'Cause Everyone Needs to Eat

"There is no more important global goal than ending hunger," stated Alan Larson, Undersecretary of State for Economic, Business, and Agricultural Affairs during the Clinton and Bush Administration, "More than 800 million people around the world are hungry or malnourished."
While the U.S. has been the largest supplier of food aid and contributor to the U.N.'s World Food Program, one billion people still live off less than one dollar per day. According to World Hunger Notes, 2.6 billion people live on less than two dollars a day and spend half of that on food.

The act of starving goes far beyond its definition or just being hungry. Without food or fat storage, the body begins to eat away its muscles in order to provide energy to keep the central nervous system and heart alive. The atrophy of the stomach weakens the percentage of hunger and thirst, so people will become dehydrated as well. Because of the atrophy of the muscles and severe dehydration, any movement becomes too painful.



World hunger map provided by the World Food Programme

As Larson stated, the most important goal is to end world hunger. However, this goal cannot be achieved by governments. This problem needs to be addressed by everyone because it affects everyone.

There are two things that you can do to achieve this goal: get involved by politics and donate to non-profit organizations.

It is important to understand what your candidate for President believes in this issue. The ONE Campaign has started a petition to Presidential Debate moderator Jim Lehrer calling on him to ask Barack Obama and John McCain their plans to fight global poverty. Click here to sign the petition so you know how your candidate feels about this important matter.

To eradicate this crisis, the people that suffer must learn to be self-reliance.

"Unlike many other relief organizations, we stay long after the crisis has ended to help communities fully recover and get back to self-reliance," states the International Medical Corps. "We believe no emergency response effort is complete without passing on the skills and resources communities need to be able to care of themselves. "

IMC is a non-profit, voluntary, non-political organization. Because of this they are able to help people that need help without taking sides on religion or politics. They have received a 4 star rating, the highest rating by Charity Navigator, with 92 percent of there income going directly to program expenses.

In 8 days, American Express is having the first voting to determine the top 5 projects for their Member's Project. AmEx is inviting people to come up with ideas to help people. After the voting, they will give $2.5 million dollars to the top projects.

IMC has backed a project that will feed malnourished children around the world.

Hunger and malnutrition kill more people in the world than HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. As food prices rise, this funding is even more critical. More people are being driven deeper into poverty trying to afford basic staples. Many have nothing to eat at all. Your vote makes it possible for fewer young lives to be lost because they do not have enough to eat.

While our government does give a lot of money and resources to people who need it, it is not enough. World hunger is something that can be fought and won with the support of the people from every nation. Learn about your politicians and find out what they believe in. Support non-profit organizations as well.

If you do not have money to donate, support in other ways. Donate your time by volunteering, sign the ONE Declaration, or check out Click to Give, a website dedicated to feeding the hungry with free ways to give.

Flickr Upload

I have finally added some photographs to my Flickr account. I uploaded 104 photographs taken from Operation Defeat al Qaida in the North. While on this Op. I documented Marines and Soldiers from 2nd Light Armored Reconnaisance Battalion, 4th Tank Battalion, and 82 Airborne.

Cluster Bombs

In August Russia began an armed offensive against Georgia. What started out with sniper attacks turned into a full invasion by the Russian military. On August 15 Russian airplanes began an air assault, dropping cluster bombs on Georgian targets, according to Survivor Corps.

“Russia has said it is only seeking to restore stability to the two regions,” according to an article on the NPR website. “Russia responded with air strikes on Georgian positions, not just in South Ossetia but also in Abkhazia, where Georgian troops still had a foothold in the Kodori Gorge region.”

The area also contains one of Georgia’s most important assets, a pipeline that carries gas and oil from Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan to Turkey, said NPR.

Russia was not the only country guilty of using clusters bombs in this action.

“Georgia's Defense Ministry acknowledges use of the M85 cluster munitions,” stated the Human Rights Watch in an article by the Boston Globe.

Cluster bombs can be deployed from the air or the ground and release smaller munitions that spread out across an area. Once cluster bomb can house as many as a few hundred smaller bombs known as “bomblets”.

“Many bomblets fail to explode on contact, becoming in effect the equivalent of a land mine,” states an article by the National Catholic Reporter. “Estimates of failure rates range from 5 percent to 30 percent.”

The unexploded bomblets lie on the ground dormant until disturbed. Children easily mistake the small munitions for toys and pick them up to play with them. When so, they explode, killing or permanently maiming them. According to the Survivor Corps, 80 percent of cluster bomb victims are civilians.

Afghanistan is another country that has a brutal history with the Russians and cluster bombs.

“According to United Nations Mine Action Programme, Afghanistan is one of the most heavily mined countries in the world,” stated the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs website, “with 732 million square kilometers of its territory littered with mines and UXO.”

In May more than 107 nations came together in Dublin to negotiate a treaty to ban cluster bombs at the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The treaty is expected to be finalized and signed in Oslo in December.

If you would like more information regarding cluster bombs and their effects to civilians please check out the Survivor Corps and the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. As well as, you can sign the People’s Treaty to ban cluster bombs.

Serve God, Save the planet

"The gradual depletion of the ozone layer and the related 'greenhouse effect' has now reached crisis proportions as a consequence of industrial growth, massive urban concentrations and vastly increased energy needs. Industrial waste, the burning of fossil fuels, unrestricted deforestation, the use of certain types of herbicides, coolants and propellants,: all of these are known to harm the atmosphere and environment."

What does that mean to you? What do you think about the person that said it?

When the idea of global warming comes up, usually religion is completely left out of the argument on why we need to change our lives. On the cable media networks, often they will have one person, usually a left wing Atheist, arguing for change in the name of Science, with the other being a right wing conservative, that will spin the science conversation into a conversation about creationism just try to argue that the other is wrong about science completely.

One person Christians can look to for guidance on the subject is the Pope. Catholic or not, one cannot deny his Spirituality and knowledge of the Scriptures.

So what about that quote? It was said by Pope Jon Paul II in a message for the Celebration of World Peace Day, Jan. 1, 1990. 18 years ago, long before "an Inconvenient Truth" hit mainstream, the Pope was already talking about global warming.

Pope Jon Paul II continued his message about the destruction of the environment throughout his Papacy.

"It is therefore the inescapable responsibility of those who work with the name of Christians to give a credible witness in this area," Paul II said addressed to farmers and representatives of agricultural institutions from the five continents, as they gathered with the Holy Father as part of the Jubilee of the Agricultural World. "Unfortunately, in the countries of the so-called ‘developed’ world an irrational consumerism is spreading, a sort of ‘culture of waste’, which is becoming a widespread lifestyle."

J. Matthew Sleeth, MD, is someone who took this message and applied it directly to his life. In his book Serve God, Save the Planet: A Christian Call to Action, he shares his journey from a consumerism lifestyle to a lifestyle of simplicity.

"'Tree huggers worship nature. I don't want to be involved with them'" Sleeth writes as a common misconception, "The problem today is not one of nature worship; instead, it is the worship of all things made by human beings."

Throughout his book, Sleeth talks about how Christians can be more godly and live a meaningful life by helping people, being less materialistic, and more charitable.

"On no subject is Jesus more clear on materialism: a life focused on possessions is a poor and misguided life," Sleeth continues," Simplifying means having less, wanting less, being satisfied with what you have or less than what you have. It does not mean boredom."

Throughout his testament, Sleeth shares his transformation as a chief of the medical staff at a large hospital to adopting a healthier, less materialistic lifestyle, which led to stronger relationships and a richer spiritual life. By using his knowledge and expertise as a former emergency room director, he shows how the destruction of the environment in causing illnesses, such as cancer and others, to peoples all over the world.

Through expert testimony, life experience, and Scripture, Sleeth shows how one can change their life and the world by living a simple practical life. If you are interested in the environment, or are a Christian, then you should read this book.

“When we kill off a species we go against God’s dual blessings,” Sleeth explains, “We cancel the life God gave to the species, and we forever lose the benefits of that species to humanity.”

For more information please refer to the author’s website, his book, or the Jon Paul II Institute for Theology and Enviromental Studies.

Save Trestles

I believe that one of the many reasons that people do not speak out for what they believe in, is because they feel they won't be heard. In a culture, where corporations control our individualism as well as our governments, many people think that they can't and won't make a difference.

This is not true when it comes to an organization called Save Trestles.

The Transportation Corridor Agency has proposed to build a 16 mile long extension off the 241 toll road to route traffic around San Clemente. This project is expected to cost over 1 billion dollars and will connect with the 5 freeway at Trestles.

Trestles has been known as one of California's best waves. It is the only beach in the continental U.S. that hosts a pro tour surf event. The area around the beach, San Mateo, is also a protected land that separates San Diego County from blending into the suburban giant, Orange County.

The rapid growth of industrialization and population near coastal areas in the last decades has had a dramatic effect on the environment leading to a climate change (read global warming). Southern California is just one of many places that have had their beaches change because of changing weather and population.

Mexico is another country that is experiencing over development and changing coastal landscapes.

Many places in Baja California are looking into constructing marinas to boost American tourism. One of these places is San Miguel, a famous beach and campground north of Ensenada. According to Save the Waves Coalition, "Marina San Miguel", as it will be called, is a $370 million dollar project that will construct a 5 star resort and extend the Ensenada harbor 185 acres north, devouring San Miguel beach.

Another famous beach that is facing its end in Mexico is Salsipuedos. Known for its heavy barrel when it is breaking, Salipuedos, which loosely translates to "leave if you can", is closing its campgrounds to visitors because of a development project that create residency for about 2,600 people.

"Global warming is threatening Mexico's beaches, one of the nation's most beautiful natural resources," according to a blog on Los Angeles Times' website that "hurricanes and rising sea levels are eating away hundreds of miles of beaches in five Mexican states."

Mexico is not the only country losing their sand to heavier hurricanes and changing coast lines. Florida is another state that has experienced much of the same as well. Because of increased hurricane activity, communities are now walling their beaches to save water-front property. These walls create a problem because sand cannot flow back onto the beaches when the hurricanes are over.

The Outer Banks is a prime example of what happens when a coastal region is blocked by a wall. In the book "Drowning the North Carolina Coast" (North Carolina Sea Grant, 2003), notes that after 70 years of being pinned down by an artificial sand dune and roads connecting the islands, "large segments of the Outer Banks are already collapsing."

"Coastal habitats and wildlife are under pressure from human activities such as development and pollution. Now, sea-level rise and other climate changes due to global warming will create even greater challenges for our coasts," states the National Wildlife Foundation. "We are facing an ecological crisis that could see wholesale loss of wildlife populations and profound changes in our outdoor way of life. We must address the greatly accelerating impacts of global warming before it's too late and work together to protect and conserve the coasts"

Because of organizations like Save Trestles, we are able to come together as a community to save our beaches.

Guess who's back!

So a miracle happend today. I just finished installing Lightroom II onto my computer. I had to look something up on the help files, so I clicked on Lightroom Help. The link directed me to a website on Adobe.com. However, the proxy blocked it. As one can expect, a lot of website are blocked for us to use on government computers here in Iraq. The proxies are setup to protect operational security as well as viruses getting into the system. Just like a lot of corporations, the military blocks access to websites as well. However, this was a site that I needed to view for my job so I called up the information assurance guys. He told me I should have already had access to the site because I am with Combat Camera and aparently we are supposed to get special access. So he gave me the code which I typed in to Internet Explorers setting and viola... I had access.

I decided to take the experiment one step further and see if I had access to check my Gmail account. What do you know, it worked. So I decided to see if I could get access to Facebook. Again, it worked. So I checked my blog. A miracle happened, and I had access.

I know I said I would do great things with this blog when I started in 8 months ago. However, I did not think that I would not have access to it in Iraq. So, now that I do, it is back up a running!

A lot for me has changed in the last 8 months. Normally I would talk about it, but it could fill pages, so I'll be brief. I helped some people, hurt some others, met some cool people, and some jerks. I traveled all over Iraq and stayed trapped on bases at times. I took some terrific pictures and saw some terrible things. I spent 3 months wandering the desert and a few more trapped inside a base. People were saved and a few were killed, bombs were dropped, while suicide vests were blown up. My heart was broken then I fell in love.

If you want to see some of my photos, just Google my name.

So stand by because my blog is now back in full swing.