86 Comments - anon - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:30 am: Investigations. - Howell - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:30 am: Corrupt politics… - Weltschmerz - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:32 am: Dan = Second place again. - Stuff happens - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:32 am: Unfunded pension liabilities. - Keep Calm and Carry On - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:33 am: Overcrowded prisons - Dan Shields, Springfield, IL - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:35 am: Corruption, stupidity in state government, high gas prices,high taxes, the list goes on and on. - PublicServant - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:36 am: Political BS? - zatoichi - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:40 am: debt, pumpkins, prison populations, hogs, retiring representatives, fair food on a stick. - Keep Calm and Carry On - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:40 am: Nepotism - Deep South - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:41 am: Peaches Apples Strawberries - in absentia - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:41 am: Texans, Iowans, Missourians, Wisconsinites, Hoosiers… - A Naughty Moose - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:41 am: Political BS it is, since we’re actually second to Iowa in both categories Soy Boy mentions. - BMAN - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:45 am: dysfunction - reformer - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:45 am: * one of the nation’s most regressive state and local tax systems * the nation’s largest spending disparities between rich and poor school districts * the nation’s largest racial disparity in who goes to prison for drug possession. - aufjunk - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:46 am: A feeling of superiority within the citizens of other states. - aufjunk - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:47 am: Ishould have added, and bafflement among our own. - Roadiepig - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:51 am: Too easy- self-serving corrupt politicians. Nobody even comes close, not even Louisiana - MikeMacD - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:52 am: Financial futures products. - Name Withheld - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:53 am: Mushrooms - hottot - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:54 am: Pumpkins. We grow more pumpkins, I believe, than any other state. - Tsavo - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:55 am: http://www.ispeeved.blogspot.com/ Just saw this today, another vote for corruption. - Ucster - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:55 am: Heartaches - Judgment Day - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:56 am: Trying to be serious…. 1) Crop genetics (see DeKalb Genetics, etc.) 2) Super Computing technology (Thanks to U of I) 3) Graphene technology research (Thanks again to U of I) 4) Nanowire technology advancements (Thanks again to U of I). 5) Metra Rail (Seriously, it’s really pretty impressive for a major metro commuter rail system). If IL got even halfway smart, we could be doing some amazing things. - Joe M - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:56 am: Horseradish (#1 I believe), winter wheat, grain sorghum, oats, apples, peaches, alfalfa hay, other hay, green beans, lima beans, peas, sweet corn, summer potatoes, and as mentioned earlier, pumpkins. - A guy... - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:57 am: Frustration. - Arthur Andersen - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 11:59 am: Baloney. - Judgment Day - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 12:00 pm: We’re not ‘leaders’ in #6 on my list (Advanced fabrication and tool making), but there’s some seedlings sprouting up out there that are fairly impressive. Not many, but it’s a start - and they are doing some very interesting things. - McLean Farmboy - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 12:00 pm: Unfortunately, the Gov did not even come close to being right. In 2012 Illinois produced less soybeans (in bushels) than Iowa and less corn bushels than Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska. Pumpkins, yes, horseradish, usually, but we have taken much too much land out of production over the last couple of decades for corn and soybeans. - so... - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 12:01 pm: Embarrassing Governors? - siriusly - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 12:02 pm: Hottot is right - we rule the pumpkin crop. I think Chicago used to be and may still be the number one candy producing city in the world. - Mokenavince - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 12:02 pm: Ghost payrolls, pols hiring relatives to high paying jobs, potholes, jailed Governors and Alderman.Last but no least the CUBS for years between winning a World Series. - In_The_Middle - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 12:05 pm: Roads. - Anon2 - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 12:07 pm: Prison Population - Wensicia - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 12:08 pm: Political convictions. - MrJM - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 12:09 pm: I can’t speak for the whole state, but I’m growing weary. – MrJM - Cook County Commoner - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 12:10 pm: A bad fiscal reputation. And judging from the increasing negative mentions of Illiinois in the national press, it’s a bumper crop of bad news. - Larry - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 12:14 pm: Weed, thanks to the US navy and enterprising people across the state! - Adam Smith - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 12:25 pm: cynicism - Gregor - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 12:27 pm: An interesting thing being done with Illinois soybeans; they’re shipped out to Hawaii, and fed to fish in gigantic, floating cages miles out to sea, downwind of the Big island. The system is pretty impressive… http://techland.time.com/2012/11/01/best-inventions-of-the-year-2012/slide/a-drifting-fish-farm/ - nobody - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 12:27 pm: Despite inequitable and inadequate school funding we grow some great students in Illinois. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZuX_6-vAZE - Rusty618 - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 12:34 pm: Backlogs. - Anonimo - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 12:53 pm: dissatisfaction. but really corn and pigs! - Boog - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 1:03 pm: debt - one of the 35 - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 1:04 pm: Public sector crime. - lake county democrat - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 1:05 pm: Good presidents and senators and terrible politicians for everything else. Baseball prospects for trading to other teams. - Johnson - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 1:15 pm: Good people and bad politicians - 3rd Generation Chicago Native - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 1:16 pm: Debt Unemployment - anonymouse - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 1:22 pm: Deadbeat Bill Payers/Clout Craftology. - woodchuck - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 1:29 pm: new empty prisons - Plutocrat03 - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 1:34 pm: Kool aid drinkers who things are not so bad - Bill Wick - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 1:34 pm: Tumors - Anon. - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 1:37 pm: Hperboles? - Spiney Norman - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 1:45 pm: Malfeasance. - Rollo Tomasi - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 1:55 pm: Elected officials with felony convictions. - leonard - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 2:10 pm: Hot air - Anon - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 2:14 pm: Unpaid bills - Abe - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 2:15 pm: PQ explaining his comment later- You know other things. Things that are others, not the same things. If they were the same, we would be Iowa, but they aren’t the same, they are other things which is why we are the great land of Lincoln. - Joe M - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 2:24 pm: Just to illustrate how things have deteriorated in Illinois - in the late 50s and 60s Illinois was one of the leading asparagus producing states - planting and harvesting about 10,000 to 11,0000 acres annually. Rochelle, IL used to call itself the asparagus capital of the world. Now hardly any asparagus is grown commercially in Illinois. Most of it is now grown in California, Michigan, New Jersey. I thought you all would want to know that. - Cheswick - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 2:25 pm: Catsup. - Cheswick - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 2:28 pm: Musk melon. - A Modest Proposal - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 2:29 pm: Being serious. I would say Illinois is second to none when it comes to diversity whether it is our diverse economy, our population, or our sports teams. - Crafty Girl - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 2:36 pm: Illinois is the leading producer of pumpkins. Illinois is also a major producer of horseradish, melons, and popcorn. And an increasing number of wine grapes. - Esteban - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 3:03 pm: Despair. - reggaeman - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 3:10 pm: when it comes to mascots like Squeezy - been there - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 3:12 pm: 1. units of government 2. corruption 3. pigs 4. Californians - Realist - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 3:16 pm: We are second to none in lack of public employee morale as well as the number public employees and retirees in therapy for anxiety and depression. (Detroit takes the city category.) - Geneseo Gent - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 3:20 pm: Apathetic voters. - Siyotanka - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 3:29 pm: Deficits… - Jeff Trigg - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 3:34 pm: “low-information” voters - Checkers - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 3:39 pm: Egos - Sunshine - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 3:44 pm: Misery Index And unrelated: Cap Fax readership - LisleMike - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 4:00 pm: After reading all threads above, I’d have to say “PUNCHLINES” Nobody creates them better than Illinos! - Soccermom - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 4:14 pm: Joe M — I hope this makes you feel better. Soccerdad’s cousin, born and raised in Illinois, moved to Muskegon MI, where she was honored as Mrs. Asparagus, the Queen of the Asparagus Festival. So we still wield some regional influence, asparagus-wise. - Endangered Moderate Species - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 4:26 pm: Pessimism - Anonymous - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 4:36 pm: Why did it take until 3:12 for anyone to come up with governments? - Mama - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 4:38 pm: Tomatoes, Watermelons, Mushmelons, wheat, etc.. - central illinois - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 4:46 pm: laughing stock - Anyone Remember? - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 4:46 pm: The number of elected officials (which traces directly back to the number of units of government). An obsession with politics that is so intense that, in Chicago, there is no sexual connotation to the expression “wife-swapping” but, rather, the connotation that two elected officials hire each others wife for phoney baloney jobs (tip ‘o hat to Governor William J. Le Petomane). - Ruby - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 5:35 pm: A growing racial disparity in school achievement. - flea - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 6:15 pm: Ethanol and dried distillers grains - Anonymous - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 6:18 pm: Debt and corruption. Debt is Illinois number one export!! Corruption the number one creator of “much needed jobs” - jake - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 6:58 pm: Computing technology is actually a good answer. The prototype e-mail and web browser programs were developed at the University of Illinois, it has been a pioneer in building and deploying very high performance computers, often being at the very forefront of the world in computing capacity, and the computer science department here has produced many of the leading people in the computing industry. We also have at O’Hare an airport that is always the world leader, or very close, in the number of flights. In the US News and World Report rankings, most years our Department of Library and Information Science, which is now mostly about electronic information technology, is ranked number 1 in the nation. Several other departments, most notably engineering, are always in the top 5 in the nation, and some years number 1, so we could make a case that we are number 1 in “growing” engineering talent. Ironically, the state is reducing its support of this enterprise year after year, but it is still good enough to brag about. - Just The Way It Is One - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 8:17 pm: (Ha ha ha)…good querie. I’ll go with “Future Greatness!!!” (TRYing to think positive, of course)…! - 1776 - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 9:16 pm: Marijuana - fake county chairman - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 9:59 pm: Asian carp that jump in your boat - Harry Callahan - Wednesday, Aug 28, 13 @ 10:00 pm: Enough food to prevent a famine. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.