On wedding anniversary frustrations
Grandpa,My three-year wedding anniversary is coming up. Wedding anniversaries are a big deal to me, probably because I married so much later in life. On our first anniversary I told my wife that I would take her any place she wanted to go. She wanted to go to a fast
Changed compounded prescription expiration sign of regulations
Q: My compounded prescription always showed an expiration date of one year. The new one has for three months. Why is the pharmacist making my script last for a shorter time? I suspect the reason is for profit. If he charges me the same price for a script that is
Yellow light good advice: Caution
July 22, 2019Dear editor; The Illinois Department of Transportation has sent an answer to me that I correctly have identified the engineering standards for length of “yellow change interval,” but cannot make it a mandate for city government of Aurora. I have been educating individuals that the way to survive
Senator Sanders’ solution: Medicare for All
July 21, 2019 Dear editor: Medicare is a true lifesaver for those of us over 65 and those of us with disabilities. However, the premiums for the supplemental plans are costly, and choosing the best Part D prescription plan is downright confusing. Furthermore, too often when the doctor wants to
Tolerance for dissent vital to U.S.
By John W. Whitehead “Since when have we Americans been expected to bow submissively to authority and speak with awe and reverence to those who represent us? The constitutional theory is that we the people are the sovereigns, the state and federal officials only our agents. We who have the
Ask Grandpa: Family matters on insurance, grandparents
Grandpa, I recently retired and have been watching some of those true crime shows on television. I am seeing my own life and marriage played out in pieces of several of the shows. My wife is (several) years younger than I. We have only been married (a few) years and
Reference to ‘The Squad’ villain: Lazy, copycat, media
AOC “Squad”: Who in the media is responsible for this term in the reference to four members of the House of Representatives? MEDIAite Colby Hall addresses this issue in the following article: “Among the many horrible news trends that have occurred of late, near the top of that list is
Politics of fear can stymie sovereign rights of free people
How do you persuade a populace to embrace totalitarianism, that goose-stepping form of tyranny in which the government has all of the power and “we the people” has none? You persuade the people that the menace they face, imaginary or not, is so sinister, so overwhelming, so fearsome that the
Threats, insults, not substantive foreign policy
“May you live in interesting times” is an old Chinese curse. The Chinese are very polite, even when they are cursing you! We are living in interesting times. Our accidental president, Donald Trump, who is not content to fight the two wars which he inherited from the two previous administrations
Science fiction now fact: Technological tyranny
“There will come a time when it isn’t ‘They’re spying on me through my phone’ any more. Eventually, it will be ‘My phone is spying on me.’” —Philip K. Dick Red pill or blue pill? You decide. Twenty years after the Wachowskis’ iconic 1999 film, The Matrix, introduced us to
Advice listed to help those coming of age survive perils
Those coming of age today will face some of the greatest obstacles ever encountered by young people. In addition to being overtaxed and underemployed, they will be forced to march in lockstep with a government that no longer exists to serve the people, but which demands they be obedient slaves
An alphabet of tyranny by any name you choose to give it
What characterizes American government today is not so much dysfunctional politics as it is ruthlessly-contrived governance carried out behind the entertaining, distracting, and disingenuous curtain of political theater. What political theater it is, diabolically Shakespearean at times, full of sound and fury, yet in the end, signifying nothing. Played out
Solutions required for two kinds: Pushers, Runners
From the vault, June 11, 1998 and May 10, 2001 (revised): In my lifetime, I have traveled by foot, by bicycle, by automobile and truck, by airplane (single-engine and jet), and by boat (oar-powered and ocean-going). I have not yet traveled by motorcycle; I’m still debating that one, nor by
Police misconduct part of problem that lacks accountability
How could this be happening right under our noses? That’s what readers wanted to know after my column went viral about the extent to which young children are being bought and sold for sex in America (The Voice, May 2). Where are the police when these children, some as young
Catch the Javelin among playful games at Al Demeter Park
Spring finally has sprung…somewhere. That’s how I started last time, but it seems the appropriate way to begin again I sit here and wait for a massive amount of snow to be dumped on us in the next few hours. Whatever happened to March coming in like a lion and
Instead of talking past each other, find common ground
By Deena Sherman – My mother and I don’t always agree. In fact, we sometimes vehemently disagree, especially about politics. When I mentioned to her that her grandchildren are thrilled that Bernie Sanders is running for president again, there was a long pause. She finally broke the silence with: “You
Reader’s Commentary: Upon closer inspection, an appreciation of the Park District
By Marjorie Logman – When Spring arrived I found I have a greater appreciation for the Fox Valley Park District. I did not fully understand how the organization serves the population of Aurora and the surrounding areas. I encourage everyone to take a ride throughout the Park District area just
America’s dirty little secret: Sex slavery age decreasing
Children, young girls, some as young as nine years old, are being bought and sold for sex in America. The average age for a young woman being sold for sex is now 13 years old. This is America’s dirty little secret. According to the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Abolish U.S. Senate: Bold, radical, but necessary
Time for another Bold New Idea. It has to do with the Senate of the United States, that so-called gentlemen’s club and greatest deliberative body in the history of the world. Of late, however, very few Senators have behaved as gentlemen, more like louts, in my humble opinion, and the