Watch this funny video on the power of Attitude.

This veteran’s ability to overcome his past, as we all should, dwarfs anything I’ve tried to say about attitude over the last five years.

Forget the negative past and embrace your future, no matter what life does to you.

WOW!

The no hate no violence movement is against hate or violence directed against any religion, gender, race, or any of the other things that people find as an excuse to hate something or someone. We believe in ideas that bring us together not tear us apart.

The anti-Semitism in this country and around the world is an historical issue for the Jewish community. It is wrong and hateful, but it is there, and there are historical reasons why it is so persistent.

Among other reasons, the Jewish community is not known for being inclusive, but they don’t seem to take the heat about it like the Mormon church does for being the same way. Because if you’re not a Mormon you don’t hang out or do business with people that are. That being said, we all need to do what we can to help Jewish people who really do want to stand up and speak out against anti-Semitism. Many don’t speak out fully enough oppose anti-Semitism. They need to speak up and put down the activists that are anti-Semitic.

They need to help go after anti-Semitism by joining with other non-Jewish people that have like-minded beliefs in fighting anti-Semitism and in no hate no violence.  We would love to work with and help the Jewish community in any way we can to fight anti-Semitic hate and violence because that’s how we see it.

Anti-Semitism is definitely a racial hate crime against a specific group of people. Many people say they are a race as much as they are a religion and that is a problem. They need to allow a lot more non-Jewish people into their religion and get more diversified, that would help them mitigate the situation, and so would helping more people that maybe aren’t Jewish that are that need help.

You know, the Catholic Church is probably the most beat up of all of the Christian religions these days because they’ve had some real issues with how they’ve managed their church. But the thing that salvages Catholicism is they’re the largest charity helping everybody in the world regardless of their religious background. They’re bigger than the next three religions put together, and it is hard for people to fight against those kinds of philanthropic commitments.

I would say to any religion – open up your hearts to other people to other faiths and other races. Don’t demand they believe the way you do – show them why they should. The more that that’s done, they will be accepted; the more you try and keep a religion exclusive and closed, the harder it is to fit into a melting pot. The Christian religion is pretty much a melting pot and the Catholic religion is especially a huge melting pot. Those are the things we believe the Jewish religion can learn from. They seem to have some pretty good management available.

We just want to say that we’re here to help. What can we do to help oppose the anti-Semitic movement? How can no the hate no violence organization help you go after and expose misinformation that the anti-Semites are putting out there? Every religion has a history we need to learn from and play down what was done by others generations ago. Maybe it’s time to play down the negative history.

I mean we’re still talking about slavery and how many generations ago is that? People are not being exposed for the hypocrites that they are. I do not like being called a racist because I’m not one, but I’m called one because I’m white. That’s pretty crazy and I’m gonna fight that till the day I die. I am not a racist. America is less racist today than it’s ever been since slavery. But the activists will never let you think that. The politicians use “racism” to answer any question with no facts to back up the answer. They say you’re racist, you’re racist if you don’t agree with them. That’s crazy.

We all need to speak out and especially the Jewish community needs help to speak out. The Democrats are experts at saying one thing while doing the complete opposite. I’m not saying we should do that, but I’m certainly saying we should take all these other organizations and unite them to fight these things and expose them. So, an individual Jewish person exposing an anti-Semitic situation might get somewhat discounted. but if there is a national organization that goes after that anti-Semitism and exposes the perpetrators for the haters they really are then an awful lot of anti-Semitism will be diminished. I can assure you that every one of those anti-Semites lives in a glass house and they have done some things that could be exposed and opposed on an individual level but it won’t have near the clout than if they’re exposed by a national organization.

At Nohatenoviolence.com we’re a small group, but we are a good one to take on any issue without taking very much pushback because of who we are. We’re here to help any victims of hate and violence – please let us know how we can help you

The nohatenoviolence movement is a big believer in open dialogue and people talking to each other with respect, and more importantly listening to each other. Our guiding thought is that “The most important part of free speech is respectful listening.”

As you may know if you’re a follower we’ve been working hard for over a year on a debating program called World Debating Forum for all types of debating, with a special emphasis on classroom debate – a vastly overlooked and very valuable style of debate. Through this no hate no violence website we will feature a series of Opensource books and resources for teachers, students and parents to be able to focus on every aspect of the art of debating. Debate has been declining in the United States, a loss that is largely attributed to budget cuts. We think that part of the decline is that debating has turned from a civilized intellectual sport to a fight to the death-style competition. But we would like to bring it back to its roots because we think ithat classroom debate could help a lot of teachers lighten their load and get more students involved in something fun and challenging that has been proven to help them learn faster and better.

We want more parents to get involved in what the kids and their children are doing because they can support their children in a fun way and it’s an activity that’s fun for those who would like it.

We’re talking about it to athletes, non-athletes and anybody who thinks they can benefit from debate. It would benefit the district, the students are already doing well and understand debating but we’re trying to reach out to the students who are struggling a little bit to give them a better opportunity to get excited about school, getting more cognitive thinking and redirect people like the bullies and the people who will struggle socially. This can actually bring them out into an arena that allows them to be much more socially active and learn by doing it because the kids are working on teaching themselves in an interactive way.

Those smart lucky students will have a positive life changing experience; entitled kids helping underprivileged kids will do more than anyone can ever do for both of them and society.

“72% of high-risk secondary school debaters graduate versus 43% of secondary school nondebaters.”

We know that these ideas have been embraced by some schools more effectively than others; we’re trying to help improve that. We want to encourage communities that can’t get their schools onboard to do it outside in other ways, like their community outreach through church’s boys and girls clubs or just organize a group. Let me just give you a few quotes that have been put out by the American debate league

“While only 50% of high school students in urban schools graduate 90% of urban school debaters graduate.”

High-risk secondary school debaters also score better on ACT and SAT tests to get into better colleges and they perform better once in college and in life in general.

Students do not need to be forever debating to see results; even one or two debate experiences improves performance though every semester a student debates their grades go up.

These are pretty good examples of how we can support and help our children, their teachers and the administration to get better results.

We at No Hate No Violence see the “Community Loaves” project as a great example of how one community-spirited contribution by a single individual can make a real impact. Started by a Seattle college administrator and amateur baker, the simple act described in this news story and video is helping thousands of people. (The video is embedded halfway through the news story)

This inspires us to do likewise, as we hope it will similarly inspire our readers, with each of us finding our individual ways to help those who are less fortunate and in need in our communities. The generous person in this video is very good news for Seattle and shows how the actions of one person can change our perception of an entire community by their act of caring and contributing.

If all of us and especially our leaders encourage such simple good deeds by individuals, and by people acting together on behalf of others, that will make the kind of difference that can change the world.

As “Community Loaves” project founder Katherine Kehrli says “This has restored my faith in the collective good that we can actually do.”

As we at NoHateNoViolence say:

“Stop talking do something”

And send us your uplifting stories of people who have!

So much in life revolves around attitude.  And only we are responsible for our attitudes.  The world presents us with situations.  But it’s our choice.   We choose how we will react to it.  No one else makes that choice for us.

In a time when so many are certain that our country is divided, I think we need to take a closer look at ourselves.  If this country is truly divided, then it is our own fault.  We have no one to blame other than ourselves for allowing ourselves to react the way that we are.

The world is never going to agree on everything.  That is what makes it so beautiful.  If we were all the same there would be no uniqueness and life would be boring.  So, why is it so hard for us to not accept others for who they are?  We need to embrace our uniqueness.

The great thing about attitude is that you can always change it.  It’s never too late.  In a constantly evolving world that continues to become more and more enlightened, we always have the ability to change things.

One of my favorite presidential quotes is from Abraham Lincoln: “I don’t like that man.  I must get to know him better.”  Imagine how much less hate and violence there would be in the world if more people adopted that mind set?  If we took the time to learn about someone rather than cast hate toward them because we don’t like them or what we think they believe, or we don’t understand them.

It seems fitting that perhaps we should reflect on what our country’s great leaders have told us.  The following quotes are some of my favorites:

“To be good, and to do good, is all we have to do.”

~ John Adams

“If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of

your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.”

~ Theodore Roosevelt

“Pessimism never won any battle.”

~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

Click “Presidential Quotes” to view the inspirational quotes from all 45 of our presidents.

This article makes us feel better about the attitudes of colleges helping everyone.  Yale is setting a good example by offering their FREE online “Happiness Course”.  Yale has been associated with the entitled and has now stepped up to help the untitled, including students and nonstudents, by challenging our attitudes for the better via their online “Happiness Course.”   (Click here.)

At a time when life can be very challenging, to say the least, it’s very encouraging that Yale and other colleges are paying it forward by providing classes that everyone can take.

Whether you are a high school student, a college student or senior citizen,

Take the class!

One thing we believe strongly at No Hate No Violence is that we need to lower the rhetoric, increase the tolerance, and become way better listeners.  Simply by becoming good listeners we can automatically lower our rhetoric because then we can answer the questions and points being raised with some facts.  We are a big believer in facts.  Just ranting and raving and insisting your ideas matter more than others without any real cognitive thinking, simply emotional thinking, is difficult for anyone to deal with.

That is why we just finished four years of developing World Debating Forum which we are about to launch.  We are going to distribute it to as many teachers in the world as we can, starting in the United States.  It will show you ways to do in-class debating as well as debating at the kitchen table where you listen and you each take turns.  At the (virtual or physical) kitchen table over the holidays our recommendation is – if somebody gets into a controversial subject, say, “Here’s the deal guys.  You can all talk, but you get two minutes each and it’s over.  It’s over at the end of two minutes.  There are no winners or losers.  You each get to say what you want for two minutes.”  Have somebody time it.

If you start communicating in that way, you will be amazed at how easily you lower the rhetoric and increase the dialogue.  If somebody simply whines and complains for two minutes, they finally realize they have accomplished absolutely nothing.  Yet, if they talk calmly and logically and back it up with some facts, they find they can get a lot conveyed in two minutes.

We teach everyone from students to business managers how to get a whole lot of great communication into a short period of time.  Why?  We come prepared.  We come prepared for argument.  If you believe in a certain thing, even politics, just always be prepared and have the facts to back it up.  Don’t just say, “I don’t like this guy,” or, “I hate this guy just because of the way he talks.”  I don’t think that works.

What works a whole lot better is, “I don’t like this guy because of this fact and that fact,” and let it go at that.

For example, take the Police Departments or the teachers in this country.  Why do they become burned out so quickly?  It is because of the way they are treated.  If they were treated with respect, they would be a lot more effective for a long longer.  How would you like to be a teacher or cop in Chicago and be called every name in the book, every hour of every day and then be expected to have a good attitude while you are teaching or patrolling the community?  It’s impossible.  To blame the teachers is not right, but at the same time, you know, having young, fresh teachers sometimes is what it takes.

Our debating forum is really going to show you how in-class learning can be done in either physical or virtual classrooms.  It doesn’t make any difference if you only debate in your class or whatever once a month.  What is important is that you do it!

We believe in the unrecognized connection between debate and athletics in building better lives.  Click this image for a great 8 minute video on this hidden connection!

You know how it’s always been said that athletics makes better people who ultimately do better in life and in school?  The truth is:  That only applies to those who are top athletes.  The 96% or 97% of the people who are not in the tier of top athletes actually do much worse in life because they are so disappointed they didn’t make it, feeling that they wasted and spent all their time on that goal.  They struggle with reading, writing and arithmetic.

Look at the colleges.  We worry about getting our kids into college.  I would much rather graduate 98% of our high school kids than even have colleges because our country would be a much better place to live because a lot less people would be in gangs, and a lot less people would be living below their potential for happiness and productivity.  On the other hand, if they grow up in a debating environment during school, learning to think cognitively rather than emotionally, they may be able to land an internship with a future employer while still in school.

If you want to go to college for free, become a debater and then shop around for some companies in your junior and senior year of high school and ask them to hire you when you graduate from college.  Many will put you through college for free, and I am talking about major companies like Intel, Amazon and others.  Many companies have programs like that.  We should be teaching our kids how to fit into society.  It doesn’t mean you have to make a decision for the rest of your life.  You might decide for the first five or ten years of your life.  “Okay.  I’m going to go to college on Amazon, and I’m going to work there three or four years.”  Trust me.  People will try and hire you away from Amazon if you are any good.

Whether you are debating formally, informally, in-class debating, socially or in the running of your business, debating is going to become one of the biggest things to ever happen because it can be done virtually so well.  In the future it will be a major way of running businesses and negotiating deals.  I predict a new “Art of the Deal” that incorporates applied debating techniques across the business spectrum from weekly staff meetings to negotiating mergers. The reason I can so confidently predict the coming of  “The Art Of The Debate” is that I’m writing it.

STOP TALKING AND DO SOMETHING!

Cartoon credit thanks to Michael P Ramirez

Based on what I’ve seen and read about this new legislation, if 25% of the money in the Infrastructure Bill ever makes it into the infrastructure system, it will be a big surprise to me.  They’re paying back their political commitments under the name of infrastructure.

Why don’t we just fix the streets, fix the potholes, fix the bridges with those first billions, and then talk about some other smart ways to spend the money?  We should not be building anything new.

Who will benefit most from this legislation?  Union labor!  Of course!   The unions have made sure of that, and they take care of their own first.  That means that most people will not qualify to work on these projects…unless they are union members. And their pensions will be made whole too.

It isn’t that our readers are against unions.  We’re just against what the Unions do sometimes to quash what’s best for most American workers.

“Infrastructure” is the new buzz word for stealing from the taxpayers again.

Cartoon credit thanks to Phil Hands, Tribune Content Agency

This bill is just ridiculous and, sadly, there’s not much anybody can do about it.  Being a Democrat, I’m embarrassed by this!   As a conservative Democrat, I don’t see where this legislation is going to do our country a whole lot of good.  Why can’t we spend our money wisely and do the right thing?

I hope the moderate Democrats are getting together with a game plan to put a stop to this madness over the next three years.  Otherwise, we are going to be in big financial trouble as a country because other countries are going to raise their interest rates, and our balance of payment is going to go to hell.  The dollar is absolutely going to go to hell if we don’t stop some of the things that they’re trying to do internationally with the currencies.

This transportation bill is no more of a transportation bill than the last bill they passed for employment and PPP.  Two-thirds of that money went elsewhere.

It’s unbelievable to me that we are bailing out all of these mismanaged cities in this bill as well.

Being a conservative democrat, I think we’re just throwing money away in areas that will have little or no impact on our economy or employment, instead creating huge problems in the future.  It’s just going to play right into the hands of the other party if we do that.

I love this picture, its a great photograph of a beautiful woman, that has many thoughts, that mostly trigger or are caused by hateful thinking. She’s not wrong she is influenced by the increasing hate and violence, not only in the US bit around the World.

Never have we been more divided, because our leaders and those who will benefit from our divisions, have made it there agenda.

Social Media and the Main Stream Media, along with most politicians on all sides, Are trying to control our thoughts, “tell us what to think’. Instead of letting our educators,

Teach us “how to think”.

We don’t have to think hate and violence all the time, but is hard when you are constantly bombarded with personage attacks of Hate and violence. Very little news is ever good news, that makes you feel good, no money in that.

The rape word on this women’s cheek is a real thought, and concern for her, as it totally comes from a personal agenda for some perpetrators of Hate and violence, so does bullying.

We at NoHateNoViolnce believe the more respectful open debate and dialogue we can promote and have, the more we can lower hate thoughts for the worst offenders, the less Violence we may have.

We need to have and promote good thoughts, and not assume everyone we are looking at is having a bad thought, making us anxious and on edge to promote our Hate thoughts.

The more good thoughts we can have the happier we can be, regardless of you place in life.

“ GOOD THOUGHTS HAPPIER LIFE “