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 | activism alerts july 2005 |
- Tell your Senators to Support S. 1422 and your Congressman to Support H.R. 881!
- Hard to Swallow: Coke’s New Youth Fitness Campaign
- Join Together With The Band
- Ten Autism Groups To Host Rally Together
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Hard to Swallow: Coke’s New Youth Fitness Campaign
It’s an appealing concept with an upbeat title: Live It, an in-school media program with popular athletes including Lance Armstrong, NASCAR drivers and W.N.B.A. players touting a healthier, more active lifestyle to kids. Live It goes a bit flat, however, when the campaign is revealed as the latest slick, targeted marketing work of Coca-Cola. Coke maintains that it is their policy not to market to children under the age of 12. Yet they have admittedly aimed Live It at sixth graders, a demographic determined to be the most receptive to the message. Coke is reportedly spending four million dollars on Live It, with a goal of enlisting 8,500 public middle schools (two million students) to take part in the weeklong program this coming school year.
Live It will include posters, videos, and audio messages played over school’s public address systems. Coke will also distribute pedometers, and walking contests will be held with radios given as prizes. While Coke’s logo will not be displayed on any Live It materials nor will Coke products be featured, critics are unimpressed. Consumer advocates dismiss the campaign as an attempt by Coke to tidy up its image. As media coverage of junk food in schools and research linking soft drink consumption with the epidemic of childhood obesity abound, more school districts have banned lucrative distribution deals with Coca-Cola. According to Gary Ruskin of Commercial Alert, Coke would better serve healthy goals by skipping Live It and instead reducing their active lobbying efforts to dissuade school districts from banning their products.
If you don’t like Coke’s presence in your school in any guise, whether it is the overt form of vending machines or the more subtle appearance of Live It, take action: write a letter to your local paper. Contact school officials. Get together with other parents and work to remove corporate interests from your school.
Source:
www.commercialalert.org
Tell your Senators to Support S. 1422 and your Congressman to Support H.R. 881!
Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska has introduced legislation to ban thimerosal, a mercury containing preservative, from use in vaccines. The Senate Bill, S. 1422, is a companion to H.R. 881, introduced earlier this year in the House of Representatives Congressman Dave Weldon of Florida.
The Senate Bill is introduced at a time when there is mounting pressure on many state legislatures by parents groups for a ban on mercury in vaccines, similar to the Federal bills. Three states, California, Iowa and Missouri have passed legislation similar to the newly introduced Senate bill. Three more state legislatures have passed such legislation; Illinois, New York and Delaware await the signature of their governors. More than twenty states have bills pending.
Parents have aggressively pushed for removal of mercury in vaccines on the ground that caution should be exercised in injecting children with substances of unknown toxicity, such as thimerosal, especially in light of the fact that the vaccine additive is almost 50% ethylmercury, a proven neurotoxin. Earlier this year a group of Senators proposed legislation that would preempt the state bans, provoking protest by parents of children who have been injured by thimerosal.
Lujene Clark, a member of A-CHAMP and an advocate for banning thimerosal praised Senator Hagel’s action. “We’ve been waiting for a Senator who would step up on behalf of America’s children and Senator Hagel has risen to the challenge. “ Bobbie Manning, Vice-President of A-CHAMP said, “This long overdue legislation, if passed, will help restore parents’ confidence in our nation’s vaccine program-- that reason enactment of this legislation cannot come too soon.” Nebraska native, Linda Weinmaster, a parent of an autistic child. praised Senator Hagel. “We are so proud that our Senator, Chuck Hagel, has taken this step for us. We are hopeful that Congress will now act quickly to protect American’s children.”
A-CHAMP (Advocates for Children’s Health Affected by Mercury Poisoning) has been working with a number of parents groups to bring to the attention of America’s elected officials the growing body of evidence that shows the dangers of mercury in vaccines. A-CHAMP believes that excessive childhood exposure to thimerosal is among the principal contributors to the epidemic of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders.
Take Action and Tell Your Representative to Support S. 1422 and H.R. 881 by using A- CHAMP'S legislative action message center!
Source:
www.a-champ.org
This summer, they are stacking up on wrists (and young ankles) everywhere: colored silicone bracelets inspired by the Lance Armstrong Foundation’s popular yellow “Live Strong” version. Now, you can join the trend and show your true lactivist colors by donning a new, purple band embossed with the message “Encourage, Support, Protect Breastfeeding.” Released last week at the La Leche League International conference in Washington D.C., the lilac colored bands were the hottest item on the convention hall floor. The bracelets are part of a new campaign, The Breastfeeding Protection Initiative, created by partners La Leche League International and Lansinoh Laboratories (a leading provider of breastfeeding products for mothers and babies). The campaign aims to provide education and awareness of breastfeeding rights. La Leche League International, who next year will be celebrating its 50th anniversary, has a presence in 65 countries around the world helping and encouraging mothers who want to breastfeed their babies.
“All proceeds from the purchase of this bracelet will go toward expanding efforts to inform more people about breastfeeding rights and to provide them with the tools they need to become a force for change in their community,” says Resheda Hagen, who as a breastfeeding mother more than 20 years ago founded Lansinoh Laboratories to provide supportive products to other breastfeeding mothers. “Specifically, the money raised will fund creation and dissemination of materials to educate people on current and proposed breastfeeding rights and legislation,” she added.
“How wonderful to let the world know that a woman has a right to breastfeed whenever her child is hungry. I am very excited about the possibility of seeing purple bracelets everywhere,” says Hedy Nuriel, executive director of La Leche League International.
Get your bracelet and learn more about the Breastfeeding Protection Initiative.
Ten Autism Groups To Host Rally Together In light of all the recent media coverage and misinformation reported by various media outlets, several parent advocacy groups are joining together in a march/rally protesting the use of mercury in vaccines. The rally and press event will be held July 20, in Washington DC. Organized and supported by A-Champ, CoMed, Dads Against Mercury, Educate Before You Vaccinate, Generation Rescue, Moms Against Mercury, National Autism Association, NVIC, SafeMinds, and Unlocking Autism.
Information will be updated frequently at www.MomsAgainstMercury.org.
If you are planning on attending the rally, please register at www.nationalautismassociation.org/rally.htm.
For further information email rally@momsagainstmercury.org.
Source: www.nationalautismassociation.org
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