President Martti Ahtisaari wins the Nobel Peace Prize. A former Finnish President, an UN envoy, a social democrat, a school teacher and founder of Crisis Management Initiative has negotiated for peace in many troubled areas for three decades. Last fall and last summer CMI (without Ahtisaari's presence) called former Northern Ireland and South African militants to use their experience for finding Iraqi factions a way out of bloodshed. A plan for Kosovo. Negotiations ending 30-year conflict in Aceh, Indonesia. Negotiating Namibia independence. Got conflict? Mr. Ahtisaari is your man.
posted on Oct 10, 2008 - View this thread

Here's an article and slideshow to help escape the worries of the world. A great article and slideshow about the Hindu temples in Tamil Nadu (Southeastern India). (NYTimes)
posted on Sep 25, 2008 - View this thread

I Met the Walrus In 1969, 14-year-old Jerry Levitan snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced John to do an interview about peace. This is the whimsically animated film that Jerry has produced about the interview.
posted on Jul 6, 2008 - View this thread

Pax Corleone Americana? "Can any of the candidates vying to become the next president of the United States match Michael’s cool, dispassionate courage in the face of epochal change? Will they avoid living in the comforting embrace of the past, from which both Tom and Sonny ultimately could not escape? Or will they emulate Michael’s flexibility—to preserve America’s position in a dangerous world?" The Godfather as metaphor.
posted on Apr 28, 2008 - View this thread

Performance Artist Killed on Peace Trip. Pippa Bacca, performance artist, and friend wearing white wedding dresses, planned to hitchhike from Italy to the Balkans to the Middle East to send a message of peace and “marriage between different peoples and nations.” After three weeks on the road, Pippa Bacca was killed by a driver who offered her a ride. Her naked body was found and local authorities said Ms. Bacca had been raped and strangled.
posted on Apr 21, 2008 - View this thread

Do you remember those days when mom and dad used to pack you up in the back of the station wagon and drive you to grandma's and grandpa's? Or when you were a dreamer with nothing else on your mind but to escape from the one street town to the big city? Have you ever dreamed of going back, maybe to settle down, get in touch with your roots, and start a new life for yourself. Well, here's your chance. Why not just get up and do it this time. Sure, it's not going to be easy, but maybe it's the change you've been looking for. On the other hand, maybe not, so be advised. But whatever you decide, it sure does look like a way of life that does hold a lot of potential.
posted on Apr 11, 2008 - View this thread

So, you're planning to take a trip around the world, are you? Well, in that case--you'll need to know a couple of things before you leave (in order not to offend the sensibilities of the local population). Let's see--suppose you're making your way through Azerbaijan for example, and your host happens to be a businessman who is about to embark on a journey to the city: what would you do to give him the appropriate send off? Would you:

• a) Bid him farewell and shake his hand.
• b) Dance in front of him and do a traditional jig that everyone else is doing in order to ward off evil spirits.
• c) Throw a bowl of water in his wake.

Peace Without Borders. Colombian singer Juanes put together a concert calling for peace, as a result of the recent crisis between Colombia and Ecuador (and tangentially, Venezuela). Remarkably, it was held from the bridge between Venezuela and Colombia, in what is normally a very problematic border, and it featured the great Carlos Vives, the Dominican Juan Luis Guerra, and others.
posted on Mar 16, 2008 - View this thread

YouTube in partnership with The Davos Forum has established a great "contest" although I don't think of it like that. YouTubers are asked to submit a video answering the question "What one thing do you think that countries, companies or individuals must do to make the world a better place in 2008?" I thought a long time about the question, and then, after approaching Mayor Gavin Newsom to be in the video, then getting caught up against deadlines, I had the answer: to end racism around the World. Here's the video. Here's Emma Thompson's response.
posted on Jan 27, 2008 - View this thread

Peace on Earth - 1939 Disney animation directed by Hugh Harman. And Goodwill to Men, a 1955 remake by Hanna-Barbera.
posted on Dec 24, 2007 - View this thread

George W. Bush covers John Lennon's War Is Over (If You Want It) in a collaboration with Wax Audio. Another coverversion of John Lennon's God is included on the B-side of the new limited edition 45. On the other hand, Yoko sez, "Vote Kucinich!" (previously on Mefi)
posted on Dec 12, 2007 - View this thread

"Killing others is not loving them.” --meet US Army Captain Peter D. Brown, just granted Conscientious Objector status due to his religious beliefs and honorably discharged after first being denied and taking them to court---only 224 applicants were approved for it during 02-06, out of 2.3 million serving.
posted on Oct 18, 2007 - View this thread

The greybeards of the U.S. foreign policy establishment have spoken out to the Bush Administration telling it what it needs to do to have a successful Mideast peace summit: advocate a return to '67 borders, Jerusalem as capital of two states, solution of refugee problem with financial compensation to Palestinians, security guarantees for Israel. Signatories of the statement include Zbigniew Brzezinski, Brent Scowcroft, Nancy Kassebaum, Carla Hills, Thomas Pickering, Ted Sorensen and Paul Volcker. A pretty formidable bunch.
posted on Oct 16, 2007 - View this thread

The Right Livelihood Award "celebrates and supports people of vision. People who have ideas and apply them in concrete initiatives for the public good. They give hope for tomorrow, for a world in peace and balance. They demonstrate how we can overcome oppression, war, poverty, the destruction of our environment, and a widespread sense of meaninglessness and fear."
posted on Oct 3, 2007 - View this thread

An Israeli porn site is trying to promote peace through pornography, and has succeeded in getting surfers from Arab countries that normally block access to all Israeli sites. Specializing in pornography with political themes, Ratuv is part of an industry that features Jewish, Israeli Arab, and Druze actors and plenty of political tension. The most popular downloads from Arab countries is apparently an X-rated parody of the kidnapping of nuclear scientist Mordechai Vanunu, though pictures of women of the IDF are also popular. Salman Rushdie has noted the power of pornography in the Muslim world, arguing that pornography is vital to freedom in his essay, The East is Blue. [All links are worksafe to major mainstream news sources, except potentially the fourth link, which goes to Nerve].
posted on Sep 3, 2007 - View this thread

Police overreact, and attack bikers with no provocation at Minneapolis Critical Mass. Responses from witnesses tell one picture of what happened, but local news says "nobody was hurt" despite squad cars knocking bicyclists from their bikes. What gives?
posted on Sep 1, 2007 - View this thread

The origin of the peace sign. Various histories of designs, top 10 tools for artists and designers, hilarious pencil attachments and other cool stuff at designboom (previously).
posted on Aug 29, 2007 - View this thread

We have lost on the way the lesson of living together, We are now even scared of each other. They are others whose faces are on your hands, Your hurts are a deep sea -- our wounds are deep. The stories that are being spread in our names are lies, This is not us.
Words of a Pakistani pop song Yeh Hum Naheen [This is not us] hitting the charts, attempting to spread the message that all muslims are not terrorists, story via Salon. "Produced and written by a British Muslim, Waseem Mahmood, at the request of his two sons, "Yeh Hum Naheen" offers a welcome counterpoint to the images of troops storming the Red Mosque, or fundamentalist mullahs preaching jihad. But the key to the song's success lies neither in its production values or deft depictions of average Pakistanis going about their daily lives, but in its heartfelt expression of pain. "
posted on Aug 25, 2007 - View this thread

The Failed States Index 2007. Iraq is now ranked as the world's second most unstable country, behind Sudan. [Via Newshoggers.]
posted on Jun 19, 2007 - View this thread

The Indian Wiggle (thanks to Hugh Janus)
posted on Jun 2, 2007 - View this thread

First Global Peace Index Ranks 121 Countries
posted on May 30, 2007 - View this thread

Memorial Day orators will say that a G.I.'s life is priceless. Don't believe it. I know what value the U.S. government assigns to a soldier's life: I've been handed the check. It's roughly what the Yankees will pay Roger Clemens per inning once he starts pitching next month.
posted on May 28, 2007 - View this thread

I'm an Italian Confusionist and I want to bring peace to Iraq. Confused yet? Confusionism. Not confusionism. More confusionists who are fond of sports. And, the originator of it all. first link is LiveLeak, last link is MySpace; proceed, therefore, at your own risk.
posted on May 5, 2007 - View this thread

In sixteenth-century Paris, a popular form of entertainment was cat-burning, in which a cat was hoisted in a sling on a stage and slowly lowered into a fire. According to historian Norman Davies, "[T]he spectators, including kings and queens, shrieked with laughter as the animals, howling with pain, were singed, roasted, and finally carbonized." Today, such sadism would be unthinkable in most of the world. This change in sensibilities is just one example of perhaps the most important and most underappreciated trend in the human saga: Violence has been in decline over long stretches of history, and today we are probably living in the most peaceful moment of our species' time on earth. [pdf] via NPR
posted on Apr 14, 2007 - View this thread

When will Indians and Pakistanis release such a video on YouTube?
posted on Feb 25, 2007 - View this thread

Peacmaker - a new Israeli/Palestinian RPG: "The goal of the player as the leader is to establish a stable resolution to the conflict and win the Nobel Prize before his or her term in office ends."

Oh. Is that all?
posted on Feb 2, 2007 - View this thread

"I've lost my heart."

Peace activist Bassam Aramin reacts to the murder of his daughter, Abir.
posted on Jan 27, 2007 - View this thread

Wanna get nuked? the Active Denial System [just say no?] was launched yesterday - its a microwave ray gun that makes people feel like they're going to catch fire. Wasn't there a ray gun at a certain point in a book we trashed a while earlier?
posted on Jan 25, 2007 - View this thread

In 1982, ten-year old Samantha Smith from Maine wrote a letter to Yuri Andropov asking whether there was going to be a nuclear war. Andropov responded, and Samantha accepted his invitation to stay at a Russian pioneer camp with Soviet children. Tragically, within the following two years both the young Samantha and Secretary Andropov passed away. (wmv)
posted on Dec 23, 2006 - View this thread

But some residents have children serving in Iraq! A homeowners association in Colorado has threatened to fine a resident $25 a day until she removes a Christmas wreath with a peace sign that some say is anti-Iraq war. (picture of offending wreath).

Jeff Heitz, of the association board, sent a letter to Lisa Jensen saying: "Loma Linda residents are offended by the peace sign displayed on the front of your house. ...

Past peace sign overreactions include "'Peace' T-shirt gets man arrested" and "What A Girl Wants poster controversy"... so what's so wrong with peace?
posted on Nov 27, 2006 - View this thread

I Know I'm Not Alone: 10 minute embedded video interview of Michael Franti regarding his jaunt to Iraq (and Palestine/Israel), originally broadcast on CBC's The Hour.
posted on Nov 20, 2006 - View this thread

Only 35 days left until the Global Orgasm. Remember that you're doing it for Peace On Earth or Purity Of Essence or Projection Of Energy or whatever. Don't forget to visit the GlobalO Blog for more information.
posted on Nov 16, 2006 - View this thread

Nip White Poppies in the Bud - Edmonton Journal Article The White Poppy emerged as a symbol of peace in th e1930's, and has been sold by a women's peace group and activist store in Edmonton, Canada for the past several years. This year, The Royal Canadian Legion has ordered a cease and desist, saying that the sale of the poppies is "illegal." Every year the Legion sells red poppies for Remembrance Day. This is an article from the local major daily newspaper offering views from both sides of the debate.
posted on Nov 8, 2006 - View this thread

In 1976, a young Bangladeshi economics professor named Muhammad Yunus founded Grameen Bank to implement microcredit — lending small sums to the very poorest members of society. Today, he and his bank share the Nobel Peace prize. Grameen, a profit-making company with social objectives, has lent $5.3bn to 6.4m people. 97% of borrowers are women, as Yunus believes [video] "men will do whatever they could to enjoy for themselves personally [but] women looked at it for the children, for the family and for the future."
posted on Oct 13, 2006 - View this thread

Replacing Trident? Clare Short MP, former International Development Secretary for the UK Labour government, debates replacing trident and the UK's role in nuclear proliferation (and the world in general) with Michael Codner, Director of Military Science at the Royal United Services Institute. Scroll to the bottom for the mp3s.
posted on Jul 24, 2006 - View this thread

"We take clowns breaking into a nuclear facility serious in McLean County."
posted on Jul 2, 2006 - View this thread

Green Parrots: I just finished reading this book by Dr. Gino Strada, a war surgeon and founder of Emergency, an Italian NGO, whose mission is to provide medical treatment to civilian victims of war. A series of essays on his experiences in far away places like Peru, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, the Sudan and Cambodia where 90% of the casualties he treats are better known as collateral damage. One third are children under 14. He ends with a heartfelt essay that asks, "Is it legitimate to accept war as an inevitable prospect for current and future generations?"
posted on Jun 29, 2006 - View this thread

Mahatma Gandhi. Everything you ever wanted to know about Mahatma Gandhi including image galleries and his complete collected works.
posted on May 3, 2006 - View this thread

Six String Shooter. "What we want to create is an invitation to an attitude of change," [Cesar López] says. "It says a lot of different things — but the main idea is that weapons can be changed from an object of destructiveness to an object of constructiveness." Swords into plowshares axes, Music from Menace, Music Out of Madness.
posted on May 3, 2006 - View this thread

Is a Peace Studies class appropriate to be taught in a public high school? Ok, but what if it's an elective? And if it's taught by this guy you could probably understand why some people would think it's lame.
posted on Mar 8, 2006 - View this thread

A Natural History of Peace. Humans like to think that they are unique, but the study of other primates has called into question the exceptionalism of our species. So what does primatology have to say about war and peace? Contrary to what was believed just a few decades ago, humans are not "killer apes" destined for violent conflict, but can make their own history.
posted on Dec 22, 2005 - View this thread

Against Indifference: A Conversation with Elie Wiesel "I believe that a person who is indifferent to the suffering of others is complicit in the crime. And that I cannot allow, at least not for myself." short, but good. The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity site is worth some time as well (or if you're looking for a worthy cause this season).
posted on Dec 7, 2005 - View this thread

Tomorrow for the 35th anniversary of WBAI's four and a half day radio reading of Tolstoy's War and Peace, the amazing Pacifica Radio Archives will host a 18 hour fundraiser on the Pacifica Foundation Network. (KPFK, KPFT, WPFK, and the first listener supported radio station in America, KPFA.) A hour long speical on the War and Peace broadcast will be featured on Democracy Now! Tune in for a slice of history.
posted on Dec 5, 2005 - View this thread

Decline of armed conflicts primarily due to UN peace efforts: study Good news, however you attribute it. (more inside)
posted on Oct 18, 2005 - View this thread

Mohamed ElBaradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency have won this year's Nobel Peace Prize. (previous)
posted on Oct 7, 2005 - View this thread

✙ ☪ ◊? The addition of a third protective symbol (fourth, if you count this happy lion) will allow the Magen David Adom of Israel to join the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies after over 50 years. It might look odd, but a lot of other symbols we take for granted have interesting recent origins. ☮ was designed in 1958. ☣ was created by Dow in 1966. ☢ first appeared as a doodle in the 1940s. The symbols of the planets have many origins, but here on earth, the origins of ☺ remain so convoluted that it might take a fictional "symbologist" to sort it all out.
posted on Oct 3, 2005 - View this thread

This past Saturday was host to anti-war demonstrations in cities throughout the United States and even internationally. In Washington, DC a march, which was accompanied by a later benefit concert, drew over 100,000 people (estimates vary). Rallies in San Francisco, London and Los Angeles drew thousands more. Though there was some mainstream coverage, it was largely overshadowed by hurricane news. [more inside]
posted on Sep 27, 2005 - View this thread

Words of wisdom from a wombat. (flash) From the Foundation for a Global Community. Also, an Extraordinary Moment.
posted on Sep 20, 2005 - View this thread

Unwanted guests in Crawford? Cindy Sheehan, who lost her son in Iraq, and is now very active as a founder of Gold Star Families for Peace, is at Bush's ranch as he starts his 5-week vacation. "I want to ask George Bush: Why did my son die?" She's not leaving until she gets to meet with him personally, altho it won't be the first time she met the President. Former Senator Max Cleland-- who lost both legs and an arm during the Vietnam War, didn't have any luck when he tried to get through to Bush at Crawford last year. Will this grieving mother do any better?
posted on Aug 6, 2005 - View this thread

The culture of peace is advancing according to accounts from all regions of the world. This is the conclusion from information submitted by almost 700 organisations and summarised in a report which has been formally submitted to the United Nations Secretary-General by the Bangladeshi Ambassador to the UN, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury. This report provides the first comprehensive view of the progress of the global movement for a culture of peace, since it was called for in 1999 by United Nations Resolution A/53/243. The advance of the culture of peace comes despite almost total neglect from the mass media, according to most accounts from all regions.
posted on Jul 10, 2005 - View this thread