October 10, 2005
SOS--Sneak Attack on Organic Standards in Congress Continues--Take Action
SOS—SAVE ORGANIC STANDARDS—Action Alert Update October 6, 2005
Sneak Attack on Organic Standards in Congress Continues--OCA Needs Your Help
Over the past two weeks Organic Consumers Association (OCA) network members have bombarded the U.S. Congress with over 100,000 emails and 15,000 telephone calls. Our calls and letters have urged elected public officials to reject the now discredited Organic Trade Association's "Sneak Attack" rider to the 2006 Agriculture Appropriations Bill that would seriously undermine organic standards by removing traditional organic community control over organic standards and centralizing power in the hands of the White House-appointed US Department of Agriculture.
OCA's allies such as the Consumers Union, the Center for Food Safety, the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture, the National Coop Grocers Association, the National Organic Coalition, the Health Freedom network, and several hundred organic businesses have also generated thousands of emails and phone calls. Thank you for taking action. This massive grassroots outpouring prompted the U.S. Senate ten days ago to reject the industry Sneak Attack rider and propose a 90-day study to determine proper organic standards on synthetic substances, animal feed, and commercial availability of organic ingredients.
nfortunately members of the joint House/Senate Conference Committee on Agricultural Appropriations still seem to be listening more closely to powerful industry lobbyists representing Kraft/Phillip Morris, Dean Foods/Horizon Organic/Whitewave, Dole, Smucker/Knudson's, General Mills/Small Planet, Danone/Stonyfield, Aurora Organic, Whole Foods, Wild Oats, and the Grocery Manufacturers of America (Wal-Mart and the supermarket chains), than they are to us. And because this is a last minute, back door Sneak Attack, most of the media, and even most organic consumers, are not yet aware of what's happening.
We have no choice but to move quickly and raise the volume of our protest, double the number of letters and phone calls pouring into Congress, and aggressively take our message to the media. In 1998, 2003, and 2004 OCA and the organic community successfully mobilized and beat back similar attempts to degrade organic standards. Unfortunately this Sneak Attack is an "inside job," organized and funded by powerful pseudo-organic food processors and supermarket chains who have seized control of the Organic Trade Association, hired powerful lobbyists who usually represent big Pharma, tobacco, supermarket chains, and liquor interests, and are moving in for the "big fix."
We need more letters, and we need money now, to lobby Congress and to take our message to the media. Please forward this Action Alert to everyone you know who is concerned about preserving strict organic standards and organic community control over these standards. If you haven't already, please click here to send a letter to your members of Congress <http://www.organicconsumers.org/sos.cfm> And please click here to send OCA a tax-deductible donation so we can continue to defend the integrity of organic standards.
Time is running out. We must stop this Sneak Attack in Congress and beat back this unfriendly takeover of the organic industry. For the sake of the Earth and the health of the People, please Take Action Now!
Ronnie Cummins,
Co-Founder and National Director,
Organic Consumers Association
Posted by mwblog at 03:57 PM | Comments (0)
September 23, 2005
Senator Dayton introduces Department of Peace legislation in the Senate!
Take Action
On September 22nd, 2005, Senator Mark Dayton (D-MN) introduced the Department of Peace legislation into the U.S. Senate (S. 1756), calling for an elevation of the Reagan-established "Institute of Peace" to a Cabinet-level position.
This is a huge moment for our campaign, and for the future of the Department of Peace! Senator Dayton's leadership and enthusiastic support will take us to the next level in our work as we continue to advocate for this historic legislation.
Speaking from the Senate floor, Dayton said, "If we are to remain the world's leader, and if we are to lead the world into a more secure and more prosperous future, we must become better known and more respected for our peacemaking successes than for our military forces. Peace, to have any lasting value, must be advanced, expanded and strengthened continuously. Doing so requires skill, dedication, persistence, resources, and, most importantly, people."
Appropriately, Dayton's legislation coincides with the 44th anniversary of the nation's oldest federal agency dedicated to peace. On September 22nd, in 1961, President Kennedy signed legislation that created the Peace Corps, an idea originally proposed by Senator Hubert Humphrey in 1957.
Many thanks to our Department of Peace activists from Minnesota who met with Senator Dayton this past week at our conference and encouraged him to take this on. In particular we thank three of our youth leaders: Chelsea Skog, Eric Skog and Raven Kinnell who also met with the Senator. Senator Dayton said he was doing it for them, and for all our youth.
TAKE ACTION:
*** CALL YOUR SENATORS ***
We ask that each of you help continue this momentum by calling your own Senators today and urging them to support (bill # is S. 1756). Contact your Senator at the U.S. capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121. To find your Representative, visit http://www.vote-smart.org Tell the staffer who answers your call that you want your Senator to sign on as a co-sponsor of the Department of Peace legislation. Request a written response explaining your Senator's position and the reasoning behind it. It's most effective if you call first, then follow-up with a fax or email.
*** WRITE YOUR SENATORS *** To write your Representative, click below to get started. This will allow you to send an email or a fax to your congressperson.
http://www.thepeacealliance.org/action
Join us now. Create a Department of Peace. Help make history. Together, we can do this.
Posted by mwblog at 02:10 PM | Comments (0)
September 04, 2005
Sept. 14th Action Alert- Dept. of Peace
Help establish a U.S. DEPARTMENT OF PEACE!
A Call to Action
September 14th, 2005
HELP SPREAD THE WORD!
Dear Friend,
On September 14th, 2005, legislation to establish a U. S. Department of Peace will be re-introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The primary function of a United States Department of Peace will be to research, articulate and facilitate nonviolent solutions to domestic and international conflict. The Department of Peace will employ proven and effective strategies for reducing violence in our country and around world, including nonviolent communication skills, conflict resolution techniques and cultural relationship building. Learn more at http://www.ThePeaceAlliance.org
We need your support to help make this bill law -- by calling, faxing and/or emailing your representative and also by spreading the word to everyone you know.
Nothing you can do will have as much impact as contacting your member of Congress.
TAKE ACTION NOW!
*** CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE ***
Contact your Representative at the U.S. capitol switchboard: (202) 224-3121. To find your Representative, visit http://www.vote-smart.org Tell the staffer who answers your call that you want your Representative to sign on as a co-sponsor of the Department of Peace legislation. Request a written response explaining your member’s position and the reasoning behind it. It’s most effective if you call first, then follow-up with a fax or email.
There will be no bill number assigned until after 11:00 a.m. eastern on the 14th. We will post the bill number on our website at http://www.thepeacealliance.org as soon as it is available on that day. In the meantime, just tell your Representative that you want them to support the Department of Peace bill. H.R. 1673 is last sessions bill number for reference. Call now and on the day the bill is re-introduced.
*** WRITE YOUR REPRESENTATIVE ***
To write your Representative, click below to get started. This will allow you to send an email or a fax to your congressperson.
http://www.thepeacealliance.org/action
Please also call your senators and ask them to introduce the bill into the senate. Find your senators at http://www.vote-smart.org
Join us now. Create a Department of Peace. Help make history. Together, we can do this.
***************************************************
You can also contribute to our campaign by making a financial donation on our website at http://www.ThePeaceAlliance.org/donate, and by participating in and/or starting up a local campaign group. We already have active groups in more than 250 Congressional districts in over 43 states. Visit http://www.thepeacealliance.org/organize
***************************************************
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE LEGISLATION
-- Provide much-needed assistance for the efforts of city, county, and state governments in coordinating existing programs in their own communities, as well as programs newly developed and provided by the Dept. of Peace
-- Teach violence prevention and mediation to America’s school children
-- Effectively treat and dismantle gang psychology
-- Rehabilitate the prison population
-- Build peace-making efforts among conflicting cultures both here and abroad
-- Support our military with complementary approaches to ending violence
-- Gather and coordinate information and recommendations from America’s peace community
-- The Department of Peace will create and administer a U.S. Peace Academy, acting as a sister organization to the U.S. Military Academy.
Learn more at http://www.ThePeaceAlliance.org
**************************************************************
Posted by mwblog at 09:29 AM | Comments (1)
June 10, 2005
Stop Expansion of Patriot Act
ACLU Action Network
Thousands of people across America will be calling Congress this
week to speak out against the expansion of the Patriot Act. The
Patriot Act imposes restrictions on freedom that no democracy should
ever tolerate. We need you to speak out as a concerned citizen to stop
the government from stripping away your rights.
Even if you've taken action on the Patriot Act before, your call this
week will make a difference. Please call your Members of
Congress today and oppose the Patriot Act's expansion.
You can look up your Representative's and Senators' direct numbers by
clicking here
http://action.aclu.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AS_CongressLookup
or you can call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
http://action.aclu.org/patriotactcalls
Some possible talking points:
People across the country have made clear their opposition to the
Patriot Act. Hundreds of communities -- and seven states -- have
passed resolutions against the Patriot Act and held town hall meetings
to discuss its impact on their residents and our Constitution.
Congress has a duty to listen to its constituents.
There are significant flaws in the Patriot Act, flaws that threaten
your fundamental freedoms by giving the government the power to access
to your medical records, tax records, information about the books you
buy or borrow, all without probable cause. It also gives the
government the power to obtain a special "sneak and peek"
search warrant to break into your home and conduct secret searches
without telling you for weeks, months or indefinitely. The Patriot Act
needs to be reformed, not expanded.
Some of the extreme provisions in the Patriot Act are attacks on
fundamental American values. The Constitution and its Bill of Rights
emphasize the need for checks and balances on government agents and
limits to their power. The Patriot Act rolled back key judicial
oversight and gave law enforcement significant new powers that go
beyond the war on terrorism.
Visit http://action.aclu.org/patriotactcalls and tell us how your
calls went.
Why call Congress today?
We're launching a nation-wide effort to ensure Congress hears the
widespread opposition to the Patriot Act. Civil
libertarians, conservatives, free speech advocates and others from
across the political spectrum are urging Congress to reform the
Patriot Act, not expand it. Add your voice to this chorus of
people calling for proper checks and balances on government
power.
In the coming weeks, we have the opportunity to prevent the expansion
of government secret surveillance. Together we're working to ensure
that some of the most infamous provisions of the Patriot Act --
including one that expands secret surveillance -- expire at the end of
this year or are reformed.
Last week thousands of people wrote to their members of
Congress. Please help ensure that your members of Congress do
not support expansion of the Patriot Act. Call them today and defend
your rights:
You can look up your Representative's and Senators' direct numbers by
clicking here
http://action.aclu.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AS_CongressLookup
or you can call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.
http://action.aclu.org/patriotactcalls
Posted by mwblog at 07:26 AM | Comments (0)
May 19, 2005
Côte d’Ivoire: Let the children live in peace
Since the beginning of the armed conflict in Côte d’Ivoire in September 2002, children are being recruited by both government armed forces and armed opposition groups. Forced to fight other people’s wars, these child soldiers, many of them refugees from Liberia, are brutalized and traumatized by their experiences.
Shortly after the conflict started an Amnesty International delegation met child soldiers in the north of the country. They were under the command of the Forces Nouvelles, an armed opposition group. As recently as February 2005, two boys (aged ten and eleven) apparently of Liberian origin, were rescued by the UN forces in Côte d’Ivoire. In April 2005, the UN mission in Liberia arrested a man who is accused of recruiting child soldiers in Liberia for the Ivorian government’s armed forces.
The government of Côte d’Ivoire and Forces Nouvelles have failed to genuinely engage with the disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation and reintegration of child soldiers. It is time for them to act to give the children a chance for peace.
Take action!
Write to Guillaume Soro, Secretary General of the Forces Nouvelles, and Laurent Gbagbo, President of Côte d’Ivoire. For more information and to take action, visit:
http://web.amnesty.org/pages/civ-270405-action-eng
Posted by mwblog at 08:43 AM | Comments (0)
April 28, 2005
Dept. of Peace Conference: Michigan, June 5, 2005
Department of Peace Conference: Michigan Campaign
Sponsored by: Michigan Department of Peace Campaign
In Association With SAVE (Students Against Violence Everywhere), a University of Michigan student organization which is "a school based peer-to-peer program whose goal is to teach students the means of confronting and reducing violence."
Location: University of Michigan Student Union, Pendleton Room, 530 S. State St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Date: Sunday, June 5th, 2005.
Time: 9:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. (Registration from 9-10 a.m., Lunch break: 1:00-2:30 p.m.)
Cost: $25.00; High School and University Students Free;
Featuring: Marianne Williamson, Internationally known author and lecturer and President of the The Peace Alliance
Introducing: Dot Maver, Executive Director of The Peace Alliance; formerly campaign manager for Dennis Kucinich for President.
Marianne and Dot will facilitate a civics training to promote/lobby for the passage of the Dept of Peace legislation.
Limited seating capacity. RSVP to Linda Henderson: lindakhenderson@hotmail.com
Posted by mwblog at 08:41 AM | Comments (0)
April 16, 2005
Tell your representative to pass an environmentally and economically responsible energy bill
The House of Representatives is moving forward an energy bill that would damage the environment and do nothing to advance energy efficiency or renewable energy. Urge your representative to vote against this dangerous bill and support clean energy initiatives.
Take Action!
http://www.nrdcaction.org/action/index.asp?step=2&item=52662
From Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Posted by mwblog at 08:08 AM | Comments (0)
March 29, 2005
Count Every Vote
Dear Friends,
A piece of legislation currently being reviewed in Congress is called the "Count Every Vote Act," which would guarantee a paper trail for all our national elections. Below are the names of the committee members reviewing the bill, and it is important that we let them know how very important this issue is for us. Unless we know who really wins our elections, then democracy itself is nullified. Call, write letters, send emails, plass along the info.... (more contact info at www.congress.org).
Thanks,
Marianne
United States Senate Committee on Rules and Administration
305 Russell Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-6352
Call your Member of congress and the members below at the U.S. capital switchboard:
(877) 762-8762.
Members
Republicans:
Chairman, Trent Lott, MS
Ted Stevens
Mitch McConnell
Thad Cochran
Rick Santorum
Kay Bailey Hutchison
Bill Frist
C. Saxby Chambliss
Robert Bennett
Chuck Hagel
Democrats:
Ranking Member, Chris Dodd, CT
Robert C. Byrd
Daniel K. Inouye
Dianne Feinstein
Charles E. Schumer
Mark Dayton
Richard J. Durbin
E. Benjamin Nelson
Susan Wells, Staff Director
Kennie L. Gill, Democratic Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Posted by mwblog at 10:29 AM | Comments (0)
March 24, 2005
Minnesota Shootings: A Response
Please send the following fax or email to your Congressional Representatives:
Dear (title, name),
After the tragic school shooting in Minnesota recently, we are reminded once again of the urgent need to establish a United States Department of Peace.
Among other things, the Department of Peace will include a best-practices template for the amelioration of violence among America's youth population. Please visit http://www.ThePeaceAlliance.org/main.htm for a more detailed description of the plans for the Department of Peace.
I hope you will support the bill to establish the Department, when it is re-introduced in legislative session on September 12, 2005 in the House of Representatives.
Sincerely,
Constituent whomever
Be sure to include your name and address.
You can find email and fax information for your Member of the House of Representatives and your two Senators at http://www.congress.org. You can also call your Representative's D.C. office to voice your opinion by calling the U.S. capital switchboard at (877) 762-8762. They will connect you directly to the office.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR:
Please also send a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. We suggest you reference an article written on these tragic shootings.
Dear …,
After the tragic school shooting in Minnesota recently, we are reminded once again of the urgent need to establish a United States Department of Peace. We need to much more seriously address the underlying causes of the problems of violence that we face today.
Among other things, the Department of Peace will include a best-practices template for the amelioration of violence among America's youth population. The Department would implement measurably effective intervention for issues such as, school and gang violence, domestic violence, reduced prison incarceration rates, and international conflicts to name a few issues. You can visit www.ThePeaceAlliance.org for a more detailed description of the plans for the Department of Peace.
The bill will be re-introduced in legislative session on September 12, 2005 in the House of Representatives.
Sincerely,
Constituent whomever
For additional tips on writing a letter to the editor, check out our Citizen Action Guide at: http://www.thepeacealliance.org/action_guide.htm
Posted by mwblog at 01:04 PM | Comments (0)
March 14, 2005
MEDIA OWNERSHIP RULES: Demand the FCC listen to citizens when it makes Policy
Action Alert from Freepress.org
The Federal Communications Commission announced on Jan. 7 that the U.S. Solicitor General will not appeal the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision in Prometheus Radio Project vs. Federal Communications Commission to the Supreme Court.
That decision rejected the FCC rules issued in June 2003 that would have significantly loosened media ownership caps (details- http://www.freepress.net/rules/page.php?n=home). Barring the unlikely event that the Supreme Court takes up the case anyway, the FCC now must go back to the drawing board and restart the entire rulemaking process.
We haven't won yet. The industry lobbyists and their allies on the commission will try to sneak the same policies through the back door. The only thing that will stop them is if the millions of Americans who opposed media consolidation in 2003 remain vigilant.
Now is the time to demand the FCC take citizen input seriously. Add your voice!
Join thousands of other citizens in insisting that the FCC hold a public hearing in their states. With enough people taking direct action, the FCC will have no choice but to hear our message: Media should serve the public interest — not the bottom line of big corporations.
Don't Wait. Demand the FCC list to your concerns now!
Click here to take action (http://www.freepress.net/rules/)
Posted by mwblog at 09:25 AM | Comments (0)
March 10, 2005
Help Stop the Genocide in the Sudan
This is a follow-up to my letter several days ago about genocide in the Sudan (click here to read letter). For those of you aware of the Rwandan massacres several years ago, this is a current situation of similarly disastrous proportions. The Sudanese government and its murderous Janjaweed are massacring non-Arab Africans within their country.
The United States is currently providing humanitarian assistance and President Bush does support appropriate sanctions, but we're not taking a seriously strong lead in stopping the genocide. This is much like what happened in Bosnia as well as Rwanda; thousands are dying horrible, horrible deaths (example: small children having their faces beaten in by rifle butts) while the world talks, waits, argues....and takes forever to act.
Only the loud and clear voices of the people will cause a shift. And that means YOU.
One beginning step would be the passage of the Darfur Accountability Act, being introduced in the Senate today by Senators John Corzine and Sam Brownback. The legislation calls for several desperately needed measures -- including expanding the ability of the African Union to deal with the genocide and help stop it. Please, no matter what else you are doing today, call your Congressperson and Senators (go to www.congress.org for contact information) and tell them you want them to do everything they can to stop the genocide of the Sudanese Africans. That is how democracy works; Congress is a reactive body, and the single most powerful tool for stopping this madness would be a massive amount of phone calls and emails into our Congressional representatives.
Most of us know the Edmund Burke quote: "The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for enough good people to do nothing." Never has that been more true.
I urge you: please do not do nothing.
All my best,
Marianne
(P.S. And please help spread the word)
Posted by mwblog at 06:27 PM | Comments (0)
March 08, 2005
Protect Women Survivors of Violence and the Right to Health Care Services
From Amnesty International
Worldwide, at least one of every three women -- nearly one billion women -- will be beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her lifetime, whether at the hands of family members, government security forces, or armed rebels. Urge President Bush to help stop violence against women and girls, address the needs of survivors of violence, and lift US restrictions on health care services worldwide.
Learn more (click here) Protect Women Survivors of Violence and the Right to Health Care Services From Amnesty International
Posted by mwblog at 03:43 PM | Comments (0)
March 02, 2005
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation offers three paid internships
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation offers three (3) paid internships for undergraduate and graduate students interested in peace, nuclear disarmament, human rights, and/or international law. Interns work in a combination of program areas, including research, outreach/advocacy, graphic/web design, and communications. Projects for this summer involve campaign management (UC Nuclear Free), citizen mobilization (Turn the Tide), music promotion (KNUK Radio), public speaking (National Days of Remembrance and Action), event planning (Think Outside the Bomb, national youth conference on nuclear issues), proposal review (Swackhamer Peace Essay Contest), and numerous other leadership skills.
We welcome students currently studying in various disciplines including, but not limited to the following: Global Peace and Security, Computer Science, Global Studies, International Relations, History, Sociology, Communications, Graphic Design, and Music. Creativity and initiative are appreciated, as are a good sense of humor and positive outlook.
Interns receive $2,500 for a 10-week period. All internships are in Santa Barbara, California. The application deadline is April 1, 2005. Applications are available online at http://www.wagingpeace.org/youth or by contacting Michael Coffey, Director of Youth Programs, at mcoffey@napf.org or (805) 965-3443. If you’re in the Santa Barbara area in March, consider scheduling a visit.
BACKGROUND
Unlike the coming-of-age experiences that are painstakingly familiar to Americans in their 40’s and older – including duck-and-cover drills, mushroom clouds from atmospheric testing, and the Cuban Missile Crisis – nuclear threats have little resonance beyond historical trivia with today’s teens and twenty-somethings. New generations of Americans have grown up in a much different era after the fall of the Berlin Wall, which signified the end of the Cold War and, in many peoples’ minds, the end of the nuclear threat. The newer generations of Americans today are more culturally diverse, more active in their local communities, and have more access than ever before to news from distant parts of the world. Threats to global security today have a much different face, but the threats posed by nuclear weapons remain enormous and daunting challenges.
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation has more than twenty-years of success working with influential national and international organizations and individuals and, most uniquely, a record of inspiring a new generation of peace leaders to carry on into the future. The Foundation’s youth programs seek to personalize the nuclear issue, promoting a vision of compassion and personal responsibility, offering a fresh perspective on US foreign policy, and providing opportunities for the development of practical leadership skills. We believe that, in order to make the issue salient with today’s youth, a meaningful and healthy approach to confronting the threats posed by nuclear weapons must emphasize ties between nuclear weapons and other social and environmental justice issues. In so doing, the Foundation promotes civic engagement, encourages nonviolence as an effective tool for social change, addresses the disparity between military and social service expenditures, and fosters international law and institutions just to name a few.
Posted by mwblog at 02:36 PM
February 24, 2005
Important to Know, Important to Act
Dear Friends,
I have been increasingly dismayed by reports of genocide in the Sudan, and today I read an article by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times that broke my heart.
A Sudanese government-backed militia called the janjaweed is seeking to clear the area of all non-Arabs, pillaging and burning African villages, and already having killed at least 70,000 people. Horribly similar to the Rwandan genocide several years ago, this insanely brutal activity will only continue if we fail to act.
The late Senator Paul Simon said after the Rwandan genocide, "If every member of (the U.S.) the House and Senate had received 100 letters from people back home saying we have to do something about Rwanda, when the crisis was first developing, then I think the response would have been different." Former President Bill Clinton has said that his greatest regret is not having taken more action in Rwanda at that time. Genocide in Rwanda is seen in hindsight, however; the tragedy in the Sudan is unfolding right now.
We have power to help stop this, if we use it; you and I can make sure that our Congressional representatives know we care and want to see action. There are in fact various things our government can do -- from sanctions to freezing the assets of those Sudanese officials who support the genocide -- but our government will assuredly not act unless we, the people, raise our voices.
Please go to to www.congress.org is you do not already know where to email your Senator and Congressman. Tell them you want the American government to use its strongest influence to stop this tragedy. You can look on www.savedarfur.org or www.darfurgenocide.org for further information about the crisis, in which men, women and children are dying the most horrible deaths even as we speak.
This is a moment to use our democracy, to raise our voices loudly and clearly, and extend our love to those in desperate need. Let us pray for our Sudanese brothers and sisters in need, and do what we can to save them.
All my best,
Marianne Williamson
P.S. Please pass this note along to your friends.
Posted by mwblog at 01:14 PM | Comments (0)