“The Green Ninja,” a character created by a climate scientist and his team, provides an entertaining and educational way to help children – and everyone else – grasp the intricacies of climate change and learn what they can personally do to become involved in fighting it. See additional details about the series or head straight to this week’s episode, “American Idle.”
This week, we join the audience for the nation’s favorite show, American Idle! After meeting the judges, we talk to the newest contestant aiming to become the next American Idle: Revathi. Revathi is notorious for leaving her car engine running even when she is parked! The judges are flabbergasted!
To see more videos like this, visit “The Green Ninja.”
Our curious judge panel decides to find the root of this unscrupulous behavior! Impala Abdul asks Revathi about the temperature of where she lives. Does she need the heater or the air conditioner on? “No, the weather is perfect, I even have the window open!” You can hear the crowd boo at this – doesn’t our contestant know that she doesn’t need the car engine on all the time?
After further grilling by the other judges, (Hydraulic Jackson, Siphon Cowell) Revathi realizes her mistake and turns off her engine. The crowd goes WILD! You may be wondering: “Why does the Green Ninja want me to know this?” It is important that all car owners know this because it saves them money, but more importantly, it saves the air. When car engines run, they burn gasoline to create power. One of the byproducts of burning gasoline this way is carbon-based gasses (such as Carbon-Monoxide and Carbon-Dioxide), which damage the atmosphere. All in all, a rollicking lesson for kids with “idling” parents!
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
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