This information is from the World March for Peace website.
The World March will begin in New Zealand on October 2, 2009, the anniversary of Gandhi’s birth, declared the “International Day of Nonviolence” by the United Nations. It will conclude in the Andes Mountains (Punta de Vacas, Aconcagua, Argentina) on January 2, 2010. The March will last 90 days, three long months of travel. It will pass through all climates and seasons, from the hot summer of the tropics and the deserts, to the winter of Siberia. The American and Asian stages will be the longest, both almost a month. A permanent base of a hundred people of different nationalities will complete the journey.
Why
Because we can end world hunger with 10% of what is spent on arms. Imagine how life would be if 30-50% of the arms budget went toward improving people’s lives instead of being used for destruction.
Because eliminating wars and violence means leaving human pre-history behind and taking a giant step forward in the evolution of our species.
Because in this aspiration we are accompanied by the strength of the voices of hundreds of prior generations who suffered the consequences of war, and whose echo continues to be heard today in all those places where it continues to leave its sinister trail of dead, disappeared, disabled, refugees and displaced.
Because a “world without wars” is an image that opens the future and seeks to become reality in every corner of the planet, as violence gives way to dialogue.
The moment has come for the voiceless to be heard! Out of agonizing and urgent need, millions of human beings are crying out for an end to wars and violence.
We can make that happen by uniting all the forces of pacifism and active non-violence worldwide.
When
The World March will begin in New Zealand on October 2, 2009, the anniversary of Gandhi’s birth, declared the “International Day of Non-Violence” by the United Nations. It will conclude in the Andes Mountains (Punta de Vacas, Aconcagua, Argentina) on January 2, 2010.
The March will last 90 days, three long months of travel. It will pass through all climates and seasons, from the hot summer of the tropics and the deserts, to the winter of Siberia.
Who is participating
The March was initiated by “World Without Wars,” - an international organization launched by the Humanist Movement - that has been working for 15 years in the fields of pacifism and non-violence.
The World March, however, will be created and shaped by everyone. Open to any person, organization, collective, group, political party, business, etc., that shares the same aspirations and sensibility, this project is not something closed. Instead, it is a journey that will be progressively enriched as different initiatives set their contributions in motion.
That is why this is an invitation to anyone and everyone to participate freely. So that wherever the March goes, the local people can contribute their creativity in a great convergence of multiple activities. There’s space for everything the imagination is capable of conceiving.
The possible channels of participation are multiple and diverse, including virtual participation in the March through Internet.
This is a march by and for the people, with hopes of reaching most of the world’s population. For this reason we are asking all media to spread the word about this journey around the world for Peace and Non-violence.
What is going to happen
As it passes through cities there will be all kinds of forums, conferences and events (sporting, cultural, social, etc.) that will be organised according to the local initiatives that are emerging.
At this time hundreds of projects have already been set in motion by different individuals and organizations.
What are our goals and objectives
To denounce the dangerous world situation that is leading us closer and closer to nuclear war, which would be the greatest catastrophe in human history – a dead end.
To give a voice to the majority of world citizens who want peace. Although the majority of the human race opposes the arms race, we are not sending out a unified signal. Instead we are letting ourselves be manipulated by a powerful minority and suffering the consequences. The time has come to stand together and show our opposition. Join a multitude of others in sending a clear signal, and your voice will have to be heard!
To achieve: the worldwide eradication of nuclear weapons; the immediate withdrawal of invading troops from occupied territories; the progressive and proportional reduction of conventional weapons; the signing of
non-aggression treaties among nations and the renunciation by governments of war as a way to resolve conflicts.
To expose the many other forms of violence (economic, racial, sexual, religious…) that are currently hidden or disguised by their perpetrators; and to provide a way for all who suffer such violence to be heard.
To create global awareness - as has already happened with environmental issues - of the urgent need to condemn of all forms of violence and bring about real Peace.
http://www.theworldmarch.org/index.php?secc=info
Abba said "No more wars in my name".
No more wars....
Thursday, 30 July 2009
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
CALL TO ACTION ON BURMA
Jim Carrey calls for people to support the world's only imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi. He also decries Burma's military regime for recruiting more child soldiers than any other country in the world, destroying 3,000 villages in eastern Burma, and forcing 1.5 million refugees to flee. He appeals to viewers to join two organizations:
The Human Rights Action Center
http://www.humanrightsactioncenter.org
U.S. Campaign for Burma
http://www.USCAMPAIGNFORBURMA.org
The Human Rights Action Center
http://www.humanrightsactioncenter.org
U.S. Campaign for Burma
http://www.USCAMPAIGNFORBURMA.org
Friday, 24 July 2009
CHANGING THE WORLD....
Pay it Forward is a wonderful film..Every man, woman and child should watch this film.
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Extraordinary People, A boy that sees without eyes...
This is a documentary about a boy (the late Ben Underwood) who has taught himself to use echo location to navigate around the world. Ben Underwood is blind, but has managed to do some truly extraordinary feats.
Part One
[Part 1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLziFM... (10:51)
[Part 2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1QaCe... (10:37)
[Part 3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikpNZO... (10:20)
[Part 4] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Px-aP... (10:34)
[Part 5] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNkJ1d... (05:12)
World Access for the Blind
http://www.worldaccessfortheblind.org/
This child was full of light his memory will stay with us.
God bless him and his family for their courage.
Where there is a will there is always a way to overcome.
They have a Christ Vision
God bless everyone that can see and hear the truth now.
Love beyond measure
Part One
[Part 1] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLziFM... (10:51)
[Part 2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1QaCe... (10:37)
[Part 3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikpNZO... (10:20)
[Part 4] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Px-aP... (10:34)
[Part 5] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNkJ1d... (05:12)
World Access for the Blind
http://www.worldaccessfortheblind.org/
This child was full of light his memory will stay with us.
God bless him and his family for their courage.
Where there is a will there is always a way to overcome.
They have a Christ Vision
God bless everyone that can see and hear the truth now.
Love beyond measure
Friday, 17 July 2009
Helping Humanity
Part of an article sent out after the 2007 firing the grid.
1. If you wish to help raise the vibration of the planet then focus on practical application.
a. Feed and clothe the poor
b. Help the sick to understand what it means and assist them to heal the self.
c. Help single parents and their children.
d. Help all those that are in need of spiritual sustenance.
e. Practical deeds that raises the hope of people.
f. Assist charities and those that are helping those in need.
2. Refrain from overloading circuits by multiple people focussing on a single energetic outlet, otherwise you get a lot more than you have bargained for.
3. Refrain from working on energy circuits unless you are qualified to work safely in hazardous zones.
1. If you wish to help raise the vibration of the planet then focus on practical application.
a. Feed and clothe the poor
b. Help the sick to understand what it means and assist them to heal the self.
c. Help single parents and their children.
d. Help all those that are in need of spiritual sustenance.
e. Practical deeds that raises the hope of people.
f. Assist charities and those that are helping those in need.
2. Refrain from overloading circuits by multiple people focussing on a single energetic outlet, otherwise you get a lot more than you have bargained for.
3. Refrain from working on energy circuits unless you are qualified to work safely in hazardous zones.
Tuesday, 14 July 2009
HIDDEN IN HIS HAND
He made my mouth like a sharpened sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me into a polished arrow and concealed me in his quiver.Isaiah 49:2
Until the day came to release the white dove in his hand - the Holy Spirit.
Glory be to God
Eliakim
This is post 30 on this blog. 30 = LAMED
http://www.inner.org/hebleter/lamed.htm
In the ancient pictographs LAM is the shepherds staff.
Until the day came to release the white dove in his hand - the Holy Spirit.
Glory be to God
Eliakim
This is post 30 on this blog. 30 = LAMED
http://www.inner.org/hebleter/lamed.htm
In the ancient pictographs LAM is the shepherds staff.
SEVEN EXCUSES FOR INACTION
Yesterday on the other blog we wrote about the parable of the 'Unmerciful Servants" and it's link to seventy seven mentioned by Daniel.
Today, we have received this wonderful article about seven excuses for inaction and it certainly is an arrow of truth that hits the target.
UN Watch Briefing Vol. 194 July 13, 2009
The following is based on remarks delivered by Dr. Mukesh Kapila, the former UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, at a June 16, 2009 panel on “Women in Conflict and the Human Rights Situation in Sudan,” organized by UN Watch as a NGO side event during the 11th session of the UN Human Rights Council, together with the Darfur Peace and Development Center and LICRA. The other panelists were Hillel Neuer, Gibreil Hamid, and Diagne Chanel.
The Seven Excuses of Inaction for Darfur
Dr. Mukesh Kapila
I was wondering what I should speak about in such a gathering where you must know so much. It is pointless to rehearse the continuing agony of Sudan, and of Darfur in particular, and catalogue yet again the endless human rights tragedies that are taking place all over Sudan and in Darfur. So I will discuss a couple of themes.
One that worries me a great deal is the progressive revisionism in Darfuri history. We are beginning to see now, several years into the latest phase of conflict in Darfur, we notice from many commentators that are gaining prominence a sense of trying to “balance the history,” as they call it. And this revisionist view of what has happened in Darfur, and what continues to happen in Darfur, is something that organizations like yours need to be vigilant of.
The Seven Excuses
And I don’t know why this is the case. But what I do know from my own experience as the former UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in 2003 to 2004, when the whole Darfur thing exploded in the consciousness for the first time, in recent times at least, I would say that from the constraints and difficulties that I had, I identified what I call seven excuses why people don’t listen to the writing on the wall.
1. Cynicism
The first one is cynicism—a general feeling that, sure, Sudan has got many troubles, it’s a country in conflict, a country that has always been in conflict, a conflict of many decades, and what do you expect in a place like that? Terrible things are done by people in the heat of conflict, so don’t be surprised if rapes take place, if violence against women takes place, and many other forms of horrible abuses take place. So the first excuse people give is to be cynical, or the first reaction is cynical.
2. Denial
The second reaction is denial. “Surely the situation is not as bad as you make it out to be,” they argue. “You’re exaggerating to gain attention.” And so they try and say, “Prove it.” Numbers and statistics and all that. And ultimately the whole ethos of the apologists is to try and reduce the impact of the message, and even to deny—just as we had the Holocaust deniers of the Second World War and still do, many of them—that what is happening in Darfur is a form of crimes against humanity or genocide, whatever you want to call it. There is that denial school.
2. Prevarication
The third reaction, or excuse people have to do nothing, is prevarication. An argument goes, and I had this given to me many times when I was the head of the UN in Sudan, “You have to be patient, it takes time, these are complicated matters, and in any case it’s best if the people of Sudan, the people of Darfur find their own solution to their own problems.” That’s an awful reaction, a sort of prevarication. “Takes time, be patient, these are complicated matters.”
4. Caution
The fourth excuse that people give is caution. “You know that these are very complicated and difficult issues,” they say. “Sudan is not a small country, it’s got a very complex past, a very complicated political and social dynamic. If we intervene it will only make matters worse; let us think carefully and long before we actually do anything.” So, caution.
5. Distraction
The fifth excuse is distraction: You know, we have many other things to do. There is the Middle East, there is Iraq, there in North Korea, there is Iran, there is Myanmar, there is climate change, there is HIV and AIDS, there are Millenium Development Goals, there are cyclones, there is a financial crisis, all sorts of things. We have many other things to do. Let’s solve the other bigger problems in the world first, solve the other problems which are equally important, and then we’ll get around to you on this particular problem.
6. Buck Passing
The sixth excuse is buck-passing. “Why does it always have to be us?” they say. So you go to London, you go to Washington, you go to the Security Council, you go to Brussels, you go wherever you like, and they say, “But you know, why is it that we always have to deal with these sort of issues? All these other countries, groups—the African Union, the Arab League, this, that, and the other—they should all be doing their part in this. So let them take on the leadership on this and then we will join in.” And that’s the sort of buck-passing that is used.
7. Evasion of Responsibility
And finally there is an evasion of responsibility excuse. “Oh, we have brought this to the attention of the Security Council, the President, the Prime Minister, the Pope, the Commission, the Council, the Committee, the whatever-you-like. And everyone is now kind of exercised by this issue. It’s being discussed at a very high level. So let’s see what they decide.”
So, ladies and gentlemen, my message to you, to UN Watch, to Human Rights Watch, to any other Watches that there are, is that watching is not enough. That actually unless you have some practical ways to address these seven reasons—cynicism, denial, prevarication, caution, distraction, buck-passing and evasion of responsibility—then I’m afraid we will continue to be a side event, we will continue to be tolerated in the margins.
If we don’t find practical means to address these kinds of obstacles, then I’m afraid that one group will remain at the margins, and one will remain as kind of a pressure group, and it isn’t going to be enough. That’s my first set of observations. So the challenge to you is: What more can we do?
My second set of remarks is about two current events which are not new ones, and are well familiar to you. The first is the debate between human rights and humanitarianism, and the second is the trade-off between peace and justice. They are different debates, but they are also related debates.
False Dichotomy 1: Human Rights vs. Humanitarianism
Let’s go to the human rights and humanitarianism debate. You heard in the last few weeks, months, after the International Criminal Court indictments, a whole army of humanitarians suddenly rose up and started protesting that the process of the International Criminal Court [indicting Sudanese President Al Bashir for genocide] was going to interfere with the provision of humanitarian aid, suffering is going to get worse, and that this whole judicial process is highly controversial and so on—political as some would argue—that it’s all very well, but it’s really anti-humanity, because it’s actually going to stop the humanitarian organizations. That people are suffering, and now the President of Sudan is going to go sulk in the corner and get very nasty, and throw the NGOs out, and people are suffering more, and what have you achieved?
The humanitarians—including some of the leading humanitarian organizations and leaders of the world—are basically castigating those who were going down the route of due judicial process.
Allow me to just reflect on the true nature of humanitarianism, and the linkages between human rights and humanitarianism, and whether or not there must always be a trade-off, and where the line is.
My own take on this is from my own experiences in Darfur and Sudan, and also dealing with these excuses that you heard me mention. Maybe before we in the international community pass judgment on which has higher precedence—humanitarian access or bringing about actions that will indeed protect and promote human rights—why don’t we actually ask the people of Sudan, and especially the people of Darfur, what they would like?
Now, from my vantage, and I don’t know whether we’ve done any surveys or not, but if we haven’t, then organizations, including Darfuri organizations, should do this, and this is to find out exactly what the people of Darfur are willing to sacrifice—and make more sacrifices if it means a solution to the ultimate problems that they face. I’m willing to bet that many of the people in Darfur will say, and they say this to me in the context I have, they’ll say, “You know, we’ve already suffered a great deal. The desert is colored in blood. Millions of our people have suffered and they’re still suffering. Displaced and refugees and so on, traumatized, and the trauma transmits from generation to generation. Are you saying to us that we can simply forget all this simply in the cause of bringing more food aid, a little bit of water, a little bit of that, we can put aside the sacrifices that have been made?”
And I would say to you that probably the people of Darfur are more resilient than those of us who lead soft humanitarian-conscious lives here. And I would suggest that people are prepared to fight for their liberty. Mandela was prepared to be incarcerated for decades in a labor camp in a prison—for what? For the dignity of freedom, for human dignity. Then I suspect that those humanitarians who kind of dilute the global commitment to bringing about a resolution of the underlying causes of the conflict in Darfur, I think they really should ask themselves whether they’re doing a favor or a disfavor to the world.
I ask those humanitarians: What is a true humanitarian? Is a humanitarian simply one who, when someone is suffering, hands out a piece of bread, as an act of charity, or is a true humanitarian one who asks the question, why are the people suffering?
If you go back to the original roots of humanitarianism, the issue of dignity far overrides the issue of charity. And if that’s the case, then it is true that people who want to achieve their rights have to fight for them. I’m not here to make any political statement about fighting in the armed conflict sense of the term, but I do mean fighting for the rights of people all over the world, for their economic and social and cultural rights.
So you see where I stand. I would say that if there’s a debate between the humanitarians or the human-rightists, then it must be the human-rightists that must prevail. Otherwise, the suffering of Darfur will simply go on, and in any case none of the humanitarian organizations—even if you double the access, quadruple the resources, and had a government of Sudan which suddenly turned itself into a humanitarian-minded government—would be able to solve the humanitarian issues of Sudan.
False Dichotomy 2: Justice vs. Peace
My third and final point is on the debate between peace and justice. It’s extraordinary that there are still people in the world—I can’t understand how ignorant—who don’t appear to have learned any lessons from three to four decades of conflict- management around the world. Wherever we go in the world—go back to the wars of Latin America during the seventies, go back to the struggles in Africa or in other parts of the world—we know that peace agreements, if they’re not founded on a foundation of justice, always unravel.
I myself, at the time when I was head of the Humanitarian Conflict Department in the British Government, in the Department for International Development, had a direct involvement in the negotiations and proceedings that went on in Liberia and particularly in Sierra Leone. I don’t know how many peace agreements there were in Sierra Leone—some 16 or 17—and all of them failed, until one could address the issues of accountability and justice.
This does not mean that people have to be locked up in prison, or to be hung or whatever, but rather a process of saying: “I’m sorry, I did wrong, it was my fault, and let us learn lessons, let us make up, let us offer some compensation.” Compensation in the sense that anyone can offer—it’s not money that is the matter here, it is simply the acknowledgement of ill-doing, and the desire to correct that ill-doing and to move on. If we don’t do that, then there is no peace in Sudan, in Darfur, or any other region like that in the world.
This we know from history, from all the examples of every single peace agreement that we can be conscious of over the last years. Not a single peace agreement has ever succeeded unless there has been a foundation addressing the issue of accountability. So I would say to watchers generally that one has to bring these issues together: the human rights issue, the humanitarian issue, the justice issue, and systematically address the obstacles and excuses people give. And to do that in a forensic and decisive manner. Only by doing that in a very targeted manner will we actually make progress against the vast forces and the resources that are aligned together against the cause of peace, justice and human rights in Darfur.
(Transcribed by Abigail Chernick and edited for publication by Hillel Neuer.)
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Copyright 2009 by United Nations Watch. All Rights Reserved.
Today, we have received this wonderful article about seven excuses for inaction and it certainly is an arrow of truth that hits the target.
UN Watch Briefing Vol. 194 July 13, 2009
The following is based on remarks delivered by Dr. Mukesh Kapila, the former UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Sudan, at a June 16, 2009 panel on “Women in Conflict and the Human Rights Situation in Sudan,” organized by UN Watch as a NGO side event during the 11th session of the UN Human Rights Council, together with the Darfur Peace and Development Center and LICRA. The other panelists were Hillel Neuer, Gibreil Hamid, and Diagne Chanel.
The Seven Excuses of Inaction for Darfur
Dr. Mukesh Kapila
I was wondering what I should speak about in such a gathering where you must know so much. It is pointless to rehearse the continuing agony of Sudan, and of Darfur in particular, and catalogue yet again the endless human rights tragedies that are taking place all over Sudan and in Darfur. So I will discuss a couple of themes.
One that worries me a great deal is the progressive revisionism in Darfuri history. We are beginning to see now, several years into the latest phase of conflict in Darfur, we notice from many commentators that are gaining prominence a sense of trying to “balance the history,” as they call it. And this revisionist view of what has happened in Darfur, and what continues to happen in Darfur, is something that organizations like yours need to be vigilant of.
The Seven Excuses
And I don’t know why this is the case. But what I do know from my own experience as the former UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in 2003 to 2004, when the whole Darfur thing exploded in the consciousness for the first time, in recent times at least, I would say that from the constraints and difficulties that I had, I identified what I call seven excuses why people don’t listen to the writing on the wall.
1. Cynicism
The first one is cynicism—a general feeling that, sure, Sudan has got many troubles, it’s a country in conflict, a country that has always been in conflict, a conflict of many decades, and what do you expect in a place like that? Terrible things are done by people in the heat of conflict, so don’t be surprised if rapes take place, if violence against women takes place, and many other forms of horrible abuses take place. So the first excuse people give is to be cynical, or the first reaction is cynical.
2. Denial
The second reaction is denial. “Surely the situation is not as bad as you make it out to be,” they argue. “You’re exaggerating to gain attention.” And so they try and say, “Prove it.” Numbers and statistics and all that. And ultimately the whole ethos of the apologists is to try and reduce the impact of the message, and even to deny—just as we had the Holocaust deniers of the Second World War and still do, many of them—that what is happening in Darfur is a form of crimes against humanity or genocide, whatever you want to call it. There is that denial school.
2. Prevarication
The third reaction, or excuse people have to do nothing, is prevarication. An argument goes, and I had this given to me many times when I was the head of the UN in Sudan, “You have to be patient, it takes time, these are complicated matters, and in any case it’s best if the people of Sudan, the people of Darfur find their own solution to their own problems.” That’s an awful reaction, a sort of prevarication. “Takes time, be patient, these are complicated matters.”
4. Caution
The fourth excuse that people give is caution. “You know that these are very complicated and difficult issues,” they say. “Sudan is not a small country, it’s got a very complex past, a very complicated political and social dynamic. If we intervene it will only make matters worse; let us think carefully and long before we actually do anything.” So, caution.
5. Distraction
The fifth excuse is distraction: You know, we have many other things to do. There is the Middle East, there is Iraq, there in North Korea, there is Iran, there is Myanmar, there is climate change, there is HIV and AIDS, there are Millenium Development Goals, there are cyclones, there is a financial crisis, all sorts of things. We have many other things to do. Let’s solve the other bigger problems in the world first, solve the other problems which are equally important, and then we’ll get around to you on this particular problem.
6. Buck Passing
The sixth excuse is buck-passing. “Why does it always have to be us?” they say. So you go to London, you go to Washington, you go to the Security Council, you go to Brussels, you go wherever you like, and they say, “But you know, why is it that we always have to deal with these sort of issues? All these other countries, groups—the African Union, the Arab League, this, that, and the other—they should all be doing their part in this. So let them take on the leadership on this and then we will join in.” And that’s the sort of buck-passing that is used.
7. Evasion of Responsibility
And finally there is an evasion of responsibility excuse. “Oh, we have brought this to the attention of the Security Council, the President, the Prime Minister, the Pope, the Commission, the Council, the Committee, the whatever-you-like. And everyone is now kind of exercised by this issue. It’s being discussed at a very high level. So let’s see what they decide.”
So, ladies and gentlemen, my message to you, to UN Watch, to Human Rights Watch, to any other Watches that there are, is that watching is not enough. That actually unless you have some practical ways to address these seven reasons—cynicism, denial, prevarication, caution, distraction, buck-passing and evasion of responsibility—then I’m afraid we will continue to be a side event, we will continue to be tolerated in the margins.
If we don’t find practical means to address these kinds of obstacles, then I’m afraid that one group will remain at the margins, and one will remain as kind of a pressure group, and it isn’t going to be enough. That’s my first set of observations. So the challenge to you is: What more can we do?
My second set of remarks is about two current events which are not new ones, and are well familiar to you. The first is the debate between human rights and humanitarianism, and the second is the trade-off between peace and justice. They are different debates, but they are also related debates.
False Dichotomy 1: Human Rights vs. Humanitarianism
Let’s go to the human rights and humanitarianism debate. You heard in the last few weeks, months, after the International Criminal Court indictments, a whole army of humanitarians suddenly rose up and started protesting that the process of the International Criminal Court [indicting Sudanese President Al Bashir for genocide] was going to interfere with the provision of humanitarian aid, suffering is going to get worse, and that this whole judicial process is highly controversial and so on—political as some would argue—that it’s all very well, but it’s really anti-humanity, because it’s actually going to stop the humanitarian organizations. That people are suffering, and now the President of Sudan is going to go sulk in the corner and get very nasty, and throw the NGOs out, and people are suffering more, and what have you achieved?
The humanitarians—including some of the leading humanitarian organizations and leaders of the world—are basically castigating those who were going down the route of due judicial process.
Allow me to just reflect on the true nature of humanitarianism, and the linkages between human rights and humanitarianism, and whether or not there must always be a trade-off, and where the line is.
My own take on this is from my own experiences in Darfur and Sudan, and also dealing with these excuses that you heard me mention. Maybe before we in the international community pass judgment on which has higher precedence—humanitarian access or bringing about actions that will indeed protect and promote human rights—why don’t we actually ask the people of Sudan, and especially the people of Darfur, what they would like?
Now, from my vantage, and I don’t know whether we’ve done any surveys or not, but if we haven’t, then organizations, including Darfuri organizations, should do this, and this is to find out exactly what the people of Darfur are willing to sacrifice—and make more sacrifices if it means a solution to the ultimate problems that they face. I’m willing to bet that many of the people in Darfur will say, and they say this to me in the context I have, they’ll say, “You know, we’ve already suffered a great deal. The desert is colored in blood. Millions of our people have suffered and they’re still suffering. Displaced and refugees and so on, traumatized, and the trauma transmits from generation to generation. Are you saying to us that we can simply forget all this simply in the cause of bringing more food aid, a little bit of water, a little bit of that, we can put aside the sacrifices that have been made?”
And I would say to you that probably the people of Darfur are more resilient than those of us who lead soft humanitarian-conscious lives here. And I would suggest that people are prepared to fight for their liberty. Mandela was prepared to be incarcerated for decades in a labor camp in a prison—for what? For the dignity of freedom, for human dignity. Then I suspect that those humanitarians who kind of dilute the global commitment to bringing about a resolution of the underlying causes of the conflict in Darfur, I think they really should ask themselves whether they’re doing a favor or a disfavor to the world.
I ask those humanitarians: What is a true humanitarian? Is a humanitarian simply one who, when someone is suffering, hands out a piece of bread, as an act of charity, or is a true humanitarian one who asks the question, why are the people suffering?
If you go back to the original roots of humanitarianism, the issue of dignity far overrides the issue of charity. And if that’s the case, then it is true that people who want to achieve their rights have to fight for them. I’m not here to make any political statement about fighting in the armed conflict sense of the term, but I do mean fighting for the rights of people all over the world, for their economic and social and cultural rights.
So you see where I stand. I would say that if there’s a debate between the humanitarians or the human-rightists, then it must be the human-rightists that must prevail. Otherwise, the suffering of Darfur will simply go on, and in any case none of the humanitarian organizations—even if you double the access, quadruple the resources, and had a government of Sudan which suddenly turned itself into a humanitarian-minded government—would be able to solve the humanitarian issues of Sudan.
False Dichotomy 2: Justice vs. Peace
My third and final point is on the debate between peace and justice. It’s extraordinary that there are still people in the world—I can’t understand how ignorant—who don’t appear to have learned any lessons from three to four decades of conflict- management around the world. Wherever we go in the world—go back to the wars of Latin America during the seventies, go back to the struggles in Africa or in other parts of the world—we know that peace agreements, if they’re not founded on a foundation of justice, always unravel.
I myself, at the time when I was head of the Humanitarian Conflict Department in the British Government, in the Department for International Development, had a direct involvement in the negotiations and proceedings that went on in Liberia and particularly in Sierra Leone. I don’t know how many peace agreements there were in Sierra Leone—some 16 or 17—and all of them failed, until one could address the issues of accountability and justice.
This does not mean that people have to be locked up in prison, or to be hung or whatever, but rather a process of saying: “I’m sorry, I did wrong, it was my fault, and let us learn lessons, let us make up, let us offer some compensation.” Compensation in the sense that anyone can offer—it’s not money that is the matter here, it is simply the acknowledgement of ill-doing, and the desire to correct that ill-doing and to move on. If we don’t do that, then there is no peace in Sudan, in Darfur, or any other region like that in the world.
This we know from history, from all the examples of every single peace agreement that we can be conscious of over the last years. Not a single peace agreement has ever succeeded unless there has been a foundation addressing the issue of accountability. So I would say to watchers generally that one has to bring these issues together: the human rights issue, the humanitarian issue, the justice issue, and systematically address the obstacles and excuses people give. And to do that in a forensic and decisive manner. Only by doing that in a very targeted manner will we actually make progress against the vast forces and the resources that are aligned together against the cause of peace, justice and human rights in Darfur.
(Transcribed by Abigail Chernick and edited for publication by Hillel Neuer.)
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Sunday, 12 July 2009
40,000 years of Music
Celtic Pan-Flute Pan-Flute.com
"The find brings the total number of flutes discovered from this era to eight, four made from mammoth ivory and four made from bird bones. According to Professor Nicholas Conard of Tubingen University, this suggests that the playing of music was common as far back as 40,000 years ago when modern humans spread across Europe. "It's becoming increasingly clear that music was part of day-to-day life," he said. "Music was used in many kinds of social contexts: possibly religious, possibly recreational - much like we use music today in many kinds of settings."
Creative origins
"These flutes provide yet more evidence of the sophistication of the people that lived at that time. Professor Chris Stringer
Natural History Museum. The researchers also suggest that not only was music widespread much earlier than previously thought, but so was humanity's creative spirit."The modern humans that came into our area already had a whole range of symbolic artifacts, figurative art, depictions of mythological creatures, many kinds of personal ornaments and also a well-developed musical tradition," Professor Conard explained."
The above news and pic of the flute is the courtesy of the BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8117915.stm
John Coltrane - My Favorite Things - 1961
God bless the music and sound of the spheres...
"The find brings the total number of flutes discovered from this era to eight, four made from mammoth ivory and four made from bird bones. According to Professor Nicholas Conard of Tubingen University, this suggests that the playing of music was common as far back as 40,000 years ago when modern humans spread across Europe. "It's becoming increasingly clear that music was part of day-to-day life," he said. "Music was used in many kinds of social contexts: possibly religious, possibly recreational - much like we use music today in many kinds of settings."
Creative origins
"These flutes provide yet more evidence of the sophistication of the people that lived at that time. Professor Chris Stringer
Natural History Museum. The researchers also suggest that not only was music widespread much earlier than previously thought, but so was humanity's creative spirit."The modern humans that came into our area already had a whole range of symbolic artifacts, figurative art, depictions of mythological creatures, many kinds of personal ornaments and also a well-developed musical tradition," Professor Conard explained."
The above news and pic of the flute is the courtesy of the BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8117915.stm
John Coltrane - My Favorite Things - 1961
God bless the music and sound of the spheres...
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
When man learns to cry
When man learns to cry he learns compassion.
Divine love is the intertwining of unconditional love and compassionate action. Living in harmony with your own being and the the creation of God.
There are many wisdom keepers in many cultures and it is time for humanity to listen to them and that which they came to share from the heart of pure intention to save humanity from itself.
Divine love is the intertwining of unconditional love and compassionate action. Living in harmony with your own being and the the creation of God.
There are many wisdom keepers in many cultures and it is time for humanity to listen to them and that which they came to share from the heart of pure intention to save humanity from itself.
Tuesday, 7 July 2009
FAREWELL MICHAEL
We won't forget you....
Rest in Peace Michael until we see you again....
People will remember your message and the words and music will ring in their ears...
Earth Song
And a song that many children sing, I have to be free to be me....A rare clip of Michael singing.I've Gotta Be Me"
May all children be who they wish to be and may everyone be inspired to find the meaning of life.
Rest in Peace Michael until we see you again....
People will remember your message and the words and music will ring in their ears...
Earth Song
And a song that many children sing, I have to be free to be me....A rare clip of Michael singing.I've Gotta Be Me"
May all children be who they wish to be and may everyone be inspired to find the meaning of life.
Sunday, 5 July 2009
CEREMONY CROP CIRCLE FOR THE AMERICAS
Last night while I was in the bath I was shown a vision of a Tipi and the Holy Mother was holding a baby in front of it. So no surprise today that a crop circle appears in England with the indian images. There she was holding the new birth of a bundle of joy in her arms.
Reported 5th July.
Image, Jack Roderick Copyright 2009. Courtesy of Crop Circle Connector [1]
In the above crop circle you can see the headdress, painted face, necklace and then the seed of God around the throat. The headdress is symbolic of ceremonial dance and there is 14 main feathers. The number 14 was also mentioned in Semen Rose Crop Circle. In numerology 14 is challenge in communication with the public and the media. Beneficial relationships, travel, changing currents, eco problems.
The face painted can also represent that it is time for the medicine paint. Face paint was used to enhance personal power and natural gifts. The symbol of the necklace looks similar too the symbol of what is called 'enclosure for ceremonial dance'. However, the exact symbol in the picture can also be found in the ancient pictographs and it is the pictograph of the TENT floor plan. The name of the letter is BET and it represents the nomadic tents of the Hebrews. The meanings of this letter are house, tent, family as well as in, with, inside or within. [2]
This letter is commonly used as a prefix to the words to mean "in" or "with" as in "be'erets" meaning "in a land".
There are ten of these symbols in the necklace and either side of them is also the symbol of the sperm = sprouting seed, the word of God swimming in. Underneath the necklace is more sperm, two going in different directions like fishes, swimming in harmony. The new life, the word of God, the new seed will be planted in the unpolluted holy land and people of God will come from the four directions. You will become fishers of men like Christ and Buddha and your natural ways will be enhanced beyond measure when the tribes come together.
TEN - WHEEL OF FORTUNE, A NEW CYCLE OF TIME.
It is a time for celebration your time has come. God is with you and you are being called. The tribes are being called. Use your voices, tell everyone and celebrate.
There will be a great assembly and the divine plan will unfold for you.
It is the time of the RETURN.......
It is time for the rising of Atlantis
You did not go without for no reason. You retained your sanctity and you were set apart from the material world so that you could be a remnant of the purity of nature, its simplicity and its sacredness.
The light of God surrounds you, just like it does in the crop circle.
God bless you all
1. http://www.cropcircleconnector.com/2009/silburyhill/silburyhill2009.html
2. Ancient Hebrew Lexicon - Jeff Benner
OTHER CROP CIRCLES THAT RELATE TO THIS ONE
SEMEN ROSE
http://academysounds.blogspot.com/2009/07/semen-rose-crop-circle.html
WHITE DOVE MYSTIC
http://academysounds.blogspot.com/2009/07/white-dove-mystic-crop-circle.html
SPIRIT BIRD
http://academysounds.blogspot.com/2009/06/resplendent-peace-time-to-gather-wheat.html
HUMMING BIRD
http://academysounds.blogspot.com/2009/07/hummingbird-crop-circle.html
Reported 5th July.
Image, Jack Roderick Copyright 2009. Courtesy of Crop Circle Connector [1]
In the above crop circle you can see the headdress, painted face, necklace and then the seed of God around the throat. The headdress is symbolic of ceremonial dance and there is 14 main feathers. The number 14 was also mentioned in Semen Rose Crop Circle. In numerology 14 is challenge in communication with the public and the media. Beneficial relationships, travel, changing currents, eco problems.
The face painted can also represent that it is time for the medicine paint. Face paint was used to enhance personal power and natural gifts. The symbol of the necklace looks similar too the symbol of what is called 'enclosure for ceremonial dance'. However, the exact symbol in the picture can also be found in the ancient pictographs and it is the pictograph of the TENT floor plan. The name of the letter is BET and it represents the nomadic tents of the Hebrews. The meanings of this letter are house, tent, family as well as in, with, inside or within. [2]
This letter is commonly used as a prefix to the words to mean "in" or "with" as in "be'erets" meaning "in a land".
There are ten of these symbols in the necklace and either side of them is also the symbol of the sperm = sprouting seed, the word of God swimming in. Underneath the necklace is more sperm, two going in different directions like fishes, swimming in harmony. The new life, the word of God, the new seed will be planted in the unpolluted holy land and people of God will come from the four directions. You will become fishers of men like Christ and Buddha and your natural ways will be enhanced beyond measure when the tribes come together.
TEN - WHEEL OF FORTUNE, A NEW CYCLE OF TIME.
It is a time for celebration your time has come. God is with you and you are being called. The tribes are being called. Use your voices, tell everyone and celebrate.
There will be a great assembly and the divine plan will unfold for you.
It is the time of the RETURN.......
It is time for the rising of Atlantis
You did not go without for no reason. You retained your sanctity and you were set apart from the material world so that you could be a remnant of the purity of nature, its simplicity and its sacredness.
The light of God surrounds you, just like it does in the crop circle.
God bless you all
1. http://www.cropcircleconnector.com/2009/silburyhill/silburyhill2009.html
2. Ancient Hebrew Lexicon - Jeff Benner
OTHER CROP CIRCLES THAT RELATE TO THIS ONE
SEMEN ROSE
http://academysounds.blogspot.com/2009/07/semen-rose-crop-circle.html
WHITE DOVE MYSTIC
http://academysounds.blogspot.com/2009/07/white-dove-mystic-crop-circle.html
SPIRIT BIRD
http://academysounds.blogspot.com/2009/06/resplendent-peace-time-to-gather-wheat.html
HUMMING BIRD
http://academysounds.blogspot.com/2009/07/hummingbird-crop-circle.html
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