Tens of thousands of people converged today on the border between Colombia and Venezuela for a free concert called Peace Without Borders, held as a call for peace after the region’s worst diplomatic crisis in decades. The concert featured some of the biggest names in Latin American music, and was organized by Colombian rock star Juanes, who said he wanted the event to ease tensions and promote good relations. It was intended to send a message to the leaders of the two countries to give peace a chance.

"The place we chose is something symbolic. It does not mean that this is intended to promote peace between Colombia and Venezuela only. The border means the border of all countries," explained Juanes. "It would have been much more practical and simple to do it in a city, but the border is a symbol of peace between all countries. And this message is for everyone, all the countries in Latin America and the U.S. as well."

The artists and many of the attendees dressed in white in a show of cross-national solidarity. The concert took place on the Simon Bolivar bridge linking Cucuta, Colombia, and San Antonio del Tachira, Venezuela, surrounded by white flags. Children’s choruses from both countries started the concert, with each artist performing three songs and then joining together for several songs in the finale.

"It’s not that a song is going to change people. But music becomes an excuse to send a message, that we’re all here together building peace, that we are here as citizens and this is what we want, and we have to be heard. I think the governments have to understand and listen. We don’t want to get involved in conflicts between people," said Juanes.

"Peace is the most important thing we have and we have to fight for it."

It is inspiring how quickly the symbol created for nuclear disarmament has spread around the world as the "peace symbol", becoming one of the most recognized symbols on earth. It seems to show a huge demand for expressions of peace, especially after the World Wars. People everywhere identify with the concept of peace, and feel a need to express that concept universally. There has never been that desire to have a symbol for war, which seems to reflect people's basic preference for peace.

The "peace symbol" was designed on February 21, 1958 by Gerald Holtom in England. The symbol is the composite semaphore signal of flags for the letters "N" and "D" standing for Nuclear Disarmament ("N" is two flags held down at a 45 degree angle, and "D" is one flag up and one flag down). The symbol was introduced at the Aldermaston March, the first action of the newly formed Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). The "Disarmament Symbol" made its public debut on April 4, 1958, in front of 5,000 people gathered in London to show support for the Ban the Bomb movement.

They came to demonstrate against Britain's first hydrogen bomb tests. The Cold War was in full swing and Britain had just carried out its first hydrogen bomb test at Christmas Island in the Pacific. They assembled at Trafalgar Square, and then thousands walked to the town of Aldermaston, site of an atomic weapons research plant being built.

It was a very socially mixed, musical affair. Musicians kept up the marchers' spirits by playing their instruments, a key role in this historic event. Over the next four days, the marchers braved rain and snow to march over 50 miles. By the time they reached Aldermaston, they had grown to a procession of marchers a mile long.

Gerald Holtom was a professional artist and graduate of the Royal College of Arts in London. He was one of many intellectuals in Britain during the 1950's who were deeply disturbed by witnessing the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and then watching in disbelief as their own government, despite being in a time of post-war material hardship, raced to join the nuclear club.

The peace symbol was first drawn on home-made banners and ceramic badges. Although the symbol was originally designed only as a sign for nuclear disarmament, it quickly spread around the world and within ten years had become the international symbol of peace. It has deliberately never been copyrighted. Throughout the years it has taken on many different meanings, including freedom and unity.

Millions of people around the world, regardless of race or religious beliefs, have looked to the peace sign to unite them. It has become an enduring cultural icon. It is probably the most commonly used non-religious symbol of hope in the world, instantly recognized anywhere as the universal sign for peace. Quite an accomplishment for an image which, instead of being based on some famous existing object, was created from scratch to represent a common idea.

Unfortunately, after 50 years we live in a world no closer to nuclear disarmament than it was in 1958. In fact, it seems we are farther away than ever before. Although the world is currently filled with wars, the peace symbol is a reminder of how much people long for peace.

It has been exactly one week since the horrible news of a gas and oil spill into the San Francisco Bay. The media tells us that 58 thousand gallons poured out of a fully loaded container ship bound for Korea when it clipped the middle tower of the western Bay Bridge span. We've all heard the finger pointing of blame in the news. We've all seen the impact on wildlife, especially seabirds. We all know that oil and water don't mix. It only took a day before the oil slick contaminated the shoreline around the middle of the bay, and then seeped out to the beaches on the Pacific coast.

Those who know me in San Francisco know how much I like to spend my afternoons down at the beach when itís a sunny "Baker Day". We get about 80 per year. Baker Beach is located only 20 short city blocks away from my home / office. I ride my bike down there 95% of the time. Being down on Baker can be a vibrant social scene; a gymnasium; a place to relax, be creative or read. Most days it resembles a fun vacation day, like at Club Med. It is also a wildlife refuge. Naturally, this catastrophe became an issue dear to my heart. Being so near the impact zone, I had to go down there myself and see the damage.

On Friday, I arrived solo and stepped under the yellow "CAUTION!" tape onto an empty beach. It was bizarre to walk completely alone to the north Baker hangout spot. As soon as I reached the surf I saw small globules of oil collected at the high tide mark. The oil balls were thick, chunky and shiny. Some seabirds were floating near the wave break or running around on the beach looking for food. I saw a few oil blemishes on their feathers. The scene - all alone in a toxic zone on a hot day - was very apocalyptical. It only took 10 minutes until I was spotted laying low at our duney site. Fellow beach pal Heinz met me at the steps to the bike rack just as I was being escorted out by a national park security guard. We sat above the beach closure sign on a beach dune overlook. From our perch we could see the full length of the beach both ways. We watched as the guard swooped out in his ATV to intercept other trespassers. With a heavy heart we spotted three bottlenose dolphins languishing about 20 meters offshore, as a slick of oil sludge drifted by on calm seas. They seemed to be resting, or perhaps recovering. The toxic shock must be a tremendous strain on all the wildlife of the Bay Area.

Today was another return day, except there was fog lingering on the coast, the kind you donít see until you are just about to drop the hill down to Baker. I decided to ride on because I told Meg and Heinz I'd meet them at our beach spot if we could get in, or at our Friday beach dune overlook. When I got there I saw the beach was still closed so I went to the overlook. Instead of a security guard patrolling the beach, two lines of a dozen white-suited toxic clean up crews slowly combed the beach. Meg and Heinz arrived with Tom, another fellow Baker aficionado. As we watched the clean up crew scour the beach a sea gull landed near us, hoping for a handout. The gull had oil splotches all over its body, with sizeable amounts on its head and webbed feet. We fed the hungry victim. The sight of the workers and the grimy bird set off an impassioned discussion between the four of us.

Heinz thought if a dolphin washed ashore dead, the authorities would try to get it out unseen without unwanted attention. Tom lamented on the breakdown of communications and the late containment response. He also pointed out that our spill was small compared to yesterdayís spill in the Black Sea, or the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska, 200 times bigger. Meg cried at the thought of all the suffering animals. For whatever it was worth, I apologized to the tainted gull below my breath.

If there can be any positive outcome to the 2007 oil spill, maybe the people of the Bay Area will become horrified enough to demand change. Perhaps as outraged and conscious people we can visualize phasing out oil and gas ASAP. In my opinion, the oil companies need to go. Battling them is David vs. Goliath. They are dangerous, unnecessary, and make profit-minded decisions without public oversight. They have been buying up alternative energy patents for decades. They quashed Tesla's free energy technology a century ago. They are also the largest corporations on the planet, some even rivaling the domestic economies of small countries (Exxon/Mobil passed Uruguay early in 2007). Then there is the damage done to the atmosphere by allowing these companies to direct our energy policies by prioritizing carbon-emitting fuels. I place my blame on the oil companies, more than the reckless sea captain or the late cleanup responders. Shame on you oil executives (and your lawyers) for polluting our world, for lobbying politicians to promote your agenda, all in the name of profit. You've not only taken away my favorite place, but much worse, you poisoned the bay.

U.N. NAMES DANIEL BARENBOIM AS AN AMBASSADOR FOR PEACE

Marking the International Day of Peace, September 21, the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon named Daniel Barenboim as a Messenger of Peace to help raise global awareness of the world body's work and ideals.

Others named as Messengers of Peace were the Brazilian author Paulo Coelho, the Japanese-American violinist Midori Goto and Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein of Jordan, First Lady of Dubai, who is the first Arab woman to compete in equestrian events at the continental, world and Olympic levels. They join existing Messengers of Peace primatologist Jane Goodall, actor Michael Douglas, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Eli Wiesel, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.

On his appointment, Barenboim said, "Music teaches us to express ourselves to the fullest whilst simultaneously listening to the other."

Daniel Barenboim has long used music to create peace. He was born in Argentina and raised in Israel and lived in Europe and America. In 1999, he and Palestinian-born writer and Columbia University professor Edward Said founded the West-Eastern Divan Workshop in the German city of Weimar. It involved talented young musicians between the ages of 14 and 25 from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia and Israel. The idea was that they would come together to make music on neutral ground with the guidance of some of the world's best musicians. Mr. Barenboim chose two concertmasters for the orchestra, an Israeli and a Lebanese. There were some tense moments among the young players at first, but the young musicians worked and played in increasing harmony. It has since found a permanent home in Seville, Spain, where it has been based since 2002.

Edward Said passed away in 2003 but his partnership with Daniel Barenboim lives on through the West-Eastern Divan Workshop and Orchestra and through the Barenboim-Said Foundation, which promotes music and cooperation through projects targeted at young Arabs and Israelis.

At one of our How Weird Street Faire wrap-up meetings we discussed the idea of adding a comedy stage for the next How Weird. All humor. All the time. For the whole day. The SF-based comedy group "Killing My Lobster" has tentatively agreed to be a part of it.

It is my belief, along with some of the directors of WPTTO, that indeed, laughter can inspire peace. It should be a part of our educational charter to inspire laughter. Like technology, the moods of people can determine their outlook on life. After all, going to war is no laughing matter. In fact, all wars were created in very serious and somber moods.

This blog entry was inspired today when I visited the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center in Jamestown, NY whose mission "is to preserve and celebrate the legacy of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz and enrich the world through the healing powers of love and laughter."

One venture of the center is a program called the "Legacy of Laughter" seminars, or LOLs: panel discussions, with audience interaction, that explore and celebrate the inestimable value of laughter. These are moderated by Lucie Arnaz, and panelists include those who create or perform comedy, who use it in their work, or who have been healed by it. One benifactor of the center claims she was cured of cancer by watching "I Love Lucy" reruns!

Hey, if it's possible to laugh our way out of a serious illness, why don't we try it for other things that have gone wrong in the world? As they say, laughter is the best medicine!

Yusuf Islam, the former Cat Stevens, has quietly returned to music with a new album and concerts. Thirty years after the folk singer converted to Islam, changed his name and dropped out of music, calling it un-Islamic, he has picked up the guitar once more. He has reconciled pop music with his faith and wants to use it to spread a message of peace.

"When I come out now, I sound quite similar. For some people, itís a welcome return to the sound of my voice and my music," says Islam, who as Cat Stevens sold 60 million albums with songs like "Wild World" and "Peace Train".

He said there is interest in his music now because the "tremendous conflicts that have been created by extremists" have created a longing for the peaceful sounds and positive messages of his songs, old and new.

Ten students who won in the recently concluded on-the-spot painting and essay-writing contests in Pasay City received their awards and prizes last Dec. 11. The contests were held at the Alleviation Center, 822 Dominguez St., Malibay, Pasay City last Dec. 8. The competitions which was originally slated last November 30 was postponed due to super typhoon Reming.

Elementary pupils competed in the painting contest, while high school students competed in the essay-writing contest. Both competitions tackled the theme "Peace as Seen in the Hearts and Minds of the Pasay Youth".

The project was jointly launched by the Centre for P.E.A.C.E., DepEd-NCR, Pasay Division of Schools, Rotary Club of Masambong ng Quezon City and the Rotary Club of Illustrado together with other Pasay Rotary clubs, and the Office Pasay Congresswoman Connie Dy.

The winning contestants received the Connie Dy Peace Prizes of P5,000 for the 1st place; P3,000 for 2nd place; P2,000 for 3rd place and P1,000 each for the 4th and 5th placers. These separately applied to winners in both the painting and essay-writing contests. The schools of the two 1st placers each received an audio-visual showcase.

The winners, together with their parents, teachers and principals were honored in fitting ceremonies last Monday (Dec. 11) between 8-11 in the evening at the Forum Hall, Airport Casino, Paranaque City.

Kapayapaan sa puso at diwa ng kabataang Pasay (peace as seen in the hearts and minds of the Pasay youth) represents the second leg in implementing the agreement between DepEd and the Centre for P.E.A.C.E. in promoting a culture of peace among the ranks of students nationwide. The first successfully launching was the Kapayapaan sa puso at diwa ng kabataang Kyusi (peace as seen in the hearts and minds of the Quezon City youth) last September, which was recognized as a part of the UN-mandated peace celebrations worldwide. It was adopted by the Rotary Club of Masambong in Quezon City which in turn rallies the support of other Rotary clubs in spreading peace consciousness among the youth in their respective jurisdictions.