Phony Michigan Arab sentenced to prison for fabricated hate crime and arson scheme

Eventually Mr. Singh sang about his liquor store caper in Michigan.

From MLive:

A Jackson party store owner is going to federal prison for hiring people to set fire to his business, falsely suggesting the fire was racially motivated by the idea he is "Arab," and filing a fraudulent insurance claim.

U.S. District Judge Judith Levy sentenced Rajinder Singh, 25, formerly of Jackson, to 30 months in prison and ordered him to pay restitution totaling $10,000, according to a Wednesday statement from U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade's office.

Singh admitted he conspired with others to have Robinson's Party Store at 1233 S. West Ave. burned in in May 2014 for the purpose of obtaining insurance proceeds. He later sought at least $400,000 in damages for lost inventory and income, according to the statement, which cites court records.

He also conceded to lying to a police detective by contending he was targeted by "neighborhood black males" because of the mistaken belief he is "Arab," according the statement and court records.

So Singh, who is presumably of East Indian descent, claimed to be an Arab and then blamed the fake hate crime on blacks.

Prison will be rough for him.

Chicago's skyline from the 16th Street rail junction

There is a busy rail junction at 16th and Clark Street on Chicago's Near South Side. Here's the view--which includes Trump Tower--on a clear day.

(Video) Halperin on Hillary in WI: “She’s going to be beaten here, and maybe badly”

MSNBC's Mark Halperin says that Hillary Clinton faces defeat in next week's Wisconsin Primary.

Chiraq: 11 shot, 2 fatally in ten hours, no one in custody

It has been a bloody Wednesday in Chicago. In a ten hour period today--from 8am-6pm--eleven people were shot, two of them fatally. A pair of shootings occurred in the Logan Square neighborhood on the Northwest Side, one of the victims died of his wounds. All of the others were on the West and South Sides.

No one is in custody at his hour.

Nearly 800 people have been shot in Chicago so far this year--which is an 80 percent increase over 2015.

(Video) Trump emotional moment with former Miss Wisconsin

Donald Trump is not the heartless man he is portrayed to be in the mainstream media.

Watch as a supporter, a former Miss Wisconsin, tells her story.

Despite $2.7 billion in Obama subsidies Spanish green energy firm goes bankrupt

Folks, we have another Solyndra on our hands.

From the Daily Caller:

The Spanish green energy company Abengoa has filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. after getting billions of dollars from the Obama administration to build solar power and biofuels plants.

Abengoa, which has gotten $2.7 billion in federal subsidies, filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection after already filing for bankruptcy in Spain. In U.S. bankruptcy court, Abengoa can get more favorable terms, such as "the so-called automatic stay that halts lawsuits and prevents creditors from seizing assets," according to The Wall Street Journal.

ILL-inois: Chicago State tells workers to turn in keys as layoffs loom

Democrats are blaming Illinois' Republican reform governor for the budget standoff. But because of gerrymandering they have supermajorities in both chambers of the General Assembly. So they can pass whatever budget they want--and even if Gov. Rauner vetoes it--they can override him. The General Assembly is a lock-step body like the Soviet Central Committee--what's the big deal?

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Administrators at Chicago State University this week issued a demand to all employees to turn in all keys to campus facilities by next week as an April 30 date for layoffs to begin looms.

“Chicago State continues to operate despite the absence of state funding,” CSU spokesman Tom Wogan said Tuesday.

“If the state continues to deny funding to public universities, institutions like CSU will have to make difficult decisions moving forward including the possibility of additional layoffs. In preparation for that reality, logistical steps must be taken to protect state property, including collecting keys,” he said.

CSU is among many victims of a 10-month budget battle between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and Democratic legislative leaders who have yet to allocate any state funding to Illinois’ 12 public universities and countless other state programs.

12 Detroit school principals charged in $2.7 million kickback scheme

Detroit Open School is
now closed

Here are some more scumbags who claim to be "for the kids."

From Fox Detroit:

Fourteen people are now facing federal corruption charges including twelve Detroit Public School principals.

They are accused of running a kickback scheme for school supplies that rarely made it to classrooms. Criminal charges were filed Tuesday against 12 current or former principals, an assistant superintendent, and a DPS vendor of school supplies, Norman Shy.

"A case like this is a real punch in the gut for those who are trying to do the right thing," said Barbara McQuade, US Attorney, Eastern District of Michigan. "Documents allege that Shy conspired with the 13 individual school officials," McQuade said. "They didn't conspire with each other, but he paid bribes to each of those school officials."

One of those charged is Ronald Alexander, the principal at Charles L. Spain Elementary Middle School. His school is on tap to receive $500,000 in donations from Ellen DeDeneres.

Only a state bailout of DPS can save it from insolvency. How did it get into that predicament?

Last year former senior DPS senior officer Barbara Byrd-Bennett, who was Mayor Rahm Emanuel's handpicked choice to run Chicago Public Schools, pleaded guilty for her role in a CPS bribery scheme.

As I've said before, if Al Capone was around today he'd be a public school big shot. That's where the big money is.

Related posts:

(Photos) Detroit's Abandoned Caroline Crosman Alternative High School

(Photos) Detroit's scavenged Harry B. Hutchins School

(Video) Ronald Reagan and the Easter egg roll

In a video released yesterday the Reagan Foundation looks back at the tradition of Easter egg rolls at the White House.

Related posts:

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

PJ Media video: Obama embarrasses nation with visit to Cuba

Last week PJ Media's Trifecta looked at President Obama's shameful visit to communist Cuba.

Bullies: Chicago Teachers Union threatens to kick out members who defy illegal strike

CPS Spry School teacher, Occupy Chicago
anti-NATO rally in 2012

On Friday the far-left Chicago Teachers Union will hold an illegal one-day strike. Chicago Public Schools is essentially insolvent. As with Illinois and the city of Chicago, pension obligations are pushing the nation's third-largest school district over the cliff.

Teachers--remember, they are supposed to be for the kids--and other CTU members who show up for work on Friday and obey the law face expulsion from the union. That may seem be a good thing, but because Illinois is not a right-to-work state the law-abiding CTU members will still have to cough up union dues out of their paychecks.

In their last contract an anti-bullying clause was added.

Seventy percent of the CPS budget goes to wages and benefits.

Blago appeal a no go

Old Prospector, Denver
"Bleeping golden!"

Lots of people--even a few conservatives--feel that Rod Blagojevich's 14 year corruption sentence is too long. Wrong. It's just about right. Fear of a long prison sentence is the only hope to keep Chicago and Illinois at least somewhat honest.

And Blago is not a naive chump. The Chicago Democrat is a former Cook County prosecutor. He made his bed--and now he can sleep it in every night into the next decade.

From ABC Chicago:

Rod Blagojevich got into trouble for seeing a U.S. Senate seat as "[bleeping] golden." Now, for the ex-governor silence is golden after his Supreme Court hopes were dashed, or at least that's the word coming out of Blagojevich's federal prison in Colorado.

A prison official tells the I-Team that the crooked ex-governor wasn't interested in talking to about the U.S. Supreme Court giving notice that justices would not hear his appeal. No comment and no stated dissent.

"He's been a model prisoner, he teaches classes, he helps other inmates, ya know, I think he's done everything he can to try and rejoin his family," says his attorney Leonard Goodman.

Blagojevich hasn't been heard from since the day he checked into the Englewood Penitentiary in Littleton, Colo.

Blago's doing a great job in prison--keep him there.

(MNSBC video) Halperin on Clinton emails: "She was cavalier" and "people are uncomfortable with what she did"

Bloomberg's Mark Halperin appeared on MNSBC's Morning Joe earlier today and in regards to Hillary Clinton's email fiasco he said, "She was cavalier" and "people are uncomfortable with what she did."

Chicago teen who appeared in anti-violence video shot by stray bullet

Tragic.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

In a public service announcement filmed at his school in Austin last year, Zarriel Trotter talked about how violence was wreaking havoc on his West Side neighborhood.

"I don"t want to live around my community, where . . . people keep on getting shot, people keep on getting killed," Zarriel, now a seventh-grader at Catalyst Circle Rock Charter School, says in the video.

Saturday night, the 13-year-old was in critical condition at Mount Sinai Hospital, under sedation and recovering from surgery after being shot by a stray bullet the night before.

In other Chiraq news, one person was murdered at least 23 others were wounded over the Easter weekend.

Islamic State demons crucified priest on Good Friday

Barack Obama's "JV team" carried out a despicable act on Good Friday.

From the Daily Mail:

The Indian Catholic priest kidnapped by ISIS-linked terrorists in Yemen earlier this month was crucified on Good Friday, it has been claimed.

Father Thomas Uzhunnalil, 56, was taken by Islamist gunmen, reportedly linked to ISIS, who attacked an old people's home in Aden, southern Yemen, killing at least 15 people, on March 4.

The terrorists reportedly carried out the heinous murder on Good Friday, after threatening to do so earlier in the week, according to the Archbishop of Vienna.

Fan angry about Rays playing Cuba throws full can of beer inside dugout

Here's a baseball fan who is not smoking the Obama hopium.

From AP:

A man apparently angered by the Tampa Bay Rays' recent trip to Cuba made his way onto the field and threw a full can of beer into the team's dugout Saturday night during a spring training game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Nobody was hurt. A member of the Pirates' grounds crew and Rays third base coach Charlie Montoyo restrained the protester until police arrived, briefly delaying the game.

The man was arrested and will be charged with causing a fray, trespassing and assault, Bradenton police Lt. John Affolter said. Police would not yet identify the man.

"I've worked games here for 23 years and I've never seen anything like it," Affolter said. "I've seen a streaker, I've seen a lot. I thought I'd seen it all."

And this cop has seen seven years of Obama and his after-effects.

Related post:

White House admits in Twitter photo: Cuba is a communist prison

Taliban beasts claim responsibility for Pakistan Easter bombing that targeted Christians

Imagine the howls from from groups like CAIR--the Council on American Islamic Relations--if a group targeted Muslims on Eid al-Fitr in a bombing.

As of this writing there hasn't been a peep from CAIR about this latest Islamist barbarity.

From AP:

A breakaway Pakistani faction of the militant Taliban group has claimed responsibility for an Easter Sunday bombing that killed 65 people in a park in the eastern city of Lahore that was crowded with Christians, including many children.

Ahsanullah Ahsan, spokesman for Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, told the Associated Press that a suicide bomber with the faction deliberately targeted the Christian community.

The explosion took place near the children's rides in Gulshan-e-Iqbal park local police chief Haider Ashraf said. He said the explosion appeared to have been a suicide bombing, but investigations were ongoing.

The attack killed 65 people and wounded over 300, said Deeba Shahnaz, a spokesman for Lahore rescue administration.

From Da Tech Guy: The decline and fall of Chicago

The end appears to be near. From my weekly post at Da Tech Guy: The decline and fall of Chicago.

Happy Easter, 2016

Happy Easter!

From I Corinthians 15:3-7:

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas [Peter], and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.

He is risen.

(Video) CNN's Lemon blows up on air because Trump supporter avoids his question

Politicians and their surrogates avoiding questions they don't want to answer are as old as politics. CNN's Don Lemon, who once on air if Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 was swallowed by a black hole, tried to get Donald Trump supporter and former Apprentice contestant Omarosa to comment and the feud between Trump, Ted Cruz, and their wives. She dodged the query but rather than put her on course Lemon blew up on air and quickly cut to a commercial.

"Black Hole" Lemon clearly dislikes the Republican front-runner.

LGBT Americans for Trump: Proof he's more gay-friendly than Hillary

Remember: Until 2013 Hillary Clinton opposed same sex marriage. Poltifact rates her current stance on gay unions as a flip flop.

The Jam: David Watts

"Ladies and gentlemen, wham, bam, thank you, The Jam."

And that's how the legendary British comic Peter Cook introduces another act that never caught on in the United States, The Jam, on his short-lived Revolver TV show.

As an added treat a woman disrobes during his intro.

Oh, then there is the music. The Jam, with Bruce Foxton singing a rare lead vocal, performs a classic Kinks tune, "David Watts."



Related post:

The Jam: Going Underground

Marley Creek in the rain

There's a little stream in Orland Park, Illinois that way of Hickory Creek eventually makes its way to the Des Plaines River.

Here's what Marley Creek looked like Thursday morning during a heavy rain storm.

Artist ships front of vacant Detroit home to Europe, leaves behind an even worse eyesore

Near 8 Mile Road last summer

I'm a traditionalist. I believe that art should be beautiful.

From USA Today:

An American artist living in Europe made international headlines last month for moving an abandoned Detroit home to Europe and putting it on display at a major art fair.

Six months after artist Ryan Mendoza's team finished stripping the facade off a two-story house near 8 Mile and Livernois — and assured neighbors the rest of it would be demolished immediately — the naked shell of the home still stands in the middle of a healthy block. It's a jumble of urban decay, rubble, debris, exposed beams and falling plaster.

The project ignited a heated debate about whether it was a meaningful artistic statement that would draw attention to the city's struggles or just another example of so-called ruin porn — the exploitation and glamorization of the city's decay. But critical arguments and polemics at 10,000 feet are one thing. The reality on the ground is something else entirely.

Why couldn't the so-called artist just create a painting of the house and exhibit that in Europe?

Related posts:

• (Photos) Part one: Abandoned homes in Detroit's Grixdale Farms neighborhood
• Photos) Part two: Abandoned homes in Detroit's Grixdale Farms neighborhood
• (Photos) Abandoned homes near Detroit's Telegraph Road

(Video) Obama says there is no big difference between capitalism and communism

Our leftist president had the audacity to say yesterday in Argentina that there is no big difference between capitalism and communism and people ought to "choose what works."

Communism works this way: Mao Zedong killed 60 million people, as did Josef Stalin. Pol Pot, in a relatively brief time and in a much smaller nation killed one million people.

(Video) Pat Buchanan: GOP establishment is right to be worried

While on Hannity last night Pat Buchanan talks about Donald Trump's rise and how it threatens the pocketbooks of the GOP establishment.

Illinois Supreme Court voids Rahm's pension reform law

Abandoned warehouse, SW Side

My prior post was about the Chicago area having the biggest population drop of any major metropolitan area.

Here's one of the reasons.

From AP:

The Illinois Supreme Court dealt another devastating blow Thursday to the state's impatient attempts to control its ballooning public pension debt by striking down a state law that would have cut into an $8 billion hole in two of Chicago's employee pension accounts.

The law forced the city to significantly ramp up its taxpayer-fueled contributions, but also cut benefits and required larger contributions from about 61,000 current and retired municipal civil servant workers. The high court unanimously sided with workers who sued the city, arguing that the law violated the Illinois Constitution's protections against reducing promised pension benefits.

The city - whose decades of underfunding is overwhelmingly to blame for the crisis - has warned that the funds would be insolvent within 15 years without the change. But the court said that despite those warnings, the law's provisions "exceed the General Assembly's authority."

The ruling mimicked one by the high court less than a year ago involving a separate pension bailout: the $111 billion deficit in state-employee retirement accounts.

Last year, as part of Rahm's so-called pension fix, Chicago stuck it to its taxpayers with the largest property tax hike in its history.

As for Cook County--it just raised its portion of the sales tax by one percent to pay for--wait for it--pension obligations. Chicagoans pay a 10.5 sales tax on most items.

Chicago's bonds are rated as junk.

Abandoned home, West Side

The choices Chicago faces are all bad, such as more tax hikes and possibly a commuter tax, which one mayoral candidate floated last year. Ask Detroit how their commuter tax is working out. Another option is amending the state constitution so pension reform will be easier. The public-sector unions will howl over that idea.

The last and best option is to change state law so local municipalities and other government agencies can declare bankruptcy. The unions will scream about that one too--but at this point it's best to tell the unions to go to hell. The government is supposed to serve the people--it's not meant to be the other way around.

The unions made a terrible mistake--they believed promises made by the politicians whose campaigns they funded.

Related post:

Worse than Detroit: Chicago area sees biggest population loss of any major metro area in 2015

Worse than Detroit: Chicago area sees biggest population loss of any major metro area in 2015

Chicago's West Side

Decades of corruption, high taxes, rampant crime, rotten schools, Democratic gerrymandering, and looming public-sector pension bombs have taken their toll on the once proud Chicago area.

From the Chicago Tribune:

The Chicago region in 2015 saw its first population decline since at least 1990, marking the greatest loss of any metropolitan area in the country, according to census data released Thursday.

In 2015 the region lost an estimated 6,263 people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau data. The reason for the decline is clear: The number of residents leaving the region in 2015 was so large — about 80,000 in all — that it couldn’t be offset by new residents and births, according to census data.

"The fact is, the whole metro area actually lost population, because that many more people moved out than moved in," said William Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution.

Chicago’s metropolitan statistical area includes the city and suburbs and extends into Wisconsin and Indiana. And it's not just the city and its neighbors seeing a population plunge; Illinois is among the states that saw its population decline for a second consecutive year, census data show.

Of course in the Tribune analysis there is no mention of the graft and sheer incompetence among Chicago area public-servants as being one of the causes for the exodus out of the Land of Lincoln.

Oh, not even the Detroit area suffered as much population decline as Chicago last year.

RedEye, a Trib publication, tongue-in-cheek (I hope), is blaming lack of sex and cold winters for the demographic decline.

Another apology tour for Obama in Argentina

Our first anti-American president is on another apology tour.

From USA Today:

President Obama Thursday visited a memorial in Argentina to the thousands of people killed and disappeared during that country’s "dirty war," on the 40th anniversary of the coup that started it.

Obama used his visit to announce his plan to declassify new military and intelligence records that document the human rights violations from 1976 to 1983.

"There's been controversy about the policies of the United States early in those dark days," Obama said, standing beside the Argentinian President Mauricio Macri. "The United States when it reflects on what happened here has to reflect on its own past…. When we're slow to speak out on human rights, which was the case here."

More...

What happened in Argentina "ls not unique, and it's not confined to the past," he said. “Each of us have a responsibility each and every day to make sure that wherever we see injustice, wherever we see rule of law flaunted that we take responsibility to make this a better place for our children and grandchildren."

When is Obama going to speak out about injustice in Saudi Arabia and Iran?

Read here about Obama's first apology tour.

It's time to Make America Great Again.

(Video) Obama special envoy: Released Gitmo detainees have killed Americans

Watch as Obama administration special envoy Paul Lewis admit to US Rep. Dana Rohrbacher that Americans have been killed by terrorist released from the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.

Islamic State has 400 terrorists is Europe

More bad news out of Europe.

From AP:

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has trained at least 400 fighters to target Europe in deadly waves of attacks, deploying interlocking terror cells like the ones that struck Brussels and Paris with orders to choose the time, place and method for maximum carnage, The Associated Press has learned.

The network of agile and semiautonomous cells shows the reach of the extremist group in Europe even as it loses ground in Syria and Iraq. The officials, including European and Iraqi intelligence officials and a French lawmaker who follows the jihadi networks, described camps in Syria, Iraq and possibly the former Soviet bloc where attackers are trained to attack the West. Before being killed in a police raid, the ringleader of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks claimed to have entered Europe in a multinational group of 90 fighters, who scattered "more or less everywhere."

But the biggest break yet in the Paris attacks investigation - the arrest on Friday of fugitive Salah Abdeslam - did not thwart the multipronged attack just four days later on the Belgian capital's airport and metro that left 31 people dead and an estimated 270 wounded. Three suicide bombers also died.

Just as in Paris, Belgian authorities were searching for at least one fugitive in Tuesday's attacks - this time for a man seen on security footage in the airport with the two suicide attackers. The fear is that the man, whose identity Belgian officials say is not known, will find Abdeslam's path instructive.

Chicago Teachers Union plans illegal one-day strike against insolvent CPS

Nathanael Greene School,
SW Side

Like the Iran-Iraq War this is a battle that I hope both sides lose. The children, parents, and taxpayers of Chicago have already lost.

In 2012 about 80 percent of eighth grade Chicago Public Schools students were not proficient in math and reading.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

The Chicago Teachers Union voted Wednesday evening to approve a one-day "showdown" strike on April 1 — which will include a massive downtown rally — to bring attention to ongoing contract negotiations and the state’s education funding crisis.

"I think it'll be a clear message. Based on the current organizing, we'll shut this city down," Tammie Vinson, a special education teacher at Oscar DePriest Elementary School said after the vote at the International Operating Engineers Hall.

But the vote — 486 in favor, 124 opposed — was hardly unanimous, and some teachers expressed doubts about the amorphous action after seeing the motive change over the past few weeks.

Still, CTU President Karen Lewis said the numbers show teachers are ready to fight.

As for the planned Loop rally which a teacher hopes will "shut this city down," I certainly hope that if these leftists block city streets they'll be arrested. Teachers are hired to educate kids--not to shut the city down.

The one-day strike is illegal, by the way.

CPS is essentially insolvent. But the retired teachers collect a generous pension.

Seagull photobombs Chicago fire house

When you carry a camera everywhere and you move fast--as I do--you get awarded by fantastic photographic opportunities.

Such as on Sunday when a seagull photobombed me when I snapped a pic of the Chinatown fire station in Chicago.

Sessions calls for tougher stance on Muslim refugees

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), one of the most able public servants in Washington, says we need to rethink Obama's refugee stance.

From Breitbart:

Sessions pointed to the Muslim refugee crisis swamping Europe and threatening to hit the United States, thanks to the policies President Barack Obama wants to put in place.

"Clearly, the refugee and migration policies of Europe and the United States must be thoughtfully reconsidered," Sessions wrote. "The United States Refugee Admissions Program must be significantly altered and all its components closely examined."

Sessions went on to point out that allowing Muslims into the country indiscriminately is a recipe for disaster.

"It cannot be the policy of the United States that millions of foreign nationals are able to demand permanent entry into this country as refugees or asylees, particularly when our law enforcement and intelligence communities cannot adequately screen these individuals for security risks," the Senator said.

Post Brussels: What we need is more dead terrorists and fewer memorial vigils

Across much of the world--but not so much in the Middle East--memorial vigils are being held in honor of the victims of yesterday's Brussels jihadi attack. The same thing happened after the two 2015 Paris deadly terror incidents.

What we need instead is more dead terrorists--or captured ones given life sentences with no possibility of parole.

Candle lighting ceremonies do not win wars. And the West is at war.

Trump wins Arizona

Northern Arizona

The Trump Train has left the station in Arizona. The New York political newcomer has won the Grand Canyon State primary and all 58 of its delegates. 

In Utah the polls are still open but Ted Cruz is expected to win that state's caucuses. For some reason--perhaps its Mitt Romney--Trump struggles among Mormons, who are a reliable Republican constituency.

(MSNBC video) Matthews rips Obama for anemic response to Brussels attacks

You know that Obama is failing when one of his reliable sycophants, in this case MSNBC's Chris Matthews is unhappy. Specifically over Dear Leader's "phoning it in" response the the Brussels terror attacks and his decision to go ahead and watch a baseball game in Cuba.

(Video) Bill Clinton slams Obama’s "awful legacy"

"If you believe we can rise together, if you believe we've finally come to the point where we can put the awful legacy of the last eight years behind us and the seven years before that where we were practicing trickle-down economics, then you should vote for her," Bill Clinton said about his wife yesterday at a campaign event.

A Hillary aide made a feeble attempt to walk Bill's remarks back--but file this comment under "Even a broken clock is right twice a day."

Yes, the Obama years have been awful.

Obama: We can learn from Cuba on human rights

If you have any doubts that Barack Obama is a hardened leftist--then keep reading.

From the Daily Caller:

Speaking to reporters in Havana Monday, President Barack Obama said that, "hopefully," the United States can learn a thing or two from Cuba’s record on improving basic, human rights.

"Our starting point is that we have two different systems," Obama explained. "What I have said to President Castro, is that we are moving forward and not looking backwards."

"President Castro, I think, has pointed out that it, in his view making sure that everybody is getting a decent education or health care, has basic security in old age, that those things are human rights as well."

"The goal of the human rights dialogue is not for the United States to dictate to Cuba how to govern themselves," the president continued. "Hopefully, we can learn from each other."

Political opponents of the Castro dictatorship are routinely locked up.

War on the West: Bombings in Brussels

There is very bad news this morning out of Belgium.

From the BBC:

A series of attacks has struck Brussels airport and the metro system, causing at least 13 deaths, Belgian media say.

Two blasts tore through the departures area of Zaventem airport shortly after 08:00 local time (07:00 GMT).

An hour later, explosions hit Maalbeek metro station, close to the EU institutions. The metro system and airport have both been closed.

The attacks come four days after Salah Abdeslam, the main suspect in the Paris attacks, was captured in Brussels.

Multiple blasts? At transportation facilities? Seems like another attack by radial Islamic terrorists.

Like it or not, the West is at war.

Commie Castro tells Obama he wants Gitmo back and end of embargo

Communist dictator Raul Castro is not being a gracious host to his fellow leftist Barack Obama. Castro told Obama that he wants the decades old trade embargo between our countries lifted and he demands the return of the Guantanomo Bay Naval Base.

Fortunately Obama doesn't have the power to yield to the thug.

Castro does have the power to lock up dissidents--which he did to 50 of them just prior to Dear Leader's arrival.

Obama and Castro deserve each other.

(Photos) Urban Decay in Chicago: The Union Bag and Paper Building

Chicago's Central Manufacturing District, which opened in 1892, is arguably the world's first planned industrial park. Hundreds of companies called CMD home and the park employed tens of thousands of Chicagoans.

Much of the CMD is crumbling or just vacant lots.

Yesterday I visited and managed to get inside to photograph the onetime Union Bag and Paper Co. Building at 3737 S. Ashland Street, which is in the the process of being demolished.

That's terra cotta surrounding the second floor windows.

Union Bag and Paper Company was founded in 1881 by the Calder Family in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. In 1956 it merged with the Camp Manufacturing Company to form the Union Camp Company. In 1999 International Paper purchased Union Camp.

Somewhere during that story line this building was set adrift.

Samuel Scott Joy was the building's architect--it was a built in 1915 and its razing began in its centennial year. After seeing pictures such as this one you begin to understand why Chicago's population is the lowest it's been since 1910.

High taxes and public corruption in Chicago have hastened the rot.

Let's go inside!

Entering abandoned buildings offers many risks--climbing through rubble is one of them.

As far as I can gather other than demolition there are no plants for the this site. South of the Union Bag and Paper stood the Pullman Couch factory, which burned down in a spectacular fire in 2013.

There is plenty of open space in the Central Manufacturing District.

International Paper is still a going concern--in fact it's the world's largest paper and pulp firm.

It appears that someone started to dismantle this fire escape stairwell.

In 2014 Landmarks Illinois listed the Central Manufacturing District as one of its ten most endangered sites.

Related posts:

(Photos) The abandoned Wyman-Gordon power plant in Dixmoor, Illinois

(Photos) Urban Decay in Chicago: The Damen Silos

Chiraq: 2 dead and at least 25 wounded

The first weekend of spring saw continued violence in Chicago. Two men were murdered--both on the Northwest Side--and at least 25 others were wounded. One of those shot was an off-duty Chicago policeman.

(Video) Anti-Trump protesters go berserk!

By watching this video from Alex Jones you'll see why Donald Trump keeps gaining support.

Who wants to identify with the whack-jobs who oppose his historic run for the presidency?

From Da Tech Guy: Barack Obama is a Democrat ward hack and a complete fraud

President Obama has a lot on his plate: ISIS, the ObamaCare debacle, and a moribund economy top the list. But he found time to drive an independent Democratic state legislator out of office.

From my weekly post at Da Tech Guy: Barack Obama is a Democrat ward hack and a complete fraud.

Deceptive Deseret News headline claims Trump will lose Utah in November

Antelope Island, Utah

The Deseret News, which is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, must be angry with Donald Trump's recent comments about Mitt Romney, a Mormon. However, Trump says, "Okay, I love the Mormons."

In today's Deseret News, the number two paper in Salt Lake City, readers are confronted with this headline, Poll: Utah would vote for a Democrat for president over Trump.

But if you dig into the details, that is, if you read the story, you'll get a more accurate take:

If Donald Trump becomes the Republican Party's nominee, Utahns would vote for a Democrat for president in November for the first time in more than 50 years, according to a new Deseret News/KSL poll.

"I believe Donald Trump could lose Utah. If you lose Utah as a Republican, there is no hope," said former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt, a top campaign adviser to the GOP's 2012 nominee, Mitt Romney.

The poll found that may well be true. Utah voters said they would reject Trump, the GOP frontrunner, whether former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is the Democratic candidate on the general election ballot.

While Clinton was only slightly ahead of Trump — 38 percent to 36 percent — Sanders, a self-declared Democratic socialist, holds a substantial lead — 48 percent to 37 percent over the billionaire businessman and reality TV star among likely Utah voters.

Not only does the Trump--Clinton fall within the poll's margin of error, Hillary does not even crack forty percent. Trump may challenge this belief--but GOP voters tend to fall in line and go with their party in the general election. As for Sanders, because of Democratic boss chicanery, he will not be on the ballot in November.

In other words, ignore the headline.

Anti-Trump protester arrested for slapping police horse

Will the accused claim that slapping a docile horse is covered by the first amendment?

From the Kansas City Star:

Kansas City police arrested a woman accused of slapping a police horse outside a Donald Trump rally last weekend shortly before officers released pepper spray on a crowd of protesters.

April J. Foster, 29, was arrested about 5 p.m. Friday in the 9200 block of Ward Parkway and charged with abuse of a police service animal. Foster was later released after posting a $500 bond and is scheduled to appear in Municipal Court on May 4.

Police had been searching for the woman who hit the horse.

The horse, named Dan, was hit while officers on horseback attempted to control protesters and keep them out of the street outside a Trump rally March 12 in downtown Kansas City at 13th and Main streets.

Prior to allegedly slapping Dan, the Star reports that the accused first screamed into the face of the horse in an attempt to frighten him.

Only creeps abuse animals.

Related post:

Exclusive: An eyewitness account of the Chicago Trump rally from a new Trump supporter

Desert douchebags fail to stop Arizona Trump rally

Leftists who have no respect for freedom of speech and the electoral process attempted to block traffic in Fountain Hills, Arizona where Republican front-runner Donald Trump spoke this afternoon.

Blocking traffic is illegal and not protected by the US Constitution. Fortunately for the cause of truth, justice, and the American way--Fountain Hills is in Maricopa County where tough-on crime Joe Arpaio is the sheriff. At least three protesters were arrested.

Some of the jackals chained themselves to cars to slow down their justifiable removal.

These antics not only embolden Trump backers, it in fact attracts even more support for his historic effort to win the presidency. Keep up the good work. See you all on Inauguration Day.

My posts at Da Tech Guy:

Obama’s anti-free speech ’08 campaign set the tone for Chicago attack on Trump

Why 21st century civil disobedience isn't the same as 1960s civil disobedience

Van Morrison: Days Like This

Van Morrison made a minor comeback in 1995 with his album Days Like This.

Watch as Van the Man performs the title track.

Chicago workers cottages on the South Side

On the 3300 block of South Damen near the Target Store on the South Side of Chicago is a dazzling row of Chicago workers cottages. Brick homes in this style were especially popular after the Chicago Fire.

Simple, elegant, and cheap. What's not to like?

It appears that after these homes were built Damen was raised.

Daughter of Democratic state rep from Chicago charged with stapling primary opponent's head

Illinois politics reached another new low this week--and surely this won't be the final new low.

On the other hand we might be privy to more of what Mayor Rahm Emanuel calls "Chicago values."

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

Robert Zwolinski said he was floored when he learned that one of the people who'd allegedly attacked him and stapled his forehead outside his Ukrainian Village campaign headquarters earlier this month was the daughter of his opponent in his unsuccessful Illinois House race.

"My common sense intuition said no way it would be her daughter because that in itself sounds so extreme," Zwolinski told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Jessica Soto, the daughter of state Rep. Cynthia Soto, was ordered held in lieu of $25,000 bail Friday for the attack Cook County prosecutors said left Zwolinski with a black eye, broken nose and six stitches to his forehead.

Jessica Soto and Bradley Fichter, both 26, both face three felony counts of aggravated battery in connection with the March 6 incident in the 800 block of North Ashland.

While violent attacks are not unusual in Chicago, stapling of people is rare.

Cynthia Soto is a Democrat, which the Sun-Times somehow managed to leave out of its account of the alleged assault--she defeated Zwolinksi in Tuesday's primary election.

According to Soto's General Assembly website, "[s]he has sponsored legislation reflecting her commitment to working families, access to affordable health care, better schools, and safer neighborhoods."

Just watch out for those errant staplers.

(Photos) Abandoned farm buildings near Orland Park

When I attended Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park the area around 159th Street and Wolf Road was mostly rural. West of Will-Cook Road it was even more so.

I was back last week and the area isn't as developed as I had expected. The Great Recession and Illinois' fiscal mismanagement has slowed if not stopped the growth of sprawl southwest of Chicago.

In front of the silo appears to be an old chicken coop.

West of Will-Cook Road just outside of Homer Glen is this collapsed barn.

There is fresh hay in this barn--so it may not be completely abandoned. The land between here and Century Junior High is still farmed.

On the same farm is a corn crib.

Exactly what is this hangar? I dunno.

This garage has seen better days.

These vintage agricultural buildings from the first red barn down are on the southeast corner of the intersection of Wolf Road and 159th Street--where Illinois Route 7 and US Route 6 meet.

Related post:

(Photo) The Spirit of '76 Illinois style

Chiraq: 1 dead and 21 wounded in St. Patrick's Day and Friday morning shootings

The luck of the Irish bypassed Chicago on St. Patrick's Day as one person was shot to death and at least 21 others were wounded in shootings all over the city on Thursday into Friday morning. One other person was stabbed.

Interstate 57 was shut down after a man was wounded while driving near 111th Street.

Meanwhile last week's anti-Donald Trump riot continues to be news.

Related post:

Chicago area expressway shootings double in one year

White House admits in Twitter photo: Cuba is a communist prison

Next week our leftist president, Barack Obama, will visit that left-wing Valhalla, communist Cuba.

Take a look at this White House Tweet. Even Obama's staff admits that Cuba is a massive prison.

Get a first look at the key stops @POTUS will make during his #CubaVisit next week → https://t.co/Dfbi5gPyYQ pic.twitter.com/Zgq1ChK8hR

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 17, 2016

Mammatus clouds over Oakton Street in Des Plaines

Nature blessed Des Plaines, Illinois on Wednesday evening with a display of mammautus clouds--colloquially known as cotton ball clouds--over the Oakton Street bridge on the Des Plaines River.

(Video) Blame for Chicago anti-Trump riot belongs with the protesters

Fox News' Bill O'Reilly un-tangles the media web protecting the left-wing activists who forced the cancellation of last week's Donald Trump rally in Chicago that turned into a riot.

The violence is the fault of the leftists--not Donald Trump and his growing army of supporters.

Oh, Trump won the Illinois Republican primary.

My post at Da Tech Guy:

Obama’s anti-free speech ’08 campaign set the tone for Chicago attack on Trump

Related posts:

• Exclusive: An eyewitness account of the Chicago Trump rally from a new Trump supporter
• No free speech in Chicago: Leftist mob forces postponement of Trump rally

(Video) Hillary admits to hacking threat with personal computers and devices

Inadvertently of course, but in an interview a couple of years ago at a data storage company Hillary Clinton acknowledged the dire hacking threat of personal devices such as computers when bring them to China or Russia because "they would penetrate them in a minute."

Blago's father-in-law may be out as Chicago ward boss

Although they were estranged years before disgraced former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich began his federal prison sentence, it's safe to say that without former Chicago alderman and longtime 33rd Ward Democratic committeeman Dick Mell, Blago would never have had a political career.

Like Dr. Frankenstein's creation, the monster turned on Mell when he had the first opportunity, which was shortly after Blago won his first gubernatorial election.

In what appears to be an upset, unknown Aaron Goldstein holds a narrow lead over Mell for the office of ward committeeman. Mell resigned his aldermanic post in the tradition of Chicago pols--greasing the way for a handpicked successor. In his case it was for his daughter, Deb, who is of course Blago's sister-in-law.