Blog

My running commentary on events: local, national, and international. Areas of special interest include Israel, Iraq, and dissidents in the Muslim world.

Chavez Held Up Mirror to Liberals

October 2, 2006

From The American Spectator

by HEATHER ROBINSON

As offensive as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez’s recent anti-Bush tirade at the United Nations was, his calling President Bush “the devil” was a lot less offensive than modern American liberals who attack our...

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Building Hope

September 18, 2006

From The New York Daily News

by HEATHER ROBINSON

September 18, 2006

The dwelling had no electricity, no windows, no heat and little furniture. Inside were a mother, six children and a crippled father. Garo Armen remembers using the light of a camera’s flash to catch glimpses of the...

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Marching For Freedom: Ex-slave Simon Deng Plans New Walk to Spotlight Sudan’s Plight

August 31, 2006

From The New York Daily News

by HEATHER ROBINSON

August 31, 2006

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It was “desperation” to raise awareness about the plight of black Africans in his native land of Sudan, Simon Deng says, that prompted the Harlem resident to walk the 300 miles from the United Nations to...

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Taking Courage

June 5, 2006

From the New York Daily News

by HEATHER ROBINSON

Monday, June 5th, 2006

“When I lost my arm, I thought, ‘That’s the end of my life,'” says Muctar Jalloh.

“My goals had been to attend school and to write. Sometimes I would think, ‘I don’t think it...

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Internal Riches

May 31, 2006

From The New York Daily News

by HEATHER ROBINSON

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Anita J. Raizman will never forget the day when, on her way to work at Project Ore, a kosher food bank, she saw someone abusing a homeless woman.

“I was coming to work here, and there was a black girl wrapped up in cardboard, sleeping by...

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Rising to the Occasion

May 17, 2006

From The New York Daily News

by HEATHER ROBINSON

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“When you rise to the occasion, there’s no ‘just getting by,’” says Thabiti Boone of his efforts to be a strong black male role model to inner city children. “My best is connected to my family, my future, my community, and...

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Ned O’Gorman: A Ray of Hope

May 8, 2006

From The New York Daily News

by HEATHER ROBINSON

“Forty years ago, when he was thirty five years old, a man I know pretty well came to this neighborhood and built a school,” Ned O’Gorman said recently to a roomful of his preschool students in Harlem. “He’s a very interesting...

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Steve Mariotti: Thinking Big About Small Business

April 11, 2006

From The New York Daily News

by HEATHER ROBINSON

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“Every child should learn how to start a business, especially children who are having difficulty in school,” says Steve Mariotti. “Let them be exposed to the concept of self-ownership.”

With his easy banter and warm smile,...

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All in the Game: Steve Huston is Serious About Bronx Kids’ Fun

March 28, 2006

From The New York Daily News

by HEATHER ROBINSON

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“Basketball, softball, football tournaments—no matter how tired I was, I enjoyed playing ball with the kids.”

Steve Huston smiles and leans forward, gently bearlike, as he remembers the days before recreation was his full-time job. On...

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Breaking the Chains: Former Slave Simon Deng Marches for Freedom

March 21, 2006

From The New York Daily News

by HEATHER ROBINSON

March 21, 2006

“As a child, I was abducted and taken into slavery, at a time most people assumed slavery was a thing of the past,” says Simon Deng, 45, to a reporter over coffee in an upper East Side cafe on a recent sunny...

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