Alleged Chicago Trump Tower dine-and-dasher: "I don't need to steal, I just don't like Donald Trump"

Chicago's Trump Tower

A Georgia man came to Chicago and he "went native." Like an Illinois politician he spent money that he doesn't have.

From the Chicago Tribune:

A self-styled playboy who Chicago police say refused to pay an $1,800 bar tab at Trump Tower and also ran up large unpaid tabs at two other downtown bars says he is now partying in San Diego and has challenged the cops to "Catch me if you can."

Robert A. Heath Jr., 30, was arrested at Trump Tower on March 10 after refusing to pay his $1,838 tab, according to a police report. In a phone conversation with Chicago Inc. this week, he claimed he is a wealthy executive for an electric car manufacturer adding, "I don't need to steal — I just don't like Donald Trump."

Perhaps he hates Trump, but Heath apparently dislikes paying bar bills.

More from the Trib:

Arrested and released on his own recognizance, Heath Jr., of Canton, Ga., had allegedly pulled the same stunt just three days earlier at Coco Pazzo Cafe in Streeterville, running up a $229 tab for booze and a chicken dinner that he refused to pay.

Court records allege he did it a third time at Mothers Too in the Gold Coast on March 14, when he was charged with trying to skip on a $106 tab.

(Video) Wallace catches Schumer lying on Trump tax plan

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) made a rare appearance on Fox News Sunday. Big shot Democrats don't usually appear on Fox News becauses reporters on the network, such as Chris Wallace, confront them with the truth. Say what you will about disgraced ex-congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY), but he never backed away from a fight on Fox.

Watch as Schumer gets a fact handed to him. After Schumer, when discussing the Trump tax plan, makes the false claim that the president's proposal eliminates the mortgage interest deduction, Wallace corrects him.

Trump's plan does ditch the state income tax deduction, which is a backhanded federal subsidy to spendthrift blue states such as Schumer's New York and Barack Obama's Illinois.

Perhaps the misguided people in those states who vote Democratic might think again about it.

From Da Tech Guy, Deep Corruption, hiring scandal reveals stench of Illinois government

In Washington there is "Deep State." In the Prairie State we have something similar.

From my weekly post at Da Tech Guy: Deep Corruption, hiring scandal reveals stench of Illinois government.

Gutfeld: President Trump kicked the media's rump

Greg Gutfeld lauds President Trump for holding a rally in the new red state of Pennsylvania while the left-wingers among the White House correspondents held there annual dinner.

Gutfeld says Trump kicked the media's rump.

Booker T. & the M.G.'s: Time Is Tight

While better known for their first hit, "Green Onions," I've always enjoyed the last hit from Booker T. and the M.G's, "Time Is Tight," more.

Here is that great instrumental band performing that chesnut in 1970.

President Trump Weekly Address 4/28/17

President Donald J. Trump is bullish on his still young presidency.

"My fellow Americans, I truly believe that the first 100 days of my administration has been just about the most successful in our country's history," Trump says here in his weekly address. "Our country is going up, and it's going up fast."

Deep Corruption: Ex-Chicago schools chief sentenced to 4 ½ years in prison

Evergreen Academy,
Southwest Side

You've heard about "Deep State," the nameless yet intractable part of the federal government that seeks to undermine political hires, such as members of the president's cabinet, who work to undermine their bosses and the president, particularly when a Republican resides in the White House.

In Chicago there is Deep Corruption. For instance, Gary Solomon, the former co-owner of SUPES Academy and Synesis Associates LLC, engineered the hiring of Barbara Byrd-Bennett, commonly known as B3, as the CEO of Chicago Public Schools.

We still don't know how Solomon--who has already pleaded guilty for his role in the CPS bribery scam outlined below--pulled that off.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

A federal judge on Friday sent the mayor's second schools chief to prison with a diatribe against a steady stream of public corruption he said threatens Chicago's very well-being.

"It's distressing that Chicago has not — nor seems to be able to — shed its image of public corruption," Judge Edmond Chang said before he sentenced disgraced Chicago Public Schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett to 4 ½ years in prison. "People in Chicago and all of Illinois want to see if Chicago can ever be a city that works for its people and not for public officials and those that pay bribes. … The fact that the crime was committed during CPS' budget crisis did make it all the worse."

Byrd-Bennett steered $23 million in no-bid contracts to the consultants who'd previously employed her; in return, she expected hundreds of thousand of dollars in kickbacks — though she never saw any of it.

"I've got this thing, it's f*cking golden."

The largest of the three no-bid deals was a jaw-dropping $20.5 million principal training contract. It was finalized a month after Byrd-Bennett controversially shuttered 50 neighborhood schools in 2013.

Also sentenced in the scheme was another co-owner of SUPES and Synesi Associates LLC, Thomas Vranas. He will serve 18 months.

B3 is a former chief academic and accountability auditor for Detroit Public Schools. And DPS hired--wait for it--Synesi as a contractor. Byrd-Bennett's time in Detroit is reportedly under investigation.

That's the way Deep Corruption works. Crooks weave their way in-and-out of government--with a lucrative stay or two in the private sector--cashing in on their connections.

Taxpayers lose. And when schools are involved, children lose too.

B3's boast with an emoji about the graft in an email, "I have tuition to pay and casinos to visit (:", is now remembered as one of Chicago's storied corruption quotes, which includes Rod Blagojevich's line about selling a US Senate seat, "I've got this thing and it's fucking golden, and, uh, uh, I'm just not giving it up for fuckin' nothing."

Hannity: Stifling of speech should trouble every American

Berkeley, California is the capital of the anti-free speech movement. Which is why Ann Coulter's speech there was cancelled. She was planning on discussing enforcing existing immigration laws.

Existing laws. Not "build the wall."

Last night Sean Hannity discussed the stifling of free speech at college campuses by the alt-left.

Gutfeld: Another victory for the anti-free speech movement

Tomorrow the 82nd Avenue of Roses Parade was to have taken place in Portland, Oregon. But because a Republican group was slated to march--yes, they have Republicans in Portland--because an email sent by an anonymous person threatened riots, the parade organizers cancelled the event.

First, the organizers are cowards. Secondly, America has entered a dangerous phase where those who have views different than that of the hard Left have to fear for their safety.

Fox News' Greg Gutfeld talks about the latest victory of the anti-free speech movement.

Chicago Teachers Union calls for teacher class cutting for May Day march

CTU member at 2012
Occupy Chicago rally

While the Chicago Teachers Union isn't calling for an illegal strike on Monday, as it threatened to do, it is asking that its members attend that afternoon's Chicago May Day march, activities surrounding it begin with school rallies at 7:30am.

The CTU we all know are "for the kids," but how can they be for those kids when they are rabble-rousing on May 1. Yes, May Day 2017 is a school day.

Critics of my blogging, which to my astonishment are many, casually dismiss such attacks as heartless. After all, they say, aren't you entitled to vacation days, floater days, and sick days in your private sector job? Sure I am! But when I'm not at work when I'm supposed to be, my employer doesn't call in a substitute--at taxpayer expense--to handle my duties.

So when a unionized teacher calls in "sick" to march for leftist causes, that means there is less money "for the kids."

If not enough substitute teachers are available to cover those class cutting CTU teachers on Monday, Chicago Public Schools will have to shut down for the day. That means tens of thousands of parents will have to call off from work because they'll have to stay home and watch over their children.

Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois are losing population. Surprised?

Barack Obama's pal Fred Klonsky, a former Maoist, is lauding the Chicago Teachers Union's call for its members to march on May Day instead of teaching.

Decline and fall: Most Chicago neighborhood property values still below pre-crash peaks

View from an abandoned
Chicago home

Decades of corruption and sheer government incompetence are finally giving the Chicago area what it so richly deserves.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Housing prices in the Near West Side, Logan Square and a handful of other popular areas north of downtown are now well above their pre-crash peaks, but most of the city and the suburbs are still clawing their way back from the depths of the devastating crash, according to a new report.

Many areas in the southern part of the city still have average prices more than 45 percent below their 2006 peaks, although they are slowly beginning to recover, according to the analysis of year-end 2016 single-family home prices released Wednesday by Geoff Smith, executive director of the DePaul Institute for Housing Studies. The only areas that have recovered fully are the Near West Side, Logan Square, Lincoln Square/North Center and Lakeview/Lincoln Park.

That's just four of Chicago's 77 officially designated neighborhoods.

Decline and fall.

More...

Even among the suburbs that typically have been in demand, the recovery is not complete 10 years after the start of the housing crash. Housing prices in the Evanston/Skokie area are still down 17.7 percent from the 2006 peak, while Palatine/Barrington is down 14.9 percent, Oak Park/Cicero is down 18.6 percent, Winnetka/Northbrook is down 8.4 percent, and Schaumburg is down 9.6 percent.

The median home price in the Cook County suburbs is still down 18.6 percent from the housing peak. The median home price in the city remains 23.4 percent lower, the institute's Cook County House Price Index found.

Cook County--and the rest of Illinois--is losing population. Decent people are leaving, following the lead of former North Shore Chicago Republican politician Roger Keats who famously declared when he moved to Texas after 60 years in Illinois, "We live in the most corrupt big city, in the most corrupt big county in the most corrupt state in America. I am sick and tired of subsidizing crooks."

Detroit says Chicago's place at the head table of failure is ready.

Henry Ford Hospital fires alleged female genital mutilation doctor

The overall theme of the Hippocratic Oath is "First do no harm."

A Detroit area doctor is accused of doing that.

From ABC Detroit:

A Henry Ford Hospital emergency room doctor who was charged with performing female genital mutilation on young girls has been fired, the hospital announced on Thursday.

Jumana Nagarwala, 44, of Northville Michigan is accused of performing female genital mutilation on underage girls.

According to a criminal complaint, Nagarwala performed the procedure on girls ages six to eight years old at a medical clinic in Livonia.

Some of the children were brought from out of state for the illegal procedure. Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) is considered the complete removal or partial removal of the clitoris, known as a clitoridectomy. FGM is internationally recognized as a violation of the human rights of women and girls.

It's important for me to mention again that this first prosecution of a female genital mutilation case occurred during the Donald J. Trump administration.

(Video) Why Trump's Great Wall is necessary

Brandon Judd, the president National Border Patrol Council, tells Fox Business' Lou Dobbs why the southern border wall is need.

Hannity: The evolution of media fascism

The media--and the left--which of course are essentially the same thing, aren't interested in reporting the truth. They want to silence their opposition, which include Fox News, Sean Hannity, and yes, myself.

Watch as Hannity discusses media fascism.

#TrumpSpring: White House unveils tax cut plan

When taxes are cut that puts more money into the hands of consumers and business owners. It is not, what liberals claim, handouts for the rich. When there is more cash in the private economy everyone benefits.

From Fox Business:

President Donald Trump’s tax plan, which will be unveiled Wednesday, calls for a sizable increase to the standard deduction Americans can take when filing taxes, potentially allowing taxpayers to keep more of their income – to the tune of a couple thousand dollars, White House sources told Fox News.

A piece of the proposed tax overhaul would nearly double the standard deductions that both individuals and families can claim on their returns, Fox News reported. Under the proposal, the tax cuts for individuals and married couples filing separately will increase from $6,300 to $12,600. The standard deduction for a married couple filing jointly will jump from $12,700 to approximately $24,000.

White House sources also said the plan would eliminate the marriage penalty.

This is all part of Making America Great Again.

#TrumpSpring: Nasdaq surges past 6,000 and a new record

Trump Spring is here. And it's yuge.

From CBS News:

The Nasdaq Composite topped the 6,000 mark in Tuesday morning trading, setting a new record, amid strong earnings reports and relief on Wall Street that France seems likely to elect a moderate president.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq ended Tuesday with a 0.7 percent rise, up 42 points as part of a broad market rally that has pushed up stocks for the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s index as well. Fueling the Nasdaq’s rise were moves by tech giant Apple (APPL), which advanced 0.6 percent, and biotech company Biogen (BIIB), up 3.6 percent. Biogen reported solid earnings for 2017’s first quarter, with the help of a new drug that combats a rare infant disease.

On a tear, the Nasdaq is up nearly 12 percent this year and nearly 23 percent over the past 12 months.That beats the Dow (6.3 percent in 2017 and 16.6 percent over 12 months) and the S&P 500 (6.7 percent and 4.2 percent).

Chiraq: City passes 1,000 shootings mark for 2017

While Chicago is slightly behind last year's pace of shooting, it is way above that of 2015.

From the Chicago Tribune:

Two people were killed and five others were wounded over a single hour in Chicago on Monday as the number of gunshot victims this year passed the 1,000 mark.

The city reached the grim milestone four days later than last year, which saw the worst gun violence in two decades, according to data kept by the Tribune.

As of Tuesday morning, at least 1,008 had been shot in Chicago this year. Last year, the city passed the 1,000 mark on April 20.

There have been at least 182 homicides this year, just two fewer than this time last year, according to Tribune data.

In related news, Barack Obama returned to his hometown of Chicago where he gave is first public post-presidential speech. Obama of course used to be a community organizer on the South Side.

Newt: Anyone willing to stand up for Trump is a target

The left wing isn't interested in the truth--it's interested in power and destroying those people, conservatives and President Trump supporters, who disagree with them.

Newt Gingrich explains to Sean Hannity here.

That rite is wrong: Failing NY Times refuses to call female genital mutilation what it is

The failing New York Times--yes, President Trump's moniker fits here--has surrendered again to political-correctness.

The Times is on the wrong side of this battle.

From Fox News:

A top New York Times editor decided the paper shouldn’t use the term "female genital mutilation" because the phrase is too "culturally loaded" and widens a divide between the Western world and "people who follow the rite."

Health and Science editor Celia Dugger said she came to the conclusion to refer to the act of removing the female genitalia of young girls as "genital cutting" during a trip to Africa in the 1990s. She spoke about her decision in a Times mailbag article in response to a reader’s question.

"I never minced words in describing exactly what form of cutting was involved, and there are many gradations of severity, and the terrible damage it did, and stayed away from the euphemistic circumcision, but chose to use the less culturally loaded term, genital cutting," Dugger wrote. "There's a gulf between the Western (and some African) advocates who campaign against the practice and the people who follow the rite, and I felt the language used widened that chasm.”

The term “female genital mutilation” has actually been used by the Times in six articles in 2017, according to a website search; however, the instances are extremely restricted. For instance, two of the mentions occur in the context of a quoted speech or statement, two were in opinion columns, one in a book review and one in the mailbag explanation of why the Times didn't use the term. The abbreviation "FGM" appeared this year only in stories taken from wire services such as The Associated Press and Reuters.

Ironically, most Muslims shun this barbaric practice.

The Old Gray Lady cares more about "people who follow this rite" than the rights of young girls.

That rite is wrong.

(Video) Bernie: The model of the Democratic Party is failing

During his appearance yesterday on CBS' Face the Nation, socialist Democratic senator Bernie Sanders told the host, "the model of the Democratic Party is failing."

Sanders just participated in a unity tour organized by the Democratic National Committee.

Chiraq: 7 dead and at least 31 wounded over weekend

Abandoned home in Roseland

Over the last weekend seven people were shot to death in Chicago--with at least 31 wounded. 2017 is shaping up to be very bloody year as 2016 was. Sometime this week Chiraq will record its 1000th shooting of the year.

Of those deadly shootings over the past weekend, amazingly none of them occurred on the West Side. One of those killings happened n Humboldt Park on the Northwest Side, the other six took place on the South Side, with one each in Englewood, West Englewood, Parkway Gardens, Washington Park, South Shore, and Roseland.

Former president Barack Obama was in Roseland yesterday where he met with at-risk youth. Roseland, just as it was when Obama was a community organizer there, is plagued by high levels of violent crime.

From Da Tech Guy: Chicago's Southland, the rottenest apple in the corrupt Illinois orchard

Yes, the place where I grew up is the corruption capital of the state. From my post at Da Tech Guy: Chicago's Southland: The rottenest apple in the corrupt Illinois orchard.

Squeeze: Some Fantastic Place (Live)

Like the Beatles, Squeeze wrote songs for many occasions. Here's one for a funeral, "Some Fantastic Place."

(Video) Isaiah 40 in Chariots of Fire

Considered the favorite passage from the Bible for runners, Isaiah Chapter 40, was brought to the forefront among scripture in the 1981 classic film Chariots Of Fire.

While I am the Marathon Pundit, my mother was a runner too. This morning at her funeral I will read from Isaiah 40, verses 28-31.

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is God from of old,
creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary,
and his knowledge is beyond scrutiny.

He gives power to the faint,
abundant strength to the weak.

Though young men faint and grow weary,
and youths stagger and fall,

They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength,
they will soar on eagles’ wings;
They will run and not grow weary,
walk and not grow faint.

Watch as the Eric Liddell character in Chariots of Fire, portrayed by Ian Charleson, reads this passage and more in one that movie's most touching scenes.

Huffington Post blogger says Trump supporters deserve to die

"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement." Gandalf to Frodo in The Fellowship of the Ring.

From the Washington Free Beacon:

The Huffington Post recently deleted a blog post in which the author fantasized about the deaths of Donald Trump supporters.

"Trump Supporters Deserve to Die More Than I Do," wrote Chris Cali, an artist and musician who has contributed to the Huffington Post since 2014. The post has since been taken down, but survives in archive form.

Cali discussed the recent Mother-of-All-Bombs attack on an Islamic State stronghold in Afghanistan, and then the nutjob mused about potential retaliation targets for ISIS.

More from the Beacon, courtesy of the deleted HuffPo article:

"San Francisco might not be at the top of the target list, but I'm betting it's higher up than some shithole town in Nebraska," he wrote. "In fact, the majority of states where Trump supporters continue to wear their red ‘MAGA' caps and give a solid thumbs up to the putrid dumpster fire of an administration he's been running so far don't contain a single town where a ‘radical Islamic terrorist' would even stop to take a shit in a Walmart bathroom, let alone one that a crazed N. Korean leader would want to nuke into oblivion."

And finally...

"So sorry not sorry, but the ones who actually deserve to have a nuke dropped on them first are the ones who voted to get us all into this mess. They're the ones who would have brought it on themselves if their health care was taken away and they dropped dead from their pre-existing conditions," he continued.

My mother was a strong supporter of Donald J. Trump. Her funeral is tomorrow morning.

I never see such blog posts from conservative writers. Leftists, there is a sickness among some of you.

Hey Biss: Forget about Trump, get Boss Madigan to release his tax returns

Madigan graphic
courtesy of the Illinois
Policy Institute

Illinois State Sen. Daniel Biss (D-Evanston) is a sponsor of a bill that will require presidential candidates who wish to appear on the general election ballot to appear on the ballot in this state to release their federal tax returns.

Biss, who I've met--and I can tell you that he's an arrogant son-of-a-bitch--is running for governor. Biss' call of course is directed at President Donald J. Trump, who refuses to release his tax returns.

I have an idea for an amendment to Biss' bill. Add a requirement that members of the General Assembly leadership, that is, the majority and minority leaders of each chamber, as well as the speaker of the House, make their state and federal tax returns public.

Biss won't be interested in my idea. Illinois Democratic Party boss Michael Madigan of Chicago, who has been House speaker for an unprecedented 32 of the last 34 years, has never released his tax returns. Madigan runs a small but lucrative downtown Chicago law firm that specializes in appeals of Cook County tax returns. The Cook County assessor is Joseph Berrios (D-Chicago), a former state representative--which of course means he was a member of Madigan's caucus. Berrios is also a registered state lobbyist. He's also chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party--and Madigan is a Cook County Democratic ward committeeman.

In Springfield Madigan demands state income tax increases. But in Cook County he gets rich off of lowering property taxes. It's easy to see why Cook County and Illinois are suffering from negative population growth as they are being run into the ground by an incestuous and self-serving cabal of cronies.

Biss is also a former member of Madigan's caucus.

During Madigan's tenure as House speaker Illinois has accumulated over $200 billion in public-sector pension debt--despite Illinois' constitutional requirement to pass balanced budgets. I guess that is why Biss calls himself a former mathematician in his Twitter bio.

Suit filed to keep felon ILL-inois mayor-elect out of office

Here's a story from last week that I meant go get to but didn't. Now I have time.

Markham is a crime-ridden south suburb of Chicago--which is not too far from my hometown of Palos Heights.

So perhaps it's fitting that a convicted felon won this month's mayoral election.

From CBS Chicago:

The Cook County state's attorney's office has filed a lawsuit to keep the newly elected mayor of south suburban Markham from taking the oath of office — an action he was warned about before the election.

The three-count suit, filed Wednesday in Cook County Circuit Court, seeks a declaratory judgement from the court that Roger Agpawa is not eligible to hold office as mayor of the city of Markham due to a prior felony conviction. It also seeks an injunction to keep him from taking the oath of office.

Agpawa was elected April 4 with about 72 percent of the vote, according to Cook County election results.

He pleaded guilty to a felony count of mail fraud in federal court on Aug. 30, 1999, according to court documents, and completed a sentence of 36 months of probation and a requirement to perform 200 hours of community service.

One of Agpawa's opponents, Kenneth "Mojo" Muldrow Jr, fought unsuccessfully to have him removed from the ballot. Mojo also has a criminal record, albeit his conviction was for a misdemeanor.

2nd doctor and his wife charged in Michigan female genital mutilation case

Where is the applause from feminists--you know, the people who call President Donald Trump a misogynist--over his administration's prosecution of a female genital mutilation case?

Sure, Trump years ago bragged about grabbing a p*ssy, but he didn't surgically remove a clitoris from a child.

During the Obama years there were no FGM prosecutions.

From the Detroit News:

Federal agents Friday arrested a second doctor in connection with the nation’s first genital mutilation case, sources told The Detroit News.

Dr. Fakhruddin Attar is accused of letting Dr. Jumana Nagarwala perform mutilations at his Burhani Medical Clinic on Farmington Road. His wife, office manager Farida Attar, also was arrested and is accused of helping Nagarwala perform the mutilations, according to a 14-page complaint unsealed Friday in federal court.

The complaint solves a mystery stemming from the case by pinpointing where Nagarwala allegedly mutilated two 7-year-old girls from Minnesota earlier this year while performing a controversial, illegal procedure. The complaint also describes a widening conspiracy involving at least Nagarwala, Attar and his wife — all three are members of an insular sect of Muslims based out of a Farmington Hills mosque.

College displays professor's painting of Captain America with a beheaded Trump

One can only imagine the uproar if a university professor created and then exhibited a painting of Barack Obama's severed head being held by Captain America?

Ah, but Thomas Chung, an assistant professor at the University of Alaska-Anchorage, painted the superhero hold Trump's head aloft--with Hillary Clinton clinging to his leg.



Free speech? I guess.

However, conservative speakers are either banned from the University of California at Berkeley, or harassed to the extent by so-called anti-fascist protesters while local police look on so they are unable to convey their message.

Chung, who clearly needs mental health therapy, says he "spent days weeping" after Trump's win.

What is the immigration status of the alleged Schaumburg strangler? UPDATED

Sometime over Easter weekend Tiffany Thrasher, 33, was sexually assaulted and strangled to death in her Schaumburg, Illinois apartment. Schaumburg is a large suburb northwest of Chicago.

Earlier today Bulmaro Mejia-Maya, 29, was charged for the murder and he has voluntarily agreed to extradition to Cook County, where Schaumburg is.

Which brings me back to Mejia-Maya. What is his immigration status? Yes, it's a fair question.

Look what ABC Chicago has to say about him:

Court records confirm that Mejia is a Mexican citizen. He had an outstanding for falling to appear in court to face a drug possession charge in Utah. He also has a conviction for battery in Florida. U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations filed a detainer on Mejia after his arrest, according to ICE's public affairs officer.

As that last sentence is composed in jargon, I don't know exactly what it means. But if I came across an article with that paragraph and the person in question was named Jason Anderson, I'd be asking about his immigration status too.

When will ICE have more to say?

Oh, Cook County is a sanctuary county. Just saying.

UPDATE April 21:

Well, at least in 2012 Mejia-Maya possessed a green card.

From the Daily Herald:

He has an active warrant for his arrest on a charge of failure to appear in court after a May 2016 arrest in Utah on misdemeanor drug charges, according to court records there.

Mejia-Maya was arrested after police were called to quiet a loud house party. The arrest report states Mejia-Maya was seen wiping "white powder" from a counter that eventually tested positive as cocaine.

He was arrested in May 2012 for stabbing a man during a fight at a house party near Orlando, Florida. The victim spent two days in the hospital before being released. Witnesses said Mejia-Maya attacked the victim with a knife that was eventually recovered by police. Mejia-Maya claimed self-defense but changed his story multiple times during the interrogation, according to court records.

Obama legacy: Previously undisclosed toxic waste will impact opening of Pullman National Monument

Pullman Clock Tower in 2016

This is how government works--or doesn't work--my friends. For 26 years the state of Illinois owned the Pullman Clock Tower on Chicago's Far South Side, which is slated to be the centerpiece of the Pullman National Monument. The monument was declared by President Barack Obama in 2015. Pullman is a pretty neighborhood--more attractive than most--but hardly a destination most tourists feel compelled to visit. But Obama was more interested in building a leftist temple for the labor movement. Union members are a reliable source of Democratic votes, unless Donald J. Trump is on the ballot, and the Pullman Strike of 1893 is seen as a significant historical event by leftists.

The real inspiration  for Obama and his pals for the Pullman National Monument is the thought of busloads of local school children being indoctrinated there by National Park Service rangers. Capitalism is bad--unions are good. Perhaps Pullman can be half of a left-wing field trip two-fer. Obama Presidential Library in the morning, Pullman in the afternoon.

Sheesh, isn't the Chicago area Democratic enough?

But not mentioned in Obama's spirited announcement two years ago at Pullman of the new national monument was the expensive environmental cleanup that federal taxpayers are on the hook for. One that Illinois couldn't be bothered with at all.

From the Chicago Tribune:

The National Park Service has grand plans in store for Pullman National Monument, but it could take years before visitors have full access to the former factory grounds as state and federal agencies first need to undertake a massive cleanup of contaminants left at the site from decades of rail car production.

The National Park Service approved a design concept last month that seeks to restore the Far South Side factory site to the days of its founding in 1880 as a model factory town for workers of the Pullman Palace Car Co.

A visitor center is planned at the old clock tower, which the NPS superintendent of the monument claims will open in 2019.

Pullman rowhouses

But that doesn't seem likely to me.

More from the Tribune:

But before that can happen, the Illinois EPA, assisted by the Park Service and the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, will have to tend to decades worth of hazardous materials that has been lying dormant in the soil of the fenced-off factory complex.

The EPA last year released the results of soil and groundwater testing done between 2013 and 2015 and, perhaps unsurprising for a former industrial site, the analysis indicated the presence of numerous soil contaminants, including lead, mercury, chromium and arsenic. The amount of arsenic and chromium in a couple of patches of land exceeds EPA guidelines for soil contamination and could pose health and environmental risks.

Thanks for finally letting us know.

Oh, how much will the clean up cost taxpayers? Can you tell us sometime? Please!

Related post:

(Photos) Pullman, Barack Obama's leftist National Monument in Chicago

(Video) Riots in Venezuelan socialist paradise

Even though it's blessed with ample petroleum reserves, the economy in Venezuela is collapsing--there is out of control inflation and there are food shortages.

Is Bernie Sanders aware of this story?

(Video) Krauthammer: Devastated Democratic Party has lost "ideological center"

Other than opposing Donald Trump and raising the minimum wage, what does the Democratic Party stand for?

Last night Charles Krauthammer correctly stated that the Democrats have lost their ideological center." Their appeal is limited to some cities and to university towns.

Illinois Dems: You can't vote Democratic and say you oppose Boss Madigan

Tattered Illinois flag

I run into a lot of liberals, which is not surprising as I live in the Chicago area. To a person they say that they oppose Boss Michael Madigan, the chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party who has been the undertaker for this once great state during his term as Illinois House speaker, a post he's held for 32 of the last 34 years.

So today, which is Madigan's 75th birthday--I have this to say to you progs: You can't vote Democratic, particularly in state representative races, and claim that you oppose Madigan. That is, unless you live in the 58th legislative district. Scott Drury of Highwood is the rep there. He's the only Democrat who didn't vote to reelect Madigan as speaker in January. Drury was punished by the Boss--he was ousted from his post on the House Judiciary Committee and he likely will face a Madigan-funded primary foe in next year's election--if Drury chooses to run.

For all of you other liberals, if you vote Democratic in Illinois that means you support Madigan. Yes, it's that simple.

ILL-inois: Moody's drops NEIU's bond ratings to junk

Today is Boss Michael Madigan's 75th birthday. He got an early birthday present yesterday, a booby prize really, when Moody's announced that it is lowering the rating of Northeastern Illinois University's bonds to junk status.

Illinois is falling apart. Madigan, who is the chairman of the state Democratic Party, has been Illinois House speaker for 32 of the last 34 years. He's the only constant in the Prairie State's decline and fall.

Related post:

Close it now: Chicago State University has just 86 freshmen

(Video) UCLA may fire conservative professor

Today's universities are diverse places. All views are welcome. Except of course conservatives ones. Which is why Professor Keith Fink, who is not tenured, may lose is job at UCLA.

(Bruce Rauner video) We need real change to fix the system in Illinois

Decades of Springfield insiders running Illinois--from both parties--have destroyed this state.

Republican reformer Bruce Rauner was elected to cure the rot three years ago. He's only just begin to Bring Back Illinois.

Much more needs to be done.

(Champaign TV station video) Madigan’s "Do-nothing statehouse"

If Illinois isn't at the precipice it's only because it is has tipped over and is headed down. Let's assume it can be saved. If that is the case, then the General Assembly, which is overwhelmingly controlled by the Democrats, doesn't get it. Why not? Because of what WCIA-TV's Mark Maxwell calls "a do-nothing-of-consequence statehouse."

WCIA is in Champaign--and Champaign County is one of the few downstate counties that Hillary Clinton won.

Illinois is burdened by $11 billion in unpaid bills, it has an unsustainable public-sector pension debt, and it is losing population.

At the heart of the problem is state Democratic Party chairman Michael Madigan who has been speaker of the state House since for 32 of the last 34 years.

(Video) Progressives whitewashing leftist violence

If government decides which laws it wants to enforce then we are much closer to violent anarchy than we think.

As this National Review Online video slideshow tells us, police in left-wing areas largely stand by and do nothing as pro-Donald Trump Americans are attacked.

At DNC Reboot Tour, crowd cheers mention of Bernie Sanders, boos DNC chair Perez

The Democratic National Committee Reboot Tour is off to a bad start. In Portland, Maine, the gathered leftists cheered when Bernie Sanders' name was mentioned but booed when the new DNC chairman's name, Tom Perez, was called out.

Clearly the Dems are captives of the loony left, which poses problems for the party, even in New England, as Donald Trump snagged an electoral vote in Maine's second congressional district and he came within a few thousand votes of winning New Hampshire.

And socialism isn't a big draw in the three rust belt states Trump flipped--Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania.

Chiraq: Six shot in two hours

After a particularly bloody Easter weekend in--45 people shot, including two fatally--the violence carried over into Monday as six people were shot in just two hours. One of those victims died.

Judge denies Detroit doctor's bail in alleged female genital mutilation case

A federal judge in Detroit denied bail to a female doctor who allegedly performed an illegal surgery to mutilate the genitals of two young girls from Minnesota.

From the Detroit Free Press:

The doctor insists it wasn't cutting. But the judge wasn't convinced and locked her up.

In a historic female genital mutilation case that has planted a bull's-eye on what prosecutors are calling an "incredibly secretive" religious ritual, a federal magistrate on Monday denied bond to an Indian-Muslim doctor accused of mutilating the genitals of two Minnesota girls at a Livonia medical clinic.

The decision to lock up Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, 44, of Northville, came after federal prosecutors called her a flight risk and a danger to the community, saying she has hurt numerous girls for years, knowing it was wrong, and even ignored a 2016 directive by her religious community not to engage in female genital mutilation because it's illegal in the U.S.

As for this barbarity--where is the outrage from the angry left that accuses President Donald J. Trump of being a misogynist?

(Video) Masked anti-Trump protester calls vet in wheelchair "anti-American"

Watch as a cowardly anti-Trump protester wearing a mask calls a veteran in a wheelchair "anti-American" in Berkeley, California, the center of the Anti-Free Speech Movement.

Chiraq: 2 dead and at least 43 wounded over Easter weekend

Sadly, the fact that it was Easter weekend in Chicago didn't slow down gunplay. In fact, it got worse as two people were shot to death, one in North Lawndale on the West Side and another on a Red Line el platform at Garfield Boulevard on the South Side. Here's the worst part: an astounding 43 other people were wounded over weekend in Chiraq. And of those shootings 29 of them occurred over an 18-hour period, which ran from Saturday until early Easter morning.

From Da Tech Guy: Most Americans don’t care about Trump’s tax returns

Yesterday there were leftist snits and festivals surrounded by the theme of President Donald Trump's taxes. Here's a viewpoint from the real America: Most Americans don’t care about Trump’s tax returns

Happy Easter

He is risen!

Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.

And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.

And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:

And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,

Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.

And they remembered his words,

And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.

Luke 24.

Otis Redding: I Can't Turn You Loose

Otis Redding's signature song of course is his posthumous smash hit, "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay."

His silver medal tune is "I Can't Turn You Loose." If the melody sounds familiar it's because an instrumental version of this song was used as the opening number in the Palace Hotel Ballroom concert by Jake and Elwood and the band in the Blues Brothers movie.

Kansas announces first conviction of non-citizen illegally voting

Republican Kris Kobach, a patriot who is the Sunflower State's secretary of state, was interviewed by Greg Gutfeld on Fox News last night. Kobach discussed his state's first-ever conviction of a non-citizen illegally voting in an election--something he did three times.

Kobach called this crime "the tip of the iceberg."

Billionaire Democrat donates $7 million of his own cash to buy Illinois governor's office

Sure, my headline is provocative. It's meant to be. Jay Pritzker is a billionaire and a liberal Democrat. He's running for governor of Illinois. The Land of Lincoln's current governor is Republican reformer Bruce Rauner--a man I endorsed in 2014 and who I'm backing in next year's race. Rauner, who may also be a billionaire--but one who earned his fortune, he did not inherit it as Pritzker did--poured millions of his own money into his campaign war chest for his successful gubernatorial run. And leftists excoriated Rauner for that--they claimed that he was buying the governor's office.

This week Pritzker contributed $7 million to his campaign fund, just one week after he officially entered the governor's race.

Where are these sanctimonious liberals now that Pritzker is apparently attempting the same thing they accused Rauner of doing?

'Mother of all Bombs' really a message to North Korea?

While I have no issue with the killing of ISIS terrorists, one of the reasons behind exploding the Mother of All Bombs in Afghanistan could be to send a warning to that spoiled fat bot, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, so says retired general Anthony Tata.

Do you enjoy shopping on Amazon?

Amazon delivery truck

Do you enjoy what you read on Marathon Pundit? A great way to say thank you is to click on an Amazon ad on this blog. You pay nothing extra and I receive a small commission that will help in offsetting some of the costs of operating this site.

Just click on the below link and get started!