I might, might, be just calmed down enough to address what GOP Rep. Steve Scalise did to Ady Barken, activist and fellow person with ALS. But only just.If you have not seen or read about this yet, Ady Barken interviewed Vice President and Democratic nominee for President Joe Biden in a piece that was used […]

What to do this Fathers’ Day? I grieve for the children who have lost their fathers.I grieve for the fathers who did not live to see their children blossom as adults.I grieve for mothers left to raise children without help.I grieve for the fathers who have given their lives over to hate.I grieve especially for

The COVID-19 pandemic challenges our notions of how “normal” life works. Work-at-home, virtual education and social distancing are giving our entire population a taste of how everyday life functions for many of the USA’s nearly 60 million people with disabilities. What typical people are unable to share in, however, is the way people with disabilities

I have a lot of political hot buttons and, while I try not to write about them all, this is one that is not particularly partisan and drives me absolutely bonkers.  Yesterday at his now daily coronavirus press conference President Trump touted the possibility of people using the Right To Try legislation to access prescription treatments not approved

I hate that I have to write on the topic of gun “rights” again. (www.steveheronemus.com/undercurrent/guns-do-kill) I hate that precisely nothing has happened to stem the tide of mass shootings since that post. And I hate that I have to write the word “hate”, which I use almost never. To every person in support of gun ownership rights,

This day is the 35th anniversary of the day Suzanne walked down the center aisle of her church, every step closer bringing her another step more beautifully in view as I waited in front of the altar. The 35th anniversary of when we, publically and within the ancient structure of liturgical worship of a God

You know, families dealing with a loved one with significant medical challenges have enough on their plates. First comes navigating the healthcare system for diagnoses and treatment, then comes the nightmare of trying to pay for said diagnoses and treatment and medicine. And let’s not, please, minimize the emotional toll of simply having a loved one with

Suzanne and I met in an honors class about interpreting art taught by a professor from Germany I knew from my time there. She sat next to me the first day and became interested in pursuing a friendship with me and, although we talked, I was pretty standoffish. “Aloof” would be kind.The class started comparing

The Illinois 14th Congressional District is reliably red most years, especially after redistricting in 2011 that countered its few urban neighborhoods with vast swathes of conservative, white, suburban and rural territory across 7 counties. The 14th is the district of disgraced and imprisoned former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, and many here still pine

We have been witness in the past three weeks to a national drama over the importance we place on personal character and what might charitably be called youthful indiscretion as Senate politicians consider consenting to the president’s nominee for Supreme Court, Brett Kavanaugh. Three women made credible allegations of sexual assault by Kavanaugh and other