Municipal pork recipe lacks taste, substance
Never underestimate the creativity of your municipal leaders to harness the power of their offices.
*****
The Radar O'Reilly in the Machine or if Gilbert Ryle studied Elmhurst politicsAfter Elmhurst 1st Ward Alderman Paul Fichtner won a seat on the Dupage County Board, Mayor Thomas Marcucci appointed Mark Tebbe to fill Fichtner's vacated city council seat. Four months later, in early 2005, Alderman Tebbe launched an election campaign to retain his council seat for the two remaining years of the term.
As an uber-successful internet industry mogul most likely accustomed to impossible deadlines and catering to demanding Wall Street types, it is no surprise that Tebbe was able to deliver nearly up-to-the-minute campaign materials in what might seem to mere mortal candidates to be an impossible time frame.
***
Consider the following excerpt from a March 31, 2005 Chicago Tribune article, Elmhurst and Glen Ellyn face mayoral races, written by Matt Baron and Bob Goldsborough, that appeared in a campaign mailer that arrived in many Elmhurst mailboxes on April 1.
"Tebbe conceived the arrangement. Marcucci has given it a ringing endorsement, calling it innovative. The City Council and school board unanimously approved moving ahead with the plan, and it appears headed for final approval."
Talk about impressive turnaround. In spite of all obstacles, the Tebbe campaign was able to get a graphic designer to incorporate the Chicago Tribune article quote into his campaign piece, get it printed, distributed through the US Mail and into first ward mailboxes in one day. Amazing. All that coordination, designing, printing in the course of what could even have been less than 24 hours. Ordinary flesh and blood types would be challenged to get a simple 8.5 by 11 resume out of Kinko's in the same time frame.
Really makes you wonder if the Tebbe campaign didn't get its Chicago Tribune earlier than the rest of us?
***
So you ask, what became of the $1.5 million dollar cash for District 205 land offer? The attention getting, eye-popping, vote-getting stunt? The one that Marcucci had given a "ringing endorsement" and was "headed for final approval?" The great idea that Tebbe "conceived" of?(Chicago Tribune, March 31, 2005).
Well, after the election the new school board didn't think it was a good idea. Even the alderman who had been big supporters of the offer prior to the election didn't think it was a good idea. After digging into the details, the neighbors close to the earmarked District 205 land who feared that their school land would become a parking lot for Roberto's restaurant didn't think it was such a good idea. In fact, in the cold light of day after the election there just wasn't anyone with any sense who though the deal was a good idea and after election the whole idea just went away.
*****
Size matters! especially if you can get your cronies' campaign signs on the front page of the newspaper for FREE! Way to stretch a campaign dollar!
Funny, how after elections, issues that seem like big problems just seem to disappear. Poof, gone! Just like former 1st Ward alderman Mark Tebbe's objection to oversize political campaign signs. It's been over a year, and you just never hear about the campaign sign problem at all anymore. Out of sight, out of mind, right?
"The larger than life campaign signs of Elmhurst Mayor Thomas Marcucci and his challenger, Paula Pezza, dwarf the more standard signs erected in recent weeks at the corner of Prospect and St Charles Rd. by the multitude of challengers in various township, park district, school and city races."
partial Elmhurst Press front page photo caption, April 1, 2005
Do you remember the April 1, 2005 Elmhurst Press cover page photo featuring a large clean shot of incumbent Marcucci's front lawn littered with campaign signs for Marcucci for Mayor, Jordan for School Board, Chris Healy for Park Board, Charity Pigoni for Treasurer and Patty Spencer for City Clerk?
Perhaps you are wondering, why on earth would the Elmhurst Press want to embarass the mayor like that, singling him out for derision over the campaign sign clutter on his lawn. How bold! How bold indeed! The mayor must be a very forgiving and understanding type of person since he never complained about the fact that the candidates he supported had their signs prominently printed on the front page of the newspaper just before the April 5, 2005 election.
The apparently flat-footed Doings Newspaper did not pick up on this blockbuster breaking news item at all. No story, no photo, no caption. Nothing. What did the Elmhurst Press know (or get) that the Doings did not?
*****
"State controlled television, radio, and newpapers glorify the actions of the regime's leader and incite their populations against those it deems to be enemies."
The Case For Democracy: the Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror by Natan Sharansky
posted by Good Company @ 8:08 PM
51 comments
51 Comments:
what this story brings to mind is the 'appointee of the mayor' factor. more like a doom sentence. weren't all his challenged aldermen voted out last year? the way things look, the same thing should happen next year! one can only hope.
Don't count on it: just in time for the next election, the States Attorney will begin investigating a certain 501(c)(3) which has since mysteriously disappeared.
One in which you, Mr Blogger, were no doubt deeply entwined but which availed you nought when it came time to appoint a school board member, eh?
Gossip, innuendo and a vast panoply of logical fallacies (especially petitio principii) which are your stock in trade only makes this pot/kettle irony the more delicious.
Speaking of ironic fallacies, your nom de blog "Good Company" stands in marked contrast to the guilt by association fallacy, a.k.a. the "Bad Company" fallacy, another of your favorites.
See you next April 17.
Denial ain't just a river in egypt.
So let't get this straight. The Elmhurst Press didn't print a photo on the front page that totally promoted the Marcucci backed slate of candidates.
What's the big deal everyone knows that the press kow-tows to you-know-who and the Independent is run by Marcucci's former campaign manager.
Wake up and smell the corruption
i think the "funny company" would best describe what goes on around here! how bout doin a story on that one!
Ja, "whatever," local color. This is just another Orangista front.
BTW, where has your fearless leader been lately? Word on the street says back home at mama's. Did spousie's foam-at-the-mouth ravings finally wear thin even to them?
Two thirds of your ruling triumvir seems to have spouse trouble. A drunk and a lunatic.
Ouch! Whisper campaigns! But youse guys know NUTTIN' about dose, do ya?
ROTFLMAO
Confidential to J: doesn't matter what you do. They'll be happy to use you; they'll let you bark for them; but they'll never give you a scrap from the table. Whatcha gonna do now BOTH sides think you're radioactive?
Run again?
BWA HA HA HA HA!
i think i will stop reading this blog! sounds like the latest subscribers are quite disgruntled.. ouch! no clue what they are referring to but seem to hold a bit of a grudge. maybe this is their form of therapy, whatever, have fun people!
Isn't it funny that as soon as the school board changed hands and the mayor's appointees lost to this new group, the housing market in Elmhurst went softer than dryer lint?
Maybe not so funny.
"disgruntled" oooo more pot/kettle irony. I love it!
Nooo, actually, I'm quite gruntled.
And it's a poor patriot who would abandon a blog when subscribers propose opinion counter to what they want to hear. What, not a big fan of Amendment One? Do you want us to stay in one of Bush's "free speech zone?" Or can't you stand the heat?
BTW, pretending to be a poster on your own blog is SOOOOooo declasse.
HEY! Let's play a fun game. Let's all read "Between the Lines!" (lol)
Let's read between the lines of this latest post.
"Funny, how after elections, issues that seem like big problems just seem to disappear. Poof, gone!"
BTL: Like Elmhurst Unites?
"Just like former 1st Ward alderman Mark Tebbe's objection to oversize political campaign signs."
BTL: you mean, the objection to oversize signs blocking traffic lines of sight at corners?
"It's been over a year, and you just never hear about the campaign sign problem at all anymore."
BTL: maybe because, except for one month this winter, there WERE no campaign signs, and during that election cycle, there WERE no oversize signs blocking sight lines in First Ward intersections?
"Out of sight, out of mind, right?"
BTL: Someone's out of their mind, all right.
What was the name of that big guy with all the gold chains that cut all those trees down? o ya,
MR. T - get it!
The Blogger continues to write differently than the Blogger acts. What hypocrisy!!!
For those of you that support the Blogger, I say there is no honor in supporting hypocrisy.
This anonymous has done some careful analysis. Using the same matrix as for the DaVinci Code .....
... if you carefully read the text of the last three entries, the Coded message comes out "These" followed by "Messages" followed by "Have" followed by "NO LOGIC" in all capital lettes.
Altogether now, THESE MESSAGES HAVE NO LOGIC.
It is not unusual that the Code matrix reveals this truth. The last three Blogger messages rely upon innuendo as fact and exchange the blessed liberties afforded by our constitution with a Napoleonic Code approach of guilty until proven innocent.
Thank all that is good and true that Blogger's application to get appointed to the School Board was DENIED. We luckily dodged a MISSLE on that one.
While trolling for bottom feeders through the rest of this blog,I came across this gem.
cut-n-paste>
In 1993 Betsy Aldred and Tom Marcucci were opposing mayoral candidates. On April 16, 1993 a story on the front page of the Elmhurst Press was
"Phony Letter Cast Cloud Over the Election"
"A letter condemning mayoral candidate Betsy Aldred has cast a cloud over the election just days before voters go to the polls. The letter published on page 7 of Wednesday's Elmhurst Press, was allegedly authored by Miriam Newett. She swears, however, that she did not write the letter and did not even attend the March 25 League of Women Voters Candidates' night that is the basis for the letter."
According to the Elmhurst Press Article, the phony letter also stated:
"Marcucci "spoke eloquently, kept his cool and stuck to the issues" at the forum"
The news article then continued,
"If Newett did not write the letter who did?"
More than asking "who" wrote the letter we should all be asking "why"
Do leopards ever change their spots? You decide
/cut-n-paste>
Here the dubiously named "Good Company" shows that he is a relative newcomer to our fair city, since anyone who'd been here longer than oh -say 5 years- would know the provenance of the letter in question.
It was penned by a young man who was a political wannabe in the worst way. He attached himself to the Cronin organization but never got inside. He then decided to run a "woman friend" of his for alderman. The full nature of their relationship was never divulged. Her opponent was an alderman on Alred's ticket.
Our little Donald Segretti had a history of charming elderly women and then using them, including, reportedly, his candidate's mother.
He also attended City Council meetings wearing dark sunglasses, indoors, at night.
Long story short, his candidate won and he was on his way up the political ladder. He thought. A short time later he was pulled over in Oak Brook where he flashed her alderman badge and claimed to be an Elmhurst City Official.
That didn't fly and was the beginning of the end for our boy.
His history of dirty tricks and shady dealings forced him to hit the road. He spent a lot of time splashing false paper in Indiana and Ohio buying cars and antiques, but eventually he was arrested. Having charmed his way into a trustee type job, he strolled away from jail one day, only to be caught again.
Oddly enough, the initials of ths strange political wannabe who attached himself to the fringe of the fringe elements and used questionable, sometimes anonymous tactics in an effort to gain power but who ended up a Citywide laughing stock were J. McD.
Eerie, ain't it?
Another blast from this blog's past:
(Apr 26, 2005 entry)
cut-n-paste>
So, as the platitudes of Character Counts bounce and echo all around us on signs and in literature, is anyone bothering to live and lead as though Character really Counts?
Try these for one day, just for starters:
Telling the truth all day long -- no white lies
Expecting your children to tell the truth
Not asking your children/spouse/family member to lie or pretend for you
Making your kid accountable for not following through
Coming clean with where you live and who you are
/cut-n-paste>
Emphasis added - Emphatically! - on that last one.
In fact, you're even less forthcoming and honest than you used to pretend to be. What happened to all the interesting info on your "complete" profile?
Come clean with where I live and who I am?
You first, Blog Boy. You first.
Showing your age and your ignorance at the same time:
(Apr 29,2005)
cut-n-paste>
"And, hey, let's be careful out there." Sgt Jablonski, Hill Street Blues (1980's TV Drama)
/cut-n-paste>
I swear, the irony in this blog just drops into your hand like a ripe Macintosh off the tree.
Sgt Phil Esterhaus (Michael Conrad) used to say that. After the actor died he was replaced by Bob Prosky as Sgt Stan Jablonski.
Jablonski's roll call dismissal was "Let's do it to them before they do it to us."
Given the way you and your compares della brogata comport themselves about town I can understand why you would identify more with latter.
But no matter - that's exactly the kind of half-***ed accuracy we've come to expect from you.
Stephen Colbert calls it "truthiness."
Illinois state statutes, on the other hand, call such reckless disregard for the truth or falsity of your orotundity "libel."
Blog boy: reckless and feckless.
One last post for the night and then I'll let you out of the woodshed. Until tomorrow.
This one takes a different tack, in that it's not referencing anything in the blog. Call it tonight's valediction on your malediction.
Noting that you couldn't be less credible if you directed someone to 4th Street in Elmhurst, and with thanks to America's greatest political troubadour, here are the oh so apropros lyrics to "Positively Fourth Street"
You've got a lot of nerve
To say you are my friend.
When I was down you just stood there grinning.
You've got a lot of nerve
To say you've got a helping hand to lend.
You just want to be on the side that's winning.
You say I let you down,
You know it's not like that.
If you're so hurt, why then don't you show it?
You say you've lost your faith,
But that's not where it's at.
You have no faith to lose, and you know it.
I know the reason that
You talk behind my back.
I used to be among the crowd you're in with.
Do you take me for such a fool
To think I'd make contact
With the one who tries to hide what he don't know to begin with?
You see me on the street.
You always act surprised.
You say, how are you, good luck, but you don't mean it.
When you know as well as me,
You'd rather see me paralyzed
Why don't you just come out once and scream it!
Now don't I feel that good
When I see the heartaches you embrace
If I were a master thief perhaps I'd rob them.
And though I know you're dissatisfied
With your position and your place,
Don't you understand, it's not my problem.
I wish that for just one time,
You could stand inside my shoes,
And just for that one moment I could be you.
Yes, I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes,
You'd know what a drag it is to see you.
Good day! Another day, another screw-up of Olympian proportions to point out.
I just noticed the goofy subtitle of this latest post:
cut-n-paste>
The Radar O'Reilly in the Machine or if Gilbert Ryle studied Elmhurst politics
/cut-n-paste>
Now, what happened here is Blog Boy is trying to be terminally hip while simultaneously proving how much smarter he is than the rest of us mere mortals.
So what he did is he googled the phrase "ghost in the machine" and found out it was invented by philosopher Gilbert Ryle. So he dropped that hipsterism in along with a M*A*S*H* reference to show off his vast cultural literacy.
It instead revelaed cultural idiocy.
Of course, what he meant was "God in the machine" a.k.a deus ex machina - an improbable occurence that suddenly rescues a character from a predicament.
What he actually inadvertently referenced was Ryle's critique of Rene Descartes mind-body dualism.
Doh!
And thus is newly minted a phrase to describe our Dear Blogger.
The Dolt in the Machine.
sounds like mr anonymous doesnt like this website? why are you reading it so much then? just wondering what it is that scratched the scab? it seems all of what i have read thus far is taken from factual articles, etc. and no, this particular anonymous is not the blogger as some other anonymous has suggested, it appears this site has more one subscriber!
Au contraire, mon enfant I LOVE this blog. It's like getting infinite tries at a political dunk tank, without the annoying rotator cuff problems.
And no scab of Mine has been scratched. I have never been mentioned in this blog, not even obliquely. And it is unlikely that I ever will be.
Further, I have already pointed out several GLARING inaccuracies, especially the insinuation that Marcucci had something to do with a phony letter to the editor thirteen years ago. To what other leopard would Blog Boy be referring? Certainly not to the actual author, who when last seen was in jail in another state.
And how desperate do you have to be to besmirch someone's reputation to actually go to the library and look up a 13 year old article?
And what of all these allegations of corruption, and broken laws, etc. etc.? Certainly, the articles about other towns, and about George Ryan et.al. are as accurate as it is possible for journalists to be in this age.
But laying them alongside Elmhurst and saying "See? Same/Same!" is completely irresponsible, irrational, indefensible and quite possibly, illegal.
My indictments of Blog Boy's ipsi dixits are ipso facto irrefragable.
As Are All Above Alliterations.
Look at it this way, cher inconnu - or is it inconnue? - I'm Franken to this guy's Limbaugh, Olbermann to his O'Reilly, Stewart to his Bush Administration.
In other words, a pungent puncturer of his pompous pandering punditry.
Now, some may see this lopsided trial of wit and wits as the equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel. They would, of course, be wrong.
This is DYNAMITING fish in a barrel!
In the end, however, I am merely trying to heed Burke's warning: all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Oh and BY THE WAY, you said yesterday you would stop reading this blog. It's okay, the sheer elan of my prose has captivated many. But it doesn't matter if you yourself are not Blog Boy. One Orangista is pretty much the same as another, in my book.
If you are he, then it's masturbation. If not, it's a circle jerk.
You seem to have a lot to get off your chest.
Since you do not agree with the viewpoints expressed here. Why do you keep coming?
Surely a Mensa-type like you could find better ways to entertain yourself than "shooting fish in a barrel."
Why don't you try Sudoku or even fly fishing or something? It would be better for your heart.
Yet you do add a certain flair to the discussion sans the descent into name-calling and sex-for-one.
Why don't you show us all how "it" should be done. Your recent posts simply come across as threatened and threatening. I don't think that the suits (do they wear suits?) at google would be pleased.
Furthermore, as your friends at google could probably tell you, "sex" is popular in Elmhurst. Your tirades just aren't sexy. Profanity isn't sexy.
The invited readers of this blog want to see items on illegal voting, political backroom deals and self-dealing elected and appointed officials. If you can't shed light on anything like that, seek to at least entertain.
Have a nice day!
Careful about spreading more questionable claims, Mr. Blogger. The current lead story on Channel 2 and 5's websites say that Elmhurst, IL is the #1 location for "sex" term searches on Google for 2005. Yet, when you check this, http://www.google.com/trends?q=sex&ctab=1&geo=US&date=2005 (click on tab that says Cities) it shows Elmhurst United States. According to mapquest, there are at least 10 Elmhursts in the US. http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?formtype=address&country=US&popflag=0&latitude=&longitude=&name=&phone=&level=&addtohistory=&cat=&address=&city=elmhurst&state=&zipcode= W orking hard searching you will see the first reference found was on a blog (which posted on May 11 and had
Elmhurst, IL ? " (Note the question mark). http://blogs.zdnet.com/ip-telephony/?p=1088) Only on other blogs that referenced the first blog could onne find Elmhurst, ILLINOIS. Considering that Rikers Island Prison Complex is located in Elmhurst, NY (a major east-coast airport, too) and you will be able to confirm that there is internet access and an IP hub that is sophisticated enough at min. "8,000 conferences per year from the prison" http://www.techworld.com/security/features/index.cfm?featureid=1679&pagtype=samecatsamechan.
one could offer a commentary about how this happened, like is the problem the data or the reporting of the data by Google- then bloggers, etc. Also the fact that the Google site is in BETA is written all over it might need to be put into consideration. This research took me about 45 min. to confirm. Wonder where the source documentation for Elmhurst, Illinois is?
So before spreading more suspect claims as facts, check it out.
I've tried Sudoko - too easy. Fly fishing is not my thing, but largemouth near the Eagle River - do that often.
This week, however, I feel like wearing a Guy Fawkes mask and setting off some fireworks.
You, my friend, have a serious reading comprehension issue if you discern ANYTHING threatened or threatening in my posts... that's a very strange takeaway, but typical of the "logic" that imbues Orangistas with their fervor.
If you're feeling threatened, perhaps you should check out Proverbs 28:1 - "The wicked flee where no one pursueth, but the righteous is as bold as the lion."
Feeling threatened by the truth regarding their dirty dealing in politics is a hallmark of this organization, dating back to one of their political forebears, a sitting alderman who was served a subpoena for election fraud while waiting in his car.
Without touching the paper, he called the Elmhurst Police Department and claimed that someone had delivered him a letter bomb.
The police arrived, picked up the paper, and grinningly served it to the man. One of his fellow "compromised" aldermen took to bringing a bodyguard to City Council meetings - his father!
The people at the basic CORE (CURE?) of your group today were political acolytes for these two and several others of their ilk.
Now they pay homage to the one holding courts at the snack shop in the morning. But you need look no further than your ruling triumvir - one of whom also bailed from an elected position before being voted out - to see a direct, unbroken line to the worst elements of Elmhurst politics.
You want allegations? I'll give you allegations.
How about the election judge related to a political operative for the Cronins, the Democrats and the Orangistas who refused to give Marcucci's candidate's poll watchers access to the records, but provided full cooperation to Orangistas?
Want to hear more? Shall I discuss illegal, in-kind contributions in the form of anonymous newsletters?
Shall I discuss the monkey businees with the voting machine ender cards in 8 or so precincts in the last election?
Shall I discuss how one of your group engineered a highly paid public job for another one during the brief time they controlled one of the taxing bodies?
See, anyone can play this game. Some of us play it way better than others, though - by telling the TRUTH!
(Perceptive of you, BTW, to recognize a Mensan.)
Excellent point about Rikers, fellow anonymous. There is also the ranking process to be considered.
The comparison is "normalized" - according to Google, the total searches for the term is divided by the number of total Google searches in that city.
You can't blame me, as I use Yahoo.
Interestingly enough,if you do a search on other words related to sexual acts, Elmhurst appears first on the list for a common term for oral stimulation, a common term for manual stimulation, and the word "naked" (but not "nude" -Salt Lake is tops for that as well as for "topless"?!)
Other than that, they are absent from every other term I've searched.
The town of Pleasanton (CA?) appears on virtually every other list and heads many of them.
The planned (and unincorporated)community of Reston appears on many lists as well as does Richardson, TX.
Strangely enough, Wheaton and Oak Brook come ahead of Elmhurst when looking up "Elmhurst."
And Elmhurst is third on the list for looking up "alderman" second for "park district" and fifth for looking up "park board."
What does all this prove?
Statistically? Nothing.
But watch the Orangistas try to make an issue out of it next election!
By the deafening silence now that allegation sabot is on the other tootsie it is my turn to conclude that I've struck a nerve.
Be that as it may, I'm back to show once again how little Blog Boy knows about Elmhurst.
In the 11/08/05 post, Clueless Leader was wisecracking about Lee Daniels stepping aside for Marcucci to run for his seat. What he failed to realize (and as I pointed out in my first anonymous post at the time) is that Marcucci lives about 12 feet outside Daniels' district.
Never one to let the facts stand in the way of a baseless accusation, Blog Boy has yet to retract, even now that the actual candidate has won an unchalleged primary.
In order that future feeble attempts at parrying my rapier wit don't end up pricking an innocent anonymous I have chosen a name that represents my fight against the tyranny, cowardice and injustice of the drygulching Orangistas.
~Z~
o wise one, things are not always as they appear!
Hyp-hop-ocricy.
(5/18/05)
cut-n-paste>
Prior Marcucci administrations' eager encouragement of oversize houses on undersize lots has been popular with builders. In the wild, wild, west town of Elmhurst, builders are striking gold on tiny home lots that would yield commensurate tiny profits in neighboring suburbs like Hinsdale or Oak Brook.
/cut-n-paste>
Rappin' a Gangsta
Blog Boy mourns for democracy
While hiding all his hypocricy
He covers up his identity
While his homies in this city lie by committee
It's the worst way to kill a nation
Sublimation with agit-prop disimformation
He moans on and on about Elmhurst
When in real life he does his worst
The development land grabs that he cursed
He did first, as Daley's goomah he's well-versed.
He pretends to be Mr. Mom
but friends of Tom exploded that bomb
His eminent domains in the dark
Boondoggled up Milennium Park
The junkyard dogs no longer bark
Their future is stark on a revese Noah's Ark.
Will the friends of Angelo
When they know give him the heave-ho?
Blathering about flood relief
You should see the size of his fief
does flooding give his neighbors grief?
This wide eyed naif's hypocrisies beyond belief
Blithering about expansion
With a passion but he lives in a McMansion
Like US when the Soviet falls
Mr Blogger, tear down those walls
If a too big an Elmhurst house galls
Have some balls begin with your own halls
His postage stamp yard he could mow
In one go, by Santa riding a Norelco.
(C)2006 ~Z~
From "The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Guide Egomaniac Edition"
Q. How can you identify Mensa Society members at a cocktail party?
A. It's actually quite simple. They will tell you.
better question: how do you identify someone who seems to have WAY too much free time on their hands...
Old joke: when I originally heard it, it was about Harvard. I'm sure it came over the pond before that as a jest at the expense of some D.D. Oxon.
As for time on my hands, not nearly so much as, say, a stay-at-home dad. However, since I'm on vacation and the wireless connection reaches poolside, I'm happy to take an occasional break from Goodwin's Team of Rivals, to toss back another tequila, to light up another Cohiba and to poke the lighted end into the metaphorical eye of this Team of Risibles.
Besides, each of these little missives takes me fewer than five minutes to peck out. The rap song may have taken me as long as ten, because I had to go back and fix the last line of each quatrain to incorporate the middle rhyme.
~Z~
Goodness, i hope you remembered to take off your mask while you are tanning, it may give away who you are when you come back with strange tan lines around your eyes!
Back on a b-e-a-utiful day in the neighborhood to point out another little oddity that Blog Boy has herein.
On his April 5, 2006 entry,he includes a link to an FBI internet tip page. The link - provided purely for melodramatic effect - says:
cut-n-paste>
Which Elmhurst aldermanic candidates did state funded staff help and why?
/cut-n-paste>
I have some follow-up questions which may actually direct you to an answer:
Which aldermanic candidate is related to a Democrat in the Illinois State Legislature? What help did those staffers give?
Which aldermanic candidate had goons from a Democratic Cook County political machine in cars playing yard sign games and intimidating voters outside an Elmhurst polling place?
Which aldermanic and mayoral candidates have sworn allegiance to a member of the family of a Republican in the Illinois State Legislature and how involved were that person's staffers?
And whose staffer pulled a record of appearance from a state legislative committee's records for another candidate to use in an attack mailing against a Marcucci ally mentioned scornfully elsewhere in this blog?
It's an old, old game to vehemently accuse your opponents of the very crimes of which your side is guilty. It doesn't matter if your allegation is true or not. When you yourself are accused of the same thing, it can be spun either as a false counter-accusation, or in the worst case cause the voters to assume that both sides are doing it.
Thus, the true transgressions never weigh in the balance against the true transgressors.
~ Z ~
Back in the saddle after one of the hottest Memorial Day weekends on record (global warming? WHAT global warming?) to correct another misleading statement Blog Boy made.
After blithering and blathering about a police camera at City Centre, the Dolt in the Machine added another piece of disinformation to his campaign against progress:
(April 12, 2005 entry)
cut-n-paste>
Is police videotaping the price we must pay for increasing density and urbanization of our downtown? Are you ready for this?
/cut-n-paste>
Now, I don't have to tell any of you what the true story behind the City Centre camera is. Your own common sense will tell you. It's been a problem for as long as anyone can remember, but recently has gotten worse due to several factors.
As you drive north on York Street through the center of town on any non-Wednesday summer evening, you notice one very obvious feature of the landscape.
Teenagers.
Hanging out.
Back in my day (said the old codger) we also hung out around town, but there were a few differences. Downtown was less desirable to hang out in. We were much more geographically scattered.
The police/fire station was right in the middle of Schiller. There was no underpass. There were fewer places to eat. The theater only showed one movie - usually 3 months after it had come out. City Hall was an old Jewel food store.
Now, the very improvements that have made downtown more desirable a place for seniors, families and young couples to meet, greet and relax have also attracted more teens just "hanging out." And as evening passes into night, they stay.
For the most part these kids are boisterous, self-absorbed and outre, - testing the boundaries of social interaction.
i.e. Teenagers.
But, as with any group no matter the age, this crowd has its share of bad apples. The anecdotal evidence of this has been underage smoking, overt sexual behavior, the rare beer passed around in a bag and the even rarer joint smoked in the walkway to the Walgreens parking lot.
The York/Schiller camera concept was developed to damper this behavior. NOT to memorialize your toddler's tantrum.
Mr Blogger, just tell me where to send the sawbuck so you can buy a clue.
As for summer Wednesdays, the kids are still there, perhaps even in greater force, but they're less noticeable in the larger crowd, and less liable to misbehave due to expanded police presence.
Which (to borrow a phrase from Stephen Colbert) brings us to tonight's word: Cool Cars under the Stars!
And, to quote from the Boss:
I've got a '69 Chevy with a 396
Fuelie heads and a Hurst on the floor
She's waitin' tonight down in the parking lot...
...tonight, tonight the strip's just right
I wanna blow 'em off in my first heat
'Cause summer's here and the time is right
for racin' in the streets.
As the opening of Hamburger Heaven is a sure harbinger of spring, the first night of Cool Cars means summer's here. Have fun tonight, and smile for the camera!
~Z~
The Color Orange
The Orange Ribbon campaign was one of the most effective political movements ever to hit Elmhurst. Its genius lay in its simplicity, its ambiguity and its opacity.
Nothing could be more simple than adorning a tree with an orange ribbon cut from plastic tablecloths by a certain doyenne and her minions.
And, illegally, adorning lampposts and traffic signposts.
Nothing could be more ambiguous than the message against "overdevelopment." Like Potter Stewart, the Orangistas can't define "overdevelopment" but they know it when they see it.
And nothing could be more opaque than the roster of the nebulous "Orange Ribbon Committee." At first, one self-promoting politican claimed in the Elmhurst Press to be the chairperson, then claimed never to have made the statement. No one "officially" seems to know who was in charge.
Even though they took to meeting on Sunday afternoons at various members' houses.
Which is convenient, because no one can be blamed if the campaign broke Illinois Campaign Finance laws.
However, somehow the people of Larch Ave. knew who to turn to when they wanted to appropriate the campaign marker for their fight against a proposed senior development at the corner of Addison and Second.
(For the record, that group may have had a point, but the new alternative building is Ugly, with a capital "Ugh.")
And somehow, the membership of Elmhurst Unites managed to completely subsume the Orangistas. Again, our erstwhile Orange chairperson claimed premature primacy - D'oh, what a Great Turn-Off!
Like the Orange Order founded in Ireland in 1795 - self-declared elites who opposed union with Britain until they realized that they wouldn't be running an independent Ireland - these Orangistas switch causes to whatever advances their own personal agenda, which is anti-development. They even supported Marcucci in the beginning because his predecessors had begun redevelopment with TIFs and Superblock.
As is demonstrated in this blog, no degree of separation is too remote to link an item back to that main monomania.
But why oh why would anyone be against development in Elmhurst? Doesn't a rising tide lift all boats?
Yes, but proportionally the rise for dinghies is high. For yachts - not so much.
Here's your homework kiddies - it's 75% of your grade, so do a good job.
On a map of Elmhurst, plot the locations of the homes of the CORE (get it?) of the Orange Ribbon and Elmhurst Unites movements.
Next, research where the most expensive residential real estate was prior to 1990. On your map, color in the areas of greatest concentration.
Now plot out on your map the high-end homes which have been built since 1990 and indicate where those neighborhoods are.
Finally, graph the change in average home values in the original shaded plot versus the other neighborhoods.
Now explain the term "regress to the mean" based on the above.
Extra credit: What is the correlation between distribution of the referendum money to various schools and the average tax increase to homeowners in the above distributions? And which group now controls the School Board?
Class dismissed.
~Z~
Post Scriptum: Originally, this group did something good by preventing the location of the police department where the library and art museum are now. But one swallow does not a summer make.
poor anonymous 'Z', sounds like a certain anonymous has several sour grapes to pluck. was anonymous rejected by those orange ribbon people in some way? a bit of 'orange with envy?" certainly seems to know an awful lot of "inside" tidbits about the city??? also seems to NOT like teenagers? also seems to be addicted to this blog? boy, what you can miss by not reading this site for a while! can anonymous Z be the real Mr. Blogger they keep referring to..... how tricky is that!
Very interesting suppositions, my friend. But remember, Don Diego de la Vega was a member of the very social class to which his arch-enemy, the Alcalde, aspired. Despite his patrician birth, de la Vega championed the voiceless pobrecitos de California vieja. Appearing to be feckless and ineffective by day, he checked the Alcalde's invidious political grasping by night, mocking and frightening his mindless minions with his Mark...
~Z~
Post Scriptum: Like every good analogy, however, this breaks down under very close scrutiny, i.e. Sergeant Garcia never ran for Mayor.
you ain't a very 'chipper' person el zorro, are you?
-M-
Zorro thinks he's Johnny Depp!!!!!
well shiver me timbers! more like Capt Hook!
Where is Elmhust Unites today? Double "P" has gone into hiding.
What is your obsession with Elmhurst Unites el z? Why isn't Chip Collis' Elmhurst Unites site up and running? Give him a buzz and ask him what happened to Elmhurst Unites, he was very involved!
Elmhurst Unites is a political front for "PP" and "CU". It will in fact be investigated by the Feds. No tel #..No filings, No office address, No "nuting" hmm?
O, theres plenty of 'nuting', right here on this blog actually. Lots of very helpful info offered too! Thanks!
Orangista's AKA...Elmhurst Unites will also be investigated...Flower Girl, Pig Sporting a Tuxedo, Dumb as a Sack of Hammers, and Miss Piggy. Oh' Clare the clown!
I never knew alderman Vanek was in Elmhurst Unites??? Since when?
I heard there is a new group starting up ?
-M-
The Piglet sports cuff links and measures young boys for tuxedo wear. Wally irons the panties cause she wears dem pants in da house.
Hint..Ms Piggy walks the dog and cleans up the doggie poo poo along the cottage cause the maniac is busy in the lab working wit the rats. Some call dem rats...attack dogs or legal beagels!
Bring Back Jimmy The Greek!
Bring Back Elmhurst Unites!
Bring Back The Orangista's
Bring Back Lisa Madigan!
Bring Back Michael Fitzgerald!
Has anyone picked up on the name of the new 'group' yet?
-M-
The new name has yet to be announced. Ann Trantor, Paula Pezza, Donna Lomnicki, Moira Moriarty, Michael Bram and John McDonough (to name a few) are charter members of the defunct Elmhurst Unites.
Elmhurst Unites vanished in the middle of the night. The legal heat from the states'attorney and the state board of election commission drove this fringe "PAC" into hiding.
Wednesday, Novemebr 17, 2004 was the Elmhurst Unites "EU" as they prefer to be called, kicked off the first meeting at the Battaglia ("whining bitch")joint on York Road. Paula Pezza was the facilitator and the first up to speak was none other than Ann "the prominent builders wife" Tranter. In due time we will post every single meeting minutes of "EU" to prove and expose the true nature of this flock. The sole purpose of this flock is to divide the city and put a choke hold on smart progress.
They play dirty and are sneaky.
you forgot to mention that Richard "Chip" Collis guy too, he was very active in ELmhurst Unites. Heard he ran a website for them and did a lot of volunteering for the group. I believe there were some other suprisingly actively involved people too. seemed like everyone wanted a piece of the action. can't wait to see the new group that evolves from it, should be interesting.
on another note, funny how you seem to know SO much about Elmhurst Unites el zorre, el zorro,norman bated, anonymous, whatever you call yourself.
Where is Elmhurst Unites today? "Chipper" too was in fact part of "EU" action! Can't possibly mention every name just a few of the big players and, I mean big. None of which have the moral capacity to step up and say who they really are and file the required paperwork. The spot light will be at full strength! Either you are an alternative politcial party or your not. Slate or no slate! Just play fair.
If you whistle while you work in Elmhurst, you are sure to have a lot of hartz~
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