A Positive Perspective on Aging
A woman who reached the age of 100 was visited by a local newspaper reporter at her retirement home (location: unknown). The reporter sits down with the elder woman and respectfully begins the interview, "Could you tell our readers what you like most about being 100?" The woman ponders for a moment and replies, "I think it's the lack of peer pressure."
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Hey Hey We're the Monkeys
European scientists conducted a study on the effect of alcohol on monkeys. They got 1,000 of them drunk. It seems the monkeys replicate the same kind of response ratio as humans. A certain percentage become alcoholics, social drinkers, or teetotalers. Said one scientist, "Observing them was like peeking in at a cocktail party: one is loud, one is quiet, another is sexy, another is grumpy, another is passed out on the floor."
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"If we've learned anything since September 11th, it's certainly that the world has never been so interdependent. And it is impossible now to be a island of prosperity in a sea of despair.
"Our songs -- about immortality and faith versus fear and all the various themes on All That You Can't Leave Behind -- have suddenly come into focus after September 11th for people. Even for us playing them. We're holding onto the songs a lot tighter now ourselves."
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Artists have been beautifully supporting Amnesty International throughout its 40-year history. They have a common mission -- promoting free expression and individual liberty. The USA Executive Director, Bill Schulz, spoke at a fundraising event in New York that featured an online digital art exhibit, and the selling of paintings to raise money for the organization.
Said Schulz, "Art requires the breath of freedom to operate. Otherwise, the lights go out and colors fade. Both Art and Amnesty International put the light into life, return the color to life and to those who are suffering."
The fundraiser, organized on the theme of light, presented an art initiative called, appropriately, SHINE. Artists interpreted the shining light theme in a variety of ways: Amnesty's message of hope and healing, the digital light of new media, and the collective power of technology for interaction and exchange. The evening was curated and produced by Downtown Arts Project, an arts agency dedicated to identifying and presenting emerging artists working in all artistic disciplines.
* * * Robert Kennedy, Jr: "In the 1960s, the Hudson River was a national joke -- it was on the Johnny Carson show. Now it's an international model for ecosystem protection...You can't live with dignity unless you live sustainably, otherwise you're living on the backs of your children."
From the 15-minute documentary, "Keepers of the Water" shown at the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival.
* * * Transit police officer, John McGloughlin, was the last person to be pulled out of the World Trade Center disaster alive. He spent 22 hours in a coma, and finally, four months later he was released from the hospital. He said: "Never give up. There's always hope."
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Bill O'Reilly, the anchorman and executive producer of The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News, was the keynote speaker at a recent Habitat for Humanity awards ceremony.
O'Reilly, known for being tough on non profit organizations and how they use their money, spoke forcefully on the need for charities to be both responsible and acccountable in their use of funds. He held up Habitat for Humanity as a sterling example.
