On Co-operatives, Hugs and UFO’s.

There are reports of events that cannot be explained by natural  phenomena, or exploding outhouses and are known as UFO’s which is the official abbreviation for an unidentified flying objects, when we growing up in the med-school, UFO was the euphemism, for gravitational drainage of the middle finger, though I guess it could also stand for Uncommonly Fat Orangutans,

Can you imagine the orangutans – checking the calendar and congregating on the 2^nd of July…  well…second of July is the World UFO Day. this is an awareness day, people get together and watch the skies for unidentified flying objects. The day commemorates the supposed UFO crash at Roswell in 1947. It is also the day to raise awareness of the “undoubted existence of UFO’s and to encourage the governments to declassify their files on UFO sightings.”

If you were to sign into meet-up you would find groups, of UFO enthusiast who are watching movies,  or watching the skies and clicking pictures of strange flying objects around. Never mind if they just the crickets on the move.

Then there are people who walk around with DIY UFO/alien life T-shirts

There people who have conversations and discussions on possibility of extraterrestrial life,

There are people who claim to have proof of the same.

Then there are people who do the simplest thing that is watch an UFO/Alien movie. For more log on to http://www.worldufoday.com/

the 1^st Saturday day of July which falls today, also has another  very interesting commemoration that is World Free Hug Day. This is a worldwide movement that began in 2004, when Juan Mann who was dealing with depression and loneliness landed back to his homeland in Australia. Some stranger hugged him in a party, and he suddenly felt uplifted. Juan Mann decided to spread some goodness by standing with a placard that said, “Free Hugs,” it took 15mnts, before an elderly lady came up to him and gave him a hug.

This signboard, guy Juan Mann met up with another signboard carrier Shimon Moore, who eventually ditched the signboard for a camera and recorded Mann. At a point when Mann was on the verge of giving up the  free hug crusade, Shimon sent him an edited video that said, “this is who you are” and Mann went right back to his crusade, teaming with Shimon and his band  Sick Puppies www.sickpuppies.net . 2006 he was on Oprah show, and 2007 he launched the open house project. Juan’s e-books are available on YouTube.

This about this one hello can change day, one hug can change a live and one hope can change a destiny. This however has not been well received in many places. One advise that Mann has for people who want to  go on this crusade, is check your local laws before you start. For more http://www.freehugscampaign.org .

If UFO day is about flying in the air, and  free hug is about spreading goodness, there is a more important commemoration, a commemoration that acknowledges the bonding of people, the airy ideas that got defined in the earth bound space, the 1^st Saturday of July commemorates the international day of co-operative alliances set up in 1895 to  acknowledge and create awareness about various co-operative alliances that function to improve quality of life worldwide. In 1995 the UN decided to celebrate The World Co-Operative Day and The International Day Of Co-Operatives together. This worldwide event celebrated to increase awareness of co-operatives that function worldwide. It is also to strengthen the co-operatives and to extend and forge partnerships or collaborations.  The theme this year  is contribution of Co-Operatives To Sustainable Development.

The event is celebrated by

• Translating and sharing the ICA message in the local language.
• Newspaper and radio programs for knowledge sharing.
• Exhibitions show casing various co-operatives.
• Co-operative partnerships within the community to achieve economic, environmental and other growth.

If your community has done something along these lines, kindly share it with ica@ica.coop

images courtesy Google Images.