One City: A Buddhist Blog for Everyone

Recently in Interdependent Activism & Politics Category

Wednesday November 4, 2009

Meditating, In Public, on Broadway For 24 Hours. No, I Am Not David Blaine

meditation_24_hours.jpg
by Ethan Nichtern

This Friday 7pm, Until Saturday 7pm, The Interdependence Project is putting on what promises to be a very cool event. We are meditating, as a group, for 24 hours straight, in the storefront windows of this place, ABC Carpet & Home. ABC is an environmentally minded retailer with a great mission, located on Broadway and 18th street in NYC, and they have been generous enough to provide the space for us to make a very public display of mindfulness practice. A few of us, including myself, are meditating for all 24 hours.

Over the past month, I have been getting a lot of funny questions about why we are doing this. So I thought I'd use this post to answer the top five frequently asked questions.



Wednesday October 28, 2009

Only 35% of Americans feel that global warming is a serious problem

By Kirsten Firminger

Pew Global Warming Percentages.gifAccording to new polling done by The Pew Research Center, only 35% of Americans feel that global warming is a serious problem, down from 44% of those surveyed in 2008. Only 36% feel that there is solid evidence that the earth is warming because of human activity, down from 47% in 2008.

More than ever, we need to think about the best way to mindfully reach out to individuals to engage them in meaningful dialogue about global warming.

Last week, through 350.org, 181 countries came together for the most widespread day of environmental action in the planet's history. At over 5200 events around the world, people gathered to call for strong action and bold leadership on the climate crisis (check out the photos from 350.org  climate change events).

But more can still be done everyday. Grist has put together a great guide on "How to talk to a climate skeptic." However, keep in mind that some argue that messages based on fear (freaking people out that the world is coming to an end) does not work, and instead we need to focus on how we can engage individuals about climate change on a level that is personally meaningful to them (such as reducing their energy bill or reducing our dependence on foreign oil). Another option is focusing on changing the behaviors on the 36% who do feel that their behaviors cause global warming and this behavior change will spread to others.

What has worked best, in your personal experience, when talking with others about global warming?

Wednesday October 21, 2009

What are you doing on October 24th International Day of Climate Action?

By Kirsten Firminger

350 climate action.pngOctober 24, 2009 is the International Day of Climate Action. It is a global call to action to put our world on course to get back to 350 ppm. 350.org states that "350 parts per million is what many scientists, climate experts, and progressive national governments are now saying is the safe upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere." Our current CO2 levels are at 384.78 ppm.

October 24 comes six weeks before the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen and it is the perfect time to build momentum towards addressing global warming. There are events talking place all over the world. Find (or add your own) climate action event near you using the map below.


View Actions at 350.org

Wednesday October 14, 2009

Propaganda flashback - The US Government wants YOU to conserve

by Kirsten Firminger

According to the United States government (during World War II), it is your patriotic duty to waste less and recycle more. All of these propaganda advertising images are courtesy of Duke University's Ad*Access digital image database.

W0086-md.jpeg

Click on "Continue Reading This Post" below to see more images.


Sunday October 11, 2009

Dalai Lama Talks To Wolf Blitzer About Apparent Snub From Fellow Nobel Winner Obama (Video)

by Ethan Nichtern

CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked Nobel Laureate, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, about his apparent brush-off from the newest Nobel Peace Prize Winner, President Barack Obama. The Dalai Lama, in the fashion of embodying peace, was quite gracious. Blitzer, in the fashion of a cable news journalist, went probing for controversy. I don't think a CNN or Fox News Anchor will be winning the prize anytime soon, but then again, why stop the surprises now? Here is the One City Blog commentary on the failed meeting between the two men from earlier this week. Have a good Sunday. Promote Peace!

Saturday October 10, 2009

Thich Nhat Hanh Day 2: Nourish Obama and Eat Mindfully

by Patrick GronemanI too, was lucky enough to get tickets to see a very timely talk by Zen Monk Thich Nhat Hanh today in New York City.  He spoke of the importance of building peaceful and compassionate communities, just a...

Saturday October 10, 2009

Obama Nobel Peace Prize For What? Rachel Maddow Explains While Thich Nhat Hanh Embodies Peace

by Ethan NichternAll day yesterday, many of us, myself included, were saying to ourselves, they gave Obama the Nobel Peace Prize, For What? On the day that our President was awarded arguably the most hopeful award that exists on...

Friday October 9, 2009

Committee Awards Barack Obama Nobel Peace Prize for 2009: First Sitting President Since Woodrow Wilson To Win

by Ethan NichternHope renewed? The Nobel Committee in Norway has awarded President Barack Obama the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009. According to the Washington Post, the award was given "for his work to improve international diplomacy and rid the world...

Wednesday October 7, 2009

Health Insurance and the Public Option

Jerry Kolber is a writer, filmmaker and television producer based in New York City. His personal site is at www.JerryKolber.com and you can follow him on Twitter. Past projects include Inked and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and he...

Wednesday October 7, 2009

Obama, The Dalai Lama, and The GOP: Are Republicans the Defenders of Tibet and Human Rights?

by Ethan NichternFile this under world turned upside down--or under political opportunism--depending on your viewpoint. According to The Hill, Republican lawmakers are criticizing the Obama administration for failing to support Tibetan rights and human rights in general by not meeting...

Wednesday October 7, 2009

Sailing the plastic vortex: Video highlights

by Kirsten FirmingerFollowing up on my previous post, Setting sail for the plastic vortex, which focuses on Project Kaisei researchers who are studying the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, I found that they have posted up some great new videos from...

Monday October 5, 2009

Obama Postpones (Avoids?) Meeting With Dalai Lama: Change We No Longer Believe In?

by Ethan NichternAccording to the Washington Post, President Obama has postponed meeting with His Holiness the Dalai Lama until after a summit with Chinese Leader Hu Jintao. The Post claims this is an attempt to avoid ruffling feathers and to...

Wednesday September 30, 2009

Health Care Reform: Government is Good and Chuck Grassley is a Predator

by Ethan NichternThe gentleman to your left seems not to like his job much at all. Maybe we should help him find a new one.As the Senate Finance Committee debated the Public Option's inclusion in the Health Care Reform...

Wednesday September 30, 2009

Adventures in learning how we buy less - Part 1: The start of my journey

by Kirsten FirmingerI am finally collecting data for my dissertation. It is focused on people living in New York City who have voluntarily chosen to buy less. I launched the survey last Thursday and I am already amazed at...

Tuesday September 29, 2009

Thich Nhat Hanh monks ejected from Vietnamese monastery

Nonviolent followers of Vietnamese Zen teacher and world-renowned author Thich Nhat Hahn were violently ejected from the Bat Nha monastery in Lam Dong province in Vietnam on Sunday. The monks' ejection followed months of tension.(photo AFP)...

Wednesday September 23, 2009

Making our voices heard: A week of taking action on Climate Change

European leaders are saying that Americans do not have the will to take action on Climate Change. They are highly concerned that we will (again) ruin the efforts being made to set "legally binding and internationally enforceable targets for reductions...

Thursday September 17, 2009

Buddhist Quote of the Day: What Kind of Karma Do You Drive?

"There is another issue that has important implications for how Buddhism will adapt to a more global role in the future. Karma has been used to rationalize racism, caste, economic oppression, birth handicaps and everything else. Taken literally, karma...

Wednesday September 16, 2009

What should we do when our tap water is not safe?

If you have not yet read the article on America's Toxic Waters published by the New York Times this week, may I suggest you check it out. While I have been reading about concerns with our water supply more and...

Thursday September 10, 2009

You Lie Obama, and Joe Wilson is Your Pre-Existing Condition

"You Lie," Obama. Would any congressman dare to disrespect President Bush this way, even though he actually lied in front of congress many times? Hey guys, remember WMD? I can't imagine so. Joe Wilson of South Carolina called the president...

Thursday September 10, 2009

President Takes Bill Moyers' Advice: Obama's Speech on Health Care Reform

I especially loved the end of President Obama's speech last night. I am not sure if Obama saw Bill Moyers on Real Time with Bill Maher, or watched Bill Moyers Journal on PBS, but he did  speak verbatim of Health...

Wednesday September 9, 2009

Recycling can be fun!

I am currently on my honeymoon in Australia (yay!). As I have previously mentioned in my blog about greening amusement parks, my husband is a roller coaster enthusiast. This (of course) means that we have been riding some roller coasters...

Tuesday September 8, 2009

Update: President Obama's School Speech vs. Reagan's '88 School Speech

Via Daily Kos, a parent in Ohio sent this note to school with their daughter regarding Obama's school speech. I wish my mom would've written permission slips like this for me:"Despite the warnings of right-wing radio hosts, and fully cognizant...

Thursday September 3, 2009

Facebook Status goes Viral On Health Care Reform

I just opened my Facebook page today and got bombarded with friend after friend who had posted the following to their facebook status: "Ethan Nichtern believes that no one should die because they cannot afford health care, and nobody should...

Wednesday September 2, 2009

Ben & Jerry's Hubby Hubby: Gay Marriage and The Americone Dream

In honor of the passage of Vermont's same-sex marriage law, Ben & Jerry's has announced that for 30 days (only in Vermont), "Chubby Hubby" ice cream will be sold as "Hubby Hubby." Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream could not be reached...

Wednesday September 2, 2009

Tracking our trash

I think this is so cool. MIT is conducting a research project which involves inserting "smart" chips into objects that become trash, which are then tracked in order to learn where all our trash goes. As they state on their...

Monday August 31, 2009

American Casino - Interdependence and the Subprime Mortgage Crisis

I'm a buddhist. I read the Wall Street Journal as often as I can. I don't see how anyone interested in interdependence can ignore the WSJ. I think any buddhist interested in relieving suffering in this world of relative reality...

Saturday August 29, 2009

Bill Moyers, Bill Maher, And Pema Chodron: Health Care Reform

Below is a video from Real Time with Bill Maher, where journalist Bill Moyers sends a great message to President Obama on standing up for change, and brilliantly diagnoses what's wrong with our political system, and especially, the non-progressives in...

Friday August 28, 2009

No Impact Man

This month, I reviewed Colin Beavan's book "No Impact Man: The Adventures Of A Guilty Liberal Who Attempts To Save The Planet And The Discoveries He Makes About Himself And His Way Of Life In The Process" for The Brooklyn...

Wednesday August 26, 2009

The Third Kennedy Brother: Best Memorial (So Far) by Joe Biden

Vice President Joe Biden crying while speaking of the third and last of the Kennedy Brothers. My favorite memorial thoughts so far. I do hope they follow Robert Byrd's advice and name the health care bill after Kennedy, complete...

Wednesday August 26, 2009

Remember Ted Kennedy by giving the American people real health care coverage

Ted Kennedy died late last night. He spent his career fighting to get health care coverage for all. May his legacy be completed by passing real health care reform in the coming months as a fitting tribute to him....

Wednesday August 19, 2009

Greening our amusement (parks)

Kirsten & her very enthusiastic husband getting ready to ride another roller coasterMy husband is what you would call a roller coaster enthusiast. By the end of this roller coaster riding season, he will have ridden 218 different roller coasters...

Tuesday August 18, 2009

Public displays of meditation

I've never done anything like this . . . ...

Tuesday August 11, 2009

Aung San Suu Kyi Sentenced to 3 More Years

Burma's fake leaders had Burma's rightful leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, sentenced to three more years in prison. At least the sentence was commuted to more house arrest. Damn. I hope Obama makes a statement about this. But he might...

Sunday August 9, 2009

Taking Climate Change Seriously

A growing number of policy makers are starting to consider Global Warming and Climate Change nothing less than a national security threat, according to an article in the New York Times today.(photo from unicef.org)...

Wednesday August 5, 2009

Setting sail for the plastic vortex

As reported by the Mercury News, Project Kaisei researchers have sailed to collect data about the Great Pacific Garbage patch (or plastic vortex), which is created by plastic debris and other trash brought together by ocean currents. Some scientists estimate...

Sunday August 2, 2009

Buddhism and the Environment: Is Mindfulness Meditation Enough?

I had the honor to be interviewed about Buddhism and Ecology by Rod Meade Sperry at the Shambhala Sun Blog last week. Check out the audio interview at the above hotlink. Also check out Rod's great website, The Worst Horse...

Wednesday July 29, 2009

Is all life created equal? In memorial to two Deep Ecology Movement leaders

The Deep Ecology movement has suffered two big losses this year with the passing of Arne Næss in January and Bill Devall at the end of June. It led me to delve more into the writings and the history of...

Tuesday July 28, 2009

Sonia Sotomayor Confirmation Set for the Supreme Court

The Senate panel indeed voted to recommend to have Sonia Sotomayor confirmed. The panel voted 13-6 in favor of her. Lindsey Graham  of South Carolina was the only Republican to vote yes. Ah, Republicans are so negative these days. Cheer...

Thursday July 23, 2009

Jon Stewart, Obama, Gates and the Birthers' Movement

Jon Stewart gave it to the Birthers' Movement last night. Can we focus on something more important? And I'm not talking about today's focus on President Obama's Gates commentary last night. The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p...

Wednesday July 22, 2009

La Victoire sur les Sachets - Victory on the plastic bags

I ran into this courtesy of the unconsumption blog. It is a video called La Victoire sur les Sachets, or victory on the plastics bags. It is a short film of an African community where plastic bags are transformed from...

Monday July 20, 2009

Meditation: "Attachment" is the Worst Failure Ever (Apologies to Republicans)

Republicans "Bombed" Google so that a top search result for worst failure ever would lead to the Obama administration site.When it comes to translation of Buddhist terms and ideas, I can think of an even more massive fail. I have...

Wednesday July 15, 2009

Back to the Sack + Green Apple Festival volunteers = Successful day of action

It may not be the new Harry Potter movie, but I'm still very excited to share with you some of the video footage that resulted from IDP's highly successful Back to the Sack day of action which was one of...

Wednesday July 8, 2009

I would rather laugh than cry to get through this crisis

Global warming is a serious thing. There is much that needs to be done - so much, that it is hard to even know where to start. Everyday I learn about something new that needs to be fixed. Another crisis...

Tuesday July 7, 2009

Obama vs. Palin 2012? Roger Stone Thinks Maybe. Eugene Robinson and Sane People, Not So Much

According to Republican Strategist Roger Stone, Palin did the right thing on Friday if she wants to run for President in 2012. Meanwhile, on Fox News, Palin got hammered. Yes, I said Fox News slammed her. A Republican running for...

Wednesday July 1, 2009

What will hitting the magic number 60 mean for global warming?

It is official. With the Minnesota Supreme Court ruling in favor of Al Franken, the Democrats will have reached the filibuster-proof magical number of 60 senate seats. Franken will likely be sworn in early next week in time to jump...

Monday June 29, 2009

Bernie Madoff's Sentencing Over - Good News?

You know Bernie Madoff, of course. The guy with the onomatopoeia for a name? The Madoff sentencing is now complete. Bernard Madoff is going to jail for an 150 year sentence for his $50 billion Ponzi Scheme. The list of...

Wednesday June 24, 2009

North Korea Threatens US - What if they nuke us?

With North Korea officially threatening to "wipe out the aggressors on the globe once and for all" (referring of course to the United States, and the potential that they will launch a nuclear missile at Hawaii or Alaska on July...

Thursday June 18, 2009

I heard a fly buzz when I (thwap)

  True/False/Cannot Say Folks really love Obama: True Folks really love PETA:  False Obama kills fly: True PETA complains: True  ...

Tuesday June 16, 2009

Sonia Sotomayor Confirmation Hearings July 13 & Buddha of the Week

So the confirmation hearings for Sonia Sotomayor are set for July 13. Let the projections begin!There are lots of projections out there, but the most mystifying yet illuminating may well be this one, sent to me for this week's Buddha...

Thursday June 4, 2009

Obama's Cairo Speech

If you want a good link to Obama's Cairo Speech, NPR has one. President Obama's Middle East Speech should, at the very least, demonstrate again that our 44th President is nothing like any U.S. President we've ever had. I mean...

Thursday June 4, 2009

20 Years After Tiananmen Square

Chinese police have Tiananmen Square on virtual lockdown to prevent protests commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the student massacre there today. Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama also paid his respects to victims.(photo by Stuart Franklin Magnum, life.com)...

Tuesday June 2, 2009

Obama Gives Nancy Reagan Love

Nancy Reagan got shown some love today from President Obama after a perceived diss regarding the former first lady and a strange attempted joke about her affinity for séance.I love sweet old ladies as much as the next polite late-generation-x...

Monday June 1, 2009

George Tiller, Abortion, and Compassion

So the abortion doctor from Wichita, Kansas, George Tiller was killed in church yesterday, by a pro-life radical (irony of ironies). Amazingly, this was not the first time Dr. Tiller was shot. So clearly Dr. Tiller believed in what he...

Friday May 29, 2009

Global Warming Already Killing Thousands, Says Global Humanitarian Forum

Make that hundreds of thousands. The Global Humanitarian Forum released a comprehensive study saying that annually, 300,000 people die from global-warming-induced catastrophes. Climate Change also already direcly affects the lives of 325 million people (seems a low number to me)...

Wednesday May 27, 2009

Great Recession Ending? Is Our Detox from Greed and Consumerism Over As Well?

Is the global economy's recession ending? Some leading economists, including the often skeptical nobel prize winner Paul Krugman, believe we might just be the start of a turnaround. So, are we also done with our greed detox?(from Salon.com)...

Wednesday May 27, 2009

From Plastic Bags to No Take Out! The Reduce Consumption Challenge Continues...

At the Interdependence Project, we recently concluded our one month practice of reduced consumption! [pause for applause and cheering] It was a great month of activities, including pledging to reduce our use of disposable items, making and giving away reusable...

Tuesday May 26, 2009

Skinned alive

I was recently forwarded this piece about the fur trade in China, produced by PETA. It's one of the most gruesome things I've seen in a long time. Apparently at some Chinese fur farms animals are skinned alive with...

Tuesday May 26, 2009

Prop 8 Decision: Morally and Constitutionally Bankrupt

With all the buzz on Sotomayor and the U.S. Supreme Court, Gay couples - and anyone who knows a gay couple - must be reeling from today's California Supreme Court  Prop 8 Decision. Here's a good blog about today's latest...

Tuesday May 26, 2009

Sonia Sotomayor: Supreme Court Bound After All

So Judge Sonia Sotomayor, 54 year-old judge from the Bronx, is bound for the Supreme Court  -- if President Obama's Nomination goes through during the confirmation process. Get ready for some lunacy from Mitch McConnell, for sure.Of course, Sotomayor's stance...

Sunday May 24, 2009

Aung San Suu Kyi Needs Your Help

One of the cooler ladies on Earth, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been arrested for the umpteenth time, and is allegedly quite ill.Avaaz.org is petitioning the United Nations for Aung San Suu Kyi's release, and has almost 400,000 signatures so...

Friday May 22, 2009

The Bible Bill? 2010 Should be the Year of the Constitution, Congressman

According to Politico, A  Republican Congressman from Georgia, Paul Broun , wants to pass a Bible Bill To declare 2010 the "Year of the Bible." Nothing against the good book, but legislatively 2010 should not be the year of this...

Thursday May 21, 2009

Did You See The Cheney Speech? Watching The Bizarro-Buddha in Action

Did you watch the Cheney Speech today? Pop Quiz: What's bigger, Cheney's lies or the new Beyonce Ego video? Well, since Ego is ultimately non-existent, I'll have to go with the lies is (thankfully, oh so very very thankfully) former...

Wednesday May 20, 2009

Can we prevent global warming by meditating?

Image courtesy / MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global ChangeGlobal warming, already high on the list of major problems, is much worse than we thought according to a new study by MIT. The image you...

Saturday May 16, 2009

Quote of the Day: Civil Disobedience

Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the state has become lawless or corrupt. And a citizen who barters with such a state shares in its corruption and lawlessness...Every citizen is responsible for every act of his government...Non-cooperation with evil...

Wednesday May 6, 2009

I Buried Paul: From the Desk of Minimofo

From the desk of:MiniMoFoRe: volutionSitting on his cushion at 6:12AM, thoughts began flooding in.  "Need to call Barry".  "Need to pay storage bill." "Need to write post for IDP."  "Should start running again." Don't attach; don't push away; observe.  He started observing his thoughts;...

Tuesday May 5, 2009

Holland Holla

This past Sunday the New York Times Magazine had an interesting article by Russell Shorto, an American expat living in the Netherlands, in which he provides a nuanced description of a society whose more humane version of capitalism the...

Tuesday May 5, 2009

Hello Dalai!

A recent article in The Times Union discusses the impending complexity of choosing the successor to the 14th Dalai Lama: For more than six centuries, the next Dalai Lama has been chosen by regents who, it is said, through omens and portents found the deceased...

Sunday May 3, 2009

Suddenly Sonia: Is Sonia Sotomayor Supreme Court-bound?

Sonia Sotomayor, a Bronx-born New York City native, is a federal Appeals court judge, a 54-year-old Hispanic woman, a summa cum laude graduate of Princeton who received her law degree from Yale, and a potential Supreme Court nominee. The name...

Saturday May 2, 2009

The Interdependence of Corporations

Matthew Yglesias is one of my favorite bloggers, a sharp wit, and a dyed-in-the-wool progressive. He has a great post (via Tyler Cowen) about how our notions of corporate nationality (i.e., Apple is an essentially American company, even though very little of...

Wednesday April 29, 2009

Empty Words on Arlen Specter

This is pretty great and hilarious:...

Advertisement

Search This Blog

feed icon Subscribe

RSS Feed

Receive updates from One City: A Buddhist Blog for Everyone

About One City: A Buddhist Blog for Everyone

Welcome to One City. You've lived here your whole life, whether you know it or not. One City blog is an outgrowth of The Interdependence Project, a Buddhist-inspired nonprofit organization led by Ethan Nichtern, dedicated to teaching the insights of Buddhism, meditation, mindfulness, and interconnectedness in the 21st century world.

If you're interested in how your mind works, are interested in meditation (but don't want to pretend you live in ancient Asia), care about the world, are into media, love contemporary culture, and above all, really dig the truth of interdependence-that nothing happens in a vacuum--then this blog is for you.

More on Buddhism

Buddhist Dharmachakra
Beliefnet's Buddhist section offers quotes, articles, videos, and guided meditation.

About the Authors

Davee Evans
A Shambhala practitioner in San Francisco
» Posts by Davee Evans
Evelyn Cash
Evelyn is a Soto Zen practitioner and engineer living in Wichita, Kansas.
» Posts by Evelyn Cash
Ethan Nichtern
Author, founding director of the Interdependence Project, and the host of the I.D. Project’s popular weekly podcast
» Posts by Ethan Nichtern
Ellen Scordato
A business owner, editor, teacher, and board member of the Interdependence Project
» Posts by Ellen Scordato
Greg Zwahlen
Practices meditation and studies Buddhism
» Posts by Greg Zwahlen
Jerry Kolber
A writer, producer, and director for television, film, and theater in NYC
» Posts by Jerry Kolber
Jon Rubinstein
Jon writes about art and the media from a Buddhist perspective.
» Posts by Jon Rubinstein
Kirsten Firminger
A Doctoral Candidate in Social Psychology
» Posts by Kirsten Firminger
Lodro Rinzler
Lodro Rinzler is a second-generation Shambhala Buddhist practitioner and teacher.
» Posts by Lodro Rinzler
Paul Griffin
A writer, scholar, and tutor in New York City
» Posts by Paul Griffin
Patrick Groneman
Assistant Director of the Interdependence Project
» Posts by Patrick Groneman
Stillman Brown
A photographer, writer, and meditation practitioner living in Brooklyn, NY
» Posts by Stillman Brown
More »

Advertisement

Advertisement


About Beliefnet

Our mission is to help people like you find, and walk, a spiritual path that will bring comfort, hope, clarity, strength, and happiness. More about Beliefnet.

Legal

Copyright © Beliefnet, Inc. and/or its licensors. All rights reserved. Use of this site is subject to Terms of Service and to our Privacy Policy. Constructed by Beliefnet.

Advertisement

Report as Inappropriate

You are reporting this content because it violates the Terms of Service.

All reported content is logged for investigation.