Since it's Halloween, I thought you might enjoy a column I wrote a decade ago.
MISSING OUT ON HALLOWEEN
Halloween has always been somewhat of a mystery to me.
Perhaps that's because I grew up in Africa, where you'd have
to be a little crazy to leave your pumpkins outside. Folks
there never have trouble distinguishing between decorations
and food. And leaving food on your porch is not a good idea.
Especially during a famine. When people are starving, there
is nothing more arrogant than decorating your house with
food.
Actually, the conditions were never that bad in Zambia, the
country I grew up in. We never felt the need to go door to
door, begging for candy.
My mom would have been so embarrassed if I had asked a
neighbor for food. Especially after giving the neighbor a
threat. Trick or treat? A quick call to my mother and the
trick would have been saving my butt from a whipping.
If we were guests at someone's house and they offered me a
second helping of dessert, the correct response was "No,
thank you." Mom was always watching and I didn't want it to
be my last dessert.

racists. A fight would inevitably break out and, with a little luck, we'd have fewer racists in the world. My wish may never come true, not in the way I imagine it, but I'm getting a little satisfaction from what's happening in Cullman, Alabama, where the KKK is in conflict with ... well, the KKK.



admiration of America.

recaptured this week in New Brunswick, Canada, but you can bet your last egg roll he'll be out again.




Canadian justice system more lenient, when (if) you're finally released from prison, you'll virtually win the lottery. In America, on the other hand, you'll be compensated like you mop floors at Wal-Mart. Take the case of a North Carolina man.


steroids. When he takes office in January, he will become the first Indian-American to lead a state. So Indian-Americans should be excited, right? Well, the vast majority of them are liberals, whereas Jindal is as conservative as they come. That's why, all over the country, Indian-Americans were unsure how to react to Jindal's victory. Let's look at what happened in one household.



in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has temporarily stepped down in the wake of a major scandal.
President Dick Cheney are related. It’s almost like
hearing that Paris Hilton has decided to become a missionary. Or that she knows
how to spell “missionary.”
Zambia. Linda and Gerry Bowers are keeping her memory alive by doing something that would make her very proud: educating underprivileged Zambian girls. The Oregon couple, who are receiving a commendation from the Peace Corps, created a memorial fund for Elizabeth that evolved into the
"his continued efforts to remain at peace with the fact that the American presidency was once stolen from him." 









Rep. Bobby Jindal’s likely victory in the Louisiana
gubernatorial primary on Oct. 20.
revel in the accomplishments of my countrymen. After all, India has won
just three medals in the last six Olympic Games, two bronze and one silver,
despite the Indian Olympic Association’s best efforts to find good athletes and
lure them to India.
visit to his home in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. I had two helpings of nshima, along with some cabbage and chicken curry (pictured), and would have eaten more, had my stomach not started to resemble a beach ball. Nshima is very filling -- it's one of the heaviest foods I know, and if you don't believe me, just try bench-pressing a plateful of nshima.
Author Samit Basu wrote a brilliant (and funny) poem in memory of 