All of America is anxious to get back to the way things were before the pandemic struck. Alas! we can’t go back. We mustn’t go back, because the way things were created the failures which the coronavirus (COVID-19) rudely exposed. Strange as it may seem, the virus did us an...
Australia. Germany. New Zealand. South Korea. Sweden. Taiwan. These are some of the countries which have gained a handle on the COVID-19 pandemic and are cautiously re-opening businesses, recreational venues, and government buildings. How did they do it? Their leaders recognized the seriousness of the virus early on and took...
Disclaimer: This essay contains information gleaned from the website of the Organic Consumers Association (www.organicconsumers.org/blog/murder-most-foul). Dr. Anthony Fauci, a face and voice of Donald Trump Administration’s war on the coronavirus, (COVID-19) is in a state of denial. He, and the medical establishment, have refuted the theory that the virus was...
Psalm 23, revised: My diet is my shepherd; I shall not be sick. It maketh me to seek out healthy foods; it leadeth me to the proper combinations. It restoreth my body; it leadeth me in the path of veganism for my health’s sake. Yea, though I walk through valley...
A progressive report: • December 2019: The coronavirus (COVID-19) is a hoax, said by our accidental president, fostered by the Democratic Party to sabotage his re-election bid. • January 2020: The coronavirus will pass quickly, said our accidental president, and everyone can maintain a normal routine. • February 2020: The...
When last we read about PFC Chas, he was just settling in at his new post, the Third Armored Medical Company, a.k.a. the “Third Herd,” in Nuremberg, Germany. And, by “settling in,” I mean making sense of it all. What does a MASH (mobile army surgical hospital) do in peace...
“Illinois’ convoluted and broken property tax system has been driving the high cost of living that’s pushing families and businesses out of our State. Despite the fact that homeowners have been crying desperately for relief, Democrats last year failed to produce any significant action,” said Republican State representative Deanne Mazzochi...
From the vault, November 13, 2014, revised: Swine flu. Asian bird flu. West Nile disease. Remember the hue-and-cry over these threats to public health? Whatever happened to them? They seem to have disappeared off of our radar. But, wait! There’s a new, even more deadly, threat on our radar. It’s...
Stolp Avenue, Aurora, part three: Part two is available at thevoice.us/aurora-hotel-and-leland-tower-start-early-days-on-stolp In 1964, Stolp Avenue and Island Avenue downtown were conjoined into one street (Stolp), and all of the addresses changed to either North or South Stolp with Galena Boulevard as the zero point. Before listing any new businesses, I’ll...
It’s all over, but the shouting in the impeachment, and that is taking place and will continue to take place. The shouting will be from our accidental president, Donald Trump’s proclaiming, “I’ve been completely exonerated! Not guilty! I did nothing wrong!” These will be his opening remarks at all of...
The primary election season is almost upon us, and the political parties are gearing up to seize/keep the office of the president of the United States in their clutches. One party already has its candidate; the other has multiple contenders jostling with each other. A number of issues have been...
It’s déjà vu all over again, as baseball great, Yogi Berra, used to say. 2002: The George W. Bush administration requested Afghanistan to surrender Osama bin Laden so that he might stand trial for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States. The Taliban-dominated government in Kabul responded...
From the vault – December 12, 2013 (revised): A response to Donna Crane’s column of December 19, 2019, Unplugging one day each week a salute for stress 24/6. Once upon a time, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas were separate events. Now, however, they are connected to each other by an economic...
In 1937, Mr. William Randolph Hearst, newspaper-publishing tycoon, appeared before a committee of the U.S. Congress and requested that it introduce a bill prohibiting the growing, selling, and distribution of hemp. He was very disingenuous in his arguments because the hemp plant produced cannabis, a.k.a marijuana, which, he claimed, was...
Thinking-out-loud department: • Donna Crane’s recent column about women in government in America got me to thinking deep thoughts. Here’s one thought to explain why there are such low numbers of women in government. Sociologically, the United States is stuck in the 19th Century. Men ruled the roost, and women...
Part two of the Stolp Avenue profile: The first part is available at thevoice.us/history-recalled-of-buildings-on-stolp-avenue-in-aurora This essay looks at Island Avenue in Aurora before it was amalgamated with Stolp Avenue in 1964. It must be noted that not only was this street the center of Aurora geographically, it was Aurora’s heart...
More chickens have come home to roost. In a previous essay, I stated that the Treaty of Versailles of 1919, which ended World War I, had unintentional consequences and that those consequences were the massive conflicts currently embroiling all of Southwest Asia. Among other things, the Treaty called for the...
To impeach, or not to impeach that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer The rantings and ravings of an accidental president, Or to take up an inquiry against a sea of scandals, And by impeaching end them? To inquire to learn; Much more; and by...
When last we saw PFC (private first class) Chas, he was boarding an ocean liner bound for the wonderments of Germany. A new and exciting adventure awaited him. I confess that I have exaggerated a wee bit when I used the expression “ocean liner.” True, the ship sailed the ocean...
Astronomy was my first love. Long before I became an historian, I was a stargazer. On a clear night, I would gaze into the sky and attempt to identify as many constellations in the northern hemisphere as I could. Nowadays, sadly, there is so much light pollution in Aurora, and...
