Interesting reads and a question to be answered for next week

Saturday's Globe and Mail was immensely boring again, but today's Sunday NY Times made up for the lull with a few interesting articles.

• "States are slashing social programs for the vulnerable". An interesting look at what states are having to do in order to reduce their budget deficits and meet the increased demand on social programs. They highlight Arizona as having one of the highest deficits and the result is an increased number of elderly without proper assistance. This isn't the first time I've heard about John McCain's state being one of the worst offenders of social programs. How did this aristocrat get so far in the presidential race? http://tinyurl.com/d5efbb
  

• "Life of crime and time behind bars inspire a drug dealer to turn author". A former drug dealer who ran a lucrative cocaine business, served 20 years in jail and has now become an author. Apparently his novels, which use fictional characters and plots to express the life the author had before he went to jail, are incredibly interesting reads. http://tinyurl.com/c2tved

• "Tech recruiting clashes with immigration rules". This is part of an ongoing series the NY times has had on immigration. To be honest, the whole series has been very well written and tends to look at both sides of the theme being discussed. It was interesting to learn that 60% of engineers with PHD's in the U.S are foreign born - I think this referred to the valley though. http://tinyurl.com/czj5w

I'm also currently working on a blog post for this week which will dive into the question, "What is more important, the message (brand) or the platforms we use to engage the audience with it?".

Johnathan