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.

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.)

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.)

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.)

End Repression in Tibet

For the past few weeks I have been hearing a lot about the atrocities going on in Tibet.  Students For A Free Tibet says,

“At great risk, Tibetans across Tibet are risings up against China's occupation of their homeland to show the world that, just months before the Beijing Olympics, the situation is critical and demands the world's attention.” 

For a fascinating collection of first-hand news and information about the situation, go here.

To take action, go to the SFT site: TAKE ACTION!

(Photo courtesy of Students For a Free Tibet)

60th Anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights

On December 10, 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).   The declaration consists of 30 articles that specify the rights the General Assembly agreed are Human Rights guaranteed to all people.   If, like me, you have only heard repeated references to the Declaration of Human Rights but haven't read it for yourself, now is a great time to click on over to the UN page where they have it translated in many different languages.  (The Guinness Book of Records places the UDHR as the most translated document in the world!)

In honor of the document's 60th Anniversary, UBUNTU (World Forum of Civil Society Networks) has written a statement emphasizing that all Human Rights are "universal, indivisible, and interdependent."  They further call for:

1. The Human Right to Peace.

2. The Human Right to Development (including food, water, the satisfaction of basic needs) 

3. The Human Right to the Environment.  (acknowledging that "current production and consumption models are unsustainable")

EarthAction was one of the first 50 signatories on the UBUNTU document, alongside other supporters such as Noam Chomsky and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel (Nobel Peace Prize Laureate).  You can click here to read the statement in full and to sign your name.  It's a great opportunity to evaluate how we are protecting those rights that are expressed in the original Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and what steps need to be taken for a sustainable future.

(Image is of Eleanoor Roosevelt reading a Spanish translation of the UDHR, author unknown)

Mining Issue in El Salvador

Hi Everyone!  I'm Meghan (also known as Piña) and for my first post, I'd like to bring your attention to a gold mining issue in El Salvador.  Pacific Rim, a Canadian mining company, is trying to start a new mining project in San Isidro.  San Isidro is in the providence of Cabañas, where according to the UN 55% of the population live below the poverty line.

The campesinos (peasant farmers) of the region are concerned that Pacific Rim will take 30,000 Liters of water a day, from the same place they only get water once a week.  Rights Action, a NGO that works in Central America, has been working on the mining issue since the start and has experience with similar issues in all of Central America.  For more information and actions to take please visit their website at: this "Take Action" page.

This same post, in Spanish:

Hola a todas! Soy Meghan (también me conocen como Piña) y para mi primera post quiziera llamarles la atención a un problema de extraer oro en El Salvador.  Pacific-Rim, una companía canadience, está tratando de empezar una mina de oro en San Isidro. San Isidro está en la provencia de Las Cabañas, donde según las NU 55% de la población está bajo la  linea de pobreza.

Los campesinos de la región están preocupados que la mina de Pacific Rim tomará 30,000 litros de agua  diario de la misma lugar donde viene el agua de la comunidad solo una vez a la semana.  Rights Action, una ONG que trabaja en América Central, han trabjado en ese problema desde su comienzo y tienen experiencia en otros casos similares en América Central.  Para más información y acciones que puedan tomar por favor viste su citio: www.rightsaction.org (en inglés y español). Cualquier pregunta, información que tienen, o si quieran saber más de El Salvador por favor compartélo.