Whether You Know It Or Not, There's a Huge Blogger Bash Tomorrow...

Tomorrow is a big day at City Hall. The new kids get sworn in and the old get the boot. We say good bye and to Grayeb and (finally!) Morris. I think Morris is a good guy, I don't agree with most of his votes, but I don't think he is Satan either. However, somewhere along the long the line someone told John he was a good public speaker. He isn't. It has been painful.

Anyone want to place bets on how LOOONG Morris' goodbye speech will be? How about how many adjectives Grayeb will fit into his fine farewell? I'll miss Grayeb. I guess I've agreed with his votes about 50% of the time. His speeches were also a bit long winded, but they tended to have more thought behind them. Grayeb's speeches always included the added benefit of having a new word or two added to my vocabulary. I bet Grayeb had some kick ass scores on the verbal section of the SATs.

Who will Gary harass now that John-John is gone? Anyone know the new seating chart? I always wanted to put a hidden mic by Sandberg and Morris. These guys sparred more than anyone during Council debates, they would seem to have very little in common. In fact there were a few occasions I thought for sure Gary would blow and take a swing at John. Nope. Rather, in between votes these two chat and laugh like school girls. What are they talking about?!

I'm going to the swearing in ceremony because afterwards they have free food. Last time they had chocolate covered strawberries. Our tax dollars (I presume) hard at work!

Will the Wonders Ever Cease?

I like to read Leonard Pitt's columns to remind myself why I remain a registered Republican. Ah, but what a wonderful breath of fresh air when the liberals start making sense and embrace conservatism better than any of the proclaimed conservatives.

In regard to the Imus "Nappy Headed Ho" comment/firing-

"...Imus was undone not by government censors, but by market forces. The moral of this story, then, is not that free speech is under siege."

This and it's 80 something degrees in Peoria?! Life is good again.

At Last, Election Results That Don't Make Me Want To Puke.

I didn't think it possible. I haven't been spouting off (much) about the elections because I had all but given up hope that registered voters would show up, use commonsense, and vote accordingly.

Peoria's libraries are pathetic. An embarrassment. Peoria claims that it wants to attract residents and businesses grounded in a knowledge economy. That is, our fair city is looking to attract intellectuals. More than free city wide wi-fi or a swank civic center with a five star hotel attached, or a silly Podunk museum housing some trophy from the 1974 boys high school debate championship, intellectuals value modern libraries with up to date facilities. Libraries are not frivolous aromatherapy outlets. They are valuable public institutions which strive to inform and educate the electorate. God bless voters for willing to invest their dime for something so worthwhile. My advice before building. Take a look at the Libraries in Evanston and Oak Park outside Chicago. A half hour in either building will convince the biggest skeptic how valuable an exceptional library can be to a community. I love hanging out at the Evanston's library whenever I happen to be in town. Each time I'm in town I'm amazed that one establishment consistently hosts all different types of people, from opposite socioeconomic spheres and age brackets, so well. Seniors reading the paper, high school students doing research, moms and babes in for story hour, yuppies on their lunch break reading the Wall Street Journal. It's a intellectual and productive community center. The main library in downtown Peoria is depressing as hell. You can get whatever you need, but it isn't much fun to hang out there. Lakeview Library has more of a community feel, but it is too small for the amount of people who use it. Resources are too few for the many that require them. Getting a computer at Lakeview is a challenge prefaced by a significant wait time. Kids can't enjoy a story hour without disturbing others who are working on the other side of the facility. It's time to pay and update. Libraries are one of the few things I'm willing to plunk down a few more tax dollars for.

Smoking is bad. We all know it. Your rights end where the other guy's begin. It is impossible to smoke in a public place and not jepordize someone else's health. Smoking is not a constitutionally protected act. Bar and restaurant owners don't refund money when a good meal or drink is ruined by a stinky cigarette. Moreover, the Health Department regulates and fines restaurants and bars for any violation which could jepordize the health of customers. Smoking certainly qualifies.

Gary Sandberg, George Jacob, and Eric Turner retained their seats on the City Council. Chuck Grayeb and -even better- JOHN MORRIS ARE GONE!!! GONE!!! GONE!!! Gale Thetford failed miserably at her attempt to replace him. Anyone think she took the hint thistime?

I was saddened to see Alicia Butler lose her seat on the School Board. I thought she had, for the most part, been an effective Board President. I didn't like the very stupid, very expensive, District 150 "apple" billboards purchased a few years back. I thought Butler did an admirable job at attempting to correct and involve the public after the initial Glen Oak Park School proposal/fiasco. The relevation that Butler apparently failed to earn the two diplomas she claimed dumbfounded me. I have had several conversations with Butler. I've listened to her at School Board meetings. Butler is very intelligent and could have earned two or more degrees from Bradley -or Harvard- for that matter.

Why she felt the need to lie -twice- is beyond me. I would have bought an "I thought I was a graduate" excuse if she had only lied about her undergraduate degree. My alma mater told me they would not provide me with a diploma unless and until I paid numerous parking tickets they claimed I had acquired. I was never blessed with a car during college (and I dispise you if you were) making parking tickets an impossibilty. I protested. They didn't care. I didn't pay and went to Europe instead of graduation. I framed my transcripts instead. A college degree isn't a requirement to serve on the School Board. Peorians respect commonsense and a tight wallet more than a piece of paper. Why would any Peorian lie about graduating from Bradley, twice?! That is, if you're gonna lie, make it a NON local school. Why not the Sorbonne? Cambridge? Oxford? London School of Economics? Hell, even U of I would have been a better choice. You know, a school whose Director of Alumni of Affairs and Registar don't live across the street. Do not say you graduated from a school where a third of the town was likely to have attended your supposed graduation. I was saddened by the voters decision to fire Butler, but I understand it.

On the whole it was a good night. I have hope. People who want what is best for their community and not just their names on as many plaques as possible before dying are running -and winning- for local government. Refreshing, eh?

Meet Rutger's Women's Basketball Team...

Before last week I didn't know who Imus was. I don't care for talk radio. Too many egos that are even bigger than mine. Rather listen to tunes. I didn't find Imus' comment racist as much as it was sexist. I'm Caucasian and I've referred to my own hair as nappy at times. To me, "nappy" refers to hair that is frizzy, tangled, knotted, etc. Women of all races have been called whores, justified or not, since Eve left the Garden of Eden.

My guess is that Imus was dismayed by women who were too busy playing basketball to concern themselves with being beautiful for the duration of the game. Imus, on the other hand, is both nappy and really ugly ALL THE TIME. He might be a "Ho" too, but I don't know enough about him to judge.

Another Day In America. Another McMassacre.

Saddened? Yes. Very. Shocked? No. Not really.

I apologize in advance if this post strikes anyone as unfeeling or calloused. That isn't my intent. Please forgive me. The shooting/execution of so many little innocent girls in an Amish schoolhouse was the final straw. After that, and the lack of action that followed, I am no longer shocked by mass shootings committed by previously law abiding mentally ill individuals. If little Amish girls aren't safe from society's gun toting sickos, then of course students at Virgina Tech -and everywhere else- are subject to the same fate.

Are your kids safe at Charter Oak? Kellar? Mark Bills? Lindberg? Richwoods? I mention these schools because they strike me as socioeconomically similar to Columbine. No. Of course not. Our children are at risk at any American school, residence, or institution, public or private. Your spouse could be mowed down at his/her place of employment by numerous bitter, angry, present or former employees. I understand that Caterpillar has more than a few that qualify.

Our is a free and open society. Our society is fast paced. Our society is one with high expectations. Most Americans feel entitled to a certain standard of living (one that is much higher than 99% of the world's nations), along with good affordable health care, cheap gas, and a girlfriend. We are also wound tight but have yet to find a way to identify, educate, let alone treat those who can't keep up and deal with disappointment and envy. We have, however, found a way (and will continue to, dammit) to allow each and every last bitter-lonely-jealous-chip-on-the-shoulder-disaffected-violent-obsessed-may-or-may-not-be-hearing-voices American citizen/or anyone one with a green card to legally arm themselves to the teeth.

Considering America's absolute devotion to the right to bear arms regardless of the consequences or cost, it strikes me as weird that there isn't a single normal citizen -or five- with a legally obtained firearm at the ready to take one of these crazies out when they crack and decide to spray the world with bullets. Nope. Not in California, or Colorado, or Virgina. Remember Luby's Cafeteria shooting in 1991? In retrospect, it is astonishing that there wasn't one legally armed citizen in Killeen, Texas that could put down his/her Jello in order to return fire. Nope. Not one sane NRA card carrying gun toting member among the 24 dead.

The first mass shooting that I can personally recall was in 1984 at a McDonald's in San Diego/San Ysidro. Odd that we have had so many of these tragedies that no one even mentions any more. Since Monday's McMassacre, I've read that the Luby's tragedy was the worst shooting, but I thought the San Ysidro shooting had more fatalities. I've found conflicting reports/body totals on the web. Yup. McMassacres are so commonplace in this country that we can't keep a correct tally/record of which one deserves the title of most horrific.

These days a pissed off employee going on a shooting spree barely warrants a paragraph in the newspaper. We've had so many school shootings that no one feigns surprise when they hear of another one. In fact, we are to the point that we now congratulate ourselves that there are no whiny cries for gun control following a McMassacre.

Is there anything more pathetic than a society that routinely allows the slaughter of their young? Have no doubt. Shootings are routine. Proof positive? We all know it can happen again. Deep down, we all know it will. We simply pray it won't be at our kid's school, or at our workplace. Not at our shopping mall. Or post office. Or lawyer's office. Or restaurant. Even churches in America have been scarred by McMassacres. If this makes you want to stay home, reconsider. You are more likely to be shot by the nut you married within the pleasant Pottery Barned confines of your own home.

Please, God, don't let any of the numerous bitter and insane folk I cross paths with each and every day or those I happen to be related to have a gun. Or, at least, since it is likely that s/he will have access to a gun with rapid fire ability, please don't give them good aim. The only protection we can offer is to advise taking Jesus as your savior. Gosh, I sure hope Christianity got it right. At this rate, it is likely that many among us will need to collect on that eternal life clause long before we are old and gray.

Due to the frequency at which these shootings occur, now the only way to get our attention is with numerous fatalities. Running through an airport to by-pass security garners more attention than the average shooting. Oh, yes. There is most certainly such a thing as an "average" shooting. Unless it involves the Amish or perhaps a convent, most Americans will only recall those shootings where the dead and critically wounded number in the double digits, and only those that occur in the last decade.

Shut down an airport? There's an inconvenience for you. Want to get our attention? Do something that cancels flights and causes traffic jams. It really pisses me off when I'm late for my Pilate's class. Shootings? Well, like obesity and drunk driving, shootings are just another one of America's pesky flaws. It's a sad routine. We ain't perfect, but we are free (except when ducking gun fire).

32 dead at one of America's finer institutions of higher learning. Professors and students with a lot of hard work behind them and so many bright futures ahead of them gone in an instant. Yet, we continue to learn nothing.