Chicago Daily Observer

My kids and I just got back from Disney World. It was my Christmas present to my kids. (I thought the folks who told me they’d gone more than once were crazy. I figured I’d get my Disney “card” punched – and be done! I was wrong. I’d go again for a week, but that’s a different column.)

Anyway, our favorite attraction? The “safari” ride at the Animal Kingdom. In open air African-style vehicles, or at least like the ones you see in the movies, we moved through open ranges featuring elephants, hippos, crocodiles, giraffes, antelope and even lions. Given recent events, when I saw the lion I clutched my two littlest ones – as if that would do any good.

In any event, the animals seemed pretty darn happy.

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), probably the most well known and certainly the most publicly celebrated ... Read More...

Way back in the 1970’s Ronald Reagan embraced the principles developed by America’s greatest 20th century conservative thinker, Dr. Russell Kirk of Mecosta, Michigan. . Kirk was long-time fixture at Michigan state university and developed a cogent argument for American Cultural and Political Thought.

I met Dr. Russell Kirk and his wife Annette, when I taught and coached at La Lumiere School, LaPorte, Indiana. – the alma mater of Chief Justice John Roberts. A social studies teacher by the name of Tracey Elliot, now a banking officer in South Bend, was a devoted student of Dr. Kirk and made the introductions – “‘Mr. Hickey is a Daley Democrat and therefore not unfamiliar with the principles of American conservatism. “ ‘Dr. Kirk was a wonderful conversationalist and a generous humorist. Dr. Kirk’s heart and head live in the Russell Kirk Center at his home on Piety Hill.

Kirk’s genius is lost ... Read More...