Here is an entertaining anti-racism Public Service Announcement which seems to be Portuguese and was uploaded onto YouTube in 2009.
Marcelo Lourenco
Tag: public
Black And Blue Dress Highlights Domestic Violence
Recently, the “optical illusion dress” that came to worldwide attention was used in a Salvation Army public service announcement in South Africa. The announcement is targeting domestic violence against women and it uses the viral success of “The Dress.”
The ad featured a woman in a white and gold dress with a caption that reads, “Why is it so hard to see black and blue?”
The caption in the ad further reads: “The only illusion is if you think it was her choice. One in 6 women are victims of abuse. Stop abuse against women.”
The advertisement features the logo for Carehaven, a home for abused women and their children run by the Salvation Army.
The charity says Carehaven has helped more than 5,000 people.
Ireland/Davenport, the South African advertising agency behind the image, told BuzzFeed News in an emailed statement, “For the past few days the internet has been swarming with comments about ‘the dress’ – overall people have been commenting how they hate the fact that an insignificant thing like this could take priority on the internet over more pressing topics such as abuse.”
The agency’s creative team created it within 24 hours and then approached the Salvation Army to ask if they would like to put their name to ad.
“After the idea had been cracked by the team there was no time to spare. We approached the Salvation Army and they were nothing but helpful and overjoyed to help us get their message out there,” the agency said. “With the help of favors from suppliers and production we managed to create and publish the ad in a day.”
TYT Network
More:
Library Helps The Homeless
Hedberg Public Library staff in Janesville, Wisconsin, is serious about its mission to serve all residents, including those who are homeless, according to the GazetteXtra.
The staff provide a safe daytime haven so long as everybody follows the rules by respecting others’ rights and the library itself, said Michelle Dennis, circulation director of the library.
“We are very clear about the expectations of behavior for everybody who uses the library, and we try to restrict or limit people’s access only if their behavior warrants that,” said Dennis.
On most days, about a dozen homeless people use the services.
Thursday was a particularly nasty day with its mix of cold and snow, and winter clothing piled on a corner chair served as home base for a homeless man who spends his days at the library. He is welcome at the library, and volunteers heat his lunch in the ground level coffee shop, said Bryan McCormick, library director.
Sometimes, someone just wants a quiet place to sit, Dennis said. Other times, they need resource materials.
The ground floor coffee shop is a popular place to hang out, along with a stretch of windows along the Rock River or in the lobby near the elevators.
Homeless people typically don’t create problems, especially since GIFTS (God Is Faithful Temporary Shelter) Men’s Shelter opened in Janesville, said Dennis.
GIFTS rotates nightly shelters for men between churches during the cold months. In November—the latest figures available—GIFTS served 51 guests with 727 shelter nights.
When GIFTS is at capacity, staff arranges sleeping elsewhere, such as in Madison or Walworth County shelters.
Md. Lawmakers Call For Crude Oil Train Shipment Risk Assessment, More Railroad Transparency
Maryland lawmakers concerned about increasingly common rail shipments of crude oil through Maryland are calling for the state to conduct a full assessment of the risks and for railroads to be more transparent about their operations, according to The Baltimore Sun.
CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern bring train shipments of crude oil into Maryland, including to a barge terminal in South Baltimore’s Fairfield area and through Cecil County on the way to refineries in Delaware.
Legislation filed last week in Annapolis, Md. would require the state’s health and environment departments to establish statewide accident prevention, emergency response and contingency plans in the case of a major railroad disaster involving crude oil. It also would require both railroads to disclose more information about their crude shipments to the public.
Recently, a recent derailment of a CSX crude oil train during a snowstorm in West Virginia burned one home to the ground, forced hundreds of others to be evacuated, shuttered water treatment plants and sparked concern about pollution to the nearby Kanawha River, according to The Baltimore Sun.
Under a federal law that took effect in May, railroads are required to disclose to local jurisdictions the volumes, routes and frequency of all Bakken crude-oil shipments that are more than 1 million gallons. However, in the past, much of that information has been unavailable to the public in Maryland.
Fox News’ Kennedy Montgomery: There Really Shouldn’t Be Public Schools
Secular Talk
Fox News’ Kennedy Montgomery recently said, “There really shouldn’t be public schools, should there?”
Chris Christie Waging 23 Court Battles To Keep State Documents Secret: Mother Jones
According to Mother Jones, media outlets have been forced to sue to obtain even routinely disclosed information, such as payroll data.
Rather than release documents connected to Bridge-gate, pay-to-play allegations, possible ethics violations, and the out-of-state trips Christie has made while looking at a run for president, Chris Christie’s office and several state agencies have waged costly court battles.
As the 2016 presidential primary race draws closer, and Christie considers jumping in, his administration is fighting 23 different open records requests in court.
“The track record is abysmal,” says Jennifer Borg, general counsel for the North Jersey Media Group.
Her organization, which publishes The Record, has sued the state for public documents a half-dozen times since Christie took office. When a judge determines that the state withheld records illegally—which happens frequently—her group wins legal fees. As of September 2014, Christie’s administration had paid $441,000 to North Jersey Media Group and other media outlets for records. And that doesn’t count the cost of government lawyers’ time.
The fight has become expensive for the state because when newspapers go to court for these records, they usually win. But winning doesn’t automatically produce the sought-after records.
“We can and do beat them in court. But as long as they’re appealing—I don’t want to call it a Pyrrhic victory, but we’re not going to get the records,” says Walter Luers, an attorney who helped a transparency project run by the state Libertarian Party sue for public access for Christie’s travel expenses.
“Appeals take two to three years. We’re already into the presidential elections. By the time we get these records, Christie could have a new address.”
Christie’s reluctance to let these records go is understandable. On Tuesday, for example, The New York Times published an investigation of expensive trips, sponsored by donors and foreign leaders, that the governor has taken abroad. Some of those accounts were based on public documents that local newspapers obtained through lawsuits.
NRA Tries To Get Involved In Schools In South Carolina
According to Think Progress, “Legislation proposed last month by three members of the South Carolina legislature would require public school teachers in the state to spend three weeks each year talking about the virtues of the Second Amendment — as that amendment is understood by the National Rifle Association.
“The bill requires all South Carolina public schools to ‘provide instruction in the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution for at least three consecutive weeks during one grading period in each academic year.’ Moreover, ‘the State Superintendent of Education shall adopt a curriculum developed or recommended by the National Rifle Association or its successor organization'”
More:
Is Welfare A Bribe?
Welfare is a bribe because…you know…living in public housing must be “the life.”
U.S. Rep-elect Glenn Grothman (Republican, Wisconsin) thinks that welfare is a bribe.
He feels that the government is bribing single parents to stay unemployed and unmarried.
Majority Report video.
Europeans Are Confused On U.S. Healthcare
A David Pakman video looks at Europeans’ views of the American healthcare system.
Obama Calls For Net Neutrality And To Classify The Internet As Public Utility
President Obama has called on the Federal Communications Commission to classify the Internet as a public utility. Obama said such protections would prevent Internet service providers like Comcast from blocking access to websites, slowing down content or providing paid fast lanes for Internet service. However, it is unclear whether his appointed FCC chair, Tom Wheeler, will agree to net neutrality.
Video by Democracy Now!
OK, Fine. 