The power of trust

I heard on the radio today that the first food shipment to North Korea finally took place, organized by the UN and the Global Food Program. For long time GFP was trying to bring support to the very poor population, but access was not granted. Today I heard the shipment was authorized. Four days ago, the Bush Administration took NK out of the list of terrorist sponsoring countries, after Pyongyang submitted a 60-page report on its nuclear program. A few months ago, the first visit of the NY Symphonic Orchestra broke the ice. Journalists were allowed to accompany the musicians, get interviews, visit the nuclear facilities. As I was listening to this news, I asked myself how much we create our enemies. I mean, people do things we don't like, and we catapult them into a category, "evil", "mean", etc and we act accordingly. Which does no less than reinforce the separation among us and the others. I was asking myself what if we would address those situations with trust instead, with the intent to understand, with curiosity and spirity of inquiry. What if we would treat threatening individuals as people with reasons, with fears, with human needs , I mean, treat them as humans, instead of outside of humankind? I am playing with the thought that there are no mean people - there are sick people, psychologically traumatised, emotionally empoverished. How would we go around if we held that assumption, instead of holding the assumption that there are others out there who want to harm us? It doesn't change the fact that some people punch knives into other people, or point and use guns, murder, steal, lie. But it changes how we label them. I remember a few years ago a woman who was "kidnapped" in her home by a criminal who was escaping from the police. After several hours of talking, of her addressing him in a caring way, another part of him came out: he became "human", emotionally touched, and surrendered. He talked about this event as a transformational experience and called her "angel". What did she do? She just changed how she looked at him. Interesting, what impact that can have. This gives me a lot to think...

Changing budget planning

I was thinking that we're witnessing more and more natural disasters. Flooding here, tyfoons there, fires and droughts, tsunamis and earthquakes. And this won't stop - it just will get worse, as we're getting the consequences of our impact on nature. So I think that governments need to revisit their budget planning, and switch funding for just-in-case weapons and military actions to support of population in disaster-relief actions. What was seen as a "exceptional" case in the past, has now become part of our reality, something we should expect and prepare for. Who is listening out there?

Deadly sins, updated by the Vatican

Surprise! The Vatican considered it was about time to review the deadly sins, and released 7 new ones, called "social sins". They don't replace the old ones, but certainly tackle more contemporary problems. They include : 3. Drug abuse 4. Polluting the environment 5. Contributing to widening divide between rich and poor 6. Excessive wealth 7. Creating poverty (And i'm not listing #1 and #2 because I don't agree with them :-) - and since I'm not a journalist, this is OK. But if you are curious now, you can find them at Bloomberg News http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=email_en&refer=uk&sid=aQLLScKV3f.A Instead, I would suggest this list 1. Consumerism 2. Excessive use of natural resources 3. War 4. Polluting the environment 5. Contributing to widening divide between rich and poor 6. Excessive wealth 7. Torture and abuse What is your version of the top 7 new social sins?

Lureeta reports

Around 4000 US soldiers donated their lives in Iraq. But to count more accurately the toll of war, a report from Inter Press Service claims that the death toll in Iraq has likely passed 1 million. Dahr Jamail is a journalist who has done some of the best 'on the ground' reporting from Iraq. Check http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/pgs/portraits/Dahr_Jamail.html and http://dahrjamailiraq.com/weblog/ . He is the author of Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq.

Now I've jumped into a space shuttle and I'm looking down to the Earth. I'm Lureeta, a journalist from a different planet, outside the Solar System. I'm reporting about this planet they call Earth. I am reporting about how inhabitants live here. At the time of counting lives lost in a man-caused cause, what difference does it make where they were born- I will report the estimated toll is over 1 million.