Lifestyle
Alongside taking care of other people and the planet, make sure you take good care of yourself. The Lifestyle section at the Optimist Daily has solutions for everyday wellbeing on topics like food, beauty, fashion, and the latest trends. Curious about caring for houseplants, eating plant-based, or parenting tips? It’s all in there.
Development 2.0: Can new cities with new rules help end poverty?
This entrepreneur and Stanford-economist has an unconventional, politically incorrect idea to end poverty. He’s trying to help the poorest countries grow rich—by convincing them to establish foreign-run “charter cities” within their borders. Remember Britain’s lease of Hong Kong? Most Read More...
The secret of anti-terror architecture: Your city is probably safer than you realize
No one wants to live behind barricades and barbed wire, but everyone wants to feel safe, particularly in the wake of horrifying, unforeseeable massacres like last week’s July 14 truck attack in Nice, France. The problem is that erecting fortress-like protections is, in a way, giving into Read More...
Coffee with a conscience: Cafes that are breaking down barriers
The United Kingdom is witnessing a new wave of cafes run as social enterprises. Cafes-with-a-conscience or a cause. A Bristol café is promoting multiculturalism post-Brexit. You can drink an artisan coffee in east or south London at Brewbird, which trains ex-offenders in barista and baking Read More...
Namibian and Kenyan entrepreneurs prove there is big business in recycling
Inadequate or non-existent municipal waste collection services in many African countries have resulted in large rubbish heaps alongside streets in most major urban centers. The trash poses health hazards. However, the tide is changing, and there are recycling and waste collection businesses Read More...
War widows are clearing landmines as Colombia peace talks advance
52 years of civil war has made Colombia one of the most landmine-scarred countries in the world. Only in Afghanistan and Cambodia are more landmines. According to government figures, since 1990 11,440 people, including civilians, children and soldiers have been killed or injured by landmines. Now Read More...
A provocative ad campaign fights Islamophobia in Canada
The arrival of Muslim refugees is provoking strong sentiments in many Western countries, particularly in Europe where right-wing, anti-immigration politicians are cashing in on the trend. Since last November, Canada has resettled nearly 30,000 Syrian refugees. At the same time, reports of hate Read More...
Black lives matter: The picture that’s worth a thousand words
Sometimes one image tells the whole story. A Reuters photographer captured this moment during a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Just before and after this moment there must have been a cacophony of yells and arguments, but in the moment there’s an inspiring heroic Read More...
Serena Williams: The hope black America needed
Last week, for me, was about Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and the list of names of hundreds more black bodies that they joined. It was about protests and it was about anger. It was about 11 police officers wounded and five killed in a tragic slaughter in Dallas. It was about grief, and it was Read More...
There are countries where police don’t carry guns, and they are more peaceful
So far this year 569 people have been killed by police in the U.S. There are countries where police usually don’t carry guns. New Zealand police were disarmed for routine work in 1886, following the principle that: “Constables are placed in authority to protect, not to oppress, the public.” Read More...
On rare Israel visit, Egypt FM pushes for renewed peace talks
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry made a rare visit to Jerusalem on Sunday and asserted, standing alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that Cairo remained a “steadfast and unwavering” supporter of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Sameh Read More...