ፍትህ ለሁሉም / Justice for All
The eruption of the Mount Toba supervolcano in the Indonesian island of Sumatra 74,000 years ago brought about an era of severe environmental degradation that decimated populations of Neanderthals and modern humans. Archaeological evidence suggests that modern humans survived this era by creating cooperative intergroup social networks and behaving like tribes. Neanderthals, on the other …
Of all species on the face of the earth, humans are the most disperse, in that they occupy the most diverse eco-systems present on all large land masses and most large islands. In recent time, much work has been done using maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA, and non-recombinant Y (NRY) chromosome markers to map human migration …
For more than three hundred years during the Late Bronze Age, from about 1500 BC until just after 1200 BC, the Mediterranean region played host to a complex international world in which Egyptians, Mycenaeans, Minoans, Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Cypriots, Trojans, and Canaanites all interacted. They created a cosmopolitan world-system, with flourishing cities such as Mycenae, …
According to The Daily Beast, conservative activist of the No Left Turn in Education group Bruce Friedman filed a detailed complaint about a children’s book that especially triggered him. Arthur’s Birthday, written by creator Marc Brown in 1989, features the aardvark attending a classmate’s party that happened to fall on the same day as his birthday. Arthur receives …
We strive to make the world a place where everyone, irrespective of their sexuality, gender, occupation, or race, is allowed to express themselves. However, one cannot ignore the incidents of homophobia and bigotry faced by the queer and trans community around the world. Jared Deluca, a realtor in Arizona, was also one of the victims …
Arkansas is temporarily blocked from enforcing a law that would have allowed criminal charges against librarians and booksellers for providing “harmful” materials to minors, a federal judge ruled Saturday. U.S. District Judge Timothy L. Brooks issued a preliminary injunction against the law, which also would have created a new process to challenge library materials and request that they …
Reconciling Our Rhetoric and Our Actions on Democracy Promotion (Michael McFaul) Over the course of American history, presidents, diplomats, and non-governmental leaders have delivered speeches that frightened autocrats and emboldened democrats throughout the world. Thomas Paine’s writings and activities to promote liberty might constitute the first one-man American NGO dedicated to democracy promotion. Presidents Lincoln, …
The collapse of complex societies of the past can inform the present on the risks of collapse. Dr. Joseph Tainter, author of the book The Collapse of Complex societies, and featured in Leonardo Dicaprio’s film The Eleventh Hour, details the factors that led to the collapse of past civilizations including the Roman Empire. Watch the …
The 15 Global Challenges provide a framework to assess the global and local prospects for humanity. Their description, with a range of views and actions to addressed each, enriched with regional views and progress assessments are updated each year, since 1996. A short overview is published in the annual State of the Future, while continuous updates and details are …
Liberal democracies seem more conducive to intellectual progress and economic growth than other forms of governance that have been tried so far, and perhaps also to peace and cooperation (at least with other democracies). Political developments that threaten to shift liberal democracies toward authoritarianism therefore may be risk factors for a variety of disasters (like great …