Resiliency Cost

Time, effort, energy, money, and all the other resources that will be necessary to expend in order to bring a community back to its condition before a disaster.  Imagine what the Resiliency Cost will  be for this  community in Spain.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/31/world/gallery/flash-flooding-spain/index.html

Note especially the picture of the cars piled up blocking a tunnel.

One type of Resiliency Cost – Gainful employment.  How many people will be out of a job, with no income, because their place of employment is destroyed?  How many people will be unable to work and thus will have no income for an extended period of time while they try to rebound?

What will it take for each individual, with the myriad of individual nuances of problems, to rebount to where they are equal to what they were before the disaster?  What will it take for the community to rebound?  What is the area underneath the curve of the Resiliency Curve from the time of the disaster to the time of the rebound?

Empathy is not a feeling – it is an understanding.  Understand the problems of Resiliency and you will learn empathy.

 

 UN General Assembly condemns the US economic embargo of Cuba for a 32nd year

    

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to condemn the American economic embargo of Cuba for a 32nd year after its foreign minister strongly criticized the Biden administration and expressed hope a new president would end it.

The vote in the 193-member world body was 187-2, with only the United States and Israel against the resolution, and one abstention. It tied the record for support for the Caribbean nation first reached in 2019 and again last year.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez blamed the U.S. government’s “maximum pressure policy” aimed at depriving Cuba of the imported fuel it relies on for a widespread blackout this month, including when Hurricane Oscar lashed the island.

“President Joseph Biden’s administration usually claims that its policy is intended to ‘help and support the Cuban people,’” he said. “Who would believe such an assertion?”

General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but they reflect world opinion, and the vote has given Cuba an annual stage to demonstrate that the U.S. stands apart in its decades-old efforts to isolate the Caribbean nation.

Cuba has struggled with one of the worst economic and energy crises in its history. Besides waves of blackouts, citizens are frustrated over food shortages and inflation. Hundreds of thousands have migrated, many headed to the United States.

The embargo was imposed in 1960 following the revolution led by Fidel Castro and the nationalization of properties belonging to U.S. citizens and corporations. Two years later, it was strengthened.

In July 2016, then-Cuban President Raul Castro and then-President Barack Obama officially restored relations, and that year the U.S. abstained on the resolution calling for an end to the embargo for the first time. But Obama’s successor, Donald Trump, sharply criticized Cuba’s human rights record, and in 2017 the U.S. again voted against the resolution, and it has ever since.

U.S. deputy ambassador, Paul Folmsbee, told the assembly that the United States strongly supports the Cuban people’s pursuit of a future that respects human rights and fundamental freedoms.

“Sanctions are one element of our broader effort to advance democracy and promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in Cuba,” he said.

He noted that about 1,000 political prisoners have been unjustly detained in Cuba, more than at any point in Cuba’s recent history.

Folmsbee said U.S. sanctions exempt food, medicine and other basic goods and that the U.S. exported nearly $336 million in agricultural products and authorized additional humanitarian exports last year.

In May, the U.S. lifted some financial restrictions against Cuba in an effort to boost private businesses on the island. That included allowing independent entrepreneurs to open and access U.S. bank accounts online to support their businesses as well as steps to open up more internet-based services and expand private companies’ ability to make certain financial transactions.

Rodriguez said that under Biden’s presidency, Cuba has lost more than $16 billion and that measures announced in the last year “as alleged palliatives” to the embargo are not effective.

Noting next week’s U.S. presidential election, the Cuban minister said the winner will have the opportunity to decide whether to continue “the inhumane siege measures of the last six decades” or heed an increasing number of Americans and an overwhelming majority of nations “and allow our country to develop its true potential and capabilities.”

Rodriguez said Cuba will defend its “right to build an independent, socialist future.”

But he also said Cuba is willing “to hold a serious and responsible dialogue and move on towards a constructive and civilized relationship” with the new U.S. administration.

Israel Bans UNRWA When Most Needed

UNRWA's services have expanded over the years to include education, health care, relief, social services, infrastructure, and emergency response. The agency operates in five areas: Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem

NOW (10/2024)

The Israeli Knesset has passed a bill banning UNRWA from operating in Israel and another bill that will likely scale back aid distribution across war-ravaged Gaza.

The Knesset passed the laws despite strong international condemnation.

The humanitarian system in Gaza could collapse completely if Israel implements legislation banning the UN Relief and Works Agency from operating there, warns UNICEF spokesperson James Elder, who says the decision "means that a new way has been found to kill children." Gaza's health, education and water systems all rely on UNRWA, and no other humanitarian group can replace the organization, Norwegian Refugee Council Secretary-General Jan Egeland says.

What will the bills do?

One bill makes it illegal for Israeli officials to have any contact with UNRWA. The second prohibits UNRWA from conducting activities within Israel’s borders (which includes Gaza) – a rule that will come into effect in three months.

This will make it impossible for the agency to obtain any entrance permits to operate in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip – both of which are under Israeli control.

It will also make it impossible for the agency to transport assistance through Israeli territory to Palestinians in need. (Note: Israel controls all access by air, land and water in Palestine)

Why is Israel passing these bills?

This is not the first time UNRWA has come under pressure from Israeli authorities.

In January, Israeli authorities accused UN workers of participating in the October 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel. This resulted in countries cutting funding to UNRWA, including Australia, Austria, Britain, Canada, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Romania, Switzerland and the United States.

After a UN oversight body investigated UNRWA staff involvement in the attacks, nine UNRWA staff members were fired in August.

At the time, UN spokesperson Farhan Haq stated: “We have sufficient information … to take the actions that we’re taking – which is to say, the termination of these nine individuals.”

What is UNRWA?

UNRWA is the main humanitarian organisation in Gaza and the West Bank and also operates in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

It was established by the UN General Assembly in 1949 after the 1948 Nakba to protect and assist Palestinians ethnically cleansed from their homes.

It became operational on May 1, 1950, and since then has helped generations of refugees, many of whom still live in camps.

It provides education, healthcare, social services and emergency relief to people living in refugee camps in the Palestinian territory, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

How many people does it serve?

In the past 70 years, roughly six million Palestinians have relied on UNRWA’s support.

According to UNRWA’s website: “In 2021, almost 545,000 children were enrolled in UNRWA schools (2021-2022 school year); Social Safety Net Programme assistance reached 398,044 beneficiaries; and 1.7 million received life-saving humanitarian assistance.”

What services does it offer Palestinians?

UNRWA delivers crucial humanitarian aid and protection to millions of registered Palestinian refugees.

Aside from emergency relief and year-round assistance that the impoverished population needs to survive, UNRWA offers primary healthcare and mental health support.

Its services also include schools where more than half a million children were studying before Israel launched its war on Gaza on October 7, 2023.

Among the projects it oversees, UNRWA also tries to provide employment opportunities, microfinance programmes and support to Palestinians who want to develop income-generating initiatives

Many UNRWA operations are in Palestinian refugee camps, but it does not build, own or operate any camps, and it provides humanitarian services both in and outside camps, to any Palestinian in need.

What healthcare facilities does UNRWA oversee?

UNRWA clinics see about 8.5 million patient visits a year to 144 healthcare centres.

It also employs more than 3,300 healthcare staff, which makes it a significant employer in the Palestinian health sector.

What other social services does UNRWA provide?

UNRWA’s social services programmes include schemes from helping women enter the workforce to supporting people with disabilities.

It runs several skills training programmes, both vocational and professional.

Much in the same vein of its employment of Palestinians in the healthcare sector, UNRWA itself provides employment opportunities to the Palestinians who staff its centres, which offer things from training women in traditional crafts, sewing, knitting and embroidery to physical rehabilitation centres for injured Palestinians or Palestinians living with a disability.

 

 

 

Give me a person who discusses

When I was young, the only non-religious magazine that I ever remember having around the house was “The Reader’s Digest”.  Later, after developing my own world view, and philosophy and ideas about religion, I would question whether it was “non-religious” or not.  (Smile)  But one of the segments in the Digest I remember to this day was a “column” called “Give me a man who reads”.  I believe it was from the viewpoint of a boss looking for good workers and it might have been an ad rather than an editorial comment.

I am at a point in my life where I would like say, “Give me a person who discusses” – who discusses ideas and concepts.  There is a saying that goes:  “Small minds discuss people; average minds discuss events; and above average minds discuss ideas and concepts.”  It doesn’t matter if this quote came from Eleanor Roosevelt or not.  (In the sharing and resonating of wisdom, the source doesn’t matter.)  And I’m old enough not to care if identifying with “above average minds” is politically incorrect and elitist. 

I want to discuss with someone the difference between intelligence and wisdom.  I want to discuss the differences between a World View, a Philosophy, and a Religion.  I want to discuss multiple intelligences.  I want to discuss Essays from the book “Great American Essays – 2024”.  I want to discuss “How the mind works”.  I want to discuss the cleaving of Capitalism from Democracy.  I want to discuss American Democracy from other Democracies.  I want to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of other countries’ Parliaments, or their health systems, or their educational systems.  I want to discuss the issues of Sustainability – especially living in the State of Florida where the Governor has decreed that there be no official references to the concept of “Climate Change” and it’s irony as being one of the States most affected by it.  I want to discuss each of the 16 United Nations Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs).  Give me a person who can talk about the good things being done by United Nations through the civil sectors and Non Government Organizations (NGOs) rather than their broken system of the government sector.  I want to discuss how our memories work.    I want to discuss relationships.  Give me a person who wants to discuss religion without trying to convince or convert.  Give me a person who wants to discuss philosophies (and religions) by resonating with their good parts rather than identifying their faults. 

Give me a person who  will post their own ideas on FaceBook rather than just post a copy and paste of something said by someone else. 

Give me a person who discusses. 

David Kimball

 

UN Sustainability Development Goals Graphics

In the year 2000, the United Nations began their Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – a list of 8 identifiable, measurable goals – to tackle the problem of poverty in the Least Developed Countries.  These goals included cutting the number of people in extreme poverty (less than $1.25 a day) by 50%; primary schooling for all boys and girls; reducing child mortality by 2/3; etc.  These goals were to be attained in 15 years – 2015 – this year.

Many of these goals were reached.  Extreme poverty was actually reduced by 50% by the year 2010 – 5 years ahead of the goal period.  Other goals were not met but were close to being met.  Of those that were not met, they came closer to being met than if the goals had never been set.  As a result, the MDGs have been a tremendous success

Now in 2015 the United Nations is migrating from an emphasis of the MDGs to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for the years 2015 to 2030.  These SDGs will be for the entire world – the Most Developed Countries as well as the Least Developed Countries – such as the United States and Australia.  There are 16 major SDGs which will be presented to the full body of the United Nations in September for their official approval. 

The success of the MDGs was primarily the result of the collaborative work of the Non Government Organizations (NGOs), the civil society sector, with the UN Agencies of UNICEF, UNESCO, WHO, etc.  However the success of the SDGs will require the collaborative efforts of all sectors of society – government, business, civil society, and education.  These 16 SDGs present a good all-inclusive set of goals that cover the broad spectrum of what is included in the label “Sustainability”. 

(I should mention that the United Nations has defined Sustainability as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”  Another way to look at Sustainability is “What do we need to do today to insure that we are just as viable 50 years from now?” 

I have created and attached a graphic which lists the 16 Sustainable Development Goals in an attractive, artistic way.  These include the currently identified problems of water, climate change, income distribution, oceans, sustainable cities, etc.  

Enjoy

World Peace Promoted Most by Non Religious

In today’s (January 6, 2015) The Guardian, there is an editorial entitled “If Peace On Earth is Our Goal, Atheism Might Be the Means to That End” by Adam Lee.  It is a great article revealing several results of various polls on religious societies and non-religious societies throughout the world.  The comments are sufficient themselves to press their points so I am just going to excerpt quotes from it.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/06/peace-on-earth-atheism?CMP=ema_565

“In America, millennials are the largest and least religious generation in the country’s history. The trend toward secularization in the US mirrors the movement in Europe and throughout the developed world. And poll after poll have shown that the nonreligious also lean more progressive and more pacifist on a wide variety of issues relating to violence: torture, the death penalty, corporal punishment, military adventurism and more.”

“A Pew poll from 2009, well before the Senate released its devastating torture report last month, asked whether torturing suspected terrorists could be justified found that the non-religious were most opposed to torture, with a combined 55% saying that it could rarely or never be justified. Gallup has also found that people with no religious preference are less supportive of the death penalty than any group of Christians. The non-religious are also among the most likely to say the invasion of Iraq was a mistake. The religiously unaffiliated are also less likely than Christians to believe that the US is superior to all other countries in the world, a hyper-patriotic attitude that’s hardly conducive to careful reflection about the use of American military power.”

“Religion’s violent tendencies also tend to be reflected in its adherents’ personal lives. The social scientists Christopher Ellison and Darren Sherkat found that conservative Protestants disproportionately support the use of corporal punishment, such as spanking or whipping, for children. The researchers speculate that this stems from theology: Christians who promote a literal interpretation of the Bible tend to believe that human nature is inherently evil, and that sin demands severe punishment. What’s more, the Bible itself (among itsmany other bloody verses) specifically calls for beating children in verses such asProverbs 13:24. (By contrast, freethinkers like the famous American orator Robert Ingersoll recognized the cruelty of corporal punishment as early as 1877.)”

“As long as humanity was in thrall to the violent morality of religious texts, our societies were warlike and cruel. As the American revolutionary Thomas Paine said, belief in a cruel god makes a cruel man. It’s only in the last few decades, as we’ve begun to cast these beliefs off, that we’re making real moral progress.”

“The influence of the non-religious shows is also evident on an international scale. The nonprofit group Vision of Humanity publishes an annual Global Peace Index, which ranks countries on a broad spectrum of indicators, including violent crime, incarceration rates, weapon ownership, and military spending. Sociologist Phil Zuckerman summarizes their results in his new book Living the Secular Life:”

“...according to their most recent rankings, among the top ten most peaceful nations on earth, all are among the least God-believing – in fact, eight of the ten are specifically among the least theistic nations on earth. Conversely, of the bottom ten – the least peaceful nations – most of them are extremely religious.”

The article goes on to say that not all religious people are violent, and not all non-religious people are non-violent.  But it mentions that Unitarians and Quakers especially have “played an important role in peace movements”.  The article also mentions that there are “prominent atheists like Sam Harris and the late Christopher Hitchens who have been entirely too cavalier about imperialism and military aggression.” 

The article ends with, “But in general, the trend is that, as the world becomes less religious, we can expect it to become even more peaceful.”

David Kimball

Humanism and "Into the Woods"

Humanism and the musical “Into the Woods”

 A popular movie musical that has just come out is “Into the Woods” with lyrics by Steven Sondheim.  It is always good to see humanistic thoughts and values which are expressed by popular media that is outside the realm of the Humanist community. 

Part of the storyline tells of how a witch has taken a child, Rapunzel, and raised her as her own.  Rapunzel says to the witch who has raised her in isolation in her tower:

“I am no longer a child. I wish to see the world.”

The witch pleads with Rapunzel to stay with her, and stay a child rather than go out and observe life for herself and to experience life in a cold, dangerous world.  This is very true to the Biblical metaphor of a god not allowing Adam and Eve to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  And this is true of many religions today who create a strong inclusive community who are afraid of their young people to go out into the world, the out-group, but would rather keep them inside even if it means keeping them in “blissful ignorance”. 

“Don't you know what's out there in the world?
Someone has to shield you from the world.
Stay with me.

Princes wait there in the world, it's true.
Princes, yes, but wolves and humans, too.
Stay at home.
I am home.

Who out there could love you more than I?
What’s out there that I cannot supply?
Stay with me.

Stay with me,
The world is dark and wild.
Stay a child while you can be a child.
With me.”

In Humanism many of us believe that each human has the ability, and the responsibility, to determine what is right and what is wrong for ourselves.  We are not to take our values, or our beliefs, or our moral behavior from some outside source whether that be a religion, or a political party, or a guru, or even a parent.  Parents have the responsibility to teach their children to develop the skills necessary to develop these areas personally – not as a dictum from some outside authority.  Psychologists have often shown how religion acts as a surrogate parent which continues to control a person long after they have become independent of their biological parents. 

This song from “Into the Woods” does a good job of showing the harm done by sheltering and over-protecting a person even though the motivation and intention by the “parent” is well-meaning. 

For example, religious people and churches sometimes prefer to keep their kids out of public schools lest they be presented with the ideas of evolution and sex education.  When I was a kid, although the commandment was from my parents that I shall have no friends except those from my church, the church obliged by making sure that I was so busy that I had no time for activities or friends outside of the church.  Sunday had Sunday School, then the service, then Sunday evening service.  Monday had Stockade – a “Christian” boys scout.  Wednesday had prayer meeting.  Thursday had Mission Society meetings.  And Friday had Youth Group.  And then of course the church had special events whenever the school had special events like Halloween or the Prom – these were to keep us from wanting to go to an event where there might be dancing. 

And of course, today, religions aren’t the only outside influences in our society which tries to prevent people, young or old, from experiencing the world themselves.  Today there are groups like the Tea Party groups, or the FOX Entertainment (I refuse to call it FOX News) group that prefer to tell people how to think, which values to eschew and which values to promote, and how best to judge other people. 

People, young and old, need to be shown how to create their own values, what to believe in terms of reality, how to formulate their own personal world view, and how to shape their behavior in terms of these beliefs and values.  The direction should come from within a person, not from without.  And this is one of the things that Humanism is about.

David Kimball