One of the great pleasures of living in an active community is having the opportunity to meet and listen to those who are fully engaged in service to others. Featured as one of the Smithsonian’s 100 Everyday Freedom Heroes, Dr. Mayotte has a fascinating life story of humanitarian service.  For ten years, she worked as a nun in the inner-cities...

Hold on to your hats, folks, I’m getting ready to be brilliant. I have the answer to the health care debate.  No, really! Last Saturday, the House narrowly passed its version of health care reform.  Now, we all hold our breath as it goes to the Senate and then back to the House and… let’s skip past all the parsing...

“I felt last night’s decision was the right decision for my district even though it was not the popular decision for my party.” So said Anh “Joseph” Quang Cao (pronounced “gow”) the freshman Republican Representative from Louisiana after voting in favor of the health care bill Saturday.  Mr. Cao, the only House Republican of 177, called his support of the...

Kerry Kennedy has an intense passion for social justice. For 28 years, Kennedy has devoted herself to the issue of human rights.  Her commitment has led her to travel to South Korea, Northern Ireland, Kenya, Haiti, Gaza and El Salvador.  Her dedication has led her to become involved in causes in Pakistan, India, Indonesia, China and Sudan. “The only way...

My first reaction to a front page story in yesterday’s New York Times was not flattering. “Aided by his bat and an astute apology, Alex Rodriguez is ending the baseball season not as a former steroids user but as a home run hero.” Under the headline, In Yankees Slugger, a Lesson for Redemption in the Steroid Era, (Nov. 3) the initial focus of the...

Should a newspaper print a story from a confidential report concerning ethics investigations, in which members of Congress are named, if the story was obtained as a result of an accidental release? Late Thursday night (Oct. 29) The Washington Post released the following two stories as “Breaking News”:  Confidential House report reveals details of investigations into lawmakers, aides; Seven members of House defense subcommittee...

According to TV ads currently running for Apple, there are some 85,000 applications – apps – available for the I-Phone3GS. Many, not all, are free.  Among those downloaded to my phone:  NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, CNN, and Confucius; all, handy references that I check throughout the day or week.   » Read more about: An app for that?  »...

Sometimes we get so caught up in the bad news du jour that we forget to appreciate some of the good news. Now, for example, Republicans continue to speak out against the “new” health care bill from Democrats.  Democrats turn around and blame Republicans for the economic crisis and lack of regulation on Wall Street.  (The bad news.) However, Neel Kashkari “…hears...

I wish that Letters to the Editor carried a more prominent position in newspapers. Why, for the simple reason that there’s a lot of good, old-fashioned common sense coming from people across the country. Example:  While politicians and pundits have been batting the ball back and forth regarding Wall Street’s massive bonuses, they ignore similar issues in other sectors, as...

On January 15, 2009, Captain Chesley Sullenberger had to make a series of critical decisions in 208 seconds.  As a result of his actions, he saved the lives of all 155 individuals on a crippled US Airways flight that had to ditch in New York’s Hudson River. In an interview (washingtonpost.com) conducted by Doug Feaver, Sullenberger talks about the qualities...