Very excited to learn that President Bush was going to be in the Quad Cities last week, I immediately decided to take my students to the rally. What a wonderful way to teach young people about how our country selects its leaders, and an opportunity to see the leader of the free world in person! I called Jim Nussle's office and was told that there were tickets left but I'd better hurry, because they would be gone in two hours.
So Barb Caffrey wants to write for the River Cities' Reader. (See "Keep This Man from Writing Again," River Cities' Reader Issue 486, July 21-27, 2004.) I guess it's the recruiter in me that imagines what that job interview would be like ... "Well, Todd and Kathleen, you should hire me because Jeff Ignatius is incompetent, and the article on rental-property inspections was deplorable and horrible.
"Fixing Problem Properties" (written by Jeff Ignatius) is one of the worst cover stories I can remember in the Reader. (See Issue 485, July 14-20, 2004.) The title alone suggests that it would deal with bad-looking properties, perhaps tenant problems, or even a well-balanced approach to the issue of landlords who appear to be blowing off their properties and not fixing them.
I write to compliment the River Cities' Reader on the thought-provoking juxtaposition of the letters "'We the People' Are to Blame" by Roger Bolewicz and "Voting for Al-Qaeda" by E. Douglas Hansen in the May 26 issue.
It was dreary that day before the November election, and it was not a good day for my 83-year-old father. He had been told following eye surgery that he might lose the sight in his left eye - bad news for someone whose sharp mind and wit are fueled by reading newspapers cover-to-cover and watching every news program he can.
There is a lot of discussion going on today regarding the images of American atrocities coming out of Iraq. Discussions regarding who is to be held accountable, whether it is the active-duty troops, the Army Reserve, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, or President Bush himself.
It used to be that theologians would waste their time arguing about how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. Now it appears the discussion has swung to what political party Jesus would belong to. (How would Jesus vote?) I have been following with minimal interest the ongoing discourse in theolitics.
Upon reading entries for the short-story contest (see "A World in 200 Words," River Cities' Reader Issue 473, April 21-27, 2004), the "winner" and "runners up," I can honestly say I am woefully dismayed. I had anticipated prose that would grab me and say something, anything, to grab my attention.
While I typically look forward to the Reader, last week's "Champagne Appetite with a Beer Purse" was a mean cut at an easy toss that missed by a mile. John O' Donnell's re-opening is a home run for Davenport.
Three major issues are currently on the minds of most Americans. These are (1) jobs going overseas, (2) swelling numbers of immigrants, both legal and illegal, and (3) transferring to foreign organizations the power to dictate our nation's policies.

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