LETS Birmingham

Local Energy Transfer Systems (LETS) are localized trade systems that occur outside the mainstream economy.  They grow from communities seeking to meet their material needs in a truly equal market exchange based on labor-produced credits rather than money.  LETS users trade local units of value for goods and labor/services.  A LETS credit's value is determined by the community of people participating in the system.  LETS systems will change and grow as the community of users grows - essentially it is a biomimicking economic system.  Research on existing LETS has demonstrated that the system works alongside the mainstream economy and actually increases the value of the dollar.  However, I am optimistic that LETS has the potential to serve as a bridge between 'islands of sustainability' in the future.

We are now trying to get a LETS rolling here in Birmingham.  Zach and Robyn got the facebook page going and we all completed the first round of proselytizing - via 80 or so flyers - this morning at Pepper Place (trial by fire suits us all just fine).  The response was pretty positive - people were actually reading the flyers as they headed for the sponsored drum circle!

For more information on how a LETS works and to participate in how our local system develops, visit the Birmingham LETS facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_133164623426645.  

[[click for articles on LETS in Australia and the UK, a book on LETS and *buzzwrrd* sustainable development, and LETS FAQs]]

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Fukushima Links

Home from SAS, will post about it soon.  Pressing matters at hand - here are some links to help you get informed:

1. Al Jazeera video on Japan's nuclear crisis
2. Al Jazeera video on total meltdown
3. links to PDFs of radiation studies collected in Japan (the Google Chrome web browser automatically translates to English)
4. map of radiation measurements taken in Japan
5. ClimateProgress post on radioactivity releases 
6. nonviolent philosophy's take on these events

These will help you stay informed:

1. International Atomic Energy Agency Fukushima update log
2. Ecosurvivor - tracking Japan's nuclear fallout worldwide
3. BraveNewClimate technical discussion open thread 
4. Wikipedia Fukushima current event page 
5. World Nuclear News Fukushima update portal

Happenings 16 March

Some tidbits from around the web...

• The U.S. House Energy and Commerce committee has passed a bill stating that greenhouse gases are not pollutants and therefore cannot be regulated by the EPA... this is a huge step backwards in regards to climate change... the bill places the ethical decision in the hands of corporations whose priorities are profit rather than environmental safety... the bill also demonstrates that the majority of our Republican-controlled House of Reps have absolutely no understanding of the nature of anthropogenic climate change (see this also)... as the committee's "Roadmap for America's Energy Future" indicates, Republicans are pushing for more offshore drilling and the construction of nuclear power plants, even though the one year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon tragedy looms from the other end of Spring, and Japan is suffering the catastrophic effects of three leaking nuclear power plants and over 15,000 people are dead from the recent earthquake.
• On a lighter note, Savage Minds discusses new initiatives to get anthropology information to students and the public, a link to a Kotaku post about a video game about poverty in which players must survive on $1,000/month, and a link to TAPS - an awesome example of what is possible when researchers collaborate online and perhaps a glimpse at the future of research... imagine... multidisciplinary teams working together from global locations via an online catch-all for data, publications, and info for the public and K-12 institutions.  Middle Savagery features archival photos from the work and life of archaeologist Dorothy Garrod - the first female professor at Cambridge, and a nifty time lapse excavation video... another fantastic idea for communicating anthropology to the public.
• Astroblog talks about indigenous constellations of Australian Aborigines.
• Dr. Hastings posted a pie chart from the War Resisters League documenting how income tax money is spent in the U.S... depressing preview: 48% are used for military spending.
• Climate Progress features climate-challenge video games.
• Free permaculture videos!! And Permaculture Pathways proposes a new paradigm in food justice by using the phrase "food sovereignty" instead of "food security." (I am also currently working on a post on the topic of permaculture - look for it soon).

Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice - Upcoming Meeting

Details below:

Alabama's own Arizona-style immigration bill, HB 56, has been filed and is now available for viewing on ALISON, the state legislature's online database.  You can view the bill by searching HB 56 here. There will be a public hearing on the bill this Wednesday, March 2 at 9:00am in the Alabama State House. This Thursday, March 3, the Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice will meet to go over the details of this bill and to lay out an action plan for advocating against the bill.    Alabama Coalition for Immigrant Justice Meeting   Thursday, March 3rd  5:30-7:30pm    Homewood Public Library   1721 Oxmoor Rd.  Birmingham, AL 35209  If you have questions or need talking points, more information, etc.  please contact Zayne Smith or Shay Farley at Alabama Appleseed (334-263-0086) or Caitlin Sandley at ¡HICA! (205-942-5505). ¡ADELANTE!

veritas gratis

Anyone with the link can now access dolphin ascendant, our ramshackle online library.  If you would like to contribute, let us know.

(click here to view previous related posts)

UAB chapter of Alabama Citizens for Consitutional Reform upcoming meeting

The newly formed UAB chapter of ACCR is holding its second meeting this week.  The ACCR is a group of citizens united in advocacy for a reformed state constitution.  Our allegedly "sweet" home's constitution is thick and sticky with racist, outdated laws, including the foundations of a tax system that regressively and negatively impacts the poor and a stipulation that mandates that statewide votes be counted in order to change legislation.  The student film "It's a Thick Book" demonstrates both the structural violence carried out against already marginalized populations because of our constitution and also the irrelevance of our constitution to the reality of our biologically and culturally diverse state. Watch the film for free here, or here with a free teaching guide.  Details about the UAB ACCR meeting are below:

Hello everyone!

I hope you are all having a great Spring semester and enjoying this gracious weather.  As you will read on the attached flier, we are having our first ACCR event of the semester this Thursday night at 7pm in HHB 106.  This meeting is not only for UAB students, but for the surrounding community as well.  We want these meetings to provide an open forum for discussion and encourage positive action within our city.  Would you mind forwarding the event flier out to friends, students, faculty, staff, and anyone that you think would be interested in actively supporting our struggle for a new state constitution?

We will be viewing a short film, Open Secret, which I had the pleasure of viewing at the American Association of University Women conference this fall.  Using the actual transcripts from the 1901 Constitutional Convention as the basis of script, the film very adequately illustrates the cultural, racial, and political biases that comprise the legislative foundation of our great state.  We will also be discussing the next step in solidifying ACCR's presence on UAB's campus.
Thank you for your support, and I hope to see you all there!  

News and upcoming events from around UAB

1.  The next UAB AnthroClub meeting will be Tuesday, March 1 at 3:30pm in HHB 225.  We will discuss the upcoming Earthweek festivities (post coming soon) and other plans for club activities this semester.

2.  UAB events:

Should religious leaders be held to a higher moral standard?
The next Free Food for Thought meeting, to be held at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23 in HUC 412, will focus on the moral standards of our religious leaders. Free Food for Thought is designed to promote the use of dialogue on a diversity of topics. With the variety of cultures, lifestyle, and personalities at UAB, learning from one another through discussion helps us understand the ideas, and opinions of others.  In exchange for your opinion, we will provide free food.

Sister Souljah to present Black History Month lecture Feb. 24
Sister Souljah, author of The Coldest Winter Ever, will discuss the rise and decline of African-American leadership at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24 in Volker Hall Lecture Room A. Free tickets are available. Information about this and other Black History Month events is available from the Office of Student Involvement at 934-8225.

Henry is going the distance for hunger

Six days and 150 miles later, through some of the coldest temperatures yet this winter, UAB employee and alumnus Joe Henry continues his run to Canada to raise awareness for Universities Fighting World Hunger. Learn how Henry prepared for this Hunger 500 journey and why this cause means so much to him in this week's BlazerCast at www.youtube.com/uabnews.

Get your questions answered at the USGA spring student forum 

Ask questions and get answers from President Carol Garrison, Provost Eli Capilouto, deans, department chairs and administration from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 24 in Blazer Hall RLC.

Commons Chat begins Feb. 28

The USGA and the Office of the Provost are starting a new program, Commons Chat. Beginning Feb. 28 — and continuing the fourth Monday of every month — there will be an informal lunch with Provost Eli Capilouto, Vice Provost Suzanne Austin and Vice Provost Harlan Sands at noon in the Commons side room. 

3.  Exciting news:  a new Undergraduate Journal for student ethnographers - details below:

We are excited to announce the formation of a new online journal for research conducted by undergraduates. The Journal for Undergraduate Ethnography (JUE) seeks to distribute original student-produced work from a variety of disciplinary areas. Our goal is to bring readers, especially other undergraduates, insights into subcultures, rituals, and social institutions. We expect crossovers with anthropology, sociology, American studies, urban studies as well as programs in education and marketing.

The JUE encourages current undergraduates or those who have graduated within the past twelve months to submit original ethnographic manuscripts for consideration.  Manuscripts may include research on any subject. We also encourage faculty to recommend promising student work.

Submissions are now welcomed. The deadline is April 15th, 2011. Please check out our website (undergraduateethnography.org) or our Facebook page for details.

For more information contact Jason Patch at editor@undergraduateethnography.org.

4.  Birmingham Archaeological Society Monthly Meeting info:

The next Birmingham Archaeological Society meeting will be held at McWane Science Center on Tuesday, March 8th  at 7PM. 

The evening program will be led by Karen Utz, Curator - Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark and Adjunct History Professor, UAB.

Program topic: “Sloss Furnaces: The History of Birmingham's Iron Plantation"

Birmingham Archaeological Society monthly meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesday of each month at McWane Science Center and are always open to the public. Meeting attendees should park in the deck on "Level C" and enter the doors labeled "Special Events Center." The business meeting begins at 7:00 and is followed by the monthly program. Parking for attendees is free.