ILL-inois: Cops in town had cars towed so their paychecks wouldn't bounce

State flag: Illinois is in tatters

Corruption is rampant in Cook County--where Chicago is. But per capita St. Clair County, which is across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, is far worse.

Brooklyn, Illinois is one of four St. Clair County towns that the local prosecutor calls "failed states."

From the Belleville News-Democrat:

Brooklyn Police were towing vehicles to generate enough money for their own paychecks, according to a letter from St. Clair County State's Attorney Brendan Kelly.

Also, Police Chief Steve Mitchell has resigned, just days after a raid, after a former village police officer was charged with two felonies and after another quit as an allegation surfaced that he took an assault rifle from the evidence locker.

Kelly's letter outlines to Brooklyn Mayor Vera Glasper-Banks how village police felt pressured to have vehicles towed as a way of ensuring their paychecks didn't bounce. Vehicles were towed by a relative of officer Dean Anderson, Kelly's letter states.

Handing St. Clair County over to Missouri would be the sensible thing to do--but of course the Show Me State isn't dumb enough to fall for such a trick.

Sandhill cranes foraging after a prescribed burn

Mrs. Marathon was in Barrington, Illinois last week and she visited the Crabtree Nature Preserve there. A controlled burn had just been applied to a meadow there and that gave these Sandhill cranes the opportunity to find seeds in the ground that otherwise they may have missed.

Related post:

Sandhill crane

Fracking success: North Dakota population growth tops in nation

President Obama and his green energy science fiction supporters view fossil fuels as the energy of the past. But the Bismarck Tribune reports that McKinzie County, which is at the center of the Bakken fracking boom, enjoys the fastest growth in the nation for counties with less than 10,000 people.

People are not moving there for those brutal North Dakota winters.

America's fastest growing micropolitan areas, Dickinson and Williston, are also in western North Dakota.

Meanwhile in the state of New York, its flat earth governor, Andrew Cuomo, has banned fracking in his state.

(Video) Krauthammmer: "Farcical excuses from a desperate administration" on Iran

Watch as Charles Krauthammer discusses the appeasement policy with our enemy Iran, which he describes as "farcical excuses from a desperate administration."

Philadelphia cop killer Mumia hospitalized in ICU

The world's best-known cop killer, Mumia Abu-Jamal, was rushed to a Pennsylvania hospital tonight and is currently being treated in an intensive care unit.

A radical black activist, Mumia was convicted by a jury for murdering Philadelphia police officer and US Army veteran Daniel Faulkner. Abu-Jamal was sentenced to death but that sentence, after endless appeals, was changed to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The photogenic Mumia is a hero to liberals in spite of because of his extreme leftist views. He's even spoken--by video of course--at several college commencement ceremonies.

But I am not alone in believing that the world will be a better place without this murderer breathing our air.

Islamic State devils stone couple to death for having pre-marital sex

Stuck in time

Here's today's update from the 7th century:

From the Mirror:

Sickening images have emerged of a man and woman appearing to be stoned to death by Islamic State militants for 'having sex before marriage'.

The images show a large crowd gathered around the pair in ISIS-controlled city Mosul, in northern Iraq, as the bound and blindfolded couple are murdered in the street.

A charge sheet is said to have been read to the crowd accusing the man and woman - both believed to be in their 20s - of 'fornication' and announcing their barbaric punishment.

A large pile of stones and rocks were then hurled by around 12 jihadis, leaving the road in the public square covered in blood.

(Photo) Two men fishing in Lake Michigan

Mrs. Marathon Pundit was at Montrose Harbor on Chicago's lakefront and she caught the lake with a turquoise blue hue as two men fished.

Related post:

(Photo) Ice fishing on Axehead Lake

Chiraq: 2 killed and at least 15 wounded over weekend

Despite having among the strictest gun laws in the nation, it was another bloody weekend in Chicago. Two men were murdered and at least 15 other people were shot.

Islamic State fiends behead 8 Shiites

ISIS, the devils of the Middle East, are practicing their evil again.

From AP:

A new video released by the Islamic State group on Sunday shows its fighters cutting off the heads of eight men said to be Shiite Muslims. The video posted on social media said the men were beheaded in the central Syrian province of Hama.

The video could not be immediately independently verified, but it appeared genuine and corresponded to other AP reporting of the events. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also said that the video was authentic.

IS has beheaded scores of people since capturing large parts of Iraq and Syria last year in a self-declared caliphate.

In the video, the men, wearing orange uniforms with their hands tied behind their backs, were led forward in a field by teenage boys. They were then handed over to a group of IS fighters. A boy wearing a black uniform hands out knives to the fighters, who then behead the hostages.

Did you catch that bit in the last paragraph about the teens leading their fellow Muslims to their execution?

On the 225th anniversary of John Tyler's birth--two grandsons still alive

John Tyler--our 10th president

It was on this day in 1790 when John Tyler was born. The first vice president to accede to the presidency upon the death of his predecessor, Tyler died in 1862 after being elected to the Confederate congress--although he was never sworn in.

Tyler married twice--and he fathered his last child in 1860. One of those sons of that second union also married a second time--he fathered two sons in the 1920s, Lyon Tyler Jr. and Harrison Ruffin Tyler, who lives on the estate the Virginia estate his grandfather once owned, Sherwood Forest.

From Da Tech Guy: Hysteria over Hoosier Religious Freedom Restoration Act misplaced

In my weekly post at Da Tech Guy I look east to Indiana: Hysteria over Hoosier Religious Freedom Restoration Act misplaced.

Hillary burns her Watergate tapes--email server wiped clean

Late Friday news broke that the private email server that Hillary Clinton used while serving as Obama's secretary of state was wiped clean--and of course that includes the time of the Benghazi murders.

I'll give this much credit to Hillary--unlike Richard M. Nixon, she was cunning enough to destroy evidence of her wrongdoing.

This news is so big that even the CBS News and the New York Times decided to cover it.

Turn on the lights for Earth Hour

Al Gore in lights

Earth Hour will enter the Central Time Zone in a half hour to draw attention to global warming. As I did last year as a brutal winter--which aren't supposed to exist anymore in the Chicago area--winds down, I'll have as many lights on at home as possible.

Why? I'm a free man and I can do what I want.

(Photo) 1930 Model A Ford Woodie Wagon

Last month I saw something unusual motoring through Morton Grove--a classic car--in this case a 1930 Model A Ford. What made this sighting unusual is that the ground was snow covered and classic cars and road salt are not a good mix.

A month later to the day I saw another rarity--a 1930 Model A Ford Woodie Wagon. These were uncommon vehicles even during the 1930s. This wagon was parked in Niles.

Related post:

(Photo) 1930 Model A Ford driving in winter

(Photos) Cal-Sag Trail in Palos Heights

On Thursday I visited my hometown of Palos Heights, Illinois. Of course I took some photographs.

That is the Cal-Sag Trail. While still a work in progress, the land on the banks of the Cal-Sag Channel is no longer an unofficial rubbish dump accented with limestone boulders--although the rocks along the canal were pretty cool. This photo was taken from Harlem Avenue looking west.

Cal-Sag is short for Calumet-Saganashkee Channel. The canal connects the Calumet River with the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal--it's 16 miles long.

I don't believe this trail, which is on the opposite bank of the section of the pathway pictured on top, is a sanctioned section of the Cal-Sag Trail. This photograph, which was captured last August, was snapped while I was facing east on the Southwest Highway bridge.

(Video) Krauthammer: Harry Reid is a "disgrace" who "emasculated" the Senate

This evening on Fox News, Charles Krauthammer spoke the truth about Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), who as majority leader is a "disgrace" who "emasculated" the Senate in the words of the sage.

The Nevada fraud rolled over and played dead for Dear Leader Obama.

(Video) Reagan Library hillside hyperlapse

Someday I will visit the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. For now the videos will have to do for me.

Related posts:

• Report from Tampico, Illinois on Reagan's 100th birthday
• Marathon Pundit's Ronald Reagan Trail

(Photo) Translucent sun over Belleau Lake

It was for the most part cloudy on Tuesday in Des Plaines, Illinois. But the overcast sky was a week one--the sun, albeit translucently, was able to make it through the clouds on the day after a spring snowstorm at Belleau Lake.

Notice the moonlike reflection of the sun on the lake--and the ducks.

"Ritz-Carlton Reid" will retire

Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV)

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)--the sneaky lizard who claimed Mitt Romney hadn't paid taxes for ten years--announced today he won't seek reelection. Although Reid has been a public official for years, he manages to afford living in an apartment in the super-swanky Ritz-Carlton in Washington. How? Well, we don't know, as Reid refuses to release his tax returns.

Good riddance.

On this day in 1975: Construction of the Alaskan Pipeline begins

Interstate 70 in Colorado

Despite environmentalist opposition--America was more confident on March 27, 1975 when construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, In 2015 our first anti-American president, Barack Obama, vetoed legislation that would authorize the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline--which will bring much needed petroleum from our friends in Canada and lessen our dependence from hostile nations in the Middle East.

No one wondered whether our president in 1975--Gerald Ford--loved America.

ILL-inois: Chicago area population flatlines

Greg Hinz in Crain's Chicago Business reports that population grown in the Chicago area has pretty much stopped. This is result of decades of cronyism, corruption, crime, and incompetence. Chicago's central location and wise infrastructure projects: canals, railroads, expressways, and airport gave the city and its suburbs a great run.

But it's over now.

Google Auto Awesome photo: Des Plaines River at Dam Number 4 Woods

With the help of Google Auto Awesome--here is a unique view of the Des Plaines River at Dam Number 4 Woods East after Monday's snowstorm.

Germanwings copilot deliberately crashed jet into Alps

Multiple news sources are reporting that the copilot of the Germanwings airplane that crashed into the French Alps--destroyed the jet purposely--150 people are dead. This man, Andreas Lubitz, is a mass murderer.

(MSNBC video) Josh Earnest grilled, "Is Yemen still a success story? Can you say that?"

Last fall President Obama pointed to Yemen as evidence of his "successful" anti-jihad policies. But in the last week the former president of Yemen escaped from his nation in a boat and over 100 American special forces were withdrawn from there.

On MSNBC's Morning Joe today, Obama's press secretary, Josh (Not So) Earnest was asked, "Is Yemen still a success story? Can you say that?"

Watch Earnest filibuster for over two minutes.

Bergdahl charged with desertion

It's becoming more apparent that President Obama--our first anti-American president--traded five hardened jihadists being held at Guantanamo Bay for a deserter.

From AP:

The U.S. military said Wednesday it has charged U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey with desertion with intent to shirk important or hazardous duty and misbehavior before the enemy.

If convicted, Bergdahl could face life in prison. He would also be stripped of his rank and forfeit pay and other allowances from during his time in captivity.

Col. Daniel King announced the charges during a 1:30 p.m. Mountain press conference from Fort Bragg in North Carolina.

"When he was released, we acknowledged he might have to face military charges," Hailey Mayor Fritz Haemmerle said. "We trust that those charges will be fairly evaluated."

We live in wretched times.

(Photo) Snow, tree, and a wooden fence

I visited the Grove yesterday in Glenview, Illinois. I came across a wooden fence protecting a tree and some other plants--which makes for a nice image.

Media bias: Reporter Kurt Erickson regularly mentions wealthy hometown of Bruce Rauner

Illinois' reform governor, Republican Bruce Rauner, is very wealthy--however, he is a self made man. He lives in Winnetka, a well-to-do Chicago North Shore suburb. And that is something Kurt Erickson, who writes about Illinois politics for many downstate newspapers, constantly needs to remind his readers.

Don't believe me? See what Google has to say. 

Did do the same thing for Rauner's hapless predecessor, Chicago Democrat Pat Quinn?  I don't believe so. After all, Chicago has a well-deserved reputation for cronyism and graft.

Click here for Erickon's latest article--and take a close look at the fourth paragraph.

Years ago Chuck Percy was a Republican US Senator from Kenilworth, another wealthy North Shore suburb--which is something the left-leaning media at the time never got tired of reminding its readers, viewers, and listeners.

Liberals love class warfare.

Cornell Univ dean welcomes Islamic State to his college

Universities in the United States are filled with anti-American radicals. Although this Cornell dean might actually be a fifth columnist.

From Syracuse.com:

A video by an undercover reporter purports to show an assistant dean at Cornell University saying that members of the Islamic State group (ISIS) would be be welcome on campus.

The video, by conservative activist James O'Keefe's Project Veritas, features a reporter, posing as a Moroccan student, asking Assistant Dean for Students Joseph Scaffido about starting a club at the university on March 16. Scaffido is not aware that he's being recorded on a hidden camera.

The reporter starts by asking about starting a "humanitarian group that supports distressed communities...in the Middle East, northern Iraq and Syria." He then elaborates a bit, saying he would like this group to send "care packages" including food, water and electronics to ISIS freedom fighters and their families.

"There are a lot of our student organizations that do things like that all over the world," Scaffido responds.

The undercover journalist then asks the dean if it would be okay to bring an ISIS terrorist to speak at Cornell and Scaffido appears to go along with the reporters suggestion that the Islamic State should hold a training exercise at the college.

The enemies of America aren't at the gates of our nation--they are working at our colleges and indoctrinating our youth.

Islamic State devils stone to death couple accused of adultery

Here's an update from the 7th century from the New York Times:

Islamic State militants in Iraq on Tuesday publicly stoned a man and woman to death on charges of adultery, parading the victims in a public square in the northern city of Mosul, according to witnesses and an Iraqi military official.

Later in the day, the militants publicly beheaded three young men on a street in central Mosul, accusing them of being the nephews of a political opponent of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL.

ISIS is a cancer upon humanity that needs to be removed.

Illinois: 3 state workers join Rauner's lawsuit over union dues

Channahon, Illinois

Three public-servant patriots have teamed up with Illinois' reform governor, Republican Bruce Rauner, to fight for freedom.

From AP:

Three Illinois state employees on Monday sought to join Gov. Bruce Rauner's lawsuit against labor unions, a legal maneuver aimed at trying to end mandatory union dues for nonmembers across the U.S., not just in Illinois.

All three workers' jobs are covered by collective bargaining agreements, but the employees opted not to join their union. They say the requirement they pay so-called "fair share" dues, which range from about $19 to $60 per month, violates their First Amendment right of free speech because they disagree with union policies.

"The First Amendment guarantees everyone the right to choose whose speech they support and what groups they associate with," said Jacob Huebert, an attorney for the employees. "State workers shouldn't have to sacrifice that right just to keep their jobs."

Rauner issued an executive order last month ending the dues, which nonmembers are required to pay to cover the cost of non-political union activities that benefit all employees, such as collective bargaining. The order effectively keeps about $3.75 million each year from the unions' bank accounts.

Taking away money from a union is like ending the watering of house plants. Both die.

Jesse Jr. out of prison on Thursday

Chicago's skyline

The latest but not the last prominent Chicago politician to serve time in a federal prison, former US Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) will be released from "the joint" on Thursday and he'll then spend the next few months in a halfway house, according to another former Democratic congressman, Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island.

The next Chicago pol headed to the slammer will be Junior's wife, former South Side alderman Sandi Jackson. Because they have children at home, the judge in the Jacksons' trial allowed the one-time power couple to serve staggered sentences.

Junior's uncle, Noah Robinson, another Chicagoan, is serving a life sentence for racketeering, drugs, and murder-for-hire.

The family has certainly left an imprint on America's third-largest city.

(Photo) Des Plaines River after a March snow

The first day of spring occurred last week but the snow is back. Here is what the Des Plaines River looked like yesterday.

No free speech: Twitter suspends account of global warming skeptic

Marathon Pundit
tree ring lab

Is my Twitter account next? Is yours?

From the Daily Caller:

Twitter has suspended the account of Steven Goddard, the pseudonym of a well-known blogger who is critical of man-made global warming.

After receiving messages of complaints against his account from Twitter in late February, Goddard woke up Monday morning to find his account had been suspended for violating Twitter's rules.

"I tried to make a tweet around 8 am, and it failed to go through," Goddard told the Daily Caller News Foundation. "Then a message appeared at the top of my Twitter account, saying that my account had been suspended for 'violation of Twitter rules.'"

The quest for human knowledge is never complete. Besides, much of the proof of global warming is centered on easily-manipulated computer models.

National Parks: Money for Pullman boondoggle but not for $11.5 billion maintenance backlog

Grand Canyon National Park

Last month with great fanfare President Obama announced that Chicago's Pullman District will be transformed into a National Park. Not surprisingly, the state of Illinois failed in turning the neighborhood into a tourist attraction. It spent millions on the Pullman Clock Tower that it bought in 1991.

The building is empty.

Lesson learned? Of course not. The feds will double down on the state's failure--while creating a Valhalla at Pullman to the labor movement--which is a key cog in Obama's liberal political machine. Few people will want to visit Pullman, I am sure. What we'll have here is politics masquerading as history.

Meanwhile, the National Park Service says it has a maintenance of backlog of $11.5 billion in the parks that tourists want to see--such as the Grand Canyon.

The National Park Service needs to be saved from itself.

Victory for fair elections: SCOTUS upholds Wisconsin voter ID law

Elections are about to become much freer and much fairer--in Wisconsin and beyond.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a challenge to Wisconsin's voter identification law, restoring the measure it had dramatically blocked ahead of last November's election but not in time for the April 7 ballot.

The decision by the justices means that the state will eventually require voters to show identification in all elections. But the court's action — made without comment — means the photo ID requirement will not be in place for the spring election, said Kevin Kennedy, the state's chief elections officer.

I support the principal of one person-one vote. Also, only US citizens should vote. However, President Obama's radical nominee for to be attorney general says voter ID laws are racist.

(Photo) Purple crocuses in the woods

Crocuses are not native to the western hemisphere--so these flowers that are growing in Morton Grove's St. Paul Woods must have been planted by someone. Their are no homes nearby--so they are not garden escapees.

Chiraq: 4 dead and 18 wounded over the weekend

With two weeks to go before Chicago's mayoral election, violence is not taking a holiday. Over the past weekend four Chicagoan were murdered and at least 18 others wounded.

The experts--what good are they by the way?--can't blame warm weather, as it was rather chilly this past weekend and it snowed on Sunday.

Iranian fascist calls for "Death to America"

Our policy with the Islamo-supremacists misruling should be this--regime change. Instead, our hapless secretary of state, John Kerry, is negotiating with these madmen so they can delay--that's right only delay--their acquisition of nuclear weapons.

How crazy are the mullahs?

From the Times of Israel:

Iran's Supreme leader Ali Khamenei called for “Death to America” on Saturday, a day after President Barack Obama appealed to Iran to seize a “historic opportunity” for a nuclear deal and a better future, and as US Secretary of State John Kerry claimed substantial progress toward an accord.

Khamenei told a crowd in Tehran that Iran would not capitulate to Western demands. When the crowd started shouting, "Death to America," the ayatollah responded: "Of course yes, death to America, because America is the original source of this pressure."

Meanwhile Kerry is touting the progress he's making in his negotiations with these dangerous loons.

Kerry reminds me of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in 1938.

(Video) Congressman discusses ISIS threat to kill 100 American soldiers

Islamic State terrorists have released a list of 100 members of the US military--and their home addresses and photographs--as a kill list for the radical Islamo-supremacist group.

Say what you will about the 2003 war in Iraq--but the concept of killing America's enemies in their homeland instead of having them come here to kill us is a sound one. Of course such a lesson is beyond the scope of our anti-American appeasement president, who made the deadly mistake to pull our troops out of Iraq.

US Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) discussed the threat on ABC's This Week this morning.

From Da Tech Guy: Saudis throwing a fit over Swedish foreign minister’s remarks on women’s rights

In my weekly post at Da Tech Guy I report on a story that has been for the most part ignored in the United States: Saudis throwing a fit over Swedish foreign minister's remarks on women's rights.

From the Sun-Times: Quinn gave $10 million to film studio to buy land that's not for sale

Chicago Sun-Times Building

Illinois' failed ex-governor, Chicago Democrat Pat Quinn--shows us not only why he is a former governor--but why ILL-inois is broke and is losing population.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

THE WATCHDOGS: Quinn gave $10 million to film studio to buy land that's not for sale.

Of course the check has been cashed.

McDonald Creek in Des Plaines

McDonald Creek in Des Plaines, Illinois probably takes in more than its share of storm water--but it sure looked beautiful yesterday. The early spring colors brings out the best in this tributary to the Des Plaines River.

ILL-inois: Schock's problems not going away

Grandview Park, Peoria Heights

The problems for disgraced soon-to-be-former US Rep. Aaron Schock (R-IL) are growing.

His hubris not only doesn't play well in his hometown of Peoria--nor in Springfield or Washington.

From ABC 7 Chicago:

As quickly as the congressional investigation faded with Schock's resignation, federal law enforcement sources have said that a grand jury was being empaneled to consider possible criminal evidence against the downstate politician. The grand jury, seated in Springfield, is expected to hear from Schock's congressional and campaign staffers as well as donors - many of whom are said to be receiving subpoenas to appear in April.

The photogenic congressman, who has posed in magazines showing off his six-pack abs-"could be looking at embezzlement of federal funds," said Soffer, who prosecuted federal corruption cases in Chicago.

"He could be looking at false statements made to the federal election commission; he could even be looking at tax evasion if he got the benefit of funds that didn't belong to him and he didn't declare them," Soffer siad.

IRS Criminal Division investigators are among the federal authorities now looking into Schock's activities, along with agents from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, according to law enforcement sources.

Schock's travel and office expenditures are the likely items under investigation.

(Video) Krauthammer: Republicans don't oppose diplomacy, they're against Obama's bad deal

Charles Krauthammer blows the whistle on President Obama's mendacity in regards to the proposed deal with the Islamo-supremacists misruling Iran--telling Dear Leader that the GOP isn't against diplomacy--but they oppose a bad deal that at best only delays the Iranians acquiring a nuclear bomb.

(Photo) 1997 Honda Civic coupe hatchback

Honda used to manufacture a hatchback coupe version of its popular Civic. Here's 1 1997 version in dark blue that I saw parked this week in Morton Grove.

ILL-inois: Retired doctor who worked 5 years for state getting $150K annual pension

University of Illinois at Chicago

For the second consecutive day I present another reason why Illinois' pension program is a failure.

From Fox 32 Chicago:

A retired doctor who worked for the state for less than five years is now collecting a pension of more than $150,000 per year.

Critics said it's a perfect example of why Illinois' pension system is broke. However, the doctor is firing back saying don't blame the retirees getting the money.

"I feel blessed. I don't feel as though I've milked the system or anything like that," said Dr. Renee Hartz.

Hartz has drawn lots of attention over the years for her trailblazing career as a cardiac surgeon. Now, she's drawn the attention of pension expert Bill Zettler, who literally wrote the book on Illinois' broken pension system.

Hartz worked as doctor for the University of Illinois at Chicago in the 1990s.

This story make me want to contact a cardiologist.

Related post:

ILL-inois Union lobbyist suing to collect $36K annual pension for one day's sub work

Obama still hasn't congratulated Bibi, but he gives Nowruz message to Iran

President Obama--who is so busy with silly items such as announcing his March Madness picks on ESPN--also found time to offer a Nowruz message to Iran. Nowruz is the Persian new year.

However, two days ago the leader of our only ally in the Middle East--Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu--won a convincing electoral victory. But Dear Leader still hasn't congratulated Bibi.

Obama has his priorities.

Iran's foreign ministry: Israeli parties "are all aggressors in nature"

The lunatics running Iran--who Obama is negotiating with over nuclear arms--are foaming at the mouth again.

From the Tehran Times:

The Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday it sees no difference between Israeli political parties, calling them all "aggressors."

The remarks by ministry spokesman Marzieh Afkham came as Benjamin Netanyahu's party won election in Israel on Tuesday.

"For us there is no difference between the Zionist regime's political parties. They are all aggressors in nature," Afkham told a regular news briefing.

Iran is the world's largest state sponsor of terrorism. Who is the aggressor?

(Video) McCain condemns Durbin for his "back of the bus" insult to GOP senators

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) today on the Senate floor ripped Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) for not--at least yet--scheduling a vote to confirm Loretta Lynch as the next US attorney general. Durbin said yesterday of the process "the first African-American woman nominated to be attorney general, is asked to sit in the back of the bus when it comes to the Senate calendar."

Durbin, as one a Marathon Pundit commenter recalled, voted against the nomination of Condaleeza Rice as the first African-American woman to be US secretary of state.

ILL-inois Union lobbyist suing to collect $36K annual pension for one day's sub work

One quarter of Illinois' budget is spent on pensions. Here is one reason why that is so high.

As for this Big Labor lobbyist, David Piccioli--not only should he not receive his $36,000-a-year pension for one day's work as a substitute teacher--he should be paraded from town to town so righteous Illinois taxpayers can pelt him with garbage Then Piccioli should be forced to pick up all of that trash.

From the Chicago Tribune:

A union lobbyist who qualified for a teacher pension windfall by subbing at a school for one day is now suing a state retirement board because his benefits were scaled back once his sweet deal was exposed.

Retired Illinois Federation of Teachers lobbyist David Piccioli, 65, is arguing that lawmakers violated the state constitutional provision that says a pension cannot be "diminished or impaired" once it is set.

Piccioli is already collecting $31,485 from the Teachers Retirement System. If he wins his case, his teacher pension could increase by more than $36,000, the Tribune estimated — more than doubling what he gets now.

Piccioli also gets a second state pension worth just over $30,000 that covers time he served as a legislative aide. Both pensions are based on an average of his six-figure salaries as a union lobbyist.

And what did Piccioli do as a sub that one day he worked? My guess is that he showed DVDs all day to napping students.

Someone tell Obama: Netanyahu says USA has "no greater ally" than Israel

In an interview last night aired by NBC News, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that the United States has "no greater" ally than Israel. 

Barack Obama--our first anti-Israeli president--cut his leftist teeth on Chicago's South Side by palling around with anti-Israeli radical such as Bill Ayers, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and Rashid Khalidi.

Now is the perfect time to explain to our stubborn far-left president that Israel is our friend.

(Video) Krauthammer: "It's clear that Obama loathes Netanyahu more than any other world leader"

President Obama was dealt a significant and well-deserved defeat at the hand of Israeli voters on Tuesday. Yes, you read that right. An Obama-linked not-for-profit meddled in the election--backing an anti-Netanyahu group in that election.

Yesterday evening on Fox News Charles Krauthammer remarked, "It's clear that Obama loathes Netanyahu more than any other world leader." Do you want evidence? Dozens of world leaders congratulated "Bibi" on his victory. But not the president of Iran.

And not Obama.

Race-baiter Durbin: Lynch being "asked to sit on the back of the bus" by Senate GOP

Sen. Durbin (D-IL)

For years Dick Durbin, who nominally represents me in the US Senate--served in the upper chamber with Robert 'Sheets' Byrd (D-WV)--a former Ku Klux Klan kleagle. Durbin never complained about his fellow Democrat

This morning Durbin commented to the media about Loretta Lynch, the hard leftist who is slated to replace another hard leftist as attorney general stating that "the first African-American woman nominated to be attorney general, is asked to sit in the back of the bus when it comes to the Senate calendar."

Even though to my knowledge Durbin doesn't wear pancake makeup, a red wig, or big floppy shoes--he's still a clown.

Albeit a dangerous one.

(Classic car) 1961 Plymouth Valiant Coupe

Yes, as far as automobiles go, they don't make them like this anymore. Take a look at this 1961 Plymouth Valiant Coupe. Fittingly enough, it's blessed with Illinois Route 66 commemorative license plates.

Slaughter in Tunisia

Details are still sketchy, but five men fired AK-47s into a prestigious museum in Tunis--the capital of Tunisia. As of this writing 17 people, mostly tourists, are dead.

No one is saying this as of this writing--but this bloodbath has the appearance of a jihad terror attack.

LA Marathon runners greeted with anti-Obama mile markers

Participants in Sunday's Los Angeles Marathon got something extra as they ran 26.2 miles through America's second-largest city. Guerrilla artist Sabo created some anti-Obama mock mile makers, featuring such dishonors as Benghazi, the VA Scandal, ISIS, and Solyndra.

See those markers here.

Not transparent: Obama White House sets record for censoring and denying gov't files

Did you know that the President Obama claims that his White House is the most transparent one ever?

From AP:

The Obama administration set a new record again for more often than ever censoring government files or outright denying access to them last year under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, according to a new analysis of federal data by the Associated Press.

The government took longer to turn over files when it provided any, said more regularly that it couldn't find documents, and refused a record number of times to turn over files quickly that might be especially newsworthy.

It also acknowledged in nearly one in three cases that its initial decisions to withhold or censor records were improper under the law – but only when it was challenged.

Schock pulls plug on his seat in Congress

Peoria Heights, IL

US Rep Aaron Schock (R-IL) had a safe seat in Congress--his Peoria district is strongly Republican and the only real threat to a decades-long career in Congress was Democratic gerrymanderers.

Oh, there was one other--himself. And it was the last one that did him in.

From US News and World Report:

The downfall of the fourth-term congressman began with what seemed to be an innocuous story about office redecoration in the Washington Post, but soon snowballed into questions over his travel reimbursements, property dealings with donors and overly lavish trips on official funds.

Since the Post's Feb. 2 story about Schock's "Downton Abbey"-inspired office, a drumbeat of detailed reporting, primarily from the Chicago Sun-Times and Politico on a number of suspicious expenditures, spurred ethics complaints from the liberal-leaning Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

Ice, slush, water and sunlight transforms a lake into a midnight blue

Look what melting ice, slush, and sunlight does to the color of Axehead Lake in Des Plaines, Illinois. The lake is now a dark blue--in my opinion a midnight blue.

Oh, and dontcha just love the cirrus clouds looking down on Axehead...

Bibi wins! Obama loses!

Despite--or perhaps because of--Obama's State Department interference with the Israeli election, Benjamin Netanyahu will keep his post as prime minister for America's only ally in the Middle East.

Oh, the State Department attempted to build a phony "grass roots" opposition to Netanyahu movement similar to Offal for America. Congress will be looking into that.

My Tweet from earlier tonight sums the race up perfectly.

Bibi wins! Israel wins! America wins! Iran loses! Obama loses! #IsraelElections
— John Ruberry (@Marathonpundit) March 18, 2015

And then there is this one.

Every American patriot is Israeli on this St. Patrick's Day #IsraelElections #HappyStPatricksDay
— John Ruberry (@Marathonpundit) March 18, 2015

(Photo) Aspen trees in the Utah mountains

Mrs. Marathon Pundit says there were many aspen trees in the mountains surrounding Park City, Utah when she skied there last month. Here are some of them.

(Video) Reagan visits ancestral home in Ballyporeen, Ireland

Here's a St. Patrick Day treat for you.

"It is like coming home after a long journey." That's what President Ronald Reagan said during his speech in Ballyporeen, Ireland--where his great-grandfather Michael Reagan was born.

Michael is buried in Fulton, Illinois.

Related posts:

Ronald Reagan Trail: Fulton and the Reagan graves

Ronald Reagan Trail: Fulton

(MSNBC video) Ferguson pastor say suspected cop shooter "set up" by police

The electronic loony bin known as MSNBC was blowing fuses yesterday. On the lowly-rated network, a Ferguson, Missouri pastor made the claim that the protester who shot two cops there last week was set up by the police.

Al Gore: Punish climate change non-believers

2015 Super Bowl Sunday
Blizzard, Morton Grove, IL

"I don't subscribe to your religion!"
Ringo Starr in Help!

Nor am I a member of Al Gore's Earth worshippers. The pope of global warming spoke at the The South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival last week.

From EcoWatch:

For the third time in the last few years, Al Gore, founder and chairman of the Climate Reality Project, spoke at the festival on Friday. Naturally, his interactive discussion focused on addressing the climate crisis. The former vice president focused on the need to "punish climate-change deniers, saying politicians should pay a price for rejecting 'accepted science,'" said the Chicago Tribune.

Last month in Chicago tied a 140 year-old record for the coldest month in the city's history. This past winter was the snowiest in Boston's history.

1982 VW Vanagon Camper with a Pop-Top tent

Here's a van that makes a statement--A 1982 Volkswagen Vanagon  Camper with its Pop-Top tent standing at attention. I found this one is Morton Grove's St. Paul Woods yesterday.

Higher trim Vanagons with the Westphalia tent came with a two burner stove, a refrigerator, and a sink.

The beagle wasn't driving.

(CBS video) Foreign companies buying influence at the Clinton Foundation

In Chicago, where Hillary Rodham Clinton was born, the activity exhibited by foreign firms in regards to the Clinton Foundation is called buying influence.

CBS This Morning reports:

IllinoisFail: No state team in NCAA tourney for second straight year

Illinois' failures go beyond the financial and job arenas--and into sports. For the second straight year, the Land of Lincoln--America's fifth-most populous state--has no teams in the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. That's the wrong kind of March Madness

On the other hand, our neighbor to the east, Indiana has five teams in the Big Dance.

Warning: Global warming will make our food taste funny

Tree ring analysis in 2015,
Morton Grove, IL USA

Andrew Bolt shows us why he's Australia's best-read columnist:

Look! – there's another wild global warming scare.

Don't these guys ever give up?

This time we're warned global warming will make our food taste funny — if we can find any.

"A good old Aussie BBQ may not taste quite as good for future generations" because the "quality of beef and chicken may plummet", an AAP [Australia Associated Press] report gasps, citing a University of Melbourne study.

Nuts and vegetables will also be impacted by climate change, or so says the AAP report.

This continued climate change hysteria leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Non-violent protester arrested for shooting Ferguson cops

Of course the accused was one of those non-violent protesters who have been plaguing the St. Louis suburb for months.

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

A man who participated in a protest outside the Ferguson police station Wednesday night returned and fired shots — possibly at someone other than police — that wounded two officers, authorities said Sunday.

Jeffrey Williams, 20, was charged with two counts of first-degree assault, one count of firing a weapon from a vehicle and three counts of armed criminal action. He was in custody, with cash-only bail set at $300,000.

"It is possible that he was firing at someone other than the police," St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch said at a press conference Sunday. He said there had been civilians between Williams, who fired from a car, and the officers who were wounded.

He said Williams may have acted on a dispute with people over something that had nothing to do with the demonstration, but added, "I'm not sure we're completely buying that part of it."

From Da Tech Guy, March Madness: The Big Dance of Radicals

The real madness in higher education is not March Madness and the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament--but what goes on in the classroom. From my weekly post at Da Tech Guy blog: March Madness: The Big Dance of Radicals.

Clintonista Carville: "I suspect" that Hillary didn't want Congress reading her emails

The secret Hillary Clinton email scandal continues to simmer. This morning on This Week longtime Clinton family apologist James Carville said that he suspects that HRC used her own email server because she didn't want Congress reading them.

Yes, Clinton served in the most transparent administration in history.

(Photo) Ice fishing on Axehead Lake

Spring seems to have sprung for good in the Chicago area. Although the ice on some bodies of water stubbornly remains. I snapped this photograph on Tuesday when it was 50 degrees.Yesterday the ice was slushy and wet--but it still was strong enough to support my weight.

Back to Tuesday--these three men were enjoying the best of both worlds that day--mild temperatures and winter's legacy as they ice fished on Axehead Lake in Des Plaines.

(Photo) Wasatch Range in winter

Mrs. Marathon Pundit went on a ski vacation in Utah late last month--here's a photograph she captured of some of the mountains of the Wasatch Range.

(Video) Krauthammer: Obama wants to cut Senate out of Iranian negotiations and get UN approval

Barack Obama is to constitutional law professors what alchemists are to scientists. As Charles Krauthammer tells us, this fraud who isn't aware of the advise-and-consent role of US Senate wants to have the United Nations validate his treaty with the radical Islamist Iranian regime.

Thawing North Branch of the Chicago River

One week ago this river was frozen enough for me to walk on it. But this is what the North Branch of the Chicago River at St. Paul Woods looked like yesterday afternoon.