Opinion - The Christian Science Monitor

In defense of Eckhart Tolle's 'A New Earth'Regarding Peter Jones's May 5 Opinion piece, "The old error of 'A New Earth": I believe Mr.

Kabul, Afghanistan - In Afghan areas where the international aid groups fear to tread, the National Solidarity Program (NSP) is one of the country's most successful development initiatives. The community-led approach to reconstruction and to rural infrastructure has made achievements in empowering local people, strengthening democracy, and increasing faith in the Afghan government. Yet it risks being underfunded.

Washington - Ron Paul and his 1 million supporters aren't going away. And that's probably a good thing for America's future.

Baton Rouge, La. - Moving to Baton Rouge from Washington terrified me. After all, it's the South, and not a charming part of the South, either. People drive pickup trucks outfitted with gun racks, strip malls are ubiquitous, and giant crosses dot the interstate.

Richmond, Va. - Shortly after Senator Obama's speech on race this March, a friend likened the racial issue to an old coffee pot that keeps percolating. Every few years something happens to bring the vexed problem bubbling to the surface.

In the great Shiite-Sunni Muslim clash that cleaves the Middle East, score one for Iran's radical Shiite theocracy. Through its militant proxy, Hezbollah, Iran has shown it can be the real power in Lebanon. And it took only a few days to do it.

Oakton, Va. - "Iraqi mothers want the same thing for their children American mothers want for theirs," President Bush has said. "A place for their child to grow up and get a good education and be able to realize dreams."

In the delicate world of diplomatic protocol, mispronouncing a foreign leader's name ranks among the worst of faux pas. But that is lost on many Americans.

What can $100 million buy you in Congress? If you're agribusiness, such money spent this past year on lobbying and campaign donations will harvest billions in farm subsidies and keep you in clover for another five years.

Boston - Parents who have struggled to tear a teenager away from Facebook or detach one from texting know that teens increasingly communicate through writing.

St. Andrews, Scotland - History Often provides an excuse for a party. In Europe and America, romantics are celebrating 1968. It seems that every hotel in Paris is booked for this month's festivities – even the Ritz. Anniversaries have a way of cleansing the past of unpleasantness.

Before he became Russia's president last week, Dmitry Medvedev came across as less edgy than Vladimir Putin when talking about the West. Some Kremlin watchers thought this might mean a spring thaw in relations with the US and Europe. Now there's a case to test this theory.

Northampton, Mass. - The brutality of the Khartoum regime's military actions in the Darfur region of western Sudan continually forces a question that seems to have no morally intelligible answer: Is there no act of civilian destruction so cruel, so savage, that the international community will finally respond vigorously and unambiguously?

Boston - When Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer met with Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang earlier this month, what kept them from making a deal?

Driving less? More than two-thirds of car owners already are. It's a natural reflex to $50-$70 tank fill-ups. But US drivers may also know it's time to pay a price to curb global warming. That may be one reason they reject the campaign stunt of urging a holiday for the federal gas tax.

Dear Hillary,

Orlando, Fla. - As I was watching my son's soccer game just before Mother's Day last year, a mom was trying to get her husband to get a chair out of the car. She implored him but he just looked at her. I couldn't help but chime in: "Hey, it's Mother's Day weekend!" He went to get the chair. On his way, he told me half-jokingly, "That was no fair." Everyone chuckled. A reminder about Mother's Day inspired him to do an unpleasant chore.

In Zimbabwe, despair flows with the force of the Victoria Falls on its northern border. The African country used to sparkle like the rainbow over the falls until strongman Robert Mugabe led it to economic, social, and political ruin. Now there's a chance to turn him out – if it isn't lost in a mist of despair.

Cambridge, Mass. - As Israel celebrates 60 years of nationhood this Thursday, and looks ahead to the next 60 years, the world should appreciate what the Jewish state has accomplished.

NEW YORK - The Democratic Party should bring the presidential nomination battle to a conclusion as soon as possible. The fairest, most decisive way to do that is to move its convention from the end of August to the end of June.

The Democrats' presidential contest resembles the movie "Groundhog Day." You wake up the morning after each contest, and little has changed. One candidate's up, the other down, while each retains the same supporters, and Barack Obama leads by a nose. Shouldn't this be over by now?

Topeka, Kan. and Washington - At its best, America's infrastructure has powered our economic prosperity, created well-paying jobs, and served the public interest.

Boston - Silence is golden, goes the aphorism. But consider the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany. Instead of walking away from the Olympics, which would have removed any tacit approval of Hitler, leaving him less emboldened – possibly even changing the course of history – the world was silent.

Burma's military has long tried to rally support for national isolation and its harsh rule with calls for patriotic self-sufficiency. But its legitimacy eroded after protests in 1988 and 2007, and may now collapse with a feeble response to a storm that ranks as one of the world's deadliest disasters.

Washington - Fed up with politicians incapable of balancing budgets? Well, now state legislatures across the country want to take a crack at balancing your checkbook – whether you like it or not.

Atlanta - Imagine a company that:

Pressured by the gun lobby and 51 US senators, the Interior Department proposes enhancing everyone's national park experience by letting people pack heat with a picnic. That's just what the nation's millions of park visitors don't need.

For my family, the college application process this year was a happy one – my younger sister was accepted at an Ivy League school. I was thrilled for her and excited to answer questions about my own university experience.