If there ever were a time for a new beginning in this country, it is now. The recession is still very much with us. Global crises and disasters compound daily. Our national attention is consumed with political candidates on both sides of the aisle who seem to have completely lost their minds. And yet amidst the absurdities, there are signs of real hope and cause for optimism.

In the United States, the pressure on Facebook, relatively mild so far, comes mostly from journalists and advocacy groups like the Electronic Privacy Information Center. But the time is coming when Facebook will begin to face ever more intense international pressure from foreign governments unpleased, for one reason or another, with how the site operates.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, is visiting Qom, the religious epicenter of Iran and the residence of most of the country's top religious authorities. But a little known fact is that the office of the supreme leader has a Twitter account that is providing updates and links, including pictures, from his visit.

Russia's dominant Orthodox Church unveiled its own channel on YouTube on Monday to attract young followers to a faith which has grown increasingly powerful since the fall of communism.

The international community has failed to develop an effective model for governing the Internet, and the United States must assert its interests in overseeing the infrastructure that plays a vital part in its national security and economic well-being, according to a new report from the Council on Foreign Relations.

Female students from a local Jalalabad high school recently spent a morning chatting online with three female Soldiers from Forward Operating Base Fenty September 21st. The students were participating in a State Department sponsored program called the Global Connections and Exchange program.

U.S. President Barack Obama has once again appealed directly to Iranian people over the BBC Persian service on Friday, in a rare showcase of technology surpassing the boundaries of official communication channels.

DUBLIN --- At a small but intense conference organized by Dublin City University last week, about 120 terrorism and media experts gathered to consider how terrorists use the Internet and other new media, and to ponder ways to counter their efforts.