Dear peaceables,
Many, many thanks to all of you who sent good wishes for my 60th birthday, and who donated to Educación Popular en Salud (EPES). EPES touches the lives of about 180,000 people a year, at a cost of about $3 per person – your generosity could translate into making a difference to almost 700 people.
Update on my Facebook item from last digest – my post about the article is still there – maybe their subversion-detection software works better in Spanish than it does in English. J Whoops, just checked again and can't find it – I need advice from someone more tech-savvy…
Twenty-four hours later: boy, do I ever! (need someone tech-savvy) I tried to send this last night from gmail and got a message this morning saying they don't "do" messages to listserves. The silver lining is that I got a chance to add a couple more items.
Peace,
Chris
The world's poor, the hardest hit by the financial crisis, are missing from Harper's budget. The Canadian Council on International Cooperation is calling for increases to aid spending averaging 15% a year for the next 10 years in order to reach the internationally agreed target for aid spending of 0.7% of Gross National Income.
The Peruvian Forensic Anthropology Team (EPAF) has internship opportunities for May – November 2009.
The World Ecosocialist Network is calling for signatures for the Belem Ecosocialist Declaration, released last month at the World Social Forum.
The Canadian Peace Alliance is looking for signatories to their call for an end to government attacks on Tamils in Sri Lanka, for international aid organizations to be allowed to bring emergency assistant to affected civilians and for freedom of the press.
Avaaz.org is also calling on people to write Secretary of State Clinton about it.
the Palestinian Child Sponsorship Progam ;
Zatoun, an ethical business distributing fair trade olive oil from Palestine through grassroots groups and individuals working for social justice and peace in Palestine-Israel.
A group of expatriate Iranian intellectuals released a public apology for the persecution of Iran's Baha'i minority.
Indian and Pakistani women have launched a cross-border campaign for peace between the two countries.
Find out about the ecovillage movement
Brazil is determined to double its share of the world market for beef – at the expense of the Amazonian rainforest.
BTW, p lease, please, PLEASE don't start that Amazon rainforest chain letter going again – chain letters are never a good idea, no matter how good the cause. Even when the facts are correct and the cause is good, chain letters are not a good way to tackle them - no reputable organization accepts them, and they clog bandwidth, thus sabotaging more important (or even fun) communication. For all the many reasons why chain letters are never a good idea, go here. The vast majority of letters asking you to forward something to all your friends are hoaxes; in such cases, it's always a good idea to check it out on a site like http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/ or www.breakthechain.org
A shocking story on the international adoption industry from the Brandeis School of Investigative Journalism.In a few decades, the relationship between the environment, resources and conflict may seem almost as obvious as the connection we see today between human rights, democracy and peace.
- Wangari Maathai
Jim Silver on "Building Resistance: Aboriginal Organizations in Winnipeg's Inner City."
An Israeli woman asks Obama to take away the pain.
Bob Herbert about a documentary on Liberian women who joined forces - peacefully – to bring an end to civil war.
"Giving as an act of solidarity."
Tabitha Southey on why Bush humour wasn't so hot (the link I couldn't find for the last digest).
Greg Palast: "Obama Is a Two-Faced Liar. Aw-RIGHT!"
And on a lighter note, check out the contents of the George W. Bush Presidential Library.