People in the News

Steve Jobs

We are all grieving for Steve Jobs who died way too early. Still, in a life too short by decades, he revolutionized the personal computer a couple of times, the tablet computer, the cell phone, the movie industry and the music industry while building one of the world's largest and most valuable company. He was the illegitimate son of a Syrian Muslim graduate student father and American woman graduate student.

Barack Obama is not only President, but the certain candidate for the Democratic party for a second term. He has passed legislation to stimulate the economy and prevent a new depression and to reform our governmental system of health care financing, finished the war in Iraq, oversaw efforts that have killed Bin Laden and decimated Al Qaeda, led the free world in assistance that has led to the overthrow of Gaddafi and seen democratic revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt overthrow their undemocratic governments, allowed gays and lesbians serving in the military to stop lying about their identities, stimulated governmental support for science, technology, education and the infrastructure, and moved to reinforce integrity in government science. He is the son of a polygamous Kenyan Muslim graduate student father and American woman student.

Herman Cain is currently the leading candidate for the Republican nomination for President. He is  a syndicated columnist, and radio host. He is the former chairman and CEO of Godfather's Pizza and a former chairman (Omaha Branch board 1989–91), deputy chairman (1992–94) and chairman (1995–96) of the board of directors of the  Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Before his business career he worked as a mathematician. He is an African-American. His mother was a cleaning woman and domestic worker, and his father worked as a barber, janitor and chauffeur.

Paul Nurse has just left his job as President of Rockefeller University to move to England to assume the job of President of the Royal Academy. He won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for his scientific work. British, he immigrated to the United States and lived here for some seven years. He was the illegitimate son of a woman who was herself illegitimate. He was raised by his grandmother and grandfather (both also illegitimate) who pretended to be his biological parents.

I wonder how much talent this country wasted in the past through prejudice against foreigners, Muslims, Africans, African-Americans and the offspring of unmarried parents? I wonder how much we are wasting now by equally stupid prejudices?