Guns, weapons & violence! - What do you think societies should be doing (to the extent that they can do anything). Yesterday,one father in the US wrote: "My son, Daniel, was a smart, quiet kid.
He'd just become a straight-A student, and he was overcoming his shyness as a new member of the debate team.
On April 20th, 1999, my beautiful and bright 15-year-old son was killed by two teenagers with guns in the library of Columbine High School -- one of 12 innocent kids who lost their lives for no reason at all. It's been 14 years since that horrible day -- 14 years of fighting so no family has to grieve like ours did.

These tragedies keep happening, and so far, Congress has failed to take common-sense action to stop them -- even though nine in 10 Americans have agreed that expanding background checks would help close the loopholes that put guns in the hands of dangerous people and prevent future violence.Today, OFA and allied organizations are standing up for a national Day of Action to ask members of Congress: What will it take to finally act to prevent gun violence?

Mountain or mole hill? - there seems to be more confusion than ever about the state of society today in terms of ACTUAL QUALITY OF LIFE for people living within that society. With all the various new methods being suggested for measuring a society's "wealth" and "quality of life" (some methods being accepted, some not, some partially accepted etc.), for approximately the last 7 years in global history it seems that we humans are more confused than ever about where things stand in our respective local society's? - WHAT DO YOU THINK COULD BE DONE TO IMPROVE INDIVIDUAL UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT IS HAPPENING IN YOUR SOCIETY - WHY SOME AREAS WHICH WERE TRADITIONALLY PROBLEMATIC SEEM TO HAVE FADED INTO INSIGNIFICANCE WHILST OTHERS HAVE CROPPED UP COMPLETELY UNEXPECTEDLY? Please let us know your thoughts here:

How dare you!??? Differences of the mind! - it is a well known fact - yes FACT, that what we actually know least about ourselves has mainly to do with what we know or don't know about the way the human brain works - WHY do some people master certain academics better, whilst others are more likely to master the art of being streetwise? WHY do some have a natural tendency to optimism, whilst many others will see the proverbial glass as half empty? It is likely to be a long time before these questions are finally answered, but in the meantime there is something far more fundamental to ask ourselves - WHO give ANYONE the right to judge others or decide what their mental state is unless and until the issue relating to that person's mental state has been comprehensively decided through unequivocal research and empirical, substantial proof - one such category of mental state is that of ADULT ADHD - or attention deficit hyperactive disorder in adults- - it seems that there are a substantial number of people of who happily, ignorantly, dangerously deny the very existence of this "disorder" -
- A study carried out by researchers from Boston Children's Hospital, the Mayo Clinic and Texas Children's Hospital in the US, and was funded by the US Public Health Service, have, like many studies before, again REINFORCED the existence of Adult ADHD, point to risks of ignoring it, explain its typical symptoms and methods for managing this condition see this link: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2287895/ADHD-doesnt-just-affect-children--THIRD-suffer-symptoms-adulthood.html - PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO CONSIDER THIS IMPORTANT MATTER AND LET US KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS AND IDEAS ON WHAT WE AS A SOCIETY CAN BE DOING BETTER IN ORDER TO TREAT PEOPLE WHO FACE THIS REALITY WITH A GREATER SENSE OF FAIRNESS?

It is now a fairly well known fact that, at long last, the world's most powerful nation - the USA - albeit long after the 28 countries of the European Union (and indeed many other countries, including a number of predominantly Catholic South American nations) - has FINALLY recognised the rights of same-sex couples! The U.S. Department of State, in a message delivered by Secretary of State, John Kerry has explained for example that: "The Supreme Court has found section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional." However - there is still a long way to go as Federal Laws and State Laws need to be brought into some sort of comprehensive equation.....Let us know what you think of this development - and whether you think the walls need to come down in more places globally?:

Tuesday 05/08/2013 - INTERNET ABUSE - bullying via the internet is pathetic, unethical, underhanded, uncalled for and inherently cowardly and wrong - BUT things are finally changing! The Law is catching up and being enforced - and the major social networks are clamping down - see: Twitter issues new rules in clampdown on abusive behaviour http://bbc.in/18ThVMv
Let us know your thoughts on internet regulation - join the discussion here:

IS IT FAIR TO SAY THAT POLITICS, BY NATURE, IS A DIRTY GAME? In the wake of yet ANOTHER MAJOR INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL FIGURE BEING CALLED UPON TO RESIGN AS A RESULT OF SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS OF CORRUPTION (in the person of Spain's Prime Minister - Mariano Rajoy) AND the very serious allegations of continued manipulation of the electoral process in Zimbabwe by infamous long time ruler Robert Mugabe - we ask the question - IS IT A WONDER THAT THERE IS DISILLUSION WITH so-called "Democracy"???