Family Values Hypocrisy; Homeless Parking Meters; Kids Killing Animals
June 26th, 2009
Here’s a quiz of the week: what do Mark Sanford, Newt Gingrich, Larry Craig, and Rudy Giuliani have in common?
You guessed it – each are prominent GOP members who tout family values and an opposition to same-sex marriage because of its supposed threat to the sanctity of marriage while they simultaneously cheat on their spouses.
Hypocrisy? Sounds like it to us.
It’s not that Republicans have an exclusive claim on adultery. John Edwards, Bill Clinton, and Eliot Spitzer are only a few of the prominent Democrats who have also had their share of very public marital infidelities.
But as Gay Rights blogger Mike Jones explains this week, “family values” politicians who have an obsession with gay marriage and taking away the rights of gays and lesbians to enter into legal unions are a little more difficult to forgive, and might first want to focus on their own marriage before going after others.
Let us know what you think. Or, if you’ve already heard more than you need to know about Governor Mark Sanford’s strange disappearance to Argentina and subsequent admission of adultery this week, see below for a wide range of the best news and commentary from the world of change:
Homeless Parking Meters: One of the ways that cities are addressing panhandling is by installing “panhandling meters,” where residents can put their quarters into a machine like they’re paying for a spot to park their car. End Homelessness blogger Shannon Moriarty discovers that while the machines may look pretty and make people feel like they’re doing good, all they’re really doing is forcing those who are living on the streets to move somewhere else. Besides, no donation meter can ever replace boosting a person’s self-worth through outreach and human contact.
Kids Killing Animals: The state of Wisconsin is worried that not as many people are hunting these days, but the state’s government has a plan: start legally arming grade school kids. Animal Rights blogger Stephanie Ernst blasts the state’s proposed legislation, which will lower the hunting age in Wisconsin from age 12 to age 10. How is arming youngsters a good idea? We worry about teaching kids violence via movies and comic books and video games. But maybe we should instead be worried about putting guns and bullets in the hands of fourth graders.
Rebuilding Rwanda’s Technology: How does a country rebuild its technological base and infrastructure in the wake of genocide? Social Entrepreneurship blogger Nathaniel Whittemore examines efforts to rebuild Rwanda for the 21st century, from making sure that hospitals are running at full capacity to installing broadband cable across the country. While much still needs to be done, fifteen years after the genocide, Rwanda is leading the way in investing in technology infrastructure and training for young leaders.
Hershey’s Slave Labor: What do you think is the secret ingredient of that chocolate bar for sale in the candy rack of your grocery store? Sugar, milk, or cocoa? What about the slave labor of thousands of children? Human Trafficking blogger Amanda Kloer details how child labor is used on some of the world’s largest cocoa plantations, including those used as a source for Hershey’s chocolate.
Michelle Obama on Food: Fresh, healthy food is simply out of reach for far too many people in the United States, according to First Lady Michelle Obama. Sustainable Food blogger Natasha Chart agrees, and says that Obama’s words may help entire communities wake up to the benefits of food programs like urban rooftop gardening and edible landscaping as a means of addressing food insecurity.
World’s Worst Places: What’s it like to live in some of the worst places of the world? Humanitarian Relief blogger Michael Kleinman unpacks a new report from the International Committee of the Red Cross, which looks at the daily struggles of people trying to survive in conflict areas like Afghanistan, Congo and Haiti. While death is a daily part of life in these areas for many, so too is a sense of optimism that times will eventually get better.
Sotomayor and the Death Penalty: Supreme Court Nominee Sonia Sotomayor has expressed some progressive views outside of the court, but Criminal Justice blogger Matt Kelley says that on the bench she has stuck to the playbook, sometimes frustrating those who wished she’d reach a bit further. As a case study, Matt looks at Sotomayor’s history with the issue of the death penalty. What he finds is a judge who is deeply concerned about racial inequities in the administration of the death penalty, but also a judge who sticks close to precedent.
Food Stamp Budgeting: How hard is it to eat healthy on a food stamp budget? According to Poverty in America guest blogger Greg Plotkin, it’s possible – until the inevitable vicissitudes of life get in the way. Unexpected expenses like the emergency room visit for your child, or the repair on your car’s muffler, often make eating a healthy diet on a food stamp budget darn near next to impossible. If you’re getting down to the end of your food budget and go to the grocery store and see a $3 bunch of broccoli, but know that you can get three filling cheeseburgers for the same price at a fast-food restaurant down the street, which would you choose?
Obama’s Health Care Special: How did President Obama do during his nationally-televised special on health care reform? Universal Health Care blogger Tim Foley has the goods, reporting that this wasn’t a cushy couch interview with the likes of Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer. It was rather a lion’s den of targeted questions meant to gauge whether health care reform was really affordable in this country, and if so, who would pay for it.
Mothers and Dangerous Jobs: Judging a woman’s mothering skills is not a new phenomenon, especially when the mother in question has a risky job. Women’s Rights guest blogger Dorothee Royal-Hedinger tackles the social stigma faced by women with dangerous jobs, from Arctic explorers to mountain sports athletes, and hits back at the premise that women with risky jobs are irresponsible mothers. In a world where even driving to work or operating heavy machinery can be risky, do we really expect mothers to stick to “safe” occupations?
Genocide’s Ecological Impact: The impact of genocide extends far beyond its direct targets. The disruption and destruction have far-reaching ripple effects that touch all aspects of social, political, economic, and especially ecological life. Stop Genocide blogger Michelle writes that the underlying ecological impact of genocide has had disastrous consequences in places like Rwanda and Darfur, where forests have been destroyed and resources have become nothing short of scarce. Is the environment an overlooked casualty of war?
Facts about Leprosy: Admit it, you woke up this morning thinking about leprosy. Good thing Global Health blogger Alanna Shaikh has some information ready at your fingertips. This week Alanna brings you five things you need to know about leprosy. In a nutshell, it’s a really gross disease, but the global health community is doing a hell of a job fighting it.
Homosexuality in Animals: A new study by University of California researchers has found that there is essentially no animal species that doesn’t practice homosexuality in some capacity. Gay Rights blogger Mike Jones argues that this strongly indicates that despite what many religious conservatives might think, sexual orientation is likely biological to at least some degree – and perhaps ultimately not much different than race, eye color, or shoe size.
Declining Disability Services: There are two different worlds faced by children on the autism spectrum and adults on the autism spectrum. Autism blogger Kristina Chew takes a look at the shock and awe that families face when school services end for children with disabilities and they see what programs for adults are like in comparison. The discrepancy is huge, and once you leave the shiny world of services for those under 21 behind, the bloom is indeed off the proverbial rose.
Republicans vs. Immigrants: As if the Republican Party needed more bad news. Immigration blogger Dave Bennion breaks the story that non-white support for the Grand Ole Party is dropping like a stone. There are lots of reasons for this, but clearly the political consequences of immigrant bashing and unchecked vitriol against public Latinas like Sonia Sotomayor and Hilda Solis are taking their toll on the once dominant political party.
Ideologues in Education: Abstinence-only and clean coal ideologues are trying sell their shtick to public schools around the country. Education blogger Clay Burell reports that advocates of both of these issues are trying to find new ways to teach children their propaganda, including saying that “condoms cause cancer,” or that coal mining is like picking the chocolate chips out of a cookie. No matter how you rebrand these issues, they still make for bad education.
Obama on Global Warming: Twenty American climate experts have signed an open letter urging President Obama to put the same personal stamp on curbing global warming as he is on health care reform. Global Warming blogger Emily Gertz brings us the scoop, with climate experts saying that “new information arrives daily to confirm what many specialists have known for three decades: human-caused climatic disruption is serious, moving rapidly, and gaining momentum with every delay in correcting the trend.” Will the urgency of global warming call Obama to action?
That’s all for this week. Have a great weekend!
- The Change.org Team
Weekly Update: Lies about Guantanamo; Falsely Excusing Prostitution; Military Going Green?
May 31st, 2009
Hey Changemakers,
The big news that shook the political world this week was that the Supreme Court may be getting an extra shot of diversity with the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to be the next U.S. Supreme Court Justice.
First Latina. Third Woman. One of the most experienced candidates in the past several decades to be nominated.
All reason to celebrate, no? One would think, but a number of commentators have argued that her background and experiences shouldn’t matter to her ability to make legal judgments. Women’s Rights blogger Jen Nedeau disagrees, arguing that diverse perspectives are essential for balanced decision-making. Jen invokes a quote from Sotomayor herself about the matter: “I wonder whether by ignoring our differences as women or men of color we do a disservice both to the law and society?”
That’s a question the Senate is sure to explore as Sotomayor’s confirmation process heats up.
For more news and analysis from the world of change this week, check out the summaries below.
Lies about Guantanamo: You’ve no doubt heard the argument from those opposed to closing Guantanamo that “we just don’t have enough secure locations for those inmates” inside the U.S. prison system. But as Criminal Justice blogger Matt Kelley, the claim that a nation that imprisons 2.4 million people can’t find cells for 241 people is preposterous. We definitely have room for Guantanamo detainees in our Supermax prisons, and they could be safely detained in these facilities without jeopardizing the security of the U.S. Indeed, if we believe these maximum security prisons were unsafe, why are they ok for serial killers?
Falsely Excusing Prostitution: Often times the excuse that “Prostitution is the oldest profession in the book” is thrown out there as a means of avoiding the harms caused by the practice. As Human Trafficking blogger Amanda Kloer writes, this excuse is B.S. Prostitution is old. So is hunger. So is poverty and murder and tyranny and cancer and child abuse. Just because something is old, rooted in society, and difficult to fight, doesn’t mean that it should be ignored. Because, as Kloer writes, the pervasiveness of prostitution in history does not make the 14-year-old on the streets of Las Vegas any less exploited.
Military Going Green?: Could the U.S. military help lead the nation into a clean energy future? That’s the question posed this week by Global Warming blogger Emily Gertz, who looks at how the Department of Defense might be working on freeing itself from a reliance on oil, and planning for the risks of global warming. The military might be taking the lead on making the case that global warming is a national security threat – that is, so long as military officials don’t fall victim to the line of thinking that says climate change is a hoax.
Fast Food Abuses: What is the price of bad PR over cruel treatment of hens to a fast food joint? Sustainable Food guest blogger Jill Richardson looks at the growing controversy over “battery caged hens,” which the U.S. Humane Society has labeled “the most abused animals in all of agribusiness.” Richardson concludes that some of the leading fast-food joints in the country simply aren’t doing enough to make sure that eggs from abused hens stay out of their menus.
Want Expensive Health Care?: There are a number of factors that contribute to health care being so prohibitively expensive in this country. Universal Health Care blogger Tim Foley says this week that there’s plenty of blame to go around, from administrative costs for insurers, to waste, fraud and abuse, to a pharmaceutical industry focused on profits over outcomes. But if we’re going to point the finger, we also need to point it at ourselves. Health care is expensive because that’s the way we want it.
Attend Yale in Underwear: Attend Yale in your underwear. No, for real. That’s the scoop from Education blogger Clay Burrell this week, who looks at Open Courseware and how it’s making religious studies lectures at Yale, modern European history lectures at Berkeley, and a number of other college subjects available to the entire world. Watching or listening to a podcast of a college lecture may even have profound implications for high school students, who may be anxious about the demands of jumping blindly into college.
World’s Worst Vacation Spot: If you’re looking for a tourist destination where you can buy a hand grenade for $10, a Howitzer for $20,000, and enjoy the suspense of not knowing whether or not you’ll be kidnapped, Humanitarian Relief blogger Michael Kleinman has the vacation spot for you: Somalia. Kleinman profiles the country this week, where aid operations have grinded to a halt because of heavy fighting in Mogadishu, and indiscriminate, anarchic violence happens on a near daily basis.
Limits of Online Fundraising: Do online fundraising competitions disproportionately give Europeans and Americans an extra leg-up? Social Entrepreneurship blogger Nathaniel Whittemore tends to think so, in a post this week that parses out a few things about the limits of online fundraising contests. As Nathaniel points out, it’s important to remember that contests are largely about PR and marketing, and are not rewards for quality social impact.
Losing the War: California’s highest court may have come down on the side of inequality this past week, but Gay Rights blogger Michael Jones is quick to point out that while Proposition 8 may have won the battle, it certainly hasn’t won the war. Marriage equality is spreading fast and furious across the country, and more than 100 cities gathered this week to rally in support of same-sex marriage rights. The bottom line? Marriage equality is seeing advances across the country, and no decision from the California Supreme Court can take that away.
Vegans Donating Shoes: At some point, all vegans face the same question: what to do with all the pre-vegan shoes made from animal skins still hanging out in your closet? If you’re like Animal Rights blogger Stephanie Ernst, the thought of throwing all of your old shoes in the garbage makes your environmental sensibilities cringe. So what’s an animal rights activist to do? Stephanie profiles one project this week that’s taking donated shoes and turning them into social goodness.
Disabled Denied Care: The idea that someone could be denied hospital care for a treatable illness simply because they are developmentally disabled is haunting. Could this happen? The answer is yes, according to Autism blogger Dora Raymaker, who looks at one case where a developmentally disabled patient was denied food, and another who was denied antibiotics and left to die – which he did, at age 13. This is tragic, and flies in the face of the fundamental rights to life-sustaining care that are afforded all people, including people with disabilities.
Ranking Global Peace: The Global Peace Index was released this week, ranking 140 countries to determine how sustainably peaceful they are. Genocide blogger Michelle surveys the results, and finds that for countries like Sudan, Chad, and the Central African Republic, peace is so far from a reality that it’s barely a light at the end of the tunnel. The findings also show that the violence in Darfur is having a spillover effect in neighboring countries, proving that the impact of conflict radiates beyond borders and affects a much larger population than one might think.
Worst Donations Ever: Despite their good intentions, people and organizations sometimes offer up horrible ideas for donations in times of crisis. There’s the offer of dog food from a New Zealand manufacturer for hungry Kenyans, the offer of sending Viagra to places that need life-saving medicines, or the offer of Soviet snowplows to Guinea (where the average temperature is nearly 70 degrees!). Global Health blogger Alanna Shaikh runs through her list of “worst donations ever made,” and adds even more to this “Hall of Shame” list.
Incarcerating the Homeless: Think twice before you lie down in a St. Petersburg, Florida public park. Or before you ask a resident for a quarter. Or stow your personal belongings in a public area. Why, you ask? You just might land behind bars, according to Homelessness blogger Shannon Moriarty, who picks apart St. Petersburg’s decision of using the criminal justice system as a means for addressing homelessness. The result is that vulnerable individuals will now be subjected to an endless cycle of arrests and incarceration.
Benefitting from Sotomayor’s Experiences: Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to be the next U.S. Supreme Court Justice has created quite the stir this week. Immigration blogger Dave Bennion gives his take on Sotomayor’s new-found fame, and suggests that her nomination reflects a Latin@s’ coming of age. Those on the fringe might be afraid that Sotomayor will trade the U.S. Constitution for a healthy dose of judicial empathy, but when it comes down to it, her life experiences may be the biggest gift a Judge Sotomayor could bring to the highest bench in the land.
Cleveland vs. Orlando: The battle of the foreclosure capitals! No, it’s not the name of a new horror movie, but rather the subtitle that Poverty in America blogger Leigh Graham might give the NBA Playoffs match-up between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Orlando Magic. Cleveland has the dubious honor of being the fourth-poorest city in the country (with foreclosure rates that have risen drastically since the year 2000), while Orlando ranks 10th in the nation in foreclosures. The match-up between the two cities certainly goes beyond the basketball court.
Have a great week!
Weekly Update: Chuck Norris vs. Tolerance; Global Warming Underestimated; Why Rats Matter
May 22nd, 2009
One of the most exciting recent developments in social change is the growth of innovative approaches to long-standing problems. We at Change.org hear from a lot of the social entrepreneurs behind these efforts, and there is one in particular that we’re big supporters of which launched this week: HopePhones.org.
Every day, more than 450,000 mobile phones find their way into desk drawers or trash cans around the US. But while these discarded phones may mean little to their owners, they can be put to work on the front lines of global health.
Hope Phones is a nationwide mobile phone collection campaign that makes use of old cell phones in the US to provide phones for clinics and healthcare workers in the developing world.
The provision and coordination of health-related services via mobile communications is blossoming in the developing world in response to a global shortage of healthcare workers, and the simple act of donating an old phone can make you part of this movement.
To get involved, just go to www.HopePhones.org, print a free shipping label, and send your old phone.
We hope you’ll check it out. And while you’re waiting for your shipping label to print, here’s a roundup of some of the top posts across Change.org this week for you to sample:
Chuck Norris vs. Tolerance: Chuck Norris may grind his coffee with his teeth and boil the water with his own rage, but the man doesn’t know a thing about hate crimes. Gay Rights blogger Michael Jones took Norris to task this week for spreading false information and lies about efforts to expand federal hate crimes protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Ironically, as Chuck Norris was whipping up scare tactics, the mother of Matthew Shepard was meeting with President Barack Obama, securing his commitment to sign legislation expanding federal hate crimes laws.
Global Warming Underestimated: The future impacts of global warming may be twice as bad as we thought just a few years ago. If that sounds scary, it is. Global Warming blogger Emily Gertz breaks down the latest threats, which show that temperatures could rise by as much as 20 degrees in the Arctic by century’s end, at which point the death knell for the Arctic ice cap and the Greenland ice sheet will have long sounded. Not good.
Why Rats Matter: Rats made the front page of the Wall Street Journal this week. No, we’re not talking about corrupt investment bankers, we’re talking about our much-maligned furry friends. Animal Rights blogger Stephanie Ernst, who was quoted in the WSJ article, shares that life for most rats used in labs doesn’t end with gentle care and adoption, but rather painful death. And it doesn’t have to be that way.
Spying on Criminals: GPS is an emerging frontier of law enforcement technology - and privacy invasion. New York’s highest court ruled last week that police must get a warrant before they track the location of a citizen using a Global Positioning System transponder placed in their belongings or on their car. But Criminal Justice blogger Matt Kelley describes that the country’s courts are split on the issue and it could be headed for the Supreme Court, raising privacy concerns for all of us.
Letter to Paul Farmer: Rumors are swirling that Dr. Paul Farmer, a hero to the global health community, is seriously considering taking a job as the Director of US Foreign Assistance and Administrator of USAID. Global Health blogger Alanna Shaikh has an urgent appeal for Dr. Farmer: “Please don’t do it.” Why? Because Paul Farmer’s talents and expertise are too important to the global health movement to become mired down in the thickets of bureaucracy that encompass US foreign assistance.
Government Health Care?: We’re hearing a lot of bashing of government-run health care these days, but notice the bashers don’t call out the programs out by name. There’s a reason for that. SCHIP is hugely popular. The VA is arguably the best system of care in the country. And Medicare? Well, according to Universal Health Care blogger Tim Foley, a new poll shows Americans are significantly more satisfied with Medicare than private insurance. It’s time to get back to basics. “Government-run” may be scary to some, but it’s lovable in practice.
Understanding Eating Disorders: When it comes to eating disorders, what drives people to starve and binge and purge? The answers run the gamut from control to perfection to consolation and genetic, none of which are right for everyone. Women’s Rights guest blogger Julie Neumann shares some insight on the question this week, and points out that it’s a mistake for people to only think of eating disorders in terms of their physical symptoms.
Vegas Gambles Stimulus Funds: Is the city of Las Vegas gambling people’s lives for political clout? In a move that has Homelessness blogger Shannon Moriarty scratching her head, the city has proposed targeting 90 percent of their federal stimulus funds allocated to address homelessness to dismantling a tent city rather than improving services or implementing sweeping structural changes. Even in Sin City, it doesn’t get much worse than that.
Paying Nonprofit Employees: Social Entrepreneurship blogger Nathaniel Whittemore has a warning for non-profits: Get over your discomfort with “overhead” and start to pay people better, or you’re going to have a harder and harder time competing for talent. Harsh words, perhaps, but a dose of reality that may be fast approaching, given that one of the hallmarks of the generation graduating from schools right now is their pragmatism and ability to branch outside of the non-profit sector to find a career that merges their commitment to making a difference with their desire to make a reasonable living.
Jamie Foxx and Homelessness: There’s a thing or two that those engaged in anti-poverty, homeless services and social justice work can learn from the new movie “The Soloist,” starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx. Poverty in America blogger Leigh Graham reviews the movie, noting that one of the lessons learned by studying the two main characters of the film is that there’s a fine line between paternalism and empowerment in working for economic justice.
Fighting Fox News: Fox News = hyperbole and opinion. That’s the slogan that Immigration blogger Dave Bennion coined for the network this week, in the wake of a recent court case filed by seven day laborers against Fox News for defamation. Turns out the network put the faces of seven migrant workers on an image of a “Wanted” poster for a segment on violent crime, and tried to pass the story off as news. But as Bennion argues, Fox got out of the news business a long time ago, and now just relies on scare tactics and ideology.
Day of Anger: This week, Cambodians marked the annual “Day of Anger,” a day set aside to remember the 1.7 million victims of the Khmer Rouge regime. Genocide blogger Michelle notes that the day was also an opportunity for survivors to call out the slow-as-molasses turning of the wheels of justice for the crimes of the Khmer Rouge. So far, only one defendant is on trial in a UN-backed tribunal in Phnom Penh, prompting one survivor of the Khmer Rouge to ask: “Why is the court taking so long to prosecute Khmer Rouge leaders?”
Companies Fighting Slavery: There’s no shortage of corporations and businesses proliferating and supporting human trafficking. But as End Human Trafficking blogger Amanda Kloer points out, it’s important to recognize and support the increasing number of companies who have given their time and money to the cause of abolition. Amanda profiles five of the top corporate actors who are truly committed to fighting human trafficking through their time, resources, and funding.
Ends Justify Means?: What if ending Asia’s longest-running civil war - a war that has killed over 80,000 people - was worth whatever tactics required? That’s a question Humanitarian Relief blogger Michael Kleinman explores this week, with the news that Sri Lanka’s civil war, which for over 25 years has spelled catastrophe for country, is now over largely due to the government’s ruthless attacks on the rebels. The argument that ends can justify means is antithetical to the very idea of human rights. But should human rights advocates be so quick to take refuge in moral absolutes when these might end up prolonging conflicts?
Genetically Modified Food: Is there any possible way to guarantee that the grain and soy products you’re eating aren’t genetically modified? Yes, says Sustainable Food blogger Natasha Chart: Buy organic. Because the rest of the food supply is heavily contaminated with genetically modified organisms that have been released into the food supply with no proof of safety other than that people don’t instantly keel over when they eat them.
No Genetic Test: There’s currently no prenatal genetic test for autism, although as research into the genetics of autism continues, there’s been plenty of speculation about such a test. But is the notion of a prenatal test for autism haunted by the specter of eugenics? That’s the question that Autism blogger Kristina Chew tackles this week, in a post that explores the fear parents might experience over having and raising a child with a disability.
Junk Food Lobbyists: Junk food lobbyists are a major factor in the childhood obesity epidemic in America. No place tells this story more than the school cafeteria, where children across the country are only offered meal choices of the artery-clogging, high-cholesterol kind. Education blogger Clay Burrell points folks to a campaign to urge Congress to amend the Child Nutrition Act and help schools provide students with school lunches that have more vegetables, fruits, and vegetarian foods available.
That’s all from the week of Change. Have a great holiday weekend!
Change.org Launches “Jobs for Change”
May 15th, 2009
Hey Changemakers,
I’m excited to announce the launch of a major new initiative called Jobs for Change, which aims to spark a nationwide movement toward careers in the common good.
Over the past few months President Obama has inspired a renewed interest in public service, providing a historic opportunity to mobilize a new generation of Americans to address the major social and environmental problems we face.
Yet there are few resources connecting people interested in social change with careers in service, threatening to limit the potential impact of this new civic spirit. We aim to change that.
We are currently building the largest database of nonprofit, government, and social enterprise jobs on the web and have just hired a team of career advisors to provide daily advice and guidance to help people of all backgrounds find and develop a career in social change. We have also partnered with more than a dozen leading organizations that will give Jobs for Change reach to millions of people interested in deeper civic engagement.
To continue the momentum behind this movement, we need your help. If you share our vision for a world that empowers anyone with passion and dedication the ability to find a career in service, please sign your name here and become an ambassador for Jobs for Change.
Powered by Change.org
Canada vs. America; Demanding Equal Pay; Debating Prostitution
May 1st, 2009
The media hoopla surrounding President Obama’s first “100 days” milestone this week showed that Obamamania still rules the country. But how is the president handling issues of importance that may not get as much attention as his top priorities or the number of days he’s been in office?
Pretty good, in fact. Our team of bloggers have been on the scene evaluating the Obama Administration’s work thus far on issues ranging from poverty to agriculture to women’s rights. Overall he gets an enthusiastic passing grade, although we still have a far way to go.
The only other news story that could compete with the president this week? A growing global pandemic.
The mass hysteria surrounding the swine flu has continued in countries around the world, to the point that Egypt has now ordered the slaughter of all 300,000 pigs in the country.
As our Global Health expert Alanna Shaikh explains, the question is not whether swine flu will continue to spread globally – it almost certainly will. More important is whether it will be a mild or a violent strand of the flu virus. It still could go either way given the virus’ ability for rapid mutation, but fortunately Alanna’s best guess is that it will be relatively mild. Either way, the best thing you can do to protect yourself is simple: wash your hands every time you enter a building, including your house. No, we’re not kidding.
After you dry your hands, try out a sampling of the other top stories from the world of change this week:
Canada vs. America: Canadian health care has a tough time of it on Fox News and other conservative outlets. But the critique tends to be based on not much other than conventional thinking, reports Health Care blogger Tim Foley. If you ever actually talk to a real, live Canadian, you are likely to hear a higher average level of satisfaction with their care than with an American. And there are numbers to back it up: Canada beats the U.S. in life expectancy, infant mortality, obesity, and spend less than half of what we do per capita on health care. Oh, and they cover everyone. Maybe our friends to the north have something to teach us? (Read more)
Demanding Equal Pay: In honor of Equal Pay Day, which symbolizes the day in 2009 when the average woman’s wage will catch up with that paid to the average man in 2008, Women’s Rights blogger Jen Nedeau reminds us that in the United States, women are paid only 78¢ on average for every dollar paid to men. The battle for equal treatment is far from over. (Read more)
Debating Prostitution: One of the most controversial topics among anti human trafficking activists has been whether legalized or decriminalized prostitution policies will help end human trafficking or exacerbate the problem. While Human Trafficking blogger Amanda Kloer believes that legalizing prostitution increases human trafficking and other harms to women and girls, others disagree. A regular Change.org reader offers her side of things, beginning a much larger debate. (Read more)
One Paycheck Away: A new study shows that an individual working full-time at minimum wage cannot afford the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment in any state in the U.S. Homelessness blogger Shannon Moriarty writes that now more than ever, most low-income families are one paycheck, one sickness, or one personal tragedy away from missing a rent or mortgage payment and becoming homeless. (Read more)
Miss Inequality: There’s a new religious right star in town, and she goes by Miss California. Gay Rights blogger Mike Jones writes that the National Organization for Marriage — the radical, right-wing organization behind the infamous “Gathering Storm” ad — has coined Miss California “Queen Esther,” for her viewpoints against marriage equality. But if the best that these folks can do is back a beauty pageant contestant who answered a question like a nervous spelling bee competitor, then marriage equality may happen a heck of a lot sooner than most folks think. (Read more)
Slaughtering Pigs? Responding to fears of swine flu, Egypt’s government has ordered the slaughter of all the nation’s 300,000 pigs. Those pigs were all destined for early death regardless, but Animal Rights blogger Stephanie Ernst still wonders how such a large-scale slaughter is taking place. She can only imagine what kinds and levels of terror, panic, and pain the pigs are being put through during the process. (Read more)
Special vs. Disabled: When Autism blogger Kristina Chew’s son was younger, she often found herself saying that he had “special needs” and was in “special ed.” “Special” was code for being “different” and, at that time, these terms seemed the best way to explain him to stranger. But now, Kristina finds herself using terms like “disabilities” and “disabled.” She then asks: which terms are others using? (Read more)
A Never-ending Cycle: A report last month on drugs and treatment in New York prisons points out the glaring hypocrisies of drug enforcement behind bars: people early in their sentences are more likely to have drug problems yet have less access to drug treatment. It’s a cruel irony, writes Criminal Justice blogger Matt Kelley. We start by sending people to prison when they should instead get treatment, and there they are denied the care to kick their habit. This is a recipe for a never-ending cycle of addiction and incarceration. (Read more)
Wash Your Hands: This week President Obama told the nation that the best way for people to protect themselves from the flu is to cover our coughs, stay home if we get sick, and wash our hands frequently. Sounds basic, right? Perhaps, but Sustainable Food blogger Natasha Chart writes that people didn’t always know that washing their hands was a good idea. In fact, it wasn’t understood as an important hygienic measure even in hospitals until research in 1846 revealed its value in preventing childbed fever mortality in his maternity wards. Sometimes it’s the simple things that matter most. (Read more)
Demonizing the Unions: Education blogger Clay Burell has been musing a lot on the extent to which the U.S. mainstream press bashes, blames and demonizes teachers’ unions, while so often writing admiringly and unquestioningly about charter schools. It’s time to do more thinking, though; when looking at unionized job protection, things aren’t necessarily what they seem. (Read more)
“Low Intensity Conflict”: The head of the UNAMID peacekeeping force told the UN Security Council yesterday that Darfur is now a “low intensity conflict,” with the number of violent deaths down substantially, but still is at risk for “serious escalation.” That might be a good thing, writes Genocide blogger Michelle, but it’s little cause for celebration. In fact, prospects for lasting peace seem more complicated by the day. (Read more)
Swine Flu Spreading: All eyes on are on the spread of swine flu, and Global Health blogger Alanna Shaikh sheds some light on the situation. Her first point: Swine flu will spread globally. The only question is whether it will be a mild flu or a severe one. Yikes. (Read more)
Specter for Climate? This week, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania announced that he’s switching from the GOP to the Democratic Party. Global Warming blogger Emily Gertz writes that the move could brighten the chances of passing real climate change legislation. But Specter remains something of a conservative Democrat, and he could continue to water down strong legislation. Time will tell how much of a friend to the planet he really is. (Read more)
World’s Worst Place: Sri Lanka, come on down. You’ve just been named the worst place in the world by Humanitarian Relief blogger Michael Kleinman. Why? Because more than 6,400 civilians have been killed there since late January due to fighting between the military and the rebel Tamil Tigers. As many as 50,000 civilians might still be caught in the midst of the fighting. That’s quite a dubious distinction. (Read more)
Getting a Guatemalan Baby: For years an infamous baby-trafficking racket has been run in Guatemala, where adoption agencies buy babies or coerce poor mothers into turning them over, then provide them to American parents for a tidy sum. But taking babies from poor Guatemalan women in Guatemala is apparently no longer enough for baby-hungry Americans; with an ample supply of Guatemalan mothers already here in the U.S. and family court judges who believe undocumented women are inherently unfit mothers, we have streamlined the process so prospective parents don’t even have to travel abroad to pick up the baby. (Read more)
Mexicans vs. Wealthy Travelers: Watching many others blame Mexicans for swine flu, Poverty blogger Leigh Graham reminds us that wealthier travelers — who circulate the globe with much more ease than Latin American migrants — are much more at risk to catch and spread disease than Mexican immigrants. Also, if you want to assign blame, isn’t it the fundamental problem of industrial pig farming that got us into this mess in the first place? (Read more)
Travel as Education: Time for that trip to Europe: Social Entrepreneurship blogger Nathaniel Whittemore writes about a new study that suggests that living abroad expands people’s minds. Literally. Do we need any more reasons to get more Americans beyond our isolated landmass? (Read more)
Have a great weekend!
Weekly Update: Pro-Gay Republicans; Denying Health Care; Susan Boyle, Superstar
April 24th, 2009
This week was Earth Day, and President Obama was in Iowa promoting his vision for economic growth through green jobs and renewable energy. Meanwhile, back in Congress the state of climate change legislation remained uncertain, with debate focused on timing and how it would impact the American economy.
But our decisions affect not only Americans not at some vague time in the future.
Right now climate change is causing real human suffering among the 1.4 billion people who subsist on just over 1 dollar a day, impacting those who are least responsible and have the fewest resources to able to adapt to new conditions.
Our partner and a leading humanitarian organization, CARE, is reporting that from Ghana to Mozambique farmers are experiencing unreliable rains, catastrophic floods, and declining harvests – thereby increasing the risk of hunger, thirst and disease. If we don’t do anything to stop our carbon emissions in America, things will only get worse.
Whether you are compelled to do something about climate change out of a selfish concern about the future strength of America or a moral concern about its devastating impact on the planet and the lives of the world’s poorest people, the time for action is now. Please urge Congress to pass a climate change bill immediately.
Whatever happens in Congress, you can be certain of one thing: our team of bloggers will be keeping you informed and connected to opportunities for action. Here’s an overview of other stories from the world of change this week:
Pro-Gay Republicans: A lot of attention gets allotted to Republicans who believe that same-sex marriage is an abomination, but Gay Rights blogger Mike Jones reminds us that anti-gay politicians aren’t the only faces of the GOP. One of those faces is Steve Schmidt, Senator John McCain’s former campaign advisor, who’s put forward what he calls “a sound conservative argument for same-sex marriage.” We’re glad to see some post-partisan sanity emerge on what is perhaps the most important civil rights issue of our time. (Read more)
Denying Health Care: Health Care blogger Tim Foley feels like he’s pretty inured to the worst horror stories about the insurance industry. But he wasn’t ready for a recent article about an insurance company that’s profiting by denying care for civilian contractors working in Iraq and Afghanistan. Denying care to people because they’re civilians, not soldiers, isn’t efficient. It’s inhumane. (Read more)
Susan Boyle, Superstar: It would be impossible to talk about body image this week without mentioning Susan Boyle, the Britain’s Got Talent phenomenon who’s taken YouTube by storm. Women’s Rights blogger Julie Neumann observes that, since 47-year-old Boyle is the physical antithesis of what our society expects of pop stars, the live audience laughed when she first appeared on stage before being stunned by her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream.” But what if she had stepped into the spotlight and, instead of silencing the audience with her incredible voice, she had croaked out her show tune as expected? (Read more)
Earth Day Sins: On Emily Gertz’s Global Warming blog, every day is earth day. But to celebrate Earth Day with the rest of the world this year, Emily invited her readers to post their sins against the biosphere — and what they’re doing to atone. (Read more)
FBI Targets Muslims: Immigration blogger Dave Bennion reports on a pattern in the US government’s treatment of Muslim leaders applying for green cards or citizenship, applications which can be held up for years with no explanation. Lives are lived under a shadow of surveillance for no reason other than nationality or religion. Dave might once have called the behavior un-American, be he’s learned better. (Read more)
Finding Homeless Latinos: In Chicago, Latinos make up 28 percent of the city’s homeless population, but only six percent seek support or services. Homeless blogger Shannon Moriarty wonders how local advocates can break through the cultural differences to address the fact that homelessness is disproportionately affecting the city’s Latino community. What is a city to do when it knows homeless people are out there, but they are invisible? (Read more)
Frog-Saving Saint: In more news of the animal absurd, a bus driver was recently suspended from her job because she stopped to rescue a frog, rather than run him over. As you might guess, Animal Rights blogger Stephanie Ernst’s has a word or two for the bus driver’s supervisor and the passengers who were so offended by the driver’s compassionate act. (Read more)
Self-Advocacy Strength: A story about a student in the UK who was denied appropriate schooling because he had Asperger’s Syndrome — yet used the rejection to motivate himself further — reminded Autism blogger Dora Raymaker of when she was the same age as the boy, and all but a few had given up on her. Then, something she calls the “sacred anger” flared in her for the first time. It was the start and fuel of her own self-advocacy. (Read more)
DUI vs. Drugs: Reacting to a new Kansas law increasing penalties for DUIs, Criminal Justice blogger Matt Kelley wonders if there’s a disparity here between drug possession, which is only a danger to the user, and drunk driving, which is a danger to society. Consider the numbers: drunk drivers kill 250 people a week in this country. But a third DUI in Kansas gets 48 hours in jail and house arrest, while a third conviction for crack possession could bring 20 years in prison. Something’s not right. (Read more)
Obama as Teacher? President Obama has been catching a bit of criticism from some for “controversial” acts like speaking to demonized world leaders (see: Hugo Chavez) and admitting that the US is partly to blame for the world financial crisis. If Obama were a teacher, writes Education blogger Clay Burell, he’d be facing parental calls for dismissal over such claims. Despite increasing criticism of teacher tenure, examples like these show why it still matters. (Read more)
Booing Bashir: Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir may be making an international display out of his busy travel schedule, but at least one other member of his regime did not experience similar hospitality. Genocide blogger Michelle his happy to report that Presidential adviser Mustafa Osman Ishmael was booed by an audience of university students in Uganda as he argued that the International Criminal Court was conspiring to thwart Bashir’s “good leadership.” Needless to say, the students didn’t buy it. (Read more)
Ashton Goes Global: If anyone still doubted that global health was a now sexy topic, Ashton Kutcher has proven them wrong, writes Global Health blogger Alanna Shaikh. She was pleased to see that, during his high-profile contest with CNN to see who could gather one million Twitter followers first, Kutcher promised to donate ten thousand bed nets to Malaria No More. Kutcher did win, narrowly, promoting Twitter and bed nets in one fell swoop. (Read more)
Slumdog Trafficking: Even adorable child actress Rubina Ali, made famous for playing the young Latika in the 2009 Oscar-sweeper Slumdog Millionare, isn’t safe from the rampant child trafficking in India, writes Human Trafficking blogger Amanda Kloer. Rubina’s own father recently offered to sell her for about $300,000. This story has more layers of irony than a vegan bacon parfait. (Read more)
Aid Agency Cuts: John Donne’s timeless words continue to shed light on our lives, including on the present global financial crisis. Humanitarian Relief blogger Michael Kleinman paraphrases: send not to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for aid agencies everywhere. The bastardization of early English poetry aside, we’ve seen yet another week of depressing disclosures about aid agency budget cuts and layoffs. (Read more)
Happy Birthday, Tel Aviv: The first modern Hebrew city was founded 100 years ago on some sand dunes north of Jaffa, and Middle East blogger Charles Lenchner is celebrating. Today Tel-Aviv plays host to the largest gay pride march in the Middle East and calls itself “a city without interruption,” the Hebrew version of “the city that never sleeps.” But for Israeli Palestinians living in Jaffa, the narrative is a little bit different. (Read more)
Rethinking Cities: One of the reasons disasters are so intriguing to Poverty blogger and urban planner Leigh Graham is because they expose the vulnerabilities in our social systems and structures. The two major disasters she’s personally responded to — Katrina and 9/11 — both question how we design, build and live in urban areas. If it wasn’t clear already, we really need to rethink how we develop our cities. (Read more)
Understanding Scale: As evidenced by the response to a recent post by Social Entrepreneurship blogger Nathaniel Whittemore, many social entrepreneurs are thinking hard about how to reevaluate the notion of “scale.” To that end, Nathaniel highlights a few of the comments and conversations flowing in response to his post. Clearly, a nerve has been hit. (Read more)
Mini-Wheat Controversy: Kellogg’s recently claimed that it’s Mini Wheats cereal was “clinically shown to improve kids’ attentiveness by nearly 20 percent.” Which makes for great advertising… if only it were true! Sustainable Food blogger Jill Richardson is happy to see that the Federal Trade Commission — which lets in a whole lot of deceptive advertising — drew the line at Kellogg’s claim. For the record: Kellogg’s Mini Wheats are NOT brain food. (Read more)
Have a great weekend,
- The Change.org Team.
Weekly Update: Criminalizing Baggy Pants and Apartheid in America
April 17th, 2009
This week Americans went through their least favorite annual ritual: tax day.
Some didn’t take this sitting down, instead coordinating protests against what they see as excessive taxation by the Obama administration. Meanwhile, some of our bloggers carefully pointed out the important use of those taxes – such as to provide housing for those currently living in tent cities in our state capitals, offer heath care to the 47 million uninsured Americans, improve public education for our children, and create new jobs that reignite our economy and green our planet.
Is the government an enemy or an ally in the fight for a stronger America? Perhaps we betray our bias.
Beyond the tense world of tax politics, our team of bloggers continued to weigh in on the most interesting stories from across the world of change. Here’s a sampling from this week in change:
Criminalizing Baggy Pants: Criminal Justice blogger Matt Kelley writes about one of the newer additions to the criminalized-for-no-good-reason list: baggy pants. Towns across the country have passed laws banning baggy pants, imposing fines and prison time on the offenders. This is a classic example of criminalizing expression that happens to be distasteful to a certain population — appealing to the majority but ultimately unconstitutional. It also has strong racial undertones, as it’s a law that largely affects minority, urban populations. (Read more)
End of Eco-Terrorism? The Department of Homeland Security reports that white supremacist hate groups and other anti-government extremists have become the nation’s top domestic terrorist threats. Global Warming blogger Emily Gertz notes that this marks the close of a particularly fantastical episode of Bush administration security theatre: the one where radical environmental activists were the top threat to the nation. (Read more)
Apartheid in America: Actress Charlize Theron is reviving the notion that that U.S. marriage laws that prevent same-sex couples from getting married are “like a form of Apartheid.” Gay Rights blogger Mike Jones thinks that, as someone who lived under South Africa’s Apartheid system, Theron might have a leg to stand on. In many states LGBT people can’t get into emergency rooms to be with their partner in times of health crisis and in others LGBT people can still be fired from their jobs on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Sound like Apartheid? Sure does to Mike. (Read more)
California Tent City: Until this week a modern day “Hooverville” lay in the shadows of Sacramento’s sky scrapers, writes Homelessness blogger Shannon Moriarty. In a state with a Hollywood governor and a city with a former NBA star Mayor, the scene had all the makings of a movie. But last week the encampment of homeless people was unceremoniously ordered to leave by Mayor Kevin Johnson. Unfortunately he neglected to answer one question: to where? (Read more)
Drugs vs. Human Trafficking: For the first time, a recent report reveals that the current scale of human trafficking outweighs the smuggling and spreading of drugs in Europe. This report sadly gives human cargo status as the most trafficked commodity in the continent - more than illegal drugs or arms. Why, asks Human Trafficking blogger Amanda Kloer? The simplified answer is this: you can sell a gun once. You can sell an ounce of cocaine once. You can sell a woman in prostitution over and over again. (Read more)
The Obamas’ Dog: There was great hope that President Obama was going to listen to the throngs of people — individuals and organizations — who begged him and his family, for months, to make their family dog a rescue dog. But this weekend, Animal Rights blogger Stephanie Ernst was disappointed to learn that the Obama’s new dog — Bo, a Portuguese Water Dog — was purchased from a breeder. Say it ain’t so, Bo! (Read more)
New Savant Study: A new study claims Savant skills may be widespread in people with autism – as much as 1 in 3 as opposed to the previous 1 in 10 statistic. Autism blogger Dora Raymaker thinks it’s good to focus on what autistic people can do instead of what they can’t. But on the other hand, focusing too much on “autistic super powers” can be dangerous or dehumanizing if taken too far. Autistic people should be valued even if they can’t perform some freakish mental feat to awed spectators. (Read more)
Anti-Poverty and Green: The hype around green jobs reminds Poverty blogger Leigh Graham of the dot-com era, and thus far she’s tried to avoid discussion of it. Yet there are tried and true green opportunities out there for more sustainable living which, when done correctly, can provide beautiful homes for low-income families and offer substantial savings on utility bills, as well as reductions in food and healthcare costs. Think of it as an anti-poverty twofer. (Read more)
T-Shirt Alert: Humanitarian Relief blogger Michael Kleinman breaks from his somewhat more serious and standard fare to probe a long-ignored question concerning anti-genocide t-shirts. Proclaiming that you are, in fact, against genocide is well and good, but hardly separates one from the masses. But what about inappropriate humanitarian t-short slogans? How about something like “Someone in the Janjaweed Loves Me,” or “Graduate of the Mullah Omar School for Girls”? Now that’s unique. (Read more)
Big Food Lies: The food industry is as bad as the tobacco industry for lying about the health effects of their products, and sometimes good citizens everywhere just throw their hands up in despair of being able to figure out who’s right, writes Sustainable Food blogger Natasha Chart. To wit, a recent op-ed in the New York Times claimed that local farmers are ruining food. Yes, you read that right. And no, it’s not correct. (Read more)
Progress Since FDR: This week is the 64th anniversary of the death of FDR, who during the Great Depression articulated what remains the unofficial credo of the progressive movement: “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” Health Care blogger Tim Foley writes that by that measure we have much, much progress to make in the area of health care. (Read more)
We’re in this Together: One of the most significant problems within the Palestinian national movement is the sense that Israelis are only the enemy and the opposition to be overcome, writes Middle East blogger Charles Lenchner. It’s been rare to see expressions of “we’re all in this together” from either side. But people interested in real change don’t stop at the point of understanding; they ask what is necessary to make it happen. (Read more)
Fake Abortion Clinic: Women’s Rights blogger Jen Nedeau writes about a fake abortion clinic in Southern California and the experience of one unsuspecting young woman who received a little more moralizing from a “nurse” than she expected. Jen wonders aloud: when will society stop shaking their fists at women’s vaginas? (Read more)
More Effective Learning: Despite strong evidence to the contrary, the assumption persists among educators and parents that children won’t learn anything (or not the right things, anyway) unless taught by adults in classes. But, as Education guest blogger Bruce Smith writes, decades of Sudbury schooling — in which students themselves decide how to spend their time — are living proof that the most effective learning happens as naturally as breathing. After twelve years, Smith lists some powerful, positive examples of how it works. (Read more)
Scale vs. Diffusion: One of the most interesting conversations that came up during Social Entrepreneurship blogger Nathaniel Whittemore’s visit to the Global Engagement Summit last week was about how to “scale” social sector innovation, and whether “diffusion” might be a more useful notion. Nathaniel types up his notes on the discussion, which is full of wide-ranging questions and ideas — bait for the budding social entrepreneur. (Read more)
Defending Save Darfur: Genocide blogger Michelle continues to come to the defense of the Darfur activist movement. This time, her opponent is Mahmood Mamdani, who, in his recent book, accuses Save Darfur of creating an overly-simplified activist campaign that condenses and distorts the complicated history and geopolitics of Darfur. Michelle picks apart this and other claims, including a surprising number of factual inaccuracies. (Read more)
Pros of Breastfeeding: Continuing her series on the importance of breastfeeding in developing countries, Global Health blogger Alanna Shaikh considers the best ways to feed and protect babies in a humanitarian crisis. Most important is the regulation of breast milk substitutes, which should only be provided when the mother is unavoidably absent and no other lactating woman is present. Alanna continues to set the record straight on the use of formula, which has sparked innumerable health issues around the world. (Read more)
Good Immigration News: Immigration blogger Dave Bennion is thrilled with the news that two major unions in the U.S. have agreed on a common position on immigration reform. It’s a surprisingly positive development for immigration reform advocates, but Dave is cautious — we still haven’t seen the changes we were hoping for from the Obama administration. (Read more)
Thanks for reading! Until next week,
Is The Washington Post Profiting from Brothels?
April 10th, 2009
Although we at Change.org are practitioners of new media, we still have an affinity for a few old media properties like The Washington Post. But we also call a spade a spade, and this week the co-founder of a leading anti-trafficking organization, Polaris Project, called out The Washington Post in an article on Change.org for its ethically dubious practice of indirectly profiting from brothels.
The Washington Post currently accepts advertisements for massage parlors, which the Post’s own reporters have shown are often thinly disguised brothels with women trafficked into the country and forced into prostitution. Because of this frequent connection to human trafficking, The New York Times, Boston Globe, and Los Angeles Times refuse advertisements for massage parlors. But The Washington Post has turned a blind eye and continues to profit from these ads, making the paper complicit in the sexual violence of women across our nation’s capital.
So before you enjoy the rest of your Friday, or your Sunday paper, we strongly recommend you send a letter to the Post and urge them to stop this practice immediately.
Or, if you want to use newfangled social networking technology to inspire some innovative employee activism, search your network on Facebook, find alumni at your college who work at the Post, and kindly ask them to tell their employer to do the right thing and stop accepting these ads immediately. You can search for The Washington Post employees you’re connected to on Facebook here: http://tinyurl.com/facebookwashpost.
Okay, we’re off our high horse and ready to leap into the top news from the world of change this week:
Face of Homelessness: You’ve seen him before: the homeless guy at the highway off-ramp holding a cardboard sign, panhandling. As he walks down the row of cars, you avoid eye contact at all costs out of fear he might approach your window. Homelessness guest blogger Mark Horvath admits that he’s the same thing, even though he was homeless himself just 14 years ago. So he’d like you to meet Tony, a homeless man who feels that panhandling is his only option. (Read more)
Extinguishing Hope: Criminal Justice guest blogger and prisoner of 21 years Michael Santos proposes that we stop relying upon the turning of calendar pages to measure justice. A far more effective corrections system would measure justice by the efforts an offender makes to reconcile with society. Such a system would require a fundamental reform and encourage all offenders to work toward earning freedom through merit, thereby preparing them for law-abiding lives. (Read more)
Marriage Equality in Vermont: Vermont legislators did what many thought was unthinkable, voting in both chambers (the House and the Senate) to override Governor Jim Douglas’s veto and enact full marriage equality in Vermont. Perhaps more importantly, Vermont has become the first state to enact marriage equality through the legislature. That’s right, no “activist judges” allowed to this party. Vermont’s action today goes to show that no one politician can stop civil rights progress from happening. 2009 is fast becoming the year of marriage equality. (Read More)
Vegetarians and Eating Disorders: A new study suggests that adolescent vegetarians are more likely to have an eating disorder than their peers, writes Women’s Rights guest blogger Julie Neumann. On the surface, the simple explanation is that adolescents and young adults with eating disorders stop eating animal products to lose weight. But as a recovering bulimic, Julie points out that many people with eating disorders became vegetarian out of an ethical choice before their disorder. While the exact connection is up for debate, vegetarianism and eating disorders do often share a common trait: thinking beyond the plate. (Read more)
Vote Already! The DREAM Act — which would give immigrant students a path to citizenship — has bipartisan support in both houses of Congress and the President’s endorsement. Only hardcore restrictionists oppose it. So, asks Immigration blogger Dave Bennion, why can’t they just vote on it already? Given Congressional inertia, Dave writes that it’s our job to convince our elected representatives that it’s in their interest to do the right thing and pass the thing already. (Read more)
Pope on Slavery: In recent remarks, Pope Benedict XVI demanded immediate action by the European Union and African nations to stop human trafficking, saying the global economic crisis was driving more people into slavery. The impetus for the Pope’s remarks was last week’s tragic drowning of 200 Libyan migrants when their boat overturned on its way to Europe. While Human Trafficking blogger Amanda Kloer is thrilled that the Pope is calling the world to action, she’d like to see the Catholic Church take a bit more direct action. (Read more)
NGOs Aren’t Neutral Humanitarian Relief blogger Michael Keinman thinks it’s time we accepted a rather brutal fact — NGOs aren’t neutral. Or, more to the point, NGOs are no longer seen as neutral, at least not in places like Afghanistan and Darfur. The longer NGOs insist on clinging to a myth of neutrality — at least in certain conflicts — the more aid workers will be killed. (Read more)
Zogby on Israel: Middle East blogger Charles Lenchner writes that we don’t hear enough well-articulated critiques of Hamas, it’s tactics, strategy, or political agenda. Opinion poller and Arab-American Jim Zogby feels the same way, and offers up some provocative opinions on Israel’s case for attacking Gaza and the damage Hamas has done to the Palestinian cause. To Charles, reading Zogby’s views is like drinking froma tall glass of cool water. (Read more)
Gray Areas of Aid: Social Entrepreneurship blogger Nathaniel Whittemore argues that it’s too easy to over-simplify moral dilemmas about humanitarian aid, reducing them to conversations about economics or effectiveness. The reality is that aid workers often have to make decisions on the fly, frequently making choices between two uncomfortable alternatives. This represents a heady moral and intellectual challenge to those in the field. (Read more)
Remembering Rwanda: Honoring the 15th anniversary of the beginning of the Rwandan genocide, Genocide blogger Michelle recounts the events leading up to those horrendous 100 days, in which and estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were murdered. As we still contemplate the proper course of action in Darfur, the story of Rwanda is as powerful as ever. (Read more)
Arctic Ice Melt: When it comes to Arctic sea ice, it is indeed possible be too young and too thin, Global Warming blogger Emily Gertz half-jokes. In fact, as winter in the North Pole was winding down a few weeks ago, satellite data suggested the Earth’s northern ice cap was continuing to contract. Maybe this will throw some cold water on the latest emanations from the climate change deniers, or at least give the major news outlets a chance to book some actual climate scientists on their shows. (Read more)
Plain Cotton Dresses: Poverty guest blogger NycWeboy has a friend whose big concern about the economic downturn is “ending up like Mary Ellen Walton,” by which she means that she has a fear of winding up in plain cotton dresses, like the costumes worn on the long-running CBS series. The Waltons may be long gone, but some of the news this week suggests that we might wind up more like them than we realize. (Read more)
Autism and Employment: The very government programs that are supposed to help autistic people get jobs are instead acting as barriers to employment, writes Autism blogger Dora Raymaker. Approaching the employment problem both from the perspective of what is and isn’t working can provide valuable insight into solutions, writes Dora. This requires a little thinking outside the box, which never hurt anyone. (Read more)
Chicken Cruelty: Mercy for Animals has conducted another undercover investigation at an egg “farm,” and as always, what investigators found was horrifying. Animal Rights blogger Stephanie Ernst argues that if you are eating eggs directly or eating foods with eggs in them, you are contributing to these cruelties. (Read more)
Student DREAMing: The DREAM Act addresses the barriers to higher education faced by undocumented students. Education guest blogger Cristina Jiminez explains details, which would provide a six-year temporary status to undocumented students who fulfill certain criteria, allowing immigrant youth to further their education and contribute to our society. Given our current economic challenges, how can you argue with that? (Read more)
Want Coal With That? Coal fly ash stabilizes soil, increase yields, and has now been permitted to be used to cushion animal feed. Yikes! Sustainable Food blogger Natasha Chart is not surprised. Although few people want ash in their food, we have no idea and no systematic way to find out what’s been put on the fields where our food is grown. Problem? (Read more)
Promoting Breastfeeding: For the first six months of an infant’s life, the World Health Organization recommends exclusive breastfeeding. Global Health blogger Alanna Sheikh thinks this makes perfect sense, but explains that women whose families depend on them to earn money, manage the livestock, or tend a garden may not be able to breastfeed exclusively. So how can we encourage breastfeeding without threatening a family’s livelihood? As in much of the global health world, there are no easy answers. (Read more)
Loving Private Insurance: Private insurance has had a pretty easy time of it in the media. Universal Heatlhcare blogger Tim Foley says it would be too cynical to suggest that all the millions of dollars in ads for private insurers is subtly influencing more favorable coverage. But there are dominant narratives that evolve out of the pack mentality of journalism, and right now that narrative is that the sworn enemies of heath care reform are coming together in a positive way. And that’s only part of the story. (Read more)
As always, you can catch updates from all of our blogs at the Blog for Change.
Thanks for reading, and see you next week!
- The Change.org Team
Change.org Weekly: Bikini Body Disorder and Ending Rockefeller’s Laws
April 3rd, 2009
The world’s heads of state gathered in London at the G20 summit this week to talk about what to do about the economic crisis. Our own Humanitarian Relief blogger Michael Kleinman was there too as a credentialed blogger, reporting on the meetings, food options, and the treatment of the media (hint: it could be better).
After discussing the state of the planet, the world leaders basically promised to do what they’d already set out to do before: reaffirm foreign aid spending pledges, outline new funding for “social protection,” and echo their commitment to address climate change. Not too exciting.
Meanwhile, the rest of our team of bloggers covered the most interesting stories and important information from outside of the hallowed halls of global governance. Read below for discussion and debate from the world of change this week:
Bikini Body Disorder: Like baseball and ballet recitals, attaining the perfect bikini body has evolved into an all-American pastime. Indeed, Women’s Rights guest blogger Julie Neumann thinks we’re suffering from bikini body disorder. As Valerie Bertinelli’s cover photo on People magazine this week suggests, middle-aged women can be sexy — they just need to drop about 50 pounds first. (Read more)
Incarcerating Immigrants: Struggling cities are grasping for new industries to move to town — including private prisons. Writing on the Immigration blog, Matt Kelley points out that warehousing undocumented immigrants is one of few stable industries in the United States today, and it’ll stay that way as long a cycle of profit surrounds our immigration policy. This ain’t your father’s stimulus. (Read more)
Is Iraq Executing Gays?: Is the Iraqi government executing gay people? Sadly, it seems so. Since the fall of Saddam Hussein (no friend to LGBT rights himself), the safety of LGBT Iraqi citizens has become even more dire writes Gay Rights blogger Mike Jones, and approximately 128 people have been arrested and sentenced to death for nothing more than being gay. That doesn’t sound much like freedom. (Read more)
César Chávez, Vegetarian: This week activist César Chávez’s birthday was celebrated in California and across the country. Animal Rights blogger Stephanie Ernst laments that, in all of the hoopla surrounding the event, there wasn’t a word about his opposition to exploitation of animals on all fronts, including research, sport, food, and entertainment. Given Chávez’s stature among activists, Stephanie finds the omission inexcusable. (Read more)
Who Pays for the Uninsured?: Health Care blogger Tim Foley still doesn’t know why people in this great country are comfortable with the shame of 47 million uninsured and at least half as many underinsured and one illness away from bankruptcy. But there’s an economic argument to be made for caring. When the uninsured receive emergency care, who foots the bills? Chances are, you do. (Read more)
Need More Pesticides? Michelle Obama’s organic garden at the White House may not be loved by all — an industrial agriculture association is horrified that the garden is organic! Instead, it wants Obama to know all about the wonders of pesticides. Sustainable Food blogger Jill Richardson isn’t surprised, as industrial food industry lobbyists are obsessively fearful of media coverage of the benefits of organic food. (Read more)
Red River Homelessness: Watching the Red River rise in North Dakota, Homelessness blogger Shannon Moriarty writes that, while we often discuss homelessness as a result of poverty and structural inequalities, an overflowing river may teach more than 30,000 middle-class North Dakotans what it’s like to lose everything, including their homes. There must be a better way to learn a lesson than this. (Read more)
Ending Rockefeller’s Laws: Last week, hundreds of New Yorkers gathered outside the governor’s office to call on Albany to finalize the proposed Rockefeller drug law reforms, which would end a series of particularly harsh 1970s-era laws disproportionally applied to minorities. Criminal Justice guest blogger Russell Simmons (yes, him) continues to advocate for the reforms, which may be enacted as soon as this week. (Read more)
No More Creationism: Praise the Lord and pass the aspirin: the Texas creationism wars are over. Education blogger Clay Burell is as weary as the next person of the creationists on the Texas State Board of Education trying to elevate pseudo-science in textbooks across America. So he’s glad to report that the standards battle is over - at least until the textbook adoption process begins in 2011. (Read more)
ShamWow and Prostitution This week we found out that Vince Shlomi — the infamous ShamWow guy — had a violent altercation with a prostitute in a Miami hotel room, a 26-year-old named Sasha Harris. Sadly, this story is not out of the ordinary, writes Human Trafficking blogger Amanda Kloer. It has only gotten a lot of press because it features a quasi-celebrity who sells cooking and cleaning products in a memorable and annoying way. Very annoying, we might add. (Read more)
Genes and Babies: Should some people avoid having kids due to their genes? This is a loaded topic, writes Autism blogger and mother of an autistic child, Kristina Chew. While some disorders can be inherited from our parents, our genes don’t necessarily “sentence” our children to having “something.” Kristina wonders what her life would have been like had she and her husband not limited themselves to one high-needs child. (Read more)
Tuberculosis Victorious! In the final match in Global Health blogger Alanna Shaikh’s tournament of pandemics, it came down to two diseases: influenza vs. tuberculosis. Alanna writes that while both TB and the flu clearly have what it takes to become a global pandemic, TB represents a more clear and present danger. Influenza may pose a potentially bigger threat, but TB is already here. (Read more)
Pro-Israel, Peace: Only one country has to face the world and say: despite my faults, I deserve to exist. So it’s important to show peaceful support for Israel, argues Middle East blogger Charles Lenchner, even if its military action causes pro-peace activists like him to criticize Israeli tactics. (Read more)
Chicago’s Food Deserts: Chicago, like other cities, suffers from nutrition-deficient neighborhoods known as “food deserts.” Now, Wal-Mart wants to open stores in those very areas, potentially giving residents access to healthy food. Poverty in America guest blogger Greg Plotkin asks a necessary question: is food provided by an ethically-challenged corporation better than no food at all? (Read more)
A Darfur-Wiki? Would a wiki help people stay up to date about Darfur, or would it be an unmitigated disaster? One of the consequences of the Sudanese government’s decision to expel 13 aid agencies, explains Humanitarian Relief blogger Michael Kleinman, is that it makes it that much harder to track the humanitarian situation on the ground. Centralizing information in a wiki format could be a huge help for everyone from aid-agencies to the news media. Or it could end up completely chaotic. Or both. (Read more)
Stop Global Education? Should universities put global service immersions on hold for a while as we buckle down during the financial crisis? Social Entrepreneurship guest blogger Ryan Pederson has six reasons why we need universities to prioritize global education, especially in this economic climate. We need global leaders now more than ever. (Read more)
Protecting Arab Sovereignty: Why are Arab leaders rallying around indicted war criminal and all-around mean guy, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir? Genocide blogger Michelle argues it has to do with self-preservation. If the international community can intervene in Sudan’s affairs, the logic goes, why not anyone else’s? (Read more)
Clean Energy for GM?: At the Obama administration’s behest, General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner was recently dethroned. Some are calling him a sacrificial lamb, a stand-in for other wrongdoing execs. But Global Warming blogger Emily Gertz wonders what the upside of this recent shake-up might be. Perhaps a U.S. auto industry that aligns itself with the clean-energy, sustainable future instead of the dirty, litigious past? We can only hope. (Read more)
Fair Trade Fought: After six months of had work and community building, Change.org’s Fair Trade blog is taking a break. Fair Trade blogger Zarah Patriana writes that the community has seen major victories, challenges, growth and some setbacks over that time, and she notes that Fair Trade and fairer trade policies are needed more than ever. All at Change.org will miss her and the Fair Trade community. (Read more)
Change.org Weekly: Food is in the News!
March 27th, 2009
Food is in the news! This week, not a day has gone by without national attention about gardening, food access, and organic goodness.
Michelle Obama kicked off the conversation by breaking ground on a new, organic garden on the White House lawn. It was thrilling for activists like Sustainable Food blogger Natasha Chart, along with millions of Americans, to see the First Lady and her two daughters appear in a photo op with shovel in hand, demonstrating the importance of healthy food.
However, wholesome food is increasingly a luxury many Americans cannot afford. As the Obamas planted their garden, food prices continued to rise along with unemployment numbers, leaving many with the only option of eating the type of cheap, processed food that has contributed to America’s obesity pandemic – if they can afford anything at all. This isn’t good news for the nation’s health, but, as one of our Poverty in America guest bloggers succinctly explains, “starvation is worse than a sugar high.”
So as the economy continues to contract, and your interest in homegrown goodness grows, please think about finding or starting a yardshare and donating to America’s food banks. Your neighbors and the health of the nation will thank you for it.
Check out this week’s roundup for the top stories you may have missed:
Heartbroken on Homelessness: This week, President Obama said he’s “heartbroken” that any child is without a roof over his or her head. That’s the first time in a long while that homelessness has had such attention from a U.S. president. Obama also called for a shift in the national perception of homelessness and an overhaul of our embedded judgments and beliefs. Homelessness blogger Shannon Moriarty is sensing change in the air. (Read more)
Gingrich’s Gay Fascism: Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich is stirring the pot with a potential 2012 bid for President and the formation of a new group, Renewing American Leadership. The goal of this group? To combat “gay and secular fascism.” Scary! Gay Rights blogger Michael Jones wishes it were a joke, but explains that Gingrich wants to build a coalition between economic and religious conservatives, reawakening old divisive politics. OK, really scary. (Read more)
Meghan McCain’s Bravery: The personal is political, but does that mean political pundits should critique the size of your thighs rather than your values and actions? Women’s Rights guest blogger Julie Neumann looks at the treatment John McCain’s daughter Meghan has received after daring to criticize über-conservative pundit Ann Coulter. In addition to criticizing her ideas, some people went after Meghan’s size. But what the heck do her curves have to do with anything? (Read more)
Blogging from Oxford: Social Entrepreneurship blogger Nathaniel Whittemore is at the Skoll World Forum, the annual gathering that’s been called the “Davos of social entrepreneurship.” It’s a unique moment, a time of economic crisis when the foundational assumptions of our markets are being questioned, and Nathaniel is on a quest. His task: to understand what social entrepreneurship has to offer as we go about the process of rebuilding our economy. (Read more)
Tough Teaching Task: Rather than blaming bad teachers for his failure to remember much of his K-12 experience, Education blogger Clay Burrell contends that it’s more accurate to lay the blame on bad curriculum. Although teachers work hard to make things relevant and useful, most must focus on inert data and facts imposed by objective high-stakes tests. It’s not easy to make students care. (Read more)
Feminists and Abolitionists: Responding to a discussion about feminism within the anti-trafficking movement, Human Trafficking blogger Amanda Kloer writes that for a number of women, identity as a feminist and identity as an abolitionist are closely related and interconnected. But that’s not true for everyone. Indeed, some women see a clash between the two identities. What do you think? Can you be a feminist and an abolitionist? (Read more)
Drinking for Darfur: After a series of Darfur posts that were rather, well, heavy — death, suffering, various horsemen of the apocalypse — Humanitarian Relief blogger Michael Kleinman thought it might be time for a slight change of pace. Namely, how can you turn a humanitarian catastrophe into a drinking game? Thankfully, the Sudanese Government is providing plenty of opportunities for, um, mirth. (Read more)
More Vegetables Please: Earlier this week, Delaware became the second state in the nation to implement important changes to WIC, the federal food program. The changes will allow recipients to purchase fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and soy-based products for the first time in the program’s 35-year history (!). Poverty in America guest blogger Greg Plotkin wants to make sure you read that right: A program designed to help low-income mothers purchase healthy food didn’t include fresh fruits and vegetables until now. Where’s the logic in that? (Read more)
Obama’s Border Raids: The Obama administration has made a bold statement on immigration, but it’s quite what we had hoped for. Responding to the current scare over violence from the drug cartels in Mexico, the administration sent immigration enforcement and ATF officers to the border, along with more cash. But Immigration blogger Dave Bennion writes that ramping up the stakes in our failed drug war is not going to solve the problem. (Read more)
More War, Less Secure: The upstart Jewish advocacy group J Street recently released a report that showed that 75% of survey respondents approved of Israel’s recent military action in Gaza, but only 41% thought that it would improve Israel’s security. Middle East blogger Charles Lenchner is a bit surprised that a full third supported the war while not believing that it would be militarily useful. (Read more)
Organic Food Snobbery? Food’s in the news lately. That’s a good thing. But Sustainable Food blogger Jill Richardson thinks a recent New York Times article was, in ways, a hit piece on the sustainable food movement. While pointing out some of the good things to come out of the movement, they also paint a picture of food elites with their heads in the clouds. Note to the Times: the movement isn’t all Slow Food fanatics who dine on $120-a-plate multi-course meals of locally grown food. (Read more)
The Value of Darfuris: When dealing with Darfur, President Obama must be careful because his actions will reverberate there and throughout the world. So Genocide blogger Michelle thinks the president should consider the cost of the lives of millions. Literally, how much are they worth? (Read more)
Pharma and You: We already know that PhRMA, the trade association for drug and pharmaceutical companies, has a lot to lose if we succeed in reforming health care to aggressively control costs. Health Care blogger Tim Foley reveals that PhRMA will soon start claiming it is acting out of the interests of doctors and their patients, and not their bottom line. Does Big Pharma really speak for you? (Read more)
Pessimism of Pescetarianism: Yes, fish do suffer terrible deaths. Animal Rights blogger Stephanie Ernst weighs in on a fascinating debate about fish suffering and agrees that we simply don’t need to inflict unnecessary pain and death on fish — not to mention the millions of non-target fish, sharks, whales, and other marine animals accidentally caught in the process. (Read more)
Special Olympics Slight: On the Tonight Show this week, President Obama remarked that his bowling practice “was like the Special Olympics or something.” Autism blogger Kristina Chew thinks a better — and slightly less offensive — message would be an emphasis on how the Special Olympics promotes trying and learning, fitness and playing, and using sports “for the fun of it” rather than focusing the highest-ranked athletes. It would be a lesson suitable for the whole sporting world. (Read more)
Drug Arrest Fail: Police in New Albany are making two types of drug arrests: street dealers and those charged with possession. None of the arrests are affecting the supply of drugs. Criminal Justice blogger Matt Kelley notes that this behavior, combined with informal mandatory minimum plea deals, is a perfect recipe for more prisoners, destroyed communities, and an ongoing drug trade. Wonderful. (Read more)
The Iraqi Entrepreneurs: Aid to Artisans is an organization helping Iraqi women become empowered and self-sufficient to rebuild the communities around them. Fair Trade blogger Zarah Patriana describes how the group has set up a distance-learning initiative using modern technology to train the women and teach them business knowledge. The knowledge can then be spread through the whole population. Now that’s social entrepreneurship. (Read more)
Tournament of Pandemics: March Madness with a global health twist continues as Global Health guest blogger Michael Keizer compares schistosomiasis and smallpox. Although schistosomiasis is particularly debilitating, less than 25% of cases become fatalities. If we can control detection, then treatment can be simple. Meanwhile, smallpox is super deadly. Do we have a winner? (Read More)
Activating Green Activists: Climate change stoppers 1Sky are leading the way in using social media to raise awareness of global warming, using Google Maps and collaborative technology to help organize local groups and work with Congress. Global Warming blogger Emily Gertz is impressed, but continues to pine for the “killer app” for global warming. (Read more)
That’s it for now - see you next week.
About
Blog for Change is the official blog of Change.org
Change.org is an online hub and media network for social issues and collective action.
- Learn about the most urgent causes of our time through our blog network.
- Connect to other people and nonprofits fighting for the causes you're passionate about.
- Take action by joining grassroots campaigns, making personal pledges or fundraising.
Categories
Blog for Change is proudly powered by WordPress.
