“The most reliable way to prevent both the proliferation and use of these weapons is through their total and verified elimination.” - Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon

(via APOD: 2013 May 17 - The Waterfall and the World at Night)

The World of the Future

Advanced technology and more wisdom to go with

The ever changing human spirit, that yet remains

The same essential nature, better than it used to be

Better than things once were overall — The Hero

And Heroine — Come into the world to save us all

Yet we are all heroes, literally and figuratively

I awake and it is the future — One hundred years have passed

While I slept — Now I am in a world I barely recognize

Though the landscape remains essentially unchanged

Everything else is different: people, buildings, transportation

Not just in the Mega Cities, but also where I live at the edge

Of the misty mountains and its temperate rainforest

What once was a national park and is now a global one

Still the most diverse collection of communities of life

In the world — An ecosystem held in trust for the future

Generations to come, that have already come, for me

A traveler from the distant past unaware of how I came to be

Here now in the 22nd century of the common era

And outside the global park, as well as inside the borders

Free, plentiful, and clean energy available for everyone

The Sun, Wind, Earth, Water, and Cosmic forces of Sky

Harnessed for the benefit of all, with no cost or restriction

For those who use energy for heating, traveling, growing food

Essentially a paradise compared to the past, yet with some problems

Even in Utopia — But no hunger, poverty, or institutional injustice

A global government with local control through democratic means

And different styles of living in the hundreds of Mega Cities

Spread out over Planet Earth, unique yet unified by common interest

Peace and stability, order within the chaos of life and ever-increasing

Knowledge and wisdom about life, the universe, and the cosmos beyond

And in our space-time ship that I am lucky enough to have access to

Our first priority is to our home planet, and the stars and planets in our galaxy

And the stars and planets in galaxies beyond our own

Home — In all dimensions, universes, worlds connected

Parallel, alternate, pocket within and yet outside

The physical universe we call home

Even though I can go back to the world I once knew

The time of great transition at the beginning of the 21st century

I am not ready yet — There are so many beautiful and amazing things

Left to see, learn, and do in this new world of the future, yet now present

“For the good of the many, for the happiness of the many, out of compassion for the world.” 

~ Gautama Buddha

“To speak a true word is to transform the world.”

~ Paulo Freire

“I tell you this

to break your heart,

by which I mean only

that it break open and never close again

to the rest of the world.”

― Mary Oliver, New and Selected Poems, Vol. 2

Queen - Under Pressure (HQ) (Live At Wembley 86) (by chipo312009)

Bob Dylan - Mr. Tambourine Man (Live at the Newport Folk Festival. 1964) (by BobDylanTV)

vhxtv:

VHX is proud to present BEAUTY IS EMBARRASSING, a documentary about the artist Wayne White. Support Wayne and the filmmakers by buying the film, DRM-free, from beautyisembarrassing.com.

“One of the most pleasurable moviegoing experiences I’ve had this year.”
—Leonard Maltin

BEAUTY IS EMBARRASSING is a funny, irreverent and inspiring documentary tracing the career of one of America’s most influential artists, Wayne White. It’s hard not to recognize his iconic work on Pee-Wee’s Playhouse in the ‘80s, and equally hard not to fall in love with his artistic process and how he came into it. 

While you’re watching it, you’ll have a hard time resisting an urge to get some artwork for yourself!

“I accept that people are going to call me awful things every day, and I will always defend their right to do so.”

“So much attention in our world turns to what divides us.  That’s what we see on the news.  That’s what consumes our political debates.  But when you strip it all away, people everywhere long for the freedom to determine their destiny; the dignity that comes with work; the comfort that comes with faith; and the justice that exists when governments serve their people  — and not the other way around.

The United States of America will always stand up for these aspirations, for our own people and for people all across the world.  That was our founding purpose.  That is what our history shows.  That is what Chris Stevens worked for throughout his life.

And I promise you this:  Long after the killers are brought to justice, Chris Stevens’s legacy will live on in the lives that he touched — in the tens of thousands who marched against violence through the streets of Benghazi; in the Libyans who changed their Facebook photo to one of Chris; in the signs that read, simply, “Chris Stevens was a friend to all Libyans.”

They should give us hope.  They should remind us that so long as we work for it, justice will be done, that history is on our side, and that a rising tide of liberty will never be reversed.”

- President Obama

(via President Obama Addresses the United Nations | The White House)

People Everywhere Connect the Dots on Climate Change (by 350org)