hear the army

(sample petition letters for download at the bottom of this post)

“I’d really appreciate your help. The Osaka City government is currently debating whether to burn radioactive Tohoku debris in Osaka in return for cash from the National government. Even several of the Tohoku government officials have stated they don’t want to ship the debris.

This is not only absolutely unnecessary, but will also have long-term consequences in a region that has been largely unscathed by the ongoing crisis in Fukushima….and where I live now. It will disproportionately affect children living in Kansai as proven by multiple scientific studies.

Most of the city assembly is against this proposition, but the mayor is staunchly supporting it while refusing to look at the scientific evidence showing the negative health repercussions. The final decision should take place at the end of this month, so I am working to support one of the assembly members to help gather official petition letters to protest against this policy.

They specifically requested letters from foreigners living both in and outside Osaka to show it is not just a local issue. Therefore I am kindly asking you to write a quick, one-page letter that would have an impact. The letter can be written in Japanese or English (as we have translators that can help). The Japanese letter deadline is March 14.

Japanese before he deadline of March 14, so we ask to have it arrive by March 7 if possible.

I know you are busy, but your help would be sincerely appreciated. If you can take 20 – 30 minutes…..

Attached is both the Japanese and English letter format which follows the legal requirements. . Please sign/hanko where it says signature.

For English, send by March 7 to:
Ms. Kinuko Motoshige
21-1107 Shinmachi
Daitou-shi, Osaka-fu JAPAN 574-0037
Tel: +81-80-4111-6608

For Japanese, please send direct to the city office:
〒530-8201 大阪市北区中之島1丁目3番20号
大阪市役所
市会事務局宛て

〒530-8201
Oosakashi Kitaku Nakanoshima 1-3-20
OosakaShiyakusho
ShikaiZimukyoku　Ate”

Petition Letter Format and Sample Petition Letters

• Required format for Petition Letter (everything must be included) WORD DOC
• Sample petition letter 1 (with hanko) WORD DOC
• Sample letter #2 WORD DOC
• English format WORD DOC

as if i didn’t have enough to make me depressed and give me a headache with the israeli-palestinian conflict issue, a friend’s emailing me about how obama shouldn’t even have been able to run for president as he doesn’t comply with the requirements as set out in the constitution article 2, section 1!?! (more…)

the news of israel’s invasion of the gaza strip after the cease fire ended ( following rockets fired into israel) sparked a renewed fire in my husband to convince me how ruthless and greedy israel was and how my government not only lets it all happen, but encourages it.
now i can’t get away from it:
friends joining “the cause” “if americans knew” on facebook which claims that americans don’t get told how israel uses US funding to break international law and occupy land that doesn’t belong to them;
my best friend from HS (who is 1/2 israeli with family in israel) forwarding me photos of the israeli army helping palestinians out of the collapsed tunnels and offering medical assistance;
heck, even my brother forwarded me an article explaining how israel follows international law and hamas doesn’t.

so i figured i could spend at least a couple hours reading up on the subject…is israel as evil as so many are claiming because their attacks have claimed more lives? or are the intentions behind attacks rather than the body count what makes them wrong?

after following a couple links from a google search it was even more clear than the mixed messages i was already getting (see above from husband and friends) that it is close to impossible to get “facts” about this conflict that aren’t surrounded in a context supporting one or the other side.

here’s the scoop in an oversimplified nutshell as i understand it: (more…)

oh boy…
Aso & Palin!?! never mind the embarrassment of what police and federal agents are doing near the RNC in MN – blatant intimidation tactics right after we were so ready to bash China for quelling any dissent surrounding the Oylmpics…disgusting. http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/index.html

japan’s PM resigns AGAIN!?! not that anyone before or since Koizumi for a long time has actually made any difference BUT…we might be left with Aso!?! maybe even less eloquent than Bush!?!:
(more…)

        in the news today…the vancouver pig farm serial killer is convicted on 6 counts of 2nd degree murder. he is suspected in the deaths of 27 women from vancouver’s troubled east side. when i tried to find information online about this neighborhood, nothing seems to have changed much recently except for the gentrification that is taking place in preparation for the 2010 olympics. i wondered if women are still disappearing. (more…)

“The impact of spiralling pollution on the planet poses a threat to civilisation just as catastrophic as much-vaunted weapons of mass destruction, Britain’s top scientist [Robert May, president of the country’s leading scientific body, the Royal Society] warned on Monday.” Hindustan Times (more…)

Living Under Fascism
by Davidson Loehr
7 November 2004

You may wonder why anyone would try to use the word “fascism” in a serious discussion of where America is today. It sounds like cheap name-calling, or melodramatic allusion to a slew of old war movies. But I am serious. I don’t mean it as name-calling at all. I mean to persuade you that the style of governing into which America has slid is most accurately described as fascism, and that the necessary implications of this fact are rightly regarded as terrifying. That’s what I am about here. And even if I don’t persuade you, I hope to raise the level of your thinking about who and where we are now, to add some nuance and perhaps some useful insights. (more…)

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT NOVEMBER 2 HAS BEEN DESIGNATED

AS NATIONAL CELIBACY DAY………..NO BUSH…….NO DICK