Smooth - a painting by Elizabeth Fiedel

There’s a wonderful world of contemporary art out there just waiting to be discovered. For a start, check out Philadelphia artist Elizabeth Fiedel’s lovely paintings, available for purchase on Etsy.

clipped from www.etsy.com

Give a gift of hope

Start a new holiday tradition this year by honoring your family and friends with a gift that spreads hope and provides long-term opportunity to families living in poverty. Heifer International has over 20 gifts to choose from, including heifers, sheep, llamas, goats, chicks, geese, honeybees, trees, and more. You can make a real difference in the life of a struggling family, helping them obtain a sustainable source of food and income and lighting the way along the road to self-reliance.

Heifer’s mission is to work with communities around the world to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth. “Passing on the Gift” - a cornerstone of Heifer’s approach - creates a living cycle of sustainability that develops community and enhances self-esteem. As people share the offspring of their animals, along with their knowledge, resources, and skills, an expanding network of hope, dignity, and self-reliance is created that reaches around the globe.

Take a moment to learn more about Heifer International, and browse the gift catalog.

Citizen philanthropy funds classrooms

from the site:
“DonorsChoose.org is a simple way to provide students in need with resources that our public schools often lack. At this not-for-profit web site, teachers submit project proposals for materials or experiences their students need to learn. These ideas become classroom reality when concerned individuals, whom we call Citizen Philanthropists, choose projects to fund.”

A DonorsChoose.org gift certificate would make a wonderful holiday “gift that gives back” for someone special. Your recipient will be able to use the gift certificate to fund their choice of project(s). Alternately, you can fund a project in someone’s honor. Donations are tax-deductible, of course.

In 2007, donors from all walks of life have funded $4,215,709 worth of resources for students in need.

Free Burma!

Organic standards weakened

Visit the source to speak out on this issue by submitting comments to the USDA.

clipped from www.democracyinaction.org ALERT: ANOTHER SNEAK ATTACK ON ORGANIC STANDARDS: USDA TO ALLOW MORE CONVENTIONAL INGREDIENTS IN ORGANICS Despite receiving more than ten thousand comments from consumers and family farmers opposing various aspects of a late May 2007 proposal, the USDA has approved an interim rule that will allow 38 new non-organic ingredients to be allowed in products bearing the “USDA Organic” seal. -Anheuser Busch will be allowed to sell its “Organic Wild Hops Beer” without using any organic hops at all. -Sausages, brats, and breakfast links labeled as “USDA Organic” are now allowed to contain intestines from factory farmed animals raised on chemically grown feed, synthetic hormones, and antibiotics. -Products labeled as “USDA Organic” and containing fish oil may contain toxins such as PCBs and mercury (note: nonorganic fishoil products have this same risk, but despite the USDA ruling, it is against the National Organic Standards to allow such toxins in organic foods).

Polar Bear SOS

The message below urges concerned Americans to come to the rescue of the polar bear, which faces extinction as a result of global warming. You can send a copy of this letter to your friends by visiting www.polarbearsos.org.

Dear Friend,

By speaking out today, you could help save polar bears from extinction.

The Bush Administration has proposed listing the polar bear as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act because its Arctic sea ice habitat is rapidly melting from global warming. This proposed protection comes after successful legal action by NRDC and its partners to protect the imperiled bear.

However, this proposal won’t become reality without a huge outpouring of public support.

Please send a message to the Bush Administration today by going to: www.polarbearsos.org/takeaction0607

Polar bears live only in the Arctic and are completely dependent on sea ice for survival. But 80 percent of their summer ice could be gone in 20 years and all of it by 2040. They are already suffering the effects: birth rates are falling, fewer cubs are surviving, and more bears are drowning.

Time is running out. Without protection, polar bears could become the first mammal to lose 100 percent of its habitat to global warming.

Please speak out now.

Thank you for speaking out at this critical time.

Sincerely,
Frances Beinecke
President, Natural Resources Defense Council

Change the world

ONE voice.
ONE vote.
ONE chance every four years.
Change the world.
ONE.org

“…end the kind of stupid poverty that means a child dies of hunger
in a world of plenty.”

-Bono

Each of us has a voice

Grace at The 13 Graces has posted about an extraordinary man and his cross-country ‘walk to end the wars’. I hope you’ll take a moment to visit her site and read about Bill McDannell and his journey.

Fantasy art

clipped from www.nenethomas.com

I’d like to introduce you to the striking and elegant work of Nene Thomas. Visit her site to view and purchase prints from her wonderful faery and fantasy collection. Use this link to browse a special gallery featuring her favorites.

Classic Dames test

My score: Katharine Hepburn

“You are the fabulously quirky and independent woman of character. You go your own way, follow your own drummer, take your own lead. You stand head and shoulders next to your partner, but you are perfectly willing and able to stand alone. Others might be more classically beautiful or conventionally woman-like, but you possess a more fundamental common sense and off-kilter charm, making interesting men fall at your feet. You can pick them up or leave them there as you see fit. You share the screen with the likes of Spencer Tracy and Cary Grant, thinking men who like strong women.”

What’s your result? Take the Classic Dames test or the Classic Leading Man test.

And now, something completely frivolous

Oh, how I’d like one of these. I can picture myself lounging there, reading a book. Alas! There is no room at my house for it, so it will have to reside in my virtual home for the time being.

clipped from www.ikea.com

Child care funding

More than 60% of U.S. families have both parents in the labor force and need child care in order to make a living. Studies show that early learning and good child care are critical to children’s short- and long-term success. Yet about 150,000 low-income children have lost federal child care assistance since 2001. And if current funding trends continue, 300,000 more children will lose their assistance by the end of the decade. Visit Moms Rising via this link to urge Congress to make child care funding for low-income families a priority. America must invest in early care, not just because it’s necessary for families, but because each child is precious to society as a whole; they represent the future productive engine of our economy and communities.

Gallery find

clipped from www.orangecountyfineart.com

I discovered a wonderful online art gallery for prints and sculpture. Some of my favorites among the featured artists are Vladimir Kush, Pino (’Good Ole Days’ is shown above), Christopher DeCaro, Michael Parkes, and Amy Lynn. Take a look around - you’re bound to see something you like.

Heroes Against Hunger

Every 3.6 seconds, one person dies of hunger. Most of the time this hunger is not caused by famine, but by disaster, war or the ravages of extreme poverty.

Join the Mercy Corps Heroes Against Hunger program to fight malnourishment and plant seeds of hope in poor communities around the world. Your monthly support goes to programs that not only speed critical food to families in need, but also teach vital agricultural skills and give nutritional advice to help those families ensure their food needs for years to come.

Mercy Corps exists to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities. Since 1979, Mercy Corps has provided $1.3 billion in assistance to people in 100 nations. Mercy Corps is a Charity Navigator ‘Four Star Charity’.

Painted menagerie

Oudry’s Painted Menagerie is an exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum showcasing paintings by Jean-Baptiste Oudry, an influential court painter of animals and landscapes in the late 18th century.

Oudry’s animals, hunt scenes, and landscapes brought him to the attention and admiration of Louis XV. Most of the animal portraits on display feature specimens from the King’s menagerie at Versailles. One of the best known works is a life-sized painting of Clara, the rhinoceros who toured Europe in the mid-1700s.

Visit this link to view some of the paintings online, and to play Menagerie Switch, a test of your powers of observation.