"We pretty much feel there is no public health threat here," said Von Roebuck, a spokesman for the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "We just wanted to alert the medical community to watch out for cases."
As the disparities between the rich and the poor widen, so does the confusion for ordinary citizens regarding how to change this global trend. How does one tread lightly on the rest of the world, while still helping communities in need? What is the right way to help? How can we approach humanitarian aid on a personal, sustainable and gracious level? Four women discuss the role of volunteerism in a world that's had its share of Western "development," and evaluate the impact that volunteers can have on creating a more just and compassionate world.Volunteer Teacher in Ghana
On September 29th, 97% of those voting in the Algerian referendum on Peace and Reconciliation voted yes for peace and reconciliation. Was this a necessary act of popular catharsis after some 13 years of violence? Or was it a government-staged show to reinforce its power? Both are real possibilities. It is important to analyze the results carefully as violence-torn countries need to find techniques to write "The End" to cycles of violence and counter-violence and to begin life again with a clean slate. But does such renewal mean that those who have killed and tortured should be free from possible trials? Much of the killing in Algeria - estimates are of over 200,000 - took place in rural towns and villages where people knew or thought they knew who was doing the killing. Is it possible to live an ordinary life now side by side with murderers?
From the Gulf of Mexico to the Persian Gulf and beyond, a new wave of Shock and Awe is gripping the international community in the wakes of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. There is an increasingly glaring global inquisition taking place - and the spotlight is on American culture. Nationally, the focus of conservative and mainstream news coverage has suddenly shifted. Questions about American racism, classism, xenophobia and unmitigated consumerism and economic growth have hit the ground running. Even the untouchable topics of renewable energy, conservation and global warming, heretofore relegated to the margins of debate by those classes who have built their fortunes on fossil fuels and nuclear energy, are being uttered again as if they were newly discovered galaxies of hope.
Copyright Toward Freedom 2019