Some Bad News

Workout notes 5 miles on the treadmill; after 10 easy minutes I varied the incline every 2 minutes. 50 minutes for just over 5 miles (easy to moderate run).

The Bad News Racewalker Bob Fine was hit and killed while out training.

RENO, Nevada – Longtime USA Track & Field volunteer and contributor Bob Fine of Delray Beach, Fla., was struck and killed by a car while running at 5:45 a.m. in Reno, police confirmed Wednesday morning. Fine, 77, was in Reno to attend USATF’s 2008 Annual Meeting.

Fine’s contributions to USATF and the sport are countless. A member of the Masters Track & Field Hall of Fame, he was an avid race walker who served USATF in numerous capacities. A retired attorney, Fine had served as chair of the Masters Track & Field, Masters Law & Legislation and Masters Race Walk Committees. He had at various times been Southeastern Masters chair, Masters Long Distance Running Vice Chair, the North American Race Walk Chair and a member of the Masters Hall of Fame Committee. A past president of USATF’s Florida Association, Fine attended 38 of the last 39 USATF Annual Meetings. [...]

I’d never met the gentleman but we had some e-mail contact when I was first learning to racewalk. He sent me some material via snail-mail; he was known for organizing judged racewalks in the Florida area.

I am saddened to hear of his death. But I celebrate the fact that he packed so much into his life.

Prior to a few Treadmill Miles

It is cold and icy in Peoria (what else is new) and so I’ll probably be using the treadmill for the next few days.

I have the patience to bundle up on weekends and on days when class isn’t in session but for teaching days I like to just “get it in and get it over with” sans the 30 pounds of gear (exaggeration) I have to pile on.

Local stuff The local blogger Peoria Pundit has a libertarian point of view; here he discusses the idea of having taxpayers partially fund things that other private businesses provide:

Blogger and Peoria County Board member Merle Widmer is notorious for keeping clips about how the government conducts its public business. He’s been keeping an eye on the Peoria Park District and the Riverplex project.

This week, he brough it all together with a five part recap, the first of which is this one. Here’s a paragraph that sums it up:

Most of the projections made by the PPD did not pan out. The major one was that the RiverPlex would be self supporting and later very profitable. It has operated at substantial losses since opening day. These are facts, generally denied by PPD officials. However, the saying goes, “To ignore or deny facts, does not change the facts.”

Well, Merle does have the facts on his side. But when this thing was built, there weren’t many people who held office, nor anyone in the media, who was standing up and saying this sort of thing was a bad idea.

My two cents: So why rehash old news? Here’s one reason: Just as the RiverPlex was a bad idea because it was and is taxpayer-funded way to compete with private businesses and already existing non-profit organizations, it is also a bad idea to give special property tax breaks to the proposed expansion and renovations of the Pere Marquette Hotel in downtown Peoria.

Peoria Pundit goes on to admit that there are differences between the publicly owned Riverplex and the privately owned hotel.

But I see yet another difference: the government does have a valid interest in the health and well being of its citizens, and the Riverplex provides an affordable way for the public to get healthy. I should point out that the Riverplex does offer its services to hospital cardiac rehab units and the like.

One other thing: the Riverplex does offer low cost memberships and scholarships to the poor; hence it is yet another way of getting people of different incomes to mix. So, this is one project I don’t mind my tax dollars funding (and yes, I am a paid member and pay 70 dollars a month for myself and my wife)

Update When I link to Peoria Pundit because my links show up as pingbacks. One of the readers there made a comment about my post here. I really don’t want to get into a discussion on that forum, but I am interested in addressing the cost issue: the theme of “the Riverplex is expensive” was brought up and some feel that membership costs are out of range of the normal Peoria family.

Well, I know that an astonishing number of people in Peoria smoke, and, well, let’s just say that this is a habit that appears to be more prevalent among the moderate to lower income folks.

How much does smoking cost? Evidently, smoking costs more than a Riverplex membership:

Personal financial impact
The cost of a pack of cigarettes averages around $4.50 to $5, including taxes, depending on where you live. Using the lower number, a pack-a-day smoker burns through about $31.50 per week, or $1,638 per year. That’s a fat house payment or a nice vacation with the family. A 40-year-old who quits smoking and puts the savings into a 401(k) earning 9% a year would have nearly $250,000 by age 70.

But only you know exactly how much you pay and how often. Plug your yearly tally into our Savings Calculator and see what it’ll cost you over the coming decades.

But I rarely hear anyone whine about “smoking being out of financial reach of the average family”.
Also, casual observation shows that many could easily make cuts in their food budget as well.

I suppose it is all about one’s priorities: public health club membership or smoking, cable TV, beer, or other things?

Now as far as the claims about the quality of the stuff and the workmanship at the Riverplex: I haven’t studied that issue at all and should therefore remain silent, though I can say that the new Bradley University swimming pool is better than the Riverplex lap pool. I use the latter though as I want to get my workout done prior to work.

Are McCain voters smarter than Obama voters?

I’d say that the data suggests “no”: Obama won those with graduate degrees 58-40 percent. Also Obama was endorsed by top scientists (Nobel caliber)

But another poll asked the question: which party controls congress and McCain voters, in general, did much better. Of course I am embarrassed that so many didn’t know the answer to this basic question, but I wonder if this is a result (at least partially) of the campaign ads and what was emphasized?

Remember 2004 when the Bush voters were far more likely to say that Iraq was involved in 9-11 and that Iraq had WMDs than Kerry voters?

72 percent who cast votes for George W. Bush, according to a University of Maryland’s Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) and Knowledge Networks poll, believe that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction or active WMD programs. 75 percent think that a Saddam-Al Qaeda link has been proven, and 20 percent say Saddam ordered 9/11. Of course, none of this was true.

Kerry voters were less than half as idiotic: 26 percent of Democrats bought into Bush-Cheney’s WMD lies, and 30 percent into Saddam-Al Qaeda.

Would Bush’s supporters have voted for him even if they had known he was a serial liar? Perhaps their hatred of homosexuals and slutty abortion vixens would have prompted them to make the same choice–an idiotic perversion of priorities. As things stand, they cast their ballots relying on assumptions that were demonstrably false.

Educational achievement doesn’t necessarily equal intelligence. After all, Bush holds a Harvard MBA. Still, it bears noting that Democrats are better educated than Republicans. You are 25 percent more likely to hold a college degree if you live in the Democratic northeast than in the red state south. Blue state voters are 25 percent more likely, therefore, to understand the historical and cultural ramifications of Bush’s brand of bull-in-a-china-shop foreign policy.

But if we want to play the “who is smarter game” lets look at the candidates themselves and those who were actually on the ticket:

And the other Republican candidates (mainstream politicians in this political party)

There are three mainstream Republican politicians, credible presidential candidates, who doubt the validity of mainstream science???!!!!

For Republicans, ignorance and stupidity are acceptable traits for those in leadership positions.

Oh yes, what else is the Republican Right wing up to?

In a move that sounds much more controversial than it really is, Planned Parenthood of Indiana is selling gift certificates in $25 increments. Planned Parenthood of Illinois will be offering something similar beginning on Monday.

They cover a wide spectrum of health problems:

The gift certificates can be given to women and men to cover essential services like screenings and birth control. Services such as annual exams for women, which include breast exams and Pap tests, typically cost $58.

The gift certificates don’t expire. They can be used for co-payments, medication, contraception, and, yes, abortions. Although it should be noted that 95% of Planned Parenthood’s business is not abortion-related. The plan is to offer the certificates all year long.

It is actually a rather thoughtful gift for many people — especially those who may not have proper insurance or have not had the time to get a real checkup recently.

Now, take a guess at how the Religious Right is seeing this:

“They deserve coal in their stocking, not money for lethal gift certificates.” — Sister Diane Carollo, director of the Office for Pro-Life Ministry for the Catholic Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

…

“The Baby Butchers of America want to celebrate Christmas by helping you kill your own children in the womb.” — Slice of Laodicea.

…

“Planned Parenthood, this generation’s King Herod, you know, the guy who ordered the mass slaughter of babies when Jesus was born.” — Jill Stanek, columnist for WorldNetDaily.

It’s foolish to think anyone would take an abortion so lightly. Only the nutcases think people have abortions just for the hell of it. I’ve never heard of anyone obtaining an abortion by way of a coupon.