Don’t cry for MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, sports fans. Sure, this year’s MLB All-Star Game posted its worst ratings in history. But poor ticket sales aren’t the only thing on Selig’s mind. The calls are getting louder and louder for Selig to move next year’s All-Star Game from Phoenix in protest of Arizona’s controversial immigration law – SB 1070 – yet he doesn’t think baseball fans have the power to influence the decision.

Selig told Sports Illustrated that the situation “will be solved in the political process at the appropriate time … we’ll do things when baseball can influence decisions.” However, fans know that while a few innings in a ballgame might have little effect on history, the movement leading up to it can have a incredible effect on public opinion and put forth a dramatic message.

This Tuesday, Wisconsin’s own Voces de la Frontera joined MoveTheGame.org in organizing crowds of Milwaukeeans outside Selig’s office, with Jacqueline Baumgart (formerly Jackie Mattson) a catcher for the Kenosha Comets (1950-1951, All American Girls Professional Baseball League) to send him the message that fans won’t stand for anti-immigration stances that demonize minorities. The collective national fan voice is pretty loud: over 100,000 fans have signed up at MoveTheGame.org, supporting the cause.

And they’re not the only ones. Three top performing players (Jose Valverde of the Detroit Tigers, Yovani Gallardo of the Milwaukee Brewers and Joakim Soria of the Kansas City Royals) have already made it their intention to boycott the game if it continues as planned. I know. That’s huge, right?

Moreover, Voces de la Frontera’s launched a drive to encourage native Milwaukeean Bud Selig to make the right decision. You can join them signing the petition, asking Bud Selig’s office to ask for the game to be moved.

Dozens of players, officials, managers believe that SB 1070 not only will have disastrous consequences on the players of Hispanic origin but on the country at large. “Conventions and major sporting events are huge revenue generators for states,” Melanie Benesh of Voces de la Frontera said, “so it was logical to push for the boycott of the all-star game, especially because many major league players are immigrants (especially from Mexico, Dominican Republic and Venezuela).” Since Selig is from Milwaukee, the action has both a local and national impact, as Voces de la Frontera coordinated with national groups to ensure that their message gets heard.

Why is it so important to move the game from Arizona? In 1987, Arizona Governor Evan Mecham cancelled the state’s Martin Luther King holiday, which caused the NFL to vote to move the Super Bowl from Phoenix. Effectively, this boycott, among the many others that occurred, cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in tourism and commerce revenue. Soon after the holiday was restored, the NFL decided to host the Super Bowl in Phoenix.

Major League Baseball has the unique opportunity to create dramatic change and stand behind the beliefs and desires of players, their families and their fans in moving the 2011 All-Star Game from Phoenix and making a definitive statement that organized sports cannot afford to overlook laws that have such profound and disastrous effects.  For more information about Voces’ campaign, click here.

CJ and our friends at the Tunnel Builder Institute are starting the new year strong for us: a two part video interview with LisaRaye McCoy about what she’s doing in communities to bring change to them.

Check em out below:

Heather Box and Jayme Montgomery on Davey D’s Hard Knock Radio

Check out this interview about COP15 and the talks in Copenhagen, aired on 12/17/2009 on Davey D’s Hard Knock Radio. Jayme and Heather talk about the mood of the conference as well as some of the intense protests they saw. Hard Knock Radio airs every day at 4PM on KPFA: check out the page for the show here!

Also, check out this clip from Heather, interviewed on 12/18/2009 on the KPFA Morning Show:

Heather Box on the KPFA Morning Show – 12/18/09

Heather talks about the general atmosphere in Copenhagen and the mood after President Obama’s speech about the climate negotiations. The KPFA Morning Show airs every weekday at 7:00 AM Pacific time on KPFA: check out the page for the show here!

I’m starting to realize that some of my favorite songs have really boring and goofy subject matter. Take, for instance, Boys of Summer by Don Henley. Catchy ass song, no real meaning. Let’s face it, it’s making me feel guilty.

As a result, I’ve been getting amped up when I hear about music that confronts the real issues in our lives today. Check out this post, which came over the lines at Wiretap:

Anyone looking for artists that express the current struggle for immigrants’ rights will find that My America, a benefit CD for the movie “Papers,” does a particularly good job. The CD was put together by Molina Soleil and Aju, a music duo from Denver, CO that specializes in their own multilingual fusion of jazz, soul and hip-hop.

Check out more over at Wiretap!

91 years ago today, in 1918, an armistice was signed to end the first World War. One year later, President Woodrow Wilson declared the first Armistice Day, to commemorate the event. Within ten years, the holiday would become our modern Veterans Day: “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace”.

In the aftermath of the horrible Fort Hood shootings, it becomes necessary for us to take a step back and really express our gratitude to those who give of themselves on a daily basis to protect our very lives. As we fight wars on all sides of the world, take a moment today to remember those who have given their lives for our freedom.

This isn’t a progressive or a conservative issue: this is just the right thing to do.

(Sung to the tune of Gilligan’s Island)

Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale,
a tale of some gruesome shit,
about what happens when you load some trash
atop a mighty ship.

In all seriousness, what you’re about to hear is absolutely disgusting. Roughly 1000 miles north of Hawaii, islands are developing from the trash and waste that humans generate. These islands are created by objects such as toothbrushes and bottle caps that have accumulated in the ocean over the course of modern history. Trash accumulates in these islands, it seems, due to ocean gyres – “an area of heavy currents and slack winds that keep the trash swirling in a giant whirlpool.”

And how big are these islands? Roughly, double the size of Texas. We think. See, there’s a big problem. Scientists don’t really have a way as of yet to determine how big it is, or if there are others like it. It’s not quite as fabled as the Loch Ness Monster, but at least as dangerous. Plastic, a core element of these trash islands, takes in toxins such as DDT “like a sponge”. Sea creatures eat it and it becomes a huge wrench in the food chain.

So what are people doing to reverse this? Good question. Cleanup groups are developing creative ways to get rid of the trash that has developed in these islands. One of these efforts has the goal of turning the plastic from these islands into diesel fuel. All the groups agree with one factor though: this trash is getting stinky and we’ve gotta do something about it.

Check out more about the tropical trash islands over at the New York Times.

We tend to do a lot of talking here about greening yourself. Let’s face it, it’s not easy.

A lot of the time, people perceive greening their lifestyles as difficult, financially cumbersome with negligible returns. To reverse a societal norm is damn near impossible, so we’ve got our work cut out for us. This raises an eternally interesting question, however. Does working in an ecofriendly workplace or a green job help one develop a greener personality?

According to a recent NY Times blog, there seems to be no conducive evidence as of yet – research is still relatively new on the subject – but there are many case studies of this actually happening. Take – for instance – a graduate of Solar Richmond, Wayne Gatlin:

“I’m getting greener,” said Mr. Gatlin, who earns far more as a photovoltaics installer for the Berkeley-based Sun Light & Power than he did working security or selling shoes at an Adidas retail store.

“I recycle now,” Mr. Gatlin said. “I ride my bike. This was stuff I wouldn’t do before.”

I can personally say that ever since starting to work at 99Problems.org and The League, I’ve been trying to green my lifestyle with little things: using public transportation whenever possible, bringing my lunch to work in plastic containers rather than paper bags, trying to buy sustainable products… things like that.

What about you? Is your work life conducive to a greener lifestyle?

In Iran, a student named Mahmoud Vahidnia was heralded as an unlikely hero last week, for a stunning act of bravery that shook the country’s youth to the core. His action? Speaking truth to power, in person.

That’s right: he’s being lauded for his bravery for speaking up and dissenting with the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at a public forum event. According to a report by the Huffington Post, openly criticizing the Ayatollah is a crime in Iran, punishable by imprisonment. Vahidnia openly lambasted the state-run media’s perspectives on the Ayatollah as well as the Ayatollah’s history of violence against youth protesters.

He faced significant resistance at the event:

“Vahidnia, a gold medalist at the country’s National Math Olympics two years ago, told the pro-opposition Alef Web site that officials at first barred him from speaking, but Khamenei apparently allowed him to go ahead. He said he was interrupted several times by the event’s moderator who insisted they were out of time.”

In the echo-chamber of critique that is the political blogosphere, it’s easy to lose the plot and forget how valuable our right to speak truth to power is. Vahidnia is definitely an inspirational figure and we hope that he stands in no danger after his heroic act. Check out more about this incredible story over at The Huffington Post.

Last night, Jon Stewart managed to dedicate ten minutes to making fun of Glenn Beck… as Glenn Beck. Here’s the deal: Glenn Beck has appendicitis, but Jon Stewart thinks there’s something deeper there. There’s more than just his appendix pulling the strings… perhaps a conspiracy!

This is a MUST watch video: check it below.

For the 350 Day of Action – that our friends at the League participated in over at ShutUpWindmill.com – The Ministry of Trying To Do Something About it have.. well.. done something about it.

In true clever form, they created a Carbon Ration Book for distribution, kind of like what was done during World War 2 for various resources such as milk, butter, eggs.

You’re given a set number of carbon credits per month and when you use them up – by, say, driving around or taking a flight – you’re done. It definitely can be an aid to help us put our waste in perspective.

Also, they look pretty awesome. Check out a quote from the creators below:

Here’s something. The Ministry of Trying to Do Something About It have issued ration books so you can play your part in transforming our world into a cleaner and more equitable place – and make yourself a good deal happier along the way. Whilst small actions can lead to change, our ration book shows that a significant shift in the way we live our lives and reducing the sheer amount of stuff we consume is needed. …

Make active choices and change your habits. You might even find that consuming less opens a whole new world of possibilities. With determination, good cheer and your help we can create a safer, fairer world. A planet we’re proud to pass on to future generations.

Check out the Ministry Of Trying To Something About It here.

Did your parents ever yell at you for wasting electricity? You know, for keeping the TV and the radio on at the same time? Or not turning your light off when you leave a room? Mine did. I was the child of a thrifty family.

So, naturally, this would drive my mother to drink: apparently, there is so much energy being generated by wind and nuclear power, that electricity has become ‘cheaper to use than free’ for certain people. Check this:

In west Texas and Illinois, when the wind blows at night and nuclear plants run around-the-clock, power generators produce more electricity than people need. This oversupply “has forced electricity prices into the negative range,” an expert explains—meaning that some customers are paid to use electricity.

Energy companies are experimenting with ways to store this excess energy, such as with compressed air. Pacific Gas and Energy can be done by “pumping compressed air into an underground reservoir, using mainly wind energy produced during non-peak hours, and then release it to generate electricity during periods of peak demand”. However, it’s going to take 5 years to develop this technology. As of now, there’s no technology in place, so all of this energy is going to waste. Is this drastically unsustainable? What do you think?

When it comes to smart, funny television, Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart run neck and neck in the race for the lead. In a brilliant piece of satire and biting television, last night’s Colbert Report took on Insurance Companies. Absolutely genius:

I’m gonna digress for a second. Instead of simply asking what you think and sending this piece out to pasture, I’ll present you with some commentary that a “for-serious” pundit actually spit onto the airwaves.

When you’re going to have to make a decision because we can’t afford good healthcare for everybody, somebody’s not going to get a kidney transplant. Somebody’s not going to get heart surgery. Somebody’s not going to get kidney dialysis. Somebody’s not going to get that surgery. Who’s it going to be? Is it going to be the Millennial that doesn’t give a flying crap about anybody else but themselves because they’re special, look at all the trophies they won?

That was an actual recent quote from your favorite pundit and mine: Glenn Beck.

I find it ironic that Beck can go spout this sort of nonsense when youth are so engaged in the health care debate, as activists for a hundred different youth driven organizations or in more passive roles, as a segment of the American citizenry facing some of the highest rates of unemployment and lack of healthcare coverage.

Think about it this way: many young people are voting their confidence in progressive health care reform by consistently watching programs, such as The Daily Show and Colbert Report, which are lately discussing health reform every other night. These young people keep coming back: Jon Stewart isn’t the most trusted man in news for nothin’.

Alas, I’m taking a long road to a short conclusion: as much as the ‘RAWR I’M LOUD’ pundits like to say young people aren’t engaged, you and I – the engaged young people – know we are. We’re living with the health care crisis some like to think only exists in “REAL America” – the America where everyone has two-and-a-half kids, a picket fence, a dog and a yard – which is insulting and degrading to the diverse ranks of our society. But hey, you knew that.

My art is a medicine for the community. You can’t heal the land until you heal the minds of the people.

-Tyree Guyton

Despite classifications of Detroit as an ‘urban wasteland’, I can’t help but disagree.

Maybe it’s blindness, optimism or stupidity but the concept of a city becoming a wasteland while people live there confounds me.

Nevertheless, countless articles refer to Detroit as a shadow of it’s former self. A dead zone. This past week, over 9,000 properties were auctioned off by the city – with many not even being picked up.

Taken together, the properties seized by tax collectors for arrears and put up for sale last week represented an area the size of New York’s Central Park. Total vacant land in Detroit now occupies an area almost the size of Boston, according to a Detroit Free Press estimate.

However, a wasteland is dead. Detroit is not. Against the odds, there remains an energy in the city. The picture above is from The Heidelberg Project: a street filled with vacant houses that were decorated into a large art project by those in the neighborhood. Tyree Guyton and his family, seeing the city ravaged by the Detroit riots in 1986, Guyton transformed the ravaged street into a giant art installation: one that is just as important almost 25 years later.

Check it below:

Tyree Guyton and The Heidelberg Project remain an incredible inspiration for our hard hit times. By transforming the landscape, Guyton has pushed the greater public to get involved and invest their time and effort in neighborhoods that are the hardest hit. But I can let the folks at the Heidelberg Project tell you about that in their own words:

“The Heidelberg Project offers a forum for ideas, a seed of hope, and a bright vision for the future. It’s about taking a stand to save forgotten neighborhoods. It’s about helping people think outside the box and it’s about offering solutions. It’s about healing communities through art – and it’s working!”

What commercials do you remember? One of them – which is kinda before my time – is the Apple “1984″ commercial. About 25 years ago, a commercial came out symbolizing Apple as a ‘change from the ordinary’. Today, it seems, commercials are pushing the envelope a bit more: in England, a climate change ad is on the chopping block due to content that is “scaring kids”.

According to Treehugger,

The premise is simple enough: it’s a British TV ad designed to get adults’ attention and to highlight the importance of acting to stop climate change. It shows a father reading a bedtime story about global warming to his daughter. The story comes to life, showing starving, crying cartoon bunny rabbits and drowning dogs–and the daughter is terrified.

Check it:

Is it too scary? Or just scary enough?

If there’s something I personally hate, it’s when people abuse their power to accomplish their own personal vendettas. When TV hosts, politicians and famous people use their social standing to attack topics they have no right or basis to speak about. Especially when that topic is love.

This is why it makes my blood boil when discrimination about marriage or sexuality comes into play. When someone beats their definition of marriage as ‘it was in the bible’ into law, knowing this because they are religious and white, it undermines the progress towards unity that we’ve made over the past 50 years.

Frankly, some of these people know about as much about ‘traditional marriage’ as Falcon “Balloon Boy” Heene knows about flying – basically nothing.

Nevertheless, bigots pushing their own dated views are nothing new. Let’s take a look at a Justice of the Peace who denies marriage licenses for interracial couples and a bunch of politicians who are calling for a Department of Education appointee to be kicked out because he is.. wait for it.. gay. Stay tuned, after the jump.

Keith Bardwell, a justice of the peace in Louisiana, has repeatedly broken the law by refusing to marry interracial couples. His argument: we have to save the children!

“There is a problem with both groups accepting a child from such a marriage…” Bardwell said, “I just don’t believe in mixing the races that way.” But it’s okay, settle down folks! He’s not a racist – he invites people of all races into his house! “I have piles and piles of black friends. They come to my home, I marry them, they use my bathroom. I treat them just like everyone else.”

Yes, that’s right. Even his bathroom.

But as if that story didn’t make you eerily uncomfortable, here’s something that might: politicians in the house are calling for the firing of Kevin Jennings – the “safe schools czar” – because he “lacks ethical standards.” Oh, and cause he’s gay.

I repeat: politicians are calling for Kevin Jennings’ firing because he is gay.

Here’s the reasoning for it:

As the founder of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Mr. Jennings has played an integral role in promoting homosexuality and pushing a pro-homosexual agenda in America’s schools-an agenda that runs counter to the values that many parents desire to instill in their children. As evidence of this, Mr. Jennings wrote the foreword for a book titled Queering Elementary Education: Advancing the Dialogue About Sexualities and Schooling. Throughout his career, Mr. Jennings has made it his mission to establish special protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered students to the exclusion of all other students. The totality of Mr. Jennings’ career has been to advocate for public affirmation of homosexuality. There is more to safe and drug free schools than can be accomplished from the narrow view of Mr. Jennings who has, for more than 20 years, almost exclusively focused on promoting the homosexual agenda.

People who spread hate like this make my blood boil.

Let me be clear: I have no problem with personal or spiritual viewpoints, but when people start to force their undeniably internal positions on others’ clear rights, they start to damage the fabric of our country. Even as someone who was raised in a religious household, I see the obvious and glaring error in defending this sort of posturing by hiding behind God.

But again, maybe I have as much right to talk about these things as ol’ Falcon Heene. What do you think?

As far back as I can remember, water was a right, and right there for the drinking. When I was a kid, I would turn the knob and cool, clear H2O would just come out, as much as I could want.

Water covers 71% of the Earth’s surface and is recognized as one of the absolutely essential elements in the development of life as we know it…meaning without water, we wouldn’t be here. Due to climate change, that staple of human life is becoming a bit harder to come by.

Check this factoid from the EPA:

All regions of the world show an overall net negative impact of climate change on water resources and freshwater ecosystems. Areas in which runoff is projected to decline are likely to face a reduction in the value of the services provided by water resources. The beneficial impacts of increased annual runoff in other areas are likely to be tempered in some areas by negative effects of increased precipitation variability and seasonal runoff shifts on water supply, water quality and flood risks (IPCC, 2007)

This means that due to climate change, water is becoming a precious commodity. While over 90 percent of the world delivers water as a public utility, water privatization is on the rise in poorer countries and now in stressed areas of the US, as the climate of our planet steadily changes.

By 2013, thirty six states will experience some sort of water shortage. And the enterprising businessmen of America would love to step in and charge us to supply fresh water, even though the industrial pollution of our waterways (often by the same businessmen who support privatization) is a primary factor in the climate change that is leading to these water shortages!

The effects of privatization on lower income communities are drastic. Water bills skyrocket and invariably, the city runs dry. Check this real life story, entitled “Water Warriors”:

You’d think that if you’re paying high prices for a substance as fundamental as water that it’d be pristine and non-toxic. According to a recent report by the New York Times, that isn’t always true. Forty percent of community water systems have violated the Safe Drinking Water Act on – at least – one occasion, which is a startling factor.

So, we could look at it this way: we could purchase overpriced, potentially polluted water from multinational corporations or we could urge the administration to rexamine and come down on climate change profiteers, who purchase and poison the water systems of our communities.

Some things are too priceless to sell, and it is an affront to all Americans that we would be required to pay a privately owned company for what is, in affect, the ability to stay alive, if the climate keeps changing. That isn’t consumer choice, that’s piracy, and the question is, what are we going to do about it?  Will we stand back and accept corporate control of our very ability to live and breathe?

It’s our call, and it’s about time we make it.

Posted as part of Blog Action Day | www.blogactionday.org

I don’t have a TV, so I tend to have to catch up with Colbert a few nights after his shows air, but this indictment of pundits is stunning! Don’t just take it as a sarcastic bash at Glenn Beck.. you can basically put any pundit’s name in there.

Whatcha think?

Whoa.

President Barack Obama won the Nobel Prize.

Yes. THAT Nobel Prize.

Initial White House reaction to Nobel Prize for Obama. Spokesman Robert Gibbs e-mails one word: “wow.”

Instead of jumping in and giving my thoughts, I’m curious as to what you think. Let’s hear it.

After doing some diligent research for this piece, I’ve come to one conclusion that I hope you take with you.

Americans are some greedy mother truckers. Seriously.

Not to get all biblical, but sometimes, our greed can damn us. It’s a scary thought that a perfect storm caused by the green eyed monster can spell a sense of ruin for an entire economy. Much of the ruin can be traced back to a single source: mortgages and foreclosures.

Every thirteen seconds, someone files for foreclosure on a house. Thirteen seconds. That’s roughly 7,000 foreclosures a day, nearly 50,000 foreclosures per week. But that’s the tip of the iceberg – the foreclosures can’t keep up with the fact that millions of Americans can’t pay their bills.

But we need to take a look and investigate where this mess came from. So, it’s time to time travel. Ready? Let’s go to a time when everything was different… when the sky was brighter and there were two rainbows in every garage. The end of the 20th century.

Most people don’t think about it but there’s this huge pool of money out there, which is basically all the money the world is saving now. Insurance companies saving for a catastrophe, pension funds saving money for retirement, the central bank of England saving for… whatever central banks save for. All the world’s savings.

Adam Davidson, NPR

This ‘giant pool of money’ gets invested in various stocks and bonds, expected to grow and turn these savings into profit.

And the investment managers who had control over all that money saw a new investment: mortgages.

During this time period, safer investments weren’t really giving much of a return. These investment managers decided to plunge money into the field of mortgages, allowing for more money to be spread around by the banks. As a result of this, many saw this as a fresh chance: banks were aggressively pushing mortgages. You’d be dumb not to invest in the home you’d dreamed of, and competition for mortgages on new construction began to become tight.

According to a broadcast of This American Life, entitled ‘The Giant Pool Of Money’ (which you can listen to, by clicking here), mortgage brokers were getting cleared by banks to make riskier and riskier loans, even blatantly lying about how much money they made in order to get a mortgage to go through. The crown prince of the risky loan was called the NINA Loan: No-Income-No-Asset loans.

There was a good reason for this, though. These mortgages were paying loads and loads of money. Return for brokers and banks was huge. Everyone was happy and the prosperity was huge.

During the last few years of the 20th century, new construction of homes was booming in the US. And no place saw more new constructions than in Florida. On the coast of Central Florida, cities would even appear out of virtually nowhere: like Palm Coast, Florida for instance, which nearly doubled in population over the past 15 years.

However, the riskier the loans got, the higher the rate of default became. And housing prices kept going up. And up. And up. The higher prices got, the higher the rate of default.

The higher the rate of default, the lower money coming into the bank, the lower the likelihood of the bank to give out money for loans.

Then suddenly: crash. Mortgage brokers were so deep in debt that they were going under. Banks started to refuse loans by the pile. There was really not much more money to go out.

And the worst part: homeowners – those with the dream – couldn’t pay their bills, and faced foreclosure.

So here we are today: a foreclosure every thirteen seconds. Low income and minority communities with double digit foreclosure rates. Houses on the market going for 25 percent of the original asking price.

There it is: it’s not just the bankers’ fault, it’s not just our parents fault. Consistently, we, as Americans, try to live beyond our means and wind up falling flat on our faces. It is up to us to keep this lesson in mind: we must learn from these lessons and not make the same mistakes that our parents did. We’re taught that we can have it all, right now, but sometimes the most progressive thing we can do is slow down and go with our instincts. ‘Quick fixes’ fall apart before we know it.

The cost of addressing climate change is manageable. The cost of not doing so is unaffordable.
-Yvo de Boer, UN Framework Commission on Climate Change

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s all say it together.

Climate. Change. Exists. Good job, here’s a cookie.

No matter what the skeptics say – Yeah, I’m looking at you, US Chamber of Commerce – there’s undeniable evidence to prove the existence of global climate change in our lifetimes.

It’s a bummer. I mean, this and the bombshell of a global recession… HEY.
Wait a minute. I see a rainbow here.

In fact, the International Energy Agency saw it too. Quite simply, due to the economic downtown, emissions will be 3% lower this year than last, with a longer term impact of 5%. As global investors and governments scramble to slash and burn costs, refocusing investments in green energy at such a vulnerable time as this provides a window of reevaluation. This gives global governments the distinct opportunity to jump ahead in encouraging a green energy technology infrastructure.

By investing in green technology, “the global temperature rise can be kept below the G8 goal of 2C”, according to findings by the IEA.

That’s pretty cool, if I do say so myself. Hey… where are you going? The pun wasn’t that bad!