Thursday, February 25, 2021
Part 4 Bloody Chicago 2020, The Three Angels
Tucker: Democrats are importing migrants to expand voting base
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
Chicago monuments under assault, Part Two, Young Lincoln
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Young Lincoln |
Yes, Abraham Lincoln is under attack in the Land of Lincoln.
In response to the July riot at the site of Grant Park's Christopher Columbus statue--which led to that monument and another Columbus statue to be moved to storage, Chicago's inept mayor, Lori Lightfoot created the Chicago Monuments Commission to review public statues and the like for "review."
Review before removal? I suspect.
I used to drive past Young Lincoln, which was designed by Charles Keck, a couple of times a week when I lived on the North Side of the city, the bronze work sits at Senn Park on Clark Street.
Keck was an apprentice of Augustus Saint-Gaudens, who designed the masterpiece Abraham Lincoln: The Man that I discussed in length Sunday at Da Tech Guy.
In 1951 Young Lincoln was placed on display at the Civil War museum at the main branch of the Chicago Public Library downtown. When that building became the Chicago Cultural Center, a new home was needed and the statue was moved to Senn Park. An apocryphal story is that during the 1860 presidential campaign the Republican nominee gave a speech at a farm where this park now lies.
To comment on the Young Lincoln and the forty others "under review" please visit the Chicago Monuments Project "Feedback page." Please be polite but firm in your comments.If you Tweet this post--and I urge you to do so--please use the #ChicagoMonuments hashtag.
Earlier post:
Chicago monuments under assault, Part One, William McKinley
Related post of mine at Da Tech Guy:
Lincoln statues under attack in the largest city in the Land of Lincoln (Abraham Lincoln: The Man)Andrew Cuomo accused of sexual harrasment
Andrew Cuomo's well-manicured image is falling apart.
Good.
From CBS Albany:
Linsey Boylan, who is a former staffer to Governor Cuomo, and is also running for Manhattan Borough President, has published a blogpost online, detailing what she says is her experience with working with Governor Cuomo.
Back in mid December, she accused the Governor of sexual harassment by making inappropriate comments about her appearance.
Boylan worked for the Cuomo administration from March 2015 to October 2018, serving first as executive vice president of Empire State Development and then as a special adviser to Cuomo for economic development.
Cuomo told reporters that Boylan's claims were “not true.”
Today I am telling my story. I never planned to share the details of my experience working in the Cuomo administration, but I am doing so now in hopes that it may make it easier for others to speak their own truth. https://t.co/n1Lcc6Ac66
— Lindsey Boylan (@LindseyBoylan) February 24, 2021
After 3 days on job Boss Madigan's handpicked successor for his state House seat quits--at Madigan's urging
Sure the numbers of the district changed over the years but Boss Michael Madigan, the former chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party and until last month, speaker of the state House for 36 of the last 38 years, held his House seat for 50 years.
Boss Madigan--who remains as Democratic committeman of Chicago's 13th Ward--had enough of the weighted vote to handpick his successor. And so he did.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
From ABC Chicago:
Former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan's replacement for his statehouse seat has resigned after just three days on the job. Edward Guerra Kodatt, 26, was just sworn in as representative for Illinois' 22nd District on Sunday.
The office of House Speaker Chris Welch confirmed Wednesday that the House clerk received Kodatt's resignation.
The resignation comes one day after Madigan and Chicago Alderman Marty Quinn released a statement that said: "After learning of alleged questionable conduct by Mr. Kodatt, it was suggested that he resign as state representative for the 22nd District. We are committed to a zero tolerance policy in the workplace."Last night Madigan and the 13th Ward alderman, Marty Quinn, released a statement calling on Kodatt to quit.
Tuesday, February 23, 2021
New Marathon Pundit series: Chicago monuments under assault, Part One, William McKinley
Forty one statues, reliefs, plaques, and plaques have been listed "for public discussion." Five Abraham Lincoln statures are on this list
Yeah, in bold print there the site says, "No decisions have been made about the following monuments."
Maybe.
We need to preserve our heritage and our public artwork for the left-wing "cancel culture."
So I'm going to do a post on each one of these pieces. I'm starting off with our 25th president, William McKinley. He's known for three things, McKinley was president during the Spanish-American War and that he was assassinated in 1901. Shortly after his murder McKinley Park on Chicago's Southwest Side was commissioned.
Some of the photographs in this series will be my own work. This one was taken by friend-of-the-blog Sam C. of the Southwest Side.
As you can see the McKinley statue is bronze and it was designed by Irish immigrant Charles Mulligan, a prominent Chicago artist.
To comment on the McKinley monument and the forty others "under review" please visit the Chicago Monuments Project "Feedback page." Please be polite but firm in your comments.
If you Tweet this post--and I urge you to do so--please use the #ChicagoMonuments hashtag.
Related post of mine at Da Tech Guy:
Lincoln statues under attack in the largest city in the Land of Lincoln (Abraham Lincoln: The Man)After a year because of COVID-19 Chicago to reopen lakefront parks soon
From CBS Chicago:
Nearly a year after the city’s lakefront, playgrounds, and indoor swimming pools were closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chicago Park District plans to begin reopening them soon.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot's office said the Chicago Park District will announce the reopening plans on Tuesday as the city continues to see improvements in coronavirus metrics.
The mayor's office said the Park District will begin reopening public access points to parks east of Lake Shore Drive, and will lift restrictions on lakefront parking.
In the coming weeks, the Park District also will unlock gates and prepare all 500 playgrounds and nature spaces in the city to reopen.
Monday, February 22, 2021
Boss Madigan quits as Illinois Democrat Party chairman
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Graphic courtesy of the Illinois Policy Institute |
This afternoon I drove to southeastern Wisconsin for my job and once again I marveled at the many massive buildings hosting factories, offices, and warehouses in Kenosha and Racine County.
There is no building boom on the Illinois side of the border. Why is that? Not only are taxes lower north of the Cheese Curtain there isn't a grifter culture in America's Dairyland. Unlike in Illinois, the state that was destroyed by Boss Michael Madigan (D-Chicago).
For 36 of the last 38 years Madigan was the speaker of the Illinois House. He's been the chairman of the state Democratic Party from 1998.
Until recently.
House Democrats, after a bad election for the left where Madigan was used against Dem candidates in ads, dumped him as House speaker. Last week Madigan resigned his House seat. Today he quit the party chairmanship.
He's gone but like Chernobyl his radioactive waste will remain and it will take many years to clean up. In his House resignation letter Madigan whined about "vicious attacks" against him. The splendily effective Illinois Policy Institute led the charge. They are entitled to many victory laps. Some came from me. I'm going to take a lap too.
So should the remaining decent people in the Land of Lincoln.
Part: 3 Bloody Chicago, 792 Murdered, 4,174 Shot in 2020
Pritzker to sign bill today eliminating cash bail in Illinois
Gov. J.B. Pritzker is set to sign a criminal justice and police reforms bill Monday that will mean the end of cash bail in Illinois and the introduction of new "police accountability" protocols.
Pritzker plans to sign the bill at noon at the Gwendolyn Brooks Library at Chicago State University, according to his public schedule.
He will be joined by lawmakers, law enforcement officers and community advocates. House Bill 3653, authored by the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus, was passed by the General Assembly last month.
Happy birthday George Washington
The Father of our Country was born on this day in 1732. On the northeast corner of Washington Park on Chicago's South Side stands this statue of our first president, it's on the "public discussion" list of Mayor Lori Lightfoot's Chicago Monuments Project.
Which means--despite the denials--it could be removed.
Read my Da Tech Guy post on other statues in peril:
Lincoln statues under attack in the largest city in the Land of LincolnSunday, February 21, 2021
From Da Tech Guy: Lincoln statues under attack in the largest city in the Land of Lincoln
Chicago idiocy has no limits. From my post at Da Tech Guy: Lincoln statues under attack in the largest city in the Land of Lincoln.
It's official, Biden has been president longer than William Henry Harrison
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William Henry Harrison |
Harrison, a hero of the War of 1812 and the Indian Wars, was believed to be already well past his prime when he took the oath of office in 1841. Without a hat and overcoat, on a cold and windy day, Harrison gave the longest inauguration speech ever--it lasted nearly two hours. Three weeks later Harrison took ill and he passed away exactly one month after his inauguration, probably of pneumonia.
Saturday, February 20, 2021
Entire school board resigns after leaked video of mocking parents
Friday, February 19, 2021
I am back
A few days ago I wrote that I'm "going dark." The lights are back on. Except when I was born and the night before my daugher was born, I never spent a night in a hospital. Until Monday. Sharp abdominal pains that started the day prior that only got worse compelled me to call my insurer's nurse health line. They directed to an outpatient clinic. The nurse who examined me didn't like what she saw.
No, she hadn't read any of my blog posts.
By this time I couldn't button my jeans--calm down I had my shirttail out and I was wearing a coat--and she told me to drive to Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge and report to the Emergency Room.
After a long unbuttoned six mile drive in a raging snowstorm I parked in the ER lot, walked in, declined a wheelchair--after all I am the Marathon Pundit--and after much probing and poking, including a swab up my nose to test for COVID-19, and finally a CT scan it was discovered that I had diverticulitis.
Three days of no food, no drinking fluids, antibiotics and painkillers followed. My condition improved dramatically yesterday and now I am home. With no surgery.
I have no idea where this came from and yes, I had two prior colonoscopies. I eat right, I work out, I don't smoke, and I'm not heavy.
If this can happen to me it can happen to you.
Let's go back to the day before I was admitted. That Sunday I wrote a long blog post, drove to Englewood on Chicago's South Side to take photographs, returned to Morton Grove, and then ran five miles in the bitter cold. In other words a normal day for me--despite the pain.
After all I am the Marathon Pundit.
Monday, February 15, 2021
Going dark
I will not be blogging much over the next few days as I am not well. Please do not worry.
Sunday, February 14, 2021
From Da Tech Guy: John Lausch needs to stay as US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois
Boss Michael Madigan is no longer speaker of the Illinois House but there is plenty of corruption in this state to be rooted out. Which is why we need to keep the local federal prosecutor in place. From my post at Da Tech Guy: John Lausch needs to stay as US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
Saturday, February 13, 2021
The Who - "Heaven and Hell" at Isle Of Wight
Tucker: Inside the seedy world of the 'Lincoln Project'
Friday, February 12, 2021
John Ruberry on NBC Chicago's Fungus Wednesday 2/10/2021
Biden tries to take credit for Operation Warp Speed, which was already meeting his vaccine goal
Tucker: Why the left wants to shut down Fox News
Thursday, February 11, 2021
(PragerU) Is This the End of Women's Sports?
Shop thru Marathon Pundit for Valentine's Day
If you purchase that gift now for you loved one, then you won't worry about forgetting Valentine's Day.
Click on the ad and start browsing!
Twitter says Trump's ban is permanent, even if reelected in 2024
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
'The Five' slam prominent Dems attempting to walk back 'violent' rhetoric
Tucker: Biden immigration policy designed to punish Americans
Tuesday, February 09, 2021
(PragerU) Sephora Terminates Influencer Over Her Conservative Views
On duty Chicago police detective mugged while investigating murder
Chicago's descent to Detroit status continues.
A Chicago police detective was attacked and injured Monday night while investigating a previous homicide in the city's South Shore neighborhood.
Police said two men armed with a gun and knife attacked the officer from behind around 7 p.m. in the 7700-block of South Yates and began physically assaulting him while rummaging through his pockets.The detective's partner captured one of the creeps but the other is still at large.
Monday, February 08, 2021
Part: 2 Bloody Chicago, 792 Murdered, 4,174 Shot in 2020
Two dead and at least 21 wounded in Chicago over weekend
Bullets were still flying despite subzero temperatures in Chicago over the weekend. Two people were shot to death and at least 21 others were wounded.
One of those killed, a West Side man, was attempting to break up a fight.
Sunday, February 07, 2021
From Da Tech Guy: Detroit's stillborn revival
Guess who was back in the Motor City? From Da Tech Guy: Detroit's stillborn revival.
Saturday, February 06, 2021
Sting: The Snow It Melts the Soonest (Live from Durham Cathedral)
Happy 110th birthday Ronald Reagan
As it was ten years ago on the 100th anniversary of Ronald Reagan's birth here in northern Illinois, it's a cold day with a lot of snow on the ground.
On this day 110 years ago the Gipper was born above a bakery on Main Street in Tampico, Illinois.
Here's my report on that day: Report from Tampico, Illinois on Reagan's 100th birthday.
Part: 1 Bloody Chicago, 792 Murdered, 4,174 Shot in 2020
Friday, February 05, 2021
Five Chicagoans so far charged for murder or shooting someone this year while on bail on a serious felony charge
Extreme left-wing Kim Foxx, Cook County's chief prosecutor, promised affordable bail for accussed criminals, CWB Chicago is reporting.
Which is leading to more crime.
Voters, you get the goverment you deserve.
As for #5 he has a rather extensive rep sheet that goes back to 2011. when he was sixteen.
Biden's first jobs report a bad one
Yeah, I know, Joe Biden didn't becocme president until three weeks ago. But Sleepy Joe's first jobs report stinks.
From CNBC:
Job growth returned to the U.S. in January, with nonfarm payrolls increasing by 49,000 while the unemployment rate fell to 6.3%, the Labor Department said Friday in the first employment report of the Biden administration.
Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for growth of 50,000 and the unemployment to hold unchanged at 6.7%. However, many analysts on Wall Street had been looking for higher numbers; Citigroup had projected a gain of 250,000.
The Democrats are the lockdown party and their wrecking of the economy shows.
More:
Just over 10 million remain unemployed, 4.3 million more than a year ago though the number decreased by 606,000 in January. Companies slashed jobs in March and April to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, and most sectors remain below their pre-pandemic levels.
The damage has been particularly acute in the hospitality industry, as governments across the country have forced hotels, bars and restaurants either to close or operate at reduced capacity to halt the coronavirus spread.
Whitmer wants four lawyers in Michigan disbarred over Trump election lawsuits
Here's a story that I heard about while in Detroit this week, one that needs more coverage.
Such actions are what you see in Venezuela and Russia.
From the Hill:
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) and top state officials are calling for the disbarment of four lawyers who sought to invalidate the state’s presidential election results in court.
Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) called for the disbarment of Michigan’s Greg Rohl, Scott Hagerstrom and Stefanie Junttila, as well as Texas-based Sidney Powell, a pro-Trump lawyer who promoted unproven election fraud claims.
The state officials accused the attorneys of contributing to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot through their involvement in litigation that would overturn President Biden’s victory in the state, according to The Detroit News.
The four “used their law license in an attempt to disenfranchise Michigan voters and undermine the faith of the public in the legitimacy of the recent presidential election, and lent credence to untruths that led to violence and unrest,” the officials wrote.Lawyers often take on clients who are unpopular and contrarversial. After Whitmer and her allies go after Trump's lawyers who will be next?
Monday, February 01, 2021
Sunday, January 31, 2021
From Da Tech Guy: Republicans might need 53 percent of the vote to win elections
Through ballot harvesting, mail-in voting, and more, the Democrats might be on their way to perpetual victories. From my post at Da Tech Guy: Republicans might need 53 percent of the vote to win elections.
Saturday, January 30, 2021
The Band and the Staples - The Weight (The Last Waltz)
Tucker Carlson Investigates: Is Biden interfering in the Hunter probe?
Friday, January 29, 2021
Chicago car jackings epidemic: Nearly 200 carjackings in 2021
In addition to the dramatic increase in murders courtesty of the soft-on-crime policy of State Attorney Kim Foxx, the reputed prosecutor of criminals in Chicago and its inner suburbs, we have a car-jacking epidemic. So far this year there have nearly 200 carjackings in Chicago, that's about seven a day.
Last night two people here carjacked on the same block.
Don't blame me. I voted for Republican Pat O'Brien for state's attorney.
Cuomo accused by own state's attorney general of covering up COVID-19 nursing home deaths
Governor Andrew Cuomo's decision to send New Yorkers with COVID-19 to nursing homes led to thousands of unnecessary deaths.
And New York's attorney general, also a Democrat, is accusing Cuomo of minimizing the nursing home death totals in New York State from COVID by 50 percent.
Late last year, in an award the should be rescinded, Cuomo received an Emmy for his daily COVID briefings.
From NBC News:
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his administration faced a barrage of criticism in the wake of a report from his own state attorney general claiming that the state had undercounted Covid-19 nursing home deaths by as much as 50 percent.
The state's public death toll for nursing homes does not include residents who died from the coronavirus after having been transferred to hospitals, only deaths that occurred at facilities. Attorney General Letitia James' report examined 62 nursing homes — about 10 percent of the state's total — and found that New York's approach left a large number of hospital deaths out of the state's official nursing home death toll.
Advocates, researchers and lawmakers from both parties have campaigned for months for the Cuomo administration to disclose the full number of deaths associated with long-term care facilities.
Thursday, January 28, 2021
There never was a Lunch Bucket Joe: Biden kills jobs
C'mon, you know the thing. "Lunch Bucket Joe," the blue collar guy from Scranton, Pennsylvania. Except Joe Biden hasn't lived in Pennsylavnia in seven decades he never was a blue collar person.
Sleepy Joe is killing good blue collar jobs.
From the New York Post:
Further dashing hopes that he’d govern as any kind of moderate, President Biden on Wednesday announced plans for what amounts to the Green New Deal by another name, at a cost of roughly $2 trillion and millions of jobs.The left pretends its dreams will boost employment, but the reality is already on display. Biden’s Day One canceling of the Keystone XL pipeline put thousands out of work immediately; longer-term, it aborted some 11,000 jobs, mostly for union workers.Also in his first day, the new prez ordered a 60-day suspension of new drilling permits for US lands and water, supposedly to allow for review of the impact.But on Wednesday he made much of that ban permanent, so plainly the science doesn’t really matter. Then again, science isn’t mattering a lot to Joe: In the absence of Keystone, Canada will still export its oil — transporting it by less-environmentally friendly rail. What’s green about that?
Wednesday, January 27, 2021
What the media is calling a "pause" by Biden on new oil and gas leases on public lands is a ban as long as Democrats are in power
The public relations ring of the Democratic Party, better known as the establishment media, is of course all-in on propping up Joe Biden. Last week Biden announced a 60-day suspsension of new oil and natural gas drilling permits on federally-owned land and waters. Now the media is preparing Americans for what they are calling a "pause" in new drilling leases on these public waters and lands.
It won't be a pause--it will be a ban as long as the Democrats are in power. But of course the media--nor the Biden White House--doesn't want to all it that. They are trying to deflect blame as thousands of energy jobs are lost and gasoline prices go up.
The media and your goverment believes you are stupid. It's time to prove them wrong.
From Must Read Alaska: Wasilla woman fired from job for having Gab, Parler social media accounts
The Alaska woman who lost her job is a literary agent specializing in the romance genre.
Folks, they're coming after us.
Must Read Alaska has more: Wasilla woman fired from job for having Gab, Parler social media accounts.
From Powerline: Who is running the Biden administration?
Tulsi Gabbard: Democrats are trying to turn America into a 'police state'
Tuesday, January 26, 2021
Sorry Chicago Public Schools teachers, there will always be a risk in your job
Chicago Public Schools, the nation's third-largest school system, has not conducted classroom learning since March. I'm old enough to remember when the school and business closures were supposed to last a couple of weeks or so to "flatten the curve." Now CPS teachers, who always says whatever they do is "for the kids," are demanding vaccinations for all of them. So this week they overwhelmingly voted to continue to teach from home rather than in the classroom, defying a CPS order to return to working at their schools.
Showcasing the hypocricy of the Chicago Teachers Union was Sarah Chambers, who from a Puerto Rico resort urged special education teachers not to return. While she says she tested negative she previously tested positive for COVID. Chambers is a member of the CTU executive board.
Hello teachers. There will always be a risk in going to work, such as automobile accidents on your way to school, and yes, getting ill. And during the lockdown I worked from home for a few days. It's a nice gig. There's no commute and no wear-and-tear on your vehicle or public transporation expenses.
Be for the kids. Return to work.
Tucker fights back as Biden plans to change the country at record pace
Monday, January 25, 2021
Six killed and at least 24 wounded over weekend in Chicago
Sunday, January 24, 2021
From Da Tech Guy: The Trump cadaver synod
Saturday, January 23, 2021
Michael Nesmith - Joanne (Live at the Britt Festival 1992)
Biden's acting weird | Greg Kelly
Friday, January 22, 2021
Calling out left-wing attacks because Democrats won't | Joy Villa
On Biden's first day in office CNN takes COVID death ticker off screen
During the Trump presidency news outlets portrayed the COVID-19 epidemic as the worst health scourge for humanity since the 1918 flu pandemic.And it used that virus as a convenient way to attack Trump.
Now lockdowns are being eased up in blue states such as Illinois.
And CNN, as Tucker Carlrson reports, took down its COVID death ticker that has been on its screen for months.
Clearly Joe Biden in the best healer in the history of medicine.
Laptop repair shop owner at center of Hunter Biden scandal speaks with Hannity
Thursday, January 21, 2021
Leftists riot in Seattle, Portland on inauguration day, Biden-Harris flag burned
After the feds advanced on the Portland crowd and unleashed the tear gas, someone pulled a Biden for President flag out and the crowd burned it on the street.https://t.co/SFUwtQELis pic.twitter.com/tDs4xb6XGH
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) January 21, 2021
Wednesday, January 20, 2021
Mark Dice: What's next for us?
Tucker: Democratic Party is planning a war on half of America
President Donald Trump departs the White House for the last time
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Farewell Address of President Donald J. Trump
Unhappy New Year in Chicago: At least 120 carjackings this year so far
Decline and fall.
Rideshare drivers are often victims and Chicago's better neighborhoods, such as the Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, and Wicker Park are common locations for car jackings.
Biden will cancel Keystone XL pipeline, Canada not happy
The Democrats are the anti-energy party. During the last presidential debate Joe Biden said our nation will "transtion out of" fossil rules. The left's Green New Deal is doesn't make sense even if you suspend belief to Gilligan's Island levels.
After Biden is sworn in as president tomorrow he'll sign en executive order cancelling the Keystone XL pipeline, handing the Republicans the first issue for the 2024 presidential campaign.
Our friends in Canada are alarmed, including the premier of Alberta, where the oil comes from.
I am deeply concerned by reports that the incoming administration of President-elect Joe Biden may repeal the Presidential permit for the Keystone XL border crossing next week.
— Jason Kenney (@jkenney) January 18, 2021
My full statement: pic.twitter.com/vZjun1IdMH
Monday, January 18, 2021
Steve Hilton makes the case for ‘positive populism’
Six dead and at least 18 shot over weekend in Chicago
Last weekend five people were shot to death in Chicago. During the most recent weekend it was six. Three of the fatalities occurred on the South Side, two on the West Side, and one on the Northwest Side.
At least 18 others were wounded during the same time period.
Sunday, January 17, 2021
From Da Tech Guy: The end of Boss Madigan, the man who destroyed Illinois
Saturday, January 16, 2021
The Divine Comedy - How Can You Leave Me On My Own
Hannity gives scorching reaction to newly declassified Russia docs
Friday, January 15, 2021
Mark Dice: We're Not Going To Stop!
Another reason to flee Chicago: Warning tickets from speeding cameras begin today for driving over 6 mph, fines coming soon
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Chicago's South Side |
Beginning today drivers in Chicago who are caught driving only 6 miles-per-hour over the speed limit will receive a warning. The prior threshold was 10 mph. On March 1 the 6-10 mph crowd will receive a $35 ticket. Those motorists caught on camera will continue to receive a $100 fine. Later in that '19 presser Mayor Beetlejuice promised to "sunset" Chicago's omnipresent red light cameras, stating that the fines issued from those red light violations "fall disproportionately on people of color." Where is that sunset?
Even before the COVID-19 epidemic and this summers rounds of rioting and looting--oops, make that "unrest"--Chicago's population was declining. Lightfoot, while violating a campaign promise, just gave Chicagoans another reason to race for the exit ramp from Chicago.
Thursday, January 14, 2021
There must be no blue state bailout coming: Cuomo and Lightfoot favor rolling back lockdowns
Here's the key point. I suspect the Cuomo and Lightfoot have gotten the word from Congressional Democrats that there will be no widescale bailout of blue state spendthrifts like New York, Illinois and Chicago, whose financial problems pre-date the COVID-19 epidemic.
Tucker investigates the threats and violence Twitter refuses police
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Trump impeached again
"Riots are OK for some" Jim Jordan blasts Democrats for allowing riots and looting in the summer
Speaker-for-life Madigan ousted in Illinois
It's all over but the formalites. The man who destroyed Illinois, longtime Speaker of the state House Michael Madigan (D-Chicago), who has held the post for all but two years since 1983, willl not be reelected. Boss Madigan has also been chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party since 1998.
Replacing him will be suburban Chicago state Rep. Chris Welch. He's not a prize either but this is still great news for the remaning decent citizens of Illinois.
The state Republican Party, an ineffective opponent of Madigan had this to say about Madigans ousting of about Welch in, you gussed it, a press release:
In Madigan’s stead, they have promoted a serial harasser and assaulter of women. But in spite of that, Welch passed the most important test this fall - he’s been a loyal Madigan ally for years but performed most recently as Madigan’s human shield in legislative hearings investigating the sweeping corruption scandal that ultimately brought Madigan down.For uears the right-leaning think tank, the Illinois Policy Institute, led attack on Madigan. Well done, my friends.
Chicago City Council member fined record $145,500 for improper campaign contributions
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Austin street banners in her ward in 2016 |
Ald. Carrie Austin is a walking example of unethical behavior.
From WTTW:
The Chicago Board of Ethics fined Ald. Carrie Austin $145,500 for accepting $48,500 in excessive contributions from a person doing business with the city, in violation of city law.
The fine, approved by a unanimous vote Monday, marks the first time the board has levied the maximum fine allowed for violations of the city’s campaign finance law — three times the amount of the improper campaign contributions.
Austin, the second-longest serving alderman on the City Council, did not respond to a request for comment from WTTW News on Tuesday morning.
Companies and people doing business with the city are limited to contributing $1,600 to any one candidate per year, according to the city’s campaign finance ordinance.Two years ago the FBI raided her ward office. Until last year Austin was the Democratic committeewoman of the 34th Ward.
Second City Cop blog quit on own--but they issue a warning
A well-written and entertaining blog, Second City Cop, pulled the plug on itself this week. Or did they?
They issue a warning for other writers and thinkers in their farewell at Hey Jackass.
Tuesday, January 12, 2021
John Stossel: Teachers Unions vs Students
Chicago Tribune offices leaving downtown
After over 170 years of having its headquarters in downtown Chicago, the city's oldest and largest newspaper, the Chicago Tribune, once a conservative firebrand but now, with a few exceptions like John Kass, part of the liberal echo chamber, is moving. True, it's not that far away, to the River West area south of Goose Island, but it's a warehousey section of the city, away from the remaining glamor of the city center.
For nearly 100 years the Trib was based in the Tribune Tower on North Michigan Avenue--eighteen months ago it moved a few blocks south to Prudential Plaza.
"The Tribune’s departure adds to the expanding number of vacancies plaguing the city’s downtown office market," the Real Deal explains. "Companies have been subleasing their space — or trying to — trimming or exiting their leases at a steady clip. Office vacancy rate climbed to 14.2 percent in the central business district in the fourth quarter."Second City Cop blog missing
Could be this move be part of the purge against conservatives? CWB Chicago, a great blog, reports that another Second City Cop, is now offline, except for the message that the blog is "open to invited readers only."
Last fall the authors, current and former Chicago Police officers, said that Google-owned Blogger.com, which I use to host Marathon Pundit, issued them a warning about their content.
Or it's possible, CWB Chicago speculates, that they pressed a wrong settings button--I've done that--or they are simply burned out.
Second City Cop offered a unique perspective of life as a police officer in Chicago with a decided conservative flavor, along with well-deserved criticism of Chicago mayors, particularly the inept Lori Lightfoot, who they refer to as Groot.
Never run out of your favorite laundry productsMonday, January 11, 2021
Is this the end of Boss Madigan? Illinois' speaker-for-life suspends campaign
llinois House Speaker Michael Madigan announced he is suspending his campaign for a 19th term as speaker Monday.
The longest-serving leader of a legislative body in U.S. history, Madigan said in a statement: “this is not a withdrawal. I have suspended my campaign for speaker.”
The man nicknamed the “Velvet Hammer” acknowledged that he does not currently have enough support among fellow House Democrats to keep his gavel.
“As I have said many times in the past, I have always put the best interest of the House Democratic Caucus and our members first,” Madigan said.That's a lie. Madigan, who has been a member of the General Assembly since 1971 and who has been speaker of the state house since 1983--except for two happy years--has also served as chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party since 1998. He's the midwife of the Illinois pension crisis. And his primary interest has always been himself and his circle of sycophantic cronies.
From Doug Ross: A LAWFUL DENIAL OF SERVICE: Are 80 million Americans truly powerless against our new Twitter god?
Parler offline, the purge of conservatives continues
Parler, a social media app popular with conservatives and supporters of President Donald Trump, has gone offline after Amazon withdrew its support in the wake of the deadly U.S. Capitol riot last week.
The app was reliant on cloud computing power provided by Amazon Web Services. AWS told Parler on Saturday that it will no longer provide cloud services to the company beginning on Sunday at 11:59 p.m. PT, according to an email obtained by CNBC.
An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the authenticity of the letter to CNBC, but declined to comment further. John Matze, the founder and CEO, said in a statement on Monday that the Parler app will be down “longer than expected” because other cloud hosting companies do not want to work with Parler in light of the press statements issued by Amazon, Google and Apple.