think globally, act locally --- globally...

cool phrase that - think globally, act locally...

but think about it - what would it be like to complete that loop??? to act locally with a global impact???

that would be amnesty international!!!

cool huh???

here's a great example... check it out...

Amnesty's Global CEASEFIRE Vigil

On Monday, August 7th Amnesty International groups around the world held vigils to to call for an immediate and effective ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hizbullah, to show solidarity with victims and survivors on both sides of the conflict, and to demand that all governments stop transferring arms to all parties to the conflict.

Over 50 vigils took place in the United States in cities and towns as diverse as Peoria, IL, Cookesville, TN, Duluth, MN, San Francisco, Washington, DC and many others, generating more than 30 media stories and over 140 mentions by local news anchors. See the pictures. »

But despite the good results, there is much more that needs to be done:

Sign our online petition to Secretary Rice calling for a ceasefire.
Download our petition to gather signatures in your community.
Call on the Israeli government to allow humanitarian aid into besieged villages.

peace out <3

"i don’t like the term torture... i prefer to call it nastiness..."

well my friends, you can attribute that quote to u.s. secretary of defense (sic?) donald rumsfeld...numbs the mind doesn't it... but not the heart, eh???

oh yes, there is a reason for this intro...last night lynne r and i went to push petition signatures at the belcourt theater during the film road to guantanamo...

powerful that...i don't know what i was expecting exactly but it far exceeded whatever my mind had prepared itself for...

it's the story of the tipton three who were the 3 britons of south asian origin, mixed up in petty crime...sufficiently paskistani in identity to visit that country and feel reasonably at home (one of the original 4 was returning to pakistan to visit his father and get married), they were also sufficiently british to imagine it would be a good idea to extend their trip to afghanistan, just to see what they would find...what they did find, of course, was war, the of death a friend, and then, just when they might have thought they were safe, torture and imprisonment at the hands of the americans (and brits), first in afghanistan and then in guantanamo bay...

i was very disoriented as i tried to adjust to what i thought was going to be a documentary but was a film that reconstructs their story... the reconstruction is accompanied by interviews with the men (in which they describe what happened, with little embellishment) and clippings from news stories at the time (a minority of which display what in retrospect seems outrageous bias in favour of the agreed western spin on the war). There's an element of black comedy in the way a group of uppity British lads somehow find themselves at war; but when the torture begins, it's hard not to get angry at the systematic disregard for the human rights of men who had been convicted of no crime. Also hard to escape is the sheer bone-headedness of their interrogators: convinced that their suspects work for "Al-Quaeda", which they seem to conceive of as some kind of unitary and institutional organisation, the Americans have no effective idea of what to do except to put this proposition to their suspects ad nauseam until they agree, with intermittent torture to ram home the point. That a confession in these circumstances would have means precisely nothing does not seem to have occurred to them. In fact, the men didn't break, which was presumably easier because they had no idea of the sort of information the Americans wanted from them...(paul from the u.k.)

based on documented reports from multiple sources i took the recreation as accurate and it left me fuming over both the behavior of u.s. and british interrogators and guards and their public denials that they were in any way violating the geneva convention, the international convention against torture, and the principles of basic psychology (their tactics were doomed to be ineffective from the getgo - yes, that's a joke-phrase riffing off gitmo)...

we did table, we did get signatures, i was left disturbed, angry, and ready to do more human righs education...

peace out <3

this jew is not happy with the israeli government...

can i be more clear than that???

a recent report issued by amnesty international published findings that point to an israeli policy of deliberate destruction of lebanese civilian infrastructure, which included war crimes, during the recent conflict...

to view a video for as long as it stays on the amnesty international site in london click here...and to take action on-line click here...

now i'm not naive and i shouldn't be surprised - this is the same strategy that nations with traditional military structures have used against non-traditional military units since world war ii ... it's the classic strategy used by the u.s. military in vietnam ...

but it still shocks and dismays to this day that lessons never seem to get learned and civilians (no collateral damage) pay the price...

want to read a current novel that alludes to some of these unlearned lessons??? check out the scorpion's gate by richard a. clarke...

peace out <3

amnesty international works!!! - case in point 1...

sometimes people say, "sure we write letters or sign your petitions but so what?"

... and that's a legitimate question...people want to be effective, successful, make a difference...

so do we - and we do!

here's a case in point ... this blog will feature human rights successes as part of its micro-mission...

peace out <3>

Prisoner of Conscience "Very Grateful" to Urgent Action \

Hojjatoleslam Ezimi Qedimi. (c) Private "I am very grateful for the campaign which Amnesty started for my sake. I heard about the action while I was imprisoned. After I was released I saw letters while I was being interrogated by the security service. Your letters meant very much to me."

Iran: Hojjatoleslam Ezimi Qedimi was returned to prison on March 26, 2006 after an appeal against a one-year prison sentence was rejected on February 20, 2006 by Branch 2 of the Special Court for the Clergy. If charged, Hojjatoleslam Ezimi Qedimi could be a prisoner of conscience, held solely on account of his peaceful beliefs and activities on behalf of the Azeri Turk community in Iran. 2006-05-04

making the most of your opportunities...

it's not like every moment of every day the chance to promote, educate, and organize around human rights is shadowing you like some domestic homeland security agent ... i mean when you're choosing avocados in the produce section are you turning to the person next to you and saying, "extraordinary rendition - what's up with that?!"...

i didn't think so (doesn't mean you couldn't)...

so tonight amnesty international, through teamwork, is tabling at the belcourt theater in nashville because the film the road to guantanamo is opening for a seven day run...

so what we have here is an opportunity...what do we do with it...

first we customize some issue specifric flyers with local contact info on them, we collect people's contact info (e-mail addresses and phone numbers being the preferred tools), and have an ACTION they can take at the table (in this instance it's a pre-printed letter to a. g. gonzales and some petitions...

what we leave with after 2 nights are new contacts to follow up with so we can mobilize them for further action, educating and informing likely actors on whatv they can do around the abuses of the "war on terror" (sic), the marketing of amnesty international and its human rights work, action already taken by people o the issue, and perhaps a little fundraising for our local work...

that agenda gives us opportunities for measurable outcomes and not just a good feeling for doing something that's right...now that's making the most out of your opportunities...

what's in your fundraising wallet...

one of the things that local amnesty international chapters need to do is raise $$$!!!

why you ask???

there are of course the incidental expenses for basic copying, some postage or post office box rental, paper, pens and envelopes for letter writing and the like - well, i'm sure you get the micro-picture of needs...

but there are larger needs as well...what bout the cost of organizing a large event - you may want to print a banner for a concert to raise awareness on genocide in darfur, or bring a former torture victim in to speak at public presentation as part of the campaign against torture...and the list of educational/awareness event possibilities goes on...

but there are important expenses related to what i call professional development of volunteer leadership and active members who want to earn more about and get more involved in the work of amnesty international...

travel $$$ to get people to the regional conference (november), the annual general meeting of aiusa (april), and trainings (advocacy, multiculturalism, organizing, etc...) are needed to empower and facilitate local people to become human rights organizers in their communities...

fundraising seams intimidating to the uninitiated for 2 reasons: how do you do it and what if someone say no!??? as to the latter consider that many people WANT to help those who choose to develop leadership skills and become better organizers and they are simply WAITING for YOU to ASK THEIR help...

as to the former here's a brainstormed list of grassroots ways to raise $$$...

House Party (including film or documentary viewings), Garage Sales, Book signing (with sympathetic author), Music event, Politics and Popcorn gathering, Poetry reading, Bake sale, Pass the Hat at events, Poker/Blackjack night, Halloween event, Film screening, Fast for Human Dignity (like a 5 k race event), Art show/on-line auction, Sending personalized donation request letters, Ben & JerryÂ’s/Backyard Burgers receipts share, Car wash, special Church collection, Pancake breakfast/Fish fry, Crafts donated and sold, t-shirts or bracelets sold, beneficiary of other events (scooter rally)...

which simply begs the question - what's in your fundraising wallet???

peace out <3

on amnesty international and collaborative relationships

so i received a request from the lefty math prof to publicize a rally in nashville on august 30th...

seems harmless enough, right??? whoa nelly - not so fast there ... before amnesty international can promote outside events or collaborate with other organizations we have to ask some basic questions...like

• what are the stated goals of the event
• is it a partisan event (or can it be viewed as such)
• is there a goal behind the event such as supporting initiative x or calling for a boycott of company y

...and the like - and the answers to such questions then have to be referenced against amnesty international's mission and posture as an organization...and the key thing to remember, the thing that makes amnesty international so effective is this (straight from the international headquarters website):

Amnesty International is independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion. It does not support or oppose any government or political system, nor does it support or oppose the views of the victims whose rights it seeks to protect. It is concerned solely with the impartial protection of human rights.

so the rally that the lefty math prof is referencing is at a fundraising dinner for u.s. senate candidate bob corker featuring the president george w. bush...

so what can amnesty international do???

well, these events can be dicey...amnesty takes no position on political parties, individual candidates, particular governments, or ideologies (e.g. neo-conservativism)...so as amnesty members (e.g. holding amnesty banners) we can not protest against "the president"...

but we can organize and educate around specific administration or government policies that result in human rights violations...we can distribute literature regarding illegal detentions, extraordinary rendition, torture and mistreatment, violence against women that inevitably occurs in war situations, and a host of other violations that occur in any country whether a result of internal or external actors...

so can amnesty members participate in this rally as amnesty members??? taking the banner would not be acceptable but distributing literature on human rights issues and violation, obtaining signatures on petitions, getting letters or postcards signed regarding specific issues (e.g. genocide in darfur) bare all acceptable actions to take at such an event...

what event???

August 30,
3:30pm-7:30pm
Rally Against US Government policies that result in human rights violations

George Bush will be speaking at a $1200 per plate fundraiser dinner for Bob Corker. The doors open at 3:30, but the function will begin at 4:30. It's at the Loews Vanderbilt ..

be there but be clear why you are there...

peace out <3

securing equality and justice for women...

at least 183 countries have helped women worldwide to secure equality and justice by ratifying the treaty for the rights of women...only one country in the americas has not: the united states.

why is this so?

to find out, join us for an online discussion this friday, august 25th at 12:00 p.m. est with treaty expert sara albert...learn more about the united states' failure to ratify this treaty...and find out how you can convince congress to support the treaty for the rights of women....

Submit a question or comment in advance...

peace out ... <3

where have you gone thurgood marshall...

every so often in the game of symbolism we call capital punishment a person decides that he/she has had enough and waives their appeals giving the state carte blanche to kill em' up good...usually this person has a long history of diagnosed mental illness and occasionally they ere mentally competent when they arrived on death row but have become "a little looney" after having spent years waiting for death to come knocking on their door...

in no instance should we refer to this as state assisted suicide...this is a case of prisoner assisted homicide because such an occurrence is only speeding up what the state has planned for this individual all along...

in tennessee we just missed such an execution in the person of the severely mentally ill paul dennis reid...amnesty international has put out the following action for elijah page...when i come across these instances of state assisted homicide i yearn for the wisdom of the late justice thurgood marshall...

"A defendant's voluntary submission to a barbaric punishment does not ameliorate the harm that imposing such a punishment causes to our basic societal values and to the integrity of our system of justice. Certainly a defendant's consent to being drawn and quartered or burned at the stake would not license the State to exact such punishments.
Whitmore v Arkansas, US Supreme Court, Justice Marshall dissenting, 1990.

elijah page, age 24, is scheduled to be south dakota's first execution since 1947 on august 28...he is the 7th inmate this year to waive his appeals or "volunteer"...he was only 18 at the time of the crime, and a co-defendant received life imprisonment...sentencing him to death, the judge acknowledged mr. page's childhood of deprivation and abuse, saying "your early years must have been a living hell...most people treat their pets better than your parents treated their kids."

to learn more about so-called volunteers for execution click here...

to TAKE ACTION to stop this execution click here...

peace out... <3

ask and ye shall receive...

last weekend amnesty international usa held its first annual national leadership training summit in columbus ohio on the campus of THE ohio state university...

nearly 200 unpaid volunteer human rights leaders participated receiving information on the organization's priorities for the coming year and sharing experiences with one another as a means of imparting experience and learning how to organize from one another...

on saturday afternoon regional planning sessions were organized and the tennessee attendants held a state caucus of 7 committed human rights organizers...

one of the comunicarions ideas that emerged from the caucus was the creation of a blog for middle tennessee amnesty leaders to use as a means of sharing events, experiences, and the excitement of building a human rights movement in the volunteer state...

this is the launch of that endeavor and i assure you that it will take you all on a journey of unexpected outcomes ...

welcome aboard!

peace out <3