Global Healing: Blog

The protest bells are ringing in Nigeria and the masses are coming out to say no to a president they voted massively for in an election that was termed one of the most transparent elections in the country's entire history.

In 2011, the people of Nigeria went to the polls to select a new leader, the then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan who had automatically succeeded his boss Umaru Yaradua.  Umaru Yaradua became the first democratically elected Nigerian leader to die in ofice.  Since President Yaradua could not complete, the Vice President Goodluck Jonathan succeeded him as President.

Unlike in years past where no president has risen from the oil producing Niger Delta,  President Jonathan shattered that jinx. The good will that accompanied the emergence of President Goodluck Jonathan was enormous as many whisper “good luck”  to Nigeria with a leader who co-incidentally was name Goodluck. To many it was the arrangement of fate, it was the turning point and finally President Goodluck was the man to make the difference.

But nearly one year after the election, that goodwill seems not enough to support the president’s tough decision to remove the fuel subsidy. Nigeria is is the tenth largest producer of oil in the world according the the CIA World Fact Book and 2nd largest oil exporter according to OPEC.  It is reported that the country produces over 2.4 million barrels of oil a day.  Still, with all this production, the country does not have a functional refinery.

The oil is taken outside the country to be refined and the government subsidizes it to be sold to Nigerians. But on new year's day, the government announced the removal of the fuel subsidy.

It was not long before the impact was felt, as prices of fuel automatically rise to over double the amount before the announcement. It dose not stop there as transportation fares and food prices doubled and in some cases more than double.

In recent years, political leaders have been accused of deceit and corruption. In a country where over 70% of the population are said to be poor, the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade union congress have rejected the government action. A group called 'occupy Nigeria' have organized a series of protests at home and abroad against the action of the government.

When the 2012 budget was announced, close to a billion naira was budgeted for presidential feeding with the exchange rate staggering around 1 US dollar to 150 naira. There are jumbo pay and jumbo allowances for political office holders and Nigerian are demanding it be reduced.

The government team lead by the former managing director of the World Bank, Okonjo Iweala, has said the removal of the fuel subsidy is in the best interest of Nigeria. It is reported that three of Nigeria's leading billionaires and key politicians are exploiting the existence of the fuel subsidy to enrich themselves. The Senate had investigate and came up with names but no action has been taken.

The government had secured an injunction from industrial court to stop the Labour congress and trade union from going on with the strike but the Labour and trade union leaders have assured the strikes would go on.

In a last minute effort to stop the strike the president announced a 25%  slash on salary of all political office holder but the Labour congress and trade union have said that it will not stop them. The strike is to start on the 9th of January. The Labour congress have announced that airports, seaport, borders and offices will be shut down from mid-night.  

Mfon Abel Ekene is an agent for positive change and for global healing from Ikot Ntuen, Akwa Ibom, Nigeria

Editor's Note: Former U.S. Senator Timothy Wirth is President of the United Nations Foundation.

As the eyes of the world are focused on the Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations in New York, another troubling chapter is unfolding in Paris. The United States is on the brink of abandoning its decades-long leadership in several international organizations – a process that will fundamentally undermine American national security and economic interests.

At issue are two laws from the early 1990s that prohibit the United States from providing financial contributions to any United Nations entity that admits Palestine as a member. The laws are strict: if Palestine is admitted to a U.N. agency, the United States must stop paying its membership dues. The restrictions provide no authority for the president to waive these prohibitions even if it is in the national interest to do so.

With a clear majority of countries around the world prepared to back Palestinian ambitions at the United Nations, the United States is poised to lose its leverage over several U.N. bodies that advance American interests and promote our ideals.

The damage to Americans of a forced withdrawal would not stop there. The first U.N. agency from which the United States could be pushed out is UNESCO, which admitted Palestine as a member today. To Americans, UNESCO is best known for designating World Heritage Sites. It also leads global efforts to bring clean water to the poor, promotes educational and curriculum building in the developing world, and manages a tsunami early warning system in the Pacific, among other important tasks. This critical work would be jeopardized if UNESCO’s top funder stops paying its bills.

The immediate damage would not be limited to UNESCO. The moment Palestine is admitted to UNESCO it will also clear the path for its entry to the World Intellectual Property Organization. This is a lesser known U.N. agency that serves American businesses and brands by setting global standards for copyrights and adjudicating cross border patent disputes.  In the last year alone, dozens of major American companies brought cases before WIPO — the American Automobile Association, Apple, The North Face, Costco and Facebook to name just a few.  If Palestine joins WIPO, the United States will have to pull out, limiting its ability to steer policies in ways that advance American economic interests and create jobs here at home.

The damage would not stop there. The membership of U.N. agencies like the International Civil Aviation Organization, International Postal Union, and the International Telecommunications Union are also likely to admit Palestine.  Each of these agencies performs tasks that American lawmakers probably take for granted. Thanks to the Universal Postal Union, the Chinese will deliver a package with American postage stamps on it and vice versa. Air traffic controllers in Dubai and Dulles speak the same language because of the International Civil Aviation Organization.  Alas, under the 1990s laws, the USA will lose its voice at those organizations once they admit Palestine. Without the United States as a voting participant, perhaps French supplants English as common language of

Next on the list of agencies from which the USA would be forced to withdraw is the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Health Organization. In recent years the IAEA has been a critical part of American attempts to constrain the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea. In 2006, the Bush administration successfully lobbied other members of the IAEA executive board to refer Iran’s nuclear program to the Security Council for sanctions. Should the United States stop paying membership dues to the IAEA–which it could be forced to do under current legislation if Palestine is admitted as a member — the United States would give up our vote on the executive board. It would literally lose a seat at the table during the next nuclear crisis.

The WHO works closely with the United States–particularly the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — to keep infectious diseases like the Avian Flu from reaching our shores. If the Palestinians are admitted to the WHO, that cooperation would have to stop under the current law.
Read: New Security Council takes shape.

Should the U.S. pull out of these organizations; it is not as if these organizations would stop functioning altogether. Rather, an agency like IAEA may have to reduce the number of nuclear inspectors it deploys around the world. Other countries, maybe even America’s global rivals, will step into fill the leadership void left by the United States.

As long as these laws remain on the books, Congress is setting the stage for America’s waning influence over international affairs.  From businesses interests to non-governmental organizations who care about America’s influence at the U.N., everyone must take a stand and urge Congress to give the President the flexible authority needed protect our national security and economic interests.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of Timothy Worth. For more views on the United Nations, visit U.N. Dispatch.

 

Superman, who has long stood for “truth, justice, and the American way” has decided that in order to be better able to respond to global issues, that he needed to renounce his U.S. citizenship.

After participating in a peaceful non-violent demonstration in Tehran, Iran, one of the President’s national security advisors was angered at the diplomatic problems that Superman had caused.  From the Iranian perspective Superman was viewed as an agent of the U.S. government and thus his appearance in Iran was viewed as an act of war.

Superman acknowledges that it was foolish on his part to think that his actions would not reflect politically on the American government. He decided to respond to this problem by renouncing his U.S. citizenship at the United Nations for all the world to know.

Superman commented that “Truth, Justice, and the American Way, is not enough anymore” to be able to deal with global justice issues.

Rumors began to circulate that Superman was concerned that Donald Trump might soon be asking to see his birth certificate, or that he might be charged as an illegal alien.   Others speculated that his viewing Sam Keen’s Global Justice presentation coupled with the experience in Iran led him to the conclusion that his U.S. identity was getting in the way of solving global problems.

Comics Alliance reports, “It doesn't seem that he's abandoning those values, however, only trying to implement them on a larger scale and divorce himself from the political complexities of nationalism. Superman also says that he believes he has been thinking "too small," that the world is "too connected" for him to limit himself with a purely national identity. As an alien born on another planet, after all, he "can't help but see the bigger picture."”  

Issues such as nuclear disarmament, peace, human rights, international justice, and protection of the environment, are issues that need global cooperation. Global issues require all citizens of the world. like Superman, to evolve their thinking.   Like Superman, we might all benefit if we stop thinking so small, by seeing the global connections, and the bigger picture that we are one planet, one people.   As one human family we might all do better focusing on our oneness more than our differences.

Former U.N. Under-Secretary General Anwurl Chowdhury echoed a similar theme in his recent visit to Tampa Bay, Florida, where he commented on the need for Global Oneness to solve Global problems.  Ambassador Chowdhury's comment

U.S. citizens need not renounce their citizenship to take a more global world view or to see the big picture.   They can in fact encourage their government to do the same through stronger support of the United Nations and/or joining groups such as the United Nations Association USA, Friends of the U.N., or supporting the Global Healing Initiative.

Together we can make a super effort for a more just and sustainable planet.

In 1970 Dave was a student at California Lutheran University and held the position of Religious Activities Commissioner in the Student Government.

With the support of Rev. Gerry Swanson, the College Chaplain, and the assistance of two other students, Will Hall and Susie Struck, Dave reallocated his budget to celebrate the first Earth Day.

So many good ideas soon surfaced that the event quickly became a week-long celebration and included, not only the college community, but the entire city of Thousand Oaks, California.

The week long program included:

• Clifford Humphrey, founder of Ecology Action and dubbed "Grandfather of the Recycling Movement". His photo pushing a globe in a baby buggy made the cover of New York Times magazine that first Earth Day 1970.

• Beach clean-up and party

• Tree planting at the campus chapel and service for the Earth

• Free community movie, featuring the story of John Wesley Powell's exploration of the Grand Canyon in the Walt Disney movie. "The Ten Who Dared", along with a Donald Duck cartoon about littering.

• Lecture on air pollution from professor from Oxnard

• Lecture on population, pollution, and survival from Dr. Wayne Davis.

• Danny Cox, who provided an outdoor concert and picnic preceded by a litter clean-up day.
Some of the key issues of the day, were how to stop pollution (especially litter), recycling, air pollution, and toxic chemicals being used in fertilizers.

The first Earth Day attracted an estimated 20 million participants in programs across the nation. The event was so politically popular that that Congresspersons and Senators scrambled to find a place to give a speech to their constituents as Congress was closed for the day.

Soon after, strongly bipartisan efforts worked to establish the U.S. EPA, and pass environmental legislation, such as the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Act.

The Earth Day efforts were supported by business and labor, Republicans and Democrats, farmers and city dwellers; and the rich and the poor of our nation.

In fact, being for a more clean and healthy environment was so politically popular that Sen. Jacob Javitz from New York expressed concern that people were working so hard for the environment that they might forget other issues like poverty, hunger, and the war.

Reese remembers his first Earth Day planting lemon and orange trees in Marin County. I remember thinking that someday these bee-pollinated fruit trees would give us such a wonderful bounty of citrus; and today those trees yield such a plentiful crop that we give more than three quarters of them away as gifts from the Earth.

Fast forward 20 years from the first Earth Day, and the issues were beginning to become more complex, though a spirit of optimism and plans for large-scale international cooperation for solutions still prevailed.

In 1987 the Bruntland Report, Our Common Future, had been published outlining a global agenda and potential solutions through international cooperative efforts.

That same year, the Montreal Protocol, provided the world with a great example of how international cooperation could solve serious environmental problems and addressed the pressing issue of the depletion of the ozone layer and put the planet on track to recover by the year 2050.

In 1989, our colleague, Dr. Noel Brown, former Director of UNEP for the North American Region and U.N. Headquarters in NY, was instrumental in achieving the success of the Montreal Protocol. He spoke of the upcoming challenges of climate change and the hopeful possibility that the U.N. would give the Earth actual rights and empower a new group to enforce those rights of the Earth.

This new spirit of international cooperation set the tone for the 20th Earth Day anniversary in 1990, where people were preparing for the upcoming Earth Summit in 1992. In the short 20 years, Earth Day had gone from a largely U.S. event with 20 million people to an international event with 200 million participants from 145 countries.

The issues now included climate change, deforestation, population, conserving biodiversity, a possible new Earth Charter, and a program for sustainable development.

In 1992, the optimism and previous foundation of international cooperation was weakened considerably at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. While the Earth Summit did move forward with a Climate Convention and Biological Diversity Convention, there was opposition to both. The Forest Convention was watered down to a statement on Forest Principals, the Earth Charter was reduced to a short Rio Declaration, and population was removed from the agenda altogether. Despite these setbacks, Agenda 21 was put in place as a global blueprint to move the world to sustainable practices and governance.

Fast forward to 20 years later to 2010, the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.

Scientists have now identified limits to the Earth's systems. In an article in Nature, Johan Rocstrom and his co-authors argue that to avoid catastrophic environmental change, humanity must stay within defined planetary boundaries. If one boundary is transgressed, then safe levels for other processes could also be under serious risk. The planetary boundaries include: climate change, ocean acidification, atmospheric aerosol loading, chemical pollution, land system changes, ozone depletion, overload of phosphorus and nitrates, and decreasing fresh water resources.

While the problems are more serious, needing more urgent attention, with more serious consequences, we no longer have the global community acting together to work toward solutions. Republicans have chosen to discard science in favor of corporate economic interests and protecting the wealthy. Further attempts are being made to divide business and labor, and wealth is increasingly being transferred to the wealthy at the expense of the poor, elderly, disabled, and the environment.

That was then. Now is Earth Day 2011

In a strange metaphor, Earth Day this year falls on Good Friday as if we are being reminded that the Earth is being crucified by the collective actions of humanity.

We are reminded, though, Good Friday is followed by Easter, a day set in the Christian Calendar by the cycles of nature, the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.

There are many signs of hope that it is not too late to change direction to one of greater international cooperation and sustainability.

Some positive Earth Day signs of hope include:

• The Earth Day Network, now has 22,000 partners in 192 countries promoting green education, a green economy, and this year has adopted as its theme, "A Billion Acts of Green".

• The United Nations has now declared April 22nd as International Mother Earth Day and the issues of Rights of the Earth are once again being discussed.

• Tourism, the largest industry in the world, now has a Global Sustainable Tourism Council with a criteria for the tourist industry from around the world to operate more sustainably. This initiative came from a coalition of the United Nations Environment Programme, The U.N. Foundation, the U.N. World Tourism Council, and the Rainforest Alliance.

• Large corporations are working to become more "Green" and providing the public with more "Green Messaging". As an example, the Walt Disney Company deliberately opened the Animal Kingdom in 1998 on Earth Day. From the beginning they brought conservation messages and environmental education to its attractions at the theme park. Each year The Animal Kingdom celebrates Earth Day with many activities for both the young and old at heart. The underlying theme of the park is conservation and preservation, and is based on a quote by Walt Disney, "I have learned from the animal world, and what everyone will learn who studies it is, a renewed sense of kinship with the earth and all its inhabitants." More recently, the Walt Disney Company launched the DisneyNature program, releasing a new film each Earth Day. To date the Earth Day releases have included the films, "Earth" in 2009, "Oceans" in 2010, and "African Big Cats" in 2011. "Penguins" is scheduled for Earth Day 2012 and "Hidden Beauty: A Love Story that Feeds the Earth" is scheduled for release in 2013.

• California Lutheran University, where Dave led the first Earth Day Celebration in 1970 and where Reese currently lectures, will have a week-long celebration of Earth Day. Activities will include: a new online pledge that all faculty, staff, and students are being encouraged to complete, a promotion for using local and organic food, a water conservation display, an acoustic music concert (no electricity), giving reusable water bottles to students, installation of new sustainable water fountains where water bottles can be filled up and the fountains will count and display the number of refills, disposable bottles saved from landfills, and a blessing of bikes, skateboards, and feet for alternative transportation by campus pastors.


While Cal Lutheran continues the Earth Day tradition now beginning this 5th decade of Earth Days since its 1970 program, it is working year round for a sustainable campus. Its current plan calls for a path forward to become climate neutral, improve on its energy, transportation, waste, water systems, implement sustainable procurement plans, improve buildings and landscaping, and enhance the environmental curriculum of the college.

Cal Lutheran seems to be on a path where Earth Day is every day, a path we encourage the global community to join.

It was the collaboration of Republicans and Democrats, business and labor, farmers, and city dwellers, and education from colleges and universities that helped translate the first Earth Day into meaningful public policy.

This cooperative problem solving approach is needed again to face the challenges of the planetary boundaries so all humanity can live more sustainably and respect nature.


Dr. David Randle is President & CEO of the WHALE Center. Dr. Reese Halter is an Earth Doctor; Science Communicator: Voice for Ecology, conservation biologist at Cal Lu University and public speaker. Contact through www.DrReese.com

Dave's 88-year-old father has been involved in the space program most of his career. We have always been interested and supportive of the space program and the benefits that it has brought to all humankind. When Dave served as John Denver's environmental and political advisor, support for the space program was one of his top six priorities.

Recently, at the Kennedy Space Center, Dave picked up an Apollo 13 hat for his dad. It had the wording, "Failure is not an Option". The hat seemed fitting as his dad had been told a couple years ago that he had only three days to live. He didn't accept the prognosis and sought other treatment. For him failure was not an option so the hat seemed quite fitting for him to wear in the event he has to go to the hospital again.

Recently we heard a podcast where the NASA Space program was used as a metaphor for how we might better respond to critical environmental issues of our time.

This naturally caught our attention.

The story begins with the Apollo 11 mission to the moon. This was the mission where Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the moon. The landing for this mission was tense and uncertain but they made it. The famous words were spoken by Neil Armstrong: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

The Apollo 12 mission then followed with a second successful mission to the moon.

The astronauts were able to land much easier this time, spend more time on the moon, and gained more knowledge, skills, and furthered the NASA Apollo project.

Apollo 13 began its journey to the moon with the goal of further gains. Once again the launch was successful. Before the crew could land on the moon an explosion crippled the service module. The famous words were then relayed, "Houston, we have a problem".

At first there was disbelief in Houston; the thinking was that some technical glitch was probably just giving false information. 15 full minutes past before Mission Control in Houston realized this was now a critical life and death crisis.

At that point the Apollo 13 mission was abandoned and the new mission was survival. The astronauts had to shift their priorities to the all out task of making the space craft life sustaining until they could return to Earth. This meant they needed to conserve water, get the carbon dioxide out of the air they were breathing, conserve the energy from the batteries, conserve the air needed for the last hours of the journey, learn how to adapt to uncomfortable temperature changes, conserve the limited potable water, and find ways to use the resources of the lunar module not for exploration but as a lifeboat for their survival.

Despite the great challenge and uncertainty of the return voyage, failure to both Mission Control and the astronauts was not an option.

With Mission Control putting all their focus on a new mission, and the courage and support for each other among the astronauts, all were brought home safely to what NASA called a "successful failure".

Our state of planet Earth continues to become more perilous as we are fast approaching and in some cases have already surpassed the planetary boundaries for sustainability.

Today, we are threatened with many challenges that science has labeled our planetary boundaries. In an article in Nature, Johan Rocstrom and his co-authors argue that to avoid catastrophic environmental change, humanity must stay within defined planetary boundaries. If one boundary is transgressed, then safe levels for other processes could also be under serious risk. The planetary boundaries include: climate change, ocean acidification, atmospheric aerosol loading, chemical pollution, land system changes, ozone depletion, overload of phosphorus and nitrates, and decreasing fresh water resources.

Just as the Apollo 13 mission aborted its original goals and its passengers focused on their own survival boundaries, crew aboard Spaceship Earth are being called to change their mission in order to live within our planetary boundaries. There is a need to abort the mission of business as usual to a new mission of creating a sustainable planet that functions within the limits of the planetary boundaries.

Like the astronauts aboard Apollo 13 this will mean using our resources more creatively, making sure our air is clean without to much ozone or carbon emissions, that there is potable drinking water for all, that chemicals don't contaminate the space ships water and food supply, and all passengers are able to be able to have the basic survival needs to complete the journey.

Like the 15 minute pause in Houston where there was disbelief that the Apollo space craft was in trouble despite the warning signs, there has been the same kind of disbelief among many that Spaceship Earth is in trouble.

The question now is: Will enough people on Spaceship Earth realize that we have already exceeded some of the planetary boundaries and are dangerously close to exceeding others? Like the Apollo astronauts we need to change our mission.

There are some important lessons that we can learn from the Apollo 13 experience including:

The importance of creating a shared vision among the crew members of Spaceship Earth. In the Apollo 13 story, Mission Control set a new mission that failure was not an option and Apollo Commander James Lovell let the other crew members know "I intend to go home". This new shared vision created a context for better solving the problems. Creating a shared vision for a sustainable planet where people live within the planetary boundaries may be half the battle.

Creating a sense of community around the vision is also important for success. We learn from the Apollo 13 story that conflict over the best approaches to take was greatly reduced once everyone agreed to work toward the same vision. The team focused on innovation and creativity to jointly solve the problems as opposed to focusing on different approaches. Commander Lovell observed that: "Thousands of people worked to bring us back home." The more individuals and groups we can get to work on a shared vision the stronger sense of a global community will form to achieve the goals.

Developing a positive culture for change helps achieve success. Gene Kranz, Flight Director of Apollo 13, said to his co-workers: "work the problem", meaning do the research to find the solutions. In solving the Apollo 13 challenges, the team put priority on the need for technical proficiency and getting the facts. When the explosion happened, one of the first questions was, "what do we have on the space craft that is good?" The team also made sure that everyone was getting the information they needed. Kranz created a positive culture for solving the problems.

Scientists from around the world have sounded the alarm. Many in government, higher education, NGO's, and business sectors have started to respond. Some encouraging examples include:

In government, the United Nations Environment Programme is in the process of completing it's 5th Global Outlook Report (GEO-5), a process that engages scientists from around the world to detail the needs of the planet and set an agenda for what needs to be done. The warnings of the last report, GEO-4, have been largely ignored.

The U.N. Academic Impact, a global initiative that aligns institutions of higher education with the United Nations in support of sustainability, human rights, literacy, and conflict resolution now has over 500 participating institutions. Each of the participating institutions makes a commitment to at least one project each year based on the program's principles.

NGO's such as the International Union of Conservation and Nature, have brought together over 1000 NGO's and 11,000 scientists to work on issues such as biodiversity, climate change, sustainable energy, human well-being, and a green economy.

Corporations are becoming more sustainable in their practices. In the recent Newsweek Green Rankings of the 500 Largest U.S. Corporations, 51 had environmental performance rankings above 90 on a scale of 0 to 100. Of the Global 100 Corporations, ten percent also scored 90 or higher as well. One of the companies that was both a national and global leader in the rankings is the Walt Disney Co. The Walt Disney Co. was ranked #11 in environmental performance, #2 nationally in environmental performance in its category of Media, Travel, and Leisure, and #1 in this category globally. One of the unique things about the Walt Disney Co. is that it has proactively set ambitious goals related to each of the 9 planetary boundaries. It is fast becoming model for others to follow. For example it has set goals of reducing its carbon emissions by 50% by 2012 from 2006 levels and then becoming a net-zero carbon company thereafter. It has also set a goal to reduce its solid waste 50% by 2013 and becoming a net zero waste company thereafter.


To bring back the Apollo 13 crew safely, it took the cooperation of mission control, the astronauts, and many supporting scientists and other experts to use the ship's resources wisely.

Imagine if there was a coordinated effort of uncompromising integrity between governments, institutions of higher education, NGO's, and corporations. Imagine if they all worked together with a shared vision to have Spaceship Earth return to operation within safe planetary boundaries.

The simple truth is that like the Apollo 13 team, it will take bold leadership willing to acknowledge that we have serious problems on planet Earth, are willing to work to create a shared vision, sense of community, a positive culture that is committed to success, and that they really get it, that failure is not an option.

Dr. David Randle is President & CEO of the Whale Center. Dr. Reese Halter is an Earth Doctor; Science Communicator: Voice for Ecology, conservation biologist at Cal Lu University and public speaker.

Related Links:

WHALE Center

Waves of Change

Global Healing

Blue Community

Dr. Reese Halter

Blasphemy laws or laws prohibiting defamation of a religion are incompatible with Islamic thought and philosophy. The concept of Defamation of Religions denies a person their free will to choose -- one of God's greatest gifts to humanity -- and deprives individuals of their right to free speech and expression. It also creates a climate of intolerance that can breed discrimination and violence.