The number of impoverished people in the state of Illinois has risen to a 20-year high of 1.8 million. In 2009, the poverty rate
Category: Charity & Justice
In August I went to prison
No, I wasn’t sentenced; despite a handful of speeding tickets, I have managed to avoid the caprices of the criminal justice system. I went
Does corporate philanthropy raise unemployment?
In the wake of Steve Jobs’ resignation as CEO of Apple Computer, newly crowned successor Tim Cook is facing a number of difficult questions.
Having kids rocked my political world
I was pretty content in my younger conservative days. I don’t know if that was a reflection of political apathy, ignorance, or naivete on
Confessions of a ReUseIt junkie
I have too much stuff. My suburban home houses only two people, but we’re both pack-rats who (confession) buy way too much stuff and
Bibliophile’s dilemma: Finding new homes for used books
Here’s a riddle: What do books and corn have in common? The answer: overabundance. Reading Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma (which I snatched up
Honor Flight: Remembering, wondering
My Southwest Airlines “A” boarding pass on flight #427 from Baltimore to Albany lost its advantage last week, as I was bumped to the
In Southern IL, donations talk, defendants walk
The Belleville News Democrat is reporting on a series of defendants whose contributions to a State Attorney’s fund allowing them to walk away from
States lead on immigration, sort of
While Congress stalls over immigration reform, some states are making their own moves. That’s especially interesting because one more typically associates “states’ rights” with
Pruitt-Igoe: Ghosts and survivors of a failed urban policy
Watching “The Pruitt-Igoe Myth” in a packed theater this afternoon was much more than a movie-going experience: It was a history lesson, a fact-finding