Walk through D.C. gives history lesson
The stroll to the U.S. Capitol is leisurely despite a soft winter sun and hard northwest breeze to encourage a quicker pace.
Treasuring the...
Visionary genius, short-sighted fools
Last October, several University of Illinois alums sent a letter “to encourage to … join by making a contribution to a scholarship...
Two ways to write a letter
There are ways to write a letter and then there are ways to write a letter. One way includes pleasantries, ideas, even artful persuasion....
2012 farm bill: Cliff walking in clodhoppers
In an almost endless stream of post-vote analyses Jan. 2, Capitol Hill pundits focused mostly on who the political winners and losers were in...
A ‘gasified windbag’ starts a new year
Alan Guerbert discusses 2012 and readers' reactions to his column.
Crop insurance: ‘Just insane’
Neither the outcome of the federal election nor the fast-approaching budget "fiscal cliff" bothered any of the 250 gawkers and bidders at a 1,170-acre...
Santa, if you can’t bring a combine or a farm bill, how ’bout...
You, my friend, are one tough customer for Santa. I mean, like many, the Fat Man knows food, but he doesn't know farming.
As such,...
Lame ducks holding up the farm bill
On the face of it, few things carry a more apt name than today's "lame duck" Congress. Indeed, how lame is it that after...
Did Mississippi Farm Bureau railroad state director for opinions?
To hear Fred Stokes tell it, he got carried away "a mite" in a Kansas City news conference Aug. 10 with his explanation of...
Cooking goose brings back memories
For the first year in five, the lovely Catherine and I will not be driving a sack of sweet potatoes, a cooler with a...