All around the world today people are coming together to call for international action against climate change. The focus has been on the number 350, which is the parts-per-million of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that scientists, including the UN's top climate scientist Rajendra Pachauri, believe we need to stay below in order to avert disaster. 350.org has organized a series of events around the world calling attention to the target, and they're giving visitors and participants alike some real time gratification through Twitter feeds and Flickr slideshows. We've blogged about Maldivian officials holding a cabinet meeting underwater to raise awareness of rising oceans, and now the Divers Association of the Maldives is hosting an underwater rally with the goal of having 350 divers stay underwater in teams for 24 hours. You can find out what's going on near you at 350.org.

At Link TV we've been exploring how climate change is already having an impact in the US and elsewhere through a series of short videos called Climate Change Hits Home.

Many environmental activists claim to be neck-deep in their work, but few go so far as to submerge themselves completely; officials of The Republic of Maldives recently held a cabinet meeting underwater in an effort to raise awareness about the imminent threats of climate change.

The Republic of Maldives has been cited as a potential victim of rising sea levels, theoretically being completely submerged by 2100, according to CNS News. The Maldives' own Miadhu News talked with President Mohammad Nasheed, who asserted that "the work of drawing to the attention of the world the problems Maldives face due to climate change, should be something every Maldivian should do for the country."

Amy Goodman discussed the event on Democracy Now, including President Nasheed's comments on the eve of UN General Assembly opening session:

Here at Link TV, we are trying to raise awareness about the immediate effects of climate change with our new bite-sized series: Climate Change Hits Home. Learn how the environment has been affected in your neck of the woods and how you can activate yourself. The latest episode highlights the problem of melting polar ice, which will, of course, raise sea levels.

You don't even need to learn how to scuba.

For World Food Day 2009 (which is tomorrow, October 16th!), Link TV is helping to promote a campaign called Stand Up, Take Action, a movement now four years in the running. As part of the framework for the UN Millennium Development Goals adopted by global leaders in the year 2000, worldwide hunger and poverty must be eradicated by the year 2015. A lofty endeavor, you say? Maybe. But millions of global citizens are demanding that this promise be kept, or at the very least, kept a priority. Each year, through events organized by Stand Up, Take Action, attention is called to this ongoing issue, and the movement is growing. Last year, it broke its own Guinness World Record for the largest mobilization around a single cause in recorded history. Click here for events taking place this weekend in your area.

Watch this video and join the countdown to World Food Day!



Link TV has a lot of great food and hunger related programming, that can be found on our ISSUE: Food page, like a new Michael Pollan special called “Deep Agriculture”, and more. Also, learn about the coffee industry and Fair Trade practices that are effecting small farmers in poor countries around the world from Dean Cycon, Founder and CEO of Dean’s Beans.

This week several of Link's staff, including myself, attended SOCAP09 in San Francisco, a conference of social innovators and entrepreneurs investing in doing GOOD in the world. At the keynote address of the Embrace Disruption mini-conference on social media, Adam Werbach (former president of the Sierra Club) alerted us to the scourge of "yuppie mouth". This term is apparently used by dentists to describe tooth decay in young people who have avoided fluoridated public tap water in favor of an exclusive liquid diet of bottled waters, sodas and juices.

But cavities aren't the only reason you might think twice about drinking bottled H2O. There are sound ecological and economic reasons to eschew the bottle in favor of the tap -- including the plastic bottle refuse and the vast distances some bottled waters are transported. In the case of Fiji Water, as Werbach pointed out at SOCAP, your pristine thirst quencher is literally shipped from the other side of the world.

Wanting to dive in to the water wars, I found that Democracy Now! (airing on Link TV) was already there, interviewing author Anna Lenzer about her recent exposé in Mother Jones, "Fiji Water: Spin the Bottle." She points out the troubling environmental record of this brand that boasts the slogan "Every Drop is Green," as well as the U.S.-owned company's questionable relations with the island paradise's military junta. You can watch the complete interview at DemocracyNow.org.

Fiji Water has issued a response to the Mother Jones article, arguing that the company has and will continue to invest substantially into the people of Fiji. The company also strongly rejected the premise that their doing "business in Fiji somehow...legitimizes a military dictatorship."

Where do you stand on the water debate? Do you drink from the bottle or the tap -- and why? And do you buy Fiji Water's rebuttal of Lenzer's claims? Link wants to hear from you!

Fiji Water photo courtesy of Verne Equinox under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.

After being in production for over 3 years, Global Spirit has launched! It is showing on national television and streaming for free to a world-wide audience online.  We created this blog to accompany the series, with the hope of keeping in touch with the wonderful new people and communities to which this show is appealing.

We will approach our blog entries from two different perspectives: 1) Personal Journeys: the real, personal stories and experiences of people who are on spiritual journeys. People who are seeking truth, exploring what it means to be human, and connecting with life in a deeply personal and meaningful way; and 2) Behind-the-Scenes: a look at Global Spirit as a web & television series. We will include updates from the producers and program guests, interviews, book and film recommendations, basically anything related to this world of creating innovative programming on culture, philosophy, spirituality and science.

We hope you will help us build a unique and inspiring web community around this blog, by sending comments and impressions our way. We want to know what's interesting, insightful, curious, and exciting about the series and guests, and in your life, so that we can continue to create programs that resonate with you... 

Check back soon when we give you Behind the Scenes: Update from Alan Ereira, Director of "From the Heart of the World." In April, he went back to visit the Mamas in Columbia and has some exciting news.

Megan McFeely, Director of Outreach
Adrianne Anderson, Co-Producer

I would like to introduce myself. I am Megan McFeely, the outreach director for Link TV’s Global Spirit.  I am also a fellow traveler on the path of personal exploration. I feel it is my individual responsibility to the whole of life to become who I really am…free of anxieties, fears and beliefs that are outdated – those things that keep me stuck  -- so that I can be an living example of what it means to be free (I am not there by any means just my lofty goal!)   My posts to this blog will be about my life experiences that relate directly to  the topic of discussion for each show and I would like to encourage you to engage with me by sharing your insights and experiences.

I am thinking about reconciliation and it clear to me that it is inextricably linked to forgiveness. One cannot reconcile with out forgiving. I have had several experiences of this in my life from the simple apology that comes after an argument to a long separation from a family member or friend that takes a little more effort.  What I know from this experience is that I have to take responsibility for the hurt I may have caused others. I must recognize what I have done – see where I may have been out of integrity or where I may have been wrong and own it.  AND I must come from my heart -- it has to be authentic or it has no meaning and will have no impact. To do this it seems that I must feel the pain of having wronged someone and acknowledge their pain …even feel it, or no true reconciliation can occur.  And from this place  forgiveness seems to just happen. The heart opens and you feel love for the other person.  This is my experience but I would love to hear yours. Thanks for taking this journey with me.