A Million Reasons Why Los Angeles Could End Homelessness
We are the land where it never rains. Well, our temperate weather is pleasantly sunny most of the time, not some drought-stricken desolate desert. We are a land that worships cars. Those ultimate...
View ArticleEqual Opportunity Won't Reduce Poverty
Poverty is once again on the political agenda in America. And one of the most persistent myths surrounding this issue is that the best way to reduce poverty is to increase equal opportunity. This is a...
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Big City, Big Dreams
Feeling like she's always running in circles, Anali runs a small weaving microbusiness, studies accounting at university, and cares for her partner and daughter at home. She left a rural village,...
View ArticleTo Kiss or Not To Kiss Nicholas Kristof, Mental-Health Policy Wonk
Dick Cavett once said that "if Woody Allen is a child molester, I will publicly kiss Pat Buchanan." May I add that, if Nicholas Kristof, who recently published a piece about mental illness on the front...
View ArticleWhy I Am Taking a Stand on Intellectual Disability in Africa
On Feb. 10, 2014, African leaders from many countries and many sectors will gather in support of a forgotten segment of the world's poorest people: people with disabilities, and in particular, people...
View ArticleThis Construction Worker Puts In A Full Day, Then Helps The Homeless At Night
Monday is the longest day of the week for Carlos Vargas, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. After working a shift at his construction job, Vargas spends the night distributing food to homeless...
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School on Wheels of Massachusetts is a 'Champion in Action' for Students...
At a time when family homelessness continues to soar, the nonprofit organization, School on Wheels of Massachusetts (SOWMA) is being honored for successfully addressing the root causes of poverty, one...
View ArticleThe Sphinx Organization: Democratizing Classical Music
I don't often write about the arts, but an announcement this week is cause for real excitement -- not only because of the entertainment it will provide to the audiences lucky enough to see it, but...
View ArticleUniversity Of Pittsburgh Group Wants You To Donate Your Ex's Stuff To...
What better way to get rid of your ex-boyfriend or girlfriend's stuff than by giving it to homeless kids? Phi Alpha Delta, a pre-law group at the University of Pittsburgh, is organizing a donation...
View ArticleUsing the 'T' Word to Justify Human Rights Abuses
From China to Burma to Egypt, some governments invoke the "T" word to justify official conduct that runs afoul of international human rights law. Often politically motivated rather than security...
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Drug Abuse and Our Biased Compassion
Recently the world has been privy to the intimate details of the drug use of two white male celebrities. On one hand there is Justin Bieber; during a recent arrest for DUI, Bieber admitted to taking...
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Love, Adoption and the Kids Left Behind
Love is a funny thing. I fell in love with my daughter Zawadi the first moment I saw her big head perched precariously on her shrunken little body, sitting with five other babies being fed in turn from...
View ArticleGrowing Something Greater: More Public-Private Support of Community Green...
There are so many amazing ways we can choose to give back to our communities -- mentoring at-risk youth, delivering meals to the hungry or collecting items for those in need. These are just a few ways...
View ArticleRemembering Alain Dang
Our movement for LGBT equality has lost a fierce and dedicated advocate. Alain Dang, a former Policy Analyst at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute and a fierce leader in the Asian...
View ArticleSurvival of the Fittest
Sochi Olympic Games had opened last Friday with a beautifully designed ceremony that included impressive technical solutions and excluded any mention of unpleasant recent history (Gulag? What Gulag?)...
View ArticleUsing a Business Model to Make Jewish Summer Camp Affordable
Ask any Jewish family that sends their children to both a private Jewish day school and a Jewish summer camp about the affordability of such endeavors and they'll use words such as "sacrifice,"...
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Many Emergency Shelters Don't Open Until Homeless People Are Already At Risk...
For many homeless people, an impending storm can be a death sentence. When temperatures drop to dangerously low levels, advocates and officials often seek out those in need of shelter, in order to save...
View ArticleMaps & Mentors: What I Hope to Learn About Global Citizenship Through The...
At eight years old, after seeing Craig Kielburger, the founder of Free the Children, give a talk on the work of his organization, I decided I was ready to start making a change in the world. This day...
View ArticleWould Bill Gates Artificially Prolong His Life? His Surprising (And...
Walt Disney has long been rumored to have preserved his body in a cryogenic chamber for a future revival. Google recently established Calico, a biotech company aimed at extending human life span. So...
View ArticleThe Whooping Crane and the Anthropocene
Last week two endangered whooping cranes were shot in Louisiana. They were a young breeding pair. The female died, and the male was severely injured. The person who shot the birds was not found. While...
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