Today, November 29, 2012, is the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (sometimes known simply as Solidarity Day). This day of observance has been celebrated on or around November 29 since a resolution of the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 2, 1977. (See…

Global Network for the Study of…

VISIONING AFRICAN FUTURE FARMS

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Africa’s agriculture research & development has come a long way since the ‘take-off’ decades of the post-colonial era. Slow and slowed further by internecine conflicts as well (political-military), conflicts that were bred by the polarity games of the Western oligarchy aimed at controlling Africans in the long term, science R&D as a whole sputtered across the…

When Mette Müller, founder of Best Self Experience, shared the following comment on my blog, I knew I wanted to invite her to share her story:

“The grassroots [organizations] that I have worked with have been excellent in seeing development as a process rather than a large checkbox... but many aid workers (sorry sorry sorry for the generalisation) seem to misunderstand this, and project their own ambitions and understanding of…

RETHINKING CHRISTMAS: AN ARCHEOLOGY OF MEANINGS

Erle Frayne Argonza

[See: http://erleargonza.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html]

A Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone else!

That I started with a goodwill greeting associated with the Christmas occasion doesn’t make me a church devotee of which I definitely am not. I have departed a long time ago yet…

THAILAND’S REDS REGAIN DOMINANCE

Erle Frayne D. Argonza

Thailand’s Red Shirts are back in power, as the For Thai Party of former premier Thaksin Shinawatra won landslide victory in the latest parliamentary polls. Yingluck Shinawatra, younger sister of the deposed premier, won as premier, rendering her the first woman chief executive of modern Thailand.

The victory is a big slap on the faces of the traditional elites of…

‘Given the fact that two thirds of Man’s brain is dormant it never ceases to amaze me how little he uses the one third which is active. If Man pushed just a little harder what miracles there might be!’

Albert Einstein, 1932

We co-create our realities with every word, action, idea, with our ways of understanding, our connections and conflicts. Stories; histories, cultural connections are central to our identity, our agency,…

Forgiveness stories are inspiring. Reading about the Cooney family is no exception. On Thursday, March 18^th, 2010 a hearing took place in which the family of a Duluth murder victim begged for the mercy. The entire courtroom including the judge was riveted by what they heard.…

I will be away this week and not be able to write although the work of forgiveness will be prominent in my thinking. I will be spending some time at the United Nations this week speaking to people in gaining their support of me writing a resolution on forgiveness and the healing of nations. Last November I presented a paper on forgiveness and the healing of nations to members of the United Nations, UN agencies and some NGO’s. As many of you know I care about helping people personally find…

The most important issue to deal with in the forgiveness process is our feelings of guilt. We can have a hard enough time getting in touch with our anger. Getting in touch with our guilt is even more difficult. None of us like to feel that awful feeling in the pit of our stomach. And for those of us feeling guilty for what we have done, that guilt blocks any possibility for us to feel love…