Who says politics can't be entertaining?

I typically watch City Council meetings the day after when they re-run on Cable Channel 22. Therefore, I usually miss WCBU's program "Outside the Horseshoe" with Jonathan Ahl. Lucky me -and you- I just paid a visit to the WCBU web page, and guess what?! Those of us suckers with crummy work schedules can now listen to Outside the Horseshoe on-line. Can I tell you? Last week's program was a doozy! Third District Bob Manning told the whole truth and nothing but about Peoria's 2006 Budget, and some of his colleague's inability to properly prepare and make edcuated decisions as councilmen. Hey! It's one letter grade off for each day you come to class unprepared, Gentlemen. Yes, you have to actually read the budget.

Despite Manning's push to buy the water company, I'm beginning to like this guy more and more. He doesn't come off as another professional political hack, simply a guy who wants to fix what's broken and then go home. Imagine that!

Anyway, even if you don't give a rat's ass about City politics, take fifteen minutes to listen to the segment. I promise you will find it both enlightening and entertaining. At least you'll know who not to vote off the Council next time District elections come around.

BTW: You will most likely need to scroll down to the end of the WCBU News page to hear the segment. (Linking issues.)

IMHO: Chase Ingersoll is God's Joke

Like most practical jokes, it isn't very funny, just annoying.

As we wait with baited breath to see if the Grandview HOtel closes tomorrow, we get more of the same old, smelly, fermented, crap du jour from Ingersoll:

"They (HOtel residents) had no-where to go before I came along, so I don't know why you think I am all of a sudden responsible when the City Ordinance says that the DEFENDANT to the action is suppose to be paying for them to be moved. You'd think the City as the Plaintiff, if they really cared....Would actually be applying that part of the statute to Jain, but I guess the Judge doesn't give any more of a shit about the people than Jain did."

WHY DO YOU THINK I THINK YOU'RE RESPONSIBLE?! Because YOU (not Jain) assured paying guests that there would be no closure! Since Judge Barra doesn't think your legal stunts have any merit, it is certainly within the realm of possibility that Judges higher up the chain of command aren't going to think much of them either.

So, Chase, when and (BIG) if The City makes good to shut down the HOtel tomorrow, and tells the residents to pack their bags and move along, WILL YOU BE GIVING REFUNDS?

The line "they had no where to go before I came along" is bullshit. Yours is not the only low budget hotel in town. It isn't even the cheapest.

BTW: I hear there were more Grandview antics scheduled for Court today. Can anyone out there fill Polly, who is chained to her desk for the foreseeable future with a boss -who has really bad breath- continually breathing down her neck, in on what happened? My bet: Judge Barra told Chase to go stand in the corner and then sent him to bed without any dinner.

Slouching towards a banana republic.

No. I don't mean the overpriced retail clothing store.

I mean Banana Republic. The real kind. Where, if you get pulled over by a cop, you simply offer cash and get on your way. Where, if your corporation wants to pollute by dumping tons of cancer causing crap into the rivers and streams, the company pays off a politician and proceeds as desired. Want to be president? King? Pay off a band of militants, overthrow the current government, make sure someone else test tastes your food for you, and then torture, terrorize and humiliate citizens into supporting you.

Couldn't happen here, right? Land of the free! Home of the brave! No! Of course not! Our government is generally good, we elect our leaders, voter fraud is rare. The press is everywhere. You can't get away with anything. Moreover, this is the richest nation on earth! You pay taxes out the whazoo! What is really broken gets gets fixed.

Then you watch and learn.

You find out that all that security at airports was just window dressing. A couple of religious kooks with box cutters can bring a superpower to its knees.

You discover that you live in a country that allows levees to rot, putting million of its own citizens in death's way, so that pork projects can have proper funding.

You learn that government agencies like the FAA have known damn well for decades that the archaic, too short runways at airports all over the country are disasters begging to happen. The richest nation on earth ignores the impending disaster (well, maybe some bureaucrat rubbed a rabbit's foot), waiting for the snowy night when a huge 737 aircraft skids off an inherently inappropriate runway and crushes a little kid singing Christmas carols and eating a Happy Meal in the backseat of the family car.

So much attention has been given to how we treat citizens of other countries. Were there really CIA torture camps in Poland? Nah! What about those guys held without trial for years at Quantamo Bay? Had to be done. The inexcusable treatment by American soldiers of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghurayb? A terrible, but one time only event. The Patriot Act, which suspends basic constitutional rights in an effort to prevent terrorism? A reasonable and necessary measure in war time, yes?

These days, I'm not feeling so confident getting in an elevator (is anyone really inspecting those things regularly?), driving under or over a bridge (Chicago has at least one motorist a year creamed by a huge chunk of aging overpass concrete), or even buying a steak at Kroger (do you really believe the USDA has the technology and drive necessary to know of the existence of every cow in the land, let alone the proper science to find the one bovine with Mad Cow's Disease?) Proper fire protection in Peoria? Frivolous. Civic Center expansion, muni band, flower baskets... Need. Lately, it seems that American government at all levels isn't merely unable to protect its citizens, it simply doesn't seem to give a shit.

The whining accusations of other countries against America gain merit when our government places so little value on the well being of its very own citizens. So, how long until the stars on Old Glory are replaced with a banana?

"The Retreat and Defeat" Video

There is nothing more American than dissent. Nonetheless the Republicans have come up with some powerful stuff. Watch it here.

Tonight's Bedtime Story: The Little Red Hen, Modern Version

Brought to you from an anonymous e-mailer.

The Little Red Hen-Modern Version

Once upon a time, on a farm in Texas, there was a little red hen who scratched about the barnyard until she uncovered quite a few grains of wheat.

She called all of her neighbors together and said, "If we plant this wheat, we shall have bread to eat. Who will help me plant it?"

"Not I," said the cow.
"Not I," said the duck.
"Not I," said the pig.
"Not I," said the goose.

"Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen. And so she did. The wheat grew very tall and ripened into golden grain.

"Who will help me reap my wheat?" asked the little red hen.

"Not I," said the duck.
"Out of my classification," said the pig.
"I'd lose my seniority," said the cow.
"I'd lose my unemployment compensation," said the goose.

"Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen, and so she did.

At last it came time to bake the bread.

"Who will help me bake the bread! ?" asked the little red hen.

"That would be overtime for me," said the cow.
"I'd lose my welfare benefits," said the duck.
"I'm a dropout & never learned how," said the pig.
"If I'm to be the only helper, that's discrimination," said the goose.

"Then I will do it by myself," said the little red hen. She baked five loaves and held them up for all of her neighbors to see. They wanted some and, in fact, demanded a share. But the little red hen said, "No, I shall eat all five loaves."

"Excess profits!" cried the cow.
"Capitalist leech!" screamed the duck.
"I demand equal rights!" yelled the goose.
The pig just grunted in disdain.
And they all painted "Unfair!" picket signs and marched around and around the little red hen, shouting obscenities.

Then a government agent came, he said to the little red hen, "You must not be so greedy."

"But I earned the bread," said the little red hen.

"Exactly," said the agent. "That is what makes our free enterprise system so wonderful. Anyone in the barnyard can earn as much as he wants. But under our modern government regulations, the productive workers must divide the fruits of their labor with those who are lazy and idle,"

And they all lived happily ever after, including the little red hen, who smiled and clucked, "I am grateful, for now I truly understand,"

But her neighbors became quite disappointed in her. She never again baked bread because she joined the "party" and got her bread free.

And all the Democrats smiled.

'Fairness' had been established.

Individual initiative had died, but nobody noticed; perhaps no one cared.....as long as there was free bread that "the rich" were paying for.

Hey Boss, I'll pick my own charities, thank you.

I want to be careful here. Yes, Polly is going to make a rare attempt to be sensitive! I like charity. Well, I like some charitable organizations, that is. Some charities have the ethics of Enron. Anyone remember a few years back when it was discovered one huge charity's CEO not only reaped a fat salary but was driven to meetings in a limo at the Charity's expense? I give my money to those causes that touch my heart, meet my required ratio of dollars spent to benefit those in need vs. Administration costs, and those charities that support causes I find moral and just.

So, this is Christmas. Everywhere I go, there seems to be a cover charge. Some poor freezing soul ringing a bell is standing outside the door of every nearly every retail business, soliciting our spare change, each and every time we need a gallon of milk from the grocery store, a prescription from the pharmacy, a new coat for junior at the mall. Fine. But has anyone else noticed that these folks are getting a bit aggressive?

Yesterday I went to the grocery store with only a twenty dollar bill, fresh from the ATM, for the sole purpose of paying for my purchase. At the entrance stood Mom and teenage daughter vehemently/obnoxiously ringing the bell. It was my intention to hit the kettle on my way out with change left over from my purchase. However, after failing to donate on my way in, I received a very loud and sarcastic, "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Okaaaay. There is a difference between charitable giving and extortion, right? I was entering a grocery store and not Neiman Marcus, who is this person to assume I am even in a position to donate? What does she know about my personal financial situation?

I can forgive because I know I would be a bit cranky if I was stuck outside in the freezing cold ringing a bell for hours. Although I do love (insert sarcasm here) when corporate departments announce the fact they are out ringing the bells or doing the good works. Lately I've seen banners propped over the kettles that read, "The Service Department at Joe Blow Automotive and the Salvation Army want you to know that need has no season." Ah, we must have public credit and accolades for our charitable works now (otherwise known as advertising). Can anyone say, TACKY?

Another annoying tactic of charitable giving is at the office. My office is filled with crap, some of it expensive, that I don't need or want. All because co-workers have kids who are forced into fund raising. If you want to leave your kid's brochure soliciting a $12.00 1 ft x 1 ft roll of wrapping paper on the bulletin board in the cafeteria, fine. Actually going from desk to desk, co-worker to co-worker is inappropriate, even if you are doing it on your lunch hour. Frankly, how about you don't force me to donate to your kid's school and I won't force you to donate to my kid's soccer team? After all, don't our donations cancel each other out? It is my tradition to throw this un-used crap out at the first of the year in my annual office clean up. Typically I add at least one big, green Hefty size trash bag to the landfill of non-biodegradable crap I felt forced to buy. This year's eco hazard will include a case of popcorn, a roll of hideous wrapping paper, a tin of stale chocolate, an un-used sappy calendar, some smelly candles, a butt ugly poster of a puppy, a really stupid booklet of inspirational quotes ("The shortest distance between two people is a smile!), a faded ribbon magnet, two boxes of cookies -which I thought I would actually like but tasted like chemicals mixed with plastic-, and my personal favorite - a mug which states, "I support Jerry's Kids every day in every way." If I slurped my coffee from that mug at the office, wouldn't it be bragging? Why not just wear my tax return around my neck which sites all the causes I've supported throughout the year?

I'm sure all of these causes are worthwhile, but do I have to purchase crap instead of just handing over a few bucks? Since when did we send our kids to school in order to sell stuff instead of learn? Have no doubt, most of this is crap is forced on kids, who force it on parents to sell. Why not pay $45.00 bucks to join the soccer team instead of $20.00 and then send Junior out door to door to raise the rest? When I told an assistant that I really didn't have a need for more chocolate, as my ass is the size of Texas, but said, "I'd be happy to give money instead", she broke into a sweat and replied, "I don't think I'm allowed to do that."

I absolutely despise forced giving by my employer. If the corporation I work for wants to make a corporate donation to a cause, dandy. Matching gifts? Okay. What I find despicable is the practice of circulating sign up sheets to ring bells next to a kettle, help build a house, or an appeal to donate cash along with a memo from the boss, saying something to the effect of, "Our department has long been a generous supporter of X Charity. Please join me in continuing this tradition." You know your boss is going be looking at the list and checking it twice. The subliminal message, "Support my cause if you want me to support your career."

I go to work in order to do my job and make money. It is my employer's right to tell me what and how to do my job. It is completely inappropriate for my employer to even suggest how I should spend or donate MY money. It is a private matter. I'm sure my company would retort, "We are just trying to make it convenient for our employee to give to good causes." Yeah, thanks Boss, but you thought I was competent enough to hire, don't you think I can find the address for March of Dimes in phone book if I want to send them a check?

One big company in town has a long standing relationship with one big national charity. This charity has been taken to the mat in the past for overpaid executives. The charity also supports some controversial causes and neglects others. Regardless of your beliefs, should you feel that your career may suffer because you don't want to donate to a cause that supports Planned Parenthood but not the Boy Scouts? Maybe you want to give all you can to the Alzheimer's Association. The point is, how one chooses to spend and donate their time and money should be a private matter, not a career move.

Charity should be a heartfelt gift, not a bribe.

My Christmas present to Gary Sandberg.

Giselle and I thank you for not making this Tuesday night as painful as last Tuesday.

Something yummy to warm up the ladies...

I know, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Oh Baby, It's cold outside!

For my male readers, I found a nice snow bunny for you...

This can't be good.

When I was a young girl I thought Shaun Cassidy was cute. Now that I am a middle aged woman, Shaun Cassidy looks like a young girl. Someone call Freud.