Tuesday mornings with Ernie: Mum—Jon Schuller

I have a dear friend, Ernie. We've known each other for over 35 years. Ernie lives in Kissimmee, Florida near Orlando. I live in Charlotte, North Carolina. We speak on the phone every Tuesday morning. Ernie's like an older brother, a mentor, the proverbial "Dutch Uncle" who listens and gives you sage advice. He's smart, clever, has a prodigious memory and writes a weekly email newsletter to family and friends alike.

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Full-contact democracy—Frank Brichetto
A while back, JP McDaniel wrote on these pages http://mjohnson2.com/Jonathan-McDaniel/To-the-oppressed.html of his shame over centuries of slavery, oppression, religious wars and conquests, racism and all forms of prejudice. He is basically apologizing for the actions of his direct ancestors and the burden of his cultural inheritance, going back centuries.read more

The traffic light theory—Jon Schuller

The tragic news from Haiti, the scenes of utter devastation to buildings and inhabitants, reminded me of one of my pet theories. I’m sure we’ve all at one time or another lived somewhere with a dangerous intersection. Two streets with fast-moving traffic and a potential for something tragic to happen. You probably even remember everyone in town complaining about it, asking, “when will we get a traffic light?”read more

GR—Jonathan McDaniel

Quick question: In 10 years what does the city of Grand Rapids look like? Roaring metropolis similar to a budding turn of the century Detroit? Quaint middle-American city, a la Raleigh, NC? More? Less?read more

A need for reinvention?—Jonathan McDaniel

Lately I’ve been dealing with this sense that my life is changing...somehow, someway. Not that change is necessarily a negative thing, but change of any sort brings about either excitement or stress, sometimes both.

But as I sat and rolled these ideas over in my mind I came to the conclusion that “change” is the wrong word here. The word I’m looking for is “reinvention”. “Change” is too broad, too general, too blasé.read more

Heroes—Jonathan McDaniel

I need to tell you about my heroes. Why? Because when you paint the picture of your heroes and you simultaneously paint your values, beliefs, goals, and treasures. Look throughout history and every success story and what will you find? Someone motivated or driven by certain individuals who...read more

Thoughts about Frances Barrell: Mum—Jon Schuller
We will have a more appropriate category soon for articles about loved ones.
November 13th marks the 42nd anniversary of my meeting my wife, Chris, for the first time in Israel. We were both volunteers after the 1967 Six Day War: Chris from England; I the USA. Chris beat me at a chess game, captured my heart and from there forward I was never the same...read more

The Black Friday Blues?—Mike Johnson
Black Friday is here again. I am up, and it's not even 4am ye...oh now it is. My wife has gone out into the cold November morning to wait in line with her aunts and her mother to get the best deals on a bunch of crap that we don't really need and on toys that the kids...read more

New media (tentatively named)—JP McDaniel
Yes, it’s true. For my first swing at what can only be deemed as a wild attempt at journalism/writing, I have decided to tackle that often discussed and debated issue of the mainstream media and reporting and its struggles to keep up with technology and “the new media”.

But first some guidelines: This is not a Conservative v. Liberal media piece, so please leave that bag at the door. But don’t think that my politics don’t enter into my thinking, it does. Politics, like religion or world view, are secondary layers in this onion of a piece (onion = metaphor, not the hilarious, cultural satirist website). For today, however, we are only dealing with the primary outer layers of the media as a whole and...read more

To the Oppressed, Marginalized, Down-Trodden, Discriminated and Vilified,—JP McDaniel
This is an open letter from an open soul. A soul clothed in the flesh of the majority. A soul that earnestly and honestly looks upon the history of the past. A past of ugliness and atrocities. Of racism, sexism, hate and fear. A past where those of his race, sex, religion, orientation, and socio-economic class consciously and subconsciously lived lives of exploitation, corruption, and bigotry. And it tears the very fabric of his being to recount and...read more

Strategies for succeeding in college courses—Jo Johnson
I have been teaching college level courses for over eight years and I am still amazed at how many students lack the skills needed for being successful in college classes. Thus, I have created a short, extremely short, list of strategies students can use to...read more

Please, raise children with proper manners—Elizabeth Pancamo
Did something happen along the way to make people think it was acceptable to chew with their mouths open, interrupt conversations, shout across a restaurant, etc.? Many of us have had similar experiences of holding a door for someone and...read more

President Obama's September 8th speech exactly what students need to hear—Mike Johnson
President Obama's September 8th speech to students of America struck a chord with a lot of people. Some people even commented that the speech was used as a brainwashing tool to get the younger generation to do the government's work or to follow blindly and accept the policies our government wants to put into place. One such example is...read more

Where have all the manners gone?—Jon Schuller
As Americans we treasure and protect our Right of Free Speech. Even if means allowing hate groups to gather and march down Main Street while the good citizens watch behind police barricades. This freedom to speak one's mind has...read more

Gracious hosts should not make monetary gifts a requirement for attendance—Elizabeth Pancamo
Being a gracious guest can be challenging for me. I have a sometimes troublesome (yet, entertaining -?-) habit of blurting out sharp tongued comments and one liners, especially when attending what my mother would have said to be vulgar, if not tacky events. I bite my tongue, however, as I realize that so many people just don't know any better. So, I do my best to be polite, as frustrating a practice as that can be...read more

Don't let your neighbors go hungry—Elizabeth Pancamo
This article may be considered my own little PSA, but it's been something on my mind recently. While researching this, I quickly learned that September is Hunger Action Month. News to me! I began to...read more

School is important dads but let your children play—Mike Johnson