The Times Columnists News

TALKING POINTS: Your political ad here

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:00:00 CDT

It's fashionable to criticize the amount of money raised to run political campaigns these days, but money and advertising are the name of the game despite the corruption associated with raising the money.

It's a good bet local newspapers,

GUEST COLUMN: 9 years later, what does 9/11 mean?

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Nine years ago, on Sept. 9, 2001, we were just going about our business. Life was normal.

Two days later, on Sept. 11, 2001, we all thought the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon would

GUEST COLUMN: Predicting what politicians will not do

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 CDT

When people learn that you are an economist, they often want you to predict which way the economy is going.

There seem to be more than the usual number of calls for such predictions lately. But an economist should

WRITE TEAM: Attention kids: Move it

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 00:00:00 CDT

I feel like all you peeps out there who care to follow the trials and tribulations of "Large Marge" are finally getting to know me — which could be like having a psychotic relative show up at the holiday dinner

WRITE TEAM: On camping and marriage

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 00:00:00 CDT

My husband and I recently celebrated our first anniversary by tent camping on Lake Michigan. The idea was to unplug ourselves from both the comforts and distractions of everyday life and just spend time together.

It was our first

SALMAGUNDI: Push ahead with new Blago trial

Mon, 06 Sep 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Should we or should we not continue the prosecution of disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich?

The "we" in this case refers to everyone, since Blagojevich is accused of breaking federal law. And it's important to consider it in

WISCH LIST: A Game Of Numbers -- For the Cubs and White Sox, attendance numbers tell a tale. But what's their story?

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Like Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster and Area 51, some things in life are just meant to remain a mystery.

And that appears to include U.S. Cellular Field, otherwise known as the Bermuda Triangle of Major League Baseball —

PAPERWORK: Look up 'masterpiece' in your dictionary

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Something important is dying. I think.

And I am part of the death squad. I think.

At the bottom of my computer is a small icon resembling one of my favorite things — a book. It is labeled

STATE AFFAIRS: Democracy an imperfect instrument

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Democracies have been screwing up at least since an Athenian jury of 500 citizens sentenced Socrates to death for teachings that displeased them. Democracy has never been a perfect instrument. How do we reduce the number of bad choices that

A MINORITY VIEW: Scarcity means there's no free lunch

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Perhaps the most difficult economic lesson is that we live in a world of scarcity and everything has a cost.

Scarcity exists whenever human wants exceed the means to satisfy those wants. For example, Rolls-Royce produces less than 4,000

Who has right to define Obama?

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Liberal critics were dead wrong in condemning Glenn Beck for holding a rally at the Lincoln Memorial on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech. Nobody owns that place or that date.

The

STATEHOUSE REEDER: Time for someone to pay

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Just call it "pension envy."

It will be the over the overriding political issue of the next 10 years.

The question before Illinois voters is a simple one: Are they willing to sacrifice to ensure public employees have

WRITE TEAM: The joys of grandparenting

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 00:00:00 CDT

Two years after I retired from my full-time job (I still maintained a part-time job), my wife and I made the decision to move to the Kansas City area to be near grandchildren.

I promised her years before that