Surprise! There should be a big jump in the Daily Peace Index today!

(Update: The PAXi Peace Index number for today, Oct. 13, 2012 is, in fact, “754”. A new high, and a giant leap from yesterday!)

One of the key indicators is a search for “peace” at Google News.

Today, the Google News number is over 60 million! Compare that to the past few days: 10/10 was 4,020,000; 10/11 was 3,790,000; 10/12 was 4,040,000. Also, the highest day yet for the PAXi/Daily Peace Index was on September 11, 2012. On that day, the Google New/peace figure was 20,100,000 and PAXi came out to 337. When we do the figures later today, we will probably have that beat! (Come back to the front page this evening to check on today’s PAXi number!)

In searching for causes of the jump, I reviewed what the top Google News stories about peace were this morning. I think the main story pushing this jump is the Nobel Peace Prize being given to the EU/European Union. Though, I was also happy to see a third party candidate shaking up the peace discourse: On the first page of the Google News results, Roseanne Barr for President on the “Peace and Freedom Party” line shows up!