Chocolatey Goodness and Why I’m Avoiding It.

About three weeks ago I realize that I had been avoiding awareness on a topic that I know I had seen before: chocolate. Anyone who browses articles and info on fair trade has probably seen both tea and chocolate mentioned along side coffee as it relates to discussion on fair trade.
It’s been easy for me to boycott drinking non-fair trade coffee and tea, because I don’t drink tea and coffee anyways. What I had been avoiding is looking into the chocolate industry. Why? Because I like chocolate. But a brief inquiry, proved that if I was going to live my life in a way that keeps me from being involved directly in the injustice machine of consumerism, then I was going to have to stop eating chocolate.

It’s been harder then I thought. I don’t think about it very much, and in the first week I had mint chocolate chip ice cream, hot chocolate, and a chocolate donut without thinking twice, only to realize later that day. I’m getting better though. I also have a box of fair trade chocolate bars to help me slowly wean myself off and avoid major withdrawal symptoms.


I know Valentine’s day is coming soon, and that’s why I wanted to throw this topic out there before people do any major shopping over the weekend. If your thinking about Valentine’s gifts I would encourage you to think about fair trade as it relates to coffee, and conflict free as it relates to diamonds (that’s a whole different ball game).

If your looking for some more info on the Chocolate issue, I enjoyed this creative kid friendly book called:
Chaga and the Chocolate Factory (PDF)

Here are two other links:
Stop The Traffik

Global Exchange, Valentines Day Action

Free The Slaves: Today, Not History

Slavery is not legal anywhere but happens Everywhere. Today, there are nearly 27 million slaves in the world, more then at any other time in history.

Months ago I read a National Geographic magazine that had a large article, complete with photographs, about modern day slavery that exist in our world. 27 million people in slavery and this article wasn’t even the cover feature, that was reserved for the Zebras.
Mindy had the foresight to cut the pictures out of the magazine and post them on the walls of our bathroom where we would see them often and not be able to put out of our mind the reality of injustice our neighbors face.

Even in the United States, there are an estimated 10,000 enslaved workers here. If you have five minutes, watch this short video from Dr. Kevin Bales about Slavery in the United States

The ending as you can see has an important lesson on the role of each of us in knowing and loving our neighbors. Responding to the injustices that we see right around us, and intentionally placing ourselves in a way that we will know and be aware of those injustices when they occur.

Check out Free The Slaves and Get Involved.

Zero Waste: Even Wal-Mart is Doing It

Even Walmart is considering Zero Waste. What the heck is that you ask? I’ll show some borrowed graphics to illustrate the explanation:


Above is the way that we currently do business. The $ stamp is there to remind you that we are definitly paying for every step of the consumer process. From the cost of extracting resources, to the cost of pollution, to the cost of landfills and trash, we are paying both physically in our tax dollars and externally through our air, land and water.

Zero Waste is changing our process to consider waste, not as a necessary evil, but as an avoidable danger we can eliminate through creative and innovative production:

What’s so amazing about the concept of Zero Waste is that it’s not a very difficult idea to understand, and it seems like it could be well within our reach. We’ve lived our lives assuming massive waste is a necessary part of progress, and we haven’t really considered the impact of it to any degree. It’s wild to even begin to brainstorm what a Zero Waste society might look like.

If your still interested and I haven’t lost you yet, then I’d recommend checking out this short video

New License Plate Proposed for TN

Choose Life
In keeping with the Pro-Life theme of “Choose Life” personalized license plates that came out in the last few years in the state of Tennessee, a few additional Plates have been proposed.

The first, as seen above, displays a beautifully laid out lethal injection bed with the Slogan “Choose Life” prominently displayed below. Discussion of a electric chair for a more historical plate was considered.
Following the latest proposal there is talk that a “Choose Life” plate featuring Iraqi children could possibly be in the works. Other scenes up for review are starving children, domestic abuse victims and AIDS victims.

How is my site?

Please Excuse the Dust

Just testing out a poll feature I added. Hanging out on a snowy day has encouraged me to add some neat features to the site. I hope you enjoy them, and for now, excuse the dust.

I add ratings to every post. Right now it only shows up when you click on individual posts, but I might put it all on the front page. I’m hoping for more feedback this way, even if it’s not extensive commenting.

I also added a print and email button on each post. Hopefully this will allow folks to spread the good news about posts both online and offline.

I’m considering putting only excerpts of posts on the front page, which would mean more clicking for folks, but faster loading. Don’t know if that’s a good idea or not.

[poll=1]

Black Coaches Make History

Update: Congrats to Tony Dungy. Considering you spent the last four hours being entertained by his team, you should consider giving five minutes to hear his story. Specifically the video at Beyond the Ultimate.

I’m not a huge football fan anymore, but considering it’s Super Bowl Sunday I figure this is at least worth taking a moment to mention.


From the NFL Website:

It wasn’t all that long ago that the NFL’s best jobs were off-limits to blacks. Never mind that three-quarters of the league’s rosters were filled with black players. Or that there were qualified black assistants. When the time came to hire a new coach, they were passed over, time and again.


Meanwhile, white coaches who had done little to distinguish themselves in their previous jobs got additional chances. It was the old boys’ network at its worst.

It’s a moment to celebrate, and as any of these firsts, that come so much later then they should, it’s a moment to grieve. It’s acknowledgment again that for years we’ve kept potential unreached do to oppressive prejudice and discrimination. From Nancy Pelosi to Keith Ellison, and Smith and Dungy we apologize for forcing you to wait so long.

Have a Great game.

Jesus Loves Osama Bin Laden

A News article tells of the story behind this sign in front of a Sydney baptist church and the criticism from The Australian prime minister.

I’m happy to hear of kindred spirits in the world. After 9/11 I posted a sign on my door that read:

GOD BLESS AFGHANISTAN
PRAY FOR OSAMA BIN LADEN

It was torn down multiple times in the first few days I had it up. Then I made a t-shirt, and it got comments from people left and right. I made a new shirt when we went to war with Iraq and it met similar resistance.

So, it amazes me that there are whole churches out there that are clear on the radical love Christ calls us to, and it doesn’t surprise me that there are plenty that are opposed to it.

Anyone else ready to erect a Jesus Loves Osama sign at their church?

Say Goodbye to Edison’s Lightbulb

“How Many Legislators Does it Take to Change a Lightbulb Act” would ban incandescent light bulbs by 2012 in favor of energy-saving compact fluorescent lightbulbs in the state of California. It’s about time we start making the switch.

I wonder if the bill will pass, since we at times seem to be such a stubborn society. It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks, but we as a society need to start thinking in a way that considers our environment and our grandchildren. I’ve talked about CFL bulbs before and how they just made sense (so much so that even Walmart is on board).

Why switch to CFL bulbs you ask?

“They save money and energy,” EPA spokeswoman Enesta Jones said. “They are more convenient than other alternatives and come in different sizes and shapes to fit almost any fixture.”

Also, CFLs generate 70 percent less heat than incandescent lights, Jones said.

About a fifth of the average U.S. home’s electricity costs pays for lighting, which means even if CFLs initially cost more than conventional lightbulbs, consumers will save, Jones said.

A 20-watt CFL gives as much light as a 75-watt conventional bulb, and lasts 13 times longer, according to the Rocky Mountain Institute, a nonprofit group studying energy issues.

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