good helps, evil hurts

 i just finished reading "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson for the second time and it is as powerful as the first time i read it.  Greg has tried to discuss the realities of life in Afghanistan and Pakistan with our military leaders and failed even though they read his book and tell others to read it.  Military training doesn't seem to allow them to consider building schools as a way to peace and understanding; or even as a method to diminish the influence madrassa's continue to have on those who have been terrorized by our bombs.

At a simple level good is what helps people and evil is what hurts people.

We all have the capacity to do both.  We all have the capacity to understand what the barriers and divisions are that keep us apart.

In an ongoing effort to promote peace i decided to publish the UN Declaration on a Culture of Peace which is different from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights done in 1948.  This one was created in 1999 and is much shorter and easier to absorb.

Article 1

A culture of peace is a set of values, attitudes, traditions and modes of behavior and ways of life based on:

   1. Respect for life, ending of violence and promotion and practice of non-violence through education, dialogue and cooperation;

   2. Full respect for the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of States and non-intervention in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any State, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and international law;

   3. Full respect for and promotion of all human rights and fundamental freedoms;

   4. Commitment to peaceful settlement of conflicts;

   5. Efforts to meet the developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations;

   6. Respect for and promotion of the right to development;

   7. Respect for and promotion of equal rights and opportunities for women and men;

   8. Respect for and promotion of the right of everyone to freedom of expression, opinion and information;

   9. Adherence to the principles of freedom, justice, democracy, tolerance, solidarity, cooperation, pluralism, cultural diversity, dialogue and understanding at all levels of society and among nations; and fostered by an enabling national and international environment conducive to peace.

Article 2

Progress in the fuller development of a culture of peace comes about through values, attitudes, modes of behavior and ways of life conducive to the promotion of peace among individuals, groups and nations.

Article 3

The fuller development of a culture of peace is integrally linked to:

   1. Promoting peaceful settlement of conflicts, mutual respect and understanding and international cooperation;

   2. Complying with international obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and international law;

   3. Promoting democracy, development and universal respect for and observance of all human rights and fundamental freedoms;

   4. Enabling people at all levels to develop skills of dialogue, negotiation, consensus-building and peaceful resolution of differences;

   5. Strengthening democratic institutions and ensuring full participation in the development process;

   6. Eradicating poverty and illiteracy and reducing inequalities within and among nations;

   7. Promoting sustainable economic and social development;

   8. Eliminating all forms of discrimination against women through their empowerment and equal representation at all levels of decision-making;

   9. Ensuring respect for and promotion and protection of the rights of children;

  10. Ensuring free flow of information at all levels and enhancing access thereto;

  11. Increasing transparency and accountability in governance;

  12. Eliminating all forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance;

  13. Advancing understanding, tolerance and solidarity among all civilizations, peoples and cultures, including towards ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities;

  14. Realizing fully the right of all peoples, including those living under colonial or other forms of alien domination or foreign occupation, to self-determination enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and embodied in the International Covenants on Human Rights,/2 as well as in the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples contained in General Assembly resolution 1514 (XV) of 14 December 1960.

Article 4

Education at all levels is one of the principal means to build a culture of peace. In this context, human rights education is of particular importance.

Article 5

Governments have an essential role in promoting and strengthening a culture of peace.

Article 6

Civil society needs to be fully engaged in fuller development of a culture of peace.

Article 7

The educative and informative role of the media contributes to the promotion of a culture of peace.

Article 8

A key role in the promotion of a culture of peace belongs to parents, teachers, politicians, journalists, religious bodies and groups, intellectuals, those engaged in scientific, philosophical and creative and artistic activities, health and humanitarian workers, social workers, managers at various levels as well as to non-governmental organizations.

Article 9

The United Nations should continue to play a critical role in the promotion and strengthening of a culture of peace worldwide.

Peace

This picture is of a Wilson's Plover nest.
The parents use of coral tubing was quite beautiful to see.

Self reliance is a myth

Humanity is wired to be dependent, attentive to, and depended upon by others.  The idea that we are self-reliant is a myth.

Human beings start out dependent.  Our introduction to this world is one of dependence; from that first breath, we breach the warmth of the womb and put our lives in someone's hands. 

Our parents housed us, fed us, clothed us, educated us and then launched us forth.  At no point in our lives were we self reliant.  We were dependent even when we thought we weren't.

During our progress from infants to adults we may have obtained part time jobs, made our own breakfasts, lunches and dinners, washed our own clothes and cleaned ourselves up, plus gotten ourselves to school.  We might have cleaned our rooms and even sewed some clothes.  We may have thought we were in some ways self reliant but the important aspects, like a roof over our heads and the bills being paid were usually covered by someone else.

Either through our parents guidance or through a mentor with a church or school we made our personal decision to leave home and went on our merry ways.  We may have thought ah ha, now we are really self reliant.  But, did we become completely self reliant?  Were we dependent solely upon our own decisions or did other people provide some impetus for the changes we made or the roads we traveled.

There is no such thing as a self made man or woman.  Every man and woman has a mother and father that supplied him or her with the beginnings of the future trajectory, regardless of how awful or wonderful they were.  Those parents and mentors laid the ground work for future development.

Consider Bill Gates, where would he have been without Paul Allen or the garage and backing his father supplied.  Gates was sent to an exclusive preparatory school at the age of 13.  That elite school had the wherewithal to buy an ASR-33 teletype terminal and a block of computer time on a General Electric (GE) computer for the school's students.  Bill Gates used that time up and more, he became obsessed with something not many had access to.  That school launched Bill Gates on a trajectory that he still hasn't come down from.

Gates had quite a run but now that he is into philanthropy he has created a think tank where innovative ideas can percolate.  He takes questions from anyone and posts them on-line.  The one that most interested me was this one.

What helped you become a great entrepreneur?

"It's very valuable to have confidence that you can understand something, if you try hard enough. It's easy to get discouraged. Like when you start a business, there are all these financial questions to figure out, with a lot of special terminology. But if you have reasonable math skills, and you seek out the people who can explain these things, it's really not that complicated. You need to be willing to ask, "Hey, what do these things mean?" The real experts are the ones who can explain."

He has no qualms describing his dependance upon others to further his goals.

We are never left completely to our own devices without interacting with other human beings.  Those who's views tend toward the progressive understand that dependance or the appearance of dependance is not a stigma but a fact of life.  One that creates greater possibilities for a better society for all not just some.

Self reliance has nothing to do with dependance.  Self reliance has to do with following your instincts, intuitions and ideas but it doesn't relieve you of dependance when you implement those aspects.  Anything you decide to do correlates with some form of input from those around you.  The student depends upon the university and its teachers, the self taught depends upon those writers that spent time writing down their ideas.  Even Darwin with his research depended upon the sailors, captains and crew to deliver him safely so he could write his dissertation.

Self reliance can never be a goal only a beginning.

We are not alone in this world, we depend upon the farmers to deliver produce and meat to our markets.   We depend upon them to supply our daily fare.  If we can't eat we can't prosper.

Belief in self achievement or the illusion of such is one which needs examining.  Achievement yes, but was it really done by all by yourself with no external input?  Or did one or many in your sphere of influence advance your cause.   The good of the community is quite harmonious with the freedom of the individual to pursue his goal of "self reliance" and "self achievement".

Just yesterday after starting this piece i read an article in the New York Times that dealt with our interactions from a different perspective.  The journalist was reviewing a book that was optimistic about man kinds future and our ability to avoid apocalypse through innovation.  Not many optimistic books make the best seller list but its premise is exciting.

"The extraordinary promise of this event(trading) was that Adam potentially now had access to objects he did not know how to make or find; and so did Oz," Dr. Ridley writes. People traded goods, services and, most important, knowledge, creating a collective intelligence: "Ten individuals could know between them ten things, while each understanding one."

This is such a beautiful description...ten individuals knowing ten things between them, while each understanding one.

"That technological progress, though, was sporadic. Innovation would flourish in one trading hub for a while but then stagnate, sometimes because of external predators — roving pirates, invading barbarians — but more often because of internal parasites, as Dr. Ridley writes:

"Empires bought stability at the price of creating a parasitic court; monotheistic religions bought social cohesion at the expense of a parasitic priestly class; nationalism bought power at the expense of a parasitic military; socialism bought equality at the price of a parasitic bureaucracy; capitalism bought efficiency at the price of parasitic financiers."

We all have the instinct to help each other.  Setting goals is always a desirable trait but realizing that networking will help you reach them faster is not one to be overlooked.  We will move forward as a group, helping without realizing it at times.

So don't fear uncertainty, don't think you have to do it all on your own, go out and ask for help, it is not a disability but a real asset.

And finally i ran across this anonymous quote that really impacted me.  i hope it impacts you too.

"No one who works for a living should be poor."  Unknown

Doors

Every once in a while i don't have anything to write about until Wednesday arrives.  During the week subjects with various themes will cascade through my brain but get filed away for further thought.  Sometimes i write bits and store them thinking later they can be expanded.

Today is a bit day and here is a bit that i've left hanging from writing a children's book. It was the idea for the beginning of another section.

Turtle doors: 

Turtle's are land based creature's and water creature's.  The a-dot corns turtle guards the doors to both earth environs but especially to the Faerie realm.  Turtles are slow and plodding on land, but can rapidly accelerate under water dashing off in a hurry, especially if the faerie realm is in danger. 

The a-dot corns hadn't yet realized that they also had a stake at opening a turtle door.  They were so young and fresh, just starting out on their journey through Mr. Gafferty's life, that they had forgotten about the leaf that was curled around them when they fell into Mr. Gafferty's car trunk.

The a-dot corns are acorns that fall into Mr. Gafferty's car trunk while he is distracted one day in the grocery parking lot looking for his lost wallet.  Little does he know that for the next year these acorns will turn his world up side down when he carries them into his house in the grocery bag.  i have about half a book written but i put this aside to work on Irma and the Aliens which lately has also found a spot in the aside pile.  Putting both books aside represents my decision to keep my options open in the hopes that further inspiration will come crashing forth from my nimble brain.

Finding the bit above when i was searching through my ramblings reminded me that we all have doors that we open and close.  We can always tell ourselves that keeping our options open depends on what we have going on at the moment. Even irrational preservation of options, when all the evidence points to closing down can motivate us to continue a course of action that won't benefit us immediately.  Those doors we open and close may represent opportunity and loss so that preserving the ability to change our mind may actually work for or against us; costing us in terms of lost productivity, monetary gains, or personal relationships.

But what about the emotions when faced with the open door, closed door scenario?  Emotions are hard to deny.  If you truly have a great passion for something(a job, a skill, writing, music, a hobby, eating, buying things, reading, a past lover, a great friend or family member) it is almost impossible to close the door.  In fact even if you do your heart may tell you to open it up again.

We all struggle with life's conundrums.  Should we or shouldn't we?  And how quickly should we decide?  Will slamming the door mean we can move on or will it mean it will hover over us for the rest of our lives?

Sometimes our doors lead us to sinking ships we later find we should have kept afloat, but the decisions are ours and the doors are ours.  i wonder if people are more successful with "what-if" planning like checking the doors, or cracking them...or do those who pound the doors and slam the doors get more success but less satisfaction and happiness?

One study done at MIT by a Dr. Airely said that "Closing a door on an option is experienced as a loss, and people are willing to pay a price to avoid the emotion of loss."  Is it in our nature to not want to decide, to not experience the emotion of loss? 

Anything you have ever made an investment in, be it a club membership, a car, a house, a job, clothing, a relationship, or friendship says you have already put in the time here don't waste it. Giving it up is a sunk cost you can't recoup.  Most of us persist with "keeping the doors open" – in full knowledge that they may not have been maximizing their personal results, but it is keeping them happy. Maybe part of the journey should entail confusion and chasing between the doors.

What do you think?

Peace
it does not mean to be in a place
where there is no noise, trouble or
hard work, it means to be in the midst
of those things and still be calm in
your heart
(unknown)

National Security Strategy

Presidents in office tend to get blamed for all the ills of the nation.  They are expected to solve all of its problems and make the world a better place.

Bush experienced this during his eight years in office.  He was blamed for the biggest terrorist attack(911) on the nation for failing to heed untold warnings that planes would be used.  He was blamed for starting a war with a country that was not a threat to our national security(Iraq).  He was blamed for failing to mobilize rescue and security apparatus prior to Hurricane Katrina making landfall.  He was blamed for running up the deficit by keeping two wars off the books and he was blamed for the financial meltdown by continuing to believe that "free markets" would self regulate and greed wouldn't dominate.

He was blamed for a lot and the above is just a short list.

We all believe things happen for a reason and usually that reason is because someone screwed up.  If we are bombarded relentlessly with a litany of constant refrains;  Obama is a "Socialist," Obama is responsible for the financial meltdown, Obama is soft on terrorism, Obama is a Muslim, Obama is not born here, Obama will create death panels, Obama is not responding to the floods, Obama is not protecting us or Obama is responsible for the oil spill and on and on, some tend to believe that Obama screwed up.  Did he personally screw up?
No

Fear of something(be fearful of Obama he is all those things above) is a great anger inducing method to get the masses to toe the party line.  Hearing short bullet points over and over, regardless of their truth, gives those less informed some one to blame.   Everyone loves to blame someone else for the problems of the nation.

Every morning i get Red State along with other conservative e-mails in my in box, i also get progressive and liberal ones too. i like to stay informed and reading both sides tends to give one a better idea of where the truth is.  If you only read one side it is your fault for buying into a lot of the garbage that passes as truth out there.

For every piece you read or listen to ask yourself one very important question. 

Is it true and are you being manipulated?

On Red State this morning Bill S. wrote a piece about the Obama administration not having a strategy for combating the terrorist threat? 

Is that true?  No!

But the piece continued with a quote from Ann Colter saying Obama's only strategy was hoping their bombs don't work.  A nice bullet point, concise, short, easy to remember and embed in gullible minds.  "Hope their bombs don't work."  I'll bet there are loads of conservatives that believe those five words.  But is it true?

No.

"The National Security Strategy of the United States of America is a document prepared periodically by the executive branch of the government of the United States for Congress which outlines the major national security concerns of the United States and how the administration plans to deal with them." Wikipedia

Every President creates one and President Obama's continuing work on that strategy can be found at www.whitehouse.gov  while a forum that discusses the implications of these can be found at http://nationalstrategy.com/NationalStrategyForumReview/Winter2009Vol19No1USNSS2010/tabid/220/Default.aspx

You can read it if you care to really become informed or you can continue to fall for bullet points.

Our government functions relatively the same no matter who is president.  National Security is an on going process that strives to protect the nation but also realizes that it can't protect us from everything.  If we as a people were so adept at protecting ourselves there would be no crime at all.  Expecting the President to protect you from some crazy suicide bomber no matter what is a joke.

The likely hood that you will be killed by a terrorist bomb is minuscule.  The likely hood that you will be killed by a weather event or a car accident or even a bee sting is much higher and yet you accept those odds with no complaint. I don't see anyone demanding that the President protects you from those more likely events.  Demanding that any President, conservative or liberal, protects you from any and all instances of a possible shoe bomber or suicide bomber is unrealistic.

Today, our system worked as it should, the Times Square bomber was caught in 53 hours.  Our justice system is working just as it is supposed to and conservatives don't like it.  As of today the criminal justice system has convicted a grant total of Three Hundred and Ninety (390) people charged with terror-related activities from September 11, 2001 to March 18, 2010. The military commissions have convicted a grand total of three(3).

Anyone thinking Military Commissions have a better track record need to investigate.

Our systems are working.  Don't buy the bullet points, and don't let fear of this President allow you to buy into garbage.

A photographic moment in the life of the planet

Sunday, all over the world, photographers took their cameras out of their cases to simultaneously record a moment in history.

The New York Times, Lens Blog sent out an appeal last week to amateur and professional photographers, anyone with a camera, asking them to take a picture on May 2, 2010 as close to 15:00 UTC/GMT(Greenwich Mean Time) as they could get.  You could use what ever equipment was available including cell phones.

The idea was to capture an international mosaic of photographs that would stitch together that particular moment happening all over the world.  i had stumbled upon the challenge the day before and decided to participate by photographing Cane Bay beach. Time here was 11:00am.

Its not easy to take a picture at exactly 15:00 so the initiators of the exercise gave us a minute or two wiggle room on either side.  When i first reflected on the exercise i thought it sounded easy, just watch the time and shoot as close to 11:00am as i could.  The thought of thousands of people all doing the same thing all over the world was inspiring.  Who were they i thought and what would they photograph?  i didn't even know what i was going to photograph i just had to see what was happening when i arrived at the beach.

Little did i know, that not only would i be shooting pictures but i would also be interacting with people i had never met and wouldn't have had it not been for this exercise.  When i arrived at the beach i experimented by taking pictures of the view, the umbrella shades, signs, people etc. 

When Calvin and Hugh walked up to me and asked me to buy some of their tamarinds i knew i had my subject.  i watched them try to sell some to a group of men on the beach, but walk away unsuccessful. As the moment was getting closer i began talking to the men who turned out to be from Spain.  Calvin and Hugh had trudged on down the beach and i thought i had lost them.   

i explained to the men in my rudimentary Spanish what i was doing and they agreed to let me take their picture.  They got so enthusiastic that by the time Calvin and Hugh had come back up the beach they called them over to have a group pose and buy some tamarinds;  lucky for them the return visit turned out more lucrative.  i snapped away.

i have to say i completely enjoyed interacting with the men and boys and thought to myself how much joy and fun it had created for all of us.

i took my photos, went home and downloaded them only to realize my watch and clock on the camera weren't in sync.  i was devastated thinking i had blown the moment.  Luckily the time stamp on the photo i used was almost right on the money and i uploaded it to the Times site.  i have been anxiously waiting for the results ever since.

As of Sunday evening more than 10,000 photos had arrived at the blog site and been uploaded. The deadline for final uploading is this Friday so there are many more to come.  i have visited the site every day looking for more information. Monday i found this quote from the editors in relation to the global portrait they were trying to assemble.

 "So far, that portrait seems to be one of surprising tranquility."

Well, when i read that line i felt even more energized and committed to furthering the "peaceful" mantra instead of the "violent" mantra that dominates our communications.  It was Sunday when this little exercise took place and Sunday is a day of rest, but keep in mind "Tranquility" doesn't sell; it doesn't sell newspapers, tv ads, or radio spots, melee and chaos do and so they get top billing through out the week.  What is really happening out there is not the constant violence and mayhem we get bombarded with daily.  Yes, it happens, but not all over the world and not all the time.  What is happening is a lot more peaceful and the photo montage will elucidate this.

Humans are relatively peaceful and challenging your community's delusions about constant violence is your responsibility.  Just look around, how much violence is happening to you in your life as you read this.  Not much I'll bet.

Please understand that a sign of a closed world view is its refusal to risk falsification.The violence meme has got to be challenged.

The editors went on to say: "Another impulse discernible among the early submissions was domesticity. Rather than looking for broadly symbolic visual emblems, readers concentrated on showing their worlds(and maybe a few more cats, dogs, tulips and coffee cups than we hoped to see, if truth be told)."

We were only allowed to send in one photograph per person and  the complete mosaic won't be up until all the pictures are downloaded.  The editors intend to display all photos received as long as they are in compliance with the rules. According to the website an interactive gallery should be available soon.

You can go to the New York Times website, www.nytimes.com and search for "A Moment in Time" if you are interested in seeing photos from all over the world after they put them up.
Right now you can go to http://www.flickr.com/groups/1423809@N23/pool/ to see about 200 of
the thousands that were sent in.  These are a private individuals attempt to get some of them out there sooner as we are all anxious to see something.  When the project is complete they will have a map that you can click on for the view at that moment in time. i look forward to seeing the finished product and am thrilled that the photos turned out to be so "TRANQUIL"