Peace

Explosive Coffee

- Adam Clare 1 Comment

In Ethiopia, a man uses spent shell casings to make coffee machines. I love it when people use former weapons of destruction to make something that can be used everyday in a constructive way. It shows a willingness to acknowledge the past while building a better today, plus some neat human ingenuity!

“The shells were dropped in Ethiopia during the war with Eritrea. They were dropped so people hid them in their homes and now they sell them,” Mr Azmeraw says.

“He cuts off the pointed ends, seals them and puts holes into the aluminium cylinder. The cylinder channels the water, coffee and milk.”

Space for Peace

- Adam Clare

space doveThis week (01/10 – 08/10) is Keep Space for Peace Week. With more nations looking skyward for military applications, and one nation wanting to use space for questionable reasons, we need to support peace in outer space.

They have a list of events happening over the course of this week listed on their site.

Open Sourced, Except for Killing

- Adam Clare

robot attacksThe GPL is designed to let people modify the code for almost any purpose. Every so often the GPL is modified to reflect our changing needs and wants of software.

Right now there is a debate whether or not to include Isaac Asimov’s first law of robotics:

“A robot may not harm a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.”

I hope this is included into the GPL even if it isn’t really enforceable.

US Congress Supports Peace

- Adam Clare

logo of the organization Unbeknownst to me, the United States Congress has been funding the US Institute of Peace since 1984. Recently they updated their website and have made it a lot better, they’ve added podcasting, and archived recordings. The USIP also offers online training. You should check out their impressive Library!

“Its goals are to help prevent and resolve violent international conflicts, promote post-conflict stability and democratic transformations, and increase peacebuilding capacity, tools, and intellectual capital worldwide. The Institute does this by empowering others with knowledge, skills, and resources, as well as by its direct involvement in peacebuilding efforts around the globe. “

Guns for Bikes Peddling Works

- Adam Clare 1 Comment

The Democratic Republic of Congo has a program that allows people to turn in their firearms for some thing useful – bikes. The program has been so successful that it is being expanded.

A BBC corespondent proclaims that it’s more successful than a previous UN disarmament program. It’s so sucesful that tin roofs are being given out in places where they don’t have enough bikes to hand out.

“Ngoy Mulunda, a pastor in the south-eastern Katanga region, says he has been given some 6,500 weapons in the past year, which he has destroyed.”

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