democracy – Page 3

The Koch Brothers Exposed: It’s Time To Quarantine Their Corporate Sickness That’s Infecting Democracy

March 22, 2011 by CPP

The Koch brothers have contributed nearly $50 million to organizations that deny climate change. In total, they have spent over $324 million dollars for political gain. They are undermining democracy, and the fight to establish a sustainable world for our children and grandchildren, with their dirty money.

Common Cause, which is leading the campaign to unmask the secretive brothers and their war against democracy, put it this way:

“Our take is that Americans are suffering. They’re out of jobs, losing their homes, unable to afford health care and worried about the future. Meanwhile, an elite few like the Kochs are taking tighter control of our government by tapping vast corporate profits to influence public policy…This infection of the body politic is driven by a handful of big corporations and greedy billionaires like the Koch brothers.

Be part of the cure! Help us quarantine this corporate sickness and stop it from spreading further and deeper into our democracy.“

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g78ZKT-uMs]

How do you and I boycott the Koch brothers, to hit them where it hurts them the most, in their pocket books? While their major holdings are difficult to boycott, other than promotion of clean energy and environmental laws (which is why they have been using their money to fund politicians and astroturf groups that oppose these common-sense proposals), here is a list of products that you should never buy again:

Angel Soft toilet paper

Brawny paper towels

Dixie plates, bowls, napkins and cups

Mardi Gras napkins and towels

Quilted Northern toilet paper

Soft ‘n Gentle toilet paper

Sparkle napkins

Vanity fair napkins

Zee napkins

Georgia-Pacific paper products and envelopes

All Georgia-Pacific lumber and building products, including:

Dense Armor Drywall and Decking

ToughArmor Gypsum board

Georgia pacific Plytanium Plywood

Flexrock

Densglass sheathing

G/P Industrial plasters (some products used by a lot of crafters)

FibreStrong Rim board

G/P Lam board

Blue Ribbon OSB Rated Sheathing

Blue Ribbon Sub-floor

DryGuard Enhanced OSB

Nautilus Wall Sheathing

Thermostat OSB Radiant Barrier Sheathing

Broadspan Engineered Wood Products

XJ 85 I-Joists

FireDefender Banded Cores

FireDefender FS

FireDefender Mineral Core

Hardboard and Thin MDF including Auto Hardboard

Perforated Hardboard and Thin MDF

Wood Fiberboard
Commercial Roof Fiberboard
Hushboard Sound Deadening Board
Regular Fiberboard Sheathing
Structural Fiberboard Sheathing

INVISTA Products:

COMFOREL® fiberfill
COOLMAX® fabric
CORDURA® fabric
DACRON® fiber
POLYSHIELD® resin
SOLARMAX® fabric
SOMERELLE® bedding products
STAINMASTER® carpet
SUPPLEX® fabric
TACTEL® fiber
TACTESSE® carpet fiber
TERATE® polyols
TERATHANE® polyether glycol
THERMOLITE® fabric
PHENREZ® resin
POLARGUARD® fiber and
LYCRA® fiber

For more information, go to How You Can Boycott the Kochs or find the “Boycott and Defeat the Kochs” page on Facebook – it now has nearly 18,000 members.

More links:

Go to Kochbrothersexposed.com to learn more about the Brave New Foundation’s campaign, and to become a producer by donating $25 or more.

Money in Politics: About the Koch Brothers

Koch Brothers Feel the Heat in D.C., as Broad Coalition Readies Creative Action To Quarantine the Billionaires Gathering in California Desert

Senator Scott Brown begs David Koch for Money

Les Miz Echoes Through The Wisconsin Rotunda

March 4, 2011 by CPP

Les Mis in the Rotunda of the Wisconsin capital:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVEMZSP8Ypk&feature=player_embedded]

Here are the words, slightly adjusted for the situation:

Do you hear the people sing,
singing the songs of working men?
It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again.
When the beating of your heart
echoes the beating of the drums,
there is a life about to start when tomorrow comes.

Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Beyond the mass parade, is there a world you long to see? Then join in the fight that will give you the right to be free.

Then join in the fight
That will give you the right to be free!

Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!

Will you dedicate your all so that our freedom may advance?
Some will stand and some will fall.
Will you stand up and take your chance?
Let’s fill the Rotunda
’til everyone joins in the chants.

The Koch brothers, notorious fossil fuel billionaires who have actively worked to undermine democracy in general and action on climate change specifically, are big supporters of Governor Walker of Wisconsin, who is attempting to push through a union-busting bill using the excuse of a budget emergency. The fight in Wisconsin is shining more light on these nefarious brothers and their money.

The Growing Movement to Address Climate Change: It’s About Human Rights and Democracy

August 24, 2010 by Christine

Paul Hawken, author, entrepreneur, and environmentalist, has spent over a decade researching organizations dedicated to restoring the environment and fostering social justice. In the video below, he talks at the 2006 Bioneers conference about how the largest movement in the world has come into being, and why no one saw it coming. Like nature itself, Hawken says, this movement is organizing from the bottom up, in every city, town, and culture, and it might be our salvation:

It is my belief that we are part of a movement that is greater and deeper and broader than we ourselves know or can know…It is nonviolent. It is grassroots. It has no cluster bombs, no armies, and no helicopters. It has no central ideology. A male vertebrate is not in charge….This unnamed movement is the most diverse movement the world has ever seen…It is global, classless, unquenchable, and tireless. The shared understanding is arising spontaneously from different economic sectors, cultures, regions, and cohorts. It is growing and spreading world wide without no exception. It has many roots but primarily the origins are indigenous cultures, and environmental and social justice movements…This is no longer or simply about resources, or infractions, or injustice. This is a civil rights movement, a human rights movement, this is a democracy movement. It is the coming world…We do not know how big this movement is. It is marked by kinship, community, and symbiosis…There is no precedent for what we are doing…This is the first time on earth that a powerful, non-ideological movement has arisen..During the span of the 20th century big ideologies dominated… “Ideologies stalk the earth clad in armour”… We were told that salvation would be found in the domination of a single system. This is where salvation will be found. We know that as biologists. We know that as community organizers. We know that as ecologists. Salvation is found in diversity. This movement is humanity’s immune response to resist and heal political disease, economic infection, and ecological corruption caused by ideologies… It is about possibilities and solutions. Humankind knows what to do.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzMPUKAXM7U]

Canada’s Climate Bill Passed By Majority of Parliamentarians May Be Blocked By Unelected Conservative Senators

June 7, 2010 by Christine

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has long been a proponent of an elected senate. In the Canadian system, senators are selected by the Prime Minister. Traditionally, the Senate has been referred to as the “chamber of sober second thought”, but it has the same powers as the House of Commons except that it can not introduce legislation related to the raising or spending of money. Although the approval of both the Senate and the House of Commons is necessary for legislation, historically the Senate rarely rejects bills passed by the directly elected Commons.

Now that Mr. Harper finds himself in the position of being able to appoint senators, although he’s the PM of a minority, not a majority, government, he has made over 30 senate appointments, changing the face of the upper chamber. The Conservatives now hold a plurality in the senate, and are poised to be one senator away from a majority when Harper replaces independent Senator Micheal Pitfield, who retired last week.

And that means Bill C311, The Climate Accountability Act, which was passed by the majority of Members of Parliament in the House of Commons in May, may be voted down by unelected senators who represent a minority government. It doesn’t sound very democratic, does it?

If you agree, please take the time to send senators a message about respecting the wishes of Canadians. A nanos research poll from early May shows that Canadians ranked global warming as the number one issue they wanted addressed at the G8/G20 meetings in Toronto in a few weeks. Yet we have a minority Prime Minister who says that the economy trumps “everything”, almost as if he doesn’t recognize that we, or more accurately our children, have to live on the planet once we’ve trashed it in the name of “the economy”. And his Senate House Leader, Senator Marjorie LeBreton, has said that the Conservative government isn’t supportive of this bill because they have already addressed concerns about climate change, which is more Conservative PR spin with no substance.

What is a Canadian who is concerned about the environment, and who would like to ensure their children’s future is secure and bright, to do? The most important thing that you can do right now is to contact Canadian senators, particularly Conservative senators, and let them know you that you want them to pass Bill C311. For contact info and sample letters, and more steps to take, go to my “Action Not Apathy” page for information and links.