Wendy Cohen
October 27, 2008 | 5:57 pm EST
I blogged last week about how awesome Causecast is and here is more proof. Below is a video they made in an effort to get people to think about freedom and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Also, it stars Nobel Peace prize-winning Aung San Suu Kyi, Prime Minister elect of Burma, which makes the video that much cooler!
To learn more, takepart at causecast.org
I don’t know too much about fashion websites for tweens. But last week, my friend Larissa introduced me to Stardoll and I can tell you this: they are making a difference with their newest doll: Aung San Suu Kyi
Stardoll is a virtual “paperdoll community for everyone who enjoys fashion, design and making friends.” There are over 21 million members- primarily girls and young women between 7-17. And now these 21 million plus members can not only find new outfits for this Nobel peace prize winning prisoner of conscience but they can also learn about the history and struggle of one of the greatest advocates of peaceful resistance.
takepart learn about Aung San Suu Kyi from the BBC and takepart with the US Campaign for Burma
Today Al Gore called on young people to practice civil disobedience and demand an end to non-carbon-capturing coal plants. At a meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmental activist explained:
“If you’re a young person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration”
There are currently 28 coal plants under construction in the U.S., with 20 more waiting in the wings. And while some efforts are underway to capture and bury carbon, known as geosequestration, Greenpeace and other critics argue that there are far safer and cleaner alternatives.
takepart by learning more from Al Gore and check out the Architecture 2030 Challenge
Related
East-Timor President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Jose Ramos-Horta has declined the offer to become the top top UN Human Rights Commissioner. Yesterday reports said he had accepted but then he requested another 24 hours to make his decision.
Early this morning, Jose Ramos-Horta wrote:
I thank the many countries that in the last few weeks have encouraged me to table my candidacy for the position of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. I am very touched by the trust placed on me by the many friends in the world who believed that I would be a good High Commissioner. I have reflected on this possibility, on the challenges, complexity and honour of serving the international community….
As we shifted our attention from Burma to China in the past week, I think it’s good to focus our attention back on Burma(but not necessarily away from China). Giulia did a great post about “Burma, It Can’t Wait” last week - so I thought I’d go ahead and post another video from the series so folks don’t forget…
Will Ferrell makes a great point (and even mentions my home state…) about the nature of the problem in Burma and how you can help.
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Every day in the month of May a new celebrity is posting a video for the Burma: It Can’t Wait Campaign. They want 1 million signatures by the end of the month. So far, they have 38,653 and counting. Today’s video features actress Julie Benz. Previous videos have included messages from Will Ferrel, Jenifer Aniston with Woody Harrelson, Jason Biggs, & Jenny Mollen, and Sarah Silverman:
What is Earth Day? Let these top 10 eco-heroes guide you to a better understanding of what it means to love Mother Nature and all it’s inhabitants. These folks take first place in history for their dedication to bringing about awareness and action when it comes to our natural world. If this top 10 sampling from Newsweek’s excellent expose on patron saints of the environment isn’t enough to whet your eco-appetite, check out these 90+ more green campaigners from the Guardian UK. Happy (early) Earth Day!
1) John Muir is often referred to as the “father of national parks, and he helped Theodore Roosevelt to create Yosemite, Sequoia, Mount Rainer, Petrified Forest and Grand Canyon national parks. He also founded the Sierra Club in 1892, and served as president until his death in 1914.
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Al Gore may be staying out of fray by keeping mum about his choice for the democratic presidential candidate, but he’s still on the front lines of the campaign to stop global warming. In a 60 Minutes interview last night with Lesley Stahl, Gore discussed his new $300 million dollar bipartisan advertising campaign to increase awareness about global warming. The commercials feature political odd couples including Nancy Pelosi and Newt Gingrich, and Al Sharpton and Pat Robertson, who share at least one thing in common ” their concern for the environment.
In his acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, yesterday, Al Gore used the language of war to spell out in stark terms the kind of future the world faces if we ignore the impending climate change crisis.
We’re on a war footing with nature, now, heading down a path to “mutually assured destruction,” as Gore described it:
‘The future is knocking at our door right now. Make no mistake, the next generation will ask us one of two questions. Either they will ask: ‘What were you thinking; why didn’t you act? Or they will ask instead: ‘How did you find the moral courage to rise and successfully resolve a crisis that so many said was impossible to solve?”’
Mother Nature’s been dropping hints for decades now that our cavalier consumption’s thrown our whole ecosystem out of whack. But, like the invisible parents of Peanuts, her warnings became a “wah-wah-wah” that was all too easy to tune out.
Gore’s call to action, by contrast, is crystal clear and impossible to ignore, unless you’re a blockhead, or a beagle.
