Choose Hope

My hope for the next election

Before every election, I hope the world will become a better place. With all the insanity of the last four years, I sometimes found it easier to be angry than hopeful. But I also remembered the proverb, "where your mind goes, your body follows," and decided if I wanted to see a more positive future, I'd have to start by imagining one.

So I'm visualizing a world where everyone is more hopeful about the future.

Next year I hope to see a world . . .

Where truth is more important than ideology.
Where our "values" mean we don't measure everything in dollars and cents and people come before profit.
Where we realize that health, family, and the "land we love" are priceless.
Where we spend less on killing people and more on teaching them.
Where we stop being driven by terror and start driving ourselves towards a truly secure future.
Where we stop being afraid to speak up and are once again free to speak out.
Where we stop spoiling for war and start working toward peace.
Where leadership is more important than playing politics.
Where "we the people" don't just listen to what leaders say, we hold them accountable for what they do.
Where we stop making our children pay for our mistakes.
Where facts, instead of opinion and polls, find their way back into the news.
Where lies are once again called lies and not "spin," and we strive to find the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Where we stop undermining and start understanding.
Where fear and paranoia aren't disguised as "security."
Where governments stop working against us, and start working FOR us.
Where we stop accepting immoral acts by our own leaders, even when they claim God is on their side.
Where real freedom rings, in all its forms: Freedom from fear; Freedom from ignorance; Freedom from oppression; Freedom from discrimination; Freedom from want.
Where we realize we're all in this together, and that our future is closer than we think.
Where we remember what FDR said: The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.

So don't be afraid, be hopeful. Then turn your hope into reality. VOTE.

Daniel Will-Harris

(I truly believe we need to remember what this, and all elections are about—hope that the future will be better. This one, in particular, is about truth, justice and the return of the American way)

Read about my latest movie role (you read that right), here!

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IT'S ABOUT TIME: UNIQUE WRISTWATCHES

I don't mean to brag, but I'm going to anyway. I designed a wristwatch that is now sold by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The MoMA site describes it like this: "Truly unique in its display of time, the minutes and hours fade in and out as time passes . . . The only analog watch to read in a digital manner . . . " You can see it, and buy it at MoMA, for a mere $80, here in orange (shown first) OR BLACK (choose it from the drop down menu).

Also available with the world's only black stainless steel mesh band here: (and get a matching screensaver clock for free).

If you want a screensaver version of this or my other watch designs, go to http://www.elementoftime.com

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TOTALLY COOL BINOCULAR EYEGLASSES!

http://www.Binoculite.com Looking for a unique and useful holiday gift for people who love the sporting events, the theater, bird-watching or just the great outdoors? Binoculites are lightweight but powerful hands-free binocular glasses. You wear them like glasses but they work like binoculars, bringing everything closer. Since you don't have to hold them, your arms don't get tired, the view doesn't get shaky, and you can wear them comfortably for hours. Binoculites are precision-made in Germany and available exclusively in the US at http://www.Binoculite.com (a site I designed).

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PEN AGAIN:

I love pens. It's silly, because I type a lot more than I write, but I still love pens. And the most interesting new one in my collection is http://www.penagain.com a totally unique design that wraps around your finger and makes it easy to hold, even if you have RSI, or difficulty holding a pen for any reason. They're beautiful (they look kind of like a rocket ship), and have this amazing silky smooth finish. You can't get a more useful or interesting pen anywhere for $10! This would make a great gift for yourself, and even other people!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
GOOGLE FOR YOUR OWN COMPUTER

How come you can find something on the web in a split second, but finding it on your own hard disk can take ages? Now you can use the same Google technology to search the files on your hard disk—and it's free.

It searches Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Text files, as well as e-mail in Outlook and Outlook Express, and even saves a searchable history of your web and AOL IM activity.

Every time you create or save a file, it's indexed instantly on the fly. Then the search works exactly like Google—it even looks the same. Same Boolean filters, same ability to sort by relevance or date. It's lightning fast, and I'm finding it great for both .DOC and .HTML files

The drawbacks—it's still a beta and didn't index all my files for some reason. I got them indexed by re-saving them. The web cache only works in IE, and saves pages even when you tell it not to—which could cause privacy problems.

And remember, this is beta software, and beta software can adversely affect the workings of your computer, so if you're at all scared, wait for the final version. http://desktop.google.com/

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COOL WORLD TIME CLOCK

If you work on the web, you may be working with people all over the world (I know I do—Hi Pete in Australia, Jack in Denmark, Bruce in Tokyo to name but a few.) Now it's easy to see the time all over the world with this beautifully designed web clock. It's free: http://tinyurl.com/439dn (one note—it doesn't update automatically, so you have to reload the page to see the current time).

If you want to buy most flexible world time clock software for your PC, I recommend http://www.activeearth.com (it always shows the current time, and connects to internet time servers and updates your computer clock to the most accurate atomic clock time). For Palm, PocketPC or Smart Phones, try the excellent CityTime, at http://codecity.net/

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URLS YOU CAN HANDLE

If you've ever tried to send or receive a long URL in an e-mail , you know they can break in the middle and become unclickable. Now there's a simple, free way to avoid that. http://www.tinyurl.com lets you paste any ridiculously long URL (like those from many e-commerce sites), and have it give you a short URL that won't break in e-mail. The Tiny URL never expires, so you can even use it as links on your web site (it's a good way to hide your affiliate ID for sites like Amazon). Simple, clever, useful, free. What more do you want?

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DO GOOD WITH A CLICK

http://www.moveon.org - Support democracy in America
http://www.cartercenter.org/ Waging peace, fighting disease, building hope
http://www.spiritofamerica.net/ American citizens of good will
http://www.hungersite.com - Give free food with a click
http://www.ecologyfund.com - Save & protect nature for free
http://www.thebreastcancersite.com Help fund free mammograms
http://www.freedonation.com - Click to donate to many worthy causes
http://www.redjellyfish.com - Click-to-give for rain forests
http://www.solvepoverty.com Clicks here provide 2 cents for education & more
http://www.tree4life.com Rainforest reforesting
http://www.worldwidemedicalsupport.org - Provide medical supplies
http://www.networkforgood.org - A wide variety of charities
http://www.habitat.org/ Habitat For Humanity, non-profit home building
http://www.unfpa.org/support/34million.htm $1 to the UN Population fund
http://www.teacherswithoutborders.org - Support global education!

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One Final Word

Every vote counts (this time). And remember, the truth shall make you free.


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The SchoomozeLetter is ©1998-2007, Daniel Will-Harris, all rights reserved. If you'd like to use any article on the web or in print, please ask for permission. If you're an agent or publisher looking to publish these pieces, just drop me a note.