When Time magazine spotted Bibi Aisha, a young Afghan girl mutilated by her husband during the Taliban regime, it decided to put her picture on its cover and after creating international publicity, flew her into America for plastic surgery to ‘repair’ her. But what might have appeared to be a philanthropic act likely had more self-serving motives and we need to be conscious of this when viewing images of suffering, writes Asiya Islam.

Right-wing extremism in America continues to rise, even as politicians around the country, blown by gusts from the Tea Parties and other conservative formations, tacked hard to the right, co-opting many of the issues important to extremists, writes Mark Potok.

It’s very easy and common for people to be really savvy in the language they use to avoid being ableist and so on, and yet have rotten attitudes and actions. How much are we letting language policing distract us from getting to the core of the issues raised? asks Tiara the Merchgirl.

Far from self-involvement, far from apathy, young people are engaging in new forms of activism. Courtney Martin reveals some inspiring examples in her new book Do it Anyway.

Truth has never been exposed in quite the way that the web-based reality show Puzzled reveals it. The popular show follows a group of female American activists as they travel the continent fighting crime with love – and the first amendment. Inspired by anti-war demonstrator Cindy Sheehan, the Ladies of Liberty Alliance, Hardcore (aka the LOLAH Girls) reveal the truth about topics including corporate greed, globalization, the war on drugs, over-taxation and free speech. Katrina Fox spoke with project founder Brooke Kelley.

In the third part of her series on Palestine, Lynda Renham-Cook speaks with the Amireh family who have fought against the construction of the Ni’lin wall – and been imprisoned and shot because of it.