Jail Time

 

It has been said that there are no athe­ists in a fox­hole. Here, after my show trial and four and a half months in a cell, I have dis­cov­ered that there are no athe­ists in prison, ei­ther.

When, de­spite un­bear­able pain, you are in­ter­ro­gated – in­clud­ing in your cell – for dozens of hours with­out a break, and an au­thor­i­tar­ian regime’s en­tire sys­tem of co­er­cion, in­clud­ing its media, is try­ing to dis­credit and de­stroy you once and for all, prayer be­comes the only in­ti­mate, trust­ing, and re­as­sur­ing con­ver­sa­tion that one can have. God, one re­al­izes, is one’s only friend and only avail­able fam­ily, be­cause – de­prived even of ac­cess to a trusted priest – there is no one else in whom to con­fide one’s wor­ries and hopes.

In this sea­son of love and fam­ily, the lone­li­ness of a prison cell is al­most un­bear­able. The gray, dead si­lence of night (guards peer in voyeuris­ti­cally through a slot in the door), the sud­den, dis­em­bod­ied shrieks of pris­on­ers, shrieks of dis­tress and rage, the dis­tant rat­tles and clangs of prison bolts: all make sleep im­pos­si­ble, or so rest­less as to be a torment.

But what is strange is that your senses are not dulled by this dead and dread­ful world. On the con­trary, they are ig­nited by it: your mind is set free from mun­dane con­cerns to pon­der the in­es­timable and your place within it – a free­dom of spirit that is a truly un­ex­pected gift this Christ­mas sea­son. In the cell’s dark­ness, I gather strength and hope from the fact that God some­how seems so near to me here. For where else would Christ be but with those who suf­fer and are per­se­cuted?


In­deed, I have re­cently been read­ing Di­et­rich Bon­ho­ef­fer’s sub­lime and chal­leng­ing Let­ters from Prison, in which he yearns for a Christ ca­pa­ble of of­fer­ing mercy to a world, our world, then in the process of being mar­tyred for a sin­gle man. Writ­ten in a cramped, dank, and pu­trid cell, where hope was meant to die be­fore the body, Bon­ho­ef­fer crafted a book rich in faith, open­ness, pos­si­bil­ity, and, yes, hope – even in hu­man­ity’s dark­est hour.




One par­tic­u­lar pas­sage res­onates with me as I con­tem­plate Ukraine’s plight. As he awaited his ap­proach­ing ex­e­cu­tion by the Nazis, Bon­ho­ef­fer wrote that, in prison, “the god­less­ness of the world is not...​concealed but, rather, re­vealed, and is thus ex­posed to an un­ex­pected light.”



So I take some com­fort this Christ­mas in know­ing that the god­less­ness, in­hu­man­ity, and crim­i­nal­ity of the regime that is now rul­ing in Kyiv is, at long last, being ex­posed to the world in a clear light. Its de­mo­c­ra­tic pos­tur­ing has been un­masked as cyn­i­cal po­lit­i­cal the­ater, its claim to de­sire a Eu­ro­pean fu­ture for Ukraine’s peo­ple re­vealed to be a lie, and the ra­pa­cious­ness of its klep­to­crats has been laid bare. The regime’s con­tempt for the con­sti­tu­tion and the rule of law is now un­de­ni­able, and that clar­ity is em­pow­er­ing.

More im­por­tantly, the suf­fer­ing of Ukraine’s peo­ple has also be­come more widely known, and we are no longer so alone in our plight. Al­le­vi­at­ing it has been em­braced as a just cause across Eu­rope and around the world. The every­day op­pres­sion, sti­fled media, and shake­downs and ex­tor­tion of busi­nesses for bribes all point to a mafia state on Eu­rope’s bor­der. Now our Eu­ro­pean friends can no longer deny the smug vile­ness of the regime with which they are forced to deal. And I am thank­ful this Christ­mas for being able to be­lieve that de­mo­c­ra­tic Eu­rope will not tol­er­ate this state of af­fairs. Ukraini­ans will be strong know­ing that they are not alone in their fight.

I do not pre­tend to be an ex­pert on re­li­gious faith and spir­i­tual val­ues. I am only a be­liever who can­not ac­cept that our ex­is­tence is the re­sult of some freak cos­mic ac­ci­dent. We are, I be­lieve, part of a mys­te­ri­ous yet in­te­gral act, whose source, di­rec­tion, and pur­pose, though dif­fi­cult to grasp at times, does have mean­ing and pur­pose – even when one is con­fined be­hind prison bars.

It is only faith in the idea that our lives mat­ter, and that our de­ci­sions must be judged by their moral con­tent, that we in Ukraine, and else­where, will be able to find our way out of the mis­ery, un­hap­pi­ness, and de­spair that has con­sumed us over the last two years. It is within our power to re­cover or rein­vig­o­rate our free­doms and our so­ci­eties, not by in­di­vid­ual ef­forts, but by join­ing forces with like­minded peo­ple all over the world. I know that we will man­age this.

This Christ­mas, I ask my fam­ily and friends every­where not to worry about me. As Anna Akhma­tova, the great po­etic chron­i­cler of Stalin’s ter­ror, said, “I am alive in this grave.” In­deed, I am more alive, I know, than the men who have im­pris­oned me here.

Christ­mas is meant to mark the pos­si­bil­ity of a new be­gin­ning for all men and women.

As Bon­ho­ef­fer af­firmed with his last words: “This is for me...​the be­gin­ning of life.”




Yuliya Tymoshenko was Prime Minister of Ukraine and is currently leader of the opposition.

I am amazed she has this amount of ability to speak to the world at large. Here is her website: http://www.tymoshenko.ua/en/
Point of correction here: She is not a "Mr." Mrs. Tymoshenko is not only a female leader but a very beautiful woman. She is determined and courageous and very sharp. But this is a vicious game she is in, now locked away in cell 260 while those who've taken over ravage Ukraine.




....................................................................................................................................




“AB900 allows the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to authorize $7.8 billion in lease-revenue bonds to fund the addition of 53,000 new prison and jail beds while bypassing the electorate.”



BY NAOMI WOLF

1 out of Every 2 Americans are Poor!!!

Woody Guthrie-This Land Is Your Land - YouTube: ""

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Its a Mean Old World

THIS SHOULD ENCOURAGE THE POPULACE TO EMBRACE THE OCCUPY WALL STREET PROTEST.

Census shows 1 in 2 people are poor or low-income
-  HOPE YEN, Associated Press 


“If Americans ever allow banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children will wake up homeless.”
- Thomas Jefferson


"One of the funny things about the stock market is that every time one person buys, another sells, and both think they are astute."
- William Feather

1 out of 2 Americans are Poor!!!

Woody Guthrie-This Land Is Your Land - YouTube: ""

'via Blog this'

Its a Mean Old World

THIS SHOULD HAVE ENCOURAGED THE POPULACE TO EMBRACE THE OCCUPY WALL STREET PROTEST.

Census shows 1 in 2 people are poor or low-income
-  HOPE YEN, Associated Press 


“If Americans ever allow banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children will wake up homeless.”
- Thomas Jefferson


"One of the funny things about the stock market is that every time one person buys, another sells, and both think they are astute."
- William Feather

Its a Mean Old World

Census shows 1 in 2 people are poor or low-income
-  HOPE YEN, Associated Press


“If Americans ever allow banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children will wake up homeless.”
- Thomas Jefferson


"One of the funny things about the stock market is that every time one person buys, another sells, and both think they are astute."
- William Feather

One in Two Americans are Poor

According to new supplemental data from the Census Bureau, nearly half of Americans have fallen under the poverty line or are classified as “low income” .

  

................................................................................
Census shows 1 in 2 people are poor or low-income
By HOPE YEN, Associated Press  

WASHINGTON (AP) — Squeezed by rising living costs, a record number of Americans — nearly 1 in 2 — have fallen into poverty or are scraping by on earnings that classify them as low income.

'Stagflation':

Stagflation occurs when the economy isn't growing but prices are, which is not a good situation for a country to be in. This happened to a great extent during the 1970s, when world oil prices rose dramatically, fueling sharp inflation in developed countries. For these countries, including the U.S., stagnation increased the inflationary effects.
 
The latest census data depict a middle class that's shrinking as unemployment stays high and the government's safety net frays. The new numbers follow years of stagnating wages for the middle class that have hurt millions of workers and families.
About 97.3 million Americans fall into a low-income category, commonly defined as those earning between 100 and 199 percent of the poverty level, based on a new supplemental measure by the Census Bureau that is designed to provide a fuller picture of poverty. Together with the 49.1 million who fall below the poverty line and are counted as poor, they number 146.4 million, or 48 percent of the U.S. population. That's up by 4 million from 2009, the earliest numbers for the newly developed poverty measure.

*146.4 million people represents a huge number of votes.

A survey of 29 cities conducted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors released Thursday points to a gloomy outlook for those on the lower end of the income scale.

Many mayors cited the challenges of meeting increased demands for food assistance, expressing particular concern about possible cuts to federal programs such as food stamps and WIC, which assists low-income pregnant women and mothers. Unemployment led the list of causes of hunger in cities, followed by poverty, low wages and high housing costs.

 

Many people in the U.S. are in dire straights and with the cost of bank bailouts and two wars the government does not have much stored wealth to provide the 'safety nets' people need.

If you have shopped in Walmart lately, you know few goods are made in North America.  In order to ensure a steady stream of cheap consumer products, America has moved jobs overseas and the effects of that failed policy are beginning to show.  Stagflation, falling house prices and few well-paying jobs leaves one feeling hopeless.  Is this nearly the bottom in the economic cycle? Things always look thier worst at the lowest level of economic activity and begin to pick up from there.

Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press.  

Worry does not help any situation to improve.

The sea like life itself, is a stern taskmaster. The best way to get along with either is to learn all you can, then do your best and don't worry especially about things over which your have no control.



- Admiral Chester William Nimitz quoting his grandfather in E.B. Potter's Nimitz

HOPE FUELS MOTIVATION

"It is necessary to hope
For hope itself is happiness,
And its frustrations, however frequent
Are less dreadful than its extinction."

- Samuel Johnson

Blogger Philosophy

My Philosophy of Blogging



There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or to be the mirror that reflects it.
- Edith Wharton

Ms. Wharton sums up how I think of blogs. My desire is to reflect the articles and pictures that inspire me when surfing the Web by posting them on my blogs. Blogs create a scrapbook of events to review later inspiring me for a second time. This is a great pleasure and an educational activity providing me with learning missed when I was in school. The Web has demonstrated its great value in generating and spreading new ideas. Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Occupy Wall Street and other revolutions have gained momentum on the Web.
If you have a favorite cause like animal rights, you can play a part in education the world by posting to your blog. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.


"To read means to borrow; to create out of one's reading is paying off one's debts."
- Charles Lillard

Communicating my worldview, as seen from my backwater home town situated on an island in the Pacific, is my way of staying engaged with current events.  Multiple Sclerosis has reduced my physical energy and keeps me close to home so I need to adapt and find new ways of relating to the world at large.

Happiness has an optimal price?

$75,000 Can Buy Happiness:
byJennifer Robison, 

Gallup Management Journal  

The search to define happiness has consumed a lot of human energy.  

Angus Deaton, Ph.D., a renowned economist, and Daniel Kahneman, Ph.D., a Nobel prize-winning psychologist, both from Princeton University....looked for happiness in numbers.  ...they analyzed responses to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index (GHWBI), a daily survey that asks roughly 1,000 U.S. residents a battery of questions about their wellbeing.

After analyzing more than 450,000 GHWBI responses from 2008 and 2009, Dr. Deaton and Dr. Kahneman found that happiness is actually the result of the fulfillment of two abstract psychological states -- 

1.) emotional wellbeing and 

2.) life evaluation. 

The finding is important because it offered the researchers a new and more useful way of looking at happiness.

The difference between life evaluation and emotional wellbeing is vital, though the two are related.

Dr. Kahneman says, "They're clearly distinct dimensions that are correlated. But they have somewhat different determinants. What improves people's emotional wellbeing is different from what it takes to make them say that they're satisfied with their life."

In other words, life evaluation and emotional wellbeing refer to different feelings. 

Life evaluation requires a long view of a person's overall life. Though life evaluation is colored by the day's emotions, Dr. Kahneman and Dr. Deaton's GHWBI research shows that people evaluate their lives based on a retrospective of their achievements. If they've accomplished the goals they've set, are financially secure, and are emotionally fulfilled, they're more likely to have a high evaluation of their life.

Emotional wellbeing reflects a much shorter view and refers to the emotional quality of an individual's everyday experience. If the day's experience is negative, emotional wellbeing will take a hit. That said, people with good emotional wellbeing seem to get it through social contact.

"Emotional happiness is primarily social," says Dr. Kahneman. "The very best thing that can happen to people is to spend time with other people they like. That is when they are happiest, and so, without question, this is a major story. 

We find loneliness is a terrible thing. So is extreme poverty. But loneliness, regardless of how rich you are, is a very bad thing."

But the research also indicates that you won't become happy merely by socializing with your best friends and achieving your goals. You also need $75,000.

The most reported finding is that people with an annual household income of $75,000 are about as happy as anyone gets. More specifically, those with annual household incomes below $75,000 give lower responses to both life evaluation and emotional wellbeing questions. But people with an annual household income of more than $75,000 don't have commensurately higher levels of emotional wellbeing, even though their life evaluation rating continues to increase.
 
Your emotional life depends primarily on your relationships with people.

Emotional wellbeing may not improve with additional money, Dr. Deaton and Dr. Kahneman think, because of several factors. One is that humans adapt quickly to the things money can buy. A mansion is a thrill the first month you live in it, but it's just a house the second.

Moreover, other research suggests that wealthy people don't take as much pleasure in actual pleasure as do poor people. In one test, social researchers primed some test subjects to feel rich and found that the "wealthy" subjects didn't enjoy luxury chocolate as much as the control group, the "non-wealthy," did.

And Dr. Kahneman and Dr. Deaton believe that when it comes to the very wealthy with high life satisfaction, their evaluations may be influenced more by keeping score than by purchasing power. If life evaluation is based on reviewing how much progress people have made in their lives, money may become a marker of success.


So people who have achieved their goals, who spend a lot of time with friends, and who make a lot of money have the most life satisfaction, while those who earn at least $75,000 a year have the greatest emotional wellbeing. But that doesn't meant they aren't stressed. 

The GHWBI data show that college graduates report more stress than people without college degrees, and that stress levels are generally higher in wealthy countries.

Comparing the U.S. life evaluation scores with data available from about 150 other countries through the Gallup World Poll, the U.S. ranks fairly high. The only nations with higher scores are the Scandinavian countries, Canada, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and New Zealand.

However, while Americans come in near the top for life evaluation and do well on wellbeing, they're also among the most stressed. U.S. stress levels are the fifth highest when compared to data from other countries in the Gallup World Poll.

There is one thing, however, left to mention in this discussion of happiness -- individual temperament. Dr. Kahneman and Dr. Deaton's research, and that of others, clearly indicates that some people are just born happier, or "sunnier," as Dr. Deaton calls them. Their emotional wellbeing will always be higher than everyone else's.

That's not to suggest that those who aren't "sunny" are doomed to lives of misery. Even the most pessimistic, grumpy-by-nature people can find solace in Dr. Deaton's statement: "It may be that we're not designed for happiness." And what is it we were designed for? "To avoid getting eaten by predators," says Dr. Deaton. "If nothing eats you today, you ought to be happy. At least it's a start."






Source:
This post originally appeared on Gallup Management Journal.

Facebook: Home to 800,000,000 Wall Flowers?

How to Stand Out Among 800 Million Facebook Users | Moneyland | TIME.com:

An ironic by-product of the success of social media, however, is that it’s become extremely hard to stand out amid all that content. The data is striking: Sure, some 800 million people use Facebook, but only 7.5% of your fans ever see your status updates, according to Page Lever. And Sysomos reports that only 29% of your Twitter followers will see your messages. So how do you keep from being ignored online? Here are five fundamental strategies.

1. Start with the basics

It should almost go without saying that your business should have a website as well as a blog and should participate on the top four social networks: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+. People are searching for you or for other companies that offer similar services, and every search query in which your company’s name doesn’t come up is an opportunity lost.


2. Establish a niche

When creating your online brand, you need to have a specific audience in mind – the audience that would most likely purchase your product or service. For example, Rachel Rodgers Law Office in Phoenix positions itself as a company that offers “Innovative Legal Counsel for Generation Y Entrepreneurs.” If you’re too general with your positioning, you won’t attract the people that can make your company profitable over the long haul. Although this approach might not yield 2 million followers and fans, you’ll certainly generate leads.

3. Create valuable content

The content that you publish should be concentrated on a single topic related to your business. Your status updates and blog posts could contain research, quotes, facts, stories and ideas instead of product pitches. As Jeffrey Gitomer famously said, “People don’t like to be sold but they love to buy.” Direct selling through social channels turns people off and is the fastest way to impede your business growth. Your market will be drawn to the valuable and interesting content that you produce. They’ll then follow you and examine your website for your products and services.

4. Interact with your audience

Aside from producing content on a regular basis, you need to both listen and interact with your followers. By listening to what people are saying about your brand, you can better serve them with content and products. Start by using tools like Google Alerts and Twitter in order to review your brand mentions.


5. Make yourself an expert

You can’t rely on people finding your website or your profiles anymore. You need to proactively market your brand so that you can stand out in the clutter. The best way to do this is to brand yourself as an expert in your field, proactively reaching out to a select number of journalists that cover your topic, and offering yourself as a source for future articles. Each time you’re interviewed for an article, make sure your company’s name is included, which will draw more people to your website. By having a third party endorsement from a media outlet, and putting yourself out there, you will become more credible, trusted, and your visibility will multiply.

Dan Schawbel, recognized as a “personal branding guru” by The New York Times, is the Managing Partner of Millennial Branding, LLC, a full-service personal branding agency. Dan is the author of Me 2.0: 4 Steps to Building Your Future, the founder of the Personal Branding Blog, and publisher of Personal Branding Magazine.






Read more: http://moneyland.time.com/2011/11/10/how-to-stand-out-among-800-million-facebook-users/#ixzz1e7zMq300

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Joe Louis Walker - Change my ways

Joe Louis Walker - Change my ways - YouTube: ""

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East Africa drought crisis still ‘huge’ — SOS Children

I just copied this to help get the word out.

East Africa drought crisis still ‘huge’ — SOS Children:



The size of the humanitarian emergency in the Horn of Africa remains massive, says a British politician.Three months after famine was officially declared in Somalia, hundreds of people, mainly children, are still dying every day, said Britain’s International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell.

The drought and famine have forced thousands of people into refugee camps and left 12 million people in need of aid and 750,000 at risk of death in Somalia, according to the latest figures from the Famine Early Warning System FEWS.
Earlier this week it was revealed that British aid is feeding more than 2.4m people across the region and an appeal by the UK’s Disasters and Emergency Committee has raised £72m, but that is still not enough.

With the rainy season round the corner, people caught up in the crisis are now facing the risk of disease spreading across crowded refugee camps.
More than 400,000 children are still at risk of death, just in Somalia alone, Mr Mitchell notes. British aid pouring into the region has been concentrated on keeping people healthy. About 1.3m people have been given jabs against measles, for instance, and 400,000 doses of anti-malarial drugs are heading for Somalia.

Although the rains look likely to bring with them yet more misery and death, they can also play a part in the region’s recovery from the disaster. Funds raised by British people have helped buy seeds for more than 200,000 people, which they will be able to plant and grow when the weather improves. The biggest problem, however is still actually getting to people in need who are living inside the parts of Somalia worst affected by fighting. Famine was officially declared in the lawless country as far back as July. And because they can’t get aid if they stay put, the number of Somali refugees crossing into south-eastern Ethiopia is on the rise.

Announcing its appeal to help people hit by the crisis DEC chief executive Brendan Gormley said earlier this week: "The incredibly generous support of the UK public for the DEC East Africa Crisis Appeal has made the difference between life and death for many people in the region. But, he warned that "the situation remains grave however particularly in those areas of Somalia where access for most aid agencies remains severely restricted.” The appeal brought in the third highest amount in charity's 45-year history - only the Asian tsunami (£392m) and the Haiti earthquake (£107m) raised more.

Money is inedible

Only after the last tree has been cut

Only after the last river has been poisoned

Only after the last fish has been caught

Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten

~ Cree Indian Prophecy ~

Changing Times

Optimism and Laughter

Positive Attitude Month :

Optimism and laughter, while enjoyable in their own right, bring benefits like health, longevity, and a decrease in stress. You may also know that a positive attitude can be cultivated, meaning even if you're not naturally prone to bright-side looking, you can actively change that.

October is Positive Attitude Month, which reminds you to make the effort to cultivate the attitude that can bring you greater health, happier relationships, and more luck in life. 

It's true that we are all born with a certain "set point" for some traits, such as openness, agreeableness, extroversion, conscientiousness, an neuroticism (known as "The Big Five" in the world of psychology), and these inborn personality tendencies influence our levels of optimism, positivity, and happiness. 

Positive Psychology research has found, we can alter our habitual thought patterns by actively changing the way we choose to see things. 

If we challenge negative thinking patterns, for example, and replace them with more positive patterns, the new, more positive patterns become our habit, and we can actually create a new set-point for happiness.

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle."
~Plato

We are all fighting a great battle in our lives as we seek more happiness and avoid pain therefore, we need to adopt attitudes that buoy us in turbulent moments.  Having a positive outlook is a tool you can use to motivate yourself to find solutions.  Learned helplessness is an attitude to avoid because you are going face daily difficulties.  Deal with the problems as they arise and do not waste energy worrying about the future or regretting the past.  Life unfolds in moments and our power to act is in the now.    

I cannot think of a better way to counteract the pain and uncertainty of living with M.S. than to manage your attitude.  We can choose how we feel about our situation.  Feeling better about ourselves will give us the motivation to take better care of ourselves.  M.S. is a disease with no cause, no cure and no effective treatment which forces us to take some responsibility for our well-being.  Addressing areas of your lifestyle such as, diet can exert many benefits in dealing with chronic illness.  We are fighting a great battle and need a Warrior's attitude towards our enemy within.

Positive Attitude Resources From Elizabeth Scott: 

http://stress.about.com/b/2011/10/02/happy-positive-attitude-month.htm

If Children are the future in China... Why the Smoking?

 For Chinese Students, Smoking Isn’t All Bad - Businessweek:

"In dozens of rural villages in China’s western provinces, one of the first things primary school kids learn is what helps make their education possible: tobacco. The schools are sponsored by local units of China’s state-owned cigarette monopoly, China National Tobacco. “On the gates of these schools you’ll see slogans that say ‘Genius comes from hard work—tobacco helps you become talented,’” says Xu Guihua, secretary general of the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control, a privately funded lobbying group. “They are pinning their hopes on young people taking up smoking.”

Anti-tobacco groups say efforts in China to reduce sales... "


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Blog Philosophy

ALIENATION: FORGOTTEN PEOPLE ARE CREATED BY A WORLD IN A BIG HURRY.
Society is a busy place and often people get lost in the rush and end up in an unfriendly place with no advocates and faced with a real struggle to regain a place in the mainstream. We are told that no matter how far we have gone down the wrong road, turn back. Sometimes this is not so easy and we need help.

Expect to encounter ideas of great thinkers like Erich Fromm, Rollo May, Ernst Becker, Albert Ellis, Martin Seligman, Carl Jung, Victor Frankl and many others.

My Struggle To Focus On One Topic

This account is a member of the following 105 blogs: 

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• http://discardedpeoplehavetheblues.blogspot.com/
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• http://catorade.blogspot.com/
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• http://bluevenusdemilo.blogspot.com/
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• http://continentofsorrow.blogspot.com/
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• http://directthewanderingmind.blogspot.com/
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• http://undepletableenergysources.blogspot.com/
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• http://lewisonpositivepsycholgy.blogspot.com/
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• http://lewisoneverything.blogspot.com/
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• http://readarestlessmind.blogspot.com/
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• http://wisdomwarehouse.blogspot.com/
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• http://sojourneronamission.blogspot.com/
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• http://budastirfry.blogspot.com/
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• http://mythmakingman.blogspot.com/
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• http://circadianrythmdisorders.blogspot.com/
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• http://bustmymyth.blogspot.com/
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• http://motionlessjourney.blogspot.com/
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• http://davidmarchdirectmarketing.blogspot.com/
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• http://yatican.blogspot.com/
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• http://bannanasandbones.blogspot.com/
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• http://pandaspondering.blogspot.com/
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• http://mytroubleandstrife.blogspot.com/
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• http://invisibleindian.blogspot.com/
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• http://sufferingcynic.blogspot.com/
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• http://bonesandbolts.blogspot.com/
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• http://lemurtale.blogspot.com/
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• http://myfatdagbob.blogspot.com/
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• http://mymultipleschlerosis.blogspot.com/
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• http://ethicalblinders.blogspot.com/
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• http://devilbearjournal.blogspot.com/
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• http://mindlikeacircus.blogspot.com/
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• http://growaheadanddream.blogspot.com/
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• http://hyenaman54withms.blogspot.com/
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• http://howtobeadigitalenterpreneur.blogspot.com/
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• http://goldfishmaniac.blogspot.com/
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• http://meanmagpiemoments.blogspot.com/
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• http://threemysticmonkeys.blogspot.com/
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• http://joyousdogsonbeach.blogspot.com/
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• http://seekingdistraction.blogspot.com/
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• http://jackdawsquawk.blogspot.com/
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• http://bobonemore.blogspot.com/
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• http://fourfinchesurbanaviary.blogspot.com/
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• http://symptomsofliving.blogspot.com/
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• http://mydrinkingcareen.blogspot.com/
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• http://notanihilist.blogspot.com/
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• http://tinytibetantitan.blogspot.com/
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• http://campingwithhenry.blogspot.com/
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• http://whitemyna.blogspot.com/
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• http://goatsonawall.blogspot.com/
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• http://archimedesbeaver.blogspot.com/
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• http://polarbearblues.blogspot.com/
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• http://moneymagicandunrequitedlove.blogspot.com/

Sasha Dichter: The Generosity Experiment | Video on TED.com

Sasha Dichter: The Generosity Experiment | Video on TED.com: "http://www.ted.com/talks/sasha_dichter.html"

Sasha Dichter: The Generosity Experiment from TED Blog on Vimeo.

Sasha Dichter is the Director of Business Development at Acumen Fund, a nonprofit venture capital fund that invests in enterprises that serve the poor. In this role, he leads up capital raising globally for Acumen Fund, including executing a successful $100M capital raise, serving as the point person for Acumen Fund’s Partner community, and heading up global partnerships for Acumen Fund including global expansion. Sasha is a member of Acumen Fund’s leadership team and the author of the Manifesto for Nonprofit CEOs. He blogs about generosity,philanthropy and social change athttp://sashadichter.wordpress.com.

Before Acumen Fund, Sasha worked as Global Manager of Corporate Citizenship at GE Money, expanding financial offerings to underserved communities globally; and as a Senior Program Manager at IBM, spearheading the company’s corporate citizenship strategy and launching a leadership program for school administrators. Sasha began his career as a management consultant for Booz & Company in the telecommunications practice, based in New York but working primarily in Latin America and Europe. He’s also had stints with the microfinance group of Bank Rakyat Indonesia and with the venture-backed Navic Networks, recently acquired by Microsoft.

'via Blog this'

Since When Is It a Crime to Be Poor? | Mother Jones

Since When Is It a Crime to Be Poor? | Mother Jones:

Homeless men in downtown Houston. Shawn Shoemaker/Flickr

Working class people are no longer just being Nickel and Dimed, they're being prosecuted by lenders, banks, and city officials.

—By Barbara Ehrenreich

'via Blog this'

Nellie McKay sings "Mother of Pearl" and "If I Had You" | Video on TED.com

Nellie McKay sings "Mother of Pearl" and "If I Had You" | Video on TED.com

Mechai Viravaidya: How Mr. Condom made Thailand a better place | Video on TED.com

Mechai Viravaidya: How Mr. Condom made Thailand a better place | Video on TED.com

About this talk

At TEDxChange, Thailand's "Mr. Condom," Mechai Viravaidya, walks us through the country's bold plan to raise its standard of living, starting in the 1970s. First step: population control. And that means a lot of frank, funny -- and very effective -- talk about condoms.

About Mechai Viravaidya

Since 1974, Mechai Viravaidya has been creating and running innovative family planning and poverty reduction programs throughout Southeast Asia.


Mechai Viravaidya is the founder and chair of the Population and Community Development Association (PDA). He's a widely acclaimed leader in the fields of public health, education and community development.

Since 1974, Mr. Mechai has initiated community-based family planning services, innovative poverty reduction and rural education programs, large-scale rural development and environmental programs, as well as groundbreaking HIV/AIDS prevention activities throughout Southeast Asia.


"When I first met Mechai Viravaidya, Thailand's "Condom King," 15 years ago, it became clear that he places a high value on action and impact, even if it means making some people uncomfortable. "

Dr. Helen Gayle, TIME magazine

Mechai the Condom King

Tribute to Mechai Viravaidya

preventhumantraffic | January 14, 2011 | 1 likes, 0 dislikes

This short video is a tribute to Khun Mechai Viravaidya, Thai social entrepreneur extraordinaire - in honor of his 70th birthday. Prevent Human Trafficking has enjoyed a 10 year relationship with this incredible man known first for his role in HIV/AIDS prevention when he earned the title, "The Condom King". Since 1974 Khun Mechai has created 8 primary organizations, programs and companies (with dozens of subsidiaries) with the aim of reducing poverty and many other social problems using innovative, out of the box solutions. He has been an invaluable mentor to me in the decade I have known him.

While this video cannot adequately thank him or capture his illustrious career in public service, it aims to highlight his most recent endeavors. For a full listing of Mechai's work please see his website: mechaifoundation.org
~ With admiration and respect for a one-of-a-kind world changer,
Christina Arnold, Founder of Prevent Human Trafficking.

Homeless

A Lesson from a Homeless Man

by JIM MANNEY

Something to think about | The purpose of the Exercises is both freedom from inordinate attachment and union with God and God’s way. . .  Facing “disordered affections” and “ordering one’s life with God at the center” are two sides of the reality, much like a coin. The energy absorbed in compulsive, obsessive, disordered, fixated behavior is energy unavailable for authentic relationship with God, with one’s true self, with others.

I had studied and preached this twofold purpose for years, but only when I began to give the Exercises in Annotation 18 form to homeless men, did I learn how inextricably linked are disordered affections and ordered relationships. One very intelligent, well-educated 30-year old man, on the streets for several years, addicted to cocaine, alcohol and sex, sought me out as he attempted to find sobriety. His repeated failures at becoming sober without explicitly asking God for help finally led him to a spiritual path, to the Jesuits and to the Spiritual Exercises. He learned that he did not have the strength to sustain sobriety without daily reliance on God. He learned that he could not stay with the recovery process in a twelve-step program without daily prayer, without claiming his own goodness and purpose.

Eventually, after several years of sobriety and practicing the twelve steps, after growth in prayer through spiritual direction, he made the Nineteenth Annotation full Exercises. The Exercises helped him identify how embedded were those attitudes of mind and will and heart which had led him to addictive behavior on the streets. The Exercises opened him to the mystery of how deeply God loves him and wants him to join Christ in serving others. As he became freed from the external and internal disordered attitudes and behaviors, he was able, not only to retain employment, but was sought out for advancement. He was also able to sustain and commit to authentic relationship. His choices became more congruent with his purpose in life.

Bill Creed, SJ

Fascists Ideals

Giroux unveils a U.S. agenda also seen in Harper government

Re: America’s ‘culture of cruelty;’ The violence in Arizona has much deeper, more pervasive roots than mental illness or lack of civility (Opinion, Jan. 20)

What a privilege it is to live in a community with a social thinker of Henry Giroux’s calibre.

In a few paragraphs, he incisively unveils the right-wing agenda in the United States of separating individuals from their social contexts and of degrading, if not dismantling, public institutions. For the right, government’s purpose is to protect private money by maintaining law and order at home and military bases abroad. Those who “can’t make it” or “don’t cut it” are “losers” and shouldn’t be assisted in any way to improve their education, employment or health.

While we don’t have a gun culture in Canada, we do have a culture susceptible to a similar mythology: that private greed need not concern itself with public concerns and consequences.

The right-wing Stephen Harper government stands for many of the same things as its Republican cousins: more and bigger prisons, more military, more corporate tax cuts and less gun regulation.

It too attacks and belittles its opponents. It has the same mean-spiritedness and the same winner-take-all mentality.

J.S. Porter, Hamilton