Petition to Reform Tamms Supermax Prison

Dear Friend,
Rep. Julie Hamos introduced legislation to reform Tamms supermax prison, and we already have 22 co-sponsors. Please sign our online petition to support HB2633 and forward it to all your contacts.
http://www.juliehamos.org/tamms
Why is this so important?
We need to show all the lawmakers in Illinois that there is widespread support for this bill. Please help us make sure this petition reaches every corner of the state.
Rep. Julie Hamos will personally deliver this petition to our legislators and to Governor Quinn.
Tamms is already a human rights and pubic policy disaster. Let's make it a political liability.
http://www.juliehamos.org/tamms
Tamms Year Ten
www.YearTen.org

The Food Lobby Goes to School & and My Lobbyist Rant

I'm so sick of lobbyists running this country. Bill Moyers had a great discussion about it on this week's show. The guest was Robert G. Kaiser, author of "So Much Damn Money". Something needs to be done. The money that is used for lobbying could be spent on better things.

Bill Maher Makes Sense of Health

Mark Bittman: What's wrong with what we eat

In this fiery and funny talk, New York Times food writer Mark Bittman weighs in on what's wrong with the way we eat now (too much meat, too few plants; too much fast food, too little home cooking), and why it's putting the entire planet at risk.

How to Get Fat Without Really Trying

The meat and dairy industries receive the most government financial backing. Corn and soy are subsidized, allowing cheap processed foods to be created and sold at high profits. This short video sums it all up nicely and should push us all to rethink what we eat and what we feed our families.

How the Mainstream Media Ignores Ordinary People in Economic News Coverage

I ran across this article by chance. Concrete evidence that the mainstream media is broken.

Here is a link to the article:
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/06/world_without_workers.html/

I have a hard time articulating why these issues matter. Here is an explanation from the article:
"Biased coverage matters for three primary reasons. Our belief in democratic debate demands informed citizens, and requires that different points of view are allowed to be heard. Journalistic standards of objectivity call for balanced coverage. And, perhaps most importantly, media coverage influences people’s opinions and behavior."

Let's work together to reform the media!

It's Time to Reform the Media

I attended the National Conference for Media Reform. It's time for Americans to understand what is going on with the media in this country.

Some of the people I talk to about the conference don't get what it's about.
Here are some of the issues:
The media is too concentrated.
Too few people control the mainstream media.
Too much conflict of interest exists. Example: GE profits from war. GE owns NBC.
"Entertainment news" takes the place of real issues.

It used to be that a local tv station had to renew it's license every 3 years. Now it's basically a rubber stamp every 7 or 8 years.

What can be done?
Let your representatives in Washington know that this is unaceptable.
Talk to others. Inform others.