voice of humanity

Global Assembly now accepting sign ups

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 23:17:37 GMT

The prototype Global Assembly Dialog is set to begin in late July 2007 using a web rating technology to vote on messages written by the participants. Please join us. Your part will be to write a message and to read and rate messages written by others. The highest rated messages will be distributed back to everyone by email. The goal is to go global with massive numbers so that the "elected" messages truly represent the entire human race.

The Dialog is sponsored by the Unity-and-Diversity World Council. See udcworld.org/global. Co-sponsors wanted. Contact UDC's Rev Leland Stewart at udcworld1ATyahoo.com or Roger Eaton at rogereatonATearthlink.net.

At this point we have about 4000 email addresses, which will likely equate to between 400 and 800 active members. Once we hit critical mass, estimated at 10,000 active members, we should be able to zoom to planetary size in three or four years. Please join us as we build a world that works for everyone.

We are betting that democracy on a global scale is the solution to the ever more obvious shortcomings of the nation-state system. We love our nations, but we have to rise up to the global level to solve global problems. Unifying mankind, if we do it right, will mark the beginning of a golden age and it is in our reach.

We have two plans to bring the online GA Dialog down to earth so it will have its effect. First, as we recruit groups and networks for the Dialog, we will be asking them to add a mention of Dialog results to their local agendas and to provide representatives to an annual in-person Global Assembly meeting. The annual Global Assembly meeting is expected to evolve into a global institution that sits permanently, something like the U.N. General Assembly, but organized bottom up from groups and networks rather than top-down from the nations. Second, we have high hopes for a Nonviolent Service Arm (NVSA) of the Dialog as described below. more >

news release

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 17:20:34 GMT

Unity-and-Diversity Council (UDC) converges on Temescal Canyon, CA.

Final parameters for an "online think-tank" (Global Assembly Dialog) completed

Executive session establishes strategic vision for UDC and Global Assembly rollout

Contact:

Rev. Leland Stewart, (310) 391-5735 Email: udcworld1@yahoo.com
Rebecca Tobias, (310) 916-8888 Email: Rebecca@RaoulWallenbergInstitute.org
more >

WiserEarth / Paul Hawken

Sat, 26 May 2007 19:26:56 GMT

There is an up and coming online community called Wiser Earth. Wiser Earth is a creation of Paul Hawken's Natural Capital Institute. The WE software is based on MySQL and open source php. Hawken has just come out with an important new book: "Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came Into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming."

Here is the blurb: "WiserEarth serves the people who are transforming the world. It is an open source, community-editable international directory and networking forum that maps, links and empowers the largest movement in the world the hundreds of thousands of organizations within civil society that address social justice, poverty, and the environment."

Check it out and join up! more >

Latest InterMix Design

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 23:19:37 GMT

Before continuing with this article, please be sure
to read about the Eaton Model
of Collective Communication.

The technology we will be using for the Global
Assembly Dialog is called InterMix Group Dialog Software. A single
instance of the software, refered to as an InterMix hub,
runs on a windows platform with SQL server as the database. It uses
dot-net technology, written in C#. more >

Author Robert Wright argues that history has an arrow

Thu, 25 Jan 2007 16:18:38 GMT

Hmm - the Ted Talks site has many sensible thought provoking lectures available in both video and audio formats. Here is one that I can recommend.

"Author Robert Wright argues that history has an arrow: That humans have continued to evolve -- if not biologically, than culturally and technologically -- toward greater complexity and intelligence. (Recorded February 2006 in Monterey, CA. Duration: 19:54)"
Watch Online Download Audio

Wright's view is that we are in danger of not making the leap to a global civilization, possibly leading to a global collapse. Seems sound to me! He also believes that for our own self interest, people everywhere have good reason to promote a world that works for everyone (tho he does not use that phrase). And he calls for the launching of a moral revolution, saying that a "major round of moral progress" is in order. Indeed! Thank you Robert Wright!

A Nonviolent Service Arm for the Global Assembly

Sat, 30 Dec 2006 17:53:17 GMT

The dialog software though delayed again, is advancing well and we will get there. Meanwhile I am using the time to start up a Nonviolent Service Arm for the Global Assembly. If we have even the beginning of the NSA (;-) in place when the dialog kicks off, I think we can improve our chances in a couple of ways. The NSA will originally be composed of autonomous local taskforces connected via the internet. The purpose of the local NSA taskforces will be to support the Global Assembly through nonviolent action based on GA advisories - more on the advisories below. Each local taskforce will have a secretary whose responsibility will be to coordinate with the other taskforce secretaries and to respond as a group via the dialog software to the Global Assembly. See also the Wedding of Humanity and Nonviolence article. more >

Global Assembly Dialog Progress Report

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 15:45:10 GMT

Text of a report that was delivered to the UDC World Council on November 18, 2006. Also, an excellent development from that meeting, Lyle J. Noorlun has subscribed his contact list of 900 that he has gathered from his website, worldpeaceflag.org, nearly doubling our current list of participants. Plans are coming together, and it appears we will be off to a good start. The Interfaith flag displayed to the right is the Fourth of Ten Peace flags from the World Peace Flag site. Information is posted on the site to submit your design for the next World Peace Flag. more >

True Religion Creates Community

Thu, 12 Oct 2006 15:49:27 GMT

The following article is by Rev Stewart, key sponsor of the upcoming Unity-and-Diversity Global Assembly dialog. He is a kind hearted man and a thinker, as you can see from his words. His Unity-and-Diversity World Council website is worth a look.

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RECONCILIATION: A Celebration of Our Common Humanity - by Rev Leland Stewart

Put away from you all bitterness and wrath ... and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.
--Christianity (Ephesians 4:31), Science and Spirituality, p. 140

Religions are many, but the Spirit of Life is One. Religion in our time must therefore embrace diversity and in the midst of that diversity create unity, a sense of the wholeness of all things. Let us be reconciled to one another and live in harmony. more >

Voice of Humanity and the Information Commons?

Sun, 1 Oct 2006 18:24:06 GMT

The MAYA Information Commons is a major project with global application from MAYA Design, a design consultancy and technology research lab spun out of Carnegie-Mellon University. Here is MAYA's Josh Knauer speaking on the Info Commons at the O'Reilly Where 2.0 conference. more >

The Outsider has a place in the Global Assembly Dialog

Sun, 24 Sep 2006 22:12:05 GMT

The Global Assembly positively encourages the participation of "fringe" groups with eccentric or even unpopular points of view. We seek the widest possible range of thought and opinion coming into the Dialog. As long as no one group dominates, the inclusion of the kooky idea can only enrich the process. Who knows, under some circumstance, sometime, some oddball message might kick off a train of thought that takes us where we need to go. The Dialog will operate as a collective mind for humanity, and, just as for an individual, it is important to keep that mind open. more >