It all started with a bar of soap in a Pennsylvania hotel room.  Derreck Kayongo was spending his first night in an American hotel room when he became aware of the careless custom of replenishing bars of soap every day.  Derreck is a native of Uganda and has seen hardship and illness.  He thought of the millions of people that all these barely used bars of soap could help, and had the idea to recycle the discarded bars.  Thus, in 2009, the Global Soap Project was born.   

It was a bad and sad day for Indiana on Tuesday. 

Senator Richard Lugar not only lost in the Republican primary; Tea Party extremists did their best to humiliate America's finest public servant.  A few even trespassed onto the senator's farm and put up the obnoxious "Retire Lugar" campaign signs that popped up like weeds across our state this spring.

Through his work on the school board and as Indianapolis mayor, Lugar set the stage for the remaking of the Indiana capital city into a major, world class city.  As senator, he made Indiana a better state, but also globally important. 

As an Indiana Republican, Senator Lugar made the party a powerhouse, but often saved the GOP from its worst excesses.  The man once known as Nixon's favorite mayor was now deemed too moderate for a strong majority of Indiana Republicans. 

Here is what some other, more graceful, Hoosiers posted on facebook on Tuesday night:

This Sunday, we honor the women in our lives that gave us life and shaped us into the people we are today.  Daughters, mothers, and grandmothers, will receive flowers, candy, or breakfast in bed prepared by the kids.

But did you know that Mother’s Day was originally founded as a Women’s Day for peace and disarmament? In 1870, Julia Ward Howe, the author of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” advocated for the creation of Mother’s Day, dedicated to promoting “the amicable settlement of international questions, and the great and general interests of peace.”

We can cherish the women who nurtured, protected, and cared for us by sending a Mother’s Day card that honors the original spirit of the holiday. Click here to choose a free e-card that celebrates the special women in your life and commemorates women working for peace around the globe.

Last week I attended a lecture on child soldiers in Africa at Georgetown University. The speaker was Ms. Veronica Eragu Bichetero, a lawyer for the Courts of Judicature of Uganda. Bichetero is also a Senior Fellow with the United States Institute of Peace and studies the role of women in peacekeeping in Africa, specifically the Great Lakes region. She spoke about the factors that led to the use of children in armed conflict and how things have changed. Men used to fight the wars, while women played a role as peacemakers. Civilians were not involved in the conflicts. The conditions changed after independence. Presidents started writing their own constitutions and staying in power longer and longer. Clashes between tribal groups and the lack of a proper definition of a "child" have also contributed to the unrest. While international norm states that a child cannot be a soldier until age 18, many of these cultures have differing views of adulthood.