English: A woman makes her support of her marriage, and not civil unions, known outside the Mormon temple at New York City’s Lincoln Center. Photographer’s blog post about this photo and the protest. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
While you’re figuring out what you’d like to do, here are some of the topics for this past week. The marriage equality debate had people changing their Facebook profile pictures, GMOs get a leg up in legislation, and more.
- The Supreme Court has been discussing marriage equality and whether or not California’s Proposition 8 and DOMA are constitutional. Many supporters of equal marriage legislation have changed their Facebook profile pictures in order to show their support. Not only can you change your profile picture to show your support of this cause, but you can also become a member of the Human Rights Campaign, purchase goods to help support LGBT rights, volunteer to help with events and awareness-raising, and get an HRC credit card or stationary.
- Also in the news, the “Monsanto Protection Act” passed through congress. For those not “in the know,” Monsanto is a large company that produces trademarked, genetically engineered seeds. Many farmers use these seeds because they have been engineered to be resistant to pesticides and herbicides that will be used on large factory farmed crops. Many other nations have banned Monsanto crops – not only because of the unknown and possibly dangerous effects on humans, but also because of the effects on the environment. President Obama signed the bill, as it was a rider on HR 933 (Section 735) – a bill necessary to keep the government from shutting down. If you would like to get involved, you can support GMO labeling, support stores, co-ops, and farms that advocate for GMO labeling, and support your local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms and farmers markets.
- Bees are in the news, as this past winter has been particularly harsh on honeybees. Colony Collapse Disorder is still very real and the loss of bees can be a huge problem for agriculture and the sustainability of life on Earth as a whole. Scientists aren’t quite sure what’s causing the bee deaths. However, there is a lot of speculation that pesticide use is a big factor - either making the bees forgetful or making the bees lazy. You may wish to watch Queen of the Sun, a film about what’s happening to our bee population and follow a variety of tips on how you can help the bee population comeback to life.
What are the news stories you’ve found interesting this past week?
