By: Lanctot, Nicole. Crain's Detroit Business, 5/3/2004, Vol. 20 Issue 18, p14-22
With computers, cell phones, personal digital assistants and other technology to juggle, some professionals are unwinding after work by taking up hobbies that are definitely unplugged. Knitting, crocheting, needle-point and cross-stitch are part of the recent "nesting" trend in the United States, and busy men and women are finding these hobbies the antidote to stress, said Karen Kendrick-Hands, attorney, transportation activist and owner of City Knits yarn shop. "Knitting is very balancing," Kendrick-Hands said. "The manual repetitiveness puts part of you on idle, you get to stop and think. It's very therapeutic, and best of all, you have something to show for it." Reading Level (Lexile): 950;

By: Reese, Charley. Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Sep2004, Vol. 23 Issue 7, p15-15
U.S. president George W. Bush keeps talking about wanting democracy in the Middle East and reform in general as an antidote to extremism. What apparently his staff members have not told him, probably because they themselves don't know, is that most reformers in the Middle East in recent years have been Islamist and sometimes the Islamic fundamentalists. All of the Arab countries and Iran have repeatedly called for a nuclear-free Middle East. In Afghanistan, the Taliban came to power as reformers, driving out warlords, who were corrupt and brutal. Reading Level (Lexile): 1030;

By: Thomas, Paulette. Crain's Chicago Business, 12/13/2004, Vol. 27 Issue 50, p26-27
This article presents information on several women entrepreneurs. Gail Robinson caught the bug in 1984. She opened a caramel apple business. In 1999 she caught it again. She opened a chocolate shop. In 1984, Robinson fondly recalled a woman from her childhood who sold caramel apples. Robinson, now 64, turned into a serial entrepreneur, despite her late entry into the business world. She has founded two businesses. Married at 18, Robinson had two children by age 21. By the time she was 44, she was facing an empty nest and longing to start a business. Having conquered the caramel apple industry, Robinson was ready to begin again. Relying on her gourmet background, she started Marly Chocolates, named after a French chateau. For Karen Lennon, becoming an entrepreneur was the perfect antidote to a corporate world that still has a five-letter word for aggressive women. In 1994, Lennon started a for-profit arm of an economic development lending program, which she sold in 2001. Using the proceeds from the sale, she has acted as an angel investor, putting money into four startup companies. Reading Level (Lexile): 970;