The peace symbol has been with us since 1958. It was first unveiled at a British “ban-the-bomb” rally on April 4, 1958. It was then wildly used in the 60’s during the Vietnam era as a symbol for peace and as a call to end the war.
Many people recognize the peace symbol, but they don’t know who made it or what the symbol actually represents. The symbol was created by Gerald Holtom, a British graphic designer. The three lines are supposed to represent a man in despair, while the circle is the world.
It’s believed that the symbol became popular, because it’s design is so simple and easy to replicate. Today, it’s become a hieroglyphic for most cultures and is recognized throughout the world as a desire for peace and human rights.
Dr. Michael Araco has an interesting blog entry on FamilyResource.com entitled, Controversy surrounds cancer vaccine Gardasil . Gardasil is the vaccine used to prevent cervical cancer in women. The controversy revolves around what it protects women against (the sexually transmitted human papilloma virus) and that it’s being administered to young girls. Dr. Araco writes:
Headlines such as “girls collapse after cancer vaccine” have been frontpage news in Australia warning of side effects such as dizziness and nausea. One Melbourne based social commentator went so far as to suggest in today’s Herald Sun newspaper that the vaccines rollout is just a revenue raiser for the medical profession and urging parents to keep their children from the queue.
He’s not only frustrated by the FUD (fear, uncertainty and death) being created by opponents of this vaccine, he’s also concerned about the people who need it most.
Ironically the young women who need the vaccine most – those in the poorest nations where cervical cancer diagnosis and treatment is inadequate at best– remain the least likely to receive it with the cost estimated at a prohibitive $300 to $500 a pop. Kudos to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation though, who announced last year $27.7 million funding to research methods of introducing Gardasil in developing countries.
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The author of Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance and The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream , and the current Illinois State Senator recently launched a Presidential Exploratory Committee on his website. This basically means that he intends to run for president and if he won, he would be the first African-American president for the United States.
