It was dreary that day before the November election, and it was not a good day for my 83-year-old father. He had been told following eye surgery that he might lose the sight in his left eye - bad news for someone whose sharp mind and wit are fueled by reading newspapers cover-to-cover and watching every news program he can.
Something really stinks at CMS. The latest scandal to hit the powerful Illinois Department of Central Management Services (CMS) revolves around a lucrative contract to manage health-care costs for tens of thousands of state workers and their families.
There is a lot of discussion going on today regarding the images of American atrocities coming out of Iraq. Discussions regarding who is to be held accountable, whether it is the active-duty troops, the Army Reserve, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, or President Bush himself.
Part of me cheered when Governor Rod Blagojevich took a shot at Chicago Mayor Richard Daley last week. In case you haven't heard, last Monday, Daley announced that he wanted a huge, land-based, city-owned casino.
It is no secret that I am a big fan of Dan Carmody. And with good reason. His leadership as president of the Rock Island Economic Growth Corporation (RIEGC) and its sister organization, the Development Association of Rock Island (DARI), over the past decade has resurrected Rock Island's downtown and surrounding neighborhoods, placing Rock Island on top for successful, innovative community revitalization, which includes the historic residential Broadway District just south of the renowned downtown entertainment District.
It used to be that theologians would waste their time arguing about how many angels could dance on the head of a pin. Now it appears the discussion has swung to what political party Jesus would belong to. (How would Jesus vote?) I have been following with minimal interest the ongoing discourse in theolitics.
There's always a soap opera at the Illinois statehouse, but this year's version is a bit crazier than usual. Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan is killing off Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich's proposals left and right.

Nightline Snub

Sinclair Broadcast Group on April 29 ordered its eight ABC affiliates to pre-empt April 30's Nightline broadcast of the reading of the names of U.S. military personnel killed in Iraq, saying the program is "motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq.
The war in Iraq has become also a war of images. A few weeks ago, we were troubled by pictures of tortured Iraqi prisoners. Earlier, it was photographs of American soldiers who have given their lives there. On April 30 on Nightline, Ted Koppel read the names of the dead and showed their photographs.
At first blush, the proposal from the Isle of Capri and the City of Bettendorf for financing an expanded hotel, a new parking garage, and a convention center seems ludicrous. Less than half of the money for the project would come from the casino, with the rest of the funding coming from the city and the Scott County Regional Authority (SCRA).

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