Politics

Mostyska, Ukraine – The Field Hospital In The Middle Of A War Zone

My grandmother survived the German invasion of her small town of Mostyska (then Poland, now Ukraine).

Many of her friends and family were murdered there.

My family built a monument there to remember them…

Once again, Mostyska is at war…

But instead of being ground zero for death, Mostyska is now ground zero for life.

It hosts an Israeli field hospital to treat those escaping the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

As a first responder myself, I’ve been donating to organizations sending in first responders and medical relief. One of them is “Uber for first responders”, United Hatzalah.

I’ve been donating in memory of my grandparents, who fled, just as the Ukrainians are doing now.

I had no idea where the first responders were establishing their field hospitals.

But now I know…

My donations are sending medics to save lives on the very soil where my grandmother was raised, and where her family and friends wer killed.

Time and space are connected. Even a small act can leave an impact on generations.

If you are looking for a way to help, please look here: https://israelrescue.org/ukraineemergency

Tomorrow Will Be Better – Vote

On November 11th, 1947, on the heels of World War II, after the fabrics of government and society were torn to shreds in Europe, Winston S Churchill went on to say this:

‘Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…’

Today is election day. As we know, things are far from perfect.

This can be said about most anything.

Our work and Business, our relationships, our finances, our health.

We all want to do better. We all strive for more.

Today, we have the fortunate opportunity to do more for the country that we live in. We are able to make our voices heard, and counted.

We get to vote, and decide who will represent us and help shape our country and the world for a better version of itself.

And in that effort or any effort to grow and improve, there will be pain, there will be stress, there will be disagreements, there will be failure.

Whatever happens today or this week, it’s important to remember that this perfect union called America is far from perfect, and frankly, it will never be. But as long as we keep putting in the work in our own way like voting, by creating new jobs and opportunities, by making our voices heard, by being decent, by being honest, by doing the right thing, and anything else that perpetuates ‘good’ and the values we hope to live by, we should rest assured that things will indeed get better, as tough as they may seem in the moment.

As a comparison, remember that just years ago the world was in a much worse place compared to today.

  • Political grievances were settled with gun duels
  • Mothers and fathers were sending their 18 year olds off to the beaches of Normandy
  • The average life expectancy from 1500s to 1800s was between ages 30 and 40 years old
  • Poverty, hunger and child labor are at the lowest levels they’ve ever been
  • Child mortality is the lowest it’s ever been
  • Homicide rates are the lowest they’ve ever been
  • More people in the world live in a democracy than ever before
  • The literacy rate in the world is the highest its ever been
  • Moore’s law, which describes the empirical regularity that the number of transistors on integrated circuits double every two years, is still tracking since inception in 1971
  • Access to the internet is increasing
  • Solar energy is the cheapest its ever been

By mostly all accounts, the world is in a much better place than it has ever been and I take solace in this fact.

But I also recognize that we must continue to play a role to maintain this forward progress.

So today, please take the time to vote and reflect on what more you can do, regardless of the outcome.

Whatever happens, I’m still the most optimistic I’ve ever been about what’s ahead.

Obama gets Social Media

When it comes to Social Media, Obama just gets it. This is how he won his campaign and this is how he will remain intimately connected to the people.

He will be addressing the nation on a weekly basis at http://www.change.gov/ through short videos which will be syndicated elsewhere. Here is the first:

We are the Hip Hop Generation

“I Love Hip Hop” cover
Image via Wikipedia

There was Rock and Roll, Billy Joel, Greatful Dead, Allman Brothers….and then there was Hip Hop. Our generation has grown up with Hip Hop, and along with technology and a few other big cultural game changers, it has defined our time. Our generation.

With the election right around the corner, it seems as if EVERYONE has a say about these candidates and this election. But will the younger voters make it to the voting booths (And I don’t mean the young voters in the video)? My friend is currently exploring this very issue, and it is called Project Youthanized. The issue of apathy within our generation.

It is amazing how many people I know weigh in on the election, yet could not or did not make it out to the primaries. Will they make it out on Nov 4?

Thanks to Jake S for sharing this video.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxlwYP0HNdc[/youtube]

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America’s Management Team

When the media covers a presidency, they constantly refer to the phrase “The (insert president’s name here) administration”. A phrase that is reflective of a group of people that form consensus, make decisions, and ultimately run our country. They are America’s Management Team.

When American citizens choose their next President and Vice President, why are they only presented with two teams, of two individuals (although, in reality there are actually more options)? As the world continues down this road of globalization, there are many more factors that come in to play. How can two individuals posses the mental capacity and expertise to address all of the different domestic and global challenges? The short answer is, they cannot, thus appointing others to their cabinet and creating new appointments as needed.

Why can’t the presidential candidate declare the following appointments (or at least a select few..one or two even) pre-election day?

  1. Vice President
  2. Secretary of Agriculture
  3. Secretary of Commerce
  4. Secretary of Defense
  5. Secretary of Education
  6. Secretary of Energy
  7. Secretary of Health and Human Services
  8. Secretary of Homeland Security
  9. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
  10. Secretary of Interior
  11. Secretary of Labor
  12. Secretary of State
  13. Secretary of Transportation
  14. Secretary of Treasury
  15. Secretary of Veterans Affairs
  16. Attorney General

Granted, disclosing all of the appointments may be a bit much. And maybe their can be a different approach that presents more options or more insight. Even so, in today’s world I would be thoroughly interested to see who would take up the following positions pre-election:

  • Secretary of Commerce
  • Secretary of Defense
  • Secretary of Education
  • Secretary of Energy



After all, aren’t we voting on the people who will run our country for the next four years? America’s Management Team?

Just a thought.

Is M”y” Generation Uniquely Apathetic?

This is the question my friend Mark Korshak is looking to answer in “Project Youthanized.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNqeEcDp_jg]

But how do we truly compare generations?

Let’s consider a student in college 30 years ago, to the student today (The generation Y student). How would these students engage activism?

Years Ago: pass out fliers   Today:  send out emails

Years Ago: organize a rally  Today: create a Facebook group

Years Ago: collect donations (change in a cup)  Today: collect donations (PayPal)

Years Ago: attend a rally   Today: watch a speech on YouTube

Years Ago: start a magazine  Today: start a Blog

Technology must be considered in any cross generational comparison.

Although it may seem as if students today are indeed “apathetic”, I can’t help but wonder, is that really the case? If you’ve ever joined a facebook group, if you’ve ever commented on an article, if you’ve ever published ANYTHING to the web, then you have engaged some form of activism.  You have made your voice heard. The extent of that activism however, is still unknown.

I wish Mark the best of luck in determining, how, if at all, “uniquely apathetic” our generation is, and how he goes about measuring the extent of this apathy.

Fred Wilson – “And Who Do The Other 17% Think Will Win?”

The anticipation of who will be the democratic nominee is growing. Fred Wilson posed a great question today in his post titled “And Who Do The Other 17% Think Will Win?

“My other thought when looking at this chart was “if these were two stocks, what would people be doing with them?”

– Fred Wilson

Behind any investment, their must be substance. Which candidate is proposing ideas that are subtenant, tangible, and practical. We all remember what happened in the dot com bubble when people started pouring money into those revolutionary internet ideas. And who made it out on top?

Substance behind the idea.

Better image here

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