https://chestertownspy.org Nonpartisan and Education-based News for Chestertown Wed, 07 May 2025 14:42:22 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/05/07/the-question-is-not-how-trump-is-doing-but-how-we-are-doing-by-al-sikes/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/05/07/the-question-is-not-how-trump-is-doing-but-how-we-are-doing-by-al-sikes/#comments Wed, 07 May 2025 13:30:03 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/05/07/the-question-is-not-how-trump-is-doing-but-how-we-are-doing-by-al-sikes/ Mea Culpa. I was at least partially wrong when I titled my book, circa 2019, Culture Leads Leaders Follow. A central point in the book: people who run for important elective office organize their brains and rhetoric around what is culturally acceptable. Or to put it another way, marketers of one sort or another and […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/05/07/the-question-is-not-how-trump-is-doing-but-how-we-are-doing-by-al-sikes/feed/ 1 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/28/letter-from-the-grave-by-al-sikes/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/28/letter-from-the-grave-by-al-sikes/#respond Mon, 28 Apr 2025 12:15:58 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/28/letter-from-the-grave-by-al-sikes/ Yevgeny Prigozhin, Founder of Russia’s Wagner Group June 1, 1961 to August 23, 2023 Cause of Death: Hand Grenade Detonated in Airplane Dear President Trump, “There was a time when my name would still be vivid. Not today. Events happen, splashes occur, and then the world moves on. I was once Page 1, now you […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/28/letter-from-the-grave-by-al-sikes/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/24/what-does-the-bond-market-say-by-al-sikes/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/24/what-does-the-bond-market-say-by-al-sikes/#respond Thu, 24 Apr 2025 12:30:08 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=183805 Business markets are unsentimental. Leading investors don’t wear the hats of partisans. And they certainly don’t wear a MAGA hat—an adornment of emotion until President Trump pivots. Risk is measured, rated, and informs real-time investing and relatedly our various accounts of wealth. President Donald J Trump has decided to restructure international markets for goods and […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/24/what-does-the-bond-market-say-by-al-sikes/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/19/jazz-2014-2025-by-al-sikes/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/19/jazz-2014-2025-by-al-sikes/#comments Sat, 19 Apr 2025 13:36:26 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/19/jazz-2014-2025-by-al-sikes/ Thursday was vivid; the sun unburdened. The trees were flowering—what a beautiful moment. Would that it would have lingered but life can move from Spring to Winter quickly and that happened to Marty and me. Deep winter. Until yesterday we had our 5th edition of a black Labrador named Jazz and then we didn’t. We […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/19/jazz-2014-2025-by-al-sikes/feed/ 1 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/11/the-great-promise-by-al-sikes/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/11/the-great-promise-by-al-sikes/#respond Fri, 11 Apr 2025 12:31:08 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=183493 In advance of Easter and Christmas I reflect on my own faith with pen in hand. We all know what a mystery is and we are certainly drawn to a good one. The characters draw us in and the circumstances puzzle us. And a talented writer often surprises us at the end. Life is like […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/11/the-great-promise-by-al-sikes/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/07/straight-up-by-al-sikes/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/07/straight-up-by-al-sikes/#comments Mon, 07 Apr 2025 12:00:43 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/07/straight-up-by-al-sike/ Straight up! If whiskey is your drink don’t dilute it. Straight up: do you want this White House, any White House, to have the unilateral power Donald J Trump is exercising? The power to convert hell into heaven by multiple strokes of the pen? That is what MAGA promises. The power to empty prisons of […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/07/straight-up-by-al-sikes/feed/ 2 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/02/walking-around-money-by-al-sikes/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/02/walking-around-money-by-al-sikes/#comments Wed, 02 Apr 2025 12:30:44 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/02/walking-around-money-by-al-sikes/ “Walking around money”, it was called. I was twelve years old and helping my Dad run for a seat on Sikeston, Missouri’s Board of Aldermen. In plain sight, I saw money being given to voters. I was told that it was not uncommon to pay somebody to go vote, and the amount of money was […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/04/02/walking-around-money-by-al-sikes/feed/ 1 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/31/what-has-made-america-great-by-al-sikes/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/31/what-has-made-america-great-by-al-sikes/#comments Mon, 31 Mar 2025 12:30:01 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/31/what-has-made-america-great-by-al-sikes/ I am looking out on the East River, New York City. Marty, my wife, and I lived in New York for a number of years and I had gone to the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) once. So when I needed to get rid of an old knee (bone on bone) I went back to […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/31/what-has-made-america-great-by-al-sikes/feed/ 1 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/27/what-will-historys-verdict-be-by-al-sikes/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/27/what-will-historys-verdict-be-by-al-sikes/#respond Thu, 27 Mar 2025 12:30:55 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=183214 There you go again Sam.” No, this is not the famous “Play It Again Sam”, a Bogart quip from the 1942 classic Casablanca, but Ronald Reagan reacting to Sam Donaldson, his media critic, working for ABC News. Reagan, of course, was President Reagan and he was deflecting a media critic. Look it up, he had […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/27/what-will-historys-verdict-be-by-al-sikes/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/19/should-america-disarm-by-al-sikes/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/19/should-america-disarm-by-al-sikes/#respond Wed, 19 Mar 2025 11:59:33 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/19/should-america-disarm-by-al-sikes/ The overlap was notable. The college basketball tournament called March Madness arrived at the peak of some of Donald J Trump’s critics calling his Executive Orders “madness”. One reason for calling the basketball tournament “madness” is one loss and your out—“one and done” as it is said. In the matter of the President, he is […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/19/should-america-disarm-by-al-sikes/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/14/white-house-flails-congress-dithers-what-about-the-supremes/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/14/white-house-flails-congress-dithers-what-about-the-supremes/#respond Fri, 14 Mar 2025 12:29:01 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/14/white-house-flails-congress-dithers-what-about-the-supremes/ The Republican Party that was stood up by Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt and more recently Dwight Eisenhower and Ronald Reagan no longer exists. It is no longer a Party where political rivalry evolves into strength because today’s default position is to punish dissent. It is not premature to wonder how the Party’s voters might […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/14/white-house-flails-congress-dithers-what-about-the-supremes/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/09/a-few-thoughts-and-a-different-ending-by-al-sikes/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/09/a-few-thoughts-and-a-different-ending-by-al-sikes/#comments Sun, 09 Mar 2025 13:29:42 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/09/a-few-thoughts-and-a-different-ending-by-al-sikes/ Writing in 2025 comes with major challenges. In the radically changed communications world in which we live where is the tipping point? How many words on any given subject will be a turn-off? So here are some quick takes on disparate subjects that briefly made the headlines last week. “Big, Beautiful Bill” President Donald J. […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/03/09/a-few-thoughts-and-a-different-ending-by-al-sikes/feed/ 2 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/28/chaos-is-it-the-best-way-by-al-sikes/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/28/chaos-is-it-the-best-way-by-al-sikes/#comments Fri, 28 Feb 2025 16:25:56 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/28/chaos-is-it-the-best-way-by-al-sikes/ It’s really quite extraordinary. Congress is inert, impotent, and powerless. Five hundred and thirty-five aggressive men and women elected to the House of Representatives or the Senate to do good are doing almost nothing. In the meantime, President Trump and his sidekick, Elon Musk, have deployed high-risk organizational moves against an organization’s most important asset: […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/28/chaos-is-it-the-best-way-by-al-sikes/feed/ 2 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/23/eternal-loneliness-is-it-important-by-al-sikes/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/23/eternal-loneliness-is-it-important-by-al-sikes/#respond Sun, 23 Feb 2025 13:20:42 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/23/eternal-loneliness-is-it-important-by-al-sikes/ “The Tech Ecosystem that surrounds today’s teens is fueling loneliness.” Axios AM The Thesaurus translates loneliness: as “deserted, forsaken.” I type just having come back from church, while recognizing that fewer and fewer of us return from churches or any religious venue these days. Many, not just teens, are more likely to get swallowed up […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/23/eternal-loneliness-is-it-important-by-al-sikes/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/20/are-we-amusing-ourselves-to-death-by-al-sikes/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/20/are-we-amusing-ourselves-to-death-by-al-sikes/#respond Thu, 20 Feb 2025 13:31:21 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/20/are-we-amusing-ourselves-to-death-by-al-sikes/ President Trump has decided to go all in. He has signed an Executive Order that will give him and successive White House occupants regulatory control of the independent agencies that are responsible for oversight and regulation of securities markets, communications, elections and trade. Trump gained office by attacking President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/20/are-we-amusing-ourselves-to-death-by-al-sikes/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/13/where-is-the-21st-century-democratic-party-by-al-sikes/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/13/where-is-the-21st-century-democratic-party-by-al-sikes/#comments Thu, 13 Feb 2025 13:30:34 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/13/where-is-the-21st-century-democratic-party-by-al-sikes/ Today’s Democratic party is no longer shaped by realities. In a broad sense, today’s Party is still attuned to President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society programs. The Great Society legislation was enacted in the mid-1960s during Johnson’s presidency. The promises: eliminate poverty and racial injustice. The cost in today’s dollars is estimated at $2T. The results […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/13/where-is-the-21st-century-democratic-party-by-al-sikes/feed/ 2 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/05/trump-versus-free-speech-by-al-sikes/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/05/trump-versus-free-speech-by-al-sikes/#comments Wed, 05 Feb 2025 13:59:13 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/05/trump-versus-free-speech-by-al-sikes/ My time was a generation ago. I chaired the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) during the George HW Bush administration. Censorship was not on our priority list. Except: for protecting children from “indecent” content as was required by a law passed by Congress. The focal point was Howard Stern, whose morning show was broadcast by Infinity […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/02/05/trump-versus-free-speech-by-al-sikes/feed/ 2 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/01/29/can-a-provocateur-be-an-effective-president-by-al-sikes/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/01/29/can-a-provocateur-be-an-effective-president-by-al-sikes/#respond Wed, 29 Jan 2025 13:29:45 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/?p=182133 When I plant seed I am relegated to a crank seeder. They are difficult to calibrate and control. I envy the farmer who, using a precisely calibrated seeder, drills the seed in a lightly cultivated field. President Trump is using a crank seeder. Or, as one commentator noted, he is “flooding the zone”. Trump’s domestic […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/01/29/can-a-provocateur-be-an-effective-president-by-al-sikes/feed/ 0 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/01/21/do-we-have-a-real-chance-by-al-sikes/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/01/21/do-we-have-a-real-chance-by-al-sikes/#comments Tue, 21 Jan 2025 14:00:03 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/01/21/do-we-have-a-real-chance-by-al-sikes/ There was an absence of grace notes but that was to be expected. President Donald J Trump did not gracefully enter politics nor did he have any intention to do so on his revival. He entered mad and became madder as the establishment sought to banish him. The most even-tempered, considering Trump’s almost constant presence […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/01/21/do-we-have-a-real-chance-by-al-sikes/feed/ 3 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/01/18/untruth-and-consequences-by-al-sikes/ https://chestertownspy.org/2025/01/18/untruth-and-consequences-by-al-sikes/#respond Sat, 18 Jan 2025 16:47:29 +0000 https://chestertownspy.org/2025/01/18/untruth-and-consequences-by-al-sikes/ I want an Editor. Well okay, I don’t deserve one. The business model says no. Business model?  Now awake from this flirty dream, I move on. The periodic spark, at times white hot, inflamed the news for several days. Meta announced that they would no longer be fact-checking Facebook and Instagram—editors be gone. Sorry, they […]]]> https://chestertownspy.org/2025/01/18/untruth-and-consequences-by-al-sikes/feed/ 0