Population Elephant

I met a new co-hort in the population field today. His name is Kurt Dahl and he has great insights into this profoundly difficult-to-navigate issue. Check him out at www.populationelephant.com I noticed that his list of knowledgeable people in this field is only a list of men. I plan to change that someday. It was a pleasure to have lunch with him today and discuss this critical key issue with a fellow activist in this area.

Congrats to Our New Senator

Dear Al, Frannie, Thomasin and Joe,

Congratulations to all of you on surviving the grueling months of challenges to your election as our senator. I am so excited. It has truly been a pleasure being a district and state delegate for you as well as a canvasser. I wish I could have done more.

Go and join Amy and be the senator of the people. You know what we want. What the people want hasn’t changed much over the years. We want everything you said you would fight for in your campaign. We want a chance for a better future. We want the rules to start favoring the average person and not the big corporations. We want education and health care that doesn’t rob us of our savings and put us under a mountain of debt. We don’t want anymore of us to be sent off to wars which cannot be won and will only drain our budgets and the best resource we have, our young people.

We want out leaders to be better educated on the issues than we are so that they may lead us in a direction to a better world. We don’t need them to test the political waters before making a decision and then do only what is currently popular. Time has taught us that equal rights for all is the right thing to do, health care for all including mental health coverage is the right thing to do. In the end, as our late great friend and senator said, “We all do better when we all do better”, that even includes those from the other side of the aisle.

As you begin your learning curve of how to negotiate the political hurdles and challenges of Washington, please keep in mind that keeping us headed in a direction of social and ecological justice is not ultimately possible without addressing one issue which no one is touching, the issue of our own numbers.

The Mayan culture died off because they overpopulated their resource base. Globally we are doing that to the tune of 9,000 people per hour net gain each and every day. The US with its high rate of consumption is much too blame for robbing the Earth of so many of its raw materials. People need to know that underlying that over-consumption is the fact that we are the fastest growing industrialized country in the world. 3,000,000 more Americans each year will need food, health care, housing, jobs, clean water, and let’s not forget wild areas to enjoy.

This factor alone will undermine any legislation which you may get a chance to author or sign. Humanely working on this issue is not only possible but necessary. While you will have many pressing challenges facing you in the senate, please keep this in mind as you do what I’m sure will be a great job as our senator.

If you ever need anything related to population, environmental issues, environmental education, or sustainability please contact me, I would love to be of some assistance.

Congratulations. I look forward more sanity and humor coming out of Washington in the days ahead.

Karen's Creamy Vegan Salad dressing

1 Cup Nayonaise ( this is made by Nasoya and is tofu based )
2 Tblsp Dijon Mustard
2 tsps Tumeric
2 cloves garlic shredded
1/3 cup water
2 Tblsp honey or maple syrup
2 tsps dill weed

optional 1 tblsp organic pickle relish, fresh garden herbs,basil, oregane to taste

Unworthy of a Green Label

If going green is to mean anything or catch on in a meaningful way it must not only be measured by a companies willingness to put on a green roof or distribute organic food. It must not only be measured by their use of energy efficient light bulbs. While it is fine to commend corporations for putting in place practices which help us all out by reducing carbon emissions, we need to stop referring them as green if they continue to have anti-family, anti-union and in general anti-employee practices.

The new green needs to be humane too. Twice this month I have seen where Wal-mart got an award for being greener than several companies which pay fair wages and offer their employees health care AND have other traditionally green practices in place. Natural Health Magazine gave them one of their top ten green company awards in their recent publication.

Wal-mart is now a part of the Twin Cities Living Green Expo, taking up a lot of floor space and ad space, while not managing to pay their workers fairly or give them health care benefits. The very wealthy owners of this mega-store have private jets which they use to come into towns and break up unions. They are responsible for burdening the hospitals of every state in which they do business because their employees use emergency rooms as the doctors they cannot afford. Essentially they fence cheap goods made with low wages abroad, forcing age-old local businesses to close in many a small town. This alone should prevent their entry into events which used to stand for something far more meaningful.

These very wealthy companies should disgust every American especially those who love following a greener ethic. These companies are not green, not by my definition. My definition of green is a company which insists on offering goods which are fair traded, locally and organicially-sourced necessary goods. They pay a living wage and give full health care. medical leave and vacation benefits to its employees. When we allow them to co-opt us because they are doing a few good things, we undermine our entire cause.

While it is true that just by their size alone they can effect a lot of green changes, they need to be told that they need to include fair labor practices in their green portrait.
These CEO’s can afford this without giving up too may golden seatbelts in their private planes.America will be a better country for it, and the Green movement will be able to attract many more members as they see that it is offers a wider umbrella. The Green movement will stand for more than green roofs and incandescent florescent lightbulbs, it will stand for people too.

Lessons I'm Still Learning from My Mom

Lessons I’m Still Learning from my Mom
( With thanks to my friends and family for your love and support)
By Karen I. Shragg

Before an illness grabs you
Like a dog grabs its favorite toy
Before it shakes you down to your very core
Leaving you with a body you barely recognize
Be sure you’ve accumulated the kind of
Friends and family who will love you beyond
The physical person to whom they’ve grown accustom
Take the time today to make one more friend
Call one more relative, make someone smile
For those who are connected to your inner beauty
Will be the ones to remind you
That to them you will always be beautiful
And they will tell you that just when
You need to hear it most
Holding your hand
Giving you courage just when you think you’ve run dry
Giving you a gift you
Need not worry about ever repaying
Because you are just collecting on an investment
You’ve made over the years
With each gesture of love
With each gift of your time
They will be there like beacons on a dark night
Lighting the way to a better tomorrow.

Some of the Best Teachers

Some of the best teachers
Don’t even know they are teaching
But the lessons are there
For us to catch and store
Away for future use
Visiting my mom in the hospital has been like that
Each day I take away a few gems
That I wouldn’t trade for all the organic tea in China
The way she accepts her situation ( bed ridden in ICU for 3 weeks
And counting ) without complaining
The way she cares about others more than herself
The way she can still make me laugh with little quips
But mostly, in a world with people wanting for so many things,
Thinking that they will be happier when they get more stuff,
I asked this grand and gracious lady what she longs for the
most right now.. and she said, “I’d like to go for a walk outside”
So if you are reading this, take the time to go for a walk outside.
Do it for yourself, do it for those who can’t, do if for my mom
Who is still teaching me lessons
Even when she doesn’t know it.

Healthy Smoothie

I've been experimenting on how to give my mom nutrition as she goes through the challenges of chemotherapy. Unfortunately she is not ready to eat or drink much yet as her tastebuds are upside down and my mother who is an admitted chocoholic doesn't like the taste of sweets... meanwhile others can enjoy this delicious smoothie which is so full of fiber and nutrition.. its great for people on the go as well as a drink to boost your immune system. (Hemp powder is available at Linden Hills Coop in the Twin Cities, other co-ops and natural food stores, its full of protein and fiber.)

Put in a blender the following:
2 cups Organic soy vanilla
1/8 cup Aloe gel
4 tblsps Hemp powder
3 Tblsps Vanilla
8 oz frozen organic peaches ( or fruit of your choice)
6 oz cherry soy yogurt
8 oz water
4 ice cubes