Bees need all the help they can get these days, as concerns about Colony Collapse Disorder continue, and a new study reveals how important native plants are for honeybees and other pollinators.  So I encourage all of you gardeners out there to grow as many native plants as you can fit in your garden this year, and that goes for all first-timers, green veterans, and Michelle Obama, too!  There are lots of tasty edible plants that are great for attracting bees and other pollinators, including berries, melons, squash, cucumbers and basil, and plenty of beautiful flowers that can brighten up the borders of your garden.  Douglas W. Tallamy, an ecologist at the University of Delaware, and the author of “Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in our Gardens” told the New York Times:

If we gave them food — flowering native plants — and a place to build their nests, they would be able to take up the slack from decreasing honeybee populations.

And if you have a lawn, let it grow long and flower, bees will love it and your yard will be more colorful than those boring, labor- intensive manicured ones your neighbors have.  Read the rest of this entry >>

Troy Davis is set to be executed on Sept. 23 for a murder for which there may not be any real evidence that he committed. Last month, a federal circuit court of appeals denied the Death Row inmate a new trial despite the fact that seven of the nine prosecution witnesses have recanted their claims, and two of the convicting jurors say the execution should be stayed. An international coalition has since coalesced around Davis as he makes a final attempt to have his case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Davis was convicted of murdering a Savannah, GA police officer in 1989. He admits that he was at the scene of the crime, but that allegations made by an acquaintance implicating him as the shooter are false. In his 1991 trial, the jury made their decision almost entirely on eyewitness testimony, much of which turned out to be coerced. There was no physical evidence linking Davis to the crime, and the murder weapon has never been recovered. Yet, appeals courts have refused to hear the case due in part to the Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, supported by a Gingrich-led Congress in 1996, that binds the hands of courts when it comes to appeals from Death Row.

Amnesty International USA has spearheaded a massive advocacy campaign on Davis’s behalf, and have organized a Global Day of Action for Troy Davis on May 19. They are calling on Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue (R) to take executive action to stay the execution, at least until Davis is given another opportunity to present his case in court. World leaders like former President Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI, Nobel Peace Prize-winner Desmond Tutu, and civil rights leader Al Sharpton have all come out in support of Davis.

Well this is a cool idea, three Australian skateboarders went to Kabul and started teaching the kids how to skate to interact with them and develop cross-cultural learning. The organization called Skateistan provides relevant and real skills for Afghan youth and develop a program that empowers youth to take leadership on issues important to them and build networks that will counter current ethnic barriers. Check out this video from Skateistan.org.

This weekend thousands of people will give back to their communities across Southern California through volunteering at food drives, fundraisers and shelters on Big Sunday, the largest regional community service event in America.

Big Sunday mobilizes individuals, families and community organizations to get involved with service efforts to benefit hundreds of local nonprofits. This year’s events range from a region-wide blood drive to a lemonade stand for children’s charities.

Now in its tenth year, Big Sunday was started by David T. Levinson, and has since garnered the support of hundreds of Southern California nonprofits, schools and community agencies. Last year, more than 50,000 volunteers showed up at events across the Southland.

If you’re participating in Big Sunday weekend and volunteer for a organization for the homeless, be sure to tell your story here. And after Big Sunday happens, you can find ways to volunteer year-round on our VolunteerMatch page for The Soloist.

Still haven’t finalized your plans for Big Sunday? Find out how you can get involved at bigsunday.org.

Despite visits from Oprah, and talk about making Sacramento’s Tent City permanent, the homeless population that has resided there are being forcibly evicted from their temporary shelters.  Whether people had lived there due to the economic recession or had sought refuge long before due to other circumstances, the fact remains that so many of these people now have nowhere to go.  Mark from Invisible People has traveled to Sacramento to meet and interview the homeless who are living there, and his most recent interview with Eve highlights the challenges they now face:

Eve from invisiblepeople.tv on Vimeo.

While tent cities are obviously far from ideal accomodations, simply kicking people out does not address the challenges of homelessness.  Read the rest of this entry >>

Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois said something most everybody knows but politicians rarely admit in a radio interview Monday.  Speaking with WJJG Radio Chicagoland, Durbin explained “And the banks — hard to believe in a time when we’re facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created — are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place,”.  Again, the sentiment here isn’t exactly news, but the messenger delivering it is the #2 Member of the majority Democratic party in the Senate.

The more you think about this troubling fact of contemporary political life, the more you need to question the reasons behind it.  Obviously the reasons in the past haven’t been too hard to figure: politicians want money and banks have it for the taking.  But now with the banking industry on its knees, what is it that still inspires such loyalty amongst Washington DC politicians, of both parties, to their former benefactors on Wall Street?  DC is not exactly known as the most loyal place on Earth.  It’s actually more of a “What have you done for me lately?” kinda city.  Read the rest of this entry >>

Today a Miss California Pageant official confirmed that contestant Carrie Prejean received free breast implants, organized and paid for by the pageant!

Keith Lewis, the co-Director of the Miss California Pageant told The Early Show “We assisted when Carrie came to us and voiced the interest in having the procedure done.We want to put her in the best possible confidence in order to present herself in the best possible light on a national stage.”

Present herself in the best possible light? Not sure about that one. At least the boob job may explain Carrie’s anti-gay marriage nonsense, I’m assuming all that silicone went to her head causing her to speak so ignorantly. Then again, I know plenty of women with breast implants who don’t spew hateful judgements. My favorite line is “I think that I believe that”. Priceless.

Sooo basically gay marriage is unnatural but breast implants are not? Gross.