All posts by susanna

TV and the culture of war and peace: Ten Nobel Peace Laureates call on NBC to cancel “Stars Earn Stripes” program

Television

The Duke and Duchess of Peace do not own a television. Often, we just ignore controversies about TV shows, because TV is not part of our personal universe. Though, this week, I heard about the “Stars Earn Stripes” controversy on: a FAIR radio show; an e-mail from a local activist; and the press release below, which had been re-posted on a leftist list-serve. So, I guess we were meant to take a stand on it:

A press release posted at Nobelwomensinitiative.org
Ten Nobel Peace Laureates Call on NBC to Cancel “Stars Earn Stripes”
August 13, 2012

New show promotes an “inglorious tradition of glorifying war and armed violence”

(Ottawa)–Ten Nobel Peace Laureates today issued an open letter to the Chairman of NBC Entertainment, as well as General Wesley Clark and others involved in the new “reality” show premiering tonight on NBC—“Stars Earn Stripes”—calling on them to walk away from the show immediately. Continue reading TV and the culture of war and peace: Ten Nobel Peace Laureates call on NBC to cancel “Stars Earn Stripes” program

PAXi Notes for Monday, July 30, 2012: Peace, Numbers, and the Olympics

The PAXi for Mon.
7/30/12 is:
141

The Daily Peace Culture Index for the United States [DPCIUS], or PAXi, was developed by Peace Couple/Wilderside, Ltd., and begun a little over two weeks ago, on Sunday, July 15, 2012.

The PAXi number is designed to describe the amount of energy and discussion devoted to peace and nonviolence in The United States each day.

We wanted to share some observations made while observing this index for the last couple of weeks. Continue reading PAXi Notes for Monday, July 30, 2012: Peace, Numbers, and the Olympics

Connecticut man frees Larry the lobster from restaurant menu

Peace Couple believes in applying peace and compassion to all of our shopping decisions. Compassion is one good reason to consider taking animal products out of your diet.This man showed a whole, new level of shopping compassion. He took a 17 pound lobster that was on a restaurant menu, and paid for it alive, so he could free it!

Lobster

(excerpt from) northjersey.com/AP
Man frees 17-pound lobster from Conn. restaurant
Wednesday July 25, 2012, 11:57

WATERFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut man purchased a 17-pound lobster at a Waterford restaurant, then released the crustacean back into Long Island Sound.

Don MacKenzie of Niantic…knew the lobster, nicknamed “Lucky Larry” by local children, would have to be about 80-years-old to reach his current size and felt it deserved to live…

MacKenzie won’t say how much he paid The Dock restaurant to take Larry off the menu Tuesday.

“Let’s just say that it’s the most expensive lobster I never ate.” MacKenzie told the newspaper…

_______________________________________

Gradual Vegetarian by Lisa Tracy

Peace Index: Daily stats for the peace movement

Peace Index. Daily stats for words such as “peace”, “nonviolence”, and “anti-war”. How much are Americans talking about peace today?

See ongoing chart of daily peace index numbers under **asterisks** at the bottom of this post.

“When will the wars end?” I wonder that each day, and, I reflect on secondary questions, such as: “Is anyone succeeding with peace work lately?” and “Is the peace movement thriving?”.

I had always wished there was a way to check up on these concerns, a way to check the pulse of peace. I wanted to find statistics on peace, just like people can find statistics on the stock market, the price of gold, or, even, the casualties of war. I did a little research, and I could not find a number or index that answered my questions. There are some very good peace indexes. Though, the ones I found are only calculated yearly, or they only changed when big events happen.

So, it is still impossible to predict exactly when the wars will end. Though, we have devised a system to give some answers about the status of peace and antiwar sentiment in the United States. The system is The Daily Peace Culture Index for the United States [DPCIUS], which has the nickname PAXi. The PAXi number will be posted prominently at Peace Couple every day. [Well, we try!] We hope you will seek it out when you do your daily searches for news, information, and updates on the state of the world. Continue reading Peace Index: Daily stats for the peace movement

A whole year of Peace Songs: Finale to “Peace Song of the Day” project

Susanna, The Duchess of Peace writes:

On July 9th of last year, I began a project to find, and blog about, a peace song for every day of the year. The Peace Song of the Day archive is: here.

The idea of the project was to create interesting content, to create a daily ritual of peace culture, to bring people to the blog, and to nurture some self-discipline in myself as a writer.

I believe I succeeded a little bit on the first three counts. Though, since there are many days with no peace song announced, I guess I failed on the self-discipline score. And, I failed even though I had some nurturing help from the Duke, who sometimes provided inspiration, and sometimes just wrote the post for me. My missed days have taught me that I cannot count on myself to be both creative and ambitious each day. So, my next daily project will involve less of a need for inspiration. Though, I hope it will still be fruitful to the peace community.

Other lessons learned: Continue reading A whole year of Peace Songs: Finale to “Peace Song of the Day” project

Peace Song for 7/8/2012: Phil Ochs tribute to Woody Guthrie

Bound for Glory” a song by Phil Ochs, which tells the story of Woody Guthrie, is the Peace Song of the Day for July 8th. The Duchess heard this song played today on “Woody’s Children” radio show, on 90.7FM WFUV radio from New York City. The song was played in honor of Woody Guthrie‘s 100th birthday, which will be on July 14th, 2012.

This song is the finale for the Peace Song of the Day project. Yes! We started the project back on July 9, 2011. (Unfortunately, there is not a song posted for everyday. But, we did our best, and may figure out how to fill in throughout this next year.)

Tomorrow will be an “encore” post to the project. The Duchess will reflect on her year of song-searching and share lessons learned. And, also, tomorrow, we will announce our new, upcoming, daily project.

For now, hope you enjoy the video. And, maybe you will learn the song for Woody’s birthday?

Continue reading Peace Song for 7/8/2012: Phil Ochs tribute to Woody Guthrie

Are genetically engineered foods bad for you?: New research on GMO food

Original article at: earthopensource.org

Summary article at: commondreams.org news source

An “Egads!” political GMO happening described at Alternet: here.

(excerpt from) Common Dreams
New Report on the Dangers of Genetically Modified Foods
by Richard Schiffman / July 5, 2012

Dear! Stop buying the genetically modified pro...

“Aren’t critics of genetically engineered food anti-science? Isn’t the debate over GMOs (genetically modified organisms) a spat between emotional but ignorant activists on one hand and rational GM-supporting scientists on the other?”

These questions are posed by Earth Open Source, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to assuring the sustainability, security, and safety of the global food system. They answer their own questions in a new study “GMO Myths and Truths.” The myth, they say, is that GM foods have been proven safe. The truth is that there are hidden dangers which corporate-funded research has not yet adequately investigated.

What makes this report unusual is that it was authored not by the usual food activists and environmentalists, but by two well known genetic engineers with help from an investigative reporter.The team conducted an exhaustive survey of hundreds of peer-reviewed scientific studies and concluded not only that GM food crops pose significant, if largely under-evaluated, health risks, but that they have so far failed to deliver on their promise to increase crop yields and lower herbicide and pesticide use.

The authors argue, moreover, that there are already safer environmentally friendly ways to grow more food for the planet’s exploding population… Continue reading Are genetically engineered foods bad for you?: New research on GMO food