Letting the days go by ...
Upon undertaking this journalistic endeavor, then Beacon News Managing Editor Rick Nagel cautioned against "navel gazing." And that certainly was sage advice -- who the heck wants to read about a marginal columnist anyway! Of course, Rick has already been promoted twice during my tenure (Coincidence? I think not!), and every rule has at least one or two exceptions. So if none of you say anything, he'll never know I'm about to violate his prime directive.

They're wrong about our rights
Consent search! Now there's an oxymoron for ya. For those of you who missed the recent news stories and Beacon News editorial, a "consent search" occurs when a police officer requests and receives permission to search a vehicle during a traffic stop.

Sound the alarm on red light cameras
Just a little of that human touch -- Bruce Springsteen That loud thumping sound you heard last week was me banging my head against the wall again. I know I shouldn't do it, but every time our illustrious governor makes one of his peculiar pronouncements I can't help myself. This time Blagojevich wants to install speed cameras on interstates to fund an "elite tactical team" assigned to stem Chicago's violent criminal tide. Ah yes! Law enforcement as taxation! I suppose there should be some solace in the complete lack of any pretense.

Racial threat not to be taken lightly
I love SciTech! SciTech is Aurora's hands-on science museum located at Benton Street and the river. My personal favorite is the pitching cage that measures how fast you can hurl a tennis ball. It's fun to watch adults push the kids out of the way and try to propel the ball through the back of the machine. Not that I would ever do such a thing.