Chicago gears up for heirloom fruit orchard

Chicagoans will crave the Spitzenberg apple, Dave Snyder is certain. Whether in hand or in a morning danish, the name will simply roll off their tongues.

Snyder is an urban farmer and founder of the Chicago Rarities Orchard Project, or CROP. Inspired by author Michael Pollan’s Botany of Desire and North Carolina rare-apples grower Creighton Lee Calhoun, Jr., Snyder thought his diverse and congested Logan Square neighborhood a befitting home for the city’s first orchard, where rare varieties of apples, such as the Spitzenberg, dangle from branches.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Universities, Civil Society Join Major Bid to End Poverty in South Africa

Cape Town — Poverty and inequality are named routinely among the key challenges facing South Africa today. This week a conference begins in Cape Town to consider not only the experiences and causes of inequality, but to explore practical strategies - policies and actions - that can reduce inequality and poverty in both the short- and long-term.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Soil Association holds month-long celebration of organic food

One of the UK’s leading organic food and farming charities has launched Organic September – a month-long celebration of “healthy, humane and sustainable food, farming and land use”.

The event, which is being coordinated by the Soil Association, encourages people to become immersed in an organic way of life, and is supported by a number of high-profile figures, including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Xanthe Clay and Sophie Grigson.

“Organic September is Europe’s biggest celebration of all things organic and is a great chance for people to discover what makes organic food naturally different and to enjoy all the special offers and events happening across the country”, said Helen Browning, chief executive of the Soil Association.

“Why not give your body a boost before winter by cooking up some of the mouth-watering recipes we have collected based on fresh, seasonal organic fruit and vegetables.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Stolen Dog returned to Animal Welfare Society

Workers at a New Milford animal shelter are breathing a sigh of relief after their beloved pit bull Rocky, who they feared stolen, was returned on Monday.

Llewellyn, a Kennel Attendant at the Animal Welfare Society of New Milford, said immediate panic set in after Rocky, 6, disappeared on Sunday.

“I saw his harness was still in the basket; we realized he was gone,” Llewellyn said.

Llewellyn said someone broke in on Sunday evening while she was running errands. Rocky was the only missing thing.

“Clearly, someone broke in -- took him -- and got scared and dropped him (off somewhere),” Llewellyn said.

Luckily, the red-nosed pit bull wasn’t gone for long.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

University of Texas joins Workers Rights Consortium

THE UNIVERSITY of Texas (UT) at Austin, the largest collegiate apparel provider in the world, has agreed to sign with the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC), a labor-rights monitoring group that works to end sweatshop conditions in the making of university apparel.

The decision was the result of a nine-year campaign by student activists. Throughout negotiations with the university, administrators repeatedly insisted the matter "was closed." Most recently, the logjam was broken by a sit-in at the office of UT President William Powers, during which 18 students were arrested.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Hundreds rally for Marshalltown's anti-bullying campaign

They flocked to the downtown square today clad in similar orange T-shirts with “Not In Our Town” and “Stop hate. Together.” emblazoned on the front.

But the messages on back were customized to fit their roles in this county seat that more than 27,000 Iowans call home.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Hair Salon assists homeless vets

Gwen Reese is lending her help to collect items for Valley homeless veterans.

For the next few weeks, people can drop off non-perishable food and other items at Reese’s beauty salon, A-Affordable Hair, 13930 Camino del Sol in Sun City West. The items will be delivered to a Victory Place, where homeless veterans live.

“If I can help one person, then that’s very important to me,” Reese said.

Pat Horton, who started the project, said after finding out about Victory Place she wanted to help and asked Reese to assist her.

In addition to the donation drive, Horton also has organized two “Sock-it-to-Me” projects, giving thousands of socks to veterans.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Homeless woman clears latest hurdle in illegal eviction

Though the voyage is not yet over, Sharon Green and her legal team are declaring a big victory.

The California Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to review the Glendora woman's case against Anchor Pacifica Management Company and denied the city of Glendora's request to depublish the case. That should put the parties back on track to get Green into permanent housing, said Jolene Larimore, one of Green's attorneys.

Green has been homeless since being evicted from her affordable housing unit in Heritage Oaks Senior Apartments in 2010. A battle with Anchor Pacifica traveled all the way up to a California appeals court, which ruled that the 70-year-old had been illegally evicted from her unit.

The ruling from the Second District Court of Appeals declared that tenants in affordable housing units subsidized by redevelopment agencies are entitled to due process protections similar to the federal housing program rights.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

5th grader sends anti-bullying message through t-shirts

Possessing courage of conviction that belies his age, 10-year-old Nathan Cieslak illustrates that you are never too young to take a stand. Motivated by a mission to stop bullying, Cieslak recently launched a T-shirt campaign to raise awareness of a problem touching communities nationwide.

"I wanted to get word out to everyone that bullying is not cool," Cieslak explained. "I thought T-shirts get the word out better."

The black and white T-shirts feature a hand with a pointing finger and a slogan that reads, "Only You Can Prevent Bullying." The logo, created by Cieslak, and the slogan generate a powerful message, which according to Cieslak's mother, April, has evoked an amazing response from the community.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Uganda bans play with homosexual themes

Performances of a play about the struggles of a young, gay Ugandan businessman have been banned by the National Theatre of Uganda.

The River and The Mountain, written by the British playwright Beau Hopkins, is a sympathetic portrayal of a corporate businessman coming to terms with his sexual identity in a climate of oppressive homophobia.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

India considering bill against sexual harassment of domestic workers

Should the bill be passed by Parliament, for India’s 4 million women domestic workers, considered to be most vulnerable to sexual harassment, this would a major victory in their struggle for legal recognition as ‘employees’.

Underlining the importance of including domestic workers in the bill, Christy Mary, the national executive coordinator for the National Domestic Workers Movement, told Firstpost: “Firstly, there is no law in India to protect domestic workers. Very few states have included domestic workers under the Minimum Wages Act. And the central government is not a position to pass legislation exclusively for them. Domestic workers are extremely vulnerable to all kinds of abuses. And because of absence of a law, the police also don’t take them seriously. The inclusion of domestic workers will be a boost for them and it will encourage them to report cases. It is a surety for them to protect them from abuse.”

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org

Yemen seeks help for child bride

Nojoud Ali Al-Ahdal is the most famous Yemeni child bride and the first ever that revolted against the law and Yemeni tradition when approached a court in Sana’a demanding to be divorced from her 33 years old husband when she was only 9 years old.

Nojoud won the Glamour Magazine prize along with Condoleezza Rice to be the woman of the year in 2008.

A book about her life and her story was published by a French publication house in 2008. The publisher bought Nojoud a house in al-Hasaba neighborhood Sana’a from her share of the book sales. He also pays her a US$ 1000 a month to her father’s account as Nojoud is under age and cannot have her own account.

This money is supposed to be spent for her living along with her family. However recently her father got married to a third wife that keeps making troubles to Nojoud and her brothers and sisters.

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To learn more about the Annual International Social Uprising Resistance and Grassroots Encouragement (S.U.R.G.E.!) Film Festival please visit: www.WeSurge.org