Why Even Have a Country in the First Place?

I noodle around the Internet pretty much daily.   Came across a couple of items on the Mother Jones Website.

One commentary by Rebecca Gordon caught my eye and has had a profound impact on me.   It's titled: "Why Even Have a Country in the First Place?" 
It is a long read, and you must read it here.

[  Another Blogsite which I've done for about 13 years has had about 2 dozen 'Must Reads' articles, or about two a year.   Here is the very first one on jerryd's blog bog.  ]

I'm old.   Never been someone called an 'activist'.   But.   The direction the State of Illinois has been headed for two years now, and the direction that our country America is headed now is unacceptable to me.   
Ms. Gordon's discussion requires me to do something.   I won't be here all that long.   But for others; younger folks; the next generations of folks.   So, I WILL get involved, working to get back to the Illinois and the America I know, remember and love.   Maybe you should too.   

I am not prepared to turn the country over to only white-males; not ready to turn the country over to bigots; white supremacists; not ready to turn the country over to intolerance of women; those of color; those who don't care about people in poverty; those hwo hate different religions; to bullys.   You get the idea.

WHAT DO WE WANT AMERICA TO BE?   It's up to us; but we must work for it.   Each of us.

We've lost civility in the USA.   Kids 'role models' - State and national governments and politicians act like bullys; like the only 'truth' is what they spew and believe.   Negotiation is no longer possible; not a solution.   Any different thought is worthless.  

I remember Everett Dirksen from IL; a true Statesman and here.   Now?   Gone, all gone.  Name a current Statesman; in IL or nationally.

We wonder why kids have no respect for others; for life at all.   What do they see everyday from our 'leaders'?   At every level?

We've now reached the stage of 'Alternate Facts' !!!!!   Sorry.   A fact is a fact.   No matter how someone spins it.

An Alternate Fact is .... wait for it ..... a lie.   It is NOT a simple matter of perspective.

Waterboarding is swell; cozying up so our Prez can be Putin's Puppy; a bunch of billionaires running IL and the country - clueless about everyday Americans;  clueless about government; clueless about negotiating and working with others; people in charge of OUR country coming in with positions that are abhorrent to the organizations they will 'lead' IS UNACCEPTABLE to me.

How about you?   Maybe it's time for a lot MORE of us to get involved.   Take the time.   Read the article.   

And, let me know.

Couple of Testimonials

We've had good success with a couple of products.

YakTrax
Living in north central IL over the years, we get a variety of winter weather.   Not infrequently, we get glaze ice or a heavier coating of ice.   It is no fun to slip and fall at any age, but much less exciting as we've aged.   This year, we've had about 3 straight weeks of on and off ice.   

We found something called YakTrax.   It slips on to shoes or boots & has spiral criss-cross wires on the bottoms.   We've worn out one pair & got new ones this year.   These work great for us, but are not for indoor walking, tile, etc.   We still need to be careful walking, they are not fool proof, but far better than slipping, sliding and falling.   Can get them online for about $20 a set.   Absolutely well worth it for us.



CPR Call Blocker, model V202.
We have an answering machine & always let it pick up calls regardless if we're home or not.   Our message says: 'Leave a message or don't call back.'   

But, of course, some fools do: No message; then call again and again.  Gets WAY tiresome if you spend a good deal of time at home.   Found a product called CPR Call Blocker.   Blocks up to 1200 numbers.   You do need caller ID.   Has a big red button that says: 'Block Now'.   And, it does!   Easy to connect for us; easy to use & best of all, IT WORKS.   Pricey; something under $100 and available online.

Got it; and loved it immediately.   Blocked call comes in; rings once & disconnects the call.  Told our  neighbor about it & they got one, same reasons & they love it.   Posted this on the DONE forum a while back & got a message from another Retiree that they found it great too.

Grand American Experiments

We've seen that many people want 'CHANGE'!

But as you hear a lot here, originally from Bob H:  "Every decision has its consequences."   Folks always assume that the consequences will be good, but frequently, some very negative, bad and unintended consequences arrive too.   CHANGE ain't always good.

We've had 'CHANGE' in IL.   We got Rauner; AKA #FailedILGovernor #BillionaireBrucie #Ruiner as noted on Twitter.   Government is failing in IL.   Rauner.

We got a totally inexperienced billionaire #Stroke with NO government experience as a so-called governor.   And, as we'e all seen over the last year and a half, he IS no governor, he is our Governot.   

Government in IL has gotten worse by virtually every measure:

• Only State without a budget
• No budget in 2 years.
• Bond ratings dropping precipitously
• Unpaid bills to vendors up fro $4 Billion to $10 Billion
• Pension deficit up from $100 Billion to over $135 Billion
• Non profit help agencies for poor, disabled, mentally ill dramatically downsizing or closing with no budget

Got elected because he was not Quinn.   Great.   Now we have #FailedILGovernot #Ruiner.

Not bad enough?


America just recently elected a totally inexperienced billionaire with NO government experience as a so-called Prez 

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    

He got elected because he wasn't Hillary.  

AND SO, THE USA HAS MULTIPLIED IL TIMES 50 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   

God love us all.

Pray for Illinois.   Pray for America.   It apparently ain't gonna get any better until the folks figure this out.    And, it may take a while.   UNFortunately, it's too late for now.   

So, how many Repubs are thinking Impeachment yet?   If not, ya'all better start thinking quickly.   Ferris Bueller:'Life moves pretty fast.'   LOL and crying.   

DONE is now Semi-Retired

DONE was a Website for some IDOT Retirees in IL.   It closed down in November, 2016, but now has come back to life in another form.   Based on an email & some further thinking, it occurs that some IDOT related items still are relevant.   And may be of interest to some D1 Retirees.   So, DONE is going from being Done to Semi-Retired.   Info about Retirees, IDOT, transportation, pensions, insurance, budget, and things IL will be shown here. Come back & take a look if you used to visit DONE.