Jul 25
August 1st will mark the start of the fasting month of Ramadan, as well as a new obstacle for the countries involved in the Arab Spring. Ramadan, for those of you not on top of Muslim practices, is a month-long fast during which devout Muslims cannot eat or drink during the daylight. The fast is …
Jul 22
In 1964, journalist Martin Gansberg published an article in the New York Times that revealed some less-than-flattering human traits and sparked a revolution in social psychology. According to the article, Kitty Genovese, a 29 year-old woman from Queens, was stabbed to death outside over a 35-minute period, after which just 1 of the 38 spectators called …
Jul 21
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how the Horn of Africa is currently experiencing one of the most severe droughts in history. For countries like Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti, the drought is forcing families to flee to overcrowded refugee camps and leaving hundreds of thousands of children homeless and malnourished. Unfortunately, conditions in …
Jul 21
I love food. No, I’m passionate about food. Better yet, I’m obsessed with food. So when I read or hear about something negative about the food industry, I naturally want to be one of the people that can create change, or at least do a good job of playing my role as a responsible consumer …
Jul 21
It seems that in today’s world, young people look more and more towards actors, singers, and other celebrities as their role models. Though looking up to positive examples set by certain celebrities is not a bad thing, it is important for the youth to remember important figures like Nelson Mandela. Just this past Monday, July …
Jul 20
When you think “ecotourism” China is probably not the first place that comes to mind. No, China brings up images of massive crowds of people and heavy smog clouds, not things that are very compatible with environmentally and economically friendly ecotourism. However, with 41 UNESCO World Heritage Sites and 28 UNESCO Biosphere Reserves, the ecotourism …
Jul 20
In my previous post, I raised the issue of violence against women with disabilities. Research and statistics have helped to raise awareness in our society about domestic and gender-based violence. However, as I discussed previously, the link between violence and disability is still very under-researched, and the consequence is that many women with disabilities are …
Jul 19
Community Supported Agriculture – Making Friends with Your Food and Local Farmers Ever since I was young, I have been personally invested in the food I eat. While my grandfather started off by growing a few plant varieties in the backyard, my father has since ambitiously converted most of our yard into a vegetable garden. …
Jul 18
In rural areas of Kenya, the overwhelming majority of families live without electricity. More than one third of the population depends on kerosene-powered lamps, which are not only bad for the environment, but they also negatively affect Kenyans in other ways. Toxic fumes, for example, are emitted from the burning lamps and can cause severe …
Jul 18
In an interesting move to encourage economic development, Cambodia recently opened its first stock exchange, the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX). What part of that is interesting, you may be wondering? Well, currently there are no stocks to trade, no companies listed, which makes this the smallest stock exchange in the world. It’s sort of …
