LEAVE IT TO PEEVER

The same old same old

– Bumper sticker of the week: Suicidal twin kills sister by mistake.

– Quotes of the week: "No one ever said on their deathbed, "Gee, I wish I had spent more time alone with my computer." Danielle Berry

"The internet is the first thing that humanity has built that humanity doesn't understand, the largest experiment in anarchy that we have ever had." Eric Schmidt

– Republican Congresswoman Michele Bachmann said she is against Obama's agenda for change, which she believes relies too heavily on taxing the rich. She had the gall to say, "We're running out of rich people in this country." God, if only that were true.

– There comes a time when the city needs to stop talking about what it needs to do and do something. Actually, that time is long overdue. Rather than gather a group of the same old people to discuss Galesburg's future, they need to gather a group of new people together who may in fact have an idea or two about where we need to go. While I understand this is difficult for the good-old-boys to believe, or perhaps even understand, there may in fact be some solutions to our problems floating around out there that their limited input agenda has not allowed to surface. When in doubt, put on a show out at Carl Sandburg. Let's gather the smartest of the smart, the best of the best, the pillars of the status quo. Impressive. How exactly are people without a car supposed to get there? Who will be on some of these panels speaking against what has been? We don't need to hear more about how the powers that be are going to help us. We've seen how that works. It is time to endorse a new group. A new group of ideas. One cut free from the status quo and willing to be creative and take chances. The new mayor should immediately appoint and endorse a new group of people empowered to develop a plan for Galesburg's survival. And the mayor should have a coalition of four alderman who are willing to accept some of the suggestions and directions this group recommends. Without this new input, we will remain mired in the muck of the past. We're way overdue to climb out. The same old answers beget the same old muck.

– Answering the email:

• Dear Mr. Peever: Just exactly what would satisfy you concerning our economic development? SW

Dear SW: Creativity, innovation, vision, and results.

• Dear Bruce: Where do you see the city council and county board headed? Jane

Dear Jane: There's a good question. I'm pretty sure we've already been there, but I'm hoping for a change with at least the city council. The county board is mired in the past and has no leadership or visionaries to get them out. I believe at this point the county board is totally irrelevant. As for the city council, I have repeatedly stated that we need a full-time mayor in Galesburg. Someone who can take charge, for better or worse. Until then, the mayor is basically helpless. Most often hopeless. We need a coalition of four alderman, maybe put together by a mayor, maybe put together by someone from the outside, who can move us forward. People have claimed I am negative and am not helping matters any. I claim our time is about up and we are once again about to become prairie land. I hope not, but I don't see any signs that would make me think otherwise. I label my criticism as positive doubt. You can take it for what it's worth.

• Dear Peever: Do you think printed newspapers are going to last much longer? Don

Dear Don: No. I think printed news will, in a very short period of time, be a thing of the past. It's too expensive and environmentally not friendly. It is a matter of charging for news on the Internet. No one currently wants to be the first to do that. Someone will make the move, and the rest will quickly follow. The same problem exists for banks. In the relatively near future, a bank as we know it will not exist. Most everything will be done on a computer. There will be a small office in the plaza. The overhead of a building will not be necessary. Still a few things to work out, but this is one you can take to the, to the, plaza.