The Three Islands of Peace

The Island of Thought, the Island of Word, and the Island of Action are the three islands of the peace movement. The Island of Word is the most populated one and the Island of Action the least populated. Lovers of humanity all start from the Island of Thought and as their desire grows for serving others, they move into the Island of Word, and finally, some move onto the Island of Action.

The trip from the Island of Thought to the Island of Word involves some treacherous waters. Nevertheless servants make the trip because of their love for others. Several people make this trip because the trip can be done in a boat and they can carry all their belongings with them, but not so with the trip to the Island of Action. They cannot bring any of their belongings from the Island of Word to the Island of Action because they can reach it only by swimming in waters, which are very cold. Even though servants smell the fragrance coming from the Island of Action, which is actually almost next to the Island of Word, they cannot actually see what is on it unless they land on it. For these reasons, only a few of the servants decide to swim to and live on the island of the greatest beauty, the Island of Action.

The citizens of these three islands are all servants of humanity in their own way because they have set their hearts to serve others.

Anyone, who is in a hurry for anything, in the long run accomplishes nothing. But when someone moves from word into deed, we should not call him/her someone in a hurry, but instead someone who has done the right thing.

There are many who are talking, and we need the talkers as much as we need the doers. We arrive at action after we have finished talking, like we arrive at word after we have finished thinking. But there are only a few servants who decide to land on the third island. When we see performers we must hold them as models and strive to follow their example.

The citizens of the Island of Action always encourage the citizens of the other two islands to migrate to their own island.

The citizens of the Island of Word always encourage the citizens of the Island of Thought to migrate to their island, and they are never afraid that their island will become overpopulated. Since they have never been on the Island of Action they cannot encourage anyone to migrate to it. The best they can do is never discourage anyone from their island from migrating to the Island of Action.

The citizens of the Island of Thought, since they have never been on the other two islands, cannot encourage anyone to migrate to them. The best they can do is never discourage anyone from their island from migrating to the other two islands.


Andreas Toupadakis
Autobiography

I was born in Greece on the beautiful island of Crete, in Rethymno, and I received my primary education while living in the mountainous village of Argiroupoli near the coast. To get an idea of how I lived the first eight years of my life, you can read a little story I wrote about it, which I think you will like at: http://www.swans.com/library/art7/atoup005.html

After receiving my B.S. from the Aristotelian University in Thessaloniki, I began graduate school in the U.S. I received my Ph.D. degree in chemistry from the University of Michigan in 1990, and I have lived in the U.S. for more than 20 years. I did research as a chemist in industry, academia, and two USA national laboratories. I also taught at several colleges and universities in the USA and in Greece.

My resignation from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on January 31, 2000 received media coverage in many places, especially in the US, Japan, and Greece. In protest, I followed my conscience and resigned from a high-salaried permanent position rather than devote my knowledge and energy to the further development of nuclear weapons. Since then, I have been speaking on peace and environmental issues at universities, colleges, and various conferences.

I spoke at the 2000 World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and I saw first hand what most of us do not realize about nuclear weapons. I cried. When will our leaders cry? If you are interested in what I am trying to say to people about our future you can read some of my articles below.

I often remind people of Gandhi’s words, "Be the change you want to see in the world;" of Plato’s words, "Science without virtue is immoral;" and of Socrates’, "Know yourself."


Other articles I wrote:

Dissecting the Meaning of Terrorism
http://www.indybay.org/news/2002/01/113421.php

Greeks Ask: Why such accusations?
http://www.indybay.org/news/2002/01/113176.php

Open Letter to Nobel Peace Prize Winner Joseph Rotblat
http://www.westbynorthwest.org/winter01/peace.new/andreas.openletrNPP.shtml

A Trip to the Garden. -- Swans --
http://www.swans.com/library/art7/atoup005.html

Back to Crete. -- Swans --
http://www.swans.com/library/art7/atoup004.html

Is 'Full Spectrum Dominance' and Pax Americana Compatible? You Decide.
http://globalcomment.com/articles/currentaffairs/andreas/andreas_011.htm

Wisdom and Compassion Need to Become Action. -- Swans --
http://www.swans.com/library/art7/atoup003.html

Questions and Answers on Achieving Peace. -- Swans --
http://www.swans.com/library/art7/atoup002.html

Soldier, Can You Hear? -- Swans --
http://www.swans.com/library/art7/atoup001.html

Living Without the Labs. -- The Albuquerque Tribune --
http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/opinions01/091901_opinions_labs.shtml

The Reasons for My Resignation from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
http://www.globalcomment.com/articles/currentaffairs/andreas/resignation.htm

Immoral Science and my Nuclear Odyssey: The World behind the Security Fence.
http://www.humboldt.edu/~mlh16/Toupadakis.htm

Scientists, Secrets, Corporate Slavery, and the Coming Omnicide
http://www.globalcomment.com/articles/science&technology/andreas/slave1.htm

Better To Give Than To Receive?
http://www.globalcomment.com/articles/society/andreas/give1.htm

Mr. Bush, Soon It Won't Be A Choice. February 17, 2001.
http://globalcomment.com/articles/currentaffairs/andreas/bush.htm

Our Personal Responsibility In The Nuclear Age
http://www.twics.com/~antiatom/ab/e00wc/ei-toupa.htm

An opinion on the use of DU ammunition in Yugoslavia.
http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/duopi.htm

Why Do We Build More?
http://www.nevadadesertexperience.org/shortDesertVoices.htm#toupadakis

Greek Genocide.
http://www.qgazette.com/news/2001/0328/Editorial_Pages/e02.html

There is not safe limit for radiation. (In Greek) -- Ethnos --
http://www.ethnos.gr/pages/2000/jul/25/p040101.htm
http://www.ethnos.gr/pages/2000/jul/25/p060101.htm

Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Energy, And Globalization.
http://www.abolition2000.org/issues/toupadakis080701.html

The Responsibility of Scientists for the Survival of the Human Species
http://www.basicint.org/nuclear/revcon2000/NGOToupadakis.htm

The Social Implications of Scientific Advancement
http://web.mit.edu/thistle/www/v13/1/science.html