I have a pretty good pulse on the financial sector. Professionally and personally the economy to me is life imitating art imitating life with a sharper punchline. And we’re screwed. We don’t know it yet because the powers that be are trying really hard to un-fuck things, but in the long run we’re screwed. Not because the stimulus can’t work (though I have my serious doubts) and not because the government is trying to socialize corporate America (though it is), but because the private sector has the same leaders it did before the crash. [Read more →]

Tags: money by Steve Mazzeo
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I always liked that scene in Mission Impossible where Tom Cruise is lowered into the CIA computer. There’s all kinds of suspense having to do with external constraints like being suspended from a cable while hacking into the computer and not being able to make any noise and so on. As any computer user knows, though, what’s amazing about the scene is that Cruise manages to get the computer to do what he wants. All those external plot-heightening devices are nothing compared to the mundane suspense of going to work and trying to do something with a computer at all. [Read more →]

Tags: stone age memes, technology by Eva Thury
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Dear Ruby,
I have a gal working in my office who is a real Bossy Betty. Doesn’t matter who, doesn’t matter what, she’s got an opinion on what should be done and by golly she is going to make sure you take her advice. It’s bad enough on work matters, but I surely don’t need her advice on my personal life! Ignoring her just seems to encourage her and my boss doesn’t seem to mind that she’s running the show. Any advice on dealing with her?
Lynne

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Tags: advice, all work by Ruby Mac
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Uncle Sam is cheating!

Considering all the money that flows out of New York City’s Financial District, it should not come as a surprise that the news was first brought to light by the Wall Street Journal, but here’s the bottom line: if you just got a fat under-the-table payment at work, or if you’re crying poverty during the day while night swimming in a pool filled with dollar bills, don’t go bragging about it over the internet on your social network of choice. [Read more →]

Tags: money, technology by Glenn Giangrande
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It’s that time of year again, when college instructors not rendered comatose from summer-semester-teaching-despair begin to finalize their syllabi and plan their fall lessons. Much like religious leaders on any retreat, or shall we say “pilgrimage,” it is essential that the non-feathered creature in charge start things off with a bang. With that in mind, we give you the top ten ways to begin any fall class: [Read more →]

Tags: education by Alex Kudera
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I’ve been a student of crime since I was a 12-year-old aspiring writer growing up in South Philadelphia in the early 1960’s. As a teenager I read crime fiction and thrillers and that led to my closely following crime stories in newspapers and magazines. I also read books about true crime and crime history.

I began covering crime as a crime reporter and columnist for the South Philadelphia weekly papers some years ago and I later moved my crime column to other newspapers and finally to the Internet.

And after all of these years, I’m still interested in the crime beat. Crime stories are dramatic, tragic and funny. They are the stuff of thrillers.

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Tags: books & writing, on thrillers and crime by Paul Davis
2 Comments »

In preparation for Banned Books Week (September 26-October 3rd), the American Library Association has released their annual list of the books that the pro-censorship crowd tried to pull from library Shelves.  You can read the list here, as well as get prepped for the holiday with t-shirts and posters.

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read.  One does not love breathing.”
Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Now, I understand a parent wanting to know what their kid is reading, I really do.  I have a little sympathy (still not much, to be honest) with parents who are concerned about books in their schools.  I mean, I might agree that The Joy of Gay Sex is not suitable for a middle school library – but that isn’t where people tried to censor it.  They wanted to remove it from the public library, where adults also check out books.  So they didn’t just want to make sure their tween son or daughter didn’t have access to it, they wanted to make sure that NO ONE had access to it — and you haven’t seen cranky until you try to take my books away. [Read more →]

Tags: books & writing, Lisa Reads by Lisa Hura
9 Comments »

Let me set the scene… you are in Walmart and your 2-year-old is tired and crying but you are trying to squeeze in a last minute shop. A guy in your aisle tells you that “if you don’t shut the baby up, I will shut her up for you.” You ignore him because although he may be an ass you don’t expect him to actually do anything. Then, when your little girl continues to cry into the next aisle, this strange man grabs your baby and slaps her across the face four or five times. That’s what 61-year-old Roger Stephens did in a Georgia Walmart. [Read more →]

Tags: family & parenting, on the law by Amy Boshnack
52 Comments »

Last night, my husband and I had the following dinner-time conversation:

Husband: A few people in my office have swine flu.

Me: (choking) What? How do you know they have swine flu? Were they tested for it?

Husband: Their doctors told them they had swine flu. Doctors aren’t testing patients for it anymore.

Me: Then how are they sure it’s swine flu? [Read more →]

Tags: health & medical by Nancy DeGregorio
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Two recent pigskin-related items:

1. New York Giant quarterback Eli Manning signed a $97 million 6-year deal. While not the best QB in the NFL (or his immediate family), he is an All-Pro and a Super Bowl MVP. He is guaranteed $41 million, meaning if someone Theismanns him $56 million reverts to the Giants before the bone’s back in his leg. [Read more →]

Tags: sports by Sean Cunningham
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In one of the uncountable number of healthcare articles to come out over the last three months it seems President Obama is going to try and “reset” the debate. Apparently the 44th President has not heard of the laws of physics: an object at rest wants to stay at rest. As much as I’d like to see any piece of legislation on this topic make it out of the crib, I think the reset tactic is flawed. [Read more →]

Tags: health & medical, politics & government by Steve Mazzeo
5 Comments »

August 3, 2009
I dream I am attending a magic camp that is held in a studio/firehouse. Fabulous magician Andrew Goldenhirsh is performing at the side of the room where it is hard to see him. His final trick involves moving bits of paper around the surface of a television screen so as to make images appear more lifelike. I am asked to perform as well, but I am hesitant to follow Goldenhirsh. As I list the tricks I plan to perform my father gets upset. He notices that the tricks are all about death. I point out, “Yes, if you saw people in half, it’s about death. If you swallow needles, it’s about death. A lot of magic is about death.” This realization causes my father to sob.

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Tags: Fred's dreams by Fred Siegel
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There is a lot to admire about this dark, smart and gritty science fiction thriller. In some ways, it deserves the accolades it is earning. Yet while I watched District 9, I thought it was a very good film of this type, but I also found it to be unpleasant and in need of more likeable characters. [Read more →]

Tags: Gail sees a movie, movies by Gail D. Rosen
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Sesame Seeds are insanely good for you. Adding a sprinkle of them on top of your salads and Hamburger buns gives you a nice boost of iron, magnesium, calcium, Vitamins E and B, and antioxidants. My Asian Chicken Salad is the perfect vehicle for your daily dose;

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Tags: easy weeknight dinners, recipes & food by Jessica Alfreds
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I love after-the-apocalypse stories.  I always have.  As a kid, I was always planning for what I would do after the zombies attacked, after the nuclear warheads fell and it was just me and a rag-tag band of survivors.  There is something appealing about the start of a whole new world order, a chance to find a different place for myself, a chance to show just how resourceful I could really be.  I am not the only one interested in how the world will end, as evidenced by the thoughtfulness and creativity in Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse.   This collection of twenty-two stories looks at post-apocalyptic life from all sorts of angles.  Some are sad and desperate, others funny, still more are crazy with imagination of what people could become. No matter what your plans for the apocalypse, there is something here that might be useful. 

Here’s one of my favorite end-of-the-world scenarios, by the way:
Carniverous plants.

“The End of the World as We Know It” by Dale Bailey

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Tags: books & writing, Lisa Reads by Lisa Hura
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“Liberty is not a means to a higher political end,” Lord Acton wrote. “It is itself the highest political end.”

As a classical liberal, like Acton, I naturally agree with this, and I think most other Americans would also, especially if presented with a clear and present threat to their liberty. I am not sure if most Europeans would, however. [Read more →]

Tags: politics & government, that's what he said, by Frank Wilson by Frank Wilson
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