If you go to my Blog, you'll find that I'm taking a brief hiatus from Found Bytes, as my workload just does not permit the time. So with that in mind, I thought I'd leave you for the present with this image of hope and seeming hellfire - a perfect metaphor, I think, for what this world is right now. (Thanks to the BBC for the photo.) While the actual event portrayed is pretty innocuous ("Men ride horses through flames during a purification ritual at an annual religious celebration on the night before a holiday devoted to Saint Anthony" in Spain, according to Time magazine), the confluence of man and nature is fearful and inspiring and a testament to the crucible we'll all have to go through - and survive, tested and ready to lead. Good luck, everyone. Keep active and empathetic.

A FILMMAKER WHO BUILDS BRIDGES ACROSS CULTURES

"MR. EVEREST" REMEMBERS EDUMUND HILLARY

RESEARCHER STUDIES GANGS BY LEADING ONE

CHINA'S PLASTIC BAG BAN

AUSTRALIA TO ACT ON PLASTIC BAGS

HIDDEN AFGHANISTAN

INDONESIA: WHERE "SOFT" ISLAM IS ON THE MARCH

ANNAN TO HELP IN KENYA

IRAQ TO REINSTATE EX-BAATHISTS

CREATING PEACE IN ISRAEL

ELUSIVE PEACE: ISRAEL AND THE ARABS

I had never heard of Project Triumph - but then again, I've not heard of a lot of things. The name itself - Project Triumph - might easily denote some kind of Evangelist missionary club. So I searched Google (to the rescue, again), and found that instead Project Triumph is a legitimate, intercultural initiative - in its own words, "a grassroots effort to bring Arab and Jewish teenagers together in the spirit of collaboration to build a shared vision for a peaceful future." Project Triumph is not the biggest peace effort that ever was, and whether it will continue in its present form or morph into something else remains unanswered. But what it has already achieved is considerable. It proposes a real plan of action and steps for its implementation. It teaches youth to connect to themselves, to others, and to the greater world around them. Again, it is this kind of deep education that is the best and perhaps only lasting solution to real peace. On a personal note, I was more than pleased that several Project Triumph events took place in Haifa, Israel, my old stomping ground. The second clip is actually an in-depth BBC/PBS special documentary about the Mideast peace process (1995-2005) and why it ultimately fell apart. Less hopeful of course, but a good roadmap for how not to go forward.

I promise to find hopeful news, and at first glance, this picture from Reuters seems anything but. The rotted-out car, the barefoot urchins, the barely-there scooter holding up man and child. It could be a scene of urban despair - but it's not. In fact, it's just an ordinary scene of children playing in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata. Thank God for imagination.

WIRELESS ACCESS IN DEVELOPING WORLD

MERAKI.COM

Go to Meraki Wireless Network's About page, and you'll find this: "Meraki’s mission is to bring affordable Internet access to the next billion people...Meraki got its start at a low-income housing community in the US. News about Meraki’s products spread by word of mouth into over 25 countries around the world....Meraki got its start at a low-income housing community in the US. News about Meraki’s products spread by word of mouth into over 25 countries around the world. Every day, new Meraki networks bring access to locations ranging from urban apartment complexes in London to villages in India." Having myself just read two books on economics (and gearing up for my second semester of econ classes) I realize the tremendous power of economics for shaping and changing society. But economics, like politics, demands a moral outlook, which Meraki attempts to provide. Its name means "doing something with soul, creativity, or love. It’s when you put something of yourself into what you’re doing." In other words, active empathy.