I was going to save this post to coincide with the release of the remake of “War of the Worlds” on June 29, but I decided I simply couldn’t wait.

The following definitely falls into the “We couldn’t make this up if we tried” category.

For those mediators who are no longer feeling challenged by ho-hum disputes between neighbors, business partners, or warring nations, there’s a course designed with you in mind: Exopolitics 102: Citizen Diplomacy with Extraterrestrials, available through Exopolitics.org, a web site devoted to exploring “the political implications of the extraterrestrial presence”. This 14-week program scheduled for this fall provides a special section on “Applying Principles of ‘Citizen Diplomacy’ to Extraterrestrial Affairs”, which includes a module on “Key Principles of Conflict Resolution, Mediation & Track Two or ‘Citizen’ Diplomacy”. (One can only imagine what the case studies are like.)

Beam me up, Scotty…

More and more people are getting the message that certain fundamental life skills, including conflict resolution, are key to getting and keeping a job.

In support of that point, consider a great story in this morning’s Phoenixville News about the Chester County Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC), a non-profit organization in Pennsylvania dedicated to providing adult literacy and life skills programs. Its goal is to provide training to prepare individuals to gain independence and employment.

OIC recently honored its second graduating class of the Independent Career Action Network (I CAN) Program. This program, aimed at out-of-school youth in the 16-to-21 age bracket, in addition to teaching basic job and learning skills—resume writing, job application strategies, interview techniques, and time management and office technology skills—also teaches conflict resolution skills, along with active listening, problem solving and anger management techniques.

For more on this program or what you can do to support it, please visit the OIC web site.