Viva la Feminista

EarthTalk® E - The Environmental Magazine Dear EarthTalk: The term “sustainable communities” gets bantered around quite a bit today. Could you define it for me? -- Holly Parker, Mechanicsburg, PA Kaid Benfield, Sustainable Communities program director at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), uses the term “sustainable communities” to describe places “where use of resources and emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants are going down, not up; where the air and waterways are accessible and clean; where land is used efficiently and shared parks and public spaces are plentiful and easily visited; where people of different ages, income levels and cultural backgrounds share equally in environmental, social and cultural benefits; where many needs of daily life can be met within a 20-minute walk and all may be met within a 20-minute transit ride; where industry and economic opportunity emphasize healthy, environmentally sound practices.” In his March 2011 NRDC

With our busy schedules, we eat out a lot. We aren't foodies, so we stick to the casual fast-food circuit and neighborhood eateries. When we eat out, we tip around 20%. Neither of us have worked as servers in a formal restaurant. My experience with food service came working the deep fryer at Santa's Village making fries and pizza puffs. Then there was my stint at the movie theater concession stand (you can survive on free popcorn & nachos). Both of those jobs, that I held in the 1990s, paid more than most restaurant workers earn today -- $2.13. Do you know what $2.13 buys you? Well it doesn't buy the workers much in terms of health care, so you get sick people making your food from the deli on the corner to the fancy restaurant that requires an act of God to get a reservation. I was excited to learn about Behind the Kitchen Door , which is an upcoming new book written by Saru Jayaraman, Co-Director of ROC United . You really need to watch the book trailer: Then

The 8th Annual Summer, Sex & Spirits hosted by the Planned Parenthood NYC Activist Council, will be on Tuesday, June 26 at Hudson Terrace: Featuring Performances by Lady Circus This Ambitious Orchestra Naughty balloon artistry by Mistress B  Music by DJ Tanner & DJ Louis XIX Open bar all night Visit the event page to see a list of fabulous silent auction & raffle prizes! VLF is happy to be giving away another general admission ticket to one lucky reader. Just leave a comment by Sunday, June 24th at 9 PM EST and I'll select a random winner. You can earn an extra entry by liking Viva la Feminista at Facebook (just leave another comment to alert me of this fact). Those who entered before are automatically entered in this giveaway. Easy, huh? So hurry up and comment! All proceeds go to benefit PPNYC's healthcare services, education programs, and legislative work. Please contact activists@ppnyc.org with all event related questions. Date: Tue

We kick off Summer of Feminista en Espanol! Gracias a Alejandra Ramírez-LaBonte. Blog:  http://www.thehermosas. com/ Twitter:  http://twitter.com/ theHermosas Facebook:  http://www.facebook. com/TheHermosas Este es un año electoral en varios países como México, Venezuela, Republica Dominicana y Estados Unidos, cada uno se encuentra en la lucha por quizás tener un nuevo presidente que los represente y los haga tener la esperanza de una mejoría en la política de sus respectivas naciones, también puede darse el caso como sucede en EUA, de que el actual presidente resulte nuevamente ganador, esto por el momento no lo sabremos, pero creo que existen grandes probabilidades, ya que en los últimos días el primer mandatario ha subido su popularidad al adoptar medidas que favorecen a los latinos, que en su mayoría prefieren no darse su paseíto por las urnas, y… ¿A que se deberá esto? Pues tal vez a la falta de fe en los candidatos, a la falta de motivación, falta de dinero para apli

A Little F’d Up: Why Feminism Is Not a Dirty Word by Julie Zeilinger is a valiant attempt to claim the crown of “the” young feminist. While still in high school, Zeilinger launched the well-respected blog, “ f-bomb .” She has certainly helped to bring feminism to a new and younger generation. F’d Up tries to be the teen feminist guide as well as an explanation to anyone older than 25 as to what “kids these days” think of feminism and other issues. By trying to be both, Zeilinger falls short in both realms. There are places where Zeilinger does a brilliant job and others where it is clear she has bitten off more than she can handle. I read this book as a feminist scholar but will admit that part of my brain remained in “I’m the mom of a tween girl!” mode as well. As a mom, I appreciated Zeilinger’s laying out how teens today think. Zeilinger shined when she explained how tiring it must be for teens to be constantly performing in person and online as the same time teens are just

CALL FOR PAPERS Demeter Press is seeking submissions for an edited collection Mothers and Motherhood in the Spanish-Speaking World Editors: Marina Bettaglio and Cándida Elizabeth Vivero Marín bettagli@uvic.ca and elizabeth_vivero@hotmail.com   Publication Date: 2015 Traditional representations of motherhood in Spanish-speaking countries have favoured the image of the selfless, abnegated mother, totally devoted to her children. As a woman whose entire life was at the service of others, she was supposed to find fulfillment in caring for and supporting her family.   Modelled after the Virgin Mary, this idealized maternal role dominated, with regional differences, the Spanish and Latin American imaginary for centuries. Marianismo, the cultural expression of this ideological position, demonstrates the pervasiveness of the Marian cult in Latin America, where the dichotomy Virgin/Whore described by Octavio Paz has played a key rol

I can't be there, but New York friends, I hope you will represent VLF at the 8th Annual Summer, Sex & Spirits hosted by the Planned Parenthood NYC Activist Council, Tuesday, June 26 at Hudson Terrace: Featuring Performances by Lady Circus This Ambitious Orchestra Naughty balloon artistry by Mistress B  Music by DJ Tanner & DJ Louis XIX Open bar all night Visit the event page to see a list of fabulous silent auction & raffle prizes! VLF is happy to be a sponsor of the event! And to celebrate, we're giving away a general admission ticket to one lucky reader. Just leave a comment by Monday, June 18th at 9 PM EST and I'll select a random winner. You can earn an extra entry by liking Viva la Feminista at Facebook (just leave another comment to alert me of this fact). Easy, huh? So hurry up and comment! All proceeds go to benefit PPNYC's healthcare services, education programs, and legislative work. Please contact activists@ppnyc.org wi

I know summer is coming up and we want our kids to be outside playing. But chances are that there will be rainy days and nothings worse than a bored kid on summer vacation on a rainy day. I present to you four pretty fun options for the kids (and you!) from PopCap Games in order of addiction: 1. Peggle It's part pinball and part Plinko from The Price is Right. You launch a ball into a maze of pegs. Each time you hit one, they disappear. The goal for the standard game is to hit all the orange pegs. The harder this game gets, the more addicting it is. Once you conquer the standard game, you can hit the challenge levels where you move up to hitting certain point totals, clearing the board or, toughest of all, beating the computer. Winner: 2011 National Parenting Center's Seal of Approval 2. Bookworm Adventures My eight-almost-nine-year-old loves this game. It's a cross between Boggle and well, a Harry Potter challenge. You have to spell words using letters that are c

EarthTalk® E - The Environmental Magazine Dear EarthTalk: I understand there is good news about the recovery of bird species like the Peregrine Falcon, Bald Eagle and others owed to the 1972 ban on DDT. Can you explain? -- Mildred Eastover, Bath, ME Rachel Carson’s seminal 1962 book, Silent Spring, told the real-life story of how bird populations across the country were suffering as a result of the widespread application of the synthetic pesticide DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), which was being used widely to control mosquitoes and others insects. Carson reported that birds ingesting DDT tended to lay thin-shelled eggs which would in turn break prematurely in the nest, resulting in marked population declines. The problem drove bald eagles, our national symbol, not to mention peregrine falcons and other bird populations, to the brink of extinction, with populations plummeting more than 80 percent. Luckily for the birds, Silent Spring caused a stir, and many credit it wi