Filed under: Get Activist
Today I’m not going to kill anyone. It will be hard but it’s a good day to make this commitment. Please watch the video above. Conflict is inevitable. Fighting really is optional.
This week I saw an inspirational documentary about Jeremy Gilley’s attempts to persuade the global community via the United Nations to sanction officially a day without conflict; a ceasefire day; a global day of Peace.
Peace One Day was founded in 1999 to document efforts to create an annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence with a fixed calendar date. In 2001, POD achieved its primary objective. United Nations General Assembly resolution (A/Res/55/282) was unanimously adopted by UN member states, formally establishing an annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence on the UN International Day of Peace, fixed in the global calendar on 21 September – Peace Day. Today.
Last year on 21 September, 27.6 million people from 200 countries did something for Peace Day. You can make your own commitment for Peace Day and log it on this website.
Or just make peace. With the world. With someone you know. With yourself.
Filed under: Get Activist
Thanks for the find Tim. Also for pointing me to the fantastic APEC disruption that can be seen on the Flickr set Billionaires For Bush .
Filed under: Get Activist
via the Sydney Morning Herald:
Two of The Chaser team have been detained after conducting a fake motorcade through the city this morning.
Chas Licciardello and Chaser executive producer Julian Morrow are in custody at Surry Hills police station, after being arrested for breaching the APEC restricted zone.
About 10 other crew members have also been arrested.
Chaser team member Chris Taylor told smh.com.au that the motorcade comprised “three cars, a couple of motorbikes, and a lot of crew”.
“It was a motorcade trying to get into the exclusion zone,” he said.
The motorcade is understood to have passed through at least one police checkpoint in the declared zone.
It is believed police pulled the vehicles over near the corner of Bridge and Macquarie streets, after Licciardello emerged from one of the cars dressed as Osama Bin Laden.
Riot squad police formed a cordon around a Corrective Services truck where Morrow, Licciardello and about ten crew and extras were detained.
The Chaser convoy had been dressed up to look like an official Canadian motorcade, with Canadian flags attached to the cars and “Canada” signs visible in the front windscreen.
“No particular reason we chose Canada,” said Taylor. “We just thought they’d be a country who the cops wouldn’t scrutinise too closely, and who feasibly would only have three cars in their motorcade – as opposed to the 20 or so gas guzzlers that Bush has brought with him.”
The vehicles in the motorcade were hired – two were black “SUVs” imported from the US, and the other was a regular car.
Police superintendent Ken McKay confirmed the pair had been arrested for breaching the restricted zone.
The arrests had been made using new powers available under the APEC Act, he said.
———————-
Count me in to contribute to any bail fund required!
Filed under: Get Activist
I’m loving digital activism!
The Big Switch helps you take simple, effective action on climate change. Caring about climate change is the first step. The Big Switch gives you the tools to turn your thoughts into action.
To see how your local politician rates, and also access your personalised Action List, your first step is signing The Big Switch pledge of action.
Make personal lifestyle changes, spread the word to friends and get involved in your local community.
This are just the digital links, heaps of information and tool kits here.
- Join The Big Switch group on Facebook.
- Invite your Facebook friends to join the group!
Myspace
- Head to The Big Switch’s Myspace page and get involved.
- Invite your Myspace friends to join as well.
Blogging
- We know you write one! Write about The Big Switch in your blog with a link back to the website.
- Include a line in your email signature (e.g. If you care about climate change, turn your thoughts into action with The Big Switch.)
Banners
- Check out The Big Switch banners and add them to your website. We have four different sized-banners for you to choose from.
- Click here to download them
Discussion Forums and Wikis
- Use The Big Switch’s discussion forums here: Discuss and share resources
- Mention The Big Switch in any online discussions you’re having.
- Wikis allow you to add content or edit the information about various topics. Wikipedia is the best-known example, but there are many, many more. Here’s one to get you started; Envirowiki is an Australian wiki for people concerned about the environment.
YouTube
- We’re still putting together our YouTube account, so stay tuned.
- Maybe you want to make your own video on climate change. Make sure you let us know!
Flickr
- Check out some cool pics on Greenpeace’s Flickr profile.
Social Bookmarking
- del.icio.us: bookmark http://www.thebigswitch.org.au as one of your favourite websites
- digg: submit links to pages on The Big Switch and let other users vote on the content.
I’m a huge fan of paper- as a student I was lucky enough to be able to sell my silly papier mache sculptures in quantities large enough to buy first editions. I’ve been part of a team that’s been responsible for creating delightful paper architecture projects for children and I have a serious weekend newspaper addiction.
I don’t print out my emails or any of my documents, I recycle all my publications and dagnammit- I walk to work!
I’ve been quite surprised about the reactions to a letter writing campaign to support an appropriate response to climate change.
I can’t believe that using paper for such a good cause is hypocritical- we’re not fighting for peace here. I’d like to think that each sheet, engraved with a heart felt message has fulfilled its destiny.
A piece of paper is a record. A letter to your political representative is a seed for change. Let a million of them bloom!
Can you make a difference with out coins?
Ripple is a new project that has found a cunning way of edirecting internet advertising profits to charity.
These clever kids – Melbourne’s Robin Hoods of IT if you will – also have a search bar on Ripple (with down loadable toolbar) which is powered by Google.
This directs revenue to the website for every search run. Click a little here, a little there, run all your searches from it, and all the while you’re donating money to charity. The price of benevolence has never been so low.
Filed under: Get Activist
Nice one: GetGoodKarma.org!
Today, most countries, and the world as a whole, are running ecological deficits. The world’s ecological deficit is equal to its ecological overshoot.
While countries can offset ecological deficits through trade or liquidation of national resources, the global ecological deficit cannot be offset through trade. In 2003, humanity’s Footprint exceeded the Earth’s biological capacity by over 25 percent.
Very bad karma.
NEWS Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch has announced a dramatic shake-up to make all the company’s businesses carbon neutral within the next four years, to combat the “clear, catastrophic threats” posed by climate change.
“We must transform the way we use energy … this is about changing the DNA of our business.”
News Corp has joined the Climate Group of businesses and governments working to combat the effects of climate change.
Mr Murdoch said the greatest impact the company could have was through inspiring its audiences to reduce their own climate impact. “The climate change problem will not be solved without mass participation by the general public in countries around the globe. Our audience’s carbon footprint is 10,000 times bigger than ours … that’s the carbon footprint we want to conquer”
I love the idea of transformation and inspiration.
Change your energy DNA: calculate your carbon footprint here, here or here.
Explore ways to become carbon neutral here and here.
Filed under: Get Activist
As many of you know CK, who has passion and almost undefeatable energy for the blogging community, has suffered a terrible loss quite recently.
I’m a big believer that your greatest legacy is the light and energy you leave behind and in your ability to make the world a better, warmer place than when you found it. CK is such a gift to us all and the stories that she has generously shared about her Mom leave me in no doubt that Sandra burns brightly still.
To honor both CK and her Mom, a group of her supporters and fans have put together this Web site to collect donations for Habitat for Humanity in Sandra’s name.
Click on the image above or the “Tip Jar” on the right to donate.
Thanks to David, Drew, Gavin, Mack, Ann, Roger, Cam and Lewis for driving this initiative.
Single Origin Roasters is a story of four friends who have fab hospitality, fair trade coffee and a roasting machine from Turkey called Boris. Their website almost as beautiful as their customer service.
I’m a huge fan. You can see the cafe from my office window and the neighbourhood is blessed by the smell of the beans being roasted to perfection. It’s also the home of our weekly Sydney Coffee Morning. One morning it was a little chilly and not only did the guys get the outdoor heaters going for me- Gavin even gave me his jacket to wear. Lovely!
Single Origin are coffee fanatics, but they won’t go near even the creamiest ristretto if it isn’t “Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, Organic or Forest Friendly”. As part of the sack celebrations, Costa Rican coffee farmer Guillermo Vargas will be on hand to chat, HG Nelson will commentate and the utterly fabulous Fair Trade Ambassador Kylie Kwong will be there amongst live music, giveaways and a sack-style ‘Jackass’.
SINGLE ORIGIN ROASTERS
60-64 RESERVOIR ST, SURRY HILLS
WHEN:WEDNESDAY MAY 9, 4PM-6PM
HOW MUCH: FREE, JUST RSVP INFO@SINGLEORIGIN.COM.AU
Thanks to TwoThousand.
This map found here.
“Happiness is inward, and not outward; and so, it does not depend on what we have, but on what we are.” So intoned American man of letters Henry Van Dyke. A noble vision of a less materialistic world, some might say — but is it something that can be quantified? The International Development Research Centre have some insight into how the people in the rugged and remote Asian country of Bhutan are busy trying to “operationalize” a notion of true happiness that sounds a lot like Van Dyke’s dream.
In modern times, human prosperity and wellbeing have been measured by blunt economic standards, such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP), that are essentially gauges of economic activity. More often than not, however, these indicators fail to take account of whether that activity is good or bad. Perversely, a rise in crime rates may come across as an economic benefit because it stimulates economic activity: more crime leads to the building of more prisons, the hiring of more police, and so on. By the same dispassionate logic, natural disasters could also be seen as contributing to the economy, for example if they created a repair and reconstruction boom. It all depends on what you choose to count.
The alternative approach draws upon a broader set of social, environmental, and health indicators aimed at more accurately representing the real condition of society.
Measuring wellbeing
In Bhutan, this comprehensive indicator is charmingly known as Gross National Happiness (GNH).
The east Himalayan Buddhist monarchy of approximately 800,000 people, sandwiched between the world’s two most populous countries, has recently ended its long self-imposed isolation. Only in the late 1990s did it admit television and the Internet; now Bhutan is considering applying to join the World Trade Organization (WTO).
One of the world’s least-developed countries, Bhutan is worried about what globalization may bring, and it is determined to protect its unique culture. The country wants to safeguard its social values by entrenching them in terms that the wider world may understand and respect, that is to say, in quantifiable measures. By developing measures of progress that account properly for the country’s social, cultural, and environmental assets as well as its economic development, the country is following through on the 1972 declaration made by His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck: “Gross National Happiness is more important than Gross National Product.”
Much closer (for me) to home is a street campaign that I saw when I was last in Melbourne. I was reminded of it today through a post Australians taking it upon themselves to create a vibrant community on Mack-tastic’s The Viral Garden.
This local government has started a series of Sustainable Community Progress Indicators (SCPI) which compares and prompts the sight of smiles across the city.
I believe that this is an expression of an initiative of VicHealth. Suggestions to “smile at the person next to you” at bus stops, “walk instead” in car parks and “catch up with friends” are among 50 messages that will be shared with the population.
The health promotion organisation will also stencil streets in the cities of Darebin, Melbourne and Bayside in a bid to encourage people to get active and socialise as part of every day life.
Mr Moodie said depression would be the second largest disease by 2020, and one in five children in Australia was now overweight.
“Here’s a fresh approach that will help combat these disturbing figures by encouraging physical activity and connecting with others,” he said.
The gym and playing team sports were not for everyone, but exercise and social interaction could be as simple as walking to the bus stop, he said.
I do love the idea of happiness and friendly interaction being a measure of success and sustainability for a community, a country and (Mack prompted this)-a brand.
I went to an event last week to launch a new research paper. A bit dull and sales-y but what made my ears prick up was a bit of a stat outlining that while younger types below 25 define themselves by the brand of “personal stuff'” they choose to buy, those between 25-35 have a growing preference of ‘no discernible label’.
“Gadzooks! That’s me ” I thought. “Finally I’m part of a trend”.
I love interesting, bespoke, unique and no one knows where I got it stuff. Well designed stuff. Stuff that’s created by the imagination and brought to reality by a couple of people. Stuff that gives you insight to the boundless energy and imagination of motivated people. Great Stuff. So I’m starting a new category on this blog and sharing some of the people that I find who inspire me.
In each issue of Dumbo Feather five remarkable individuals tell you their stories. Their backgrounds and dreams are as unique as they are but what unites them is their creativity, passion and integrity, and somewhere they found the courage to fly. In their own words they tell you how they discovered their passion, what inspires them, the lows as well as the highs on the journey and ultimately why they do what they do.
Each person’s passion is unique whether it’s baking the best 100% natural sourdough bread in the world, producing fabulous fashion in remote Northern Pakistan, writing poetry, making music, fighting for human rights, finding a cure for malaria, painting, choreographing, exploring, wine making, film making…
Dumbo feather respects its readers, the environment (by printing on 100% recycled paper using soy-based inks by one of the most eco-friendly printers in the country), and its contributors’ work.
Don’t just take my word for it. Read reviews of the mag at Lovemarks
Never backwards in coming forwards, I’ve put my hand up to be a part of a project set up by the ever fabulous Gavin Heaton and Drew McLellan .
I’ll let Drew outline it:
Gavin & I concocted the idea for an e-book about this new era of communications we’ve all entered together. But not just any book. It has to be a quick book. Exciting. Sharp. Inclusive. It had to be a book about community and conversation that came from that community and spoke the same vernacular. The title — The Conversation Age.
And that is why we are talking to you. Our idea:
- 100 authors. We’re a few but need more.
- The overriding topic is “The Conversation Age” — where you take it is up to you.
- The items are short – one 8.5″ x 11″ page — it can be words, diagrams, photos (again up to you) If it is words – about 400, give or take a couple.
- We write it quickly and get it out there. We publish electronically.
- We make it available online for a small fee and we donate 100% of the proceeds to Variety the Children’s Charity — which serves children across the entire globe.
Here are the contributors to date:
Please do come and join in the conversation!
Filed under: Get Activist
Food, activism and technology. Could this grand widget be any cooler?
Much more useful (but not as funny as) this:
The Virtual Fruitcake will not count the days left until Christmas. It will not sing or play classic Christmas tunes. It will not suggest the perfect gift for that special someone on your list. Just like real fruitcake, the Virtual Fruitcake will simply sit there, uneaten and forgotten, until sometime early next year when you find it and throw it in the trash
Filed under: Get Activist
In the rush towards green living, it makes sense that eco-crusaders would eventually turn to the other booming elements of popular culture to get their message across. Today, it’s gaming that’s come over all conscientious.A series of films posted on YouTube uses the form of Machinima – the production of mini films employing computer game characters – to make a serious point for eco-brand of the century Fair Trade. Our favourite shows trade within massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft, in which one character is cheated out of his rightful payment as more and more middlemen get involved. The films make their point nicely, and were produced by Edinburgh-based machinima specialists Strange Company
Equally interestingly, 2007 has seen the launch of what we reckon is the first non-profit publisher of videogames. OneBigGame is aiming to sell videogames in order to raise funds for children’s charities.
By playing games published by the company, according to the website, ‘young game consumers around the globe will effectively be helping their disadvantaged age counterparts across other parts of the world and improving the likelihood that these other children will one day be able to.. do what all children should be doing: play.’
The company will be focusing mostly on small casual games which can be constructed in short periods of time and donated by developers.
‘Any little pet project that you have running in your studio and that you think fits our portfolio is welcome’. The game is then published on the OneBigGame casual games portal.It’s an interesting idea, combining not only the notions of user-generated content and charitable enterprise, but also the potential to become a useful recruitment tool for developers. MTV described it as ‘Band Aid for the games industry’. We hope their office is Bono-proof.
In other news – 42 Entertainment’s Jane McGonigal is constructing an Alternate Reality Game aimed at saving the planet. It looks intriguing, and McGonigal’s past efforts in this area have been nothing more than ground-breaking. Waste time at work, meet new people, solve puzzles and save the planet here: http://www.worldwithoutoil.org/
I do love having a new job. One aspect of this is learning new things, which I need as a motivating drip feed just to get me out of bed each morning.
You learn a new language with a new job in a new field, and just as the tool shapes the hand of the craft-er, a language helps shape your thoughts.
Moving over from digital creative concept/execution to digital experience strategy/planning has brought me this fantastic new term ‘chart’.
This might be Dumbass 101 but the difference between a ‘slide’ and a ‘chart’ seems to me to be rather large. A slide has all the the evil associations of a templated structure, and the presentation style associated with it can be as mind numbingly dull as a verbatim read.
A chart is read differently- a simple glance should allow it to tell it’s story. It’s an exiting and sometimes terrifying process to write- because you know that you don’t have a script that you can see on the day. It really does make you craft your story.
The tremendously talented Jessica Hagy who writes Indexed is a bit of a champ at designing a diagram to tell a story. Smart and funny, she is well worth checking out.
Filed under: Get Activist
I have the biggest long time crush on TED.
He’s not only an advocate of giving back to the community, he does it.
His friends come from far and wide to give the most inspirational speeches
“Icons. Geniuses. Mavericks”
March 7-10, 2007, Monterey, California
I adore food bloggers- or floggers as they call themselves. Passion wins!
I loved the super amusing post in comic book style by The Amateur Gourmet. He’s also a champion of a great blogger generated campaign that activates social networks, bloggers, passion and activism. A feast!
Last year was a blockbuster successfor Menu for Hope. Celeb flogger Pim Techamuanvivit of Chez Pim and is doing it again this year, from December 11-22, and again with the help of food bloggers from around the world.
Pim will be hosting a round-up of all of the donated prizes (all organized by regional floggers). To see the global round-up, please click here.
The fundraising and funds distribution is being managed by professional fundraising company First Giving.
To go to the Menu for Hope III donations page, please click here. Every US$10 that you donate qualifies you for one chance at any of the prizes of your choice.
Filed under: Get Activist
The amazing organizations that received the Fast Company/Monitor Group Social Capitalist Awards have found a better way to do good: They’re using the disciplines of the corporate world to tackle daunting social problems
For the six weeks leading up to Christmas, from 13 November to 24 December, StreetSmart is giving restaurant diners the chance to help others every time they eat out.
Participating restaurants give diners the option of a $2 addition to their bill at the end of the night, which will then go directly to charities supporting homeless people.
StreetSmart patron Tim Costello explains the program: “If you see a lime green StreetSmart table-card, and are asked to contribute an extra $2 on your tab, say a profound “yes”. While you are at it, spare a thought for how important our homes are to us and what it might be like without one.”
Karma Credit to you guys!
