Peace is Sexy
type: channel
description: Powerful Communications Strategies
date: 2020-07-14T02:57:49Z
update period: hourly
update frequency: 1
update base: 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00
generator agent: https://wordpress.org/
items: Hello world!
items: Jody Williams – Righteous Indignation with Sparkle
items: Zak Ebrahim – Choosing the Path of Peace
items: Steve Killelea – Quantifying Peace
items: May We All Live in Harmony: World Peace Music Playlist
items: Muslims and Islam Are NOT the Enemy of the West
items: Robert J. Burrowes on the Legacy of War
items: Alice Richmond – Peace in Tech
items: 40+ World Leaders Joining Global Oneness Day – Just Around Corner
items: #youth4peace – Redefining Youth as Peacebuilders

Hello world!
type: item
creator: Marianne
date: 2020-07-14T02:57:49Z
subject: Uncategorized
description: Welcome to Astra Starter Templates. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!
encoded: Welcome to Astra Starter Templates. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

Jody Williams – Righteous Indignation with Sparkle
type: item
creator: Marianne
date: 2016-10-25T09:47:27Z
subject: Peace is Sexy
subject: cosmo
subject: gender violence
subject: human security
subject: Jody Williams
subject: killer robots
subject: mine ban treaty
subject: Nobel Peace Prize
subject: Nobel Women's Initiative
subject: righteous indignation
subject: sustainable peace
subject: Vietnam
description: Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Jody Williams discusses what has fueled her activism for over 30 years and her latest passions around stopping gender violence and killer robots. Tell me how you got started. My first protest was against US involvement in Vietnam and it awakened me to a different understanding of my country, the US. […]
encoded: Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Jody Williams discusses what has fueled her activism for over 30 years and her latest passions around stopping gender violence and killer robots. Tell me how you got started. My first protest was against US involvement in Vietnam and it awakened me to a different understanding of my country, the US. Then I floundered for a decade after university trying to figure out what to do with myself, knowing I wanted to do something that would change US policy. Finally, when I was 30 years old, in February of 1981, I was handed a leaflet about the US intervention in El Salvador and the title was “El Salvador—Another Vietnam.” If it hadn’t had the word “Vietnam” on it, I would have thrown it away and who knows where my life would have gone. But it did, and I read it, and I was horrified that we were intervening again. Not with “boots on the ground” as they say, but we were spending millions and millions and millions of dollars in Central America to support dictatorships and/or to overthrow the Sandinistas. And it made me angry. I started volunteering and 32 years later, here I am, still a grassroots activist. What interests you most about what you’re doing now? I’m the chairwoman of the Nobel Women’s Initiative which is six of us who received the Nobel Peace Prize and we have come together to use whatever influence and access we have by virtue of the prize to promote and spotlight the work of women around the world working for sustainable peace with justice and equality. Within that effort, we launched in May 2012 a campaign to stop rape and gender violence in conflict which obviously is a very difficult endeavor. And then in April 2013, I was part of the launch of a campaign to stop killer robots which would be fully autonomous (operating on their own), lethal, offensive (attacking, not just defending) robots that would be able to go out on their own and kill you. And I want to know what are the morality and ethics of people who think it is OK to ce…

Zak Ebrahim – Choosing the Path of Peace
type: item
creator: Marianne
date: 2016-09-11T11:59:35Z
subject: Peace is Sexy
subject: documentary
subject: El Sayed Nosair
subject: extremism
subject: Terrorism
description: His father is a convicted terrorist, but Zak has chosen to be a peacebuilder. Tell me how you got started. Because of my life story I had been introduced to fanatical ideologies that drive people to commit acts of violence. My own father chose to pursue a life of violence instead of a peaceful life […]
encoded: His father is a convicted terrorist, but Zak has chosen to be a peacebuilder. Tell me how you got started. Because of my life story I had been introduced to fanatical ideologies that drive people to commit acts of violence. My own father chose to pursue a life of violence instead of a peaceful life with his family. His name is El Sayed Nosair and he co-masterminded the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993. The attack killed six people but was meant to kill many, many more. Before the 1993 bombing my father began training me at age 7 to shoot automatic weapons at shooting ranges. I was being groomed to follow in his footsteps. These memories were huge burdens for a young man to carry. Besides being ashamed of what my father had done I also felt broken. I was unable to live a normal life because of what he had done. My family had to change their names to protect themselves from the communities in which we lived. In fact my name isn’t really Zak Ebrahim. I’d changed it to hide who I was. I was born Abdulaziz El Sayed Nosair but chose the name Zak in order to keep my old nickname “Z”. Unfortunately, it was harder to hide than we’d thought. There were death threats against the sons of Nosair. I moved 20 times by the time I was 19 years old. I spent many years trying to escape my father’s shadow. Finally in my mid 20s I had my first serious relationship and I opened up to my girlfriend about my true identity. Sharon and I had many talks about how I could make a difference with my story. One night while watching TV a stark realization crept in…I realized most times we hear about the Middle East or people of Arab decent it’s usually related to some form of extremism. It was then that I realized that I had an obligation to tell my story. Not only to get the message out about breaking down these stereotypes but also to hopefully inspire others to choose peace. I thought I could show people that even if you were raised in violence that doesn’t mean you are fated to c…

Steve Killelea – Quantifying Peace
type: item
creator: Marianne
date: 2016-09-05T15:21:36Z
subject: Peace is Profitable
subject: business
subject: economics
subject: Global Peace Index
subject: profit
description: A few years ago, I was traveling in Congo and got to thinking, “What are the most peaceful countries in the world?” I really got curious about that question and started doing some research on it, but couldn’t find anything. And I thought if a business man like me can’t find the answer, then there […]
encoded: A few years ago, I was traveling in Congo and got to thinking, “What are the most peaceful countries in the world?” I really got curious about that question and started doing some research on it, but couldn’t find anything. And I thought if a business man like me can’t find the answer, then there must be a niche that can be filled. So I started the Global Peace Index as a way to easily identify and rank countries according to their peacefulness. What interests you most about what you’re doing now? Well, I think the thing which interests me the most in the work I’m doing today is that I can actually see the effect: people are starting to see that there is economic value to peace and that concepts are starting to develop. What we’re doing is breaking new ground. I get a real sense of satisfaction and positive energy from seeing work that is original actually start to get traction. What’s been your biggest accomplishment? I’m not even thinking that way. It’s like we’re a quarter of the way down the road. It’s hard to think of my own accomplishments because there are so many people working in this area. So when I look at changes, I can’t say, “Well, that’s what I’ve done.” What I have done is create an institute, the Institute for Economics and Peace, which has solid international recognition. The institute is viewed as credible and the work is rigorous. The real accomplishment will be getting people to understand that there is real material value in improving peace and that we don’t actually know so much about peace. When people go study in a Peace and Conflict Studies program, 90% of what they’re studying is conflict. Peace is something different. It’s something we don’t know a lot about. That’s the other message I’m trying to get through. But I can’t say that it’s the work I’m doing; it’s the work of many, many people. Biggest challenge? The main challenge is getting the right structures and the organizational capability so that we can grow. But that’s true for any b…

May We All Live in Harmony: World Peace Music Playlist
type: item
creator: Marianne
date: 2016-08-18T12:32:21Z
subject: Peace is Fun
subject: colby and awu
subject: emma's revolution
subject: emmanuel jal
subject: harmony
subject: jack johnson
subject: lauryn hill
subject: mc yogi
subject: music
subject: paris attacks
subject: queen rose
subject: response
subject: rihanna
subject: Terrorism
subject: U2
subject: world peace
description: To show that peace is alive and kickin’, Peace is Sexy presents this World Peace Music playlist which includes all new music (i.e. from this millennium and not the 1960s) or lesser heard covers of classics. We’ve included some artists that have already been featured on Peace is Sexy like emma’s revolution, Colby and Awu, […]
encoded: To show that peace is alive and kickin’, Peace is Sexy presents this World Peace Music playlist which includes all new music (i.e. from this millennium and not the 1960s) or lesser heard covers of classics. We’ve included some artists that have already been featured on Peace is Sexy like emma’s revolution, Colby and Awu, Queen Rose, Emmanuel Jal, MC Yogi; some big names like U2, Jack Johnson, Rihanna and Lauryn Hill; and some artists that you may not have heard yet, but who have a powerful message. It’s an open playlist that you can watch and listen to here: There is lots of music that promotes peace that we aren’t aware of yet, so if you have a contribution to this playlist, please send us a link to the video in the YouTube comments or here:http://www.peaceissexy.net/contact/ Peace on! You are also welcome to share it on your various networks and media channels.

Muslims and Islam Are NOT the Enemy of the West
type: item
creator: Marianne
date: 2015-12-29T12:09:42Z
subject: Peace is Possible
subject: clash of civilizations
subject: double standards
subject: immigrants
subject: ISIS
subject: islam
subject: migrants
subject: muslim
subject: nonviolence
subject: refugees
subject: Terrorism
subject: west
description: An open letter to Westerners by Guest Contributor Matthew Johnson Dear Westerners: Muslims and Islam are not the enemy of the West. I wish this statement was without controversy, but with the rising tide of Islamophobia (i.e. irrational fear of Muslims) in the United States and elsewhere, it is clear that it is not. There […]
encoded: An open letter to Westerners by Guest Contributor Matthew Johnson Dear Westerners: Muslims and Islam are not the enemy of the West. I wish this statement was without controversy, but with the rising tide of Islamophobia (i.e. irrational fear of Muslims) in the United States and elsewhere, it is clear that it is not. There are many out there who cling tightly to the ‘Clash of Civilizations’ propaganda or otherwise insist that there is a notable difference between Islam and other religions, Muslims and the rest of us, and so on. I deplore you to reject this falsehood in the spirit of the holidays and think beyond your immediate family to the human family, which includes more than a billion Muslims who are not going anywhere. In fact, the United States and its allies should allow more to come and seek refuge from the violence their policies helped create, which would, in turn, provide ISIS with fewer potential recruits. This is not just my opinion. It is shared by a French journalist named Nicolas Henin, who spent almost a year in ISIS captivity in Syria, as well as by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. The best response to inhumanity is humanity. Shutting the door on Muslim refugees will only strengthen the so-called Islamic State itself, which needs more soldiers, clerics, and believers — if it is to be successful. There is no reason to fear a threat to Western values and civilization if those values are no longer deemed valuable and that civilization is no longer civilized. For all the warranted condemnation of ISIS coming from the West, I am eager for the day when Westerners take a long, hard look at themselves and question why ignorance, fanaticism, and violence are wrong when the actors are Muslim but acceptable when they are Christian or Jewish or irreligious. Vile rhetoric that incites hatred and fear of all Muslims is no better than blanket condemnations of Western culture and values. As an insightful question posed by a college student in the recent Rep…

Robert J. Burrowes on the Legacy of War
type: item
creator: Marianne
date: 2015-10-29T10:37:21Z
subject: Peace is Possible
subject: air force
subject: anzac
subject: australia
subject: nonviolence
subject: war
subject: ww1
subject: ww2
description: by Robert J. Burrowes, contributor As the world continues to engage in various commemorations in relation to World War I, Australia approaches the centenary anniversary of a defining event in the nation’s history: ANZAC Day. On 25 April 1915, and for many days after, Australia suffered savage losses at Gallipoli in Turkey. Sometimes when we […]
encoded: by Robert J. Burrowes, contributor As the world continues to engage in various commemorations in relation to World War I, Australia approaches the centenary anniversary of a defining event in the nation’s history: ANZAC Day. On 25 April 1915, and for many days after, Australia suffered savage losses at Gallipoli in Turkey. Sometimes when we reflect on war, we talk about sacrifice for a good cause. Other times, we talk about the cost, in lives or liberties lost. Occasionally, we talk about the horror. Sometimes we talk about the gains, nationally or internationally, for freedom and democracy. And rarely, we analyse the causes of war and lament that one day we might end it. When I reflect on war, I think of my uncles and great uncles, and my father and mother (both veterans of World War II) and I know what I want to do. But briefly first, some history. My great uncle, Thomas Ince Farrell, was a soldier in the 16th Battalion of the Australian Infantry (AIF) in World War I. He was killed in action at Pope’s Hill, Gallipoli ‘on or about’ 2 May 1915. Another great uncle, Leslie Burrowes, was a trooper in the 10th Light Horse Regiment of the AIF in World War I. He was wounded in action three times at Gallipoli and died prematurely some years after the Great War, a psychologically broken man. He was undoubtedly suffering from what today would be called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). He survived the horrors of war to live with them psychologically for the rest of his difficult and shortened life. My father had two brothers: his older brother, Robert, and his twin brother, Thomas. Both were killed in World War II. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-2467" src="http://www.peaceissexy.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Bob-Burrowes-18Feb1918-1Jul1942-221x300.jpg" alt="Bob Burrowes 18Feb1918 - 1Jul1942" width="221" height="300" srcset="https://www.peaceissexy.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Bob-Burrowes-18Feb1918-1Jul1942-221x300.jpg 22…

Alice Richmond – Peace in Tech
type: item
creator: Marianne
date: 2015-10-21T08:25:48Z
subject: Peace is Possible
subject: communication skills
subject: communications technique
subject: marsha
subject: nonviolent communication
subject: tech
subject: technology
description: by Alice Richmond, Delivery Manager Last month (October 2015), I spoke at a conference in Barcelona on the topic of communicating peacefully with teams and clients. Often the phrase “Peace in Tech” is referring to promoting technology that reduces the need for aggressive and peace disturbing manufacturing processes for hardware. It is so easy to […]
encoded: by Alice Richmond, Delivery Manager Last month (October 2015), I spoke at a conference in Barcelona on the topic of communicating peacefully with teams and clients. Often the phrase “Peace in Tech” is referring to promoting technology that reduces the need for aggressive and peace disturbing manufacturing processes for hardware. It is so easy to look at tech as a thing that is a physical entity, a gadget or a phone. Using earth damaging and conflict inducing compounds in the creation of our hardware is not the only thing that causes conflict in tech. Often we need to look much closer to home, to the individuals working within these industries. I have been working on client facing teams since I graduated university. Exposed to lots of face to face communication, I have naturally developed and learned skills that have improved me as an individual and been able to specialize in this with training courses. But what happens when someone doesn’t have this training and is required to work in a team made up from people around the world. How do they communicate their needs, feelings and thoughts? Soft skills, like communication can be overlooked especially in the tech industry. Some individuals graduating university with extremely high qualifications in Maths, Computer Science and Physics are left struggling with communication. A close friend of mine once said to me “It’s OK graduating with a first in Maths, but try having a difficult conversation or going to a job interview.” I was surprised by this sentence, and that she herself had suffered from a lack of core communication skills. Recently with the release of Drupal 8, an open source web product there has been a surprise delay. Many of us were brain storming why this could have been the case. One friend of mine mentioned there had been incidents of decisions about the product not being made because of so many disputes. These disputes were lengthy and reading the tickets it was clear that individuals were struggling to ma…

40+ World Leaders Joining Global Oneness Day – Just Around Corner
type: item
creator: Marianne
date: 2015-10-14T14:12:26Z
subject: Peace is Possible
description: Have you seen the names of the world leaders, scientists, entertainers, spiritual leaders, activists and business leaders who are part of Global Oneness Day this year? Global Leaders pick and choose what programs they will participate in and an extraordinary number are gathering on Global Oneness Day, Saturday, October 24th, 2015 to celebrate this “Earth […]
encoded: Have you seen the names of the world leaders, scientists, entertainers, spiritual leaders, activists and business leaders who are part of Global Oneness Day this year? Global Leaders pick and choose what programs they will participate in and an extraordinary number are gathering on Global Oneness Day, Saturday, October 24th, 2015 to celebrate this “Earth Day” for an awakened humanity. All of the speakers who are gathering are volunteering their time. They include: Iyanla Vanzant, Michael Beckwith, Gary Zukav, Marianne Williamson, Ken Wilber, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Jean Houston, Ervin Laszlo, Neale Donald Walsch, Panache Desai, Nassim Haramein, Dean Radin, Doreen Virtue, Patricia Cota-Robles, Stephen Dinan, Matt Kahn, and a video recording created for this occasion by Desmond Tutu. There are over 40 speakers gathering in total. Why is this day important? It is a day to explore how we are separate from nothing. On this day, we see We Are All One with the Divine and each other and we model it. It is a day of at-ONE-ment. It is a day to talk about living in Oneness in practical ways, to revere and nurture life as the prime value. Global Oneness Day is a call to expanded consciousness, an invitation to conscious creation. This day calls us to serve life first, to pre-serve the Earth, nature, humanity and all of life’s diversity. In short, it is an impactful day that has enormous opportunity to change our lives and the world for the better! If you’ve been yearning for greater spiritual health for you and your family and you’d like to explore how we can become part of a critical mass that is life enhancing, life supporting and life sustaining you don’t want to miss this free event (that also includes a free 48 hour replay of the entire event). Will you join leaders from all over the world (and co-sponsors like Peace is Sexy) in calling for an awakened humanity? Click here to see the Global Oneness Day program and speakers. This 12 hour program is amazing and it’s on a Satur…

#youth4peace – Redefining Youth as Peacebuilders
type: item
creator: Marianne
date: 2015-09-03T14:00:57Z
subject: Peace is Possible
subject: amman
subject: countering violent extremism
subject: declaration
subject: jordan
subject: Peace
subject: prince abdullah
subject: sdg
subject: security
subject: UN
subject: youth
description: There is a widespread perception that youth are trouble makers. Economists believe a large youth population to be problematic for a country. Police forces (notably in the US) distrust youth and often target youth. Youth are considered to be particularly susceptible to violent extremism. And even governments consider youth as too young and inexperienced to […]
encoded: <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-2424" src="http://www.peaceissexy.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Amman-Youth-Participants-300x225.jpg" alt="Amman Youth Participants" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://www.peaceissexy.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Amman-Youth-Participants-300x225.jpg 300w, https://www.peaceissexy.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Amman-Youth-Participants.jpg 640w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />There is a widespread perception that youth are trouble makers. Economists believe a large youth population to be problematic for a country. Police forces (notably in the US) distrust youth and often target youth. Youth are considered to be particularly susceptible to violent extremism. And even governments consider youth as too young and inexperienced to have any kind of value added in political participation. But there is a movement that is gaining traction to cast youth not as trouble makers, but as peace makers. And there is evidence to back it up. According to the 2015 Global Peace Index, “Poverty and youth bulges are typically considered risk factors for urban violence. However these factors were found not to be statistically significant in this study.” Indeed, the Global Forum on Youth, Peace and Security which occurred on August 21 and 22 in Amman, Jordan was a watershed moment for shining light on how youth contribute to peace. The forum comes on the heels of Jordanian Crown Prince al Hussein bin Abdullah II, at the age of 20, being the youngest person to chair a UN Security Council meeting. Appropriately, the April 2015 session focused on discussing youth participation in peacebuilding and countering violent extremism. The high point of the Global Forum was the adoption of the Amman Declaration which begins with the following: We, young people from around the world, gathered here in Amman, Jordan on 21-22 August 2015 at the Global Forum on Youth, Peace and Security, express our commitment to l…