Will IL GOP pick a Gov Candidate who thinks state employee & teacher pensions aren’t excessive & shouldn’t be cut? Watch downstate GOP GOV candidate Paul Schimpf make his case- in Rockford, Aurora and Chicago, cable and web (24/7). See below for details on the airing schedules.

Can Speaker Welch and the Dems win re-election to Gov in 2022 by promising voters, yet again, a big income tax increase?

–Tonight’s Rockford edition of Public Affairs airs at 8:30 pm on Cable Ch 17. It features Part 1 of our interview with GOP GOV candidate and former downstate senator Paul Schimpf (R-Waterloo).

Do career Illinois K-12 teachers receive the most generous pension benefits among their peers? Does the average pension benefit for Illinois state retirees = 71K? Is that what Wirepoints contends? Are they right? Does Candidate Schimpf disagree with Wirepoints? If he does, does he have the data to support that argument?

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You can also watch the Schimpf show 24/7 by clicking here.

For Schimpf to keep his promise not to cut IL state employee and teacher pensions, must he cut current and future education, healthcare or human services spending for decades? Or, some combination, thereto?

You can also watch the Schimpf show 24/7 by clicking here.

You can also watch Schimpf in Aurora on Cable Ch. 10, aka ACTV-10 this Saturday and Monday night at 6 pm.

And, you can watch GOP GOV Candidate Schimpf in Chicago this Saturday at 9:03 am on Cable Ch. 21 and on Sunday at 8:33 am on Cable Ch. 19.

You can also watch the Schimpf show 24/7 by clicking here.

Issues & topics for tonight’s show w/Lt. Col. Paul Schimpf (USMC, Ret.)

• Is there $300 Billion in IL unfunded retirement debt? Does Schimpf have a viable plan for IL to come up with that much money over the next 30 years to pay the pensioners?
• Does IL outspend its neighbors and the national average in K-12 Education? Is that level of spending appropriate?
• Is 26% of FY22 budget devoted to Education, 22% to Pensions, 17% to Healthcare, 17% to Human Services and 18% to Other? For Schimpf to keep his promise not to cut IL state employee and teacher pensions, must he cut current and future education, healthcare or human services spending for decades? Or, some combination, thereto? Isn’t that a budget reality?
• Do career Illinois K-12 teachers receive the most generous benefits among their peers? Does the average annual pension benefit for Illinois state retirees = 71K? Is that what Wirepoints contends? Are they right? Does Candidate Schimpf disagree with Wirepoints? Does he have the data to support that argument?

• If Wirepoints is right about the above, should IL Amend the IL Constitution to permit the IL legislature and the Governor to cut IL state employee and teacher pension benefits? If yes, can and should IL then proceed to cut government employee and teacher pension benefits?
• Are school choice-school vouchers an idea whose time has come? Schimpf says we should “look at that.” Is that sufficient for Republican Primary voters who support school choice to support Schimpf for Governor in IL in 2022?
• Would Schimpf as Gov have cut $2 Billion from each IL budget in last 4 year yrs & diverted those funds to State pensions? Would that policy fix IL’s pension mess if IL continued it for 30 yrs? How would Schimpf get a commitment from future Governors and IL legislatures to do that?
• Is Speaker Welch promoting an Income Tax Increase? Will his proposal Impact the Middle Class? The top 3% ? or everybody? Can Speaker Welch and Dems help Gov Pritzker win re-election to Governor in 2022 by promising middle class voters a big income tax increase?

A myriad of reasons has left the Illinois State football team thin in the defensive line heading into Saturday’s Missouri Valley Football Conference road game at defending national champion North Dakota State.

“It’s hard to recover from the losses we’ve had,” ISU head coach Brock Spack said Tuesday.

The 22nd-ranked Redbirds lost two key defensive linemen in last weekend’s 20-10 defeat at third-rated Northern Iowa. Redshirt freshman Jude Okolo and junior Jason Lewan each left the game with injuries. Okolo remains in concussion protocol while Lewan will miss not only the remainder of the spring season but also the fall with a foot injury, Spack said.

ISU had already lost All-American defensive end Romeo McKnight (transfer) and Stephen Podkulski (career-ending injury).

“We’ve also had guys that have decided to move on with life (and forgo remaining eligibility to pursue careers) and it’s just been hard to recover the roster spots with playing in the spring,” Spack added.

Next man up

“We’re trying to get our inexperienced players, the guys who haven’t played much or haven’t played at all, up to speed as fast as we can,” Spack said. “It’s just hard with the schedule that we have, the conference that we play in. It’s very difficult.”

A positive is that Illinois State has redshirt junior John Ridgeway in the middle of its defensive line. The Bloomington High School graduate leads the Redbirds with 13 tackles.

Ridgeway—an All-Missouri Valley Football Conference Honorable Mention selection in 2019—also has two tackles-for-loss, two quarterback hurries and an interception.

Senior Jacob Powell, who previously served as Rideway’s backup, has been shifted to defensive end.

Josh Dinga, a sophomore, took over when Lewan was injured and registered a sack.

True freshman D’Marco Cross and transfers Michael Gomez (Winona State) and Luke McCall (Ellsworth, Iowa Community College) should also get playing time in the ISU rotation.

Scouting North Dakota State

While the defending national champions aren’t at their accustomed No. 1 perch, the once-beaten Bison are still ranked No. 5 in this week’s Stats Perform poll.

North Dakota State (3-1, 2-1 in the MVFC) placed a league-best eight first-team picks on the preseason All-Missouri Valley Football Conference team. The Bison also featured four preseason All-Americans.

Couple ISU’s depth issues in the defensive line with NDSU’s traditionally solid running game, and one can expect the Bison to lean heavily on the ground game again Saturday.

The series

This is the 14th meeting between North Dakota State and Illinois State dating back to 2007. NDSU has won nine straight and leads the series 11-2 including a 9-3 home win in the 2019 national quarterfinals and a 37-3 regular season contest.

The Bison have held the Redbirds without a touchdown for nine quarters dating back to Oct. 20, 2018. ISU’s only win in seven previous trips to Fargo was in NDSU’s 2009 homecoming game, 27-24.

Winless start

The last time Illinois State opened its conference schedule with an 0-2 record was 2016.

However, the Redbirds rallied to win their final three league games that season and made the FCS playoff field with a 6-5 regular season record.

Where to find the game

Illinois State at North Dakota State kicks off at 2:30 p.m. Saturday. The game is on ESPN+ as well as WJBC AM 1230 / TuneIn.

We have control over ourselves −−−our thoughts, our words, our actions, and who we become. Some circumstances are certainly beyond us and we will never have command over such, but we do have the power to choose whether to restrain or to respond and how (if) we allow it to affect us. Blaming others only relinquishes our control and gives others authority over us. This is not self-control. Self-control must be mastered over one’s own soul. There are people, processes, and procedures that are unfair and will probably remain that way. If you can’t change it, don’t allow it to control you, but rather choose to rise above it.

We are instructed by the leftward-leaning media that President Joe Biden was at his compassionate best in last night’s nation-wide speech.

Unfortunately that misses the real news that he made: His presumption that a president from his White House perch can reach out thousands of miles to tell Americans who they should gather with and where.

On “Independence Day” of all things. It’s an irony that Biden (or more likely his script writers) missed.

Less funny and more scary was his threat that he would impose whose excessive COVID-19 restrictions if…well he didn’t exactly say, but it’s hard to miss that he’ll be the judge of that.

Dream on, Mr. President. Those of us who are fed up with a republic that over the past year has morphed into an autocracy run by an oligarchy will do what we damn well please.

If I choose to have a barbecue outside with unmasked relatives and friends, I will. And if it rains, I’ll bring the crowd inside. No matter how sincere and compassionate you work to appear, it’s not in your power to make such threats. Undoubtedly (if a reporter gets to ask) your directive will be “clarified” as mere guidance, as a suggestion. Try to reimpose those lockout restrictions I’m guessing Americans will tell you, “go to hell,” “kiss my ass” and even less subtle expressions of guidance.

By the way, surprise of surprises, the New York Times fact-checked Biden’s speech and found, well, (just a few) things wrong with it. At least the “truth is here” newspaper is trying to look like it intends to factcheck Biden.

President Joe (Plagiarizer) Biden cribs Trump

Note is taken here, but few other places, that President Joe Biden is riding on the COVID-19 train set in motion by ex-President Donald Trump.

If he were the least bit gracious and truly interested in “unity” (he isn’t), he would have mentioned, given a nod to, remarked about or footnoted that Trump deserves even a teeny, tiny credit for the vaccine on which America’s hopes now ride.

Instead, Biden (on his handlers) have declared Trump’s Operation Warp Speed to be words never spoken. Cancelled if you will. The credit for making available a safe–the invention, development, manufacture and distribution of–vaccine goes to Trump and his administration. Biden is less of a man for ignoring or trashing that critical work.

[email protected]

www.dennisbyrne.net 

My historical novel: Madness: The War of 1812

You may have heard Senator McConnell on the Senate floor preemptively taking credit for a resurgent economy and a pandemic on its last legs. In his version these were inevitable because of the great work under the previous administration. Biden is just riding the tide that started rolling in prior to January 20, 2021. Here are his exact words:

“For weeks every indicator has suggested our economy is poised to come roaring back with more job openings for Americans who need work. None of those trends began on January 20th. President Biden and his Democratic government inherited a tide that had already began to turn toward decisive victory. In 2020 Congress passed 5 historic bipartisan bills to save our health system, protect our economic foundations, and fund Operation Warp Speed to design vaccines….Senate Republicans led the bipartisan Cares Act that got our country through the last year. The American people already built a parade that’s marching toward victory. Democrats just are trying to sprint in front of the parade to claim credit.”

The “parade” McConnell imagines, if it existed, was hardly marching along. Like the Aesop’s racing Hare, it took quite a breather and decided to shift gears to idle for a long siesta.

This morning my wife and I went to Roseland Hospital for our second Pfizer shot. The hospital staff did yeoman work and in an hour, we were injected and out the door, proudly wearing our “I Got It” stickers.

We brought books along to while away the wait. My wife brought a Jacqueline Winspear mystery; I chose a translation of Marcus Cicero’s “How To Grow Old”. Don’t ask me why. I just did.

I had heard the above-quoted passage of McConnell’s Senate speech last night on the air. It struck me then as a typical Republican re-write of history, in this case, history we all have fresh in our memories and easy to fact check.

I never imagined the Roman stoic Cicero would provide a telling commentary on McConnell’s words. But I let you decide if he does. Here’s what Cicero wrote, the Latin translated by Philip Freeman. By the way, Quintus Fabius, was a famous Roman general remembered mostly for his delaying or dilatory tactics.

” Such vigilance and skill he [Fabius] displayed in recapturing Tarentum! I myself heard Salinator—the Roman commandeer who had lost the town and fled to the citadel—boast to him, ‘Quintus Fabius, you owe the retaking to me.’ The general laughed and said in reply,’That’s certainly true, since I wouldn’t have had to recapture it if you hadn’t lost it in the first place.'”

Perhaps, McConnell forgot who lost the town of Washington D.C. and fled to his citadel in Florida.

Playing an all-Missouri Valley Football Conference schedule this spring brings a different challenge each week for Southern Illinois.

The schedule also brings opportunity for the Salukis (3-1 overall, 2-1 MVFC), who are ranked No. 10 in this week’s STATS Perform national poll.

“When you keep winning big games, it allows you to keep playing in big games,” junior linebacker Bryson Strong said. “We’re excited more than anything.”

On Saturday at noon (ESPN+), SIU hosts No. 4 Northern Iowa, which brings the nation’s seventh-ranked scoring defense to Carbondale.

“They always play great defense,” SIU head coach Nick Hill said. “They play extremely hard. It’s going to be a huge challenge.”

In three games, the Panthers (2-1) have allowed only three touchdowns on defense. Only one of those scores has been on the ground.

The Salukis, on the other hand, have scored nine rushing TDs and are piling up 180.5 yards per game on the ground, which ranks third in the MVFC and 25^th nationally.

In addition, SIU averages a conference-leading 21.8 first downs per game.

They also have the biggest win in the nation this spring, beating then-No. 1 and defending national champion North Dakota State.

Despite their defensive prowess, UNI’s offense is ninth in the conference at 267 yards a game.

But when it comes to opponents, the Salukis are less concerned with the team across the sidelines each weekend.

“We’re pretty confident in what we do here, and we’re just going to keep trucking,” Strong said. “We worry about us.”

SIU offense on a roll

The SIU offensive attack is third in the MVFC with 27.2 points and 379.8 yards a game.

Sophomore running back Romier Elliott ranks second in the conference with 75.5 yards per game. He is averaging 4.8 yards a carry and has three rushing touchdowns.

Fellow sophomore Javon Williams Jr. is tied for the MVFC lead with five rushing touchdowns.

Quarterback Nic Baker, who is filling in for the injury Kare’ Lyles, has the second-best pass efficiency rating in the league (141.3). Baker’s favorite target, former high school teammate Avante Cox, ranks 12^th nationally with 355 receiving yards.

Beware in the air

Saturday’s game will showcase two of the nation’s top pass defenses.

SIU ranks fifth in the nation against the pass, allowing 106 yards per game. Senior cornerback James Ceasar leads the Salukis with six pass breakups.

 UNI ranks seventh nationally with 109 passing yards allowed. Eight different players have at least one pass breakup for the Panthers.

Where to find the game

The game will kick off at noon Saturday, March 13 in Carbondale and air on ESPN+. The radio broadcast is available at www.CILFM.com.

There are a lot of reasons why the Comedy Central animated series “South Park” has been on the air for so long. First and foremost, they’ve kept in strong since 1997 by keeping it real and topical. They evolve with the times, and focus on what’s trending at that given point.

Last season, they shifted their focus to the fictional Tegridy Farms, and made a new main character, in Stan Marsh. Tegridy is a marijuana farm, and their shifting to this topic is reflective of how big a boom these businesses are seeing. CBD, Hemp, so-called “pot stocks,” it’s a family of industries set to skyrocket. CBD Stocks could be a smart investment play this year.

For a broader view at the industry at large, you got to start at, pardon the obvious pun, grassroots level. Pure Hemp Farms is a premium grower of cannabis plants, established in 2015. That was one year after the Agricultural Act 2014 (farm bill) allowed the use of hemp on an experimental basis.  In 2018, the United States farm bill federally legalized hemp production and now they’re a firm that is very nicely positioned as more people have gone back to the Earth, so to speak, during this pandemic.

As has been well documented in mainstream media, individual farming is booming right now, as more of the population takes the social distance requirements outside. It’s important to distinguish that CBD and hemp are very different from marijuana in that they contain no psychoactive component.

In order for these products to be legal, they must not contain any THC (tetrahydracannabidol), the addictive agent in marijuana. With that in mind, you can feel safe and secure finding “growth” in this space. The multifarious healing powers of hemp and CBD have been well documented, and after a year like 2020, most of us could use some help easing our pains.

Yahoo Finance has a good list of 13 potential hemp stocks to buy right now, while Investment U has an article on the top three CBD stocks to watch in 2021. For further reading, the National Investment Council has more on the CBD and hemp revolution.

Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

I am a simple man
So I sing a simple song
I never been so much in love
And never hurt so bad at the same time

It’s 1971. Graham Nash has become one of the biggest rock stars in the world. A few years earlier, he left the Hollies and joined up to form a new band with David Crosby and Stephen Stills. Their first self-titled album is an all-time classic.

The threesome follows-up by adding Neil Young to the band which leads to another classic, 1970’s “Deja Vu.” The album sold more than eight million copies. Included were Nash legendary songs “Teach Your Children” and “Our House.”

The band was so big that concert promoter Bill Graham called them the American Beatles. What was next for the foursome? Solo albums! Stills and Young made new albums in 1970. In May of 1971, it was Graham Nash’s turn.

Writers tend to write about what they know. That’s exactly what Nash did in writing the songs that made up “Songs for Beginners.” His relationship with Joni Mitchell had come to end. The world was dealing with the war in Viet Nam and the presidency of Richard Nixon. Those topics dominate the tunes of “Song for Beginners.” It’s an album about politcal unrest and lost love. He even wrote songs for his bandmate Stills, who was dealing with his own romantic issues with singers Judy Collins and Rita Coolidge.

It wasn’t only the topics and lyrics that made this such a fine record. The melodies are very sweet. They stick in your head. Even if you don’t know the words, you can hum along to the song. When you add it all together, it leads to an excellent album.

When I listened to the album yesterday, I realized that it could have easily been produced in 2021 instead of 1971. The topics that were relevant than still are today. Who hasn’t had a romance that has gone bad? Even Nash himself, rebounded from Joni into a marriage that lasted more than thirty-five years….and then that ended. The names may be different but the songs still fit. As for the political tunes, let’s not rehash the last four years.

“Songs for Beginners” is an album that is timeless. If you liked it fifty years ago, you’ll like it today.

Related Post: Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young- Five decades of fighting

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Originally posted July 15, 2016

The American Civil Liberties Union is in business to defend the constitutional rights of all individuals.  There are other organizations to protect and defend the rights and lives of their members, as well as the general public.

The Anti-Defamation League, whose slogan is Imagine a World Without Hate, focuses on worldwide antisemitism, but has come to the defense of people of all ethnicities.

The Japanese American Citizens League was formed to secure and maintain the civil rights of Japanese Americans and all others who are victimized by injustice and bigotry.

There’s the Order Sons of Italy in America, Polish Falcons of America,  Greek America Foundation and hundreds of other organizations, all with like-minded purposes.

The fact that these organizations exist clearly demonstrates two things:

1.  Injustice and bigotry is a reality for many minorities.

2.  It’s inevitable that members of minority groups who feel that they are under attack band together to demand justice for themselves.

Why is it then, that the very name, Black Lives Matter is so infuriating?  Do we disagree with the basic premise?  Do we take exception with the idea that black lives matter?

Why was it necessary to immediately push back against the BLM movement with the thinly veiled message that All Lives Matter?

We should be at a place where all lives matter, but that isn’t always the case.  The religious Right is pro-life, right up until the time they’re born.

Then they’re on their own.

Saying that that all lives matter minimizes the vulnerability of those most at risk in our society.  It should go without saying that all lives matter.  The problem is that historical evidence refutes that claim.

When a self-appointed vigilante like George Zimmerman can get away with killing an unarmed teenager, then White America has lost the right to say that all lives matter.

When video after video shows black men killed for selling cigarettes or CDs or having a broken tail light, then we have to admit that black lives really don’t matter.

When a Chicago cop empties his gun into the prone body of teenager, we have to admit that there is a systemic failure to respect all lives.

We do not have to choose between respecting the lives of black men and supporting our police.  This is not the modern day version of Sophie’s Choice, nor is it a present day version of Thunderdome. 

One man does not have to die. The choice is not binary.

All lives will matter when we can actually live it.  All lives will matter when the scales of justice swing equally for all.

In the mean time, we could think about mothers knowing that every time their teenage sons walk out the door, they may not return. 

Repeatedly telling teenagers to be deferential WHEN (not if) they get stopped by police only goes so far.

Video evidence shows that being in full compliance with an officer’s requests may not save you.

Black lives matter.  If they don’t matter to you, they matter to them.  They matter to the wives and mothers and sons and daughters of black men.

Some friends in Skokie, Illinois asked why the protestors have to be so violent.  They get that black people are upset, but don’t think any of that anger should impact their White lives.

We are no longer a nation of empathetic people.  It’s always us or them. 

We don’t see why supporting the BLM movement is important to us as individuals and as a nation.

I also support local police departments, many of whose numbers I have on speed dial.  Just as most White Americans can’t imagine what it’s like to be Black, most civilians can’t imagine what it’s like to be a police cop.

For me there is no dichotomy, no choice to be made.  The police do a difficult and often thankless job.  They stand that blue line for us at mortal risk to themselves.  They deserve our support and our thanks.

In supporting our police though, we need to ask them to keep one thing in mind.  ALL LIVES MATTER.

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Despite its league-leading rusher being shaken up with an apparent injury in the first half, No. 3 North Dakota handled Western Illinois 38-21 in Missouri Valley Football Conference action Saturday in Macomb.

The Fighting Hawks, playing in their debut MVFC season, instead switched to the pass and built a 21-7 halftime lead. North Dakota rolled up 298 yards—211 passing—in building that advantage.

While UND’s Otis Weah left the game following a big hit by defensive back Bryce Cross, Fighting Hawks redshirt freshman quarterback Tommy Schuster riddled WIU with short passing routes and third-down conversions.

Schuster eclipsed the 300-yard passing mark for the first time in his career. The 2018 AP Prep Player of the Year in Michigan completed 29-of-37 throws for 328 yards and three touchdowns.

Weah did return to the field in the second half and scored his sixth touchdown of the season on a 12-yard run in which he broke four tackles on his way into the end zone. Weah finished the game with 99 yards on 17 carries.

North Dakota improved its record to 4-0. It was the first road win for the Fighting Hawks after three straight home victories this spring.

“It was new for a lot of our guys,” North Dakota head coach Bubba Schweigert said. “We had 17 guys that had never been on a trip, so we’re coming to a place they had never been to. A few of our coaches had been here because they had coached in the Valley. I thought our players handled the travel pretty well.”

UND stands atop the Missouri Valley standings heading into next Saturday’s showdown with defending national champion North Dakota State.

“It’s obviously a big game for us, we haven’t been in the same league for many years,” Schweigert said. “We’re looking forward to that. We’re trying to get our fifth win and it would be over a very good football team and a program that we have a lot of respect for.”

Western Illinois fell to 0-3.

Here are three things we learned:

1. WIU’s defense is on the field way too much

As the Leathernecks struggled on offense, North Dakota controlled the ball for more than two-thirds of the first half.

“We’ve got to do a better job on offense of staying on schedule,” WIU head coach Jared Elliott said in the postgame. “We’re not doing that consistently enough. Whether it’s an untimely penalty or just a lack of execution, all it takes is one play to get you off schedule.”

While WIU’s defense came up with some key run stops and pass break-ups at times, the Leathernecks just can’t spend that much time on the field. Tired players are more prone to missed tackles and a step slow on assignments.

Moreover, key defenders Justin Nutof and Eryk Preston also missed plays with injuries putting more pressure on the Leathernecks’ depth.

2. Third down continues to matter both ways

In the week’s runup to Saturday’s kickoff, Elliott talked about the importance of third down.

North Dakota converted 6-of-7 third down plays as it dominated first-half time of possession. That number includes a couple of third-and-long conversions when WIU players missed tackles that would have stopped the UND player short of the needed yardage.

The Fighting Hawks finished the day 8-for-11 on third down.

Meanwhile, Western’s offense continued its trend of struggling on third down. The Leathernecks entered the game converting just 26% of third downs; Saturday WIU went 3-for-9.

“That was the name of the game today for us on both sides of the ball,” Elliott said. “I know there were way too many third-and-long situations (for WIU). We’ve got to execute better.”

Certainly WIU is hampered by the loss of first-string running back DeShon Gavin who was hurt in the season opener. Since then, true freshman Iosefa Pua’Auli has shouldered the load. The Honolulu, Hawaii native scored both WIU touchdowns Saturday.

On the defensive side, Nutof said, “It’s devastating. You’ve got to get off the field on third down. You’ve got to be able to tackle. We didn’t do that today and that cost us a lot. It’s demoralizing.”

3. It won’t get easier from here on out

WIU has five games remaining in its spring conference-only schedule. Four of those contests will feature opponents that either are or have been ranked in the FCS Top 25 this season.

The Missouri Valley has five teams ranked in Top 10. Two of those teams are upcoming WIU opponents. The MVFC has seven teams in the most recent Top 25.

Playing from behind much of the season, Western has thrown the ball 68 percent of its offensive calls. Senior quarterback Connor Sampson completed 33-of-47 passes for 336 yards and a touchdown in Saturday’s loss.

Dennis Houston led WIU with eight catches for 108 yards. Dallas Daniels, six receptions for 50 yards, caught the fourth-quarter touchdown.

What’s next?

WIU travels to Normal to play in-state rival Illinois State Saturday, March 20.