A recent Perspective on WNIJ expounded on the supposed differences between Millennials and Gen Z. It took me by surprise how that it described a fissure between the two generations. Millennials were painted as a failed generation who, after running their wallets dry, ungratefully retreat to their parents’ basements to live as self-important recluses. Meanwhile, Generation Z -- composed of those no older than 21, according to the Pew Research Center -- are idyllic, capable, and more mature than

Years of neglect have done incredible harm to highways and municipal streets in northern Illinois. The four highways that go into and out of Dixon, and the streets that weave among those highways, paint a dreary picture of the condition of roadways throughout northern Illinois. If there were a watch-dog organization that gave ribbons to Illinois communities with the worst streets, Dixon would certainly get at least a shiny red second-place ribbon with a bell. It doesn’t matter where the street

I admire the leadership of Bobby Seale and Huey Newton, the co-founders of The Black Panther Party for Self Defense, in Oakland, California. The organization was started in 1966 to bring awareness to -- and protect Black people from -- police brutality in their communities. Huey Newton, who earned his PhD from the University of California, Santa Cruz, studied the gun laws of California and educated other Panthers about how to arm themselves legally to protect their families and friends from the

Not long ago, rummaging in the basement for a sledgehammer, I ran across one of my old high school yearbooks. I hadn’t liked high school, and so I decided to peruse the yearbook -- in effect, giving high school a second chance. Well, it was just as bad the second time. The most handsome boy and most beautiful girl didn’t seem all that handsome or beautiful to me — just average looking. The most popular boy and girl were never especially nice to me. The members of the football team, of which I

Thanks to Michael Cohen, the president’s personal lawyer, we’ve all learned a lot recently about fixers. A fixer is someone who takes care of the boss’s problems -- with charm, or with money, or with threats. Intimidated people with stories to tell go quiet after signing non-disclosure agreements. Poof, problem solved. File the agreement and move on. Only this time it didn’t work. Michael Cohen got everyone’s attention a few months ago when he claimed responsibility for the $130,000 check paid

My father was born into a farm family in 1908. The land was worked with horses. His day went sunrise to sunset. As a farmer, he never owned his own land but share-cropped with land owners. By the time I was in eighth grade in 1965, he was working nights as a watchman so he would have enough money to keep farming. At the time, the Secretary of Agriculture toured the country telling farmers, “Get big, or get out.” My father got out, sold his farming equipment, and we moved into a little ranch

Another of Dad’s stories illustrates the best and worst of decision making. It came in handy recently, so I’ll share it with you. This little bird lived happily in his treehouse. The weather was cooling, and other birds were flying south. Not ready to uproot himself, this bird couldn’t make himself leave. One morning the bird awoke to snow. Shivering, he realized he should have flown south earlier. No matter, he’d begin his journey now. So the bird flew for days on end to catch up. Even when his

We critics have plenty to complain about Trump’s egregious domestic and foreign policy blunders. But, in politics, you take what you can get. As a strong critic of Trump, I commend his tamping down his harsh rhetoric about North Korea, and commend his bold, unexpected, promise to talk with North Korea’s leader. His unconventional move has caused much hand-wringing among his critics. “How dangerous, and what if these talks fail?” Hey, let’s breathe a sigh of relief that he’s talking negotiations,

Plato feared poets would corrupt his idealized Republic through emotional appeals. However, he was using poetic devices himself to create his fictional city. It was for higher ends like those espoused by Plato that 16th century scholar Sir Philip Sidney defended poetry as ennobling humans and giving them higher ideals. He defined “poetry” as any sort of creative endeavor. Today, elites spanning the political spectrum use creativity as a weapon for propaganda and their own interests but pretend

The latest generation to hit adolescence is called Generation Z by some and Gen Edge by others. While they follow close on the heels of the Millennials, researchers say these kids differ from their older Millennial siblings in a lot of ways -- kind of like the temperament difference between cats and dogs. For instance, Millennials are supposedly entitled, over-parented, and raised to believe they are all “above average,” regardless of that statistical implausibility. Something of a boomerang