Human Rights

What to buy

Buy Fair Trade Items

The term “Fair Trade” may conjure up a variety of images in the minds of consumers today: “hipsters” sipping on special coffee, higher priced sections of produce at the grocery store, all-hemp clothing and handbags, or an overall vision of a “natural” lifestyle. Many of us, however, don’t know what the Fair Trade industry truly consists of. There is more to this craze than meets the eye. In a nutshell, Fair Trade is all about ethical business practices and individual consumers using their purchasing power to decide what kind of world we live in.

What is Fair Trade?

Concisely explained on non-profit Fair Trade USA’s website, this industry practices “rigorous social, environmental and economic standards (that) work to promote safe, healthy working conditions, protect the environment, enable transparency and empower communities to build strong, thriving businesses” (http://fairtradeusa.org/what-is-fair-trade).

Nuclear News: One good, two bad -- Take Action Now

Good News: Historic Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons Adopted at United Nations

The United Nations Draft Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted on July 7, 2017. The Treaty commits signatory governments to criminalize all forms of nuclear weapons research, manufacturing, testing, possession, use or threats to use nuclear weapons, among other provisions. At least 130 countries participated in the negotiations, with only one voting against. Nuclear-armed states, including the United States, did not participate. The Treaty will be opened for signature on September 20, 2017. The Treaty will enter enforcement 90 days after at least 50 countries have ratified it.

Bad News: Congress pushing through a “Mobile Chernobyl” Bill

Columbus residents alongside leaders of local public health departments urged the continuation of federal, state and local programs to protect and defend the health of everyday Ohioans.

The current administration has proposed cutting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency budget by 31 percent – more than any other federal agency. Those cuts would hit Ohio and Columbus area programs hard, too – for air, land and water quality initiatives that keep people healthy and safe.
 

"The issue is simple: less regulation equals more sick kids" said Beth Liston, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at The Ohio State University Medical School.
 

Liston spoke at TRISM--a new restaurant, bar, and event space in the Gateway District--at a gathering organized by Defend Our Future, a non-partisan, non-profit organization for young adults interested in protecting their environment.
 

Heightened Urgency Seen in Wake of Paris Climate Retreat & EPA Rule Rollbacks; “Family Friendly” Protest to Feature News Event and Speeches from Bipartisan Line-up of U.S. Senators and Representatives

WASHINGTON, D.C.//NEWS ADVISORY///Hundreds of moms and their children from all corners of the United States will gather on Capitol Hill Thursday (July 13, 2017) to hold a unique “Play-In” rally and press conference. Parents and their kids will focus on the need to address climate change and air pollution, and also will demand climate solutions such as renewable energy and limits on greenhouse gas emissions. Following the protest event, Moms and their children from nearly 40 states will meet with their corresponding members of congress.

On May 1st COTA overhauled its transit system by increasing routes and connections, including to more jobs, such as at Rickenbacker on the far southeast side, which has an estimated 21,000 warehouse-related positions.

But more routes and increased frequency for those without their own transportation to an expanding Central Ohio and to more jobs apparently wasn’t the only improvement in mind for the transit authority. COTA also boosted the number of routes and frequencies to a place fueling an increasing addictive form of entertainment in our community – gambling.

COTA has two lines going to Rickenbacker, but four lines going to Hollywood Casino on the west side. Keep in mind there are jobs at Hollywood, but the majority of people taking these lines are going there to gamble.

What’s more, the four lines to Hollywood travel through some of Columbus’s poorest neighborhoods where the last thing these people need is a place where they lose what little money they have.

Driving north on Route 23 from Columbus one will see strip malls and big box stores spreading like a cancer toward Delaware. Just a short distance from the intersection of US Route 23 and State Route 315 in Delaware County is a place worlds away from the retail jungle to the south. The Stratford Ecological Center is a 236 acre oasis of woods, wildflowers and sustainability that is dedicated to reconnecting people with nature, educating children and reminding adults of where our food and fiber come from.

I visited there recently for a half-day class on edible wild plants. Included in the class was an educational walk in the woods and a lunch made from the wild plants found in the fields and woods of the center. The hickory nut pie, sweetened with honey harvested from the center's own hives, may have been the culinary highlight of my life.

The Central Ohio Workers Center held a meeting on Saturday, March 20, entitled Organizing for Economic Justice: A Call to Action at the Columbus Mennonite Church, 35 Oakland Park Ave.

Workers of all industries and identities are under attack like never before – but we can build collective power through workplace organizing. This summit brought together labor leaders, nationally recognized speakers, workers and local activists involved in the struggle for economic justice. 

The following videos were produced by Steve Farber:

In the years 2013-2016, the Columbus Police killed 24 people, 20 of them black.

Mappingpoliceviolence.org lists the names of all Columbus citizens killed by the Columbus Police Department (CPD). Despite only 27.6 percent of Columbus’ population being black, 83.3 percent of all people killed by cops were black (see chart).

Out of the 15 largest U.S. cities, Columbus ranks number one in percentage of police killing black people. (see chart).

Often the police and their allies will excuse the high rates of police violence against black people by claiming they are just trying to stop black-on-black crime, a phrase popularized in the 1980s under Ronald Reagan, as the United States created the world’s largest prison industrial complex. Police shootings of black people are not reflective of high black-on-black crime rates. They are not the result of a police department’s attempt to protect poor communities. A report from mappingpoliceviolence.org points out that there is no relationship between police killing blacks and community violent crime rates.

1. Chemical weapons are worse than other weapons.

This is not the case. Death and dismemberment are horrific regardless of the weapon. No weapon is being used legally, morally, humanely, or practically in Syria or Iraq. U.S. bombs are no less indiscriminate, no less immoral, and no less illegal than chemical weapons -- or for that matter than the depleted uranium weapons with which the United States has been poisoning the area. The fact that a weapon has not been banned does not create a legal right to go into a country and kill people with it.

2. Chemical weapons use justifies the escalated use of other weapons.

Does shoplifting justify looting? If a Hatfield poisoned a McCoy, would another McCoy be justified in shooting a bunch of Hatfields? What barbarism is this? A crime does not sanction another crime. That's a quick trip to hell.

3. Important people we should trust know who used chemical weapons.

No, they do not. At least they do not know that the Syrian government did it. If they knew this, they would offer evidence. As on every past occasion, they have not done so.

4. The enemy is pure evil and will answer only to force.

As a journalist, you can often find out more from looking into someone’s eyes than listening to the words out of their mouths.

It might sound corny, but on Tuesday night in Flint, Michigan, where I hosted a town hall discussion for The Young Turks, I learned of the utter disaster that never stopped being a disaster by simply looking into the eyes of fallen Americans.

These were citizens injured on the battlefields of war—only they never signed up for the army or traveled abroad. Instead, they were mere victims of the ongoing war on the poor, waged by a corrupt government innately more interested in making money and staying in power than making the right decisions for its citizens.

“These $20 filters don’t work,” Flint resident, Adam Murphy, said. Murphy, a 37-year-old father of five, has been poisoned to the point of having severe neurological problems that cause him seizures. His child was also born with high lead levels.

“I have to get on some expensive medications that Medicaid doesn’t cover,” he said, adding that the government is lying to citizens in telling them it’s safe to drink the Flint water with a filter.