Deadbeat dads - small target

The incumbent-friendly Northwest Herald gave Keith Nygren some free publicity today with its article titled, "New website targets deadbeats".

It's a small target, I'll tell you. From the website for the county sheriff comes the purpose of the website: "Deadbeat Parents website is to identify and eventually lead to the apprehension of Deadbeat Parents who choose not to fulfill their obligations to support their children. Parents who fail to take financial responsibility for their children place a heavy burden on the custodial parent or guardian, government agencies and taxpayers."

Go to www.mchenrysheriff.org/ and then scroll down the left side to "Dead Beat Parents" (sic). The first question I had upon arriving at the site was, does this mean "dead, beat parents" or dead beat(en) down parents". But the copy writer got it right in the narrative; it's "deadbeat".

Look carefully at the list of names; it won't take much time. There are only seven (7) deadbeat dads in McHenry County. Now that ought to thrill everyone, except the hundreds of moms out there whose kids are not receiving their child support payments.

How many deadbeat parents are there in McHenry County - really?

I'll be digging around, because I've heard that many files were shipped off from McHenry County to the State of Illinois for collection. That ought to re-assure a lot of moms; right? We all know how financially stable the State of Illinois is and how easy it will be for the State to track down these deadbeats.

If you know a deadbeat who is not paying child support for his/her kids in McHenry County, sound off in a comment below. I'll bet there are many. In fact, I already know of two; wait, make that three. Their stories will follow.

"...eventually lead to the apprehension of ..."? That's a powerful mission. No deadline = no result. Care to bet? How about not eventually? How about now, while the kids are still young and need food, clothing, dental care, haircuts?

On the sheriff's website, it says,
If you know the whereabouts of any of these individuals,
DO NOT TRY TO APPREHEND"

How about offering a reward, instead? Or, when he drops over to visit the kids (assuming any one of those deadbeats does that), why not offer him a meal, and send one of the kids to the neighbor's house to call for a cop or deputy? How many years will it take to round up those seven? Is any one of them still in the State of Illinois?

And where are the names and photos of the hundreds of other deadbeats?

Rep. Ted Poe has got it right

Check out Congressman Ted Poe (Texas, 2nd Congressional District).

Don't Travel in America - It's Too Dangerous!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqL0cG-saCU&feature=related

The unarmed National Guard will guard computers in Arizona:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjND6cySSDU&NR=1

Congressman Poe winds up with, "And that's just the way it is."

These are short and worth watching.

5-point star (or 7-)?

I couldn't resist ...

While visiting in Freeport today, I stopped at the Stephenson County Sheriff's Office. It's a rather modest and small building. When you walk in the front door, you are right at the glass security window. There is no long walk up to the reception window.

There was a sign on the window that read something like, "We will be glad to help you when you are off your cell phone." What a nice way to put it. That's small-town courtesy.

Walking up the block, I passed an open garage door. Inside, a uniformed deputy was hosing off his squad car. No such thing as running it over to a mechanic for a wash job or down to the local carwash. It's your car; wash it. (And I didn't ask if it was a take-home car.)

Around back two squad cars were parked. Maybe I saw all three squad cars of the sheriff's department; I don't know.

What I did notice was that the Stephenson County Sheriff has a 5-point star on the patrol car. Not his own version of the department badge, like in McHenry County. The 5-point star is the official badge, and that's the one that belongs on the vehicles and the stationery. For a good, clear look at the 5-point star, click on the image. (Then click on the Back button on your browser to come back here.)

And there shouldn't be a look-alike badge on campaign literature.

If you aren't sure whether Keith Nygren is using emblem of office on campaign literature, go to
www.mcgop.org/mcgop/2009%20Nygren%20fundraiser%20trifold.pdf and check out the patch for the posse. See the 7-point star with the wording "Sheriff" and "McHenry County Sheriff's Police" on the patch. Think a couple of those patches on a black jacket might be enough to persuade someone after dark that the wearer was really a deputy (except he would be an impostor).

Or how about the 7-point star with the State seal on it and wording "Sheriff" and "McHenry County Sheriff's Police"? If you saw that on a letterhead, would you think you were looking at an official document?

There is a big controversy in McHenry County right now, and it's in court. And that's where it belongs. Four years ago, when I raised the issue of use of official emblem of office with (as I recall) the McHenry County Election Board, my complaint went nowhere. The issue is going somewhere now, just as it should.

That use is wrong, and it needs to be corrected.

A certain blog short-lived

A short time back a new blog in McHenry County was established Its author seemed to have one target in his sights; namely, one Gus Philpott.

I checked the phone book to see if there was another Gus Philpott in this area; there isn't. Actually, I had known a Gus Philpott when I lived in Denver, but he died in 2005. Then I checked the back of my t-shirt for a target with a bulls-eye on it.

The author of that blog wasn't proud enough of his name to publish it. Seems he was worried about losing his job. It wasn't hard to figure out where he works. He identified himself as a "retired peace officer" and then said how he was worried that he would get fired if found out as the author of that blog.

Well, you can't have it both ways. If he was truthful about being a retired peace officer and employed now (and angry that I'm running for sheriff), there is only one place where he'd be working. Starts with J-; ends with -L.

Now he is even more secretive because, unless you are "invited", you can't read anything he writes; i.e., if he is writing anything.

He ranted one day that no one reads the Woodstock Advocate. The first article was on April 15, 2007, and I added a counter here in January 2009. As of today, there have been 300,837 clicks on this site since January 3, 2009.

My thanks to all of you readers. If you would like to share this blog with 1-2 other people, just use the little white "envelope" at the bottom of this article to forward this to a couple of friends.

Thanks!

A police dept. for MCC?

Should MCC have its own police department?

This morning's paper revealed plans to spring its own P.D. on students and faculty (and taxpayers), including budgeted amounts for TWO police interceptor vehicles.

Now that's got to be exactly what MCC needs. If a student speeds in the 15MPH zone, the MCC cops would have a high-powered 140MPH police car to chase him all the way to Crystal Lake.

Just how big is MCC? Not big at all. How many students are there? Not that many. And the College is land-locked. It's not going to grow.

The Crystal Lake Police Department can handle anything that arises at the college.

What MCC did was hire a big-city cop from L.A., who came to little ol' McHenry County and brought big-city ideas. McHenry County does not need an additional police empire.

For several years I have attempted to persuade MCC to raise its speed limit on the perimeter roads from 15MPH to, say, 30MPH. Everybody (except me) already drives 30-40MPH. The 15MPH speed limit is legally unenforceable, because it is an alley speed limit, according to the Crystal Lake P.D.

The first excuse for not raising it that I heard was that it had been set low (at 15MPH), because the folks at MCC knew everyone drove 10MPH over the speed limit. By setting it at 15MPH, then they hoped drivers would go only 25MPH. Man! What a philosophy. Forrest Gump had an answer for that one.

Different people came and went, and I actually thought I might get somewhere with President Plinske. She was (is) bright, smart, young, and I was pretty sure all her brain cells were still working. I guess they were, because she left when they didn't give her the top spot.

At her direction, MCC Director of Security Mike Clesceri responded to my email to President Plinske about increasing the speed limit. Said he, "I believe it is prudent to keep continuity in the speed limit of our parking lots and the Ring Road to avoid confusion."

What? MCC students can't be relied upon to discern the bold black numbers on speed limit signs and spot the difference between "15" and, say, "30" on a sign on a roadway?

MCC does not need a police department. Geesh!!! But you'd better watch it, folks. If you blink, someone will talk the new prez into it.

New Facebook site for Beth Bentley

A new Facebook page has been created regarding a missing Woodstock woman, Beth Bentley, 41.

This new site is named "Beth Bentley Missing". The easiest way to find it is to go to www.facebook.com and then type in "Beth Bentley". Look for "Beth Bentley Missing". (The first Facebook.com site for Beth is "BETH BENTLEY...Missing Woodstock, IL Woman!), and it continues.

Once you get there, if you like it, click on "Like" or join the group.

Several discussion topics have already been opened, and your polite comments are invited.

From Harold Estes to Pres. Obama

The following letter was written by 95-year-old Harold Estes of Hawaii in 2009 and sent to President Obama. Check is out on www.snopes.com, if you wish. It is quoted in its entirety.

Dear President Obama,

My name is Harold Estes, approaching 95 on December 13 of this year. People meeting me for the first time don't believe my age because I remain wrinkle free and pretty much mentally alert.

I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1934 and served proudly before, during and after WW II retiring as a Master Chief Bos'n Mate. Now I live in a "rest home" located on the western end of Pearl Harbor , allowing me to keep alive the memories of 23 years of service to my country.

One of the benefits of my age, perhaps the only one, is to speak my mind, blunt and direct even to the head man.

So here goes.

I am amazed, angry and determined not to see my country die before I do, but you seem hell bent not to grant me that wish.

I can't figure out what country you are the president of.
You fly around the world telling our friends and enemies despicable lies like:
"We're no longer a Christian nation"
"America is arrogant" - (Your wife even announced to the world, "America is mean-spirited." Please tell her to try preaching that nonsense to 23 generations of our war dead buried all over the globe who died for no other reason than to free a whole lot of strangers from tyranny and hopelessness.)

I'd say shame on the both of you, but I don't think you like America, nor do I see an ounce of gratefulness in anything you do, for the obvious gifts this country has given you. To be without shame or gratefulness is a dangerous thing for a man sitting in the White House.

After 9/11 you said, "America hasn't lived up to her ideals."

Which ones did you mean? Was it the notion of personal liberty that 11,000 farmers and shopkeepers died for to win independence from the British? Or maybe the ideal that no man should be a slave to another man, that 500,000 men died for in the Civil War? I hope you didn't mean the ideal 470,000 fathers, brothers, husbands, and a lot of fellas I knew personally died for in WWII, because we felt real strongly about not letting any nation push us around, because we stand for freedom.

I don't think you mean the ideal that says equality is better than discrimination. You know the one that a whole lot of white people understood when they helped to get you elected.

Take a little advice from a very old geezer, young man.

Shape up and start acting like an American. If you don't, I'll do what I can to see you get shipped out of that fancy rental on Pennsylvania Avenue . You were elected to lead not to bow, apologize and kiss the hands of murderers and corrupt leaders who still treat their people like slaves.

And just who do you think you are telling the American people not to jump to conclusions and condemn that Muslim major who killed 13 of his fellow soldiers and wounded dozens more. You mean you don't want us to do what you did when that white cop used force to subdue that black college professor in Massachusetts , who was putting up a fight? You don't mind offending the police calling them stupid but you don't want us to offend Muslim fanatics by calling them what they are, terrorists.

One more thing. I realize you never served in the military and never had to defend your country with your life, but you're the Commander-in-Chief now, son. Do your job. When your battle-hardened field General asks you for 40,000 more troops to complete the mission, give them to him. But if you're not in this fight to win, then get out. The life of one American soldier is not worth the best political strategy you're thinking of.

You could be our greatest president because you face the greatest challenge ever presented to any president.

You're not going to restore American greatness by bringing back our bloated economy. That's not our greatest threat. Losing the heart and soul of who we are as Americans is our big fight now.

And I sure as hell don't want to think my president is the enemy in this final battle...

Sincerely,
Harold B. Estes