Write a caption for this photo of Rahm Emanuel (click it to enlarge it). This is a funny photo that deserves a funny caption about a funny man running for mayor in a funny town.

That's where you come in, Dear Funny Reader. Leave your funny suggestions in a comment on this post. The reader who writes funniest caption (in my opinion) will win the opportunity to qualify for future caption challenges, my appreciation, and the adoration of dozens of other readers!

The snapshot is from Rahm Emanuel's own photo album on Facebook, where the caption explains, "Rahm speaks with employees and parents at Lane Tech High School before the start of their annual 8th Grade Open House. November 7th, 2010." You can see Rahm's entire "November 2010" photo album by clicking here.

Last week, I was clinging to the edge of a cliff, looking into the abyss. Two years into a fruitless job hunt, my bank account was nearly empty. This story is all too familiar to all too many people, even in the best of economic times, but especially in the current financial malaise. I did not know how I would pay my rent, let alone eat, after December 1. I felt like a man who had been sentenced to hang at dawn, and the horizon was growing lighter by the moment.

UPDATE, December 20: Things are still very, very tight. Once again, I am on the edge of the cliff. No job, no money. Please pray for me, friends.

While I am certainly not out of the woods yet, I was given a very brief reprieve. The generosity of friends, most of whom I have never met or will ever meet, has given me a second lease on life. After much praying, worrying and more praying, I felt I had no choice but to make a plea for help.
My heartfelt thanks go out to those who, in the past several days, have stepped forward to so generously help me in my hour of need. Whatever I write here, in the way of thanks, simply cannot be adequate, for words cannot adequately convey my gratitude. I would like to share the story of what happened.

Several months ago, a business owner in the western suburbs of Chicago hired me as an independent contractor to do some work for him related to improving his websites’ visibility and also to write some video scripts. The verbal agreement was that he would pay me $3,000 as a retainer, which he paid, plus $2,000 per month thereafter for the project. During this time, I took a new apartment. I provided him with outlines and plans for a social media strategy, as well as several 30-second video scripts. His response was positive and enthusiastic, but he mysteriously stopped communicating with me. My email, phone calls and Facebook messages were ignored. He never paid me anything after the retainer and did not respond to my invoice. That’s why I was suddenly left high and dry.

I made my first plea for financial aid via Facebook on November 23 and was amazed that several Facebook friends made donations totaling over $200.00 over the next several days. Facebook being what it is, however, my posting was quickly buried under hundreds of others and essentially forgotten. Grateful for the help I had already received from generous friends, I nevertheless realized that it was not enough to meet my urgent need for sufficient funds for rent, food and CTA fare through December.

On Nov. 27, I decided I had nothing to lose by making the same plea on my own blog, Chicago News Bench. As an afterthought, I shared the link to that blog post with a friend in New York, one of the geniuses of parody and satire at iOwnTheWorld.com (IOTW).

I wrote, “Sadly, it has come to this,” and included the link to the post on my blog. Minutes later, BFH wrote back; he said he would cross post it to IOTW. “Thanks,” I wrote back, not really knowing what to expect as a result.

It should be pointed out that IOTW has a huge readership nationwide. Every one of their posts receives a large number of comments, and IOTW commenters are among the sharpest, funniest and hip on the Internet. After this past weekend, I now know that they are also the kindest, most generous and sympathetic in the world. IOTW has been gracious enough to link to Chicago News Bench often in the past, and I've frequently enjoyed commenting on their posts, so there was already a feeling of community.

Within 30 minutes of the posting on IOTW, more than $200.00 in contributions came to me from IOTW readers. This continued for hours, with more than 30 individual IOTW readers making contributions in amounts ranging from $5.00 to $100.00 each over the next 24 hours. I was blown away. Yesterday, on Nov. 28, another six IOTW readers made contributions totaling over $130.00.

The IOTW readers are people I have never met. I probably will never meet any of them. They are people who do not know me, but felt the call to help a fellow IOTW fan and friend. It hit me that IOTW is not merely a satiric, snarky, funny-as-heck website - it is a community in every sense of the word. In another time and place, I’m convinced that those IOTW readers would have come over to help me rebuild my barn after a storm blew it over. The same, of course, must be said about those of my Facebook friends who stepped up. Special thanks to friends on Facebook and to the readers and operators of iOwnTheWorld. May God bless each and every one of them.

All in all, enough was raised within five days that I can pay the rent, eat and get a train and bus pass for December, all of which makes it possible for me to continue my job search. I’m not out of the woods yet, but this has given me hope and sustenance.

The experience of the past two months of financial stress and the generosity of good people has been life changing. More on that soon, but let me end by urging each of you to put a dollar into that homeless person’s cup when you pass him or her on the street. If you have a friend, relative or neighbor who is in financial distress, please do what you can for them. If you yourself are in need of help, do not be afraid to ask for it - you might be surprised by how generous others can be when asked.

“If among you, one of your brothers should become poor, in any of your towns within your land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be." - Deuteronomy 15:7-8

The following post was originally published on Nov. 27, 2010. Please see the followup post, "Thank You, Thank You, Thank You."

November 27, 2010 - I need your help to prevent me from becoming homeless in December. As you can imagine, this is not an easy thing to ask, especially in such a public manner -- but I am left with no choice. (Update, Dec. 20: Money and time are running out yet again. No job prospects for this over-50 guy.)

Like so many Americans, I have been looking for work for about two years but, times being as they are, it's rough. A freelance gig I had in October ended suddenly, leaving me in a very tight spot, my back against the wall, rug pulled out from under me. If you can spare the small cost of a Starbucks ($3.00 to $5.00), please click on the PayPal Button at the top right of this blog to donate easily. You could help me to cover my December rent, keep the lights on, and eat while I continue to job hunt. Time is of the essence and your help is needed now - it takes about 3 or 4 days for PayPal funds to transfer to my bank, and December 6th is when my landlord will come a'knocking. God bless you, and thanks in advance for your help.

As I said, I don't I haven't much time - or any choice. I thank you, in advance, from the bottom of my heart for your help. Click the ATM button (top right) to be taken to a PayPal page, where you can safely use a major credit card to donate.

This is the best list of suggested ways to help homeless I've run across. I found this list of 35 ways to help the homeless at JustGive.org. It is something we should all be aware of and think about more. Please share this quick list with everyone you know, please: It just might save a life.

A more detailed version (the original) exists and is also a must-read. JustGive.org acknowledges that the list was "Reprinted with generous permission of Rabbi Charles A. Kroloff, author of 54 Ways You Can Help The Homeless." Rabbi Kroloff's book can be read for free here: http://www.earthsystems.org/ways.

November 23, 2010 - North Korea shelled a South Korean island (Chicago time), killing at least two S. Korean marines and injuring others. At least three civilians, living near the military base, were also injured, and more than 60 houses are said to have been damaged. S. Korea fired back. Now, some fear the possibility of war with North Korea, which probably has 6 to 8 nuclear bombs. Some people also fear the possibility of N. Korea being destabilized because that might open the door for a takeover by China. SEE VIDEOS BELOW.

To that I say, "So what?" Ask yourself this: Which poses the greater threat to South Korea, or to the stability of the region? Seems simple enough. Let the "destabilization" efforts begin. They would only lead, in the long run, to more stability if the world stands back and lets China move into N. Korea. The long-suffering people of North Korea can only do better under Chinese protection. God knows anything would be an improvement over the lunatic dictatorship they have now.

RELATED:
South Koreans worried after North Korea attack‎ on island BBC
North Korea and South Korea Exchange Fire... ABC News

First, let me say that I like William Kelly. That's why I warned him on October 15 to not file charges against CBS2 reporter Jay Levine for alleged assault. I told Kelly that no reasonable judge would believe that Kelly actually felt that he was in physical danger when Levine told Kelly he would "deck" him if Kelly didn't stop interrupting him and other real reporters while they were trying to interview Rahm Emanuel on October 15.

Kelly sent an email news release out at 1:06 p.m. on Oct. 15, excitedly telling people, "I filed a police report and signed an arrest warrant against Jay Levine for assault. The Chicago police have already reviewed the video and agreed that an assault was committed." Apparently, nobody told Kelly that very few cops know as much about law as any lawyer does.

Moments after receiving his news release, I emailed Kelly and advised him that what he was doing was foolish. He did not agree, sadly, and felt that his video "proved" that Jay Levine "assaulted" him. I told him, warned him, that the whole thing was a huge error judgment and would only make him look foolish and petty. I hate to say it, but I was right. The judge agreed with me. Why? Because the judge knows more about Illinois assault law than the cops do. Bill Kelly ended up wasting the court's time, Jay Levine's time, and might end up being counter sued for defamation - not to mention legal costs. Was it a crass political publicity stunt, or naive self deception? I prefer to believe it was the latter, but many others will long suspect the former. (Private Note to Bill Kelly: You should have listened to your own Rasputin. There's a reason why you used to call me that, you know.)

KEEP FIGHTING, TEA PARTIERS! In fact, it will never be over as long as there are people who want to impose socialism upon the United States. You know who I mean: BarneyFrank, Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, and on and on. We won a huge battle on November 2, but there are many battles yet to fight. Here's one of them, brought to you by Americans For Prosperity (the group that Barack Obama loves to hate!). AFP is calling it the "November Speaks Event" and it will take place on November 15 on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Attention Illinois: Be sure to visit AFP's "Don't Cheat! Give Mark Kirk His Seat!" web page.

The AFP website says, "The Lame Duck Session is now a reality, with both the House and the Senate set to return Nov. 15th for a one week session, followed by a one week break for Thanksgiving, and at least one more week at the beginning of December. AFP activists will travel to the nation’s capital to tell Congress that November has spoken and Washington can’t ignore the American people in a lame duck session."

The November Speaks Event on Capitol Hill will take place on Monday, Nov. 15 at Noon and will feature U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann and other speakers. If you can't make the event in person, click here join the virtual march on Washington and let Congress know you won’t let them ignore the election! Tweet

Chicago News Bench's new headquarters are secure against any kind of conventional attack -- and more. The facility features triple-hardened electronics to withstand an EMP, a nearby atomic weapons explosion or any magnitude of solar flare, SEIU protest or MoveOn.org boycott.

Click on the images to enlarge them.

Our small, custom built nuclear power facility and a self-sustaining hydroponic farm underground can, theoretically, keep the headquarters running autonymously for up to 17 years. In addition, we have several helipads and a 2-kilometer landing strip out back.

These photos were taken just outside of one of the perimeter checkpoints. We can only tell you that the new HQ is somewhere west of Reston, Virginia.

If we get more specific about the location, we'd we'd have to send someone out to kill you. So, you know, don' t even ask.

Photo manipulation by T.H. Mannis

Al Gore, the man who would be king, is losing his empire. It was an empire built on convenient lies, and it is falling due to the relentless assaults of inconvenient truths.

More and more rational people seem to be coming around to the idea that Al Gore is - please pardon the pun - full of of hot air. The worldwide "Global Warming" scam (perhaps you call it "Climate Change") has been thoroughly debunked over the past year, what with the "Climategate" scandal blowing up spectacularly. Now, finally, the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), one of the pillars of Al Gore's global con game is crumbling, and it's crumbling quickly.

My good friend Warner T. Huston writes about it today at Big Journalism:

"Al Gore’s much ballyhooed Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) has recently announced that it will no longer be engaging in carbon trading, an activity that was the sole purpose that it was created. This is an utter failure of purpose in global warming hysteria yet the Old Media is almost completely silent on this colossal failure.... The main reason that the CCX has failed, of course, is because the world has cooled for global warming. With the recent election results in the U.S. cap and trade is as much as a dead issue and even other nations are shying away from Kyoto-styled global warming laws that tend to crush economies while offering little by way of global warming fixes." Full Article...

Isn't that delicious? As Warner points out, the old, traditional, Left-leaning news media are doing all they can to avoid reporting this story. No surprise there.

According to the Green Street Journal, a major cause of the CCX's failing is a desire by many of its clientele to walk away from it.

The Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) operates what it calls a voluntary but legally binding greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme in which companies have to meet annual reduction targets, or a cap. Those below the targets can sell surplus allowances or bank them.

But Jeff Sprecher, chief executive of the InternationalExchange and CCX’s owner, told the Financial Times that participants in the CCX’s cap-and-trade scheme wanted to pull out.

“The bulk of the users have said to us that they really don’t want to continue to trade voluntarily in the absence of any credit for their work by the current administration,” the newspaper quoted him as saying. Full Article...

Keep in mind that those "users" are people who jumped into their deals with CCX with great enthusiasm. We must assume that they did it for one of two reasons, or a combination of both: To make a profit, and/or to promote an idealistic belief that they could affect climate change. Shattered illusions all around, broken promises for everyone.

The whole affair, of course, is a wobbly house of cards. Like any con game, not everyone is fooled. Word gets around the neighborhood to be on the lookout for the con man. Those who bought into the con man's false promises soon realize that they've been taken for fools.

American Thinker's Randy Fardal today noted the fraudulent nature of the cap and trade con game:

The owner of the US’s only nationwide cap-and-trade market has signaled the death of the seven-year-old industry, saying companies were no longer interested in trading carbon emissions credits in the absence of government legislation.

Virtually nothing the eco-capitalists produce creates wealth for society, including their carbon exchanges. They are not participating in free-market capitalism; it’s just parasitic political capitalism. And since most of what they do is based on the AGW scam, one could argue that many of them are guilty of misrepresentation or outright fraud. Full Article...

Barbara Hollingsworth also wrote a good piece at the Washington Examiner today, with the clever headline "Like a puff of smoke, Chicago Climate Exchange just fades away." She wrote:

In August, The Examiner reported that the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) was laying off employees.

Two months later, drowned out by the hubbub of the mid-term elections, came an Oct. 21 announcement that CCX would end carbon trading which, as PajamasMedia’s Steve Milloy pointed out, was “the only purpose for which it was founded.”

Funded by the left-wing Joyce Foundation, whose former board included none other than future president Barack Obama, Northwestern University professor Richard Sandor set up CCX as a “voluntary” method of trading “carbon credits.” It was envisioned as the main clearinghouse for what would eventually have been a $10 trillion decidedly non-voluntary market had cap-and-trade legislation passed the Senate as it did the House. Full Article...

What does all of this mean to you and me? Hollingsworth snarkily notes this at the end of her article: "Now that CCX itsef is disappearing like a puff of smoke, we can all breathe out carbon dioxide a lot easier."

Perhaps, but there are still the drunken Global Warming Kool-Aid drinkers among us who will continue to push for cap and trade legislation and related measures in their quest to control your home thermostats and deny you your choice of light bulbs.

What's frightening is that the con game almost worked. A few inconvenient and unanticipated twists in the time-space continuum got in the way of CCX's plans to conquer the world. "But a funny thing happened on the way to the CCX’s highly anticipated looting of taxpayers and consumers," wrote Greg Pollowitz today at National Review Online, "cap-and-trade imploded following its high water mark of the House passage of the Waxman-Markey bill. With ongoing economic recession, Climategate, and the tea party movement, what once seemed like a certainty became anything but." Tweet


RELATED:
Chill for Chicago Climate Exchange as carbon trading collapses‎ Crain's Chicago Business
Chicago Climate Exchange pares more jobs‎ Crain's Chicago Business

Our new staff car seats up to five and goes from zero to 60 in under six minutes! Click photo to enlarge it.

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- CHICAGO - Joel Pollak, rising conservative superstar, was defeated on Nov. 2, 2010 in his bid for Congress by Jan Schakowsky (D-IL). The video below shows Pollak answering questions at a small gathering of Tea Party Patriots in downtown Chicago after an incredible 10-minute speech (see the full speech at "Pollak Tells Tea Party To Stay The Fight..."). The video doesn't look so great, but the sound is good and the words are clearly heard -- and they are words for the ages.

Also see these two recent articles by Joel Pollak: "Schakowsky Invokes Anti-Orthodox Stereotypes" at American Thinker, and "Why The Tea Party Is Here To Stay" at BigGovernment.com.

Nov. 7, 2010 - Chicago - An extra-alarm fire ruined a multiple unit apartment building in the 6600 block of N. Newgard Avenue in Rogers Park on Chicago's north side. (See video below or on YouTube.) About 100 firefighters responded to the blaze at the intersection of N. Newgard and W. North Shore around 12:45 p.m. Nobody was injured, although one firefighter was taken to a hospital in good condition for smoke inhalation and is expected to be released this evening.

Chicago police detectives and bomb and arson personnel were investigating the scene of the fire after it had been extinguished.

A resident of the building told Chicago News Bench that he lived on the ground floor. "My electronics are probably all ruined from smoke and water," he said. He and 54 other residents were hoping for Red Cross and city services to help them find temporary lodgings.

This is the second extra-alarm apartment fire in the area encompassing Edgewater and Rogers Park in less than a month. On October 17, fire gutted a residential building at 1241-43 W. Granville Avenue, just a few blocks south of today's fire on N. Newgard. Tweet

This weekend, you can help get a great aldermanic candidate on the ballot. Join Michael Carroll on Saturday, November 6 anytime between 9:00 a.m. and Noon and on Sunday, November 7 between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. at 4700 N Sheridan Road.

To get Michael on the ballot, he needs to get enough signatures from registered 46th Ward voters. That's where your help is so important. If you're able to, please help Michael by knocking on doors, stopping into stores, restaurants, and canvassing the neighborhood to collect signatures! (It's a great way to meet new people and learn more about Uptown!)

Michael Carroll is committed to protecting and empowering the residents of the 46th Ward and as Alderman he will bring innovative and practical ideas to City Council.

The first step towards a better 46th Ward begins with making sure every resident has the opportunity to vote for Michael on Feb 22, 2011! Only a few hours of your time can make it happen! For more information, or to RSVP, email Michael@Carroll46.com or phone 773-627-1410. Tweet

ATTENTION FOOTBALL FANS!
Spend the morning collecting signatures, then go back to Michael's campaign office to enjoy big-screen football! Watch the Northwestern Wildcats play the Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday, and watch da Chicago Bears are go up against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

Chicago - November 5, 2010 - He lost his election bid against Rep. Jan Schakowsky, but Joel Pollak will not fade away. On the day after the election, Joel Pollak spoke to a small gathering of Tea Party activists in downtown Chicago. He packed a lot into a 10-minute speech, including multiple accusations of bad behavior by Schakowsky (a shorter version can be seen here). He also said that the Tea Party movement is indispensable and must remain vigilant in its battle for openness and fiscal responsibility by our elected officials. Although Pollak lost the election, still win for having him around and ready to carry on the fight. The full speech is in our own video, below, with excerpts following underneath. Tweet



Excerpted Remarks:

"Schakowsky told her email subscribers that her victory represents a victory over the Tea Party, and they're not going to let the Tea Party take root in Illinois. She obvioiusly doesn't know the Tea Party started right here in Chicago, a few blocks away.

"She is a public official that is going to be followed, people are going to watch everything she does. And by the way, that process is not over. You heard some of the stories about things that happened in the precincts, we have evidence that she was electioneering at some of the polling places. More than that, we think we have grounds for ethics complaints going forward about some of the things she did to try to win the election, like helping contributors and all their friends get relief from foreclosures from their banks, like getting last minute funding for a school in Norrigde that had been asking for the funding for soundproofing for ten years and finally, seven days before the election, they got it.

"We have evidence we have gathered that we are going to pursue, and the next two years are not going to be easy for Jan Schakowsky because we just can't stand for that anymore. And, this is not ending here. It's not ending in our district and it's not ending in the rest of the country."

"There's a new book out by Stanley Kurtz ["Radical In Chief"] that documents President Obama's early years in the Chicago far Left. That has some very interesting things to say not just about President Obama but Jan Schakowsky and some of her connections as well.

"I want to congratulate everyone in this room because the Tea Party volunteers in this city did what nobody across the nation had been able to do when it came to Shorebank. We stopped Jan Schakowsky from bailing out Shorebank with a single penny of federal taxpayer dollars. The bailout stopped here. [applause]

"And now that the bailout has stopped the investigation has begun. The Inspector General of the FDIC is now looking into Schakowsky and Sheila Bair, the head of the FDIC, and the Obama Administration to find out how it was that this particular bank got all this attention, how it was that Jan Schakowsky and others were able to twist Wall Street arms and make them deposit - I believe it was 150 million dollars - so that this old team of managers who drove the bank into the ground could buy up the good assets and leave the taxpayers with the bad assets. It's never happened before and the Inspector General is looking into it. Partly because of an lllinois member of Congress, Judy Biggert. She was the one who really took up our cause, and that's because of the pressure that you applied. The bailouts stopped here. It started with Rick Santelli but it also started with you."

I love iOwnTheWorld.com. Why? Because they're craaaazy, but ingeniously so. Count on them always for cutting edge political satire and graphics, like this one by buddy "Irony Curtain," portraying Nancy Pelosi as a witch.

Click the image or here to be magically swept away to the full-sized original at IOTW. Oh, while you're there, check out a post titled "Take Your Olive Branch and Shove It, Democrats." That was written by another IOTW buddy, "Big Fur Hat." Yah, they all have bizarre pseudonyms at IOTW, but that's part of the fun.

The following is a "final" message from Joel Pollak, his "thank you" note to voters and supporters in his battle against Rep. Jan Schakowsky in Illinois's 9th Cong. District. Pollak is a class act and ran a brilliant campaign. Unfortunately, Joel Pollak lost. Less than one in three voters in that district, apparently, are rational enough to understand how radically socialist Jan Schakowsky is, or how destructive her policies have been.

UPDATE, Nov. 5, 2010: (Video) Pollak Tells Tea Party To Stay The Fight; Slams Schakowsky

That said, we look forward to Pollak's next political move (I'm betting there will be one). He's established himself as a first-rate campaigner, a deep thinker with a firm grasp of the issues, and one helluva nice guy. So while Joel Pollak has written us a "thank you" note, it is we who owe him a debt of gratitude for having the courage to take on a battle that he must surely have known he had little chance of winning. We thank Joel Pollak for speaking truth to power, challenging the status quo, shaking up and waking up a lot of the voters in the 9th District, and for the opportunity to know that young people of his quality and stature walk the land. Thank you, Joel Pollak, for giving us hope.

Joel Pollak's "Thank You" message, followed by his concession speech:

This morning, I woke up early to meet commuters at the train station, as I have done for the past five months. My wife Julia joined me at the Park Ridge Metra--not to ask for votes, but to thank everyone for their support.

It was wonderful to see familiar faces, and share smiles and hugs. I am so proud of what our campaign has done for the people of our district. Winning would have been sweeter, but running has been a great blessing!

I never imagined that by standing up to Barney Frank last April at Harvard that I would have the chance to stand up for the people of our district, and for so many Americans. Our campaign has given courage to those who were once afraid to raise their voices. We have not just been part of a national movement; we helped create it and push it forward. I am so grateful for what we have achieved--and for what is yet to come!

I want to thank each and every person who has helped our campaign--going door to door, making phone calls, stuffing envelopes, hosting coffees, putting up signs (and now taking them down again), and just being there for us.

I also want to thank all those who donated to our campaign, and made it possible for us to provide the strongest and best alternative for our community. You gave so generously, and our democracy is stronger for it!

There are a few regrets--aside from the result. This morning, the hosts on WIND 560 AM asked me how my conversation with Jan Schakowsky went last night. The truth, I told them, was that I hadn’t spoken with her at all. Our campaign called hers twice, then I left a message conceding the election. There was no return call, no acknowledgment of the choice made by over 50,000 people in the 9th congressional district.

It was, unfortunately, a fitting end to Schakowsky’s campaign.

I respect the choice made by two-thirds of the voters, and I respect the effort made by my opponent to earn their trust. Yet I do not respect--nor should we tolerate--the means by which she sought it. I am less concerned about the false and negative mailings, the last-minute funding for long-neglected local needs, and the behind-the-scenes political maneuvers than I am about the clear ethical violations she committed in this election.

In September, Schakowsky claimed credit for saving Devon Avenue from “going dark” by stopping foreclosures by United Central Bank. The reality is that she intervened at the behest of influential political contributors who were responsible for multiple loans, few of which involved property on Devon. In my view, Schakowsky violated the ethics rules of the U.S. House of Representatives. I will continue to pursue that complaint.

Yesterday, Schakowsky electioneered inside several polling places inside the district, handing out candy to election judges and greeting voters inside the “campaign free zone.” She even discussed helping an election judge obtain a congressional internship. That is simply unethical, and possibly illegal. Her behavior did not swing the result, but showed a clear disregard for the integrity, privacy, and fairness of the electoral process.

Then there is the ShoreBank scandal, which reinforced the idea that Chicago politicians exist to reward their political cronies and contributors. Our campaign succeeded in stopping a federal or state bailout of ShoreBank, but not an insider buyout by Wall Street firms under pressure from Schakowsky. The Inspector General of the FDIC is already investigating, and I intend to provide whatever assistance I can to the inquiry.

These ethical concerns remain, even after all the votes have been counted. In the days ahead, as we wind up our operation and prepare for the next challenge, I will continue to fight corruption, to stand up for the people of the 9th congressional district, and to be a voice in support of the new leadership our country has elected. We have not brought about a fresh start--not yet--yet we have given our country a fighting chance at renewal.

Below, I have included the published version of my concession speech from last night. Thank you to all who stayed to celebrate with us, even after a long day and a difficult outcome!

I have not yet made a decision about running in 2012, yet I have decided to keep our campaign’s infrastructure going. We will stay in touch, and we will let you know when we have decided to take the next step, as well as what that next step will be.

For now, I wish to offer my deepest thanks once again for your devoted help and friendship throughout this wonderful campaign!

And for the many political struggles that lie ahead, here and elsewhere, I offer a passage from the Bible that has given me strength and comfort often throughout this campaign:

“When...you see horse and chariot--a people more numerous than you--you shall not fear them, for the Lord your G-d is with you...” (Deuteronomy 20:1)

With best regards,

Joel

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Concession Speech - Joel Pollak - November 2, 2010 - Skokie Holiday Inn

Ladies and gentlemen: Thank you all for all that you have done. Tonight’s result is not what we hoped to achieve, but this campaign has been all--or almost all--that we hoped to create. I have called Rep. Jan Schakowsky to congratulate her on her victory. She campaigned hard, and worked to earn the trust of our district for another term. I did make clear that I objected to some of her tactics. That is a subject for another night.

Tonight, across our state and our nation, voters are repudiating the radical agenda that this Congress enacted. That struggle is not over. We cannot allow our government to keep expanding its control of our economy. We cannot allow our government to spend our nation into financial collapse. We cannot allow our government to undermine the security of our democratic allies by attempting to appease our authoritarian enemies.

There are many hopeful candidates throughout America that are celebrating tonight. There are many that join us in our disappointment. But we have all been part of an historic effort by the American people to restore the values of our Constitution and the institutions of our democracy. We have elected new leaders who will represent the people to Washington, and not Washington to the people. That is cause to celebrate.

We have much to celebrate in our own campaign as well. We smashed all previous fundraising efforts in our district, by nearly 10 to 1. We recruited more volunteers and built a bigger online campaign than any campaign had done here before. Most of all, we provided a real choice to the people of our district--and a real voice. We spoke directly to the people of our district, when the local media would not convey our message.

We showed that there is a political cost to siding with radical organizations like J Street. We exposed corruption across Chicago and prevented a bailout--the only campaign to have done so, anywhere in America. We listened to people who had never been heard before--and we helped them hold their representative accountable. This campaign was not a contest of personalities, but a contest of ideas. I am proud of it--and proud of you.

I am so grateful to the many thousands of people who contributed to our effort and lent a hand. I would especially like to thank Alan Dershowitz, Paul Ryan, Vivica A. Fox, Tevi Troy, and Gary Sinise for lending their voices to our effort. I would like to thank the many volunteers who worked so hard alongside us each and every day. And I would like to thank my outstanding, inspiring campaign staff. You have honored yourselves tonight.

Most of all, I would like to thank my parents, Raymond and Naomi, and especially my wife, Julia. This campaign involved so many sacrifices, and she bore them with strength and courage. She is my Airman--always ready to face the greatest challenge to defend the greatest principles. She is true to the heroism of her Hebrew namesake, Yael. Thank you again, to all who fought alongside us for the fresh start that our district deserves .

November 3, 2010 - For Chicago, "election season" is not over! The mayoral and aldermanic elections are just around the corner in February, 2011.

Tonight is a good opportunity for voters in Chicago's 46th Aldermanic Ward to meet candidate Michael Carroll. With an (optional) adult beverage in hand, you can ask Michael about the issues facing the ward and the city as a whole.

It all happens at Nick's Uptown, 4015 N. Sheridan (just north of Irving Park) at 6:30 p.m. this evening. ) Click the image for more info.)

If you're not able to make it to the forum tonight, Michael will gladly come to you to answer your questions and address your concerns about the future leadership of the ward and the city.

Visit Michael's website today for even more information about this important election next February.

Chicago - Baxter Swilley is running for Lieutenant Governor in Illinois. He is the running mate of Scott Lee Cohen, the political naif who is running for Governor. Both are running as "independents." How funny that is.

Neither man is politically independent; the label is the byproduct of the way they registered as candidates.

Cohen, you'll recall, is the hapless boob who actually won the Democrat primary race for Lt. Governor and was summarily forced off the ticket by the Quinn-Madigan-Machine forces a week later. Rather than fight like a man, Cohen backed down in tears. Independent? Remember that he ran as a Democrat in February. To this day, he will tell you that he is "a Democrat to the core." Forever, he will be remembered as the gutless wonder who allowed himself to be publicly compromised by the power elite. (If that's the kind of guy you want as your governor, go ahead and vote for him.)

Cohen's running mate Baxter Swilley, 34, is a bit more complicated. His qualifications to be the Lt. Governor are slim indeed. He was Cohen's downstate coordinator in the Lt. Governor primary race, which seems to be the best reason yet given publicly by Cohen for selecting him as his running mate. It's a thin qualification at best.

Perhaps Swilley's best "qualification," and possibly the reason he was chosen, is that Swilley was once the Political Director for Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL).

Back in March, after Cohen dramatically flushed his political future down the toilet, Swilley was busy up in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood organizing a Coffee Party chapter. Remember them, the counter to the Tea Party movement? It's okay if you don't. Not many people do. As with the rest of the Coffee Party chapters around the country, the one in Rogers Park has been spectacularly flacid.

Another spectacular Swilley failure: He founded the committee called Citizens for 2016 whose mission is to raise public support for the Olympics in Chicago. You remember that the vast majority of Chicagoans were against bringing the Olympics to Chicago. Not Swilley. His Democrat masters had a lot of personal gain to be gotten from the Olympics, and he jumped up to front a pro-Olympics committee for them. Watch an amusing video interview in which Swilley discusses Citizens for 2016.

Swilley has been, and remains, a busy Democrat operative. On March 11, Chicago News Bench wrote the following about Swilley's long history in the liberal progressive Democrat trenches:

He was behind Citizens for 2016, a group that supported Mayor Daley's bid to bring the Olympics to Chicago. He was the Political Director for the John Edwards-Campaign Organization - Missouri, where he is listed under the "Edwards for President, Inc. Missouri Leadership."

His short bio summary there says that his experience "includes political director for US Representative Jan Schakowsky and campaign manager of Jackson, MS Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr.'s 2001 re-election campaign." (Harvey Johnson was the first Black mayor of Jackson.)Swilley has also worked for U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Chicago, a former Black Panther. Oh, and Scott Lee Cohen, who won the Illinois Democrat primary for Lt. Governor in February, 2010 but was forced out of the race by the Illinois Democrat Party.

Swilley was Cohen's downstate coordinator and spokesman. He's been a busy boy.In 2002, as Schakowsky’s Political Director, Swilley was instrumental in creating a 2,500 person field organization to designed to give Democrats a landslide win that November. (Source: http://www.hicsocial.org/Social2003Proceedings/Judith-Rae%20E.%20Ross%202.pdf, pg 13.)

What we have in Baxter Swilley, is a devoted Democrat operative who moves around from state to state, organizing locals in "grassroots" efforts even though he himself is an outsider. Originally from Maywood, a suburb 13 miles due west downtown Chicago, Swilley embedded himself in Chicago's north side in Rogers Park in 2001. That's the same year, not coincidentally, that Jan Schakowsky hired Swilley as her Political Director. Full article...

Does Baxter Swilley still sound like an "independent" to you? And do you believe that the weak-willed, no-spine, gutless, politically naive Scott Lee Cohen would remain "independent" if, God forbid, he is elected governor? Or do you think it's possible that Swilley would be pulling his strings on behalf of the uber-liberal Schakowsky?

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Is Baxter Swilley the Illinois equivalent of Admiral Stockdale? Chicago Argus

November 1, 2010 - Chicago - The story about the explosive-filled printer cartridge terror plot from Yemen is still developing. On Friday it was learned that improvised explosive devices were addressed to some synagogues in Chicago and were on cargo planes bound for Chicago. This morning, Chicago News Bench (CNB) spoke to Chicago Rabbi Michael R. Zedek (photo) by phone as he was visiting family in Pennsylvania.

“Some sources said the synagogues were in the East Rogers Park and Lakeview neighbourhoods. One of the congregations, Or Chadash, serves gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Jews,” reported the Herald Scotland on October 31.

Today, however, authorities in the U.S. and in allied nations are saying that they believe the bomb makers’ intention was to damage the planes, not the synagogues. This begs a still-unanswered questions: Why address them to actual synagogues in Chicago, and why the specific ones that they chose?

There is some confusion in the media about the synagogues, which have been referred to by many news outlets as “the synagogues were in the East Rogers Park and Lakeview.” They are Congregation Emanuel and Congregation Or Chadash, and both are in Edgewater, a neighborhood on Chicago’s northern lakefront, the 48th Aldermanic Ward. The foreign press can be forgiven this, but local newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times have no good excuse (and too often mislabel neighborhoods).

Both congregations are housed in Congregation Emanuel’s synagogue building at 5959 N. Sheridan Road in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood. Or Chadash has shared the facility for about seven years. Because the Or Chadash and Emanuel share the same building, mail deliveries to either go to the same address.

Rabbi Zedek said that one of the suspicious packages was addressed to Congregation Or Chadash. According to the Herald Scotland report, “The terrorist bomb found at East Midlands Airport on Friday could have blown a plane right out of the sky, Home Secretary Theresa May admitted yesterday after an emergency meeting of the Cobra crisis response team. May said the device was a ‘viable’ weapon that could have been used to target the aircraft itself, rather than the Jewish-American group in Chicago to which it was addressed.”

It is still not known for certain whether the intended targets were synagogues or airplanes. One theory is that this may have been a practice run by terrorists to test security measures in preparation for an actual attack in the future.

The emphasis of the story has shifted away from the Chicago synagogues. Authorities are now warning religious institutions nationwide to beware of suspicious packages with no return address on them.

The shifted emphasis does not make Rabbi Michael Zedek any less uncomfortable with the situation. Rabbi Zedek has been with Congregation Emanuel in Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood for around six years. Congregation Emanuel has about 400 member families. The recent bomb scare is not the first time that the congregation has felt threatened.

On August 3, 2009, for example, the synagogue was targeted for a weird protest by the Westboro Baptist Church. That was a non-violent event, and not the usual type of harassment lobbed at Emanuel.

“We’ve had some other past events, but nothing out of the ordinary,” Rabbi Zedek told CNB today. “Graffiti, some hate mail. The only suspicious packages we’ve received up to now have contained hate mail.”

Congregation Emanuel enjoys strong support from neighbors of all faiths, and hundreds turned out to counterprotest the Westboro Baptists last year. (See slideshow)

CNB spoke with Congregation Or Chadash’s Rabbi Larry Edwards on Sunday, Oct. 31. He said that he does not believe that the sexual orientation of congregation members would have been a factor in deciding to address a bomb package to Or Chadash. Rabbi Zedek agreed with that notion.

CNB asked Rabbi Zedek if he thought whether it would seem that bringing down a dozen or more aircraft in a coordinated attack would have a more stunning terroristic effect than would attacking a few synagogues in Chicago. “Yes,” he said.

Asked why the bomb plotters might have targeted Or Chadash in Chicago, Rabbi Zedek said, “I don’t know anybody’s motives. We received a first warning at noon Friday that were suspicious packages going to Jewish institutions, but not specifically in Chicago. Then we were informed that there were four synagogues targeted and that Or Chadash was one of them.” He added, “It seems to me they might be driven by the motivation of disruption in general.”

Despite headlines in newspapers around the world, such as The Australian’s “Gay Jews a target for parcel bomb plotters,” it seems now that the sexual orientation of Or Chadash’s congregants is irrelevant and is instead merely coincidence. As indicated above, authorities now believe that none of the synagogues were targeted but merely provided a mailing address as an excuse to get the bombs on board the cargo planes.

A Chicago Tribune report on October 30 misquoted Rabbi Zedek. Reporters Cynthia Dizikes and Christi Parsons wrote that he said “an official in Chicago's Jewish community called him late Friday afternoon about the suspicious packages allegedly bound for the city.” However, that's not what he said. Rabbi Zedek told CNB emphatically that he “never said the person was ‘an official.’ I said they were ‘well placed’ in the Jewish community and ‘reliable’.”

Rabbi Zedek said that he first learned of the suspected bomb threat around 12:00 noon on Friday. He said that an off-duty Chicago Police officer employed as security guard at the synagogue told him that his sergeant told him about a warning from authorities about suspicious packages going to houses of worship. Rabbi Zedek emphasized that the warning was for all houses of worship, not just synagogues.

A Chicago Police sergeant visited Congregation Emanuel on “late Friday afternoon” to discuss the matter, said Rabbi Zedek, but that’s been the only law enforcement official - at any level - to contact him as of 9:30 a.m. Monday, November 1. There has been no contact from the FBI, Homeland Security or any other agency other than the CPD.

The only other contact has been from 48th Ward Alderman Mary Ann Smith (photo), said Rabbi Zedek. Smith called to assure him that police patrols would be beefed up around the synagogue. Ald. Smith is not a law enforcement official per se. As of Monday morning, 9:30 a.m., no other law enforcement authorities had contacted him.

In mid-October, a congregation member who helps with their website was looking at the website’s statistics. She noted that there were 83 hits in one day from the same IP address in Cairo. “That’s Cairo, Egypt, not Illinois,” said Rabbi Zedek. She mentioned the Cairo hits to one of the lay leaders at Congregation Emanuel, but at the time he didn’t think it was significant. In light of recent events, however, Rabbi Zedek feels it might be significant and plans to turn the IP address over to the authorities.

“My recollection is that they were the same IP address,” said Rabbi Zedek.

More questions: Even if, as authorities are now saying, the synagogues were not the real targets, why would somebody in Egypt visit Congregation Emanuel's website more than 80 times in a single day (let alone even once)? And, finally, why have the federal authorities been so lax about contacting congregations Emanuel and Or Chadash?

RELATED:
Napolitano: More security measures due to air cargo explosives CNN International
US issues mail advisory, tightens cargo scrutiny‎ BusinessWeek
Saudi emerges as prime suspect in failed Yemen bomb plot‎ Vancouver Sun
The Yemen bomb mystery – no mystery at all Ray Cook
Jews Worried About Their Mail After Mail Bomb Plot The Gothamist (New York)