Why the U.S. Military is the Best

The U.S. still has the best military on Earth. China may be catching up to us, but we can still kick ass and take numbers at the same time. The videos below show why that's the case. American youth have had the benefit of superior toy guns like forever. With those faux guns in hand, our future soldiers let their imaginations run wild, forced to plan tactics and strategy. This prepared the kids mentally for the more disciplined training once they were in the military, ready to kick enemy butt with real guns! Sadly, Obama wants to weaken our military. One way to do that: Deny our brave youth the opportunity to ready themselves for war (see the 4th video, below).

Guess Who

"Cheers," he seems to be saying, perhaps to the other young man.

Can you guess who the guy with the drink in his hand is?

SULLIVAN HIGH CALMS DOWN

The Bench went over to embattled Sullivan High School in Rogers Park's 49th Ward this afternoon, just as students were being dismissed. At 3:00, the neighborhood appeared calm. Students seemed more interested in getting home through the rain, sleet and occasional flakes of snow than in fighting. Several Chicago Police cars - marked and unmarked - drove slowly around the block, ready to contain any more outbursts of violence. At 3:15, The Bench saw one youth escorted out of the school by three uniformed officers. They put him into the back seat of an unmarked car and drove south, away from the school. It is not known why the young man was taken away in the car - was he being arrested, or was he a witness? Was he even a student at Sullivan High? Question: When will the next outburst occur at embattled Sullivan High? Not "if" - when.

100 RUMBLE ON HOWARD STREET (Bench Exclusive)

The Bench - Exclusive - About 100 teens were fighting each other on Howard Street late Friday night. A huge rumble broke out around 11:50 p.m. A CTA employee, on duty at the time, made the 911 call to report the melee. Today, he blamed a local youth club.

UPDATE: "It should be pointed out that the 'youth' involved in these on- going problems are from activities at 'Noah's Ark', owned and operated by Rev. Bud Ogle and his 'Good News Partners' organization." Update from North Howard Neighbors Association. Also: Much more about Bud Ogle at 24/7 North of Howard Watchers.

Police initially dispatched about a dozen cars to the scene, at Howard and Paulina, which was closed to traffic to facilitate the ongoing CTA station construction. Howard CTA station is the norther end of the Red Line and is in Chicago's 49th Ward, on the border of Evanston.

Early police radio chatter, at 12:05, indicated that about 20 people were fighting. But another officer soon came on the air and said it was "like a riot" and estimated the crowd at "about 40." However, The Bench spent a couple of hours in the neighborhood today, talking to people about the event. We found the CTA employee who called 911. He said that the crowd was "close to a hundred" people and there were "about 30 police cars" on the scene.

Was it gang fighting? we asked. He said it was just a bunch of young people fighting. "It's that youth club right up around the corner," he said. "The one right next to that church where they feed the people."

"The Good News Church?" we asked. Thanks to the North Howard Neighbors Association, we know now that the youth club is "Noah's Ark," owned and operated by Rev. Bud Ogle and his "Good News Partners" organization.

"Yah, that's right. They had a dance there last night. I don't think they have drinking in their, but those kids come out and they want to fight." He said a similar incident happened "about a month ago," and that the neighborhood needs to "get rid of that club."

"The whole block, the street was solid people fighting," the man said. "See those orange and white cones, they was picking them up and throwing them at each other, at the buildings." No damage was visible on the storefronts, but several of the traffic barrels were dented from abuse of some kind.

"We gotta get rid of that club," he repeated.

Good luck. That club is run by people who are apparatchiks and tools of Alderman Joe Moore, and Moore doesn't give a rat's ass about the people on or north of Howard Street. If he did, he would have clamped down on this years ago.

Dude, Could You Turn Down Your Life Support?

Kids today, boy oh boy. Can't live with 'em, can't live with 'em. A teenager has turned off the life-support machine of a fellow hospital patient because he said he couldn't sleep with the noise. Full Story...

Help Me to Understand

I am trying so hard, so very hard to understand.

Please, if somebody out there knows what these gentlemen are saying with their intricate hand signals, let me know.

Thanks to the Vonster for the turn-on.

Crime and Encouragement

Canadian justice is not so different from ours. It, too, is far too lenient. "A Windsor teen was sentenced Monday to 40 days in custody at a local group home for beating up an elderly couple who came to the aid of a stranger. 'The teen, who was just shy of his 18th birthday at the time of the July 2005 attack and falls under the identity-protection provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, will then serve 20 days of house arrest followed by 22 months on probation. 'You don’t need me to tell you that this is a particularly heinous—indeed, barbaric—crime. So, judge Guy DeMarco “spoke through his cloak, most deep and distinguished, And handed out strongly, for penalty and repentance,” sentenced the teen to 40 days in custody at a group home, followed by 20 days of house arrest and 22 months probation." The full story... Hat tip to Magic Statistics