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Collinsville Township candidates will be on the April ballot along with the city council, school board, park district and library trustees. This is the first time in a long time that the office of township clerk has 2 people running and one of them, Cathy Voegele, has a campaign website that may be of interest to local voters. Its about time political candidates put up a web site, Cathy is ahead of the township which as far as I can tell has no website, give her's a look.
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The MAtH (man about the house) is away in San Francisco this week, so our normal chat about Dianne Isbell's Monday Etiquette column from the Belleville News-Democrat is a little late. California is two hours behind us so his phone call home just finished. But, happily, the first thing the MAtH asked about was Dianne's column...old habits are hard to break.
MAtH: I sure miss being home and reading the papers with you while we watch the news.
Me: Well, I miss having you here too, so much news today, its hard to make sense of it alone.
MAtH: What's happening?
Me: Well, Dianne writes exclusively on cell phone manners today.
MAtH: Hello?
Me: Have we been cut off?
MAtH: Are you there?
Me: I hear you, I know what you're doing.
Me: Anyhow, I know you don't have a lot of time, but listen to this, another man etiqutte thing, but his time his wife writes Dianne for him.
MAtH: Mark is picking me up in half an hour.
Me: "When my husband read the item about the sign in the shop about conducting cell phone calls in the hallway, he turned to me and said he wished restaurants would put up a sign about people removing caps when they eat."
Me: Hey, did you notice that? Another couple sits and talk about Dianne's column too!
MAtH: Great minds think alike.
MAtH: Wait, read that again.
Me: blah blah blah blah blah...remove caps in restaurants...
MAtH: I agree with that guy, I have always hated seeing men out eating with their baseball caps on. Hats off, haven't I always said that? Makes you wonder about how they were raised.
Me: I remember when you walked up and actually took a guys cap off one time.
MAtH: Yeah, but that was in class after I had asked him politely to remove it.
Me: Dianne answers this wife, "If ill manners like these continue, perhaps we will see a sign, but hopefully it will be worded more tactfully and politely than the one you quoted, 'no shoes no shirts, no service'. "Please remove hats while eating?"
MatH: I don't get that, what's untactful about "no shoes, no shirts, no service", I see it all the time. And is Dianne's suggestion a question or what? "Please remove hats while eating?"
Me:
MAth: Look, I really have to get ready to go, anything else new?
Me: Well, there seems to be a leak in the upstairs bathroom. What should I do?
MAtH:
Me: Hello? Hello?
Me: Darn cell phones
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Hearing about something once in a weekend may not mean much, but having it come up a second time means...blog it!
Rumors out of Washington have it that Congressional staff have been told in recent meetings that word has come down that in order to cut the federal deficit it is very likely committees are going to have to find ways to cut money from their respective mandatory budgets (reconciliation). Also refered to as "entitlements" this is money which is "fixed", in other words, budget items which must be funded. This is the bottom layer of the budget, always present. Appropriations are additional monies voted into the budget by congress and signed by the president each year.
What this means, if true, is the potential for a real political brouhaha.
In today's Belleville News-Democrat, Capital Fax writer Rich Miller has a column on the woes of Illinois Senate President Emil Jones. Jones spent a number of years working to see that education was an entitlement program. This particular entitlement was due to expire in 2003 and Jones once again worked hard to see that the senate passed the extension. A democrat, Jones found himself getting shafted not only by speaker of the house, Michael Madigan, another democrat, but by the governor himself, also a democrat. Madigan hid Jones bill in the house rules committee and the governor, someone Jones trusted, vowed to veto any proposed raise in property taxes for education.
So we see, on a local level, the political mess ahead if the United States Congress has to cut its mandatory budgets. (entitlements) Twice in one weekend this term has come up. It means we, you and I, better get educated on this because it looks as though the storm clouds are building.
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Last week the U.S. Supreme Court began hearing arguments in the case of Kelo v. New London, Connecticut, over the legal basis for eminent domain. Eminent domain, as I remember it from high school constitution class, was a right given to the State to take (not steal) private land for public use, usually for the construction of railroad lines. The railroad was the typical example given for eminent domain, an act meant to be for the public good.
Presently we are seeing eminent domain being used more and more frequently by local governments for the taking (seizing) of private property for the good of private business and maybe to build a larger local tax base. A developer wants to build a large subdivision or shopping center or office complex on land currently occupied by older homes or businesses. When the owners of said homes and businesses refuse to sell the developer will often convince local governmental authorities to use the right of eminent domain to take these properties.
Collinsville has been having public hearings on a proposed shopping center and there has been opposition from residents of an older trailer park. These residents do not own the land on which their mobile homes sit and the owner of the ground has agreed to sell to the developer. The residents have been involved in huge protests against the new Collinsville Crossings, have hired a Springfield lawyer, and have tried every thing under the legal sun to stop construction. Now, after all else has failed they are trying to make it seem as though the city is going to use eminent domain to force them out.
The fact remains they have no legal standing. Eminent domain has not been in play, and using this law as a scare tactic is actually detrimental to the city, the area in question is horridly blighted and the scene of drugs and prostitution. Tonight the city council will vote on the final piece of the puzzle which will give this development a green light. The trailer park residents and their attorney will most likely find something else to delay or stop it. That run down area needs to go and so do they.
But, eminent domain is being used unfairly. There are places nationwide and locally where it has been enacted unfairly, not to mention illegally and it is high time the Supreme Court took a look at it and ruled once and for all. Wizbang has a terrific piece on what should constitute eminent domain. 4 points, beautifully laid out. A must read.
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Over on the right side bar I have a new blog roll that is just so cool. Blog Machine creates little videos for blog owners that sort of describe what the blog is about. They put Respublica up today and I really like what they did. I first saw this on Basil's blog decided to look into it. Spent most of last Sunday just watching the various blog moving bits over at Basil's. Take a look, it addictive. I hope to change the blogs now and they so they aren't always the same.
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Yee Haw. Bush's Next Target: Malpractice Lawyers original New York Times article linked
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Just one more reason for me to ignore the Oscar telecast tonight.
"Bush, two members of his administration, Britney Spears and the storybook about a goat that the president was reading to children as the September 11 attacks were taking place all took top honors at the "Razzie" awards, now in their 25th year." The Razzies, awarded for poor performance in motion pictures, are presented annually in conjunction with, but not associated with the Academy Awards.
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Amid the many thousands of stories written about the life and now death of gonzo journalist and novelist Hunter Thompson is an interview with his wife, now widow, Anita. Frankly, I never gave much thought to Thompson, but the circumstances surrounding his death have caused me to reflect on where we are as a society and why people like this turn into icons.
"Hunter's death was not grisly. He was in the catbird seat in the kitchen, in the mountains by his wife and family. He wanted to go out while he was still on top, not wither away," his wife said. No, it wasn't grizzly only because the bullet he shot into his head did little visible damage and produced minimal blood. But what he did do was shoot himself while his son, daughter-in-law and grandson were in the house. That is not grizzly behavior? I see a selfish end to a self-centered man, famous writer or not.
He had physical problems, mostly of the bone and joint variety, broken leg, hip trouble, certainly nothing like the health issues many cancer victims deal with. So instead of dealing with them, he chose to leave this life and made the decision to mock this life a little more by asking that his ashes be shot out of a cannon. Swell.
Which led me to thinking about the boundaries we are constantly moving back and back and back. Right and wrong no longer have boundary lines, minimal educational standards of learning are being moved back, respect for life, whether life of the unborn or the elderly is being frayed. And so when I read a paragraph in a post by Florida Cracker it rocked me back more than a little:
"I think there are new rules being formed as to who is and who is not a person. More accurately, I think these are just the old rules that are making a comeback.
The Ancient Greeks and Romans would recognize them: Expose the elderly and infirm on mountainsides, put the unwanted baby on the dungheap. The pre/post-Christian lifestyle choices."
Hunter Thompson never put together 3 sentences as prescient as Florida Cracker. Pre/post-Christian lifestyle choices...Post modernism...a steady march backward in time. Cui Bono? Who benefits?
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When a team is going good everyone wants on the bandwagon. And that's ok, why gripe about new fans or returning fans or fair weather fans, if it weren't for them there would be no big crowds with died hair to mug for the camera. But there are some in the University of Illinois system who are mad because politicians have been able to buy tickets to Illini games this year and want to see that bit of favoritism ended...in favor of letting the real fans...have these seats.
I say hooey on this grumbling. The politicians pay for the tickets which are a part of a number of alloted tickets given every year to the President's office to disburse as they see fit. The pols pay for them, they aren't free, and so what? You want the legislators ignoring you? Riiiight. The real question I have is why George Ryan Jr, son of former Gov. George Ryan, he of the scandals, was the able to be this year's top ticket getter. According to the Sun-Times George Jr. was able to use his father's status to get 60 tickets for 15 games. What status? His father now has status? What kind of status? Criminal status, for one, but does that qualify for Illini tickets? How weird this state can be. But as to the other politicians getting tickets? Hey, its the one real non-partisan point of agreement...Fighting Illini...number one in the nation.
Here's a rundown of who got tickets and how many:
THE ILLINI'S BIGGEST POLITICAL FANS
These political figures got into U. of I. basketball games with the university's help. The number of tickets they purchased this season at face value follows their names.
Source: University of Illinois Uh, looks like someone at the University of Illinois source department made a mistake, according to Stephen, Rep. Naomi Jakobsson is a Democrat, not that there is anything wrong with that, heh. Just makes it 5-5 in tickets.
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When our next door neighbors bought their house the property included a big old maple tree which had a scary habit of dropping large limbs every time it stormed. After several attempts at trimming dead branches over the past couple of years and being no better off, they decided to have it topped off so that surrounding cars, garages, and rooftops will be safe. Very few tree trimming companies wanted the job, the tree was just so huge and overhung so many power and telephone wires, but today was the day.
This is the before shot, taken just before the work began.
Getting ready by heaving the ropes up to the first limb.
Only one of the four or five guys working actually got up into the tree. He had some sort of spikes on the soles of his boots so that he could walk his way up the tree. The chain saw clipped onto his belt and he would pull the start rope, cut one branch, turn off the saw, throw the branch down and move to another spot to start all over again. Oh, and he didn't wear gloves. Look how high he is.
After a pile of limbs were on the ground the chipping machine started up and the other guys began turning the wood into mulch.
There were times when those on the ground had a better vantage point than the man in the tree so they would stand back and point out where to go next.
Whew, that is a young man's job.
The end result is a topped off tree, a tree which will eventually be taken all the way down, but for now, the neighborhood is safe and John and Kris can rest easy the next time it rains.
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