If you don't have all your Christmas, Hanukkah, or Yule (etc) shopping done yet (I certainly don't!), then go green this holiday season and shop at GiggleFish. They have a little bit of everything, and unlike some green and organic gift shops I have seen, some of their stuff is actually really pretty.

In Their Own Words

"So what makes gigglefish different? We're glad you asked! At gigglefish we care - we care about the products we offer, we care about this planet we call home, and most importantly, we care about you. See, you're the reason we do what we do - you (yes, you reading this very Web page) are an integral part of communicating an eco-conscious message, which you spread with every gift you give from our site. We aim to raise awareness and to create a fresh perspective by offering products that are green, on-trend and giftable. It's something of an obsession for us, but at least we're having fun - kind of like a treasure hunt: we hunt, and you find."

Oh, Pretty!

This absolutely stunning necklace is just one of the many gorgeous things I found perusing the site. Granted there are quite a few gaudy things, but at least anything you find will be eco-friendly, green, and totally guilt-free.

And if anyone is feeling particularly generous, yes - that is on my wish list *wink wink nudge nudge*

This week in the news:

It is all too comfortable to think of "slavery" as a thing of the past. Well here's a news flash - Modern Human Trafficking and Slavery.

The President of Brazil is calling for better social responsibility in lawmaking.

Corporations seem to be focusing on social responsibility as a means to make more money instead of as a means to help society.

An example of this -

Toshiba offers carbon neutrality with every laptop. It's a sneaky idea in my opinion - instead of making laptops that have a smaller carbon footprint, you can have Toshiba plant a tree on your behalf for a small fee.

Alright global economy, start taking notes. Australia is definitely doing something right. For the last 14 years, Aussie economy has invariably grown 4 to 5 percent. However, they recently elected a new Prime Minister, and rumor has it no matter who was elected their economy would have continued the historically steady annual growth.

The interesting part of this is Australia had to change hands from their conservative party leadership of the last four elections, to a liberal party leader. Normally such a drastic change in leadership would be detrimental to economic growth, but Australia is a very special case.

I've been a bad, bad girl. You have been linking to me all this time, but I haven't been blatantly showing my appreciation. So from now on, I'm going to make it a point to make posts like these linking back to you. (Read: Shameless linkbaiting!)

Wow! Audeamus Made Headlines

My post on the ADA, "A Recipe for Disaster", was featured on the front page of The Issue a couple weeks ago. That fact also made it to the Creative Weblogging (the network hosting Audeamus) main blog.

Audeamus also made it into the Creative Weblogging top ten for 10/30 and 10/28. "Giving Thanks with Thanks and Giving" also snagged a spot on the Creative Weblogging main blog.

Blogs Linking Here

New Millennium PR lists Audeamus as a Good Read. I'm honored - thanks!

Corporate Citizen had Audeamus in their blogroll, according to Technorati, but I can't find it. I love ya anyways.

Bangladesh Corporate Blog mentioned Audeamus in passing too. I was wondering where all that India traffic came from - thanks!

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin is the next city to get rid of all those cumbersome bins in favor of a better option. They realized, like many recycling enthusiasts, sorting recyclables has far too many problems. What if you need two bins for bottles? What about the stuff that's just too big?

So the city is adopting an innovative concept - single stream recycling. Imagine that! You put everything in one bin, no sorting, no bags, no extra bins, and it's big enough to fit the box from your new Ikea couch. Of course, those are not the only benefits of single stream recycling.

CSR activists are playing hardball, impatient to let free-market Darwinism decide the fate of business. Fighting for a personal platform, they do not see the damage they cause.


An article in Townhall argues "when the heavy hand of government is used to change the rules of the game entrepreneurs are prevented from creating better products and consumers suffer the consequences."

The author, Wayne Winegarden, poses a valid point - lobbying in any form, be it lobbying an issue to the government or private business, changes the rules and upsets the balance. Consumers should buy, business should provide, and government should ensure that the buying and providing can happen.

I beg to differ.