I see the transformative elements of conflict playing out every time I see a dispute.  In my latest blog entry, I describe what happened when a couple guys on a plane had a dispute over an armrest.

Correction: Uncle Sam wants your money unless you are among the country’s largest U.S. corporations (e.g., GE, Microsoft, IBM, Exxon, Chevron). As reported in that radical rag, the Wall Street Journal, 60 of those large corporations “parked a total of $166 billion offshore last year” shielding anywhere from 40 percent to 100%…

Video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UaGVDp9bDJo

Brian Weinberg of Blended Profit speaks with Sonal Shah, a Tides Fellow and former Director of the Office of Social Innovation at the White House.…

People have asked, “Where is the Palestinian Gandhi?” One response has been Palestinian farmer Emad Burnat, who created the documentary, Five Broken Cameras.

Another good example is the young woman in this video (…

Interview with Juan Carlos Botero

Peace X Peace Hosts Five Film Screenings of Within the Eye of the Storm in the D.C. Area!

A new documentary of a Palestinian and Israeli father whose young daughters were killed by the conflict. Come meet them and see how these enemies reach across the deepest of wounds to become friends and break the cycle of retaliation. Bassam and Rami will be present at all film screenings as well as the director, Shelly Hermon.…

You probably know what V-E  and V-J Days are—Victory in Europe and Victory in Japan at the end of World War II. But it is simply V-day that may prove the more important day in the long-run.

V-Day represents a global movement to end violence against women and girls. It works on a grassroots level to raise consciousness, change laws, fund rape crisis centers and domestic violence shelters, and educate people in more than 140 countries from A (America) to Z (Zambia).

You can help.…

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…

Gaza: A fundamentalist’s guide to Gravity

By: Firouzeh Afsharnia

A few years ago I was traveling through Africa and found my self in a rickety cab. As I bounced up and down in the lumpy back seat, shifting spots to avoid the broken springs and whatever was festering in the exposed paddings, another passenger got in and sat in the front seat.  He was in a jovial mood and had just passed some sort of certification exam.  “I passed! I passed!” He declared.

First…

Click here to lead the latest blog post.  In it, I describe how I coped with a challenging Union Rep.  He was focused on making his case, as if he were a TV lawyer.  Though he'd participated in many of these mediation, he still didn't seem to get it that persuading the mediator wouldn't be helpful - and persuading the management would not be possible.

I’ve been called a “thought leader” lately. It’s a lot better than some other things I’ve been called in my life, but still, it’s a label I’ve been trying to understand—so much so that I facilitated a session on it at last month’s Opportunity Collaboration.

When I first heard the term, I did a bit of sleuthing to understand its origin. It seems it comes from the private sector. (Isn’t most of the “latest” aid and philanthropy jargon…

I felt inspired today Election Day after reading this. Hope it energizes your work for peace and compassion in the world too.

_______________________________________________________…

Say YES to peace within yourself.

Cross posted from the Learning Portal for DM&E for Peacebuilding

A theory of change that adequately describes the actions, the desired change, and the underlying assumptions or strategy is essential for monitoring and evaluating programmes and projects.  The theory of change will help program staff and evaluators understand…

The International Potato Center seeks a dynamic Deputy Chief of Party (DCOP) to be responsible for an ambitious research-for-development initiative that aims to increase incomes of smallholder potato producers in Southern Bangladesh through access to effective low-cost ware and seed storage. This initiative is a new component of an ongoing multi-year USAID-funded “Horticulture Project,” led by CIP and the World Vegetable Center (AVRDC) which will improve incomes and nutritional health…

U.S. COST OF VIOLENCE SURPASSES 15% of GDP

New Report Calculates Total U.S. Public and Private Expenditure on

Containing Violence – International & Domestic 

• $2.16 trillion or $15,000 per taxpayer spent on preventing or dealing with violence
• Violence–related expenditures four times greater than the Department of Defense budget
• If Violence…

By guest author Dr. Dahlia Wasfi

On August 27, 2012, the US Marine Corps announced “non-judicial administrative punishments” for several Marines videotaped urinating on three dead bodies in Afghanistan.…

...what good is a blog?

Three people I know and admire are getting the recognition they deserve this week and I want to take a moment to celebrate their achievements on how-matters.org.

1) Mulugeta Gebru, founder of Jerusalem Children and Community Development…

Achieving and maintaining democracy—“government of the people, by the people, for the people”[i]–is an ongoing challenge.

Perhaps President Lincoln had no alternative to preserving the Union than to wage war, but the wounds of that deadly conflict can still be felt today.

Where are the models for better ways of resolving disputes, righting wrongs, and pursuing democratic institutions?

Our nomination, in honor of this year’s United Nations…