Terrorism doesn’t just happen because a group of people decide to hate us

Greg Mortenson, co-founder and Executive Director of the Central Asia Institute, c0-author of Three Cups of Tea, committed education advocate and builder of schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan: I’ve learned that terror doesn’t happen because some group of people somewhere like Pakistan or Afghanistan simply decide to hate us. It happens because children aren’t being …

Christmastime Links

Hope you all had a great Christmas and are recovering nicely from eating bountifully! News A bomb targeting Shia Muslims goes off in a Pakistani market. Ten civilians, including eight children, are killed in fighting in Afghanistan. More protests and more arrests in Iran. "Avatar," "Sherlock Holmes," and "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" lead …

On Afghanistan

Okay, the basics first: Here’s the video, and the full transcript. Here are various responses: McChrystal, McCain and various other responses. The BBC has some reactions from people in Afghanistan as well as from the NATO Secretary General and Nicolas Sarkozy. And here’s a good summary of the latest: Ban Ki-moon, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Britain, India. …

Links of the Day, October 12

News Armenia and Turkey sign a historic accord to normalize relations. Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson win the Nobel Prize in economics, with Ostrom becoming the first woman to win the economics prize. Another bomb hits Pakistan. Miscellaneous I just came across this. Enjoy: Also … the Gummi Bear gets it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUensqImzXM& And I predict …

Links of the Day, October 5

News A bomber hits the UN food office in Islamabad, Pakistan. Human trafficking The Department of Health and Human Services released a report back in August on trafficking into and within the US. Miscellaneous Stephen Fry discovers a most unusual mating ritual. The only footage we have of Anne Frank: