Take that, silly creationist persons.
A Tale of Two Health Care Systems
by Downtowner, posted on Sunday, May 17th, 2009 at 6:13 pmFirst, an apology – I’ve been incredibly busy since this blog launched, mostly living as a road warrior for work, but also providing necessary grandmotherly support for the birth of not one, but two, new grandchildren. Jane Danger, who arrived in this world at about the same time this blog did, and Joseph (aka “Joe-normous”) who appeared exactly one month later. So since January 1 or so, if I haven’t been hanging out helping their Moms – my daughters – I’ve been on the road in Michigan, Iowa, Oregon, wherever, for work. All of which means I’ve spent about a grand total of ten minutes a day on-line since January 1 – hardly the most efficient way to launch a new blog – so my apologies to those who’ve been checking in and finding me absent.
Which leads me to my “followers,” or in this case my Twitter followers. There aren’t really that many. I think I’ve spent about ten minutes total on Twitter in my life, and don’t think I’ve even uttered a tweet yet, but there are a few followers – mostly people I know. One I picked up very recently particularly caught my attention, considering the juxtaposition between said follower’s occupation and what was going on in my real life at the time.
So follow me, if you dare (and have a fair piece of time to spend – this will be loooonnnng) into the Tale of Two Health Care Systems.
Another Blow to Dennis Hastert’s Highway
by John Laesch, posted on Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 at 9:40 amLast night, May 11, 2009, Alderman Bob Hausler was sworn in as the new Mayor of Plano.
It was an exciting night for progressives, union members and environmentalists — Bob Hausler is all of the above. The retired UAW Local 145 member
Bob fought off two strong opponents with a steady, consistent door-to-door campaign and became the Mayor-elect on April 7th. Much more could be written about the shy, grassroots Mayor of Plano and the many activists who helped get him into the winners circle, but I want to get to the good stuff.
Some of My Best Friends: A Conversation with Pansy Division’s Jon Ginoli
by n0madic, posted on Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 9:48 amBefore Peoria-native Jon Ginoli was even out of his twenties he had done seemingly everything there was to do in music. Having moved to Champaign-Urbana to attend the University of Illinois, he had written for a series of music magazines and fanzines,
He also played in a band of his own, The Outnumbered, a mainstay of the local music scene in the mid-1980s that released three albums and toured widely, and was remembered by one writer who knew them well as “perhaps the world’s only all-male feminist band, performing anti-misogynist, anti-capitalist, anti-war rants at the height of the Reagan era.”
He is best known, however, for his next band, the path-breaking gay rock band Pansy Division, which he founded in 1991 after moving to San Francisco. Eighteen years later Pansy Division is still around, still recording new material and performing live when most veterans of the earliest days of the gay rock scene have long since disappeared. In March Jon’s memoir, Deflowered: My Life in Pansy Division
I recently caught up with Jon on his book tour for Deflowered and we sat down one evening to talk about, what else, life in Pansy Division. (More on whether it’s a “pop-punk” or “rock” band or both, among other things, after the jump.)
Sutcliff and Laesch receive Illinois Democratic Women awards
by The Editors, posted on Sunday, April 26th, 2009 at 5:30 pmIllinois Democratic Women honored two Fox Valley women Friday evening at their annual conference banquet, held at the Governor’s Mansion in Springfield. Yorkville’s Robyn Sutcliff was awarded the organization’s Hillary Rodham Clinton Leadership Award and Jennifer Laesch, of Aurora, received a Penny Severns Memorial Scholarship for Government Service.
Sutcliff, who currently serves as Alderman for the Third Ward of the city of Yorkville, and is in her second term as Treasurer of the Kendall County Democratic Party,
Previous recipients of the award include Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Congresswoman Debbie Halvorson, and DeKalb County Democratic Party Chair Eileen Dubin.
Laesch is currently a student at Waubonsee Community College, where she is pursuing two avenues of study, public policy and teaching.
Illinois Democratic Women, formerly known as the Illinois Democratic Women’s Caucus, was founded in 1971. It describes itself as “a grass-roots organization whose purpose shall be working for more equitable representation and participation of Democrat women in all levels of the Democrat Party and in all levels of government.”
Ethan Hastert officially “exploring”
by Downtowner, posted on Friday, April 17th, 2009 at 9:06 pmLaesch had it first, but the Daily Herald is now reporting that Ethan Hastert is exploring a run in IL-14.
Lovely. We can now look forward to a run by a guy whose two greatest claims to fame are:
a.) being the son of the Speaker-from-hell who presided over the gutting of the checks and balances that we should expect from the People’s House in order to serve instead as the Cheerleader in Chief for a criminal administration
b.) working for the only person, Scooter Libby, actually convicted from that administration
Just charming.
UPDATE (already)
Andre Salles at the Beacon has it here.
Another Hastert for Congress Effort?
by John Laesch, posted on Friday, April 17th, 2009 at 8:06 amLast evening on my drive home from work, I received a call from a campaign supporter by the name of Ben. He was calling to tell me that he had received a polling call yesterday.
Ben, who lives in Illinois’ 14th Congressional District, did not know who conducted the poll, but he recognized that the polling questions were framed by the Republican Party. Issue questions framed Obama’s agenda in a negative light and focused on tax cuts. It always amazes me that the Republicans have not figured out the fact that their tried and true message of the past, “tax cuts will save America,” is not working.
The interesting part of the poll was the question about Dennis Hastert.
“If the election were held today, would you vote for Dennis Hastert or Bill Foster.”
The next question was similar.
“If the election were held today, would you vote for Ethan Hastert or Bill Foster.”
Speculate away.
Scenes from (near) the Inauguration
by n0madic, posted on Sunday, February 8th, 2009 at 9:45 pmI didn’t make it to the Inauguration Ceremony, but I got close. Just about as close as it was possible to get without a ticket. As close, in fact, as some people got with a ticket.
