October 1, 2020

I'm a Democrat. I don't want to defund the police. I want to give them a raise.

And so do you. We all should. This could easily be accomplished at no additional cost to the taxpayers. It would go a long way to returning accountability to the people. It is exactly the strategy the Conservatives have been using for years. And we should all get onboard with this immediately.

Sound too good to be true you say? It is easier than you think. Simply ban police unions. The police should be accountable to the people not the unions that hold no one accountable. Republicans have spent decades attacking public service unions with success. Why should the police unions be any different? The police work for us and we pay their salaries. Why should a union decide which police are protected when we know there is abuse. Their are lot of good cops it is true. The good ones are kept silent because of the power of the unions making all cops complicit even if they don't want to be.

With unions gone, there are no more union dues. That money becomes a raise for all police. Why haven't we tried to ban police unions already? A certain number of cops would certainly quit as a result and you know which cops those are. Drain the cesspool and see what gets filter out of the system.

Prove me wrong. This seems like a no-brainer.

September 21, 2020

We are at a crossroads in this country and a devil's bargain is at hand

I guess I came off as angry in another political forum that I frequent and was called out by another poster from the other side of the aisle. This caught me off guard because I haven't been angered in many years by the opinions bandied about in any of these forums. I had to think about it to finally realize that it wasn't anger I was feeling, it was disgust. I feel disgusted by the good people that have been deceived by such a blatantly pathetic liar and con man.

Fathers, mothers, friends, and otherwise good folks that have sold their souls to the Devil are completely willing to walk into that voting booth and pull the lever for a man that has done nothing but lie, deceive, and cheat his entire life. I am not a religious person by any stretch but biblical lessons such as the tale of St. Theophilus of Adana really echo what we are seeing today. I don't believe in the Devil as anything more than a literary tool or device to convey a lesson but it sometimes occurs to me that wiser men than I have known times like these and sent us a warning through time. Having said that, I give you the story of St. Theophilus:

St. Theophilus of Adana (also known as Saint Theophilus the Penitent) as the first man who sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for social or political advancement. So the story goes, Theophilus was unanimously elected to become a bishop in the sixth century. He declined the offer out of humility. Another man accepted the position, and promptly made Theophilus’ life miserable. Regretting his decision, Theophilus summoned a sorcerer who helped contact the Devil. The Devil was more than happy to rectify the situation—provided the cleric renounce Christ and the Virgin Mary in a contract spelled out in his own blood. Theophilus accepted the demands, signed off on the pact, and ascended to the title originally offered him.

As the years went by, however, doubt crept in. Theophilus begged forgiveness from the Virgin Mary. He fasted for forty days, after which time the Virgin reportedly appeared and rebuked him; Theophilus pleaded for mercy, and she left with the promise that she would talk to God on his behalf. After Theophilus fasted for another thirty days, the Virgin Mary returned with the message that God had pardoned him. Three days later, however, Theophilus awoke to find the bloody contract placed upon his chest. Satan refused to relinquish his hold on the cleric’s soul. A terrified Theophilus sought counsel from another bishop, who burned the contract and freed him from the infernal pact. Overwhelmed with joy, Theophilus died on the spot, relieved to be free.

How many people these days are willing to sell their souls to the Devil in exchange for social or political advancement? I wonder.

August 31, 2020

American-on-American Violence is Exactly the Point

The haters want American-on-American violence and so does this administration. It plays right into their hands. Trump is willing to burn this country to the ground to maintain the power and attention he craves. Trump supporters are only too happy to light the match of chaos and violence. This can't be allowed to happen.

We are starting to see the Left respond exactly as the haters hoped we would. The shooting in Portland might be the turning point. Perhaps we need a better strategy than reacting to their provocations? Maybe we need to get more creative.

For example, I suggest that the demonstrators start using the local fire hydrants to take out these caravans of Trump supporters whenever they parade down a street. Use roll-away dumpsters to pin them in and hose them down. Non-lethal but highly effective.

The best defense is to use what you are given. I'd be open to hearing more non-lethal ideas.

August 20, 2020

The Lost Year

When all is said and done, we will probably have lost a full year to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Lost Year. If this country is anything, it is opportunities. So, we are talking about a full year of lost opportunities. Think of a child’s brand-new existence and how long a year must feel to each of them. Think about the elderly with maybe only a few more precious years hunkering down in fear that even those few years might be taken away if they or someone else is not careful. Think about the rest of us tasked with the responsibility for caring for both generations.

This Lost Year does not affect us all equally nor does it care what your individual story says about you and your place in this world. It does not care if you are an aspiring artist, a gifted musician, a dedicated educator, a health care worker, or a new mother. The Lost Year will have its day.

The history of this Lost Year will be a generational story told by future parents, grandparents, and great grandparents. How many children yet to be born will hear their elderly relatives talk about The Great Pandemic of 2020 or will they call it the 2019 Pandemic? Much of what will come to be known about this time has not been written yet. Future generations may have their own pandemics, plagues, and health crises, and this time may seem like just a small blip on the radar of world-wide events amidst those yet to be recorded.

As this Lost Year continues to unfold, there seems to be a visceral need to take stock of how we were affected and changed and how we adapted to the reality of the planet we now inhabit. One clear adaption among the countless others is the broad social justice awakening seen in the streets all over the country and around the world. Tumultuous times breed new life into the next generation of worriers fighting against stubbornly persistent social inequities.

Note to self. Never forget how the Lost Year changed the destiny of this country and the world. Apply the lessons learned to my life every day and dedicate my remaining years to making this world a little bit better so that the next generation, and the generation after that, and the next, look back at this time and see the seeds of the beginning of something extraordinary.

July 31, 2020

How Conservatism dies or how it lowered itself into the pit of Trump

Republicans weren't always the cult of morons and miscreants we see them as today. They used to be principled adherents of fiscal responsibility and traditional values even if their motivations were simply a matter of self-preservation. At least they stood for something even if it wasn't exactly what they professed it to be.

Over the last few decades and longer, the GOP, beginning with the Southern Strategy, started a slow march down a dubious path that had neither principles nor traditional values as grounding forces to moor their descent. And descend they did.

I would argue that Trump didn't drag the GOP down to the bowls of the pit we see them in today. I would say that the GOP in the course of its long descent met Trump when they reached the bottom. Trump is no different today than he has ever been. He is the same repugnant amoral bastard that he was known to be his entire life. He has arguably not changed one iota.

It is the GOP, or the base that the GOP cultivated, nurtured, groomed, and unleashed on the rest of us that has finally lowered itself to Trump's level and as an unintended consequence, the base has also turned on the former GOP leaders. Why is this an important distinction? Because to defeat the army of an enemy across the chess board, you don't simply focus on the king, you have to decimate to foot-soldiers before you can capture the king.

Trump losing in November will leave his army intact, weakened but intact. They will still be able to sway local and state elections. What we need to do is halt their influence and not by placating to their demands but by demonstrating that their ideology is corrupt and unworthy of the higher ideals this country represents. We need to show them exactly what is wrong with the path they tried to take this country down. Only then will we finally be free of this nightmare we have been subjected to over the last few decades that culminated in 4 years of hell and division that nearly destroyed our country. On the other hand, if Trump manages to win in November, we will become a failed state.

July 22, 2020

Comets have historically been considered omens and we laugh at the thought

Though frequently beautiful, comets traditionally have stricken terror as often as they have generated wonder as they arc across the sky during their passages around the Sun. Astrologers interpreted the sudden appearances of the glowing visitors as ill omens presaging famine, flood or the death of kings. Even as recently as the 1910 appearance of Halley's Comet, entrepreneurs did a brisk business selling gas masks to people who feared Earth's passage through the comet's tail.
In the 4th century B.C., the Greek philosopher Aristotle concluded that comets were some kind of emission from Earth that rose into the sky. The heavens, he maintained, were perfect and orderly; a phenomenon as unexpected and erratic as a comet surely could not be part of the celestial vault. In 1577, Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe carefully examined the positions of a comet and the Moon against the star background Using observations of the comet made at the same time from two different locations, Tycho noted that both observers saw the comet nearly in the same location with respect to the background stars. If the comet was closer than the moon, this would not have been the case. This so-called parallax effect can be demonstrated if you hold up a finger and look at it while closing one eye and then the other. Tycho concluded that the comet was at least six times farther away than the moon.

A hundred years later, the English physicist Isaac Newton established that a comet appearing in 1680 followed a nearly parabolic orbit. The English astronomer Edmond Halley used Newton's method to study the orbits of two dozen documented cometary visits. The orbits of three comets seen in 1531, 1607 and 1682 were so similar that he concluded they in fact were appearances of a single comet wheeling around the Sun in a closed ellipse every 75 years or so. He successfully predicted the next visit in 1758-9, and the comet thereafter bore his name.
http://solarviews.com/eng/comethistory.htm

Ancient people believed that a comet foretold something bad for the most part and we know that the appearance of a comet is merely a celestial object circling our own sun with no relationship to anything going on here on Earth. It would just be superstition to believe that a comet could impact political fortunes or failed crops or any other aspect of our lives other than giving us a nice show every so often. So then how come we have this out of control pandemic with the worst possible leader in the history of this country and suddenly this comet shows up? This kind of stuff only lends credence to the superstitious among us. And I find myself avoiding these superstitious people because it is hard to imagine a worse situation in the country, and, a comet showing up just to creep us out.

What did those ancient people know anyway.

July 6, 2020

This pandemic is an opportunity to do an education makeover.

The United States has an outdated, agrarian inspired educational system. In 1900, just under 40 percent of the total US population lived on farms, and 60 percent lived in rural areas. Today, the respective figures are only about 1 percent and 20 percent. So why do schools have 9 months of classes and 3 months of summer vacation? Because the summer months used to be set aside for farm kids to work the family farm and then return to the classroom in the winter months. It made sense for the population over a century ago but does it really make any sense today?

Right now, we have a rare opportunity change education for the next century and beyond. I suggest that we change the learning experience to more suit the needs of our society while we find ourselves being force to adapt to the new reality of COVID-19. But what would that change look like?

If it were mine to change, I would have school year-round in 8 week units. The first six weeks of each 8 week period would be devoted mainly to one area of education such as math, science, or history allowing more in depth exploration of the subjects. The last 2 week would be school breaks that would give the children time to process and unpack the knowledge that they have accumulated during the first 6 weeks and move onto the next unit. Each child would have to pass all 6 units to advance to the next "grade" or more accurately, the next level. No more holding back the eager learners just because some kids needed extra time to learn the subject matter. Nobody falls behind a full year for not passing a single unit nor do they advance just because they put the time in. The traditional cohort of 4th graders for example, would evolve into a classroom of students that would be together for the 6 weeks and then a new group would be assembled for the next unit in the learning series with a random or structured group.

The childcare consideration is the thought that most people latch onto right away. We would certainly have to alter the way we work and utilize childcare but that is hardily insurmountable and could easily be structured more appropriately to the type of society we live in today than the one we lived in over 100 years ago.

You could still have two weeks off for various holidays and summer activities. Family vacations would still happen. More eLearning would be an integral part of the learning process as we see happening today already. This is my opinion of what we need to do to change the educational experience and right now is the window we have to do it.

What are your ideas?

July 2, 2020

Voting in Illinois is a State Holiday this year and vote-by-mail is extended

Pritzker signs vote-by-mail expansion, declares Election Day a state holiday

By Jerry Nowicki
Capitol News Illinois
jnowicki@capitolnewsillinois.com
Updated 6/16/2020 8:23 PM


SPRINGFIELD -- Anyone who cast a ballot in the last three years or who registered to vote or changed addresses after the March primary will be sent an application to vote by mail in the Nov. 3 election.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill expanding the program Tuesday. In a news release, Pritzker's office said the program is aimed at ensuring "safe and active participation in the 2020 general election during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic."

The measure also expands early voting hours at permanent polling places and makes Election Day a state holiday.

Local election authorities must mail or email the applications to voters who cast a ballot in the 2018 general election, the 2019 consolidated election or the 2020 general primary election, as well as to voters who registered or changed addresses after the March primary. Any eligible voter who submits an application by Oct. 1 will receive their ballot by Oct 6.

"Sending vote-by-mail applications to residents who have participated in recent elections will allow more people to exercise that right from the safety of their own homes and help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our communities," Pritzker said in the release.

Making Election Day a state holiday affects government offices, except election authorities; K-12 schools; and postsecondary institutions governed by the State Universities Civil Service Act. The state had already established Election Day as a holiday for state employees.

The changes were backed by the House Democratic Women's Caucus and sponsored by Rep. Kelly Burke, an Evergreen Park Democrat and Sen. Julie Morrison, a Lake Forest Democrat.

https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20200616/pritzker-signs-vote-by-mail-expansion-declares-election-day-a-state-holiday

June 30, 2020

One day, the Republicans will erect a statue of Donald Trump in a public square

Please mark your calendars. We're going to have to go tear down at least one more of those damn monuments to racism.

May 29, 2020

You can be appalled by looting, vandalism, arson, etc., but

When citizens are being murdered in the streets by the very people that are supposed to be upholding the laws, you really don't have a justice system. What you have is a Banana Republic level of corruption and not a country of laws. Maybe burning down the current system is warranted. Maybe we are too far from justice and law and order to bother with worrying about what a few protesters do at this point. Maybe we are already well beyond the point of giving a damn when we are being murdered with impunity.

I have never been mistreated by a law enforcement officer. But I am aware enough to know that once injustice begins, it won't stop at just the most vulnerable citizens. It will spread to all levels of society. We either stand together against injustice or we go down together at the hands of injustice. It is time for everyone to decide.