International Day of Peace, 2017

Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on 21 September. The General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, both within and among all nations and peoples.

The theme for 2017 is “Together for Peace: Respect, Safety and Dignity for All.”

The theme honours the spirit of TOGETHER, a global initiative that promotes respect, safety and dignity for everyone forced to flee their homes in search of a better life. TOGETHER unites the organizations of the United Nations System, the 193 Member States of the United Nations, the private sector, civil society, academic institutions and individual citizens in a global partnership in support of diversity, non-discrimination and acceptance of refugees and migrants. It was initiated during the United Nations Summit for Refugees and Migrants on 19 September 2016.

See more here:

International Day of Peace 21 September - the United Nations

It's Not Too Late!

An hour to go, I'm going to sneak this in yet. It's too important to not.

Happy International Day of Peace!

The International Day of Peace, sometimes unofficially known as World Peace Day, is observed annually on 21 September. It is dedicated to world peace, and specifically the absence of war and violence, such as might be occasioned by a temporary ceasefire in a combat zone for humanitarian aid access. The day was first celebrated in 1982, and is kept by many nations, political groups, military groups, and peoples. In 2013, for the first time, the Day was dedicated by the Secretary-General of the United Nations to peace education, the key preventive means to reduce war sustainably.

To inaugurate the day, the United Nations Peace Bell is rung at UN Headquarters (in New York City). The bell is cast from coins donated by children from all continents except Africa, and was a gift from the United Nations Association of Japan, as "a reminder of the human cost of war"; the inscription on its side reads, "Long live absolute world peace".

Imagine.

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace...

Memorial Day 2014

Quote of the day--on war. And peace

Quote of the day--one world

On Memorial Day. And war

"War is not – as most people assume – a good and laudable affair, but like all murder, it is a vile and criminal business not only for those who voluntarily choose a military career but for those who submit to it from avarice, or fear of punishment."

--Leo Tolstoy

Sunday thought

Quote of the day

 

World Peace Day

Quote of the day

"A nation's hope of lasting peace cannot be firmly based upon any race in armaments but rather upon just relations and honest understanding with all other nations."

--President Dwight D. Eisenhower

International Day of Peace

Got hope?

I was talking to a friend last evening and we both agreed that kids today, lots of them, are about enough to give you hope for them, for us and for the planet and our collective future. I'm sure it's not all of them, no, but there are a great deal of them out there who are far less racist, far less fearful, far less homophobic and just, overall, far less judgemental and ugly and hateful than previous generations. I think it stems from the fact that it's basically not allowed at most schools and taught by the teachers in each grade that they have to be tolerant and open-minded and not judgemental or ugly. I'm not being all pollyanna about this, either, don't get me wrong. I just run into more kids who express this tolerance and acceptance and open-mindedness. I also talk with plenty of friends and even strangers who see the same things and feel the same way. So here's to hope and the future. Between this and the fact that technology is bringing more effective and less expensive solar energy about quicker than we thought, it really is enough to give one hope. Now, we adults just have to make sure we don't kill each other with some bombs, first.

On International Peace Day

"Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding."  --Albert Einstein

Quote of the day--on war and peace

“The world is full enough of hurts and mischance without wars to multiply them.”   --J.R.R. Tolkien

Did you recognize what yesterday was?

It was called "Peace One Day."

It's an attempt to organize all of us on the planet to go one day with peace--and without war and killing.

It's pretty idealistic, sure, but frankly I think we need some hopeful idealism.

You can see things about it if you do an internet search on it in general or if you search for it on You Tube.

Naturally, if you know anything of me at all, you know this would get me thinking.

Think about this.

The idea that we've always had wars and so, always will, starts to look as though it's really not true after all.

Let's look, briefly, at the largest wars of the last 100 years. Fortunately, it won't take long.

World War I began when a lunatic/anarchist assassinated Archduke Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary.

If there had been more information and even education, it could, possibly, have been avoidable, some historians believe.

WWII?

Again, I think historians, politicians and even the average "man on the street" believe that another lunatic started that war, too, in the person of Adolf Hitler.

Then there was the Korean War which I think the general consensus is that that was either a mistake or unnecessary or both, too, one way or another.

Vietnam War? We know the architects of that war itself--Robert McNamara, in specific--declared that a debacle and huge mistake.

Then there's the Iraq War, which I believe strongly that historians are going to prove was for protection of our own oil supply, at least, and again, unnecessary and completely avoidable.

So there you are--100 years of the biggest skirmishes of the 20th Century and they were, I think it's proven here, however lightly, that were avoidable.

I'm convinced that we are completely capable of wisely working our way out of wars one day.

And this Peace One Day and the International Day of Peace (Sept. 14) and universities that have been set up to study war--and peace--can go a long way to getting us there one day.

And the sooner the better, of course.

Link: http://www.internationaldayofpeace.org/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sp0QGCYmnI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLH1NTEgEvM
http://www.peaceoneday.org/en/welcome