2013 in review

Well, like everyone else I will look back at 2013 for the good and the bad;
both personally and in general.

Personally there were some good things. I have decided to lose some
significant weight and have started on that journey. I have lost about
15-20 lbs already and plan to lose more in the coming year. I have already
noticed better energy and just a better feeling about myself.

How have I done this? I have changed my diet, gotten more exercise and have
been drinking more water. I've also learned that weight loss is a life-long
journey, not just something you do to get to a certain goal and then
abandon. I belong to a health club and sought out resources there and found
their Healthy People class. The instructor is willing to work with me which
makes this a pleasurable experience. I also have a support network through
other members of the group. Tracking calories and macro-nutrients such as
carbs, fat, and protein also give me a picture of how I am eating and where
I need to make changes.

Another achievement is being elected as secretary of the Illinois Council of
the Blind (ICB), something I had not considered in the past due to
challenges I did not think I could overcome. One challenge was removed
which made this a more interesting option for me.

I continue to work on controlling my emotions in leadership and other
situations. This is definitely a work in progress and something that will
take time to build upon.

As for general good things, I still have a job which is something a lot of
people cannot say. My family is also healthy, something which is also a
blessing.

Are there bad things? You bet. One of these for me personally is seeing
the effort to form a statewide organization for Illinois' Deaf-Blind
community go down due to lack of involvement and other factors. The
handwriting was on the wall and I finally saw it and made the tough decision
to end the effort. It was not a decision I wanted to make; but it was a
necessary decision. This was a lesson in leadership that not all decisions
are easy to make nor are they always the ones you as a leader want to make.

Some of the bad things in general include the acquittal in the Zimmerman
case which aroused the gun nuts and said to young black men that you had
better stay in your own neighborhood because if you are caught in a place
where you "don't belong", bad things are going to happen to you.

Other bad things include ObamaCare which should be called the Unaffordable
Care Act rather than the Affordable Care Act. The website was the first
disaster for this law but was not the only disaster; and there are more
disasters coming for 2014. If a private company did even half of the things
that have been done in the name of ObamaCare, they would be out of business
at the very least. When will people learn that government cannot be trusted
to take over 1/6 of the economy?

We also had the Navy Yard shooting where once again signals were missed by
the military. When will they learn to weed out mental misfits who have
potential for violence?

We also had the stonewalling on Benghazi; The IRS intimidation of
conservative groups; The Syria debacle where Pudin of Russia played Obama
like a drum and more. It was not a good year in Washington for sure.

Springfield was not much better as there were no initiatives to grown the
state economy and any attempt to fix the pension problem will be tied up in
court for years due to the state Constitution. When will we elect
politicians who have a basic knowledge of economics and how business works?

My look at 2014 will follow in a couple of days. Happy New Year to all.

Washington idiots and idiocy

My head is about to explode over the government shut down. Do these
politicians think about the impact their decisions will have on the
workforce and others? Likely, that answer is no.

Yes, liberals, both parties own this one. The House Republicans started with
a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government that contained defunding
of ObamaCare, then went to delay of the mandate for a year and we will see
what they do next. Keep in mind that Obama has already delayed the mandate
for business. What has the response been from President Obama and the
Democrats? Nothing short of craptacular. They won't do anything at all.
For Harry the fossil Reid, it's all or nothing as far as government funding
is concerned even though separate appropriations have been taken up in the
past. Also fossil Reid forgets how appropriations are to be handled
according to the Constitution. A reminder that appropriations must
originate in the House of Representatives.

Obama has said he won't negotiate until the government is reopened and the
debt limit is raised. This is no way to negotiate. Negotiation involves
compromise on the part of both parties to it. Obama and Reid are showing a
huge unwillingness to compromise on anything. Are TEA party conservatives
being unreasonable here too? You bet they are. They need to see the
reality of the situation and not singularly focus on one thing such as
defunding of ObamaCare. Idiots like Sen. Ted Cruz of Texs need to have an
end game if they're going to play with the big boys. Cruz doesn't have an
end game and doesn't know what he is doing.

Also fossil Reid cannot be trusted to carry out the terms of any compromise.
Just remember this. In 2011, he said that the senate would take a vote on
repeal of ObamaCare. This was part of the 2011 budget negotiations. This
has yet to happen. One thing the GOP ought to ask for is a vote by a date
certain on this topic. Is Reid afraid this will pass? I'll bet he is.

Is this having an impact on real people? Yes it is. I am attending the
Illinois Council of the Blind convention this weekend and several of our
members who are loyal to ICB and would be here if they could are not here
for all or part of the event due to the shutdown. They likely have to stay
close to home in the event this gets solved and also I understand that leave
is not being paid during the furlough. This has real impact on real people.

Politicians of both parties must be held accountable for their actions; and
this means tossing them out of office if they won't do the people's
business. It's time to get reasonable people elected and that means
reasonable people on both sides of the isle.