Girls Across the Nation Write to Congress

New Moon is receiving the first letters to Congress written by girls! Instead of asking for submissions to the magazine, we are asking girls to send us letters to Congress. The Girls Editorial Board is planning to hand-deliver the letters we collect—along with copies of the magazine—to every member of Congress later this spring!

The Girls Editorial Board hopes their “Letter to Congress” will inspire thousands of girls to write their OWN letters to Congress. Go to www.newmoon.org/congress to find out who represents you in Congress, get letter-writing tips, and download special postcards. We will collect your letters to Congress through March 1, 2007.

(If you don’t live in the United States, write to YOUR government leaders to tell them about an issue that matters to you! New Moon will deliver international postcards, too!)

So far, we have received letters from Utah, Idaho, Minnesota, California, New York, Wisconsin, and Oregon. Letters range in topics from animal and human rights to global warming.

We’ve also had awesome feedback from girls who have read the “Letter to Congress” issue and took our online survey!

"The interviews with the congresswomen were great. They showed me that the goal of being a politician is totally possible. And I liked the postcard that you attached. It can be daunting to send a letter to the government, but you make it easy!" -a 12-year-old

"I also realized that if ALL girls who read New Moon sent in their post card, that Congress would be bombarded!!!" -a 14 year old

"It [reading this issue] helped me have more courage because I have lots of ideas but was scared to show them to congress. This issue helped." -a 10-year-old

Make sure Congress hears YOUR VOICE! Write your letter to Congress today!

One girl's response to President Bush's address

This morning, long-time New Moon reader and past contributor Natalia Thompson, 15, of Wisconsin, shared her response to President Bush's January 10th speech with us. Natalia will be posting more "Letter to Congress" updates and commentaries on the topics of foreign policy and immigration in the next few months. Girls, if YOU would like to cover a "Letter to Congress" topic for New Moon's blog, read this post for information on getting involved!

Read on to hear Natalia's opinion and read her call to action for girls.

Last night, President Bush announced his plans to send 20,000 more troops to Iraq (to “help us succeed in the fight against terror”).

Around the world, thousands of bloggers have already typed up their thoughts on what President Bush’s actions will mean for America, for the Middle East, and for “the global war on terror and our safety here at home” (President Bush’s words, not mine). But those aren’t the issues that I wanted to write about.

I am, of course, worried about what this will mean for American citizens, including soldiers and their families. I’m also worried, though, that the President’s plan ignores the basic rights of Iraqi civilians. The President stated, “For the sake of our people, America must succeed in Iraq.” But in his 20-minute speech, he said next to nothing about what our military’s actions in Iraq mean for the daily lives of Iraqis—and, after all, Iraqi civilians are the ones who most suffer in this war.

President Bush mentioned that terrorists and insurgents have “responded with outrageous acts of murder aimed at innocent Iraqis.” But what about the American military’s own “acts of murder” against “innocent Iraqis”?

According to a study from John Hopkins University, violence in Iraq has left more than 650,000 civilians dead since the war began. That’s about 2.2% of Iraq’s total population. Think of what that means for Iraqi families. In comparison, 0.0000003% of the American population has died while serving in Iraq.

The President also said that we are working in Iraq “to raise up just and hopeful societies across the Middle East.” Where is the justice and hope, I wonder, in living in the dangerous war zone that Iraq has become?

The San Francisco Chronicle recently reported that women and girls are losing freedoms in “the chaos of postwar Iraq.” No big surprise, right? But the stories told in one article are devastating. Here’s what 13-year old Tabarek Mahmoud told a reporter:

“We have had wars and no fun our whole lives. There is no stability.... It is so hot. There is no electricity and the light is so dim I am damaging my eyes. I am scared of being attacked, and I see guns everywhere. I just want to enjoy my childhood.”

Last month, the representative for Iraq for UNICEF (the United Nations organization that works to protect children worldwide) said that “Women should be equal partners in the future of Iraq, but their rights risk slipping away without positive action to protect them.” He added, “Women of Iraq cannot wait for more stable times to receive the support they need. We must act now to empower them towards realizing a brighter future for the nation as a whole.”

Iraq Minister for Women’s Affairs Ms. Fatin Abdul Rahman Mahmoud added, “Women must be involved in all key decisions about the future of our country and our children. This is the only route towards a fair society where all citizens can flourish.” I couldn’t agree more.

If you agree, here’s what you can do:

Call or email your representatives in Washington to tell them that foreign policy on Iraq must take into account the lives of Iraqi women and girls.

Please ask your Senators and Representatives to stand up for Iraqi women and girls, and work to:

1. Increase national resources directed to improved services for women and children.

• Work to increase access to education for girls. Right now, 74% of Iraqi children not in school are girls. That number needs to be improved.
• Protect girls from violence. So-called “honor killings” and “convenience marriages” (short term unions that can be dissolved within days) are still occurring inside Iraq - often without being
  punished.

2. Introduce legislation to protect women’s basic legal and social rights.

3. Promote women’s full participation in local and national decision-making. Right now, among 37 newly-appointed ministers, only four are women. And only 25% of Iraq’s parliamentarians are women.

When you call or email, remember to mention that you’re a girl yourself, because congresspeople do take children’s voices into account when they make decisions. When I’ve contacted my representatives, they’ve often been surprised to hear that a 15-year-old girl wants them to take her opinions into account. But I think they do.

Afterward, email blog@newmoon.org and let us know how it went. Good luck!

East by Edith Pattou

Hi! My name is Karla and I am a member of the Girls Advisory Board at New Moon. I recently read a great book called "East" by Edith Pattou that I wanted to share with you!

The story is about an adventurous girl named Rose, who is whisked away from her family by a polar bear! Rose's family has fallen on hard times, but when the infamous polar bear comes to ther house, he promises that Rose's family will prosper if Rose agrees to go with him. Rose has made up her mind and embarks on a journey where she meets a viking, a female witch doctor and trolls! She even frees slaves and rescues a prince! If you have read this book or can't get enough of stories like this one, I recommend "Hero's Song" and "Fire Arrow" both part of the "Songs of Eirren" series also by Edith Pattou.

What IS reality?

In the November/December 2006 issue of New Moon, girl-writer Geneva wrote about whether we can ever really know what is reality in "Voice Box." Our deadline for accepting responses to this "Voice Box" will be January 17th, so I wanted to make sure that girls had the chance to respond. Below is a copy of her article. Please send your responses to girl@newmoon.org ! Love, Luna

“Time is relative.” “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” “Put yourself in their shoes.” All of these phrases refer to the same idea: perspective. Perspective comes from our minds—the control rooms of our bodies that determine what we see.

What we see and how we perceive it could be different from how anyone else sees the same thing. When we look up at the sky on a clear day, we see blue. But is it the same color to everyone? Everyone calls it the same name. But we can’t prove it’s the same without trading bodies with another person to literally “see through their eyes.” To you, the sky could be what I call “orange,” but since we both call it “blue,” we think we’re seeing the same thing.

On the other hand, we all have senses—we see, touch, smell, hear, or taste—and some people think the information from those senses is proof enough of reality. We have satellite images of Earth to “prove” that it’s mostly covered with water. And scientists use the scientific method, which requires going through certain steps to test something again and again before claiming it’s “true.” Scientists have discovered many things that they believe to be solid proof of our reality. But we can’t clearly prove some things, such as how the world began.

How do you define reality? Can it change from person to person?
Do we have control over what we see and how we see it?
Does what we see limit what we consider “true”?
Is scientific proof really “proof”? Why or why not?
Do you think words and names create reality? Why or why not?

10-year-old Eliza writes about World Hunger

We published Geneva's letter about world hunger in our "Letter to Congress" issue. Eliza has this to add:

"My mom and I went to the UN while we were in New York on a family vacation. We saw lots of pictures of hurt and hungry people, and children in particular. There were funky looking weapons that children all over the world had seen and picked up to play with, thinking they had found a free toy where toys were scarce. My mom and I agree that if we abolish world hunger, we're one step closer to abolishing world violence. When people are hungry, they are grumpy, rude, and desperate. They just want food, and they aren't thinking about much else when they are heading for it.

Our soldiers are hungry right now, and so are the Iraqi soldiers. They are fighting right now, and we, well fed and happy, are sitting in front of our computer screens reading, and wanting to stop the war. Those soldiers want to come home, too. Both sides. But they want it in a completely different way. They want war to end because they want to have a real Thanksgiving dinner with their loved ones. They want to go to the grocery store and stock up for life. Most of them have probably stopped caring who wins and who loses. They just want to go HOME. I'm sure I got my point across long ago, but I justwant you to know I care, and that you ought to, too." -- Eliza, 10

Global Warming: Threat to the Entire World by Olivia Fleet, age 10

In our "Letter to Congress" issue, which is just beginning to arrive in our subscribers' mailboxes, we featured an article about Global Warming called "We're Just Warming Up." Girls have been asking us for a long time to feature an article about Global Warming. Girl Journalist Olivia sent us some additional information about this issue. - New Moon Editors

Some people may not know what global warming is, so before I begin talking about what it's doing, I'll explain exactly what it is. First off, global warming happens when the Earth begins to get very warm. There is a gradual warming of the Earth's atmosphere that is caused by the burning of fossil fuels and industrial pollutants. Some examples of those are the fumes that come from cars, as well as the black stuff you see coming from the chimneys of factories. These gases get trapped in the Earth's atmosphere and cause the global warming, which makes ice caps and other ice shelves (including the glaciers) melt. Because of this, polar bears are nearly extinct!

My mom just told me about something she read today on the Yahoo! homepage. A 25.5 square mile ice shelf broke off in the Canadian Artic, located close to Greenland. The actual break happened in August 2005, but at that time no one was able to pinpoint exactly what had happened. But satellite images helped geographer Luke Copland piece together what had happened. "This loss is the biggest in 25 years, but it continues the loss that occurred within the last century," Copland said. "What is important and interesting is that it is a sudden, quite alrge event. In the past we looked to climate change and thought that perhaps ice shelves would just melt apart by losing a little piece day by day, but now it seems that when you reach some kind of threshold, when you reach that level, the whole thing just breaks apart." This is why polar bears are nearly extinct.

We need to make changes! I'm an animal lover, and I hate to hear that polar bears are in danger. But they may be overlooked if Congress doesn't see the huge issue at hand. I urge you to go to www.NRDC.org and see what you can do! - Olivia, age 10

A Woman's Place is in the House....

New Moon congratulates Nancy Pelosi, a Democratic Representative from California, who will be sworn in as Speaker of the House of Representatives today. She's making herstory as the first woman Speaker of the House!

"Becoming the first woman speaker will send a message to young girls and women across the country that anything is possible for them," Speaker Pelosi said on Wednesday.

Click here to watch a video of the swearing in ceremony.

Girls, what would YOU like to say to the new Speaker of the House? What questions would you ask her if you had a chance? Leave a comment or write to blog@newmoon.org with your thoughts!

Are you a Global Girl?

We recently received a letter from 11-year-old Katie telling us about her website. In her own words:

"The URL for my website is www.freewebs.com/girlsforglobalchange. I created this website for girls who want to make a positive difference in the world. Also on the site, you can apply to become a Global Girl. I think girls should visit my site, because together, girls can make a BIG difference."

We couldn't agree more!

Ring in the New Year with New Moon

Girls, what are you doing over the winter break? What is your favorite part of this holiday season? Do you make New Year's resolutions? What are you looking forward to in 2007? Write to blog@newmoon.org to share your thoughts and stories!

Be a Political Journalist!

I'm very excited because yesterday a delivery truck came and brought boxes and boxes and boxes full of the "Letter to Congress" issue of New Moon! I also sent all the web content off to our web designer, so the "Letter to Congress" website should be up at the beginning of January. Make sure to watch your mailboxes for the arrival of this special issue!

Although we've been working on "Letter to Congress" since July, the real excitement is just beginning. We hope the issue will inspire a wave of action around girls' issues. One way to keep the momentum for this issue going is to follow up on the many topics covered in "Letter to Congress"-- from girls' health to animal rights to free speech on the internet.

This is where YOU come in! When you read the "Letter to Congress" issue, pay attention to any issue that really sparks your interest. Then, consider becoming a political journalist blogger for New Moon. As a political journalist blogger, you would pay attention to news and legislation regarding a certain issue. When a bill stalled, got passed, or modified, you'd let New Moon know so we can post it to our blog and keep all our readers updated on the progress of issues addressed in "Letter to Congress." Of course, you'll get a byline (credit) for all your updates!

If you're interested in reporting on political issues, email girl@newmoon.org !