Thoughts & Musings
IMF Chief: Oil Supply Matters
Yesterday I wrote about the latest meme to come out of the White House: that the president cannot control oil prices. This is of course ridiculous. Should the president choose a path that would increase supply -- even if not immediately -- the price of oil would go...
Chicago Police Supt. Promises To Curb Gang Violence
Garry McCarthy says the intelligence is there. It’s just a matter of getting the information to beat officers so they can anticipate a retaliatory gang shooting. “We’re going to get our head around this thing and we’re going to turn it around is what it boils down...
Ayers Family Put ‘Foreigner’ Obama Through School
Hulton says that in conversations with Mary Ayers while on his route he learned of the couple’s enthusiasm and support for a black foreign student. One bright, warm Chicagoland day, he recounts, he met the student who fit Mary Ayers’ description in front of the Ayers...
Most Bedbug Infested Cities
Orkin announced its top 50 bed bug cities for the past year and several of them are popular spring break destinations. The following cities are ranked in order of the number of bed bug treatments Orkin performed from January to December 2011. via Chicago Tribune....
A President’s Control of Oil Prices
A new meme is carefully being inserted into society: that a president generally, and Obama specifically, cannot control oil prices. Like all good lies there is just enough truth in this meme in order to not make it laughable. The notion is absolutely true in the...
Eric Holder 1995: We Must Brainwash People on Guns
[In] 1995 ... then-U.S. Attorney Eric Holder announc[ed] a public campaign to "really brainwash people into thinking about guns in a vastly different way." Holder was addressing the Woman's National Democratic Club. In his remarks, broadcast by CSPAN 2, he explained...
At Least 10 Dead, Dozens Wounded In Weekend Violence
A bizarre weekend where the high exceeded 80 degrees also brought a rash of violence across Chicago, which left at least 10 people dead and some 40 others wounded. via CBS Chicago. There's no end in sight. CPD is so undermanned that little can be done. Whatever the...
Korrupt Kane Kounty GOP
Does the Kane County Board Chairmanship come with a license to print campaign cash? Karen McConnaughay must think so. So many county vendors became campaign contributors that the Daily Herald Editorial Board wrote, “We encourage McConnaughay to quit taking money from...
National Right to Carry Reciprocity Act of 2012
Good news for Second Amendment types: Today, March 13, U.S. Senators Mark Begich (D-Alaska) and Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) introduced S. 2188, the “National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Act of 2012.” The bill is the Senate companion to H. R. 822, which was approved by the U....
State Rep. Derrick Smith Charged, Arrested
Ha ha ha ha! State Rep. Derrick Smith, a Democrat from Chicago, was arrested today for allegedly pocketing a $7,000 cash bribe to write an official letter of support for a day care center he believed was seeking a state grant. The arrest came after an undercover...
Sandra Fluke is a Plant
Ok ok, I realize someone's going to criticize use of the term "plant." ... Aaah, who cares: “For six days, we have been telling you that the 30-year-old Georgetown law student has become a major player in the presidential election,” O’Reilly said during his show last...
Energy Sec. Wanted High Gas Prices
"Somehow, we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe." -- Steven Chu, President Obama's Secretary or Energy in 2008 via POLITICO. Gas prices are exactly where Obama wants them. Billions invested in bogus and failing technologies....
Obama Transparency Scaled Back… as to Wine
When British Prime Minister David Cameron visits President Barack Obama this week, one detail may stay bottled up: the labels on the wines the White House pours at the state dinner tomorrow night. For Obama’s first three state dinners, honoring the leaders of India,...
JPMorgan Bests the Fed
At 4:30 PM today, the Fed will announce stress test results. Whats interesting is that they were supposed to come out on Thursday at 4:30 PM. Why the change of schedule? Well, basically, JPMorgan came out with its announcement of dividends and buybacks around 3:00 PM....
$3.6M Settlement in Alleged Police Misconduct Case
A key City Council committee Monday signed off on a $3.6 million settlement in a lawsuit filed by a man who spent nearly 10 years in prison for an attack on a woman who later said she made a mistake when she identified him as her assailant. Robert Wilson had sought...
Mayor’s Friend Brings You the Speed Cameras
When Rahm Emanuel was a first-time candidate for Congress, Greg Goldner was behind him, quietly marshaling the patronage troops that helped get him elected. When Emanuel ran for mayor, Goldner was there again, doling out campaign cash to elect Emanuel-friendly...
John Boehner, Telling it Like it is.
"People think I've got this job as a leader. They don't realize that I have about 200 responsibilities and roles. I've gotta be the big brother, the father, I gotta be the disciplinarian, the dean of students, the principal, the spouse—you can't believe all the roles...
8 Shot on South, West sides Overnight
6:00 a.m. CDT, March 11, 2012 At least eight people were shot Saturday night and Sunday morning on the South and West sides, according to police. via Chicago Tribune. Eight in one night. It appears that all the criminals are willing to carry despite all the laws Rahm...
Downstate and Chicago, Brothers in Arms?
It's an Op-Ed, but it's also propaganda: Mayor Rahm Emanuel was in Peoria earlier this week talking about how Chicago and Downstate politicians need to stop fighting so much. “The politics of the past where we used to play Chicago versus downstate is over. It doesn’t...
Bill To Regulate Men’s Reproductive Health
Before getting a prescription for Viagra or other erectile dysfunction drugs, men would have to see a sex therapist, receive a cardiac stress test and get a notarized affidavit signed by a sexual partner affirming impotency, if state Sen. Nina Turner has her way. via...