Posted on November 12, 2008 by redhare
by Julie Hall at ProgressiveKid
Thank god almighty we are free at last from white-president gridlock. In America now you can be black (technically biracial) and become president. This spanking new reality is genuine progress. It is progress for civil rights, for black Americans, for white Americans, for all Americans, and for world citizens everywhere. It is a gigantic symbol that race is losing currency as a reason for bigotry, and that is something to smile about.
But although bigotry took a hard kick to the gut on November 4, 2008, it caught its breath quickly and assuredly in America that day when voters banned gay marriage in California, Florida, and Arizona and banned adoptions and foster parenting by unmarried couples in Arkansas. So, while I’m glad Obama happens to be black, I’m grateful he is not gay because he would not be our President (-elect) if he were. Read more »
Filed under: politics, social issues | Tagged: banned adoptions and foster parenting, basic civil rights, being vanished, black and become president, black and queer, black president, gay jokes, gay marriage in California, gay person, gay politician, happens to be gay, If Obama were gay, lesbian for president, our 44th president, parental rights, progressive for civil rights, unmarried couples in Arkansas, voters banned gay marriage | Leave a Comment »
Posted on November 11, 2008 by citizengoat
by Sarah at ProgressiveKid
War, disease, economic devastation, and catastrophic geologic and climate events create refugees every day. According to the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants’ World Refugee Survey 2008, worldwide there are currently over 14 million. An additional 25 million people are displaced internally and so are not considered in refugee totals. In the Democratic Republic of Congo alone, the advances of Tutsi Rebels have displaced 200,000 people since August.
But those are just numbers. And they’re so big, it’s hard to understand what they even mean on a personal level, to the people who are refugees—and to the people who are not. Read more »
Filed under: climate change, social issues | Tagged: Antonio Guterres, Center for Immigration Studies, Christian Aid Agency, climate change, Democratic republic of Congo, host country, immigrants, immigration, Iraqi refugees, refugee, refugee populations, Russian sex slaves, Saharwi camps, Somali refugee camps, Tindouf, Tutsi rebels, U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, World Refugee Survey 2008 | 3 Comments »
Posted on October 29, 2008 by citizengoat
By Sarah at ProgressiveKid
Both President-Elect Obama and his former opponent John McCain endorsed “clean coal” as an important element of their energy plans. But “clean coal” is a fairy tale with a very bad ending, as in the Big Bad Wolf eats and digests Little Red Riding Hood and belches out a black cloud afterward. Read more »
Filed under: climate change, living green, politics | Tagged: fossil fuels, clean coal, clean coal technology, IGCC, syngas, Marilyn Berlin Snell, carbon dioxide, carbon sequestration, Michael Graham Richard, mercury, U.S. Center for Clean Air Policy, liquid coal, coal mining, slurry, Fast Facts on Air, Appalachia, Jeff Biggers, flattened lansdcape, black lung disease | 1 Comment »
Posted on October 15, 2008 by redhare
by Julie Hall at ProgressiveKid for Wolf Awareness Week
For me, wolves are easy to love, and hard not to cry about. For starters, they are beautiful animals—strong, smart, fast, muscular, lean, furry, and at times they smile. As a friend (and fellow pack member) of dogs, I feel a natural affinity with wolves too. Dogs are, after all, the likely descendants of wolves who became friendly with humans, to our mutual benefit (you toss me a bone, and I’ll guard the cave). But besides their aesthetic appeal and doggish familiarity, they reflect what I like best in me, and what I and the rest of my human clan exiled from our nature a long time ago—our free, clear, and purposeful animal selves. Read more »
Filed under: living green, social issues | Tagged: adaptive fur coats, adopt a wolf, aerial hunting program of extermination, aerial shooting of wolves, Alaskan wolf pups, animal selves, bounty for the severed forelegs of wolves, Cheyenne, climate change, coyote population, creationist stories, Defenders of Wildlife, descendants of wolves, Earth-aware politicians, ecological importance of wolves, elk herds, Endangered Species Act, ending wolf persecution, European wolf lore, fear and hatred of wolves, fellow predators, George W. Bush’s License to Kill, Governor Sarah Palin, gray wolves, grazing pressure on the plant base, habitat loss, how you can help wolves, human encroachment, illegal aerial hunting, illegal hunting, in praise of wolves, indigenous Indian tribes, initiatives to protect wolves, Inquisition, large predators, License to Kill, list of wolf organizations, livestock killed by wolves, misconceptions about wolves, National Agricultural Statistics Service, pregnant bear sows, preserving wilderness, red wolves, reintroduce wolves, reintroduction of wolves, restored trees, return of the wolves, revered the wolf, Rick Bass, role of wolves in the wild, Roman Church, sense of smell, sinister images of wolves, Small Pox, studies in the Yellowstone area, supporting biodiversity, supporting wolf recovery, the cascade effect, The Ninemile Wolves, the presence of wolves, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. wolf populations, Understanding The Call of the Wild, werewolves in Europe, werewolves of london, wolf advocates, wolf habitat areas, Wolf Haven International, wolf persecution, wolf recovery, wolf refuge, wolf's eyes, wolf-advocacy organization, wolf-hating, wolves, wolves help keep herds healthy, wolves were hunted for bounty, Yellowstone ecosystem, Yellowstone wolves | 1 Comment »
Posted on October 6, 2008 by redhare
by Julie Hall at ProgressiveKid
For most of us chocolate is a happy part of Halloween. It’s hands-down the best treat in the bag—so popular, in fact, that kids have to keep an eye on their chocolate-pilfering parents at this time of year. So, it’s especially ironic that this beloved sweet treat is a living nightmare for the children who are caught in the chocolate slave trade. Read more »
Filed under: consuming, living green, parenting, social issues | Tagged: pesticides, fair trade chocolate, Halloween, chocolate-pilfering parents, chocolate slave trade, cocoa plant, harvesting of cocoa beans, cocoa pods, M&Ms, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, cocoa farming, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, child laborers, child slaves, insecticides, enslaved children, Hershey's, Nestle, Cadbury, chocolate companies, cocoa farmers, slave labor, cocoa farming communities, Stop Chocolate Slavery, organic cocoa farmers, Global Exchange | 1 Comment »
