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To contact us Click HERE Up until today I would have bet all your money that the the Open Meetings Act covered the legislature. But then, today, somebody popped this bubble. So I had to re-read the Act.
Here's the first part of the law:
5 ILCS 120/1) (from Ch. 102, par. 41)
Sec. 1. Policy. It is the public policy of this State that public bodies exist to aid in the conduct of the people's business and that the people have a right to be informed as to the conduct of their business. In order that the people shall be informed, the General Assembly finds and declares that it is the intent of this Act to ensure that the actions of public bodies be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly.
Here it is again, with certain words emphasized:
5 ILCS 120/1) (from Ch. 102, par. 41)
Sec. 1. Policy. It is the public policy of this State that public bodies exist to aid in the conduct of the people's business and that the people have a right to be informed as to the conduct of their business. In order that the people shall be informed, the General Assembly finds and declares that it is the intent of this Act to ensure that the actions of public bodies be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly.
Then the Act goes along and defines "public body".
"Public body" includes all legislative, executive, administrative or advisory bodies of the State, counties, townships, cities, villages, incorporated towns, school districts and all other municipal corporations, boards, bureaus, committees or commissions of this State, and any subsidiary bodies of any of the foregoing including but not limited to committees and subcommittees which are supported in whole or in part by tax revenue, or which expend tax revenue, except the General Assembly and committees or commissions thereof.
Now look at some of the key words:
"Public body" includes all legislative, executive, administrative or advisory bodies of the State, counties, townships, cities, villages, incorporated towns, school districts and all other municipal corporations, boards, bureaus, committees or commissions of this State, and any subsidiary bodies of any of the foregoing including but not limited to committees and subcommittees which are supported in whole or in part by tax revenue, or which expend tax revenue, except the General Assembly and committees or commissions thereof.
Now look again at the last nine words of that section: except the General Assembly and committees or commissions thereof.
So it appears that "public bodies" - those about which the legislature wants us to be informed and whose actions are to be taken openly and whose deliberations are to be taken openly do not include the Illinois General Assembly - that being the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate and their committees.
Why am I surprised by this? Why didn't I expect that those high-and-mighty public servants would figure out a way to pull a fast one on the public? A clue was given to me on Friday, when one Representative on the House Judiciary Committee said, "We are all lawyers up here."
So there is has been, all the time, for us to know the truth. That the General Assembly does not exist to aid in the conduct of the people's business and people do not have a right to be informed of the conduct of their business. It is the intent of the General Assembly that its action shall not be taken openly and that their deliberations will not be conducted openly.
Business as usual... Ahhh, now I remember ... this is Illinois ...
25 Şubat 2013 Pazartesi
No horsin' around in N.C.
To contact us Click HERE
To contact us Click HERE
North Carolina gets it right.
Check out this driver's license to be issued to some illegal immigrants. What's it say?
No legal status.
I guess they could just print "I'm illegal. Arrest me" on it.
Read the full article. This is North Carolina's response to the spineless, vote-seeking creeps in Washington who don't have the guts to enforce lawful-entry requirements to our country.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Check out this driver's license to be issued to some illegal immigrants. What's it say?
No legal status.
I guess they could just print "I'm illegal. Arrest me" on it.
Read the full article. This is North Carolina's response to the spineless, vote-seeking creeps in Washington who don't have the guts to enforce lawful-entry requirements to our country.
Rep. Mike Tryon joins other co-sponsors
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To contact us Click HERE Illinois State Representative Mike Tryon (R-Crystal Lake) has joined the co-sponsors of HB0997, this session's concealed-carry bill. Thanks, Mike!
There are now 47 co-sponsors of this Bill.
Illinois is under court order to come up with a law (i.e., a passed bill, signed by Gov. Quinn) by June 9, permitting concealed-carry in Illinois.
On February 13 it was assigned to the Judiciary Committee, which has wasted no time in scheduling hearings. Hearings were held in Springfield today and yesterday, and one is scheduled in Chicago for Friday.
There are now 47 co-sponsors of this Bill.
Illinois is under court order to come up with a law (i.e., a passed bill, signed by Gov. Quinn) by June 9, permitting concealed-carry in Illinois.
On February 13 it was assigned to the Judiciary Committee, which has wasted no time in scheduling hearings. Hearings were held in Springfield today and yesterday, and one is scheduled in Chicago for Friday.
What's in a 600-page bill?
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Watch Sen. Rand Paul (R.-Kentucky) as he takes off on a 600-page bill he received that was to be voted on before he and other U.S. Senators had time to read and understand it. He received the bill that morning and expected a vote on it that day.
Of course, reading it and understanding a bill are two different things.
And by the time you could read a 600-page bill, think somebody might have slipped in some changes?
It shouldn't matter what political party you are. Voting on something you don't know about should never happen.
Watch Sen. Rand Paul (R.-Kentucky) as he takes off on a 600-page bill he received that was to be voted on before he and other U.S. Senators had time to read and understand it. He received the bill that morning and expected a vote on it that day.
Of course, reading it and understanding a bill are two different things.
And by the time you could read a 600-page bill, think somebody might have slipped in some changes?
It shouldn't matter what political party you are. Voting on something you don't know about should never happen.
42. The Unofficial St. Patrick's day in Champaign Urbana
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If you have been anywhere near the campustown on certain Fridays in March, and come up with a huge throng of greenish looking leprechauns, don't start pinching yourself to see if you are dreaming or not. You have just stumbled into the "Unofficial Saint Patrick's Day" in Chambana.
Here is what UofI wiki has to say about it:
Unofficial Saint Patrick's Day, or commonly known as Unofficial, is a local event on the Urbana-Champaign campus, which aims to replace the celebration of the official Saint Patrick's Day holiday with excessive drinking of alcohol.
Champaign bar owner Scott Cochrane created the event to increase business because the week of spring break on the academic calendar usually includes Saint Patrick's Day, which leads students to celebrate away from the campus.
The event is celebrated usually the weekend before the official Saint Patrick's Day holiday. Bars might open as early as 7 a.m., and students wear T-shirts with slogans such as "Drink 'til you're Irish" or "Irish I were drunk." One T-shirt slogan read: "Tap the keg, forget the class... it's Unofficial, so fill my glass!"
Things are not really as rosey as the above note suggests. On this day, you'll find a lot of underage drinkers, passed out here and there, or coming to class drunk. The police (Champaign, Urbana, County, and of course UofI ones) have a field day ... and nab a lot of underage drinkers.
However, things can often get deadly ... a few years ago, a UofI alumnus died when the motor bike she was riding crashed into a pole on Wright street between Green and Springfield. So, be careful when you are driving through campustown , better avoid going through the area altogether.
There is of course, the "official" Saint Patrick's day, but the drinking frenzy is much less on that one.
24 Şubat 2013 Pazar
No horsin' around in N.C.
To contact us Click HERE
To contact us Click HERE
North Carolina gets it right.
Check out this driver's license to be issued to some illegal immigrants. What's it say?
No legal status.
I guess they could just print "I'm illegal. Arrest me" on it.
Read the full article. This is North Carolina's response to the spineless, vote-seeking creeps in Washington who don't have the guts to enforce lawful-entry requirements to our country.
|
| Click to enlarge |
Check out this driver's license to be issued to some illegal immigrants. What's it say?
No legal status.
I guess they could just print "I'm illegal. Arrest me" on it.
Read the full article. This is North Carolina's response to the spineless, vote-seeking creeps in Washington who don't have the guts to enforce lawful-entry requirements to our country.
Judiciary Committee hearing on concealed carry
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To contact us Click HERE The Illinois House Judiciary Committee held a meeting on concealed carry this morning in the Chicago Loop at 160 N. LaSalle Street. The meeting room was just off Speaker Mike Madigan’s office, and his staff was set up to demand a driver’s license from all arrivals (except press) and photocopy that driver’s license before returning it and admitting the person.
I objected, because it was an open meeting of a public body, and I’ll be filing a complaint with the Attorney General’s office and submitting a Request for Review. As I left after the hearing, I asked that the photocopy of my license be returned to me and a staffer refused, saying it would be filed securely. When I asked if it would be shredded, he said it would not.
When I asked where to sign up to speak, I was directed from a woman at the entrance to a man in the hearing room. He told me to have a seat in the second row. A few minutes later, I overheard someone say that you had to be registered to speak, so I went back to the entrance and asked how to get on the list. It turned out that the list of speakers was closed, so Speaker Madigan’s staff had willfully and intentionally misdirected me twice.
Just before the meeting started, NRA lobbyist Todd Vandermyde told me that the U.S. 7th Circuit Court had declined Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s request for a full-court review of the December 11th decision by the three-judge panel that the Illinois prohibition of concealed carry was unconstitutional.
When the meeting started, it was a dog-and-pony show right from the top. Many speakers encouraged the panel to create gun-free zones, such as in hospitals and government buildings. The Executive Director from the Illinois Restaurant Association wanted all places in the state that serve alcohol to be gun-free zones, even to the customer who did not drink alcoholic beverages. Women from Moms Demand Action were there in force.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle was there. The gang from mass transit (CTA, RTA, Pace) was there; they don’t want guns on public transportation.
One of the most embarrassing speakers was Chicago Police Department Supt. Garry McCarthy. You do not want to ask him what time it is. Two hours later, he won’t have taken a breath and you still won’t know what time it is. He doesn’t have a clue how to stop gun violence. He couldn’t even describe clearly how an interaction between a legally-armed driver stopped for a traffic violation and a cop ought to go; he kept calling it a “confrontation”. He even mentioned that a cop might handcuff a driver while he sorted out legal possession of a firearm.
When asked about training for a concealed-carry license, McCarthy launched into the training required for police officers. And McCarthy wasted far too much time talking about strawman purchases.
Rep. Drury (D-58) hammered Todd Vandermyde about whether the NRA would agree to a waiting period for the effective date of the concealed carry law. Todd responded that the 7th Circuit Court had ordered a law be in effect in 180 days.
With all the scare talk by the anti-gunners, not one person gave a clear example of when an armed, licensed civilian might shoot. Speakers don’t want Illinois to become the Wild, Wild West and fear that over-crowding on the ‘L’ will result in shootings by civilians. How stupid.
Maybe it’s good that I didn’t get to testify. I would have given them an example like a passenger on the ‘L’ who shoots, but only after some punk gets on at Halsted and starts shooting passengers. Wouldn’t they want an armed citizen available to intervene, or would they just want a bunch of bodies on the ‘L’?
I objected, because it was an open meeting of a public body, and I’ll be filing a complaint with the Attorney General’s office and submitting a Request for Review. As I left after the hearing, I asked that the photocopy of my license be returned to me and a staffer refused, saying it would be filed securely. When I asked if it would be shredded, he said it would not.
When I asked where to sign up to speak, I was directed from a woman at the entrance to a man in the hearing room. He told me to have a seat in the second row. A few minutes later, I overheard someone say that you had to be registered to speak, so I went back to the entrance and asked how to get on the list. It turned out that the list of speakers was closed, so Speaker Madigan’s staff had willfully and intentionally misdirected me twice.
Just before the meeting started, NRA lobbyist Todd Vandermyde told me that the U.S. 7th Circuit Court had declined Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s request for a full-court review of the December 11th decision by the three-judge panel that the Illinois prohibition of concealed carry was unconstitutional.
When the meeting started, it was a dog-and-pony show right from the top. Many speakers encouraged the panel to create gun-free zones, such as in hospitals and government buildings. The Executive Director from the Illinois Restaurant Association wanted all places in the state that serve alcohol to be gun-free zones, even to the customer who did not drink alcoholic beverages. Women from Moms Demand Action were there in force.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle was there. The gang from mass transit (CTA, RTA, Pace) was there; they don’t want guns on public transportation.
One of the most embarrassing speakers was Chicago Police Department Supt. Garry McCarthy. You do not want to ask him what time it is. Two hours later, he won’t have taken a breath and you still won’t know what time it is. He doesn’t have a clue how to stop gun violence. He couldn’t even describe clearly how an interaction between a legally-armed driver stopped for a traffic violation and a cop ought to go; he kept calling it a “confrontation”. He even mentioned that a cop might handcuff a driver while he sorted out legal possession of a firearm.
When asked about training for a concealed-carry license, McCarthy launched into the training required for police officers. And McCarthy wasted far too much time talking about strawman purchases.
Rep. Drury (D-58) hammered Todd Vandermyde about whether the NRA would agree to a waiting period for the effective date of the concealed carry law. Todd responded that the 7th Circuit Court had ordered a law be in effect in 180 days.
With all the scare talk by the anti-gunners, not one person gave a clear example of when an armed, licensed civilian might shoot. Speakers don’t want Illinois to become the Wild, Wild West and fear that over-crowding on the ‘L’ will result in shootings by civilians. How stupid.
Maybe it’s good that I didn’t get to testify. I would have given them an example like a passenger on the ‘L’ who shoots, but only after some punk gets on at Halsted and starts shooting passengers. Wouldn’t they want an armed citizen available to intervene, or would they just want a bunch of bodies on the ‘L’?
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