Restaurants in seven cities across the US are part of the initial wave of the Food & Water Watch “Take Back the Tap“ Campaign.
“The consumer advocacy group is working with cities across the nation to urge local restaurants and chefs to sign a pledge to switch to serving only tap water, help educate customers about the benefits of tap over bottled water.”
If you want to catch someone’s attention, go naked (I hear this is also a good way to stop Jehovah’s Witnesses from coming to your home)! Yesterday in Madrid, protester rode bikes in the buff to protest the expansion of automobile usage and draw attention to the benefits of bike riding.
Via (including image): Interesting World
How far can one go for charity, especially the artistic types like those who design tees? Even if it is a worthy fund raising project for genocide victims in Darfur, Sudan or, say, a children’s global cancer awareness campaign?
Well, this question can better be answered when you consider that charity knows no copyright, especially when it involves a fashion icon like Louis Vuitton and one of the French fashion house’s creations.
For 26 year old Danish art student, Nadia Plesner, being slapped with a copyright infringement lawsuit demanding “$7,500 for each day she keeps selling the product, $7,500 for each day she displays Louis Vuitton’s cease-and-desist letter and $ 7,500 for each day she mentions the name ‘Louis Vuitton’ on her website” has never overridden a good cause and she is as defiant as ever.
Those sums and more - legal costs for the suit and another $15,000 for related “other expenses”. But what would Louis Vuitton do with the money if their lawsuit succeeds? Of two guesses, only one can suffice; either to fund further research for a hyped luxury product or give away to victims of the war in Darfur.
We wouldn’t be talking about it if it were not for the fact that a senior member of the Green Party of the United States once equated the agitation for same-sex marriage in the United States to an hollow supremacist (pardon) Supreme Court ruling in 1857 that upheld that the black man was mere property and had not rights as the white man.
Those were the days when morals as they were then known were riding high and there was not much of the politically-correct language pretense we see in the world today. The H-word is gone, now there is same-sex relationships; the N-word is gone too, now there are proud African-Americans forever patriotic to the beloved country - which is a good thing for all humanity.
In 2004, David Cobb, the Green Party presidential candidate for that year’s election said this in reaction to an earlier decision by the California Supreme Court to void same-sex marriage licenses issued by Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco:
Join Chic for a Cause : Stop the Spray ~ Our Body, Our Decision
What? A fashion fundraiser to grow awareness about opposing the harmful effects of the aerial spraying of pesticides. When? May 30, 2008 Where? Muse Studios, 224 6th St. San Francisco, CA 94103 Time? 6-9 pm Admission? $10 Why? To stop the “Light Brown Apple Moth program” which is really a toxin dump on California!
Last fall a pesticide was dumped on Californians that included ingredients that are carcinogens, mutagens as well as other toxic chemicals in microcapsules that reach deep lung tissue. Soon after spraying in 2007, 600 plus reports of illness were recorded such as respiratory distress, nausea and vomiting, as well as serious skin irritations. Now the spray is back and we need to take a stand! Sign the petition, participate in events if possible, and please help educate others.
Kwabena Mensa, a small holder cocoa farmer in rural Ghana, readily testifies that the seasons have changed, and he no longer plants his crop in mid-year as he used to more than ten years ago.
He has also noticed that the weather is a little changed lately and harvesting is now delayed by a couple of months or so. Although he knows this can be attributed to climate change, he does not wholly understand why that is so.
Small holder farmers in Africa are already experiencing the impact of climate change. Weather patterns are changing, extreme weather events becoming more common, and ancient calendars for planting, weeding and harvesting are no longer valid. The threat of food shortages, crop failures, and growing deserts are real and immediate.
British prime minister, Gordon Brown’s credentials as a climate change advocate seemed to get a meditated jerk last week as he went all gaga about a new online climate change tracking tool powered by Google Earth, in a collaboration between Google Earth and the UK government.
Call it green spin or not but apart from giving all the applauds to the geeks at Google Earth, he said this about the new tool designed to let users view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, and 3D buildings, or take a journey across the globe:
“I think this will be a huge tool for making everybody aware of the huge climate changes of our time.” Well expressed for now, at least. I can imagine the hushed silence before the clapping in that room that day.
“Climate Change In Our World”, or so the tool is called, is where you get to see and hear the stories of people, living in some of the world’s poorest countries, who are already being affected by changing weather patterns.
I had the pleasure of attending Carrot Mob’s first event in San Francisco a few months ago. They’ve got a unique approach to incentivizing local businesses to go green. Watch their video and check out Paul Smith’s post about Carrot Mob on Triple Pundit.
Pop Quiz: The following are statements made by each of the current presidential candidates–Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama. Try to match the comment with the candidate. For answers, see the end of this posting.
1) “My friends, I am most proud of the change that I brought about in Iraq that saved Americans’ lives.”1
2) “Change is just a word without the strength and experience to make it happen. And I know some people think you have to choose between change and experience. Well with me, you don’t have to choose.”2
3) “…the ways of Washington must change. The genius of our founders is that they designed a system of government that can be changed. And we should take heart, because we’ve changed this country before. … This campaign has to be about reclaiming the meaning of citizenship, restoring our sense of common purpose, and realizing that few obstacles can withstand the power of millions of voices calling for change.”3
No matter how difficult this little quiz was for you, I hope my general point is fairly clear. It seems that nowadays, if someone has any aspiration for any political position, from commander-in-chief to bridge-club president, then that person must be seen as the “candidate for change.” (If somehow President Bush were allowed to run for a third term, would he too try to sell himself as the “candidate for change”?)
And it is not just politics. Even environmentalism and other areas of social activism are simply electrified with the energy of “change.”
Again and again, we see or hear Mahatma Gandhi’s monumental statement, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” If he were alive today and we gave him a nickel for every time someone used this phrase, the poor man would have a terrible time maintaining his vow of poverty!
So we are told we must be the change by making changes in our lives; we are asked to take part in activities that are making change; we support organizations that are working for change; we get inspired and fired up by promises of real change soon to come; we hear about all the changes that have been and will be made by this, that, or another….
At this point, you will have to forgive me if I say that I am simply sick of change.
I have learned from our readers that there are two sources for green motivation in families: the parents or the children. Eco moms and eco dads obviously pass on their green values to their children, but sometimes it is the children themselves that inspire a family to go green. I was one such child growing up that converted to vegetarianism (I did not get my family to do the same), and made my parents aware of environmental issues. My influence was not seen immediately, but I look at my dad’s avid recycling and my sister’s organic food choices and can’t help but think that my green values may have rubbed off on them. Now, there is a book to help children turn their parents green.
How to Turn Your Parents Green, by James Russell and illustrated by Oivind Hovland, is a humorous book for kids ages 8-80 (you are never too old to turn your parents green). This book helps alleviate eco-anxiety by empowering children. “The premise for the book is that grown-ups (the Groans) are responsible for causing global warming, but it’s you (the kids) who will have to deal with the consequences.” The tips in the book are what you would expect, such as eating organically, riding your bike, and turning off light bulbs; but the format is unique in suggesting how children can approach their parents. One suggestions is presenting your parents with a list of poisons in the household, such as cleaners, then giving them a month to switch to natural products. There’s even a section on how to turn your teachers green!
Name how many men you know who own power tools.
Name how many men you know who own a sewing machine.
You might be shaking your head thinking, “Well, that’s obvious.”… because I tailored my request to resonate with women.
If you’re a guy, you’re probably wondering, “What is this crazy bitch getting at?” That’s OK, because I’m banking on the fact that most of our readers are, in fact, the gentler sex.
Maker Faire blows most craft shows out of the water in terms of vendors and exhibits. With an estimated turnout of 65,000 attendees, and over 500 “makers” exhibiting, it was almost surreal to witness. Though giving my presentations occupied me for a couple hours, I was free to roam the rest of the weekend, and still didn’t get to see everything. One thing I observed almost doesn’t need to be said. Male makers were a minority in the crafty corners of the event, and though women had a definite presence in the technology arena, they still seemed largely outnumbered, especially in robotics and other mechanical applications.
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