William Franko

BREAKING: Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker just signed the Chicago pension sweetener bill, buried in a Friday news dump. This will almost certainly contribute to another credit downgrade for the city, adding $11B in liabilities to the worst-funded local pension systems in the nation. Utter lack of leadership from the governor.

They took their Italian Foreign Exchange Student to Olive Garden 🤣

People let doctors tell them what medicine to take, mechanics what car repairs to get, economists what to invest in. Why don’t people let ethicists tell them how to live?

When the Seahawks coach says that God called him to become a coach, are you moved by such a statement? If yes, do you genuinely believe that the Lord of the Universe shared His desire to have this individual become the Seahawks’ coach? I’m genuinely curious about how people process such a statement.

Listening to Western leaders at the Ukrainian Breakfast in Davos left a very bitter aftertaste. You can feel the fear of the US administration in the room, and the fact that almost no one dares to say openly what is obvious: Trump is putting pressure on Ukraine, not on Russia. There were only a few veiled remarks on that from Sikorski – and almost nothing from anyone else. Instead, we hear things like the Belgian Prime Minister saying: “Europe is not at war with Russia, therefore we did not confiscate Russian assets.” Or Sikorski claiming that “Europe does not buy Russian energy,” which is simply not true. Then comes the self-congratulation about sanctions, about sanctioning the shadow tanker fleet, while in reality they add a few ships to each new package instead of adopting the radical and long-known solutions that would actually change the situation. A special moment was the speech of a so-called “special envoy” who said he came only because a friend invited him and he couldn’t refuse. That he and Kushner are like two volunteers, working for free to end the war in Ukraine. That everything is going great, the result is coming soon, and Putin will agree to everything any moment now. The only real voices of reality came from Ukrainian soldiers. One of them said that Europe should not be surprised when the war comes to its own territory, and that Ukraine is currently holding back over a million Russian troops on Europe’s borders. In other words, Ukraine is already de facto the defensive shield of the European Union. Yet on stage, European leaders still spoke about Ukraine as something external: unclear timelines, unclear criteria, fears that Ukraine’s accession could “destabilize” the EU. It feels like people whose house is already being approached by a maniac have locked themselves inside, while Ukraine is outside, fighting and defending their home. But for them, Ukraine is only a sacred sacrifice: something to praise for courage, for surviving winter without heating, for endurance under terror – but not something they are ready to fully let into their warm and comfortable house. Their house is too safe, too warm, too comfortable. And somewhere out there, “two savages” – Ukrainians and Russians – are fighting, and maybe it will somehow pass, maybe it will not reach them, maybe the maniac is not really coming for their house after all. In the end, everyone praised themselves. Everyone talked about how much they support Ukraine. One congressman even said he prays every night. And only one question remains: if the support is so extraordinary, why has Ukraine not yet won? The honest conclusion came from Niall Ferguson: Putin does not care about speeches in Davos. Ukraine needs weapons.

I would have been on the Confederate side. Right or wrong, I would have fought with my people. Why? Because they're my people. — Shelby Foote

I've been active in Toastmasters for over 20 years and have won speech contests at many levels, but my proudest (though saddest) moment in public speaking was crafting and delivering the eulogy for my late wife. All those hours of practice and feedback over the years prepared me to publicly honor the woman I loved. As you might imagine, I highly recommend Toastmasters.