EarthAction

Have you read Little Brother?

In my tenth grade English class, the year’s ongoing theme was freedom versus security. To have more of one, you have to have less of the other. We put laws into place that limit our freedom, but increase our sense of security. However, the perennial question is, where do you draw the line? When do you know the balance has tipped too far in one direction? Tied into the debate is the question of “real” security versus a false sense of security, which further muddies the water.

Reading Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow, reminded me of that class, and the way it made me question the world around me. All too often schools fail to encourage curiosity, inquiry, and creative thinking. This book works to engage people of all ages (although it is specifically targeted at young adults) in these kinds of questions.

The novel stars Marcus, a seventeen-year-old boy, who lives in a close-future post-9/11 world that is chillingly believable – after all, we live in a world where Nelson Mandela is a terrorist, air marshals are grounded because they are on the no-fly list, your laptop can be searched just because, tourists taking photos are automatically terrorist suspects, and waterboarding is not torture.

This book is a must-read, whatever your age. Buy a copy for yourself, and then buy copies for your loved ones, nieces, kids, and grandchildren.

Download Little Brother for free, shared under a Creative Commons license, or buy Little Brother from Amazon.

Save The Whales!

I live in Hawaii and am aware of numerous whales dying on our beaches from the effects of sonar. For many years the US Navy has used unsafe frequencies of sonar in the range of whales around the world. Sonar is harmful to whales because sonar frequencies are so loud that they can cause the whales’ organs to rupture. This often results in death. Some of the other consequences are problems with their communication, or singing, which is needed for their ability to migrate, mate and stay together. Sometimes this causes many whales to beach themselves, or baby whales to be separated from their mothers in a vital period of their lives.

The Navy have been told many times how harmful sonar is, but they have not heeded the warnings and they continue its use it within the range of whales. The Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) have made protecting the whales from the Navy’s sonar experiments one of their priorities. Since 2001, they have asked people like you to write the Navy letters asking them to carefully regulate any use of sonar so as not to cause damage or death to whales. By signing the letter here, the Navy will know that we are serious about saving the whales.

(Photo courtesy of Flickr user Zen, shared under a Creative Commons license)

Pentagon's Propaganda Pro-War Incentives Uncovered

   
   

The New York Times published an article on April 20th, 2008, uncovering the ways the Government has been spreading pro-war propaganda. The author of the  article, David Barstow, states, "Records and interviews show how the Bush administration has used its control over access and information in an effort to transform the analysts into a kind of media Trojan horse — an instrument intended to shape terrorism coverage from inside the major TV and radio networks." To learn more, read the rest of the New York Times article here.
    Fortunately, citizens who are unhappy with the Government about this issue
can do something about it. A national letter writing campaign has been launched by Free Press.
Take action by signing Free Press's  Letter  to Congress!

(Photo courtesy of the US Department of Defense, shared under a Creative Commons license)

US Debt to UN

Lois sent us interns an e-mail the other day about a document (initiated by the Better World Campaign) that urges the United States government to pay our past debt and present obligations to the UN and other  international organizations.  From the document:

"As of February 1, 2008, the United States was $2.8 billion behind in its payments to the UN.   U.S. debt to the UN includes $1.2 billion in so-called permanent debt—unpaid bills that remain unaddressed by the Administration’s FY 2008 supplemental and FY 2009 regular budget requests.   This permanent debt will increase by another $600 million unless the Congress includes UN funding beyond the amount requested in the Administration’s FY 2009 budget.   The rest of our debt results from the regular U.S. practice of paying virtually every international organization a year or more late, by which time new bills have already come in."   

What does this mean practically?  It means that the US is not honoring its commitments.  The growing debt shortchanges peacekeeping missions that the US has already approved and voted for, and lessens the ability of the UN to implement other agreed upon reforms.

You can find more information at the Better World Campaign site here.

To take action, you can write to your state senators and representatives asking them to call for more funding to pay off our debts to the UN.  To find the address of your representative click here, for senators click here.

Any responses or comments?  The issue can be a controversial one, and there haven't been a lot of articles  in the press recently about the subject.  What do you think?

(Photo courtesy of flickr user Christopher Chan under a creative commons license.)

Introduction to Blogging

Becca, one of my fellow interns, has put together an awesome, extremely useful guide to blogging,specifically aimed at organizations. She originally wrote the guide for EarthAction, but we thought it was so valuable that we wanted to share it with you! I'll let her introduce it:

"EarthAction is currently in the process of redesigning and redefining our presence online, so that we can better connect with our partner organizations and individuals, forge new relationships, and take advantage of the incredible information dissemination capabilities of the internet.  This has been and is a serious learning process for us.  We want to share the information and resources we are using with others (non-profits especially) who are considering establishing or readjusting their online presence.  We are definitely still learning ourselves, and it's never too late to try something new.  Especially for non-profits, it is essential to utilize the internet to its full potential."

Read the guide in its entirety - click here!

What useful advice did we not include? Please share your comments with us!

(Photo courtesy of Flickr user fd, shared under a Creative Commons license.)

"Neighborliness..."

I just read a great blog post that I want to share with all of you.  Alex Steffen, from WorldChanging, writes:

"It's an attractive fantasy -- instead of driving a Hummer, living in a McMansion and shopping at the Gap, I can drive a Prius, live in an EcoMansion and shop at Gaiam -- but it's still playing make-believe, because the systems that support and enable those choices are themselves unsustainable. Highways are destructive, even when full of hybrids; sprawl is unsustainable, even when the individual houses are green; ..."

He then goes on to say that in order to avoid ecological destruction, we need to not only do the things he mentions above, but we need to drastically change the way we think about community- how we can reshape our neighborhoods around green infrastructure.  It's a very well written post that challenges those of us who live in the United States to rethink the importance of community bonds and its role in sustainability.  You can check out the post here.

PS

Last week Lois posted about the Dalai Lama's letter to China.  I just read it myself and I'm very glad I did.  You can read it here.  Also, don't forget to go to Global Vote.  (See the post below.)

(Photo courtesy of Flickr user Carf under a Creative Commons license.)

GlobalVote: China and Tibet

Global Vote is an international online voting and polling system. Currently GlobalVote is on its tenth international vote, and the topic is: Should the UN intervene in the current conflict between China and Tibet? The situation has come to the attention of GlobalVote because of the many protests that are occurring at this time by people who are wanting independence from China.
Giving your opinion on this matter is essential. Sign up with GlobalVote and make sure your voice is heard. The voting period ends in five days, so hurry! Sign up now!

To learn more about the situation in Tibet, read this post. The Dalai Lama himself wrote a letter asking that the conflicts between China and Tibet can be resolved -read it here.

(Candlelight Vigil for Tibet"Photo  courtesy of Flickr user davidreid under a Creative Commons license.)

 

Bush OKs 30 Million Acre Polar Bear Habitat Sale to Big Oil – TAKE ACTION!

Although the oil industry has not demonstrated a successful way to clean up an oil spill on ice, the Bush administration has approved the sale of 20 million acres of prime polar bear habitat, which will be opened up to oil drilling. Instead of encouraging renewable energy generation, the administration is taking a step in the wrong direction. Do not let them!

TAKE ACTION! Write to your representative to have them support legislation put forward to save this precious habitat. Click on this link to make a difference.

(Polar bear photo courtesy of Flickr user ironmanix, shared under a Creative Commons license.)

Save the Patagonian Forests and Rivers

The Patagonian forests and rivers are in jeopardy! Eliodoro Matte, the Chief Executive of the Matte group companies is promotong the HydroAysen Project in Chile. The HydroAysen project consists of clearing a path of the Patagonian forest between the Aysen dams and Santiago. To set up these power lines, protected areas like national parks would be distrupted and an estimated 35,000 acres of forest could be destroyed if this plan is set in motion.

Rivers are in trouble because there is a large group of national and international corporations that are planning to build 5 dams on the Baker and Pescua Rivers. The dams would create electricity that would be sent to Santaigo via the power lines. The distance between Santiago and the dams is 1,500 miles.

There are quite of few people in the local areas who are displeased with the suggested project.

Environmentalists, Fishermen's Unions, the Salmon-Industry, and a few local governments are protesting the project, but they need help. Global Response, an activist non profit organization is promoting an international letter writing campaign that is encouraging people around the world to write hand written letters to Chief Executive Eliodoro Matte their concerns about the proposed HydroAysen Project and the detrimental effects of such a project. A personal letter carries a more significant impact than a digital letter, so a writing template of what to include in the letter is on Global Responses website under their current campaign.

This is a perfect project for those who would like to do action against these industrialists, and also would be a great school project for students. Take action to fight for the world's Rainforests!

URL to Take Action:
GlobalResponse.org

(Photo of Windy Patagonia is courtesy of Flickr user zamario, shared under a Creative Commons license.)

Dear China, . . . Sincerely, the Dalai Lama

One of the main Buddhist practices is to "make all efforts to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small." On March 28, 2008, in his letter to the Chinese people, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the leader of 6 million Tibetan people, puts forward his personal appeal to resolve any conflicts and misunderstandings between the Chinese and Tibetan people, and to work together to bring about peace and stability. You can read his letter here.

(Image of the Dalai Lama courtesy of Flickr user FerneMillen, shared under a Creative Commons license.)