An online CNN article yesterday recognized the first organized “Blasphemy Day.” Marked by the slogan “Nothing is Sacred,” and part of a “Campaign for Free Expression, the day was set to coincide with the 5th anniversary of a Danish’ newspaper’s publication of cartoons that so offended followers of Islam. The sponsoring group claims 100,000 international […]
NPR’s All Thing’s Considered host Madeleine Brand recently did an interview with Forest Whitaker, the executive producer of a 5 part video documentary called “Brick City.” The series tells the story of Mayor Cory Booker’s attempt to restore safety and security to the streets of Newark, New Jersey. Part of the interview includes an emotional […]
Labor Day weekend marks the symbolic end of summer, back to school, back yard barbecues, and the beginning of the college and professional football season. This year some of us might also get a chance to catch a few holes of the rain-delayed end of the PGA Deutsche Bank Championship Golf tournament, or see if […]
A recent online NPR article summarizes some provocative research on the emotional and physical impact of money. According to a report by David Kestenbaum titled Study: Your Brain Thinks Money is a Drug, researchers report their surprise in discovering that, “Counting money — just handling the bills — can make things less painful.” The article […]
Sony Corporation came out this week with the announcement of two new E-readers that it hopes will mount a formidable challenge to Amazon’s Kindle (paperless book). According to an Information Week article, the handheld electronic readers will be able to store about 350 books with a two week battery life. The announcement leads me to […]
There’s something about the “cash for clunkers” economic stimulus that I find inspiring. Not interested right now in debating the issue of the policy’s wisdom. Am just intrigued with the idea that buyers are able to get a 3,500 to 4,500 dollar cash rebate for a gas hog … while helping car companies lower their […]
As I’ve read the news reports on the President’s meeting with police Sergeant James Crowley and Harvard Scholar Henry Louis Gates, I’ve been interested in the different responses. The highly charged racial implications around the event that prompted the arrest of Professor Gates, together with the public debate that followed, showed how quickly each of […]
In the public trauma of 911, religious leaders gathered for an interfaith public prayer service. While Muslim clerics prayed for the United States in the name of Allah, some Christian leaders did not begin or end their prayers in the name of Jesus. I remember a well known author and pastor who, in a 2002 […]
In April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national unemployment rate stood at 8.9%. Among the states, Michigan currently stands at 12.9%, still leading the nation’s unemployment rate for 28 consecutive months. Neither number reflects “discouraged workers” who according to the Bureau of Labor are not looking for work because they believe there […]
On Dec 23, 2006, three Michigan soldiers died when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle during combat operations in Salman Pak, Iraq. Spc. Chad J. Vollmer, 24, of Grand Rapids; Pfc. Wilson A. Algrim, 21, of Howell; and Pvt. Bobby Mejia II, of Saginaw paid the ultimate price in the service of our […]
