Catholics on Climate Change

Who is under your carbon footprint?

http://catholicclimatecovenant.org/

Sweet Darkness

When your eyes are tired the world is tired also.When your vision has gone no part of the world can find you.

Time to do into dark where the night has eyes to recognize its own. There you can be sure you are not beyond love.

The dark will be your home tonight. The night will give you a horizon Further than you can see.

You must learn one thing. The world was made to be free in.

Give up all the other worlds except the one to which you belong.

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you.

–David Whyte, “Sweet Darkness”

Which is worse? Hummers or toilet paper?

Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent

The tenderness of the delicate American buttock is causing more environmental devastation than the country’s love of gas-guzzling cars, fast food or McMansions, according to green campaigners. At fault, they say, is the US public’s insistence on extra-soft, quilted and multi-ply products when they use the bathroom.

“This is a product that we use for less than three seconds and the ecological consequences of manufacturing it from trees is enormous,” said Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defence Council.

“Future generations are going to look at the way we make toilet paper as one of the greatest excesses of our age. Making toilet paper from virgin wood is a lot worse than driving Hummers in terms of global warming pollution.” Making toilet paper has a significant impact because of chemicals used in pulp manufacture and cutting down forests.

A campaign by Greenpeace seeks to raise consciousness among Americans about the environmental costs of their toilet habits and counter an aggressive new push by the paper industry giants to market so-called luxury brands.

More than 98% of the toilet roll sold in America comes from virgin wood, said Hershkowitz. In Europe and Latin America, up to 40% of toilet paper comes from recycled products. Greenpeace this week launched a cut-out-and-keep ecological ranking of toilet paper products.

“We have this myth in the US that recycled is just so low quality, it’s like cardboard and is impossible to use,” said Lindsey Allen, the forestry campaigner of Greenpeace.

The campaigning group says it produced the guide to counter an aggressive marketing push by the big paper product makers in which celebrities talk about the comforts of luxury brands of toilet paper and tissue.

Those brands, which put quilting and pockets of air between several layers of paper, are especially damaging to the environment.

Paper manufacturers such as Kimberly-Clark have identified luxury brands such as three-ply tissues or tissues infused with hand lotion as the fastest-growing market share in a highly competitive industry. Its latest television advertisements show a woman caressing tissue infused with hand lotion.

The New York Times reported a 40% rise in sales of luxury brands of toilet paper in 2008. Paper companies are anxious to keep those percentages up, even as the recession bites. And Reuters reported that Kimberly-Clark spent $25m in its third quarter on advertising to persuade Americans against trusting their bottoms to cheaper brands.

But Kimberly-Clark, which touts its green credentials on its website, rejects the idea that it is pushing destructive products on an unwitting American public.

Dave Dixon, a company spokesman, said toilet paper and tissue from recycled fibre had been on the market for years. If Americans wanted to buy them, they could.

“For bath tissue Americans in particular like the softness and strength that virgin fibres provides,” Dixon said. “It’s the quality and softness the consumers in America have come to expect.”

Longer fibres in virgin wood are easier to lay out and fluff up for a softer tissue. Dixon said the company used products from sustainbly farmed forests in Canada.

Americans already consume vastly more paper than any other country — about three times more per person than the average European, and 100 times more than the average person in China.

Barely a third of the paper products sold in America are from recycled sources — most of it comes from virgin wood.

“I really do think it is overwhelmingly an American phenomenon,” said Hershkowitz. “People just don’t understand that softness equals ecological destruction.”

• This article was amended on Wednesday 4 March 2009. We mistakenly referred to virgin forests when virgin wood, which includes that from planted, managed forests, was meant. This has been corrected.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/feb/26/toilet-roll-america

VOTE FOR THE EARTH

This year, Earth Hour has been transformed into the world’s first global election, between Earth and global warming. For the first time in history, people of all ages, nationalities, race and background have the opportunity to use their light switch as their vote – Switching off your lights is a vote for Earth, or leaving them on is a vote for global warming. WWF are urging the world to VOTE EARTH and reach the target of 1 billion votes, which will be presented to world leaders at the Global Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen 2009. This meeting will determine official government policies to take action against global warming, which will replace the Kyoto Protocol. It is the chance for the people of the world to make their voice heard.

Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.

In 2009, Earth Hour is being taken to the next level, with the goal of 1 billion people switching off their lights as part of a global vote. Unlike any election in history, it is not about what country you’re from, but instead, what planet you’re from. VOTE EARTH is a global call to action for every individual, every business, and every community. A call to stand up and take control over the future of our planet. Over 74 countries and territories have pledged their support to VOTE EARTH during Earth Hour 2009, and this number is growing everyday.  The UN Secretary General urges citizens to join in the Earth Hour, even the Great Pyramids of Giza are turning off an hour.

We all have a vote, and every single vote counts. Together we can take control of the future of our planet, for future generations.

http://www.earthhour.org/home/

Rethink your outlook on people with disabilities

Rethink your outlook on the disabled

By Johanna Mattern Allen

Posted: Mar. 23, 2009

Words cannot begin to express how disappointing it was to hear President Barack Obama’s Special Olympics gaffe on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” on Thursday.

But it’s not just Obama who needs to take a hard look at this. His remark on one of the most popular television shows in America is indicative of a culture that is all too comfortable disparaging individuals with a disability – I might add, individuals who never would disparage him or anyone.

Since he so decidedly put his foot in his mouth, here’s my four-point plan for the president to make reparations for the cultural damage he caused last week:

• Pony up beaucoup bucks for the Special Olympics cause.

• Create a cabinet position for disability now. There currently isn’t even a policy adviser for disability since Kareem Dale moved to an arts leadership position. With a disability population in the United States of 50 million-plus, and growing especially as our population ages, we need disability experts to work alongside our president.

• Create positions for self-advocates in the White House so the president and the world never forget about people who have to work harder than he ever can dream of working to achieve what they do.

• Urge every college, university and high school in America to teach disability history/cultural competency.

Obama isn’t the only smart (read: well-rounded intellectual) person I know who knows jack about disability. And not all of us are as lucky as me to have my son, Jack (who has Down syndrome), for a teacher.

It’s totally cool to not know, but do something about it instead of getting defensive, making excuses or ignoring it. Here’s my simple, pain-free, four-point plan for the rest of us:

• Read some disability history. Read Paul K. Longmore.

• When interacting with an individual with a disability, presume competence. Always. Just because someone moves, communicates, sits, eats, breathes, walks, hears, sees, thinks or problem-solves differently, or doesn’t do any of these things, he or she still experiences life, contributes to the world, has feelings and thrives and depends on relationships with others.

• Don’t defend offensive language. Just because it comfortably rolls off one’s tongue in mixed company or it’s self-deprecating or we’ve always said it, that doesn’t mean it’s right. The next time you think “we’re being too sensitive,” think about how you sound clinging to an outdated term and defending it after the minority group being maligned has asked you to stop. If you need to be self-deprecating, use a thesaurus. Find the word or phrase you like and practice it before you need it – that’s how habits get broken. Language influences culture, culture influences policy and, in my son’s case, he can hear you (and so can I).

• Give us a break. No really. Take the time to be with a parent of a child with a disability or an individual with a disability. Encourage your children to have a play date with a child with a disability. Challenge the idea of why you might not have a friend with a disability. Reach out in friendship to those of us who are most marginalized. The great secret about disability is that each one of us is only a heartbeat away from it at all times.

The great tragedy of past generations is that there have been unspoken divides between the cultures of the disabled and those who are not. In the culture of disability, we’re accustomed to cheering on individuals with great challenges to help them overcome great obstacles and odds.

We in the disability community know those of you who aren’t disabled are able to learn more and know you are capable of using inclusive language and joining us in a 21st-century way of thinking.

Johanna Mattern Allen lives in Milwaukee. March 31 is the Special Olympics’ “Spread the Word to End the Word Day,” a national day of awareness calling for America to stop and reconsider the use of the “r” word: retard/ed. Go to www.r-word.org

 

Obama White House Garden…and disallowing organic foods?

On one hand, the Obamas will be planting a garden in the White House lawn.  Awesome!! http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7954573.stm

On the other hand there is a bill being sponsored to stop organic food, pasturized food, and heirloom seeds from being produced.  The sponsor of the bill is Rosa Delauro, she is married to Stan Greenburg a political strategist who works for Monsanto.  The bill is House Bill 875.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:H.R.875: here’s the bill <-i can’t fully figure it out…so if anyone can interpret this, please share

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epXNJNjYBvw <-here’s a utube video about it.

http://pop.youtube.com/watch?v=eeWVkTU1s1E <-a response to the about utube video.

Hopefully, the Obamas see the merit in gardening and, well, life producing life instead of inorganic chemicals producing inorganic ‘food’ that has reduced nutritional value, hardly any taste, but very colorful ‘food.’  Either way, we need to hold them accountable.

A donkey tale

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do.

Finally he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway, it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey. So he invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement, he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw.

With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up! As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off! Moral: Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up!

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred.

2. Free your mind from worries.

3. Live simply.

4. Give more.

5. Expect less.

—

if anyone has tools on how to do these things, please share.

time…

musing-time is a human construction that we use in order to control and monitor what and when and how.  what if, instead of looking at time and events, in terms of one human life, we looked at it terms of the time of the universe.  what would a broken-heart be in the time of the universe?  what would a ‘failure’ or an ‘achievement’ be?  how big and how small am i in the time of the universe?  what type of choices am i making that affect the universe-in its time…

People First Language

from the website: www.disabilityisnatural.com

To achieve Inclusion, Community, and Freedom for people with disabilities, we must use PEOPLE FIRST LANGUAGE
A commentary by Kathie Snow

“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.”   Mark Twain

Who are the so-called handicapped? Society’s myths tell us they are: people who “suffer” from the “tragedy of birth defects” “paraplegic heroes” who “struggle” to become normal” again “victims” who “fight” to “overcome” their conditions categorically: the so-called disabled, retarded, autistic, blind, deaf, learning disabled, and more

Who are they, really?

They are moms and dads and sons and daughters . . . employees and employers. . . scientists (Stephen Hawking) . . . friends and neighbors . . . movie stars (Marlee Matlin) . . . leaders and followers . . . students and teachers . . . they are people. They are people, first.

“The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names.”  ~Old Chinese Proverb

Are you myopic or do you wear glasses?
Are you cancerous or do you have cancer?
Are you freckled or do you have freckles?
Are you handicapped/disabled or do you have a disability?

People First Language describes what a person HAS, not what a person IS!

People First Language puts the person before the disability!

The Disability Rights Movement is following in the footsteps of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and the Women’s Movement of the 1970s. While people with disabilities and advocates work to end discrimination and segregation in education, employment, and our communities at large, we must all work to eliminate the prejudicial language that creates an invisible barrier to inclusion in the mainstream of life.

“Disability is a natural part of the human experience…” U.S. Developmental Disabilities Act & The Bill of Rights Act, 1993

Disability is not the “problem.”

We need to rid our vocabulary of the word “problem” when talking about people’s needs! A person with glasses doesn’t say, “I have a problem seeing.” She says, “I wear (or need) glasses.” Recognize that what we call a “problem” is actually a need.

The real problems are attitudinal and environmental barriers.

If educators-and our society at large-perceived children with disabilities as individuals who have the potential to learn, who have the need for the same education as their brothers and sisters, and who have a future in the adult world of work, we wouldn’t have to fight for inclusive education.

If employers-and our society at large-believed adults with disabilities have valuable job skills and can contribute to the success of a business, we wouldn’t have to fight for real jobs for real pay in the real community.

If business owners-and our society at large-viewed people with disabilities as consumers with money to spend, we wouldn’t have to fight for accessible entrances and other accommodations.

In our society, “handicapped” and “disabled” are all-encompassing terms that are misused.

People with hearing or vision impairments don’t need “handicapped” parking or restrooms. Many people with physical disabilities do need accessible parking and restrooms.

If a “handicapped” entrance has a ramp for people who use wheelchairs, does the doorway have Braille signage for people with visual impairments?

Accommodations that enable people with disabilities to access a facility-regardless of their disabilities-are accessible!

“Disabled” is not accurate, either. Our society “corrupts” language. When a traffic reporter describes a traffic jam, we often hear, “There’s a disabled vehicle on the highway.” “Disabled,” in that context, means “broken down.” People with disabilities are not broken!

If a new toaster doesn’t work, we say, “It’s defective!” and we return it and get a new one! Do we return babies who have birth “defects”? The respectful term is “congenital disability.”

It’s time we understand the power of language.

When we misuse words, we reinforce the barriers created by negative and stereotypical attitudes. When we refer to people with disabilities by medical diagnoses, we devalue and disrespect them as members of the human race. Disability labels are simply sociopolitical terms that provide a passport to services. For too long, labels have been used to define the value and potential of people who are labeled.

People will live up (or down) to our expectations. If we expect people with disabilities to succeed, we cannot let labels stand in their way. We must not let labels destroy the hopes and dreams of people with disabilities and their families.

Disability can be defined as a body function that operates differently.

Contrast that meaning with: the origin of “handicap,” from the dictionary, which refers to “hand in cap,” a game where the losing player was considered to be at a disadvantage; and a legendary origin of the word which refers to a person with a disability having to beg on the street with “cap in hand.”

“Handicapped,” “Disabled,” or People with Disabilities: which description is most accurate?

Using “handicapped,” and even “disabled,” typically evokes negative feelings (sadness, pity, fear, and more) and creates a stereotypical perception that people with disabilities are all alike. All people who have brown hair are not alike. All people who have disabilities are not alike. In fact, people with disabilities are more like people without disabilities
than different!

The disability community is the largest minority group in our nation, and it’s all inclusive! It includes people of both genders and of all ages, as well as individuals from all religions, ethnic backgrounds, and socioeconomic levels. About the only things people with disabilities have in common with one another are 1) having a body part that is different and
2) facing prejudice and discrimination. Unique to the disability community is that it’s the only minority group that anyone can join in the split second of an accident.

If and when it happens to you, will you have more in common with others with disabilities or with your family, friends, and coworkers?

Many people who do not now have a disability will have one in the future. Others will have a family member or friend who acquires a disability. If you acquire a disability in your lifetime, how will you want to be described? How will you want to be treated? Disability issues are issues that affect everyone!

Using People First Language is a crucial issue.

If people with disabilities are to be included in all aspects of our communities-in the ordinary, wonderful, and typical activities most people take for granted-they must talk about themselves in the ordinary, wonderful, typical language others use about themselves.

Children with disabilities are children, first. The only labels they need are their names! Parents must not talk about their children in the clinical terms used by medical practitioners. A parent of a child who wears glasses (medical diagnosis: myopia) doesn’t say, “My daughter is myopic,” so why does the parent of a child who has a medical diagnosis of autism say, “My daughter is autistic.”?

Adults with disabilities are adults, first. The only labels they need are their names! They must not talk about themselves the way service providers talk about them. An adult with a medical diagnosis of cancer doesn’t say, “I’m cancerous,” so why does an adult with a diagnosis of cerebral palsy say, “I’m disabled.”?

What’s the only purpose of a disability label? To get services!

A disability label is simply a medical diagnosis and a sociopolitical passport for entry into the service system. Disability labels cannot be used to define human beings!

My son, Benjamin, is 14 years old. He loves Star Wars, pretzels, and playing on the computer; he collects Pez candy dispensers. He has blond hair, blue eyes, and cerebral palsy. His disability is only one characteristic of his whole persona. He is not his diagnosis, and his potential cannot be defined by his disability label. In fact, among friends and family, and in typical settings, a person’s disability should be irrelevant! Disability labels should only be used within the service system; they have no place in the real world!

When I introduce myself to people, I don’t tell them I’ll never be a prima ballerina. Like others, I focus on my strengths, not on what I can’t do. Don’t you do the same? I don’t say, “My son can’t write with a pencil.” I say, “My son uses a computer to write.” I don’t say, “My son can’t walk.” I say, “My son uses a wheelchair.” How can you change the language you use about yourself or others with disabilities?

A person’s self-image is strongly tied to the words used to describe the person. For generations, people with disabilities have been described in negative, stereotypical language that has created mythical portrayals about them. Over time, these myths have taken on the power of truths, when they’re actually lies. We must all believe people with disabilities are real people with unlimited potential, just like all people. We must stop believing the myths-the lies-of labels.

We have the power to create new truths about people with disabilities.

Using People First Language can influence society’s views and treatment of people with disabilities.

Isn’t it time for us to make this change? If not now, when? If not you, who?

Benjamin goes ballistic when he hears “handicapped.” I hope when he’s grown, labels will be extinct. People First Language is right. Just do it-NOW!

Examples of People First Language
Say                                                                 Instead of
people with disabilities                                 the handicapped or disabled
he has a cognitive disability                         he’s mentally retarded
she has autism                                              she’s autistic
he has Down syndrome                                he’s Downs
she has a learning disability                        she’s learning disabled
he has a physical disability                          he’s a quadriplegic/crippled
she’s of short stature                                     she’s a dwarf (or midget)
he has an emotional disability                     he’s emotionally disturbed
she uses a wheelchair or mobility               she’s wheelchair bound/she’s confined to a wheelchair
he receives special ed services                  he’s in special ed
typical kids  kids without disabilities           normal or healthy kids
congenital disability                                      birth defect
brain injury                                                      brain damaged
accessible parking                                       handicapped parking
she needs . . . or she uses                           she has a problem with …

And no more “special needs”! A person’s needs aren’t special to him-they’re normal and ordinary! Keep thinking-there are many descriptors we need to change. Practice new ways of thinking!

Copyright ? 2001 by Kathie Snow. Please feel free to print and distribute this article.

Merry Christmas!

(this is what I would have posted yesterday if I had had internet).  Hope everyone is doing wonderfully!

Two writings have been given to me this year that hold for my the essence of this celebration. The priest at Church today talked about his symbol for Christmas. He said his was light. Mine are the two writings below. Please share yours!
—–

“What Child is This?”
Did you ever notice what we do when we hold a small child? We all do it.
Our eyes. We look straight into the child’s face, and silently speak
the wonder, awe, love, that can’t be put into words.
Our lips. We use our lips a lot when holding a baby. We purse them,
make sounds that aren’t words, and we kiss the child from a distance
(and/or all over its face…)
Our arms. If ever arms expressed holding something precious, they do
it when we cradle a tiny baby. Few could describe such grace, but
everyone can picture it.
Our whole body. Did you ever notice that we never stand still when
holding a tiny baby? We slowly sway from side to side, turn in half
circles, lean forward and back.
Did you ever stop to think that you were once held that way? Anyone
who ever held you as a tiny child held you that way. Even if things
aren’t going well-especially if things aren’t going well.
What child is this? It’s me. In God’s arms.

Merry Christmas.

(from the Little Blue Book from the Archdiocese of Saginaw, MI)

—-
“The Work of Christmas”

When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,

The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among others,
To make music in the heart.

(Howard Thurman)