Chicago, June 18, 2009. Thousands responded to the “Doomsday Budget” which would deeply cut social service organization’s funding by the millions and devastate families by the thousands throughout the State.
Fight for a Fair Budget – Chicago, Springfield, Aurora
by Illinois Media Progressives, posted on Monday, June 29th, 2009 at 9:34 pmHas anyone else been wondering whether Bill Foster is running for re-election or not?
by n0madic, posted on Sunday, June 28th, 2009 at 10:08 amWhen Ethan Hastert officially announced he was running for Congress a few weeks ago, a number of the stories made passing reference to Bill Foster’s intentions. Or perhaps I should say lack of intentions, because the impression that was initially given was that maybe Foster hadn’t decided yet whether he was going to run for re-election. Which seemed odd, because why on earth wouldn’t he? He just got the job, what, a little more than a year ago?
And yet, the first story I saw, in DeKalb’s Daily Chronicle, stated that “Foster said this afternoon that he hasn’t decided if he’ll run for re-election.”
The next story I saw, in the Kane County Chronicle, said Foster wasn’t undecided at all: “Foster is planning on running for re-election, according to a spokeswoman who released a statement Monday in response to Ethan Hastert’s announcement.” But all the statement itself had to say about whether Foster was or was not planning on running was this: “he is not thinking about elections right now,” which didn’t seem to unambiguously support the claim that he was indeed planning on running again. Washington Wire, a Wall Street Journal blog, quoted that same line from the official statement, but said nothing to indicate that he was nevertheless going to run again.
That Daily Chronicle story seemed pretty unambiguous. “Foster said … he hasn’t decided.” Where was the Kane County Chronicle‘s certainty coming from? Was it possible that some of these media outlets were running only a part of the statement that Foster’s office had released? “What’s the deal, here?” I wondered.
Listen Up Silly People
by Downtowner, posted on Monday, June 15th, 2009 at 6:41 pmIt appears that we are not done yet with the “English Only” silliness, so I feel compelled to note a few things.
1. Sorry, it does smack of racism and
2. It’s ridiculously unecessary – rather like getting worried about defending the Borg because they wandered into the same sector of space as a dozen random humans.
And this is where I whip out my little-used English degree to point out that English is the Borg of human tongues: all will be assimilated.
Ethan Hastert officially in: IL-14 officially over
by Downtowner, posted on Monday, June 8th, 2009 at 7:45 pmThe Kane County Chronicle is reporting that Ethan Hastert has officially declared he will run for the IL-14 congressional seat formerly held by daddy Denny.
Meh – no surer way of ensuring Foster hangs on to the seat, imho.
Anyone who was paying any attention at all knows that Foster outpolled Obama in Kane County (which contains about 50% of all voters in IL-14) in ’08 – and anyone who is local knows damned well why that happened: Lauzen supporters voting for Foster as a means of getting even with the powers-that-be who got behind Oberweis and managed to leverage the nomination for him.
Which makes 2010 a repeat-in-the-making, because Lauzen will be Lauzen, will be Lauzen, ad nauseum: he’s so scary that moderates will vote for Foster (or whatever alternative is on the ballot) if Lauzen does get the nom, and his supporters are so violently pro-Chris, they will likewise vote for whatever alternative there may be to the Repub who beat Chris out for the nomination – exactly as they did in ’08.
Only way out of the spoiler-Lauzen scenario for local Repubs is if they can get Lauzen to throw his support behind someone like Ethan Hastert. And anyone who has followed Lauzen’s career knows there’s a snowball’s chance in hell of that happening.
So the Dem on the ballot in IL-14 in 2010 is elected by default: barring Lauzen getting struck by lightning or a random meteorite, it’s already done.
Ultra-Efficient Green Buildings –- One Solution to Global Warming
by John Laesch, posted on Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 at 11:26 pmMost scientists, supported by concrete data, agree that the earth is heating up. Over the last ten years the average temperature has climbed about 1 degree Fahrenheit around the globe. And, even if you choose to reject science and the assessment that global temperatures and sea levels are rising, it would be difficult to ignore the economic recession. Rising gas prices compound the economic crisis caused by the mortgage meltdown and rising unemployment numbers
So, what do we do about it?
Do we all put solar panels on our roofs? Is it enough to replace our light bulbs with compact florescent light bulbs (CFLs)? Do we have what it takes to start carpooling to work, turning the thermostat down in the winter and up in the summer? I started asking myself all of these questions after being laid off from my last job as a carpenter at the LaSalle Nuclear Power Station (a touch of irony) in January of 2009.
Initially I came to the conclusion that we should focus our efforts on conserving energy or producing energy from non-carbon emitting sources like windmills or solar panels. It turns out that solar panels are actually a poor return on investment and wind only makes sense in rural areas. Nuclear invites controversy while we try to develop a better way of disposing of nuclear waste.
Question: Where does the union bug go when …
by n0madic, posted on Sunday, May 24th, 2009 at 12:47 am… you get your house painted?
Answer: Nowhere. Not when you hire a non-union painter to do the job.
So here’s the deal. A few days ago somebody slipped some photos under the cyber-door here at The Progressive Fox. Pics of a lovely home in Aurora getting spruced up with a little fresh paint. And it turns out that’s Vernon and Linda Chapa LaVia’s home.
A Kennedy in Obama’s Senate Seat?
by Downtowner, posted on Thursday, May 21st, 2009 at 12:29 amThat’s what CNN’s Political Ticker is saying:
Chris Kennedy, the son of the late Robert F. Kennedy, is taking steps to run for Senate and could announce his candidacy as early as next week, a source close to the Kennedy family told CNN Wednesday…
A spokeswoman for Chris Kennedy, an Illinois businessman, would not go as far as to say he is in the race, but acknowledged that he is “seriously considering” a Senate bid…
But a second source, an Illinois Democrat also speaking on the condition of anonymity, told CNN that Kennedy’s political allies are telling state Democrats that he will indeed seek the Democratic nomination for the seat once held by President Obama.
Not that I want to see Burris keep it, but I’m completely fed up with the political dynasty thing, whichever side of the aisle is festering our ill-disguised trend toward annointing royalty, it always strikes me as disturbing, as it seems unlikely it will get us any closer to real representation of real people.
Drive-Through Care
by Downtowner, posted on Wednesday, May 20th, 2009 at 10:51 amI received an e-mail this morning from a friend who is a breast-cancer survivor and a person I admire beyond my ability to describe. She requested that I sign a petition to help stop drive-through mastectomy.
The text of the e-mail is copied below – please follow the link and sign the petition. This sort of “cost control” is inhumane – and a prime example of why we – the wealthiest nation on earth – rank 37th in health care, well after much poorer nations like Morocco, Costa Rica, and Columbia and certainly after every single other industrialized nation. And it isn’t me who says so – it’s WHO.
