Some call it the largest human trafficking venue in the world. Others simply see it as the Super Bowl. But, wherever this national sports event takes place, law enforcement agencies gear up to protect victims of human trafficking. Louisiana, Indiana and Texas took measures in the past to address this problem; and, New Jersey has done the same, preparing for the 2014 Super Bowl at MetLife Stadium.

One of the fastest spreading phrases popping up in serious conversations is the slogan “I am spiritual, but not religious.” Not surprising. Everybody wants to be spiritual, from Hollywood celebrities to sports figures. Fortunately, today, it is very acceptable to be “spiritual.”

In recent times, homeless people are increasingly becoming the victims of violence. Surveys indicate that the homeless suffer violence more than the non-homeless. Men, women, and even children, destitute and without a home of their own, are ridiculed, kicked, beaten, set on fire, and murdered on our streets.

Fear, an emotion that hardly seems desirable! At least, that is what most people think. Francis Bacon once said, “Nothing is terrible except fear itself.” Edmund Burke believed that “no passion so effectually robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear.” And, Ralph Waldo Emerson observed that “fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world.”

New Year’s Day is the most universally celebrated public holiday throughout the world. Across time zones and cultural divides, notwithstanding ideological and religious differences, people join together in welcoming the New Year. At the stroke of midnight, fireworks go off; noisemakers raise their din; and, revelers raise their glasses to wish each other good fortune and happiness.