Lake County Tea Party invites you to come out and join the protest of Congresswoman Melissa Bean (D-IL) on Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009.
Rep. Bean is again selectively ducking her constituents. This health care event is by paid fee only in front of the Lake Zurich Area Chamber of Commerce.
Wednesday, September 2nd
Lake Zurich Chamber of Commerce Breakfast
Outside Concorde Banquets
20922 Rand Road
Kildeer, IL
7:00 AM - 9:30 AM
She did finally schedule a tele-townhall but that also was a failure. It appeared she again selectively chose who she called and who got to ask a question. Why is Melissa Bean continuing to not talk to all the citizens of the 8th district?
ALSO SEE:
Marathon Pundit: Melissa Bean's cowardly "town hall" tonight
Michelle Malkin: Cone of Shame Award: Democrat Rep. Melissa Bean
Now democrats are CHARGING people to attend townhalls like Melissa Bean
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UPDATED: Please see Schakowsky Town Hall Report, Part One
Chicago News Bench was at the townhall at Niles West High School on August 31. We will have photos and video for you on Tuesday, Sept. 1st.
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Chicago News Bench was at the townhall at Niles West High School on August 31. We will have photos and video for you on Tuesday, Sept. 1st.
A reminder about the event (today, Aug. 31), some quick reads before you go, and a contentious message from Congressfelonspouse Schakowsky to her zombie supporters.
Following:
1) The logistics of the event
2) A contentious message from Schakowsky
3) Quick reading list
1) THE LOGISTICS:
Jan Schakowsky "Health Care Reform" Town Hall Meeting
Monday, August 31
6:30 - 8:00 pm
Niles West High School Auditorium
5701 Oakton Street
Skokie, IL 60077 (see map below or click this link)
Enter school through the main entrance facing Oakton. Arrive early to get a seat.
2) CONTENTIOUS MESSAGE FROM SCHAKOWSKY:
The following message is from Schakowksy on Facebook (emphasis added):
Congresswoman Schakowsky will be holding a town hall meeting to discuss President Obama's Health Care Reform plan, and we want to hear from you.
Jan's top priority in Congress is to help President Obama pass real health care reform, but corporate lobbyists and right-wing extremists will stop at nothing to derail the President's reform agenda, by disrupting town hall meetings and attempting to squelch debate.
We need to hear from you on Monday, August 31st about how you would like to see the health care system fixed, and to show your support for health care reform. This event is scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM, but we expect a large turnout, so please plan on arriving between 5:00 and 5:30. Please note, school will be in session at Niles West that day, and the public will not be allowed on campus BEFORE 5:00 PM.
3) THE READING LIST:
VIDEO: Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) Admits Obama Healthcare Plan Will Destroy Insurance Industry
Special Report: The Town Hall Turnaround
Socialism By Any Other Name Still Stinks
OFA Astroturfing Big Time for Schakowsky
Marathon Pundit: Thomas Paine on the town hall meetings
Illinois Review: Schakowsky announced town hall for tonight
Zombies Plan Health Care Protest - NBC Chicago
Rules for Radicals Training - What the Left Knows and What We Need to Learn
Rules for Radicals Training (same as above but as PowerPoint)
Canada Considers Privatizing Health Care
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One of my favorite drinking games involves Avy Meyers, clown prince of local public access (amateur) television political shows. He plays talk show host from his dining room, in his musty house in West Ridge (a.k.a. West Rogers Park). He wears a yarmulke. This is crucial to the drinking game, mind you.
I have nothing against yarmulkes or Jews, so calm down already. My father's family was entirely Jewish and I am proud of the heritage. I've worn a yarmulke at funerals and weddings out of respect, but since I am religiously Jewish myself I don't usually wear one. My point is simply this: Meyers is chronically distracted by his shifting yarmulke, frequently flinging his limp-wristed hand up to stop it from falling off his head. The drink game is simple enough: Every time Avy Meyers catches or adjusts his unpinned yarmulke you down a shot of whatever is at hand.
If you follow the politics of Chicago's 50th Ward, you'll get the graphic at left. If you don't live there, or if you don't follow the politics there, please excuse this post - unless you're interested in how Chicago's Vice Mayor uses a local fool named Avy Meyers as a propaganda mouthpiece.
Click images to enlarge
The parody graphic, left, is based on the 2007 50th Ward Run-Off Election show. Stone was in a tight race with Naisy Dolar. Meyers did a special live show just to help his buddy Berny get re-elected (and he was so excited to be live!) on CAN TV, a public cable access station in Chicago. The show is produced by S I Hersh Productions and posts to YouTube under "sonnyhtv." You could spend a month laughing your way through the cliche-bad episodes archived there. There is also a poorly designed web site for their North Town News Magazine.
Meyers describes himself as an "objective journalist." In fact, he is not objective, and the show began with a voice over from a show staffer saying "Good luck Bernie!" So much for the objectivity. It's all downhill from there as it turns into a shameless lovefest for Alderman Stone. Meyers dedicated a huge portion of the show figuratively felating Stone in a shameful display of unobjective suckup behavior. It was his usual performance as regards Berny Stone, and is one of the reasons that respected sources such as the Chicago Reader has called Meyers a "racist. [and] pimp for corrupt Machine politicians."
This is television that is so bad that it's accidentally good, in the same way that one of the worst movies ever, Plan Nine From Outer Space, is so entertaining. If you find disasters fascinating, you'll be mesmerized by any of Meyers's shows. One of the worst/best is the self-indulgent episode, "Marty Levinson, The Ultimate Barber." It defies description. You just have to see it. (If Avy Meyers is hoping for a break a la the goof in Wayne's World, he needs a reality check. It ain't gonna happen.)
What will Avy do after Berny Stone, in his 80's, is no longer alderman of the 50th? Will Avy ever vacuum the gold shag carpeting in his dining room/video studio again after Berny walks on it for the last time? (Has Avy ever vacuumed that carpet?) Why does that carpet smell of mildew? We hope Avy continues after Berny Stone, uhm, leaves office. Which he will, of course, everybody does eventually. Perhaps Avy Meyers will find new love with one of his other objects of fascination, such as Joe Moore, Todd Stroger or Larry Suffredin.
RELATED:
avy meyers in Chicago IL : outside.in
How to Wear a Yarmulke - eHow
WikiAnswers - How does the yarmulke stay on the head
Uptown Avenger weighs in on the sad state of politics in Chicago's 46th Ward with a post titled "Alderman's Shillaz Leter to her constituentsycoents as interpreted by me."
Translation: "Alderman Shiller's Letter to Her Constituents as Interpreted by Him."
Read the damned thing. The too-frightened-to-use-his-real-name, middle-of-the-road nut blogger could use the hits.
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The video below shows Mayor Daley praising 46th Ward Ald. Helen Shiller for her ability to "bring people together." Most residents of Shiller's ward, however, know that "Shiller" and "bring people together" do not belong in the same sentence. Or paragraph, bor that matter. Hizzoner is either a great liar, or simply deluded, or a mealy-mouthed liar protecting a crappy alderman only because she sucks up to him so well. Either way, the man who ripped up Meigs Field without anybody's permission needs to be voted out of office. Unless, of course, the federal investigators get to him before the next election.
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Chicago's Mayor Richard M. Daley is a liar. So are Ron Huberman and Arne Duncan, the current and former chiefs of Chicago Public Schools respectively. Here's why, plain and simple: (1) The "improved grades" of Chicago public school children is largely false, a lie perpetrated and probably instigated by Huberman, and probably with Daley's blessing, and (2) Daley's wild claims that the 2016 Olympics would give Chicago a massive profit are roundly shot down by experts.
(1) Daley's Olympic Economics Fantasies
Crain's Chicago Business noted this past week that Daley's fantastical claims "that the 2016 Olympics would give Chicago's economy a $22.5-billion boost vastly overstates the likely benefits of hosting the games, experts say." The Crain's report continued (emphasis added):
"That's crazy," says Victor Matheson, a professor of economics at College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts who has studied the economic impact of the Olympics. "Anyone using this $22.5-billion number as justification to vote for the Olympics is being led down the garden path." The figure far exceeds estimated benefits in forecasts prepared by other cities that have sought the games. Atlanta, for example, figured the games it hosted in 1996 would produce an economic jolt of just $7 billion in 2009 dollars. (See the full article...)
Professor Matheson doesn't live in Chicago. It's doubtful that he has a partisan interest in the pro vs. con Chicago 2016 argument. It's undoubtedly safe to say that he knows a hell of lot more about the economics of hosting an Olympics than does Richard M. Daley, and that Matheson is more objective about it. We already knew in June that Daley lied when he said that the taxpayers would not lose a dime if Chicago get the Olympics, and the ill-fated meeting in Switzerland proved it. At the meeting, Daley announced that he would "sign the standard Olympic host city contract, which would give the city full financial responsibility for mounting the 2016 Summer Games." (Source) In other words, Chicago taxpayers would get stuck holding the bag if or when the Chicago Olympics loses money.
(2) The Chicago Public Schools Grades Conspiracy
Many of us have known for a long time that claims of Chicago school kids' grades improving is a huge exaggeration, if not an outright lie. Now, thanks to the Chicago Sun-Times, we know that grades have been artificially raised in large numbers. An August 29 article, titled "1 in 5 Chicago Public High School teachers say they felt pressure to change grades last school year" demonstrates this with sharp clarity. The report surveyed more than 1,200 Chicago Teachers Union members and sheds light on how desperate city officials are to give the illusion of improvement where there is none. An excerpt from that article:
The findings raise serious questions about whether some of the data used to judge Chicago public schools has been inflated, artificially manipulated -- or in some cases outright altered.
Back in June, Greg Hinz wrote about the horrible failure of Chicago's public (government-run) schools. In his blog at Crain's Chicago Business, Hinz wrote this (emphasis added):
Half of the students drop out by high school, and of those who remain until 11th grade, 70% fail to meet state standards, the report says. In fact, "In the regular (non-magnet) neighborhood high schools, which serve the vast preponderance of students, almost no students are prepared to succeed in college." The report directly challenges widespread claims by current and former CPS officials that local students have shown substantial progress over the last decade on standardized tests.
Hinz cites a stunning June, 2009 report (see the PDF) by the Civic Committee of The Commercial Club of Chicago, which condemns Chicago's public schools in it conclusion (emphasis added):
CPS has reported that Chicago s elementary schools have made enormous progress in the course of the past decade - achieving double-digit increases in all grades and all subjects. This claim jarringly conflicts with the flat trends reported in the high schools, and is contrary to the NAEP ("Nation s Report Card”) results. The remarkable apparent progress in the elementary schools appears to be due mostly to changes in the ISAT tests and testing procedures - rather than real improvement in student learning.
Without saying so directly, the report calls Daley, Huberman and Duncan liars. So we'll say it for them. Daley, Huberman and Duncan are liars.
Schools-Related (Olympics-Related follows):
Survey: Teachers pressured to change grades - ABC7Chicago.com
Chicago Arne Duncan presided over a schools grade changing scandal - Examiner.com
The horror of Chicago school reform - Examiner.com
CPS president subpoenaed - Chicago Sun-Times
Grand jury investigating Chicago Public Schools - Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago public-school reform flops, biz-backed report says - Crain's Chicago Business
Daley Lies About Chicago Public Schools - Welcome To Daleyland
Still Left Behind, Student Learning in Chicago's Public Schools - Report (PDF) from the Civic Committee of The Commercial Club of Chicago, June 2009
Olympics-Related:
Chicago's 2016 Olympics bid: Deeper look shows potential financial pitfalls - Chicago Tribune
Daley seeks more graft from Olympics - The Daily Blank
Mayor Daley: Big Olympic Spender - Chicago Reader
Daley ally will be asked about Olympics land deal - Chicago Tribune
Daley declines to answer questions about insider's Olympics deal - Chicago Tribune
Flores On Daley's Olympic Guarantee: "Enough Is Enough" - Progress Illinois
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WARNING: Video has some, uh, cuss words (f--- and s---, oh my.)
WARNING: Liberals will be nauseated by this excellent depiction of evil-doers being blown to hell by US military superiority.
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Part 4 of the exclusive Chicago News Bench (CNB) interview series with Tony Peraica, Cook County Board Commissioner (R-16). He doesn't mince his words as he talks about President Barack Obama's involvement with corruption in Chicago and Cook County, ties to Tony Rezko, Mayor Daley's nephew, and others. Tony discusses the nation's highest tax rate, right here in Downtown Chicago, and more. I interviewed Tony Peraica on May 29, 2009 at his Anthony J. Peraica & Associates law offices. (See all six videos in the series.)
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Posted on August 29 by "cabdodger" on YouTube, the video below is clearly a gang fight in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood. The video is titled "Uptown Gang Fight -August 28, 2009." This is yet another gang fight in Alderwitch Helen Shiller's 46th Ward, just two weeks after, and half a block north of, Joe Gray's now-infamous riot video. At least two of the young men swing long objects (image, right), possibly golf clubs. The irony of these punks acting this way in front of Alternatives and Uptown Ministries, two of Helen Shiller's favored non-profits, is rich indeed. Aren't those kind of organizations supposed to be preventing this kind of activity rather than serving as passive back drops for it? Where were the overfunded Cease Fire miracle workers? See related articles under the video.
Helen Shiller Wallows in Lies, Self-Pity
Kicking Helen Shiller's Political Corpse
Another Useless Public Safety Meeting
Full Length Video of Ald. Helen Shiller Mob Chase, Press Conference, Olympics
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Chicago News Bench was at the townhall at Niles West High School on August 31.
We will have photos and video for you on Tuesday, Sept. 1st.
Get ready for The Battle of August 31, when opposing forces converge at the Schakowsky healthcare townhall in Skokie, Illinois.
Organizing For America (OFA), a thinly veiled Obama operation, is working overtime to get as many pro-socialized healthcare supporters to the event as possible. I received a slick email today (click image to enlarge). This is massive, highly organized, well-funded "astroturfing," the very thing that Obama and Pelosi and Frank and the rest have wrongly assused us of doing. Hey, is Chicago News Bench any more than a gnat compared to OFA? We're organic. They are astroturf.
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-9th District)
Town Hall Meeting
Monday, August 31-----6:30 - 8:00 pm
Niles West High School Auditorium
5701 Oakton Street, Skokie, IL 60077 (click for map)
Enter school through the main entrance facing Oakton.
Arrive early to get a seat.
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This stunning video shows the real reason why Barack Obama was able to become the president of the most powerful nation on the planet. Hint: He also became the president of one of the dumbest nations on the planet. WARNING: If you're an idiot, you will not understand why this video is so funny. Best you just move along now, because the rest of us will be laughing at you.
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I received two excellent comments to "HOT! Helen Shiller Wallows in Lies, Self-Pity," posted last night as a no-punches-pulled analysis of the 46th Ward alderman's insulting "response" to constituents about crime and violence, posted on her own web site. What she wrote was a long and twisted set of lies, half-lies, excuses and an unintentional admission that she is very, very worried about her political future. (That anaylsis is now available free as a PDF. Click to view or download.)
Here are those responses:
Guy Smiley wrote:
Great column and analysis...however I do have one fault:"the riot at Leland and Sheridan on August 13, 2009 did not look "truly diverse" at all - it was 100 percent African-American. That's not an indictment of Black people, it's just an accurate observation."There were guys of Hispanic/Latino descent there as well. Not that it makes it any less horrifying, just an "accurate observation". Take another look.
Mike Doyle from Downtown Chicago wrote:
That's a stunning analysis of Helen Shiller's blog post. Very well done. I hadn't seen this before I wrote my own line-by-line analysis of Shiller's suboptimal statement on my Chicagosphere blog. Any way you cut it, it's hard not to come away feeling this is one very (and very willfully) checked-out alderman. My own take is here:
http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/chicagosphere/2009/08/alderman-blogs-response-on-uptown-riot-video.html
Note: Mike Doyle's analysis of Shiller's self-pity piece in Chicagosphere is excellent and is a must-read. Mike's own blog, Chicago Carless, is a great blog.
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Absolutely fascinating video of liberal ex-talk show host Phil Donahue interviewing author Ayn Rand ("The Fountainhead," "Atlas Shrugged"). Watch it at Right Not Wrong. This is the first public interview by Rand (1905-1982) after her husband Frank O'Connor died (1897-1979).
ALSO SEE an interview by Mike Wallace in 1959 (here) and by Tom Snyder (bottom):
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Nah! The mainstream media isn't biased! ABC (All-Barack Channel) and NBC (Nodding to Barack Constantly) refused to air a health care ad from the League of American Voters.
Why? Because it's critical of Obamacare? Oh, no, it must be because it's so outrageous! It's just one more example on the mountain-high pile of Democrat and attempts to stifle dissent.
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UPDATED: Photos of Chicago's Sept. 12 Tea Party Rally in Millennium Park
Host: Chicago Tea Party Patriots
Type: Causes - Rally
Network: Global
Date: Saturday, September 12, 2009
Time: 11:00am - 1:00pm
Location: Millennium Park in Grant Park
Street: Randolph Street and Michigan Avenue at the Bean
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Note: We received two excellent comments about this, which you can see here.
This post is also available (free) as a PDF. Click to view or download.
A self-indulgent, self-pitying, inexcusable pack of lies from 46th Ward Alderman Helen Shiller went up on her own web site today (August 27). Shiller spews half-truths and outright lies, while downplaying the violence in Uptown. She wrote the following, two weeks after a hot video showed a riot at Leland and Sheridan in Uptown:
A Statement from Alderman Shiller on Recent Events
Crime & Safety
08/27/2009
On the night of Thursday, August 13, an altercation broke out between a couple dozen young men at the intersection of Sheridan and Leland in Uptown. There were no guns or knives used, but bottles were thrown and there was yelling and attempted fisticuffs. Most of the event was videoed by a neighbor.
CNB ANALYSIS: Many of us have seen the video of that incident, made by Joe Gray (What a riot! from Joe Gray). Shiller downplays the riot by calling it an "altercation." She says there were "no guns or knives used," but she cannot possibly know that. There were weapons, as can plainly be seen in the video. CNB has isolated and highlighted at least two men holding weapons; one appears to be a golf club. Shiller downplays thrown bottles, but a bottle to the eye can blind, to the temple or skull could kill. Shiller continues:
Within minutes of receiving the 911 call, officers arrived and the youth dispersed. There was one arrest, one police officer suffered a minor injury and there was a little property damage. No one else in the area suffered any injuries. Because of the subsequent media frenzy, this incident has come to symbolize safety in Uptown. In general, the recent discussion about crime and violence in our community has been emotional, high-pitched and polarizing.
CNB ANALYSIS: Again, the alderman downplays the event. "A little property damage?" Why doesn't Shiller specify what that property damage was? The property owner probably doesn't consider it to be minor. A police officer suffered a "minor injury?" Again, no specificity, not even any sympathy for the officer. The worst part of this paragraph, however, is Shiller's whiny dismissal of neighborhood concern about a riot - a damned riot, people - as "emotional, high-pitched and polarizing." Well excuse the heck out of you, Shiller constituents, for having emotions about your own safety. How dare Shiller belittle you for rightfully complaining loudly about it? Shiller continues:
Crime and violence is unacceptable.
CNB ANALYSIS: You would think that (a) a college educated woman would have gotten the grammar correct (it should be "are unacceptable"), and (b) that Shiller would actually do something about crime and violence in Uptown if she truly feels that way. She continues:
My office spends more time and resource fighting crime and violence than dealing with any other issue. My staff and I regularly exchange information with the 20th and 23rd District police regarding potentially dangerous situations and how to prevent violence or crime from occurring. And today crime and violence in the 23rd and 20th police districts is among the lowest in Chicago. But don’t take my word for it. Check it out at www.chicagopolice.org. Whether you search by district, ward and/or individual beat – you will find this to be true. This is a great accomplishment within a community as diverse as the 46th Ward, and the credit goes to our residents and the leadership of our police commanders.
CNB ANALYSIS: Shiller claims that her "office spends more time and resource fighting crime and violence than dealing with any other issue." Chicago News Bench issues this challenge to Shiller: Prove it. Let her show us her staff's time sheets. Let her show us the exact amount of time that her staff spends on putting together park picnics, coming up with hare-brained ideas for indoor fish farms, spending years on tiny parks such as the one in the 4600 block of N. Winthrop, meeting with the Jesus People, and other non-critical activities, then show us the exact amount of time that her staff spends on "fighting crime and violence." Alderman Shiller will have a hard time showing that to us, because she and her staff (a) probably don't keep records of such time spent, and (b) her claim is most likely untrue. If I am wrong, Ald. Shiller can provide the proof and I will publish it here. I would require that any such records be notarized. Shiller continues:
Every day individuals and organizations are engaged in anti-gang and anti-violence initiatives just by creating other paths for young people to walk down and create a life for themselves.
But until we find that magic bullet to stop violence that continues to elude us all, there will always be more to do. In recent days I have had several conversations with community leaders about more creative and progressive solutions. To a person they have started with “Violence is not acceptable,” and followed that up with, “We have to do more about this and blaming you is not it. What more can we do together?” There have been a number of positive suggestions, and we are going to work on all of them.
CNB ANALYSIS: What, exactly, does that first sentence mean? It's an empty platitude, a pretty slogan. While there is some truth to it - certainly churches and other organizations are helping keep young people out of trouble - what does that have to do with the fact that there was a riot at N. Sheridan and W. Leland, and that it is sadly typical of the gang violence in Uptown? Shiller goes on to say that she's had "several conversations with community leaders," but she fails in her web post to tell us who those leaders are. She fails to explain why she hasn't been having such conversations for years, not just in the past "recent days." She writes that "There have been a number of positive suggestions, and we are going to work on all of them."
Again, no specifics. What are the suggestions? Work on them? How? With more useless town halls such as the ones featuring Heather Steans and Greg Harris? Furthermore, if everyone is panicking, as Shiller implies, then she must be including Uplift CommunityHigh School in Uptown. They felt so strongly about the violence in Uptown that they had a big anti-violence parade on July 18. Shiller continues:
When I was first elected alderman in 1987 the 46th ward had some of the highest crime in the city, some of the highest number of buildings in housing court for hazardous and dangerous conditions, some of the highest infant mortality rates in Chicago, had a dysfunctional grid of street lights resulting in dark and dangerous streets, and had some of the poorest performing public schools in the city. To day [sic] we have among the lowest crime, the fewest buildings in housing court, lower infant mortality rates, improving schools and new street lights and sufficient lighting on every block in the ward.
CNB ANALYSIS: The 46th Ward is still one of the highest crime areas on the city's north side. Is it the worst? No. Is it as good as it could be? Far from it. Has Shiller had 22 years to make Uptown a neighborhood in which events such as the Leland-Sheridan riot do not happen? Yes, she has. Has she accomplished that? No, she has not. To say that Uptown today is better than it was 22 years ago is true. However, that's a bit like saying that Cambodia is a better place to live today than it was in 1978. Neither is very desirable. Shiller continues:
In each of my five re-election campaigns, the strategy of my opposition has followed a now familiar pattern: attack my efforts at preserving affordable housing and engaging in a goal of development without displacement by repeating a mantra that affordable housing equals crime, and polarizing the community at every opportunity in spite of evidence again and again that each day has brought improvements to the safety of our community.
CNB ANALYSIS: More whining from Shiller, with more self-pity and obfuscation. None of what she writes changes the fact that Uptown is still violent. There are videos to prove it. There are police numbers to prove it. There are 100,000 eyeballs that see it everyday. Yet Shiller dismisses the "discussion about crime and violence" as "emotional, high-pitched and polarizing." She herself is being polarizing in doing so, and she does so in an emotional and high-pitched manner. Shiller, like many politicians, knows where her power base is. It is with the Section 8's, it is with the non-profits, it is with the statists, it is with the Saul Alinsky wannabes. She knows that division is power, and she has cultivated it well in the 46th Ward. Again, she continues:
The media coverage of the Leland/Sheridan event was intensely and overtly personal coverage. With the exception of one television reporter, not one outlet bothered to check the police statistics to actually determine if this fight represented typical or atypical activity. Instead, they ran the video over and over, labeling the fight as a full riot and focusing on my political opponents hounding me at a Chicago’s 2016 Olympic meeting.
CNB ANALYSIS: Hurling more insults for her constituents, Shiller essentially says that the very people who put up with the violence week in and week out must be hysterical and imagining things. She complains that the media labeled "the fight" at Leland and Sheridan "as a full riot and focusing on my political opponents." I'm not sure how Shiller defines "riot," but anybody watching that video would call it such. As for hounding her at the Chicago 2016 meeting, the media was right to report that story. It's not everyday that a group of constituents chases an elected politician out of years of frustration because she has done such a consistently lousy job and been so predictably non-responsive to them. More from Shiller:
At that meeting, media and protesters stood together as I made a statement and took questions. When it became clear that some were not interested in my answers but rather a confrontation I left.
CNB ANALYSIS: Shiller was dodging questions throughout her little press conference, and she became progressively more agitated as it went along. When one of the meeting attendees shouted "Liar!" she abruptly ended the conference and walked off. The person who yelled "Liar" was wrong to have done so, but Shiller showed cowardice by storming away from the microphones. Most politicians would have dismissed the shouted insult and continued. Not Shiller. Instead, she chose to show the world what Uptown already knows: She is an elitist, pompous, cowardly autocrat who does not give a damn about transparency or honest answers. More from Shiller:
As bad as the Sheridan fight was, on any given week, there are far more violent events, including far more arrests by police, in other Chicago communities that have received far less attention – even when there was ample video. What is it about this particular video that caused such great fear in so many people? Clearly it is important to the community because this is where we live. The importance to the media however is more difficult to understand, unless it is driven by other motives.
CNB ANALYSIS: Are there more violent events in Uptown? Sure. Does that, however, excuse the riot at Leland and Sheridan? No, it does not. Here again, Shiller downplays an important event and dismisses her constituents' legitimate concerns. She asks what is was about Joe Gray's video that caused "such great fear." What, she has to ask?!? A bunch of young men throwing bottles and whatever else, brandishing weapons (golf clubs, blunt instruments), and screaming threats at each other should NOT instill fear and concern? Is Shiller serious? Shiller then addressed "solutions" to the problem that she has tried so hard to downplay:
Again, I do not have the solution to urban crime and violence. If someone out there has the magic bullet I’d like to know what it is. But having said that, while guns, and the requisite anger to use them, seem to be in never ending supply, there is no excuse for violence. And it is incumbent upon us to do all we can to curb violence and to give our young people the future they deserve and crave. My staff and I will continue to work closely with the Chicago Police Department to prevent crime and violence.
CNB ANALYSIS: Let's get this straight. Earlier, Shiller wrote that her office "spends more time and resource fighting crime and violence than dealing with any other issue." She reminded us that she's been in office now for 22 years. In spite of all that, she writes "I do not have the solution to urban crime and violence." Nobody has solution, a way to eliminate crime and violence. But there are ways to reduce it, and Shiller has not attempted to implement any of them. She is known for being anti-CAPS. She has resisted police cameras on trouble intersections. She has been unresponsive to constituents' requests to help shut down know drug houses. Shiller throws more obfuscation out when she writes that "guns, and the requisite anger to use them, seem to be in never ending supply, there is no excuse for violence." Guns had nothing to do with the Leland-Sheridan riot, and Shiller shows her ignorance of firearms with what she wrote. One does not need anger to use a gun. If I were defending my life - or yours - and I used a gun to do so, I could do it without anger. As for the "never ending supply" of guns, as she wrote, that seems to put the lie to the useless Chicago anti-handgun laws. Perhaps if Shiller were to advise the many of her power base to stop wearing "Stop Snitching" tee-shirts, and to cooperate more with the police that she pretends to work so closely with, more progress could be made to lower violence in the 46th Ward. More from Shiller:
We will continue to get the minutes from our CAPS meetings and continue to insure appropriate responses from my and other city offices to issues raised. We will continue the improvements that are underway at our local parks. All of our public schools have improved and continue to improve. Support of their efforts will always be a priority.
CNB ANALYSIS: The CAPS meeting minutes are useless unless Shiller reads them, which seems doubtful, and even less so if she doesn't care about them, which seems likely. She alludes to improvements in the parks and schools, but - again - gives no specifics. Once again, however, Shiller misses the point (or purposely dodges it). Uptown and the 46th Ward already enjoy some of the nicest lakefront park space in the world. Lincoln Park, right next door, offers miles of beaches and trees and grass. Regardless of the schools or the parks, again, the fact remains that the Leland-Sheridan riot did happen, another one like it will happen, and violence will continue. All of it unaffected by how pretty the parks may be, or how good the schools that the punks dropped out of may be. Shiller is simply out of touch, not only with her constituents but with reality itself. She continues:
We have no fewer than 25 educational, recreational and not for profit organizations that serve youth and families in our community. They will continue to get my support and advocacy. There is no reason for someone to be fighting on the street threatening the lives of others and their own lives when just a few blocks away they can become a star or a scientist or an athlete or anything they have the talent to be but just don’t know it yet.
CNB ANALYSIS: This is code from Shiller, and a further display of her disconnect from reality. It is code because she's sending a message to her power base, the "educational, recreational and not for profit organizations that serve youth and families in our community. They will continue to get my support and advocacy." They depend on Shiller for funding; she can delay or stop their money flow. She's telling them that if they continue to support her, all will remain as it has been for so long. Shiller again demonstrates how out of touch she is by writing that "when just a few blocks away they can become a star or a scientist or an athlete or anything they have the talent to be but just don’t know it yet." The sad truth is that very few of us will ever become stars or scientists or athletes, and fewer of us still if we are born into the plantation culture that has been so deliberately cultivated by Shiller and her ilk. Have you ever heard Shiller give a speech warning of the horrible effects of unwed teenage motherhood? Have you ever heard Shiller urge people to cooperate with police? Has anybody ever heard Helen Shiller urge a tax cut that would help the working poor keep more of their hard earned money? And again, what does this have to do with the undeniable fact that Shiller has been unresponsive to constituents, anti-police, anti-capitalism, anti-middle class, and that Uptown is more violent than the neighborhoods on its borders? More from Shiller:
For years we have fought for a safe community for everyone. Nothing said by political opportunism can change this. Nevertheless, even with all the improvements we have seen in our community, that it is still necessary for us each to be vigilant is a fact of life we must embrace. I continue to believe that it is possible to maintain a truly diverse community that is safe for all its residents and my staff and I will continue work towards that goal on behalf of all of our residents.
CNB ANALYSIS: Shiller's own self-pitying statement is "political opportunism," albeit poorly executed. She makes an astounding statement in that last paragraph: "I continue to believe that it is possible to maintain a truly diverse community that is safe for all its residents and my staff and I will continue work towards that goal on behalf of all of our residents." First, what does "truly diverse" mean? Second, she seems to be saying that a community can be safe in spite of its diversity, which would seem to be an admission of some kind of racism on Shiller's part. Third, the riot at Leland and Sheridan on August 13, 2009 did not look "truly diverse" at all - it was 100 percent African-American. That's not an indictment of Black people, it's just an accurate observation. (There are plenty of violent gangs made up of white, latino and other groups in many parts of Chicago and America.) The liberal mantra of "diversity" is often injected into a conversation when it has nothing to do with a situation.
There is no lack of diversity in Uptown and the 46th Ward, yet there is plenty of violence. The violence is there not because of the diversity, but in spite of it. Diversity is a neutral, neither good nor bad. Generally, it neither causes nor prevents violence. To inject diversity into this conversation is just more obfuscation by Shiller, another attempt to distract you from reality. Fourth, Shiller writes that she and her staff will "continue work" towards "that goal," but it is not clear what that goal is. Is the goal to "maintain a truly diverse community that is safe for all its residents?" If so, well, that's a worthy goal, but will Shiller's continued attempts to artificially foster diversity through social engineering continue to push safety to the back bench?
RELATED:
Analyzing Helen Shiller's Response to the Uptown Riot Controversy - Mike Doyle
Alderman Shiller's Bloody Hands - Chicago News Bench
Anti-Helen Shiller Campaign Is Go! - Chicago News Bench
Uptown residents pack meeting to address crime - Chi-Town Daily News
Man critically wounded in Uptown shooting - Chicago Sun-Times
Kicking Helen Shiller's Political Corpse - Chicago News Bench
Uptown Erupts in Gang Violence - Uptown Chicago Commission
Ald. Shiller Booed at Wilson Yard Task Force Meeting - Chicago News Bench
Three Shootings In A Week And A Half - Uptown Update
Why Did Ald. Shiller Vouch for This Guy??? - Chicago News Bench
Violence threatens progress in Uptown - Chicago Tribune
Ald. Shiller's Moral Imperative: Ignore Gang Murder - Uptown Update
Ald. Shiller Sounds Off On Vehicle Booting, Not Crime - Uptown Update
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UPDATE: WE WILL HAVE A SCHAKOWSKY TOWNHALL REPORT ON TUESDAY, SEPT. 1ST
REMINDER and ACTION CALL:
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-9th District)
Town Hall Meeting
Monday, August 31
6:30 - 8:00 pm
Niles West High School Auditorium
5701 Oakton Street
Skokie, IL 60077 (see map below or click this link)
Enter school through the main entrance facing Oakton. Arrive early to get a seat.
Related:
How Schakowsky Helped 650 Blue Cross Employees Lose Their Jobs
Video - Obama, Schakowsky Want to Destroy Private Health Insurers
Convicted Felon Attacks Opponents of Obamacare
Astroturfing Jan Schakowsky
Contact Jan Schakowsky
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FINAL UPDATE:
Man shot by cops 'brought it upon himself' - Chicago Breaking News
Note: This incident happened in the 160 block of N. State Street, home to the Chicago Theater, ABC Studios and the large Borders Books, Gene Siskel Film Center and the Lake Street CTA subway station.
Chicago Sun-Times: An armed robber was shot and critically wounded by a police officer in the Loop at State and Randolph this afternoon after the man stabbed the officer, police on the scene told the Chicago Sun-Times. The uniformed officer witnessed a man robbing somebody near the busy intersection and intervened, police on the scene said. The robber turned and stabbed the officer. That officer then shot the man multiple times, police on the scene said....
CBS 2 Chicago:
The shooting took place at around 12:45 p.m. just south of ABC 7 News studios in front of Loehmann's department store, near State and Randolph streets.Witnesses say a heavyset man grabbed a woman and held a knife to a woman's throat. The man then began arguing with police officers. The officers shot the man three times, witnesses said....
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Even as the Obama Administration tries to stoke the overblown Swine Flu "crisis," the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) tells Americans to calm down. Concerned groups, such as the National Vaccine Information Center, warn about the dangers of the swine flu vaccine (videos above and below).
The White House released an idiotic report "from a group of presidential advisers that included a scenario in which as much as half the population could catch the H1N1 virus, and death possibilities ranged from 30,000 to 90,000," according to an August 27 article in the Washington Post.
What the White House DOESN'T tell you is that influenza typically kills around 35,000people every year. Another thing that the White House is not saying is that the real experts, the ones at the CDC, are downplaying Obama's attempts to instill panic, as the Washington Post notes:
"We don't think that's the most likely scenario," CDC flu specialist Anne Schuchat said of the presidential advisers' high-end tally. What is likely: A busy flu season that starts earlier than usual, Schuchat told the Associated Press.
The video below warns people against taking the government-supplied H1N1/Swine Flu vaccination. WATCH IT. Also see Swine Flu Vaccine Should Not Be Given to Children in Schools (CBS News).
RELATED:
The Fake Crises of Global Warming and Swine Flu
Swine Flu? How About These Killers...
No Panic in Rogers Park, Just Stupidity
H1N1 Swine Flu Facts (at http://www.nvic.org/)
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This is a powerful video (in two parts), that should be included in the discussion of proposed government-run health care. The nurse, "L.C," spoke at a Tea Party rally in Scranton , PA on August 21. The description of the video says, "L.C. (a Nurse) brings her expertise on the business end of Healthcare issues our elected 'officials' fail to see and proceeds to other national interest that led to the Tea Parties."
Scranton Tea Party II part A:
Scranton Tea Party II part B:
(Also see this related video.)
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Muhammad Tariq Siddiqui was a major money bundler for Barack Obama and closely associated with the infamous Sunrise Equities scandal in Chicago (see Obama's Sunrise Equities Office).
Lake Effect News, Aug. 26, 2009:
A Cook County Circuit Court judge didn’t buy a politically-connected, West Ridge developer’s argument that he wasn’t properly served in a breach of contract suit.
Judge Bill Taylor of the court’s law division upheld a default judgment against Mohammed Tariq Siddiqui on Tuesday. Taylor also quashed a motion that Siddiqui was not properly served notice of Bridgeview’s complaint that the developer had failed to pay four promissory notes totaling $2.7 million. Full story... 
Prediction: The federal government is already investigating the Sunrise Equities/Salman Ibrahim scandal. Most likely, the feds will let the locals get their own dirty work out of the way, and then pursue Siddiqui in a federal case - with Ibrahim/Sunrise as part of the investigation. However, watch for the Obama connection to be glossed over and suppressed.
RELATED:
Tariq Siddiqui relationship map - Muckety.com
Meet Obama's bundlers Crain's Chicago Business
Chicago News Bench: UPDATED: Obama's Connections to Sunrise Equities
Obama's “Muslim outreach” problems multiply? « RBO
Sweet blog scoop: Obama funder moved after unions complain. - Lynn Sweet
Sunrise Equities Story Might Now Include Murder
The Jihad Invasion of the Western Heartland
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Rich old white man U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) died on Tuesday, August 25, 2009. He was 77. Ted Kennedy was a drunkard and a raging misogynist and comes from a long line of other misogynists. Kennedy died of complications related to brain cancer. To the end, he never sought a public option for his own health care. Instead, he sought out the best in private medical care and was not consulted by a government end-of-life panel. The health care reform that he championed, however, would impose the public "option" on most - if not, ultimately, all - Americans.
Sen. Kennedy was a hypocrite in other ways as well. Although he claimed to be for clean energy, Kennedy and his rich white neighbors fought against the nation's first off-shore windmill project because it would spoil the view from his estate. Greenpeace launched a campaign against Kennedy over the windmill project (see their video).
Ted Kennedy killed a woman on July 18, 1969 when he drove off a bridge after leaving a party. Kennedy swam away, leaving 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne to drown inside the car. She was a campaign worker with brother Robert Kennedy's presidential campaign. Kennedy did not call authorities until ten hours after the incident. (More...)
Kennedy's father, Joseph Kennedy, Sr., made a fortune smuggling contraban into the United States and, later, expressed his admiration of Adolf Hitler. Joseph Kennedy hated Jews.
Related:
[Did] Ted Kennedy deserve his extended cancer care?
Hypocrite Ted Kennedy want[ed] his successor appointed by the Governor, not elected
Ted Kennedy Want[ed] Massachusetts to change law again
Ted Kennedy's Last Will and Testament
Ted Kennedy: Forty Years after Chappaquiddick
Joe Kennedy Pimps for Hugo Chavez
Ted Kennedy Jokes
Ted Kennedy's Yacht Oil Spill Exposed (video)
This just keeps getting richer. Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish sheep shagger who signed off on freeing the Lockerbie bomber actually seems surprised that terrorist nation Libya broke its promise to keep the return off Abdel Baset al-Megrahi quiet. Instead, Libyan leaders personally greeted the bomber as he walked from the airplane to a flowers-bearing crowd of jubilant terrorist sympathizers. According to CBS News:
Scotland's justice minister is standing by his decision to free the Lockerbie bomber, but says Libya broke a promise by giving the convicted terrorist a hero's homecoming welcome. Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill says the warm welcome for Abdel Baset al-Megrahi breached assurances from Libyan authorities that the return would be low-key.
Speaking of breached assurances, weren't the families of the 270 dead victims of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 promised justice? Yes, I believe they were.
Related:
Fury Grows Over Release of Lockerbie Convict - NY Times
Boycott Scotland and the United Kingdom - boycottscotland.com
Boycott Scotland on Facebook
Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 web site
Petitions Online:
Boycott Scotland for releasing Megrahi, Lockerbie Bomber
Scottish petition to reject the decision to release Al-Megrahi
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