Mayor’s Row….by Ned Mitchell
We hope you had an enjoyable long Labor Day weekend and one that was spent doing exactly what you wanted to do. It would be a shame if we had time off and did not enjoy it! We also hope that you at least took a minute or two reflecting on the meaning of the Labor Day holiday. It is a lesson that we need to remember!
What do 50,000 boxes of toothpaste; millions of shredded tires, poisoned pet food, lead painted toys, medicinal pills made with sheet rock dust, and tainted food have in common? If you answered all came to the United States from China, you are exactly right. I wonder to myself and ask what exactly is it going to take before the American people catch on. We have seen toothpaste made with a component of antifreeze in it. We have witnessed automobile tires that blow out with just a few miles on them. We have found medicine that looks real but discover later it is only sheet rock dust that has been dyed to look real. We have seen pets die from food that is poisonous. We have seen millions of toys recalled because they are coated in lead paint that was outlawed in this country decades ago.
To bring that point home just a little closer lets look at Fairfield, Illinois. A company called Airtex is located there and nearby is another company called Champion Labs. Just recently both of those plants have decided to outsource production of fuel pumps to China and have sent Illinois workers to the unemployment line. Job losses like these are devastating to our communities. Where are the reformer/unreformer governor and his band of economic good time’s gurus? It just really aggravates me to drive west of Sesser going to Pinckneyville and seeing the empty parking lot of what was once two of the largest employers in our area. It further aggravates me to hear this buffoon blab about coal miners and how much he is doing to bring the industry back and the very same day read about another 200 miners who have lost their jobs just north of us.
We can certainly tell the campaign season is upon us as we are already being hit in the mailbox with slick political pieces that are paid for with mine and your tax money. To the north of us I noticed Representative Kurt Granberg gloating about all of the job creation he has brought us. In his announcement that he is running for re-election he took credit for everything good but failed to mention that he cast the vote that would give illegal aliens the right to drive on our highways even though they are not legal citizens. I read that story over and over and never did see him take credit for that vote! I always get a charge out of our politicians who spend our money to tell us what a good job they are doing. Never mind the fact they failed to stop two pay raises within days of each other and have made absolute fools of themselves in a marathon over time session that as of right now has cost you and me over $1 million dollars. I get an even bigger charge out of folks like you who keep electing these bastions of good government. Seriously!
Has the credibility of Southern Illinois University been damaged by the accusations of plagiarism leveled against university president Glenn Poshard? Let me answer that for you, a resounding YES! SIU has made one blunder right after another and they continue to change their story. Despite spin doctor Dave Gross, who was also a spin doctor in the Illinois State Senate under the direction of President Emil Jones, the story gets worse by the day.
Several university employees have been either outright fired or greatly demoted for the same thing that Poshard is accused of under his reign. The most famous one involves Walter Wendler who was demoted after being accused of plagiarizing himself. I still have not figured out how you do that but the bottom line is Walter Wendler took a stand personally and stood up for his convictions and was punished for it. Dave Gross and the mainstream press can candy coat that any way they want to but that is exactly what happened. One thing you won’t get in this column is a candy coated product.
If SIUC and President Poshard want to put this scandal in the making behind them they need to immediately submit Poshard’s work to an outside university, one that is beyond their control. First they were going to meet with faculty and staff but abruptly changed course and decided to send the work in question within their own system for revue. Talk about the proverbial fox guarding the hen house! No matter what the findings are, it they come from within SIUC they will be suspect in the educational field and the damage will continue. This story was known to some of the mainstream media long before it hit and they absolutely hid it, hoping it would go away. It took the university Daily Egyptian to break the story and since it has been front page news in every major newspaper in Illinois and Missouri. You talk about a public relations nightmare, this is a classic. SIU has the opportunity to clean up this mess but looking within won’t work. Are they afraid of what an independent outside expert might say? Stay tuned on this one as it will not go away!
Life has taken a difficult turn for us this summer as we have lost another good friend to an automobile accident. Michaella Grounds of Eddyville was killed last week in a single car wreck. Her 18 month old daughter Addy was not injured. It was a time of sadness and also a time to reflect just how short life can be. Friends like Michaella who was very close to the wife, don’t come very often in life. As her obituary stated, she was a staunch republican and that was one of the things I liked most about her. We had several conversations about what was wrong with this country and with her on one side and me on the other we always parted thinking we both had the right answer. I wore my democrat tie to the funeral service as I know she would have gotten a huge laugh out of that. I admired her stand most on the sanctity of life and her unique ability to get her point across without being controversial. She was a great mother too and a first class lady in my book. We will always remember her and how much she impacted our lives. Our condolences to her family.
Congratulations to Jennifer Bowlin and Brian Loyd on the recent birth of their little boy. He was named Brooks David Loyd and parents and little one are doing well as we welcome them as a part of our family in Sesser!
If you need us give us a call at 625-5322 or 625-3611 or write nedmitchell@verizon.net or www.sesser.org or P. O. Box 277, Sesser, Illinois 62884.
| |
|
