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This impulse can be hard to quantify, mainly because thinking about it makes us uncomfortable. But it's pictured well in a disturbing practice currently employed by the Nigerian judicial system in western Africa.

The country of Niger has an established police and criminal justice system—one of the remnants of its days as a French colony. There are Nigerian police officers and judges, as well ...

One fine day in 1941, Violet Bailey and her fiancé Samuel Booth were strolling through the English countryside, deeply in love and engaged to be married. A diamond engagement ring sparkled on Violet's finger—her most treasured possession.

Their romantic bliss suddenly ended. One of them said something that hurt the other. An argument ensued, then escalated. At its worst point, Violet became ...

God comforts in many ways, and James and Jill Kilibarda of Minnesota have discovered one of those ways.

Looking forward to the birth of their first child, the couple learned during the pregnancy that this baby had a genetic problem and would probably only live a few hours after her birth.

They turned to a unique prenatal hospice program to help guide them through this crisis and received needed guidance ...

College English professor Jess Decourcy Hinds, of Brooklyn, New York, recently lost her father to a painful battle with bone cancer. Following his death, she was bothered by the central messages of most sympathy cards she received. Many of the cards tried their best to talk her out of the grieving process. At best, the personal notes simply sought to distract her. Someone inquired, "Are you applying ...

Can alcoholics overcome their addiction? Seattle's Downtown Emergency Services Center doesn't seem to think so. It's spending $11 million on permanent housing for homeless alcoholics.

Seattle taxpayers were fed up with spending $50,000 per alcoholic, every year, on recovery programs, prison, and emergency room visits. The solution is 1811 Eastlake, a housing complex that accommodates 75 alcoholics. ...

The laws of etiquette proclaim that we should not speak ill of the dead—especially the recently deceased. There is one place, however, where this offense is being committed with regularity: online obituary guestbooks.

Legacy.com is a company that provides online obituary services for more than 300 newspapers in the United States and processes more than 18,000 notes daily. Not all of those messages ...

I've asked my wife through the years to support me in different ventures. When we were first married, I was a youth pastor and was taking classes at the University of Colorado at Denver. And I decided, "I'm going to be a writer." So Jana and I moved to the Chicago suburbs so I could take a job as a writer and editor. About four years later, I became restless, so I began working on an MBA. I expected ...

Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, author of Words That Hurt, Words That Heal, has lectured throughout this country on the powerful, and often negative, impact of words. He often asks audiences if they can go 24 hours without saying any unkind words about, or to, another person. Invariably, a small number of listeners raise their hands, signifying "yes." Others laugh, and quite a large number call out, "no!" ...

Recently, Jana and I weathered one of the most stressful weeks in our marriage. I'd spent the previous two weeks traveling for business, and that week I had some presentations to make to clients. It was also the week that Jana moved her mother into a retirement community. I couldn't help with the move because of my work commitments, plus I had to spend time watching the kids while she got her mom ...

For the Birds is a short film included as part of the Monsters, Inc. DVD. In the clip, several small birds fly onto a telephone wire and begin to squabble—chirping and pecking at each other. All of a sudden, they hear a loud squawk. Looking over, they see a giant, funny-looking bird perched on top of a nearby telephone pole. When the big bird sees that it has attracted their attention, it smiles ...