Social Justice News 10-27-06

Hey all,
Let me apologize for this being late –I had internet problems. This is going to be a rather abbreviated newsletter. I’ve had one heck of a week, which included losing my job and having to file unemployment for the first time in my life. For the time being I am on the ‘don’t get sick’ insurance plan along with 47 million other Americans. That’s one out of every six people in the country –and many of the rest are terribly underinsured, with policies that will pay for catastrophic occurrences such as an automobile wreck or cancer, but not for your child’s ear infection or a routine colonoscopy. We are the only industrial country that does not have a national health insurance plan. It seems to me like that should be a social justice issue –so why is most of the country silent on the matter?

Anyway, I haven’t had time to finish the write-up on the sustainability expo. I hope to have that ready by tomorrow. In the meantime, here’s the news!

Cameras to Comb Crowds: The newest homeland security device comes straight out of Orwell; they want to be able to watch people’s every move in crowds and identify people by facial recognition up to 200 feet from the camera. Gee, Canada is looking better and better isn’t it? Now where did I put that passport and my copy of O Canada?,,,,
http://www.defensetech.org/archives/002887.html

Ecodamage Pictured From Space: National Geographic has come up with a cool new satellite atlas of the Earth that specifically shows the ecodamage that’s occurred over the past few decades.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/10/061023-environment-map.html

Deeper and Deeper: More and more young adults are increasingly desperate to find a way to afford the escalating costs of college. To do so, they are often turning to private loans –which have an interest rate as high as 23% and aren’t covered by any of the government protections. What this amounts to is a legally sanctioned way to turn unsuspecting teenagers into serfs for the rest of their lives.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/10/25/MNGKKLVHCK1.DTL

Ecosystem Collapse ‘Likely’: Based on the new reports of overshoot, this observer says that collapse of the earth’s ecosystem’s is ‘likely’ if things go on as they are. Likely? That has to be the understatement of the year! If things don’t change, collapse isn’t just ‘likely’ –it is absolutely guranteed.
http://environment.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,,1930722,00.html

Red River: No, this isn’t an exaggeration or a tale taken out of the Bible –this is real. The Yellow River in China has literally been running red since an unknown pollutant was dumped into it.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1550046,00.html

Here Come the Lawyers: Global warming has attracted the notice of the legal sharks. I can’t decide if this is a good thing or not!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15400060/
In the Dust: Economic ‘growth’ might be good for the bankers –but it leaves a lot of others behind. And that disparity is only getting worse.
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/members/101606_leaves_water.shtml

Website of the Week: The Farm, an intentional community and one of the presenters at last week’s sustainability expo: http://www.thefarm.org/

UU Joke of the Week: A Unitarian hymn:
"Praise Be to Whom It May Concern"

Have a good weekend everybody!

Social Justice News, 10-20-06

Hey everyone,
A lot of news happened this week. This newsletter is going to be longer than usual because of it, but I felt that all these stories were important enough to post. Some is good news, some not so good. One interesting tidbit that wasn’t online was an interview on NPR of a UU minister. This interview took place in DC at a protest against the torture bill on Tuesday. It was short, only a couple of minutes, but hey, at least it happened! I’d also like to remind everyone yet again of the Sustainability Expo this weekend. This local event is probably the best news of the week. I’ll include a write-up of it in next week’s News.

RIP Habeas Corpus: It’s common knowledge by now that King George signed the MCA the other day. While justifying it as necessary to protect the American people. The American people –or those in power? Below is Keith Olbermann’s take on it, and the second article is another piece that also has a video of Olbermann’s segment the night the bill was passed.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1019-24.htm
http://alternet.org/blogs/peek/43178/

And speaking of that bill, the next two stories should give you pause…

Teenage Artists, 1st Target for the Policy State: What happens when a 14 year old posts some artwork deriding our Commander in Chief? She gets yanked out of school and interrogated by the Secret Service of course! Um, yeah, somehow I don’t think an 8th grader is a danger to the President. What could she possibly do, ask him to help her with her algebra homework? (Oh wait, having to think might actually cause his head to explode –never mind.) Obviously, this whole incident had another motive –can anyone say intimidation?
http://www.counterpunch.org/pearcy10172006.html

Those Damn Quaker Terrorists: Protest now equals terrorism, or at least Bush apparently thinks that. Homeland (In)Security is now monitoring many peace groups and reading their emails, regarding them as having the potential to engage in terrorism. This includes –Quakers? Um, yeah. Pacifists are now equated with terrorists. Can you think of a better oxymoron than Quaker Terrorist? I can only think of one –Intelligent Bush.
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1014-27.htm
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/150937

Showdown on the Badlands: Earlier this year the South Dakota legislature passed a draconian bill outlawing abortions in almost every instance –even for cases of rape and incest. The only exception was for cases where the mother’s life is danger. Now, pro-choice groups are fighting back –and they have a referendum on the ballot to repeal this repressive law. On the dusty, arid badlands of Dakota, a showdown is shaping up that could determine the future of women’s rights in this entire nation.
http://www.alternet.org/rights/43139/

Ice Loss Accelerating: Yet another report that confirms Greenland is losing ice at ever faster rates. Soon the rich will have to sell their beach front condos. Unfortunately, that won’t help the 1 billion people living in low-lying areas that would(WILL) be flooded when this ice sheet completely breaks up.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15334288/from/RS.2/

Planet Under Pressure: This six part series and special section describes in detail the environmental problems facing our world today. It has everything –pictures, effects, evidence. It covers drought, energy, food production, climate change. I recommend bookmarking it.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/sci_tech/2004/planet/default.stm

Problems in Africa: This multi-part series from NPR is a well-written account of many of the problems facing Africa today. Each audio component is short, only about 5 minutes, and there are transcripts for each. This series does a good job of describing many of the problems facing this troubled continent, but leaves out some others. Then again, I suppose you can’t mention on NPR things like overpopulation, the legacies of colonialism, and exploitive policies of the World Bank and the IMF, now can you?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6213358

No Fish Will Ever Swim Here: This fjord is completely devoid of life. The environment here has suffered a complete and utter disaster. All due to the dumping of spent fuel rods directly into the seas and rivers by the Russian government. And nuclear power is supposed to be green?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6058302.stm

Losing the Birds and Bees: No, not those birds and bees. The ones that pollinate crops and help us live. This article gives several potential causes, but I think the biggest one can be summed up in one word: pesticides.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15316711/

Pollution Hotspots: This article shows the ten worst polluted spots in the world. Warning: A couple of the pictures are rather graphic.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6063344.stm

No Permit? No Problem: Federal regulators have ‘temporarily’ suspended certain regulations designed to protect the fragile wetlands on the hurricane ravaged gulf. This will allow developers and builders to merely ‘fill in’ wetlands with their debris. Supposedly this is being done to speed the rebuilding. Um, have we forgotten Katrina all ready? Oh wait –all these companies made a lot of money off cleaning up and rebuilding after the storm, so it’s no skin off their backs if it happens again!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15305378/

Putting the State on Trial: Several peace activists in Europe have “won” (or at least, not lost) in cases where they were brought to trial for ‘criminally’ trying to stop the war. They did this by the tactic of claiming that their actions were lawful, and it was the war that was not. In effect, they put the state on trial as well as themselves.
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2006/10/19/putting-the-state-on-trial/

“Take this Tag, Sir”: Airlines are trying to find ways to electronically tag passengers, and monitor their movements the entire time they are in an airport. Security, or Big Brother? Do you really need to guess?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6044310.stm

Bush Acknowledges Comparison with Vietnam: For the first time, King George has admitted to the resemblance between the Iraq War and the Vietnam war, at least insofar as the Tet Offfensive is concerned. Is he finally coming to his senses? I wouldn’t bet on it –this was the same day he signed the MCA.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2411583,00.html

They Voted To Allow Torture: This interfaith religious group, which includes UUs, has put the picture on their website on billboards in Connecticut. Check out their site (and the billboard).
http://www.reclaimingthepropheticvoice.org/

Don’t Use Economics to Find the Value of Sustainability: This essay shows the silliness of using Payback Analysis to calculate whether or not to do something sustainably. Even more importantly, he discusses his new solar water heater and how, between a rebate and the Federal Tax Credit, only cost about $3,000 out of pocket. That’s still not spare change of course –but it is within the range of many homeowners willing to save for a year or two to get it. And, as more people install these systems the price will go way down.
http://news-views.renewwisconsin.org/news/item.tcl?news_item_id=103470

Tired of the Bush***: A nurse in Atlanta was given a ticket for this “obscene” bumper sticker. The ticket was later thrown out but now she’s fighting back –by suing the county.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/10/16/sticker.suit.ap/index.html

Fascism Ascendant: A thoughtful provoking essay on the rise of fascism in America and our military. The author is a retired former member of the Army Rangers and Delta Force.
http://www.alternet.org/story/42884/

Website of the week: A wiki devoted to helping make the world a better place: http://betterplace.bullnotbull.com/index.php?title=Main_Page

UU Joke of the Week: Unitarian Universalism – Where all your answers are questioned.

Social Justice News, 10-13-06

Hey everybody,
Not much good news this week, I’m afraid. I did my best to balance it out, but it didn’t quite happen. The world is changing these days, and things are happening fast. I’ll try to find more good news for next week, I promise! But all of this is interesting and important so I didn’t want to leave anything out. So, to the news.

World Overshoot Day: Monday was the day on which we humans officially used up our ecological allotment for the year and begin living beyond our means. This means literally destroying the earth and her resources in order to support ourselves until January 1. The first World Overshoot day was in December of 1987. Now it’s in October. And human demand on the environment is growing by about 5.5% per annum. Currently we are about 30% into overshoot. A rule of thumb I remember from one of my eco books is that ecosystems tend collapse before the demands on them go beyond an overshoot of fifty percent. At our present rate of growth, that date would be: 2016.
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/gfn_sub.php?content=overshoot

Balance the Wealth: This same group wants to balance the eco-wealth to prevent overshoot.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/10/061013-footprint.html

655,000 Dead and Counting: The administration is dismissing this new study as ridiculous and flawed and that the official pentagon estimates are correct. Hmm, I have to wonder just who is more correct –military analysts who’ve never sat foot in Iraq and have every reason to lie, or researchers who went door to door inside the country to collect their data? Hello? When are people going to wake up? Have we become so inured to violence that numbers like these are no longer shocking?
http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/10/D8KM6GL80.html

A Garbage Dump Twice the Size of Texas: So this is why all our garbage dumps haven’t filled up yet. We’ve been dumping lots of it in the Pacific Ocean. Now, that’s a real good way to deal with your garbage problem, isn’t it?
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1011/p02s01-usgn.html

Forty Countries Face Food Shortages: Droughts, storms, and record temperatures have wreaked havoc on crop production world wide. The result is that more than forty countries may end up having food shortages this year. And the worst is Darfur –where a humanitarian disaster and genocide are all ready occurring.
http://rawstory.com/news/2006/Forty_countries_face_food_shortages_10092006.html

American Prison Camps Are on the Way: A few weeks ago I mentioned the detention camps being built by Halliburton on U.S. soil. Here’s a very good –and scary –story solely about them.
http://www.alternet.org/rights/42458/

Why Does Habeas Corpus Hate America? Keith Olbermann’s take on the Military Commissions Act.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/10/10/olbermann-why-does-habeas-corpus-hate-america/

Danger Will Robinson! Danger! Even back in the forties the dangers of radioactivity were well known. So, given that, can anyone tell me WHY are we shooting depleted uranium shells all over Iraq? The consequences of all that uranium dust will affect the Iraqi population for thousands of years –and our own troops as well.
http://www.agoracosmopolitan.com/home/Frontpage/2006/09/26/01233.html

6,200 Acres to be Protected: And mostly prime coastal real estate no less. And why? To save an endangered mouse. I’m glad this is being done obviously, but I wonder how well the mouse will be protected when sea level rises at least 3 feet in the next hundred years? Hmm…
http://www.gainesville.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061013/APN/610131854

More than two terms? Several congressman are trying to build momentum to repeal the 22 Amendment, which limits Presidents to only two terms. Of course, this wouldn’t apply to our current President, any more than the new term limits applied to FDR. Or would it? King George has all ready given himself retroactive immunity for war crimes so why wouldn’t he go all the way if given the chance, and plop on a crown?
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=52246

Government Joke of the Week: This joke has been circulating for a while, but in quite a different form. You can think JonnyFire of Fuuse.com for the rewrite (and the picture). (What I want to know is who was flying the plane????)
An airplane is about to crash. There are five passengers on board, but only four parachutes.
The first passenger says “I am Payton Manning, the greatest football player in the game. Millions and millions of fans worship me, I am that important to the game.” With that he grabs the first chute and jumps out of the plane.
The second passenger, Hillary Clinton, says “I am the wife of the former president of the United States. I’m a Senator from New York, and have a good chance of being the first woman elected to the office of President.” She grabs the second parachute and bails out of the plane.
The third passenger, George W. Bush, says “I am the President of the United States of America. I am the smartest president in the history of the country, and cannot shun the responsibility to my people by dying.” With that, he takes the third chute and jumps out of the plane too.
The fourth passenger, the Pope, says to the fifth passenger, a young school boy of about ten, “I am old. I have lived my life as a priest should and so I shall leave the last parachute for you. You have the rest of your life ahead of you.”
The little boy responds by saying “Don’t fret old man… there is a parachute for each of us! The smartest president just jumped out of the airplane with my backpack.”

Website of the week: The Simple Living Network http://www.simpleliving.net/main/

UU Joke of the Week: A Unitarian Universalist died, and to his surprise discovered that there was indeed an afterlife
The angel in charge of these things told him, "Because you were an unbeliever and a doubter and a skeptic, you will be sent to Hell for all eternity -- which, in your case, conists of a place where no one will disagree with you ever again!

Social Justice News, 10-6-06

Hey all,
This has been a busy week for news. I’ve tried to pull together as much as possible, but there was much more than I had time to look up.

Froogles –The No Shopping for a Year Challenge to Corporate Consumerism!: A good article about a group of folks who have pledged to buy nothing new (save food and the like) for an entire year:
http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1800829.ece

Port Protesters Score Victory: Anti-war protesters arrested for trespassing in Washington state back in May will now have the chance to prove their actions were justifiable.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1004-12.htm

Dead Zones Have Doubled: Our seas are in worse shape than ever. Between all the sewage and fertilizer runoff, our seas are in danger of dying. And it’s only expected to get worse.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15118081/?GT1=8618

The Death Warrants of Millions: The latest results from the supercomputer runs on global warming are grim –and they may be far too conservative. By 2100, almost 1/3 of the planet’s land mass will be uninhabitable.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10404255

The Human Factor in Being Green: How Cuba helped to overcome fossil fuels.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/in-the-battle-to-be-green-/2006/10/03/1159641321963.html

Foley Fallout: By now everyone has heard of the scandal surrounding Mark Foley and his “activities”. There’s a certain amount of black humor in this –no, of course not around his crimes; he committed arguably the worst possible crime anyone could commit and should be dealt with like any other predator. The black humor comes from the fact that he is a member of the “family values” party. This man is a “good” conservative gay-bashing bible-thumping Republican –who is himself openly gay. Furthermore, it’s apparently been long known in the House that he is a pedophile. Oh, it gets even better. This man was co-chair of the caucus on Missing and Exploited Children. The hypocrisy is astounding. And hilarious in that black humor kind of way. Furthermore, both FoxNews and the St. Petersburg Herald were given copies of the messages over a year ago and decided not to run the story. Supposedly, it was because ‘unfounded allegations of pedophilia against a congressman well known to be gay’ would have been devastating. Give me a break. And a barf bag. If the man had been a democrat they would have run the story. Not only that, but it would have been one f those ‘Fox News Alerts’ headlined “Liberal Homosexual Pedophile Run Amok In Washington”. This is what we our elected representatives have been doing?
http://www.alternet.org/story/42470/
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/03/america/NA_GEN_US_Congressman_Resigns.php

Non-Allegiance Equals Terrorism: Welcome to the Fascist Republic of America. Our Dictator-In-Chief has all ready stated that criticism dovetails with terrorism. Oh joy joy. The Founding Fathers must be turning over in their graves. Though I think that if Jefferson, at least, were still alive, King George II might not be sleeping so well.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/100206A.shtml
http://infowars.com/articles/ps/terror_laws_torture_bill_bush_non_allegiance_is_terrorism.htm
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-09-29-bush-war_x.htm?csp=34
http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1004-35.htm

Over 2 Million Children Every Year: That’s how many kids under five die in India each year due to lack of clean water. And it’s only getting worse. This 3 part series from the New York Times explains in depth the struggle for water occurring in India as we speak. You won’t find this on CNN.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/29/world/asia/29water.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Where Do We Start?: This article discusses earth ships, and how they may help us move to a move sustainable lifestyle.
http://www.aboutmyplanet.com/environment/sustainable-living-earthships/1/

Most Important Issue of the Day: This would be even funnier if it weren’t coming from an elected official. Ms. Musgrave thinks gay marriage, or rather stopping it, is the most important issue we face today. Oh yes, gays getting married is a much more serious problem than global warming, terrorism, fascism, etc. Um, right.
http://thinkprogress.org/2006/09/27/musgrave-gay/

Website of the week: A whole bunch of eco-quotes. http://edugreen.teri.res.in/misc/quotes.htm

UU Joke of the Week: What two things do UUs and Dracula have in common?
They both have origins in Translyvania and they both shy away from the cross.

Have a good weekend everybody.