Blogosphere

Not sure if any other local communities have had enterprising folks start something like this, but there is now a website called  Rantoul Journal featuring various items about Rantoul.  It will be interesting to see how it goes.  The community events page alone makes it valuable.

From gnightgrl's blog on the 3rd season of the project:

What is most important about this update, and what continues to amaze me is this: I received the names of 27 soldiers this week that wanted beanies or could use a care package or a letter from home. I put out a shout out with that fact on Facebook, and enough people stepped forward that there was a care package heading out to each of those names...in 2 hours' time. Cookies and letters were mailed that same day!

I have always told the soldiers on our mailing list that people here want to do something to help out, and that all we need is a little direction: A name, an address will usually do it. I will be proud to be able to send them yet another letter telling them about the great 2-hour accomplishment, and that "we mean it, now! Give us your name and tell us what you need!"

There are soldiers out there busting their asses in desert heat, missing their families, and checking empty mailboxes.

We can't have that.

I have names. I have addresses. I have suggestions.

ljstewart@gmail.com

Hit me up. I'll help you help.

If you're unfamiliar with this project, check out their website at http://www.toys-for-troops.com/ and see it for yourself.

"Public Health" would probably be a better category, but it hasn't been created yet.  Any chance you can add it to the list, Gordy?

From our friends at CapFax:  http://doihaveswineflu.org

WILL has a reading of the Gettysburg address by a number of people in C-U, including local blogger GNightgirl.  It's very moving.

http://www.conferences.uiuc.edu/bythepeople/Video%20Clips/1863-GettysburgQT-arial_BY%20the%20People%20H264.mov

SmilePolitely.com, a local online magazine, interviewed me for their regular series profiling local bloggers, and the article is up today.

My favorite part, indulging a bit of ego:

As he looks back on the history of the site, Hulten’s warmest memory is breaking the Chief Illiniwek retirement story. “I had a couple of people that tipped me off about 24 hours early that the Board of Trustees was going to announce that they were going to retire Chief Illiniwek,“ Hulten related. “The funny thing for me was that all my friends that are regular reporters, that write for the Tribune and all these papers across the state, were trying to get ahold of me to find out who my sources were.

“And it was just nice to be first and to say, ‘I don’t need to run this by an editor, I don’t need to reveal my sources,‘ I can just run with it with absolute certainty that it’s going to happen, and I was right.“

There's also a little bit about the News-Gazette in there, and why I think they're so invaluable to the community and to IP.com.

Thanks to Joel Gillespie and SmilePolitely.com for the article.

The UI's Institute of Government and Public Affairs has been trying for the past few years to carve out a more visible niche for itself in Illinois politics and government.  They've been actively soliciting input on how to better deliver their research and materials online, for example (but they inexplicably still don't use RSS, even for their press releases...). 

Given that, overzealousness like this seems very counterproductive.

On the following pages, you will find summaries of IGPA's examination of eleven critical concerns facing the state, which comprise the chapters in this publication. You also will see video presentations from an author of each chapter summarizing their findings, and a link to a PDF version of the chapter for you to review. Use the navigation to the right to go directly to an individual chapter.   Opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of the Institute
or the University.

You are allowed to download one PDF copy of each chapter for your personal use. However, reprinting or distribution of these articles and photographs without the authorization of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs is strictly prohibited.

Please obtain permission by contacting:

Director of Communications
Institute of Government and Public Affairs
University of Illinois
1007 W. Nevada
Urbana, IL 61801

It's online, it's free, and it's a PDF.  They should be sharing it, inviting people to blog about it, email it, and discuss it.  They should just use a Creative Commons license so that people can use what they want with attribution. 

If they want to have influence, their consumers and audience need to be able to share their information, and stupid restrictions like this discourage it.

(Hat tip: CapFax.)

SmilePolitely.com, a local online news/commentary site, is looking for inauguration reactions from IP.com readers and commenters.

Local on-line magazine Smile Politely is compiling a collection of local perspectives on the significance of the inauguration of President Obama, as
well as expectations and hopes for his first term as president.

If anyone wants to provide a few lines or a paragraph as a local perspective, add a comment here by Monday afternoon, and we'll include what we can for the Tuesday article.  Note that we can't include anonymous postings.

Post yours in comments, and they said they'd grab a few of them later this afternoon.

As for my own cheesy reaction? 

I couldn't be more proud.  It's easy to forget just how rare the peaceful transfer of political power is, yet in America it happens all of the time, from the lowest office in the land to the highest, even after elections contested as hotly as this one was.  A Presidential inauguration is the final act of a two-year electoral process in which we, the people, choose our executive leadership.  While I'm not thrilled that Obama won, I am hopeful that he'll be wildly successful as President, as his successes are now the country's successes, and we could use a few of them right now. 

Take a moment today to review some of the great inaugual addresses (and the circumstances in which they were given), and take a few moments tomorrow to watch the ceremony in Washington.  It really is quite remarkable, and the very fact that we can witness such a ceremony is something for which we should all be grateful.

The Quad is a blog focused on UIUC, and has been around for quite some time, but I've just discovered it.  Check it out.

Seems our dearly beloved, quite possibly insane governor is the...inspiration...for a minor-league hockey team's theme night.  What's the theme, you ask?  Why, prison garb of course.  By way of SPORTSbyBROOKS (the overall site's pretty close to NSFW), comes the following:  "The uniforms will feature broad, horizontal black and white stripes and a prison issue number that begins "ILLGOV" with the last two characters representing a specific player's regular uniform number."  Simply fantastic.

Happy weekend everyone!

HG

From FiveThirtyEight.com comes a pretty depressing story on the McCain campaign's GOTV efforts in Missouri and the surrounding states.  Low numbers of staff, poorly led staff, and so on paint a depressing picture of the effort McCain is putting into GOTV efforts.  Also depressing is the complete lack of McCain and Republican press secretaries being willing to even talk to FiveThirtyEight.com's people.  I know the guy(s) running it are liberals; does that automatically disqualify them from getting any response or access?  The site is pretty freakin' sweet, and is a tremendous resource for everyone, for everyday people and for campaign operatives.  Why thumb your nose at them, for no apparent gain?  Money quote: 

Let’s be clear. We've observed no comparison between these ground campaigns. To begin with, there’s a 4-1 ratio of offices in most states. We walk into McCain offices to find them closed, empty, one person, two people, sometimes three people making calls. Many times one person is calling while the other small clutch of volunteers are chatting amongst themselves. In one state, McCain’s state field director sat in one of these offices and, sotto voce, complained to us that only one man was making calls while the others were talking to each other about how much they didn't like Obama, which was true. But the field director made no effort to change this. This was the state field director.

Emphasis in original.  Back to Missouri real quick:  the state went for Bush by about 7% in 2004.  That's really enough margin to play with?

HG

In lieu of recent events on this blog and in the larger political community, and with an eye to the intense political debates that will no doubt be occurring in the next two months, I have decided to coin a term that may be helpful to us all.  That term is "partisan dissonance".  I'd suggest using the acronym PD in parenthesis as a citation.

It is my belief that this term has not been used before, which may make me something of a linguistic pioneer, though I do not claim to be as brilliant as Noam Chomsky (PD) in this area.

What is partisan dissonance?  It is a phenomena in which two intelligent members of society view an event, an idea, or the written word in two completely different ways because of their political beliefs.  I will now cite a few examples of this phenomenon to better illustrate the point (note: these are fictional examples):

PARTISAN DISSONANCE EXAMPLE A:

Partisan 1: Barack Obama has no experience at all and is completely unprepared to be President.
Partisan 2: Obama has a large number of experiences which make him well qualified to be president, including his legal career, his time in the Illinois State Senate, his experience as a US Senator, and his leadership during his campaign.  How can you not see how experienced he is?  It is so obvious!
Partisan 1: None of these experiences are sufficient to show that he is prepared to be President.  He did nothing when he had these jobs, so he doesn't have the qualifications to be president.  How can you possibly think someone so inexperienced actually has enough experience to be president?  It is so obvious that he doesn't!
Partisan 2: Oh yeah?  Well Sarah Palin was in the PTA and then the mayor of a town the size of Hoopeston.  Sure she is a governor, but only for a year-and-a-half and that state is one of the smallest in the country.  Obviously she is completely unprepared to be vice-president!
Partisan 1: What are you talking about?  She is a governor and therefore has more executive experience than Obama.  If anything she is more qualified to be president than he is!

At this point, further discussion of these points is useless.  This is an unfortunate case of partisan dissonance.

PARTISAN DISSONANCE EXAMPLE B:

Partisan 1: I can't believe we've had to suffer through eight years of conservative rule.  It is time for a change!
Partisan 2:  What are you talking about?  Sure we've had eight years of George W. Bush, but he isn't a conservative.  If anything, he is more liberal than conservative.  Just look at the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan, or NCLB.  Obviously these are not the creations of a real conservative.  What we really need this year is a return to traditional conservativism.
Partisan 1:  What planet are you living on?  Are you really saying that a president who slashed taxes for the richest Americans and deregulated almost every federal agency is not a conservative?  You're nuts!
Partisan 2:  I'm nuts?  You don't even know what conservativism is.  Please provide 25-50 concrete examples of the "conservative" decisions Mr. Bush has made so I can refute them all.
Partisan 1:  I'm not going to bother listing all of the things that Bush had done that can be considered conservative.  You should provide 50-100 examples of "liberal" decisions made by Bush so I can refute then all!

At this point, further discussion of these points is useless.  This is an unfortunate case of partisan dissonance.

PARTISAN DISSONANCE EXAMPLE C:

Partisan 1:  The media is biased against Republicans.  It is obvious from the way they treated Sarah Palin.  They hate Republicans and are determined to make sure McCain doesn't win this election.  I am disgusted by the media!
Partisan 2:  The media is biased against Democrats.  Look at the way they are fawning over Sarah Palin.  Obviously these people want to make sure their corporate boss's party (the GOP) wins.  I am disgusted by the media!

At this point, further discussion of these points is useless.  This is an unfortunate case of partisan dissonance.

PARTISAN DISSONANCE EXAMPLE D:

Partisan 1:  Sarah Palin's speech was so negative and full of lies.
Partisan 2:  Palin's speech wasn't negative or full of lies.  She was telling it like it is!  She is a pit bull with lipstick on and you have no right to call her a liar.  You're a sexist pig.
Partisan 1:  Well, the Democrats would have never given a speech that stretched the truth like Palin did.  And she made fun of community organizers!  What is wrong with her?  Does she hate America?
Partisan 2:  She was not making fun of community organizers!  She was just pointing out, in her pit-bull-with-lipstick way, that Obama thinks he is ready to be president because of his experience as a community organizer.  Obviously you don't understand politics.  There is a big difference between criticizing a candidate or a party's experience and criticizing an entire group of people.
Partisan 1:  No there's not!  She was totally making fun of community organizers!  And why wouldn't she?  Did you see that there were only like three minorities at the entire convention?  Republicans have a major race problem, so "community organizers" are obviously fair game.
Partisan 2:  What?  You just called me a racist!  How dare you say I am a racist.  Why do you hate Republicans so much?
Partisan 1:  I didn't call you a racist, I said your party has a race problem.  Though I would add that several Republicans are now using racial terms to try to bring down Obama.  But that doesn't mean you are a racist!  There is a big difference between criticizing what the party does and criticizing an entire group of people.
Partisan 2:  No there's not!  You are calling all Republicans racist!

At this point, further discussion of these points is useless.  This is an unfortunate case of partisan dissonance.

Researchers have yet to find a cure for partisan dissonance.  Until that day, psychologists believe sufferers should band together to share their experiences with this disease.  Maybe if we all work together to listen to each other's struggles with PD we can make the difference in the spread of this horrible disease.  And maybe, just maybe, our children won't be forced to suffer as we have.

I'd like to make this thread a place for those us who suffer from PD to share our stories, our struggles, and our triumphs.  From one sufferer to another, I say welcome!

Toys for Troops is gearing up for another outstanding effort, and they need help:

When U.S. soldiers are injured on-duty, they are fl own, via MedEvac, to The Warrior Transition Battalion in Fort Gordon, GA. Family Services there contact the spouses and parents, and arrange for them to meet their loved ones stateside. The family members are often distraught, and leave home without remembering to bring baby’s favorite teddy bear, or their own toothbrushes. They face hours in waiting rooms before they get a chance to see their soldier or to talk to physicians.

We hope to make the arrival and the time in those waiting rooms a little more comfortable for these family members. We will supply the WTB with 200 bags, fi lled with nonperishable food, toiletries, and toys and activities to occupy both the adults and the children.

After our fi rst shipping we will maintain that inventory as needed. There are currently 420 soldiers at the WTB in Fort Gordon, with 3 infl uxes a week.

We hope that you’ll join us!

They're doing a "Care Pack" event on Sunday, September 21 at 2 PM at the Chanute Air Museum in Rantoul, and at various other locations.  There's lots more information here, and I'm sure that local blogger Gnightgirl, who founded Toys for Troops, will have ongoing updates on her blog and on the TFT website.

Please help out if you can.

I am often accused of posting talking points from John McCain.  I usually just laugh it off, given my differences with McCain on so many issues, and the fact that I've never actually gotten any talking points from him.

Now, though, he's got this strange "Spread the Word" thing on his campaign website (click on image at right for a larger screenshot), in which he's encouraging people to post his daily talking points to various blogs. 

Help spread the word about John McCain on news and blog sites. Your efforts to help get the message out about John McCain's policies and plan for the future is one of the most valuable things you can do for this campaign. You know why John McCain should be the next President of the United States and we need you to tell others why.

Select from the numerous web, blog and news sites listed here, go there, and make your opinions supporting John McCain known. Once you’ve commented on a post, video or news story, report the details of your comment by clicking the button below. After your comments are verified, you will be awarded points through the McCain Online Action Center.

I have no idea why they think this is a good idea, or what the "points" awards are good for.  IlliniPundit.com is listed with "conservative" blogs, and I have no idea why we're listed at all and, say, IllinoisReview or McLean County Pundit aren't.

Honestly, I had no idea this existed until CapFax posted about it today, and I do want to echo his warning. 

I’ve said this many times before, but now that I’m on some target list it’s worth repeating: Please, don’t post canned DC talking points on this blog.

I hate DC talking points more than just about anything in the world.

If I catch you posting these talking points from McCain’s site, I’ll delete your post and probably put you on the “hold for approval” list. And the same goes for Obama’s stuff. Thanks.

I'm not really into comment moderation or deletion, but if someone is repeatedly copy-and-pasting talking points from McCain or Obama (or anyone else) on here, then that's a pretty shallow corruption of the whole idea of community discussion we're trying to foster on here.  Our readers and commenters are the most politcally aware people in this part of Illinois, so if you can't think of something original to say, pasting crap like this isn't going to persuade anyone, so please don't do it.

Thanks.

http://online.wsj.com/article/declarations.html

"Mr. Wright seems to me to be part of the great "barbaric yawp," as Walt Whitman called the American people fighting, discussing, making things and living. I like the barbaric yawp. I don't enjoy it when it makes me wince, but at least when I am wincing, I know the yawp is working."

My brother-in-law's new(er) blog got some nice coverage in one of his local newspapers.

They even linked to him.  Must be nice.  ;-)

UPDATE:  And their new blog gets even more mainstream media love, and there's even a mention of this site.  They're off to a great start!

My brother-in-law has a new(er) blog that discusses Madison County (down by St. Louis) politics.  They're having nursing-home-related issues.

Billy Joe Mills at Urbanagora reports that Governor Rod Blagojevich is a closet Dallas Cowboys fan.  The reasons for a recall keep rolling in. 

Kiyoshi is leaving journalism for politics.

Some interesting reactions this morning.  Excerpts:

It's Matt's World

It's Hillary. I'll admit to being surprised, along with a lot of other people. Clinton deserves kudos for coming back from behind after Iowa. I still think she'd be a terrible candidate in the general election. She does well among Democrats, but not with independents or wavering Republicans (unlike Obama), which is crucial to look at when thinking of the general election.

Analog Periphery

For the Democrats, Obama is virtually their next Jack Kennedy in his charisma and message. Edwards offers a strong populist stance for the little guy. Hillary just offers you the 1990s.

My Pet Goat (AKA wayward)

It was a little disappointing, but not too bad.

moon_grrl

There's still a lot more primaries to go, so I'm not going to despair and give up on the rest of humanity just yet. I hope that my Lemming Theory of Primary Voting doesn't hold true this time (Namely, that once a candidate is seen as "THA BEEEEG WINNAH AND THA SURE BET!", stupid people who don't think much about things other than, say, who's winning on Survivor will mindlessly vote their way).

I'm also not going to think about the fact that the Democratic winner of the New Hampshire primary usually goes on to be the nominee.

Damn you, rank and file Democrats. Now I'm going to be indgestive, gassy, and crabby for the rest of the month.

Any others I've missed?

I'll be making an appearance on an Illinois GOP Network version of Blog Talk Radio tomorrow night at 8 PM, no doubt discussing New Hampshire and how awful my predictions were. 

I've never done anything like this before, so please keep that in mind when I make a fool of myself.  I have no idea if you can listen live, nor do I have any idea why anyone would want to.