Close to a month ago, I was sitting in front of my computer staring at a blank word document. The hours passed, and yet for the life of me I could not overcome writer's block and compose an essay due that weekend. When Monday rolled around and the word count was still zero, I knew trouble was ahead. I'm not sure if what I finally submitted could properly be termed an essay, but it worked. The expe... Read more!

Early yesterday afternoon I bounded home from working a morning lifeguard shift. After snatching a bite to eat, I opened my computer and logged into the New York Times. One of the first articles to catch my eye was "U.S. Economy Grew at 2% Rate in Third Quarter." "At least the economy is limping along," I thought. But if the growth numbers were melancholy, the trade statistics were downright depr... Read more!

On November 18th, some twenty residents of the Greater Detroit area stood against the protests of the Westboro Baptist Church at the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, Michigan. The counter-protest was energetic and diverse, with people of varying ages, races and religions showing up to defend their beliefs against the hate and intolerance of the Topeka, Kansas church. Teens skipped school. Pa... Read more!

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Years ago, I faced a life or death decision. Still a young boy, I was crouching on the roof of a storage shed in our backyard, examining a tantalizing electric wire dangling about a foot in front of me. I had been led to believe that if I so much as grazed the high voltage wire, I would die on the spot. And yet the cable drooped enticingly, begging me to touch it. Against every grain of (the argu... Read more!

Respect is the greatest gift our founding fathers bestowed upon us when they drew up the documents which today govern our country. From the Declaration of Independence, when we first declared that we are free men deserving of the rights which we came here to find, to the Constitution, in which we are guaranteed our personal freedoms, our United States of America were built around this single foun... Read more!

Teens are not commonly known for their sage decision making, and I am no exception. Last year I analyzed my school schedule and decided I would attempt my first Advanced Placement (AP) class. It was a disaster. I began the experiment with wrong motives and left full of disappointments. At the beginning of the school year I had two goals: get a five on the AP test and earn the money my Dad promise... Read more!

Five years ago I began my first "real" job, but the experience came with its hurdles. Since I was only eleven at the time, I could not draw payroll. Instead, my boss offered to pay me with U.S. Treasury bonds. Did I ever feel grown up! Researching interest rates became an obsession; I thought fondly (and frequently) of my "investment portfolio". But then the stock market crashed. As various crise... Read more!

Meet Halima. A chocolate-eyed Bangladesh native, she works as a helper in Harvest Rich's Narayanganj factory, where her job is to trim loose threads from Hanes undergarment products. She labors anywhere from 12 to 20 hours a day, 7 days a week, and earns an average of 53 cents a day. If she is lucky, Halima will work unmolested. But luck is sparse at Harvest Rich. "Yesterday, I was beaten," she t... Read more!

It is critical to analyze the various industries of Nigeria to predict whether or not this country, as an emerging economy, has the ability to sustain long-term economic growth. The capability of Nigeria's economy to continually contribute to the global markets will also be examined; this analysis is intended to perceive the nation's future possibility of transforming from an "emerging" economy t... Read more!

Over two years ago, I was exercising on an elliptical machine at our local YMCA. I remember looking up at the TV screen and seeing a panel of economists arguing about something called "Bear Stearns." I wasn't interested; I went back to listening to my iPod. In retrospect, I should have paid more attention. For months after, I would hear politicians, reporters, and friends talking about the failur... Read more!