Archive for April 3rd, 2008
April 3rd, 2008
Just had a phone conversation with a fellow who is frustrated about illegal immigration. He had a question I couldn’t answer: Do you have to speak English to become an American citizen? I asked Rich Carter, spokesman for U.S. Rep. Don Manzullo, R-Egan.
Turns out the answer is yes. And no. Here’s Rich’s answer: Yes. They have to take a test in American government/history/civics that is written in English. They must answer in English.
There are a few exceptions:
If you are over 55 years old and been a Permanent Resident (a legal green card holder) for 15 years, you can take the civics test in the language of your choice.
- If you are over 50, and a permanent resident for at least 20 years, you can take the test in the language of choice.
- If you are over 65 and lived as a permanent resident for at least 20 years, you can take a simplified civics test in the language of your choice.
April 3rd, 2008
It’s the fifth anniversary of RFD Exec.Director Bob O’Brien’s campaign that raised $264,000 to promote passenger air service at the airport. I still remember him standing on the roof of a RoadRanger, raising money for RFD. The only thing they didnt’ do was a charity telethon.
The campaign he was able to run with that money led to the return of passenger planes in 2003, with TransMeridian Airlines flights to Las Vegas and Orlando-Sanford.
TMA went out of business abruptly, but the airport had proved that the Vegas and Orlando-Sanford routes worked, and Allegiant Air immediately stepped in to take over the routes. They’ve grown here, with service added to Phoenix-Mesa, Az, and Tampa-Clearwater, Fla.
It’s incredible that in an economy with fuel prices that are eating airlines alive, RFD, the Chicago Rockford International Airport, saw a record passenger month in March. Even though United Airlines is leaving, their Denver route is covered by Southern Skyways, and we’re adding Detroit. It’s my somewhat educated guess that come this October, one way or another, you’ll be able to fly from RFD to Ft. Meyers, Fla.
As Bob O’Brien, the airport executive director, said, airlines will come and go, (Hooters, Northwest, TMA) as they do at every airport, but the long term trend is upward.
What should the airport do to attract more passengers and airlines, and improve its market share in Chicagoland? Are you worried that the state’s concentration on building an airport at Peotone will hurt RFD? Or aren’t they in competition?
April 3rd, 2008
I’m interested to see what you think of this piece, about AT&T chief Randall Stephenson.
The company pledged in 2006 to return 5,000 call-center jobs to the U.S. from India. But Stephenson said the company has only managed to return 1,400 of those jobs so far. The problem is, Stephenson says the firm is having an extremely hard time finding qualified Americans, not to be engineers, but TO WORK IN CALL CENTERS !!!!!!!
In the linked story, he put the blame squarely on the country’s education system. He condemned dropout rates that reach 50 percent in some communities and among some groups.
“If I had a business that half the product we turned out was defective or you couldn’t put into the marketplace, I would shut that business down,” he said.
In the world economy, jobs can be done practically anywhere, witness Hamilton Sundstrand’s moving of manufacturing jobs from Rockford to Singapore. At the same time, the firm is boosting its research and development and testing here in the Forest City. I’ve been over there recently, and it’s truly impressive.
I wish the presidential candidates would talk about how the U.S. will fit into the world economy. As I heard someone say on the radio this morning, we obviously aren’t all going to be white collar workers.
Is it true that most of us will be selling hamburgers or insurance to one another? Because there’s no wealth being created in Strip Mall America — only existing wealth being moved around.
Chuck Sweeny
