To End All Wars...

So I started an interesting discussion on Senator McCaskill's Facebook wall.

ONE Campaign brought to my attention that this past Tuesday, the Kerry-Lugar bill was up for signing. This bill would provide "non military aid granted to Pakistan by the U.S in view of its precarious economic condition due to its indulgence in the war on terror as a front line allied state."

Senator McCaskill signed a letter to the President, so ONE wanted to make sure her constituents held her accountable and signed the bill.

I wrote this on her Facebook wall, as well as her twitter page. This is the discussion that followed. The names that are not mine have been changed, but I did add some emphasis.

Aaron:

Sen. McCaskill, please sign the Kerry-Luger bill to support poverty relief in developing nations. Please make good on the letter you signed to the President supporting these matters. Thank you!

Pete: America has no more money to support other nations. We are broke. China is rich, let China help developing nations.

Better yet, let developing nations help themselves like America once did. Let them carry their own weight.

Jan: I agree.

Aaron: Poverty, hunger, oppression, injustice, slavery, etc. are not right or left issues, they are human issues, and all of humanity suffers due to these preventable tragedies.

According to ONE 50,000 people, that's one every three seconds, die due to preventable diseases and extreme poverty.

Nearly 11,500 people die every day from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Nearly two-thirds of these people are living in sub-Saharan Africa.

72 million children are out of school around the world, a figure equivalent to the entire primary school-aged population in Europe and North America

8.8 Million children under the age of five die each year from preventable diseases and treatable causes.

550,000 mothers die in childbirth each year. 80% of these deaths can be prevented if women had access to basic maternal and health services.

2.5 Billion people around the world do not have access to adequate sanitation.

27 Million are enslaved this includes child soldiers, forced prostitutes, and other victims of human trafficking.

Jan: And middle-class Americans are supposed to fix all this? We are the most charitable nation in the world, but we are now broke. We have enough problems here that need to be addressed. Americans will be included in these statistics if we don't change course.

Pete: hat is very unfortunate, except for the HIV/AIDS epidemic which is 100% preventable.

Over 400,000 Americans die each year due to smoking related causes. Why does the government not do something about that? Oh, the tax money is more important than people's lives and obama is stinking up our White House with his own smoking.

I didn't say they were right or left issues.

The United States of America is broke, and the countries and the people suffering these misfortunes sit back and wait for someone else to come to help them and do little or nothing to help themselves.

Many of the people suffering these misfortunes would take money we do not have and kill us in a heartbeat given the chance. Many of them just hate us, except for our money which we have none of anymore. We need to take care of our fellow Americans who cannot, not those who will not, take care of themselves.

We cannot save the world.

Aaron: We saved the world 3 times last century from Imperialism, Fascism, and Communism. The evil empires of our day are injustice, poverty, oppression, ignorance etc. We will win not by the force of arms but through education, advocacy, and compassion.

The more good we do now, the more secure we will be in the future.

The honorable Senator Bond said, "the U.S. needs to help other nations build stronger governments because these deeds will help avoid conflict and acts of terrorism. If we put more sandals and sneakers on the ground, I think we can avoid having to put more combat boots on the ground in the future,"

Pete: Those wearing sandals and sneakers burn our flag and want to kill us. Good luck with that.

Aaron: Nations don't go to war with other nations who have fed their children and served their people.

Again, Senator Bond said, "Smart power, will protect the U.S. and its allies and prevent harm. But for sustainable long term success we have to use economic development, educational exchange, business interchanges, investment and trade and diplomatic strategies in areas that are neutral or sometimes hostile toward the U.S.

Helping other countries become more stable makes America a safer place and building nations up and helping them feed their citizens will in turn help America. There is the need for humanitarian assistance."

I welcome your thoughts.

Life at Warp Five

It's been a year since I started this blog, and I feel I have one of the more interesting blogs, but I'm very biased. This time last year, I wrote about the little ones turning three and 1/2 a year respectively, and one of my guys getting married.

Now, one year later, the little ones have turned 4 and 1.5 respectively. It's nothing short of providential that they are in the family.

And one of my other guys got married.

I remember last year saying to the guys, "It doesn't feel like one of us just got married." This time, we were all seasoned veterans at this whole wedding thing and it was as if we went right from Nick's wedding to Mark's wedding the next weekend, rather than the next year.

I have to wonder which one of us is next.

I remember saying to Mark, this year's groom, "It will be interesting to see

where we all are this time a year from now."

Well, here we are. Only this time it seems it got here faster than it did last year. I think one of the few constants in life is the pace at which it moves us along. I've heard it gets faster as you grow older.

Perhaps we're all experiencing Hubble's Law, that is: "v = H₀D."

Meaning, the universe is expanding, and the further out we go, the faster it is moving.

So the galaxies shown here are moving away from us now faster than they were when

this picture was taken.

So I'm moving faster now that I was this time last year. And as I look back at what

I've learned this past year, I can see that. Tom Jackson, Dave Ramsey and myself, all

have different ways of saying the same thing. Tom Jackson says, "Don't wait for the

opportunity to prepare. As you prepare, you will create your opportunities." Dave Ramsey

says, "Live like no one else so later, you can live like no one else." And I often tell my

students to take care of what they need to care of what they need to when they need to

so when the time comes, they can do what they are free to want to do.

Then there are the things I'm unwilling to admit to myself, though I know they're true.

I've also learned I have unique perspective on almost everything. I can make a street

light look like the sun.

Aside from this showing in my photography, music, and writing, it's shown up in

my work. Almost everyone I work with, has been given up on by their school system,

family, or whoever, and have been told they're insignificant. I've learnedI can make them

realize they're capable of great things. A little bit of time spent, and care given will do that.

Funny thing how something small can alter our perspectives. When what we see gets

interrupted and becomes an imperfect reflection, when we get close we can see the beauty

in the distortion. We can see the traces of what is to be. A little spur of wind blown across

the surface of still waters creates a beautiful impression.

A small rock sends ripples that can be seen across the entire body of water.

And here I am learning to see past the imperfections, the disturbances, the distortions, knowing there is beauty.

Crisis and Opportunity

I've come to learn over the past few years that our greatest opportunities arise from crisis. Over the years I've perfected the fine art of engineering opportunities, that is to say, I've created many crises for myself. As I've looked past some recently engineered opportunities; beit places I wanted to go, jobs I wanted to work, people I wanted to get closer to, etc., I've found I don't often get what I ask for, and it's been for the best.

The ice storms that have sacked us the past few winters have caused numerous crises in my area, however, I've found them to be opportunities to shoot some of the most beautiful pictures I've taken.

When the group home I had been teaching at for three academic years closed due to the professional incompetence and unethical behavior, an opportunity arose for me to take on a much larger job where I would be working with more youth who are also in need, and were just like my former students.

While I certainly don't believe I'm in state of crisis at this moment, opportunities have opened up to me that would not have had my original "Plan A" gone through. I get an opportunity to continue doing more good for my clients and students. One of my guys is expecting to be a dad later this year. I told him he has a great opportunity to really leave a legacy for his family if he plans things out and works hard. I'll be there to help him.

Just recently I had the opportunity to attend a meeting with the One Campaign. This was the most excited I've been for anything since Urbana.

One is a campaign and advocacy organization supported by more than 2 million people committed to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease.

Thanks in part to the efforts of One as well as effective leadership, smart use of power, and aid, deaths from malaria have been cut in half. From 2002 to 2007, the number of people receiving life saving AIDS treatment has grown from 50,000 to 3 million.

Still, there's work to be done.

According to ONE 50,000 people, that's one every three seconds, die due to preventable diseases and extreme poverty.

1.5 billion live on less than $1.25 a day.

Nearly 11,500 people die every day from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Nearly two-thirds of these people are living in sub-Saharan Africa.

72 million children are out of school around the world, a figure equivalent to the entire primary school-aged population in Europe and North America

8.8 Million children under the age of five die each year from preventable diseases and treatable causes.

550,000 mothers die in childbirth each year. 80% of these deaths can be prevented if women had access to basic maternal and health services.

2.5 Billion people around the world do not have access to adequate sanitation.

27 Million are enslaved this includes child soldiers, forced prostitutes, and other victims of human trafficking.

I could go on, but the point is this: The crises are there and they can be taken care of. The opportunities are there.

How does this affect us? Senator Bond talked about the use of Smart Power when he met with the One chapter at Webster University.

According to Senator Bond, the more sandals there are on the ground now, the less boots will be on the ground in the future. Nations don't go to war with other nations that have fed their children, built their communities, provided care.

As I said in my last entry; AIDS, slavery, hunger, poverty, injustice, etc. are not right or left issues, they are human issues. We all suffer for it. Imagine the amount of human potential we are wasting. The next great novelist, the ones who will answer what do to about the environment, the next great inventor, are out there. When help others we also help ourselves.

For more information

http://one.org http://humanwrong.org

http://worldvisionacts.org http://ijm.org

Dr. Bryan Chapell said on a Living Christ 360 podcast "the Grace of God will be our dying breath and we will fight for it but we will fight with deeds of love and mercy"

Summit for Someone Benefit Art Show

A role model does not get more positive than this.

I hope Dr. Crowe doesn't see what we're doing in his gallery.

So it turns out that March has been one of the busiest months for me, more so than usual. Aside from work I have: played three gigs, helped organize and promote a benefit for Haiti, took an impromptu trip out to Wine Country and the Bay Area to surprise my sister, and organize and promote the Summit for Someone Benefit Art Show.

A couple friends of mine, Kyle Gerecke and Jordan Duncan will be climbing a couple mountains in Mexico for Summit for Someone, an organization that gets at risk youth out of the city and into the wilderness around positive role models.

Our show featured my photography as taken by my camera phone, photos from Kyle's travels, and Josh Reeves' New Kind of Art.

This art show served as a fundraiser for Kyle and Jordan, as well as mine and Kyle's debut as an artists. We are The New Generation of Artists. This is our declaration.

We got a lot of love from the good folks at the Southeast Missourian, who ran this awesome article on us http://www.semissourian.com/story/1623018.html

"We believe in the power of art to inspire hope," Picar said.

He said a photograph can be more than just a pretty picture. It can also be a way to address human issues like slavery, AIDS and hunger.

"We can use our talents to bring about changes," Picar said. "I want people who encounter me, my photography and my music to see a bit of themselves, but I want them to see beyond that, to something greater."

Special thanks to:

Dr. David Crowe for the gracious use of his gallery

Sherri Gerecke at the ImageMaker for cheap posters and printing out our photos,

Chris Harris and Darren Burgfeld at the Southeast Missourian for the great coverage

Brittney Reid for supplying bakies and water,

Leslie Hazelwood at Major Brands Distrubiting for donating wine,

The folks at Cape Arts Council and Old Town Cape for some love.

And everyone who showed up.

The showcase wall. L to R: Josh Reeves, Myself, Kyle, Myself, then Josh

Training, art, it's all the same to us

How can you not support these guys?

This is just some of the art.

We are the New Generation of Artists. We believe we can use our talents to help others discover theirs.

Our next event is the Second Annual Epic Marathon of Stairs. On May 1 at the Common Pleas Courthouse we'll be climbing all day until we match the height of Mt. Everest. We are both fired up and dreading this event. For more details, please read our account from the First Annual Epic Marathon of Stairs.

Hope to see you there. We'll be starting climbing at 3AM. Not even Rocky is this dedicated!