| Misadventures in Atlanta
It's the disappearing act some people pull when they start dating. What's so unfortunate about it is that Jordan is actually a part of our group. It's not as if he's some guy she just recently met who has to go through the awkwardness of meeting us! He's already in! Naturally, if you go from single to being in a relationship, some of your priorities are going to shift. Maybe your Saturday nights have been reassigned to your new beau. And maybe one of your weeknights, too. But there are five other nights (plus weekends!) in your schedule! Is a couple hours a week too much to ask for friends who have been there for you? And it's not just women who act this way. My friend James and his girlfriend (also both within our social circle) have fallen off the face of the earth since they became exclusive almost three months ago.
Budget or splurge?
Is your wallet more blue than flush with green these days? It seems many of us don't feel so affluent anymore. Whether it's from credit card debt, an escalating mortgage, or a long-overdue raise, finding finances are tight. And one of the first things to get axed from the budget is often a vacation.
A spate of time away from home provides us perspective, rest, renewal and family (or spousal) bonding -- essential tools in the game of life. But with the dollar shrinking in value against many world currencies, the cost of a foreign vacation has increased dramatically.
One solution: the Caribbean and related Atlantic getaways. Although we're headed toward the region's high season (mid-December through mid-April), most islands have maintained value against the U.S.
Tata Motors rolls out Nano, the world's cheapest car
India's Tata Motors on Thursday unveiled its much anticipated $2,500 US car, an ultra-cheap price tag that brings car ownership into the reach of tens of millions of people. Members of the media look at a newly launched Tata Nano car at the 9th Auto Expo in New Delhi on Thursday. The ultracheap car — $2,500 US — suddenly brings car ownership into the reach of tens of millions of people around the world. (Saurabh Das/Associated Press) But critics worry the car could overwhelm the country's roads and create an environmental nightmare. Company chairman Ratan Tata, introducing the Nano during India's main auto show, drove onto a stage in a white version of the tiny four-door subcompact, his head nearly touching the roof. With a snub nose and a sloping roof, the world's cheapest car can fit five people — if they squeeze.
Helping underprivileged boys
Miriam Braun came a long way to spread her message to Boca Raton. Her motivating factor was a group of 6 to 15-year-old underprivileged boys who are the key to her heart. "Their families are poverty stricken, dysfunctional, and the children suffered severe physical and emotional abuse and neglect in their earlier years," said Braun. Braun recently visited Boca Raton Synagogue to raise awareness of the Sanhedria Children's Home in Jerusalem, Israel, which is a rehab center for children at risk who have been removed from parents' home by court order and who are referred by Social Services. The children come from dysfunctional households, where there is often a history of alcoholism, physical and verbal abuse, and many come from an underprivileged background.
Archives for: July 2007
Brayton Point (on right) is one of the biggest electricity producers in Massachusetts. But each year, its smokestacks release several million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere — inefficient generators and high-carbon coal fuel make it one of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases in the Northeast... Even among politicians who are endorsing action to combat global warming, there are varying degrees of commitment, notes Sue Reid, a staff attorney at the Boston-based Conservation Law Foundation. She pointed to Sen. Edward Kennedy and Congressman William Delahunt's opposition to the proposed Cape Wind project off Cape Cod as an example of how political positions on climate change can be fickle... Read the rest of this Standard-Times article here. .
Boulder: Impeach Bush?
Boulder's elected leaders are expected to decide next week whether to draft and vote on a resolution calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. For the past few weeks, activists have been showing up at Boulder City Council meetings, carrying signs, handing out "impeach" pins and asking City Council members to take up such a resolution. Similar measures have passed in cities across the country, including Detroit and Telluride. Liz Robinson, one of the organizers of the effort, said people hoping to see impeachment proceedings have given congressional Democrats — who won a majority in the fall of 2006 — plenty of time to act. But since they haven't, she said, locally elected officials should take up the slack. "Whether or not it's the city's business directly, like potholes, I feel this affects all of us," she said.
|
