“Judge Not” – a Poem (author unknown) I was shocked, confused, bewildered As I entered Heaven’s door Not by the beauty of it all Nor the lights or its décor But it […]
“Judge Not”
Talking vs. Listening by The Dalai Lama

“When you talk, you are only repeating what you already know; but when you listen, you may learn something new.” Dalai Lama (The Mankind Project)
Need some Inspiration with a capital “I?”

Whatever your gender, ethnicity, faith or culture, if this does not inspire you as to the power of the human spirit, nothing will. If Jennifer could overcome her challenges, why the heck […]
From the Front Lines Abroad to Ferguson, USA

Nowhere is humanity’s “Jihad” (struggle) more evident than right here in our own backyard. Okay, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) might be a little more gruesome and barbaric, followed closely […]
Is Real Respect Possible?
In a recent post, Dan Sockle wrote, “Thus, the goal of bringing focus to America’s struggle, with our identity and our values, is to increasingly engage in the sharing of ideas and […]
Deconstructing “Jihad”
To most Muslims, “Jihad” has three meanings, or levels: First, there is “Jihad e Akbar,” or the “Greatest Jihad,” which is the lifelong struggle with self to resist temptation and, essentially, to […]
Quote of the Week: Mark Twain
“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble… It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” -Mark Twain
Why this blog? Why now?

After a career in criminal and civil investigations, mediation and various levels of “keeping the peace,” or at least trying to, I have come to believe that too few of us enter […]
Meet the 13 Most Powerful Muslim Women in Britain

Note: I am sharing this image and headline to draw attention to the fact that these well-educated, professional and successful Muslim women are in fact still Muslim. If even clearly successful and […]
Pick of the Week: Frontline’s “Losing Iraq”
Check out this 90-minute special report from FrontLine on what led to the current chaos in Iraq — and how the Obama administration is being pulled back into the conflict… http://www.pbs.org/frontline/losing-iraq/
Learning from the “Tree of 40 Fruit”

CBS news shared a snippet about a Syracuse art professor, Sam Van Aken, who created, over a nine-year period, a single tree bearing forty different fruit. Here is the photo (or an […]