BUSINESS AND ECONOMICS
The
New Colossus by William Greider
In the wake of Enron-style corporate scandals, in which public pension
funds lost more than $300 billion, some of the leading funds have
restyled themselves as more aggressive reformers. They are picking
fights with Wall Street orthodoxy they long accepted, like the obsessive
maximizing of short-term gains. More important, they are broadening
their definition of fiduciary obligations to retirees by trying to
enforce corporate responsibilities to serve society's long-term prospects.
Money
vs. Wealth by David C. Korten
Instead of creating wealth, our money system is depleting our
real wealth: our communities, ecosystems, and productive infrastructure.
Honest Corporate
Reporting Honored by Becky Brun
In a time of corporate scandals and book-cooking, this year’s
Business Ethics Awards included a prize for honesty in annual
reports. Each year, Business Ethics magazine honors companies
that emphasize social responsibility while maintaining a profit.
The
Demand for the Common Good by Jonathan Rowe
What happens when economic growth produces more “illth” than
wealth? What happens when it gobbles up the foundation of the good
life—the commons?
The
Ecology of Pizza (Or Why Organic Food is a Bargain) by Sandra
Steingraber, PhD
Sales of organic food have increased one-hundred fold since 1980
and are predicted to hit $20 billion by 2005. With an average
annual growth rate of 20 percent per year for the last decade,
organic food production is now the fastest growing sector of U.S.
agriculture.
COMMUNITY
Seeds
of Justice, Seeds of Hope by Anna Marie Carter
In the midst of the toxic atmosphere of Watts, seeds are sprouting, organic
gardens are thriving, young people are discovering a vocation, and healthy,
whole foods are becoming part of everyday life.
Finding
Dignity in Exile by Ingrid Drake
Forced to flee rape, forced labor, and devastation, Burmese women
living as refugees in Thailand discover that they can turn to
one other for support and fierce leadership—and demand the world’s
attention.
ECOLOGY
Crazy
Wisdom by Wes Niske
What the United States really needs is a Department of Wisdom,
a government agency that would be staffed by philosophers, anthropologists,
historians, some jesters, and even a few mystics; people who see
the world in a different way than economists, generals, and senators.
Although the political right may currently be in charge, our real
oppressor is the “left-brain” government. A Department
of Wisdom just might provide some critical balance of powers.
May 10, 2005: Washington Gov. Christine
Gregoire (D) has signed into law two bills that some are calling
the most progressive renewable-energy legislation in any U.S. state.
The measures earned bipartisan support thanks to their focus on
creating a renewables market that would generate jobs and boost
the state's economy. One bill calls for a credit to be paid to
home and business owners for each kilowatt-hour of electricity
they generate via solar photovoltaic and wind-power systems, with
higher credits paid if the energy systems are manufactured in-state.
(See Renewable
Energy Access.) The
second offers tax breaks to renewable-energy businesses that relocate
to or already reside in Washington, with increased tax incentives
for those that set up shop in economically depressed areas. Gregoire
also signed a number of other environmental bills, including
one that adopts California's tough car-emissions standards. (Read
article)
Celebrating
Women as Custodians of the Environment by Dr. Klaus
Toepfer
NAIROBI, Kenya, March 8, 2005 (ENS) - 2005 is an historic year
for the United Nations and an historic one for women. It will,
I believe, go down as the year in which the role of women in respect
to the environment and the environment’s role in
delivering gender equality moved from the edges into the centre of
political life. In just a few months’ time, a summit level
meeting of the UN will take place in New York to review the successes
and failures of the Millennium Development Goals.
The
Battle for Water by Tony Clarke and Maude Barlow
In the 21st century, our water is becoming a commodity. Some want to profit
from it and others are ready to go to war over it, but every form of life must
have it. Water use is growing twice as fast as population, but there is no
more water today than there ever has been. Who will control this source of
life? (Click on link above to read full article.)
Environmental Restoration:
The Role of Industrial Hemp by Ginger
Bennett
With the return of hemp, individuals
and communities will benefit from a robust economy based upon the
many hemp industries, better health due to a clean environment, and
a beautiful, healthy world in which to live. The country will reduce
deficits, balance the budget and increase revenues. The world will
live with a more balanced distribution of resources, more humane
values, and a healthy and beautiful planet.
INDUSTRIAL HEMP RELATED ARTICLES
Don’t
Smoke This House. How They Build Hemp Houses In Prohibitionist
France by Michka
Building a hemp house sounds like a hempsters dream come
true. Yet the fact is, houses are being restored or actually built
from hemp in France. This was even the case ten years ago, before
the hemp renaissance had begun to take place.
EDUCATION
Business
Schools Turn Green, Slowly by Nancy Nachman-Hunt
At the University of Michigan there is a course titled "Systems Thinking
on Sustainable Development." At first glance, that title
would suggest the course is being taught in the university's school
of environmental design, perhaps. But it's not. It is being taught
as part of the core curriculum in the university's MBA program.
HEALTH AND HEALING
From Silent
Spring to Scientific Revolution by John Peterson
Myers
Scientists are uncovering the precise choreography that brings a
healthy creature into the world--and how these complex interactions
can be destroyed by the chemicals we are unleashing.
Surviving
the Great Dying by Michael Lerner
As the Earth's sixth spasm of extinctions continues, human health
has not been spared. Around the world, people suffering from cancer,
birth defects, developmental disorders, asthma, infertility, new
and resurgent infectious diseases, and dozens of other environmentally
related afflictions are coming to terms with an ancient wisdom--our
health and the health of the Earth are inseperable.
Taking
the High Road by Carl T. Hall
S.F. General's head of family medicine works toward a day when
treatment will be fair for all, not just the privileged few....
He favors a system known as "single-payer:" The idea
that the best way to provide health care is to set up a single
government entity to reimburse providers. Grumbach advocates a
system akin to the Medicare program, expanded to cover people
of all ages.
MEDIA
Ten
Steps to a More Democratic Media by Jeffrey Chester and Gary
O. Larsen
Whether you care about the state of journalism, access to information,
diversity of media ownership, privacy, innovation, or the health
of noncommercial media—all
these and more will be up for grabs as Congress begins re-writing the Telecommunications
Act of 1996 this year. Likewise, the Federal Communications Commission and
even your local town or city council will be facing choices that will determine
who gets to communicate what, to whom, over what medium during this “digital
century.”
Bill Moyers by Bill Moyers
There’s a reason journalism is the only occupation protected
by the U.S. Constitution. To govern ourselves, we the people need
the truth, not what is politically expedient. (Click on link above
to read full article.)
Making the
Whole World Witness by Dana Hughes
What would happen if the victims of human rights abuses could tell
their own stories to the world? Could they win some level of safety
and peace?
PEACE AND SECURITY
The Warriors Who Turned to Peace by John Mohawk
Before the formation of the confederacy now called the Iroquois
or, more traditionally, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, there were
no states. In the prehistoric Northeast woodlands, internecine
warfare and blood feuds were going on everywhere. The people had
been at war for so long that some were born knowing they had enemies
and not knowing why they had enemies. It was led by what we would
call today warlords, although they were actually warrior chieftains.
Insisting
on Peace by Bill Weinberg
You wouldn’t know it from U.S. newspapers, but a peace movement
is building in Colombia. Indigenous peoples, peasant communities,
and young draft resisters are saying no to war.
Shall
We Study War or Peace? by Fran Korten
In January, we at PFN published a book, Making Peace: Healing
a Violent World. It’s a book about people making tough choices
on how to respond to violence—to a murder, to an assault,
to a crime, to a war. The authors in this book show with moving
clarity that, while we humans may not be able to prevent all violence,
we can choose how we respond when it occurs. We can give in to
our lust for vengeance, to our fear of appearing weak, to our
instincts to fight. Or we can reach deep into our souls for a
stronger response, a response that avoids the cycle of violence
and brings about healing. We as humans have the capacity for that
choice.
The
War Against Ourselves an Interview with Doug Rokke by Sunny Miller
A career army officer went to the Gulf to bring US soldiers safely
through nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare. What he experienced
convinced him that war is obsolete an interview with Major Doug Rokke.
POLITICS, GOVERNANCE AND LAW
The Importance of Reframing
the Issues by Ginger Bennet
George Lakoff's book Don't Think
of an Elephant! is a clear and concise explanation of exactly
what is going on in the political life of our country. Every page
of his book, subtitled "The Essential Guide for Progressives," is
filled with information that explains how those interested in core
American ideals (such as human values, care of the environment, fiscal
responsibility for the good of all and honesty in government) have
been overwhelmed and defeated by skillful maneuvering backed by scientific
research funded by big money interests.
Confessions of a Repentant Republican by William Frey, M. D.
I supported George W. Bush in the presidential election in 2000, believing then that he best reflected my love for America and for our tradition of liberty. I supported the war in Afghanistan. In March of 2003, I believed that the invasion of Iraq was justified based upon pre-war revelations presented to Congress and to the American people. Accordingly, the indictments contained herein apply, first and foremost, to myself.
Broadband
Democracy by Jeff Chester and Gary O. Larson
The American Civil Liberties Union recently declared open, competitive
Internet access to be “one of the key free speech issues of
the early 21st century,” adding that “the Internet’s
potential for free expression, civic involvement and economic innovation” are
at stake.
The
Second Revolution: A Letter to Howard Dean by Joel Hirschhorn
As the new Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, you need
a new powerful message and mission. You need to think boldly in terms
of fundamentals. You need to think like our Founding Fathers, because
saving a democracy is as important as creating it. Attention must
be paid to the truth: We need a Second American Revolution. You can
be a leader and healer for our time.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
U.S.
Scientists Say They Are Told to Alter Findings, By Julie
Cart
Published in the Los Angeles Time (Feb. 10, 2005)
More than 200 Fish and Wildlife researchers
cite cases where conclusions were reversed to weaken protections
and favor business, a survey finds.
Appropriating
the Internet for Global Activism
by Mark Surman and
Katherine Reilly
Nearly all activists use the Internet for e-mail and websites. But
only a few have begun to harness the full power of the emerging networked
world.
When Nuclear Plants Close, Infant Deaths And Childhood Cancers Drop
by Carolyn McConnell
A study of the areas surrounding nuclear power plants has found
that rates of infant death and childhood cancer drop dramatically
after the plants close. Rates dropped by 17 percent on average, and
in one case, infant deaths and childhood cancers dropped by a full
42 percent.
High-tech
Goes Green by Ted Smith and Chad Raphael
Work-related cancers and toxic emissions have eroded the high-tech
industry's clean reputation. New European Union rules banning heavy
metals and requiring manufacturers to take back discarded computers
could set a new global standard.
Mushroom
Power by Paul Stamets
From the lowly fungus blooms recipes for healing, cleansing, and
restoration
WOMEN, YOUTH AND FAMILIES
When Youth
Lead by Elise Miller and Jon Sharpe
Teens are uncovering the connections between health and the environment,
discovering science as part of their lives, and taking action for
their communities' health.
Investing
in Women is Smart by Ritu Sharma, Women's Edge Coalition
Ending poverty around the world is entirely possible; we just
need our world leaders to step up to the plate to help make it
happen. And this year, leaders of the world's wealthiest nations
have a tremendous opportunity to make a real difference in the
lives of the poor by tackling head-on some of the pressing global
issues of our time: aid, trade and debt. With the year 2005 labeled "Make Poverty
History," and
a series of upcoming high-level international events with global
poverty as their main focus, beginning with the July G8 Summit
in Scotland, world leaders can do just that. Read
more...
| 
