February 12, 2005: Her murder was not the end

from www.dorothystang.org, sponsored by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur

Sister Dorothy Stang. She was Dot to her friends and family and Irma (Sister) Doroteia to the people in Brazil who took to calling her the "Angel of the Amazon" because of her passionate support of poor farmers' rights to the land and her protectiveness of the rainforest. Dorothy, a Sister of Notre Dame, devoted almost 40 years of her life to the people and land of Brazil. On February 12, 2005, two hired gunmen shot her six times thinking they had finally silenced this gentle, tenacious crusader for the poor.

But her murder was not the end.

Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur continue to live and work in the Amazon rainforest among the materially poor.

CLICK HERE to read the Sisters' stories and the stories of others who have been inspired by Sr. Dorothy Stang's life, faith and courage.

President and First Lady Obama Proclaim Black History Month a Celebration of Women

by Seandra Sims, http://allhiphop.com, February 10, 2012

As he does each year, President Barack Obama recently signed a proclamation commemorating February as “African American History Month.” This year, the Obama Adminstration has decided to celebrate via the theme, “Black Women in American Culture and History.

The White House recently issued a special video message from one of the country’s most successful Black women – the First Lady herself, Mrs. Michelle Obama. Check out the video where she talks about the “heroes” among Black women.  MORE

Manifiesto a la Opinión Pública Peruana y Brasilera, por Ciudadanos Haitianos Varados en la Ciudad Fronteriza de Iñapari

Gracias a Victor Mendoza por esta información.

Reunidos, todos los ciudadanos haitianos, en el templo parroquial de la Iglesia Católica de la ciudad de Iñapari, el día 25 de Enero de 2012, a horas cuatro de la tarde, teniendo conocimiento de la llegada de periodistas de la ciudad de Lima, capital del Perú; después de una asamblea larga, donde se manifestaron varios de nuestros compatriotas, hombres y mujeres, algunos hasta con lágrimas en los ojos, expresamos lo siguiente a la opinión pública:

PRIMERO.- Que en este momento nos encontramos 280 ciudadanos haitianos varados, en esta ciudad fronteriza de Iñapari, sin poder pasar al País de Brasil, desde el día 12 de enero. LEER MÁS

Solidaridad en Acción

Por casualidad, vi la foto (arriba, izquierda) de Marichui Bringas en Facebook y me pregunté qué hacía.  Así que le envié un mensaje preguntando, ¿dónde andas?  A continuación es su respuesta.                                                                Jean Durel  

Sabes que el pasado 7 de enero hubo un incendio donde 3 familias perdieron todo, acudimos Hortencia (una amiga y compañera en la UDEM) y yo para hacernos presentes, llevamos ropa, zapatos, y artículos que pudieran servir.

Algunas personas fueron solidarias y les han llevado cosas y materiales de construcción, pero no ha sido suficiente.

Nos organizamos con unos jóvenes que están iniciando una organización que se llama PROVS: esto es Programa de Vivienda Sustentable. Ellos son jóvenes solidarios, recien graduados que les gusta ayudar y estudiantes de Ingeniería, Arquitectura, y otras carreras, ellos brindan su trabajo solidario y gratuito, para la coordinación y asesoría de la construcción. Todos estamos buscando la manera de conseguir materiales de construcción; las hermanas me dieron un donativo aproximadamente de $ 5 000.00 (cinco mil pesos M.N.) con el que compramos materiales para la construcción del baño, block y arena.  LEER MÁS

REPUDIO A LA REPRESIÓN DE GOBIERNO PANAMEÑO

Gracias a Cecy Estrada por este artículo.

Un hermano indígena asesinado y decenas de heridos y detenidos este domingo 5 de febrero, es el balance preliminar de los choques entre miembros del Pueblo Ngäbe-Buglé y efectivos policiales panameños que estallaron ayer por la mañana en la zona occidental de Panamá. Fuerzas de seguridad panameñas lanzaron gases lacrimógenos y desplegaron intensas maniobras para desalojar a nuestros hermanos indígenas que, desde el lunes pasado, bloquean carreteras y otras vías en rechazo a las operaciones mineras y la explotación hidroeléctrica en sus comarcas. LEER MÁS

Quince rosales en Salvárcar

Gracias a una persona en la frontera por mandar este artículo del Victor M. Quintana S. que salió en  www.jornada.unam.mx

Quince rosales, uno por cada joven asesinado en Villas de Salvárcar, fueron sembrados el domingo pasado por sus familias y quienes integran el Grupo de Articulación Justicia en Juárez, en la casa donde se perpetró la masacre, hace dos años.

30 de enero: para los deudos de los jóvenes, para la sociedad civil organizada de Juárez, parteaguas, comienzo doloroso, ya basta. La firme interpelación de Luz María Dávila, madre de dos de los muchachos ultimados, Marcos y José Luis Piña Dávila, a Felipe Calderón: Usted no es bienvenido a Juárez, es la versión fronteriza del Estamos hasta la madre. La voz de la dignidad que se alzó y se sigue alzando en cada acto, en cada protesta, en cada fecha en rojo del nuevo calendario cívico juarense, como dice Willy Delgadillo.  LEER MAS

The Drug War's Invisible Victims

by Laura Carlsen, FPIF (Foreign Policy in Focus), January 27, 2012

There are many kinds of war. The classic image of a uniformed soldier kissing mom good-bye to risk his life on the battlefield has changed dramatically. In today’s wars, it’s more likely that mom will be the one killed.

UNIFEM states that by the mid-1990s, 90% of war casualties were civilians-- mostly women and children.

Mexico’s drug war is a good example of the new wars on civilian populations that blur the lines between combatants and place entire societies in the line of fire. Of the more than 50,000 people killed in drug war-related violence, the vast majority are civilians. President Felipe Calderón claims that 90% of the victims were linked to drug cartels. But how does he know? In a country where only 2% of crimes are investigated, tried, and sentenced, the government pulled this figure out of its sleeve.  READ MORE

URGENT ACTION: Help protect a climate champion

from Bill McKibben at 350.org 

President Mohammed Nasheed of the Maldives is a champion fighting to protect our climate and save our planet. Now it is he specifically who is at risk. A military coup forced President Nasheed from office on Tuesday morning with threats of violence. He is currently under house arrest and needs our help.  TAKE ACTION

Read an opinion piece in the N.Y. Times, February 8, 2012,  THE DREGS OF DICTATORSHIP, written by deposed president Mohamed Nasheed.

Occupy vs. Monsanto: Activists, Farmers Fight the Corporation They Fear Will Take Over All America's Crops

by Anna Lekas Miller - www.alternet.org - February 6, 2012

Occupy comes out to support a lawsuit that hopes to turn the tables on corporate farming behemoth Monsanto.

Monsanto, if you will, is the 1 percent of Big Agriculture--the scourge of small farmers everywhere. But now those farmers are fighting back, backed by activists from Occupy Wall Street.

First, some history. In 1982, Monsanto scientists were the first to genetically modify a plant cell. Three years later, the US Patent Office ruled that plants were a patentable subject matter.

By 1985, Monsanto had already become a corporate giant by creating RoundUp, the most popular herbicide in the world. Now that it had the legal protection of seed patents in addition to the biotechnology to genetically manipulate its seeds, Monsanto scientists engineered a specific brand of Monsanto seeds that were RoundUp-resistant—unlike organic, natural seeds, these seeds are sterile and have to be re-planted each year, ensuring that customers return year after year to replenish their supply.  READ MORE

RAZONES POR UNA JUSTICIA MÁS SOLIDARIA

La canción: “Agua sí, Oro no”

Gracias a Anne Marie Burke por mandar este video con la canción “Agua sí, Oro no” que expresa una gran lucha en Perύ.

Saving Mother Earth One Step at a Time

The following column written by Rev. Gerry Kleba appeared in the St. Cronan Church bulletin on January 29, 2012.  Used with permission.

(Be sure to read the last paragraph where Fr. Gerry extends an unusual invitation to his parishoners.)

Many of you are doing things that contribute to the health and life of our planet. The operative, popular word for this effort is ‘SUSTAINABILITY’. Maybe for you it is as simple as my activity yesterday when I left Shop n Save and returned to my car to get the cloth bags I had left behind. I’m sure that many of us are into gardening and shopping at Farmers’ Markets to get fresher foods, support the family farms in our area and reduce the use of fossil fuels by purchasing items that are grown closer to St. Louis. These products are not wrapped in plastic shrink wrap.

On a larger parish level we have done several energy efficiency studies to determine how to reduce fuel costs by making our buildings more energy efficient with insulation and possibly painting our flat roofed buildings with white paint to reflect the sun and reduce the costs of AC. On a much more technical level we have even looked into the possibility of geo-thermal heating and AC for our church and rectory buildings.  READ MORE

Corporations have no use for borders

Thanks to J'Ann Allen for sending this article written by Chris Hedges, published in TruthDig on January 30, 2012.

What happened to Canada? It used to be the country we would flee to if life in the United States became unpalatable. No nuclear weapons. No huge military-industrial complex. Universal health care. Funding for the arts. A good record on the environment.

But that was the old Canada. I was in Montreal on Friday and Saturday and saw the familiar and disturbing tentacles of the security and surveillance state. Canada has withdrawn from the Kyoto Accords so it can dig up the Alberta tar sands in an orgy of environmental degradation. It carried out the largest mass arrests of demonstrators in Canadian history at 2010’s G-8 and G-20 meetings, rounding up more than 1,000 people. It sends undercover police into indigenous communities and activist groups and is handing out stiff prison terms to dissenters. And Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a diminished version of George W. Bush. He champions the rabid right wing in Israel, bows to the whims of global financiers and is a Christian fundamentalist.  READ MORE

Tap water is cleaner than bottled water (and other shocking facts)

Thanks to Martha Ann Kirk for sending this article from www.care2.com


Today, as I stood in line at the grocery store, watching the woman in front of me haul a huge case of bottled water up to the conveyor belt, I felt that familiar twinge…a combination of frustration and confusion.

All I could think about was those 24 unnecessary bottles ending up in the landfill. And the unnecessary oil it took to make the bottles. And the unnecessary mess that was made while extracting the oil.

“Why, why, WHY?” I wondered. Why would you pay for bottled water every week when perfectly good water flows out of every faucet in your house?!

And then it dawned on me. The answer was right there on the packaging. “Purified water.” One of the biggest reasons people buy and drink bottled water is because they think it’s cleaner than tap water.  READ MORE

En los Zapatos de Otro: Campaña El Colectivo el Grito Más Fuerte

Gracias a Guadalupe Ruiz por este video convincente.

Campaña publicitaria de concientización en contra de la violencia en México.

www.movimientoporlapaz.mx

www.elgritomasfuerte.mx

PRONUNCIAMIENTO EDOP: Los Equipos Docentes del Perú

Gracias a Victor Mendoza por este informe.

Los Equipos Docentes del Perú, Comunidades Cristianas de maestros y maestras comprometidos(as) con la Educación del pueblo, reunidos(as) en Cajamarca del 21 al 26 de enero, en nuestro XXXVI Encuentro Nacional declaramos: 
Cuatro veces en la historia de nuestro Movimiento nos hemos reunido en medio del pueblo cajamarquino. Esta vez, uno de los temas centrales ha sido la reflexión en torno al medio ambiente y la defensa de la vida desde nuestra tarea educadora.

Hemos comprendido con profundidad  e indignación creciente, lo que vive el pueblo de esta región como consecuencia de la minería. Una vez más las víctimas son los  pobres y su tierra masacrada.  LEER MÁS

Pastoral Letter from the Zambia Episcopal Conference

Thanks to Cristina Vargas for the following letter from the Zambia Episcopal Conference

That they may have abundant life (John 10:10)

To the Catholic faithful and all people of goodwill.

Grace, mercy and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18)

In the first instance, we take this opportunity to thank God for the relatively peaceful transition that this nation experienced during and after the tripartite elections of September 2011.

1.0 Church and State Relations The common denominator and our mutual rallying point between the Church and the State is that we are both concerned about the common good and the well-being of God’s people. It is from this point of view that we welcome the easing of tensions between the Catholic Church and the Government. It is our prayer and hope that we never again return to that era in which our national media was used to demonise and vilify innocent citizens and organisations. READ MORE

Bill Moyers: How the Banks Have Re-written our Economy's Rules

from www.alternet.org, January 28, 2012

Bill Moyers is back on television. Here is January 27, 2012  episode of "Moyers and Company," which asks: "how did our political and financial class shift the benefits of the economy to the very top, while saddling us with greater debt and tearing new holes in the safety net?"

Moyers investigates how the Glass-Steagall act was "brought down" by politicians, and what can be done to end this era of financial industry domination.  CLICK HERE to see the program.

The Carnage In Mexico: Do We Care?

The following article was written by Norm Stamper, a 34-year veteran police officer who reitred in 2000 as chief of police of Seattle, WA.  It appeared online on January 29, 2012 at www.huffingtonpost.com .

The U.S. has given birth to the killing fields of Mexico. Does that even matter, at all, to those in this country who are in a position do something about it?

American drug policy, and our gutless, unreasoned refusal to change it, has caused the epic violence south of the border. The American-led drug war has claimed the lives of over 50,000 Mexicans since the end of 2006. That's when newly installed president Felipe Calderon declared all-out war on drug traffickers, collected $1.4 billion from the U.S. treasury, and used American resources to train and equip thousands of soldiers, marines, and police officers, large numbers of them as corrupt and brutal as the enemy they pursue.  READ MORE