Inquirer Sunday Currents http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents RSS Feed for Inq Currents en-us Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:21:28 GMT Editorial: Pa.'s Budget Deficit http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents/20081012_Editorial__Pa__s_Budget_Deficit.html The global economic meltdown is creating a budget deficit in Pennsylvania of at least $1 billion, so let's get busy cutting back in Harrisburg. Editorial: Phila. Schools Chief http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents/20081012_Editorial__Phila__Schools_Chief.html New Philadelphia schools chief Arlene Ackerman must have brought along a broom to shake up the city's troubled school system. Her appointment last week of 14 mostly outsiders to join her inner circle raised eyebrows and ruffled a few feathers among the School District's old guard. Letters: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents/20081012_Letters_.html New wordIf nothing else, Sarah Palin's oratory has gifted the English language, or at least the American version of it, with a new word: Palindrone. Murals can offer hope and generate change http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents/20081012_Murals_can_offer_hope_and_generate_change.html Jane Golden is executive director of Philadelphia's Mural Arts Program Hope is believing in spite of the evidence and then watching the evidence change. Writing and the theater can ease troubled lives http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents/20081012_Writing_and_the_theater_can_ease_troubled_lives.html Joseph P. Blake is a playwright and a former editor at The Inquirer I don't know who killed Ronald Saunders. Back Channels: How to stop creating extremists http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents/20081012_Back_Channels__How_to_stop_creating_extremists.html BAGHDAD - Protect the Iraqi people. That was the new focus when Gen. David Petraeus was given command of coalition forces in 2007. Worldview: At a time of crisis, GOP promotes fear http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents/20081012_Worldview__At_a_time_of_crisis__GOP_promotes_fear.html In 1933, at the depth of the Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt reassured a frightened country with these words: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. . . ." She and McCain even have a pet name: "Maverick." http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents/20081012_She_and_McCain_even_have_a_pet_name___quot_Maverick__quot_.html Thom Rutledge is a psychotherapist and the author of "Embracing Fear" Picture this: Dick Cheney in a debate. In response to a question that has nothing to do with what he plans to say, Cheney says, "It is our solemn responsibility to rid this world of evil and if, in order to do so, we have to take extraordinary measures, then that is precisely what we must do." And then, perfectly timed to punctuate his response, Cheney looks directly into the camera and - winks. New bailout to make Wall St. happy not quite legal http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents/20081012_New_bailout_to_make_Wall_St__happy_not_quite_legal.html Dave Boyer is a member of the Inquirer Editorial Board Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. announced today that the government would offer free hookers and sports cars to Wall Street traders. Palin advances ticket's theme http://www.philly.com/inquirer/currents/20081012_Palin_advances_ticket_s_theme.html Steven Pinker is a professor of psychology at Harvard and author of The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human Nature