June162010
Gates, Buffett Pushing to Revolutionize Philanthropy By the Rich »
“Gates and Buffett started what can be called the biggest fundraising drive in history. They’d welcome donors of any kind. But their direct target is billionaires, whom the two men wish to see greatly raise the amounts they give to charities, of any and all kinds….They are driving to get the super-rich, starting with the Forbes list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, to pledge — literally pledge — at least 50% of their net worth to charity during their lifetimes or at death.”
Tags: /charity /compassion
January182010
A Reason for Optimism, Incarnate: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. »
Listen to the I Have a Dream speech, the A Knock at Midnight speech, Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam, and 1961 speech at Southern Seminary
Watch the I Have a Dream Speech and excerpts of his last speech (I Have Been to the Mountaintop)
Watch an excerpt of this speech: “How long? Not long. Because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice”
Or read several of his most famous speeches
And watch this: the 1957 program “The Open Mind,” where Dr. King and federal Judge Waring (read more about this truly honorable judge here) discuss the civil rights movement at that moment
Read: A 1956 comic book about “Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story”
And read: One of Dr. King’s final speeches, at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in April, 1968
Peruse the vast resources, including speeches, photos and video at the King Institute and the King Center
And, finally, listen to Nina Simone’s tribute, “Why (The King of Love is Dead)”
Tags: /justice /race /compassion
January162010
See-Through Goldfish Bred, Offers Alternative to Animal Dissection »
“Tamaru said the fish could act both as a living textbook in biology classes and as a tool for medical researchers….The translucence doesn’t harm the goldfish or shorten its life span, he added.”
Tags: /compassion /education
December12009
FOCUS ON: Compassion »
“What is the essence of human nature? Flawed, say many theologians. Vicious and addicted to warfare, wrote Hobbes. Selfish and in need of considerable improvement, think many parents. But biologists are beginning to form a generally sunnier view of humankind….Of course every animal must to some extent be selfish to survive. But the biologists also see in humans a natural willingness to help.”
Two examples: A group of mothers volunteer to nurse an infant whose mother died and a stranger stays to give comfort to a shooting victim as he lay dying
“Imagine a world where humans have the tools to be compassionate and engage more readily in altruistic behavior,” exhorts the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education at Stanford University School of Medicine
Tags: /compassion
