The News Hound

Semper Fi

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 04:50:53 -0600

It must be the water. That's the only explanation from some of the crazy goings on in California. The latest was the attempt by the Berkeley City Council to boot the Marine Corps Recruiting Station and permit the outright harassment of Marines in the San Francisco Bay city. Guess they were looking for a fight.

Circling the wagons

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 04:11:06 -0600

Reading The News-Sun's Viewpoint page last week, one got the feeling the system was in a prevent defense, circling the wagons it would seem, defending the status quo legal and electoral systems.

Presidential timber

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 04:43:20 -0600

While America is going through the winnowing process to select a new president, Zogby International has conducted it's annual "Presidential Greatness" survey. From what The Hound can tell, the trio left in the race to their parties' nomination have a long road to travel. For starters, the man they'll be replacing is No. 9 of the top dozen. President Bush is just above Lyndon Johnson, Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon, who round out the bottom feeders. And Dubya is a war president. Go figure.

An Olympic moment

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 04:45:45 -0600

Lost in the shuffle of March Madness, spring training and Brett Favre's long-overdue retirement, The Hound has been bereft in pointing out we're less than six months to the Beijing Olympics. To mark that countdown, the Chicago 2016 committee bidding for that year's Olympics has opened an online store to raise funds for the effort.

A watery grave

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 04:15:22 -0600

The Hound is scratching behind the ears over why Antioch can’t make any headway in building a new pool. The park board spent years and thousands of dollars of taxpayers’ money to research the best location, choosing a piece of property on the north side of the village for the new aqua center. They even paid a consultant to come up with concepts for the project.

Favre, farewell

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 04:11:57 -0600

While fans in Packer Nation are crying in their beer and brats because of the abrupt retirement of Green Bay Packers uber QB Brett Favre, The Hound is happy as getting new straw in the dog house. Thanks for the memories, Brett --- not! Thanks for the nightmares, you mean.

Cole Hall

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 04:54:37 -0600

Leave it to Gov. Rod "The Mod" Blagojevich to want to wreck a perfectly good lecture hall, Cole Hall at Northern Illinois University at DeKalb, with a $40 million replacement. Guess we have money to burn in the Land Of Lincoln --- not!

Skunk hollow

Sun, 02 Mar 2008 04:30:46 -0600

If The Hound knows one thing in the universe is true, it's that skunks smell. They smell real bad. How bad? Bad. So The Hound can't figure out why people in Illinois, mainly downstate Illinois, want to keep skunks as pets. They do and they are waging a war to change state law.

Body of evidence

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:50:09 -0600

The evidence continues to mount that Waukegan Park District commissioners may be right when they voted to demolish Orchard Hills Golf Course and turn it into sports fields mainly to play soccer. The latest comes from Golf Business magazine which in a recent article quotes a developer of golf courses: "There’s just more than enough golf to go around right now in the U.S.”

Go play outside!

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 04:06:27 -0600

Perhaps this is an odd time to bring this subject up, after all we're still in the grips of winter, but according to a recent survey, more than 80 percent of all children in the U.S. never play in their neighborhoods without adults present. The Hound remembers in his youth, just a decade ago, that he gamboled quite frequently in neighborhood parks, yards and of course, The Rockpile.

Spring in bloom

Tue, 26 Feb 2008 04:45:30 -0600

Without any dog shows on the tube over the weekend, The Hound happened to prowl his favorite Ace Hardware store. It was like a miracle. There, waiting for us big strapping hounds, was everything we'll need come April or May. Except we're in the middle of another winter storm advisory.

Camera wars

Sat, 23 Feb 2008 04:02:27 -0600

Like the "missle gap", the "generation gap" and the "gender gap" new devices are cropping up on the market that may close the gap of those red-light cameras communities are installing for "safety" reasons. It reminds The Hound of when he first learned of radar detectors. It made his stomach dance.

Fore --- not!

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 04:09:48 -0600

The Waukegan Park District's decision to raze the beloved Orchard Hills Golf Course may be on the right track if you believe a New York Times story Thursday. The Hound threw the "believe" in just in case any John McCain backers are reading this.

Concealed carry

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 04:59:07 -0600

In the wake of the rampage at Northern Illinois University a week ago today, there have been calls on both sides of the gun debate to either restrict firearms or expand them with a concealed carry law in the Land of Lincoln. The Hound is siding with the concealed carry aficionadoes.

Amen for nutjobs

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 04:07:05 -0600

A nutjob guns down five Northern Illinois University students while they were in a class and now more nutjobs will be invading the DeKalb campus tonight during a prayer vigil for those students killed and the other 16 wounded. These nutjobs would be from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan.