I was amazed when I heard about this young activist, Severn Cullis-Suzuki from Canada. At age 9, she started the Environmental Children’s Organization (ECO), made up of a small group of children committed to teaching other kids about the ongoing environmental crisis. In 1992, Severn (at 12-yrs old) and this organization raised enough money to fund her trip to the Premier Earth Summit in Brazil. After reading her speech at this Summit, I had to share it with everyone. Amazing that this is coming from a 12-year old. Here is her speech:
“Hello, I am Severn Suzuki speaking for ECO the environmental children’s organization. We are a group of 12- and 13-year-olds trying to make a difference. Venessa Suthie, Morgan Geisler, Michelle Quigg and I. We have raised all the money to come here ourselves, to come 5000 miles to tell you adults you must change your ways.
Coming up here today I have no hidden agenda. I am fighting for my future. Losing my future is not like losing an election or a few points on the stock market. I am here to speak for all generations to come. I am here to speak on behalf of the starving children around the world whose cries go unheard. I am here to speak for the countless animals dying across this planet because they have nowhere left to go. I am afraid to go out in the sun now because of the holes in our ozone; I am afraid to breathe the air because I don’t know what chemicals are in it. I used to go fishing in Vancouver, my home, with my dad until just a few years ago we found the fish full of cancers. And now we hear of animals and plants going extinct, every day, vanishing forever. In my life I have dreamt of seeing a great herd of wild animals, jungles and rainforests full of birds and butterflies, but now I wonder if they will even exist for my children to see.
Did you have to worry of these things when you were my age? All this is happening before our eyes and yet we act as if we have all the time we want — and all the solutions. I am only a child and I don’t have all the solutions. But I want you to realize, neither do you! You don’t know how to fix the holes in our ozone layer; you don’t know how to bring a salmon back up a dead stream; you don’t know how to bring back an animal now extinct; and you can’t bring back the forests that once grew — and where there is now a desert. If you don’t know how to fix it, please stop breaking it.
Here, you may be delegates of your government, business people, organizers, reporters, or politicians. But really you are mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, aunts and uncles, and all of you are somebody’s child. I am only a child, yet I know that we are all part of a family, five billion-strong. In fact, thirty million species-strong, and voters and government will never change that. I am only a child yet I know that we are all in this together and should act as one single world toward one single goal.
In my anger I am not blind, and in my fear I am not afraid of telling the world how I feel. In my country we make so much waste, we buy and throw away… buy and throw away… buy and throw away… and yet northern countries will not share with the needy, even when we have more than enough, we are afraid to share. We are afraid to let go of some of our wealth. In Canada, we live the privileged life. We have plenty of food, water and shelter. We have watches, bicycles, computers and television sets… the list could go on for two days.
Two days ago here in Brazil, we were shocked when we spent time with some children living on the streets. This is what one child told us: “I wish I was rich. And if I were, I would give all the street children food, clothes, medicines, shelter and love and affection”. If a child on the street who has nothing is willing to share, why are we, who have everything, still so greedy?
I can’t stop thinking that these are children my own age and that it makes a tremendous difference where you are born. I can’t stop thinking that I could be one of those children living in the Favellas of Rio… I could be a child starving in Somalia… or a victim of war in the Middle East…or a beggar in India. I am only a child and yet I know that if all the money that was spent on war was spent on finding environmental answers and ending poverty… what a wonderful place this would be. At school, even in kindergarten you teach us how to behave in the world. You teach us to not to fight others, to work things out, to respect others, to clean up our mess, not to hurt other creatures, to share and not be greedy. Then why do you go out and do the things you tell us not to do?
Do not forget why you are attending these conferences, and who you are doing this for! We are your own children. You are deciding what kind of a world we are growing up in. Parents should be able to comfort their children by saying ‘everything is going to be alright, it is not the end of the world, and we are doing the best we can’. But I don’t think you can say that to us anymore. Are we even on your list of priorities? My dad always says, you are what you do, not what you say. Well, what you do makes me cry at night. You grownups say you love us, but I challenge you please make your actions reflect your words. Thank you…”
Now over 15-years later, it appears her strong words fell on deaf ears. So now that “Green” is the popular term now-a-days, I wanted to share her words some 15 years ago. Please help spread her words and revive her plea. I have also attached a video of her speech for those who would rather feel the impact of her speech.
Most people don’t have a clue what crimes occur near their homes. Maybe because they are too busy or don’t even care to know. I maybe both, but I came across a cool site that lists all crimes that have occurred in all major cities of the U.S. It is called SpotCrime.com. It claims to be “the most comprehensive online source of crime information.” Apparently it gathers all the information from police records and news reports. It then places icons where they occurred on Google maps. Some major cities are very frightening to see all the crimes. You can hardly see the map with all the crime icons all over the place. One thing to keep in mind however, is that these are crimes that have already occurred, not crimes that are happening at the moment. So it may be useful for people who are moving into and want to see the crimes that have happened in that area. But it is still nice to see what spots near your home are crime-infested and to stay away from. Check it out.
As we’re in the mist of a very difficult economic year (trying to avoid the R word), inflation is affecting us all. Not only in gas for our automobiles, but energy cost overall are increasing. I just had a discussion with family members about trying to control the ever increasing home utility costs. I then came across this great website called WhiteFence.com. It allows you to bundle all/most home utilities, including home phone, cellular phone, TV services, internet and utilities. You can do it from home or phone, by calling in. There are links that allow you to compare bundles, if you are moving, or if you are simply trying to lower your expenses. Great site! If anyone would like to check it out, click WhiteFence.
I recently read a report from the World Health Organization (WHO), claiming that 3-4% of adults world wide have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). On average, these adults miss about 3-weeks of work a year. Apparently this condition causes lack of concentration at work, due to the hyperactivity, plus impulsiveness and forgetfulness. The worse part of this condition is that most adults don’t even know they have a problem. I find that amazing! Did these adults all of a sudden get this condition? I doubt it, they must have lived with it all or most of their lives. If these adults were diagnosed with this disorder at a young age, did they think they were going to grow out of it? If anyone is interested in reading more about ADHD and the workplace, visit the U.S. National Resource Center on ADHD.
There have been three shark attacks on the coast of Zihuatanejo, Mexico in less than a month. This is a rare occurrence in this area. Out of the three attacks, only one survived. Fatal shark attacks are rare throughout the world, occurring on average about 4 deaths a year. This year there have been only one other known shark attack fatality, outside of Mexico. In April, a surfer was killed off Solana Beach, CA. So these shark attacks have baffled local experts. It has also hurt local merchants as well, by diminishing local tourism. There really isn’t anything anyone can do besides not get in the water, which is the hugest attraction in the area.
I read a very disturbing article regarding how lead exposure in children can lead to criminal behavior in young adulthood. This is a frightening association, considering children are still being exposed to lead in older buildings, especially in poor, inner-city neighborhoods, to this day. I know there have been banns of lead in paint (1978), solder (1986) and gasoline (1996), but kids from those generations are adults now. The study in this article showed that the lead level of a large population in their 20’s & 30’s are extremely high (neurotoxic range). Can they all become criminals at some point? There already have been links to childhood exposure with anti-social behaviors, attention deficits, lower IQ, weak executive control functions and hyperactivity, which according to this article, all are risk factors to delinquent behavior. Although the numbers have decreased of childhood exposure to lead, nothing can be done fast enough to eliminate it completely.
While growing up in the 70’s & 80″, multiracial Americans were not common. In fact, multiracial marriages were banned in 16 states until 1967. But I’m a Mexican/American. Both my parents were born in Mexico and I was born in the United States. Mexicans did not really accept me nor did Americans. I was confused growing up, speaking Spanish at home, and learning English at school. But I moved forward and eventually received my BS degree. I continued being a citizen of this great country and I eventually married a multiracial American. Her Mother was Irish and her Father Black. We had two kids, who are now also multiracial Americans as well. So now that we have a multiracial President candidate in Barack Obama, does that mean this is the start of a post-race era? I mean this country was built with many races involved (Irish, Italians, Spaniards, etc), so I really hope so. I recently read an article about a Mixed Heritage Center, which is a web-based resource center for mixed-race people and families. If I was confused growing up, I know mixed-race kids will also be confused, which includes my children. My ex-wife and I encourage our kids to learn history and cultures of all their races. When they come visit my family, they are exposed to their Mexican culture, which includes speaking Spanish, food and music. This Center will also help other children learn their mixed-races’ history and culture. What a great idea!
There is now a website to find someone to take over your lease. It will cost a few hundred dollars to find someone to take over your car lease. With the high fuel costs, I can imagine so many people out there that want out of their leases of their gas guzzlers (i.e SUV’s). If anyone is looking into getting out of their car lease, I have listed some websites for your convenience:
With the divorce rates so high now a days, so many men have to deal with their ex-wives. I know, women have to deal with their ex-husdand too. But since I am a man, I will speak of the ex-wives here, which I have myself. First and foremost, most often, the Mom has the custody of the children. So they have all the responsibilty of raising the children, which is a whole lot more then simply feeding and clothing them. They are the ones picking them up at the end of the day, encourage them if they are down, dicipline them when they are misbehaving, have to help and make sure they complete their homework and school projects, even taking and picking them up from their sporting events (if any). Being a single Mother is by far the hardest job in the world. As a Dad, we easily jump into being the “fun” parent. By only having the kids on the weekend, most Dad’s (inclduing myself at times) would rather play with their kids, then using up valuable weekend time finishing homework, helping the kid’s keep up with the reading skills (by reading of course), etc. It is easier and more fun to simply fool around all weekend and make sure your kids have a blast when they are with you.
But are you really helping your kids in the long run? Maybe not. That is why I have committed to my ex-wife that I will help raise our children, even if it is only on the weekends. I want and need to get involved with the kids school work and all other aspects of raisng children. Children from even the best single mom’s need their Father involved. I appreciate my ex-wife’s efforts and sacrafices on raising my kids and that is the reason I have committed myslef on doing the same. A good relationship with my ex, will only benefit my children in the long run.
0 Comments 
