Illinois

I’m not turning this blog into BoingBoing, honest.

But something’s come up on which I’m interested in your guys’ take.

A couple of months ago, Vanity Fair ran a lengthy piece on the development history of the World Wide Web. It was some interesting stuff, particularly for those of us who remember browser wars and Usenet and the days when you had to pay per e-mail kilobyte and a 9.6k modem connection was just tearing it up.

In the current issue of Vanity Fair, “Robocop” screenwriter Michael Miner sent in a letter criticizing the piece as incomplete. Miner wrote:

… Henry Ford never anticipated global warming when he and his enablers perfected the assembly line.

(Read the full post about ‘Web icebergs’…)

DANVILLE – A not-for-profit group’s attempt to provide a bus service for low-income workers to get to jobs in Champaign County has officially come to a halt, because transportation costs were too high. On May 12, the Driven to Succeed program started with two refurbished school buses hauling entry-level workers directly to job sites in Champaign County. But last week, the bus service came to an end, because fuel, maintenance and labor costs were too high for the program to reach a self-sustaining level, according to Kevin Flynn, one of the organizers and the primary source of funding for Driven to Succeed. Flynn operates At Home Housing, a nonprofit organization in Danville that finds affordable housing and jobs for low-income people. (Read the full post about ‘Transportation costs cancel service program for workers’…)

If you think Apple’s iPhone is just a telephone, Web browser, PDA, camera, GPS and mp3 player, you’ve got some more thinking to do. According to video game developers, it – and the iPod Touch (an iPhone without the phone and camera) – is the newest major platform, with more than 400 games already released for the system. Of course, a large number of those are variations on casino games, crossword puzzles and Sudoku. I recently got my hands on an iPod Touch loaded with six titles released by Publisher X, an iPhone-specific development house. I’ve come away from the experience with impressions about that company’s titles – and the iPhone as a gaming platform. (Read the full post about ‘Apple’s iPhone offers plenty of options for gamers on the go’…)

CHAMPAIGN – When track and field athletes claim medals at the Beijing Olympics this week, there’s a good chance some of the equipment they used to achieve their feats came from Champaign. Champaign-based Gill Athletics supplies many of the vaulting poles, javelins and discuses used in competition. Company President David Hodge can’t help but hope some of the exposure from the Olympics leads to increased sales. “It’s a wonderful event, and we’ll be watching like everyone else,” said Hodge, a former vaulter who himself aspired to be an Olympian. “In the pole vault, about three-quarters of the finalists will be using our poles, and a lot of the gold medal favorites will be using our poles as well,” Hodge said. (Read the full post about ‘Champaign firm’s poles, javelins, discuses prominent at Beijing Olympics’…)

CHAMPAIGN – Champaign-based Gill Athletics has been “growing at a 10 to 15 percent clip for many years now,” company President David Hodge said. Gill, which is based at 2808 Gemini Court in the Apollo Industrial Park, makes many types of track and field equipment, including hurdles, vaulting poles, javelins, discuses and steeplechase pits. The company calls itself the largest manufacturer of track and field equipment in the world. “We have a strong emphasis on new products,” Hodge said, noting the company introduces about 100 a year. Among major recent introductions: a new Carbon FX vaulting pole (Weave FX) that incorporates woven carbon fiber, the “402″ Elite high school hurdle, and PowerMax training products devoted to making athletes faster and stronger. (Read the full post about ‘Gill sees double-digit percentages in growth’…)

Subway Sandwiches & Salads is coming to The Pines shopping center in southeast Urbana in September. Mike Hogan, who with Damon Fairbanks owns seven Subway shops in the Champaign-Urbana area, said he’s chosen the new site at 2740 S. Philo Road, U, for the eighth shop. “That whole area is just exploding,” Hogan said. “With the clinics and Meijer there, we feel it’s a high-growth area.” Hogan has targeted Sept. 17 as the opening date, and he said the 1,900-square-foot store will be an “embellished” Subway with a Tuscan theme, indoor seating and perhaps patio seating. “We expect it to be a high-volume store,” he said, adding it will likely employ 15 to 20 people. (Read the full post about ‘New Subway arrives next month, another in ‘09′…)

Just out from the IDES via the Trib.  Almost 2 percent higher than the national rate. . .

Illinois employers eliminated a total of 9,700 jobs statewide during the month of July, state officials said today, pushing the Illinois unemployment rate leaped from 6.8 percent to 7.3 percent — the state’s highest jobless level in almost 15 years.

The national unemployment rate was 5.6 percent.

Let’s see how the Democrats blame the Republicans for this …

GLENVIEW – Glenview real estate attorney Brendan Appel says the people of the 9th State Senate District are telling him they’re disgusted with how the Democrats are abusing their political control at the state capitol, and are happy to have option of electing a Republican senator for the first time in 38 years. The first time Republican candidate says his own frustration with the incumbent’s record led to his decision to run. “Jeff Schoenberg is the chairman of Appropriations, and he’s helped us get into this financial mess by allowing the governor to raid the road funds and the tollway funds."  Appel, a lifelong resident of Glenview, said, “As a matter of fact, he’s chaired a committee that’s allowed 600 special funds to be raided, including one for veterans and battered women.” Although Schoenberg’s been a member of the Senate just since 2003, he was a member of the House for twelve years prior. (Read the full post about ‘URF???s 8 in 08: Brendan Appel, GOP Senate candidate for 9th’…)

Sheriff Joe Arpaio from Maricopa County, Arizona will be in Arlington Heights, Illinois, Friday night at the invitation of Illinois Citizens to speak on the topic of Chicago’s sanctuary policy.

This November 2006 interview gives a hint of what you’ll hear Friday night.  More information can be found by clicking on the icon in the right margin.

By Mark Rhoads

For too long, conservatives have been too generous in describing what many derisively call the "Main Stream Media (MSM)."  In every presidential election year, the MSM for the last forty-four years has transformed itself as a completely dependable and integral part of the "Left Wing Media (LWM)" and that is the name by which many news organizations more accurately deserve to be known as in conservative circles.  What is my proof?  Several academic studies have shown an overwhelming bias both in news coverage favorable to Democratic candidates and in the extremely high percentage of reporters, editors, and producers who consider themselves liberal.  Of course they always claim to be professionals above the fray and they deny that their personal biases influence their stories.  Hogwash.  Consider for example some new facts researched by ex-journalist William Tate who wrote about his findings in the July 23 issue of Investors Business Daily.

According to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), discounting contributions to Ron Paul and Rudy Giuliani, who was a favorite son for many folks in the media, the totals for donations by reporters employed by news organizations in this cycle, including Fox News, look like this: $315,533 to Democrats, $3,150 to Republicans.  Four media donors wrote small checks to John McCain.  A ratio of $315,533 to Democrats to $3,150 to Republicans is a ratio of 100-to-1.

(Read the full post about ‘No more Mr. Nice Guy. “MSM” = “LWM”’…)