LAWYERBRUCE

www.bruceabrennananddekalbilandtheworld.blogspot.com

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Don't Blame Zenyatta

NOVEMBER 7, 2010

Well, well; in the first BC race on Saturday, my pick won. # 13, Pluck won the BC Juvenile Turf. The horse had to avoid trouble near the start when a horse in front of him slipped and fell. The horse had to be put down because of broken shoulder. The rider was fine. My pick, Pluck, paid $14.80 to win. In horse racing, the payout is based on a $2.00 bet. Therefore, I received $148.00 for my $20.00 win ticket.

So, after seven races, where I bet $20.00 each race, I have $148.00 in money returned. I am up $8.00 for the entire race card. Not bad for being $140.00 down when the last race began.

The BC Sprint is next. I am betting # 11, Atta Boy Roy. He was in it for a while but didn’t win. He was apparently injured in the racer. Now down $12.00. After betting the next race, BC Sprint Turf, Unzip Me, # 4, I will be $32.00 down with the race still to run. I did not win another race until we got to the BC Classic, the Greatest Race of them all. I was at the betting position of having $132.00 on the line after betting the Classic. My betting was complete; I had one race left to watch.

The BC Classic had Zenyatta running in it. She was running her last race, retiring after this race. She was a perfect 19-0 having never finished a race when she didn’t have her picture taken in the winner’s circle. She was running against the boys in the Classic. She had done this before but not that often.

Zenyatta was the heavy favorite. Not only was she the best horse in the race, she has an enormous following of fans. She is based out of California and has a Hollywood personality. She prances and plays in the post-parade march (in horse racing the parade of horses leading from the paddock area-the barns-before the race is called the post-parade). She likes to whiney at the crowd likes to stay close to the other race participants. She is good; she knows she is good and she intimidates the other and their jockeys.

Her racing style is to settle in the rear of the horses, wait for them to tire out and then pour it on down the stretch with her fresh legs. She will race like this regardless of the jockey’s plans. She runs the race her way. Down the stretch, as she catches the leaders, she slows down enough to make sure they see her. She will run stride for stride with a leader, eyeball to eyeball. She stares ‘em down and in every race she has run, it has worked. The other horse always blinks first and slows down as she rushes to the lead. She is generally on the outside meaning her left eye is staring at the horse and the infield. The horse she is staring at is staring back, if it is, with the right eyeball. It is staring at Zenyatta and the crowd of people in the grandstands. The horse on the rail invariably gets intimidated and slows down.

Zenyatta is not the first horse to use its eyes as a weapon. The last Triple Crown winner, Affirmed did the same thing in 1978. It won each of the Triple Crown races by staring down the second place horse in each of the three races, Alydar, down the stretch. All three races were close with Affirmed winning all three. For the final race in the Tripe Crown, the Belmont, the trainer took the blinkers off Alydar hoping he would get a better view of Affirmed. He did but still finished second. These two horses ran against each other nine times through the Belmont with Affirmed having a 7-2 record.

Zenyatta had never raced against Blame before, until Saturday. Zenyatta started slowly and was in last for over one-half of the race, at one point over thirty lengths back. That is not unusual for a closer in a long race. The Classic is 1 ½ miles long, the classic American horse race distance and the same length as the Belmont.

Zenyatta started to move forward in the pack of horses. She easily caught the pretenders in the race. When Blame made his move for the lead, Zenyatta was in striking distance, about ten lengths behind Blame. With one hundred yards to go, the race was Zenyatta’s to win. She had done this numerous times in her career, catching the leader at the wire. Blame did not blink. Zenyatta caught him with twenty-five yards to go. Blame pushed forward. They were neck-and-neck, eyeball-to-eyeball. As their heads bobbed up and down, the horse with its head up had the lead. It was exciting, thrilling and captivating; a display being staged by animal athletes because they love to run not because they are paid millions of dollars to entertain us.

Zenyatta was not going to retire 19-1 She was going to win. Blame missed that press release. He won the race. Had Zenyatta stuck out her tongue like Michael Jordan famously did, she might have won. Blame was the winner. It was his day not o be denied. All the experts had picked Zenyatta, except me, but that is why we run the races. Experts are only experts when they are right. The last two days of betting showed me that.

Blame paid $12.40 to win. I got $124.00 for my ticket. Since I had $132.00 on the line, I ended up losing $8.00 for the two days. It was well worth it. I was a winner betting against Zenyatta.

BRUCE A. BRENNAN

DEKALB, IL 60115

Email: brucebrennanlaw@aol.com

www.bruceabrennananddekalbilandtheworld.blogspot.com

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Breeder's Cup day 2

These thoughts are mine. They may be shared by many but I am speaking for myself. If you are offended, it was not i

NOVEMBER 6, 2010

Do not forget to set your clocks back at 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning. If you do not do it at 2:00 a. m. on Sunday morning, it will not work and you will be one hour off until next spring. Everyone will laugh at you for six months because it will be obvious to everybody why you are behind your time.

Let’s see how I did with yesterdays Breeder’s Cup picks. I bet every race $20.00 to win. Yesterday I bet $120.00 on the six BC races. As in any gambling, you do not count your money until the game is over. You do not want to be betting scared or just to get even. I will make an exception today and count my money.

The Australians cannot fly an airplane safely. The Cubans cannot fly an airplane safely. Many countries seem to be having a problem keeping planes in the air when they should be. The United States does not seem to have that problem, unless someone messes with the plane. The hassle at the airports still doesn’t seem worth it. I just might rather crash than ever have to fly United again.

Thank you, Bill Brady for getting out of the way. Now go back to Bloomington-Normal and stay there. It is obvious the rest of the state does not like you. You won the primary by less than 1,000 votes. Now you couldn’t beat Governor Jello. Your prospects are not real bright. A monkey with ears should have beaten Quinn.

TODAY’S BREEDER’S CUP RACES AND PICKS

I did not win a race yesterday. I am $ 120.00 in the hole starting today. No problem, I will come back strong, I hope. My picks for today are below. I will bet $280.00 in all, for both days and all races. As long as I have $280-.00 or more after the last race, I will have won overall.

BC Juvenile Turf 1 mile 1:50 pm #13 Pluck
BC Sprint 6 furlongs 2:30 pm # 11 Atta Boy Roy
Sentient Jet BC

Turf Sprint 5 furlongs 3:15 pm # 4 Unzip Me

Bessemer Trust

BC Juvenile 1 1/16 miles 3:55 pm # 4 J P’s Gusto

BC Mile 1 mile 4:40 pm # 9 Sydney’s Candy
BC Dirt Mile 1 mile 5:20 pm # 11 Mine That Bird
Emirates Airline

BC Cup Turf 1 ½ miles 6:00 pm # 4 Debussy

BC Classic 1 ½ miles 6:45 pm # 5 Blame

Now, take your money, go forth and propagate. If you do not recall the abbreviations or horse lingo, reread yesterday’s blog for a refresher course. GOOD LUCK!

Tomorrow’s blog will be back to normal, if I have a normal.

BRUCE A. BRENNAN

DEKALB, IL 60115

Email: brucebrennanlaw@aol.com

www.bruceabrennananddekalbilandtheworld.blogspot.com

ntentional. If you continually get offended by my positions and opinions, you should change, I doubt I will.

Friday, November 5, 2010

FED, 'Sparky' and the Breeder's Cup

NOVEMBER 5, 2010

Upland game hunting season starts Saturday, November 6, 2010, which also happens to be day two of the Breeder’s Cup Horse Racing Championships. I will not be around to write on Saturday but I will tout some horses later in today’s column.

The Federal Reserve is getting back into the economy, shaking up free enterprise. Isn’t it funny how Obama had the Fed wait until after the election but that is probably just a coincidence.

David Cassidy waited until after the election to get arrested in Florida. Said he was tired from an early morning funeral he attended. It must have been an Irish Wake.

George “Sparky” Anderson , rest in peace. You were a class act. He was the first Major League Baseball manager to win a World Series in both leagues. Tony LaRussa has since matched that feat. ‘Sparky’ was a class act in an industry filled with classless people. ‘Sparky’ you will be missed. The great ones are leaving us fast.

Let me get a grip on this. The FED, which does not manufacture anything and, therefore, its only source of revenue is borrowing, is going to buy up 600 billion dollars of its own debt. So, the FED borrowed money by issuing bonds; it is now going to buy back some of those bonds to free money up for Wall Street firms. The FED borrowed money, paying interest, to buy its own securities thereby paying itself interest. This sounds like a bailout in the making. Leave the free enterprise system alone. Wall Street should live or die on its own dime not taxpayers dime.

The stock market is doing just fine. It usually does around election time. As I remember it, from my days at Illinois Wesleyan University, so the memory could be fuzzy, the first time the stock market broke 1,000 was the day before the 1976 election when Wall Street thought Gerald Ford would beat Jimmy Carter in the presidential election. Wall Street lived through that mistake and the country survived the Carter Administration, so I think we will survive this without the FED artificially propping up the markets.

The World Championships in horse racing begin today. The Breeder’s Cup has six races today. They will be shown on ESPN 2 starting at 3:30 p. m. eastern time. Today’s races and my picks are; (post times are projected Eastern Time)

1. Breeder’s Cup Marathon 1 3/4 miles 4:10 pm #12 A.U. Miner

2. Breeder’s Cup Juvenile

Fillies Turf 1 Mile 4:50 pm # 10 New Normal

3. Sentinent BC* Filly

and Mare Sprint 7 Furlongs 5:30 pm # 3 Secret Gypsy

4. Grey Goose BC* Juvenile

Fillies 1 1/16 miles 6:10 pm #7 Izshelegal

5. Emirates Airline BC*

Filly and Mare Turf 1 3/8 miles 6:50 pm #7 Midday

6. BC* Ladies Classic 1 1/8 miles 7:45 pm #10 Blind Luck

* Means Breeder’s Cup

Occasionally, horses get scratched before a race even though they are entered in the race. That will not change the rest of the rest of the horse’s numbers but the scratched horse will not run. The post positions will be moved but not the lineup order of the horses. Turf means the race is on the grass. Sometimes races are moved off the grass if the grass is too slippery. Fillies and Mares are female horses. A furlong is 1/8 of a mile.

The remainder of the Breeder’s Cup Races will be run on Saturday beginning at 1:50 pm Eastern Time. They will be televised on ESPN and ABC. I will post my picks by 1:00 pm tomorrow.

BRUCE A. BRENNAN

DEKALB, IL 60115

Email: brucebrennanlaw@aol.com

www.bruceabrennananddekalbilandtheworld.blogspot.com

http://www.youtube.com/user/KomenPhilly?feature=mhsn#p/a/u/0/cfRSDbV8Adw

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Civil War and IL governor's race

NOVEMBER 4, 2010

The Civil War ended in 1865. One of the main reasons for the Civil War was to establish equality regardless of race. It resulted in the abolishing of slavery. So, here we sit, one hundred forty-five years after the end of the bloodiest and only war ever fought on our soil and there will not be a black in the United States Senate in 2011. The more things change the more they stay the same.

Please go to the site below and watch the video. A $.10 donation goes to breast cancer

research every time someone watches it.

By 10:00 p. m. Wednesday, Gov. Quinn’s lead had risen to over 19,000 votes. If Brady keeps prolonging the inevitable, he may be able to lose by 100,000 votes. President Obama called Quinn to congratulate him. Brady should take a clue from that fact. The President is still cleaning egg off his face from Tuesday. He wouldn’t spread more on his face on Wednesday. He and the Democrats are quite sure Quinn has won. Even the Republican Party is telling Brady to give it up. The spoiled little rich kid from Bloomington just will not listen. In Central Illinois, you do not say no to the Brady family, until now anyway.

Back in August of this year, I contacted both campaigns and asked them if they would complete a simple questionnaire I had prepared. Both camps requested I send it to them for review. They would fill it out closer to the election, if it were not objectionable. I Emailed both candidates the questionnaire. It was a simple two page document that tried to be more personal rather than political. Both candidates received the same questionnaire. Below is the questionnaire. Neither candidate ever filled it out and returned it. It is below:

POLITICAL QUESTIONAIRE

DATE:_______________

NAME:__________________________________________

HOME TOWN:____________________________________

MARITAL STATUS:__________________________________

CHILDREN?________________________________, _______________________________________

__________________________________________, ________________________________________

COLLEGE/YEAR:______________________________________________________________________

HIGH SCHOOL MASCOT:_______________________________________________________________

ATHLETE?-EVENTS:___________________________________________________________________

DID YOU EVER DATE A HOMECOMING QUEEN? Yes________________ No___________________

Where did you propose to your wife?___________________________________________________

Was it expected?__________________________________

Other elected office(s):______________________________________________________________

Best Movie?_______________________________________________________________________

Favorite Godfather Movie?___________________________________________________________

Favorite John Wayne Movie?_________________________________________________________

Favorite song of 50s__________________________ 60s__________________________________

70s_________________________________________ 80s__________________________________

90s__________________________________________00s______________________________

Chicago __________or Blood, Sweat & Tears__________ or Ides of March____________

Ginger or Mary Anne? _______________________________________________________________

Notable births on this date:

1876 James Fraser designed buffalo nickel
1879 Will Rogers Oologah Indian Territory (Oklahoma), humorist

1913 Gig Young St Cloud MN, actor (They Shoot Horses Don't They)
1916 Walter Cronkite St Joseph MO, news anchor (CBS Evening News 1962-81)
1918 Art Carney Mount Vernon NY, actor (Ed Norton-Honeymooners)
1918 Cameron Mitchell Dallastown PA, actor (Buck-High Chaparral)
1919 Martin Balsam NYC, actor (Murray-Archie Bunker's Place, Catch 22)
1929 Jimmy Piersall baseball player (Red Sox, Senators, Indians)
1930 Doris Roberts St Louis MO, actress (Angie, Maggie, Emmy 1983)

1962 Ralph Macchio Huntington NY, actor (Karate Kid, 8 is Enough) - MAN he’s 48

Notable deaths on this date: SLOW DAY TO DIE IF FAMOUS

1984 Merie Earle actress (Maude-Waltons), dies of uremic poisoning at 95
1987 Raphael Soyer artist (Depression scenes in NYC), dies at 87
1995 Yitzhak Rabin IDF Chief of Staff, diplomat and the fifth Prime Minister of the State of Israel, dies at 73

Notable events on this date:

1842 Abraham Lincoln marries Mary Todd in Springfield, Ill
1845 1st nationally observed uniform election day in US

1879 James & John Ritty patent 1st cash register, to combat stealing by bartenders in their Dayton, Ohio saloon
1884 Grover Cleveland (D) beats James G Blaine (R) for 1st presidential term

1922 Howard Carter discovers tomb of Tutankhamen in Egypt
1924 California legalizes pro boxing (illegal since 1914)
1924 Nellie Tayloe Ross elected 1st US female gov (Wyoming)

1939 1940 Olympics awarded to Helsinki, Finland
1939 1st air conditioned automobile (Packard) exhibited, Chicago, Ill
1939 US allows "cash & carry" arms sales during WW II

1952 Eisenhower (R) elected 34th President beating Adlai Stevenson (D)

1956 Israel captures Straits of Tiran from Egypt
1956 Israeli troops reach Suez Canal

1963 John Lennon utters his infamous "Rattle your jewelry" line at the Royal Command Variety Performance ("The people in the cheaper seats, clap your hands... and if the rest of you would just rattle your jewelry.")

1978 Iranian troops fire on anti-Shah student protesters by Tehran U - Thanx Jimmy Carter

1980 Ronald Reagan (R) beats President Jimmy Carter (R) by a landslide. The Iranians were afraid of Reagan.

1990 Iraq says it is preparing for a "dangerous war"
1990 Secretary of State James Baker visits US troops in Saudi Arabia
1991 Mid East peace conference ends in Madrid Spain

PEACE CONFERENCES ARE ALWAYS ENDING WITH NOTHING ACCOMPLISHED IN MIDEAST

BRUCE A. BRENNAN

Email: brucebrennanlaw@aol.com

www.bruceabrennananddekalbilandtheworld.blogspot.com

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Way to go Tom and Clay; now make us proud.

NOVEMBER 3, 2010

CONGRATULATIONS TO JUDGE-ELECT TOM DOHERTY. EVERYONE WILL BE HAPPY HE IS OUR NEWEST JURIST. HE IS A CLASS ACT WITH THE BEST INTENTIONS BEHIND HIM ALONG WITH SUPERIOR ABILITY.

OUR NEW STATE’S ATTORNEY WILL ALSO BE A WELCOME ADDITION TO THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT. HE HASTHE NEEDED EXPERIENCE AND ABILITY TO BE FAIR AND PRACTICAL. HE WILL FIGHT THE BATTLES THAT NEED FIGHTING BUT THAT CAN BE WON. I DO NOT EXPECT HIM TO IGNORE THE CRIMINAL PROSECUTION SIDE OF HIS DUTIES WHILE FUNNELLING TOO MUCH ENERGY AND TOO MANY RESOURCES TO FAMILY LAW ENFORCEMENT.

One thing I learned from my dad was to follow politics. He felt it was important to stay current in the latest trends and it starts by following politics. It is nice to know who the powers to be are and, when available, get to know them. My father was a businessman. Like all businessmen, it’s nice to know people.

I have always enjoyed keeping track of politics, locally, statewide and nationally. Nights like last night have always been enjoyable to me. It is a Tuesday in November so no huge sporting events are on. I watch the returns. I play a game against myself to see if I predicted the winner, predictions I usually keep to myself. That way I can always claim I knew who would win. Last night was no different. I watched the returns come in, secretly keeping score to myself. I was up past 1:00 a. m. watching the results and visiting the Daily Chronicle’s website and chat room.

So now, let’s see who won what? Who are we going to vote out of office in two years? We can start with President Barack Obama. Even if it is not his fault, and it is, he has got to go. His fifteen minutes has already lasted too long. Cutting off the head does not always kill the evil creature so we must keep cutting.

I pray the Tea Party is a distant memory by November 2012, but we will see. I imagine the few Tea Party members that got elected yesterday will have figured out Washington politics by the next election. They will not want to run as an outsider again but will be touting the bacon they brought home for their constituents. If they insist on being outsiders, they will have accomplished nothing and have a terrible record to run on.

In my opinion, the winners were;

1. The people in Randy Hultgren’s district

2. The people of DeKalb County

3. Kishwaukee Community College

4. Republicans

5. Political neophytes

6. The people of Illinois since we can fire them all again in two years.

The loser’s were;

1. The people of Illinois, we still have a Senator to be ashamed of.

2. The people of Illinois, we still cannot elect a governor. If Quinn is the best we have, we suck.

3. Democrats

4. Incumbents

As always, the losers were the American people. It is time to spend less time exporting democracy and more time exercising it properly. We can’t be to convincing to the rest of the world when we complain about the graft and corruption in a foreign government when, in reality, we are not much better.

BRUCE A. BRENNAN

Email: brucebrennanlaw@aol.com

www.bruceabrennananddekalbilandtheworld.blogspot.com

ill.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Bye-bye Bill!

NOVEMBER 2, 2010

It is time to vote. Get out to the polling places and exercise your franchise. The politicians may not listen but they surely cannot hear the Sounds of Silence. America we are in a fight. We must become The Boxer to stop from Slip Slidin’ Away. We have to Keep the Customer Satisfied along with Mrs. Robinson as we are on our way to traverse the Bridge Over Troubled Waters. We must be steadfast in our resolve; we must be Like a Rock.

With the election over, can Bill Clinton, Karl Rove and Sarah Palin go away for two years? Please? Can we really take four years of Governor Moonbeam in California? No matter what happens, the immediate impact will be nil. Nothing will change except the people arguing and who will be accomplishing nothing.

Something has to change, quickly and decisively. Even though he’s my brother, he’s getting heavy.

It was a wimpy end to the baseball season but congratulations to the San Francisco Giants foe winning their first World Series since 1954. At that time, they were still the New York Giants. It has been a long wait for California National League baseball fans to get a World Series Championship.

BE PATIENT CUB FANS, MIRACLES HAPPEN, AT LEAST IN THE LAND OF FRUITS AND NUTS.

My bet is Health Care Unreform will not happen. If the Republicans do not win both houses of Congress, anything the House does that the Democrats do not like will sit in committee, never getting before the President for signature. The best hope for changing the Health Care Reform Act will be if a Court rules it unconstitutional. That would give the Democrats an out. They could campaign next time claiming they tried but the Courts would not let them. The Republicans can campaign, claiming they got rid of the Health Care Reform Act.

The ‘Bush’ tax cuts will be extended. The extension will go beyond the next election. That way, both parties can claim victory. Neither party wants to rehash this race in 2012.

Something needs to be done about the length of the election season and the cost of running a campaign. Elections should start the day after Labor Day the year of the election. The cost of every election should be limited to $1.00 per citizen in the election area. Nationwide elections could cost $1.00 per American. Statewide elections would be limited to $1.00 per citizen in the State, and so on. The pool of election money would be divided equally between every candidate polling at least 10% on Labor Day. This election reform would allow the voters to see how a candidate budgets his limited resources. Violations of the campaign laws would be a crime with the named candidate subject to charges caused by the actions of his/her underlings.

Every ballot should have a ‘None of the Above’ box to pick. If that box wins the election, that office remains vacant until the next election. This will help get the vote out. It will also bring out a better crop of candidates. No one will want to run for office and get beat by ‘None of the Above’. This should insure a quality slate of candidates who do what they say they will do or risk being beat by an empty seat.

Just a few thoughts from me to you.

BRUCE A. BRENNAN

Email: brucebrennanlaw@aol.com

www.bruceabrennananddekalbilandtheworld.blogspot.com