BTW, playing with my thingy was precipitated by Billy playing with BlogPeoria’s thingies. Blame the Blogfather.

Heh.

Ed emailed me asking for a link to let people know his site is up an running, which I’m happy to provide. I’m not sure if he’s ever read my blog, though. His first post bemoans the cancellation of Michael Noyes’ editorial column, and the second post on the site is written by Jim Mangan. Michael Noyes and Jim Mangan have been frequent targets of my criticism, primarily because of behavior that I consider unethical – most notably the slanderous, xenophobic witch hunt that drove previous District 108 Superintendent Don White away from Pekin.

So, if you’re interested in a view of Pekin that’s likely to be diametrically opposed to my own, check out Pekin News and Views.

Money quote from Peoria City Councilman Ryan Spain:

‘Will It Play in Peoria?’ still has some real good legs on the national scene. Some (in Peoria) are tired of the slogan, but the brand strategy isn’t for the citizens of Peoria. It’s marketing the city of Peoria to external audiences.

Apoplectic fit from the Blogfather in 3, 2, 1 …

Welcome to the fray, Tim!

Addendum: Sorry … I shouldn’t forget that Mark Welp and Meghan Fisher also have their own blogs.  My apologies.

Jeesh … you guys are bloggin’ fools!

Apparently PI switched because some readers were having trouble posting their comments. If anyone has a problem posting, please email me at knightindragonland@yahoo.com.

Addendum: I didn’t use widgets with my old theme. Widgets are coooooooool.

Yes, I am a geek … just see the nerd test on my sidebar.

I think most Chinese are more interested in buying a house, a car and a cellphone than in taking over America.  Picking a fight with us would be the ultimate stupidity … we’re their gravy train!  That’s why TRADE IS GOOD.  If either side gets too belligerent, both suffer economically.

Also think about this … we can find cheap labor and manufacturing elsewhere.  Where else are the Chinese going to find the richest country in the world?

Another reality reminder … the Bush administration started this whole Star Wars arms race by throwing out the ABM treaty in 2002.  They got the Ruskies and the Chinese all in a tizzy by threatening the doctrine of mutually assured destruction, and then proceeded to bog down our military in Iraq.  For all their claims to be the party that’s strong on defense, the Republicans sure are moronic strategists.

Regarding the trade deficit with China that gets so much play in the MSM and the blogosphere … all that really tells us is the United States is a rich country (we have all the cash) and China is a relatively poor country (they have all the cheap labor).  Of course we buy more from them than they buy from us.  Whoopdeedoo. It’s essentially meaningless hysteria fodder used by the Democrats to score points with the labor unions and Republicans to play to the defense hawks.  Don’t fall for it.

I’m not saying that China’s new anti-satellite missile capability isn’t disturbing.  However, what’s more disturbing to me – and much more concerning for our status as a world leader and our security – is that the Chinese are taking all the cash we’re spending there and lending it back to us.  The Chinese are now one of our biggest creditors.

If there’s a deficit you want to worry about, don’t look at the trade deficit.  Instead look at our enormous and continuously growing federal budget deficit and the fact that we’re borrowing heavily from the Chinese.  It’s hard for the U.S. to exert influence over China in regards to issues like the environment and human rights when we’re heavily in debt to them and our military is stretched thin and exhausted.  For all this we can give thanks to one of the worst presidents in our history.

I have to agree with Eyebrows … being in the automated studio is a strange experience. It was just me, Jen Christensen, Ric Kearbey and Tim in the studio. They would occasionally talk to the air and things would happen … cameras would move, lights would come on and off. Pretty wild.

OK, now down to business. The disadvantage of the television format is that I only had a very short period of time to try to talk about a complicated subject … racism in Pekin. I also wanted to make sure we got another plug in for Jake Grys, so that took up part of our time. I feel I need to say more on the topic of Pekin and racism (big surprise, I know).

I took the opportunity of the “Connected” segment to take on a Tebben-esque roll … i.e. cheerleader for Pekin. Pekin is my new home, and overall I’ve been very impressed with the community. I absolutely meant what I said … I think Pekin is no more or less racist than any other town in Central Illinois, and it’s unfair that Dragonland 2007 is shackled with the image of a redneck and racist community.

HOWEVER …

There are some things that Pekin needs to change in order to finally dispel its negative image. I’ve outlined my thoughts before in the posts “Misplaced Pride” and “Thoughts On A Local Business Up In Flames.” Let me summarize my opinion simply and succinctly …

THE CHINK MUST DIE.

No more Chink, folks. No more T-shirts or other Chink memorabilia. Resign that ugly, nasty, racist symbol to the history books. Take pride in your high school. Take pride in your graduating class. Take pride in your old sports teams. But please, please, please quit attaching pride to an inherently racist and degrading mascot. It turns the whole community into the punchline of a very bad joke.

The other thing that needs to happen is that our community needs to ACTIVELY work to dispel this negative image. Killing off Chinkism is part of that, but not sufficient by itself. We need to see Pekin involved in more events like the dedication of the new grave marker for Negro League baseball player Johnny Taylor. We need to see Pekin city government and business leaders ACTIVELY courting minorities and inviting them into our community. We can’t just sit back, close our eyes and wish this image away.

I don’t think many locals realize how much this negative image hurts the community. We want to attract young educated professional people to locate here and build their lives here. This specter of racism drives people away. They look to Morton or Tremont or Peoria or Dunlap or Bartonville, even when Pekin might be closer to their place of employment.

Pekin natives need to get over the fact that this racist image is unfairly attached to Pekin 2007. Yes, our community now is overwhelmingly accepting of minorities, and this stigma, for the most part, no longer applies. Pekinites need to stop denying that this negative image hurts us and whining that the label is unfairly attached to our city. This perception is reality to everyone outside our community, and we have to deal with it.

Now Randall has re-christened himself the Peoria Antipundit and is back to blogging, offering a no-holds-barred perspective from the south side of Peoria.

Randall certainly provides variety to the local blogosphere, and he seems to be setting himself up as a contrast to blogs like Peoria Pundit or Peoria Chronicle.  It will be interesting to see what evolves.

I’m really not dissin’ you guys, I swear. I know, I know … I’ve been blogging for close to a year now, and I still have yet to attend a bash. Unfortunately I had a meeting at work that started at 5:30 and lasted until after 9 tonight. It was important, honest. I had to intubate and do chest compressions on a plastic baby doll.

OK, let me explain …

Part of my meeting included renewing my Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) certification. Being born is one of the most dangerous times in your life, and someone with the proper resuscitation skills needs to always be available in case something goes wrong. Sick newborns are scary as hell, even for pediatricians, so it’s good to keep your ducks in a row and stay up on current guidelines.

So one of these days I’ll share libations with my fellow bloggers. Tonight, however, was filled with exploring the wonders of the Neopuff and the intricacies of emergent umbilical vein catheterization.

Aren’t ya jealous?

Here, in no particular order, is why mild-mannered Matt Weidman became the blogger A Knight in Dragonland …

1) I’m an opinionated S.O.B.

2) I enjoy talking to myself. A blog is a much better forum than my previous favorite location … the shower.

3) As several others have stated, it’s good to actually sit down and compose your thoughts and think about the positions you take on various topics. You generate more effective arguments that way.

4) It’s good for me to be told I’m full of it occasionally (by someone other than my wife). The shower head never told me that. Of course we had interesting conversations on other topics …

Kidding.

5) This blog is a good forum to call attention to issues I find important. While I don’t generate very many hits myself, I’ve been fortunate enough to get some stories picked up by more widely read bloggers or local media outlets. If that helps to make the world a better place for someone like Jake Grys, then this is worth all the headaches, the name calling, the threats and the attempts of a certain holier-than-thou physician to get me fired.

I now will “break the chain” and assume whatever curse is attached to it. I don’t mind being tagged myself, but I refuse to tag anyone else. Pretty much everyone in the local blogosphere has been tagged already, anyway.

In case you missed my original post or the follow-up, here’s a little background about Jake, the link to his Easter Seals Ambassador page and some information about osteogenesis imperfecta.

Please sign the petition!

Again, all we need is an electronic signature to help Jake lead a more independent life, but if you’re burning to donate some cash, please give to Easter Seals and the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation.