YES, I can...

2012 is a gift I welcome and am grateful for. Yes, I can enoy another twelve months of life; yes, I am well and confident, ever better, ever stronger; yes, I will speak up for all those everywhere who also need a chance, need support, need protection, need encouragement.
There is no turning back, no relinquishing what has been achieved, no doubt, no despair.
There is only hope and thought and love and ongoing life.

And with that, we can ensure freedom and rights for all everywhere...
the right to think, speak, love, and to be cured of illness.

Celebrate !

Merrry Christmas, everyone, and don't forget to celebrate your life and the life of all those dear to you. Rejoice in love and smile with that joy.
Let us ALL do what we can to ensure that all those in our world teetering on the edge of life are able to continue to live, let us help the sick and the needy, let us bring smiles where there are frowns, let us constantly think about how wonderful it is to be alive.
With that, Christmas and the New Year can be a gift for everyone.

So, giddy-up, giddy-up, giddy-up, let's go ... life is a wonderland.

The Statue of Liberty

In the "debate" on immigration currently raging in the USA (and which is much more a populist diatribe to coddle the fearful and get their uninformed votes, especially in "Republican" circles), I would simply like to remind us all of Lady Liberty's position on that issue, as engraved on a bronze tablet there:

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

[Emma Lazarus: The New Colossus, 1903]

Do you want to close the golden door? Where does YOUR family originate from? Only North American Indians can claim "non-immigrant" status, so wake up everybody. The rest of us nearly successfully wiped out all the "natives". This is ONE world, people. Let it be one with liberty and justice for ALL!

Do Something to Help

Government is NOT your enemy; your enemy are those trying to convince you that "the market" will solve everything. Deregulation of the markets (banking, finance, insurance, hedgefunds, etc.) is precisely what has led to the financial crises around the world today. Financial institutions must be regulated and FORCED to do what they refuse to do on their own: care for the welfare of their employess and the country as a whole. Only watching "return" to stockholders is a rip-off for the average citizen who sees those companies use the country as a base without bearing any responsibility.
Fair taxation: higher for the rich and for high-profit business, lower for the less well-off
Solidarity: health insurance for everyone to cover all healthcare costs
Good government: for the interests of the people as a whole, not for a select few with more lobbyists
Control: of the markets, not of your government

ENACT THE PRESIDENT'S JOB PLAN! There should be even more done for the average citizen, but at least this is a plan that even the Republicans should be able to support despite the anarchists in their ranks!

Wherever I May Be, You May Be, Anyone May Be ....

... August 13, 2011, is a date none of us should ever forget. Fifty years ago this horror was erected; its destruction was necessary for me to find the love of my life and for millions to enjoy release from repression and acquisition of basic human rights.
Take a moment to look at this incredible collection of images of the Wall, 99+1, horrifying. Never forget that day of infamy, that Wall of cruelty, the privilege of living free!

Obama for President 2012

I'm so glad he's already announced his candidacy for reelection. Such a good president accomplishing so much positive CHANGE needs more time to complete the task. Don't let the reactionaries, the fearmongers, and big business interests have a chance to stop him: Speak out to reelect Obama now and tell everyone you know to do likewise!

We only have ONE world; let's work to make it steadily better for the PEOPLE who inhabit it.

Where Do You Think You Can Move to ?

How high above sea-level do you live? how far from the coast? how open out on the plains?
How much sun can you endure? rain? wind? hurricanes?
How big is your bunker? how secure? how well equipped?
How much time do you think is left? enough till your demise? your siblings'? the next generation's?
How much of a luxury do you still consider solidarity to be?

Or are we ALL in this together, on one planet with its limited resources, which will not grow, but to which we must adapt, if we care to survive. Roaches will certainly adapt, but will humans? The former cannot think, the latter can, but will they?

DO NOT LET COP15 FAIL!

Le Figaro:

Ultime effort pour un accord à l'arraché

À défaut de nouveau traité, un compromis politique pourrait servir de socle à la poursuite des travaux.
«Le train a failli dérailler», déclarait un délégué. «Tenez-vous bien et attention à la fermeture des portières, la voiture repart», lançait de son côté Yvo de Boer, le chef de file de l'ONU pour le climat… Jeudi les participants à la conférence de Copenhague filaient volontiers la métaphore, soulagés de voir que le processus de négociation n'était pas mort. Pour autant, le pessimisme qui avait gangrené le Bella Center la veille était loin d'avoir disparu.

The Guardian:

Leaked UN report shows cuts offered at Copenhagen would lead to 3C rise

UN secretariat initial draft shows gap of up to 4.2 gigatonnes of CO2 between present pledges and cuts required to limit rise to 2C.
A rise of 3C would mean up to 170 million more people suffering severe coastal floods and 550 million more at risk of hunger, according to the Stern economic review of climate change for the UK government – as well as leaving up to 50% of species facing extinction. Even a rise of 2C would lead to a sharp decline in tropical crop yields, more flooding and droughts.

Le Monde:

A Copenhague, des petits pas qui risquent de ne pas suffire

La journée de mercredi avait fini sur une note d'espoir, à la conférence mondiale sur le climat de Copenhague. La matinée de jeudi a paru en revanche mal engagée, jusqu'à ce que les pays en développement et les Danois, qui président aux discussions en tant que pays hôte, se mettent d'accord pour que deux textes restent en négociation : celui fixant des ambitions générales pour l'ensemble des pays de la planète, mais aussi celui prolongeant le protocole de Kyoto, qui fixe des objectifs contraignants de réduction des gaz à effet de serre aux pays développés.

La Reppublica:

Clima, pronta una bozza di accordoOggi l'incontro fra Obama e Jiabao

"Clima positivo" e tante ore di lavoro notturno per cercare con tenacia un accordo sulle misure da prendere per frenare il riscaldamento del pianeta. Negoziati ad oltranza a Copenaghen dove il vertice dell'Onu sul clima è arrivato veramente in dirittura d'arrivo con l'arrivo dei leader. In attesa dell'entrata in scena di Barack Obama, prevista per questa mattina, i capi di Stato e di governo si sono rimboccati le maniche e hanno iniziato a negoziare sul serio, anche attraverso una girandola di colloqui bilaterali che arriveranno al culmine oggi con gli incontri che il presidente americano avrà - qui a Copenaghen - con il premier cinese Wen Jiabao, con il presidente russo Dmitri Medvedev e brasiliano Ignacio Lula da Silva.

The Washington Post:

U.S. pledges aid, urges developing nations to cut emissions

Yet most analysts have diminished expectations for the document that leaders may ultimately sign Friday. Rather than a formal new treaty, most are expecting a political agreement that would form the basis for a broader, more detailed accord perhaps by mid-2010.
The current emissions cuts that would be incorporated as part of any future pact have come under fire as too weak to curb dangerous global warming. An internal U.N. analysis that surfaced Thursday afternoon predicted that even under the most ambitious targets countries have pledged, future global temperature rise is likely to exceed 5.4 degrees Fahrenheit.

Perhaps it would be a good idea to do something before it is too late. If all people and all nations cannot manage to work together on this, then each individual can forget about trying to protect himself alone!