flappy

Stories of Hope and Change (as seen in : informationliberatio n.com )

Examines "strategies that appear to be improving the health of the community, whether local or global" at a time when real solutions more than ever are needed. Examples covered include "events or programs that are actually working for people and that increase the healthy functioning of governments, economies, the environment and the human condition."

It proves that organized people can beat organized money for constructive change as effectively as when famed Chicago community organizer/activist Saul Alinsky (1909 - 1972) once explained it.

Examples include:
-- citizen groups in all 18 Iraqi provinces successfully promoting peaceful elections;

-- New York grassroots organizers and volunteers using the state's fusion voting laws to win over citizens for higher wages, fair taxes, affordable housing, civil rights, and campaign finance reform;

-- 1,500 campaign donors pledging "not to donate to any federal candidate unless they support legislation making congressional elections citizen-funded, not special-interest funded;"

-- pro-Israeli groups like Americans for Peace Now (APN) and J Street calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead last December and January;

-- Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI) introducing a bill to strengthen federal whistleblower protections;

-- Canada's Stephen Harper-led government apologizing for the treatment of native peoples;

-- a successful democracy movement in Brazil;

-- a European-led "revolution in chemical regulation" requiring thousands of chemicals to be assessed for potential toxicity;

-- a federal appeals court telling the EPA that its pollutants standards are "contrary to law and unsupported by adequately reasoned decision making;"


-- brain research on Buddhist monks revealing the benefits of meditation;

-- evidence that the human brain is hardwired to reward caring, cooperation, and service;

-- at a time of agribusiness dominance and rising prices, urban farms have become an important resource for providing cheap, local amounts of food for growing numbers of people;

-- these gardens have proliferated in Cuba, an idea that could become a world model for "localized food sovereignty and sustainability;"

-- communities are making food a matter of local interest;

-- grassroots efforts are achieving good food policies in America;

-- community stewardship of water is reclaiming a tradition of local control;

-- Bangladesh's successful model of fair water governance;

-- the US Conference of Mayors voting to encourage municipal water use over high-cost corporate-controlled sources;

-- sustainability efforts by a central Appalachian Network for a low-carbon regional economy;

-- successful holistic range management methods for more productive ranches, healthy ecosystems, biodiversity, healthy water, mineral cycles and land;

-- Canadian native communities gaining power over regional resources;

-- Congress approving a massive public lands bill to protect two million acres of wilderness in nine states and 1,000 miles of rivers;

-- Ireland and British Columbia, Canada banning uranium mining;

-- Brazil pledging to reduce deforestation by 70% over the next decade;


-- America becoming the world's largest wind-energy producer;

-- Portugal building the world's largest solar photovoltaic farm to supply enough electricity for 30,000 homes;

-- rising investment levels being made in renewable energy;

-- community banks functioning as an alternative to Wall Street giants;

-- the Common Good Bank model distributing profits back to the community and making all lending and spending decisions through participatory democracy;

-- cooperatives turning wage slaves into worker-owners;


-- Ecuador questioning the legitimacy of foreign debt;

-- Washington possibly losing its right to appoint future World Bank presidents;

-- Net Neutrality hopes for passage increasing, but not without stiff corporate opposition against it;( the principle that Internet users should be able to access any web content they want, post their own content, and use any applications they choose, without restrictions or limitations imposed by their Internet service providers (ISPs).

-- community land trust solutions offering hope for the foreclosure crisis; also, in Landmark National Bank v. Kesler (August 2009), the Kansas Supreme Court ruled unanimously against Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems' (MERS) right to bring a foreclosure action; over half of all new residential mortgages are registered with MERS; the ruling applies to other mortgage holders in Kansas, but it sets a precedent that other states may follow;

-- the Pathway to Housing program calling for a "housing first" approach to address the problem of chronic homelessness;

-- in opposition to America's war on drugs, a Latin American Commission on Drugs calling for a new paradigm;

--

__________________
<> <><><><><><><><> <><><><><><><><><> <>