With a few more days to go before our deadline of Nov. 1, I wanted to appeal to the rest of the NetSquared readers to help us reach our goal of 20,000 signatures, in an attempt to appeal to Google so they will consider doing a World Diabetes Day doodle on Nov. 14.

So far we have collected a little under 9,000 signatures (using iPetitions.com, if you are curious) on DiabetesDoodle.com.

It seems one of my efforts has attracted some diplomatic interest, as I learned last week when a collaboration to raise signatures for a petition to recognise the famine-genocide period of Ukraine hit their government news site.

Today I learned that their embassy is sending over a cultural attache. Not to me fortunately to my collaborator who's Ukrainian.

Now he might even notice the Net2 button. Well if it was still there he might,  now it's just a line of text, something about collaborating.

Through just one cup of coffee, we are inextricably connected to the livelihoods of millions of people around the world who are struggling to survive.--from the Director's Statement, Black Gold

Oxfam America has joined the movement to give Ethiopian coffee growers a greater percentage of coffee profits:

Oxfam is calling on coffee industry leaders to sign agreements that recognize Ethiopia’s right to control the use of its coffee ’brand names.’ With these agreements in place, Ethiopians could occupy a stronger negotiating position with foreign buyers, capture a larger share of the value associated with their names, and better protect their brands – regardless of whether the trademarks were granted.

Did you know that new car smells and new shower curtain smells are from poisonous chemicals off-gassing from PVC (polyvinyl chloride) plastic? Or that children can be exposed to phthalates, poisonous chemicals that PVC releases, by chewing on vinyl toys? I sure didn't. Even more disturbing, PVC plants are disproportionately located in low-income communities and communities of color.

The nice folks at Free Range Studios whose Principal, Jonah Sachs, I interviewed for the Big Vision Podcast, wanted me to let folks know about a new 3-minute movie they've created for the Center for Health, Environment and Justice to teach people about the dangers of PVC called, Sam Suds and the Case of PVC, the Poison Plastic. I thought NetSquared readers would appreciate this example of using an Internet movie for advocacy.