2009: Politics, Law, And Economy¾Richard Quan. 2009 marks a pivotal point in our nation’s history. While the United States remains embroiled in an economic quagmire, China, our major trading partner, an Asian juggernaut, is forging ceaselessly forward with an insatiable appetite to build and conquer.
Looking Ahead With A Nod To The Past—J. Conrad Guest. Barack Obama took office not quite a year ago, behind a vote to leave behind the same old same old, kindling hope for a better tomorrow; yet today his approval ratings are at their lowest.
Holiday Discards¾ Aurelio O'Brien. Christmas is the time childhood memories resurface in a ramble: The first Christmas after my father re-married and we became a family of ten, we blindly carried on our usual process of everyone buying a gift for everyone else.
What Future?¾J. Conrad Guest. When I was eight or nine, my parents let me stay up to see in my first New Year’s. I toughed it out, fought off the Sandman and managed to stay awake.
Crippling Challenge¾Bonnie David. We all have challenges to tackle in our lives. Regardless of the nature of the challenge, what matters is how we perceive the condition and whether we are willing to shift our perspective.
Big Teeth¾M. Sandi Aigoro. Workforce diversity suffers the same plight as political diversity. Often, power is entrenched by a sustained history of big teeth players, predominately from a single gender and race in the U.S.—the white male.
Intimacy With A Clock¾Toni Styles. The clock tick tocks, it never takes a break. Unless it breaks.
I Wish You Were There¾Courtney Galloway. I visited you at your grave today. I laid fresh flowers in a vase and said a prayer for you.
FALL 2009 EDITION
America’s Healthcare Crisis: How To Fix It—Richard Quan. I am not a physician or a research scientist but I have worked with and/or collaborated with enough brilliant minds in the past decade, including top physicians and scientists from major medical, educational and research institutions around the world such as Harvard and the National Institute of Health, to name two, to know a thing or two about health-related issues.
Healthcare In America—J. Conrad Guest. No one can argue that the healthcare industry in this country isn’t broken. It has been for decades.
Iran Peace Wave—Bonnie David. Iran’s wounded regime under the leadership of the incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been relentless in its persecution of political dissidents and in its imprisonment of activists, advocates, and journalists.
Inadequate Etiquette—Aurelio O'Brien. I’m no Emily Post. I applaud Casual Friday expanding to fill the workweek, enjoy no longer feeling social pressure to ponder my silverware placement, and fully appreciate a woman’s right to wear slacks on all occasions; but enough is enough.
Obama’s Healthcare Reform: Socialism?—J. Conrad Guest. After watching President Obama speak earlier this month on the progress of his health care reform bill, I’m resting a little easier, even if I’m a little uneasy with some of this claims, namely that this reform will pay for itself.
Do You Remember Soylent Green?—M. Sandi Aigoro. Do you remember Soylent Green? This timeless movie starring Charlton Heston depicted seniors making a choice to die with dignity aided by assisted suicide. In 1973, the concept of assisted suicide was just beginning to emerge.
Paradigm Shift In The New Millennium—Bonnie David. The inner battle is the human tendency to dualism, a spiritual warfare with two opposing forces of the unenlightened narcissistic ego against the enlightened self that are manifested in our physical realities.
Why Don’t They Just Rebuild?—Craig Elliott. Ravaged by a series of missteps, bad luck, or a combination of the two, the remnants aren’t enticing. All that work for nothing, he thought.
A Shakespeare Moment—Kathy T. Camp. The man throws the ball. The little blonde-headed boy dashes across the green grass to catch a little white ball, as if catching it will save someone’s life.
Hunter—Toni Styles. During the first moments of hunger, real hunger.You feel a burning in the center of your chest, under your lungs, and you become alert.
SUMMER 2009 EDITION
Reengineering Ingenuity—Richard Quan. For centuries, theologians, philosophers, politicians, historians, and scientists have been unsuccessful in solving the greatest riddle of our time. Who or what created us?
American Innovation: Alive And Well In The 21ST Century—J. Conrad Guest. Forty-seven years ago, John F. Kennedy challenged America to put a man on the moon and America responded.
Prose By Any Other Name—Aurelio O'Brien. George Sand was a girl. I’m not saying that to be mean, he was literally a she, a woman writer with a male nom de plume, just like George Eliot.
An Early Foundation—Craig Elliott. Nothing could be more overwhelming than the crushing weights of regret from not living up to one’s potential.
A Soldier’s Prayer—Courtney Galloway. Dear God, I look around and see hatred in people's eyes. I cannot begin to imagine how my friend’s parents felt when they learned that their babies died.
Does God Impact Your Bottom Line?—M. Sandi Aigoro. It is almost never cool to say “God” or discuss religion at work. Corporate protocol dictates that religion and politics are off limits.
Darkness—Toni Styles. Darkness like a warm blanket, subdues your emotions and cradles your form. It's uncertainty, brings a sense of tranquility to your racing mind, that's now stopped in it's tracks.
SPRING 2009 EDITION
American Literature: De naturis rerum—Richard Quan. Alexander Neckham, a Paris educated English theologian and teacher, was born on the same evening as Richard the Lionheart and his mother was the young prince’s wet nurse.
Bestseller Does Not Always Equate To Best Literature—J. Conrad Guest. It's true: the first display I bypass whenever I walk into a brick and mortar bookstore is the best seller table. For the last thirty years the books I’ve enjoyed most are those I’ve stumbled across by chance or that someone has recommended to me, and rarely have those been best sellers.
It Takes Much More Than Just One Village—Zinta Aistars. Aberjhani describes an artist who gathers the homeless to record the rumblings of their empty stomachs—the rumbling of unfed emptiness is just the sound the artist craves for his symphony. He pays the hungry a dime and pushes them back out into the street.
Of Memoirs And Makeovers—Aurelio O'Brien. If Pinocchio had gotten a nose job instead of telling the truth, it would have changed his whole life story. Some current memoirists and their publishers have taken this thought to heart. Their revised version of what constitutes truth is as plain as the nose jobs on their faces.
The Spiral—Craig Elliott. Everything is locked up in his own mind like a steel trap. A vault designed specifically to seal in what is there and to relentlessly keep everything else out.
I’ll Take A Dose Of Reality To Combat This Weird World—Lauren Marie Huish. My skin shakes with anxious anticipation. For a moment my mind retreats to reality. Pulling me from the crowded room.
One Girl’s Last Plea—Courtney Galloway. Please help me! I don't know where I am and I can't find my way home. I am wandering in the dark. I am all alone.
WINTER 2008 EDITION
Capitalist America On A Hinge—Richard Quan. The night is darkest before dawn and dawn is not coming anytime soon. The beacon of light that shines from Liberty Island’s shore is dimming fast. We are living in a challenging era, the worse since the Great Depression.
America Has Spoken—J. Conrad Guest. On a leap of faith, voters chose Barack Obama to lead the nation in a new direction. Obama spoke eloquently in the days leading up to the election, of change and decisive action. But the time for rhetoric is over. Words alone will change nothing.
Fame: I'll Have To Live Forever—Aurelio O'Brien. In 1968 Andy Warhol predicted, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes,” so I immediately hopped in line and have been camping out in it ever since. That the future has arrived is hard to argue against.
Extreme Diversity Makeover Opportunity For Corporate America—M. Sandi Aigoro. America, a nation which formerly embraced a master/slave mentality, has embarked upon a new frontier of equality. Our newly elected President has lifted expectations and renewed hope as America’s example to the world community.
Traveling During Troubled Times: Part 2—Jenny Reed. It is not hard to turn on the television to hear news of a slumping economy. The bad news, it seems, is enough to keep anyone from traveling these days, particularly internationally. However, that is not the case.
Plan For Economic Stimulus: Smoke And Mirrors?—J. Conrad Guest. Six-hundred-thousand more jobs were lost in January. More than three and a half million Americans have been left jobless since this debacle on Wall Street began ─ the most in thirty-four years ─ and the experts claim we’ve not yet reached the halfway point in our economic recovery.
FALL 2008 EDITION
Imperfect Union—Richard Quan: For every imperfect union, a leader is needed who understands its imperfections. America is no exception. It has not been that long ago since we stripped the Native Americans of their sacred land, a land admired by many, explored by many more, and marred by conquests, acquisitions and intolerance.
Integrity & Politics—J. Conrad Guest: Has integrity ever been the dance partner of American politics? Sure, we long for the warmth of Harry Truman’s fireside chats, but Harry made the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima ― an act of terrorism that, because of our might, made us right ― and later fed the Baltic States one by one to Russia to appease Stalin.
Russian Invasion Of Georgia: A New America—J. Conrad Guest: When I first heard that Russia had invaded Georgia, I thought, So what? I’ve been to forty or so of the fifty states in the union, and although Ty Cobb, the greatest Detroit Tiger and perhaps the greatest ballplayer ever ― one of baseball’s nine immortals ― was affectionately known as the Georgia Peach because he hailed from Narrows, Georgia, the state itself does not rank as one of my favorites.
China: Awakening Dragon—Richard Quan: Imagine a den full of hungry dragons stirred awake from their comatose state. For all you doubters out there, I have one word of warning—beware. It is happening. The dragons have awakened and they are on the prowl.
Stopping Genocide?—Terry Nickelson: One year after President Clinton declared “never again” on the occasion of the opening of the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC, the killing started in Rwanda. Politicians like to say “never again”. It’s short and punchy, filled with resolve.
The Right Not To Vote (Or Just Say "No")—J. Conrad Guest: Mr. Simon’s statement is certainly red, white and blue, until one reflects upon the quality of politicians that run for office.
Top Ten Qualities Needed To Be POTUS—Aurelio O' Brien: Top ten qualities needed to be a President of the United States and why I'm backing Obama. You must be easy to caricature. Let's face it; it's all about your face. A good president need not be good-looking, just easy to draw. Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon were huge successes.
Sleeping Bernie: Election 2008—Kathy T. Camp: I’ve been asked many times about my views on the election. I’m thrilled to talk to anyone who will listen to me regarding this year’s election. Finally, I have an outlet for my opinion.
Don’t go Blindly To The Polls—Janie Chu: Ah, the current madness of what we call the 2008 Presidential election. Shameless mud-slinging exists, along with accusations of past decisions in order to persecute the character of what could be the leader of our country in the new year.
Six Top Attributes: Election 2008—Richard Quan: Given the current state of our economy and our relationship with the world, we need a President with not only one or two but with as many of the following six attributes as possible: vision, judgment, experience, charisma, intellect, and good health.
Accountability To The American Common Bond—M. Sandi Aigoro: As representatives of the U.S. Common Bond, we are responsible to not only consider the right to vote, but also the right vote. We have to consider how, over the last eight years, America was unable to put a president into office that held values or core beliefs, particularly the right to privacy and freedom, shared by the majority of the American people.
Reverse Mortgages: Financing The Golden Years—Karen Chartier: Until recently, seniors 62 years of age and older have not had the best choices when it came to getting cash from their homes. Traditional home loans only offered the option of either selling one’s house or borrowing against its equity.
Business Owners, Don’t Just Survive In Today’s Economy, Thrive!—Bernadette Boas: Over the past few month, especially few weeks, everyone from politicians, bankers, the Fed, and your neighbor are spewing advice regarding the state of the economy, your stock portfolios, and your own wallets.
Sparkly Eyes—Kathy T. Camp: I finally got to wear sparkly eye-shadow to work. This week I began a new job. I’m teaching high school. We had a lot of meetings two days before the herds of students arrived.
I See—Mitzi Crall, Ph.D.: There seems to be something in the human psyche that is naturally drawn to the unexplainable. Although I have accomplished much in my twenty plus years in the corporate world, what snares most people’s fascination is my ability to remote view.
SUMMER 2008 EDITION
Conscience Of War¾Richard Quan: The conscience of a nation is not based on what is right or what is wrong but on what each nation and its selected few choose to define as right or wrong. Morality is defined by a nation and its selected few as what is good and what is bad.
Never A Time For War—J. Conrad Guest: Has there ever been a time for war? In bringing Hitler’s reign of terror to an end perhaps there was no alternative, as diplomacy had failed.
In Iraq, Reality Can Trump Goodwill¾Lee Lawrence: The sun beat down hard on a morning in June 2007 on the outskirts of Fallujah, where Iraqi civilians were gathering outside a schoolhouse. Minutes before eight, earth-colored humvees lumbered to a stop and disgorged US Marines in armored vests, Kevlar helmets and bullet-proof sunglasses.
Uncertain Time: Port Of Entry¾Richard Quan: Entering the United States for the first time is like being reborn. Weaned from your motherland, you suddenly see the world in a different light.
Six Questions For You: Travel & Immigration¾Richard Quan: How prepared are you when it comes to dealing with travel emergencies and immigration-related issues? The following questions will test your knowledge on the matter.
Communicating Right, Left, And Center¾Mitzi Crall, Ph.D.: It was a typical corporate contest to elicit employee’s suggestions on ways to improve the company’s performance. While a number of good ideas emerged, the winning submission was one simple word, “communicate.”
Is That Really Funny?¾Aurelio O'Brien: To analyze humor seems oxymoronic; to analyze a fart joke, utterly moronic. Most humor is, or must at least appear to be, spontaneous, unexpected, and surprising, but any comedian will tell you that behind a good joke sits a lot of hard work; it takes timing and, like a magic act, requires the labor involved in its making to remain hidden from the audience.
Don’t Tell Her¾Yu-Han Chao: I don’t know how to tell my mother that my brother just died. He was her favorite. He was mom’s adorable son, the baby of the family.
Thinking Of Going To Court? Try Mediation¾Pete Desrochers: Most people dread going to court. Nobody wants to get sued. No company wants to lose business on allegations of poor quality of its products or services, and no one likes contract disputes. Still it happens.
Harassment: The Ugly Problem No One Wants To Discuss¾M. Sandi Aigoro: A pervasive and underreported issue plaguing the professional environment is unreported harassment. Both men and women in today’s workplace may experience unreported harassment.
Oil Conspiracy Leaves Me With Bad Case Of Gas¾J. Conrad Guest: I read recently where consumption of gas in America has dropped to 1991 levels. So I wondered why prices continue to escalate, now flirting for the first time with $4 a gallon.
Networking Today, Tomorrow, Always!¾Bernadette Boas: Prior to deciding my next career adventure, I experienced what many have faced. It was the five minute “we are making some organization changes” lecture from my manager.
The Truth About Mortgage Market¾Karen Chartier: Subprime mortgages have been credited for bankrupting well over 110 lenders and seriously damaging operations at many major mortgage firms. They've reportedly wiped out 5 hedge funds, tens of thousands of jobs, and have led to millions of foreclosures with millions more on the way.
Eat Local And Organic II: Make A Difference¾Janie Chu: It might as well be a doomsday declaration. Newspapers and outlets blare headlines of rising food costs, affecting everyone from the poorest of third world countries to the smallest of affluent amenities.
The Psychology Of Renting¾Craig Elliott: I have owned rental property for over 5 years now, and it has been an interesting journey into the mindset of those that are, and will continue to be, lifelong renters. I will use my Porterdale properties as an example. Porterdale is an old textile mill town in Newton County, Georgia.
SPRING 2008 EDITION
Into Deep Water—Terry Nickelson: Going to Afghanistan and Iraq heightened my awareness of the mental health issues affecting many of the men and women serving in the military . . . One day at a Forward Operating Base (FOB) near Fallujah, just before my film partner arrived, a young Marine put the heel of his weapon into the sand, leaned over it with the muzzle pointing under his chin and pulled the trigger.
B-52 Bombers: A Memoir—Richard Quan: The day of reckoning was the day those B-52 bombers swamped the night sky of my former homeland. Cicero said that nature herself has imprinted on the minds of all the idea of God. What he did not tell us is that nature herself has also imprinted on the minds of all the idea of war. The world, according to the sages of ancient Greece, are composed of four basic elements—earth, air, water and fire. Those sages failed to mention the existence of a fifth element—human.
The Boy Philosopher: Why Does Chuck Bite?—Richard Quan: A boy, an old man, and a dog laid belly up on Jekyll Point Beach. An arm length away a baby crab made its way toward the three. Sensing danger near the dog rolled over and let out a mighty growl. The wind blew, the ocean roared, and the baby crab raised its claws. The dog attacked and the crab snatched back. “Grandpa, why does Chuck bite?” the boy asked.
Sparkling Insignia—Allegra S. Coleman: L-O-N-D-O-N, embossed within the sidewalk in front of the historic H.H. Battles Building, sparkle in the sunlight. This is not London, England. This is Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1976 Warren and Dolores Browne bought the historic H.H. Battles Building and created The London Restaurant, an addition to the various London insignia’s they had already formed. At the age of fourteen I was the hostess at London Restaurant. Every Saturday night I danced in the disco upstairs until wee hours in the morning.
Remembrance—Craig Elliott: A few years back, my wife discovered an estate sale in a nice neighborhood near our home. The house was listed through a real estate professional, and a company brought in to evaluate, price, and sell was clearing out its contents. The elderly gentleman had recently passed, and his wife had died a few years earlier.
The Violence And Beauty—Craig Elliott: Walking between the 6 foot high berm of sand and the violent, unforgiving surf, I am completely immersed in the spectacle of this unpredictable landscape. I am entirely at home. As the 25 knot winds whip the berm into a menacing blast of sand that stings the face and threatens my camera gear, I turn my back and wrap myself around my camera, waiting for the screaming to subside.
Pursuit Of American Dream Becoming Nightmarish—J. Conrad Guest: The 1990’s saw a huge increase in global poverty. The gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen in the new millennium. Statistics from the World Bank and the United Nations, suggests the role of capitalism in developing the world order. In the 1990’s alone, 54 countries saw the decline of average incomes, and 21 countries actually went backwards in terms of human development. It may sound Marxist to suggest that class exploitation is the very nucleus of how the economic system under which we live functions.
The Day My Life Came Crashing Down—Darcy Busch: It began as any normal Friday. I went to work teaching preschool; a job that that I loved and felt appreciated. The day dragged on. I had to leave work early for a doctor appointment, a meeting that I truly dreaded. Finally, it was naptime for my students, meaning it was time for me to see what my would doctor have to say.
Writing On The Basement Wall—Yu-Han Chao: People say that suicides who die wearing red shoes and a piece of red string tied to their pinky will become vengeful ghosts. They will come back and seek retribution for the injury done to them when they were still alive. This morning, Cynthia was running late.
How To Pick The Right Editor For Your Book—Bobbie Christmas: I edit book-length manuscripts and have an excellent track record and happy clients; nevertheless, I hear horror stories about people who chose the wrong editor. Each sad story represents lost time, lost money, and an end product that reflects poorly on the author.
The Axe—Kathy T. Camp: “Oh crap, the fire must have gone out,” I thought. The frigid winter chill crawled over my skin. It was four-thirty according to the clock on my nightstand. I got up and entered the living room, knowing full well that I was more likely to find an orangutan sitting there by the hearth than a stack of wood.
The Art Of Language Dying—J. Conrad Guest: Thanks to technology language is dying. A current television commercial shows a family playing Scrabble, the young daughter relishes scoring points for ROTFL, and the mother is made to look the fool for her remorse over the fact that words, in all their beauty, are being replaced by Internet shorthand.
The Delicate Art Of Speculative Satire—Aurelio O'Brien: Science fiction fans are a peculiar breed. Anyone who has attended one of their conventions knows how serious these folks are about objects and ideas that may appear silly to the rest of us. The almost religious reverence that this human subset has for their various versions of our future makes the injection of humor into their world a risky proposition.
Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels—Yu-Han Chao: Sonnie Mu did not know that he was looking for love when he entered an Internet chat room called "Gay Chat". He was the quintessential Taiwanese bachelor, an established thirty year old with a house, a car and a job whom every mother would want her daughter to marry. Unfortunately for them, Sonnie preferred men.
Toast—Kathy T. Camp: I made toast tonight. I buttered six pieces of bread, two pieces for me and four extras for my children. They said that they didn’t want any but I knew they would gawk at me during dinner until I gave them a bite. When I plopped jelly on the warm toast, I began to cry.
Pih—Yu-Han Chao: In junior high school my classmates nicknamed me pih, fart. Everybody thinks I'm retarded or something, but it’s just that I don't know what to say a lot of the time. I can think perfectly fine, but when I speak the words just don't come out or don't come out entirely right. Working at my parent's store is how I met Natasha.
Who Is This Man? Plight Of A Married Woman—Allegra S. Coleman: I refer to my husband as my “little absent minded attorney”. For him to work diligently from 9 A.M. until midnight at his firm is not uncommon and to hear a statement referring to his brilliance concerning the law is a frequent occurrence. Proudly, I keep a magazine featuring him as the most powerful New York Attorney atop our living room table.
Eating Local And Organic: Part I—Janie Chu: Mention a passion about organic and local foods, and any attempt to discuss it is often met with an eye-rolling, pre-conceived notions attitude. I’m frequently dismissed as a tree-hugging, excessively indulgent yuppie who is just succumbing to a trend of the here and now, because it’s cool.
Should You Leverage Your Home Or Pay It Down Rapidly?—Karen Chartier: There is a great debate within the inner-mortgage circles these days. Should we, as loan professionals, encourage clients to borrow as much money as possible? Or would consumers benefit more if we helped them to understand the advantages of 15-year amortization schedules and pre-paying principal? Let's examine the pros and cons of both strategies.
Networking: The Tipping Point Way!—Andy Greider: Knowing where you fit in amongst the connectors, mavens and salespeople in your sphere of influence can greatly increase your viability and effectiveness as a networker. It had been a long time since I read “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell. In fact, it had been long enough there was much of the material that had new perspective and fresh light for me.
Networking, Netweaving, Networthing: How To Know Who You’re Hiring—Andy Greider: For many people, the concept of networking is becoming less and less a foreign concept. People are connecting leads and vendors more and more. Still, going beyond simply passing leads and building relationship capital isn’t something most people think of. Yet relationship capital holds great influence and should be a focus.
How To Personally Brand Online—Andy Greider: There are plenty of options to be found online. Let’s take a look at some of them – and you can find the one that helps you the most – and does the work you need done to increase your professional presence on the Web: You can often purchase your name as a web address, or URL.
Establishing Net-Cred: Why It Matters—Andy Greider: It used to be that when you wanted to know more about someone or something, you went to the Yellow Pages or the encyclopedia or asked someone you found to be knowledgeable. Over the past few years, and especially since the coming of the search engines, and the advent of Google as a verb, the world of finding information has changed a great deal.
Inevitable Change—J. Conrad Guest: Change: does it come easily to anyone? Not to me; never has, never will. Yet I change every day, as surely as we all change. Barely, imperceptibly sometimes, and then one day we wake up and ask ourselves, “What happened? I was never like that before.”
Views On Euthanasia—Felicia Johnson: Euthanasia is assisted suicide by a healthcare provider or by a physician through methods such as oral, intravenous or intramuscular administration of drugs. The topic of assisted suicide has been controversial in the past and continues to be controversial today because it touches on moral issues.
Timely Travel Tips—Jenny Reed: You’ve been planning the family vacation for months and feel you have finalized the travel details. To ensure peace of mind while you are away, why not run over this checklist of travel and packing tips you might not have known before you go?
Traveling During Troubled Times—Jenny Reed: It is not hard to turn on the television to hear news of soaring gas prices, the cost of war, airline woes and a slumping economy. It is enough it seems to keep anyone for traveling these days particularly internationally. However, that is not the case.
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