After reading the Chicago Tribune’s op-ed piece by Clarence Page on banned books, I wondered what the situation is in McHenry County.
The image for the column is a man reading something called “Gender Queer.”
So, I sent out a Freedom of Information request to school Districts. I lot bounced back because of being tied to individuals’ email addresses.
I picked these three books:
“Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe
“Out of Darkness” by Ashley Hope Pérez
“The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas
and asked if the district had them and, if so, when were they purchased, plus whether had been withdrawn from circulation.
Riley Elementary School District 18 map.
The Riley Grade School District sent the following reply:
The reply was
1. Our library currently has “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas in our collection. It was added to the collection on December 17, 2020. We do not have the other two books in our collection.
2. No books listed have been removed from our collection.
The last Saturday of spring, summer and fall, the Algonquin Township Road District allows people to drop off old TVs, computer monitors and other electronic defices for free.
“Specialized recycling” read the fist message.
On Saturday, I noticed a new feature, an electronic sign telling of the event.
The time for the drop-offs was shown next.
There was a third message which I didn’t get.
It said one was to enter through The Hollows entrance. People waiting to drop off electronics.
And, this is the first time that I have seen the sign asking for identification.
Road Commissioner Danijela Sandberg and employee Derek Lee verified that drivers live in Algonquin Township.
I was amused that Derek Lee, checking my address, had to call up information on his cell phone to make sure I lived in Algonquin Township. Since the Road District provides no services to the Village of Lakewood, that probably stimulated the internet search.
The man in front had a big honking television set to drop off.
The electronics are loaded into big cardboard boxes and rolled to a trailer for loading.
A fortlift takes the big boxes to a truck’s trailer for their off-site destination.
On September 20, 2022, McHenry County Blog revealed that top officials of McHenry County College had undergone training for
expanding diversity,
equity,
belongingness, and
inclusion
and found it desirable for all faculty and every other employee to be subjected to the same 8-hour indoctrination
Some Board members are up for election in April. Petitions may be obtained at the college. Fiofty signatures are required. (I suggest getting twice that number.)
On January 24, 2023, faculty members will have to attend the third training sessionby Systemic Education Equity, LLC.
This war on transparency is bipartisan. They’d rather you not follow the money!
Here are some examples from our editorial:
• The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) redacted 350,000 federal executive agency employee names from our FOIA request (2021)—roughly $30 billion in compensation. In the last year of the Obama administration, only 2,367 names were redacted. OPM stated, “For those instances where data element are not released, they are being withheld under FOIA Exemption 6… the disclosure of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”
• Last spring, the House held A SECRET vote on how they spend YOUR tax dollars. 102 Republican Congressmen voted to join Democrats to bring back earmarks. Then, twenty-three newly elected Republican freshman requested $368 million in pet-project earmarks from Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
• South Dakota limits public employee salary disclosure to only one at a time. The state has roughly 8,000 employees. A director at the Bureau of Finance and Management wrote, “According to our administrative rule, we do not provide lists except for legitimate state government purposes.”
• The National Institutes of Health (NIH) refuses to answer our Freedom of Information Act requests. So, we sued NIH. We found over $300 million in third-party royalty (pharmaceutical company) payments enriching NIH, its leaders, and over 2,000 of its scientists during the past ten years. However, NIH redacted the invention/patent numbers, the name of the third-party payors, and the amount paid to the individual scientists!
Last spring, the Republican Househeld a secret vote on earmarks. A SECRET vote on how they spend YOUR tax dollars. 102 Republican Congressmen voted to join Democrats to bring back earmarks. Then, twenty-three newly elected Republican freshman requested $368 million in pet-project earmarks. Ask your member if they request earmarks (the currency of corruption in Congress).
Fortunately, the world is changing. Mark Mills, in his book, The Cloud Revolution, points out that, mainly because of The Cloud and Big Data, we are on the cusp of another Industrial Revolution. A revolution that will impact every aspect of human activity, including government. Today, there is no reason, other than direct social welfare payments and national security, why every government expenditure at every level is not available to the public promptly on their cell phones, iPads, and computers. Today, we have the capacity to do this efficiently and economically.
Our goal at OpenTheBooks is to help bring this about. Diminishing, working to eliminate waste, fraud, duplication, and incompetence will not only address this exploding federal deficit, it will change the culture in government. Transparency can dramatically transform how we govern ourselves and it will make government programs more efficient.
Last year, OpenTheBooks filed 47,000 Freedom of Information Act requests. This year, we will increase our FOIA requests at least 20%.
The OpenTheBooks Government Expense Library, open to the public, lists over $12 trillion in government expense items online and growing. You can find it at OpenTheBooks.com.
Our national debt is up five times in the last 20 years with no end in sight. The waste, fraud, duplication, and incompetence, is increasingly pervasive.
Addressing this exploding federal debt, this irresponsible spending, will not come from the top down. It has to start with you, the taxpaying voters. It’s your money.
Begin with your Congressman, with your Senator. Ask what they have done to address this exploding federal deficit. Ask them to put their office budget, the budget of every committee they are on online.
Again, we are not going to address this massive irresponsible spending from the top down. It has to begin with you, the taxpayers. We have to change the culture within government.
If your current elected officials continue to show a complete lack of respect for your tax dollars, you can address this in the next election by not voting for them. It’s your money. Change has to start with you.
To quote Senator Dirksen: “When I feel the heat, I see the light.” Your vote can be a heat generator.
Thomas W. Smith is the Chairman of OpenTheBooks.com and Adam Andrzejewski is the CEO and founder.
Springfield resident Tom Wray felt impelled to support the Uprising Bakery’s “children friendly” drag queen show this weekend.
Wray, who says he has “served as an editor at the Post-Tribune of Northwest Indiana and the Kokomo Tribune” and written for the Windy City Times, publishes “Illinois Eagle” in which his call to action appears.
He says a new group called Parasol Patrol Fox Valley will try to block protesters with umbrellas.
The are scheduled to meet at 5 PM.
I’m guessing the organizers haven’t seen where the Lake in the Hills Police will foce them to stand.
I’ll be pretty hard for the counter protesters to block the view of the protesters from across the parking lot.
Look what popped up after the latest indictment in the Red-Light camera scheme in which unwary motorists get huge fines for not stopping or even not stopping long enough from municipalities like Fox River Grove:
It’s a column in the Daily Southtown by Ted Slowik that recounts former State Rep. David McSweeney’s 2020 success in passing through the Illinois House 84-4 a bill to ban red-light cameras in non-Home Rule communites.
Red-Light Camera warning sign in Fox River Grove.
That includes most under 25,000, which certainly would have included Fox River Grove.
It got killed in the Illinois Senate Transportation Committee, chaired then by Democrat Martin Sandoval, who pled guilty to taking bribes.
In the State Senate Sen. Emil Jones III was its sponsor.
Jones was recently indicted for accepting a red-light camera bribe.
Tom Johnson, my House seatmate in the 1990’s used to tell me my problem was that I thought the process was “on the square.”
On September 20, 2022, McHenry County Blog revealed that top officials of McHenry County College had undergone training for
expanding diversity,
equity,
belongingness, and
inclusion
and found it desirable for all faculty and every other employee to be subjected to the same 8-hour indoctrination.
Petitions to run for the college board are now available at the college. Three seats are up, one for six years, one for four years and one for two years. It takes fifty signatures to get on the ballot, but I recommend obtaining one hundred.
Up this year are
Trustee: Suzanne Hoban; Diane Evertsen; Carlos Arevalo
Terms for April Election: 4 year; 6 year; 2 year (last two years of four-year seat)
Below is the outline of the presentation to be made to MCC faculty on November 29, 2022 . by Systemic Education Equity, LLC.:
Understanding Implicit Bias: Part 1 and Part 2
Increase awareness surrounding bias
Engage in structural conversation about implicit bias
Cultivate deeper insight into the complexities of bias
Examine theperpetuation of specific biases in society
Crystal Lake, IL – The Crystal Lake Fire Rescue Department responded to a reported structure fire at 3:19 pm.
The two occupants in the structure at the time the fire started were able to escape prior to the fire department’s arrival.
The first fire unit on scene arrived in 6 minutes and reported an attached garage fire that was fully engulfed and was spreading into the house.
Fire crews made an aggressive attack and stopped the spread of the fire from progressing further into the single-family home.
A request for mutual aid through the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS) was initiated.
The fire was declared under control at 4:03 pm.
The garage, which contained two vehicles, was a total loss.
The home sustained heat, water, and smoke damage.
It was declared uninhabitable until repairs could be made.
The cause of the fire is undetermined and under investigation.
There were no injuries to any firefighters or civilians.
The American Red Cross is assisting the occupants with shelter and other needs.
Crystal Lake Fire Rescue was assisted by several area fire departments, along with the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office.
Fire investigators from Crystal Lake and McHenry County Sheriff’s Office are conducting the investigation. Damage to the structure and contents is estimated at $200,000.
When a candidate refuses to debate an opponent, I figure it is evidence of weakness.
Consider the following from Crain’s Chicago Business:
If Darren Bailey’s performance yesterday at Crystal Lake’s Around the Clock is any indication, the Republican is more than ready to take on Democrat JB Pritzker.
Consider Bailey’s accusation that billionaire Pritzker “has not worked a day in his life.”
Farmer Bailey said he would have no problem saying that to Pritzker’s face.
When I was running for Governor in 2002 as a Libertarian, we knew that the Illinois League of Women Voters would only allow candidates who could show they had at least 5% support in a recognized poll to participate.
For that reason, we went on radio during August and, maybe hard to believe, the largest poll of the year (1,200 surveyed), one by the Daily Southtown, gave us a 5% showing.
JimRod, the Two-Headed Chicken at a State Capitol press conference.
Then, Democrate Rod Blagojevich and Republican Jim Ryan decided not to participate in the L of WV debate.
They would debate each other in Rockford.
That day, our campaign rolled out JimRod, the Two-Headed Chicken outside the Thompson Center in Chicago and immediately drove to the debate site in Rockford so that our costomed two-headed chicken could greet people entering the theater.
When the Radio Broadcasters Association held its debate at the Old State Capitol, Republicans gathered at the front of the building, Democrats and Libetarians at the back.
JimRod was there to greet Blagojevish.
As debate time neared, we saw the Democrats move to the street, where, it turned out Chicken Rod scampered down the stairs to the parking garage under the Old State Capitol in order to avoid having a confrontation with JimRod, the Two-Headed Chicken.
= = = = =
Dan Proft offers the following:
“Governor Pritzker believes his money guarantees him control of government and entitles him to make all media subservient to his government.
“He lords over Illinois through executive orders.
“He sees the Fourth Estate as no different than his equestrian estate in Wellington, FL.
“If he doesn’t like a television ad, it must be taken off the air.
“If he doesn’t like a newspaper, it must not be printed or circulated.
“Lord Pritzker is the truth.
“All commentary that deviates from his decrees shall be expunged and the offending commentators declared illegitimate.
“In short, he is a bedwetting, spoiled brat who thinks an election is about his ambitions rather than Illinois families’ aspirations.”
= = = = =
After Pritzker’s reaction, the Daily Herald dumped the Proft operation to which Proft replied:
“Little Lord Fauntleroy threw a tantrum and got his way.
“The Daily Herald is just another staffer in Pritzker’s comm shop which masquerades as the Chicago press corps.
“They were exposed as, horror of horrors, capitalists so now they must renounce a longstanding client.
“The whorish response from the Herald is surpsing?
“Hardly.
“Like Cato’s Letters, the papers will continue to be printed and distributed even if we have to return to the Gutenberg press and must enlist fair-minded people across Illinois who want the truth, not Pritzker’s ‘truth,’ to hand deliver them door-to-door.
“The truth of Lord Pritzker’s reign will be told.”
Federal Indictment Charges Man With Illegally Possessing Loaded Gun on CTA Train in Downtown Chicago
CHICAGO — A federal grand jury has charged a man with illegally possessing a loaded handgun, cocaine, and fentanyl on a Chicago Transit Authority train.
The indictment in U.S. District Court in Chicago charges TERRELL WEATHERS, 29, of Chicago, with
one count of illegal possession of a firearm,
one count of possession of cocaine and fentanyl with the intent to distribute, and
one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
The indictment alleges that Weathers illegally possessed the handgun, cocaine, and fentanyl on July 13, 2021.
Chicago Police officers boarded a CTA Green Line train at the Adams/Wabash stop in the city’s downtown Loop neighborhood and arrested Weathers.
Weathers was previously convicted of a criminal felony and was prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm.
The charges in the federal indictment carry a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in federal prison and a maximum of life. Arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes has been set for Oct. 3, 2021, at 1:00 p.m.
The indictment was announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; Ashley T. Johnson, Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI; and David Brown, Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ann Marie E. Ursini.
“Anyone thinking of illegally possessing a firearm on public transit in Chicago needs to know that a federal prosecution could await them,” said U.S. Attorney Lausch.
“We will continue to use every available federal law enforcement tool to keep Chicago transit riders safe.”
Holding alleged drug and firearm offenders accountable through federal prosecution is a centerpiece of Project Safe Neighborhoods, the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction strategy. In the Northern District of Illinois, U.S. Attorney Lausch and law enforcement partners have deployed the PSN program to attack a broad range of violent crime issues facing the district.
The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
After the unfavorable Chicago Tribune headline appeared online last night, Governor JB Pritzker issued the following about his Democratic Party colleagues via email:
Statement from Gov. Pritzker
CHICAGO —Governor JB Pritzker issued the following statement in response to misconduct allegations against two legislators.
“Integrity is essential to public service, and corruption for personal gain and abuse in private or public is unacceptable.
“Illinoisans deserve to have elected leaders who are focused on representing them – not on holding office when facing serious and credible charges.
“Sen Jones is accused of accepting bribes.
“And Senator Hastings is accused of abusing women.
“They should answer the charges and have their day in court.
“But in the best interests of their constituents, these men must resign from their offices.
“Resigning only their leadership roles falls short of what the public should expect.
“I want to send a clear message to the people of Illinois: corruption and abuse haveno place here.”
From the Chicago Tribune:
“Jones is the ninth sitting or recent member of the General Assembly to be charged with federal crimes since Pritzker took office in January 2019, all but one of them Democrats. That list includes five of Jones’ former Senate colleagues — Democrats Martin Sandoval, Thomas Cullerton, Terry Link and Annazette Collins and Republican Sam McCann — along with Madigan and former Democratic state Reps. Luis Arroyo and Eddie Acevedo.”
From the U.S. Attorney:
The Illinois Department of Transportation (”IDOT”) approved the installation and operation of red-light cameras within the State. In or around February 2079, JONES introduced a bill, namely, Senate Bill 1297, that would require IDOT to conduct a statewide study of automated traffic law enforcement systems, which included red-light cameras. Senate BIII1297 would require IDOT to report on the overall operation, usage, and regulation of automated traffic enforcement systems, and to propose any recommendations IDOT deemed necessary concerning such systems.
The Tribune thought this was a big enough deal to put the story on the front page yesterday.
In or around 20L9, JONES agreed that, in exchange for benefits provided by Individual A to JONES and Individual B, JONES would oppose legislation that required the study of automated traffic enforcement systems located outside of Chicago, and would limit any legislation regarding IDOT’s study of and recommendations concerning automated traffic law enforcement systems to those automated traffic enforcement systems utilized in Chicago, thereby excluding from study and recommendations automated traffic enforcement systems utilized in numerous other muncipalties that Company A served.
Blue Ribbon winner?
Beginning in or around April 2019, and continuing until in or around September 2019, at Chicago, in the Northern District of lllinois, Eastern Division, and elsewhere, EMIL JONES, III, defendant herein, as an agent of the State of Illinois, corruptly solicited, agreed to accept, and accepted things of value from Individual A, namely a $5,000 payment and money for Individual B, intending to be influenced and rewarded in connection with a business, transaction, and series of transactions of the State of Illinois involving a thing of value of $5,000 or more, namely, legislation in the Illinois General Assembly concerning the operation of red-light cameras; […]
On or about JuIy 17, 2019, JONES told Individual A that he would protect Company A and Individual A from legislation in the Illinois General Assembly concerning the operation of red-light cameras in exchange for $5,000 for JONES and a job for Individual B.
On or about August 8, 2019, JONES told Individual A that if Individual A contributed $5,000 by sponsoring an event, JONES and Individual A would not have to report that contribution on Illinois campaign contribution reports.
On or about August 12, 2019, JONES and Individual A discussed how much money Individual A would pay Individual B.
State Rep Candidate Connie Cain supports repeal of the Safe-T Act, Calls on 66th District Rep Ness to do the same
Gilberts: State Representative Candidate in the 66th District, Connie Cain, is announcing her support of the repeal of the Safe-T Act.
Connie Cain
The act, HB3653, was passed during a lame duck session in January of 2021. The bill, touted as a “Criminal Justice Reform Bill”, did not receive a single Republican vote.
It was signed into law by JB Pritzker.
“The provisions of the Safe-T Act have been a disaster to the criminal justice system.
“The bill had little or no input from law enforcement, it was passed in a lame duck session, legislators were given 20 minutes notice on an over 700-page document, and it was passed early in the morning.
“That is not the way important legislation should be handled,” said Connie Cain.
“I am supporting repeal of this bad legislation because it has already created damage to our justice system and the next piece, no cash bail, will be going into effect on January 1, 2023.
“This is the most important issue of this election, and I am hearing that as I walk door to door meeting voters.
“Nearly half of the inmates at the county jail will be set free on that date, many of them violent offenders,” said Cain.
“Our Kane County State’s Attorney, a Democrat, has been opposed to this legislation from the start has joined another State’s Attorney from Will County with lawsuits against the Governor, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House to stop the madness.
“Releasing criminals will have a chilling effect on victims and witnesses and will be very detrimental to our criminal justice system in general,” said Cain.
“The Democrats in the legislature have been defensive about the criticism of this bill and have called critics racists or disseminators of ‘misinformation’ about the bill.
“Critics of this legislation cut across party lines and the most vocal critics are people in law enforcement.
“The Democrats are suggesting that they may ‘amend’ parts of the bill in the November Veto session, conveniently after the election.
“Voters will begin voting next week on September 29th and that is why I am calling on my opponent, Suzanne Ness, to tell voters where she stands.
“The plan is probably to try and run out the clock on this election and I hope voters recognize that for the deception that it is. Suzanne needs to state her position now and not after the election,” said Cain.
Connie Cain resides in Gilberts with her husband Rich. She is a veteran of the United States Army.
