Ideas, Inspiration, and Actions for a Better Tomorrow - February 22 Edition

It's time to resume posting these segments, although on a weekly basis rather than a daily one. I commenced doing it today because it is a special one for me: My father was born on February 22, 1942. He is seventy-six years young today. He can still keep up with his grandchildren, for the most part, although now that the two oldest boys are teenagers, that is getting a little tougher. He plays basketball, softball, and kickball with all of us as well as participates each August in the Tell City Schweizer Fest 2-mile road run—albeit walking all but the last couple blocks, when he must be photographed running across the finish line. Happy birthday, Dad! I hope I am as active and healthy as you are when I am your age. I love you. 

One of my favorite photos with Dad

Below are stories/articles worth your attention this week:

Energy, Climate Change (Read or watch)
Morocco turns the Sahara desert into a solar energy oasis

Morocco says it wants to be the Saudi Arabia of solar energy. Its flagship project is a first-of-its-kind, $9-billion energy plant called Noor, meaning "light" in Arabic, and the size of the city of Paris. Special correspondent Monica Villamizar reports from the city of Ouarzazate.

• Judy Woodruff:

  Next, we turn to Morocco, home to the largest solar energy plant in the world.

  Today, the planet Earth meets over 80 percent of its energy needs with either coal, oil or gas. But as climate science and breakthrough technology disrupt the energy sector, Morocco is taking advantage of an abundant natural resource, unobstructed sunlight, to power part of the North African nation.

  Special correspondent Monica Villamizar looks at a giant $9 billion project.

  It’s part of our ongoing series, Peril and Promise, on the challenge of climate change.

Leadership, First Impressions
Five Things That Can Really Influence How Others Perceive You 

1. Be curious.

Want to be the most interesting person in the room? In a previous article, I posed seven questions a person needs to ask that will ignite captivating conversations. But in order for that scenario to happen, curiosity is the social prerequisite. Albert Einstein famously said, "I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious." Perhaps there's an Einstein in all of us.

Read more

Foreign Policy (Read or Listen)
The Answers are Out There

Contrary to conventional wisdom, solutions to many of the world’s toughest problems already exist — you just need to know where to look for them. In this segment are six articles in the current issue of Foreign Policy Magazine. 

Think Small to Weather Big Storms (Natural Disasters)

Why Beijing Should Dump Its Debt (China)

Normalize the Hermit Kingdom (North Korea)

Break Corruption with Bitcoin's Back (Corruption)

Inoculate Against a Global Vaccine Crisis (Health)

Where the Next Global Downturn Could Come From (Global Economy)

Travel
The 50 Best Places to Visit in the U.S.A. 

I have been bitten by the travel bug over the past decade and while I will be hitting Scotland's West Highland Way at the end of May to hike 96 miles with a group of fabulous women friends, I am also considering some travel closer to home here in the States. On my list of possibilities are New Orleans, Charleston (SC), or Austin. Check out the link above if you are looking for some vacation or weekend get-away ideas of your own. Happy travels!