February 21, 2012

Alexandra Paul, an actress (best known for her role as Lt. Stephanie Holden in TV series “Baywatch”) and social activist, has teamed up with Population Media Center (PMC) to train local actors in Sierra Leone from February 23 – March 1, 2012 for PMC’s newest radio series.

I am honored to be working with Population Media Center in Sierra Leone. Coaching actors for PMC’s latest radio drama allows me to meld two passions of mine: my 30 years of experience as an actress in Hollywood and my belief in the benefits of family planning.

- Alexandra Paul

PMC produces serialized dramas on radio and television to improve the health and well-being of people around the world and encourage positive behavior change.

The radio drama series will be addressing the following issues in this west African country:

• Reproductive health and family planning
• Adolescent reproductive health and unwanted pregnancies
• Gender-Based Violence
• HIV/AIDS
• Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) and Stigma
• Obstetric Fistula, Delayed Care, and Antenatal Care

Paul has been a long-time advocate of population issues. She has worked to educate thousands of students in Los Angeles on the importance of the issue and is dedicated to finding effective solutions. In 1997, Paul was honored by the United Nations Environmental Programme for her work on population and the environment.

Now, Paul is taking her passion across the world to Sierra Leone by helping PMC create a highly engaging drama that will help empower women and promote the use of family planning. PMC is committed to building strong media in all of the countries that it works in, and investing in the talent of their actors is critical to producing effective programs – as it is the characters in PMC’s programs that inspire audiences to change their lives and the world. PMC is thrilled to have her involvement in this exciting new series.

ABOUT ALEXANDRA PAUL:
Internationally recognized for her 5-year starring role as Lt. Stephanie Holden in the hit series Baywatch, Alexandra Paul began her acting career at age 18 starring in the highly rated telefilm Paper Dolls. She then starred in the Warner Bros. motion picture American Flyers opposite Kevin Costner, Dragnet opposite Tom Hanks & Dan Ackroyd, Eight Million Ways to Die opposite Jeff Bridges & Andy Garcia, Stephen King’s Christine, Spyhard with Leslie Nielsen, and two films opposite Pierce Brosnan.

But acting is far from Alexandra’s only interest. Alexandra was honored by the ACLU of Southern California as their ’2005 Activist of the Year’ for her long history of fighting for the environment, voting rights and peace issues. In 1997 the United Nations commended Alexandra for her environmental activism. In 1999, she won the International Green Cross award. She walked across America for over five weeks on The Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament, and has been arrested over a dozen times for protesting at the Nevada Nuclear Test Site.

ABOUT POPULATION MEDIA CENTER (PMC):
Population Media Center (PMC) works worldwide to bring about stabilization of human population numbers at a level that can be sustained by the world’s natural resources and to lessen the harmful impact of humanity on the earth’s environment. PMC uses entertainment media to change cultural attitudes and individual behavior with regard to health and social issues. To achieve this, PMC adopted the Sabido methodology, which uses long-running serialized melodramas, written and produced in participating countries by local people in local languages. Characters are created that gradually evolve into positive role models for the audience. The emotional bonds that the audience forms with the characters and stories help inspire audiences to make positive changes in their lives. PMC’s serial dramas have addressed issues such as the use of family planning, adoption of small family norms, avoidance of AIDS, elevation of women’s status, protection of children, and related social and health goals, depending upon the relevance of each to the policies of the country in which PMC is working.  Scientific research has shown that PMC’s programs lead to population-wide behavior change.

Jodi Jacobson, Editor in Chief of RH Reality Check, recently penned this report on the Honduran Supreme Court upholding a severe ban on emergency contraception. See: http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/02/14/honduran-supreme-court-upholds-complete-ban-on-emergency-contraception-0

Honduran Supreme Court Upholds Most Sweeping Ban on Emergency Contraception Anywhere

by Jodi Jacobson, Editor in Chief, RH Reality Check

February 14, 2012 – 12:35pm

The Honduras Supreme Court has cemented the fate of women trying to avoid unintended pregnancy–whether from unprotected sex, contraceptive failure, or rape–by upholding what is currently the strictest ban on emergency contraception in the world. The absolute ban would criminalize the sale, distribution, and use of  the “morning-after pill,” a contraceptive method that prevents pregnancy, by imposing punishment for offenders equal to that of obtaining or performing an abortion, which in Honduras is completely restricted.  Emergency contraception is just that: contraception.

Anti-choice forces have, however, succeeded in confusing the method with an abortifacient despite a wealth of medical studies from around the globe that have shown it to be a safe, effective method of birth control which simply uses a higher dose of the same medication in typical birth control pills, and works by preventing an egg from being fertilized.

According to the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR), currently, anyone who performs an abortion in Honduras can be sentenced anywhere from three to 10 years in prison, depending on if the woman consents or if violence and intimidation is a factor. Women who seek an abortion face three to six years in prison. With the court’s decision, simply being caught with an emergency contraceptive pill would be considered an abortion attempt.

These extreme bans on emergency contraception have been widely recognized by international and regional human rights bodies, like the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, as violations of a woman’s ability to exercise her fundamental rights.

To read the full article, please click here: http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/article/2012/02/14/honduran-supreme-court-upholds-complete-ban-on-emergency-contraception-0

The following story reports on Kenya’s efforts to reduce its 3% annual growth, one of the highest rates in the world.

http://www.coastweek.com/3506_population.htm

Government concern at high population growth rate

Kenya’s ministry of health WILL spend U.S. $ 7 million dollars in the 2011/2012 financial year for the provision of family planning.

NAIROBI (Xinhua) — The Kenyan government on Tuesday decried high population growth rate which it said is one of the key constraints in achieving the country economic blue print, Vision 2030.

Planning Minister Wycliffe Oparanya told journalists in Nairobi that the current growth rate of three percent needs to be reduced in order for the country to develop.

“The government will not put an emphasis on the number of children per family but we will encourage them to have the number that they can afford to take care of in terms of food, health care and education,” Oparanya said during the re launch of the national family campaign which has received support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), German Development Agency (DSW) and UN Population Agency (UNFPA).

To read the full article, please click here: http://www.coastweek.com/3506_population.htm

See: http://in2eastafrica.net/ntawukuliryayo-urges-legislators-to-tackle-population-growth/

Ntawukuliryayo urges legislators to tackle population growth

Senate President, Dr. Jean Damascene Ntawukuliryayo, has urged the Rwandan Network of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (RPRPD) to double their efforts if the country’s population is to be controlled.

While officiating at the RPRPD general assembly, Dr. Ntawukuliryayo, who has championed the population crusade for the past eight years, reminded fellow lawmakers that in spite of Parliament being engaged in solving the problem, the network does not seem to be putting in the necessary efforts.

“There are statistics showing us that the good pace this country is on since the Genocide against the Tutsi, the problem of population explosion stops us from moving as fast as we want to,” Dr. Ntawukuliryayo observed.

To read the full article, please click here: http://in2eastafrica.net/ntawukuliryayo-urges-legislators-to-tackle-population-growth/

Thanks to Russell Hopfenberg, Ph.D. of Duke University, for the following essay which discusses Dr. Hopfenberg’s thesis on the relationship of food availability and human population growth. Dr. Hopfenberg would be glad to receive feedback and respond to questions. A contact email is provided at the end of the essay.

Food and Population Summary

In the broadest sense, the thesis of my work is very simple. The main perspective is that human population dynamics do not differ from the population dynamics of all other species.

For all other species, population changes as a function of carrying capacity. Carrying capacity consists of several variables. For example, for many species, carrying capacity consists of: oxygen, food, water, space, predators / disease. I said: “for many species” because trees, for example, need carbon dioxide, not oxygen, and they don’t need food per se. Increases in the carrying capacity cause a population increase. Decreases in the carrying capacity cause a population decrease. Arguably, the most dynamic of the carrying capacity variables impacting a population is food.

Read the rest of this entry »

Several people sent in this recent opinion article by Paul B. Farrell, published on the MarketWatch.com website. As of this moment, the article had generated over 450 comments.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/global-suicide-2020-we-cant-feed-10-billion-2012-02-14

Feb. 14, 2012, 12:01 a.m. EST

Global suicide 2020: We can’t feed 10 billion Commentary: Create a ‘new agriculture’ or capitalism self-destructs

By Paul B. Farrell, MarketWatch

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) – Welcome, you’re now on the new “Innovation Saves the World” team. We’re working together, searching for positive solutions. If you’d rather complain about what’s wrong, stop reading. Otherwise, imagine you’re now a member of a “skunk works” research team at a secret Pentagon think tank with unlimited funds.

In fact, let’s also assume the best solution will be awarded $10 million, call it the “10X-Prize,” to finance and build a new company on our proposed solution and achieve our goals.

So if you’re with us, imagine this is as deadly urgent as if NASA predicted a huge asteroid will hit Earth by 2020, destroying billions. Do nothing? Game over. We must act now.

Our team is tasked to solve this problem: “How to feed the 7 billion people already on Earth today plus another 3 billion by 2050?” Feed 10 billion. And we can’t wait till 2050 to start. The clock’s ticking. We’re already at the tipping point. We must start planning now.

In fact, the Pentagon has already warned our team that by 2020, the planet’s “carrying capacity” will be so drastically compromised that they are already preparing military defense systems for the coming “all-out wars over food, water, and energy supplies.”

See: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/global-suicide-2020-we-cant-feed-10-billion-2012-02-14

Here is a February 16th news-report from Yemen, whose population may increase from 23 million (in 2008) to 61 million in 2035. In the governorate of Dhamar, officials are concerned they can not meet the needs of the rapidly expanding population. See:

http://www.yementimes.com/en/1547/report/423/Rapid-population-growth-threatens-Dhamar.htm

Rapid Population Growth Threatens Dhamar
Published on 16 February 2012 in Report
Abdulkareem Al-Nahari (author), Abdulkareem Al-Nahari (photographer)

With a focus on Dhamar governorate’s scarcity of resources, a study released in December 2011 has cautioned against the risks of future population growth there.

The study was conducted by a team from the Gaeneral Secretariat of the National Population Council in collaboration with the Health and Population Council and the Reproductive Health Program.

Funded by the Dutch government, the study, titled “Population, Development and Future Challenges in Dhamar,” stated that further population growth will worsen already deteriorating economic conditions and put increased pressure on service sectors such as education, health, food, energy, water, effectively doubling expenditures.

See here for the rest of the article: http://www.yementimes.com/en/1547/report/423/Rapid-population-growth-threatens-Dhamar.htm

Thanks to Bill Ryerson for pointing out the work of Matthew Stein. The following article, (variations of which have been published on Alternet, Huffington Post and Nexus Magazine) discusses the vulnerability of the electric grid, and by extension, the global fleet of nuclear reactors, to significant geomagnetic disturbances. The Alternet version is pasted below. You can download a longer version here: http://www.matstein.com/wp-content/uploads/SteinArticleNexus19021.pdf

Why a Likely Natural Event Could Cause Nuclear Reactors to Melt Down and Our Grid to Crash

Matthew Stein is a design engineer, green builder and author of “When Disaster Strikes: A Comprehensive Guide to Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival” and “When Technology Fails: A Manual for Self-Reliance, Sustainability, and Surviving the Long Emergency,” both published by Chelsea Green.

Unless we take significant protective measures, this apocalyptic scenario is actually possible:
There are nearly 450 nuclear reactors in the world, with hundreds more either under construction or in the planning stages. There are 104 of these reactors in the USA and 195 in Europe. Imagine the havoc it would wreak on our civilization and the planet’s ecosystems if we were to suddenly experience not just one or two nuclear meltdowns, but many more of them. How likely is it that our world might experience an event that could ultimately cause multiple reactors to fail and melt down at approximately the same time?

Unless we take significant protective measures, this apocalyptic scenario is possible.

Following is a press release from the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare about cross-country “south-south” collaborations aiming at population stabilization.

See: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=80311
Growing Population A Matter of Great Concern: Azad

“More South-South cooperation and mutual understanding would help to redefine strategies in terms of introduction of newer contraceptives, technical protocols and also replicate the successful schemes in the area of population stabilisation”. The Union Health and Family Welfare Minister and Chairman, Partners in Population Development (PPD), Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad was today addressing a gathering at Nairobi, Kenya on the occasion of Re-Launch of Family Planning Campaign of Government of Kenya during the ongoing three day meeting of the Executive Committee of PPD. Minister of State for Planning, National Development and Vision 2030, Government of Kenya, Mr Wycliffe Ambetsa Oparanya; Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Prof. Dr. A F M Ruhal Haque; Vice Minister, National Population and Family Planning Commission, Government of the People’s Republic of China, Ms. Cui Li; Secretary, Health & Family Welfare, Government of India and senior officials of Government of Kenya and the twenty four other partner countries of PPD were present on the occasion.

Shri Azad said “Kenya and India can engage with each other and work together – We will be glad to share our policy initiatives, schemes, products and expertise”. In efforts toward population stabilization, it is clear that each country can learn from experiences of other countries as to how best to address the complicated issues which involve health, education, socio-economic development and individual choices. Sharing of views on common platforms like these help us to learn and gain from each other’s experience, Shri Azad noted.

To read the full article, please click here: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=80311

See: http://www.baycitizen.org/blogs/citizen/addressing-population-growth-increase-1/

Addressing Population Growth to Increase the Well-being of People and the Planet

Source: The Bay Citizen

By Suzanne York, HowMany.org, Feb. 10, 2012

The University of California, Berkeley hosted a gathering February 4th of globally-respected experts in the fields of population, sustainability, and global health. Some 450 participants heard why it is critical that the world addresses these issues today.

Malcom Potts, director and founder of the Bixby Center for Population, Health & Sustainability at UC Berkeley, kicked off the Plenary on population, consumption, and human well-being. Potts has introduced family planning methods into many developing countries, and believes family planning is the single most valuable resource we have at our disposal.

The morning’s keynote speaker was Sir John Sulston, a Nobel Laureate and chair of the UK Royal Society Working Group People and the Planet, a project studying the relationship between changes in population size, age structure, consumption, and human well-being. Sir John minced no words and said that we need to think about the the well-being of the planet and not just human well-being, stating that “we should accept responsibility for stewardship.”

To read the full article, please click here: http://www.baycitizen.org/blogs/citizen/addressing-population-growth-increase-1/