Free Republic

With food, dance, art, and most important, a good dose of personal interaction, the Quad-City’s Arab community provided people at the Bettendorf Family Museum a good look into the Middle Eastern world and its culture. About 100 people attended the event Saturday that was part of the Museum’s monthly Explore the World presentation. Featured countries were Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Iraq and Egypt. But other Arab countries, such as Lebanon, also were represented. Education was what it was all about, and it was effective for both the children and the adults. Chris Migiel of Bettendorf said she had no idea that...

For once not involving Air America, liberal talk radio took a big hit this week, as Ed Schultz lost affiliates in three cities. In an especially significant blow, the syndicated talker was cancelled in his hometown of Fargo, North Dakota, from where his show remains based. According to Perry Simon of entertainment industry trade publication All Access, Schultz was cancelled in Fargo to make room for local programming, the same reason the Aberdeen American News has given for his South Dakota removal. And his Norfolk, Virginia outlet is switching to sports. While Aberdeen's KSDN is also dropping Rush Limbaugh for...

In every field of endeavor there are people who are famous for being unknown. W. Edwards Deming was the ultimate manifestation of this peculiar art. From the moment of his "discovery" by American management in an NBC television documentary in 1980 until his death last month on December 20, Deming never lost his carefully cultivated image of an "outsider," the "prophet who was ignored in his own country," an "antiestablishmentarian," who liked nothing better than telling chief executives (and fellow members of the quality establishment) what they were doing wrong. In truth, he was the most famous quality guru in...