Notations From the Grid (W-End Edition): A Tribute To Iran

We hereby present the following as a tribute to Iran and Iranians as Iran had to deal with Storms of Biblical Proportions:

Words from a poem written by Houshang Mahmoudi, and music composed by Sonbol. With this poem Houshang Mahmoudi paints a beautiful picture of his homeland Iran and pays tribute to it as a birthplace of Baha'u'llah; the founder of the Baha'i Faith. Mr Mahmoudi was arrested by the Iranian Islamic government during the 1980's together with other members of the Baha'i institutions and soon after was executed on account of his belief in the Baha'i Faith.
The land of musk and perfume, I am delightful Home to the strong and courageous The land of Zoroaster, fireplace of love I am Iran, delightful, heart-warming, enchanting From my east, the sun pours it's rays of love to all It's light is life giver of the world It's love gives warmth to all hearts My red tulip covered meadows, paint the face of the whole world in rose and my musk scented breezes renew mankind The light of my beloved Baha illumines the whole earth For the sun of truth was shone from my land my earth is scented with musk and my water gives life With just one ray from my glorious sun I can elevates a mere atom to highest heights. I am Iran, delightful, heart-warming, enchanting I am Iran

Notations From the Grid (Weekly Edition): On Declining Birth Rates and its' Effect on Schools

The Education Exchange: How Declining Birth Rates Could Affect Schools – by Education Next Posted by Education Next on 25 March, 2019 A decline in birth rates in the U.S. could mean that the school-aged population will spiral downward in the next decade and beyond. Would this be a disaster for schools? Or could there be a silver lining? Mike Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss his new article, “The Baby Bust Goes to School.” Read more →

سلام ۱۳۹۸ - جشن نوروز و بزرگترین برنامه تفریحی سال / Salam 1398 - The Bi...

Notations From the Grid (Special Weekly Edition): On The Story of Bottled Water

Notations From the Grid (Weekly Edition): Out & About In the Middle East

This Week-End was quite a milestone:   It was the 40th Anniversary of peace between Egypt and Israel as Daesh (Known as the Islamic State or ISIS here in the West) was defeated by Syrian Democratic Forces.  This is as protests in Gaza continued and as Hamas in Gaza violently put down demonstrations.    Our team captured images on the weekend that was which we are pleased to present for consideration:

Notations From the Grid (W-End Edition): Out & About in Our World

As the #Brexit Drama Plays itself out (Courtesy @Kaltoons) 

As The Trial of Iranian Environmental Activists continue in Iran (Courtesy Tavanah) 

As New Zealand Paid Tribute to the Fallen of Christchurch....

...and The World was witness to leadership in Action (courtesy The Guardian of London) 


 Our team reflected upon the challenging week in our World, our editorial consensus was this:  sometimes images are worth Trillions....

On the Eve of #Nowruz

On behalf of our entire team, we wanted to take this opportunity to wish all Iranians, Afghans, Tajiks, Kurds and some 19 countries around the World celebrating Nowruz  as we leave you all with some scenes of celebration from Iran from the personal twitter feed of our founder:

A beautiful way to bookend my #nowruz eve walkabout -excerpts of a #nowruz medley -#happynowruz -پایینده باد ایران pic.twitter.com/zZDvTGoH3D

— Mike Pouraryan (@mikepouraryan) March 20, 2019

Beautiful scenes in Tehran in this #nowruz eve pic.twitter.com/hg6O3w5iBw

— Mike Pouraryan (@mikepouraryan) March 20, 2019

Out & About in Our World w/this Call to Action...

As The World comes to grips with New Zealand, the continued challenges of climate change and other profound challenges, we are grateful to the team at Global Citizen for this latest that we are privileged to feature on the calls to action:

There's No Room for Hate in This World

We call on all Global Citizens of all races, religions, and countries to stand up together against hate-inspired rhetoric and violence at every chance they can.

Read

Youth Leaders Tell Us Why They Skipped School for Climate Action

Students tell us why they joined the Fridays for Future school strikes, a global movement calling for leaders to address climate change.

Read

George and Amal Clooney Launch New Justice Initiative

The Clooney Foundation for Justice is launching a new project aimed at protecting women, children, LGBTQ people, religious minorities, and journalists.

Read

6 Myths About Cash Bail Reform, Debunked

The cash bail system is perpetuating cycles of poverty in America — and it may actually make communities less safe.

Read

Rachel Brosnahan Wants Us to Put Girls' Education First

The actress, activist, and Global Citizen Ambassador is showing just how fired up she is about girls’ education.

Read

Urge Philippine Leaders to Implement Zero Waste ProgramsCall on mayors in the Philippines to join the zero waste movement. and take tangible actions to prevent plastic from entering the ocean. 

Take Action

On This St. Patrick's Day 2019....

On this St. Patrick's Day, we hereby present this courtesy of Jonathan Lockwood Huie throughout all all our key properties as we all #HappySt.Patrick's Day:

May God grant you always...
A sunbeam to warm you,
a moonbeam to charm you,
a sheltering Angel so nothing can harm you.
Laughter to you.
Faithful friends near you.
And whenever you pray,
Heaven to hear you.
- Irish Blessing

May love and laughter light your days, and warm your heart and home.
May good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam.
May peace and plenty bless your world with joy that long endures.
May all life's passing seasons bring the best to you and yours.
- Irish Blessing

May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields.
And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.
- Irish Blessing

Notations On Our World (Friday Edition): On @Israel & @IlhanMN & the View by #GideonLevy

For an alternative educational view of Israel, this is hereby presented for the community's viewing enjoyment.

Notations On Our World (Special Thursday Edition): On Traffic Safety & @VisionZero

 As a follow up to our Tuesday Edition of Notations, we hereby presented the following courtesy of the Vision Zero Network as they are the forefront of transforming traffic Safety and their methodology is being increasingly adopted by cities throughout the United States: 

Raising the Notch on Vision Zero: Check out San Francisco’s Updated Action Strategy San Francisco was an early adopter of Vision Zero, committing in 2014 to eliminating traffic deaths by 2024. Five years in, the city has refreshed its vision....and some of it might surprise you. Read our seven takeaways from San Francisco’s new Vision Zero Action Strategy in our latest blog post.

Upcoming Vision Zero Network Webinar! Thursday, March 21 (9:30am PST/12:30pm EST) Creating and Sustaining a Successful Vision Zero Task Force A community’s Vision Zero Task Force is the coordinating hub of Vision Zero planning and action to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries. Task forces are crucial to building and sustaining leadership, collaboration and accountability. Who should be involved in the task force? What makes a task force effective? How can your task force pool resources, create specialized working groups and ensure accountability? Join the Vision Zero Network and the New York City Vision Zero Task Force for a one-hour webinar on creating an effective task force and sustaining progress. NYC's award-winning Vision Zero Task Force continues to be a model of multi-sector agency partnership succeeding in reducing traffic fatalities each consecutive year since Vision Zero was enacted in 2014. Register here.

Webinar Recap: Rethinking Speed Management for Safety A disturbing increase in the number of people killed while walking, especially due to drivers moving at unsafe speeds, should be shaking us out of our complacency across the nation. Our latest webinar with the Governors Highway Safety Association - which has been delivering valuable reports on traffic safety (read January’s Speeding Away from Zero and last week’s Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State) - focuses on the need for greater action at the federal, state and local levels to update safety policies, funding programs and action plans to address speed, given that one-third of traffic fatalities involve speeding. This webinar is a must-watch for advocates, public sector staff and professionals seeking guidance to address the toll of unsafe speeds in our communities. Watch the webinar and read more about the urgency of managing speed in our recent blog posts and on our website.

With Pedestrian Fatalities on the Rise, Solutions Found in Vision Zero Pedestrian fatalities in the U.S. might be on course to reach a 30-year high, according to a new report by the Governors Highway Safety Association, Pedestrian Traffic Fatalities by State. The news is shocking given the multitude of proven countermeasures - including Complete Streets, reduced speeds and more sidewalks - that are known to provide safety for those walking, as well as for those biking, driving and taking transit. Leaders within local, state and federal government must address this escalating crisis with more attention and resources. Despite the alarming national rise, research shows that pedestrian fatalities decreased in nine of the 10 largest cities in the U.S. Of those nine, six are Vision Zero cities. Coincidence? We don’t think so. Read more in our blog post.

UN Launches Road Safety Strategy  The United Nations launched a new global initiative called the Road Safety Strategy to enhance the safety of U.N. personnel around the world. Road crashes are a leading cause of death and serious injury to United Nations personnel. The toll is significant: there were over 600 traffic fatalities and injuries of U.N. personnel from road crashes between 2013 and 2017. The Vision Zero Network was in New York City for the launch of the initiative, during which the NYC Vision Zero Task Force received the Vision Zero for Youth Leadership award. Their impressive work in reducing traffic fatalities to their lowest since 1910 with five consecutive years of declining fatalities since Vision Zero was implemented in 2014 and for increasing safety around schools with its speed camera program was recognized. Read more here.

Resources Worth Sharing (and re-sharing!) Some resources are indispensable to advocacy work for safer streets for all road users. Smart Growth America’s Dangerous by Design 2019 report is on that list. The report ranks the U.S. most dangerous metro areas and states for walking. Unfortunately, Florida tops the list in both categories which makes it even more important that Florida cities such as West Palm Beach (newest Florida addition), Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale along with Hillsborough County have committed to Vision Zero. The League of American Bicyclists’ latest Benchmarking Report on Bicycling and Walking notes the “public health crisis” created by unsafe biking and walking conditions. The report highlights these modes of travel as antidotes to health ailments caused or exacerbated by physical inactivity. It also calls on greater state and federal leadership in creating safe walking and biking environments. ICYMI, the Institute of Transportation Engineers Speed Management for Safety Community Portal and Listserv is a key way to engage with transportation professionals on questions or guidance. The latest topic: Examples of countermeasures and other road geometries being installed in communities to reduce higher than desirable travel speeds. You don’t need to be a member of ITE to post, so check it out!

Upcoming Events National League of Cities Congressional City Conference March 10-13, 2019 in Washington, DC City officials will hear directly from policymakers and thought leaders about the issues important to cities. Vision Zero Network Deputy Director Veronica Vanterpool will join a session on “Adopting Safety and Equity along with New Transportation Technology.” Washington Region Vision Zero Summit March 14, 2019 in Washington, DC The Summit will be a forum for policymakers, decision makers, advocates, experts, and implementers to explore systemic ways to end traffic fatalities. Vision Zero Network webinar: Creating and Sustaining a Successful Vision Zero Task Force March 21, 2019 (9:30 am PST/12:30 pm EST)  Hear from the New York City Vision Zero Task Force on creating an effective task force and sustaining progress. Register here. GHSA and IIHS Speeding Forum April 15-16, 2019 in Ruckersville, VA The Governors Highway Safety Association is partnering with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety to illuminate the issue of speeding and develop strategies to address this challenge. Vision Zero Network Deputy Director Veronica Vanterpool will join a panel. Register here. Safe Systems Summit: Redefining Transportation Safety April 23-24, 2019 in Durham, NC Learn about the  Safe Systems approach and what it means for states, communities and individuals. Vision Zero Network Executive Director Leah Shahum will join a panel to discuss "Systems 101: Essentials of Safe Systems and systems thinking." Lifesavers Conference March 31-April 2, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky The Lifesavers Conference brings together the traffic safety and public health community to share best practices, research and policy initiatives that are proven to work. Vision Zero Network Deputy Director Veronica Vanterpool will present on “Achieving Vision Zero Through Good Design, Better Engineering & Lower Speed.” Toward Zero Death National Strategy Webinars March 13 - June 5, 2019 Webinar series on topics related to setting a zero road fatality goal such as “Key Partner/Stakeholder Engagement and Communication” and “Engaging with Elected Officials.” Upcoming webinars can be found here.