Friday, July 20, 2007

"Misconceptions about nonviolence" by George Wolfe

"Misconceptions about nonviolence" by George Wolfe (word count: 547)

"As the war in Iraq continues into its fourth year, I receive an increasing number of opportunities to speak on the topic "nonviolence." While there are many people who laud the principle of nonviolence, the popular view holds that nonviolence cannot succeed if one of the parties involved in the conflict chooses to use violence. This assertion is incorrect and reflects an all too common misconception of the principles of nonviolence as developed by Adin Ballou, Henry David Thoreau, Mahatma Gandhi, and Martin Luther King."…

Reply to: PeaceVoiceDirector.gmail.com

George Wolfe is the Coordinator of Outreach Programs at the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies at Ball State University.

"Latin America begins to reject U.S. pax Romana" by Jason Howd

"Latin America begins to reject U.S. pax Romana" by Jason Howd (word count: 1281)

"Costa Rica is most often thought of as a country with pristine coastlines, emerald mountains, and a relaxed vibe to vacation in. What is not often thought of is paramilitaries, assassins, and rogue police officers. In the last several decades the government of Costa Rica has sent at least 2,600 police officers to be trained at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly known as the School of the Americas (SOA). On Wednesday, May 16, Costa Rican President Óscar Arias, a 1987 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, said that he would withdraw the current enrollees from the school this June and vowed that no more would be sent in the future. While the country has no standing army, at the time of his decision, there were reportedly three police personnel training at the school."…

Reply to: peacevoice.thais@gmail.com

Jason Howd is a journalism student at Portland State University serving a journalism practicum in Costa Rica. He can be contacted at bowiehowd@yahoo.com.

"Senator Snivel and the Pity Vote" by Prof. Tom Hastings

"Senator Snivel and the Pity Vote" by Prof. Tom Hastings (word count: 527)

"Listen! Gordon Smith is running. Can you hear the flip-flops? Gordon Smith is running for reelection in 2008. He began running with his December 2006 speech in which he, for the first time, publicly acknowledged his deep concern about the war in Iraq . By odd chance, this was just a month after the voters rejected the war in November, handing his party—the Republicans—their first major defeat at the polls in a decade. Cynics claimed that Smith's apparently heartfelt speech was a ploy to make the increasingly antiwar voters in Oregon feel sorry for him and cast a pity vote for him in 2008."...

Reply to: peacevoice.thais@gmail.com

Tom H Hastings is director of PeaceVoice and a founder of Whitefeather Peace Community in Portland , Oregon.