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  • Avaaz To form Daily briefing site

    On Fri, Sep 28, 2012 at 4:10 AM, Ricken Patel – Avaaz.org <avaaz@avaaz.org> wrote:

    Dear friends,

    Imagine if there were one website we could open with our morning coffee that felt like walking onto the global town square — a one-stop shop that was reliable, insightful, inspiring and hopeful. 97% of us asked for it in an Avaaz poll and now the Daily Briefing is nearly ready. If just 20,000 of us chip in a small amount today, we can roll it out. Click to help Avaaz become the media:

    Imagine if there were one website we could open with our morning coffee that felt like walking onto the global town square — a one-stop shop with reliable news, insightful analysis, and inspirational storytelling that for the first time offered solutions and a way to take action on the issues we most care about!

    Now imagine if 16 million of us were behind this cutting-edge site — that’s a bigger circulation than the Washington Post or the Times! It’s a bold goal, but we’ve spent months shaping the concept and recruiting an initial team of top journalists, and now the Avaaz Daily Briefing is nearly ready to launch.

    Old media is beholden to corporate owners and advertisers, and its news is often cynical and disempowering. The Daily Briefing will be owned by us and driven by us — people-powered media for a better world. If just 20,000 of us chip in a small amount today, we can roll it out and hire the best editors, writers, infographic geniuses, and developers. Click to help Avaaz become the media:

    https://secure.avaaz.org/en/avaaz_becomes_the_media_g/?bhPqncb&v=18266

    Earlier this year, an astonishing 97% of the Avaaz community voted for this idea in our annual poll. Last week, we took it for a test drive, and the response was fantastic! For the first time ever, our movement became the media — together we countered the mainstream “Muslim Rage” coverage by sharing a post that responsibly contextualized the Muslim protests and challenged Newsweek’s sensationalism.

    It’s mind-blowing to think how this project could evolve. If just 20,000 of us donate today, here’s what we’ll do:

    • Staff up the tiny team currently running the Daily Briefing. Some of the world’s most experienced and talented journalists and media pros have approached us to come aboard because they are tired of corporate and conflict journalism and can see how a 16-million-member media machine can strengthen our democracies and help change our world.
    • Build the world’s best technology so community and democracy rule. With cutting edge crowd-sourcing and citizen journalism tech builds, we’ll all get to produce content and vote things up and down so that stories are featured based on merit and relevance to us.
    • Tell the good news. Instead of bombarding us solely with stories that portray the horrors of humanity and the destruction of our planet, the Daily Briefing will investigate and showcase inspiring stories of hope and courage.
    • Give a voice to the untold stories. Avaaz members have funded critical citizen journalism to break media blackouts in hotspots of repression across the world. Now, the Daily Briefing will offer an avenue for voices and issues that are ignored by corporate-owned media.
    • Provide world-class analysis and political entrepreneurship. Daily Briefing staff will cut through the language that alienates us, instead providing solid analysis and new paths to confront the biggest challenges of our time.

    Click here to donate and help launch the Daily Briefing:

    https://secure.avaaz.org/en/avaaz_becomes_the_media_g/?bhPqncb&v=18266

    The march of democracy that is sweeping our world is remaking many of our old institutions. For 5 years now, we have worked together to reform politics across the world — and it is working. But politics and media are two sides of the same coin — one cannot change without change in the other, and we are governed as much by media as we are by governments. It’s time to take them both back.

    With hope,

    Ricken, Dalia, Maria Paz, Alice, Antonia, Ari, Heather, Wissam and the whole Avaaz team

    PS – In case you’re mulling it over, here are 11 more reasons to donate to the Avaaz Daily Briefing 🙂

    Reason 1 – Daily Briefing is Avaaz 2.0

    It’s a whole new dimension of the product Avaaz has been putting out for years. We are already the most successful, viral online community ever — this will take us to the next level.

    Reason 2 – Daily Briefing is Independent, Impartial, and Trustworthy

    Avaaz has always been totally independent, taking no money from governments or corporations, ensuring that our voice is exclusively determined by the values of our members and not by any large funder or agenda. Now, 100% of the Avaaz budget comes from small online donations. This means that the only editorial agenda for the Daily Briefing is the people’s agenda, and we will not shy away from speaking truth to power.

    Reason 3 – Daily Briefing is People Reviewed, Approved and Powered

    The team will create and maintain feedback and testing mechanisms to ensure Avaaz members exert quality control over the Daily Briefing and are always able to hold us accountable for producing the highest-quality content possible.

    Make a donation here: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/avaaz_becomes_the_media_g/?bhPqncb&v=18266

    Reason 4 – Daily Briefing Sees Deeply and Explains Simply

    The Daily Briefing will communicate the most incisive and empowering understanding available of world events. But our team will remain fiercely faithful to the principle that important public debate should be accessible and engaging for all citizens. No matter how complex an issue is, there is a simple, concise and engaging way of explaining it. This never means dumbing down, it mean seeing deeply in order to explain simply.

    Reason 5 – Daily Briefing is Briefing and Equipment for the Citizen

    The Daily Briefing will always treat readers like Prime Ministers and Presidents — they’re busy, they make critically important decisions about how to spend their time, and they deserve to have the most important and most relevant information and analysis.

    Reason 6 – The Daily Briefing is Not News, it’s Better

    It represents in part a return to the soul of journalism — campaigning journalism that upholds the public interest and holds power accountable.

    Donate now: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/avaaz_becomes_the_media_g/?bhPqncb&v=18266

    Reason 7 – Avaaz has No Bureaucracy

    Avaaz is a massive network of citizens, but our organization is absolutely tiny – just 55 full time campaigners with operational and technology support. Most large, global NGOs have hundreds or even thousands of staff. Our small size means we have no time for red tape, layers of management, or being focused on anything but getting results.

    Reason 8 – Avaaz is Regularly Audited and Fiscally Responsible

    There’s a lot of fear out there about misuse of donated money. Most of the fear is misplaced – most organizations are filled with good people trying to do good things. With Avaaz you can be sure – partly because we’re required by law to be audited every 12 months. This audit thoroughly checks every aspect of our books and financial practices. We’ve been audited 6 times since we launched and every time been given a squeaky-clean bill of health (for details, click here).

    Reason 9 – Avaaz has a World-Class Team That Does Outstanding Work

    Campaigning, advocacy and social change are a serious and demanding business – the more competent the team, the more impact our donations have. Avaaz has always attracted some of the best campaigners and advocates in the world. Many of our Campaign Directors joined us after being CEOs of successful advocacy organizations, and most have degrees from the top universities in the world. Our Daily Briefing team will be made up of top writers, journalists and editors.

    Donate now: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/avaaz_becomes_the_media_g/?bhPqncb&v=18266

    Reason 10 – Avaaz is Political (this really matters)

    Most charities offer tax deductibility for donations. But this means that they are, in a way, partially taxpayer funded, and governments use that to place a very thick set of rules on what they can and can’t do. Chief among them is restricting what they can say to criticize, support or oppose a politician. Avaaz is very rare in that our donations are not tax-deductible, leaving us 100% free to say and do whatever we need to to get leaders to listen to people — which will be crucial to keeping the Daily Briefing independent, impartial and trustworthy.

    Reason 11 – Like Avaaz, the Daily Briefing could become the leading site of its kind — Ever, Anywhere.

    Avaaz is the world’s first and only multi-million member, high-tech, people-powered, multi-issue, genuinely global campaigning community. No other movement can rapidly mobilize large-scale, coordinated democratic pressure in over 193 countries within 24 hours. Now, the Daily Briefing could be our next step in record breaking if we become the most read and shared global, non-profit, people-powered news website — ever, anywhere. But it can only happen if 20,000 of us chip in what we can today.

    Make a secure donation to power the Avaaz Daily Briefing:

    https://secure.avaaz.org/en/avaaz_becomes_the_media_g/?bhPqncb&v=18266

    _____


    Avaaz.org is a 16-million-person global campaign network     that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people shape global decision-making. (“Avaaz” means “voice” or “song” in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 19 countries on 6 continents and operates in 14 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz’s biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

    You are getting this message because you signed “Save our dying planet!” on 2011-12-08 using the email address nevilleg729@gmail.com.
    To ensure that Avaaz messages reach your inbox, please add avaaz@avaaz.org to your address book. To change your email address, language settings, or other personal information, https://secure.avaaz.org/act/index.php?r=profile&user=6be3e9aa63582c9b1397464fcc49baa9&lang=en, or simply go here to unsubscribe.

    To contact Avaaz, please do not reply to this email. Instead, write to us at www.avaaz.org/en/contact or call us at +1-888-922-8229 (US).

     

  • Climate change is already damaging global economy, report finds

    Climate change is already damaging global economy, report finds

    Economic impact of global warming is costing the world more than $1.2 trillion a year, wiping 1.6% annually from global GDP

    rising sea levels and coastal erosion in Bangladesh

    Bangladeshi villagers rebuild an embankment after cyclone Aila hit in 2009. Bangladesh faces total losses of about 3-4% of GDP due to climate change. Photograph: Munir Uz Zaman/AFP/Getty Images

    Climate change is already contributing to the deaths of nearly 400,000 people a year and costing the world more than $1.2 trillion, wiping 1.6% annually from global GDP, according to a new study.

    The impacts are being felt most keenly in developing countries, according to the research, where damage to agricultural production from extreme weather linked to climate change is contributing to deaths from malnutrition, poverty and their associated diseases.

    Air pollution caused by the use of fossil fuels is also separately contributing to the deaths of at least 4.5m people a year, the report found.

    The 331-page study, entitled Climate Vulnerability Monitor: A Guide to the Cold Calculus of A Hot Planet and published on Wednesday, was carried out by the DARA group, a non-governmental organisation based in Europe, and the Climate Vulnerable Forum. It was written by more than 50 scientists, economists and policy experts, and commissioned by 20 governments.

    By 2030, the researchers estimate, the cost of climate change and air pollution combined will rise to 3.2% of global GDP, with the world’s least developed countries forecast to bear the brunt, suffering losses of up to 11% of their GDP.

    Sheikh Hasina, prime minister of Bangladesh, said: “A 1C rise in temperature [temperatures have already risen by 0.7C globally since the end of the 19th century] is associated with 10% productivity loss in farming. For us, it means losing about 4m tonnes of food grain, amounting to about $2.5bn. That is about 2% of our GDP. Adding up the damages to property and other losses, we are faced with a total loss of about 3-4% of GDP. Without these losses, we could have easily secured much higher growth.”

    But major economies will also take a hit, as extremes of weather and the associated damage – droughts, floods and more severe storms – could wipe 2% of the GDP of the US by 2030, while similar effects could cost China $1.2tr by the same date.

    While many governments have taken the view that climate change is a long-term problem, there is a growing body of opinion that the effects are already being felt. Scientists have been alarmed by the increasingly rapid melting of Arctic sea ice, which reached a new record minimum this year and, if melting continues at similar rates, could be ice free in summer by the end of the decade. Some research suggests that this melting could be linked to cold, dull and rainy summers in parts of Europe – such as has been the predominant summer weather in the UK for the last six years. In the US, this year’s severe drought has raised food prices and in India the disruption to the monsoon has caused widespread damage to farmers.

    Connie Hedegaard, the European Union’s climate chief, warned that extreme weather was becoming more common, as the effects of climate change take hold. “Climate change and weather extremes are not about a distant future,” she wrote in a comment for the Guardian last week. “Formerly one-off extreme weather episodes seem to be becoming the new normal.”

    Michael Zammit Cutajar, former executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, said: “Climate change is not just a distant threat but a present danger – its economic impact is already with us.”

  • Report shows climate change danger

    Report shows climate change danger
    Gold Coast Bulletin News
    A worst-case 1.1m sea level rise would put at risk 4750 homes, up to 243 commercial buildings and 408km of local roads by 2100. Even conservative predictions of a 50cm rise are expected to gobble up 2300 homes. The damage bill is estimated to be …
    See all stories on this topic »

  • Caught in the cross fire of futility and cant

    Caught in the cross fire of futility and cant

    Published September 10, 2012 | By John James

    Mike Carlton :

    THE scene is now all too familiar. There is the coffin draped in the Australian flag and topped by a slouch hat and medals, borne from the aircraft by solemn young men in khaki.

    A chaplain in vestments and a lone piper walk before it, past the saluting colonels and captains. Somewhere in the background there are grandparents struggling to hold it together for the sake of a grieving widow and her stricken, bewildered children.

    The rest of us watch this on television for our one minute, 45 seconds of couch compassion and then get on with the really important news: the Roosters have sacked their coach, a celebrity chef has lost a Good Food Guide hat, and halfwits have trolled a TV star on Twitter.

    When are we going to cry out that enough is enough? When are we going to rise up to demand that not one more husband, father, brother, mate, should die in this bloody, treacherous and futile war in Afghanistan?

    When will we, the Australian people, shout with one voice that the war is lost and it’s time to bring our soldiers home, not in 2014 but now. I have seen too much of this in my lifetime. In World War II we fought for a noble cause, the defeat of German Nazism, Italian Fascism and Japanese militarism.

    Since then, from Korea to Afghanistan via Vietnam and Iraq, we have become enmeshed in failed conflicts fomented in folly and ignorance, and buttressed by the lies and deceit of politicians, generals and, yes, the media.

    Korea, the so-called forgotten war, was to stop the march of godless communism.

    It ended with 340 Australian dead, although not in a permanent peace but an armistice in which great armies still confront each other.

    Vietnam, you will remember, was justified by the domino theory, which held that if South Vietnam fell the rest of south-east Asia would topple to communism as well, all the way to Indonesia. Better to stop them there than here, was the cry.

    We lost 521 men killed for that lie.

    In Iraq, it was to wipe out al-Qaeda and to seize Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction. It would be a “cakewalk”; the US Marines would be garlanded with flowers in the streets of Baghdad, “greeted like liberators”, we were told. Australia’s chief contribution to that war was to pump $221.7 million into Saddam’s bank account for “transportation costs” in the still-unpunished Australian Wheat Board scandal.

    Afghanistan was to go after al-Qaeda yet again. When Osama bin Laden was caught not there but, magically, a stone’s throw down the road from the Pakistan Military Academy, the war somehow morphed into a fight against the Taliban, a murderous bunch of Islamic fanatics to be sure, but of no conceivable security threat to Australia. So far it’s 38 Australians killed and counting – dying not for their country, as our mealy-mouthed leaders would have us believe, but in defence of the venal and thuggish Karzai regime.

    The cant and the hypocrisy keep coming. We are there to get the job done, to see the mission through. But we learn nothing from history. When we eventually quit Afghanistan, as the British did in the 19th century and the Soviet Union in the 20th, the place will revert to what it always was , a violent wasteland of warlords growing opium poppies. What fools we are.

    IT’S not only the dead. It’s the wounded, too, the hundreds if not thousands of men who carry the physical and mental scars of battle for life.

    At Christmas 1966 I was an ABC war correspondent in Vietnam, tape-recording greetings from our Diggers to be broadcast to their families on their hometown radio stations.

    There was one bloke lying in an American military hospital outside Saigon. Drips and drains trailed from the bed covers tented over him and he was groggy from the painkillers, but he was glad to hear an Australian accent among all the Yanks and he managed to mumble a cheerful greeting to mum and dad and his little sister somewhere in the Riverina. Don’t you worry, getting better, be home soon.

    When I left his room I asked a nurse what had happened to him. “His balls were blown off by a landmine,” she said. “But he doesn’t know it yet.”

    I saw worse in that war. Corpses fried by napalm; a village well in Cambodia filled with a reeking stew of human remains; dying soldiers crying out for their mothers, as dying soldiers do. But I am haunted today by the memory of that young man because he was my own age, just 20, and I have wondered ever since what happened to him. Perhaps he made it OK. Perhaps he committed suicide like so many of his fellow Vietnam vets. I do not know.

    We treat our wounded veterans differently these days. They and their families are better cared for. But the terrible toll accumulates still, hidden from our sight and our minds. In a couple of weeks, one of our former commanders in Afghanistan, retired Major-General John Cantwell, will publish a book of his memoirs, Exit Wounds.

    I’ve seen an advance copy. Read it and weep.

  • Migration pushing population growth higher

    Migration pushing population growth higher
    Sydney Morning Herald
    As suggested here back in May, the federal budget appeared to miss the population growth story. On the performance of the first seven months of this year, population growth for 2012 will be 1.6 per cent – and that’s before rumoured policy initiatives …
    See all stories on this topic »

  • Magnitude-8.7 quake was part of crustal plate breakup

    Magnitude-8.7 quake was part of crustal plate breakup

    Posted: 26 Sep 2012 10:26 AM PDT

    Seismologists have known for years that the Indo-Australian plate of Earth’s crust is slowly breaking apart, but they saw it in action last April when at least four faults broke in a magnitude-8.7 earthquake that may be the largest of its type ever recorded.
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