D.C. celebrates same-sex marriage! A huge non-demoninational wedding will take place on March 20th. Congratulations!!

Of course not everyone is happy about this. Catholic Charities is one organization who is already looking for loopholes.  According to the Washington Post, “Rather than provide health coverage to same-sex partners, Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl decided to cut benefits for spouses of all future Catholic Charities employees, new spouses of current employees and existing spouses of current employees not already on the plan. Wuerl has said the benefits change is justifiable under Catholic teaching as long as the employees are paid a just wage.”

It may be “justifiable” but it doesn’t seem very Christian, now does it?

In other gay news… California state Senator Roy Ashburn was arrested for a DUI after leaving a gay club in Sacramento. That isn’t very interesting until you look at his anti-gay voting record.

Here is an overview from TalkingPointsMemo.com:

• “In 2006, he voted no on a measure to add material on the contributions of gay Americans who had contributed to the development of California or the United States
• In 2008 he voted against expanding anti-discrimination laws to include sexual discrimination.
• In 2009 he voted against a resolution to oppose Prop 8, the anti-gay marriage ballot question.
• Last September, he voted against recognizing out-of-state same-sex marriages.
• That same month Ashburn opposed creating Harvey Milk Day, to honor the slain gay rights icon from San Francisco.”

That’s some serious denial!

By Libby Chase

I know that Jenna Bush being on NBC’s Today Show isn’t new.

However, when I saw her “covering” the Olympics last week, something snapped. And, yes, the Olympics are over, but unfortunately the layoffs in the media aren’t.

When the Today show decided to throw credentials, experience and common sense out of the window by hiring her in the first place, Jim Bell, the executive producer said, “[Bush] will contribute stories about once a month on issues like education to television’s top-rated morning news show.”

But getting to cover the Olympics is a big deal. That’s not a once-a-month education piece. A job like that takes a lifetime of hard work to get. If I were Meredith Vieira or Matt Lauer I would be pretty insulted. Hiring Jenna Bush is like saying “A monkey can do your job,” and then pretty much proving it.

I’m not the only one who thinks she’s… not great.

From USA Today, “We’re used to a little empty-headedness in the morning, but must it be contagious? Why turn four U.S. gold-medal skaters over to Jenna Bush Hager — who may be the sweetest girl on Earth, but whose TV skills don’t even rise to the level of amateurish?”

Good question.

This isn’t a rant because I didn’t like her Daddy’s politics. This is about people working their whole lives to get someplace just to be passed over because of a bad case of nepotism. At a time when journalists and reporters are being laid off left and right and news outlets are closing down, it is beyond unfair that someone with as little qualifications as Jenna Bush are picking up prime jobs.

Let’s just take a quick glance at the differences in experience: Meredith Vieira graduated magna cum laude with a degree in English from Tufts University. In 1975 she started as a news announcer for WORC radio in Worcester, Massachusetts, then moved to TV, working as a local reporter and anchor at WJAR-TV Providence. From 1979 to 1982 she was an investigative reporter at WCBS-TV in NYC.

• 1985–1989: West 57th news magazine
• 1989–1993: 60 Minutes correspondent
• 1992–1993: CBS Morning News co-anchor
• 1993–1997: Turning Point correspondent
• 1997–2006: The View moderator
• 2002–present: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
• 2006–present: Dateline NBC contributing anchor
• September 2006–present: Today co-host

Jenna Bush-Hager graduated from The University of Texas at Austin. Yeah, not quite a Tufts. But hey, she was a legacy member of Kappa Alpha Theta!!!! And, no, that’s not the smart one. She didn’t even do that on her own; her mother was a member first, paving her way. Oooh, wait, she does have media experience… her and her twin sister Barbara were both arrested for alcohol related charges—twice within five weeks.

After graduating she became a teacher. I do have a lot of respect for teachers.

Here is her entire resume:

• Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School
• Completed an internship for UNICEF’s Educational Policy Department
• Currently works as a reading coordinator at a school in Baltimore, Maryland.

Yes, she did publish two books but, come on if you’re the daughter of a President and you can’t get a book published you just haven’t tried. It isn’t the same as actually having to try and do it yourself—which is difficult. Let’s put it this way, she went on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, 20/20, and gave interviews to USA Today, The Washington Post and People magazine. In the book, the woman “Ana” was born with HIV, she had a hard life, raped, beaten, forced to live in a detention center and then she gets pregnant. Yes, it’s an interesting story and she did give her profits to UNICEF but there are lots of smart, strong women out there writing great, important books. And guess what? They don’t get asked to be on 20/20 or the Ellen DeGeneres show.

At least the Publisher’s Weekly review was honest, “It’s not a bad book, although I doubt it would be noticed, much less published, were it not for its White House author.”

The reviewer goes on to point out that, “Inspired by Ana’s resilience, Jenna hopes to motivate young readers to volunteer to help causes like Ana’s; in an appendix, she suggests canned-food drives, becoming a pen pal, tutoring, raising money for UNICEF. (Among dozens of ideas, writing to Congress or the White House does not figure.)

“So being a pen pal is more important than attempting to make policy change? Or does she just realize what the rest of us naively hope isn’t true, that neither the Congress nor the White House really listens.

“So white Jenna is suggesting we become “pen pals” her father “refused to fund UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, which promotes family planning (abortions are excluded), prevention of AIDS and HIV, reproductive health, safe motherhood and gender equality in access to education. The United States helped found UNFPA almost 40 years ago. But in 2002, the Bush administration claimed that UNFPA funded coercive abortions in China, and despite an investigation by the State Department that refuted the allegation that same year, and despite bipartisan protest, President Bush has since withheld a total of $195 million allocated by Congress to UNFPA. (To put this in context, 180 countries contributed last year, led by the Netherlands, which gave more than $75 million.) ”

 Jenna did nothing. She actually could have made a difference, she had a spotlight, she could have done something important and she failed. And the media that applauded her “passion” should have called her out for not really doing a damn thing.

Libby Chase is frustrated her more qualified friends are losing their jobs.

I live on the East Coast. We’re in the middle of our second blizzard this week. Presently, snow is falling all around me and we’re expecting to get 20 inches or more. Everything is shut down. It’s a state of emergency, which means we aren’t even allowed to drive.

The federal government is also home for the day. According to ABC News, “Office of Personnel Management chief John Berry, who decides when to close the federal government, has said each snow day costs taxpayers an estimated $100 million in work government employees don’t do.” That doesn’t include the additional cost of state and local governments, or snow removal.

With everyone at home, there is also the lost tax revenue from shoppers.  Read about the costs in this article from Reuters.

If they were giving out gold medals to Olympic sponsors for sustainability, Coca-Cola would surely take home the gold.

During the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver Coca-Cola is planning on becoming the first zero-waste, carbon-neutral Olympic sponsor. The Olympics have always been at the forefront of the green movement. Now, they are looking for sponsors who are willing to do more than just through down millions of dollars, they are looking for companies to also be sustainable.

The Coca-Cola Company is the longest continuous corporate supporter of the Olympic Games, and has been a sponsor since 1928.

Coca-Cola began implementing recycling efforts during the 2000 Athens Olympic Games, and later evolved with eco-friendly coolers and shirts made from plastic bottles. After sponsoring the Vancouver games in 2006, Coke found that the Olympic Torch Relay staff and Olympic Games staff “recycled bottle” shirts proved difficult when it came to standing up to low temperatures and large amounts of precipitation. Finding a supplier with the right technology to produce the shirts was an extra step in its sponsorship process. However, Coca-Cola keeps moving forward—they are one of the first companies to receive a “sustainability star” from the Vancouver Winter Olympics committee for the upcoming 2010 Olympic Games. In addition to making the Olympics committee happy, they are also giving consumers what they want. Expectations for sponsors of big events are rising and Coke believes their zero-waste sponsorship will surely raise the bar.

According to PlasticsNews.com, at the 2010 Olympics, “visitors will find café furniture made from pine-beetle-salvaged wood, drink out of bottles made from 30 based plant-based materials, and their beverages will be delivered via hybrid vehicles and electric cart. All are elements of Coca-Cola’s first zero-waste, carbon-neutral sponsorship.”
Some of Coca-Cola’s green goals:
1. Ensure that at least 95% of its waste materials is diverted from landfills
2. Arrange for all recyclable materials such as shrink wrap and cardboard trays to be sent to a recycling center in Richmond, BC
3. Collect and recycle 100% of the single-serve plastic bottles from beverages consumed in Games’ venues.
4. Use hybrid delivery vehicles
5. Arrange for all staff uniforms to be made out of recycled bottles

Read more about this at Advertising Age.

What do you think? Is having sustainable, carbon-free corporate sponsors at the Olympic Games important to you?

By Ellen Underwood

The airlines have always had a hard time making a profit. Plenty of airlines have gone bankrupt over the years, feel free to google “bankrupt + airlines” — there is no shortage of results. According to MSNBC.com, “In the United States alone, the Air Transport Association records at least 100 airline bankruptcies since deregulation in 1978.”

So what will the fall out be after the drop some airlines witnessed in 2009? According to the International Air Transport Association, both international passenger demand and freight has dropped off. We’ve already seen Japan Airlines fall into bankruptcy this month and American Airlines, a partner of Japan Airlines, lost money in the fourth quarter as well. One of the causes of the drop off in international passenger demand appears to be a mixture of business travelers staying home as well as vacation travelers. 

 Even with less passengers, some airlines have been able to do well. Southwest Airlines saw a profit in 2009. Thanks to the airlines “bags fly free” campaign, it has increased its market share by 1 percent and now serves more passengers than any other U.S. airline. They have even added service to four new airports and given their employees raises.

Other airlines that reported profits include Airtran and Continental.

The Huffington Post reported that the credit card companies are taking 3 percent of everything donated to Haiti.

I’m sure that anyone who wants to help, wants to help Haiti, not the credit card companies.

According to the Huffington Post, “Thanks to this hidden fee, American banks and credit card companies are making huge profits — somewhere in the neighborhood of $250 million a year — off of people’s charitable donations.”

They do mention that Capital One waives these fees.

Read the entire article.

According to the New York Times, “The number of food stamp recipients has climbed by about 10 million over the past two years, resulting in a program that now feeds 1 in 8 Americans and nearly 1 in 4 children.” They provide this map to show the breakdown.

In a related article, the New York Times claims that food stamps have lost the stigma they once held and that “the program is now expanding at a pace of about 20,000 people a day.” Food stamp use is at a record high.

With unemployment numbers not expected to drop anytime soon and food prices on the rise, how are these “safety nets” going to hold up?

 Short and effective video below. Enjoy.

I’m an iPhone guy, but even I was impressed with this really cool microsite made by Sprint to advertise their Now network.

Perhaps you aren’t aware of the Consumer Electronics Shows (CES) but it is huge. It’s one of the largest trade show in the world with 2,800 companies displaying approximately 20,000 new products in over a million square feet of exhibit space. All the new electronics are showcased there:  laptops, game consoles, and phones. Sounds cool, right?  Unfortunately, if you aren’t in the industry, you can’t get in. But don’t worry, everything at the expo will be on the market before you know it. For now, check out some of the new gadgets and electronics innovations on CNETs CES blog and CNN’s.

While we are on the topic of cool electronics, Google just dove further into the mobile phone space and is now selling Nexus One Android-powered phones.

This list might seem somewhat boring at first. But when you stop to think about the impact of the  choices that we’ve made as consumers you realize that we’ve changed the world. This list is from the Huffington Post.

1. Calling (I prefer texting to phone calls)
2.  Fax Machines
3.  Catalogs
4.  Encyclopedias
5. Newspaper Classifieds (some might say the newspaper entirely)
6.  CDs
7. Dial-up Internet
8. Film & Film Cameras
9. Yellow Pages
10. Wires

Okay, well some of these really aren’t obsolete… yet. However, its still interesting to think about all of the things that we no longer use. Unfortunately, what can you do with obsolete items except throw them away? Think of all the trash that these out-of-date items will create.