Two out of three ain’t bad

November 6, 2009

Blood Diamonds

Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou and Ryan Gosling join protest against diamond mining in war zones 

Posted on Monday, February 26, 2007 (EST) 
Oscar nominees, actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Djimon Hounsou and Ryan Gosling appeared at the Oscars on 25th February wearing red teardrop pins to raise awareness about diamond mining in war zones.

A wedding ring should be about love

Diva Note:This gave me the shudders....coincidence I think not!

Zimbabwean soldiers have seized diamond fields and murdered and tortured miners. This week, international diamond regulators could ban Zimbabwe from the global market. Sign the petition to end Zimbabwe's 'blood diamonds':

Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe has brutally seized control of his country's diamond fields and is using the profits from our precious wedding rings and jewelry to finance a vicious political militia.

The group of countries that regulate the global diamond trade are right now meeting in Namibia to decide whether to suspend Mugabe and stop him selling his blood diamonds on the world market.

We have just 24 hours to persuade these countries to act - let's get a flood of signatures on a petition and deliver it directly to the meeting in Namibia. Sign at the link below and forward this email to anyone who doesn't want our gifts of love to finance hate:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/diamonds_for_love_not_hate

All diamond producing countries know that their profits are dependent on the brand reputation of diamonds, and that increasing awareness of "blood diamonds" threatens that brand. A massive global petition will show them that the diamond-buying public is demanding action.

Zimbabwe's diamonds used to be mined by local people. But in the last several months, Mugabe's thugs have brutally taken over, murdering up to 200 civilians. An international investigation in July found "horrific violence against civilians".

The profits from these blood diamonds are being used to finance a political militia that has already killed thousands of Zimbabweans, and threatens the fragile unity government in the country. Letting Mugabe keep these diamonds could finance a whole new war.

All of us are learning the ways in which our decisions about what we buy and do can affect the lives of our fellow human beings half a world away. An engagement ring should be something given and worn out of love, let's tell diamond regulators to keep it that way:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/diamonds_for_love_not_hate

With hope,

Ricken, Alice, Benjamin, Graziela, Luis, Milena, Paul, Ben, Paula, Pascal and the whole of the Avaaz team

PS:

Once you've taken action, vote for Avaaz on the influential Huffington Post "New Media Game-Changers" poll! http://www.avaaz.org/huffpo (vote 10 for Avaaz as the ultimate game changer)

Sources:

A Human Rights Watch report on the Zimbabwe mines:
http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/06/26/diamonds-rough-0

The Kimberley process report:
http://www.zimonline.co.za/Article.aspx?ArticleId=5303

Articles on the possible ban this week:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8337385.stm

http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-11-02-zim-faces-possible-suspension-from-global-diamond-trade

More from Global Witness, a member of the Kimberley Process:
http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/861/en/campaigners_call_for_urgent_action_on_zimbabwe_blo

More on Zimbabwe's political crisis:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article6896171.ece

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ABOUT AVAAZ Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in Ottawa, London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Buenos Aires, and Geneva. Click here to learn more about our largest campaigns. Don't forget to check out our Facebook and Myspace and Bebo pages! You can also follow Avaaz on Twitter!

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VIEW New V-Day Kenya Image Gallery

VIEW New V-Day Kenya Image Gallery

In August, 2009, Eve Ensler and the V-Day team visited the V-Day Safe Houses in Narok and Sakutiek, and the Dolphin Anti-Rape and AIDS Control Outreach program in Nairobi, which V-Day helps fund.

In her Update from Kenya, Eve wrote "I want you to know that this has been a week of miracles. Our time in Kenya revealed that our work is bearing fruit, huge delicious successful fruit...We witnessed Agnes who is now a great leader, Winnie and Duncan deeply empowered and strong, and Mumbi, fierce and kind and inspirational."

World renowned photographer and V-Day activist Paula Allen joined V-Day and documented the incredible trip.

Check out the Kenya Gallery Here >

Read Eve's Complete Update from Kenya Here >

DONATE to V-Day to help our work in Kenya to end FGM >

V-Day Kenya Director Agnes Pareyio To Speak In Cambridge, MA

Agnes Pareyio, V-Day Kenya Director and founder of two V-Day Safe Houses for girls escaping Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in Kenya, will take part in a Q&A following the Boston premiere screening of Africa Rising: The Grassroots Movement to End Female Genital Mutilation, a film by Paula Heredia. The Q&A, hosted by Ambassador Swanee Hunt will also feature Kadidia Aoudou Sibide of AMSOPT, Taina Bien-Aime, Executive Director of Equality Now, and FGM survivor Fanta Camera.

WHAT: Boston Premier of Africa Rising: The Grassroots Movement to End Female Genital Mutilation, followed by Q&A with leading FGM activists

WHERE: Weiner Auditorium, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.A

WHEN: Monday, November 9, 2009, 6:00pm

For tickets and more information please contact info@equalitynow.org

Watch Eve Ensler Speak at The Women's Conference, Hosted by Maria Shriver

On Tuesday, October 27, V-Day Founder/Artistic Director Eve Ensler spoke at The Women's Conference, the nation's premier forum for women, hosted by California First Lady Maria Shriver. You can view Eve's speech in the opening session at the 1:20:40 mark of the video here >

Benefit V-Day While You Shop!

V-Day has teamed up with Amanda Keidan Jewelry and Unique Swiss Skin Care to offer you the opportunity to benefit V-Day while you shop!

Amanda Keidan Jewelry
The Amanda Keidan V-Day Collection consists of two styles, the V-Day Ring, and the V-Day Necklace. Both styles bear the V-Day symbol, which has come to signify V-Day's global message to end violence against women and girls and to change the story of women. Both pieces come in either gold or silver, and can be adorned with diamonds or rubies. Prices start at $110.

The Amanda Keidan Jewelry V-Day Collection is available exclusively through http://amandakeidan.com/vday.php Amanda Keidan Jewelry obtains diamonds from respected and well-established suppliers that comply completely with U.S retailer requirements.

Unique Swiss Skin Care
V-Day is pleased to join Unique Skins Care Treatment's "Double The Magic" program, where 20% of proceeds from sales of Unique Swiss Skin Care products will benefit V-Day.

The Unique products, including Unique Cleansing Cream, Unique 24-Hour Age Defying Day/Night Cream, Unique Eye, Unique Anti-Age Serum and Unique Renewing Mask, are of exceptional quality, free of parabens, animal ingredients, fragrances and mineral oils and tested clinically, dermatologically and ophtalmologically.

Products are available exclusively online at www.uniquebeauty.org.

This Must Stop Now!

This is so extremely cruel I could not bring myself to post the video, instead I am providing the link to the site to read about it and take action. There you will have the choice to watch or not for better understanding of why this cannot be allowed to continue, or simply trust in me that it is so ans do whatever you can to help. 3seconds of the video was enough for me the sight of these poor animals being banged against the ground and tortured was too much!

When undercover investigators made their way onto Chinese fur farms, they found that many animals are still alive and struggling desperately when workers flip them onto their backs or hang them up by their legs or tails to skin them. When workers on these farms begin to cut the skin and fur from an animal's leg, the free limbs kick and writhe. Workers stomp on the necks and heads of animals who struggle too hard to allow a clean cut.

http://www.peta.org/feat/ChineseFurFarms/index.asp

ONE's Next Top T-shirt

Dear ONE Member,

Right now, ONE has thousands of fair-trade certified, 100% organic African cotton, African-made T-shirts sitting waiting for the perfect design to make them not only a symbol of our work to end global poverty and disease, but a must-have item this holiday season.

So we’re turning to you, ONE’s 2 million members, and asking you to submit a great T-shirt design and help us come up with “ONE’s Next Top T-shirt”. Not the designer type? That’s okay, you can still take a moment and forward this email to the people you know whose talents could bring attention to our cause.

To find out more about the challenge and submit a design, visit:

http://www.one.org/international/tshirt?id=1281-2964580-xdeCDKx&t=3

As a fashion consultant, former model, native of Nigeria, and passionate ONE member, I’m excited to announce this open challenge to find the design for ONE’s new T-shirt. ONE will accept designs until November 3 at 10:00pm GMT, at which point I’ll join multi-platinum recording artist Daughtry, noted designer and “Top Design” judge Jonathan Adler, and a distinguished panel of fashion and design experts to pick the top three T-shirts designs. ONE members will then have a week to vote for their favorite of the final three designs, which will be printed and put on sale in late November.

The person submitting that winning design will have a huge impact on how ONE is seen globally. We look forward to adding their T-shirt to the line of creative ONE merchandise already available in the ONE Store, as well as celebrating her or his contribution as part of the new T-shirt’s launch to ONE members and the general public.

What we wear says a lot about who we are. The 25,000 plain T-shirts already tell a story of commitment to helping countries in Africa and across the developing world trade their way to a better future. The right design has the power to go even further, and spark a global conversation. It starts with “I love your shirt, what does it mean?” and ends with greater awareness of the role we can all play in ending poverty and disease in some of the most vulnerable places on earth.

I hope you’ll help us create ONE’s Next Top T-shirt and prove that great design can make a difference:

http://www.one.org/international/tshirt?id=1281-2964580-xdeCDKx&t=5

Thank you and good luck,

Chalya Shagaya, ONE member

Sting Reveals Magnitude of Child Prostitution in U.S.

An alleged pimp is arrested by the FBI as part of Operation Cross Country.

 

 

In the end, authorities hauled in an astonishing 690 suspects on state and local charges over the three-day operation, according to the FBI.

"Child prostitution continues to be a significant problem in our country, as evidenced by the number of children rescued through the continued efforts of our crimes against children task forces," Kevin Perkins, assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division, said in a written statement. "There is no work more important than protecting America's children and freeing them from the cycle of victimization."

Operation Cross Country IV involved law-enforcement collaborations in 36 cities across 30 FBI divisions nationwide, all part of the FBI's ongoing Innocence Lost National Initiative. The initiative, conducted with assistance from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, was created in 2003. It was designed to end child sex trafficking in the United States. To date, nearly  900 children have been rescued and 500 people convicted, according to the FBI.

Public Option Annie

I thought I would add this as well for an FYI

Comparing Canadian and American Health Care

Sexual violence against women in DR Congo

Sexual violence against women in DR Congo amounts to war crime: UN expert

26 October 2007 – The scale and brutality of the sexual violence currently faced by women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity, an independent United Nations human rights expert has told the General Assembly.

Yakin Ertürk, the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, told the Assembly’s Social, Humanitarian and Cultural (Third) Committee yesterday that the international community needs to intervene urgently to stem the widespread sexual violence.

Ms. Ertürk spent 12 days in the DRC in July, speaking to Government officials, UN agency staff, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and many female victims of violence.

She said she found that the perpetrators include armed militiamen, members of the Congolese armed forces, national police officers and, increasingly, civilians.

“The situation is most acute in South Kivu, where non-State armed groups, particularly foreign militia, commit sexual atrocities that are of an unimaginable brutality and aim at the complete physical and psychological destruction of women with implications for the entire society,” she said.

“In many cases, the scale and brutality of the violence amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.”

The Special Rapporteur said the problem was not confined to the far east, which has been the most unstable and violent part of the DRC in recent years and the scene of mass displacement this year because of renewed clashes between the Government, breakaway sections of the military and armed militia.

In Equateur province, near the centre of the DRC, soldiers and police officers have also carried out systematic reprisals against local civilians, including mass rape.

Ms. Ertürk said a climate of impunity for crimes against women predominated across the country.

“Security and the justice system fall short of addressing the problems of sexual violence and women survivors of rape lack sufficient care. Survivors are often also socially stigmatized and they are systematically denied the compensation to which they are entitled under international and Congolese law.”

Senate Expands Hate Crime Law

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder says the move is "a milestone in helping protect Americans from the most heinous bias-motivated violence."

In its 68-29 vote, the Senate ignored right-wing contentions that the hate-crime bill was merely an effort by liberals to stymie criticism about abortion, homosexuality and inappropriate sexual behavior. Attorney General Eric Holder described the measure as "a milestone in helping protect Americans from the most heinous bias-motivated violence." The law would not be used to squash speech about controversial beliefs. "The passage of this legislation will give the Justice Department and our state and local law enforcement partners the tools we need to deter and prosecute these acts of violence," he said in a statement.

 Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement, "Too many in our community have been devastated by hate violence. We now can begin the important steps to erasing hate in our country."

 While President Bush had threatened to veto such a measure, President Obama has promised to sign the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, named after a gay Wyoming teenager who died after being kidnapped and severely beaten in October 1998, and an African-American man dragged to death in Texas the same year. The bill was added to the $680 billion defense authorization bill.

 "Knowing that the president will sign it, unlike his predecessor, has made all the hard work this year to pass it worthwhile," said Judy Shepard, board president of the Matthew Shepard Foundation named for her son. "Hate crimes continue to affect far too many Americans who are simply trying to live their lives honestly, and they need to know that their government will protect them from violence, and provide appropriate justice for victims and their families."

 

Where’s the Disconnect on Health Care Reform?

Published by Pamela Gentry on Monday, October 26, 2009 at 1:39 am.

"Michael Moore's Action Plan:

"Michael Moore's Action Plan: 15 Things Every American Can Do Right Now"

You've Seen the Movie -- Now It's Time to ACT!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Friends,

It's the #1 question I'm constantly asked after people see my movie: "OK -- so NOW what can I DO?!"

You want something to do? Well, you've come to the right place! 'Cause I got 15 things you and I can do right now to fight back and try to fix this very broken system.

Here they are:

FIVE THINGS WE DEMAND THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS DO IMMEDIATELY:

1. Declare a moratorium on all home evictions. Not one more family should be thrown out of their home. The banks must adjust their monthly mortgage payments to be in line with what people's homes are now truly worth -- and what they can afford. Also, it must be stated by law: If you lose your job, you cannot be tossed out of your home.

2. Congress must join the civilized world and expand Medicare For All Americans. A single, nonprofit source must run a universal health care system that covers everyone. Medical bills are now the #1 cause of bankruptcies and evictions in this country. Medicare For All will end this misery. The bill to make this happen is called H.R. 3200. You must call AND write your members of Congress and demand its passage, no compromises allowed.

3. Demand publicly-funded elections and a prohibition on elected officials leaving office and becoming lobbyists. Yes, those very members of Congress who solicit and receive millions of dollars from wealthy interests must vote to remove ALL money from our electoral and legislative process. Tell your members of Congress they must support campaign finance bill H.R.1826.

4. Each of the 50 states must create a state-owned public bank like they have in North Dakota. Then congress MUST reinstate all the strict pre-Reagan regulations on all commercial banks, investment firms, insurance companies -- and all the other industries that have been savaged by deregulation: Airlines, the food industry, pharmaceutical companies -- you name it. If a company's primary motive to exist is to make a profit, then it needs a set of stringent rules to live by -- and the first rule is "Do no harm." The second rule: The question must always be asked -- "Is this for the common good?" (Click here for some info about the state-owned Bank of North Dakota.)

5. Save this fragile planet and declare that all the energy resources above and beneath the ground are owned collectively by all of us. Just like they do it in Sarah Palin's socialist Alaska. We only have a few decades of oil left. The public must be the owners and landlords of the natural resources and energy that exists within our borders or we will descend further into corporate anarchy. And when it comes to burning fossil fuels to transport ourselves, we must cease using the internal combustion engine and instruct our auto/transportation companies to rehire our skilled workforce and build mass transit (clean buses, light rail, subways, bullet trains, etc.) and new cars that don't contribute to climate change. (For more on this, here's a proposal I wrote in December.) Demand that General Motors' de facto chairman, Barack Obama, issue a JFK man-on-the-moon-style challenge to turn our country into a nation of trains and buses and subways. For Pete's sake, people, we were the ones who invented (or perfected) these damn things in the first place!!

FIVE THINGS WE CAN DO TO MAKE CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT LISTEN TO US:

1. Each of us must get into the daily habit of taking 5 minutes to make four brief calls: One to the President (202-456-1414), one to your Congressperson (202-224-3121) and one to each of your two Senators (202-224-3121). To find out who represents you, click here. Take just one minute on each of these calls to let them know how you expect them to vote on a particular issue. Let them know you will have no hesitation voting for a primary opponent -- or even a candidate from another party -- if they don't do our bidding. Trust me, they will listen. If you have another five minutes, click here to send them each an email. And if you really want to drop an anvil on them, send them a snail mail letter!

2. Take over your local Democratic Party. Remember how much fun you had with all those friends and neighbors working together to get Barack Obama elected? YOU DID THE IMPOSSIBLE. It's time to re-up! Get everyone back together and go to the monthly meeting of your town or county Democratic Party -- and become the majority that runs it! There will not be many in attendance and they will either be happy or in shock that you and the Obama Revolution have entered the room looking like you mean business. President Obama's agenda will never happen without mass grass roots action -- and he won't feel encouraged to do the right thing if no one has his back, whether it's to stand with him, or push him in the right direction. When you all become the local Democratic Party, send me a photo of the group and I'll post it on my website.

3. Recruit someone to run for office who can win in your local elections next year -- or, better yet, consider running for office yourself! You don't have to settle for the incumbent who always expects to win. You can be our next representative! Don't believe it can happen? Check out these examples of regular citizens who got elected: State Senator Deb Simpson, California State Assemblyman Isadore Hall, Tempe, Arizona City Councilman Corey Woods, Wisconsin State Assemblyman Chris Danou, and Washington State Representative Larry Seaquist. The list goes on and on -- and you should be on it!

4. Show up. Picket the local branch of a big bank that took the bailout money. Hold vigils and marches. Consider civil disobedience. Those town hall meetings are open to you, too (and there's more of us than there are of them!). Make some noise, have some fun, get on the local news. Place "Capitalism Did This" signs on empty foreclosed homes, closed down businesses, crumbling schools and infrastructure. (You can download them from my website.)

5. Start your own media. You. Just you (or you and a couple friends). The mainstream media is owned by corporate America and, with few exceptions, it will never tell the whole truth -- so you have to do it! Start a blog! Start a website of real local news (here's an example: The Michigan Messenger). Tweet your friends and use Facebook to let them know what they need to do politically. The daily papers are dying. If you don't fill that void, who will?

FIVE THINGS WE SHOULD DO TO PROTECT OURSELVES AND OUR LOVED ONES UNTIL WE GET THROUGH THIS MESS:

1. Take your money out of your bank if it took bailout money and place it in a locally-owned bank or, preferably, a credit union.

2. Get rid of all your credit cards but one -- the kind where you have to pay up at the end of the month or you lose your card.

3. Do not invest in the stock market. If you have any extra cash, put it away in a savings account or, if you can, pay down on your mortgage so you can own your home as soon as possible. You can also buy very safe government savings bonds or T-bills. Or just buy your mother some flowers.

Michael Moore's Action Plan: cont

4. Unionize your workplace so that you and your coworkers have a say in how your business is run. Here's how to do it (more info here). Nothing is more American than democracy, and democracy shouldn't be checked at the door when you enter your workplace. Another way to Americanize your workplace is to turn your business into a worker-owned cooperative. You are not a wage slave. You are a free person, and you giving up eight hours of your life every day to someone else is to be properly compensated and respected.

5. Take care of yourself and your family. Sorry to go all Oprah on you, but she's right: Find a place of peace in your life and make the choice to be around people who are not full of negativity and cynicism. Look for those who nurture and love. Turn off the TV and the Blackberry and go for a 30-minute walk every day. Eat fruits and vegetables and cut down on anything that has sugar, high fructose corn syrup, white flour or too much sodium (salt) in it (and, as Michael Pollan says, "Eat (real) food, not too much, mostly plants"). Get seven hours of sleep each night and take the time to read a book a month. I know this sounds like I've turned into your grandma, but, dammit, take a good hard look at Granny -- she's fit, she's rested and she knows the names of both of her U.S. Senators without having to Google them. We might do well to listen to her. If we don't put our own "oxygen mask" on first (as they say on the airplane), we will be of no use to the rest of the nation in enacting any of this action plan!

I'm sure there are many other ideas you can come up with on how we can build this movement. Get creative. Think outside the politics-as-usual box. BE SUBVERSIVE! Think of that local action no one else has tried. Behave as if your life depended on it. Be bold! Try doing something with reckless abandon. It may just liberate you and your community and your nation.

And when you act, send me your stories, your photos and your video -- and be sure topost your ideas in the comments beneath this letter on my site so they can be shared with millions.

C'mon people -- we can do this! I expect nothing less of all of you, my true and trusted fellow travelers!

Yours, 
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

Pledge2Protect

Bono and Black Lawmakers Discuss Africa

Published by Pamela Gentry on Monday, October 19, 2009 at 11:23 pm.

By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Analyst

Oct. 20, 2009 – Rock star Bono wants to join forces with members of theCongressional Black Caucus (CBC) to end poverty and pave the way for justice and equality on the continent of African; ambitious goals, but possible with help from Black lawmakers.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus meet on Capitol Hill with rock artist Bono.

Bono of the group U2 is co-founder of the non-profit organization ONE International.  The advocacy organization’s Website boosts more than 2 million grass-root supporters who work to “fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa.”

ONE is the brain child of the rocker who takes his role as celebrity ambassador seriously. The nonpartisan group works closely with African policy makers and activists.  So a meeting with Black lawmakers in Washington was a natural.

Members of the CBC are extremely interested in improving poverty, increasing trade and ending the genocide in the Sudan. These are some of the same ambitious agenda items shared by ONE. 

“At ONE, we believe the fight against poverty is not about charity, but about justice and equality,” the website says.

NAACP Chief: Gay Rights is Like Civil Rights

Take Action Now, Send Obama a Message

Barack Obama just won the Nobel Peace Prize! Let's define this moment as a challenge to be bold -- let's flood Obama with worldwide congratulations, urging him to go further and turn hope into change:

Take Action Now,
Send Obama a Message

The winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize has just been announced -- and it's US President Barack Obama.

Obama himself says he's "surprised, humbled" and doesn't yet deserve it -- but he's accepted the Prize as a call to action, "to confront the common challenges of the 21st century" together. On too many pressing issues, the US President seems boxed-in by stubborn interests and has not yet taken courageous action. He deserves to hear our congratulations -- and our message to be bolder.

Let's do our part to define the challenge this Prize poses to Obama and us all -- let’s flood Obama with a million messages of encouragement and urgency, pressing him to turn hope into action in the coming months on nuclear disarmament, climate, and desperately-needed peace in the Middle East and Afghanistan. Sign the Obama Peace Petition now and we’ll deliver it directly to the White House -- then forward this email to all your friends:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/obama_peace_prize

In his Cairo speech this June, Obama spoke of “the world we seek” -- one where “extremists no longer threaten our people, and American troops have come home; a world where Israelis and Palestinians are each secure in a state of their own” and nuclear energy does not trigger conflict -- a world where governments serve their citizens, and the rights of all are respected.

Obama’s words have offered a vision of profound change: all this can perhaps not be achieved overnight. But his push for Middle East peace has not yet been strong enough to overcome the resistance of hardliners in the region. Meanwhile, hawks and conservatives in the US are pressing him to commit 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan, instead of changing course to focus more on peace, development and diplomacy.

There is a real risk today that the hope of change will be lost. Leaders are judged finally by their actions, not their words. Only by following through with courageous, transformative action for peace can Obama fulfil his promise -- and only then will history judge that this Nobel Peace Prize is truly deserved.

We know Obama cares about global public opinion -- indeed, we may be his best conscience. So let’s send him a flood of congratulations and urge him to fulfil his promise through real action -- take action now at this link, then spread the word, and we’ll deliver a global flood of signatures direct to the White House:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/obama_peace_prize

With hope and determination,

Paul, Raj, Brett, Graziela, Pascal, Paula, Iain, Alice, Ricken, Benjamin and the whole Avaaz team

Amnesty's Global Write-a-thon

Sincerely,

Larry Cox
Executive Director
Amnesty International USA


P.S. – You can find details on the upcoming Write-a-thon taking place December 5-13 at: http://www.amnestyusa.org/writeathon/

THE GLOBAL WAKE-UP

Dear all,

Wow. Monday's Wake Up call was unbelievable - 2632 events in 134 countries, tens of thousands of phone calls crashing government lines, unbelievable creativity and diversity of events, directly reaching heads of state and cabinet ministers from Australia to Europe. Words can't describe it -- this video gets close:

The Wake Up call was covered by hundreds of major news outlets and made the evening news everywhere from Germany to New Zealand. Europe's environment chief praised "the mobilisation of so many people by Avaaz.org", the UK Prime Minister became the first major world leader to agree to our demand to go to Copenhagen and said that with "the pressure that can brought by organizations like yours...what people think is impossible can become possible". The Spanish environment minister called the action "extraordinary".

World leaders have heard us. But as Tuesday's UN summit showed, one day of action won't be enough to get real progress on climate. We need to come back again and again, louder and louder, until we get a fair, ambitious and binding climate treaty.

We'll keep the pressure high through the TCKTCKTCK campaign until Copenhagen, with another global day of action on October 24th, and start planning right now for the LARGEST CLIMATE MOBILIZATION IN HISTORY ON DECEMBER 12th, in the final days of the Copenhagen negotiations.

Avaaz is now 3.6 million members strong in 14 languages, in every country of the world. On Monday, our movement took a huge step forward -- we showed that we can not only send millions of messages to leaders or donate millions to worthy causes, but that in just a few days we can flood the streets and crash phone lines from Mexico City to Mumbai.

If we stick together, anything is possible.

With hope and excitement for the future,

Ricken, Ben, Paul, Milena, Alice, Luis, Brett, Taren, Margaret, Iain, Pascal, Graziela, Paula, Benjamin, Rajeev, Veronique, Raluca, Julius, Yuri, Saravanan, Vladimir, Tihomir, Sam, Emma and the whole Avaaz team

PS - the video above was made from over 10,000 wake up call pictures and 600 videos uploaded to Avaaz in just 24 hours! There were many tears among people making the video as we saw the amazing dedication of everyone, from the Avaaz community to our TCKTCKTCK campaign partners to people joining the first climate action of their lives. Click here to see the video of this amazing movement in action: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/sept21_hub

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ABOUT AVAAZ Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global decision-making. (Avaaz means "voice" in many languages.) Avaaz receives no money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in Ottawa, London, Rio de Janeiro, New York, Buenos Aires, and Geneva. Click here to learn more about our largest campaigns. Don't forget to check out our Facebook and Myspace and Bebo pages! You can also follow Avaaz on Twitter!

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Save Darfur Coalition

I'd like to remind you that our panel discussion, "Sudan and the G-20: What The World's Richest Countries Can Do," is today at 3:00 p.m. ET. You can watch it live at http://www.savedarfur.org/webcast.

The discussion promises to be informative and lively and features the following panelists:

• Sean Brooks, Save Darfur Coalition
• Rabbi Steve Gutow, Jewish Council for Public Affairs
• Isaac Leju-Loding, Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition
• Mwangi S. Kimenyi, Brookings Institution

I hope you'll join us for this discussion live via webcast at 3 p.m. ET. Visit http://www.savedarfur.org/webcast to watch. Questions can be submitted to webcast@savedarfur.org before or during the discussion.

Best,

Mark Lotwis
Save Darfur Coalition

"Don't Forget Darfur"

Our Darfur/Darfur exhibit will bring the people of Darfur face to face with world leaders. Now is your chance to go face to face with them as well.

Will you add your picture to our "Don't Forget Darfur" photo petition?

Your photos will create a mosaic that spells out "Don't Forget Darfur"—which we'll deliver along with your petition signatures just before the U.N. General Assembly.

It's not just the people featured in the gripping Darfur/Darfur exhibit who demand a lasting peace.

They are joined by thousands of others—like you and me—who will show President Obama that we haven't forgotten the people of Darfur.

Take a picture with our campaign name "Don't Forget Darfur" and upload it to our photo petition.

This is our opportunity to really show President Obama the faces of this movement.

Grab a friend and your digital camera or camera phone. Hold up a sign saying "Don't Forget Darfur"—create your own design or download and print a sign from our website—then upload it to our "Don't Forget Darfur" photo petition.

We'll make sure that your faces together will be delivered at just the right moment to send a message more powerful than a thousand words.

Thank you!

It's About Time!

U.S. Justice Department: Tourist Perverts Beware! Glum Economic Realities Ahead for Cities, Report Says

September 1st, 2009

Don't Forget Darfur" campaign,

We've gotten the world's attention. Now will you help us keep up the momentum for peace in Sudan?

Give $50 or more today and we'll send you the moving book of essays, Dedicated to the People of Darfur.

You're getting their attention in New York today.

The U.N. General Assembly has begun and through our "Don't Forget Darfur" campaign, you are putting the people of Sudan front and center.

But if we want to help head off Sudan's current slide back into violence, we have to keep our momentum going—before the world looks away.

Raising $125,000 by the end of our fiscal year on September 30 will launch new programs we know can promote peace in Sudan. Will you help?

Make a donation to support this critical work now. When you give $50 or more, we'll send you the inspiring book of essays, Dedicated to the People of Darfur.

Time is precious. Right now, escalating violence in South Sudan threatens to reignite the brutal North/South civil war that ended in 2005. If our leaders do nothing to prevent war, the violence will almost certainly destabilize all of Sudan, including Darfur.

But if you donate today, we'll be able to promote peace in Sudan by:

• Demanding political action in high-level meetings. With the support of activists like you, we have been able to get high-level meetings with Congress, the Obama administration, the UN, and foreign governments to ensure that they make peace in Sudan a priority.
   
• Maintaining stability and supplies in the camps. We'll keep working with Congress to make sure the millions of Sudanese people still living in displacement camps have adequate funding for humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping and civilian policing support, and diplomatic efforts to resolve the underlying crisis.
   
• Ending escalating violence against women by supporting the international 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence starting in November. The campaign will promote women's economic empowerment and create a speaker's bureau to raise awareness of this growing problem.
   
• Launching Moved by Faith: A Call for Peace with the Sudan Interfaith Working Group. Already, thousands of religious leaders have signed a peace letter to President Obama calling on him to exercise moral leadership and outlining a path for future action. The letter will be delivered to the White House on October 2.

Now that we have the world's attention, these programs can help promote a sustained movement toward peace.

Help us make these efforts as bold and effective as possible—donate to support peace in Sudan today. If you give $50 or more, we'll send you a special book of essays on Darfur!

Thank you for helping us bring the world's attention back to the forgotten people of Sudan. With your continued help, I know we can turn the visibility you've built into a movement for just and lasting peace.

My best,

Jerry Fowler
President, Save Darfur Coalition

This message was sent to Procomicdiva@shaw.ca. Visit your subscription management page to modify your email communication preferences or update your personal profile. To stop ALL email from Save Darfur Coalition, click to remove yourself from our lists.

The Save Darfur Coalition is an alliance of over 180 faith-based, advocacy and human rights organizations whose mission is to raise public awareness about the ongoing genocide in Darfur and to mobilize a unified response to the atrocities that threaten the lives of more than two million people in the Darfur region. To learn more, please visit http://www.SaveDarfur.org.

petition asking the G20 to host an upcoming summit in Africa

Dear ONE Member,

Presidents and prime ministers are headed to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania later this week for the G20 Summit—the latest in a series of high-level talks on the global economy, covering everything from international trade to the rules governing financial markets.

But it’s not only what these world leaders talk about that matters. Where they meet is important, too. If an African country is picked next to host an upcoming G20 summit, it would bring new attention to the role Africa can and must play in any successful global economic recovery.

Click the link below to add your name to our petition asking the G20 to host an upcoming summit in Africa and put that continent’s potential on the political map:

http://www.one.org/international/g20toafrica/o.pl?id=1187-2964580-CT0zidx&t=3

The petition reads:

The Africa I’ve seen is ready to join the global marketplace and help drive economic growth. And its agricultural resources, if fully developed, could feed the world. In a recent visit to Ethiopia—where malaria deaths have been halved in only two years—I visited the new Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX), a first of its kind electronic, international exchange for coffee, grain and other agricultural products. The ECX is entrepreneurialism at its best, helping farmers and traders get fair prices for their goods.

This kind of success is being repeated across Africa. Through smart aid and African-led innovation, poverty and disease are giving way to trade and opportunity. Now, we need the leaders of the G20 nations to go to Africa and see it for themselves.

Click the link below to take action now and send that message. Tell the G20 that one of their upcoming meetings must be in Africa:

http://www.one.org/international/g20toafrica/o.pl?id=1187-2964580-CT0zidx&t=5

Thank you for making a difference,

David Lane
President, ONE.org

Victory for Troy Davis at Supreme Court!

Dear C J,

We won! Thanks to you and 35,000 other NAACP members and supporters, the U.S. Supreme Court today announced that Troy Davis will finally get his day in court…and a chance to prove his innocence.

The court ordered a federal judge in Georgia to review, what we and many others believe is, the overwhelming evidence of Troy's innocence. Troy was sentenced to death for the 1991 killing of a police officer in Savannah, Georgia.

As you know, the NAACP and other organizations have been fighting to save the life of Troy Davis. There was no physical evidence tying him to the crime and seven out of nine witnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony. And today, finally, the Supreme Court gave Troy a chance to present this evidence and prove his innocence! That's a victory for Troy and his family — and for all of us.

Thank you for all your work to make this happen. I'll be in touch again soon to let you know how else you can help.

Sincerely,

Benjamin Todd Jealous
President and CEO
NAACP