36 Articles

Saturday, November 21, 2009
Another Opportunity to Vote with Your Fork
Finding important news about how our food is grown or raised in the newspaper can be difficult. Enter Nicolette Hahn Niman and her new book, The Righteous Porkchop.

Monday, November 9, 2009
20th Anniversary of the Opening of the Berlin Wall
The opening of the Berlin Wall twenty years ago today was not only an accident but it was a dramatic dénoument to a number of events that led to the end of the Cold War. The process of dismantling the Eastern Bloc, however, was accelerated because of the collective failure of nerve by Communist Party elites who didn't know what to do when the Soviet Union was not there to protect them anymore.

Saturday, October 31, 2009
Do We Know What We're Doing in Afghanistan?
(6 comments) We've spent over eight years in Afghanistan with no prospect of leaving, no clear mission and no consistent strategy. Yet, we are poised to send more soldiers and pour billions more dollars into a place that has been called the “graveyard of empires.”

Sunday, October 25, 2009
Who Ya Gonna Call in an Environmental Disaster?
(1 comments) Nine out of ten Americans now live in places of significant risk due to climate change according to FEMA. A recent UN report concludes that the whole world is at risk due to climate change, deteriorating ecosystems and the expansion of poverty. FEMA's new director, Craig Fugate, plans to handle the increased risk of disaster in the US by relying on the American public.

Sunday, October 18, 2009
These Weeds Aren't Made for Whacking
There's a lot more to know about weeds than most people expect. In fact, there are quite a few surprises there if you become familiar with the plant life growing in an uncultivated field—especially on a vacant city lot.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009
September 11 – An Opportunity to Evolve Our Humanity
(3 comments) We have still not faced the meaning or implications of 9/11 and this article suggests some reasons why. It also presents some actions peacemakers can take to remedy this avoidance.

Saturday, September 5, 2009
Water, Water—Not Everywhere
This article discusses the water shortages in the arid and semi-arid West and the environmental effects they bring to the region and the whole country. Unfortunately, most Americans are unaware of these problems and most Westerners seem to be in denial of them.

Thursday, August 6, 2009
The Oak Ridge Conundrum on War and Peace
(5 comments) In commemoration of Hiroshima Day, this article discusses the tensions and legacies Oak Ridgers face as "the city that made the atom bomb."

Saturday, August 1, 2009
Gardening Changes Fast Food Addict’s Life
A college senior and fast-food aficionado confronts environmental issues through urban gardening and learns the importance of "real" food.

Monday, June 15, 2009
Urban Agriculture as a Career Path
(1 comments) Tom Howe, 19, a freshman at Wayne State University, wants to be an urban farmer. While this may seem an unusual career goal for a young man of the twenty-first century, let alone one from an upscale middle class suburb of Detroit, Howe is emblematic of a national trend of young people looking for sustainable ways to make a difference in their world.

Friday, May 29, 2009
Who Wants to Be George W. Bush?
(2 comments) Private citizen George W. Bush poked his head out from his quiet, exclusive Dallas neighborhood last night to give his first major speech since leaving office. Quite a performance in revisionist history!

Monday, May 18, 2009
Back to the 'Old Normal' of Domesticity
(3 comments) My resolve to learn how to garden wasn't just a notion for a new pastime or a move toward hip liberalism. Rather, it was my response to global warming and in particular, the depletion of fossil fuels, which has a direct effect on our food system.

Thursday, April 2, 2009
It's Human Security, Stupid, Not National Security
(2 comments) "Human security" is a more effective strategy for world peace than "national security," which is focused on building "the biggest, most muscular missiles and defense in the world," says Jody Williams. She received the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for her work in banning landmines.

Thursday, March 19, 2009
Our National Report Card on War
(3 comments) Today marks six years since the start of the Iraq War and six years and five months since troops invaded Afghanistan. So, how are we doing?

Sunday, March 15, 2009
Hot, Flat and Bothered
(2 comments) Why is America willing to gamble on the possibility that we have more time rather than less time to take care of climate change but to curb our dependence on oil to fuel our economy?

Thursday, February 5, 2009
Opportunity Knocks When It Comes to a Local Food Economy
(1 comments) Manufacturing states like Michigan that are losing blue collar jobs could revitalize their economies by joining the local food movement.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Inauguration Day 2009
(3 comments) To fully appreciate the new era we are entering with the inauguration of Barack Obama, let us reflect on where we have come from.

Sunday, January 18, 2009
Down in the Dumps
(1 comments) I'm afraid I didn't share the same reaction Nicholas Kristof did after he visited a garbage dump in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where the poorest of the poor live. Nor did I come to the same conclusion as he did in believing that sweatshops are an alternative for employment.

Friday, December 5, 2008
The Black Swan Visits the Land of Smiles
(1 comments) Here is a reflection on Thailand's recent airport closings and their effect on the country and the world using Nassim Taleb's Black Swan principle.

Sunday, October 19, 2008
Will Catholics Move On or Will They Cave to Same-O, Same-O?
(3 comments) Sarah Palin's large family, her cultural conservativism and her Down syndrome child that she chose not to abort clicked well among regular, church-going Catholics, especially women who were looking for someone who represented them. The question remains: how will the white, non-regular church-going Catholics respond?

Tuesday, August 19, 2008
A Place Where Beauty Matters
(1 comments) Beauty DOES make a difference in people's lives as Stratford, Ontario, illustrates.

Sunday, July 20, 2008
You Say You Want a Revolution?
(9 comments) The next American revolution will replace industrialization, "jobs", and the accumulation of things and instead emphasize relationships and communities working together. Check out what's going on in Detroit.

Monday, July 14, 2008
Gardens Save the Day in 'WALL-E' and America's Cities
(1 comments) The feature film, "WALL-E," is a must-see for anyone who cares about cities because it reflects what can happen when citizens take control of their own lives - and plant gardens.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Overlooking the Elephants in the Room
Arguing about religion and politics has become pointless, especially when we refuse to deal with the "elephants in the room" like $4 per gallon oil, two wars we won't end and can't win, global warming, food shortages and price hikes, unprecedented species extinction, sub-prime mortgage failures, crumbling infrastructure, violent weather patterns and destructive earthquakes.

Monday, June 2, 2008
Moving From the Margins to the Mainstream
Check out what veteran peace activist Tom Hayden has to say about ending the war in Iraq, social change and the "Obama Generation."

Monday, May 26, 2008
Memorial Day 2008
Vietnam War veterans reveal the meaning of war and military service.

Sunday, May 4, 2008
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Doesn't Mince Words About War and Justice
Shirin Ebadi wants Americans to do what they can to stop the Bush administration's threats to bomb Iran as punishment for presumably making nuclear weapons.

Monday, April 28, 2008
Real Women Don't Throw Bombs
(2 comments) After four months of presidential primaries, what a refreshing contrast to see a woman speak forthrightly about justice and peace-especially at a time when the United States is indulged in saber-rattling with Iran.

Friday, April 18, 2008
The Way to Peace Can Be Paved With Forgiveness, Reconciliation and Negotiation
(3 comments) Peace activists' next challenge is to inspire others so deeply that they choose to form a movement for change from violence and war to peace; from hatred to love; from revenge and retaliation to forgiveness and reconciliation; from an obstinate refusal to communicate to negotiation. Here are some recent examples of how the impossible changed everything.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008
What the Peace Movement Has Wrought and Opportunities for the Future
(3 comments) Millions of peace activists throughout the United States and the world were unable to prevent the Iraq War from starting and likewise, have been unsuccessful in stopping it. Some might say that the peace movement has been a failure. However, something has changed among peace activists over these past five years of war.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008
BTW, What Do the Iraqis Want?
(1 comments) "What three-quarters of the Iraqis want is a complete U.S. withdrawal," said Raed Jarrar. "No mercenaries. No permanent bases. No interference. Only complete withdrawal is the first step toward stabilizing Iraq. After that, we can start healing the wounds of this occupation."

Monday, February 25, 2008
Fall of the House of Bush--A Book Review
Although most Americans regard September 11 as the single event that changed the world, journalist Craig Unger would argue that the 2000 presidential election served as a convergence of the Neoconservatives, Christian Fundamentalists and George W. Bush created "the greatest foreign policy disaster in American history."

Wednesday, February 20, 2008
See What the Young Are Saying...and Be Moved
(8 comments) Over the past six weeks the students in my peace class have looked at global warming, overpopulation, the "clash of civilizations", and resource depletion (i.e., oil). I feared depressing them and even apologized for presenting them with such a glum picture of the future. And then they surprised me.

Sunday, February 17, 2008
The Things They Do for Love
(2 comments) Americans are largely unaware of the vastness and lethality of U.S. nuclear weapons stockpiles, say Sisters Ardeth Platte, Carol Gilbert and Jackie Hudson, the three nuns who did time in federal prison for breaking into the N-8 Minuteman missile site in October 2002. Now that the sisters are all back from prison, they explain how their religious commitment and civic duty led them to become activists for nuclear disarmament.

Thursday, January 31, 2008
Space Heroes Revisited
(1 comments) In this year's presidential election we need to call forth a new kind of leader who is willing to confront not only our country's problems but those of "spaceship earth." And we need someone who will inspire us to tackle these problems courageously and confidently with determination and focus. I think Barak Obama might be the one we're looking foru

Monday, January 14, 2008
Primary Blues in Michigan
(2 comments) The Michigan Presidential Primary may be emblematic of what is so disconcerting about this year's election. With our endless and expensive oil war in Iraq, global warming, peak oil, environmental degradation and the need for universal health care, what are the presidential candidates offering as solutions to these problems?