On January 12, a series of earthquakes measuring 6.5 to 7.3 on the Richter scale devastated Haiti. The American Red Cross is working with its partners in the global Red Cross and Red Crescent network, including the Haitian Red Cross, and other partners to assist those affected by this disaster.

Your gift to the American Red Cross will support emergency relief and recovery efforts to help those people affected by the earthquake in Haiti. Assistance provided by the American Red Cross may include deploying personnel, sending relief supplies, and providing financial resources.

Donate Now to the American Red Cross

While Zero Hedge has been accused of disagreeing with President Obama's statements, ideas, and policies before, we would like to state on the record that we wholeheartedly agree with the President 

on this one occasion, with the caveat that it was uttered at a time when i) he was not a president, and ii) he presumably actually did in fact care about "our children and grandchildren" instead of simply indulging in an onanistic splurge of spending, bailing out beta chasing bankers and hedge fund managers, and, through his appointee Ben Bernanke, reducing the national currency of the United States to a smoking hulk of burnt toast. Superimposing Obama from 2006 with his current incarnation, threatens a schizoid break no less than would dropping Bono's two alter egos (Macphisto and The Fly) in the same room without a limitless supply of Thorazine.

Read more at Zero Hedge

There are only months left to build a strong global climate treaty -- but some countries are putting its future in doubt.

Around the world a global movement is building to raise the bar of ambition ahead of the crucial climate negotiations in Copenhagen, 

December 2009. An immediate global outcry is needed to inject urgency into the process and to rescue the new treaty.

Add your name to the petition, and Avaaz will deliver it with stunts and meetings at key events prior to Copenhagen. 

Sign the Petition at Avaaz.org 

Since 2008, the Federal Reserve has loaned trillions of dollars in bailout money but refuses to tell Congress where it went. Legislative action is needed. The Federal Reserve Transparency Act would give the GAO the authority to audit the Federal Reserve and report its findings to Congress. The bill was written by Rep. Ron Paul and has 165 cosponsors, mostly Republicans. Democratic Congressman Alan Grayson is now working to get Democratic cosponsors for this bill (see Grayson's letter here). If you think that it's time to bring some transparency to our financial system, please endorse the bill and Rep. Grayson's letter by adding your name to the list.

Sign the Petition over HERE

Tens of thousands of innocent civilians are trapped in a shrinking 3 square kilometer (1.6 miles) conflict zone - bombarded by government artillery, and used as human shields by the rebels. The Japanese government, Sri Lanka's major donor and close regional partner has the power to help stop this humanitarian disaster. Act now by sending a pre-translated message below to the office of Japan´s Foreign Minister Nakasone. The message (right, in Japanese) calls on the Japanese government to: - demand that all citizens are protected from harm; - push for UN Security Council access to the conflict zone and the capacity to deliver urgent humanitarian aid; and - ensure Japan's aid achieves real peace and human rights. Add your own personal message (optional) above the Japanese text (in the box to the right). Or just press send and an email will be sent on your behalf

Click on the Image Below and Sign the Petition at Avaaz.org

This week the US government is debating whether to set up a Commission of Inquiry to look into Bush's 'War on Terror' tactics. This could have major ramifications all the way up the chain of command. Key US Senators, leading this call for justice, need a massive global endorsement to ensure that the Commission is set up and has real teeth. But there are powerful interests that want to cover up the truth about torture, secret detention and other unlawful abuse. Sign this important petition below and we will present it to the Senate hearing before decisions are made this week: To the US Government:

Dear leaders,

I call upon you, not as representatives of your countries, but as leaders of the world, to personally attend the United Nations Climate Summit in Copenhagen this December.

Decisions which will be made at this meeting will impact the lives of everyone alive today, and determine the shape of humanity’s future.

This is the world’s best chance to avoid runaway climate change.

You owe it to the world to attend, to set aside your national interests, to safeguard our future, and to do what you were elected to do: lead.

My request is simple: promise now to personally attend.

Click on the image below to sign the petition at Greenpeace

The-Venus-Project presents a bold, new direction for humanity-that entails nothing less than the total redesign of our culture. There are many people today who are concerned with the serious problems that face our modern society. Unemployment, violent crime, replacement of humans by technology, over-population and a decline in the Earth's ecosystems. As you will see, The Venus Project is dedicated to confronting all of these problems by actively engaging in the research, development, and application of workable solutions. Through the use of innovative approaches to social awareness, educational incentives, and the consistent application of the best that science and technology can offer directly to the social system, The Venus Project offers a comprehensive plan for social reclamation in which human beings, technology, and nature will be able to coexist in a long-term, sustainable state of dynamic equilibrium.

Campaign For Liberty's Mission Americans inherit from our ancestors a glorious tradition of freedom and resistance to oppression.  Our country has long been admired by the rest of the world for her great example of liberty and prosperity—a light shining in the darkness of tyranny.

But many Americans today are frustrated.  The political choices they are offered give them no real choice at all.  For all their talk of "change," neither major political party as presently constituted challenges the status quo in any serious way.  Neither treats the Constitution with anything but contempt.  Neither offers any kind of change in monetary policy.  Neither wants to make the reductions in government that our crushing debt burden demands.  Neither talks about bringing American troops home not just from Iraq but from around the world.  Our country is going bankrupt, and none of these sensible proposals are even on the table.

Rice is daily food for half of the world's population. Genetically engineered (GE) rice, on the other hand, is a threat to our health, our agriculture and our biodiversity.
Most countries have shied away from allowing risky experimentation with the world’s most important staple crop and at present, no GE rice is grown commercially anywhere in the world. But Bayer, the German chemical giant, has genetically manipulated rice to withstand higher doses of a toxic pesticide called glufosinate, which is considered to be so dangerous to humans and the environment that it will soon be banned from Europe. In the coming weeks, the European Union will also decide whether or not this GE rice can enter EU countries, appear on supermarket shelves and end up on our dinner plates.

With over 400 Palestinians and 4 Israelis killed and the death toll mounting daily, we urgently need to demand that world leaders take strong diplomatic action to end the violence. An Israeli ground invasion is believed to be imminent and would claim many more lives -- we must act fast to demand that our leaders act now. Sign the petition below calling for robust international action to achieve an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and take further crucial steps to pursue a peaceful, negotiated resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Petition to the UN Security Council, the European Union, the Arab League and the USA: We urge you to act immediately to ensure a comprehensive ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, to protect civilians on all sides, and to address the growing humanitarian crisis. Only through robust international action and oversight can the bloodshed be stopped, the Gaza crossings safely re-opened and real progress made toward a wider peace in 2009.

The Israeli government plans to build a new coal plant in Ashkelon where a big polluting coal plant already operates 24 hours a day. There is plenty of evidence showing the negative health impacts of this.

Despite this and the fact that the new coal plant will emit an additional 7 million tonnes of CO2 a year into the atmosphere, the Israeli government still insists on using coal.

Israel is one of the sunniest countries in the world, with huge potential to harness clean and safe solar and wind energy, and to embrace energy efficiency.

Sign the Petition HERE

More than a tenth of greenhouse gas emissions in the EU are caused by cars.

The German car industry is lobbying hard to stop European lawmakers from setting tough emissions standards. They want to carry on building heavier, less efficient luxury cars.

Now that the European Parliament's Environment Committee has voted for standards, starting in 2012, industry lobbyists and the German government are trying to wreck the proposal.

Please write to Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel, today asking her to support strong emissions standards. (Use the form below, or try one of these: Deutsche Version, version française)

We, the undersigned, request an inquiry into the long term development of the money supply, in particular the share of Cash and the share of Credit in the economy.

Since nobody questions who generates the interest necessary to pay for credit, we object to buying into the myth of a “credit crunch” whilst on-line statistics of the Bank of England show that the Cash share of the money supply has continually dwindled. The reality is therefore a “cash crumble”.

A lot of us have studied our financial system over many years and some have taken legal advice resulting in Parliamentary scrutiny via the Treasury Select Committee. Others have submitted “Green Credit for Green Purposes” in response to the Committee’s inquiry into the Stern review which was published in February 2008.

Van 19 mei tot 30 mei 2008 vindt in Dublin de slotconferentie van het internationale proces tegen clustermunitie plaats. Daar moet een sterk verdrag uitkomen, anders wordt een unieke kans gemist.