Dolton, Illinois, is a village of about 21,500 people (in 2020) on the outskirts of Chicago. The mayor is accused of “misspending and harassing political opponents” (quoting Wikipedia here). In April 2024, the FBI seized village records for a grand jury investigation. Dolton has attracte[...]
Archive for May, 2024
How’s this campaign slogan?
BLOCKHEAD FOR GOVERNOR VICE PRESIDENT Hey that wasn’t my idea. To skip the partisan stuff, I’m gonna pretend I’m a campaign consultant who’ll work for a candidate of any party. (“Gun for hire” doesn’t work well in this context, for reasons you’ll soon [...]
Biden’s dog receives death threat
“Say hello to Cricket.” It reads like a bloodstained note from a serial killer. Cricket is in doggy heaven, blown to bits with a shotgun in a gravel pit. His killer’s message implies a similar fate for the recipient. After killing her own dog 20 years ago, Kristi Noem is going arou[...]
Should Biden voters worry about his weak polls?
Some recent polls show Trump leading Biden. (I won’t cite specific polls, because they change daily and weekly.) Should Biden supporters (and people who shudder at Trump) worry he might lose the election? Let’s start with words often attributed* to the immortal baseball philosopher, Yo[...]
Is corporate greed the real cause of inflation?
Not all of it, but fattening bottom lines has played a role. It’s basic economics that when supply and demand are out of balance, prices will rise or fall until they’re in balance again. They teach that in college-level Economics 101 classes. The pandemic created supply bottlenecks and s[...]
May 5th, 2024 - 1:39 pm § in Schools & Colleges
Should colleges turn students into cows and lemmings?
This could be the end result of Republican politicians trying to convert America’s public universities and colleges into conservative madrassas (see story here), but that’s an article for another day. Colleges are supposed to teach students how to think independently (see my article here[...]
The worst places to be a nurse
This article will focus on pay; obviously other factors affect the nurses’ quality of worklife, such as being so overworked they make errors that can land them in prison. Nurse pay varies with location, and so do living costs, so you have to balance one against the other. When you do that, the[...]
May 5th, 2024 - 11:55 am § in Environment
Map: Where cicadas will strike next
(Click on map to enlarge; see story here.) As a side note, will South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem name her next dog “Cicada” before shooting it? (If you haven’t heard about her dog Cricket, go here.) Return to The-Ave.US Home Page[...]
May 5th, 2024 - 11:34 am § in Business, Environment
The wind didn’t knock out your power
When it’s windy and the lights go out, you may assume a tree limb fell on a powerline somewhere in your neighborhood. Not necessarily. The electric utility may have deliberately cut power. It’s a tactic to prevent fires in the dry windy conditions that are becoming increasingly prevalent[...]
Making abortion legal again
Abortion bans are unpopular, and voters are taking the laws into their own hands. “Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade two years ago, abortion rights advocates have won in seven out of seven abortion-related ballot measures,” a Mother Jones article noted on May 4, 2024 (read i[...]