Eckhart Tolle stops by Google for a fireside chat with Bradley Horowitz. The subject is: "Living with Meaning, Purpose and Wisdom in the Digital Age." February 2012. Eckhart’s profound, yet simple teachings have helped countless people around the globe experience a state of vibrantly alive inner peace in their daily lives. His teachings focus on the significance and power of Presence, the awakened state of consciousness, which transcends ego and discursive thinking. Eckhart sees this awakening as the essential next step in human evolution. His website is here.

Homelessness: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

With homelessness increasing nationwide, John Oliver takes a look at the way we discuss the unhoused, what policy failures are making the problem worse, and how we can help.

On this edition for Saturday, November 6, 2021 President Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan finally makes its first steps forward after the House vote, people protest around the world demanding climate action while communities explore ways to develop climate resilience.

Nick Offerman

Marshall Burke, Noah Diffenbaugh/Stanford University

Behavioral Scientist, Gabrielle Wong-Parodi and Ortensia Lopez

Gabrielle Wong-Parodi is a Professor in the Department of Earth System Science and Center Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment at Stanford University.

 Greta Thunberg takes aim at climate platitudes. The climate activist Greta Thunberg has taken world leaders to task about their promises to address the climate emergency. In a speech at the Youth4Climate summit, she asked for constructive dialogue and for the media to focus on what politicians do, rather than what they talk about hence the blah, blah, blah of climate change.

Bryan Stevenson, acclaimed public interest lawyer and founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative delivers the 2016 Anne and Loren Kieve Distinguished Speaker Lecture on race and the criminal justice system. A roundtable conversation follows.

Portland Charter Review Commissioner Melanie Billings-Yun shares an overview on the once-in-a-decade Charter Commission process and answers questions from meeting attendees. You can learn more about the Charter Commission's work here.

Every 10 years, the City Council convenes a Charter Commission to review and recommend amendments to the City of Portland Charter. The Charter Commission is an independent body that sets its own scope of work.

Panel on Practical Steps to Address our City's Homeless Crisis

Homelessness is arguably the greatest humanitarian and societal emergency facing Portland. As the number of unhoused grows each year, it can feel overwhelming. But there are civic groups who are effectively tackling this problem–and who can help us carve a path forward. On Wednesday, September 22, 2021, SothWest Hills Residential League (SWHRL) held a conversation with leaders of four volunteer organizations who are taking practical steps to address our city’s homeless crisis.

*Alan Evans, formerly homeless founder and CEO of Helping Hands and Bybee Lakes Hope Center, serving homeless people who are ready to make sustainable changes to improve their lives

*Kiley Yuthas, outreach manager for Transition Projects, a leader in transitioning people from living on the streets into housing

*Laura Golino de Lovato, executive director of Northwest Pilot Project, providing housing assistance, transportation, and advocacy to low-income seniors in Multnomah County

*Toni Wallick, of Home Share Oregon, an innovative program that matches homeowners with spare room with those who are in need of housing

Michael Montoya Speaking Pearl Neighborhood Associaition (PDNA) Board Meeting 09/09/21. Mr. Montoya is interim head of the Office of Community & Civic Life, a bureau of the City of Portland. Mr. Montoya, served as the bureau’s strategy, innovation & performance manager for just under two years, before being named interim director in May 2021.

Ilarion Merculieff discusses what Mother Earth is saying about the trials and tribulations of the world, what it means, and what the Indigenous Elders say we must do. 

We have more environmental organizations in existence today all over the world than there were thirty years ago, and yet Mother Earth's life support systems as we know it are coming to the edge and no one asks why. Ilarion argues that we need to examine the cause and realign ourselves in terms of the way we deal with the trials and tribulations of humans today. Business as usual is simply not going to work.

Ilarion Merculieff has more than forty years of experience serving his people, the Unangan (Aleut) of the Pribilof Islands, and other indigenous peoples in a number of capacities—locally, nationally, and internationally. Throughout his entire career, Merculieff has been a passionate advocate for indigenous rights, and for a harmonious relationship with Mother Earth. He has received a number of awards for his work, including the Environmental Excellence Award for lifetime achievement from the Alaska Forum on the Environment. Ilarion is currently an independent consultant, president of the Global Center for Indigenous Leadership and Lifeways and serves as a Senior Advisor to the World Wilderness Congress and advisor to the Native Lands and Wilderness Council.

Moderated by Andrei Gheorghe.

Going Beyond The Land Acknowledgement with Elder Dr. Dave Courchene

Recording of a visual conversation with Elder Dr. Dave Courchene — Nii Gaani Aki Innini (Leading Earth Man) — a respected Elder and Knowledge Keeper of the Anishinaabe Nation who has devoted his life to sharing Indigenous knowledge, carrying a message of hope, peace and environmental stewardship. In 2002, Elder Dr. Courchene founded the Turtle Lodge International Centre for Indigenous Education and Wellness, a sacred lodge recognized internationally and by Indigenous Knowledge Keepers as well as the Assembly of First Nations and the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs as one of the most important gathering places for Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

In this video Elder Dr. Courchene shares the knowledge on how we can form deeper connection to the land that we move on. The conversation is followed by Q&A.

To support the efforts of the Turtle Lodge please donate via http://www.turtlelodge.org/donate/