If you live in New York City you should check out "A Night for Dottie" this Sunday April 5th at Comix co-produced and co-hosted by my pals Katina Corrao,Sara Jo Allocco, and Glennis McMurray. This comedy event is being held in honor of Katina's best friend Dottie Person, a loving and devoted wife and mother of five who at just 32 years old lost her battle with cancer. Her amazing spirit and never-ending grace and gratitude stayed with her until her last day. "A Night for Dottie" is sponsored by Comedy Fights Cancer a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that delivers live and taped stand up comedy to patients in hospitals and care facilities. Their mission is to improve patient quality of life through humor. So if you're in town takepart get your tickets for A Night For Dottie also takepart and support Comedy Fights Cancer.
Monsanto's decision to launch a blog is not an April Fool's Day Joke, but in fact the corporations attempt to engage in an online dialogue with critics. And while I am all for open debate, you have to admit that a monolithic multinational trying to get hip and absolve itself of past sins, sounds like gallows humor. The debate is already off to a roaring start with a rather civilized discussion between Epicurean and one of Monsanto's bloggers about the merits of Monsanto's online presence, which includes the blog, a Twitter feed and a Facebook page.
I just hope that it does inspire intelligent discourse, and doesn't simply provide a greenwash for Monsanto to justify their arguably nefarious practices. Obviously, the individuals that write for the blog are not "evil" people, but in fact believe that what their company is doing helps to solve agricultural challenges. Many of us would argue that they are not approaching those challenges in a sustainable or healthy fashion, but I'm encouraged that they are jumping into the fray and will hopefully do so with an open mind. More
David Paul Ohmer's Flickr photostream/Creative Commons
There' s been a lot of hooting and hollering going on lately about how the automobile industry is being treated unfairly in its request for federal assistance. The logic goes that the financial and insurance sectors just received enormous bailouts with very few questions asked and all the while Detroit is being asked to bend over backwards, restructure nearly all of its contracts, ask for enormous concessions from its unions and creditors and even axe its top executive, Rick Wagoner of General Motors, in order to get another dime from Uncle Sam.
While I can understand the confusion of this apparent contradiction in treatment, once you look below the surface, the reasons why are pretty obvious. The most important reason why Wall Street is getting much better treatment than Detroit by the Feds is that the FIRE (Finance, Insurance, Real Estate) sector has been the driving force of our economy and extremely successful for decades now. During this same time Detroit has been a slow steady decline, with two of the Big Three finally about to bottom out. More
Angelo Izama writes in the Monitor Online about the reasons why Joseph Kony, the leader of the Ugandan rebel group Lord's Resistance Army, has been elusive despite alliances formed against him:
Kony’s fortunes are often not determined by the brutal efficiency of his brain-washed teenage brigades but in the air conditioned boardrooms of statesmen in such capitals as Kampala, Washington, Khartoum, Cairo, and Nairobi.
You can takepart by watching tonight's episode of Law and Order SVU, which tackles the issue of child soldiers and a violent leader, who, similar to Kony, has escaped punishment in Africa.
3 cheers for awesome movies about food that encourage us to think about what we eat and where the food comes from!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8H1Rotciug
I can't wait to see this - when it comes to making films about the realities of the food industry I can't help but think the more the merrier. Having more films on the subject means that more people have a chance to learn how their purchases and what they put in their mouth everyday has an impact on the world.
I should also admit that Shelley, the director of the film, is a pal - which is how I know she still needs money to complete it. She needs funds for an awesome soundmix and to add more of the awesome animation you see in the trailer to the final film.
Pistachios are now being recalled in connection to another possible outbreak of salmonella, according to the FDA, making that one more nut that you should steer clear of these days. And once again we are reminded of the fragile state of our industrialized food system, following fast on the heels of the tainted peanut fiasco. The pistachio recall has begun before any reports of illness have surfaced, which is a good indication that the government plans to take a more pro-active approach to food safety, but we need to go further. The FDA needs to be given more authority to act when corporatations attempt to overlook safety precautions to protect their bottom (line).
Two million pounds of pistachios are being recalled from a processing plant in Terra Bella, California, but companies that use the nuts in their products are also recalling products, including Kraft Back to Nature, Nantucket Brand Trail Mix, and Kroger Private Selection Shelled Pistachios. Updates on the recall can be found on the FDA website. While I certainly hope the recalls don't harm the sales of responsible companies too much, I would recommend steering clear of pistachios until more information is available.
While this outbreak is apparently unrelated to the peanut contamination, More
About 20 minutes ago I was going through my Google Reader feed trying to find something worthwhile to write about when I made the mistake of clicking on this link:
North Dakota's Red River has started to recede after a week of record-setting, destructive flooding, but an instensifying snowstorm could still threaten the surrounding communities with higher water levels. Thankfully though, residents have a few moments to rest from piling millions of sand bags and other frantic precautions, and the National Weather Service predicts that a slight warming trend and late night freezes will slow further melting. The worst of the flooding may be over, but the time has come for us to prepare for other climate change related disasters and work towards drastically reducing our greenhouse gas emissions. President Obama's comments about the floods last week are a good indication that he is serious about combating climate change and preparing for the road ahead, but we need to ensure that those promises move forward.
The most comprehensive and impressive social-service project I ever heard of is the Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ). Critics often point to school reform efforts and say that no matter what we do to fix our schools, it won’t be enough. How can schools be expected to successfully educate children whose families and communities have been ravaged by a generational cycle of poverty, drugs, and violence? HCZ is the result of President and CEO Geoffrey Canada’s vision to go beyond school improvement by rebuilding an entire community for children and their families in a 97-block area of Central Harlem.
HCZ began as a pilot project in the 1990’s bringing a host of support services to a single block in Harlem. It's now on its way to serving 15,000 children and 7,000 adults by 2011. What’s most unique about HCZ is its commitment to taking care of children from birth through college. Actually, programs start even before children are born as pregnant women are invited to participate in The Baby College – a 9 week seminar that focuses on nutrition, nurturing, and discipline. HCZ offers families an all-day pre-kindergarten program called Harlem Gems, two remarkably successful charter schools called Promise Academy 1 and Promise Academy 2, community centers that run after-school programs for kids, a health clinic offering students free medical and dental services, an employment center, a college success office, an asthma initiative, an obesity initiative, as well as numerous other services. All programs are offered free of charge, and most of HCZ’s funding comes from private donations. More
This great video series shows street musicians around the US, and reinforces the healing power of music. Sometimes, it's all they've got. From Current TV:
The most comprehensive and impressive social-service project I ever heard of is the 
