Thou art incendiary. Thou sendest me up in sparks... - Linda Albertano
Brave New Films
The latest happenings and videos from the brave new crew. We make documentaries like Outfoxed, Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price and Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers
Updated: 5 hours 3 min ago
It’s Time We Take the “For Sale” Sign Off the Capitol Lawn
When candidates have to raise millions of dollars just to run a competitive campaign, they’re going to turn to wealthy donors, and the voice of the everyday American isn’t going to be heard. It’s time we take the “for sale” sign off the Capitol lawn. We can’t afford the price we’re paying for corporate-sponsored government.
Jim, Barb, Dominica and Chuck, featured in the video above, can’t afford to compete with the influence of corporate donations. When Washington makes decisions regarding their lives, they are not the people getting meetings with lawmakers. Instead, corporate lobbyists come to collect on prior donations made. And the end result means working people suffer from legislative decisions that benefit the rich.
As long as politicians are accountable to the corporations and lobbyists who finance their campaigns, they’re never going to be accountable to the people that elected them. It’s time ordinary Americans had their voices heard. Our elected officials should be concerned with solving our problems and concerns, not those of special interests who can afford to pay for special treatment.
The only way to make Congress accountable to working Americans is to have Fair Elections, where a coal miner’s voice can be heard as clearly as the owner of that mine. We need to put elections back in the hands of ordinary Americans.
It’s time we return government to of, by, and for the people, not government bought and paid for by special interests.
Join us today in demanding Fair Elections Now.
Five Reasons Why “Carly Fiorina No Es Mi Amiga” (Carly Fiorina Is Not My Friend)
Written by Robert Greenwald and Axel Caballero
Carly Fiorina, the 2010 Republican nominee for the Senate representing California, has launched a strong campaign to lure Latinos under two main premises: 1) She has always been a friend of Latinos; and, 2) she holds the same values as Latinos.
Her campaign has launched a website titled “Amigos de Carly” (Friends of Carly) where she appears in a picture banner surrounded by what appear to be Latino business folks. The conservative group American Principles Project has also summoned millions for her and have launched the campaign titled “Tus Valores” (Your Values) in an attempt to make Fiorina appear as if she has always cared for Latino issues.
The problem is that there is absolutely no way to substantiate this. In fact, as recently as the primaries Firoina was speaking out against many of the issues and “values” that Latinos truly hold dear.
As a response the campaign The Real Carly: “Carly No Es Mi Amiga” (Carly Is Not My Friend) duly points out how Fiorina’s attempt to lure Latinos is yet another charade of California GOP candidates who can’t hide from their recent anti-Latino words and actions.
As part of this effort, The Real Carly: “Carly No Es Mi Amiga” project has put together a video, a more “adequate” picture banner for Fiorina’s site, as well as the following top 5 reasons why Fiorina is not a friend of Latinos:
http://cuentamecentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/carlynoesmiamiga_banner-copy.png
1. Fiorina pretends to be a friend to Latinos, but her positions on immigration, education and health care put her in direct opposition to the values that Latinos hold dear. DO NOT BE FOOLED, Fiorina is not good for Latinos in California.
2. Carly Fiorina fiercely supports SB 1070 and racial profiling in Arizona. In fact, Fiorina was quoted saying, “This law [SB 1070] is necessary because the Federal Government isn’t doing its job and the people in Arizona are in danger.”
3. Carly Fiorina opposed emergency state aide to help teachers for our schools and Medicaid for our community’s poor. The emergency state aid bill saved the jobs of approximately 13,700-16,500 teachers in California and also funded Medicaid programs serving approximately 7 million Californians.
4. California’s Latinos need a strong economy, and not a job killer CEO Senator with a history of outsourcing jobs and firing thousands of workers. While CEO of HP, Fiorina outsourced jobs and called the move “smartsourcing.” In 2003, she dismissed almost 18,000 people from HP. She had already created job loss in California, and we don’t need her to cause any more.
5. Carly Fiorina wants to repeal President Obama’s health care bill which would help this nation’s uninsured.
BP’s Next Disaster: Are You Going to Stop it Before it Starts?
Written by Robert Greenwald and Tanene Allison
As you read this, BP is already working to create their next disaster. What they are presently creating is even more dangerous and devastating than what they did in the Gulf, and even less regulated.
Since BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster, nearly five million barrels of oil have spilled into the Gulf. Industries have been destroyed, lives have been lost and wildlife and the environment have been irrevocably harmed. We know that BP cuts safety corners, takes risks, and is unconcerned about anything other than their own profit.
We can’t let them get away with another disaster!
Not happy with the bare offshore drilling regulations we have, BP created a legal loophole for themselves….in the form of an island. This legal loophole means that the present moratorium on offshore drilling does not apply to BP’s Arctic project.
BP’s man-made “Liberty Island” sits three miles off the shore of Alaska. From this island, BP plans to drill two miles under the sea and then six to eight miles horizontally. A New York Times article recently stated that scientists believe this form of drilling to be “more prone to the types of gas kicks that triggered the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon.”
Sound like something that you can’t believe would pass inspection? Not if you consider a fact recently reported by Rolling Stone Magazine – It turns out that BP was allowed to write its own environmental review for the project as well as its own consultation documents relating to the Endangered Species Act.
Can you imagine an oil spill worse than the one in the Gulf? Imagine an equally large, or even larger, spill in the Arctic, where there is a lack of technology proven to work in cleaning up oil in icy water. Or, for that matter, a gusher trapped underneath the Arctic ice.
Imagine an oil spill where emergency and relief supports are thousands of miles away. Imagine a blow-out in the fall, and those emergency and relief supports having to wait through the winter, and through the spring, until the Arctic ice melts enough for crews to get to the spill the following summer. Estimates are that, during that time, oil could spread to Russian and Canada, and potential even to Norway and Greenland.
This isn’t some science fiction horror movie. This is a reality that BP is creating right now, even while we still grapple with the harm they caused in the Gulf.
If you can’t believe that such dangerous, irresponsible and risky action has gotten a green light from our government, you can still act before the drilling begins. Share our film with your friends and family and sign our petition to tell Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar to stop BP’s dangerous and unregulated drilling in the Arctic!
BP is working hard to create their next disaster. Remember how helpless we all felt watching footage of the tragedy in the Gulf? This time you have the chance to stop BP before they cause even more devastation.
Stand Up New York!
STAND UP NEW YORK
Seems like everyone is singing the praises of Natural Gas, our newest greenest most homegrown and secure source of American Energy. NOT! “Clean Natural” Gas is neither. Gas extraction, made possible by hydraulic fracturing (or fracking for short) has to sit right beside Deep Sea Drilling, Mountain Top Removal, and Dirty Tar Sands Oil in the pantheon of insane ways to get our carbon fix.
Did you know that Halliburton (yes that Halliburton) pantented fracking: a process that mixes millions of gallons of precious fresh water with a proprietary cocktail of toxics, injects it through our drinking water table, and into the ground at a pressure that will fracture rock? Did you know that when Dick Cheney (yes that Dick) was the VP he fracked the EPA to make sure that this insanity would be exempted from the Safe Drinking Water Act?
Stand Up, New York!
Fracking has brought the gas rush to New York. Some of the biggest and dirtiest names in Big Oil are coming to frack you. And they will not be gentle with New York’s world class water features.
You can expect the same dirty drilling that has poisoned the water in Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, and Ohio. Who will be at risk? Everyone downstream. Including the drinking water of tens of million in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
If you love NY and NY State as I do (or just love someone who does) then please watch our video, go to http://CleanWaterNotDirtyDrilling.org and DO SOMETHING!!
John Sellers
Carly Fiorina: Runs to the Tea Party, Away From the Truth
Carly Fiorina doesn’t want all Californians to know how much she has courted and aligned herself with the Tea Party.
Even before this video was released, the Fiorina Campaign was already on the defensive attack, trying to take the public’s attention away from her Tea Party/Palin support. They are distorting the truth, hiding from the facts and hoping people forgot about her pursuit of the Tea Party.
Everyone in America has at this point seen and heard what the Tea Party is about. Our video uses carefully date-labeled footage of a Tea Party rally we had video for that occurred in March. We also use clearly date-labeled footage of an April Tea Party rally Fiorina spoke at, as well as a clip of her saying that she believes the Tea Party is “making a huge difference in the political dialogue in this country.”
The fact of the matter is that Fiorina has sought to align herself with the Tea Party. She believes in what they stand for and what role they’ve played in the political dialogue. We believe she should denounce them.
Why won’t Carly Fiorina denounce the Tea Party? Why is she actively trying to align herself with their style and messaging? Why is she trying to deceive the voters of California by changing the topic?
California doesn’t need our own Tea-Party-loving, Sarah-Palin-endorsed Republican. But as long as Fiorina is trying to buy this election, we’ll continue to tell voters the truth about who she is.
Sick for Beauty: Protect the Health of Nail Salon Workers!
Imagine going to work every day and exposing yourself regularly to toxic chemicals that were eroding your health. Next time you get a mani/pedi, you should ask the same question. Nail salon workers throughout the country work under unnecessarily toxic and dangerous conditions.
Under current federal regulations, cosmetics manufacturers can use unlimited amounts of virtually any ingredient in salon and professional use products, including chemicals linked to cancer, reproductive and developmental harm, hormone disruption and other adverse health impacts. Workers can and should be better protected from exposure to toxic chemicals in their workplaces. Will you join us in taking action to protect these workers?
Everyone has the right to a safe and healthy working environment. The women and men who work in these salons deserve better. A high percentage of nail salon workers are Vietnamese immigrants who find economic stability through the profession. As the video above shows, these workers take pride in what they do. They shouldn’t also have to take health risks.
Congress has the ability to better regulate cosmetic manufacturers. No one should go to work in an environment that could cause cancer, reproductive harm and other health risks. Tell your Congress members that we can do better as a country. Sign our petition to demand stronger regulations and stronger worker protections.
Movement to Rethink the Afghanistan War Gains Traction
This week’s Newsweek cover leads with the title, “Rethinking Afghanistan” and features an essay from Richard Haass at the Council on Foreign Relations, warning that the war isn’t worth the cost and the current policy isn’t working. It’s gratifying to see the message that Brave New Foundation’s Rethink Afghanistan campaign has pushed for a year on the front pages of such a mainstream publication. To Haas and the Newsweek team: we’re glad to have you with us.
Newsweek’s cover is just the latest sign that opposition to this brutal, costly war is now the norm, and American policy-makers had better take notice. Public opposition for to this war has exploded.
According to Newsweek’s latest poll, 53 percent of those surveyed disapprove of the way President Obama is handling the Afghanistan War, and only 37 percent approve.
Bloomberg’s latest poll found that:
- 60 percent want to “stick to the plan to start withdrawal of forces in July of next year, even if the country is still as unstable as it is today.” Only 37 percent are “open to keeping the current number of forces in Afghanistan–or even adding more–if the country is still unstable in July of next year.”
- A whopping 58 percent of those surveyed think the war is a lost cause, compared to 36 percent who think that winning is even a possibility.
And finally, Pew Research/National Journal Congressional Connection’s poll on July 8-11 found that a whopping 42 percent of people surveyed want to remove troops ASAP, up ten points since February.
But politics aside, our elected officials should end this war for the most basic of reasons: it’s a brutal policy that’s not working and that’s not worth the costs. It’s not worth the life of one more American troop or one more Afghan civilian. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once noted about an earlier counterinsurgency in someone else’s country: “The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours.”
If you want to help end this war, join Rethink Afghanistan on Facebook.
