Ask Google Earth to Upload Iran Photos

Student protesters in Iran are getting news out only by the power of the web. Google Earth has tools to show the world the people in the streets — join the petition drive to have Google earth upload current images.

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Polar Bears and Polar Veeps

Why is Mr. Polar Bear saying, “Pffffffffft!”? Could it be that Sen. McCain’s veep choice, in addition to being pro-NRA and rabidly anti-choice, is also opposed to the decision to put polar bears on the Endangered Species list? Ah, and Mr. Polar Bear also gives a raspberry for Gov. Palin’s support of drilling in the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge(ANWR).

With such wacky political choices afoot, it’s time to urge Congress to permanently protect ANWR from drilling. The Udall-Eisenhower Arctic Wilderness Act (H.R. 39) does just that, with bipartisan sponsorship by Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-MN). Care2 has a petition here, to urge support for this bill. For more background, the Sierra Club also has a position paper on why Arctic drilling doesn’t make economic (or environmental) sense.

I’m still trying to figure out this VP choice. Bizarre.

Going to the Olympics?

If so, the International Campaign for Tibet would like to give you a simple white Tibetan prayer scarf (khata) to take with you, as well as a copy of the ICT’s Tibet Travel Guide. I assume the latter is for the off chance that the Chinese government opens up Tibet for foreign travelers during the Olympics. And the former is to show support for the people of Tibet, who are approaching the 50th anniversary of Chinese occupation next year.

Not going to Beijing? You can help by signing the “Race for Tibet” petition to, in the ICT’s words, “make the Olympics a catalyst of change for Tibet.”

BTW for local folks, the Dalai Lama will be here in town beginning on Saturday. More info here.

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Random Pre-Vacation Updates

Success! In November I posted about Burger King’s refusal to increase its tomato pickers’ pay by a measly 1¢/bucket (Is Burger King Penny Foolish?). After months of activism, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers finally won a 1.5¢/bucket increase. (Can you believe that amounts to a 71% increase in their pay?) Thank you to everyone who sent a letter! The wage agreement was signed at the U.S. Capitol, with pictures here.

Random update #2: At the risk of sounding Twittery: I bought a new backpack! And it's almost 100% recycled — which I didn’t even realize at first. My old backpack (which I love) is disintegrating to the point where I’m nervous about carrying the laptop in it. I went to REI (I ♥ REI) and narrowed the choices down to two: one by North Face and an intriguing blue pack by Osprey, a company I’d never heard of. As I was trying to make up my mind and reading the little card, I saw that the Osprey React is made mostly of recycled PET — essentially plastic water/ soda bottles. I was impressed because the recycled bottle-made stuff I’ve seen in the past had a yicky feel. This might be just a tad shinier than other packs, but mostly it just looks like the usual waterproof fabric. I wouldn’t have guessed this was recycled if the card attached to he pack hadn’t mentioned it. The ReSource recycled series has several daypacks and courier bags here.

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Stamp Out Junk Mail

A Year of Living Greener posted recently on Canada’s Red Dot Campaign — little red stickers people can put on their mailboxes to alert their mail carrier not to leave flyers and other mass mailings that arrive addressed to Occupant. We get an annoying gob of glossy useless-flyers almost every week at my house, so I was eager to check out Red Dot’s suggested link for U.S. residents. This led me to Forest Ethics, which is trying to create a Do Not Mail Registry, similar to the popular Do Not Call list. They estimate that the carbon emissions necessary to create 6.5 million tons of junk mail in the U.S are equivalent to the emissions from 37 million cars. Add that to the millions of trees felled each year to create all this paper, and the fact that most of it winds up in landfills — I personally would love to have a simple Do Not Mail registry similar to the Do Not Call list to end this once and for all.

Today’s mitzvah: Check out Forest Ethic’s Do Not Mail Us petition to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Harry Reid — 43,278 signatures strong and growing! You can also visit Catalog Choice to immediately reduce the catalogs you receive in the mail.


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Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act

As the number of women serving in the military increases — more than 150,000 in Afghanistan and Iraq since 2002 — so does the number of female veterans coming home who rely on the Veterans’ Administration (VA) for health care. Originally created for a primarily male veteran population, the veterans’ healthcare system lacks adequate resources for the female vets’ health issues, from gyn care to gender-specific PTSD symptoms to, sadly, a newly named phenomenon, Military Sexual Assault Trauma (MST).

Last month a bipartisan group of Senators — Patty Murray (D-WA), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR ), Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) — introduced the Women Veterans Health Care Improvement Act of 2008 (S.2799), which calls for “a long-term study of the health of women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, an assessment of barriers for women seeking care at Dept. of Veterans Affairs facilities and of the VA's provision of health services to women, and training of VA staff on treating women veterans who have experienced sexual trauma or PTSD.”

As the United States observes the Memorial Day long weekend, support female veterans by urging your Senator to support the Women Veterans Health Care Improvement act. You can find your Senator’s contact information here, or send a pre-formatted letter via Care2’s Petition Site.


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Polar Bear Petition: Sign before May 15

May 15th is the deadline for the Bush administration to add polar bears to the endangered species list. Join with the We Can Solve It campaign, part of the Alliance for Climate Protection, and sign a petition to Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne. Tell the government the polar bear, and its fragile Arctic habitat, require protection. Mongabay has more on the case and why a federal judge has ordered the administration to take action by the 15th.

Today’s mitzvah: Help out polar bears with a quick online signature.

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Simple Sundays: Chill the Drills

Alaska’s polar bears are in danger due to global warming. The Sierra Club is concerned that their fate is made even more precarious by opening up the Chukchi Sea, the bears’ habitat, to drilling as early as next month. The Sierra Club has more information on their Polar Bear and Arctic Seas page.

Today’s mitzvah: Sign the Sierra Club’s petition to Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne asking him to “chill the drills” and take a time-out to find ways to protect the polar bears.

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National Pharmacist Day

In honor of National Pharmacist Day, I thought I’d draw attention to an e-petition launched by our Wisconsin governor, Jim Doyle, to ease Americans’ access to more affordable prescription drugs from Canada. It’s not a long-term solution to the lack of universal prescription drug coverage here in the U.S., but it does draw attention to the problem of higher drug prices here than in other industrialized countries.

Today’s mitzvah: Consider signing Gov. Doyle’s e-petition to make affordable Canadian drugs available in the U.S. Or as a longer-term solution, urge your representatives to work to improve prescription drug coverage so more people can afford to buy their medicines here at home and take advantage of the advice and counsel of local pharmacists.

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Thank-You, Nurses!

I’m back from a short hospital stay, where I was blessed with truly amazing nursing care. In a large and hectic facility I was blown away by the personal attention and so much compassion — no empathy fatigue here — from the very busy day nurses, to the OR staff (including the sainted nurse who gave up her lunch break and shooed away a replacement, to stay with me through a long procedure), to the overnight shift nurses who did their work without ever turning on a light.

These women made a rough stay easier — I would buy each of them a car and some flowers and a puppy if I could. More in keeping with the blog, I found an interesting grassroots campaign urging creation of an Office of the National Nurse. The National Nurse would complement the Surgeon General, including promoting involvement in the Medical Reserve Corps and incorporating “proven evidence-based public health education when promoting prevention.” A bill to create a National Nurse (H.R. 4903) was introduced in the House in 2006, and has been revised and is still pending.

Today’s mitzvah: Say thank-you to a hard-working nurse, and consider signing the Office of the National Nurse petition.

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Help Save Carnegie Hall Artists’ Studios

Looking for a way to start the week? Help save Carnegie Hall’s legendary Studio Artist Towers. Why? In the group’s words: “For more than 100 years, a unique collection of musicians, painters, sculptors, actors, drama coaches, photographers, architects, educators and related professionals have occupied the studios above Carnegie Hall as part of Andrew Carnegie’s mandate to house a comprehensive creative community.” Carnegie Hall now wants to demolish the interiors of this historic space, possibly to make way for luxury condos, and has begun evicting its current tenants, including educational groups and working artists. More information, and stunning photos, are available on the preservation group’s web site. Care2 is hosting a petition drive to stop the demolotion, with the goal of gathering 100,000 signatures to present to Mayor Bloomberg.

Today’s mitzvah: Sign a petition to help save the Carnegie Hall Artist Studios.

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