Wilmette Drops Handgun Ban!

The proposed ordinance to repeal the local ban was passed unanimously late Tuesday night. “The Supreme Court has made their decision. It calls into question our ordinance,” said Village President Chris Canning. FULL STORY at Wilmette Life...

Well, God bless President Canning. Now what the hell are Chicago's Mayor Daley and his City Council of Stooges waiting for?

Hat tip to Backyard Conservative, who has some pithy comments about the Wilmette action! Also see RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS at Second City Sarge...

Celebrating Our Diverse Diversity

At Joe Moore's web site, now in Spanish!
Soup boy Terry Feingold finally has his Gold Un Pear catering site in Swedish.
DevCorp? Their new Russian language site rocks.

Greek to Me

Eva McCann της Ιστορίας της Lies, writes Tom Westgard today.

Idiots Want Killers to "Turn In a Gun"

Once again, we see the stupidity of Liberalism and proof that it stems from mental illness. It often manifests itself in delusionary actions and beliefs. You know, like levitating the Pentagon. Or anti-crime neighborhood walks, or Petunias for Peace. What nonsense.

Again, another "Turn in a Gun" event in Chicago. Do the idiots who operate this project really believe that gangsters and people bent on murder will turn their guns in for $100 gift card? Good God, these people are dumb. The type of people who turn in their guns are not the type who want to continue using them. In other words, the guns being collected by this program are probably no threat.

Meanwhile, Mayor Daley's bodyguards continue to carry loaded handguns. The hypocrite Daley wants you to turn in your handgun, Sucker, for a lousy $100 gift card.

How much money can a gangster punk make in one night with a gun? Answer: More than $100, chump.

Chicago, Least Free US City

Friend John Ruberry takes note of a recent article in Reason Magazine that ranks 35 US cities in regards to personal freedom. Most freedoms: Las Vegas. Least freedoms: Chicago.

"There are tons of nit-picky laws in Barack Obama's hometown - although the widely ridiculed ban on foie gras was repealed," notes John.

He goes on about the ever-increasing number of police cameras, too. "Perhaps the people who live and work near these boxes feel safer, but to me, it's a heads-up call that I've entered a high crime area. Roll up the windows and lock the doors." Indeed, and CPD Supt. Jody Weis just loves the cameras and recently told the City Council that he wants more - but the kind you cannot see. You can read John's entire post at Marathon Pundit...

So, John, we'll just have to keep the windows up and doors locked at all times. Of course, as soon as the City of Chicago's unconstitutional handgun ban is thrown out, you can carry one of those in the glove box.

Finally: Wilson Yard

Work seems to be proceeding quickly at Wilson Yard (photos below taken 7/24/08) in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood on the north side. After years of delays and broken promises, the TIF project is chugging along. It will have a residential and retail mix, including over 25,000 square feet of retail space on N. Broadway.

Related:
The Facts About Wilson Yard (Ald. Shiller)
Stories about Wilson Yard at Uptown Update
Uptown Neighborhood Council - a history of broken promises
Wilson Yard Development Fact Sheet July 2007 (PDF, City of Chicago)
CTA Tattler: Construction for Wilson Yards project set for spring - (Kevin O'Neal's web site gets it wrong by over three years on Jan 18, 2005)

Have You Read the Illinois Constitution?

The Illinois Constitution is undergoing close scrutiny just now, in preparation for a possible Constitutional Convention. Such a convention would certainly produce changes in the constitution, which would affect the way we live and work in all of Illinois. Activists Al Salvi and Bruno Behrend have some information about the possibility of a convention.

An Illinois Constitutional Convention?
Few Illinois citizens are aware that the most important vote they can cast this coming November is whether or not Illinois will hold a Constitutional Convention.This is a once in a 20-year opportunity for Illinois citizens to amend, or completely rewrite, the ground rules between citizens and their government.

The preamble to the Illinois Constitution:

We, the People of the State of Illinois - grateful to
Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberty
which He has permitted us to enjoy and seeking His blessing
upon our endeavors - in order to provide for the health,
safety and welfare of the people; maintain a representative
and orderly government; eliminate poverty and inequality;
assure legal, social and economic justice; provide
opportunity for the fullest development of the individual;
insure domestic tranquility; provide for the common defense;
and secure the blessings of freedom and liberty to ourselves
and our posterity - do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the State of Illinois.
For more information: Illinois Deserves Better: The Ironclad Case FOR an Illinois Constitutional Covention, by John C. A. Bambenek & Bruno Behrend

Did NHRP Break the Law?

Residents of the 49th Ward recently learned that Jim Ginderske's organization, Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park, is a sham. It is discredited, officially, by the Illinois Secretary of State's office. The NHRP was dissolved by official decree on May 9, 2008 for failure to submit an annual report (see image). Even so, Jim Ginderske continues to brandish the NHRP name as some sort of talisman of legitimacy, as recently as last night.

In other words, NHRP is not transparent. You and I - and the Secretary of State - have not been given a full accounting of any money that passed through the hands of the NHRP. We would like to see a full accounting from NHRP. We would like to see them open their books. (We doubt that they will.) Had they filed an annual report, we could look at it. Did they not file because of incompetence, or was it because they have something to hide?

During the last aldermanic campaigns, Ginderske's aldermanic campaign chair Tom Westgard filled out a Form NFP 102.10, Articles of Incorporation for a general not for profit corporation. He signed and dated it November 14, 2006. The board of directors named on the form were Ginderske, Westgard and Francis Scudellari (also a Ginderske 2007 campaign member).

Appendix A of NHRP's incorporation papers raises interesting questions.

Appendix A, Section 2 of the NHRP's articles of incorporation state that it is "organized exclusively for charitable, religious, educational and scientific purposes, including, for such purposes, the making of distributions to organizations that quality as exempt organizations under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code."

The NHRP was dissolved the the Secretary of State in May, 2008 for failure to submit an annual report. Let us assume that NHRP immediately ceased any fundraising activity immediately. NHRP submitted its Form NFP 102.10 in November, 2006. That's approximately 19 months in which NHRP was, presumably, soliciting donations.

That raises questions. Notice that Section 1 states that NHRP was "organized exclusively for charitable, religious, educational and scientific purposes," and for making donations to other 501(c)(3) organizations. It does NOT say "or." It says "exclusively" and "and."

Question: Did NHRP engage in religious activities? Section 1 said they had to. Scientific activities? What were those?

Question: Did NHRP funnel money to the Ginderske 2007 aldermanic campaign? We're not saying they did. We are asking whether that happened.

Question: After Ginderske lost his campaign bid, he supported Moore's campaign in the run-off election. Did NHRP funnel money to the Joe Moore aldermanic campaign? We're not saying they did. We are asking whether that happened.

Questions: Will Alderman Joe Moore completely break with and disown the NHRP? Will he also demand to see their financial records, their missing annual report? Will Joe Moore follow the lead of the Illinois Secretary of State and acknowledge that the NHRP is a group that has no legitimacy?

Section 3 states that "No part of the net earnings of The Corporation shall inure to the benefit of, or be distributable to its members, trustees, officers, or other private persons" except as "reasonable compensation for services rendered" to the corporation.

Question: Did any money donated to the NHRP find its way into the pockets of NHRP board members? We're not saying this happened. We are asking whether it did, and if so, how much and why?

Section 3 also states that "No substantial part of the activities of The Corporation shall be the carrying on of propaganda, or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, and the corporation shall not participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing of distribution of statements) any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office."

Question: NHRP regularly carried on propaganda activities, and continues to do so. (Propaganda is not necessarily a bad thing; an ad for toothpaste is propaganda, as is an ad telling us to buckle our seat belts.) NHRP's barrage of messages regarding health centers and community centers is certainly propaganda. This has certainly been a "substantial part of the activities" of NHRP. Furthermore, did NHRP "participate in, or intervene in (including the publishing of distribution of statements) any political campaign on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for public office?"

Section 4 instructs that "Upon the dissolution of The Corporation, assets shall be distributed for one or more exempt purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code," or be distributed to federal, state or local government "for a public purpose." It goes on to order that "assets no so disposed of shall be disposed" by a county court.

Question: What has happened, since May 9, 2008, to any money that NHRP had?

Obama, Hugo Chavez on Tour

While Barack Obama is touring the middle east and Europe, one of his fellow Marxists is also abroad. Hugo Chavez, strongman of Venezuela, is kissing Kremlin ass right now, today. Chavez wants closer relations - and shiny new weapons - from Russia. Oh, yes, and Chavez is kissing Irania butt, too.

MOSCOW - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived in Moscow today, kicking off a European tour with a two-day visit to Russia expected to focus on arms purchases and tightening ties with the Kremlin. [Source: The Times (South Africa) 7/24/08]

Now why would a nice aspiring dictator like Chavez want advanced weapons systems, which includes at least one submarine and new fighter jets? To arm his terrorist buddies in FARC? No. To defend against the United States? Not really, even Chavez isn't crazy enough to believe that, although it makes for good domestic propaganda. But more importantly, it gives him creds as a tough, anti-American dude. This, you see, makes him look good to other lunatic leaders.

"Russia and Venezuela must become strategic allies in the oil sphere and in military-technical cooperation," the RIA Novosti news agency quoted Chavez as saying upon arrival. [Source cited above]

Additionally, the weapons deal with Russia is a nice tit-for-tat bargain. Russia will be pouring billions into oil exploration in Venezuela (see video below).

Iran is on Chavez's mind, too. He's been sucking up to them as well. The Times also reports today:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez sealed their anti-American alliance today by laying the foundation stone of a joint petrochemical plant. The two leaders pledged to "stand against all enemies," a reference to the United States, as they inaugurated construction of a 700-million-dollar methanol plant in the Asaluyeh industrial zone on the Gulf coast. MORE...

Lyin' Larry Suffredin

Ray Hanania writes an excellent critique of Larry Suffredin, titled "Sufferin' Suffredin's hypocrisy on the County Board."

Here is an excerpt from the column, in today's SWNewsherald.com:

When Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin was running for Cook County State's Attorney, he told me that he opposed the tax increase package being rammed through by President Todd Stroger.

But once he lost the Democratic primary to Anita Alvarez, he changed his tune and became one of the most vocal proponents of supporting Stroger's repressive 1 percent increase in the county wide sales tax. FULL COLUMN...

BIG FINE FOR STROGER CAMPAIGN

Cook County President Todd Stroger says he's doing a "damn good job." Either he's a moron or he assumes we are. What a joke. Democrat Todd Stroger is the little tyrant who rammed through the July 1 tax increase that gave Cook County the highest sales tax in the nation. The county doesn't even know how many cars it owns, how many are being used by county employees, what the employees do with the cars, or how much this costs Cook County taxpayers. The county's health care system is in a shambles due to unbelieveable mismanagement. The jail system is under federal order to clean up its act and to stop violating prisoners' constitutional rights. For those of you who voted for the midget Todd Stroger, we still await your apology.

Stroger Campaign Fined Thousands - Todd Stroger might be "doing a damn good job" running the county, but he didn't do such a good job managing his own campaign for County Board President.

Peraica To County Board: We Need Tax Relief - Cook County Commissioner and State's Attorney candidate Tony Peraica called on the county board to rescind the one percent sales-tax hike, only to get beat down by Bill "Hog Nuts" Beavers. In a press release,

RELATED:
Cook County Loses Track of County Cars and Who's Driving Them - How many cars does Cook County own, and who's driving them? Not even the county knows for sure.

Democratic Party - 49th Ward: Todd Stroger Turns It On!

Naked Under the Moon

"Aaaah-roooo!" came the yelp from out in Lake Michigan. It sounded like a wolf. No, a werewolf maybe.

"Aaaah-roooo!" I was on the end of the Pratt Beach pier on Chicago's northeast side, part of Loyola Park. It was just past 10:00 p.m., and I was one of about 100 people enjoying the moonrise and pleasant weather.

"Aaaah-roooo!" came another yelp. Squinting, we looked out into the darkness over the water but saw nothing. "Aaaah-roooo!" Was it somebody in a row boat, a canoe or kayak? I yelped back, "Aaaah-roooo!"

"Aaaah-roooo!" came back, and suddenly dozens of people on the pier and the beach were howling like lunatics under the nearly full, bright orange moon. "Aaaah-roooo!"

After about ten or fifteen minutes of this, we spotted a white head and shoulders swimming toward us. "Aaaah-roooo!" he called, and the crowd howled "Aaaah-roooo!" back in unison. The swimmer came into shallow water and stood, shirtless. He waded toward the beach and after a brief moment we realized that he was completely naked. "Aaaah-roooo!" he yelped one last time, then quickly donned shorts and shirt from a towel waiting for him on the sand.

The moon continued its movement across the sky. It didn't seem to have noticed.

Neighbors: "Say No To Joe!" and Junkie Jim

Better to learn later than never, I suppose. It seems a lot - I mean a lot - of people in Chicago's 49th Ward are realizing that Alderman Joe Moore, Democrat, is just another manipulating, lying opportunist.

This photo sums it up. Sick of Moore's 17 years of lies and his recent attempt to ram the Boys and Girls Club down the throats of ward residents like they were foie gras geese, people are speaking up.

Moore has been using a shady front organization that calls itself the Neighbors for a Healthy Rogers Park (NHRP) to ram the Boys and Girls club into the newly built Gale Community Center on W. Howard Street. Moore seems content to stay out of the spot light on this issue, preferring to let NHRP appear to take the lead - and the heat. Fronted by Moore's sock puppet and fellow Democrat "Junkie Jim" Ginderske, NHRP has been discredited as a sham organization by revelations that the State of Illinois issued a dissolution of the group in May.

Moore and Junkie Jim, however, seem to be out of synch. Tuesday night's meeting at the Loyola Park field house demonstrates this.

"Last night over 40 people filled the Loyola Park field house to tell the Chicago Park District powers-that-be (North Region Supervisors Matt Marino and Brian Loll) the Boys and Girls Club doesn't belong in the new Gale Community Center," writes local reporter Craig Gernhardt of The Broken Heart. Joe Moore was not there.

Nobody else from the discredited NHRP was there, either. Junkie Jim was left to fend for himself, and he fell to pieces in a room that was not under the firm control of friendly fellow Stalinistas.

Joe Moore seems ready to disown Ginderske's NHRP in the same way that fellow Democrat party hack Barack Obama disowned Jeremiah Wright.

RELATED:
NHRP: Ginderske's Sham Organization (The Bench)
NHRP: Odd Man Out (The Bench)
Who the Hell is NHRP? (The Bench)
* The Three Stooges of 49th Ward Politics (Broken Heart)
* The Ward According to Ginderske (Broken Heart)
* North of Howard Neighbors Call Ginderske Out (Broken Heart)

VIDEO: TONY PERAICA'S FULL SPEECH

Tony Peraica's full speech to the press at the Cook County offices this morning.
YOU WILL NOT SEE THIS ANYWHERE ELSE.
ALSO SEE: COOK COUNTY TAX REPEAL REJECTED

FEDS ALL OVER DAVID FAGUS

There is a God: Feds Give Fagus 49 Days to Turn Around Decades of Patronage-Fueled Mismanagement

COOK COUNTY TAX REPEAL REJECTED

Cook County commissioners refused to roll back the recent tax increase that gave Cook County residents the highest sales tax in the entire nation. (The Bench has a full video report up now.)

Cook County commissioners on Tuesday defeated a resolution calling for the 1 percent county sales tax hike to be rescinded. As CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports, Commissioner Tony Peraica (R-16th) introduced the resolution Tuesday. Almost immediately after, Commissioner John Daley (D-11th) called for a vote to be held without delay. The resolution was soon defeated 10-7. MORE at CBS2 Chicago...

RELATED:
Stroger administration hunkers down against press - Chicago Daily Herald

The New Hitler Youth

This is why some of call them "Islamo-fascists."

In 1979, Samir Kantar was 16 years old when he pulled Danny Haran and his young daughter from their apartment in the Israeli town of Nahariya. He shot to death the father and smashed the little girl's skull against a rock with an AK-47. After 29 years in prison, he was welcomed back to Lebanon as a hero last week....Kantar was embraced and applauded; afterwards he gave a stiff-armed Nazi salute. It is the common salute of Hezb'allah. Mein Kampf is a best seller in the Muslim world. FULL ARTICLE at American Thinker...

Then there is this, by Arie Stav at the Nizkor Project:

Nostalgic admiration of Nazis has remained strong in Syria. Sami al-Joundi, afounder of the Syrian Ba'ath movement, writes: "We were racists. We admiredthe Nazis. We were immersed in reading Nazi literature and books that were thesource of the Nazi spirit...We were the first who thought of a translation ofMein Kampf. Anyone who lived in Damascus at that time was witness to the Arabinclination toward Nazism."

The Arab countries were not unique in serving as refuge for fleeing warcriminals, but only in the Middle East, and particularly in Egypt, could theNazis find shelter bestowed on the basis of ideological identification. FULL PAPER...

Obama Pissing Off European Leaders

European leaders are not pleased with Barack Obama. Many feel snubbed by Obama, a rank amateur in foreign relations and diplomacy whose campaign team is composed of rank amateurs in foreign relations and diplomacy. To wit, this report yesterday:

Obama's team has left no doubts about the fact that it considers German Chancellor Angela Merkel to be the strongest leader in Europe at present. Their reasoning: Sarkozy hasn't been in office long enough yet and Brown has been swept up in a domestic crisis. US Congressman Robert Wexler, a Democrat, recently spoke on behalf of Obama on Germany's N-TV cable news channel, emphasizing that German-American relations were the "most established."

Even if it was true that German-American relations were the "most established," (it is not, actually), to say so publicly is a lousy public relations move on the part of Team Obama. If Obama becomes our next president, he will move into the White House with a load of bad foreign relations already waiting to be taken care of on his desk in the Oval Office.

But not even the Germans are totally satisfied. They are calling for further one-on-one meetings with Obama -- conversations that, according to information obtained by SPIEGEL ONLINE are not very likely to happen. If he keeps to his itinerary, Obama will meet German politicians before he gives his speech on Thursday evening. FULL ARTICLE at Der Spiegel...

RELATED:
Fawning, groveling, Euro-lickspittle Press for Obama
One Reporter Greets McCain Plane in NH
Dick Morris: Obama Is A European Socialist Who Will Cause A Third War In Iraq
Obama's Europe Trip: Conflict over Berlin Visit...
Obama's Europe Blindspot: Why Did He Skip Europe's Institutional Heart?

"Europe's bin Laden" Captured

They caught the bastard, and he will now stand trial for war crimes. Radovan Karadzic, former Bosnian Serb leader, was one of the most wanted men in the world until he was caught early this week. Accused of genocide and other major crimes against humanity, Karadzic was passing as a doctor (see before and after photos, right). The arrest was a neat police operation, and European governments are all very happy about it. This is a drama that few Americans were aware of, but is gripping to nearly all Europeans. From Der Spiegel today:

Radovan Karadzic, 63, president of the Republika Srpska in Bosnia from 1992 to 1996, looked emaciated when he was arrested in Belgrade on Monday night, according to the Serb authorities. He was interviewed by an investigating judge until 2.30 a.m. on Tuesday morning [German time].... The arrest has also given much-needed impetus to the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. FULL STORY...

RELATED:
Profile: Radovan Karadzic [BBC] Profile of the former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic.

frontline: the world's most wanted man [PBS] A report on Serbian war leader Radovan Karadzic, examining who he is and why he has been indicted by crimes against humanity and genocide.

Cows and Corporations

This has been going around the Internet for years now, but it's always worth another look.

DEMOCRATIC
You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. You feel guilty for being successful. Barbara Streisand sings for you.

REPUBLICAN
You have two cows. Your neighbor has none. So?

SOCIALIST
You have two cows. The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor. You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.

COMMUNIST
You have two cows. The government seizes both and provides you with milk. You wait in line for hours to get it. It is expensive and sour.

CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows. You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.

BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows. Under the new farm program the government pays you to shoot one, milk the other, and then pours the milk down the drain.

AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows. You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one. You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows. You are surprised when one cow drops dead. You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have downsized and are reducing expenses. Your stock goes up.

FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows. You go on strike because you want three cows. You go to lunch and drink wine. Life is good.

JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains. Most are at the top of their class at cow school.

GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows. You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour. Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.

ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows but you don't know where they are. While ambling around, you see a beautiful woman. You break for lunch. Life is good.

RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows. You have some vodka. You count them and learn you have five cows. You have some more vodka. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. The Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.

TALIBAN CORPORATION
You have all the cows in Afghanistan, which are two. You don't milk them because you cannot touch any creature's private parts. You get a $40 million grant from the US government to find alternatives to milk production but use the money to buy weapons.

IRAQI CORPORATION
You have two cows. They go into hiding. They send radio tapes of their mooing.

POLISH CORPORATION
You have two bulls. Employees are regularly maimed and killed attempting to milk them.

BELGIAN CORPORATION
You have one cow. The cow is schizophrenic. Sometimes the cow thinks he's French, other times he's Flemish. The Flemish cow won't share with the French cow. The French cow wants control of the Flemish cow's milk. The cow asks permission to be cut in half. The cow dies happy.

FLORIDA CORPORATION
You have a black cow and a brown cow. Everyone votes for the best looking one. Some of the people who actually like the brown one best accidentally vote for the black one. Some people vote for both. Some people vote for neither. Some people can't figure out how to vote at all. Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which one you think is the best-looking cow.

CALIFORNIA CORPORATION
You have millions of cows. They make real California cheese. Only five speak English. Most are illegals.