Roundup

Educate Thyself. 

Don't talk to the police.  Don't talk to the police.  Don't talk to the police.

http://www.hackaday.com/2008/06/16/dont-talk-to-the-police/

Stream of consciousness:

• The weather this week has been absolutely perfect, and makes living here even more pleasant than it normally is, especially after the strange transition we made earlier this year, directly from winter into summer.
• I have a Facebook account which I check about once per month, or when my wife tells me to.  Today, I noticed I have 99 "friends," some of whom I don't think I've ever met.
• I'm loving Firefox 3.  Incredibly fast for me.
• With the NBA finals over, I enter my great summer void of sports interest.  Other than the British Open, there's really nothing sports-wise that I care about until football training camps open in August.  And it will be worse than usual this year, as I've almost entirely given up playing golf.
• I hate real major league baseball, but I love a computer game which simulates it.  The latest version, Out Of The Park Baseball 9 (OOTP9) is being released today, and I'm looking forward to giving it a try.
• The number of home improvement projects I've got planned for this summer is just overwhelming.

I hope you're enjoying this beautiful day/week!

WDWS has a podcast with County Clerk Mark Shelden (who blogs about  mostly non-Clerk-related stuff on IP).

(Quintessential Shelden photo by Adam Jadhav.  Click on the image for a huge version.)

I've decided to start a Sunday night post to highlight what happened over the weekend. This will proably be pretty politically-heavy through the election. But please, feel free to discuss and add whatever you'd like.

• Fire in Danville destroys downtown anchor
• Did Danielle Chynoweth have something to do with this?
• Provena, Christie continue to bicker like spoiled schoolgirls
• New charge for stun-gun happy fella...no comment from R.T. Finney
• I don't get the point of this, but then again, I don't have kids
• Will this have any effect on the SoS race? I'm sure Sen. Rutherford hopes so
• Bernie likes Topinka's plan...do you?
• David Gill continues to be a one-trick pony
• Now maybe the money can go to their pensions
• A good man and great public servant calling it quits
• Rich Miller thinks...well, I don't know what he thinks about Topinka's plan

• I still want to know what you think about closing comments this weekend, especially from the other authors.
• Champaign is holding three downtown festivals. Urbana has a wild turkey. :-)
• In case you were wondering what is the primary motivation of the anti-smoking busibodies, read yesterday's letters to the editor:Â "I don't like the smell" and "I don't like the smell".
• Rich Miller has video of a "lottery consultant" saying that $10 billion isn't realistic without expanded lottery gaming. Is this a way to bring back keno?
• I blame the Bush tax cuts.
• ABC says the Justice Department is investigating Speaker Denny Hastert. The Justice Department says it's not investigating Hastert. Truth Laid Bear has great questions. Is this another "oops" moment for the mainstream media? If it is, I'm sure it's just a coincidence that once again a Republican is the one being attacked.
• The Speaker has still lost his mind about the FBI raid on Congressman Jefferson's office.
• I'm ready for a long weekend.

Someone asked for more local stuff. Jason has posted about the two new CUMTD Boad applicants and the County Board races after slating. Mark had an educating post about the City of Champaign & Champaign Township issues. The smoking ban has been discussed to death, and there's no doubt it will pass in Urbana. What else would you like? Today's Roundup:

• The Governor's office is now claiming the clout list is fake. As Rich Miller points out, last week they said there was nothing wrong with keeping such a list.
• Speaker Hastert, as much as I like him, must have lost his mind. The warrant was approved by a court, after all.
• Jim Dey (EDIT: kinda sorta) agrees that smoking ban busibodies aren't really motivated by public health, saying that the issue is like "religion."
• Kiyoshi plays around with Google trends for CU.
• Cal Skinner gives a history lesson about the Illinois Lottery.
• With the NG not updating their improved online site until 2 PM every day, I think I might actually be missing the Daily Illini.
• More evidence of the mainstream media's absolute failure in reporting accurately about Katrina. "Here's another one: Do you remember the dramatic TV footage of National Guard helicopters landing at the Superdome as soon as Katrina passed, dropping off tens of thousands saved from certain death? The corpsmen running with stretchers, in an echo of M*A*S*H, carrying the survivors to ambulances and the medical center? About how the operation, which also included the Coast Guard, regular military units, and local first responders, continued for more than a week? Me neither." Of course, the MSM's primary motivation isn't accuracy - it's making Republicans look bad. Jonah Goldberg has more here.

• I'm not a racing fan, but sat down for few minutes Saturday with some racing fans in the family. Watching Barbaro's leg snap was sickening. Oh, and clearly it was Bush's fault.
• The Blagojevich/Meeks buyout stinks to high heaven. Topinka says, "From all accounts, he is spending taxpayer dollars to keep a candidate out of the governor's race." That's pretty much how I feel. I thought using tax dollars for campaign purposes was illegal? (Not that it being illegal would stop this Governor...)
• Other cities want CU's smokers' business. Anti-smoking busibodies say, "I won't miss you," proving yet again that the smoking ban isn't about public health, but about limiting someone else's annoying behavior while in the presence of busibodies.
• If Howard Dean were (God forbid) the Chairman of the Republican National Committee, this would be trumpeted as clear evidence of the racism of Republicans. Instead, it's just further evidence of his inabilty to put together a winning campaign, even with six times the resources of this opposition. Are Democrats pleased with his leadership and results thus far? Does his track record give pause to your optimism heading into November? UPDATE: And if Howard Dean sues Drudge, he's even more incompetent than I thought. Does he really want the DNC's activities in NO scrutized in court?
• UPDATE:Â Drudge backs down - again.

• Attorney General Lisa Madigan investigates Governor Blagojevich. Again.
• Blagojevich Scandal-of-the-Day: Pay-to-play accusations from the left, this time regarding hospitals and health care.
• Shhhhh: "Since my first encounter with Iraq almost 40 years ago, I have relied on several broad measures of social and economic health to assess the countrys condition. Through good times and bad, these signs have proved remarkably accurateas accurate, that is, as is possible in human affairs. For some time now, all have been pointing in an unequivocally positive direction." Surely this guy must be a liar - the Associated Press says that "thousands of people are fleeing their homes."
• Somewhat related: the traditional polling question, "Is the country/state/your region heading in the right direction wrong direction?" is turning up some interesting differences. "the more general the question about the direction of the country, the more likely people are to respond in a pessimistic way. At the local level, at least according to the Washington Post/ABC News poll, a decent majority of the public doesn't seem to think things are going too badly." Why is that? I think it's due to relentlessly negative national news coverage (driven by a virulently anti-Bush national media) contrasted with much-less-negative local news coverage. It also has interesting strategic implications for the 2006 mid-term elections.
• Venezuela is paradise; Hugo Chavez is divine: "One of the most vexing things for artists and intellectuals who live under the compulsion to applaud dictators is the spectacle of colleagues from more open societies applauding of their own free will. It adds a peculiarly nasty insult to injury.... Criticism of American policies and economic practices are necessary and often just, but why do leftists continue to discredit their critical stance by applauding strongmen who oppress and murder their own critics?"

UPDATE: Links fixed, sorry!

• Governor Blagojevich's Scandal-of-the-Day: "The continued flow of contracts to Simmons was questioned by CMS' personnel director, Dawn DeFraties, according to DeFraties' lawyer, Carl Draper of Springfield. Blagojevich aides said Friday they had fired DeFraties and then-deputy Michael Casey, contending the pair manipulated the hiring process for favored applicants. Draper said the administration is retaliating against DeFraties and Casey for trying to make hiring fairer -- and for DeFraties' complaints about Simmons. 'She raised questions about the propriety of constantly paying money on the same project, and that was not well-received by Ed Wynn,' Draper said. Wynn and Rumman left CMS last summer to rejoin the private sector, just weeks after a blistering state audit criticized CMS management procedures, including the way it awarded contracts."
• The UI is backing away from its controversial plan to recover some of the revenue the State is no longer providing by admitting more out-of-state students.
• Overreaching? "Could a Meeks' candidacy for governor lead to a realignment of American politics?"
• I should remember to post links to these more often, but here is tonight's Champaign City Council agenda, both study session and regular business. The anti-smoking busibodies will go last, which will surely annoy them. There's also agenda items for a special census and a settlement.
• As an aside, just imagine if you could leave comments/questions about agenda items right there on the City's website? It would be easier for citizens to participate, and easier to get through the meetings in a timely fashion without all the grandstanding that goes on during public comments. That was something I've been suggesting to improve citizens' access to government during big.small.all...
• What did you think of President Bush's speech last night? I didn't watch it (but if you missed it, you can watch it here), but read it, and thought it was just OK - if this is a result of Tony Snow's presence in the WH, I'm encouraged, because the WH message machine has been a disaster for more than a year. I think President Bush and the WH have done a terrible job of delivering a consistent daily message since his re-election, and they have allowed the Democrats/Media to define every issue without rebuttal. The WH should be out there, every day, across the nation, talking about the good news in Iraq, the economy, the tax cuts and the GWOT. What we've gotten instead, for 18 months, has been a daily press gaggle in DC in which the media/Democrats get to choose the questions and choose the message. Frankly, given the failure of the WH to master the fundamentals of politics - message, message, message - I'm surprised his approval ratings aren't lower.
• And for the few Republicans left who think that the immigration issue isn't dividing the party, look no further than the cat-fight at one of my favorite sites, Polipundit.

For some reason, I've just got a ton of stuff today.

The first batch is related to Gov. Blagojevich, corruption, and Friday afternoon's announcement of the CMS scapegoats.

• Gov. Blagojevich says, "We play by the rules," after firing two employees who had been contacted by Federal investigators about political hiring by the Blagojevich administration: "For months, federal prosecutors have been conducting a criminal grand jury investigation into hiring practices in state government. The FBI has contacted DeFraties and Casey and asked about hiring practices and personnel procedures, sources familiar with the hiring investigations of the administration said. Interviews between inspector general's investigators and CMS personnel employees show several said they felt pressured to hire "special" applicants, some of whom were referred by the governor's office or state lawmakers."
• Meanwhile, Democrat campaign contributors are doing well with state government leases.
• And Rich Miller connects the dots while on vacation.
• Cal Skinner sees parallels between Blagojevich in Illinois and Fletcher in Kentucky.
  

In other news:

• To those who jumped to the defense of Tom Lakin, the DNC member and alleged child abuser plaintiff's attorney from Madison County: State Rep. Jay Hoffman, who is a rainmaker for the Lakin Law Offices, issued a statement within 24 hours distancing himself from Lakin.
• I'm going to bookmark this story to use everytime some nitwit says that David Duke is conclusive evidence of the racism of Republicans or conservatives: "A Democratic candidate for Alabama attorney general denies the Holocaust occurred and said Friday he will speak this weekend in New Jersey to a 'pro-white' organization that is widely viewed as being racist. Larry Darby concedes his views are radical, but he said they should help him win wide support among Alabama voters as he tries to 'reawaken white racial awareness' with his campaign against Mobile County District Attorney John Tyson." Every party/group/subsection of humanity has their share of idiots, and neither Republicans nor Democrats are immune.
• State Sen. James Meeks (and possible candidate for Governor) is having dinner with conservative GOP political operatives and having discussions with metro-east Republican Steve Reeb about running as a ticket.
• Congratulations (I think) to The Squire, who graduated this weekend but has not yet been accepted into medical school.
• Peoria Pundit rectified his problem with a single unruly commentor by banning them, citing concerns about libel. In doing so, he gives me another good reason to do something I wasn't afraid to do in the first place. Complain about censorship all you like, but if you can't control yourself, then we'll control your behavior for you. (And if you think I might be talking about you, then I'm probably talking about you.)
• Perhaps the most visible diplomatic dividend of the Bush Doctrine is normalizing relations with Libya. Now let's start pushing for some elections, there and in Egypt, too.

That should be enough for one day, I think.

• The News-Gazette has coverage of the Gov. Blagojevich visit here. But Kiyoshi's full coverage is better, and more comprehensive - the NG should hire Kiyoshi!
• I agree: "The city council is not your momma."
• It's things like this that keep causing me to forgive the national Republican Party.
• UIUC is again taking the lead on supercomputing.
• Whirlpool/Maytag is closing a 1000-employee plant in Illinois and moving the production to Ohio. Of course, Illinois has an excellent business climate, and the Democrat tax-and-fee hikes have nothing to do with it. The union - I'm not making this up - is blaming President Bush.
• Howard Dean is a theocrat, and a bigot, all at once. At least he would be if he were a Republican.
• For those of you who think I whine too much about the media and its lack of coverage of anything Iraqi-related that might indicate we're succeeded, would you please point me to the massive media coverage of this story? Seems like a big deal to me, at least as big of a deal as the latest Iraqi execution.

• Kiyoshi was all over the Governor's press event in Champaign yesterday. Just go here and keep scrolling - he's also got a priceless picture of the Governor with CR Justin Randall, holding a "Blagojevich Sucks" t-shirt. Good for the Governor.
• The Squire also covers the Governor's visit yesterday. I was going to attend, but got a call at the last minute that it was closed to the public.
• If the Governor actually amenditorily vetos legislative pay raises, then - write this down - I will compliment him.
• Kiyoshi also has a copy of a letter sent by four College Dem Presidents to State Rep. Naomi Jakobsson opposing the sale of the ISAC loan portfolio. The letter contains this excellent line: "There is little doubt that higher education has been seriously neglected. From FY01 to FY06 tuition and fees have increased by 76%." That differs considerably from the Madigan/Jakobsson talking points.
• How about some good old-fashioned Chicago Democratic nepotism?
• On the gay marriage issue, the Protect Marriage Illinois group filed over 340,000 petition signatures on Monday to put an advisory referendum on the ballot. Regardless of whether you plan on voting for or against the referendum, what are your thoughts on how the ballot issue will affect local races?
• State Rep. Lou Jones (D-Chicago) passed away on Monday. My condolences to her family.
• "Almost all our leaders are giving off a rancid whiff of opportunism and stupidity - from Pelosi's dumb-ass populism to Bush's transparent politicking to the absurd notion that high gas prices are somehow all a result of evil corporations. In truth, these high gas prices are an obvious function of demand and supply, and, as such, they are one of the best things to happen in a long time. I hope they go much higher. Soon. If they don't, the government should force them higher with a big fat gas tax. Only higher oil prices will actually jump-start the new, greener technologies we all say we want (and our planet desperately needs)." - Andrew Sullivan (yes, I read Sullivan, but this was via Eric Zorn)
• Admission to the UI for Illinois high schools students is going to be more difficult in the future, and Chancellor Herman is trying to be reassuring. The key line: "But Herman said that change would also help the bottom line. Those students pay about $15,000 more a year in tuition than Illinois students. 'Multiply that by 100 and what do you get? How many extra teaching assistants? How many more faculty can we hire? How many more classrooms can we refurbish?' he asked. 'That is not a reason for doing it, but it is a benefit.' It's awfully sad that the level of state support for the UI has become so uncertain that the admission policy is altered partly for financial reasons. Does anyone think this move would have happened if the UI were getting the six-percent annual increases in state funding that have been going to Chicago-based schools since Blagojevich and Rep. Jakobsson took office?
• Venezuela is paradise; Chavez is divine.

• There's budget stuff everywhere. The Tribune has this: "But Democratic lawmakers were clearly prepared to use the budget as a springboard for re-election. Aides to Blagojevich also were satisfied that the spending plan kept his key campaign-year initiatives””affordable children's health insurance, expanded preschool and additional dollars for public schools””largely intact."
• The Latino Caucus in the State Senate may or may not attempt to delay the passage of the budget until they get more pork.
  
• In case you were wondering what the Democrats are doing to fix corruption in Illinois - the answer is perfecting it while blaming Republicans.
• And yet another example of Democrat corruption in Illinois.
• And another.
• And another (although this one's a little hard to believe). And that's just today.
• Congratulations, Kiyoshi.
• More debunking of the anti-American Iraq-is-a-disaster meme, this time from a retired General (gasp!) who was called "Secretary Rumsfeld's 'most outspoken critic' in 2004" (double-gasp!): "However, in my view, the Iraqis are likely to successfully create a governing entity. The intelligence picture strongly portrays a population that wants a federal Iraq, wants a national Army, rejects the AIF as a political future for the nation, and is optimistic that their life can be better in the coming years. Unlike the Balkans””the Iraqis want this to work. The bombing of the Samarra Mosque brought the country to the edge of all-out war. However, the Iraqi Army did not crack, the moderates held, Sistani called for restraint, the Sunnis got a chill of fear seeing what could happen to them as a minority population, and the Coalition Forces suddenly were seen correctly as a vital force that could keep the population safe in the absence of Iraqi power. In addition, the Shia were reminded that Iran is a Persian power with goals that conflict with the Shia Arabs of southern and central Iraq." Read the whole darn thing, please - because you'll never see any reporting about this retired General's opinions on CNN or ABC, or in the NYT, Chicago Tribune or the News-Gazette's AP stories. McCaffrey's just another retired General with an opinion, but his certainly contradicts what you see every day.