On Good Friday I attended a service held at the historic St. James AME Church. The pastor is Rev. James Edward Murray Jr. The seven words—born, dying, when will we be resurrected?—is a misnomer, because it’s really seven statements made by the savior as he hung on the cross.

All seven guest ministers were excellent in their presentation. The first was delivered by Rev. Helen Burton, pastor, Ebenezer AME Church, Aliquippa, Pa. “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”

(REAL TIMES MEDIA)—I was never moved when I saw those old Sally Struthers ads telling me I should support a kid in Africa. First, I was pretty young at the time and second it all seemed so far away. These were kids like me struggling in another country and I just didn’t see much of a connection. Of course, I am a lot older a bit more socially conscious now, and I, like most adults, recognize that you don’t have to suffer the way others do, or even have direct experience with tragedy or trauma to make a difference.

That’s why we can all, victims or not, actively participate in Sexual Assault Awareness Month this April.

(NNPA)—The Second Coming of Tiger Woods, just four days after Easter, will dominate the airways this weekend. Woods chose the tradition-laden golf course for his return, in part, because it provides him the best buffer to separate himself from fans and journalists who want to know about his extramarital dalliances with the likes of former porn stars and his one-car accident with a tree and fire hydrant last November near his Orlando-area home.

The curiosity factor has been heightened by Woods’ carefully-scripted reaction to his very public fall from grace: his refusal to meet with police after the accident, his staged press conference in which he read a statement but declined to take questions and the five-minute “interviews” with two news outlets leading up to the Augusta National. In a poor tactical move, he did not hold a formal news conference until Monday, more than four months after the incident.

(NNPA)—“Repeal and replace” has become the battle cry of Sarah Palin and the bulk of Republican senators after the passage of comprehensive health care reform. They’re rousing fears, threatening those with health insurance that their costs and taxes will go up. As if everyone would keep their insurance at the same costs if there were no reform.

Think again. Health care costs went up 131 percent over the last decade; general inflation was only 28 percent. If they stay on the same trajectory, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, they’ll go up another 166 percent over the next 10 years. As the costs go up, working families lucky enough to have insurance pay higher co-pays and get less coverage.