Author: cjzurcher

A photo essay on seed diversity: a global route to food security?

Many farmers’ livelihoods depend on the ability to save seed varieties. ‘Farmers breed for resilience,’ says Dr Vandana Shiva, who is leading a campaign supported by the Gaia Foundation to protect seed diversity and promote food security. ‘They don’t breed one crop. They know they must have many crops because the climate changes … and because nutritional needs are diverse’

Watch the Seeds of Freedom film

For more on this story, visit: Seed diversity: a global route to food security? – in pictures | Global development | guardian.co.uk.

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Murphy says McMahon afraid of losing votes by publicizing her policies before election

“You have an obligation as a candidate to tell people where you stand, even if that wins you some votes and loses you other votes,” he told reporters after the debate. “I thought it was great that Linda McMahon finally admitted that the reason that she’s not telling her positions on issues that she’s worried that people will vote against her.”

For more on this story, visit: Murphy, McMahon square off in fourth debate – THE MYSTIC RIVER PRESS: Mystic River Press: News.

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How to Start a Child Survival Epidemic | Doctors Without Borders

I thought this was an inspiring story about the survival of children and I particularly liked this quote:

Nutrition and health are inextricably linked: children are more prone to sickness and death if they are malnourished, and vice versa.

… Niger is a land-locked country that straddles the Sahara Desert and the savannah just to the south, known as the Sahel. For most Nigeriens, daily life presents many challenges and struggles. The country has been through three food emergencies in the past six years, and this in a country where the vast majority of its 16 million people work the land to make a living. In 2010, almost half the country’s population received some type of short-term economic support in the form of food distribution or cash transfer, and this year the same help is going to about one quarter of all Nigerians.

… But among all this hardship, Nigerien politicians and health professionals are making remarkable progress in child survival. Despite being ranked near the bottom of the UN Development Index, child mortality rates in Niger are in free-fall and dropping twice as fast as its bigger, wealthier neighbor Nigeria. Even with serious economic woes, child malnutrition rates are actually improving. This flies directly in the face of the conventional wisdom that suggests improvement in health indicators only follows economic growth.

… If Nigerien leaders and the numerous international and national nongovernmental actors are up to the task, who knows how fast this child survival epidemic can pick up speed.

Dr. Susan Shepherd is a pediatrician from Butte, Montana. She has worked for MSF for the last six years and coordinates work in nutrition. She has worked in Uganda, Chad, Niger, Kenya, South Sudan, Burkina Faso, and Ghana.

For more on this story, visit: Op-Eds & Articles: Op-Ed: How to Start a Child Survival Epidemic | Doctors Without Borders.

For more on this story, visit: Op-Eds & Articles: Op-Ed: How to Start a Child Survival Epidemic | Doctors Without Borders.

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Ever wonder what happened to this guy? George, Shellie Zimmerman attorneys back in court Wednesday

SANFORD – George Zimmerman’s murder trial in the death of Trayvon Martin was set for June 10 during a hearing in court this morning.

From the Daily Beast:

George Zimmerman’s trial for the second-degree murder of Trayvon Martin will begin on June 10, a Florida judge ruled on Wednesday morning. Attorneys in the case estimated it would last about three weeks. Zimmerman confessed to shooting and killing the 17-year-old in March, claiming he was using Florida’s controversial Stand Your Ground law to defend himself against the black teenager. The lack of immediate charges against Zimmerman—who is Hispanic—led to a national outcry both in support and against him, and authorities eventually charged Zimmerman, 29, with second-degree murder. His wife, Shellie Zimmerman, 25, has been charged with perjury.

For more on this story, visit: George Zimmerman court: George, Shellie Zimmerman attorneys back in court Wednesday – OrlandoSentinel.com.

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Isaac Canady’s Ballpoint of View | Chris Arnott, Daily Nutmeg

“I tend not to like galleries,” Isaac Canady confesses. But he’s created one anyway. His exhibition space, not to mention the art studio where he draws and creates his singular and spiritual pen-and-ink works, is the sidewalks and coffee shops of New Haven.

Canady’s a familiar face to countless downtown pedestrians. Now he’s also attracting attention while on breaks from his job at Elm City Market in the 360 State Street complex, where he works from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the bakery section. During those breaks, Canady finds a seat in the dining section over by the market’s hot bar and salad bar.

For more on this story, visit: Ballpoint of View | Daily Nutmeg.

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Panelists champion careers in social good

For all Yale students considering investment banking, Doug Hausladen ’04 has a message for you: Do not go to the dark side.

The undergraduate organization Net Impact hosted an event to launch its organization on Tuesday that aimed to inspire Yale students to explore the field of social enterprise — or socially-conscious entrepreneurship. The panel included Hausladen, Ward 7 Alderman and the co-founder of ActualFood; Barry Nalebuff, co-founder of Honest Tea and professor at the Yale School of Management; Maxim Thorne LAW ‘92, former vice president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Cary Krosinsky, senior vice president of TruCost; and Kate Cooney, an SOM professor. At the talk, the speakers explored their definitions of social enterprise and suggested an alternative to traditional careers in business or non-profits.

For more on this story, visit: Panelists champion careers in social good | Yale Daily News.

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Big Electric Companies Behind ‘Grassroots’ Ad Campaign in Florida | Mother Jones

The dark money group Defend my Dividend is more Astroturf than grassroots.

By Theodoric Meyer, ProPublica

This story first appeared on the ProPublica website.

Since August, a dark money group called Defend My Dividend has spent nearly $90,000 running ads on South Florida TV stations warning seniors about a looming increase in the tax rate on dividends.

“You worked hard, saved for retirement, and dividends are a big part of it,” says one of the ads, which Defend My Dividend has posted on YouTube. “But if President Obama and Congress don’t act this year, tax rates on dividends will spike, almost tripling in some cases.” Time is running out, the ad intones, as phone numbers for Obama and Congress appear on the screen.

For more on this story, visit: Big Electric Companies Behind ‘Grassroots’ Ad Campaign in Florida | Mother Jones.

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Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and legislature shows complete disregard toward human health and the planet

The state’s latest grab for Marcellus Shale money could turn some colleges into industrial zones.

—By Sydney Brownstone

Last year, when Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett suggested offsetting college tuition fees by leasing parts of state-owned college campuses to natural gas drillers, more than a few Pennsylvanians were left blinking and rubbing their eyes. But it was no idle threat: After quietly moving through the state Senate and House, this week the governor signed into law a bill that opens up 14 of the state’s public universities to fracking, oil drilling, and coal mining on campus.

For more on this story, visit: Pennsylvania Fracking Law Opens Up Drilling on College Campuses | Mother Jones.

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Greenpeace slams EPEAT after green label granted to Apple MacBook Pro | BusinessGreen

Greenpeace has accused the US green IT labelling scheme EPEAT of “caving in” to pressure from leading manufacturers and approving a number of “ultra-thin” notebooks that will prove difficult to recycle.

EPEAT announced last week that it had undertaken a thorough review of five different “ultra-thin” notebooks from Apple, Lenovo, Samsung and Toshiba, including the new MacBook Pro with Retina Display, and concluded they could remain on the EPEAT registry.

For more on this story, visit: Greenpeace slams EPEAT after green label granted to Apple MacBook Pro – 15 Oct 2012 – News from BusinessGreen.

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Thousands of bloggers, blog for good, on one day | blogactionday.org

Today, October 15, is Blog Action Day, and the international community of bloggers is blogging about this year’s theme, The Power of We.

Are you going to contribute to this topic in honor of the multitudes who work together to make a difference in the world through whatever you do? What is it? Let us know!

Founded in 2007, Blog Action Day brings together bloggers from different countries, interests and languages to blog about one important global topic on the same day. Past topics have included water, climate change, poverty and food with thousands of blogs, big and small, taking part.

For more on this story, visit: blogactionday.org | Thousands of bloggers, blog for good, on one day..

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Thinking of wonderful things on the flying dead bird | CURE

I am thinking even as we do this life-changing work, we can still be defining how great God’s own generosity is. Just the thoughts of floating heavy metals on air, marvelous God’s work. The doctor may also be thinking, “Wow! When holding that injection and applying casts on the children, God’s healing is so superb.”

For more on this story, visit: Thinking of wonderful things on the flying dead bird | Blog | CURE.

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Building a Culture of Philanthropy; A Six-Part Series: #6 — Practical Ideas to Start Implementing Today | Passionate Giving

I hope that through this series you have begun to understand how important it is to develop a healthy, vibrant culture of philanthropy in your organization. Actually, it’s beyond important. Richard and I believe that it will be crucial if your organization is to be around in the next 10 years.

Yes, it’s that serious.

Folks, our industry has been talking about how we have to be donor-centered and donor-focused for a long time now. We can’t just give lip service to this any longer. It’s not just about thanking donors properly or sending out “donor-focused” newsletters (although both are important.) It’s about acting on a belief that our donors are part of our mission.

If we could do that, we would see a radical change in the non-profit world…a change that would not only affect how non-profits work, but a change in how donors respond to the world’s needs.

I want to leave you with a number of ideas, in addition to what I’ve laid out in my previous posts on this series, about how you can begin to build this new culture within your organization.

For more on this story, visit: Building a Culture of Philanthropy; A Six-Part Series: #6—Practical Ideas to Start Implementing Today. | Passionate Giving.

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Violence containment cost the U.S. $2.16 trillion per year

New Study from Institute of Economics and Peace Released

 

“By defining a new industry as the ‘Violence Containment Industry,’ it is now possible to aggregate all expenditures related to the containment or consequences of violence. Our research indicates that when measured as a percentage of GDP this industry has expanded by 25% in the past ten years.”
– Steve Killelea, Executive Chairman of IEP

 

KEY FINDINGS:

  • Violence containment cost the U.S. $2.16 trillion per year, that’s one in every seven dollars.
  • $15,000 per taxpayer spent on preventing or dealing with violence.
  • If violence containment were an industry it would be the largest industry in the U.S.
  • Federal expenditure has expanded in the last ten years, increasing by 15%
  • The size of Violence Containment is equal to the entire UK  economy
  • A 5% reduction in Violence Containment spending for 5 years would provide the capital to rebuild the nation’s levees systems, update the energy infrastructure and complete the upgrading of the nations school infrastructure.
  • Violence–related expenditures four times greater than the Department of Defense budget
  • If Violence Containment was classified as an industry, would be the largest in the U.S.

“The study evidentiates that even small reductions in Violence Containment spending would result in a meaningful stimulation to the U.S. economy,” Steve Killelea.

The Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP) recently released a new study on the costs of violence containment in the United States.  As you can see, the numbers are pretty devastating.

The study is the first systematic measure to account for all violence-related expenditure in the U.S. economy. It captures government, corporate, and individual expenditures regardless of whether it is related to international affairs, such as offshore military activities, or domestic spending, for instance, dealing with crime and its consequences.

There is one element we find particularly encouraging around this report from our friends at IEP — the articulation of a “violence containment industry.” This offers a powerful framing to help articulate this industry and the great challenge violence poses, as well as aids our collective cause to make the work of peacebuidling and violence prevention a priority.  We know there are far more effective ways to deal with the scourge of violence.

Read the full report here.

For more on this story, visit: this dispatch from The Peace Alliance

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Romney’s Foreign Policy Speech: All War All the Time | The Progressive

He denounced “the abrupt withdrawal of our entire troop presence” from Iraq, though he didn’t say how long he would have kept our troops there.

And he hinted broadly that he’d keep U.S. troops in Afghanistan beyond 2014. “I will evaluate conditions on the ground and weigh the best advice of our military commanders,” he said. “And I will affirm that my duty is not to my political prospects, but to the security of the nation.”

On Iran, he also threatened war, aligning himself squarely with Benjamin Netanyahu. “I will put the leaders of Iran on notice that the United States and our friends and allies will prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons capability,” he said.

For more on this story, visit: Romney’s Foreign Policy Speech: All War All the Time | The Progressive.

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Could Biden deliver? The answer Thursday night was a resounding ‘Yes’ | Truthdig

The smile. That laugh. The look on Joe Biden’s face said it all during his commanding performance in Thursday’s vice presidential debate held in Danville, Ky.

Given President Obama’s less than stellar performance in last week’s first presidential debate, a lot was riding on Biden’s shoulders: the polls, which have swung Mitt Romney’s way in the past week, for one, and the critical undecided voter in swing states for another.

Could Biden deliver? The answer Thursday night was a resounding yes.

For more on this story, visit: Tracy Bloom: Biden Laughs His Way to Victory in Vice Presidential Debate – Politics Today – Truthdig.

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Nationwide Money Stamping Tour Launched by Ben & Jerry’s Co-Founder, Move to Amend & Stamp Stampede Coalition

“Amend-o-Matic” Will Visit Nearly 50 Cities to Gather Support for a Constitutional Amendment to Get Money Out of Politics

Today, Ben Cohen, co-founder of super-premium ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s, and organizers with the Move to Amend Coalition, launched a bold new campaign aiming to return government to the hands of the people. The “Amend-O-Matic” is part art spectacle, part money-stamping machine, part road-worthy vehicle, and will allow participants to insert dollar bills to be printed with slogans such as “Corporations are not people,” “Money is not speech;” and “Not to be used for bribing politicians.”

… Polling indicates that nearly 80% of Americans are in favor of getting money out of politics, with a majority supporting an amendment to establish that corporations are not entitled to Constitutional rights. The Citizens United decision allows corporate money to drown out the voice of the people with over $2 billion expected to be spent to influence the 2012 presidential election.

For more on this story, visit: Nationwide Money Stamping Tour Launched by Ben & Jerry’s Co-Founder, Move to Amend & Stamp Stampede Coalition | Common Dreams.

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