This holiday season is an opportunity to appreciate, despite the trials and turmoil that sometimes dominate us, the goodness of those in our lives. Critical thinking is an important element of a complete life, but when embraced too fully on a personal level it risks turning us into cynics. The individual members of our family, our friends, the folks we work with, acquaintances and neighbors are each as incomplete, frail, and fraught with occasional despair as we are. Like us, they are too often prone to the sharp word, the thoughtless gesture, to being consumed with their own interior dialogue . . .

We received this in the email today. I dunno, it looks real enough ;)   "From the desk of the former Vice President, Dick Cheney The Honorable Paul Anders Ogren 1055 Capistrano Court San Luis Obispo, CA 93405 October 31, 2011 Dear Paul (if I may be so presumptuous): As you know, Paul, I am an expert in making something out of nothing – like George W. and a gentle village into an awe-inspiring fireball. And I see a business opportunity when I see it. So I thank you, Paul, and I wholeheartedly endorse your efforts. You obviously need resources to manufacture your pro . . .

Approximately 2,700 years ago God sent a message to humanity, a message calling for the peaceful unity of men and women. It was also, incidentally, the first recorded call for mankind to start recycling the old into the new, the violent into the sublime. God spoke through his Prophet Isaiah, and his/her comments, though largely ignored by the governments of man, still resonate in our world: "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks: Nation shall not take up sword against nation; they shall never again know war." The Great Isaiah Scroll . . .

Fifty years ago today - September 22, 1961 - the United States Congress passed the Peace Corps Act, establishing one of the most remarkable programs in U.S. History. The Peace Corp was the brainchild of President John F. Kennedy, who understood the needs of the world's poor, and believed that personal American generosity and love could make a difference. The Peace Corps is an independent government agency that provides Volunteers for countries requesting assistance throughout our world. The average Peace Corps Volunteer is 28 years of age. In the past fifty years more than 200,000 Ameri . . .

Today, September 21, is set aside as "World Peace Day," recognized by the United Nations and even by some of the many forces working to kill people in wars throughout our world. The question occurs: if it makes sense - and obviously it does -  to avoid killing each other today, why not tomorrow too? Or for that matter any and every other day of the year? Peace is a big idea with a million small applications. It is created by simple good acts done by simple, regular folks. While we see clearly the absence of peace in Iraq, Afghanistan, and so many other battlegrounds on our eart . . .

The co-founder of From War to Peace, Sandee Bailey Gardebring Ogren, died on July 20, 2010, exactly a year ago. Sandee loved many people, and was well loved in return. She loved to sit in her garden amongst her friends and family, at home with her flowers, enjoying their scent and beauty, at peace with her world. On the day of Sandee's funeral we planted a Bruggmansia in our backyard in San Luis Obispo, California in her honor.  It was a tree grown from seed by her father in law, Buddy Ogren, who preceded Sandee in death on Christmas day in 2008.  Sandee and Buddy were each remarkable . . .

Well, here at From War To Peace, We are beaming with pride. We are about to launch one our most prized designs; the Beers Not Bombs bottle opener. And with that, comes an inated curiosity. What did beer used to mean to our society?  In celebration of new arrival, I thought I would give you ten fun facts about beer you might not know. Why did the Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock rather than push on to Virginia, as originally intended? They had run out of beer, of course. As the diary of one Mayflower passenger reads, “We could not now take time for further search or considerati . . .

By the year 2030, as some of you may know, it is projected that this world that we call home will be in a state of crisis and catastrophe in resource. It is anticipated that we will have over 8 billion people inhabiting the planet, putting even more pressure on our already strained food and water supply. Just this morning, it was announced that the unemployment rate in America is the worst it's been since the great depression. It is with these two factors in mind that I relay a disheartening tale about a group that has come under the whip of consequence of ridiculous and unnecessary pros . . .

When President Dwight Eisenhower gave his farewell address to the nation on January 17, 1961, few could have anticipated that his words would resonate so brilliantly - and so disastrously - fifty years later. "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence ...... by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. "We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and know . . .

Well, the radioactive Honeywell Saga continues. A new plant is under construction in Kansas City, MO and anti-nuclear group is pushing for Kansas City residents to have the right to vote on what the manufacturer can produce. The new billion-dollar manufacturing plant currently being built by Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies is to be used primarily for producing nuclear weapons systems parts. The activist disarmament group has been gathering signatures for a petition to get the proposed initiative on the ballot in November. The group's aim is to give KS residents . . .