Imagine being 14 years old when you arrive in Pakistan to learn English and study information technology. Then imagine being arrested, tortured and taken to Guantanamo Bay as an “enemy combatant.” This is what happened to Mohammed El Gharani, a Saudi-born Chadian national. In January 2002, he became one of the first men imprisoned by […]
Community/News
Posted inCommunity/News
Kicking the Habit
Obama keeps sending me emails. It’s been two months since the campaign breakup, and while I appreciate that he still relies on me, talks to me, thanks me — it’s just time for me to move on. He’s getting desperate, I know — even getting his Davids to approach me (the Plouffe, the Axe), asking […]
Posted inCommunity/News
New Politics, New Media
August 13, second day on the job. The 12th I spent in Barack Obama’s Iowa City office, blasting his Facebook supporters with mass emails. The promotion du jour: the senator’s “Be the first to know!” text-message program, a nifty campaign to buzz cell phones “the moment Barack makes his decision” for a vice-presidential candidate. I […]
Posted inAstrology, Community/News
Astrology Forecast for January 2009
FOR EVERYONE ~ A watershed moment. Many things are moving forward. Many other things are up in the air and will remain there for some time. The powers that be have put a lot of things on hold. And the planets are about to reshuffle the deck, too. No one can offer much in the […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Is the Answer Blowin' in the Wind?
On the campaign trail President-Elect Barack Obama made a commitment to revitalize the economy with green-collar jobs as part of his overall energy initiative. After he takes office on January 20, the nation will be watching to see which components of his energy initiative actually make it into legislation. And many states will be anxiously […]
Posted inCommunity/News, UR Here
UR Here: Hope Localized
January 20 is approaching. The “hope-mongers,” as Barack Obama jokingly called himself at a Northwest Junior High campaign rally in December 2007, cling to visions of revolutionary social transformation. The hardcore liberals are shaking their heads at the President-Elect’s centrist and hawkish Cabinet appointments. To tell you the truth, I’m a little bit of both: […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Health: Get Moving
Little Village is making a New Year’s Resolution to get fit. You can too. A lot of New Year’s resolutions start out as good intensions, but by the time February rolls around they are forgotten and the “I’m going to lose weight this year” turns into a “I need to start working out,” which always […]
Posted inCommunity/News
The Eagles of Iowa City
When I relocated to Iowa City, one of my major fears was missing out on the outdoors activities that make the winters bearable (and the make the spring, summer falls even more enjoyable). There’s no downhill skiing, not much ice skating, and the snowcover is usually in a perpetual cycle of melting and freezing, not […]
Posted inCommunity/News
God Bless This Porch
On October 14, 2008, seven men slept on a porch huddled under blankets in Iowa City in the cold and rain. Father Ken has lived in the parish house for 12 years, and the porch had doubled as a shelter for the homeless even before he started at the parish. The porch, located between St. […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Health: The Home Stretch
Amidst the family, friends and festivities that the holidays bring, an unwelcome aspect of the season always seems to creep up. In a season that is supposed to bring good tidings to you and your kin, why does it also bring stress? You need to relax. You can choose from countless methods of relaxation out […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Barack the Table
I have read a seemingly unending stream of open letters to the President-Elect, each doling out copious amounts of advice and admonition for the new administration. While I realize that President-Elect Obama has a lot on his plate, I hope he’ll consider the metaphor a bit more literally. Many of the issues we face can […]
Posted inCommunity/News
Freedom Through the Press
Palestinian women speak out with their art. “There are hands that give love and affection while there are hands that steal the soul and take away life. What is so startling to us is that one hand is capable of both.” — Hani Zo’roub, artist, born in Rafah, Gaza in 1976 “The role of art […]
