Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) includes the 34 nations, besides Cuba, that make up the entire western hemisphere. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect in 1994 and serves as the basis for FTAA. … Continue reading →

     of June 21, 1934, everything seemed normal at Coney Island in New York City. The beach was crowded with men, women, and children dipping into the water after a long day at work. Somewhere in … Continue reading →

’    --   that comes along frequently.What kind of racist nut would create a game called “Ghettopoly” and fill it to the brim with every conceivable racist stereotype about ghetto life? In the game, “playa’s” must … Continue reading →

In his article,Walter Feinberg refers to the university’s firing of Professor Leo Koch. Koch was fired by the president of the university, David Dodds Henry, during the academic year 1959-60. Koch was fired because he responded to a letter to … Continue reading →

     for the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) is coming to Miami this November 17-21, and I, for one, plan to be there. What is the FTAA? It’s an agreement that stands to have … Continue reading →

     , a crowd of nearly 200 gathered in front of the Champaign County Courthouse in Urbana to welcome 45 bus riders from Chicago. The bus was part of “La Caravana de la Libertad para los … Continue reading →

       were awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine for their contribution to the development of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Paul Lauterbur, who has been associated … Continue reading →

 ’      any time soon, you may run across warnings about too-good-to-be-true rates at one hotel on Michigan Avenue overlooking Grant Park. Accommodations at the 580-room hotel are renting at winter prices – $99 a … Continue reading →

First, clear-cut (or napalm) one square mile of real estate. Kill every plant. Throw trees in chipper. Next, bring in bulldozers and push the gray dirt flat. Burn lots of gasoline. Fell old-growth timber somewhere in Oregon. Ship to Japan … Continue reading →

As a child, I would often find myself staring at the name on the front of the barn on my family’s farm. At some time, I reasoned, someone must have painted over an E at the end of the name … Continue reading →

The current brouhaha between Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes and many of the state’s judges over the latter’s financial compensation finds all of our political leaders tiptoeing around a fundamental hypocrisy underlying the debate. Article 6, Section 14 of the Illinois … Continue reading →

Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama supreme court is courting controversy by defying a federal court order to remove a large monument to the Ten Commandments from the rotunda of the state courthouse. So why is there a conflict … Continue reading →

On August 19, Attorney General Ashcroft began a national tour to defend the USA PATRIOT  Act. The complex 342 page law, passed less than 7 weeks after the events of September 11, 2001, gives law enforcement wide authority to monitor … Continue reading →

I am not rose petals, waterfall, childhood’s dream I am not lullabies, tenderness, sweet summer rain I am not the breath of babies, the taste of last year’s honey I am not philosophy, magic, christmas morning I am not art … Continue reading →

A true fact, but unfortunately not widely-known, is that over 1300 US Government depository libraries exist for the public’s free use. The US Government is the world’s most prolific publisher, and depository libraries receive 1000s of government titles annually at … Continue reading →

Someone sits on a pieces of put together stone. Someone is hungry Someone wants to take something in, make it part of someone’s self and so in, make someone’s self a part of it. Someone wants to commune with the … Continue reading →

In the last month or so, the US has been involved in high level discussions regarding the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs). In one case, the tone presented by the US administration is very different than that employed … Continue reading →

Jeremy Glick, whose father was killed in the World Trade Center, has traveled around the U.S. speaking about peace as it relates to 9/11 and Iraq on behalf of “September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows,” a group of family members … Continue reading →

Several people responded to our request for tips about good places to shop locally. This is by far not an exhaustive list of the many excellent locally owned and operated businesses but it does indicate places that people felt strongly … Continue reading →

I gave in to an impulse last week and bought a new jacket for $29. When I got it home I checked the tag and found that it was made in Vietnam.Yikes, pangs of guilt. I know that it was … Continue reading →