Salem-News.com Culture articles Page 2

Transcending Death

The divine energy of transcendental consciousness heals our nervous system of stresses, or karma, that we've accumulated in the past.

(OLDENBURG, Germany) - Death. The very word casts a pall of doom. Why is it so upsetting to us?

Perhaps because it conflicts with two different ways in which we know the world. We know intuitively we are immortal beings, an essence deep within us is eternal. Our sense perceptions, though, tell us we die and cease to exist. We see that the person we knew is gone. The body lying there is not them at all.

Forgiveness is Dysfunctional

Most people who seek forgiveness are scared of being held accountable for their behaviour. Most people who offer forgiveness are scared of holding people accountable for their behaviour.

(TASMANIA) - Certain religious traditions, including Christianity, emphasise the importance of forgiveness. I want to explain why forgiveness is misconceived and, therefore, a bad idea.

And why there are important psychological reasons for this. In essence, the key question is this: What is the appropriate psychological response to inappropriate behaviour if we want change in the direction of improved functionality in future?

Fifty Years After the Civil-Rights Act, Let`s Take ``Yes`` for an Answer

Why not move forward in developing a genuinely color-blind society?

(WASHINGTON DC) - During the second week in April, the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, Texas hosted a summit on civil rights, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964.

THE ECONOMIST noted that, "The fact that the Civil Rights Act can now be the subject of a major conference is, in itself, a sign of how much this country has changed since its passage..."

The Best Way to Spend Your Tax Refund: Invest in Yourself

Too many Americans have been brainwashed with the belief that money always has to be hard to come by, but it doesn’t have to be this way.

(WASHINGTON DC) - The deadline to file your taxes is here, and now most Americans play the waiting game, eagerly checking the mailbox every day for that nice fat refund check. There are two primary schools of thought on what to do with a tax refund.

The first says to use the money wisely. For example: make an extra mortgage payment, pay off a high interest rate credit card, put it into your retirement account, fix up the house, use it as a down payment on a new car, pay down your school loans and more.

Salem Art Association May Exhibitions

Watercolor Society of Oregon | May 9-June 27

(SALEM) - SAA’s Community Arts Education program (CAE) provides arts programming built in collaboration with community partners to support a broad range of arts activities in the community and seeks to provide dynamic art projects that address specific needs in Marion, Polk and Yamhill Counties.

CAE engages over 12,000 students, administrators, teachers and parents each year through the School Arts program which includes Artists in the Schools (AIS), Family Arts Nights, Museum Residencies and the High School Internship program.

Twitter Revolution of William Nicholas Gomes

Twitter Revolution of William Nicholas Gomes, Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com continues.

(WASHINGTON DC) - William Nicholas Gomes, as the Human Rights Ambassador for Salem-News.com, is continuing to address different human rights situations in the world and engaging with world leaders.

He has uniquely used social media to address different human rights abuse cases spanning the world.

The Human Message of a Car Spot Hits Americans

Too often, in war and in peacekeeping missions, the families in which some of their members has left suffer excruciating pain of absence, an irrepressible fear of what might happen. And a constant, agonizing thought that pierces the soul and leads to suffer, to mourn, to pray …

(MADRID) - A spot of vehicles of the brand 'Jeep' , has shocked the U.S. public and, therefore, has been chosen as the best spot of the year.

In this story, the narrative rises. The first thing we see is a dark screen and then we see a written sentence: "We wait. We hope. We pray. Until you're home again.”

Understanding Marx

Review of Crisis and Change Today by Peter Knapp and Alan J. Spector

(OLDENBURG, Germany) - Knapp and Spector have written a superb introduction to Marxist thought, a much-needed one, since reading Marx can be a daunting task. The grand old man's prose is often ponderous, abstract, and complex, so many readers can't discern his full meaning.

Crisis and Change Today is a lucid presentation of Marx's ideas, explaining his views on history, economics, politics, and philosophy in a way that makes them understandable and also does justice to their complexity.

Willamette University Awarded Grant to Enhance Sustainability, Asian programs

“During the next several years, we expect to see the curriculum adapt and many more students and faculty to engage in collaborative activities to better understand sustainability,” - Ron Loftus, co-director of the grant and chairman of the Asian Studies program at Willamette

(SALEM) - With the help of a $400,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, Willamette University is implementing a new program to develop intercultural understanding and communication through the study of Asia and environmental sustainability.

The grant is funding curriculum and faculty development, place-based learning in Japan, symposia and workshops on Asia and environmental sustainability, and the Zena Sustainability Institute...

In the Asylum, all you can do is Laugh: Preparing for the Great Debate, or Some Such Thing

“Soldiers on both sides should shoot their officers and go home”. - George Bernard Shaw

(NANAIMO, Vancouver Island) - Decades ago, during my first sojourn to the Emerald Isle, my backpack and I ended up on the steps of a strange establishment called “The Walnut House”, on the outskirts of Limerick.

I was exhausted and broke, and not especially picky about where I'd rest my head, so I ignored the odd look in the proprietor's eyes and paid for a night.