Category Archives: Viva!

Mike Ditka rips NFL protests: ‘There has been no oppression in the last 100 years’

What would he know about oppression of black-americans? Can’t stand it when supposedly progressive publications pimp with dolts to appear to be “fair.” ASk him about football, yes; race oppression, no!

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  • Hall of Fame coach blast players who demonstrated before games
  • Ditka: ‘If you want to work … I think you can accomplish anything”

Hall of Fame coach Mike Ditka said on Monday that he doesn’t believe there has been oppression in the United States “in the last 100 years”.

The 77-year-old Ditka made the remarks during an interview on Westwood One’s Monday Night Football pregame show when asked about the ongoing wave of NFL players opting to sit or kneel during the national anthem as a way to protest social injustice in America.

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Trump’s Plan to Roll Back the Clean Power Plan Will Kill People

He does not believe he is doing anything wrong because he has not a clue what he is doing except pleasing those who don’t care what they are doing!

Scott Pruitt, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator who made his career off of suing the EPA, has announced that he will sign a rule to roll back President Obama’s central legacy on climate change, the Clean Power Plan. The Clean Power Plan set concrete goals for reducing carbon pollution from power plants that produce our electricity.

Here are five reasons why this roll back is so dangerous.

1. Power plants account for nearly 40% of the United States’ carbon dioxide emissions, which are heating up our atmosphere and leading to more extreme weather events.

2. The EPA estimates that the Clean Power Plan would have prevented 3,600 premature deaths, 1,700 heart attacks, 90,000 asthma attacks, and 300,000 missed days of work or school per year.

3. To repeal the Clean Power Plan, the Trump administration is literally arguing that human beings’ lives and health matter less than the bottom line. That’s heartless and unethical. It’s also wrong. Though fossil fuels are often considered “cheaper” than renewables, that’s because we do not consistently factor in the true societal cost of burning them. Everything from polluted air in cities to the storms and wildfires exacerbated by climate change cost average people a lot of money. We have to pay for damage to our homes, evacuation from disasters, inhalers for our children, heart attacks and illnesses developed after living near power plants, and more. The Obama administration calculated that the Clean Power Plan would be economically beneficial because it took these costs into account. Trump’s EPA wants to take them out of the equation.

4. The people who are the most impacted by climate change and the toxic effects of living near fossil fuel production sites in the United States are mostly low-income, communities of color. Meanwhile, fossil fuel executives would only grow their record profits thanks to fewer restrictions on how much they can pollute our planet while the most marginalized among us pay the consequences.

5. It’s a feminist issue! Around the world, women are more likely to bear the brunt of extreme weather events and less likely to be in the decision-making bodies that control everything from urban planning to foreign climate policy. Blocking bold climate action is another tear in the social safety net that women build and rebuild.

The Trump administration’s proposed repeal likely won’t go down without a legal fight. But let this stand as just one more example of how blatantly the Trump administration is willing to sacrifice the health and safety of Americans for the coffers of their fossil fuel industry cronies — and why it’s vital that all of us fight back.

Header image credit: Union of Concerned Scientists.

I am the woman in the ‘racist Dove ad’. I am not a victim | Lola Ogunyemi | Opinion | The Guardian (Dove screwed up… still)

When Dove offered me the chance to be the face of a new body wash campaign, I jumped. I had no idea I would become the unwitting poster child for racist advertising

Source: I am the woman in the ‘racist Dove ad’. I am not a victim | Lola Ogunyemi | Opinion | The Guardian

Thousands of Israeli, Palestinian women ‘wage peace’ in the desert

The march by Israeli and Palestinian women, demanding that both peoples’ leaders do more for peace, was set to culminate with a protest outside Netanyahu’s residence.

By +972 Magazine Staff

Israeli and Palestinian women from ‘Women Wage Peace’ march near the Dead Sea in the West Bank to demand that their leaders do more for peace, October 8, 2017. (Flash90)

Israeli and Palestinian women from ‘Women Wage Peace’ march near the Dead Sea in the West Bank to demand that their leaders do more for peace, October 8, 2017. (Flash90)

Thousands of Israeli and Palestinian women marched through the West Bank along the Dead Sea on Sunday, part of more than two weeks of a “Journey to Peace” by an organization called Women Wage Peace.

The march, which was held under the banner, “We’re not stopping without an agreement,” was meant to culminate with a protest outside the Israeli Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem later Sunday evening.

Israeli and Palestinian women from ‘Women Wage Peace’ march near the Dead Sea in the West Bank to demand that their leaders do more for peace, October 8, 2017. (Flash90)

Israeli and Palestinian women from ‘Women Wage Peace’ march near the Dead Sea in the West Bank to demand that their leaders do more for peace, October 8, 2017. (Flash90)

Israeli and Palestinian women from ‘Women Wage Peace’ march near the Dead Sea in the West Bank to demand that their leaders do more for peace, October 8, 2017. (Flash90)

Israeli and Palestinian women from ‘Women Wage Peace’ march near the Dead Sea in the West Bank to demand that their leaders do more for peace, October 8, 2017. (Flash90)

Smaller events have been taking place throughout Israel and Palestine for the past two weeks.

Last year a similar march was held in the same area near Jericho. In 2015, Women Wage Peace fasted (in shifts) outside the Israeli Prime Minister’s Residence for 50 days, to mark one year since the 2014 Gaza war.

Israeli and Palestinian women from ‘Women Wage Peace’ march near the Dead Sea in the West Bank to demand that their leaders do more for peace, October 8, 2017. (Flash90)

Israeli and Palestinian women from ‘Women Wage Peace’ march near the Dead Sea in the West Bank to demand that their leaders do more for peace, October 8, 2017. (Flash90)

Israeli and Palestinian women from ‘Women Wage Peace’ march near the Dead Sea in the West Bank to demand that their leaders do more for peace, October 8, 2017. (Flash90)

Israeli and Palestinian women from ‘Women Wage Peace’ march near the Dead Sea in the West Bank to demand that their leaders do more for peace, October 8, 2017. (Flash90)

Puerto Rico Still Struggling To Get Supplies To Towns In Need

Puerto Rico Still Struggling To Get Supplies To Towns In Need

It’s been nearly three weeks since Hurricane Maria ravaged Puerto Rico, depriving most of the island of its electricity, cell service, infrastructure, and drinking water. And though the local government is finally able to deliver supplies to localities outside the main city of San Juan, residents say they’re not getting water and other goods to people in need fast enough, prompting Puerto Rico’s governor to proclaim there’ll be “hell to pay” if distributors hold food and water hostage. [ more › ]

Banana Republic Manager Fired After Allegedly Calling Black Employee’s Braids Too ‘Urban’: Gothamist

“This week, one of our store managers questioned an African American employee’s braided hair style. Our team began an immediate investigation and the manager involved was promptly removed from the store. Today we concluded the investigation and can confirm that the manager has been terminated from the company,” Banana Republic spokersperson Sheikina Liverpool said. “Banana Republic has zero tolerance for discrimination. This situation was completely unacceptable, counter to our policies, and in no way reflects our company’s beliefs and values.”

Source: Banana Republic Manager Fired After Allegedly Calling Black Employee’s Braids Too ‘Urban’: Gothamist