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At 8:59am on June 19, 2010, Eva said…
Hello,

iPeace is deleted from David Califa the end of June. Here you can find a new home.

http://peaceformeandtheworld.ning.com/

You are cordially invited.

Warm regards, Eva
At 8:30pm on March 30, 2009, Rene Wadlow said…
US and Russian Presidents Meet :

A Challenge to Cut the Number of Nuclear Weapons



Rene Wadlow*



The meeting in London on 2 April of Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev is placed under the sign of needed cooperation to deal with the world-wide financial and economic crisis. There is also a need to deal with a number of on-going tension areas such as the Russia-Georgia-Abkhazia-South Ossetia conflict where negotiations in Geneva are making slow progress. However, it is in the nuclear-weapon field where quick bilateral agreements can be reached. An agreement to reduce nuclear arsenals on both sides and to take weapons off hair-trigger alert would signify to the world that major agreements can be reached to provide common security.



There have always been at least two major aspects of nuclear issues — one is to prevent the proliferation to new states such as Iran or North Korea, the other is to reduce the number of warheads among existing nuclear-weapon states. The reduction of the number of warheads seems to be on the table for new USA-Russia negotiations. The number of 1000 each seems to be a common goal. Speedy negotiations can be encouraged by the Obama-Medvedev discussions.



The USA and Russia have reduced strategic nuclear weapons by more than two-thirds since the 1991 end of the Cold War, but neither country has begun planning for the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons. Much strategic thinking in both countries remains bound to the Cold War past and is at best vague on what use nuclear weapons have in the new world society. While strategic frameworks have historical, cultural and economic roots, they must also evolve to meet new realities.



A new willingness to strengthen cooperative political relationships between the USA and Russia is an essential requirement for creating an atmosphere of political confidence that will draw other nuclear-weapon states into the process of weapon reduction. There is a world-wide danger of continued reliance on nuclear weapons with outdated strategic thinking. The USA and Russia can show the way to eliminate those sources of instability that are driving other states to develop nuclear weapons. A common US-Russian commitment to work for a Nuclear-weapon Free Zone in the Middle East would be a sign of a renewed willingness to deal seriously with the security issues of the Middle East.



An easily-achieved mutual confidence-building measure would be to lower the operational status of nuclear arsenals, basically to take nuclear weapons off ‘hair trigger’ alert. Such a measure would enhance confidence and transparency. The lowering of operational readiness of nuclear-weapon systems has been urged by United Nations General Assembly resolutions starting in 2007. Such a change of status by the USA and Russia would be an important mark of respect for world opinion in the lead up to the 2010 review conference on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.



The last few years have been years of drift in US-Russian relations. A quick agreement on nuclear issues would be a sure sign of a willingness to put relations back on track.

* Rene Wadlow, Representative to the UN, Geneva, Association of World Citizens
At 12:12pm on January 18, 2009, Rene Wadlow said…
Alice O. Howell
The Heavens Declare: Astrological Ages and the Evolution of Consciousness
(Wheaton, IL: Quest Books,2006, 281pp.)

There are a number of currents of thought which hold that humanity is coming to the end of an historical cycle and is entering into a new age with the start of the new millennium. The most widely spread of these currents of thought is a complex of ideas and practices known as the New Age or the Age of Aquarius. The contemporary New Age began as a movement based on astrological interpretations of history. Every two thousand years or so humanity moves into a new age in which civilization is predominately influenced by the qualities of the particular astrological sign that rules that age. As Alfred North Whitehead has written “In each age of the world distinguished by high activity, there will be found at its culmination some profound cosmological outlook, implicitly accepted, impressing its own type on the current springs of action.”

Thus the Age of Aquarius derives its name from western astrology which holds that each astrological age is determined by the passage of the Earth’s vernal equinox within a particular constellation. It is said that we are transiting from the Piscean period, which inaugurated the Christian era (symbolized by the fish sign used by the early Christians) to the Aquarian Age symbolized by the bearer of water. In this astrological tradition, the Piscean period was preceded by the Age of Aries and the Age of Taurus, of which the ram and the bull are the symbols — animals which are significant in earlier spiritual traditions.

The New Age is often seen as a movement toward self-discovery, a way to harmonize self-awareness with a consciousness of the totality of Nature. In addition to developing earlier forms of Western psychology, there is a growing interest in discovering the Higher Self drawn from Indian philosophy, with its emphasis on yoga, tantra, and the energy centers of the body (the charkas and the kundalini). The Tibetan forms of Buddhism, the Japanese school of Zen, Taoism and its techniques of acupuncture have also contributed much to New Age thought and techniques.

In the New Age there will be a realignment of the Yin and the Yang, the balance between feminine and masculine energies. This balance must be found within each person but also within society as a whole. The role and energies of women must be brought to the fore to balance again what has been a long dominance of the masculine, the patriarchal nature of our institutions. The ever-increasing role of women and women’s groups is a sign of this re-equilibrium.

The New Age draws much of its energy from its emphasis on synergy — the parts working for the common good. As the anthropologist Gregory Bateson has written, our task is to discover “the pattern that connects”, the wholeness underlying the diversity. This implies a New Age way of thinking in terms of patterns and wholeness, interconnections and reawakening.

At the end of each Age, a challenge appears that sets the stage for the coming age, our challenge is to see the unity of life. We are in a watershed period between two ages that requires a radical shift in how we understand human nature and our interdependent relationship with our environment. In this new planetary era, a harmonious future depends on our capacity to live beyond self-interest and to strive for the common good. Most significantly, New Age thought stresses that the common good is not just for the well-being of the human community but for all the kingdoms of life.

Alice Howell, influenced by the work of C.G. Jung and astrological analysis has written a useful guide to the start of the New Age.

Rene Wadlow
At 3:17pm on January 13, 2009, Moya Smith said…
Hello Marion,

I'm so sorry it's gaken me so long to get back to you, it's been a bit hectic at home over the past few weeks. My beautiful boy, Borris, was a cross breed with Labrador and New Foundland in him. He arrived home after being away for 8 days and had a snare around his paw which resulted in us having to have his leg amputated. Two weeks later he disappeared again and we haven't been able to find him. We are all so devastated, he's such an amazing soul and has so much love to give to both animals and humans. We continue to search for him, all the vets know about hiim and have our number as do the SPCA and we have had groups of people scouring the bushland for him. I pray that he's okay and will keep you posted.

Thank you so much for your concern and hope that your little guy is happy and well.

Regards,
Moya
At 10:21pm on January 11, 2009, Rene Wadlow said…
2009 : The International Year of Reconciliation

Rene Wadlow



The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed in Resolution A/61/L22, the year 2009 as the International Year of Reconciliation “recognizing that reconciliation processes are particularly necessary and urgent in countries and regions of the world which have suffered or are suffering situations of conflict that have affected and divided societies in their various internal, national, and international facets.” The Resolution was introduced by Nicaragua’s representative who stated that “reconciliation between those estranged by conflicts was the only way to confront today’s challenges and heal wherever fraternity and justice were absent from human relations.”



Yet we need to ask how can genuine reconciliation take place between people and groups with bitterly held beliefs and a violent history? How can the needs for national healing be reconciled with the demands for justice by the victims of terrible violence?



The General Assembly resolution gives a partial answer by stressing that “dialogue among opponents from positions of respect and tolerance is an essential element of peace and reconciliation.”



For there to be a respectful dialogue among opponents, certain barriers that prevent negotiations must be dismantled as a sign of a willingness to enter into a process of negotiations. Some barriers are physical, some psychological, others ideological. These barriers must be overcome if we are to progress on the long road to reconciliation. Let us, with the New Year, start now both as individuals and as members of movements in the spirit of the historian Howard Zinn’s “People are Practical”



They want change but feel powerless, alone,

do not want to be the blade of grass that

sticks up above the others and is cut down.

They wait for a sign from someone else

who will make the first move, or the second.

And at certain times in history

there are certain intrepid people who take the risk

that if they make that first move others will follow

quickly enough to prevent their being cut down.

And if we understand this, we

might make that first move.



…And if we do act, in however small a way,

we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future.

The future is an infinite succession of presents,

and to live now as we think human beings should live,

in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself

a marvellous victory.



Rene Wadlow, Representative to the UN, Geneva, Association of World Citizens
At 11:22pm on December 29, 2008, Velcrow Ripper said…
Thanks Marion! Great to do such an instant turn around practice when confronted with negativity! I'm going to try that out myself!

Awe and wonder make the world go round!
At 12:05pm on December 29, 2008, Ali Afifi said…
Merry Christmas dear precious friend and happy new year for u and all your family

Glitter Graphics - Topglittergraphics
At 12:01pm on December 29, 2008, Ali Afifi said…
Thank u very much dear, precious friend. U are a real friend with beautiful soul and I am very happy to be your friend.

Welcome dear friend to join my group on ipeace for questions about Islam and Quran

http://www.ipeace.me/group/IslamicQuestions

Glitter Graphics - Topglittergraphics
At 9:08am on December 29, 2008, debs said…
Peace and Luv ~deb
At 12:09am on December 12, 2008, Muntaser said…
You are welcom Marion.
you are sweet, and i am happy we become friends.
I hope we will have a chance to chat.
At 11:43pm on December 11, 2008, Ali Afifi said…
Welcome Marion to join my group on ipeace for questions about Islam and Quran
http://www.ipeace.me/group/IslamicQuestions


At 7:36am on December 10, 2008, Easy said…
At 7:11am on December 10, 2008, Robert said…

Dear Marion, You have a very kind face! Welcome to IPEACE. I truly believe that what you said is true, that we must all deal with the wars within before their will be peace our lives and in the world.(paraphrasing) This is what is so great about how we are sharing here and everywhere we can! People are truly waking-up to themselves and setting things free inside themselves. Thank you for sharing yourself. Good to meet you! Peace and Unity! Robert
At 5:10pm on September 24, 2008, Kids For Peace said…
Thank You Marion. We are always looking to create chapters everywhere so if you know someone who might be interested including yourself, please let us know and we will be in touch.

Peace and Infinite Blessings.
Julie and the Kids For Peace Gang

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