Friday, August 31, 2018

(Bloody Chicago) Warning Graphic: Dan Ryan Shootout Leaves, 2 Men Seriously Wounded

There was a driveby shooting on Chicago's Dan Ryan Expressway earlier this week where two men were seriously wounded.

There are always "graphic" warning's with Bloody Chicago--this one is particularly so.



Mark Dice: Mark Zuckerberg Has a New Problem!

Who knew? There are conservatives working for Facebook. And they are fed up with the liberal monoculture at the social network. Also, some CNN goofball muses about what a Trump ex-presidency will be like. Uh, there are over two years remaining on his current term.



Thursday, August 30, 2018

Biden speaks at McCain memorial Palin wasn't invited to attend

In 2008 the Democratic presidential ticket consisted of Barack Obama and Joe Biden. On the GOP side it was John McCain and Sarah Palin.

At the first of several memorial services for the late Arizona senator, Joe Biden addressed mourners.

Palin was not invited to this or any of the McCain memorial events.

Was Palin's absence something that was directed by McCain? Or was it his family?

Either was the decision is shameful.

President Trump probably doesn't feel so bad now that he wasn't invited to the services or the funeral either.

Related post:

Petty: Palin not invited to any McCain memorial services



Petty: Palin not invited to any McCain memorial services

President Trump was called petty by many because he didn't genuflect to the memory of John McCain.

But is McCain--or his family--the petty one?

From CNN:

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is not invited to any of the memorial services for her former running mate, Arizona Sen. John McCain, a source tells CNN.

Palin was rocketed onto the national stage in the summer of 2008 after McCain picked her to be his running mate in the presidential race he would eventually lose to Barack Obama.
A representative for Sarah Palin did not return a request for comment.

Palin mourned McCain in a tweet Saturday night after his death, calling him her "friend."
From The Hill in May:
Sarah Palin said Thursday that Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) admission that he regrets picking her as his running mate in his failed 2008 presidential bid is "like a perpetual gut-punch."

The former Republican vice presidential nominee said the senator's recent remarks were "not what Sen. McCain has told me all these years, as he's apologized to me repeatedly for the people who ran his campaign," she told the Daily Mail before speaking at a pro-Trump PAC fundraiser.

In his upcoming memoir, “The Restless Wave: Good Times, Just Causes, Great Fights, and other Appreciations,” the 81-year-old senator laments not selecting former Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) as his vice presidential candidate.
Well McCain, also known as St. John the Maverick of Sedona, is petty for sure.

Son of three-time convicted Chicago alderman fired for alleged timecard violations

The rotten apple apparently doesn't fall far from the diseased tree.

And that diseased tree is Chicago corruption.

Chicago needs to be power-scrubbed with Mr. Clean.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:
Ambrosio Medrano Jr., the namesake son of a thrice-convicted former alderman, has been fired from his city job for alleged timecard violations.

The younger Medrano, who once ran for alderman himself, said he was terminated last month from his position as a foreman of concrete laborers following an investigation by the city inspector general’s office.

Medrano Jr. denied any wrongdoing and said he is appealing his firing.

His father, former 25th Ward Ald. Ambrosio Medrano, is currently serving time at a federal prison in Duluth following his second and third convictions on corruption charges — an “unprecedented corruption trifecta,” as one federal judge put it.

Wednesday, August 29, 2018

Flashback to 2006: Biden said about Delaware, "My state was a slave state"

Ron DeSantis, the Republican nominee for governor in Florida, is being attacked by the left and their allies in the media about a comment he made  about his liberal Democrat opponent, Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gilliam, whose political stances include abolishing ICE and "Medicare for all," which is a euphemism for socialized  medicine.

Today DeSantis said that Florida voters shouldn't "monkey this up." Because Gillum is an African American libs are claiming that his remark is racist.

"Free" healthcare is expensive. Florida has a modest sales tax rate and no state income tax. Unlike high tax states such as Illinois, California, and New York, people are flocking there. How does Gilllum propose paying for "Medicare for all?"

Why do Florida voters want to screw this up?

Where was the outrage a dozen years ago when Joe Biden bragged that his state, Delaware, was a slave state?

"You don’t know my state," Biden told Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace when he was exploring his second presidential bid. "My state was a slave state … my state has the eighth largest black population in the country."

What kind of person boasts about a state's disgraceful heritage of slavery? Well, Biden is that type.



As for DeSantis' "monkey" comment.  Inartful? Yes. But I recall the dozens of times Little Marathon Pundit, when she was a toddler, watching the kids of Barney and Friends sing "Five Little Monkeys." You know the tune, "Five little monkeys jumping on the bed, one fell off and bumped his head."

Have you heard the song, "Too Much Monkey Business?" Chuck Berry wrote and sang it.

"Monkeying around" has been an expression meaning goofing off for decades.

As for the top of the Democratic ticket in 2008 and 2012, when trying to explain away a poor bowling performance during an appearance on the Tonight Show, Barack Obama told Jay Leno, "It's like the Special Olympics or something."

Obama quickly apologized, but the media didn't hammer him.

Hannity: Blowing the Bruce Ohr case wide open

Biased Department of Justice official Bruce Ohr was the backchannel for the Swamp in pushing the now-discredited Christopher Steele dossier about Donald Trump.

Ohr, in a closed door session, testified before the House Oversight and Judiciary committees.

Sean Hannity reports.

(Bloody Chicago) Warning Graphic: 48 Hours on the Bloody Streets of Chicago

Victor Maggio of Bloody Chicago was on the streets of Chicago over the weekend where he covered the usual carnage but also the tragic fire that killed ten unsupervised children in the Little Village neighborhood.

Of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Maggio says, "Get rid of him, vote him out."

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Who Is Dennis Prager?

Dennis Prager is a good man and a patriot. That's who he is.


Mark Dice: It's Happening to ESPN Too

Trump Derangement Syndrome sufferer and former rapper Max Kellerman, an ESPN commentator, is stupefied that Tiger Woods passed up an opportunity to criticize President Donald Trump at a post tournament press conference.

It's easy to see why ESPN keep losing viewers and its forced to lay off employees.

Perhaps they should return to being a sports network.

Monday, August 27, 2018

Classic car: 1977 Mercedes 240D

Diesel cars were popular in the 1970s. Here's one from that decade, a 1977 Mercedes 240D in blue parked in front of the Morton Grove Library and the Doughboy Monument.




Two wounded in Chicago on Dan Ryan Expressway, outbound lanes closed

Last month Father Michael Pfleger led a protest that illegally blocked all of the lanes of the Dan Ryan Expressway on Chicago's South Side.

Early this morning the southbound lanes were closed by state police after passengers in an SUV were shot in a driveby shooting on the Ryan.

From CBS 2 Chicago:
The outbound lanes of the Dan Ryan Expressway were shut down for nearly six hours Monday morning, after two people were shot while driving near Garfield.

Police said a white GMC Arcadia was heading south in the Dan Ryan express lanes near Garfield around 1:15 a.m., when a black car pulled up alongside, and someone inside started shooting.
The GMC pulled over on the left shoulder under the Garfield overpass. Police said two driver and one passenger were taken to the hospital with serious injuries. Three other passengers were not wounded.

The black car sped off south on the Dan Ryan after the shooting.

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Saturday, August 25, 2018

Rest in peace, John McCain

While I disagreed with him more than I agreed with him--yes, John McCain was a Republican--the longtime senator from Arizona and former POW was a man of principle. And a patriot.

John McCain died today at 81.

Rest in peace.

Violent Femmes--Blister in the Sun

For the third time in three months I was in Milwaukee. Which got me thinking about bands from Wisconsin's largest city.

And of course the Violent Femmes came to mind.

Still only one person charged from violent Chicago weekend where 75 people were shot

It's League of Shadows time in Chicago.

"The League of Shadows has been a check against human corruption for thousands of years. We sacked Rome, loaded trade ships with plague rats, burned London to the ground. Every time a civilization reaches the pinnacle of its decadence, we return to restore the balance." Ra's al Ghul in Batman Begins.

From Fox News:
One man, accused of a trio of weapons violations, remains the only person charged in connection with the carnage wrought three weeks ago in Chicago, when 75 people were shot -- 12 fatally -- during the city's bloodiest weekend of the year.

Rick Franklin, 27, was arrested Aug. 4, and charged with three felony weapons charges, including aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. The offenses were linked to Franklin due to the latest technology being monitored by police and civilian analysts, the Chicago Tribune reported.

After Franklin allegedly fired a gun near an intersection, the shots were detected by acoustic sensors in the area, and an alert was soon sent to a monitoring center more than a mile away. Cops then immediately used surveillance cameras at the intersection to track down a blue Ford Focus seen fleeing the scene, officials said.

But Franklin is the only alleged shooter who's been charged after a weekend so violent it prompted Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel to deploy an extra 600 officers to patrol the streets
.

Friday, August 24, 2018

Diamond & Silk: Shame on Sen. Elizabeth Warren

Donald Trump social media stars Diamond and Silk admonish Sen. Elizabeth "Liawatha" Warren (D-MA) over her cold-blooded comments on the murder of Iowa college student Mollie Tibbets. The alleged suspect in an illegal alien. Warren told CNN when discussing Tibbets' murder, “One of the things we have to remember is we need an immigration system that is effective, that focuses on where real problems are," such as, Warren continued, "family separation."

Tibbets' family of course will never see her again.

My stolen copy of the schedule for the first day of the 2020 Democratic National Convention

Yes, this is a parody post, based on an old email chain, which I've updated.

Or maybe I really did steal a copy of the Day 1 schedule of the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
  • Proceedings begin as Colin Kaepernick leads the delegates in taking a knee for the US flag.
  • Pledge of allegiance to the United Nations.
  • Native American blessing given by Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
  • Andrew Cuomo introduces Democrats' 2020 campaign slogan, "America Was Never That Great."
  • A vote on replacing all gender pronouns with "it."
  • A vote on giving illegal aliens the right to vote in all elections.
  • Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez introduces Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, again declaring that she is the "future of our party."
  • Ocasio-Cortez reminds delegates that there will be no need for funerals after "Medicare for All" is the law of the land.
  • First Two Minutes Hate: The delegates recreate the Hillary Clinton campaign's smashing of their Blackberry smartphones.
  • Susan Rice blames the lackluster performance of the Obama economy on the posting of an obscure YouTube video.
  • After a mid-day adjournment, Bill Ayers denounces America as he steps on the US flag.
  • A salute to the Young Democrats of America led by Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, and Bernie Sanders.
  • John Podesta offers tips on how to create an unhackable email password.
  • Chelsea Clinton speaks to the delegates, uttering nothing of consequence.
  • Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama compliment each other on their Iran policies.
  • Mid-afternoon nap for delegates begins as John Kerry addresses them.
  • Second Two Minutes Hate: Robert De Niro leads "Fuck Donald Trump" chant.
  • Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel introduces Democrats' get-tough-on-crime platform plank.
  • Bill Clinton, wearing a pink pussy hat, praises the #MeToo movement.
  • Lifetime fundraising achievement award presented to Harvey Weinstein.
  • Proceedings end as Antifa radicals burn the US flag.

Thursday, August 23, 2018

Tucker: Ruling class loses control in Trump's presence

Who is dumber? MSLSD"s Al Sharpton or the New York Slimes' Michelle Goldberg?

Tucker Carlson asks.

Arrest and prosecute: Leftists plan Labor Day protest that will block only expressway to Chicago's O'Hare Airport

Lake Shore Drive protest
Let me remind you--the First Amendment to the US Constitution does not give protesters the right to block a road, street, or expressway.

Arrest and prosecute the lawbreakers.

From the Daily Herald:
Protesters plan to march along Interstate 190 near O'Hare International Airport on Labor Day in hopes of shutting down the expressway and creating pressure for more action to curb Chicago violence.

The Rev. Gregory Livingston, who led a small group of protesters that shut down rush-hour traffic Aug. 2 on Lake Shore Drive, said the I-190 protest will begin at about 11:30 a.m. at Cumberland Avenue east of O'Hare.

At noon, the group will march down the ramp and head along the expressway to River Road, where they will cross the median and, they hope, block both sides of the roadway into and out of O'Hare.
The Lake Shore Drive protest preceded Chicago's most violent weekend of the year.

Related post:

Pictures from the Chicago anti-violence march that you won't see in the mainstream media


From my entry today at Da Tech Guy:
.
Chicago needs to crack down on illegal expressway-blocking protests

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

(PragerU) A Nation of Immigrants

Despite all of the hullabaloo you see on MSNBC and CNN, America is not a xenophobic nation.

"The United States still maintains the most generous immigration policies in the world," Michelle Malkin says in the latest PragerU video,

But there are, she adds, "generous to a fault."

The problem? Chain immigration, illegal immigrants, and lack of assimilation.


Mark Dice: Trump is Finished

Actually, the title is ironic. Donald Trump is not finished, Mark Dice says.

Mark Levin slams Michael Cohen's plea deal

Last night Mark "The Great One" Levin discussed the Michael Cohen guilty plea on Sean Hannity's show.

"I want to help the law professors, the constitutional experts, the criminal defense lawyers, the former prosecutors, and of course the professors, I wanna help them understand what the law is," Levin said. "The general counsel for the Clinton mob family, Lanny Davis, he had his client plead to two counts of criminality that don’t exist."

"Just because a prosecutor says that somebody violated a campaign law doesn’t make it so. He's not the judge; he's not the jury,” Levin continued. "We didn’t adjudicate anything. It never went to court."

Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Dershowitz: Cohen plea not as "lethal" for Trump as critics say

Relax, patriots.

From Fox News:
Harvard Law Professor Emeritus Alan Dershowitz said Tuesday on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" that attorney Michael Cohen's set of guilty pleas may cause some trouble for President Trump, but that they are not "lethal" to his presidency.

Tucker Carlson said the fact Cohen "moved [money] apparently from Trump's accounts" to women the then-mogul allegedly had extramarital sex with is "very common" among famous people.

He asked Dershowitz if it is additionally illegal.

Dershowitz said that it is a "bad day" for Trump, but that the proceedings have not been as "deadly lethal" as some critics are portraying them.

Inmates begin "End to prison slavery" strike today

Yeah I know, all of these prisoners are innocent. It's people such as you and I who need to be locked up.

I am sorry, but when you egregiously break society's rules, you pay a price.

From Newsweak, oops, I mean Newsweek:
Incarcerated Americans across the country are set to go on strike Tuesday in what could become the largest industrial action by inmates in the history of the United States.

The strike, which is supposed to last until September 9—the anniversary of the 1971 Attica Prison uprising in upstate New York—calls for an "end to prison slavery" and for a number of prison reforms.

For 19 days, inmates across at least 17 states plan to refuse to work, with some also refusing to eat, to draw attention to poor conditions and what advocates have called exploitative labor practices in the prison system.

Monday, August 20, 2018

Chiraq: 6 dead and at least 52 wounded over weekend

It's a good thing they have anti-violence marches in Chicago.

Imagine how bad things would be in Chiraq if they didn't.

From CBS 2 Chicago:
Nearly 60 people were shot in Chicago over the weekend, six of them fatally, including two missing teenage boys found dead in a field late Sunday night. The bloodshed made for the second most violent weekend of the year in Chicago, and the second weekend this month at least 60 people were shot.

Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said “it doesn’t take a rocket scientist” to figure out why the shootings keep happening: the shooters don’t fear any significant consequences in court.

CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said three people of interest were in custody in connection with some of the shootings as of Monday morning. Officers also shut down 68 gatherings over the weekend for illegal activity, seized 83 guns, and arrested 29 people on gun charges.

From 6 p.m. Friday through midnight Sunday night, at least 58 people were shot across Chicago. At least six of those victims died.

Mark Dice on Twitter: BIG Changes Coming

And will Twitter continue to stifle conservative voices?

On this day in 1968, Communists invade Czechoslovakia, crushing reform movement

Communism is not cool. It never has been, it never will be. Do you need evidence? Fifty years ago today the Warsaw Pact, a leftist counterpart to NATO led by the Soviet Union, invaded Czechoslovakia, ending the "Prague Spring" reform movement. All Warsaw Pact states, except for Albania and Romania, participated.

Czechoslovakia didn't regain its freedom until the Velvet Revolution in 1989.




Saturday, August 18, 2018

The Byrds - You Ain't Going Nowhere

In less than two weeks the 50th anniversary of the release of the Byrds' groundbreaking country rock album, Sweetheart of the Rodeo, will be here.

I will have a post on that masterpiece soon.

In the meantime, here are the Byrds performing the opening cut from the album, Bob Dylan's "You Ain't Going Nowhere," with Roger McGuinn on lead vocals.

Friday, August 17, 2018

From Jonathan Turley: “Evil Is A Make-Believe Concept”: American Couple Is Murdered By ISIS While Cycling Through Tajikistan

Evil is real.

The couple was stabbed to death by ISIS for being infidels.

From Jonathan Turley:
Jay Austin and Lauren Geoghegan quit their jobs in Washington, D.C. to experience the world in their late 20s. Austin wrote on the trip how he had found great decency everywhere they had gone. He wrote: “Evil is a make-believe concept we’ve invented to deal with the complexities of fellow humans holding values and beliefs and perspectives different than our own… By and large, humans are kind. Self-interested sometimes, myopic sometimes, but kind. Generous and wonderful and kind.” That inspiring world adventure came to the end in Tajikistan when they and two other cyclists were hit by a car filled with ISIS fighters who jumped and stabbed them to death as “nonbelievers.”

Mark Dice on Trump Derangment Syndrome Sufferers: They're Getting Weirder

Mark Dice takes a look at the extreme sufferers of Trump Derangement Syndrome, including Joseph Curtatone, the mayor of a Boston suburb who now refuses to drink Boston-brewed Sam Adams simply because one of the brewery's co-founders praised President Trump's tax-cuts.

New York's leftist governor, Andrew Cuomo, doesn't escape scrutiny. He claims that America "was never that great."

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Google Street View camera car spotted in Morton Grove

Always, always carry a camera with you wherever you go. Health club locker rooms are an exception, of course.

So just a two blocks from my home in Morton Grove early this evening I spotted an odd looking Hyundai Tucson with California license places. As you'll see on top is a tall stand with a camera on top.

Yes, that's a Google Street View car--here in town to capture a photograph of the Blogger Laureate of Illinois.

The Tucson is turning from Frontage Road onto Lincoln Avenue.

Intern for Sen. Tim Scott shot after returning home to Chicago from DC

Chicago is a national disgrace.

From CBS News:
An intern for South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott was shot by a stray bullet in Chicago just after completing his internship with the Senator's office, according to Roll Call. The outlet reports that 23-year old DaQuawn Bruce is currently recovering in physical therapy.

Scott's office said in a statement to CBS News that the Senator visited Bruce at his home after the shooting, and praised his "optimism and strength" despite the pain from his injuries. "DaQuawn has an exceptionally bright future and I cannot wait to see him recover and excel in everything he puts his mind to," Scott added.

Bruce was interning with the Republican's office as part of the "College to Congress" program, which helps provide financial support to cover interns' costs of clothing, transportation, housing and meals while serving on Capitol Hill, typically in unpaid positions.

Audrey Henson, Founder & CEO, College to Congress, said in a statement to CBS News, "At College to Congress, our goal is to support our interns in every phase of their lives. College to Congress was inspired by my own personal story, but students like DaQuawn are the reason why we do what we do."

Arrest and prosecute: Chicago leftist behind failed Lake Shore Drive protest planning to block Kennedy Expressway on Labor Day

Kennedy Expressway
Okay, Chicago Police, you are now aware that a crime is coming to the Northwest Side on Labor Day. One of the leftists behind the illegal protest that blocked Lake Shore Drive two weeks ago is planning to break the law again.

Illinois State Police--you will have to get involved too, as I believe ultimate jurisdiction on this interstate belongs to you.

The First Amendment to the US Constitution does not give anyone the right to block a street, highway, or interstate thoroughfare, unless they apply for a protest permit and that application is accepted.

Where is the permit? Livingston, have you applied for one?

Cops: Please have an ample supply of handcuffs and buses to accommodate--if the brass lets you perform you job--the hundreds of anticipated arrests.

You have the date and the place. Get ready.

From WGN-TV:
The man who organized the recent anti- violence protest that shut down Lake Shore Drive is planning a new protest for Labor Day.

Rev. Gregory Livingston of the New Hope Baptist Church in West Humboldt Park said he plans to shut down the Kennedy Expressway leading in and out of O’Hare.

He plans to shut down the expressway around 11 a.m. or noon on September 3rd.

He’s demanding the resignations of Mayor Emanuel and Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson as well as more economic development on the south and west sides.
The Lake Shore Drive anti-violence protest, which attracted about 150 radicals, preceded the most violent weekend so far this year in Chicago.

Chicago is, or should be, a city of laws. Do not let the rabble take over and block access not only to the Kennedy Expressway, but O'Hare Airport as well.

Related post:

Pictures from the Chicago anti-violence march that you won't see in the mainstream media


From my entry today at Da Tech Guy:
.
Chicago needs to crack down on illegal expressway-blocking protests

Willie Cochran likely to become 36th Chicago alderman to go to prison since 1973

Chicago is corrupt to its rotten care. Do you want proof? Since 1973 there have been 35 members of its City Council who have served time in prison.

It appears may have our 36th one soon.

From NBC 5 Chicago:
A member of the Chicago City Council is expected to join a long list of city aldermen to be convicted in corruption cases after his attorney told a federal court that he'd plead guilty.

The Chicago Tribune reports that Christopher Groham said during a Wednesday hearing that Alderman Willie Cochran will plead guilty after a plea agreement is finalized.

The 65-year-old South Side alderman was indicted in 2016 with charges including bribery and extortion after an investigation revealed that he allegedly pilfered money from an activities fund in his ward to pay for gambling trips and his daughter's college tuition.
Cochran's predecessor, Arenda Troutman, spent time "in the joint" for bribery. Edward Vrdokyak, who already has one stay in Club Fed to his credit, is currently under indictment. Nominally a Republican, "Fast Eddie" is the former chairman of the Chicago Machine, formally known as the Cook County Regular Democratic Organization.

Wednesday, August 15, 2018

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

From Roger L. Simon: Feinstein, Strzok, and the Sinister Russia Probe

Roger L. Simon of Pajama Media adds his two yuan to the Dianne Frankenfeinstein spy scandal.
One of the salient facts to remember in the wake of the firing (finally!) of Peter Strzok is that the man was the chief of the Counterespionage Section of the FBI. That means the man in charge of counterespionage for the Unites States of America was conducting an extramarital affair with another important Justice Department employee via text messages that could easily have been hacked by a high school student.

Roll that around in your mind for a moment. Can you think of anything dumber in the intelligence world? You don't have to have read any of a dozen John le Carré novels to understand how foolhardy it was, how it made Strzok subject to all sorts of skullduggery from foreign powers. No wonder it took them so long to fire him. There must have been a lot to investigate besides his ridiculously biased and jejune politics.

Now roll back five years to when it was discovered that Dianne Feinstein's chauffeur of twenty years (!) was a spy for the People's Republic of China. (Well, five years for Dianne. The rest of us found out only last week.

How was it possible the then-chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee was under such intimate covert surveillance by China for decades? Where was our counterespionage on that one? Not doing a lot of countering.

From Doug Ross: LICENSE TO STEAL: Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Family and Their Chinese Fortune Cookie

The media is ignoring the Dianne Frankenfeinstein spy scandal. Doug Ross isn't.

LICENSE TO STEAL: Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s Family and Their Chinese Fortune Cookie

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: The Future of the Democratic Party

Tom Perez, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, says that the socialist Dem nominee for Congress in a New York City district, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is "the future of our party."

She is also dumber than a box of rocks.



Related post:

Ocasio-Cortez: Socialized medicine is cheap because people will no longer have to pay for funerals

Monday, August 13, 2018

(PragerU) What Was the Cold War?

Historian Andrew Roberts discusses what the Cold War was about and is victims, the great majority of whom lived in communist states.

Mark Dice on Omarosa Manigault Book: It's Fake!

Omarosa Manigault, the former Apprentice contestant who President Donald Trump brought to the White House, is making a fool of herself.

Not only, Mark Dice tells us, did she break national security protocol by secretly recording John Kelly firing her, but in an interview she contradicted her own book as in an interview about the president's alleged used of the "N" word.

Sunday, August 12, 2018

From Da Tech Guy: Barack Obama, Chicago mayor?

Sure the headline is click bait. Barack Obama will not be running for mayor of his adopted hometown. And doubling-down on leftism will only make the situation in Chicago worse. From my post at Da Tech Guy: Barack Obama, Chicago mayor?




SF Giants retires cheater Bonds' number

San Francisco is a soulless place, so it's should be no surprise that the San Francisco Giants retired the number of Barry Bonds, who cheated his way to the all-time baseball home run record.

Saturday, August 11, 2018

The Byrds - I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better

Gene Clark sings a Byrds song he wrote, "I'll Feel A Whole Lot Better."

Sure, the go-go dancers are a distraction. An unnecessary one?

You decide.

(Bloody Chicago) Warning Graphic: River of Violence in Chicago Consumes All It Touches

Victor Maggio of Bloody Chicago has a message for those Chicagoans living in the war zone.

Oh, the city dyes the Chicago River green every St. Patrick's Day.

But there is a red river as well--and it may drown Chicago.

Friday, August 10, 2018

Empty Pantsuit Chelsea Clinton to headline anti-Kavanaugh event

President Trump's nominee to SCOTUS is shoe-in now that the Empty Pantsuit, Chelsea Clinton, is on board in the opposition  to him.

From the Washington Examiner:
Chelsea Clinton has not endorsed any candidates ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, but she is jumping into the Senate fight over President Trump's nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

Clinton will headline a "Rise Up For Roe" event in New York City Saturday to oppose Trump's second nominee to the nation's highest court, she confirmed to the Washington Examiner.


Mark Dice: They're Coming For Me Next

Yes, Alex Jones is a conspiracy nut-job, one that barely registered on my radar. But when YouTube bans someone like him, next it will try to shutdown another YouTuber whose views offend some people.

Someone, perhaps, like pro-Trump vlogger Mark Dice?

Chiraq: Two dead and at least 8 wounded Thursday

Two people were shot to death on Thursday in Chicago. One of the deaths, on the Far South Side, involved four break breaking into the home of a 43-year-old man, killing him. The other happened when three men approached a man on the South Side and opening fire.

The South Side also saw some non-fatal shootings, as did the West and Northwest Sides.

Thursday, August 09, 2018

First person charged from Chicago's 74 weekend shootings

Over seventy people were shot last weekend in Chicago, despite last Thursday's anti-violence protest that closed Lake Shore Drive

Today it was announced that the first person was charged for one of those shootings.

There were 74 shootings over the weekend, 12 of them were fatal.

One person charged.

Pathetic.

From NBC Chicago:
A man has been charged with shooting another man Saturday afternoon in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side.

Rick Franklin, 27, was charged with one felony count each of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, aggravated discharge of a firearm and being an armed habitual criminal, according to a statement from Chicago police.

Franklin was “observed on video involved in a shooting” shortly before 3:30 p.m. in the 3900 block of West Madison, police said.

The victim, a 26-year-old man, was shot in the left foot and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital in good condition, police said.

Ocasio-Cortez: Socialized medicine is cheap because people will no longer have to pay for funerals

While appearing on CNN with fellow leftist Chris Cuomo, the socialist candidate for the US House from New York, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, offered us the key to eternal life.

"Medicare-for-all is cheaper than the current system," Occasion-Cortez explained, "because we aren’t incorporating the costs of all the funeral expenses of those who die because they can’t afford access to health care. That is part of the cost of our system."

You got that? Completely government-run health care will prevent your death. If we only knew earlier.

Wednesday, August 08, 2018

John Kass: Rahm can’t spin his way out of the Chicago street gang wars

Englewood in 2016
John Kass of the Chicago Tribune is right on the money in his Tuesday column. And the Democrats in Chicago have a dirty street gang secret that goes back more than a century. Just as Daniel Day-Lewis' "Bill the Butcher" had his feet in politics as well as the criminal world in Gangs of New York, so do Chicago's street gangs.

Rahm, Kass argues, won't be able to spin his way out of Chiraq bloodshed.

From Kass' column:
City Hall calls it “gun violence,” and media cooperates by calling it that, too. But calling it “gun violence” allows Chicago’s political class off the hook.

There are many guns in the suburbs. But the suburbs are not killing grounds. What’s going on in Chicago are street gang wars.

And Cook County’s one-party political class seems incapable of addressing it; from the prosecutors who don’t prosecute, to judges, to the police brass trying to keep their jobs, to Chicago aldermen.

Some aldermen are terrified of the street gangs, which have been intertwined with Chicago politics since the first thugs got out the vote on the first Election Day.

(PragerU) Make Men Masculine Again

Allie Stuckey, Host of "Allie" on CRTV and "Relatable" podcast, in this latest PragerU video points out the reasons why we need more masculinity in men, not less.

After all, it was masculine men who defeated the Axis in World War II.

AP is wrong: Sharice Davids is not the first Native American US House nominee from Kansas

Charles Curtis
AP reporter John Hanna reports in a cloying article about yesterday's election victory by Sharice Davids, who Hanna says "shattered the mold for a congressional primary winner from ruby red Kansas," as she is now the "state’s first Native American and gay nominee for Congress."

Not quite.

According to his Twitter bio, Hanna has been an AP correspondent in Topeka, the capital of Kansas, for nearly twenty years. He doesn't know his Kansas history as Charles Curtis, who was vice president under Herbert Hoover, was a Native American. Curtis also served in the US Senate, and, wait for it, he was a member of the US House of Representative from Kansas. Curtis' father was white and according to Wikipedia, the Republican lawmaker was roughly 3/8 Native American.

Curtis was also the first vice president born west of the Mississippi River and only the Kansan to serve as the nation's VP.

"Indian Charlie" grew up on the Kaw Indian Reservation.

On the other hand, perhaps Hanna is reporting that Davids, a Democrat, is a two-fer, meaning that she is the first nominee from Kansas who is both gay and a Native American. If so, then he needs to learn to write clearly---that would make Davids the first gay (or lesbian) Native American nominee from Kansas.

Sheesh.

Hat tip to Chicago Public Square for the AP story.

On this day in 1918: Battle of Amiens begins

Doughboy Monument, 
Morton Grove , IL
It was 100 years ago today when the;Battle of Amien began in France in World War I.

Erich Ludendorff, a top German general, called it "the black day of the German Army."

Tanks were a major factor in the battle. Allied forces gained seven miles of territory, a massive amount of territory in a war where trench warfare was the norm.

It was also the beginning of the One Hundred Days Offensive, which ended with an Allied victory over the Central Powers.





Tuesday, August 07, 2018

From Real Clear Politics: President Trump, please help save Chicago.

Steve Cortes, a CNN contributor, wants President Donald Trump to rescue Chicago.

From Real Clear Politics:
Mr. President, children in a once-great American city cannot play in parks without fear and cannot attend schools where they can thrive. As a constitutionalist, I instinctively defer to federalism and prefer local control, but this situation spirals downward with such ferocity that federal intervention represents the only stabilizing remedy, especially in light of the cowardice of local leaders.

For the near term, our city needs military troops to guard streets in the most dangerous areas. Soldiers have historically been deployed after riots to achieve calm, and Chicago’s current riot is merely a slow-motion one. In addition, with the school year starting soon, a show of protective force – with many of the service members themselves black and brown – would assuage nervous parents. The president should also direct Attorney General Jeff Sessions to personally lead a task force located in Chicago to flood the city with assistance in the coming months, leveraging all the federal government’s powers of law enforcement. Longer term, we desperately need school choice and aggressive urban enterprise zones to encourage investment in the most blighted neighborhoods of the west and south sides.

In addition to protecting the precious lives of American citizens, such moves would also reap political gains. The Trump economic boom is already proving incredibly beneficial for minorities, sending black and Hispanic job markets to record highs. As a result, recent polling shows a surge of support among both black and Hispanic approval of President Trump. The burgeoning economic progress, combined with serious overtures to help the embattled minority communities of Chicago, would surely engender further political goodwill for Trump.

(Bloody Chicago) Warning Graphic: Bloodbath in Chicago, 74 Shot, 12, Fatally in Weekend Shootings

Only Bloody Chicago's Victor Maggio is reporting what the impetus behind the increase in violence in Chicago--the splintering of street gangs from 60 or so to over 600.

To fix the problem, Maggio wonders "Are cops going to do what they need to do?"

Maggio was in the 'hoods during the most violent weekend this year covering what he says were "the most violent eight hours in all of my five years on the bloody streets of Chicago."

This Bloody Chicago video is very intense. It includes coverage of a wounded woman who vehemently tells the police what she wasn't shot. She finally acquiesces to treatment.


Monday, August 06, 2018

During Chicago's bloodiest weekend of 2018, organizer of Thursday's anti-violence protest threatened to disrupt O'Hare Airport

O'Hare Airport
Former Chicago police superintendent Garry McCarthy, now a candidate for mayor, rightly--it's a no-brainer, by the way--called Thursday's anti-violence protest that blocked Lake Shore Drive an illegal action.

The 300-400 cops on hand, obviously under pressure from above, served [only as babysitters for the 150 protesters who wreaked havoc during the afternoon rush hour.

One of the organizers of last week's leftist disruption, Gregory Livingston, looked towards his next one. He ironically issued  his threat during the most violent Chicago weekend of 2018.

From NBC Chicago on Friday:
Anti-violence protesters who blocked Lake Shore Drive are threatening to shut down access to O’Hare International Airport.

Rev. Gregory Livingston organized the Lake Shore Drive protest to ask Mayor Rahm Emanuel to help all of Chicago with gun violence.

"If the mayor doesn’t respond to the needs of his own citizens then we need to go and possibly disrupt airport traffic," Livingston said.
If Livingston follows through on his threat--he should be arrested and swiftly prosecuted.

Enough of this anarchy.

From my entry today at Da Tech Guy:
.
Chicago needs to crack down on illegal expressway-blocking protests


Mark Dice: Twitter CEO Forced to Testify About Censoring Conservatives!

It appears, according to Mark Dice, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey will soon be forced to testify in front of a House committee over the "sshadowbanning" of conservatives.

(Photos) Bo Boen Trail in summer

Usually when I go running your beloved Marathon Pundit has a set distance and a planned route in mind. On vacation I hang loose and my runs sometime take on a serendipitous nature.

As was last summer and just last month too when I stumbled across the Bo Boen Trail in St. Germain, Wisconsin, in the Northwoods.

The Bo Boen (pronounced bo-in) is a snowmobile and ATV trail in St. Germain, Wisconsin.


This sign is on the eastern part of the trail I ran on, near the Wisconsin River in Oneida County.


And there is the Wisconsin River.


Even in northern Wisconsin there isn't any snow in July. Summer is all-terrain vehicle season in the Northwoods. ATVs leave distinctive tracks. Snowmobiling has one advantage over ATV riding. If you stop while driving the first vehicle, mosquitoes are not a concern.


Young hemlocks and white pines.

That's it for my 2017 pics. On to the next year. And for now on we'll be in Vilas County.


Those are some very tall northern red oaks.


North of St. Germain there is a stupendously beautiful clearing, parts of it serve as the local compost dump.


Although its a Eurasian invader, Lotus corniculatus, commonly known as bird's-foot trefoil, is splendid meadow flower.


As is Chrysanthemum leucanthemum, the oxeye daisy.


Ah, there's an ATV. The northern Wisconsin soil is very sandy.


An old compost pile? What do you think it is?


Eat my dust.


Now we're off of the trail for a diversion. The Bo Boen is best-known for snowmobiling. Arguably the snowmobile, or snowmachine, was invented in Vilas County, Wisconsin, where St. Germain and another unincorporated village, Sayner, lie.

In Sayner is the Villas County Historical Museum. In front of it is a Wisconsin historical marker simply titled "Snowmobile."

It reads:
Wisconsinites experimented with over-snow vehicles before 1900, trying bicycles on runners with gripping fins, steam-propelled sleighs and later Model T Fords converted with rear tractor treads and skis in front. In the first races held near Three Lakes in 1926, 104 of these "snowbuggies" started.

Carl Eliason of Sayner developed the prototype of the modern snowmobile in 1924 when he mounted a small gasoline-powered marine engine on a long toboggan, steered with skis under the front and driven by a rear, single, endless track.

Patented in 1927, Eliason made 40 snowmobiles. Upon receiving an order for 200 from Finland, he sold his patent to the FWD Company of Clintonville. They made 300 for military use, then transferred the patent to a Canadian subsidiary.

There are 2½ million snowmobiles in North America now. Annual sales exceed $1 billion and result in 100,000 jobs. Used even above the Arctic Circle, they provide not only recreation, but mobility for utility repairment, forest rangers, game wardens, mail carriers, policemen, etc.
The Eliason name is still prominent in the Northwoods. Eliason Lumber and Hardware is in Sayner and there is an Eliason Realty of the North with offices in St. Germain and Eagle River.


One more ATV for you.


A row of hemlocks.


Do you love ferns? If so, then the Northwoods are for you!


Our journey has ended.

The name Bo Boen? Where does that come from? It's not named for a person, rather, according to an email from a representative of the Bo-Boen Snowmobile Club, it's believed to mean "winter fun" in the Ojibwe (Chippewa) language.

Post anti-violence march: 11 shot to death and at least 59 wounded over weekend

Lake Shore Drive blocked by 
protesters
Thursday evening leftist activists held an anti-violence march where they blocked Lake Shore Drive on the North Side of Chicago.

No one expected it to help stem the mayhem in the city, but man oh man, was the most recent weekend a bloody one. Things have gotten worse.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:
A weekend of gun violence in Chicago left at least 11 people dead and 59 wounded.

Three people were shot Friday evening, 14 were shot Saturday, 47 were shot Sunday and six were shot early Monday, capping off the weekend, which began 5 p.m. Friday and ended 5 a.m. Monday.

The violence reached a peak Sunday, when 30 people were shot during a three-hour span between midnight and 3 a.m. Eight shooting incidents that morning had three or more victims. A single shooting in Gresham wounded eight people, including four teenage girls, as they stood in a courtyard.

The influx of trauma patients at Stroger Hospital was so large Sunday morning, visitors of shooting victims were kept from entering, leaving them to congregate outside near a parking lot.
UPDATE August 12: It appears the final number from the weekend was 12 dead and 74 wounded.

Related post:

Pictures from the Chicago anti-violence march that you won't see in the mainstream media


From my entry today at Da Tech Guy:
.
Chicago needs to crack down on illegal expressway-blocking protests

Sunday, August 05, 2018

At least 40 shot today in Chicago so far--UPDATED

Blogger on site of his mother's old
home in Auburn-Gresham
Well, the anti-violence march that blocked Lake Shore Drive on Thursday predictably hasn't done much to curb gunplay in Chicago.

So far today, Sunday, at least 40 people have been shot, including 8 in a mass-shooting in Auburn-Gresham, the neighborhood of Father Michael Pfleger's church.

Perhaps an anti-violence rally will do some good there.

Of those shootings, as of this hour four of them are fatal.

UPDATE 5:45pm CDT: An earlier version of this post left out the link to the ABC 7 Chicago story about the shootings, which are now up to 42 for Sunday.

UPDATE 6:00pm CDT: Of those shootings, 25 of them occurred in just two-and-half-hours.

Related post:

Pictures from the Chicago anti-violence march that you won't see in the mainstream medi
a

From my entry today at Da Tech Guy:
.
Chicago needs to crack down on illegal expressway-blocking protests


From Da Tech Guy: Chicago needs to crack down on illegal expressway-blocking protests

My follow-up to my Thursday post about the Chicago anti-violence march is up at Da Tech Guy: Chicago needs to crack down on illegal expressway-blocking protests.

Saturday, August 04, 2018

Latgale performers in the Latvian Song and Dance Festival marching in Riga

Every five years the Latvian Song and Dance Festival is held in Riga, the capital city of the middle Baltic State. Rightfully Wikipedia deems it "one of the largest amateur choral events in the world and an important event in Latvian culture and social life."

A parade is part of the festivities. Mrs. Marathon Pundit snapped this photograph of performers from the Latgale region.

In the center is the Latvian flag.


The Kinks - Apeman

The Kinks ended what is known as their Lost Period in dramatic fashion in 1970 with their Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround album and its hit single, "Lola."

The follow up single, "Apeman," has the feel of that overlooked Lost Period.

Is it worth a listen?

Of course!

Friday, August 03, 2018

Mark Dice: MSNBC Host Wants Facebook Shut Down to Stop 'Fake News'

Yep, that headline is not clickbait. MSLSD host Stephanie Ruhle wants to shut down Facebook, for three months, until after the election because of "fake news."

"If you were so concerned about stopping the spread of fake news," Mark Dice correctly points out to Ruhle, "you would quit working for MSNBC."

Interviewing Ruhle was serial liar Brian Williams.

Thursday, August 02, 2018

Pictures from the Chicago anti-violence march that you won't see in the mainstream media

Your beloved Blogger Laureate of Illinois hit the streets for some good old-fashioned citizen journalism. This time I was on the North Side of Chicago to cover this afternoon's anti-violence march that briefly shut down all eight lanes of Lake Shore Drive during rush hour. The protest's size grew a little when it entered the Lakeview neighborhood, but  when the marchers entered Lake Shore Drive, according to Chicago Police estimates, there were only 150 protesters.

Let that sink in. Tens of thousands of drivers--and bus passengers--had their commutes ruined by. let's be real here, a handful of radicals. Of course the protesters didn't have a rally permit. And Chicago officials just let this mess happen. As they have in the past with similar rallies.

Chalk this up as another reason why Chicago is one of the few major cities with a declining population.


Did I say chalk? Surely these chalk messages scrawled on Lake Shore Drive will transform the gangbangers into peaceful Chicagoans.


Chicago parents: Do you know where your unionized teacher is?


Eight lanes of traffic unused. Thousands of evenings wrecked. All because of, let me remind you, 150 left-wing protesters.

In July the meddlesome priest, the Reverend Michael Pfleger, held a similar anti-violence protest that blocked all twelve lanes of the Dan Ryan Expressway on the South Side.

And do you know what? Chicagoans are still killing each other.

Perhaps a series of rallies in front of the homes of the leaders of the Vice Lords, the Latin Kings, and the Simon City Royals might be more effective. And I can assure you that these gangsters don't live on major expressways.


That poster, held by a someone wearing a shirt touting Revcom.us, that is, the Revolutionary Communist Party USA, reads, "A 6-year-old died because of ICE. A system that cages and tortures children is a system that must be overthrown."

I thought this was an anti-violence protest. Oh, a quick Google search will show that no six-year-old died in the custody of ICE--the commie told me it happened "a couple of days ago." And that widely-distributed photograph of a migrant child behind a cage was a staged event that was part of a Dallas protest. Allegedly a toddler, not a six-year-old, died after being released from ICE, but the agency denies the report.

It's fake news.


"Assata is welcome here." Well isn't that special. But Assata who? If it's Assata Olugbala Shakur, the former JoAnne Deborah Chesimard, then she is referring to a convicted cop killer--I thought this was an anti-violence march--who is an escaped prisoner living in Cuba under political asylum.

The communists in Cuba should cough up this murderer.

Shakur is on the FBI's list of most wanted terrorists.


"Veterans for Trump, Make America Great Again." Here's one protester who is not a left-winger.

During the 2016 presidential campaign Donald Trump brought up Chicago's sky-high murder rate more than Barack Obama, a Chicagoan, did during his entire eight years in the White House.

Eventually the protest made its way onto Belmont Avenue, with the ultimate destination of Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago Cubs.


"Trump/Pence must go!" Exactly what does that message have to do with Chicago's violence epidemic? Help me out here, please.


That man's shirt reads, "Swish, Mary, sissy, queer, fairy, pansy, faggot."


"I don't always march in left-wing protests, but when I do I put on my autographed Colin Kaepernick jersey."


911 is a joke? Really? Is this man a September 11 "truther?" Again, what does 9-11 have to do with Chicagoans slaughtering each other?

Or is this loon claiming that Chicago's emergency telephone number is a joke?

If this guy's home is broken into, will he call 911? Or will he dial the cell number of Tio Hardiman, one of the organizers of the protest?


"White isn't always right."

When the left isn't politicizing everything in sight they are racializing it.

I'll wager that the woman holding the sign is always wrong.

And just who is saying "White is always right?"


The couple that protests together stays together.

"White silence equals white consent."

Consent for what?


Hmm...same color poster board as the sign two pics up. Same handwriting too.

"North Side contentment is not more important than black lives." Who thinks like that?

Some of the racializing this evening used dog whistle terms. "North Side" is white. "South Side" is black. In a majority-minority city, what does that really mean?

Oh, of Chicago's 77 official neighborhoods, Donald Trump prevailed in only one--Mount Greenwood on the South Side.


"Hey, hey, what do you say, we're going to disrupt the North Side today."


Business was slow at the bars, restaurants, and souvenir shops near the ballpark.


Eventually the scrum made it to Wrigley Field. Oh, the Cubs ended up losing this game to the Padres.


Cub fans look down at the rabble. Oh, take a good look at the man in the Cubs hat. He's giving the protesters the finger.


The communist banner declares, "This system cannot be reformed. It must be overthrown."

A radical from the Students for a Democratic Society--a 1960s group that counts Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers' terrorist Weather Underground as one of its descendants--once wrote, "The issue is never the issue. The issue is always the revolution.”

The more things change...