Though I don’t typically delve into politics – mainly because I always feel smarmy even wading into those waters – there’s a thing or two on my mind today.

I was reflecting on my ‘real’ job which is peace and reconciliation via The David Group International. Specifically I am evaluating plans for a fall meeting in the Middle East. It may or may not happen, but just the idea of it triggered a plethora of thoughts in my mind.

Governments are corrupt. Often to the core. What a shocking statement, eh?

There are times when, while looking at the big picture of anything from corporate greed leading to the abuse of third world countries to political and geo-political war games, power struggles, egoic madness, et.al, that I’m tempted to say that things are relatively hopeless regarding justice for what has become the nameless/faceless masses of earth’s citizenry.

It takes a while to talk myself down from these episodes – usually a good long cigar and a bit of Frangelico helps – added to that a very large dose of ‘just do what you can do and leave God’s business to God’ and eventually I rebound again.

But today, for whatever reason, I couldn’t get past these political statements of ‘regret’ put out by the U.S. over such issues as the recent Gaza blockade debacle where innocents (one of them a U.S. citizen) are slaughtered – yes, I believe that’s the appropriate word – and little if any action from the international community is taken.

For our part, the word from the Oval Office was that we ‘regret’ that the Israeli government has committed such a senseless and lawless act upon the high seas.

How nice… a group of people (unarmed and representing no particular government) giving their lives to putting politics aside in the name of extending humanitarian aid are killed and the best we can say is, “we regret this.”

Wow, way to invoke justice on behalf of the victims of this lawless act of unabashed murder. We showed them, didn’t we? We REGRET what they’ve done.

Let’s say that President Obama’s oldest daughter gets mad at his youngest daughter, bloodies her nose and shoves her down the steps and out onto the White House lawn. What should he do? What would he do?

Can you imagine the absurdity of telling his youngest that he ‘regrets’ what her older sister has done and then leaving it at that?! Really? No punishment. No discipline. No consequences whatsoever? Is that what happens in the real world of parenting? Could even the most abusive of parents respond that way?

Eckhart Tolle says that the only thing more insane than the “I” is the “we.” It seems that when the collective is involved all sense of reality is sometimes lost. And so it is that the collective world looked at the actions of the Israeli government and responded with sheer, unabashed insanity. Not even a slap on the wrist.

Do you remember the 60’s song War? The lyrics blare with the words “War, good god ya’ll, what is it good for?!” I’m hearing it in my head right now… except it goes “Regret, good god ya’ll, what is it good for?!”

Happy Wednesday all – Mike here. Tim is just getting back from travelling over the weekend, and will resume his series on his Israel trip on Friday. In the meantime, I wanted to pick up where I left off on sharing relevant topical links with you. Below are key links dealing with our global water crisis – a crisis you likely aren’t even aware of. This is no discredit to you; there are lots of significant – even urgent – areas of life we’re unaware of, due both to the sheer amount of information (about everything) out there, and also because, in this instance at least, there are some powerful interests obfuscating the facts. In a nutshell, we are facing a crisis regarding the purity, scarcity, regulation, and control (read: rampant privatization) of our global water supplies. More and more power is being concentrated in the hands of the few, and this does not bode well for indigenous self-determination or innovation. In the Middle East (including Israel-Palestine), water conflicts will soon surpass even oil conflicts unless concerned ordinary people like you and I do something today.

To orient to our current global (and backyard) water realities, I’d recommend watching the documentaries ‘Flow‘ and ‘Blue Gold.’ And then move on to some of the other links to further research.

Thanks for reading!

1% For The Planet
Alliance For Democracy
ABC-TV News Report
African Boreholes
Ashoka’s Youth Venture
Be Water Wise
Blood: Water Mission
Bottlemania
Center For Environmental Law & Policy
charity:water
Clean Water Action
Council of Canadians
Defending Water For Life In Maine
Delaware Riverkeeper
Do You Drink Water?
Earth Echo
Eshare Water
E.P.I.C.
Fish Now Female
Food and Water Watch
Freeflo
Global Water Fund
Global Water Organization
Go Green Online
Green Grants
Holistic Moms Network
IdealBite
Infinite Energy
Inside the Bottle
International Rivers
Jiduma
Living Water International
Love Bottle
Mamma Manifesto
Milwaukee Riverkeeper
Mouth To Source
Mocha Club
National Environmental Education Foundation
National Environmental Education Week – ‘Be Water Wise’
Nikken
NRDC
Nuba Water Project
Nubius Organics
Organic Consumers
Oxfam
Pacific Institute
PlayPumps
Polaris Institute
Potomac Riverkeeper
Project Blue
Project Concern
Prosalus
Rainwater Harvesting For Drylands & Beyond
Rajendra Singh
Right To Water
Riverkeeper
Salmonnation
San Diego Walk for Water
Save Our Rivers
Save Our Springs Alliance
Sierra Club
Sprite Industries Inc.
Ten For 10
The Water Project
Take Back The Tap
Think Outside the Bottle
The Bottled Water Industry
United Nations Association Film Festival
Urban Semillas
Wastewater Works
Water Charity
Water For All
Waterkeeper Alliance
Water Voices
Water1st.org
WaterAid Australia
WaterAid UK
Water Pure International
Whenever The Need
We Ministry
World Water Day
World Neighbors
Xziex
Youth Venture and Wateraid

My life does not lack for things to do. I’m a list kinda guy by nature – and my list is long and complicated and filled with large projects each making its case for top billing. And so when the invitation came to join with a small band of unfamiliar people to invest ten days in a land as problematic as any on earth (That is to say, Israel/Palestine) I had to ask: Do I really want to do this? Can I even afford the time away from all that is calling out to me here at home?

Prior to my first trip to the Middle East a decade ago, I’d been aware of the plight of Jews and Palestinians – both locked in a struggle that all-too-often appears as one without answers and maybe even fewer reasons to hold hope for a peaceful resolution.

In a world of conflict, the Israeli/Palestinian situation seemed as deep, complex and constant as any conflict on earth. Continue reading…

While one of the tracks of this conference is on ‘spirituality and celebration,’ this conference is not, per se, a religious conference. However, each track I attended today was filled with ideas of faith and the sacred – even the sports and celebration track.

There it was mentioned that the idea of sports and fate is about competition and economics and the will to triumph whereas the idea of sports and faith (in each other, the integrity of the game, God, etc.) is about community involvement, social covenant and hope. Continue reading…

Hello again from Amman. What an awesome day – the opening could not have been better. Today we heard from Prince Hassan. His grasp of the history, the people, the issues is second to none. And the only thing that exceeded that knowledge was the heart he has for peace and reconciliation among all nations.

He gave us some startling stats such as 70% of all children nine months of age living in Palestinian refugee camps are malnourished. Many of my peers are unaware that a Palestinian could be 50 years old (my age!) and have been born in a refugee camp in the Middle East and still be living there! Continue reading…