Hello all! I am here in Dallas, TX visiting family and friends.
I hope everyone enjoyed Live8 today. The telecasts were less than desirable often playing half of a song and then 8 commercials. Oh, well. Maybe the DVD will find its way into my stocking come this Christmas.
Have a great 4th. Remember: In the kingdom, independance is for all!
Peace,
Felker
They said: “The man is judged according to his works,”
so tell me Africa, what’s your worth? -Wyclef Jean “Million Voices”
These paragraphs come from the ONE website. As you can see, these issues go much deeper than a mere rock concert. These statistics are more than mere numbers. They represent children, mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts, teachers, doctors, farmers. They represent real people, fleah and blood.
AIDS
More than 38 million people around the world are infected by HIV/AIDS, 25 million in Africa alone. Left untreated, AIDS leads to an early death for people in their most productive years who are needed to raise crops and families, teach school and care for the sick.EXTREME POVERTY
Extreme poverty means living on less than $1 a day, unimaginable to us as Americans. ONE in five people around the world survives on this amount, with few opportunities to earn more.EDUCATION
Parents in Malawi know just as well as parents in Missouri that education is crucial to their children’s future. But around the world, 104 million children do not go to grade school, because their parents cannot afford fees, books or uniforms for all their children.WATER
ONE person in seven has no access to clean water for drinking, cooking or washing. In addition to spreading disease, this has multiple negative effects –– girls growing up in villages without water are far less likely to attend school because they’re too busy spending hours walking to and from the nearest water source.CORRUPTION
While corruption is harmful to all governments, losing resources to corrupt leaders is particularly devastating in poor countries where ever dollar lost results in one less child in school or one less well dug to provide clean water. Approaches like America’s Millennium Challenge which direct assistance to honest governments are the most effective, as is channeling assistance through private (and faith-based) relief and development agencies.FOOD
Around the world, ONE person in seven goes to bed hungry each night. We need to address hunger not just by giving food, but helping farmers in poor countries grow better crops and helping countries build farm-to-market roads so farmers can supply distant cities.ORPHANS
18 million children have already lost one or both parents to AIDS, 12 million of them are in Africa alone. Unless more is done, there will be 25 million of these children around the world by 2010. We have the opportunity to help.TRADE
As much as people in poor countries appreciate development assistance, no one wants to rely on a handout –– they want to trade their way out of poverty –– but international rules make it difficult. A fair trade system would give people in poor countries the chance to earn their way out of poverty by participating in the world economy.DEBT CANCELLATION
Every year Sub-Saharan Africa, the poorest region of the world, spends $14.5 billion dollars repaying debts to the world’s richest countries and international institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Though we’ve made efforts to relieve them of these unpayable debts, many poor countries still spend more each year on debt than on health care or education.
These are the issues facing Live8 participants and the world this weekend.
I am so excited about what can happen this weekend. There is a great deal of buzz happening. Keep working hard to promote the ONE Campaign by wearing your white band tomorrow. I have pulled a Chris Martin and written some messages on my hand for this weekend. Every little bit helps!
Don’t forget to check out the Live8 blogs over at Technorati. Also check out the links below.
Together we are strong. Stand as ONE
It was overlooked at the Academy Awards but has now been recognized as the great film that it is.
“Everyone knew what was happening at the time, but all the great leaders of the West did nothing,” Pearson said. “This film was about an ordinary man, a hotel manager, who did do something and did something great.”
If you have not seen “Hotel Rwanda” yet, I encourage you to watch it this holiday weekend. After seeing it you will understand what freedom and independance truly means. You will begin to crave it for all mankind and you might even begin to sacrifice for it.
One love, one blood, one life
You got to do what you should
One life with each other
Sisters, brothers
One life but we’re not the same
We get to carry each other, carry each other
One
Technorati Link: Live8
Here is the latest from ONE
In only three days, Live 8will rock the world with ten concerts from Philadelphia to London to Johannesburg.Millions will gather in person and on the web, sending President Bush and other world leaders to the G8 on a wave of support for doing more to fight global AIDS and extreme poverty.
The next 24 hours are going to be critical. Tomorrow, President Bush is expected to announce America’s plan for the G8 summit in Scotland next week. Today, we’re telling you three ways you can take action NOW and make your voice heard.
First, sign on to the ONE letter to President Bush,and show him you support making poverty history at the G8. Second, ask three friends and familyto sign on with you. Third, you can host a Live 8 watch partyat your home and invite friends to join you in experiencing these amazing worldwide concerts.Live 8 will be watching as eight world leaders will be presented with a workable plan to double aid, drop the debt and make trade laws fair – and an historic opportunity to end poverty and save millions of lives.
You can download a kit to help you host your Live 8 party, and also visit ONE.ORG for a guide to how you can take action and influence the G8 from your own community.Whether you ask others to sign the ONE Declaration, write a letter to your local newspaper or email friends to tell them about ONE, there’s so much you can do to add your voice.
Over 280,000 Americans have signed the letter to President Bush and close to one million Americans have joined the ONE network.We can breakone million by Live 8 if you join together with us as ONE and take action today.
Thanks,
The ONE Team
Technorati tag: live8
We are just a few days away from a defining moment in this generation. Live8 is almost here. On July 6, the eight most powerful men in the world will meet to discuss the future of the world. We want Africa to be a part of that meeting. Every day, the poorest of the poor are being forgotten and lost in the fog. G8 could take a giant step to turn that around this weekend.
So, before Saturday, please do the following actions:
Visit ONE.org, watch the video and then sign the declaration.
Visit Live 8 and get caught up on the events this summer.
Visit any of the links I have placed all over the site.
Read what others are saying on their blogs. Follow the Technorati: Live 8 link.
Check back here for more details as Saturday approaches.
Technorati Link: Live8
According to News.com.au, an Australian news site, scientists have revived dogs after 3hrs of clinical death. The article talks about using this technology for battlefield fatalaties. Interesting. I was more fraked out by the “zombie dog” photo than anything else. It is a little too “Pet Cemetary” for my tastes.
We have arrived in Nashville and Impact is well under way! We are about to head to dinner but I wanted to post.
The first day has gone very well. Starfield performed a great worship set this afternoon and Grits rocked all the mid-Tennessee white kids last night. Craig Gross author of The Gutter and co-founder of XXXChurch.com will be speaking tonight.
I have picked up a few new books from the Lipscomb bookstore:
Mealtime Habits of the Messiah by Conrad Gempf
RealLivePreacher.com by Gordon Atkinson
Reaching the U: Effective Campus Ministry edited by Dennis Gaylor
No other news to report as of now. Have a great afternoon and a big thank you to Brandon Wood for the hotspot hook-up! Peace!
This post isn’t about that magical mix of sugar and milk that gives us a headache when we eat it too fast. No, this post is a review of an iPod cleaning product called Ice Creme by RadTech.
Somewhere between Christmas and today, my beautiful, sleek, black iPod U2 Special Edition picked up some minor scratches and a major scratch (the scratch that appeared one day out of nowhere) the ruined the finish of my iPod. These imperfections seemed to be magnified by the fact that this machine is black. Blemishes have nowhere to hide. I felt a little like Austin Powers every time I looked at the screen. I would try to look away from the scratch by like Fred Savage’s mole, all I could see was THAT scratch. There it was taunting me, laughing hysterically at my misery. Scratchy, scratchy, scratchy.
I needed to clean it. I used a product that worked well on my 3rd gen white iPod but that only added to the problem. I felt like a big idiot. Here is a great gift that my wife bought me, I tried to be careful, I tried to do right but in the end I messed it up.
On Monday, I was poking around iPodLounge and I came across an article on a product called Ice Creme. According to RadTech, Ice Creme is an acrylic polish so it will also work with those scratches on your iBook. I ordered it late in the afternoon on Monday and it was in my mailbox yesterday. Mad props to RadTech for the very quick turn around!
This morning I sat down and began the process of cleaning my iPod. Ice Creme came in a clear plastic tube with 4 cleaning cloths and two bottles of solution: Bottle A and Bottle B. Bottle A is applied first. The instructions said to apply heavy pressure to the surface for 30-45 mins. While I did polish for that amount of time, I notice results in about 10 min. I wiped off Bottle A’s residue and then applied Bottle B. Bottle B only took about 10 min. I did have to be mindful of the click wheel. I did get some of the solutions on the red wheel but quickly removed it with a Kleenex. I have not noticed any discoloration. I wiped the remaining solution off with a clean cloth and took a long hard look at my device.
My iPod now looks like it did when I opened it. With Ice Creme, I didn’t just clean my iPod. I restored it!!!
I don’t normally sing the praises of products but I made an exception today. Between the quick shipping and the amazing results, I can’t help but sing RadTech’s praises.