NEWSHUMAN RIGHTS

Dear Supporters:

Only three weeks after launching my Change.org petition asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to stop the use of so-called “pink slime” (or lean, finely textured beef – “LFTB”) in ground beef destined for school food, we’ve seen some truly extraordinary changes take place.

A mere nine days into the petition (when we’d reached over 200,000 signatures), USDA announced that starting next school year it will offer school districts a choice of beef either with LFTB or without the filler. And since that announcement many school districts around the country, including New York City public schools, the nation’s largest district, have indicated they will take advantage of this option and phase out the use of LFTB by this coming fall. To have achieved this result in such a short time period is phenomenal and shows that our voices were heard loud and clear by USDA.

If someone speeds through a crosswalk and hits a child, injuring them permanently, an arrest will be made. In deciding what charges to press, the accused’s unhappiness about being punished is not taken into account. If the child’s family considers civil litigation, the defendant’s objection to the litigation isn’t taken into account. A cornerstone of our justice system is that fear of punishment makes someone less likely to commit a crime.

We typically don’t think about the people who make our iPhones, computers and iPods.  They come to us in perfectly white boxes from the Apple store, ready to be played with.  Rarely do we consider the hands that made them, the human cost associated with them.  But thanks to some incredible investigative reporting by Mike Daisey and the New York Times and fast action by an Apple customer, the barrier between the makers and buyers of Apple products has been lifted.

As soon as NPR’s “This American Life” and the New York Times issued investigate reports of the working conditions at Apple’s factories in China, self-professed Apple-lover Mark Shields knew he had to take action.  So he started a petition on Change.org calling on Apple, Inc. to release a worker protection strategy for new product releases and publish the results of the Fair Labor Association’s monitoring of its suppliers.  Mark expected that his petition would resonate with his fellow Apple-lovers but he was completely blown away by the incredible level of support it drew.

By Sasha Kinney and Abubakar El-Amudy

The community of Lamu is fighting to have its voice heard in the development of a massive new infrastructure project, which threatens to destroy their idyllic and historic island off the coast of Kenya.  Corporations and the Kenyan government are pushing forward with plans to develop the large port and a host of related infrastructure.  Despite its dire environmental consequences, the project has gained momentum due to significant profit prospects and vague promises of economic development.

After international outcry from over 100,000 people across the world, the beginning of the end is here.  The end of women suffering physical and emotional abuse including sexual assault and torture in Ecuadorian clinics trying to cure them of being lesbian.

Fundacion Causana, a human rights group in Quito, Ecuador has been working on behalf of countless women being help against their will in hundreds of these underground clinics.  After ten years of campaigning, Fundacion Causana started a campaign on Change.org calling on the Ministry of Health to take action.

Thomas Jefferson once stated, “If there’s something wrong, those who have the ability to take action have the responsibility to take action.” Unfortunately, most of us are not fully acquainted with our abilities and this state of amnesia forces us into the realms of fearfulness, complacency, unwillingness, and utter hopelessness. We are blind to our true, awesome potential because there is this constant sense of seclusion and divide instilled in us by our environment. And it’s true. When we’re alone, it’s naturally difficult … but when united, we can move mountains and earlier this month, we did!

Two weeks ago, people nation-wide were reeling from the news that beloved Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky had been arrested for sexually abusing boys. As saddened as I was by the news, one of my first thoughts upon hearing it was “I’m glad this didn’t happen in NY, because if it did, these victims would probably never come forward”.

New York, like many states, has a statute of limitations for the prosecution of most child sex abuses. In NY, victims are generally ineligible to seek justice in civil or criminal courts after their 23^rd birthday. It is rare for most sexually abused children to reveal the abuse immediately after it happens, and often they don’t disclose that abuse until adulthood.  Most child sexual abuse is committed by someone the victim is very close to- often a family member or someone their family is close to. Therefore, when a victim discloses, especially if they want to pursue justice in the civil or criminal court system, they often risk tearing their families apart or being disowned. Someone seeking to bring their abuser to court needs to possess a certain amount of mental health, commitment, financial resources and possibly the willingness to live as an orphan the rest of their life. Those are hard things for anyone to have acquired by the tender age of 23, especially someone who is the victim of a heinous crime.

Background:

Tomorrow, December 1st, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be the first American Secretary of State to visit the Southeast Asian nation of Burma in 50 years. Her visit is a way for the United States to assess the sincerity of the Burmese military regime’s commitment to human rights and democracy -- including democratic elections and the release of Nobel Peace Laureate and pro-democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.

However, human rights activists want to be sure that Secretary Clinton will properly take advantage of this incredible opportunity and address the human rights violations that Burma is so widely known for.  Specifically, a Buddhist monk and Burmese political refugee named U Pyinya Zawta launched a campaign on Change.org calling on Secretary Clinton to push publicly for the unconditional release of all of Burma's political prisoners, including the venerable U Gambira, insist on an end to hostilities in Burma, and insist on changes to the 2008 flawed constitution.

(Traduccion al Espanol por debajo)

It’s hard to believe that in Ecuador, a country that has legalized homosexuality in its constitution, there are “ex-gay clinics” that claim to cure their patients through means of torture.  That’s right, under the guise of drug-rehabilitation, these clinics use verbal threats, shackling, days without food, sexual abuse, and physical torture to “cure” homosexuality.While 30 of these such clinics have been closed this year, over 200 remain open.  That’s why Ecuadorian activists are speaking out against these remaining clinics and demanding that the government close them.

To say that hair coloring has grown in popularity over the past decade would be an understatement. Anywhere between half and two-thirds of American women color their hair regularly, along with growing numbers of men and youth. In other countries that number may be as high as 85 percent. But just because hair dye use is rising doesn’t mean that consumers are any more aware of the risks involved. The toxic chemicals in hair dye, particularly para-phenylenediamine (PPD), can result in adverse reactions that lead to skin rashes, loss of hair, facial swelling and even death. Hair dye has also been linked to various cancers. Despite this, the major cosmetics companies have yet to replace dangerous substances such as PPD with nontoxic alternatives in their products.

“More than two thirds of hair dyes currently contain (PPD) and other related agents,” Science Daily reported. “During the 20th century, allergic reactions to PPD became such a serious problem that it was banned from hair dyes in Germany, France, and Sweden.”

The family of Tabatha McCourt surely wonders why the PPD ban was ever lifted. In October, the 17-year-old British girl cried out in anguish 20 minutes after coloring her locks. Tragically she died soon after. The European Scientific Committee for Consumer Products reports that PPD is to blame for 80 percent of allergic reactions to hair dye. Those who use dark dyes are particularly vulnerable, given that darker colors contain more PPD.