Peacekeeper Truth Serum Blog

Last week, following a massive protest march through Madrid, 400 protesters camped out in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol Square as part of the Democracia Real Ya (Real Democracy Now) grassroots movement. Despite numerous police attempts to chase the protesters away, thousands of people started migrating to the square out of solidarity. Now, over a week later, the protesters number 25,000 strong per day alone, 3,000 of which have been sleeping in the square every night.

What makes this such an extraordinary event? The demonstration had been organized via text messages, Facebook and Twitter–yet another illustration of the power of mankind to achieve great things, even with something so simple as a computer or a phone.

Democracia Real Ya, formed by “18 or 20 deadbeats with a budget of a thousand euros”, is fighting for the Spanish government to own up to its responsibility for the country’s economic crash and staggering unemployment rates. The movement’s motto, “We are not goods in the hands of politicians and bankers”, is a direct response to the inability of Spain’s government to rein in the economy from its steady downward slide–and the protest itself is putting even more pressure on the country’s upcoming elections.

Though Spain’s government has issued several ultimatums to the protesters to leave the square, a decisive showdown on Wednesday May 18th–in which the police, despite ordering the protesters to evacuate by midnight, ultimately did nothing–has left them powerless against the sheer numbers and conviction of their people. According to an interview with Madrid teacher Sam Robson, 70 percent of people polled on television were in favor of the camp, and firefighters have refused to take down protest banners that cover commercial advertisements.

We at PeaceKeeper definitely wish we were in Spain right now to see history in the making! All 25,000 (per day!!) are in our thoughts and we hope that Spain’s government receives the justice it deserves.

To learn more about the protest, you can check out this interview with Sam Robson (mentioned above) or this article from El Pais.

With Love,
The PeaceKeeper Team

(Writer:  Jessica Smith.  Picture courtesy Shawsblog.

For more information about PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics, visit www.iamapeacekeeper.com.)

We at PeaceKeeper are devoted to activism in our everyday lives! When you purchase PeaceKeeper, we donate all after-tax, non-distributable profits to fight urgent human rights issues.  Also, we believe that our products should contain “No Nasty Anything,” whether that’s artificial preservatives, harmful chemicals, or slave labor.

However, we know that it can be difficult to live an activist life, especially when you’re so busy with your career or your family.  Therefore, we have compiled “The Beginner’s Guide To Activism”, a list of helpful tips for those of you who want to start making positive change for people around the world.

1.  Ask yourself:  What do I care about the most?
This does not have to have a big answer.  You don’t necessarily have to care about the hole in the ozone layer.  But if you know, for example, that you hate the look of a pile of trash in a beautiful park, try to bring that idea into the world.  Why does that pile of trash in that beautiful park make you angry, and more importantly, how could you go about fixing it?

Which brings us to our next point…

2. Start Small.
Remember those guys on the street with their giant jugs full of money, calling out “One Penny!  Just One Penny To Help The Homeless!”?  That’s because even something as small as a penny can help the cause.  With activism, you don’t need to feed the entire homeless population of New York in a day; that’s impossible.  As long as you continue to do good out of a desire for change, you have made a powerful contribution, no matter how small.

3.  Make It A Habit.
Activism is like exercise; it takes time and dedication, and it eventually pays off big-time if you do it properly.  Like we said before, even if you’re doing something small, like picking up trash off the street and throwing it away, it does make a difference.  Just make sure you’re doing it on a regular basis.   Maybe you could decide to pick up 10 pieces of trash one day a week, and gradually increase that as you go on.  By the end of two months, you’ll have a very strong “activism muscle.”

4.  Get Your Friends To Join In.
Again, like exercise, sometimes it’s best to get a friend to join you.  Not only will the pleasant company make the time go by faster, but two can do twice the work of one in the same amount of time!  Perhaps you could plan a friendly competition to see who can do the most good in the least amount of time…just make sure it doesn’t get too out of hand!

We hope these guidelines are helpful to you in kickstarting your life as an activist!  Do you have any more tips?  Think there’s something we’ve forgotten?  Leave a comment below!

With Love,

The PeaceKeeper Team

(Writer: Jessica Smith. Picture courtesy DoGoodInBrooklyn.org.)

For more information about PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics, visit www.iamapeacekeeper.com.)

Our latest Kiss of Approval is a shout out to Skin Deep!

Created by the Environmental Working Group, this website aims to provide consumers with the most up-to-date information on safe cosmetic products. The ingredients of over 65,000 products are listed in their database, along with safety rankings between 1 (safest) and 10 (most hazardous).

The Skin Deep initiative has recently been in the news because of Jessica Assaf, an NYU student who placed “Warning! Toxic Hazard” stickers on ‘Secret’ brand deodorants in her local drug stores. Skin Deep’s website states that Secret carries high risks of organ system toxicity and moderate risks of neurotoxicity (click HERE for the full report).

Skin Deep also has information on PeaceKeeper’s Lip Paint and Nail Polish, both of which have received low safety scores on the scale. For a more detailed list of our ingredients, you can check out our official Ingredients page.

Skin Deep is a great resource if you’re unsure about what’s going into your cosmetics (the cosmetics industry has notoriously little input from the FDA). For more information, you can check out their website at www.ewg.org/skindeep.

With Love,

The PeaceKeeper Team

(Writer: Jessica Smith.  Picture courtesy Skin Deep.

For more information about PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics, visit www.iamapeacekeeper.com.)