Research & Rescue

Help out Bread for the World, please

I just signed the pledge to end hunger and a generous Bread for the World member donated $1 in my name to help fight hunger. For every person who signs the pledge, an additional $1 will be donated to Bread for the World. Will you join me? Your voice can make a difference in the lives of hungry kids.

The Skinny on the Global Poverty Gap (Clue: It's Not Skinny)

In all the ruckus about the protesters at the G-20, the mainstream media has lost the real message. Watch this video recorded speech by Maude Barlow from Democracy Now. It's sad that the mainstream media concentrates so much on conflict and rhetoric instead of covering the real tragedy at hand. Glitz sells, I guess.

Maude Barlow: "The World Has Divided into Rich and Poor as at No Time in History"

Panera's Pay-What-You-Want Restaurant

I've heard of this concept before and wondered if it would work. Apparently, it does. Panera Bread gave customers suggested prices for its menu items and the majority of patrons paid in full. Moreover, Panera thinks it should be able to recover costs for doing this within just a few months.

I can see a couple of ugly caveats, given my musings on human nature lately. The first is the people who will say, "Well, Panera is clearly able to cut the price, so they should just cut the price on the menu and let me pay less." The second is the notion that every business will do this and , therefore, we can cut the social safety net.

Here's hoping, though, that the success of this experiment will spread across the restaurant industry in this difficult economic climate.

Read about it at www.good.is

The Girl That Changed the World

Everyone should watch this video of Severn Suzuki, speaking at the Rio Summit in 1992.

There are times when I am fed up with the banalities of the world. We lose focus on what's important. Much of the time we don't even spend the time figuring out what really does matter to us, so how could we focus on goals we haven't even discovered? It's easier just to get up in the morning, get our Starbucks, and get through our to do lists. When I saw this video, I had to pause it to stop crying. I wish her speech had changed the world but we don't learn. 2.5 MILLION GALLONS of oil every day into the Gulf and we aren't going to stop drilling. As Severn said, "If you don't know how to fix it, PLEASE stop breaking it!"

Thankfully, the idealism of her youth was not lost as she grew up and Severn Cullis-Suzuki is a renowned environmental activist still today. There's a nice page about her on squidoo where you can read more about her work: Severn Suzuki - a famous environmental video: where is she now?

Hat tip for video link: Nurul54

Contact your senator to support International Affairs budget request

Dear ONE Member, There are only a few days left for senators to sign a bipartisan letter calling for robust funding of the 2011 International Affairs Budget. You’re already taken action to help preserve critical poverty-fighting funding—but we need your friends to take action now too. Click the link below to encourage your friends to contact their senators today. http://one.org/us/actnow/2011budgetletter/signed.html?id=1601-4450625-yg8eoRx&t=1 We need the Senate to support the president’s International Affairs Budget request in order to preserve the effective global health programs, sustainable global agricultural development, basic education, debt relief, and economic development programs we as ONE members care about so much. Right now, while the Senate is determining next year’s budget, we need your friends and family to contact their senators and let them know that fighting extreme poverty is important to them. The bipartisan letter senators need to sign to show their support closes in just a few days. Please use the link below to ask your friends to take action right away. http://one.org/us/actnow/2011budgetletter/signed.html?id=1601-4450625-yg8eoRx&t=2 Thank you, Sheila Nix U.S. Executive Director, ONE

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss

Happy birthday, Theodore Geisel, who would have been 106 today. The best tribute online, I would surmise, from Rocketboom. Hat tip to @LRockwellAtty on Twitter for pointing this out.

via www.youtube.com

Tech failure makes UN miss health targets

If you are one the many people doing awareness campaigns or writing letters for Bread for the World and like-minded organizations (as my husband and I have done for years), you might be interested and dismayed to know that the target for the Millennium Development Goals is far from being reached. Much of the blame lies in the failure of both government and business to leverage new technologies to address health and hunger issues worldwide.

"We are actually going to admit that we are way off achieving these targets and particularly on health," Principal Adviser to the United Nations Office for Partnership Denis Gilhooly said.

Mr Gilhooly said the three health-related goals of the Millennium development project - child mortality, maternal health and infectious diseases - were most at risk of missing their targets as developed and developing nations failed to leverage information communication technology to redress failings and high service costs in current health systems.

"Health is the biggest challenge because it underpins everything. The problem is that in the health sector we are living in silos. The doctors are one of the real problems because they are incredibly resistant to technological change and moving forward. There are also data and confidentiality problems that are inherent in health," Mr Gilhooly said.

This quote, also by Mr. Gilhooly, is really the crux of the issue, in my opinion:

"We have to get away from thinking of mobile as a cash cow and start seeing it as a social and economic enabler for the whole economy."

Read the whole story: www.theaustralian.com.au

Welfare Recipients Forced to Sell Food Stamps to Buy Basic Necessities

Food shortages on the Pine Ridge Reservation

Please read the appeal on BJ Tuininga's Twitwall for ways you can help address the devastating hunger problem on Pine Ridge. Pine Ridge is one of the, if not THE, poorest areas in the US.

The Food Share America food co-op, managed and operated by One Spirit and the Lakota people, is providing fresh fruit, vegetables and meat to over 100 families and elders representing over 1000 people. Every month, increasing numbers of people ask to be part of the food program. This is the only food program on the reservation that delivers food that is both high quality and has high nutritional value.

Read more at twitwall.com