Obama Gets an F in First 100 Days

President Obama gets a big fat F grade from me in his first 100 days. Why
such a harsh grade?

Why not! He is spending our nation into oblivion and creating huge
deficits. He got passed a so-called Economic Stimulus bill that we cannot
afford in difficult economic times. He has proposed a nearly 3.6 trillion
dollar budget. He is turning out to be another tax and spend liberal
politician, which is exactly what many of us who did not vote for him were
afraid he would be. But, the American people didn't listen.

In foreign policy, I feel very strongly that our nation is no where near as
safe as it was before he took office. He has banned the use of advanced
interrigation methods like water boarding, calling it torture. Obama, the
kind of people we used these methods don't care about our feelings. They
won't talk to us. They only understand one thing and that is that the only
good American is a dead American. These people want us wiped off the face
of the earth and if we have to get a little tough to gain information to
protect our great nation, so be it. Obama says we could have gotten the
same information without resorting to so-called harsh techniques. Obama,
have you ever been involved in intelligence work or interrogating someone?
No. Stay out of it and let the professionals who know best how to conduct
interrogations do it.

Afghanistan is becoming a mess, too. Our military men and women are brave
souls and need all of the help and support they can get to do their jobs.
Where are all of the troops Obama promised to send over to Afghanistan?
They aren't there. Since Obama came into office, the Talaban is
re-asserting itself. All that was gained, especially for women in that
country is endanger of being lost thanks to this President.

Pakistan is turning into a mess with a fragile Government to boot. This is
especially scary because they have Nuclear weapons. What are you going to
do, Mr. Obama, to keep these out of the hands of terrorists who want us
dead.

Does a day go by when Obama isn't traveling somewhere? How much is he
costing us tax payers for all of his jaunts around the country? President
Bush didn't travel nearly as much and was very affective. Take the plane
away from Obama.

If the first 100 days is any indication, we have a lot to fear in the next
four years.

Blogo, Just Please Go Away!!!

I have not commented until now on the indictment of former
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. I am finally glad he has been
indicted and that in time, another corrupt politician from
Illinois will be put away for a while, wiping a little more of
the stain of political corruption off of our great state.

I just wish Blagojevich would go away! This idiot wants to be on
a reality tv show, "I'm a celebrity, get me out of here." This is
wrong on too many levels.

First, how can someone who doesn't know how to face reality be on
a show like this? The Son of a Bitch screwed Illinois taxpayers
and made our state a laughing stock. What lawyer in their right
mind is telling him it's a good idea to go on tv? Second,
Blagojevich is no celebrity. He is nothing more than a common
crook who needs to face up to his crimes. He's not sorry he did
what he did. He's sorry he got caught.

This is a man who did some of the most despicable things a
politician could ever do. He withheld money from a children's
hospital simply to get more campaign contributions. Rather than
appointing the best person to replace Barack Obama in the United
States Senate, he tried selling the Senate seat to the highest
bidder, eventually appointing an incompetent puppet to the
Senate. This man doesn't give a damn about the state boards and
commissions, except for those he can appoint people to in
exchange for money. For example, Illinois' Blind Services
Planning Council has not had new members appointed in at least 10
years.

In conclusion, all I can say is I hope George Ryan is getting
that cell next to him cleaned up and ready, because he'll be
getting a new neighbor. Blogo, the feds have it all on tape what
you did. So, just shut your fucking mouth, go away and let the
people of Illinois begin to heal the wounds you have caused our
great state.

Proud to have Voted Today!

Today in my area we had consolidated local elections. These are
for offices such as village President and trustees, Township
Government offices, members of school boards, Park District Board
Commissioners and the like.

As usual, I went out and voted in today's election. I proudly
did this independently as I have in every election for the past
three years using accessible voting machines.

I hear many people say, well, I'm not going to vote in these
elections. It seems as though the vast majority of registered
voters do not care about these elections. Turnout was around
20%.

Those who don't think the elections held today are important are
sadly mistaken. Local Government is the level of government that
affects each of us most directly. Village trustees will decide
what our water and sewer rates are, when our streets and
sidewalks will be torn up for repair, and what kind of
development will come into our community. Township governments,
especially the Assessor are the ones who determine largely what
our property tax bill will be. They also provide programs to
help those less fortunate. School and park boards have the
ability to request tax increases through referenda. If we pay
attention and elect the right people to these bodies, they will
realize they need to make a strong case for any increase and if
they don't they could get voted out.

So, if you had local elections in your area, I hope you joined
with me and exercised your civic responsibility to vote.

The Sale is Over, the Farm is Gone!

Well, the title pretty much says it all. My parents' farm sale is now
history. I was there to witness it.

Before going to the sale, I wondered how I would react. I'm certainly very
sad to see another family farm die, but I'm happy that my parents are going
out in good health and on their terms.

The sale, in many ways provided me some closure. When I got to the farm, I
walked around, looking at everything for the last time. I needed to do
that. I looked at a grain bin that I helped Dad build some 32 years ago. I
walked through the sale and at several points, memories came flooding back
to me. I passed the hay baler which I worked behind and loaded bales. I
passed several other pieces of equipment that I remember either riding on or
being around.

The sale was satisfactory in that my parents were happy with the results.
If it was hard for them, they did not show it. I must wear my emotions on
my sleeve because a couple of people told me after the sale they thought I
was a little sad about it.

So now, my family is out of farming. They can move on with the rest of
their lives. Another family farm is gone, that's the sad part. I hope
people realize how important the farmer is, even though today's farmers are
the corporate types not the family farmers.

Good Bye Dear Old Friend, Part IV

Soon, my parents' farm, with machinery and buildings wil be sold. As that
day draws closer, I have mixed feelings.

I'm happy for mom and dad. They are both in very good health and can enjoy
retirement. I hope they make the most of it. If they want to travel, they
can. If they want to still maintain a garden, they can. If one or both of
them decides to go to work somewhere part time, go for it. The fact is they
won't have to spend their springs and summers worrying about getting enough
rain, or that their yields won't be high enough. They won't have to worry
about making enough money off the crop to pay their expenses. They won't
have to fix broken down machinery.

I'm saddened, though, because this means the death of yet another family
farm. It means either that corporate farmers who don't care about the land
as much will take over. Or, it means developers will move in and build yet
more houses, roads and other things on perfectly good land. Like a favorite
song of mine by Dan Riley talks about, "Quarter Acre Lots." It will be sad
to see such a great piece of property which has been in the family for
generations meet either fate.

Finally, I'm angry because what is happening to my parents is just one more
example of how people don't realize how important farmers are. Groceries
don't grow on supermarket shelves. The farmer has to raise the animals or
tend to the crops which make up our food. That big slab of ribs you may be
enjoying, well, that was a pig that was raised by a farmer at one time.
Those potato skins you are enjoying, well, they were planted, watched over,
and harvested by a farmer somewhere.

It's really hitting home that the family farm appears to be a dying breed
and it pisses me off. While I'm happy for my parents as they will enter a
new chapter in their lives, I'm saddened and angry over what the farm sale
signifies.

But with all of my feelings, there is only one thing I can do. And that is
to say, good bye dear old friend, the farm. You were there as I grew from a
boy into a man. You brought me joy. You are where I learned about life.
Good bye, and may god bless you, my parents and our whole family as we wish
our dear old friend well.

Good Bye Dear Old Friend, Part III

In this post, we will talk about my teen-age years growing up on
the family farm. My parents strongly believed that I should be
as like other farm kids as possible. This was very evident in my
teen years. Actually, before that, as I joined the 4H club when
I was old enough to do so. 4H is a great organization for young
people and I think kids of all walks of life, from city to farm
kids ought to give it a try. While it is often thought of as the
thing farm kids do, it's also got a lot to offer city or non farm
kids too.

In 4H, you have regular club meetings each month. These are
filled with interesting programs for young people. You also have
the opportunity to develop leadership and teamwork skills through
4H.

Over the 11 years I was in 4H, I worked on many projects. The
highlight of 4H is that you pick a project or projects early in
the year, work tirelessly on them until the summer months, then
display them for judging at the County Fair. Also, there are
opportunities to participate in activities that can lead to a
trip to the state fair, representing your county. Last but not
least, you can participate in both regional and state leadership
conferences as I did.

I did it all, just like a lot of other farm kids did. Over the
years, I raised chickens, rabbits and pigs for show at the fair.
I also had carcass hogs and beef which were dressed out and
judged for the quality of the meat.

My carcass hogs and beef, along with the live pigs I showed were
sold at auction near the end of the county fair. I put that
money into a savings account and I, therefore, learned the
importance of saving money for the future.

Working on my 4H projects helped me learn responsibility. After
all, you have to care for your animals and you have to work with
them so they will show properly. I also learned teamwork because
I couldn't show my pigs myself. So, I always had to have someone
take them around the show ring for me.

I've been blessed with good public speaking talent and competed
for four years to represent my county at the state fair. I was
successful down state, receiving A ratings for my speeches.

The regional and state leadership conferences were fun.
Especially the state conference where we got to spend four days
at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. They told us
to bring comfortable walking shoes and they weren't kidding.
This event was held in June, when the weather in Champaign could
be very hot. It was fun, though and I both had a good time and
learned a lot.

Oh, but the greatest thing was the county fair. I always stayed
over night at the fair, especially the night before I had to show
my animals so I could get up early in the morning and get them
ready. I would usually sleep in a sleeping bag on a lounge chair
in the hog barn. Sometimes, a fig or two would get out and I
remember one morning waking up to find a pig standing over me,
oinking at me. That will wake you up real fast! I had a ball at
the fair, chasing my share of the young girls. I didn't catch
too many of them, but that was not for lack of trying.

The point of all of this is that I could do these things because
I lived on the farm. I also had a family and parents that
encouraged me to not let my disability stop me from doing what I
wanted to do. The other cool thing was that the sighted kids in
4H treated me no differently than anyone else and they shouldn't
have.

When you are a teen-ager on a farm, you are expected to help
out. Why should I be any different? Well, I was not. At age 12
to 13, I helped my dad build a new hog building. I drove nails
(and hit my share of fingers along the way, with cuss words to
prove it), put in switches and outlets, tore off insolation and
lots of other stuff. Dad built four large grain bins and I
helped to do that as well, screwing in bolts and stuff.

In the summer, I was on the wagon taking bales of hay and straw
out of the baler and stacking them. I helped unload hay into the
barn, including on one particularly hot day when it was around
100 degrees.

I cleaned manure out of the chicken house, fed pigs, gathered
eggs and lots of other chores. What I did was the typical stuff
farm kids do. It didn't matter that I am blind, nor should it
have. The work needed to be done and I did it.

But when the work was done, I often rode off on a bike or mini
bike (yes, with a motor and I drove it) down the field. I would
spend hours under a shade tree, enjoying the peace of the
country. Or, I'd go visit with my friends in the neighboring
subdivision (all girls). Probably the worst thing that happened
was I landed in a few deep mud puddles, making a complete mess of
my clothes.

I had a unique life, being free to be a teen-ager on the farm. I
grew up strong and brave, not afraid of too many things, other
than loud noises.

Yes, those are some great memories. After this week, that's all
they will be, memories as the farm will be gone for good. More
on my feelings about that tomorrow.