Every legislative session has its own feel, and its own rhythm. This fall's veto session feels like death - in more ways than one.

One should never predict anything about what could happen in a veto session, but nothing big seems to be moving or percolating this fall.

With only one exception, the home of The Nutcracker in the Quad Cities has been the Capitol Theatre in downtown Davenport. "We love it there," said Joedy Cook, executive director of Ballet Quad Cities, the company that puts on the annual holiday production.

It's often scary to realize how quickly time passes. It seems a lot less than two years ago that I was composing a commentary to commemorate the River Cities' Reader's 300th issue. And the really frightening thing is that when I went back to look at what I wrote then, I had to trash my plans for this piece; I would have been repeating myself, in some cases nearly word-for-word.

Of all the November elections I have ever participated in, this is by far the most woeful in terms of candidates dealing with the issues that challenge America. The glaring lack of debates, surveys, interviews, and opportunities in general for the public to engage with the candidates exposes a strategy of nondisclosure on the part of the political parties' leadership.