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Showing posts from September, 2013

Sometimes it takes a 2,700 year old chalice to make peace!

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A Chalice toward friendship - for Iran and the U.S.! According to this CNN report : A 2,700 year-old silver chalice may be a new token of friendship between the United States and Iran. It had been in New York since 2003, when an art dealer smuggled it to New York Iran's cultural heritage chief hopes its return will mark a lively cultural exchange with the U.S. Mohammad-Ali Najafi says the ice between Washington and Tehran has thawed. "I adamantly believe in cultural diplomacy, and I believe the thing that could improve relations between US and Iran after the years and softens the harshness of this relationship is cultural diplomacy." Toward eupan ~ ~ marty alan michelson, ph.d.

Urban Innovation Exhange

A group of people get together to mow unkempt parks so children can play!   Two minute video - inspiring creative urban renewal. Urban Innovation Exchange: The Mower Gang from DETROIT LIVES! on Vimeo . Toward eupan ~ ~ marty alan michelson, ph.d.

Empower new ecologies for the future.

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A blog entry by Professor Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez focuses on current news - and the continuing news of our ecological crisis.  A reading worth reflecting upon. While her particular positions on "Earth" (as godless) may vary from my own - people of no-faith and people of vibrant faith should consider our roles in stewardship that echo her appeal e as she writes: In other words, our role is to be the storytellers of past, present and future.  Of all the amazing beings on the planet, no one else can fill this particular niche. It is our privilege and our curse as humans to KNOW so much about what we are doing at any given moment on the planet, and to ceaselessly narrate that knowledge.  Now in the 21 st century, aided by the global neural network of the World Wide Web, we have never been more tuned into the on-going global story, but this knowledge often becomes oppressive, since so much of what we are asked to absorb is negative, bad news. It’s time

Iran's New President & Peace in the Middle East !

Iran's new president is talking about peace!  Yes! Let's hope it becomes possible! Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said it was important that countries across the Middle East learn to peacefully coexist. "We are not seeking ... and looking for war with any nations. We are seeking peace and stability among all the nations in the region," Rouhani said.  Read more. Toward eupan ~ ~ marty alan michelson, ph.d.

Peace for Israel and Palestine

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An article posted to the New York Times today, critiquing the "Two-State Solution" as "Illusion." There are many things great about the article.  (1) A recognized and long-term expert in the region offers commentary over decades.  (2) The positions advocated note the complexities involved in any possible future.  And, (3) the author articulates a "third way" compared with what has been espoused and has not worked for decades. There is NO single easy solution to the conflict in the land.  And yet, reasonable persons can find ways to move forward peaceably recognizing a unified solidarity in shared humanness. The article explore the complexities and issues involved.  NYT Opinion:  Two-State Illusion By IAN S. LUSTICK   (9/14/2013) Toward eupan ~ ~ marty alan michelson, ph.d.

Obama & Putin & Playgrounds in life.

I’ve been trying to make sense of Obama’s aggressive, speech-making and threats which have not been characteristic of his Presidency. Remember when you were on the elementary school playground and you were the Captain who got to pick who was going to be on your team? And, remember how you felt when the other team got the One star player? You knew that no matter how many other players you chose, you could never balance the equation of the fact that the other team got that One! The rest of your picking of players, and then the future of the game was shaped by who got that One. [NFL/NBA/NHL/MLB drafts continue to operate like this with truly star players. It happens when teams of players connect for Paint-Ball fights or MMORPgaming.] I wonder if the vitriolic, aggressive ‘trash-talk” of Obama and Putin is really about the fact that Putin got former U.S. NSA employee Edward Snowden on his “team” and that single “draft choice” has set off rivalrous desire and the n

Better Ways to Respond for Syrians Now

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A thoughtful agent of peaceful action in our world is John Franklin Hay . He offers his thoughts on what the President of the United States should say and do now to help with the conflict in Syria. His words offer deep insight for our consideration on A Better Way than Bombs and Militarism . Please read his full entry from the link above - though his abbreviated thoughts are shared here: 1. Provide vigorous relief and support to all who are victims of violence . . . . 2. Pivot . . . and vigorously make the case for freedom and human rights. . . .  3. Contemplate deeply the failed and costly military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq . . . . 4. Stop saber rattling . . . Using violence to end violence has lost its effectiveness. 5. Demonstrably reduce the role of the Defense Department, the military and militarism across the board . . . . 6. Change the role of the military to a more purely defensive posture . . . . The word “defense” de