I live in flag country. Here in east-central Illinois, amid the corn and soybean fields, the whistle-stop towns on their grid of well-maintained blacktops, the Stars and Stripes are as common as blue jeans. The banner flutters from angled rods on the pillars of wraparound porches, flies from big poles in front of white two-story...
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April 1, 2003June 22, 2022Vital Signs
Curses Not Loud But Deep
My dog does not understand cars. An alarmist where a vacuum cleaner or thunder is concerned, a realist in regard to tomcats and other dogs, she simply lacks any concept of this genuine menace to her mortal tenure. If you let her, she will dash across a street the instant the impulse takes her, absolutely...
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February 1, 2003June 22, 2022Vital Signs
Axis to Grind
Terrorists have turned down the heat in my office. After the attacks of September 11, 2001, the economy took a header, tax revenues in Illinois declined, and my university’s budget was cut. One of our cost-saving measures has been to turn down thermostats all across campus. Supposedly, this heat recision is targeted to just 68...