Living in NYC you cannot help wonder if you are "keeping up" with the neighbors. Are you making enough? I am all for capitalism (to paraphrase, "as the worst system except for all others), but it is definitely unhealthy that we tend to compare ourselves to others and evaluate our "happiness" based on our financial accomplishments.
Now there is a way to keep things in perspective.
Click on this link to get an idea of HOW RICH (and fortunate) YOU ARE!
http://www.globalrichlist.com/
The fact that Mit Romney’s advisors include Pat Buchanan’s sister is
plain scary.
Sent from my iPhone – pardon typos
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From purchasing raw materials for KIND Fruit + Nut bars, we get a scary first-hand lesson in the honey crisis.
Bees are disappearing across America. Americans are importing them from all over the world – buying Queen Bees from Australia and other places, trying to repopulate their honey-producing bee farms.
The crisis does not just mean that a core raw material – Honey – is endangered.
Bees perform essential pollination functions across many different flowers and fruits.
Nobody really knows what is causing it. Is it climate change? Is it a biological mishap? What is it?
Planet earth is frailer than we realize. This is a scary, under-reported plague that could really wreak havoc on our world.
It is certainly causing a shortage of honey – and a rise in prices. But this could be just the beginning.
Tough to decide which candidate will do a better job for the US, and
the stakes are higher than ever. At issue are global environmental,
socio-political and economic challenges as big as we’ve ever seen.
In that context, Hilary’s experience, judgement and strength of
character are important.
Then McCain shows something I admire a lot: courage, principle,
humanity, and reason. He strikes me as doing public service for the
right reasons – to serve his country – more than most other candidates.
Obama inspires hope and would be a unifying force not just within the
US, but also globally. He’d cause the world to re-think the way they
see the US, which is desperately needed.
And Bill Richardson is a good guy and a real caring leader.
Since his Meet the Press interview, Giuiliani has scared me more and
more. I admired him as mayor of my city way before 9/11. He did a
great job fighting crime and strengthening the city. But he seems
increasingly disingenuous and his macho tirade would backfire in our
world.
Sent from my iPhone – pardon typos
.
I just saw this great video from Barak Obama where he speaks about the power of "One Voice"… …and the importance of transcending the politics of division. I consider myself an independent voter (neither Democrat nor Republican, and non-alligned to any candidate yet), and I have some concerns about Obama’s positions, but he certainly seems like a very attractive candidate who could sincerely work to unite not just America, but the citizens of the world…
It is striking how close Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni’s language below to the OneVoice philosophy, which was similarly adopted almost verbatim by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, including after the session OneVoice organized with the World Economic Forum and them during Davos 2007:
Address by Israel’s Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni at the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Mediterranean Seminar
I believe that the world is becoming more complex in a way, even though, on one hand, it looks like a small global village. From the bright side of this small global village, we can see that borders are less important, and when it comes to economy we can use the fact that borders are of less importance to enhance economic investments as well as to share our values. On the other hand, the fact that borders are of less importance is also being abused by extremists in order to spread their own extreme agenda. Thus, while we are trying to spread and to express our democratic values, the global village is being used and abused by those that represent the extremist ideologies in this world.
I believe that what we face right now is the division in the world between extremists and moderates. Sometimes we can see this extremist ideology being represented by a state, like Iran. But one of the challenges that we face is that while in the past we would see these kinds of threats coming from states, now we can see them coming from within states, where the state itself has difficulties in expressing its own sovereignty over its entire territory. We can see extremist or radical elements which are using the lack of enforcement of law and order inside these weak states in order to spread their ideology, to use force, to use violence against others. And we can also see some international organizations using the fact that the world is a global village in order not only to spread an ideology but also to undermine regimes or to undermine our own democratic values, sometimes, unfortunately, by using terror and violence.
So there is a need for us as part of the international community, who share the same vision for the future and the same values, to see what threats we face, to work together – and I know that it is sometimes not easy to work together and to find a consensus – to understand the nature of the threats and, on the other hand, what are the real measures that we can take in order to meet these challenges.
We need to identify the nature of the new threats, although sometimes we also face the old kind of threats that we used to identify in the past. We can see some new threats and we can unfortunately also sometimes see old threats in the guise of new ones. One example is anti-Semitism that has changed its form but still represents the same old hatred. I would like to express my appreciation to what this organization is doing in order to combat all kinds of anti-Semitism as a phenomenon in different places and to educate new generations as to the real nature of anti-Semitism and how to handle it, how to combat it and how to deal with it – not only in terms of states but also in terms of societies.
Talking about this specific seminar, I would like to say that, for me, it is very special because, talking about intolerance and discrimination and promoting mutual respect and understanding, Israel was established as a homeland for the Jewish people. I just spoke about anti-Semitism but the Jewish people suffered from this kind of intolerance and discrimination throughout our history, and part of our need today is to share the common vision to combat it in different places.
The other point is about promoting mutual respect and understanding. This is also an opportunity for us to share with you part of our experience as a state and as a society. When the State of Israel was established, it absorbed people coming from different places in the world. It took us some years to understand that instead of changing the "other", we need to respect the places from which they came. We need to respect different groups, we need to respect the different traditions of those places from which they came to Israel and which they brought to Israel with them. This is a very specific experience that Israel can share with others. It was not easy to do at the time, and I think that we have learned something from our own experience and we are happy to share it with you.
Of course, Israel shares its democratic values with the international community, with the world, what we call the free world, the modern world, but, unfortunately, there is a gap between what Israel is and the perception of Israel is in different places. So, for us, this is an opportunity also to "re-share" our values and to think together about ways to combat discrimination. And the other goal, and maybe this is the most important goal and task for Israel these days, is that we are in what is perhaps one of the more complicated situations in the world in which, on the one hand, we need to defend ourselves, we are in a situation in which we have this conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. And on the other hand, we need to address their needs; we need to address their humanitarian needs. We need to change the situation on the ground in terms of education, working together with the Palestinian government, the legitimate government, in order to change education, in order to bring this vision of living side by side in security and peace, not only to Israel but also among Palestinian society.
While we are defending ourselves, we also need to act according to our own values – and, believe me, it’s not easy. It’s not easy when Israel is being targeted on a daily basis by Kassam rockets from the Gaza Strip. We have the power and the ability to meet this challenge in military terms but, on the other hand, Israel is not a state that will act against its own values, but will try to avoid any kind of civilian casualties, and so on. So, on a daily basis we have this combination between the need to defend ourselves and the need to defend our democratic values, and this is not less important. As decision makers, we have this kind of ongoing dilemma on our table.
For us, this is an opportunity to share with you the situation on the ground, the political situation on the ground which also impacts the way to promote our mutual goals.
A few words about the situation and the beginning of the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians – and maybe this also represents the way we see the region in terms of extremists and moderates. I believe that we should put aside the old vision about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict because, in a way, Israel plus the moderate and pragmatic leaders among the Palestinians share the same vision of two states for two peoples. We also understand that, in order to accomplish this, we need to confront terrorism, as the Palestinians understand that in order to do so, for their own sake and not only for the sake of Israel, they need to confront terrorism.
If in the past we used to speak about the conflict in terms not only of an Israeli-Palestinian conflict but a Jewish-Arab conflict or an Israeli-Arab conflict, I believe that there is an understanding today among other states in the region that the threat comes from the extremists, the radical elements, among their own states – radical elements like Iran in the region. So basically they share the same understanding of the challenges, the mutual challenges, and this also changes the alliances in the region.
Darya Shaikh, US Executive Director of the PeaceWorks Foundation, and Erin Pineda, International Communications Coordinator for the OneVoice Movement, just shared with me this draft that they are sending out tomorrow to our tens of thousands of signatories and friends – announcing a compelling new phase for the One Million Voices to End the Conflict Campaign.
THE TIME IS NOW.
Today, December 12, 2007, to mark the start of official negotiations between the Israeli and Palestinian negotiation teams, OneVoice is starting the countdown for 365 days of civic action toward a two state solution - one year of holding ourselves – the international community and our elected representatives – accountable.
Last month in Annapolis, Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas agreed “to engage in vigorous, ongoing and continuous negotiations … [and] make every effort to conclude an agreement before the end of 2008.” And OneVoice was there too in support of the leadership.
OneVoice supports the serious steps that Abbas and Olmert are taking to negotiate a mutually-acceptable two state solution, guaranteeing an independent Palestinian state at peace with Israel. And we are pledging to put our support behind them as they start this difficult process.
To remind all citizens about their duty to support the process, on December 12, 2007 OneVoice is launching 11 digital screens – 5 in Ramallah and 6 in Tel Aviv – displaying countdown clocks set for a one year: one year to achieve an independent Palestinian state at peace with Israel, one year to end the violence and end the conflict … one year for citizens to take a stand in support of the process.
OneVoice is simultaneously launching countdown clocks online as a representation within the international community that we are holding ourselves, and our leaders who took part in the Annapolis conference, accountable to playing our part in this process.
We all too often speak about the failures of leadership. But we too have a responsibility to do our part. We are launching a countdown clock to remind ourselves that over the next year – until December 12 , 2008 – we must consider: What are WE willing to do to help end the conflict?
Countdown with us – ways you can be involved:
The OneVoice Teams
At an event in Washington DC earlier in the week hosted by the Aspen Institute to launch the US-Palestinian Economic and Educational Public-Private Partnership, US Secretary of State Rice highlighted the role the private sector needs to play to help bring an Israeli-Palestinian agreement about. Here is a question I asked her and her response, as transcribed by the State Department (edited to fill in the "[inaudible]" words):
QUESTION: Secretary Rice, one of the most encouraging things about Annapolis was the Heads of State’ commitment to strike an agreement within a year, which demonstrated brave and courageous leadership. We’re very concerned about trying to not lose that window of opportunity. The red lines from each side are pretty clear. What is normally not said is that they’re not incompatible with the red lines of the other side. So it’s just about sitting down and just striking an agreement instead of endless Mideast bargaining. What can we in the private sector, business sector and the civil society and the citizens do to make sure that we really do try to accomplish an agreement within that year frame?
SECRETARY RICE: Yes. Well, let me start with what I think the broader community can do. And part of that is supporting leaders who have taken this broad — this bold choice. And I know that there’s a lot of skepticism and so forth. But you know, skepticism doesn’t get you anything but skepticism. That’s what it buys you. (Applause.)
Sometimes you have to, against all odds, be optimistic. And I would say to populations and to citizens and to the international community as a whole, this time let’s try and give a sense of optimism to these leaders who have taken these bold steps.
It is going to require, and I see — I know there are several members of the Diplomatic Corps, but I particularly see the Ambassador of Egypt is here. And Egypt was extremely helpful in the run-up to Annapolis in helping us, as was Jordan and others.
What we need to do is to say to the leaders, if you make difficult choices for peace, you are going to be supported, not criticized. People are not going to nitpick and say, well, you, Ehud Olmert, you gave up a little bit more here than you should have or you, Abu Mazen, you gave up a little bit more here than you should have. If people are willing to make tough choices — everybody is going to have to compromise. Look, there’s a reason that we haven’t had an agreement. And some of it has to do with unrealistic aspirations that at the last moment crashed past efforts to make agreements. That’s going to require at some point people saying, all right, these leaders have made realistic compromises and we’re going to support those realistic compromises.
I do think that the time that President Abbas and Prime Minister Olmert spent in their discussions on the so-called political horizon have given them a pretty good sense that there is a place that everybody could land here. And I think that’s why they eventually decided to move to actual negotiations. I will tell you that two months ago, maybe even six months ago, I did not think that they were going to actually launch negotiations. I hoped they would, but I didn’t think that that’s where they were going. I think it’s only because they’ve had these conversations about some of the most difficult issues that they have a feel for where the other side is. But it’s going to take persistence and, again, it’s going to take the — it’s going to take the international community not nay saying everything that they do. (Applause.)
Walter Isaacson, the head of the Aspen Institute, did a phenomenal job at organizing the working group that aims to foster economic development and build some positive facts on the ground in parallel to the Post-Annapolis negotiations process to build momentum for an agreement.
Several OV Board members were present also in this effort, including George Salem, Ziad Asali, Walid Najjab, and friends and supporters like Lester Crown. The impressive co-chairs for the Aspen Institute’s undertaking – Lester Crown, Sandy Weil, Jean Case and Ziad Asali – met with President Bush that afternoon and got his blessing and support for their efforts.
After the meeting I also approached Rice and told her about OV’s work. She mentioned she knew about OneVoice and the OneVoice Mandate that was signed by the 620k citizens and was very appreciative and emphasized it was very important work that needs to continue.
I just caught this kid Patrick Pedraja’s speech at a CNN "Heroes" Award ceremony and he made me shiver and cry. This kid is A-MA-ZING!!! He really rose up at such a young age, to educate people not just about the importance of the bone marrow registry but about leadership and the power to make this a better world. What an inspiring kid!!!
Earlier this week I rode on my first hybrid taxi in NYC and was ecstatic for a few reasons.
Guzzler: "Hey, are you happy with the hybrid? What do you think? I am thinking about it but need to ask some questions.
Hybrid Driver: "There is nothing to ask"
Guzzler: "Is it worth it?"
H: "There is nothing to ask, I pay $8-10 in gas a shift. You are paying $40 per shift."
G: "Can I lease your taxi for a shift to check it out?"
H: "There is nothing to check. There is nothing to wait. You can buy one of these with the gas you will save in the first year."