Press Release

Briefly Noted: September 2006

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) reports that its members are sending rescue teams into Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon to evacuate all species out of harm’s way. “Kind people know that hungry animals don’t have political alliances,” said PETA’s Michelle Rokke. It is unclear whether PETA’s actions run afoul of U.S. laws against assisting terror organizations.

Retailing giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the perennial piñata of left-wing nonprofit advocacy groups, has opted for a two-pronged strategy to fend off attacks from the left: hire them, and capitulate to them. The company has tapped spin doctor Leslie Dach to sell its message to Blue State America. Dach, who as vice chairman of the Edelman public relations shop, fought off advocacy groups’ attacks on Wal-Mart, will assume the soon to-be-created position of executive vice president of government relations and corporate affairs at the company, the Wall Street Journal reported July 24. A former senior communications consultant for the Democratic National Committee, John Kerry’s 2004 presidential campaign, and the Clinton administration, Dach worked for environmentalist groups for close to a decade. The hiring of Dach came months after Leo Scott, CEO of the world’s largest retailer, vowed to increase the efficiency of its vehicle fleet by 25%, and reduce by 30% the energy used in stores and by 25% the solid waste its stores generate. Conservatives and business advocates fear Wal-Mart will use its market clout to bully its 60,000 suppliers into adopting its new environmentalist agenda.

Activist group ACORN, a longtime proponent of a “living wage” for workers, has been stiffing its own employees, the Baltimore City Paper reported July 26. Sandra Stewart, a $250 a week intern at the Baltimore branch of the group, complained to the newspaper that the advocacy group had failed to pay her for six weeks of work. “I find it completely ironic that an organization that fights for social justice” has trouble paying its workers, Stewart wrote in a letter to the paper that sparked its interest in the story. The paper reported that other ACORN ex-employees have also complained about not being paid back wages.

Local officials in Stafford, Texas, are complaining that they have too many churches, the Los Angeles Times reported July 31. Nonprofit groups have been drawn to the city, which has a population of 19,227, because it has been growing rapidly and has minimal deed restrictions. “It’s thrown everything out of balance, plus providing zero revenue. Somebody’s got to pay for police, fire and schools,” City Councilman Cecil Willis was quoted saying.

The U.S. Treasury Department is reportedly taking steps to freeze the assets of the Saudi Arabia-based International Islamic Relief Organization, which it alleges funnels money to al-Qaeda. “It is particularly shameful when groups that hold themselves out as charitable or religious organizations defraud their donors or divert funds in support of violent terrorist groups,” said Stuart Levey, Treasury’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.