In the President's Own Words

It has been said that a society should be judged by how it treats its weakest members, and prisoners certainly fall in to that category. Before I go much further let me make it clear that I’m not advocating that those who are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt (whatever that is) get to play in meadows with unicorns and rainbows, but I also believe we should treat every human being with dignity and follow the rule of law in all cases. 

Prisoners in Guantánamo are so fed up with their situations that 100 of them are on a hunger strike! According to this document on Guantanamo:

• 86 detainees have been cleared for release since 2009. However, the US government refuses to allow them to return to their homes or otherwise release them. The most common theory on why that is: these detainees have been treated so badly they’ll certainly join the opposition, al-Qaeda, or somehow set out to harm us. Shouldn’t that be a lesson in itself on how we treat people?

• The US doesn’t have sufficient evidence to prosecute 46 prisoners, but those 46 are apparently too dangerous to release. How can we be certain enough to detain someone indefinitely, though, if we don’t have sufficient evidence to prosecute?

• Remember when Obama campaigned on closing Gitmo? Well, it appears he wasn’t incredibly serious about that: 532 prisoners were released by the Bush administration. 72 by the Obama administration. I understand there other powers and factors at work in that numbers game too. If only the President had the power to release prisoners and challenge the flawed system that put them there…

• Only 5% of the prisoners were even captured by American troops.

I’ll stop paraphrasing, but I highly recommend you read the whole thing. It’s an easy read.

Below is a small piece from a first hand account:

I could have been home years ago — no one seriously thinks I am a threat — but still I am here. Years ago the military said I was a “guard” for Osama bin Laden, but this was nonsense, like something out of the American movies I used to watch. They don’t even seem to believe it anymore. But they don’t seem to care how long I sit here, either.

I just hope that because of the pain we are suffering, the eyes of the world will once again look to Guantánamo before it is too late.

Again, I recommend you take the time to read the entire Op Ed.

Out of sign, out of mind. According to President Obama this is one of the reasons closing the prison at Guantánamo is “a hard case to make.” So let’s change that. Let’s put pressure on those in power to move on this ever important issue. Let’s pressure the media to report on the hunger strike and the apparently innocent people imprisoned there. Let’s get people talking about it. Our friends, our families. It has to start somewhere. Let us not continue to ignore the atrocities happening in our name. 

If you’re not convinced this is important simply because what is happening here is morally and ethically wrong, think about this: The 2012 NDAA (signed by Obama) allows for indefinite detention of anyone captured anywhere in the world without charge or trial. That could be you detained indefinitely without sufficient evidence to prosecute. Think that couldn’t possibly happen to an American citizen? Google Anwar al-Awlaki and/or Abdulrahman al-Awlaki. Both American citizens. Both killed by the CIA in targeted drone strikes in Yemen. No trial. No due process.

Full Transparency

Have you heard of Norwex? Just in case you haven’t here’s a little info. The company claims that it desires to “improve quality of life by radically reducing the use of chemicals in personal care and cleaning.” It sells said products through independent sales consultants. I was formerly an Independent Consultant with The Body Shop, and I was excited to learn about a company like Norwex not only for the income potential but also a product line I could get excited about!

I started exploring the possibility of becoming a sales consultant with Norwex, and one of those steps, for me, was to confirm the validity of their claims. I searched high and low for a list of ingredients used in their products and found no such list. I contacted Women's Voices for the Earth (WVE) after finding nothing on Norwex’s or WVE’s websites. WVE confirmed the lack of transparency on Norwex’s part, making it impossible for WVE, or anyone for that matter, to determine if Norwex’s products are truly as safe as they claim.

I then contacted Norwex via email to see if maybe, just maybe, there was a list of ingredients available somewhere beyond the grasp of the interwebs and its mighty search engines. This is the response I received:

Hi Kayla,

 Thank you for the email.

 Cleaning product manufacturers are not required to list ingredients except for the ones that are hazardous and those will be on the MSDS. If customers are allergic to certain ingredients you can email those to us and we will check with the manufacturer if they are in the product.

The ingredients for the skin care products are listed on the box of the product and also in the Product Manual.

Thank you,

 R---

**I removed the individual's name to be respectful as no title was included in the signature.

This frustrates me so, and so I started a petition on Change.org and decided to write this entry. I recognize that the law does not force full disclosure, but I truly believe that a company that claims to radically reduce the use of chemicals in personal care and cleaning products should go above the expectations of regulation to provide peace of mind to its customers. I cannot be confident that the company is truly reducing chemicals in our lives if it is not fully transparent, and I can only assume that others feel the same way. There are too many cleaning product manufacturers that claim to have safe products that aren’t actually safe. Additionally, I am fearful that Norwex’s independent sales consultants are selling a product to customers that may not actually be as safe as they, consultants and customers alike, think. This is a terrible position to be in as an independent consultant. 

For these reasons I ask that you sign the petition to encourage Norwex to work toward a more transparent future. I hope to get at least 1,000 signatures, so please share far and wide.