By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF KOLKATA, India M. is an ebullient girl, age 10, who ranks near the top of her fourth-grade class and dreams of being a doctor. Yet she, like all of India, is at a turning point, and it looks as if her family may instead sell her to a brothel. Her mother is a […]

By Hasnain Kazim in the Swat Valley, Pakistan For two years, the Taliban terrorized the beautiful Swat Valley in northern Pakistan. Now that Islamabad has regained control, it is trying to resocialize those who supported the Islamist radicals. In “deradicalization” courses, they learn how they can be good Muslims without killing non-believers. Faiz Ali Khan’s hand are shaking […]

I had just finished a weekend retreat on the Sermon on the Mount in Los Angeles when I heard the news that the U.S. had killed Osama bin Laden. Unlike the president, the U.S. military, and the hundreds who cheered and waved flags, I did not celebrate. I do not support or cheer the killing […]

The Vatican has said that a Christian “never rejoices” in the face of someone’s death, even if that person has committed heinous crimes. The comment came as part of a short response to the worldwide news that Osama bin Laden, taken to be a key al-Qaida leader, has been killed by US forces in Pakistan, […]

April 17 2011 at 05:24pm In early 2005, Cairo-based computer engineer Saad Bahaar was trawling the internet when he came across a trio of Egyptian expatriates who advocated the use of non-violent techniques to overthrow strongman Hosni Mubarak. Bahaar, then 32 and interested in politics and how Egypt might change, was intrigued by the idea. […]

The Paradox of Our Media Age—and What to Do About It By Laura S. Washington April 5, 2011 We live in a communications desert. How can this be, you, say? Our 24/7 news cycle delivers information by the millisecond to our living rooms, ears, laptops and cell phones. Every day, Americans are barraged with millions […]

By Terrence McNally, AlterNet Posted on March 18, 2011, Printed on March 29, 2011 http://www.alternet.org/story/150295/ “This is a book of repentance,” Sherry Turkle has said of Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other. “I have been studying computers and people for thirty years. I didn’t see several important things. I […]

By David Noonan – Wednesday, 16 March 2011 The nuclear emergency that is compounding the human tragedy of Japan’s earthquake sends a clear warning to Australia to steer clear of the risks of nuclear energy. The terrible human cost of the earthquake in Japan is being made even worse by radiation escaping from damaged nuclear […]

By Michelle Chen March 16, 2011 While local residents and staff fled the widening danger zone surrounding the crippled reactors, the anonymous Fukushima worker uttered words that could brand him one of the first martyrs of Japan’s monumental triple-catastrophe. He reportedly told an official that he “was not afraid to die, that that was his job.” […]

1.    Take relationships seriously, envisioning yourself in an interconnected web of people, institutions and the environment. 2.    Try to be aware of the impact – potential as well as actual – of your actions on others and the environment. 3.    When your actions negatively impact others, take responsibility by acknowledging and seeking […]

It is a little known fact of history that Muhammad, the founder of the Islamic religion/nation, once sent a letter to the Orthodox Christian monastery of Mount Sinai (Saint Catherine’s) vowing to protect its inhabitants as well as all Christians (the Achtiname of Muhammad, c. AD 628). This was to be in effect forever, and […]

By NOAM CHOMSKY “The Arab world is on fire,” al-Jazeera reported on January 27, while throughout the region, Western allies “are quickly losing their influence.” The shock wave was set in motion by the dramatic uprising in Tunisia that drove out a Western-backed dictator, with reverberations especially in Egypt, where demonstrators overwhelmed a dictator’s brutal […]