Happy Naught Six

Here's hoping that 2006 is a whole lot better for you than 2005 was for most of us.

Despite the fact that it's an election year, bringing with it posturing, pontificating, promises, and flat-out prevarications for months to come.

But at the same time, let's pray for a little more civility, a little more openness, a little more honesty and a little more giving, doing and loving from ourselves and each other and from our governments in the coming year.

Let's try to keep a lid on excessive greed, mistrust, dishonesty and a lack of respect for each other and for everyone's personal rights in the coming year.

Unless that's too much to hope for.

And so it goes.

Vote for who?

It's so rare I agree with a News-Gazette editorial that I actually went back and read it again a day later to see if Tuesday's offering still said what I thought it said.

The editorial - which is, of course is not online - is headlined TRANSIT ELECTION PLAN/A GROSS OVERREACTION. It argues quite logically against the silly bill introduced by Reps. Rose and Cuthra to force elections for mass transit district boards.

The editorial's subhed pretty well states the premise:

Some people might like to get even with the local mass transit district by electing the members of its board of directors. But proposed legislation to do so is bad public policy.

Completely true. And that's all the proposal is for - to get even with the CU MTD. How juvenile.

The only persons likely to run for such positions are those with axes to grind. Those interested and/or incensed by one single issue. That kind of person will make for very bad governance of a board which administers such a large and expensive enterprise as the CUMTD.

About the only persons likely to care enough to become familiar with the issues and vote (if they can remember when to vote) will be a few incensed and largely single-issue voters with similar axes to grind.

To put it another way, there's simply no way to get a competent MTD board by electing it. Injecting even more poilitics into an already politicized situation isn't gonna solve anything. Instead, it'll just make it worse.

Happily, as the editorial makes clear, the legislative proposal is pretty much stillborn.

It is highly doubtful tghat the legislative proposal authored by state Reps. Shane Cuthra and Chapin Rose will go anywhere. They are Republicans in a Democratic House controlled by Speaker Madigan and, consequently, they have nothing resembling clout.

Fortunately.

And so it goes.

Merry Christmas everyone

Happy Holidays!

Posting here's been pretty light of late and I expect that pattern to continue through the holidays.

Some things are going on personally that should continue to preclude the attention I'd like to pay to the blog.

In the mean time, Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and any other good wishes you'd like.

And so it goes.

Stuff

Assorted odds 'n' ends:

-- Good to see the Solon Home may finally get the care and renovation it desperately needs. It was donated to the Preservation and Conservation Association, according to the News-Gazette:

CHAMPAIGN - One of the city's oldest and certainly grandest houses has been donated to the Preservation and Conservation Association.
The Civil War-era Solon House, one of the few remaining Italianate structures in Champaign-Urbana, was designated a landmark by the Champaign City Council in 1998, three years after the last of Francis Solon's children, John Solon, died.
Richard Thies of Urbana, the attorney for the Morris family descendants of the Solons, said it was impossible to put a value on the house and land.
PACA's executive director, Karen Kummer, called the donation "priceless."

It's a magnificent old structure that deserves to be preserved and restored to its original beauty.

I just hope PACA can either figure out how to restore it or find a buyer who will bring it back to life.

-- It was interesting what happened at the opening of filing for various political races. It's been adequately covered elsewhere, but since when has that stopped me from commenting? A few Republicans were NOT among those lining up in Springfield. State Sen. Dale Righter, R-Mattoon, hasn't filed. State Rep. Bill Black, R-Danville, hasn't filed. Most notably, Judy Myers hasn't filed. Incumbency is enough to explain away the first two. But is Judy so nonchalant about the state Senate race that she doesn't think filing's a big thing? Or is she really not all that interested? Fine message to send to voters. "Oh, I'll get around to it one of these days. Maybe.'

-- Interesting that the UI is becoming concerned with human rights - when it comes to soft drinks Seems the UI is all concerned about Coca Cola's overseas bottling plants.

Chancellor Richard Herman wrote a letter, dated Nov. 30, to Coke's director of global labor relations, expressing "serious concern" about allegations concerning bottling plants in Colombia and India. The allegations include intimidation of workers involved in union activity in Colombia and water supply issues and pollution in India.

Legitimate concerns, concerns I, too, have. The UI's justified in looking into such abuses.

But what about disenfranchising and marginalizing an entire race of people right on your own campus? Concerned about that, Richard? Or have you (and the BOT) forgotten about the hostile and abusive Cheef?

I wonder if the BOT is waiting until the Christmas (nee holiday) break to finally deal with the problem with much less scrutiny and publicity.

And so it goes.

Be there

Conservatives and evangelicals and other right-wing nutcases are decrying the use of "Happy Holidays' in place of 'Merry Christmas,' particularly by clerks and others in stores. They're also fighting against holiday breaks and holiday celebrations.

Morons.

Christmas is a whole lot more than a silly statement from a bunch of sales folks who are intent on separating us from our last dollars. Whether they say Happy Holidays or Merry Christmas or Happy Chanukkah or Joyous Kwanzaa means nothing. Nothing. Nothing!

The fact that Christmas is celebrated in December is because of the proximity of other religions' holidays, such has Chanukkah and certain early pagan rituals. Either to counter them or coincide with them, depending on whom you ask. It's not the date that matters. It's not what we say. It's why we're celebrating that matters.

(By the way, December 25 is not Jesus' actual birth date. Figure it out, folks.)

The phrase you say when greeting a customer as part of an over-commercialization process does not matter. What matters is what is in your heart and what you are actually celebrating. And that ain't trees and presents and buying and wrapping and eating and drinking and carrying on.

Get over it.

Meanwhile, those same conservatives and evangelicals have noticed that this year, Christmas falls on a Sunday. Bad News.

Some of the nation's most prominent megachurches have decided not to hold worship services on the Sunday that coincides with Christmas Day, a move that is generating controversy among evangelical Christians at a time when many conservative groups are battling to "put the Christ back in Christmas."

The Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., has Christmas decorations, but not services.

Megachurch leaders say that the decision is in keeping with their innovative and "family friendly" approach and that they are compensating in other ways. Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., always a pacesetter among megachurches, is handing out a DVD it produced for the occasion that features a heartwarming contemporary Christmas tale.

How heartwarming. Celebrate Christmas morning by DVD light. Remember, folks, Christmas is about celebrating the birth of Christ. I fail to see how celebrating with a a heartwarming contemporary Christmas tale on DVD is exactly what worship is all about.

I know my church is holding a Christmas service the morning of December 25. I plan on being there.

Because THAT is the true meaning of Christmas. Celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior in corporate worship with other believers.

Personally, I don't care what a clerk at Wal-Mart might say as he's ringing up another overextended credit card purchase.

Oh yeah, and Happy Holidays.

And so it goes.

Just wondering

I have absolutely no doubt that air marshalls in Miami acted completely appropriately, professionally and correctly in yesterday's fatal shooting of the threatening but mentally ill passenger. In all that I saw and read, they had no other choice and took the only action available to them to keep people and the skies safe.

But I still have one question: Wouldn't tasers be just as efficient in such a confined space, without the subsequent loss of life?

The mentally ill should not have to die simply because they are mentally ill.

And so it goes.

Equally stupid

I'm all for equal rights and equal treatment for all persons, regardless of sex, race, sexial orientation,

But what's been going on lately in Champaign-Urbana schools...damn. From Tuesday's News-Gazette:

CHAMPAIGN - Five girls were arrested on juvenile charges of mob action after a fight at a school bus stop Monday.
Champaign police Detective Nate Rath said there had been an altercation at Jefferson Middle School involving some girls earlier in the day. That dispute carried over to a bus stop on West Springfield Avenue near Country Fair Shopping Center about 3 p.m. Monday, he said.
"One of the girls involved in the earlier altercation and some of her friends went after another girl," Rath said.
The girl who was attacked was not seriously injured, Rath said.
Five girls, ages 11 to 14, were arrested on juvenile charges of mob action and four of them also were arrested for aggravated battery, he said.
All five were taken to the Champaign County Youth Detention Center, where they were briefly detained and released to their parents.

These are girls engaging in mob action. Middle-school girls. In Champaign-Urbana. Stuff like this is way beyond anything that makes sense.

It used to be that the girls were the peacemakers, those who actually DID make sense. Or at least they had the sense not to engage in public 'mob action.' And this isn't the first incident lately.

The incident was the latest in a series of confrontations involving Champaign school students, including altercations that carried over to fights off school properties.
In the past month, there have been incidents when a fight involving several students at Champaign Central resulted in that school being locked down, and another fight at a park near Columbia Center also resulted in that school being locked down as one student returned to the building for safety.

Equality is a good thing, Equally stupid isn't.

Have we become such a violent, reactive society that this is the only way young people feel they can solve their problems? Is it that pathetic? Who is in charge of these jerks? Is that what they're being taught? Are they being taught anything? How pervasive is this type of reaactionary ignorance?

I simply cannot understand this type of action.

And so it goes.

Dreaming?

I see that U.S. Rep Tim Johnson has announced he's running for re-election to Congress. Again. Tim's far from being the worst representative we could have. He's far from the best, too.

But some time ago, perhaps when he first ran or first won the post, didn't he declare publicly that he'd only serve two terms?

Guess he, like so many others, learned the meaning of seniority. And the meaning of an all-but-guaranteed job for life.

Then again, maybe I just dreamed it.

And so it goes.

Happy holidays?

I know the holiday season is supposed to be a happy time. A time of rebirth, renewal. A time to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior.

To the families of those soldiers dying in Iraq - dying for what? - it's not such a merry time.
But that's not much of a concern in Washington D.C., where the big debate is whether to call it a Holiday Tree or a Christmas Tree.

Check THIS link out. Or THIS. Or THIS.
To date, at least 2,137 Americans have died in Iraq. Americans are dying at a rate of about 18 per week. Is that acceptable? To whom? Another 18,000 to 48,000 have been wounded (Officially 19,801). And that doesn't count the 30,789 civilian deaths. These aren't numbers. They're people.
It has cost us $223.8 billion - billion! - so far. Instead, we could have fully funded world-wide AIDS programs for 22 years. Or maybe done something to insure the Gulf Coast wouldn't be nearly destroyed by a hurricane. $225 billion could go a long way toward building an acceptable levee system in New Orleans, don't you think?
And NO weapons of mass destructions have ever been found.
And NO al Qaida connection has ever been found.
And NO terrorist camps. (Camps operating prior to the invasion).
And NO plans to spread worldwide terrorism have ever been found.
And, given the price at the pump, the oil isn't even flowing.
One accomplishment, however: while Iraq under Saddam was NOT friendly to terrorists, it's now a major terrorist staging ground. Even the W-imbecile administration admits that.
Anyone read the Downing Street memo yet? And the lies continue.
Why, again, are we there?

And so it goes

Common sense

It seems the CUMTD and the Village of Savoy are still at war. The MTD wants to try (again) to bring about a truce between the two parties.

According to the News-Gazette, CUMTD head Bill Volk has proposed peace talks and an agreement that both entities can work with.

After the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District board heard a personal appeal from Savoy Mayor Bob McCleary, MTD Managing Director William Volk proposed yet another truce with the village.
Volk proposed that the board direct its attorney to draw up a new version of an agreement with Savoy and that the district ask its own lobbyist, Mike Hoffman, and the Illinois Public Transit Association to suspend efforts to create legislation that would allow the Regional Planning Commission to approve the annexation of communities like Savoy.

Unfortunately, there are too many egos and too much plain, blind stubbornness for any agreement, any cooperation, any common sense to happen. To hell with what's good for the people, what's good for the area and what's good for the businesses, let's just continue yelling at each other. It's so much more fun. And after all, that's what governing's all about, isn't it? Getting your way and calling each other names. Just like a bunch of 6-year-olds.

Savoy Village Board member Joan Dykstra called Volk's proposal "too little, too late" and said she still intends to have the Savoy Village Board vote in December to create its own mass transit district.
"The Champaign-Urbana MTD has stalled and put us off long enough," Dykstra said on Wednesday evening. "If we don't act in December, there isn't enough time for us to react to the next thing the MTD wants to do to us."

Nice, Joan. I want MY agreement, and I want it NOW! NOW! NOW!

Or I'm gonna go off and throw another little tantrum.

It's simply stupid to have two or three mass transit districts in the same contiguous community. Ridiculous. Pathetic.

Sure, a lot has been made, with good reason, about the arrogance of the CUMTD board. Yeah, Joan, they ARE arrogant. Bullish and boorish.

But have you looked in the mirror lately, Savoy? Are you really looking out for the future of Savoy and of its people and its businesses. Are you really governing?

Or are you just throwing another little tantrum? Tried holding your breath yet?

And so it goes.

Fishing trip

I received an interesting political polling call last night.

After determining that I was a registered voter who intended to vote in the March elections, I was asked whether I thought the current campaign was going along smoothly or was 'badly in disarray.'

When I asked which campaign she was referring to, the pollster couldn't answer me. 'Let me get my manager,' she said.

She returned a short time later and said she couldn't answer my question, but would repeat her question if I liked. She did. It didn't change any. I politely terminated the poll.

Question: Just who was fishing to prove that who's campaign is in disarray?

And so it goes.

empty coffers

If this is the season for giving, here's a good target. empty tomb, a local charity which helps the most needy in our community, is running on empty. Or worse, running a deficit at the worse possible time.

From the News-Gazette:

CHAMPAIGN - This is the time of year donations to the Empty Tomb usually increase, and the organization needs the money more than ever.
Six employees are waiting for paychecks they should have received last week.
The Empty Tomb Inc. - a nonprofit organization that provides food, clothing, furniture and financial assistance for needy families - has a budget shortfall every year, usually in August through December, said Marcia Gruschow, the organization's coordinator.
But it is worse this year. Some employees have been paid late every pay period since July, and for a while the organization was two paychecks behind in paying them.

empty tomb is local folks helping local folks. When people in our community need help, empty tomb doesn't ask questions, it simply helps. In Christ's name. But now, in order for empty tomb to help those who need it the most, we need to help them.

The organization received gifts from individuals ranging from $6 to $7,000, and some churches are taking a special offering for Empty Tomb. The donations have helped reduce the deficit to about $2,000 now, but Gruschow said the bills and salaries due at the end of the month will be another $15,000.
-snip-
The organization has 17 employees. Those paid on an hourly basis and those who are the sole breadwinners for their households are paid first. Eight other employees agreed to wait for their paychecks, and they are paid as the money becomes available.

A lot of local people, church people and community folks volunteer at empty tomb, but in order for it to function, there needs to be some paid staff. Right now, that paid staff isn't being paid. And because of that, people who need help may not get that help they desperately need.

During the holiday season, the organization works with area churches to provide Thanksgiving food baskets for needy families, and it holds a Christmas toy give-away in December.
"We need support so these things can continue," Gruschow said. "We're all committed that the services continue, and that's why we agreed we'd hold off getting paid if necessary."
The organization operates entirely on donations from individuals and churches. Some people give once a year, some quarterly and some monthly.

This holiday season, instead of blowing every penny you have on something plastic from North Prospect, take a couple bucks, or more than a couple, put it in an envelope and send it to empty tomb. This is neighbor helping neighbor.

To donate
Those who want to make a donation to the Empty Tomb can do so by mailing it to Empty Tomb Inc., P.O. Box 2404, Champaign, IL 61825-2404. Donations can also be made through the organization's Web site at www.emptytomb.org.
For information, check out the Web site or call or e-mail coordinator Marcia Gruschow at 356-2262 or cooremptytomb.org.

Please. Make this a season of giving.

And so it goes.

Stuff I just thought of

A little of this and a bite of that (with cranberry sauce):

-- I know I'm a little bit behind on this but, word has it that Deb Feinen may be considering a run for the Champaign City Council. I've never been much of a Feinen fan (raise your hand if this surprises you), but if she runs against Marcie Dodd, she'll probably get my vote. So far, Dodd's been a waste of good oxygen.

-- Nice to see in the News-Gazette that the Champaign School Board has found a way out of its money problems. I'm not sure I like the idea of issuing working cash bonds to cover the district's shortfall, but as a longtime supporter of all the education we can handle, I like the idea of cutting anything (but administration) a lot less. Of course, if we could somehow cut the Texas-to-Champaign pipeline that's flowing pretty darned freely, things might not be in such bad shape. I just wonder if Culver looked, he could find qualified administrators a little closer to home... save a bundle on moving expenses.

-- Sports Illustrated's college basketball issue lists UI as the No. 19 team, well behind two-loss Michigan State. It also doesn't pick Dee Brown as an All-American. Can you say credibility gap? If you saw Tuesday night's game against Texas Southern ... I don't care who the opponent was, that was a whuppin'.

-- Saw and enjoyed the new Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire yesterday (aren't afternoon matinees great?). People who are strict Potter book constructionists may be a little disappointed, but, hey, how are you gonna do 734 pages in 2 1/2 hours? There was at least one complete subplot from the book that was missing and the World Cup - and its assorted themes - was given pretty short shrift. Not a house elf to be found anywhere. Still, the effects were spectacular, the movie was eminently entertaining, and you gotta love Rita Skeeter and Mad-Eye Moody.

-- I didn't know the Vatican had an astronomer. Don't know why the Vatican needs an astronomer. But you gotta like the guy. First thing I've heard come out of that little patch of backward thinking in years that I agreed with. According to the Associated Press :

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican's chief astronomer said Friday that "intelligent design" isn't science and doesn't belong in science classrooms, the latest high-ranking Roman Catholic official to enter the evolution debate in the United States.

The Rev. George Coyne, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, said placing intelligent design theory alongside that of evolution in school programs was "wrong" and was akin to mixing apples with oranges.

"Intelligent design isn't science even though it pretends to be," the ANSA news agency quoted Coyne as saying on the sidelines of a conference in Florence. "If you want to teach it in schools, intelligent design should be taught when religion or cultural history is taught, not science."

Got that folks. It's not science.
Not.
Not.
Not.

-- Is there any logic to the fact that this weekend, purportedly the busiest travel weekend of the year, gas prices in C-U are at a year-long low? I've seen at least 2 stations today with the price at $1.89.9. Makes no sense. But is it supposed to?

And so it goes.

Thanks, spammers

I've been forced to turn on word verification for all comments, despite the fact that I hate word verification. It means you'll hve to type in a code (included in the comment form) with every comment. Sorry.

But unfortunately, I've been getting more spam comments than I have been getting real comments. About 5 to 1 by my count.

If any of you REALLY want to buy land in Florida or buy custom emoticons or explore the Bible, speak up. Otherwise, word verification stays.

And so it goes.

Indicators

Yeah, George and the GOPpers have got the US economy humming along nicely, I see.

Don't know if we can afford too much more good news.

GM to Cut 30,000 Jobs, Close 9 Plants - Yahoo! News

DETROIT - General Motors Corp. will eliminate 30,000 jobs and close nine North American assembly, stamping and powertrain plants by 2008 as part of an effort to get production in line with demand and position the world's biggest automaker to start making money again after absorbing nearly $4 billion in losses so far this year.

The announcement Monday by Rick Wagoner, GM's chairman and CEO, represents 5,000 more job cuts than the 25,000 that the automaker had previously indicated it planned to cut.

The 30,000 job cuts represents about 9 percent of GM's global work force of about 325,000 people

And so it goes.

Getting sick?

I'm as liberal as the next guy (OK, I'm more liberal than most of the next guys) but when I see things like Blago's All Kids insurance plan, which was rushed through the legislature in something like three days and signed into law Tuesday, my stomach gets a little queasy.

Understand, I certainly agree that all kids should have health coverage. I don't even disagree that if necessary, the state should fund it.

But to rush through a bill like this, despite the good intentions, is a little bit iffy.

Blago says he knows where the money's gonna come from. He says (according to a News-Gazette story) that

The state would cover the difference between what parents pay to participate in All Kids and the actual cost of care. That is projected to cost the state about $45 million in the first year, according to the governor. He plans to pay for it by shifting the state's Medicaid patients to a managed-care system, a move Blagojevich estimated would save $56 million in the first year.

Really? How? How does covering more people save you money? Am I missing something here? I've been in managed care programs for a number of years. What you end up getting in the long run is less care for more money, more regulations, more red tape, more infernal referrals to medical black holes and in the end an endless stream of continually rising co-pays and increasingly increasing deductibles. And this will save us what, $56 million?

It makes me just as queasy to agree with state GOP leaders, but...

Many Republicans also questioned whether the governor's cost estimates were accurate, whether the state would be able to afford the program in the long run, whether there would be enough doctors and dentists willing to participate, and how it would impact the coverage that employers are currently offering.

This kind of thing even leads me to agree with my buddy Rick Winkel, whom I almost never agree with.

Most details of who would be eligible and exactly how the program would work were left out of the All Kids legislation, which was introduced and passed within three days during last month's veto session. The bill left those decisions to the discretion of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services, formerly the Department of Public Aid.
That made area Republicans like state Sen. Rick Winkel, R-Urbana, uncomfortable.
"This body is essentially being asked to delegate its legislative authority to an administrative agency," Winkel said before voting no on the bill. "I have a big concern about that."

I'm sorry. I agree all kids should have medical coverage. All kids MUST have medical coverage. And I think the only way to accomplish that is to have the state do it. I'm willing to go along with that.

I really, really, really hope this is the measure that will accomplish the goals that must be accomplished. I hope it works. I just can't see how it can. I hope I'm wrong.

And so it goes.

Not playing the game

It would seem that Sen. Barack Obama is not out to become the most popular guy in Washington DC.

The Illinois Democrat is advocation revolution. Insurrection. Stealing candy from ... politicians.

Turning the Capitol upside down and inside out.

He's actually advocating cutting pork. Doesn't he realize that pork is the fuel that D.C. runs on?

Yet in today's Chicago Tribune, Obama advocates cutting pork to pay for real, needed projects. You know, like paying to rebuild from the Katrina disaster:

Chicago Tribune

| Cutting `pork' to rebuild coast: "It's time for a return to responsibility in the budget process.

I know there are Democrats who don't want to give up spending, Republicans who don't want to give up any tax breaks for the wealthy and members of both parties who don't want to give up pet projects back home, but now is a time for shared sacrifice. Americans want members of both parties to put all options on the table to start solving this problem.

I believe that we can quickly find $100 billion for Gulf Coast reconstruction with a balanced approach that finds half the money in spending cuts and half the money in the delay and repeal of tax breaks, primarily for millionaires."

And Obama doesn't just talk in platitudes and rhetoric. He has ideas:

To cut $50 billion in spending, we could put a two-year moratorium on all pet projects and other local spending. We could defer projects such as the $10 billion mission to Mars or eliminate unnecessary business subsidies.

We could drop funding that gives private companies extra incentives to participate in the new Medicare drug program--as the Senate already has agreed to do, though the White House has refused thus far.

We could save Medicaid money by increasing the rebates that brand-name drug manufacturers owe the program.

Wait. There's more!

Others intent on cutting spending have pointed to Alaska's "Bridge to Nowhere" as a wasteful project. I agree and believe that it represents the first type of project we should cut. But it's wrong to single out one state's pork project. If we're serious about shared responsibility, let's eliminate all pork projects in all states. To find $50 billion in tax breaks, we could postpone a planned tax break for millionaires, and we could temporarily roll back one of the tax cuts for those who make an income of more than $2 million per year.

Something this open, transparent and refreshing doesn't often come from our political leaders.

But it sure sounds good when it does.

You go, Barack.

And so it goes.

Litmus test

Was there ever any real doubt?

You knew where Samuel Alito stood on abortion without ever having to ask, didn't you? But the White House, GOP insiders and conservative wingnuts have sworn all along there is no litmus test for Supreme Court nominees.

That kind of thing, they say, is the province of those commie Libs.

Documents Reveal Alito's Abortion View - Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON - Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito wrote in 1985 that he was proud of his Reagan-era work helping the government argue that "the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion," documents showed Monday.

Alito, who was applying in 1985 to become deputy assistant attorney general in the Reagan administration, boasted in a document that he helped "to advance legal positions in which I personally believe very strongly."

"I am particularly proud of my contributions in recent cases in which the government argued that racial and ethnic quotas should not be allowed and that the Constitution does not protect a right to an abortion," he said.

The document was included in more than 100 pages of material about Alito released by theRonald Reagan Presidential Library and the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library on Monday.

If that doesn't scare you yet, consider this from the same article:

In the document, Alito also declared himself a "lifelong registered" Republican and a Federalist Society member, and said he had donated money to the National Republican Congressional Committee, the National Conservative Political Action Committee and several GOP candidates.

..snip...

"I am and always have been a conservative and an adherent to the same philosophical views that I believe are central to this administration," Alito said.

Alito wrote that he believed "very strongly in limited government, federalism, free enterprise, the supremacy of the elected branches of government, the need for a strong defense and effective law enforcement and the legitimacy of a government role in protecting traditional values."

In the document, Alito said he drew inspiration from the "writings of William F. Buckley, Jr., The National Review and Barry Goldwater's 1964 campaign."

I feel much better now. It's now obvious that Alito will be a fair, impartial juror, judging every case on its merits, not on its politics.

Sigh,

And so it goes.

Buh-Bye, Cheef

Finally. The NCAA just told the UI -- and the UI Board of Trustees -- it's time to get off its butts and get back into the real world. In a decision handed down Friday, the NCAA in effect said The Cheef is 'hostile and abusive,' despite what a handful of blindly loyal and sadly misguided alumni seem to believe.

The Cheef must go.

ESPN.com - NCAA - NCAA rejects Illinois' appeal of mascot ban

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois lost its appeal of the ban on the university mascot Friday and will remain on a list of schools prohibited from hosting NCAA postseason events after February.

The NCAA will allow Illinois to keep its "Illini" and "Fighting Illini" nicknames. The university contended those nicknames derived from the name of the state.The governing body, however, said Chief Illiniwek remains a "hostile and abusive" image of American Indians. The mascot is a student dressed in buckskins and headdress who dances at halftimes of home football, basketball and volleyball games. The tradition began in 1926."

The NCAA staff review committee found no new information relative to the mascot known as Chief Illiniwek or the logo mark used by some athletics teams that depicts a Native American in feathered headdress, to remove the university from the list," said Bernard Franklin, the NCAA's senior vice president for governance and membership.

The decision actually was a compromise. And it's one I think I can support. UI gets to keep the name Illini and even 'Fighting Illini.' But as long as the Cheef remains, the UI can no longer host NCAA post-season events.

Although the UI can continue the charade with a completely hopeless appeal to the NCAA executive committee, all that really remains is one question:

Will the UI decide to handcuff all sports and all athletes at the UI -- save football and basketball -- by keeping the Cheef and eliminating any chance of any postseason competition on campus?

Or will the UI finally wake up and make the decision that's been needed for a couple decades?

The ball is in your courts, BOT

Watcha gonna do?

And so it goes.

Falling, falling

Poor W-imbecile. Nobody likes him.

Poll: Most Americans Say Bush Not Honest - Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON - Two crucial pillars of President Bush's public support -- perceptions of his honesty and faith in his ability to fight terrorism -- have slipped to their lowest point in the AP-Ipsos poll.

While the CIA leak investigation, the mishandling of Hurricane Katrina and high energy costs have all taken their toll, the polling found the Iraq war at the core of Americans' displeasure with the president.

All of those concerns are cutting into traditional Bush strengths. Almost six in 10 now say Bush is not honest, and a similar number say his administration does not have high ethical standards.

It's a shame it took the American people this long to figure out what a den of thieves we have in the White House.

Read the rest of the story. It doesn't get any better. (Or it just keeps getting better and better. Depends on your perspective.)

And so it goes

The Wrath of Pat

I see where God's personal assassin on Earth, Pat Robertson, is at it again.

Pat's called down the wrath of God (and of Pat) on the town of Dover, PA, because they voted out eight school board members who were insistant on forcing 'Intelligent Design' to be taught as part of the school's science curriculum. It's not science, folks. It's just not.

According to CBS News (among others)

(CBS/AP) Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson warned residents of a rural Pennsylvania town Thursday that disaster may strike there because they "voted God out of your city" by ousting school board members who favored teaching intelligent design.

All eight Dover, Pa., school board members up for re-election were defeated Tuesday after trying to introduce "intelligent design" -- the belief that the universe is so complex that it must have been created by a higher power -- as an alternative to the theory of evolution.

"I'd like to say to the good citizens of Dover: If there is a disaster in your area, don't turn to God. You just rejected him from your city," Robertson said on the Christian Broadcasting Network's "700 Club."

Nice to know that Pat has such a personal relationship with the Almighty that he's privvy to the Lord's various smiting of towns and people who offend Him. It's amazing just who He choses to be His spokesman on Earth. You'd think God could find someone with just a little bit more credibility than Pat Robertson, who's becoming a laughingstock both of the secular and the Christian camps

If you remember, Pat's called for assassination and nuclear action in recent months to carry out God's plan here on Earth.

Robertson made headlines this summer when he called on his daily show for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

In October 2003, he suggested that the State Department be blown up with a nuclear device. He has also said that feminism encourages women to "kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians."

Guess Pat's latest action pretty well puts to rest the fantasy that 'Intelligent Design' is something other than forcing the teaching Christianity back into our schools.

I mean, after all, if God's gonna smite us for NOT teaching it, what else can it be?

Thanks, Pat, for clearing that up. (And if you get any other advance information about impending Almighty smitings, please be sure to keep us informed, Pat, won't you?)

It's this type of garbage that makes me slightly embarrassed to be a Christian.

And so it goes.

What's that smell?

Something smells pretty rotten in local politics.

It appears that the altruistic motives of state Sen. Rick Winkel in retiring at the end of his term are something less than altruistic.

In his political career, I can think of only one or two issues where I've agreed with Winkel. But at the same time, I considered him a fairly straightforward and moderately honest politician. As honest as anyone in Illinois and the Illinois GOP could be. Someone who attempted most of the time to rise above the sleeze.

Guess I was wrong.

It appears that, at the recommendation of Rep. Tim Johnson, Winkel is being pushed for the open post of U.S. Attorney for central Illinois. At least that's what Wednesday's News-Gazette says.

On the surface, that doesn't sound like such a sleazy thing. Until you consider:

In immediately taking the post, Winkel will have to resign his state Senate seat early. A seat that's being hotly contested by both parties. Winkel's early resignation opens the seat up for a pre-election appointment.

Quoting the New-Gazette's onpaper edition:

If Winkel were to become the U.S. Attorney, it is unclear who would complete his term in the Senate, which has more than a year to run. But [Judy] Myers, who announced last week that she hoped to get back into the Senate, would appear to have the inside track. The vacancy would be filled by the two Republican county chairmen, Steve Hartman in Champaign County and state Rep. Bill Black in Vermilion County.

Well, isn't that conveeeeeeenient?

Wee Willie Winkel gets a political plum post for which he's only marginally qualified, Myers becomes an incumbent, giving her shaky campaign a boost and the rest of us lose -- on both counts.

A little sleazy, slimy and underhanded.

Add to that one other little fact included near the bottom of the NG story: Winkel admits that as a civil, not a criminal attorney, he's not really qualified to become a U.S. Attorney.

Winkel acknowledged that he had no experience as a prosecutor. "My background is primarily civil litigation, mostly in the state courts but with some experience in the federal system."

So what, exactly is civil attorney Winkel's qualifications to fill a criminal attorney position? Oh, plenty:

"But I have served on the Judiciary committee in the Legiuslature. And in my (application) letter I wrote that I believe I have an extensive background."

Well, that certainly eases my troubled mind. After all, it's been proven that a civil attorney can easily fill a criminal prosecutor's post. Remember John Piland?

Oops, bad example.

All in all this little scenario is just a little too convenient, a little too planned, a little too orchestrated to be coincidence.

It's just plain sleazy.

But what do we expect from the state GOP? Remember GOP poster child George Ryan? Whatever happened to HIM?

And so it goes.

ADDENDUM: I discovered shortly after posting this that practically every blogger in North America already had weighed in on this issue. Sorry for the redundant redundancy. What can I say, I got the paper late.

ASIG-2

It's only money

And they said it with a straight face, I'll bet. From the AP:

WASHINGTON - The chiefs of five major oil companies defended the industry's huge profits Wednesday at a Senate hearing where lawmakers said they should explain prices and assure people they're not being gouged.

But if that's the case, how do they explain this?

ExxonMobil, the worlds' largest privately owned oil company, earned nearly $10 billion in the third quarter. Raymond [Lee Raymond, chairman of Exxon Mobil Corp.] was joined at the witness table by the chief executives of Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BPAmerica and Shell Oil USA.
Together the companies earned more than $25 billion in profits in the July-September quarter as the price of crude oil hit $70 a barrel and gasoline surged to record levels after the disruptions of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Well, if you have lots of lawyers and lots of statistics and lots of doubletalk, (and lots and lots of chutzpah) you can explain away almost anything. Truth is the first victim....

Raymond said the profits are in line with other industries when profits are compared to the industry's enormous revenues.

Of course we know they were telling the truth, right? After all, they were testifying before Congress? Well, not exactly. They really didn't want to be there, and they didn't want to promise to tell the truth. They refused, with the approval of the GOP, to testify under oath. They refused to swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but ...

Democrats had wanted the executives to testify under oath, but Republicans rejected the idea.

"If I were a witness I would demand to be put under oath," said Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii.

So, if they refuse to testify under oath, in effect if they refuse to affirm that what they're telling Congress is actually the truth, why bother showing up at all? Simple, they're trying to diffuse a bomb. A windfall profits tax bomb.

A number of Democrats, joined by a few Republicans, have called for a windfall profits tax on oil companies.
-snip-
The executives hoped to dampen any further momentum for calls for taxing windfall oil company profits, something still viewed as a longshot but also no longer out of the question. Such a tax could inhibit investment in refineries or oil exploration and production, the industry argues.

Given the threat, why would the oil executives WANT to testify under oath. Why would they WANT Congress and the American public to know the truth? The truth that they've used natural disasters to gouge the American public at unprecedented levels. Well, they don't want us to know the truth. That's the strategy. Lie, but look sincere. Hope no one notices the elephant in the corner.

The oil industry's record third-quarter profits -- at a time when motorists were reeling from unprecedentedly high gasoline costs and warned of huge heating bills this winter -- have caught the attention of both Republicans and Democrats in Congress. Some analysts predict the 29 largest oil companies will earn $96 billion this year.

$96 billion? $96 billion? That makes for some hefty executive bonuses, I'd surmise. Provided, of course, that by blowing smoke at Congress (and at us) they get to keep it.

And so it goes

Headed for a fall

It was so beautiful today driving around town and seeing the $1.99.9 price on gasoline. Only wish I hadn't filled up at $2.06.9 a couple days ago.

Despite our good fortune, I have to ask why? Why have our prices fallen nearly a dollar a gallon in less than a month? I thought we were having a shortage. That's the story big oil (and the White House) sold us.

I read a lot of news (online and onpaper) and have yet to see where any hurricane-damaged refineries (if there actually were any) that had been taken off line have gone back ON line. I haven't read of any offshore oil platforms going back on line.

What I have heard is Congress, specifically Congressional Democrats, beginning to put the heat on the oil companies. And beginning to look with a skeptical eye at record profits in the last quarter. Obscene record profits.

Coincidence? I doubt it.

Aside: Please don't give me any of that bullstuffing about supply-and-demand change and the free market at work. Given the market we've had the last year, in relation to gas, oil, diesel and heating oil there is no free market. When one company sneezes, all the others reach for tissue. If you don't understand that you're living with your head so far up your gas pump you are unable to acknowledge reality.

Someone or some entity is starting to look at the record profits made by the price gouging oil companies. And if they're busy defending their obscene gas profits, they just aren't gonna be able to start the winter heating oil gouging in time to make -- even more obscene record profits.

Nevertheless, when it comes to gas price ... let it fall, let it fall, let it fall.

And so it goes.

Sunday musings

Just wondering. Why is it that most blogs and bloggers seem to take the weekend off?

Is most blogging done on company time? At company expense?

What do the companies think of that? Do they know it's going on?

Isn't there time on weekends to blog and read other blogs?

And so it goes.

It's the Whigs' fault

You know, I suspected this.

Sen. Tom DeLay, R-Indicted, recent former majority leader, knows who to blame for the deficit, the economy's problems, unchecked congressional spending and even perhaps 9/11. Oh, yeah, and the bird flu and hurricanes. It's the Democrats.

But you all knew that, didn't you?

This article in the San Jose Mercury News (via Knight Ridder) explains it all.

Republicans may control Congress and the White House, but a leading House Republican says they can't be blamed for runaway federal spending on their watch.

Blame it on the war, said Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas. Or the Democrats.

"The 9-11 recovery, the war on terror, our homeland security buildup and related priorities have required Congress to spend more than we otherwise would have," the former majority leader of the House of Representatives told an audience Thursday at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

"These things needed doing, and they needed doing quickly. Yes, they were expensive, but they were necessary and time-sensitive, and, given the circumstances, we were right to err on the side of security over thrift."

He also blamed Democrats, complaining that they haven't offered any suggestions on how to cut spending. He said they created a congressional budget process that makes it difficult to cut spending.

"We've been operating off a Congress designed by Democrats," he said.

Just exactly how long can the GOP go on blaming someone else for its failures? It's beginning to sound like the little kid who blames space aliens for breaking the lamp. It's not MY fault. It's those nasty space aliens, uh, Democrats. It's always someone else.

Problem is, the Republicans took control of Congress in 1995, 10 years ago. They've controlled the White House for 5 years.

How long, Tom, how long?

Even conservatives (at least some) are beginning to wonder. From the same article:

J. William Lauderback, the executive vice president of the American Conservative Union, challenged DeLay's version of congressional spending history. He told DeLay that he ignored the fact that only one-third of the rise in federal spending under Republicans stemmed from security.

Will the GOP ever begin to take responsibility for their failures?

My guess is no.

And so it goes.

Unsafe at any speed

Some people want to blame the buses

Others want to blame the pedestrians.

Still others say speed is to blame.

And finally, some say too many turns are the problem.

They're all right. And they're all wrong.

The fact is, in an area like the UI campus and Campustown, with 40,000 students and another 10,000 to 15,000 support-type folks (not to mention merchants and assorted employees, along with a few of us brave townies) in a very confined and compact area, there is going to be pedestrian-vehicle interaction. These interactions occasionally will result in death. Sorry, it's a fact.

We can legislate and tinker endlessly; we can wring our hands, seek innovative solutions, try new tactics, try OLD tactics, try anything, and we still will have pedestrian-vehicle interactions.

It's been going on since there were students and vehicles. I daresay more than one student was trampled by a horse and buggy a century ago.

Which is why after a day of contemplation and pondering, I came to the conclusion that the Champaign City Council did something right. Feel free to read that sentence again, if you don't believe it's in this blog.

The council did not give in to quick fix solutions and lower the speed limit from 25 to 20 in Campustown. Instead, the council voted 9-0 (9-0!) against such a move. They saw what every rational person already knew. A pedestrian hit by a bus going 20 mps will be just as dead as one hit at 25 mph.

The only thing the cut in speed limit will do is increase the number of un-ticked traffic lawbreakers. Almost no one's gonna really cut their speed 5 mph in Campustown. Would you? Get real. And for the few who do ... they're gonna be paying more attention to the angry drivers behind them standing on their horns than to the pedestrians.

The second part of the equation is that the speed limit in Campustown and throughout C-U is largely unenforced as it is. Is it logical to think that the same police who ignore most traffic offenses are suddenly gonna become ultra vigilant in Campustown? Even if they do, catching one in 20 or one in 40 means 19 or 39 drivers are still speeding.

Won't happen.

So, what's the solution?

Answer: There is none.

You put that many pedestrians and vehicles in that confined a space and accidents will occur. Simple. If you reduce the number of buses, you increase the number of cars tenfold or twentyfold. If you reduce the number of cars, you increase the number of hard-to-maneuver slow-to-stop buses getting students and others from place to place quickly.

The only real 'solution' would be to ban vehicles from campus and Campustown. Won't work. Businesses will close, students will have no way to get from one end of campus to another in a timely fashion and the university will be irreparably damaged.

The only thing anyone can do is education: convince pedestrians that they might stay alive longer if they follow the laws. Convince drivers that pedestrians make lousy hood ornaments and are largely oblivious, inattentive and must be looked out for constantly. You know, like small children.

And then: Pray.

And so it goes.

Damn right

I tried for an hour to write something both witty and at the same time outraged at Senate Majority Leader Republican Bill Frist's little hissy-fit over the Democrats' move to call for a closed session to investigate the administration's lies heading us into the Iraq debacle.
But I couldn't come up with anything nearly as good as Damn Liberals' take. Here's an excerpt:

For all the liberals and progressive Democrats out there, as well as any American interested in why all the intelligence used to rail road this county into war turned out to be crapola, allow me to say just one thing to Mr. Frist:

Shut your fucking pie hole.

Just shut it. Your party used Rule 21 in the impeachment of Bill Clinton. Your party, under your leadership, routinely keeps five minute votes open for 45, 60, 90 minutes against Senate and House rules to twist arms until they get the vote they want. Your party's president has continually recommended judicial nominees without so much as even consulting with Democrats in a complete break from past practice, historical norms, and general respect. Your party's leadership is in the running to challenge Nixon's for the most indictments in this country's history!

I urge everyone to go to Damn Liberals and read the whole post.

I couldn't state it better myself. I know; I tried. (Well, I might have softened the profanity a bit.)

And so it goes.

Big surprise

I was shocked, shocked, I tell you.

In a move that surprised exactly no one, ex-state legislator Judy Myers of Danville announced her candidacy for the 52nd Senate District. Who would have imagined?

It's been area politics' worst-kept secret for a couple of weeks, so the formal announcement, made in separate dog-and-pony shows in Danville and Champaign, caught no one by surprise.

Nor did any of the other 'news' accompanying the announcement. News like statements from former state Rep. Tom Berns and political hack and Champaign County Clerk Mark Shelden will not be running for the position. Seems like the area Republicans want a unified candidacy in order to keep the seat in GOP hands. (Or they fear their already confused, disunified party structure can't afford anything like an actual open race.)

Why they think a legitimate primary race would hurt I can't imagine. A spirited race gets lots of names out into the public consciousness. Name recognition counts for more than a few votes in a race like this.

Or are they so afraid of Democratic challenger Champaign County Auditor Michael Frerichs of Gifford that they can't afford anything but lockstep unity? (Insert smiley emoticon here.)

Meanwhile, certain factions within the area GOP ranks are insisting that Myers will be a slam-dunk winner over Frerichs. I don't know how they figure this.

When Myers took over for state Sen Harry 'Babe' Woodard, she represented Vermilion, Douglas, Clark, Coles, Edgar and Iroquois counties. When her district was redistricted to include parts of Champaign County, she was defeated in the 2002 primary by Rick Winkel.

Her new district would include the eastern half of Champaign County and all but the top portion of Vermilion County. The territory covers the communities of Allerton, Alvin, Belgium, Bismarck, Broadlands, Catlin, Champaign, Danville, Fairmont, Fithian, Georgetown, Gifford, Henning, Homer, Indianola, Longview, Muncie, Oakwood, Ogden, Philo, Potomac, Rantoul, Ridge Farm, Royal, St. Joseph, Savoy, Sidney, Thomasboro, Tilton, Urbana and Westville.

There are a lot places in that list that Myers has not shown particular strength in. Figure in Champaign and Urbana, which may be reluctant to be represented in the state Senate by someone from outside of Champaign County, and what you have is a race.

Hardly a slam-dunk, despite what some delusional Repubs would have you believe.

It's a long journey from the announcement to the state house. And it's a tough fight ahead for a 66-year-old former legislator. Particularly one who was an awarded a late-term patronage appointment by outgoing Gov. George Ryan. You know, the former governor now being tried for about a bajillion counts of corruption.

Sure, she can win it. But she can lose it, too.

And so it goes.

Tell no tales

Ah, the war in Iraq is going well.

In Monday's New York Times:

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 31 - The American military today announced the deaths of seven Americans, making October the bloodiest month for United States forces here since January.

Six soldiers were killed today when their vehicles were attacked with homemade bombs in Yusifiya, south of Baghdad and near Balad, north of the capital, the military said in a statement. On Sunday, a marine died in a bomb attack near Amiriyah in Anbar, a Sunni Arab province in western Iraq, the military said.


The attacks brought the number of Americans killed in October to 92, the highest monthly toll since January, when 107 Americans troops were killed in violence ahead of national elections here. That death toll has been surpassed only two other times since the war began in March 2003: In November and April 2004, when Americans battled Sunni Arab rebels in Falluja, west of Baghdad, and Shiite loyalists to a religious leader in Najaf in the south.

No futher comment is necessary. Thanks, W.

And so it goes.

Paper tiger?

Am I the only one who thinks that Harriet 'Bush is cool' Miers was a phony candidate to soften up Congress for a real rightwing nutcase nominee to come? That first the W-imbecile would float such a ridiculous nominee with absolutely no qualifications that after her ANYONE ELSE would look better by comparison.

The Tribune is reporting today that the rightwing idealogue nutcase du jour is Samuel Alito

WASHINGTON -- President Bush swiftly will name a new nominee to the Supreme Court on Monday, tapping Samuel Alito, a longtime federal appellate court judge and former prosecutor, to replace the soon-retiring Sandra Day O'Connor.

The conservatives will cheer. Liberals will scream. Democratic senators will filibuster.

In advancing Alito, 55 and a 15-year veteran of the Philadelphia-based appeals court, the president will offer conservatives within his own party a welcome candidate with strong and well-articulated conservative beliefs who should start the mend rifts within the Republican Party. Many conservatives were outraged the Bush had nominated Miers instead of a conservative jurist such as Alito, and considered him among several of the best choices available for the court.

Nevertheless, it should provide plenty of entertainment.

In nominating Alito, Bush will draw Republicans into a battle with some Democrats who already have indicated they will oppose Alito -- though he is widely perceived as easier to confirm than some of the other more conservative choices that Bush had.

Anyone want to bet Alito was the real nominee from the start?

And so it goes.

High price

The W-imbecile says it's worth it.

The dead can't argue. The blind won't argue. The ignorant say it's worth it.

What's an acceptable casualty count to a dead soldier? To the soldier's family?

Check THIS link out. Or THIS. Or THIS.

To date, 2,016 Americans have died in Iraq.
Is that acceptable? To whom? Another 15,000 to 42,000 have been wounded (officially 15,353). And that doesn't count the 30,098 civilian deaths. These aren't numbers. They're people.
It has cost us $204.2 billion so far. Instead, we could have built 1,838,952 additional housing units. But does the W-imbecile care? With that money, we could rebuild all of Hurricane Katrina's destruction.
And NO weapons of mass destructions have ever been found.
And NO al Qaida connection has ever been found.
And NO terrorist camps. (Camps operating prior to the invasion).
And NO plans to spread worldwide terrorism have ever been found.
And, given the price at the pump, the oil isn't even flowing. It's good to be in the oil bidness, isn't it, W?

One accomplishment, however: while Iraq under Saddam was NOT friendly to terrorists (despite what the revisionists in the GOP would like you to believe), it's now a major terrorist staging ground.

Anyone read the Downing Street memo yet?

Are the liars still on office? Why? Why have impeachment proceedings not begun?

Why, again, are we there?

And so it goes.

Let's play two

If they're planning on playing any more 5-hour 41-minute, 14-inning World Series games, they'd better be starting them earlier.

What a game!

I need a nap.

And so it goes

Slow news Tuesday

This, that and the other stuff:

-- Does anyone really believe that lowering the speed limit in Campustown will have any positive effect on the rate of car-pedestrian accidents? No one knows or obeys whatever the speed limit is now. Until drivers start treating the students like the self-absorbed, unaware, oblivious children that they are and until the UI initiates a mandatory Crosswalk 101 class, students will be hit.

-- I see the Champaign County Board is set to review its latest rural zoning ordinance draft, one essentially impacting land at least 1.5 miles outside the municipality limits. Couple comments: ONE: Does it really make all that much sense that a majority of the County Board lives INSIDE the municipality limits? Answer: Yes, because a majority of the population of the county also lives INSIDE the municipality limits. TWO: Why has something like this taken so long to be developed? Farmland's been disappearing for years under the guise of progress. Anyone else afraid it's a case of too little too late? This was needed 10-15 years ago.

-- Has the CU MTD buses hitting people issue taken the heat off the CU MTD annexation controversy? Or did we all just become bored with the issue that quickly?

-- Watching the Illini fooball team this past weekend made me glad the Sox are in the Series. At least there's something positive to watch. But why's it gotta be the Sox when the Cubs are so much more deserving? And remember, UI basketball's only about a week away.

-- Don't know how he does it, but you just gotta admire Ron Zook for staying so positive in the face of ... everything. I wonder if he really realized just how bare the cupboard was that he was inheriting? This is gonna be a loooooooooooooong-term rebuilding project.

-- Anyone else just a little confused by the area GOP's blind confidence that a Vermilion County Republican state Senate candidate (Judy Myers) will be a slam-dunk winner in the 52nd District? State money and Champaign County Democrats just might have a say in things, don't you think? Champaign County's GOP is in a bit of disarray right now, also confounding the perceived optimism. Also, isn't it possible that the more populous of the two counties might balk at being represented by someone from the smaller county? Just my 2 cents.

-- Can't say I was surprised by the news that Gov. Blago was booed at the World Series the other night. He may be (was at one point?) pretty good at playing politics, but he's REALLY miserable at playing sports politics, which is much nastier.

And so it goes.

We know nothing, nothing

I'm not too sure what the point of Saturday's News-Gazette article concerning the Board of Trustees and the Cheef was except to prove just how spineless the BOT actually is.

The reality of the issue is right in front of them -- the Cheef and the name Fighting Illini must go if the school hopes to keep competing in the NCAA -- whenever they choose to confront it.

But it's not clear to many of the BOT members. No, they're still deluding themselves into believing they actually have choices in the matter.

"I know the illusion to the public is we're doing nothing," Trustee Marjorie Sodemann said. "That's not true. We're wracking our brains."
"We would all like to solve this, but so far we haven't come up with the right answer," she said. "We thought we were getting closer until this happened with the NCAA."

Sorry Marge, but there is no 'right' answer. There is only ONE answer. Make the decision you must make and move on.

The BOT still appears to be laboring under the delusion that the NCAA is some kind of democratic organization. It is not. It never has been. It never will be. All you have to do is remind UI athletic folks of the phrase 'lack of institutional control' and you'll understand where they're coming from. If you remember, the NCAA investigated the UI basketball program, looking and looking for recruiting violations to punish the school for. When the found none, the brought out the old 'lack of institutional control' tag and punished them anyway. And they got away with it. Because it isn't the government. It's a private club. You belong, you follow their rules.

Does this sound like an organization that's gonna be in any way democratic? The UI -- and every other school -- has two choices: Follow the NCAA's rules and compete or buck the NCAA and find itself on the outside, a noncompetitive entity.

Appeal all you want. The deck is stacked against you. It's a battle, despite protestations, you can't win.

But what the BOT can do is hide, close their minds and pretend there are options.

Board members say the NCAA should not be involved in deciding the Chief issue.
"I don't believe we needed the NCAA or anyone else to tell us when to make a decision," said Trustee Bob Sperling.

Oh, really? On Feb. 1, 2006, if the UI still stands its pathetic ground, the UI will be locked out. You belong to an organization, Bob. You follow the rules. Simple, right?

The BOT has been debating, discussing, arguing and ultimately stonewalling this issue for what, 15 years? More? Bob, SOMEONE better tell you when to make this decision because if you keep on the way you're going, it'll be 2025 before you do anything.

"The trustees have worked very hard to reach consensus on this issue," Sperling said. "I think we should have been given the opportunity to deal with this issue and we would have dealt with this issue in a timely manner. Giving an artificial deadline does more harm than good because it creates more hostility between the two sides. But we're going to do the right thing for university."

Timely? Timely? Someone better set a deadline, because without one the BOT can go on putting off making a decision indefinitely. And they show all the signs of wanting to do exactly that.

To be fair, not ALL BOT trustees are stonewalling. Some, actually, are pushing to make the right decision, and the only decision left to them. And for the right reasons. Not because the NCAA says so, but because it is the right decison.

Trustee Frances Carroll thinks the NCAA was correct in enacting its policy, but she had hoped the UI would resolve the issue before now.
"For 15 years or more, it's been a debate. If it was OK, there would not be a debate," Carroll said. "My saddest moment was when we hadn't done anything and this policy came out. We hadn't done anything and we have to do something. It's a hard call. It's our responsibility. It's in our lap and we have to stand up."

Huh? That sounds a lot like common sense. You sure that's a BOT trustee talking?

And so it goes.

$400,000? Pocket change

It's so rare that I agree with IlliniPundit (OK unprecedented) that I almost find myself choaking on my own partisan bile. But his take on the Champaign County Nursing Home's latest money problems pretty much mirrors my own opinion.

Is anyone at the County level capable of keeping track of these budgets and working to address these situations before it becomes necessary to borrow almost a million dollars?

I'm maybe not quite as outraged as IP, because I can see some of the excuses they are making have merit. But not all that much merit.

For instance, Thursday's News-Gazette reports

The nursing home administrator, Andrew Buffenbarger, who took over the job from Jeremy Maupin in August, inherited the money trouble.
Buffenbarger, 30, submitted a budget amendment on Oct. 6 that asked for an increased appropriation of $930,060. Part of the cost increase was in higher personnel costs caused in part by the transition from Maupin to Buffenbarger.
Another part of the equation was an error in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund rate. Maupin's previous budget had the rate at 5.55 percent, which was outdated, Frerichs said. The actual rate was 8.13 percent.

OK. I can agree that could be a problem. And it could be a problem that's not really the fault of Buffenbarger.

But they waited until it was necessary to borrow as much as $400,000? They couldn't look at the books a couple months ago -- or when Buffenbarger took over, for instance -- and see that this and this and this just isn't going to add up to the budgeted bottom line?

Again from the NG article:

The budget deficit comes despite a 3-cent per $100 countywide property tax increase for operating expenses approved in 2002. Busey said for fiscal year 2005 the increase has given the nursing home $742,700, which does not cover the IMRF and Social Security expenses it was intended for.

Why wasn't this figured out sooner?

And so it goes.

Nothing to report

Thursday's Chicago Tribune reports what an awful lot of folks have been saying and thinking about Supreme Court Stealth Nominee Harriet Miers -- there's less there than meets the eye.

In a pretty much bipartisan rebuke, the Senate Judiciary Committee told Miers to take her questionnaire back and fill the damned thing out completely.

WASHINGTON -- Calling her responses "inadequate" and "insufficient," the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee took the highly unusual step Wednesday of asking Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers to redo significant portions of the questionnaire she had submitted to the committee just a day earlier.

Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the committee's senior Democrat, sent Miers a letter seeking more detailed responses to a third of their original questions, covering almost every aspect of her legal work and continuing through the selection process that led to her nomination. And they sought more information from her about her work as White House counsel.

I fear, however, that the committee won't get too much more.

She can't, after all, report a lot of what doesn't exist.

On the balance of her answers, they're incomplete," said Specter, noting she had only provided a "skimpy little group" of cases she had handled.
...
Leahy said reactions to the questionnaire by senators on the Judiciary Committee ranged from "insulting" to "incomplete."

All this while the White House spin machine was attempting to gain support for Miers by emphasizing her qualifications and her 'distinguished legal career.'

Uh, what distinguished legal career is that?

And qualifications? That she thinks the W-imbecile is 'cool?'

That's about it. Doesn't look like the Senate is ready to roll over and play White House lap dog in this instance. Maybe, just maybe, they might want a qualified candidate. Or at least one smart enough to fake it.

Looks to me like the W-imbecile's approval rating is falling not only in the general populace but on the Hill as well.

About time.

And so it goes.

Out of the loop

From the anyone (everyone) but C-U file: Check out this post from The Eleventh Hour.

But not C-U. Oh, that would be WRONG.

And so it goes.

Urbana goes boom

When Home Depot came to C-U earlier this year, I wondered whether the other two super-big box home centers -- Menards and Lowe's -- would be negatively impacted. I wondered if one or both would cut back or go under. It looked to me that our market might be if not oversaturated by the big hardware chains at least fully saturated.

Those worries were pretty much put to rest today when Menards decided to pump a bunch more money into the area. And by a bunch I mean a bunch.

Menards, according to Wedneday's NG, bid $14,700 per acre for 288 acres of prime commercial property -- the Pfeffer property -- adjacent to the new Wal-Mart in east Urbana, along Illinois 130. For those of you mathmatically challenged, including real estate commissions, that comes to $4.5 million. Not exactly chump change. (Unless you're a really rich chump).

So, will Menards build a second home center in the twin cities?

Marv Prochaska, vice president of real estate for Menards, said the company was "possibly" interested in building a second local home improvement supercenter in Urbana.
...
Prochaska indicated Menards would likely sell much of the land to other interested developers over time and would keep any land that it wanted for a store.

This, to me, is a large investment in the future of Urbana.

My only wonder is whether those same folks who protested so mightily over the building of the Wal-Mart store will again protest mightily? And on what grounds will they protest mightily?

Yes, I still decry the loss of valuable and irreplaceable farm land. I still wish that abandoned properties within Urbana could be redeveloped instead. I also hope that east Urbana doesn't become another ugly commercial blight like North Prospect on Champaign has become. Nevertheless, the land was for sale at auction and at those prices was NOT going to go to a soybean farmer.

But it's getting harder and harder for Urbana to retain its 'bozo' tag. Some losses don't hurt as much.

And so it goes.

Say what?

A little of this, a little of that:

-- This likely will come as something less than a surprise: Supreme Court Stealth Nominee Harriet Miers is just as anti-abortion as many of us suspected. According to documents given to the Senate Tuesday (reported in the Sun-Times)

WASHINGTON-- Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers pledged support in 1989 for a constitutional amendment banning abortions except when necessary to save the life of the mother, according to material given to the Senate on Tuesday.

As a candidate for the Dallas city council, Miers also signaled support for the overall agenda of Texans United for Life-- agreeing she would support legislation restricting abortions if the Supreme Court ruled that states could ban abortions and would participate in "pro-life rallies and special events."

Raise your hand if this surprises you.

-- The News-Gazette editorialized Monday night against a smoking ban in Champaign. Raise your hand if this surprises you.

-- The Houston Astros found out last night what many others in the National League have known for some time: You DO NOT pitch to Albert Pujols with the game on the line. Raise your hand if this surprises you.

-- Although it was a sad thing for student journalists to go through, it's been rightly determined that no laws were broken in the SUI newspaper hoax. And, if any good could to be said to come of this, at least some aspiring journalists have learned very early in their careers to check everything and believe nothing until you've checked again. Valuable advice to carry forward in a career. (Except that some carrers probably came to an end before they started because if the incident. In the Sun-Times:

No laws were broken by a woman who duped Southern Illinois University's student newspaper with a tale about being the guardian of a motherless girl whose father was a soldier in Iraq, according to Jackson County's prosecutor.

-- In Monday's (perhaps October's) biggest non-story, The Champaign County Chamber of Commerce has come out against a smoking ban. Oh, really. they cite an on-line poll they took, supposedly of only CofC members (although I voted) that came out overwhelming against the proposed ban. Of course what they downplay the fact that they had to take two polls before the results matched their previously-agreed-upon stance. From the N-G:

Chamber Executive Director Laura Weis said the chamber took two polls of its membership on the smoking ban issue and got seemingly contradictory votes.
A poll of chamber members asking directly whether they support a city-imposed smoking ban for restaurants, bars and all commercial property received 66.5 percent support.
...
"When we analyzed that, it told us most of our members prefer a smoke-free environment but they want to be able to choose that as a business owner," Weis said.

Raise your hand if you're surprised with this.

And so it goes.

More windmills

And it's costing YOU money

The UI's pathetic appeal on behalf of its halftime minstrel show shows just how far out of step with reality the school's leadership really is.

As reported in Saturday's Chicago Tribune, the university has officially protested the NCAA's ruling that the institution's use of the minstrel Cheef Illiniwek and the name Fighting Illini is 'hostile and abusive.'

And the grounds? Get ready for a laugh:

...the Illiniwek confederation of tribes no longer exists.

...the name Illini was introduced as identification for students of the university by the student newspaper in 1874 to honor the state and did not have a direct Native American connotation.

"It's the same with the word `Fighting.' It was never intended to be associated with Indians.'

The letter also contended Chief Illiniwek's halftime performances are not typical of those of sports mascots.

How pathetic is that?

How ridiculous?

And how indefensible?

One gets the sense that this appeal isn't all that serious. Or at least not all that seriously thought-out.

It's almost as if the Board of Trustees, and in particular Trustees Chairman Lawrence Eppley was filing the protest to appease the few remaining Cheef supporters.

And once the protest fails, then the BOT can simply say, 'you can't blame us; we tried.'

It's obvious - and comforting - that this protest won't go far. The only thing that may slow the obvious decision is the time spent laughing at NCAA headquarters.

Although the BOT is wasting good and scarce tax dollars in this little charade. But since when has that been a consideration to those who would tilt after windmills?

And so it goes.

Fine times

Ah, it's good to be a Republican.

Tom Delay is under multiple indictments for campaign money misues.

Bill Frist is under serious investigation (and multiple subpoenas) for investment fraud.

Karl Rove is again under investigation in Plamegate.

Fingers are starting to be pointed at Vice Prez. Cheney in the Plamegate investigation.

The deficit is growing so fast it almost can't be counted.

The W-imbecile's approval ratings are falling so fast they may be into negative numbers before the '06 elections; 37 percent and falling fast.

Republican Congressman Kevin Brady of Texas was arrested for drunk driving.

W-imbecile's Social Security fantasy is on life support.

The W-imbecile administration's getting deserved blame for it's handling (or non-handling) of Katrina.

More Republicans (and conservatives) than Democrats (and liberals) are screaming about the misguided Supreme Court nomination of Harriet 'Bush is cool' Miers.

More and more Americans are beginning to understand how wrong the W-imbecile's Iraq adventure is. And what a lie linking it to 9/11 is.

Gasoline prices have 'stabilized' at merely ridiculous levels; the price of fuel may make heating your home this winter simply a warm dream.

Democrats are finding it easy to attack the GOP and the administration's "culture of cronyism and corruption."

Ah, yes, it's good to be a Republican.

And so it goes.

Well qualified?

From Wedneday's Washington Post: Religion Was a Factor in Miers's Nomination

First, some background: I am a Christian. I regularly attend church. I belong to a VERY mainstream religion. I belong to a very very mainstream Champaign-Urbana church.

AND: I am not qualified to be a Supreme Court justice. At least not because I am a Christian and attend church.

Nor is Harriet Miers.

From the same Washington Post article:

President Bush suggested today that religion was a factor in his choice of Harriet Miers for the U.S. Supreme Court.

Bush's comments came in response to a question about why his top political aide, Karl Rove, found it nececsssary to assure evangelical Christian leaders that Miers was one of them.
"People are interested to know why I picked Harriet Miers," Bush said. "They want to know Harriet Miers's background. They want to know as much as they possibly can before they form opinions. Part of Harriet Miers life is her religion," he said.

This, frankly, is to me very troubling.

That the main qualification for being nominated to the Supreme Court is that she is an evangelical Christian is appallingly irrelevant. And wrong.

The story continues:

The specific query to Bush, at a photo opportunity with Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, followed a statement by Family Research Council leader James Dobson, a major figure in the religious conservative movement. Dobson said that Rove had informed him in advance of the choice of Miers and assured him, in his words, that "Harriet Miers is an Evangelical Christian, that she is from a very conservative church, which is almost universally pro-life, that she had taken on the American Bar Association on the issue of abortion and fought for a policy that would not be supportive of abortion, that she had been a member of the Texas Right to Life."

This, of course, makes her qalified to sit on the highest court in the United States?

And where, exactly, does the concept - affirmed time and again by that Supreme Court - of separation of church and state figure into this?

According the the W-imbecile, apparently it doesn't. Her church is her qualification. Possibly her only qualification.

This is simply wrong.

Wrong.
Wrong.
Wrong.

And so it goes.

Plowed under

I'm all for progress. I like the idea of living in a growing community.

Really.

So the idea of 400 new homes in Champaign/Savoy is appealing. Even if they range in price between $200,000 and $500,000, which means I'll need a passport to even enter the subdivision.

But I have to wonder, just how much beautiful, valuable farmland has to be permanently taken out of production in the name of growth and progress?

The new subdivision, to be called Liberty on the Lake, planned to straddle the Champaign-Savoy boundary, will remove another 240 acres of beautiful, prime farmland. Forever.

I like growth. Really.

But come on, there must be a way to grow responsibly. We need farmland. We need farmers.

But how many more $500,000 brick-and-sod-and-cedar-shingled mausoleums do we really need on the outskirts, eating up more and more farmland?

And so it goes.

Picking up the tab

Any idea why the smoking ban has been delayed in Chicago?

Any idea why Mayor Deep Pockets Daley is opposing the smoking ban?

Look no farther than today's Sun Times:

Mayor Daley has received $94,753 in campaign contributions from restaurant owners over the last four years -- a time when he has bent over backward to appease them in the heated debate over a proposed Chicago smoking ban.

Of course Hizzonor (or at least Hizzonor's spokesflunkies) are quick to point out that the contributions in no way influence da Mare in his opposition to the ban.

"The suggestion that, somehow, he's allowing himself to be used by the restaurant industry or that his opinion is somehow influenced by contributions is patently absurd," [Mayoral press secretary Jacquelyn] Heard said.

And if you believe THAT....

It's nice to have a little humor on a Monday morning, isn't it?

(Anyone looked into campaign contributions to Champaign's Mayor Smokey Schweighart lately?)

And so it goes.

It's about time

Finally. Some good news: The American people are waking up to the train wreck that is the W-imbecile Administration. King George II's poll numbers are falling so fast it's hard to count 'em. Negative numbers anyone?

See the latest CBS News Poll for proof. And see if you can stop smiling afterwards.

And so it goes.

Whither Harriet?

It's pretty amazing how quickly the firestorm surrounding the surprising nomination of Bush crony Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court has died down.

But I suppose it's not surprising. I mean, after all, how do you refute the irrefutable? She has no paper trail, no recordable past, nothing to stand on. Therefore no record to use for approval of disapprove. To put it another way, there's no there there.

The only thing we really know is that she considers the W-imbecile to be 'brilliant.' That alone should be enough evidence to disqualify her from any post that requires brains and common sense.

Therefore, it's heartening to note that leading conservative George Will not only believes she should not be confirmed, he's indicating that her nomination is more proof of the W-imbecile's arrogance and ignorance.

From Thursday's Sun-Times, Will states:

He has neither the inclination nor the ability to make sophisticated judgments about competing approaches to construing the Constitution. Few presidents acquire such abilities in the course of their pre-presidential careers, and this president, particularly, is not disposed to such reflections.

That is not exactly a ringing endorsement from a longtime conservative commentator of a supposedly conservative president.

Will doesn't have all that much complimentary to say of Miers, either, because:

...there is no evidence that she is among the leading lights of American jurisprudence, or that she possesses talents commensurate with the Supreme Court's tasks.

The nomination, Will argues, is flawed because not only is the nominee flawed, so is the nominator:

Furthermore, there is no reason to believe that Miers' nomination resulted from the president's careful consultation with people capable of such judgments. If 100 such people had been asked to list 100 individuals who have given evidence of the reflectiveness and excellence requisite in a justice, Miers' name probably would not have appeared in any of the 10,000 places on those lists.

In addition, the president has forfeited his right to be trusted as a custodian of the Constitution.

After concluding that Miers lacks the ability to be a competent justice, he concludes that the King George II's nomination of Miers goes against what the W-imbecile has preached throughout his time in office.

The crowning absurdity of the president's wallowing in such nonsense is the obvious assumption that the Supreme Court is, like a legislature, an institution of representation. This from a president who, introducing Miers, deplored judges who ''legislate from the bench.''

One wonders if Will is just discovering the absurdity of this president or that he's known about it all along and just now is transmitting that knowledge on to the rest of us.

Sorry, Mr. Will. We've known for years.

And so it goes.

Up in smoke

How can a handful of stuck-in-the-50s in-the-pocket-of-big-business mayors dictate that the rest of us either have to avoid certain 'public' locations or face proven health hazards.

First Mayor Smokey Schweighart blocks the smoking ban in Champaign, bowing to the demands of business and ignoring the health hazards to the voters.

Now Corrupt Mayor Daley in Chicago has managed to delay that city's vote on a sweeping smoking ban. One wonders (not much) just who is greasing his palm behind the scenes (hint: the hospitality industry).

Just exactly when did the rights of a few businesses (and mind-numbed mayors) supercede the rights of the people? Despite what the pathetic apologists may say, it's clear that a majority of the people back smoking bans nearly everywhere.

According to Thursday morning's Chicago Tribune, going smokeless is working across the U.S.:

Nearly 2,000 municipalities, large and small, have enacted smoking bans, according to the California-based American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation.

As of July 7, 293 cities and towns required 100 percent smoke-free workplaces, 251 barred smoking entirely in restaurants and 185 prohibited it in bars.

Idaho and Utah prohibit smoking statewide in restaurants; California, Connecticut and Maine in restaurants and bars; and four other states, including New York and Massachusetts, in workplaces, restaurants and bars, according to the foundation. South Dakota has a workplace prohibition, while Florida forbids smoking in workplaces and restaurants.

Daley is backpedaling so fast it's comical. Someone somewhere has their hand in this. Guess who:

Mayor Richard Daley renewed his call for a compromise Wednesday.

"Everybody is for a form of smoking ban," Daley said.

"Everybody wants to be healthy, but [the hospitality industry] has a right to present their petition.

"The smoking ban will take effect sometime, but there are legitimate bars that have a right to want smoking. They have a business and they pay taxes."

So do the people, Ritchie, so do the voters. But then again, voters only count on election day, right? Deep pocket business interests can be heard any time they want.

Isn't it curious that at the last minute suddenly Daley 'discovers' the hospitality industry's rights?

And so it goes.

Lost in Wonderland

"Curiouser and curiouser!" Cried Alice.

Without so much as a peep, the Champaign City Council Tuesday night voted 9-0 to approve the extension of employee benefits to same-sex domestic partners. This act gives the same benefits to domestic partners of employees as those received by legally married employees. You can read the whole story here on the Daily Illini's web site. For some reason, it's not on the N-G web site. (Who's surprised?)

Unless you're a constant peruser of meeting agendas, this one slipped right by you. Certainly there was nothing to be found in the local press (i.e. the N-G) the past two days indicating this issue was to come before the council.

"Curiouser and curiouser!" Cried Alice.

My response: It's about damn time. Or: it's past about damn time.

At the same time:
-- Why now?
-- How did this slip through the cracks?
-- How did a council as conservative and study session-addicted as Champaign's approve what in most areas is a very controversial plan? With no study session? (Or no 'announced' study session...?)
-- How did it pass unanimously?
-- And finally, how can he same council that can't get its mind around something as obvious as a smoking ban approve something as historically controversial as this? Unanmously? With minimal debate?

"Curiouser and curiouser!" Cried Alice.

Good work, council.

You constantly keep us guessing.

And so it goes.

Going green

Whatever happened to recycling?

I watched Monday morning as our waste company dumped our garbage can into the back of his truck. Then I watched as he picked up the carefully separated recyclables and dumped them too in the back of the garbage truck. Crunch. Off to the landfill.

The wife tells me this is a fairly frequent occurrance.

Weren't the waste companies supposed to be actually doing something with the recyclables? I mean something other than landfilling them? I thought that was part of the agreement between the city of Champaign and the waste haulers a few years (decades?) ago.

Maybe it's not really all that profitable right now; but to landfill such reusable products seems to be such a waste. A useless waste.

What happened?

And so it goes.