reflections

Freakonomics: takes a subject like economics which is often believed to be just about numbers and transforms it into a variable used to explain a horde of socio-economic issues. In the book rogue economist Steve Levitt and NY Times writer Steve Dubner, attempt to explain why crime has decreased even though the population has increased; [...]

Lisa Gardner’s thriller The Third Victim incorporates a cast of well-developed and intriguing characters as it deftly probes the hot social issue of school shootings. The central protagonist is Bakersville, Oregon, deputy sheriff, Lorraine (Rainie) Conner, who finds herself in the position of primary investigator when the sheriff’s son, Danny (age 13) confesses to the [...]

Probably the best ancient example of standard alien abduction is the story of “Jacob’s ladder” found in Genesis 28 which reads:
“And he [Jacob] dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the [...]

On May 17, 2007, an agreement reached between Democrats and Republicans regarding immigration reform has changed nothing about the underlying politics behind immigration reform and is likely to meet a similar fate as the bill proposed last year. In fact, this time around some of the biggest players have less incentive to cut tough deals [...]

George Tenet, former CIA chief, in his remarkable memoir, At the Center of the Storm, provides literally damning evidence about 9/11 and the Iraq War beginning with his description of a meeting with Condoleezza Rice, then national security adviser, two months before the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This meeting was called because of intelligence that Tenet [...]

Flower Children, based on Ms. Swann’s upbringing incorporates vignettes about four sibling, the children of back-to-the-land hippies (flower children), raised in Pennsylvania farm country, who find themselves impossibly at odds with their surroundings. The children find themselves both delighted and unnerved by a life without limits that allows them to run free all day, dance [...]

Zarhar Khan of the Associated Press reported from Karachi, Pakistan, that a political crisis is threatening President General Pervez Musharraf’s position and it appears as if increasingly violent clashes are positioning the country for a possible coup attempt. According to Khan, violence exploded last Saturday, May 12, 2007, when clashes between pro-government gunmen and opposition [...]

While many of us are short-sighted when it comes to investing, it is not the short-term performance that really matters. Long-term planning, on the other hand, is where the pay off comes as could be seen in the October 1987 ripple that sent the Dow Jones plummeting 513 points or 2.2 percent in a single [...]

Having lived in the foster care system I was glad to see that almost five years after the well-publicized death of two-year-old Dominic James, at the hands of his foster parents, the Missouri House of Representatives passed House Bill 1453 designed to overhaul the manner in which the DFS handles children suspected of being abused [...]

A week after U.S. gasoline prices hit a near-record $3.05 a gallon Steven Mufson, of the Washington Post, reports Democrats in Congress are promoting legislation that would effectively break up the giant oil conglomerates, although industry analysts are less than encouraging regarding any positive, permanent outcome.
Standing in front of an Exxon station near [...]