A few random thoughts about Occupy

So the people of the nation are finally sick and tired of the lack of government action for the people. Hmmmm. Nothing new, really, if you think about it. In the 60's we had sit-ins to protest all sorts of things on college campuses and other places. The anti-abortion folks have staged sit-ins at various clinics over the years. Usually, after the first day or so, the police get involved and the people causing the disruption of businesses or services are usually hauled away in paddy wagons and booked on misdemeanor charges. Sometimes it gets out of hand and the police overreact, and the people overreact, and someone gets hurt.

But here is where it gets interesting. These people are not going away. Why? Because most of them have no where to go! These are the huddled masses, but now they are huddled on the streets and in the public parks and in your face for the world to see. Many of them cannot get work, cannot get help, cannot get adequate medical treatment or health care. Most of them are like most of us. Scared.

And that is the long and the short of it. We are all scared. What will happen next? Our President, hell, our entire legislative and executive branch, is doing nothing to remedy the problem. All that HOPE was an empty promise that has failed to bring us any closer to a solution. I'm not blaming the Dems or the Reps for the current problems. The Dems just happen to be in charge at the moment, and we are an election away from changing that. But one thing is certain. The Status Quo must go.

We are the 99%, the disenfranchised, the abandoned, the citizens who were promised the American Dream. We are the voters, the taxpayers, the parents, the children, the soldiers and sailors and marines and guardians who were told we were fighting to preserve a way of life that is no longer accessible to us. We are the 99% who have no hope of ever achieving the prosperity our parents achieved. We have grown up in a world promising justice and prosperity and hope, and have only apathy and poverty and despair.

We are the 99%. We are the reason the 1% have the wealth and power. Our blood and sweat and labors have created it. And our anger and discontent can take it away. Look around you. Your police and firefighters and emergency personnel are the 99%. Your soldiers and sailors and marines and guardsmen are the 99%. Your average citizens are the 99%. Your factory workers, your government employees, your teachers, your administrators are the 99%. If we choose to stop what we are doing, the 1 % will have NOTHING!

Just a few random thoughts. Take them as you will. But if you take them seriously and are one of the 99%, I can tell you how to get the attention of the world. For a single day, STOP! Bring the money machine to an immediate and screeching halt.

Like I said, just a few random thoughts.

Back to the Council Chambers

Live blogging is not my thing, so I apologize to the readers who have to wait for me to compose my thoughts. I like to take notes and think about what was actually said before writing about it, which is why I blog instead of report.

I got in to the chambers tonight just as they were finishing the Pledge of Allegiance, then took a seat toward the rear of the chamber. All the old faces were there, including John Sharp and Billy Dennis, and surprisingly no Gary Sandberg. Hmmm. At first I thought he might be slouched back in his chair, but when I realized we had gone at least 15 minutes and he hadn't voiced an opinion, I knew he was absent.

So this session was devoted to the budget decisions surrounding the new and improved Marriott project. Mayor Ardis opened the meeting by letting the City Manager Urich present a summary of the current financials. On it's face, the plan looks sound, and it looks like Urich did a great job of carefully planning the finances to allow the city to get a square deal. According to one of his statements, the developer, Matthews, has deferred his fee until the property starts to see a profit. He has also, according to Urich, promised to guarantee the city's investment personally. So does this mean the developer will create an escrow account for $29 million dollars? Hmmm. Would love to see it, wouldn't you?

Anyway, there were a few interesting points made. Part of the plan involves using funds from the Southtown TIF transferred to the Downtown TIF at some point in the project, which Barbara Van Auken was quick to question until the City Manager assured her it was legal. At the end of the summary, Mayor Ardis opened the floor for public comment.

Mr. Matthews, the developer, came up the podium and praised the board for their wisdom and fortitude and support of the project, and pledged his devotion to creating a perfect addition to the city. Next, a Mr. J. Baumgartner from Caterpillar came up to praise the council for their decision to Build the Block and to create a hotel where their international guests would feel they could have a 4 star experience. [guess they are tired of sending their global visitors across the river as well]. I had to throw my two cents in and reminded them that, even if they build the hotel, they need to make sure there are reasons for people to stay in it. I urged them to hold SMG accountable for the lack of events being staged in our Civic Center, for the loss of events that used to bring the revenue and the visitors to Peoria. Finally, Bob Marx of the Peoria Convention and Visitor Bureau got up and gave more praise to the council concerning their pursuit of this project.

On to Item #1 of the agenda, the "Approval of the Design Concepts for the Amended and Restated Redevelopment Agreement by and among the City of Peoria and EM Properties, Ltd. and Pere Marquette Hotel, LLC, and Pere Marquette TIF, Inc." Ryan Spain opened the discussion by questioning the choice of materials being used by the contractors especially on the first floor, the floor adjacent to pedestrian traffic. Now, he was using phrases like how pedestrians would interact with the materials, but the gist of it was his concern about damage and graffiti, and frankly, that is a legitimate concern. Many of the Man Made materials used in cheap construction today are unattractive, to say the least, but some other concerns exist as well. Beth Akeson also voiced her concerns with a show and tell of Brick versus artificial brick, or limestone versus Styrofoam coated with a sprayed on dry concrete material. Her legitimate concern was that the materials used would not stand up to the weather and wear of time. Councilman Gully remarked that while he would prefer Brick and Limestone over lesser materials, the cost of such a project would well exceed the budgeted amounts. Mayor Ardis asked for further comments, and hearing none, called for a vote. The motion passed with Weaver and Akeson voting no.

Item #2 was the ordinance approving the overall project. This means the rehabilitation of the Pere Marquette to a full service Marriott hotel, the construction of a Marriott Courtyard, the construction of a parking deck, and the construction of an elevated connector to the Peoria Civic Center. Councilperson Akeson voiced her concerns that the proposed cost of the projects did not seem sufficient to cover all these items, particularly since the cost of the 466 space parking deck and the cost of the elevated (all weather) connector to the Civic Center would exceed the $6.34 million dollars allotted for them. She cited an unnamed source who advised her the elevated connector would cost between $8,000.00 and $10,000.00 a foot to build. She also restated her concern about the city's ability to govern the way in which the construction was done, and that there was no real scrutiny of the plans, the methods, or even the qualifications of the contractors doing the work. There were some additional comments, Gulley going off topic about the $7 million dollar portion of the loan, Riggenbach praising Urich for getting a higher rate of return on the reinvestment of the city's Post Employment Benefits Obligation Funds (currently drawing 0.6%, under the reinvestment of these funds in the project, they would draw 7%....hey, you don't have to be a banker to see that one, Tim), and Irving taking Urich to task to cover all the bases for the council and the chamber in detail. I have to commend Dan Irving for doing that, although it was certainly a dog and pony show for the constituency, he let all of us know that Urich has his ducks in a row. Mayor Ardis once again called for the vote, and once again it passed with Weaver and Akeson voting no.

Items 3, 4, and 5 (a&b) passed in the same way with very little comment.

So now we come to the blog portion of this little post. I have to say that I am still a bit leery of the whole idea. Yes, it would be nice to have a 4 star facility in Peoria to accommodate Caterpillar's "Global Visitors", and yes, such a facility could be an asset to drawing convention business to the area. But what is going to attract them to Peoria in the first place? The Civic Center has been a losing proposition for many years, and the recent additions to the facility aren't helping to pay for it. We have this great venue for sports events, theater events, and exceptional facilities for expos and lifestyle shows, but we lack the events to fill it. Year after year, we lose business to the cities who acted to get their business rolling, and may I remind you there is no Marriott in Bloomington. Granted there are scores of loyal Bradley Basketball fans, Riverman Fans, and some die hard Peoria Opera and Symphony fans who will attend events in the theater and the arena, but they just aren't enough to justify the expense. Spectacor Management Corporation was hired by the city to fill that facility with events to create revenue and they aren't doing their job, Worse still, we are losing events and sports to Bloomington that ought to be here. Perhaps the city should be in the business of creating revenue, instead of building empires.

US wrong on the denial of a Palestinian State

This has got to be the perfect example of the US backing the wrong horse....again!

The Palestinians have endured enough, and we need to recognize they are not going away anytime in the near future. Palestine has a right to exist, and we need to help them find a way to make that happen.

The US has a long record of backing the wrong people when the decisions are crucial. Our foreign policy supports one side against another in a bid for what is right for us, not what is right for them. There are many examples. The Shah of Iran was a blaring mistake that cost us dearly. Our failure to maintain and help the people of Afghanistan to build a viable government has resulted in a terrorist state that has cost the lives of thousand of American soldiers. Our continued failure to recognize the nation of Cuba as a legitimate state perpetuates poverty and isolation in that nation. And of course, our failure to help Ho Chi Min in his bid for a separate and independent Vietnam cost hundreds of thousand of American lives, not to mention the lives of so many other soldiers of other nations, including Vietnam. This is a reprehensible pattern of disregard for the growth of humanity.

Terrorists are not satanic worshipers who are hell bent on the destruction of the human race for their own means. They are fueled by a legitimate hatred of our policies that lead to the desolation and decimation of their cultures and beliefs. Terrorists are not the result of some deep rooted DNA flaw, but of our own flagrant disregard for their rights to independent existence. Who creates these terrorists? We do.

The Occupy movement has taken root around the world. Why? Because the "99%" are tired of the way the "1%" are handling things. And the "99%" are not going away, any more than the Palestinians. We need to elect leaders who are true leaders, men and women who will work to find a common solution to these problems, not merely go with what the "1%" want to do. We need to purge the White House, the Senate, the Congress and any other legislative body of the incumbents who seek to lead without our approval. We need to take charge of our own destiny, and let the people of the United States and the world choose their destiny instead of having it chosen for them. We need to act, and we need to act with our votes.

The World is Changing

There's only one question. Are you a part of the problem or a part of the solution? You really don't want to be on the wrong side this time. And you DO have to choose. Think about it.

Depleted Uranium and Gulf War Syndrome

Okay, this is not a local topic...or is it?

How many veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan are now in Central Illinois? Quite a few, according to the articles in the Peoria Journal Star and other local sources.

Now, it seems interesting to me that, while there are many sites dedicated to the topic of Depleted Uranium and its possible effects on returning veterans, let alone the rather gruesome sites relating to birth defects in Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan, there is no actual US Government agency that will acknowledge the possibility of DU as the source of "Gulf War Syndrome". When querying the Veterans Administration on their website, you are directed to a crisis hotline and told that there has been more than $213 million dollars spent in researching the cause of this debilitating and sometimes fatal disease.

You can take a lot of time researching the topic. I've spent about 24 actual hours in front of the computer at various sites trying to make sense of the information, and I can tell you there are a lot of opinions out there. But one thing is blatantly clear: it appears the US Government will be taking the same stance with "Gulf War Syndrome" as they did with Agent Orange. It is much easier to simply let the veterans affected die of the disease than to spend the time and money it does not have to correct the problem. That in itself is abhorrent, but the real problem of denying the possible effects of DU on our troops is much more so.

You see, many of the veterans who served in these areas are on their 2nd or 3rd tour. So not only have they been exposed to DU in the form of airborne particles that have infiltrated their bodies, but they will be further exposed to DU a 2nd and 3rd time in the course of their service, without proper warning or information. Of course, the government insists that there is insufficient evidence that DU exposure could cause these effects, or be responsible for the massive genetic damage being experienced as birth defects in the Middle East. But according to a 2008 study, there are grounds for considering DU as deadly as any weapon ever used.

"Now two researchers have a new theory that they say explains how depleted uranium could cause genetic damage. Chris Busby of the Institute of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science (IPNSS) in Braunschweig, Germany, and the University of Ulster, UK, and Ewald Schnug, director of the IPNSS, claim that uranium atoms in the body could act as "radiation antennas". They argue that uranium atoms could be capturing photons of background gamma radiation and then re-emitting their energy as fast-moving electrons that act on the surrounding tissue in the same way as beta radiation. This "phantom radiation" could be over 1000 times more damaging than the alpha particles released by depleted uranium's slow nuclear decay, according to their preliminary calculations.

Their theory invokes a well-known process called the photoelectric effect. This is the main mechanism by which gamma photons with energies of about 100 kiloelectronvolts (keV) or less are blocked by matter: the photon transfers its energy to an electron in the atom's electron cloud, which is ejected into the surroundings.

An atom's ability to stop photons by this mechanism depends on the fourth power of its atomic number - the number of protons in its nucleus - so heavy elements are far better at intercepting gamma radiation and X-rays than light elements. This means that uranium could be especially effective at capturing photons and kicking out damaging photoelectrons: with an atomic number of 92, uranium blocks low-energy gamma photons over 450 times as effectively as the lighter element calcium, for instance.

Busby and Schnug say that previous risk models have ignored this well-established physical effect. They claim that depleted uranium could be kicking out photoelectrons in the body's most vulnerable spots. Various studies have shown that dissolved uranium - ingested in food or water, for example - is liable to attach to DNA strands within cells, because uranium binds strongly to DNA phosphate. "Photoelectrons from uranium are therefore likely to be emitted precisely where they will cause most damage to genetic material," says Busby." Here is the source for this information.

So, to my understanding, there is a distinct possibility that the ingested or inhaled DU particles can act to amplify and intensify the natural radiation we all absorb every day. If this is so, the effects of this intensified radiation would be catastrophic to the human body, causing intense pain, disruption of normal body functions, corruption of organs, and cancer.

It is clear from my research to date that A The Government is going to do little or nothing until the Congress is forced to act to correct the problem, and B That is not going to happen without massive and repeated outcry from Citizens like yourself.

Solyndra the perfect example of why Government should not be involved in private enterprise.

This one goes under the category of gross stupidity. So the current administration in Washington okays half a billion dollars of taxpayer funds to set up as company they KNEW was doomed from the get go. I'm certain a few head will role in the Department of Energy after all the political dust has cleared, but the problem is the philosophy that got us here. The United States Government, or any government (Like Peoria, hint hint hint) has no business getting involved in the funding of any private industry. Period. Not solar panel companies, not hotels, not restaurants, not even museums that are partially sponsored by private corporations to tout their product. Not even if that product is an important part of our economy. Not even if that business is a major supporter of local charities. The consider that to be good corporate citizenship. They see that as public relations. The only business government should be involved in is regulation and administration. That is their purpose. Not to become empire builders, but to encourage others to invest in the City or Country by providing a level playing field for all to profit. If the Obama Administration knew the Chinese would enter the market and flood it with cheap knock off solar panels, they had two obvious choices to make. #1) Tell the Solyundra folks to build cheaper panels or not to try. #2) Level the playing field by raising tariffs on imported goods to make the importers costs near to ours. This is a massive failing of the US policy concerning trade in general. Many of our import laws allowed cheap goods to flood our nation after the second world war in order to help the conquered nations to rebuild their economy. When you allow cheap imports to flood your market, you force the American companies to cut costs in order to compete. Now that may sound like a great thing, but you have to realize where management cuts first....jobs. They don't want to cheapen the quality of their product, so they decide they can be competitive by reducing their work force, thereby maintaining profits to their investors while continuing to produce their product at a slower scale. Next, of course, comes the reduction of quality. This occurs when they realize that by cutting the work force, they have reduced their ability to produce a quality product on the same scale as before they reduced the work force. It is a slippery slope that leads to the current economic situation. Heads will role, fingers will point, and the end result is that the American taxpayer will suffer again. Sort of like this debacle with the Marriott Hotel people. Unless this project is immediately halted and handed back to the investors, the end result will be the same. Taxpayers will get screwed.

On the Civic Center

Yes, I know, I've been off the radar for a while. Been busy trying to make the car thing work, but that is a topic for another blog. Lately there has a been a bit of a ruckus about the Civic Center and its propensity to lose money. As if this were something new. Hardly. CJ Summers did a rather extensive article last May in the Peoria Chronicle detailing the losses of the Civic Center, so there is no need to repeat it here. But the problem is not the Civic Center. How could it be, it's just a building. The problem is management and a lack of impetus to perform. The problem is SMG, Spectacor Management Group, a company founded in 1977 that manages many venues throughout the country, but can't seem to make the multimillion dollar Civic Center here in Peoria work. Could it be that this massive organization can afford to blow off the local needs as long as they continue to get their annual fees from our city fathers? Or could it be that they actually expect us to attend the events that are provided so that we can all contribute to the local economy and perhaps (God Forbid) make a profit? One thing for certain, the Civic Center expansion was ill timed. Embassy Suites in East Peoria, US Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington, and other competing venues seem to be attracting more and more of the money that was intended to come to Peoria. Why? Are they any closer to an airport than we are? No, we have an airport. Are they any easier to get to than we are? No, the 155 bypass made it as easy to get to Peoria as Bloomington from the south. So that leads me to believe that the problem is that SMG is not willing to adjust their rates to attract the acts we need to fill that arena, theater, and convention center with the events and performances that would attract those dollars to Peoria. One of the biggest draws for any arena in the area is Reba McIntire, who will be performing again this year in Bloomington. And there are many other concerts and events coming to Bloomington that should be in Peoria, IF SMG was willing to get competitive and go after them. Since the City Council has decided that we just can't afford to throw $37 million into a project that will apparently not do what we need it to, how about they keep the ball rolling and decide we can no longer afford to have SMG in charge of the Civic Center if it fails to fill it with attractions that will bring money to the economy?