California Senate Bill No.861 Conflicts Minerals in the Democratic Congo

   On October 9, 2011 the state of California did pass SB861, Corbett. Public contracts: contract eligibility: conflict minerals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This bill will ensure that companies are held accountable when using conflicts minerals. Thank you to Senator Corbett and her staff, Djibril Diop!!!! 

    In July 2010, the Dodd-Frank-Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act require the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to impose regulations on militia-controlled minerals from Congo. Companies must reveal to the SEC whether they use these minerals in their products and the steps they are taking to make sure that they are using “conflicts-free minerals”.

     I know that very few people know about blood minerals or even care about the impacts. I would like to thank everyone who made SB 861 happen, on behalf of “poor people that worked in hellish conditions” as nicely said by Tim Worstall, in" Blood in the Mobile: What,Conflict Minerals, Again? ". His point of view is very interesting and informative. He said  “Get those refiners to stop taking Congo material, or even material that they cannot trace back to a mine, and you’re done.” So SB 861 is another step forward!! According to Amy Westervelt in “AnticipatingNew SEC Rules, Tech Companies Shift To Conflict-Free Metals” , companies are  now willing to do anything to avoid PR nightmares....

    And yes, very poor people work in hellish conditions for little money every parts of the World.  So thank you California for caring!

Same Moonlight for Our Dreams...

Senate Bill No. 861
CHAPTER 715
An act to add Section 10490 to the Public Contract Code, relating to
public contracts.
[Approved by Governor October 9, 2011. Filed with
Secretary of State October 9, 2011.]

legislative counsel’s digest
SB 861, Corbett. Public contracts: contract eligibility: conflict minerals
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Existing law authorizes contracting between state agencies and private contractors and sets forth requirements for the procurement of goods and services by state agencies and the various responsibilities of state agencies and the Department of General Services in implementing state contracting procedures and policies. This bill would prohibit a scrutinized company, as defined, from entering into a contract with a state agency for goods or services, as provided. This bill would not become operative until the later of January 1, 2012, or the date the United States Securities and Exchange Commission issues the final rules and regulations on the implementation of Section 1502 of Public Law 111-203, and would become inoperative upon a specified date.

....

BILL NUMBER: SB 861 CHAPTERED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Senator Corbett (Coauthor: Senator Anderson) (Coauthor: Assembly Member V. Manuel Pérez)

England riots and Historian David Starkey "The whites have become black "

Well, I did not want to comment about it at first. Then I could not resit!!!
Mr David Starkey needs to learn more about "cultures" and forget his well accepted  "patois". Seriously for an historian, his stereotypical approach did not surprised me. However,I was astonished by his confidence. This interview screams "academic racism". The colors, races, cultures and communities are just facades for a tragic discrimination against the " Have not". I fully support protests , not riots. At the end of the day, everybody chose a "camp". The truth is that  we all need to belong to a collectivity. The sad part is that racism is always used a "propaganda". Once again it is a "they vs us". And it should not be!!!

Let us not forget it is still the Same Moonlight for Our Dreams.

Watch and let me know what do you think?

Inside Job by Audrey Marrs with Jeffrey Lurie and Christina Weiss Lurie

I finally managed to sit and watch this documentary. I am all for awareness but all the "political dances" tend to annoy me. It is well done. It gives a great understanding of all the "deregulation from 1981-2011" and the "global Ponzi Scheme".  A must watch !!!

World Refugee Day 2011, June 20th

I just want to say thank you to my parents, for everything they have done for us. I am more than a refugee, I am here. Thank you for everything....

"Smile even through your tears. Be strong even through your fears. -Zen Habits"

Peace to you all...
Same Moonlight for Our dreams...


Rahma Profile from iActivism on Vimeo.

World Refugee Day 2011

"A coalition of individuals, activists, filmmakers and international organizations that believe we can be more effective when we work together than when we work alone.  Because of this belief, we are working together to coordinate events all around the world during the week of World Refugee Day. Whether you are a genocide prevention activist or a recent refugee, an elementary school teacher or a Rabbi, we hope you will take this day to reach out to your community and connect.

Help make the world a more compassionate place by attending or hosting an event on June 20th. If you can’t make it out that day, please take at least one other action that day and share this website with your friends and family."

Book of the Week: Cultural Internationalism and World Order by Akira Iriye

This book is currently on top of my book wish list!
I like the fact that Akira Iriye analysis goes beyond traditional diplomatic history by incorporating cultural perspectives. I like the term of "cultural internationalism", I am not sure about world order but I will read this book!! As an international student, I found out that your cultural imprint goes beyond  "diplomacy", at the end you learn to adapt while understanding others. Akira Iriye seems to have a very liberal view. He is encouraging "cultural internationalism"beyond the traditional understanding of international relations as competition for power and wealth. His book was published in 1997 but I think the issue is still current!

To Fukushima nuclear power heroes

While most of us  pray and hope for Japan, 180 employees at Fukushima nuclear power are real heroes. They are not just doing their jobs or duties. They are sacrificing their health to save others. Instead of mourning their losses or nursing their own family, they are trying to save others. It is admirable and virtuous. I do not like that many authors keep on stating “Japanese sense of duty”. Of course morality starts as a set of culturally defined goals and supports a social system of regulation.  However, we are talking about emergency and survival. There are not in time for considerations of appearance and convenience. It is that ultimate sense of survival as a group or “human community” that makes us more than social animals. I think that using national or social identity is undermining Japanese’s amazing resilience and strength in this catastrophe.
Thank you to all Fukushima employees!!! For Haiti, I hated that  some writers undermined the strength and dignity of the victims. I do not understand that ego trip. Maybe it is a language thing.  If I could read articles in Japanese it  would alleviate that weird stereotypical analysis. Maybe in time of crisis, ego trip is all we have left to reassure ourselves that we are doing good so far. Maybe we all just scared...

Now, in politico-economic boudoirs, the discussions are on nuclear power safety and readiness to natural hazards. Well, I am an optimistic person but I am allergic to double standards. While everybody pretends to surf the “I am so green trend”, our need to maximize progress is unstoppable!! Let us face it! Therefore, let’s not be optimist hypocrites about nuclear power!!! According to WHO, the average person is exposed to about 3.0 millisieverts (mSv) a year of radiation, from naturally-occurring, medical and other sources. Sadly at the Fukushima Daiichi site has recorded radiation as high as 400 millisieverts an hour -- a level known to be a risk to human health. Data from here.  Of course Japan nuclear catastrophe and the earthquake/tsunami devastation are alarming.

However, take a look on the map below and let us not forget that natural disasters can occur anywhere. Many countries are undergoing safety protocols on their old nuclear power plans while other stopped their  construction.
Hopefully, as a global community, "we" will be wiser by learning from Japan.

Country	In operation		Under construction
	Number	Electr. net output MW	Number	Electr. net output MW
Argentina	2	935	1	692
Armenia	1	375	-	-
Belgium	7	5,926	-	-
Brazil	2	1,884	1	1,245
Bulgaria	2	1,906	2	1,906
Canada	18	12,569	-	-
China Mainland Taiwan	13 6	10,048 4,980	27 2	27,230 2,600
Czech Republic	6	3,722	-	-
Finland	4	2,716	1	1,600
France	58	63,130	1	1,600
Germany	17	20,490	-	-
Hungary	4	1,889	-	-
India	20	4,391	5	3,564
Iran	-	-	1	915
Japan	54	46,823	2	2,650
Korea, Republic	21	18,665	5	5,560
Mexico	2	1,300	-	-
Netherlands	1	487	-	-
Pakistan	2	425	1	300
Romania	2	1,300	-	-
Russian Federation	32	22,693	11	9,153
Slovakian Republic	4	1,792	2	782
Slovenia	1	666	-	-
South Africa	2	1,800	-	-
Spain	8	7,514	-	-
Sweden	10	9,303	-	-
Switzerland	5	3,238	-	-
Taiwan	6	4,980	2	2,600
Ukraine	15	13,107	2	1,900
United Kingdom	19	10,137	-	-
USA	104	100,747	1	1,165
Total	442	374,958	65	62,862

Nuclear power plants world-wide, in operation and under construction, as of Jan 19, 2011

 Source Here

Foundation of the week: Women for Women International

"Women for Women International and Google are pleased to collaborate on Join me on the Bridge, a campaign honoring the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day on March 8, 2011. Join me on the Bridge brings women and men together in solidarity on bridges around the world, celebrating the achievements of generations of women before us while shining an international spotlight on the issues still facing women around the world....Women for Women International works in regions of conflict and post-conflict, helping women survivors of war rebuild their lives. To the women enrolled in the organization’s year-long program, Join me on the Bridge represents the opportunity to raise their voices, call for peace and security and, with Google’s help, stand in virtual solidarity on March 8th with the women and men around the world who support them."

I do believe that life is an infinite sequence of bridges. And no matter how you cross each bridge you will cross all of them. If we keep in mind that our individual life is a singly infinite sequence but Life is a double-infinite sequence which  has neither a first nor a final element.   So crossing few bridges together as one, is pure awareness that we are children of the Universe. 
You all know,how much I love bridges!!!  If you want to attend or organize an event, go here!

 

Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters by Barack Obama

Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters is simply wonderful. We did read it this week end.  It is beyond politics. And it is about the real meaning of politics, children. The book sends a message of hope and unity. In my opinion, it celebrates multiculturalism and multilingualism. On which I talk about in a previous post.  

It captures the diversity of America to inspire all children to be themselves. I love the illustrations; it conveys a sense of optimism and awareness while preserving the insouciance of childhood.  It was written before his presidency and all profits go to charity for the children of disabled veterans. Again when Obama won, I won something priceless. Our son was proud to be him, in his multicultural complexity in this global community. This book is a great educational tool, and sends the message of “same moonlight for our dreams”.

Thank you to Barack Obama and Loren long

 

Chocolate addiction is definitively global

In December, scientists unlocked the genetic code of  Theobroma cacao aka chocolate.The article from Nature genetics is fascinating. Criollo Cocoa is from Central America. Our dear chocolate went through 3000 years of domestication. From the Mayas to our supermarkets, cocoa has changed to vigorous and productive hybrids.  In this evolution, we lost the fine flavor of chocolate from the Criollo varieties. According to the article: “Fine-cocoa production is nevertheless estimated to be less than 5% of the world cocoa production due to the low productivity and disease susceptibility of the traditional fine-flavor cocoa varieties. Therefore, breeding of improved Criollo varieties is important for sustainable production of fine-flavor cocoa.”

Of course, 18 European countries did partner with CIRAD (a research agency designed to help developing countries develop their agricultural industries) for the love of cocoa. Today, Ivory Coast cocoa farmers are protesting against the UN sanctions by burning cocoa beans. Ivory Coast is the biggest cocoa producer in the world.  Farmers are losing their wages while cocoa has been at highest trading price for a year. This is done for the love of politics.

It seems that in 3000 years of domestication, nothing has changed. For the Mayas, cocoa trees were sacred and beans were used as currency.  Cocoa beans traveled from central America to Europe thanks to Christophe Colomb. The democratization of chocolate in Europe went along with chocolate slavery. The globalization of the chocolate markets goes with economic slavery. And our annual global binging of 3.7 million tons of cocoa comes with many genetics breeding and political manipulations. As a child our parents often told us to never forget that some children working in the cocoa fields never tasted chocolate. I know that fair trade is a drop in the ocean but sometimes a little is all we need to survive. Chocolate addiction is definitively global!!!

Foundation of the week: V-Day

Beyond Valentine day!!!
"The 'V' in V-Day stands for Victory, Valentine and Vagina."!!


"V-Day is a global activist movement to stop violence against women and girls. V-Day is a catalyst that promotes creative events to increase awareness, raise money and revitalize the spirit of existing anti-violence organizations. V-Day generates broader attention for the fight to stop violence against women and girls, including rape, battery, incest, female genital mutilation (FGM) and sex slavery.....

In Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, V-Day commits ongoing support to build movements and anti-violence networks. Working with local organizations, V-Day provided hard-won funding that helped open the first shelters for women in Egypt and Iraq; sponsored annual workshops and three national campaigns in Afghanistan; convened the "Confronting Violence" conference of South Asian women leaders; and donated satellite-phones to Afghan women to keep lines of communication open and action plans moving forward. V-Day was instrumental in the founding of Karama, a program working in Egypt, Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon that works to build upon and strengthen efforts to end violence against women by bringing together local women's organizations and other civil society groups in collaboration, analysis and advocacy at national, regional and international levels"

http://www.vday.org/about/more-about

http://drc.vday.org/

RAISE Hope for Congo

It is an Enough project!!! It is addressing the conflicts over minerals and violence against women!!
"RAISE Hope for Congo seeks to fundamentally change the equation for Congo by using Enough’s robust field research, advocacy, and communications to bolster a broad grassroots movement that promotes lasting solutions. Our initiatives work to educate and empower individuals to be a part of those solutions to the conflict."

Raise hope for congo

Remember Patrice Lumumba Speech:

Considered so dangerous to imperialist powers that he was imprisoned after his election and ultimately assassinated, Patrice Lumumba was confident that we who love freedom would fight on, saying: "We are not alone. Africa, Asia, and free and liberated people from every corner of the world will always be found at the side of the Congolese."

"We are going to show the world what the Black man can do when he works in freedom, and we are going to make of the Congo the center of the sun’s radiance for all of Africa."

Happy 2011, the International Year of Forests

 
"The United Nations General Assembly declared 2011 as the International Year of Forests to raise awareness on sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests"

Happy 2011 to you all...
According to Flag Counter, 85 countries visited!
Thank you!!
Same Moonlight for our Dreams!!!                                                 

The uncomfortable Truth-Nneka

She is very talented and soulful.

Let us make a change why can’t we turn the page
Lord make us able
Without u we are totally unstable 

The global increase of heart disease and cancer

In the “A Global Call to Action on Cancer and Heart Disease”, Christine Gorman explains that the increase of heart diseases and cancers is linked to the adoption of Western-style diet and lifestyles.  She also points out that cancer is a side effect of success. Longer life implies aging populations, so cancer and heart diseases are the new trend. However the lack of available treatments, resources, and infrastructures is accentuating this disease trend.Beyond the side effect of longer life spam, adopting a Western-style diet is the worst.

The exodus from rural are to urban area is destroying the global health. In developing countries, many farmers are forced to move to urban zones. They are giving up their lifestyles and cultures to mimic a new one, a western lifestyle symbolizing social ascension. So the rice and beans meal is becoming bread and canned something.  With the loss of traditional farming, native cereals are replaced by white rice. In an article, I found out  that we are eating more rice than we are producing!!! “Rice is the staple food for around 2.5 billion people, or more than one-third of the global population. The global price of rice has been increasing for much of the current decade. According to the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), a non-profit research and education center, this is because the world is consuming more rice than it is producing, and global stocks are becoming rapidly depleted”

Low income populations are working more and more to make nothing. They are incorporating fast food feeding to the detriment of traditional meals. As a child I rarely had processed food. Our food staple was rice, beans, tons of vegetables, fruits, fish and meat.  At eighteen years old, I left home for the first time. Far from my mother, I westernized my diet so much that I gained weight. I also got sick. My anemia was at the worst. I understood that the spinach, lentils, chicken livers, chick peas, and beans were necessary to my well being.  I went back to what I was used to. Mom was right!!  To this day, I eat all my veggies.Sometimes I am craving plantains, yucca roots, and other cereals!And I am thankful for Asian stores...

The globalization of resources should not be associated this new trend of “consumption colonization.” Supermarkets have their place in emerging economies as long as Local Farmers Markets are promoted and protected because only a tiny minority can afford decent food in those supermarkets. Supermarkets should buy and sell local products as well. I believed that we inherent our parents diet. With heritable epigenetics, our diet influence the genes of our children and grandchildren. The inequality, the imbalance of resources and climate changes are causing majors change in disease trends. The solution would be reasonable access to medication, protection of local economies, and of course the increase of  local farming!

We are what we eat...

Same Moonlight for our Dreams

Economics of Happiness: content or fulfill?

With the current economy, there is a shift from pursuing to creating happiness.For the longest time the ultimate goal was to be fulfilled in order to be content.  However we can all remember that someone told us to be content to reach happiness. Happiness has no price but it is becoming a new economical field. Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness renewed discussion about the concept of happiness economics. According to Wikipedia: “The statistical relationship demonstrated is between happiness and the logarithm of absolute income, suggesting that above a certain point, happiness increases more slowly than income, but no "saturation point" is ever reached.” The evidence is that happiness is determined by relative and absolute income.

Coming from immigration, the most important lesson I received is that everything is relative. You may not have a private pool but you have access to a pristine beach. You may not have cupcakes but you have one mango tree. You may not have fancy but you have enough. The crucial silent message is that sacrifices made for better future and financial stability should not alter the fact that happiness is about being content. Being content is what makes people happy. For example children in refugee camps and war zones still find ways to be happy because material is relative. 

 In my opinion happiness is based on the ability to adapt and accept that the norms are relatives. For all children issued of immigration, the concept of happiness can be a cultural and an emotional conundrum. You love your heritage but you have to incorporate your environment to create your own happiness. At the end it is all about experiencing, appreciating, sharing and staying true. And if you are blessed, you have the opportunity to travel and learn from others. And remember that we are all different but the same. And under the same moonlight we have common dreams of happiness

International Day for the Abolition of Slavery 2 December

"The International Day for the Abolition of Slavery, 2 December, recalls the date of the adoption, by the General Assembly, of the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (resolution 317(IV)of 2 December 1949)." 

http://www.antislavery.org/english/

The parent, a samurai in this global economic hardship

"KATAOYA"

LE PARENT

Calligraphie de Kyoko Mori

This Economic hardship hurts companies, businesses, employees, homeowners, marriages, families, students, everyone in between and of course our children. The lack of job, loss of job, expensive education and reduced opportunities exacerbate the stress for everyone.

It is a global  economic hardship, even if we only see our side of the garden. In our mind the grass is always greener the other side. Our realities or struggles are blessings and successes for someone somewhere else.  Of course we must have the “audacity to hope”. Besides we must be active because audacity is not enough for our children. They need our legacy, to think of audacity , to hope and dream of better. 

            My word today is parent. A parent has to be loving, ferocious, and rebel to protect, feed, love, and educate children. In this global community, all parents face the same struggles and fears. We all want to achieve something and nurture our children to be strong individuals that will benefit to the world. And secretly we want them to simply enjoy life and cherish their childhood.

The translator: a tribesman's memoir of Darfur By Daoud Hari

A great video of Daoud Hari explaining Darfur-here

"The young life of Daoud Hari—his friends call him David—has been one of bravery and mesmerizing adventure. He is a living witness to the brutal genocide under way in Darfur.

The Translator is a suspenseful, harrowing, and deeply moving memoir of how one person has made a difference in the world–an on-the-ground account of one of the biggest stories of our time. Using his high school knowledge of languages as his weapon—while others around him were taking up arms—Daoud Hari has helped inform the world about Darfur. Hari, a Zaghawa tribesman, grew up in a village in the Darfur region of Sudan. In 2003, this traditional life was shattered when helicopter gunships appeared over Darfur’s villages, followed by Sudanese-government-backed militia groups raping and murdering citizens and burning villages.

Though Hari’s village was attacked and destroyed, he was able to escape and lead survivors to safety. When international aid groups and reporters arrived, Hari offered his services as a translator and guide. He risked his life again and again, for the government of Sudan had outlawed journalists in the region, and death was the punishment for those who aided the “foreign spies.” And then, inevitably, his luck ran out and he was captured. . . .The Translator tells the remarkable story of a man who came face-to-face with genocide– time and again risking his own life to fight injustice and save his people." from here

Unreal collision of feminism and extremism to apoptosis

In France, the Burqa will be officially ban in Avril, 2011.  Yesterday, a retiree teacher was condemned to one month of jail suspended sentence for pulling out the Burqa of a lady from the emirates(26 years old!!!). And this passionate sexagenarian feminist will have to pay 800 euros fine. As much as the government preaches a secular elitism on human rights, it is a theatrical masquerade. It is a pure farce worthy of Moliere himself.  Bright and loud fireworks are much easier to handle than real problems of racial discrimination, economical marginalization and unemployment. I do respect the desire of  secularism but where is the equality, liberty, fraternity  stands in this denial of  rights.  I applaud this skillfully exploited situation. 

Attacking women is the oldest trick in the book because women are the motor of civil rights. They are quiet, soft and gentle but transmit the fire within. By destroying their freedom to practice their religions, it will accentuate the generation gap and the lack of “real” identity in youth. The youth is already battling the invisibility and a disregarded struggle in integration. And if you add the gender role on top, it is an excellent prey to predators and apoptosis. The suicide within the communities is a response to the forced mutation...Now, that the necrosis starts to expand only extremism can accelerate the required apoptosis. It is all about fear. It is not about the veil, the burqa, the miniskirt, the bikini or feminism. The Islamic dress code is a lame excuse. It is about our children. 

The oppression on women creates a less stable environment for them to transmit a peaceful fire to their children. For the longest time, forcing integration was enough to guarantee cultural fragmentation or silent ethnocide. The ban on Burqa expresses the polarization of France. And the sexagenarian feminist of the day was compelled to identify and separate her from us. It is an unreal collision of feminism and extremism to apoptosis. To conclude, I  will quote Arthur Rimbaud: “Life is the farce which everyone has to perform.”and Septima Poinsette Clark , “The greatest evil in our country today is not racism, but ignorance.”  

They are us. We are them. Different but the same.

Same moonlight for our dreams

A Race for Biodiversity in our “Green” Global Economy

According to this article, the U.N. Convention on Biodiversity meeting, Nagoya-Tokyo, was “fairly” harmonious regardless of the failure to reach consensus on vital contentious problems. In clear, it was a smooth progression from Copenhagen’s theatrical fiasco however this buzzing “green greed” did prevail over certain devastating consequences of biodiversity loss. The author, Malcom Foster reports that the crucial point was “the division between developing and industrial nations over working out a system to fairly share genetic resources, such as medicine extracted from plants — long a sore point for poorer countries.” Thank you Mr. Fisher!!!
It is cynical that modernization is at the source of all our problems. It was supposed to fix everything. We were supposed to work less, so we could live more and relax more. Instead, we want more for less, then take more and give less. In the process, we forget that Earth has the monopole of our economy!! Remember: Dirt! “Dirt is us, we are dirt. Dirt is earth’s skin. “This is a living breathing matrix of life on terrestrial earth.” Indeed we are dirt. Beyond the ideals of a green revolution, we are dirty guilty.
It is great to craft diplomatic protocols to fix and share responsibility. However, I do agree with the argument of developing countries and indigenous about not profiting from the bounty of their resources that benefited wealthy western companies. The contribution of billions in the name of biodiversity conservation is noble. Nevertheless, the extinctions of local economies by imposing legal dependency to developed countries at the expenses of developing nations’ biodiversity landscapes are slightly confusing. Dirty, dirty…
May we all win in this race for biodiversity…