Alger County Politics

Illinois in the rear view mirror

2011-06-11T13:52:00.001-05:00

The big move has taken place. I am now firmly settled in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

This blog will be amended to reflect the new surrounding county that it focuses on, politics, as it becomes apparent to myself.

Trading up ?

2011-01-20T16:03:00.000-06:00

This picture is from the area that I will be moving to in the near future.

This is an image of my current home.

I like to think I am trading in a nice place for a better place.

We the People Video

2010-01-23T12:35:00.002-06:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc_-L4fyLUo&feature=player_embedded

I like his message

Point of view

2010-01-21T20:19:00.000-06:00

If you have spent time in Washington:
Conservative…you are part of the problem.
Liberal…you have experience.

If you don’t have time in Washington:
Conservative….you have no experience.
Liberal….you represent change.

If you have wealth:
Conservative …you are greedy and a cheat who had advantages in life.
Liberal…you are successful and your life story is an inspiration.

If you don’t have wealth:
Conservative…you are low class.
Liberal…you are disadvantaged.

If you went to college:
Conservative…your academic pedigree is scrutinized.
Liberal….your degree speaks for itself.

If you didn’t go to college:
Conservative…you are un-educated.
Liberal…you are an artist/activist.

If you own a business:
Conservative…you are a profiteer.
Liberal…you provide jobs to the community.

If you are working class:
Conservative….you’re just a (insert job title or trade).
Liberal…you are a proletariat who finds strength in numbers.

If you believe in the wisdom of the constitution:
Conservative…you are narrow minded.
Liberal…you are a civil libertarian.

If you believe in individual freedoms:
Conservative….you have made peace with inequality.
Liberal….you are for choice.

If you take to the streets to voice your opinions:
Conservative…you are a thug.
Liberal…you are a demonstrator.

If you are religious:
Conservative….you are a fundamentalist.
Liberal…you are spiritual.

If you are serving in the military:
Conservative…you are a mindless killer.
Liberal…you wear the uniform of your country.

If you are popular:
Conservative….you have blind sheep followers.
Liberal…you are leading a movement.

If you are attractive:
Conservative…you are shallow and empty.
Liberal…you are stunning and a trend setter.

If you are un-attractive:
Conservative…you are just ugly.
Liberal…you are too intellectual to be concerned with your appearance.

If you enjoy an outdoors lifestyle:
Conservative…you are a hick.
Liberal…you are earthy.

County Board Interest

2009-10-03T15:50:00.003-05:00

Looks like Mary Ardapple is running for the 11th CB dist on the Republican side and Karrie Alms is running for the 3rd CB District.

Still vacant, opponents for 17th CB Dist to oppose Tom Oneil (County Board Chairman)

The Left not Liberals

2009-08-15T14:51:00.005-05:00

This link says a lot about how the Left thinks. Not just any Liberal but the far left.

Progressive Identification

2009-02-21T14:00:00.001-06:00

You Know You're a Progressive When...

...even a flaming liberal such as yourself doesn't like being called a liberal.

...you think Government listening to terrorist's phone calls is "eavesdropping on Americans"...but Government surveillance of talk radio and cataloging every political opinion expressed by Americans is not.

...some days you angrily assert that "Progressive" is short for "passive aggressive". Other days, you just don't care.

....you think Iran has a right to nukes just like any other country...and the US must DISARM NOW!

...you think Big Oil executives are greedy liars and thieves...but Oil Tycoons Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro are philanthropists looking out for the little guy. Gary Coleman.

You Know You're a Progressive When...

...you think illegal aliens have a right to a driver's license...but asking to see that license at the polling place is vicious discrimination.

...you think Castro's police state is excused by Cuban health care...even though its most famous patient was JFK.

...you think the only thing stopping cars from getting a million miles per gallon is that Congress simply hasn't passed a law yet...but you oppose the car that actually does get a million miles per gallon because its nuclear.

...you think sexuality is an endlessly elastic, mutable social construct...except for the LGBT, who were unquestionably "born that way"--even transsexuals! Furthermore, you think trannies come from a bar in Bangkok, not from a plant in Dearborn.

...you think paying taxes patriotic. Also, not paying taxes.

You Know You're a Progressive When...

...you believe dissent is highest form of patriotism. And patriotism must not be questioned. Because questions lead to answers and answers lead to certitude. Certitude becomes the Conventional Wisdom. From which we must dissent. And dissent is the highest form of...

( I heroically dissent from the statement "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism". Laying down one's life for your country is the highest form of patriotism. That's why Spec. Casey Sheehan was awarded medals and Cindy Sheehan was punished with media. And that's why it's called "the Medal of Honor", not "the Medal of Hollywood".)

...you insist that all assumptions must be questioned...except your assumptions. Questioning those will be a hate crime.

...you think there is not enough evidence to say that Jesus was the Son of God...but the evidence that Trig is the son of Bristol Palin? Rock Solid, baby!

...you hate pork producers in Indiana, but love pork producers in DC.

...you think an Obama Stimulus is "timely, targeted and temporary"...but an Obama Promise isn't.

link : http://coldfury.com/?p=13299

Education for the educable

2009-01-21T20:17:00.003-06:00

http://secondthoughts-boethius.blogspot.com/2008/07/how-educable-are-americans.html

The above link is something I found and has some good points on which a discussion can be developed.

Here is the most telling point of discussion:
Certainly a great deal of human misery could be prevented if people could be taught to think more deeply and effectively. But is the common failure to do so a consequence of a lack of education as many suppose? Perhaps, just perhaps, the real culprit is a widespread lack of capacity and/or inclination for education. After all, in order for education to be a cure, much less a cure-all, the majority of humans must be capable of sufficient reason and understanding to be improved by that means; plus they also must willing. Suppose this is not the case? Perhaps a great many humans, possibly even most humans, are not truly educable in any deep and abiding sense,?

Hat Tip to :http://secondthoughts-boethius.blogspot.com

Where is Dunlap/ school district

2008-03-06T17:22:00.002-06:00

Yellow shading is Dist 150, Red Shades Peoria city limits, NW of Peoria limits is Dunlap School Dist outlined in yellow with Dunlap village in a yellow shading as well

County Board seats

2008-01-29T16:36:00.000-06:00

It looks like some of the County Board seats are going to be unopposed in the fall unless the party appoints a candidate to fill in.

CB 18 is running the incumbent a Democrat seat. no Republican in the Primary.
CB 6 is running a Republican to fill Allen Mayers spot no Dem has stepped up yet.
CB 4 is running a Dem to fill a democrat retirement no Republican has filed.
CB 2 has an incumbent Dem running and no Republican Opposition.

County Incorporation pt 2

2007-07-17T21:24:00.000-05:00

With all the talk about annexing to get some protection from Peoria City growth to the North West, we should explore the alternative to annexation and that is becoming a city or village outright.
The view of Peoria City is when you ( a developer) want to build a subdivision with in 1.5 miles of city limits you must follow the city rules for buildings, roads, sewage, water etc.
To those who do not want anything to do with the City they must look for other options. Annexing to a current city or village is one path to pursue. Creating a new municipality is the other. It requires an area of at least 4 sq miles and 7500 population base. The new political entity must have a name of the proposed village on the petition along with 250 valid signatures of people who are in the boundaries described in the village description. The description must be in plain language and must tell the circuit court where the boudaries are set, by means of a survey that tells how far and in what direction the limits are set, or by using the description of land by using " all of section 3 " or "all of section 9 excepting therefrom the north 300 feet of the nw quarter".
You can describe almost any boundary in this way and do not need a survey. You can do this for each township that is included in the new municipality.

County incorporation Part 1

2007-05-28T20:08:00.000-05:00

One thought on how to organize Peoria County into an entity that has powers of a city or village. Currently cities and villages have statutory powers that allow them to perform certain functions that townships cannot do. I.E. zoning,choosing form of government, and other corporate powers to carry out the business of the municipality. (ILCS 65\5 1-1-7 to 1-10) Those of us in the unincorporated townships have little say in matters regarding form of govt, election of individual members to districts in a township, suffering the County board to pass zoning requests from board members who do not live in the unincorporated areas. One member from the County board is in the local area ( our own member) the other 17 have no tie to the locality. The current board has 18 members. 11 live in the City of Peoria, 1 lives in West Peoria, 1 lives in Peo Heights(who also has some of Peoria city in their district, 2 live in rural parts of the county ( these rural district members have some parts of their boundary actually in the city limits of Peoria), 1 lives in a subdivision that borders Bartonville ( actually 20 feet away from village boundary line) 1 lives in Chillicothe (whose district abuts the city limits), 1 lives in the village of Norwood. So the voting power is clearly in the city of Peoria or in a municipal view and focus. Yes I understand that the population is located in Peoria by a large percentage 112,850 out of 183,600 (these are close estimates) 61% by my calculations.The number of districts that are all or partially in the city or in another city or village comes out to 17. That is 94% of the board that has a municipal influence. So where are we going now with this? The main point is the districts that are now drawn, can with the smallest of tweaking have a much higher percentage of city focused board members. District lines are drawn by the Board themselves and reflect the majority party focus (in 1991 Republicans drew the maps and had 8 or 9 members on the board). In 2000 Democrats won and took control of map drawing in 2001 and now the board is made up of 5 Republicans and 13 Democrats What changed?

Blogger Bash

2006-12-07T17:03:00.000-06:00

Tonight is my first blogger bash, hope to make some new contacts face to face.

Larger than Life

2006-11-23T07:27:00.000-06:00

This is the first post in many moons and I hope to have more in the immediate future.

Bad township meeting

2006-04-11T21:51:00.000-05:00

Just attended an annual township meeting and it was possibly the most uncoordinated display of incompetence. Moderator did not run the meeting in a professional manner. The agenda was little more than open meeting , set next meeting, comments from electors, adjourn til next year. One elector put forth a motion and was immediately attacked by the moderator as" just your opinion ......" it is not relevant to the members. The motion was seconded and the moderator had to go on but did not appear impartial or conduct the meeting impartially. When the vote was taken the moderator did not know how many electors were present so that a determination of majority could be made. The motion was not restated as per Roberts Rules to give all present a definite description of the motion, the moderator in fact restated the motion counter to the makers words, and did not get an opposing vote. They just moved on. I challenged the moderator as to his misstatement and the number present, he did not know the number present and no other person could provide an accurate number nor did they seek a count when challenged. After numerous attempts to find out the exact number, the moderator moved on with another motion to thwart the inquiry of the electors. After the meeting the sign in sheet at the door showed 23 or 24 persons entered as registered voter, although no check of the voting roll, which should have been conducted by the clerk, was even attempted. There was even a township attorney present and he was beside him self. Offered not much of an opinion on the law. Where will the people turn if nobody is watching out for them? The recorded vote was 13 for the motion 11 against (which equals the sign sheet number) Somebody tried to say there was 30 people present but could not verify it. And the vote was lost to a minority of electors

Peoria Pundit moving into County sphere

2006-01-22T17:50:00.000-06:00

Looks like Wild Bill Dennis is moving west into non City of Peoria Territory. Hope he can hold his own out here,

Fairness in reporting

2005-12-20T18:05:00.000-06:00

http://www.pjstar.com/stories/122005/TRI_B8F7GHBJ.007.shtml According to article only a few candidates can get their cases plastered on the politics page, but only if you are out of favor with the main stream media? How fair is it to color the reporting with adverbs that connote failure or unworthiness of consideration? Jeff Joyce was interviewed and hopefully credited properly. I on the other hand was sucker punched with the use of the "unsucessfully" milestone around my neck. Why Did the PJ Star leave out Pat Ward being unsucessful in the 2oo2 election? She ran but did not win. Why did the writer not confirm the fact that I won in 2005 in the Townwship Collector race?

2005-11-15T16:33:00.000-06:00

Here we go again. Dave Williams is running for State Senator. His campaign manager is Mike Mason formerly of the County Board that represented Limestone TWP north of airport and parts of Bartonville. Who then quit under some cloud of inuendo by a board member. Pat Hidden then filled the seat until the next election when she got the nod from voters. But she was on the Limestone township board and could not legally hold both offices according to state law. She then lost her seat on the twp board because she ran for supervisor and lost in the primary.

School districts

2005-09-24T07:55:00.000-05:00

I know this is not on a strictly political vein but here goes. We have too many school districts in Illinois and especially Peoria County. In Limestone Twp alone we have seven grade school dist an one HS district. That means 8 superintendents over an area smaller in population and size than dist 150 (city of Peoria). We need to consolidate all districts into one dist (outside of Dist 150)

Voting laws

2005-08-06T11:57:00.000-05:00

Just found out that the new voting statutes passed this spring will allow persons to register by mail then vote by mail the first time they are in an election cycle. Currently they must show up for the first time voting. Sounds like a big voter fraud case will come down the pike when we can not verify who voted since no election worker will actually see the registrant in person at a voting booth. Maybe the grave yards will become a big recruiting place once again, as in Chicago was for many decades

Out in the flat lands

2005-07-28T16:46:00.000-05:00

My next post is aimed toward the Democrat party of Limestone Twp. The last election in Feb and April seems to be one of mutual assured destruction or sour grapes. Township offices that were contested were all in the Dem column. No Republicans ran in a primary- unopposed. Dems lost two incumbents Road Commissioner and a board member. Even after the election some folks did not want to let the winners of the General election have a decent transition and made all sorts of side comments in town meetings that were just uncalled for in my humble opinion. Maybe in 2009 we can have a better field of candidates for the electorate to choose their office reps.

Who's Ox gets gored

2005-06-26T22:52:00.000-05:00

Just a few lines on how we are subjected to gerrymandered Board Districts. Why is it that when the Democrats draw the districts they use their own criteria. But when the Republicans are given the opportunity to draw an alternative map they must hold to more requirements than the Democrats. Case in Point County Bd Chairman says Bartonville must be in one board district not split between two districts. Republicans follow this directive. Dems then draw a map with Bartonville in two districts. go figure