There is a new online networking group that is for people interested in international development and the US Peace Corps. Check out - http://npca-social.ning.com/
Join in our effort to make a better world
Yes, we can! was the motto of the presidential campaign. We don't have to wait until 20 January to get started.
Check out the use of Youtube to support a health-related sales tax in New York state. The State Health Commissioner, Dr. David Raines, created a Youtube video to support a proposal by the Governor, David Patterson, to tax high sugared fruit juices and non-diet soft drinks. The New York times article describing the policy and the video, along with the video itself, is at: http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/30/selling-new-yorks-proposed-obesity-tax/ .
Please add this consideration to your house parties on December 13th and 14th!!!
As we come together all across the country, we need to reflect on ways of rebuilding our economy. It is possible in our globalized world today to help create jobs here that also creates jobs in developing countries.
Maximum attention should be given to reaching key decision makers for building the Peace Corps up to 16,000 volunteers by FY2011. Peace Corps administration has to change to allow American citizens to actively support volunteers serving abroad to create opportunities to create jobs in health care, education, and overall community development.
Doubling the size of Peace Corps is possible and must be prioritized. Several thousand new PCVs could be sent to Cuba when the American boycott of Cuba is finally lifted (discussion point). The strategy of the Obama Administation towards bringing back a more human face on American foreign policy is vital.
Sign the MorePeaceCorps campaign http://www.petitiononline.com/morepc/petition.html
Thank you for being a part of this movement! There are many important causes out there but we thank you for devoting your time to MorePeaceCorps. Please direct any questions to me or my colleague, Jonathan Pearson (Micronesia 87-89), Advocacy Coordinator for the NPCA. Email: jonathan@rpcv.org.
The campaign to ban these terrible weapons is making progress. This week, as half the world's nations gathered in Norway to sign a treaty banning cluster bombs, here in the United States the Obama transition team announced that the new president will "carefully review the new treaty" when he takes office.
The Obama team's statement is a welcome departure from the position of the Bush administration. The Bush administration refused to send a representative to the treaty negotiations and actively lobbied other countries not to support the treaty. This week Bush's spokesperson couldn't even answer a question from veteran journalist Helen Thomas about why the White House opposes the pact. Now that President-Elect Barack Obama has said he will review the treaty,
A U.S. Campaign to Ban Landmines and Cluster Bombs will build support for the U.S. signing the cluster bomb treaty by mobilizing people around the country, lobbying here in Washington, and meeting with key members of the new administration.
The campaign needs your help to expand the movement to stop the use of these weapons. Get involved by writing your Congressional Representative or the President Elect
The MorePeaceCorps campaign has asked for help. If you can contribute anything from the list below, please contact Mr. Feith....
I have an important, time-sensitive request to make. A short video about the Peace Corps is going to debut on a NY television station this winter. Colin Felth (copied here) and his team at "Going Green Globally" are editing the film now and they need some pictures urgently which I find I do not have. If you can send or help collect pictures through your networks and organizations, please email them to Colin Felth at cdfelth@gmail.com. You can copy me and Molly Levine, PR Director for Peace Corps NYRO
1) Pictures of PCVs in eastern Europe!
2) Pictures of volunteers teaching children
3) pictures that demonstrate the ethnic and racial diversity of PCVs in the field
4) pictures that illustrate the use of modern technology in the Peace Corps
5) pictures of PCVs at work (action shots)
I'd love to stockpile these images for our MorePeaceCorps e-newsletters as well. Captions are not essential, but it would help to know what country and the years. The higher quality the image, the better. If there is any other information you require, you can email me or Colin directly.
**Deadline: Tuesday, December 9, 5 PM**
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.
Have you seen the emails from MY Barrack Obama group members over the last 2 days not wishing to let the movement slip away now that the election has been won.
Take a look at the petition on the attached link to see whether you would be willing to add your name to the list….
this morning after calling all my conservative leaning relatives urging them to get out to vote tomorrow, I opened a magazine to read.
The Foreign Policy Magazine provided what I was searching for – experts providing input about identifying the next cabinet. While I generally like Leslie Gelb’s selections out of the numerous experts that provided replies, it is the hundreds of lower level policy makers that will implement the visions of the President and the respective Secretaries that most concern me.
Secretary of State - Richard Holbrooke ; Secretary of Defense - Robert Gates ; Secretary of the Treasury - Roger Altman; Director of National Intelligence - Jamie Gorelick; National Security Advisor - Dennis Ross; Ambassador to the United Nations - Susan Rice They have to be selected rapidly and get in place as soon as possible after 20 January to ensure that the first 100 days of the next administration start churning out course changes that brings hope and stability to America and the world. It would be great to hear from the President-elect as soon as possible after the results are confirmed to inform the American public (and the world as a whole) criteria that will be going into making the selections:
I was very pleased to see the almost 30 minute discussions by candidate Obama tonight. It is important to show leadership and motivate the American people. He came across as a truly Presidential figure.
But when I read the stories about the cost, heard the media analysis and watched John McCain on Larry King for free, my thoughts turned to how long and how much has been spent on this election. I’m already convinced Barrack Obama is the right choice for America to become our next President. I think the money would have been better spent giving it to the American Red Cross!!!!
I believe part of campaign finance reform that is so badly needed in the US, time limits on the campaign, AND limits on the amounts spent, AND getting major media to provide 15 or 30 minute slots to all qualified candidates at no cost are types of changes that are required.
World Food Day is coming up soon. It may be timely for Americans to take a moment to reflect upon our hard times, and think about how fortunate we are in America in comparisons with many others places on this earth.
There is certainly a slowdown here and in other developed nations, which are hurting our citizens. It is a time for change which everyone agrees is necessary after the last 8 years.
Can we take a few minutes to reflect on those spots on this planet where poverty and hunger are an everyday fact of life. How many places are in need of markets that have never been developed? Is it possible to focus attention on building both our markets and new marketplaces at the same time? Is it possible to create jobs here that will also create jobs in developing countries at the same time?
America has not shown the leadership required necessary to help the world’s most poor and dispossessed rise above their poverty. Our foreign policy has been too militaristic. We are spending altogether TOO MUCH on our common defense, or perhaps not getting the best value from the expenditures we are making.
Joseph Sisco (former chairman of the American Academy of Diplomacy and career US diplomat) was quoted as saying, "The United Nations has been sanctified and buried more times than any institution in history. Somehow we Americans seem to have an affinity for characterizing problems as crises. At the same time we tend to expect each problem and crisis to be resolved by some single convulsive act -- a summit meeting, some kind of a showdown with a yes or no, fish or cut bait answer. We tend to expect the UN to usher in perpetual peace or collapse to the ground." The American Academy of Diplomacy website has lots of good recent articles worth perusal.
The Obama Small Business Plan has lots of room to encourage entrepreneurs to create jobs:
- Lower Health Care Costs and Ease the Health Care Burden –
- Expand Opportunity for Small Businesses –
There's still one week left to collect signatures following up on the Nationwide Campus Day of Action which was held on October 14! I am writing to ask all members of groups that this blog is being sent to request members of your group, your friends, and your family to sign and return this lette to the More Peace Corps campaign (downloaded by clicking below:)
( http://www.morepeacecorps.org/images/uploads/kletter.pdf
Letters are starting to pour into the More Peace Corps campaign headquarters which will be delivered in bulk to the TRANSITION Team of the next President (hint initials BO) and leaders of the respective House and Senate committees that deal with foreign affairs and related topics.
Your input for changing American foregin policy is important, so take a few minutes to review the More Peace Corps website ( http://www.morepeacecorps.org ) and lend a helping hand.
While I was riding on the Washington Metro today, I came across an article in the Express reporting that Wachovia paid 'preferred dividends' totalling $23.69 billion US dollars for the period ending 30 September.
Is Wells Fargo getting any of the bailout money? If so, they probably need to be recovering a giant chunk change from executives that might have been making a bundle on sub-prime deals. This money once recovered could go towards helping home-owners who are in trouble now!!!
I am urging our elected officials responsible for the bailout to look into this issue to determine whether action corrective needs to be taken
Thousands of former Peace Corps Volunteers could testify about America’s need for a bigger and bolder Peace Corps. The front page article on Thursday by Joshua Partlow provides a few good reasons [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/22/AR2008102203710.html ] that Presidential Candidates need to be aware of and take immediate action in the next administration to CHANGE the way things are currently being done.. I'm sure Mr Obama can lead that change.
Clearly the Bush Administration has reached down to Peace Corps trying to influence American foreign policy in ways that are harmful to citizens in the world today. The recent withdrawal of more than 100 Peace Corps Volunteers from Bolivia is a case in point. What’s important is to note that there were many of the courageous Volunteers who have gone back on their won.
Of course, my stance is that people all over the world need American know-how and entrepreneurial spirit and understanding to be able to MAKE THEIR OWN LIVING. A BIGGER AND BOLDER Peace Corps that was not emcumbered by the ill-informed policies of the Bush Administration is absolutely vital to rebuilding America’s image abroad.
The Obama Small Business Plan has some very interesting parts:
Helping Americans to understand how we can Compete in today’s GLOBAL marketplace is something that really needs to be better thought out. If American small business begins to become a big player in assisting developing countries to build new marketplace opportunities, Americans can be better off creating jobs both here and abroad. Small Business partnerships with people in developing countries can assist in a big way with international development, poverty reduction and more positive accomplishments in support of the Millenium Development Goals by 2015.
The Obama Administration must CHANGE how our government foreign affairs are conducted. Our State Department must lead diplomacy, but there must be more involvement of other US government organizations (especially the Peace Corps) and PRIVATE SECTOR INITIATIVES focusing on achieving measurable gains at grassroots levels.
The Obama Administration can provide the leadership and motivate Americans.
The motto of Colonial Williamsburg is "that the future may learn from the past"
I remember coming of age in the late 1960s. I served my country during that era, and was convinced that our leaders have done us wrong. I remember American people taking to the streets to stop the war in SE Asia.
Now many years older, I have seen the American people in the streets protesting our war in the Middle East today. In both eras, Americans have answered the call to serve their country. Many of our young people, both then and now, have suffered to defend our country’s interests. The big gainers in both eras were the military-defense establishment that wasted so much of America’s budget.
The anti-Vietnam-era anti-war militancy wasn’t only the radical Weathermen; it was composed of American men and women from every segment of our society, and in its closing days included many veterans of that war. Lies, secrecy, and half-truths characterized Peace with Honor was an often-heard cry as America disengaged. But I know American veterans from that era who are still suffering the results of what they faced in SE Asia.
While I was studying abroad in Sweden in 1976-77, I met quite a number of Americans who had disserted from the military, mostly while on leave, and somehow ended up in Sweden. I was happy when an amnesty was granted that finally allowed them to return to their homes and families.
These days, I am meeting young American veterans who have been to Iraq and Afghanistan, and paid dearly for listening to the call of their leaders who brought them into war without really understanding what we were doing.
The McCain campaign appears to have confused differing definitions of the word ‘radical’. Many of us were radicals during the Vietnam era because we wanted a departure from what was going on there. We wanted change to end the war. Most of us did not advocate extreme measures to end the war.
I know America just can’t take 4 more years of the same stupidity that surrounds our foreign wars today. Urge everyone to go to the polls and elect Obama.
