albertideation

Welcome Alternatives Magazine fans!

February 28, 2010 · Leave a Comment

my writing from The Eleven has made it (edited and embellished, no less) into the current issue of Alternatives Magazine: http://www.alternativesmagazine.com/53/kaufman.html – welcome fans of that great magazine that is free and available all over Oregon.

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Message from John Seager, President of Population Connection

February 26, 2010 · Leave a Comment

I just read this letter from the President, John Seager, from Population Connection’s Reporter, and thought I’d share it with you. The magazine (pdf) can be downloaded at

http://www.populationconnection.org/site/DocServer/Reporter.pdf?docID=1221

Species evolve as their world
changes. So do organizations.
Founded in 1968 as ZPG, our
mission has evolved from “stop at two”
children to its present form:

Overpopulation threatens the quality of
life for people everywhere. Population
Connection is the national grassroots population
organization that educates young
people and advocates progressive action
to stabilize world population at a level
that can be sustained by Earth’s resources.

As for the still-relevant goal of “zero
population growth,” will the earth be
sustainable if population stabilizes at
nine or ten billion? I think not.
ZPG played that early role urging
Americans to “stop at two” children. It
worked. Currently, our two biggest
challenges are unplanned births and net

migration.
Global population growth is different.
Unless one believes that extraterrestrials
walk among us, no one is migrating
to—or from—Planet Earth. Addressing
the unmet need for contraception of
200 million women worldwide is the
top priority these days.
How can we move toward population
stabilization? One part seems easy, in
theory. Just get 218 members of the
House and 60 members of the Senate
to pass bills addressing various aspects
of the issue with funding and programs.
President Obama signs them into law.
Mission accomplished.
Watching the Senate debate health
care provided a sense of just how excruciating
that process is these days. As
Teddy Roosevelt said, politics is “the art
of the possible.” Alas, it demands compromise
that’s often hard to swallow.
At Population Connection we work
on solutions. We reach three million
students each year. We painstakingly
correlate our curricula with thousands
of state and national standards.
We work with Congress, which is
besieged on all fronts by groups, each
convinced that its own issue—from
farms to schools, from energy to cities
—is most important.We work with prochoice
legislators who carry the banner.
We also work with legislators who
oppose abortion, but support family
planning.
All things considered, 2009 was a
very good year for our cause with the
rescission of the Global Gag Rule,
restoration of UN family planning
funds, and a remarkable 40% increase
in congressionally-appropriated international
family planning funding.
I have a certain fondness for those
early “glory days” of ZPG. Times
change, though. Today, we measure
success in terms of training 11,000
teachers annually on hundreds of campuses
and elsewhere.
We also measure it in terms of getting
legislation through the labyrinthine corridors
of Congress, where awkward
compromise lurks around every corner.
Thanks to your support, we can tell legislators
that people “back home”
expect them to take action. That matters
a great deal.
Population Connection will continue
to evolve as circumstances change and
new opportunities present themselves.
Evolution is essential.

John Seager
john@popconnect.org


Albert Kaufman
Portland, Oregon

Population growth affects the quality of life for everyone. Population Connection is the national grassroots population organization that educates young people and advocates progressive action to stabilize world population at a level that can be sustained by Earth’s resources.

Click the link below to make a donation:
https://donation.populationconnection.org/form/donate.php

→ Leave a CommentCategories: climate change · long-range planning · population growth
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Note to PGE regarding Google PowerMeter

February 25, 2010 · 2 Comments

Hello PGE,

I read the Oregonian article below which talks about Google’s PowerMeter application, and I’d like to know what it would take to bring this service to Portland?

here’s a link to the article: http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2010/02/qa_with_googles_green_energy_c.html

and here’s a link to the application. http://www.google.org/powermeter/

I assume this will take some action on PGE’s and Google’s part to make it happen.

Albert Kaufman

If you’re in the mood to ask PGE about this, here’s a link to their contact form. https://cs.portlandgeneral.com/Secure/ContactUs/Default.aspx?cookie_test=true

Thanks!

→ 2 CommentsCategories: Google Powermeter · albertideation · climate change · long-range planning
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How to start your day the Eecole way with a nutritious, delicious smoothie!

February 23, 2010 · Leave a Comment

How to start your day the Eecole way with a nutritious, delicious smoothie!

Blend together
1 cup organic frozen fruit (strawberries, blueberries, recommended)
1 cup Hemp milk (cover the rest of the fruit with water)
1 TBS flax seeds (ground)
4 TBS Hemp Protein Powder
1 TBS almond butter
1 tsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp spirulina
1/2 tsp tumeric
A pinch of salt

Blend and serve – best enjoyed right after the smoothie is blended.

Why this smoothie is good for you: This is a great balanced smoothie with lots of protein to tide you over until lunch. Cinnamon helps control blood sugar, tumeric is a great anti-inflammatory, and all of that hemp serves up a dose of omega-3’s that keep your cholesterol in check.

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Talking about population issues on TV

February 11, 2010 · Leave a Comment

I was asked to be on a local cable access show recently to talk about population issues.  Here’s the video.  The sound quality is not great in the beginning, but clears up quickly.  I’d love your feedback.

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Barack Obama · World News · climate change · long-range planning · population growth
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Let’s work together to get your social networking game on!

February 8, 2010 · Leave a Comment

Hello there,

I want to offer you my services. I have been spending the past two years helping people get their e-mail and social-networking games on. Whether it’s figuring out how to use the programs you have already, or branching into new territory, I can help you get going. I’m happy to work with beginners who don’t have a cleu, to those who are a bit more advanced but who would like to take the next step in learning how to swim in different pools and make bigger waves.

I am happy to work with you for U.S. or foreign currency on a sliding scale or possibly a bartering arrangement which includes some sort of home-cooked soup or a massage, firewood or a midnight road-trip to Las Vegas.

Yes, we will have fun together. Yes, we will both learn things.

Get in touch,

albertkaufman@gmail.com
FB: http://facebook.com/albertkaufman11
TW: http://twitter.com/albertkaufman
LI: http://linkedin.com/albertkaufman

Folks who send this on win a special place in heaven!

Sign-up for my monthly e-letter, The Eleven

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Happy New Year: mentoring

January 5, 2010 · Leave a Comment

I’ve started spending one hour a week with a 7th grader at the Beaumont Middle School in Portland. We sit down together and work on whatever he’s got up. One week it was vocabulary, and this week it was math. He also shares a little about his life with me, and I with him. We also talk about nutrition and relationships a little, but mostly it’s help with schoolwork. I’m finding it a fascinating chance to see what it’s like to be in 6th grade these days from the perspective of a 48-year old. I look forward to continuing to get to know him and help him along. And, I also look forward to my increasing awareness of what young peoples’ lives are like in the public school system. If you want to get involved in the mentoring program, get in touch with your school and they’ll set you up.

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I was a guest on OPB’s Think Out Loud – 12/22/09

December 22, 2009 · 3 Comments

I got to talk live on OPB’s Think Out Loud show today.  Here’s the show for your listening enjoyment!

OPB Think Out Loud 12/22/09

→ 3 CommentsCategories: climate change · long-range planning · population growth
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World Population Growth Chart

December 21, 2009 · Leave a Comment

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Barack Obama · long-range planning · population growth
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Are you a Wileyware fan?

November 19, 2009 · 1 Comment

male model and Wileyware

male model and Wileyware

I am!

Wileyware on Facebook


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