"Dr. Kamran Mofid is a visionary activist committed to the evolutionary transformation of social, ecological and spiritual values. His is a vision of a healing world, in which justice and peace are increased – rather than diminished – by the process of globalisation." -- Common Ground
http://www.cg.org/news_list.aspx
Alma and Clifford Pearson Distinguished Speakers Series
Location: Samuelson Chapel - California Lutheran University
"Kamran Mofid is founder of the Globalization for the Common Good Initiative and co-founder/editor of the Journal of Globalization for the Common Good. Born in Tehran, Iran, he received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from the University of Windsor, Ontario, and his doctorate in economics from the University of Birmingham, U.K. In 2001 he received a Certificate in Education in Pastoral Studies at Plater College, Oxford..." http://www.callutheran.edu/calendar/event/1787
To listen to the lecture please click here: http://www.callutheran.edu/CLV/
"Outside ideas of right doing And wrong doing, There is a field I’ll meet you there." -- Rumi
"The weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation. The answers to our problems don’t lie beyond our reach."
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
"We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before."
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/
THE CENTER FOR VISIONARY LEADERSHIP
Visionary leaders are the builders of a new dawn, working with imagination, insight, and boldness. They present a challenge that calls forth the best in people and brings them together around a shared sense of purpose. They work with the power of intentionality and alignment with a higher purpose. Their eyes are on the horizon, not just on the near at hand. They are social innovators and change agents, seeing the big picture and thinking strategically.
There is a profound interconnectedness between the leader and the whole, and true visionary leaders serve the good of the whole. They recognize that there is some truth on both sides of most polarized issues in our society today. They search for solutions that transcend the usual adversarial approaches and address the causal level of problems. They find a higher synthesis of the best of both sides of an issue and address the systemic root causes of problems to create real breakthroughs.
Setting a New Spiritual Tone
"Through their presence, the words they speak and what they do, every leader sets a tone for all within an organization or a nation. The reason people have supported Obama with such fervor is that they sense a new vibration, a new tone that he is resonating. America and the world knows this is needed. He sounds the note of unity within diversity, respect for all, honesty, plain speaking and fulfilling the highest we know we are capable of. After his election, a palpable shift took place throughout the U.S., as everyone recognizes that a new vibration, a new tone is being sounded for our nation and our people."
Source: http://www.visionarylead.org/articles/Obama.htm
Earth, Wind and Fire: "Keep Your Head to the Sky" Did they perform this song at the White House?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoUPdIdJBcI
Afghanistan joins war on terror review
"I am very, very thankful that President Obama has accepted my proposal of Afghanistan joining the strategic review of the war against terrorism in the United States," Mr Karzai said.
Kabul would send a delegation to Washington headed by Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta to take part in the reassessment, he said.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,25059965-12335,00.html
"In his seven years in office, Mr. Karzai has successfully presided over the transition of the Afghan state from the devastated, pre-modern institution it was under the Taliban to the deeply troubled but largely democratic one it is today. Perhaps most important for his future, Mr. Karzai has assembled a team of senior administrators whose competence and experience would be difficult for any challenger to match." New York Times, 2/7/09
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/world/asia/08karzai.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's Interview of 2/15/09 with Fareed Zakaria
Part I:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2009/02/15/gps.karzai.intv.pt.1.cnn?iref=videosearch
Part II:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2009/02/15/gps.karzai.intv.pt.2.cnn?iref=videosearch
Interveiw: Hamid Karzai, Aljazeera.net 2/14/09
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/02/2009213193946154689.html
"Hamid Karzai is fluent in English having gone to university in Simla, India where he received an M.A. in the International Relations and Political Science Program"
"Hamid Karzai is said to be fluent in five other languages (Pushtu, Dari, Urdu, French and Hindi) and is comfortable with the electronic media. While at university, the Soviets invaded his homeland."
"Hamid Karzai has an honor doctorate in literature, an honorary doctorate of Laws from Boston University and Georgetown."
http://www.zimbio.com/President+Hamid+Karzai/articles/388/19+Must+Know+Facts+Afghanistan+President+Hamid
Reading Recommendations -- Dr. Kamran Mofid, Economist:
Economists are the forgotten guilty men
National Prayer Breakfast
"We will also reach out to leaders and scholars around the world to foster a more productive and peaceful dialogue on faith. I don’t expect divisions to disappear overnight, nor do I believe that long-held views and conflicts will suddenly vanish. But I do believe that if we can talk to one another openly and honestly, then perhaps old rifts will start to mend and new partnerships will begin to emerge. In a world that grows smaller by the day, perhaps we can begin to crowd out the destructive forces of zealotry and make room for the healing power of understanding." -- President Obama, 2/5/09 (White House photo 2/5/09 by Pete Souza)
Source: THE WHITE HOUSE BLOG
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog_post/this_is_my_prayer/
The Golden Rule:
"Religious groups, as well as non-theistic ethical systems, differ greatly in their beliefs and practices. There is, however, a common thread that runs through them all. Each of these systems of belief has some example of the Ethic of Reciprocity in their teachings." The most common version of this is known as:The Golden Rule"Do onto others as you would have them do onto you."Copyright Humanity Healing 15 August 2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ci613QcC5E
Organizing For America
Sign up to host an Economic Recovery House Meeting the weekend of Friday, February 6th.
As many Americans plan to host or attend an Economic Recovery House Meeting and while we continue to struggle with the economic crisis please consider additional opportunities to expand the dialogue, examples are provided below.
California Lutheran University
Admission is free. Visit the CLU web site for more information:
http://www.callutheran.edu/calendar/event/1787
Dr. Mofid will be visiting Common Ground on Tuesday, March 3, from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. Dr. Mofid will give the third in the 2008-2009 Common Ground Chair Lecture Series.
Dr. Mofid will also be giving a public lecture at Lake Forest College on Monday, March 2. (Details will be available on the CG site.) The LFC presentation is sponsored by the Department of Religions and the Islamic World Studies Program.
Common Ground is a center for inquiry, study, and dialogue. The primary concern of which is the human quest for understanding and the human pursuit of significance.
"Dr. Kamran Mofid is a visionary activist committed to the evolutionary transformation of social, ecological and spiritual values. His is a vision of a healing world, in which justice and peace are increased – rather than diminished – by the process of globalisation."
-- Common Ground
Common Ground, 815 Rosemary Terrace, Deerfield, IL 60015.
http://www.cg.org/News_View.aspx?Articleid=48
Globalisation For the Common Good Initiative
"Globalization:
The Challenge to America"
May 31 – June 4, 2009
Loyola University • Chicago, Illinois, USA
http://www.gcgchicago2009.info/
.........................................Kamran Mofid PhD (ECON)Founder, Globalisation for the Common Good Initiativewww.globalisationforthecommongood.infoCo-editor, Journal of Globalisation for the Common Goodwww.commongoodjournal.comGlobalisation for the Common Good, Chicago 2009http://www.gcgchicago2009.info/
President Obama's interview with Mr. Hisham Melhem of Al-Arabiya was a refreshing change from the past 8 years. There is HOPE!
“My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy,” Obama told Al Arabiya’s Hisham Melhem in an interview broadcast Tuesday morning.
"... start by listening, because all too often the United States starts by dictating -- in the past on some of these issues --and we don't always know all the factors that are involved. So let's listen."
Transcript:
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/01/27/65087.html#004
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama
"On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord."
President Barack Obama
CHANGE AT LAST!
Native American Prayer Oh, Great SpiritWhose voice I hear in the winds,And whose breath gives life to all the world,hear me, I am small and weak,I need your strength and wisdom.Let me walk in beauty and make my eyes ever beholdthe red and purple sunset.Make my hands respect the things you havemade and my ears sharp to hear your voice.Make me wise so that I may understand the thingsyou have taught my people.Let me learn the lessons you havehidden in every leaf and rock.I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother,but to fight my greatest enemy - myself.Make me always ready to come to youwith clean hands and straight eyes.So when life fades, as the fading sunset,my Spirit may come to you without shame.
"We must work unceasingly to uplift this nation that we love to a higher destiny, to a higher plateau of compassion, to a more noble expression of humanness" -Dr Martin Luther King
Happy Birthday To You, by Stevie Wonder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrqu5U05QVs
AL JAZEERA.NET, January 15, 2009/excerpt:
Children 'paying price of Gaza war'
Children are bearing the brunt of Israel's war on the Gaza Strip, the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) has said.More than 300 children have been killed and hundreds more wounded in Israel's aerial and ground assault, Ann Veneman, Unicef's executive director, said in a statement released on Wedneday.
She said: "Each day more children are being hurt, their small bodies wounded, their young lives shattered. This is tragic. This is unacceptable.
"They are bearing the brunt of a conflict which is not theirs.
"As fighting reaches the heart of heavily populated urban areas, the impact of lethal weapons will carry an even heavier toll on children."
Anyone with an internet connection can Google "Gaza humanitarian catastrophe" and find the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Territories and read the thousands of pages of evidence documenting the reality of the current fighting, and the long term siege on Gaza that preceded it.
Viewer Alert: Video is Graphic & Heartbreaking
Video: Children suffer Video: Born into war Naming the deceased
Read the full story from the source
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/20091157268591938.html
By Mark LeVine, January 13, 2009/excerpt:
"One by one the justifications given by Israel for its latest war in Gaza are unravelling."
"The claim that Hamas will never accept the existence of Israel has proved equally misinformed, as Hamas leaders explicitly announce their intention to do just that in the pages of the Los Angeles Times or to any international leader or journalist who will meet with them."
"Anyone with an internet connection can Google "Gaza humanitarian catastrophe" and find the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Territories and read the thousands of pages of evidence documenting the reality of the current fighting, and the long term siege on Gaza that preceded it."
Read the full story from the source:
http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/war_on_gaza/2009/01/2009110112723260741.html
Thank You! This is a thank you note to all those who made contributions to help make this performance possible for students of the Lincoln College Prep Academy's Wind Ensemble! Your support of music education in public schools is very important and deeply appreciated!
Here's information from the Carnegie Hall Schedule:
Program Details
Published on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 by The San Francisco Chronicle
by Jess Ghannam
Excerpt:
"President-elect Barack Obama has an opportunity to introduce desperately needed change in America's Middle East policy. Nothing would accomplish more than for Obama to speak out clearly against Israel's terrorism in Gaza. He should clarify that while all governments have the right to self defense, this cannot include the wanton bombardment of heavily populated civilian areas."
"For too long, American support of Israel has come without condition. Billions of our tax dollars have supported a state that betrays American values and engages in policies that harm America's image and interests abroad. Millions of Arabs and Muslims are glued to television sets right now. They are watching scenes of Palestinian men, women and children bathed in blood, aware that American-supplied F-16 fighter jets delivered the bombs. Imagine the difference if, instead, they saw an American leader declare that Palestinians - like Israelis - have the right to live in freedom and security. Imagine if those American planes were delivering much-needed food and medicine to people in Gaza."
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/12/30
Wizipan Garriott named Obama’s First Americans Public Liaison
by Rob Capriccioso
Story Published: Dec 15, 2008
WASHINGTON – Wizipan Garriott, 28, has been appointed First Americans Public Liaison, a newly created position in President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team. The position is aimed at honoring a nation-to-nation relationship with tribes.
Read the story, Indian Country Today:
http://www.indiancountrytoday.com/politics/36045919.html
A Film by Landrum Bolling
"This 30 minute film, sponsored by the Foundation for Middle East Peace, is a vivid, compassionate portrayal of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Through the voices of Israeli and Palestinian citizens of diverse backgrounds, it reveals their hopes and fears and explores the issues that divide them. It also describes in a compelling way a broad common ground of yearning for peace, pointing the way toward a resolution of this tragic conflict that would meet the deepest needs of both societies."
Source & Link to the Film:
http://www.fmep.org/searching_for_peace_in_the_middle_east.html
"The Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP) is a coalition of 57 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that promote people-to-people coexistence and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians, Arabs and Jews in the Middle East. As an alliance, the NGOs work together to raise awareness about the extent and importance of their work, as well as cultivate new and expanded resources to support Middle East coexistence."
http://www.allmep.org/allmep_v1/aboutALLMEP.php
December 15, 2008, Dr. Kamran Mofid
Today (15th December 2008) the British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, hosted a Palestine Trade and Investment Forum in London. At a joint Downing Street news conference with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Mr Brown reiterated Britain's commitment to a "comprehensive and just peace" in the Middle East. "Establishing a viable Palestinian state with a stable economy and flourishing private sector is a crucial part of this process," Mr Brown said. Mr Brown also expressed his hope that the election of Barack Obama as the next US president would provide a new opportunity for the international community to come together on the Middle East peace process.
I would very much like to draw your attention to an article which I wrote on this very subject and which was posted on our web site on Friday December 8th 2006, more or less two years ago today, give or take one week. I very much wish to quote a passage from this two year old piece. Just imagine if it was put into practice.
"How Can a Lasting Peace Process Move Forward?Sound economic policies, effectively implemented, are essential elements of the peace process in the Middle East. “Economics of Hope”, leading to envisioning, enabling and empowering the disposed and marginalised people of Palestine is the most effective path to a non-violent resolution of conflict in the Middle East and a long-term security for Israel. Without economic empowerment, leading to tangible economic wellbeing and prosperity, all forms of peace proposals and dialogue, although valuable, will remain ineffective in realising their overall objective: peace, security and harmonious living, side-by-side.
The Path to Peace, Reconstruction, Security and Prosperity: Challenges and Opportunities
It is increasingly apparent that the problem of economics is not just a technical problem for experts but is above all a moral and spiritual issue. The world is longing for a system that would be both participatory and socially just; a system with a functioning economy that would be at the same time sensitive to theological consequences. We must deal with the issue of economic empowerment that has a religious tract. Through our indifference and complicity, the integrity of our faith is in jeopardy.
People everywhere, given a chance prefer to be compassionate, spiritual and caring. They want to be able to practice their religions freely. More and more, they also want to see that their religious values have a bearing on their economic systems and structures. This philosophy is nowhere stronger than in the Middle-East, whose people by and large are very spiritual, religious, hospitable, informed and cultural. They largely do not reject the pivotal values behind the market economy. Indeed, the Middle-East region throughout the history has been the major area of, and for, business, trade and commerce. They do know that, under the right conditions, a market economy can drive development, decrease poverty, encourage productivity, and reward entrepreneurial energy.
The children of Abraham in the Middle East know well that religion is a major factor in the formation of social networks and trust. In addition, the impetus for focusing specifically on spiritual/theological economics draws on the growing recognition in economics and other social sciences that religion is not epiphenomenal, nor is it fading from public significance in the 21st century and the importance to social/economic dynamics of human economic intangibles. Recent developments in the social sciences suggest a growing openness to nonmaterial factors, such as the radius of trust, behavioural norms, and religion as having profound economic, political,and social consequences"...Read the article:
http://www.globalisationforthecommongood.info/2006/12/08/israel-and-palestine-can-there-be-peace-there-can-be-no-peace-without-economic-justice-in-palestine/
Defining Economic Justice
"Economic justice, which touches the individual person as well as the social order, encompasses the moral principles which guide us in designing our economic institutions. These institutions determine how each person earns a living, enters into contracts, exchanges goods and services with others and otherwise produces an independent material foundation for his or her economic sustenance. The ultimate purpose of economic justice is to free each person to engage creatively in the unlimited work beyond economics, that of the mind and the spirit."
-- Center For Economic and Social Justice
http://www.cesj.org/thirdway/economicjustice-defined.htm
Films from the multiple Media That Matters Film Festival collections explore the issue of economic justice from an international perspective. Here's one example:
6:34 minDocumentaryDirected & Produced by Brent Joseph Winner of the Legacy Award
"This film follows Louis Harding as he rebuilds the community center he opened just one month before Hurricane Katrina hit and destroyed his work. Despite the setback, 72-year-old Harding refuses to give up on his mission to combat poverty in New Orleans. He discusses the importance of history, heroes and self-esteem in the black community and explains why making his dream a reality is more important now than ever before."
http://www.mediathatmattersfest.org/8/a_loud_color/
For even more films on this issue, visit MediaRights.org.
Media That Matters and Arts Engine
"The Media That Matters Film Festival is the premier showcase for short films on the most important topics of the day. Local and global, online and in communities around the world, Media That Matters engages diverse audiences and inspires them to take action."
"From gay rights to global warming, the jury-selected collection represents the work of a diverse group of independent filmmakers, many of whom are under 21. The films are equally diverse in style and content, with documentaries, music videos, animations, experimental work and everything else in between. What all the films have in common is that they spark debate and action in 12 minutes or less."
Media That Matters FOCUS
"Media That Matters FOCUS is a new series of curated collections that center on particular issues. Our first FOCUS release (October 2006) is Media That Matters: Good Food, a collection of shorts on food and sustainability. Following the model of our annual festival, the films stream online, screen around the country and are distributed on DVD. Stay tuned for new FOCUS collections on LGBT Rights, Criminal Justice and more in years to come."
Arts Engine
Arts Engine supports, produces and distributes independent media of consequence and promotes the use of independent media by advocates, educators and the general public. By fostering the production and use of independent film, video and new media, Arts Engine connects media makers and active audiences in order to spur critical consideration of pressing social issues. Learn more at www.artsengine.net.
http://www.mediathatmattersfest.org/about/
"This Is Change? 20 Hawks, Clintonites and Neocons to Watch for in Obama's White House"
By Jeremy Scahill, AlterNet. Posted November 20, 2008.
A who's who guide to the people poised to shape Obama's foreign policy.
from the conclusion of the article by Jeremy Scahill:
Barack Obama campaigned on a pledge to bring change to Washington. "I don't want to just end the war," he said early this year. "I want to end the mindset that got us into war." That is going to be very difficult if Obama employs a foreign policy team that was central to creating that mindset, before and during the presidency of George W. Bush.
"Twenty-three senators and 133 House members who voted against the war -- and countless other notable individuals who spoke out against it and the dubious claims leading to war -- are apparently not even being considered for these crucial positions," observes Sam Husseini of the Institute for Public Accuracy. This includes dozens of former military and intelligence officials who spoke out forcefully against the war and continue to oppose militaristic policy, as well as credible national security experts who have articulated their visions for a foreign policy based on justice.
Obama does have a chance to change the mindset that got us into war. More significantly, he has a popular mandate to forcefully challenge the militaristic, hawkish tradition of modern U.S. foreign policy. But that work would begin by bringing on board people who would challenge this tradition, not those who have been complicit in creating it and are bound to continue advancing it.
Read the full article: http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/107666/this_is_change_20_hawks%2C_clintonites_and_neocons_to_watch_for_in_obama%27s_white_house/?page=1
I still HOPE for CHANGE and BELIEVE that President-elect Obama will lead us to real change. Although, sometimes lately I worry. I find that surrogates or advisors say or do things that make me cringe. All I know for sure is that it's time for peace and prosperity for all. We must expect and accept nothing less from ourselves or our leaders.
Stevie Wonder, "Love's In Need Of Love Today":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBz9OoeCdlA
Stevie Wonder & Take 6:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXXqv2TgfnY
You Have Sown the Seeds: Now is the Time to Prepare for a Rich Harvest
Dear Mr. Obama,
Congratulations on your election as the next president of the United Sates of America. Millions of Americans and indeed many more millions around the world are eagerly looking to you and your administration to address many pressing crises facing your country and the world over. These include climate change and ecology, banking, credit and subprime mortgage lending, soaring cost of energy and food, hunger and infectious disease, international relations and cooperation, peace and justice, terrorism and war, armaments and unprecedented violence, crime and insecurity. Other major problems include the fear of getting sick, old, homeless and jobless.
It is precisely in times like these – unstable and confusing though they may be – that people everywhere need to keep their eyes on the better side of human nature, the side of love and compassion, rather than hatred and injustice; the side of the common good, rather than selfishness, individualism and greed.
With your election a seed of hope has been sown. Now it’s the time to ensure this seed will grow into a most wonderful and rich harvest by insisting that the abundance that comes from God and earth and human effort must be shared, lest its concentration in the hands of the few become a blood-clot endangering our lives- as indeed has happened.
To do this, your government needs- as I am sure, it will- to adopt a new strategy of generosity toward all the people of America, as well as to all other people and nations around the world, by replacing the strategy of domination that has so long been the policy paradigm. Your administration needs to transform all institutions including the U.S. government to act not merely for economic benefits and the highest return to the shareholders, but also to encourage people’s natural inclination toward love, generosity, compassion, imagination, and wonder at the beauty of the planet Earth and the universe in which we live, by encouraging us all to know and serve the common good.
Those who may not have your best interest at heart may say this is too idealistic. But today, idealism is the new realism. So-called realism, through the strategy of domination, has only led to endless wars, needless suffering, and exploitation, seriously compromising the moral and spiritual standing of the U.S., both at home and abroad.
