Saturday March 22, 2008, 9:36 pm
Shocking. Thanks. I learnt alot.

Saturday March 22, 2008, 11:17 pm

This is a petition that closes soon. Please consider signing if you haven't.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/stop-firestones-exploitation-and-cruelty

Thank you Mark.

Saturday March 22, 2008, 11:27 pm

Thank YOU, Marian. Let's see if I can make that clickable:

Stop Firestone's Exploitation and Cruelty

It's an important petition and it only has 329 signatures so far. Here's the text:

Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC has had a rubber plantation in Liberia since 1926, when Liberia declared their independence.
Bridgestone Firestone abuses their local workers by subjecting them to slavery and encourages the adult workers to bring their children to help them meet their daily quota of rubber production. This situation is against international laws including ILO Conventions, American and Liberian labor law.
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If anyone hasn't signed yet, please do and pass this on to your friends.

Thank you!

Sunday March 23, 2008, 2:13 am
was aware of that Mark...many people have no clue, thanks so much

Sunday March 23, 2008, 3:57 am
Mark, I was unaware of Firestone's practises! I am appalled to know children have been forced to work in order for their families to have the basic needs. Count me in as an advocate against Firestone/Bridgestone; I will never purchase another product from them knowingly as well as try and discourage others from buying their products. (guess I'll be doing a lot of research in the future!)
Signed and *noted

Sunday March 23, 2008, 5:58 am
This is so horrible and needs to end now. There should not be slavery anywhere. Already signed. Noted with anger. Thanks Mark.

Thank you! You signed at 5:27 AM PST, Feb 29, 2008

Sunday March 23, 2008, 8:29 am
Thanks Mark. Bookmarked & Action taken. I felt so relieved when I saw that father finally get his son back. Heart-wrenching video.

Sunday March 23, 2008, 9:55 pm
thanx Mark ^_^

come on everybody, note it and pass it along!
let's get this story to the front page where it belongs ^_^

Monday March 24, 2008, 5:57 am
Only buy fare-trade chocolate but didn't know about firestone. Thanx for this.

Monday March 24, 2008, 11:34 am

well aware-- :( thanks for the post Mark
will forward the petition Marian

Monday March 24, 2008, 2:49 pm
signed May 2007, Thanks, will send around again in hopes of getting new members to sign as well.

Monday March 24, 2008, 4:23 pm
wow Mark was that read ever shocking I ahve noted and signed this petition- ty dana~.~

Monday March 24, 2008, 4:28 pm
Thank you! You signed at 10:39 PM PST, Feb 28, 2008, Thanks Mark

Monday March 24, 2008, 6:31 pm
Ironic to consider that Liberia was
founded by the United States as a
place where freed American slaves
could go to return to Africa.
Thanks, Mark.
petition signed, and
noted.

Monday March 24, 2008, 8:17 pm
Petition already signed.

TY, Matk

Tuesday March 25, 2008, 6:08 am
Noted and petition signed with thanks to both Mark and Marian.

Tuesday March 25, 2008, 6:15 am
Thank you!
This is not a new story...just one that never gets "legs" as a story in the mainstream press.
When I lived in Ethiopia '72-75, slavery was rampant there, along with poverty unlike anything imaginable by most people.
Each day I watched and cried in helplessness for them, as lines of human children and adults used as pack animals, over-loaded beasts of burden, walked by my house. Because of being forced to walk bent over in order to pile on more stuff, by age 21 they could no longer stand up. They usually died in their 20's, if they lived that long.
My Sabanya explained to me that humans were cheaper and easier to use than animals and that they weren't considered slaves because although they were not free to change their lives in any way, they were paid a very, very small amough of money to "prove" to other countries that Ethipia had banished slavery.
The degree of poverty was hidden from many international visitors to Addis Ababa by the government driving around the city and loading the homeless into trucks a few days before expected visitors. They were driven out of the city far enough that when left off on the road, it would take days for them to walk back to the city and the "visitors" would be gone by then.

27 million now? Imagine what the Iraq dollars could have done to free them!

Tuesday March 25, 2008, 6:25 am
Thank you Lyn for the e mail. No person should ever be any one's slave. It is dehumanizing and vile to the human spirit. This is an outrage and the world should scream at the top of their lungs for this to cease. We need other governments to stop this. This is where are American Troops need to be. I would pay taxes for us to get these people to safety and to make this criminal action of others to stop. I would certainly want something constructive done for all these people instead of murdering the Iraqi people. So very sad for the spirit of a human. They are valuable people. They have a right for a better life...noted.

Tuesday March 25, 2008, 7:14 am
Thank you for this post Mark.
Indeed slavery is a problem. Here in Greece people are brought in from countries such as Pakistan, Rumania, Bulgaria, Albania, Russia. Women as sex slaves, children and handicapped to collect and beg at the traffic lights, in the big ships ....
In Germany in the former East part workers are brought in and worked in cigarett fabarication somewhere in the middle of nowhere ...
Again - as usual for Greece goes, no broad media coverage except about sex salvery and than at best after midnight, no central help lines for citizen to call, police passing by children at traffic lights who clean windows, ignoring them.
It is amazing how much we have to protect ourselves, so much so, that we don;t even know from what - instead of embracing our fellow humans and live in harmony.

Tuesday March 25, 2008, 7:15 am
THANK YOU AND NOTED

Tuesday March 25, 2008, 7:24 am
Thanks you for bringing this forward., I knew about chocolate, but not about Firestone. I have signed the firestone petition. Slavery of any kind should not exist. People of one nation or area should never be forced into work, just so a large corporation can make money from their sweat and hard work, when the works gain nothing. This is no longer a secret, the horror of real live slavery that exists today is out of the bag...Lets keep it out of the bag and let companies who promote and endevour in slavery know we Know, we are Watching, and we will not tolerate nor promote this any longer. Freedom for all, its our right, and it should be Everyones basic right.. Lets make it so.

Tuesday March 25, 2008, 2:42 pm
THANK YOU AND NOTED

Tuesday March 25, 2008, 2:59 pm
watching that video brought tears to my eyes. no child on this earth deserves that kind of treatment. so let us all get behind this great cause and help our children all over the world. give them freedom to live their lives as we like to do

Tuesday March 25, 2008, 3:46 pm
This came as a complete surprise and as major shock. All Free people must work together to STOP this NOW!!

Tuesday March 25, 2008, 5:00 pm
Noted with grief, tnx for posting Mark

Tuesday March 25, 2008, 7:35 pm
Thank you! You signed at 7:51 AM PST, Feb 29, 2008. End slavery.
Thanks Mark and Marian!

Tuesday March 25, 2008, 8:37 pm
noted and signed.

Wednesday March 26, 2008, 1:47 am
Noted and signed. This is shocking !
Thanks Mark !

Wednesday March 26, 2008, 1:53 am

Thank you! You signed at 1:47 AM PDT, Apr 27, 2007
Very hard to understand why so few signatures!

Wednesday March 26, 2008, 4:18 am
I had know idea, and glad I do now. I know now, how cruel. Know one should be a slave. Very noted.

Wednesday March 26, 2008, 7:29 am
I had already signed the petition. So hard to imagine slavery exists like this today. Firestone needs to be involved in ending this. Take the contract away until the countries comply. Instead of slavery, free them and offer them jobs to support themselves. I'm with you Pam, I don't understand why there are so few signatures. My gosh, this is a human rights issue.

Wednesday March 26, 2008, 8:14 am

Great work Mark, signed.

ADM also got sued and lost, for using slaves for cocoa, Ivory Coast

Wednesday March 26, 2008, 11:25 am
Absolutely shocking. I had no idea how wide spread slavery is. I've signed the petition, noted the story, and signed up with freetheslaves.net. Thanks for posting this.

Wednesday March 26, 2008, 12:07 pm
Noted and signed petition thanks for submitting it.

Wednesday March 26, 2008, 2:27 pm
noted, signed and forwarded

Wednesday March 26, 2008, 2:45 pm
So Shocking, will forward to all.

Wednesday March 26, 2008, 6:13 pm
So sad...literally had me in tears. 27 million enslaved...I can't believe it...This has to end..NOW!!! :(

Thursday March 27, 2008, 6:59 am
noted and signed......horrible

Thursday March 27, 2008, 10:17 am
So shocking! Noted, signed and forwarded on.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention

Thursday March 27, 2008, 1:30 pm
Speechless.. noted, signed, and Forwarded.

Thursday March 27, 2008, 10:02 pm
noted and signed..this is sickening...thank you

Thursday March 27, 2008, 11:36 pm
Signed, forwarded on, noted, thanks Mark.

Friday March 28, 2008, 11:20 am
Unfortunately this always existed, and it looks like that is increasing instead. In South America, Brazil for example, the situation is exactly the same. The Brazilian (Lula da Silva) government knows that, but does not do anything to end the high suffering of hundreds of families slaves. This is very sad and very frustrating. - Anyaway, thanks for sharing this info.

Saturday March 29, 2008, 2:01 pm
Thanks Jocelyn and thanks Mark for the post. I signed the petition a couple of weeks ago and I watched the video which is heartbreaking. It's unbelievable that slavery still exists but hopefully with everyone's help it will cease to exist in our lifetime.

Tuesday April 8, 2008, 4:10 pm
Thank you Mark for this most important of articles. When I see the helpless and abused animals,I see these people. We are all the same no matter what form we are and to be totally helpless to save your self,to free yourself, unable to help yourself in any way and to be without hope is the worst to me. To feel destined to a fate of which you have no say at all is just soul destroying for all mammals.This video shows more slaves in the world than the population of Australia. That is a travesty and a tragedy of enormous proportions.Speciesism needs to stop. NO-ONE and no-one's children should have to live like this.Very sad and horrendous. Every day I count my blessings and I am very grateful for all I have and I hope ALL other people in the world can one day be as fortunate.

Tuesday April 15, 2008, 12:19 pm
Noted, signed, and very sad...Thanx Mark!