Greenpeace

I've been so incredibly busy this past week with work that I've not been blogging regularly like a good girl. However, I have been doing a lot of reading and organizing..... more about all of this later. I will say that I was extremely excited (perhaps too excited, one might say) about receiving my campaign materials for Earthworks's "Recycle My Cell Phone" campaign. I figured that since I have a career in a technological field, then I should probably do something creatively active involving technology. More on this to come.....

This past weekend, my brother and I got an area of land ready for my organic garden. We tilled the soil, shoveled a massive quantity of horse crap from the barn (no kidding) to try to correct the lacking soil of the region I live in, and I have been watering the ground and digging to get the dirt ready for planting. Today I bought 4 tomato plants, 4 cantaloupe plants, and 12 French marigolds to disperse throughout the garden to ward off aphids. Tomorrow I will try to buy an eggplant and some zucchini. I have read Greenpeace's "Green Living Guide" to get tips on organic gardening, and I plan to try the various tactics and post what works well and such.

On a totally different subject, I was so happy to finally find a copy of Michael Moore's "Roger and Me". This is his first film, and I watched it in 2 Sociology classes in college. I credit it with a lot of the interest I have in corporate social responsibility. It is also funny to see a pre-"Bowling for Columbine" and "Farenheit 911" Michael Moore (it was filmed in 1989). The library where I'm currently doing cataloging and archival work has "Roger and Me" in its film collection. Leave it to a small liberal arts college to finally produce what I've searched for in countless video stores (some in pretty large cities) but could never find. Outstanding.

In a somewhat progressive country (though not so much in the past couple of years) such as the U.S., bigotry and unfair generalizations should not be tolerated. Not only are these being tolerated, but they are also being thrust to the forefront of the media and politics courtesy of Ann Coulter, one of the most brash conservative icons politics has ever seen. The verbal diarrhea of Ms. Coulter has always struck the most unsettling chord with me, as her conservative rants run polar opposite to my super liberal ones. However, I have readily planted myself in the love to hate her camp because despite her complete void of rationality and tact, she has quite a few qualities that I have admired: her boldness, fearlessness, and her total lack of apologetics are impressive even if what falls from her lips frequently makes my skin crawl.

My limited exposure to Coulter has been in the unfortunate events when I caught her on CNN or Fox News, etc. in my channel surfing. One can't help but to stop and look at a car crash, and this type of reaction has caused me to listen to Coulter on several occasions. I have unbelievably liberal acquaintances who actually read her books (maybe just for kicks, or maybe to see what we're up against), but so far I've not been able to stomach them. A recent article in Time Magazine spawned this blog posting; this article caused my former admiration of Coulter to completely and utterly dissipate. In this article, Coulter spoke some of the most uneducated utterances I have ever heard or read. It would appear that her brazenness and relentlessness are just covers for some of the most severe bigotry seen in print in recent years. She believes that all "swarthy" men, including "Italians, Spanish, Jews", etc. should be placed in a separate line at airports for severe frisking. She mocks torture with less regard than most people give to their choice of paper or plastic at the grocery store. She referred to a media representative of Lebanese descent as an "old Arab", saying also that press passes must not be hard to attain if an "Arab" is allowed to sit in such close proximity to the President. To top it all off, she spoke of the "dominion" humans (apparently white American humans) have over the earth as an invitation to "rape" it.

I feel fortunate to live in a country where people can say whatever they think or feel. Freedom of speech is a right that I take for granted probably every single day. That's fine if you feel that way, Ann. The disturbing part of all of this is that she is not simply an American expressing her opinion-she is a regular contributor to at least 2 major news shows (she was fired twice from a third). Her bigotry is being celebrated on a national level. How did this happen?

The fact that Ann Coulter is a news contributor and a political icon whose power seems to lie mostly in shock-tactics involving the media (and of course there are those best-selling books, but I'm making a point here) shows the imminent need for an unbiased media. I had read up on the Adbusters campaign, Media Carta, just recently and thought, "yes an independent and equal-access media would be great." Now, I think that it is necessary.

Why do I believe that Ann Coulter's ultimate contribution to politics and society will be merely entertainment in the "love to hate her or hate to love her" variety?--Because her comments are completely void of fact (and she's famous for misquoting facts as well) and reason. She deliberately and admittedly appeals to the emotion whether it is practically giving ultra-right wing conservatives a hand job or infuriating liberals to the point of awe. I think that in the end, social and political debates must be won on the intellectual level. Too often, I see social movements wasting their time trying to appeal to the masses through pity or sentimentalism. These tactics usually go nowhere, and people tend to move on from what doesn't seem to be sensible enough to join us in mainstream culture. Ann Coulter claims that her wisecracks and hard-ass remarks might just "turn" a liberal over to her side. For me, it wasn't just the hateful remarks that have no place in a media striving to be educated, but it was also the immature and un-effectual strategy of using hateful emotion to liberal-bash, Arab-bash, whoever-bash that shocked, and then bored, me. I just can't take you seriously anymore, Ms. Coulter, and I'm sure society will move on from you as well.

Today I watched the documentary "The Oil Curse" (on loan from Amnesty International). I got this DVD in an information pack for the Ecuador campaign, and it was definitely informative. I'll probably write more on the actual campaign once the shareholder resolution is settled this week.(see entry ChevronTexaco below)

For now, I wanted to write about a story within a story, so to speak, that was featured in the film. I had heard of HALO, the NGO that specializes in the removal of war debris, but after seeing the HALO workers featured in the film, I am just amazed. For those who don't know, HALO is a UK-based group that has removed over 1.5 million landmines from previously war-ridden countries. They are hardcore "activists" who are so engaged in the work they do that they aren't involved in any campaigns or conferences.... just the mission of clearing landmines. This mission has to be some of the most dangerous work I can think of. The film showed the HALO workers detonating mines from afar after meticulously rigging the mines to blow with a hand held detonator.....and that is if the sometimes decades-old mines don't blow on their own.

I have much respect for cleaning up toxic waste from an irresponsible oil company and giving humanitarian aid to disaster victims. These tasks are noble and worthy of appreciation. But, clearing unstable mines that have been buried in the soil for years is downright heroic.

When asked for comment regarding his life's work, a twenty-something HALO worker didn't even mention the fact that every day he sets out on a mission could be his last. Instead, he spoke with conviction of the need to get acres upon acres of mine-littered, potentially agricultural, land cleared for both the safety and the sustainable development of countries whose lands are left crippled and desolated years after a conflict has ended. Quite amazing. I plan to check out their website to learn more about this NGO.

At the risk of sounding over-dramatic, I have completely changed my life recently. When I say recently, I actually mean that for the past year things have really evolved for me.

I have always had a tremendous respect for all living things, and I have held the philosophies of "tread as lightly as possible on the Earth" and "live and let live". However, after some serious reflection on my actual habits, I decided my lifesytle was in need of a major overhaul. I drove a rather swanky SUV for 7 years. My Jeep literally expired a few months ago. In the face of buying a new vehicle, I made the decisions to 1) get a fuel-efficient car, and 2) to get a more practical vehicle (although it does still have power everything) and spend my money on things other than status symbols (like upcoming tuition for a needed masters degree). With skyrocketing gas prices, I am loving my car even more than I thought I would. I also know it is much less damaging to the environment. I even try to walk whenever possible to avoid even using a car.

Any kind of social issues activism makes me much more aware of my daily habits and how they might affect the world and all of its inhabitants. Deep down, I have always had a respect for taking only what you really need. I am keeping this in mind, especially when reflecting on my consumer habits. A bonus of this reflection is that I am beginning to buy less..... and that means less waste and less spending!

I am enjoying this new way of life, and I must say that I am hooked. I'm sure I'll continue to seek out even more ways to live in a way that is mindful of the bigger picture, i.e., the environment in which I live. It just feels good!!!!! :)

I've been busy getting my campaigns together the past couple of days....One of them in particular has been urgent. Amnesty International's resolution for ChevronTexaco will be voted upon next week. I've been busy writing letters to shareholders and CEO's regarding this issue.

For those who don't know, Amnesty International, along with others, co-filed on a shareholder resolution to the ChevronTexaco Board of Directors regarding the situation in Ecuador. From 1972-1992 Texaco (now merged into ChevronTexaco) operated an oil company which dumped over 19 billion gallons of toxic wastewaters and 16.8 million gallons of crude oil into the forests of Ecuador. The company has refused to acknowledge any connection b/w its operations and the horrible pollution of the region, which is suspected to be the cause of higher cancer and miscarriage rates among Ecuadorians. In some of the streams near the Amazon, hydrocarbon concentrations are as many as 280 times the permitted levels in the European Community.

This disgusting situation is not only an environmental disaster, but it is also a direct human rights violation. I am sure I will talk more about corporate responsibility in further entries, as it is probably the social issue I am most drawn to. I will say for now that there is, and should be, a direct link b/w businesses and human rights.

As I pay a ridiculous amount of cash to fill the tank of my supposedly fuel efficient car, I cannot help but to think of the impact on human lives that my daily "chores" I take for granted might have.