EcoLocalizer

I have been completely engrossed and inspired by Alison Piepmeier’s new research: Girl Zines: Making media, Doing feminism. Her book is a vibrant mixture of girl power, art history and intelligent feminist analysis of do-it-yourself political action. Professor Piepmeier examines various ways in which women in the United States have expressed themselves and chronicled their experiences, tracing a historic lineage from the handmade personal scrapbook of suffragist Ida Harper, to Nomy Lamm’s fat-positive xeroxed zine, i’m so fucking beautiful.

These are a few of the unique creations from my friend Ryder’s zine archive in Vermont.

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Time is running out for one of the world’s most beautiful, charismatic and powerful species, the tiger.  According to conservationists, the wild tiger population has declined by 95 percent during the past century.  Only 3,200 tigers, Panthera tigris, remain in the wild today. Read the rest of this entry »

Alaska’s erosion is not a new discovery – natural ice barriers along Alaska’s coastline have been eroding at a rate of 45 feet a year along the North Slope. While concerns have always surrounded the impact upon Alaska’s oil fields and energy industry dominated by Exxon Mobil Corp and BP Plc, some are shifting their focus to the devastation this could cause to migratory shorebirds along the coast.

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After losing about 26 percent of its rhino population to poachers, Zimbabwe now faces expulsion from the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES).

As a consequence of losing nearly 200 rhinos to rampant poaching over the last three years, Zimbabwe reportedly has six months to comply with CITES – or face expulsion.

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Yesterday, a “thanksgiving” festival for the seasons first fruits included the killing of a black Nguni bull by hand by 40 young men, after legal attempts to stop it failed. The annual festival was hosted by King Zwelithini of the Zulu Nation and attended by President Jacob Zuma of South Africa and other dignitaries.

Nguni Cattle

More South Africans Lean About Ukweshwama

A few days ago firebrand Julius Malema, the President of the ANC Youth League, said three times to reporter Deborah Patta that she knew nothing of the Pedi traditions. While we often like to not hear what Malema has to say, and he certainly knows little of the traditions of English South Africans, his words rang true given the storm now raging in South Africa over the Ukweshwama festival that includes the barehanded ritual slaughter of a bull by a group of 40 young men. Read the rest of this entry »

Fear. It is a simple emotion. It is a feeling. But it can also create something complicated — in what it makes us think and do. Fear drives many decisions in the world, and may often cause us to make the wrong decision.

The important thing is realizing the difference between thoughtful awareness of negative ramifications and the actual feeling of fear.

On the following pages, I delve into the relationship between fear and the climate change decisions we are making everyday on individual and larger systematic levels. Additionally, I delve a little more into the issue of fear itself.
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Quebec has taken a long hard look at itself, and decided it doesn’t like what it sees.

Its policies simply aren’t working.  Overall waste generated has nearly doubled in the past 10 years, with waste going to landfill rising by over 10% in the same period.

One of its key targets was to get 60% of the province’s waste food into composting by 2012 has had to be abandoned: the current figure is only 12% and the target just cannot be met.

However, rather than just trying to fiddle with green taxes, the government has gone straight for the jugular and announced plans to make it illegal to dump rubbish and food waste. Read the rest of this entry »

Tanzania is reportedly preparing to ask CITES to lift the trade ban on elephant ivory, much to the dismay of its EAC neighbors, conservationists, and members of the tourism industry.

In a move that would surely undermine East African conservation efforts, Tanzania has taken up the position that a sanctioned sale of elephant ivory would provide much-needed financial support to the country’s anti-poaching measures.

This comes as a shock to the East African Community (EAC), considering that last year’s sanctioning of a one-off ivory auction is to blame for igniting a scourge of rampant elephant killings throughout Africa – particularly Kenya.

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I am thrilled to report that the Dole Food Company has finally dropped their ridiculous lawsuit against the filmmakers of the powerful documentary Bananas!*. It appears that the courts have ruled that the fatuous defamation lawsuit of the criminally inclined Dole was proven to be nearly as lacking as the multi-national corporation’s integrity.

Just a few minutes ago I received this rather nonchalant tweet from one of the movie’s Swedish creators, Fredrik Gertten: http://bit.ly/IoQ96 DOLE dismissing the BANANAS!* law suit it seems.

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Following action by Nike, the nation’s leading utility company, and others, Apple resigned from the US Chamber of Commerce this week, and in force.

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