World Peace
If Women Ran the World. . .
A Whole Different Kind of Regime Change!
By Mitchell Axelrod
I have a simple solution that will eliminate the threat
of weapons of mass destruction and end all need for
war. It's a sure-fire way to step back from the brink
and save everyone from untold pain and suffering.
It's a regime change all right, a whole different kind
of regime change that would really rock the world.
We can avoid war, make the planet safer and our
lives more peaceful. Here's how:
AT 11:59PM TONIGHT, EVERY MAN IN POWER IN
EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD STEPS DOWN.
AT MIDNIGHT TONIGHT, WE TURN OVER CONTROL,
POWER, and AUTHORITY OF THE PLANET TO WOMEN.
If women ran the world, here's what could happen,
starting tomorrow:
The leadership model would be one of serving, not
dominating.
We wouldn't be living in a perpetual state of fear and
high alert, and machine gun toting police would not be
standing at the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel.
War as a pre-emptive method of conflict resolution
would not be a model we teach our children.
The words, "compassionate conservatism" would have
a ring of truth to them.
No human life would ever again be called,
"collateral damage."
Peace, love and understanding, not power, perks and
politics would be the highest considerations.
There would be more points of view than,
"You're either with us, or you're against us."
Within weeks, every starving child on the planet
would have food to eat.
Within months, the homeless would have some
kind of shelter.
Every sick person would get medical attention,
whether they could afford it or not.
Homicide bombing would stop. Mothers don't send
their children to commit suicide and kill others for
someone else's fanatical beliefs.
There would be an end to honor killing, and all forms
of torture; physical, mental and emotional.
Iraqi women would locate, disclose and help round up
for elimination all weapons of mass destruction. Leaders
of North Korea, Pakistan, India, Russia, China, France,
Germany, Great Britain, Israel, the United States and
every other nuclear nation would follow. They would
begin to shut down all nuclear weapons programs.
Israelis and Palestinians would live in peace.
Anthrax, sarin gas, and other biological and chemical
killers would not show up in our mailboxes.
Genocide everywhere would end.
Billions of dollars earmarked for military attack on Iraq
would be channeled into food, shelter, health care and
education for the Iraqi people.
Billions of dollars of retirement plans would be intact,
and billions more would still be in company coffers
instead of the pockets and personal bank accounts of
fat cat male execs.
Tens of billion dollars of unpaid taxes would be injected
back into the economy from companies that incorporate
offshore to avoid paying corporate taxes.
Classrooms would take priority over boardrooms.
Little League would be as important as the Big League.
Elections wouldn't be a contest of affluence. Third and
fourth parties would emerge to reflect the political views
of a broader and more diverse population.
Troops would be coming home this week.
Our leader would know how to pronounce the word,
"N-U-C-L-E-A-R!
We would divert hundreds of billions of dollars from
destructive into constructive uses at home and abroad.
We would avoid the high cost of a war on Iraq. *
**************************************
*Estimated "High" Cost of War in Iraq (Figures from
the New York Times article, "The Price We Pay" at
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/15/opinion/15CHAR.html
then click the graphic for the estimates):
Military Deployment = $79 billion
Military Occupation = $105 billion (First 5 years only.)
Humanitarian Aid = $10 billion
Governance = $12 billion
Reconstruction/Recovery = $105 billion
Debt/Claims/Reparation = $361 billion
Aid To Allies = $10 billion
(Doesn't include quid pro quo deals)
HIGH Cost of War = $682 billion
Human Lives Lost = Priceless!
**************************************
I'm sure you can think of quite a few other ways that
life on the planet would be very different today if
countries were not being run by testosterone driven
"alpha" males, and the world were not so dominated
by primordial, power-seeking behavior.
Really, it's a simple solution that would cost almost
nothing as compared to what we face.
Mr. Bush says that regime change is the only choice
for a free Iraq. I don't agree with him on much, but
on that I'm in complete alignment. Let's expand it to:
EVERY COUNTRY ON THE PLANET!
LET'S HAVE REGIME CHANGE EVERYWHERE.
LET'S DO IT TONIGHT!
Mr. Bush, set regime change in motion. Instead of giving
the order to attack Iraq, turn over the reigns of power to
Laura tonight at midnight. Mrs. Bush is trustworthy
as interim president until we can have a full election.
Simultaneously, at midnight tonight every male leader of
every country in the world steps aside, and turns over
power, leadership and control to women.
Their first act would be a 90-day non-violence pact, a
cooling down period. Every country has three months
to reorganize around "female" values and principles
of leadership. In a month or two, all the leaders would
come together in a world wide summit (sorry guys,
ladies only). Men can play an advisory role, but we
leave it to the women to decide policy.
C'mon, ladies. Don't you think it's time to express
and unleash your power?
Don't you think it's time for you to step forward and
get your hands on the steering wheel, before we run
this vehicle completely off the road?
For those who believe we need a New World order,
I say bring it on. Let the New World Order be:
"WOMEN RULE."
I understand how my male brethren may disagree, and
may not see eye to eye with this view. C'mon fellas,
we've had the reigns for thousands of years, and look at
where we are today. The ladies couldn't do any worse
than we have.
It's very clear we can't get it together without fighting,
wreaking havoc, creating massive "collateral damage"
and killing far too many innocent and irreplaceable
loved ones in the process.
What do you say, guys? Why don't we just step aside,
and let the ladies have at it for awhile?
Let's experience the next few years with women at the
helm. Heck, we may enjoy it. I know it's a big step to
give up authority and control to a maternal model of
power. But it's what we need to get planet Earth back
on even keel.
Look at the bright side: it can open up a whole new
world of possibility for us to spend our time in other,
more enjoyable, less stressful activities. Maybe we can
return to the real purpose of life: making love, not war.
Mr. Bush, show real leadership. Let Laura take over.
C'mon Saddam. Let Mrs. Saddam handle the weapons
of mass destruction. She'll know what to do with them.
Let women take over at midnight tonight, and we'll all
wake up tomorrow morning with a different feeling in
the pit of the stomach.
Yes, regime change does seem in order.
Ladies, you have my vote.
There's still time. . .
Your brother,
Mitch Axelrod
P.S. Do share this with others.
© 2003, Axelrod Learning
Email: mailto:mitch@axelrodlearning.com
*** This is a special edition of the ImagesOfOne.com Wealth & Happiness Newsletter. ***
The current world events (especially the proposed war on Iraq) have the potential to greatly
disrupt the peace, stability, economy and health of our entire planet in catastrophic ways that
the media and the politicians are not telling us.
However, we all have a part to play in this turning-point event that in one way or another will
affect us all.
Those who do not make a choice end up participating in the effects of choices they did not
make.
To the extent that you do not have a stand on a matter, you shall experience the results of the
crowd around you.
So the question is, what is your choice in this matter?
And before you make that choice, where did you get the information you are using to make your
choice?
Is it from those with a vested interest in manipulating you to join them, or is it an unbiased,
independent and complete source?
If it is from the mass media and only the mass media, then you are already taking in biased and
doctored news and analysis.
I felt that you might be interested in some senator's speeches that did not get that much
coverage in the mass media for the obvious reasons.
These are fantastic speeches loaded with reason.
Have a look, please, then make your choice :)
---------------------------------------------
Below are some important Iraq-related speeches and statistics.
Please forward these to your friends and acquaintances.
We all have a part to play in this turning-point event that in one way or another will affect
us all. We are One.
---------------------------------------------
Reckless Administration May Reap Disastrous Consequences
by US Senator Robert Byrd
Senate Floor Speech - Wednesday, February 12, 2003
To contemplate war is to think about the most horrible of human
experiences.
On this February day, as this nation stands at the brink of battle,
every American on some level must be contemplating the horrors of war.
Yet, this Chamber is, for the most part, silent -- ominously,
dreadfully silent. There is no debate, no discussion, no attempt to lay out for
the nation the pros and cons of this particular war. There is nothing.
We stand passively mute in the United States Senate, paralyzed by our
own uncertainty, seemingly stunned by the sheer turmoil of events.
Only on the editorial pages of our newspapers is there much substantive
discussion of the prudence or imprudence of engaging in this particular
war. And this is no small conflagration we contemplate. This is no
simple attempt to defang a villain. No. This coming battle, if it
materializes, represents a turning point in U.S. foreign policy and possibly a
turning point in the recent history of the world.
This nation is about to embark upon the first test of a revolutionary
doctrine applied in an extraordinary way at an unfortunate time. The
doctrine of preemption -- the idea that the United States or any other
nation can legitimately attack a nation that is not imminently threatening
but may be threatening in the future -- is a radical new twist on the
traditional idea of self defense. It appears to be in contravention of
international law and the UN Charter. And it is being tested at a time
of world-wide terrorism, making many countries around the globe wonder
if they will soon be on our -- or some other nation's -- hit list.
High-level Administration figures recently refused to take nuclear weapons
off of the table when discussing a possible attack against Iraq. What
could be more destabilizing and unwise than this type of uncertainty,
particularly in a world where globalism has tied the vital economic and
security interests of many nations so closely together? There are huge
cracks emerging in our time-honored alliances, and U.S. intentions are
suddenly subject to damaging worldwide speculation. Anti-Americanism
based on mistrust, misinformation, suspicion, and alarming rhetoric from
U.S. leaders is fracturing the once solid alliance against global
terrorism which existed after September 11. Here at home, people are warned
of imminent terrorist attacks with little guidance as to when or where
such attacks might occur. Family members are being called to active
military duty, with no idea of the duration of their stay or what horrors
they may face. Communities are being left with less than adequate police
and fire protection. Other essential services are also short-staffed.
The mood of the nation is grim. The economy is stumbling. Fuel prices
are rising and may soon spike higher.
This Administration, now in power for a little over two years, must be
judged on its record. I believe that that record is dismal. In that
scant two years, this Administration has squandered a large projected
surplus of some $5.6 trillion over the next decade and taken us to
projected deficits as far as the eye can see. This Administration's domestic
policy has put many of our states in dire financial condition, under
funding scores of essential programs for our people. This Administration
has fostered policies which have slowed economic growth. This
Administration has ignored urgent matters such as the crisis in health care for
our elderly. This Administration has been slow to provide adequate
funding for homeland security. This Administration has been reluctant to
better protect our long and porous borders. In foreign policy, this
Administration has failed to find Osama bin Laden. In fact, just yesterday
we heard from him again marshaling his forces and urging them to kill.
This Administration has split traditional alliances, possibly
crippling, for all time, International order-keeping entities like the United
Nations and NATO. This Administration has called into question the
traditional worldwide perception of the United States as well-intentioned,
peacekeeper. This Administration has turned the patient art of diplomacy
into threats, labeling, and name calling of the sort that reflects
quite poorly on the intelligence and sensitivity of our leaders, and which
will have consequences for years to come.
Calling heads of state pygmies, labeling whole countries as evil,
denigrating powerful European allies as irrelevant -- these types of crude
insensitivities can do our great nation no good. We may have massive
military might, but we cannot fight a global war on terrorism alone. We
need the cooperation and friendship of our time-honored allies as well as
the newer found friends whom we can attract with our wealth. Our
awesome military machine will do us little good if we suffer another
devastating attack on our homeland which severely damages our economy. Our
military manpower is already stretched thin and we will need the augmenting
support of those nations who can supply troop strength, not just sign
letters cheering us on.
The war in Afghanistan has cost us $37 billion so far, yet there is
evidence that terrorism may already be starting to regain its hold in that
region. We have not found bin Laden, and unless we secure the peace in
Afghanistan, the dark dens of terrorism may yet again flourish in that
remote and devastated land. Pakistan as well is at risk of
destabilizing forces. This Administration has not finished the first war against
terrorism and yet it is eager to embark on another conflict with perils
much greater than those in Afghanistan. Is our attention span that
short? Have we not learned that after winning the war one must always
secure the peace?
And yet we hear little about the aftermath of war in Iraq. In the
absence of plans, speculation abroad is rife. Will we seize Iraq's oil
fields, becoming an occupying power which controls the price and supply of
that nation's oil for the foreseeable future? To whom do we propose to
hand the reigns of power after Saddam Hussein? Will our war inflame the
Muslim world resulting in devastating attacks on Israel? Will Israel
retaliate with its own nuclear arsenal? Will the Jordanian and Saudi
Arabian governments be toppled by radicals, bolstered by Iran which has
much closer ties to terrorism than Iraq?
Could a disruption of the world's oil supply lead to a world-wide
recession? Has our senselessly bellicose language and our callous disregard
of the interests and opinions of other nations increased the global
race to join the nuclear club and made proliferation an even more
lucrative practice for nations which need the income?
In only the space of two short years this reckless and arrogant
Administration has initiated policies which may reap disastrous consequences
for years. One can understand the anger and shock of any President after
the savage attacks of September 11. One can appreciate the frustration
of having only a shadow to chase and an amorphous, fleeting enemy on
which it is nearly impossible to exact retribution. But to turn one's
frustration and anger into the kind of extremely destabilizing and
dangerous foreign policy debacle that the world is currently witnessing is
inexcusable from any Administration charged with the awesome power and
responsibility of guiding the destiny of the greatest superpower on the
planet. Frankly many of the pronouncements made by this Administration
are outrageous. There is no other word.
Yet this chamber is hauntingly silent. On what is possibly the eve of
horrific infliction of death and destruction on the population of the
nation of Iraq -- a population, I might add, of which over 50% is under
age 15 -- this chamber is silent. On what is possibly only days before
we send thousands of our own citizens to face unimagined horrors of
chemical and biological warfare -- this chamber is silent. On the eve of
what could possibly be a vicious terrorist attack in retaliation for our
attack on Iraq, it is business as usual in the United States Senate.
We are truly "sleepwalking through history." In my heart of hearts I
pray that this great nation and its good and trusting citizens are not in
for a rudest of awakenings. To engage in war is always to pick a wild
card. And war must always be a last resort, not a first choice. I truly
must question the judgment of any President who can say that a massive
unprovoked military attack on a nation which is over 50% children is
"in the highest moral traditions of our country". This war is not
necessary at this time. Pressure appears to be having a good result in Iraq.
Our mistake was to put ourselves in a corner so quickly. Our challenge
is to now find a graceful way out of a box of our own making. Perhaps
there is still a way if we allow more time.
---------------------------------------
Number of precision-guided missiles and bombs that the United States
plans to launch per hour at Baghdad during the war's first 48 hours: 63
Number of days it is expected to take for Baghdad residents to become
"physically, emotionally, and psychologically exhausted": 2 to 5
Percentage of U.S. bombs and missiles dropped during the first Gulf War
that were precision-guided: 9
Percentage of U.S. bombs and missiles ready to be dropped during the
coming war that are precision-guided: 75
Number of U.S. satellite-guided bombs stockpiled in the Gulf region:
6700
Number of U.S. laser-guided bombs stockpiled in the Gulf region: 3000
Number of Americans killed during the first Gulf War: 148
Proportion of Americans killed by "friendly fire" during the first Gulf
War: 1 in 3
Number of Iraqis killed during the first Gulf War: 100,000
Number of Americans killed during the "Black Hawk Down" episode in
Mogadishu in 1993: 18
Number of Somalis killed during the "Black Hawk Down" episode in
Mogadishu in 1993: 500 to 1000
Number of Americans killed during the Vietnam War: 58,000
Number of Vietnamese killed during the Vietnam War: 5.1 million
Number of American soldiers poised for attack at the borders of Iraq:
100,000
Number of Iraqis and Americans who, doctors say, might die in the next
war: 48,000 to 260,000
Number of additional deaths expected from the civil war within Iraq
following an invasion: 20,000
Number of additional deaths expected from "post-war adverse health
effects": 200,000
Number of total deaths if nuclear weapons are used: 3,900,000
Percentage of Americans who believe that oil best explains why the U.S.
would use military force against Iraq: 22
Ranking of Iraq among countries with proven reserves of oil: 2
Number of barrels of oil in Iraq's proven reserves: 112,000,000,000
Year that Iraq nationalized all foreign oil holdings: 1972
Year that U.S. oil companies were prohibited from investing in, or
buying, Iraqi oil: 1991
Year that Dick Cheney, as head of oil field equipment manufacturer
Halliburton, called for the end to sanctions against Iraq: 2000
Number of U.S. Army soldiers ready to decontaminate corpses and send
them back home for burial: 700
Ranking of Iraq on the U.N. Human Development Index in 1990: 50th out
of 130 nations
Ranking of Iraq on the U.N. Human Development Index in 2000: 126th out
of 174 nations
Number of Iraqi children who have died as a direct result of sanctions,
according to UNICEF: 500,000
U.S. military spending, in billions of dollars per day: 1.08
Ratio of U.S. military spending to the combined military budgets of
Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan, and Syria: 26 to 1
Percentage of U.S. share of total global military spending in 1985: 31
Percentage of U.S. share of total global military spending in 2000: 36
Number of U.S. states used in 1998 for the staging of mock nuclear
attacks on North Korea: 2 (North Carolina and Florida)
Date that the Nuclear Posture Review (signed by Secretary of Defense
Donald H. Rumsfeld), describing contingency plans to use nuclear weapons
against China, Russia, Iraq, North Korea, Iran, Libya, and Syria, was
delivered to Congress: January 8, 2002
--------------------------------------------
U.S. Representative Dennis J. Kucinich
The Redwood Sequoia Congress
University of California
Berkeley, California
Saturday, September 14, 2002
A Second Renaissance
Last week I joined hundreds of members of Congress in solemn
commemoration of 911 and in solidarity with New Yorkers at Federal Hall in the
City. You can sense a special energy at this sacred shrine to democracy
where George Washington was sworn in, where a Congress of two centuries
ago received the Bill of Rights. As I stood there in a moment of
reflection I could envision that congress of long ago gathering as a galaxy
of stars cascaded from the sky through the circular opening above the
rotunda.
In my mind's eye, I could see a galaxy of stars representing universal
principles pouring into the venerable site, informing the pledge
Washington made to a new nation, freedom's holy light illuminating the Bill
of Rights. In that moment I had a new understanding that this flag, as
spangled with stars as a bolt of heaven itself, connects the United
States with eternal principles of unity, of brotherhood, of sisterhood.
The energy of the stars present at the birth of this nation is with us
still. It is upon that dark blue cloth of our flag. One bright star
shines for hope. Another star for optimism. Another for well-being. One
for freedom. One for abundance. One for creativity. One for togetherness.
One for peace. One star to wish upon to create your highest
aspirations, to make your dreams come true.
This, our country and our very selves are all made of stars as a
popular song goes. This is who we are. This is what gives higher meaning to
being an American. This is what gives higher meaning to patriotism. I
love our flag. Though some would make it stand for chaos and war, I see
the field of stars as standing for the highest expression of human
unity.
A higher meaning of the United States is that we express wholeness
through the unity of 50 states. "Out of many we are one." We present
ourselves to the world as an exemplification of the principle of oneness, of
the universality of all, of the confirmation of one in the many. The
World: "Out of many nations we are one." Universality! This is where we
come from.
The idea of America emerged from the intellectual energy, the heart
energy and the spirit energy of the Renaissance. The genesis in a journey
of "lovers marrying their fortunes together" bound for America, looking
for that lamp lifted beside the golden door of liberty.
The quest for universal principles of justice, of human rights, of
civil rights, of opportunity, of a meaningful future is what caused
millions to see America as the light of nations. These universal principles
are stars by which which those who came to our shores sailed. These are
stars which can guide us past the shoals of arms dealers and oil
interests who today would crash our ship of state upon the rocks of war.
America has a higher destiny. As with generations past, our destiny can
takes us to places we have never been, or can only imagine. Places of
peace. Places of plenty. Places of hope. Places of love. We have a right
to live our ideals. That is our birthright. We should not trade it for
the pretensions of empire. Nor for delusions of grandeur, nor for all
the gold in Fort Knox, all the tea in China or all the oil in Iraq.
America has a higher destiny
Today I want to speak to you about the America that can be. About
reestablishing the context of our nation. About remythologizing America.
About a Second Renaissance which can begin in this nation, with this
generation.
First let us travel to the place where civilization was born thousands
of years ago, upon the banks of the Tigris and the Euphrates. Let us
see if there, instead of dancing with death, and killing untold thousands
of innocent people, we can change directions, pull back from war with
Iraq, change the outcome, connect with our aspirations for peace and
reclaim our ingenuity and creativity in human relations.
Why is war with Iraq presented as inevitable? Isn't it time to insist
that our leaders suspend their incessant talk of preventive war, of
assumed right to unilateral action? Isn't it time for insistence upon
preventive diplomacy and our obligations to work with the world community on
matters of global security?
Why is this war presented as inevitable? The headlines from The New
York Times of September 12, 2002 read:
Bush to Warn UN: Act on Iraq or US Will;
He Leads Nation in Mourning at Terror Sites
There is no credible evidence linking Iraq with 911, with Al Qaeda or
with the anthrax attacks. There is no credible evidence that Iraq has
usable weapons of mass destruction, the ability to deliver those weapons
or the intention to do so. That Iraq possessed and used such weapons,
they did so, quite sad to say, with the knowledge of, and sometimes with
materials from, the United States.
During the Administration of Ronald Reagan, 60 helicopters were sold to
Iraq. Later reports said Iraq used US helicopters to spray Kurds with
chemical weapons. According to the Washington Post, Iraq used mustard
gas against Iran with the help of intelligence from the CIA. Intelligence
reports cited the use of nerve gas by Iraq against Iran.
Iraq's punishment? The US reestablished full diplomatic ties around
Thanksgiving of 1984.
Throughout 1989 and 1990, US companies, with the permission of the
first Bush government, sent to the government of Saddam Hussein tons of
mustard gas precursors, live cultures for bacteriological research, helped
to build a chemical weapons factory, supplied West Nile virus, supplied
fuel air explosive technology, computers for weapons technology,
hydrogen cyanide precursors, computers for weapons research and development
and vacuum pumps and bellows for nuclear weapons plants. "We have met
the enemy," said Walt Kelly's 'Pogo', "And he is us." US.
By the way, it's called the Department of Defense, not The Department
of Offense. Unilateral action on the part of the United States, or in
partnership with Great Britain, would for the first time set our nation
on the bloodstained path of aggressive war, a sacrilege upon the memory
of those who fought to defend this country. America's moral authority
would be undermined throughout the world. It would signal for Russia to
invade Georgia; China, Taiwan; North Korea, the South; India, Pakistan;
and destabilize the entire gulf and middle east region.
There is a way out.
We need a comprehensive solution to the crisis in Iraq.
It must involve the United Nations and can be facilitated by Russia
which just signed a $40 billion trade agreement with Iraq.
Inspections for weapons of mass destruction should begin immediately.
Inspectors must have free and unfettered access to all sites.
New negotiations must begin concerning the counterproductive policies
of regime change and sanctions.
Emergency relief should be expedited.
Free trade, except in arms, must be permitted.
Foreign investments must be allowed.
The assets of Iraq abroad must be restored.
A regional zone free of weapons of mass destruction should be
established.
If we can take a new direction in Iraq and the region we can begin a
new era of peace. We can refocus our efforts on the conflict between the
Palestinians and the Israelis. We can bring new initiatives to help
Pakistan and India resolve Kashmir.
The United States can repair its position in the world community,
through cooperation, not confrontation. We can change the world for the
better.
We can look to heaven itself for guidance. We can begin by banning any
research, planning, or deployment of weapons in outer space. Human
destiny has always been linked with the stars. How grim that America is
planning to put weapons in outerspace, to seize the ultimate high ground,
to attempt to gain strategic advantage over every nation on earth. We
must turn back from such arrogance. We must let the name of peace be
hallowed on earth as it is in the heavens with a Space Preservation
Treaty. We must direct our efforts toward solving conflicts on this planet
rather than spread war in perpetuity, throughout the universe in a plan
paradoxically called "Vision 2020."
I have a vision of nations work together, cooperatively, using what
President Roosevelt called the "science of human relationships." That is
the basis for the creation of a Department of Peace, which seeks to make
nonviolence an organizing principle in our society for domestic as well
as international policy. War is not inevitable unless we refuse to work
for peace, patiently and tirelessly.
I envision a new US leadership to end the threat of nuclear destruction
by realizing the promise of the Nonproliferation Treaty. Seventeen
nations possess, are pursuing or are capable of acquiring nuclear weapons.
Now is the time to provide incentives to stop the nuclear arms race, to
stop building nuclear weapons, and to stop testing. America should
restore the ABM treaty and begin again with Russia true arms reductions,
toward the day when all nuclear weapons are abolished.
America can lead those 26 nations which possess, pursue or are trying
to acquire chemical weapons of mass destruction to move toward
participation in the Chemical Weapons convention and agree to have such weapons
eliminated world wide.
America can lead the way toward the destruction of all biological
weapons of mass destruction by signing on to the Biological Weapons
Convention. Twenty nations have designs on such weapons. Let America lead the
way toward abolishing biological weapons.
We have much work to do to regain world leadership in ending the
proliferation of Small Arms by signing the Small Arms Treaty and to eliminate
the scourge of Landmines.
America can help to strengthen the cause of international justice by
agreeing to the International Criminal Court. Certainly a nation which
has an interest in bringing to justice those in violation of
international law should support an international court which would accomplish just
that.
Two weeks ago I represented the United States at the World Summit on
Sustainable Development. There, Congressman George Miller of California,
Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and I called for our nation to join with the
world community in solving the challenge of global climate change, and
work to reduce carbon emissions, greenhouse gases. America must lead
the way toward sustainability and renewable energies. As the first step,
I joined with Mayor Jerry Brown proposing an $50 billion solar
initiative in cooperation with Mikhail Gorbachev's Global Green.
It is the United States which can lead the way toward a global
community which is inclusive and sustainable, which promotes democratic values
and which enables the growth of the potential and the health of each
person by putting human rights, workers rights and environmental quality
principles into each and every trade agreement.
There is much to do on the world stage. But we cannot do it by creating
war when we ought to be working for peace. Iraq is not an imminent
threat. But an unemployment rate which approaches 6% is an imminent threat.
Forty one million Americans without health insurance is an imminent
threat. The high cost of prescription drugs, an imminent threat.
Unregulated energy companies which charge confiscatory rates for electricity and
gas are an imminent threat. Large corporations which lie about their
value and deprive stockholders of their life savings constitute an
imminent threat. Seniors losing their pensions. That's an imminent threat.
So too is the climate of fear which is being cycled in this country.
Each time a civil liberty is rolled back or undermined in America, a
little bit of our free nation dies.
Each government report which drums terror and fear weakens our nation.
When Francis Scott Key wrote "oh say does that Star Spangled Banner yet
wave, o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave," he made the
essential connection between democracy and courage.
Courage will guide our nation through this crisis. Courage will enable
us to set our government right. Courage will enable us to go to the
campuses, to labor halls, to church halls and to the streets to organize
against a war which will undermine our nation, ruin our reputation, kill
innocent people and damage the economy of our nation and the world.
We are at a critical and creative moment in human history where we have
it within our power to change the world. It is about evolutionary
politics which follows an evolutionary consciousness. We can do it be
changing the way we look at the world. By contemplating and realizing the
universal brotherhood and sisterhood of all persons. We can do it by
tapping our own unlimited potential to think anew. Imagine if we could look
our nation with the same daring with which our founders gazed.
Imagine if we could regain the capacity of spirit which animated
freedom of speech, the right to assemble, the right to vote, freedom from
fear, freedom from want.
I tell you there is another America out there. It is ready to be called
forward. It is the America of our dreams. It is the America of the flag
full of stars. It is the America which is in our hearts and we can make
it the heart of the world. Thank you.
-----------------------------
I hope you have found these speeches useful.
One more thing. . .
As things are mass-produced, they become more available and cheaper. Computers, cars, faxes,
drugs, and so on all become cheaper and more available the more they are produced.
That much is obvious...
So why is there a push to increase military spending?
The reason why anybody can buy an AK47 assault rifle for $15 in Afghanistan or a nuclear bomb
in the ex-Soviet states is that these weapons have been mass produced! The solution does not
lie in making more weapons! So why is the Bush administration already spending $1.08 billion a
day on the military, and planning on spending more? Doesn't make any sense, if peace is
actually their real objective.
And of course, violence begets violence, while love heals. The whole world spends about $1
million a minute on the military. If that money was diverted to ensuring food, clothing and
shelter for all people of the world, people would focus on enterprise and better life. That is
a far more viable way of getting peace than building more nukes.
Thank you very much and have a great day!
Regards,
David Cameron
ImagesOfOne.com
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Life after 911 is utterly different and new. The difficult thing to see
is that the same is true every morning, even every instant. My behavior
certainly changed, but it was a recommitment to an already chosen
radical path rather than retreating to "normalcy". But that story is too
long for now. Suffice it to say that I saw again what was important and
stuck to my previous choices when I had been wavering.
One so-called "change" for me was helping to build a digital monument to
those who died on September 11 at http://911-Remember.com where I joined
a group of volunteers to assemble a place on the web to honor the
victims of the attacks. We all responded to the simple request from the
daughter of a veteran New York Firefighter to build a memorial online.
For weeks now I've been hearing that people are struggling with the
importance of what they do for a living because whatever those jobs are,
they can't compare to firefighters, police and rescue workers. Soon it
will be that the average person can't compare what they do in value to
US Special Forces operatives or even Postal workers. After all, do we
risk our lives daily to help others?
One might argue that, in a sense, we all face that risk from terrorists.
The panic of terrorism that has gripped many of us shows readily who
might be a valued firefighter, resue worker, policeman. Those who get on
with the task at hand and face their life with resolve are like those
previously undervalued firefighters. Those who fear their mail and won't
cross major California bridges would not be worthwhile rescue workers.
Frightened police officers are a rare breed, so it is clear who the
heroes have always been.
The question to ask the rest of us is this, "Do we have the courage to
commit firmly to our choices and persue them with resolve?" That will
tell, in the end, if we value ourselves.
I keep having a fervent hope that we can do an equivalent or greater
amount of good with our small numbers as the suicide bombers have done
with their terror.
How can we leverage goodness with the equivalent impact on peace as
terrorists waged with their box cutters and evil intent? What
possibility for waging peace can we take to the world by turning all the
resulting anger to love?
How can we, with such small means, change the world in one day by
seeking to heal and honor and assuage the wounds of the world with an
equivalent amount of such power applied to good?
I keep thinking that terror found a way to change the world with a
frenzy of well planned hate. What equivalent might have the opposite
effect and how do we find it? Let's create the antonym of terror by
having cells of peace at work across the world.
The opposite of terror is courage and bravery. Can we have the courage
to bring about world peace? How brave must we be to deny war and offer
love? What might I do today to make the world more beautiful in places
that know little beauty? What is the most powerful way to change the
world to a loving place in ways never imagined?
The best way to defeat terror is with its opposites, love and peace. How
to bring them with an equal amount of drama by doing something entirely
unexpected to stun the world with joy - that is my burning question.
Mike Banks Valentine
I highly recommend the following web site for everyone.
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin
"My country is the world and my religion is to do good."
-- Thomas Paine
Join me, along with Neale Donald Walsch, Marianne Williamson, James
Twyman, James Redfield and Doreen Virtue in this prayerful response to
the recent terrorist attacks on the US. We join with all the millions
around the world praying for peace, and for those who have been injured
or killed. Please send this out to as many people as you can so we can
keep our minds focused on peace.
Seven Days of Prayer
It took seven to create the world,
we now ask you to join us in spending
the next seven days recreating it.
A Letter from Neale Donald Walsch, Marianne Williamson, James
Twyman, James Redfield and Doreen Virtue - September 11, 2001
Dear friends around the world,
The events of this day cause every thinking person to stop their daily
lives, whatever is going on in them, and to ponder deeply the larger
questions of life. We search again for not only the meaning of life, but
the purpose of our individual and collective experience as we have
created it-and we look earnestly for ways in which we might recreate
ourselves anew as a human species, so that we will never treat each
other this way again.
The hour has come for us to demonstrate at the highest level our most
extraordinary thought about Who We Really Are.
There are two possible responses to what has occurred today. The first
comes from love, the second from fear.
If we come from fear we may panic and do things-as individuals and as
nations-that could only cause further damage. If we come from love we
will find refuge and strength, even as we provide it to others.
This is the moment of your ministry. This is the time of teaching. What
you teach at this time, through your every word and action right now,
will remain as indelible lessons in the hearts and minds of those whose
lives you touch, both now, and for years to come.
We will set the course for tomorrow, today. At this hour. In this
moment.
Let us seek not to pinpoint blame, but to pinpoint cause.
Unless we take this time to look at the cause of our experience, we will
never remove ourselves from the experiences it creates. Instead, we will
forever live in fear of retribution from those within the human family
who feel aggrieved, and, likewise, seek retribution from them.
To us the reasons are clear. We have not learned the most basic human
lessons. We have not remembered the most basic human truths. We have
not understood the most basic spiritual wisdom. In short, we have not
been listening to God, and because we have not, we watch ourselves do
ungodly things.
The message we hear from all sources of truth is clear: We are all one.
That is a message the human race has largely ignored. Forgetting this
truth is the only cause of hatred and war, and the way to remember is
simple: Love, this and every moment.
If we could love even those who have attacked us, and seek to understand
why they have done so, what then would be our response? Yet if we meet
negativity with negativity, rage with rage, attack with attack, what
then will be the outcome?
These are the questions that are placed before the human race today.
They are questions that we have failed to answer for thousands of years.
Failure to answer them now could eliminate the need to answer them at
all.
If we want the beauty of the world that we have co-created to be
experienced by our children and our children's children, we will have to
become spiritual activists right here, right now, and cause that to
happen. We must choose to be at cause in the matter.
So, talk with God today. Ask God for help, for counsel and advice, for
insight and for strength and for inner peace and for deep wisdom. Ask
God on this day to show us how to show up in the world in a way that
will cause the world itself to change. And join all those people around
the world who are praying right now, adding your Light to the Light that
dispells all fear.
That is the challenge that is placed before every thinking person today.
Today the human soul asks the question: What can I do to preserve the
beauty and the wonder of our world and to eliminate the anger and
hatred-and the disparity that inevitably causes it - in that part of the
world which I touch?
Please seek to answer that question today, with all the magnificence
that is You.
What can you do TODAY...this very moment?
A central teaching in most spiritual traditions is: What you wish to
experience, provide for another.
Look to see, now, what it is you wish to experience-in your own life,
and in the world. Then see if there is another for whom you may be the
source of that.
If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another.
If you wish to know that you are safe, cause another to know that they
are safe.
If you wish to better understand seemingly incomprehensible things, help
another to better understand.
If you wish to heal your own sadness or anger, seek to heal the sadness
or anger of another.
Those others are waiting for you now. They are looking to you for
guidance, for help, for courage, for strength, for understanding, and
for assurance at this hour. Most of all, they are looking to you for
love.
We love you, and we send you our deepest thoughts of peace.
Neale, Marianne, James, James and Doreen
(Neale Donald Walsch, Marianne Williamson, James
Twyman, James Redfield and Doreen Virtue)
Think right Today
September 17, 2001
Welcome Back to Think Right Today by Mike Brescia.
You have one shot at today. Use it to learn, love and laugh!
Please FORWARD this on to everyone you can think of.
We're starting an epidemic of achievers and happy people!!
Think Right Today is an Opt-in letter. We respect your
privacy. If you received it, you subscribed, one of your
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----------------------------------------
((((((( TODAY'S EMPOWERING QUOTE )))))))
----------------------------------------
'(Crying) I need to try to be successful in business so I can
take care of 700 families. I put my home phone number on our
web site & I have women calling saying they don't know how
they'll pay the mortgage. They don't know what they're going to
do. I think the remaining staff is pulling together with the
view that we want to make things happen for them. We need to
find a way to take care of them. And I think it's going to be a
different kind of drive than I've ever had before. It's not
about my family. I can kiss my kids tonight. But other people
don't get to kiss their kids tonight. And I just have to help
them... There's only one reason to be in business, and that's
to help 700 families.'
-Howard Lutkin (CEO-Cantor Fitzgerald, NYC)
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((((((( TODAY'S EMPOWERING QUESTION )))))))
-------------------------------------------
'What is my mission and purpose in life? Why am I here?'
---------------------------------------
((((((( TODAY'S FAST SESSION )))))))
---------------------------------------
So many people go through their lives without discovering it.
Most don't really look for it. I'm talking about purpose.
Now don't get me wrong. I don't have any idea what 'the'
meaning of life is. But each of us has been given the
unbelievable gift of being able to define our own...
individually.
Howard Lutkin, whose 1,000 employee company was decimated by
the attack on the World Trade Center, lived with true purpose
before the attacks. He created a company where around 50
trillion dollars a year flowed through. Yes, I said trillion.
The wives of a few employees called him to say that, 'If their
husbands had to die, they're glad it was while they worked for
him, because they loved going to work every day. And they loved
working for him.'
As he said in today's quote, he now has a different kind of
drive. He loves his people. They're like his family. And he
feels a strong responsibility towards the families of his
fallen employees.
Like the fictional character George Bailey in the movie, 'It's
a Wonderful Life', Howard Lutkin inspires me to keep even more
firmly in my sight my purpose and mission in this life.
And I share his tragic loss with you so that you can get a
sense of what it's like to live for something much bigger than
yourself. Unfortunately for Howard, he may never get over the
feeling of responsibility he voiced over those tragic deaths.
But for you, before you take on a mission that is solely guilt
ridden, do what you have to do (and I'll try to help) to find
your purpose. Find something to spend your days or nights doing
that will make a difference to someone. Something you love to do.
You don't have to run a multi-national company. You don't need
to be the boss. If you're a teacher, for example, learn
everything you can about teaching so that kids learn. Find the
passion again. Whatever your profession is, look for reasons to
excel. Stop hiding. Take risks.
Make some dust in the world. Let other people know you've been
there. Stop worrying about what others think. Instead, make
them want to join you. Take a break from the daily TV routine.
Make some news yourself. Help someone... even if it's only with
their homework. And do it regularly. Missions aren't usually
accomplished in a couple hours a month.
Isn't the one shot you've got on this earth worth a little
more effort than the minimum required?
I'm hoping you'll say yes.
I get emails from all over the world with stories about how
the anxiety and depression people have suffered with for years
have reduced and literally evaporated when their lives took on
a greater meaning to them... when their focus changed from
their own problems (or perceived problems) to something bigger
than themselves. When their whole focus shifted from the inside
to the outside, everything changed... everything.
Look inside. Pay attention to your every thought. If you
notice yourself thinking 'Why me? ...Why them? ...This will
never work. ...I hate (some thing)' type thoughts all the time,
then you're problem focused. If so, I'll bet you any amount of
money that you experience a great deal of anxiety and fear in
your everyday life.
Our world is far from being perfect. Hoping for it to be is
completely fruitless. We can only accept what is and do our
best to live in it and, with the right amount of passion and
drive, to help make a positive difference to others.
Right now, the world needs a lot more people working to make
it more fun, safer, friendlier, more productive, cleaner, more
educated. Oh, yeah. I almost forgot...
We need a lot more love. Love makes all these things easy.
---------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S EMPOWERING BELIEFS TO HELP YOU CONTROL YOUR THOUGHTS
---------------------------------------------------
If you want to change your life fast, even though it might
seem like it's slow, then take the statements below, put
them on index cards and read them 3 times/day. Morning, noon
and just before you close your eyes at night.
They'll seep into your consciousness. And since you'll be
saying them so often, you'll soon begin to believe them.
That's how most beliefs start. Spaced repetition of thought.
Your attitudes will then positively change your emotions,
and you'll be compelled to do more... And you'll love it.
If you own the Think Right Now Suite for Windows, just paste
them into the appropriate file or make a new one - AND read
them three times per day. Think Right Now For Windows will
help put this re-scripting in automated overdrive.
------------------------------------------------
-- I can make a positive difference in the world and I am
-- Every little bit helps and I'm willing to give my little bit
-- I focus on the solutions to problems
-- I replace helplessness with the question, 'How can I help?'
I love you all!!! I'll see you soon!
Mike Brescia
P.S. Think Right Now for Windows owners, place the following
statement into 3 or 4 separate lines of each file you're
currently running. 'I love reading my written daily self-
instructions.' Also make it a permanent addition it to your
daily readings. This will direct you to pick up the habit of
reading your choice of 10-15 affirmations per day, and thus
speed your results by multiples. And that's what you want,
isn't it?
---------------------------------------
WHEN RESULTS THAT LAST ARE A MUST...
Try the Think Right Now Suite For Windows for up to 12
months with no risk, go to http://www.thinkrightnow.com
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To subscribe to Think Right Today!, go to
http://www.thinkrighttoday.com
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To create your own VICTORY LOG, go to
http://www.thinkrighttoday.com/2001/February/feb26-2001.htm
_____________________________________
Put your BEST effort into all you do. You'll feel better.
Do this every day, and soon you won't recognize your life.
_____________________________________
WILL YOU REACH ANY OF YOUR BIG GOALS?
Take our fast and accurate test at
http://www.thinkrightnow.com/test.htm
_____________________________________
SEND YOUR TESTIMONIALS, STORIES & SUGGESTIONS TO:
tr@thinkrightnow.com We can't use every one we get
for the newsletter, but your testimonials will definitely
end up on the web site!
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TO THINK RIGHT NOW/SUBLIMINAL POWER FOR WINDOWS OWNERS:
Whatever you're working on now, keep it down to 3-4 related
affirmation files. Add to those any or all Self Confidence
files and Stress Reduction. (6 to 8 files at one time).
Stick only with that category until your thoughts and results
are STRONGLY evident.
_____________________________________
Read 10-15 current category affirmations one to three times
per day. First thing in the morning and the last thing before
you fall asleep is best. Your results will come so fast, it
will boggle your mind. But better yet, they'll last.
