The Pantagraph
Reprinted with permission of the Pantagraph
 
Commencement speaker urges Titans to find own paths- Phyllis Coulter
"Search for what is true. Let no one tell you what is not possible."
 
 
Latino groups rally to protest sheriff's detention policies- Edith Brady-Lunny
"I would rather be challenged over a nondiscriminatory policy than not challenged on a policy that discriminates."
- Mike Emery, Sheriff
McLean County, Illinois
 
 
Discard No Child Left Behind standards - LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Megan Helms, Veteran Scholar, The McLean County Diversity Project
"Standardized tests are ineffective, yet we use them to decide where government money should be spent, to evaluate teacher performance and whether to hold students back. We need to end this destructive
practice and discard No Child Left Behind standards before genuine learning becomes nonexistent."
 
 
Bloomington church treats single mothers to a relaxing 'Morning Out'- Patti Welander
"We do this to show God’s love to single moms."
 
 
 
AM 1230 WJBC
 
When Bell Labs built the future- Steve Fast
"New York Times magazine writer Jon Gertner tells Steve Fast that from 1920 to 1980 Bell Laboratories effectively invented the modern world. Bell Labs  gave birth to the transistor, silicon solar cells, the laser, satellite communication and computer languages."
 
 
Community Forum- Dr. Laurie Bergner
"Pretending that the answer is to deport all illegal immigrants is no answer at all. Not only will it never happen, but it would devastate the country if it did."
 
 
Community Forum- Erica Thurman
"That’s so gay."
 
 
Community Forum- Mike Matejka
"Since it is the season of proms and graduations, I am entitled, by virtue of being over 50, to complain about young people today. But I am not going down that path."
 
 
 
The History Channel
 
The History of Cinco de Mayo- TUTORIAL
"Cinco de Mayo - or the fifth of May - commemorates the Mexican army's 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War (1861-1867). A relatively minor holiday in Mexico, in the United States Cinco de Mayo has evolved into a celebration of Mexican culture and heritage, particularly in areas with large Mexican-American populations. Cinco de Mayo traditions include parades, mariachi music
performances and street festivals in cities and towns across Mexico and the United States."
 
 
 
Wichita Eagle
 
Why is the Vatican cracking down on nuns?- Nicholas Kristoff
"In effect, the Vatican accused the nuns of worrying too much about the poor and not enough about abortion and gay marriage. What Bible did that come from?"
 
 
 
CNBC
 
Bernanke Lecture Series- Matt Cuddy
"Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke delivered the final of four lectures Thursday as part of a George Washington University School of Business class. Here are 10 questions based on his lectures. How closely were you paying attention? Take our quiz."
 
 
 
Religion Dispatches
 
Can Atheist Billboards Kill Religion?- Anthony B. Pinn
"I am a non-theistic humanist, and I am one who believes theism  does more harm than good." 
 
 
 
The Atlantic
 
How the Blind Are Reinventing the iPhone- Liat Kornowski
"For its fans and advocates in the visually-impaired community, the iPhone has turned out to be one of the most revolutionary developments since the invention of Braille."
 
 
 
TIME
 
Is Racism an Illness?- Noliwe M. Rooks
"It is clear that we as a society have a lot of work to do to end racism, and almost none of it will start in the lab."
 
 
 
The Smithsonian Magazine
 
Where Did the Taco Come From?- Katy June Friesen
"Jeffrey M. Pilcher, professor of history at the University of Minnesota, has traveled around the world eating tacos. For the past 20 years, he has investigated the history, politics and evolution of Mexican food, including how Mexican silver miners likely invented the taco, how Mexican Americans in the Southwest reinvented it, and how businessman Glen Bell mass-marketed it to Anglo palates via the crunchy Taco Bell shell."
 
 
 
American Experience
 
Jesse Owens- Documentary
"The most famous athlete of his time, his stunning triumph at the 1936 Olympic Games captivated the world even as it infuriated the Nazis. Despite the racial slurs he endured, Jesse Owens' grace and athleticism rallied crowds across the globe. But when the four-time Olympic gold medalist returned home, he could not even ride in the front of a bus."
 
 
 
Union Leader
 
Jon Will's gift- George F. Will
"When Jonathan Frederick Will was born 40 years ago - on May 4, 1972, his father's 31st birthday - the life expectancy for people with Down syndrome was about 20 years."
 
 
 
Black Voice News
 
Every Republican in Congress Fails Blacks- George E. Curry
"The new NAACP Report Card for the first session of the 112th Congress is out and it shows that every graded Republican member of the House and Senate received an F on issues considered important to the nation’s oldest civil rights group."
 
 
 
The Buddhist Channel
 
Thailand’s young Buddhist nuns challenge social conventions- Amy Sawitta Lefevre
"Fully ordained Buddhist nuns are not legally recognized, as they are in Myanmar and Sri Lanka- one sign of the inequality women still face
in certain fields in Thailand."
 
 
 
Religion & Ethics
 
African-American Spirituals- Bob Faw
"Generations of African slaves found a powerful way of singing through suffering in spirituals that were rooted in biblical stories and images."
 
 
 
Slate.com
 
Originalist Sin- Eliot Spitzer
"As with so many of the claims of the originalists, a slight understanding of the true history shows that the originalists’ view is mere ideology being imposed on a false understanding of history."
 
 
 
Miami Herald
 
Don't blame the Bible- Leonard Pitts Jr.
"Many in North Carolina - many around the country - are swimming against the tide of human freedom and blaming God for it. Again, this is not a new thing. We saw it back when God was for segregation and against women’s suffrage."
 
 
 
NPR
 
A Museum Teaches Tolerance Through Jim Crow - Amy Robinson
"The items on display at the museum show a full range of American racial stereotypes and derogatory caricatures from the time. There are images of "mammies," "picaninnies," "sambos" and an entire section dedicated to the portrayal of black children as "alligator bait."
 
 
 
Washington Times
 
Myth of a two-state solution- Representative Joe Walsh
"The two-state solution can never work when one of the domains, the Palestinian state, does not even acknowledge the other state’s (Israel's)
right to exist and has as its entire purpose in life wiping Israel off the face of the earth."
 
 
 
Taipei News
 
Inequalities hobble China’s next leap forward- Patrick Collinson
"... there is one key fact to remember about the economy in China. It is that the minimum wage is going up 15 percent a year, every year, for the next five years. Take a billion workers and give them a 100 percent pay rise. It changes everything."
 
 
 
BBC
 
China's eco-cities: Sustainable urban living in Tianjin- Gaia Vince
"The world’s largest eco-city is rising from wastelands in China and our environment columnist is there to get a first-hand look."
 
 
 
Kansas City Star
 
Eritrea may be the world’s most repressive nation- Joel Brinkley
"... no one knows; no one cares."
 
 
 
Reporters Without Borders
 
A journalist killed every five days, six new "predators" brings total to 41-Joel Guenoun for Reporters Without Borders
"Today, World Press Freedom Day 2012, Reporters Without Borders
condemns the furious pace of physical attacks on news providers and reports that a total of 21 journalists, and 6 netizens and citizen journalists have been killed since the start of 2012 ..."
 
 
 
PINK Magazine
 
Karen Shirk- Farren Davis
"PINK: How has your background resulted in your success today?
KS: All of my life I’ve wanted to go into social services, because of being in foster care as a child."
 
 
 
Der Spiegel
 
Travels in the Empire of Kim Jong Un- Staff Report
"North Korea may have a new leader, but it still has many of the same old problems. Despite efforts to modernize the capital Pyongyang ahead of 100th birthday celebrations for Kim Il Sung, the country still suffers from shortages of food, electricity, heat and hope."
 
 
 
GoUpstate.com
 
Deaf ministries: Signs of God's message- Dustin Wyatt
"A deaf ministry does not involve a lot of noises, sounds or voices, but to deaf people in the community, it speaks volumes."
 
 
 
The Hill's Congress Blog
 
Iranian cyber threat cannot be underestimated- Representative Patrick Meehan
"Knowing that it cannot compete with the United States military conventionally, Iran has spent the last three decades mastering the use of asymmetric warfare."
 
 
 
Speaking of Faith
 
The Body's Grace- Krista Tippett
"Yoga teacher Matthew Sanford has been paraplegic since the age of 13. He shares his unusual take on the mind-body connection - and his wisdom on knowing the strength and grace of our bodies, even in the face of trauma and aging."
 
 
 
The Miller Center
 
Deadly Embrace: Pakistan, America and the of the Global Jihad- Bruce Riedel
"Pakistan and America have been gripped together in a deadly embrace for decades. For half a century American presidents from both parties pursued narrow short-term interests in Pakistan. This myopia actually backfired in the long term, helping to destabilize the political landscape and radicalizing the population, setting the stage for the global jihad we face today. BRUCE RIEDEL, one of America's foremost authorities on U.S. security and South Asia, sketches the history of U.S.-Pakistani relations from the partitioning of the subcontinent in 1947 up through the present day. It is muddled story, meandering through periods of friendship and enmity. Riedel deftly interprets the tortuous path of relations between two very different nations that remain, in many ways,
stuck with each other."
 
 
 
New York Times
 
Lives Restored- Special Series
"A series profiling people who are functioning normally despite severe mental illness and have chosen to speak out about their struggles."
 
 
 
The Japan Times
 
Curse of not paying a woman what she wants- Roberto Loiederman
"What happened in Cartagena, Colombia, with U.S. Secret Service seems unsavory to me, but not for the reasons you might think. I make no judgments about men spending a night with escorts. As far as I'm concerned, those who take a holier-than-thou attitude about this are like Inspector Renault in "Casablanca" when he says ..."
 
 
 
The Oklahoman
 
The left's favorite bad statistic- Rich Lowry
"In the end, the reality doesn't matter. A bad statistic never dies"
 
 
 
Washington Post
 
Black leadership is dead. Long live black leadership.- Kevin Powell
"It may look as though Black America has fallen into a terrible rut around our leadership today, but that’s in part because a faulty image - that of the singularly powerful national black leader - has been perpetuated out of the upheavals of the Civil Rights Movement."
 
 
 
Christian Science Monitor
 
Osama bin Laden papers: top 5 revelations- Anna Mulrine
"A new trove of letters seized during the Osama bin Laden raid and posted online Thursday by the US Military Academy at West Point's Combatting Terrorism Center paint an intimate picture of the inner workings and struggles of Al Qaeda, from debates on whether to use drug money to blackmail and recruit double agents' to practices that would
make any Mafia don proud.rbia."
 
 
 
The Huffington Post
 
Beyond Information Transfer: An Initiation Into Lifelong Learning- Michael Roth
"Today selective schools create communities in which people learn from their differences while forming new modes of commonality. We don't do this to be politically correct. We do it to prepare students to become lifelong learners who can navigate in and contribute to a heterogeneous world after graduation."
 
 
 
The Guardian
 
Why is there so much misogyny online?- Laura Barnett
"Why do women face such misogyny in the media, particularly online? TV presenter Miriam O'Reilly and feminist writer Nina Power share their
thoughts and experiences."
 
 
 
Indiana Gazette
 
Bring out religious knuckle-rappers- Steven and Cokie Roberts
"Really? Women religious in America will now have a bishop grading their morals? Shouldn't it be the other way around? Given the sex-abuse scandals ..."
 

 
Los Angeles Times
 
The Holocaust and the sins of the father- Les Gapay
"It wasn't until after a divorce in 1987 that I started trying to find out more about who I was, a search that ultimately led to the truth about my father."