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The Rotary Peace and Conflict Studies Program

Strengthing Peacemakers Around the World    Read More →

On Facts

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (1927-2003) Durable settlements rest on a foundation of facts. Your opinion of the opposing party will get you into court, and mediation, but remember that the quality of your facts will ensure the quality of your settlement, and plan accordingly.  Read More →

In Flanders Fields, on Veterans Day

In Flanders Fields By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were... [Read more]

How to Read the Constitution

Let me put it this way; there are really only two ways to interpret the Constitution — try to discern as best we can what the framers intended or make it up. No matter how ingenious, imaginative or artfully put, unless interpretive methodologies are tied to the original intent of the framers, they have no more basis in the Constitution than the... [Read more]

Politics, mediation, war and peace

 War is not an independent phenomenon, but the continuation of politics by different means.  Karl (Carl) von Clausewitz (1780-1831)  The statement that ‘war is a continuation of politics by other means’ is important not because Clausewitz said it but because it reflects a fundamental reality. Christopher Bassford, Clausewitz... [Read more]

Frank Sinatra - The House I Live In (1945)

  Ten minutes well spent, remembering the house we live in. Hat Tip to Mia Farrow, October 8, 2008.    Read More →

9/11 Never Forget

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.  If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore... [Read more]

“Travesty of Justice”?

The November 2007 "confidential means confidential" post on this site includes a link to attorney Michael Young’s web page, which chronicles the consequences of breaching mediation confidentiality in the Florida case of Doe, et al vs. Joseph R. Francis et al..  "Girls Gone Wild" founder and defendant Joseph Francis has... [Read more]

Study Finds Settling Is Better Than Going to Trial

 A study of 2,054 cases that went to trial from 2002 to 2005, concludes that parties can, and more often due, win without fighting. “The lesson for plaintiffs is, in the vast majority of cases, they are perceiving the defendant’s offer to be half a loaf when in fact it is an entire loaf or more,” said Randall L. Kiser, a co-author... [Read more]

Peace is Possible - Rotary International

Rotary Centers for International Studies in peace and conflict resolution  Read More →

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