One day, without much fanfare, my Mother handed me a beautiful leather-covered book. Its cover was dark blue, and the softly brushed leather embedded with gold letters. I read it. Stunned, I read it again. Though I cannot now put my hand to that book, its message is repeated below. I hope I still have eyes to see, ears to […]

I’ll love you… IF. I’ll love you… WHEN. I’ll love you if you think like me. I’ll love you when you give me what I want. I’ll love you if you believe what I believe — no more, no less. I’ll love you if you validate my experiences at the expense of yours. I’ll love you when you deny your […]

It felt more emotional than I’d expected… personal, even. Nelson Mandela is dead. A great, great man has passed out of this world. And I am reminded again of all the history South Africa and the United States share regarding both racial injustice and the heroes such injustice forged. Mr. Mandela was South Africa’s George Washington, Martin Luther King, and […]

All self-defined truths are not true. Much Evangelical commentary has been made against a culture where tolerance says all self-narratives should be treated respectfully… the Evangelical response is that this is an illogical and deceptive idea. Cultural “tolerance” for all narratives is too often, say these critics, equated with acceptance of all narratives as equally true — an idea which […]

Virginity checks, according to CNN and Amnesty International, were conducted against women taking part in March 9 pro-democracy protests in Egypt. Notes Amnesty: When army officers violently cleared Tahrir Square on 9 March – the day after International Women’s Day – 18 women were detained, beaten, given electric shocks, of which 17 were then subjected to strip searches, forced to […]

FOX News gave Cliven Bundy, a Nevada rancher, massive amounts of airtime. U. S. Senator Rand Paul and FOX pundit Sean Hannity praised Bundy’s stance against the federal government. (Never mind the federal government owns the land Mr. Bundy grazes his cattle on, which is what the dispute is about, and has owned the land for generations.) The entire conservative […]

  [This article, with a photo gallery at article’s end, is part II of a Planned III part series; Part I deals with Chelsea Hotel’s construction in the 1920s and what happened next.] Through the 1930s into the first two-thirds of the 1960s Chelsea Hotel, despite its small studio apartments, was not just home to single adults but entire families. […]

Click photo to enlarge. (From 1939-) Chelsea Hotel, – 920 Wilson Avenue, Chicago.- 356 Rooms, each with private bath and shower or shower. Located convenient to theater, churches, and the famous Wilson Ave. bathing beach, in the heart of the great Uptown District. Garage in Connection. Excellent Dining Room Service at reasonable prices.- Elevated, surface car and bus transportation, outer […]

Ozzy Interview Chris Ramsey, Jon Trott (Issue 69)   Recently, we got a chance to talk with Ozzy Osbourne (former lead singer for Black Sabbath) as he was passing through Chicago on his latest tour. Although many people might feel that Ozzy is the devil “incarnate,” we found him to be friendly, open to talk, and even likeable. We sat […]

Glenn Kaiser, former lead singer / writer for Resurrection Band as well as Glenn Kaiser Band, just completed his new album “Cardboard Box” (GrrrRecords). As GrrrRecords’ website notes, “A majority of the proceeds of Cardboard Box will be donated to Cornerstone Community Outreach (CCO), a homeless shelter in Chicago.” The album is available online from GrrrRecords. Glenn and I (Jon […]