27 comments

1. Comment by Ed Pevonka on November 7, 2008 at 2:19 pm

   How about a game that my mother used to play. Each reader lists the 5 greatest things that have occurred in their lifetime. ( she used to ask for 10 buts lets keep it simple. Some may varry by age but lets see what others list)

   My mothers were

   The end of the Great Depression
   The End of WW I
   The End of WW II
   The Polio Vacination
   Man walking on the moon

   Mine would be

   The invention of television.
   Man walking on the moon
   Invention of the intenet
   The 1964 civil rights act
   The invention of the personal computer

   Lets see what others say or will list. By the way there is a point to this ” game” she used to play which you may or may not find interesting at the end. Lets get everyone’s list then I will explain.

2. Comment by Kay Shelton on November 8, 2008 at 8:26 am

   Mine are:

   Man walking on the moon
   Personal computers
   The Berlin Wall coming down
   The freeing of Nelson Mandela
   Cancer treatment breakthroughs

   I am adding five more that I think will be thought of as great things in the future:

   Solar panels
   Breakthroughs for amputees which tap directly into the brain to control robotic equipment
   Microfinance
   Wind farms
   Electric cars

3. Comment by yinn on November 8, 2008 at 8:49 am

   Man on the moon
   End of Vietnam War
   Breakup of Soviet Union
   Information Age innovations/access
   Election of an African-American U.S. president

   I actually had to whittle down the list from 10, which originally had included Nixon’s visit to China, eradication of smallpox, SALT, the Camp David Accords, and the Mir Space Station. The 5 remaining represent developments that have had the most impacts personally, and particularly emotionally.

   The single greatest impact came from the fall of the Berlin Wall. More than anything else, this event made me evaluate everything I had previously thought impossible.

4. Comment by Wishful thinker on November 8, 2008 at 9:43 am

   I’d actually change up the game myself and really make it interesting.

   Things we’d love to see in our lifetime:
   I’m going to keep it local but you can go universal,

   1. DeKalb without Home Rule.
   2. Government living within our means and not their desires.
   3. School districts combining as one to eliminate adminstration costs.
   4. Real estate taxes that actually decrease.
   5. A city staff that actually realize they work for us.

5. Comment by Kay Shelton on November 8, 2008 at 11:02 am

   I second everything Wishful Thinker has and add some:

   1. The next set of political criminals in Illinois punished with their very own rooms in the pokey

   2. An end to user fees tacked on to everything:
   A. Going to a bank and paying fees to get one’s own money out
   B. Luggage fee
   C. Verizon’s $5 a month fee “short fall” for not spending enough on long distance (I am calling those weasels ASAP and canceling). Yes, they are charging me because I did not spend money.
   D. Etc., etc.

   3. If the Berlin Wall can come down, then anything is possible, so: Some level of relative peace in the Middle East

   3. A return to decent entertainment without making someone like Paris Hilton a ‘celebrity’

   4. An end to gangs and gang violence

   5. No more unnecessary wars

6. Comment by Ginger on November 8, 2008 at 5:08 pm

   Space Program

   Personal computers

   Internet

   Berlin Wall/end of Cold War

   Election of an African-American president

7. Comment by Mac McIntyre on November 8, 2008 at 5:57 pm

   Game 1:
   1) Assassinations: JFK, RFK, MLK
   2) Technology advancements
   3) Wars without formal, constitutional Declarations of War
   4) Sept 11
   5) The unfolding evolution from a profit-based to a service-based economy

   Game 2:
   1) The end of Dumbing Down
   2) An inclusive society
   3) What Wishful Thinker said
   4) Global understanding of the World Family
   5) Rebirth of personal religion

8. Comment by yinn on November 8, 2008 at 7:02 pm

   I see one of us used a different definition of “greatest” than others.

9. Comment by yinn on November 8, 2008 at 7:03 pm

   I want to mention that the Women’s Center got its chimney rebuilt and the furnace is working fine.

10. Comment by Ivan Krpan on November 9, 2008 at 9:20 am

    I have a question that is just a bit off topic but…

    I was born in this country to Croatian immigrants thus I am referred to as an American-Croatian. My parents are referred to as Croatian-Americans.

    Why is it African-American for all who are black? Why is Obama not considered an American-African? He was born here in the states, right?

    Please help clarify this for me.

    Thanks.

11. Comment by Kay Shelton on November 9, 2008 at 9:31 am

    Ivan, that is the first time I heard anyone using American-Croatian. I always heard it the other way around, with the home country first, and the second country second, as though the words are in chronological order of the family history. As in:

    Irish-American
    German-American
    African-American

12. Comment by yinn on November 9, 2008 at 10:13 am

    Nothing’s off-topic in an open thread!

    As I understand it: If you, or one or both parents, were born in another country but are Americans now, it’s as Kay said: country/continent of origin first, then American. If you and your parents were all born here, you are an American of Croation (or Kenyan or German or European or African) extraction. But, me saying I’m American of European extraction or ancestry is kind of unwieldy and I’d probably go for Euro-American even if that is less precise, because everyone would know what I meant. So I’m guessing that the preference for African-American is for the same reason.

    Obama, then, is African-American by its strictest definition.

    Also I would like to interject that I have occasionally been told by people that they prefer “black” to “African-American” exactly because of the inaccuracy, so I tend either to say “black” or to use the two terms interchangeably.

    I observe that some are now using the abbreviation AA, at least in writing, but I feel that could be confusing because of the usual meaning of AA.

    Which reminds me, has anyone else seen the entry for Alcohaaaaaal Rehab in the new Verizon phone book? Is that for real or a major typo?

13. Comment by Ed Pevonka on November 9, 2008 at 4:27 pm

    O

14. Comment by Ed Pevonka on November 9, 2008 at 4:27 pm

    O

15. Comment by Ed Pevonka on November 9, 2008 at 4:27 pm

    O

16. Comment by Ed Pevonka on November 9, 2008 at 4:40 pm

    OPEN THREAD WRAP UP

    I tried to pull out from the responses the greatest ” events’ that each of us list as occurring in our lifetime. Including my parents generation they included

    End of WWI
    End of Great Depression
    End of WWII
    Man walking on the moon
    Invention of the Internet ( technology boom)
    Invention of the PC ( directly related to the space program)
    Eradication of Small Pox
    Polio Vacination
    Signing of SALT Treaty
    Space Programs
    Camp David Meetings

    ALL OF THE ABOVE OCCURRED WHILE A DEMOCRAT WAS IN THE WHITE HOUSE

    Other events listed included
    Fall of the Berlin Wall
    Break up of the Soviet Union
    Freeing of Nelson Mandela
    Election of Barack Obama

    Occurred while a Republican occupied the White House.

    Who has the bigger list?

    HEY it was just a boring weekend with little else to post.

    Pevo

17. Comment by Mark Kahle on November 9, 2008 at 8:12 pm

    Hello All,

    I would like to inform you all, as if it was a secret anyways, but I am going to start moving in the direction, of running against Victor Wogen in the 3rd Ward, when his position comes up.

    I am going to need alot of help in this, and I want to set aside time over the next few years, to bone up on current events, the plight of the current city council, and to see what people in my ward think.

    Their needs, their wants and desires, granted not everything can be completed, and I don’t know who all will be running for council in the 3rd ward, and yes I know its quite a long way off, till the election in this ward will be held, however I think with the proper help, and the ideas from various people in this blog, as well as others I think I can run a very successful and respectful campaign.

    Mac, I would like to lean on you heavily on this, as well as Herb, and others as I respect your opinions, and thoughts, and I think that with the proper people helping me I can become victorious in the next election.

    So I ask, am I barking up the wrong tree, or can I with help actually have a chance of not only running but winning.

    Granted I know Kay ran in the last election , however I am not sure if she will be running in the next election, so I don’t want to split votes 3 ways or more, but again I think I have the passion and time required to do the job correctly.

    Please let me know

    Contact me at

    m_kahle@comcast.net

    or by my cell phone 630-217-5150

18. Comment by Kay Shelton on November 9, 2008 at 8:17 pm

    Shall we arm wrestle for it? I saved all my signs. They are in the attic.

19. Comment by Kay Shelton on November 9, 2008 at 8:28 pm

    P.S. Mark, for God’s sakes, run for school board in April, too.

20. Comment by Mark Kahle on November 9, 2008 at 9:02 pm

    me on the school board?….you serious?

    And yes arm wrestle sounds good, and I can get signs printed up for darn near notta…

    Less you forget I deal with the printing industry..=0)

21. Comment by Ginger on November 9, 2008 at 11:11 pm

    Can one of you please move into the 4th ward and run? ;o)

22. Comment by Kay Shelton on November 10, 2008 at 12:33 am

    I feel sorry Ginger; the one from Ward 4 never met a tax she didn’t like.

23. Comment by Mark Kahle on November 10, 2008 at 6:52 am

    I have considered a move recently, however in this day and age, its not as easy to sell a home, for what you would want for it…lol…

    And I agree the one from the 4th ward, never met a tax she didn’t like, and the one from the third, never met a tax he understood the implications of….

    So its a yes vote all around…isn’t it fun!!..=0)

24. Comment by Mac McIntyre on November 10, 2008 at 9:54 am

    Mark… I’ll be sending you an email but I wanted to say publicly that I think its great that you are wanting to increase your involvement. I’m a 3rd warder so I have special interest in the candidates for that seat on the council. I won’t be a candidate. I have thought about that City Clerk job though. $60k and benefits to be a professional whistle blower… hmmm… and paid vacations… hmmmm… I could promise that the time in closed session meetings would be dramatically shortened… hmmm… but with the job market like it is I suspect that a lot of qualified people will give that some thought… and that would be a good thing, too. Get informed. Get involved. (in that order)

25. Comment by Herb Rubin on November 10, 2008 at 10:06 am

    I’m puzzled. Wogen’s seat is not up for another two and a quarter years, am I correct.

    Anyway the more people get involved the better off we all are. More power to anyone who seeks an elected office as often office holding is a thankless task.. What ever technical help i can give is willingly given.

    I’m a 5th warder so don’t get involved in the nitty gritty electoral stuff elsewhere but love to play devil’s advocate on policy questions and actually have spent more time talking issues with those with whom I disagree then with those with whom I agree. We can learn from one another.

    herb

26. Comment by Anonymous on November 10, 2008 at 6:35 pm

    Have Wogen explain how TIF works and be sure to YouTube it.

27. Comment by Mark Kahle on November 11, 2008 at 9:50 am

    Herb, yes Wogen’s Seat is not up for a long time, however it took seconds after the election to realize he was not the right choice, for me personally it was well before the election for me to realize he was the wrong choice, and I voiced my opinion as loud as I could beforehand.

    However to get things straight, get myself educated well, and to make sure I am up to the task , its better to start early than to hold off to the final seconds.

    So this gives me plenty of time, to do what is required to make sure I can take over the position, should the people of my ward elect me.

    I never do anything half assed, and if I run, I want to make sure I have a good support team around me.

    Mac, I look forward to the email, and I hope to get in touch with you soon. Herb I also look forward to your advice, as I respect both of you immensely

    Mark

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