Information in all columns needs to be digested and carefully analyzed in that columns might propel readers to consider the implications surrounding vital issues. Discriminating readers are to use vital information for personal and, to some degree, policy considerations.

While the possession of information is a form of power within itself, information that one has that others might not possess is a form of power. But real power is when one gleans valuable information and shares it with others for their personal or collective use.

This current holiday encourages a normative experience of sharing. This column includes seven information sets for eventual delivery:

1. Said writer E. Shurod Swift: "As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that was not supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken and probably more than once. It's harder to handle each time. You'll break hearts, too. So remember how it felt when yours was broken."

2. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering public promotion of the co-benefits of fighting global warming and obesity-related illnesses through everyday exercise, like walking to school and work (half an hour a day instead of driving). About 6.5 billion gallons of gasoline would be saved, and Americans will shed about 3 billion pounds overall.

3. Steve Chapman, columnist for the Chicago Tribune, reported in the Dec. 17, 2007, Business Week on mortgage lenders and the current mortgage crisis: "Payday lenders get a bad rap for charging exorbitant rates on short-term loans. But according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, they may be better lifelines for cash-strapped consumers than other options. In Georgia and North Carolina, states that banned payday lenders in 2004 and 2005, respectively, it was found that consumers in those states are bouncing more checks, lodging more complaints about debt collectors, and filing for bankruptcy more frequently."

4. Wrote Austrian physician and neurologist Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): "Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strengths." A parallel to this contextual belief is that adversity alone does not build one's character. However, adversity does reveal one's character."

5. Said Shannon McCaffrey of The Associated Press: "The soaring number of aging inmates is now outpacing the prison growth as a whole. Some people are too sick to get out of bed; some will die in prison. The graying of the nation's prisons mirrors the overall population."

6. Ian Ayres and Barry Nalebuff reported in the March 25, 2007, Parade: "Too many people die waiting for organs, and the list gets longer each year. In 2007, an estimated 7,000 people will die waiting. What is a solution? As in some countries, the United States could adopt an "opt-out" organ-donation system, meaning everyone is a potential donor unless an opt-out provision is in effect.

7. Redbook shuistrology expert Elen Whitehurst chimed in with this holiday-related advice: "Your entire house should be cleaned prior to New Year's Day to clear the way for new and exciting energies to enter your life. You should never clean the house on New Year's Day itself, though, as this is thought to sweep away all the fortune and luck that is headed your way in the coming year."

In digesting and analyzing these information sets will require attitudinal shifting. In time, however, this shifting will provide connections with critical realities facing humankind. Knowing this will make us stronger and wiser about our existence. Psst, present this information to others.

Reach T&D Columnist Howard D. Hill, Ph.D., via educationconsultant@sc.rr.com.

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