A Lesson From a Holocaust Survivor

The Holocaust can teach people to respond to enemies in one of two ways: either with a vow for vengeance or with an act of forgiveness. Holocaust survivor Eva Kor, née Mozes, chose to forgive the Nazis for placing her in the infamous concentration camp Auschwitz and performing experiments on her. Mrs. Kor explained to Times-Picayune reporter John Pope that she reclaimed the power that was taken from her as a victim by forgiving the Nazi’s. She further explained, “You don’t forgive because the perpetrator deserves it. You do it because you, the victim, deserve to be free again.”

Keeping up with power outages with Entergy alerts

Obviously, hurricanes are never easy to go through, but we're lucky to live in a time where information and technology is abundantly available, and many of us don't even realize it's out there.

Civil rights complaint issued against Jefferson Parish school system

Many believe that poor academic performance among children is predominantly correlated with the level of involvement from parents. Sometimes, however, parents who exercise a low level of involvement do so through no fault of their own; there are instances when parents want to participate, but cannot, as is the case in some Jefferson Parish public schools, as reported by The Times-Picayune.

Honoring Those Who Serve and Protect Us

Our mission is to improve the quality of life in our parish. We will protect life and property through partnership with our communities. We respect the rights of all citizens by upholding the U.S. Constitution and the Law of Louisiana. We will perform our duties by adhering to our core beliefs: Integrity, Professionalism, Compassion and Fairness.

-Mission Statement, St. John the Baptist Parish Sheriff's Office

As family and friends celebrate the lives of Deputies Brandon Neilsen and Jeremy Triche—the two officers of the St. John Sheriff's Office who were slain in last Thursday's tragedy—we should all be reminded that many of our public servants go to work every day to protect and serve.

The fight over voter identification laws

The two dueling parties in the American political system will do anything to gain an advantage over the other. The most recent example of this is an initiative to require the presentation of voter identification at the ballot, which has been inspired overwhelmingly by Republican lawmakers. Numerous states—primarily located in the South—have enacted such measures, using as justification the need to preserve integrity in our elections. Interestingly enough, however, the referred-to measures may have the opposite effect—that is, it may undermine voter's rights.

Healthy Cookie

Trimming Down the Trans Fat

I recently read an article by Lauran Neergard called "Trans fat ban made fast food a bit healthier in NY." This article caught my eye because I'm often hearing a lot of negativity regarding trans fat, but was not really sure all the details about it. Trans fat is an unsaturated fat with the fatty acid transisomer. When it occurs naturally, in foods such as meat and dairy products, trans fat is not nearly as bad for you, and can even be beneficial. However, it starts to become dangerous when artificially produced via heat and/or pressure, turning liquid oils into solid fat, so it can be used for baking or for having a longer shelf life. The American Heart Association recommends less than two grams of trans fat per day, and urges consumers to eat as little as possible. Why? Because trans fat clogs your arteries and causes high cholesterol.

Salute to Our Olympians

Gabby Douglas

The London Olympics are about half-way completed, and they've already packed about as much action and entertainment as this Olympics fan can recall from summers past.