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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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.

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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

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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

Randy Newman - Sail Away

Randy Newman - Louisiana 1927

Voices From the Street

Voices From the Street

Voices from the Street

January 25, 2009 by VFTS

Voices from the streets was launched in 2005 with funding from the City of Toronto’s Supporting Community Partnership Initiative to develop a speakers bureau comprised of individuals with mental health and addictions history. In October of 2005 twelve people were selected out of a pool of thirty applicants to participate in a five month training program. In the end, nine people graduated successfully at an event held at CAMH.

We soon began receiving requests for these speakers to make presentations to a wide range of educational, social service, government, and community settings indicating a real need for this kind of initiative.

Voices From the Street is comprised of individuals who have had direct experience with homelessness, poverty, and/or mental health issues. The organization works to put a human face to homelessness and involves people with direct experience as leaders in a public education process.

BCCPD Registered Disability Savings Plan

BCCPD Registered Disability Savings Plan

Learn Why You Should Open an RDSP

	Did you know that if you do nothing but deposit a $250 GST cheque each year–starting when you're 32 years old–by the time you are 60, the value of your RDSP should be over $100,000? There are new BCCPD resources to help you learn about the benefits of opening an RDSP.