Thursday, June 13, 2019

DC Africa Fashion Show and Culture Expo Saturday, June 29, 2019 | 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Mayor Muriel Bowser's DC Africa Fashion Show and Culture Expo

FASHION
The Mayor’s Office on African Affairs, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office on Women's Policy and Initiatives, Mayor’s Office on African American Affairs, and African Fashion Week DC, will host an African Fashion Show and Culture Expo showcasing and celebrating DC African fashion, creativity, and culture.
When: Saturday, June 29, 2019 | 3:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Where: Frank D. Reeves Center | 2000 14th Street NW | Washington, DC | 20009
RSVP here

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

LGBTQIA Personal Safety and Security. June 2019



LGBTQIA Personal Safety and Security

Safety and Security


Depending on the legal framework or cultural and social norms in a country, humanitarian staff may experience harassment or threats if they are perceived to be members or supporters of the LGBTQIA community. This short course was designed to raise personal safety and security awareness for both international travelers and national staff in countries where the risks to the LGBTQIA community are increased. After opening the course, subtitles are provided in many languages.




Ontario. Environmental Protections take a back seat.

https://act.environmentaldefence.ca/page/43516/action/1

"As part of the More Homes, More Choice Act (Bill 108), the Ontario government intends to bring back the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB).

Returning to the OMB takes us back to an expensive, time consuming dispute resolution process that was difficult for citizens to take part in. But this time citizens voices will be highly limited, making it even more difficult for the public to participate.

The OMB was dismantled after an extensive 2-year public review and replaced with the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPATs). Now the Ontario government is bringing it back at the request of developers with no input at all from the public."

Why is Ontario bringing back the OMB? Because developers asked them to.

NOTE:
          Bill 108 would also remove protections for Ontario’s
          230+ species-at-risk, allowing developers to bulldoze
          their habitat in order to allow them to turn a profit.


The Premier says wildlife protections are "red tape".

Bill 108 would make survival even harder for Ontario’s endangered species by:
  • Stripping protections for endangered species
  • Letting builders pay a fee to break the law
  • Giving the Minister veto power to ignore scientific decisions
"If enacted as proposed, the proposed legislative amendments, introduced in legislation known as Bill 108, would fundamentally alter key features of the province’s planning system, such as parkland dedication, development charges, section 37 community benefits, the role of heritage protection, and the availability of inclusionary zoning, among other things. Perhaps most importantly, a new “community benefits charge” based on a percentage of land value would replace parkland dedication requirements, soft service development charges, and section 37 contributions."

Sunday, June 2, 2019

June 1-7, 2019. Sustainability NOW Telesummit

An exceptional compendium of content from 32 visionaries and experts from around the globe who will give you practical steps to take — things you can do right now to make a difference.

https://sustainabilitynowsummit.com/presell-page

Starting at 6AM (EDT) each day, you’ll have a 48-hour, ON DEMAND, ALL-ACCESS PASS to that day's presentations — so you can watch at your convenience.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SustainabilityNowSummit/

7 Extraordinary Days with 32 Sustainability Icons From 9 Countries
Sharing Solutions and Hope for a Thriving Future

SCHEDULE

DAY 1: SATURDAY, JUNE 1 
Alosha Lynov – Off-Grid Water Systems
Marina Qutab – Waste Not Want Not: Zero Waste Solutions for Daily Living
Ryan Eliason – How to Change the World Without Going Broke
Sean Steed – Plant-Based Epoxy: a Case Study for Circular Economy
Zach Bush – Chemical Farming, Ecology & Human Health — A Path to Regeneration

DAY 2: SUNDAY, JUNE 2
Alexander Verbeek – Climate Change and Planetary Security
Brother Phil Lane – The International Treaty to Protect & Restore Mother Earth
Heshie Segal – Clean Water on the Go: Reducing Plastics and Protecting Our Health
Mike Strizki – Hydrogen Micro-Grids: Clean Power for the Future, Now
Summer Bock – How Fermented Foods Can Repair Our Health

DAY 3: MONDAY, JUNE 3
Hazel Henderson – How Halophyte Plants** Can Help Solve the Global Food Crisis
Jay Potter – ECOR: From Waste Stream Fiber to Circular Economy
Jorgen Hempel – Hemp and Hydrated Lime Construction
Ronit Herzfeld – Beyond Bias: Moving From “Me” to “We”
William Padilla-Brown – Cultivating Culinary and Medicinal Mushrooms 

DAY 4: TUESDAY, JUNE 4
Brian D. Ridgway – Finding Freedom 
Judy Wicks – Nurturing Local Economies
Kristen Comella – The Regenerative Power of Your Own Stem Cells
Reggie Nayar – The Dirty Truth About Waste and Recycling

DAY 5: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5
Jon Ramer – Deep Social Networking as a Vehicle for Global Change
Judah Becker – Aquaponics: a Path to Self-Sufficiency
Michael Rice and Zana Zu – Holistic Design
Dr. Richard Satava – Frontiers of Medicine and the Ethics of Medical Breakthroughs

DAY 6: THURSDAY, JUNE 6
Amy Oskins & Amzi Smith – New Paradigms for Housing: Earthship 2.0
Hajjar Gibran – Earthy meets Elegant with AirCrete Construction
Larry Sterns – Composting Toilets and Waterless Waste Solutions
Paul Rodney Turner – Sharing Food, Sharing Compassion
Vinit Allen – We ARE the Planet: Redefining the Human Family

DAY 7: FRIDAY, JUNE 7
Jessica Cooper – Work Environments Designed to Help People Thrive
John Todd – Restoring Water and Land with Biologically-Based Eco-Machines
Michael Gosney – Vehicles of Social Change
Michael Pawlyn – Solving Design Challenges Through the Wisdom of Nature.


**Note: Halophytes are good for more than just food!

Friday, May 24, 2019

NIST Disaster Resilience Symposium. August 2019

2019 NIST Disaster Resilience Symposium

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is pleased to announce its second annual Disaster Resilience Symposium. 

The symposium will be held on August 7-8, 2019 at NIST in Gaithersburg, MD.

The symposium will feature presentations from over a dozen grant awardees funded by NIST and from NIST researchers on the latest findings from related internal projects. Topics will include disaster and failure studies, earthquake engineering, wind engineering, community resilience, and wildland-urban interface fires.
  • Development of Tornado Design Criteria for Buildings and Shelters Subject to Tornado Induced Loads
  • Improving Disaster Resilience Through Scientific Data Collection with UAV Swarms
  • Seismic Assessment, Retrofit Strategies and Policy Implications for Vulnerable Existing Steel Buildings
  • Integrating Aging Effects in Performance-Based Seismic Design and Assessment of Reinforced Concrete Structures
  • Resilience of Steel Moment Frame Systems with Deep Slender Column Sections
  • Coastal Inundation Events in Developed Regions
  • Decision-Oriented Column Simulation Capabilities for Enhancing Disaster Resilience of Reinforced Concrete Buildings
  • Liquefaction-Targeted Ground Motion Parameters
  • Improving Disaster Resilience by Quantifying WUI Community Ember Exposure
  • Biomacromolecules as Flame Retardants for Wood-Based Construction
  • Temperature Measurements of Airborne Firebrands
  • Development of Methodology for Determination of Ignition Propensity by Firebrands in Wildland-Urban Interface
The symposium keynote speakers will be Prof. Albert Simeoni of Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Dr. James Harris of J.R. Harris & Company. Both internationally recognized keynote speakers will share their perspectives on how we can enhance the resilience of US communities.

A flyer of the event can be found here: https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2019/05/21/symposium_2019.pdf.  

Registration is free and is now open.  

For more information, go to:  https://www.nist.gov/news-events/events/2019/08/2019-disaster-resilience-symposium.

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

FEMA New Recipients Disaster Grants Guide 2019

FEMA has released the ‘FEMA New Recipients of Disaster Grants Guide’, May 2019.

The FEMA New Recipients of Disaster Grants Guide describes Recipient requirements for the three FEMA categories of disaster grant assistance available to Recipients following a Presidential emergency or major disaster declaration: PA, IA, and HMGP.

FEMA provides specific guidance for state-led PA and is developing state-led housing options to allow Recipients to manage greater portions of the recovery effort.  Recipients interested in pursuing these options should consult with regional program staff for details and requirements.

Guide can be accessed and downloaded directly from the FEMA website at:


Tuesday, May 21, 2019

American Red Cross Transparency Act. May 2019

For Immediate Release
Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Grassley, Thompson Reintroduce American Red Cross Transparency Act

WASHINGTON – U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi today introduced legislation to give the congressional watchdog arm complete access to American Red Cross records for oversight purposes. The bipartisan, bicameral American Red Cross Transparency Act of 2019 responds to concerns that the Red Cross tried to quash a review by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) of its practices, successfully limiting the scope of the review, and has failed to be as transparent as it should be.

“The American people rely on the Red Cross to respond when tragedy strikes. It is congressionally-chartered and is a federal instrumentality. It receives federal tax dollars for some of its disaster responses, and it receives the financial benefits of tax exemption and tax-deductible donations. For those reasons, Congress has a responsibility to make sure the Red Cross answers questions asked on the public’s behalf and is operating up to the standards required of it during national disasters,” Grassley said. “The Red Cross has shown an unwillingness to answer questions in the past. This legislation strengthens transparency to help make the Red Cross more accountable to the public.”  

“The Red Cross has been a component of disaster response for decades, but that does not put them above Congressional oversight. The public should know how the Red Cross spends both taxpayer dollars and the funds Americans generously donate. With Hurricanes Katrina, Sandy and Harvey and the 2010 Haiti earthquake, we have seen the Red Cross struggle to fulfill its disaster response mission,” Thompson said. “As the demands on our disaster response systems have intensified, and with the frequency and intensity of natural disasters having increased, it is critical that the Red Cross is able to fulfill its mission and that Congress and the American public have a window of transparency into the organization. Our legislation will ensure that the Red Cross’ past attempts to scuttle necessary oversight won’t work again.”

The American Red Cross Transparency Act gives the GAO complete access to the Red Cross’ records when needed to conduct oversight. If the Red Cross refuses to comply, the legislation provides the GAO with the authority to bring an action in court to force compliance.  
More than a decade ago, Congress gave the GAO the broad authority to “review [Red Cross’] involvement in any Federal program or activity the Government carries out under law.” Despite clear legislative intent, the Red Cross essentially stonewalled GAO when it tried to carry out an investigation requested by Thompson in September 2013. After two years of stall tactics, delays and a request from the Red Cross’ president that Thompson cancel his GAO request and conduct future oversight via cell phone, the GAO analyzed information the Red Cross begrudgingly made available to complete its investigation. Grassley explored the GAO access problem as part of his inquiry of problems with the Red Cross’ Haiti earthquake response. He sent the results as a memo to his fellow committee members on both the Judiciary and Finance committees in 2016.

The legislation is available here

-30-

Media contact: (Thompson) Adam Comis at (202) 225-9978

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