Recently, I read a statement in a religious journal, “Most of the rest of the world does not understand life through a Western worldview. We in the West are the anomaly.” The author, Randy Woodley ( May, 2019 Sojourners), claims that we in the Euro-West have interpreted life primarily from a Western Enlightenment perspective, going back to Platonic dualism inherited from the Greeks. This dualism values the realm of the abstract –- spirit, soul, mind –- above the concrete realm of earth, body,

By now it seems obvious that timing IS everything. We all want to be in the right place at the right time. None of us wants, when it rains soup, to show up with a fork. How many ways can one say that timing is everything? Shakespeare’s Brutus was eloquent: “There is a tide in the affairs of men which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.” Brutus was right in general, but he ended up losing the battle to Marc Antony. I like even better the words of W.C. Fields, who said he had an uncle who ju

On March 17th voters will be asked to approve a half-cent increase in our sales tax to provide a source of funding for mental health services in Winnebago County. Advocates say the revenue from such a tax would allow Winnebago County to build a sustainable safety net for residents in need of mental health and addiction treatment services. Today, Winnebago County is the largest urban area in Illinois without a stable source of local funding for mental health or addiction services. The region lost

We first see a little girl counting as she plucks the petals from a daisy. A countdown starts -- and then a mushroom cloud fills the screen. This was an ad for Democratic presidential candidate Lyndon Johnson when he was running against arch-conservative Republican Barry Goldwater. The year was 1964 and we had witnessed the birth of the modern political ad. Amazingly, the ad ran only one time and it didn’t mention Goldwater’s name. It didn’t need to. Goldwater had made a number of statements

They’re everywhere . c ampaign signs littering the landscape, material crowding your mailboxes, the knock on the door and so much more -- democracy in action. Welcome to the election cycle ! T he stage is set for the typically low voter turnout on March 17th, the Illinois Primary. As Paul Harvey would say, “N ow , for the rest of the story. ” Campaigns begin when a person decides to run for office. When my daughter decided to run for the Illinois General Assembly in September of 2019, I asked

Occasionally, our Perspectives author Elsa Glover turns over regularly scheduled spot to her colleagues and students who have something to say. This time, she asked students in Clinton Rosette Middle School's Green Club to talk about something important to them. Melanie Hernandez and Julia Glover worked together to research, write, and deliver their Perspective. Some people know this, and some people don’t. But everyone needs to understand the effects of plastics on our world and make more

April 1 st , 2020 is fast approaching. This year it is not an ordinary April Fool’s Day. This April 1st is Census Day 2020. The day that has been designated for everyone to be counted. Everyone regardless of your citizenship status. Everyone is counted regardless of age. And you will be counted where you are living on that day. In less than five minutes by answering seven brief questions you will be able to be part of making the largest possible impact on every nonprofit social service agency in

Halfway into President Trump’s first year in office , WNIJ broadcast my Perspective calling for the Democrats to do a better job of marketing their strengths, which include competent leadership and positive, though incremental , progress toward more freedoms and fair treatment for all. I pointed out that Competent Leadership as a slogan isn’t flashy or preening, but it does fit nicely on a bumper sticker or baseball cap, with the added benefit of being largely true. In any other political

Have you heard about the new smartphone apps that help you keep track of your friendships? With names like UpHabit and Dex , these apps provide users with a place to store information about their friends. Like birthdays, shared interests, and how often they get together. You can even set up regular reminders to schedule phone calls and meet-ups. It’s like a spreadsheet for friendship engagement. Technology has overhauled the way we work and the way we play. It shapes how information is shared

Not long ago, while walking back to my office after teaching, I passed in front of a classroom and happened to hear a colleague beginning her own class with these words: "And that's the beauty of symmetric frequencies." I have no idea what "symmetric frequencies" are. In fact, those are two concepts I cannot associate. Symmetry to me is something graphic or visual, while frequency is a notion that I connect with either physics or statistics. In what field could anyone use these two such