Friday October 17^th School / Skating in Nanaimo. Talk with Norman. Discussion of next step. Where to approach the system.. Strategy. Who are our allies? What do we say to whom? What is our marketing package? Financial - concept. If Gates and Turner do not work together and continue in mortal combat - who wins - who loses. - the point is the peacemaker has to develop a plan so that they can see the only solution is to become a global citizen - world citizenship - label - idea. Which one sees it? Does Ted Turner? Why does he take so long to come on board? Why does he NOT write a letter to Broadcasters on sustainable human behaviour? (see Copps letter) Why? Their are two reasons.

1) he has not thought about it.

1. he has thought about it and chooses not to.

If the scenario is 1) then he should ask Barbara Pyle, his VP of environmental affairs why she did not give him a particular letter addressed to the Secretary General of North American Broadcasters Association as she was requested to do. In fact, she was not only requested to do so, she even requested a compelling reason why she should do so. Still she did not. Even CNN's lawyer refused to take the issue to Ted Turner because he is paid to solve problems without looking at the content. Lawyers just look at their job through the eyes of the law, and morality or sustainable behaviour is not a matter of legal jurisprudence. The worst part of it is the lawyer is on retainer to protect the company: they have been trained in the fear-based system - and they respond quite predictably - one would think that understanding their behaviour, and the predictability of it would enable one to move forward through their ranks. Not so. Their armor is tough and they themselves are tenacious, sometimes down to the smallest detail, forgetting about the larger issues. And that is the crux of most of our problems to-day. We are caught up in the small arguments in order to keep our minds off issues of importance.

So an important issue would be to address the question: what would the resultant effect be if Ted Turner and Bill gates became friends - that is they began to look at the world through the same glasses - the glasses of a world citizen - Ted Turner gave the Challenge - Bill Gates did not hear it - or Bill Gates heard it and did not know how to go about picking up the challenge, or he does not believe this is a worthy challenge. These are interesting issues for one to contemplate.

I also want to write to-day about skating - and teaching skating. I think this could be a metaphor for all teaching.

I went skating with the children of Gabriola Elementary School. I first watched their skating lessons from the bench. The children were all learning skating from a figure skating teacher - so the children who had hockey skates were taught the same skating techniques as the children with figure skates - the children were set into three groups by levels of proficiency. The lessons in each group were different, but all seemed to teach, what I would call unnatural skating concepts to individuals wearing hockey skates. There was no teaching of how to fall. I noticed how all the skaters were using techniques of figure skating. This is fine if you want to learn figure skating, but most of the children were wearing hockey skates - and they were not being taught how to use these skates. I want to stress the preamble and acknowledge the metaphor for all teaching. If we are not teaching to the highest level that we can teach to, then we are handicapping our children or their future. The same can be said for the classroom where teachers continue to teach only what they know, rather than consider what they may not know and need to know in order to teach these new young fresh minds that are so much more advanced than when we were children.

Also, I would ask the mothers who stand around their children smoking to consider the message that they are giving to their children. I would like to go on record that I do not have difficulty with anyone who needs to smoke. I think I am clear on this issue in the "How to quit Smoking" section of this website. If smoking is needed, then a ritual need be practiced with it, and it be done as a personal healing. If it is not for healing, what is its purpose?

Well, these observations are real and they remind me of Nadia and the work I am doing with trying to teach her how to breathe.

Also to-day I am to write a letter to His Holiness the Dalai Lama or rather his representative in New York whom I met August 17^th at the World Flag Ceremony. I am inviting him to the celebration in July 2000 in Greenwich I have done so.