Can design change the world? I don't pretend that social and political problems can be solved with graphics or technology, but tools, technologies, and techniques of communication can profoundly alter our relationship to the world, to power, and to each other. This Web log is a collection of notes on the built environment, graphic design, product design, architecture, the decisions we make, and the impact they have. It is an exploration and a work in progress. I’m still working on my definition of “Social Design,” but I’m inclined towards projects that:

• are affordable and sustainable
• are made of renewable materials
• use energy from renewable sources and increase energy efficiency
• reduce consumption and waste, are reusable or recyclable
• are produced and developed locally
• are universally accessible to people of all ages, abilities, and physical conditions
• are developed at the initiative and with the participation of the communities they serve
• facilitate mobility, communication, and participation in civic life
• decentralize political power and facilitate transparency and accountability.

The Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict (Optional Protocol) is meant to safeguard the rights of children under 18 from military recruitment and deployment to war, and to guarantee basic protections to former child soldiers, whether they are seeking refugee protection in the United States or are in U.S.

Report of the American Civil Liberties Union, 2014

About the ACLU

The American Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU”) is a nationwide, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to protecting human rights and civil liberties in the United States. The ACLU is the largest civil liberties organization in the country, with offices in 50 states and over 500,000 members. The ACLU was founded in 1920, largely in response to the curtailment of liberties that accompanied America’s entry into World War I, including the persecution of political dissidents and the denial of due process rights for non-citizens. In the intervening decades, the ACLU has advocated to hold the U.S. government accountable to the rights protected under the U.S. Constitution and other civil and human rights laws. Since the tragic events of September 11, a core priority of the ACLU has been to stem the backlash against human rights in the name of national security.

South Carolina military alternatives such as: money for college, job training/skills, direction in life, discipline, to be part of a team, travel, to serve their country, to get out of trouble with the law, physical training, even citizenship.

South Dakota military alternatives such as: money for college, job training/skills, direction in life, discipline, to be part of a team, travel, to serve their country, to get out of trouble with the law, physical training, even citizenship.

Through articles, images, survey data and interviews, Sowing Seeds: The Militarisation of Youth and How to Counter It documents the seeds of war that are planted in the minds of young people in many different countries. However, it also explores the seeds of resistance to this militarisation that are being sown resiliently and creatively by numerous people. We hope the book will help to disseminate these latter seeds. It is not just a book for peace and antimilitarist activists: it is a book for parents and grandparents, teachers, youth workers, and young people themselves.

A "how to guide" for starting a counter-recruitment project in a high school. For students and non-students.

This is an interview with David, a member of Student Against the War, who organized the counter-recruitment protest. Interview was done as part of the Red X Show on Free Radio Santa Cruz (101.1 FM) Tuesdays, 6-8pm.

Pat Elder of the National Coalition to Protect Student Privacy (StudentPrivacy.org) explains how the U.S. military gets away with requiring students in thousands of U.S. high schools to take a 3-hour career inventory test with the results going straight to recruiters without students' or parents' knowledge.

Total run time: 29:00

Host: David Swanson.

Producer: David Swanson.

Engineer: Christiane Brown.

Music by Duke Ellington..

Syndicated by Pacifica Network.