Tomorrow morning I will walk into the Oregon-Nashua town hall and vote. But , as I have had to do too often in past elections, I will also be shaking my head in disgust over what our elections have come to in our country as I fill in my ballot. Our two viable choices for governor this time around are either the Republican billionaire or the Democratic billionaire, both of whom have poured millions of their own dollars into their respective campaigns and bludgeoned us with non-stop attack ads . I

The mid-term election is just four days away. And as each of us considers who will get our vote, I want to put one additional item on the agenda. If you look at the current conversations, debates, and advertisements, there are many issues, personalities, and policies in play. But there is one thing that seems to be absent—Tech Policy. Facebook, Twitter and Google have all been called to testify before Congress, but Congress has yet to act. Consequently, whoever wins this round of the electoral

In less than a w eek, the most important political election of our li fetime will take place. Though stated as a hyperbole, if it propels more peo ple to get out and vote during this mid-term election, it serves a purpose. Beneath this election runs a strong current of women on the rise as candidates for local, state, and national offices. Why is it important to give serious attention to women as leaders? For me, it has to do with how women come to know who they are and what they’re capable of,

What the world needs now is more questions and fewer answers. This idea is as old as the Greek philosopher Socrates, who asked persistent questions to help people discover the flaws in their arguments. Questions are the currency of scientists, scholars, lawyers and journalists, like the ones I advise at NIU’s student newspaper, the Northern Star. As I tell my students, an interview is only as good as the questions you ask. And so it goes with civil discourse. Social media comment sections are

We Americans are blessed with powerful national symbols. Think of our national anthem playing to the image of the American flag being raised above the horrors of war on Iwo Jima. It is understandable that Colin Kaepernick taking a knee before the flag and anthem was interpreted as an attack on the sacrifice those symbols represent. But is it? At the core of Kaepernick's act was an exercise in his right to dissent . Our founding fathers risked all back when those series of notes didn't exist. A

If you’re hearing my voice you’re probably a regular NPR listener. While I don’t have data to support this, I’m assuming that most of you vote on a pretty regular basis. So if I implore you to vote on or before November 6 th it won’t have much impact. But it’s important to remember that most people don’t listen to NPR regularly and don’t vote regularly. So if you care about our democracy it’s important to be evangelical about voting rights. Spread the word, even if doing so is not easy for you.

Though not as famed as they once were, Mickey Mouse remains the best-known talking mouse and King Kong is still the best-known giant ape to climb the Empire State building. In the 1930s they either delighted movie goers or scared them enough to hide under their theater seats. They have something in common: They’re both animated. Neither exists other than as single images run together rapidly enough to simulate actual movement. Those are the movies for you. Unlike other art forms they can’t get

A recent film shines a light on the health and environmental benefits of locally grown food. DeKalb filmmaker Laura Vazquez interviewed food specialists, environmentalists, and DeKalb County farmers who operate small farms. The 30-minute film is called Think Globally, Eat Locally . It will be shown for the first time in DeKalb on Nov. 4 at 2 p.m. at the DeKalb Public Library and is part of a program about food issues in our community. Four distinguished panelists will bring their expertise to a

The 1968 Fair Housing Act included a requirement that jurisdictions not only combat discrimination in housing, but that they “Affirmatively Further Fair Housing,” known as the AFFH Rule. It requires proactive policies that improve equitable outcomes for all. In 2015, the Department of Housing and Urban Development finally issued concrete guidance on meeting these obligations: now HUD is considering an overhaul. We at Rockford Area Habitat for Humanity believe the 2015 AFFH guidelines should stay

I love power tools. But all my life I’ve been told chainsaws are dangerous and I can’t use one. Of course there’s danger in using a power tool if someone doesn’t learn to respect the machine’s power. However, that statement involved more than just concern about danger. It held the underlying cultural expectation that girls and women cannot use chainsaws because we are too weak, too fragile, too silly, too ignorant, too whatever. The power of that silent expectation has stopped me from doing many