Category: In the News
When the moon becomes full shortly after midnight on November 13, it will be the closest full moon to the earth since January 26, 1948, and there won’t be another approaching this close again until November 25, 2034.
For many people (under the age of 68) this is a magnificent opportunity to witness the biggest moon they will have seen so far in their life. November’s full moon is known as a supermoon as it reaches its closest point to the earth.
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R), who signed an anti-LGBT bill into law, dismissed widespread criticism of the bill as simply a “branding effort.”
How’s that working for you McCory and they people you serve?
- The NCAA is one of several businesses and organizations that have said they may change plans to hold events in North Carolina because of the law and NBA All Star Game may plan to move out of North Carolina (NO SPORTS)
- Brian Adams. Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr, Cirque du Soleil Drop North Carolina Shows (NO MUSIC & SHOWS)
- Hulu Moves New Show Out Of North Carolina, Fox and A&E boycott, Lionsgate has also pulled production of a TV show out of North Carolina and Famed director Rob Reiner said he won’t produce movies in North Carolina. (NO TV OR MOVIES)
- San Francisco, New York is barring public funding for city employees’ travel to North Carolina. (NO TRAVEL)
- Porn site X-Hamster boycott and closed sites (NO PORN)
- Fortune reported that an annual meeting of nearly 1,700 ethical corporations, due to take place in North Carolina in October, has been canceled. The meeting of corporations, including Etsy, Ben & Jerry’s, and Patagonia, would have brought more than $1 million to the state of North Carolina.
- Paypal scrapped its plans to build a $3.6 million global operations centre in Charlotte, the state’s largest economy.
- Deutsche Bank on Tuesday said it would halt plans to add 250 new jobs in its Cary, North Carolina, location, citing state legislation enacted in march that blocks anti-discrimination rules for gay and transgender people.
- North Carolina was at the center of furniture manufacturing, so it made sense that in 1909, the Southern Furniture Exposition opened there. Now re-branded the High Point Market, attracts more than 70,000 visitors and has an estimated economic impact of more than $5 billian on the region. This spring, organizers say the market, has received dozens of cancellations from out-of-state customers who want to boycott the state because of controversial new anti-discrimination law.
- And a letter with all these companies:
Dear Governor McCrory,
We write with concerns about legislation you signed into law this week, House Bill 2, which has overturned protections for LGBT people and sanctioned discrimination across North Carolina. Put simply, HB 2 is not a bill that reflects the values of our companies, of our country, or even the overwhelming majority of North Carolinians.
We are disappointed in your decision to sign this discriminatory legislation into law. The business community, by and large, has consistently communicated to lawmakers at every level that such laws are bad for our employees and bad for business. This is not a direction in which states move when they are seeking to provide successful, thriving hubs for business and economic development. We believe that HB 2 will make it far more challenging for businesses across the state to recruit and retain the nation’s best and brightest workers and attract the most talented students from across the country. It will also diminish the state’s draw as a destination for tourism, new businesses, and economic activity.
Discrimination is wrong, and we believe it has no place in North Carolina or anywhere in our country. As companies that pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming to all, we strongly urge you and the leadership of North Carolina’s legislature to repeal this law in the upcoming legislative session.
Sincerely,
Laura Alber, President and Chief Executive Officer, Williams-Sonoma, Inc.
Karen Appleton, Senior Vice President, Box
James Avery, CEO, Adzerk
Brandee Barker, Cofounder, The Pramana Collective
Marc Benioff, CEO, Salesforce
Chip Bergh, President and CEO, Levi Strauss & Co.
Michael Birch, Founder, Blab
Ed Black, President and CEO, Computer & Communications Industry Association
Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Goldman Sachs Group
Nathan Blecharczyk, Cofounder and CTO, Airbnb
Steven R. Boal, CEO, Quotient Technology Inc.
Alex Boden, General Manager, Plum Organics
Ron Boire, CEO, Barnes and Noble
Lorna Borenstein, CEO, Grokker
Brad Brinegar, Chairman and CEO, McKinney
Michael Bronner, President, Dr. Bronner’s
Craig Bromley, President, John Hancock Financial
John Bryant, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Kellogg Company
Wes Bush, Chairman, CEO and President of Northrop Grumman
Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, co-CEOs, Atlassian
Lloyd Carney, CEO, Brocade Communications Systems, Inc.
Marc Casper, President and CEO, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.
Safra Catz, CEO, Oracle
Brian Chesky, CEO, Airbnb
Emanuel Chirico, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, PVH Corp.
Ron Conway, Founder and Co-Managing Partner, SV Angel
Tim Cook, CEO, Apple
Roger W. Crandall, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance
Paul T. Dacier, Executive Vice President and General Counsel, EMC Corporation
Bracken P. Darrell, CEO, Logitech
Dean Debnam, Chairman and CEO, Workplace Options
Mike DeFrino, Chief Executive Officer, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants
Bill Demchak, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.
Alex Dimitrief, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, GE
Jack Dorsey, CEO, Square and Twitter
Sandy Douglas, Executive Vice President & President, Coca-Cola North America, The Coca- Cola Company
David Ebersman, Cofounder and CEO, Lyra Health
Randy Fiser, CEO, American Society of Interior Designers
Blair Fleming, Head, RBC Capital Markets, U.S.
Jared Fliesler, General Partner, Matrix Partners
Vince Forlenza, Chairman, CEO and President, BD
Mark Gainey, CEO, Strava Inc.
Joe Gebbia, Cofounder and Chief Product Officer, Airbnb
Jason Goldberg, CEO, Pepo
Kristen Koh Goldstein, CEO, BackOps
Mitchell Gold, co-founder and chair-man, Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams
John H. Graham IV, President and CEO, American Society of Association Executives
Peter T. Grauer, Chairman, Bloomberg L.P.
Logan Green, CEO, Lyft
Mike Gregoire, CEO, CA Technologies
Paul Graham, Founder, Y Combinator
David Hassell, CEO, 15Five
Charles H. Hill III, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Human Resources, Pfizer Inc.
Reid Hoffman, Chairman, LinkedIn
Robert Hohman, Cofounder & CEO, Glassdoor
Lane S. Hopkins, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Capital One Financial Corporation
Mark Hoplamazian, President and CEO, Hyatt Hotels Corporation
Drew Houston, CEO, Dropbox
Stephen R. Howe, Jr., U.S. Chairman and Managing Partner, Americas Managing Partner, Ernst & Young LLP
William H. Howle, President of U.S. Retail Banking Group, Citibank
Steve Huffman, CEO, Reddit
Chad Hurley, Cofounder, YouTube
Dave Imre, Partner and CEO, IMRE
Dev Ittycheria, President & CEO, MongoDB
Richard Jenrette, Founder, Classical American Homes Preservation Trust
Laurene Powell Jobs, President, Emerson Collective
Michael O. Johnson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Herbalife
Cecily Joseph, VP Corporate Responsibility and Chief Diversity Officer, Symantec Corporation
Steve Joyce, CEO, Choice Hotels International
Travis Kalanick, CEO, Uber
David Karp, Founder and CEO, Tumblr
Travis Katz, Founder and CEO, Gogobot
Alan King, President and COO, Workplace Options
Dave King, CEO, LabCorp.
David Kohler, President & CEO, Kohler Co.
Brian Krzanich, CEO, Intel
Joshua Kushner, Managing Partner, Thrive Capital
Michael W. Lamach, Chairman and CEO, Ingersoll-Rand plc
William P. Lauder, Executive Chairman, The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.
Jeff Lawson, Founder, CEO and Chairman, Twilio
Max Levchin, CEO, Affirm
Dion Lim, CEO, NextLesson
Frank Longobardi, CEO, CohnReznick LLP
Shan-lyn Ma, CEO, Zola
Elie Maalouf, Chief Executive Officer, The Americas, InterContinental Hotels Group
Vishal Makhijani, COO, Udacity
Tom Mangas, CEO, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Rob Marcus, Chairman and CEO of Time Warner Cable
Bill Maris, CEO, Google Ventures
Marissa Mayer, President and CEO, Yahoo
Melody McCloskey, CEO, StyleSeat
Douglas Merrill, CEO, Zestfinance
Dyke Messinger, President and CEO, Power Curbers Inc.
Chris Meyrick, Chief Diversity Officer, American Express Company
Steve Mollenkopf, CEO, Qualcomm Inc.
Bob Moritz, US Chairman and Senior Partner, PwC
Denise Morrison, President and Chief Executive Officer, Campbell Soup Company
Brian Moynihan, CEO, Bank of America
Oscar Munoz, President and CEO, United Airlines
Hari Nair, Vice President and General Manager, Orbitz.com & CheapTickets.com
Christopher J. Nassetta, President & Chief Executive Officer, Hilton Worldwide
Michael Natenshon, CEO, Marine Layer
Alexi G. Nazem, Cofounder and CEO, Nomad Health
Alexis Ohanian, Cofounder, Reddit
Laurie J. Olson, EVP, Strategy, Portfolio and Commercial Operations, Pfizer Inc.
Bob Page, Founder and CEO, Replacements, Ltd.
Doug Parker, Chairman and CEO, American Airlines
Mark Pearson, CEO, AXA Financial Inc.
Mike Pedersen, CEO and President, TD Bank, N.A.
Michelle Peluso, Strategic Advisor and former CEO, Gilt
Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google
Mark Pincus, Founder and Executive Chairman, Zynga
Hosain Rahman, CEO, Jawbone
Bill Ready, CEO, Braintree
Evan Reece, CEO, Liftopia
Stan Reiss, General Partner, Matrix Partners
John Replogle, CEO, Seventh Generation
Walter Robb, co-CEO, Whole Foods Market
Chuck Robbins, CEO, Cisco Systems
Virginia M. Rometty, Chairman, President and CEO, IBM Corporation
Dan Rosensweig, CEO, Chegg
Kevin P. Ryan, Founder and Chairman, Alleycorp
Bijan Sabet, General Partner, Spark Capital
Brian Samelson, CEO & President, eMaint Enterprises, LLC
Julie Samuels, President, Engine
George A. Scangos, PhD, CEO, Biogen
Charles W. Scharf, Chief Executive Officer, Visa Inc.
Paula Schneider, CEO, American Apparel
Steve Schoch, CEO, Miramax
Dan Schulman, President and CEO, PayPal
Howard Schultz, Chairman and CEO, Starbucks
Adam Shankman, Director and Producer
Gary Shapiro, President and CEO, Consumer Technology Association
David A. Shaywitz, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer, DNAnexus
Behshad Sheldon, President and CEO, Braeburn Pharmaceuticals
Ben Silbermann, CEO, Pinterest
Brad Smith, President and Chief Legal Officer, Microsoft
Arne Sorenson, President and CEO, Marriott International
David Spector, Cofounder, ThirdLove
Jeremy Stoppelman, CEO, Yelp
Jerry Stritzke, President and CEO, REI
John G. Stumpf, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Wells Fargo & Company
Julie Sweet, Group Chief Executive North America, Accenture
Christopher J. Swift, Chairman and CEO, The Hartford
Bret Taylor, CEO, Quip
Todd Thibodeaux, CEO, CompTIA
Brian Tippens, Vice President, Chief Diversity Officer, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
David Tisch, Managing Partner, BoxGroup
Nirav Tolia, Cofounder and CEO, Nextdoor
Kevin A. Trapani, President and CEO, The Redwood Groups
Mark Trudeau, President and Chief Executive Officer, Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals
Paul Van Deventer, President & CEO, Meeting Professionals International
Ken Wasch, President, Software & Information Industry Association
Casey Wasserman, Chairman and CEO of Wasserman & President and CEO of the Wasserman Foundation
Bob & Harvey Weinstein, Co-Founders and Co-Chairmen, The Weinstein Company
Devin Wenig, CEO, eBay
Tim Westergren, Founder and CEO, Pandora Media, Inc.
Robert Wolfe, CEO, CrowdRise
Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO, Facebook (NO BUISNESS OR MONEY)
Why does this bother me- I have family there. They are affected by this. That bothers me as much as discrimination bothers me.
You Cannot Enlighten the Unconscious. Meanwhile, as the war rages on, a clear and painful message to the fine folks who live there- that they’re now on a shit list, for the simple rookie mistake of living in a state with some people who want to discriminate.
What happened to “Love one another”?
“I’m starting to prefer the ones who don’t believe in me.”
Because…
All the schools in the area closed to allow families to attend the parade- prior to closing- we ran out of substitutes for all the requests off- unbelievable!
Over 30 school districts closed, tons of businesses closed…Almost 1 million people!
Skywatchers will have something to howl about on Sunday: a total Supermoon eclipse. Not only is this the best and last opportunity of the year for Americans to witness any kind of eclipse, but this particular phenomenon is extremely rare, happening perhaps five times a century. The last Supermoon eclipse was in 1982, and there won’t be another until 2033.
Just fifty days after the Supreme Court found a nationwide right to marriage equality in the U.S., BuzzFeed News found photos from weddings in each state and Washington, D.C.
Some of these weddings are small, others spill over with guests. Some of these weddings took months to plan, others took only minutes to complete in a small courthouse office. Some weddings took place years before the Supreme Court’s ruling on June 26th of this year, others took place the morning of the ruling.
All were displays of love now recognized in law.
See photos...click here
PS- Our rings are in!
Gonna raise the ante a bit for Friday. Looking a bit hotter than earlier thought so we’ve upgraded the greater KC Metro to an Excessive Heat Warning. Means dangerously hot conditions can be expected during the afternoon and early evening hours with heat indices topping out between 108 and 112 degrees…..and we’re not talking about a “dry” heat, you know the kind that those in Arizona talk about. Nope, we’re talking sauna conditions. We’re not recommending you head outside so you can sweat and lose a bunch of weight. That’s not how it’s done. Stay indoors, preferably in a place that has AC or at least a fan, drink lots and lots of water and if you must head outdoors wear light fitting clothing and make it as brief as possible. The rest of the region except for northeast Missouri will be under a Heat Advisory where heat indices top out around 105 degrees. YUK!!!!
Vivian Boyack, age 91, and Alice “Nonie” Dubes, age 90, have been together for 72 years, and this weekend they tied the knot. As the reverend who performed the ceremony in Davenport, Iowa said, “This is a celebration of something that should have happened a very long time ago.”
The Supreme Court declared Friday that same-sex couples have a right to marry anywhere in the United States!
“No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As some of the petitioners in these cases demonstrate, marriage embodies a love that may endure even past death It would misunderstand these men and women to say they disrespect the idea of marriage. Their plea is that they do respect it, respect it so deeply that they seek to find its fulfillment for themselves. Their hope is not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilization’s oldest institutions. They ask for equal dignity in the eyes of the law. The Constitution grants them that right.”
Hey- It’s beautiful day- I think I’m going to marry you…
We’re celebrating National Poetry Month.
Before her death last spring at the age of 86, author and poet Maya Angelou was working on a new project — one that puts her words to music. An album was recently released, giving listeners a taste of an unusual collaboration that crosses generations.
In a music video called “Harlem Hopscotch,” inspired by a poem Angelou wrote in 1969, dancers on a Los Angeles rooftop move to a hip-hop beat laced with Angelou’s poetry. Angelou once said she was in love with the music in language – a legacy she’s now passing on to a new generation.
Globally an estimated 34 million people have HIV. More than 25 million people between 1981 and 2007 have died from the virus, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in history.
Today, many scientific advances have been made in HIV treatment, there are laws to protect people living with HIV and we understand so much more about the condition. But despite this, people do not know the facts about how to protect themselves and others from HIV, and stigma and discrimination remain a reality for many people living with HIV. World AIDS Day is important as it reminds the public and Government that HIV has not gone away – there is still a vital need to raise money, increase awareness, fight prejudice and improve education.
Facts about World AIDS Day
The theme for World AIDS Day in 2014 is “Focus, Partner, Achieve: An AIDS-free Generation.”
The Red Ribbon is the universal symbol of support for those living with HIV/AIDS.
The AIDS Memorial Quilt Project allows friends and family members of someone who has died from AIDS to construct a quilt panel and have it placed in the quilt. The quilt travels and is displayed throughout the US. (Source: www.aidsquilt.org)
The first case of what is now known as AIDS, was reported in the US in June 1981.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than a million people in the United States are living with HIV infection, and almost 1 in 5 are unaware of their infection.
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