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my world is beginning today
All the little cares picked along the waySuddenly have disappeared with yesterdayTossed above the fields and lost among the windsMy world is beginning todayMy world is beginning today!
The full song aired on FF, Freeform Channel, today. Years ago I was outraged when the entire song was cut to one line on a network airing. I have the DVD but decided to watch on TV today for a better picture.
By 1970, Rankin/Bass was beginning to establish its identity as the foremost producer of holiday specials. The company was at a creative peak, with Saturday morning shows in competition with Hanna-Barbera, Filmation and DePatie-Freleng, and several theatrical features already on their resume.
In The End of the World is Just the Beginning, author and geopolitical strategist Peter Zeihan maps out the next world: a world where countries or regions will have no choice but to make their own goods, grow their own food, secure their own energy, fight their own battles, and do it all with populations that are both shrinking and aging.
Last year\\u2019s war in Ukraine shook up many of our assumptions about the world. In particular, the collective belief that war no longer happened in Europe. I found myself returning to books on geopolitics and futurism to make sense of what was happening - and what do expect.
The list of countries that make it all work is smaller than you think. Which means everything about our interconnected world \\u2014 from how we manufacture products, to how we grow food, to how we keep the lights on, to how we shuttle stuff about, to how we pay for it all \\u2014 is about to change.
At the end of World War II, the Americans created history\\u2019s greatest military alliance to arrest, contain, and beat back the Soviet Union\\u2026 What is often forgotten, however, is that this alliance was only half the plan. In order to cement their new coalition, the Americans also fostered an environment of global security so that any partner could go anywhere, anytime, interface with anyone, in any economic manner, participate in any supply chain and access any material input\\u2014all without needing a military escort. This butter side of the Americans\\u2019 guns-and-butter deal created what we today recognize as free trade. Globalization.
Since 1945 the world has been the best it has ever been. The best it will ever be. Which is a poetic way of saying this era, this world\\u2014our world\\u2014is doomed. The 2020s will see a collapse of consumption and production and investment and trade almost everywhere. Globalization will shatter into pieces. Some regional. Some national. Some smaller. It will be costly.
This is a critical juncture for the Middle East and for U.S. foreign policy, and vigorous American engagement in the world is key. Our engagement has a huge impact on the peace and prosperity of the Middle East, and a huge impact on every part of the world.
But we have the capacity to rise above our limitations and shortcomings and see clearly the challenges that we face. And today, isolationism runs counter to our national interests, contradicts our core values, and poses great dangers to our friends and allies around the world. It is the wrong direction for America. Deeply wrong.
In a recent vote marred by political spite, the Senate Republicans ignored bipartisan appeals to national security and made the United States of America the only nation in the world to vote down the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. They started a fire of political partisanship that they found they could not put out and thus left the fate of a crucial international treaty in the hands of those who would play politics with nuclear weapons.
The disillusionment that I felt as a young person, born of the bitter experiences that I had in coming into contact with political decision making, is similar in some ways to this new isolationist feeling. There is an instinctive tendency to pull back from the world, go it alone, not get engaged, pretend that we do not have to lead the world. But it is a dangerous illusion, and it must be rejected.
What we need is going to take time. I like to cite the example of Seeds of Peace. Some of you may know about this small program that brings together young Jewish and Arab teens from the Middle East to break down old barriers and stereotypes, all in the name of ushering in a new era of peace, beginning with the new generation of peacemakers.
An America unsure of itself, withdrawn from the world, entangled in politics, unwilling to bear any burden at all or pay any price to promote security and prosperity, would endanger our friends and allies abroad and undercut our security and prosperity at home. But a strong and prosperous America, conscious of its power, confident of its mission, and agile in the pursuit of its interests, can make a decisive difference in the spread of peace and prosperity at home and around the world.
President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: Colleagues, please allow me to say a few words in opening this meeting. I will make a few introductory remarks and I suppose that the leaders of Tajikistan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, who are present here today, will also make some brief statements for the media.
We will certainly talk about drug trafficking, as I already mentioned, because this is a common problem. I already had the opportunity to discuss it today with both the President of Afghanistan and the President of Pakistan. We need to have one joint response to the threat of drug trafficking, rather than isolated ones. This problem cannot be resolved by Afghanistan, or by Russia, or by any other nation alone. This is a common problem, and we must work together to tackle it.
The events of this year in various countries around the planet clearly show that the threat of international terrorism remains a reality throughout the world, and as a result, requires consolidated efforts from the global community. By maintaining a policy of fighting terrorism in all its forms, we are advocating for the creation of a collective front to counter this evil, and elimination of the factors that feed terrorism. I am certain that poverty, destitution, unemployment, and other acute social problems are at the root of the rise and spread of intolerance, terrorism, and extremism.
I would like to use this opportunity to also express my condolences to the people of Pakistan following the extremely tragic disaster that has befallen them. And we hope that this brave nation, this talented nation will be able to overcome these difficulties as quickly as possible. I hope that the nations represented at this table will do everything possible to help the people of Pakistan. I am especially referring to the people of Afghanistan; we can provide shelter to Pakistani refugees, and we will do that. I would also like to use this opportunity at the very beginning to thank the three nations that are present here with our own nation for the participation of your foreign ministers in the Kabul conference. This was proof that you support Afghanistan, that Afghanistan is standing more firmly on its feet.
I would like to once again express my full support and the support of the Afghan people for this forum, which is taking place here today. We will participate and we hope that it will be continued in the future.
I would like to thank the government of Russia, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan. I would like to thank you for supporting us in our efforts. We need the support of the world, the support of everybody. But first of all, I would like to assure you that Pakistan is also ready to unite to resolve this problem. This is a time of need and serious challenges, but we never, ever shy from resolving any necessary challenges.
We see how drug traffickers are gaining power. We see what is happening. But we must use the experience gained by the entire global community. Only by uniting at a regional level can we support each other and come out of this situation, which is very dangerous. The world is waiting for us. We feel that our region will play a key role in the future. Only of we unite and can change, develop, and help one another, learn to help one another, can we get out of this serious situation we are in.