Life in the West Bank

I can’t be in Jordan without facing the reality of what is happening one the other side of the Jordan/Israel border. If only CNN and their pals would pay attention!!! Please read this quick posting (clipped below) , then watch “Who profits from Israeli occupation” (also below or at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L32Nama7ad8). I heard about both from Juan Cole (Uof Michigan Middle East expert-guy and great blogger) at http://www.juancole.com/. Get the word out!!

clipped from www.huffingtonpost.com An Account of Life on the West Bank On August 3, my husband Mohammed Khatib, and my little brother Abdullah, were taken from their beds in our West Bank village of Bil’in at 3 AM by the Israeli military. My husband is a member of the Bil’in Popular Committee, which has been leading our village’s nonviolent campaign against Israel’s construction of a Wall and a settlement on our land. For nearly five years, every Friday we have been joined by supporters from Israel and around the world as we attempt to march to our land on the other side of the Wall. According to the terms of the Fourth Geneva Convention, the settlement amounts to a war crime, and in 2004 the International Court of Justice ruled the Wall illegal. Despite this, the construction of the Wall and settlements continued, and we are treated as criminals in our quest for justice. On top of tens of arrests, hundreds of protesters from Bil’in have been injured and one has been killed by the Israeli military.

The video:

Fuel from sun and CO2?!!

Looks like “biomimic” fuel is a seriously innovative invention.

clipped from cleantechnica.com Cambridge-based Joule Biotechnologies has come out of the dark today to announce a radical technology designed to mimic photosynthesis using bio-engineered micro-organisms to make ethanol fuel from carbon dioxide and sunlight. Because of the abundance of these raw materials, Joule Biotechnologies should be able to make ethanol economically, sustainably and at stable prices. Prices would be competitive with fossil fuels at $50 a barrel.

Solar Blimp!

I soooo wanna take a ride! Who remembers the Hindenburg anyway?

clipped from cleantechnica.com Solar Blimp to Fly from NYC to Paris, Rests on Land or Water Perhaps the only thing cooler than being powered by lightweight photovoltaic cells, this airship is also designed to rest on land or water.

Wind Power in the US

This very cool map (which I don’t think will work once on the blog) displays how wind power has grown in the US in the last decade. Click on it to see it in action!

clipped from cleantechnica.com

The Extraordinaries: Micro-Volunteering

I have heard about this org through my minimal participation in socialactions.com (which I’ve mentioned here before). Tho I don’t text so much, this sounds great for those folks who do!

clipped from www.npr.org NPR.org, July 1, 2009 · Got five minutes? Got a cell phone? Want to do good? The Extraordinaries can help. It’s one of a number of newly hatched social-media enterprises that champion speedy cooperation. Here is the 30-second elevator pitch: The Extraordinaries delivers microvolunteer opportunities to mobile phones that can be done on-demand and on-the-spot. Shazzam! Charity meets brevity. Crowdsourcing for the common good. Turning ADD into AID.

Donate to Social Actions

Support the $20.09 in 2009 Social Actions Campaign.

Go ahead–be a catalyst for meaningful change!

(There is a cool widget that donates directly, but WordPress won’t allow it…sigh…or any of the other SA cool tools, like a search bar of actions on every blog page.  We just need to develop a tool that isn’t corruptable according to WordPress.com)