December 2013

Well, let’s see — “D” for depressing,”E” for effort, or “F” for Fubar.   Legislators that disregard pension laws that state that pension benefits cannot be reduced for retirees, full well knowing that most of the blame for the underfunded pension plans are the fault of those, who for decades failed to deposit the state’s contributions, while the workers contributed their shares; it’s just depressing!  And most of us retirees don’t even fully understand how these recent changes will diminish our benefits, but we know that we aren’t going to receive what we were promised as we put in our decades of hard work for the state. And current employees will have to work longer before they can retire, and receive less in benefits than previous state retirees.  Meanwhile the Union plans on suing on our behalf, for our contracted benefits.   If the recent pension reform stands, I hope that the greater good is served, that Illinois’ credit rating is improved and state bankruptcy is averted.  I hope that legislators don’t continue to spend state funds unwisely, to our detriment, as they continue to raise our taxes.

Unmanned aerial vehicles, UAVs, were envisioned by Nikola Tesla in 1915, birthed in 1959, and first used in 1960 in the Vietnam War.  A military representative testified before a 1973 U.S. House Committee Appropriations panel about our loss of over 5,000 airmen and another 1,000 MIA or POW, in defending our UAV program.  Our military (or overt) UAV program is used in conjunction where our military is deployed; the covert CIA drone program operates clandestinely.     “As a tool for search and rescue UAVs can be used to help find humans lost in the wilderness, trapped in collapsed buildings, or adrift at sea.” (From Wikipedia)  “UAVs are used by at least fifty countries, including Iran, Israel and China, who have built their own.”  With names like: Predator and Global Hawk, there are now the Ravens, which are “so small they can be launched from one’s hand and maneuvered through streets to discover insurgents or ambushes ahead”.   “They can fly for days at a time, and can collect intelligence by loitering around their target.” Guided by GPS,  they strike with surgical precision and take out their targets, the evil-doers, as “W” liked to call them.  And collateral damage is far less than using a Daisy-Cutter bomb.  The U.S. War on Terrorism campaign, begun under “W”, continues today.   I love saving our service men and women by deploying drones!  Let evil-doers beware!

I love the fact that Galesburg was birthed by high-minded men and women, and built around Knox College, the only remaining site of the Lincoln-Douglas debates.  I love the varied architecture of the oldest homes in Galesburg, some of which were part of the underground railroad that helped runaway slaves to safety in the North.    If you want to learn who the streets and schools were named after read Elmo Caulkin’s book: They Broke The Prairie.  I love that Galesburg was the childhood home of poet/statesman Carl Sandburg, and that his birthplace still stands.  I admire the contributions of the Swedes and Mexicans that came to work on the railroad in our little burg, and enriched the legacy.   I applaud Will and Luz Schick for their work in producing The Boxcar People documentary to commemorate some of those immigrants.           I love our beautiful, old courthouse and the statue of Mother Bickerdyke that graces that lawn, and not far away: Hope Cemetery, where lies the remains of our burg’s lofty settlers.  I loved growing up on the East End of Galesburg!  I loved  Virginia’s Ice Cream place, Buker’s (& Holmes’) grocery strore, and Old Lake Storey.  I especially appreciate: The Orpheum Theatre, our downtown library,  Coney Island, the Taco-Hideout, and Ribshack!