rock paper scissors online game
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Bethlehem marked another somber Christmas Eve on Tuesday in the traditional birthplace of Jesus under the shadow of war in Gaza. The excitement and cheer that typically descends on the West Bank during Christmas week were nowhere to be found. The festive lights and giant tree that normally decorate Manger Square were missing, as were the throngs of foreign tourists that usually fill the square. Palestinian scouts marched silently through the streets, a departure from their usual raucous brass marching band. Security forces arranged barriers near the Church of the Nativity, built atop the spot where Jesus is believed to have been born. The cancellation of Christmas festivities is a severe blow to the town's economy. Tourism accounts for an estimated 70% of Bethlehem’s income — almost all from the Christmas season. Salman said unemployment is hovering around 50% — higher than the 30% unemployment across the rest of the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Finance Ministry. Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, noted the shuttered shops and empty streets and expressed hope that next year would be better. “This has to be the last Christmas that is so sad,” he told hundreds of people gathered in Manger Square, where normally tens of thousands would congregate. Pizzaballa held a special pre-Christmas Mass in the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza City. Several Palestinian Christians told the Associated Press that they have been displaced in the church since the war began in October of last year with barely enough food and water. “We hope by next year at the same day we’d be able to celebrate Christmas at our homes and go to Bethlehem,” said Najla Tarazi, a displaced woman. “We hope to celebrate in Jerusalem ... and for the war to end. This is the most important thing for us and the most important demand we have these days because the situation is really hard. We don’t feel happy.” Bethlehem is an important center in the history of Christianity, but Christians make up only a small percentage of the roughly 14 million people spread across the Holy Land. There are about 182,000 in Israel, 50,000 in the West Bank and Jerusalem and 1,300 in Gaza, according to the U.S. State Department. The number of visitors to the town plunged from a pre-COVID high of around 2 million per year in 2019 to fewer than 100,000 in 2024, said Jiries Qumsiyeh, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Tourism Ministry. After nightfall, the golden walls of the Church of the Nativity were illuminated as a few dozen people quietly milled about. A young boy stood holding a pile of balloons for sale, but gave up because there were no customers to buy them. The war in Gaza has deterred tourists and has prompted a surge of violence in the West Bank, with more than 800 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire and dozens of Israelis killed in militant attacks. Palestinian officials do not provide a breakdown of how many of the deceased are civilians and how many are fighters. Since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that sparked the war, access to and from Bethlehem and other towns in the West Bank has been difficult, with long lines of motorists waiting to pass through Israeli military checkpoints. The restrictions have prevented some 150,000 Palestinians from leaving the territory to work in Israel, causing the economy there to contract by 25%. In the Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel, Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 250 Israeli hostages. Israeli officials believe that around 100 hostages remain in captivity in the Gaza Strip. Elsewhere, Christmas celebrations were also subdued. Syrians protest after Christmas tree burned Scores of Syrian Christians protested Tuesday in Damascus, demanding protection after the burning of a Christmas tree in Hama the day before. Videos and images shared on social media showed the large, decorated tree burning at a roundabout in Suqalabiyah, a town in the Hama countryside. It remains unclear who was responsible for setting the tree on fire. In a video that circulated on social media, a representative of Syria’s new leadership, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, could be seen visiting the site and addressing the community. He said: “This act was committed by people who are not Syrian, and they will be punished beyond your expectations.” Germans mourn after Christmas market attack German celebrations were darkened by a car attack on a Christmas market on Friday that left five people dead and 200 people injured. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier rewrote his annual recorded Christmas Day speech to address the attack. He plans to acknowledge that “there is grief, pain, horror and incomprehension over what took place in Magdeburg,” while urging Germans to “stand together,” according to an early copy of the speech. Heavy snow hits the Balkans A snowstorm in the Balkans stranded drivers and downed power lines, but some saw the beauty in it. “I’m actually glad its falling, especially because of Christmas,” said Mirsad Jasarevic in Zenica, Bosnia. “We did not have snow for Christmas for 17 years here, and now is the time for wonderful white Christmas.” Planes grounded in the United States American Airlines briefly grounded flights across the U.S. on Tuesday due to a technical problem just as the Christmas travel season kicked into overdrive. Winter weather threatened more potential problems for those planning to fly or drive. Meanwhile, the flight-tracking site FlightAware reported that 1,447 flights entering or leaving the U.S., or serving domestic destinations, were delayed Tuesday, with 28 flights canceled. Spanish ministries bring seafarers holiday cheer In the port of Barcelona, Spain, volunteers from the faith-based ministry Stella Maris visited seven ships docked there on Christmas Eve to deliver Nativity scenes and the local specialty of turrón (nougat candy) to seafarers. The volunteers met seafarers from India, the Philippines, Turkey and elsewhere, said Ricard Rodríguez-Martos, a Catholic deacon and former merchant marine captain who leads Stella Maris in this major Mediterranean harbor. ___ Associated Press writers Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis contributed to this report. Jalal Bwaitel, The Associated PressHome | Advertisement | Grt Jewellers Unveils New Rajahmundry Showroom With A Mixed Reality Print Ad GRT Jewellers unveils new Rajahmundry Showroom with a Mixed Reality Print Ad With more and more print advertising shifting to Mixed Reality (MR), Flam’s latest collaboration with GRT Jewellers showcases the jewelry designer’s new showroom in Rajahmundry. By Telangana Today Published Date - 22 November 2024, 11:20 PM Flam x GRT Jewellers: Experience Rajahmundry's new showroom with immersive MR technology! Rajahmundry: With more and more print advertising shifting to Mixed Reality (MR), Flam’s latest collaboration with GRT Jewellers showcases the jewelry designer’s new showroom in Rajahmundry. A leader in Mixed Reality Publishing, Flam, has been pushing advertising boundaries across mediums like Print, Digital, OOH (Out of Home) and Television. The print ad with the MR experience is live on three leading Telugu publications, namely, Eenadu, Sakshi, and Andhra Jyothi. Upon scanning, the ad transforms from a static to an immersive 3D experience that unveils the launch of the new showroom and the incredible offers for buyers present during the launch. The experience closes out with GRT’s brand film starring Trisha playing over a 3D model of the new showroom. In the experience, they’ve also added a CTA that functions as a Store Locator – a convenient feature for fewer drop-offs from the print ad. The collaboration between Flam and GRT Jewellers marks the beginning of a new phase of retail advertising. With MR experiences now incorporated into the mix, the ability to boost walk-ins stands at a much greater chance than static ads. Mixed Reality only adds to the age of diminishing attention spans, where capturing the hearts and minds of the audience has become more important and harder than ever. Compared to its media counterparts, MR offers a level of depth, interactivity, and enjoyability that turns an audience member into an active participant in the ad’s storytelling. This brings in the much-wanted domino effect of an ad creating a personal connection which turns curiosity into engagement and that engagement, finally into action. Shourya Agarwal, CEO at Flam said, “It’s been exciting to see the adoption for Mixed Reality and the push towards greater storytelling. Working with a legacy brand like GRT was not just incredible but it was gratifying to see their want to continuously innovate. In hindsight, the new GRT Jewellers Mixed Reality experience stands out more than a promotional tool—it is a step forward towards engaging audiences with better brand storytelling. It is now a gateway of what advertising can be with Flam’s new ‘3I’ approach—immersive, interactive and impactful. This shift in approach can bring about the change in the advertising landscape, one that is more inclusive and action driven–resulting in greater brand recall for brands across industries. Follow Us : Tags collaboration Flam GRT Jewellers mixed reality) Related News Opinion: Seek accountability gently SCR sets up Helpline Numbers in view of heavy rains in AP Ram Charan wraps up ‘Game Changer’, says “GAME is about to Change” Rajahmundry: Fishermen, cops rescue woman from suicide attempt
Jimmy Carter, the 39th US president, has died at 100T he Founders never planned for a post-Presidency. Or if they did, they thought of Cincinnatus returning to the plow, his civic duties done, as President Washington retired to Mount Vernon in 1797 when his term ended. In Washington’s final illness, doctors applied leeches. Modern medicine –including the innovative and successful treatment for brain cancer that Jimmy Carter received in 2015 – has invented a post-Presidency, and the question is how to occupy it. Truman and Eisenhower resumed private lives, Kennedy assassinated, LBJ left office in poor health, Nixon resigned, Ford wrote memoirs and dabbled in the corporate world. Just as Carter reinvented the Vice Presidency by giving large roles and a West Wing office to Walter Mondale, Carter had a chance to reinvent the post-Presidency, and he did. The Carter Center , the focus of his efforts, served as a platform for his many interests, including human rights, democracy promotion, conflict resolution, and health – all concentrated around the “alleviation of human suffering”. Most Americans, on right and left, believe that Jimmy Carter used this influence overwhelmingly for good. If an enduring image of work for Ronald Reagan is cutting brush on his ranch, that for Carter is a few extra nails in his mouth as he strikes a hammer to another nail on one of his numerous house building projects for Habitat for Humanity (an organization founded in nearby Americus, Georgia, by a longtime friend of Carter’s), which eventually garnered the name “ Jimmy Carter Work Project ”. There have been 36 of them over the years, many abroad, including in Mexico (Carter read the Bible in Spanish as part of his daily devotions), with over 4,000 houses built and over 100,000 volunteers. Carter continued the themes of his term, including the search for Mideast peace which brought Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin to Camp David. He became more pro-Palestinian as time went on; the post-Presidency permitted him to express his frustration more publicly than holding office did. His own Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 was long overdue, and Carter’s Nobel laureate address provides a template for his worldview. For him, “[w]e have not assumed that super strength guarantees super wisdom . . . . global challenges must be met with an emphasis on peace, in harmony with others, with strong alliances and international consensus.” When asked about the greatest challenge the world faces, “I decided that the most serious and universal problem is the growing chasm between the richest and poorest people on earth. . . . [I]n the industrialized world there is a terrible absence of understanding or concern about those who are enduring lives of despair and hopelessness. We have not yet made the commitment to share with others an appreciable part of our excessive wealth [.]” Democracy and human rights were hallmarks of his Administration and remained so through the Carter Center. A rare misstep in 2004 in the recall referendum on Hugo Chavez in Venezuela (when the Center contended the results were accurate ) does not diminish work in dozens of countries around the world, including Carter’s own long personal commitment to a Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan. He helped ease General Noriega in Panama and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua out of power. As the Norwegian Nobel Committee noted , “[f]ew could be better placed than Carter to explain with conviction that an election defeat does not necessarily put an end to political activity.” Many of the Center’s lesser-known accomplishments are among its most significant. Guinea worm, which destroyed the lives of millions of Africans, is nearly eradicated , from 3.5 million cases to 13, thanks to a tireless, highly focused, and determined effort Carter quietly led involving many thousands of trained local volunteers. Guinea worm could be the second disease to be eradicated (after smallpox, in 1980 during Carter’s Administration). Similar Carter efforts combat blinding trachoma , river blindness , and lympathic filiariasis , as well as his wife Rosalyn’s commitment on mental health . Not the headline diseases but equally painful and mortal for those who suffer from them. For Carter, every life had value, every life counts, every life was worth saving. The Norwegian Nobel Committee summed it up best in Carter’s own words: “He has often told his Sunday school in Plains that “We’ll never know whether something new and wonderful is possible unless we try. Let’s scratch our heads, stretch our minds, be adventurous! Serve God with boldness, and who knows what wonders the Lord may work?” Plains, Georgia, may seem an unlikely place from which to launch a global campaign of moral influence. Carter’s deeply personal and active faith was the springboard for his efforts. Carter believed firmly in the separation of church and state but in his post-Presidential years taught hundreds of Sunday school classes at his small Baptist church in Plains, practicing the ministry of hospitality to many thousands who visited to hear him teach and collecting his meditations into a book . Carter said that his favorite cartoon from The New Yorker magazine was of a child saying “Daddy, I want to be a former President.” His work after 20 January 1981, more than his tumultuous years in office, will define his legacy, in which millions of people among the world’s poorest will remember him for good. Carter wrote that “The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices. God gives us the capacity for choice. We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes – and we must”. Jimmy Carter made that earnest choice. The words of a hymn sum up his life for over four decades since departing the White House: “No time for rest till glows the western sky/Till the long shadows o’er our pathway lie/And a glad sound comes with the setting sun: Well done, well done”. John S Gardner is a writer. He was special assistant to George HW Bush and deputy assistant to George W BushSpeaker schedules opposition motions after Tories opt against own non-confidence vote
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Bethlehem marked another somber Christmas Eve on Tuesday in the traditional birthplace of Jesus under the shadow of war in Gaza. The excitement and cheer that typically descends on the West Bank during Christmas week were nowhere to be found. The festive lights and giant tree that normally decorate Manger Square were missing, as were the throngs of foreign tourists that usually fill the square. Palestinian scouts marched silently through the streets, a departure from their usual raucous brass marching band. Security forces arranged barriers near the Church of the Nativity, built atop the spot where Jesus is believed to have been born. The cancellation of Christmas festivities is a severe blow to the town's economy. Tourism accounts for an estimated 70% of Bethlehem’s income — almost all from the Christmas season. Salman said unemployment is hovering around 50% — higher than the 30% unemployment across the rest of the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Finance Ministry. Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, noted the shuttered shops and empty streets and expressed hope that next year would be better. “This has to be the last Christmas that is so sad,” he told hundreds of people gathered in Manger Square, where normally tens of thousands would congregate. Pizzaballa held a special pre-Christmas Mass in the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza City. Several Palestinian Christians told the Associated Press that they have been displaced in the church since the war began in October of last year with barely enough food and water. “We hope by next year at the same day we’d be able to celebrate Christmas at our homes and go to Bethlehem,” said Najla Tarazi, a displaced woman. “We hope to celebrate in Jerusalem ... and for the war to end. This is the most important thing for us and the most important demand we have these days because the situation is really hard. We don’t feel happy.” Bethlehem is an important center in the history of Christianity, but Christians make up only a small percentage of the roughly 14 million people spread across the Holy Land. There are about 182,000 in Israel, 50,000 in the West Bank and Jerusalem and 1,300 in Gaza, according to the U.S. State Department. The number of visitors to the town plunged from a pre-COVID high of around 2 million per year in 2019 to fewer than 100,000 in 2024, said Jiries Qumsiyeh, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Tourism Ministry. After nightfall, the golden walls of the Church of the Nativity were illuminated as a few dozen people quietly milled about. A young boy stood holding a pile of balloons for sale, but gave up because there were no customers to buy them. The war in Gaza has deterred tourists and has prompted a surge of violence in the West Bank, with more than 800 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire and dozens of Israelis killed in militant attacks. Palestinian officials do not provide a breakdown of how many of the deceased are civilians and how many are fighters. Since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that sparked the war, access to and from Bethlehem and other towns in the West Bank has been difficult, with long lines of motorists waiting to pass through Israeli military checkpoints. The restrictions have prevented some 150,000 Palestinians from leaving the territory to work in Israel, causing the economy there to contract by 25%. In the Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel, Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 250 Israeli hostages. Israeli officials believe that around 100 hostages remain in captivity in the Gaza Strip. Elsewhere, Christmas celebrations were also subdued. Syrians protest after Christmas tree burned Scores of Syrian Christians protested Tuesday in Damascus, demanding protection after the burning of a Christmas tree in Hama the day before. Videos and images shared on social media showed the large, decorated tree burning at a roundabout in Suqalabiyah, a town in the Hama countryside. It remains unclear who was responsible for setting the tree on fire. In a video that circulated on social media, a representative of Syria’s new leadership, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, could be seen visiting the site and addressing the community. He said: “This act was committed by people who are not Syrian, and they will be punished beyond your expectations.” Germans mourn after Christmas market attack German celebrations were darkened by a car attack on a Christmas market on Friday that left five people dead and 200 people injured. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier rewrote his annual recorded Christmas Day speech to address the attack. He plans to acknowledge that “there is grief, pain, horror and incomprehension over what took place in Magdeburg,” while urging Germans to “stand together,” according to an early copy of the speech. Heavy snow hits the Balkans A snowstorm in the Balkans stranded drivers and downed power lines, but some saw the beauty in it. “I’m actually glad its falling, especially because of Christmas,” said Mirsad Jasarevic in Zenica, Bosnia. “We did not have snow for Christmas for 17 years here, and now is the time for wonderful white Christmas.” Planes grounded in the United States American Airlines briefly grounded flights across the U.S. on Tuesday due to a technical problem just as the Christmas travel season kicked into overdrive. Winter weather threatened more potential problems for those planning to fly or drive. Meanwhile, the flight-tracking site FlightAware reported that 1,447 flights entering or leaving the U.S., or serving domestic destinations, were delayed Tuesday, with 28 flights canceled. Spanish ministries bring seafarers holiday cheer In the port of Barcelona, Spain, volunteers from the faith-based ministry Stella Maris visited seven ships docked there on Christmas Eve to deliver Nativity scenes and the local specialty of turrón (nougat candy) to seafarers. The volunteers met seafarers from India, the Philippines, Turkey and elsewhere, said Ricard Rodríguez-Martos, a Catholic deacon and former merchant marine captain who leads Stella Maris in this major Mediterranean harbor. ___ Associated Press writers Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis contributed to this report. Jalal Bwaitel, The Associated PressHome | Advertisement | Grt Jewellers Unveils New Rajahmundry Showroom With A Mixed Reality Print Ad GRT Jewellers unveils new Rajahmundry Showroom with a Mixed Reality Print Ad With more and more print advertising shifting to Mixed Reality (MR), Flam’s latest collaboration with GRT Jewellers showcases the jewelry designer’s new showroom in Rajahmundry. By Telangana Today Published Date - 22 November 2024, 11:20 PM Flam x GRT Jewellers: Experience Rajahmundry's new showroom with immersive MR technology! Rajahmundry: With more and more print advertising shifting to Mixed Reality (MR), Flam’s latest collaboration with GRT Jewellers showcases the jewelry designer’s new showroom in Rajahmundry. A leader in Mixed Reality Publishing, Flam, has been pushing advertising boundaries across mediums like Print, Digital, OOH (Out of Home) and Television. The print ad with the MR experience is live on three leading Telugu publications, namely, Eenadu, Sakshi, and Andhra Jyothi. Upon scanning, the ad transforms from a static to an immersive 3D experience that unveils the launch of the new showroom and the incredible offers for buyers present during the launch. The experience closes out with GRT’s brand film starring Trisha playing over a 3D model of the new showroom. In the experience, they’ve also added a CTA that functions as a Store Locator – a convenient feature for fewer drop-offs from the print ad. The collaboration between Flam and GRT Jewellers marks the beginning of a new phase of retail advertising. With MR experiences now incorporated into the mix, the ability to boost walk-ins stands at a much greater chance than static ads. Mixed Reality only adds to the age of diminishing attention spans, where capturing the hearts and minds of the audience has become more important and harder than ever. Compared to its media counterparts, MR offers a level of depth, interactivity, and enjoyability that turns an audience member into an active participant in the ad’s storytelling. This brings in the much-wanted domino effect of an ad creating a personal connection which turns curiosity into engagement and that engagement, finally into action. Shourya Agarwal, CEO at Flam said, “It’s been exciting to see the adoption for Mixed Reality and the push towards greater storytelling. Working with a legacy brand like GRT was not just incredible but it was gratifying to see their want to continuously innovate. In hindsight, the new GRT Jewellers Mixed Reality experience stands out more than a promotional tool—it is a step forward towards engaging audiences with better brand storytelling. It is now a gateway of what advertising can be with Flam’s new ‘3I’ approach—immersive, interactive and impactful. This shift in approach can bring about the change in the advertising landscape, one that is more inclusive and action driven–resulting in greater brand recall for brands across industries. Follow Us : Tags collaboration Flam GRT Jewellers mixed reality) Related News Opinion: Seek accountability gently SCR sets up Helpline Numbers in view of heavy rains in AP Ram Charan wraps up ‘Game Changer’, says “GAME is about to Change” Rajahmundry: Fishermen, cops rescue woman from suicide attempt
Jimmy Carter, the 39th US president, has died at 100T he Founders never planned for a post-Presidency. Or if they did, they thought of Cincinnatus returning to the plow, his civic duties done, as President Washington retired to Mount Vernon in 1797 when his term ended. In Washington’s final illness, doctors applied leeches. Modern medicine –including the innovative and successful treatment for brain cancer that Jimmy Carter received in 2015 – has invented a post-Presidency, and the question is how to occupy it. Truman and Eisenhower resumed private lives, Kennedy assassinated, LBJ left office in poor health, Nixon resigned, Ford wrote memoirs and dabbled in the corporate world. Just as Carter reinvented the Vice Presidency by giving large roles and a West Wing office to Walter Mondale, Carter had a chance to reinvent the post-Presidency, and he did. The Carter Center , the focus of his efforts, served as a platform for his many interests, including human rights, democracy promotion, conflict resolution, and health – all concentrated around the “alleviation of human suffering”. Most Americans, on right and left, believe that Jimmy Carter used this influence overwhelmingly for good. If an enduring image of work for Ronald Reagan is cutting brush on his ranch, that for Carter is a few extra nails in his mouth as he strikes a hammer to another nail on one of his numerous house building projects for Habitat for Humanity (an organization founded in nearby Americus, Georgia, by a longtime friend of Carter’s), which eventually garnered the name “ Jimmy Carter Work Project ”. There have been 36 of them over the years, many abroad, including in Mexico (Carter read the Bible in Spanish as part of his daily devotions), with over 4,000 houses built and over 100,000 volunteers. Carter continued the themes of his term, including the search for Mideast peace which brought Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin to Camp David. He became more pro-Palestinian as time went on; the post-Presidency permitted him to express his frustration more publicly than holding office did. His own Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 was long overdue, and Carter’s Nobel laureate address provides a template for his worldview. For him, “[w]e have not assumed that super strength guarantees super wisdom . . . . global challenges must be met with an emphasis on peace, in harmony with others, with strong alliances and international consensus.” When asked about the greatest challenge the world faces, “I decided that the most serious and universal problem is the growing chasm between the richest and poorest people on earth. . . . [I]n the industrialized world there is a terrible absence of understanding or concern about those who are enduring lives of despair and hopelessness. We have not yet made the commitment to share with others an appreciable part of our excessive wealth [.]” Democracy and human rights were hallmarks of his Administration and remained so through the Carter Center. A rare misstep in 2004 in the recall referendum on Hugo Chavez in Venezuela (when the Center contended the results were accurate ) does not diminish work in dozens of countries around the world, including Carter’s own long personal commitment to a Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan. He helped ease General Noriega in Panama and Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua out of power. As the Norwegian Nobel Committee noted , “[f]ew could be better placed than Carter to explain with conviction that an election defeat does not necessarily put an end to political activity.” Many of the Center’s lesser-known accomplishments are among its most significant. Guinea worm, which destroyed the lives of millions of Africans, is nearly eradicated , from 3.5 million cases to 13, thanks to a tireless, highly focused, and determined effort Carter quietly led involving many thousands of trained local volunteers. Guinea worm could be the second disease to be eradicated (after smallpox, in 1980 during Carter’s Administration). Similar Carter efforts combat blinding trachoma , river blindness , and lympathic filiariasis , as well as his wife Rosalyn’s commitment on mental health . Not the headline diseases but equally painful and mortal for those who suffer from them. For Carter, every life had value, every life counts, every life was worth saving. The Norwegian Nobel Committee summed it up best in Carter’s own words: “He has often told his Sunday school in Plains that “We’ll never know whether something new and wonderful is possible unless we try. Let’s scratch our heads, stretch our minds, be adventurous! Serve God with boldness, and who knows what wonders the Lord may work?” Plains, Georgia, may seem an unlikely place from which to launch a global campaign of moral influence. Carter’s deeply personal and active faith was the springboard for his efforts. Carter believed firmly in the separation of church and state but in his post-Presidential years taught hundreds of Sunday school classes at his small Baptist church in Plains, practicing the ministry of hospitality to many thousands who visited to hear him teach and collecting his meditations into a book . Carter said that his favorite cartoon from The New Yorker magazine was of a child saying “Daddy, I want to be a former President.” His work after 20 January 1981, more than his tumultuous years in office, will define his legacy, in which millions of people among the world’s poorest will remember him for good. Carter wrote that “The bond of our common humanity is stronger than the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices. God gives us the capacity for choice. We can choose to alleviate suffering. We can choose to work together for peace. We can make these changes – and we must”. Jimmy Carter made that earnest choice. The words of a hymn sum up his life for over four decades since departing the White House: “No time for rest till glows the western sky/Till the long shadows o’er our pathway lie/And a glad sound comes with the setting sun: Well done, well done”. John S Gardner is a writer. He was special assistant to George HW Bush and deputy assistant to George W BushSpeaker schedules opposition motions after Tories opt against own non-confidence vote
-
"> -
">
-
">
-
">
