Triumph!

Overcoming Adversity

What matters most to you?

Life... family... health...love... wealth... your career?
Perhaps all of these things.
But, when the test comes in your life, as it most surely will come, will you have the courage to put everything on the line and follow your conscience, overcome adversity and stay in the fight?

These people did. They never gave up and they were triumphant!

Our Flag - a Symbol of 200 Years of Religious Freedom
by Forrest R. Baker

From Child on Street to Nobel Laureate
by Christopher Lee, Staff Writer - Washington Post

Making A Difference... Now

Globalization: Insights and Suggestions
by Gary R. Baker

Looking for Hope in Hard Times
by Gary R. Baker

Ideas Can Change the World
here are a few of them...

"Pay It Forward" Pays Off
by Newswise

Worldwide poll: Vast Majority Say Capitalism Not Working
by BBC

Why Is It We Have Finite Resources for Health Care but Unlimited Money for War?
by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)

9/11 BoatLift

Hundreds of unsung heroes came to the aid of the frightened and helpless victims of the 9/11 tragedy, piloting their ships into harm's way. Not knowing what they would encounter, but knowing hundreds of thousands needed to be evacuated from the Island of Manhattan and the stricken World Trade Center they came because they saw people were hurting. The U.S. Coast Guard estimated that in less than nine hours, the volunteers moved nearly 500,000 people to safety from the stricken piers and seawalls of Lower Manhattan in the largest boatlift in history.

This I Believe... from NPR

Finding the Strength to Fight Our Fears
by Terry Ahwal

The Right to Be Fully American
by Yasir Billoo

The Questions We Must Ask
by Tamar Duke-Cohan

A Public Man Must Live in the Present
by President Harry S. Truman

Keeping an Open Heart
by Peter, L.A

What Does "Gross National Product" Measure?

"Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things."

"Our gross national product ... if we should judge America by that - counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead, and armored cars for police who fight riots in our streets. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children."

"Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials."

"It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it tells us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans."

Robert F. Kennedy Address, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, March 18, 1968

Twin Beams

Brooklyn Youth Chorus