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Showing posts from April, 2011

Legal Limits and Life As We Know It

Last year included, among many, many other things, an early humanitarian crisis in Haiti as the result of the January 2010 earthquake - and then, another aquatic/biological crisis from the "Deepwater Horizon" and/or BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico (April 2010). This year the earthquake in Japan has lead to this news today as that catastrophe unfolds: Reporting from Tokyo— By Kenji Hall and Julie Makinen, Los Angeles Times    April 5, 2011 , 4:39 a.m. The operator of Japan's stricken Fukushima nuclear plant said Tuesday that it had found radioactive iodine at 7.5 million times the legal limit in a seawater sample taken near the facility, and government officials imposed a new health limit for radioactivity in fish. The reading of iodine-131 was recorded Saturday, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said. Another sample taken Monday found the level to be 5 million times the legal limit. The Monday samples also were found to contain radioactive cesium at 1.1 mil

Peace Rally in OKC

Oklahoma City University Hosts Human Rights Rally Oklahoma City University will host a rally called "Building Peace for a Just World" at 10:30 a.m. April 9 in the Quad Lawn in the center of campus to promote social justice and human rights. The rally will include music and guest speakers and is being held in conjunction with other rallies taking place throughout the world. Student groups from OCU are partnering with other organizations including the Peace House; Peace Education Institute; Oklahoma Center for Conscience; Church of the Open Arms, United Church of Christ; Mayflower Congregational Church, United Church of Christ; and student groups from Oklahoma City Community College. We with the Eupan Global Initiative have requested opportunity to participate.  Probably too late for us this year - but we will hope for future events and intentional connections for the future!  For more information or to participate, contact Joe Meinhart at jmeinhart@okcu.edu .

Seams - Separation - and Coexistence

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The Museum on the Seam - located in Jerusalem - lays claim to the "origin" of the famous "COEXIST" bumper sticker. A Polish graphic designer, Piotr Mlodozeniec, designed the first coexist image. He created the design to participate in an art contest hosted by the Museum on the Seam for Dialogue, Understanding, and Coexistence in Israel to promote religious tolerance. I had opportunity to visit the museum while I was in Jersusalem. Their print information notes: The Museum on the Seam is a socio-political contemporary art museum located in Jerusalem. The Museum in its unique way, presents art as a language with no boundaries in order to raise controversial social issues for public discussion. At the center of the changing exhibitions in the Museum stand the national, ethnic and economic seam lines in their local and universal contexts. The Museum is committed to examining the social reality within our regional conflict, to advancing dialogue in the face of discord