Thought For the Week

As our team has been on the prowl assessing +COP21, we ran across this simple thought which is so simple yet so profound from the polar explorer and environmentalist Robert Swan

“

The greatest threat to our planet
is the belief that someone else will save it.”

It is up to us, no question.   What is interesting is that all countries have been making pledges--one of them being the Iranian Vice President and Head of Iran's Environment Organization that has committed to between an apparent two to four percent in green house gas emissions.

Our team remains hopeful despite all the odds.

Notations From the Grid: On #SanBernardinoShootings (w/Brief Updates as of 12/3/2015)

As the situation has been brought under control, our team was on the prowl to assess some of the reaction.   For us, this from the BBC was disheartening:

Brutally honest.
Posted by Ezra Klein on Wednesday, December 2, 2015

 Stories about Chicago and other large cities continue to be challenging as the Country was reminded as Chicago's Mayor fired the Police Chief on how crime is continuing to increase.   Yet, this particular "brutally honest" depicition still left us speechless.

The New Yorker's Andy Borowith  released this that underscores how the 2nd Amendment purists seem to steal all the oxygen out of the debate:

As radical as it might sound, the right to not be shot may be an idea whose time has finally come.
Posted by Andy Borowitz on Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Although it is "dark humor", it underscores how common sense seems not to be prevalent.     This is as we saw reporting on USA Today on GOP Candidates offering their thoughts and prayers.     There needs to be a concerted effort to go beyond mere thoughts and prayers.    America can do better.

(Update:  The latest news conference was held within the past hour.    The Police Chief for the City of San Bernardino briefed all on the status--including the injured, the fallen and the police officers injured.    The ammunition recovered along with bombs underscored a sense of extensive planning--and the SUV was a rental.  It was also noted that the woman was a Pakistani here in the United States on a K-1 Visa.     CBS News has been speculating on potential radicalization--The FBI underscored that they would be slow, but right rather than hasty--as major developments warrant, we will advise.   We also released a View of the Week on this earlier in the #Outsider Education Channel).

Notations On Our World (Special Edition): On the #SanBernadinoShooting (With Late breaking updates as of 12/2/2015 @ 5:30 PM)

There has been a mass shooting in San Bernardino over the past 2 hours.    There have been multiple fatalities.      Our team is watching live coverage from CBS News in the area at the Inland Regional Center.  

An active Police Briefing was just concluded.   They have said that no one is in custody. Police have confirmed 14 have died and 14 have been injured.  Police noted that they would have hourly updates for the next number of hours as live coverage ensues throughout the major networks in the United States and throughout social media.  Our team will update if there are any signficant developments.  

As this was developing, President Obama was being interviewed by Nora O'Donnell of CBS News and he was asked about it.    He had just been briefed by his homeland security advisor as FBI, ATF and othe Federal agencies were joining the incident as it was developing.  It was striking how he noted that there is a no fly list--however the same folks can walk into a gun shop and buy a gun with no visible controls.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the fallen, the injured and their families at this difficult hour.    We remain pessimistic about any possiblity for any change in Gun Policy.

Update as of 5:30 PM PST 12/2/2015:  Two suspects have been killed and one suspect is apparently on the loose as Officers continue be at the scene securing the scene.    The San Bernardino Police Chief is holding a news conference right now.     There was an apparent suspicious device which they're working on--there was a vehicle pursuit that ended up in San Bernandino which resulted in shootings that had two suspects dressed up in assault style gear and armed with the SUV.    FBI Assistant Director For LA Region is now speaking about the investigation going forward as they're investigating the house and assess the situation.    There is also word that there is a third suspect that is supposedly detained.     As further developmments warrant, we will here @ #outsiders provide further guidance--and as it stands, the FBI is underscoring that they are not willing to declare this a potential terrorist incident.

Notations From the Grid: Reflections On The Generosity of Mark Zuckerberg & Priscilla Chan

Our Founder shared this with us late yesterday he released to his Personal Facebook Wall:

On a brief "Prowl" before running off....they've announced they're giving away 99% of their wealth....nicely done!!!!
Posted by Mike Pouraryan on Tuesday, December 1, 2015

The founder of Facebook and his wife committed to give away 99% of their fortune (some 45 Billion) to charity as they welcomed their daughter into the World.     We join the World in commending them for this wonderful act of generosity and courage that should be a trailblazer for all.    As we were deliberating the impact of the decision by Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckberg, we saw this very moving letter that they wrote that Mark Zuckberg also released to Facebook which we are pleased to present here:

Priscilla and I are so happy to welcome our daughter Max into this world!For her birth, we wrote a letter to her about...
Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Tuesday, December 1, 2015

We here @ #Outsiders identify with this vision and we find it every so gratifying to see such a strong voice commit to this sense of change as we continue to be witness to the tragedy of Syria and how it has engulfed the entire Middle East region as it has.     

One man can make a difference--and these two beautiful souls showed it as we extend our congratulations and best wishes to them on the birth of their daughter.

Notations On Our World: On @COP21 & Other thoughts

Our team has been rather "Virtually Breathless" as we have been assessing how things are coming along at @COP21.    We were so gratified to see this as President Hollande along with her Environment Minister, Segelone Royale officially joined the openingi of the Climate Generations Pavilion underscoring the role of nonstate actors as the deliberations continue.    Laurent Fabius, the French Foreign Minister who was named by the 1300 delegates as President of @COP21, noted in his remarks that, "The Time Has Come".  Just like the World, we eagerly await On Our World.

Beyond the deliberations in Paris, there is the real world.   One distrubring development we're assessing is that Iran is in Recession.   The Government has come up with a "bail-out" type arrangement that entails citizens being entitled to a credit card to help spruce up durable goods   This is as the more conservative elements in the country are continuing their campaign to stifle dissent and to impose their own sense of morality on the Country.   Khameini has come out with some recent statements as his status is increasingly being elevated to the title of "Imam" even in official Government circles.   The Parlimaentary elections will be a harbinger to assess where the country goes from here.  In the meantime, Iran is waging a very challenging campaign in Syria that is seeing body bags coming home.   Four Afghani Soldiers who were part of a Basij Batallion were buried in Tehran within the past two weeks.    Our team found it of curious interest how Vladimir Putin was in Tehran and gave Khamienin the oldest Quran in Russia--as leaders of the Gas Producing Countries meeting in Tehran also went to see Khameini.   The Nigerian President, Mohammad Bouhari, said he learnt a "lot from him".     We will have a Notation soon on Nigeria as President Bouhari is known as "Baba Go Slow" as Boko Haram continue to wreck havoc on the Country.

As Iran continues to "preach morality", the rate of alcohol consumption continues to increase as this reflects (Some 420 Million Litres): 

مصرف سالانه ۴۲۰ میلیون لیتر الکل در ایران https://t.co/TuSkLQoI1f به سلامتی فتوحات! - مانا نیستانی برای توانا pic.twitter.com/k0XtTJPvEZ

— Tavaana (@Tavaana) November 24, 2015

This is as the rate of divorce continues to increase and as people are pulled to profound extreme measures to make ends meet.  The stories are heart-wrenching to read as we assess the situation inside the Country.

@COP21 and the advent of the Sustainable Development Goals we released in "Visions" gives us hope.   We wanted to end this edition of "notations" with a primer on it as our on-going assessment continues:    

10 things to know about the Sustainable Development Goals https://t.co/umSXB1nEM0 #SDGs pic.twitter.com/kcowaICwcV

— World Economic Forum (@wef) November 28, 2015

Notations On Our World: On the "Virtual Road" @ COP21 in Paris......

Day 2 of +COP21 is continuing.     We here @ #Outsiders World Headquarters received this newsflash from the +The Guardian which we wanted to report by the environment editor for the paper which provides a strong and engaging deep effort on the challenges faced right now--some of these we noted in our daily commentary yesterday: 

	Dear Mike, I'm out in Paris as part of the team of Guardian correspondents covering the UN climate talks. Yesterday was the big set piece day for speeches by heads of state and government. They were meant to stick to 3 minutes each but of course many spoke for much longer and the speeches carried on well after dark. Barack Obama said the fact the talks were going ahead was an "act of defiance" following the terrorist attacks 2 weeks ago. Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, implored countries to come to a deal: "Please, let's meet on the middle ground, show some flexibility and sense of compromise for the common good. We can't go on like this. We can't waste any further time." I spent the first two days talking to the heads of the most important developing country negotiating groups and I must say they have rather more faith than I do that they will get a deal. Now that the leaders have jetted out, there are only three days of negotiations left before the politicians arrive and, boy, there are mountains to climb over cuts, long term goals, finance, equity, and the principle that the rich countries should act first and dig deeper because they are responsible for the historical emissions. My feeling now is that there will be a monster collision and rows in a few days time, but then all parties will come to their senses and realise that everyone has to compromise. It will be painful, but it's the only chance of success. John Vidal Environment Editor Here's today's reading list: Fantasy climate football: A footy fan's guide to the Paris summit Zuckerberg, Gates and other tech titans form clean energy investment coalition Barack Obama: parts of Paris climate deal must carry legal force 4C rise will have dire effect on world hunger, UN warns Paris talks: Behind the scenes - in pictures

Notations On Our World: On #COP21 & @Syria (With Updated Highlights)

We are hitting the ground running here in #Outsiders.  It has been quite a 24 hours as we 're witness to COP21, China rising (as it got approved by the IMF for its' currency to be part of the reserve currency) and the war in Syria that seems to see no end    The war of words between Turkey and Syria seems to have no end as epitomized by this depiciton of Edrogran on the Farsi Service of the official Russian News Agency:

It depicts an Edrogan shielding #Daesh terrorists against the Russians.  They're also reporting that Edrogan wishes to resign.    From what we know of Edrogan, he is not a man to back down from anything.    Russian President Putin, though, underscored the supposed closeness as he claimed that Russia had intelligence that the reason the Turks shut down the plane was to protect Oil Smuggling routes.    Our view was that after the misinformation over Ukraine, the crediblity is virtually non-existent.   

Beyond Syria, though, there is Paris.     One of the organizations at the forefront of forcing the dialogue on climate change is +350.org .     We are proud to declare ourselves to be a strong supporter of the work of +350.org and  what they're doing to help us all with Paris is beyond the pale.  We decided to sign up for their updates and will be engaged with their updates as we share our thoughts.    We received it here at #Outsider World HQ and wanted to report on it for all : 

Great, thanks for signing up for our Paris rapid response team. We'll be sharing key updates, action opportunities, and crucial messages to share throughout the two-week summit.

Want to know where to find the latest? 350.org/paris is where we're pulling it all together.

Aren't yet connected with us on social media? Find us on Facebook here, and follow us on Twitter @350.

And if you're new to 350.org, here's how I like to explain our work:

We think the climate crisis is about power -- but not just the kind of power that runs our cars and keeps the lights on. We believe that the only way we’ll see meaningful action on climate change is if we can counter the power of the fossil fuel industry with the power of people taking collective action. (If you want to know more about what makes us tick, here's more on how we work and what we believe: 350.org/how.)

Here are some higlights of remarks by key World Leaders:

It was also of note as we were assessing the daily progress at +COP21 , we saw this being written that said that economic gain has to be taken into account which was published by the BiPartisan Policy Center: 

Cut emissions without causing economic harm

By Patrick Decker - Philly.com

"This month, government officials from 190 nations will meet in Paris to forge a plan for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions. Among the most difficult issues they'll face? How best to finance the transition to a clean-energy infrastructure, particularly in developing countries. "They could start by identifying existing tools that can dramatically reduce carbon pollution even as they save money." Read the article. 

Of all the updates we've reviewed so far, what was most striking was this published on Time Magazine that was projected at the French National Assembly on the eve of +COP21  to underscore how what all the key leaders of the World are doing will impact the lives of the ordinary who will be witness to submerged cities, lost coastlines and mass migrations as President Obama noted:   

The French President's Daily Motion Account had a number of updates on his speeches as well which we wanted to feature as well:

Check out the most recent videos published by the channels you follow. Présidence de la République has published 3 new videos Panel des leaders mondiaux sur le pr... 14 hours ago Conférence "Mission Innovation" 15 hours ago Discours d'ouverture de la COP21 22 hours ago

As we assess this, we're also assessing the on-going debate on how to deal with #Daesh.    As we went to press, the UK debate continues as Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of Her Majesty's Official Opposition, is against it as his Shadow Foreign Secretary, Hillary Benn, is.    Labor MP's have been given an "open  vote" to vote their conscious.  Jeremy Corbyn is noting that the UK Prime Minister is "losing his case"--even though it is increasingly likely that David Cameron will get his way.