... It is unbecoming, in a democratic republic, to have leaders who want to change the rules because they want total control. In fact, it’s the type of thing you see from losers in various games. Some people, if they can’t win on the merits, they try to change the rules. More nefariously, it’s what you would expect from tyrannical leadership...
 
Read the full editorial in the April 22 Advance. 

We are inching into my favorite month of the year – May. 
Hooray for May!
It’s the month of May baskets, violets, May poles (okay, I’ve never actually seen a May pole, but I love them anyway), and, most of all, promise.
When I was little, May meant all those things plus the last day of school, which was blissful. It wasn’t that I didn’t like school – I did, as much as any kid does, but there was such a sense of being free, free, free!
 

Here's an excerpt from the April 22 Our Kossuth County column, this week written by John Bilsten of AMU:

Here's an excerpt from this week's Out of the Past column in the April 22 Advance:

... Zermatt is at the end of the road and cars are not allowed on its streets, so we parked in their parking lot and walked in. Talk about a rural setting; we needed to stop and wait while a large herd of goats with bells on their necks was driven past on the street by two young boys. Mountain climbing, skiing, hiking, ice skating and curling are popular activities besides shopping and eating in restaurants with a spectacular view.

In Kossuth County, women are industry and community leaders and lead the way in their fields. Women are also receiving higher educational degrees at a greater rate than men at our area institutes of higher learning. Yet, inequality continues to create barriers for women and girls. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, in 2019 in Iowa, full-time female employees earned 1.39 times less than full-time male employees, a difference of over $18,000 a year.

... However when we would gather as a family and sometimes reminisce about those years one of the things we talked about was that Ryan, being so much younger than me, had no real memories of me living at home because when he was three years old I left for college. Never to live at Lone Rock again on a permanent basis.
Read all of this special column in the April 15 Advance.

What do artists, school children and everyone living in the Midwest at the beginning of spring have in common? Their patience is being tested.
For over a year now, we’ve been waiting patiently, (and at times not so patiently), for life to resume a sense of normalcy: for concerts to begin again, for festivals to be rescheduled, for galleries to be reopened. 
 
Read all of the column in the April 15 Advance.

... There are, however, a select few preachers and a select few sermons which continue to edify Christians of all times and places and situations. One such sermon is the Paschal (Easter) Homily of St. John Chrysostom of the 4th and 5th centuries. In this sermon, St. Chrysostom invites Christians to join the celebration of our Lord’s resurrection.

Spring is here, and as the weather warms up and the COVID vaccine offers good news on the health front, Stinson Prairie Art Council is planning its 2021 schedule for art events in the Algona area. 
 
Read all of the "Our Kossuth County" entry this week, about the Stinson Prairie Arts Council, in the April 8 Advance.

When I was little, Easter meant only one thing – a visit from the Easter Bunny. The fact that it was when Jesus rose from the dead to save us all wasn’t on my horizon yet. (I hope I wasn’t the only child to get religion late!) At our house, the Easter Bunny (hereinafter referred to as EB, for brevity’s sake) left clues for my sister and me written in rhyme, hidden in various rooms, leading eventually to our Easter baskets.

Fascism is a term that these days is tossed around more than the lettuce at a vegetarian restaurant’s salad bar. Our last four presidents have been labeled fascists by opponents who didn’t like things they did. 
The word is malleable for whatever argument one wants to make these days. That we are redefining terms in a highly charged socio-political culture war is just the way of the day. 
So, what is fascism?
 

Leaving Zurich Switzerland, we drove a few miles south into the Alps and found a pulloff to park our VW camper for the night. Next day was another bright, sunny day but the mountains gave us some relief from the heat we had been experiencing. (We learned later that Europe’s 1983 summer temperatures were the hottest they had been in more than100 years.) 
 
Read all of Jim Sloter's travelogue entry in the April 8 Advance. 

Given the prevalence of gun violence in our society, it’s hard to argue people shouldn’t have a right to carry weapons to protect themselves in case the worst scenario occurs. 
 
Read the full editorial in the April 8 Advance.

“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” The words Jesus spoke from the cross before he gives up his spirit. What was Jesus experiencing when he said these words?? Brothers and sisters, we have never experienced what Jesus, the perfect sacrificial Lamb was going through that night. Believer or non-believer alike, the spirit of God has never been turned away from you in this way. It has never been so removed from you as it was that night when God turned away from his very own Son.