Cancer Isn't Cool

Apparently it is possible for cancer to be funny after all. The massive Stand Up To Cancer research campaign, which has coordinated an awareness event with all three major US television networks on September 5th, has enlisted some familiar faces to help get the word out in surprisingly amusing ways...






via Micawaves

Not Just Another Protest Song

Another Protest Song asks "What does a 21st century protest song sound like?"
Created by audio activists Angel Nevarez and Valerie Tevere of NeuroTransmitter, the site encourage musicians to add to a Creative Commons licensed database of political songs and share in the debate of what the power of music can do for today's political climate. Check out recent entries or share your own works HERE.

The State of Green Business

The folks at the environmental business news site GreenBiz.com have created State of Green Business 2008 a free downloadable report on what US companies have done in recent years to reduce their environmental impact. To that end they have tracked progress with a 20 point index including items like: Building Energy Efficiency, Employee Commuting, E-Waste, Paper Use and Recycling, and Toxic Emissions. Get your copy HERE.

Design Power Defined

Julie Thompson created the Design Power site as part of her graduate thesis project at Ohio University. It gives a working definition of socially responsible design and uses three case studies (including one on ALR!) to discuss the key components of working from an ethical perspective: client choice, environmental practices, and community education. Read her entire report HERE.

Greenhouse Gorillas?

I'm not sure what to make of Gorilla in the Greenhouse, a new animated online kid's series, from SustainLane.



It's nice that kids are being sold something other than materialism, but do fantasy/reductionist versions of eco-issues actually inspire children to activism? And will this have any more effect than the old Captain Planet?



or Toxic Crusaders?

What Izzit?

IzzitGreen is a new community review site that allows visitors to rate their local businesses not only on the usual factors of service, quality, etc., but also on their environmental aspects as well (i.e. Is it green?). The site is currently only beta testing for the Boston area.

Ono's 100 Acorns

Artist/Activist Yoko Ono is offering 100 days of conceptual art instructions on her blog 100 Acorns. She started posting June 15th, which was the 40th anniversary of planting two acorns at Coventry Cathedral with John Lennon, which was the first of their "Peace Events". Unlike the ones in her classic book of conceptual art instructions, Grapefruit, this project features much more feasible directions ("On the Flag Day, put out a flag that has a message that conveys your emotion: such as 'I LOVE YOU,' 'YES!' and 'HELP!'"), and since it's a blog there's immediate feedback from her audience. Check it out HERE.

Thanks Melinda!

Become The Media

Italian art activist group Les Liens Invisible has created A Fake is a Fake as tool for parodying corporate websites. They provide free hosting space and WordPress templates that allow anyone to quickly and easily create their own alternate version of popular news destinations, the White House site, the Beijing 2008 Olympics site, and more. These sites can then be populated with whatever content you like and used as tools to educate, confuse, or amuse the unsuspecting. Find out more or start making your own Yes Men style detournement HERE.

Fashion Subvertsing

In honor of German fashion week street artist XOOOOX recently adjusted this H&M billboard in Berlin.

Fill In the Blanks

The Insert ___ Here project by Eve S. Mosher encourages civic engagement by allowing people to comment on their environment using a printable arrow that can be customized as the user sees fit. The resulting images can be used to encourage discussion and hopefully eventual "remediation". Find out more or participate HERE.

Thanks Shelia!

The Power of Nightmares

The Power Nightmares is an incredible UK series about the origins of the Neoconservative and Islamic Fundamentalist movements and their eerily similar tactics. It was serialized in McSweeney's excellent DVD magazine Wolphin, but is also available for download online via Archive.org.

PART I

The Real Bee Movie

The Vanishing of The Bees is an upcoming documentary about Colony Collapse Disorder and how it affects bees and humans alike...

DIY Fonts

FontShop, a popular typeface company has embraced the current DIY ethic by creating a free online font creation tool: FontStruct. Not only is it designed for ease of use, but the resulting fonts are then available for free download under a variety of Creative Commons licences! Find out more, get fonts, or make your own HERE.

Ms. Pac-Man: Feminist Hero?

Ms. Pac-Man: Feminist Hero is a short film by Mark & Ari...


Thanks Mica!

In the ideal world...

The Job is award winning short film from Screaming Frog Productions...



Thanks Chris!

Clipart Activism

The recently released book Reproduce & Revolt from Just Seeds features 500+ black and white activism themed clip art images (including a few of my own!) that are free for use on political posters, banners, flyers, etc. An invaluable resource/reference for everyone in the activism community. The book can be purchased online HERE.

Spotted in San Francisco part III: King Quote

While in San Francisco we visited a lovely memorial fountain for Martin Luther King, located in the Yerba Buena Gardens. Underneath a waterfall was a walkway with series of glass panels etched with quotes from Dr. King. I'd never read most of them before and this one was particularly striking to me. If you can't read it in the photo it says, "We must rapidly begin to shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered."

Spotted in NYC: Relax

I love this unintentional phrase created by a partially removed sign on an empty store front in Manhattan. It's definitely something we could all use.

Spotted in San Francisco part II: Indians Welcome

As part of my recent trip to San Francisco I visited the infamous Alcatraz Island. I was afraid it would be a cheesy tourist destination, but instead the designated National Park was fascinating on many levels. Aside from its history as a military and federal prison I was surprised the island was also an integral part of the Native American rights movement. A documentary on the island explained the graffiti we spotted right after we got off the boat (shown left). In 1969, several years after the Alcatraz prison was closed for good, the island, which had been left dormant, was seized by Native American activists and claimed once again as "Indian Land". The occupation lasted until 1972 at which point in fighting and fatigue had dwindled their numbers from the 100+ that were initially there to just a handful, who were ousted by a variety of law enforcement officials. The occupation is now considered one of the key moments in the fight for Native American self-determination.

A detailed account of this history can be found HERE.