wallethub

Working hard or hardly working?

If you've lived here in Illinois for any significant length of time, you already know that you're paying a lot in taxes of all sorts. But did you know that our state was taking this much from you?

Looking at the results of a recently-published study on the most and least educated cities in the United States reminded me of a couple of quotes. One, from John Belushi in Animal House: "7 years of college down the drain," and the other from my dad: "Did 9 years of high school teach you nothing?"

Time to get patriotic in the windy city.

Make the playlist, pack the snacks, it's time to hit the road this summer.

Depending upon your outlook, that headline may anger, disappoint, and/or depress you; or you may feel like Samuel Johnson felt in April of 1775 when he said "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel."

The definition of fun is different, depending on who you're talking to. For some, fun is lights, loud music, and partying. For others, it's a binge marathon of true crime/serial killer shows on Discovery Plus. For one of my neighbors, it's ordering kids, dogs, and leaves off of his lawn.

Sure, this whole COVID-19 mess has put somewhat of a damper on one of Rockford's (and America's) great party and celebration days, but nothing short of lockdown enforced by armed men is going to stop it.

We've talked before about how Illinois is not only leading the Midwest in outbound migration, but the entire nation. Study after study has asked those who are trying to leave why they want out of our state. Most, if not all, said there was one main reason.

The way we cared for each other changed a lot this year. And apparently some of the most caring cities in the United States are right here in Wisconsin and Illinois. WalletHub just released a study of "The Most Caring Cities in The US"...