Grassroots // Current

Media Reform the last hope

In order to really take on the last hope of finding answers to all the issues we face, there needs to be an objective... more

kmquimby
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The Quiet Maverick rides the Independent Campaign trail for Prosecutor of Marquette County, MI

In the spirit of the swedes, fins and others who crossed the ocean to settle the rugged wilderness we now call the Upper... more

Yoopernewsman
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Running as an Independent is challenge with victories and difficult days - it's called life!

Well, I finally met Cathy Church - who is running as an independent candidate for Marquette County Prosecutor. A friend of a... more

Yoopernewsman
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Michigan advocate for women and children gets 2008 Sunshine Peace Award

Cathy Church, an Upper Peninsula advocate for protecting women and children from domestic violence, recently received the 2008... more

Yoopernewsman
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Ordinary stock holder attempt a WaMu stock rescue!

There’s a movement among individual WaMu stock holders to keep the stock value from slipping. Using chatrooms each person... more

jscott
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“Bin Laden didn’t blow up the projects. It was you n----, tell the truth n----. Bush knocked down the towers. Tell the truth!” As the crowd bulldozed though the chorus of Immortal Technique’s inflammatory song “Bin Laden,” the Harlem emcee paced the stage of Manhattan’s The Madison, playing resident hype man of the 9/11 Truth Movement. The moment encapsulated the fervor of a patriotic night of hip-hop, truth telling and advocacy.

On a weekend where many opted for moments of silence to commemorate the seventh anniversary of 9/11, 2008 Now or Never sought to bring justice to the victims, first responders and the American public by demanding answers to what some left-wing watchdog groups see as suspicious questions surrounding the attacks.

The star-studded concert was a benefit for first responders, a group of 9/11 rescue workers who've been largely ignored by the government. They include firefighters, police officers, port authority workers and volunteers who searched for victims in contaminated debris at and around ground zero in the weeks following the attacks. Now, many suffer from life-threatening respiratory illnesses.

The concert, however, was only a portion of the four-day affair, which also included demonstrations, speeches, movie screenings and a barbeque.

The weekend also represented the convergence of activist groups like We Are Change, the 9/11 Truth Movement, and the FealGood Foundation, all of whom advocate for an independent investigation of the 9/11 attacks and aid first responders.

The night featured artists includingTiye Phoenix, Mr Green of Channel Live, the Beatminerz, surprise guest KRS-One, and the headliners, Immortal Technique and Talib Kweli.

While many benefit concerts are lost in the divide between the politics of the events and the subject matter of the artists, Now or Never was refreshingly consistent since most of the artists took time out to discuss the importance of helping first responders and demanding an independent investigation of the 9/11 attacks.

Immortal Technique voiced his distrust of the government’s handling of the attacks on his track with Mos Def called “Bin Laden” and the militant “Homicide Harlem.” Mr. Green relayed his memories of the attacks and spoke to the importance of holding our leaders accountable. Talib Kweli, who brought his kids out to the event, finished the evening by blazing thorough tracks from his latest album Eardrum, including the incendiary “Hostile Gospel.”
****CONTINUES....“Bin Laden didn’t blow up the projects. It was you n----, tell the truth n----. Bush knocked down the towers. Tell the... more

goldenways
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16 responses

2 months ago

The largest grassroots solar event in history

A recent NBC/WSJ poll revealed that runaway energy costs is the #1 issue Americans feel most personally affects them. Clearly... more

JanforGore
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0 responses

2 months ago

LUSAKA SUNRISE

"In Africa, soccer is religion," commentator Dennis Liewewe declares. Using the power of soccer in the fight against... more

MyStoryOurWorld
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3 months ago

Enduring Love

Charlie Wilson is smart, cheerful, funny, dedicated to his work – and 92 years old. He's also got an important message... more

lxw
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4 responses

7 months ago

Brazilians harness rainwater for change

Brazil's northeast, with the biggest population of any arid region in the world, is home to many of the more than 10 million Brazilians who live without regular access to clean and safe drinking water. For years the people of the region struggled to survive with no help from national public policy makers. Now policy makers are pursuing two very different approaches to the problem of the northeast's water community driven, grassroots public policy that supports building low-cost cisterns to provide water to the families who need it most, and a top-down mega-project to redirect the São Francisco River through a massive series of dams and canals.

Polo Sindical, an association of rural unions and a Grassroots International partner based in the northeastern states of Pernambuco and Bahia, is a key part of the movement that was instrumental in building the grassroots model and struggling to make sure that the mega-project does not have catastrophic results for the region's citizens.

Polo emerged in 1979 to protest the construction of the Itaparica Dam, a hydro-electric dam in the mid-course region of the São Francisco River. When the dam displaced thousands of peasants and small-scale farmers, bringing land and water rights became top priorities for Polo. One of their early victories was the resettlement of the affected families.

The idea for the cistern project was born in the 1980s, when Manuel Apolônio de Carvalho, a worker from the northeast, migrated to São Paulo to find work. He realized that the construction techniques he learned to build swimming pools for the wealthy could also be used to capture rainwater for the poor. He returned to the northeast and began collaborating with local groups like Polo to perfect the system using the principles of agro-ecology. Each cistern can capture enough water in a few rainy months to provide water for an average household of 5-6 people for the rest of the year.

In addition to building cisterns with their own resources, the groups organized and lobbied and now the federal government is helping to finance cistern production. What began as a grassroots self-help movement has become a national policy–embodied in the Million Cistern Project–that will provide drinking water to 5 million people.

Polo Sindical and its affiliated organizations are members of a larger network called Articulação no Semi-Árido (ASA), or in English the Semi-Arid Network. ASA includes more than 800 organizations. As one of the 45 management units of ASA, as of 2005 Polo Sindical has overseen the construction 1,379 cisterns benefiting 7,049 people. In all, more than 100,000 cisterns were built between 2001 and 2005 (including 77,000 that were financed by the Brazilian government).

While cisterns provide life-giving water to thousands of homes, some would prefer to develop water resources on a grander scale. The Lula government is the latest in a series to propose a monumental reconfiguration of the landscape of the northeast by re-distributing the water of the São Francisco River. Political leaders believe that the plan will transform the dry northeast into a productive agricultural region, and re-cast the political landscape in favor of whichever party is able to succeed in pushing the plan through.

**article continues, click link to read**Brazil's northeast, with the biggest population of any arid region in the world, is home to many of the more than 10 million... more

goldenways
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8 responses

4 months ago

Rescue of mortgage giants could hit $25 billion

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A federal rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could cost taxpayers $25 billion, congressional budget experts... more

Octoguy
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4 months ago

Ron Paul moves convention rally to bigger arena

(CNN)— Former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is moving forward with plans for his own rally during the... more

Octoguy
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4 months ago

Elizabeth Kucinich, a Leader in Her Own Right

If you haven't seen her yet, here she is. Elizabeth Kucinich is a brilliant and compassionate thinker who knows the issues... more

waynesumstine
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26 responses

5 months ago

CA Broke, but has $75 million to spray citizens with toxic synthetic pheromone

The CA Dept of Food and Agriculture plans to begin spraying untested synthetic pheromones and other ingredients that are known endocrine disrupters and/or carcinogens all delivered in tiny "time release" capsules made of polyurea plastic. The size in microns of these capsules (when actually measured and contrary to the manufacturer's claims) is such that over half of them are small enough (under 10 microns) to be inhaled and to lodge in the lungs.

Also worth noting is that the manufacturer of the synthetic pheromone, Suterra Inc, has donated almost $150,000 to Governor Schwarzenegger's campaign fund for his 2006 gubernatorial campaign.

When a similar spray was used in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties there were hundreds of reports of reactions, ranging from rashes and difficultybreathing or asthma like symptoms, to headaches,dizziness, stinging eyes, sore throat and tremors. A private citizen was documenting these reactions in theabsence of any other monitoring by the state orfederal government. There was a significant increase in emergency room visits in the days following the spray.

This is supposedly to combat the Light Brown Apple Moth which the CDFA claims has just "invaded" CA in the last year. According to Dr. Daniel Harder of the UCSC arboretum & ecology dept the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) has likely been here for between 30 to 50 years. The LBAM is a leaf curling moth that does not nest in, eat or otherwise damage fruit, does not defoliate,does not even target fruit trees. There has been no crop damage to date.

The LBAM was originally classified as a threat in order to restrict apple importations from new zealand,which were an economic threat to California's applegrowers and had less to do with any actual threat than it does with trade politics. (There is amovement in congress to reassign or reclassify LBAM inorder to stop the proposed spray).

Eradication by means of pheromone has never been achieved under any circumstance, and eradication itself is extremely unlikely given the insect's range.

This issue has gotten little national media attention, but has created a large grassroots movement as seen on blossoming websites of organizations such as www.playnotspray.org, www.stopthespraysf.org, www.cassonline.org (CA Alliance to stop the spray), among others.
The CA Dept of Food and Agriculture plans to begin spraying untested synthetic pheromones and other ingredients that are known... more