World Water Day was March 22

Water conservation in Arizona is sadly not as pushed as it should be.

March 22 is World Water Day, created by the United Nations General Assembly and first commemorated in 1993 to raise awareness and encourage action around water issues.
Many of us take access to clean water for granted. It is readily available in our sinks and showers and even in plastic bottles. But, for a vast and growing number of people, access to safe water is a major health issue:

• Over half of the world's illnesses are due to diseases caused by unsafe water.
• One billion people on the planet don't have access to clean drinking water.
• By 2025, this number could be 1.8 billion, unless we act.

As with many environmental issues, blame is too often placed on population growth. This masks the realities that actually cause the problem. According to National Geographic:

The average U.S. lifestyle takes 1,800 gallons (6,814 liters) of water a day to support -- twice the global average.

Meanwhile, major polluters who, big surprise, are corporations rather than individuals, are successfully evading regulation.
And yes, this is a feminist issue. Women hold much of the responsibility for obtaining clean water and are often most impacted by water scarcity. And women are taking action.
While this sort of environmental issue is often thought of as occurring in the global south, the impact of water scarcity is spreading. It's already a major problem in the U.S. Southwest. This map, which is a few years old, shows the spread of scarcity caused by both physical and economic factors (click for larger version):

Huffington Post has a list of a number of ways to take action on this vital issue.

(Reposted from Feministing )

Women and Healthcare Reform

Everyone is talking about Obama's proposed Healthcare reform these days but honestly, when it comes down to it I'm not exactly sure what healthcare reform would actually look like or how it would affect me. I don't think I'm alone either if the radio, blogs, and talking to everyone I know is any indication.

Luckily, Feministing linked to this article over at The Nation that spells out Why Women Need Healthcare Reform.

While I don't plan on getting pregnant any time soon (which is mostly what the article focuses on), I wonder what the deal with contraception, gyno biznass, and abortion would be under the reform.

The Iranian Presidential Election fallout

The Guardian has some great coverage of what's going on in Iran right now

it's pretty crazy and pretty apparant (from what i've read) that the elections were not legitimately conducted.

Feministing blogger Roja is calling what's going on in Iran right now a "nightmare":

People who have been disenfranchised are protesting in Tehran and other cities. You can see some photos on flickr.

Text messaging services were cut off on the day of election and Ahmadinejad was declared as the victor only a few hours after the election was over. Election statistics were being announce in a very fishy manner with no detail about which cities and provinces were being counted (completely different from how things were done in all other elections in Iran). Campaign headquarters of other candidates were raided and military was present across Tehran.

...Today Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and most websites of other candidates have been blocked, cellphone connections were shut down in Tehran, political figures have been arrested and people have been beaten and bloodied in the streets. Meanwhile foreign reporters have been asked to leave.


shady...

there are some amazing photos of the protests out there though, the flickr link above really shows the aftermath, these are from the Guardian: