Do you know that Americans suffer 18,000 unnecessary deaths yearly? I was as shocked as you to realize that during the five years that have passed since the Twin Towers disaster, an estimated 90,000 Americans have died because they had no medical insurance as compared to those who were insured. Imag...

Experiencing culture shock is very much like getting married. You spend the first year or so in rapturous enjoyment of one another in martial carnal pleasures and intellectual stimulation. One day, you wake up and wonder "What have I done?" and "Who is this person in bed with me who kept me up all n...

It may sound like a fake, but it is true. The Geostationary Banana Over Texas project is an 'art intervention' by César Saez, Montreal artist. This César Saez is a funny guy. Many odd art installations born in his brain, for example colouring the water in the Louvre's fountains or releasing a fleet...

The Dean led the Faculty Disciplinary Committee into an adjoining room, leaving me alone in the conference room. That was more than fifty-five years ago, but it seems as if it happened yesterday. It was in mid May of 1951, only weeks before I was to graduate. That is if the Committee didn't expel me...

I remember, one afternoon in 2004, watching TV in my aunt's sitting room in a small West Bank village. Much of the night before had been taken up speaking about the current toxic situation in the region, my family regaling me with tales of redemption, betrayal and fear. All told with a hefty serve o...

Elvis Costello (born Declan Patrick MacManus in London, 1952) has been writing, recording, and singing his songs since 1977, when My Aim Is True, his first album hit the shelves. Since then, he has made 33 albums (not counting compilations) in a variety of styles, from his most well-known pub rock...

There is a major aspect to philanthropic giving that is hidden from most people. This aspect is the numerous opportunities for unplanned giving that the Universe will throw at you to see if you are paying attention. Paying attention for what? Are you willing to give money away so that you can get mo...

People use scents and fragrances in many ways to create a pleasant odor. Because of the popularity of perfume among people, it is one of the favorite items usually given as a gift for special occasions or even for no occasion at all. Perfume may not be that cheap but it can definitely put a big smil...

Here's a very interesting little tidbit: Americans never understand their responsibility in the Mexican Immigration to the U.S. debacle. They will blame everyone under the sun, and then some, rather than look inward to themselves as major contributors to the problem. Here's what I mean. In the next...

We all want to put our best foot forward when it comes to entertaining our friends and family; but often it leaves us in a frenzied rush. Days of cleaning dissolve into days of decorating; menu planning and food shopping become late night activities; and following the event a huge clean-up ensues. I...

One of the most challenging groups of people to select fragrances for are members of the gay community. Most people are mildly misinformed that if you simply pick up the opposite gender's fragrance your homosexual friends will be satisfied. There is a little more to it than that. Gay feminine women...

Nigger, nigger, nigga. Now that we got that out of the way, for 2007, let's disable the word and move on. During the last few months of 2006 the n-word made headlines, taking on a life of it's own. Newspaper articles, feature stories in national magazines, and thousands of minutes of airtime have be...

Look around the next time you hear someone using a cell phone in public. How many times do you see a senior citizen talking on one? I bet not very often, if at all. For some reason, our elderly are not comfortable owing and using cellular phones. This is not a good thing, though, because older peopl...

The world is oh so sensitive. Thousands die in Iraq in barbaric manner - that's ok. Saddam, a reasonable autocrat who helped the US against Iran and had no plans against Israel, is sentenced to death - that is welcome. His execution, however, was less than neat - that is deplorable and, in Bush's op...

Nearly every rock climber who has been climbing just about more than a few months can tell you a fall story, particularly if he or she has been climbing outdoors. While a number of gym climbs are top-roped, which only allows falls of a few feet, those climbing sport or trad routes can take some pret...

Do you drink bottled drinking water? If the answer is yes, then you certainly are not alone. According to reports by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), more than half of all Americans buy bottled drinking water that is to the tune of $4 billion yearly. It is widely believed that bottled w...

If you find yourself constantly fatigue accompanied by aches and pain, maybe its time to ditch your old office chair and find a new one. Many workers will ask, 'what is the purpose of choosing an office chair'? The office chair isn't like any other chair. For many workers it is the place where you s...

I had the most insane and unnerving Christmas Eve I've had in a long time. In fact, the last time I had a Christmas Eve evening like this was when I lived at home and had to outguess my alcoholic parent's unpredictably explosive behavior. Come to think of it, all of my holidays were spent trying to...

In this age, in this country, public sentiment is everything. With it, nothing can fail; against it, nothing can succeed. Whoever molds public sentiment goes deeper than he who enacts statutes, or pronounces judicial decisions. -Abraham Lincoln I have often wondered if both sides of the political sp...

The problem of pollution has become very acute in recent years. And if we are not going to tackle this problem now ,future generation will certainly suffer its disastrous effects. This problem assumes different forms such as air pollution, waterpollution, food pollution, noise pollution. All these p...