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PEACE Albert Hammond
- Give a little love Martin Luther
King Video Background EXCERPT I say to you today, my friends, that in spite
of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment I still have
a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. Free Hugs Video Background In this age of social disconnectivity and lack of human contact, the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became phenomenal. As this symbol of human hope spread accross the city, police and officials ordered the Free Hugs campaign BANNED. What we then witness is the true spirit of humanity come together in what can only be described as awe inspiring. In the Spirit of the free hugs campaign, PASS THIS TO A FRIEND and HUG A STRANGER! After all, If you can reach just one person... Music by Sick Puppies. (Visit http://sickpuppies.net
or http://myspace.com/sickpuppies
for the music) MUSIC TRIBUTE To Nobel Peace Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus 2006 http://www.muhammadyunus.org/index.php?option=com_content&task Stop the Clash of Civilizations Video Background Talk is rising of a 'clash of civilizations'.
But the problem isn't culture, it's politics - from 9/11 to Guantanamo,
Iraq to Iran. This clash is not inevitable, and we don't want
it.So where to start? The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the
key symbol of the rift between Islam & the West. It's time
to step up and take the initiative.Add your voice below and when
leaders meet in late March, our message will be delivered in a
way they can't ignore... Peace Train http://www.lucasgray.com/video/peacetrain.html WHAT ABOUT ME Video Background --------------------------------------------------------------- The Chaos Point: The World at the Crossroads This is a fabulous interview a 30minutes video
of Ervin Laszlo on Dutch TV with wonderful pictures http://www.nederland2.nl/uitzendinggemist/programma/alziend-oog/741
Alziend Oog Video Background Ervin Laszlo is the author or editor of sixty-nine
books translated into as many as nineteen languages, and has over
four hundred articles and research papers and six volumes of piano
recordings to his credit. He serves as editor of the monthly World
Futures: The Journal of General Evolution and of its associated
General Evolution Studies book series. Laszlo is generally recognized as the founder
of systems philosophy and general evolution theory, serving as
founder-director of the General Evolution Research Group and as
past president of the International Society for the Systems Sciences.
He is the recipient of the highest degree in philosophy and human
sciences from the Sorbonne, the University of Paris, as well as
of the coveted Artist Diploma of the Franz Liszt Academy of Budapest.
His numerous prizes and awards include four honorary doctorates.
His appointments have included research grants
at Yale and Princeton Universities, professorships for philosophy,
systems sciences, and future sciences at the Universities of Houston,
Portland State, and Indiana, as well as Northwestern University
and the State University of New York. His career has also included
guest professorships at various universities in Europe and the
Far East. In addition, Laszlo worked as program director for the
United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). In
1999 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Canadian International
Institute of Advanced Studies in Systems Research and Cybernetics.
Laszlo serves as president of the Club of Budapest and head of the General Evolution Research Group, which he founded. He is an advisor to the UNESCO Director General, ambassador of the International Delphic Council, member of both the International Academy of Science, World Academy of Arts and Science, and the International Academy of Philosophy. He is the former president of the International Society for Systems Sciences. ---------------------------------------------------------------
CLIMATE CHANGE Video Background U.K. Urged to Act Against Climate Change LONDON -- About 20,000 environmental activists
protested in central London Saturday, demanding the government
take urgent action against climate change. Some demonstrators slowly rode bicycles on prominent
streets to hinder traffic in the day of protests. The Stop Climate Chaos Coalition, which organized
the demonstrations, said the protests were timed to coincide with
the second meeting of Kyoto Protocol countries _ who have agreed
to cap greenhouse gas emissions and stave off global warming.
The meeting will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, Nov. 6-17. They also want Britain to help developing countries
fight climate change. On Monday, Prime Minister Tony Blair called
for decisive action on carbon emissions after a government-commissioned
report warned global warming will cause a drastic economic calamity
if it is not addressed urgently. ---------------------------------------------------------------
POVERTY Video Background The global war on terror is diverting
the world's attention from the central causes of instability,
reports the Worldwatch Institute in its annual State of the World
2005. Acts of terror and the dangerous reactions they provoke
are symptomatic of underlying sources of global insecurity, including
the perilous interplay among poverty, infectious disease, environmental
degradation, and rising competition over oil and other resources.
Compounded by the spread of deadly armaments,
these "problems without passports" create the conditions
in which political instability, warfare, and extremism thrive.
They could lead the world into a dangerous downward spiral in
which the basic fabric of nations is called into question, political
fault lines deepen, and radicalization grows. Tackling these challenges
demands a strategy that emphasizes prevention-focused programs
rather than military might, the report concludes. "Poverty, disease, and environmental
decline are the true axis of evil," says Worldwatch President
Christopher Flavin. "Unless these threats are recognized
and responded to, the world runs the risk of being blindsided
by the new forces of instability, just as the United States was
surprised by the terrorist attacks of September 11." In the State of the World 2005 foreword,
former Soviet Union President and Green Cross International chairman
Mikhail Gorbachev calls for a "Global Glasnost-openness,
transparency, and public dialogue..." and "a policy
of 'preventive engagement'...to meet the challenges of poverty,
disease, environmental degradation, and conflict in a sustainable
and nonviolent way." ---------------------------------------------------------------
ACTIONS FOR PEACE The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Shortcut to: EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN with Hilary Clinton Shortcut to:Poverty Clinton Global Initiative Video Background The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), a non-partisan
undertaking that is part of the William J. Clinton Foundation,
is a catalyst for action. CGI brings together a community of global leaders (CGI "members") to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges. Ongoing working groups focus on issues that include poverty, climate change, global health, and religious and ethnic conflicts. All CGI members-who come from diverse entities including business, non-governmental organizations, foundations, philanthropy, and government-are required to make a specific action commitment each year to help address one or more of these problems. Commitments can be made to any cause or organization of the member's choosing, and can any number of forms including financial contributions, an investment of time, or the application of special expertise. Over the past two years more than 500 commitments have been made by CGI members, totaling nearly $10 billion and benefiting the work of more than 1,000 organizations. 2007 Skoll World Forum - Jeff Skoll Opening
Speech Information on the
2004 Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship
Muhammad Yunus The Nobel Peace Prize for 2006 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBBemklV5vU
Nobel Peace Prize ANNOUNCEMENT The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to
award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2006, divided into two equal parts,
to Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank for their efforts
to create economic and social development from below. Lasting
peace can not be achieved unless large population groups find
ways in which to break out of poverty. Micro-credit is one such
means. Development from below also serves to advance democracy
and human rights. Muhammad Yunus has shown himself to be a leader
who has managed to translate visions into practical action for
the benefit of millions of people, not only in Bangladesh, but
also in many other countries. Loans to poor people without any
financial security had appeared to be an impossible idea. From
modest beginnings three decades ago, Yunus has, first and foremost
through Grameen Bank, developed micro-credit into an ever more
important instrument in the struggle against poverty. Grameen
Bank has been a source of ideas and models for the many institutions
in the field of micro-credit that have sprung up around the world.
Every single individual on earth has both the
potential and the right to live a decent life. Across cultures
and civilizations, Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even
the poorest of the poor can work to bring about their own development.
Micro-credit has proved to be an important
liberating force in societies where women in particular have to
struggle against repressive social and economic conditions. Economic
growth and political democracy can not achieve their full potential
unless the female half of humanity participates on an equal footing
with the male. Music Tribute http://www.muhammadyunus.org/index.php?option=com_content&task Muhammad
Yunus: Banker to the Poor (preview) Fazle Hasan Abed Video Background The adage "It is never the same after a
war," has proved to be utterly true in the life of Fazle
Hasan Abed, the Founder and Chairperson of BRAC, one of the largest
non-government development organisations in the world. Born in
1936 in Bangladesh, Abed was educated in Dhaka and Glasgow Universities.
The 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh had a profound effect on
Abed, then in his thirties, a professional accountant who was
holding a senior Corporate Executive's position at Shell Oil in
Chittagong. The war dramatically changed the direction of his
life. In the face of the brutality and agony of war, the comforts
and perks of a Corporate Executive's life ceased to have any attraction
for him. As the then East Pakistan was under virtual occupation,
Fazle Hasan Abed left his job and went to London to devote himself
to Bangladesh's War of Independence. There, Abed helped initiate
a campaign called Help Bangladesh to organise funds for the war
effort and raise awareness in the world about the genocide in
Bangladesh. The war over, Abed returned to the newly independent
Bangladesh to find the economy of his country in ruins. Millions
of refugees, who had sought shelter in India during the war, started
trekking back into the country. Their relief and rehabilitation
called for urgent efforts. Abed decided to initiate his own by
setting up BRAC (formerly Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee)
to rehabilitate returning refugees in a remote area in a northeastern
district of Bangladesh. This work led him and his organisation
BRAC into dealing with the long-term task of improving the living
conditions of the rural poor. This experience strengthened Abed's
belief that the poor cannot be expected to organise themselves
on their own because of economic insecurity, illiteracy and general
lack of confidence. The process of social mobilisation, he felt,
must be accompanied by measures to remove these handicaps. Hence,
his policy was directed to help the poor develop their capacity
to manage and control their own destiny. Thus Alleviation of Poverty
and Empowerment of the Poor emerged as BRAC's primary objectives. In a span of only three decades, BRAC grew to become the largest Non-Governmental Development Organisation (NGO) in the world in terms of the scale and diversity of its interventions. As BRAC grew, Abed ensured that it targeted the landless poor, particularly women in rural Bangladesh, a large percentage of whom live below the poverty line with no access to resources and to whom the fruits of conventional development do not even trickle down. Oded Grajew Video Background Oded is spearheading the corporate social responsibility (CSR) movement in Brazil as president of the Ethos Institute for Business Social Responsibility (Instituto ETHOS De Empresas E Responsabilidade Social), which he founded in 1998. He also is the founder of the annual World Social Forum, the citizen sector alternative to the World Economic Forum that meets in Davos, Switzerland. The WSF is attended by representatives of more than 100,000 organizations and social movements Green Children Video Background http://www.microcreditsummit.org/ The first Microcredit Summit, held February
2-4, 1997, gathered more than 2,900 people from 137 countries
in Washington, DC. They launched a nine-year campaign to reach
100 million of the world's poorest families, especially the women
of those families, with credit for self-employment and other financial
and business services by the year 2005. That goal was very nearly
reached and in November of 2006 the Campaign was re-launched to
2015 with two new goals: 1. Working to ensure that 175 million of the world's poorest families, especially the women of those families, are receiving credit for self-employment and other financial and business services by the end of 2015 2.Working to ensure that 100 million families
rise above the US$1 a day threshold adjusted for purchasing power
parity (PPP), between 1990 and 2015. Investment Video Background --------------------------------------------------------------- ALTERNATIVE TECHNOLOGIES Vinod Khosla Video Background The Constant Gardener At Kleiner Perkins, he nurtured seedlings that
grew into the Valley's mightiest oaks. Now, out on his own, Vinod
Khosla is tilling the startup fields again Khosla isn't the only VC in the Valley with
his sights set on alternative energy. The area has been trendy
for some time now, with fuel-cell startups, in particular, receiving
considerable investment interest. But Khosla's ideas, more than
most, seem to have caught fire with policymakers in Washington.
After he gave a talk about ethanol at the Clinton Global Initiative
conference in New York in September, Khosla was mobbed by politicians
including Al Gore and former Democratic Senate leader Tom Daschle.
And on a recent trip to the capital, he received a warm reception
from quarters ranging from the tree-hugging left to defense-minded
neoconservatives. On the surface, Khosla's interest in ethanol
might seem a bizarre tangent. Yet it fits snugly with his long-held
tendencies: Here you have an enormous problem, but one where miracles
of science may make the intractable tractable. And here you have
a putative revolution that could lead to a financial jackpot.
As Khosla sheepishly admitted to me, "I started on this from
the environmental angle, but hey, it's a great investing area.
As soon as you're talking about biotech, you can start a company,
no problem." CREATIVITY AND INSPIRATION The TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference is an annual event where leading thinkers and doers gather for inspiration. (More at TED.com) James Nachtwey Video Background Accepting his 2007 TED Prize, James Nachtwey
talks about his decades as a photojournalist. A slideshow of his
photos, beginning in 1981 in Northern Ireland, reveals two parallel
themes in his work. First, as he says: "The frontlines of
contemporary wars are right where people live." Street violence,
famine, disease: he has photographed all these modern WMDs. Second,
when a photo catches the world's attention, it can truly drive
action and change. In his TED wish, he asks for help gaining access
to a story that needs to be told, and developing a new, digital
way to show these photos to the world. (Recorded March 2007
in Monterey, CA. Duration: 23:41) E.O. Wilson Video Background As E.O. Wilson accepts his 2007 TED Prize, he makes a plea on behalf of his constituents, the insects and small creatures, to learn more about our biosphere. We know so little about nature, he says, that we're still discovering tiny organisms indispensable to life; and yet we're steadily, methodically, vigorously destroying nature. Wilson identifies five grave threats to biodiversity (a term he coined), and makes his TED wish: that we will work together on the Encyclopedia of Life, a web-based compendium of data from scientists and amateurs on every aspect of the biosphere. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 24:21) Bill Clinton Video Background Accepting his 2007 TED Prize, Bill Clinton says he's trying to build a better world to hand to his daughter. Unequal, unstable and unsustainable, our world must correct its course, and private citizens ("like me") can be powerful forces for change. His Clinton Foundation, fresh from its success negotiating down pharmaceutical prices in the developing world, is now running a pilot health care system in Rwanda, based on the work of Dr. Paul Farmer in Haiti. In 18 months, it has shown potential as a model for the entire developing world. Clinton's TED wish: Help him build this system in Rwanda, to bring world-class health care to a people who have overcome deadly hatred to rebuild their nation. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 25:52) --------------------------------------------------------------- Gratitude offers us the grace to open,
let go and be present ... To take the unexpected turn to find
a (k)new friend, to witness beauty and sacred~ness in all things!
In Gratitude, we are open to receive, and also this ... Video --------------------------------------------------------------- Global Consciousness Is The Force Real?
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