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* A coalition of eight reform organizations challenged Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Wednesday to work as hard at passing sweeping campaign reforms as he did at winning reelection.

* Some suburban business leaders warned Wednesday that the state could face economic trouble with anti-business policies after Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich secured a second term.

* Whatâ€™s next for Birkett? Future is up in the air

* Green Party breaks through

* Despite loss, Green Party big winner

* How Green is our valley - The third-party candidate for governor received nearly a fourth of Rockford area votes.

* Editorial: By winning more than 10 percent of the gubernatorial vote, the Green Party has won a role in the state’s political process that could bring new and worthwhile ideas into future elections.

* Hinz: To the victors Tuesday go the challenges

* McQueary: Losers from Election Day include Tony Peraica, who not only lost the Cook County Board presidential race but nearly got tossed from his seat on the board. Storming Cook County Clerk David Orr’s office at 1 a.m., wild-eyed and enraged, with a campaign contingent of well-liquored supporters, probably was ill-advised.

* AP: Women cast just over half of the votes Tuesday, and they clearly favored Blagojevich. He got 53 percent of the women’s vote, compared to 36 percent for Topinka.

* Blagojevich: ‘We’ve got a lot more work’

* Editorial: Governor is right; there’s ‘a lot more work to do’

* Blagojevich earns mediocre support in central Illinois - Governor wins only four counties in 18-county region

* Eaton: Illinois should be the first to promote chromosone-based gender identity

* ‘Accidental Speaker’ calls it quits

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Nov 9, 06 @ 5:11 am

Comments

Regarding Eaton’s proposal to restrict marraige based on chromosonal gender identity…

I thought the whole point of this was protect the sanctity of Brittany Spears right to marry men on a whim from the threat of protecting life-time same gender couples?

If Britanny has to have a blood test every time she wants to marry on a drunken whim, that would really threaten her rights too!
——-
By the way, if you think that everyone walking around this earth was born with either fully developed XX or XY chromosones, you need to learn a little more about biology.

Or just amend the Constitution, as if it were a bumper sticker, ignorant of the consequences.

Comment by YY Thursday, Nov 9, 06 @ 6:54 am
The strong showing for the Green Party in the Rockford area demonstrates that people do take endorsements seriously. The Rockford Register Star endorsed Whitney, and this impacted his votes. With the flurry of additional attention given to the Rockford Register Star, even at the national level, we should expect to see more Green Party endorsements, and higher vote totals, in future election cycles.

Comment by Squideshi Thursday, Nov 9, 06 @ 7:32 am
So Mr. Birkett can finally focus on his job. Has he been cashing paychecks without doing his real work? Also, was any incumbent actually defeated in Illinois?

Comment by Mr. Ethics Thursday, Nov 9, 06 @ 9:09 am
I have been on the West Coast since before the election (I did vote early before I left–no bumps at all in the process) where Schwarzenegger, a Republican. has won easily. A lesson for Republicans. A year ago all his referenda were defeated. So, he changed course.

Having vetoed a state-sponsored universal health care bill last year, Schwarzenegger has his staff looking at alternatives to state-run universal health care. But clearly, universal health care is coming here and it will be a priority. Of course, Arnie has really competent staff. Not so sure about Blago, We’ll see what he comes up with.

Last year voters twice turned down proposals to
spend billions buidling new prisons in California.
So Arnie has his staff looking at alternative sentencing and other ways of reducing the prison population. Let’s hope Blago has the sense to do the same. Illinois spends $250,000,000 a year feeding, clothing, housing and educating first time drug offenders in Illinois according to one recent study. That could fund a lot of universal health care. Will Blago’s staff be up to that challenge. Again, we’ll see. Prisons shouldn’t exist to provide jobs for Downstate residents but
even the re-elected Blago may not be tough enough
to say no to huge prison populations.

The point is–same election, Schwarzenegger already moving right along. Not so Blago, who seems to be still campaigning–his one and only skill.

Comment by Cassandra Thursday, Nov 9, 06 @ 10:45 am
[A story yesterday in the NYTimes reports that New York is considering allowing folks to change their gender identifications on their birth certificates.]

You have got to be kidding.

Comment by Angie Thursday, Nov 9, 06 @ 2:02 pm
Angie, that seems perfectly sensible, considering that gender is not the same as sex. A person’s sex is determined by their physical features–gender is not.

Comment by Squideshi Thursday, Nov 9, 06 @ 2:49 pm
[A personâ€™s sex is determined by their physical featuresâ€“gender is not.]

And just what do you think the doc and nurse look at when junior is born and they have to pick a sex to put on the birth certificate?

Did I misread this here? Are they making it so we know how someone was born, before the sex change, and then we know that they chose an alternate “gender” identification later in life?

See? Even if you really don’t care if someone is gay, or wants to cross-dress, or chooses to have a sex change operation, this stuff just gets weird.

Sex has to do with sex cells more than anything else, by the way. You said physical features, which can be altered, but it is the gametes that you were born with that are key.

Comment by Angie Thursday, Nov 9, 06 @ 3:42 pm
Just another note, but female is generally the default in biology.

Be extra nice to us (wink). And free champagne for blondes.

Comment by Angie (post-script) Thursday, Nov 9, 06 @ 3:46 pm
Angie wrote, “And just what do you think the doc and nurse look at when junior is born and they have to pick a sex to put on the birth certificate?”

Well, when the individual is transgenered, they make an arbritrary choice.

“Sex has to do with sex cells more than anything else, by the way. You said physical features, which can be altered, but it is the gametes that you were born with that are key.”

Aren’t gametes physical features?

Comment by Squideshi Monday, Nov 13, 06 @ 2:40 pm