Will The Actions Of Activists Take A Bite Out Of Apple?
Posted by Michelle Moquin on June 24th, 2010
Wow, the power of intention works wonders in so many ways, especially when the intention is working on a collective level. I was just commenting about computers the other day to Hamilton, and I then I received this in my e-mail yesterday. If people were not aware about the tragic role that the minerals in their computers contribute to the plight of women in Congo, they do now.
Activists Press Apple to go Conflict-free
Protesters pressing Apple to commit to making conflict-free products were front and center at the grand opening of Apple’s first store in Washington, D.C., last Friday. The new Georgetown location opened its doors at 5PM to a line of hundreds of people waiting for a chance to purchase the latest products and receive a free t-shirt. Enough supporters added to the excitement by gathering at the front entrance with Lisa Shannon, activist and author. Overtaking the street-side view of the store, protesters displayed a bright red banner reading “Guarantee Conflict-Free.”
The purpose of the event was to educate Apple consumers about the conflict in Congo and the relationship between our electronics, the conflict minerals essential to those devices, and the war in Congo, the world’s deadliest conflict since World War II. As consumers who love Apple products, we must demand that Apple act responsibly and verify that the minerals used in their products are not fueling the war in Congo. We want to be able to continue purchasing Apple products and be confident that they are not helping perpetuate a conflict in which Congolese civilians are raped and killed each day.
As one of the world’s leading electronics companies, Apple has the trend-setting power to influence the entire industry. If every electronics company ensured that the minerals used in its products were conflict-free, rebel and militia groups would be denied the estimated $180 million they make each year and use to terrorize the communities of eastern Congo.
The advocates who turned out in front of the new store on Friday conveyed this message by handing out informational brochures and talking with people in line about Apple’s use of conflict minerals in their products. Other activists held signs that read “iPhone4Girls in Congo” and “I’ll Pad You on the Back for Conflict-Free.”
The crowd was very interested in the issue and a few customers said they planned to email Steven Jobs directly or mention the cause before purchasing their new iPads and laptops. The protest at the store opening spread awareness to Apple consumers and turned up the pressure on Apple to commit to guaranteeing conflict-free minerals.
It’s Interesting how some people would believe that Apple doesn’t have any idea that their use of minerals is killing women in Congo. I think Apple is awesome too, but believe me they know. It is also interesting that people are happy that their neighborhood is now graced with an Apple store bringing hope for a better economy to their community. Yeah, but what about the communities in Congo? Once again, some people are only concerned about me and mine.
But hey, it is a start. If you hit ‘em where it hurts, taking a bite out of their bottom line, perhaps Apple will smarten up to the speed of their computers and do something. Do you realize that even though tech companies have admitted it would cost one penny per product to ensure a conflict-free supply chain, lobbyists for manufacturing companies continue to argue that even this penny is too expensive. Amazing. One Penny to save lives. Again, it’s all about me and mine. Disgusting.
But in the meantime, many people are doing something. And events such as the one depicted in the video above is only one. I think the Enough Project should promote these events at every Apple store in the country that they can. People don’t know, and they need to know that they are contributing to a conflict that has already left more than 5 million people dead. It’s one thing to have collective intention, which I believe in its powers, but it is equally important to take collective action.
Need some motivation?
Lisa Shannon, an activist for the Congolese women, shares how her travels to Congo led her to the writing of her book, My journey to the worst place on earth to be a woman, ‘A Thousand Sisters’.
I had a great life—a successful business, a fiancé, a home, and security. But in the wake of my Dad’s death, and soon-to-be thirty years old, I found myself depressed, camped out in my living room watching Oprah. It was there that I learned about Congo, widely called the worst place on earth to be a woman. Awakened to the atrocities –millions dead, women being raped and tortured, children starving and dying in shocking numbers –I had to do something.
A Thousand Sisters chronicles how I raised sponsorships for Congolese women, beginning with a solo 30-mile run, and then founded Run for Congo Women. Despite countless warnings, with no credentials, I abandon my quickly collapsing home life and plunge into an unlikely lone journey through eastern Congo on a mission to ignite a movement for the world’s most forgotten women, to meet hundreds of my sponsored “sisters,” and hear their stories firsthand. But in a place where no man with a gun is the good guy, I confront militias, massacres, murder cover-ups, and unspeakable horror. Along the way I am forced to learn lessons of survival, fear, gratitude, and love from the women of Congo. A Thousand Sisters is a portrait of the world’s deadliest war through the intimate lens of friendship. It is a story of passion, hope, and my journey to carve out human bonds that cannot be touched by terror.
Want to do more?
Here’s what Shannon suggests:
1. Change her life. And yours. Sponsor your own Congolese sister. 3 minutes, $27 per month|WomenForWomen.org
2. Run (or walk or bike or swim or whatever) for Congo Women.
Do what I did and dedicate a solo run to women in the Congo. Or register for a Run for Congo Women near you. Or ask 12 friends to join you on a short run, each of you pitch in $30 and—ta-da!— you have enough to sponsor and change a woman’s life.
1 hour–6 months, starting at $30|RunForCongoWomen.org
3. Join the Raise Hope for Congo Campaign. 1 minute|RaiseHopeForCongo.org
4. Share A Thousand Sisters with friends. Start a book club. Available on preorder at www.Amazon.com now at great savings. 2 hours
5. Order a copy of Lisa Jackson’s film The Greatest Silence. Host a screening in your home, then ask your guests to sponsor a woman in Congo. 2 minutes to order the film, plus 2 half-days to plan and host the gathering, $29.95|TheGreatestSilence.org
6. Protect Congo’s forests. Support conservation work in Congo through Eric’s North American partners Zerofootprint. 2 minutes|ZeroFootprint.net
7. Urge President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to craft and implement an intelligent, comprehensive, diplomatic strategy to permanently deal with the Interahamwe, a.k.a. the FDLR. 2 minutes|Whitehouse.gov/contact
8. Friend me on Facebook. I post the latest news from Congo daily. 2 minutes|Friend me on Facebook!|Become a fan of A Thousand Sisters on Facebook!|Become a fan of Run For Congo Women on Facebook!\
9. Dream up something all your own, like I did!
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Readers: If all you can do is make a few phone calls to Congress, that’s good too. Click here to leave a message to Senators on their Facebook page. Don’t do Facebook? No problem. Just go to the left-hand column of my blog, where I have information on how to contact your Senators, and give them a quick call. Here’s an easy script, thanks to the Enough Project:
“Senator {Insert Name}, a penny per product is a worthy price for ensuring that our consumer purchases aren’t supporting a bloody and rapacious war in Congo. We all must recognize the full cost of our consumer products, and a penny is a small price to save human lives. Please join a bipartisan coalition in voting to keep conflict mineral audits and penalties in the Congo language that is part of the financial reform bill.”
Thank you!
Fatemah: Nice to hear from you. It has been awhile – I hope all is well!
Norman: Well I guess you got your question answered. Obama didn’t even give him the chance to step down – McChrystal was fired, ousted…and well deserved it was. I agree with you Doug, I too was hoping that Obama would simply jettison his ass.
Zen Lill: I know you can think of a great project for Lily’s school to bring about awareness.
Peace out….
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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June 24th, 2010 at 12:52 pm
Hi Mischa, I have to admit I have no time to read his thoroughly right now but caught my name and a call to action : ) I’m researching natural resource procurement stll and will report findings asap all have been preempted by sudden need for a new school this fall, con calls with power peeps about house shit, life shit and instead of avoiding it all as I have been to a degree I now WANT to handle everything, not that that sole decision suddenly wraps it all in a neat package but I needed a sweet universe ass kicking (I’m a youngest child, we tend to be lazier than our older sibs) and it all occurred to me what I sounded like while talking to you.
Not only did I sound undisciplined but I held back – a lot. It was mostly timing, hurried convo, but it lacked face to face…could use face time but you’re there and I’m here…
More later, love, Zen Lill
June 24th, 2010 at 9:00 pm
YES.
Obama did the right thing.
June 24th, 2010 at 9:05 pm
Shutter island is a very good movie. But it is being panned by those secret white supremacists. They hate it when the world is shown their evil face.
June 24th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
THE ANTIPERSPIRANT-CANCER CONNECTION
For many people, the thought of getting dressed without applying an antiperspirant seems downright unhygienic, not to mention antisocial.
But a new review of research suggesting a link between antiperspirants and two deadly forms of cancer — breast cancer and prostate cancer — presents a theory that may change some minds.
“Both of these cancers are hormone-dependent,” explains Kris G. McGrath, MD, associate professor of medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and author of the review, which was published in Medical Hypotheses.
He believes that the hormone problem may be located in the underarms and that antiperspirant use may be driving it.
TWO SIMILAR CANCERS
According to statistics from the US National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results Program, the number of cases of breast cancer and prostate cancer in the US has been eerily similar throughout the 20th century, and for 2009 the figures are nearly identical — about 192,000 new cases of each. Dr. McGrath doesn’t think this is just a coincidence.
Breast and prostate cancers share many characteristics. Both have hormone-dependent growth, in both cases primarily by sexual steroids.
Women have a preponderance of circulating estrogen and very little testosterone, while it is the opposite for men — but estrogen and testosterone receptors are present in both breast and prostate tissue.
Both cancers are treated with hormonal manipulation, and breast cancer is additionally treated with aromatase inhibitors to block the conversion of male hormones (androgens) to female hormones (estrogens).
A POSSIBLE CAUSE
Hormone-replacement therapy using synthetic forms of estrogen plus progesterone has been associated with breast cancer — but according to Dr. McGrath, rates of both breast cancer and prostate cancer started rising many years ago, well before the introduction of oral contraceptives and hormone-replacement.
“So,” Dr. McGrath asked, “where are the hormones coming from? My hypothesis is that the problem started in the underarm after the introduction of aluminum salt-based antiperspirants in 1902.”
In particular, Dr. McGrath is referring to the sweat glands located under the arm, which naturally release sweat, hormones and pheromones onto the surface of the skin.
“When antiperspirants block these glands, the hormones they contain can’t leave the body,” he said. Instead, these hormones have the potential to be reabsorbed by the body — posing a potential excessive exposure to breast and prostate tissue.
Even worse, antiperspirant use during puberty could be exposing breast and prostate tissue to unwanted hormones at a time of critical growth and development.
Look at the label on your antiperspirant and you’ll probably see that it contains some form of an aluminum salt. These chemicals are used because they plug sweat ducts.
The apocrine glands are considered an organ — by blocking them, “you are essentially blocking an organ and its function,” said Dr. McGrath. He added that antiperspirants are considered drugs by the FDA.
A BETTER ALTERNATIVE
So what can we do about underarm sweating and odor without blocking the glands?
Deodorants (as opposed to antiperspirants), which mask odors without blocking the sweat glands, can be a good option, but avoid products that contain petroleum-based propylene glycol, which is thought to be carcinogenic. (Propylene glycol derived from a vegetable source is fine.)
Two deodorant brands he likes are the widely sold Tom’s of Maine (www.TomsOfMaine.com) and Terra Naturals (www.TerraNaturals.com). (Note: Dr. McGrath is a spokesperson for Terra Naturals.)
Andrew L. Rubman, ND, our contributing medical editor, offered another suggestion for safely reducing the bacteria that cause underarm odor — good old baking soda.
To use, mix about one teaspoonful of baking soda into enough warm water to make a thin, milky paste, which you then rub into your armpit.
Or, he suggested, you can easily make your own totally natural, safe deodorant at home with just three ingredients: coconut oil, tea tree oil and lavender oil.
First, warm up about one tablespoon of food-grade coconut oil… add a few drops of both tea tree oil and lavender oil. Stir and refrigerate until it solidifies, about an hour.
Then you can apply a bit (use sparingly so it won’t get onto your clothing) of the mixture to your armpits just as you would with a commercial deodorant.
“It feels good and you’ll smell great,” says Dr. Rubman. “And you won’t have to worry about blocking your apocrine glands.”
Source(s):
Kris G. McGrath, MD, associate professor of medicine, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago.
Andrew L. Rubman, ND, medical director, Southbury Clinic for Traditional Medicines, Southbury, Connecticut.
June 24th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
Ditto Larken. The movie is about a Guantanamo bay being run by another white president in 1954.
All this says is that white men have been experimenting on humans regardless of color since the science gave them the tools.
Hell, i’m white and it scares me. God help the OTW. We could give two shits about them.
This movie is too deep for the average person to get.
What it actually says is that the government has the power to make you believe anything. They are using your tax dollars to fuck with your mind 24/7.
Conspiracies are the norm for these motherfuckers.
Finley
June 24th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
There is a corned beef recall on Guam. Please check your pantries for these products.
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Guam – You may want to check that can of corned beef you might have in your pantry, as the U.S. Department of Agriculture is widening its previous recall of corned beef that may have come from Brazil and suspected to be contaminated with the drug Ivermectin, which is used to de-worm animals.
The recall was initially issued in may for cans of Libby’s Corned Beef, it has since been expanded to cans of Hormel Corned Beef with Natural Juices, a product which is sold on Guam. Each product package bears “Brasil 337 S.I.F,” as well as “Product of Brazil” or “Packed Under Brazilian Government Inspection”.
The products subject to recall were produced in Brazil on January 20. For more information you can contact the company hotline at 800- 685-6328.
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Tell your family and friends.
Anna
June 24th, 2010 at 10:38 pm
Finley I work in a capacity to confirm what you are implying. Eugenics is the science that the people who you are talking about are proponents of.
They want to exterminate OTWs by the use of birth control. They use scare tactics to instill in the OTWs the need to control their populations while they use laws to prevent white women from doing the same.
Most of the birth control clinics in America and the rest of the world are run by planned parenthood which is a hidden arm of the white eugenics movement.
Here is there latest attempt to scare us into following their agenda.
=======================
ANALYSIS
By Ian O’Neill
updated 11:12 a.m. PT, Thurs., June 24, 2010
Is the clock of doom ticking for mankind? Yes, says an eminent 95-year-old scientist from Australia.
Professor Frank Fenner — the same scientist who brought the myxomatosis virus to rabbits to control their numbers in the 1950′s — is acutely aware of the impact of overpopulation and shortage of resources.
In 1980, Fenner announced to the World Health Assembly that smallpox had been eradicated, an achievement that is widely regarded as the World Health Organization’s finest hour.
Now, in an interview with The Australian, the well-respected microbiologist expressed his pessimism for our future. “We’re going to become extinct,” he said. “Whatever we do now is too late.”
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This another of their bullshit attempts to get the OTWs to take birth control while they continue to populate the world with their sick white race.
Andrea
June 25th, 2010 at 12:25 am
yes, Apple had better rethink this one, there are many Western countries that make viable options for tin and tungsten…the more pressure and protesting the better.
Women of MM blog, sorry for the delay – let’s get to it now!
Sitting at a desk doing your daily job? …do this…
Arch your back, ta’s north, take a deep breath, the kind of breathing that makes your stomach expand fully not out but sideways expanding your rib cage, if you’ve practiced Pilates at all (or not), that is the breathing technique I’m describing here, fill out your lungs and expand your chest cavity into your sides, I said it again bc if you’ve not practiced breathing this way, you have to be very ‘in the moment’ and consciously expand your rib cage for a while until you internalize this and it becomes muscle memory just like anything else.
This will serve a purpose, it’s very relaxing/stress relieving to concentrate on your breathing, and here’s the exercise part, take that big breath in, and hold it for a count of 5, sucking that tummy in at the same time, think belly button to the spine, then slowly release that breath (and leaving your lungs completely empty) stay empty for a count of 5, repeat above process until your boss becomes someone you can send out some love to instead of just thinking those thoughts about him/her driving off a cliff : ) remember that these very thoughts are toxic – to you. And all thoughts are either poisonous or nurturing, or as I say ‘for me or against me’ or ‘come from fear or faith, pick faith’ so I also say pick carefully which thoughts you want to be thinking…
I’ll share an automatic daily ‘note from the universe’ that I receive, they even put my full name in there : ) sweet and thoughtful bc when it’s addressed to you, you can’t opt out of taking the message in…found at tut.com peeps!
‘The one thing “bad days” have over “good days,” Lillian, is that they’re completely optional.
Every day is a “whooohoooo” day, The Universe’
I love this one, bc yes it is optional to choose a bad day, and what up with labeling a whole day anyway? Or labeling anything at all, nothing is good or bad, until you judge it to be so.
Now, how about a word on those sexual peaks (and falls)? Personally, I think when we get caught up in the ‘business’ of life instead of living it, we also choose to kill our libido along with it sometimes, it happens insidiously, now males, maybe you don’t get distracted by this as much as women but you can play your part by wanting to just cut to the chase/main event with your woman (and what, save time? Why would you want to rush a good thing? What happened to the exploratory nature of being with someone?). When one or both parties want to ‘cut to the chase’ (and what, just snag an orgasm? I mean really, cancha just do dat yourself?), neither is indulging their own sensual nature and then it’s easy to blame the other person for not fulfilling your needs, sexual or sensual (or any other need, face it if sex is not so good, neither is much of anything else). So, you know…slow it down to kick it up a notch, and trust me there are many great ways to slow the experience down…many.great.ways.
And that’s my two (or ten, hee hee) for now, Luv, Zen Lill
June 25th, 2010 at 1:25 am
Hafa adai
There’s a lunar eclipse tomorrow. Check it out.
____________________________________
Guam To Experience Partial Lunar Eclipse Tomorrow Night
Written by Josh Tyquiengco
Friday, 25 June 2010 16:01
Guam – Guam News
Guam- Prepare to be eclipsed!
University of Guam Planetarium Coordinator Pam Eastlink says Guam will experience a partial lunar eclipse tomorrow, June 26. She adds visibility of the eclipse depends on how clean the earth’s air will be and the weather. Eastlick also mentions it will be a full moon tomorrow. However, shortly after it rises, the moon will enter the penumbra, or the outer part of the earth’s shadow. Since it is only a partial eclipse, only half of the moon enters the umbra, also known as the darkest part of the earth’s shadow. The lunar eclipse will begin around 7:30 pm, but Eastlick recommends watching it during commercial breaks.
“Watching a lunar eclipse in real time is like watching paint dry. It happens very slowly” said Eastlick. “Definitely go out between 8:30 and 9:30 because that’s when it begins to enter the penumbra, the darker part, and like I said, maximum eclipse is at 9:41 pm. It’ll be completely over around 11pm.”
Eastlick explains a lunar eclipse occurs when the earth, the sun and the moon are aligned exactly, with the earth in the middle. Usually, the moon looks red during a total lunar eclipse because the earth’s air bends the sunlight to shine on the moon while it passes through the earth’s sunrise-sunset ring. Typically, Eastlick says Guam gets 3 to 4 lunar eclipses every 10 years or so.
____________________________________
Let’s hope the skies are clear.
Peter
June 25th, 2010 at 2:57 am
The republicans are destroying our country. But my stupid brothers and other male assholes are too busy being bights to get a clue. While they support the racial positions of a party that deregulated so much that we end up with this disaster.
Check this link out. It is literally raining oil in New Orleans.
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/874.html
God save us from the tiny dick white boy.
Renee
June 25th, 2010 at 3:08 am
The rich continue to get richer because of the regulations the republicans destroyed to give unfettered access to money making schemes.
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“The number of high net worth individuals, those with assets of $1 million or more, surged by 17.1% in 2009 to 10 million” and
“And North America remains the single largest home to millionaires, accounting for 31% of the global millionaire population, the report said”
Babe! TEN MILLION OF THEM!!! When am I going to be one of them? I thought your girl would have to be one in a million but I’ve been overlooked 10 times. Sad!!!! I am still waiting for the lottery… what is the hold up? I am asking you desperately to allow it to happen, now!
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The rich are rich again. After plummeting by a record amount in 2008, the number of millionaires in the world recovered last year despite ongoing weakness in the global economy, according to a new survey.
The number of high net worth individuals, those with assets of $1 million or more, surged by 17.1% in 2009 to 10 million, a survey by brokerage firm Merrill Lynch and consulting firm Capgemini showed. In 2008, the millionaire ranks plunged to 8.6 million worldwide from 10.1 million in 2007.
“The last few years have been significant for wealthy investors,” said Sallie Krawcheck, president of global wealth and investment at Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), parent of Merrill Lynch, in a statement. “While in 2008 global high net worth individuals showed an unprecedented decline, a year later we are already seeing distinct signs of recovery, and in some areas a complete return to 2007 levels of wealth and growth.”
Millionaires saw the value of their collective assets climb to $39 trillion, up 18.9% from $32.8 trillion in 2008, thanks to substantial growth in emerging markets, the survey showed.
The $600 billion challenge
“The rebound has been, and will continue to be, driven by emerging markets — especially India and China, as well as Brazil,” said Bertrand Lavayssiere, managing director of global financial services at Capgemini. “In fact, Asia-Pacific was the only region in which both macroeconomic and market drivers of wealth expanded significantly in 2009.”
The number of millionaires in the Asia-Pacific region in 2009 rose to 3 million, matching the number of high net worth individuals in Europe for the first time ever. And the worth of their assets soared 30.9% to $9.7 trillion, surpassing the $9.5 trillion held by Europe’s wealthiest.
The growth of millionaires in Asia-Pacific will likely continue to outpace increases in developed nations in the coming years, led by India and China, the report said. The wealthy in Brazil and Russia are also expected to gain at a fast pace.
But for now, the world’s population of millionaires and wealth is still concentrated in the United States, Japan and Germany. And North America remains the single largest home to millionaires, accounting for 31% of the global millionaire population, the report said.
The world’s millionaires also became more optimistic in world financial markets last year. They increased their investments in stocks and fixed-income instruments, and reduced their cash holdings
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Perry
June 25th, 2010 at 8:40 am
Okay Michelle
We have been patient enough. Where are the photos of Zen Lill?
June 25th, 2010 at 8:44 am
Zen Lill
I checked tut.com. I couldn’t find you. Give me some help.
June 25th, 2010 at 9:01 am
[...] Tony: I believe this is what you asked for… [...]
June 25th, 2010 at 9:09 am
Thanks Zen Lill. Those exercises came at the right time for me.