There are two sides to every story...I think police get out of line occassionally just like people in every walk of life...but when you see a cop pull someone over and the walk up with their hand on their gun it is because many who have gone before them walked up on a loaded gun and then ate some lead...I couldn't do their job but I am glad that someone does it...because we need safety to have freedom. Safety is one of the basic rights guaranteed to us.

Chief Bill Braton is one of the most successful law enforcement executives to have lived. At a recent breakfast he provided his three pronged approach to reshaping any police department. First he partners with the community, second he problem solves, and third he focuses on prevention.

I think this is a great approach for any social problem.

Humanity Hangs in the Balance

I believe that humanity hangs in the balance right now. The credit crisis is facing challenges beyond our ability to deal with them. But inherent in this crisis is the most incredible opportunity we have ever faced. I wrote a book called "A Prescription For Peace" that is available on Amazon. In it I advocate a new approach to the entire world where we follow the words of Thomas Jefferson, where he wrote "we hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal and they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights that among them are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The means that we all have the right to three square meals a day, a roof over our heads, access to quality health care, personal safety, an education and a job. For how could we ever feel liberty or begin to pursue happiness unless our basic needs are being met?

Now the debate over Socialism vs. Capitalism needs to end. You can check out my blog on the subject at aprescriptionforpeace..../Each one of us is nothing without the people that surround us...and now we need all of those people to be working and to be paying taxes. This is the only way out of our hole. That means massive public works projects that put people to work. Borrowing money for entitlements or giving out more stimulus checks is a big mistake. But providing food, housing, services and education that leads people toward jobs makes sense.

Investing in the American People makes sense. Investing in innner-city children to get them to become productive tax payers makes sense.Now is the time...we can do what is right."Our work will not be done until every man, woman, and child alive has three square meals a day, a roof over their heads, access to quality health care, personal security, an education and a job." - Michael Douglas Carlin

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

So you are driving down the street having a candy bar in the perfect weather of Los Angeles. The windows are down and the fresh air is blowing through the car. The music is on and although traffic has you only moving at 25 mph, at least you are moving. What a great experience you are having listening to the lyrics of U2. “Still haven’t found what I’m lookin’ for,” blasts our of the custom speakers you had installed in your nearly new car that you worked so hard to buy. The candy melts in your mouth but because it isn’t an M&M it also melts on your hands. So that you don’t soil the interior of your car you lick off what you can and wipe what is left on your jeans…they will get a through washing soon. The last bite hits home…and oh, that nasty wrapper. It’s no big deal, one wrapper can’t make that much of a difference. You don’t want it in your nice, near new car, so you toss it out the window. You don’t want to be blatant so you hold it out and let it go when you are sure no one is looking.

I remember the highways of the 60’s and 70’s. There was trash everywhere. We have gotten so much better at not throwing our trash out of the window but we are not quite there. A candy wrapper here, a cigarette butt there…what can it hurt? We are nearly 20 million people living in Southern California…20 million candy wrappers here and there can equate to a big deal. Picture 20 million wrappers on the streets that get rained on and wash into the storm drains – they float out into the ocean. The currents take them to a trash heap the size of Texas that floats out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

That trash heap is killing the Pacific Ocean. The birds fly down and swoop up plastic bags because they think they are food.. Fish are eating the plastic. That plastic clogs their digestive systems. Nutrients can’t get past the plastic blocks them and they literally starve to death. Who’s problem is this trash heap? No one seems to be stepping up to claim it. 3.5 million tons consisting of 80% plastics is floating out there somewhere between the coast of California and Hawaii. It is called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

If no one is going to clean it up, the least we can do is not further contribute to making it bigger. We do this when we refrain from throwing that wrapper out the window. Also, we can make a conscious effort to limit the use of plastics. Canvas bags at the market are reusable and keep the plastics out of the land fills or on the streets.

The Fine Line between Enable and Help

Gave a homeless dude a ten dollar bill tonight. I got hammered for it. He went immediately into 7-11 and bought some food to fight his hunger...before he got to the cash register I had a guy come up to me and scream at me for giving to a homeless man..."You're not helping him...you are enabling him." He might be right...but tonight that man is eating well.

There might be a fine line...and I need to know more about it. But learning about it from books just isn't a possibility...you have to dive into the pool to learn about it...

More later...

We already have Socialism

If you walk out on the street and have a heart attack falling into the middle of the street someone will call 911 and dispatch the emergency response team. The police will show up first, followed by the paramedics, an ambulance will take you to the nearest emergency room. If you need heart surgery it will be performed at breakneck speed and the recovery will provide you with a room, food, medical attention and constant monitoring. When you get out of the hospital there will be bills generated for this service and you either pay them (if you can) or you don't...in which case they are forwarded to UNCLE SAM.

The problem with our particular brand of socialism is that these services are for acute care and are paid for at the highest possible costs...

A system that provided preventive care for everyone would be much cheaper and more humane. Additionally, preventitive care would thwart diseases more effectively and take much of the risk out of the consequences of disease.

Capitalism vs. Socialism - Why not have both?

We can have peace in our lifetime if we all do our part.

This must be a partnership of every individual, non-profit organization, corporation, and government - all working together to bring the basic needs to all of humanity.

It is time for humanity to grow up. Our “Identity Crisis” is ridiculous. We run around like little spoiled brats sweeping our messes under the carpet rather than deal with them in a forthright manner. Turning a blind eye to problems like homelessness ends up costing more than facing the problem with housing, meals, and services that recycle lives and get them back on the road as productive members of society.

The debate between Socialism and Capitalism continues because of the merits of both systems. We hear the entrepreneur say, “I pulled myself up by my own bootstraps and was never given a thing…why should we give them anything?” We also hear those that have been helped by social programs say, “I reached out to the government for help during a time of crisis in my life and now, I own my own business.” The engine of capitalism cannot be refuted. It is what has driven the global economy. The benefits of socialism cannot be refuted either. That is why the debate is so compelling.

The overused phrase, “give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime” also has merits. We need to assume nothing during the education process that teaches men, women and children to “fish”. We need to understand that in today’s complicated world the process of teaching men women and children to fish is a process that may take time. Not everyone has the ability to fish while learning. The reason why we should help people that can’t pull themselves up by their own bootstraps is that it is the right thing to do. Helping people while they learn is more humane and costs less than sweeping them under the carpet.

Let’s put the debate of Capitalism and Socialism to rest. Turning a blind eye to people who have no ability to “fish” is no longer acceptable. A layer of socialism where not only do we teach men, women and children to “fish” but where that burden is shared by government, corporations, non-profits, and individuals, fueled by Capitalism for those who take personal responsibility and want all that capitalism provides. Two systems living side by side coexisting and flourishing.

Let’s move the debate forward to renewable systems that prepare and plan for the next thousand years.

This is A Prescription For Peace:

1. Food
2. Shelter
3. Health Care
4. Personal Safety
5. Education
6. Livelihood
7. Empower Women
All leading to HOPE


Thomas Jefferson wrote the words: "We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among them are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"

If we have the right to life then we have the right to three square meals a day, a roof over our head, access to quality health care, personal security, an education and a job. For how could we ever begin to experience liberty or pursue happiness without the basic needs being met.

"Our work will not be done until every man, woman, and child alive has three square meals a day, a roof over their head, access to quality health care, personal security, an education and a job." - Michael Douglas Carlin

Be the Writer Producer Actor and Director in your own Movie

Be the Writer Producer Actor and Director in your Own Movie
Michael Douglas Carlin 10.AUG.08

Be the writer, producer, actor and director in your own life

10:57 AM PDT, August 9, 2008

I grew up in the movie business. Every element that can be controlled pretty much is. Sometimes the weather cooperates and sometimes it doesn’t. But always the show must go on. The Writer conceives of the story, the Producer handles the finances, the Director calls the shots and the Actor takes direction. There are many other minor positions on the movie…all of them important to the overall quality of the finished product. Life imitates art and art imitates life.

In life and movies we have atmosphere - people that blend into the scenery – Extras. They have almost no responsibility or authority but they provide a necessary function. The responsibility and authority grow with every promotion from Extra to Grip to Art Director all the way to the highest point, that of the Director.

Many people in America are the Writer, Producer, Director and Actor in their own story. This is the pinnacle of personal responsibility in America. Capitalism functions with a high degree of personal responsibility. Installing capitalism in a place where people are not comfortable taking responsibility doesn’t make much sense anymore than having an extra direct a movie. Not that an extra might not have some real talent and the ability to direct. Given time and training an extra can rise to become the Writer, Producer, Actor and Director of their own movie.

Not everyone is ready or able to become master of their own personal movie. Some require a Writer to dream up the plot. Some require a Producer to handle the finances. Some require direction. Some are not even that well equipped to be the Actor. But every human alive has a story. Everyone of them is worthy of being lived. And each of them has the right to progress through the ranks to become their own personal master.

Some try to force personal responsibility and authority on to people that have no ability or knowledge to care for themselves. They must first be educated and then accept personal responsibility. It is easy to play the victim when you don’t know any better. Educated people make better decisions. They write better scripts and they live better movies.

Getting extras to become fully fledged members of capitalism takes an investment from the community. They need all of the basics from the Prescription For Peace. In the inner cities and third world that includes personal safety. Children that are abused are poor candidates for functional families. They find dysfunctional families in the form of gangs. They spread their dysfunction to successive generations. The cycle must be broken. This is a great place for faith based organizations to intercede. They can help children receive education and an alternate family-like place to learn and grow.

The investment from the community in these members may resemble a brand of socialism. I actually believe that a layer of socialism can coexist with capitalism. Socialism provides extras with the ability to learn and grow into productive members of capitalism. Without this layer extras have no direction, no education and no ability to grow. With this layer there is a path toward full membership in writing, producing, acting, and directing each individual movie.

Mark Green was my father’s attorney. He was responsible for the vision that transformed my father’s company from a small “mom and pop” operation to a fully functioning company with middle management installed. As an attorney he decided that he needed drama instruction. He met one of the most influential drama instructors of the day and signed up for some personal instruction. After a brief moment or two of discussion she asked him to go outside knock on the door. He was unsure of the exercise but agreed to play along. He knocked, was asked in, and he entered the room a bit unsure. He was invited into the living room where he sat down. Now his instructor asked “say to yourself prior to entering ‘I am going in.’” This time outside he said to himself “I am going in.” He entered the room with confidence walked right over to his seat in the living room and took the seat. We all need to say to ourselves “I am going in.”

 

 

All the best,

 

Michael Carlin

Publisher & Editor

Century City News

www.centurycitynews.com

To Book Travel www.centurycitytravel.com

To see my new book www.aprescriptionforpeace.com

A Prescription For Peace www.aprescriptionforpeace.org

If you would like to download the book you can do it at:

http://homepage.mac.com/centurycityview/FileSharing5.html

 

 

T. 424.789.2136

F. 310.861.5596

 

View my interview on best selling author television

http://www.veoh.com/videos/v144253487WWZ7cCE

 

 

"Our work will not be done until every man, woman and child alive has three square meals a day, a roof over their heads, access to quality health care, personal safety, an education, and a job." - Michael Douglas Carlin

 

 

1. Food
2. Shelter
3. Health Care
4. Personal Safety
5. Education
6. Livelihood
7. Empower Women
All leading to HOPE

We can have peace in our lifetime if we all do our part.

This must be a partnership of every individual, non-profit organization, corporation, and government. All working together to bring the basic needs to all of humanity.

Thomas Jefferson wrote the words: "We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among them are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness"

If we have the right to life then we have the right to three square meals a day, a roof over our head, access to quality health care, personal security, an education and a job. For how could we ever begin to experience liberty or pursue happiness without the basic needs being met.

"Our work will not be done until every man, woman, and child alive has three square meals a day, a roof over their head, access to quality health care, personal security, an education and a job." - Michael Douglas Carlin

You can help!!!! Collect sporting equipment, musical instruments, or medical supplies here in the United States and bring or send them to third world countries.

If you need help you can contact Michael Douglas Carlin at aprescriptionforpeace@gmail.com

Grandpa Dad

Grandpa Dad Site Launched

A while ago I wrote about my grandfather - "Grandpa Dad". He was an amazing man when he wasn't drinking. My parents took the time and care to shield me from him when he was drinking so all of my memories of the man were very positive. I just set up a site that you can check out: http://www.grandpadad.info/

Today, I met with one of the major forces behind the Weingart Center downtown. He works in Century City and is responsible for the Dodger Stadium Event in November. This year we are going to reach out to more of Century City and get them involved in the event. The goal is to turn it into an All Century City event. I see no reason that this won't happen. Weingart Center works with the homeless to get them the services they need and releases them back into society when they are ready to handle the responsibility of rent and a job. They have a tremendous success ratio and have been responsible for tens of thousands of lives that have turned around. I only wish my grandfather would have connected with an organization like the Weingart Center...

 

 

Online Videos by Veoh.com

http://www.amazon.com/Prescription-Peace-Practical-Guide/dp/1427631239/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1218130390&sr=8-1