Happy New Year!
Agitators in Australia and New Zealand, China, India and Thailand (most of the planet) are already into the New Year, while those in Europe, the U.K. and North and South America are still in their New Year’s Eve mode.
No matter where you’re receiving this Agitator signal we wish you all the best in the brand new year. May 2015 bring you blessings that matter.
In New York City, at midnight introducing the 1st, the 12,000-pound crystal ball will drop in Times Square.
This year, for the first time, a charity will be designated as an official partner of the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration that will be watched by more than a billion folks worldwide.
As Holly Hall reports in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, that charity is the International Rescue Committee.
Founded in 1933, at the request of Albert Einstein, a refugee himself, to aid refugees and those displaced by war, persecution or natural disasters, IRC seems to us to be a perfect fit for this honor.
2014 will go down as one of the worst years since WW II for refugees. As the rest of the world celebrates, more than 50 million people, mostly women and children, find themselves displaced.
At 11:59 Eastern Time tonight the president of IRC and four refugees will press the button signaling the countdown to 2015 and the lowering of the Times Square Crystal Ball.
As we all pause to think of the year ahead, let’s send an extra burst of hope to those fleeing the terror of conflict, war and persecution.
Happy New Year Agitators everywhere!
Roger and Tom
P.S. In case you’re glued to your computer/laptop/tablet/phone and not the TV you can follow the Times Square festivities here. And you can link to the New Year’s section of IRC’s website here.