Tell the Consumer Product Safety Commission to stop the sale of toxic toys

In August 2008, Congress banned the manufacture, sale and import of toys containing six different phthalates -- a group of hormone-disrupting chemicals linked to serious health problems including birth defects, early puberty, testicular cancer and infertility. Phthalates are commonly used in everyday children's toys such as teethers, bath books and rubber ducks to make them soft and flexible, but can leach out of these toys when children chew on them.

Now, however, in a move that sacrifices children's health to corporate greed, at the behest of industry the Consumer Product Safety Commission has reinterpreted the congressional ban and created a dangerous loophole that will allow retailers to stockpile and continue selling phthalate-laden products long after the manufacturing ban goes into effect in February.

Currently, 25,000 men are lured into slavery every year in rural Brazil by the hope of a good job. They put trust in the middlemen that hire them, but then find themselves in debt bondage.

Lend your voice to this campaign to pressure the Brazilian Congress to pass Amendment 438/2001 to dramatically reduce the use of slaves by landowners in the Amazon region.

Tell Bank of America: You took the Bailout, Don't Sell Out Workers

Only weeks after taking $25 Billion in bailout money, Bank of America is turning its back on hundreds of workers making energy efficient doors and windows in Chicago by refusing to continue credit to Republic Windows and Doors.  To make matters even worse than putting 300 people out of work, Bank of America has instructed Republic to refuse to pay workers compensation they are legally entitled to, either earned vacation pay or the severance pay legally required under the WARN Act, in lieu of proper notice of plant closing.

All people should be able to marry who they love!

Dear Jacinthe,

Women and Families Can't Wait — Support True Economic Recovery

Tell Congress to support an economic recovery plan that addresses the needs of women and their families.

As Congress returns to Washington this week to address the nation's worsening economic crisis, let's make sure that the needs of women and families are not forgotten.

While the sky is apparently the limit when it comes to bailing out the financial industry, hard-pressed American families are being asked to wait until next year for solutions. A minority of Senators prevented the Senate from considering an economic recovery package in late September, and is threatening to do so again.

Tell your Senators that the needs of women and families hurt by this economic crisis can't wait.

Hundreds of thousands of families are in immediate crisis, and states are already planning serious cuts to vital services. More than 1 million Americans will exhaust their unemployment benefits by the end of this year. And many women who lose their jobs won't even be eligible for benefits.

Any economic recovery plan must address the needs of women and their families by:

• Extending and expanding unemployment insurance benefits;
• Preventing cuts in state and local services such as Medicaid, child care and Head Start, and child support enforcement;
• Providing help for low-income individuals and families, such as increased food, energy, and housing assistance; and
• Making needed investments that create jobs.

Corporate bail-outs are not enough. America's families need support now. Please contact your Senators today.

Sincerely,

Joan Entmacher
Vice President for Family Economic Security
National Women's Law Center

"They were telling me how to vote."

Hi,

You've got to check this out. Wal-Mart is telling its employees how to vote in the upcoming election.

http://action.americanrightsatwork.org/ct/Q7cO0P11puHD/

Apparently Wal-Mart has been holding mandatory meetings with supervisors, threatening them that if they vote for pro-worker candidates like Barack Obama in November, the Employee Free Choice Act will pass, making it easier to form unions in Wal-Mart stores.

This is potentially illegal, and grassroots groups have demanded that the Federal Election Commission investigate, but the FEC hasn't said whether they'll move forward!

I don't think anyone should be told by their boss how to vote. So I just signed a petition, urging the FEC to take action. You can too, here:

http://action.americanrightsatwork.org/ct/Q7cO0P11puHD/

With today's Supreme Court decision, a man with a credible claim to innocence may soon be executed.
Only your action can save Troy Davis!

Dear Jacinthe,

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear Troy Anthony Davis' appeal. His fate is back in the hands of Georgia authorities who may seek a new execution date at any time.

The Supreme Court's decision to deny Troy Davis' petition means that no court of law will ever hold a hearing on the witnesses who have recanted their trial testimony in sworn affidavits.

Doubts about his guilt raised by these multiple witness recantations will never be resolved. An execution under such a cloud of doubt would undermine public confidence in the state's criminal justice system and would be a grave miscarriage of justice.

The state of Georgia can still do the responsible thing and prevent the execution of Troy Davis:
Write a letter to the editor calling on Georgia to stop the execution of Troy Davis!
Call on the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to reconsider its previous decision and grant clemency to Troy Davis.
Urge your friends and family to go to amnestyusa.org/troydavis or text TROY to 90999 to add their voices to the over 200,000 that have already taken action on this case.

Join the fight for justice.

Troy Davis was sentenced to death despite a tainted case and serious claims of innocence. © Georgia Department of Corrections
http://www.kintera.org/TR.asp?a=chKJJ2OMIeLKI9I&s=ejIPK4PRLlKWJaMLJpE&m=hhKQK0MEJjJ2G

FDA to Look at Nano-products...Again

Dear Jacinthe,



The Food and Drug Administration is once again holding an “information gathering” public meeting on nanotechnology, a powerful new technology for taking apart and reconstructing nature at the atomic and molecular level. Like Yogi Berra said, “it’s déjà vu all over again.”

FDA held the same meeting two years ago, in autumn 2006. Even then, the agency was behind the curve: Many products that contain unlabeled nanomaterials, including food and food packaging products, were already on market shelves. Now, two years have passed since that meeting and the agency’s continuing stance can be aptly summarized as “all talk, no action.”

Many new nano-products continue to come to market, at an average of four to five a week. Unfortunately nano-products are still treated by FDA like any other products or product ingredients; yet scientists agree that nanomaterials are fundamentally different substances that create new and unique risks to human health and the environment and need new forms of safety testing.

A public comment period is open now through October 24, 2008 - Take action now!


Send a letter to the following decision maker(s):
Docket No. 2008-N-0416 c/o The Center for Food Safety


Below is the sample letter:

Subject: Docket No. 2008-N-0416 and Docket No. 2006P-0210

Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted here],

Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305)
Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061
Rockville, MD 20852

Comments on Docket No. 2008-N-0416 and Docket No. 2006P-0210(FDA regulation of nanotechnology materials; public meeting)

I write to express my serious concerns about the FDA's regulatory oversight of nanomaterials in consumer products.

Hundreds of consumer products containing manufactured nanomaterials are already available on U.S. market shelves, including food and food packaging products. New nanomaterial products are coming out at a rate of four to five a week.

In the absence of labeling, public debate or laws to ensure safety, products created using nanotechnology have entered the food chain. Millions of dollars are being spent by government and industry to apply nanotechnology in areas of food processing, food packaging, and agricultural production.

Industry analysts estimate that there are between 150-600 nano-foods and 400-500 nano-food packaging products already on market shelves worldwide.

Scientists have found that the fundamental properties of matter can change at the nano-scale, creating physical and chemical properties distinct from those of the same material in bulk form. We know that the new properties of nanomaterials also create new risks, like enhanced toxicity, and there is a growing library of scientific studies demonstrating that some of the nanomaterials now being used in foods and agricultural products introduce new risks to human health and the environment.

Nanoparticles can gain assess to the blood stream following ingestion. Once inside the body, the super-tiny size of these materials gives them unprecedented mobility and access to the human body; they can access cells, tissues, and organs that larger particles cannot. The length of time that nanoparticles remain in organs and what dose may cause harmful effects remains unknown.

It does not appear that FDA is ready for this wave of nano-food products. I am very concerned about the rapid introduction of these potentially hazardous nanomaterials into our bodies and into our environment without adequate scientific study to ensure that we understand their risks and can prevent harm occurring to people and the environment.

For these reasons, I strongly request that FDA act urgently to shore up its regulation of these substances to account for their fundamentally different properties and their associated dangers, including requiring new nano-specific testing and the labeling of all nanomaterial products, including nano-food products.

Because there are no regulations to require labeling of nano-ingredients and additives in food and packaging there is no way for anyone to choose to eat nano-free. Only with labeling can I make educated decisions about what I buy and put in and on my body. Until such actions are taken, I fully support a moratorium on the manufacture of nanomaterial consumer products and the recall of products currently on the market.


Sincerely,

http://ga3.org/campaign/Nano1/33ee8dw427833j87?

This was a topic originally about Human Rights in Tibet, I thought of changing the title and making it a topic for Human Rights petitions in general, as it had slipped into the archive, and we should not forget that there are so many of our species that get pelted everyday as well.

This is an Obituary for HUMAN RIGHTS & INTERNATIONAL ETHICS

HUMAN RIGHTS DIED ON 8^TH AUGUST, 2008 AND INTERNATIONAL ETHICS TOO EXPIRED AT BEIJING OLYMPICS STADIUM.
THE LAST RITES WERE PERFORMED BY THE PRESIDENT OF IOC WHILE IN ATTENDANCE WERE GEORGE BUSH AND MANY OTHER HEADS OF STATES.
THE LAST POST WAS SOUNDED BY 'HU JINTAO'  IN THE PRESENCE OF 10,000 SPORTSPERSONS FROM 205 COUNTRIES.
FROM NOW ONWARDS NO ONE NEED TALK ABOUT 'HUMAN RITES' AND 'INTERNATIONAL ETHIC'.

The Dalai Lama's Olympic handshake is circling the world, headed for Beijing. Click below to see more and join the call for dialogue! CLICK HERE TO SHAKE HANDS http://www.avaaz.org/en/handshake?cl=112212534&v=1983