Sunday, June 30, 2013

One Third of All Women Are Victims of Violence


One out of three women are victims of violence, according to a new study by the World Health Organization. That is an astonishing number, a truly astonishing number; shameful and entirely unacceptable.

In many traditional cultures,  women are still treated like chattel,  denied education, considered valuable only for the work they can do and the children they can birth. 

Attention cavemen for whom misogyny is the norm.  Get real dudes. Loving women, nurturing them, giving them the respect and the access to opportunities they are entitled to is a whole lot more satisfying than hurting them, degrading them, or causing them to suffer in any way.    

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WHO report highlights violence against women as a ‘global health problem of epidemic proportions’

New clinical and policy guidelines launched to guide health sector response

News release

Physical or sexual violence is a public health problem that affects more than one third of all women globally, according to a new report released by WHO in partnership with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the South African Medical Research Council.
The report, Global and regional estimates of violence against women: Prevalence and health effects of intimate partner violence and non-partner sexual violence, represents the first systematic study of global data on the prevalence of violence against women – both by partners and non-partners. Some 35% of all women will experience either intimate partner or non-partner violence. The study finds that intimate partner violence is the most common type of violence against women, affecting 30% of women worldwide.
The study highlights the need for all sectors to engage in eliminating tolerance for violence against women and better support for women who experience it. New WHO guidelines, launched with the report, aim to help countries improve their health sector’s capacity to respond to violence against women.

Impact on physical and mental health

The report details the impact of violence on the physical and mental health of women and girls. This can range from broken bones to pregnancy-related complications, mental problems and impaired social functioning.
“These findings send a powerful message that violence against women is a global health problem of epidemic proportions,” said Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General, WHO. “We also see that the world’s health systems can and must do more for women who experience violence.”
The report’s key findings on the health impacts of violence by an intimate partner were:
  • Death and injury – The study found that globally, 38% of all women who were murdered were murdered by their intimate partners, and 42% of women who have experienced physical or sexual violence at the hands of a partner had experienced injuries as a result.
  • Depression – Partner violence is a major contributor to women’s mental health problems, with women who have experienced partner violence being almost twice as likely to experience depression compared to women who have not experienced any violence.
  • Alcohol use problems – Women experiencing intimate partner violence are almost twice as likely as other women to have alcohol-use problems.
  • Sexually transmitted infections – Women who experience physical and/or sexual partner violence are 1.5 times more likely to acquire syphilis infection, chlamydia, or gonorrhoea. In some regions (including sub-Saharan Africa), they are 1.5 times more likely to acquire HIV.
  • Unwanted pregnancy and abortion – Both partner violence and non-partner sexual violence are associated with unwanted pregnancy; the report found that women experiencing physical and/or sexual partner violence are twice as likely to have an abortion than women who do not experience this violence.
  • Low birth-weight babies – Women who experience partner violence have a 16% greater chance of having a low birth-weight baby.
“This new data shows that violence against women is extremely common. We urgently need to invest in prevention to address the underlying causes of this global women’s health problem.” said Professor Charlotte Watts, from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Need for better reporting and more attention to prevention

Fear of stigma prevents many women from reporting non-partner sexual violence. Other barriers to data collection include the fact that fewer countries collect this data than information about intimate partner violence, and that many surveys of this type of violence employ less sophisticated measurement approaches than those used in monitoring intimate partner violence.
“The review brings to light the lack of data on sexual violence by perpetrators other than partners, including in conflict-affected settings,” said Dr Naeemah Abrahams from the SAMRC. “We need more countries to measure sexual violence and to use the best survey instruments available.”
In spite of these obstacles, the review found that 7.2% of women globally had reported non-partner sexual violence. As a result of this violence, they were 2.3 times more likely to have alcohol disorders and 2.6 times more likely to suffer depression or anxiety – slightly more than women experiencing intimate partner violence.
The report calls for a major scaling up of global efforts to prevent all kinds of violence against women by addressing the social and cultural factors behind it.

Recommendations to the health sector

The report also emphasizes the urgent need for better care for women who have experienced violence. These women often seek health-care, without necessarily disclosing the cause of their injuries or ill-health.
“The report findings show that violence greatly increases women’s vulnerability to a range of short- and long-term health problems; it highlights the need for the health sector to take violence against women more seriously,” said Dr Claudia Garcia-Moreno of WHO. “In many cases this is because health workers simply do not know how to respond.”
New WHO clinical and policy guidelines released today aim to address this lack of knowledge. They stress the importance of training all levels of health workers to recognize when women may be at risk of partner violence and to know how to provide an appropriate response.
They also point out that some health-care settings, such as antenatal services and HIV testing, may provide opportunities to support survivors of violence, provided certain minimum requirements are met.
  • Health providers have been trained how to ask about violence.
  • Standard operating procedures are in place.
  • Consultation takes place in a private setting.
  • Confidentiality is guaranteed.
  • A referral system is in place to ensure that women can access related services.
  • In the case of sexual assault, health care settings must be equipped to provide the comprehensive response women need – to address both physical and mental health consequences.
The report’s authors stress the importance of using these guidelines to incorporate issues of violence into the medical and nursing curricula as well as during in-service training.
WHO will begin to work with countries in South-East Asia to implement the new recommendations at the end of June. The Organization will partner with ministries of health, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and sister United Nations agencies to disseminate the guidelines, and support their adaptation and use.

Notes to Editors:

In March 2013, Dr Chan joined the UN Secretary General and the heads of other UN entities in a call for zero tolerance for violence against women at the Commission on the Status of Women in New York. During the Sixty-sixth World Health Assembly in May 2013, seven governments - Belgium, India, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, United States of America, and Zambia - declared violence against women and girls "a major global public health, gender equality and human rights challenge, touching every country and every part of society" and proposed the issue should appear on the agenda of the Sixty-seventh World Health Assembly.

For more information please contact:

Fadéla Chaib
WHO
Telephone: +41 22 791 3228
Mobile: +41 79 475 5556
E-mail: chaibf@who.int
Jenny Orton/Katie Steels
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7927 2802
E-mail: press@lshtm.ac.uk
Keletso Ratsela
South African Medical Research Council
Telephone: +27 12 339 8500, +27 82 804 8883
E-mail: Keletso.Ratsela@mrc.ac.za

About the report

The report was developed by WHO, the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the South African Medical Research Council. It is the first systematic review and synthesis of the body of scientific data on the prevalence of two forms of violence against women – violence by an intimate partner and sexual violence by someone other than an intimate partner. It shows for the first time, aggregated global and regional prevalence estimates of these two forms of violence, generated using population data from all over the world that have been compiled in a systematic way. The report documents the effects of violence on women’s physical, mental, sexual and reproductive health. This was based on systematic reviews looking at data on the association between the different forms of violence considered and specific health outcomes.



Friday, June 28, 2013

Shaqtin' a Fool Meets Congress


I am constantly amazed by the dysfunctional swirl of arrogance and ignorance we know as the U.S. House of Representatives.   Not all of them. But out of 435 elected members,  the majority in this term are Republicans., and the majority of Republicans in the House are tea party types,  who all seem to be arrogant, ignorant, and sociopathic to a radical extreme.    No one should be surprised given this reality that our government is suffering a colossal case of brain freeze.

My favorite spectator sport is NBA basketball.  I watch 'Inside the NBA'  on TNT religiously during the season.  I get a kick out of watching Ernie, Kenny, and Charles.  It got even better when 'The Big Aristotle', Shaquille O'Neal joined the crew.  Shaq is 7' plus tall and around 300 lbs.  Remarkably, his  personality is as big as the oversized custom suits he wears.  Since Shaq came aboard, a regular feature of the broadcast has been a segment called,  Shaqtin' a Fool .   It's a series of video clips of NBA players being clumsy, funny, or foolish.  It's hilarious stuff, especially when narrated by Shaq Diesel himself.    

Here's what I'm wishing. I wish there was a  Shaqtin' a Fool  for congress.   Every day,  members of this very important part of our elected government say and do some of the stupidest things imaginable.  Some members have achieved superstar status in the art of contemptible foolishness and stupidity. Members of this club of big league jerks include Congressman Michelle Bachman,  Congressmen Louie Gohmert,  Congressman Steve King,  Congressman Trent Franks, Senator Ted Cruz, and Senator James Imhoff.   There are a whole lot more in the halls of congress that regularly have the kind of odious brain farts that warrant public ridicule.  

My latest nomination for congressional fool is Texas Republican Representative Michael Burgess.  Here's a guy, who happens to be a medical doctor, an ob-gyn no less - who claims that 15 week old fetus's masturbate while passing time in the uterus.  Burgess, a teaparty anti-abortion extremist, says that this womb wanking is evidence that a fetus is a real person.   Never mind that there is no scientific evidence that suggests that fetus's are doing any such thing.

It's a disgrace that our political system, seriously corrupted as it is, enables the election of ideological numbskulls like Michael Burgess.   It's no wonder our government is dysfunctional. As long as we keep electing arrogant boneheads to high political office, we as a nation, will get what we deserve.



 

Thursday, June 27, 2013

The Inner Life of a Cell

Just discovered a fascinating six minute 3D animation of the complex activity that goes on in each cell in the countless number of living cells that make up our bodies. No matter how intelligent or stupid we are as individuals, this is the stuff we are made of.... Amazing really...





Here is the link to this remarkable video...http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wJyUtbn0O5Y

Here is a TED presentation by a medical illustrator, explaining what's going on inside a cell..http://www.ted.com/talks/david_bolinsky_animates_a_cell.html



Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Pearls of Wisdom



'We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing'  - George Bernard Shaw

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reposted from Tumblr

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Suzan Ehrens - Somewhere Over the Rainbow



What a joy it is to experience an artist in peak form.  Such is the case in the attached video. Suzan Ehrens is a Dutch soprano.  As an instrument, her voice is as good as it gets, maybe the most impressive and pleasing that I have ever heard. Bravo to Suzan Ehrens.   Her version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow melts the heart and tugs at the soul.


Suzan Ehrens


This video  link showcases Suzan Ehrens singing Somewhere OverThe Rainbow  in performance with Andre Reiu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKkVrvSYVr4


Here is a bonus. Suzan Ehrens singing, Don't Cry For Me, Argentina  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dlwVKm8ArQ




Saturday, June 22, 2013

Africa, Women, and FGC - My Evolution of Understanding


A few years ago,  I began working on a novel titled, Virtue.  At the center of the story is a hardcore conservative media magnate. Imagine a younger version of Rupert Murdoch.  Anyway, this guy experiences a life threatening health scare that causes him to do much soul searching.  During his recovery, he meets a young woman who has focused her life on elevating women in the world's poorest places. The guy is oil, the woman is water. They don't mix well, but the passion is definitely there.

The media magnate's name is Greg.  The young woman he becomes enamored with, Daria, directs her outreach efforts in two places; Haiti and Ethiopia.  Her primary focus is on developing and implementing a  program called Bright Eve, built on interactive learning modules in the languages spoken by the local people.   One of the places Daria choses to test Bright Eve is a slum settlement called Mabwe  on the edge of Ethiopia's capital city, Addis Ababa.

 When I was developing  Daria's connection with this Ethiopian slum,  I was doing research on life in these poorest of poor places in Africa.  I discovered a cultural practice that girls anywhere from age three to ten have endured for perhaps a thousand years or more.  In this practice that I first came to know as female genital mutilation (FGM),  a girl child is subjected to the ritualistic removal of her clitoris and the labia surrounding her vaginal opening.  It is thought necessary to assure the purity of the girl for marriage as she grows older.  Needless to say, it is a shocking practice, painful to the extreme, and often accompanied by a whole range of serious health problems that can last a lifetime. In these cultures, girl children are treated as property, deemed unworthy of education, good only for house keeping and child bearing.

I have long believed that solving the colossal civilization scale problems that we face, like climate change and mindless population growth, first requires a leveling of the playing field, with equality and dignity for all becoming the norm. A crucial part of this is the empowerment of women.

In Virtue, Daria's focus is on elevating women in the world's poorest places.   When I learned about FGM, I sensed that it was something Daria would want to confront as well. Long story short, I was able to integrate an FGM subplot into Virtue.  After finishing the 100,000 word manuscript for Virtue,  I sought out editorial feedback, and over a number of revisions, I was able to make the story work nicely.

While working on revisions for Virtue,  I read a book titled, Half the Sky by Nicolas Kristoff and Sheryl Wu Dunn.  That book was a compendium of true stories of heroic women around the world pushing back against oppression, exploitation, and gender violence.  One of the stories in Half the Sky was about a women named Molly Melching,  who had created a non-profit organization called Tostan in Senegal in West Africa.  Tostan is a word that means breakthrough in  wolof, the most widely spoken native language in Senegal.  It's an apt description of Molly Melching's work.  Other efforts had been made to encourage the end of FGM.  Tostan evolved a model that delivered unprecedented success in educating and encouraging the repudiation of the culturally entrenched practice of FGM.

So, when I read the story of Tostan in Half the Sky, I knew what the next step for me needed to be.  I had to reach out to Tostan. I wanted my work to serve their noble efforts to affect change on the FGM issue in Africa, where it is actually happening everyday to young girls across the continent. 

Near the end of 2012, I made contact with Gannon Gillespie, Director of Tostan's office in Washington, D.C.  Gannon was pleased that I had written a work of fiction that included a plot element on female genital cutting.   He  agreed to read the Virtue manuscript, and he also arranged for Julia Lalla-Maharajh, founder of The Orchid Project, another global non-profit focused on the issue of genital cutting in Africa to read it

The feedback they gave me reflected disappointment because the way I presented female genital cutting in Virtue was not accurate.  Because it was not the main plotline of the story,  there's no denying, I didn't spend as much time trying to understand FGM as I should have.  Fortunately, Julia and Gannon  supplied notes, and I was able to make needed adjustments in the story  I didn't want Daria to be a hero like Molly Melching. At least not on the FGM issue. I wanted Daria to be deeply unsettled by FGM on an emotional level. I wanted her to respond emotionally to it initially, but pull back in time to a more measured and pragmatic posture. Most important, I wanted the depiction of FGM to be a useful reflection of the reality.

The first thing I learned from Gannon and Julia is that the term female genital mutilation has largely been replaced by female genital cutting (FGC), as a way of properly addressing the cultural sensitivity of the subject.

In April of 2013, a new book was published about Molly Melching and Tostan, the title of which is However Long the Night.  I wrote about this book in the blog entry that immediately precedes this one.

For me, this new book, authored by Aimee Molloy,  was a revelation  It helped me to understand and appreciate the way Tostan and also the Orchid Project are encouraging the end of FGC.  Working at the village level, Tostan facilitators, all of whom are local people themselves,  teach women that they have basic human rights; that they are entitled to dignity and proper treatment under the law. They teach lessons on reproduction, and the health effects of  FGC.  It's the patient, non-judgmental encouragement of community buy in, along with women, for the first time, understanding that they have rights, that makes Tostan's model for positive change work so well.

Most of the people in Senegal are Muslim. Tostan recruited local Imams to assure their followers there is nothing in the Koran that calls for women to endure genital cutting. Tostan and the Orchid Project encourage communities to come together as a whole to  abandon the practice of cutting, because it is the right thing to do for the health and welfare of their girl children. As of April, 2013 in Senegal alone,  5,423 communities have pledged an end to FGC.  This is a remarkable achievement, but there is still much work to be done.

The informal association I now have with Tostan and The Orchid Project assures that the subplot involving FGC in my novel Virtue will present the issue in the best way possible to serve the interests of their work.   I have also made a commitment to them that a substantial share of whatever I earn from the book and movie rights to Virtue will go to Tostan and The Orchid Project.  For me personally, I can't 'imagine anything more gratifying than to support these selflessly dedicated people with their efforts to empower women in Africa.

Here is a link to Tostan  http://www.tostan.org/

Here is a link to the Orchid Project  http://orchidproject.org/


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Friday, June 21, 2013

However Long The Night


I just finished reading a marvelous non-fiction book, beautifully written by Aimee Molloy.  However Long the Night is the story of Molly Melching and the extraordinary work she and her non-profit educational outreach organization, Tostan, have been doing, mostly in Senegal in West Africa.


Molly Melching in Senegal


Tostan is a word in Wolof, the most widely spoken of several languages particular to Senegal. It means 'breakthrough'.  That is exactly what Molly Melching and Tostan have facilitated in villages throughout Senegal, and in several other African nations. Tostan's work centers on using education and awareness of human rights as a platform for empowering the people to make thoughtful and informed decisions that might improve their lives.  Tostan's outreach is community based and most often begins with the women. Traditionally in virtually all African cultures, women have a subservient role to men.  They are often treated as chattel, sold into marriage at a young age, considered unworthy of education, good mostly for birthing and raising children.   One very unsettling aspect of life for females throughout Africa is something called, 'the tradition'. It involves the ceremonial cutting of a girl's genitals,  specifically the clitoris and the labia around the vagina opening, at a very young age.  For perhaps a thousand years - no one know exactly how long -  this practice, called female genital cutting, or FGC, has been a rite of passage for a girl,  thought to be crucial to a girl child's worthiness for marriage and motherhood.  Those who endure FGC are subjected to extraordinary suffering. Beyond the terrible pain that comes with having these most sensitive tissues mutilated, almost always without anesthetic, FGC is often done with an unsterile blade that has been used for the same purpose multiple times.  The health effects of FGC, including severe hemorrhaging and infection, are often permanently debilitating, even deadly. 

World Health Organization studies indicate that 140 million women around the world have been subjected to FGC,  101 million of those in Africa. 

Aimee Molly's book,  However Long the Night is a powerful narrative of a young woman, a Caucasian American, who arrived in West Africa in 1974, pursuing a master's degree in French language, hoping for a future as a linguist/translator. Almost forty years later,  Molly Melching has created of one of the most effective educational outreach non-profits operating on the African continent. 

As of April, 2013,  in Senegal, 5,423 communities have abandoned the practice of female genital cutting.  Much of the credit for this goes to Tostan.




 
 
 
 




Tostan employs a patient, culturally respectful style in its community based education, conducted by Senegalese facilitators, in the local language. Reading, writing, basic math, farming technique, water management,  hygiene, and personal health are at the core of the Tostan learning. Perhaps the most important lesson imparted to the women who participate is the knowledge that they, as human beings and citizens, have certain 'inalienable rights'.  When they learn this, illiterate women from the smallest backwater villages begin to rethink their lives.  This process has led to the renunciation of FGC in thousands of communities in Senegal,  the widespread repudiation of early childhood marriage, and a new acceptance of women in community leadership roles.

I love However Long the Night.  My admiration for Molly Melching and her team is boundless.   How can one not be inspired by a person, whose tireless commitment and perseverance has transformed an entire nation in dramatic fashion in one generation? 

I'll save the rest of what I have to say on this subject for the next blog entry,  which will tell my own personal revelation on this subject and how my recent connection with Tostan, and one of its leaders, Gannon Gillespie, has been a great benefit to my own writing.

Here is a link to the Tostan website    www.tostan.org











Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Richard Branson - Billionaire Change Agent



There are some people who are loaded to the gills that I respect.  Richard Branson is one of them.  From the time he was young,  Branson has been tuned in to making money.  He started at 16 with a mail order business, founded Virgin Records, and now controls more than 400 companies through his Virgin Group.   Through all of these varied enterprises,  Branson tries to operate in an exemplary way, ethically.   I admire him for that.  If I were in his position,  I like to think I would be the kind of entrepreneur he has been.


Richard Branson


By all appearances, Richard Branson takes a very respectful approach to the environment in his businesses.  A great example is Virgin Airlines.  From early on, Branson has taken a proactive approach to climate change.  He created a company that converts planet biomass into jet fuel,  recognizing that jet fuel coming from plant material could have a mitigating effect on climate change.  Living plants suck  CO2 from the atmosphere, converting it to plant material.  That green biomass can then be processed into jet fuel at the same or less cost than petroleum-based jet fuel, and with half the CO2 impact on the atmosphere of petroleum-based fuels.  This is no small initiative. Branson expects to make a lot of money with his plant-based jet fuel.  Good for him.  He's a pioneer with a genuine commitment to doing what's right for our planet, our people, and the living biosphere we all depend on.   He also seems to have a lot fun.  It's nice when you can make a lot of money doing the right thing.

I love Richard Branson's style.  The B Team is his latest life-affirming initiative.  He's wants to reshape the world's seriously corrupted business playing field.  He wants to put public interest before profit.    That is what you call a tall order.  I totally appreciate that Branson is making the effort. 

The piece below from Sustainablebusiness.com is about the B Team, Richard Branson s latest, 'good guy 'billionaire' initiative. 

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Sir Richard Branson Launches The B Team to Revolutionize Business Goals
06/13/2013
SustainableBusiness.com News
It is time for business to be a "force for good," says Sir Richard Branson in describing his new venture, The B Team.

His other recent ventures include RenewableJetFuels.org, which is spurring the aviation industry to invest in promising forms of biofuels, and Carbon War Room, which has been working to increase efficiency in the shipping industry and other ways to cut carbon emissions at the gigaton level.

The B Team is his new global non-profit that promises to champion "a new way of doing business that prioritises people and planet alongside profit - a "Plan B" for businesses the world over." "Plan A - where companies have been driven by the profit motive alone - is no longer acceptable."


Richard BransonPuma jochen zeitz


Co-founder Jochen Zeitz, former CEO of Puma, explains that while business is integral to society, it has "also created most of the negative environmental challenges of this century." At Puma, he initiated environmental profit and loss accounting, where companies put a cost on their environment impacts and include that as part of their total accounting.

"The B Team will help to catalyse a shift away from the existing short-term, unsustainable mindset, towards the long-term interest of people, the planet and the wider economy."

Today they announced leaders that will join them in recruiting others and who will begin breaking down entrenched barreirs. They include Arianna Huffington, Chair of the Huffington Post, Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever and Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Group.

In a live online broadcast to over 500 hundred gatherings in more than 115 cities around the world, The B Team Leaders issued a joint Declaration, which acknowledges key global problems of  growing inequality, unemployment and unsustainable use of natural resources.

The Declarations starts by saying: "We, the undersigned, believe the world is at a critical crossroads. Global business leaders need to come together to advance the wellbeing of people and the planet. In fact, we think business has to think this way in order to thrive ...

Business is now waking up to the reality that:
If we carry on using the natural resources of the world unsustainably, they'll quite simply run out.
With a burgeoning population, more people are still living in poverty than ever before and inequalities are increasing in many parts of the world.
Unemployment rates are at frightening levels.
Non-Profits alone cannot solve the tasks at hand, while many governments are unwilling or unable to act ...
These are not the outcomes we envisioned as we grew our companies; this is not the dream that inspired us.
And the overwhelming conclusion we've reached is that businesses have been a major contributor to the problems, and we as business leaders have the responsibility of creating sustainable solutions."

"The Future of Leadership" Challenge will seek to accelerate a new kind of inclusive leadership underpinned by a moral compass of being fair, honest, positive and creative. Based on cooperation, it will be aimed at generating long-term value for society, the economy and the environment.
"The evolution of business leadership away from a focus on short-term profits is essential for the future generation of leaders," saus Arianna Huffington. "We need a "Plan B" for the way business is managed, starting with leadership more committed to well-being, wisdom and sustainable business success."

The "Future Bottom Line" Challenge seeks to accelerate a move away from single-minded financial "short-termism" towards a focus on the long term, and will aim to expand corporate accountability beyond financial gains to include negative and positive contributions to the economy, environment and society.

"The Future of Incentives" will help focus business away from short term gain and to balance the long term benefits for our people and our planet. B Team plans to work with partners to develop new corporate and employee incentive structures and to identify and map both positive and harmful subsidies.

"Positive market incentives operating in the public interest are too few and far between, and are also up against a seemingly never-ending expansion of perverse incentives and lobbying," says Mo Ibrahim, Founder of Celtel.

The B Team will be holding a series of community events over the coming months. They are encouraging the public to submit their views on a new charter for better business at their website:


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Here is a link to Richard Branson's  bteam website ....www.bteam.org/



Friday, June 14, 2013

Getting Naked for PETA



So here's the latest work from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - PETA - in their no holds barred campaign to make people think about eating meat, wearing fur, and being, in general, indifferent to the suffering and abuse of the wild and domestic animals with whom we share planet Earth.

PETA, led by a force of nature named Ingrid Newkirk, is engaged in a full on assault on the public consciousness. For the average person, the path of least resistance is to take an 'out of sight, out of mind'  attitude toward the meat they eat and the animal products they buy.  PETA's approach is to find ways to deliver stark 'wake-up calls' that reach the average person's soul.

The PETA  I'd Rather Go Naked Than Wear Fur campaign has aggressively and skillfully combined advertising technique and celebrity support to discredit the fur industry.  They have made it unfashionable, even socially unacceptable, to wear fur coats or any kind of clothing made from animal skins.



 
 
 
PETA produces public service videos that extol the benefits of a vegetarian diet, while showing the gut wrenching cruelty inflicted on millions of chickens, cattle,  pigs, fish, and other animal species killed every day to feed our need for burgers, fillets, cutlets, and other types of cooked animal flesh.

Here's a fact. It takes about ten pounds of grain and a lot of water to produce one pound of meat.  History shows that humans can be very healthy eating lower on the food chain.  Not everyone is going to become a vegetarian. I get that. But, everyone can consume less meat,  much less meat.  This step embraced by humanity would take us very far down the road to a future that is compatible with nature. It is a step that would save every one of us money. It is an essential way to keep life as we know it going over the long term.

Compassion is a way of being worthy of our species. Kindness is the quality I admire most in people.  Such people try to avoid causing pain or suffering.  They are certainly not indifferent  to it, when they are fully aware of it.

PETA is using sex to get the public's attention.  Good for them.  I have developed projects that do the same thing.  

In the case of the In Your Own Skin' print ads and video,  PETA features beautiful young women to lure in viewers, then they reveal 'in your face' clips of human brutality to animals. You are confronted with the ugly reality PETA wants you to see.  If you look, and you are a compassionate person,  you cannot be indifferent.

Here is a link to the PETA website ... http://www.peta.org/

Here is a link to  the  In Your Own Skin video  PSA that features four gorgeous beauty queens getting naked for PETA.  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/13/miss-usa-winners-peta-pose-naked_n_3436503.html#slide=2184928




Friday, June 7, 2013

San Onofre is Dead and So Is Nuclear Power


I am very pleased to post this important and very encouraging news.  Nuclear power has always been a Pandora's box.  It is deadly dangerous technology. No one has ever challenged that basic fact. It's no wonder it costs literally billions to build a structure that can contain the highly radioactive material needed to make a nuke work. Nuclear is a deadly health hazard. It' s a prime target for terrorists, making it a security nightmare.  In every way economically, it is also a loser.   In an unbiased comparison of virtually all relevant parameters,  nuclear power loses to wind, geothermal, hydrogen, and even solar PV and solar thermal technologies by a substantial margin.

Despite a lot of bloated and disingenuous hype and declarations to the contrary from proponents,  their nuclear power party appears to be over.

Make way for the clean, renewable solar hydrogen age...

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Published on Friday, June 7, 2013 by Common Dreams

San Onofre is Dead and So Is Nuclear Power


 


The sun sets on San Onofre. (Photo: dolanh/cc/flickr)From his California beach house at San Clemente, Richard Nixon once watched three reactors rise at nearby San Onofre. As of June 7, 2013, all three are permanently shut.


It’s a monumental victory for grassroots activism. it marks an epic transition in how we get our energy.

In the thick of the 1970s Arab oil embargo, Nixon said there’d be 1000 such reactors in the US by the year 2000. As of today, there are 100. Four have shut here this year. Citizen activism has put the “nuclear renaissance” into full retreat.

Just two of 54 reactors now operate in Japan, where Fukushima has joined Chernobyl and Three Mile Island in permanently scarring us all. Germany is shutting its entire fleet and switching to renewables. France, once the poster child for the global reactor industry, is following suit. South Korea has just shut three due to fraudulent safety procedures. Massive demonstrations rage against reactors being built in India. Only the Koreans, Chinese and Russians remain at all serious about pushing ahead with this tragic technology.

Cheap gas has undercut the short-term market for expensive electricity generated by obsolete coal and nuke burners. But the vision of Solartopia—a totally green-powered Earth—is now our tangible long-term reality. With falling prices and soaring efficiency, every moving electron our species consumes will be generated by a solar panel, wind turbine, bio-fueled or geothermal generator, wave machine and their green siblings.

As of early this year, Southern California Edison's path to a re-start at San Onofre seemed as clear as any to be expected by a traditional atomic tyrannosaur. But with help from Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Senator-to-be Ed Markey (D-MA), a powerful citizen uprising stopped it dead. So did the terrifying incompetence and greed that has defined the nuclear industry from the days of Nixon and before.

San Onofre Unit One shut in the 1990s due largely to steam generator problems.  In the early 2000s, Units 2 & 3 needed new steam generators of their own. In the usual grasp for more profits, Edison chose untested, unlicensed new designs. But they failed. And the whole world was watching. In the wake of Fukushima, two more leaky tsunami-zone reactors surrounded by earthquake faults were massively unwelcome.

So a well-organized non-violent core of local, state and national activists and organizations rose up to stop the madness.  At Vermont Yankee, Indian Point, Seabrook, Davis-Besse and dozens of other reactors around the US and world, parallel opposition is escalating.

Make no mistake—this double victory at San Onofre is a falling domino. Had the public not fought back, those reactors would have been “fixed” at public expense. Today, they are dead.

Worldwide, there are some 400 to go. Each of them—including the 100 remaining in the US—could do apocalyptic damage. We still have our work cut out for us. But a huge double-step has been taken up the road to Solartopia.

There will be no Fukushimas at San Onofre.

A green-powered Earth is that much closer.

And we have yet another proof that citizen action makes all the difference in our world.
So seize the day and celebrate!!!

_________________________


Harvey Wasserman


Thursday, June 6, 2013

First Assembly Line Fuel Cell Vehicles


This is some exciting news.  I produced my first documentary on hydrogen energy in 1995. It was titled, Element One.  Over the years, in association with my friend and colleague Bill Hoagland, I wrote and produced seven documentaries and educational videos on clean, renewable energy and hydrogen.   

The European Union is moving aggressively to be ready for the commercialization of hydrogen powered fuel cell vehicles in 2015.   European nations like Denmark, Sweden, and Germany are spending billions of Euros putting the needed fueling infrastructure in place to support the public and private ownership of hydrogen powered vehicles.  

Hyundai is the first company to announce the assembly line production of a fuel cell vehicle.  One of the chief impediments to the adoption of these vehicles has been the inability to carry enough hydrogen on board to meet the minimum range standard, which is considered to be 330 miles.  Apparently, Hyundai has solved this problem, as they claim to get 370 miles range between fill-ups in their ix35 fuel cell SUV.   The government of Denmark is the first customer to receive the ix35,  which is expected to be available in auto showrooms to the public in 2015.

Twenty years ago, I committed to hydrogen as an energy carrier because it is clean. non-toxic, and virtually inexhaustible in supply, when made by splitting water molecules using a whole range of renewable energy options.  I was the lead author of a book about it titled, The Hydrogen Age.  The road to the broad adoption of hydrogen has been rocky,  but it does appear that the hydrogen age is finally emerging. 

For me personally, it's very gratifying.  I can't wait for the day when I have a hydrogen powered car in my garage.

_____________________


Hyundai Reveals the ix35 Fuel Cell. 1,000 units to be sold by 2015. 

There is to be 1,000 units of hydrogen-powered models to be produced by 2015. Deliveries to municipal and private fleets underway.


(PRWEB) March 06, 2013
 
Production of the Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell began at the company’s Ulsan manufacturing plant in Korea in January 2013, making Hyundai the first automaker to begin commercial production of a hydrogen-powered vehicle. The first complete car rolled off the assembly line on 26 February 2013.
Hyundai plans to manufacture 1.000 units of the hydrogen-powered ix35 Fuel Cell vehicles by 2015, targeted predominantly at public sector and private fleets, with limited mass production of 10.000 units beyond 2015. 


Hyundai  ix35 SUV



Hyundai has already signed contracts to lease the ix35 Fuel Cell to municipal fleets in Copenhagen, Denmark and Skåne, Sweden. Additionally, since October 2011, the EU Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) in Brussels has been providing Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell vehicles to EU policy makers and the public in order to demonstrate the market readiness of fuel cell technology.
Award-winning credentials

At the 2013 European Motor Show in Brussels, Belgium, the Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell was awarded the prestigious FuturAuto accolade, selected as winner for becoming the first mass-produced, hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle to be commercially available.


Hyundai ix35  SUV


The award, in its 12th year, celebrates technological innovation in the automotive industry and is judged by a respected panel of journalists from the Belgian Automotive Press Union (UJBA).
From a long list of 16 candidates, the judges selected a five-strong shortlist which included innovations from Hyundai, Bosch, Mazda, Mercedes Benz and Volvo.

Third-generation FCEV from Hyundai

The Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell is the third-generation fuel cell-powered electric vehicle (FCEV) from Hyundai. Since Hyundai introduced the Santa Fe FCEV in 2000, the company has become a world leader in the development of hydrogen fuel cell technology, and operates the largest fuel-cell research centre in Korea.

In 2005, the second-generation Hyundai fuel cell electric vehicle – the Tucson FCEV – was introduced, powered by the company’s first 80 kW fuel cell.

The third generation of Hyundai’s FCEV family, the ix35 Fuel Cell represents a truly viable everyday vehicle, retaining the safety, equipment, convenience and performance of the conventionally powered ix35 and producing zero harmful tailpipe emissions.

The Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell delivers large improvements over its predecessor, including a driving range that has been extended by more than 50% and fuel efficiency gains of more than 15%.
The ix35 Fuel Cell is equipped with a 100 kW electric motor, allowing it to reach a maximum speed of 160 km/h. Two hydrogen storage tanks, with a total capacity of 5.64 kg, enable the vehicle to travel a total of 594 km on a single charge, and it can reliably start in temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius. The energy is stored in a 24 kW lithium-ion polymer battery, jointly developed with LG Chemical.

Fuel cells operate by turning chemical energy from hydrogen into electromechanical energy. Internal to a fuel cell, an anode and cathode sandwich a polymer electrolyte membrane. The process of creating an electrical current occurs in three stages:
  • Hydrogen gas flows over the anode, causing it to split into hydrogen ions (protons) and electrons.
  • The polymer electrolyte membrane only allows the protons to pass through. The electrons travel to an external circuit which operates the motor.
  • At the cathode, electrons and protons react with oxygen (from air) creating H2O – water – which flows out of the cell as the only waste product.

Hyundai’s ix35 Fuel Cell represents one of the most advanced vehicles of this type, and with continued development and improvements in production costs, it is expected that limited mass production will enable sales to much greater numbers of customers around the world to start beyond 2015.

Hyundai’s hydrogen initiatives

Hyundai has been involved in a wide range of initiatives and partnerships to help promote hydrogen fuel cells as a future solution to Europe’s transport requirements. With governments, non-profit organisations and private ventures all looking to the alternative modes of transport, Hyundai is supporting the momentum surrounding FCEVs across the region.

In May 2011, Hyundai signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the City of Copenhagen, fuel cell producer H2 Logic and Hydrogen Link – the latter an association working to advance the use of electricity for transportation in Denmark based on hydrogen and fuel cells.

The aim of the agreement is to establish an infrastructure for the support of FCEVs in Copenhagen, a city which aims to be carbon neutral by 2025. Under the MOU, Hyundai provided two ix35 Fuel Cell vehicles for a test drive attended by mayors of the capital cities of Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Iceland in 2011.

In October 2011, Hyundai invited Europe’s top media to test its ix35 Fuel Cell in Copenhagen, and, in doing so, took another significant step towards its goal of bringing FCEVs to the mainstream car market by 2015.

The Copenhagen test drive followed the news that the ix35 Fuel Cell had been selected by the European Commission-backed ‘Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking’ (FCH JU) to be used as a demonstration vehicle to test and promote hydrogen fuel cell technology in a real-world environment. As part of the initiative, the ix35 Fuel Cell was made available for Members of the European Parliament, Commissioners, EU officials and other policy makers to test drive. This gained great visibility for the ix35 Fuel Cell and hydrogen vehicle technology among policy makers.
In January 2012, Hyundai signed a memorandum of understanding along with twelve other industry participants to launch a scheme called UKH2Mobility. This draws on the experience of other hydrogen initiatives from across Europe to investigate the potential for hydrogen as a fuel for ultra-low carbon vehicles. Calling on £400 million (approximately €475 million) of funding from the UK government, the results of the scheme will lead to further steps to introduce hydrogen as a more mainstream fuel in the UK.

A February 2013 study published by UKH2Mobility forecast that, with suitable infrastructure investment, more than 1.5 million hydrogen-powered vehicles could be on the roads by 2030 in the UK alone.

The company’s vision and strategy has earned it recognition as one of the ‘Top Global Green Brands of 2012’ in Interbrand’s 50 Global Green Brands report. Placed 17th overall, Hyundai was one of the highest-ranked automakers. Interbrand made particular mention of Hyundai’s industry leadership in zero-emissions technology through advances in hydrogen fuel-cell development.

Through technological development, as well as the various schemes and initiatives that Hyundai is involved in, the company is demonstrating its commitment to hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as an environmentally friendly solution for fulfilling future mobility needs.

Hyundai ix35 Fuel Cell - Technical Specifications
Powertrain and transmission
Front-mounted induction motor with two mid-mounted hydrogen fuel cell storage tanks
Battery: 24 kW lithium polymer    
Fuel cell: 100 kW fuel cell with two hydrogen storage tanks
Power / torque: 100 kW (136 hp) / 300 Nm available from zero rpm
Transmission: Gear differential unit
Emissions    H2O (water) only
Suspension and damping
Front: Fully independent – subframe-mounted MacPherson struts, with coil springs and gas-filled shock absorbers, anti-roll stabiliser bar
Rear: Fully independent – subframe-mounted multi-links, coil springs and gas-filled ASD shock absorbers
Steering
Type: Electric power-assisted rack and pinion
Overall ratio: 15.9:1
Gearing: 2.96 turns lock-to-lock
Turning circle: 10.58 metres
Brakes
Power: Servo-assisted, electronically-controlled
Front: Ventilated discs; 300 mm
Rear: Solid discs; 262 mm
Parking brake: Hand-operated lever
ABS: 4-channel anti-lock system with EBD
BAS: Boosts braking power during emergency stops
DBC: Downhill Brake Control maintains 8 km/h speed during descents
100-to-0 km/h: 41.7 metres
Wheels and tyres
Wheels: Alloy 16 in x 6.5
Tyres: 215/70 R16
Spare: Tyre mobility kit
Dimensions (mm)
Exterior
Overall length: 4410
Overall width: 1820 (excluding door mirrors)
Overall height: 1670    
Wheelbase: 2640
Front track: 585
Rear track: 1586
Front overhang: 880
Rear overhang: 890
Ground clearance: 170
Approach angle: 24.2 degrees
Departure angle: 26.9 degrees
Ramp over angle: 17.0 degrees
Roll over angle: 45.0 degrees
Max. climb angle: 44.19 degrees
Interior
Headroom (Front): 1000 (Rear): 994
Legroom (Front): 1047 (Rear): 982
Shoulder room (Front): 1450 (Rear): 1400
Hip room (Front): 1410 (Rear) 1356
Weight (kg)
Kerb weight: 1830
Gross weight: 1980
Payload: 375
Capacities
Hydrogen storage tank: 5.64 kg / 700 bar (70 MPa)
Luggage: 465 –1436 litres
Performance
Top speed (km/h): 160
0-to-100 km/h (sec): 12.5
Economy
Driving range: 594 km
kg / 100 km (hydrogen): 0.95



 

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Something Big



As we move further into the 21st century, the number of civilization scale challenges we face is unprecedented.  Seven billion plus humans are competing for a share of our earth's rapidly diminishing resources.  Economic and social inequality remain rampant. Outright discrimination is a huge factor in the lives of well over half the world's population.  The culturally ingrained oppression of women continues to be a particularly corrosive fact of life. 
My life experience has led me to a firm conclusion: the path to a sustainable, dignified future for humanity requires that, to the extent possible, all forms of discrimination must be eliminated.  Equal opportunity and fair treatment must become more than just a platitude. The empowerment of women in the economic and political arenas is  critical to achieving this goal.
We are also deeply troubled by the ongoing war in the Congo in Africa. For well over a decade,  armed interests have been killing each other each other, while wreaking bloody violence on  the Congolese people, particularly those living in the Eastern Congo.  Women have a particular target of this violence.
The fact is the entire African continent has been used and abused for two centuries by Europeans, and later Americans,  who colonized and exploited its human, biological, and mineral resources. Perhaps the most egregious example happened late in the 19th century, when Leopold, the King of Belgium, had the audacity to claim the Congo, an area larger than all of Europe combined, not for his country, but for himself.  Starting in the mid-20th century, the European nations abandoned their African colonies.  The whole continent has, for the most part, been a politically dysfunctional quagmire ever since.
A few years ago,  I was inspired to assert myself and try to make a difference for the people of Africa and particularly the Congo. I am deeply concerned not just about the people, but also about the other living wild animal species in that nation, many of which can be found almost no where else in the world.  The Congo wildlife legacy is severely threatened by human population growth. Despite the ongoing genocide, the population in the Congo is expanding at a rate of nearly 3% annually.  As of 2013, the population is about 75 million,  up 350% from where it was 50 years ago. Moreover, a very substantial share of the Congo population depends on bushmeat (wild animals killed for food) for survival.  As a consequence, in many parts of the Congo, wild animal numbers are plummeting.  This includes gorillas, chimpanzees, and other primates; the closest living relatives to humans.
Despite the severe nature of the challenges, the Congo is a place worth saving. 
My approach to making a difference for the Congo has been to develop a theatrical movie project, designed to entertain and to inform.  I have some skills. I've been a successful writer/producer.  I have an Emmy and some other awards for my work. 

When I started thinking about a Congo project, I did it with some assumptions. The first was that I could not do a story that actually takes place in the Congo.  Movies set in Africa generally have not done well at the American movie boxoffice.  Another assumption was that the future of Africa, and the world in general, requires that women become fully equal on all playing fields with men.    As for genera, dramatic comedy felt like the best way to go. The movie studios covet the 18-25 year old audience.   I was determined that my movie story carry a strong message about the Congo and about the championing of women.  I chose to embed those ideas in a fun, highly entertaining package that will appeal to  young adult movie goers.
The story I came up with is about a successful Hollywood writer who, while struggling to get his new script about the Congo made into a movie, becomes a champion for the dignity and empowerment of women.  As I was laying out the structure for this story,  I was joined as a business partner by a young designer/photographer named Chad Kirkpatrick. He and I share a similar worldview. Both of us believe that a sustainable future will be achievable only when women have an equal place at the table with men.
With Chad providing valuable feedback, I wrote the script for this project,  which is now titled,  Something Big.   We have taken it through many drafts,  making improvements based on feedback from movie industry insiders. 
 Here is what Tracey Becker, Producer of the Sony Pictures theatrical feature, Hysteria, said about Something Big... 
 
Something Big is 'a rarity': a well-crafted ensemble drama that entertains highly, while also almost accidentally enlightening the audience..... With a deft combination of political messages, and outrageous yet embraceable characters,  it has a twisty plot that would make the religious right weak in the knees.  Something Big is a fascinating mash-up of  'pick-your-wing' politics',  professional wrestling,  Hollywood insiders, reality television disgraces, the sex worker  trade, and modern romance.... From a marketing perspective,  there is so much to recommend about this script.... The characterizations will likely attract a high caliber cast.... The fascinating world the author has created should speak to audiences on many levels.  At first glance, Something Big  is pure entertainment,  but on closer inspection, the themes of greed, self-aggrandizement  and the co-opting of global causes to benefit enterprises that might not have started off so high-mindedly, all contribute to the richer tapestry of this script.

Something Big is a good project. Our intent is to assign a substantial share of any income that comes from Something Big, the movie, to the causes featured in the story. One group we hope to forge a relationship with is V-Day, a global NGO founded by the esteemed feminist playwright, Eve Ensler.. Working with a highly respected group like V-Day, will help protect the intellectual integrity of the Something Big project, while allowing us to maximize the revenue we are able to direct to them and to other groups and individuals that share our passion for elevating the status of women worldwide.  
'Art has the power to transform thinking and inspire people to act.'  That is a core principle for V-Day, and that is exactly what has motivated us in the development of the Something Big project.
Stay tuned...