by animal rights groups as a "pelt pusher."
"Wintour is fur-bearing animals' worst enemy because her magazine continues to feature dozens of pags of pro-fur editorials and advertising each year," PETA campaigner Yvonne Taylor told Reuters by phone in Paris.
"She takes big glossy advertisements for fur and she refuses to run any anti-fur ads, even paid ones, so she's a big fur supporter," Taylor said.
REUTERS
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Availability and Affordable Prices
How many have bought a CD or watched a movie that turned out to be less than satisfactory? How many have felt cheated after a night out at the movies, having gone there after seeing trailers, commercials, and posters for another big box office release that turned out to be one of those "let's save the movie company a few bucks by fooling people into watching this dud during the first weekend" flicks? How many get sick to their stomachs while hearing about revenue losses after viewing an episode of "Cribs" on MTV? The production companies have the audacity to say that we are using people's creativity and talent, without paying for it. Well, guess what? Most P2P users actually do buy the products they like!
We continue to see fantasy figures about the kind of revenues the production companies would have had, if only their products were not obtainable online. Of course, it is complete and utter nonsense. They seem to be oblivious to the highly human trait they themselves possess: The Experience of Ownership. Everybody wants to own things. A pirated copy can never live up to the experience of a movie theatre or replace the sense of pride that comes from having a collectors edition sitting on your bookshelf. Even those who the entertainment industry would paint as criminals are consumers too.
To prove this, we call out to all that have shared a file, downloaded something online or think that prices are outrageous; Let us send a message to the entertainment industry leadership.
The last week in April 2005 - 24th up until and including 30th - show them how much money we are spending on their products by denying them our hard earned income. Do not go to the movies; do not buy any entertainment products during that week.
This is not to be confused as saying, "go pirate everything you can find as the production companies are common robbers." Instead, this is a way to show that we are indeed supporting them already, so stop fighting your customers!
Show them we mean business!
Spread the word everywhere you can think of.
Visit http://www.p2punite.net/ for more details.
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From the BoycottCity MailBag...
I would like to see if the following boycott can be removed.
http://boycottcity.org/view/index.php?itemId=218
Without getting too much into it, or violating the site's privacy policy. The member was banned from the site for abusive behavior at the site, he was warned, continued to conduct himself in a destructive manner. His account was suspended to which point he repeatedly made additional accounts. We run a clean site and have high standards, but we NEVER ban anyone who has not violated our terms of service on multiple occasions.
I would not ask for removal, as to everyone has their right to an opinion, but you give no way to rebutt fraudulent charges made by your members.
Thank you for your time an consideration.
Our Response...
while we are not in the position to remove entries from our database, i
am sympathetic to your position.
you are not the first to ask about such functionality, but you are the
first to have a legitimate need for it. subsequently, something about
your message gave me an idea on how we could implement such a feature
(previous thoughts proved to be quite complex which is why the ability
is not currently there). my co-hort and i have discussed developing the
solution and have decided to give it a try.
if you don't mind, i will email you when it is ready for production and
you can be the first to use the new 'response' feature.
thanks for your feedback and hopefully we'll be able to provide what
you've requested in the near future.
The New Feature...
You can now join a boycott or oppose it. What would this
site be without the ability to boycott a boycott?
Additionally, you now join or oppose a boycott many times, so you can
continually remind everyone of the virtues of participating in your
boycott.
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Senate takes up anti-gay amendment today - not Monday
Friday, July 9 - The measure was to come to the floor Monday, but Republican supporters, anxious to squeeze Democrats in an election year quietly moved the bill up on Thursday.
Sources in the Republican Party told 365Gay.com that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn) wanted the debate to begin before the weekend to allow churches to drum up support and have their congregations begin a massive blitz Monday on senators to support the proposal.
Also, by beginning the debate today the issue will blanket the media over the weekend and reduce the amount of air time that Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry would get. Since announcing John Edwards as his running mate earlier this week Kerry has monopolized much of the news coverage.
In addition, House Republican leaders who were once unenthusiastic about President Bush's call for a constitutional amendment against recognizing gay marriages now say they plan to bring the idea to a vote just before next November's election
Contact all of the Senators and urge them to oppost the FMA. Their are 28 hot seats in the Senate this year and those people are feeling the heat from the conservatives to support discrimination. Make them feel your heat too! Senate contact info is found here.
Contact Senator Kerry and Senator Edwards in particular and let them know that you expect them to be present in the Senate to voice their opposition to the amendment. They are advocates for our cause and are certainly expecting us to support them in November. Tell them that we need and expect their support now.
Source:
http://www.dontamend.com/
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The mission of BoycottMTV.com is simple: to stop the flow of immoral sewerage which MTV and other networks try to pump into our homes, and at our children, every day.
MTV's slick productions promote sexual promiscuity, infidelity, domestic violence, sexism, and racism. And the audience for all of this, quite intentionally, is children. Your child, your grandchild, your niece, your nephew, the students in your classroom, the boy or girl next door, the teen you hire to babysit your children...All get their relationship coaching and behavioral training from music industry executives and entertainers who will do whatever it takes to sell music to your child.
BoycottMTV.com was sparked by the MTV production of the Super Bowl halftime show this year. But it wasn't the now-famous exposure of Janet Jackson's upper torso that drove this site's founders (two Dads) to take action, and to call you to action.
As a father of four said during the halftime show, "Looks like the NFL and CBS have decided that football isn't for families anymore."
In addition to Ms. Jackson's alleged "wardrobe malfunction," her act with Justin Timberlake featured almost non-stop fondling and simulation of intimate acts. A rapper, named Nelly, continually grabbed at his groin while performing. Another rapper, Kid Rock, wore an American flag with a hole in it as a poncho, then threw the flag behind him.
The Super Bowl Sewer Show was a wake-up call to parents and other concerned adults. But it was no shock to the children who view this dehumanizing fare on a daily basis, with or without their parents' knowledge.
Remember, all TV is educational. What is your child learning?
If an adult wants to watch "entertainment" like that, no matter how wrong, he has a right to do so...in America anyway. But when families gather around the TV to enjoy a sport that many children play, the TV producer and entertainer should behave as a guest in our homes, and a role model for our children.
Source:
http://boycottmtv.com/archives/000001.html#000001
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CBS: Don't Censor Ads
CBS is refusing to air ads created by the Bush in 30 Seconds ad contest and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, even though the White House will be allowed to run one. This isn't a partisan issue, it's a free-speech issue: it's critical that our media institutions be fair and open to all speakers.
That's why we're telling CBS:
"CBS, don't play politics with free speech. If the White House can run an ad during Super Bowl, other groups should be allowed to run issue ads as well."
Here's a brief letter you can send to your email circle. Please only contact people who know you personally. Spam hurts our campaign. Just click here:
Invite friends and colleagues.
You can also cut and paste this text into an email message:
Dear friend,
During this year's Super Bowl, you'll see ads sponsored by beer
companies, tobacco companies, and the Bush White House. But you
won't see the winning ad in MoveOn.org Voter Fund's Bush in 30
Seconds ad contest. CBS refuses to air it.
To check out the ad and ask CBS to air ads like this one, go to:
http://www.moveon.org/cbs/ad/
Thanks.
MoveOn.org
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An upcoming CBS miniseries that reportedly casts former President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy in a negative light has prompted a boycott.
A former chief of staff to a U.S. congressman has teamed with colleagues to set up a website urging television viewers not to watch the two-part series and boycott its advertisers for 30 days during the peak of the holiday shopping season.
James Brolin, Judy Davis as Ronald and Nancy Reagan in CBS miniseries
"This time, Hollywood has gone too far," said Mike Paranzino. "What cruelty must lie in the hearts of CBS executives to smear the Reagans while Nancy Reagan copes every day with her husband's devastating Alzheimer's disease. The vast majority of Americans respects the Reagans and will find CBS' dishonest tale revolting."
The miniseries, set for airing Nov. 16 and 18, includes scenes of Reagan cursing at his staff and his wife slapping her daughter, according to script excerpts published by the DrudgeReport.
Other scenes, according to Drudge, show the former president declaring he is the anti-Christ and, in response to AIDS, stating, "They that live in sin shall die in sin" - though there is no record of him saying such things.
The reports, coupled with one published by the New York Times, increases speculation among Reagan supporters it will be a politically charged hatchet job disguised as entertainment.
It already has been denounced by Michael Reagan, the former president's adopted son and radio talk-show host.
"It's horrendous, it's absolutely horrendous," said Michael Reagan after viewing eight minutes of excerpts of the film. "They paint my father as a buffoon," he told talk-show host Sean Hannity. "They also have my dad taking God's name in vain in an angry, angry way.... They have him calling another person in anger an S.O.B. I've never seen my Dad that angry and I've never heard him use the 'G‑D' word in my life," Reagan complained.
Boycotter Paranzino said companies have "every right to finance this TV show's hate speech, and Americans have every right to punish those companies that support this cultural pollution."
Paranzino told WorldNetDaily he realizes boycotts of networks usually have little impact, and so he intentionally narrowed his effort.
"It's designed to say you can watch 'Everybody Love's Raymond,'" the popular CBS show, he said, "but you can defeat the left here simply by not watching this series and making the network and its sponsors pay a price."
Since launching his site yesterday, he's received a strong response, he said, including e-mails from people who say they're willing to go beyond his focused effort and boycott the entire network.
"There is a lot of anger out there," Paranzino told WND. "Doctors, lawyers, retirees, homemakers - people are just furious at this obvious smear."
A woman from the East Coast, for example, forwarded him her letter to CBS executives, which said:
Well, now it is payback because, not only will I and every person I can personally touch through my vast Internet connections, no longer frequent your vile programming, those who contribute to the distribution of this despicable excuse for viewing through their advertising, will be boycotted, not for thirty (30) days, but, forever.
One man said he will "never watch CBS again because of their intention to broadcast the Reagan smear movie."
Another said: "I will boycott everyone and everything associated with this disgrace."
A Texas couple wrote: "We eagerly await the publication of the sponsors of this tripe. Count us in!!"
A retired U.S. Air Force colonel also signed on to the campaign.
Paranzino said sponsors of the program have not been announced and might remain unknown or undetermined until just prior to the airing.
Elsewhere around the Internet, contributors to message boards are urging a boycott of advertisers of other CBS programs.
Some commentators expect the controversy to boost the ratings of the series, but Paranzino disagrees.
"Sure, a little controversy sometimes helps, but there is a sense out there that CBS has crossed a line," he said. "These people are such cowards. They couldn't beat Ronald Reagan at the ballot box and they never forgave him for standing up to the Soviets, so now, as Alzheimer's disease ravages him in his 90s, they decide to pick on him and his wife. For that spineless cruelty, they will pay a financial price."
The miniseries will be broadcast during "sweeps week" when garnering high ratings will allow networks to charge higher rates for advertising.
Paranzino is a political consultant who worked for former Rep. Matt Salmon, a Republican from Arizona, and served as press secretary for the presidential exploratory committee of Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., and research director for the 1994 campaign of Sen. John Kyl, R-Ariz.
By Art Moore
2003 WorldNetDaily.com
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BOYCOTT TO DEFEAT WARD CONNERLY'S Proposed Anti-Affirmative Action Ballot Initiative in Michigan
The Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action & Integration and Fight for Equality By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), the organization that played a vital role in securing the recent Supreme Court victory in the University of Michigan Law School affirmative action case, Grutter v. Bollinger, is calling for a boycott of all corporations and institutions who financially support Ward Connerly's anti-affirmative action/segregationist ballot proposal. After suffering a defeat at the U.S. Supreme Court, Ward Connerly and a small handful of supporters are seeking to overturn the Supreme Court's recent pro-affirmative action decision. BAMN intends to defeat this segregationist effort and call on all civil rights, union, and progressive organizations to join the national boycott.
Shanta Driver, National Spokesperson for BAMN, said, "Acting now is the key to victory. We can defeat Ward Connerly's anti-affirmative action ballot proposition before it ever gets off the ground, but only if we act decisively now. Any business, institution, or individual that funds the attack on civil rights will face a consumer boycott and pickets organized by the youth of the new civil rights movement."
"BAMN is calling for the University of California Regents to demand the resignation of Ward Connerly from the body," said Agnes Aleobua, BAMN student leader at the University of Michigan. "Ward Connerly has used his position as a Regent in the largest and most renowned public university system in the nation to attack access to higher education for minorities. Ward Connerly must not longer be allowed to use the University of California name for his crusade against civil rights."
The far right-wing of the Republican Party have announced their intention to continue their assault on the gains of the Civil Rights Movement, even as Republican President George Bush has lauded the Supreme Court decision as a victory.
"The people of Michigan have stood firmly for civil rights and integration and have turned back attempts to divide black from white, urban from rural. We will defeat this initiative now," said Tanya Troy, BAMN National Organizer.
BAMN
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AUSTIN, Texas - Fifty-five fugitive Democrats returned to the Texas Capitol in triumph Friday after thwarting a Republican redistricting bill by running off to Oklahoma for nearly a week.
"Welcome home, Texas heroes", one sign read as the lawmakers, all from the Texas House, arrived, smiling and waving to a cheering crowd.
During the political drama, the runaway lawmakers stayed at a Holiday Inn in Oklahoma, ate at a Denny's and took cell phone calls around the pool.
"We've weathered some troopers, we've weathered a tornado and we weathered Denny's," said Rep. Jim Dunnum, the group's ringleader. "No matter what happens, democracy won."
The lawmakers slipped away Sunday night in an extraordinary revolt that brought the Texas House to a standstill because there were not enough lawmakers for a quorum to do business.
Democrats said it was the only way to stop a congressional redistricting plan from being ramrodded through the GOP-controlled House at the behest of U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas. The redistricting was aimed at grabbing five House seats from the Democrats in 2004.
GOP officials ridiculed the rebellion, pasting the missing lawmakers' pictures on milk cartons and creating playing cards likening the Democrats to most-wanted Iraqis.
Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick angrily asked the Texas Rangers to track down and bring in the Democrats, but authorities said they could do nothing once the lawmakers crossed the Red River into Oklahoma. Even the Homeland Security Department was drawn into the fray after a Texas law officer called up, hinting that a plane full of Democrats might have crashed.
In the end, the redistricting bill died at midnight Thursday under legislative rules as the Democrats were on their way back from the Holiday Inn in Ardmore, Okla.
They trooped into the House on Friday to loud applause from the gallery as their Republican colleagues sat quietly at their desks.
(AP/April Castro)
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After hitting number one for their country album "Home" in the United States,
Natalie Maines and the Dixie Chicks decided to throw a sucker punch at
President Bush while on a concert tour in London on March 10th.
Maines told the London concert audience,
"Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from
Texas."
If they were looking for a reaction, they certainly didn't have to wait long.
Radio stations across the country have been busy dropping their music like a
rock. Angry phone calls flooded Nashville radio station WKDF-FM on Thursday,
some calling for a boycott of the Texas trio's music.
Jeff Garrison, program director for KILT in Houston said, "People are shocked,
we've got them off the air. They cannot believe Texas' own have attacked the
state and the President," Garrison said.
At Dallas radio station "99.5 The Wolf," program director Paul Williams said,
"the comments touched a deep nerve in Texas because they came from one of the
biggest country groups to come out of the state and were directed at a
President who calls Texas home."
WDAF-AM (610), 61 Country, in Kansas City even held a Dixie 'chicken toss'
party, where Chick critics were encouraged to dump the group's tapes, CDs and
concert tickets into trash cans. WDAF program director Ted Cramer said about
100 people showed up, and the 125 or so CDs collected will be shipped back to
the band's record label.
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MAKING THEIR BODIES FIGURES OF SPEECH
West Marin women are serious
enough about PEACE to spell it out. Wearing nothing but afternoon rain,
50 determined women lay down on Love Field near the Green Bridge Tuesday
afternoon to literally embody PEACE and "show solidarity with the people
of Iraq," said the organizers. "Women from all ages and walks of life
took off their clothes, not because they are exhibitionists but because
they felt it was imperative to do so," the organizers added. "They
wanted to unveil the truth about the horrors of war, to commune in their
nudity with the vulnerability of Iraqi innocents, and to shock a
seemingly indifferent Bush Administration into paying attention." The
coordinators, who came up with the idea only a day earlier, said that
the coming together of this group on short notice was a testament to the
seriousness with which the women view the threat of war with Iraq.
"Remembering that tens of thousands of civilians have already died in
Iraq as a result of US bombing and sanctions, these women are not
convinced by Bush Administration fear mongering that one more person
should die," organizers said. They hope the president and news media
take notice.
Photo by Art Rogers
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Miss Sweden World Sofia Hedmark, left, speaks with Italian Marco Pannella during a report on the death penalty worldwide at the European Parliament, in this Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2002 file photo. Miss World participants plan to boycott of the Dec. 7 Miss World pageant to protest the death by stoning sentence of a Muslim woman in Nigeria, where the pageant will be held.
AP Photo/Virginia Mayo
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Protesters, with the message "Drop the Debt" spelled out, demonstrate in front of the International Monetary Fund headquarters building in Washington, September 28, 2002. The protest march numbering as many as 20,000 people ground to a halt Saturday when police hemmed marchers in a park a couple of blocks from the IMF and World Bank headquarters.
REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
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Lebanese women holding protest banners urge citizens to boycott Starbucks, during a demonstration outside a Starbucks coffee shop in Beirut's Hamra street, June 21, 2002. A group of Lebanese protested outside Starbucks, urging passersby to boycott the American company which they accuse of supporting Israel.
(REUTERS/Jamal Saidi)
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A new line of T-shirts depicting stereotypes of Asians has triggered an e-mail and phone campaign to boycott clothier Abercrombie & Fitch.
One of the Ohio-based company's T-shirts reads "Wong Brothers Laundry Service -- Two Wongs Can Make It White" and shows two smiling men with slanted eyes wearing conical hats.
Abercrombie said the shirts were supposed to be funny and cater to Asian customers. The company said it will pull the shirts from the company's 311 stores in 50 states.
"We personally thought Asians would love this T-shirt," said Hampton Carney, a spokesman for the company.
(the san diego channel)
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Members of the French AIDS action group Act-Up protest against multinational company Coca Cola's neglect of their workers with AIDS in developing countries, at the International AIDS conference in Barcelona July 10, 2002. Former President Bill Clinton urged governments on July 11 to do more to fight AIDS and assured young people that wealthy nations would provide extra funds to battle the epidemic if they knew how it would be spent.
(Gustau Nacarino/Reuters)
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Belgium's assistant coach Vince Briganti (L), coach Robert Waseige (C) and soccer federation President Jan Peeters (R) speak to a lone journalist in Kobe on Saturday after Belgian reporters decided to boycott a news conference following the decision of the players to stop anwering question ahead of the match against Brazil in the second round of the World Cup Finals in Kobe on Monday. The boycott was dropped on Sunday after a compromise under which the players would talk to the press, but only on matters related directly to football.
(REUTERS/Yves Herman)
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Two Palestinian boys carry flags in front of peace demonstrators in Nablus on July 12, 2002, during a protest against the curfew imposed by the Israeli forces in the West Bank. The Israeli army arrested dozens of people in a major sweep for militants across the West Bank and keep a tight grip on reoccupied seven of the eight Palestinian-ruled cities.
(REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini)
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Demonstrators strip to protest the corporate practices of the Gap clothing company, in downtown Calgary June 25, 2002 prior to the G8 summit that begins June 26 in Kananaskis. Chanting 'I'd rather wear nothing than wear The Gap,' two dozen out of about 100 protesters peeled off their clothes to the hoots and hollers of the lunch-hour crowd, accusing Gap of buying clothing from third-world sweatshops and the family that controls it of destroying a redwood forest in California.
(Nick Didlick/Reuters)
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