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Sunday marks a calendrical coincidence sure to catch the eye of numerologists and anyone fond of binary code. But Oct. 10, 2010, or 10-10-10, also has taken on ecological significance as a stage for global events centered around climate change.

Author Bill McKibben's 350.org (named for what scientists say is the safe level, in parts per million, of carbon in the atmosphere) has thrown its weight behind a Global Work Party, while Creative Visions Foundation is urging people worldwide to chronicle a day in the life of Earth for a geo-coded online video and photo montage.

Billed as a day of practical action to cut greenhouse gases that are warming Earth and provoking climate change, Global Work Party encourages local groups to sponsor events:

Since we've already worked hard to call, e-mail, petition and protest to get politicians to move, and they haven't moved fast enough, now it's time to show that we really do have the tools we need to get serious about the climate crisis.

On 10/10/10 we'll show that we the people can do this -- but we need bold energy policies from our political leaders to do it on a scale that truly matters. The goal of the day is not to solve the climate crisis one project at a time but to send a pointed political message: If we can get to work, you can get to work too -- on the legislation and the treaties that will make all our work easier in the long run.

Creative Visions has teamed up with The World Wildlife Fund, American Red Cross, Oxfam, the United Nations Development Program and a host of non-governmental groups in creating an online video time capsule of 24 hours on the planet, called One Day on Earth:

With thousands of participants, ranging from teenagers to award-winning filmmakers, One Day on Earth is being represented by every country in the world. The unprecedented scope of video captured on 10.10.10 will be viewable through an online archive system, as well as a feature-length documentary that explores our planet’s identity, slated for 2011.

Following the landmark event, the One Day on Earth archive –- searchable by topic, popularity and location –- will be available for anyone in the general public to navigate and learn about important issues facing our global community. Participants will also have access to download all One Day on Earth footage for non-commercial purposes, offering an additional opportunity to produce their own interpretations of global life.

A video explanation of the project is available on vimeo.

No word yet whether motivator-maven Suzy Welch, author of "10-10-10: A life-transforming idea" has anything to say about the use of her favored numbers, nor whether the promoters ever considered the Roman numeral version: XXX

Did you really just click on XXX?

-- Geoff Mohan

Photo: Los Angeles 350.org activists gather in the foreground of the Hollywood sign. Credit: 350.org

Twitter: @latenvironment
Facebook: latimesenvironment
source: LATIMES

Boy's NBA-Size Dream Comes True

Four-Year-Old Ezra's Prosthetic Leg Doesn't Stop Him From Reaching High, Really High
BRIAN O'KEEFE
April 16, 2010

Four-year-old Ezra Frech was born with a rare condition that caused his left arm and leg to form improperly, which hasn't stopped the boy from doggedly doing what he loves most, playing basketball.

But the boy who has inspired so many recently got the surprise of his life when he met his favorite player, L.A. Lakers' Pau Gasol.

Ezra Deals With Differences

With a prosthetic leg, Ezra learned early on how being different is no big deal.

"It was a limb issue," Ezra's mom, Bahar Soomekh, said of his condition. "When the chromosomes divided, one side, his left side, got misinformation so it didn't form like the right side."

There was also something else special about Ezra. He was happy as a baby, engaged in everything, a possible sign of what was to come.

He had surgery at age 3 to remove the leg that wasn't growing properly and had it replaced with a prosthetic leg.

"That day that he walked into our doors, he changed our lives," Hanger Prosthetics therapist Ryan Russell said. "There's just something about him. ... He comes in here, he lights the place up." The new leg changed things for Ezra.

"I can't skip very well, but I can skip a different way," he said.

But being different isn't always easy.

"Sometimes, he has those days where he's like, 'I don't want to be different,'" Soomekh said. "He would sob to me and say, 'Tell God to give me another leg. Can you ask him if he has another leg like other kids?' ... He has had those moments."

Other times, whenever a basketball in his hands, it's impossible to slow him down.

"Every spare minute he has its dedicated to basketball," Ezra's dad, Clayton Frech, said. "Its fascinating."

Ezra said, "I just play over and over and over until its dinner time."

He plays inside, outside, alone, at school and with strangers. His favorite team? The L.A. Lakers.

Gasol Is His Favorite Player

"He doesn't watch cartoons," his mother said. "He watches Lakers games over and over again."

His favorite player is Gasol, whom he watches with near obsession.

"He just recently got a haircut because Pau Gasol got a haircut," Soomekh said. "He would wake up in the morning and come into my bathroom and grab my eyeliner and ask me to give him a beard like Pau Gasol." For all his adoration, Ezra had never met Gasol, until a few days ago.

Before a recent game, backstage at the Staples Center where the Lakers play, Ezra got a big surprise when Gasol, at 7-feet tall, walked through the door. After a few hugs, autographs and pictures, Ezra was floating.

"It was so exciting. It was surprising," Ezra said. "I was so happy I met him and I was like, 'Oh, my God.'"

Gasol said it was a gift to him as well.

"To be able to share a couple of minutes with a kid full of joy, full of happiness in his situation ... it just makes you feel incredibly blessed," Gasol said.

Leaving such an impression is nothing new for Ezra.

"Virtually every person he comes across," his mother said, "he teaches them about acceptance and appreciation of a diverse world."

source: ABCNews

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