Uncategorized
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More Physicists, Fewer Fullbacks
Our nation’s future lies in science and technology. Already in high demand, engineers and scientists will be needed even more in years to come. As the White House celebrates the contributions of Historically Black Colleges and Universities this week, they should be looking at the demand as an opportunity and a challenge. There is a…
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Kumbaya?
“Are all of your friends white?” That was not the response I’d expected after telling a member of my study abroad program that I’d graduated from a PWI: Predominantly White Institution. She looked at me as though I’d attended school on Mars instead of at my racially-diverse state university, located a mere eight miles away…
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NFL Shorthand
The start of the NFL season brings thousands of previews. This isn’t unusual, but no league is easier to forecast at the top nor harder to forecast in the middle and bottom. Here’s a very concise look at the NFL. New England is the best team. Indianapolis is second and those two are followed by…
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Busted Brand
Fundamental to the marketing of any brand is the establishment of trust: A brand builds trust when promises are met and destroys that trust when promises are broken. It’s a fact of life in retail and true in the world of retail politics. Barack Obama has been busy trying to improve the Democratic Party brand.…
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Living Down to Expectations
During his first term, his nicknames in the local media ran the gamut: “Big Diamond,” “thug,” “pimp,” “player,” “Kwame Soprano,” “Swami,” “his thugness,” “ghetto,” “gangsta,” “inept club crawler,” “hustler,” “Puffy Kilpatrick.” Often it was just plain ole Kwame—the reverent title of “Mayor,” “Mr. Mayor” or “Mr. Kilpatrick” chucked aside. Back then, stereotypical characterizations like that…
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Bye-Bye, Boomers
In a moment of unusual candor for a political professional, John McCain’s campaign manager Rick Davis admitted earlier this week, “This election is not about issues. This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates.” Cynical as the sentiment may sound, he may well be right. Now that the…
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A Room of Our Own
Something magical happens in conversation when only we are in the room. A guard is dropped, a look is exchanged. Even though we might be strangers, we laugh because we speak the same language. We pause to judge ourselves and the world on our own terms, from our own context and vantage point, with absolute…
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(Still) Down in New Orleans
New Orleans marked the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina by getting ready for yet another deadly storm, evoking memories of the deadly combination of wind, water and government negligence that devastated one of America’s great cities three years ago. Even before Hurricane Gustav came roaring in this week, there was ample evidence that the city…
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For the Bible Tells Me So…
“Let he who is without sin be the one to throw the first stone….” John 8:7 Imagine the fun that right-wing, fundamentalist Christians and their henchmen bloggers would have if 17-year-old mother-to-be Bristol Palin were black. It’s not hard. Visit any news Web site and read the comments that flow from the mention of teen…
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Pit Bull Palin
She wasn’t Hillary Clinton. Sarah Palin did many of the things she needed to do last night. She established herself as a politician with gumption, a candidate who would not shy away from battle, a conservative who would carry her small-town ideals to the corridors of Washington. She billed herself as an advocate: for special-needs…