Culture and Society, History, Philosophy and Religion

Crime and Due Process: Two Scenes Connected in the Dylann Roof Case

Dave Gillespie — On June 17, 2015 Dylann Roof murdered nine African American parishioners at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. More than a year later, on December 15, 2016 he was found guilty on 33 charges associated with the murders. And, in January 2017, Dylann Roof was sentenced to death. The true story of Dylann Roof will now always be … Continue reading Crime and Due Process: Two Scenes Connected in the Dylann Roof Case

Dave GillespieJuly 31, 2017July 31, 20172 Comments

Sports

Jeanie’s Hope

Bob Bates — Mark Richardson’s moving essay entitled “My Mom, Baseball, and Me,” published previously on Wise Guys, is my motivation for posting this baseball poem I wrote about someone very dear to me. The poem is a combination tribute and eulogy to Jeanette “Jeanie” Sotka Hofmeister, who married my cousin Daryl “Sonny” Hofmeister in 1954. In his baseball-playing days, Sonny was a slugging outfielder … Continue reading Jeanie’s Hope

Bob BatesJuly 24, 2017July 31, 20174 Comments

Books, History

Uncle Ho: A Man of Peace

Jeff Berger — On November 11, 1944, a U.S. reconnaissance plane piloted by Lieutenant Rudolph Shaw encountered engine trouble while flying over the rough mountainous terrain along the Sino-Vietnamese frontier. When Shaw landed his parachute, members of a local Viet Minh unit were the first to reach him. For the next several days they escorted him over mountains and jungle trails toward Pac Bo, walking … Continue reading Uncle Ho: A Man of Peace

Jeff BergerJuly 18, 2017July 24, 20173 Comments

Philosophy and Religion, Politics and Economics

Should the U.S. Constitution Be Changed? — A Wise Guys Conversation

Jeff Berger, Charles Cottle, Dave Gillespie, John Kozlowicz, and Ron Berger — During the past year contributors to Wise Guys engaged in an impromptu discussion of the limitations of U.S. Constitution. Simultaneously, the political atmosphere across the country stimulated a number of calls for a constitutional convention. The possibility of such an event inched closer to reality in the second week of June 2017 when … Continue reading Should the U.S. Constitution Be Changed? — A Wise Guys Conversation

Jeff BergerJuly 10, 2017July 11, 20171 Comment

Creative Nonfiction

Icarus Redux

DeWitt Clinton — I still live in Shorewood, Wisconsin, not Sherwood, for there’s nothing foresty or Shakespearian about this tiny little add-on to Metro Milwaukee. We’re a bit too far inland to feel the fury of hurricanes, but often in the summer, parts of Wisconsin will feel like a wind tunnel coming out of Tornado Alley of the Midwest. I haven’t yet been sucked up … Continue reading Icarus Redux