Eric Back on June 4th, 2010

I first applied for permanent residency in 2003 through my employer and became a permanent resident in 2005 along with my immediate family members.  In January I applied for citizenship and today I was sworn in with 98 others from around the world at an oath ceremony in Phoenix.  It was a moving ceremony in [...]

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Eric Back on June 2nd, 2010

My family moved to the Phoenix, Arizona area in July of 1997.  Since then we have become permanent residents with the help of Banner Health, my employer since 2000.  My eldest son, and my wife recently became US citizens and this Friday, June 4th I’ll be appearing at the Phoenix USCIS center for my oath [...]

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Eric Back on July 11th, 2009

Here is a piece by Finnish Poet Risto Rasa
For more of his work visit his Finnish Poets page
You may also find contemporary Finnish poetry with translations into multiple languages at Electric Verses

Koira tulee illalla
kotiin.
Kun se kiertyy paikalleen
ja nukahtaa,
alkaa sen sydänlämpö levitä
huoneisiin
- Risto Rasa -

In the evening, the dog comes
Home.
When he curls up in his spot
And [...]

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Eric Back on February 12th, 2009

Today marks the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin.  There is even a website devoted to the 200th anniversary marking the birth of this distinguished naturalist: Darwin Day.org
Fox News mentions Gallup and Pew polls which show that fewer than 4 in 10 Americans believe that evolution is factual (Fox News article). The Gallup poll found a [...]

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Eric Back on February 12th, 2009

I came across this enews snippet announcing a new medieval manuscripts network.
”Researchers create vast virtual library of medieval manuscripts”
”Somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 rare and precious medieval manuscripts have been scanned over the past decade into formats that could be studied over the Internet.”
Definitely interesting for even casual readers.  Perusing the English manuscripts for example [...]

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Eric Back on July 11th, 2008

Gail Renard was 16 when she heard that John Lennon was going to be staying over in Montreal.  She crashed his party with a friend via a fire escape at Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel.  Ringing the doorbell during a change of security, Yoko answered the door and let her in for an interview.
Gail stayed for [...]

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Eric Back on July 8th, 2008

Ozzy was recently awarded an undisclosed sum in a judgment against the Daily Star.  The Star had published an article suggesting that Ozzy was too ill to present awards at a recent, British awards ceremony, and said that he had collapsed twice prior to the ceremony, and relied on an electric buggy to get around [...]

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Eric Back on July 7th, 2008

So how are we doing as a nation at the close of the Bush presidency.  Take a look at these statistics reflecting the USA’s place in the world according to a number of vital parameters for an established and developed nation.  All of these scores were culled from another site that had compiled them throughout [...]

Continue reading about But Who’s Keeping Score?

Eric Back on July 6th, 2008

Wondering what to do with all those leftover party balloons?
Don’t miss the video of Oregonion, Kent Couch’s launch for a 200 mile journey across the Oregon desert! He made it successfully, unlike the tragic flight of Brazilian Priest, Adelir de Carli whose body was recently found 100 km off the Brazilian coast after his helium [...]

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President Yahya Jammeh has vowed to cut off the heads of those who practice homosexuality in Gambia. He maintains that Gambia is a nation of believers, a Muslim country, and homosexuality will not be tolerated. As of today he has given homosexuals ”24 hours to get out of Gambia” and has ordered all landlords [...]

Continue reading about Another Final Solution: ”I Will Cut Off Their Heads”