Grassroots Action Fair

Did you know that dozens of organizations are pulling together to improve your community? Are you aware of local campaigns to protect the environment, provide affordable health care, ensure safe neighborhoods and promote social justice? Come make critical connections at the Progressive Directory of Western Michigan's "Grassroots Action Fair", Tuesday September 20th, 7pm-9pm at Wealthy Theatre, 1130 Wealthy St. in Grand Rapids. You'll find music, desserts and information tables. For more information or to arrange a table for your group, contact Jeff Smith at jsmith@grcmc.org

Check out the Black Bear Speaks Bookstore!

What do you want to see in the Black Bear Speaks Bookstore? I've got a huge list of titles that I'm thinking about, but I want to know what YOU would like to see there and what you might want to buy. Let me know!!!

Remember, a portion of the proceeds from sales go to local environmental groups. There's a lot of need for enviro-action here, and the more support they get the better off we will all be. So buy a book today!

If you don't see a title that you want, send me an email and I will add it as soon as possible and email you back so that you know when it is available for purchase. It's really simple folks. No need to drive to Barnes & Noble, no need to go to the mall! Just let me know what book you want!

But Is There Intelligent Spaghetti Out There?

"Is the super-intelligent, super-popular god known as the Flying Spaghetti Monster any match for the prophets of intelligent design?

This month, the Kansas State Board of Education gave preliminary approval to allow teaching alternatives to evolution like intelligent design (the theory that a smart being designed the universe). And President Bush and Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee both gave the thumbs up to teaching intelligent design.

Long before that, Bobby Henderson, a 25-year-old with a physics degree from Oregon State University, had a divine vision. An intelligent god, a Flying Spaghetti Monster, he said, 'revealed himself to me in a dream.' "

Read more: But Is There Intelligent Spaghetti Out There? - New York Times

U.S. defense firms feast on Bush's War on Terror

Analysts say that a significant part of the American's national life is determined by the financial interests of the 'mighty 10.' The 'mighty 10' are not the Marines, Army, Navy, Air Force or Special Forces; they're huge arms firms that stand to make hundreds of billions of dollars from Bush's ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Read more on Aljazeera: U.S. defense firms feast on Bush's War on Terror

Weapons of Mass Instruction

When it comes to education, people are fed up. Modern education has come down to a limited set of choices, like Pepsi or Coke, or Wal-mart or Costco. And with the indoctrination of Bush's "No Child Left Behind" Act, and more recently, his highly endorsed, "Intelligent Design" theory, state schooling is fast becoming a less enticing choice for our children's education, provoking many people to seek other alternatives.

Read More on Resist!ca || Weapons of Mass Instruction

Progressive Directory of West Michigan - Connecting Groups for Social Change

The Grand Rapids Institute for Information Democracy (GRIID) has created a progressive directory which includes approximately 75 organizations. Here's the link: Progressive Directory of West Michigan - Connecting Groups for Social Change

The Ultimate Water Park

New industry could help water supply and economic development

"Tom Newhof's plan to open a world-class water laboratory in downtown Grand Rapids seems like a promising, even exciting idea. The facility, which he has dubbed the Global Enterprise for Water Technology, would attract and incubate new-economy jobs by focusing on solutions to the incredibly complex problems now threatening the quality and quantity of the world's freshwater supply. But, so far, state economic development experts see little value in the idea. Mr. Newhof has campaigned unsuccessfully for the project since 2000, but has yet to attract any public financing. "

Read the Rest at: Michigan Land Use Institute

Green Economics at Work in Dhaka Dump

In Bangladesh, an innovative Dhaka-based nonprofit has a plan to solve both the city's mounting garbage problem and the crisis of rural soil depletion. Through community composting, trash is converted into organic fertilizer that rural farmers can use to revitalize soil. The program, funded in part through the Kyoto Protocol's carbon credit scheme, also aims to generate electricity from gas emissions in Dhaka's dump.

More at: Wired News: Power Supply Is Down in the Dumps

Update: Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation vs. Nestle

Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation recently heard from the Michigan Court of Appeals on its motion against Nestle for modification or termination of the stay order allowing Nestle to pump 250 gallons/minute based on a monthly average.

The Court of Appeals denied MCWC's motion for modification of the stay order.

MCWC made the statement to the Court of Appeals and the Court now knows what is going on in Mecosta County. Nestle was granted an emergency stay to continue pumping at the Sanctuary Spring site in December 2003.

More info coming soon when the Court of Appeals issues its opinion on oral arguments heard from both sides in June 2005.

Plan to restore Great Lakes backed

An unprecedented plan to clean up the Great Lakes received a strong reception Tuesday night in Cleveland.

Ohio Gov. Bob Taft and many members of the public endorsed the $20.5 billion comprehensive proposal to protect and restore the Great Lakes.

Read more of this article at: Cleveland Plaindealer, Plan to restore Great Lakes backed

Global warming: Will you listen now, America?

Two of the leading contenders to contest the next US presidential election have delivered an urgent warning to the United States on global warming, saying the evidence of climate change has become too stark to ignore and human activity is a major cause.

Read the rest of this article at The Independent, Online Edition.

The 'Grieving Mom' Frame

In broad terms, the success of the 'grieving mom' phrase indicates that Americans are now thinking about the War in Iraq through the frame of the family, rather than thinking about Iraq through the frame of 'terrorism' or 'ideology.'

Check it out on Frameshop

Cartoon: Too Much Coffee Man

We accidentally freed Saddam from prison instead of Too-Much-Coffee-Man!

Local Fighters Usually Win

A truth ''that has been largely forgotten in the post-9/11 frenzy is that terrorism is a technique, not an ideology or a country. It is a technique that any group can pick up and use, without distinction of ideology, creed, or cause, and the people wielding it could as easily be fanatical anti-government Americans, Trotskyists, Germans, (or) Islamist Arabs.''

Read More: AlterNet: Local Fighters Usually Win

Preaching Justice, Slaying Demons

In anticipation of a battle fit for Christian soldiers, the planners of Justice Sunday II went big, booking a Nashville, Tennessee, megachurch and arranging the broadcast of their event to millions of homes and thousands of churches across the country through SkyAngel and the Trinity Broadcasting Network. When Justice Sunday II arrived, however, its intended galvanizing message seemed to have evaporated in the sweltering Tennessee night.

Read this article at: The Nation. Preaching Justice, Slaying Demons

Santorum's People Toss Young Women out of Barnes & Noble, Trooper Threatens Them with Prison

On the evening of August 10, Hannah Shaffer of Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, decided to go to the nearby Barnes & Noble outside of Wilmington. She wanted to see Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, who was promoting his book, It Takes a Family.

The event was billed as a "book signing and discussion," Shaffer says. But discussion was the last thing that the Senator's people wanted.

Read about it here: The Progressive Magazine