Dirty gold mine is leaving Peruvians high and dry

Police force against peaceful protesters in Cajamarca. The people's water is being swallowed up by the gold mine, leaving behind massive toxic waste

Dear Readers, I am passing on this e-mail, because it is too important not to, Please do consider signing these petitions, also; Thank You;

“We only have water for two hours each day!” A few days ago, this desperate outcry reached us from the Peruvian city of Cajamarca. The people here are demonstrating against the extension of Latin America's largest gold mine which is destroying their natural water sources. An important headwater stream of the Amazon is also at risk. However, the mining company Yanacocha and even the Peruvian government is using brute force to suppress the peaceful protests.

I myself spent a year working for an environmental organization in Cajamarca and saw the problems with my own eyes. Taking water samples, we discovered huge amounts of highly toxic substances such as arsenic, cadmium and lead. This is why the people in northern Peru are protesting for their right to sufficient clean water – they need it to survive.

In the late fall of last year international protests were able to stop the Conga project for the time being. Now once again we need to show a flag against violence and in support of those struggling for water.

Please support the people of Cajamarca and their right to water. Sign the petition directed towards the Peruvian government and the World Bank as one of the shareholders of the mining company Yanacocha.

TAKE ACTION

Thanks for making a difference,

David Vollrath
Rainforest Rescue (Rettet den Regenwald e.V.)

Please participate in other current protest actions as well

Stop IKEA logging old-growth forests in Russia

Furniture giant IKEA is clear-cutting Russian woods – including many old-growth forests. Centuries-old trees are felled and the sensitive soils are destroyed by the heavy harvester vehicles. Such is by no means "responsible forestry", which IKEA promises its customers
Protest Start of campaign: 6/30/12 ∣ 55,473 participants to date
Remind the EPA that palm oil is dirty!

The rainforests are the lungs of our planet and must be protected. Stop the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from bowing to lobbyist pressure to overturn their recent decision that palm oil should not be included in the Renewable Fuel Standard
Start of campaign: 6/29/12 ∣ 1,739 participants to date

The Biggest Threats We Face From Conservative Religion

Our economy runs on the fossil fuels of oil, gas and coal, but our society runs on the fossil fuel of religion. READ MORE

I'm not claiming that religious belief is uniformly harmful. At its best, religion can inspire human beings to perform acts of great charity and compassion and create works of wondrous beauty. But these good works have been endlessly reported and praised, and they need no additional documentation from me. If anything, people who report on religion have a tendency to only report its good effects, while sweeping the bad ones under the rug or blithely dismissing them as perversions of "true" faith. I seek to provide some balance to these choruses of praise by reminding people that religion has also directly caused many acts of terrible bloodshed, cruelty and destruction.

Good Point--Excellent Point--I Agree, completely!!! Since I would not like, to put it mildly, to be told that I could not believe in Jesus or the Holy Book that tells all about Him--I would not tell anyone else that they have to believe in Him as I do.

When a person believes, truly believes, that they know what God's will is, they become almost impossible to reason with. This is because most religions teach that faith -- belief not supported by evidence -- is not just acceptable but commendable, and is the sign of a virtuous person. Of course, beliefs that weren't based on evidence to begin with usually can't be changed by evidence. This makes religious faith a very dangerous thing, because when a religious believer chooses a course of action that's evil or harmful, efforts to persuade them to stop will be futile. After all, if God has told you what he wants you to do, any person who has a different opinion must be an agent of evil, and any compromise would be not just foolish but a sinful violation of God's command.

To put it mildly!!! After all, as I have written many times before of having worked for a Cleaning Service that was run by a pair of sisters, even though the older sister 'Jane' the ring leader would deny being the Ring Leader--just another of her many many many 'Holy Ghost Filled Justified Lie and Deceptions', Since her younger sister, Lora was/ is 'Jane's' disciple who believes every word 'Jane' said and followed all of 'Jane's' instructions, but, yet, Lora claimed to be The Boss. The point being these two (Lora would call 'Jane's' cell phone at least once a night, each and every night of work and ask what to do about this or that) could justify each and everyone of their actions with the simple phase--"Some times you've got to do what you've got to do."-- I remember learning to hate that phase, because the question became--What Evil are they about to do in the Name of Jesus, Now????

AS IF AMEN AND GLORI HALLELUJAH Can Justify Each and Every Lie and Deception and Theft from employees and hiding things from costumers and secretly gossiping about costumers with false accusations of Witchcraft and Corporate Spying, which means IF the Cleaning Service Can Accuse the Costumers of Doing Wrong things against the Cleaning Service then how much can the Cleaning Service do in Self-Defense?!?!?!?!

IslandWire

Action, Events, and News from Our Global Network

Printing Penan Stories

Help EII’s Borneo Project get 3,000 Indigenous language books to Penan families in 66 villages across the island of Borneo. The project is working to document traditional Penan stories, collect them in a book illustrated by local artists and hand them out free in Penan villages. This will likely be the first time the Penan people, a hunter-gatherer tribe that has been forced to settle due to massive rainforest destruction – will see in print their ancient stories that only a few of their elders still remember. Borneo Project has less than a month to raise $7,000 for the program. Please donate, share this campaign information widely, and help support the preservation of this threatened Indigenous language and culture.

Gardening for Community

Lend a hand to Earth Island’s Bay Localize and Victory Garden Foundation as they pull out weeds and plant seeds at the Telegraph Ministry Center People’s Victory Garden in Oakland on July 28. The community gardening event will be part of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights’ second annual Throw Down for the Town: The Oakland Service Festival, that will feature 30 volunteer projects across Oakland ranging from community gardening, cleaning up litter, and painting schools. The event will culminate with community festival at Snow Park with music by hip-hop artist Mystic, a well-known Oakland native. Bay Localize would like to get at least 70 volunteers for its "Seeds & Weeds at TMC Garden" event. Sign up by July 21 and add to their numbers.

Calling All Artists

Earth Island's Food Shift project is calling on artists to submit artwork for an exhibit that will explore themes that intersect with the project's goal of creating a more just and sustainable food system. Selected works will be exhibited at the new Interface Gallery in Oakland in October. Artists are invited to submit work in any medium for display in the gallery setting and to propose auxiliary events that intersect with the theme of the exhibition. Details here. Email interfaceartgallery@gmail.com for further information. Please help spread the word to local artists and food justice communities.

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P.S.>>>>>>>>

Greetings and Salutations, Dear Readers;
It is my duty as a concerned Human of this Planet that we call Earth to pass on the following e-mail. After all, if we do not take care of our Home World, where-Oh, Where will our decedents live???

The Heartland Institute recently commissioned billboards comparing Americans who believe in climate disruption to murderous psychopaths like Charles Manson and Unabomber Ted Kaczynski. This is neither funny nor controversial, and they need to apologize for insulting the majority of Americans.

Please join me in signing this petition asking them to apologize!.

We can make a real difference. Sign today!
http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AGUfN/zMgF/Bvckf

Thanks!