Author Archive

Midway between the Census Bureau’s Sept. 16 release of poverty data and the Nov. 2 midterm elections, the Catholic Diocese of Peoria on Saturday, Oct. 9 is sponsoring a day-long institute on social justice open to all. One wonders whether there will be criticisms from the Right on such “liberal foolishness”...
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September was the month in 1789 when the nation’s first Congress proposed to state legislatures the Bill of Rights, including the First Amendment, guaranteeing freedom of religion. September also marks the end of Islam’s holy month of Ramadan, which on Sept. 9 wraps up a month of fasting for Muslims,...
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Most nonprofit outfits are exempt from paying property taxes, but with budget crises at the city, county and schools, Peoria could use assistance from those nonprofits able to help. Contributing to city or county services would make a positive difference beyond nonprofits’ good works. So local government should ask OSF...
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A new list of the top corporate air polluters in the United States includes two companies based in Peoria and a third Illinois firm with a key operation here, according to researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The “Toxic 100 Air Polluters” include Caterpillar (#96), Ameren (#99) and Archer-Daniels-Midland (#7), say the findings...
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To a lot of people, S.P. and T.P. means “standard play” and “toilet paper” – fun with VCRs or neighborhood trees – but to those who deny that Medicare and the Veterans Administration health care are successful government programs, the initials can only mean Sarah Palin and Tea Party.Palin...
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As Peorians anticipate School District 150 interim superintendent Norm Durflinger’s formal recommendation to the board on changes in staffing, the thought of other changes comes to mind. If administrations in business, government or any human institution sometimes deflect criticism by blaming the victims, District 150 administrators and board have plenty of targets in trying...
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As the February primary approaches, one wonders whether candidates who decide to identify with a party research its platform and claims made by its current champions. For instance, GOP apologist Rush Limbaugh praised U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas as “a man who escaped the bonds of poverty” without using methods contributing to “the dependency...
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In a month where “Joy to the World” is a welcome refrain, it’s appropriate to think of people across the globe dealing with HIV/AIDS and to thank progressives and conservatives alike who’ve worked toward preventing or treating HIV/AIDS… Annually, December 1 is World AIDS Day, kicking off HIV/AIDS Awareness Month. HIV, of course, stands for...
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Caring for others is basic in the Gospels, but too many Right-wingers dismiss that as liberal, foolish or somehow contributing to a “cycle of dependency.” Despite criticism or doubt, some are called. And some even answer. “A few people sort of shake their head and say, ‘Those people need to get a job’,” says Holly Schmitt, who...
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There’s something unsettling about taking part in a memorial service on your birthday; it’s almost a contradiction. On a recent morning when I turned 60, I read from Scripture at a funeral Mass for a friend. Just 51, Roger Knoblauch was older than his years, forever young, so special as to be almost unique....
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