Have a wonderful new year’s everybody! We just got off the phone with our friend Nellie. She lives in Armenia and their new year arrives in an hour. Armenians will have family come to their house and celebrate with a large feast and beverages. It’s a great tradition that we are sad to miss.

I hope spend to spend more time this year making a difference in people’s lives.

I look forward to the challenges of 2006. As I look back on 2005, we had many challenges that we faced head on and overcame.

I hope that people will continue to try to make themselves better people through education, volunteerism, lending a helping hand, and peace. The world is a lot different than when I was growing up. There are many more people in this world than in 1974 but it seems as it grows, we lose our virtues and our focus. We have lost touch with our community, the land, and the human population. We need to stop thinking about the individual and start thinking about the larger picture, such as the community, country, and world. A paradigm shift is needed!

And for the new year I recommend the following two movies:

Syriana

March of the Penguins

Found this short article on a seminar we taught while working with the Peace Corps in Armenia. It was a two day Environmental Education Workshop.

Schwarzenegger was wrong not to grant clemency for Tookie. Why would Tookie Williams be remorseful when he claimed innocence. We think that the dealth penalty needs to be abolished and this society needs to get out of the dark ages when it comes to these killings. Tookie should have stayed in jail for life rather than be killed. We aren’t saying that Tookie was a man we were going to invite for tea and crumpets, but we are saying he was better off alive in having an impact on society than being dead. We look forward to voting Schwarzenegger out of office!

Duff is entered in a “Cutest Pet Photo Contest”. Yeah, it’s a bit cheesy but you can win $1,000. Go to 1800PedMeds.com and give him a 10! The link will take you right to his photo to vote. Contest ends December 31, 2005.

New site I just found for those who want to use music for podcasting. Podsafeaudio.com offers music that is not going to get you sued. It has a variety, though small in numbers, of artists.

Still loving life. It’s raining pretty good but that signifies that winter has finally arrived.

I have finally found out about Podcasts. I heard my first one a few days ago after reading about them. I did some searching on the net and listend to a few. Then I read how to make my own. I have made a few samples but nothing that I want to post yet. I am in the process of getting a weekly podcast show together. Stay tuned.