Good afternoon!
We start off with a quick reminder that President Obama will deliver the State of the Union Address this evening. The address is scheduled to begin at 9PM. Look for fierce crusader and client, Lilly Ledbetter, namesake of the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, who will be in attendance!
We are very encouraged by President Obama and Vice President Biden’s recent announcement that they will be forming a task force to address the very real problem of sexual assault on college campuses. The White House Council on Women and Girls report, entitled “Rape and Sexual Assault: A Renewed Call to Action,” found that 22 million American women and 1.6 million men have been victims of sexual assaults. The Obama Administration needs to be commended for keeping this issue at the forefront of our national conversation.
Now let’s take a look at what some of our other speakers have been up to this past week…
First, we’d like to extend a warm welcome to our newest client, filmmaker Shola Lynch!
Less than two months to go until the March 9th premiere of the new Cosmos series on Fox! Check out Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson’s chat with ADWEEK in which he describes his first taste of the universe: “When you’re a New Yorker, there is no night sky,” he says. “You’ll see the moon, maybe a planet or two, but there’s no relationship with the night sky. So, I saw my first night sky at age 9 at the Hayden Planetarium. And it was so compelling and so much of a kind of mental baptism that I thought it was a hoax. But that was it—that was the night the universe chose me to study it.”
Eco-warrior Emily Hunter has been hard at work on her latest documentary series entitled “Activism 2.0”. The first installment of the new series focuses on the group “The Black Fish”. You can see a clip from the film here.
Surfing for Change activist Kyle Thiermann rides some giant swells and continues to spread his environmental message at the Mavericks Invitational in Half Moon Bay, CA.
On NPR’s Tell Me More, Spencer Overton and Heritage Sr. Legal Fellow John Malcolm have a lively discussion on the Voting Rights Amendment Act and the Presidential Commission on Election Administration Proposals.
Evil Dead and Burn Notice star, Bruce Campbell, talks with the Columbian about his appreciation for conventions like this past weekend’s Wizard World Portland Comic Con, which have opened up fan access to celebrities. “When I was a kid, I didn’t have any place to go to meet my heroes,” Campbell said. “Baseball did some of that early on (with signing and card trading events) but the comic con and pop culture stuff – that came later.”
Dr. Robert Bullard pens a piece for Op Ed News explaining “Why Improving Chemical Facility Safety and Security Must Be a National Priority”.
Finally, we leave you on a comical note – head over to Forbes to check out Liza Donnelly’s interview with Kate Clinton as a part of her series on ‘Professionally Funny Women’.
Have a great week and be sure to check back on Friday for our weekly video!