Police Department location hunt

"Former Mayor Terry Howley has decided to weigh in on the discussion with his insight and suggestions. He believes that moving police to substations will not relieve the space needs. Instead, certain functions could be moved to nearby vacant facilities at a much lower cost. For all of his comments, click here.

I think that former Mayor Howley brings up some very good points.

City Council and School Board Candidate Forum

THE CANDIDATE FORUM IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Candidates for City Council and School Board
The forum will be Thursday evening, April 12, 2007, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the Madden Auditorium at the Decatur Public Library.
More information

The Manager

Day By Day

Plea to WSOY and Archway Broadcasting

There has been a series of commercials running on these stations and also in several other radio markets in the US. You have likely heard them if you listen to radio more than 10 minutes a week. The (you are here)helpwanted dot com commericals. The particular ones I am referring to are customized to the Central Illinois sales area. These spots have been in an unusually high rotation rate for far too long, in the opinion of this long time listener.

"Humor ads?" like these produce a smile the first time they are heard, maybe. WSOY, the Decatur AM station, and many others have pummelled their listeners with this same series of bad comedy tripe, over and over for nearly two years, at least. The same two or three commercials with a "humorous" idiot who is supposed to be the boss, and an all-knowing, cheerfully robotic repeater of the web address who is, apparently, the only intellegent person in the fictional business which is, no surprise, needing to hire some helpers. There is one line in which she blandly states, "Well, that's just stupid," that accurately describes the whole commercial series. Too bad someone didn't tell this to the writers early on in the process.

OK, I will admit that this has almost become an obsession with me. I now turn the station when these same old two or three spots come on, sometimes I just turn off the radio altogether.

I don't completely fault the cheesy advertiser for wanting to squeeze more saturation from their advertising dollars, although I wish they would just hire someone to write some NEW (less obnoxious, I would hope) ad copy and produce some new spots. I'm also aware that as an advertising medium, your station, and the others of your group are sales oriented, and love to sell advertising, but you should please consider the sensibilities of your market. I would hope you would adopt a standard for spot repetition that would fall far below what has been the norm in the past, certainly with this series, which has been mercilessly hammered into your listeners. These particular dot com commercials have long outlived any snarky cuteness, and have become a dark cloud over "free" radio. My suggestion, my plea to you, is to either sell shorter contracts, or just say no to the really stupid commercials.

Does anyone out there hate these commercials too? Are there others that cause you to despise the sponsor and just want to turn off the radio or TV?
Back in the 70's or 80's, a local car dealer, Perry Thomas, said something on the order of, "..that it doesn't matter how bad the commercial is, as long as the customer remembers it..." There is a point it seems, beyond that, in which the emotional response becomes negative to the advertiser and medium. Not a good place to be in advertising, unless you are running political attack ads.


The following is contact information for WSOY, Archway Broadcasting Group, and the sponsor noted.

Archway Broadcasting Group
1513 East Cleveland Avenue
Building 100B, Suite 250
East Point, GA 30344
Phone: (404) 762-9942

ABG Illinois
1100 East Pershing Road
Decatur, IL 62526
Phone: 217-877-5371

RegionalHelpWanted.com, Inc.
One Civic Center Plaza, Suite 506
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
Phone:
800-365-8630
845-471-5200

Betsy's Thousand Dollar Ideas

Betsy's Thousand Dollar Ideas to Improve Decatur

Stop the violence marches and neighborhood tea parties.
No, we can't count that one. She rode into council chambers on that horse.

Putting a sign up in front of the microphones at council meetings to remind people to speak INTO the mic.
Betsy had her own thought that she passed on to the other community leaders she was conferencing with. "How about stating your name and address, too!"

Let's put up some signs about how we are an inclusive community?
Sure. That will show those horrible non-inclusive elitists. I can't go on with this example nor explain what is meant by inclusion without "being mean."

A City Mission Statement.
That will make us warm and fuzzy.

No smoking...
We have to keep up with the Jones' in Bloomington and Springfield.

I'm sure there are at least 23 more. Anybody else know of some of the jewels of wisdom and grace Betsy has brought back to our generous community? With a three year expense to the taxpayers of 28 thousand dollars, I know that there must be many more ideas I've not noted.

During the City Council meeting on Monday, she seemed extremely concerned that the expense reimbursement study council was "aimed at me!" by the wicked Mayor Paul Osborne, who was disguised in his normal steady gentleman persona. "Several others are in on it too..." She seemed overly defensive to me.

Mother Betsy, look within.
The ideas you seek can probably be found within the community you were elected to represent, and the travel vouchers will be so much easier to keep track of.

By the way, I noticed that she voted FOR annexation of some property for a BAR to be built. Is she backing down from her stance of voting against anything liquor oriented? Or did this one slip by her while she was in her defensive posture?

Jackson's talking points

Thanks to Lincoln Republican for the following list of Matt Jackson's typical blog response lines.
TOP TEN MATT JACKSON BASHING REPUBLICANS/CONSERVATIVES/ANYONE WHO DISAGREES WITH HIM LINES:
10. Go cry with your GOP buddies.
9. I don't cut and paste.
8. I always* cite my sources.
7. Why don't you go get a girlfriend.
6. You must have got the GOP talking points.
5. That was lame.
4. You are pathetic.
3. Go thump your Bible somewhere else (paraphrased from several quotes.)
2. Fear-mongerer.
And the number one republican/conservative/anyone-who-doesn't-agree-with -Matt-bashing line:
1. You're spitting bile.


Matt gave up on logical, solid discussions, and now tows the line for the Looney Left.
Of course, from this viewpoint of his, everything is the fault of GWB, GOP, and conservatives in general. It's easier to beef about GWB than to have original thoughts, so maybe Matt is just getting lazy. Can you imagine what deep stuff we'd be in now if Algore and the DNC had cheated just a little more in Florida? Would Gore have defended our country after 9/11? Or would he, as he and the Left are doing now, shrug off the attacks as simply a peaceful Muslim protest?

Mother Betsy's Smoking Ban

Does Mother Betsy, the Decatur councilwoman, really know best about what is good and righteous? Regardless of her intentions, she is attempting to impose her righteousness on the community and is abusing the power of her position. Do we elect council members to represent us or to think for us? The time has come for the council to REPRESENT us, not simply try to protect us from ourselves. I urge the other council members to keep this in mind while Betsy works to impose a smoking ban on Decatur. Please resist her (probably genuine) motherly concern for our well being, and help keep government out of the personal protection business.

“The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community against his will is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant.” This is the basic premise of libertarianism, the political philosophy of the Founding Fathers.
1859 - John Stuart Mill, "On Liberty"

City Council Mother-In-Chief

Did anyone hear the outragious interview this morning on Byers and Company?

Mother Betsy basically accused Byers of being a racist, apologized to him several times, and then denied ever implying it. She accused him of "not being inclusive" to minorities and the poor in his work with the Arts Fair. Why? Because he wanted to remove the criminal element that had caused trouble in the past at the SummerStart events.

Wasn't SHE stereotyping minorities and the poor as a criminal element of society who are uneducated, with no interest in the arts?

I always thought that she had Decatur's greater good at heart, but now I wonder if she has succumbed to the temptation of playing politics with the race card. I'm seriously dissapointed in her, and can legitimately say that, since she received a vote from me in the last election.

She also backed clear away from the non smoking drive she had been recently promoting. She says that it isn't on her priority list anymore. Brian countered that her list of three major priorities includes the smoking ban as number 3. She implied that another council member will maybe make it a priority, and then she would support their effort. She declined to answer when asked which council member/s that she had spoken about.
Did Councilwoman Betsy Stockard implode this morning? What do you think about it?

I really wish that this morning's broadcast was available online as a podcast or transcript.
Byers and Company is heard on WSOY-1340AM (6-9am weekdays)

The War On Terror

Matt Jackson, at BlogDecatur has recently demonstrated how a distrust or dislike of the messenger can lead to misinterpretations of the message. I have a suggestion. Read the speech aloud, to yourself, or have someone read it to you. I'm not suggesting that you are illiterate, but for demonstration purposes, just hearing it in a 'different than GWB' voice will make a difference to you in your comprehension of the message.
The entire speech, available from the GOP website, can also be read as the first comment to this entry. (just in case you can't bring yourself to visiting the GOP site)

Try this method, it can even help with WJC speeches.

D-B Act is a handout to unions, slap to minorities

Reposted after accidental deletion...

Bush administration suspends Davis-Bacon Act for hurricane stricken areas of Gulf Coast.This is the headline that has gotten Matt Jackson's shorts in a bunch. His support for an obviously racist originated law contradicts his alledged support for the downtrodden victims of the hurricane. If he would like to pay higher taxes to support his allies, the labor unions, more power to him. Pay as much as you like, Matt. As a taxpayer myself, I prefer to get more for my tax dollars than a handout to the AFL-CIO and other union organizations.
Workers are hurt several ways by Davis-Bacon.For example, the Davis-Bacon Act prohibits the use of `helpers' on federally funded projects.`Helpers' are widely used on private sector projects, and gain well-paying jobs and precious experience and skills. As the Association of Builders and Contractors points out: `It provides a career path with no limits where they can progress from field worker, to supervisor, to front office, and ultimately even company ownership.' Davis-Bacon also slows down and raises costs of projects by not allowing for employees to `multi-skill.' That is, if an individual is a carpenter and electrician, he or she can only perform one of those jobs on a project, as noted by the builders and contractors group. This is grossly inefficient, and an obvious sop to labor unions.http://www.sbecouncil.org/FactOfWeek.asp?FormMode=Call&LinkType=Text&ID=361

...Minority contractors will find it easier to get federal contracts without divisive quotas, black workers will find it easier to get construction jobs, and the federal government will be able to accomplish more with a smaller burden on the taxpayer...http://www.cato.org/pubs/briefs/bp-017.html

Walter Williams wrote in 2003...If the Davis-Bacon Act requires that any worker handling a hammer and a nail, for example, be paid $25 an hour, no contractor in his right mind is going to hire a worker with $10 an hour skills and pay him $25. Any minimum wage law tends to discriminate against the employment of low-skilled works; the Davis-Bacon Act is simply a super-minimum wage.
Summary of Walter Williams' article: The Davis-Bacon Act is a federal law that mandates that a prevailing wage be paid on all federally financed or assisted construction projects. The secretary of labor illegally sets the "prevailing wage" at the union wage or higher, regardless of what the average wage is in the affected locality. The effect of the Davis-Bacon Act is that of discriminating against contractor employment of non-union and lower skilled workers.http://www.capmag.com/article.asp?ID=3357
As I pointed out in a response to MJ on BlogDecatur, the haves are the ones who benefit from Davis-Bacon. The have-nots get locked out. President Bush was absolutely correct in his action. Minorities will benefit from employment they might not have otherwise had, and taxpayers will get more construction and rebuilding for the money.

The Decatur Democrat, a subsidiary of the Party of No

The Decatur Democrat, formerly the local standard bearer for the Party of No, seems to signaling what the Dem leadership will do with the Supreme Court confirmation process. Obstruct. I have little doubt of this after hearing Senators Durbin and Schumer's comments right after the announcement.
In TDD's case, perhaps (s)he's suggesting a filibuster will be the tactic.
The attempt to change the public perception by removing all responses that had been posted and leaving only the diatribes and accusations is an admition that the truly liberal positions that TDD formerly supported just won't hold up under the bright lights and the scrutiny of truth and logic.

The Dems think that the reason that they aren't winning elections nationally is that they aren't getting the message out. They couldn't be more wrong. The more light that is shed on their liberal positions and posturing politics, the more the American people are rejecting them.

Let them talk.

Republican Barbecue and Rally this Saturday

The Republican Central Committees of Macon, Moultrie and Shelby counties and Representative Raymond Poe are sponsoring a Barbecue and Rally this Saturday, July 16, from 5-9pm.
Candidates for local, state and federal offices will be attending and will be available to meet with supporters.
Food, beverages, entertainment by "Rock of Ages," and children's activities including horse drawn wagon rides, face painting, a clown, bounce house, dunk tank and games.
It will be held at Mt. Zion Lions Club Park. (County Rt. 32 at the SW end of Mt. Zion)
There will also be a professional fireworks display beginning at dusk.

Tickets are available for $10. by calling (Jim at 855-3136), (Susanna at423-0134), or (Bruce at 423-9772) Children under 12, tickets are $5.
Macon County GOP website

Barbecue, cold beer, politics, music and fireworks... Great way to spend a warm July evening...
Come on out, support the party and have a good time with the family.
See you there!

Polls... Making stuff up

Polls???
In repsonse to an article by The Decatur Democrat over on blogDecatur...

Rather than base my opinion on the latest polls that may or may not even be well done, I gather news and opinion from many sources. I then attempt to make logical decisions and observations of my own. A short list of some of my sources can be found in this blog's links section. You may notice that there are some well known "Liberal" media included. I observe many different angles of a story and form my own opinion of an issue. This is the "Solid Logic" that I generally employ. Making stuff up isn't necessary, the Liberals give us more than enough of that.

I don't mind the personal attack by TDD, though, since it usually indicates a certain amount of frustration on the part of the attacker. And I can understand your frustration. When faced with the logic of truth, many liberals choose to simply look past it. Others tend to lash out against it with emotional zeal.


MaconCountyRepublican said it best in a response to a blog post by Decatur Democrat. The only polls that make any difference are elections.

Many other polls are simply news filler. The interpretation of the numbers is only a part of a poll taker's goal, and the design of the poll is just as important as the manipulation of the interpretation. The following Media Research Center article demonstrates the way that the numbers can be manipulated in the major media NEWS reports on the polls. When polls are the subject of a news story, I usually suspect that an editorial will be made, usually indirectly, usually as part of the "news story." In my opinion, using polls for news is really just lazy reporting or a way to editorialize an agenda.

ABC's Charles Gibson highlighted "the highest disapproval rating for Mr. Bush since he took office. But Bush's approval level was statistically unchanged...
read more...
http://www.mediaresearchcenter.com/

Jackson File / ethical journalism

The following is a post I left for Mr. Jackson at the DMH/Decatur bashing blog.

Mr. Jackson,

This is the worst depiction of Decatur since the Reverend Jesse fiasco, and you have fed the beast and nurtured the growth of negative public opinion by allowing and encouraging the most negative, axe grinding people in the town to spew much of the bile being "reported."

Mr. Jackson, you should be ashamed of yourself for allowing this to continue without some serious editorial input. By not countering the obviously false, the libelous, and misdirections, you tacitly support these off base "comments."
Show some journalistic pride and edit. Do some fact checking of your own, and show some of these deranged accusers the door. You ignore your own reputation as well as other good people by your inaction.

Solid Logic vs. liberal emotionalism

I am not Vice President Richard Cheney and do not speak for him. However, if you listen to Mr. Jackson on the Jackson File blog, you'd probably assume that I am a result of a Halliburton conspiracy to clone the VP. I do have very similar views on many issues, and attempt to look at issues with solid logic rather than liberal emotionalism. That is one of the reasons I chose this moniker. It allows you to get an idea of where I'm coming from politically.

The Decatur Democrat is another good place to gauge the Democrat mood in the city and presents a good opportunity to counter rampant liberalism.

Lincoln Republican's DecaturConservative blog is a common sense oriented blog with well thought out posts and more patience with libs than I have.