Katie McDonough of Salon dislikes Kmart’s Joe Boxer male underwear ad#showyourjoe because it’s too overtly sexual for her taste, and she wonders about metal testicles. The booty shaking didn’t bother me – most popular musicals have way more spice in their dance routines.
When I watched the 1 minute commercial, what I noticed was that the only dude with speaking lines and the guy with the most shakes, was the single Black man out of a field of 6. Naturally, I asked myself – is this commercial racist? I’d love to know what you think.read more
Friend Carl Sharif tells this wonderful story of elder wisdom transmitted to him as a youth that speaks to the meaning of God’s words and how they apply to our lives on multiple levels:
I grew up in the Christian Church and my father (Deacon P. Dawson) was Chairman of the Deacon Board and quite a student of the bible. I will never forget a discussion he had with me when I was a very young boy.
I once asked him about the 10 commandments and he recited them to me. When he got to “Thou shall not kill” I was terrified. I thought of all the ants that I had stepped on, mosquitoes I had swatted and other major act of murder I had committed and was really scared that G_D was going to get me. He sensed my youthful concern and here is what he said to me:read more
Police are harassing African American men in a Detroit suburb, and investigative journalist Steve Neavling has video clips and a photo of the abuse. Neavling reports in his blog, Motor City Muckraker.
“Most of the videos are shot from squad cars while African American men are told to sing or “dance like a chimp.”
On Thursday, November 14 2013, the Grosse Pointe Park Public Safety Department was contacted by an individual who said that he was in possession of video clips and a photo of African American males. The video clips and photo are allegedly made by an officer of this department. The department has begun an internal investigation of this matter. The Grosse Pointe Park Public Safety Department does not tolerate unprofessional conduct by its officers when interacting with any citizen they may come in contact with.read more
In Bahia Blanca, Argentina, a man named Claudio Del Valle bought at foreclosure auction the house of a woman whose family was under order of eviction, and returned it to her.
Silvina Corzo and her two sons were on the verge of homelessness and were very distressed. The Banco de La Pampa had ordered their house at 1647 Enrique Julio to be auctioned off. Seconds after the auctioneer accepted Mr. Claudio Del Valle’s offer of 71 thousand pesos for the property, Mr. Del Valle approached Silvina and told her, “Don’t worry. I purchased the house for you.”read more
Christie made a big stink when Barbara Buono said New Jersey didn’t want to see Christie frolicking on the beach, claiming his opponent’s comment was an oblique reference to his weight. Is the big man going to cry “foul” to Time magazine now, which boldly portrays Christie on its current cover along with caption, “The Elephant In the Room”?
Everyone knows I have the best Facebook friends. Today, one of them wrote a few true and important words about the upcoming election – so, I hope you’re paying attention! Cynthia Oneday Flood says:
November 5th is the election for GOVERNOR..BRING ANYBODY 18 AND OVER OUT TO VOTE. THIS IS TOO IMPORTANT. YOU SEE WHAT THEY (Republicans like Christie) HAVE BEEN DOING ALL OVER THIS COUNTRY…
I do not think people understand the magnitude of this election. I have been watching it since day one. Governor Christie has allied with some Democrats just so they can get both the house and Senate. He is aligning himself for the Presidential run in 2016. He does not truly care about bi partisan alies to help the people of New Jersey. He will use them and throw them to the side once this election is over. The true issue is that the working poor, our veterans, our seniors, our children and our people will suffer even more should he be re- elected. We MUST vote Democracts in. Barbara Buono must and should be our next Governor. We must deliver on our Promise to our President.we need Democract in both the house and Senate. We need a Democract as Governor. All those Democracts who left their political party to support Republicans must be voted out. we have enough Democracts in New Jersey to vote them out. You have to vote Nov 5, 2013.read more
The Newark Students Union (NSU) organized a massive 1,000 student walkout last April and on Monday Nov 4, they will stage another mass boycott demanding that quality education be returned to Newark. The students want Gov. Christie to fund schools at court ordered levels and to repair school buildings, which are currently unsafe – two legal obligations which Christie has refused to honor. Spread the word about the rally and be there if you can. The social media hashtag is #npsboycott.
Boycott & Rally to Protest Gov. Christie’s Control of Newark Public Schools
November 4 2013 @ 9am
30 Clinton Street in Newark NJread more
We can vote early in NJ even though we don’t have what is technically called “early voting,” because we can vote by paper ballot. There are three ways to vote early the week before Election Day:
Mail in the Application to Vote by Mail.
Application must be received by the Tuesday before Election Day (7 days before Election Day).
Your paper ballot will be delivered to you by the USPS.
Fill out and send back the paper ballot by USPS, and your 100% full-fledged, legal vote will be cast.
To be counted, the ballot must be received by the Board of Elections by 8pm on Election Day.
Most New Jersey voters do not need to show ID when voting. However, if you are a first-time New Jersey voter who registered by mail, and election officials could not verify your identifying numbers (your New Jersey driver’s license or ID number or the last four digits of your Social Security number), you will have to provide proof of identification, either at the polls or anytime before Election Day.
Sufficient proof of identity includes any current and valid photo ID, or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, car registration, non-photo driver’s license, rent receipt, sample ballot, utility bill (including cell phone and student housing bills), or other government document that shows the name and address of the voter. Brennan Center for Justiceread more
I have developed some tools to help motivate people to vote in this important election. In this post are Vote Pledge Cards you can download – they are a major component of the toolkit. And this is the GOTV plan in a nutshell (as of 10 days before the election):
The goal for this week is to get people thinking and talking about voting in New Jersey. Talking about putting a governor and other elected officials in office who will help us bring back our cities … about how and where they’re going to cast their vote … and about how WE CAN VOTE OURSELVES A RAISE this election. Voters who are busy or have children to watch, might want to consider which voting option makes most sense for them.
To find out where your vote polling location is, check your voter registration card, Look it up online or call your town/city clerk.
Do you need a ride or can you give one?
Here are the voting options New Jersey voters have:
Voters can mail applications to Vote by Mail until Monday Oct 28. Mailed applications need to be in their County Clerk’s office by Tuesday Oct 29.
Through Monday Oct 28, voters can mail in Vote by Mail applications. If the application arrives at the County Clerk’s office by Tuesday Oct 29, a BALLOT will be mailed to their home.
Through Tuesday Oct 29, voters can drop Vote by Mail applications off to their County Clerk and get a BALLOT mailed to their home.
Until 3pm on Monday Nov 4 (day before Election Day) voters can obtain Vote by Mail BALLOTS at the County Clerk’s office;
And through Tuesday Nov 5 (Election Day) Vote by Mail BALLOTS obtained in person or through the mail can be handed in at the County Board of Elections office.
Remember, a Vote by Mail BALLOT vote is counted as a regular vote in exactly the same way a vote cast in a polling place voting machine is counted.
Voters can vote at the polls on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov 5.
Vote Pledge Cards
Start a conversation about voting with friends, family and anyone else you chat with by asking them to pledge to vote by filling in a VOTE PLEDGE CARD (pdf). The cards are conveniently arranged 4 on a sheet for easy printing and cutting.
NJ 2013 Vote Pledge Cards 4 on sheet for printing
Will remind people they can vote themselves a raise this election by voting YES on Question 2 to raise the minimum wage to $8.25/hr (about $2000 per year).
Vote Pledge Cards will help people think through when and where they’re going to cast their vote.
They will help you capture contact information and reach out to make sure people fill in their Vote by Mail BALLOT when it arrives and send them back right away, or think through when and how they will vote in person at the County Clerk’s office or at the polls.
Vote Pledge Cards will help connect people with a ride to vote if they need one.
They will identify drivers who can bring voters to the County Clerk’s Office to vote, and who can help with GOTV on Nov 5.
Vote Pledge Cards will help identify canvassers who are available work on door to door GOTV (Get Out The Vote) from Friday Nov 1 through Tuesday Nov 5.
On Election Day, we will be doing door to door GOTV, reminding people to vote and offering rides to the polls to as many people as possible. Remember to ask pledges if they can help and to contact @ivanwei or @kimiwei when you identify someone who wants to volunteer!
Chicago burlesque dancer Michelle L’Amour does a brilliant take on Beethoven: she twerks to his music, booty neatly adorned in a little silver bowtie. Brilliant!
If I weren’t a publicly declared greenie, and I were rich, I could probably pilot one of Terrafugia’s flying cars when they hit the airways about two years from now. Hmmmm, two years! Gives me plenty of time to think this through … must be some way to make flying a car sound environmentally friendly and get rich at the same time …
I can’t find the complaint I posted on First Jersey Credit Union‘s Facebook page about needing help after trying for months to unsubscribe from USPS mailings but not being able to, so I guess they deleted it. But my post did its job and I got a call from my branch manager today.
I had already phoned about this issue a couple of times and been told there was nothing anyone could do to help me. I insisted because I’m a greenie and want to save trees and then back in July, one lady gave me the number to their IT vendor and told me to call them for help. I didn’t, though, mostly because I don’t get paid to troubleshoot the CU’s website issues.read more
County-by-county voter data for special NJ Senate election on Oct. 16, 2013 shows how NJ voted in today’s $24 million special election designed to make sure Cory Booker won without Christie losing. Counties showing more blue had greater support for Democratic candidate Cory Booker. Counties showing more red had greater support for Republican Steve Lonegan.
