Lapis Magazine

Intro to Teach-In on Indigenous Peoples’ Resistance to Economic Globalization by Jerry Mander

A penetrating analysis of the short-term thinking that threatens to destroy the world’s last remaining areas of unexploited nature. The indigenous peoples inhabit many of these regions and they are deeply committed to upholding their stewardship of their ancient lands despite huge economic, legal and political pressure.

Jerry Mander, Founder and Board Member of the International [...]

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Sayyid Qutb and the Philosophical Roots of Islamic Fundamentalism, Part I by Michael J. Thompson

As we respond to the threat from Islamic fundamentalist terrorism we need to better understand the thinking of our adversaries. Osama Bin Laden and his allies are clearly intelligent, if warped, people imbued with a well-developed world view. What exactly lies at the heart of their critique of the West? And what is the role [...]

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Sayyid Qutb and the Philosophical Roots of Islamic Fundamentalism, Part II by Michael J. Thompson

We need to penetrate more deeply into the heart of Islamic fundamentalist thinking if we are to grasp the real essence of its horror at the West's 'moral corruption'. In the second part of this article, we see how the Egyptian philosopher Qutb altered traditional Islamic concepts to advocate constant jihad for the reestablishment of [...]

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Infinite Life Part I – Problem: Injustice by Robert Thurman

In  a two-part excerpt from his latest book, Infinite Life: Seven Virtues For Living Well, Robert Thurman addresses the problem of injustice in the world today from a Tibetan Buddhist perspective. In the first segment he shows how, in our comfortable American way, we are drowning ourselves and others in a toxic flood of injustice. [...]

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Infinite Life Part II – Practice: Meditation as Mental Evolutionary Action by Robert Thurman

In  a two-part excerpt from his latest book, Infinite Life: Seven Virtues For Living Well, Robert Thurman addresses the problem of injustice in the world today from a Tibetan Buddhist perspective. In the second segment, Robert Thurman argues that meditation on the state of world affairs is not passive behavior. Instead, if we want truly [...]

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An Interview with Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge on Her Life, Apartheid and International Politics

The former Deputy Minister of Defense of South Africa and one of South Africa’s most respected women discusses with David J. Passiak her life experiences and the ways in which knowledge learned firsthand in the struggle to end apartheid might be applicable to contemporary international politics, particularly in Iraq. As the Republicans gather for their [...]

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Time for an Energy Revolution by Simon Retallack

At long last, the day may be dawning for solar, wind, and other renewable energy sources as the world wakes up to high oil prices and the reality of global warming.
Simon Retallack is managing editor of special issues for The Ecologist magazine, and co-director of the Climate Initiatives Fund.
The haze of combusted fossil is [...]

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World War 3: Population and the Biosphere by Michael Tobias

The inexorable rise of world population and the corresponding degradation of the environment constitute a dire scenario.
Michael Tobias, PhD, is a documentary filmmaker, historian, ecologist, and author of 14 books. Formerly a professor of environmental affairs at Dartmouth College, and humanities at California State University, his most recent book is on population and the biosphere. This article [...]

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The Women of Afghanistan by Anna Fischer

No women in the world are as repressed as the unfortunates of Taliban-dominated Afghanistan. An inside look at the grim reality created by an Islamic fundamentalism mixed with tribal feudalism that many Afghans feel has no basis in the Qur'an.
A woman, veiled in black, drags herself through sweltering, war-ravaged streets, searching for bread to feed [...]

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New World Disorder? by Robert Kaplan

While surface indicators suggest increasing prosperity in many developing countries, a closer analysis by one of America's leading foreign correspondents reveals, beneath the level of social elites, a world moving closer to chaos and instability.
Robert Kaplan is the author of Balkan Ghosts and The Ends of the Earth: A Journey at the Dawn of [...]

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