Collective Action

Model Mad, Whitehouse

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captured_finalWe have been suggesting that the model mad behavior in these particularly odd times is not to fight fire with fire, but to fight it with effective extinguishers. There are plenty of creative, as well as otherwise enlightened approaches you should consider. Here’s another. If what you hear out of the White House is infuriating you, consider what this Whitehouse has to say:

Sheldon Whitehouse is a politician with a great name, a bad haircut, and a pissed-off attitude. The second-term Democratic junior senator from Rhode Island has built his career around two seemingly unrelated issues—climate change and money in politics—and he’s just written a book to demonstrate how intimately connected they turn out to be. Continue reading →

Model Mad, Jane

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British scientist Jane Goodall: ‘ I have seen the result of climate change and we know, science has shown, that global temperatures are warming.’ Photograph: Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Images

Thanks to David Smith, reporting in Washington for the Guardian, for this story that keeps us on the lookout for those model mad institutions and people expressing their resistance in creative, powerful ways. In this case, it is the graceful presence of an accomplished primatologist whose soft words are wielded like a big stick:

Leading conservationist Jane Goodall has condemned Donald Trump’s bid to rip up America’s climate change policies as “immensely depressing” and flying in the face of scientific evidence. Continue reading →

Patagonia’s Defense Of Bears Ears

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This banner was displayed during the last 12 hours across more than one of the news websites we monitor daily, perhaps showing up on our browsers because of our featuring a reference to Patagonia’s activism here. We had also recently noted their action on Bears Ears. Regardless of why this banner ad reached us, we are happy to extend its reach. Click above if you are in a position to explore and take action on this particular campaign.

Model Mad, Marcus

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[Update: this post was originally published 48 hours ago but it definitely needs further attention so please do listen to Marcus]

This book came out late last year, and ever since I started sharing links to this man’s wonders  a of couple years ago, I keep watching for more reasons to do so; he always moves me. Today, again. Below is a link to a podcast he recently recorded to promote the book above. The conversation is artful. Powerful.

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Marcus is an immigrant to the USA, so his reflections on recent policy shifts in the ultimate country of immigrants are worth a listen even if you are not a foodie. If those observations do not move you, all I can say is wow. It fits the “model mad” theme we have been linking to in recent weeks–people and organizations speaking out and creatively resisting when something is wrong; and doing so at risk of significant loss. Continue reading →

Model Mad, Basketball

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Golden State point guard Stephen Curry is one of Under Armour’s highest-paid endorsers. Gary A. Vasquez/USA Today Sports, via Reuters.

Still no shortage of model mad stories two weeks in to this series. Are we all ready to “jump off” like this man, who put a good portion of his livelihood on the line to speak his mind:

Stephen Curry became the latest athlete to weigh in on President Trump when he took issue with comments made about the president by the chief executive of his primary sponsor, Under Armour.

In an interview with CNBC on Tuesday, Under Armour’s Kevin Plank described Trump as “a real asset” to the country.

In an interview on Wednesday with The San Jose Mercury News, Curry responded, Continue reading →

Model Mad, Literary

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The Cold War–era writings of the Czech writer Václav Havel offer ideas on how dissidents can resist “the irrational momentum of anonymous, impersonal, and inhuman power.”PHOTOGRAPH BY MIROSLAV ZAJIC / CORBIS VIA GETTY

This post by Pankaj Mishra fits the bill for the theme we have been following, as the excerpted several paragraphs below will illustrate:

VÁCLAV HAVEL’S LESSONS ON HOW TO CREATE A “PARALLEL POLIS”

…Born in 1936, Havel came of age in Czechoslovakia, whose Communist rulers repeatedly imprisoned and continuously surveilled him while suppressing many of his writings. Defiant right until 1989, when he engineered the fall of the Communist regime, Havel came to be celebrated in the West as a “dissident,” a word commonly used to describe many in Communist countries who valiantly struggled against a pitiless despotism. Continue reading →

Model Mad, Magazine

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Mother Jones staffers celebrate after winning the 2017 Magazine of the Year award. Mother Jones

We are not normally watching awards shows, but this story catches our attention because of some notable winners in the world of magazines, some of which we monitor regularly for stories relevant to our purpose. And in particular at this moment, when we have been monitoring the news for examples of creative protest, we realize that we had neglected or avoided some of these publications because of their partisan positioning (there is enough of that without our joining in). But this magazine today joins our list of regularly monitored sources because they have been relentlessly pursuing important stories, for a long time: Continue reading →

Model Mad, Museum

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“K+L+32+H+4. Mon père et moi (My Father and I)” right, by Charles Hossein Zenderoudi, on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Sam Hodgson for The New York Times

When the two words model mad first occurred to us, it was simply to thank one of our favorite people for continuing to resist wrongness in new, clever manner, without losing his cool and thereby keeping it effective. Since then we have found a story almost every day that illustrates the fertile ground of protest created in recent times. And today, thanks to the New York Times, we see another one:

MoMA Takes a Stand: Art From Banned Countries Comes Center Stage

By JASON FARAGO

President Trump’s executive order banning travel and rescinding visas for citizens of seven majority-Muslim nations does not lack for opponents in New York — from Kennedy Airport, where striking taxi drivers joined thousands of demonstrators, to the United Nations, whose new secretary general, António Guterres, said the measures “violate our basic principles.”

Now the Museum of Modern Art — which in past decades has cultivated a templelike detachment — is making its voice heard as well. In one of the strongest protests yet by a major cultural institution, the museum has reconfigured its fifth-floor permanent-collection galleries — interrupting its narrative of Western Modernism, from Cézanne through World War II — to showcase contemporary art from Iran, Iraq and Sudan, whose citizens are subject to the ban. A Picasso came down. Matisse, down. Ensor, Boccioni, Picabia, Burri: They made way for artists who, if they are alive and abroad, cannot see their work in the museum’s most august galleries. (A work from a Syrian artist has been added to the film program. The other affected countries are Somalia, Yemen and Libya.) Continue reading →

Model Mad, Governor

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Thanks to the New Yorker website for this one. No image required. These two paragraphs say plenty about a model mad governor of one state of the union that is resisting the dark clouds of the new political climate, but do read the whole post:

…“At my age, I can go pretty solidly for twelve hours,” Brown, who is fifty-six years old, said. “So, if you have a nine-to-five job, that gives you a couple of hours to be at your local airport to protest the immigration order. Continue reading →

Model Mad, Boycott

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Travis Kalanick wrote in an email to Uber staff on Thursday that he stepped down after he spoke with Trump about his immigration executive order ‘and its issues for our community’. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

We appreciate the Guardian’s continued attention to stories that illustrate model mad
actions, wherever or however they might happen. The fertility of the soil, the richness of the ecosystem in which people are expressing themselves in novel model mad manner, is helping us imagine we will see through the dark cloud sooner rather than later:

Uber CEO steps down from Trump advisory council after users boycott

Travis Kalanick says participation in president’s strategic and policy forum has been ‘misinterpreted’ as endorsement of Donald Trump’s agenda Continue reading →

Model Mad, Effective

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Utah’s congressional delegation has vigorously fought to open Ute tribal land, currently partially protected by the Bears Ears National Monument, above, to drilling. Photograph: Francisco Kjolseth/AP

Thanks to the Guardian for first bringing this to our attention, another example of model mad, and a pretty big deal too:

Republicans back off bill to sell 3.3m acres of public land after outcry

Congressman Jason Chaffetz withdraws House bill 621 as conservationists and outdoorsmen vow to continue fight over similar legislation Continue reading →

Model Mad, March

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A women’s march in Fairbanks, Alaska, last month. The movement inspired a group of scientists to organize their own demonstration in Washington. Robin Wood/Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, via Associated Press

We have not had a shortage of model mad stories, which may be the silver lining to the cloud, so thanks to the Science section of the New York Times for this contribution:

Listen to Evidence’: March for Science Plans Washington Rally on Earth Day

By NICHOLAS ST. FLEUR

Within a week of its creation, the March for Science campaign had attracted more than 1.3 million supporters across Facebook and Twitter, cementing itself as a voice for people who are concerned about the future of science under President Trump.

Now, hoping to transform that viral success into something approaching the significance of the women’s march last month, the campaign has scheduled its demonstration in Washington for Earth Day, April 22. Continue reading →

Model Mad, Alt

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Multiple Twitter accounts claiming to be run by members of the National Park Service and other U.S. agencies have appeared since the Trump administration’s apparent gag order. The account owners are choosing to remain anonymous. David Calvert/Getty Images

Thanks to Wynne Davis at National Public Radio (USA) for It’s Not Just The Park Service: ‘Rogue’ Federal Twitter Accounts Multiply, another example of model mad:

“Rogue” accounts that have the look of those by real federal agencies are spreading like wildfire on Twitter.

The AltUSNatParkService Twitter account has gained more than 1 million followers and inspired the creation of many more “unofficial resistance” accounts for specific national parks and other entities, including accounts like Rogue NASA and AltUSForestService. Continue reading →

Model Mad, NPS

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Redwood national park in California. Photograph: Jeffrey Schwartz/Alamy

We like what we see of the madly determined folks risking their professional careers in the interest of the environment and social justice:

National Park Service climate change Twitter campaign spreads to other parks

A day after three climate-related tweets sent out by Badlands National Park were deleted, other park accounts have sent out tweets that appear to defy Trump

The National Park Service employees’ Twitter campaign against Donald Trump spread to other parks on Wednesday, with tweets on climate change and a reminder that Japanese Americans were forcibly interned in camps and parks during the second world war.

A day after three climate-related tweets sent out by Badlands National Park were deleted, other park accounts have sent out tweets that appear to defy Trump. One, by Redwood national park in California, notes that redwood groves are nature’s number one carbon sink, which capture greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming…

…Golden Gate national park in California said in a tweet that 2016 was the hottest year on record for the third year in a row. The tweet directed readers to a report by Nasa and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, also known as Noaa…

…The tweets went beyond climate change.

Death Valley national park tweeted photos of Japanese Americans interned there during the second world war, a message that some saw as objecting to Trump’s pledge to ban Muslims from entering the country and a proposal to restrict the flow of refugees to the United States…

Read the whole story here.

Model Mad, McKibben

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PHOTOGRAPH BY DOUG MILLS / THE NEW YORK TIMES / REDUX

Bill McKibben is the founder of 350.org and we have posted on him so many times in the past for his environmental and other forms of activism we sometimes forget that he also has a day job, as the Schumann Distinguished Scholar in environmental studies at Middlebury College. Today he posted in a manner that captures well what we meant when we used the word mad, and qualified our intent to remain madly determined:

…There’s not the slightest evidence that Americans want laxer environmental laws. A poll released last week showed that nearly two-thirds of Americans would prefer that the E.P.A.’s powers be preserved or strengthened. Solar power, meanwhile, polls somewhere in the neighborhood of ice cream among Democrats, Independents, and Republicans alike. Continue reading →

The State Of Great

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Gov. Jerry Brown at his 2,514-acre family ranch in Colusa County, Calif. “I wouldn’t underestimate California’s resolve if everything moves in this extreme climate denial direction,” he said. “Yes, we will take action.” Jim Wilson/The New York Times

This article, by Adam Nagourney and science writer Henry Fountain, gives climate-concerned citizens everywhere hope that recent tectonic shifts on the political landscape in the USA will not result in complete abandonment of reason within all the states of that union:

LOS ANGELES — Foreign governments concerned about climate change may soon be spending more time dealing with Sacramento than Washington.” Continue reading →

Another Small Step For Mankind

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A camp in Cannon Ball, N.D., where cold weather has set in. Alyssa Schukar for The New York Times

Protesters for a cause we could understand and side with, namely the keeping of commitments made long ago to the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the North American continent, have apparently won. Not so common, so we celebrate. And we like the twist in this story below, with unexpected allies. We did not quite believe the news when we first saw it, but now it seems certain enough to post it for posterity:

As North Dakota Pipeline Is Blocked, Veterans at Standing Rock Cheer

By JACK HEALY

FORT YATES, N.D. — After four deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, after being hit by a roadside bomb and losing two friends to explosions, Jason Brocar floated from job to job, earning enough to pay for long solo hikes where his only worries were what he would eat and where he would sleep. He was deep into a rainy trek through Scotland when he noticed friends back home talking about a place called Standing Rock. Continue reading →

Climate Revolution

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Shoes representing protesters at the climate talks summit in Paris last year. Andre Larsson/NurPhoto, via Getty Images

Thanks to Mr. Godoy and Mr. Jaffe for this strong, clear and compelling statement:

We Don’t Need a ‘War’ on Climate Change, We Need a Revolution

Eric S. Godoy and Aaron Jaffe

This year is on track to become the hottest ever recorded, and a growing number of environmentalists are using a particular type of language in response. Some are calling for a huge “mobilization” to “combat” climate change. In an article in the New Republic in August, Bill McKibben, the unofficial spokesperson of the climate movement in the United States, insisted in very literal terms that, we are at war with climate change. Continue reading →

Crowdrise

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Today’s New York Times has an article that brings Ed Norton’s Crowdrise to our attention, both article (click headline below) and website (click image above) worth a look:

Charity That Begins With Spaghetti Sauce

By JANET MORRISSEY

06celebritygiv-norton-blog427Edward Norton recognized Paul Newman the philanthropist before discovering Paul Newman the actor. As a teenager, he watched his mother buy Newman’s Own products at the grocery store and was impressed that all profits went to charity.

“I thought — why would you buy any other spaghetti sauce if you can buy one where all of the net profits go to a kid’s cancer camp?” said Mr. Norton, who starred Continue reading →

Better Coverage Of Standing Rock

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Robyn Beck /AFP/Getty Images

An important story deserves full coverage, for as long as it requires:

More Than 1 Million ‘Check In’ On Facebook To Support The Standing Rock Sioux

It’s a show of support for the tribe that has been rallying against construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which the tribe says could contaminate drinking water and harm sacred lands

By Merrit Kennedy

More than 1 million people have “checked in” on Facebook to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation page, in a show of support for the tribe that has been rallying against construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Continue reading →