On being open to beauty and wonder in art and in life.
Feature Film Review: Invictus
An astonishing and incredibly entertaining movie about the power of forgiveness, the importance of sports, the art of transformative leadership, and the reconciliation of the races.
Book Excerpt: How, Then, Shall We Live?
On discovering what we pay attention to and, therefore, what we love.
Switzerland Vote Disappointing Blow to Religious Freedom
Freedom House condemns Switzerland's vote to ban the new construction of minarets in the country as a setback for religious freedom.
Freedom House Launches Campaign to Defend Freedom of Expression
In response to a growing crackdown on freedom of expression around the world and in honor of U.N. Human Rights Day, Freedom House calls on human rights organizations, democratic leaders, and citizens to join in an international campaign to defend this critical right.
Poll Shows Zimbabweans Want Elections and Democratic Constitution
A public opinion survey released today showed that Zimbabweans have limited knowledge of their Constitution, but they want democratic safeguards, such as presidential term limits and an independent judiciary.
Living Spiritual Teachers Project: Byron Katie
A profile with bibliography and distinctive spiritual teachings of Byron Katie, developer of the method of self-interrogation and realization called The Work.
Feature Film Review: Before Tomorrow
Photo Filename and sizes:
Main Practice: love
Additional Practices:
Religious Tradition (if any):
Keywords: indigenous peoples, story, youth, conscious aging, cross-cultural, survival, community
Title: Before Tomorrow
Director: Marie-Helene Cousineau and Madeline Piujuq Ivalu
Alliance Film Release
12/09 Not Rated
A powerful Inuit film about the wisdom and skills of elders, the devastation wrought by contact with Westerners, the importance of community, and the magical connection between grandparents and grandchildren.
Book Excerpt: Sadhu Sundar Singh
A teaching story illustrating how in helping others we receive help ourselves.
Spiritual Literacy Blog: We May Be Born with an Urge to Help
New scientific findings that show children are by nature helpful and cooperative.
Feature Film Review: Everybody’s Fine
A richly developed dramatic comedy about parenting, family secrets, and the toxic fallout from high expectations and pressure to succeed advanced by so many well-meaning fathers.
Feature Film Review: Brothers
A riveting drama about a Marine captain who brings the violence of the war in Afghanistan home to his wife, two daughters, and brother in America.
Feature Film Review: Gigante
A laid-back drama that gives us a close encounter with a lonely man whose desire animates his life in a new and adventurous direction.
Resolutions on Defamation of Religions Do Not Belong at United Nations, Organizations Say
Freedom House today joined over 100 nongovernmental organizations in a statement declaring that binding resolutions combating 'defamation of religions' have no place at the United Nations and are incompatible with the fundamental freedoms outlined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Bloggers’ Jailing Threatens New Media’s Emergence in Azerbaijan
The sentencing of two Azerbaijani bloggers to prison yesterday in a markedly non-transparent legal process is deeply disturbing, Freedom House said today, adding that the decision to silence the bloggers strikes a blow against the nascent success of new media in Azerbaijan.
Support Chinese Human Rights Activists, Freedom House Tells Obama on Eve of Visit
It is critical that President Barack Obama emphasize the importance of human rights and democratic standards during his visit to China later this week, Freedom House said today.
UN Should Pass Resolution Condemning Iran Human Rights Abuses
As the United Nations General Assembly prepares to vote on a Canadian-sponsored resolution condemning ongoing human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Freedom House joins Iranian pro-reform activists and other human rights groups in urging member states to support the resolution.
Congress Urged to Lift Ban on U.S. Travel to Cuba
Freedom House today submitted a statement to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs urging Congress to rescind the ban on U.S. citizens traveling to Cuba.
Filipino Massacre Reflects Climate of Impunity
The massacre of civilians and journalists that occurred on Monday in the Philippines is a shocking symptom of the country's climate of impunity and the government's inability to protect freedom of expression, Freedom House said today. The organization condemned the killings in the strongest terms possible.
McDonald v. Chicago – Petitioner’s Brief
The Petitioner's Brief in the McDonald v. Chicago case, involving whether the 2d Amendment applies to the states, has been filed in the Supreme Court. See it here.
The brief spends 66 of its 73 pages arguing that the proper constitutional mechanism for incorporating the 2d amendment is the fourteenth amendment privileges or immunities clause (a provision that was improperly buried by the Supreme Court 136 years ago, in The Slaughter-House Cases - as I've discussed in these pages previously); then makes the conventional due process argument in the remaining pages.
Alan Gura, the attorney for the petitioners, recognizes the rare opportunity this case provides to right a monumental wrong that was perpetrated by a Southern-sympathetic Court after the Civil War, and he's done a terrific job making the arguments in this brief.
(My two articles on this topic - "Second Amendment Incorporation Through the Fourteenth Amendment Privileges or Immunities and Due Process Clauses" (in the 2007 Missouri Law Review); and "Rescuing the Privileges or Immunities Clause: How 'Attrition of Parliamentary Processes' Begat Accidental Ambiguity; How Ambiguity Begat Slaughter-House" (in the forthcoming 2009 William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal) - are cited in this petitioner's brief at pages 29 and 52, respectively.)
