Tomato Slavery

Tomatoes from the local farmer's market, blanched and ready to peelI am disheartened. I knew about slavery on the Ivory Coast in the cocoa groves, slavery in rice mills, on coffee plantations, domestic slavery. But on tomato farms?

I grew up in New Jersey, a state known for its bright-tasting summer grown tomatoes. Families grew tomatoes and sweet corn on their truck farms and sold them at stands on the roadside of the property. Pride would fill the young seller’s face as he or she told you, “Corn was picked in the hour,” thus guaranteeing its sweetness.

Nestled next to the corn, the tomatoes shown in red glory, begging you to slice and salt them, then bite into their juicy goodness. Wholesomeness all the way around.

Then I read the article in WaPo yesterday. When I first saw the header for the continuation of the article, I thought it was a food joke along the lines of tomatoes tasting so wonderful they hold the writer in slavery.

Not the case.

The header was for Jane Black’s  synopsis/review of Barry Estabrook’s Tomatoland. Right here on the east coast, four states away, men tricked into slavery harvest tomatoes to sell in the US.

In Jane Black’s own words,

“Lucas Mariano Domingo came to the United States from Guatemala hoping to find a job that would pay him enough to send money home. But he was soon broke and homeless. And so it must have seemed like a lucky break when Cesar Navarrete, leader of a Florida tomato-picking crew, offered him false papers, room, board and a job that, if he did well, could earn him $200 a week.

It quickly became clear, however, that this was a false opportunity. Domingo was lodged with three other men in the back of a box truck with no running water or toilet. Food was scarce. Navarrete charged extortionate fees for just about everything. After a hot day in the fields, Domingo was docked $5 to stand naked in the back yard and wash himself with cold water from a garden hose. He was paid irregularly and in small, arbitrary amounts. Worse, Navarrete warned that Domingo or any other laborer who attempted to leave would be severely beaten. It took Domingo nearly three years to escape — and even longer before members of the Navarrete family were charged with what Douglas Molloy, the chief assistant U.S. attorney in Fort Myers, Fla., described as “slavery, plain and simple.”

In the 21st century, such horror stories should be uncommon. But over the past 15 years, Florida law enforcement officers have freed more than 1,000 men and women who were held against their will and forced to work in the fields.”

Read the rest here:<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/barry-estabrooks-tomatoland-an-indictment-of-modern-agriculture/2011/04/11/AGei5rOH_story.html"> Barry Estabrook’s ‘Tomatoland,’ an indictment of modern agriculture </a>

Not Noah

My elderly neighbor called early Thursday morning screaming and screaming. Her basement was flooding. Looked like the water heater, but wasn't sure how hers worked. Finally got it squared away. Got through to the company. They referred us to a plumber. We waited.

Thought I’d try to sweep the water down the floor drain. Then discovered theAnd it just kept a comin' floor drain had filled up. Time for a shop vac. But ours held only a gallon Was going out to buy a large shop vac as the other neighbor's wife didn't think they had. Called him at work. Found it. Figured out how to work it. Dragged the behemoth over.

And the water kept rising.

Mike said call the county water and sewer emergency number. By then a couple other people were there and everyone said no, the plumber is on his way. Wait. Plummer finally got there and snaked the drain hole. And snaked. But the "water" kept rising.

These neighbors have hundreds of cardboard boxes with tons of stuff organized, labled, then stored all along the perimeter of the house and in a storage room. Soaked. Family room, soaked. Piano, couch, tables, chairs. Soaked. The water continued to rise.

Plummer went out to the middle of the street and yanked off the manhole cover. Looked down. Stopped. Without turning the least, he slowly reached to his back pocket. He withdrew his tape measure and loosened it to feed it down into the manhole. I went over to see what he was looking at. Our reflections shimmered along the surface.

Finally, the tape hit bottom and he cast an eye at its numbers. "Hmmm," he said without a change in expression. "Six'n a half feet of water. In a ten foot man hole."

"How much is supposed to be there?" I asked.

"Nothing," he replied.

“Nothing? As in dry?”

He grunted. “This is a county problem. You need to call the county. The emergency number. But I don't have that.”

It wasn't water backing up into their house...

Freedom Awards: Free the Slaves

 Freedom Awards by Free the Slaves on Halogen TV this weekend. To see the 2010 awards, click on the video below. The one under that talks about slavery in Pakistan. Go to the Halogen website for more video stories.

  http://halogentv.com/shows/freedomawards/

Save the Date: - DC Stop Modern Slavery Walk Saturday, October 22, 2010

Anybody in the DC area want to join me?    

From a recent Polaris Project email.

On October 23, Polaris Project, the DC Stop Modern Slavery community group, and several other non-profit organizations will join together for the 2010 Stop Modern Slavery Walk. Click on the videos below to watch highlights from last year and get directions on how to register for the walk.

What: 2010 Stop Modern Slavery Walk
Where: National Mall - Constitution Gardens (Constitution Avenue NW and 19th St NW, Washington, DC)
When: Saturday, October 23, 2010 (9:00 am- 2:00 pm)
Details: Click here to register.

Last year hundreds of anti-trafficking activists came together for the Stop Child Trafficking Now Walk at Meridian Hill Park. We hope that you and your friends can join us this year for the 2010 Stop Modern Slavery walk on the National Mall. Join the Polaris Project team and bring a friend along too!

www.Walk.StopModernSlavery.org

Taliban killed 10 aid workers including 6 Christians

From the Presidential Prayer Team newsletter:

Taliban fighters ambushed and killed a 10-member medical team, including six Americans, as they were returning from a trip to a remote northern area to provide eye care to rural villagers, their aid organization and local officials said Saturday.

The 10 charity workers, who also included two Afghans, a German and a Briton, were found slain in remote forested area of Badakhshan province, according to provincial police and their Kabul-based group, the International Assistance Mission.

The Taliban movement claimed responsibility for the deaths, claiming those killed were spies and preachers of Christianity.

The attack was one of the deadliest strikes against foreign aid workers in the course of the Afghan war. It also represented the largest toll in a single episode for American civilians working in Afghanistan since a suicide bomber killed seven members of a CIA team at a base in eastern Afghanistan in December.

The International Assistance Mission, which has been working in Afghanistan since 1966, describes itself as a charitable nonprofit Christian organization. One of its major projects is a chain of eye hospitals and clinics.

In a statement posted on its website, the group condemned "this senseless killing of people who have done nothing but serve the poor."

The charity's medical team was led by Tom Little, an optometrist from Delmar, N.Y., who had been with the organization since its early days, Frans said. The group's website says its expatriate workers are volunteers.
(Source: Los Angeles Times and CNN)      

Please Pray for:

• The families as they await confirmation and any further news.
  
  
• People grieving over the loss of their loved ones.
  
  
• For International Assistance Mission and all their volunteers.

Your Prayer Team

From the New York Tmes http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/08/world/asia/08afghan.html :

KABUL, Afghanistan — Their last meal was a picnic in the forest in the Sharrun Valley, high in the Hindu Kush mountains of northern Afghanistan, as they were on their long way home.

Tom Lapoint/Albany Times Union, via Associated Press; Bridge Afghanistan via Associated Press

The medical team included Karen Woo of Britain and Tom Little of the United States.

Omar Sobhani/Reuters

An Afghan man rides his bicycle past the International Assistance Mission (IAM) in Kabul.

The group — a medical aid team of six Americans, a Briton, a German and four Afghans — had just finished eating when they were accosted by gunmen with long red beards, the local police said.

The gunmen marched the aid workers into the forest, stood 10 of them in a straight line, 7 men and 3 women, and shot them. The police found their bodies on Friday, the Badakhshan Province police chief, Gen. Aqa Noor Kentoz, said Saturday.

The Taliban claimed responsibility, accusing the group of being spies and Christian missionaries.

The killings, the largest massacre of aid workers in Afghanistan in recent years, vividly demonstrated the increasing insecurity in the northern part of the country, well outside the Taliban’s b ase, and the Taliban claim added to fears that the insurgency has turned even more vicious recent months.

Pressured in their traditional areas in the south and east by NATO’s growing concentration of forces there, the insurgents have become more active in areas once relatively quiet, like Badakhshan Province. They have recently dropped taboos on using women and children as suicide bombers and on assassinating tribal elders. Now it appears they have also breached the longstanding custom of providing safe passage to aid workers, who have often been free to work in both government and insurgent-dominated areas.

Read the rest here

Washington Nats Host Anti-Slavery Night

For those of you in the Washington DC area.

It you enjoy baseball, this might be a good game to attend. Don't know about the game quality for this one, but it has a great cause.

From Fox News concerning last year's event: 

http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/local/091009_nats_hold_anti_human_trafficking_night :

Nats Hold Anti-Human Trafficking Night

Updated: Monday, 21 Sep 2009, 10:56 AM EDT
Published : Thursday, 10 Sep 2009, 11:19 PM EDT      

Bob Barnard
bob.barnard@foxtv.com

By BOB BARNARD/myfoxdc

WASHINGTON, D.C. - You've no doubt heard of Bat Day or Banner Day at Major League Baseball games, but Thursday night's contest between the Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies was a first. It was Anti-Human Trafficking Night at Nationals Park. 

The D.C. Human Trafficking Task Force asked for a night to spread public awareness of the issue. The Washington Nationals complied. 

The task force sold t-shirts to raise awarness for their cause and included the hotline number and website url,http://www.polarisproject.org/ . It claims that on any given day roughly 27 million people around the world are kept as slaves. 

The State Department's point person on human trafficking was honored before the game. Ambassador Luis de Baca told FOX 5 about the case of a Sony Corp. executive in Los Angeles who, along with his wife, kept their maid as a slave. It was investigated by the Justice Department. 

Now, the U.S. Attorney's office in Washington is prosecuting a 42-year-old Temple Hills man who has been indicted on charges he kept young girls to work as prostitutes on the streets of D.C. 

To see what Anti-Human Trafficking Night at the ballpark was like, check out our story that aired during the FOX 5 News at 10. 

What: 2nd Annual Human Trafficking Awareness Night
Where: Nationals Park (1500 South Capitol St SE, Washington, DC)
When: Tuesday, May 4 @ 7:05 p.m.

The game, hosted by the DC Human Trafficking Task Force (of which Polaris Project is a member),  is an exciting match-up between the Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves. Be part of raising awareness on human trafficking at a widely publicized sports game! To purchase your tickets please visit the Washington Nationals website. 

http://washington.nationals.mlb.com/was/ticketing/groups_events.jsp?group=htan

Faces of Slavery

The video speaks for itself

Faces of Slavery from David Hepburn on Vimeo.

Faces of Slavery is part of a series of videos created for the Not For Sale Campaign - http://www.notforsalecampaign.org.

Faces of Slavery from David Hepburn on Vimeo.

Faces of Slavery is part of a series of videos created for the Not For Sale Campaign - http://www.notforsalecampaign.org.

Please visit their website. A number of quality downloads available.

"Gao Zhisheng Confirmed 'Alive!'"

From a ChinaAid newsletter:

Thanks to International Support

ChinaAid March 29, 2010 SHANXI -- On Sunday, March 28, 2010, missing human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng spoke to his wife and children for the first time in over a year - confirming he is still alive! False rumors of his death, torture, and escape from the custody of the Chinese Government have shrouded Gao's absence with mystery for over a year. Gao's brief phone conversations with western media mark the first official contact the public has had with him since his abduction by police on February 4, 2009. Yesterday, Gao informed reporters that he had been released from detention six months ago, and had taken up residence at Wutai Shan mountain, a Buddhist landmark in northern Shanxi province. He refused to give details on his condition or whereabouts, saying he could not legally give interviews. Close friend and fellow human rights lawyer Li Heping confirmed he had also spoken with Gao on Sunday. Gao told him he had "friends around him" - indicating he was being held under close surveillance by Chinese authorities. Gao's wife Geng He and their children were overwhelmed with emotion as they spoke with Gao on Sunday morning. The children could not stop crying. In a statement released on Monday morning, Geng He appealed to the Chinese government to allow Gao Zhisheng to join the family in New York. Gao's family has suffered greatly in his absence. Geng He's parents have been severely harassed in recent months, for which Gao feels guilty. He told the Associated Press, "I just want to be in peace and quiet for a while and be reunited with my family. Most people belong with family. I have not been with mine for a long time. This is a mistake and I want to correct this mistake." While on his campaign in Europe to promote awareness of Gao's cause, ChinaAid President Bob Fu attributed the breakthrough to increased international pressure. "Thanks to the more than 124,000 supporters in over 180 countries around the world who have signed the petition to Free Gao, the Chinese Government has been forced to respond and to allow Gao Zhisheng to reconnect with his loved ones." ChinaAid thanks you for your continued support and urges you to continue to take action. From Argentina to Zimbabwe, you, the international community have answered the call. And this is just the beginning. Gao is not free yet. His movements are still being watched and monitored. He is not free to speak publicly or without surveillance. We must continue to press the Chinese government to free Gao Zhisheng, to uncensor his movements, and to allow him to reunite with his family. Take Action: Encourage more to Sign the Petition. Every voice counts, and every voice will be heard! Call on your local representatives to take official action on behalf of Gao Zhisheng. Urge U.N Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to hold the Chinese government to the international covenants on human rights. Thanks to you, the world has now regained contact with Mr. Gao Zhisheng. Because of you, Gao was able to reconnect with his family. With your continued support, we can make their dream of reunion a reality! For more ways to get involved, visit www.FreeGao.com.

This online offer is being presented by ChinaAid. For additional information, you may contact us by clicking here or calling at 888-889-7757.

Letter from a Capital Hill Worker on the Health Care Bill

 A friend sent this letter. It was written by a staffer on on Capitol Hill who is well know in her circles. Go here to find the contact information for your Senator and your Representative.

It is not too late.

*Just a note: my personal view is that this bill needs to be broken down into separate issues, and not try to lump so many together. Addressing the overall issue is long overdue -- but -- we must address our debt and avoid adding to it.

Beautifull rendered image by cranium / Niels on FlickrDear friends and family---

Please feel free to forward this email, but please remove my na me and email address before sending. 

The House is planning to vote to pass the major health care overhaul this weekend (Sunday).  Speaker Pelosi is still trying to put together the 216 votes she needs together to pass the bill and pro-life Democrats are crucial.  Especially important are the undecided Members in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana. (See list of most critical Members of the House below.)

The bottom line for pro-lifers is that the bill will allow federal taxpayer subsidies to help buy insurance policies that pay for abortion, and federal funds will pay for abortions in federally subsidized health care programs like the Community Health Centers.  

In the UK, when you tell your Doctor that you are pregnant it is common for him or her to respond by asking , "is that a good thing"?  And even at the 20 week ultrasound they remind you that you can still have an abortion.  Why? Because it saves money.  That's where we are headed to if this bill is not stopped.  

The atmosphere on the hill is frenetic. Intense pressure from the President, the Democratic Leadership and traditional democratic activist like Unions is bearing down on Members of Congress. Rep. Bart Stupak, the pro-life Democrat leading the band of pro-lifers standing up against all this pressure, said it's been like "a living hell."  His wife has even unplugged their home phones due to obscene calls, and people have threatened to spit in his face for his stance in defense of the unborn. 

Pray for the pro-life Democrats in Congress, watch this well done video by the Susan B. Anthony List and call or email your Member of Congress.  Congress will be in session over the weekend, so keep calling and emailing even though the workweek is over.  And, if you know people who are represented by any of these Members of Congress urge them to do the same.  Key Members: Altmire (PA), Bocceri (OH), Boyd (FL), Carney (PA), Ellsworth (IN), Hill (IN), Kanjorski  (PA), Mollohan (WV), Ortiz (TX), Pomeroy (NC), Rahall (WV), Berry (AR), Costello (IL), Dahlkemper (PA), Donnelly  (IN), Driehaus  (OH), Cao (LA), Kaptur (OH), Lipinski (IL), Stupak (MI) 
*Special Note: Ellsworth(IN) and Hill (IN) have announced they plan to support the bill. 

The air is also thick with seeds of confusion and misinformation, please pray for the truth to be evident to all. 

Thanks for your prayers, this is a very critical moment in the history of our nation. 

Love, 

xxxx

Virginia and Alabama Voting on Anti-trafficking Bills Today. Please call your delegate

Virginia anti-trafficking bill in subcommittee today. Alabama and PA also have bills up. Also actions for DC and MD. Please contact your delegates if you live in any of these states. Information on the bills and other actions at the link below.

Thanks goes to Polaris Project for the heads up on today's VA bill.

From the Polaris Project's Action page:

Virginia:  Legislation requiring the forfeiture of vehicles used in human trafficking moves to the House Courts of Justice Committee – Criminal Subcommittee today, February 3rd. Your support is needed! 

(February 2, 2010)

Human trafficking generates over $36 billion in profits annually.  Significantly raising the financial risk to traffickers reduces the incentive to commit human trafficking.  High criminal penalties for human trafficking, including incarceration and fines, are a good start.  However, requiring mandatory asset forfeiture that applies broadly to all assets connected to the criminal activity and to all ill-gotten gains will create an even greater deterrent.  Through asset forfeiture, the criminal is penalized, a financial incentive is created for law enforcement agencies, and additional assistance can be provided to victims.  

House Bill 1113 would permit the forfeiture of a vehicle used in the crime of abduction -- which covers human trafficking activities in Virginia -- and other human trafficking offenses including those penalizing the prostituting of minors.   

This critical legislation was introduced by Delegate Adam Ebbin in the House of Delegates on January 13, 2010, and is now under consideration in the House Courts of Justice Committee – Criminal Subcommittee.  Please take action to ensure thatHouse Bill 1113 advances!

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Virginia State Delegates need to hear that the financial risk for traffickers and those that create the enabling environment for human trafficking must be increased, and Virginia can do this by passing House Bill 1113.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

February 1, 2010

Profit motivates sex traffickers, and that profit is derived from one source: the purchasers of sex, colloquially known as “johns”.  Without johns’ demand, there would be no prostitution, which is an enabling environment for sex trafficking.  Unscrupulous sex traffickers are willing to force and coerce women and even to manipulate children into generating these profits, as long as the demand is there.  Therefore, by decreasing the demand for prostitution through offender education programs, also called john schools, sex trafficking correspondingly will decrease.  

House Bill 701 is legislation that requires the court to condition any sentence, fine, or suspended sentence for a first offense of solicitation (i.e., purchasing commercial sex) on participation in an offender education program, also called a john school, if such program has been established locally.  The cost of the program will be paid by the defendant and will be in addition to any fines the court orders the defendant to pay, so it will cost the state nothing to implement this legislation.

This critical legislation was introduced by Delegate David Bulova in the House of Delegates on January 13, 2010, and is now under consideration in the House Courts of Justice Committee – Criminal Subcommittee.  Please take action to ensure that House Bill 701 advances!

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Virginia State Delegates need to hear that the demand for commercial sex must be reduced, and Virginia can make a step in the right direction by passing House Bill 701.

If you live in Virginia, you can find out who your delegate is and how to contact them here.

Alabama also votes today:

Alabama:  Comprehensive Anti-Human Trafficking Legislation Being Heard in the House Judiciary Committee Today- February 3, 2010

February 2, 2010 

Alabama is one of only a few states with no law against human trafficking!  Forty-four other states have passed human trafficking laws.  There is a groundswell of support for ending human trafficking in the United States, as demonstrated by the passage of anti-human trafficking laws in 44 states and by Congress’ nearly unanimous reauthorization of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) in 2008.  But more must be done.  Due to the clandestine nature of human trafficking, the physical and psychological trauma of victims that make many reluctant to testify, and the inability of federal law enforcement to investigate every case, comprehensive laws are needed in every state.

House Bill 432 would create new human trafficking crimes and penalties; provide for mandatory restitution to victims; provide a civil cause of action for victims; provide for asset forfeiture and seizure; and create other protections for victims of human trafficking. 

This critical legislation was introduced by Representative Jack Williams  and is now under consideration in the House Judiciary Committee.  Please take action to ensure that House Bill 432 advances!

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Alabama State Representatives need to hear that it is critical that Alabama pass comprehensive anti-human trafficking legislation that would add Alabama to the 44 states that have already passed anti-human trafficking laws, and Alabama can take this step by passing House Bill 432.

1. The most effective action you can take, next to meeting with your State Representative face-to-face, is to make a quick phone call and urge him or her to vote YES on House Bill 432.  (While members of the House Judiciary Committeewill be voting on the bill first, it helps for all Representatives to hear from you.)

2. You can look-up your State Representative here and then make a 30-second phone call urging him or her to vote yes on House Bill 432 – legislation that provides a comprehensive approach to combating human trafficking in Alabama. When you call, you can simply say:

“Hi, my name is [Name], and I am a constituent of the Representative's.  I am calling to urge him/her to vote YES on House Bill 432.  This bill will empower law enforcement, human trafficking victim service providers, and Alabama communities to identify and respond to human trafficking by forcefully targeting the criminal activity and will empower survivors by providing them with critical protection .  Can I count on his/her support?”  

3. If you have another moment, please send your State Representative a short email as a follow-up. 

 If you live in Alabama, you can look up your legislators here

For actions in other states, please see the Polaris Action Center here.