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Sunday, Jan. 12, 2003 - 12:58 p.m. I usually don�t like to shove my political beliefs down your throats here on this page, but something I read in the newspaper this morning really fired me up. Our neighboring State�s corrupt Governor did the unthinkable yesterday on his last day in office- he gave clemency to every single person on death row. Never mind how you feel about the death penalty. I know the complains-t doesn�t get handed out evenly, it hardly every gets to the actual �death� part, unless you live in the South, etc�.. I think putting a person in a small cell for 23 hours a day, without contact to other inmates, and without any chance of parole might be a better punishment anyway. That�s what they do to the most violent offenders at the Federal Super-Max prison in Tams No, what he did was simple wrong because he threw out the hard work of every states attorney and police officer, and the time and effort spent by citizens who ahd to sit through trials and pass sentence on these most vile of criminals. All because he decided that the system was �totally flawed�. This man took bribes for money while in the Secretary of States office, and used the cash to fund his political campaigns. Every single person below him on his staff has either been charged with or been convicted of crimes relating to this action. He has used the death penalty issue to draw attention away from his corrupt administration. I could write pages about some of the �people� he just pardoned or commuted, and the crimes they were convicted of committing, but that would just depress you. Baby murders, multiple murders, and serial rapist/murders fill this list of reprobates. If you want to read a more in-depth article on this sorry subject, click here, or click here No matter where you stand on this issue, these two statements (from a murder victim�s mother and a Peoria prosecutor )should show you what �Illinois Governor George Ryan the Great� did was just a selfish attempt to help his terrible reputation: "Every one of the victims, he has killed them all over again," said Cathy Drobney. Her daughter Bridget was killed in 1985 by Robert Turner, whose sentence was commuted. Said Peoria County State's Attorney Kevin Lyons: "The great, great majority of these people that have petitioned for commutation ... did not even contest their guilt." "He's disingenuous when he says that certainty is the issue," Lyons said. When the incoming Democratic governor (most Dems are anti-death penalty) has stated that Ryan is "totally wrong" in doing this, you have to wonder why Ryan is so smugly proclaiming his greatness in this action? Ryan also stated that,� I can sleep at night, knowing that I did the right thing�. Considering how many laws he has broken in collecting bribe for CDL (commercial drivers licenses) ,with some of the people who paid his staff to receive illegal licenses connected to terrorism!, I would think death row inmates would be only a tiny part of the reason for his sleeplessness�. If you have never heard of the license-for-bribes scandal,(if you don�t live in the Midwest, you might not have) this page has a timeline explaining the whole slimy messIn one case, an illegal immigrant received a CDL for a $1000 bribe paid to one of Ryan�s staff members. The driver then caused a fiery accident while driving a semi, resulting in the burning to death of 6 young children. I would think THAT would be enough to keep most honest people awake at night, wouldn�t you? He is a snake, and his time in court will come soon, if there is any justice in this world. Maybe his actions were for his own personal gain. That way, the other prisoners will fight over who gets him to be their personal bitch�.. Sorry about the downer. I�ll try to make the rest of the entry more pleasant for you�. Codeman and I managed to make both vehicle repairs yesterday in about 4 hours. The valve cover gasket was pretty easy, but didn�t completely fix the oil leaking from his engine. We drove it back to the local oil change show (the one that messed up his oil pan last month, starting the snowball rolling down the hill), and after looking the underside over they determined that the seal of Form-a-Gasket� that they had applied to the new pan had failed. I have to get that damn $48 gasket from the GM dealer, or this problem will never end. Hey, at least they are still trying to fix the problem, and not just blowing us off like most car repair shops do when they don�t fix something right. It will mean Codeman having to leave his car one day next week, but that�s about it. I will pay for the overpriced gasket. He is putting most of his paycheck in the bank now, looking to buy a small pick-up truck this summer. That�s how long his 91 Grand Am better last�.. We sprayed degreaser all over his engine and power washed it before we started the repair job yesterday. That made the job cleaner, and kept us from getting soaked in used motor oil. One of the places his valve cover was leaking allowed escaped oil to drip onto his fan belts. You can imagine how well distributed the oil was inside his hood compartment. I let him disassemble the engine while I started the upgrade to my truck stereo. He was able to get the air duct remover, had the spark plug wires labeled and removed, and had all the bolts removed from the valve cover. At least he thought he did. I took a rubber mallet to the cover, gently loosening the old gasket from the engine. I had it so loose it bobbled, but I couldn�t lift the cover. That was when I discovered the problem- there was one last bolt remaining. It was under the EGR valve, an emission control device (It helps your engine burn cooler by mixing a little exhaust gas into the clean fuel mixture. At least that is what I just read on a �how to� web page. I didn�t know what it did before that, either) that sits on top of the intake manifold. I was hoping we could remove the valve cover without removing this device, but it hung over the cover just enough to cover that last bolt. One problem, though- the EGR valve was attached to the manifold with two bolts what were almost completely inaccessible. I tried every socket and none could reach the location without hitting the valve in some fashion. I knew this was going to well. Something always has to slow you down, even on an easy repair. I have always said I have never met a happy automotive mechanic. They have to deal with these problems every day. No wonder they are usually grouches. I finally broke the bolts free, and had to painstakingly remove each with an open end �� wrench. The nut turned about 1/8 or a rotation at a time, due to the end of the wrench hitting either the valve cover or the carburetor with each stroke. These two nuts took me about 30 minutes to remove! Once the ERG valve was removed, the rest of the operation only took about 30 minutes. I soaked the cover�s rim with solvent to soften the old cork, and scrapped ever little bit off of both the engine and valve cover sides. After wiping everything dry, we attached the new gasket to the engine in no time. I even put Anti-Seize on the EGR bolts. This made putting them back into he manifold much easier than removing them. Like I said, it was still leaving after this repair. It isn�t loosing nearly as much as before, so he won�t have to carry a case of motor oil in his back seat anymore. After the Oil Change Show replaces the other gasket, he should be good to go until the next thing decides to go out on this old car�. After that, installing my new back speakers and rewiring the whole stereo in my Hillbilly truck was a breeze. I had to pull the unit back out of the dash to do this, but knowing I have all the wires right (positive to positive, negative to negative) and new is a good feeling. The system sounds better than it did after I first installed it last Sunday, and the new speakers give it more low-end sound, too. Don�t worry- it doesn�t sound like a teenager�s car (BOOM BOOM�BOOMBOOM BOOM). I don�t play my music near that volume lever. But I do love my music. Having a CD player in the truck will make my daily commute more pleasant, as long as I don�t think about the fact I work for the State�..
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