July 2010, Issue #29 of The WorldVoter

[The WorldVoter]

Hello from Vote World Parliament.

To view this month's newsletter as a .pdf file (nicer, easier to read
formatting with hotlinks), please click on one of the links below, or
copy/paste it in your browser...

http://www.rescueplanforplanetearth.com/worldvoternewsletter29.pdf or
http://www.voteworldparliament.org/about/newsletter/

Ted Stalets
Vice President
Vote World Parliament

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The WorldVoter
the newsletter of
Vote World Parliament
— democratic world parliament through a global referendum —

www.VoteWorldParliament.org
Vote World Parliament co-presidents are Ted Stalets and Bob French
www.RescuePlanForPlanetEarth.com
This site, above, is for the companion book Rescue Plan for Planet
Earth

Issue #29, July, 2010
(This issue and all previous issues are posted at
http://voteworldparliament.org/about/newsletter/)




THE SCORE

As of July 16, 2010, 21,366 people have voted. So far, the votes are
95.5% in favor of creating a democratic world parliament.



Quotes of the month

They elected a priest. And I hope no one is offended if I say that
love is what is most needed in this world. And that selfishness is
what has gotten us into the terrible quagmire in which the world is
sinking, almost irreversibly, unless something big happens. This may
sound like a sermon. Well, OK. Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, the
former president (2008-2009) of the General Assembly of the United
Nations

By supporting this [global referendum] initiative we can assist the
move towards a unified global civilization, completing the great
evolutionary trend on Earth towards increasing unification (from
individual cells to multi-cellular organisms to families to societies,
etc.). John Stewart, author of Evolution’s Arrow: The Direction of
Evolution and the Future of Humanity

News in brief

Stark welcomes the new management of VWP

As the past president of Vote World Parliament, may I simply say
welcome to the two new co-presidents, Ted Stalets and Bob French. I am
confident that these two wonderful gentlemen will lead VWP to the
realization of the dream of a global referendum.

Kindle version of Rescue Plan

Jim Stark’s publisher, The Key Publishing House Inc., has posted a
Kindle (electronic) edition of Rescue Plan. It can be seen at:

http://www.amazon.com/Rescue-Plan-Planet-Earth-ebook/dp/B003UHVR84/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AZC9TZ4UC9CFC&s=generic&qid=1278100620&sr=1-1

So far it has two excellent reviews. You are free to add your own
review of the book.

* * *

A look ahead, by Ted Stalets (co-president of Vote World Parliament)

Before I look ahead, I first look within. My basic “self” is, above
all, a human being. I’m more human than American, more human than
white, more human than male. Above all these partitions, I am born of
planet Earth. Of course I am fortunate to live in the United States,
with substantial rights and privileges and freedom of speech. Earth,
however, will always have my highest allegiance.

As the Internet continues to shrink our cultural world, we have access
to this amazing technological tool to use a most appropriate political
tool (a global referendum) to voice our desire for world democracy
(see www.VoteWorldParliament.org).

Looking ahead, we are most fortunate to have a realistic roadmap to
follow. Jim Stark has outlined a viable step-by-step plan to a
democratic world parliament. Have you visited the website for
www.RescuePlanForPlanetEarth.com? There are three free chapters for
Rescue Plan at that website. Chapter 1, entitled “The Situation,” sets
the scene. Chapter 5, “Transparency at the DWG,” explains how a world
government must be completely and forever incapable of corruption, and
Chapter 15, entitled “Conclusion,” brings us the “bottom line.”

As of today, 21,365 people have voted in the global referendum.
Estimates vary, but there are about seven billion people on the
planet. I am looking ahead with much optimism and persistence. We have
a long way to go, but we will get there, I have no doubt.

* * *

VP Francisco Plancarte meets with former president of the UN General
Assembly, and gets a very positive reception

I’m back in Guadalajara city after four days in Nicaragua and I’m very
pleased to inform you that I had plenty of time to explain to
Ambassador d’Escoto [former president of the UN General Assembly] and
his former Chef de Cabinet, Dr. Miranda, about the referendum
organized by Vote World Parliament, represented by myself as Vice
President for International Affairs.

The point that I try to make very clear is that although Ambassador
d’Escoto and his team are working hard on the idea to reinvent/
transform the UN at the level of presidents and heads of government
all over the world, it was absolutely necessary to promote VWP’s
global referendum because the pressure from below, from the people, is
the only way to assure that nation-states will take effective action
to reinvent/transform the UN.

I was invited to be part of his team and in the next few weeks I will
receive some materials and the agenda for future reunions.

In any event Planetafilia, WATUN and Vote World Parliament are looked
upon by d’Escoto and Miranda as a joint effort by some representatives
of civil society that may be partners of their team and some nation-
state leaders, willing to make profound and deep changes in the UN
according to Ambassador d’Escoto's proposals to transform/reinvent the
institution.

Finally, d’Escoto and Miranda agree with me that the creation of a
World Parliament will be included in their analysis, and eventually in
the documents and final proposal.

Francisco Plancarte

Ed. Note: Kudos to Francisco for this significant step forward

* * *

Should the UN govern, too?

The following letter-to-the-editor was published recently in the
Telegraph-Journal (New Brunswick, Canada)
http://telegraphjournal.canadaeast.com/opinion/article/1120377

Re: “G-summits aren’t worth $1 billion,” June 7

The problem is not just cost but institutional structure. In Canada,
we have a standing Parliament with MPs elected directly by the people
to carry out a legislative function. Would we ever consider abolishing
the House of Commons and letting each province send a representatives
to Ottawa to dicker with their counterparts, and also give the larger
provinces a veto over decisions? Of course not, but then why do we
accept as normal, at the international level, a system that we would
never countenance at home?

The European Parliament demonstrates the possibility of establishing a
democratic body at a supranational level that allows countries to
better co-operate. At the United Nations, an assembly with
consultative status could be set up under Article 22 of the Charter,
and could gradually be strengthened as it proved itself.

Decisions that come about by inclusive processes will be more easily
accepted than those imposed by a few large countries.

Larry Kazdan,Vice-President, Vancouver Branch, World Federalist
Movement Canada
Discussion for WFM-C Letters Project at http://www.vcn.bc.ca/wfcvb/wfadvocacy.php.
For info re: this listserv, contact lka...@shaw.ca.

* * *

Marsden film gets serious attention

[from http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/marsden-amp-ferrer-unveil-the-film-world-vote-now,1319361.shtml]

LOS ANGELES, CA -- 05/27/10 -- Film maker Joel Marsden and Sean
Hepburn Ferrer, Executive Producer and chairman of the Audrey Hepburn
Children Fund, unveil the film WORLD VOTE NOW and pose the question:
What revolutionary global political movement can resonate with such
seemingly opposite entities as the European Parliament, socialist
leaders Evo Morales, Hugo Chavez and the U.S. State Department? The
answer: Global Democracy. The film investigates its feasibility.

The idea of a “one person - one vote” for the entire population of the
planet makes sense in a world where problems such as poverty and
climate change are no longer confined by [national] borders.

Centerpiece to this global movement is the full length feature
documentary film WORLD VOTE NOW. Shot in 26 countries including the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Senegal, Iran, Oman, Egypt,
Kashmir, China, Russia, Venezuela, Brazil and Guatemala, it explores
the construction of such a system including a satellite linked voting
apparatus.

“Global democracy is the only logical way to tackle these global
problems,” states director Joel Marsden. “For the first time in human
history a world vote is now technically possible.”

Earlier this year, it was screened for the European Parliament in
Brussels where Pau Solanilla, representing the Spanish Presidency of
the EU Council, stated: “We need to create the conditions for this
global democratic process.”

It then screened at the World People’s Conference in Bolivia where
35.000 attendees from governments, civil society and indigenous rights
groups from 140 countries released a declaration that pledges to
“Support and promote a world plebiscite referendum.” President Chavez
added, “Look at something as revolutionary as the global referendum
that President Morales proposes. Venezuela will join the effort
immediately.”

And now a clip of WORLD VOTE NOW has been selected as finalist in the
“Democracy Video Challenge,” a competition by the U.S. State
Department with partners such as YouTube, NBC, Universal and the
Motion Picture Association of America. The public is asked to vote
online through a YouTube account until June 15, 2010. The six winners
will be invited to Washington, D.C. to meet the Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton.

“There is nothing like an idea whose time has come,” adds producer
Sean Hepburn Ferrer. “We want to take this message of global equality
to Washington and to every world capital.”

Ed. Note: Joel Marsden’s film won for the geographic area of Europe.
Kudos!

* * *

Film about Garry Davis

For 62 years, Garry Davis has been a citizen of no nation—only the
world. He will be honored at the NY Independent Film Festival with a
screening of our short film about him; One! The Garry Davis Story. See
www.onefilms.com for a preview about his amazing story. If you can,
please join us in celebrating Garry’s 89th birthday. The screening
will be on Tuesday, July 27, 2010, 4:10 PM, Screen 3, VILLAGE EAST
CINEMAS located at 181 2nd Avenue at 12th Street. Tickets are $15
each, which includes four short movies and the after-party.

One! The Garry Davis Story

Synopsis:

Broadway actor Garry Davis, plagued by war [WWII] guilt, gives up
Broadway and US citizenship to cast himself in a new role—World
Citizen #1. In the ultimate act of real world theater, he dares to
enact a government of, by and for Earth's people—and to travel the
globe on its World Passport. His visionary passport helps free
thousands of stateless people from squalid refugee camps, and inspires
us all with a vision of a better way to run our one world. The true
story of Danny Kaye’s understudy, by Arthur Kanegis & Richard
Crawford; 5:25 minutes, Global Perspective Short Documentary, USA

Three other short films will also be shown: Einstein’s Innovation: The
Theory That Changed The World, Imagine the Freedom, and We The People
2010