A new “Buycott” application allows consumers to boycott all products tied—even indirectly—to companies like Monsanto or the Koch Brothers
May 17, 2013According to Forbes, Ivan Pardo, a 26-year-old based in Los Angeles, is the main person behind the app, which can be downloaded on the iPhone or Android.
Consumers can “scan the barcode on any product and the free app will trace its ownership all the way to its top corporate parent company, including conglomerates like Koch Industries.” The app also allows users to “join user-created campaigns to boycott business practices that violate your principles rather than single companies.”
A keynote speaker at last year’s Netroots Nation gathering pitched a similar app. According to Forbes, Darcy Burner “figured the average supermarket shopper had no idea that buying Brawny paper towels, Angel Soft toilet paper or Dixie cups meant contributing cash to Koch Industries through its subsidiary Georgia-Pacific” or “purchasing a pair of yoga pants containing Lycra or a Stainmaster carpet meant indirectly handing the Kochs your money.”
Oldest water on Earth found deep underground
(Photo: B. Sherwood Lollar et al.)
A pocket of water some 2.6 billion years old — the most ancient pocket of water known by far, older even than the dawn of multicellular life — has now been discovered in a mine 2 miles below the Earth’s surface.
River protest set for proposed central Indiana reservoir
May 17, 2013Opponents of a proposed major reservoir in central Indiana are planning a protest aimed at highlighting what the project would put under water.
The newly formed Heart of the River Coalition will hold what it calls a “protest paddle” on Saturday, with kayakers and canoeists covering several miles of the White River near Anderson.
Organizer Clarke Kahlo tells The Herald Bulletin that the group is trying to build public awareness of what would disappear if the reservoir is built.
The proposed Mounds Lake Reservoir would back water up seven miles of the river in Madison and Delaware counties, covering about 2,100 acres. That’s slightly larger than Geist Reservoir near Indianapolis.
“First, do nothing to mitigate harm.” Analyzing the psychology behind austerity.
Related: “We have to pay a price for past sins” is a lousy argument for austerity.
In reality, we need to stop worrying about debt and worry more about jobs.
Labor nominee Thomas Perez gets a 12-10 vote in committee, heads to full Senate.
The challenges of Senate reform.
White-collar workers–paralegals, secretaries, insurance agents and even lawyers–are increasingly looking to organize at work.
Sen. Warren to administration: take the banks to court.
What would Obama say if he “went Bulworth?”
The Affordable Care Act won’t make employers drop coverage, a new study finds.
Five voting-rights fights you need to care about.
New York Attorney General Schneiderman pursues wage theft in the fast food industry.
Prairies Edge. This is where they drop off the 18 year olds that “age out” of the foster care system in South Dakota. It’s located in downtown Rapid City close to the “Indian side” of town/the river. (at Prairie Bottle Market Wine And Liquor)
There are both federal and private loan options, as well as scholarships and work-study programs.
By EMILY DERUY
So you want to go to go college but have no idea how to pay for it. You’ve heard there are a million options when it comes to financial aid, but every time you try to research them you get overwhelmed and your eyes glaze over.
How about a chart, with pictures?
| — | Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (via kileyrae) |
May 17, 1954: The Supreme Court Rules on Brown v. Board of Education
On this day in 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that racial segregation in public schools violated the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which says that no state may deny equal protection of the laws to any person within its jurisdiction.
Although the decision did not succeed in fully desegregating public education in the United States, it put the Constitution on the side of racial equality and galvanized the nascent civil rights movement into a full revolution.
Can you name all the key players behind Brown v. Board of Education? Revisit the landmark case with PBS’ The Supreme Court site.You can also learn more about Brown v. Board of Education with “The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow” and explore more events of the Civil Rights Movement with PBS Black Culture Connection.
School integration, Barnard School, Washington, D.C., 1955 (Library of Congress).
Woo.
