This week’s video again looks for ways to put the rate of U.S. Military spending into perspective.
The AFSC Web Team has long used penguins as our mascot of sorts. For example when we need a sample program to test new ideas for the website, we use the Penguins for Peace program. So when we started to put this series of videos together penguins were a natural fit.
I’ll admit, I’m not aware of any polling data trying to measure support for peace within the penguin community, but I am fairly confident that penguins would rather we all live in peace.
Have ideas about how better to spend $1.9 million every minute? Leave us a comment and let us know.
Aaron
Friday, July 31, 2009
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Peace Indicator: $500
This week’s Peace indicator was sent it by my friend Julian, after a trip he recently took to Haiti.
$500 covers the monthly expenses of the rural community school of 70 students he had the chance to visit.
Julian was struck by the participatory nature of the school, and the work toward teaching lessons of peace and stability in a nation that has seen so much turmoil for decades. Hopefully this chance at education will give these children opportunities to help the community and their country in the years to come.
You can read more about Julian’s visit to the school, including pictures and video on his blog.
$500 covers the monthly expenses of the rural community school of 70 students he had the chance to visit.
Julian was struck by the participatory nature of the school, and the work toward teaching lessons of peace and stability in a nation that has seen so much turmoil for decades. Hopefully this chance at education will give these children opportunities to help the community and their country in the years to come.
You can read more about Julian’s visit to the school, including pictures and video on his blog.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Bridge Film Festival
The American Friends Service Committee and the Bridge Film Festival are excited to announce a new "Bridge" between the One Minute for Peace Campaign and their ongoing project with Friends' schools around the world.All PSA's submitted to this year's Bridge Film Festival that address the One Minute for Peace theme, will be considered for featuring on our Youtube channel.
We are very excited about the possibilities, and look forward to seeing the submissions.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Troubled by Handguns
This week's video features Peter Lems, AFSC's Program Director for Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran, talking about something a little closer to home: handguns.
Peter reminds us that part of making a peaceful world is taking away the things that make people feel threatened. That applies not only to safety in our homes, and on the streets of our neighborhoods, but also to the world at large. While we may feel threatened by violence close to home, in other parts of the world people feel threatened by our nation's ability to inflict violence on them from afar.
None of us are truly safe until everyone is safe.
If you have thoughts about peace, safety, or handguns, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Peter reminds us that part of making a peaceful world is taking away the things that make people feel threatened. That applies not only to safety in our homes, and on the streets of our neighborhoods, but also to the world at large. While we may feel threatened by violence close to home, in other parts of the world people feel threatened by our nation's ability to inflict violence on them from afar.
None of us are truly safe until everyone is safe.
If you have thoughts about peace, safety, or handguns, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Peace Indicator: 1.202
1.202 was the score given to New Zealand when Vision of Humanity gave that country the top score in this year's Global Peace Index.
For the last three years Vision of Humanity released their rating of how peaceful countries in the index are. This year's rankings were developed by reviewing 23 factors for 144 countries. Unfortunately,this year's ratings showed an over all trend away from peace, but it's still good to sit atop a list like this. Congratulations, New Zealand!
If you're wondering, the United States came in 83rd.
For the last three years Vision of Humanity released their rating of how peaceful countries in the index are. This year's rankings were developed by reviewing 23 factors for 144 countries. Unfortunately,this year's ratings showed an over all trend away from peace, but it's still good to sit atop a list like this. Congratulations, New Zealand!
If you're wondering, the United States came in 83rd.
Friday, July 17, 2009
Beans...and bean counters
Laurie's out this week. But she left the following message to introduce this week's video:
As Terry and I learned when we made this video, jelly bean wrangling is a lot like herding cats. You never know when they’re going to take off for parts unknown, and they’re independent little darlings.
Despite the fact that we had 600 jelly beans in the jar (minus the few that liberated themselves), the cost of props for this video was way under $5.
Compare that to military spending, where Congress wants more F-22s than the Defense Department does – and yet F-22s cost $44,000 an hour to fly.
Talk about burning money...
Still, $44,000 an hour must sound positively frugal to the U.S. government, which spend roughly $31,000 EVERY SECOND on the military in 2008. For next year, the government has proposed a budget which will divert almost 60% of all discretionary funds to the military.
That’s a heck of a lot of jelly beans.
Are you frustrated, too? Can you think of better ways to spend this money?
Join us at www.oneminuteforpeace.org and help us make our voices heard.
As Terry and I learned when we made this video, jelly bean wrangling is a lot like herding cats. You never know when they’re going to take off for parts unknown, and they’re independent little darlings.
Despite the fact that we had 600 jelly beans in the jar (minus the few that liberated themselves), the cost of props for this video was way under $5.
Compare that to military spending, where Congress wants more F-22s than the Defense Department does – and yet F-22s cost $44,000 an hour to fly.
Talk about burning money...
Still, $44,000 an hour must sound positively frugal to the U.S. government, which spend roughly $31,000 EVERY SECOND on the military in 2008. For next year, the government has proposed a budget which will divert almost 60% of all discretionary funds to the military.
That’s a heck of a lot of jelly beans.
Are you frustrated, too? Can you think of better ways to spend this money?
Join us at www.oneminuteforpeace.org and help us make our voices heard.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Peace Indicator: 840,000
This week's Peace Indicator was provided by my friend Elizabeth.
Elizabeth estimates there are 840,000 producers of fair trade goods in the world. She took some time to review the farmers listed by several of the major fair trade organizations, and totaled up their suppliers. This is probably a bit low, because even for all the work she did, she didn't catch every product out there.
Many Americans think of Fair Trade products as limited to coffee, tea, and chocolate, but there are many more products available. Elizabeth's list includes cotton, bananas, fruit, beauty products, rice, sugar, flowers, wine and more. AFSC is also involved in the fair trade movement. Our Atlanta office provides Fair Trade Olive Oil that supports Palestinian Olive farmers, and each fall our Austin office hosts a conference on women in fair trade.
To learn more about fair trade check out some of the organizations that are focused on those efforts: TransFair USA, Equal Exchange, London Fairtrade Campaign. There are lots of others as well.
If you have a Peace Indicator you'd like to share or have researched, leave us a comment.
Aaron
Elizabeth estimates there are 840,000 producers of fair trade goods in the world. She took some time to review the farmers listed by several of the major fair trade organizations, and totaled up their suppliers. This is probably a bit low, because even for all the work she did, she didn't catch every product out there.
Many Americans think of Fair Trade products as limited to coffee, tea, and chocolate, but there are many more products available. Elizabeth's list includes cotton, bananas, fruit, beauty products, rice, sugar, flowers, wine and more. AFSC is also involved in the fair trade movement. Our Atlanta office provides Fair Trade Olive Oil that supports Palestinian Olive farmers, and each fall our Austin office hosts a conference on women in fair trade.
To learn more about fair trade check out some of the organizations that are focused on those efforts: TransFair USA, Equal Exchange, London Fairtrade Campaign. There are lots of others as well.
If you have a Peace Indicator you'd like to share or have researched, leave us a comment.
Aaron
Friday, July 10, 2009
Defining peace
How would you define peace?
At my desk, I have a beautiful calligraphic mantra of “Practicing,” a poem by Cathryn Hankla. In part, it reads:
But how can we define it? Is it the absence of war? Or is it the presence of something else?
Let us know.
Laurie
At my desk, I have a beautiful calligraphic mantra of “Practicing,” a poem by Cathryn Hankla. In part, it reads:
Like forgiveness
Peace is a practice
Moment to moment
It’s how we choose to be
Think about that: It’s how we choose to be -- and not just how we choose to appear for a split second on the international stage, but at every moment of our lives.Peace is a practice
Moment to moment
It’s how we choose to be
But how can we define it? Is it the absence of war? Or is it the presence of something else?
Let us know.
Laurie
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Video Drones
Welcome to the video game wars.
Oh, sure, video games aren’t quite as expensive, but the idea remains the same: domination, destruction and death.
Drones with video-game names like Predator and Reaper have made an appearance in arenas from Bosnia to Iraq and Afghanistan. They carry Hellfire missiles – another video-game name – an anti-tank weapon.
The pilots of these drones sit 8,000 miles from their targets – but this is no video game.
Late in June, Northrop Grumman got $276.3 million to develop a communications network for the drones.
That’s petty cash to the military, which spent that much in just a little over two hours in 2008.
This is on top of a cost of $4.5 million per plane just for the Predators, which aren’t as weapons-laden – a mere two Hellfire missiles at a cost of $25,000 each – as their new and improved cousins the Reapers, which can carry eight.
The drones have been raining death on Afghanistan, killing numerous civilians, including women and children. According to one news article, pilots are even learning how to disguise the sounds the drone makes so it can do its work with even more stealth.
It’s a case of overgrown boys with deadly toys.
Oh, sure, video games aren’t quite as expensive, but the idea remains the same: domination, destruction and death.
Drones with video-game names like Predator and Reaper have made an appearance in arenas from Bosnia to Iraq and Afghanistan. They carry Hellfire missiles – another video-game name – an anti-tank weapon.
The pilots of these drones sit 8,000 miles from their targets – but this is no video game.
Late in June, Northrop Grumman got $276.3 million to develop a communications network for the drones.
That’s petty cash to the military, which spent that much in just a little over two hours in 2008.
This is on top of a cost of $4.5 million per plane just for the Predators, which aren’t as weapons-laden – a mere two Hellfire missiles at a cost of $25,000 each – as their new and improved cousins the Reapers, which can carry eight.
The drones have been raining death on Afghanistan, killing numerous civilians, including women and children. According to one news article, pilots are even learning how to disguise the sounds the drone makes so it can do its work with even more stealth.
It’s a case of overgrown boys with deadly toys.
Peace Indicator: 81
This week's Peace Indicator comes from Games for Change:
81
Games for Change lists 81 games meant to encourage players to make the world a better place. You can read more on their website and on their blog.
As someone who's always loved playing computer games, I've always liked the idea of games that involved more nuance than just killing everything in sight, and Games for Change provide several of those.
If you have a Peace Indicator you'd like to share, please let me know.
Aaron
81
Games for Change lists 81 games meant to encourage players to make the world a better place. You can read more on their website and on their blog.
As someone who's always loved playing computer games, I've always liked the idea of games that involved more nuance than just killing everything in sight, and Games for Change provide several of those.
If you have a Peace Indicator you'd like to share, please let me know.
Aaron
Monday, July 6, 2009
Bad joke?
So a rabbi, a priest, a mullah, a pastor, a Buddhist, and a female lawyer walk into a bar, and the bartender says …
“What is this, a joke?”
Yeah, well, it’s a little better than the jokes Carl came up with for this week’s One Minute for Peace video. Not that that’s saying much.
But Carl has a good point. In 2008, the U.S. government spent $1.9 million EVERY MINUTE on the military. It does sound like a bad joke – the very worst.
Do you toss and turn nights, worried about China’s increasing military strength? Straighten those covers. Last year, China’s military spending amounted to a mere 10 percent of U.S. military budget.* In fact, the United States accounted for almost half – half! – of the world’s military spending.
And you paid for it.
You may have scrimped and saved to pay for some necessities and maybe even a luxury or two, but the U.S. government took your tax money and treated the military to the world’s most expensive party.
$1.9 million a minute.
Isn’t it more than just a bad joke?
[The figure of $89 billion in military spending for China comes from Wikipedia. The Wikipedia figure for military spending does not include money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. For our figures on the military budget, go to www.oneminuteforpeace.org.)
“What is this, a joke?”
Yeah, well, it’s a little better than the jokes Carl came up with for this week’s One Minute for Peace video. Not that that’s saying much.
But Carl has a good point. In 2008, the U.S. government spent $1.9 million EVERY MINUTE on the military. It does sound like a bad joke – the very worst.
Do you toss and turn nights, worried about China’s increasing military strength? Straighten those covers. Last year, China’s military spending amounted to a mere 10 percent of U.S. military budget.* In fact, the United States accounted for almost half – half! – of the world’s military spending.
And you paid for it.
You may have scrimped and saved to pay for some necessities and maybe even a luxury or two, but the U.S. government took your tax money and treated the military to the world’s most expensive party.
$1.9 million a minute.
Isn’t it more than just a bad joke?
[The figure of $89 billion in military spending for China comes from Wikipedia. The Wikipedia figure for military spending does not include money for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. For our figures on the military budget, go to www.oneminuteforpeace.org.)
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Peace Indicator: 2 million
This week’s Peace Indicator was sent to me by my friend Pamela.
1-2 million.
That is Paul Hawken’s estimate of the number of organizations working to make the world a better place for everyone (from his book Blessed Unrest). During his commencement address at the University of Portland this spring Hawken commented:
You can read the entire address on Hawken’s website.
Got a Peace Indicator to share? Leave a comment, or send us an email at oneminute@afsc.org.
1-2 million.
That is Paul Hawken’s estimate of the number of organizations working to make the world a better place for everyone (from his book Blessed Unrest). During his commencement address at the University of Portland this spring Hawken commented:
No one knows how many groups and organizations are working on the most salient issues of our day: climate change, poverty, deforestation, peace, water, hunger, conservation, human rights, and more. This is the largest movement the world has ever seen. Rather than control, it seeks connection. Rather than dominance, it strives to disperse concentrations of power. Like Mercy Corps, it works behind the scenes and gets the job done. Large as it is, no one knows the true size of this movement. It provides hope, support, and meaning to billions of people in the world. Its clout resides in idea, not in force. It is made up of teachers, children, peasants, businesspeople, rappers, organic farmers, nuns, artists, government workers, fisherfolk, engineers, students, incorrigible writers, weeping Muslims, concerned mothers, poets, doctors without borders, grieving Christians, street musicians, the President of the United States of America, and as the writer David James Duncan would say, the Creator, the One who loves us all in such a huge way.
You can read the entire address on Hawken’s website.
Got a Peace Indicator to share? Leave a comment, or send us an email at oneminute@afsc.org.
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