Organic Consumers Association Statement on GMO Labeling Law Victory in Vermont • Vermont Lawmakers Pass Country’s First No-Strings-Attached GMO Labeling Law • Organic Consumers Association, April 16, 2014 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 16, 2014 FINLAND, MN. – Today, by a vote of 28-2, the Vermont state Senate passed H.112, a bill to require mandatory labeling of foods sold in Vermont that contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs). coque iphone soldes The bill also makes it illegal to call any food product containing GMOs “natural” or “all natural.” Unlike bills passed last year in Maine and Connecticut, which require four or five other states to pass GMO labeling laws before they can be enacted, Vermont’s law contains no “trigger” clauses, making it the first “clean” GMO labeling law in the country. The bill now goes back to the House which is expected to agree to the Senate’s amendments, then to Gov. coque iphone solde Peter Shumlin who is expected to sign it. Ronnie Cummins, national director of the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), issued the following statement: Today’s victory in Vermont has been 20 years in the making. Ever since genetically modified crops and foods entered the U.S. food supply in the early 1990s, without adequate independent pre-market safety testing and without labels, U.S. consumers have fought to require the labeling of foods containing GMOs. Consumer demand for mandatory labeling of GMOs spawned a national grassroots movement that has persevered despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent by the biotech and food industries to lobby state lawmakers in Vermont, and to fund anti-labeling campaigns in California (2012) and Washington State (2013). coque iphone 8 Today, consumers and a number of principled legislators in Vermont made it clear to Monsanto, Coca-Cola and other opponents of consumers’ right to know: We will not back down. This movement is here to stay. coque iphone x We expect that Monsanto will sue the state of Vermont in order to prevent enactment of H.112. coque iphone We also expect that Monsanto will lose, and the law will go into effect on schedule, on July 1, 2016. We expect that the Grocery Manufacturers Association, a multi-billion lobbying group representing more than 300 food, pesticide and drug makers, will try to pass their “Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2014,” introduced last week by Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-Kan.), intended to strip Vermont, and all other states, of their right to pass GMO labeling laws. coque iphone 6 And we expect that Congress will not pass this law, dubbed the DARK (Deny Americans the Right to Know) Act, which seeks to deny consumers the right to know if their food has been genetically engineered, and deny states the right to enact laws designed to protect public health. Vermont’s landmark victory today will force food companies to either label GMOs in all states, or reformulate their products to be GMO-free in order to avoid stating “this product was produced using genetic engineering” on their packaging. When Oregon passes a citizens’ ballot initiative to label GMOs in November, as we believe it will, the biotech and food industries will have lost, beyond the shadow of a doubt, their battle to keep consumers in the dark. coque iphone The OCA has worked closely over the past several years with the pro-labeling grassroots movement in Vermont. Today we congratulate Vermont activists for their passionate pursuit of this law, Vermont lawmakers for having the courage to pass the law, and Vermont citizens for being the first in the country to have the benefit of GMO labels on their food. And we reaffirm our commitment to work with Oregon and other states to pass similar laws, and to fight any and all attempts by industry and/or Congress to overturn these laws. For press inquiries, please contact Katherine Paul by phone: 207.653.3090 The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is an online and grassroots non-profit 501(c)3 public interest organization campaigning for health, justice, and sustainability.
Sacred Earth
America’s Transformation to Renewable Energy
Stanford Report, February 26, 2014 Stanford scientist unveils 50-state plan to transform U.S. to renewable energy Mark Jacobson and his colleagues have created a 50-state roadmap for replacing coal, oil and natural gas with wind, water and solar energy. coque iphone 7 By Mark Shwartz The Solutions Project Stanford University scientist Mark Jacobson has developed a 50-state roadmap for transforming the United States from dependence on fossil fuels to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050. He unveiled the plan at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Chicago. “Drastic problems require drastic and immediate solutions,” said Jacobson, a professor of civil and environmental engineering. “Our new roadmap is designed to provide each state a first step toward a renewable future.” The motivation for the 50-state plan, he said, is to address the negative impacts on climate and human health from widespread use of coal, oil and natural gas. Replacing these fossil fuels with clean technologies would significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming and spare the lives of an estimated 59,000 Americans who die from exposure to air pollution annually, he said. In recent years, Jacobson and his colleagues have developed detailed proposals for converting the energy infrastructures of New York, California and Washington states to 100 percent wind, water and solar power by 2050. The new plan includes an online interactive map tailored to maximize the renewable resource potential of each of the 50 states. Hovering a cursor over California, for example, reveals that the Golden State can meet virtually all of its power demands (transportation, electricity, heating, etc.) in 2050 by switching to a clean technology portfolio that is 55 percent solar, 35 percent wind (on- and offshore), 5 percent geothermal and 4 percent hydroelectric. Nuclear power, ethanol and other biofuels are not included in the proposed energy mix for any of the states. “The new map provides all of the basic information, such as how many wind turbines and solar panels would be needed to power each state, how much land area would be required, what would be the cost and cost savings, how many jobs would be created, and how much pollution-related mortality and global-warming emissions would be avoided,” Jacobson said. coque iphone pas cher The 50-state plan is posted on the website of The Solutions Project (http://thesolutionsproject.org/infographic/), a nonprofit outreach effort led by Jacobson, actor Mark Ruffalo (co-star of The Avengers), film director Josh Fox and others to raise public awareness about switching to clean energy produced by wind, water and sunlight. coque iphone xr To publicize the plan, Ruffalo joined Solutions Project member Leilani Münter, a professional racecar driver, at a Feb. coque iphone 2019 15 Daytona National Speedway racing event that Munter participated in. coque iphone 8 “Global warming, air pollution and energy insecurity are three of the most significant problems facing the world today,” said Jacobson, a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and the Precourt Institute for Energy. coque iphone “Unfortunately, scientific results are often glossed over. coque iphone The Solutions Project was born with the vision of combining science with business, policy and public outreach through social media and cultural leaders – often artists and entertainers who can get the information out – to study and simultaneously address these global challenges.” Mark Shwartz writes about energy research for the Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford University.
Visit the Blessed Mother Mary in Lourdes, France
Many religious people pray to the Virgin Mary, regarding her as the blessed Mother who helps us through life’s tough times. coque iphone According to the Bible, she was the mother of Jesus, son of God, thousands of years ago. But what if Mary chose to reappear – where would she do so? According to legend, it would be Lourdes, France in 1858 and this sighting would put Lourdes on the map for both pilgrimers and tourists, alike. Lourdes is a small town in the Hautes-Pyrénées département in southwest France, home of the largest Catholic pilgrimage destination in France and one of the most popular Catholic shrines in the world – Our Lady of Lourdes. The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes incorporates 128 acres of property and 22 places of worship, including a sacred grotto, two basilicas, and a variety of buildings for pilgrims and the sick. Outside the sanctuary, many pilgrims also visit the home of the young visionary, St. Bernadette. coque iphone 8 The small town of only 17,000 inhabitants receives more than 5 million pilgrims and tourists each year due to visions of the Virgin Mother Mary reported by a young girl named Bernadette on February 11, 1858 at what is now called the Grotto of Massabielle. As the story goes, Bernadette had been walking along the River Gave de Pau and got separated from her sisters. Upon seeing Mary, she was initially frightened and grabbed her rosary and began to pray. coque iphone Mary prayed with her. At first, Bernadette was too scared to respond to Mary’s beckoning gestures. coque iphone Three days later, Bernadette returned to the same spot and began a series of what would turn out to be 18 sightings within the next weeks. Mary began to communicate with Bernadette, created a stream from a puddle Bernadette drank from and eventually healed her paralyzed arm. Thus was the first of now many said ‘miracles’ of this spot in Lourdes, France. On Bernadette’s 16th sighting, Mary asked her to request that local priests build a chapel on the site where she and Bernadette had been communing. coque iphone By the final 18th apparition, Bernadette had around 8000 followers who believed, as she did, that indeed Mary, Mother of God, had appeared. coque iphone 8 Finally, in 1871, the Church of the Immaculate Conception was established and a chapel built on the site where Bernadette had her visions. Since then, visitors and religious pilgrimers flock by the millions every year. When the crowds of pilgrims get too much, you can take refuge on the rocky 94m-high pinnacle of the Pic du Jer, which offers panoramic views of Lourdes and the central Pyrenees.
Jerusalem’s Temple Mount
Despite political and religious unrest between Israel and Palestine for over 60 years, they agree on one thing – the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem is a sacred space and must be spared from destruction due to their ongoing wars. Temple Mount, on Mount Moriah, is one of the most hallowed religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem and is considered a holy site for several different religions. Judaism, Christianity and Islam all assign special, sacred meaning. Accordingly, Temple Mount is also highly contested as to its exact relevance by each. The Jewish faith considers Temple Mount (Mount Moriah) to be the place where God chose the Divine Presence to rest. According to Rabbi sages and the Talmud, from here the world as we know it expanded into its current form and also God gathered the dust to create the first man – Adam. Christianity believes the Temple had a tremendous role in the life of Jesus. It was at the Temple that Jesus was found and he confounded the Jewish theologians with his knowledge of the Torah. Jesus was said to have propehsized the Temple’s destruction, which happened in AD 70. During the Byzantine era, Jerusalem was a place Christians would pilgrimage to by the tens of thousands to experience the place where Jesus walked. Sunni Muslims consider the Mount to be the third holiest site in Islam. Thought of as the Noble Sanctuary, this is considered to be the location of Muhammad’s journey to Jerusalem an ascent to heaven. The Mount is also associated with Jewish biblical prophets that are also venerated in Islam. Temple Mount itself encompasses about 100 different structures from various time periods, such as great works of art, Muslim prayer spots, ached porticos, Muslim religious schools, minarets, and fountains (for both drinking and to wash up before prayer). Beneath the present-day Mount are also substructures, the most well known and largest of which being ‘Solomon’s stables’. Highlights include: • The Western Wall (also known as the ‘Wailing Wall) – One of the four remaining walls surrounding Temple Mount that has been a site for Jewish prayer and pilgrimage. The sages state that anyone who prays in the Temple in Jerusalem, “it is as if he has prayed before the throne of glory because the gate of heaven is situated there and it is open to hear prayer” • Dome of the Rock – One of the most outstanding architectural accomplishments in the world and the third holiest place in all of Islam. coque iphone It currently sits in the middle, occupying or close to the area where the Bible mandates the Holy Temple be rebuilt.According to Muslim legend, the Prophet Muhammad ascended from here into heaven and met all the prophets that had preceded him, as well as seeing God sitting on His throne surrounded by angels. coque iphone 2019 • Kas Fountain – Muslims perform ritual ceremonial self-washings before entering the holy sites. The Muslim community of Jerusalem has managed the city since the Crusades, without interruption. Yet Temple Mount is part of the Old City, controlled by Israel since 1967. Both Israel and Palestine claim sovereignty over it and it remains a major source of conflict. As such, freedom to visit the site for all faiths is upheld by law, but for those of the Jewish faith, it’s a touchy subject. soldes coque iphone The Israeli government enforces a controversial ban on prayer by non-Muslim visitors. coque iphone 8 Arabs may only enter through one of ten specific, Muslim-only gates in the Old City. coque iphone xs max Today, both Muslims and those of the Jewish faith share responsibility for its safety and preservation – the Islamic community manages the site and Israel provides security. Because of the sensitivity of the site, those of both the Jewish and Muslim faith must follow strict guidelines to times and places for visitation (best to check first if this applies).
Video: Earth Life – Rare Nature Scenes Up Close
Watch As Earth Slowly Comes To Life In This Series Of Rare Nature Scenes. coque iphone 8 This up-close and personal video, coque iphone 8 edited by Roen Horn, coque iphone 8 characterizes the unconventional beauty of nature. coque iphone 7 Using high performance, coque iphone 2019 pas cher high frame rate captures, soldes coque iphone this slowed down look at the world is set to Karen O’s “Hello Tomorrow”.
Video: Last Hours on Earth – The Tipping Point
Learn More: http://lasthours.org/
The film “Last Hours” describes a science-based climate scenario where a tipping point to runaway climate change is triggered by massive releases of frozen methane. coque iphone 6 Methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, has already started to percolate into the open seas and atmosphere from methane hydrate deposits beneath melting arctic ice, from the warming northern-hemisphere tundra, and from worldwide continental-shelf undersea methane pools. coque iphone Burning fossil fuels release carbon that, principally through greenhouse effect, heat the atmosphere and the seas. vente de coque iphone This is happening most rapidly at the polar extremes, and this heating has already begun the process of releasing methane. coque iphone 8 If we do not begin to significantly curtail the use of carbon-based fossil fuels, this freed methane threatens to radically accelerate the speed of global warming, potentially producing a disaster beyond the ability of the human species to adapt. With this film, we hope to awaken people to the fact that the earth has experienced five major extinctions in the deep geologic past – times when more than half of all life on earth vanished – and that we are now entering a sixth extinction. Industrial civilization with its production of greenhouse gases has the potential to trigger a mass extinction on the order of those seen in the deep geological past. In the extreme, it could threaten not just human civilization, but the very existence of human life on this planet. coque iphone 6 An asset for the climate change movement, “Last Hours” will be disseminated globally to help inform society about the dangers associated with climate change and to encourage the world community to chart a path forward that greatly reduces green house gas emissions. We encourage you to explore this website and the highlighted actions you can take to address climate change. We look forward to bringing you additional films about the challenges we face and the solutions that exist over the next few years, in the lead up to COP21, the 2015 UN Conference on Climate Change in Paris.
“Last Hours” is narrated by Thom Hartmann and directed by Leila Conners. Executive Producers are George DiCaprio and Earl Katz. Last Hours is produced by Mathew Schmid of Tree Media Foundation, and was written by Thom Hartmann, Sam Sacks, and Leila Conners.
Ruchira Gupta & Apne Aap Women Worldwide
Prostitution is not a choice but an absence of choice based on gender, class, caste, ethnic and race inequalities that the sex industry exploits.
Ruchira Gupta is the Founder and President of Apne Aap Women Worldwide – a grassroots organization in India working to end sex trafficking by increasing choices for at-risk girls and women. She has striven over her 25 year career to highlight the link between trafficking and prostitution laws, and to lobby policy makers to shift blame from victims to perpetrators. She testified in the United States Senate before the passage of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000, and she lobbied with other activists at the United Nations during the formulations for the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons — resulting in the first UN instrument to address demand for trafficking in Article 9. In 2009 Gupta won the Clinton Global Citizen Award and in 2007 , she won the Abolitionist Award at the UK House of Lords. In 2008 and 2009, Gupta addressed the UN General Assembly on human trafficking. soldes coque iphone She won an Emmy in 1997 for her work on the documentary “The Selling of Innocents,” which inspired the creation of Apne Aap. coque iphone xr Her work has been featured in 11 books including Half the Sky by Sheryl WuDunn and Nicholas Kristof. coque iphone Watch a Trailer for Ruchira’s Documentary – The Selling of Innocents
- Host a film screening to raise money for empowering girls in India.
- Organize a “Dine-in.” Ask your friends to a potluck dinner, where the money that they would have spent dining out is donated to Apne Aap instead.
- Ask your school, church or office to sponsor a self-empowerment group.