Chrysler once again returns to The Big Three | WBEZ

ranked behind General Motors and Ford in May auto sales. It’s the first time the Detroit Three have been the Big Three since February 2006, according to Edmunds.com, a Web site that offers car-buying advice.  During its worst days, such as its 2009 bankruptcy filing, Chrysler fell as low as fifth in the industry, outsold by Toyota and Honda as well as its Detroit neighbors.

large part due to weakness by Japanese auto companies.

Click on the following for more details:  Chrysler once again returns to The Big Three | WBEZ

Special Meeting of the Boone County Board: June 2

NOTICE FOR SPECIAL MEETING OF BOONE COUNTY BOARD

A Special Meeting of the Boone County Board will be held on Thursday, June 2nd, 2011,
at 7:00 P.M., in the Boone County Board Room at the Boone County Administration Campus,
1212 Logan Avenue, Belvidere, Illinois.
The purpose of said meeting is:
1. Discussion with Boone County Fire Districts
2. Any other business to come before the Board

Dated this 27th day of May, 2011.
Pam McCullough
Boone County Clerk

It appears that Mr. Walberg’s decision not to reappoint incumbent trustees at the three rural fire districts has caused the need for additional discussion and public comment.  For further details see the story from the May 20, 2011 Boone County Journal, shown below:

County Board Chair
Appointments Prompt Debate
By Bob Balgemann
Representatives of Fire Districts #1, 2 and 3 will meet with the Boone County Board
at 7 p.m. on June 2 to hash out problems they have with board Chairman Bob Walberg’s
(District 1) decision not to reappoint three incumbent trustees.
Firefighters packed the board meeting room Wednesday in protest over possibly losing
trustees they said were doing a good job.
The root of the problem appears to be an ordinance enacted by Fire Districts #2 and 3
that require all commercial buildings to have sprinkler systems. Some county officials, the
firefighters claim, believe that mandate will chase business from the county.
But more recently chiefs in all three districts have imposed a one-year moratorium on
the requirement. The ordinance likely will be included in the discussion on June 2.
Walberg said after the meeting he chose three new trustees he thought would be good
for their districts. He did not make those appointments Wednesday, calling the moratorium
“a good compromise’’ and saying further that he would “respect the (June 2) meeting and
see where we go from that.’’
During Wednesday’s meeting Fire District #1 President Ron Tinberg, one of the three
trustees possibly being replaced, defended the sprinkler system ordinance, calling it “a
safety item. Now is the time to change it when nothing is going on.’’
He said he had been told he and the other two incumbent trustees “were puppets of
the chiefs. Judging from the appointments, you want us to be puppets of the board. Yes,
sprinkler systems cost a lot but not as much as a building a new building. When there is a
fire people can be out of work.’’
Further, Tinberg said the person slated to replace him lives in Fire District #3, not District
#1. But Walberg said later the only residency requirement was that trustees live somewhere
in Boone County.
“The issue seems to be the sprinkler systems, is that correct?’’ board member Pat
Mattison (District 3) asked.
“Yes,’’ Tinberg replied. “Ever since we adopted the ordinance we’ve been getting a lot
of flak.’’
Support for the incumbent fire district trustees was voiced by board members Ken
Freeman (District 3) and Marshall Newhouse (District 1).
“I have never heard anything bad about the (incumbent) trustees and I will support
them,’’ Freeman said.
Newhouse provided some history on the sprinkler ordinance, saying concern was
expressed earlier about the impact such a requirement would have on commercial
development. He said after fire chiefs were asked to think about that they enacted the
moratorium. “I want to thank them for their generous decision to do that,’’ he said.
Further, he said he would “be in support of the current trustees.’’
Concerning appointments, county board member Terri Glass (District 3) said, “This
shows tonight why we should interview candidates. We need an open and honest process.
I’m hearing the different sides but nothing about anyone getting together.’’ She suggested a
meeting between firefighters and the board “where we can have an adult discussion.’’
Board Approves Replacement for County Clerk
Also Wednesday the board voted 8-2, with one abstention to concur with Walberg’s
appointment of Mary Steurer to replace longtime County Clerk Pam McCullough, who is
retiring in June. Steurer now serves as the department’s chief deputy.
Board member Cathy Ward (District 2) said while she thought Steurer would do a
good job, she added she thought the vacancy should be opened up for applications, with
candidates going before the Administration Committee to review. “We should do the same
with this (opening) as with the others,’’ she said.
But county board member Anthony Dini (District 2) said with the shortness of time
before McCullough’s retirement, he would support the appointment that night. “I would
like her to get her feet wet before Pam retires,’’ he said of Steurer.
Glass asked Steurer, who was in the audience, not to take it personally but she would
not support the appointment. “I don’t understand why we publish some vacancies and not
others,’’ she said.
Walberg called Steurer “an obvious choice’’ and said she only would be serving for 18
months before the next election.

Mr. Walberg has previously informed the County Board that they should not “micro-manage”the Fire Districts.  (See Mr. Walberg’s memo to the county board and states attorney opinion statement, shown below.)  Is Mr. Walberg taking his own advise?  Are Mr. Walberg’s appointments based solely on Mr. Walberg’s desire to abolish the sprinkler code?

Rumor has it--that the whole sprinkler issue maybe related to a local “special interest” who wishes to forego this additional expense.  Should Mr. Walberg succeed and get the sprinkler code repelled, perhaps a review of future building permits will disclose if the rumor has credence.

Click on the photocopy to enlarge: 

Republican governors move ahead on health exchanges - Sarah Kliff - POLITICO.com

small but growing number of prominent, Republican governors — including Mitch Daniels and Haley Barbour — are taking the lead to shape a key component of the health care overhaul their party fought so hard to kill.

It’s a delicate balancing act for Republicans who, on the one hand, oppose federal health reform, even challenging its constitutionality in federal court, and, on the other hand, are pragmatically trying to control as much of the implementation process as they can.

The big picture is that, while there’s an ideological divide, many governors see the exchange as an empty vessel they can shape in their own image,” says Ian Morrison, an independent health policy consultant in California. “Republican governors like the idea of more commercial insurance.”

Another crucial factor at play: If states don’t set up their own exchanges by 2014, the federal government will come in and do it for them.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55856.html#ixzz1NzX69FDk

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0511/55856.html#ixzz1NzWpcvqE

Amnesty International Chides Vatican for Abuse - Beliefnet News

VATICAN CITY (RNS) Amnesty International has criticized the Vatican for falling short of its commitments to protect children from sex abuse.

“The Holy See did not sufficiently comply with its international obligations relating to the protection of children,” the human rights group said in its latest annual report, released on Friday (May 13).

“Increasing evidence of widespread child sexual abuse committed by members of the clergy over the past decades, and of the enduring failure of the Catholic Church to address these crimes properly, continued to emerge in various countries” during 2010, the report said.

This is first time the group has included the Vatican in its annual report, which assesses the state of human right in 157 countries. That change follows a wave of scandals over sexually abusive Catholic priests in Europe and Latin America last year.

Amnesty said the Vatican had failed in its obligations as a party to the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child, by “not removing alleged perpetrators from their posts pending proper investigations, not cooperating with judicial authorities to bring them to justice and not ensuring proper reparation to victims.”

“Canon law does not include an obligation for church authorities to report cases to civil authorities for criminal investigation,” the report noted.

According to a new Vatican directive published on Monday (May 16), Catholic bishops must report sex abuse of children by priests and other church employees to civil authorities, but only when required by local law.

The same Vatican directive gave the world’s Catholic bishops until May 2012 to prepare national policies on sex abuse, in areas including child protection, caring for victims and disciplining abusive priests.

 

Read more: http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2011/05/amnesty-international-chides-vatican-for-abuse.php#ixzz1NzV9spGu

Amnesty International Chides Vatican for Abuse - Beliefnet News

Koch brothers wage a war on Americans - Chicago Sun-Times

latest bombshell is from St. Petersburg Times writer Kris Hundley, who exposed a 2008 agreement between the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and Florida State University for $1.5 million. The money was to fund faculty positions in a new program promoting “political economy and free enterprise.” It came with the unconscionable condition that the foundation’s handpicked advisory committee hold veto power during the hiring process.

University economics departments, like FSU’s, are part of the mercenary army that gives the Koch brothers legitimizing cover. George Mason University, a public university in Virginia, is one of the best examples. The Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation has given more than $30 million to it over the last 20 years. The foundation’s pet project is the school’s Mercatus Center, over which it exerts tremendous control. The institute touts itself as “the world’s premier university source for market-oriented ideas.” Its scholars helped mold the Bush administration’s anti-regulatory policies.

Kochs may not like taxes but they sure like to leverage public funds to advance and amplify their own ideological agenda. That agenda leaves the middle class without a government protector in the face of laissez-faire capitalism.

Click on the following for more details:  Koch brothers wage a war on Americans - Chicago Sun-Times

Koch brothers under attack by leftwing film-maker | World news | The Observer

Robert Greenwald is taking the fight to billionaires David and Charles Koch, who fund much of the US's rightwing politics

the videos depicted facts and figure showing Koch support for Tea Party groups, global warming sceptics and thinktanks seeking to strip away reg

Koch Industries, one of the largest private businesses in America, it was another attempt by liberal groups to drag it into the public eye over accusations that it is corrupting US politics in pursuit of its business interests

Greenwald is determined to make the fight personal. His activists have found five homes of the brothers in the US and filmed themselves knocking on the doors, from the ski resort of Aspen, Colorado, to Palm Beach in Florida. The homes are profiled in "luxury porn" detail and juxtaposed with the hard times of working-class Americans. In one scene three financially struggling pensioners picnic on the beach outside a Koch mansion and wonder why anyone would need a house so big. In another, a researcher ambushes David Koch at the Economic Club of New York and asks: "How many houses do you really need?" The stone-faced Koch rapidly retreats behind a security guard without a word.

Koch brothers under attack by leftwing film-maker | World news | The Observer

Pentagon to Consider Cyberattacks Acts of War - NYTimes.com

The Pentagon is declaring that any computer attack that threatens widespread civilian casualties — for example, by cutting off power supplies or bringing down hospitals and emergency-responder networks — could be treated as an act of aggression.

In the case of a cyberattack, the origin of the attack is almost always unclear, as it was in 2010 when a sophisticated attack was made on Google and its computer servers. Eventually Google concluded that the attack came from China

Click on he following for more details:  Pentagon to Consider Cyberattacks Acts of War - NYTimes.com