Teen arrested in Wikipedia Halloween threat

Hey, this story takes place in the Marathon Pundit neighborhood.

Wikipedia alerted Skokie, Illinois police about an unspecified Halloween threat against Niles West High School. A fourteen year-old student of the school allegedly posted the threat online--Skokie police arrested the student this morning.

Before the opening bell at Niles West, all 2,600 students passed through hand-held metal detectors before entering the school, according to NBC 5 Chicago.

The free-for-all method of posting on Wikipedia has drawn much controversy, and with this latest case, a new low has been reached.

Related Niles West post: Separation of church and state, but not the separation of mosque and state

Technorati tags: Wikipedia Niles West Skokie Halloween Crime

Chicago mayoral election poll: Daley leads Jesse Jr. by a wide margin

Despite continuing fallout over the Hired Truck Scandal, as well as controversies over the bulldozing of Meigs Field, the big-box-living-wage ordinance, and the overwhelming stench of graft emanating from City Hall, Mayor Richard M. Daley holds a commanding lead over Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. according to the latest ABC 7 Chicago/Daily Herald Poll.

Jesse Jackson, Jr. is expected to challenge Daley for the coveted fifth floor City Hall office. Daley, who has been Chicago's mayor since 1989, is expected to run for re-election. Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown is the only officially announced candidate for the February election.

According to the poll, in a head to head match up with Junior, Daley has the support of 66 percent of Chicago voters, Jackson garners only 25 percent. The rest are undecided.

Chicago uses a run-off system in its elections. If no candidate achieves 50 percent of the vote in the first tally, the top two face each other two months later in a second contest.

Technorati tags: Chicago Illinois Politics Elections Jesse Jackson Jesse Jackson Jr. Daley Big Box

Air America turkey of a sale before Turkey Day?

Well, Air America may have new owners before Thanksgiving, so says Business Week.

Air America Radio is talking to several parties about a possible sale and is hopeful of reaching a deal before Thanksgiving, a lawyer for the liberal talk radio network told a bankruptcy hearing Tuesday.

Tracy Klestadt told the court that the privately-held company was in discussions with seven different parties about a sale and was "very hopeful" of reaching a deal by Nov. 22, saying there was a "significant amount of interest."

The network, which went on the air with much fanfare two years ago, filed for bankruptcy protection on Oct. 13 after discussions with one of its creditors reached an impasse.

Slavery reparations zealot may block Chicago parking lot privatization

Chicago Alderman Dorothy "The Hat" Tillman has made herself somewhat of a national name by placing herself at the forefront of the slavery reparations debate. She favors reparations for slavery.

A year ago or so, the City of Chicago passed a law that does not ask for slavery reparations, but that legislation stipulated that any firm doing business with the city must disclose any ties or profits made from slavery.

Some view this law as a precursor to setting up a framework for reparations to be paid in the future.

Because it appears that the company chosen to run the soon to be privatized city parking garages, Morgan Stanley Investment Management may have had a predecessor company own slaves--as a result of a loan default, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

More....

Mayor Daley's $563 million plan to privatize the Millennium Park and Grant Park garages hit a surprise roadblock on Monday: The City Council's champion for slave reparations is threatening to seek a court order blocking the deal because she believes Morgan Stanley Investment Management lied about its past ties to slavery.
Ald. Dorothy Tillman (3rd) is furious because the firm chosen to lease and operate the 9,178 downtown spaces for the next 99 years claimed in a sworn affidavit that neither it nor its "predecessor entities" had profited from or invested in slavery or slaveholder insurance.

According to Tillman, that's a "lie" laid bare by the evidence about Riggs, Peabody and Co., a predecessor of J.P. Morgan Chase, that her daughter uncovered in 2004 during exhaustive research at the Library of Congress.

The "slavery disclosure" law is just plain stupid. Yes, slavery was terrible, but
the law is a bad one.

Technorati tags: reparations U.S. History Chicago Illinois business news

Halloween horror! Liberals take over The Right Place

Mr. Right sent me a frightening e-mail: His site has been take over by liberals! Click here to see if you can scare them off!

Technorati tags: humor humour Halloween Halloween Costumes

Fallout from Pakistani madrassa bombing: Prince Charles cancels trip to Peshawar

Earlier today Pakistani forces bombed a madrassa, or Islamic school, killing 80 militants. The school was believed to be have run by al-Qaeda.

Yesterday Prince Charles and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall arrived in Pakistan for a state visit. Tomorrow they had planned to visit Peshawar, a city in that notorious border tribal area of Pakistan. But at the suggestion of the Pakistani government, that visit has been cancelled.

Technorati tags: Pakistan Terrorism UK Prince Charles War on Terror

Outrage over Bill Maher Halloween costume: A wounded Steve Irwin

Comedian Bill Maher caused some outrage over the weekend by dressing up as Steve Irwin--wearing bloodstained khakis complete with stingray barb.

That's Maher pictured at a weekend party.

According to News.com Australia, a California alternative newspaper is even making fun of the late crocodile hunter's eight year-old daughter.

The San Francisco Bay Guardian newspaper recently published an article entitled Great Bad Ideas for Halloween Costumes, with the No.1 suggestion a Crocodile Hunter outfit.

The article came with an illustration of Irwin with a stingray on his chest.

"Kids and grown-ups alike will stare you down with white-hot horror when you strut around in your khaki ensemble with a pissed-off sea creature piercing your chest," wrote Cheryl Eddy and Kimberly Chun.

"Too soon? Hell, no. If Irwin's eight-year-old can get her own Discovery Kids television show, you can certainly make sport of her nature-loving pop's freaky demise.

Here's the link to the San Francisco Bay Guardian article.

Technorati tags: Halloween Halloween Costumes Bill Maher Steve Irwin

Latest Ill. 6th & 8th District polls: Races are dead heat

West of Chicago is the 6th Congressional District, where Republican Henry Hyde is retiring. Iraq war veteran turned opponent of the war, Democrat Tammy Duckworth and her Republican counterpart, Peter Roskam, are in a statistical tie according to the latest ABC 7 Chicago/Daily Herald poll.

Northwest of Chicago is the 8th District. Incumbent Democrat Melissa Bean, who unseated longtime but lethargic Republican Phil Crane two years ago, has been leading in most polls over Republican David McSweeney. But the pair is in a statistical tie in this race too, according to the ABC 7 and the Daily Herald.

Both seats are traditionally strong Republican strongholds, although like the rest of Illinois, the districts have been trending Democratic in recent years.

The results of the poll in the 6th is consistent with other survey--however, in the 8th, most other polls have Bean leading. Since 2004, the 8th has been looked at by the GOP has an excellent opportunity to unseat a Democratic incumbent.

Technorati tags Peter Roskam Melissa Bean David McSweeney Illinois elections politics Duckworth

DePaul's Norman Finkelstein belittles Daniel Pipes

DePaul's resident Holocaust-minimize Norman Finkelstein is at it again with his childish cheap shots.

Recently, a new magazine called 02138 listed the most influential living Harvard alumni. President Bush topped the list, the runner up was Bill Gates.

Coming in at #84 was esteemed Middle East scholar and friend-of-the-blog Daniel Pipes.

Here is the subhead of Finkelstein's press release on his take of Pipes' inclusion on that list:

Pipes makes cut-off; Hitler at #104 just misses

Finkelsein: What a loon.

Hat tip to Dr. Steven Plaut in Haifa.

Technorati tags: Illinois Chicago DePaul College Education Norman Finkelstein Jewish Middle East Daniel Pipes Harvard

Latest Ill. gov poll: Blagojevich leads Topinka by 9 points, Green Party candidate at 11 percent

Despite his enormity of bad press--well deserved, I'd like to add--against him, incumbent Rod Blagojevich leads his Republican challenger Judy Baar Topinka in the latest St. Louis Post-Dispatch poll, 47 percent to 38 percent.

Going back to the Republican primary, Topinka has been forced to fight to improve her image because of constant negative ads run against her.

Oh, Judy has been hitting Blago hard--both candidates negative ratings are quite high, but with Illinois' status as a solid blue state not in jeopardy, Blagojevich is doing just enough to keep a safe lead for himself with a little more than a week to go before election day.

However, there seems to be no end to the flow of corruption stories about the Blagojevich administration.

In his 2003 inaugural address, Blagojevich told Illinoisans:

I will govern as a reformer.

It hasn't happened, his administration is at least as corrupt as his predecessor's, future jailbird George Ryan.

Rich Whitney, the Green Party candidate is the beneficiary of voter disillusionment with the major party candidates--he has the support of 11 percent of likely voters according to the Post-Dispatch poll, and that number is consistent with other recent surveys.

Greenies tend to attract voters from the Democratic base, but Whitney is a strong supporter of gun-owner rights--saying he backs "responsible ownership of guns."

Technorati tags: Blagojevich Elections illinois politics Politics corruption Topinka Illinoisnews Green Party

"My earliest recollection is of the Knob Creek place"

Here's my final installment of my latest photo series, posted in reverse order, of the Marathon Pundit family trip to Kentucky and Tennessee.

Abraham Lincoln lived with his family at a farm at Knob Creek near Hodgenville, Kentucky in a cabin similar to the one pictured here, residing there from 1811-1816. The Lincolns then moved to southern Indiana

In an 1860 letter, the future president wrote:

My earliest recollection is of the Knob Creek place.

Ten miles to the west, Lincoln was born in another log cabin, much like the one pictured a couple of posts down.

Technorati tags: Kentucky Abraham Lincoln History photography Photos

Chicago Bears crush 49ers, 41-10

The undefeated Chicago Bears showed why they're undefeated this afternoon but destroying the San Francisco 49ers 41-10.

The Bears went into halftime leading 41-0, so the final score is not indicative of the level of domination Chicago had over San Francisco.

2006 very well could be the Bears' year.

Abraham Lincoln birthplace site's log cabin

The log cabin pictured here is not believed to be the actual structure where Abraham Lincoln was born on February 9, 1809, but a well-meaning reproduction.

The cabin is located in a neo-classical building (scroll down a few posts) in Hodgenville Kentucky, on the site of the Sinking Spring Farm, the Lincoln family farm for a few years.

Technorati tags: Kentucky Abraham Lincoln History photography Photos

What if they called a war protest and no one came?

During the 1960s, there was a pacificist saying, "What if they called a war and no one came?"

In the entire course of human history, that has not happened.

But on Chicago's Near West Side today, the Chicago Police found out what happens when a war protest is called, and then canceled, and no one shows up. You get hundreds of cops--many of them in riot gear--standing around looking for something to do. What else occurs? A lot of taxpayer money is wasted and there's a lot of finger pointing.

Months ago, the Illinois Anti-War Coalition requested a permit for a rally to be held today in the Washington Square neighborhood. So the police figured there would be a protest.

From ABC 7 Chicago:

The organizer of the protest, John Beacham, says his group instead decided to pass out anti-war flyers throughout neighborhoods. He says the mix up is the city's fault.

"We never got a permit from the city," said John Beacham, Illinois Anti-War Coalition.

The police showed us what they say is the permit -- approved months ago -- with John Beacham's name right at the top.

"I know nothing about that. We applied for a permit and there was never any confirmation of the permit from the city and a long time ago we decided not to have a demonstration," said Beacham.

Beacham made a ridiculous claim that the Chicago Police should've known the rally was cancelled, stating "The city is usually spying on us and watching us carefully, so we just figured they understood there wasn't a demonstration today."

There's plenty of idiocy to go around with this story.

Technorati tags: anti-war Activism Chicago Illinois The Left humor

Mr. Right's new World Series photo caption contest

St. Louis Cardinal hard-hitting infielder Albert Pujols is the subject of this week's photo caption contest. Enter here.

Technorati tags: St. Louis humor Albert Pujols humour Cardinals

Technorati: No progress

Well, Technorati is still overlooking Marathon Pundit. My case # is 53633.

Hoosier GOP congressman does not want Bush's help in campaign

If the Republican party retains control of the house, this guy might find his committee assignments not to his liking. John Hostettler's southern Indiana district is a conservative one, if he's in trouble this year, perhaps the blame goes to Hostettler, not the president.

From the Chicago Tribune, free registration required.

Members of Congress running for re-election know they're in trouble when, this late in the campaign, they need to ask the president to parachute in, put a warm arm around them, shake down the locals for campaign cash, and hopefully drag them across the finish line.

But here on the banks of the Ohio River the incumbent congressman is in such extremis that he believes a visit by President Bush would hurt more than help.

"George Bush is not a message I want to talk about," Rep. John Hostettler said before an appearance this week at an Evansville vocational school.

Hostettler does want to talk about the war in Iraq (he voted against it in 2002 but thinks there should be more troops on the ground now); stemming the tide of what he called "illegal aliens"; and warning of the prospect of Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, whom Hostettler charges in a radio ad would promote a "homosexual agenda."

Technorati tags: Indiana Congress Election politics Bush

Abraham Lincoln birthplace site

This structure, located near Hodgenville, Kentucky, holds what's believed to the birthplace of our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln.

I'll have a picture of the cabin tomorrow, that's Little Marathon Pundit and I walking up the stairs of the memorial building.

This is the latest picture from our family vacation to Kentucky and Tennessee.

Technorati tags: Kentucky Abraham Lincoln History photography Photos

Congratulations St. Louis Cardinals, World Series Champions

I had a lot more fun with my post last year when the Chicago White Sox won the World Series, but congratulations are still due to this year's champions, the St. Louis Cardinals.

And a personal note of good cheer goes to my good friend--and Cardinals fan--Dan Curry, who is doing the best Blagojevich blogging out there at Reverse Spin.

UPDATE 8:35AM Sat 10/28: Gateway Pundit photblogged last night's game.

Technorati tags: World Series White Sox MLB Baseball St. Louis Cardinals

More bad news for Gov. Blagojevich: Top fundraiser pleads guilty

Stuart Levine is the personification of what is wrong with Illinois politics. He was appointed to two seats on Illinois boards by Republicans. Democrat Rod Blagojevich kept him on, and Levine continued as a soldier in what Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass calls "The Combine," the bi-partisan machine of graft, corruption, and sleaze that has run Illinois for decades.

Today Levine pleaded guilty to mail fraud and money laundering today in a Chicago federal court.

From AP:

A businessman who funneled thousands of dollars into Gov. Rod Blagojevich's campaign pleaded guilty Friday to using his seats on two state boards in a bid to collect millions of dollars in kickbacks.

But Stuart Levine's plea agreement with federal prosecutors contained no direct charge of wrongdoing on the part of the governor, who is waging a reelection campaign while coping with a federal corruption investigation.

All the same, the 58-page plea agreement was crammed with details of corruption in state government and guaranteed to fuel campaign fireworks.

Levine said that to get his power he drew on access to unspecified higher-ups in state government and in April 2004 sought to squeeze an investment firm for $1.5 million in campaign contributions to "a certain public official" in exchange for $220 million in state pension business.

According to a source close to the investigation, that "certain public official" is Governor Rod Blagojevich.

Much will be made by the Blagojevich camp that Levine was a Republican appointee. But Blago re-appointed him. Besides, Blagovevich promised Illinoisans that he would "end business as usual" in the state. Perhaps that's one promise he's kept. Blagojevich has made Illinois even more like such ethically-barren states such as Rhode Island, Louisiana, and New Jersey.

Technorati tags: Blagojevich Elections illinois politics Politics corruption Illinoisnews

Jimmy Carter calls for US troops to leave Iraq in a year

Taking advice from Jimmy Carter on Middle Eastern issues is kind of like doing the same with Bill Clinton and abstinence.

From AP:

Former US Democratic president Jimmy Carter called for US troops to be "totally" withdrawn from Iraq "within the next year or so."

Technorati tags: Jimmy Carter Democrats Iraq Georgia Politics

Ill. Gov's wife involvement in questionable real estate deal latest embarrassment for Democrat

Governor Rod Blagojevich, (D-IL), has another ethical problem at his doorstep. Actually, it goes past the doorstep and into his Northwest Side Chicago home. This one involves his wife, Patti.

Left out of the media reports is that Patti is the daughter of powerful Chicago Alderman Richard Mell, so it's ridiculous to assume that Patti is just some naive real estate broker unaware of "how things get done" in Illinois.

From the Chicago Tribune, free registration required:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich's wife earned more than $113,000 in real estate commissions this year through a woman who holds a longstanding, no-bid state contract and whose banker husband has business pending before state regulators.

The four real estate deals involving the Chicago couple Anita and Amrish Mahajan, the last of which closed Sept. 28, account for the only commissions Patricia Blagojevich has earned this year.

The governor's office scoffed at questions about whether it is a conflict of interest for the governor's spouse to make money from a couple whose businesses depend on decisions made by the Blagojevich administration.

Here's my favorite part:

"I didn't hire her," (Anita) Mahajan said in a brief interview from the balcony of her Chicago townhouse. "I didn't even know who she was until closing. That's when I heard she was the governor's wife. I try not to get involved in politics."

Rod Blagojevich faces the voters next month. He's being challenged by Republican Judy Baar Topinka and Green Party candidate Rich Whitney. Blagojevich is leading in all polls, and Whitney is polling surprising well, reaching double digits in some surveys.

Topinka has so far been unable to capitalize on the corruption charges made against the Blagjovevich administration.

For those who don't want to deal with the Tribune registration process, AP has a summary of the Chicago Tribune story here.

Related posts: Top Gov. Blagojevich advisor and fundraiser indicted in kickback scheme

Illinois' Gov. Blagojevich: Sweetheart real estate assessment?

Blagojevich kiddie check story catching fire in Illinois

Technorati tags: Blagojevich Elections illinois politics Politics corruption Topinka Illinoisnews

"St. Barack" Obama uses e-mail

From NRO's "Sixers" blog:

Obama and Lamont [Greg Pollowitz 10/27 09:11 AM]

AP Headline: Lamont gets lift from Obama
The reality of the lift:
HARTFORD, Conn. —Ned Lamont got a boost Thursday from one of the Democratic party's brightest rising stars, Sen. Barack Obama.

The Illinois senator and potential 2008 presidential candidate sent an e-mail message to his Connecticut supporters urging them to rally behind Lamont's challenge to three-term Sen. Joe Lieberman.

"Ned Lamont has waged an impressive grass roots campaign to give the people of Connecticut a choice in the November Senate election," Obama wrote. "Please join me in supporting Ned Lamont with your hard work on-the-ground in these closing weeks of the campaign."

The Lamont camp said Obama's e-mail went to about 5,000 Connecticut residents.

Wow. He hit "send".

The junior senator from Illinois has seen just one of his bills enacted into law since becoming a US Senator almost two years ago.

Technorati tags: Obama National politics Politics Barack Obama Illinois News Lamont Connecticut Lieberman

Technorati green turns blue again

The blog search engine Technorati has once again decided to ignore my blog. It's been two days since the blog search engine captured one of my posts.

I went to the "Contact Us" page, filled out the form and got a canned e-mail response. Here's an excerpt:

If you don't hear back from anyone within a week, please accept our
apologies for the delay as we may be experiencing a backlog in Support.

They gave me a case number, though. It's 53633.

Marathon Pundit went through a month-long Technorati drought earlier this year.

Technorati tags: Technorati blog Blogging Weblogs

Partial settlement in E2 nightclub stampede case

Three and a half years ago, 21 patrons of Chicago's E2 nightclub were killed in a stampede after club security used pepper spray to break up a fight--after which the frightened customers fled toward an exit--that was bolted shut.

From AP:

A judge has approved a partial settlement in which families of 21 people killed in a 2003 Chicago nightclub stampede will receive $1.5 million, attorneys announced Thursday.

Under the settlement approved Wednesday by Cook County Circuit Judge Kathy M. Flanagan, E2 club owners Calvin Hollins and Dwain Kyles and building owner Lesly Benodin will pay into a fund established for the plaintiffs.

They were then dismissed as defendants in a lawsuit filed by the victims' families.

But Kyles; Hollins; Hollins' son, Calvin Hollins III; and a fourth man, party promoter Marco Flores, still face criminal charges of involuntary manslaughter in the Feb. 17, 2003, stampede, said Melvin Brooks, one of the plaintiffs' attorneys. All four have pleaded not guilty.

This case has become an issue in the Tennessee US Senate race. The campaign fund of the Democratic candidate, Harold Ford, Jr., donated $1,000 to the defense fund of E2 owner Dwain Kyles.

Related post: Harold Ford Jr. and Chicago's E2 nightclub tragedy

Technorati tags: Tennessee Illinois Chicago E2 Harold Ford Jr. Politics elections

Mammoth Cave National Park flowstone

Mammoth Cave doesn't have the delicate intricacies of South Dakota's Wind Cave--a park I visited in 2004--or the stalachtite symphony of New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns (I haven't been there), but it does have some cave unique structures such as this flowstone.

The Marathon Pundit family visited Tennessee and Kentucky earlier this month. Scroll down to see earlier entries in this series.

Technorati tags: Kentucky Mammoth Cave Photos Photography Nature

UPDATED! Windypundit photographs the Chicago Marathon, Parts 1-5

Mark Draughn over at Windypundit is a busy man with a worn out camera. He literally took thousands of pictures of the many participants in Sunday's Chicago Marathon. He estimates that he got a picture of about 20 percent of the runners that day.

I did an earlier post about his work, but this one condenses things much better.

Camped out at Chinatown that morning, Mark was at the 21-mile spot.

See if you can find yourself, a loved one, or a friend.

Part one of Mark's series: Before 10:45 AM (i.e. a 7:43 pace with a projected finish of 3:22:03)
Part two: After 10:45 AM (i.e. a 7:43 pace with a projected finish at 3:22:05) but before 11:05 AM (i.e. a 8:40 pace with a projected finish of 3:46:53)
Part three: After 11:05 AM (i.e. a 8:40 pace with a projected finish at 3:46:54) but before 11:37:20 (i.e. a 10:09 pace with a projected finish of 4:26:05)
Part four: After 11:37:21 (i.e. a 10:09 pace with a projected finish at 4:26:06) but before 11:51:13 (i.e. a 10:48 pace with a projected finish of 4:43:05)
Part five: After 11:51:15 (i.e. a 10:48 pace with a projected finish at 4:43:07) but before 12:05:36 (i.e. a 11:29 pace with a projected finish of 5:00:41)

UPDATE: Sat. 10/28: Part six, the last installment, is up.

Technorati tags: Chicago Marathon running Run Fitness Chicago sports Chinatown photos photography

One year ago today: White Sox win World Series

Of course the baseball world's eyes are fixed on St. Louis where the Cardinals and the Detroit Tigers meet for Game Four of this year's World Series. But a year ago tonight in Houston, the Chicago White Sox completed their sweep of the Astros in the fall classic.

Technorati tags: Chicago World Series White Sox MLB Baseball

Ill. gov race: GOP, Green Party candidates to debate tonight

Republican Judy Baar Topinka and the Green Party's Rich Whitney, both candidates in the Illinois governor's race, have agreed to a televised debate this evening in Chicago.

The incumbent, Democrat Rod Blagojevich, has not indicated if he will take part in the debate, which is being organized by the local PBS affiliate.

Topinka and Blagojevich blame each other for the shortage of debates between the two major party candidates.

Oprah speaks up for Holocaust education

Talk show host Oprah Winfrey lives and works within a few miles of DePaul University's Chicago campuses. Perhaps she can drop by DePaul and visit Holocaust- minimizer and DePaul Professor Norman G. Finkelstein and have a sit-down with him. Maybe Dr. Phil can join in.

From the Daily Herald:

Talk show host Oprah Winfrey told 3,000 supporters of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on Wednesday that she is still haunted by her trip earlier this year to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

"I still cannot even imagine what it was like to go through a concentration camp and come out alive and sane," she said at a fundraiser for the museum. "I couldn't take it all in when I was there. I couldn't wrap my brain around it."

Winfrey traveled to Poland in January for a two-part episode with scholar and holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. She also selected Weisel's memoir, "Night," for her book club.

"Those millions and millions and millions who did not survive want us to never forget the hopes they sacrificed on the killing fields," she said during her 15-minute speech at a lunchtime fundraiser for the Washington, D.C. museum.

Related posts: Moron Finkelstein and DePaul

DePaul's Finkelstein crosses the line again, calls Jews "Shylock"

2004 report: DePaul's Norman Finkelstein being sued for libel

Technorati tags: Illinois Chicago DePaul College Education Norman FinkelsteinIsrael ישראל Shoah Holocaust Oprah Entertainment

Pajamas Media's Politics Central podcast with Jaron Lanier

In a wide and wild-ranging interview in which artificial intelligence, Enigma code breaker Alan Turing, Wikipedia, and the questionable sexuality of Second Life avatars are discussed, Politics Central's Alan Keen of After TV tries to pin down Digital Maoism's Jaron Lanier. He wrote the online essay Digital Maoism.

Listen or download here. Free subscriptions to Politics Central are available at the iTunes web site.

Technorati tags: Current Affairs Politics podcasts Podcast Podcasting iPod blog Pajamas Media Politics Central Wikipedia Jaron Lanier

Wal-Mart continues to expand generic drug program

According to Associated Press, another 12 states--which makes the total 27--will soon benefit from Wal-Mart's $4 generic drug program.

Technorati tags: Wal-Mart pharmacy business retail news

RNC pulls controversial Corker ad

This controversial television commercial, produced and paid for by the Republican National Committee but denounced by the candidate it is supposed to support, has been pulled.

From the Knoxville News Sentinel:

Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Harold Ford Jr. called national Republican ads that have been running against him "slimy, sleazy and smut" after speaking to a Knoxville women's group Wednesday.

"What they're putting up is trash and smut," Ford said.

That was shortly after learning that the Republican National Committee has agreed to pull one of the two controversial ads from the airways. And some TV stations have suspended the broadcasting of the second ad, pending a review of its accuracy.

Republican Senate nominee Bob Corker has said since the controversy began with the airing of the ad called "Who Hasn't?" on Friday that he has no control over whether the ad runs. He said it should come down. Corker has made that statement on national television.

Related post: Harold Ford Jr. and Chicago's E2 nightclub tragedy

Technorati tags: Tennessee Politics elections Democrats Republicans

Modem and hard drive problems

I've spent a good part of today getting a double whammy of computer problems solved today. I had to reseat my memory, by taking the eMachines tower apart. Prior to that, my Siemens 4100 modem fried.

I made the error of taking my desktop to Best Buy, where I bought the machine, and was treated quite rudely.

Oh, there will be a post on Best Buy soon, that'll be for sure.

What a day!

Chicago Tribune columnist Zorn scolds Cong. Bean for deceptive ad

Eric Zorn, a Chicago Tribune columnist--and onetime marathon runner--has some harsh words in his blog about the Democratic incumbent in Illinois' 8th Congressional District, Melissa Bean.

From his Change of Subject weblog:

North Suburban Democratic U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean has a new TV commercial that all but dares me to wag my dreaded finger at her again. It says:

The press calls (Republican challenger) Dave McSweeney's attacks on Melissa Bean "a lie," "a gross misrepresentation," " a disgrace."

The on-screen citation is to the end of my Oct. 17 column in which, indeed, I wrote that a claim in a McSweeney ad was "a lie and a gross misrepresentation--a disgrace, a character issue, a forfeiture of McSweeney's right to complain."

Two points of irony. First is that the top 4/5ths of that column was devoted to critiquing a misrepresentation in a Bean commercial. Second is that, in that closing portion of the column, I specifically took McSweeney to task for taking the opinions of one commentator about a Bean commercial and referring to that as the view of "the press:"

Bean unseated the longtime Republican representative of the 8th, Phil Crane, two years ago. The Republican National Committee targeted the 8th as an excellent opportunity for the GOP to take a seat from the Democrats. However, Bean has a comfortable lead in most polls.

McSweeney has a lot of cash on hand for the closing days of the race, so the contest may yet become close.

Related post: Bush in Chicago for House fundraisers

Technorati tags: Chicago Illinois elections Melissa Bean David McSweeney Congress

California soon to become the Cheesehead State

According to an AP report, the state of California may soon pass Wisconsin to become the nation's top producer of cheese.

One thing left out of this AP report is that much of Caifornia's success in dairy farming, according to a farmer acquaintance of mine, comes from irrigation.

Wisconsin gets it's water, for the most part, from the ground beneath.

From AP:

Aided by savvy marketing, California says it will soon pass Wisconsin to become the nation's top cheese producer.

''California cheeses are really looked upon as coming of age,'' said Christine Hyatt, a grocery consultant.

But Patrick Geoghegan of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board said, ''The title 'America's Dairyland' is about more than just producing the greatest amount. . . . It's about cheese quality, quality, quality.''

Technorati tags: Wisconsin California dairy farming agriculture news

Another League of Villains update: Belarus foreign minister in Tehran

From the always interesting Tehran Times:

President Mahmud Ahmadinejad told visiting Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov on Sunday that most countries, especially independent countries, have come under pressure in the current unipolar world system. The president said, "Cooperation among friendly countries to break this unjust system is a necessity."

The Islamic Republic of Iran is firmly committed to boosting relations with independent countries like Belarus, he added.

Iran and Belarus are in consensus on many economic and political issues, he said, adding that mutual cooperation, especially in the energy and defense industries, should be strengthened.

Belarusian President Alekasandr Lukashenko is to visit Iran in the near future.

Related posts: Latest from the The League of Villains: Ahmadinejad awards Chavez

This can't be good...Sudanese president in Iran

League of Villains update: Senior Iranian and Cuban meet

The League of Villains and China: the Left's great red hope against the USA

Technorati tags: News خبر Iran فارسی Belarus Беларусь League of Villains

Windypundit has a Chicago Marathon photo series

Here is just one of many photos Mark Draughn of Windypundit took during Sunday's Chicago Marathon. Mark was camped out at my favorite part of the course, mile 21, Chinatown, on the city's South Side.

This runner probably caught Windypundit's eye because his mother told him the same thing she told me, "You lose the most heat from your head."

It was cold and breezy on race day, I wore a singlet--a tank top that is--and a skimpy runner's cap, and I spent most of yesterday with a 101-degree fever.

I wondered how this runner ended up?

There are a lot more marathon photos up at Windypundit. And that's just part one of his series. Here is part two, where Draughn thinks he may have photographed up to 20-percent of the middle-of-the-pack runners. If you ran the race, see if you can find your picture. Of if you didn't, perhaps you'll spot a familiar face. I'll keep looking, but so far, I haven't found a picture of myself. Mark made a big effort to take my picture during the race, and even signed up for athlete-tracking on his cell phone to find me, but according to the Windypundit, I dropped off his radar screen at the 15km mark.

UPDATE 8:00AM Oct. 25: Mark in the comments informs me that he has pictures of up to 20% of all the Chicago Marathon participants. Also, Mark informs me that part three is up on Windypundit.

Technorati tags: Chicago Marathon running Run Fitness Chicago sports Chinatown

Historical graffiti in Mammoth Cave

Back to my series of the Marathon Pundit vacation to Kentucky and Tennessee earlier this month.

When does graffiti become a relic? When it survives long enough.

In the 19th-century days of Mammoth Cave tours, it was an accepted practice for tourists to mark the cave with their names, as the otherwise forgotten Mal Napier did many years ago.

Related posts: Mammoth Cave National Park's Green River

Newfound Gap Road

Appalachian Trail

Cumberland Gap: Where the West was first won

Great Smoky Mountains in October

Great Smoky Mountain Sunset

Great Smoky Mountains Fraser Fir trees in danger

Technorati tags: Kentucky Mammoth Cave Photos Photography Nature

Next UN chief delusional?

From AFP:

The next United Nations secretary-general has promised to end a "crisis of confidence" and heal divisions hampering the work of the world body.

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon, who takes over from Kofi Annan on January 1, said rebuilding trust in the UN must be a top priority.

Don't count on it.

Technorati tags: UN news Ban Ki-Moon United Nations

Montana senate race too close to call

Until the Abramoff scandal hit about a year ago, incumbent Conrad Burns (R-MT), was looking like a sure-thing for re-election in 2006. The race is too close to call, but like it's red-state neighbor to the east, North Dakota, Montana may have two Democratic senators in January, 2006.

From the Billings Gazette:

Democratic challenger Jon Tester and Republican Conrad Burns are now running about even in Montana's fiercely contested U.S. Senate race, a new statewide poll shows.

The latest poll shows Tester with 46 percent of the support of likely Montana voters to Burns' 43 percent, with 9 percent undecided. Libertarian Stan Jones had 2 percent.

Because Tester's 3 percentage point lead falls within the poll's margin of error of plus-or-minus 4 percentage points, that means Tester and Burns are considered to be running "about even," according to The Associated Press polling guidelines.

This poll of 625 likely Montana voters was taken Oct. 17-19 by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research of Washington, D.C., for McClatchy Newspapers and MSNBC.

Technorati tags: Montana conrad burns abramoff Jon Tester politics elections

Marathon fall being investigated

Scroll down to read my previous posts on the Chicago Marathon and the finish line fall of the race's winner, Kenya's Robert Cheruiyot.

Chicago Marathon Race Director Carey Pinkowski doensn't believe that the race decal on the pavement contributed to Cheruiyot's fall, as this Chicago Tribune (free reg. required) reports.

Another marathon official notes that other races use such decals, and the Chicago Marathon has utilized them the last five years without incident. However, I ran those five marathons, and it didn't rain those years, as it did on Sunday.

I'll continue to keep an eye on this story.

Technorati tags: Chicago Marathon running Run Fitness Chicago sports Kenya

Seals' deceptive ads and "moderate" Obama

In Illinois' 10th District, incumbent Republican Mark Kirk is in a close race with his Democratic challenger, Dan Seals. Bob from Crazy Politico's Rantings has an interesting post up about the deceptive TV commercials being run by Seals.

Oh, he gets one in on that "moderate" Obama, too.

Want to know how partisan your current member of congress is? Wonder how often he or she votes with their party?

Jessica McBride has a link up to the Hill Monitor, where you can get that information.

For instance, Barack Obama, Senator from Illinois, mentioned this weekend that he's mulling a run for President, and is consistently praised in the Illinois media for independence. If you read the Hill Monitor Loyalty Rankings to check his independence they show he voted along party lines 94.97% of the time. That's more often than Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry and Ted Kennedy. Of course, he's got the State's senior Senator, Dick Durbin to emulate, who was just a tick ahead at 95%.

The rankings are interesting to look through if you want a way to get past the hype of the current crop of TV commericals. For instance, Mark Kirk who represents a district just south of me has been getting beat up by Dan Seals, his opponent for always voting with Bush. However, the "Loyalty Report" puts Kirk in the bottom 20% of Republican's for "party loyalty" along voting lines.

Technorati tags: Mark Kirk Dan Seals Illinois Congress elections

Injured marathon winner to be released from hospital Tuesday

Robert Cheruiyot of Kenya, the winner of the men's division in yesterdays Chicago Marathon, will be released from Northwestern Memorial Hospital yesterday. Cheruiyot suffered bleeding on the brain, a brain bruise, and a minor concussion.

According to AP, the Kenyan received three CAT scans. He's been advised to take up to three months off before running again. But Cheruiyot is expected to make a full recovery.

Chicago Tribune columnist, blogger and onetime marathoner Eric Zorn is blaming Cheruiyot's fall on the glossy Chicago Marathon logo strategically placed just before the finish line, and viewing the video seems to prove Zorn's version of the event.

Falls are not unusual in marathons, particularly late in the race. I saw a runner fall at the final refreshment station, she slipped on accumulated wet gatorade cups.

It was a drizzly day yesterday in Chicago.

Technorati tags: Chicago Marathon running Run Fitness Chicago sports Kenya Ethiopia medical brain

Famed private investigator Ernie Rizzo dies

Well-known private investigator Ernie Rizzo died yesterday.

From CBS 2 Chicago:

Mr. Rizzo was based in Chicago, but he also investigated numerous high-profile cases from across the nation. Among them were the JonBenet Ramsey murder case, the 1993 abuse accusations against Michael Jackson, and numerous celebrity divorce cases, according to news clips and Mr. Rizzo’s Web site. He was also involved with cases brought by Yoko Ono, as well as the Wrigley family, and the search for Charlie Chaplin's body.

I loved watching his commentary on celebrity cases, particularly on the various atrocities surrounding pop singer Michael Jackson. He was a frequent guest on Fox & Friends.

Michael Jackson Celebrity Ernie Rizzo breaking current events

American Thinker puts Obama mania in perspective

After ten days of drippy valentines appearing in the media for Democrat "St. Barack" Obama of Hyde Park, the junior senator from Illinois is brought down to size by Richard Baehr of the American Thinker.

Obama, in his defense, did get his first bill enacted into law last month. Last week Barack appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, and also received a 2008 endorsement from Oprah Winfrey if he decides to run for president in 2008.

It's a pity to excerpt his article, the whole thing is of course is worth reading. And re-reading.

Newsweek, not to be outdone, graces its cover with a picture of Democratic Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. now running for the open senate seat being vacated by Bill Frist in Tennessee. Newsweek tells us these Democrats (Ford, as an example) are "not your daddy’s Democrats."

Well, then, what of Republican Michael Steele involved in a close race for the open senate seat in Maryland? Or Lynn Swann, running as a Republican for Governor of Pennsylvania? Or Ken Blackwell, running as a Republican candidate for Governor in Ohio? One might say, if one had any interest in these candidates (or their party), that with three black candidates running statewide, this was not your "daddy’s Republicans" either.

It is far more likely you will see a national news story about the Democratic candidate for Governor in Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, also an African American, than about Blackwell or Swann this year.

Why are the Democratic African American candidates of so much greater interest to the national media than the Republican African American candidates running state wide this year? Silly question, of course.

It's hearsay, but I've heard rumblings that as a state senator, Obama didn't have a long list of legislative accomplishments, either. Of course, he can't use the excuse that he was a member of the minority party while serving in Springfield, one that Obama defenders use now that he's a US senator.

Related post: Illinois' unhappy Democratic family

Technorati tags: Obama National politics Politics Barack Obama Illinois News

DePaul's Norman Finkelstein: MEMRI equals Nazis

MEMRI is the Middle East Media Research Institute, a self-described non-partisan group that translates inflammatory news reports from native languages into English. I believe they form an invaluable service.

For instance, MEMRI found this quote from an Islamist web site, commenting on a German web site that posted something they viewed as anti-Islamic:

The author concludes by urging the readers to circulate his list of websites, and adds: "Perhaps Allah will produce someone who will [punish] this depraved person as an example to others, and will demonstrate to the Crusaders and to the Jews that the Islamic youth will never keep quiet in the face of any insult to their religion and their Prophet..."

Meanwhile in Chicago, DePaul University's Norman Finkelstein, an assistant professor of political science, on his web site equates MEMRI with Nazis, as you'll see in the headline for this Finkelstein piece on his web site, Normanfinkelstein.com.

Hat tip to Dr. Steven Plaut in Haifa.

Technorati tags: Illinois Chicago DePaul College Education Norman FinkelsteinIsrael ישראל Jewish MEMRI Middle East

Another reason to visit Marathon Pundit--Breitbart newsfeeds

Via Pajamas Media, I've added a newsfeed directly below the first ad in the lefthand column. I often joke with my friends that Marathon Pundit should be their only source of news. Now I can say that to them with a straight face.

The feed has two tabs: One of course is for Breitbart, the other shows the latest posts on Pajamas Media.

Technorati tags: News media Internet Pajamas Media Breitbart weblogs

Pajamas Media Blog Week in Review on "The Looming Tower"

In a special podcast of Blog Week in Review, moderator Austin Bay is joined by Richard Fernandez of The Belmont Club and author Lawrence Wright. The three discuss Wright's new book, The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11. Wright began writing the book on the morning of September 11, 2001.

Ed Driscoll produces the podcast.

Free subsriptions to Blog Week in Review are available on the iTunes web site.

Pajamas Blog Week in Review is sponsored by Volvo.

Technorati tags: Current Affairs Politics podcasts Podcast Podcasting iPod blog Pajamas Media books al qaeda War on Terror Volvo

Update on eBay auction for SC Eagle's wife

The eBay auction link is here. Ellicia, the wife of SC Eagle, is suffering from brain, breast, and lung cancer.

Andrea and Mark of Constitutional Public Radio, have organized an eBay auction for three books generously donated (and autographed) by author Buzz Patterson. Those books are:

Reckless Disregard: How Liberal Democrats Undercut Our Military, Endanger Our Soldiers, and Jeopardize Our Security

And...

Dereliction of Duty: The Eyewitness Account of How Bill Clinton Endangered America's Long-Term National Security

As well as the soon-to-be-released...

War Crimes - The Left's Campaign to Eliminate the Military and Lose the War on Terror

Third Wave Dave e-mailed me yesterday with good news. Author and talk radio host Hugh Hewitt is promoting the eBay auction on his Townhall blog. Bidding is up to $401. Once again, here's the eBay link.

Technorati tags: books Afghanistan Military milbloggers radio cancer eBay Hugh Hewitt

My 2006 Chicago Marathon: 3 hours 41 minutes; men's winner hurt in fall

I was hoping to run at 3 hour and 30 minute race in this morning's Chicago Marathon, but I felt a bit short of that, finishing the 26 mile race at 3:41:30. Since I didn't adequately train for this race, I should be happy with my effort, and I am.

The weather conditions fell a bit short of perfect. 50 degrees Fahrenheit is considered ideal, the race temperature was in the low 40s. Also, it was pretty windy, gusts were up to 20 miles per hours and the last three miles of the race were against the wind. The wind chill was 30 degrees.

The picture above is just a small portion of the mass of humanity that participated in the race.

There were about 40,000 runners who started the race. I was the 6,583rd to cross the finish line.

The winner of the men's division was Robert Cheruyiot, who fell and hit his head at the finish, his time was 2:07:35. Cheruyiot is being treated at a Chicago hospital and is being treated for bleeding on the brain.

Ethiopia's Berhane Adere won the women's division, with a 2:20:42.

Technorati tags: Chicago Marathon running Run Fitness Chicago sports Kenya Ethiopia

Chicago Marathon morning

Well, another Chicago Marathon morning. Once again, my race number is 7525. I'm going to try--I'm not in tip-top shape--to pace someone into a Boston Marathon qualifying time. That means 3 hours 30 seconds for his, as well as my own, age group.

Oh, sorry for the lack of posts yesterday, Blogger.com was down.

Thanks Bill Baar and Anne Leary for the "Good luck" wishes. I'm going to need it.

Technorati tags: Chicago Marathon running Run Fitness Chicago

Paris mayor auctions off wine from Chirac-era cellar

Before he was elected president of France, Jacques Chirac was the mayor of Paris. While mayor, the connoisseur of fine wine built up quite an impressive wine cellar--presumably at taxpayer expense. But now, the current mayor, a socialist, is auctioning off some of that wine to benefit the treasury of the City of Lights.

From AFP:

Paris City Hall put thousands of bottles from its world-class wine cellar, dating from Jacques Chirac's tenure as mayor, under the hammer, in an auction set to draw wine buffs from around the globe.

Some 5,000 bottles from the city's 7,000-strong hospitality cellar -- including a dozen Chateau Petrus Bordeaux wines from 1990 expected to fetch up to 2,500 euros (3,150 dollars) apiece -- were to be sold to the highest bidder.

More...

The Socialist mayor filed suit in 2003 over the allegedly exorbitant entertaining expenses incurred under (Chirac's) tenure, but the country's highest court of appeal threw out the case last year under the statute of limitations.

An audit revealed that Chirac and his wife Bernadette spent more than two million euros on dinners and receptions at the Hotel de Ville between 1987 and 1995, when he stepped down to become president.

Technorati tags: France Français wine News Chirac

George Michael: Marijuana keeps me sane, smokes joint on camera

I'm not confident about taking the advice from someone who once was caught in a public washroom while "touching himself," in regards to issues of mental health, but one-time pop star George Michael thinks differently, bbviously.

From Reuters:

Pop star George Michael said smoking cannabis kept him "sane and happy" and appeared to light up a joint during an interview on ITV, ITV said on Friday.

The comments have landed the former Wham! frontman in hot water with mental health groups and drug charities concerned about the message Michael's comments will send to young people.

"All drugs have potential to harm and that is the principal message we need to get across," William Butler, spokesman for the Addaction drugs charity, told the Evening Standard.

A spokeswoman for the 43-year-old singer, who recently embarked on a comeback tour, said he had no comment to make in reaction to the latest controversy.

What a loser.

Technorati tags: George Michael music Entertainment news marijuana drug abuse

My 17th Chicago Marathon is Sunday

My bib number is #7525, and it should be easy for me to track my performance on Sunday in my 17th consecutive Chicago Marathon. The race starts at 8am Central Time.

Technorati tags: Chicago Marathon running Run Fitness Chicago

October 20: One year ago, Ward Churchill spoke at Chicago's DePaul University

On September 15, 2004, longtime DePaul adjunct professor Thomas Klocek got involved in an out of classroom discussion with some Muslim DePaul students. Klocek defended Israel from some ludricous accusations from those "scholars." Klocek's words actions that day got him fired.

Meanwhile, the angry Left views plagiarist, fabricator, and America-hater Ward Churchill as a champion of free speech. So in the spirit that smothers modern academia, the one-day-to-be-fired Ward Churchill spoke for a reputed $5,000 fee at DePaul last October 20 inside the DePaul Student Activities Center.

As this FIRE report explains, the October 20 Ward Churchill appearance was another embarrasment for the Chicago Catholic school. FIRE, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, was forced to open a second case against the school because of DePaul University attempts to censor some students who wanted to protest Ward Churchill's appearance.

Enough about Ward Churchill. Let get Thomas Klocek his job back at DePaul. Sign here.

Technorati tags: DePaul Ward Churchill Academic freedom Free Speech Catholic Education Chicago Thomas Klocek Illinois

eBay auction for SC Eagle's wife has begun

Ellicia, the wife of milblogger SC Eagle, is quite ill with brain, breast, and lung cancer. They have a growing pile of bills to take care of, and to help the family out, Andrea Shea King and Mark Vance, the Radio Patriots, have organized an eBay auction that began earlier tonight. And there's already bidding taking place.

Buzz Patterson, like myself a onetime guest on their Constitutional Public Radio show, has graciously donated autographed copies of three of his books:

Those books once again are:

Reckless Disregard: How Liberal Democrats Undercut Our Military, Endanger Our Soldiers, and Jeopardize Our Security

And...

Dereliction of Duty: The Eyewitness Account of How Bill Clinton Endangered America's Long-Term National Security

As well as the soon-to-be-released...

War Crimes - The Left's Campaign to Eliminate the Military and Lose the War on Terror

Bid now! Here is the eBay link.

Technorati tags: books Afghanistan Military milbloggers radio cancer eBay

Pajamas Media's Sanity Squad podcast on North Korea and "Canned Hams"

Siggy on the Sanity Squad thinks our Democratic congressmen are nothing but a bunch of "canned hams." We'll see in a few weeks how many of those hams are spoiled.

Actually, to be fair to the Dems, Siggy and the other members of the Sanity Squad, Dr. Sanity, neo-neocon, and Shrinkwrapped aren't impressed by our Republican congress-folk either.

North Korea is the second topic discussed by the Sanity Squad in their latest podcast, which is available here.

Technorati tags: Current Affairs Mental Health Politics podcasts Podcast Podcasting iPod blog Pajamas Media Politics Central North Korea Congress Republicans Democrats

Mammoth Cave National Park's Green River

Well, take me back down where cool water flows, yeah.
Let me remember the things I don't know,
Stopping at the log where catfish bite,
Walking along the river road at night,
Barefoot girls dancing in the moonlight.
I can hear the bullfrog calling me.
Wonder if my rope's still hanging to the tree.
Love to kick my feet 'way down the shallow water.
Shoefly, dragonfly, get back t'your mother.
Pick up a flat rock, skip it across Green River.
Welllllll!
Creedence Clearwater Revival, 1969.

On our recent trip south, the Marathon Pundit family also visited Kentucky's Mammoth Cave National Park.

The cave pictures are coming.

Besides the cave, there are many miles of hiking trails, and while we were walking on the River Styx Trail, I took this photo of the Green River which meanders throughout Mammoth Cave National Park.

I have no idea if this is the Green River Creedence Clearwater Revival was singing about back in 1969. But it appears like it could be.

Technorati tags: Kentucky Mammoth Cave Photos Photography Nature

Wal-Mart opened 36 new stores Wednesday

I got an e-mail from friend of the blog Marshall Manson of Edelman yesterday letting me know that 36 new Wal-Mart stores enjoyed their grand opening yesterday.

One of those stores I knew about, Niles second Wal-Mart, pictured here, conveniently located just a few blocks from my office.

According to Wal-Mart, those new stores will create:

8,600 new jobs, employing a total of 13,400. Over 54,000 applications were received for these positions.

And it's this type of company the unions are trying to keep out of the inner-city.

Technorati tags: Retail Chicago Illinois big box business Wal-Mart

Gov. Blagojevich fundraiser pleads not guilty

Tony Rezko, Ill. Governor Rod Blagojevich's chief fundraiser, pleaded not guilty to charges of extortion and fraud in federal court in Chicago this afternoon.

Blagojevich, a Democrat, faces Republican Judy Baar Topinka in next month's election.

Stick with me folks...

Yes, the blogging has been light today, but I have a couple of posts coming.

Wal-Mart expanding generic drug program

The company the Left loves to hate did something yesterday that helps consumers. They're expanding their $4 generic drug program to fourteen additional states, including Illinois.

Technorati tags: Retail Retail Chicago Illinois big box business Wal-Mart

Bush talks tough on Norks

"That little pot-bellied pig," is what radio talk show host Michael Savage calls North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, might, just might be a bit more nervous after hearing come recent Bush comments:

From AP:

President Bush said Wednesday the United States would stop North Korea from transferring nuclear weapons to Iran or al-Qaida and that the communist regime would then face "a grave consequence."

Bush refused to spell out how the United States would retaliate. "They'd be held to account," the president said in an ABC News interview.

In light of North Korea's Oct. 9 test detonation of a nuclear bomb, Bush warned that any transfer of nuclear material elsewhere in the world by the North would be considered a grave threat to the security of the United States. He previously used "grave threat" in relation to Iraq's Saddam Hussein, whose government was toppled in the U.S.-led war in 2003.

"If we get intelligence that they're about to transfer a nuclear weapon, we would stop the transfer, and we would deal with the ships that were taking the — or the airplane that was dealing with taking the material to somebody," the president said. Asked how he would retaliate, Bush would not be specific, "You know, I'd just say it's a grave consequence."

Technorati tags: North Korea Bush News GovernmentKim Jong Il Military

Obama coy on 2008 presidential run in softball interview

As regular visitors to Marathon Pundit are aware, Barack Obama has been plugging his book, The Audacity of Hope, all over the Chicago area at book signings.

CBS 2 Chicago's Mike Flannery got Obama to sit down for a 20 minute or so interview. The full interview is available on the below link. Barack talks about Africa, his marriage, and of course speculation that he may run for president in 2008.

From CBS 2 Chicago:

Obama would not say whether he was now considering a run for president, but he did say his new book and all the publicity hype surrounding it were not timed to set the stage for a possible run.

But he acknowledged he is taking seriously the pleas he is hearing from so many people on his book tour who are asking him to consider launching a campaign for president.

"It’s a high-class problem to have. Oh, isn't it terrible, people think I should run for President," Obama said with a smile. "At the 2000 (Democratic) convention in L.A., I didn't even have a pass to get to the floor of the convention. Four years later I’m giving the keynote."

My guess? He's running in 2008.

Flannery offered up softball questions to Obama. Illinois' junior senator experienced a minor nick on his reputation this spring when he endorsed novice politician Alexi Giannoulias's campaign for state treasurer against the slated Democratic candidate.

From Northwestern University's Medill News Service:

The Chicago Tribune has reported about millions of dollars in loans that Giannoulias's family bank, Broadway Bank, located in Chicago, made to two convicted felons and an alleged money launderer. The bank allegedly made mortgage loans to a convicted crime figure, according to the Radogno campaign, which added that Giannoulias denied knowing that the man was a convicted criminal and termed him "a very nice person."

Michael Madigan, the chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party, refuses to endorse Giannoulias, and recently mocked Obama, by calling him the "messiah."
C'mon Mike: Ask some tough questions.

Technorati tags: Obama National politics Illinois books politics media

Lines of people for Obama book signings

I decided against showing up for the Senator Barack Obama book signing in Skokie today. Yesterday downtown there were mobs of people, and I don't see the news value of taking a picture of a big line of people in front of a Barnes & Noble. Plus, Obama, according to media reports, wasn't "mixing it up" with the book buyers.

I thumbed through his new book yesterday. From what I could gather, it was lightweight "Oprah" type stuff.

Technorati tags: Obama National politics Illinois books politics

Family shot: Great Smoky Mountains National Park

I received a complaint that I've not put any family pictures up as part of my photo series from our recent trip to the Great Smoky Mountains.

So here we are.

Ill. 6th District: Duckworth low on cash, can't afford TV

This winter Ill. 6th District Democratic candidate Tammy Duckworth was the darling of national media as she was in the run-up in her primary campaign to claim the congressional seat of the retiring Henry Hyde.

Read the January 23 USA Today, the February 19 Washington Post, or this ABC News story from December 17, or this December 18 CBS News report.

Also in December Duckworth was interviewed by George Stephanopoulos for his "This Week" program.

Duckworth was recruited to run for Hyde's seat by Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Rahm Emanuel, a Chicago Dem congressman, and Illinois Senator Dick Durbin.

The appeal of Duckworth, who lives in the neighboring 8th District, is understandable. A double-amputee who received her wounds in Iraq, Duckworth is now against the Iraq war. No one will dare challenge her patriotism. And the national media, as well as many others, would love to see a Democrat replace Republican Henry Hyde, the man who presided over the Bill Clinton impeachment proceedings. Duckworth's opponent is State Senator Peter Roskam. He still has a lot of cash left, and is running television commercials in the expensive Chicago market.

Here are two:





The last one features a Ted Kennedy appearance.

But Duckworth, who is now low on cash, may not be able answer these attack ads because she can't afford it.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

"I couldn't afford to stay on the air, [but] I'm going to do everything I can to get my message out -- talk to the voters, do all of the grass-roots things," Duckworth said. "I am not going to let this be a campaign that is won or lost based on funds."

However, this report, from the Daily Herald, says:

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which reserved $2.3 million to run ads blasting Roskam, starts airing its first ad today.

Real Clear Politics has this race as a tie or a Duckworth lean, but Duckworth's numbers will probably start dropping as a result of Roskam's ad push.

Still, Duckworth has only $206,000 in cash left. Roskam has $1.5 million.

Related post: Bush in Chicago for House fundraisers

Big hat tip to Rich Miller's Capitol Fax.

Duckworth Roskam Illinois Illinois Politics Congress Politics Elections 2006

Harold Ford Jr. and Chicago's E2 nightclub tragedy

While I was in the Volunteer State a couple of weeks ago, I heard a radio commercial from Tennessee Republican Senate candidate Bob Corker about a $1,000 donation his opponent's campaign fund made to the Dwain Kyles Defense Fund that jogged my memory.

Rep. Harold Ford Jr. is the Democratic candidate for the senate seat being vacated by Bill Frist.

Who is Dwain Kyles? He was the owner of Chicago's E2 nightclub, where on February 17, 2003, 21 club patrons were killed in a stampede.

Kyles was subsequently charged for involuntary manslaughter. The club was greatly overcrowded that night. Kyles had rented out E2 to a local dance promoter whose security guards used pepper spray to subdue two women involved in a fight. The spraying panicked the 1,000 or so club customers, many of whom streamed toward the front door entrance of the E2--but that door had been bolted shut in a terribly misguided attempt to defuse the uproar.

Chicago fire marshals deemed that the capacity of the club 250 people, of course far more than that had packed on that busy night, the Sunday of President's Day weekend.

The tragedy of course dominated the Chicago news outlets for days. What was odd, was that several of the city's African-American leaders--all of the victims were black--were quick to defend the Kyles, who also is African American.

From the February 19, 2003 Chicago Tribune, free registration required:

In the days since the 21 patrons were killed, Jackson and his son U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) have rushed to defend Kyles and the club, as have U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.) and a host of prominent Chicago ministers.

"Dwain Kyles is a childhood friend of mine. Today, he's a lawyer ... and an upstanding example of a young professional person in our community," the younger Jackson said in a prepared statement.

While calling Monday's disaster "unfortunate and tragic," he insisted "extending blame and pointing fingers is inappropriate and unnecessary before the first funeral has been held and the investigation is complete."

A year later, one of the victims, Eazay Rogers still (free reg. for the link) still didn't have a headstone.

And another year later, the campaign fund of Congressman Harold Ford donated $1,000 to the Dwain Kyles Defense Fund.

Via Free Republic, from the Chattanooga Times Free Press:

"The Rev. Samuel Billy Kyles is a pastor in Memphis, and his son in Chicago is a business owner, and there was a tragedy," the Memphis congressman said.

Rep. Ford said the elder Mr. Kyles is a well-known figure in Memphis and knew Martin Luther King Jr.

Making such a contribution is "not something I ordinarily would do," Rep. Ford said. "I don’t think he did anything wrong. It was an awful thing."

Ben Mitchell, campaign manager for Republican Senate candidate Bob Corker, of Chattanooga, called the contribution "another in a series of questionable decisions by Congressman Ford."

"It’s difficult to understand how support for a criminal defendant in Chicago has anything to do with the Senate race in Tennessee, but I guess that’s a discussion he’ll probably need to have with his donors," Mr. Mitchell said.

Kyles' father was a founding member of Operation Push, Jesse Jackson's organization.

In my opinion, it's pretty bizarre that Ford's campaign wrote a check for Kyles' fund. Campaign financing laws might prohibit it, but if Eazay Rogers still doesn't have a headstone for her grave, perhaps Ford's campaign fund can buy one.

Technorati tags: Tennessee Illinois Chicago E2 Harold Ford Jr. Politics Jesse Jackson Elections 2006

DePaul's Finkelstein crosses the line again, calls Jews "Shylock"

Yes, Chicago's DePaul University is the same school that fired longtime professor Thomas Klocek for speaking out in favor of Israel. Meanwhile, that nutcase Norman Finkelstein is teaching at DePaul.

In a subhead of an article from the Israelis newspaper Haaretz the published on his web site about a proposal for restitution for property seized during the Holocaust, Abnormal Norman used this statement:

Forsooth! Shylock,/Is it thine name I hear/ringing/in my ear?

Ah yes, the old stereotype: Jews and money.

Hat tip Dr. Steven Plaut.

Technorati tags: Illinois Chicago DePaul College Education Norman FinkelsteinIsrael ישראל Jewish

Google slant of news may spread to YouTube

Earlier this month search-engine giant Google purchased the popular YouTube video portal. Credible charges against Google have been made that there search engines have a liberal bias. There's a fear that the left-wing slant may spread to their new acquisition, YouTube.

From the American Thinker:

Five months ago, the Internet’s top search engine Google was accused of banning conservative websites from its news crawl. Last week, the e-behemoth offered to purchase YouTube, the preeminent provider of videos over the Web that has recently been implicated in censorship of its own. With their pending merger, serious questions arise about the future of the most powerful telecommunications medium on the landscape, and who if anyone is trying to control its content.

As reported by American Thinker on May 22, Internet search king Google eliminated a number of conservative e-zines and blogs from its news crawl earlier this year. In all of the cases cited, the alleged offense was the dissemination of “hate speech.”

After closer examination, the tie between all the banished websites was the publishing of articles about radical Islam and its relation to international terrorism. Yet, sites that actually were more specifically involved in such activities – like Hezb’allah’s propaganda arm in Lebanon, al Manar – were unaffected by Google’s “hate speech” policies, and continue to be a part of its news crawl.

And there is this, from the same AT article, via the Washington Examiner:

Enter Fox News pundit, author and top-rated blogger Michelle Malkin. Last week she received notice from YouTube, the world’s most popular video sharing service, that her video had been deemed :offensive." The result? Her account may be terminated and her videos deleted.

Malkin's videos are gone from YouTube. The video YouTube thought was offensive was about radical Islam.

Just wait until Google officially owns YouTube, the delete buttons on the Google keyboards will be worn out quickly.

Technorati tags: Google YouTube bias Michelle Malkin

Chicago Bears: Team of Destiny?

After coming back from a 20 point deficit, and by winning the game with a touchdown from a punt return, the undefeated Chicago Bears edged the surprisingly tough Arizona Cardinals last night, 24-23.

Championship caliber teams find ways to win. This could be the Bears' year. However, their offense needs to show up for their remaining games if they are going to win it all this season.

For a different perspective of last night's game, visit Brainster.

Technorati tags:Chicago Bears nfl Arizona Cardinals sports

Obama on cover of Time

Barack Obama has a new book out, and I believe he'll be in my neighborhood on Wednesday for a book signing. To celebrate his tome, Time Magazine has put the junior senator from Illinois on its cover.

Last year, Newsweek gave Obama the same honor.

I might try to make that book signing, however, I'm not going to wait in hour for two hour to see Obama, and talk about blogging and other issues.

From CBS 2 Chicago:

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is featured on the cover of Time Magazine this week.

The headline for the magazine reads, "Why Barack Obama Could Be the Next President."

For the cover story, Time’s Joe Klein tagged along on the campaign trail for the first-term senator, who has been stumping for numerous Democratic candidates.

The issue is on newsstands Monday.

Obama has said in the past that he is not planning to run for president in 2008, although numerous political leaders and celebrities have been encouraging him to do so.

The new book is called "Audacity of Hope."

Here is the Time story.

Technorati tags: Obama Barack Obama Politics Congress Senate 2008 Democrats

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Deaniac Paul Blank says Wal-Mart "Has officially declared war on the Democratic Party"

Paul Blank is the campaign director for Wake Up Wal-Mart. Before that, he was the national political director for the Howard Dean presidential campaign.

And it seems that some of the craziness his former boss is known for has rubbed of on Blank.

From CNS News:

Wal-Mart "has officially declared war on the Democratic Party" just three weeks before the Nov. 7 midterm elections, according to a group that wants to "change" the nation's biggest retail chain by unionizing its 1.3 million employees.

"Rather than embrace our positive vision for a better America, Wal-Mart has officially declared war on the Democratic Party, elected leaders and every American who believes we should pay workers a living wage, provide affordable health care to all, protect American jobs and keep America safe," Paul Blank, campaign director for WakeUpWalMart.com, said in a statement Friday.

"Even though an overwhelming majority of Americans, including Democrats, Republicans and Independents, now reject President Bush's right-wing agenda that has brought us a culture of corruption, repeated scandals, shipped American jobs overseas and even jeopardized our national security, Wal-Mart is launching a political campaign to help keep President Bush in power by trying to defeat Democrats who called on Wal-Mart to be a more responsible employer," Blank added.

Blank's comments came in response to an article in Thursday's Minneapolis Star Tribune, which stated: "The world's largest retailer is about to take the unusual step of distributing information about specific candidates to its 1.3 million employees nationwide, according to a company official.

Hey, it was the unions who first politicized Wal-Mart.

From the Minneapolis "free registration required" Star-Tribune:

The move signals a new willingness on the part of Wal-Mart to confront political opponents, primarily Democrats, who say the company is offering its employees substandard wages and health care benefits. In the past, Wal-Mart has engaged elected officials directly and through lobbyists, but it has rarely tried to influence elections by appealing directly to its workforce, Tovar said.

Last month the company announced that it would launch a voter registration drive, hoping to sign up all its employees, including nearly 18,000 in Minnesota at 66 stores.

But trying to sway political opinions takes a giant step forward. Some retail observers say the strategy could prove effective in small towns and cities where Wal-Mart is a large employer, and where local residents might oppose attacks against the Bentonville, Ark.-based company. "This puts elected officials across the country on notice that, if you attack Wal-Mart, then there's going to be retaliation," said Ken Bernhardt, a professor of marketing at Georgia State University. "It could make some [political leaders] think twice before attacking the company."

I'm sure if some Republcan politicians showed up at those anti Wal-Mart rallies, they'd be part of this new campaign.

And for those politicians who show up at these "anti" rallies, I have this advice: Learn how to take a punch.

And my advice to Paul Blank is this: Stop being a crybaby.

Oh, Wake Up Wal-Mart is funded by the United Food & Commercial Workers union.

Technorati tags: business big box Wal-Mart Business retail Minnesota Democrats Wake Up Wal-Mart Howard Dean

eBay fundraiser for milblogger's stricken wife begins Thurs. night

Ellicia, the wife of milblogger SC Eagle, is quite ill with brain, breast, and lung cancer. They have a growing pile of bills to take care of, and to help the family out, Andrea Shea King and Mark Vance, the Radio Patriots, have organized an eBay auction that will begin Thursday night, October 19 at 10pm Eastern.

Buzz Patterson, like myself a onetime guest on their Constitutional Public Radio show, has graciously donated autographed copies of three of his books:

Those books are:

Reckless Disregard: How Liberal Democrats Undercut Our Military, Endanger Our Soldiers, and Jeopardize Our Security

And...
Dereliction of Duty: The Eyewitness Account of How Bill Clinton Endangered America's Long-Term National Security

As well as the soon-to-be-released...

War Crimes - The Left's Campaign to Eliminate the Military and Lose the War on Terror

Technorati tags: books Afghanistan Military milbloggers radio cancer eBay

Defeat in Iraq bad? You bet

Well, my opinion is that a U.S. defeat would be bad for our nation. Leslie Gelb, former head of the Council on Foreign Relations, isn't so sure.

How did he get that job, by the way?

From Time:

To me, the relentless mud slide of insurgency and civil war in Iraq is leading to unacceptable strategic disaster for the U.S. There appear to be no viable paths to follow in order to avoid it. Neither "staying the course"--whatever that Bush strategy now means--nor the Democrats' idea of exiting by timetables offers a semblance of success. Both approaches produce only nightmares: general chaos; Iraq's center taken over by terrorists emboldened by victory over America, their pockets bulging with Iraqi oil money; southern Iraq controlled by pro-Iranians or Iran itself; and Iraq's neighbors picking at the nation's carcass until regional war erupts and prompts oil prices to hit $150 a barrel.

But while those fears have a real hold on me, I can't help transporting myself back more than 30 years to that day in Vietnam when I felt certain the dominoes would fall throughout Asia and destroy America's strategic position there and elsewhere. I was wrong about those dominoes, as were almost all foreign-policy experts.

Dominoes? Does Cambodia come to mind? Laos?

Also, does Leslie remember the Vietnamese boat people? The "re-education" camps? Pol Pot? True, Gelb is discussing the Vietnam and Iraq war from the perspective of U.S. foreign policy, but having millions of jihadists emboldened by a coalition defeat in Iraq would not serve American interests very well.

And should we ignore a possible humanitarian disaster if we just packed up and left Iraq? That's already the case of course in Darfur, of course.

Hey Gelb, I may not have all the degrees you have, but the world is not a game of Risk.

Technorati tags: Iraq War on Terror Vietnam Việt Nam Military Risk

Appalachian Trail

The modest path pictured here is the Appalachian Trail, which runs from Maine to Georgia; it was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. The trail is 2,175 miles long, and 9,000 people have reported walking walking the entire length.

The part of the trail pictured is in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, one of the more rugged segments of the trail. The highest point of elevation for the trail is near this spot.

Technorati tags: Appalachian Trail Tennessee Photos Photography Great Smoky Mountains nature North Carolina

Pajamas Media Blog Week in Review discusses Darfur and the "War of the Rockets"

Austin Bay once again moderates a Pajamas Blog Week in Review, the 20th podcast, and is joined by bloggers Michael Totten, co-author of the recently-released pamphlet, Series #1: The Hezbollah War and Gerard Van der Leun of American Digest.

They talk about Darfur, which Totten calls "Rwanda in slow motion." The recent "War of the Rockets," which is what they call the recent Israel-Hezbollah war, and the possibility of a Lebanese civil war are also discussed.

Pajamas blogger Ed Driscoll produces. Sponsoring the podcast is Volvo.

Listen to the podcast here. Free subscriptions are available at the iTunes web site.

Technorati tags: Current Affairs Politics podcasts Podcast Podcasting iPod blog Pajamas Media Israel ישראל books Lebanon Hezbollah Darfur Sudan

Exclusive Pajamas Media's Politics Central podcast with David Zucker and Myrna Sokoloff

"9/11 Democrat" David Zucker, best known for such spoof films as Airplane! and a couple of Scary Movie films, along with fellow-traveler Myrna Sokoloff, are interviewed by Pajamas Media's Roger L. Simon about their GOP-scuttled-but-YouTube-reborn Madeline Albright spoof ad.

They discuss their next ad for the Republican Central Committee as well, one about what your tax bill will look like if the Democrats take over Congress.

Listen to the podcast here. Free subscriptions to Politics Central podcasts are available on the iTunes web site.

Technorati tags: Current Affairs Politics podcasts Podcast Podcasting iPod blog Pajamas Media Politics Central YouTube Madeline Albright movies

2004 report: DePaul's Norman Finkelstein being sued for libel

The dateline on this one is 2004, but it's news to me, as well as for Steven Plaut, who sent this my way. I'm not sure if the translation (the source is an Austrian publication), just got put online, but I think it's worth posting:

From Die Juedische:

Wiesenthal Center Los Angeles

Paris, 26 March 2004

Norman Finkelstein, the American author of "The Holocaust Industry", and his publisher, are being sued under French law against libel. The French edition (based on the English-language original) is considered actionable and replete with Holocaust revisionism and incitement to antisemitism.

The Simon Wiesenthal Centre's Director for International Liaison, Dr. Shimon Samuels, who three years ago publicly debated Finkelstein when the book was first published in London, presented the following testimony for today's Paris hearing:

"'The Holocaust Industry' presents a great danger. Mr. Finkelstein's thesis is an extremist attack on Jews in general, and American Jews in particular, accusing them of exploiting the suffering of the Shoah as 'a pretext for their crimes in the context of the Middle-East conflict.'

This thesis, so close to that of Roger Garaudy [a condemned French Holocaust denier and anti-Jewish hate-monger] today constitutes the principal credo of modern antisemitism.

I'm not sure how this ended up, or if this case is still ongoing. Keep it tuned here.

Related posts: Press Release: DePaul professor defames Catholic education; Donohue defends Dershowitz

Dershowitz clobbers Finkelstein, "Rabbi" Lerner

Daniel Pipes on CAIR hypocrisy in Klocek case

Technorati tags: Illinois Chicago DePaul College Education Norman FinkelsteinIsrael ישראל France Francais Jewish

Great Smoky Mountains Fraser Fir trees in danger

I took this photo during a foggy sunset on Clingman's Dome on the North Carolina-Tennessee border in Great Smoky Mountains National Park last week.

The trees pictured aren't victims of a recent forest fire, the trees were killed by a European invader species, a flightless insect known as the balsam woolly adelgid.

Clingman's Dome, at 6,643 feet above sea level, is the highest peak inside the park.

Technorati tags: Tennessee Photos Photography Great Smoky Mountains Trees nature North Carolina

Mr. Right's new photo caption contest asks for you to grab a dictionary

The latest phot caption contest from Mr. Right pokes fun at Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer, and Andrew Cuomo. Enter here.
Technorati tags: humor funny caption contest anti-war Politics humour Chuck Schumer Andrew Cuomo

Detroit Tigers American League champions

I had a lot more enjoyment last year posting about my Chicago White Sox winning the American League championship, but all the same, congratulations to the Detroit Tigers, who are this year's league champs.

It was a frustrating series for the Oakland Athletics, exemplified by the A's half of the eighth inning tonight when they put four men on base and didn't put a run across the plate.

Technorati tags: Detroit Tigers Oakland Athletics baseball world series

Wal-Mart planning five supercenters in Chicago

A big Chicago area story from the summer was the debate over Chicago's big-box "living wage" ordinance. The bill passed Chicago's city council, only to be vetoed by Mayor Richard Daley, who viewed it, correctly in my opinion, as an anti-jobs ordinance.

The stores will be built in city wards whose alderman voted against the living wage ordinance, although one alderman, only voted not to override Daley's veto.

From Crain's Chicago Business:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is offering up an election-time goodie to Mayor Richard M. Daley and his City Council allies: five Supercenter stores that would go into wards whose aldermen helped the mayor block a proposed minimum wage for big-box retailers like Wal-Mart.

Crain’s has learned that Wal-Mart has presented the city with a list of five potential store sites in heavily African-American South Side neighborhoods. While a final decision has not yet been made, the retailer is firm enough on them that it is expected to seek formal city zoning and other approvals before the end of the year, a person close to the matter says.

That means the prospect of thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in construction work would be on the table at the same time the aldermen, and presumably Mayor Daley, will be making their case to voters in advance of the February city elections.

The construction work would be done, of course, by union contractors, something Wake Up Wal-Mart and Wal-Mart Watch won't be reporting.

The areas where those stores will be built have little in the way of a viable retail presence. So as I've reported previously, Wal-Mart moving into these communities won't be driving out scores of other merchants, as Wal-Mart opponents claim the retail giant does.

Related post: Lines of people greet first Chicago Wal-Mart

Technorati tags: business big box Wal-Mart Chicago Illinois Business retail Richard Daley

Newfound Gap Road

That's Little Marathon Pundit in front of Newfound Gap Road, which bisects Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

Technorati tags: Tennessee Photos Photography Great Smoky Mountains

Bandits and the marathon

In nine days the Chicago Marathon will take place. I will be there because I paid my $90 entry fee and filled out the online entry form.

But several thousand cheapskates and leeches will also run the Chicago Marathon as "bandits," runners' slang for runners who don't pay the entry fee but crash the party anyway.

The Chicago Tribune's Julie Deardorf has an article, free registration required, today about the ethics of banditry.

Of course, the most famous bandit, if he even did ran it, was John Kerry, who claims to have "bandited" the Boston Marathon sometime around 1980, a detail Deardorff left out of her story.

Technorati tags: John Kerry Marathon run running Chicago Marathon

Ex-Ill Gov. Ryan ordered to begin serving sentence in January; cloud around current governor darkens

This first item comes from AP:

A federal judge dashed George Ryan's hopes of avoiding prison while his corruption case is on appeal and ordered the former governor Friday to start serving his sentence in January as scheduled.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer rejected Ryan's claim that misconduct by members of the jury at the close of the six-month trial made it likely that a higher court would throw out the verdict and therefore the 72-year-old former governor should stay out of prison in the meantime.

The next comes from CBS 2 Chicago:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s top fund-raiser was a no-show in federal court for an arraignment Friday, but he is not yet considered a fugitive.

Antoin “Tony” Rezko, 51, of Wilmette, is named in a 24-count federal indictment accusing him of taking part in an elaborate scheme to shake down companies doing business of the state.

Rezko’s attorney, Joseph J. Duffy, told U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel in court that the defendant is traveling and plans to return to face the charges next week.

The close adviser to Gov. Blagojevich failed to appear for arraignment on charges and loan fraud. But Duffy said that the real estate and fast food entrepreneur who scattered campaign contributions across the political landscape and became an adviser to Blagojevich was still concluding business overseas. He said the business trip was scheduled before the court hearing.

Finally, the last one comes the Beachwood Reporter:

Will Blagojevich be implicated? Three sources in a position to know have confirmed to me that at least one figure cooperating with authorities has told investigators that the governor personally offered political favors in exchange for campaign contributions. That doesn't make it true, but it likely makes the governor a target.

Now, I'm pretty sure Rezko will show up for next week's arraignment. But if he doesn't, that will be the torpedo that sinks Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

When will the national media start paying attention to the Illinois governor's race?

Technorati tags: Rezko 2006 George Ryan RINO Blagojevich Elections illinois politics Politics corruption Illinois Breaking News news

PDA friendly sites

As regular readers of this blog know, I use a Treo 650 a lot in my blogging. With a PDA cellphone such as the Treo 650, pretty much any web site is accessible from the device. Formatting is an issue, but Fox News, mobile.foxnews.com, CNN, mobile.cnn.com, and Yahoo!, mobile.yahoo.com, all look great on my Treo. Presumably, they'll work the same on a Blackberry.

I'll add some more as I come across them.

Technorati tags: Treo PDA Treo 650 SmartPhone Fox News CNN Yahoo

Air America financially out of gas

Well, the rumors proved true today--the liberal talk radio network declared bankruptcy today. And surprise, surprise, they chose to announce this move on a Friday, the favorite day of the week to dump bad news.

I'm not shocked. A network that denigrates "big business" and tax cuts is going to have trouble attracting lucrative advertisers.

I'm sure know that now.

Technorati tags: Air America radio news liberal

North Korea crisis: No nukes is good news

Well, it appears that North Korea may have been pulling the nuclear wool over our eyes.

From AP:

Results from an initial air sampling after North Korea's announced nuclear test showed no evidence of radioactive particles that would be expected from a successful nuclear detonation, a U.S. government intelligence official said Friday.

The test results do not necessarily mean the North Korean blast was not a nuclear explosion, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to disclose the sampling results.

The U.S. government remains uncertain of the nature of the underground explosion, officials said, although the air sampling tends to suggest that the test blast was not entirely successful.

The air sample was taken Tuesday by a specialized aircraft, the WC-135, flying from Kadena air base in Okinawa, Japan. It apparently took the air sample over the Sea of Japan, between the Korean mainland and Japan.

Technorati tags: North Korea News korea Asia

Bush in Chicago with pics and video from Freedom Folks

Jake and The Bald Chick from Freedom Folks, two busy people with cameras, were outside the Chicago Hilton yesterday chronicling the ant-Bush demonstration, uh, make that freak show, yesterday.

As I noted yesterday, the president was in Chicago raising money for House GOP candidates David McSweeney and Peter Roskam.

Technorati tags Peter Roskam David McSweeney Illinois elections politics Bush

Rock City, Tennessee

Just as Wall Drug billboards dot the South Dakota landscape, so do Rock City barn rooftops in Tennessee. I took this photo in White Pine, Tennessee last Saturday.

Rock City is a collection of rock gardens near Chattanooga, Tennessee.

But like Wall Drug, it's more famous for its signage than the place itself. Wall Drug, however, gives out free bumperstickers.

Technorati tags: Tennessee History Americana Photos Photography

Bush in Chicago for House fundraisers

Two of the closely watched congressional races are here in Illinois. That hasn't escaped President Bush's notice, who was in Chicago this afternoon to raise money for the campaigns of Republican congressional candidates David McSweeney and Peter Roskam.

In 2004, Democrat Melissa Bean ousted longtime (too longtime) incumbent Phil Crane in the 8th district, which covers Chicago's northwest suburbs. McSweeney is challenging Bean--this seat is considered the only chance for the Republicans to oust a Democratic incumbent. The smart money has Bean winning by a tad next month, but if the Topinka campaign catches fire, that could change. Also, part of the district is in Cook County, and Republican Cook County President candidate Tony Peraica just might be able to fuel the disgust with the current Democratic-controlled mess that is known as Cook County government to pull off what seems impossible--a Republican winning a county-wide race in deep-blue Cook County. So a red tide could beach Bean.

In the west suburban 6th, Democrat Tammy Duckworth, who lives in Bean's 8th district, is a Iraq war veteran and a double amputee. Her campaign has gotten a lot of national attention, and money, but the 6th is looking like it's leaning toward Republican Peter Roskam. The 6th district is Henry Hyde's seat, he's retiring at the end of this term.

President Bush won both districts in 2004.

Technorati tags Peter Roskam Melissa Bean David McSweeney Illinois elections politics Bush

Pajamas Media's Politics Central podcast with author Po Bronson

Andrew Keen of Pajamas Media and Politics Central interviews author Po Bronson, author of What Should I Do with My Life?: The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question, and Why Do I Love These People?: Honest and Amazing Stories of Real Families, talks about his books and writing, and has some concerns that about publishers putting out "confessional" books with the belief that only those who've lived the experience are entitled to write about it. That mindset contributed, all sober minds agree, including Bronson's, to the James Frey, JT LeRoy, and Nasdijj fabrication scandals.

The podcast, Telling Stories from Life, is available here. Free subcription to Politics Central can be found at the iTunes web site.

Technorati tags: podcasts Podcast Podcasting iPod blog Pajamas Media Politics Central Books Po Bronson

A jab from the Left: New Republic skewers DePaul

For the most part, criticism of Chicago's DePaul University in regards to the Thomas Klocek affair and the numerous Norman Finkelstein atrocities have come from conservative minded publications such as FrontPage Magazine, National Review, and the American Thinker. An Alan Dershowitz article about Finkelstein appeared in on the Huffington Post, but pretty much, the well-deserved assault on DePaul has come from the Right.

But today I came across an article from New Republic Online. New Republic is well to the left of people like John Kerry and Al Gore.

From a piece by Marty Peretz, "The Spine:"

The first case involves Thomas Klocek, who for 14 years was a DePaul "adjunct instructor" at the School for New Learning (as opposed, I gather, from the "old learning"), one of those academic indentured servants who now make up perhaps 50 percent of faculty in higher education, people usually without offices, benefits, job safety, and status. He was suspended from his job and then dismissed without so much as a hearing for hurting the feelings of some Palestinian students, not his students and not in his class but at a campus cafeteria where members of Students for Justice in Palestine and United Muslims Moving Ahead had set up two tables with leaflets. Klocek, a pious Catholic, confronted the people at the table saying that their materials were distorted. An angry confrontation ensued, during which Klocek quoted the director of Al Arabiya TV as stating, "While not all Muslims are terrorists, it is a sad fact that almost all terrorists are Muslims." This, alas, is an indisputable fact, as clearly Pope Benedict grasps. Would the Holy Father be permitted to speak at DePaul? Yet a simple truth was grounds for Klocek's dismissal. Another statement Klocek uttered that led to his firing was that "Palestinian" is a "twentieth-century construction." It certainly isn't a nineteenth-century construction or an eighth-century one, either. This is true for the peoples of the entire Arab world, save for Egypt. And, to those who lay claim to be members of the Iraqi nation or the Lebanese nation (or, for that matter, the Palestinian nation) I, we ask: When will you behave as a nation? Your nationhood is in your hands.

The second case revolves around Norman Finkelstein who, a quarter century after getting his PhD and after having taught at Hunter and Brooklyn Colleges and New York University, is now an assistant professor of political science at DePaul. This is a stunning instance of downward mobility. Richly deserved. But no students deserve to be under the tutelage of Finkelstein. His initial appointment and now his pending designation as tenured professor have been supported on the grounds of academic freedom. This makes an at best flawed process--forgive the Catholic terminology--the equivalent of a papal bull. In fact, a papal bull would encounter more discussion and objections among faithful Catholics then Finkelstein's supporters would permit his scholarly critics. The fact is that Finkelstein is not a scholar. He is a nut case. There are many contentious issues in Holocaust history. But he is a Holocaust denier. That is like denying that slavery existed in America and that the economy of the South was based on slavery. Someone who denied this would not get a faculty appointment, and, if he did, one would think it much more than odd and the academics who made the appointment either stupid or malevolent. This would not be a process that could or should be defended on the grounds of academic freedom. An appointment certified by a department chair and a university president may still be intellectually preposterous. If you want to get more information on both the Klocek and Finkelstein cases just search for them on Google, 14,000 and 900,000 citations, respectively.

DePaul must be well aware that Google is filled with less than flattering references to itself via Google and Yahoo! But they have no one to blame but themselves.

Technorati tags: Illinois Chicago DePaul Academic freedom Free Speech Thomas Klocek College Education Norman FinkelsteinIsrael ישראל

Great Smoky Mountain Sunset

Mrs. Marathon Pundit took this sunset photo last Friday from the top of Clingman's Dome, a mountain that marks the border between North Carolina and Tennessee.

Clingman's Dome is pretty much right in the center of Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

Technorati tags: Smokies Smoky Mountains Tennessee North Carolina Photos Photography

Press Release: DePaul professor defames Catholic education; Donohue defends Dershowitz

The below is a press release from the Catholic League. If you watch cable news, the man quoted here, Bill Donohue appears frequently when Catholic issues are a point of discussion.

Hat tip to Dr. Steven Plaut

WARNING: The Indybay link is NOT SAFE FOR WORK!

Catholic League president Bill Donohue issued the following remarks today about an incident involving a DePaul University professor:

“Catholics have every right to expect that Catholic colleges and universities are free from bigotry of any kind. Unfortunately, a recent ugly incident by DePaul professor Norman G. Finkelstein has betrayed that trust. To be specific, an online column he wrote at indybay.org suggesting that Alan Dershowitz be assassinated, coupled with an obscene depiction of the Harvard professor, is cause for alarm.

“Finkelstein has every right to quarrel with Dershowitz’s proud defense of Israel’s right to exist, but when he compares him to a Nazi (this despicable charge is made twice), then elementary standards of civility have been shattered. Similarly, calling Dershowitz a ‘moral pervert’ who ‘missed the climactic scene of his little peep show’ is the language used by street propagandists, not academicians. Make no mistake about it, Finkelstein wrote this to illustrate the vicious cartoon he commissioned: Dershowitz is depicted masturbating in glee over dead Lebanese civilians. It doesn’t get much lower than this.

“There are plenty of arenas in and around Chicago where those who want to rant can go to express themselves, but a university is not such a venue: the university exists so that the truth may be pursued. That is what a liberal arts education is expected to provide, and it is nothing but a travesty when the rights afforded faculty members are abused in the way Finkelstein has done. This is doubly true when it happens on a Catholic campus.

“The time has come for responsible Catholic leaders to hold up a stop sign to this kind of ad hominem assault. Robust free speech should be welcomed on campus, but if it is to have pedagogical value, it must respect logic and standards of evidence. Character assassination of the kind Finkelstein engages in does not meet that test. He has abused his rights as a faculty member and he has defamed Catholic education.”

Shameful...but this is what I've come to expect from DePaul University.

Related post: Thomas Klocek's free speech struggle with DePaul: A blog-ography

Technorati tags: Illinois Chicago DePaul College Education Norman FinkelsteinIsrael ישראל Dershowitz Catholic

Snow on October 12

I usually don't write these kinds of posts, but since it's snowing out side, and I live in Illinois, not Canada, it's newsworthy to me.

Technorati tags: snow weather Illinois

Cumberland Gap: Where the West was first won

Over the centuries the American West has been pushed, well, west. Prior to the American Revolution, the Appalachian Mountains marked the spot where the West began.

Dr. Thomas Walker was the first European-American to travel through the Cumberland Gap; the mountain pass had been traveled by Native Americans for centuries.

To 18th century Americans, the Appalachians seemed to be an impassable barrier, Walker's discovery of the Cumberland Gap changed that, especially after Daniel Boone guided his first batch of pioneers through it.

Cumberland Gap is still an important transportation corridor today. Mrs. Marathon Pundit took the photo last Saturday morning on our way home back to the Chicago area. As I remarked in my Treo-blog that day, Cumberland Gap National Historical Park is not burdened by the crowds of better known parks, if peace and quiet is what your looking for, then look up Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, which is located where Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia meet.

This is the first of another Marathon Pundit photo series; I'm posting the pics in reverse order of our trip.

Technorati tags: Kentucky Virginia Tennessee Cumberland Gap History Americana

Pajamas Media podcast with Belmont Club about North Korea

I just got done listening to a short but great podcast from Richard Fernandez of Pajamas Media, who blogs at the Belmont Club, interviewing Dr. Robert Ayson of the Graduate Studies in Strategy and Defence at the Australian National University. They discuss the North Korean nuclear crisis and what the possibilities are of Australia and Japan joining the nuclear club.

Technorati tags: Australia Japan North Korea Current Affairs Politics podcasts Podcast Podcasting iPod blog Pajamas Media

Top Gov. Blagojevich advisor and fundraiser indicted in kickback scheme

Are the feds closing the ring on Blagojevich? Other than a hypothetical Blago comment such as "It's an indictment, not a conviction," Gov. Blagojevich will have trouble spinning himself out of this one.

Will this news finally put the Illinois governor's office into play for the GOP and its candidate, Judy Baar Topinka?

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Businessman Antoin Rezko, a member of Gov. Blagojevich’s inner circle, and GOP insider Stuart Levine shook down investment firms for millions of dollars in kickbacks looking to do business with a state teachers pension fund, according to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday.
While Levine had been charged in the case before and is cooperating with the feds, the indictment marks the first time Rezko has been charged and represents the closest federal investigators have come to Blagojevich’s inner circle.

Rezko, 51, of Wilmette, is implicated in crooked deals with more than half a dozen investment firms.

Rezko and Levine are also accused of shaking down a $1 million kickback to get state approval for a corporation to build a hospital in Crystal Lake.

UPDATE 2:10PM CDT:Cal Skinner at the McHenry County has a copy of the indictment press release on his blog.
Technorati tags: Blagojevich Elections illinois politics Politics corruption Topinka Illinois Breaking News news

Illinois gov race: Blagojevich, Topinka meet, argue, in front of Chicago Tribune editorial board

As I posted here a couple of days ago, it appears that there will be no further debates between Democratic incumbent Governor Rod Blagojevich and his Republican challenger, Judy Baar Topinka.

To put it mildly, Blagojevich has been plagued by numerous ethical questions throughout his 3 1/2 years as chief executive of the nation's fifth most-populous state.

Topinka, currently the state treasurer, has been quick to jump on Blago's numerous failings, but in my opinion, isn't doing a very good job telling voters why she'd be a better governor.

From the Chicago Tribune, free registration required:

Sitting side-by-side in the wood-paneled Tribune editorial board room in what is likely to be their last face-to-face meeting before the Nov. 7 election, Blagojevich sought to rebut ethical questions that have clouded his first term, while Topinka tried to make the case that she has the vision to be governor.

But each candidate left voters with more questions to ponder after a 101-minute forum in which Blagojevich stayed largely on message by focusing on his list of accomplishments and Topinka responded with sarcasm and accusations of scandal.

Blagojevich said he didn't know whether his family received additional checks from a longtime friend who wrote one for $1,500 in 2003 to one of the governor's daughters after the friend's wife got a state job. Questioned about federal and state investigations into allegations of wrongdoing involving hiring, contracting and fundraising by his administration, Blagojevich repeatedly would not answer whether he had hired a criminal defense attorney.

"I have all the lawyers that a governor in the modern world ought to have," Blagojevich said.

Each side is blaming the other as to why there won't be more debates.
Technorati tags: Blagojevich Elections illinois politics Politics corruption Topinka Illinois

Spain offering African countries millions in euros to take illegals back

The United States is not the only country facing a huge illegal immigration problem. Spain's Atlantic possession, the Canary Islands, is a landing port for illegals hoping to gain entry into the European continent.

From Expatica:

Spain has offered Guinea and Guinea-Conakry EUR 10 million in aid in return for accepting the return of illegal immigrants.

The deal as part of a new diplomatic offensive in West Africa aimed at curbing the flow of illegal migrants to the Canary Islands.

Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos is to sign a similar deal with Senegal on Tuesday.

Moratinos announced the assistance package after talks with senior government officials in the former French colonies.

Technorati tags: Spain España Canary Islands illegal immigration immigration Africa news

More retail insanity in Chicago

Just south of Alderman Joe Moore's 49th Ward is Mary Ann Smith's 48th. Moore is best known nationally for his unsucessful anti big-box retail outlet crusade. Smith got her share of attention with her proposal to essentially ban elephants within Chicago's city limits. Trust me on this one, rampaging pachyderms are not a burning issue in Chicago. Of course, Smith has circuses and Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo in mind with her PETA inspired legislation.

There must be something in the air on Chicago's North Side that gets alderman in a tizzy about national retail chains.

From the Chicago Tribune, free registration required.

For years, the Andersonville neighborhood on Chicago's Far North Side has been defined by its quirky, hip, one-of-a-kind shops and eateries: Women and Children First bookstore. Wikstrom's Gourmet Foods. Alamo Shoes.

Now, as the once-struggling neighborhood becomes a hot destination for residents and shoppers--and large corporations take notice--some local business leaders and politicians are considering a drastic attempt to lock in the area's charm: the city's first ban on chain retailers.

According to a draft ordinance by the city Law Department, "formula businesses" such as Starbucks could be banned from designated business districts in certain historic neighborhoods.

The ordinance has not yet been introduced. But if it were to make its way through the City Council successfully, qualifying neighborhoods could decide whether to opt in to the ban.

Like Moore's Rogers Park neighborhood, I used to live in Andersonville. The area does have a few "quirky" stores, but architecturally the neighborhood is nothing special.

Here's what's going on. The current retailers there, the quirks, are afraid of competition, so in the "Chicago way," these merchants are asking for protection from their local alderman, plain and simple.

Technorati tags: Retail Retail Chicago Illinois big box Joe Moore business

Mark Foley post

A couple of liberal friends of mine have complained to me that I haven't done a post on Mark Foley, the perv congressman from Florida. I was on vacation last week, but I'm going to address it now.

Has House Speaker Dennis Hastert mishandled the Foley case? Absolutely.

Of course I'm not a congressman, but all I can think of if I was sending out such e-mails from my work e-mail address, at best, I repeat, at best I'd get a strong reprimand for the first offense, and then I'd get fired (with almost no chance of collecting unemployment) if I sent out a second sexually-tinged e-mail.

Technorati tags: Foley Republicans Hastert Congress

Update on milblogger's wife's illness

Another friend-of-the-blog, the Radio Patriots, has an update on the situation with milblogger's SC Eagle's wife, Ellicia; she's quite ill with cancer.

Technorati tags Military Cancer radio milbloggers

Brainster on the radio

Friend-of-the-blog Pat Curley of Brainster will be on St. Louis' Allman & Smash Show , on 97.1 Talk Radio, Wednesday at 7:10am Central. but if you don't live in St. Louis or the Metro East area, you can listen in live here.

Technorati tags: radio St. Louis Missouri Illinois Metro East

New jihad declared by Somalia

For those of you who insist the Islamic term "jihad" never means warfare, I bring to your attention a story from London's Telegraph newspaper.

Oh, to my knowledge, Israel is not getting blamed for the conflict in the horn of Africa.

From the Telegraph:

Radical Muslims controlling much of southern Somalia yesterday declared jihad, or holy war, on Ethiopia after accusing its troops of capturing a town taken by the fundamentalists last month.

The 750 Ethiopians were among forces loyal to the Somalia's weak, transitional president, Abdullahi Yusuf. They seized Buur Hakaba without firing a shot early yesterday.

The Islamic Courts Union responded by stepping up their long-running threats to wage war with Ethiopia, which stands accused of sending thousands of troops into Somalia to defend Mr Yusuf's toothless administration.

"Starting from today, we have declared jihad against Ethiopia," said the union's deputy leader, Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.

Any questions?

Technorati tags: jihad Islam Muslim Ethiopia Somalia News Religion

Mr. Right takes on the geriatric anti-war movement in his latest photo caption contest

If you want to have a go at Mr. Right's latest photo caption contest, in which he proves no one is too old to be an anti-war nut.

Enter here.

Technorati tags: humor funny humor caption contest anti-war Politics

Ill. governor race: No broadcast debates

The race for governor in Illinois between Democratic incumbent Rod Blagojevich and his Republican challenger Judy Baar Topinka will not have any further debates. Last week in downstate Decatur the two participated in a radio debate. Unless the situation changes between "Blago" and Topinka, the next 29 days will be debate free.

From the Chicago "free registration required" Tribune:

Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Republican challenger Judy Baar Topinka criticized each other for the lack of progress toward broadcast debates that had been in the planning stages for months.

The two contenders will sit down for an on-the-record discussion Tuesday before the Chicago Tribune editorial board, which will apparently be their last face-to-face session prior to the election.

"For seven months, nothing but delays, excuses, complaining and then refusing to accept our offers," the first-term governor said before stepping off at Chicago's annual Columbus Day parade at Columbus and Balbo Drives. "I think she'd much rather complain and make excuses about debating and not debating rather than actually having a debate."

But Topinka, who with Blagojevich and Mayor Richard Daley was part of the front line of parade dignitaries, contended the governor's campaign team repeatedly sought to change debate dates and times, which made the forums impractical to schedule.

Technorati tags: Blagojevich Elections illinois politics Politics

Illinois' Gov. Blagojevich: Sweetheart real estate assessment?

This story hit the news while I was in Tennessee. It's absolutely still a current story, since Blagojevich is up for reelection in 29 days. It's apparent that the Northwest Side Chicago bungalow owned by Illinois Governor Blagojevich got a sweetheart tax assessment from Cook County.

From Kristen McQueary of the Daily Southtown:

It's unlikely you'll find Gov. Rod Blagojevich among the Cook County homeowners appealing his recent property tax assessment.

His Ravenswood home on Chicago's Northwest Side actually dropped in assessed value, unlike most Chicago homeowners recently apprised of their latest assessments.

Sounds goofy, right?

In an environment of climbing assessments and amid a push by Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan to control wildly increasing home values, it seems strange that a chic 3,817-square-foot home, the governor's, would dip in assessed value.

Sounds goofy in most places, but not in Illinois.

Now check out the graphic, courtesy of Reverse Spin. The Illinois Democrat's home will only receive a one-percent property tax increase, significantly less than what Blagojevich's neighbors will have to suffer. Click on the image to make it larger.

Technorati tags: Blagojevich Elections illinois politics Politics corruption Illinois 2006 taxes property taxes real estate

Nuclear North Korea

Well, the Norks let the other shoe drop today by testing a nuclear device underground. The impoverished people of North Korea, those who didn't die in the 1990s famine--brought about by gross mismanagement of the economy by the "Peoples" Republic--probably view this event as a bittersweet moment.

Can Iran be far behind?

Technorati tags: Norks North Korea News International Chosŏn

Columbus Day

That's Discovery Bay in Jamaica, on the island's north coast. Columbus, however, didn't land there until 1494. Denver had its parade on Saturday, with that F-Troop Indian Ward Churchill showing up to protest, according to Pirate Ballerina.

Technorati tags: Columbus Day Jamaica Ward Churchill

A DePaulling article

While I was away, a new edition of the DePaul student newspaper came online. This Imran Ali DePaulia article, Hezbollah’s political standing strengthened, somehow neglects to mention that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. Perhaps that important fact was edited out due to space considerations.

Hezbollah's flag, with the symbol of peace, the AK-47 in the center, is pictured.

Related posts:

DePaul Blue Demon dementia

Support for fired DePaul professor Klocek growing

Have you signed the "Reinstate Thomas Klocek at DePaul" petition?

CAIR-Chicago recommended that DePaul fire Klocek

Thomas Klocek's free speech struggle with DePaul: A blog-ography

Technorati tags: Illinois Chicago DePaul Academic freedom Free Speech Thomas Klocek College Education Hezbollah Terrorism

Chicago Marathon in two weeks

On October 22, I will be running my 17th consecutive Chicago Marathon. I'll be pacing a good friend of mine, who hopes to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I've already qualified for next year's race, but I'm not sure if I'm going to run it.

This morning I ran my final 20-miler before the big day.

Technorati tags: Marathon Run Chicago Chicago Marathon running

Great Smoky Mountains in October

Here's the first of many photos from my recent trip to Kentucky, Tennessee, and North Carolina. I took this one with my digital on Newfound Gap road on the Tennessee side of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park on Friday.

Technorati tags:Tennessee Smokies Trees Nature Photography Photos fall colors Autumn

DePaul Blue Demon dementia

I wasn't able to post on this in the way I'd like to on my Treo while I was in the Great Smokies, but I want to comment on the latest outrage at Chicago's DePaul University. Their sports teams, of course, are known as the Blue Demons.

About the time friend-of-the-blog Steven Plaut's American Thinker article was posted, Little Marathon Pundit and I were looking under rocks and logs in the Great Smoky Mountains hoping to find one of the many species of salamanders that inhabit the park. We didn't find any, but apparently that is the place you find a DePaul Assistant Political Science Professor Norman Finkelstein, as Plaut quotes Leon Wieseltier of New Republic:

He's poison, a disgusting self-hating Jew, something you find under a rock.

Marathon Pundit has been closely monitoring DePaul since the Thomas Klocek incident broke out of the walls of DePaul's cracked ivory tower last March.

But as bad as DePaul's behavior has been with that incident, there's still more stench emitting from the Chicago Catholic university.

More from Plaut's article:

The new academic school year is well underway. But there is one school in which this year will determine once and for all whether it will henceforth be considered to be a bona fide "university," or merely a make-pretend parody of one.

That institution is DePaul University.

This year will witness the most important decision in DePaul's entire history, ever since it was first founded by the Catholic "Vincentians." Over the next few months, DePaul will be deciding whether or not to grant Norman Finkelstein tenure on the basis of his "record." The same university that fired Prof. Thomas Klocek for daring to defend Israel in a campus conversation outside the classroom is now seriously considering granting tenure to Finkelstein on the basis of his hate-filled pseudo-scholarly screeds. At DePaul, Finkelstein serves as assistant professor of political science at DePaul, but scholarship is the last thing that occupies his time.

Before coming to DePaul he had been fired from several adjunct jobs at academic institutions in the New York area for his lack of serious academic credentials and scholarship. Virtually Finkelstein's entire publication record consists of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel books and non-professional articles. He has no publications whatsoever in any refereed academic journals, although he has hundreds in anti-Semitic, Holocaust Denial, and neo-nazi web magazines. The closest Finkelstein ever got to journal publication was with a couple of propaganda pieces in New Politics, a "socialist" non-academic magazine of far-leftist agitprop, sponsored by--among others--Noam Chomsky. This "journal" openly states that it "stands in opposition to all forms of imperialism, and is uncompromising in its defense of feminism and affirmative action." Finkelstein also writes in assorted pro-terror Palestinian "journals."

So Klocek gets fired by DePaul, but it appears that Norman Finkelstein might be on the verge of receiving lifetime employment from that same institution.

Demented? You bet.

Technorati tags: Illinois Chicago DePaul Academic freedom Free Speech Thomas Klocek College Education Norman FinkelsteinIsrael ישראל

Nearing home, on I-65 in Indiana

Mrs. Marathon Pundit is back behind the wheel, and I'm making what will likely be my last Treo 650 post for a while. I'm going to finish off the drive once sunset nears.

We're currently in Johnson County, Indiana, about 25 miles south of Indianapolis.

Overall, the vacation was a good one. Back to "real blogging" as early as tonight. I've got a good idea for a post on the Tennessee US Senate race, but I'll need to research things a bit before I post that story.

And there is always DePaul...

Byway blogging in Kentucky

We're on US Route 25 East just south of Boone Heights, Kentucky.

Once again, I'm blogging on my Treo 650.

The road, also known as the Wilderness Parkway, is a designated American Scenic Byway.

We just left the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park: This significant piece of land is located where the states of Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky meet.

There are reminders of Daniel Boone everywhere here.

Looking to get away from the relative congestion of the Great Smokies? Then Cumberland Gap is your place. My wife told a ranger we saw. "Oh good, the park isn't busy."

The ranger replied, "We're never busy."

Live from the Alabama Grill in Tennessee

Well, we're getting our country music fill at the Alabama (as in the country group) Grill in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Once again, I'm Treo blogging.

In my previous post, I blogged from Clingman's Dome. The idea was to get some good sunset pictures. Clouds obscured the view of that, but we saw an amazing moon rise. If the photos turn out well, you'll see them here first.

Cumberland Gap tomorrow.

Blogging at 6,600 feet above sea level

Amazingly enough, there's a cell tower near the top of Clingman's Dome, 6,600 feet above sea level and Tennessee's highest peak.

We drove to Cherokee, North Carolina this afternoon. It's on the eastern border of Great Smoky Mountain National Park, and there is a quite-good Museum of the Cherokee Indian there. They're a noble people, which makes the fact that fraud Ward Churchill claims to be one more infuriating to me.

Cades Cove in the Great Smokies.

Blogging on my Treo 650 from Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

Yesterday we drove thru the busiest part of America's most-visited national park: Cades Cove in Great Smokies.

It's touted as the wildlife center of the park, but after the bear sighting earlier in the morning, we were due for a letdown--we saw only a few white-tailed deer.

Traffic congestion is a big problem in Cades Cove--I've been to Yellowstone and Cades Cove has the worst traffic of the two.

Mammoth Cave National Park, which we trekked through earlier this week, doesn't suffer from this problem in October.

Later today we're driving to the eastern border of the park in North Carolina. There's a Cherokee Museum there, and I'll pass on greetings from my old pal, Ward Churchill.

Black bear sighting

The Marathon Pundit family and I just finished our morning hike--to Laurel Falls in the national park--and as I turned a corner, there was a black bear just thirty yards in front of me. Luckily, Little Marathon Pundit wasn't leading the way, as she might've tried to hug the cute-looking critter.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Blogging from Pigeon Forge, Tennessee on my Treo.

We spent most of today inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park. As if you expected to say otherwise, but the place is stunningly beautiful.

I wasn't aware of this fact, but the Appalachian Trail dissects the park. I was toying with the idea of running on it tomorrow--I ran 10 miles on that other great north-south trail, the Pacific Crest Trail last spring--but hiking just a mile on the rugged Appalachian Trail convinced me that such a run would end up being my last.

We also drove to the highest peak in the park, Clingman's Dome. It's in North Carolina, and that marks my first trip to the state.

Live from Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

Sorry about there being no blog entry yesterday, but I spent most of Monday and Tuesday inside Mammoth Cave National Park--out of cell range with my Treo.

Monday morning Mrs. MP, Little MP, and I visited the birthplace site of Abraham Lincoln, near Hodgenville, Kentucky. The Lincoln cabin is there, although it can't be verified whether this primative structure is the one that the future president was born in.

There's a small Lincoln museum in the town of Hodgenville. It's just three dollars to get in. Let's just say we got our money's worth there.

Mammoth Cave: We literally set up camp there later that day, and over the following day and a half we took two cave tours. More on that--and the history of Mammoth Cave tours when I get back to Morton Grove. Hiking was what we did between tours.

Visiting a national park off-season is great--no waits, no traffic tie-ups.

At 5:30pm Central Tuesday we left for eastern Tennessee. I was behind the wheel through what seemed to be pretty country--unfortunately it was night.

In Mammoth the trees were maybe a week short of their peak fall colors. I'm hoping with the higher altitude of the Great Smokies, we'll hit those colors straight on.

I'm typing this on my Treo 650 at the Days Inn Pigeon Forge.

Tomorrow we head through what may be America's tackiest stretch of roadway, Tennnessee Route 66, to the Great Smokies.

And we have to drive past a Ripley's Believe It Or Not musem and a Ripley aquarium to get there.

What, no wax museum?

Lincoln Land in Kentucky

Blogging from Elizabethtown, Kentucky on my Treo 650. Yeah, this is the same place that the movie was set.

Yesterday the Marathon Pundit family visited the farm at Knob Creek where Abraham Lincoln lived from 1811 until 1816.

Today we'll visit the Emancipator's birthplace near Hodgenville. In the town there is a small Lincoln museum, which we'll visit before driving to Mammoth Cave.

On I-65 in Indiana

Hey, I told you I'd be doing some mobile blogging. Mrs. Marathon Pundit is behind the wheel, and we're traveling across some of the flattest land on the planet. Purdue University and West Lafayette are just south of us.

The Wabash River bridge is the most recent landmark we've crossed.

Vacation: Off to Kentucky and Tennessee

Okay, what's this, another Marathon Pundit vacation? Well, I do get three weeks a year from my regular job, but I'm never off from blogging. Unlike my last vacation, Mrs. Marathon Pundit is coming along too. Little Marathon Pundit and I, for those who didn't visit here in July, flew to Washington for a five day trip.

We plan to visit (later today) Abraham Lincoln's birthplace, Mammoth Cave, the Great Smoky Mountains, and maybe the Cumberland Gap.

I plan to do some mobile blogging, more than I did from DC, on my Treo 650, so don't take this as an excuse not to visit Marathon Pundit.

And there is a story I'm working on that might break this week.

Technorati tags: Kentucky Tennessee Travel blog