Showing posts with label Liberia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Liberia. Show all posts

Sunday, July 05, 2015

Climate Change, Terrorism, Poverty, World Government

English: Global climate change 2000-2009 and 1...
English: Global climate change 2000-2009 and 1950-1980/ Русский: Изменение средних температур за периоды 2000-2009 и 1950-1980. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Why is it not surprising that all of the global problems only have global solutions? Terrorism is a big problem, but compared to Climate Change, it is a small problem. Poverty is someone else' problem, except it is not. Disease is Ebola. You don't want that.

On Climate Change, there are points of no return. Nature does not hold back. It does not care. It does not care about intelligent life. Or unintelligent life. The threat is very real. The time pressure is very real.

Time for a genuine world government is not 50 years from now. It is today.

After gays, it is guns. That next big liberal goal, to move from insane gun proliferation to sane gun control. On gay marriage they were the party of stupid. On guns, they are the party of insane. That is on the domestic front. On the global front, a 90% reduction in the US defense budget over a 10 year period will just make it an exercise in reallocation of resources. It does not have to be painful economically.

Rule of law within nations, rule of law between nations.

Climate Change does not have any other solution.

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Making The Blues Go Away

Barack Obama, President of the United States o...Image via Wikipedia
Obama, Reshma

I touched upon some details in this blog post that can disconcert people. But there is a method to the madness. It is a political decision.

Reshma 2010 makes me wants to think of big issues like the mass rapes in Liberia. The Second Avenue subway line is too small an issue by my standards. I want to think about big issues. I want to think about global issues. I feel lucky to be in New York City. Global issues are local to New York City politics. I absolutely love that.

When  the democracy movement was ongoing in Burma a few years back, I made a point to read up on the gory details. The regime was killing people in the streets, taking the bodies away, and burning them. I was hungry for all details to do with that.

The issue I think about a lot as I volunteer for Reshma 2010 is that of the global trafficking of women.

Frankly talking about small, unpleasant details from my personal story helps me retain the political boldness to learn up on the gory details of the ugly realities out there that might have political solutions.

Making The Blues Go Away

But my personal pain is real. And I have decided to work extra hard to make it go away, to manage it.
  • Rigorous, regular physical exercise. This is so very important. (Freehand Exercise: 1,000 Push-Ups, 1,000 Squats, 1,000 Crunches)
  • I eat healthy as is. I should eat healthier. 
  • Rigorous socializing. Instead of spending all my time on the phone while in the office, I think I should spend some of my time just shooting the breeze, swapping stories, getting to know the staffers and interns. I have learned many of their names, but I have not gotten to know them well. That is not good. 
  • Rigorous blogging. Blogging is workout for the mind. 
The idea is not to make the memories go away, but to train yourself to the point the memories are still there, but they no longer bother you emotionally. The more ambitious thing to do is to turn it all into fuel. 

I have thought in terms of writing a very raw 1,000 page autobiography and publishing it online myself. I might do that at some point. 

By the time Obama 2008 was claiming the crown in May 2008, the Obama positivity was doing wonderful things for me personally already. I was looking at my 1989 from another angle. Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard. I never went to Harvard. That makes me one better in the out of the box thinking department. 

I have a feeling Reshma 2010 might take me to that state as well. If it does, it is going to feel like reclaiming lost ground.

The First Time I Heard The Obama Name
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Thursday, July 22, 2010

Domestic Violence Can Be Ended Like Polio Could Be Cured

LONDON - MAY 20:  Abortion Rights group promot...Image by Getty Images via @daylife
Pro choice progressive women in this town drive me nuts. They talk like their pro choice stand is the ceiling I have to bang my head against. The pro choice stand has to be a floor they stand on, they have to walk, jump and fly.

More women than men are graduating from colleges today. But the leadership structures in all sectors of society, in all the major institutions are still male and archaic.

Little expressions of attitude are relevant. Sexist jokes are weapons of attrition thrown at the self esteem of women.

Life experiences have to be shared experiences.

"Bill Clinton is a good husband to keep for 30 years because he does the dishes."
- Hillary Clinton


Obama Has No Business Kissing Maloney

The information age and the post-industrial society should make it more possible for people to strike better life-work balances.

"I can't think in front of a computer."
- Hillary Clinton


A new generation has to step in to kick the ball further down the road.

When the mass rapes were happening in Liberia I figured the women in this town, the pro choice women, might rise up in arms, but no, not a whisper.

The Anti Maloney Brigade

Barack Obama achieved JFK status as a candidate. He achieved FDR status after he passed health care reform. All other items like Wall Street reform and immigration reform keep him at the FDR level. If he wants to achieve Lincoln status, he is going to have to end the global trafficking of women the way Lincoln ended slavery.

Gender Talk: Coming At It From The Future
The Need For A Race Gender Coalition
Race, Gender
Elephant In The Room: Gender
Muscular Gender Agenda
The Spectrum On Gender
Gender: Progressive, Conservative Divides
Hillary Is Right About Sexism, Gender Bias
Race, Gender, Progressive, Conservative Divides
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