A bipartisan task force, led by Alice Rivlin, a member of President Obama’s debt commission, and former senator Pete Domenici, released their plan to cut the deficit. The plan would rely on spending cuts and a debt-reduction sales tax which the task force believes would save $6 trillion by 2020. Law professor Daniel Berman, director of the Graduate Tax Program and both a Treasury and Congressional tax counsel, offers the following commentary:
“Adding a consumption tax probably is the only way to raise sufficient revenue while keeping marginal income tax rates low and maintaining the major tax expenditures that our citizens demand.
“To reject such a structure because of its ‘ties to Europe, ‘ irrespective of its merits or demerits, is simply irresponsible national leadership. In this economic challenge we must learn from other countries rather than reject their choices out of hand.”
The Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center is hosting an evening with Irish Tenor Ronan Tynan tonight at the Tsai Performance Center. Tynan is an accomplished athlete, winning multiple medals while competing at the Paralympics, a physician in his home country of Ireland and most known for his accomplishments as an opera singer. The event will include a performance, lecture and reception. The event is free and open to the public; doors open at 6:30 and the event will start at 7:00 PM.
SED Professor Scott Seider will participate in a book panel discussion tonight at the United Lutheran Church (66 Winthrop Street, Cambridge) at 7 PM in promotion of his first book Shelter: Where Harvard Meets the Homeless. The panel will include James Shearer, Co-founder of Spare Change News, Reverend John Finley, IV, Founding Director of Epiphany School, Gail Bucher, Service Deacon at University Lutheran, David Dance, PBHA’s Director of Programs for Harvard Square Homeless Shelter and Amelia Lin the HSHS Volunteer Director and member of the Harvard Class of 2011. Scott discusses his book here. The event is free and open to the public.
The Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center is hosting Congressman John Lewis (Fifth District, Georgia) tonight for their annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Lecture. Congressman Lewis is best known for his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960’s and work as a politician and social activist. He will lecture on his professional experiences and offer insight into his life as “one of the most courageous persons the Civil Rights Movement ever produced.” Civil rights activist Diane Nash will also be installed as the 2010 Coretta Scott King Fellow. Lecture begins at 7PM in the Metcalf Ballroom. The event is free and open to the public.
Today the literary and cultural magazine AGNI—with cosponsors the Center for African Studies, the African American Studies Program, and PEN New England—celebrates contemporary African fiction with an afternoon panel discussionand an evening reading and reception. These eventsfeature four voices in African writing: the acclaimed Nigerian novelist Helon Habila; Ugandan writer Doreen Baingana; Caine Prize–winner Henrietta Rose-Innes of South Africa; and Zimbabwean story-writer Bernard Farai Matambo. The panel discussion will be moderated by celebrated Nigerian writer E. C. Osondu and will include Senegalese drumming and traditional African dancing. The panel discussion will take place at 4PM at 232 Bay State Road followed by a reading and reception at 7PM at the Photonics Center. The events are free and open to the public.
As a registered dietitian and nutrition professor at Boston University, I have known for decades, that when it comes to weight loss, the magic two words are: Calories Count.
If you consume less calories than you need, you will lose weight.
When overweight individuals lose weight, short term health indicators often improve. For example, a person's blood pressure and cholesterol may decrease to a healthier range. However, if the weight reducing diet was mainly from sweets and treats, you are robbing your body of nutrients, such as antioxidants that are anti-aging and good for long term health. A better bet would be to consume a calorie reducing, plant-based well-balanced diet that not only is kind to your waist but also you heart, mind, and soul. - SAR Clinical Associate Professor Joan Salge Blake
Sargent College Clinical Associate Professor Terry Ellis is working to further develop Every Victory Counts, in conjunction with the Davis Phinney Foundation, helping patients with Parkinson's Disease live better for longer. Terry's research is focusing on observing Parkinson's patients to better understand how their lives change as the disease progresses and what treatments sustain or help eliminate symptoms. Here's a bit more on Every Victory Counts:
"A stunning blow for the Democrats. The question now is whether Obama can play the game of wrong footing for the Republican House as adroitly as did Bill Clinton in the '90s."
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