Global Article 9 Conference to Abolish War May 4-6



Article 9 related events

Into the Atomic Sunshine: Shinya Watanabe’s New York Exhibition on Post-War Art Under Article 9
japanfocus.org/products/details/2700

I have always despised cotton swabs. That static feeling that you get when you stick it in your ear and swish it all around. It makes me want to run and hide under my big pillow. People must be brainwashed if they enjoy that peculiar sensation!  Doctors even warn that cotton swaps do not help contribute to the cleanliness of your ear, but rather cause your ears to be more prone infection by pushing debris further into the ear canal. DO NOT STICK FOREIGN OBJECTS IN YOUR EAR.

On another note, why are we sticking cotton swabs in foreigners' mouths, in our citizens' mouths, who haven't even been proven to have done anything wrong? In a move to prevent violent crime, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation will begin to collect DNA samples via cheek swab from detainees regardless of whether they have been charged with a crime or not. In the past, DNA samples were only collected from convicted felons. What ever happened to "innocent until proven guilty"?

Already a disproportionate number of people are arrested because of flaws in the racial profiling tactics by the police. Now the FBI is going to start collecting DNA well before its suspects are convicted. Is this not an incredible violation of our civil rights? Is this not an extreme infringement on our privacy?

After an arrestee's cheek is swabbed, their data is inputed into a database called CODIS. Apparently, if a person is not convicted, they can request that the DNA sample be destroyed. What I'm wondering is how readily available this information is made to people being detained and how simple is the process made to get the DNA destroyed. Furthermore, after going through the whole process of requesting the DNA be destroyed, how will we ever know if it is really destroyed? Yet even more worrying is the increased potential for abuse of personal information.

If the FBI is permitted to do these cheek swabs, where will it stop?  Will I get a cotton swab put in my mouth if I am pulled over by the cops for speeding?  Where will this invasion of our privacy end? If we can not get this decision reversed, the least we can do is make this process as transparent as possible, for the sake of our rights.

I had the pleasure of attending an awesome event organized by GreenZ (http://greenz.jp/en/greendrinks) last Thursday that brought together people interested in environmental sustainability. The venue was so jammed packed with people, that my first hour of chatting and sampling from a banquet of delicious organic food was counterbalanced by a sweaty struggle from the entrance to the coat check on the opposite side of the room.  On the way through the human generated sauna I was constantly stopped and asked if I was leaving even though I had just arrived because I still had jacket in hand.  Strength in numbers, eh? How amazing is it that so many people are interested in a "green" future and are willing to network with others to make a difference. 

However, despite this genuine "let's help each other" attitude, there is still a tendency towards separating issues that makes helping each other a near impossibility.  Fortune gave me the opportunity to speak to an activist extremely dedicated to eradicating poverty.  His stories were absolutely incredible, and his passion unsurpassed. However, his approach was limited by his almost blind and exclusionary focus on the mechanism of poverty alleviation to solve the world's problems. I say almost blind, because he was, after all, at an environmental networking function.

I was a bit dismayed.  Aren't all of the social ills that we face in our lives interconnected? Shouldn't we collaboratively support each other's initiatives?  Why can't we utilize each other's resources to confront the problems that we are so dedicated to solving? It was as if he was brushing off all of the initiatives that I have been, millions of other activists and citizens have been, making!

Some people sense a need to compete to make their issue more prioritized, more critical, but in the end, we can only achieve progress if we consistently support each other, since everything is in all actuality tied together. Canadian environmental activist, Severn Suzuki, stated at an forum on Rokkasho on April 8th, "There are no borders in our oceans." What happens in one country, affects another.  What happens in one issue area, affects the other. We must realize the synergy of our issue areas and utilize it. After all, competition amongst peoples is one of the main causes for many to become disadvantaged, and conflict to arise.  If our civil society groups follow this pattern, we will never reach the synergy that we need in order to achieve peace.  When the different issues that we follow overlap, we need to integrate, not separate.