"Business as Usual" - I Hope Not

The Associated Press reports today, "Ensconced in his downtown office, Blagojevich gave no sign he was contemplating resigning, and dispatched his spokeswoman, Kelley Quinn, to say it was 'business as usual' in his 16th-floor suite, situated a few blocks from Obama's transition headquarters."

After Tuesday's headlines, we should all be afraid that it might just be "business as usual." Can't wait to hear those wire-tapped phone conversations. And not only Blago's, but Mrs. Blago's.

Remember when Blago thumbed his nose at the Feds a few years ago and promoted the (illegal) importation of prescription drugs from Canada? Of course, he wasn't the only one to do that. McHenry County's own Rep. Jack Franks promoted it quite prominently on his website www.jackfranks.org What finally got Jack to take it off his website? Certainly not a constituent's complaint to him that there was a nasty and inconvenient Federal law that prohibited the importation of prescription drugs. Once the Legislative Inspector General got involved, suddenly Jack's position that it was a State's Rights issue wasn't so important.

See a different blog for a comment on Jack's December 9th fundraiser.

Politicians and other elected officials (or are they all politicians) sometimes think they are above the law. It certainly appears that Gov. Rod believes that.

But perhaps it's just that everyone is jealous of his title and his being First Rod in the Statehouse. Wait! That can't be. He's hardly ever at the Statehouse. And, when it is, the taxpayers just got stiffed for his daily commute in the State plane. What's that cost again? $6,000? And that won't even include his security detail.

Blago Out on P.R. Bond

Hello? Did you hear that the judge cut Blago loose on a P.R. bond? Can you believe that?
I mean, some guy in McHenry County gets a ticket for a taillight out and has to cough up cash or a bond card, and the judge lets Blago loose on his good looks and his promise to appear?

Did the judge read the charges?

What's my favorite song? Hum along now. "You can get anything you want in Alice's Restaurant." Will this be a case of American Blind Justice?

Blagojevich Arrested!!!

For the first time I am glad that Blago lives in Chicago. The Feds didn't have to go out of town to arrest him.

Ever Hopeful

As I drove into Maryland on U.S. 301 on Saturday and spotted this sign, I hoped (at least for two full minutes) that I had entered a state that took safe driving seriously.

And you know something? Two minutes of hope on a Saturday morning ain't all that bad.

But then I realized that the speeders were still flying by and that maybe this sign didn't really mean anything. On the other hand, maybe drivers were driving more slowly than they did in an unaggressive enforcement zone.

In Ontario the warning signs are bigger. All the U.S. driver has to remember is to convert MPH to kilometer and then figure out which number to obey.

And somewhere, even in the U.S.A., zero-tolerance is the standard for speed limit enforcement.

Definitely not in Illinois!

School Threat Arrests

Read about the two boys, 16 and 15, arrested following being overheard at the Woodstock Public Library having a conversation about "blowing up the high school."

Details on www.WoodstockCrimeReports.info and on the Press Releases webpage of the Police Department on www.woodstockil.gov

Survey Results – Black Friday

Thanks to the 36 readers who participated in the survey about shopping on Black Friday.

Did you shop on Black Friday?

12:01AM-6:00AM 5 (14%)
6:01AM-12:00 Noon 3 (8%)
12:01PM-6:00PM 1 (3%)
No 27 (75%)

Non-Quota Class

On December 4 I wrote about Quota-Free Policing. See below for the article.

Now here is an interesting concept. When is a quota not a quota? Is a rose by any other name not a rose? But what if you don't even change the name?

Deputies of the McHenry County Sheriff's Department have now been trained that there is no quota system at their Department. There is no ticket quota system. Got it? "It's illegal to set quotas for tickets", they have been told. And the class name for the two-hour class? "Non Quota".

And the ten (10) tickets that a deputy is now expected to write each month? (I mean, after the class...) Remember, guys and gals, this is not a "quota."

And if your supervisors push you to write more (say, 20/month), this is not a "quota", either. (Psst, remember; quota systems are illegal.)

And what happens if you don't meet this (non-) quota? You might be lucky enough to get one six-month extension to "shape up" and meet your performance standard. After that? You'll probably want to go shopping for a lawyer. And if you need a good one, call Blake Horwitz.

Where will you find all these lucky folks for your tickets? Be sure to write those tickets on County Township roads. Stay off Routes 14, 176, 31 in the Crystal Lake area. Why? It must have something to do with who gets the $80 that the driver is going to part with.

If you (you know who I mean) don't like this new "Non-Quota System", you might post your comment right here. Go to Google or Yahoo or Hotmail or Comcast.net or SBCGlobal.net or wherever and set up an anonymous email address and post your comment or email it to me at Gus@WoodstockAdvocate.com. Or fax your comments to me at (815) 338-2666.

Are we all relieved now to know that there is no longer a ticket quota system in McHenry County?

Please do keep writing those "good" tickets. Just refuse any "encouragement" to meet your "non-quota."