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Forbes
2 days ago
- Forbes
Searching For Sasquatch And Superman In Southern Illinois
The world's largest Superman statue stands guard over the town square and county courthouse in ... More Metropolis, Illinois. (Photo by Mark Reinstein) It doesn't seem like an obvious place to search for more insight into two of America's most celebrated fictional beings — Sasquatch and Superman. But Southern Illinois surprises in a lot of different ways. Comprising 10 counties, the region forms a rough triangle bounded by the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Depending on where in the state's deep south you're headed, it's around a five-to-six-hour drive from Chicago, but only two hours by road from St. Louis. Another way that locals demarcate the region is everything south of U.S. Highway 50, which shoots arrow-straight across the state from St. Louis to Louisville. It's not just distance that defines Southern Illinois from the rest of the Land of Lincoln. The contrast with 'stormy, husky, brawling' Chicago (to quote Carl Sandburg) couldn't be more stark. But the area is also miles apart from the prairie corn belt that runs across the middle of the state. What you get instead are low rolling hills covered in the thick woods of Shawnee National Forest, rock formations that would look more at home in Utah or Arizona, and charming riverfront towns that are small but historically significant. How does this segue into Sasquatch and Superman? Read on to find out . . . Hanging out with "Sassy," the iconic Bigfoot statue near Garden of the Gods in Shawnee National ... More Forest. The Secretive Shawnee Hills Running east-west across the region between the two rivers, the Shawnee Hills aren't very prominent. The highest point is Williams Hill at just 1,065 feet (five Chicago skyscrapers are actually taller). They compensate for that lack of altitude with sprawling wilderness, much of it within the confines of Shawnee National Forest. Established in 1933 on lands that had been over-logged and over-farmed for a century, the park was rehabilitated with help from the Civilian Conservation Corps to the point where it's now one of the most wooded areas in the lower Midwest. Shawnee is a hiker's paradise. The AllTrails hiking app recommends more than 100 routes in the region. Most are rated easy or moderate, but there's also more gnarly treks like the 10-mile Panther's Den Trail, the 45-mile Tunnel Hill State Trail and the 151-mile River to River Trail backpacking route. For those who want to get off the grid, the national forest harbors seven federally designated wilderness areas. For those who can't make the longer hikes, short trails lead through the incredible rocky warrens at Garden of the Gods, the Little Grand Canyon and Giant City to geological wonders formed over millions of years. The rugged topography also provides plenty of places for creatures to hide. According to the most recent data from the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization (BFRO), Sasquatch has been sighted 45 times in Southern Illinois, many of the incidents in Shawnee National Forest. A statue of a female Bigfoot that locals call 'Sassy' keeps watch over Karbers Ridge Road near Herod. The nearby Garden of the Gods Outpost general store hawks ice cream, snacks, camping supplies, t-shirts and all sorts of Sasquatch swag, from fridge magnets and coffee mugs to socks, soap and plush toys. View over Shawnee National Forest from the Garden of the Gods. From Krypton to Metropolis Superman may have been born on the planet Krypton and raised in Smallville, Iowa by the Kents. But he didn't realize his full superhero potential until moving to Metropolis, where he went undercover as newspaper reporter Clark Kent. The Metropolis of movies and comic books is obviously New York City. But that didn't stop Metropolis, Illinois from adopting the Man of Steel as their own native son. The world's largest Superman statue guards the town square near the Super Museum with more than 20,000 Superman artifacts. Farther up Market Street are a Lois Lane statue and a whimsical Super Big Boy figure. The local newspaper is called The Planet after the comic book version. And Metropolis stages a Superman Celebration festival in June. All this superhero shtick distracts from the city's real history. Fort Massac on the Ohio River waterfront is a faithful reconstruction of an 1802 American fort built on the site of a French stockade erected in 1757 to safeguard the region from British invasion during the French & Indian War. Upstream from Metropolis are other historic landmarks like the Kincaid Mounds Archeological Site and Cave-in-Rock, a large cavern that once sheltered the notorious Samuel Mason and his pioneer-era river pirates. Cave-in-Rock village is the Illinois terminus of the last vehicle ferry across the Ohio River, a short cruise over to the Amish Country of western Kentucky. It's not all nature and history. There's a Shawnee Hills Wine Trail for sampling the local vintages at a dozen wineries and a Southern Illinois Coffee Trail that links 50 different spots where you can sip a cup of joe. As the region's largest city and home of Southern Illinois University (SIU), Carbondale offers a large array of restaurants and nightlife. Historic Fort Massac overlooks the Ohio River in Metropolis.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Revisit the Last Major U.S. National Military Parade of 1991
Soldiers who served in the Gulf War march along the streets of Washington, D.C., on June 8, 1991. Credit - Mark Reinstein—Getty Images To mark the 250th anniversary of the United States Army, Washington D.C. will play host to a national military parade on Saturday, June 14. The date also falls in line with President Donald Trump's 79th birthday, but the U.S. Army has said it has no plans to mark the occasion alongside the parade. Either way, the President is still expected to play a significant role in the celebrations. But the event comes at a highly precarious time, amid nationwide protests which started in Los Angeles when people rallied against raids conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). After some of the protests descended into violence, Trump controversially deployed the National Guard and active-duty Marines to L.A. to quell the demonstrations. The move was made without a request from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has since taken legal action against the Trump Administration. Amid backlash, the 'No Kings' movement is expected to hold nationwide protests against Trump on Saturday, including in Arlington, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Speaking at the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump warned against people who planned to protest at the upcoming parade, telling reporters: "For those who want to protest, they're going to be met with very big force." Read More: L.A. Protests Intensify as Police Report 'Mass Arrests' Despite Curfew, While Trump Says City Is 'Lucky' He Got Involved Even prior to the recent escalated tension over immigration efforts, Trump's decision to hold the parade received criticism, especially from some Democratic lawmakers. Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, who is an Iraq War veteran, has called it an 'egotistical, nonsensical birthday parade.' While Sen. Adam Schiff of California described it as a 'dictator-style military parade' and accused Trump of spending millions of tax dollars to throw himself a 'birthday party.' The upcoming parade is expected to cost around $45 million, including $16 million in damages to roads after tanks and other heavy vehicles tour the streets of Washington. It's set to be a grand affair, involving an estimated 6,500 U.S. troops, 150 vehicles, and 50 aircraft. This is the first major national military parade in the U.S. since 1991. President George H. W. Bush held the event on June 8 that year, after the U.S. led a successful coalition in the Gulf War. As the U.S. gets ready for Trump's much-discussed June 14 military parade, here's everything you need to know about the last one that took place 34 years ago. The parade was held to celebrate the military success of the U.S.-led coalition in the Gulf War, which came to a conclusion in late February. The first phase of the war, named Operation Desert Shield, involved a military and personnel coalition in Saudi Arabia from August 1990 to January 1991, hashed out on the border with Kuwait which had been invaded by Iraq, under the eye of Saddam Hussein. On Jan. 17, 1991, the war entered its second phase, Operation Desert Storm, in which the U.S-led coalition orchestrated an aerial and naval bombardment of Iraqi forces in Kuwait. This was followed by a ground operation, which lasted for five days, concluding on Feb. 28, with Kuwait liberated and Iraqi forces expelled. On the evening that Desert Storm began, President Bush addressed the nation in a speech from the Oval Office, saying: 'I've told the American people before that this will not be another Vietnam, and I repeat this here tonight. Our troops will have the best possible support in the entire world, and they will not be asked to fight with one hand tied behind their back.' He added: 'This is an historic moment. We have in this past year made great progress in ending the long era of conflict and cold war. We have before us the opportunity to forge for ourselves and for future generations a new world order.' But it wasn't only the Gulf War occupying the minds of Americans during the 1991 military parade. Bill Allison, a professor of history at Georgia Southern University, says that the legacy of the Vietnam War, which ended in April 1975, was still very much felt. 'Vietnam was looming large in that rear-view mirror. Vietnam veterans didn't get a parade and the war was a hot mess,' he says. "[For symbolic reasons], there was also a group of Vietnam veterans invited to march in the 1991 parade and as Bush said, 'We've kicked the Vietnam syndrome.'' Connor Williams, a professor of history at Yale, says that this campaign changed the American mindset on the military. 'Desert Shield and Desert Storm provided a relationship with the military that had not been seen in a generation… The incredible swiftness and completeness of that victory left a lot to celebrate,' he notes. The Gulf War was also the first major conflict in which the U.S. deployed a fully voluntary military force after conscriptions in both World Wars, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. 'For the United States, [the parade] was a testament to the volunteer work force and that had been a very risky move at the time,' says Allison. The parade is estimated to have cost around $12 million, which adjusted for inflation, translates to roughly £28 million today. An estimated $5 million dollars in 1991 was raised by the volunteer Homecoming Foundation, established to support military personnel returning from the Gulf and to help coordinate the parade. Around 700 foundation volunteers were also present to help the clean-up operation. Although, with roughly 8,000 troops marching through the streets of the nation's capital, the show of military might attracted a far smaller crowd than expected. Only 200,000 showed up to the parade early in the day, with numbers peaking later in the evening, when around 800,000 were present for the glittering fireworks display. Whilst there were some, such as anti-war protesters and people concerned about the cost, who voiced disapproval over the parade, there didn't appear to be too much criticism from lawmakers, according to historians. "One thing that will always unite politicians is supporting the troops, [even though] there's different opinions on how the troops should be supported," Williams says, adding that this sentiment can change if there is no notable military success to honor. 'In 1991, it was very much a campaign event for everybody. The salute Bush exchanged with Norman Schwarzkopf [a U.S. Army General during the Gulf War] was highly photographed. There was a [presidential] election the next year and there was a lot of B-roll happening because Bush and Democratic leaders wanted to be seen shaking hands and supporting the troops,' Williams says. The only significant demonstration was a group of anti-war activists delivering speeches in Lafayette Park, on the opposite side of the White House to the parade, which went down Constitution Avenue. In January 1991, during the conflict in Kuwait, thousands of protestors attended multiple anti-war demonstrations, centered around humanitarian worries. Read More: Veterans Condemn Trump's 'Misuse of Military Power' Amid L.A. Protests Experts tell TIME that, generally speaking, there are three key reasons behind military parades, including the one held in 1991: Celebrating the troops Rallying the public Sending a message to other countries 'In 1991, it was more about rallying the people and celebrating the troops. To some extent, the U.S. didn't need to display power like the Soviets did. The power had already been displayed. People had been watching the capability of the U.S. military on the nightly news,' says Williams. 'Not everyone [tanks and personnel] rolled down Pennsylvania avenue to give off that effect. It was more a way for people to celebrate what they thought was emerging, a unipolar world.' As for Trump's upcoming parade on June 14, Williams says that it "will be interesting" to see how U.S. strength is displayed anew. 'Will it be demonstrated in a peaceful way or in attack mode? How will the people respond?' That remains to be seen. Contact us at letters@
Forbes
29-05-2025
- Business
- Forbes
From Service To Success: Making Veterans Feel Welcome On Campus
Combined Forces Color Guard stands atop the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial during Veterans Day ... More ceremony. Washington DC. November 11, 1990 (Photo by Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty Images) During the recent Memorial Day weekend, in addition to enjoying holiday barbecues, many Americans remember the sacrifices of our veterans in fighting for freedom and democracy. To honor those who have served the country, the US has provided generous benefits for higher education for Veterans. The original Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, popularly known as the 'GI Bill,' was intended to remedy the problems of returning veterans by providing tuition and fees for college, stipends, loans for homes and businesses and counseling. By 1947, veterans comprised nearly 50% of college enrollments, and from 1944 to 1956, nearly half of the 16 million World War II veterans participated in education and training programs, with over 2 million attending colleges and universities. The GI bill was updated in 1984 and again in 2008 to increase support for veterans to include not only full tuition for public colleges but additional funds for housing and books. By 2020, 54% of eligible veterans had taken advantage of these benefits personally, with thousands more transferring their benefits to a spouse or child. Despite generous funding levels for the GI bill, amounting to $108 billion between 2009 and 2020, many gaps exist in fully supporting veterans as they navigate through the complicated federal documentation requirements. In recent years the number of beneficiaries has been dropping, decreasing by 22% between 2016 and 2021. In addition, the utilization of the benefits varies by military branches, with some branches such as the Air Force seeing less than half of the veterans using their GI Bill benefits. Another problem many veterans have is choosing among a vast array of higher education providers, which include many for-profit institutions that target veterans with aggressive marketing tactics. Some of these institutions have been shown to have questionable business practices such as raising costs on veterans once they are enrolled and misleading veterans into large amounts of student debt. In 2017, seven of the 10 colleges receiving the most GI funds spent less than one-third of the tuition they charged the VA for educating the veterans, and for those schools, only 28% of veterans completed a degree. Some of the more ruthless institutions faced legal action and prosecution, slowing but not stopping these practices. By 2021, the for-profit institutions still served 18% of GI bill beneficiaries, with lower completion rates, lagging by 15% compared to non-profit public colleges, even after controlling for the student's characteristics. To reduce the incentive among for-profit providers to target veterans, the US federal government in 2021 revised the cap that for-profit institutions could receive from federal funding to include veterans' benefits, reducing some of the ruthless practices among some of these institutions. And while these reforms have reduced some of the fraudulent practices, the government has created a vast and complicated regulatory system to certify eligibility to receive benefits. Many military veterans struggle with opaque and burdensome rules for documenting and certifying their status and eligibility, and often face delays in benefits, with inadequate lines of communication between institutions and the federal government making it extremely difficult to get help. The result is that many veterans are caught in the middle between large and slow bureaucracies on university campuses and at the federal government. To help solve this problem, a new company known as MilVet Navigator is working to streamline the processes for both veteran and military-connected students and staff within the higher education institutions. MilVet's goal is to improve student experience and outcome, and institution efficiency, bandwidth, and compliance. MilVet's mission was founded to empower the higher education military community. Dr. Mahdi Omar and Paul DeCecco, founded the company in 2023. Dr. Omar spent more than 20 years in higher education and technology fields and Mr. DeCecco is a 29-year Army veteran followed by 8 years working in higher education. After witnessing the ordeal that many military-affiliated students suffered in using their benefits, Dr. Omar and his team created a new scalable, cost-effective, and highly secure Software-as-a-Service solution that lessens the burdens on both the veteran and military-connected students, and higher education institutions. In an interview, Omar noted that Student Information Systems were not built with the VA and DoD benefits in mind. Such systems have modules to meet the business needs of multiple administrative offices such as admissions, financial aid, enrollment, advising, and others, but offer nearly nothing in the way of VA/DoD benefit management or functionality, failing to address the unique challenges faced by this population. Thus, institutions are forced to rely on spreadsheets, disconnected databases, and manual workarounds leading to fragmented and labor-intensive processes that introduce errors, slow down approvals, and create compliance risks. The problem is both a lack of staffing and a lack of modern systems, according to Omar. For a university to manage a veteran and their benefits, the veteran and military-connected student has to work with a 'certifying official' who is a specialist in getting the students to provide the complicated paperwork for getting their benefits and then managing the communication with the federal government to release the funds for the student. Omar notes that 'the VA recommends that for every 125 students, you need at least a single school certifying official.' Omar added, 'we have done a survey, and the average ratio is 570 and some schools have 700 to one.' The thicket of federal regulations is just one of 'two baskets' of problems facing a veteran student, according to DeCecco, who says 'the first basket is their regular support in terms of their transition from military life to civilian life and their needs in the process,' while 'the second basket is their benefits and the processing of their benefits.' Instead of having a modern system for managing benefits, most universities 'do everything in a spreadsheet and sticky notes' according to Omar. MilVet Navigator system, by contrast, offers a system that automatically tracks a student as they enroll in courses and help complete certifications, calculates tuition and fees, and communicates proactively with students by email and even SMS messages to help them effortlessly update their status with the university and the federal government. The result is that the documentation workload of the certifying officials has reduced substantially, making it possible for them to better support the students with the other problems they might face. Mr. DeCecco, understands the problems of veterans deeply, having completed his graduate degree and with deep roots in the military. DeCecco says that 'the GI Bill is utterly amazing as a tool for veterans to be able to use - but it was not designed for people to be able to both live and pay for college.' DeCecco describes how a veteran will 'get out, maybe try and get a job, with all the stresses of family life, and then they're sitting in classrooms with 18, 19, 20-year-olds.' As DeCecco describes it, the student is asking 'how do I do this in the civilian world? I've spent 4,8, 20 years in the military community, military culture away from normal civilian life. And now I'm being asked to completely reintegrate into that.' The good news is that with these new systems like MilVet Navigator, colleges and universities can focus on helping our veterans and military-connected students do this reintegration. MilVet team is currently working on additional features and functionalities to facilitate student communities and student connections and mentorships. These new tools will help foster social and support communities among students, veteran staff, advisors and others noted DeCecco. Staff can also use these tools to facilitate events, such as barbecues for veteran and military-connected students. These efforts, when made possible by streamlined information systems, allows for a university to 'build that sense of community to have an event like a barbecue be the catalyst so that people feel welcome.' DeCecco adds, 'I can't understate the importance of that feeling and building that sense of community in working with military veterans and their family members.'
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
MAGA is spiraling after realizing Trump is going to make their lives harder
Mark Reinstein/Shutterstock; Cavan-Images/Shutterstock It's been a week since President Donald Trump was inaugurated, but he's already begun implementing his mass deportation plan, removed HIV resources from federal websites, ended efforts to lower prescription drug costs, signed an executive order stating that the federal agencies will 'recognize only two sexes, male and female,' AND he hasn't lowered the price of eggs. Now, his die-hard MAGA supporters are starting to regret their devotion to a politician who they're realizing doesn't have their best interests at heart. As the internet would say, this is what happens when you eff around and find out! Between Black MAGA supporters realizing their party is actually racist, gay Trump voters being disappointed when the queer community wants nothing to do with them, and people waking up to the fact that their lives are going to be materially worse under a Trump presidency, they are only now becoming aware of the giant mistake they made. Trump supporters are not only starting to voice their disappointment on social media but are realizing there are real consequences to their votes. One woman lost her job after posting a TikTok video doing a Nazi salute, a man boasted that he bought a new sports car with his Trump-loving daughter's inheritance, a Trump voter's undocumented husband got deported, and a teacher who invited ICE to raid his school is being investigated by the school district. Keep scrolling to experience the schadenfreude of watching MAGA realize the chickens have come home to roost! A TikToker who voted for Trump was devastated to learn that he's going through with his promise to have Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) start rounding up and mass deporting immigrants because now people she knows are afraid to go to work. "I hate that I voted for him," she laments. Laura Smith, a Pennsylvania MAGA supporter, had to resign from her positions on the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors and the Montgomery County Public Library after coming under fire for posting a TikTok video doing a Nazi salute after Elon Musk made the same gesture at the inauguration. A man posted that he spent the money he'd saved for his daughter's inheritance after finding out she voted for Trump. "This the new Corvette I bought with my daughters inheritance when she voted for Trump," he wrote. Indiana resident Helen Beristain voted for Trump and was convinced that he would split up families with his mass deportation plan was shocked when her husband was deported and sent back to Mexico. "This article states that Jason Buchanan of Ft. Worth, TX got FAFO'd." A substitute teacher in Texas is now under investigation after taking to X (formerly Twitter) to urge ICE to raid his school because many of his students "don't even speak English." Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a vocal Trump ally who represents a majority Hispanic Florida district, sent a letter to Homeland Security requesting they exempt people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela from Trump's mass deportation plans and ICE raids because they were allowed to enter the U.S. by President Joe Biden's administration under a humanitarian parole program. "I no longer trust Donald Trump, nor anyone surrounding him. He's a one-termer, and he's going to do what he wants, not what MAGA 'demands.' MAGA is dead, you just don't know it yet. Stop genuflecting," a Trump voter wrote on X after the election. "Donald Trump is now reposting Elon Musk's pro-immigration sentiments. So, we're talking about more immigrants before mass deportations even start? This is NOT what we voted for," a Trump supporter wrote on X after becoming angry that Trump was supporting H1-B visas after Musk expressed his love of them. After feeling like her X account was being unfairly targeted after she was critical of Musk, far-right Trump supporter Laura Loomer was angry that "some of the biggest accounts who helped get Trump elected have now been demonetized and unverified." The Boston College Republicans wrote an op-ed after the presidential election where they claimed there were "escalating attacks on conservative students" and wanted protections against "hate speech."
