It is time

I have been waiting for months now with anticipation for Senator Fred Dalton Thompson to announce his decision on whether to seek the Republican nomination for President. So far, the Senator has only formed an exploratory committee and gave a few speeches.

Considering the field of Republicans who have already announced, Thompson would be the hands down choice for conservatives, and yet, we still wait.

Time is running out on the Senator, staffers will only wait so long for a candidate to make his/her decision and the available funds is also dwindling; a fact that I am sure the Democrats have not missed. Recently, the LA Times made an attempt to paint Thompson as an abortion flip flopper - the question is why? Are they scared that Thompson represents the best chance the Republicans have next fall? Are they afraid that Thompson has face recognition with his portrayal of District Attorney Arthur Branch on the NBC series Law and Order? Or are they just afraid that a fresh face will shake this race up and turn it on its head?

Only the LA Times knows, but this much I do know - it is time for the Senator to either get in or get out.

Smelling like a rose in a barn.

It is now Monday night, and with the deadline of Wednesday (as per Dan Hynes) for a new budget looming large, its time for Mr. Madigan to call the Governors bluff.

The illustrious Governor of Illinois has threatened to shutdown the state government if he does not get his way with the budget, despite the fact that he has come up with nada ways of paying for his spending packages; unless of course you count the ill-fated GRT (Gross Receipts Tax) which has already been shot down by the legislature.

I could be proven wrong, but I just do not think this Governor has the cojones to actually receive a budget passed by the two chambers and just sit on it for 60 days and then veto it. Even if he did, I believe its time for Madigan to call him on it and force him to actually shut everything down.......the ball is in Madigans court at this point.

Hanging in the balance of course is the Illinois State Fair, which is scheduled to begin Wednesday with the 4H cattle and showmanship shows that evening. It would be a real shame if this hairdo Governor put his political showmanship above that of these kids who have worked their tails off all year to get this point.

Come on Madigan, if you handle this right you really could come out of the barn smelling like a rose.

Most Compelling video

From time to time I receive an email from a friend, business associate or family member with a link to a video or clip; most of the time they are humorous in nature. Seldom do I come across a video that pulls at my heart strings.......well here is one that did just that.

No politics involved, just a video that expresses a 15 year olds view......

http://www.youtube.com/v/ervaMPt4Ha0&autoplay=1

I hope that you will find it as moving as I did.

18th Congressional seat could be a barn burner

From the rumor mill:

With Congressman Raymond Lahood deciding not to seek relection next year, the 18th Congressional Seat race could turn into the barn burner of the decade. Two popular politicians are being touted as the answers to each parties success in holding on or gaining the seat.

From the Republican side there is talk that Sangamon County Sheriff Neil Williamson coming off of his landslide reelection would be the perfect choice; he has voter appeal, an outstanding track record as sheriff, no major baggage to contend with, charismatic, and is popular with both Republicans and Democratic voters. I would agree that Williamson would be a great choice and with the recent personnel moves within the sheriffs department, it is a better than 50% bet that Neil will toss his hat into the ring.

The only issue is, he does not currently live in the 18th and would have to move out of Chatham; but that is not the first time a politician has moved for political reasons.

On the Democratic side there is the current Springfield Mayor, Tim Davlin. Davlin also is coming off of a landslide victory, is charismatic, can talk it up with the best of them and has a huge warchest available. He is tight with Dick Durbin and as much as it pains me to say, he would prove to be a formidable candiate if for no other reason than he is quite good at making lemonade from lemons when it comes to bad press.

The mayor does have some issues which he will have to contend with, his volatile relationship with the Springfield City Council, his handling of the budget issues, his secret deal with the Sierra Club, and his relationship with the Governor. On the other hand, Peoria is a Democratic stronghold and would have excellent curb appeal with the voters there.

If I were a betting man, I would call this a horse race at this point between these two; Williamson if he is able to articulate his positions clearly would have the inside edge, but with his good ole boy personality, it will take more than just a half hearted effort.

Rumors are flying about

I ran into a State Rep tonight at a convenience store on the South East side of Springfield and they hinted that there was a good possibility that the Illinois Legislature would be voting on a budget Thursday.

Is there actually a light at the end of the tunnel or is this another one of those high hopefuls that never materializes beyond the figment of my imagination stage?

Customer Service - Something AMFAM need work on.

I came across a situation today that I thought I would share with you. Let me preface by saying that I am sure we can all agree that when it comes to service related industries (such as insurance companies), taking care of the needs of the customer are vitally important and honesty is ALWAYS the ONLY policy.

A friend of mine described the following ordeal he has experienced with American Family Insurance Company and it brought up the issue of customer service front and center. Back in May AMFAM apparently informed him that they were going to be increasing his rate; as it turns out the rate increase was over 60% from last year to this year. His homeowners policy was set to expire / renew on June 1, and they did not inform him of what the rate amount was going to be until approximately two weeks before its due date. You can be sure they had already invoiced the mortgage company for the money.

Like the rest of us, he was livid. With only one claim in his life on a home (amounting to less than a thousand dollars) there was little justification for that type of rate increase. As I am sure you would expect he started shopping the business. Within two days he had executed a new policy with a new carrier at a rate amount significantly less than what AMFAM wanted. He called his old agent and (listen carefully this is important) said the following "You are to cancel the homeowners policy effective immediately".

What part of that does anyone not understand? He is emphatic as to exactly what he said, and I have no reason to doubt him. If you made that statement to me I think even half drunk I would understand that you wanted the HOMEOWNERS POLICY cancelled immediately and without delay.

As it turns out, his agent was either not listening, did not care, or just wanted to get rid of him as a customer, because she cancelled his auto policies as well. He spent the next week and a half operating a motor vehicle without insurance. You can also bet that had their been a loss, AMFAM would have denied the claim and hung him out to dry.

It apparently took over ten phone calls to the corporate offices of AMFAM in order to get the issue resolved; or so it seemed at the time. Prior to this cancellation his auto policies were paid by AFT (automatic funds transfer) from his checking account. It seems that both the corporate offices of AMFAM and the agent were not very diligent in getting things set back up correctly because NOBODY mentioned to him that the AFT was not restored. A little over a month later the carrier cancelled the policy again because of what they claim was non payment.

Where was the agent in all this? MIA. Even after speaking to her two weeks before the cancellation and telling her specifically to restore the AFT, she did not get it done; now, the carrier has basically told him, go find another insurance carrier - we really do not want your business.

To top it all off, he was talking to another agent about the problem, hoping to get it resolved and found out that his agent was spreading several lies about the matter, which could only be to cover her own ineptness.

Now to some of you, this is no big deal - I certainly am not what one might call an insurance company hater and I have defended them on numerous occasions but when you are mandated by state law to carry auto coverage, as an insurance company you do not cancel a policy without making damn sure that is what the customer wanted.

I have been with my carrier for over 20 years, I would have considered AMFAM but this episode certainly makes me pause, because if there is one thing that I demand as a consumer - its customer service and if you make a mistake (such as the agent did originally) you admit it and go on.

Baseballs, they should be BANNED!

Since the Governor of Illinois wants to use the overtime session to implement some of his more dracoanian gun laws, I suggest the legislature also ban baseballs; because it is apparent after a minor league coach is killed by a line drive shot baseballs are too dangerous and we need governmental help in protecting ourselves.

Come on Gov, let's ban those nasty things........a kid has a better chance of getting clipped by a baseball in this state than he does of getting shot.

BAN 'EM I say and BAN 'EM NOW!

Health Call

Men have historically avoided doctors, hospitals, clinics and other medical services. As a result, we have paid a huge price.





The number one killer of men is prostate cancer; and the statistics are even more sobering.





This year alone, more men will die of prostate cancer than women will be diagnosed with breast cancer.





If you are 40 or older and have not had a prostate exam, I strongly suggest you take action. If diagnosed in its early stages, prostate cancer can be treated effectively, left unchecked you can be certain that your days on earth will be far fewer than planned.

Horseing drunk

Police in Virginia arrested a man and woman for attempting to ride horses while intoxicated.



The couple, Eric Scott Kyff, and Laura J. Allen were reportedly arguing near the police depot Thursday, when police officers Lonnie Myers and Tim Chilton charged them with public intoxication, the Media General News Service said.


Kyff and Allen reportedly wanted to "travel home several miles by horseback to avoid drinking and driving," police told the Media General News Service reported.
Kyff even "took off along the railroad tracks" but didn't get far before Chilton stopped him, said a police spokesman.
The two where taken to the Culpeper County Jail where they were held until the morning. Their horses were also held and returned upon their release.

Tanished

When I think of baseball, many names come to mind - Reggie Jackson and he 3 home runs in game six of the '77 World Series; Rollie Fingers and his performance in the 1982 split season as a relief pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers; John Smoltz and his ability to move from his role as a starter to one of the best relief pitchers in baseball history and back again as a successful starter; and lest we forget the unfortgettable Harry Doyle (Major League).





I am sure you did not miss the fact that I did not name Barry Bonds. It is without a doubt that Barry Bonds has been a formidable player throughout his career. and up until the past few years his accomplishments have been without question. Fans, players and coaches alike may question his attitude, but his true abilities and accomplishments were without blemsih.





That is until the Steroid debacle arrived on the scene.



Bonds has had accusations levied against him of steroid use and I will admit that so far there is no evidence to suggest otherwise; that is, if you ignore the fact that a Federal Grand Jury hearing evidence that he (Bonds) had previously lied under oath about steroids.



No matter what the truth is, Bonds' reputation is now tarnished and when he breaks Hanks record, there will always be an asterick next to his name.



It could have all been avoided if he had just discussed the matter in detail several years ago. Admitting after the fact is never as good as coming clean (if he did use steroids) in the beginning.

The ONLY reason John McCain is losing ground

The media has been talking up the tailspin that presidential hopeful, Senator John McCain finds himself in these days, with the talking heads placing the blame at McCains support of the Iraq war.

The truth is the war has nothing to do with it at all. Although over 70% of Americans currently want the U.S. to withdraw its forces from Iraq, those Republicans who vote in the primaries have generally supported the war from the start. Of those, 68% still support the President and his war policies and believe that the U.S. can still win.

Those are the voters that John McCain needs in order to win, but he lost them decisively when he teamed up with Senator Edward Kennedy to create an amnesty bill for illegal aliens. Conservatives by and large are law and order individuals, they believe in the right to bear arms, they believe that most law enforcement officials are honest and hard working, they believe in the death penalty, and they believe that if you want to live and work in the United States, you need to enter the country through proper channels and do so legally. What they do not believe in is rewarding illegal behaviour.

John McCain may very well believe that the bill was the right thing to do, but as for winning this election, it was the worst mistake he could have made.

Politics is TAME

There has been this argument for several years now that politics has become too mean spirited and devisive; well it certainly is better than it used to be.

Take the state of Kentucky as a perfect example. Before any officeholder can be officially seated, from the Governor to the constables of the commonwealth, they must renounce DUELING!

For those uninformed among us, dueling is where two individuals each with a loaded pistol, stand back to back and walk off a number of paces (steps), and then upon reaching the beforehand agreed to number, turn and fire. Whichever one is left standing is the winner.

The oath is still used to this very day.....makes one wonder what would happen in Illinois if Hot Rod and Maddog Mike really wanted to fight it out?

Where is personal Responsiblity today?

Josh Hancock, a 29 year old St. Louis Cardinals picher, was killed in a vehicle accident in April. At the time of the accident, the police reported that he was not only speeding, not wearing a seat belt, and was talking on his cell phone; but he was also intoxicated.

Hancock was killed when he slammed his vehicle into a second vehicle being assisted by a tow truck along side of the road.

Apparently his father does not think that any of those were Joshs' fault. He father has filed a lawsuit agains the tow-truck driver, the driver being assisted by the towing company, and the manager of the restaurant where Hancock had been drinking.

If you drink and drive, you must accept the consequences of your actions and although Josh may have paid the ultimate price for his actions, those of his father reflect society's belief that its always someone elses fault. Personal responsibility lies with all of us; well that is unless your last name happens to be Hancock.

I can only hope that the courts do the right thing and throw this case in the circular file where it belongs.

Illinois Health Care

The illustrious Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, has been holding the state legislature hostage to special sessions in an attempt to force them to include a new comprehensive health care plan in the states budget. He has all but said until he gets that, he will not allow the members of the House and Senate to return home for the summer.

Contrary to what the press is reporting, there is a budget on the plate; the Illinois House has already passed a budget but Senate President Emil Jones has so far refused to call it for a vote. In addition, the legislature has already overwhelmingly rejected the Governors Gross Receipts Tax (GRT) on businesses.

So in order to help the stalemate, I have a proposal for a health plan to cover those not currently insured.

1. If you do not currently have health insurance, you can sign up for a state financed plan provided the following conditions are met:

A. You are gainfully employed, or if you are not currently employed you must have not been fired for cause from your previous employment.

B. The State of Illinois will only cover you for up to 18 months, at which time you will have to either receive insurance from your employer or have made arrangements to purchase private insurance.

C. You will have an out of the pocket maximum of $7,500.00; comparable to many existing insurance plans currently offered in the private sector.

D. Your premiums will be based upon your annual household income.

E. ER visits will require a co-pay of $200.00.

F. Office visits will require a co-pay of $30.00.

G. all other charges will be handled on an 80/20 split.

H. You must enroll in and pass a money management course, which among other things teaches you how to manage your income vs. expenses and how to plan for unplanned expenditures.

I. You will only be allowed to enroll in the state program twice, with no less than an 18 month break between the two.

Ok, there you have it, those are the basics of my plan, is it perfect? Hell no, is it cheap? No again, but it does provide a bridge for those without coverage and with the time limits it forces people to make responsible choices as to their own lives. Pick it apart, but one thing I would not be willing to compromise on is the time limits, or the limitations regarding the employment.

Email regarding Duane Chapman

I received an interesting email early this morning from a reader that was asking why I am so "angry" with the "Dog"? "He is a good Christian and deserves your support".

Well, here is my reply:

I have no idea as to what Duane Chapman's relationship is with G-d, and to be honest it is really none of my business. What I do know is that Duane Chapman has been arrested for 16 felonies. If he had been arrested once, I very well could be convinced that it was a case of mistaken identity. If he had been arrested twice, you could probably convince me that he had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. If he had been arrested three times, you MIGHT be able to convince me that he was just hanging out with the wrong crowd......but people, he has been arrested more times than I have fingers and you cannot convince me that an overwhelming majority of them were lawful arrests.

Duane Chapman is a criminal, pure and simple. Do I believe that he can atone for those wrongs? Sure, I suppose he can; but let us consider that according to the FBI, for every arrest or conviction a criminal gets away with three other crimes. So if we do the math, and I give him a huge benefit of the doubt as to the FBI's statistics, he has committed over 24 felonies. He may be able to atone for those crimes with his G-d, but as far as I am concerned, he could not possibly repay society for them.

The only other issue I have is the states of Hawaii and Colorado allowing him to engage in bail bonding and bounty hunting. In my opinion he has not earned the right to perform that type of work with his criminal history.

So there it is again......for the last time; unless of course Duane is shipped off to Mexico in which case I will write another post wishing him well on his trip!

You can't fix Stupid

Ron White, a member of the Jeff Foxworthy Blue Collar Comedy Tour, coined the phrase "You can't fix Stupid" and it is no more appropriate than today.

Linda Wagganer, 44 of Springfield, IL allegedy robbed the CVS Pharmacy on Sangamon Ave around 6pm on July 12, 2007. According to police she entered the store, took a bag of M&M's to the counter at which time she demanded the cashiers money, afterwhich she ran out of the store.

So far so good right? Apparently Ms. Wagganer in her excitement of completing her first robbery FORGOT TO TAKE HER PURSE (which included her ID) with her.

Thanks MS. Wagganer, you alone have provided all the scientific evidence one needs to validate Mr. White.

Lahood Decides Against Bradley

Congressman Ray LaHood has taken himself out of the running for President of Bradley University; or so he says. Actually, it has been reported from reliable sources for the past several weeks that LaHood would not be a finalist; which leaves one to believe that LaHood was told this and his announcement is nothing more than a face saving statement.

Congressman LaHood might be a Republican, and if I was faced between voting for him or a Democrat I would probably cast my vote his way all the while holding my nose.

LaHood has a long history of making comments that are anti-Israel and some have even bordered on being anti-Semetic; depending of course on who you talk to. I do not believe that he is an anti-Semite, but I do believe that the Congressman has a huge amount of animosity that he directs toward Israel.

I was sort of hoping he got the job, we already have enough enemies of Israel in Washington.

Libby Commutation

President Bush has issued Lewis Scooter Libby a commutation of his 30 month prison sentence, while leaving in place the $250,000.00 fine, and his probation. Those on the left are screaming that this is somehow a miscarriage of justice and we even have the likes of a liar, Joseph Wilson, calling for an investigation into the Presidents actions.

I hate to break the news to Mr. Wilson, but the Presidents ability to grant a pardon, commutation of a sentence is granted under Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution and there is no authority to reverse such action. His decision in these matters is absolute. Congress can whine, they can dance, they can scream, they can hollar, hell they can hold hearings from now until doomsday and the fact of the matter is it will not change the Libby Commutation one iota.

President Bush has issued far fewer pardons and commutations than any President in history; we can compare that to the 456 that President Clinton issued, a vast majority of them during his last days in office. Jimmy Carter issued over 500 pardons and commutations, and let us not forget the king of Democrats, Franklin D. Roosevelt who issued an overwhelming 3,687 pardons and commutations during his terms in office.

We can contrast this with the 77 issued by George H. W. Bush and the 406 by Ronald Reagan.

Its a common practice for Presidents to issue pardons and commutations, and to call this anything more is just playing politics.

It seems the Democrats are forgetting history, is that just a lapse in memory or convenience?

See ya!

I was not going to comment on the Rosie/Elizabeth flap that occured this week, primarily due to the fact I have never watched the view and will not for reasons that are just not important; however, I changed my mind. I have only one thing to say about Rosie leaving the view:


"Hey Rosie, don't let the door hit ya in that big fat ass of yours on the way out!"

I do not like Donald Trump, he is an egotistical, pompus ass but when it comes to Rosie, he was dead on the mark!

Now, that is the last word I will utter on that tub.

Nellie does it again

Don Nelson has done it again, pulled a rabbit out of his hat and made magic with an NBA team. He did it in Milwaukee with the Bucks, he did it at Golden State in the early 90's, he did it with Dallas and to top it off, he did it a second time around with Golden State by thumping the Dallas Mavericks in 6 games.

It is no secret that Nellie and Mark Cuban, the Mavericks owner, are not on speaking terms; apparently Nelson believes that Cuban still owes him several million dollars when he served as Vice President/General Manager/Coach of the Mavericks and suprise, suprise Cuban does not agree. I am sure there was a certain amount of satisfaction for Nellie in putting Cuban's team to rest for the season by an 8th seeded team.

Cuban displayed a very childish attitude throughout the series, especially after game one when he pushed off a Warrior player that accidently bumped into him.

Congralutions Nellie, if anyone deserves it more than Mark Cuban losing, you do in being the coach putting it to him.

Hey Mark, bet you regret letting the general get away this time eh?

Culture of Drinking, Driving and Drug Use

It should come as no suprise that mixing alcohol and vehicles is a dangerous combination. It should also come as no suprise that mixing drugs, alcohol and driving is a VERY dangerous combination; I would further suggest that when you have an organization that has had two players who at the time of their untimely death had drugs in their system (illegal drugs I might add) and a member of their staff who has also been charged with a DUI, there is an inherent problem within that organization.

Yes, I am talking about the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team.

Any other company who had two employees who at the time of their death had illegal drugs in their system, and where at least one of them was involved in a vehicle accident from which alcohol was a contributing factor, the wheel of justice would be grinding away to penalize them with enough force to turn granite into sand.

Darryl Kyle and Jock Hancock are both dead. That is a tragedy, what is even more tragic is the fact that they were both employed by the same company and they both had illegal drugs. What makes this entire sad episode even more horrendous is their immediate supervisor, Tony La Russa, has been charged with a DUI and apparently after each game the company provides their employees with all the beer then can consume.

If this were a trucking company, the Department of Transportation would have already taken steps to revoke their authority to operate, as they should.

I am sorry that Josh Hancock is dead, I am sorry that Darryl Kyle is dead; what I am not sorry about is calling this what it is - a horrendous crime. It is a crime that the Cardinals baseball team has cultivated a culture in which their employees operate as though they are above the law; a team that without any leadership, and a team that has destroyed what goodwill they acquired last year by winning the World Series.

Personally, I think the owner, Bill DeWitt, should be criminally charged for his apparent lack of control and inhibing of his personnel.

Jim Leach - It is time for you to go

Jim Leach,
Who apparently is more than just the news director at WMAY, has felled another employee, this time with the forcing out of Jack Davis. Leach first fired Brian and Kellie from the morning show on sister station WNNS and Davis is his latest victim.

I am not sure what Midwest Family Broadcasting is up to, but one thing is apparent, they have most assuredly decided that it is ok for a news reporter to engage in partisan politics and with a straight face will tell you that the reports objectivity has not been compromised. Yes, you heard it correctly, they are saying it with a straight face - or least Jim Leach is. Jim Leach has been one of the most partisan broadcaster I have ever come across; Jesse Jackson makes a more palatable argument than Leach.

I call on the executives at Midwest Family Broadcasting to put an end to this farce and fire Jim Leach immediately, he has so tainted his objectivity that he needs to go.

I won't be holding my breath though, his last name is very very fitting......

Glen Beck

I have always enjoyed watching Glen Beck and generally agree with most of what he says, that is until last night. It was difficult to sit there and watch his interview with Duane Chapman, at the point he called him a hero I came close to losing my lunch.

What is it with so many social conservatives crooning over this criminal? Those who support Chapman only seem to discuss the Luster matter and I will agree Luster got what he deserved, but calling a convited murderer a hero goes beyond the pale. Are we supposed to forget the 16 felony charges that have been levied against Chapman? Are we supposed to ignore his murder conviction?

Glen Beck has always supported law and order, yet I find it strange that he ignores the rules of law when it comes to Chapman; why is that Mr. Beck? What is it about this criminal that has you so enthralled?

Let us be clear about the facts here, Duane Chapman entered Mexico under false pretenses, he engaged in an activity that is illegal (bounty hunting) and then did what he arrests others for, he jumped bail. As Americans we get upset when someone flees this country and rightly demand their return to stand trial, but are we so better than everyone else that the rules do not apply to us?

Duane Chapman should be immediately and without delay be extradited to Mexico to stand trial for his actions, anything less would be a tragedy.

Jim Leach / Brian Pierce and Kelly Michaels

I cannot help but make one final comment on this matter, Mid-West Family Broadcasting.

Replacing Steve Parker with Jim Leach is like replacing a cast iron skillet with a tin plate and replacing Brian and Kellie with Parker is more akin to replacing a Ferrari with a beat up, rusted out 1978 Plymouth.

It is apparent to me that Mid-West Family Broadcasting is not willing to allow a divergent view point (aka Brians' recent post on his blog about the former First Lady) and although they legally have the right, they were wrong morally and we can only hope that in the end it hits them where it hurts the worst - in the pocketbook.

Good luck B&K, as always you will land squarely on your feet!

Brian and Kellie

It appears that the WNNS morning drive hosts, Brian and Kellie, were fired yesterday due to some comments that Brian made about former First Lady Hillary Clinton.

Although some would argue that free speech has been violated, the fact of the matter is employers can and do punish employees for comments they make that are not work related; that said, I know Brian and Kellie and personally feel this action is unjustified.

Let us look at the issue here, what he said was that Hillary had previously said she "loathed" the military. I have no absolute proof she said that, but for me actions speak louder than words; it has been clear that the Clintons have little use for the military and treated them with utter disdain.

Brian and Kellie had a large following, considering the size of Springfield and their morning show was always upbeat, positive and lively; unlike others such as Jim Leach that cannot get through an entire program without berating the President, Vice President or spewing his liberal BS out.

Oh, btw - guess who is now on WNNS in the afternoons? You guessed it! Jim "No Brain" Leach.

So much for Mid-West Family Broadcasting being above partisan politics.

Failed Appeal

Well it appears that Duane Chapman (Dog the Bounty Hunter) may soon be headed to Mexico to face charges that he was bounty hunting illegally in Mexico.

The second district court in Guadalajara has rejected Mr. Chapman's injunction request which will now clear the way to him to be extradited.

What can I say, if you can't do the time, don't do the crime. Duane Chapman knew that bounty hunting was illegal in Mexico and after being arrested what did he do? He ran, just like most other criminals; and did exactly what he chases down criminals for doing. So I ask you, what is the difference? Absolutely nothing!

Mr. Chapman argues that since bounty hunting is legal in the United States he should not be extradited; well that depends on where in the United States you are. As an example, it is illegal to operate as a bounty hunter in Kentucky, Illinois, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

There are 11 states which require a bounty hunter to be specifically licensed (which Mr. Chapman is not): Indiana, Nevada, Mississippi, South Dakota, Connecticut, Arizona, Utah, Iowa, Louisiana, California, and West Virginia.

Mr. Chapman is not permitted to act as a bounty hunter in the very state that he was convicted of murder in - namely Texas. I wonder why?

The bottom line is, Mr. Chapman left the United States and engaged in illegal activity in a foreign country and he should be held responsible for that action by sending him back to finally stand trial.

As he likes to say, nobody is above the law - well Mr. Chapman that includes YOU!

Duane Chapman again

It seems that trouble always seems to follow Duane Chapman. After having been arrested on a warrant from Mexico, Chapman is playing to the religious right in an effort to keep from being extradited back to face his charges. The problem is, it just might work!

Duane Chapman is a bounty hunter, and I ask you, what does a bounty hunter do? He tracks down those who have "JUMPED BAIL". This is exactly the same thing Duane Chapman did in Mexico....he was arrested on an illegal detention warrant for his illegal bounty hunting in Mexico (where it is illegal). As a matter of fact, bounty hunting is illegal in several states in the United States so its not just the Mexican government that does not like his tactics.

Duane Chapman knew it was illegal to operate as he was in Mexico and he did it anyway, why? Because he has a history of not following the law. He has been arrested 18 times for ARMED ROBBERY and was convicted for Accessory to Murder. I do not care how many or who he puts away, his contributions do not ever wipe that slate clean. You would think that after the first arrest he would have learned his lesson; ok, that's a bit much he should have learned after the second arrest.....still asking too much of the guy? Ok, he should have learned after the 10th arrest....still too much? How many times are we going to let this guy get arrested and still call him some kind of hero? Certainly not 18!

The bottom line is Duane Chapman broke the law, he skipped on his bond and should be immediately returned to Mexico to face the charges! He should have KNOWN BETTER considering what he does for living.

Calling Dr. Brock (Cont'd)

Have you ever started the day with what appears to be a simple question, and the answer prompts another two or three additional questions, a greater need to research the matter, which again prompts another round of questions and before you realize it has become an all day event?

That is what has happened today. After my discussion yesterday with my friend ( we will call her Martha - not her real name) I began to ponder the issue of divorce and religious service. As we all know our civil (government) courts in almost every state permit no fault divorce; which in essence allows one party to seek a termination of the marital status without the other party needing to agree.

What we are left with is a college that much to my suprise, not only refuses to employ faculty members who are divorced or married to someone who is divorced, but they also will not allow a divorced student or a student who is married to someone who is divorced to attend the college. I have seen some extreme interpretations but this one is certainly farreaching. It begged the question, "Do other colleges and universities of the same religious background hold the same type of dogmatic policy?"

So my quest began. I contacted Baptist Bible College in Springfield, MO. I spoke with the Deans office and with the academic affairs office to determine their policy and position. BBC is by no means a liberal Baptist college and anyone claiming such is either lying or greatly misinformed. Their policy is to review the circumstances and make a decision based upon the individual and do so in a private and respectful manner. They do ** NOT ** outright reject anyone on the basis of a divorce alone.

I then contacted Bob Jones University which took the same approach as BBC. Pilsbury Baptist Bible College again does not outright reject either faculty or students on the basis of divorce alone.

I have several other colleges that I plan to contact as well so that I can fairly evaluate this issue.

I still firmly believe that Dr. Brock and Maranatha have an obligation to disclose the basis for their policy. It is stated clearly on their website and in their applicaton process; therefore, it is a matter which is open to discussion - they made it that way by stating the policy openly.

I again call on Dr. Brock to provide the reasoning behind the policy openly and pubicly. No ridicule will come from me on the matter, and although I am sure I will have further comments to make afterwards (if he grants my wish) but I will in no way make it personal or attack the college directly. I may respectfully disagree and that will be that.

Calling Dr. Brock

Earlier today I was received a call from a close friend of mine who happens to be of the female persuasion, she is a fine upstanding member of her community, and has ** FIVE ** bachelor degrees not to mention two masters and a doctorate in microbiology. She is a atypical harvard graduate in that she is highly conservative and holds deeply rooted religious beliefs. She attends her local Baptist church regularly and for her that means about four trips a week. She teaches Sunday School, is the mother of four wonderful children all of whom attend the local Christian school.

When I sit back and think about her accomplishments, I cannot help but think that G-d has bestowed upon her a very large helping of blessings and abilities. She is one of the finest ladies I know. She has given very serious thought to moving to the upper midwest and would like to teach on the college level. Certainly she is more than qualified, and is, what I think most people would consider the quintessential definition of a moral and upstanding young lady (she is only 39). Yet, there is a problem.

One of the colleges she was considering applying to is Maranatha Baptist Bible College. When she was reviewing their website looking for information on any open positions and to whom she would need to forward her resume, she came across the following qualification:

• Faculty members must be fundamental Baptists by practice and conviction - Certainly meets this qualification
.

• Individual life styles must be in conformity to Biblical teaching related to morality and virtue - No issue on this one either
.

• The sanctity of the Christian home is guarded by never employing or retaining faculty or administrators who are or have ever been divorced - Here is the Problem!
.

She is divorced. Her husband left her and her children to fend for themselves and he initiated the divorce proceedings not her. She does not believe in divorce however her particular divorce was not of her own choosing, it was her husbands and with no fault divorce law she could not prevent the court from granting the divorce even if she had been so inclined.

I am saddened that a college of Maranantha's caliber which teaches forgiveness and that "sins" once forgiven are no more; can possibly conclude that she should be penalized for the rest ofher life for one singular mistake. It appears as though Maranantha believes that they are better than she is and that is something I truly detest.

Knowing that she would not be considered for a faculty position with them she gave up on the idea of actually presenting her credentials, she was hoping however, to gain an understanding why the college is so dogmatic on this particular issue. She sent a very polite and courteous email to Dr. John Brock, Vice President of Academic Affairs, for an explanation. Suprise suprise, no response. So she sent him a second email; again no response. She sent an email a third time and again after a week no response.

Dr. Brock will not even give her the courtesy of explaining the justification of the rule and on what biblical basis it was made.

It is this elitist attitude that makes my stomach churn. In absence of a response from Dr. Brock one can only make assumptions as to motives and I think everyone can agree that assumptions are generally incorrect, but as humans, we all make them.

Maranantha as a private college can set whatever standard they so desire for their faculty and students and I would never argue that they do not have that right - they do. I do believe that since they call themselves "Christians" and claim to to be forgiving and compassionate, they obligate themselves to at least explain their reasoning and allow someone to disagree as long as that disagreement is given politely and courteously.

Bob Jones University for many years prohibited their students from engaging in interracial dating; I disagreed completely with their standard, but I also acknowledged that as a private university where students attend by choice and with full knowledge ahead of time what the rules are, in regards to dating, they have the right to impose such a rule. in 2000, Dr. Bob Jones III, BJU Chancellor, acknowledged that the policy was not based upon any particular biblical principle and he was throwing the policy out. I applauded him for having the courage to take such action as it eliminated a contentious issue which took away from the universities excellent academic record.

So I call on Dr. Brock to step forward and explain the policy and what biblical basis it is supposedly based upon. If for no other purpose than to eliminate an issue which will take away from the Colleges excellent academic record.

Blagojevich's baby sitter sits on Civil Service Commission

Apparently Blago does not have enough legal and ethical questions on his plate, he now has the added issue of his babsitter sitting on the Civil Service Commission!

See the following Link for further details:

www.sj-r.com/extras/breaking/index.asp#1625

Madigan wins ruling

Lisa Madigan, who recently filed suit in federal court demanding that the Illinois Department of Transportation and an outside law firm turn over records regarding a pending suit won a ruling in court today.

Madigan who is the Attorney General for the State of Illinois, is the top attorney for the State of Illinois and its various agencies and who has the constitutional duty to represent them in any legal proceedings.

IDOT was wrong in their attempt to keep Madigan out of the matter. It was her office that hired the outside firm to start with, and it was her office that ultimately is responsible for the performance of that firm and the status of the case.

This really has more to do with the Governors office attempting to keep Madigan from discovering what appears as an illegal hiring practice implemented by the Governor. IDOT is being sued for wrongful terminations to allow room for politcal friends of the Governor to appointed in their positions.

There is no doubt that the hiring practices as they are currently implemented are in shambles and have become a disgrace to the State of Illinois. Blago ran on the issue of cleaning up state government yet, he has allowed the same illegal practices that he opposed under Ryan to continue unchecked for the past four years.

There is no doubt that with Lisa Madigan investigating the hiring practices she faces a potential conflict of interest here; and must tread lightly and carefully; but, considering her family I have no doubt that Lisa Madigan is well equipped to sidestep the various landmines she faces.

I am a Republican, and did not vote for Madigan. I probably would not vote for her in the future; that said, however, I do applaud her efforts her in seeing that the rule of law was upheld. It is now entirely her responsibility to properly defend the state and to ensure that nobody is wrongfully terminated.

Not an easy task to say the least, but it is one challenge that I truly believe Lisa Madigan is ready for.

Sheriff Neil Williamson Taking Heat

Sangamon County Sheriff, Neil Williamson is taking some strong heat since his son-in-law was arrested in the federal cocain ring investigation.

He has been painted with a pretty broad brush as if he had or has any control over what his son-in-law does. Granted, parents can and should be held responsible for what their children do, but when a child becomes an adult - they are on their own and no longer the responsibility of the parent.

Neil Williamson has done an outstanding job as sheriff and deserves better from the local media. Attempts to paint him in a bad light for something of which he had absolutely no control over is not just wrong, its morally corrupt reporting.

The sheriff has endured heat before and I have no doubt that he will endure this episode in time, I can only hope and suggest that the State Journal Register be honest with their reporting and not label a man for what someone else has done.

Democrats Crying Foul

Democrats are now crying foul over Senator Joe Lieberman's decision to run as an independent for this falls Connecticut general election.

It should come as no suprise to them, the Senator stated emphatically that barring Lamont trouncing him in the primary (which did not occur) he would be running an independent campaign. It was not a secret and he was honest about it. Now that he has been certified for the general election, Democrats are screaming.

Turn around is fair play, as the saying goes, and after some of their support in previous elections (John B. Andersons in 1980) along with their support of dead candidates, allowing candidates to drop out of a race and appoint a replacement in violation of state law (Minnesota, New Jersey) I find their hand wringing and crying foul to be hillarious.

The Senator stands a very good chance of upsetting their own nominee this fall (Lieberman is so far leading in the polls) with strong support from moderate to liberal Republicans. The Senator is an upstanding, honest, stand by his principles kind of guy and even though I am a die hard Republican, Joe Lieberman is the type of Democrat I can support.

A Rod Blagojevich he is not.

Foie Gras

Up until recently I had no clue what this delicacy was; that is until several animal rights nutties started their march through Chicago to have it banned from the menus.

As of today, it is now illegal in Chicago for any establishment to serve Foie Gras.

I am all for protecting animals from mistreatment, animals such as dogs, cats (which I am not a real big fan of) hamsters, etc. When I say mistreatment I am talking about abusing them for abuse sake. I am an avid bird hunter and make no apologies for walking out into the field, loading up a nice big twelve gauge shotgun and after the dog(s) point it out, to take aim and send feathers flying in all directions. I eat what I shoot and I enjoy every single bite.

As for Foie Gras, I am not a fan of liver and it makes little difference on whether its chicken, beef, or some other bird; but in protest of this lunacy, I actually had it for lunch today and I will admit it T-A-S-T-E-D G-R-E-A-T!

I would like to thank all the animal rights nuts for pointing this dish out to me.....I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Calvary Temple Public Works Meeting

Well tonight was the night for Calvary Temple and their final meeting with Public Works. In essence what they are asking for is a zoning variance to allow them to build R-1 homes along the Eastern edge of South 2nd Street, North of I-72 and due South of Southern View Village.

According to the church they plan on building single family homes and their church in this area. Now when I say single family homes, I am not referring to their IDA plan which does include low income housing subsidies. They apparently are saving that one for a later date.

Now, before I go any further I believe I have an obligation to let everyone know that I have a vested interest in this proceeding. I am a resident of the Timberline Trail Subdivision and also happen to be the President of the Homeowners Association. I never considered it before so I apologize for not making that clear earlier.

The problem with this developmentn has been how Calvary and their engineers will handle the watershed as the runoff water moves South, under I-72 and along side of Timberline. One change they have made is to construct a water retention pond along the East edge of their property and they believe that by controlling the amount of water that is discharged from this retention pond, they will not adversely impact the existing retention pond and homes that sit along the Nothern edge of Timberline.

Tomorrow Phil Marten with Marten Engineering will be reviewing the valves and natural drainage to the east of the subdivision to ensure the Board of Directors that whatever water is released will not find its way into the already existing retention areas. If that is the case, it would appear at this juncture that the HOA would reconsider its decision to oppose the development.

More to follow in the coming days.

Hat Tip to Capitol Blog

The Capitol Fax Blog picked up my comments regarding the recent State Journal Register article regarding a neighbor who apparently shot a dog which then deteriorated into what was a blatant anti-semitic rant. The State Journal Register claims that it screens all comments prior to posting them but that (as we hunters like to say) dog just won't hunt. I would like to thank the Capitol Blog for the hat tip and I respectfully give them one in return. This is a good blog with excellent sources of information and although I do not always agree with the editorials, I respect the editors enormously.


[Follow up to original article]

After writing my article, I dropped an email to the reporter who wrote the article and explained my disappointment in the papers decision to allow those posts, and after a few days I finally received a response. I have yet to send a follow up email, as I know it will do little good other than make myself feel better, but alas I do plan on following up with her tomorrow.

Here is the response in its entirety:

Thank you for bringing your concerns to my attention. I apologize for mydelayed response as I was out of the office on Thursday and Friday withoutaccess to my email account.

I am very sorry to learn how offensive you found some of the remarks on themessage board accompanying my story. I, along with all of our reporters, donot see or approve comments before they are posted. The newspaper's onlineeditor Jason Piscia and other editors are responsible for the screeningprocess with the message boards. I have forwarded you email to him, and heis aware of your concerns.

Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.

Thank you,

I did appreciate the response from Amanda Reavy and I am sure she was being honest with her comments; what bothered me the most is that it was an editor who was approving these comments and apparently they did not find them the least bit offensive. Maybe it was an overreaction on my part and yes I will admit that at times I can be a tad bit sensitive to such comments, but when a newspaper claims to screen reader comments to avoid such remarks and then allows then it calls into question their motives and honor.

Calvary Temple to appear before Public Works

It appears that the joint low-income housing / church facilities that Calvary Temple has been pushing for this past year will finally receive a final hearing before the Public Works Committee on Monday, August 21, 2006 at 5:00pm.

Over the past year Calvary has been pushing for approval of their plans to construct approximately 75 low income houses on their property bordering South 2nd street in Springfield and Southern View. Up to this point the entire project (including construction of their new church facility) has been tied up in committee with Mark Mahoney not pushing to have it brought forward.

Southern View has opposed it all along for several reasons, one being the watershed that would invariably effect them to the north. In addition, these homes are touted as homes worth more than a hundred thousand apiece and with the average Southern View home in the forty to 70 thousand range they are rightly concerned about their property taxes increasing substantially.

Appearing as a sleeping giant is the Trevi Garden and Timberline Trail subdivisions directly to the south. Trevi has an average home value of approximately one hundred and twenty thousand and Timberline Trail with an average of one hundred and fifty thousand, they have almost three hundred homeowners lining up behind them. They have also opposed the Calvary plans for the same watershed issues but on the property tax side it is for the opposite reason as Southern View. They have a considerable investment already in their homes, neighborhoods, and associations and any construction that would devalue those properties are going to lead to some potential legal action.

The Timberline Trail Homeowners Association Board of Directors has already met and voted to oppose any development by Calvary Temple that would lead to any increase in water transferred south of Interstate 72 in their direction. They have also voted to oppose any development of homes which would involve the construction of homes that would sell for less than $150,000.

It will be interesting to see how this develops tomorrow evening and with two separate City Council members (Mark Mahoney represents Southern View and Frank Edwards represents Trevi and Timberline Trail) each taking up their respective sides it could prove interesting.

Almost cried

From time to time I come across a tribute or website that gives thanks to our soldiers, servicemen and women, for their sacrifices and commitment to keeping us free that really grabs my attention.

The Iraq war for all the political hype that the press constantly puts out, is a war. Men and women are putting their lives on the line day by day for me, for you and for all Iraqis. Words cannot possibly express my thanks and heart felt gratitude for their valiant efforts.

I came across this link today which comes close. You can find the original article at backyardconservative.blogspot.com.

Post Katrina - Whose to blame?

It has almost been a year since Katrina brought her fury ashore in New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and left a disaster of epic proportions in her wake. New Orleans received the most in both aid and publicity of their plight and probably because it was the largest city in the disaster zone.

Parts of the city remain uninhabitable, with clouds of mosquitoes, festering sludge and stagnant water, dilapidated houses and buildings, and a rescue and rebuilding effort in tatters. Who is to blame? The Mayor? FEMA? The President? The Governor? The French for being foolish enough to build a city on top of a swamp?

All of them, including the homeowners for not leaving the city. I understand the plight of many and how they were caught in the seemingly endless and empty-filled promises of assistance and fervently believe that once help is offered the agencies have a responsibility to provide that help and not take a year to do it. However, in looking back it’s important to realize the many mistakes that were made which will hopefully prevent us from making them again.

The French were / or should I say ARE the biggest idiots of all. Nobody with even the slightest amount of common sense would in their right mind build a city on top of what is basically a swamp. Of all the dumb things they could have done, this is the biggest. Swamps are by their very nature unstable, and with New Orleans sitting approximately 8 feet below sea level, you would think that someone would have stood up and said "This is crazy! We are asking for trouble here." Nobody did, and now we can see the result - billions upon billions of dollars in reconstruction costs which at the end will simply put us back at the same point we started at.

The Army Corps of Engineers for the most part is a solid organization that does their job and does it right; HOWEVER!, after spending this past year dealing with engineers, I have come to the conclusion that most of them have spent little time reviewing disasters and preparing for them. One aspect of software design and engineering that is beat into the heads of mush at every college and university is that you TEST, TEST, TEST, and TEST the TESTS. You look for problems; you consider every possible point of failure and make adjustments for each one of them. If a programmer can get it right, I fail to see why an Army Corps Engineer cannot. Their planning of the levee system and shipping channel was a complete disaster and had they considered and double checked their own work and that of their contractors they could not have possibly missed the problems that were inherently built in.

Hours before Katrina came ashore, Mayor Ray Nagin had at his disposal, hundreds upon hundreds of city and school buses which he could have used to ferry the residents out of harms way. Did he do it? Nope, he sat on his ass and played the blame game. Now, what I cannot for the life of me figure out is why after this debacle, the residents of New Orleans in their infinite wisdom reelected this fool. Nagin may be a nice guy, I have no issue with that; however, his inept handling of this tragedy borders on the criminal. He ** LEFT ** people to die whereas if he would have simply used the brains that G-d gave a horse he would have saved hundreds if not thousands of people.

FEMA - What can one say about this organization besides that it should be dismantled, everyone fired, and reorganized. Federal Emergency Management Agency should be renamed "Federal Emergency MISMANAGEMENT Agency. They screwed everything up from not preparing for the oncoming storm, to wasting hundred of millions of dollars, to making unfilled promises in a political attempt to cover up their own ineptness. I understand that the FEMA director is a political appointment, but come on Mr. President, this idiot had trouble managing horses let alone a Federal Agency.

The Governor of Louisiana completely and utterly failed in her job. I am not sure if Katrina was more than she could handle or if she simply froze? Either way, she failed and because of that failure people died. There is nothing else that can be or should be said.

I lay far less blame at the feet of the President, he has staff to handle these agencies and problems and he cannot personally respond to each and every single one; however, he committed hundreds of millions of dollars in reconstruction money (which I believe was a huge mistake), and then failed to deliver it. One tenet of Judaism is to not make promises and commitments unless you are willing and able to deliver on them. PERIOD. Helping others is a Mitzvah and it is an important part of Judaism, but that does not require you to throw good money after bad.

Rebuilding New Orleans in the same fashion as before will only result in 10, 50 or a hundred years from now our grandchildren having to face the same type of disaster we are paying for.

The best thing that could happen at this point is to bulldoze the city under, return it to the swamps and give every homeowner $200,000.00 to move elsewhere. It would be cheaper and more efficient use of our tax dollars. The delta would eventually restore the area to its natural setting and we would not have to worry about the destruction of a city called New Orleans again.

sj-r.com article on dog shooting smacks with anti-semite comments

The State Journal Register posted an article today about a man who apparently shot a neighbors dog after the dog apparently chased after his turkey which was apparently running loose on the dog owners property. Now, if that is not enough to confuse the hell out of you; your better than I am.

As with most articles posted on the sj-r.com website, readers can leave comments on the stories which has certainly brought about some rather lively discussions. This one happens to have what appears to me (and this of course is only my personal opinion), a comment that smacks of anti-semitism.

This of course has nothing to do with the article or its subject matter, but the reference was clear to me.

"To: rondmon wrote at 8/17/2006 9:18:56 PM
Have them put up a yelloe flag & we will get to them...Do you want an Air Force jet(ours) or a F-16 piloted by a Jew?"

It is amazing how some people fail to stay on topic and then without any provocation, decide to bring up the "Jews". I would almost like to run into this moron just once, but then again its the Sabbath now, so I will mind my manners and just say "Shabbat Shalom".

Justice can be extremely slow

At the time of the Jon Benet Ramsey murder I was living in Wheat Ridge, Colorado; just a few minutes from her home and spent a considerable time in and around the Boulder area. It rocked the entire community including Denver.

I had little doubt then as I do now that the Boulder PD blew this case. They lost evidence, allowed police personnel to walk in discriminitely throughout the house and grounds, allowed Mr. Ramsey to wander through the basement area - and it was here that he found his daughter.

It has been ten years, ten years of a little girl going without justice, ten years of parents operating daily under a cloud of suspicion, ten years of accusations from wannabe reporters and freelance writers accusing Patsy Ramsey of her daughters murder, ten years of screwing up a case by the Boulder PD.

Justice can be slow, and although I have no idea if John Karr is in fact the killer, only time and the courts will tell us for sure, however if he is justice may be extremely slow but it eventually shows its face.

Cease Fire - will it last?

Doubtful, you need to remember what the purpose was behind the Hezbullah attack to start with. They had two primary goals in mind, extract prisoners Israel is currently holding for crimes they committed against the Israeli people and to create a backlash against the Israelis from within the Muslim community. As a secondary goal, if they could goad the Israelis into attacking it would whip up anti-semitism throughout the world and thus continue their quest in destroying Israel.

By crossing the Israeli and kidnapping two members of the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces), they thought they could extract some prisoners from Israel through an exchange (which Israel has mistakenly done in the past). How did Israel react? They hit back this time and hit back hard; unfortunately not hard enough.

What amazes me is that if Hezbullah had done this with any other country, the reaction would have been far different and certainly more devastating. Could you imagine what the United States would do if Canada or Mexico without provocation, crossed our border and kidnapped two of our soldiers? Now you say "Well, Hezbullah isn't Lebanon". To which I would reply - BULLSHIT! Hezbullah has been allowed to control the entire southern region of Lebanon for better part of the last 20 years, if that does not make them a part of Lebanon, nothing will.

Israel has also been very restrained in their response. Case in point. During WWII the Germans launched well over 4,000 boms and missiles at the civilian areas of England; their goal was to completely destroy England. They did this over an 18 month period. That time frame is important here. The Allied response was to drop bombs and missiles in such a manner that they killed over 100,000 military and civilian personnel. That included men, women and children.

In less than 31 days, Hezbullah has launched over 3900 bombs at Israel; bombs packed not only with explosives, but glass, metal fragments, nails, staples, etc. In effect creating the worlds largest claymore mine. These bombs have been specifically directed at civilian areas with the purpose of exacting as much civilian loss as possible on the Israeli side. Israel's response has been to target known military and command positions. What hezbullah has done (which is a war crime in and of itself), is position these military and command operations right in the middle of civilian areas.

Now, what is Israel supposed to do? Not destroy those operations and allow them to continue bombing their country? You cannot possibly think that any other sane country would allow the same would you? I thought not.

The cease fire that has been in place for a few hours now will calm the region down some, but with Hezbullah's refusal to disarm and their penchant for causing havoc and their blood thirsty desire to completely destroy Israel will unfortunately cause this case fire to fail.

Lebanon made their bed with Hezbullah and now is suffering the consequences of that action. You may feel for them and understand their plight, but they made the bed and it is up to them to fix it themselves. Without fixing it, they will never have peace.

What a weekend

What a weekend this has been; all in all it was a very enjoyable one. Unfortunately the kids did not have the level of success they experienced on Thursday or we had hoped for; however, we did enjoy watching them go through the program and hopefully will have better success in Louisville.

Since the schedule for them was relatively light, we were able to get out and around the fairgrounds on Saturday and Sunday. I would like to congratulate all the 4-h'ers on their respective projects, there was nothing there that I did enjoy. You made the effort, expended the time and resources and even if you did not win you can take away the knowledge that you have improved yourself because of it. Good luck next year!

I have to say that the conservation area has been greatly improved! although there are a few tough hills in the area, all in all Dawn was ab le to get around with just Oxford (service dog) assisting.

I would be remiss if I did not at least say hello to Bo, it was good running into you and hopefully you won't lose my number AGAIN!

Slow weekend

It will be a bit slow around the blog this weekend. Dawn and I will be attending the Illinois State Fair to watch her nieces and nephew as they show their cattle in the respective classes.

The two youngest won their respective showmanship classes yesterday, so it is turning ot to be a very successful trip.

The more I think about CWLP

The more I think about CWLP and how they handled this Sierra Club agreement the madder I get. The self appointed King of Springfield got upset when he lost the vote last week. So what does he do? He calls it back for another vote and that worthless wuss Mark Mahoney who was absent for the first vote knows he controls how it will end and there is no way he can vote against the self appointed King.

Mahoney was playing pure politics earlier today when he was critical of how it was handled, but he damned well knew he was going to vote for it.

The figures as put forth by CWLP just do not add up and they know it. They lied about the alderman being told previously (Todd Renfrow is someone whom I could never trust now) and are lying about the numbers and frankly they (Renfrow and his chief alien engineer) should be immediately fired. Do not hold your breath though, this King only fires Republicans.

Mahoney is a liar, a turncoat, a wuss, too damn chicken to stand up on his own two feet and I am fearful this moron is really going to screw some of us over on a proposed deal with Calvary Temple.

I can only hope that when its time to vote the next time the voters remember this fiasco and toss both of these leftists out on their preverbial ear;.

Mike Wallace shows his true colors

Mike Wallace apparently has become smitten with the Iranian President. Mr. Wallace recently completed an interview with the terrorist (why do old out of date reporters feel the necessity to interview these killers?) Ahmadinejad.

"You'll find him an interesting man," the 88-year-old Wallace said. "I expected more of a firebrand. I don't think he has the slightest doubt about how he feels ... about the American administration and the Zionist state. He comes across as more rational than I had expected."

Interesting? Sorry Wally, I find him nothing more than a killer and murderer whose hell bent on destroying Israel, interesting? No, I find this maggot deplorable, and unfortunately I now am finding myself labeling you the same way.

Mark Mahoney is a wuss

Alderman Mark Mahoney caved in to the self appointed King of Springfield tonight and voted to approve the Sierra Club deal that CWLP negotiated in secret.

Mahoney had previously stated that he had not made his mind up on the issue, which is a bald faced lie. Mahoney had no intentions of voting against this because to do so would have meant challenging the idiotic Mayor.

Thanks Mark you proved me right again punk.

Preferential treatment in employment

There have been numerous conversations, blogs, and editorials written on this particular subject and I really really really mean it when I say that I hate to bring this up again. HOWEVER! I was reading on the sj-r.com tonight a discussion regarding the Governors intern and employment policies and one of the posters caused me to really think about one particular issue.

As it currently stands in Illinois, Veterans are given preferential treatment when applying for jobs with CMS, the Governors office, and othere state agencies. In addition, many federal jobs have the same status applied to them (postal service to name just one). I fully support our military, they deserve far more than they are currently receiving but I have to admit that there are times that I get irritated when someone is given preferential treatment in employment just because of their service, etc.

This is a difficult subject matter for me for several reasons. First and foremost I am dating the most wonderful young lady that has ever graced the face of this planet. She is funny, witty, honest, compassionate, loyal to a "t", pragmatic, diligent, a great conversationalist, opinionated, tough as nails, kind, considerate of others, tolerant, gorgeous, sexy, and most of all she has the ability to put up with me for more than a few minutes at a time. She is also disabled. She cannot walk due to a hiking accident approximately 20 years ago and is confined to a wheelchair.

Prior to meeting her I had given the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) less thought than I had about the internal workings of the fertilizer industry. That said, I had some misgivings about some of the requirements that were being placed upon businesses by the ADA. I have now seen up close and personal the benefit this law provides to countless individuals and how even with the law, some still, although I believe it is unintentional, discriminate against these same individuals. The law is not perfect but it does provide some sense of normalcy to a life that is anything but normal; where an everyday task becomes a major obstacle for many.

I have no problem with providing these individuals some assistance in acquiring suitable employment in an environment that treats them with respect and dignity; yet, I do believe that you need to be first qualified. That is one factor that I think in some circumstances is missing when employement preferences are granted.

I would take it personally if she were denied employment on the basis of her condition (which is extremely difficult to prove - hence the preferences to avoid even the appearance of such a denial) and I mean VERY PERSONALLY!. So please understand that I am coming from a unique perspective here.

When it comes to granting preferences to someone who has no disability, who has seen not a second of combat and served the minimum allowable time in the military; I have a really tough time seeing how giving them preferential treatment somehow benefits society. I know I am going to really irritate some in the military and I truly mean no disrespect, they have my utmost respect for their service, yet it is only the few that I take to task.

Back to the discussion on www.sj-r.com tonight, Ashrak made the following suggestion when it comes to employment preferences for those in the military:

"Every soldier that serves in combat should be exempt from federal income tax. Then, remove all forms of preferential treatment for any hiring except the merits of the applicant's ability to do the job."

It got me thinking........I could agree with that statement! However I would change it to the following:

"Every soldier that serves either for a period of not less than 10 years or one that has served in a combat role shall be exempt from all federal and state income taxes, provided that if at any time that soldier should be elected to either a statewide office or federal office the exemption shall become null and void".

My thought is if you give 10+ years of your life to the military (that would include Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and Coast Guard), you deserved a break and what better break to give someone than to eliminate their need to pay into federal or state income taxes. This would also apply to any military personnel who serves in a combat role. The exception would be that if you decide to run for public office you give up that exemption. I do not think politicians should benefit from a tax exemption after the huge pensions and health care plans they already get.

Then, remove all military preferences from employment. In effect a soldier would be receiving at the very least a 17% increase in take home pay.

Any thoughts? Am I way off base here or is this something that many could agree with?

Is Hillary in trouble?

A recent poll in New York among likely Democratic voters, 45% of them have an unfavorable view of the Senator.

The question now is, will this translate into a loss at the polls?

We can only hope!

Anti-Sematic Huffington Blog

Sen. Joseph Lieberman has been fighting for his political life in Conneticut and it seems that some on the faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar left cannot resist the temptation to toss about some of the worst of Anti-Sematic towards Sen. Lieberman.

The Senator is a Democrat and I am a Republican, that will place us on opposite ends of the political spectrum, however, I cannot and will not ever tolerate the anti-Sematic comments being directed towards the Senator.

Sen. Lieberman is a man of integrity and without any doubt, loves his country. His ethnic and religious background has no place in this debate.

The Huffington blog has led the way in this hate filled rhetoric and it is deplorable. I can only hope that Senator Lieberman is able to defeat these hate mongers and send the likes of Huffington and moveon.org back to whatever rock they crawled out from underneath.

Blog change

When I set this blog up I misunderstood one of the settings (sign of old age) in that I was having to approve all of the posts.

I am not inclined to censor every single post and after figuring out how to change that setting I have changed it to allow the immediate posting of comments.

I still reserve the right to remove any post which I deem is libel or in bad taste.

Mayor Davlin cant stand losing

Mayor Tim Davlin of Springfield played a political game last week when he called for a vote on the Sierra Club agreement knowing ahead of time that he did not have enough votes to pass the ordinance. I have no doubt that the Mayor thought he could force one or more of the alderman opposed to the deal into voting for its passage if for no other reason than fear of the voters. He was wrong and ** HE LOST **.

That irritated the Mayor and because Davlin cannot stand losing anything, has decided to call for a special meeting of the City Council on Wednesday, August 9, 2006 to try again.

Last week Todd Renfro pulled some magical numbers out of his ass about how the refusal of passing the deal would cost the rate payers hundreds of thousands of dollars per day was a lie and he knows it. He has refused to supply answers as to how the numbers were arrived at and our Mayor is now quoting those same numbers. Numbers that he knows are a lie and he is using them simply as a scare tactic.

Mayor, you lost the vote, you lost credibility, and your "my way or the highway mentality" has no place in city government.

I personally would like to see Davlin resign from office over this fiasco, but with the likes of Sam Madonia (a so called Republican) supporting this hose job, I seriously doubt it will happen. We can only hope that someone else files suit so it nullifies the deal immediately.

Democrats use two faced tactics with Delay

Having previously argued that Democrats should be allowed to replace candidates unwilling or unable to run for political office, the Democratic party has switched tactics and argued the opposite when it came to Rep. Tom Delay.

The Texas Republican Party had sought to replace Delay's name on the ballot after the Congressman had resigned his seat and moved to Virginia, however the courts ruled that was not permitted under Texas Law.

I happen to agree with the ruling, the law is the law and should be enforced, but I do find it somewhat intriguing that the Democrats have argued both sides of this issue (talking out of both sides of their mouth when it suits them) depending on whether it would benefit or hurt their electoral chances.

Supreme Court Justice Scalia rejected a stay petition earlier today without comment, which leaves the lower courts ruling in effect.

Sheehan - "I'm a Texan Too"

If buying land in a state makes you a native then I must be a native of Colorado, Georgia, Missouri, California, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Florida, South Carolina, Mississippi, etc. Because at one time or another myself and / or my ex spouse have owned property in all of those states.

I really would like to see Cindy Sheehan waltz her tail down through downtown Midland and with a bull horn call herself a Texan and see how long it takes those residents to show her what the true meaning of being a Texan really is!

My last comments on Sheehan were a bit harsh, and I will admit that I really took her to task; I have no issue with her grief or that she is upset over the loss of her son. However, she has taken this to new heights and extremes. When someone starts taking up sides with the likes of Venzuelan president, Hugo Chávez, I start taking issue with them.

I grieve over the soldiers who have given their all in Iraq to our country, and I most certainly grieve for their families; Cindy Sheehan though is one I have a tough time feeling sorry for. Tell ya what, I will feel sorry for her ex-husband and will await the day that Ms. Sheehan is permanently out of th news.

PeoriaPundit Restored!

I am glad to see that peoriapundit.com has been restored and now all is good with the world, well at least the blogger world in Central Illinois.

PeoriaPundit Hacked

It appears another punkass wannabe computer guru has hacked the website of Peoria Pundit. I can only hope that Bill is able to determine who did it and nails their sorry ass to the wall.

This is partly why I refuse to use Micro$oft for web servers.

Good Luck Bill.

Hezbullah rejects cease fire agreement

Wow, what a suprise! I was positive that Hezbullah was going to accept this cease fire agreement as it was negotiated between the United States and France...... ** NOT ** !

The Lebanese government through their complicity with Hezbullah rejected the cease fire agreement today and why? Because as long as the war continues they have something to blame on Israel.

Israel has shown great restraint in this whole conflict; they could, if they so wanted, completely destroy the Lebanese government, the infrastructure, and occupy all of its territory. Anyone who actually doubts this is apparently lacking in their history of the Israeli military and their ability to get the job done.

Hezbullah on the other hand, has only one purpose in mind and that is to be a thorn in the Israelis side and on a grander scale to see to the complete destruction of Israel. What they forget is, they have yet to beat the IDF in a single conflict let alone an entire war.

If Hezbullah keeps this up, the Israeli military establishment will grow weary of their strike and hide mentality and really go after them.....I only hope it comes sooner rather than later, for the sake of the innocent Israeli children.

Ramblings

Spent a good portion of the day on the phone catching up with one of my sisters (K.S.), we were actually on the phone for close to two hours. Of course she is now blaming me that I held her up from getting her yard work done but truth be told she hates yard work as much as I do laundry! It was a good conversation and as much as I hate admitting anything to her, I rather enjoyed the conversation :)

After that I talked to a friend of mine in Az. As usual the conversation turned to politics and primarily about the mideast crisis and each of us thought about it. He agrees with me that Israel must be allowed to use whatever means are necessary to protect itself.

Nothing much happening in SPD today so I will spare you the boring details. Although our neighborhood is trying to raise some money to add some playground equipment for the children so if you want to donate say a grand or two or ten we will be happy to unload it from you :)

Anyway, I am now in Peoria for the weekend to see Dawn and take some pictures of some of the finest civil war soldiers Peoria has ever seen. I do not care if we agree on anything, or even if we get along; if you served this country then I sincerely and humbly tip my hat to you and thank you for your courage and contribution to ensuring the rest of us were and are kept safe. Thank You!

We will be heading out to din din in a bit so I am going to get off this drama machine and pay some attention to her and the dogs.

Democrats reject Minimum Wage Increase

Senate Democrats today rejected a minimum wage increase on a 56-42 vote. Although it would have raised the minimum wage to $7.25 over a three year period, Democrats rejected the bill because it contained a reduction in the estate tax. A tax that drains equity in family businesses (small family owned and operated companies), family farms, etc.

I suppose the Democrats think they can convince the voters that there was a valid reason for rejecting this bill, but in the end all they can say is that when presented with a bill that would have raised the minimum wage for the most vulnerable Americans they rejected it on purely political reasons.

I am not sure about the rest of you, but I will continue to make an issue of this from now until election day.

Used Camera Equipment Wanted

I am in search of used camera equipment, specifically I am looking for any of the following:

1. Canon EOS Auto Focus Lenses (300+ fixed focal length)
2. Canon EOS Auto Focus Lenses (< 28mm)
3. Any Mamiya Sekor Lenses (45mm and 150mm are a definite need)

I would be interested in any darkroom equipment, enlargers, lenses, lightboxes, developing equipment, etc.

Please send me an email and pictures, if possible, of what you have and what you would be willing to take for them.

dwkc64@insightbb.com

Seems politics never ends

Springfield City Council on Tuesday voted down the secretive deal that CWLP negotiated with the Sierra Club Terorrists. Now I am all for preserving the environment, at least as far as my ability to go hunting is concerned but using coercion to accomplish that preservation goes beyond the limit.

The Sierra Club had threatened CWLP with holding up their construction on a new power plant unless CWLP signed an agreement that would require them to purchase a huge amount of wind power.

On the surface this may seem like a good idea, the problem is two fold:

1. CWLP never included the City Council in on the details of the deal and kept it a secret until a deal was hammered out. This was key for Mayor Tim Davlin, who likes to play politics with everything. The public was kept out of the loop until two weeks ago and even then the numbers as spewed forth by Todd Renfrow just do not add up. Frankly, I trust Todd about as far as I can throw his fat hiney.

2. CWLP does not need this power to meet its needs, hell, the power plant will have the ability to produce more power than we currently need by almost 50%. So what happens when we buy this power that we will not use? They will sell it at a loss. Todd Renfrow has already stipulated that he cannot guarantee that it will not lose money.

So why in the hell agree to the deal? That is a very good question of which nobody has been able to give a reasonable answer to. So far they have said that unless we do this the Sierra Club will cost us over a $100 million in additional costs.

Coercion at its best! Do what we want or we will delay you and cost your ratepayers more money!

In the end the Sierra Club will lose any legal fight they put up, and so I am of the opinion that the City Council made the right decision - call their bluff.

Yet, in the interests of continuing to play politics, our idiotic Mayor has introduced another ordinance to bring it back for another vote again. Why? Because one alderman was not present at the meeting on Tuesday. Which begs the question, why did Davlin even bring it to a vote this past week? Simple - P-O-L-I-T-I-C-S and nothing else.

Only this time, it may have backfired on the moron.

Mark Levin hit the nail on the head

Alan Combs, the center of liberalism on television (despite the fact that Alan has tried talk radio three times and failed FOUR, four? He is failing on Television to boot!) tried to point the finger of trouble in the Mideast at the Bush Administration and Levin called him on it.

Levin put it straight forward that Hezbullah is to blame for this crisis and to require Israel to do anything other than defend itself is a crime in and of itself.

I may not always agree with Mark on everything, but this is surely a point we can go hand in hand on.

Ruffled a few feathers

It seems that my remarks about Duane Chapman have ruffled a few feathers. Nine emails this morning critical of my remarks. Every single one of them seems to take offense that I chose to say something about a so called "Christian". Now I have no idea of Mr. Chapman is a Christian or not, that was not the premise of my comments.

I take issue with his being licensed as a bounty hunter with a first degree murder conviction, and that was pretty much the only issue I raised, aside from the fact I do not care for his tactics of lying, threatening people, etc.

I never even raised the issue of his so called religious conversion, the emails did, and apparently one commenter as well. So let us take a look at this a little closer.

Fact one: Is Duane Chapman a convicted murderer? Yes, in the State of Texas he was convicted of murder and that conviction was not pardoned nor was his verdict overturned, so that fact remains unrefuted.

Fact Two: Are there certain jobs that due to a felony conviction preclude you from working? Yes, plenty of them. Now, as it stands right now Hawaii does not preclude convicted felons from operating as bail bondsmen or as bounty hunters and I made that clear in my original comments; I have a problem with that, but that is the law so be it.

Fact Three: Did I make any comment either in support of or in opposition to his religious belief? No.....that was and is not a concern of mine.

Fact Four: I was accused of casting stones. Did I cast any stones directly at him? No, I simply stated that I have a problem with Mr. Chapman being allowed to work as a bounty hunter with a felony conviction. It is not him, its the type of work that he is doing that I have a problem with. He can flip all the burgers he wants and I could not care less. What I found extremely funny about this issue was I was accused of attacking him (and then received some rather unflattering remarks about my being Jewish and attacking a so called Christian) yet I see many of the same people attacking so called liberals. So which is it? Is it ok for the so called Christians to attack or question someone who they do not agree with but nobody can do the same to them?

Personally, I really have no interest in his religious beliefs or practices, however, I have seen him use tactics (such as lying to witnesses, families, etc.; threatening people with arrest when he well knew he has no authority to arrest them, presenting himself as a law enforcement officer, etc.) which I believe are illegal but because of his celebrity status he is allowed a free pass.

Maybe some of the remarks have to do with the fact that as I have aged over the past several years, I have become less and less a fan of capital punishment which has raised the ire of many of my friends on the far right. They seem to ignore the fact that there have been countless mistakes made with capital punishment and unless we can be sure that we have the right person for the offense they were convicted of, we should not be exacting a punishment from which there is no return.

Bringing this back to my remarks on Duane Chapman, had he been sentenced to death, I would have readily opposed it being carried out, for the same reasons I just stated above.

On a final note, as a Jew, quoting New Testament passages to me does not elevate your standing in my eyes and it will not cause me to change my opinions. You see, I come from a very strict conservative family and although I still hold many of those principles I have come to the conclusion that nothing is ever just black and white when it comes to American Society.

Israel escalates war in Lebanon

The IDF has moved over 8,000 troups into Southern Lebanon in their latest attempt to root out Hezbullah guerillas. This is a new massive front in this war and I can only hope that they are successful.

Israel has been waging a war of survival since 1948 and when peace seems to be just around the corner for them, another Muslim group comes along and tries to destroy it. What I find interesting about this war is that with the exception of Syria and Iran, I have heard little in the way of other Arab nations truly calling out for Israel to stop. There is a huge void of silence coming from the likes of Egypt (with whom Israel has a peace accord that is still standing today), Saudia Arabia, Afganistan, Kuwait, etc.

I am no longer concerned with collateral damage. Sorry, but war is war and there always have been and always will be innocent people killed. This was a unprovoked attack upon Israel by Hezbullah across the Israeli border; to ignore it and negotiate would have welcomed further attacks.

You cannot negotiate with terrorists. Pure and simple. All I am concerned with at this point is that Israel is able to finally put an end to this group and their continous attacks on their land.

My problem with Dog the Bounty Hunter

Dog the Bounty Hunter is a licensed bounty hunter in the State of Hawaii and is permitted to operate in Colorado as well. His television program is one of the more successful reality programs on today, and yes, I have a ** HUGE ** problem with it.

First, let me be clear about one thing, Duane Lee Chapman is a convicted felon. A felon not for petty theft, or check kiting, but rather Mr. Chapman is a convicted MURDERER!

He seldom discusses this issue, but the fact of the matter is Duane Lee Chapman was convicted of first degree murder in the State of Texas.

I have a huge issue with felons acting as bounty hunters with little to no supervision from the state and I have a real problem with Colorado (a state in which I used to live) allowing an outside convicted felon coming into the state in order to apprehend someone. That is the job of the police and not a FELON!

His program glorifies his tactics, his lies, his deceit, and most of all his felonious life.

Personally for being convicted of first degree murder he never should have been allowed out and the fact that he is walking the streets a free man is a problem for me; yes, I do believe in rehabilitation but in his particular case, he should be flipping burgers not out chasing criminals.

Greg Maddux is washed up

I recall when the Chicago Cubs lost Greg Maddux to the Atlanta Braves. It was one of the biggest coups in the history of baseball and I said then that Atlanta would end up getting the best years of his career.

Fast forward to 2004. Chicago fans thought they were getting the same Greg Maddux who had won all those game for Atlanta; how wrong they were. By the time Atlanta allowed him to leave, Maddux was only a shadow of his former self.

After two and a half tepid years in Chicago, they have now traded him to Los Angeles and unfortunately for Maddux his career will end up a roller coaster, being traded from team to team until he is finally released.

I like Maddux and he is certainly one of the greatest pitchers of all time, but I feared this was going to happen. He would serve his own legacy well if he announced his retirement at the end of the 2006 season. He should have done it after 2004 but too many players play beyond their ability and Maddux has fallen victim to the same scenerio.

Happy Birthday to me!

Could not help but wish myself a happy BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy birthday to me, Happy birthday to me, Happy birthday to me, Happy birthday to me :)

I am still younger than Dawn :)

Death Penalty

It is no secret that the older I get, the less and less I like the death penalty. The issue for me is quite simple, are we so sure that the person committed this crime that we are willing to exact the final punishment that once applied has absolutely no recourse?

I can no longer get there. We know that the general public firmly believes that eye witness testimony is fail proof, yet we also know from DNA evidence that eye witness testimony can be wrong and has been on more than one occasion (See: http://agora.stanford.edu/sjls/Issue%20One/fisher&tversky.htm ) for further information.

We also know that 123 individuals (fathers, friends, brothers, neighbors, coworkers) have been not only charged with a crime they did not commit, but were also convicted and were sentenced to death; only to find out afterwards it was a mistake. How do we repay this person for this? Do we accept it as an inevitable consequence of our judicial system? Or do we, as highly intelligent people, try to find a better way of determining the facts before it gets this far?

What we do not know, is how many innocent people have been put to death. Is it one, ten, fifty or perhaps a thousand? We have no way of knowing because once the sentence is carried out, the legal system does not put forth the effort to truly investigate the matter; we also have no client to continue to represent.

It has been said by our forefathers that it is better for ten guilty men to go free than for one innocent man to be wrongfully sentenced. That is a profound statement, but unfortunately many no longer view it in personal terms. We for the most part do not know the defendant, his family, etc., and therefore do not care. That is unfortunate because when we begin to view it in those terms, we lose sight of the truth.

As I read on this subject I thought it might benefit some to list (just for the State of Illinois) the men who were convicted and sentenced in ** OUR ** name and were later proven to be innocent:

Perry Cobb - Convicted 1979, Acquitted 1987 (8 years death row)
Darby Tillis - Convicted 1979, Acquitted 1987 (8 years death row)
Rolando Cruz - Convicted 1985, Acquitted 1995 (10 years death row)
Alejandro Hernandez - Convicted 1985, Charges dismissed 1995 (10 years death row)
Joseph Burrows - Convicted 1989, Charges dismissed 1996 ( 7 years death row)
Verneal Jimerson - Convicted 1985, Charges dismissed 1996 (11 years death row)
Dennis Williams - Convicted 1979, Charges dismissed 1996 (17 years death row)
Gary Gauger - Convicted 1993, Charges dismissed 1996 (3 years death row)
Carl Lawson - Convicted 1990, Acquitted 1996 (6 years death row)
Anthony Porter - Convicted 1983, Charges dismissed 1999 (16 years death row)
Steve Smith - Convicted 1985, Acquitted 1999 (14 years death row)
Ronald Jones - Convicted 1989, Charges dismissed 1999 (10 years death row)
Steve Manning - Convicted 1993, Charges dismissed 2000 (7 years death row)
Aaron Patterson - Convicted 1986, Pardoned 2003 (17 years death row)
Madison Hobley - Convicted 1987, Pardoned 2003 (16 years death row)
Leroy Orange - Convicted 1984, Pardoned 2003 (19 years death row)
Stanley Howard - Convicted 1987, Pardoned 2003 (16 years death row)
Gordon Steidl - Convicted 1987, Charges Dismissed 2004 (17 years death row)

That is 18 men wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death, those 18 men served an average of 11.77 years before they were finally released.

I am not sure that I am willing to live with the fact that we came very close to executing these 18 innocent men for crimes they did not commit.

Now that I think about it, I AM SURE that I am NOT willing to live with the fact that we came very close to executing these 18 innocent men for crimes they did not commit.

To Mark L. I know you have said before that you could live with that fact, I only wonder if you could actually tell these 18 men to their face that you believe their sacrifice would have been worth it?