Columns

I’ve never known much about music.

The “culture wars” is an expansive twenty-first century phenomenon encompassing a variety of issues that have been absorbed into the dogma of America’s political parties. In the sacred arena of our democracy, this partisan deterioration is manifest in a reality where political party loyalty is deemed more important than solving the countless social, economic and security challenges facing our country.

Editor’s note — This is the first of a multiple part series as the author relives some of his childhood trauma.

Editor’s note — This article was written 12 hours before Yevgeny Prigozhin sent his troops up the M4 highway from the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don towards Moscow. Since then, Prigozhin turned his forces around, in his words, to “de-escalate” the situation. He has ostensibly been given safe harbor in Belarus in exchange for a pardon and amnesty for his Wagner troops. Nevertheless, the entire episode is problematic for Vladimir Putin and his military. I’m leaving the original article intact since it is mostly still relevant; yet, at the end of the column I have addressed what I think the aftermath consequences might be. It’s been said that violent acts, whether local, national or international, will inevitably have adverse consequences.

I spent the week visiting my parents at their retirement home “up north,” and so I got to see them and my mother’s outside pet, Stubby, the red squirrel.

Editor’s note: This article is definitive proof that my crack staff here at Shoe: Untied will never run out of material. The world is a bottomless pit of content, man.

Photojournalism has always been a powerful way of communicating events around the world as an old adage says, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” The power of pictures rests in the natural ability of a single picture to tell a story.

“I know for certain that strangers have helped me when I needed help, and kind words have changed my day from terrible to something better — something more hopeful.”

For those of you who don’t know, my mom was a saint. If you ask anyone who knew Kathryn Shoemaker or had her as a teacher they will say the same. I have never met a person my mother taught that didn’t say she touched them deeply and had a positive effect on their lives. If I’ve been lucky enough to have had that same effect on a student, they can thank my mom. She’s the reason I became a teacher.

This is something that I honestly don’t get. This morning I saw a middle-aged man walking down the street with a set of headphones squarely on his head. Why? With all the wonderful open ear earbuds available today, why would anyone compromise their safety by wearing headphones when they’re out and about?