The content of the ad was highly critical of the Obama Administration, and indeed, the administrations of all Democratic Presidents back to President Jimmy Carter. If you did not read the ad, suffice it to say if you bleed Democrat Blue, you would probably have been offended at the claims made in the ad.

Several readers and at least one “Letter to the Editor” author read the ad and were incensed. In a classic case of “kill the messenger” the readers were angry that we published the ad, with one accusing us of selling out the newspaper for a “few pieces of silver.” I appreciate the reference to Judas Iscariot, but I have trouble likening the selling of advertising space to the betrayal of Jesus Christ.

The readers couldn’t seem to grasp that the advertisement they disagreed with was just that, an advertisement. The ad contained a plea for money to support their cause, and likely, similar advertisements. The method employed in this ad was to espouse opinions that would trigger like-minded individuals to send money to support the cause.

Hmmm. Does that sound like any other organization you know? Radio and television hosts, political parties, disease research foundations, community organizations and even churches from time to time use advertisements in an attempt to raise money. You don’t have to agree with the cause, and you certainly don’t have to send money, but should that preclude the organization from making the appeal?

Yes, we were paid to publish the ad. And yes, we would accept an ad from the opposition. We thought it was obvious, but for future reference, a disclaimer: “The opinions expressed by advertisers in The Telegraph do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the staff and management of the newspaper or its affiliated operations.”

And they probably don’t reflect the opinions of many of our readers either.

Post from: The Jim Shrader Blog

Yep, pitching coach Dave Duncan would be back, even after Cardinals management traded “little Dunk.” There was much speculation that he wouldn’t accept the job if Tony offered it. Hey, they’ve been together for decades, long before Dave’s kid got a major league contract.

No, the slight change is the batting coach. Hal McRae will no longer supervise and critique batting practice. Instead, Tony decided to hire a retired major league player that’s been out of baseball for 8 years! Some guy named McGwire. You may have heard of him.

Whether you currently are a Mark McGwire fan or not, you can’t dispute that he mobilized this area in a sea of red when he was racing towards breaking and setting anew the home run record. (It didn’t hurt that his closest competitor in the race was one of those hated Cubs).

I was there for 62 and for 70. Busch Stadium II and the town went wild for Mark McGwire when he set the new record (that would only last one season). Heck, they even named a stretch of I-70 in his honor.

What’s the next thing you remember about McGwire? That’s right, his evasive answers when asked to testify about steroid use before a Congressional hearing (and television cameras). I thought it especially interesting that he was called to testify before a group that never breaks any rules wink, wink.

Now Saint McGwire was sinner McGwire, a slight step above a gutter drunk that got his strength and courage from a bottle.

“Put an asterisk next to his name!”

“His record was accomplished (or not) because he used steroids!” We were ashamed.

So when LaRussa announced McGwire had accepted the position of batting coach, the talk shows lit up with indignant fans almost daring McGwire to come back to St. Louis and show his face. “We’ll stone him in the town square for his sins!”

Here’s my prediction: If Cardinal bats perform more consistently (and longer into October) next year, sinner McGwire will be forgiven and once again elevated to his saintly status.

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I’ve never been sensitive about my age. On October 29, I will turn 55. Double-nickel. No problem. 30 wasn’t a big deal. 40 wasn’t frightening. And 50 was kind of nifty.

I think I look relatively good for my age. My hair is mine. My only gray hair is in my beard. I don’t have hair growing out of my ears, and I’m in pretty good health.

OK, so I prefer oldies to new music. Classic country and old Top 40 are my preferred selections. I even listen to talk radio. I remember more about 60’s television than I know about CSI: (fill in the city).

I’m getting ready for my aged 55 colonoscopy. The preparation is the worse part. Uh, it’s cleansing. The procedure is a nice nap.

My son is now a senior in high school. (Yes, I got a late start on the kid thing.) I recently went through a divorce, so at some point, I will look into the dating thing again.

None of this bothers me. Here’s what makes me older than I thought- yesterday the lady at the fast food restaurant charged me the senior citizen rate for a meal, and she didn’t even ask me how old I am!

Now I feel old.

Post from: The Jim Shrader Blog

Have you been to Mac’s Timeout lately? Yeah, he’s still got a great bar and outside seating in a “beer-garden” setting. He is still an integral part of the Downtown Block Parties and he still hosts the area’s only Off-track Betting parlor.

What’s changed is the addition of an extensive menu of sit-down foods to please all palettes. Fast Eddie is still the undisputed king of the bar/food genre in Alton, so I guess I’ll dub Mac the crown prince.

I know Mac and Eddie are buddies, so I’ll either please or perturb both of them with this, but here’s the difference in Mac’s food and Eddie’s. When I am in the mood, I can’t get enough peel and eat shrimp and pork kabobs. But other times I want to use a knife and fork and have my food on a real plate. That and the number of menu items available differentiates the king from the prince.

Mac installed a HUGE meat smoker behind the new kitchen and has it filled every day with a variety of meats. My favorite are the ribs (is the ribs?). A half-slab with two sides (garlic potatoes, fries, Cole slaw, potato salad, green beans) is just $9.75. Now, that is a huge lunch so I prefer it for dinner. To compromise, Mac added an occasional lunch special which is a quarter-slab of ribs with fries for about $5.00. That one works great for me.

His Monday night special is, frankly, unbelievable. Try this one: two 8-ounce, smoked pork chops (about ¾” thick) with a huge baked potato and corn on-the-cob for just $4.95. I know a little about the food business, and he cannot be making any money at that price! I don’t know how long that one will last, so you’d better get down on Monday evening and try it.

OK, you know about the ribs and pork chops. How about a grilled Chicken Caesar salad, homemade chicken salad, Italian Beef, mini-Mac/s burgers, pulled pork, pork steak plates, hot dogs, nachos… you get the idea.

If you remember the Mac’s of a few years ago, fuhgetaboutit. The new Mac’s Timeout is now another of my favorites. And, (if you can keep a secret) watch for the addition of a Sunday Brunch and a possible catering business on the side.

And for my fellow cigar smokers out there, Mac’s Beer Garden is stogie friendly, and it features a full-service bar outside. So if you haven’t been to Mac’s lately, you really should give it a shot for lunch or dinner. You will not be disappointed.

Post from: The Jim Shrader Blog

Hurry to your bomb shelters and pull out the gas masks! The air we breathe is killing us!

Whoa! It makes for great TV, but let’s get to the bottom of the story.

First, and foremost in my assessment, the EPA data released yesterday was from a study done in 2002! Yep, it takes the EPA seven years to crunch their numbers and release findings. Geez, I’m glad they didn’t find pollution with fast acting effects!

Second, though the pretty people on TV didn’t tell you this, the seven year old findings found three census tracts where the pollution levels were exceptionally high. Guess where the census tracts were? Right next to the steel mill in Granite City! Well, duh! That’s like reporting the smell is bad next to a hog farm.

What, you might ask, is a census tract? According to the U.S. Census Bureau, “Census tract population criteria will be 1,500 to 8,000 persons.” So, thanks to our friends at the EPA and our friends in TV news, we alarm more than 265,000 county residents with seven year old data that, at the time, affected between 4,500 and 24,000 people! So at the max, about 10% of county residents were affected in 2002.

And third, had the EPA spent some time in Madison County anytime recently, they would know about the millions of dollars spent in the last five years on cleaning up the air in our county, and specifically the three census tracts in Granite City. U.S. Steel, the now-owners of what we all refer to as Granite City Steel, has spent millions on upgrades to clean up the air and to comply with current EPA requirements. That’s OK, we’ll hear about it in the data they release in 2016.

And lastly, since this report reflected negatively on Madison County, Illinois it makes great TV news. If the same findings had been released about St. Louis City (or county) the TV folks would have had a slew of official “rebuttals and demands for new studies” from every spokesperson they could videotape. But this was bad for those residents from the “metro east”, so we’ll pile it on. So much for fair and balanced reporting.

So take heart! We are not breathing ourselves to death in Madison County. Relax and take a deep breath. I feel better already.

Post from: The Jim Shrader Blog

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles police say eight officers have suffered minor injuries during downtown disturbances that erupted amid street celebrations of the Lakers’ NBA championship victory over the Orlando Magic.
Officer Gregory Baek (BEK) says the officers were taken to hospitals for treatment of the injuries sustained during melees Sunday night in the Staples Center area.
What began as a lively but peaceful celebration took on a different tone for those remaining a few hours after the game. Some in the crowd vandalized a shoe store, buses and police cars, set small fires and threw rocks and bottles at police.
Police also said Monday that police cruisers were damaged, windows on public buses were smashed and fires were set in the street. Seventeen people were arrested Sunday night after police declared the gathering an unlawful assembly, authorities said.
Television footage showed people jumping on police cars, rocking vehicles attempting to pass through the crowd, setting small trees on fire and throwing bricks at empty buses. A gas station and a shoe store were looted, police said.
Bratton commended his officers for showing restraint despite “a lot of provocation from a number of knuckleheads,” he told KTTV-TV.

What the hell?! Call me sheltered, but I don’t understand how a victory celebration can turn into a riot where 18 people are arrested and 8 police officers are injured.

Can you imagine the pandemonium if the Lakers had lost to Orlando?

Post from: The Jim Shrader Blog

“SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Sen. Roland Burris continued to fight accusations that he misled lawmakers and the public, saying Thursday it wasn’t his duty to tell a legislative committee about his conversation with the former governor’s brother if lawmakers failed to ask the right questions.

“You all have got it backwards. It is not upon a person who’s testifying to go out of his way on anything. It is the person who has to ask the questions,” Burris said during a stop in Springfield.”

So, the esteemed Mr. Burris testifying, under oath, to a legislative committee investigating allegations of a “pay for play” scheme involving the disgraced former governor Blagojevich’s appointment to fill the Senate seat vacated by now President Obama, didn’t feel it was necessary to disclose his verbal promissory note because the lawyers didn’t ask the right questions!

Amazing. Doesn’t it make you proud to know that your junior senator from the Land of Lincoln is an honorable man because he didn’t tell about his conversation with Rob Blagojevich just because nobody (specifically) asked him about it!

I’ll remember this loophole in case I ever witness a robbery or murder. I won’t report it unless the cops ask me if I saw it. No sir, no civic responsibility here. My senator said so.

Nope, I don’t buy it. I’m not a lawyer, but even I’m smart enough to know that at the minimum Burris is guilty of obstruction of justice. He may have told an edited version of the truth when he only answered the questions, but he didn’t tell the whole truth. I think perjury is the more appropriate charge.

Let’s review that oath again: “I promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God.”

You’d better hope God helps you Mr. Burris, because in my book you’re a liar.

Post from: The Jim Shrader Blog

In the latest effort to blame every thing on the former administration, the most powerful Democrat in the House of Representatives is sticking with her story that she didn’t know anything about the practice, and the Bush administration purposely mislead her with respect to the techniques employed. She implies that had SHE known she would have called an end to the practice.

I can’t believe Madame Speaker was kept entirely in the dark on this matter, and apparently memos exist indicating she must have known. Now she is positioning herself as the indignant speaker calling for a full investigation, and the appropriate heads to roll.

Does this remind you of then-Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (who voted to authorize the war in Iraq as senator from New York) swearing the administration mislead her and the “if I had known then what I know now, I wouldn’t have voted that way” stance after the fact?

This is not a partisan observation. Everyone likes to blame the former fill-in-the-blank. How about this: a politician that is willing to say “yeah I knew, and circumstances at the time required my support” rather than denying any knowledge and therefore, “I was mislead”.

Things change, circumstances change, and most importantly, political winds change. I want a politician that tells me the truth… I supported it then, but I don’t support it now. I’m a big boy, I can handle the truth.

Post from: The Jim Shrader Blog

On April 7, several local political races will be decided. From mayors to trustees to board members and supervisors, I applaud all candidates for their willingness to throw their hats in the ring for what is usually a thankless job with questionable compensation when you figure it out by the hour.

I have been in the newspaper business for 30 years, and served as a publisher for 17. Regardless of the political race, one common denominator seems to remain constant. When running against an incumbent a candidate tells me everything the incumbent has done wrong. When running for an open seat, tell me everything the former office holder did wrong. The current (or former) office holder was obviously incompetent, so elect me!

Sound familiar? You bet it does.

Here’s the problem I have with that type of campaigning. I don’t want to hear what you think the past office holder did wrong, I want to hear what you are going to do right!

You know why you don’t hear politicians telling you their specific plan to fix problems? Here’s a little secret: most office seekers don’t have a plan! They’ve never done the job, they don’t really know what can and can’t be done with funds available or within statutes. And, if you make specific promises, people will remember and hold you to it. So, a candidate gets elected by castigating the former and implying they can do things that they probably won’t be able to do.

OK, I know this isn’t news to most of you. Just remember as you are deciding which proverbial lever to pull, that most elected officials are very limited in changes they alone can actually make (remember checks and balances?).

And to the candidates: You want my vote? Don’t tell me what the last guy did wrong, tell me what you are going to do right (and you’d better have a plan).

Post from: The Jim Shrader Blog

If you read my last blog lamenting my citation for a backseat seat belt infraction while in California on business, you, no doubt, sensed my frustration at being an out-of-towner getting a ticket for violation of a new law of which I, nor anyone else in the car, had any knowledge.

A quick recap: I hop in the back seat of a rental car driven by a business colleague from Rhode Island, accompanied by a front seat passenger from Colorado for a lift to the airport. Add my Illinois roots and we have eastern, central and mountain time zones in a rental car on Pacific time.

It’s a five minute ride to the airport, top speed maybe 17 m.p.h. in Orange County traffic, when we are pulled over at the entrance to John Wayne Airport. The backseat passenger, that’s me, is in violation of California’s new law, requiring backseat passengers to buckle up. There’s no notice in the rental car or on the rental agreement apprising us of the new law, no signs on the streets, and there was no sign in the backseat of the cab I took to the hotel.

My complaint to the officer of the lack of notification or postings to educate tourists fell on deaf ears. Well, not really. The officer said he understood that there was probably no way for us to know about the new law, but it was just like traveling to a foreign country - it is your responsibility to learn the local ordinances. Besides, he was on a seat belt enforcement task force paid by the federal government and he had to give me a citation.

I asked the amount of the fine. The officer said he didn’t know, it would be decided by the court, and I would received a notification in the mail. On Friday, I got my notice, exactly three weeks after the violation. The fine? $132.00 (minimum)!

I say minimum, because I do have options. I can attend “traffic school” for which the fee jumps to $181.00, plus I have to make arrangements to attend traffic school for three Monday evenings in Orange County court. Or I can choose to pay nothing and choose to appear before a judge at the Orange County Superior Court Harbor Justice Center, “no later than 8:00 a.m. on or before the due” being fully prepared to “deposit the bail amount (surprise, $132.00) at the time of request for a trial.”

So, having nothing better to do with $132.00, I am sending some cash to Orange County, California. I have no doubt my money will help lessen the burden of a $44 billion California state deficit, and keep the clerks of the court from enduring a state-mandated, unpaid, furlough or layoff.

So, if you’ve ever wondered the price of being ignorant, in Orange County, California it’s $132.00.

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