March 28th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
If you can tear yourself away from Wife Swap or the 43rd season of Survivor (maybe it only seems like that many) try turning the channel to PBS or The Discovery Channel. They quite frequently have documentaries about our underwater world and coral reefs in particular. For those able to get them in high definition, you'll get a more realistic idea of how beautiful and unusual these animals are. But for those still using “rabbit ears– we'll help you out.
If you want a “soft-polyp quicky,– the Planetary Coral Reef Foundation has put together this seven minute video that touches on the importance of coral reefs as well as dangers to reef systems and what is being done to prevent their destruction. Give it a look.
Coral Reef Adventure is an IMAX film that follows a husband and wife duo for ten months traveling from the Great Barrier Reef to the islands of Fiji and many other reefs. They concentrate on currently endangered reefs and the actions taken by ordinary people to save them. Narrated by Liam Neeson, this film has won much acclaim for its breathtaking cinematography and powerful message. You can rent it online or buy it here.
Jean-Michel Cousteau, son of the late ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, has created a series with our friends at PBS called Ocean Adventures. One of these grabbed our attention (and someone else's too), and we recommend it highly. Voyage to Kure takes Cousteau and his team to the Northwestern Hawaiian Island archipelago where they take a look at all of the marine life and the decline of many species and inspires the viewer to take action. How inspiring is it you ask? We'll tell you in the next section. But first, buy it here from PBS or rent it online. It's worth a look.
trailer
March 28th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
Last year Jean-Michel Cousteau was invited to the White House for a private screening of the aforementioned Ocean Adventures: Voyage to Kure with the President and First Lady. They were so moved by the urgency of the crisis in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands that President Bush immediately upgraded the 140,000 square miles of ocean landscape that contains 70% of the United States' coral reefs from a reserve to a National Monument. National Monuments are not subject to approval by congress and therefore, the protections implied took effect immediately.
This was a huge step, which the President should be applauded for taking. But what about the other 30% of the coral reefs in the country, mainly located in the Florida Keys? We would like you to write a letter to the President showing your support for his action in Hawaii and asking him to take it a step further.
Below you’ll find an example. Feel free to edit it in any way before you sign and mail it. Or, since you are using one of those new-fangled computers, you could just copy, paste, and email it here with your name attached.
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Subject: Praise for action in Hawaii and calling for more.
Dear Mr. President,
I would like to take a moment to thank you for your quick and decisive action in declaring the Northwest Hawaiian Islands and the surrounding marine environment a National Monument. This was a huge step in preserving the beauty and magnificence of this vital region and animals that live there.
I am writing, however, to ask you to take similar action with the rest of our nation's endangered coral reefs, which are located in the Florida Keys. The reefs surrounding the Keys are home to more than 100 species of corals and more than 400 species of fish. Both are a vital part of Florida's economy as well, attracting over 4 million tourists annually. But they are threatened by pollution, overuse, and overfishing. They need more protection.
Please declare the Florida Keys' coral reefs a National Monument so they will be there for our children and our grandchildren to enjoy and profit from in the years ahead.
Sincerely,
Your Name
March 28th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
In doing research for this Wednesday's topic I came across the websites of about 17 million organizations dedicated to this issue. Okay, that may be a slight exaggeration, but there are a lot. And that's great news. But for those who want to get involved, how do they know which would be the most effective organization to donate their time, effort and money to? Well, I’ve visited all 17 million and here are the three that I most recommend along with their mission statements and links for you to lend a helping fin.
Reef Relief is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to preserve and Protect Living Coral Reef Ecosystems through local, regional and global efforts.
Donate and join.
The Reef Check Foundation is an international non-profit organization dedicated to conservation of two ecosystems: tropical coral reefs and California rocky reefs.
Donate and join.
The Coral Reef Alliance (CORAL) is a member-supported, non-profit organization, dedicated to protecting the health of coral reefs by integrating ecosystem management, sustainable tourism, and community partnerships.
Donate and Join
March 28th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
It's the little things we do, the small actions we take as citizens, consumers, and stewards of our great green and blue orb that make the biggest differences, the most progress. It's what the Progressive Wednesday community is all about, the little things that each of us can do. It might be hard to imagine, but there are everyday things that even the most landlocked Nebraskans can do to help solve this crisis. So here's a list-behind-the-list of the everyday variety:
- For you reef-keepers like me out there, buy aquacultured animals. The Geothermal Aquaculture Research Foundation (GARF), located in Idaho, is a non-profit committed to coral propagation. They sell their corals online at very reasonable prices. Make sure your next “Nemo– and corals are “aquacultured– and lessen the burden on our natural reefs to supply our own indulgences.
- When you buy cement, brick or concrete, make sure it is not made from crushed coral.
- Do not buy bleached coral skeletons. Ever.
- Take care when diving. If you are one of the millions of divers that visit coral reefs each year, be sure to follow the rules and respect the reef. And don't take anything!
- Eat fish that are in abundance. The Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Program provides information on which fish are good to eat, what to avoid and good alternatives. They even break it down by region.
- Last but certainly not least, do your part to help fight global warming. You knew before how it affects you, now you know how it affects those below sea level. Renewable home energy, efficient driving, carpool– ¦ you know the drill, but it can't be said enough.
March 27th, 2007 by Matt
Fourteen soldiers have died in Iraq and Afghanistan since we ran our Wednesday topic on truly supporting our troops. Each one of those men and women remind us how much we owe to all the others still living and fighting and representing us, regardless of our own opinions about the two wars.
Please consider giving the Wednesday another look. Learn the facts. See the war for yourself. Maybe ship a soldier a box of simple supplies. Help us build wounded vets new homes. Or just drop some of our troops e-mails from home.
Each of these actions are simple. And simpler still when compared to what’s going on, as the George M. Cohan song reminds us, over there.
March 27th, 2007 by Progressive Wednesday
Problem:
You can only read Newsweek, Cat Fancy, Martha Stewart Living, and Playboy so much.
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Make Progress:
We could go on and on and on (and on and on and on and…) about magazines, but we’ll just list some of our faves. This isn’t an all-encompassing word-for-typeset-word endorsement of each magazine, each article published, and each author. We just dig reading what they have to say, learning some new things, disagreeing with others. So, without further ado, here goes:
To make good use of a baseball metaphor, this sucker is the clean-up hitter of magazines. The Utne Reader is like Reader’s Digest for progressives in that it reprints articles (many of them quite uplifting in an empowering and honest way) from various print media that most of us have never heard of let alone subscribe to. If we could only subscribe to one progressive print source, we’d pick this one, hands down, feet down, eyes down (you get the idea). What are you waiting for: subscribe already.
Progressive politics at its best — that’s what you’ll find here. With The Nation, you’ll get multiple points of view on one subject, well-informed letters to the editor that disagree with articles, and pieces that suggest unlikely progressive points of view. A great way to filter your knowledge of contemporary politics. They also publish similarly engaging work on their website. (And did we mention that at under a buck an issue for a subscription, you really can’t go wrong.)
With each issues, you get a CD sampler of indie and a handful of well-known artists. For example, the September 2006 issue (which we happen to have in front of us at the moment) contains tunes by The Detholz! (who Matt saw open for Wilco), Elvis Costello, Beth Orton, and Buckwheat Zydeco (who we have to dig for having neurotransmitters capable of coming up with that name). These CDs tend to have 20 tracks, give or take.
In addition to the sampler, you’ll read editorials, letters to the editor, feature articles on musicians to watch for, under-the-radar movies, cultural commentary, and reviews of albums, books, games, films, and DVDs. Basically, it’s an independent Rolling Stone, only interesting.
Let us preface our endorsement of Discover with this: our belief in science is just that — a kind of faith, albeit a strong one. Science has its limitations, its variations over time, its new discoveries and theories. And the best place we’ve been able to find that is in Discover, an accessible, independent mag about “science, technology, and the future.– Basically, they make superstring theory, synthetic organs, dark matter, and exhaustive studies of cow’s milk understandable and, frankly, interesting as all hell. We give it big, no, big-bang ups (sorry, we had to), and not just because Discover was a nominee for the 18th Annual Utne Independent Press Awards.
Wired makes us whoop. Its pages are filled with mainly pithy pieces about pop- and not-so-pop-culture technology, oddball science, this thing called the Internet, and topics that fall under the category of “General Geekdom.– As geeks, we admire Wired. We’d admire you that much more if you read it too.
You don’t have to be a vegetarian or a vegan to appreciate this magazine, which is concerned, not just about our diets (please note that Matt, once a vegan, is now a born-again omnivore, though likely not for long), but the environment, politics, activism, exercise, and overall healthy living. If you are a vegetarian or vegan, this is magazine seems all-but mandatory reading; you’ll feel more educated, find excellent recipes, and probably feel more a part of the vegetarian community.
Okay, come closer, here’s a confession: we buy things, and some times we accidentally buy absolute crap. And we want to make sure we get stuff that’s not going to break right away and won’t send us cursing back to the store where we bought it demanding a refund, or worse and more useless, running over it in our driveway. Consumer Reports accepts no advertising, so they’re beholden to no one. Sure, we think they have bad taste in beer (they once ranked Milwaukee’s Best the best domestic brew), but, because we like to think of ourselves as relatively mature, we can get past that. They helped Matt buy a great car, and Eric a TV that he all-but kowtows to during hockey games broadcast in HD. CR also has an online subscription, so you can access their info wherever you are.
For the purposes of full-discloser, we’re going to reveal that both Eric and Matt consider themselves Christians, and, at times, their faiths have ebbed and flowed from first fervor to agnosticism and back again. At the same time, we respect, admire, and draw wisdom and strength from many other faiths.
But because of our personal religious interests, we’re life-size fans of Sojourners, edited by Jim Wallis, whom you may have caught on Meet the Press. Sojo’s mission goes a little something like this: “to articulate the biblical call to social justice, inspiring hope and building a movement to transform individuals, communities, the church, and the world.– Whew — that’s a pretty lofty goal, eh? Well, why aim low? The thing is, this sucker practices what it preaches, and includes a gaggle of engaging cultural, spiritual and political commentary, feature articles, pithy news briefs, humor, reviews, poetry and conversations. It’s a rather complete magazine for progressive Christians.
Other solid (and by solid we mean “sah-lid,” circa 1957) choices — for their interesting and engaging content and not necessarily for their politics — include:
March 26th, 2007 by Melissa Brannen
The first time my daughter became ill (strep throat), I was terrified. She was less than a year old, and I was extremely anxious and panicky. She cried incessantly, wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep, and was generally miserable. This of course, made me generally miserable. A trip to the pediatrician was first on the list of things to do, even before giving the anxious mommy (me) a nice shot of valium (ahhh– ¦valium). The excursion to the doctor's went well, and we came home with prescriptions and advice to get rid of the illness and get through the next few days.
This trip to the doctor's cost me nothing. I am incredibly lucky to have health insurance that is fully covered by my wonderful employer. Both my daughter and I are covered, and there is no co-pay for any of her treatments. I honestly don't know what I would do without my health insurance, and don't want to think about how hard it would make my life.
So many others in this country, though, are not nearly as fortunate. According to the National Coalition on Health Care, in 2000, 40 million Americans were without health insurance. This number increased to 44.8 million in 2005 – “ the population of the states of California and New Jersey– ¦ combined.
We all know of Medicaid and Medicare, programs for those with low incomes that are in need of insurance. But for families whose income exceeds eligibility requirements for Medicaid and don't have insurance, some states are beginning to offer programs to help. In 1997, Congress passed the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which is funded both the federal government and by the states. The intent is to help states initiate health care programs for uninsured and low-income children.
New York State has a program called Healthy New York, which includes Family Health Plus and Child Health Plus. Vermont has a program called Dr. Dynasaur a health care program for children and pregnant women to help them receive the care they deserve. Wisconsin, the Badger State, has (go figure) the BadgerCare program that insures both parents and children. Illinois has the All Kids health care program that insures only children. In January 2007, Governor Ted Kulongoski of Oregon proposed a program to provide health care to 117,000 uninsured children.
While these programs are a small start, it begs a bigger question. Doesn't every man, woman and child deserve quality and affordable health care? Health care that isn't dependent on an employer's willingness to provide it, income eligibility guidelines, or socioeconomic status? The answer to that is pretty simple – “ of course.
Healthy children are happy children, and we owe it to our children to given them every opportunity we can to enjoy their young lives. This includes not only their health, but also giving them healthy parents. When parents are faced with illness, whether their own or their children's, financial and emotional stresses take their toll on the family.
Bureaucracy, red tape and partisan bickering aside, a solution needs to be found. A way to provide universal health insurance to all Americans, so that quality health care is no longer for only the few than can afford it.
Call or write your Senators and representatives in the House. Speak up, be heard, and make a difference. You can. Your voice and vote give you the power.
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