The issues involved in the NFL kneeling-for-the-Anthem flap have attained all the orderliness of a plate of spaghetti, having become so muddled that there probably as many reasons any players do what they do and fans react the way they do as there are players and fans.… MORE
The last few weeks have been difficult for all of us. As we are reeling from images of two hurricanes, we learn of a heart-breaking local murder-suicide, then to wake up to the latest news of a massacre in Las Vegas, a location many of us have frequented.… MORE
This week I attended a conference featuring one of my favorite academics, Dr. Peter Philips, a University of Utah economist. … MORE
By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year. It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …
By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city. Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…
By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…
Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University. We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk. Going to work every day for some people means…