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Article 9 related resources

Sat, 10 May 2008 10:09:01 GMT

Global Article 9 Conference to Abolish War May 4-6

Global Article 9 Conference on the Abolition of War: A Significant Moment for Peace Education
-Betty A. Reardon (USA) http://www.tc.edu/PeaceEd/newsletter/54.html

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

Article 9 Bike Ride Pics

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 04:15:30 GMT

Courtesy of Rob!

I knew there was a reason I hated cotton swabs...

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 21:58:19 GMT

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.

Salsa to the Beat of 9- April 26, 2008

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 09:45:57 GMT

Thanks to Article 9, we CAN dance salsa in peace!

April 26th

Do you love salsa or are have you always wanted to learn to dance salsa? Come along to our salsa party and dance the night away in peace!

Proceeds from this pre-event will be donated to the Global Article 9 Campaign. Thanks to Article 9, the peace article of the Japnaese Constitution, we can rejoice in the fact that we do not have to go to war, and instead we can enjoy life to it's fullest!

Article 9, which has helped build confidence in the Asia-Pacific region and is of paramount importance for the prevention of conflict, is threatened by militarist tendencies in Japan and pressure from the United States.

Join us to show your support for a peaceful world and to promote Article 9! We will be holding an International Conference from May 4-6th at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, where guest speakers from around the world, including Nobel Peace Prize winners, will come and show their support for Japan and Article 9.

Anyone is welcome to join!
For more info about Article 9 and the conference, visit our English and Japanese website http://www.whynot9.jp

Global Article 9 Conference to Abolish War

May 4-6 2008
Makuhari Messe International Convention Complex

* Join 10,000 people from around the world to voice your support for the existence and principles of Article 9
* Join the people of Japan in protecting their peace constitution
* Take part in an active network of international movements to shift resources from the military to sustainable development and human security
* Hear keynote speeches by international peace advocates including Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire and President of the Hague Appeal of Peace Cora Weiss

We aim to collect 999,999 signatures to the "Global Article 9 Statement to Abolish War", which will be submitted to the Japanese government, the United Nations and all its member states. To show your support, click here!
http://www.whynot9.jp/_support/

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=15471783427

Integrate, don't separate

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 04:28:10 GMT

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.

Article 9 makes World Heritage List!!! April Fools!

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 21:08:52 GMT

This was an April Fool's Day of action! Over 15,000 flyers were distributed to people all over Tokyo stating that Article 9 was registered as part of World Heritage. As one person who received a flyer expressed, "Hopefully, Article 9 [the peace article of the Japanese Constitution] will not become just another monument protected as world heritage." Rather, the hope is that the concepts behind Article 9 will spread throughout the world, and will never represent an idea of past. Article 9 is the way of the future. All world governments should renounce war and the rights to maintain a military for war purposes. If all of the resources spent on the military were reallocated to sustainable development, poverty alleviation, and education, we would have a much more peaceful existence that would not necessitate war. Hopefully Japan will continue to preserve Article 9 and it can pave the way towards peace in the world. For an article by AP on it, check this link: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8VP06DO0&show_article=1

Peace Boat stands up against poverty

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:19:37 GMT

To be more self aggrandizing, here is another article I wrote. You can find it here. It has been edited from the original a bit though...http://www.standagainstpoverty.org/en/node/13799

Last year, Peace Boat volunteers joined Stand Up on their 54th worldwide educational expedition. Undeterred by the strong wind, 470 passengers, including some children, refused to stay seated while governments continue to break promises. They held their banners tight. The cool horizon of the Pacific, where the sky meets the sea, framed this amazing moment.

For this year’s Stand Up, the floating community on Peace Boat’s 59th voyage will gather again on the top deck, rain or shine, to join millions around the world to Stand Up and Speak Out against the persistence of poverty.

Peace Boat is a Japan-based NGO that promotes peace and sustainable development around the world by conducting 3-month global voyages three times a year. On board, passengers attend workshops and lectures on the Millennium Development Goals, the G8 and poverty eradication.

When the passengers heard about Stand Up last year, they immediately wanted to join. They had visited 19 different countries in three months and participated in cross-cultural exchange activities in each port.

“After traveling around the world and meeting so many people, you see firsthand the extent to which our all of our lives are interconnected. If we all feel and act as one, united, we can make a positive change,” said Jennifer Teeter, Peace Boat volunteer.

The passengers contributed and participated in a symposium stretching the expanses of the globe, delving into the global and regional issues that affect every world citizen. They navigated four countries in Africa (Kenya, Eritrea, Egypt, and Morocco), and four countries in Central and Latin America (Columbia, Panama, Guatemala, Mexico).

“The experience made it clear that we all live in a symbiotic relationship and only by working together can we discover ways to reverse poverty, stop environmental degradation, and prevent human rights abuse,” Teeter said.

“We realized how easy it is to gather together as one to Stand Up! Such a simple act is the starting point that gets us thinking about future advocacy activities that we can enact together in order to make a difference,” said Rika Watanabe, the Coordinator of Communications Coordinators on the 54th cruise.

Letter to Editor- Africa

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:07:44 GMT

Through the ONE (ONE.org) campaign, I wrote this letter to the editor of my local newspaper. I don't think it got published, but at least I can publish it here.

I read in your paper that President Bush returned from his trip to Africa last week, a continent struggling against many challenges, partially because of the misguided economic policies of developed countries, including the United States. Thousands of people lose their lives to malaria and AIDS everyday and the basic necessities that most Americans never have to worry about, such as food, water, and shelter, are lacking from millions of people's everyday lives.

However, we are at a turning point. New policies have made anti-malarial treatment as well as AIDS medication, more affordable than before. Of course, pharmaceutical companies can lower the costs, but every year it is getting easier and easier to treat people who are suffering.

Through the president's President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), 1.45 million people are receiving anti-retroviral treatment for HIV/AIDS and 2.3 million bed nets are being provided to Africans to protect them from malaria-carrying mosquitos, and

This is a great initiative by the outgoing President, but it must continue in the future. Through the efforts of organizations, such as the "Visit Africa" campaign, a project of ONE Action, Senators Obama and Clinton have both pledged to visit Africa within their first term as president. We must ensure that they do not break their campaign promises.

As Apollo astronaut, Rusty Schweikert, has stated "We aren't passengers on spaceship earth, we're the crew. We aren't residents on this planet, we're citizens The difference in both cases is responsibility." The shores Africa may seem far from our shores, however, what happens to African people affects us as well. We have the techonology and money to help African people who have been taken advantage of by developed countries for too long. As global citizens and as American people, we must fulfil this obligation.

Advice to the leaders of the U.S.

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:58:50 GMT

I woke up this morning, wanting to sleep more, but since half of the world is not even allowed the comfort of sleep that I can have every night because they are living in conflict or extreme poverty, I decided not to be lazy and get to work since I DO have such a privileged life. While the US is funding wars in foreign countries, I can live in peace and without fear because they U.S. has put so much money in making sure that it's citizens can live a comfortable life. Of course, that is not true for all people, but compared to the rest of the world, most United Stations live better lives. As Chinese philosopher and religious leader Kon-Fu-Tse wrote in Advice to a king, “Get rid of your army, use the money that you now spend on your troops to educate your people and to improve the agriculture, and the people in the south will drive away their king and submit to you without war.”

If over five hundred years ago, the key to peace was discovered, why aren't we utilizing it? Why did so many people want to come to the U.S. in the first place? Could it be the pleasant life that was possible for those who came? I hope the corporations and government of the United States can realize the great potential they have to make the U.S. a great country, rather than one that wreaks havoc on the rest of the planet, including it's own soil.

Jet-lag

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:57:40 GMT

So, I have a fun little case of jet-lag but it is giving me the opportunity to catch on stuff I normally wouldn't have time to catch up on during normal waking? hours. Yeah! I don't know who out there is reading this, but for anyone there, I am back in Japan:). Just had an amazing 10 day visit in Chicago to catch up with the fam, and most importantly, celebrate my sister's birthday. I can't believe she is already 7! Crazy! Of course she is the most adorable thing on this planet earth. The only sad part of the visit, besides the lack of time to see everyone as much as I wanted to, is the decision to let blue go. Yes, Blue, my beautiful car that I adopted from Ang will be adopted by a new home sometime in the future. Props to my dad for trying to make it happen while I'm in Japan. I'm truly lucky to have such awesome P's. Well, gotta try to sleep. Have three days of training for GABA, a language school that has super flexible hours that will match my nutso schedule. Hopefully I will find some time to get my homework done....