the peace journal

From James Twyman @EmissaryofLight.com
It is a very busy and exciting time for the Beloved Community. With so
many things going on we wanted to take a minute and give everyone a
quick update as to what is happening and to say "Thank You" for your
continued support.

ORLANDO CONFERENCE:
This will be our only East Coast conference this year and we have a
great line-up of speakers and workshops that we are very excited about. To
answer a few quick questions - Yes, we are showing the Indigo movie.
Yes, we are having the kids camp and it will be one of our best and most
magical programs yet. There is also a seperate program for teens led by
one of our Indigo teens. Yes, we are extending the deadline for early
registration to March 5. Please note however, that the hotel has only
guaranteed the low room rate through March 1 and it will be based on
availability after that. And yes, we plan on having a lot of fun and saying
"YES" to the Divine in our lives! Go to www.emissaryoflight.com to
register.

SPIKENARD EXPERIMENT:
The Mary Magdalene/Spikenard survey is up on the web site! You can go
to the web site www.emissaryoflight.com and click on the link for the
Spikenard experiment. We are thrilled with the early results which you
can also see on the web site.

CHAT ROOMS:
Our chat rooms have FINALLY been restored to the regular software which
is much easier to use and we still have the larger room for special
chat events. So we will see you in there!

DURANGO:
See INDIGO before it is released world wide at the Durango Film
Festival on March 7th, and I will also be performing a special concert, along
with the film, on March 12th. (There will even be an auction where you
can bid on having lunch with Neale, Stephen and I - WOW!). We hope many
of you can join us.

PHOENIX:
For the first time together, Neale Donald Walsch, and Stephen Simon and
I will present a very provocative full day seminar open to the public
discussing Spirituality & Film. The event will focus on how the motion
picture industry is affecting our consciousness and what each
individual can do to play a role in changing the messages in movies. Clips of
the film INDIGO will be shown as examples of what a spiritual film truly
looks like.Go to www.MishkaProductions.com for more information.

IRAQ PEACE VIGIL:
Many of you have been asking about the Global Peace Vigil that we are
going to have March 20th when I am in Baghdad. We will be sending out a
special e-mail soon with all the details and how you can participate.

We are so blessed to be part of such a wonderful growing community as
we continue to say "yes" to spirit.

Peace,
James Twyman and the Beloved Community

from Moveon.org
The Bush-Cheney energy bill is back, and it could come up for a vote at
any moment. Republicans have signaled that they'll give as little as
24 hours' notice. We've got to get out ahead of it.

Please call your Senator(s) now, at:

Senator Dianne Feinstein
Washington, DC: 202-224-3841

Senator Barbara Boxer
Washington, DC: 202-224-3553

Make sure they know you're a constituent, then urge them to:

"Please FILIBUSTER to stop the energy bill."*

Give some reasons why you're concerned -- some good ones are listed
below.

Please let us know you're calling, at:

http://www.moveon.org/callmade3.html?id=2395-1499023-hCRHZUhyOsGZbfSM0MlyJA

The energy bill is still terrible. Here's what it does:

1. Delays clean-up in smoggy cities, which would increase asthma
attacks and other health problems, especially among children and
elderly people.

2. Pollutes rivers and coastal waters by exempting oil and gas drilling
from clean-up safeguards

3. Allows energy companies to rip off consumers by repealing the
Public Utility Holding Company Act.

4. Includes billions in subsidies for big oil, nuclear, timber, and
coal companies.

5. Increases air pollution and global warming with new incentives to
burn coal for electricity without adequate pollution controls.

6. Threatens drinking water by allowing the underground injection of
diesel fuel and other chemicals during oil and gas development.

7. Weakens environmental safeguards to pave the way for more oil and
gas drilling on sensitive public lands in the Rocky Mountain West.
At least sixteen national hunting and fishing organizations oppose
these provisions.

8. Locks in American dependence on foreign oil by adding new
roadblocks to better fuel economy.

9. Tramples on states' abilities to protect their coasts from harmful
oil and gas exploration by weakening their input on federal
coastal projects.

10. Promotes nuclear proliferation by reversing long-standing U.S.
policy against reprocessing waste from commercial nuclear
reactors, and using plutonium to generate commercial energy.

Please call your Senator(s) now, at:

Senator Dianne Feinstein
Washington, DC: 202-224-3841

Senator Barbara Boxer
Washington, DC: 202-224-3553

Urge them to filibuster the energy bill.

Please let us know you're calling, at:

http://www.moveon.org/callmade3.html?id=2395-1499023-hCRHZUhyOsGZbfSM0MlyJA

Thank you.

Sincerely,

--Peter Schurman
MoveOn.org
February 25th, 2004

STEPS FOR PEACE WALK
Inspired by Dennis Kucinich, Steps for Peace Walk Across America to End 2/29

The Steps for Peace walk across America initiated by 21-year-old Iowan Jonathan Meier will conclude this Sunday, 2/29/04 in San Francisco (two days before the CA primary election). The walk from Maine to California is meant to promote a culture of peace and nonviolence and call attention to Dennis Kucinich's presidential candidacy. More than 1500 people across 25 states have become partners in taking Steps for Peace by walking, hosting, donating food, and organizing around the walk's arrival in their community. The walk, which began on October 17, 2003 in Portland, Maine will have taken 136 days to complete. On Sunday, the journey will end with a walk from Golden Gate Park (11:00 AM) to Herbst Theater (3:00 PM), the site where the UN charter was created in 1945. The walk will end with a closing ceremony and prayer for America. Please participate in the walk's final day by joining us in San Francisco, or taking Steps for Peace in your own community.

For more information: http://www.kucinich.us/walkfordennis/walkfordennis.php
AND http://www.stepsforpeace.org/walk

"You know that, up until this year, we never even considered putting the word 'wedding' in the Constitution. I don‘t think wedding should be in the Constitution... And if we have weddings in there, I think we also should have birthdays. We need an amendment about birthdays." Bill Maher



Bush backs amendment banning gay marriages

The Associated Press
Published on: 02/24/04

WASHINGTON -- Jumping into a volatile election-year debate on same-sex weddings, President Bush on Tuesday backed a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage -- a move he said was needed to stop judges from changing the definition of the "most enduring human institution." Click here for story.

From Moveon.org
KEEP A STRONG, PROGRESSIVE LEADER IN OFFICE
While the Presidential race dominates headlines, Tom DeLay's underhanded plans for Texas are quietly moving forward. DeLay's goal has been clear from the start -- to eliminate key progressives, and at the same time ensure that the makeup of the U.S. Congress stays solidly Republican.

One of DeLay's prime targets is U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett. Lloyd has been one of the most progressive leaders in the House. He was a leader against the rush to war in Iraq and has consistently stood his ground against the extremist policies of the Republican leadership. Here’s what Republican staffer Joby Fortson had to say in an internal memo, upon seeing what they were able to do to Doggett’s district: "ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha".

Congressman Doggett is fighting to stay in office. He is running in the newly-drawn 25th district and has asked for our help in his primary bid. We encourage you to support his re-election campaign by making a donation, here:

https://www.moveon.org/pac/doggett/

Congressman Doggett helped lead the effort to oppose the invasion of Iraq and aggressively lobbied his colleagues in an effort that resulted in a majority of Democratic members of Congress voting "no" on the Iraq war resolution. At a February 2003 anti-war rally in Austin, Doggett told a cheering crowd:

"Mr. President, the policies that you are pursuing in the name of our security are wrongheaded. They will make our families less secure. You jeopardize the security of our families when you insist on a land invasion and umpteen years of occupation of Iraq..."

In addition to his efforts against the Iraq war, Doggett has compiled a lifetime 94 percent voting score on important arms control issues and has been a vocal opponent of Star Wars, nuclear weapons testing, landmines and wasteful military spending. His votes consistently receive top ratings from PIRG, League of Conservation Voters, American Public Health Association, and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.

More on the map in Texas:

DeLay's re-districting map was approved in December by a court stacked with Republican appointees. It's designed to knock off Democratic incumbents who stand in the way of the far-right's agenda, giving Republicans an edge at the expense of large numbers of Texas voters who will be disenfranchised. In the words of Republican staffer Joby Fortson, "This [map] has a real national impact that should assure that Republicans keep the House no matter the national mood." This is not democracy. It's gerrymandering at it's worst, and yet another attempt by the Republican national leadership to game the system.

You can help keep a strong, progressive leader in office and at the same time send a clear message to DeLay and the Republican leadership by supporting Doggett's primary bid. You can contribute online at the following web page:

https://www.moveon.org/pac/doggett/

Pentagon Study Describes Rapid, Catastrophic Climate Change

A recent Pentagon report describes dramatic worldwide ecosystem changes, resulting in massive political and social instability, due to rapid climate change over the next 20 years. From food shortages to violent storms, mass human migrations and wars for survival, the study suggests that the Bush Administration must reverse its position on climate change immediately.

The report's authors believe that climate change "should be elevated beyond a scientific debate to a U.S. national security concern." The report was commissioned by Andrew Marshall, a strategist and futurist who has advised the Pentagon for 30 years.

An article in Great Britain's Sunday Observer describes such findings as:

By 2007 violent storms or flooding will smash coastal barriers and render low-lying coastal and riparian areas uninhabitable worldwide.
Between 2010 and 2020, average European temperatures drop by 6 degrees F.
Deaths from war and famine will number in the millions until human population levels drop to a sustainable level.
Rich nations like the U.S. and Europe will become "virtual fortresses" to prevent entry of millions of migrants fleeing flooded or starving lands.
Nuclear arms will proliferate, with Japan, North and South Korea, Iran, Egypt and Germany developing nuclear weapons capabilities.
Access to water will become a major area of strife; Nile, Amazon and Danube Rivers all at risk.
The Bush Administration has yet to publicly acknowledge the Pentagon study, or reverse any of its positions which oppose taking action to address global warming. In fact, as reported yesterday in BushGreenwatch.org the administration is threatening to undermine an international treaty that has proven widely successful in reducing worldwide production of methyl bromide, the most potent ozone-depleting chemical still in widespread use.

The Pentagon's climate change report has been ignored so far by American media, with the notable exception being an article in the February 9 issue of Fortune magazine. Fortune describes several disturbing trends that support the theory of rapid climate change, including the recent break-up of the Arctic's largest ice shelf, and increasing signs of a weakened ocean current which brings warmer water from the tropics north to the eastern U.S. and northern Europe.

Fortune writer David Stipp notes that "The Pentagon's reaction to this sobering report isn't known...but the fact that [Andrew Marshall] is concerned may signal a sea change in the debate about global warming."

If so, there are still no signs of it. Just last week, the Union of Concerned Scientists issued a report on behalf of over 60 scientists, including 20 Nobel laureates, accusing the Bush Administration of systematically distorting scientific findings to serve policy goals on the environment, health, biomedicine and nuclear arms.

###

TAKE ACTION
Find out where your senators stood on last year's McCain - Lieberman Climate Stewardship Act. Ask why if they voted against it; thank them if they voted for it.

"I think President Bush might be afraid of John Kerry. Today, he came out against same-sex debates." —Craig Kilborn


From Allhatnocattle.net -

From Palm Beach Post
Copies of electronic ballots not required, state says
By George Bennett, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 17, 2004

Florida's manual recount law was never meant to apply to paperless touch-screen voting systems, the state Division of Elections says in a new opinion that amplifies the position it took after a tight January state House race.

Access South Florida and national election news, analysis.
• Key dates | Party pages
• Candidate profiles
• Political sites, blogs

In a close election, the new opinion says, counties that use touch screens are not required to make paper copies of electronic ballot images to try to comply with state recount laws.

The division took a similar position in a letter to the Broward County canvassing board last month. The new opinion is binding on all Florida counties that use touch screens, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Glenda Hood said Monday.

The recount question clouded a special election for a Broward-Palm Beach County state House seat and prompted a lawsuit by U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Delray Beach, that a circuit judge dismissed last week.

A Florida statute calls for a "manual recount" in elections decided by less than 0.25 percent of the votes cast. But canvassing boards in Broward and Palm Beach counties were unsure how to comply with the recount law when a Jan. 6 special election was decided by only 12 votes, with 137 voters casting blank ballots on electronic voting machines that produce no tangible ballots.

Both canvassing boards eventually decided to limit their manual recounts to paper absentee ballots.

At the time, Division of Elections Director Edward Kast told the Broward board that the state's recount rules "are not presently definitive," but that rules were being developed that would specify that there is no need to attempt a manual recount of an electronic ballot. Those final recount rules are expected before the Aug. 31 primaries.

The state's manual recount law calls for a hand examination of all "over-votes," which are ballots marked for more than one candidate, and "under-votes," which are ballots that show no choice for any candidate. The reason for such a manual review, the Division of Elections says, is to determine whether a ballot not counted by tabulating machines might have other marks on it that provide "a clear indication... that a voter has made a definite choice."

Electronic voting machines don't allow over-votes. And with under-votes cast on paperless systems, the division's opinion says, "it is impossible for a voter to make any stray marks on the ballot" that would reveal intent to choose a candidate.

Citing a 2001 report by a state Senate committee, the new Division of Elections opinion says legislators who overhauled state elections laws in 2001 were "fully aware that there would be no manual recount" with new electronic voting systems.

Kast's January letter to Broward's canvassing board said it would be impossible for a voter to make a stray mark on an electronic ballot. But the letter gave the canvassing board the option of printing out ballot images and manually counting them.

The new opinion says such printouts are not authorized because there are no state standards for counting them. The opinion deals only with printouts of ballot images from existing touch-screen systems. It does not address proposals for "voter-verified" paper ballots that voters would review before casting electronic votes.


From allhatnocattle.net

From poetsagainstthewar.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To George, A Love Poem for a Mother's Son

Remember your mother’s presence
brushing across your back,
creeping along your arms
as she encircled you in hers
pressing her love into you.

Remember she kissed your knee,
skinned, sore and bleeding,
her words, her lips, soothing
the indignities of a little boy.

Remember the moments
when nothing was said,
but everything was spoken
by invisible strands
of a mother-son love,
heavy in your hearts.

Be there now,
in the full light of love,
and tell me you can’t wait
a little longer on Iraq.

by Jeni Hogenson, 43 years old, Seattle, WA
Earthling, citizen, wife, state worker, dreamer of dreams, gardener, truth seeker, dirt digger, daughter.

From Global Renaissance Alliance
Host a Peace Party!A Vision and Action Gathering
March 14th, 2004

Dear friends,

On Sunday, March 14th, groups from around the country will be holding GRA Peace Parties. The Peace Parties are a wonderful way to bring folks together in your community to celebrate, connect, vision, and for those interested, make plans to take action for peace in your area. If you feel like the Peace Circle process has ever been a part of nurturing you before and you want to re-ignite the flame, if you are a part of a strong Circle now, or even if you have never been in a Circle, the Peace Parties will provide a fun and inspiring opportunity to share with others interested in creating a more peaceful world and to create a stronger bonds in your community.

The Peace Party will follow an abbreviated version of our Peace Circle format, which provides a simple yet powerful way for attendees to connect and get to know each other. Part of the party will include a national conference call with all the other circles from around the country to share the good news about the work we are doing at the national level. We will be talking about our future work together - including the Department of Peace campaign.

Two or more people, that's all you need! The Parties will start at 5 p.m. Eastern time, 2 p.m. Pacific (plan on approximately 2 hours). Invite friends, family, post a flyer in your community, bring some snacks and have fun.

If you are interested in receiving a host packet, or to register your Peace Party, please send an email to office@renaissancealliance.org We will provide a template to use during the meeting and other helpful tools and information. All you will need to do is create a space, in your home or in the community, and invite your friends! Hop on board and join the party.

We will be sharing more about the party on our national conference call Tuesday, March 2nd. Check our conference call section for more details on the call.

Some quotes by some of my favorite quoters:
GANDHI
Live simply that others may simply live. - Gandhi
We must be the change we wish to see in the world. - Gandhi

Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man. - Gandhi

What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism, or the holy name of liberty & democracy. - Gandhi

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. - Martin Luther King Jr.

We must all learn to live together as brothers, or we are all going to perish together as fools. - Martin Luther King Jr.

If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live. - Martin Luther King Jr.

Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles, and misguided men. - Martin Luther King Jr.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence; and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction... the chain reaction of evil, hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars, must be broken or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation. - Martin Luther King Jr.

MOTHER THERESA
We can do no great things; only small things with great love. - Mother Theresa

I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love. - Mother Theresa

Many people never realize their greatness because they get sidetracked by life. They forget about their dreams. Don't let this happen to you. Get in the habit of spending quality time with yourself on a daily basis. Remind yourself of your purpose in life; of your dreams and ambitions.

Listen to your own thoughts. Explore your feelings. Indulge your ideas and your fantasies.

You are your greatest asset. There's a wonderful, unique person inside of you. Someone who has many things to offer the world. Get to know yourself. Become the person you were meant to be.

-The DailyGuru

Click Here to receive inspirational messages daily!


WISDOM FLASH
By Neale Donald Walsch


In this WisdomFlash, Walsch gives us gentle reminders to implement into the lives of our children, as well as into the life of our own inner child.

Pass it on - Go ahead, make someone's day!

Together, we can shift world consciousness from "I" to "We."

Click Here to view WisdomFlash

From Moveon.org
MoveOn is now over two million people strong in the United States. That's a huge number: the organization we've built together is bigger than the Christian Coalition at its peak. To put it another way, one in every 146 Americans is now a MoveOn member. And we're still growing fast.

And what we're doing together is even more exciting. For decades, parts of our political system have been sold to the highest bidder, with corporate donors winning out over the public interest. But on Friday, we finished our $10 million Voter Fund grassroots fundraising campaign without a dime from corporations or special interests. In the end, over 170,000 people opened their checkbooks and contributed an average of about $60 to put ads on the air that challenge Bush and his corporate backers. The impact of this campaign shouldn't be underestimated: it clearly demonstrates that real people still matter in American politics. And the folks in Washington know it.

Political giving is almost always a quid-pro-quo business: corporate lobbyists trade money for policy, the wealthy trade money for access to politicians. MoveOn members aren't asking for anything but their democracy back, and that kind of generosity is pretty rare. When we hear about the families who saved up to make a $25 donation, or think of the thousands of folks who mailed in $5 checks, we know this is something amazing and new that we're a part of.

And money's only part of the equation: our phone calls and emails helped win a real victory last week. After CBS rejected our Voter Fund's Super Bowl ad, we learned that the White House was being allowed to air an advocacy ad about Medicare. We told you about it, and in just a few days over 50,000 MoveOn members called and emailed to complain. On Friday, CBS pulled the ad, stating that it had violated their policy. It's a big win, and a powerful blow to the Bush Administration's campaign to cover up its Medicare sellout.

This tidal wave of engagement and activism isn't exclusive to MoveOn, of course. Every leader of every organization we run into sees the same thing. Across the country, from labor unions like the SEIU to Greenpeace to the ACLU, people are standing up and getting active. President Bush told us he was a uniter, and he was right: he's uniting people across America to fight back for our country.

As this movement gains momentum and visibility, many of these organizations will inevitably become targets for Republican attacks. We've already seen some of the smear tactics the right will use. When their situation becomes even more dire, we know they'll strike hard at MoveOn and the groups we stand with –- a campaign of intimidation fueled by President Bush's $150 million war chest.

But this new democratic groundswell draws its strength from the hopes of millions of people, standing up and taking action for a better country and a better world. We simply refuse to let lobbyists, attack politics and fear-mongering destroy our democracy. And against the courage and conviction of real people, even Karl Rove and $150 million can't do much.

Thank you for your hope, your generosity, and your willingness to speak out. Together, we're taking our country back.

Sincerely,
--Adam, Carrie, Eli, James, Joan, Laura, Noah, Peter, Wes, and Zack
The MoveOn.org Team

Want to make a difference. Join us. Become a moveon member. Go to http://www.moveon.org.

From HungerSite.com
It is estimated that one billion people in the world suffer from hunger and malnutrition. That's roughly 100 times as many as those who actually die from these causes each year.

About 24,000 people die every day from hunger or hunger-related causes. This is down from 35,000 ten years ago, and 41,000 twenty years ago. Three-fourths of the deaths are children under the age of five.

Famine and wars cause about 10% of hunger deaths, although these tend to be the ones you hear about most often. The majority of hunger deaths are caused by chronic malnutrition. Families facing extreme poverty are simply unable to get enough food to eat.

In 1999, a year marked by good economic news, 31 million Americans were food insecure, meaning they were either hungry or unsure of where their next meal would come from. Of these Americans, 12 million were children. The Hunger Site began on June 1, 1999.


Make a Direct Donation
Consider a direct donation to Mercy Corps or the World Food Programme. These hunger relief organizations are soliciting funds to be used directly in the fight against famine in Africa.

Click Daily at The Hunger Site
Click at The Hunger Site every day, and encourage others to do so. Your clicks help fund the hunger relief efforts of Mercy Corps, including their current work in Africa. There is no cost to you to click -- food is paid for by The Hunger Site's sponsors.

Educate Yourself and Your Family
Educate yourself on the issue of world hunger and the situation in Africa. Please see the Learning & Helping section of this site. You'll find suggested reading, activities and other materials for use with children and families, and in the classroom.
Ignorance of the problem and its causes helps world hunger persist. Learning about the causes of hunger and understanding why it arises will empower and perhaps inspire you to do more, as an activist or through volunteer work for a hunger relief organization.

Make Your Voice Heard
One of the most important actions you can take is to contact lawmakers and demand more aid for nations facing hunger crises. Make your voice heard, and make a difference!

Mercy Corps
World Food Programme
CARE
ReliefWeb
Children's Hunger Relief Fund


Sister feeding her baby sister in Africa

Children starving in East Timor

Children starving in India

Children starving in North Korea

Child starving in Liberia

Okay, this really pisses me off. We, as Americans work hard, and are taxed plenty. But instead of our taxes going to where they could actually make a difference in the world, our hard earned money is spent on weapons of mass destruction, where we can create more chaos, more death and more hunger in the world. If we had taken a fraction of the money that has gone into the invasion of Iraq, where we have been lied to, in order to make us follow along like frightened sheep, all of these children and more could be healthy and well-fed. I wouldn't let one of my children go hungry for half a day, or even miss a meal, and I'll bet George Bush and his cronies have never missed a meal. Well, I'm not afraid of George Bush and his administration. I'm not following along any longer. We must do something to make a change in this world. To eradicate the injustice, the suffering, to bring love and kindness where it is needed most.

Sex Trafficking of Children on Rise

"Children are being exploited on a multi-dimensional, multi-leveled, multi-faceted, trans-criminal, cross-cultural, and transnational manner. It is systematically organized. In many instances, it is in conjunction with traditional organized criminal organizations, as well as newly formed organized crime syndicates, or local criminal gangs . . . Human-trafficking is far more profitable than the smuggling of drugs and guns, and that no organization truly has a figure on the exact numbers of people - adults and children - trafficked although it has been cited repeatedly to be 2 million annually."

-- Christine Dolan

See also Insight Magazine report on Dolan's investigation and the situation in the US.
Washington D.C., 21 May 2001

An investigation into the selling of children into the sex trade has revealed that the problem is getting worse.

Investigative journalist Christine Dolan followed a trail of children from the Balkans who were sold as sex slaves. The assignment led her to back streets and brothels across Europe.

"It's daunting," Dolan said. "It's true evil. The (children) are infants, they are toddlers. I've seen the pictures and they'll break your heart. I couldn't move for 24 hours."

The sexual appetite for children is growing internationally, driven by child pornography on the Internet, she said. "Eighty-five percent of what's on the Internet, in terms of child pornography, has been recycled, but there's an appetite now for new images," she said. "So, consequently, there's a market for kids and infants and toddlers."

Paul Holmes, a police officer in London, said this growing thirst for children is converging with the existing sex-trafficking trade.

"The next thing - there's no doubt about it - will be younger and younger kids sent down the pre-existing networks to supply pedophiles," Holmes said.

He said mobsters who once ran drugs and guns now traffic in children because the profits are high and law enforcement hasn't yet caught up with the problem.

In response, Dolan has launched a $5 million effort to help train law enforcement worldwide about child-sex trafficking, and to provide counseling for the victims.

By Martha Kleder, Washington, D.C.,


Small children being sold as sex slaves

From Worldmag.com
Trafficking Cops
Private activists laboring to rescue child sex slaves and abolish sex trafficking around the world have put together a remarkable coalition. But they face a similarly remarkable opponent: bureaucratic inertia and—shockingly—publicly funded organizations that want sex trafficking professionalized. "You cannot clean this up," counters the Bush administration—yet the State Department stands in the way of its abolition
By Bob Jones
With his pressed, white shirt and slicked-back hair, the young Thai man comes across as an earnest, trustworthy salesman. The product is sure to be satisfactory, he repeatedly tells the buyer sitting across a low table. But the buyer isn't sure. He's from the West, and he doesn't know the laws of this hot, humid country. An older Thai man seated next to the salesman tries to be reassuring. He's a police chief, and he knows the law. The buyer needn't worry: He'll have no trouble with the authorities on this particular transaction.

The product, meanwhile, fidgets restlessly and smiles uncomprehendingly. She doesn't speak English, so she can't be sure what the three men are saying. But she knows the salesman, and she's seen plenty of other men like this Westerner. She must know that they are haggling over her price, or perhaps what services she will perform. Even in the grainy video, shot secretly by the International Justice Mission of Arlington, Va., the girl looks nervous and resigned—and very young.

She is, in fact, only 14. She's not supposed to be in this room, in this situation. Despite the assurances of the older man, Thai law does forbid prostitution, and children, especially, are supposed to be protected from Western predators looking for a cheap night of pleasure.

But the law means nothing when law-enforcement officials can supplement their meager salaries by renting out such girls by the hour. And there's no shortage of money to pass under the table: A young virgin from Thailand's impoverished hill country or from across the border in China might be indentured for about $100. A single trick with a Western tourist or Japanese businessman repays that investment for the girl's owner, or mamasan, and every additional customer is pure profit.

With the rewards so high and the risks almost nonexistent, Thailand's prostitution industry has an endless appetite for fresh talent. Experts say that some 60,000 girls every year are trafficked into sexual slavery in Thailand alone. Because younger girls command premium prices and can work longer "careers," children are especially prized by brothel owners. Small wonder that an estimated 80 percent of Thailand's 1 million prostitutes are under the age of 16. For many of them, sex trafficking is a death sentence: At least half the child prostitutes in Thailand are thought to be HIV positive.

And Thailand is hardly the only—or even the worst—offender. The Protection Project, an international anti-trafficking effort based in Washington, offers statistics that seem almost inconceivable:

Some 200,000 Nepali girls, many younger than 14, work as sexual slaves in India.

The island nation of Sri Lanka has an estimated 10,000 children between the ages of 6 and 14 working in forced prostitution.

About 10,000 women from the former Soviet Union were forced into prostitution in Israel.

As many as 50,000 victims a year are trafficked into the United States.

The number of women and children trafficked worldwide each year, according to estimates by the CIA, could be as high as 2 million.
By their sheer magnitude, such numbers tend to dehumanize the problem. Groups like the International Justice Mission are trying not only to rescue the victims but to give them a face and a voice.

In another IJM video, shot during a recent brothel raid in Mumbai, India, rescuers force open a tiny door in a concrete basement wall. Out of the dark, low-ceilinged basement comes a steady stream of young girls, their dirty saris clinging to their undeveloped bodies. Their dark, round eyes blink in confusion and relief as they emerge into the harsh sunlight. Many bury their faces in their hands, as if they were somehow to blame for the things they'd been forced to do.

The U.S. government is trying to help, but critics charge Uncle Sam is fighting the traffickers with one hand tied behind his back.

In 2000, Congress passed the Victims of Trafficking Protection Act, which President Clinton signed, despite reservations, in the closing days of his administration. The new law required an office within the State Department to monitor sex trafficking around the world. Each year the department would issue a list of offending countries with the worst examples relegated to Tier 3—a categorization that would automatically deny them millions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid. Tier 1 and Tier 2 were designed for countries making real strides to combat trafficking. A nation in either of those categories might be mildly embarrassed, but wouldn't suffer the huge financial consequences reserved for those in Tier 3.

Thanks to the slow confirmation process for new Bush appointees, the first so-called TIP (Trafficking in Persons) Report, issued in July 2001, was written largely by Clinton holdovers. It consigned 23 countries to Tier 3 status, but some of the most notorious trafficking nations, including Cambodia, India, and Thailand, managed to land in Tier 2, thus escaping economic sanctions. Conservatives hoped that the 2002 report, fully compiled in the Bush administration, would put those countries in Tier 3 where they belonged—and start the process of freeing hundreds of thousands of women and girls from sexual slavery.

Instead, the new TIP report, issued June 15, has many conservatives—and their feminist allies—up in arms. "A year and a half into the Bush administration, matters are at least as bad as they were in the Clinton administration, and in some ways worse," says Michael Horowitz of the Hudson Institute, one of the leading voices in the campaign against trafficking. "In all my years in Washington, I have seldom seen as savage a battle going on beneath the radar screen."

Round 1 of that battle between Bush appointees and entrenched State Department bureaucrats seems to have gone to the bureaucrats. Not only were India and Thailand not banished to Tier 3, but other serious offenders, including Albania, Malaysia, and Pakistan, were actually bumped up to Tier 2. In fact, the first Bush administration TIP Report lists only 19 countries in the lowest category, compared to 23 the year before.

No one believes that the laws of a single nation can fully halt the huge and lucrative trade in women and children, which ranks, in dollar terms, just behind drug smuggling and arms trading on the list of international crimes. But a law with stiff financial penalties could go a long way toward sparing girls from a life of sexual slavery—if only it were properly enforced.

On paper, the issue looks like a no-brainer for the Bush administration. Sexual trafficking is one of those rare causes that brings together right and left, evangelical Christian and secular humanist.

"You've got soccer moms and Southern Baptists, the National Organization for Women and and the National Association of Evangelicals on the same side of the issue," Mr. Horowitz says. "Pro-family issues are usually controversial, but on this one, you've got everyone in agreement. Gloria Steinem and Chuck Colson together. Doesn't the White House get it?"

Bush administration officials insist they do get it, but that the go-along, get-along culture of the State Department makes it difficult to achieve any sort of consensus on which countries should be sanctioned.

"It's been a difficult process," admits one official who asked not to be identified, per administration rules on speaking to the press. "We believe the intent of the law is to galvanize countries into action, and only when you place a country in Tier 3 will that happen. But some within the State Department believe that just being on the list is enough. They're more cautious, basically, more aware of the diplomatic issues involved."

In the wake of Sept. 11, even critics admit that the diplomatic issues are more delicate than ever. Did the United States really want to publicly embarrass Israel while that key ally was fighting for its very existence? What about Pakistan and Kazakhstan, two countries the United States needs desperately in its war against the Taliban? Likewise, could we afford to humiliate moderate Muslim nations like Malaysia, a bastion of stability in shaky Southeast Asia?

But anti-trafficking activists insist that by considering all those extraneous factors, the State Department is subverting the very intent of the law. "If you have to consider all these other political factors, then the process is critically flawed," argues Lisa Thompson of the Initiative Against Sexual Trafficking, a broad-based coalition headed by the Salvation Army. "It's not about the situation in Kashmir or the tension between Palestine and Israel or all these myriad other important issues. [The TIP Report] shouldn't be used to manipulate other political debates or international relationships. Otherwise it's a corrupt process and you might as well not bother."

Beyond the normal "walk softly" attitude at the State Department, critics say the trafficking law is being hijacked by a committed band of ideologues intent on advancing an agenda too radical even for mainstream feminists like Ms. Steinem. They want to legalize prostitution, viewing it as a potentially empowering career option for poor women who voluntarily choose to sell their bodies. The legalization movement has already won in Germany, the Netherlands, and Australia, and similar legislation appears headed for victory elsewhere, including New Zealand and South Africa.

What bearing does legalization have on the trafficking of women? Those who favor legalized prostitution insist that "voluntary sex workers" are in a completely different category from those women forced by brutal owners to service men against their will. They say they can improve working conditions for the former while simultaneously rescuing the latter.

Nonsense, says Donna Hughes, a professor of Women's Studies at the University of Rhode Island and a leading expert on trafficking. "Where prostitution is illegal, if you find an act of prostitution, you know the law's been broken. With legalized prostitution, the pimp simply says, 'But she consented.' Then it becomes like the current debate in this country over date rape. The woman has to try to prove that she didn't consent. If the prostitution had not been legal, the pimp couldn't make that defense in the first place. So it makes the job of law enforcement that much harder."

The administration's stance on legalized prostitution should be clear-cut. Laura J. Lederer, President Bush's appointee as senior deputy adviser in the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, says flatly that prostitution as a career choice is unacceptable.

"This is not a legitimate form of labor. We've been fighting this trend that says if we could just get rid of the AIDS, STDs, and other diseases, the rape and violence, the organized crime, drug trafficking and drug addiction associated with prostitution, it could be a legitimate career option for women," said Dr. Lederer.

"This administration is saying you cannot clean this up," she said. "It can never be a legitimate way to make a living because it's inherently harmful for men, women, and children. It goes in the opposite direction of President Bush's pro-woman, pro-family, human-rights agenda."

Dr. Lederer sees parallels between those who would legalize prostitution today and those who tried to improve the lot of 19th-century African slaves. "Some people argued that if we could just make the chains a little less tight and clean up the slave quarters, then slavery would be fine. They wanted to just regulate it, basically. Others said no, this is inherently evil and we need to abolish it. That's the approach that we want to take—that this whole commercial sex industry is a human-rights abuse."

Yet, incredibly enough, not everyone in the Bush State Department agrees. Anti-prostitution groups like Miramed, a pioneering nongovernmental organization working to stop the trafficking of Russian women, have seen their funding suddenly cut off. Meanwhile, groups like the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX) continue to receive government grants for anti-trafficking efforts that hold open the possibility of legalized prostitution.

"In terms of the State Department, trying to find where the buck stops is next to impossible," says Lisa Thompson of the Initiative Against Sexual Trafficking. "A lot of groups that do really good work are trying to get funding, and they're totally getting the runaround. It makes you wonder how groups like IREX get to the trough."

So entrenched are the pro-legalization forces after eight years of Bill Clinton that the State Department has yet even to formulate a clear stance on the subject. One draft policy statement unequivocally "rejects the view that the legalization of prostitution and related activities ... should be treated as a legitimate or empowering form of work for women."

Yet after weeks of debate within a Republican-dominated agency, the policy has yet to be adopted.

Meanwhile, as the State Department fiddles with policy statements, much of the world burns. Millions more women and girls will end up as sexual slaves in the next 12 months, victims of greed, corruption, lust—and, perhaps, the Washington bureaucracy.




The Indonesian Government admits that it turns a blind eye to human trafficking, writes Herald Correspondent Matthew Moore.

She cried often, fainted once and she lied a lot. But mostly Adistia just laughed and laughed with a mother's irrepressible delight at being reunited with kids she thought she would never see again.

It was not just hugging them and having them again that kept Adistia beaming for much of Wednesday; it was the fact she knew how lucky she was to have finally made it back to the slum that will be her home.

Sold into prostitution last year, the 30-year-old mother of three had resigned herself to never escaping the brothel on Karimun Island near Singapore where she had spent nearly all of the past 15 months.

When two Indonesian police officers, including the local police chief, booked her on Friday night eight days ago, she was naturally suspicious about their explanation that they wanted to take her to a Koran reading competition. But that is where they took her to hear her story.

It all began on January 12 last year when she visited two friends in Cikampek, just outside Jakarta.

A husband-and-wife team named Dewi and Hen dropped by. Skilled at making the implausible sound convincing, the two chatted to the women for a while before offering them jobs in Singapore or Malaysia, a chance to join thousands of unskilled Indonesians working there to support families left behind.

"I don't know why but I simply accepted. I told them I wanted to go to see my family, to bid farewell, but they said they couldn't wait. I had nothing; I only brought a few clothes, my praying kit - nothing else."

Unemployed and desperate, the three women agreed to go.
Asked how she could believe the promise of a job as a cashier or a maid in Singapore, Adistia said: "They were so convincing. They said in one week I could earn enough to buy 10 handphones."

Dewi and Hen bought ferry tickets to Tanjung Balai in Karimun and escorted the women on the 900-kilometre trip. As there was no connecting ferry to Singapore, they told them they would have to stay overnight.

"So we went to Best Karaoke. They said it was a shelter, and when I entered I was surprised there were a lot of girls with heavy make-up and a lot of tattoos. And then I realised I was sold. I cried and I was told to go upstairs."

Dewi and Hen were paid about $500 for each woman and Harry, the club manager, was in no mood for sympathy when Adistia initially refused to work. "I was put in a toilet and locked up. I did not get food and drink for a week."

Two months later Best Karaoke sold her to a nearby brothel called Payalaboh. Adistia knew she had been sold because her new "mommy" told her she owed $350, plus $160 each month for her food and board.

When police asked why she had not complained earlier about being sold, Adistia asked incredulously: "To whom could I complain?" Officers from the police station at the entrance to Payalaboh are the ones who make sure the women do not escape.

Indonesia has no specific anti-trafficking laws and relies instead on the general criminal code, which provides a theoretical maximum sentence of six years for those who buy and sell people.

Despite the distress trafficking causes, what happened to Adistia, and most of the women she worked with, is not regarded as a crime.

In its report this year, Eradication of Trafficking in Persons, by the Ministry of Co-ordination of People's Welfare, the Government openly admits its own officials help traffickers by issuing fake identity cards and simply turning a blind eye. No government official has been imprisoned and the worst they can expect if caught is a delay in promotion or in the next increase in salary.

And yet there are signs that mounting international pressure as well as lobbying from some Indonesians are starting to change things.

Her chance to see her family again came in March, when an Indonesian group, the Women's Journal Institute, managed to talk to her while making a film on trafficking. Adistia told the group's head, Gadis Arivia, that she was desperate to get out and Dr Arivia took up her cause. She approached senior bureaucrats in Jakarta and raised Adistia's case in a videoconference including participants from the United States. Finally the director-general of the welfare ministry agreed to contact Jakarta police headquarters, which in turn instructed the local police to get Adistia out. No one was more surprised than Adistia's "mommy" when the local police chief told her Adistia was going with them.

Adistia recalled: "She asked, 'Do you have relatives working in the police office in Jakarta?"

Police intervention was enough to waive Adistia's "debt", still standing at $280 after more than a year's work, even if it did not lead to the "mommy's" arrest or prompt any wider police inquiry into the hundreds of women in Karimun who have been sold.

The Division for the Informal Economy for Women in the Welfare Ministry says laws make it difficult to prosecute most traffickers. "If we ask the girls to give evidence they refuse," an official said. "I don't know why but maybe they are scared."

He said Indonesia was rated tier three - among the worst of the world's trafficking nations - and he wanted new laws and equipment to tap traffickers' telephones and laws to protect witnesses who testified against them.

On the five-hour drive from Jakarta to Adistia's home, she talked about her own fears about going home. How would she readjust to impoverished village life? What would she tell her children who thought she had been overseas, and how could she explain her empty pockets when everyone thought she had been to Singapore? One thing she knew was that she would never tell the truth. "I will never tell my friends what happened. I will probably tell my mother, but otherwise only I will know. Of course I feel ashamed of myself. I know that people look down at you if you do this kind of job, but I am prepared for this kind of reaction.

"People in general don't know about trafficking; they just think you're a prostitute. Maybe they would think differently if they knew about trafficking."

When she got close to home these worries evaporated as Adistia grew desperate to see her children. She collapsed when she learnt her family had moved.

Finally she tracked them down to a maze of rice paddies. Along tracks too small for cars, she walked from village to village, asking directions, getting steadily closer until some mother's instinct told her she was there.

And then she ran, shouting their names, soaking her clothes as she rushed through puddles until she had them to hug and to kiss.


Adistia is finally reunited with her children

From Emissaryoflight.com
Hindu Prayer for Peace
Oh God, lead us from the unreal to the Real.
Oh God, lead us from darkness to light.
Oh God, lead us from death to immortality.
Shanti, Shanti, Shanti unto all.

O Lord God Almighty may there be peace in Celestial regions.
May there be peace on earth.
May the waters be appeasing.
May herbs be wholesome, and may trees and plants bring peace to all.
May all beneficent beings bring peace to us.
May thy Vedic Law propagate peace all through the world.

May all things be a source of peace to us.
And may thy peace itself bestow peace on all.
And may that peace come to me also.


Buddhist Prayer for Peace
May all beings everywhere plagued with sufferings of body and mind quickly be freed from their illnesses.
May those frightened cease to be afraid
and may those bound be free.
May the powerless find power,
and may people think of befriending one another.
May those who find themselves in trackless,
fearful wildernesses - the children, the aged, the unprotected - be guarded by beneficent celestials,
and may they quickly attain Buddhahood.


Zoroastrian Prayer for Peace
We pray to God to eradicate all the misery in the world:
that understanding triumph over ignorance,
that generosity triumph over indifference,
that trust triumph over contempt, and
that truth triumph over falsehood.


Jainist Prayer for Peace
Peace and Universal Love is the essence of the Gospel preached by all the Enlightened Ones.
The Lord has preached that equanimity is the Dharma.
Forgive do I, creatures all,
and let all creatures forgive me.
Unto all have I amity, and unto none enmity.
Know that violence is the root cause of all miseries in the world.
Violence in fact, is the knot of bondage.
"Do not injure any living being."
This is the eternal, perennial, and unalterable
way of spiritual life.

A weapon, howsoever powerful it may be,
can always be superseded by a superior one;
but no weapon can, however,
be superior to non-violence and love.


Jewish Prayer for Peace
Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, that we may walk the paths of the most high.
And we shall beat our swords into ploughshares, and our spears into pruning hooks.
Nations shall not lift up sword against nation - neither shall they learn war any more.
And none shall be afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken.


Shinto Prayer for Peace
Although the people living across the ocean surrounding us, I believe, are all our brothers and sisters, why are there constant troubles in this world?
Why do winds and waves rise in the ocean surrounding us?
I only earnestly wish that the wind will soon puff away all the clouds which are hanging over the tops of the mountains.


Native African Prayer for Peace
Almighty God, the Great Thumb
we cannot evade to tie any knot:
The Roaring Thunder that splits mighty trees;
the all-seeing Lord up on high who sees
even the footprints of an antelope on a rock mass here on earth.
You are the one who does not hesitate to respond to our call.
You are the cornerstone of peace.


Native American Prayer for Peace
O Great spirit of our Ancestors, I raise my pipe to you;
To your messengers in the four winds, and
to Mother Earth who provides for your children.
Give us the wisdom to teach our children to love, to respect, and to be kind to each other, so that they may grow with peace in mind.
Let us learn to share all good things that you provide for us on this Earth.


Muslim Prayer for Peace
In the name of Allah the beneficent, the merciful. Praise be to the Lord of the Universe, who has created us and made us into tribes and nations that we may know each other, not that we may despise each other.
If the enemy incline towards peace, do thou also incline towards peace, and trust God, for the Lord is the one that heareth and knoweth all things.
And the servants of God, most Gracious are those who walk on the earth in Humility, and when we address them, we say "PEACE."


The Baha'i Prayer for Peace
Be generous in prosperity and thankful in adversity.
Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech.
Be a lamp unto those who walk in darkness, and a home
to the stranger.
Be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring.
Be a breath of life to the body of humankind, a dew upon the soil of the human heart,
and a fruit upon the tree of humility.


Sikh prayer for Peace
God adjudges us according to our deeds, not the clothes that we wear;
That truth is above everything, but higher still is truthful living.
Know that we attain God when we love, and only that victory endures in consequences of which no one is defeated.


Christian Prayer for Peace
Blessed are the Peacemakers
for they shall be known as the Children of God.
But I say to you that hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.
To those who strike you on the cheek offer the other also, and from those who take away your cloak, do not withhold your coat as well.
Give to everyone who begs from you, and of those who take away your goods, do not ask them again.
And as you wish that others would to do you,
do so to them.

Fair Trade Activists Protest M&M/Mars’ Use of Child Labor
Pre-Valentine’s Day Rally

From Global Exchange

Contact: Valerie Orth, 415 225 3787 Jason Mark 510 551 9869 Paul Brown, 702 791 1965 (cell, 702 521 8530) On February 13, the eve of Valentine's Day and the middle of African American History Month, Fair Trade activists will demand that M&M/Mars start selling Fair Trade chocolate to help end child labor in West Africa. A 5:00 pm rally at M&M's World, 3785 Las Vegas Blvd. will feature a Fair Trade chocolate give-away where hundreds of brightly colored balloons stating "Child Labor Taints M&M's Flavor" will also be given away.

Speakers at the rally include Danny Thompson of the Nevada state AFL-CIO, Bob Fulkerson of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, Evelyn Flores, student body president of the Community College of Southern Nevada and Miguel Barrientos of the Mexican American Political Association.

"By protesting at M&M/Mars' only retail store in the country Las Vegas citizens have a chance to make a real difference in cocoa farmers' lives. If M&M/Mars goes Fair Trade it will give West African cocoa farmers a living wage, while guaranteeing that the industry will not profit from child labor," said Valerie Orth, Global Exchange's Fair Trade organizer. "M&M/Mars will be a great example for the rest of the cocoa industry."

The Feb. 13 rally is part of a national day of action demanding that M&M/Mars sell Fair Trade chocolate. Events are planned in Washington, D.C., Chicago, and other cities. Las Vegas' M&M's World is the company's only retail store in the nation. M&M/Mars is being targetted because the company's chocolate products have a very unpleasant ingredient: Child labor. Ethel M, Milky Way, Dove Bar and M&Ms are tainted by the tears and sweat of West African children. Two thirds of the world's cocoa crop is produced on West African cocoa farms, where the U.S. State Department and the International Labor Organization have recently documented the widespread use of child labor, and even child slavery. The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture reports that West African cocoa farmers earn, on average, as little as $30 to $108 per household member annually from cocoa. Yet M&M/Mars still purchases no Fair Trade cocoa despite growing consumer demand for Fair Trade chocolate over the past two years.

Fair Trade certified chocolate, which provides a living wage to the farmers, is a solution to the child labor situation. Fair Trade certification guarantees a minimum price per pound, prohibits abusive labor and offers the hope of economic success to cocoa farmers. But M&M/Mars flatly refuses to sell Fair Trade chocolate, this despite sales of about $16 billion per year. The three private owners of the company are each worth $10.4 billion! Can't they afford to get on board the Fair Trade train?

Blood and Chocolate
Are American candy companies sweetening their profits with child slavery?
By David Templeton

It was hot for February. The sun was beating down on the sidewalk in front of the See's candy store where I was about to pick up a pound of assorted truffles as a Valentine's Day treat for my wife and kids. My mouth was already watering in anticipation of the Mom's Apple Pie truffle I was planning to throw in as a little present to myself. Out on the sidewalk, just to the right of the store entrance, a threesome of smiling young people stood by the door, holding cameras and a big basket full of little paper hearts. As I approached, one of them said, "Happy Valentine's Day," and handed me a piece of paper. Assuming they were employees of See's, I accepted the paper, expecting it to be a discount coupon or perhaps a list of Valentine's Day specials.

Instead it turned out to be a protest flyer, emblazoned with the headline, "See's Candies: Slavery and Exploitation Break Our Hearts!" Under that were the words, "We want Fair Trade not child slavery and poverty wages!" There was a photo of three emaciated boys sitting beside a pile of cocoa pods, staring blankly at their hands. Happy Valentine's Day indeed.

This was no promotional campaign for See's. The polite-as-punch trio was, in fact, standing out in the heat on behalf of Global Exchange, the remarkably well-organized political action alliance that puts pressure on companies engaging in questionable trading practices in regards to human rights and fair wages.

The flyer announced that 43 percent of the world's cocoa comes from plantations on the Ivory Coast, a part of the planet where child slavery is very much in practice. In response to massive national poverty caused in part by the bottoming out of cocoa prices, parents there are taking cash in exchange for sending their children to work the plantations. In other cocoa-producing regions, those workers actually paid to harvest the cocoa earn such low wages their families are "on the brink of debt and starvation," according to the flyer. Workers who try to escape are severely beaten, as are any who fall under the weight of the cocoa bags they're forced to carry.

As for Global Exchange and today's sidewalk campaign, the plan was to collect as many signed paper valentines as possible, each bearing a note asking See's to support a chocolate industry agreement to end child slavery by 2005, and send them off to Charles N. Huggins, president of See's Candies, Inc. I signed one of the hearts, spelling out my name and address to show I was a real person with legitimate concerns.

That accomplished, I went in and bought a dozen chocolates. (In my defense, I did forgo buying the Apple Pie truffle for myself. Take that, you oppressors of children!) I kept the flyer and, once Valentine's Day was over and my kids' sugar highs had subsided, I did a bit of research on the subject of child slavery in the chocolate industry.

Global cocoa prices have taken a serious tumble over the last ten years, with bulk cocoa currently trading at 40 to 50 cents a pound. With West and Central Africa already experiencing devastating levels of poverty, the lost profits in the local cocoa industry have pushed the population into a desperate crisis. According to a report published by CNN in April 2001, the rise in child-slave trafficking has a direct link to the levels of poverty in West and Central Africa. Facing starvation, many parents are handing their children over to traffickers, sometimes under the mistaken belief that they'll be given an education and a better life, though frequently families are actually paid for their children, receiving between $1.50 and $14 per child.

UNICEF reports that over 200,000 children are traded each year. Most of the girls end up in the domestic or sex trades, while the boys get used as manual labor in a variety of trades such as coffee and cocoa.

Two weeks after Valentine's Day, I received a letter from Charles N. Huggins himself.

"I am in receipt of your note regarding child slave labor in the farming of cocoa beans," the letter began. "We do care deeply about the matter of child slavery in the Ivory Coast, which came to our attention several months ago." According to Huggins, See's has signed the Chocolate Manufacturer's Association protocol to end child slavery and has been actively supporting efforts by the CMA, the World Cocoa Foundation, and the American Cocoa Research Institute to "strongly condemn" child-slavery practices and to cooperate with the antislavery efforts of the U.S. Department of Labor and the governments of cocoa-producing countries. "It is my belief," the letter concludes, "that public response from concerned citizens such as yourself, along with the economic assistance of groups such as [the aforementioned organizations], will help to ensure that such practices are eliminated.

"Thank you for writing to me and for thinking of See's."

You're welcome.

Though Mr. Huggins seems to be stating that See's has done everything it can to stop the use of child labor on cocoa plantations--they've signed a petition, which, to be truthful, is pretty much all I've done--there are those who have another idea for See's and every other major American chocolate company: Pay more money for the chocolate.

"We believe the $13 billion chocolate industry owes it to the cocoa farmers around the world to be paid fairly," says Deborah James of Global Exchange, "and particularly to the West African farmers--some of which are, unfortunately, under conditions of actual child slavery--to be paid fairly. And obviously, not to be enslaved."

Global Exchange is encouraging American candy companies to adopt Fair Trade Certification, essentially an agreement to pay cocoa farmers a guaranteed minimum price of $80 dollars per pound, which would, in theory, allow cocoa plantations to pay their workers a living wage. It would also boost the economy so that families would no longer be forced to sell their children.

"To accomplish this," says James, "we need an international monitoring system that's Fair Trade, to guarantee that farmers, organized into co-ops around the world, are paid a minimum price per pound."

As for the rest of us, we can write more letters. We can even--I hate to say it--make it clear that we might buy less chocolate until something is done. As for me, if things haven't improved by next Valentine's Day, then, like it or not, my wife and kids are all getting flowers.
From Metroactive.com


West African Enslaved Children


Don't buy chocolate unless you see this logo certifying it as Fair Trade

Where can you buy Fair Trade Certified chocolate? My favorite store: Trader Joe's. From now on, I boycott all chocolate except Fair Trade certified.

From Democratic National Committee:
Bush Administration: Sending Jobs Overseas "A Good Thing"
This week, we learned that President Bush supports sending American jobs overseas. The White House released a report that said "When a good or service is produced more cheaply abroad, it makes more sense to import it than to make it or provide it domestically."

And one of President Bush's top economic advisers called outsourcing -- when companies fire Americans and send their jobs overseas -- "a good thing."

With that attitude, it's easy to see how Bush can be proud of his record of losing 2.9 million jobs since he took office -- the first president to lose jobs during his term since Herbert Hoover. If sending American jobs overseas is "a good thing," then Bush should be proud of his record of hemorrhaging jobs.

Of course, the millions of Americans who are out of work would disagree.

Sign Our Petition Now
Click here to sign our petition to President Bush telling him that Americans jobs being shipped overseas is a problem to be solved, not a goal to be reached.

Spread the Word
Every American should know about how one of President Bush's top economic advisers called sending American jobs overseas "a good thing."

“Shipping American jobs overseas, causes unemployment here, there will be few left to buy their products.” A caller on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal 2-14-04


from www.michaelfmcdevitt.com


from Buckfush.com

The Power of Nonviolence
Excerpted from Healing the Soul of America
by Marianne Williamson

According to Gandhi, a nation has a soul just as an individual has one, and living for others is the key to the deliverance of both. An early holistic thinker, Gandhi claimed that if a nation's soul is healthy, its politics will be healthy. He promulgated the idea (sarvodaya) that spiritual power can socialize human relationships and be used as a political force. He claimed that spirit both works through matter and makes its harmonious; that it leads to the total blossoming of the individual, physically, mentally, and spiritually; and that the force of spiritual truth is greater that any army, weapons of destruction or political authority (satyagraha).

From the viewpoint of nonviolence, the political realm is sacred. That is not to say that it becomes religionized; it is infused not with dogma but with faith in the power of love to heal and sustain all things. In the words of Gandhi, "Is not politics a part of the dharma too?"

Gandhi wrote:
"Non-Violence is the law of our species as violence is the law of the brute. The spirit lies dormant in the brute and it knows no law but that of physical might. The dignity of man requires obedience to a higher law, to the strength of the spirit.

Non-Violence is a power which can be wielded equally by all children, young men and women or grown- up people, provided they have a living faith in the God of Love and have therefore equal Love for all mankind. When non-violence is accepted as the law of life, it must pervade the whole being and not be applied to isolated acts.

The Very first step in non-violence is that we cultivate in our daily life, as between ourselves, truthfulness, humility, tolerance, and loving-kindness.

Non-Violence is unchangeable creed. It has to be pursued in the face of violence raging around you. The path of true non-violence requires much more courage than violence."

From Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
This Presidents' Day weekend, the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation presents perspectives from past and present US presidents, as well as from candidates running in this year's election. Despite calls from past Presidents, nuclear weapons have assumed a far more central role in US security policy. As the past presidential statements make clear, it is patriotic to the country and the world to oppose policies of nuclear annihilation and to call for US leadership toward ending the nuclear weapons threat to humanity and all life. In this election year, we encourage you to examine what candidates have to say about nuclear weapons policy. As a US citizen, you have the power to voice your concerns and challenge nuclear policy decisions.

Past Presidents

President Franklin D. Roosevelt:
"Truly if the genius of mankind that has invented the weapons of death cannot discover the means of preserving peace, civilization as we know it lives in an evil day."

President Dwight D. Eisenhower:
"Let no one think that the expenditure of vast sums for weapons and systems of defense can guarantee absolute safety for the cities and citizens of any nation. The awful arithmetic of the atomic bomb does not permit any such easy solution."

President Harry S. Truman:
"There is nothing more urgent confronting the people of all nations than the banning of all nuclear weapons under a foolproof system of international control."

President John F. Kennedy:
"Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident or miscalculation or by madness. The weapons of war must be abolished before they abolish us .."

President Lyndon B. Johnson:
"...uneasy is the peace that wears a nuclear crown. And we cannot be satisfied with a situation in which the world is capable of extinction in a moment of error, or madness, or anger. "

President Richard M. Nixon:
"A direct clash between the superpowers would almost certainly escalate to nuclear weapons. Over 400 million people in the United States and the Soviet Union alone would be killed in an all-out exchange."

President Gerald R. Ford:
"The world faces an unprecedented danger in the spread of nuclear weapons technology."

President James E. Carter:
"In an all-out nuclear war, more destructive power than in all of World War II would be unleashed every second during the long afternoon it would take for all the missiles and bombs to fall. A World War II every second -- more people killed in the first few hours than all the wars of history put together. The survivors, if any, would live in despair amid the poisoned ruins of a civilization that had committed suicide."

President Ronald W. Reagan:
"Nuclear War cannot be won and must never be fought."

President George H.W. Bush:
"School children once hid under their desks in drills to prepare for nuclear war. I saw the chance to rid our children's dreams of the nuclear nightmare, and I did."

President Bill Clinton:
"I am very disappointed that the United States Senate voted not to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. This agreement is critical to protecting the American people from the dangers of nuclear war. It is, therefore, well worth fighting for. And I assure you, the fight is far from over."

Current Presidential Candidates

President George W. Bush:
The Bush 2001 Nuclear Posture Review called for the development of new, more "usable" nuclear weapons; for developing contingency plans for the use of nuclear weapons against nuclear and non-nuclear states; and for reducing the time required for the United States to resume nuclear weapons testing. Below are statements taken from the Review:

"Nuclear weapons play a critical role in the defense capabilities of the United States, its allies and friends. They provide credible military options to deter a wide range of threats, including WMD and large-scale conventional military force. These nuclear capabilities possess unique properties that give the United States options to hold at risk classes of targets [that are] important to achieve strategic and political objectives."

"Advances in defensive technologies will allow U.S. non-nuclear and nuclear capabilities to be coupled with active and passive defenses to help provide deterrence and protection against attack, preserve U.S. freedom of action, and strengthen the credibility of U.S. alliance commitments."

"Nuclear weapons could be employed against targets able to withstand non-nuclear attack, (for example, deep underground bunkers or bio-weapon facilities)."

"The need is clear for a revitalized nuclear weapons complex that will: ...be able, if directed, to design, develop, manufacture, and certify new warheads in response to new national requirements; and maintain readiness to resume underground nuclear testing if required."


Howard Dean:
"Because nuclear weapons are a fact of life, strategic deterrence will remain essential to the US's security strategy. However, it is equally critical to halt nuclear proliferation - for the spread of nuclear weapons will badly undercut our security, risking among other things that such weapons fall into the hands of terrorists."

John Edwards:
"Making nuclear weapons more 'usable' will not make Americans more secure. Reversing the ban on developing these weapons is both unnecessary and irresponsible. This would send exactly the wrong message to the rest of the world."

John Kerry:
"George Bush is taking the world in the wrong direction. He is poised to set off a new nuclear arms race by building bunker-busting tactical nuclear weapons -- smaller and more usable nuclear bombs. I don't want a world with more useable nuclear bombs. I don't want America to turn its back on half a century of effort by every President to reduce the nuclear threat. I'm running to put America where we rightfully belong -- leading the way to a new international accord on nuclear proliferation to make the world itself safer for human survival."

Dennis Kucinich:
"A Kucinich administration would work to end nuclear proliferation by actually setting an example for the rest of the world by turning away from the true weapons of mass destruction. Nuclear disarmament would be a priority and the madness of moving towards battlefield nuclear weapons would be reversed."

From Enlightenment Online:
Religion vs. Spirituality
In the future which I look forward to, people will be recognized for their intentions and conduct, not their affiliations with established institutions. We will be consciously living in spirit, instead of reading, talking or praying for it. Every day will be a sacred Sabbath, every season as holy as Christmas. As a rainbow is greater than the colors that comprise it, our unity will be seen as much more significant than any differences conceived in the minds of men, living or dead. And never again will demagogues, gurus, sanctimonious priests or angry ayatollahs be able to co-op the allegiance of masses of naive "believers" for their own less-than-enlightened purposes. In spiritual maturity, we naturally see through "religious" abuses, and become the guiding lights we previous sought in others. - Lonnie J. Brown, Ph.D.


Eye of God as seen through the Hubble Telescope

From actsofkindness.org
Just a Little Thing
Submitted By: Linda

During the rush and bustle of the Christmas holiday, I slipped into the local coffee shop drive-through.

My paycheck was pretty much spent, and my kids and I still had grocery shopping to do. In the rear view mirror I noticed a pickup truck with a father and small son.

Impulsively, when at the window paying for my bill, I also asked to pay the bill for the truck behind me. My kids asked why, and I explained about how doing a kind thing was really more for me than for the receiver, though I hoped he enjoyed it.

My kids wondered as to my timing, as we were off to the bank to see our balance before hitting the grocery store. Much to my surprise, there was more money than expected. We had overpaid on mortgage/taxes through the year, and the bank had deposited the surcharge back into our account just that morning.

Coincidence? Maybe, but I can't help thinking that when you share of yourself, you always get back so much more.


Random Acts of Kindness are like a light in a dark place

From MichaelMoore.com
Soldiers who have served during the "War on Terror"
October 1, 2003:
"I hated you on a plane ride in the dark with shaking hands."

October 1, 2003:
"I would like to tell you how difficult it is to serve under a man who was never elected."

October 12, 2003:
"I feel like a pawn in Bush's game of global imperialism."

October 23, 2003:
"For those of us who do question and ask out loud what is going on (with "Iraqi Freedom") we are told everything is going well."

October 24, 2003:
"I just want to make things right, and stop our country from pissing in other countries pockets and screwing the less fortunate."

October 28, 2003:
"I used to think that being a republican was the way to go."

October 28, 2003:
http://www.michaelmoore.com/books-films/dudewheresmycountry/soldierletters/09.php

October 29, 2003:
"I was recently discharged with Honorable valor and returned to the States only to be horrified by what I've seen my country turn into."

November 3, 2003:
"These soldiers never signed up for this in the beginning"

November 4, 2003:
"I left the military this year when my time was up for the reason you brought up at the Oscars."

December 10, 2003:
"I have watched the country I serve change in terrifying ways."

December 11, 2003:
"Your Hero Is Talking" – A Soldier’s Poem

December 15, 2003:
"They caught a guy living in a hole. Am I supposed to be dazzled?"

December 16, 2003:
"If bush gets reelected, i don't think either of us will be thrilled living here."

December 21, 2003:
"I was deployed at 19, when my wife was 6 months pregnant."

December 21, 2003:
"What a country we live in to where the leader of the strongest nation in the world can lie to his people to get his war and even when the people realize that he lied, he still he sits in his throne in the White House, smoking away on his cigars."

December 23, 2003:
"What Price Freedom?"


Bring Our Young Men Home Now!

From Moveon.org
POLYGRAPH
President Bush is on the run. Before the war in Iraq, he told us that Iraq possessed chemical and biological weapons and had a strong nuclear program that posed a threat to the world. Now that it's clear that was hype, the President is evading responsibility for misleading the nation.

One of the finalists in our Voter Fund Bush in 30 Seconds ad contest, Polygraph, uses the President's own words to dramatize this deceit in a powerful and visual way. We've tested it, and we know it's potent: if we can run it in our target states, we can make a deep and lasting impression on the folks there. But we'll need to finish our $10 million fundraising campaign together to make it happen.

You can watch Polygraph and donate now at:
https://www.moveonvoterfund.org/donate/poly.html?id=2329-1499023-foHzpGy3jUaIEwOyc.Lwhg

The power of Polygraph comes from its use of a simple visual metaphor: the polygraph machine. On the audio track, we hear an actual recording of George Bush saying three things that later turned out to be untrue: that Saddam Hussein had an "advanced nuclear development program," that he "sought significant quantities of uranium from Niger," and that he "aids and protects terrorists, including members of al Qaeda." As each statement is uttered, the needles on the polygraph machine erupt in motion, indicating that the statement is untrue. The commercial ends with a punch, as the words "Americans are dying . . . for the truth" appear on the screen.

We know Polygraph is attracting the attention of the press: the New York Times highlighted it in an article today, and it's already been shown for discussion on CNN. Now we need to make sure it gets in front of the folks in our target "battleground" states.

President Bush is raising hundreds of millions of dollars in order to saturate the air waves with negative and misleading ads. We'll never raise as much – there simply aren't as many folks who can afford to write us $2,000 checks. But there are two things that we have that he does not: creativity, and the truth. This ad makes good use of both, and with your help, we can get it in front of the American public.


Bush speaks, polygraph goes wild

From BushGreenWatch.org
Bush Budget Increases Industry-Supported Programs

This is the last in a series on environmental spending in President Bush's proposed 2005 budget. Not all programs affecting the environment and public health were cut in President Bush's 2005 budget proposal to Congress. Some, including programs supporting the oil industry, coal industry and nuclear industry, would in fact get more money.

"We are outraged that the president's 2005 budget request rewards the nuclear, coal and timber industries at the expense of clean renewable energy and wildlife habitat protection," said Anna Aurilio, legislative director for U.S. PIRG. Oil and gas companies, for instance, are slated for an additional $17 million for oil and gas research and development.

The Bush budget provides an additional $13 million (a 16 percent increase) for the president's hydrogen initiative. Experts say it will take decades for benefits to materialize, as well as to overcome the problem of generating hydrogen from coal and nuclear energy. A National Academy of Sciences study last Thursday called the president's hydrogen plan "unrealistic." At the same time, the Bush budget reduces money for proven clean energy programs. Most notably, it cuts solar energy programs by more than $3 million (4 percent) and biomass by $14 million (16 percent).

"You can't build a hydrogen economy by burning fossil fuels," said Joe Romm, a former Energy Department official whose book "The Hype About Hydrogen" is due out in March. "That is just the same old hydrocarbon economy with a different name. The National Academy of Sciences got it exactly right: The president's hydrogen initiative will not significantly reduce oil consumption or greenhouse gases for at least 25 years."

The 2005 budget also includes $447 million for the president's Coal Research Initiative, a $69 million increase over 2004 levels. This includes a $109 million, or 60 percent, increase for the Clean Coal Power Initiative, a controversial subsidy for the coal industry that has already received more than $2 billion in taxpayer money. Congress's investigative arm, the General Accounting Office, has released seven reports documenting waste and mismanagement in the program.

Citizens Coal Council, a federation of 42 grassroots coalfield groups, says the money would be better spent on a comprehensive, across-the-board program to regulate the entire coal cycle. "Until the government properly regulates the mining of coal and the waste products from coal, there's no such thing as clean coal," said Meg Moore of the Citizens Coal Council. "We think the money would be better spent on more mine inspectors, cleaning up the thousands abandoned mine hazards we still have and helping coalfields' economies transition from a coal industry that provides fewer and fewer jobs every year even as it destroys more land and water."

From Moveon.org
Today, committees in the Senate and the House are set to grill
all five FCC commissioners. The House will also hear from the
president of Viacom, one of the largest media titans in the world.

But the subject isn't media concentration. Despite millions of
letters, emails, and phone calls, many Members of Congress
would rather focus on Janet Jackson's Super Bowl surprise.
Let's make sure Congress knows that holding an indecency
inquiry doesn't get them off the hook -- that they have the
power and the responsibility to roll back the FCC's rule change.

Tell your Representative in Congress to fix the media by
co-sponsoring House Joint Resolution 72 which would roll back
the new FCC rules:
Representative Adam B. Schiff (D)
DC Phone: 202-225-4176
Local Phone: 626-304-2727

If you're concerned about indecency, the solution doesn't lie in
censorship or insignificant fines imposed on media giants.
Indecency is one symptom of media ownership concentrated in
too few hands with no local control.

At the root of the problem is the fact that a few big companies
can decide what we watch. You don't have a choice whether or
not to watch a Super Bowl heavy on the sexual innuendo --
CBS has a monopoly on the show. And new FCC rules allow
CBS and other conglomerates to get even bigger.

Now, while Congress is focused on the media, remind your
Representative that this is an opportunity to address the
problems of indecency, localism, and diversity in one fell swoop:
by reversing the FCC's looser regulations.

Here's how to get in touch with your Representative about
co-sponsoring House Joint Resolution 72:

Representative Adam B. Schiff (D)
DC Phone: 202-225-4176
Local Phone: 626-304-2727

"The chairman of the FCC announced he's launching an
immediate and swift investigation into what they're
calling 'Nipplegate.' ... We still have to wait until next year
to find out why we went to war with Iraq, but we'll find
out what happened with (Janet Jackson's) breast
probably in 48 hours." —Jay Leno


From allhatnocattle.net