It’s just a bill
Monday, Apr 24, 2023 - Posted by Isabel Miller
* WAND…
Hunter Martin wants you to truly hear him. […]
“Whenever I first got these new hearing aids in because of the law that had passed, I heard the ref whistle on the soccer field,” he said. “Without them in, I would miss a good 50, 60, 70 or maybe 80 percent of what you’re saying.”
State lawmakers heard him back in 2018, when he convinced them to pass a law requiring insurance plans to cover hearing aids for kids under 18. Now he’s urging lawmakers to pass another bill to cover people of all ages.
House Bill 2443 has already cleared the House after a push from Rep. Sharon Chung (D - Bloomington) . Now Sen. Dave Koehler (D - Peoria) is taking it up in the senate.
“For anyone who has problems hearing, it becomes a problem engaging whether it’s education, whether it’s society or whether it’s your job,” Koehler said.
* Journal Courier…
Proposed legislation requiring libraries receiving state funding to have a written policy against banning books would change little at west-central Illinois libraries, except for the dotting of a few I’s and crossing of a few T’s, according to librarians.
Like several libraries in the region, Virginia Public Library has no such written policy, but its general practice is not to ban books, library director Rebekah Pentecost said. […]
House Bill 2789 passed, 69-39, on March 22; it would require any libraries receiving or applying for state grants to establish a written policy against book banning. […]
A bill preventing book banning shouldn’t be necessary, said Jake Magnuson, director of Jacksonville Public Library, which has a long history of not banning books.
“We support providing content to all,” Magnuson said. “We are against banning books. I haven’t had any requests. As far as I can tell, it’s not a regular sort of thing. Libraries should have policies in place against book banning. If legislation is necessary to make sure we aren’t (banning books), that’s OK, but I don’t know if legislation is necessary.”
* Rep. Cassidy’s HB3158 that would legalize human composting is now on First Reading in the Senate. The Tribune…
If Cassidy’s legislation gets enough votes in that chamber and is signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, Illinois would become the seventh state in the country to legalize the process. Cassidy has also indicated that she wishes to have her remains go through human composting. […]
State Rep. Steven Reick, a Republican from Woodstock, voiced strong opposition to the proposal, and brought the abortion rights positions of Cassidy and other Democrats into the debate.
“I don’t know if anybody remembers back to the old movie “Soylent Green,” Reick said. “I think we’re going to probably reach that point in this debate. Because as we all know, ‘Soylent Green is people.’” [..]
Katrina Spade runs a full-service funeral home and human composting facility in Seattle. She said she understands that it can take some time for the public to wrap their heads around the idea of human composting.
“To bring up this, this very new idea that forces us to think about our mortality can be quite shocking,” she said. “It’s really important that proponents of natural organic reduction are being careful to couch the process in terms that allow for people to absorb the idea.”
* Daily Herald Editorial Board…
Earlier this month, the state Senate passed a measure sponsored by Republican Sue Rezin of Morris on a 39-13 vote that would lift a 30-year moratorium on construction of nuclear power plants in Illinois. A similar bill sponsored by Arlington Heights Democratic state Rep. Mark Walker, passed in committee on an 18-3 vote and awaits action by the full House.
The politics of nuclear power, once as partisan as any major issue dividing pro-environment Democrats and pro-business Republicans, have undergone a serious transformation since the “China Syndrome” alarms of the 1970s and ’80s. The tipping point? Climate change.
With wind and solar energy options still far from sufficient to replace our reliance on coal, nuclear power has emerged as an available, clean alternative to help make up the difference. It also provides opportunities to replace jobs lost as the state phases out fossil fuels on the way to a legislated goal of 100% carbon-free energy production by 2050.
Rezin, whose bill specifically promotes the use of small “micro” nuclear reactors that can even be installed in existing coal plants, noted in committee that other states have lifted similar bans, recognizing that “advanced nuclear reactors are a potential answer to the reliability and resiliency problem within their energy portfolio.”
- TheInvisibleMan - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 11:05 am:
–Because as we all know, ‘Soylent Green is people.’–
Nobody at all seems to be telling republicans why people aren’t taking them seriously anymore.
“forces us to think about our mortality”
I think this aspect is what almost completely informs the off-the-wall responses to the concept of Human composting.
- MisterJayEm - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 11:11 am:
“A bill preventing book banning shouldn’t be necessary, said Jake Magnuson, director of Jacksonville Public Library *** ‘Libraries should have policies in place against book banning.’”
I can remember when folks said the same thing about Kelly Cassidy’s bill to make abortion a fundamental right in Illinois.
Norms and policies are fragile — and the courts can not be trusted to protect our rights.
Sadly, a bill preventing book banning is, if not yet necessary, wise.
– MrJM
- Shibboleth - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 11:14 am:
“I don’t know if anybody remembers back to the old movie “Soylent Green,” Reick said. “I think we’re going to probably reach that point in this debate. Because as we all know, ‘Soylent Green is people.’” [..]
Ah yes, my desire to be “buried” in an environmentally friendly manner is definitely going to lead to the unwitting and unwilling mass consumption of humans.
- cermak_rd - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 11:19 am:
a long history of not banning books sounds odd to my ears. I mean, I’m glad they have that history it just seems a weird sentence.
- Demoralized - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 11:22 am:
As long as there are some reasonable regulations on human composting then I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s really none of Rep. Reick’s business. It’s just another example of a Republican wanting to interfere in the personal medical decisions of people.
- Streator Curmudgeon - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 11:29 am:
Requiring insurance plans to pay for hearing aids seems like a good idea, but if I know insurance companies, they’ll jack up our rates again to cover that expense.
- Give Us Barabbas - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 11:43 am:
They are really reaching to find objections to the alternative burials, aren’y they? Funeral Home Industry lobby is working hard this year. People who want this form of burial should be allowed; it hurts nobody, and is arguably better for the environment, and it frees up more spaces in cemeteries for those who want conventional burials. This is totally about the money, make no mistake.
- Give us Barabbas - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 11:47 am:
There are studies that show hearing aids and good hearing can help stave off dementia in the elderly. And it’s just cruel to let budget issues with insurance dictate how much of the world a person can be “allowed” to perceive. I’m reminded of prison medical services that would only pay for one of two eyes per inmate patient to be treated, on the theory that one eye should be good enough to get around a prison. What kind of society balks at helping to provide hearing aids and eye glasses?
- Give us Barabbas - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 11:49 am:
The funeral industrial complex is lobbying so hard against this alternative approach; believe me, this is all about the money, and nothing more. They want to keep it and control it all. People that want this alternative, deserve to have it.
- DuPage - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 11:53 am:
If micro-nukes are built, they would need to have high levels of security and strict liability for any radiation escaping, employee exposure, and property values of nearby residents.
- BettyDraper’s cigarette - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 11:55 am:
=== State Rep. Steven Reick, a Republican from Woodstock, voiced strong opposition to the proposal. “I don’t know if anybody remembers back to the old movie “Soylent Green,” Reick said. “I think we’re going to probably reach that point in this debate. Because as we all know, ‘Soylent Green is people.’”
Wait. We’re going to eat dead bodies? I thought this was about composting dead bodies.
- H-W - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 12:06 pm:
I have insurance through the state (Health Alliance HMO). My policy does cover hearing aids, but the out-of-pocket I am required to pay suggests this sort of legislation would do little to help most citizens, even with insurance.
- OneMan - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 12:14 pm:
If it isn’t a public health risk, I fail to see any state interest in what happens to my earthly remains once I no longer need them.
Seems better than pumping me full of chemicals for someone to say “he looks good”
- Techie - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 12:37 pm:
“State Rep. Steven Reick, a Republican from Woodstock, voiced strong opposition to the proposal, and brought the abortion rights positions of Cassidy and other Democrats into the debate.
‘I don’t know if anybody remembers back to the old movie ‘Soylent Green,'’ Reick said.”
So…is he trying to connect these issues by insinuating that aborted fetuses are going to be made into food? What dispensary is this guy visiting to come up with this stuff?
- Jibba - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 12:44 pm:
Godwin’s Second Law: When discussing public policy long enough, the probability that someone will invoke Charlton Heston increases to 1.
- Give Us Barabbas - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 12:56 pm:
The micro reactors won’t be deleting any of the safety and security of previous plants. Their advanced design however makes them a lot safer, on top of the existing safety protocols. And their construction method avoids a lot of cost overruns that happened to older, bespoke plants.
- CJA - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 12:58 pm:
===== State Rep. Steven Reick, a Republican from Woodstock, voiced strong opposition to the proposal. “I don’t know if anybody remembers back to the old movie “Soylent Green,” Reick said. “I think we’re going to probably reach that point in this debate. Because as we all know, ‘Soylent Green is people.’”
Wait. We’re going to eat dead bodies? I thought this was about composting dead bodies==
Reick’s comment was most likely a slippery slope gone way too far, but I, for one, have an issue with compost coming in part from a human body. Someone can try to couch it however they want, but in the end it is something that some people are just not every going to be comfortable accepting. If given a choice between a bag of compost sans human remains and one including human remains, I’ll take the one without.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 1:02 pm:
=== If given a choice between a bag of compost sans human remains and one including human remains, I’ll take the one without. ===
Which is your right. Unlike the opponents, nobody on the proponent side is trying to force anyone to do anything except follow some basic rules when people decide to do it.
- SWIL_Voter - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 1:26 pm:
The human composting thing has gotten wrapped up in one of the right’s many conspiracies. I think they see some connection between human composting and eating bugs and 15 minute cities. They’re going to lock us in a town and make us eat bugs raised in our own compost. I think that’s the theory, but like all of their paranoid delusions, hard to track
- Shibboleth - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 1:52 pm:
=Rep. Cassidy’s HB3158=
I see the bill was moved to assignments after First Reading. Do we know if it’s expected to be stuck there, or is it actually awaiting an assignment?
- StealYourFace - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 1:58 pm:
This misconception that composted remains are some how going to wind up on a shelf at Lowe’s is ridiculous. Read the bill.
- Proud Papa Bear - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 5:12 pm:
In college, my roommate told me of a news story in which scientists were able to grow a human ear on a mouse. He was shocked and said the next thing was that we’d all be growing whiskers, tails, and eating more cheese because of this.
I thought he was joking. He wasn’t. It’s scary to think people like him are electing people like Reick.
- Dotnonymous - Monday, Apr 24, 23 @ 6:52 pm:
Fear of dying causes many to turn toward the irrational…and away from the practical…pity.
The psychedelic experience provides a solution for the existentially fearful…for those predisposed/ psychologically stable…and courageous.