Call me poor, call me rich

You own your home.

You have a computer, and you know a geek who can repair it.

You have Internet access.

You have a mobile device.

You take an annual vacation.

IF YOU'RE OUTRAGEOUSLY WEALTHY:

You can get by on very little money.

You only take work that you enjoy and that has integrity.

You have time and headspace to define "poor" and "rich."

You feel grateful for your life.

When you pray for serenity to accept the things you cannot change, courage to change the things you can, and wisdom to know the difference, a generous god responds.

THE GREAT LAKES & STATE WATERS BILL OF RIGHTS

Check out New York Assembly Bill AO5156A, the Great Lakes and State Waters Bill of Rights, recently introduced by Patrick Burke. If enacted, this law would recognize the unalienable and fundamental rights of the Great Lakes and other watersheds in New York State "to exist, persist, flourish, naturally evolve, regenerate and be restored." It would enshrine the right to a clean and healthy environment for all people and ecosystems within the State, and the right to freedom from "toxic trespass." It would prohibit monetizing New York State waters.

The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) helped draft this law. CELDF's Ben Price says, "For states to take on these issues in the absence of federal action could be a game-changer-- "as it was for women's suffrage.

While the Great Lakes provide drinking water for more than 40 million people, they are threatened by billions of gallons of raw sewage, toxic algae blooms, over 22 million pounds of plastic, invasive species, and historic and ongoing industrial pollution.

Andrea Bowers' film, What We Do to Nature, We Do to Ourselves, documents the pollution of Lake Erie, the 2014 water shutdown, and efforts to protect the lake.

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