Test Your Smarts

Okay, you red-blooded Americans... let's see how you do on this test. How well would you do if you took the citizenship test?

Try this out - it's educational and fun. A score of 24 (out of 30) is considered a passing grade.

Supposedly 96% of all high school seniors FAILED this test... and, if that's not bad enough, more than 50% of all individuals over Age 50 did, too!!

Go to the link below. Take the test and be surprised at what you don't know!

http://games.toast.net/independence/

No Charges Yet

In response to a FOIA request to the McHenry County Sheriff's Department for an update on the Eva Grys accident on Haligus Road on October 26, 2007, the Department refused to release information about the toxicology report and tickets, based on an exemption in the FOIA for pending investigations. The Department did respond very quickly to the request, but it provided only a portion of the initial report identifying the occupants of the vehicles and no diagram or information about vehicle speeds or paths of travel.

There are several possible reasons for this limited response. In December Sheriff's Sgt. Hubbard stated that the Illinois State Police lab was running about 90 days behind on toxicology reports. So the ISP lab is either running more than 120 days behind and hasn't yet provided a toxicology report to the Sheriff's Department, or it has provided a report and the Department is deciding now what charges to file.

The Sheriff's Department should by now have clearly in mind what charges will be filed, depending on the report from the State Police. If the report comes back negative, then file Set A of charges; if the report comes back positive, then file Set B of charges. One would expect that the latest internal report would indicate the course of action upon receipt of the tox report. Then, when the report is received, out comes the file for review and issuance of tickets.

This accident happened more than four months ago. How can the Sheriff's Department operate efficiently and productively, if it cannot, in a timely manner, complete an investigation of an accident caused by driver error? In fact, Set A of charges (no negative toxicology) could have been filed well before now. Then, if there is positive toxicology, which I certainly hope is not the case, charges can be upgraded to Set B.

Efforts will continue to obtain information that should be available to the public, such as citations for traffic violations.

Three U.S. Senators - A.W.O.L.?

Lately I've been wondering why three U.S. Senators, being paid $165,200/year, plus magnificient perks, are A.W.O.L. from their elected offices. These three, of course, are Senators McCain, Clinton and Obama.

One can only guess that their pay and perks go on, while they are traipsing around the country trying to get to the top of the food chain. In what way are they continuing to represent - fairly - their constituents back home in Arizona, New York and Illinois, respectively.

Should they be required to resign their Senate seats?

Loading Zone Needed

Is a loading zone needed on Dean Street alongside Angelo's Restaurant, so that delivery trucks can park in the mornings without interfering with traffic?

Obviously, delivery trucks need to stop to unload. So why not create a loading zone, say from 6:30-9:30AM?

I have made this suggestion to City Hall over the past couple of years. The second time, I was told it would be considered. There is a traffic problem on Dean Street, when trucks park and block the northbound lane. Traffic on Dean Street is forced to drive around parked trucks, and drivers turning right off Van Buren Street at the Opera House are surprised to find oncoming vehicles in their lane.

Will it take a head-on crash by an inattentive driver to result in action? How big of a deal would it be to take out 2-3 parking spaces and give these truck drivers a legal place to park?

Now We Own a Hotel...

Yesterday the State of Illinois bid $1.00 for the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel in Springfield. Then the bid went to $2.00...

Does this give you some idea what the hotel is really worth?

In 1982 the State of Illinois - our State - loaned $15,500,000 so that the Renaissance Hotel (it's original name) could be built. Owners of the hotel over the years have paid little (or nothing?) toward the loan balance, which is now $29,500,000.

Just how does it happen that no one in State government was keeping a closer eye on this financial arrangement?

Didn't anyone monitor loan payments? Didn't anyone recommend foreclosing many years ago? When renegotiated "deals" were made, why weren't they enforced? Why did State management personnel allow this loan, which probably should have been paid off by now, to reach its present level of almost double the original loan?

Or did someone blow the whistle along the way? Or try to blow the whistle?

How many more "lucrative" deals like this is the State of Illinois involved in?

Oh, that $2.00 bid? According to this morning's Northwest Herald, "After a few more small increases, state officials ended the bidding with a $100,000 bid."

What? Was it time to go to lunch?

Bullying in Schools

There was a terrific program on NPR this morning about bullying in schools. The program was on the Diane Rehm Show, broadcast locally on WNIJ-FM. Today’s guest was Jodee Blanco of Chicago. As a girl and young woman in high school, she was bullied relentlessly.

Jodee has written two books, Please Stop Laughing at Me and Please Stop Laughing at Us. She travels extensively throughout the United States, giving programs at schools and other organizations about bullying and its lifelong impact.

Bullying is a serious problem – in schools, in the community, even in homes.

Visit Jodee’s website at http://www.jodeeblanco.com/ for more information about her programs and her books.

Schools are supposed to be safe. They are supposed to be safe places for all students. But are they?

All the right paperwork is in place. Trainings are conducted. Staff nod their heads. And life goes on. And bullying continues. Now is the time for it to stop. As in, S-T-O-P.

Has your child been bullied in school? Is your child being bullied now in school? Were you bullied in school?

Were you one of the bullies in school? What do you think now of what you did then?

Gift Cards = Loans? Really?

Are you holding any gift cards that you have purchased or received as gifts? Any that are worth any substantial amount of money?

Read today’s Associated Press article in the Northwest Herald on Page 2A about cancellation of gift cards when the issuer goes into bankruptcy.

The recent Chapter 11 filing by Sharper Image has pushed this topic to the forefront. Apparently, the bankruptcy code treats gift cards as “loans”, and that makes you an unsecured creditor of the company that just filed bankruptcy.

Isn’t this the dumbest thing you’ve heard of? Well, maybe not the “dumbest”, but it ranks right up there.

There is no way that a gift card is a loan to a company. It is advance payment for a purchase to be made in the future. Cash. Good money paid now, so that a piece of plastic (or a paper gift certificate) will entitle the bearer to goods in the future. Unspecified goods that have been paid for in full. Gift card issuers tell you that the card cannot be exchanged for cash; in other words, you cannot present the Gift Card, ask for your “loan” to be paid off.

What a joke! Can you just imagine walking into a retailer, gift card in hand, and asking the cashier to pay off the company’s loan?

Wouldn’t it be interesting to have the time, money and skill to go back and trace how this “preferred” gift card treatment got into the bankruptcy code in this form? My guess? Strong lobbying by corporations, so that they’d be able to hang onto the cash they received and not have to part with it in more difficult financial times.

What if a gift card had been purchased with a credit card? You can do that. Could you have recourse by filing a claim with the credit card issuer that the merchant (the gift card issuer, now bad-guy) failed to honor the gift card and refused to deliver merchandise that had been paid for?

What should you do now? Spend those gift cards. Don’t hold them. Reading about any retailer bankruptcy in the newspaper might just shut the door on any value of that piece of plastic.

Also, be alert for "inactivity fees" charged against any gift card that you’ve had in your wallet or purse for a long time. Many cards were issued that advise you, in fine print that you’ll need a microscope to read, that your credit balance will be charged fees after “x” number of months, if you don’t use the card. Illinois law may prohibit inactivity fees now, but cards issued prior to the change in law might still incur those fees.

It doesn’t hurt to argue with a merchant, if you get stung with inactivity fees. I helped one consumer a while back who had received two gift cards worth $110 as gifts. She had neglected to use them promptly and, when she did go to the store to use them, she found their value had been reduced to $65. She asked me for help, and I contacted the store on her behalf. The manager recognized the customer-relations problem right away and, after our second conversation, agreed to restore the lost value. But this was not a bankruptcy situation. Had it been, the manager’s hands would have been tied, and he would not have been able to restore the original value to the cards.