Thursday, April 30, 2020

Northwest Illinois church sues Gov. Pritzker over shelter-in-place order, says rights being violated

Stephenson County earlier this month
Liquor stores in Illinois are open. Weed dispensaries? Open for business. Churches? No. Not even in Stephenson County, which has 29 positive cases of COVID-19.

Illinois, particularly rural Illinois, needs to reopen. There are many counties in the Land of Lincoln with fewer than ten reported cases of coronavirus. A few with none.

From WREX-TV:
An Evangelic Christian church in Lena has filed a lawsuit against Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and leaders in Stephenson County, saying their religious rights have been violated.

The Beloved Church of Lena and Pastor Stephen Cassell filed a federal complaint with the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Rockford.

The lawsuit is against Gov. Pritzker, David Snyders the Stephenson County Sheriff, Craig Beintema, the Stephenson County Public Health Administrator and Steve Schiable, the Village of Lena's police chief, for issuing and enforcing unconstitutional edicts during the coronavirus pandemic.

The lawsuit says the defendants have "intentionally denigrated Illinois churches and pastors and people of faith by relegating them to second-class citizenship."

Compelling new podcast: Lickety History

Over the last few days I listened and enjoyed each of the 13-and-counting episodes of the new podcast series Lickety History. Among the topics covered so far are the death of Edgar Allen Poe, the Leopold--Loeb "thrill killing," Charles Guiteau, the nutjob who assassinated President James Garfield, and the 1918 flu pandemic.

Click here to find the podcast. Or go to iTunes and search for "Lickety History" on the podcast tab.

The podcast is free!

From Forbes: A convincing argument for Illinois bankruptcy

Illinois soon may become the only state in history to see its bonds rated as junk. It has $7 billion in unpaid bills and $138 billion in unfunded public worker pension obligations.

States cannot declare bankruptcy. That needs to change. Below, courtesy of Forbes, is a convincing why.
Our analysis at OpenTheBooks.com shows that an Illinois family of four now owes more in unfunded pension liabilities ($76,000) than they earn in household income ($63,585). In a state of 13 million residents, every man, woman, and child owes $19,000 — on an estimated $251 billion pension liability.

Our auditors discovered 110,000 public employees and retirees who earned more than $100,000 last year.

We found tree trimmers in Chicago making $106,663; nurses at state corrections earning up to $277,100; junior college presidents making $491,095; university doctors earning up to $2 million; and 111 small town managers who out-earned every governor of the 50 states ($202,000).

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Another Illinois GOP legislator is fighting Pritzker's shelter-in-place order

The Republican Party supports rank-and-file people. The Democrats support the system, which includes the Swamp in Washington and the corruptocracy of elitists in Illinois.

From CBS Chicago:
Another state legislator is fighting Gov. JB Pritzker’s stay-at-home order, and this time it could mean all Illinois residents can leave home.

Monday a judge told downstate Illinois Rep. Darren Bailey he, and he alone, doesn’t have to honor the governor’s stay-at-home order. Tuesday a representative from Rockford is asking that he and all Illinois residents can be absolved.

The governor called the efforts shameful and reckless.

The same lawyer that scored a win for Bailey is making the pitch for Rep. John Cabello of Rockford. Tuesday the Illinois Attorney General asked an appellate court judge to “reverse and vacate the circuit court’s order” that allows Bailey to ignore Gov. Pritzker stay-at-home order.

(PragerU) The Bravery Deficit

Dave Rubin, in the latest PragerU video, believes it's time for conservatives to come out of the closet.



Monday, April 27, 2020

Pritzker's Illinois shelter-in-place order overturned after lawsuit from downstate Republican legislator succeeds

Today a rare thing happened. Rank-and-file Illinoisans scored a victory thanks to state Rep. Darren Bailey (R-Xenia).

From ABC Chicago:
A judge has overturned Gov. JB Pritzker's extended stay-at-home order in a bombshell ruling.

Downstate Republican State Representative Darren Bailey filed a lawsuit last week challenging the governor's authority to issue a stay-at-home order.

On Monday, a judge ruled in favor of the lawsuit, granting a temporary restraining order blocking the governor's extended stay-at-home order which was to take effect Friday and run through the end of May. The order had loosened restrictions on some businesses and allowed for some outdoor recreation to resume.
More...
Rep. Bailey filed the lawsuit in Clay County challenging the order's legality last week. In a statement, Bailey said: "Enough is enough. I filed this lawsuit on behalf of myself and my constituents who are ready to go back to work and resume a normal life."

Coronavirus deaths will be 'dramatically decreased' by end of May: Dr. Birx

Yes, May, according to Dr. Deborah Birx, will see by the and of the month "dramatically decreased" fatalities.



Three killed and at least 13 wounded over weekend in Chicago

I was in the city yesterday again and yes, Chicago police officers are dutifully protecting its lakefront parks from those pesky walkers, runners, and cyclists.

Elsewhere people are still shooting each other. Over this last weekend in April three people were shot to death--one one the West Side and two on the South Side--and at least 13 others were wounded.




Sunday, April 26, 2020

From Da Tech Guy: My suggestions for Illinois’ bankruptcy auction

States cannot declare bankruptcy. But last week Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell suggested allowing it. Illinois needs a bankruptcy declaration to dig itself out of its public worker pension black hole. And then what next? From my weekly post at Da Tech Guy: My suggestions for Illinois’ bankruptcy auction.

Saturday, April 25, 2020

The Kinks - Low Budget (from One For The Road)

The Kinks have a song for nearly every imaginable occasion. Including tough economic times such as what we are enduring now.

Here they are performing "Low Budget."



Friday, April 24, 2020

Will Illinois' governor Pritzker lay off any state workers?

There are three people in my household. Two of them are laid off. So I take job losses seriously. That being said, Michigan, whose Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, has laid off nearly 3,000 state workers.

Illinois governor JB Pritzker, like Whitmer, is telling businesses how to operate. Or not operate at all. Meanwhile many state offices are closed. Do you need to have your driver's license renewed? Good luck with that as nearly all Secretary of State offices are closed.

But state workers keep getting paid. In fact many of them have a raise coming.

Pritzker, also a Democrat, won the Democratic nomination and victory in the gubernatorial election with strong support from the public-sector unions.

So you know where Pritzker's loyalties lie.

Revenues, meaning taxes, are way down. It's time to tighten the belt in Illinois.

But the portly Pritzer doesn't know about that kind of stuff.

Ben Shapiro CRUSHES AOC after Tweet cheering job losses

The "fresh face" of the Democratic Party, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, in a since-deleted Tweet, exuded joy over the decline in oil prices and the resulting job losses.

Leftists don't care about you. They only want you to serve as their vassals.



Thursday, April 23, 2020

Time: Almost every hospitalized coronavirus patient has another underlying health issue

I eat right, mostly. I work out and I am in great health. Yet I'm being told where I can go and when I do go out many places say I have to wear a mask.

This Time article will make you think.
A new study of people in the New York City area who have been hospitalized with COVID-19 reveals that most of them have more than one underlying illness, some of which seem to increase their risk for bad outcomes.

In the new study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), researchers wanted to learn more about people who are hospitalized after contracting the novel coronavirus. They looked at electronic health records data from 5,700 people with COVID-19 who had been admitted to hospitals within the Northwell Health system—which currently has the largest number of COVID-19 cases in the country—in the New York City area in March and early April. The median age of patients was 63 years old, and 94% of them had at least one comorbidity, meaning that they had at least one other disease in addition to COVID-19.

The most common were hypertension (affecting about 53% of all COVID-19 patients), obesity (affecting about 42% of patients with BMI data) and diabetes (affecting about 32% of all patients).

Tucker: Are coronavirus lockdowns working?

Tucker Carlson gave his greatest address to date when he opened his Fox News show last night.

Every sentence struck a perfect and truthful tone. I don't say this a lot, but this segment is essential viewing. When I was watching last night I was thinking of these buddy tyrants, Andrew Cuomo, Gretchen Whitmer, Lori Lightfoot, and JB Pritzker.

Of course all of the are Democrats.

Here's one passage of note:
This is instead what happens when mediocre people suddenly find themselves with godlike power. Deciding who can go outside, when people can get married, which medical procedures you are allowed to have. That's a feeling of omnipotence, and they like that feeling. It fills an empty place inside. They don't want to give it up. They want it to last forever, even as the country dies. But it can't last forever, because it's not their country. It's ours.


Eight states, including Iowa, where Mrs. and Little Marathon Pundit were yesterday, don't have lockdowns. You can walk into a grocery store in the Hawkeye State you're not ordered to wear a mask .

While those eight states are rural, it's crucial to note that they have lower COVID-19 rates than the rest of the country. Oh, even in Iowa the great majority of people don't live on isolated farms.



Will Illinois' decades-long pension failures mean insolvency?

Last week in a monumentally stupid move, Illinois state Senate president Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) wrote a letter to the state's congressional delegation asking for a $41 billion bailout, including $10 billion for pensions because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Illinois' pension issues go back decades because politicians, both Republican and Democrat, but lately only the latter, have been kicking the can down the road all of that time.

Yesterday on the Hugh Hewitt Show Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) doused hopes of any federal bailout. Instead he proposed bankruptcy as an option, which Illinois' Democratic governor, JB Pritzker, rejected.

Which leads Forbes' Elizabeth Bauer to look at the Prairie State's grim prognosis.

From her column:
Consider, after all, the state of Illinois, and the ways in which it’s impacted by the coronavirus. Its own forecast for revenue losses is for a drop of $2.2 billion for FY 2020 (ending on June 30), out of an original total of $36.9 billion, and a drop of $4.625 billion in FY 2021, out of an original projection of $38.5 billion, with losses coming from income tax drops, sales tax drops, a drop in lottery proceeds, casino gaming, and so forth. How much additional money the state has already spent, relative to what was budgeted, and how much that will sum to in the future, hasn’t been reported yet. Will the state run into issues, not merely with debt, but with solvency [emphasis mine] — the ability to make payroll? The state already has a bill bnacklog of $7.8 billion, and that’s a longstanding failing of the state, long preceding the coronavirus.

And if Illinois, or another state, simply can’t make payroll, would the federal government cover those costs? Would states be obliged to borrow — which is already a part of Illinois’s plan, that is, borrowing $1.2 billion in FY 2020 and paying it off with as-yet-unknown funds in 2021? Is Illinois, and are the 49 other states, simply counting on federal funds to avoid borrowing, or pay off these debts?

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Tucker shreds CNN’s Cuomo for phony coronavirus ‘reemergence video’

Meanwhile another CNN personality embarrasses himself.

This time it is Chris Cuomo.



Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Michigan governor Whitmer caught lying about protesters blocking ambulance

Gretchen Half-Whitmer is a real piece for work.

From the Detroit News:
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said during a Monday press conference that protesters last week blocked ambulances from reaching Sparrow Hospital, but local law enforcement and hospital officials have countered the claims.

Whitmer's assertions stem from a Wednesday protest called Operation Gridlock during which more than 4,000 people — most staying in their cars — surrounded the Capitol for hours to protest the governor’s extended and tightened stay-home order.

Police have said the gridlock caused no issues for ambulances, but Whitmer has since maintained otherwise in at least two public press conferences. The Democratic governor has been under pressure from Republican legislative leaders, certain business groups and some residents to carve out exceptions to her tightened stay home order that still follow federal guidance and create a plan for gradually reopening parts of Michigan's economy.


John Stossel: Coronavirus Overreach

John Stossel is right. Government is going to far in thinking they are protecting us.



Monday, April 20, 2020

Mark Dice: They Walk Among Us!

People are getting creative with masks during the lockdown.



Despite lockdown 4 dead and 29 wounded over weekend in Chicago

Chicago police officers are still preventing access to the city's wide expanse of lakefront parks. But people keep shooting each other. Over the weekend four people were shot to death--including a 2-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl.

At least 29 others were wounded.




Sunday, April 19, 2020

From Da Tech Guy: Illinois should put itself under receivership over pensions

Illinois Senate president Don Harmon (D-Oak Park) wants a bailout for its woefully underfunded public pension plans. I have a better idea: Illinois should put itself under receivership over pensions.

Saturday, April 18, 2020

The Byrds - Chestnut Mare

Here's a song that was a staple of what was called album-oriented-rock stations in the 1970s, the Byrds' "Chestnut Mare."

Classic rock stations seem to have forgotten it. Which is another reason why so few people listen to the radio. I mean how many times can one hear "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones.

Here are the Byrds on German TV singing this true classic.



(PragerU) Are You Proud to Be an American?

Do you think LA hipsters are proud to be Americans?



Friday, April 17, 2020

Remember Marathon Pundit when remembering mom on Mother's Day

The next big holiday is one of the most important--Mother's Day.

Don't forget mom on her big day. And if you are shopping by way of Amazon for your mother, click on the below graphic to get started. You pay nothing extra and I earn a miniscule commission.


Varney: Pelosi said 'no' to small businesses

Nancy Pelosi of course cares more about government than small business. As anyone has has take a high school course in economics knows--apparently this excludes the San Francisco Democrat--small business is the driver of any free economy.

Small business needs aid during this pandemic. And Pelosi doesn't want to give it.



Thursday, April 16, 2020

China denies accusations COVID-19 was made in a lab

It would be more surprising if the ChiComms owned up to causing the cororavirus pandemic.

Authoritarian regimes struggle with the truth.



Patriots descend on Michigan capitol to protest extreme shelter-in-place orders

I'm so proud of my patriot counterparts in Michigan.

From Fox Detroit:
A conservative group upset with the Michigan governor's restrictive shelter-in-place order protested Governor Gretchen Whitmer's Stay Home order in Lansing on Wednesday.

The Michigan Conservative Coalition organized Operation Gridlock in Lansing today. Thousands of people drove into Lansing and have surrounded the Michigan Capitol Building to create a traffic jam - a symbolic gesture of disagreement with Gretchen Whitmer's Stay Safe, Stay Home directive.

"We are all concerned for those afflicted with COVID 19. Yes, many of the personal behaviors we have been reminded to use are good practices. Wash your hands. Cover your cough. Stay home if you are sick," read a note on the MCC's website. "That said, Michiganders are fed up!"

Arguing that more emphasis be placed on reopening business, many residents are worried the restrictive social distancing measures add only a marginal benefit at the expense of the state's economy.

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Mark Dice: Obama Has Lost His Magic

Barack Obama waits until there is just one candidate left--Joe Biden--before endorsing Biden for the presidency.



Tuesday, April 14, 2020

Don't forget Marathon Pundit when shopping from home at Amazon

Are you seeking to buy stuff from Amazon? Then please shop through Marathon Pundit. As I've said before you pay nothing--and that means nothing--extra and the Marathon Pundit gets a very modest commission.

Click below and start shopping! The Amazon ads on the left and right work great too!



Big protest against Michigan's shelter-in-place order Wednesday at state capitol

Michigan on the left
Of all the shelter-in-place orders in America the most extreme are in Michigan.

Folks there are pushing back.

From the Lansing State Journal:
Critics of Michigan's expanded stay-home order are planning an in-vehicle protest to tell the governor they believe she has gone too far.

The Michigan Conservative Coalition and Michigan Freedom Fund, who organized the protest, asked for protesters to surround the Capitol in their vehicles at noon Wednesday to display flags and signs, make noise and be disruptive about Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's "erratic, unilateral orders that threaten Michiganders' economic existence," according to a news release. They warned protesters to come ready for a potentially major traffic jam.

This protest comes several days after Whitmer extended her order through April 30 and took the requirements of staying home a step further, banning crossing the street to visit with neighbors or driving to see friends, among other things.
Related posts:
From my post at Da Tech Guy:

Bloodletting the American economy



Michigan DNR cops write 5 tickets to boaters and issue 323 warnings over weekend

Michigan is an insane asylum.

From the Detroit News:
Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers issued five citations over the weekend to boaters in violation of the governor's stay-home order, but none of them involved the use of a motorized boat, according to the department.

DNR officers gave 323 verbal warnings to boaters for violations of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's executive order, ranging from social distancing, operating a motorized boat or boating with people from outside an individual’s household, said department spokesman Ed Golder.

Of the five citations issued, three were issued for boating with people from more than one household and two for “failing to observe social distancing requirements.” All of the citations were issued in Region Two, which includes the bottom half of the lower peninsula.

In total, conservation officers gave a verbal warning or citation related to the executive order to 1 in 5 boaters they had contact with over the weekend.
That governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, who has gone as far as banning the purchase of seed packets in stores that are otherwise open.

Monday, April 13, 2020

Despite Chicago's shelter-in-place order 3 killed and at least 19 wounded over Easter weekend

While Chicago cops are protecting the lakefront from runners and walkers, away from Lake Michigan crime continues. Over the Easter weekend 3 people were shot to death--two on the South Side and the other on the West Side--and at least another 19 others were wounded.




Sunday, April 12, 2020

Saturday, April 11, 2020

John Prine "Angel From Montgomery"

The great John Prine, a Chicago area native, died from coronavirus complications earlier this week. He never got the fame he deserved, although a later generation of artists, paid him tribute and often covered his songs.

Bonnie Raitt, for instance, recorded a popular version of "Angel from Montgomery."

Here is Prine singing it two years ago.



Friday, April 10, 2020

Do New Yorkers hate President Trump more than coronavirus?

Ami Horowitz for PragerU asked New Yorkers about whether they prefer longer or more severe coronavirus outbreak or the reelection of President Trump.

Michigan governor bans most travel between homes

Supposedly Governor Whitless is in the short list of Joe Biden's running mate possibilities.

Keep in mind that Biden is not exactly the paragon of good health. And if elected he'll be 78 on inauguration day.

From the Detroit Free Press:
After Friday, Michigan residents will no longer be able to jump in the car — or cross the street — to visit friends and relatives inside the state, or to go to the cottage Up North, with limited exceptions.

That is one of the major changes in Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's "stay home" order, issued Thursday, which also extends the expiration of the order to May 1.

Until now, travel between two Michigan residences has been permitted.

Beginning Saturday morning, that will end, except for purposes such as caring for a relative, an elderly friend, or a pet, visiting a nursing home or similar facility, attending a funeral with no more than 10 people, or complying with a court order related to child custody.

On this day in 1970: Beatles break up

The 1960s ended for sure on April 10, 1970 when Paul McCartney announced that he was leaving the Beatles. The Fab Four were the greatest musical phenomenon in history of course.

I can't add much to that statment--other than I was able to see two of them, separately, perform. Paul McCartney at Wrigley Field in 2011 and Ringo Starr, with his All Starr Band, last year at Ravinia in Highland Park, Illinois in 2018.




Thursday, April 09, 2020

(Video) Chicago's mayor is the biggest hypocrite of all time

Chicago hair salons and barbershops are closed. But the city's nanny mayor, Lori Lightfoot, who has even closed Chicago's lakefront parks even for solitary runners and walkers, needed her hair done.

So she got one.

Matt Walsh of the Daily Wire has the story.



Wednesday, April 08, 2020

Mark Dice: They Need To Stop

I was hoping that an upside of coronavirus outbreak was that we'd be hearing less from celebrities.

No such luck.



Biden loses train of thought, corrects himself several times in one sentence

Other than his not being Donald Trump, please tell me why Democrats are supporting Sleepy Joe Biden for president.



Tuesday, April 07, 2020

Michiganders at state capitol protest declare "government is non-essential"

Michigan on the left
While I take coronavirus seriously we don't want to, metaphorically speaking, kill the patient with the treatment. I am of course speaking of our economy and yes, about our society.

From the Detroit News:
As Gov. Gretchen Whitmer asks residents to limit non-essential trips outside their homes, protesters gathered Tuesday in front of the Capitol to demonstrate against what they see as government overreach amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nicholas Somberg, an attorney from Bloomfield Hills, held a tape measure in one of his hands during the event. It was set to six feet, the current social distancing recommendation of state and federal health officials.

In Somberg's other hand, he held a sign that read, "Government is non-essential."

"What they're doing is not actually solving the issue but it's training people that the government can tell you to stay in your house or else," Somberg said. "It would be a good thing if they asked nicely or suggested it."
The organizer of the Lansing protest was Michigan United for Liberty

Tucker: How long will the lockdowns last?

Is the "cure" worse than the disease? Tucker wonders.



Monday, April 06, 2020

Mark Dice: Celebrities Will Save Us

If your house is on fire do you call 911? Or a celebrity?



Two dead and at least 20 wounded over weekend in Chicago

Meanwhile there are Chicago police officers at every road entrance--I was in the city yesterday--at the city's long stretch of lakefront parks.

From Fox Chicago:
Twenty people have been shot, two of them fatally, in Chicago this weekend.

The latest fatal shooting killed a man Sunday in Austin on the West Side.

The 31-year-old was walking about 7:25 p.m. in the 500 block of North Central Avenue when someone approached and shot him in the chest, abdomen and hip, Chicago police said. The man was pronounced dead on the scene.

The Cook County medical examiner’s office hasn't released details about his death.
On Friday a South Shore man was fatally wounded.



Sunday, April 05, 2020

From Da Tech Guy, Review: Season Three of Ozark

It's time to visit those Chicago area sleazebags again, the Byrdes. From my post at Da Tech Guy, Review: Season Three of Ozark.

Saturday, April 04, 2020

Elton John - Ego

Elton John's output wasn't very good in the late 1970s. An exception from that era is "Ego." I saw the video for during the coming attractions at a movie. I still remember the song but not the film.



Friday, April 03, 2020

Mark Dice:Great Job!

US Rep. Adam Schitt (D-CA) wants to get another anti-Donald Trump witch hunt going. This time about the coronavirus. Will they ever stop? Yes. When House Speaker Nancy Pe-lousy is minority leader again.



Gov Cuomo: ”In one day” Trump approved Javits Center’s 2500 beds for COVID patients

Even New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, in regards to transforming New York's convention center into a giant hospital, is praising President Trump.



Thursday, April 02, 2020

ILL-inois does not have enough money to pay for all unemployment claims

The Prairie State has been run into the ground by Boss Michael Madigan, who the chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party and statehouse speaker for 35 of the last 37 years.

ILL-inois has no reserve fund--but plenty of cash for public-sector retiree pensions.

Of course when an emergency hit the state is woefully unprepared.

From CBS Chicago:
The need is overwhelming with the number of people filing for unemployment doubling by the week, and many said they are frustrated and scared – and can’t get answers.

Gov. JB Pritzker has acknowledged there is not enough money in the state’s unemployment reserves. Just last month, the U.S. Department of Labor also warned that Illinois was one of a handful of states that would not be able to handle a surge of claims on its own.

As CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey reported, the federal government was already worried about Illinois’ ability to pay unemployment benefits before COVID-19, along with California, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, and Texas.

In February, the Department of Labor issued a report saying the trust fund that Illinois uses to pay unemployment benefits had the fifth-lowest solvency level in the country.
Mrs. Marathon Pundit filed for unemployment--for her first time ever--last week. A bunch of people where I worked ere laid off today.

Wednesday, April 01, 2020

Chicago has received 500 complaints about non-essential open businesses

Chicago businesses, who have to cope with onerous taxes and burdensome regulation, now have to fear being ratted out and being subject to massive fines.

From the Chicago Tribune:
Roughly 500 complaints about nonessential businesses operating in violation of the governor’s shelter-at-home directive had been filed with the city as of Tuesday, according to Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot called on residents and workers to report such businesses last week.

"Some complaints are for restaurants, bars, yoga studios, hair salons and other inessential businesses, while some are for businesses such as banks and auto shops that are considered essential. We are focusing on sharing information while issuing citations for egregious and repeat offenders,” the city’s Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection spokesman Isaac Reichman said in an emailed statement.

Businesses that may not be considered “essential” could face fines up to $10,000 if they remain open.