Falling Whistles gives a small window into our world’s largest war. Originally just a journal written about boys sent to the frontlines of war armed with only a whistle, readers forwarded it with the same kind of urgency with which it was written and demanded to know – what can we do? The Falling Whistles campaign launched with a simple response - make their weapon your voice and be a whistleblower for peace in Congo. Falling Whistles asks that people read the story and buy the whistle. Proceeds will help restore the lives of war-affected kids.
FW Culinary Intern Arianna here, ready to serve up a healthy dose of Food for Thought. What’s on the menu tonight, you ask? A heaping helping of peas.
Meet Jeremy Gilley. If Falling Whistles is crazy to try to end the longest war in history, then Jeremy Gilley is “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” insane. His goal: one day of peace. Check out his inspirational July 2011 Ted Talk. Luckily, us FWinters love crazy and hopefully you do too, so join us in signing Jeremy’s petition, Peace One Day.
I’m a big fan of planning ahead, so grab your calendar and join me in marking your menus— September 21, 2011: world peas.
Jeremy Gilley, your friends at Falling Whistles salute you!
Critics argued that Jeremy Gilley’s campaign, “Peace One Day”, would merely be a day of symbolism. They asked, “What difference can one day really make?” To that, Jude Law, Peace One Day Ambassador, replied, “The difference is life or death.”
Here are the facts:
On September 7, 2001, the United Nations officially proclaimed September 21st to be an international day of ceasefire, conflict, and war; a world wide truce.
In the past, Afghanistan reported that the day of peace has lowered the level of violence by 70%.
The Taliban has participated and even agreed to not interfere with health workers involved in the campaign.
Several other countries have reported lower levels of domestic violence on the day of peace.
Jeremy Gilley hoped his 2011 campaign would be bigger than it ever had been before. He toiled to get the online community (Twitter, Facebook), grassroots, celebrities, the UN, and governments from all over the world to be a part of the largest reduction of violence the world had ever seen.
This September 21st, thousands of people around the world united against violence as they tweeted in outrage as a man on death row sat down, forgoing his final meal, to spend his last moments with loved ones.
After responding to hundreds of shipping emails, I can spew courteous thank you’s like it’s my day job. When explaining the Falling Whistles’ mission statement I find myself mindlessly saying “Thanks for supporting our cause” and I have to take a step back to realize that I’m casually talking about one of the deadliest conflicts in the world.
During a recent conversation, a friend said to me, “Congo is not a cause, Congo is my home. It is my life.” She went on to explain that she felt as though “cause” didn’t do justice in describing something as immense as the war in Congo. Cause, she said, is a word too often thrown around. It’s like jumping on the band wagon, which begs the question, when do you jump off?
In a recent Op-Ed about Steve Jobs in The New York Times, “Against Nostalgia”, Mike Daisey ended his brutal analysis by stating, “Jobs always believed passionately in brutal honesty, and the truth is rarely kind. With his death, the serious work to do the things he has failed to do will fall to all of us: the rebels, the misfits, the crazy ones who think they can change the world.” I’m a little biased, I deeply admire Steve Job’s business and marketing strategy, but was that not an unfairly spiteful Op-Ed?
Daisey is correct that Apple is not at the forefront of fair labor (Apple is one of the many electronic companies guilty of exploiting Congo for resources), but harping on the negatives is unnecessary and does not change the fact that Steve Jobs is one of the most influential figures for the rising workforce that will be running the world in the years to come. As one of the “crazy ones who think they can change the world”, I ask why waste time disparaging flaws when we should look at criticism as a platform on which to improve?
In 2005, Steve Jobs gave a speech called “How to Live Your Life Before You Die” at the Stanford University graduation ceremony. He recounts dropping out of college, getting fired from his own company, and being diagnosed with cancer, and how those pivotal moments shaped his outlook on life. This is how we should remember Steve Jobs, not just as the man behind the Apple, or the innovative wizard of our time, but as a man who found opportunities in every nook and cranny and didn’t just see the world as it is, but how it could be.
Jobs is right, the future does require sacrifice and boldness, so who is willing to gamble on failure and step up to the plate? Batter up.
And now, as a nod to Steve Jobs, I urge you, my friends, to stay hungry, stay foolish.
“Welcome to Bologna on Capital Gold for England versus San Marino with Tennent’s Pilsner, brewed with Czechoslovakian yeast for that extra Pilsner taste and England are one down.”
Rewind to November 16, 1993, Bologna, Italy.
It’s the qualifying match for the World Cup. England versus San Marino. England kicks off the game with a back pass and suddenly BAM, interception by forward David Gualtieri. Mere seconds later, the score is 1-0 to San Marino.
Within 8.3 seconds, San Marino scored, setting the record for the fastest goal ever scored in a qualifying match. It happened so fast that it memorably caughtJonathanPearce, the sports announcer, mid sentence.
That would be the first and last goal scored by San Marino that day as San Marino would later go on to lose 7-1 to England. Despite the loss, Gualtieri’s goal would go on to be internationally celebrated and a national hero to Scotland.
Fast forward to 2009 in the Czech Republic.
Blesk, a Czech tabloid, makes a proposition. If San Marino beat Slovenia in the qualify match for the 2010 World Cup, the Czech Republic would reward the team with $55,000 or “all the beer its players could drink” (The New York Times, 2011).
San Marino lost 3-0. Said San Marino coach Giampaolo Mazza, “I knew it was beer I would never drink.”
The world’s population has reached (and now surpassed) seven billion. We may not have had a hand at creating the seven billionth human being (it’s also nearly impossible to pin point the exact baby), but let us all welcome this new joy into our family (homonidae).
When the one billionth song was downloaded by Alex Ostrovsky (“Speed of Sound” by Coldplay), he was given ten iPods, an iMac, and a $10,000 music gift card. Not to mention, a scholarship to Julliard was established in his name.
Critics argued that Jeremy Gilley’s campaign, 
