March 10, 2009 ...more

March 10, 2009

Barbie, the iconic fashion doll with the top-heavy figure and high-heel arches, turns 50 today, with no need for Botox and no threat of hot flashes. ...more

March 9, 2009

Tom Vilsack, Iowa's former governor, calls his "the most important department in government," noting that the Agriculture Department serves education through school nutrition programs and serves diplomacy by trying to wean Afghanistan from a poppy-based (meaning heroin-based) economy. But Vilsack's department matters most because of the health costs of the American diet. If Michael Pollan is right, the problem is rooted in politics and, in a sense, Iowa. ...more

March 8, 2009

When will this wretched economy bottom out? The recession is already in its 15th month, making it longer than all but two downturns since World War II. For now, everything seems to be getting worse: The Dow is in free fall, jobs are vanishing every day, and one in eight American homeowners is in foreclosure or behind on payments. ...more

March 7, 2009

City Manager Steve Spina said architects have revised the plans for renovating the downtown fire station to cut costs. ...more

March 7, 2009

On average, black American women are getting shorter. That's the conclusion reached by economist John Komlos, who analyzed data released by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ...more

March 7, 2009

In today's confusing and disheartening economic landscape, it's more important than ever to navigate carefully — and make the right turns. ...more

March 6, 2009

I don't recall who first uttered the words for the title of this article, but they are so apropos to the challenges we face today. There are two organizations in this world that I truly love — the United States of America and the United States Marine Corps. Each of those organizations faced countless challenges to their very existence throughout the years. ...more

March 6, 2009

City Manager Steve Spina said architects have revised the plans for renovating the downtown fire station to cut costs. Spina will ask the city council to approve the latest plans Monday so the city can move forward with repairing the station, which has been out of service for more than a year because of flood damage. ...more

March 6, 2009

except that his supporters started the Abraham Lincoln story even before he won the election. He went so far with this myth as to use the Lincoln Bible for the swearing-in ceremony. ...more

March 6, 2009