Results of Police Chief Residence Poll

Sixty (60%) percent of the people who responded to the poll said that they would feel safer if the police chief lived in the same county and city as he or she was the chief of.

MCC...FOIA REFUSAL...TIP OF ICEBURG

When I departed from the Navy back in 1975 and came out to the "boonies" here in McHenry County I noticed an interesting phenomena after a short time being involved in hospital politics and executive committees and hospital boards. A lot of work was being done on the hospitals and the jobs awarded to companies after "no bid" contracts were accepted by the hospital boards. Over the years I found out via the grapevine that a lot of the recipients of the contracts were close friends or relatives of members on the boards of the various hospitals. I suspect this is the way business was done then and it may or probably still continues today. I wonder if some individuals still on boards of hospitals,they seem to recirculate for years and years, and elected officials know the difference between opaque and transparent. When public monies are involved it should all be transparent or the possibility of corruption just continues to continue.

What next...your DNA?

Its not going to happen yet here in McHenry County but beginning on June 1, 2009 in order to sell your own house you will have to submit a thumb print of your right thumb (they will take it).(Illinois Public Act 095-0988) I guess a drivers license or Ill. ID Card or a US Passport will not suffice. What will be required in Cook County next...a DNA sample and retinal scan? What are they going to do with this thumb print and where will it really wind up being kept on file when they can't even keep confidential computerized info confidential. If you have never had your finger prints taken what are they going to use as a baseline normal. A way of tracing you down because they have your identity in their computer files database. The days of "big brother" and "show me your papers" are already here. Soon we will have to get a visa to travel from state to state....don't laugh...you may be next in line...have your right thumb ready and don't forget to smile or you may be subject to further examination and interrogation.

When are the citizens of this country going to draw a line in the sand and tell its elected officials ....no further ...no more intrusion in our private lives and affairs.

William LeFew's letter to the Editor

Mr. LeFew got most of what he said in his Letter to the Editor dated January 29, 09 to the Northwest Herald correct. The peaceful transference of power noted on Inauguration Day is to be commended.

However if one reads the papers and records of the Founding Fathers their idea of who would have the right and privilege to vote for their representatives in the envisioned new republican form of government was not what we today enjoy and take for granted. Not everyone was included in this group of "voters"; they the Founding Fathers feared a take over by what was called then the uneducated rabble or at times referred to as the "mob". To them the voter would be a stakeholder in this new country; someone who was a land owner, business owner, educated to some degree so he could read and understand issues and not on the receiving end of government money. They feared that if all were to be allowed to be voters that they would vote for the candidate that would would promise them more and more until the government would find itself bankrupt and unable to fulfill its promises. In other words they felt that voters should be males who had something to loose if they voted unwisely and not individuals who only had something to gain....sound familiar? Women were not even considered in the argument at that time.

CAVEAT EMPTOR...buyer beware!

Usually "caveat emptor" is the Latin for "let the buyer beware" and usually is applied to property purchased. In this instance I will use it to apply to the purchase of legal services: one might say "intellectual" property. I will admit the analogy is not perfect and some of the property might not be worth the price asked for it...especially in the long run to the client.

You may not know it but with the exception of three areas of the law,the State of Illinois does not certify any lawyers or law firms as specialty practices...they the law firm or lawyer advertises what he/she/it considers they are expert in doing.
So you are taking them at their word; that could be a dangerous and expensive proposition in some instances when you are dealing with an individual or firm with an operational philosophy that allegedly places their welfare ahead of their clients' welfare. Everyone beyond the age of reason (about 7 yrs. of age) knows that not all people are interested in pursuing "truth, justice and the American way". Not even Superman uses the phrase "American way" anymore...he also must be politically correct and not offend anyone.

The three areas of the law recognized as certifiable by Illinois are: Patent Law, Trademark Law and Admiralty Law. As is evident by looking through the yellow pages one does not see many of these individuals in McHenry County. McHenry County might therefore be considered somewhat of a general practice sort of a county as far as the practice of law. In other words, like the song that "dates" me says "you'd better shop around".

Enough background, lets get to the meat of the matter. Over the last few days several attorneys have contacted me and I have contacted a few others and requested their gut "feelings" about the underlying operational philosophy of firms that do a high percentage of their business in servicing the needs of villages, towns, cities, and other governmental units in McHenry County. Guess what I found out from these other attorneys? Not all are concerned about truth or doing the right thing; some are more concerned about winning, even if the cost of winning in bordering on the unethical or lets use a politically incorrect word now,the "amoral" but maybe technically legal. They know the average person living from paycheck to paycheck cannot always stand up to a prolonged legal battle and that is a tactic which is used by some to win and not to arrive at justice. Maybe its true what some say; on this earth you can buy all the law you can afford but the only place that justice will be dispensed will be in Heaven...I hope I am wrong...or this country has a very dismal future ahead of it.

In conclusion of this non-clerical homily I humbly ask that all units of government whatever their size ask and question the legal services they buy what their underlying philosophy is because winning is not the be all and end all. If you believe in a Creator like our Founding Fathers did then you at some time will stand in His presence and will give an accounting of yourself....and please forgive me for speaking for Him...He is not going to ask you how many times you have WON?