Archive for April 22nd, 2008
April 22nd, 2008
For awhile there winter wanted to hang on to spring as if to say “I need you, let me stay a little while longer, I want make any noise, I’ll ease my out.” Spring on the other hand wanted winter to go back to doing what it normally does this time of year - go into hibernation until its season arise again. It’s like breaking the barrier of a comfort zone, winter didn’t like that.  When you have zones, especially if they are comforts they seem to feel right and no matter what is going on around you, you need that zone to feel good, to be content. Sometimes though you have to let go - step outside the box, but stay interdependent. That’s what winter didn’t understand. Although spring knew it could handle its season on its own, it still needed winter. Spring isn’t letting go entirely, it just preparing for all the things in between until winter season comes full circle again.   You see the beauty of winter to spring is that you have all the stuff in the middle thereby, making what winter did is enough to sustain what spring will. Now that we see the lighter side of it all we can truly say that spring can manage on its own for a while-its the season, just like everything else- a season of changes. Winter begone, but stay interdependent. So, if you’ve watch the difference perhaps you would see that getting out of the box isn’t all that bad, in fact its a medicine. Hanging on can blind us to the true causes of problems and staying blind can actually make our matters worse. That’s sort of like self-deception. Winter was blind for a while and now that its season is over spring can finally step out of the box build on some solutions in and about our town. So we’re losing three Rockford principles, we’ve got gas prices on the rise, we have the education of our futures at an all time high, we have pharmaceuticals company selling synthetic medicine, we have world trades gone somewhere and yes, we have the great presidential race of all time and I want speak about crime and losses, at least not here.  I just wanted to bring up the fact that there is nothing wrong with getting out of the box to reconstitute and reorganize only to surface (in due season) with a vivid understanding of building teamwork, reducing conflicts, check on learning and the desire to achieve results.  Watch winter in its season in the meantime though let’s get spring results!
 The Arbinger Institute says it this way “In organizations as varied as commercial ventures, neighborhoods, and families, what is needed most is people not just with influence but with influence for good.”Â
April 22nd, 2008
I am very disillusioned with the campaign tactics of the two remaining Democratic candidates. Why doesn’t anyone focus on the issues. We have a crisis in the economy and the focus is on Jeremiah Wright, Mrs. McCain plagarising from the Food Network and Hillary’s embellishment of her trip to Bosnia. Give me a break. I want a candidate who can formulate a plan to combat the food prices, gasoline dependency, the environment, infrastructure, the billions being spent in Iraq.
We need a man like Franklin Delano Roosevelt who could assess the situation, act accordingly and effectively.  We, the voting populace, are to blame. We do not demand more effective leaders and accountability.Â
April 22nd, 2008
Six weeks of campaigning in a state that normally would have no bearing on a primary campaign. In normal years everything would have been decided by this time. Yet, after 15 months of a primary campaign, nothing is decided. All the plans for this country as espoused by the candidates have been offered. Economic plans, Iraq war plans, plans to deal with free (not fair) trade have been put before us, amnesty and open borders are barely addressed and when they are, they are carbon copies of one another. Actually, all the substantive issues are basically the same between Clinton and Obama. So what’s left? Personal attacks on each other. They’re getting so mean that they’re starting to make McCain look good. I’m sorry, fellow citizens, if this is the best the Democratic Party has to offer, it’s in worse shape than even I could imagine. I would look forward to ending all the campaigning in November except that’s when each of us will have a decision to make. Which of the three candidates is the lesser of two evils? Who knows. Pennsylvania won’t tell us. It won’t even settle who will be the candidate for the Democratic party.
April 22nd, 2008
- I’ve lost some respect for Bill Clinton as he’s delved into recent negative campaigning. Negative campaigning is really distasteful. I hold a former president to a higher standard.
-  The long running primary season has almost made me a little numb. I hardly even watch Anderson Cooper anymore. Maybe I will tonight.
- Do I know more about the candidates now than I did three months ago? I’m not sure that I do.Â
- It will be interesting to see if the long, acrimonious primary campaign will play in favor of or work against the democrats in the general election.
-  It is kind of historic that the primary campaign is still alive and we’re almost into May. A far cry from previous years when by the time the Illinois primary rolled around in March and the race has been all but resolved.
-  It’s interesting to watch the race in Pennsylvania in so far as the state is demographically somewhat similar to Illinois but the polls show the Obama/Clinton race to a much closer finish than happened here.
-  Who’s gonna win? I’m going out on a limb and predict an Obama come from behind victory.
Jon Murray
April 22nd, 2008
There’s an old saying in politics, if you don’t want to tackle a problem, create a committee to deal with it. The larger the committee the less chance there is that anything will get done. That kind of describes our county board. There are 28 members to that club. They spend more time squabbling amongst themselves and playing petty party politics than they do dealing with pressing problems. I have never been a big fan of Doug Aurand. I think he is a nice guy but I also think he represents the old school politician that we do not want anymore. However, I do applaud his never ending effort to reduce the county board to 14 people. I believe there may be a political motive behind this effort but it’s something that should be and needs to be done.
A 28 member board is just too big and unweildy. I remember as an only child I envied those who had siblings. They could hide behind and accuse each other when they did something wrong. I couldn’t do that. With 28 members, the county board can point fingers, rat each other out and hide behind one another. Let’s help Doug in his effort to reduce the number of members. And, while we’re at it, let’s reduce the number of elected positions in other areas such as eliminating the Township Board of Trustees and reducing and eliminating some taxing districts. It’s time to remove places for elected officials and party hacks to enjoy the largesse of the local taxpayer.
