Opinion (Laurence Brahm, lawyer, global activist, international mediator, political columnist and author): “The UN Conference on Sustainable Development or Rio+20 held June 20-22 was intended to reaffirm political commitments made during the Earth Summit of 1992, and to frame a roadmap of principles to address climate change, food and water security, and the crisis of our global financial system. In the months leading to Rio+20 anticipation of some positive outcome was high. There was some reason for hope.

“UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon himself had declared, ‘We need to invent a new model — a model that offers growth and social inclusion — a model that is more respectful of the planet’s finite resources.  That is why I have made sustainable development my number one priority.’

“But unfortunately, that is not what happened at Rio.

“The truth is Rio+20 failed us. Executive director of Greenpeace, Kumi Naidoo summed it up. ‘The Rio Earth Summit will not bring about the Future We Want, it will provide a stark and distressing reminder of the present we have. A world in which public health, human rights and sustainable development are subordinate to private profit, shallow national interest and business as usual.’…

“Rio+20 was a UN orchestrated theatre aimed to give people hope that global leaders can construct a framework to assure our planet’s future. For those on the ground it was just the opposite, underscoring political inability and lack of will to address financial crisis, poverty, income gap widening, food and water security, and imminent disasters of unmitigated climate change. …

“In the corridors and streets activists and youth recognized that the problems of our planet are not in trying to create more consumption, but rather in over consumption.”

My Comment: Reducing production and saving will solve nothing! This is only the next mistake of humanity, distracting it from the only solution: to correct its egoistic nature, to unite like all parts of nature, but consciously, according to the level of “man” (speaking).

Since our egoism (help against you, the Pharaoh, approaching the Creator) must lead us to correction, then it will not let us reach agreement at any conference, and this will push us so that we will not remain in it, in exile, but we will be forced to come out of it (our Egypt).
[82893]

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Opinion (Fritjof Capra, Ph.D., physicist and systems theorist, is a founding director of the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California, the author of five international bestsellers): “Symbiosis is so widespread throughout the living world that it has to be considered a central aspect of life. … Similar patterns of coordination exist in tightly knit animal societies of higher complexity. Extreme examples are the social insects – bees, wasps, ants, termites, and others – that form colonies whose members are interdependent and in such close contact that the whole system resembles a large, multicreatured organism.

“Bees and ants are unable to survive in isolation, but in great numbers they act almost like the cells of a complex organism with a collective intelligence and capabilities for adaptation far superior to those of its individual members. This phenomenon of animals joining up to form larger organismic systems is not limited to insects but can also be observed in several other species, including, of course, the human species.

“Close coordination of activities exists not only among individuals of the same species but also among different species, and again the resulting living systems have the characteristics of single organisms. Many types of organisms that were thought to represent well-defined biological species have turned out, upon close examination, to consist of two or more different species in intimate biological association.

“This phenomenon, known as symbiosis, is so widespread throughout the living world that it has to be considered a central aspect of life. Symbiotic relationships are mutually advantageous to the associated partners, and they involve animals, plants, and microorganisms in almost every imaginable combination. Many of these may have formed their union in the distant past and evolved toward ever more interdependence and exquisite adaptation to one another.”

My Comment: A human being broke away from nature and that is why he does not follow its laws instinctively, but has to learn them consciously and follow them. In this case, following the laws of nature takes him to the next level of knowledge—above it, to its source, its root, the Creator, according to the principle: “By Your actions I will know You.”
 [82816]

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In the News (from Daily Disruption): “Worldwide, 2011 was the coolest year on record since 2008, yet temperatures remained above the 30 year average, according to the 2011 State of the Climate report released online today by NOAA. The peer-reviewed report, issued in coordination with the American Meteorological Society (AMS), was compiled by 378 scientists from 48 countries around the world. It provides a detailed update on global climate indicators, notable weather events and other data collected by environmental monitoring stations and instruments on land, sea, ice and sky.

“‘2011 will be remembered as a year of extreme events, both in the United States and around the world,” said Deputy NOAA Administrator Kathryn D. Sullivan, Ph.D. ‘Every weather event that happens now takes place in the context of a changing global environment. This annual report provides scientists and citizens alike with an analysis of what has happened so we can all prepare for what is to come.’ …

“The report also provides details on a number of extreme events experienced all over the globe, including the worst flooding in Thailand in almost 70 years, drought and deadly tornado outbreaks in the United States, devastating flooding in Brazil and the worst summer heat wave in central and southern Europe since 2003.”

My Comment: Kabbalah says (Baal HaSulam “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” p. 12) that among all the still, vegetative and animal inhabitants of the planet, only a human being, by his egoistic behavior, affects what happens on the Earth, including its climate, determines all the events, and all the other components of nature depend on his behavior. So, change your behavior, and you will stop suffering!
[82799]

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Opinion (Wolfgang Münchau, from the Financial Times): “The consensus among observers had been that the EU had taken an important step in the right direction by agreeing a pathway towards a banking union, but that they did not do enough on crisis resolution. I disagree with that statement. I think it was a very large step – in the wrong direction. The summit made a concrete crisis resolution decision contingent on a future decision, which will be even harder to reach, and thus even more likely to fail.

“They agreed that there shall be no common bank recapitalisation until a full banking union is established. And the Bundesbank has reminded us that the latter is not possible without a political union. The logical implication is that we won’t solve the crisis for the next 20 years.”

My Comment: The program of correction implicit in nature will soon force us to work on our correction due to total despair and the threat of destruction.
[82754]

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Question: Recently, you often mention that the world is rapidly advancing and that we are falling behind. What do we do to realize this?

Answer: I try to express it in my blog where I cite the most current events covered by the press and give a short comment. In fact, my comments are very similar, there is nothing special, but when someone reads them or scrolls the blog, he gets the impression of the world dynamics. This is exactly what I pursue: focusing people on current problems. Personally, I also do it to keep myself in the midst of these problems.

It will change soon. Many facts can no longer be concealed since it’s impossible to hide everything.

It provokes a huge antagonism, a very acute, complicated, secretive battle among sociologists, politicians, and the wealthy, since for several decades the world has been run by the rich and we see now where they have brought us.

Politicians cater to them because they cannot do anything on their own. No one can resist money; everybody needs it. As a result, the world is where it is.

Today, we are facing a huge problem: We have to pay for it! In Russian, it’s called “razborka,” a mafia term that reflects a blame game about “Who is to blame?” The guilty party is a pool of rich people who overtook the world and suppressed politicians.

On the other hand, to a certain extent, they inadvertently prevented wars, since those who think of profits are afraid of wars, so they didn’t let politicians expand their ambitions. However, at this time, neither the circles of rich people, nor the politicians have any idea what to do next.

As strange as it may look, we have to emerge on the scene at this time, a tiny, “useless,” insignificant, ideological organization. Really, who and what are we?

However, you’ll see that our ideas will be perceived as the most realistic; moreover, nobody will be capable of implementing them. We are totally open: Everybody is welcome to browse the Internet, take anything they wish from us, but no one will “steal” anything from us even though we are eager to give it to others so that they can start implementing it. Nobody except us can make roundtable discussions and unity meetings since they don’t possess internal power, from the source, something that our organization has. So, we are about to begin a great work and are facing a very serious period of time.

Gradually, there will be some tension spreading from Europe. It will be felt in the USA, and subsequently in Canada. Slowly but surely people will begin thinking about these problems. Although, we don’t have to wait for that, since we don’t want the world to take the path of suffering. Small afflictions are necessary to make people open their ears, but not more than that.
[82047]
From a “Talk During the Meal in Toronto” 6/19/12

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In the News (from The Washington Post): “Throughout the Cold War, the United States kept land-based missiles with nuclear warheads on alert and ready to launch in three to four minutes after the president gave the order. Every president of the missile age was briefed about the procedure: In the event of an impending attack, the decision to launch would have to be made in 13 minutes or less. …

“Today, two decades after the end of the Cold War, one-third of U.S. strategic forces, including almost all land-based missiles and some sea-based, are still on launch-ready alert. … The United States and Russia have as many as 1,800 warheads on alert at any given time.”

My Comment: This is what led us to the unbridled development of our egoistic nature or to either death from egoism or its correction. The near future will show whether the effort of our unity will outweigh it in order to bring the force of correction of mass egoism to the world.
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Opinion (from Comstock Partners): “The U.S economy has been slowing in the last two or three months. Either downside surprises or actual declines have been reported in key economic indicators relating to consumer spending, new orders, production and employment. …

“The Chinese economy is slowing, perhaps by more than the official numbers show. … China’s economic model is heavily dependent on capital investments and exports, while internal consumer spending remains a relatively small part of GDP. … All in all, it seems that it will be difficult to avoid a hard landing.

“The slowdown in Europe, the U.S. and China is also impacting the economies of the emerging nations, which are heavily dependent on exports. Declining growth is also driving down commodity prices. Despite all of the talk of decoupling, it seems apparent that the economies of all nations are linked and that there is little prospect of an oasis of prosperity in an increasingly dependent world. …

“Unfortunately, the monetary and fiscal authorities are out of ammunition. … We believe that the April 2nd peak in the S&P 500 marked the top of the uptrend from the March 2009 lows, and that a major market decline is ahead.”

My Comment: Not a single expert has a plan of getting out of the general crisis because it is total, multi-faceted, and interrelated. The world has become interconnected and requires a similar interconnected approach. It can be provided only by an integrally organized community that has a feeling and understanding of the interconnected world.

Of course, it is possible to continue the attempts to lead this world in an egoistic, protectionist manner, but this promises huge suffering that will bring us to the need to change ourselves to survive in the new interrelated world. We will not manage without implementing mandatory integral education and upbringing for the population, and the sooner we realize this, the less damage the exit of the crisis will cause us.
[82606]

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About 450 people gathered in the Leo Baeck Center to attend the roundtable meeting of representatives of social and educational organizations. Along with the initiators of the project, including the Association of Community Centers, the HaTzofim movement (the Hebrew Scouts Federation), the Arvut movement, the Bnei Moshavim movement and the Volunteer Association, there were representatives of the youth movement Noar Oved ve’Lomed (the Federation of Working and Studying Youth) whose blue shirts stood out. This event demonstrated the possibility of dialogue in which different parties come to collaboration.

[Show slideshow]

[82522]  

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Opinion (Dr. Peggy Drexler, Author, Research Psychologist, Gender Scholar): “A 2010 Federal Reserve survey – done every three years – found a staggering 40 percent drop in household net worth. With the economy continuing to struggle in the areas that hit people hardest  – home and jobs – the next survey is unlikely to show an appreciable drop in pain, possibly not for years to come. …

“As families struggle financially, they often change.

“Anxiety and depression take seats at the dinner table. Children – with their receptors to parental mood always running wide open – will sense the change in household tone. They will pick up on even the subtle shifts in the rhythms of daily routines.

Worse, they may see the loss of homes, changes in schools and friends, even verbal and physical abuse as the family fault lines crack under the unrelenting stress of getting through the month.

“Children pushed into poverty by a recession, the report says, are three times more likely to be poor themselves than those who managed to stay more affluent. ‘In short,’ say the authors, ‘the conditions of today will give rise to the next generation of poor Americans.’

“The recession has also had its way with the trust and expectations of young adults — particularly the younger end of the Millennials. …

“They are forced to assume that ‘everything that came before them was a mirage – that it was built on unsafe foundations.’

“People will find their way back to confidence. But especially for those growing up under the weight of its fearsome uncertainties, it will be with us for generations to come.”

My Comment: Integral upbringing obliges our creating public dining rooms, clubs, athletic fields, voluntary childcare, and a cultural mass leisure, and so on. It is about creating an environment that will raise up the people of the future, and not grow the lumpenproletariat. The problem is not in the means, but in the desire to organize that our egoism stops.
[82525] 

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In the News (from The Slatest): “Being spanked, slapped, pushed, or hit as a child, even when these punishments are not a part of full-scale maltreatment, are linked to an increased risk of mental illness in adulthood in a new study published in Pediatrics. …

“Lead author Tracie Afifi recommends that physical punishment not be used on children of any age, and that positive parenting strategies be employed instead. Spanking, and other forms of physical punishment on children, is illegal in 32 countries, not including the United States. The American Academy of Pediatrics, however, officially discourages it. …

“Close to 80 percent of American preschool children are spanked, according to a 2010 University of North Carolina study.”

My Comment: There is no other method of education, except an example, especially when it comes not from adults, but from peers. The environment is always the only effective and positive means of upbringing. Nothing can replace a good example of friends.
[82411]

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