This movie and website is making the rounds lately, so I thought I'd take a closer look. As a bioregionalist, I found myself asking a series of questions about what I found. So in the spirit of the website's admonition "not to take on, unquestioningly, a new set of beliefs," I share this review with the reader.
This from the City of Lawrence:Common Ground is an urban agriculture and community gardening program of the City of Lawrence and Douglas CountyApplications due: Friday, December 16, 2011The City of Lawrence and Douglas County are seeking applications for an Urban Agriculture/Community Garden land use program (Common Ground). This Request for Applications (RFA) is intended to assist...
We're excited to announce the launch of our eighth Films For Action city chapter representing Toronto, Ontario Canada! Below is our mission, goals and vision for the chapter, as well as several ways to get involved. Join us!Mission:Our Toronto chapter website aims to provide a definitive web-based resource for the social change community of Toronto, Canada. By providing a robust set of...
We're excited to announce the launch of our sixth Films For Action city chapter representing Wichita, Kansas! Below is our mission, goals and vision for the chapter, as well as several ways to get involved. Join us!Mission:Our Wichita chapter website aims to provide a definitive web-based resource for the social change community of Wichita, Kansas. By providing a robust set of...
We're excited to announce the launch of our fourth Films For Action city chapter representing the San Francisco Bay Area, California. There are so many forward-thinking, innovative groups in San Francisco that are doing amazing things, we can't wait to see the vision of this project start to take off. We're happy to have Kenneth Fax heading up the chapter, so if you'd like to get involved you can...
We're excited to announce the launch of our third Films For Action city chapter representing Indore, India. There are so many forward-thinking, innovative groups in Indore that are doing amazing things, we can't wait to see the vision of this project start to take off. Below is our mission, goals and vision for the chapter, as well as several ways to get involved. Join us!Mission: Our Indore...
We're excited to announce the launch of our second Films For Action city chapter representing Kansas City, KS/MO. There are so many forward-thinking groups in KC that are doing amazing things, we can't wait to see the vision of this project start to take off. Below is our mission, goals and vision for the chapter, as well as several ways to get involved. Join us!Mission: Our Kansas...
Today's LJWorld editorial about voter apathy got me thinking. I also find our abysmal voter turnout deeply troubling, and I think I may have a solution.If we want to inspire more people to go to the polls, they need something to get excited about. We're going to be facing some serious challenges in the coming years, and this can easily get pretty depressing to think about. Simply trying...
Films For Action is proud to present a screening of ‘The Economics of Happiness’, a documentary about the worldwide movement for localization.Both hard-hitting and inspiring, the film demonstrates that millions of people across the world are already engaged in building a better world – that small scale initiatives are happening on a large scale. The film shows that countless...
So, I was trying to get my friend to read a recent issue of Adbusters magazine."You've got to read this!" I said.
Oo-de-lally!! After twelve months in development, the site has finally gone live!! What started out as a simple plan a year ago to make a few minor visual tweaks and navigational changes ended up morphing into an over-the-top, head-to-toe redesign of the entire site. It's been an epic adventure of long nights, coffee, and dreams of the day we'll someday be done, but the day has...
In celebration and exploration of all things green, two bicyclists are on a year-long journey around the United States to share what they've learned about sustainable communities. They’ve traveled more than 6,000 miles to visit and film 100 sustainable communities of all types, working to capture in film the abundance of community-oriented solutions out there that are already working. The...
Can thousands of diverse, locally-rooted, grassroots economic projects form the basis for a viable democratic alternative to capitalism? It might seem unlikely that a motley array of initiatives such as worker, consumer, and housing cooperatives, community currencies, urban gardens, fair trade organizations, intentional communities, and neighborhood self-help associations could hold a candle to...
Liberty Hall. 644 Mass St. Lawrence, KS - Only $3. 7PM.We must rethink our policy toward Afghanistan. Congressional oversight hearings on Afghanistan would facilitate a substantial public debate on this war. What's more, these hearings would coincide with President Obama's effort to craft policy that represents the diversity in public opinion and the wide array of tools at his disposal. Help...
We'd like to thank everyone who came out to the screening tonight. I saw a lot of regular faces in the audience tonight, and your continued support over the years truly brings myself and all the other folks that are involved in the Films For Action project a great happiness. It is what makes these film screenings worth it, and what energizes myself, personally, to keep working diligently to see...
Would any sane person think dumpster diving would have stopped Hitler, or that composting would have ended slavery or brought about the eight-hour workday, or that chopping wood and carrying water would have gotten people out of Tsarist prisons, or that dancing naked around a fire would have helped put in place the Voting Rights Act of 1957 or the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Then why now, with all...
I was recently driving past a public high school during its lunch break when I witnessed a troubling sight. A hungry horde of teens was streaming out the doors of the school and looking for a place to eat. A quick glance about the area revealed their limited options: a McDonald’s across the street or a Taco Bell a block further away. If those two options didn’t appeal, there was always the local...
You know you're a nerd when an animation of parking lots being replaced with sweet, well-designed density gives you goosebumps. And I, my friends, am a nerd. This video created by ArnoldImaging for Kansas City Public Television asks how, within a decade, alternative transit would change life in Kansas City, where the average resident currently spends the equivalent of six work weeks per...
The new documentary Beyond Elections: Redefining Democracy in the Americas (buy from PM Press) proves that democracy can and should be more than casting a ballot every four years. This empowering film gives hopeful and concrete examples from around the Americas of people taking back the reigns of power and governing their own communities. Beyond Elections is a road map for social change, drawing...
The financial crisis has put to rest the myths that our economic institutions are sound and markets work best when deregulated.Our economic institutions have failed, not only financially, but also socially and environmentally. This, combined with the election of a new president with a mandate for change, creates an opportune moment to rethink and redesign.President-elect Obama has promised to...