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blog, news, politics

Corporate hypocrisy ending: CVS stops tobacco sales and inspires trust; Won’t take your money for cigarettes and chew that causes cancer. So why are other stores putting profit first?

 

The Marlboro Man, the dead ones, are surely smiling from their graves.

Tobacco, the addictive and cancerous drug that pleasures then kills, will no longer be sold at CVS stores.

That’s a real corporate breakthrough. Health before profits? What are CVS execs smoking?

I can’t believe that a company willingly would give up an estimated $2 billion unless they figure the PR in doing something like ending tobacco sales will enhance its other services. 

Sure, if they make it up selling prescription drugs and other things in the healthcare system, then it makes sense.  Lose $2 billion in cigarettes, make $20 billion in other areas of the business.

Still, for consistency sake, what will they do with other things found in its stores. Like alcohol, the hard stuff, the fortified stuff?

 Bad diet pills?

Sugary candies?

Foods loaded with fat?

The conscience shouldn’t stop with tobacco.

Still, it’s refreshing to see a corporation take a stand against Big Tobacco.

Really, what can you say about a product that when you use it in the only way possible causes death?

Tobacco is more acceptable than heroin, the stuff that killed actor Philip Seymour Hoffman on Super Bowl Sunday.

But tobacco kills more than heroin, and you can buy it easier over-the-counter.  Maybe this is the beginning of the end?

A company that cares more for your health gets my money. Imagine a smoker going to a drug store and being able to get something to help quit, AND cigarettes. That’s a one-stop-shop that doesn’t make sense.

Other corporate stores will likely continue to sell tobacco under the guise that they are giving you a choice—to kill yourself.

But that’s the same-old, same-old. Oh, and BTW; It’s not likely to bother Big Tobacco. That’s why its spent the last 30 years addicting Asia and the Third World. Spreading the love.

So CVS looks for real.

Bye Walgreen. Bye Duane. Bye Rite-Aid.  

 

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Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) blog, blog, diversity, news, race

Bruno Mars wins Super Bowl Sunday as explosive half-time performance catapults him to world-class entertainer status

Unless you were a Seahawks fan, Super Bowl 48 wasn’t much for football.

But if you didn’t know how good Bruno Mars was, you found out on Sunday night.

After Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos were shutout by the Seattle defense in the first half, Mars came on the field with enough energy to match both teams.

With an intro by a diverse chorus of young singers in front of a U.S. flag, Mars appeared center stage banging the drums like he was announcing a new America—or at least its soundtrack.

In Mars, we have the perfect representative: half-Filipino on his mother side, Puerto Rican and Hungarian/Jewish on his father’s side, born and raised in Honolulu, with soulful R&B pop roots that enable him to go from pop to hip-hop to James Brown.

As Brown might say, “Good God,” he’s got the moves.

Mars may just become the new “hardest working man in showbiz.”

With his drumming, his singing, his dancing, his stage presence, Mars put to rest any doubters who wondered why New Jersey artists like Bon Jovi or Springsteen weren’t asked to perform.

The NFL said Mars was always its first choice. Now we see why.

Still, even though Mars has been established since 2010 with multiple Grammy victories and nominations, doubters questioned his selection. His tour-de-force  half-time show was like his debut as world-class performer.

In the end, in the close-ups you could see the sweat drip from his brow. Then the wide shot revealed Mars, post-bow, humbled by the stadium’s roar of approval.

Quite a night for a Filipino kid from Honolulu.

I first sensed his greatness two years ago on Saturday Night Live.

Even there, there was some doubt whether he could host the show.

In the opening monologue he sang, “Can I be like Timberlake?”

It was a reference to the one-time boy band sensation now international star.

Then he delivered the punchline. “Underneath this trendy suit,” Mars sang,” hides a scared Filipino…”

To dispel all doubts, Mars broke into a gospel-like refrain. “I’ll be amazing,” he sang. “I can do it.” 

On Sunday he showed the world once again, that yes, this Filipino boy can.  

 

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Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) blog, blog, news, politics, race

More on Randy Gener, Filipino American journalist, who was assaulted in NYC

As I wrote in my post ( http://aaldef.org/blog/amid-the-super-bowl-hype-randy-geners-story-is-more-typical-of-the-asian-american-immigrant-story.html ), I consider it still an open question if what happened to Randy Gener is considered a bias crime against the Filipino gay journalist.

The police think not. I say, hold on.

Hate crime or not, the family is of Gener is very gracious in this public statement issued on Jan. 29, 2014:

The family of Randy Gener would like to thank all of the people who have helped move along the investigation. We are thankful to the New York Police Department, particularly the Hate Crimes Task Force, for conducting a thorough and swift investigation. We are eternally grateful to the community (particularly the Filipino American and arts communities) for raising awareness about this incident, for showing solidarity and generosity through organizing vigils and events, and for creating a fund to support ongoing medical expenses. Finally, we are thankful for all who have benevolently offered their services, particularly the New York City Anti-Violence Project.

We are pleased and relieved that a suspect has finally been apprehended and trust that the NYPD and District Attorney will make all efforts to bring justice for Randy. At this time, we are focusing on Randy’s healing and moving forward together as a family.

 
Stephen Nisbet & Jessica Blair-Driessler

Nisbet is Gener’s husband. Blair-Driessler, Gener’s sister. It’s still unclear if their views have changed now that the police are saying it was not a hate crime.

In the meantime, a fundraising effort for Gener’s medical costs is located on this website:

http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/for-randy-gener/130589

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blog, diversity, news, politics

#SOTU: Obama uses a wounded Army Ranger to unite the country; It’s not corny if it gets us to some common ground and makes us realize the state of our union is much stronger than any of the petty politics in Washington would have us believe

The state of the union still isn’t so great, but the speech by the president was as good as a State of the Union address can get.

And we have Sgt. Cory Remsburg to thank. But first, let’s address that speech.

President Obama was critical of the gridlock and how it hurt the American people, and said he was ready to act on his own, and take executive action.

It was a ballsy threat of action. Let’s hope in this final term, Obama  actually takes some. Especially on immigration. Maybe Ju Hong, the San Francisco activist was right when he disrupted the president’s speech in November. The president can do more without the Congress, if he can only summon up the political will. Maybe the president has found some. When you’re on your way out, what do you have to lose?

There were a few specifics about some things like the MyRA  retirement accounts, energy policy, equal pay for women, job training, pre-school and minimum wage proposals. But we still don’t know if any of that will amount to all that much in the end.

So for now, this speech will have to be about how it made us feel. And that’s’ where the president struck gold when he introduced us to Sgt. Remsburg, the wounded Army Ranger, who couldn’t walk or hear or see, but never gave up on his own recovery to the point where he could sit in the gallery and watch the State of the Union.

A little bit of drama through a meaningful cameo never hurt a State of the Union. Especially when one needed some rallying emotion. Normally, the president has a paragraph, what I call the “litany of diversity,” where he names every race in the Census. But this year, he talked in general terms about all of us, when he said “we believe in the inherent dignity and equality of every human being, regardless of race or religion, creed or sexual orientation.”  He was in the military section of the speech, including a cheering portion about the Olympic team, that incited a “USA” chant.

But it was just a lead up when he personified it all by talking about Remsburg.

In Remsburg’s  story, the president found common ground for us all, above the b.s. of politics. It was one of the few times in the speech where  Biden and Boehner could be seen both standing up and applauding behind the president. Indeed, Remsburg, gave the president the night’s biggest applause (about a minute and 45 seconds, and that’s with the president inserting himself to stem the roar).

Again, it played right into the president’s plan. About Remsburg, the president said: “My recovery has not been easy,” he says. “Nothing in life that’s worth anything is easy.” 

He could have been talking about himself, the country, all of us struggling in our present day America. That’s what we all need to remember, that we’re all in this fight together, and when we start fighting each other (like when the governing class loses its mind and shuts down the government) it’s just not the American way.

The end of that speech was like a call for the best in us all, the good of government, and our country. It’s why we send our children to war, and why we can, with all our differences, in the end, stand together as one.

Forget about specific policies you may or may not have heard. After hearing dozens of these, SOTU addresses are about the “feel good.” And if how you felt about Remsburg is the only thing of substance that you remember tomorrow, or next week,  then the minute or so of applause he got did the trick.

That’s what Obama needed to do with this SOTU address. As our leader he had to remind us that despite it all,  the state of the union is really much stronger than we think.

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