On this date 95 years ago, America set aside its isolationist heritage and, for better or worse, became a full-fledged member of the international oecumene.  It was on April 2, 1917, that President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress for a formal declaration of war agains… Read full post »

My wife grew up in an old, industrial town in Northern Illinois.  The Rock River forms the northern border of the town, and along its banks stretch several miles of steel mills and machine tool manufacturers.  Several bridges span the river, and serve as indispensible transportation routes… Read full post »

I posted this essay last year for Black History Month, and it quickly disappeared into OS oblivion.  The theme of this year's Black History Month is "Black Women in America:  Culture and History."  Given this theme, I thought it appropriate to repost this essay.  My apologies to a… Read full post »

The week before Christmas was  met with both good news and bad news for me.  I'll start with the good news, with a little background.

As many of my regular readers know, I lost my job just before Christmas of 2008.  I had been in the telecommunications industry for nearly 26… Read full post »

The young Scotsman quickly peddles his bicycle down the narrow country lane toward the small community church.  Once there, he rushes inside where the priest has just completed lighting the candles in preparation for vespers.  The young man heads immediately to the rop… Read full post »

Christmas Eve.  Sitting by the tree next to the fireplace, we told Joey that Santa would be coming down the chimney soon to deliver presents.  Totally unanticipated, a look of terror stretched across my son’s small face.  Not yet able to articulate his thoughts with nuance, he de… Read full post »

On this date in 1791, the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution, was ratified by the required three-fourths of the original 13 states.  Happy 220^th Birthday!

As you may recall from your high school history class, the Bill of… Read full post »

The first house I lived in was one block from a brand new Interstate highway.  Once when I was about two or three years old, I wandered from our unfenced back yard and started walking along the shoulder of the highway.  A neighbor happened to drive by.  He picked me up… Read full post »

Newt Gingrich will be the Republican nominee for president.  Why?  Because Mitt Romney is a Mormon, and the GOP primary/caucus schedule favors a non-Mormon candidate.

White Evangelical Christians are perhaps the strongest, most loyal constituency of the Republican Party.  That is Ro… Read full post »

Newt Gingrich converted to Catholicism in 2008, and was received into the Catholic Church the following year.  I find it interesting that there is virtually no mention of Gingrich’s religious conversion in the media, nor does it seem to be a major issue among Republican Evangelicals. … Read full post »

                             Now thank we all our God,
                  … Read full post »

On November 15, 1781, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Articles of Confederation, the first governmental framework for the new United States of America.  Prior to the Articles of Confederation, there was no written set of laws applicable to all Americans.  Each state was complete… Read full post »

Mrs. Hutchinson, the sentence of the court you hear is that you are banished from out of our jurisdiction as being a woman not fit for our society, and are to be imprisoned till the court shall send you away.               &nb… Read full post »

Another Halloween is here, and my neighborhood is preparing for the invasion of miniature ghouls of myriad stripes, from witches to zombies to, I suspect, more than a few little Lady Gaga’s.  That’s all fine with me.  I live in an upper middle… Read full post »

the Supreme Court does not enjoy interpretative supremacy over the other two branches of the federal government when it comes to interpreting the Constitution.                       &nbs… Read full post »

OK, I admit it.  I’m not one of those super fans who can run off the stats of every player on the team, and cite without hesitation which pitchers boast the best ERA.  Heck, I can’t even name each of the starters playing in the current World Series lineup.  Still, I’m… Read full post »

This past weekend, some 1,700 men and women gathered in Rockford, Illinois, to take part in one of the more obscure, yet fun and colorful sporting events one could ever hope to witness.  Sunday marked the 26th annual Head of the Rock Regatta, when athletes from across the nation gather to… Read full post »

Some who read my blog may know that I made a career change to teaching a few years ago.  I will be the first to admit that I am not an expert in the state of education in America.  In fact, I’m not even a full-time teacher, yet.  I was not… Read full post »

I just watched the trailer for the upcoming film, “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”, based on the John le Carre novel of the same name.  Many, if not most readers of this post will surely be familiar with the book, although I would understand if you never actually… Read full post »

I had purchased the tickets at least two months earlier.  It was my wife’s birthday, and we would celebrate by attending a concert by our local symphony orchestra.  As a former trumpet player of some talent, I was especially excited because Doc Severinsen was the featured guest solois… Read full post »

On August 31, 1897, Thomas Edison patented his kinetographic camera, the forerunner of the modern motion picture film projector.  Edison’s was not the first motion picture camera.&nbs… Read full post »

Texas governor and presidential candidate Rick Perry recently appeared on evangelist James Robison's television program.  The discussion that ensued was pretty much what one would expect.  Perry apparently likes to talk about his religious beliefs, at least with certain audiences, and to be… Read full post »

        Yes, we'll gather at the river,

        the beautiful, the beautiful river;

        gather with the saints at the river

        that flows by the th/… Read full post »

Last night, CNN aired a special news report on Blair Mountain, West Virginia.  Blair Mountain is at the heart of a battle currently raging between supporters and opponents of "mountaintop removal" coal mining.  (The supporters of this method of strip mining do not use that term; they prefer… Read full post »

I come from a family that likes to ride bicycles.  Admittably, I don’t have the stamina of my siblings. My sister rides – and runs – competitively, and thinks nothing of cycling along the roller coaster roads of the Appalachians or the Canadian Rockies.  My brother rides t… Read full post »