Archive for the 'buy' Category
February 13th, 2008 by Progressive Wednesday
Problem:
As the polls closed on Election Day 2004, I watched the state-by-state results eek in from the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Columbus with a thousand other volunteers, including Jerry Springer, the former mayor of Cincinnati, and Eric, who'd road-raged his way down from Rochester, New York, in his rusty and rust-colored – ˜86 Monte Carlo, to lend a hand for the final few days. I bit my nails to the quick and pulled and twisted at my goatee. The news seemed grim.
And so, the war would rage on. And the poor would increasingly fight it. And our broken health care system would cause more bankruptcies. And monolithic business would rule instead of wise environmental stewardship. And I felt too guilty to sleep. But it was that night, and deep into the morning, that Eric and I came up with the idea of Progressive Wednesday, a new way to empower people when there weren't elections, and hell, even when there were. And it was that night we decided that helping to fix the election process would be at the top of our Wednesday list.
Two weeks later, I attended a public hearing with sworn testimony by Franklin County residents reporting voter suppression, fraud, and the inequitable distribution of voting machines in both poor and predominately African-American districts, which made 2004 Ohio seem a little too much like 1960 Mississippi.
Since I'm not a Democrat, I now deeply question why I didn't just support a so-called “third-party– candidate like Michael Badnarik, the Libertarian candidate, or David Cobb, the Green candidate. But my experience helped me question, even more, the process by which we select our elected officials and the ways we decide whom to give our vote. I imagine I'm not alone.
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Make Progress:
We'll definitely be returning to this topic time and time again, because it's intensely complicated and similarly significant to not just our rights as Americans, but to what we value as a human right. What follows, then, is a beginning. Consider the starter's pistol fired.
Bookmark:
It's a little bit difficult to describe Project Vote Smart in 304 words, but here goes:
- This non-profit uses oodles of volunteers (from the right and the left) to examine “voting records, campaign contributions, public statements, biographical data (including their work history) and evaluations of them generated by over 100 competing special interest groups.–
- In addition, they “test each candidate’s willingness to provide citizens with their positions on the issues they will most likely face if elected through the National Political Awareness Test.– In other words, they see if candidates will openly, directly explain what they stand for — a tall order in some instances.
- You can also use Project Vote Smart to learn about judges, congressional legislation, voter registration, polling locales, ballot measures, and lots and lots of accurate et cetera.
- The Project also offers up a Voter's Self-Defense Manual, a must-read for progressives of any political ilk. The booklet can be downloaded as an Acrobat file, or you can order one by giving them a jingle: 1-888-868-3762.
- They are truly bipartisan: “No one can join the Project’s board without a political opposite.– And whose served on the board? Carter, Ford, Dukakis, McCain, McGovern, and Goldwater, to name a few.
- They don't take cash money from special interests. To quote: “We do not accept contributions from any corporations, labor unions, or other organizations that lobby, support or oppose candidates or issues.” The money comes only in the form of donations by individuals (70%) and philanthropic foundation grants (30%). Plus, 83% of their funds go directly into their programs and content.
- U.S. News and World Report has this to say: “Project Vote Smart would make the Founders weep with joy.– The New York Times pointed out that the Project kicks so much tail that “even the Federal Government recommends it.–
- This service — this wonderful, wonderful service — is completely free.
Want to read more? Go check it out for yourself. Then bookmark it. You'll want it down the road: we guarantee it.
We'd also like to ask you to give some love in the form of greenbacks to this incredibly worthy, dare we say essential (okay, we dare), this essential cause. Even if giving means three bucks. Here's the beauty of your generosity: not only do you help out this organization whose sole purpose is to help you as a voter, but your gift is tax-deductible, and you can choose how the money is spent. So give a little and have them spend it wisely.
But remember to bookmark it, baby, remember to bookmark it.
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Call:
This sucker might come as a shock, but the Constitution does not guarantee American citizens the right to vote.
We'll give you a second to reread that sentence. Okay, now that we've got your attention we'll give you all the support we need to prove it to you. In the Supreme Court decision Bush v. Gore, the Court ruled: “The individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote for electors for the President of the United States.– We think, well, we think this is a load of crap, and not cute little rabbit pellets– ¦ no, we're talking a dump truck full of nasty elephant waste.
We'd like you to take five minutes right now, immediately after reading this, and call your Senators (take a peek and make sure your boss ain't lingering around). Just click this sentence to find a list of all the Senators with phone numbers for each. Here's what we'd recommend saying:
- “I'm a voter from [name your state], and I'm outraged that there's no Constitutional Amendment guaranteeing my right to vote. If Senator [last name] wants my vote the next time [he or she] is up for reelection, then [he or she] will introduce or support legislation that would guarantee this basic American right.–
Be sure to thank them for their time.
If such an Amendment existed, folks could sue states for voter fraud, suppression, a lack of equal protection, and faulty machines or a lack of functioning ones. There are 7,800 different election jurisdictions. This adds a lot of variables. If there was a Constitutional Amendment, there could be a universal voting system for all elections. Fairness. That's what we're talking about here. Accountability. Equality. A more perfect union.
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Write:
Even though we're far, far away from the next national elections, we think it’s more apropos to deal with this topic well before November, which is, of course, National Pomegranate Month.
Okay, here's the main idea of our letter-to-the-editor campaign: Our fellow Americans, Election Day should be a national holiday.
Now, it's hard to argue with a day off (though we're sure the workaholics out there could give it a shot). But we think for the sake of the U.S. of A., voters deserve a greater opportunity to choose what goes down.
Here are some talking points for ya to use and morph and personalize and localize to your heart's content:
- Election Day is an excellent way to emphasize the importance of community.
- As a holiday, we'd be reaffirming the cultural significance of voting.
- Voting was a central catalyst behind the founding of the country.
- Voter turnout in the United State for presidential elections ranks 65th in the world. Democracy deserves better. Common sense dictates that a holiday would raise voter turnout.
- Most workers paid hourly can't afford to take time off work to vote.
- Polls in some states close as early as 7 p.m., further limiting turnout.
- Long lines wouldn't seem as daunting since folks wouldn't need to hustle back to work.
- Election Day is already a holiday in Puerto Rico.
Here's a link to the newspapers throughout the country to help you find the address and specific requirements to the daily “Extra, extra, read all about it!” in your community. You can always check out our How to Read Newspapers tool. Also, you might want to take a gander at our How to Write Letters to the Editor tool, both in brief and in full.
Read:
Adopting Election Day as a national holiday and banging out a Constitutional Amendment guaranteeing the right to vote seem like two it's-about-time steps in the right direction.
There's got to be more we can do to help out so-called “third parties– and their very qualified candidates. Third parties deserve a greater voice in our country, and having more voices, more opinions, and options seems incredibly American to us. Two-party domination seems a bit archaic, a bit undemocratic.
There are several suggestions out there for ways to change the ways we vote and the ways third party candidates get treated on ballots. These ideas include:
We'll be returning to the topic of election fixes in the future, and we're curious what your thoughts are about each of the various options. After you read about each, let us know what you think by leaving a comment or by contacting us. Let us know which you prefer, which you have questions about. Your comments will help us decide which ones to support down ye ole road. So, thanks in advance.
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Wear:
Okay, this one's easy enough. We'd like to encourage you to plunk down a few bucks, snag yourself this t-shirt, and wear it around all year long (taking it off occasionally to shower, make the love, and maybe even wash it here and there). Sport it when you head to the grocery, the gym, the Grand Canyon. (Speaking of the Grand Canyon– ¦.)
This is a way to send an honest and constant message. Plus the word “vote– is bad-ass as Mr. T and drop-dead gorgeous as Rita Hayworth. Since you're reading Progressive Wednesday, we're confident you're a little bit of both, too.
June 27th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
Editor’s Note: This Wednesday topic first appeared on March 14, 2007. To read our introduction to “Doing Work for Hard-Working Families,” just click here.
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Change:
We don't mean change like nickels and dimes, and we don't mean change like when you trade in your business casual for actual casual. We mean in the ways you spend your Washingtons, Lincolns, Hamiltons, and the ever-popular Benjamins (from what we hear, it's “all about– the latter). Money, in America, is power, so with some slight alterations in the way we redistribute our paychecks, we can all empower American workers all the more.
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1. On a recent trip to Topps (one of the two major grocery store changes in Western New York), I was about to use the self-serve checkout to purchase toilet paper, Ben & Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar Crunch, and an avocado (I know, I know– ¦ weird) when Jeremy, an old friend of mine, saw me, waved, then yelled, “Hey Zambito, you're taking someone's job away.–
He was right. So here's our advice: use real, live, human cashiers at grocery stores instead of the self-serve checkouts with the creepy, HAL-like voice telling you what to do. By taking this simple action, you keep more people employed. Yes, many of today's cashiers are teenagers, but the majority are not and need all the support we can give them. The extra few minutes you spend in a line waiting helps put cash in someone's pockets. Plus, I mean, when else can you scan the tabloids and not feel dirty about it?
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2. The notion of a 15% gratuity is a social custom in the United States, and by no means requisite. Most restaurant servers work off tips, because the federal minimum wage for servers is $2.13 an hour (you read that right). This 15% nonsense seems unjust.
A server in a diner probably works harder than a server in a fancy, schmancy ristorante, and yet receive less in tips simply because the food costs less. So, since tipping, as archaic as it is, isn't going anywhere anytime soon, we'd like to offer up this little tidbit of progress: add two bucks.
Figure out whatever tip you think the person “deserves,– and then add two bucks. Not only will you make someone's day (since a surprising number of people tip far less than 15% if they tip at all) and you'll help that person, coincidentally enough, eat.
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3. Count with me, people: 1, 2, 3, 4. Below you'll find four companies that treat American workers right, and get our PW seal of approval. These companies aren't perfect. Let's call them “more perfect– than most others. So, if and when you can, try plunking down your hard-earned money with these companies.
- eBay – Yes, eBay. They offer health insurance for PowerSellers and their employees. eBay let's its employees use health care debit cards to tap into their FSAs. By buying off eBay, you get to help out the smallest of business (the sellers). As an added bonus, the head honchos at eBay donate generously to charities and respect the environment.
- Southwest – This progressive airline has dolled out hefty signing bonuses to baggage handlers and provisions agents. They support changing the mandatory retirement age of airline pilots. Southwest has the highest paid pilots in the industry (I don't know about you, but I want my pilots– ¦ I don't know– ¦ happy?). They also build strong relationships with front-line employees and among front-line employees.
- Costco – As of 2005, “Costco [paid] its full-time workers an average of more than $16 an hour, while also picking up 92 percent of the cost of employees’ health-insurance premiums– and “82 percent of Costco workers are covered– by the plan. And check this out: “after four years with [Costco], a cashier can earn around $44,000, including bonuses.– Enough said.
- New Balance — This company, I promise you, sells many sneakers made right here in the U.S. of A. (that means America). Take that Nike!
June 18th, 2007 by Melissa Brannen
The extra room in my apartment is filled with box upon box of books I haven’t unpacked yet, simply because I have no place to put them. My daughter’s toy box contains a mix of dolls, toys, and books. They’re piled on top of the book case, on the floor, and next to my bed. My dresser, bedside table, and their respective drawers are all filled with books. Fiction, non-fiction, poetry — all genres are welcome and included.
My love of reading, and the written word in general, began when I was young. First grade, to be exact. I spent much of the school year at home, sick. I missed 40 days of school due to illness, then was forced to take half-days when I returned. Because of the numerous doctors appointments I had, we developed a routine, my mother and I. We would go to the pediatrician, then to The Book Corner in Niagara Falls, where I was allowed to pick out 2-3 books I wanted. I would invariable have begun reading one of them in car by the time we arrived home. I still remember the way I felt every time we entered The Book Corner. My mind would race and begin to fill with ideas of what I wanted to read, what I would choose. The whole store seemed filled with wonder, with possibilities.
Luckily, whether by nature or nurture, my daughter has inherited my love of books. Everyday she is excited to tell me what book they read at school, and not a night goes by without the request for a story — or six. Her current favorites include: Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann, There’s a Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone, and Curious George by H.A. Rey. And thanks to birthday, Christmas, Easter and “just because– presents from her grandparents and great-grandparents, her collection of books is rapidly approaching the size of mine. The time we spend together, cuddling and reading her books is magical; I’ll almost be sorry when she can read them herself. I’ll miss the way her eyes light up when we’re reading, and she starts the next line before we turn the page, and the giggling that ensues when we read something silly.
I can’t imagine my life or home without books. Yet, all over this beautiful world, our nation included, there are homes where books are in short supply or simply non-existent. I will never forget the look on my daughter’s face when she first learned this — it happened when we were in Wegmans this past weekend, doing our grocery shopping.
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Continue reading ‘Monday Morning Motherhood: Surrounded by Words’
June 13th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
Problem:
The first years of my memory are of Niagara Falls. We lived on Orchard Parkway in a tiny second-floor house apartment. And as I grew up in the surrounding area, I learned to think of my hometown as the honeymoon and suicide capital of the world.
I grew up with daredevils risking life, limb, and the lives and limbs of their rescuers, by plummeting in various contraptions over the Horseshoe Falls. I saw news reports of poor fools who fell and drown to their deaths on kayaks and jet-skis as they tried to conquer the cataracts. I watched national television coverage of the lawsuits connected to Love Canal, a neighborhood that was the site of one of the worst toxic-waste-dumping scandals in American history.
My first job, as a bakery assistant, was in Niagara Falls at the headquarters of Di Camillo Bakery, a family business still thriving in this city. And I watched as department stores and jewelry stores and restaurants evaporated from Main Street, turning the road into an assortment of seedy bars, adult novelty stores, and boarded up buildings, each empty as the pockets of the homeless wandering the city. And I watched as the factories closed their doors, and added good, hard-working souls to the unemployment lines– ¦.
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Make Progress:
But I also grew up next to a place where people teem to see one the natural wonders of the world. And I grew up in an area where my relatives worked the bluest-collar of jobs, but managed to put lasagna on the table (we're good Italian-Americans, after all). And I grew up where my grandfather landed after traveling the Atlantic to move to America, the same city where my father was raised and remained, the same city where my sister got married. And I grew up next to one of the marvels of electrical science, the Niagara Power Project.
And so I believe in this place. And I love this place. And it's time we all helped this treasure of not just New York, but of America, and not just of America, but of the world. We're ready, if you are, to make progress in Niagara Falls.
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Editor’s Note: Below you’ll find photos of some of our favorite locations in the city of Niagara Falls.
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The Little Italy neighborhood and business district.
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The genius that is the Niagara Power Project. To learn more about it, click here.
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Di Camillo Bakery, where they make the best Italian bread you’ll ever eat.
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The Niagara River in autumn (if it wasn’t obvious from, you know, the leaves).
June 13th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
Buy:
For 80 years, The Book Corner has called Niagara Falls home. Since it's inception in 1927, the store has moved twice, but has remained in the Falls. It's the largest independent bookstore in Niagara Falls (and all of Western New York for that matter), and at 10,000 square feet it's one of the biggest privately-owned bookstores where we've ever dropped a dollar. I've been in more bookstores than I can count, and I've never seen anything quite like this. The store has a googolplex of used books for sale (I once snagged a first-edition of Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas at a price far under its “value– ), and they feature one of the most complete collections of books about Niagara Falls that you'll ever see.
Now, unless you live in Western New York, this Wednesday we're not going to recommend you hop on an airbus to Buffalo just to check this place out. Though, if you're a book-lover like me and happen to be in the area, it's worth more than a look-see.
But here's the deal (or the “dealio,– if you prefer): The Book Corner is one of the few businesses surviving on Main Street in Niagara Falls, and Main Street in Niagara Falls is to roads as Bob Hope is to comedians: it's dead. Okay, that's hyperbole. It's dying. No, that's not right either. It's working toward a serious reincarnation, and The Book Corner is a ray of hope.
So, what we're asking you to do is plain as paper and quite simple: please order your books from The Book Corner. Find them however you want online — Amazon, Powells, Barnes and Noble, Borders — but place your order through The Book Corner. They'll even gift-wrap the book or books for nothing, nada, zilch — in other words, for free, my peeps. If you want, you can also order books they have in stock through AbeBooks and get free shipping.
And if you're trying to find an out-of-print book or a book whose title is fuzzy, turn to Pete and Jeff Morrow. Skilled as librarians, they'll find your tome of choice. I've placed several orders through the shop for poetry books that were either out-of-print or printed by an obscure press, and they've dug and hunted and found me what I was after.
But don't just take our word for it, you can read some reviews by clicking here or here. Or you can take the New York Times’ word for it – “ they describe The Book Corner as “a beacon of light in the pall of the blight.– And lest we forget, you can take a tour of this fantastic store by playing the video below. So much to read, so little time– ¦
June 12th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
Problem:
There are hundreds (probably thousands) of strong progressive books published each year, and you might not know where to begin. Or you might know where to begin, but not where to end. Or you might know where the middle is but…. Nevermind. You get the idea.
So please consider this just a humble snippet of what's available and a primer for where you might shop.
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Make Literate Progress:
Let's cut right to the French-Connection chase — here are four great reads we adore, each of which encouraged us to make progress happen:
1. Fast Food Nation, the New York Times best-seller by Atlantic Monthly reporter Eric Schlosser, dissects the fast-food industry, and reveals an ugly, hidden interior. Schlosser writers with objective passion, honesty, superb support defending his claims, and first-hand narrative. I'm awed by the depths to with fast food has altered our country, almost under our noses. How we missed the stink is beyond me after reading this tome. The book starts at the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station in Colorado and ends with simple solutions for ending the power of fast food. In between, he tackles the origins of the business, advertising to children, the fast-food workforce, franchising, produce farms, flavoring, cattle ranches, poultry farms, meatpacking, food poisoning, and globalization. We dare you (no, we double-dog dare you) to eat at McDonaldsafter reading Schlosser's account.
2. As the parent of a daughter, Eric was blown away by Ariel Levy's Female Chauvinist Pigs, a keen analysis of the “raunch culture– and its impact on, in particular, girls and women. Her narratives depicting Girls Gone Wild and the adult industry will peel back your eyelids a bit. In short, Levy argues that, to a certain degree, some women have essentially injured American women in general by participating and celebrating objectification. It's witty, shocking, well-researched, and enlightening.
3. The heartfelt story-telling and research in Ordinary Resurrections, a book written by Jonathan Kozol, quite literally, overhauled Matt's attitudes about education, poverty, racism, contemporary segregation, prison, and children. Kozol spends a great deal of time with elementary students in the Bronx, and his narrative deftly demonstrates the impact of under-funded schools on the lives of innocent kids. It's a tough read at times (the stories vary between horrifying and glorifying), but worth it every your-time-is-money moment of it. Kozol's not just out to change the way you feel; he wants you to take action, and his solution arcs through the entire book.
4. Okay, this last one might not be overtly progressive in that it's a somewhat sardonic read, but Fran Lebowitz's first two books, Metropolitan Life and Social Studies, pretty much make us cry with laughter. We'd like to recommend The Fran Lebowitz Reader, which collects her first two books together. Here's how this book strikes us as progressive: in America, women are actively and tacitly discouraged to be this kind of funny. Lebowitz clearly cares less about social norms; in fact, she tends to criticize the norm throughout her erudite, wise and wry writings. (For more of her humor, you can read an interview here.)
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Some Ways and Means:
1. Soft Skull Press is the place progressives ought to start their search for books that will fit right in their wheelhouses. Soft Skull prints books of fiction, poetry, and art which all rock, but for right now we'll focus on the nonfiction stuff we're thankful that they crank out. These days, we're in the middle of two of their fantastic reads: Dam Nation: Dispatches from the Water Underground and The Whistleblower: Confessions of a Healthcare Hitman. We'll pop out reviews of each in a week or so, but let's just say these books have us nodding our heads with each page. Soft Skull a press that requires any true progressive's attention, and you can check out their catalog by clicking right over here.
2. Chelsea Green is suddenly one of our favorite presses: a small but vibrant independent publishing house, featuring nonfiction “focused on the politics and practice of sustainable living.– What does sustainable living mean to Chelsea Green? It means books about protecting small farms, the reinvention of cities, eco-friendly homes, and solar energy. They also have books about progressive linguistics, and, most importantly, solutions for folks who love our country and our planet. You might want to start by ordering or downloading a free catalog.
3. Do check out The New Press, a not-for-profit book publisher in the vein of PBS and NPR, doling out “ideas and viewpoints under-represented in the mass media.” These folks are all about getting progressive texts into the hands of as many folks as they can, and money the press earns is funneled directly back into publishing the work of others. You can find inspiring work like Alice Walker's (yes, that Alice Walker) We Are the Ones We Have Been Waiting For and Studs Terkel's Giants of Jazz, along side more overtly political books such as Dream: Re-imagining Progressive Politics in an Age of Fantasy by Stephen Duncombe. (We're also very interested in getting around to reading Rednecks & Bluenecks: The Politics of Country Music by Chris Willman.) The body of work they've published demonstrates a concern for conservationism, fair trade, and the development of new pharmaceuticals. Their catalog (which includes fiction and children's books, amongst other kinds of writing) won't disappoint.
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And As Always…
You also have these resources available to you to help find progressive nonfiction in general, or on specific topics you're concerned about:
May 14th, 2007 by Matt
More and more jobs (particularly manufacturing jobs) are being shipped overseas to countries where working conditions can be disgusting at best, criminal at worst. But there’s another problem with the way we all tend to shop: we’re hurting hard-working Americans, those with the bluest of collars. And this is particular evident in my corner of Western New York.
Maybe you’d like to get a big-time jump on your Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa shopping. Maybe you forgot all about Mother’s Day, and you’d like to make up for it in a jiffy (and not this kind of Jiffy). Maybe you’re snagging some new duds for the summer. Maybe you’re a union worker yourself, worried your gig might go the way of China.
So what can you do? We can buy American-made stuff. This, unfortunately, sounds easier said than done, because if you’re like me and tend to shop at places like Kohls or Target, the odds of finding much made here in the Red, White, and Blue are about as good as winning a whole mess of coin on a slot machine at the Seneca Niagara Casino. In other words, you’ll find some, but not a whole heck of a lot.
But at Progressive Wednesday, we’re all about making progressivism simple, and we’re all about helping you help this country. And we believe we’ve found you some answers to the sometimes tricky question of how to best lend a hand to America’s hardest working or those out-of-work folks pining for a chance to earn a decent paycheck once again.
So, here goes:
- First up is Shop Union Made, a website with a vast array of resources to help us all support American union workers protect the security of their jobs, and therefore, their families. The site offers up categories readers can search to help find stores and companies that employ union workers, and Shop Union Made covers everything from clothing to tools, food to finances, travel to books. Basically, they’ve got it all, baby. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, consumer spending on everyday stuff adds up to 68 percent of all wealth created each year in the U. S. of A. It’s time more of that moolah stayed right here. You can learn more about the importance of supporting U.S. workers by clicking this sentence.
- No Sweat Apparel is an online shopping stop where we can buy guaranteed sweatshop-free made in the U.S., Canada, and the developing world. By using this site, you can be sure you’re protecting the rights of workers who make what you buy. You needn’t just buy online, though — there are a bevy of local retailers hocking no-sweat goods.
Because I walk a lot, and because I’m not a dress shoes kind of guy, I go through sneakers pretty quickly. Unfortunately, most of the sneakers sold here are sewn together by child workers in other countries. Through a company called Pangea, I’ve been able to find New Balance footwear made in America. Pangea also sells a variety of other items — from cosmetics to belts. I’ve shopped with them in the past, and can vouch for them as a speedy and honest privately-owned company.
So help your fellow Americans out, and, well, go shop, daddy-o.
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Editor’s note: We’ve covered the needs of hard-working families on a previous Wednesday. Just click this sentence to learn other ways you can help those American’s who slug, like you, through the 9-5 for the rest of us.
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