HEMPSTERS: Plant the Seed

Dallas, TX - We are pleased to announce the completion and premiere of the documentary project, "HEMPSTERS: Plant the Seed," a passionate, outspoken and sometimes fiery treatise on industrial hemp and, specifically, on seven activists who, although separated by economics, geography and lifestyle, are allied in the fight to legalize the growing and utilization of Industrial Hemp. A project that has been in the works for seven years.

This film recently screened rough cuts of the project at The Santa Monica Film Festival and The Deep Ellum Film Festival in Dallas and is premiering in The Maui Film Festival June 11th-15th, 2003.

Woody Harrelson, Willie Nelson, Stephen Jenkins (Lead Singer of Third Eye Blind), Merle Haggard, Gatewood Galbraith, and Ralph Nader, Craig Lee, Donna Cockrell, Andrew and Jake Graves, Alex White Plume, Julia "Butterfly" Hill, Milos Yellow Hair, Tom Cook and Joe American Horse are the notables speaking out in "HEMPSTERS: Plant the Seed," each with a vested interest in championing this cause.

Animals as liberators

Already drafted into World War III

Briefly, I heard reports about the war and how some of my fellow animal friends were helping to “liberate Iraq.” I hate it when my daddy leaves CNN on all day while he’s at work, because the news is so horrifying. I like the music channel or Animal Planet much better. But apparently, the U.S. military has drafted dolphins, seals and monkeys to carry out their dirty work, which in most cases, causes the liberation of the poor drafted animal from his life.

Dolphins have been used for many years in military situations, including learning how to carry nuclear missiles to a target. Now, seals are learning how to attack “enemy” undersea divers. One researcher found that these animals actually had to be brainwashed or mentally altered with electrodes implanted in their brains to make them killers. I wonder if they are doing the same things to military humans, or it is easier to talk a person into killing those of its own species?

Egg industry cruelty exposed ... again: MFA undercover investigation reveals shocking abuse at Ohio egg farm

Nearly fifteen months after uncovering unspeakable cruelty at Ohio’s largest egg factory farms, Mercy For Animals investigators have again gone undercover behind closed doors to shed light on the inherent cruelties of battery cage facilities. The investigation began in December, 2002 after Weaver Brothers Egg Farm, located in Versailles, Ohio, failed to respond to a certified letter requesting a tour and expressing concern over the farm’s treatment of hens. Following stringent industry-guideline bio-security measures, and armed with video and photo equipment, MFA investigators made nighttime visits to the factory documenting case after case of animal neglect and abuse.

MFA investigators discovered hens caked in feces packed into crowded, filthy wire cages so small they could not spread a single wing, diseased hens suffering from untreated growths and infections, hens trapped in the wire of their cages without access to food or water, dead bodies left to rot in cages with birds still producing eggs for human consumption, and a live hen thrown away in a trash can filled with rotting corpses.

Saving Hope -- Trash to Teasure: the story of Ohio's egg industry's tiniest victims

As I pulled the small, dust- covered door in the shed’s floor open, I soon realized that this was no exit, no escape route. It was a cold, pitch-black resting place for hundreds of the egg industry’s victims. Trash bins, packed to the brim with insect infested bodies, filled the dugout. The floor was crawling with bugs and thoroughly littered with dirt, feathers, and the decomposing bodies of dead hens. It was a living hell, brought to life courtesy of consumers’ demand for the “incredible edible egg.”

The already unbearable consciousness of this hell was worsened when I noticed movement in one of the trash bins. I easily would have mistaken this hen, determined to survive, for a lifeless corpse had she not lifted her tiny head, stared at me with curiosity, and blinked her eyes from atop the pile.

Oppose the unfair Class Action "Fairness" Act

This legislation seeks to move most state court class actions into federal courts, posing a threat to basic civil rights and unfairly blocking the disadvantaged members of society, including women and racial minorities, from obtaining relief from discrimination and unlawful practices. Class action litigation is one of the most important tools that women and people of color can use to help level the playing field. We must do everything we can to oppose this bill and to encourage senators to do the same.

Civil rights laws are intended to protect victims of discriminatory policies, ensuring that they can obtain relief from unlawful practices. The so-called Class Action “Fairness” Act of 2003 threatens to unfairly prevent victims of discrimination from seeking legal justice. If this bill is enacted, women’s ability to seek redress in a court of law will be severely restricted.

NOW you see us, NOW you don't? A column by the President of Columbus NOW

Two years ago I moved back to Co lumbus, in part to care for a rela tive and in part because I missed the progressive community here (yes, there is one!). I moved away nine years before for a job in Lexington, KY and have since lived and worked within and outside of NOW, the National Organization for Women, in 5 states – OH, KY, WA, TN, MI and back to OH. Just before I moved back I went to a Columbus NOW meeting and decided to run for office hoping I’d have an immediate place to “plug in” once I got back and settled somewhat.

Frequently, when attending gatherings, meetings, rallies, workshops, conferences or classes I get asked two things: Isn’t feminism dead (or over)? and What does NOW do (I thought it didn’t exist anymore)?

These questions point to the myths about feminism (and, indirectly about democracy, rights, freedom, and liberty) and about the strengths, visibility and power of organizations like NOW.

TV Boycott's current campaign is "Boycott the News"

“Boycott the News” is an indirect boycott designed to correct bias and censorship in the news coverage of the war. It aims to disrupt the flow of advertising revenue that supports the network newscasts. The combined effect of September 11th and the current war in Iraq has created a difficult climate for advertising on network newscasts. The time for this type of boycott is now because there are several weak links in the revenue chain of the networks. In the first week of the war the networks had 100 million dollars worth of ads pulled. No one wanted to be associated with the war and the anxiety it was expected to bring.

Bush’s Alderaan

In the latest sign of a troubled American democracy, a large majority of U.S. citizens now say they wouldn’t mind if no weapons of mass destruction are found in Iraq, though it was George W. Bush’s chief rationale for war. Americans also don’t seem to mind that Bush appears to have deceived them for months when he claimed he hadn’t made up his mind about invading Iraq.

As he marched the nation to war, Bush presented himself as a Christian man of peace who saw war only as a last resort. But in a remarkable though little noted disclosure, Time magazine reported that in March 2002 – a full year before the invasion – Bush outlined his real thinking to three U.S. senators, “Fuck Saddam,” Bush said. “We’re taking him out.”

Time actually didn’t report the quote exactly that way. Apparently not to offend readers who admire Bush’s moral clarity, Time printed the quote as “F— Saddam. We’re taking him out.”

A Peace Report from Rep. Dennis Kucinich

My fellow advocate for peace,

For more than six months, millions of people throughout the world have joined together against war. Millions have instead stood for peace. And, while we support our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters, our friends and relatives who are enlisted in the service of our great nation, we are united and unwavering in our belief that the conflicts of the world cannot be resolved through perpetual warfare.

As you may know, I am running for President of the United States. I am running because I believe in the cause of perpetual peace, not perpetual war. I believe we must reach out to our adversaries, not with fists clenched to cause mutual pain, but with open hearts to establish mutual understanding.

While I am running for the highest public office in our great democracy, my sights are set even higher than victory in a single election. With your help, I am also trying to build a movement for progressive social, economic, and political change.

My Oscar “Backlash” - "Stupid White Men" back at #1 and "Bowling" breaks new records

April 7, 2003

Dear friends,

It appears that the Bush administra- tion will have succeeded in coloniz ing Iraq sometime in the next few days. This is a blunder of such magnitude — and we will pay for it for years to come. It was not worth the life of one single American kid in uniform, let alone the thousands of Iraqis who have died, and my condolences and prayers go out to all of them.

So, where are all those weapons of mass destruction that were the pretense for this war? Ha! There is so much to say about all this, but I will save it for later.

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