These thoughts are mine. They may be shared by many but I am speaking for myself. If you are offended, it was not intentional. If you continually get offended by my positions and opinions, you should change, I doubt I will.
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Thursday, October 14, 2010
Are Judges overpaid. The Kingdom of Sycamore.
These thoughts are mine. They may be shared by many but I am speaking for myself. If you are offended, it was not intentional. If you continually get offended by my positions and opinions, you should change, I doubt I will.
OCTOBER 14, 2010
Weather forecast; Chile today, hot tamale! Way to go Chile, lead on.
The pictures did not come through yesterday. I hope you looked at them through Google. They are pretty neat. I have added a slideshow to http://www.lawyerbruce.blogspot.com/ and http://www.bruceabrennananddekalbilandtheworld.blogspot.com/
If you get this blog by Email, go to one of the original websites I just referenced to see the purple squirrels. They are part of the slideshow. They are also listed below.
Illinois Circuit Judges get paid $174,303.00 annually. Circuit Judges are elected or appointed at the beginning, which is how most get started. Associate Judges make a little less than Circuit Judges.
Illinois ranks second in paying Circuit Judges in the nation. Appellate Judges are also the second highest paid in the nation. Supreme Court Judges are the third highest paid in the nation but they also receive free room and board in Springfield. Appellate Judges receive $189,949.00 annually with Supreme Court Judges getting an annual salary of $201,919.00, plus the room and board.
Overall, Illinois Judges rank second in the nation in annual pay, not including pension benefits, days off and staff. The average per-capita personal income in Illinois is $41,411.00. Illinois ranks 29th in the nation in cost of living.
The room and board for the Supreme Court Judges consists of apartments on the third floor of the Supreme Court building. The apartments come with housekeeping, a cook, maid service and 24 hour security. They do not get a vehicle.
Illinois Circuit Judges are paid $39,855.00 more than similar Judges in Iowa, $43,908.00 more than Judges in Indiana and $49,701.00 more than Judges in Missouri.
Why is this relevant, other than the fact Illinois is broke? We have an election coming up where we will be asked to vote for a Circuit Judge. One of the candidates is from a law firm that three of the five current Judges were once part of. If we add a fourth, Judge Gallagher, who now sits in Kane County, it would mean that over $697,000.00 would be paid to former members of single Sycamore law firm, annually.
Judge Gallagher’s daughter is running for DeKalb County State’s Attorney, a job that pays over $150,000.00 annually. If she wins, adding that salary to the salary of the four Judges means the County of DeKalb will be paying former members of one Sycamore law firm or a close relative of a former partner, over $850,000.00 annually. It would also mean the City of DeKalb, whose only sitting Judge is retiring right after the election, would not be represented on the Bench. The largest City in the County would not be represented.
This is just another reason Tom Doherty should get your vote on November 2, 2010. Tom Doherty is more qualified than his opponent, has an open mind and he does not have a home field advantage in the Courthouse with a built in team. Nor should he have such an advantage.
This is also an important reason why Clay Campbell should be elected State’s Attorney. The appearance of impropriety is to be maintained under the legal code of ethics. That would be hard to do with the State’s Attorney having her father on the bench along with three of his former partners.
BRUCE A. BRENNAN
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
purple squirrel and Chile
These thoughts are mine. They may be shared by many but I am speaking for myself. If you are offended, it was not intentional. If you continually get offended by my positions and opinions, you should change, I doubt I will.
OCTOBER 13, 2010
As I write this, nine men have been rescued from the bowels of the earth in Chile. This is a miracle, man-made and otherwise. The whole world, except for the Muslim nations, came forward to help accomplish this rescue. Where was this help during the Gulf Oil Spill? If this had happened in the United States, the government red tape would have prevented this type of successful outcome.
Does Will County need to be disbanded? Remember the Riley Fox case? It was rushed to a conclusion right before an election. They were wrong and paid millions in damages. Drew Peterson has been a circle jerk for three years. That caser will not end successfully. Now comes the police officer arrested for the shooting spree in Illinois and Indiana. Once again they rushed to an arrest right before an election. They released him. They determined they were wrong, again. What a bunch of jerks. A monkey with ears could do a better job as the head of police and prosecution in Will County.
Do you know what a ‘purple squirrel’ means? It is a term used in the employment recruiting industry and by human resource people. The term is synonymous with ‘ideal candidate’. It refers to a person who is a perfect fit for a particular job.
THE PURPLE SQUIRREL
Most recruiters know that a Purple Squirrel is a very rare, highly sought after, almost extinct species of candidate. In other words, it is the hire that requires very specific knowledge and qualifications. Perhaps the one above or below qualifies.
Experts are not sure how this squirrel got to be purple. It could be genetics. It could have fallen into purple paint, they just don’t know. They cannot catch it for a real good look. It lives outside of a school in Hampshire, England, or at least it did.
One clue is that he frequently pops into a building where old printers are stored. TV wildlife expert Chris Packham said: 'It is possible he has been chewing on a purple ink cartridge and then groomed that coloring into his fur.
Next time you are watching squirrels eat or play, give the purple squirrel a thought. He just might brighten your day. If pictures did not come through, google 'purple squirrel' and click on result that says experts baffled.
BRUCE A. BRENNAN
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Why do naked people read?
These thoughts are mine. They may be shared by many but I am speaking for myself. If you are offended, it was not intentional. If you continually get offended by my positions and opinions, you should change, I doubt I will.
OCTOBER 12, 2010
It was nice to see the Blackhawks finally win a regular season game. It was a good game against a feisty Buffalo Sabres team. Final Hawks 4 – Sabres 3.
The DeKalb City council is going to borrow money to finance projects the public doesn’t want. That apparently isn’t a concern for our leaders. After all, they know what is better for us than we do. The argument of borrowing money at no additional cost is selling fluff. Before this debacle is over, years from now, when the current powers are long gone, the term will be extended, taxes will be raised, expenditures will be raised, because now we have a new police station to furnish and staff. The argument will be, “It is cheaper to purchase new equipment than move the old equipment. We get state-of-the-art technology and we don’t have the expense of moving the old equipment.”
Too bad the book missed Obama, at least then we would know the title of the book. Why did they let naked people into the speech anyway? A book thrown at President Obama narrowly missed him on Sunday. As of this moment, the book thrower is unknown. The name of the book is also not known. You can bet the Secret Service folks are getting an earful today, at least they should be.
After the book throwing, that the President did not seem to notice, a naked man was seen being led away in handcuffs. It was obvious he had no weapons on him. The pen is mightier than the sword, someone once wrote. The writer was probably not the naked guy.
The Willis Tower, formerly the Sears Tower, is the largest generator of real estate property taxes in Cook County. I will go out on a limb and say it is the largest generator of real estate property taxes in Illinois, although I have not researched that fact. The Willis Tower pays twenty million dollars a year in real estate taxes. How would you like that divided by 12 and be made a part of your monthly mortgage payment?
Favre looked like a politician or public figure caught sexting Monday night. His mind was not into the game. His career is about over. Brett, think Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Muhammad Ali, Ken Griffey, Jr. or Ron Santo. It is over. Don’t make us remember you as a struggling old man. Call John Elway for some advice on this. The wife probably isn’t saying much right now anyway.
Just three weeks until the election. I hope everyone votes, even if it isn’t for the candidates I am voting for. At least stand up and exercise your franchise.
Remember two weeks ago when the news was 24/7 about an eminent terrorist attack. What happened? I don’t think any attack was cancelled because NBC talked about it. Once again our intelligence isn’t and the government can manipulate the press. Every time a President is having a rough patch or Congress wants off the front page, a new troubling story is leaked to the press, who run with it. Wag the dog.
BRUCE A. BRENNAN
Monday, October 11, 2010
Kirk and Giannoulias are en embarrassment
These thoughts are mine. They may be shared by many but I am speaking for myself. If you are offended, it was not intentional. If you continually get offended by my positions and opinions, you should change, I doubt I will.
October 11, 2010
I think it was in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. I guess he had nothing else to do. The Catholic Church sure wasn’t for this. It did not want another trade route to the Orient. It also didn’t want people to find the end of the earth, which was where Hell was. It might be better than what the Church was offering.
Thank God for the first quarter. The Bears are only capable of playing hard for fifteen minutes. I can see why Carolina is winless this season. They all count though. Go Bears!
It was embarrassing watching Mark Kirk and Alexi Giannoulias “debate” on Meet the Press Sunday. It was a perfect example of what is wrong with politics today. Neither of them answered any question directly. They both sat there and called each other liars, cheats, out of touch and the problem. Giannoulias kept justifying the collapse of his family’s bank by saying it was no different than other failed banks. Sounds like the ‘Blago’ defense. It is OK because others do it too. He was asked over four times if he knew his bank was loaning money to gangsters, convicted felons and influence peddlers. His response was he didn’t know the extent of their criminal activities.
Kirk justified his lying about his military record by repeating he ‘wrongly misspoke’. Apparently he was not sure if he was under enemy fire or what war zone he was in. He was not sure what awards he did not receive. He was not sure if he was in charge of the ‘War Room’. That is nice, we have people who could be in charge but aren’t sure if they are in charge. That gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling of confidence in my government.
I have never seen a politician who has not said he/she would;
1. Cut spending
2. Lower taxes
3. Create jobs
4. Improve medical care
5. Fix the welfare system
6. Be independent
7. Make a difference
I have also never seen a politician who had a real plan to accomplish any of these great ideas. Politicians lie about themselves in a positive manner, lie about their opponent in a negative manner, promise everybody everything, never give the details of any plan they talk about, raise money, distance themselves from old friends who are no longer popular, get involved in current stories they know nothing about in order to get positive publicity, talk to people they would cross the street to avoid before and after the election season, hire friends and relatives to high paying, short-term jobs working for the campaign and hire a spin doctor to feed dribble to the public after the candidate gets caught in a lie. If they win, they go to Washington DC, screw things up, come back twice a year with a big check for a photo op., make inaccurate claims about their accomplishments, if things are going badly, they blame their opponent or the other party and then start running for the next election.
Two year terms are too short for US Representatives. They are always working on keeping their job rather than doing their job. An Amendment to the Constitution should be drafted that changes a representatives term to four years with a two term limit. Campaigning should be illegal until forty days before the election. Fund raising should not be allowed until four months before the election. Lying during a campaign should be a crime. Every State should have the same right to recall an elected National politician by calling for a special election within sixty days if they get fifteen per cent of registered voters to sign a petition.
Something has to be done to the current system that is not working and results in the election of criminal, ignorant people and liars. Some offices would be better empty than filled by the morons we regularly elect. My thoughts may sound wrong or way out there but we have to do something. I am willing to consider any ideas.
BRUCE A. BRENNAN
Sunday, October 10, 2010
The government is good at breaking things.
These thoughts are mine. They may be shared by many but I am speaking for myself. If you are offended, it was not intentional. If you continually get offended by my positions and opinions, you should change, I doubt I will.
OCTOBER 10, 2010
The date is 10-10-10. What do you have planned for today. This will happen for the next two years and then not for 88 years. I doubt if I will be around on 01-01-01.
DAMN Yankees. The rich just keep getting richer.
CONGRATULATIONS! to two college football teams I follow. That was an impressive win for Northern Illinois University over Temple. University of Illinois also was impressive in beating Penn State in Happy Valley.
“Meet the Press” has a debate featured today on the program. Mark Kirk v. Alexi Giannoulias is scheduled to air. If you miss the morning airing, CNBC reruns “Meet the Press” in the afternoon. David Gregory is no Tim Russert, but then who is? He does a decent job as the host.
The NFL has another slate of games today. The Bears play Carolina on the road. Carolina has not won this year. I wonder if we will be able to say that at 4:30 this afternoon?
The foreclosure mess just keeps growing. Nearly every major lender has now stopped foreclosures as they sort out how to fix the mess they made for themselves. The banking industry has over ten federal agencies regulating their operations; every State has at least one agency regulating the banking industry. What were these watch dog agencies doing while this mess developed and grew for decades?
Why do we need these agencies when they do not know their role, don’t know how to do their job or just take industry vacations and hand-outs while doing nothing. This is not a Democratic problem or a Republican problem. This is a problem with how we govern. I would bet right now several governmental studies, expensive governmental studies, will not blame anyone especially Congress. If this is the fault of the industry, why regulate it. Let it fail on its own.
Several years ago, Congress and the Courts forced lenders to make loans in low income areas. The term was red-lining. The lenders knew these loans would not get repaid but regulators forced them to make the loans. It was justified with a discrimination argument. Looks like the lenders were correct all along. Now, we are all paying for it and will be for years.
With the enormous number of bad loans made without the proper paperwork or with forged paperwork or with original documents lost over the years while these loans were sold and resold to investment bankers, hedge funds and pension plans, it seems obvious Congress is going to quietly pass a law making all the suspect loans valid. The “too big to fail” argument again. All this mortgage paperwork now causing a problem only exists because the government or some regulator made it mandatory in the first place.
Our government at work once again. The politicians break something and then tell the voter the other guy did it and only they can fix it.
BRUCE A. BRENNAN
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