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Happy Valentine’s Day Frederick Douglass
http://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-video/frederick-douglass-movement-liberation
Frederick Douglas is my hero. While my son gets his middle name from Malcolm X, the name of Frederick Douglass is also held by the highest respect in my heart. I love freedom fighters. I love people who stand up for justice. And I love Frederick Douglass.
Born into slavery in February of 1818, he would escape in his youth and transform himself into one of the most respected figures in history.
By the way, the title of this blog is inspired by the mother of Frederick Douglass. While we do not know the exact date of his birth, his mother used to call him “my little Valentine”, and so most historians believe he was born on this day.
Regardless of the day he was born (or any of us for that matter), it was the life he led that matters. And what a life it was!
He taught himself to read (while still a slave), escaped to freedom, became a famous orator and writer, published his own newspapers (the North Star and Frederick Douglass’ Paper), and rivaled abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison in fame and influence.
http://www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/Douglass/Narrative/Douglass_Narrative.pdf
Here’s an excerpt from his autobiography, the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.
He describes how he learned how to read during a time when slaves were not taught.
Chapters VI and Chapter VII
Very soon after I went to live with Mr. and Mrs. Auld, she
very kindly commenced to teach me the A, B, C. After I had
learned this, she assisted me in learning to spell words of three
or four letters. Just at this point of my progress, Mr. Auld found
out what was going on, and at once forbade Mrs. Auld to
instruct me further, telling her, among other things, that it was
unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read. To use his
own words, further, he said, “If you give a nigger an inch, he
will take an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey his
master—to do as he is told to do. Learning would spoil the best
nigger in the world. Now,” said he, “if you teach that nigger
(speaking of myself) how to read, there would be no keeping
him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once
become unmanageable, and of no value to his master. As to
himself, it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It
would make him discontented and unhappy.” These words sank
deep into my heart, stirred up sentiments within that lay
slumbering, and called into existence an entirely new train of
thought. It was a new and special revelation, explaining dark
and mysterious things, with which my youthful understanding
had struggled, but struggled in vain. I now understood what had
been to me a most perplexing difficulty—to wit, the white
man’s power to enslave the black man. It was a grand
achievement, and I prized it highly. From that moment, I
understood the pathway from slavery to freedom. It was just
what I wanted, and I got it at a time when I the least expected it.
Whilst I was saddened by the thought of losing the aid of my
kind mistress, I was gladdened by the invaluable instruction
which, by the merest accident, I had gained from my master.
Though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a
teacher, I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at
whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read.
I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read.
I get goose bumps just reading those words. How could you not? If Frederick Douglass could do it, what less can I? Douglass had nothing going for him, but determination and a strong mind. My life has been blessed compared to his. How can complain? How can I make excuses?
http://www.frederickdouglass.org/douglass_bio.html
Featured Video:
http://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-video/frederick-douglass-movement-liberation
Disclaimer: This video clip is not fluff. It is a serious lecture by West Point Military Academy Assistant Professor of History Robert McDonald. Being a long time teacher (currently high school World History), I have a professional interest in such lectures. I love studying history. Understanding how people lived before us, and how liberty has constantly struggled against tyranny, allows us to understand better our world today.
This year my social studies department (currently it’s “World History”) chose Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Chapters VI and Chapter VII, as a primary source reading. It’s a shame so very few students have read his words and studied his 
life. It was a pleasure to teach this to my students. It’s my hope (teachers have to hope) that some of them will continue their study.
Douglass understood the principles of the American Revolution and of freedom in general. He understood it was not specific to any particular group. Freedom is freedom. Besides advocating for the rights of blacks, he stood for women as well.
“I hold that this cause is not altogether and exclusively a woman’s cause. It is the cause of human brotherhood as well as the cause of human sisterhood, and both must rise and fall together. Woman cannot be elevated without elevating man, and man cannot be depressed without depressing woman also.”
He gave many speeches. He was a powerful advocate for abolition. It was impossible to hear him speak and remain convinced that blacks were inferior. His speeches left listeners spellbound, rapt with attention and admiration. Once he was asked to speak in honor of Independence Day. His words were powerful and brilliant. They were a slap in the face to any American who considered the nation to be the land of “the free”.
“Do you mean to mock me by asking me to speak today?” July 5, 1852
“What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sound of rejoicing is empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants brass-fronted impudence; your shout of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanks-givings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy -- a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour.”
Douglass was asked what should be done with the black man. His answer is pure libertarian. In essence, it was
free us and leave us alone!
“The American people have always been anxious to know what they shall do with us…. I have had but one answer from the beginning. Do nothing with us! Your doing with us has already played the mischief with us. Do nothing with us! If the apples will not remain on the tree of their own strength, if they are worm-eaten at the core, if they are early ripe and disposed to fall, let them fall! I am not for tying or fastening them on the tree in any way, except by nature's plan, and if they will not stay there, let them fall. And if the Negro cannot stand on his own legs, let him fall also. All I ask is, give him a chance to stand on his own legs! Let him alone!
If you see him on his way to school, let him alone, don't disturb him! If you see him going to the dinner table at a hotel, let him go! If you see him going to the ballot- box, let him alone, don't disturb him! If you see him going into a work-shop, just let him alone,--your interference is doing him a positive injury. [Don’t] attempt to prop up the Negro. Let him fall if he cannot stand alone! ….Let him live or die by that. If you will only untie his hands, and give him a chance, I think he will live. He will work as readily for himself as the white man”.
Frederick Douglass, April 1865
As a Libertarian, I know our struggle for freedom is ongoing. The struggle against tyranny will never end. As much as most of us are content to manage our lives without the evil desire to rule over others, there will always be someone who wants to control you.
The great abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison wrote in 1829, some 31 years before slavery would be ended,
“Every Fourth of July, our Declaration of Independence is produced, with a sublime indignation, to set forth the tyranny of the mother country, and to challenge the admiration of the world. But what a pitiful detail of grievances does this document present, in comparison with the wrongs which our slaves endure! …. In view of it, I am ashamed of my country. I am sick of our unmeaning declamation in praise of liberty and equality; of our hypocritical cant about the unalienable rights of man.”
William Lloyd Garrison, July 4, 1829
He fought the struggle against slavery for decades before its end was realized. And the Quakers (those pacifist Christians) had held (long before Garrison and the abolitionist movement) that “it was wrong to own another of God’s
Here’s a primary source from 1693 where the Quakers (Society of Friends) spoke out against slavery.
http://www.qhpress.org/quakerpages/qwhp/gk-as1693.htm
Here’s another that shares this:
Read the following excerpt from the Germantown Quaker Petition of 1688 and identify the reasons why they opposed slavery:
"There is a saying that we should do to all men like as we will be done ourselves; making no difference of what generation, descent, or colour they are.... To bring men hither [to America], or to rob and sell them against their will, we stand against. In Europe there are many oppressed for conscience-sake; and here there are those oppressed which are of a black colour....Pray, what thing in the world can be done worse towards us, than if men should rob or steal us away, and sell us for slaves to strange countries; separating husbands from their wives and children."
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=45
I take inspiration from Frederick Douglass who returned to the struggle in America after enjoying two years of peace and acclaim in England and Ireland. His supporters bought his freedom (and a printing press as well) and the African American newspaper, the North Star began publishing in 1847.
I do not go back to America to sit still, remain quiet, and enjoy ease and comfort. . . . I glory in the conflict, that I may hereafter exult in the victory. I know that victory is certain. I go, turning my back upon the ease, comfort, and respectability which I might maintain even here. . . Still, I will go back, for the sake of my brethren. I go to suffer with them; to toil with them; to endure insult with them; to undergo outrage with them; to lift up my voice in their behalf; to speak and write in their vindication; and struggle in their ranks for the emancipation which shall yet be achieved.
----FAREWELL TO THE BRITISH PEOPLE, March 30, 1847
He understood well the life he was choosing.
“I still see before me a life of toil and trials..., but, justice must be done, the truth must be told...I will not be silent."
Don’t be silent friends. Stand up for freedom.
Support your Libertarian Party.
http://lpnevada.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=91&Itemid=224
Links:
http://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-video/frederick-douglass-movement-liberation
http://www.ibiblio.org/ebooks/Douglass/Narrative/Douglass_Narrative.pdf
http://www.frederickdouglass.org/douglass_bio.html
http://www.frederickdouglass.org/speeches/index.html
http://trilogy.brynmawr.edu/speccoll/quakersandslavery/
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=45
Reflections on American Exceptional-ism
Most Americans take for granted the Exceptional-ism that defines this country. Every once in a while, something happens, or comes along, that exemplifies the capacity of the human spirit, especially in America, in seemingly unintended ways. All too often, TV programming is nothing but a colossal waste of time, with very, very few exceptions. One notable divergence from the run of the mill crap are Hallmark Hall of Fame broadcasts, the most recent of which, “A Smile as Big as The Moon” aired recently.
Not only are the programs excellent, the commercials are markedly different from other fare. The themes stress values which used to be commonly accepted as truly American, prior to the advent of the overwhelming Progressive/Leftist/Communist influences that pervade the media today.
Throughout the program, the themes of taking personal responsibility, believing in yourself, the power of imagination, and similar themes echoed and resonated with amazing clarity. What was nowhere to be found was dependency, victim-hood, nanny state rhetoric, government as the answer, “you can’t do it thinking” –typical Progressive blather. Which is even more amazing, given the fact that the entire program dealt with how a class of “special ed” students dared to dream about attending “Space Camp”, guided and encouraged by their remarkable teacher and his assistant, against all odds, to master the requirements to attend. Up to that point in time, “Space Camp” had been limited to only the best and the brightest high school students. The acceptance standards were intentionally high, to insure that the campers selected would be able to complete the course.
The messages behind this program are something that needs to be broadcast in every school in the nation, and should be required viewing for a variety of reasons. In addition to the incredible message of “possibility thinking” instead of accepting the notion of being told what you cannot achieve, the equally important lessons of how to treat everyone with respect as human beings, regardless of whatever might be viewed as handicaps, or shortcomings or even simply being “different”.
As I said at the beginning, every once in a while we have a chance to be reminded of the amazing capacity of the human spirit to achieve great things in the face of tremendous opposition, and that message should be trumpeted loudly at every opportunity. The corollary to all of this is that our nation is uniquely configured to express the possibility, and not the limitations, that our citizens encounter and overcome with regularity. And that message is the one we all celebrate!
Ode to "Tax Season"
Since we coming into "Tax Season", I thought this might be appropriate to jog everyone's memory about taxes in general. All the politicians are so happy to point out that 47% of Americans don't pay any (Income!) taxes, but don't start your pity party (for yourself) just yet - check out this little ditty (source unknown) The second portion is attributed to Dr. Walter Williams. Enjoy!
T(axed)E(nough)A(lready) PARTY:
Tax his land, Tax his bed,
Tax the table, At which he's fed.
Tax his tractor, Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes Are the rule.
Tax his work, Tax his pay,
He works for peanuts anyway!
Tax his cow, Tax his goat,
Tax his pants, Tax his coat.
Tax his ties, Tax his shirt,
Tax his work, Tax his dirt.
Tax his tobacco, Tax his drink,
Tax him if he Tries to think.
Tax his cigars, Tax his beers, 
If he cries Tax his tears.
Tax his car, Tax his gas,
Find other ways To tax his ass.
Tax all he has Then let him know
That you won't be done Till he has no dough.
When he screams and hollers; Then tax him some more,
Tax him till He's good and sore.
Then tax his coffin, Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in Which he's laid...
Put these words Upon his tomb,
'Taxes drove me to my doom....'
When he's gone, Do not relax,
Its time to apply The inheritance tax.
Accounts Receivable Tax, Building Permit Tax, CDL license Tax, Cigarette Tax, Corporate Income Tax, Dog License Tax, Excise Taxes, Federal Income Tax, Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA), Fishing License Tax, Food License Tax, Fuel Permit Tax, Gasoline Tax (currently 44.75 cents per gallon), Gross Receipts Tax, Hunting License Tax, Inheritance Tax, Inventory Tax, IRS Interest Charges, IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax), Liquor Tax, Luxury Taxes, Marriage License Tax, Medicare Tax, Personal Property Tax, Property Tax, Real Estate Tax, Service Charge Tax, Social Security Tax, Road Usage Tax, Recreational Vehicle Tax, Sales Tax, School Tax, State Income Tax, State Unemployment Tax (SUTA), Telephone Federal Excise Tax Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Taxes, Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax, Telephone Recurring and Nonrecurring Charges Tax, Telephone State and Local Tax, Telephone Usage Charge Tax, Utility Taxes, Vehicle License Registration Tax, Vehicle Sales Tax, Watercraft Registration Tax, Well Permit Tax, Workers Compensation Tax, STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago, & our nation was the most prosperous in the world. We had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world, and Mom, if agreed, stayed home to raise the kids. What in the heck happened? Can you spell 'politicians?'
A little historical perspective:
During the legislative debate before enactment of the 16th Amendment, Republican President William Taft and congressional supporters argued that only the rich would ever pay federal income taxes. In fact, in 1913, only one-half of 1 percent of income earners were affected. Those earning $250,000 a year in today's dollars paid 1 percent, and those earning $6 million in today's dollars paid 7 percent. The 16th Amendment never would have been enacted had Americans not been duped into believing that only the rich would pay income taxes. It was simply a lie to exploit American gullibility and envy.
The fact of the matter is that the founders of our nation so feared the imposition of direct taxes, such as an income tax, that Article 1, Section 9 of the Constitution says, "No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken." It was not until the Abraham Lincoln administration that an income tax was imposed on Americans. Its stated purpose was to finance the war, but it took until 1872 for it to be repealed. During the Grover Cleveland administration, Congress enacted the Income Tax Act of 1894. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional in 1895. It took the 16th Amendment (1913) to make permanent what the founders feared. -- Dr. Walter Williams 12/26/2011
December Events
I wanted to make sure that everyone knows about the events coming up next week. Friday, December 9th is our monthly event for the Libertarian Party of Nevada and we are hosting the Libertarian National Committee (LNC) at Red Rock. We are doing a mixer at Onyx Bar from 5:00pm – 7:00pm.
The 40th Anniversary of the Libertarian Party/David Nolan (founder of the LP) tribute dinner Saturday night, December 10th. The dinner is by RSVP (by Dec 6th) and the cost is $40/head.
I have attached the postcard that went out to the LP to this email for your review.
Please feel free to invite anyone you know would be interested. 
Gibson Guitar Factory Raid - Update
Remember the raid on the Gibson guitar factory? What was used as the justification for this action in the first place – not this raid, the one way back in 2009? The amendment to the 1981 amendments to the Lacey Act included in the Farm Bill of 2008, remember? Officially the “Legal Timber Protection Act H.R. 1497” which could not be passed as a standalone bill so it was tacked onto the Farm Bill of 2008, which was virtually assured of passage.
So who exactly was pushing this “Legal Timber Protection Act” anyway? It appears to have been a cooperative effort between Unions and Environmental groups, with the latter supplying much of the 
verbiage, many with strong ties to various UN-sponsored agencies and programs that support the theme of “sustainable development”, part of the insidious UN’s Agenda 21. And their very powerful lobbyists!
This demonstrates the position that places the United States’ interests subservient to foreign laws, in that the penalties assessed against American Companies are the result of violations (even perceived or suspected, not even provable actual occurrences) of criminal activities according to the law of the place of commission. What? American companies can be charged and be held liable for offenses committed in a foreign country by a person (or persons) unknown at some point in the past, by failing to have proper documentation that the product in question has not violated some foreign rule, law or regulation, a fact of which the current American company (or individual, for that matter) may have been in the past, and remains still today, completely ignorant of such violation? The absolute absurdity of such a proposition defies explanation to any logical, thinking person. If the guitars in my home, purchased over a period of more than twenty years from a variety of sources, contain wood products that fall under the provisions of this ridiculous law, and I should decide to move out of the US, I would have them seized by the government all because of this ridiculous law requiring proper documentation of some miniscule percentage of the component materials used to manufacture the guitar?
Could there be any more egregious an example of governmental abuse of power?
Let’s look at the history and background of this legal bugaboo!
Legal Timber Protection Act - Amends the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to make it unlawful for any person to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, purchase in interstate or foreign commerce, or possess any plant taken (i.e., captured, killed, harvested, or collected) in a foreign country that is:
(1) taken, transported, or sold in violation of any law that applies in the place (including a park, forest reserve, or other officially protected area) where the harvest, taking, transport, or sale occurs;
(2) taken without paying required royalties, taxes, or stumpage fees;
(3) exported or transhipped in violation of any legal limitation;
(4) taken, exported, or transhipped in violation of any international law, treaty, or international agreement, or
(5) without any official documentation of compliance with applicable legal requirements. Redefines "plant" to mean any wild member of the plant kingdom, including roots, seed, parts, and products thereof (but excluding common food crops and cultivars).
These organizations supported the LTPA included as the Farm Bill of 2008. Sponsored by Earl Blumenauer, Democrat from Oregon, staunch Environmentalist supporter, serves on committees dealing with environmental and climate change (global warming) causes. When considering everything these environmental groups oppose, it is easy to understand why they wanted this legislation.
Legal Timber Protection Act H.R. 1497 (included in the 2008 Farm Bill as an amendment
)
Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA),
Sierra Club,
World Wildlife Fund,
Defenders of Wildlife,
Friends of the Earth,
Natural Resources Defense Council,
Rainforest Alliance,
United Steelworkers, and
Wood Flooring International.
Check out the funding organizations for many of these groups:
Sierra Club - In 2002, the Sierra Club reported $23,619,830 in revenues, and disclosed $107,733,974 worth of assets to the IRS. Among its financial supporters are the Bauman Family Foundation; the Beldon Fund; the Compton Foundation; the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; the Ford Foundation; the Scherman Foundation; the Bullitt Foundation, the Energy Foundation, the Foundation for Deep Ecology, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, the Blue Moon Fund; the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; the J.M. Kaplan Fund, Pew Charitable Trusts, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Turner Foundation, and many others.
The Sierra Club has endorsed a document called the Earth Charter, which blames capitalism for many of the world's environmental, social, and economic problems.
The World Wildlife Fund - WWF supports the Kyoto accord and the global warming hypothesis on which it is based. The organization also emphasizes "sustainable growth," a theory whose goals invariably come with a demand for population 
control, a euphemism for abortion-on-demand.
WWF received over $30 million in foundation grants between 1994 and 2004. Leading contributors include the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Blue Moon Fund, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the Energy Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, the J.M. Kaplan Fund, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Minneapolis Foundation, the Summit Foundation, the Turner Foundation, and many others. WWF also realizes substantial income from private donations and its sale of periodicals. As of 2004, the organization's net assets totaled $169,065,633." Its revenues that year were $112,001,561.
Defenders of Wildlife - DOW is a member of the Save Our Environment Action Center (SOEAC), a leftist coalition describing itself as "a collaborative effort of the nation's most influential environmental advocacy organizations harnessing the power of the [I]nternet to increase public awareness and activism on today's most important environmental issues." Fellow SOEAC members include, among others, Earthjustice, Environmental Defense, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, the League of Conservation Voters, the National Wildlife Federation, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the World Wildlife Fund.
DOW receives its principal funding from the Turner Foundation, which granted the organization $965,000 from 2001 to 2003. Other notable benefactors are the Bauman Family Foundation, the Bullitt Foundation, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Streisand Foundation, and the Surdna Foundation.
Friends of the Earth - A member organization of the United for Peace and Justice anti-war coalition, FOE endorsed a May 1, 2003 document titled "10 Reasons Environmentalists Oppose an Attack on Iraq," which was published by Environmentalists Against War.
FOE has received millions of dollars in foundation grants in recent years. Among its leading donors have been the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the W. Alton Jones Foundation now called the Blue Moon Fund), Pew Charitable Trusts, the MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Turner Foundation, the Bullitt Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, the Columbia Foundation, the Beldon Fund, the Compton Foundation, the Educational Foundation of America, the Energy Foundation, the Public Welfare Foundation, the Scherman Foundation, the Foundation for Deep Ecology, the Public Welfare Foundation, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
National Resources Defense Council - As a tax-free corporation under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, NRDC is subject to limits on the amount of money it can disburse for the purposes of lobbying Congress. But it has found a way around such restrictions by establishing a separate lobbying arm, the NRDC Action Fund. Operating under a different section of the tax code, section 501(c)(4), the Action Fund is exempt from similar restrictions. Under the banner of "environmental action", NRDC lodges lawsuits to impede the construction of everything from highways and hydroelectric dams to nuclear power plants. The NRDC Action Fund complements this work, launching advertising campaigns to arouse grassroots support.
Philanthropic support for NRDC has risen dramatically in recent years, from just over $36 million in 1999 to more than $89 million in 2010.. As of 2010, the organization had assets of $181,427,464. NRDC receives financial backing from Pew Charitable Trusts, the Tides Foundation, the Bauman Family Foundation, the Beldon Fund, the Blue Moon Fund, the Bullitt Foundation, the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, the Columbia Foundation, the Compton Foundation, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the Educational Foundation of America, the Energy Foundation, the Vira I. Heinz Endowment, the Heinz Family Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, the J.M. Kaplan Fund, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the New York Times Company Foundation, George Soros’s Open Society Institute, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Prospect Hill Foundation, the Public Welfare Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, the Scherman Foundation, the Surdna Foundation, the Turner Foundation, and many others.
Moreover, it is estimated that NRDC received $2.6 million from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) during the first three years of the Bush administration. NRDC, which accused President Bush of attempting the "rollback of almost every major environmental law on the books," subsequently used the EPA money to finance anti-Bush radio spots in battleground states prior to the 2004 presidential election.
Rainforest Alliance - RA focuses its efforts chiefly on the following program areas:
(a) Sustainable Agriculture: "The unbridled and unsustainable growth of the agriculture industry in recent years has encouraged rampant deforestation and careless agrochemical use. Today agriculture is the number one cause of ecosystem destruction and species loss worldwide. Agriculture … uses more land and freshwater than any other human activity in the world."
(b) Sustainable Forestry: "Because more than six billion people rely on trees and plants to build houses, produce paper, make furniture and stay warm, the pressures on the world's forests are staggering. … [T]he need to responsibly manage our forests is critical to the survival of all living species."
(c) Sustainable Tourism: "With 700 million people traveling each year, tourism is a growing source of revenue for people living in areas that are especially rich in plant and animals -- and threatened with destruction. … [RA] works with tourism entrepreneurs and community-based businesses in Latin America, providing them training and information on environmentally and socially sound management."
RA also administers an "Adopt-A-Rainforest" campaign, which collects donations from individuals, school groups, and community organizations to "support the purchase and sustainable management of tropical forest lands." Revenues for this program exceed $20,000 annually.
The Rainforest Alliance publishes a number of newsletters, including Canopy and Eco-Exhange, both bi-monthlies, and Rainforest Matters and Eco-Education Matters, two e-mail publications.
The Executive Director of the Rainforest Alliance, Tensie Whelan, believes that global inequities cause both environmental destruction and terrorism. She stated in an interview, "Many of the people providing tacit, though not active, support to the terrorists are doing so because these people are living in squalor and see no hope for themselves and their children. To the extent that the Rainforest Alliance and similar organizations can work with industry and government to ensure that globalization provides benefits to local communities, rather than exploit them and their environment, we will reduce their anger and despair."
RA's Chairman of the Board (and co-founder) is Daniel Roger Katz, who also serves as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Another RA Board member is Wendy Gordon, a former Executive Director of Mothers & Others for a Livable Planet.
RA receives funding from the Ford Foundation, the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, the Prospect Hill Foundation, the Blue Moon Fund, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Pew Charitable Trusts, the AT&T Foundation, the J.M. Kaplan Fund, the Lear Family Foundation, the Summit Charitable Foundation, the Surdna Foundation, the Turner Foundation, and numerous others.
The common connections or threads running through all of these groups would support the notion that they are all part of the global environmental push through the United Nations' "Agenda 21", the bill also was heavily supported by Unions, notably United Steelworkers.
A senate bill was also proposed, which was supported by additional groups here is that information:
Supporters of the Combat Illegal Logging Act (S.1930) and of the Legal Timber Protection Act (H.R.1497)
American Forest & Paper Association
Center for International Environmental Law
Conservation International
Defenders of Wildlife
Dogwood Alliance
Environmental Investigation Agency
ForestEthics
Friends of the Earth
From the Mountain Sources, LLC
Global Witness
Greenpeace
Hardwood Federation
International Brotherhood of Carpenters and
Joiners of America
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Lowe’s Home Improvement
Natural Resources Defense Council
Rainforest Action Network
Rainforest Alliance
Sierra Club
Society of American Foresters
South Cone Trading Company
Sustainable Furniture Council
The Nature Conservancy
Tropical Forest Trust
United Steelworkers
Wildlife Conservation Society
Wood Flooring International, Inc.
World Wildlife Fund
The question that lingers throughout this discussion is very simple – where is the authority under our Constitution that places American companies subject to the laws of foreign nations in instances such as this? Not to mention the additional restriction placed upon American individual citizens for the same potential “violation” of some foreign law?
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