EMPOWER YOURSELF TO BE THE SOLUTION

My view of the Olympics - Gold for the old

2006-02-22T14:07:00.000-08:00

SURVIVAL ISSUES:
WAR ON TERROR. POLARIZATION

Let me tell you how I got to run in the authentic Olympics this year. My personal international Olympics in the original stadium. My big fat Greek event – gold for the old.

In high school I dreamed of being an Olympian. My passion was speed skating, fencing, and sailing. My mediocre performance was shaped by lack of discipline. A mentor opined that I was lousy. Over the decades, guilt has mixed with regret.

Thanks to the world of instant broadcasting, I have been able to get in touch with my inner Olympian every four years by sitting in front of the TV. But even after attending the summer games in both Seoul and Los Angeles, I couldn’t shake my feeble feelings of inadequacy. I knew it was too late to take on those trim twenty year olds. They don’t make spandex in my size.

I thought I could snap out of my torpor when I heard the inspiring words of citizen astronaut Dennis Tito in the spring of 2001. He said he always wanted to into space. So he went, after enduring 900 hours of cosmonaut training at age 60. “It’s never too late to fulfill a dream,” he exulted when he returned from space. “Hope boldly, think huge, and pursue your passion.” I had been following his feat, supporting him in a way one supports athletes, by mind meld. So, his message for me seemed to be: Never too late! Hope! Pursue!

So why should I not run in the authentic Olympic arena?

Though I can’t compete in Torino, I could try to feel an equivalent moment of epiphany at Olympia, Greece, the site of the first games in 776 BC. Would I experience a spiritual moment if I were carried across the centuries to the place where it all began? Maybe my neurosis could be alleviated by a run in the ancient stadium. Why not!

After all, I’d finished a 10K run in less than 60 minutes two years ago. I could answer Tito’s challenge and honor the first women athletes who were only permitted to enter running competitions. I could bring my iPod and play the theme from “Rocky.”

Albeit racing alone, I hoped running in the historic stadium would consummate my athletic destiny. It would give me strength to call up closure to my lost athleticism. And I couldn’t loose, couldn’t disgrace myself. All I had to do was finish! Clearly destiny was at work.

During this time of international strife, Olympia seems a fitting place to recall the purpose of the ancient games. Eighth century AD Greece was weary from internal political strife and deadly plagues. Legend says the god of Delphi proposed the games for deliverance from such evils. Perhaps, likewise, if only for 17 days the athletes in Torino could help us transcend our political polarization and geopolitical angst.

How could my lone run replicate the camaraderie 2,600 athletes from 80 countries are experiencing this week in Torino? True, I’d be running alone in the ancient stadium, so I decided to have my international experience by way of the journey. I’d get to the games the same way the ancient Olympiads did – by ship.

In Genoa, I boarded an Italian cruise ship, the Costa Fortuna, for eastern Mediterranean meals, Italian & Greek language lessons, and running the treadmill in her state of the art equipped gymnasium. I ran faster to the beat of the throbbing 128 beats-per-minute Italian house music. The ships’ crew comes from 60 countries. I’d hear almost the same number of languages on the ship as I would in Torino.

Evenings aboard ship provided a variety of cross-cultural experiences. I danced the Bomxi Bom, the La Bachata, and the Greek Sirtaki. I participated in a trivia quiz on ancient Greece. The visuals reinforced my Mediterranean odyssey. Contemporary Murano glass light fixtures in primary blue and yellow contrasted the warm tones of more than 40 varieties of Italian marble on the ship. It was a retro appeal reworked with modernism – just like the Olympic games. There are large murals by phantasmagorical painter Paolo Grimaldi on the stairs’ landings depicting the ancient navigators. The ancient Olympics were held every four years because of the time required for athletes and spectators to sail to Olympia. I can relate to that as I experience another Mediterranean sunset tonight on the Aegean Sea. This environment was transporting me across time to understand the true spirit of the international competition of the ancient and modern Olympics. And it was a great place to train without distraction. I could run around the deck and become accustomed to the cool temperatures.

My on-board trainer would be a striking young Italian woman from Fecce, in southern Italy. She was muscular, nearly 6 feet tall, with a mop of thick curly dark blonde hair and a striking Roman nose. I soon adjusted to Carolina’s firm Italian commands, “Cambio di gamba! Inspirare! Espirare!” This young woman embraced my dream with fervency. She never discouraged me, despite my advanced age. I sensed she was on her own pilgrimage to Olympia. Carolina studied the ancient Olympics in university. Her eyes revealed a thoughtfulness that we could not share in words. Tomorrow was the day.

Despite overwhelming fatigue following a restless night, I remained awake during the 35 km drive from the port of Katakolon to Olympia. The overcast day did not luminate the silver leaves of the olive trees. I was blessed with cool air and no distracting sun glares. I could run fast in this environment.

I leapt carefully off the last tall step of the bus at the northern end of the ancient grounds of Olympia. I didn’t want a last minute ankle twist to dash my days’ plan. Indeed, I had no medical staff or personal trainer in tow. The first image vitalized me. It was grander than I’d expected and amazingly in tact despite an earthquake in the 6th century AD. I could make out the shape of the ancient buildings by tracing the foundations’ footprints. It was a fun visual game.

The stadium was out of sight, downhill at the south end of the grounds. Very few people were here and the chirp of birds was the dominant sound. Were all the Olympiacs in Turin today?

It wasn’t until after I climbed the steep dark stoned steps of Zeus’ Temple on a center crest that I realized this place was nestled in a hilly landscape at the foot of Mount Kronos, by ancient walls of light stone and shell mortar. Once, Zeus’ temple and his huge gold and marble statue was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world. Now the tumbled columns with 13-inch flutes lay on the ground. They were carefully felled in a columnar plane. I’d never seen such massive hand-worked stone. The sculpted capitals were the size of a small squared building. The gold statue of Zeus was pillaged by invading Turks centuries ago. From atop the temple I could see the foundation footprint of the gymnasia, barracks, and gathering centers. Peoples came from all corners of the Mediterranean to enjoy music, poetry, and athletic events at this sacred cite centuries ago.

It was from this apex that I caught my first glance of the arch to the stadium. It was time. I descended Zeus’ steps and I imagined myself retracing the steps of athletes, orators, and philosophers on the dirt path to the stadium. I stepped onto a short path of large square stones that led me under an unadorned stone arch. The simplicity of the stadium was in marked contrast to the bordering ornate temples with aligned Doric and Ionic columns. There were no stepped marble benches for the 40,000 spectators. I assumed the observers enjoyed the coolness of the grass as they sat to watch the laboring athletes at the summer games. Without the modern invention of eyeglasses, I wondered if they could see the sweat trickle down the buff bare bodies of the competitors. The slope of the stadium’s hill was perfectly aligned on all 4 sides. The field’s surface was shiny compacted mud, yet it was not slippery. The only two structures were opposing stone edifices on the mid point of the long sides of the rectangular stadium, where ten judges observed from their rock perches close to the racetrack’s edge. Opposite the judges’ row was a taller squared carved stone where the High Priestess Demeter stood as the only woman allowed in the stadium during the games.

I increased my pace until my heart pounded. It was time. I took my mark on the ancient marble starting blocks still firmed into the dirt track at the north end of the stadium. I crouched down. Neither starting gun nor stop watch halted me from bolting forward and streaking boundlessly past the judges stand to the end of the 192-meter track. It was a good run.

I felt the presence of the runners who took the Olympic flame from here to Torino last week, while I caught my breath, hands braced on burning quads. This was better than watching the games on television, or sitting in the stadium. With a sweep of my eyes I tried to imagine the assemblage of 40,000 spectators here 2,700 years ago. I thought of all the unnamed athletes who, like me, ran this stadium. I’ll join them now embellished in myths in future generations. I sensed Carolina saying, “Sei un buon atleta olimpico.”

Clearly I wasn’t running today for myself. Something else was pressing my consciousness. I was running for them – all the athletes who ran here - and those who didn’t have the chance to run in the modern Olympics. They’ve inspired and entertained me. Sure, I have no gold medal, no olive crown, but then again I have no regrets either. I’m at the top of my game. Maybe this euphoria will last two more years until I trek to Beijing. Stay tuned.

WWWD:

Girls and Sports -"Yes We Can," The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

National Girls and Women in Sports Day

Olympics

It has never been possible to make me believe that defeat is a disgrace.
Louisa Adams, 1828

Escape in Iraq. Thomas Hamill’s war & peace

2005-04-29T11:52:00.000-07:00

SURVIVAL ISSUES:
WAR ON TERROR & WEALTH INEQUALITIES

Who could forget the unsettling image on television April 10, 2004 of a wounded American civilian sitting next to an armed black-masked insurgent in an Iraqi enemy vehicle? He wasn't turtled up with a protective Kevlar helmet and flak jacket. It was a nightmarish image that begged the question - Why did he put himself in harms way?

Just recently I had the incredible opportunity to spend a day with this man who was unexpectedly thrust into the international limelight. If in 2003 a list had been made of the people most unlikely to be held hostage by Iraqi terrorists, Tommy Hamill would have been a good candidate.

Tommy was a dairy farmer and truck driver at home while the conflict raged in Iraq the fall of that year. He is the kind of man that helps his neighbors. Macon, Mississippi has a population of 2,410. "I live in a town where you can put $20. on the table with no fear of theft," Tommy proudly told me. The residents of this piney backwoods town in Noxubee County pitch in to help each other get by in their world. Tommy, A volunteer fire fighter, was an integral and much-loved part of the community.

As a farmer, his typical routine consisted of ten hour days on the 135 acre family farm, as well as the other 100 acres he leased to grow additional hay for his cows.

Times were difficult. Tommy's wife Kellie faced expensive heart operation. Kellie's emergency surgery did not take place until Tommy was in Iraq. He had to turn home for her surgery. When milk prices dropped, Tommy told me he took a second job driving a truck to make the bank note.

Tommy's friend told him about an opportunity to earn $15/hour, tax free, driving truck. All expenses would be paid including medical, room and board. Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), a subsidiary of Halliburton, offered a one year contract. Guaranteed supplementary income for one year was music to this farmer's ears.

There was a catch. He'd be driving supply trucks in the war zone of Iraq.

Ultimately, Tommy desired to do what was best for his family. He and Kellie decided that accepting such a lucrative job offer was the best option. Also involved in the decision to work in Iraq was the fact that Tommy is a patriot. In fact, as a young man he had planned to become a Marine until it was determined he could not join the Corps due to a health issue. Supporting military efforts in Iraq would be an unexpected way to fulfill his high school dream. Additionally, Tommy decided this was an opportunity to help his own family and as well as other families in Iraq.

Tommy Hamill witnessed history being made in Iraq.

From October 2003 to April 2004 he witnessed first hand the positive signs of regime change in Iraq that benefited so many people. "I saw more kids walking to school as the days went by," Tommy remembered. There were other improvements. "When I arrived I saw no satellite dishes, but the dishes popped up on all the roofs," Tommy continued, "TV is a stepping stone to seeing what's going on in the rest of the world. We're free in the United States. You can demonstrate if you disagree with the government. You can make a living here (in the U.S.). In Iraq it's once a peasant always a peasant."

Tommy said the insurgents had an opinion on which U.S. presidential candidate would be best for their hope to keep a totalitarian government in Iraq. "I had conversations with Iraqi insurgents," Tommy said, "They said, Kerry good. Bush bad." Tommy believes that the January 2005 free election in Iraq would not have happened if Sen. Kerry won the presidency. "They'd be afraid to go out and vote if Bush lost."

Though Tommy endured many long days and difficult circumstances in Iraq, he took pride in his service to his country, his family, and the people of Iraq. An able driver and respected leader, Tommy received the promotion to convoy commander after serving six months in Iraq. As a Christian, he knew that God led him to that specific place for his benefit and to help the people around him.

Good Friday, April 9, 2004, was met with fear of anti-Christian actions. It was the anniversary of Iraq's first liberation birthday. The region expected militant attacks.

Tommy reported to the 6 AM security briefing for convoy commanders at Camp Anaconda, to ascertain if the routes were still open. "All roads were red," said Tommy, "but later they turned to amber, and we waited for the Army Reserve 724th Transportation Company security unit to join us." The convoy was on its way to Baghdad with the .50-caliber machine guns and Mark-19 grenade launcher equipped trucks riding shotgun.

The abandoned gas cans which Tommy sighted along the side of the road warned ominously of what was to come. Unknown to the drivers, the convoy was about to enter an eight mile long kill zone on the Abu Ghraib Expressway. Tommy's world was about to change forever.

"I heard rifles and the roar of rockets," Tommy recalled. "We were in the middle of a well planned and executed attack." Tommy was riding on the passenger side of his fuel truck. Bullets piercing the cab of Tommy's truck tore shards of metal from the door and thrust them into his right forearm. "I looked down to see sheets muscle tissue hanging from my right arm," Tommy said, "I kept my mind on my job. I worried about my men."

Six of Tommy's drivers died that Good Friday, and one is still missing. Left standing in the middle of a frontage road, he was grabbed by his attackers and whisked away. Tommy clung to his faith for strength to accept his fate without fear. "I felt God wanted me to live," Tommy stated, "He had a plan for me. I didn't show any fear to the crowd who were shouting and hitting me."

The masked captors blindfolded Tommy and moved him repeatedly over the next 24 days between empty huts and family houses. The conditions ranged from dark rat infested huts with clay floors, to primitive rural homes. "I must have been in the homes of my captors because I met the wives and children," recounted Tommy, "They eventually fed me what the family ate. Stewed tomatoes, rice, cucumbers, leaven bread, and a tea called shaay.

Tom and his captors began to bond. "I tried to earn their respect. I sensed it the first week." Tom observed that the insurgents thrive on instilling fear and terror. "I wouldn't let them see that in me."

The guards watched CNN and told Tommy that his family cried for him. But as the days of captivity increased, coverage of the massacre diminished. Tommy's captors scoffed United States culture as the weeks went by. "America forgot you," said the Iraqi guard, "Only Michael Jackson." The Iraqi hit his head indicating disbelief, "Nothing but Michael. Nothing but Michael."

The Iraqis did not know how Tommy measured on the scale often used by our materialistic society to evaluate people: his educational background, his job success, the size of his car, or the amount in his bank account. However through their short association together, Tommy's actions proved to them that he was a good man and worthy of respect. Though their verbal communication was limited, they showed him unexpected kindnesses during their twenty four days together. His captors continued to treat Tommy considerately.

As the days of captivity rolled by, the relationship between captor and prisoner grew. Tommy named his three guards Larry, Curly, and Moe. "We discussed religion," said Tommy. "Every day they asked if I were Muslim or Christian. I said I was a Christian." These insurgents seemed to accept Tom's religiosity, even though they didn't pray the same way. Tommy respected Islam, and he suspected the insurgents respected his Christianity. These Muslims sensed his character and showed him kindnesses.

Unfortunately, the Guards on Death Row, as Tommy named them, did not treat him so kindly. They shackled his hands and legs at night and threatened to kill him.

When Tommy's shattered arm become severely infected by the end of his first week in captivity, his captors arranged for medical care." I was blessed that an Iraqi doctor arrived to fix my arm," explained Tommy. "I had local anesthesia, and I focused on the children in the room during the operation." Tommy felt a particular bond with the young son of one of his captors. The 12 or 13 year old boy watched the operation with worry on his face. Tommy commented, "I hope I changed the kids to think we're good and not bad."

The contrast of incarceration experiences between Tommy and the imprisoned insurgents in Abu Ghraib prison are striking. Not only from the standpoint of treatment, but by the outcome. His captors reciprocated the regard which Tommy first demonstrated towards them. It is important to remember the humanity of our enemies. Especially in the midst of impassioned conflict, the ability to demonstrate respect towards people we oppose will often provide a better outcome than ever thought possible. It certainly did for Tommy.

This quiet man of deep and abiding faith was determined to be a good role model. He wanted his captors and their families to see that an American man can be trusted and not feared. Tommy witnessed Saddam Hussein's style of fear and intimidation. "Saddam built palaces and buried weapons to keep the people afraid of him," Tommy said, "The Iraqis want to be free but are afraid to fight for their own country."

According to Tommy, prayer was the key to his survival. Just as God led him out of other crises, he felt God was guiding the time he spent with his captors. "I grew up tough like my father and grandfather," alleged Tommy. "Fathers teach sons how to farm. Nothing more. I've been through many traumatic experiences. I endured this ordeal because I learned a lot from my past experiences." Tommy's unrelenting faith allowed him to interact with the terrorists with an optimistic attitude. He retained hope for their future and his own.

His high-profile capture and subsequent escape has changed Tommy's life forever. Since returning from Iraq Tommy has been interviewed multiple times and offered many opportunities to speak publicly. In addition to all of this, Tommy has also managed to find time to co-author a book with Paul T. Brown, Escape in Iraq: The Thomas Hamill Story is the inspirational story of an unlikley hero of the Iraq war.

Despite all the publicity he remains a man of genuine compassion and he continues to reach out to the people with whom he comes into contact. "After telling my story, a woman asked if I would speak to her teenage son who had just experienced a trauma. I told him to be strong and he would learn from this so he could handle anything bad that comes his way in the future," Tommy recounted.

Commitment and responsibility are core values for Thomas Hamill. "I want to go back to Iraq and finish my one year contract. I said I'd give them a year," Tommy stated, I'm committed to supporting our troops and the President."

He reached in his wallet and proudly pulled out his KBR identification card. He flashed it to me with pride. Tommy is the kind of loyal employee all employers want. With his right arm not fully healed, he has contributed to the effort in other ways. Last week he spoke to 300 new KBR recruits in Houston.

During his captivity, Tommy's captors repeatedly asked him, "Why is America here, why do you come to Iraq?" His answer remained the same, "We are here to liberate your country, to bring freedom to the Iraqi people."

"The issue of weapons of mass destruction polarized everyone here," Tommy observed, "If people would pray for peace, they'd know what we have to do."

Polarization is a Lead Our Leaders survival issue that resonates with Tommy. "We're all Americans separated by two parties," he said. He shook his head when he told me about a sighting in New York City last month," Christo paid $20 million to hang miles of orange fabric. It won't feed anyone."

California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vocalized the thoughts of many when he commented on Tommy's escape in Iraq, "Thomas Hamill maintained his presence of mind under terrible circumstances and kept his life because of it. His courage under fire is truly an example to all of us."

Tommy was not the only Hamill whose courage and faith would be tested. The Hamill family in Macon faced multiple challenges as they struggled to cope with Tommy's captivity. Holding up as evidence to his community's support, Tommy said, "My town came together to support me and my family. They were black and white; rich and poor. "Maconites brought food, cut his lawn, and painted the Hamill house. And they all prayed.

People close to Tommy Hamill on both sides of the ocean were praying for him.

"After a while they prayed to Allah for my fate," told Tommy. He related a poignant story of an old Iraqi woman visiting one of the houses where he was imprisoned. "She said she was praying that Allah would tell the men not to kill him."

Prayers on both sides of the ocean were answered. Allah and God felt Thomas Hamill's life was worth saving. On May 2, Tom looked out an opening in his cell-room and saw a U.S. convoy about a half mile away. "I saw my guard's rifle on the ground, but did not hear him," remembered Tommy. "I didn't hesitate. I thought if God had a plan for my life, he would protect me. I ran as fast as I could through the tomato field. I had no shoes, but I didn't feel pain or fear."

The Arabic word for "God willing" is Inshallah. Why was the guard inexplicably not outside his post at Tommy's door May 2 when the presence of the U.S. convoy was known? He'd been threatened with death so many times. Beheadings started after Tommy escaped. Why had they spared Tommy for so long?

Inshallah.

When he reached the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry, New York National Guard convoy, he said simply, "I'm Thomas Hamill." The soldier said, "We know who you are. Where did you come from?"

It's where Thomas Hamill is going, that's most inspiring.

WWWD:

To read more about Tommy Hamill and his book, and to see more photos, visit www.americanhostage.net

Please share with us your inspiring stories about Tommy Hamill.

What websites have you found with other inspiring hero stories?

My thoughts and my meditations are with you, though personally absent; and my petitions to Heaven are, that the things which make for peace may not be hidden from your eyes.
Abigail Adams, letter to John Adams, February 8, 1797, as he was inaugurated the second president of the United States.

Hardball Hucksters. What was Senator Miller about to say?

2005-04-19T19:55:00.000-07:00

SURVIVAL ISSUES
POLARIZATION

Have you ever wanted to ask a politician a question during a TV interview? Me too.

I ease forward on the couch, jut my head toward the TV screen, furrow my brow, and grit my teeth - hoping the interviewer will ask THE question. Or in the case of a heated interview by MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews one late night in August - allow the interviewee to answer the question just posed.

Yesterday, one of my fantasies came true. I spotted Sen. Zell Miller at a book signing and asked if I could interview him for this blog. He graciously consented. My first question was, "What did you mean when you said you wished you could have a duel with Chris Matthews - when he cut you off?"

Surprisingly, his gaze dropped toward the floor and he said, "I don't want to talk about it. Next question?"

My heart raced. I had not anticipated that response. My face flushed. Now what!

"I thought you'd want to get your thoughts out since he cut you off." Expecting him to be grateful to make his point, the cement wall shocked me.

That infamous interview is still etched in my mind. Sen. Zell Miller, a blue dog Democrat from Georgia, had just spoken at the Republican Nominating Convention in New York City on the night of President Bush's acceptance speech. Chris Matthews hammered the Senator, peppering him with the usual polemics such as whether he was in favor of starving children and killing old people.

Though clearly frustrated, Sen. Miller attempted to maintain the focus on Sen. Kerry's record and fitness for our critical national defense programs.

Here's how it went:

MATTHEWS: Well, it's a tough question. It takes a few words.
MILLER: Get out of my face. If you are going to ask me a question, step back and let me answer.
MATTHEWS: Senator, please.
MILLER: You know, I wish we… I wish we lived in the day where you could challenge a person to a duel.

Pundits jumped on the exchange. Don Imus on his morning MSNBC show Imus in the Morning, called Matthews' questions of Sen. Miller "idiotic" and "out of line." I was perplexed as to why Sen. Miller wasn't willing to comment on the interview.

In desperation, I gave him my list of concluded possibilities, and jokingly asked him to nod if I was close. He laughed. He must have thought I was nuts. But the noble Marine listened.

1. "Were you saying, Listening just doesn't work for you Chris, so how about settling it in a non-verbal way as they did in the old days?"
2. "Were you trying to say that there's no civility today in public discourse?"
3. "Were you trying to say that we must respect each other despite our different opinions?"

Sen. Miller didn't respond. I wasn't getting anywhere. Now it was my turn to drop my gaze in exasperation. In his graciousness, Sen. Miller began to speak, as if to lift me out of my funk.

"It was a remote interview. I think we couldn't hear each other. My 15 year grandson Bryan was with me. The interview did not go well. I regret it."

Sen. Miller's new book Deficit of Civility, published by Stroud & Hall, devotes a chapter titled “Hardball Huff” to the incident. He explained, "Since being in the Senate, I had come to detest Chris Matthews' know-it-all attitude and his bullying way of interviewing, especially when he had the person by remote and not in the same studio.”

While attempting to minimize that contentious interview, everyone standing in line to have his new book Deficit of Civility autographed, complimented the author on his speech at the Republican convention and his forcefulness during the Matthews interview.

"I'm a Republican, but when I heard Miller's speech I knew I could vote for that Democrat," said Logan Reed of Pawling, NY. Many in the line praised Miller's courage for criticizing the Democrat party. Reed said he respects politicians who just don’t vote their party’s line all the time.

Mark Hodge, an oil company employee from Bellaire, TX felt Miller's duel challenge was the result of provocation - not a threat. "He should have told Matthews that he was rude," said Hodge, "He could have settled the dispute without having to consent to Matthews' constant rudeness."

Sen. Miller acknowledges that style can be more impressionable than words. "I come off strong. I'm trying to correct myself when I talk. But I let others finish their sentences."

Delivery style, rather than content, appears to becoming more influential with voters. Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill said of his speech at the Republican Nominating convention, "I think Zell Miller will be the lasting impression. People remember gasoline.”

Sen. Miller believes civility of interaction with others has deteriorated in the last decade. Rather than respect being accorded to everyone despite political or personal affiliations, it is reserved for people that they “like”. "Clinton polarized Americans' lack of morality," said Miller.

Miller speculates that political bias may influence interview style. "Chris interviewed Jane Fonda last week, but didn't interrupt her,” Miller said, “So it must be what you say."

Polarization, a key survival issue here at Lead our Leaders, is the foundation to Sen. Miller's sense of duty that lead him to criticize his own party. He thinks outside the box to independently evaluate public policy initiatives. In a speech from the Senate floor in January 2004, Sen. Miller said, "So, as the sand empties through my hourglass at warp speed - and with my time running out in this Senate and on this earth - I feel compelled to speak out. For I truly believe that at times like this, silence is not golden. It is yellow."

"There's been polarization from the beginning of this county," said Sen. Miller, a former history teacher. "Our founding fathers disagreed, but they were civil and worked to do the right thing." Miller continued to make his point, "The founding fathers fought over bigger issues - small vs. big states and slavery, but despite their differences, they were able to compromise and create a system that everyone agreed upon.”

Sen. Miller told me that Benjamin Franklin was one of the most experienced men among the founding fathers. He observed a style that was challenging as the founding fathers met in Philadelphia to birth our nation. “Write with the learned, pronounce with the vulgar,” said Franklin. His humorous and conciliatory style was disarming. According to Miller, when the chamber erupted he asked the men to pause for prayer in order to calm them and re-focus.

As I listened to Miller quote Franklin, the words rang with a wisdom that transcends centuries. "I have lived a long time. The longer I live the more convinced I am of this truth: God governs the affairs of man. If a sparrow can not fall to the ground without his notice. How can a country begin without his aid? I say we should take a break (for prayer)." Miller said the founding fathers came back to the table in Philadelphia with new resolve.

In another example, he told of this happening, “Dr. Rush was only 30 years old. People asked which of the two political parties he was affiliated with - Aristocrats or Democrats. Neither - he replied - I'm a Christocrat."

Miller's stories about our polarized founding fathers captured my attention. Some things never change. The founding fathers were wary of polarization, but were not fettered by a plethora of special interests. Their stylized differences were kept in check by their common Christian faith.

Unlike contemporary politics that for all appearances is marginalized by special interests, the founding fathers focused on the best outcome for the people, and not their own reelection.

Miller pondered how our country would have been shaped had special interests controlled our founding fathers and the citizenry. He observed, “If George Soros had printed a few thousand brochures back then, he could have torpedoed us.”

Sen. Miller and Benjamin Franklin observed the process as wise men. They warned that style can be as crucial as content. Even if we disagree with someone, we can be respectful in our civil discourse.

Perhaps our national political system would function more smoothly if there was someone like my first grade teacher at Arthur McGill School, Miss Maxwell, to grade our leaders on if they “play well with others.”

WWWD:

Click here to read excerpts from Sen. Miller's book, and for a schedule of his upcoming media and book signing appearances.

Click here for more practical advice from Benjamin Franklin.

Please share with us an example of how a “style change” improved your communications during a challenging conversation.

I place my faith in the individual development of character. Human nature changes very little. Eleanor Roosevelt, Radio broadcast, NBC, December 23, 1932.

The Pope passes - the Prince marries: As the empire turns

2005-04-09T13:27:00.000-07:00

SURVIVAL ISSUES:
POLARIZATION & WEALTH INEQUALITIES

Two ceremonial events took place at the end of this week that captured worldwide attention. The funeral of Pope John Paul II and the wedding of the United Kingdom’s heir to the throne offer contrasts in contemporary cultures and leadership styles.

This papacy was repeatedly analyzed on TV and in voluminous ink before the funeral of Pope John Paul II yesterday. In contrast, Prince Charles’ wedding to Camilla today failed to capture the interest of people outside of Britain.

While both the Roman Catholic Church and the British monarchy have waned in political influence in this era of democracy and freedom of religion, the personality of Pope John Paul II helped to draw international support and attention to the Church once again in a way that the heir to the British throne has failed to do for the monarchy.

Indicators show that people worldwide, especially in Latin America and Africa, are returning to the Church, while the British monarchy is judged by some to be irrelevant.

The Pope carved a place in history as a statesman while British leadership efforts have faded into the background.

Pope John Paul II had a consistent diplomatic strategy – talk to people in their country using their language. He was willing to engage in dialogue with world leaders, even when consensus was inachievable. He struggled to ameliorate the ideological polarization of international leaders, a phenomenon which Lead Our Leaders identifies as an impediment to successful cooperation towards solving our world’s problems. He was steadfast in his commitment to peace and justice.

The Pope’s ten-city visit to the United States in 1987 is an example of his cross-cultural effectiveness. He chose the multicultural city of Miami as his first stop. “I come as a friend. A friend of American and of all Americas: Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants and Jews, people of every religion and all men and women of goodwill,” he said at the airport on September 10.

It was John Paul’s legacy as an effective statesman that will earn him a place in history as a peacemaker. He appealed to non-Catholics and secular humanists who respected his immutable stance against injustice. Leach Walesa, former president of Poland credits the pope’s visit to Warsaw in 1979 as a catalyst for toppling communism in 1989.

In terms of interfaith relations, John Paul II was the conscience of the Roman Church. He was the first pope to visit a synagogue, and worked to establish relations between the Vatican and Israel. He honored victims of the Holocaust and condemned anti-Semitism as a sin against God and humankind. John Paul also sought to improve relations with the Muslim world. He was the first pope to step inside a mosque. More significantly, he apologized to a Damascus crowd in 2001 for misdeeds of the Christian church during the Crusades.

In marked contrast to the magnanimous concessions of the Catholic Church under John Paul II’s Papacy, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles have yet to apologize for injustices suffered in countries they colonized.

In death, as well as in life, the Pope continued to bring people together. The 100 statesmen, diplomats, presidents and kings who gathered in St. Peter’s Cathedral for the funeral were testament to the Pope’s influence in the secular realm.

Outside, mourners in a crowd of 600,000 displayed banners in St. Peter’s Square that read “santo subito” – saint immediately. Church rule typically requires that a person be dead 25 years before sainthood can be conferred. Perhaps Pope John Paul II’s followers are so urgent for immediate beatifiction because they have already recognized his first Pope John Paul II’s first miracle– his ability to engage people worldwide in dialogue.

Aside from his stringent theological views, Pople John Paul II will be remembered for his historic role in the collapse of communism and his travels to second- and third-world countries where he advanced dialogue between disparate leaders.

In a time where many U.S. political groups have so polarized themselves as to render themselves impotent, we look to Pope John Paul II as a model of diplomacy.

The image of Israeli President Moshe Katsav shaking hands with the leaders of Israel’s arch-enemies, Iran’s Muhammad Khatami and Syria’s Bashr al-Assad, are proof of Pope John Paul II’s miracle.

Choosing Khartoum over Disneyworld

2005-03-29T19:36:00.000-08:00

SURVIVAL ISSUES
TERROR & WEALTH INEQUALITIES

I’m ashamed that our government ignored the Rwandans in 1994. Over one million ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered in 6 months.

I said I wished I'd helped them - somehow.

Gruesome stories now of tortured Sudanese are impossible to ignore. Another African genocide. Horrible.

"The origins of the conflict in Sudan are extremely complex and have resulted in an unacceptably high level of loss of life and extreme suffering," said Ana Rodriguez, United Nations Volunteer Program Manager in Sudan.

Com' ooon Ana… I’ve learned a lot watching CSI on TV. I can guess who supported the government sponsored military action by looking at the crime scene and gleaning principles of TV forensic science.

First clue – Sudan is south of Egypt and west of Saudi Arabia.

Second clue – Arabic is Sudan’s official language. Sunni Muslims predominate northern Sudan.

Third clue – The criminals’ MO: Twofers - where a mother carrying her baby swaddled around her waist are killed with one bullet. People’s eyes gouged out and their ears ripped off. Huts set afire with the family still inside. Women gang-raped. Men castrated alive resulting in slow death by bleeding. Severed penises stuffed in the mouths of men killed by alternative method. Children’s faces smashed with blunt objects.

These crime scene clues tell us Arab militants, known as the Janjaweed, are responsible for the attempted annihilation of African tribes in Northeast Africa. Millions have been killed in Sudan, the largest country in Africa.

Women and children have suffered greatly during this war. At least the Iraqi civilians have protection under the Geneva Convention Rules of War.

Thank goodness for the January peace agreement that officially ends 20 years of civil war in Sudan. Given recent history on the Balkan Peninsula, peacekeepers will be there for the long term. And thousands of humanitarian workers will be needed to rebuild roads, schools, health clinics, and attend to other infrastructure needs. There are an estimated half million refugees and another four million uprooted by the conflict. Cholera, meningitis, and polio are rampant.

Help is on the way.

Following the UN Security Council’s decision last week to form the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) – (drum role) - It was announced today that some 160 United Nations Volunteers will be deployed over the coming months to Sudan to support the peace process in the region. They will join 10 volunteers who have been in Sudan since early March as port of the UN Advance Mission in Sudan. Yaaawn.

Well, it’s a start.

Ana Rodriguez may not want to admit who caused the suffering in Sudan, but today she announced an initiative to help the Sudanese survivors - (drum role) - help themselves. A large number of Sudanese nationals will also be recruited as UN Volunteers, which, she says, will go a long way in building trust and gaining support from the people affected. Yaaawn.

The UN Security Council voted unanimously on 24 March to deploy 10,000 troops and more than 700 civilian police in southern Sudan for an initial 6 months. No one's packed their bags yet.

Ironically, another UN press release today announced that the independent committee probing alleged misconduct and mismanagement in the United Nations Oil-for-Food program for Iraq, presented to Secretary General Kofi Annan a second interim report dealing with the employment of his son by a Swiss company awarded a contract in the multibillion dollars for relief efforts.

I’d planned a vacation in Disneyworld. I'm feeling a little guilty. I may email Ana and tell her I’m available that week. Jerry knows I have an experiential learning and helping style. The bad guys in Sudan are real terrorist Arab militarists. The bad guys in Disneyworld are only plastic Pirates of the Caribbean.

Or maybe I’ll go to New York City to see who’s real or plastic of the 4,000 Secretariat staff in the 40 story UN building. That’s the beautiful building near the site of the World Trade Center.

WWWD:

United Nations volunteer program

feeding program for displaced people in Sudan.

Episcopal Relief provides food and supplies to people in Sudan.

What web sites on international volunteerism and relief have you found?

Please share a personal empowering experience when you volunteered abroad.

There is a small articulate minority in this country which advocates changing our national symbol which is the eagle to that of the ostrich and withdrawing from the United Nations.
Eleanor Roosevelt, Speech, Democratic National Convention, July 1952.

A National reality TV series: The Terri Schiavo Show

2005-03-24T19:19:00.000-08:00

SURVIVAL ISSUES
POLARIZATION

The gut wrenching reality show this week had all the elements of compelling TV – life in the balance, dueling family members, a forged Senate memo, tearful demonstrators, activist judges, and pandering politicians.

What a weird dark carnival it unleashed. The President flying back to sign a bill certain to be meaningless. Congress meeting after midnight to pass a law that split Democrat legislators almost evenly. Terri’s governor saying he’d sure like to send in the state police to rescue her, but it would be unconstitutional. Americans saying the hell with the Constitution and the judiciary. Conservatives wanting U.S. District Judge James Whittemore’s ruling in Florida to remove Terri’s feeding tube to be overturned by federal law. But aren’t conservatives for states rights? Opposing special interest groups retaining gangs of attorneys. Christians panicking that she might be released to heaven immediately. As my Mexican friend says, "Why you so crazy."

This is high drama.

"Our nation relies on men and women who look after a neighbor and surround the lost with love," said President Bush in his inaugural address in January. But the questions appears to be - Who are lost? And what is love? Once again, we are a nation polarized by a cultural issue.

Nobody wants to end up that way, like Terri. Trapped in a non-functioning body but conscious. Only able to follow moving objects and react with a smile. And maybe to hear that folks want to pull the plug. Yikes.

We’re a nation of people concerned with looking right. No-carb diets, personal coaches, cosmetic surgery, and makeover TV shows. Terri is on a liquid diet, attendants make her up, keep her smiling. It could be worse. But I don’t want to think about it.

There are a lot of things we don’t want to think about. For instance not just the survival of this woman, but of the human race. Fanatical terrorists. It’s scary. They could be anywhere and seem to be anxious to die if they can take a lot of people with them. Rather not think about it.

People in our own country so fired up with political hatred after the November election that sister does not speak to brother. Rather not think about it.

Corporate billionaire criminals build their many-acred estates in Florida free by the state’s homestead laws from fear of confiscation. Don’t want to think about it.

The North Pole thawing, beaches disappearing, the air changing its chemical make-up, gasoline at $2.25 a gallon. Don’t want to think about it.

Kids killing kids in schools. The president finally responded Saturday to the second deadliest school shooting in six years in contrast to his swift intervention last week to prolong Terri’s life. Don’t want to think about it.

Easier to get worked up about Terri. We feel for her, and our leaders know it. But shouldn’t they be responsible leaders? Shouldn’t we?

A National law may result impacting premature babies, downs syndrome children, stroke patients, auto accident victims and thousands of others who die each year by purposeful starvation. There are an estimated 10,000 citizens in a permanent vegetative state who are living without artificial life support, but require a feeding tube or assisted hand feeding. Christopher Reeve couldn’t feed himself. Neither can Terri.

It's dizzying to keep the political parties’ ideology straight - who wants expanded jurisdiction of the federal courts, and who opposes federal intervention of states rights? Dred Scott. Roe vs. Wade. Bakke. Outcome based education. Terri’s law. No wonder voters are dysfunctionally polarized.

I remember the start of my school year in September 1963. Television scenes of students being escorted by police in Alabama the first day of school illustrated racial hatred I never observed at my school in Pennsylvania.

Eleven Southern and border states desegregated 144 school districts that September, but Alabama’s Gov. Wallace refused to respect the law of local authorities to integrate public schools. The cities of Birmingham, Mobile, Tuskegee, and Huntsville asked the Federal government to intervene.

So do we want states rights or federal intervention? The polarized political parties seem inconsistent. Maybe this is just politics as usual when it comes to cultural issues. Ask those on both sides of the street outside Terri’s Hospice House Woodside.

Why aren’t legislators and citizen activists working to solve our five survival issues: polarization, terror, deficits, wealth inequalities, and environment/energy? These are serious challenges that determine our collective global future.

My heart aches for the family and supporters of Terri Schiavo. My heart also aches for millions of women in this country and abroad who are facing ill treatment. Why are politicians giving disproportionate time and resources to the Schiavo case and not the five issues that Lead Our Leaders feels are critical to our existence?

Who’s minding the global store? We gotta think about it.

WWWD:

Info on living wills and advanced directives:

Have you found helpful web sites regarding end of life issues?

Please share an inspirational personal experience regarding your care of an incapacitated person.

For myself I have only to bow with humble submission to the will of that God who giveth and who taketh away. Martha Washington, 15 January 1800.

International Women's Day: Women at the table

2005-03-08T19:05:00.000-08:00

SURVIVAL ISSUES
TERROR & WEALTH INEQUALITIES

The newly liberated women in Afghanistan and Iraq deserve to be the frontispieces of today’s International Women’s Day celebration. Their heroism and effort is extraordinary. Their hope is inspiring.

Women in war zones suffer in multiple ways. They take over work when the men go to war. They defend their homes. Their children’s lives are disrupted if schools are closed. Vulnerable women may experience sexual exploitation. They are killed.

Taliban era women are hopeful that their sacrifices will yield opportunities for a better life for their daughters.

The United Nations passed Resolution 1325 on 30 October 2000 to address the unique problems faced by women in conflict zones.

Sen. Hillary Clinton gave the keynote speech today in New York City at the Vital Voices Conference on International Women's Day, sponsored by Global Leadership Summit. She said women politicians are less corrupt than men are. It seems UN Resolution 1325 is spot-on. It recommends women be government leaders.

Central to UN Resolution 1325 is the call for newly formed governments to include women in peace negotiations and country rebuilding. This seems fair since they may have suffered disproportionately.

A recent validation of this initiative for women is the governance model of East Timor, following its 25-year-old civil war. East Timor established an independent state and held free elections. Women were elected to 27 percent of the offices.

Vital Voices said today’s conference would focus on forming strategies to achieve increased economic opportunity, political participation, and human rights for women. Great – Lead Our Leaders has the same agenda.

Fidel Castro today honored the women of Cuba to recognize International Women's Day by promising to give them each an electric rice cooker. But reports say there is little electricity and scant supplies of rice. Premiere Castro reportedly got a cut of the appliance sales deal. Sen. Clinton must have had Fidel Castro in mind during her speech today. He fits the bill.

The women in Afghanistan and Iraq have more to celebrate today than the Cuban women. The newly liberated Middle Eastern women have been invited to the table of government. The Cuban women are apparently stuck at an empty kitchen table.

WWWD:

Vital Voices global partnership to empower women in developing countries.

What compelling websites have you found that help women abroad?

Do you have an inspiring story to share about a woman who has been helped by the support of others? Please share her story with us.

Service is being committed and being a part of the community in which you live, and it means that you get as well as you give. Hillary Rodham Clinton, White House youth ceremony, 20 April 1993

The power of pennies: At what age should you start to care?

2005-03-03T08:05:00.000-08:00

SURVIVAL ISSUES:
TERROR & WEALTH INEQUALITIES

David wants to save the world. I feel blessed to have met some great teenagers.

Colleges and universities today offer majors in International Relations and International Business for teenagers like David who have a deep commitment to world peace and global prosperity.

When I was a kid, I barely knew there was a world outside my city and state.

My Sunday school teacher Evangeline Reed told us how we could help hungry children in China. That caught my attention. I couldn't imagine going to bed hungry. She described the basic needs of people in provinces whose names I could not pronounce. Miss Reed assured us we could help them.

All my friends collected pennies. We put them into small paper boxes that were shaped like a church. Our pennies bought food for children whose images are etched in my mind to this day. They had big bellies, no shoes, and sullen faces. Someone else in the church told me missionaries were also assisting with their more complex needs like jobs, hospitals, and schools.

Miss Reed expanded the geographic distance of what I thought was meant by "helping others." It was a Max Weber approach to global prosperity through economic development. Missionaries were helping abroad with moneys donated by the American working class.

I loved hearing Miss Reed talk about her missionary work in China. I didn’t know any women doctors, legislators, or business executives. Perhaps my youthful enthusiam engrandized Miss Reed's global influence. But I was sure that this woman was moving mountains in China. I was proud of her, and hopeful for my own life’s meaningfulness.

My grandmother and aunt told me about the work of Willis and Ann McGill, their church’s missionaries in Egypt. I looked in a bound atlas and found it was a half a world away from Miss Reed's China. The people looked different and the dry terrain in Egypt was the color of peanut shells.

The McGills served in Egypt from 1937-1977. When they came back to Pennsylvania once a year to visit their sponsoring church, the McGills took turns staying in the homes of parishioners. My relatives heard details of their work in North Africa when they stayed in my grandparents home, and from their testimony in church. Everyone was captivated and sympathetic. The McGills brought out the best in us. They blessed us with the opportunity to help strangers a half a world away.

The McGill’s described village housing and churches with dirt floors. Children walked without shoes. Mothers were taught sanitary food preparation to avoid disease. The infant mortality rate was high. Mothers were told to keep flies from congregating in their babies' eyes. Fathers were jobless.

These were powerful images to a faithful group who proclaimed that every human being on earth had rights, dignity, and value. It begged the definition of the word "dignity." How could these people function without an opportunity to work to provide basic needs for their families?

The origins of economic malaise in some countries are complex. But it always results in a loss of life and suffering. I could only hope my Sunday School class' boxes of pennies gave them hope. What were their hopeful dreams? Probably the same as everyones' - peace and prosperity.

Advancing the ideals of liberty and prosperity was the notion that founded America. All peoples want self-determination. Schooling is key to self-reliance. A caring global community has often stepped in to do the quiet work of teaching people to read and write.

Davida Finney, the daughter of a missionary in Egypt started a literacy movement. The Christian and Arabic children formed friendships through her "rules." She paired the children and imposed a "learn one – teach one" requirement. All lessons were taught in Arabic. And they all got along. Wonderful.

Missionaries and secular human rights workers are in hundreds of countries today helping to improve people’s health and to teach basic skills. We're a generous people who support them with online donations. Children still collect pennies.

Perhaps our heartfelt generosity to the Egptians helped squelch simmering resentment by parents who painfully put their hungry children to bed at night. Maybe our humanity touched the angry heart of a would be terrorist.

Missionary stories from my childhood may have shaped my jubilation at hearing that Iraqi and Afghani women can go to school and hold elective office in their newly democratized countries. Now they have the option to build a robust economy to help secure their own future and to contribute to the interdependent global economy. A hopeful path to joining the 21st century.

Americans have a rich history of helping people in developing countries. Teen volunteers, church groups, USAid, Non Government Organizations, and corporate remainder donation programs have improved millions of lives.

I regret that Mohammed Atta, one of the 9/11 terrorists, was not touched by Willis & Ann McGill, Davina Finney, or my young friend David. Had they touched his heart with hope, perhaps our tragic history would not have been.

Literate self-reliant people free from tyranny and poverty are less likely to be recruited by totalitarian dictators to perform terrorist acts.

We at Lead Our Leaders are going to bring freedom and prosperity to the world one person at a time. Empowered people can form an enlightened critical mass to direct our elected leaders to solve the problems critical to our survival. Raise you hands – vote now!

WWWD:

World Vision - An organization supporting faith based health and economic development abroad.

Americares - Provides food and basic needs abroad.

What websites do you recommend for organizations that help the needy abroad?

Have you helped people abroad? Please share a personal empowering experience that will inspire us to do the same.

I wish you could read to me as you frequently have done after I sit down to sewing. Abigail Fillmore, 19 January 1830.

Tsunami relief: If these rivals can work together, why can't we?

2005-02-20T18:51:00.000-08:00

SURVIVAL ISSUES
POLARIZATINO & WEALTH INEQUALITIES

Former President Clinton and former President Bush put their political differences aside yesterday in Ban Nam Khem,Thailand to show America’s bipartisan support for humanitarian aid following the 26 December tsunami.

If these former political rivals can work together to solve survival issues in four Southeast Asian countries, let’s Lead Our Leaders to forget their past differences and work together to find solutions to our five survival issues: polarization, terror, deficits, wealth inequalities, and environment/energy

.The grace that these former political adversaries displayed to better the lives of our global neighbors is a positive sign to our chilly allies in Europe that the welfare of people matters more than political grandstanding. The neediest countries hope the reticent European governments will now step up to the plate to help.

The former Presidents were clearly moved during their tour of damaged coastal towns in Thailand. They continue their tour this week to devastated areas in Indonesia, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka. Shaken by a show of mean spirited politicking running up to our November election, our friends abroad were reassured to see this example of American bipartisan effort. So many nations depend on the support of the American government for their very survival. Their needs are great - we can't let them down.

President Bush asked his father and former President Clinton to lead the U.S. effort to provide private relief to victims of the tsunami.

The magnitude of the disaster – which killed a quarter million people and displaced over 1.6 million more – has generated the largest international relief effort in history.

"When it comes to helping people, politics is aside," Bush said. "I’ve enjoyed working with President Clinton." If former Presidents Bush and Clinton can suspend politics for people, why can’t our current legislators do the same?

"On issues about which there can be no debate, there should be no problems," Clinton said. There’s no debate when life is fragile, evil is looming, and challenges abound. Please vote here to Lead Our Leaders to secure our future.

WWWD:

Donate to tsunami relief.

What websites have compelled you to give to tsunami relief?

Have you participated in a relief effort in your town to aid the tsunami survivors?

Have you ever been the victim of a natural disaster who benefited from the kindness of strangers? Please tell us your story.

Plan how you may help those who want desperately to help themselves, but can find no practical way to do so. Lou Henry Hoover, 7 November 1931.

Condoleezza Rice is a hit in Europe: Was it the piano lessons?

2005-02-11T22:36:00.000-08:00

SURVIVAL ISSUES
TERROR & WEALTH INEQUALITIES

Who would have dreamed that Condoleeza Rice's first international tour as Secretary of State would help heal the hurt in Europe? She's only been on the job two weeks. How does she do it!

Dr. Rice's message in Paris focused on freedom and economic prosperity. Well, true - we all want to hear this. These are survival messages that Lead Our Leaders knows everyone agrees with. But how was America's top diplomat able to warm the hearts of Europeans who previously were wary of U.S. foreign policy?

The French love her so much that they've given her a new nickname: Condi Superstar.

Gianfranco Fini, Italy's foreign minister, gave Rice high praise this week. He said, "I don’t know if she can be defined as a hawk or a dove, but certainly she is a determined woman."

Dr. Rice displayed determination early in life. She started piano lessons at age three. At age five she played for the choir at the church where her father served as pastor.

Grandmother must have been right. She told me that the study of piano developed a variety of skills necessary for children to excel in life. Susie Temoy McFate taught piano beyond the age of 100 in her home to neighborhood children. At her funeral, former pupils told me how much her time with them meant to their lives.

Grandmother McFate said music lessons yield the 3 C's - concentration, coordination and confidence. Studying for a recital is difficult. I remembering wanting to go outside and play instead. But affording a child an opportunity to experience the pride of accomplishment? - priceless!

I know a teenager who stayed in high school for the opportunity to sing in chorus. She was a talented singer and loved to perform. Another potential dropout rescued - priceless!

Dr. Rice told music students this week in Paris that she’s learning Anton Dvorak’s "Piano Quintet in A Major." Dr. Rice plays piano in a chamber ensemble in Washington on weekends. Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe issued her a diplomatic proposal, "Next time, you play for Paris!"

Expect this Secretary of State to travel more than Secretary Powell did. The maestro loves an audience, and they love her.

SolutionGal predicts that Dr. Rice will open up a new chapter in American diplomatic relations that will compel people around the world to address polarization, terror, deficits, wealth inequalities and energy/environment issues.

Thusfar, the new Secretary of State gets a B+. And her potential to serve as a role model for kids around the world - priceless!

WWWD:

Learn about music education.

View Dr. Rice’s speeches from her European tour.

Have you found websites that help us learn more about music and kids?

Please share a personal empowering musical experience from your childhood.

I will never consent to have our sex considered in an inferior point of light. Let each planet shine in their own orbit. Abigail Adams, 3 February 1814

My new girlfriend: Securing her future

2005-02-09T22:19:00.000-08:00

SURVIVAL ISSUES :
POLARIZATION, TERROR, DEFICITS, WEALTH INEQUALITIES, & ENVIRONMENT/ENERGY

National Air and Space Museum Photo

Ever since I was a little girl, I've enjoyed riding on city buses. I enjoy looking at the interesting sights outside, and I enjoy talking to the interesting people inside. Today's ride made my heart sing.

I was riding on the number 30 bus in Washington, D.C., having more fun than a groupie at an Alicia Keys concert. Why? Because I was doing an Art Linkletter.

Talking with young children always brightens my day. Their sense of the world is sometimes more thought provoking than that of sage adults. And it always makes me laugh.

Learning from a five year old is a humbling experience that I cherish. Feeling a challenge to secure her future? -priceless!

Today was a temperate winter day in the nation’s capital. The flat, intense blue sky called for sunglasses. As I waited at the bus stop on Wisconsin Avenue near the Russian Embassy, I played my favorite imagery game: "Where do these people work and what societal problems will they work on today?" In this game, I try to guess what people do for a living by examining the amount of strain on their faces.

Everyone looked up from their paper on cue as the bus’ wheels screeched to a stop. I scaled the steep steps and plopped onto a seat in the front row between a napping woman and a little girl.

The girl was talking to a woman in an adjacent seat about what they planned to do today, as mothers and children often do. But at the next stop, the woman exited alone.

The intrigue piqued when the woman on the other side of me also left the girl behind. They had been discussing kindergarten curricula.

I’d vicariously been enjoying conversations between the bright little girl and both women. Her comments were clear and logical. By eavesdropping, I learned that the girl was five years old. But my enjoyment was inconsequential to my concern for her well being. Was she riding the bus alone?

Finally, it was my turn to be captivated. "Where are you going today?" I asked.

"My mother’s taking me to the doctor as soon as she’s through driving the bus," she explained.

She said she was five year old. "I go to kindergarden," she added with enthusiasm. She told me her name was Antonai. Her best friend’s name was Shaylin. They like to have tea parties.

Antonai was wearing crisp loose fitting blue jeans with a generous five-inch cuff. Very clever shopping on her mother’s part, I thought. They’ll last through this year’s growth spurt. She wore a bright white shirt under a stylish blue knit poncho. Her eyes sparkled under a cap of neat braids reminiscent of Xhosa girls on the Karoo in South Africa.

Antonai told me in remarkable detail what the pediatrician would be assessing today during her annual checkup. She would interrupt herself on occasion to describe a landmark we were passing. She was articulate and knowledgeable. She was a good tour guide. I sensed a love of her hometown.

She described an intense kindergarden core course. I gave her one- and two-digit numbers to add and "take away." She delighted in being able to calculate the answers quickly.

She lost an equation when her gaze became fixed on a large sculpture in front of the Air and Space Museum at the corner of Independence Avenue and Seventh Street. The sun refracting off Alejandro Otero’s stainless steel sculpture captured my stare, too. Parts of the sculpture move when the wind grabs the triangular sails that turn inside the stainless steel cubes. The neat grid pattern of the cubes seems fitting for a museum that celebrates the precision of engineering.

"Delta Solar" appears to sit in what once was a shallow pool to reflect changing light patterns. Since Antonai was a local, I asked her why there was no water in the pool. She tilted her head and said, "Because it didn’t rain today."

A phone call to the museum this afternoon revealed the real answer. There was a problem years ago with the underground pipes that supplied water to the pool. But I somehow liked Antonai’s naïvely logical explanation better.

"I think the work represents the age of energy and space," I said; always in my mother teaching mode. "The Air and Space Museum and this kinetic sculpture are probably meant to show our control over nature." No response. Antonai had perhaps the best explanation - and the only one that counts. She titled her head and said, "I like it cause it's pretty and shiny."

That afternoon, I recognized an important parallel... Failure to share a sculptor’s vision is a bit like our failure to be engaged by the crisis survival issues we’ve identified at Lead Our Leaders: polarization, the war on terror, America’s deficits, wealth inequalities, and the need to preserve our environment while meeting our future energy needs.

It’s an audacious task, but we have to do it for Antonai. I’m confident that this bright and optimistic girl will be part of the solution. I hope you and I will be too.

I asked Antonai to write her favorite word on my pad of paper. Without hesitation she neatly wrote "c-a-n." With my thoughts reverting to the growls of my empty stomach I asked, "Do you prefer canned pears or canned peaches?" She cocked her head as if in thought. "Can’s my favorite word because I can do anything I want!" This produced her biggest smile during our time together. "Yes, you can!" I said.

Antonai's comments stimulated my thinking in unexpected ways. My stop on Independence Avenue came more quickly than I wanted.

Now I was the third woman leaving the little girl behind on the bus, while her mother worked behind the wheel.

As I climbed off the bus in front of the Longworth House Office Building, I reflected on whether I would receive the same sagacity and hopefulness from my member of Congress as I did from my new girlfriend.

SolutionGal has always found her time with kids to be uplifting – even on a down day. Mentoring can be short term or long term. It can even be the short length of a bus ride.

WWWD:

Dial 1.800.CHILD.44 for tips on talking to kids.

Mentoring tips

What are helpful websites you've found on mentoring or parenting skills?

What was an unforgettable uplifting experience you had with a five year old?

There’s no such thing as other people’s children. Hillary Rodham Clinton to Newsweek, 15 January 1996

Social Security reform: Maybe my children will win this lottery

2005-02-07T23:38:00.000-08:00

SURVIVAL ISSUES :
POLARIZATION, DEFICITS & WEALTH INEQUALITIES

Does the current Social Security system amount to little more than a
gamble? President Bush thinks so, and in a way he’s right.

In his State of the Union address, the President made a robust push for social
security reform, challenging the nation to "do what Americans have always
done, and build a better world for our children and grandchildren."

This statement seems to be in response to one of the most frustrating aspects of the Social Security system: You can pay into Social Security all of your life, but there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to get anything out of it. In other words, you lose the lottery if you die before you’re eligible to collect Social Security.

The President’s proposed private personal accounts could help even the score. More than 45 million Americans currently rely on Social Security income, and millions more are expected to become eligible for benefits in this decade.

This massive payout reduces funds available for the domestic agenda, including money to reduce crime, protect our vanishing ecosystem, and educate our children.

Shouldn't we do all we can to avert higher taxes, massive borrowing, and severe cuts to our Social Security benefits? There's bipartisan support to restrain the government's spending appetite. Our children's prosperity will require reduction of deficits.

Under the President’s plan, workers may set aside part of their money for their own personal retirement account. The money would then go into a mix of conservative bonds and stock funds.

The plan appeals to me on two counts. First, if I die early, my heirs and charity choices get the money. Plus, I’m stimulating the economy by pumping capital into the private sector for business growth and job creation. I want to be part of the solution to secure the future.

I’ve known many people who died shortly after retirement. After paying thousands into the Social Security system, the only benefit their heirs or designated charities received was a survivor benefit check of about $200. They lost that lottery.

Social Security reform is and should be a bipartisan issue. In a 1999 speech, President Clinton proposed putting a portion of Social Security funds into the private sector, "where it will have a greater rate of return." Although the details may differ, it seems he and the current President are on the same page here. Great!

Under the President's proposal, only the younger generation would have an opportunity to create private accounts. I'm gonna bet they choose to put their allowable 3% into a private account. Surely our bright young adults could do better than the government's 1.3% rate of return.

Now the big question is: Can President Bush protect our future while promising to cut the federal budget? Can he, for example, reduce deficits without ignoring environmental and energy requirement issues?

SolutionGal thinks this lame duck President has a great opportunity to transform Social Security from the third rail of American politics into the great institution it was meant to be. Over the coming months, let’s keep an eye on Mr. Bush to see if he cashes in on this chance and, in doing so, helps ensure that our children’s future is no gamble. In the mean time, we can all work on securing our own future.

WWWD:

Manage your finances:
Social Security Online
Social Security Advisory Service
Go Direct – direct deposit for Social Security

Start or expand your business:
Small Business Association
CCH Business Owner’s Toolkit

What websites have helped you manage your money?

What website have you great insights on personal financial security?

Please share a personal empowering experience that helped you to earn more money.

A society in which there is widespread economic insecurity can turn freedom into a barren and vapid right for millions of people. Eleanor Roosevelt, 27 September 1948

State of the Union Address: The hug says it all

2005-02-03T23:34:00.000-08:00

SURVIVAL ISSUES :
TERROR & WEALTH INEQUALITIES

Two patriots from disparate countries embraced during President Bush's State of the Union Address tonight, affirming each other's contribution to a free world. There wasn't a dry in the House - or our house.

The woman facing us in the photo is Janet Norwood of Pflugerville, Texas. This mom sent a letter to President Bush stating that her son, Marine Sergeant Byron Norwood, was proud to protect Americans from terror. Sergeant Norwood lost his life during the assault on Al Falluja.

A woman seated near her in Laura Bush's box also experienced a loss at the hands of terrorists. Safia Taleb al-Suhail, whose back is to us in the photo, is a democracy and human rights advocate in Iraq. Her father was murdered by one of Saddam Hussein's henchmen. Safia proudly held up her right pointer finger to show the blue ink stain that marked her as a voter in her country's historic election.

The two women then hugged each other in a powerful display of emotion. By joining together in a physical embrace, these women created a symbol of unification that answered one of the President's challenges in his speech tonight: "Our third responsibility to future generations is to leave them an America that is safe from danger, and protected by peace."

As a daughter and mother, I could relate to the pain, bravery, and perseverance that these women displayed. None of us want to replicate their tortuous experience. But their example inspires me to help.

We want to protect our children from fear. It is one of the first challenges for parents of a toddler. My father unruffled me the first time I went in a row boat with him on choppy seas. My mother calmed me when flat black shadows moved off the walls onto my bed.

There are more dangers to defeat now than when I was a child. Let's Lead Our Leaders to focus on our survival issues: polarization, terror, deficits, wealth inequalities, and energy/environment

onment.The children in our charge after 9/11 have more monsters to quell than those mythical ones under their bed. The only force strong enough to stop the real terrorist monsters is to replace their montrous hatred with hope.

WWWD:

Supporting freedom abroad

Supporting freedom for women in Iraq

Have you experienced the loss of a loved one on foreign soil? What counseling & support websites were helpful to you?

Have you found websites that offer us opportunities to help women abroad who are struggling with injustice?

Everywhere, peace is uppermost in women's minds. Jacqueline Kennedy, 2 November 1960.

The election in Iraq: Their courage inspires us all

2005-01-31T20:44:00.000-08:00

SURVIVAL ISSUES :
TERROR & WEALTH INEQUALITIES

An estimated 8.5 million brave Iraqis went to the polls yesterday, affronting death threats by suicide bombers. Iraqis stood in long lines in the chilly air to vote for their future, knowing that it might be their last day of life.

I'll remember them with respect the next time I go to the polls. I won't complain about the long line and inclement weather. Never again.

We at Lead Our Leaders believe that all peoples on Earth are united by their desire for liberty and prosperity. Determined Iraqis proved this to us yesterday. They want what sometimes I take for granted. Never again.

Shiites, Sunnis, Muslims, Christians, Arabs, Kurds and Turks said by their vote that they no longer wanted a nonparticipatory dictatorship. Instead, they are willing to work together toward a brighter future.

There were 5,300 polling locations. American security efforts swelled the number of citizens willing to walk to the polls. Emerging from Polling Center Number 211 in Irbil, Iraq yesterday, an excited Qanaa Ayub was asked how she voted by a St. Petersburg Times reporter. Her son replied with a smile, "She voted for freedom."

The oppressor insurgents, with no platform, lost the election. The Iraqis, with the dream of liberty and prosperity through national participatory unity, won the election.

There was a time in America’s history when citizens were also excluded from the voting process. Like the Iraqis yesterday, women and blacks defied risk of murder to vote in a free election. Never again.

Community activists worked to secure a safe voting environment for women and blacks during those dark times in America. We’re a can-do nation with a heart. We help each other here, and we help friends abroad. Yea, I have a goodly heritage. Psalm 16:6.

Americans’ acts of personal courage and self-empowerment have been inspiring to the Iraqi people. Let’s continue the effort, by Leading Our Leaders to fix what’s broken with our political process. We can’t afford to pinball from one crisis to another.

WWWD:

Register to vote

Women voting in Iraq

Was your first voting experience memorable? How was it significant to you?

The whole point of women’s suffrage is that the government needs the point of view of all its citizens and the women have a point of view, which is of value to the government. Eleanor Roosevelt, 14 April 1924

The Inaugural: Please unite us

2005-01-20T23:32:00.000-08:00

SURVIVAL ISSUES:
POLARIZATION, TERROR & WEALTH INEQUALITIES

President Bush was re-elected by a 3.5 million national popular vote margin. Thank goodness there was no polarizing litigation this time around to certify the results. Hopefully the president will construe his clear victory as an opportunity to unite the country and the world. Let the healing begin!

As bitter as this campaign may have seemed, it’s helpful to recognize that the candidates had much in common. Neither President Bush nor Senator Kerry campaigned against the war. Both candidates campaigned on freedom from terrorism and renewed economic prosperity. Fine so far!

Even as we disagree on how our favorite candidate would have brought relief to our domestic challenges, Lead Our Leaders hope all our legislators will concentrate on five survival issues which transcend party politics: polarization, terror, deficits, wealth inequalities, and energy/environment issues. These are objectives consistent with our constitutional responsibilities and expectations. They determine our national and global future.

Without global stabilization, our borders will not protect us from terrorist attacks. Safe borders will allow trading opportunities, which will in turn provide a higher standard of living while enriching us through diverse human interchanges. Let the good times roll!

Free and strong allied countries can export and import goods, not their problems, like terror and drugs. Safe prosperity!

President Bush and Senator Kerry agreed that nation-building is not an American military task alone. Arguing now over who could best unite us is pointless. Let us concentrate on how to move forward together. We all want the same things: security and prosperity. So how hard could it be?

Let's put aside our party differences and work on our five survival issues. Rodney King made a great point: "Can't we all just get along?!"

But we can’t expect our legislators to reconcile their differences and move forward without us. We need to be a part of the solution. President Bush has said, "Every citizen should be an agent of his or her own destiny." True - heaven knows we can't depend on the government to determine our future for us.

Choices I've made over the years have shaped my story. Some of my choices were good -others bad. I learned practical lessons from my lamentable decisions, so I came to embrace my mistakes with gratitude. I'm glad my personal history didn't run solely on the wheels of inevitability, and I don’t want to let our nation’s history run its course without making an impact.

So I accept President Bush’s challenge to be an agent for change. Hence the title of my blog: Empower Yourself To Be The Solution. It's for you. And it's for me. I hope you'll help me along my journey.

Let's guide ourselves and our leaders toward a brighter future. I'm ready - and I hope you are too!

WWWD:

Lead Our Leaders will give you some background on our five most pressing survival issues.

Volunteer:
Volunteer Match

Learn to talk with kids about terrorism:
Talking With Kids

Learn to keep safe from terrorism:
U.S. Travel Info.
Red Cross terrorism services

Have you found good websites on volunteering, helping yourself, and helping others?

Please inspire us by sharing an empowering personal experience that helped you toward a goal.

I believe that there is a future in anything that one is vitally interested in. Lou Henry Hoover, 6 February 1942.

Welcome to my blog! Will you be the ring bearer?

2005-01-01T10:21:00.000-08:00

SURVIVAL ISSUES:
POLARIZATION, WAR ON TERROR, WEALTH INEQUALITIES, DEFICITS &
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

Oh! Wanderers in the shadowed land despair not!... Frodo's song

I’ve always wanted to save the world. Click here to get to know me. So why have my annual New Year’s resolutions been so myopic?

Every year I’ve come up with self-help regimens designed to banish my personal pesky demons. Mine was the mantra of pretty much every American adult in early January—exercise more, and hold the dessert. But this year, something’s different. The 2004 presidential campaign has changed the way I look at New Year’s resolutions forever.

November’s election illustrated that political candidates often opine on cultural issues unrelated to our survival. We’re bombarded with shards of rancorous rhetoric on issues about which voters are nearly evenly divided. Why are our political leaders failing us? We need leadership rather than more buck passing, procrastination, and partisans blaming the other team.

After the elections, I found myself wishing that politicians would spend less time arguing about culturally divisive issues, and more time cooperating to change the world for the better. I wondered what I could do to hold our office-holding politicians accountable to work together, with civility and respect, to solve our most crucial challenges. In short, I wanted to know how I can help to Lead our Leaders?

This year, I want to reach beyond my chocolate addiction. Shouldn’t I work to secure the future of our next generation instead? Our world is facing urgent survival issues. Why can’t you and I be virtual-lobbyists and Lead Our Leaders to change the way politics is done in America?

This is a daunting task and I’ll need your help. We can do it! The hero’s journey is one of the most common archetypes in literature. A hero doesn’t have to be physically strong, tough, or even brave. All she needs is vision, a little imagination, and determination! Ordinary heroes, with their individual flaws and weaknesses, like Rahab in the Bible, Joan of Arc, Dante inspired by Beatrice, Mary Wollstonecraft, Dinah Maria Mulock, Alice in Wonderland, Florence Nightingale’s Cassandra, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Lucy & Susan in C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicle of Narnia, Lassie, Norma Rae, Erin Brokovitz, Laura Croft and Samantha Carter have shared their stories of saving the world. Little guys, like you and me, can slay the dragons of ignorance and intolerance and save the world.

For inspiration I turn to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, an epic tale of one small hobbit’s heroic quest to vanquish evil and establish world peace. Frodo Baggins is a common Hobbit who is forced to carry a ring on a perilous journey to save his people in the mythical land of Middle-earth.

Tolkien experienced social and political challenges in the early 20th century that may have forged his commitment to pen Frodo’s empowering journey. Wealth inequalities of the military corps in WW-I, and the injustice of child labor during the Industrial Revolution were realities of his life in England. Incensed by government policy that was not in the best interest of the people, Tolkien gave us a ring-bearing hero to protect the world and drive away evil. Tolkien’s books are wonderful meditations on the power of friendship and the commitment to helping others in times of peril.

I’d be honored if you’d start a noble journey with me as a ring bearer to make our global village a better place.

Our world is vulnerable like Frodo’s Middle-earth. We, like Frodo, are humble people who feel called to save the world. But you and I can’t do it alone—we need the assistance and friendship of this world’s Sams, Gandolphs, and even Gollums. Please visit our Lead Our Leaders website for a discussion of the five issues threatening our existence. We must be the Frodos in the struggle to ameliorate polarization, terror, wealth inequalities, deficits, energy crises and environmental damage.

Please vote in our website’s virtual voting booth. Tell our leaders that you want them to work to solve our five survival issues. And please read my blogs for ideas on how we all can be ring bearers to save our corner of the world. Frodo was an ordinary man like you and I who volunteered to be the ring bearer to destroy the evil ring.

Frodo represents the good of every person like you and me. Frodo, you and I are the heroes needed today.

Tolkien’s Hobbits are small ordinary people called upon to perform extraordinary acts. Their valor inspires us all.

One Ring to rule them all,
One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all
And in the darkness bind them.

Let’s work together to change the ring of rancorous partisan politics into one of cooperative struggle for positive global change.

Will you join me in being a ring bearer in this eternal theme of common man triumphing over complacency? Please go to our website and start now!

Thanx - Mary