From Da Tech Guy: How Kim Foxx happened

The leftist behind the dropping of charges against hoaxter Jussle Smollett didn't emerge from nowhere. I explain at Da Tech Guy: How Kim Foxx happened.

Rock 'n' Roll High School - The Ramones

Sure there was the Ramones movie, Rock 'n' Roll High School.

title tune from the soundtrack.

Here's the Phil Spector-produced tune.

Interestingly, while three of the Ramones seem indifferent if not hostile to school, Dee Dee Ramone, a noted substance abuser, took to the chemistry lab with ease.

AOC blames her growing 'unfavorability' on Fox News

Crazy radical leftist Alexandria "Cow Farts' Ocasio-Cortez is blaming her growing unpopularity on Fox News.

Maybe she'd be more like if she wasn't a moonbat.

Protest against Kim Foxx at the County Building on Monday 4/1

Sure the date is April 1--next Monday--but this is no joke.

There will be a protest Monday at 11am against Cook County state's attorney Kim Foxx organized by the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police at the County Building, which is at 69 W. Washington in the Loop.

Chicago is of course better known as MAGA Country.

I've been to a few of these--my guess is that most of the action will be at Daley Plaza a few steps away.

Foxx is the leftist Democrat quasi-prosecutor who dropped the charges against hate crime hoaxster Jussie Smollett.

As always, my fellow patriots, speak up but obey the law--don't block traffic like the leftists do.

Make signs with big letters so television viewers see them. Wear patriotic and pro-police hats and clothing if you have them.

Shapiro: Jussie Smollett case dropped as favor to Obama crew?

The Smollett family was very tight the Obamas. Ben Shapiro wonders if compromised Crook County state's attorney Kim Foxx, as a favor to Christina M. "Tina" Tchen, Michelle Obama's former chief of staff, dropped the charges against the hate crime hoaxter as a favor to those in the Obama orbit.

Liar: Kim Foxx did not recuse herself in Smollett hoax case

Kim Foxx, the leftist Crook County state's attorney, faces voters next year. Throw her out.

Up for retention next year is the Cook County judge who sealed the records in the Jussie Smollett case. His name is Steven G. Watkins.

Both are Democrats.

As for Foxx--she's liar, albeit a "colloquial" one.

From Fox News:

State’s Attorney Kim Foxx did not "formally" recuse herself from the Jussie Smollett case, her office said in a statement Thursday, explaining that Foxx used the term "recuse" in a "colloquial" sense rather than a legal sense when she left the case in February.

The statement was the latest twist in the saga centering around Smollett, the "Empire" actor whom Foxx's office decided not to prosecute Tuesday in a stunning reversal after Smollett faced a 16-count indictment for allegedly staging an assault against himself in January.

Foxx announced Feb. 19 that she was leaving the case, clarifying later that her decision stemmed from her contact with a relative of Smollett. But Thursday's statement said Foxx's decision was not based "on any actual conflict of interest," implying that Foxx was concerned about the appearance of a conflict.

"Instead, in an abundance of caution, she informally separated herself from the decision-making over the case and left it to her First Assistant State’s Attorney Joe Magats, a 29-year veteran prosecutor," the statement added. "Although we used the term ‘recuse’ as it relates to State’s Attorney Foxx’s involvement in this matter, it was a colloquial use of the term rather than in its legal sense."

Latest from MAGA Country: Chicago wants $130K to pay for hoax investigation

In the Chicago Sun-Times, Michael Sneed reports that Chicago, also known as MAGA Country, wants to hit hoaxter Jussie Smollet in the pocketbook.

The city on Thursday laid out the cost of the investigation into the alleged hate crime against actor Jussie Smollett and demanded the “Empire” star pay the city $130,000.

In a letter from the Chicago Corporation Counsel sent to Smollett's lawyers Thursday afternoon, officials said the total cost of the overtime the Chicago Police logged to investigate the crime was considerably more than the $10,000 Smollett agreed to forfeit after charges against him for allegedly staging the attack on Jan. 29 were dropped Tuesday.

"The Chicago Police Department conducted an extensive investigation into this report," the letter sent to attorney Patricia Brown Holmes' office says. "Over two dozen detectives and police officers participated in the investigation, ultimately spending weeks investigating the false claims, including a substantial number of overtime hours."

Rahm blames Trump for Smollett hoax

With the Democrats it is always--always--President Trump's fault, as WLS-AM's Bill Cameron tells us.

This morning on Twitter the president excoriated state's attorney Kim Foxx, a leftist Democrat, for dropping the charges surrounding the "MAGA Country" hoax attack created by Jussie Smollett.

“My recommendation to the president, go to Opening Day baseball, sit on the sideline, stay out of this! You created a toxic environment where Jussie Smollett thought he could create a hoax about a hate crime.” - ⁦@ChicagosMayor⁩ to ⁦@realDonaldTrump⁩ ⁦@wlsam890⁩ pic.twitter.com/UqP94be4io

— Bill Cameron (@billjcameron) March 28, 2019

"My recommendation to the president," Cameron reported on Twitter, "go to Opening Day baseball, sit on the sideline, stay out of this! You created a toxic environment where Jussie Smollett thought he could create a hoax about a hate crime.

John Kass on Kim Foxx: "Please help me. I’ve screwed up"

Kim Foxx, the Chicago Democratic leftist behind the dropping of the charges against hoaxster Jussie Smollett, is panicking, according to the Chicago Tribune's John Kass:

And then came that panicky email Foxx’s office sent out, asking prosecutors for "examples of cases, felony preferable, where we, in exercising our discretion, have entered into verbal agreements with defense attorneys to dismiss charges against an offender if certain conditions were met, such as the payment of restitution, completion of community service, etc. but the defendant was not placed in a formal diversion program."

In other words: Please help me. I’ve screwed up, and I need examples to show people that what I did is really not all that unusual.

I asked a Cook County judge about this.

"How stupid is it to put in writing that you're advertising for excuses after the fact?" said the judge.

It's very stupid.

Mark Dice on so-called Russian collusion: The delusions continue

There was no collusion between Russia the Donald Trump campaign. The Mueller Report issued that finding.

But sufferers from Trump Derangement Syndrome won't give up there Trump Russia Delusion.

Chicago PD releases its Smollett files

God bless the Chicago Police Department.

Here's the latest from MAGA Country by way of Fox News:

Chicago police came out swinging Wednesday and released the full 61-page investigative report in the alleged Jussie Smollett hate crime hoax, one day after charges against the "Empire" star were dramatically dropped — but the move prompted a moot court order.

The release of the documents came one day after Cook County prosecutors dismissed a 16-count indictment against the actor, saying they had cut a deal with the TV star to perform two days of community service and forfeit his $10,000 bond to the city.

The move made it possible for Smollett's attorneys to get his criminal case immediately sealed and wiped clean.

About an hour after the department released the files, the Chicago police reportedly became subject of a court order that barred them from releasing further files even though they were widely available online.

Tucker: Why aren't we laughing at Jussie Smollett?

Tucker Carlson asks a great question: "Why aren't we laughing at Jussie Smollett?"

Or his supporters, such as the fake news proprietors at CNN.

Kim Foxx gives further embarrasment to Chicago

If you are wealthy and famous, have the correct political beliefs, and you are a member of the victim class--if even if you victimize yourself--you can walk away from clear criminal activity.

Such is the case with the office of Crook County state's attorney Kim Foxx, a leftist Democrat, dropping the charges associated with the hate crime hoax created by Jussie Smollett.

From Steve Cortes in Real Clear Politics:

Notwithstanding the absurdity of his allegations and the meticulous work of the Chicago PD, the office of State’s Attorney Kim Foxx decided, without informing police officials or the Chicago mayor, to allow Smollett to walk away from the serious proceedings, practically scot-free. The charges were dropped, the case was sealed, and the only penalty Smollett faced at all was the forfeiture of his $10,000 posted bail.

The Chicago cops I spoke to were, without exception, apoplectic. Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson earlier said of Smollett: “I’ll continue to pray for this troubled young man who resorted to both drastic and illegal tactics to gain attention.” One of his commanders, Ed Wodnicki, described the dropping of charges as "absolutely a punch in the gut."

"We worked closely throughout our three-week investigation to get to the point where we arrested the offender," he added. "For the state's attorney at this point to dismiss charges without discussing this with us is just shocking."

For his part, Smollett remained smugly incorrigible. In a post-hearing press conference, he declared, "I would not be my mother’s son if I was capable of one drop of what I have been accused of.” He feigned that he would fight for the “betterment of marginalized people everywhere."

Venezuela IS Socialism

Socialism fails. Always.

John Stossel presents the latest example, Venezuela.

Ingraham: The reckoning of the liberal media

"AAs I always say," Laura Ingraham tells us, "being a liberal means never having to say you're sorry."

And of course so it is with the Russian collusion hoax.

(PragerU) The Left Ruins Everything

Leftism is a destructive philosophy that yes, Dennis Prager is right, ruins everything.

Art for instance. Who wants to go to a prestigious museum to use a working gold-colored toilet called "America?"

A leftist.

Then there is the destruction of free speech, college, universities, and late night television.

And more.

What does the left create? Nothing.

(Bloody Chicago video) Part #2 In the Line of Duty Chicago

Victor Maggio provides more graphic footage for what the Chicago Police go through as they confront violence--including cars that are used as weapons--in the second part of his video series, In the Line of Duty Chicago.

Warning: Foul language and graphic violence.

From Grabien, Rewind: Watch the Media Spend Two Years Hyping a Now-Debunked Story

Democratic politicians--and the media--have been lying to you for two years about so-called Trump-Russia collusion. Grabien has collected the best video clips of the lies. Rewind: Watch the Media Spend Two Years Hyping a Now-Debunked Story.

From Da Tech Guy: Tales from the Illinois Exodus–Part Two

More on the decline and fall of the Land of Lincoln. From my weekly post at Da Tech Guy: Tales from the Illinois Exodus–Part Two.

The Rainmakers - Johnny Reb, live in Norway

A longtime favorite of the blog is the Rainmakers. Partly because they are not politically correct. Partly because they are "the bomb." After all, they infuriated the liberals with their anthem "Government Cheese."

The Kansas City-based band barely registers--which is a pity--in the United States but they are huge in Norway. Gud velsigne Norge!

Here are the Rainmakers in 2012 at the Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo--with frontman Bob Walkenhorst playing snare--pounding out "Johnny Reb."

Tucker: No American citizen has been charged with collusion

President Trump was right. The Robert Mueller probe was a witch hunt. So was the late Charles Krauthammer, who called this witch hunt an investigation in search of a crime.

The Mueller Report is complete. And as Tucker Carlson reminds us, no American has been charged with collusion.

(Bloody Chicago video) In the Line of Duty--Chicago, Part 1

My friend Victor Maggio of Bloody Chicago begins a new series today, "In the Line of Duty, Chicago."

Warning: This video contains foul language and graphic violence.

Maggio--without pulling punches--looks at what the CPD endures when confronted by violent criminals.

Sometimes the cops get it wrong, as you'll learn in the case of the fatal police shooting of Paul O'Neill.

Other times police officers jeopardize their safety, such as in the incident of the brutal beating of a cop who chose not to shoot a drugged up criminal because she was afraid to subject herself and her family to negative national scrutiny. That's part the unfortunate fallout after the Laquan McDonald killing.

Chicago's Dan Ryan Expressway closed for three hours after shooting

Welcome to Chiraq.

From CBS Chicago:

The inbound lanes of the Dan Ryan Expressway were shut down for more than three hours Friday morning, as Illinois State Police investigated a shooting that left a 24-year-old woman wounded.

The victim and a bullet-filled sedan were found at a Church's Chicken parking lot at 59th and State streets. Illinois State Police said the 24-year-old woman told investigators she was shot several times around 2:45 a.m. in the inbound lanes of the Dan Ryan near 79th Street.

She was being treated at the University of Chicago trauma center, where her condition was stabilized.

All lanes of Dan Ryan Expressway back open after hours-long shutdown due to shooting. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/zHbfWD8NZw

— Eric Cox (@EricCoxTV) March 22, 2019

O’Rourke: "We do not need any walls," and "we do not have" a problem at the border

Robert "Beto" O'Rourke is in denial about the problems America faces at our southern border.

He expressed his delusional views in New Hampshire today.

Mark Dice: Head of the Class

The Washington Post and CBS News is chasing after President Trump's high school records. Trump, Mark Dice reminds us, graduated from high school over 50 years ago.

Flashback: 10 times climate "experts" said world would end by now

We're still here, my friends.

And we'll be here ten years and twelve years from now.

From Fox News:

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, while selling her "Green New Deal," said that the world will end in 12 years if nothing is done to address climate change.

"Millennials and people, you know, Gen Z... we’re like: ‘The world is gonna end in 12 years if we don’t address climate change,'" Ocasio-Cortez said in January.

Fox recalls ten climate armageddons that the so-called experts would have destroyed the planet by now.

Here's one from 1989, amazingly still on line, from AP.

Will the leftists call it a witch hunt? Ex-Obama aide may face Mueller probe charges

Witch hunt, anyone? The liberals might think so now.

From Fox News:

Former Obama White House Counsel and Clinton-linked attorney Greg Craig may soon be charged by the Justice Department for engaging in illegal unregistered overseas lobbying, in a case initially probed by Special Counsel Robert Mueller -- a development that would make him the first Democrat to face prosecution amid the long-running Russia investigation.

The case centers on lobbying work that Craig performed in 2012 for the Russian-backed president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, while Craig was a partner at the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. Craig allegedly never registered as a foreign agent under a U.S. law known as the Foreign Agents Registration Act, or FARA, which requires lobbyists to declare publicly if they represent foreign leaders, governments or their political parties.

FARA violations were only rarely prosecuted until Mueller took aim at Paul Manafort, President Trump's former campaign chairman, for his lobbying work in Ukraine. Manafort, who connected Craig with Yanukovych, has been convicted on numerous bank and tax fraud charges, and was separately accused of FARA violations as well. He was sentenced earlier this month to approximately seven years in prison.

Craig left Skadden last year as his work with Manafort became public. In January, Skadden agreed to cooperate with the DOJ's registration requirements and paid $4.6 million in a settlement to avoid a criminal prosecution. "We have learned much from this incident and are taking steps to prevent anything similar from happening again,” the firm said in a statement at the time

(PragerU) DivestU

Charlie Kirk is calling on you to stop sending cash to those indoctrination camps known as colleges and universities.

Students say Ocasio-Cortez is face of Democrat Party

Who is the face of the Democratic Party? CampusReform visited Georgetown University and after interviewing some students out came the answer: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, not Nancy Pelosi.

Mark Dice: Rocket Scientist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

AOC is the future of the Democratic Party--so says its chairman.

From Da Tech Guy: Tales from the Illinois Exodus--Part One

As Bob Marley phrased it, "Exodus, movement of the people."

From my entry at Da Tech Guy: Tales from the Illinois Exodus--Part One.

Bruce Springsteen - You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)

I was fortunate to see Brue Springsteen and the E Street Band during The River tour in Champaign, Illinois.

Here is the Boss and friends from that same tour in Tempe, Arizona performing "You Can Look (But You Better Not Touch)."

Leftist NYC Mayor De Blasio repeatedly declines to endorse capitalism: Should be "redistributing" wealth

The extreme left-wing mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio, spent his honeymoon in Fidel Castro's Cuba.

Havana Bill, in a powwow with his fellow leftists on MSNBC, repeatedly refused to endorse capitalism. Instead De Blasio wants to redistribute other people's wealth.

CNN’s Henderson: O’Rourke was a “backbencher” congressman who “didn’t really do much”

CNN’s Nia-Malika Henderson zoomed in on Robert "Beto" O'Rourke's undistinguished record in the House, saying that he was a "backbencher” in Congress who “didn’t really do much.”

Mark Dice on O'Rourke: Planet Earth's Last Hope

Robert "Beto" O'Rourke, a product of white privilige by the way, says we are the "last great hope of Earth" as he announced his presidential run.

Mark Dice believes "Make America Great Again" is a far better slogan.

Empty bead sack: Pelosi can’t recall any House accomplishments from Beto

In 1960, Dwight D. Eisenhower was asked about the accomplishments of Richard Nixon, who was by then the Republican nominee to succeed him in the White House. Ike's answer was a serious wound for Nixon, "If you give me a week, I might think of one. I don’t remember."

Today when asked at a press briefing about the achievements in the House of Representatives by of Robert "Beto" O'Rourke, Nancy Pelosi, the current Speaker couldn't name any.

Beto joins AOC with claim that world will end in 12 years

Do you remember when the elites mocked religious groups like the Jehovah's Witnesses predicting the end of the world?

Now it's the elitists doing so. Leftists like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and now Robert O'Rourke who are playing Chicken Little. They believe the world as we know it will end in 2031.

From the Daily Mail:

Former Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke warned Thursday in his first presidential campaign stop that parts of the planet will soon become uninhabitable, driving a massive wave of climate 'refugees' across the U.S. border, if America's government doesn't adopt emergency measures within the next 12 years.

O'Rourke, 46, had formally announced an hour earlier that he will seek the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, ending months of speculation over whether he would try to translate his newfound political celebrity into a White House bid.

In the southwestern Iowa town of Keokuk, a sweater-clad Beto told a smallish crowd that by the time his 12-year-old son is his age "we may not be able to live in cities that we call home today, like El Paso, Texas. We may not be able to grow our own food and fiber, feed and clothe ourselves in this country."

(PragerU) Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sounds a lot like Karl Marx

Don't forget, the media fawns over the "fresh face" of the Democrats. And the Dems' chairman, Tom Perez, says AOC is "the future of our party."

'Jexodus' encourages Jewish people to leave the Dem Party

Elizabeth Pipko, a former Trump campaign staffer, is now a spokesperson for Jexodus, which encourages Jews to leave the increasingly anti-Semitic Democratic Party.



To learn more go to Jexodus.org.

Venezuelan opposition leader invites AOC, Omar to see Venezuela for themselves

Trish Regan interviews Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who is inviting Democratic House leftists Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ihlan Omar to see for themselves the disaster that once prosperous Venezuela is.

Mark Dice: It's Spreading!

The socialist bug is taking over the Democrat Party.

Recently two Democratic candidates for president, John Hickenlooper and Tulsi Gabbard, couldn't answer a simple question. "Are you a capitalist?"

Dems coming home to Milwaukee, which has had three socialist mayors

Milwaukee's City Hall

As Alice Cooper pointed out in Wayne's World, Milwaukee is the only American city to have had three socialist mayors.

Today the Democratic Party announced it will be holding its 2020 convention in Milwaukee.

Welcome home, Democrats!

(PragerU) Sex Matters

This PragerU video, which I would have entitled "Gender Matters," is the ideal antidote for those of you under 30 years old who have been indoctrinated at a high school or college.

Yes, men and women are different. Sean McDowell, Associate Professor of Theology and Philosophy at Biola University, lays out the simple facts.

Google has already buried this video. New PragerU clips usually appear at the top of my personal YouTube feed. I had to search for this one.

Fight the system.

Mark Dice: New Leaked Audio From Inside Google

Google doesn't just collect information, you know that already. It wants to change minds.

From Da Tech Guy: What if there was a Mueller probe of the Chicago City Council?

Such an investigation would collect a lot of scalps. From my post at Da Tech Guy: What if there was a Mueller probe of the Chicago City Council?

Elvis Costello & the Fairfield Four - That Day Is Done

The last song Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello wrote during their brief late 1980s song writing collaboration was "That Day Is Done."

It was an intensely personal song for Costello, as it was, like "Veronica," about his ailing grandmother.

After she passed way the duo completed the song. While McCartney is a better singer than Elvis--he's great too--but hey, Paul McCartney is one of rock's most gifted and accomplished vocalists.

Macca had first shot at the Costello collaboration tunes. He should have left this one for Costello.

Here is Elvis, backed by the Fairfield Four, singing a gospel-tinged on the Late Show with David Letterman "That Day Is Done."

News from MAGA Country: Smollett indicted on 16 counts

Near Chicago's Trump Tower

At this point Jussie Smollett wishes he never stepped foot in MAGA Country--also known as Chicago--let alone heard of the Chicago Police.

From ABC Chicago:

A Cook County grand jury has returned a 16-count indictment against "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett, according to court records.

The Cook County State's Attorney's Office confirmed the indictment, which they said was returned by a grand jury on Thursday.

Smollett was originally charged with one felony count of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office on Feb. 20.

Now the grand jury has returned 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report.

Poll: Trump has higher approval ratings in Illinois than new Democratic governor

Illinois' new governor, wants to dramatically raise income taxes to bail out public-sector union worker pensions. They are the labor wing of the Democratic Party.

So of course his approval ratings are plummeting.

From WQAD-TV:

Like Gov. Bruce Rauner after his first months in office, Gov. J.B. Pritzker's job approval rating has tumbled.
So low, that President Donald Trump has a higher approval rating.

In a We Ask America poll conducted last week, 800 registered Illinois voters gave Pritzker a job approval rating of 37 percent. The pollsters asked "Do you approve or disapprove of the job J.B. Pritzker is doing as Illinois governor," to which 37 percent approved, 36 disapproved and 27 percent had no opinion.

When asked the same question about President Donald Trump, pollsters received a 41 percent positive response, but also had a higher total disapproval rate because fewer respondents had no opinion of the president.

Ideas Illinois president Greg Baise, who commissioned the poll, said Pritzker is likable, but his proposals for higher taxes and spending aren’t going over well.

Mark Dice on the Mueller Report: Is It Finally Over?

Is it over, the Mueller probe, that is?

Sadly, probably not. But Mark Dice exposes a bunch of so-called experts discussing things they know nothing about, including former CIA director John Brennan and MSNBC's Chuck Todd, a Democratic operative pretending to be a journalist.

Insiders blame new broadcast night, not gender switch, for Doctor Who ratings drop

When you mix politics with entertainment, you risk angering your audience, and in television, where many viewers have thousands of choices available from their remote, such a move can be dangerous.

Yes, I was a fan and regular viewer of Doctor Who. But when a so-so actress, Jodi Whittaker, was hired to become the next Doctor--after five decades of having a male portraying what everyone knew was a male character, I tuned out.

Why couldn't the BBC produce a new series with a female Time Lord instead?

Well, as I expected, ratings are in the toilet, at least in Great Britain, for the Whittaker Who run.

But the "woke" can never admit they are wrong. And indeed the left is wrong a lot

From the Mirror in January:

BBC bosses are planning on moving the show to its original evening slot after a steady ratings slide during Jodie ­Whittaker’s debut series.

The Sunday run kicked off with 8.2 million viewers in October but had slipped to 5.2 million for the last episode in December.

An insider revealed: “There is a feeling families are freer to watch on Saturdays than Sundays, when kids have homework to finish.

"While the show rated well overall, there were concerns over the decline in audience."

You got that? Let me repeat that last sentence from the Mirror. "While the show rated well overall, there were concerns over the decline in audience."That insider is clueless and this story reminds me of what the Wall Street Journal's James Taranto calls "the Butterfield effect."

Pelosi lets Ilhan Omar’s anti-Semitism off the hook, doesn’t think it was "intended”

One of those so-called "rising stars" of the Democratic Party, US Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, has made many anti-Semitic comments. To offer cover, the Democrats in the House decided to draft a resolution to condemn anti-Semitism.

But the anti-Semitic wing of the Democratic Party--yes, there is such a thing--rebelled, now the Dems plant to issue a broader resolution to condemn all bigotry.

But as Andrew McCarthy noted on Twitter, "Brilliant point by @JonahNRO on @SpecialReport - Dems can’t agree on anti-Semitism condemnation because it’s not inclusive of other condemnable bigotry. But anyone who reacted to “Black Lives Matter” by daring to say ALL lives matter was condemned by Left as racially insensitive."

Brilliant point by @JonahNRO on @SpecialReport - Dems can’t agree on anti-Semitism condemnation because it’s not inclusive of other condemnable bigotry. But anyone who reacted to “Black Lives Matter” by daring to say ALL lives matter was condemned by Left as racially insensitive.

— Andy McCarthy (@AndrewCMcCarthy) March 6, 2019 

Yesterday House Speaker Nancy Pelosi dismissed criticism of Omar by claiming she didn't "intend" to make those anti-Semitic remarks.



At the very least Omar needs to be removed from her post on the House Foreign Relations Committee.

The president weighed in yesterday on Twitter, "It is shameful that House Democrats won’t take a stronger stand against Anti-Semitism in their conference. Anti-Semitism has fueled atrocities throughout history and it’s inconceivable they will not act to condemn it!"

It is shameful that House Democrats won’t take a stronger stand against Anti-Semitism in their conference. Anti-Semitism has fueled atrocities throughout history and it’s inconceivable they will not act to condemn it!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 6, 2019

Smollett fallout continues: Dozens reportedly fired after accessing his hospital records

While I am nearly certain that hospital employees are given strict guidelines on accessing medical records, it's still right to say that hate crime hoaxes are not a victimless crime.

From CBS Chicago:

Dozens of workers at Northwestern Hospital may have been fired for improperly reviewing the medical records of Jussie Smollett, who was treated at the emergency room after he claimed he had been attacked by two men.

Sources say those workers have been terminated after gaining access to the "Empire" actor’s medical chart. Smollett has since been charged with staging the whole incident.

One of the nurses says it was a misunderstanding and claims she never even accessed Smollett's chart.

But she was fired last week and believes many other nurses and staffers were fired for the same reason.

Feds bust six in Harvey, Illinois--the state's most corrupt town

Blogger in Harvey in 2016

Although the competition is stiff I believe it is safe to call Harvey Illinois' most corrupt town.

From CBS Chicago:

Federal authorities have charged two relatives of Harvey Mayor Eric Kellogg, two Harvey police officers, and two others in three separate criminal cases on Wednesday, hours after FBI agents raided the Harvey Police Department, and an office at the south suburban city hall.

Federal prosecutors said the defendants include 66-year-old Rommell Kellogg, the mayor’s brother, and 63-year-old Corey Johnson, a cousin of the mayor.

Rommell Kellogg and Corey Johnson both are charged with conspiracy to commit extortion. Prosecutors said the two conspired to extort payments from a strip club owner from 2012 through 2016, threatening the city would shut down the club if they weren’t paid. In exchange for the payments, city officials allegedly allowed the club to operate, "knowing acts of prostitution were occurring onsite."

FBI agents just walked out of Harvey City Hall with boxes of evidence. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/pUphaR1NIF

— Vi Nguyen (@ViNguyen) March 6, 2019

Also charged were Harvey police officers Derrick Muhammad and Derrick Moore, who both are charged with obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Prosecutors said they falsified a police report to protect two acquaintances – a father and son – from possible gun charges of illegal possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

From my post at Da Tech Guy:

Harvey, Illinois’ layoffs to pay for pensions portends nasty future for the rest of state

Related posts:

(Photos) Abandoned homes in the corrupt city of Harvey, Illinois

(Photos) Abandoned homes in the corrupt city of Harvey, Illinois, part two 

(PragerU) Can You Go a Day Without Fossil Fuels?

Sorry Green New Deal lovers. Our entire life is bettered by fossil fuels.

After turning down earlier deal, Chicago alderman Willie Cochran to plead guilty

Wait, didn't I run with a story yesterday about a former Chicago alderman who plans to plea guilty to corruption charges? I did. I'm not repeating myself. This post is about a current Chicago alderman pleading guilty.

From CBS Chicago:

Four months after rejecting a plea deal that his attorney said would have resulted in minimal jail time, and opting to go to trial on fraud and bribery charges, Ald. Willie Cochran (20th) again is scheduled to plead guilty in federal court.

In November, prosecutors and defense attorneys revealed plea negotiations had broken down in Cochran’s case, and U.S. District Judge Jorge Alonso scheduled a jury trial for June 3.

On Tuesday, Alonso scheduled a change of plea hearing for March 21, signaling Cochran appears ready to accept a deal to avoid a trial. Cochran is charged with 11 counts of wire fraud, two counts of extortion, and two counts of bribery.

When Cochran rejected a plea deal in November, defense attorney Christopher Grohman said, "He couldn't stomach the idea of admitting to something he believes he did not do."

Over in the 14th Ward, Ed Burke, until recently chairman of the powerful City Council Finance Committee--and who has been an alderman since 1969--haw been charged in a federal criminal complaint.

Since 1973 over 30 members of Chicago's City Council have been sentenced to federal prison.

Related posts:

Powerful Chicago alderman in office for 50 years charged in extortion scheme

Former Chicago alderman Vrdolyak to plead guilty again

Mark Dice: MSNBC has had enough of AOC's dumbness

Not even MSNBC's Donny Deutsch, a leftist and a Trump Derangement Syndrome sufferer, can tolerate the moronic views of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Mark Dice tells us.

Complaint alleges AOC, her chief of staff, illegally moved $885K in campaign contributions "off the books"

The "fresh face" of the Democratic Party, socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, has a new problem.

From Fox News:

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Saikat Chakrabarti, the progressive firebrand's multimillionaire chief of staff, apparently violated campaign finance law by funneling nearly $1 million in contributions from political action committees Chakrabarti established to private companies that he also controlled, according to an explosive complaint filed Monday with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and obtained by Fox News.

Amid the allegations, a former FEC commissioner late Monday suggested in an interview with The Daily Caller News Foundation that Ocasio-Cortez and her team could separately be facing major fines and potentially even jail time if they were knowingly and willfully violating the law by hiding their control of the Justice Democrats political action committee (PAC). Such an arrangement could have allowed Ocasio-Cortez's campaign to receive donations in excess of the normal limit, by pooling contributions to both the PAC and the campaign itself.

The FEC complaint asserts that Chakrabarti established two PACs, the Brand New Congress PAC and Justice Democrats PAC, and then systematically transferred more than $885,000 in contributions received by those PACs to the Brand New Campaign LLC and the Brand New Congress LLC -- companies that, unlike PACs, are exempt from reporting all of their significant expenditures. The PACs claimed the payments were for "strategic consulting."

Although large financial transfers from PACs to LLCs are not necessarily improper, the complaint argues that the goal of the "extensive" scheme was seemingly to illegally dodge detailed legal reporting requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, which are designed to track campaign expenditures.

Chicago may soon have five socialists on City Council

Chicago's South Side

Chicago is clearly a city on the decline. Crime, corruption, and unstainable public-sector union debt are driving people from the city.

What to do?

Head to the left.

Two leftists, Toni "Taxwinkle" Preckwinkle and Lori Lightfoot, emerged from last week's mayoral election. Neither received a majority--they'll meet a run-off election in four weeks.

But that's not all.

From Fox News:

Chicago is on the verge of having as many as five members of the Democratic Socialists of America on the city council.

Alderman Carlos Ramirez-Rosa won his reelection bid last Tuesday and upstart democratic socialist Daniel La Spata upset incumbent Ald. Proco "Joe" Moreno to take Chicago's 1st Ward.

Three more DSA candidates also forced run-offs against incumbent aldermen in Chicago.

"The oligarchs are shaking in their boots tonight," Ramirez-Rosa, who defeated challenger Amanda Yu Dieterich in Chicago's 35th, said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. "Our continued organizing and movement-building over the last four years is paying dividends. And it appears to be a total transformation of political power at City Hall from the bottom up."

Of course Ramirez-Rosa doesn't mention Chicago's middle class--because it is almost extinct in Chicago.

Former Chicago alderman Vrdolyak to plead guilty again

While he later became a Republican--I don't know what party he is a member of now--"Fast Eddie" at one time was the chairman of the Cook County Regular Democratic Organization, that is "the Machine." That was left out of the below report.

From CBS Chicago:

Former Alderman Edward R. Vrdolyak plans to change his plea to guilty Thursday for a federal tax charge tied to a tobacco settlement scheme that alleges he and an associate failed to pay taxes on millions from Illinois’ multi-billion dollar settlement with tobacco companies in the 1990s.

Vrdolyak, 81, pleaded not guilty in 2016 to an indictment accusing him of tax evasion charges. The federal charge alleges he obstructed an IRS investigation into the tobacco settlement by hiding payments with Soso's assistance.

This story is so Illinois. Millions of that cash went to schemers like Vrdolyak.

Eleven years ago Vrdolyak pleaded guilty to bribery and fraud charges. Since 1973 over thirty members of the Chicago City Council have served time in federal prison.

(PragerU) Capitalism vs. socialism

In the latest PragerU video, Andy Puzder, the former CEO of the parent company of Hardee's and Carl's Jr, discusses the difference between capitalism and socialism.

Because the market is better at providing services and products, one of these always fails.

Mark Dice: MSNBC is scared

Donny Deutsch, an MSNBC contributor, in commenting on Michael Cohen's testimony, said that President Trump might start a civil war if he is impeached, or loses an election, Mark Dice tells us.

In case you think Deutsch misspoke--although how do you misspeak about civil war?--Deutsch said the same thing in January on MSLSD.

Where does MSNBC find these goofs? Mental hospitals?

From Da Tech Guy: Why John Stuart Mill is still important

Yes, today in my weekly post at Da Tech Guy I write about an old dead white guy: Why John Stuart Mill is still important.

Democracy dies in darkness: Washington Post issues non-apology on Covington kids

If "Democracy dies in darkness," why did the Washington Post, in a Friday news dump. issue a non-apology for its biased coverage of the Covington High School kids and their confrontation at the Lincoln Memorial.

Sean Spicer scolds the Washington Compost on Twitter:

The @washingtonpost destroyed several teenager’s reputations. The #CovingtonCatholic students will deal with the consequences of this poor (& bias) “reporting” This “editor’s note” buried late on a Friday is pathetic. The Post & other media outlets need to apologize pic.twitter.com/tNpYAOyLl9

— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) March 2, 2019

The Traveling Wilburys - End Of The Line

By the time this Traveling Wilburys video was recorded one member, Roy Orbison, had passed on.

George Harrison and Tom Petty have met their rewards too.

Watch as the band performs "End Of The Line."

(Video) AOC reportedly issues warning to moderate Dems

Like a petulant child, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez shrieks "I'm the boss." AOC supposedly warned members of the Democratic caucus they'll go on her target list if they don't kowtow to her socialist dogma.

Less than a year ago A-ock was a bartender. She was nutso then and she's nutso now.

But according to Tom Perez, the chairman of the Democratic Party, she's the future of the Dems.

(Photos) The abandoned homes near Buick City in Flint--and some history

Last month, in my latest urban exploration adventure, I visited Flint, Michigan.

Flint's ties to the transportation industry reach back before the development of the internal combustion engine automobile as it was a leading producer of horse-drawn carriages in the 19th century, which is why Flint is known as the Vehicle City.

Buick traces its founding to 1903, it was founded by David Dunbar Buick in Detroit and it moved operations to Flint the following year and began producing cars at what General Motors many years later dubbed "Buick City" at the site pictured here, which is between Industrial Avenue and James P. Cole Boulevard on the city's north side.

Those are not Buicks. On the south side of Flint is GM's Flint Assembly, which builds Chevy Silverados and GMC Sierras. Buick City appears to be a holding lot for these recently built pickups. It's unclear--to me at least--who owns the property. Wikipedia says, "The site was vacated by GM employees and site responsibilities were transferred to Motors Liquidation Company." But the latter, which was created after GM emerged from bankruptcy in 2011, no longer exists, again according to Wikipedia.

That is of course one of the many abandoned homes--this one is of course fire-damaged--near the old automobiles works.

Until the completion of Ford's River Rouge complex in 1928 in Dearborn, Michigan, Buick City was the world's biggest factory. In 1908 Buick was America's largest producer of automobiles, although it manufactured only 8,000 cars that year. The car business didn't take off until after World War I.

Another abandoned home with a collapsed portico.

It's also unclear when Buick City was razed. It occurred over many years, for sure. But when I looked at Google Maps Street View for Industrial Avenue--those photos are from 2011--many buildings were still standing.

These statues stand in downtown Flint near the Flint River. On the left is William C. "Billy" Durant, on the right is David Dunbar Buick. Durant took over operations of Buick in 1904. He was one of the owners of the Durant-Dort Carriage Company, based in Flint, which in 1900 was the largest producer of carriages in the world.

In 1908 General Motors was incorporated in Flint. The following year GM acquired Cadillac, Oldsmobile, and the predecessor company of Pontiac. It was a heady era. The corporation was financially overextended, which led to Durant's ouster in 1910. The next year Durant co-founded the Chevrolet Motor Car Company. In 1916 Durant regained control of GM--but was forced out again in 1920. Yes, this is sounding a lot like the dot-com era of the 1990s. Of course it is. In the first thirty years of the 20th century Flint and Detroit were the Silicon Valley of that time.

Durant founded Durant Motors in 1921 but the company didn't survive the Great Depression.

One of the Durant models was the Flint.

David Buick died nearly broke in Detroit in 1928. Durant collected a pension from GM, but still had to manage a bowling alley late in his life to get by. He died in 1947.

Buick developed the first overhead valve engine, which was used in the Buick Model B in 1904. Most automobiles today are powered by an engine derived from that Buick design, so in a way if you own a car you are driving a Buick.

The drive from my home the Chicago area to Flint on February 13 was a brutal one. An unexpected snowstorm added a couple of more hours on to my trip. As I took these photos there were high winds and snow flurries, which made photography a challenge.

Yes, that's a tree growing from the porch.

By now you should realize that Flint is steeped in history, more so, in my opinion, than any American city of its size.

The general belief that the United Auto Workers was founded in Flint is false--it began in Detroit in 1935. But in the following year it organized a successful sit-down strike that was centered in Flint. That led to GM's recognition of the UAW in 1937, Chrysler followed suit the same year. Ford recognized the union four years later.

Above is Sit-Downers Memorial Park, which is not near Buick City but on the south side of town.

The bricks you see came from the Fisher Body #1 plant, one of the focal points of the sit-down strike. Pictured is a woman being dragged away by a cop with a nightstick, another woman is bringing food to strikers as a child looks on, and another is smashing a window with a baseball bat.

Another part of the memorial shows striking men sitting down. On of the sides of the base is a listing--to the current day--of the UAW presidents. Hey there, union big shots: No one cares who is the president of the UAW now or who was in charge twenty years ago.

We're back at Buick City.

Flint's recent history is mostly unhappy and of course its better days are well in its past. The decline of the domestic automobile industry hit Flint very hard, the city's hard times the 1980s was portrayed, with much embellishment and suspension of disbelief, in Michael Moore's Roger and Me. Moore grew up outside of Flint.

This forsaken home looks like something out of eastern Europe.

This 1922 Buick Coupe, photographed at the Skokie Backlot Bash auto show in 2017, was built in Flint.

The last vehicles produced at Buick City were the Buick LeSabre and the Pontiac Bonneville.

Flint's population peaked at just under 200,000 in 1960 when it was Michigan's second largest city. It now has a bit under 100,000 residents and its Michigan ranking has plummeted to seventh.

Another fire-damaged home.

Of course Flint was in the news a lot several years ago because of the Flint Water Crisis, which began when the Vehicle City switched from Detroit-supplied Lake Huron water to the Flint River.

What cities like Flint--and really every town in America needs--is more small homes like these to be built.

An American Foursquare with asphalt brick siding.

A final look at Buick City. The light blue mass in the distance is the pumping tower for the Flint Water District.

Side streets are neither plowed or salted in Flint, which made driving a real adventure in my sedan that day. Worse, Flint's roads and streets, as they are throughout Michigan, are in wretched condition. And snow obscures the many potholes and crevices.

Michigan, you should hold your head in shame. There should be warning signs as you enter the Great Lakes State.

Related post:

(Photos) Downtown Flint in winter

Related entry of mine from Da Tech Guy:

Review of Season One of Flint Town