Peoria Pundit

Walter Reuther would be proud

2008-12-07T01:35:00.000-06:00

Pay attention to this development, brought to my attention by the Chi-Town Daily News. A group of factory workers in Chicago are holding a sit-down strike. They are fighting for the full 75 days of pay they say they are due under federal law because their factory closed.

Read that again if you missed it: A sit-down strike. Basically, they are occupying a factory until they get what they want. Sit-downs are a tactic that occasionally worked back in the days when unions were first fighting to get recognized and to get decent wages and working conditions. In 1935, as part of the New Deal, the Wagner Act was passed that set up rules on how unions could organize. The act said that workers could strike, but they could not stage sit down strikes.

Here's my liberarian opposition to the Wagner Act: It has led generations of union members to believe erroneously that unions are a gift bestowed upon them by Uncle Sam, and that in order to protect their union jobs, they need to support politicians with time and money. Indeed, politicians have come to expect and demand money and work from union members. Union members feel compelled by economic necessity to support politicians who take positions contrary to their own on issues of conscience like gun control, abortion and national security. Much like the right-to-work laws hated by unions, the Wagner Act interferes with the right of management and labor to enter into their own freely negotiated contracts.

The hard-to-believe truth is that unions don't need government's help to thrive on behalf of their members. Back in the old days, unions like the United Auto Workers used tough tactics against bosses that used even tougher tactics. The first early successes unions had were not won by government-sanctioned elections, monitored by the federal government. They were won by way of sit-down strikes led by people like Walter Reuther, the former president of the UAW.

Along came President Franklin Roosevelt, who wanted to help organized labor. And he also wanted labor peace during the depression when the idea there might be a revolution wasn't considered all that far-fetched.

And here we are today, with the economy supposedly worse than it's been since the Great Depression. These strikers are making demands of the banks who refuse to loan their employer the money they needed to stay open.

Their complaints against the capitalists are reminiscent of the earliest days of union organizing. Their solution -- the sit down strike -- is right out of the 1930s' playbook. I'm wondering if we are going to see some of that ugliness if the economy starts to get as bad as some of the experts claim it will.

More candidates emerge for local races

2008-12-07T01:34:00.001-06:00

Diane Vespa attended Mayor Jim Ardis's re-election kickoff party and came back with a very newsy post about, with the names of two previously unmentioned candidates for 5th District and City Treasurer. Go read her blog to find out who they are. Full disclosure: Her husband John Vespa is an advertiser.

District 150 needs to hire more consultants

2008-12-07T01:32:00.000-06:00

Maybe after spending another million dollars or two, one of them will figure why it is that, despite the bad economy, the vast majority of school districts and taxing bodies in the area don't have a problem meeting their payroll.

There's Something About Kate Hudson

2008-04-30T22:20:00.003-05:00

Plausibility Deniability for Schock in the growing NRCC scandal?

2008-02-12T00:56:00.000-06:00

I'm trying to not be incredulous here. I suppose it's possible. It just seems damn reckless to me. But Aaron Schock's campaign manager Steve Shearer tells the State Journal-Register's Bernie Schoenburg that he's never met the man they hired as campaign treasurer. This is the same guy who is considered a central figure into a federal investigation into the finances into the National Republican Congressional Committee:

Steve Shearer, campaign manager for Schock, said the campaign replaced Christopher J. Ward as soon as officials heard of the questions. A Schock staffer, Rachel Honegger, was named the new treasurer, Shearer said.

Shearer said he has never met Ward, but Ward was a long-time comptroller of the NRCC, which helps GOP candidates for the U.S. House nationwide. Ward's association with that group, and the fact that he has been associated with perhaps more than 100 House and Senate campaigns nationwide, indicated he had impeccable credentials, Shearer said.

It's a good breaking news story, and by the time most people read this post, a full version might be up at the SJ-R Website.

The gist of the story is that the Ward fellow never touched Schock's campaign money, just made sure the campaign was in compliance with federal laws. Or so Shearer says now.

Here are my observations:

The purpose of the NRCC is to make sure Republicans get elected to Congress, and once they get there, stay there. Making sure they have huge campaign war chests is one way they do that.

If there were any financial shenanigans, they were shenanigans designed put money into he hands of Congressional candidates.

Aaron Schock is a Congressional candidate.

The "central figure" in this alleged attempt to illegally put money into the hands of Congressional candidates was, until recently, employed by Aaron Schock's campaign.

Schock outspent and outraised his two primary opponents in the 18th District race, one of whom is a millionaire and one of whom is a professional fundraiser.

You do the math.

And I'll make this observation, too. Shearer is a master of finding the line between what is legal and what is not. He comes very close, and according to come, he crosses it on occasion, then feigns innocence when called on it. This was true of Shearer back when he was running Schock's state house campaign as it is the Congressional campaign. Look at his early attempt to illegally operate out of Peoria County Republican Party offices during the early weeks of the campaign.

The one guy who Shearer hired as campaign treasurer just happens to be the central figure in s financial scandal at the NRCC. And when news hits the paper, Shearer says he never met the guy, and he never touched the money anyway.

I'm just not buying it.

Remember, Nixon never met the Watergate plumbers. He wouldn't know who they were had they met him on the street.

And don't waste your time sending me emails defending Steve Shearer's honor. This is a man who had no problems working for Jerry Weller, the 11th District Republican who is figuratively and literally in bed with Central American genocidal dictators. Being involved in some financial slight of hand would be a step up on the morality scale.

Cross posted to Peoria Pundit.

Heidi lum loves her nockers

2007-11-22T00:00:00.001-06:00

Seriously. She's like a id with a new toy.

I. Am. In. Hell.

2005-10-15T09:46:00.000-05:00

I spent most of yesterday playing Trouble Ticket Hell with my host. They make a minor change and email me, then walk away from the problem. I email them back, wait an hour and then they resend what they wrote before, perhaps hoping by rewording their reply, I'd understand that I was an idiot for even asking. I'd follow their intruction again and and only occasionally the lightbulb went off over there and they realized what they did/suggsted didnt' work. Of course, by that time, it was time for them to go home.

And us course, each reply is from a new techie who apparently has only a passing familiarity with sentence structure and punctuation. And each time, it's like reinventing the wheel.

Essentially, this is the problem. I deleted what I thought was an old test blog and its database. Turned out I deleted the real Peoria Pundit database. And my backup is nowhewre to be found. With all my posts. Yeah, a huge problem.

Not to worry, my host said. Send us $10 and we'll restore your database from Oct. 8. Great! That's only a few days of posts I'd miss. No problem. Well. It took almost 10 hours from the time I paid till when they started. I can get a brand-spiffy news installation working. I can even move over the content folders and get the old themes and plug ins. The only problem is that I need the POSTS that are trapped in this backed-up database.

I can't get them to do JUST THAT! They keep insisting on using the entirity of that massively screwed up database with it's bad settings.

ALL I WANT ARE THE FREEKING POSTS. I swear on the bones of my ancestors I will never, ever screw aroudn with the databases again. Just get my posts back.

Sort of fixed

2005-10-15T00:18:00.000-05:00

I have a working weblog at peoriapundit.com now.

But the hosting company can't seem to get a database reinstalled.

All I want are the posts, categories, comments and blogrolls.

Forgive me, gentle readers ...

2005-10-14T19:08:00.000-05:00

... but I am in the middle of a freekin' database nightmare with my hosting company.

At this point, all I want are the posts. If they can export those to ME, I can upload them to another WP site, build a new WP installation on my server, move over all my plugins, themes, images, etc. Then I can reload the database field for posts and comments.

All that other stuff, I can do without.

ADM odor might become an issue

2005-10-14T10:42:00.000-05:00

Don't be surprised if there is some action taken regarding the odor from Archer Daniels Midland.

I've complained about it a lot, only to be met with official and unofficial shrugs of the shoulders (I can't say the city ignored my complaints; they just pointed out it isn't their jurisdiction). Peorians are used to it, and besides, it's the "smell of money."

Fine. OK. I surrender. It's no fun trying to stir up trouble over an issue when no one else seems top be bothered.

But I've learned that the city of Peoria will try to meet with IEPA about ADM emissions and the impact on the surrounding neighborhood.

Good.

My hope is that ADM wants to avoid grief and will to something to lessen the odor. Or, that they build a bio-diesel plant here and put a couple hundred people to work. I'm flexible.

Proper 'form'

2005-10-14T08:24:00.000-05:00

For those who don't know, the City of Peoria is considering dumping its rigid code that sets specific standards for specific zoning catagories that can't be broken without speicif permission with a different system that lets the city take into account the different conditions in each neighborhood.

It's either going to either make it easier to get a building through the city's red tape or it's going to make it hearder for neighborhoods to fight projects they don't want in their backyards. Or both.

Her'e s press release:

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A MAJORITY OF A QUORUM OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF PEORIA, ILLINOIS, MAY ATTEND A PRESENTATION OF FORM-BASED CODE PRESENTATIONS BY FERRELL MADDEN ASSOCIATES ON OCTOBER 26, 2005, AT THE PEORIA CIVIC CENTER, 201 S.W. JEFFERSON, ROOM 220-221, PEORIA, ILLINOIS, FROM 7:00 P.M. TO 9:00 P.M. NO ACTION WILL BE TAKEN BY THE COUNCIL.

I vote for more details about this purchase

2005-10-14T08:12:00.000-05:00

Whether or not the
Peoria Election Commission picked the right vendor for new voting machines, the fact that they bought from a company partially owned by one of the commissioners just doesn't look good at all:

That fact was disclosed in the news release announcing that the commission, after reviewing bids from four different companies, would begin negotiations with Populex, and that Wittry abstained from voting on the decision. The release did not mention that Wittry served on the company's advisory board or owned stock in the company, but the 27-year commissioner said he doesn't see how that's problematic.

'I started an inventor on a project and invested in him,' Wittry said, noting that legal counsel informed him doing so was OK so long as he didn't vote or engage in negotiations with the company. The board's attorney, Robert Day, did not return phone calls.

In a brief interview Thursday, Jeanette Mitzelfelt, executive director of the Election Commission, said she was not aware that Wittry owned stock in the company. Mitzelfelt said she was busy and couldn't talk longer, but also did not return repeated phone calls to her office or cell phone.

I've never been a fan of the standardized "could not be reached for a comment" cop-out that many newspapers use in almost ever situation (thus avoiding an an appearance of not being objective). Molly's description told the whole story.

There's a difference between being out of the office and just not getting a message in time to return it before deadline and with a politician ducking a tough question. The State Journal-Register reported in depth on the ownership situation last week. Did Wittry fail to tell Mitzelfelt about his ownership in the company? That needs to be addressed.

I also vote that Wittry resign from the board now, since he plans to do so anyway in December, and then let the new commission vote on what do do.

No reason to go downtown

2005-10-14T06:49:00.000-05:00

I'm listening to Dan Diorio and Greg Batten on WMBD 1470. They are bemoaning the loss of a handful of downtown restaurants and bars this week. The concensus is that there are a few destination businesses downtown, but no reason to just walk around and shop. DiOrio is suggestign the city get "off the backs" of would-be businesses,perhaps changing the building codes to let the owners of small businesses live in the places they work, just like they did in the old days.

Technorati Tags: downtown, riverfront, wmbd, diorio, batten, peoria

Some advice for Bloggers ...

2005-10-14T05:16:00.000-05:00

... don't blog when you are depressed. You get annoying phone calls from friends and family trying to cheer you up.

Seriously, I appreciate all the good thoughts.

Just like an episode of Dragnet

2005-10-14T04:42:00.000-05:00

There's a police crackdown
going on.

Last week, officers discovered a kilogram of crack and powder cocaine, along with $300,000 in cash and property. The bust is just part of the department's progress.

Chief Steve Settingsgaard is making sure officers also focus on everyday crimes like littering, noise violations and truancy.

'I have a theory about why that's so important to them, even though it is not the most serious crime. My belief is that it impacts them; it hits them every time they open their front door. You can have a robbery at a gas station two blocks away, but you can still feel at peace and safe in your own home.

My theory is that it makes little sense to brag about the amount of coke, marijuana or other drugs seized by cops. Sure, it causes problems for individual dealers and their regular customers. But I doubt it took longer for 24 hours for the amount of drugs available on the streets to go back to what is usually is. Did it reduce by one minute the amount of time dealers deal from street corners? Nope.

Want to reduce street level drug sales? Arrest users. Set up spy cameras on regular dealer sites, then bust the drivers a half mile down the road. People don't buy crack on street corners on a lark. People sell drugs on street corners because there is a demand for it. Reduce demand, and neighborhoods stabilize before drug dealers go away.

Sure, most of these arrests won't get to court. But it sure creates an environment unfriendly to drug sales. Maybe they'll take their act to Creve Coeur, Metamora, Washington, Morton or Dunlap, which is where a lot of the buyers come from anyway.

Any why not post pics of drug buyers on the Internet, along with their addresses?

Not so new Peoria blogger

2005-10-14T03:32:00.000-05:00

The Peoria-based blog Pizza the Huts is no more. Sick of the tone that blog had taken, he's starting over with a fresh site, In Flux, and a new attitude.

My advice: No embedded sounds, this time. I almost never visited his old one because of it.

PS: Remind me to add In Flux to the 'roll back when my original site is back up and running, probably later today.

'Peoria's lack of rail vision'

2005-10-14T02:41:00.000-05:00

I found this posted on the Peoria Rails Yahoo! Group:

If you look at Peoria, the growth areas are very far north Peoria, south of Pekin, near Morton, west of Peoria and near Mapleton. Now, where are the rail leaders that are buying the land near the rails and holding it so it can be built on by industries that will ship by rail? There aren't any.

Peoria will soon lose any hope of developing the Kellar Branch as housing and strip malls fill in around the tracks. The NIMBY's will not allow a car plant to build in Peoria that may provide jobs that pay more than minimum wage.

And the Peoria City Council, the Peoria Park Board and the Journal Star are perfectly happy with this situation. Jobs aren't important, unless it's selling sports drinks to the occasional cyclist who wanders into town for a ride.

Another good reason to hate the White Sox

2005-10-14T02:21:00.000-05:00

Not that any real Cubs fan needs a reason. But it turns out these bums are sucking on the taxpayer teat.

Technorati Tags: white sox, Reinsdorf

No shield for bloggers

2005-10-14T01:48:00.000-05:00

Blogger Dan Gilmore has taken notice of legislation that would define journalism and exlcude bloggers from shield laws. His reaction:

Plainly, what's at issue -- if protection is needed -- is the act of journalism, not whether the person doing it is a journalist. We can all do acts of journalism from time to time. Most of us are not journalists except at those times. Congress is clueless, perhaps by design, on this issue.

Not that I have to worry. I'm not a blogger. I'm the publisher of an online magazine of news and opinion. You pesky bloggers can go to heck, for all I care.

Blogging: Cure or disease?

2005-10-13T16:35:00.000-05:00

The Washington Post takes yet another mainstream media swipe at blogging. They've found some quack to fret over the mental health implictions of getting too personal on your blog:

Although it may feel good to blog, psychologists warn that going public with private musings may have ramifications, and that little research has been done on the consequences of the Internet confessional.

"I certainly don't advise anyone to do it. They're taking a big risk," said Patricia Wallace, a psychologist and researcher at Johns Hopkins University and author of "The Psychology of the Internet." People open themselves up to cruel comments, and worse: identity theft, for instance, or even losing a job for kvetching about a boss.

Remember The Peoria Pundit's 25 Rules for Good Blogging No. 12: Do not blog about work. Trust me on this one. Even if you do it anonymously, someone will find out.

Blogging has kept me sane for the past couple of months. So I guess I can say that it feels good. When I have something to write about -- and can't get to a computer right away -- I start getting very anxious.

So my upcoming six-day hiatus will be like going cold turkey.

Perhaps I need something like BA: Bloggers Anonymous.

Maybe Mark DeSantis and John McConnell will try to have me committed. For my own good, of course.

Well, I'm depressed (not clinically) now. So I'm going to go take a 12-hour nap.

It's official

2005-10-13T16:10:00.000-05:00

The cable Internet connection goes away on Oct. 16 (probably shortly after midnight). Which is about six days before I'll have the scratch to pay if off.

Such is life.

But my prospects are good on several fronts. More later. Maybe soon.

Fire Station 11 isn't coming back any time soon

2005-10-13T11:00:00.000-05:00

Well, I got my answer today, courtesy Jennifer Davis and the Journal Star. Returning Fire Station 11 to full service has been left out of the 2006 Peoria budget. Not only that, no one is going to fight for it.

To fully staff Station No. 11 is an estimated $721,000 annually compared to the one-time cost of purchasing equipment.

Nevertheless, Mayor Ardis and 2nd District Councilwoman Barbara Van Auken, who represents the area covered by Station 11, both believe the council will discuss it during budget negotiations.

'I think it will come up in the sense that I and other council members want to know we're going down the road to re-establishing an engine at that station,' Van Auken said Wednesday. 'I dare say all of us on the council are acutely aware of finances and it may not be this year and maybe not next year, but this remains one of my top priorities.

'I know there are constituents who would like us to move faster (but) right now, most of us are in the same boat, we don't have a spare cent."

Here's the problem. The gnomes who helped create this budget the ones who insisted -- absolutely insisted -- at the time that we didn't need fire station 11. These are the people who told us with a straight face that there would be no substantial increase in response times, an assertion that flies in the face of physics and the evidence of our own eyes. They are never going to want to fully fund the station. Any money going to station 11 is money that isn't being spent on their more politically powerful and more affluent buddies out in District 5 and the Dunlap School District.

To say that I am disappointed would be an understatement. I understand where Barbara is coming from; there are a ton of needed improvements to fire protection that are getting funded instead.

Were I hearing this from some other members of the council, I'd be jumping down their throats now. But I trust Barbara to be giving me her honest appraisal of the facts. But if it wewre me, I'd be fighting and agitating to take money from other less worthy sources and -- dare I say it -- less essential city services.

'Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions, a box of rubbers, a $20 room for an hour on a sesame seed bun to go please'

2005-10-13T10:35:00.000-05:00

A Nashville TV reporter had a really bad day at the station:

After about 13 years at WSMV-Channel 4, James Lewis has resigned following a piece in which he reported that Metro cops arrested a McDonald’s employee when the worker sold a Big Mac to a hooker, thus violating a law against giving “nutrition to a prostitute."

Trouble is, he got this morsel of news from an on-line column called "The Fabricator."

He's going into the real estate business now.

Opera benefit

2005-10-13T10:15:00.000-05:00

From a press release:

A benefit for Opera Illinois will be held Friday, Nov. 11 at The Country Club Peoria. Light opera selections and favorite hit musical tunes will be performed by hot young talent in a French cafe atmosphere. Chef Pierre's French Bistro Buffet will include Quiche Lorraine, a variety of crepes, and other selections.

Ticket price is $65 per person and includes buffet dinner and entertainment. There will be a cash bar and casual attire. Cocktails begin at 6 p.m. with entertainment and buffet to follow.

For reservations please contact the Country Club of Peoria
or Opera Illinois Office at 309-673-7253 or info@operaillinois.com

I suggest a ton of debates

2005-10-13T08:56:00.000-05:00

Now this is going to be a very entertaining race to watch.

First District Councilman Clyde Gulley said Wednesday he plans to run on the Democratic ticket for the 92nd District House seat currently held by Republican Aaron Schock of Peoria.

Last week, the state and local Democratic Party endorsed 4th District Councilman Bill Spears, who sources say is expected to formally announce his intentions within the next few weeks. Spears, however, said Wednesday he wants to talk to more residents before making up his mind."

Gulley will get a majority of the Black vote. But I don't see him getting such support elsewhere. He just isn't an effective campaigner. The man lacks effective verbal skills and sometimes has a problem making a lucid point on the floor of the council. Several times this week, he started speaking after another council members was recognized, and he did so simply to repeat a point he already made.

The general line on the race is that it's going to be difficult to unseat Schock, who is a master campaigner. But Spears is the only one mentioned who has even a chance against a well-funded Schock. It all depends on whether the unions put their rivalries and disputes aside and get fully behind Spears.