All Perspectives
India seeks new ways to fund energy-efficient lightingReplacing even a couple of conventional light bulbs with CFLs results in huge cost savings for poor families in India. But with carbon markets failing new ways to fund bulb replacement are being sought.
Chris Bradshaw ships books to Africa to help make the impossible possibleThe African Library Project has sent 1 million books overseas and built 1,000 libraries in nine different countries.
From the EditorsPJs or pinstripes? The tradeoffs of tele-workYahoo's Marissa Mayer and other CEOs have called a time-out on telecommuting. It's clear that just as some workers thrive on their own and some need to be in an office, some types work are better done in isolation and others in collaboration. It's also clear that telecommuting is only going to increase in the years to come.
From the EditorsTo invest or not to invest? The eternal questionInvesting is an individual decision. How you view the stock market depends on where you are in your earnings cycle and what your past experience has been. The only thing the market may be telling everyone聽right now is that the bad old days of the last decade appear to be over.- Readers RespondReaders Write: Indie booksellers must adapt; Bloomberg money vs. NRA membersLetters to the Editor for the May 6, 2013 weekly print issue:聽Independent booksellers also need to be active participants in the e-book world;聽In the gun debate, Mayor Bloomberg's wealth is giving him an outsized influence over the NRA's 4.5 million members.
Poverty-fighting 'elephant' boosts farmers in IndiaHardy 'elephant' or Napier grass has proved to be a cheap and nutritious fodder for livestock in poor and drought-prone areas of India.
Joshua Williams found his purpose in life 鈥� at age 5Middle-schooler Joshua Williams is the founder and president of Joshua's Heart Foundation, a Miami-based organization dedicated to combating hunger and helping individuals improve their quality of life.
Difference MakerSeiji Yoshimura rushes to natural disasters to helpInspired by the work of an American missionary long ago, Seiji Yoshimura helps out at disaster sites across Asia, including in his native Japan.
Protecting land rights using Wikipedia-style mapsBuilding data bases of land ownership, Wikipedia-style, would be a cheap and easy way for poor, rural communities聽to compile a record of property rights and land use, reducing corruption and helping to lessen illegal land grabs.
$10M gift to restore slave quarters at Thomas Jefferson estateA gift from a philanthropist will recreate Mulberry Row, which housed slaves at Monticello, the plantation of the author of the Declaration of Independence and the words 'all men are created equal.'- From the EditorsProgress report: How the Monitor is doingThe start of a new fiscal year finds 海角大神 reaching more readers than ever, in its strongest financial position in more than half a century, and continuing to pursue meaningful news around the world.
Saudi Arabia launches first campaign to stop violence against womenAbuse of women has been a taboo subject, but in a bold first step a new advertising campaign encourages female victims to come out of hiding.
A different road out of poverty: saving instead of borrowingMicroloans get all the publicity, but the key to upward mobility for the world's poor may be to rely on simple savings plans, which offer a debt-free way to build wealth, make investments, and better one's life.
From the EditorsAfter the Marathon bombings: a new resolveThe globalization of ideas via the Internet, air travel, and migration is profoundly affecting the world. In once-isolated communities, exposure to the new and different can prompt a reaction of anger, fear, even terrorism. But the tide of freedom and human dignity is immensely more powerful -- and ultimately unstoppable.
Civic Accelerator boosts young businesses who want to do goodThe program funds five for-profit and five nonprofit startups, then throws them together to teach each other the best ways to get a social venture to succeed.
Ben Affleck will live on $1.50 to support charityBen Affleck supports Live Below the Line by taking on the challenge of living on $1.50 per day, just as 1.4 billion people around the world must do every day.- Readers RespondReaders Write: How to stop illegal immigration; 'Sequester' is hurting criminal justiceLetters to the Editor for the April 22 & 29, 2013 weekly print issue:聽It's fair to say that if there were no hiring of illegal immigrants, none would come.聽Sweeping federal spending cuts are having a devastating effect on the criminal-justice system and its ability to carry out constitutional mandates.
After Boston Marathon bombing: Faith in WatertownA pastor at a suburban church in Watertown, Mass., reflects on the Boston Marathon bombing, the pursuit of a terrorist suspect to her town, and how her congregation lived through a nightmare to emerge 'filled with a mighty spirit 鈥� a holy one.'
LeanIn.Org pushes women to stick with career ambitionsLeanIn.Org, founded by Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg, 'plans to focus on very practical and actionable skills that women can use in the workplace and that men and women can use to combat gender biases,' says its president, Rachel Thomas.
EcoZoom builds a market for clean cookstoves in developing economiesIn impoverished areas, people spend $1 to $2 per day to burn charcoal or wood to cook food, a huge expensive for them. A clean-burning cookstove cuts that cost by more than half.
