Ronald E. Yates's Blog, page 21
July 6, 2023
Journalists at Risk: It’s Part of the Job
Nobody ever said doing good journalism is easy–or safe. In fact, reporters and photographers who have spent significant time covering war, revolution, political upheaval, and natural disasters are keenly aware that when they arrive in war-ravaged places like Ukraine, Iraq, Afghanistan, or Syria, they may not return home in one ...
July 4, 2023
Ramblings about the Late Larry McMurtry
Two years ago, when I heard that Larry McMurtry passed away in his Archer, Texas, home at the age of 84, I was saddened. What a loss! What a prolific writer! What a storyteller! His 30 novels, many of which have been turned into classic films and television series, such ...
July 2, 2023
The Remarkable Life of a Reluctant Hero
All authors are emotionally engaged with their protagonists. I am no exception. I want readers to love my characters as much as I do. That means creating a flawed, three-dimensional protagonist who still has “things to work out.” The Finding Billy Battles series follows Billy from his roots in Kansas, through ...
July 1, 2023
Salvadoran Town Lives in Cross Fire
(Between 1980 and 1982, I spent a lot of time in Central American countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua–all of which were involved in some nasty guerilla uprisings and revolutions. From time to time, I will post one of the stories I did from these places. The following ...
June 29, 2023
The End of Affirmative Action: It’s About Time
During the 13 years that I was a professor, department head, and finally a college dean at the University of Illinois, I was always puzzled by the “unwritten rule” that guided admissions to the university in general and to my college in particular. Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ...
June 25, 2023
Here’s an Idea: Let’s Arrest Store Owners, NOT the Shoplifters
Here’s an idea: let’s arrest store owners, NOT the shoplifters. That’s exactly what California wants to do via some newly proposed legislation. Will the insanity never stop? Apparently not. California lawmakers (read “ruling Democrats”) are sponsoring a new state law that seeks to prohibit the “direct confrontation or detention” of ...
June 18, 2023
Father’s Day: A Lament
Yesterday was Father’s Day, and all over America, the concept of fatherhood was feted. Well, almost everywhere. There was that Angel Soft ad that ran a while back in which adults wish their single mothers a Happy Father’s Day. It’s bad enough that fathers have become so devalued in our ...
June 14, 2023
Happy Birthday To The United States Army!
I am sharing the post below from the Editorial Staff of the American Free News Network. I spent four years on active duty with the U.S. Army. It was one of the most important and consequential experiences of my life. While serving, I learned about leadership, working selflessly as part ...
June 11, 2023
Are we Witnessing the Decline and Fall of the American Empire?
In 1997 a prophetic book hit the nation’s bookshelves entitled The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy – What the Cycles of History Tell Us about America’s Next Rendezvous with Destiny. The book was penned by William Strauss and Neil Howe, two historians who posited that all empires go through what ...
June 3, 2023
Tiananmen Square: A Massacre that Foretold China’s Intrinsic Treachery
As Washington passively watches China pursue political and military domination in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and now, apparently in Latin America, it’s clear to me that our leaders and Americans, in general, have short memories about how brutal the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) can be. That’s one reason ...
