I can change the world...

We hear about it in songs, we hear about it on the campaign trails, we even read about it to our children in their story books... being better people and making changes in this world.

As children, our imaginations run wild with fanciful ideas of a Utopian society... and somewhere along the way we grow into cynical old buggars, seemingly incapable of compromise or so overwhelmed that we find no use in attempting to make a change...

But what if it were simple... What if reaching out to help our fellow man was not any harder than acting on someone elses suggestion.

Take for instance "Do One Nice Thing" - a website committed to the simplest life changes that can help the earth, or putting a smile on someones face by sending a warm and fuzzy sweater to an Iraqi family.



The power of a smile can change the world in which we live.

And what about spreading freedom and democracy? War seems to be an interesting way to invoke peace... What if we led by example? What if there was a movement that put the power of the free market in the hands of the people around the world, in hopes that they will learn to stand on their own two feet and build a better life for their family, their community, their world?

Kiva.org is a great website, focused on micro lending. No more than $25 per requested loan is allowed per lender... and your $25 teamed with a few other folk's $25 gives the opportunity to someone in a poverty stricken third world country... be it a cattle grazer in Lebanon, or a fruit stand owner in Peru... In countries where traditional loans and banks do not exist, you can be part of the change in their society.



And what's better... your $25 is a loan, not a hand-out... More of a Hand Up! The individual receiving the loan has promised to pay you back. Free market at it's best!

I would highly recommend clicking on the link to KIVA.ORG, let them know that I sent you (to show that the word is being spread). You'll need my e-mail, and it is available in the "contact me" link.

I currently have three loans out. I challenge my readers to sign-up with KIVA and find an entrepreneurial spirit to support.

If you have ever been moved to make a change, this is as easy as it gets.

I fully support KIVA, and I endorse the micro-lending program. With this forward thinking helping hand, we can have a positive business minded impact in parts of the world we hardly knew existed... and make someones life a little easier.



My lender page.

Ooh Baby, baby, it's a wild world!

Reading the headline news stories today on Reuters had really got me thinking... what a crazy world this is in which we all live... Let me tell you what I saw:

• Hugo Chavez says that he wants to rule Venezuela for life, while in the more civilized UK the Prime Minister Tony Blair has stepped down, handing his Powers to Gordon Brown (another very Pro-American).
• Peaceful North Korea has allowed inspectors back into their nuclear facilities, while simultaniously firing a short range missile towards Japan as part of a "defense" test... (of course Japan has not had an army capable of offensive attacks since WWII)
• Iranians are rioting over high gas prices and fuel rationing. Their $0.38/gallon gas prices are outrageous... (no wonder they are lighting gas stations on fire in protest... 38 cents... that is unheard of! Power to the People!... wait... did I say cents??? Ummm... I'll take 38 cents/gallon gas! Pretty Pretty Please!)
• Waring nations Pakistan and India are left helping one another in a search for survivors as the region is hit with catastrophic early floods. (So it looks like it is alright to kill one another, but as soon as Nature steps in, all bets are off... time to save lives!)

Ultimately, what I am saying here is that the headlines did not make sense to me this morning... I am sure that they are always as jumbled as this, but today it struck me as odd...

6 Year Old Boy Outsmarts Taliban, Saves US Soldiers

A glimmer of hope, as a 6 year old boy heads to the Afghanistan security forces to help defuse a suicide vest... the vest, being given to him by the Taliban, who told him that he should get close to a US soldier and push the button... you will see the vest will become full of flowers.

The 6 year old boy has saved the lives of a number of US soldiers due to his act of bravery. Not only is he a true hero, but he has removed one more terrorist bomb from the street.

If only more 6 year olds were as street smart as this child... or perhaps my wish SHOULD be that 6 year olds should never have to survive by picking scrap metal from junk yards, and should never have to live in the middle of a holy war.

What a wonderful day for the world... and what a wonderful child!

God Bless...