Yesterday I received an email from Van Jones of Green for All telling me to watch Earth: The Sequel on Wednesday, March 11th. Despite the fact that I don’t know Van Jones personally and it was clearly a mass email, I always click when I see his name because I know it will be something meaningful. This one was no different,

Our friends at the Environmental Defense Fund have partnered with the Discovery Channel to bring green energy technologies to life as never before. Am I really writing to ask you to watch TV on Wednesday? Yes. Because this special tells the story that the whole nation needs to know: We have an abundance of clean energy alternatives already available to solve the global warming crisis and rebuild a clean, green America.

Check out the trailer and, if you like what you see, sign up to watch the show: www.earththesequel.com

Pretty cool, huh? You better believe that when the new green jobs advisor to the Obama administration tells me to watch something, I’ll be tuning in.

Thumbnail image via Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Dorothee and Mark recently returned from a trip to Guatemala where they documented a medical mission to the town of Jalapa for Latin American Medical Providers (LAMP). They also shot footage at a nearby girls orphanage to raise awareness for the Chicago-based H.E.A.R Foundation. Stay tuned for the release of both videos!

Dorothee interviews women waiting in line to be treated at the hospital where LAMP doctors see over 250 people a day for one week:

Mark gets his gear ready to accompany a team of doctors to a remote mountain village in the Guatemalan countryside:

Dorothee decided it would be awesome to climb on the roof to get a shot of the long line outside of the hospital in Jalapa…

This month I had the pleasure of attending Fem2.0 in Washington, D.C. representing See3 Communications. It was a great chance to meet up with my fellow Change.org Women’s Rights bloggers Loryn Wilson and Jen Nedeau:

Here’s an excerpt from my longer post about the conference on the See3 blog,

What I liked most about the conference was the diversity of people that attended. It was a great mix of races, genders, ages and because the conference was focused on organizing women online and off, there were techy and non-techy people present.

A major theme that came out of the conference was bridging the gap between old and new activists and using technology to engage the younger audience. Jen Nedeau, my fellow Women’s Rights blogger at Change.org, moderated the panel, “At the Crossroads: Organizing the Next Generation of Feminists Online and Off”. She emphasized in her presentation that young activists need to be engaged where they live online with customizable options to participate.

Here’s a video that Nerdette from NotMyGal filmed of that panel (yup, that’s me listening in the background):

-Dorothee

A beautiful video that was shown on the jumbo-tron at the Grant Park Rally in Chicago after it was announced that Barack Obama had been elected the next president of the United States.

Thank you to all the volunteers, the brilliant campaign staff (shout out to the New Media Team!), the masses of people who donated their time, money and creative energy to this campaign. Now the real work begins…

Happy Election Day everyone! And no matter who you choose for office, we’re glad you got out there to exercise your right to vote. No but seriously folks, vote for Obama.

Dorothee with that post-voting glow…

Dres of the platinum-selling hip hop group Black Sheep has revitalized the 1991 hit The Choice is Yours, rewriting lyrics and donating his time to create this pro-Obama voter initiative video. He partnered with Austin based creative teams at Voodoo Cowboy Entertainment and Super!Alright! Media, all of whom volunteered their time. Dres re-recorded and shot the updated version of The Choice is Yours in Austin, Texas in just under two days.

Thanks to @natesayer for the tip!

This is our favorite coverage of the presidential campaign season so far. 5th grade reporter Damon Weaver asks Joe Biden “What a does a VP do?” during an interview on Sept. 2, 2008 in Palm Beach County, FL.

Apparently, I screwed up…

Props to Moveon.org for putting together this awesome get-out-the-vote campaign. It is truly engaging and proves that customized media is a great way to spread a message virally. Click here to customize a cnnbc video for your friends.

Special thanks to Hans Royal-Hedinger for the tip!

Sarah Palin is a woman, so she’s probably the best candidate for women, right? WAY wrong.

If McCain and Palin win, Women Lose.

Eleanor Smeal, President of Feminist Majority, says, “Obama/Biden are running on the strongest platform for women’s rights of any major party in U.S. history”.

That’s why Feminist Majority launched www.FeministsForObama.org, a side-by-side comparison of the Democratic and Republican nominees on four major women’s issues: Violence Against Women, Abortion and Contraception, Women and Work, and Breast Cancer and Health Care.

To reach as many people as possible, Feminist Majority created three striking PSAs that illuminate some of the grave truths about the McCain/Palin record on women’s issues.

One in Six
“Under Sarah Palin, rape survivors were forced to pay up to $1200 for rape evidence collection kits.”

Unholy Trinity
“John McCain voted against funding to fight and prevent domestic violence”

Violation
“John McCain and Sarah Palin are running on a platform that seeks to outlaw a woman’s right to an abortion even in cases of rape and incest.”

McCain on Breast Cancer

McCain voted against funding breast cancer research if it meant taking away from military funds. Breast cancer affects all women, even the 370,000 women currently serving in the US Armed Forces. Since breast cancer attacks 1 in 8 women, that means 46,250 members of the US military will deal with breast cancer. And John McCain voted NO.

McCain on Violence Against Women

Senators Obama and Biden have sponsored and supported legislation, including funding, to reduce violence against women and to assist women survivors of domestic abuse. Biden authored the federal Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Obama cosponsored the reauthorization of VAWA and authored legislation on violence against women as an Illinois State Senator.

Not only did McCain vote NO on VAWA, but he also failed to co-sponsor VAWA reauthorization although many Republican and Conservative Senators did.

Quick Facts

Did you know Senator McCain voted against establishing the Army’s Breast Cancer Research Program? This program, which started modestly, appropriated hundreds of millions to Breast Cancer research.

Did you know Senator McCain opposes the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act? The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act would restore a woman’s right to fight pay discrimination in court.

Did you know Senator McCain has ducked questions on contraceptive insurance discrimination as recently as July 2008?

Visit www.FeministsForObama.org to read more.

With the recent economic crisis and rising cost of living, times are tough for people living in the U.S. But not as tough as for those people around the world who live on one dollar a day or less.

This October, communities around the nation will be screening films from the Dollar A Day film series released by globaldevelopmentmatters.org to raise awareness about global poverty. This set of documentary films address big issues in global development like HIV/AIDs, microcredit loans and global trade from a very personal perspective. Right now it’s critical to have an understanding of the connection between global development and U.S. political choices as we make decisions on the eve of the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

Start a conversation in your community by hosting a screening at your:
* Home
* Local library
* School
* Nearby community center
* Place of worship

It’s easy, just visit globaldevelopmentmatters.org to register your screening, download discussion guides and print invitations. If you document your event, you could even win a Flip Video Camera!

Some groups have decided to host the screening on or around October 15th in honor of Blog Action Day, which is centered on global poverty this year. Check out the Chicago Blog Action Day Party which will be screening “The New Silver: Microcredit”

Here’s the trailer:

Microcredit – How do you solve a problem like Maria’s?
Meet Maria. She dreams of starting her own business to make a better life for her family. From one of the poorest areas of Bolivia with a husband too sick to work, Maria faces a deck stacked against her. How do you solve a problem like Maria’s? Microcredit loans may be one answer to help her get on her way.