At The Abundancetrek Blog I have offered some posts on Climate Change recently:   "Global Warming Demands Radical Change in Behavior" "Copenhagen Conference on Global Warming-1" "Copenhagen Conference on Global Warming-2" love, john + abundancetrek.com + "You do not need to do anything; you do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. You do not even need to listen; just wait. You do not even need to wait; just become still, quiet and solitary and the world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It has no choice. It will roll in ecstasy at your feet." -- Franz Kafka

I drive one of these cars and am greatly disturbed to learn this.  Barb

* Toyota linked to human trafficking and sweatshop abuse;
* Ties to Burmese dictators;
* 10,000 low-wage temps;
* Unpaid overtime and overworked to death;
* Cited by the ILO for repression of freedom of association;
* Lowering wages and benefits across the U.S. auto industry.

Today the National Labor Committee (NLC) is releasing a 65-page report, "The Toyota You Don't Know," documenting serious human rights violations by the Toyota Motor Company, which will surprise and disturb most Americans.

"Celebrities like Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pit, Bill Maher and others have led the way in turning Toyota's Prius into a symbol of concern for our environment," said Charles Kernaghan, director of the NLC, "We hope that these same celebrities will now also challenge Toyota to improve its respect for human and worker rights.  As a start, Toyota should cut its ties to the Burmese dictators and end the exploitation of foreign guest workers trafficked to Japan."

The NLC report-which appears to be the first serious research in 35 years on Toyota's labor practices in Japan and the developing world-documents the following violations:

* Toyota linked to human trafficking and sweatshop abuse:  Toyota's much admired "Just in Time" auto parts supply chain is riddled with sweatshop abuse, including the trafficking of foreign guest workers--mostly from China and Vietnam-to Japan, who are stripped of their passports and often forced to work-including at subcontract plants supplying Toyota-16 hours a day, seven days a week, while being paid less than half the legal minimum wage.  Guest workers who complain about abusive conditions are deported.

* Prius made by low-wage temps:   Fully one-third-10,000-of all Toyota assembly line workers in Japan are low-wage temps who earn less than 60 percent of what full time workers do, and even less when benefits are included.  Temps have few rights and are hired on contracts lasting as little as four months.

* Unpaid overtime and "overworked" to death:  Mr. Kenichi Uchino was just 30 years old when he died of overwork on an assembly line at Toyota's Prius plant, leaving behind his young wife and two children, who were one and three.  Mr. Uchino routinely worked 13 to 14 hours a day, putting in 106 ½ to 155 hours of overtime-depending upon whether work taken home was counted-in the 30 days leading up to his death.  Toyota claimed that he had only worked 45 hours of overtime and that the other 61 ½ to 110 hours were of a "voluntary nature" and unpaid.  His wife had to go to court-which ruled that Mr. Uchino was overworked to death-to win a pension for their children.  

* Ties to Burmese dictators:  Toyota, through the Toyota Tsusho Corporation, which is part of the Toyota Group of Companies, is involved in several joint business ventures with the ruthless military regime in Burma.  The dictators use these revenues to repress and torture the people of Burma.

* Repression of freedom of association:  Toyota was cited by the ILO as, "…a multinational company, apparently with little regard for corporate responsibility…"  for its role in suppressing freedom of association at its plant in the Philippines, where Toyota fired 227 workers for daring to exercise their legal right to organize.

* Toyota and the race to the bottom:  Toyota is imposing its two-tier, low wage model at its non-union plants in the south of the United States, which will result in wages and benefits being slashed across the entire auto industry.

Access the new NLC Toyota report at:  http://www.nlcnet.org/article.php?id=562
Or via the NLC's home page:  www.nlcnet.org

My sister Vicki Harvey sent me this video with song.  Go to You Tube to
get it.    Barbara Shuck

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POWERFUL NEW MOVIE ON THE WAR

DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA IS A SERIES OF NARROW ESCAPES, AND WE MAY BE RUNNING OUT OF LUCK

• The Abundancetrek Blog
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Hi John,
      This guy "startles" you and others because he actually has
      something to say...he's where I am thought in a different place.
      Blessings to all,  Mark

On Thu, 24 Apr 2008 07:13:12 -0700 (PDT), "John Wilde"
<abundancetrek@...> said:
> THE WISDOM OF A STREET JESTER
>     + ExecuMusings offers "Hunger Strike: the Wisdom of a Street Jester"
>     by Clint McCoy, Executive for Partnerships of the Presbyterian Synod
>     of the Northeast. Excerpt:
>     “I’ve completely given up on organized religion,” he said, shaking
>     his head a bit. “I don’t mean any disrespect to you, but I’ve given
>     up on the church.”
>
>   As he said the words, and I thought about his unconventional protest,
>   it came to me that many in the church didn’t have too much to do with
>   people protesting as he was either.
>
>   “I’m out here 24-7,” he said. “This is what I do.”
>
>   “My name is Clint,” I offered, wanting not to leave him without some
>   kind of connection.
>     “My name is Start,” he said, offering me his hand. “Hi Stark,” I
>     said, not hearing him correctly the first time, and thinking it was a
>     peculiar name, as we shook hands.
>
>   “Start,” he said, not as though correcting me, but more as an
>   affirmation. “Start Loving.”
>
>   Did I hear him correctly? I thought to myself. You’ve got to be
>   kidding! “Start Loving.” Who would really have a name like that? But he
>   hadn’t said it as some kind of joke. He was straight faced as he said
>   it, as though he was eager for me to remember. Why would he trust me at
>   all with his real name, anyway? He had no idea about whom I might
>   really be, or what I might do that could harm him.
> I urge you to read this powerful article about Clint's amazing encounter
> with a provocative protester on the streets of our nation's capital.
>
>    Read article
>
>
>
>     Posted by John at 12:25 PM 0 comments
>   Labels: Clint McCoy, Justice, Peace, Presbyterian
>
>
>
>           John A Wilde
>
>  http://www.abundancetrek.com & http://www.abundancetrek.com/blog
>
>
> "You do not need to do anything; you do not need to leave your room.
> Remain sitting at your table and listen. You do not even need to listen;
> just wait. You do not even need to wait; just become still, quiet and
> solitary and the world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It
> has no choice. It will roll in ecstasy at your feet." -- Franz Kafka
>
>
>
>
--

   yukonrev@...

--
http://www.fastmail.fm - Email service worth paying for. Try it for free

THE WISDOM OF A STREET JESTER

+ ExecuMusings offers "Hunger Strike: the Wisdom of a Street Jester" by Clint McCoy, Executive for Partnerships of the Presbyterian Synod of the Northeast. Excerpt:

“I’ve completely given up on organized religion,” he said, shaking his head a bit. “I don’t mean any disrespect to you, but I’ve given up on the church.”

 

As he said the words, and I thought about his unconventional protest, it came to me that many in the church didn’t have too much to do with people protesting as he was either.

 

“I’m out here 24-7,” he said. “This is what I do.”

 

“My name is Clint,” I offered, wanting not to leave him without some kind of connection.

“My name is Start,” he said, offering me his hand. “Hi Stark,” I said, not hearing him correctly the first time, and thinking it was a peculiar name, as we shook hands.

 

“Start,” he said, not as though correcting me, but more as an affirmation. “Start Loving.”

 

Did I hear him correctly? I thought to myself. You’ve got to be kidding! “Start Loving.” Who would really have a name like that? But he hadn’t said it as some kind of joke. He was straight faced as he said it, as though he was eager for me to remember. Why would he trust me at all with his real name, anyway? He had no idea about whom I might really be, or what I might do that could harm him.

I urge you to read this powerful article about Clint's amazing encounter with a provocative protester on the streets of our nation's capital.

• Read article

Posted by John at 12:25 PM 0 comments

Labels: Clint McCoy, Justice, Peace, Presbyterian

John A Wilde

 http://www.abundancetrek.com & http://www.abundancetrek.com/blog

"You do not need to do anything; you do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. You do not even need to listen; just wait. You do not even need to wait; just become still, quiet and solitary and the world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It has no choice. It will roll in ecstasy at your feet." -- Franz Kafka

Date: Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:20:25 -0500
From: "Will Easton, CREDO Action" <credo-help@...>
To: "John Wilde" <john@...>
Subject: Here's How to Make a Difference this Earth Day

		Happy Earth Day! Here at CREDO we're proud to call ourselves America's greenest mobile phone company. So in honor of Earth Day this year, we're bringing you a few opportunities for action and education—we hope you'll find them interesting! 1. Call on Congress. The "Call for Climate" program is pushing to get one million calls in to Congress today. So please call your Representative at (202) 224-3121 today and ask for strong legislation to protect our climate, including: a full moratorium on new coal-fired plants until their CO2 emissions can be captured; no polluter giveaways in cap-and-trade legislation; and permanent tax credits for renewable energy, paid for by cutting subsidies to the oil & gas industry. If you're a CREDO member, calls to Congress are free as part of our Free Speech program!* (Not a customer? Click here.) 2. Reduce & Reuse. There are lots of good resources out there to help you reduce your environmental impact through everyday actions; here are just a few of our favorites: '21 Things You Didn't Know You Can Recycle" (from Co-op America); "What you can do at home" (from the Sierra Club) and the "Green Living Toolkit" (from NRDC). 3. Recycle your old mobile phone! CREDO has teamed up with Collective Good to recycle your old cell phones. Best of all, when you send a phone in for recycling, Collective Good will make a contribution to CREDO's donations pool—which means more money given as grants to environmental (and other progressive) nonprofit groups. Click here to get a postage-paid label to mail in your old phones. 4. Know How Your Congressional Representatives Voted. Check out the League of Conservation Voters' 2007 Environmental Scorecard, a great source for objective, factual information about important environmental legislation considered and the corresponding voting records of all Members of the first session of the 110th Congress. 5. Get a cool progressive credit card. Get the card that supports alternative energy nonprofit groups—and plants a tree every time you buy gas. Just click over to WorkingAssets.com/fuelingthefuture for all the details. 6. Join Us. Switch to the only mobile phone company putting activist muscle into the fight to stop climate change. We helped slam the brakes on 30 coal-fired power plants last year, and also helped pass important renewable energy legislation at both the state and federal levels. Sign up with the mobile company that shares your values. Thank you for working to build a better world. Will Easton, Activism Manager CREDO Action from Working Assets * Our Free Speech Program includes two calls per day, each five minutes in length from your home phone with CREDO Long Distance; or thirty minutes per month with CREDO Mobile.

© 2008 CREDO. All rights reserved.

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Click > EARTH DAY 2008 < See > The Abundancetrek Blog in its new format

Posted by John at 11:42 AM 0 comments

Labels: Environment, Presbyterian, Sustainable Abundance

 

love, john + www.abundancetrek.com & www.abundancetrekblog.blogspot.com + We are intimately, intricately and infinitely connected by a matrix of unconditional, unlimited and uniting love which is miraculous, mysterious and marvelous.

OPEN LETTER TO ABC NEWS

JEREMIAH WRIGHT TO BE INTERVIEWED BY BILL MOYERS