The closed mayoral debate

As many of you maybe aware on March 19, 2009, Mayor Fred Brereton and Ms. Karen Schrader had a debate at the UAW Hall.  The audience was by invitation only.  Apparently only City of Belvidere employees were extended invitations.  The sponsor of the debate was Belvidere Firefighters Local 1569.  As of the date  I posted this information, 230 citizens had the opportunity to view this My Space Video.

If you wish to view the video, click on the following:  http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=54370651

State of Illinois - Illinois Recovery

Here is a good resource regarding stimulus here in Illinois.

People, Work and Opportunity

• Social Security's Economic Recovery One-Time Payments
• Unemployment Compensation
• COBRA
• Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP/Food Stamps)
• Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program
• Child Support Enforcement
• Emergency Food
• Child Care
• Vocational Rehabilitation Program
• Independent Living
• Neighborhood Stabilization
• AmeriCorps

Education

• Pell Grants
• K-12

Energy and Environment

• Weatherization
• Environment

Health Care

Infrastructure

• Transportation
• Broadband

Public Safety

For more information on any of these items, click below and reclick on the item on the new page:

http://recovery.illinois.gov/stateprograms.htm

New Mexican- US agreement regarding the fight against Mexican Drug Cartels

Highlights of US Border Security Plan with Mexico

Doubling Border Enforcement Security Task (BEST) Forces.

Tripling Homeland Security intelligence analysts working along US-Mexico border.

Quadrupling US Border Liaison Officers working with Mexican law enforcement entities.

Drug Enforcement Agency adding 16 agents to Southwest border divisions. Now, 29 percent of DEA's 1,171 agents are now in the Southwest border field divisions

Bureau of Alcohol , Tobacco, Firearms Relocating 100 personnel to the border in the next 45 days, to fortify its efforts designed to stop gun-running to Mexico.

Expanding treatment capacity of US drug courts, including $63.9 million in 2009 budget.

$700 million budgeted for 2008 and 2009 for enhancing Mexican law enforcement and judicial capacity under the Merida Initiative.

Source: White House press office

Read this interesting story from the Christian Science Monitor.  It givens some details and the goals of this new program.

Click on the following:

US tightens up violent Mexican border | csmonitor.com

Chrysler supplier threatens shutdown - - BusinessRockford.com

It is not just Chrysler, it is the supply chain.

Click on the following to read the rest of the story. 

Chrysler supplier threatens shutdown - - BusinessRockford.com

4-Wheel Dreams for Millions of Drivers in India - NYTimes.com

Premier of the Nana from Tata Motors. Tata Group also owns two British auto companies—Land Rover and Jaguar.

On the market ... the Tata Nano has been compared to the classic "People's Car" - the Volkswagen Beetle / Reuters

Click on the following to read the story. 

4-Wheel Dreams for Millions of Drivers in India - NYTimes.com

Japanese man certified as double A-bomb victim

Very interesting story—quite unbelievable.

Click on the following to read the story:

Japanese man certified as double A-bomb victim

Federal Agencies to Post Records of Contact With Stimulus Lobbyists - ProPublica

The President wants federal agencies which are contacted by lobbyist to give a detail report of contact.  So ProPublica says  “We’ll see about that. Fire up the promise clock [5], Scotty, starting on the date the memo was issued. The clock will keep on running until we see some letters or meeting details posted.”  Take a look the clock is still ticking and no reports.  Click on the following to see the complete story and check the clock:

Federal Agencies to Post Records of Contact With Stimulus Lobbyists - ProPublica