Activism

San Francisco's Toxic Sludge - It's Good for You!

Fifteen years ago, CMD's book Toxic Sludge Is Good for You! first exposed the hidden government and industry PR campaign greenwashing toxic sewage sludge as "biosolids," an invented PR euphemism use

Cindy McCain Poses for Pro-Gay Marriage Ad Campaign

After California voters passed Proposition 8 -- the law that amended the state's constitution to ban same-sex marriage -- in November, 2008, celebrity photographer Adam Bouska and partner Jeff Parshley created the "NOH8 Campaign," a photo project and silent protest that began with Bouska taking photos of everyday Californians who supported marriage equality.

U.K. Police Lobbied Power Company to Sue Protesters

Documents obtained by the Guardian reveal that the chief constable of Kent police, Mike Fuller, lobbied the power generation company E.ON UK to seek injunctions to counter protests against the proposed Kingsnorth power station.

Tea Party Money-Bomb Elects Scott Brown, Blows-Up Obamacare

Six months ago, the vocal factions of the Tea Party revolt organized among anti-Obama right wingers were mostly an annoyance to the Democratic Party. Today, the Congressional Democrats are scared for their political lives after Scott Brown, with the help of a Tea Party-organized online "money bomb" and get-out-the-vote campaign, won back for Republicans Ted Kennedy's former Massachusetts senate seat. The "money bomb" is a tactic borrowed from MoveOn and the liberal netroots movement through which the Tea Party activists raised way over one million dollars online in 24 hours for Scott Brown. Even though the Republicans have only reduced the still large fifty-nine member Democratic senate majority by one person, the fact that Brown ran an uphill campaign that came from nowhere and steamrolled to victory means that all the Congressional Democrats are now looking over their right shoulders, fearing a similar populist attack as the 2010 electoral season heats up.

The Tea Party money bomb has also blown up Obamacare, the President's muddled health care reform plan. While many pundits point to local issues that helped Brown win, the fact is that Brown ran hardest against Obama's health care bill, and won despite personal appearances in Massachusetts by Obama and Bill Clinton, and despite a desperate but failed Democratic effort to beat back the insurgency.

Tea Party Convention Squeezes Fans

The Tea Party movement is putting on its "First National Tea Party Convention" next month in Nashville, Tennessee, but the event is drawing the wrath of some Teabaggers.

Support CMD's Fight Against King Coal

Perhaps you are making some year-end decisions to donate money in a way that makes a real difference. If you have not contributed recently, I would urge you to support SourceWatch and the work of the Center for Media and Democracy. Here is one more reason why: your donation makes possible CMD's crucial work on global warming and the fight to stop the destructive and dangerous use of coal.

My friend, author and activist Ted Nace, is CMD's partner in the CoalSwarm wiki inside SourceWatch. Ted has written a new book titled Climate Hope: On the Front Lines of the Fight Against Coal, his most recent since his much-lauded Gangs of America. Climate Hope tells a dramatic story:

When US power companies revealed plans to build over 150 new coal-fired power plants, climate scientists sounded the alarm. If this wave of massive plants were built, there would be little chance of preventing greenhouse gases from reaching truly dangerous levels. In response to the crisis, hundreds of local and regional groups, along with a handful of national groups, rose to the challenge of blocking the wave of proposals. Through courageous action on a variety of fronts -- from sit-ins at coal mines to blockades at big-city banks -- the anti-coal movement succeeded ins stopping over 100 power plant proposals, bringing the coal boom largely to a halt.

The Center for Media and Democracy is playing a crucial role in this struggle through our partnership with Ted in creating the CoalSwarm wiki. Ted tells this story in his book, excerpted below. It's a success story that many other activists and organizations working on other issues could also repeat if they would follow Ted's example and partner with CMD to create their own wiki inside SourceWatch.

As you read this excerpt below, please consider donating to CMD's important work maintaining SourceWatch. As you see, it is a dynamic online information system that is invaluable to environmental, social justice and democracy activists, as well as journalists and the public at large. Success like this, often unheralded, is only possible with your ongoing support.

LIVE! From the Big Showdown in Chicago

  • Topics: Activism, Economy
  • With the newspapers full of talk about "zombie" banks and parasitic "vampire squid" financial institutions, it was particularly fitting that the "Showdown in Chicago" started with a ghoulish group of zombies rocking out to Michael Jackson's "Thriller." Chicago's own South Shore Drill Team opened the three days of banks protests with a bang and had the crowd of thousands of activists dancing in no time.

    The Showdown promises to be the first major American protest against the banks since the financial meltdown in September 2008. Thousands are expected to join three days of educational activities and the large march on Tuesday to the American Bankers Association (ABA) convention at the downtown Sheraton hotel.

    Where's Wendell, TIME's 'Ideal Whistleblower' ?

    A business news website notes, "Since early summer Wendell Potter, a former public relations executive for the health insurer CIGNA, has testified before Congress, given speeches and granted interviews aimed at boosting the cause of health care reform and especially a strong public alternative to private industry.

    New York Post Suspends Climate Skepticism ... For Just a Moment

    Ahead of a major United Nations conference in New York on climate change, the high-profile pranksters, the Yes Men, distributed 100,000 copies of a "special edition" of Rupert Murdoch's New York Post.

    Direct Action Confronts the Climate Crisis

    "The global political process to counter runaway climate change has become, for practical purposes, irrelevant," writes Ryan King. "None of the currently proposed emissions reductions being seriously considered in policy making are appropriate to meet the severity of the situation.

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