Dr Paul Allen

I read a fascinating article yesterday in  Time Magazine  entitled “ How To Get Out Alive .”  The article discusses(based on events from 9/11) how our instincts in crisis can be our undoing because our brains often somewhat shut down and choose intense disbelief in these stressful situations. Large groups of people facing death act in surprising ways. Most of us become incredibly docile.   We panic only under certain rare conditions. Usually, we form groups and move slowly, as if sleepwalking in a nightmare. That neurological process might explain, in part, the urge to stay put in crises. “Most people go their entire lives without a disaster,” says Michael Lindell, a professor at the Hazard Reduction & Recovery Center at Texas A&M University . “So, the most reasonable reaction when something bad happens is to say, This can’t possibly be happening to me.” Lindell sees the same tendency, which disaster researchers call normalcy bias , when entire populations are asked to evac

Image via Wikipedia Understandably, news of Osama bin Laden 's demise at the hands of U. S. Navy Seals provoked cries of celebration. The mastermind of terror, even against civilians (indeed, against fellow Muslims) has been brought to justice. But what kind of justice? In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, President George W. Bush authorized " Operation Infinite Justice ." Especially after his comment that "this  crusade , this war on terrorism, is going to take a while," however, the mission was renamed "Operation Enduring Freedom." Reportedly, the name-change was  due at least in part  to the concern raised by  Muslims  that only God can execute "infinite justice." One would have hoped that the change had been provoked instead by  Christian reaction. Islam, of course, is not just a religion; it's a cultural and even geo-political reality. As such, its strict adherents excoriate co-religionists like Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im who c