Opinion

Everybody has a story. Take my husband. His story features a Triumph Spitfire and a near-fatal encounter with a hefty opossum. My pop has a story about finding true love with his girlfriend from grade school at the age of 62. I have a story that involves two dead guys named Dusty and my childhood […]

Everywhere I travel, I hear the cries of anxious progressives who fear that President George W. Bush is about to be elected. “The polls, the polls,” they wail, pointing to constant reports that the election is nip and tuck. Let me say it plainly: The polls are horse hockey. And George W. Bush is a […]

Wal-Mart, we’re told, is the epitome of free enterprise in America — work hard, be innovative, and achieve efficiencies, and your company will be rewarded with riches! Oh yes, one more thing: Be sure to load up on government subsidies along the way. Good Jobs First, a research center that studies the doling out of […]

As a career Quad Cities TV anchor with a three-year stint on CNN, Andrea Zinga, 54, had scheduled the press conference with a suitable TV backdrop. She would announce her 10-point education plan across the street from Millikin University’s football field. But when no cameras showed up, Zinga and I and her campaign aide went […]

I feel sorry for Mark Dyment’s first-grade teacher. I’ve never met the lady and don’t know who she is; I just know she had her hands full. Dyment has a full-throttle personality. Perpetually revved up and endlessly enthusiastic, he must have spent half of every semester sentenced to stand in the corner for rambunctious behavior. […]

Thank you, Monsanto. Thank you, Scotts. These two pesticide giants have inadvertently demonstrated the scientific insanity of using Mother Nature as a lab rat in their rush to market bioengineered products. Monsanto and Scotts recently teamed up to genetically alter a turfgrass called creeping bentgrass, primarily used on golf courses. The two corporations artificially manipulated […]

A green carpet of moss at the campground welcomed the two of us to the trailhead. We crossed a dry creek bed and followed the sign for the White Pine Trail. Past a green swamp, then up easy slopes, a cool September breeze followed us into the Shawnee National Forest. A mile later, our trail […]

Thank you, Nicole and Jeff Rank for standing your ground — and standing up for all of us. This young couple from Charleston, W. Va., was arrested on the grounds of the state Capitol during a July 4 appearance by President George W. Bush [see Hightower, “Is this America?” Aug. 5]. They came to see […]

I bring you tidings of great joy! At last our Congress critters have done something to lift people up from the economic doldrums we’re in. They’ve raised wages in America! You’re not silly enough to think for a moment that Congress would raise your wages, are you? No, no, Nanette — for the past several […]

You can’t tell me 3 o’clock bars are all bad. There’s one with a big fluorescent placard out front that offers a blunt lesson in democracy: “SAT NIGHT FREE WITH VOTER REGISTRATION CARD,” the sign reads. “VOTE OR GET SCREWED.” Don’t know if the sign has anything to do with it, but on this Saturday […]

With the election looming, President George W. Bush is back to claiming that he’s a “compassionate conservative.” As evidence, he cites his centerpiece education law, the No Child Left Behind Act. This is supposed to be a “tough love” reform, compelling all public-school students to pass standardized tests. If the kids fail the federal government’s […]

The weekend was full of neighborhood moments. Friday evening we walked from our house a couple of blocks, past children skipping rope on the sidewalk, for walleye sandwiches at Suzie-Q’s. We ran into several neighbors and friends, as we always do there. On Saturday I played uncle to a 3-year-old at the park across the […]