Musings on Dance, Food, Geek Stuff
I randomly remembered a weird incident that happened to me 30 years ago: getting my ass kicked in a martial arts class in the basement of the UN. In the mid 90s, I was working at an accredited NGO at the United Nations. As such I had a few privileges like being able to attend…
In college at UCLA in 1990s, I knew I wanted to change the world. But I didn’t know what that meant. I sought the answer through volunteering, a lot. I spent my weekends distributing food to homeless people in West Los Angeles. I got really good at making hundreds of bologna sandwiches at a time….
In a few days it will be the birthday of Bettina Pruckmayr, an old girlfriend of mine who died a long time ago. I can hardly believe that it was 16 years ago that she was taken from us by an act of evil on December 16, 1995. Bettina was a young human rights lawyer…
In these times, contributing to charities and causes is more difficult for many people, who often are struggling to make ends meet and worrying about the future. I'm more fortunate than many, in that I don't have to worry about how the rent is getting paid, putting food on the table or healthcare. (Well, at…
Here's a neat video from CNN of a group of young people from around the world who got to attend the UN Security Council during a special session. More than 100 Global Kids teen leaders were among the youth who were at the session, called for US Ambassador Susan Rice. A highlight for us was…
Returning from vacation, I was very happy to see the news that my organization Global Kids got a nice write-up in the New York Region section of the New York Times a couple of days ago. Entitled "Learning in Summer, Gladly," Clyde Habermas writes about how Global Kids as a nonprofit works with New York…
EVOKE trailer (a new online game) from Alchemy on Vimeo. The World Bank, working with ARG master Jane McGonigal, have launched a new online game called "Urgent Evoke" that's geared toward getting young people — particularly African young people — to come up with creative solutions to the worst of the world's social ills. It…
Those nice folks at Citizens for Global Solutions are once again holding a contest for artists, webmasters, graphic designers, poets, video artists and creative activists who are interested in creating some unique digital art on the Web! This year's theme is "Choose Your Global Solution." $4,000 in cash prizes is up for grabs. The basic…
Tomorrow, July 14, will be the US network premiere of "The Reckoning," a moving and powerful documentary about the International Criminal Court. I've seen most of the film in a near-final cut, and I can't say enough good things about it. A must-see for those who care about human rights and global justice. See PBS.org…
The Reckoning , a powerful documentary about the International Criminal Court, will be premiering on US television on July 14 on PBS. Over 120 countries have united to form the International Criminal Court (ICC) — the first permanent court created to prosecute perpetrators, no matter how powerful, of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide….