May 2014

I think Mr. Pritchard is probably doing a good job; I haven’t heard any big criticisms, except that many residents would like to see the city make good on its promise to provide an alternate community center soon.  We shouldn’t have to wait for a new library to materialize — to see if it can also serve as a community center.  With all the empty buildings in town, surely one would make an excellent center.  The downtown Amory site, with ample parking, might be a good choice.  Even if our future library includes a community room for educational events, I feel that the library should have ample space for exhibits, like how “our town” was part of the underground railroad, early area settlers and their writings, the boxcar people, and other materials that the library has packed away out of sight.  There also should be a room commemorating our most famous home-grown writer, Carl Sandburg, and other local authors.  I’d like to see regular writing workshops held there, encouraging and instructing aspiring authors on “how to” submit work for publishing, e-books, and self-publishing.  We could make Sandburg proud of “his burg”!

It’s easy for us to decide that we don’t want to pay more in taxes, but if voting down extending the tax increase causes hundreds to lose their jobs, and big cuts in education, unemployment insurance, veteran’s services, paying for pensions and prison systems, and cuts in social services that are essential to communities all across Illinois, is it worth it?  I say that legislators should vote “Yes” to keep the tax increase, and “No” to budget cuts.  If they vote Yes, the income tax rate would stay at 5 percent instead of decreasing to 3.75 percent for individuals, and stay at 7 percent for corporations instead of decreasing to 5.25 percent effective January 2015.  Losing the tax increases would reduce state revenue next year by almost $2 billion.  With drug use, like heroin, meth and alcoholism, rampant in our society, we need to invest in the social networks of our communities, the networks that try to avert and fight crime, that try to save and assist families, the elderly, the disabled, the jobless, the children that would fall through the cracks without the networks in place.  These are not the areas in which we can afford to cut funds.

What happened to the dinosaurs?  They perished with the climate changes.  The current climate of our sensibilities and values won’t sustain the remaining dinosaurs much longer.  So long dinosaurs!  I was pleased to see the NBA respond so swiftly and appropriately — to show solidarity, and to protect the integrity of the NBA games and members.  Sterling, who has a long history of racial discriminations, went way out of bounds in his rant to “V, snuggle bunny” about His ownership of His players — that He provides food, clothing and housing for them, and that HE is the game, not his players!  He sounded like an old slave-owner!   It’s just offensive on so many levels!   Do the fans come and pay to watch the players with special talents, or to view the owners lounging in their special seats?  Do they throw down big money to wear advertising gear because they love the teams or the owners?  And Sterling, interviewed by media-star Anderson Cooper, aired this week saying, He’s not a racist, and he wants a second chance, and blames it all on the media.  And knowing he’s talking for the media, he spews out another rant of unkind words that would have been better off unsaid.  Oh my!  So long Sterling!  With greater wealth and position Should come more responsibility.  We must think before we speak, and know that these days even our most trusted companions may be recording our words to “broadcast our ignorance to the world”.  We could try changing for the better.   We have no-one to blame but ourselves for our own bad consciousness and the actions and resulting storms that come out of it!

The narrowly divided Supreme Court decision upheld the right of city council members to begin their meetings with a prayer, as long as it did not denigrate non-Christians or try to win converts.  The 5/4 decision sounds about right since we’re still a predominantly Christian nation; though I  don’t expect the “prayer decision” to hold up much longer.  I feel the other side’s arguments, many people seem offended these days at any mention of God or Jesus.  I can’t say that I see the distinction, however,  of Justice Kennedy, who voted pro-prayer, when in 1992 “he was the author of an opinion that held that Christian prayer delivered at a high school graduation did violate the Constitution”.  I think we all need to practice more tolerance in our day to day activities.  If a meeting opens with a prayer, that does not force those present to pray; they are free to contemplate for a moment or two, whatever beliefs they hold.  I think it’s sad that some “unbelievers” want to outlaw church nativity scenes, when they have a right to exercise their freedom to not attend that, or any church.  I don’t think we need to deface government buildings or re-mint all our money that says: “In God we Trust”, just because many don’t.                *******************************

I agree with George Will (in his recent article):  “Taking offense has  become America’s national pastime; being theatrically offended supposedly signifies the exquisitely refined moral delicacy of people who feel entitled to pass through life without encountering ideas or practices that annoy them.  As the number of nonbelievers grows — about 20 percent of Americans are religiously unaffiliated, as are one-third of adults under 30 — so does the itch to litigate believers into submission to secular sensibilities.”