January 23, 2025Dear editor; Our most recent presidents, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and Barack Obama, have collectively granted more than 11,700 pardons, with president Biden holding the record at more than 8,000 pardons. By granting a pardon voids not only the offence, but it can void the monetary damages owed
Musings: •Inauguration Day has come and gone, and we have a dictator in the White House who threatened/promised he would be. Previously, following tradition, the U.S. flag had been lowered to half-mast in order to commemorate the passing of former president Jimmy Carter. The commemoration is observed for 30 days
John & Nisha Whitehead That didn’t take long. Within days of Donald Trump’s second term, the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights disappeared from the White House’s website. While the Donald Trump Administration insists the removal of these foundational documents will eventually be restored to the site, the timing and
By the time you read this (you are reading this, aren’t you?) the Donald Trump presidential Inauguration, or as I prefer to call it the Prelude to Armageddon, is in the history books. The ceremony was moved inside so the incoming criminal-in-chief wouldn’t be embarrassed by a small crowd size
January 11, 2025Dear editor; Trump says: I didn’t do anything wrong; It was a perfect phone call; It’s a hoax, witch hunt; Fake news; It’s not Russia; I’m going to build a great wall and have Mexico pay for it; I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and
Musings: •Would you believe, dear reader, that T. Rump and The Chas are on the same page on something? The “something” is Daylight Savings Time (DST). The man who would be king thinks that DST is “inconvenient,” while the man who is smarter than he is thinks it is ”unnecessary,”
January 6, 2025Dear editor; Silence is not golden. It has led to the massacre of tens of thousands in Gaza since October 7, 2023. Demands to increase humanitarian aid fail yet we keep supplying Israel with arms. The U.S. State Department has planned to sell $8 billion more weapons to
By Bela “Bill” Suhayda Charles Coddington should be embarrassed by his latest article (January 2), but is too ignorant to know where he went wrong. “Spongy,” Coddington doesn’t soak up information well! So this article is an attempt to set him on the right path. “The Chas,” as Coddington refers
By John & Nisha Whitehead We have become a nation adrift in a sea of government overreach, abuse and corruption. The following is a sobering account of the challenges we faced in 2024, which were marked by the government’s never-ending power grabs and relentless assaults on our civil liberties. The
December 29, 2024Dear editor; One of the greatest unpaid jobs in Aurora is being an usher at the brand spanking new Stolp Island Theatre, and I can tell you, it’s an absolute privilege. From the moment you walk in, the attention to detail in the theatre draws you into the
Musings: •Happy New Year, dear reader! It’s 2025 already. Where does the time go? I’m going to make two New Year’s resolutions which I haven’t done in a long, long time. First, I resolve not to be dismayed by the election of Donald Trump (T. Rump), but will double down
By John & Nisha Whitehead The American police state has become America’s new crime boss. Thirty years after then-president Bill Clinton signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act into law, its legacy of mass incarceration, police militarization, and over-criminalization continues to haunt us. It has become the gift
December 19, 2024Dear editor; With just one month left before Donald Trump returns to the White House, we are running out of time to lock in protections for our climate and communities. One critical action president Joe Biden can take right now is to permanently shut down the Dakota Access
By John & Nisha Whitehead The Christmas story of a baby born in a manger is a familiar one. The Roman Empire, a police state in its own right, had ordered that a census be conducted. Joseph and his pregnant wife Mary traveled to the little town of Bethlehem so
December 13, 2024Dear editor; When trying to solve the mystery of the drones, I would like to remind everyone when our military covertly tested the Stealth Bomber. Even the families of the stealth pilots were not privy to the existence of these fighters nor to the fact that their loved
By John & Nisha Whitehead You’d better watch out, you’d better not pout—you’d better not cry—‘cos I’m telling you why: This Christmas, it’s the Surveillance State that’s making a list and checking it twice, and it won’t matter whether you’ve been bad or good. You’ll be on this list whether
December 8, 2024Dear editor; The Plano Methodist Church wishes to thank everyone for supporting their Christmas Sale November 23. The Christmas Sale consisted of Christmas decorations, greenery, snowmen, wreaths, Santas, dishes, and ornaments. Donations from the Christmas Sale will go toward ministry of the Plano Methodist Church. The Plano Methodist
By Bela “Bill” Suhayda Planned Parenthood provided free mobile abortion and vasectomy units near the entrances of the United Center in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention, August 19-22. They demonstrated to the world their disregard for the unborn child. They’ve taken to destroying human life at a level never
By John & Nisha Whitehead Once again we find ourselves approaching that time of year when, as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln proclaimed, we’re supposed to give thanks as a nation and as individuals for our safety and our freedoms. But how do you give thanks for freedoms that are
December 1, 2024Dear editor; I waited three weeks before writing this to see how Democrats reacted to the election. My wife can confirm that I had been telling friends a month prior to the election that this could be 2016 all over again. I had been getting my news from
