Forward on Climate Change!

I went to the Forward on Climate Change rally Sunday in San Francisco.

I thought about all the things I should have done to promote my pet project, Idle Free Oakland, especially since the excitement these days comes from Idle No More, but with so much on my plate this spring, I couldn't get myself quite organized. But I'm so glad I went! It was the largest climate rally ever, and I'm hoping my presence might make a difference.

It was lovely. Well-organized, peaceful, fun, and short. Native Americans opened with prayers, the air smelled like sage, and there were cute dogs everywhere. We really have to stop Keystone XL, and here's why.

The rally was sponsored by 350.org, which is the organization that's giving us the best leadership on this terrible worldwide problem. It's about science, and it's about math, and they explain it so simply:

• Our climate is changing because of too much atmospheric CO2.
• The safe upper limit for atmospheric CO2 is 350 parts per million.
• We currently have 394 ppm (this changes; see the carbon calcuator in the column on the right>>>)
• We need to get BACK to 350. Like, asap!

Stuff I liked:

• A polar bear
• A "Leave it in the Ground" sign
• A high school senior who said, "You guys are always talking about a better future for your children and grandchildren. Well, I'm a kid... and I want a better future for myself!"
• These kids with their cool signs
• Speakers who really believe we can get back to 350 in our lifetime.
• San Francisco's upcoming resolution to divest and ballot option to go all green energy.
• A guy who is trying to educate folks about Thorium, which looks like the answer to nuclear energy.
• Another speaker recalled learning about climate change in school in the 1970s. "We've wasted 40 years of inaction in 'debate'." Idle no more, right?

This guy with the mask and the sign says it all.

Can you stand up with me and millions of others and and tell the guy "NO KXL?" Here's a petition. Here's another.

Peace Wants a Piece of the Pie | Mother's Day National Action

Mother's Day began with mothers coming together and calling for greater wisdom and diplomacy, their hearts sick from losing their sons to senseless wars.

The Peace Alliance understands that building peace takes as much effort and energy as preparing for war, and is our best national defense.

I love this campaign! And I plan to make a pie this year. Join me!

Peace Wants a Piece of the Pie | Mother's Day National Action

Pumped up Kicks

Good morning, KFOG.
I tried to call in during the song that woke me up this morning, but there was no answer.
"All the other kids better run, better run... faster than my bullet."
This is an upbeat song about a kid shooting other kids. I like the catchy tune, but the song is morally twisted, and not in a good way; it's sociopathic and horrible. There is no frame of reference for the evil sentiment. The songwriter said he was 'exploring the mind of a young killer,' but it sounds more like he's glorifying it. At least with A Clockwork Orange there was some framing of the sentiment of cheerful violence, and a resolution at the end. (And songs like Jeremy, I Don't Like Mondays, etc. at least reflect an authentic emotional tone.) This song says, "it's okay and fun to kill other people! I like it!" It feels like the normalization of a phenomenon that destroys the fabric of American lives over and over again.
On the plus side, a comment made on the YouTube video did tip off Phoenix police that a 14-year-old was inspired by this song, and his rampage was prevented.
I'm a big fan of whimsy, even serious whimsy, but this song really upsets me, and I always turn off the radio when I hear it. But I like KFOG, especially in the mornings, and figured it would be worth the trouble to ask: Could you please not play it anymore? The tune gets stuck in my head for hours, and I hate myself. Maybe ask your other listeners what they think.
Thanks,
Kristen Caven
Oakland parent

I didn't believe in cancer (for Michele)

Michele, I don’t want to say goodbye to you.  I don’t want this world to be without you — baby fanatic, mother motherer, visionary, compassionate soul. I’m very angry at this cancer thing! I never wanted to believe it was real. YOU, of all people, so passionate about creating a healthy life and healthy lives! But I am so grateful that you shared the adventure with me. I am so grateful to have had you as a mommy-mentor, client, partner, fan, friend, and inspiration.

How do you say goodbye to someone who catalyzed so much? Child-Friendly Initiative—a group of incredibly capable mommies at a critical time—who made a noise that started a movement that led to the family bathrooms and airport nursing stations we now rely on - and even made an impression on the United Nations! Even the CFI fundraisers left a legacy, amazing events with amazing art. (Amazing - one of Michele's favorite words.) Those gorgeous Art of Life bellies are still a gift to the world. And we've still got a Chair-ity for Children chair my kid no longer fits!

You don’t say goodbye; you can’t. As we all learned in our time with Michele, babies grow up. Some day they'll have babies. Friends move away and make new friends. The mysteries – the things you don’t know - keep one step ahead of the accomplishments, the things you do know. Life comes and goes, but love, laughter, and amazing beauty are everywhere, ever-renewing.

Michele told me a secret, earlier this year; perhaps it’s no longer a secret. She had had a few glasses of wine after one of her amazing cancer healings, then went down to visit Hannah in college. Wandering around campus, she felt lightheaded, out-of-body. She had visions. She saw hands, everywhere hands. When I heard this, tears came to my eyes —what a beautiful vision for Michele, all the people she touched, who touched her. The babies she massaged. The mothers she reached out to. Look at the CFI logo. Look at the logo for Healthy Family Living. Michele ‘handed’ us a new, more compassionate way to see the world. (I’d love to see what she would do with a fundraiser about hands, to follow up on those bellies and chairs.)

I don’t worry about Michele. But I weep for her children, to have lost a mother whose love was so awesome it spilled out beyond them to change the world. I weep so hard for you guys, and for Dan, love of her life, who made it all possible. (There is something wrong with a world in which your grandkids don’t get to experience Michele!) But I don’t worry about Michele. I told her those visions of hands were the hands of everyone supporting her, which she really appreciated, since she was a little creeped out. Of course, since I was such a loyal cancer-denier, I kept my real thoughts to myself: that those were the hands of the ones who’d gone before, reaching back for her. "Come on, Michele! We need you on the other side!"

So Michele, I won't say goodbye. I know you'll be back. There is still work to be done. And I hope to meet you again, in the blink of an eye.

Positive Vision for Schools

On the list of things I am proud of:

Helping Oakland School Teachers with their vision for a truly great public school system. At a time when teachers are being asked to produce miracles with less and less support, I am impressed that the union has switched from a defensive and pugnacious stance to a clear, positive vision of what is proven to work. I wish them ALL the success in the world, because that means success for the kids, too.

Selling Peace Bonds

While preparing my Deco Diet lecture for the Art Deco Society (what a hoot! Now everyone knows how to make Larded Grouse!), I prepared a slide about Victory Gardens and rationing. I was moved by how hard Americans worked together to win WWII, for all its fiascos (have you seen Flags of our Fathers?). God, there are so many great ideas out there about Peace - I mean, we really know what it is now (You can even get a degree in Peace and Conflict Studies at many major universities), and it's something you have to work on, it's not just the absence of war.

So, digging up all these cool War Bonds posters, I thought, what about Peace Bonds? If we're serious about ending this war, and all wars, let's have a symbol of it. Let's get actresses to get out there and sell them. Let's make sure the money goes to things that really matter - like education and health care (health care being the #1 reason workers strike and create social strife) (they picked up our garbage today but workers are still locked out), for example. There is a movement afoot to create a lasting Department of Peace to balance out the influence of the Pentagon in our government.

I played with these images—aren't they fun? Click on any of them and you can go to my Peace Bonds page to see more—or to purchase Peace Bonds!