A new California law, set to go into effect tomorrow July 1, mandates that all drivers use a handsfree device while talking on their cellphones (’cellphone’ or ‘cell phone’? you decide).  The state of Washington has a similar handsfree cellphone law also going into effect tomorrow. In addition to benefiting public safety, the new laws are providing a sales boost to cellphone accessories retailers, like Santa Cruz California based Plantronics (feel free to leave any conspiracy theories in the comments).  In addition to keeping you focused on the road, recent research suggests using your cellphone may give you brain cancer, so it’s probably best to keep the phone away from your head anyway.  Check out our socially responsible ways to transition to a handsfree cellphone existence after the jump…

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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:

“The First Time I Every Saw Your Face” May Be the First Time You Hear About Ewan MacColl

California’s Gay Marriage Ban Overturned & 5 Ways To Take Action

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Nicole Hughes:

“Bottlemania” Book Takes Bottled Water Industry To Task

Arnold Tells Automakers To “Stop Whining” About Tougher California Emissions Standards

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Andy Kondrat:

Department of Energy Forecasts Large Increase In Wind Power Usage

Edward Norton & Gavin Newsom Speak To Congress About Environmental Building Practices

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Jon Popham:

Spencer Tunick Strips Hundreds Naked

Lichtenstein Sculptures At Fairchild Garden In Miami

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Giulia Rozzi:

Does Being Ethical Pay?

Is the Anti-Female Genial Mutilation Campaign Offensive?

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Gina Telaroli:

A Global Look At Media On Pangea Day

Everything Cinema: Brody Takes On the Working Life of Jean-Luc Godard

Edward Norton (awesome actor), Gavin Newsom (dreamy mayor of San Francisco who does some awesome things and some questionable things), and others (who I can only assume to be awesome) are in Washington, D.C. today to speak about how green building policies can save on energy costs and prevent global warming.  From the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming (awesome committee),

The building sector is responsible for 48 percent of all heat-trapping emissions, and it is estimated that 76 percent of all electricity generated by U.S. power plants goes to operate buildings. As energy prices rise — increasing the costs of cooling, heating and construction — green building has become a popular mantra for homeowners, corporations and environmentalists alike.

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The 80th annual Academy Awards are on Sunday and on everyone’s minds. But instead of predicting this years winners, I wanted to write about some of the losers in Oscar’s history. OK, maybe losers is a little too strong. These 5 Best Picture nominees didn’t win the Academy Award. But by highlighting important social issues, raising awareness, and inspiring action, they won our hearts and minds. So get ready to be inspired!

1. Mr. Smith Goes To Washington (1939) starring Jimmy Stewart and directed by Frank Capra is both a scathing critique of Washington DC corruption and a heartfelt and hopeful story of an individual’s ability to make change in the face of adversity. The film was criticized by the media, politicians, congressmen, (surprise surprise!) who called it Communist and Anti-American. Another measure of the film’s power and reach is that it was banned in Fascist Italy and Spain and Nazi Germany.

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So ! You can be a Mr./Mrs./Ms. Smith and you don’t even have to go to Washington. All you have to do is e-mail Washington! Tell Congress to stick to its principles and not cave in to special interests and corruption.

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For Presidents Week, I thought it would be nice to highlight some of the inspiring and change-making speeches the Presidents of the United States have delivered. Of course, I wanted to write it Presidents DAY, but I was off celebrating Presidents’ Day, that I’m writing it a day late. (Sorry Prezies!) These days, politicians seem to like the taste of their own feet. So it’s nice to hear these eloquent, powerful words:

1. George Washington’s Farewell Address, 1796: It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution in those entrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism…. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositaries, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern; some of them in our country and under our own eyes.

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