The TakePart Top 10 Weekly Roundup is a compilation of the week’s most notable stories from our entertainment-meets-social-action blogging network. Check out some of our most popular stories of the week, as well as a few TakePart blogger favorites!

Katie Halper:

Necklacing Returns to South Africa, Tutu Calls for Peace, and History Repeats Itself

Ted Kennedy’s Malignant Brain Tumor: Sad News, But the Work Goes On

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Nicole Hughes:

Bush’s Food Aid Package Promotes Use of GMOs

Gas Prices Exceed Those of 1973 Oil Crisis

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Andy Kondrat:

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Could Cost US 38 Trillion Annually

USDA Budget Squeeze Forces Agency to Stop Tracking Pesticide Use

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Jon Popham:

Brooklyn Bridge Birthday Celebration!

Smokey the Bear: Environmental Icon

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Giulia Rozzi:

Suicide Tourism in New York City

Kristin Davis and Her Solar Powered Home

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Gina Telaroli:

Media That Matters Film Festival Premieres on May 28th

Top 10 Ways Indiana Jones Saved the World: Part #1

Smokey the Bear perseveres to this day as one of the greatest environmental icons of American popular culture. Remember back when some fool you met at a party in the early 90’s was yammering on about Neil Young being the Godfather of Grunge? Or some other fool (or maybe the same one but this time rolling on ecstasy) in the late 90’s couldn’t stop talking about how Brian Eno was the pioneer of electronic music? Well when it comes to being influential, neither can hold a candle to Smokey the Bear, whose storied career in environmentalism began over 60 years ago - and that ain’t no foolin’!

Created by The Ad Council in 1944, Smokey the Bear stands at the center of the longest running public service campaign in the history of the United States. The furry cartoon character has been educating the young and old alike on forest fire prevention, conservation and environmentalism since the days of WWII in media including posters, magazines, radio spots PSAs, and in his own show, the intro to which can be seen below:

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A group of over 20 female singers, including Anya Donelly, Britta Phillips, Lori McKenna, Jill Sobule with John Doe, Veruca Salt, Kristin Hersh, Josie Cotton, and The Watson Twins are joining musical forces to record new versions of Neil Young’s most popular, pre-1980 acoustic ballads. Proceeds from the collection, titled Cinnamon Girl, will benefit Casting for Recovery, a cancer charity.

As explained on their site Casting For Recovery (CFR) is a national non-profit support and educational program for women who have or have had breast cancer. They provide an opportunity for women whose lives have been profoundly affected by the disease to gather in a beautiful, natural setting and learn fly-fishing, “a sport for life.” Just as importantly, they offer an opportunity to meet new friends and have fun. Their weekend retreats incorporate counseling, educational services and the sport of fly-fishing to promote mental and physical healing. Founded in 1996, Casting for Recovery has been offering free retreats across the country.

CFR relies heavily on volunteers and donations to offer it’s free retreats, so and visit castingforrecovery.org to get give or get involved.

Oh, no! I just spent, like, the last forty years idolizing Neil Young, and now he says he doesn’t think music can really make a difference in the world. At the Berlin film festival today, where he presented the documentary “CSNY/Déjà Vu”, about his 2006 anti-war concert tour, he told the AFP:

“I know that the time when music could change the world is past. I really doubt that a single song can make a difference. It is a reality.”

He may””unlike Pete Seeger–be pessimistic about the power of song, but Young doesn’t really seem ready to give up on being an agent of change. He’s working on a new film called “Repowering The American Dream,” a documentary about the ‘59 Lincoln he’s converted to a plug-in hybrid, according to the Daily Green, which quotes a more optimistic-sounding Young:

“By drawing on entrepreneurial companies’ advanced technology and good old American ingenuity, we intend to transform one of the largest and heaviest gas guzzling vehicles of our generation into a highly energy efficient vehicle, and demonstrate to the American public that we can re-power the American dream by demanding environmentally-friendly vehicles now.”

Sounds like Young is just looking for new ways to electrify the electorate. Long may he run.

Young gives other musicians who want to express their opinion on the war and related topics a chance to be heard on his Living With War website; give them a listen here  if you’d like to hear from folks who still believe music can make a difference. 

by Kerry Trueman

Iconic rocker Neil Young, always on the cutting edge, is more electrifying than ever these days””he’s converting his 1959 Lincoln Continental into an ultra efficient hybrid electric car. When the transformation’s complete, he’ll drive his “Linc-Volt” from Wichita, where the operation’s taking place, to Detroit””and, he hopes, onto America’s radar.

Young’s documenting his alternative auto odyssey for a film, “Linc-Volt,” that he plans to release in 2008. By turning his two and a half ton, 19-foot-long vintage gas-guzzler into a 100-mile-a-gallon hybrid, Young hopes to demonstrate the feasibility of hybrid-powered cars. Long may he run!