WINDOW OF PEACE

The World Peace Plan


We are introducing a plan for world peace based on two proven concepts—the U.S. Constitution and the cooperation of nature—and opening it to debate by every person on the planet.

The plan creates an international government based on fair and equitable practices, an additional layer of government over what already exists. In the proposed One World Government, all the nations will be treated the same way the states are treated within the United States, and disputes between nations will be handled in a court situation rather than the battlefield. The international government will supercede the existing international structure. It will not attempt to change what already exists within a nation. Issues, such as the environment, will be handled by experts from all over the world, who will make up the departments of the One World Government. Shared research will ensure solutions to the issues will be found. Every nation, culture, religion and individual has the right to be respected.


The economic aspect is based on win-win agreements, with every nation finding its niche based on its natural resources. The international government will handle the balance of trade, and ensure that a nation's natural resources benefit the people.

The plan is being introduced through U.S. senators, foreign governments, and individuals who are knowledgeable in various fields, starting with introducing the plan on the international level through our "World Peace" newsletters, which are sent free to the foreign embassies in Washington, DC


Making The World Peace Plan a Reality

Under the proposed international government, each individual will find his or her niche based on talents and gifts. Each of us has a lifetime of experience in our own areas of expertise, and can use that to create a project that benefits all people. The principles we stand on create a framework of projects that will spread out until everyone on the planet is creating the life he or she desires. Participation in the framework, and functioning on these principles, allows us to multiply each other's efforts. This is the principles of the cooperation of nature.

Our fifty revolutionary projects will start the process on the international level. No one will be left out of the benefits.




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Evil, War, and Violence Excerpt from Elusive Peace


BY Douglas E. Noll


How does one mediate peace in the face of evil? This question has perplexed peacemakers, international leaders, and diplomats for millennia. The easy political answer is that there can be no negotiation with evil; it must be met with irresistible force. However, that emotionally satisfying and anxiety-reducing answer is inadequate. Superior military power simply does not eradicate evil, and the expenditure of blood and treasure is often futile against modern forms of violence.

Refusing to negotiate with people who are characterized as evil is no longer a luxury. Where military force is not working (see Afghanistan and the Lord’s Resistance Army in the Congo), engagement through negotiation and mediation is all that is left. That does not mean that mediating evil is easy. It is just the opposite: mediating evil is the most difficult, challenging work a peacemaker will undertake.

The structural problems associated with the development of Africa show us the complexity of the problems associated with evil, war, and violence. Over the decades since independence from European colonial rule in the 1960s, African leaders developed a feeling of entitlement and privilege. While no one has surveyed the past and present African leaders on Kohlberg’s scale of moral development, most of the leaders would probably fall within Stage 1 or Stage 2. As a group, they have demonstrated under-developed moral maturity.

Most of the African political leaders that took power in independent Africa were socialized under the colonial system of governance. In that governance system, African countries existed for the sole economic benefit of the imperial powers. Colonialism was not designed to benefit Africa or Africans. So when it was their turn to lead, African leaders copied the only model they knew. They made the African nation state an instrument of oppression for their personal benefit to guarantee the well-being of their family, clan, and tribal groups at the exclusion of others. After all, this was the European model, was it not? The state was seen as belonging only to those that are in power. This resulted in the “Big Man” syndrome. The most ruthless men became the despotic rulers of their African nations and maintained control through torture, rape, violence, and genocide.

The list is long: Idi Amin of Uganda, Jean-Bedel Bokassa of the Central African Republic, Samuel Doe and Charles Taylor of Liberia, Foday Sankoh of Sierra Leone, Mengistu Haile Mariam of Ethiopia, Juvénal Habyarimana of Rwanda, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Omar al-Bashir of Sudan, among many others, have been responsible for untold human atrocities in Africa. The European concept of sovereignty coupled with the Cold War kept these men in power as they pandered to the western allies or the Soviet Union. The Organization of African Unity that existed between 1963 and 2002 was widely regarded as a “dictators’” trade union as it was composed of African “Big Men” interested in protecting their personal power, position, and privilege. When the “Big Man” was threatened by Marxist uprisings, he received support from the west. When the “Big Man” leaned left, he was supported by the Soviet Union. The “Big Men” were savvy enough to use sovereignty as an excuse to prevent intervention their internal affairs, even when those internal affairs constituted genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity. In addition, they quashed the right of self-determination by large minorities within national boundaries. These minority groups, disempowered by international law to seek independent self-rule for themselves, were also systematically excluded from power-sharing or civic participation in governance.

The leaders resented anyone that challenged their absolute authority. Evil started with a constriction of empathy and compassion towards the disenfranchised dissenters. In each country, as evil grew, it replaced trust with suspicion and confidence with fear. Identifying the opposition group as evil became a justification for violence. By defining “them” as bad, African leaders defined themselves as good. They gave themselves permission to act in ways that would appear evil to outside observers, but seemed self-righteous. Every accusation directed to political opponents established the moral logic required to justify committing evil. Evil therefore became directly connected with the unequal distribution and adversarial exercise of power.

In Sierra Leone, leaders systematically privatized political and economic control to perpetuate their patronage-based networks. In Chad, Déby used the chaos brought about by the Darfur conflict and a domestic insurrection to renege on his promise to spend oil royalties on development. In Sudan, the northern al-Bashir government, which depends on the oil revenues generated in the south, has promoted chaos throughout Sudan to undermine the formal authority and functioning of the state while improving the relative standing of the northern Arabs. In case after case, African leaders have shown no interest other than protecting themselves and their supporters. In the most recent episode, Kenya invited Omar al-Bashir, under indictment for war crimes and genocide, to the inauguration ceremony of Kenya’s new constitution. Under the Rome Statute creating the International Criminal Court, Kenya was required to arrest him and turn him over to the Office of the Prosecutor. Instead, al-Bashir was treated as an honored guest by President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga. The ICC indictment and order for arrest were publicly and flagrantly ignored. Of course, the ICC is investigating Kenya as well, and indictments for war crimes are expected to be issued against a group of Kenyan elites implicated in the massacres following the 2007 election.

The endless wars have been about power. In these violent struggles, the “revolutionary” faction may claim to seek equality and democratic institutions, but the sad tale is that insurrectionist leaders are usually seeking to replace the current leader for personal self-aggrandizement. Charles Taylor replaced Samuel Doe in Liberia and the bloodshed continued. Most insurrectionists are not schooled in constructing and sustaining a civil society based on the rule of law and governed by democratic principles. As a consequence, peace agreements are made, hailed, and almost immediately ignored because they do not deliver the wealth, power, prestige, and status that come with “owning” one’s nation-state.

Nevertheless, within this understanding of evil lie the seeds of peace to be planted by a skilled mediator.
About Doug
After a successful 22 year trial career, Douglas E. Noll found litigation to be a wasteful way to resolve conflicts, and earned his Masters Degree in Peacemaking and Conflict Studies. Today, Douglas is a nationally recognized mediator, international peace advocate and speaker, and professor. He hosts The Doug Noll Show, a weekly radio program dedicated to giving a voice to international peacemakers. His current pro bono project Prison of Peace trains murderers committed to life sentences in the largest women’s prison in the world to become peacemakers and mediators.
Noll was recently selected from a worldwide search as one of 194 mediators to be included in the International Who’s Who of Commercial Mediation. Doug is the 2012 President of the California Conflict Resolution Council.
Professionally, Doug is a Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators, a Distinguished Fellow of the American College of Civil Trial Mediators and on the American Arbitration Association panel of mediators and arbitrators. Doug was one of the first U.S. mediators certified under the international mediator standards established by the International Mediation Institute based in The Hague, Netherlands. Noll is a board member of Mediators Without Borders.


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WHAT IS PEACE AND HOW CAN WE ACHIEVE IT?


Peace should likely start as a grassroots movement, thereby creating a "trickle-up" process. Not only can we teach others about peace but we can suggest alternatives to governments and political candidates that continue to advocate war as the main solution to civil and international conflict. Along the way, some form of world "Planning and Lawmaking" committee probably needs to be established that includes all nations. One nation's problems are problems for all of us. We must learn to see ourselves as one small planet and not be so concerned with our nationality, race or religion. When it comes right down to it we are all human, and we should work together for human rights and justice for all. Shouldn't we?!
Think what we could accomplish if we all worked together to create a true world economy. We could end starvation, reduce poverty, create jobs and work towards common goals such as worldwide justice, peace education, pollution control and planet management.
"We people of the world need to find ways to get to know one another - for then we will recognize that our likenesses are so much grater than our differences, however great our differences may seem. Every cell, every human being, is of equal importance and has work to do in this world" - Peace Pilgrim
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead
"It is more difficult to organize peace than to win a war; but the fruits of victory will be lost if the peace is not well organized." – Aristotle
Peace is not merely the absence of war and hatred (negative peace / cold war) but also the presence of cooperation, compassion and worldwide justice (positive peace / hot peace).
"Those who love peace must learn to organize as well as those who love war." - Martin Luther King, Jr.


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Revoke Obama's Peace Prize


Never in living memory has a Noble Peace Prize recipient gone on to cause more death and misery than Barack Obama, who now puts hits on U.S. citizens. His foreign policy "successes," as rated by his supporters, all involve assassinations - he is The Assassinator. Moammar Gaddfi is a singular victim, but so are thousands of Black Libyans and migrants. His killer drones operate in at least six countries, and his Special Forces in more than 75. Meanwhile, WikiLeak's Julian Assange, who revealed U.S. global crimes, "probably faces a future extradition to the United States when he ought to be honored by the world community." The whole nation of Norway should be mortified.

"The president has presided over one of the most violent eras in the recent history of American international relations."

Every year the Norwegian Nobel Committee bestows its peace prize on esteemed persons and organizations who, "shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses." In general, recipients are deserving of the honor, with such luminaries as Dr. Martin Luther King and organizations such as Doctors Without Borders among the long list of laureates.

Occasionally however, the committee has a lot to answer for, as was the case when Henry Kissinger was the prize recipient in 1973. He was honored for his role in the negotiations which ended the Vietnam war, but by that time Kissinger's actions as National Security Adviser and then Secretary of State had caused the deaths of over one million people in Southeast Asia.

Two years ago, true peace makers were dismayed to learn that Barack Obama was named the 2009 peace prize winner. Giddy at the site of a black man becoming president of the United States, the prize nominators lost any collective wisdom they may have had and awarded the prize for peace to the man who oversees a war machine larger than that of the rest of the nations of the world combined and he has subsequently proven that he has no qualms about utilizing it.

Obama did not disappoint the people around the world who were mystified by the choice. In his award speech he essentially said that he should not have been the person receiving the medal on that day. The unworthy winner spent most of his speech talking about the need for war. Orwell's words, "War is peace," were prescient.

"The prize nominators lost any collective wisdom they may have had and awarded the prize for peace to the man who oversees a war machine larger than that of the rest of the nations of the world combined."

If the Norwegian committee wasn't listening to critics in 2009, they ought to be questioning their decision now. In 2011 alone, Obama ordered the death of Osama bin Laden without any intention of capturing and trying him. Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen, was never given the due process to which he was entitled, but U.S. drones killed him as surely as the Navy SEALS killed bin Laden.

The president's killing spree didn't end with the elder al-Awlaki. His sixteen year old son, Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, also an American citizen, was obliterated by a drone just two weeks after his father's death. Obama claims to have the right to kill American citizens based on secretly drawn up criteria which aside from strategic placed leaks to the media, have not been publicly divulged.

With these killings fresh in the world's consciousness, the horrific end of Moammar Gaddafi was seen the world over. For those with the stomach to watch, videos of his killing and then his dead, mutilated body were viewed all over the world. His end did not come directly at the hands of the United States, but Barack Obama and his NATO allies were surely responsible. They took it upon themselves to decide the fate of an entire nation, and overthrew one government in favor of another. In the process Libyans were subjected to sanctions and bombing incursions which killed an unknown number of them. Both black Libyans and migrants from other African nation were the targets of lynch mob violence at the hands of the "rebels" supported by Barack Obama.

There are many other examples of the peace prize laureate's not so peaceful ways. From lies and threats against Iran to ever escalating wars of terror in Somalia and Pakistan, the president has presided over one of the most violent eras in the recent history of American international relations.

"Obama claims to have the right to kill American citizens based on secretly drawn up criteria which aside from strategic placed leaks to the media, have not been publicly divulged."

The Norwegian committee does not have a mechanism to withdraw an award once it is given, but they should seriously consider doing so. If they are truly people of conscience, they must know that they violated the ethos upon which the prize was based when Obama's name topped the list of nominees.

It is true that combat troops are due to leave Iraq by the end of this year, but only because of an agreement requiring the withdrawal which was signed by George W. Bush. The withdrawal also comes after eight years of terror inflicted upon the Iraqis, and neither man deserves credit for undoing what ought never to have taken place. When the Obama worshippers try to make the case for their useless paeans of praise, it must be pointed out that the Iraqis refused to give the United States military immunity to commit more crimes. The false idol wanted to keep more troops and allow them to continue doing as they pleased, namely killing Iraqis on the flimsiest of whims.

It is curious that people who have genuinely suffered for peace like Mordechai Vanunu have never been honored. Vanunu confirmed that Israel has a secret nuclear stockpile, and that government imprisoned him for eighteen years and continues to keep him under house arrest seven years after his release. Julian Assange and Wikileaks revealed that Iraqi civilians were slaughtered by American troops and that our government told numerous lies to cover up these atrocities. Assange probably faces a future extradition to the United States when he ought to be honored by the world community.

The committee needs to do some serious soul searching and then do what they have never done before. They must inform the president of the United States that he has to return a medal he was given in Oslo in 2009.

Norway, take back that prize!

Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted elsewhere. She maintains a frequently updated blog as well as at http://freedomrider.blogspot.com. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgandaReport.com.




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Nobel Peace Prize goes to women catalysts for peace




OSLO — Liberia's president, a Liberian and a Yemeni activist will receive the Nobel Peace Prize Saturday for demonstrating how women facing war and oppression can shed the mantle of victimhood and lead the way to peace and democracy.

"The period that women appeared as victims has ended. ... Now women they are leaders. They are leaders not only of their country or leaders in their struggle, but leaders in the world," Yemeni "Arab Spring" activist Tawakkol Karman told a news conference in Oslo on the eve of the prize ceremony, which kicks off at 1:00 pm (1200 GMT) in Oslo's city hall.

Karman, who at 32 is the youngest winner of the prize in its 110-year history and the first Arab woman ever to win a Nobel, will receive her award alongside Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Liberian "peace warrior" Leymah Gbowee.

The three will each receive a gold medal, a diploma and a third of the 10 million Swedish kronor ($1.48 million, 1.08 million euros) prize money in recognition of "their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work", Norwegian Nobel Committee president Thorbjoern Jagland said when announcing the prize on October 7.

Gbowee and Sirleaf also hailed the growing empowerment of women in the world at Friday's news conference.

"My selection and the selection of my mother Sirleaf and my sister Tawakkol is a reflection and an affirmation that finally the women of Africa, the women of the world, their roles in peace processes has been acknowledged," said Gbowee, a 39-year-old social worker who led Liberia's women to defy feared warlords and bring an end to the country's bloody 1989-2003 civil war.

Sirleaf meanwhile said she had women to thank for her rise to become Africa's first democratically elected woman president in 2005, only two years after the end of the war that cost 250,000 lives and left civil society in tatters from the systematic use of child soldiers, rape and mutilations.

"I am here in this position because of women ... who decided it was time for a woman to be in charge," said the 73-year-old Liberian president, who last month won a second term.

Her re-election bid was however marred by pre-election violence, an opposition boycott of the polls over fraud allegations and low voter participation.

In a bid to mend Liberia's wounds, Sirleaf recently said a peace and reconciliation initiative would be headed by Gbowee, who is among other things known for her efforts to bring Christian and Muslim women together, inspiring them to wage a sex strike in 2002 and refuse to sleep with their husbands until the violence ended.

Karman too has faced what for many would seem insurmountable odds.

The journalist and mother of three has become a leading representatives of the "Arab Spring" uprisings that have swept through the Middle East with demands of democracy, uprooting autocratic regimes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, and rattling those in Yemen and Syria.

She spent months camped out at Yemen's Change Square -- the heart of the Sanaa uprising -- demanding that President Ali Abdullah Saleh release his 33-year hold on power.

Under mounting pressure from the streets, the veteran leader signed a Gulf-brokered power transfer deal last month, agreeing in principle to step down next February in return for immunity from prosecution.

"I don't prefer to say it is just an Arab Spring," Karman said Friday, insisting the winds of democracy were spreading.

"It is a world spring. The face of dictatorship in the world (will) end."

At a separate ceremony in Stockholm, the winners of the Nobel Prizes for Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, Literature and Economics will also receive their prizes.



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Pakistan Teen Nominated For international Peace Award






A brave girl from Pakistan, who as an 11-year-old wrote about the Taliban banning girls’ schools in the picturesque Swat Valley and missing watching her favourite Indian serial ‘Raja Ki Ayegi Baraat’, has been nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize.






Malala Yousufzai, now 13, was a victim of the ban imposed by the Taliban on education for girls in the troubled Swat Valley over two years ago. She wrote about her pain and anguish in a diary for BBC Urdu online.






Yousufzai, a Class 8 student, beat 93 contestants from 42 countries to be nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize 2011. The prize is due to be announced today and if she wins, she will be given the award by Nobel Peace Laureate Desmond Tutu.






I am very happy to be nominated along with four other brave girls. I am particularly inspired by Michaela who, despite her physical disability, fights for the rights of children with disabilities,” Yousufzai told the media.






Her classmates described her as a go-getter who usually bagged the first position in tests and led others in extra- curricular activities.






Yousufzai said her nomination for the prize had “doubled her courage” as her cause is of great importance.






“Irrespective of whether I win the prize, I will continue my struggle. I hope to set up a vocational institute for the marginalised girls of this area so they can stand on their feet in the future.”






Asked why she started her campaign for girls’ rights, Yousufzai said the violence in Swat had “a huge impact” on her mind. She said she wanted the rest of the world to stop describing the people of Swat as terrorists as they were peaceful and loving.



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HUMAN RIGHTS DAY 2011






FIRST PRIZE ESSAY TO To Cut Away Your Infirmity – Ageism


By Danna Thein Ying Yi Singapore






“The rows of steel corrals were approximately 2 metres wide and 3 metres deep. Brown-stained floors, the original material unrecognizable beneath the coat of faecal matter. A little further on, the steel machines groan and shift through clumsy routines while the acrid tang of iron hangs heavily in the air. The facility is mostly a murky grey, punctuated by fluorescent lighting. Dark red is the only concession to colour; a large amount of which runs carelessly across the floor and lines the long spines of the meat-hooks.”


6 years ago.


“Down the street, just a block away from my place is the grocery store. As I walk over the acrid tang of vegetables pickling in vinegar brine wafts near and oh pancakes – I can hear the liquid batter sizzling on the hot pan and walking nearer I see the edges of the browning rounds are crisping.”


Food has been getting more expensive ever since the BSE (Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy), AF (Avian Influenza), and SF (Swine-origin influenza virus) killed practically all our meat sources. Those that didn‟t die, couldn‟t escape extinction. Veggies are slightly cheaper, anyway, and what with all the meat-murder videos, it wasn‟t too bad a switch.


I usually patronize a pushcart run by an old lady who only speaks Oldiese. She makes the best pancakes – light and fluffy crepes slathered with a generous layer of filling. My old-lady-who-only-speaks-Oldiese sells her pancakes just around the corner, everyday from 6 in the morning to 8 at night.


5 years ago.


“Last year, a third of the trees and all the green grass were burnt away. We ran out of meat soon after because of the viruses. Rationing didn‟t work because there was simply not enough food for the 12 billion people on the planet. This year, things changed.”


In response, “Project Viatus4” was launched by GM Food Corporation. A major conglomerate, they were big enough to have their own private mercenary force. GM was literally the hand with the fingers stuck in every pie. They rounded up everyone past the age of 60, told them they were shifting them to a private retirement community in order to maximise the allocation of resources. No one believed them, but GM only gave you your food ration if you were Viatus (means “life” in Latin)-compliant. Several videos went viral, videos of these old people being shipped off-world or being euthanized and it caused a big sensation. For a while. A year after the launch of Viatus, GM started distributing these freeze-dried food packets. They came in 3 flavours, Asian Delight, Western Fare, and International Mix. The label had the calorie count and allergy information, but never the ingredients. Still, it was food, it was abundant, it satisfied our hunger. Food was back on the store shelves, albeit in only freeze-dried form. But it was food.


My old-lady-who-only-speaks-Oldiese stopped selling her pancakes in June this year. GM had sent out its representatives armed with namelists and identity card scanners in May.


4 years ago.


“We never did find out where the oldies went. By now GM was running everything, from school to the economy and even the Registry of Marriages.”


There was a new law now; that on your 60th birthday you had to move to one of GM‟s retirement communities. You could still write to your family, but few oldies really bothered to. Those that did, tended to get all excited about the „Allocation Program‟ where they could choose the type of community and place they wanted to stay in. A few weeks after, they just stopped writing. Presumably, they were living it up in their “Allocation Lots”.


I always wondered where my old-lady-who-only-speaks-Oldiese went. Mornings started without her pancakes were never quite the same.


3 years ago.


“My name‟s Jenny and I studied Life Science at MIT, graduating with a bachelor‟s degree in Science. I worked at Macdonald‟s, Burger King‟s, and Wendy‟s as a nutrition engineer. For the past 30 years, I‟ve had extensive experience in the research and development of products that cater to a wide range of tastes.”


If only I had the chance to ask the old-lady-who-only-speaks-Oldiese for her pancake recipe.


2 years ago.


“Word got out.”


GM didn‟t even try to pretend anymore. Come 60, it was chop-chop. Then came the farms. They pumped the oldies full of lab-products to make them taste better. I didn‟t say a word. No one did. When you have 12 billion people on the planet and almost no food, you don‟t say no to someone offering you a hot meal.


“Allocation Lots” and “Internment Camps” and “Retirement Communities” – same thing, all. My old-lady-who-only-speaks-Oldiese stopped selling her pancakes in June 5 years ago. I walk to her spot once a year, to remember her. Its the least and the most that I can do.


Last year.


“I always worked from the lab. Too much hands-on experience never sat well with me. Last month, I went to the abattoir for the first time.”


The rows of steel corrals were approximately 2 metres wide and 3 metres deep and the brown-stained floors, oh they were disgusting the original material was unrecognizable beneath the coat of faecal matter and a little further on, the steel machines groan and shift through clumsy routines while the acrid tang of iron hangs heavily in the air and the entire facility is mostly a murky grey, punctuated by fluorescent lighting. Dark red is the only concession to colour. A rich and thick syrup that runs carelessly across the floor and lines the long spines of the meat-hooks.


I should have said something. “Goodbye forever, my old-lady-who-only-speaks-Oldiese.”


Today.


Tomorrow is my birthday. The day I hit the silver sixty. I‟m ready.



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Enhancing peace and growth by balancing diverse energies




She exudes so much positive energy that the minute you meet her you feel light. Wherever the energy comes from, it suits the person that Betina Lagerstrom is.


An award winning Feng Shui master consultant, she has nearly 21 years of study and practice background, making her one of the leading consultants of this art in the world.


Feng Shui, as most of us know, is an ancient Chinese practice about the balance of energies. It reinforces the positive energies around us while cutting out the negative. Though there is a Chinese tag to the practice, Betina clarifies that Feng Shui energy is a universal science.


“The Chinese and Japanese popularised it throughout the world but it is a science that belongs to everybody. The most important thing about Feng Shui is, it is not a religion. It is a science that handles the energy and surroundings and helps enhance productivity, health and contributes to one’s success in life,” explains Betina.


Betina graduated as a master practitioner in 2002 and became a master consultant in 2007; and became a Master Paht Chee consultant in 2010 from Lillian Too Institute of Feng Shui in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a well known institute.


“I first came across this science when I lived in China for a few years. As I investigated (and later studied) I became convinced Feng Shui energy can be used effectively to energise luck for all individuals,” says Betina who has won the first Grand Prize for Feng Shui Paht Chee project case study held at the institute (she studied in) in November 2010.


Although Betina is based in Dubai, her consultation services are available throughout the world. That was the same reason she was in Oman recently too. “To Oman I always come with both work and pleasure,” she says.


Whenever a client comes with a predicament, she does an in-depth analysis of their problems and makes effective Feng Shui recommendations to improve their energy and surroundings.


Surroundings affects


“We can use Feng Shui to balance our energy in all aspects of our life. It is important to understand that energy affects our health, relationship, career and productivity. Energy of our surroundings affects our inner balance and energy to be able to produce more or less.


“So if our surrounding is enhanced in the right way then our health is better and once health improves everything falls in place. That is where Feng Shui helps us. It plays an overriding role in offering corrective measures,” says Betina.


Ask her if it is important to keep “particular objects” for best Feng Shui results, Betina says, “People can put objects that they are culturally or religiously connected to. But I advice people whatever items they want to place, either in their homes or office, it should be put it in the right place according to compass and Feng Shui Energy directions.”


Betina stresses that Feng Shui is not about religion.


“Reading of energy is relevant to all countries. Feng Shui originated in China thousands of years ago, but similar ideas have also existed and been put to practice in other parts of the world such as Mexico, Old Mesopotamia and Egypt,” she says.


Betina agrees that people in this region were not comfortable with the practicing of Feng Shui energy earlier.


“But once they understood that it is a name of science it has become more acceptable for them. Now I travel across the region to do consultations for premises such as offices, homes, clinics beauty saloons, schools, nursery and others. I ensure confidentiality to the clients who approach me,” says the multilingual Betina, who can speak Arabic, English, Swedish, and understands some Chinese languages among others.


“Being multilingual has also helped me interact with my clients with ease,” she says.


Betina explains that her clients have taken happily to Feng Shui is because “it is easy to implement the solutions offered”.


Of course, her job is not as easy because she has to visit the client in their homes or work place, come back and study the surroundings in-depth, at times go through floor plans, consult books, and then offer solutions.


These days, people are approaching her with their floor plans when planning to build new homes or offices.


“Feng Shui focuses on the balance of the five elements fire, earth, metal, water and wood. Colours in Feng Shui are also translated into elements. So it helps if we can incorporate these principles at the planning level,” she says.


Feng Shui courses


Betina has also been conducting personal Feng Shui courses for her clients. Her lively and enthusiastic approach to teaching has attracted various individuals as well as firms.


“I give private tuitions to individuals and architecture companies if they need, but most of my time is taken up by consulting. I plan to concentrate a little bit more on teaching from next year,” she smiles.


To those wanting to master the subject she says. “you need to practice, read and investigate.”


Betina has lost count of the number of people she has helped. Her infinite skills backed by many years of practice have helped many clients attain harmony and balance in all areas of their life.


So what gives her high in being this profession?


“I love the fact that I am helping people live better and positively. I take great satisfaction when people do well with the solutions I have suggested,” she responds in her characteristic sparkling manner.




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One World Lyrics






BY ; Cheetah Girls






hey


yay


love always finds a way


every single time


once we learn to trust our heart


and look inside, it feels like


now, we see who we are


in a different light


we're not so far apart and anything is possible






with all the differences, we're stronger here


now the truth has been discovered, oh yeah


after all we've been through, now it's clear


that all of us, we share






one world, one love, one and all


we're a circle together


one world, one heart, one song


now and forever






everybody celebrate


bring on the party, bring on the dance


time to let the music play


the party never ends


every guy and every girl


stand up and shout, say it loud


everyone around the world, come on and join in






we're gathered here today


everything is right


cause when you give from the heart


the things you do come back to you






there to be strong and brave


not afraid to try


that's when we see who we are


the best of friends and that's when






with all the differences, we're stronger here


now the truth has been discovered, oh yeah


after all we've been through, now it's clear


we're all, right here, to share






one world, one love, one and all


we're a circle together


one world, one heart, one song


now and forever






ooohhhh i never knew that love


would find a way to bring together both of us


now inside, i know it's true


cause what we have is meant to be


you let me be the real me


together here is where we belong






(dancing)






one world, one love, one and all


we're a circle together


one world, one heart, one song


now and forever


one world, one love, one and all


we're a circle together


one world, one heart, one song


now and forever


we're a circle together


now and forever


one world



====================================================================






Peace building 101









Peace building is different from "peacemaking" and "peacekeeping" in that it focuses on creating a long-term culture of peace, rather than solving existing conflicts or preventing old ones from re-occurring. Peace building activities aim at building understanding and tolerance between individuals, communities and societies and establishing new structures of cooperation. Peace building activities range in scale from personal acts of kindness toward others to global inter-governmental programs.


Definitions of Peace building






Peace building is the construction of new environments and new cultures which transform deficient structures and capabilities which unite the strengths of emerging innovations in all pathways of our local-global planetary life. Peace building creates and maintains beneficial conditions for sustainable (life-enhancing) social, economic, political and spiritual development of all peoples.


(Adapted from speech given at UN by PTP and "An Agenda for Peace", a UN Report of the Secretary-General, 1992)


Unlike peace-making and peace-keeping, which are related to warfare and settlement of conflicts, "...the concept of peace-building (is) the construction of a new environment --- the transformation of deficient national structures and capabilities, and --- the strengthening of new democratic institutions."


(Excerpted from "An Agenda for Peace", a UN Report of the Secretary-General in January 1992, which globally and officially recognized the emerging field of peace building.)


"We need to build not only geographical but spiritual bridges between people and strengthen the intellectual, cultural and communication linkages between our societies. (Let us) stand ready to participate in the effort to promote social integration and create a culture of peace."


(From UNESCO PRESS Report at World Summit for Social Development by Director-General UNESCO, Frederico Mayor)


"Where there is peace, there is culture; where there is culture, there is peace."


(Nicholas Roerich)


"Positive creativeness is the fundamental quality of the human spirit. Let us welcome all those who, surmounting personal difficulties, --- propel their spirits to the task of peace Building, thus ensuring a radiant future."


(Nicholas Roerich)






The UN Peace building Commission (PBC)


The Peace building Commission (PBC) is a new intergovernmental advisory body of the United Nations that supports peace efforts in countries emerging from conflict, and is a key addition to the capacity of the international community in the broad peace agenda.


The Peace building Commission plays a unique role in


1. bringing together all of the relevant actors, including international donors, the international financial institutions, national governments, troop contributing countries;


2. marshalling resources and