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The Blowback that Created al-Shabaab    By Graeme Anfinson   September 27, 2013 - The terrible attack at the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi has put a spotlight on radical Islam coming from Somalia. The as of yet unconfirmed reports of Americans being involved has put an added emphasis on the Somali American community, the largest of which is here in the Twin Cities. What has been lacking in much of the coverage of the attack, unsurprisingly, is context. Jon Lee Anderson wrote this for the New Yorker: The culprit here, beyond poverty and lack of education and all the rest of it, is political Islam and its aberrant variations, which together have taken a religious faith and turned it into a tool of warfare and a toxic adjunct of modern day globalization. The answer has to include a thus-far undetectable bout of soul-searching,

September 25, 2013 By Faisal A. Roble Introduction Hosted by top Diplomat Catharine Ashton, the European Union (EU) convened a 2-day conference (Sep. 15-16, 2013, Brussels) on Somalia.  Co-hosting the conference was President   Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud of the Federal Somali Government with an entourage larger than life.  Other participants also included Presidents Abdurrahman Faroole of Puntland and Ahmed Islam of Jubba state.  Somaliland defiantly refused to participate at the conference since it sees itself as a completely new and separate country from the rest of Somalia.  Yet, it submitted its portion of the Somali Compact (the Compact). The President of Somalia thence presented to the EU the result of what he called the Compact. What could have been a smooth conference was immediately tainted by an alleged un-presidential conduct by President Hassan in that he used his prerogative as the cohost to sabotage the airing of President Faroole’s speech.  Th

This touching story of a little boy's last wish is taken from the book Chicken Soup for the Soul . The book is filled with wonderfully inspirational stories, but this one is extra special. And best of all, it's true! Click on the link at the bottom of this page to verify the story and learn more about how this little boy became the very first recipient of the now famous Make-A-Wish Foundation . May we all remember how precious life is, and how special the moment of death can be. The Littlest Firefighter The 26-year-old mother stared down at her son who was dying of terminal leukemia. Although her heart was filled with sadness, she also had a strong feeling of determination. Like any parent she wanted her son to grow up and fulfill all his dreams. Now that was no longer possible. The leukemia would see to that. But she still wanted her son's dreams to come true. She took her son's hand and asked, "Bopsy, did you ever think about what you want

President Rouhani's UN speech can reignite the diplomacy that over a decade ago I saw was the only path to a better world   By Mohammad Khatami President of the Islamic Republic of Iran from 1997 to 2005 September 24, 2013  - " The Guardian " -   As Hassan Rouhani, the president of the Islamic republic of Iran, prepares to deliver a speech on Tuesday to the UN general assembly, advocating  "constructive engagement"  with the world, I reflect on my own experience as president of this great country, and my attempts to promote dialogue among nations, instead of hostility. At my suggestion, 2001 was named the UN  Year of Dialogue Among Civilisations . But despite reaching a global audience, the message of dialogue barely penetrated the most intractable political dilemmas, either at home or abroad. More than at any other time in history, events in the Middle East and north Africa have taken on global significance, and there is a great shi

The following short, inspirational story illustrates clearly both the potential that lies within each and every one of us and the meaning of the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover." These beautiful words remind us not to move to judgment quickly, but rather to seek potential even in those many others have given up on. For other highly inspirational stories and resources, click here. Broken Wing - Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover By Jim Hullihan Some people are just doomed to be failures. That's the way some adults look at troubled kids. Maybe you've heard the saying, "A bird with a broken wing will never fly as high." I'm sure that T. J. Ware was made to feel this way almost every day in school. By high school, T. J. was the most celebrated troublemaker in his town. Teachers literally cringed when they saw his name posted on their classroom lists for the next semester. He wasn't very talkative, didn't an