No Work & All Play Garden

How would you like to spend less time and money on weeding, watering, and fertilizing your garden this year, and more time enjoying it? No, I haven't been eating the mysterious mushrooms growing in my yard...All this and more can be yours with a mulched garden using the Ruth Stout method. Ruth Stout (1884-1980) is known as the person who made the magic of mulch famous among gardeners. This method is fairly easy to start small and build upon. Not only can you often find freely available materials for mulch, but this method could actually save you money, by having to water and fertilize less!

Be Heard at the Earth Day Climate Rally

Sunday, April 25th there will be a chance to have your voice heard at Washington, DC to tell politicians that we need to take a more aggressive stance on climate change. As a nation, the United States continues to be dependent on fossil fuels, without putting enough time and money into developing alternative energy sources. Whether you believe that climate change exists or not, the fact remains that fossil fuels are not an unlimited resource. They are running out, and we are increasing our reliance on foreign fossil fuels, and are having to develop new ways to extract remaining local fossil fuels using methods that are often both more dangerous to the workers harvesting them, or have significantly more environmental impact.

It is time for us to stop seeing ourselves as separate from the environment in which we live. If we pollute the air, we are the ones that have to breath it. If we pollute the water, we are the ones who have to drink it, and deal with reduced harvest from fisheries. And if we rely on just fossil fuels to provide jobs, we are the ones who will become unemployed when they run out. If we start the transition now to jobs in the green energy sector, we will not face a sudden economic crisis in the future, when the fossil fuels become exhausted.

I hope to see you at the climate change rally on April 25th. Come to make a difference, stay for the inspirational speakers and live music!

When:  11:15am - 11:15pm, Sunday, April 25th
Where: National Mall, Washington, DC
Why:    Because we want a better future!

Earthday.org

Publish Your Own Seed Catalog

Are you lost on how to organize your seeds? Try using an old 3 ring binder and 3.5" x 5" photo holders! I picked up a 3.5" and 4" binder from the thrift store for $1 each, and after about $12 for the photo holders I had a storage system for all of my seeds for under $15. The photo holders allow you to store and view up to 8 packets of seeds per page. Organized alphabetically, by plant type, or by planting season, this system allows to quickly find the seeds you're looking for. And when your seeds are well organized you will be less likely to buy extra seeds you don't need. Try using coin envelopes to keep your partially used seeds sealed up and safely stored.

Darkness Falls for Earth Hour

Saturday, March 27 from 8:30 - 9:30 p.m. is Earth Hour, when hundreds of millions of people from around the world will turn out their lights and unplug appliances. In 2009, over 4000 cities in 88 countries officially switched off during Earth Hour to pledge their support for the planet, making Earth Hour 2009 the world’s largest global climate change initiative (EarthHour.org). This event gives people the chance to reflect on their personal energy usage and the large impact we can make on the environment with conserving energy for just one hour. Toronto, Canada managed to save 900 megawatt-hours of electricity, which is a 8.7% decrease if measured against a typical March Saturday night (Wikipedia).

Just remember, small changes can make a big difference! You can follow these tips every day to be sustainable every day:

• Replace incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent ones.
• Recycle paper and plastic, instead of using the trash.
• Read news online, instead of buying paper copies.
• Grow vegetables during the summer.
• Bicycle or walk to work or to run errands instead of driving.
• Take the bus or train, instead of driving long distances.
• Unplug appliances when they are not in use.
• Lower the thermostat to cut back on heating during the winter.
• Insulate and eliminate drafts to get the most out of your heating and cooling.
• Plant a tree to help filter your air and to provide shade.

House Bill to Kill Renewable Energy Jobs in Virginia

Received an interesting email from Conservation e-Action Virginia today. Apparently trying to sue the Environmental Protection Agency for doing their job to protect Americans from the harmful effects of CO2 emissions wasn't enough for Virginia (more on this later). They had to also try to squash the renewable energy industry in the state as well. This new law would put current jobs and future jobs in renewable energy in serious jeopardy, and would reinforce the near monopoly that Dominion Power holds over Virginians. At 10% unemployment, haven't we lost enough jobs already?

If you are a voting citizen of Virginia, contact your legislator today to prevent him/her from making the mistake of supporting house bill 92 when in comes to vote tomorrow. It's easy to have your voice heard. First, find out who your local governor is here.

VCU Anti-Discrimination Rally

Make sure to attend the anti-discrimination rally this Wednesday, sponsored by the Students for Possibilities Party. All students, staff, and faculty are welcome to attend this event. Let's stand united and show VCU and Virginia's state government that we will not support policies and laws that violate human rights.

12pm-1pm, Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

VCU Commons Plaza (907 Floyd Avenue)

Facebook event page: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=347726437231&ref=mf

Update: More than 1000 people showed up at Monroe Park campus to march to Capitol Hill, for a chance to speak with their local representative about anti-discrimination law. Apparently this demonstration, along with community forums and the multitude of individuals who contacted state and university leaders had the intended effect. Late this evening, according to VCU President Rao, and several news sources, Governor McDonnell released an executive directive:

“Discrimination based on factors such as one’s sexual orientation or parental status violates the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. Therefore, discrimination against enumerated classes of persons set forth in the Virginia Human Rights Act or discrimination against any class of persons without a rational basis is prohibited.”

This comes after a house bill was defeated earlier this week, that would have included sexual orientation and gender identity as protected groups under state anti-discriminatory law. In the end, Virginia went two steps backwards, and one step forwards towards equal rights for all. It is up to Virginian voters to follow through with this human rights issue next year, when they will have a chance to voice their opinion to their local representatives to change the law in the next session of the General Assembly.

Courtesy Richmond Times-Dispatch

Forums Showed Support of Diversity by VCU

Community forums were held today at Virginia Commonwealth University in response to the advice of Virginia's Attorney General that VCU (and all other state universities) remove sexual orientation as a protected group from their anti-discrimination policies. Many people spoke up in support of keeping university policy the same, to protect the gay community from discrimination. There were concerns raised that unless VCU made it known that they were strongly supportive of including sexual orientation as a protected group against discrimination, that they would lose top staff, faculty, and students, and that VCU and the state in general would receive negative publicity that would severely damage the reputation of the state and university. A few voiced the potential concern that the state may try to pressure state universities to revise their policy by threatening to cut funding to the university, which currently comprises 75% of the university budget funds. Some voiced confusion as to what the federal legislation was, as they had heard of a supreme court ruling supporting including sexual orientation in anti-discrimination law.

According to Rebecca Glenberg, the ACLU's legal director,

"In Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996), the United States Supreme Court held that discriminatory laws based on sheer animus toward lesbian and gay persons violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Later, in Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003), the Court ruled that consensual, adult sexual relationships are protected by the Fourteenth Amendment, notwithstanding societal views regarding the morality of such relationships. Consistent with these principles, courts have repeatedly held that public employers may not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation..."

With federal backing on the side of human rights, it looks like the state of Virginia may need to have the supreme court force their hand to help end discrimination against the gay community. Interesting that the supreme court also had to pressure Virginia into ending discrimination against the Black community, and people with disabilities. Third time's a charm Virginia, I hope you don't need any hand holding this time when it comes to upholding human rights.

Below follows the response to the community forums held today at VCU from the Provost:

Cuccinelli's Defence

Here's a useful Facebook group page that highlights actions you can take to fight against discrimination in Virginia (see below). Especially important is to contact your legislative representative or governor by tomorrow (Tuesday, March 9, 2010), so that they can revive a bill that would include sexual orientation in anti-discrimination laws.

Came across a newscast on CBS6, and one on WSLS10, with Cuccinelli's explanation of his letter sent to state universities. He states that he was just giving legal advice to several clients, who then chose to share this information. Who were your clients? And what explanation did they give for wanting to share this "information/advice" with every single state university? I'm sorry, Mr. Cuccinelli, I don't buy it. The letter sounds suspiciously like you are pressuring Virginian universities to remove anti-discrimination policies. Using scare tactics to make universities think that by enforcing anti-discrimination policies they could be inviting lawsuits is a low blow. You state that you don't have the power to change the law to protect the gay community. Well, I'm calling your bluff. I don't think you have the power to force state universities to comply with your request.

And since when do universities need "specific authorization from the general assembly" to change any one of it's policies? I don't think cheating on tests is illegal in the state of Virginia, do we need special permission to put this in university policy? Why now, and why comment on this specific issue? Your letter may be carefully worded to try to protect your back, but we all can read between the lines, and can see that you have more than "advice giving" in mind. You say that "changing public policy of the Commonwealth is within in the purview of the of the General Assembly and therefore...is unconstitutional". Well I say that any anti-discriminatory law that the General Assembly upholds that does not include the gay community as a protected group is unconstitutional! The universities of Virginia are just trying to do you a favor, by correcting this major oversight on the part of the General Assembly.

Legislators of Virginia: you can't have it both ways. You can't say that including the gay community as a protected group under anti-discrimination law is unnecessary in this day and age, and then turn around and demonstrate the opposite by your actions. If unnecessary, why all the effort towards defeating bills that ban discrimination against the gay community? Why would the Attorney General, and his unknown backers, take the time to draft a letter trying to undermine gay rights and send it to all state universities? I leave these questions in your hands, intelligent readers, and hope you will come to your own conclusions as you read Cuccinelli's letter, and when you attend one of the public forums tomorrow, the rally on Wednesday, or when you email or phone a university or state official.

Forums to Decide Whether Human Rights are Upheld at VCU

This is your chance to voice your outrage at the 'advice' of the Attorney General of Virginia that will allow discrimination against the gay community at VCU, and universities in the state of Virginia in general. Before attending one of these sessions, try to make time to read the letter from the Attorney General, to better inform yourself about the issue. You may want to make a short list of key points you want to raise at the forums. There are four different forum times/locations that students, staff, and faculty can attend:

On the Monroe Park Campus

-- 9:00 a.m. - 9:45 a.m. -- University Student Commons, 
907 Floyd Ave., Richmond Salons I-IV

-- 2:30 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. -- University Student Commons, 
907 Floyd Ave., Commons Theater

On the MCV Campus

-- 11:00 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. -- George Ben Johnston Auditorium, 
305 N. 12th St.

-- 4:30 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. -- George Ben Johnston Auditorium, 
305 N. 12th St.

Let's show VCU and the Attorney General we stand united on the issue of human rights, by attending the community forums! Click read more to view the letter from the Attorney General...

Virginia is for Straight Lovers?

It looks like Virginia will have to change their state slogan "Virginia is for Lovers". What they really mean is Virginia is for lovers, but only if you're straight. I was indescribably upset when I received an email from the president of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) on Friday evening, which contained the following:

"Virginia Commonwealth University received a letter from Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli requesting that the Commonwealth's public universities and colleges rescind policies that ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation".

Someone please remind me, what year are we living in? 1980? 1960? 1865??? What I take from this, is that Ken Cuccinelli think's we should be able to discriminate against the gay community. What's that? You're gay? Well, you can't work here. No, of course, you can't go to school here either. And don't think you can go whining to the courts either, because the Attorney General is on our side.

Do Good While You Walk Your Dog

There is a huge abandoned/feral pet population in Richmond, many of which have no shelter during the cold winter months, have little food to eat, and are at the mercy of illness and wild animal attacks. Saturday March 20th you have a chance to change all this at the 8th annual Dog Jog and 5K run, hosted by the Richmond SPCA. Last year's event raised $108,000 to help orphaned pets housed by this no-kill facility. You can run, jog or walk the 5K, walk with your dog in the 1-mile Dog Jog, buy a raffle ticket, or just show up to attend the vendor fair from 9am to 1pm. Participants may register individually or as part of a team, and have the option of raising donations to benefit the SPCA. As an added bonus, the SPCA will be offering a walk-up microchip clinic for $20 the day of the event, where you can have a small microchip placed under the skin between your pets shoulder blades. The insertion is nearly painless, and as most vets and animal shelters now carry microchip scanners, this can help identify and return your pet to you if they ever become lost.

In addition to keeping animals off the street, the SPCA offers free spaying/neutering for owned cats and dogs for students and low income families in the Richmond area. They also have Pet Pantry and a Wellness Clinic, to provide pet food and medical care to pets from low income families, and a Feral Clinic, where they fix feral cats for free, through the trap-neuter-release program. As socially conscious individuals we owe it to our animal friends to take responsibility for their welfare. Please consider participating in this event, or making a donation. And get your pet spayed or neutered, because the best solution to prevent animal homelessness is to prevent unwanted litters.