how all companies should respond to bigots!

Honey Maid, makers of Graham Crackers for some 90 years, put out an ad campaign in early March of this year. They called the television spot "This is Wholesome". The commercial featured gay fathers, a single dad and gasp! an interracial family. Oh, and they included a white heterosexual couple with a kid. This is the spot, from their website.



Honey Maid said on their Youtube page, "Today we celebrate all families. From working moms to two moms; stay at home dads to single dads; adopted kids to surrogate kids. Honey Maid recognizes that the reality of family has changed, but the wholesome connections that all families share will endure."

What is refreshing, is the fact that the company used actual families/people as opposed to actors. They also included a short interview with the gay dads and others who appeared in the video.

Naturally, some mentally inadequates had a problem with this and responded with their own campaign. One group responded,

Nabisco should be ashamed of themselves for their latest Honey Maid and Teddy Graham cracker commercial where they attempt to normalize sin. Right away it shows two men with a baby, followed by other families, and ends with different families pictured including the one with two dads. This commercial not only promotes homosexuality, but then calls the scene in the advertisement wholesome.

TAKE ACTION Please send U.S. key executives for Honey Maid and Nabisco (owned by Mondelez International) an email urging them to pull this liberal commercial immediately and remain neutral in the culture war.

With thanks to Right Wing Watch


Honey Maid also received backlash through twitter, e-mail, at least one radio talk show host, etc. So how did the company respond? In the most awesome way possible, that's how. They put out a 1 minute 43 seconds response video throwing the nutters hate right back in their face. Enjoy....

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video evidence ~ your cat is a thug

It was only a matter of time before these adorable creatures were exposed as the trouble makers they really are. This one commits at least half a dozen felonies in a single outing!

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doug ford: Chicago media loves rob...Chicago media: rob ford is a big fat idiot

The Toronto tea bagger team of rob and doug ford are whining, again, because media here, have the audacity to challenge what the twin trolls say. In addition to the traditional outlets, The Star, Globe & Mail, CBC, today they directed their anger toward Newstalk 1010, while on air spewing the usual nonsense. During a 1010 news update, rob ford's claim that the trip to the Windy City would not cost taxpayers a dime, was described as false. Well, that's all it took for the ford fucks to slide into victim/projection mode. From The Star:

Early in the Sunday show, Rob Ford claimed again that last week’s official trip to Chicago won’t cost taxpayers “a dime” — even though taxpayers are picking up the tab for at least some of the eight councillors who attended. Newstalk ran a mid-show update that pointed out his claim was false.

Soon after, Doug Ford said unnamed members of the media are “like a bunch of little sucky little kids” who “whine and cry and moan” when the Fords stand up to them and who “sensationalize and lie through their teeth.”
Rob Ford then added: “They’re pathological liars, that’s what drives me nuts. The projection, oh, the projection from these two buffoons! The Star points out more of their lies and ends the piece with the Chicago blog post. Opinion: Big, Obnoxious Toronto Mayor Visits Chicago, Blends In Too Well

Here, it didn’t make the Tribune or the Sun-Times. Maybe that’s because, as I found out when I wrote a Great Lakes travelogue, Americans don’t want to read about Canada. Or maybe it’s because Ford didn’t look at all like a foreigner in Chicago. Although the Toronto Sun portrayed him as Jake Blues, he actually looks more like Jim Belushi’s brother-in-law on According to Jim than John Belushi. And he has the personality of Saturday Night Live motivational speaker Matt Foley. Ford is so loud and obese it wouldn’t have been surprising if he’d applied for asylum in the United States.

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Pregnant Woman Relieved To Learn Her Rape Was Illegitimate

And people were upset with this guy? Say what you will about Rapepublican Todd Akin, but he's comforted at least one woman.

LITCHFIELD, CT—Though she was initially upset following the brutal sexual assault last month that left her pregnant, victim Martha Byars told reporters she was relieved Sunday to learn from Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO) that her ability to conceive her unwanted child proves she was not, in fact, legitimately raped.

“It was absolutely horrific—I felt violated in the worst way imaginable—but thanks to Congressman Akin, I now realize it must, at some level, have been consensual after all.”

Hmm, that article has caused me to wonder if perhaps, some are being too hard on Akin over this. When one considers his party's stellar reputation when it comes to supporting women's rights, this is most likely a one off. I think this article explains well, why ridiculous comments like those from Akin, are rare.

WASHINGTON—In the wake of last weekend’s highly controversial comments from Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), top Republican officials condemned the congressman’s statements Monday, calling them a black mark on the party’s otherwise flawless record on women’s rights issues. “Throughout our history, whether it’s been our position on birth control, abortion, or equal pay for equal work, Republicans have always stood together with women, listening to their needs and fighting for issues that are are important to them.

That is why we were stunned that someone from our own party could have made such insensitive remarks or expressed such uninformed opinions about women,”

Yeah, I'm certain it will never happen again.


More on Todd Akin

How Todd Akin And Paul Ryan Partnered To Redefine Rape

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WTF!?! of the Day....“If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”

There you have it, ladies. There is absolutely no reason for birth control, or worrying about rape. Because according to republican Senate nominee, Todd Akin, god has taken care of everything. Your body will just know to reject that sperm. Unless of course you are faking said rape, in which case you WILL abide by the almighty's plans.

Akin was being interviewed on KTVI-TV, and being asked where he stood on various issues. When asked if abortion should be legal in cases of rape, he responded:

"Well you know, people always want to try and make it one of those things, well how do you slice this particularly tough, sort of ethical question. It seems to me, first of all, from what I understand from doctors [pregnancy from rape] is really rare. If it’s a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."

"Let’s assume that maybe that didn’t work, or something," Akin said. "I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child."

In rightwing world, the very second a woman becomes pregnant, she has created a baby, willingly or not, and should lose all her freedoms. It's all about the baby, baby! Well, until it comes out of the womb. After that, fuck them, they can pull themselves up by their tiny baby boot straps.

Not surprisingly, after realizing the shitstorm he set off, Akin released a statement, trying to reassure people that he is not as insane as he sounds. He simply misspoke! However, Akin's history suggests this was no slip up. From the first link.

Akin is perhaps the boldest among a crop of conservative 2012 nominees who could hamper GOP efforts to take back the Senate in the fall. Akin has called for an end to the school-lunch program and a total ban on the morning-after pill.

His claim about “legitimate” types of rape is not completely foreign to the current Republican Congress, however. In 2011, the House GOP was forced to drop language from a bill that would have limited federal help to pay for an abortion to only victims of “forcible rape.” Akin was a co-sponsor on the bill.

Nor is this Akin’s first time suggesting some types of rape are more worthy of protections than others. As a state legislator, Akin voted in 1991 for an anti-marital-rape law, but only after questioning whether it might be misused “in a real messy divorce as a tool and a legal weapon to beat up on the husband,” according to a May 1 article that year in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The calls for Akin to withdraw have begun.

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romney introduces paul ryan as "next President of the United States". Plus 12 things to know about ryan.

While Mitt's follies continue, opposition research is off to a rocking start. Think Progress has put up a dozen examples showcasing Paul Ryan's political ideology. No doubt, the tea baggers and the rest of the right wing world will welcome Romney's pick with open arms. Sane people, not so much. A few examples:

~ Ryan embraces the extreme philosophy of Ayn Rand. Ryan heaped praise on Ayn Rand, a 20th-century libertarian novelist best known for her philosophy that centered on the idea that selfishness is “virtue.” Rand described altruism as “evil,” condemned Christianity for advocating compassion for the poor, viewed the feminist movement as “phony,” and called Arabs “almost totally primitive savages.

~Ryan wants to end Medicare, replace it with a voucher system. Ryan’s latest budget transforms the existing version of Medicare, in which government provides seniors with a guaranteed benefit, into a “premium support” system. All future retirees would receive a government contribution to purchase insurance from an exchange of private plans or traditional fee-for-service Medicare. But since the premium support voucher does not keep up with increasing health care costs, the Congressional Budget Offices estimates that new beneficiaries could pay up to $1,200 more by 2030 and more than $5,900 more by 2050.

~Ryan’s budget would result in 4.1 million lost jobs in 2 years. Ryan’s budget calls for massive reductions in government spending. He has proposed cutting discretionary programs by about $120 billion over the next two years and mandatory programs by $284 billion, which, the Economic Policy Institute estimates, would suck demand out of the economy and “reduce employment by 1.3 million jobs in fiscal 2013 and 2.8 million jobs in fiscal 2014, relative to current budget policies.”

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P.S.A !...Chick-Felays is NOT Chick-fil-A! Know Your Target!

People, please! It's protesting 101. Know who it is you are upset with. While your intentions may be noble, your approach is objectionable. Imagine a business owner having customers walk in, order food and then not only refuse the order, but berate the staff. According to this Star story, that is exactly what happened to Nabeel Khan, President and CEO of the Chick-Felays franchise.

“We had one guy come into one of our restaurants, ordered his food, and then refused it, asking us how we could be so discriminating,” said Khan, recounting a string of such encounters between customers and employees at Chick-Felays’ four locations in southern Ontario. “We had no idea what he was talking about. He said, ‘This is garbage,’ and walked out.”

It took a while for Mr.Khan to figure out folks were associating his franchise with the American Taliban chain, and felt compelled to post a sign in the store receiving most of the unwarranted attacks.

Among the more memorable moments in his restaurants, Khan mentioned a couple who arrived at one location asking the cashier, “How can you work for a boss who is so discriminating?” while a family came in yelling “you’re disgusting.” He said the situation became so severe at Chick-Felays’s Listowel restaurant that a sign had to be placed in the window indicating “We are pleased to announce that we are not affiliated with Chick-fil-A.”

So back to my original appeal. People, please! Know who it is you are upset with, or you might be causing grief for an innocent business owner, his or her family and staff, for absolutely no reason! Mr.Khan comes across as a great Canadian. His advice to the bigot Dan Cathy is this:

He says if he were ever to meet Dan Cathy, restaurateur to restaurateur, he would give him this advice: “I would tell him to smarten up. Think before you open your mouth. I would tell him that not hurting people, even with words, is what humanity is all about.”

Chick~Felays' website for locations, services, or who knows, perhaps some positive feedback.

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Enbridge claims credit for latest environmental attack

two years after Enbridge attack on Michigan, clean~up still ongoing

Enbridge shuts pipeline after yet another U.S. oil spill

Almost two years to the day of the Michigan spill, Enbridge marks the anniversary with another "release of crude oil", this time in Wisconsin. According to an Enbridge Energy Partners media release,

Jul 28, 2012 (Marketwire via COMTEX) --Enbridge Energy Partners, LP (NYSE:EEP) ("the Partnership") reported this afternoon that a release of crude oil from Line 14 has been contained. The site is near Grand Marsh, Wisconsin.

At approximately 2:45 CDT, July 27, 2012 the Enbridge Pipelines Control Center detected a pressure drop on Line 14. Control Center operators shut down and immediately isolated the line. Enbridge emergency crews were promptly deployed to the site.

No one was injured. The oil has been contained on the west side of County Road G in a field, mostly on the pipeline right-of-way. The initial estimate of the volume released is approximately 1200 barrels.

"Enbridge is treating this situation as a top priority," said Richard Adams, vice president, U.S. Operations, Enbridge. "We are bringing all necessary resources to bear. Our immediate focus is on keeping our workers and the public safe as we work to remove the oil and clean up the site."

Enbridge has notified and is working with emergency officials and the appropriate regulators. The cause of the release has not been determined and is being investigated.

At this time, Enbridge does not have an estimated time for restart of the line.

Line 14 is a 24-inch, pipeline with capacity of 317,600 barrels per day, installed in 1998. It predominantly transports light crude oil to Chicago area refineries. It is part of the Partnership''s Lakehead System and owned by Enbridge Energy,Limited Partnership, a subsidiary of the Partnership.

Radical.

Enbridge - stumbling from one disaster to another

Enbridge - Spills and violations

Two Years Later, Kalamazoo River Oil Pipeline Spill Is Nation's Costliest

Alberta Oil Spill Will Take Months To Clean Up

Enbridge handled Michigan spill like 'Keystone Kops,' says U.S. regulator

PHMSA Fines Enbridge Energy Record $3.7 Million

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jason alexander steps into gun debate, takes fire

different model of the ar-15

 Jason Alexander, of  Seinfeld fame, decided to share some of his thoughts regarding the recent tragedy in Aurora, Colorado . As is usually the case when mass shootings occur, the debate between those who call for stricter regulations on guns, and those who oppose them in the name of freedom, escalates. It is no different this time. 


According to Alexander, he commented that he couldn't understand why anyone would support public ownership of assault style weapons like the AR-15.  As expected, his tweet received plenty of attention. He received both positive and not so positive responses. In his TwitLonger (who knew?) post, Alexander does a decent job countering the standard right wing talking points. Talking points such as " But people die in car accidents! They don't take cars away!", and the equally idiotic "People can kill with machetes, too!".  He also takes on their 2nd amendment interpretation and offers his. An interesting read. 

Here is some of Jason's Tweet:  note: Alexander later corrected the "100,000 Americans that die every year" to "100,000 incidents of death or injury with guns per annum."

Clearly, the angry, threatened and threatening, hostile comments are coming from gun owners and gun advocates. Despite these massacres recurring and despite the 100,000 Americans that die every year due to domestic gun violence - these people see no value to even considering some kind of control as to what kinds of weapons are put in civilian hands.

Many of them cite patriotism as their reason - true patriots support the Constitution adamantly and wholly. Constitution says citizens have the right to bear arms in order to maintain organized militias. I'm no constitutional scholar so here it is from the document itself:

As passed by the Congress:
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
As ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State:
"A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed."

So the patriots are correct, gun ownership is in the constitution - if you're in a well-regulated militia. Let's see what no less a statesman than Alexander Hamilton had to say about a militia:

"A tolerable expertness in military movements is a business that requires time and practice. It is not a day, or even a week, that will suffice for the attainment of it. To oblige the great body of the yeomanry, and of the other classes of the citizens, to be under arms for the purpose of going through military exercises and evolutions, as often as might be necessary to acquire the degree of perfection which would entitle them to the character of a well-regulated militia, would be a real grievance to the people, and a serious public inconvenience and loss."

Then there are the tweets from the extreme right - these are the folk who believe our government has been corrupted and stolen and that the forces of evil are at play, planning to take over this nation and these folk are going to fight back and take a stand. And any moron like me who doesn't see it should...
a. be labeled a moron
b. shut the fuck up
c. be removed

And amazingly, I have some minor agreement with these folks. I believe there are evil forces at play in our government. But I call them corporatists. I call them absolutists. I call them the kind of ideologues from both sides, but mostly from the far right who swear allegiance to unelected officials that regardless of national need or global conditions, are never to levy a tax. That they are never to compromise or seek solutions with the other side. That are to obstruct every possible act of governance, even the ones they support or initiate. Whose political and social goal is to marginalize the other side, vilify and isolate them with the hope that they will surrender, go away or die out.

And as I am posting this, the attacks on Jason continue.

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Just in: whack job Karen Handel resigns from Susan G. Komen

ATLANTA — A high-ranking official resigned Tuesday from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure breast-cancer charity after a dispute over whether the group should give funding to Planned Parenthood, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

Karen Handel, the charity’s vice president for public policy, told Komen officials that she supported the move to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood. She said the discussion started before she arrived at the organization and was approved at the highest levels of the charity.

“I am deeply disappointed by the gross mischaracterizations of the strategy, its rationale, and my involvement in it,” Handel said in her letter. “I openly acknowledge my role in the matter and continue to believe our decision was the best one for Komen’s future and the women we serve.”

According to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions, a driving force behind the move was Handel...

Brinker, in an interview with MSNBC, said Handel didn’t have a significant role in the policy change.Handel, a Republican, ran for Georgia governor in 2010, winning an endorsement from former vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Handel then lost a primary runoff to former Georgia Congressman Nathan Deal, who won the general election.

Full text of Handel's resignation.

While I appreciate your raising a possible severance package, I respectfully decline. It is my most sincere hope that Komen is allowed to now refocus its attention and energies on its mission.

Well, at least she won't be taking a huge payout. Then again, if she did, it would only serve to damage SGK's image even further.

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