Creating a World Without Poverty, by Mohammad Yunus

Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism by Muhammad Yunus

My rating: 5/5 stars

Read this actually a few months ago, but was reminded of it from a tweet this morning.  The book is solid.  A good idea, well-described, in language a non-economist can understand.  Yunus is looking to bridge the innovation and efficiency of for-profit business with the social-improvement mission of the non-profit sector.  I say: It’s about freaking time!!

No, business models can’t solve everything (though you can expect Yunus to think so as a Nobel Winning Ecnomist and founder of the Grameen Bank), but Yunus conceives of a business model which can, in the right context, combine profitability with helping the poor, solving social problems, and changing the world for the better.   BTW, he is pulling all this off in more than a dozen companies in Bangladesh and beyond, so it’s not all pipe dreams.

I highly recommend this book!

Iraqi Peacemaker Teams Visit Minnesota

I just heard about an interesting collaboration happening in my hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota.  A group of people hoping to make Najaf, Iraq a sister city of our fair Minne Apple are hosting an impressive cohort of Iraqis in September.  I received this News Blast:

The Iraqi’s are coming!

The Iraqi’s are coming!

As you know, the Iraqi & American Reconciliation Project, in conjunction with the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Peace Campaign: Focus on Iraq, WAMM, Friends for a Non-Violent World, and others are hosting a delegation of 12-15 Iraqis visiting the Twin Cities in the second half of September of this year.  They will be traveling here with Sami Rasouli, Iraqi-American and Muslim Peacemaker Teams director when he returns for an extended stay.

The delegate planning committee invites your support and participation. We are scheduling visits to the big sites, such as City Hall, the State Capital and Museums, but we also hope to provide some personal unexpected experiences.  We invite you to help provide these personal experiences.

For example: Could you provide a 15-20 minute explanation of the Peace Garden at Lake Harriet then join the group for lunch?  How about a favorite restaurant that would be welcoming hosts to 13 visitors from Iraq for lunch?  We plan to bring them to the bridge on a Wednesday evening and offer the Alliant morning vigil particularly to Professor  Askouri whose research is in depleted uranium consequences and who now works in cancer treatment.

Coming as peacemakers and visitors, these professors, city council members, NGO directors and Muslim Peacemaker Team (MPT) members are like us, curious, smart and interested in making friends.

If you think of a way you would like to join us please email info@mpt-iraq.org, call 952-545-9981

Of course, I hope to find a way to be involved.  I’ll try to update their actions here and tweet them as possible.  BTW, Muslim Peacemaker Teams also seems very interesting.  Check it out!

Simplify the Holidays

Spreading the good word I heard on Olin Lagon’s  Social Actions blog.  Check out the Simplify the Holidays campaign–hey I can DO this stuff: potted christmas trees, edible gifts, cleaning up the streets!  What a great way to celebrate!

Inspirational–The Girl Effect

Wow, meaningful, relevant, beautiful, and forceful.  This is as inspirational as they come.

Go ahead, change the world one girl at a time.

Bill Moyers on Mountain Top Mining

Thanks to Monica for forwarding this link. The campaign horse race coverage seems to hide the real news! Learn more and do something at Bill Moyers’ site.

clipped from www.pbs.org Not Campaign News . A Bill Moyers Essay There’s nothing make-believe about this. Remember these scenes of mountain top mining in West Virginia? Companies blow those mountains sky-high to expose the coal, then haul away tons of rock and debris and dump the waste into valley areas. To protect the quality of the water, they’re not supposed to pile the stuff within 100 feet of rivers and creeks. Now, the Interior Department is one of those government agencies that’s practically been turned over to the industries it’s supposed to regulate. So as a parting gift, the President’s appointees at Interior have now officially proposed granting the coal companies their wish – to dump at will. There’s a 30-day period for public comment and review before the proposal takes effect, so you can find out how to register your opinion – pro or con – at our site on PBS.org.