Denver Broncos - It Get's Better

My favorite NFL team is the Denver Broncos.  There is a petition on-line to have the Broncos be the first team to make its own "It Gets Better" video.  I've signed it and hope you will, too.

Go Broncos.  Do the right thing.

20 December 2011

Support LGBT-Friendly Businesses

I received the following information from the Human Rights Campaign via an e-mail and want to pass it along:

Dear XXX,



Some businesses support LGBT workplace equality – and some don't.


Which ones do you want to support when you're out shopping during the holidays?


With our new 2012 Buying for Workplace Equality guide and updated iPhone app, it's easier than ever to find out where companies stand on workplace equality.


Browse the online version or download a free copy!


From clothing to computers to kids' stuff, from the latest hairstyles to the grocery aisles, we've collected data on hundreds of businesses. And some of the differences between companies selling similar products and services might surprise you:


Macy's (90%) vs. Neiman Marcus (15%*)


Nike (100%) vs. Adidas/Reebok (15%*)


Toyota (100%) vs. Nissan (30%)


UPS (100%) vs. FedEx (75%) vs. DHL (15%*)


AT&T (100%) vs. Verizon (20%)


Orbitz (100%) vs. Priceline (0%*)


Take a sneak peek inside...
 
Get the iPhone app...
 
Text SHOP and the company or product name to 30644...
 
In today's economy, it's vital that we support the companies, products, and brands that have equal workplace practices for the LGBT community. As you look for that perfect pair of shoes or a great gift for a loved one this holiday season, you can use the information in this guide to help make your shopping decisions.



Our guide is a product of HRC's groundbreaking Corporate Equality Index. When we started the CEI a decade ago, 319 companies participated voluntarily. Now that's doubled. The CEI has transformed the American workplace by redefining the norm for how all companies treat LGBT workers and their families – which couldn't be more important in a country where you can still be fired in most states for being LGBT.


When you choose to buy from companies that demonstrate their commitment to LGBT equality in the workplace, you're helping grow and accelerate this important transformation.


Check out this online guide, download a free copy, or get all the info on your phone.


Thanks, and happy shopping!


Warmly,


Joe Solmonese


President


* The HRC Foundation provides an estimated score to businesses that have not, after repeated attempts, responded to the survey. An estimated score is reflective of the information that HRC has been able to collect without help or input from a business. Learn more here.

Thanks for your attention.

12 December 2011

Politics Has Doomed Us

From Brian Beutler at TPM:

As the U.S. government and governments in Europe respond to the global economic slump with conservative austerity measures, it’s easy to forget that the overwhelming professional economic consensus is that depressed countries that can afford to should be doing the opposite — ramping up government purchases of goods and services and putting off the budget cuts and tax increases for a few years.

This isn’t even close to what’s happening. And as the space between what these experts think should happen and what global elites are actually doing grows, the experts’ forecast is becoming more and more pessimistic.

Nowhere was this gloominess more clearly worn than at a symposium hosted by the New America Foundation in downtown Washington Wednesday evening.

The event itself centered on an October paper called “The Way Forward” by Daniel Alpert, Robert Hockett, and Nouriel Roubini, which explained both the sources of U.S. economic woes, and what needs to be done to fix them. But the paper’s authors, and the expert panel they invited to discuss it with them, all agreed that American and European politics are so out of step with the proper diagnosis and treatment that the country is likely to hobble along for years — and could even experience another recession.

You can read the entire story at the link above.

9 December 2011

Congressional Republicans & the Deficit

There is telling folks that you believe in something and there is actually believing in something.  As I've mentioned before,Congressional Republicans say that they are interested in the national debt and lowering deficits.  They are not.  Honestly, they don't give two shits about either of these topics in and of themselves.  The sometimes care about them in relation to other items about which they actually care, but only care about them when they impact those areas.

Taxes, on the other hand, Congressional Republicans care a lot about.  A lot.  They will completely destroy the federal deficit if it means getting their way on taxes.  And getting their way on taxes, by the way, will always increase the deficit.  Always.

This post at TPM by Brian Beutler about the latest Republican efforts on the debt super committee illustrates this point handsomely.  And the killer point about our society is that the press doesn't cover it and Americans don't care.  I'm not sure which is the chicken and which is the egg in that model, but either way, Democracy gets the middle digit.

17 November 2011

Celiac Disease & Vitamin A

Here is an interesting blog post on recent research on vitamin A and celiac disease.

16 November 2011

Honey for the American Market

A new study about honey for sale on the American market is out.  You may not be buying what you think you are.

7 November 2011

The Math of Climate Change

A short read about a study that is another blow to skeptics of climate change.  The kicker?  This study was funded by the Koch Foundation.  That makes me giggle.

21 October 2011

24 October 2011 Addition:  Another read on this issue.