Mindapples

Check out the Mindapples Website. It's been started by a friend of mine, and it's a really simple and generous idea that seems to be taking off.

"Mindapples is a social movement to promote individual self-management of mental wellbeing. The original “5-a-day” campaign encouraged people to take care of their physical health through simple daily activities, and we want to do the same thing for mental health. We aim to create a stigma-free public debate about mental wellbeing, simply by asking everybody the question: “What’s your five-a-day?”"

Anticraft

http://www.theanticraft.com/antifesto.htm

"We were deep in the clutches of a weeklong absinthe binge when the Divine Hand of Brilliance touched us in an inappropriate place. When this vision came, we knew we must create a haven for all the sinister crafters of the world. No more would we be cowed into silence by cheerful scrapbook stickers. Never again would we be forced to gleefully execute a sweater of intarsia puppies. The green fairy had blessed us with an exotic vision we were powerless to deny."

(thanks, Sharon)

Nonviolence weekend

I spent the weekend at a nonviolence workshop hosted by the Irish Network for Nonviolent Action Training and Education (INNATE) and Kilcranny House. The weekend took place at Kilcranny and was led by Joanne Sheehan, an experienced veteran of non-violent activism in the United States. It was my first extended encounter with people who work for the cause of nonviolence, and it was a great opportunity to meet new people with similar approaches to life and relationship. There were some things I loved about the weekend, and some things that gave me pause for thought, but I think I'll need to mull them over before putting anything in print ... :)

Before I went on the weekend someone had emailed me asking what I thought the difference was between an approach of nonviolence and an approach of gentleness. I think this weekend has really helped me to make some sense of what my response might be to that. Again, I'll need to mull it over for a while before manifesting anything on the blog ... :)

Alcohol and Violence: No Simple Solutions

Press release from the The International Center for Alcohol Policies (ICAP).

WASHINGTON, DC, 2 SEPTEMBER 2008

The International Center for Alcohol Policies announces the release of, “Alcohol and Violence: Exploring Patterns and Responses,” a report that discusses the association between alcohol and violence.

[The report can be read here]

Given that there is no simple causative relationship between alcohol consumption and violence, the report approaches this complex topic through the disciplines of anthropology, clinical psychology, human rights law, gender, and public health.

Patterns of violence at the societal level are explored in “Sociocultural Factors that Foster or Inhibit Alcohol-related Violence” and at the individual level in “The Role of Drinking Patterns and Acute Intoxication in Violent Interpersonal Behaviors.”

“Working with Culture to Prevent Violence and Reckless Drinking” looks at alcohol and violence from a gender perspective and identifies strategies used to respond to analogous social problems. This paper offers some promising opportunities for future action.

“Practical Responses: Communications Guidelines for First Responders in Cases of Alcohol-related Violence” presents international guidelines for enhanced communication among first responders (police, emergency room staff, social workders) to alcohol-related violence, particularly between the health and law enforcement sectors.

ICAP has been engaged in the relationship between alcohol and violence since 1998, including a literature review and a report on violence in licensed premises. The organization has engaged is discussions with a variety of international bodies, including the World Bank, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW), the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the International Center for the Prevention of Crime, and the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women. In 2005, the World Bank hosted a meeting organized by ICAP and co-chaired by UNIFEM to discuss how best to move forward on the issue through some form of public-private cooperation. This report is a result of ongoing international collaboration to contribute to greater international understanding on the intersection between alcohol and violence.