Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter will be in Harrisonburg on Monday to accept the Mahatma Gandhi Global Nonviolence Award. The former president will speak to us in the Convocation Center, the same room in which now-President Barack Obama addressed us last fall. Before that, you have to go back donkey's years in Harrisonburg's history to find a presidential visit. And now we're having two presidents come and speak to us within a year.
Former President Carter's topic will be Middle East peace, something with which this brave, quiet-spoken man has involved himself for a long, long time. An uptick of tension in the situation there was caused just a few days ago by a new United Nations report, which makes his visit astoundingly timely. (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/16/world/middleeast/16gaza.html?_r=1&scp=5&sq=UN Study Israel&st=cse).
It is perhaps the most complex, volatile situation our world has to deal with, and one of the major players in the quest for peace there is coming to Harrisonburg to talk about it. I am agog, amazed, in awe at James Madison University's Gandhi Center for allowing us an opportunity to hear Jimmy Carter speak on this subject at this critical time.
Amazingly (to me) I think there are still tickets. You'll find a link to getting some for yourself at WMRA.org.
Housekeeping note: I think this blog will now take anyone's comments. If you try to post and still have trouble please drop me a note at mwoodroof@gmail.com/
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Martha, I love reading your blog. It's keeping me informed in the areas I need to be. I'm not a "political junkie," but I like to stay informed about important domestic and international issues. Looks like your blog is going to encourage me that way . . . .
ReplyDeleteAs far as blogger housekeeping goes, here's a thought: when I copied and pasted the address of the NYTimes article to which you refer, it did not take me directly to the article, but said there were some problems with the address, so I had to tinker around. Blogger has a very easy hyperlink function you could use to make it easy for the reader to go to your site. After copying the address of the link you want readers to go to, highlight your reference word(s), e.g., "this link," or "go here," and then press the symbol of the keychain link that is above your text box. Paste the copied link in and hit the "okay" button, and it will be embedded in your text. All the reader has to do is click on your highlighted reference words.
Oh my friend, Ms. Dogwood--thanks so much. I did everything but highlight something in the text. I have so much to learn about so many things...
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to see the Jimmy Carter exclusive photos you're arranged to get posted on WMRA.org Go Martha.
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