STOP THE TRAFFIK welcomes the announcement that Nestle’s entire chocolate range in Australia and New Zealand is now UTZ certified. Nestle’s commitment means more than 3,000 tonnes of UTZ certified cocoa are now used annually to produce iconic favourites such as Kit Kat, Smarties and Club chocolate in Australia and New Zealand. Since 2006 STOP […]

Andrew Murray Ten years ago this week Britain’s biggest ever political protest took to the streets of London to try to stop the war on Iraq, or at least British participation in it.  There were many things at the centre of debate then that scarcely need consideration now – did Saddam have weapons of mass […]

With almost one privately owned firearm per person, America’s ownership rate is the highest in the world; tribal-conflict-torn Yemen is ranked second, with a rate about half of America’s. But what about the country at the other end of the spectrum? What is the role of guns in Japan, the developed world’s least firearm-filled nation […]

In this week’s Monitor cover story on the misunderstood scourge of human trafficking, some human rights advocates suggest that the global problem gets eclipsed by the issue of domestic sex trafficking. Forced labour is a part of the problem that is less publicized…Human trafficking – which includes forced labour – ensnares millions of men, women, and children globally. http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-Issues/2012/0909/How-do-you-contribute-to-modern-day-slavery-of-human-trafficking

We have to engage with local partners who can understand things in ways that internationals will never be able. War is complicated, and so is peace. And we’re always learning at this and that’s–we have to remain humble and this is not a tool that fits every situation and that will rid the world of […]

Matthew S. Rindge, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Gonzaga University Posted: 02/02/2013 7:48 pm Last month America engaged in its annual ritual of misremembering Martin Luther King, Jr. Although Rev. Dr. King often indicted what he called the “triple evils of racism, economic exploitation and militarism,” America chiefly associates King with only one of […]

Jaweed Kaleem A nurse has recorded the most common regrets of the dying, and among the top ones is ‘I wish I hadn’t worked so hard’. What would your biggest regret be if this was your last day of life? There was no mention of more sex or bungee jumps. A palliative nurse who has […]

Zero Dark Thirty is a critically acclaimed film nominated for many awards. Unfortunately, the filmmakers chose to imply – inaccurately – that torture led to critical intelligence in the hunt for Osama bin Laden. The movie opens in theaters nationwide on Friday, January 11, 2013. While it’s just a movie, it runs the risk of becoming […]

A soldier sets out to graduate at the top of his class. He succeeds, and he becomes a drone pilot working with a special unit of the United States Air Force in New Mexico. He kills dozens of people. But then, one day, he realizes that he can’t do it anymore. By Nicola Abé December […]

What does the birth of the baby Jesus 2,000 years ago have to offer the violent, troubled world we live in? Or what would Jesus say to the NRA? I want to suggest: a lot. A whole lot. Jesus entered the world from a posture of absolute vulnerability — as an unarmed, innocent child during […]

John Dear Posted: 12/24/2012 3:59 pm   When the nonviolent Jesus was born two thousand years ago into abject poverty to homeless refugees on the outskirts of a brutal empire, the story goes that angels appeared in the sky to impoverished shepherds singing, “Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth!” Peace was […]

We are a violent country; that is our history & our present. It is internalized in all of us. We kill for money, for power, for influence & for attention. I say “we” because I am a taxpayer & my money supports wars abroad as well as mass incarceration at home. Time to stop acting […]