“Reading a Book is Like Life:
You Live it One Page at a Time.” (Ron Yates)
Receive Updates!
About Ronald E. Yates
Author, former foreign correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, and Dean & Professor Emeritus of the College of Media at the University of Illinois, his acclaimed works are now available through this site.
The Latest From My Blog
Reflections on Newspapers, their Past & Future—and My Career at one of them
To say that the world of newspaper journalism has changed since I began my career at the Chicago Tribune last century would be a demonstrable understatement. Newspapers today are barely recognizable when contrasted to the five highly competitive and spirited dailies that covered Chicago 50 years ago. The Chicago Sun-Times, …
Rogue Judges Declare Lawfare Against Trump
Beyond the fact that U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg is, without doubt, a Hollywood casting director’s spot-on image of what an undertaker should look like, the judge is pushing the limits of judicial authority in issuing a temporary restraining order halting the government’s deportation of Venezuelan Tren de Aragua …
Jasmine Crockett—Queen of the Democrat Party Trash Talkers
Whenever Texas Democrat Representative Jasmine Crockett opens her big mouth and disgorges violent and bigoted blather, I am reminded of something author and philanthropist Orin Woodward once said: “Big mouths and small brains make the strangest noises.” Without a doubt, Jasmine Crockett has been making a lot of strange noises …
Petulant Democrats in an All-out Favorability Freefall
The numbers don’t lie, and all of us have seen them. In a recent NBC News and Hart Research poll, just 27 percent of Americans view the Democratic Party favorably. A CNN poll revealed that only 29 percent of the respondents had a favorable outlook toward the Democrats. In both …
Today’s Democratic Party is a Heartless, Soulless Gang
It has taken me a few days to formulate a response to the pathetic and callous display by Democrats during President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress last week. As I watched every Democrat remain mutely planted on their asses in the House chamber as a 13-year-old boy …
In the USA, some Prices are Lower, but so are Expectations
At a time when prices for everything from eggs to gasoline are high, I thought it might be interesting to share a list of commodities and services that are actually much cheaper than they once were when compared to dollar values and wages in the past. Will this take the …
The Department of Education: A Wasteland of Rot & Corruption
After spending 13 years as a professor, Department Head, and College Dean at the University of Illinois, I learned a lot about higher education, its benefits, and its faults. Don’t get me wrong. The University of Illinois is a first-rate institution. It is home to world-class faculty and facilities, including …
The Roaches are Running for Cover from the Exterminator-in-Chief
During my career as a foreign correspondent, I spent a lot of time in what could only be called roach hotels. It wasn’t out of choice but necessity. I often had no option where I slept at night. You were happy to have a roof over your head in war …
Trump’s plan to restore Hollywood’s Golden Age is a Daunting Task
Lost among the burst of executive orders emanating from Donald Trump’s felt tip permanent marker was his decision to appoint three iconic actors—Jon Voight, Mel Gibson, and Sylvester Stallone—to serve as his special envoys to Hollywood. Their mission, Trump said, is to return Hollywood to its former Golden Age. Restoring …
Trump’s Common Sense Executive Orders: What’s Not To Like?
As promised, on day one of his administration, Donald Trump took pen in hand and signed a mound of executive orders in a flurry of cursive penmanship. Here are my favorites. I hope all will become permanent law someday. Of course, that will be up to Congress. In the meantime, …
After Joe Biden‘s Perverse Reign of Devastation, a Muckraker’s Thoughts on a New Era of Common Sense
Looking back on the last four years, I feel like I have been mucking a giant pile of manure out of a barn. The more I shoveled, the higher the pile of manure got. There didn’t seem to be any end to the execrable crap being dispensed by the Biden …
Things I’ve learned from Lincoln, C.S. Lewis, David Foster Wallace, and my friend’s grandmother.
Today, I am reposting a column by author and Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan in which she shares some poignant thoughts about life as we enter the new year. This particular column appeared in her Signposts on the Wisdom Trail column. As for me, I will return to posting …
