All Perspectives
- Readers RespondReaders Write: Help for middle class helps US; Appreciation for Budge SperlingLetters to the Editor for the October 7, 2013 weekly print magazine:聽Too many lawmakers cannot see that increasing the share of wealth at the top by weakening the middle class leads to less spending, lower profits, and a slower economy.Reading the recent tribute to former Washington, D.C., bureau chief and Monitor Breakfast creator Godfrey "Budge" Sperling Jr.聽was like a warm and vivid visit with Budge himself.
The quest for energy security: long, slow, increasingly successfulFor decades, energy security was a major concern to consumers, businesses, and governments. There was no magic solution to the problem. Instead, persistent effort and incremental improvement made the difference.
Goldie Hawn: What's she doing in Brazil?Goldie Hawn and supermodel Linda Evangelista were among the celebrities that showed up for an AIDS research and prevention fund-raising gala in Rio de Janeiro. Goldie Hawn was among 300 people who attended the $2,500-a-plate black tie gala.
The Sunshine Nut Company provides tasty employment in AfricaFormer food company executive Don Larson founded The Sunshine Nut Company to create good jobs and bring other benefits to Africans.
Difference MakerA rabbi and a Palestinian farmer are neighbors, partners 鈥� and friendsIsraeli Shaul David Judelman and Palestinian Ziad Abed Sabateen plan to open an organic farm together that will sell vegetables and support families in need.
Stand Down events help vets, including women, in needAt events known as Stand Downs, which take place in more than 200 cities and towns across the United States, military veterans from all walks of life gather to support one another.
Comet, a cuddly canine pal, cheers nursing home residentsVisits from so-called therapy dogs like Comet, a golden retriever, help those in nursing homes stay engaged, active, and communicative.
The mass shooting that didn't happen: What we can learn from Antoinette TuffWhat can we do to help men who seek to commit violence find another way to deal with their problems? The story of Antoinette Tuff suggests that kindness is part of the answer.- Readers RespondReaders Write: Unfair comparison for diverse US students; US media need global viewLetters to the Editor for the September 30, 2013 weekly print issue:You cannot compare small, relatively homogenous student populations in other countries to our very diverse, multicultured US student population.Too many American media take a narrow US-centered perspective.聽Americans need and deserve deeper journalism and a broader, global view.
What happens when a social enterprise and an oil giant join forces?Social enterprise d.light has teamed up with French oil and gas company Total to sell solar lights to low-income rural households in Africa and India.
Difference MakerGinger Passarelli is a good Samaritan with a soup ladleRushing to the scene of emergencies and disasters, Passarelli and her Soup Ladies nourish the helpers.
'Alternative Nobels' awarded to Congolese surgeon, Swiss pest control pioneer, and two othersThis year's four Right Livelihood Awards winners will share $312,000 in prize money. The winners are an American anti-chemical weapons advocate, a Palestinian human rights campaigner, a Congolese surgeon who helps wartime rape victims, and a Swiss pioneer of pest control for sustainable agriculture.
For Sandy Martin The Little Nature Museum is a lifelong passionStarted in Sandy Martin's bedroom when she was 13, The Little Nature Museum has received thousands of visitors who experience the results of her intimate knowledge of and love for nature.
Angelique Namaika finds strength in God to help the displaced in the CongoSister Angelique Namaika 鈥� a nun working in the Congo 鈥� has helped transform the lives of more than 2,000 women and girls forced from their homes and abused by the Lord's Resistance Army.
SunFunder uses crowdsourcing to finance solar projects in Africa, IndiaMore than a billion people lack access to electricity. Solar power could be a big part of the answer, says SunFunder founder Ryan Levinson.
Scott Harrison found meaning in life by starting charity: waterBy building freshwater wells, rainwater catchments, or providing sand filters, charity: water finds simple solutions to help solve the world鈥檚 water crisis: Roughly 1 in 9 people around the globe lack access to clean water.- Readers RespondReaders Write: Precision needed on climate change numbers; Interpreting the QuranLetters to the Editor for the September 23, 2013 weekly print magazine:Only about 3 percent of the Antarctic temperature rise occurred during the time of humans burning fossil fuels. Climate change is a complex subject. The 'facts' about it must be stated precisely.Does interpreting the Quran according to the spirit of our time mean that truth has no universal quality, but instead a temporary one?
- A new way to read the Monitor WeeklyOur new app is designed to give you smooth, dynamic, timely access to the Monitor Weekly. If you subscribe, please give it a try. If you don't yet subscribe, this is another reason to do so.
Cyber war: Different look, same aimLike it or not, militaries around the world are building cyber weapons. Hyped or not, concerns about the security of vital computer systems are driving this push.
Is this the era of the 'quiet leader?'Bold and loud makes the history books. Quiet usually doesn't. But you know what quiet leaders have accomplished by looking at the people they lead.
