Miraculous Cures: One Doctor's Pet Theory
Pet owners live longer, fuller lives, argues Dr. Larry Dossey, author of Reinventing Medicine. In the May issue of Men's Health magazine, Dossey writes, "Evidence favoring the health value of pets is so compelling that, if pet therapy were a pill, we would not be able to manufacture it fast enough." Research studies reveal that pet ownership is the second biggest predictor of survival after a heart attack. Dog owners generally display lower systolic blood pressure; petting a dog lowers blood pressure almost immediately. Couples with dogs are more satisfied in their marriages. Animal companionship lessens feelings of sadness and pessimism (52 percent of male pet owners confess to having sung to or danced with their dogs). Dog owners have lower levels of low-density lipoproteins and triglycerides, linked to heart disease. A recent study found that dogs managed to make friends for owners who were deliberately made to look unattractive.

Navel of the World
Malou Babilonia calls her refurbished 122-year old Victorian home in the flatlands of Berkeley, California, the Pusod Center [1808 5th St., Berkeley, CA 94704, (510) 883-1808]. Babilonia is from the Philippines and "pusod" means navel in Tagalog. Babilonia has used recycled materials to renovate the future home of the Babiliona-Wilner Foundation, and has had cisterns and solar panels installed. She envisions meetings there tackling tough eco-problems, "raising awareness about environmental transgressions in the world." Current concerns include ecological degradations in the Philippines and other tropical countries, and working as part of a coalition to urge toxics clean-up at former US military bases.

Lives of Charm and Purpose
According to Lives Charmed: Intimate Conversations with Extraordinary People by Linda Silversten [$12.95, Health Communications, Inc.] successful people succeed as a result of the sheer energy they devote to manifesting their dreams. The book profiles a number of celebrity activists ranging from Arnold Palmer and Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. to Woody Harrelson and Keely Shaye Smith. Smith, an environmental activist and the wife of activist-actor Pierce Brosnan, hosts her own eco-TV series, Home Green Home, and has produced several media exposes spotlighting animal mistreatment. Smith and Brosnan have been vocal in their support of Baja California's gray whales, and staunch defenders of Earth Island's "Dolphin Safe" tuna label campaign. Smith considers Earth Island founder David Brower and the activist-brothers Sam and Nathan LaBudde as three of her heroes. "We all need to find that part of ourselves that shines and radiates," reflects Smith. "We're only here for a blink. If you fear what's happening to our planet, do something. Action alleviates fear." A portion of this book's sales goes to Rainforest Action Network, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary and American Oceans Campaign.

The 50-minute Horse
Feelings of low self-esteem and the emotional consequences of physical disability and trauma have been mitigated by the patience and forgiveness of horses, according to presentations at a recent North American Riding for the Handicapped Association conference. "Equine facilitated mental health therapy" has shown evidence that working with animals helps people cope with emotional issues. The Animals as Natural Therapy (ANT) organization's publication, ANT Newsletter, highlights a program in Washington State that inivolves high-risk urban kids in riding and grooming horses instead of joy-riding and looking for illegal kicks. ANT claims that mucking-out stables can have emotionally healing results: Kids involved in animal caretaking programs "can experience the responsibility, respect and nurturing of animals, thus developing trust, inter-relational skills and confidence." [Animals as Natural Therapy, 721 Van Wyck Road, Bellingham, WA 98226, (206) 714-1939]

Schools Learn Lesson: Lessen Toxics
Many solvents used in constructing, renovating, and cleaning poorly ventilated school buildings are harmful to children's health. So Pennsylvania's Radnor Township is building a new "green school" with children's health and the environment in mind. The building uses less-toxic paints, adhesives, furnishings and materials. Groundsource geothermal exchange heating employs plastic tubing plunging 380 feet below ground level to tap a series of geothermally heated wells. The schoolrooms are to be constructed using recycled/renewable resources and the finished school will remain vacant for two months to permit any harmful fumes to dissipate before children are permitted to enter. Similar green schools have been constructed in Crystal Lake, Illinois and Waterloo, Canada. In addition to reducing dust and molds and improving air quality, these schools have also reported improved student/teacher health and better academic performance. [Saul and Karen Lazarus, Citizen Advocates, 201 N. Wayne Avenue, Wayne, PA 19087, (215) 831-2960; Director of Operations, Radnor Township Schools, (610) 688-8100.]

Saving Those Who Would Save the Earth
Noting that "there are places in the world where a threat to the environment can also mean a threat to freedom, or even life," the Sierra Club has joined forces with Amnesty International to create a unique Human Rights and the Environment Campaign [HREC, c/o Sierra Club, 85 Second St., San Francisco, CA 94105, (415) 977-5500] "to defend those who give the Earth a voice." The campaign will draw attention to countries where environmental activists are at risk and will promote a US foreign policy that "consistently addresses human rights and environmental concerns." One of the HREC's current campaigns seeks the release of jailed Mexican environmentalists Teodoro Cabrera and Rodolfo Montiel, winner of the Goldman Environmental Award.

Driving into the 21st Century
On May 18, dozens of electric and hybrid vehicles set new efficiency records as they crossed the finish line of the Tour de Sol. The 250-mile, New York to Washington race, hosted annually by the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association [50 Miles St., Greenfield, MA 01301, (413) 774-6051, www.nesea.org], was won by a hybrid Honda Insight (92 miles per gallon), closely followed by a General Motors EV1 electric that hummed along for more than 224 miles on a single charge. Also getting the checkered flag, a Daimler-Chrysler electric minivan that drove 130 miles on a charge, an all-electric Blue Bird School bus, and the Solar Bolt, a sedan built by the students of Holton High School that zoomed 164.5 miles on a charge. The most fuel-efficient vehicle was the Ovonic Battery Company's electric scooter, with the gas-equivalent of 302 miles per gallon. NESEA reports that these results show that "electric and hybrid-electric vehicles can easily cut greenhouse gas emissions in half from the transportation sector."

Peeling Away the INC. Masks
"Corporations are artificial entities separate... from natural persons, not naturally endowed with consciousness or the rights of natural persons." -- City of Point Arena Resolution No. 2000-07. The tiny town of Point Arena, nestled on California's north coast, has passed a resolution ending "corporate personhood" privileges within city limits. Through a hocus-pocus of consitutional interpretation, inanimate companies have been granted the same legal rights enjoyed by bona fide living citizens -- including the right to call paid advertising "free speech." Dave Henson, Director of California's Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, views the decades-long string of environmental crises as "symptoms of a much greater problem, that of undemocratic, illegitimate corporate power turning economic and resource decisions into private property market decisions." He cheers the Point Arena activists, saying they are "on the right track when they focus on dismantling the legal fiction of 'corporate personhood.' They are uncovering the foundation of corporate authority that has allowed it to destroy the environment with the legal protection of the Constitution." [Redwood Coast Alliance for Democracy, POB 1581, Gualala, CA 95445, (707) 882-1818] -SRS

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E-mail Sharon Skolnick at <sskolnick@earthisland.org>.