You Can Do It
"Take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.
Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented."
-- Elie Wiesel
Summer of 2010
Here's to having strength and wisdom for the coming year. May I have enough of both to find my way through the enormous challenges that defined my life in 2010 and which have no sign of letting up in 2011. For a few more details...
Blood Diamonds Still Exist
PLEASE CARE WHERE YOUR DIAMONDS COME FROM
YOU MAY BE DYING TO WEAR A DIAMOND, BUT MAKE
SURE NO ONE DIED SUPPLYING YOU WITH THAT DIAMOND.
"BLOOD DIAMONDS" ARE VERY REAL. BE RESPONSIBLE AND
DON'T BUY OR WEAR DIAMONDS FROM THE MARANGE
FIELDS IN ZIMBABWE.
FROM HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH:
In July 2010, the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme,
an international body that oversees the diamond trade,
decided to lift its one-year ban on exports of diamonds from
the Marange fields, despite finding serious human rights abuses
and rampant smuggling during its own investigation there.
Its weak excuse was a technicality in its mandate that defines
blood diamonds as those mined by abusive rebel groups, not
by abusive governments.
Human Rights Watch continues to call for the withdrawal of the
army from the diamond fields, an end to ongoing abuses,
and investigations into human rights abuses that have
taken place since 2007.
Responsible consumers should not buy diamonds from
Zimbabwe’s Marange fields.
What do all the coffee certifications really mean? Here's a site to sort it all out for you and they are not biased by being funded by one group over another. As far as I can tell, it's a website written to inform and that's all. Learn about 'Bird Friendly' coffee and why you should be looking for the labels that matter. Click the image below to read more ....
HAPPY HOLIDAYS! LET FREEDOM RING ...
Every time you handle a store receipt made with thermal paper containing BPA you rub a little bit of estrogen-mimicking powder onto your fingers that allows an opportunity for the endocrine-disrupting chemical to be absorbed into your body.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) writes, "Thermal paper is widely used for point-of-sale receipts, prescription labels, airline tickets and lottery tickets. Thermal printers use paper that is coated with a dye and developer (BPA or an alternative chemical). Heat from the thermal printing head triggers a reaction between the dye and developer, allowing the black print to appear."
STRAIGHT FROM EWG.ORG WEBSITE:
In animal tests, scientists have produced evidence that BPA can induce abnormal reproductive system development, diminished intellectual capacity and behavioral abnormalities and can set the stage for other serious conditions, such as reproductive system cancer, obesity, diabetes, early puberty, resistance to chemotherapy, asthma and cardiovascular system disorders. It has caused epigenetic changes, meaning alterations in the way genes switch off and on and genetic changes that can be passed on to the next generations.
Frequent exposures to relatively large amounts of BPA in receipts are an obvious concern to every shopper, but even more so to the legions of people who staff cash registers and bag groceries at tens of thousands of retailers across the country. These workers handle BPA-loaded receipts hundreds of times a day, with as yet unknown consequences for their health (Biedermann et al 2010). According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of May 2009, the two largest U.S. occupations were “retail salespersons” and “cashiers,” with more than 7 million Americans in those jobs.
Retail workers carry an average of 30 percent more BPA in their bodies than other adults, It is unclear how much BPA-coated receipts contribute to people's total exposure to the ubiquitous plastics chemical. What is certain, however, is that since many retail outlets already use BPA-free paper for their receipts, this is one source of contamination that could easily be eliminated completely.
It was a long, hard battle, but it's finally over; we now have justice for all!
If you use Wikipedia and enjoy what it offers, please consider donating as little as $1. It's the pursuit of knowledge in a pure form and not a commercial enterprise. Pass it along .... it's a beautiful thing :)
I'm just learning how to make a "video" with my photos ... no music with it yet, but check it out the silent mode. I hope it makes you smile... For crystal clear viewing, click to start and then click on the word FACEBOOK to watch it there in high definition. It looks sharp on a larger screen in HD .. otherwise it's fuzzy in a larger format.
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