Grazing by the Sea

Near Ballymacoda, County Cork

Cash for Clunkers Roundup

Ramirez. Heritage:Cash for Clunkers, A Case Study in Why Obamanomics Is Failing. More here and here. Revised stats, economy 2x worse. Bloomberg. Caterpillar lays off more workers. Even more, if the Dems have their way. DiFi LA office calls police to handle protesting seniors. And Rudy tells Barack to shut up.

Oh, and The Swamp comes out of the leftist closet, Silva sinking into the muck quoting a poll by Kos as somehow having credibility. As far as I'm concerned there's no question Barack Obama is an American--what remains a question is why his policies (and behavior) are so anti-American.

Stimulus Funds: Perverts Put Out

STIMULUS BILL FUNDS GO TO ART HOUSES SHOWING ‘PERVERT’ REVUES, UNDERGROUND PORNOGRAPHY. From San Francisco, what a surprise. Including nude children with adults--the National Endowment for the Arts is funding this.

Anything to say, Nancy Pelosi, about your district's use of funds. Oh-VP Joe Biden is on it. Well, we could laugh but this is really sick. Helping save jobs for pervs--yes we can.

It was a teachable moment all right

Video via Pundit Review. Read Michael Barone.

P.S. Have you ever seen anything so dorky?

Ye Olde Youghal Clock Tower

No, it's not Harry and Louise

Iowa Woman Selling Her TVs - Reason: 'Obama On Every Channel and Station'

P.S. Maybe cancel subscription too? (Maybe some already have?) Another cover, the 12th in 12 months.

Barney Frank Admits It

Public "option" would lead to single payer. RCP video. Pelosi demonizes private sector. Response here. Minnesota Dem--even Congress doesn't understand the ObamaCare bill(s). Politico.

Related--another reason why Blue Dogs are worried: Obama electorate recedes in Virginia poll. Politico.

More: Keith Hennessey counterpoint to our President Barack Obama's healthcare reform email to his supporters. And Heritage: Top 10 Reasons Obamacare Is Wrong for America

Go to Europe! Shovel Manure!

Huffpo hyping the latest eco-vacation for the budget-conscious elitist:

Backpackers pining for European adventure have discovered life on the farm, shoveling manure, feeding pigs and making butter as a recession-beating way to sate their wanderlust.

I'm sure we could find some local manure for these enthusiasts but perhaps it has a special allure, a je ne sais quoi over there. More:

"It feels so good to be right near the food you're about to cook," said former New York schoolteacher Talia Kahn-Kravis, 23, as she squirted milk from a goat's udder into a plastic bucket.

Like Kahn-Kravis, supporters of the slow food movement, which began in Italy as a backlash against fast food, are praising the return to the farms.

The sponsoring organization, with the charming acronym WWOOF, encourages cultural understanding, but I wonder if the goat is on the menu--I imagine it can move fast if it wants to.

P.S. Study finds organic food no healthier. Via Instapundit.

Let them Dems eat bonds

Proft Calls for State Legislators to be Paid in State Bonds:In response to today’s Fitch Ratings’ downgrade of Illinois' general obligation bond rating two notches from AA-minus to A, Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Proft released the following statement..Read on.

Kinzinger Ready to Go in 11th

Illinois' GOP challenger to Debbie Halvorson, local hero Adam Kinzinger gets full support from the NRCC for his race in the 11th Congressional District.

He's made a good start. Now we can do our part, whether by volunteering or donating.

Adam for Illinois.

Previous posts: GOP's New Identity in Illinois, GOP Leads in Generic Congressional Ballot, New GOP Crop of Candidates

Lite (Beer) Summit

Choose your poison. The president will supply 3 different beers for three different people. Gee, why can't we all get along? Why not just one beer for The One's summit? Why not Summit?

John Kass has some fun with this, as does David Paul Kuhn, RCP "Exclusive: Pres, Prof and Cop Picnic Script".

Waters Pecks Rahmbo

Rep. Maxine Waters, commie dupe conspiracy theorist from the left coast, hectors Rahmbo on his Blue Dog recruits--"Now the chickens have come home to roost". Gateway Pundit with a reminder.

The Long Eclipse

Astronomy picture of the day. The ship's motion along the shadow track.

Fannie Med?!!!

Noooooooo!!!!

Obama -12 disapproval/approval, under 48%. Rasmussen. And this:

Just 23% believe health care costs will go down if health care reform is passed. Most (53%) expect prices would rise and 50% expect the quality of care would decline.

New Pew poll shows slide. Gallup yesterday, NPR. It's a battle for our freedom to live and die.

Do you feel secure Indiana?

In January, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Colorado issued a statement saying that conditions at supermax are “simply another form of torture” worse than Gitmo which “make a mockery of ‘innocent until proven guilty.’” Last month, the ACLU filed a civil lawsuit mirroring Reid’s religious rights claim on behalf of two terrorism inmates held at the Communications Management Unit inside a medium security prison in Terre Haute, Ind.

One of those inmates is Enaam Arnaout, a Syrian-born U.S. citizen serving a 10-year sentence for diverting Muslim charity money to militant Islamic groups in Bosnia and Chechnya. The other, Randall Royer, is serving 20 years for his role recruiting young Muslims in the “Virginia Jihad Network,” a group that used paintball games in 2000-2001 to train for holy war.

P.S. How about Marion or Peoria? Or Chicago? Multiculti Concepts in Terror come to a neighborhood near you.

Scandal at Justice

Who approved the reversal of career Justice lawyers' recommendations in the case of the Black Panther voter intimidation back in November--remember, it was caught on tape. Now we know-- Washington Times, "No. 3 at Justice OK'd Panther reversal".

Who has politicized the Justice Dept.?:

While the Obama administration has vowed a new era of openness, department officials have refused to answer questions from Republican members of Congress on why the case was dismissed, claiming the information was "privileged, according to congressional correspondence with the department.

Rep. Frank R. Wolf, Virginia Republican and a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee who has raised questions about the case, said he also was prevented from interviewing the front-line lawyers who brought the charges.

"Why am I being prevented from meeting with the trial team on this case? Mr. Wolf asked. "There are many questions that need to be answered. This whole thing just stinks to high heaven."

Why was the case dropped? Here are the initial grounds:

A Justice Department memo shows that career lawyers in the case decided as early as Dec. 22 to seek a complaint against the NBPP; its chairman, Malik Zulu Shabazz, a lawyer and D.C. resident; Minister King Samir Shabazz, a resident of Philadelphia and head of the Philadelphia NBPP chapter who was accused of wielding the nightstick; and Jerry Jackson, a resident of Philadelphia and a NBPP member.

"We believe the deployment of uniformed members of a well-known group with an extremely hostile racial agenda, combined with the brandishing of a weapon at the entrance to a polling place, constitutes a violation of Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act which prohibits types of intimidation, threats and coercion, the memo said.

You know, Republicans have been accused of voter intimidation by just politely asking that photo IDs be required by law at the polls, a matter of common sense to most Americans. But then who is surprised at the double standard.

Welcome to Obama's America--where Black Panthers wield nightsticks without consequences and the U.S. of A-CORN prevails.

P.S. Malik Zulu Shabazz. In his own words, according to the ADL…

a press conference in Morristown, New Jersey (July 3, 2003):

“If 3,000 people perished in the World Trade Center attacks and the Jewish population is 10 percent, you show me records of 300 Jewish people dying in the World Trade Center…We’re daring anyone to dispute its truth. They got their people out.”

Oh, and in other news--Revenge of the ‘Shoe Bomber’: The terrorist sues to resume his jihad from prison. The Obama administration caves in:

Last May at the National Archives, President Barack Obama warned that “more mistakes would occur” if Congress continued to politicize terrorist detention policy and the closure of Guantanamo Bay. “[I]f we refuse to deal with those issues today,” he predicted, “then I guarantee you, they will be an albatross around our efforts to combat terrorism in the future.”

On June 17, at the Administrative Maximum (ADX) penitentiary in Florence, Colo., one of those albatrosses, inmate number 24079-038, began his day with a whole new range of possibilities. Eight days earlier, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Denver filed notice in federal court that the Special Administrative Measures (SAMs) which applied to that prisoner—Richard C. Reid, a.k.a. the “Shoe Bomber”—were being allowed to expire. SAMs are security directives, renewable yearly, issued by the attorney general when “there is a substantial risk that a prisoner’s communications, correspondence or contacts with persons could result in death or serious bodily injury” to others.

Reid was arrested in 2001 for attempting to blow up American Airlines Flight 63 from Paris to Miami with 197 passengers and crew on board. Why had Attorney General Eric Holder decided not to renew his security measures, kept in place since 2002?

According to court documents filed in a 2007 civil lawsuit against the government, Reid claimed that SAMs violated his First Amendment right of free speech and free exercise of religion.

Related posts: Multiculti Concepts in Terror, Countering Islamic Supremacists, Hizb ut-Tahrir Chicago Update, Criminally Irresponsible Democrats

Swinging Right

Democracy in America thinks "progressives" might take a page from the past, starting a new Port Huron movement (who'll be the next Bill Ayers), or evolve into more apolitical, cynical Gen X types. Who knows, but the left is having trouble with honest debate, much like our President Barack Obama.

The really vital grassroots right now are the Tea Parties, outnumbering paid protesters like ACORN and MoveOn members.

The pendulum swings in democracy, and it's swinging right.

P.S. And God Bless Texas.

--crossposted at The Middle Coast

Phelps Bounces Back

Breitbart.

Forza America. Someone's got to hold up the team.

Books to Socks to Soap

Faux free-market talk from the Left. Katrina vanden Heuval (rebuttal by GOP Paul Ryan of Wisconisn-- a smart and honest man-video here) Yes, I recall standing in line at the NTHS (government) bookstore, forced to buy my student's books there, and read an entire book in line--I think it was P.J. O'Rourke's student guide to the free markets. Ah yes. Soon after that they allowed people to buy textbooks online or whereever. But ObamaCare?

Kill the poor
Eat the rich
Screw every other son of a bitch

Obama's a lightweight

His lack of experience (duh Obama voters) is starting to show. Michael Barone. The One hits new low in Gallup poll. Maybe the bonding weekend will help. A light massage perhaps. Or Rahmbo could do some balletic pirouettes on your back.

America could use a break too.

Go Sox!

P.S. Geraghty, NRO:

I wonder about the effectiveness of this new, irritated tone from the president: "Nobody is talking about a government takeover of health care. I'm getting tired of hearing that."

Wait, the government may require you to have insurance, it's going to establish a public plan to compete with private plans and perhaps drive them out of the market, it's going to tell insurance companies what procedures they have to cover, it's going to put a special tax on people who get "Cadillac" plans, and it's going to establish a special commission to determine which procedures are not cost-effective and should be dropped from coverage plans, and none of this counts as a "takeover" of health care?

Yeah, he needs a vacation. Gush, gush. And in case you missed this--Mark Levin nails it:

GOP's New Identity in Illinois

Steve Huntley, Sun Times, Springfield tax fight energizes state GOP. Yeah. Throw the tax and spend Dem bums out!

Andrew Sullivan, Birther?

Um, yeah.

'Nuff said on this thread.

Multiculti Concepts in Terror

After their lovely terrorist-in-training recruitment conference in suburban Chicago, Islamic Supremacist group Hizb ut-Tahrir is holding their next one at a community center in Canada. Via top Canadian blog, small dead animals:

When the concept of multiculturalism was introduced to Canadians, most assumed it meant "more pavilions at Folkfest";

The Islamic supremacist Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) Canadian event is publicized on the Hizb ut-Tahrir web site as being sponsored by “Hizb ut-Tahrir Canada” as part of HT’s “2009 Khilafah Campaign,” which included the July 19, 2009 HT event in the Chicago Oak Lawn, IL suburb. HT has advertised this event to be held at the Canadian govt-managed facility in Mississauga for: “Friday, July 31st, 6.30PM to 8.30PM, Frank Bean Lounge — Mississauga Valley Community Center...

And in other charming news, U.S. Extremists with Training Abroad Raise Concerns--in Oregon, New York, and now North Carolina:

Boyd and the others arrested Monday are not charged with planning attacks in the United States. Prosecutors say the seven men repeatedly traveled overseas hoping to engage in violence, and trained in military tactics at a private property in North Carolina.

The Boyds lived at an unassuming lakeside home in a rural area south of Raleigh and had a family-operated drywall business.

In 1991, Boyd and his brother were convicted of bank robbery in Pakistan. They were also accused of carrying identification showing they belonged to the radical Afghan guerrilla group, Hezb-e-Islami, or Party of Islam. Each was sentenced to have a foot and a hand cut off for the robbery, but the decision was later overturned.

So now we get to deal with them in our U.S. system of justice. No Sharia law here yet, but stay tuned. Wouldn't want to be multiculturally insensitive.

Whale Saves Diver

She's drowning and it pulls her to the surface. It's not save the whales this time, but one returns the favor. Photos, FoxNews.

They went after her family

Somehow this is not in the news stories, though it's the first thing Lucia Whalen says on the video of her statement on the 911 call she made on the Gates' incident. They went after her mom.

Does this sound familiar? Yet Sarah Palin is called a whiner for objecting to attacks on her family.

This is a legitimate issue. This is why ordinary Americans are so outraged at MSM bias and rush to judgment of the left--the liberal lynch mob.

Axelrod's Son Joins Huffpo

WaPo. As if The One needs more favorable press.

Obama Racial Opportunist

Michelle Malkin's comment stuns Matt Lauer, (video below) in to discuss her new book, Culture of Corruption. And Michelle O is the First Crony. Dead on. Dead on. Dead on. Watch:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Recess Rally Across America

RecessRally.com

Challenge in the 10th

Given Julie Hamos doesn't live in the district, will El Rider throw his hat in the ring? (A rerun of Location, Location?)

Big Julie in the 10th

Liberal, Blago bud and "affordable" housing bully from way back, Big Julie Hamos is attempting to present herself as the answer to a moderate's dream. I see in her announcement video she's standing by the lakefront. If she had her way, she'd probably put an AH building there. Team America's 10th District Blog spotlights the hypocrisy of Julie, tax me please Hamos, born-again reformer. He's got some earlier video which betrays her well--scare-mongering and TAX, TAX, TAX. (she starts about 2 minutes in).

More: Jeff Berkowitz, Public Affairs, was at her announcement, and interviews her (she claims she's going to be a "fiscal watchdog". How hilarious). Good point in his intro:

As discussed here, Hamos supported, two months ago, Gov. Quinn’s proposal for a 50% increase in the income tax, which may help the 10th CD candidate in the Democratic Primary, but could hurt her in the general election.

Chicago News Bench: Omg, Julie Hamos makes up her mind (again). And yeah, she lives in the 9th--why don't you challenge Jan Schakowsky, Julie? Which brings to mind one of my favorite blogposts ever.

GOP Leads in Generic Congressional Ballot

It's not just Rasmussen any more. RCP Blog.

More. Backlash: Democratic Dangers Mount. The Politico. Really?

P.S. Yes, the House the Rahm built is failing, because in his and Obama's monumental arrogance they thought after the election they could railroad the Blue Dogs and railroad the country to the far left. Let's not let a crisis go to waste, said Rahmbo--and he and The One are laying waste to the country. Because The One's entire campaign was built on a post-partisan Big LIE. And more and more people know it now. This was my comment on that post:Yes. I think the scales have really dropped from some people's eyes--they thought he was a nice guy not an elitist, they thought he was a uniter, not a hardcore leftist, they thought he was post-partisan multiculti, not a race-card playing, anti-American jerk.
Anne Leary | Homepage | 07.27.09 - 10:59 pm | #

Show Me State Tea Parties

Why are people in St. Louis so irate about Sen. Claire McCaskill? Could it be because her husband fueled her rise with "affordable" housing deals essentially paid for by taxpayers? Have they gone bust? Just speculating here. Could it be because he was her Tony Rezko/Valerie Jarrett much as they were to our President Barack Obama?

Could it be because there was vote fraud by ACORN, heavily involved with her campaign, much as they were with our President Barack Obama's, and ACORN is set to receive billions in federal largesse for just about everything under the sun?

Could it be because they see the Dem Chicago Way chicanery and incompetence in their neighboring state of Illinois, and bankruptcy for them and the country, heading Michigan and California way?

Could it be because Sen. Claire McCaskill is one of our President Barack Obama's biggest backers, going to bat for him on the now let me be clear-ly failed stimulus program? Could it be because her staff blew off tea party citizens at her constituent office, refusing to meet with them and calling the police? Could it be because she and our President Barack Obama are trying to take over their lives and end of life decisions through a massive Big Brother healthcare regime that will deny and ration care and cost billions more?

Could that be it?

Could that be why Sen. Claire McCaskill didn't even have the guts to show at a town meeting in her own state?

P.S. A tale from New Jersey. "He knew everybody". Reihl World View.

--crossposted at The Middle Coast

Quincy, IL Protests Cap & Tax

Quincy News.org. "means increased energy costs for an average family of $3,000"... legislation puts businesses on the "short end of the stick" and means "more big government" and "more taxes" with a 40 percent increase on energy bills...sending jobs to China and India...and asked, did they read the bill? HT The Instapundit.

Barack's Cabinet "Retreat"

Bonding. WaPo:

Aides promise that there will be no trust circles or "sharing" exercises, but President Obama's Cabinet will gather Friday and Saturday to mark the administration's sixth month in office with a high-level retreat.

How come no trust circles? Um, Hillary? Um, and really, would anyone want to rely on Joe Biden, or Tiny Tim? I guess Rahmbo will be there, he has cabinet rank, so watch the knives.

And what about the Czars? Will they get to pair off in getting to know you exercises with their cabinet counterparts? The Bonding Weekend, the experience of a lifetime.

Patients own their own health plan

UPDATE: No ObamaCare vote before the recess, according to the Politico. YES! Go home and listen to your constituents, Congress! Never mind, Nancy says not so fast. (One of the most unpopular pols in America.)***The Republican alternative. Rep. Tom Price, who's also a doctor, weighs in on ABC's Top Line. Video here.

More. Cautionary tales on Tennessee's existing plan. TWS:

At the Biloxi, Mississippi, gathering of the National Governors Association in mid-July, Tennessee's Democratic governor, Phil Bredesen, told the New York Times he feared the Obama-backed health system overhaul would be the "mother of all unfunded mandates." He was speaking from experience. Bredesen was elected governor in 2002 to fix TennCare--the state's public option, launched in 1994 to replace Medicaid and cover the uninsured. Now, well into his second term as governor, he's still struggling to tame the monster.

You'd think those crafting the federal reform of health care would be interested.

Green Jobs Exposed

Discover the network. Video below on Glenn Beck. Americans for Prosperity chart. What do you know--ACORN has their sticky mitts in there too. The Green U.S. of A-CORN. Oh, and of course the SEIU rats.

Is any part of America safe from ACORN? Dear Leader "jobs" that will cost us billions (they tried this stuff in Spain--a disaster). Look, we don't need no stinkin' birther conspiracy theories--this kind of radical stuff is staring us in the face. Watch, if we only look. Come on, America!:

Where's the GOP Big Tent

This is a disgrace. Republican candidate barred from GOP booth at the Lake County Fair. We don't get to have a choice in our primaries? Very undemocratic. You may well foster a backlash from fair-minded Republicans with this kind of thuggish behavior.

More Horrible Charts

We not only have the scary Dr. Dear Leader chart, now this. Keith Hennessy, via HotAir: Bend it like Barack--into the red. Here's one chart, click for more if you can stand it.

P.S. Trib editorial on the bureaucrat chart and a good editorial on why care costs so much--though they neglect to mention tests run for defensive medicine--a casualty of out of control lawsuits, a sore point in Illinois. That's why we have doctors leaving the state for Wisconsin, for example, and already have shortages of specialists.

More: Dennis Prager, 10 Questions for Supporters of ObamaCare.

Take the Rest, Mr. Pres.

GOP candidate for governor Dan Proft on the Chicago Way gone to Washington--and the mess we're left with in Illinois.

P.S. Culture of Corruption No. 1 on Amazon.

Alexi Caught Out Already

Illinois GOP:Giannoulias Suggests He Opposes Union, Special Interest Money

But Records Show He Already Accepted Such Contributions

CHICAGO – The Illinois Republican Party today blasted State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias for suggesting he would reject all special interest campaign contributions while accepting such contributions at the same time.

In his announcement speech on Sunday, Giannoulias said his campaign would not accept any contributions from corporate political action committees (PACs) or federal lobbyists. Appearing yesterday morning on WLS’ Don Wade and Roma program (key quote at 4:34), Giannoulias went further and suggested he opposed all special interest money, including union and trial lawyer support.

Alexi: So I’m also proud to be the first candidate running for the U.S. Senate in the history of the state of Illinois not to take money from lobbyists or from corporate PACs…

Roma: In that spirit of swearing off corporate PACs and lobbyist contributions, what about all special interest money, from unions, from trial lawyers, from, zero PAC money, is that something that you think politicians should all do?

Alexi: I personally do.

But according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, Giannoulias already accepted union and special interest PAC contributions to his Senate exploratory committee. Additionally, Illinois state records show Giannoulias’ state campaign committee accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from corporate PACS, unions and special interest since 2006.

“Like Rod Blagojevich before him, Alexi Giannoulias launched his campaign pledging reform – but his actions speak louder than words,” ILGOP Spokesman Lance Trover said. “As if gambling away $85 million in Bright Start children’s education savings while skimming money for his own SUV wasn’t bad enough, Alexi Giannoulias is blatantly misleading voters about his campaign contributions."

"The people of Illinois deserve better than another Blagojevich Democrat like Alexi Giannoulias speaking out of both sides of his mouth" added Trover.

Obama's Donor Scandal

What a load of bilge Politico is peddling:

More than eight months after President Barack Obama won the White House, the remnants of his campaign organization is struggling to deal with some unfinished business: returning about $669,000 in tainted or illegal campaign contributions to a motley assortment of donors, among them a convicted murderer, Washington lobbyists and a number of foreign nationals, including his own aunt.

But the 11 Chicago-based staff members still on the campaign’s payroll are finding it was a lot easier to rake in a record-shattering $750 million than to identify and return donations that ran afoul of federal election laws or Obama’s own strict fundraising standards.

...the Obama team’s hypersensitivity to anything that could sully the president’s carefully honed image as a crusader against special interests and a champion of ethics and transparency.

It was clear to anyone not at room temperature that the Obama campaign deliberately skirted normal protocols for ensuring clean contributions. Well, maybe not clean, but at least legal, for now. Ha. (Blago's trial is next June.) And then there's this kind of thing. (Jarrett was his key liaison to deep Dem pockets.)

What rank hypocrisy. At least they're running the story I suppose. More scandal here--how could we forget the phone bank in Gaza?

Unions Target Charter Schools

Chicago International Charter schools are highlighted in a NY Times story yesterday, illustrating the sneaky deal pushed through in Illinois which lifts the cap on charter schools here but allows card-check style union organizing--no secret ballot:

But the unionization effort raises questions about whether unions will strengthen the charter movement by stabilizing its young, often transient teaching force, or weaken it by preventing administrators from firing ineffective teachers and imposing changes they say help raise achievement, like an extended school year.

“A charter school is a more fragile host than a school district,” said Paul T. Hill, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington. “Labor unrest in a charter school can wipe it out fast. It won’t go well for unions if the schools they organize decline in quality or go bust.”

As it turns out, one of the key teachers who invited in the unions voted against unionizing after thinking it through.

What will unionization do for innovation and choice for kids, not to mention academic excellence? I think we know the answer.

What's Kirk's Commitment?

Illinois Republican Senate candidate Mark Kirk still has a primary to get through--he needs to energize voters who were massively disappointed by his vote for big government cap and tax, which would do nothing substantive for the environment. His latest comments are a step in the right direction--to the center I might add. We need a firm commitment to oppose this bill and future misguided efforts which will only add to our deficit, kill American jobs, and exacerbate the problem of energy dependence.

Lefties are going after him on another issue, but Kirk's vote against the high-speed rail boondoggle is a good one, fiscally sound on the merits.

P.S. Chicago Daily Observer highlights my earlier Kirk post:) It's Tuesday so Mark Kirk is Against Cap-and-Trade Tax

FARC Financing Zelaya?

Obama's foreign fans. Fausta on this one.

Bloomberg round-up.

Tenth Amendment Movement Gathers Steam

Go Big Red. The Middle Coast.

P.S. (Video) Massive ObamaCare Tea Party protest in Missouri. Gateway Pundit. More here.

An Iraq Vet Finds His Dog

A reader sent this in--a wonderful story, a good cause. WSJ:

Seeing Eye dogs were first systematically trained in Germany during World War I to aid blinded veterans. Today, psychiatric-service dogs are being trained to help veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan battles. [snip]

Puppies Behind Bars Inc., a New York-based nonprofit that uses prisoners to train animals, has placed psychiatric-service dogs with 11 veterans and hopes to provide 14 more this year. Gloria Gilbert Stoga, the charity's president, said it is difficult to raise the $26,000 needed to train each dog. "We're just scratching the surface," she said.

Puppies Behind Bars.com

Castaways Coalition Beach Party - Open Bar, Food, Music, and Networking...
Join the Cook County GOP, the Chicago GOP, the Chicago Young Republicans, the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, the Chicago Republican Women's Network, the 21 Club, the Illinois Republican Party and the Republican Jewish Coalition for our second annual Castaways Coaltition Beach Party on Wednesday, August 5th at Castaways on North Avenue Beach at 5:30pm. Meet several hundred Republicans from the Cook County area, candidates for U.S. Senate & Governor, as well as other statewide and local offices. Guy Benson from WIND (560) will emcee the event. Don't miss this opportunity to party on the beach with like-minded Republicans!

The event cost is $30 and there will be an open bar with beer and wine as well as pizza and hot dogs.

For more information or to purchase tickets please use the links at the bottom.

For more information please email jon@cookrepublicanparty.com.

To purchase tickets visit https://digitalcampaign.net/cook_beachparty.htm

Help military families by becoming part of the "Backpack Brigade"
Operation Homefront and Beam Global Spirits & Wine are teaming up to lend a hand to military families by helping them to prepare their children to go back to school. Participating children of active duty military members will receive a backpack filled with school supplies in time for the 2009-2010 school year.

We'll have a collection box at this event for this worthy cause.

Paul for Illinois 62

My friend Paul Mitchell, Thoughts of a Regular Guy, is running for Illinois State Rep., in the 62d district, as the conservative alternative to Sandy Cole. He'll be at the Lake County Fair at the Republican Booth, the YR picnic on August 8th, Gurnee Days parade on August 16th, and at the RALC picnic on August 23rd. So take the opportunity to meet Paul.

Support Paul for 62.com.

Obama's Lost Her Vote

Cambridge cop. Watch: I got choked up.

P.S. IowaHawk: Cambridge Police Profiling Still A Grim Reality for Harvard Faculty Assholes

Previous posts: 911 Tapes Released on Gates, Underdevelopment, Not Discrimination, The Damage Obama has Done, Black Officer Supports Arrest, Police Union: Obama Should Apologize, Family Robbed at Gunpoint in Evanston, Two Points, Hope Based on Hate, Not Enough, The Education Solution

I didn't say it!:)

From an alternative Chicago publication on the left:

Here's a couple of things you need to know about Valerie Jarrett, based on Robert Draper's glowing profile in Sunday's New York Times Magazine.

Number one: She apparently has big-time influence over Obama, almost on a par with the power Angela Lansbury had over Laurence Harvey in the original Manchurian Candidate.

(Emphasis mine though:)

Union Pensions in the Red

The SEIU, Teamsters, the list goes on. WSJ. A raw deal, but for whom? Where's the money gone?

Poor management probably deserves a lot of the blame for the union decline, but the exact causes are a mystery. An even bigger mystery is that the unions do a far better job with funds created for their officers and employees than for mere workers. The SEIU Affiliates, Officers and Employees Pension Plan—which covers the staff and bosses at its locals—was funded as of 2007 at 102.2%.

Yet if card check goes through, non-union workers would be essentially forced to join, putting their pensions at risk too.

Dem Culture of Corruption

Sens. Conrad and Dodd knew they were getting sweetheart loans from entities they were regulating. It's the housing sector again. You know, at the core of much of what killed our economy. HT Marathon Pundit.

More at Say Anything.

Annoying Vegetarians

A little humor from Right Wing Video.

Two Party Kooks

The left pushing the birther stuff more than the right. (Lou Dobbs is a wacky populist--who from the right watches him--he's on CNN anyway--the same way MSNBC likes Pat Buchanan--a discredited non-Republican.) I've certainly never blogged on it (but Silva has) until Gibbsy mentions it on the podium. Trying for a distraction from your losing agenda?

Some good advice from a Dem on how to handle the kooks. Democracy in America.

Kirk Moving in Right Direction on Energy

Well Hallelujah! FoxChicago interview, watch: HT NRO tweets. The Politico. Latest on the climate change hoax--Global Warming Doomsday Cancelled? Kill this tax-monster, job-destroying bill once and for all. I will rethink my lack of support for Kirk.

More recent findings on the climate:Global warming explorers in Arctic get nasty shock: polar ice caps blooming freezing

Axelrod on the Weekends

When he can't get back to Chicago, David Axelrod plays basketball.

(Will we all have to play basketball under ObamaCare? Perhaps it will be reserved for a select group.)

Pollak in Kenilworth

Local hero:) Harvard law grad and author Joel Pollak will lecture on "Obamacare, Rhetoric vs. Reality: Arm Twisting Chicago Style" 7 p.m. on August 13th in Kenilworth, hosted by the New Trier Republicans at their HQ. 847-251-6100.

Override the Veto

Tribune, The Cook County 14.

Stuff it, Silva

Rambling? Get The One off the teleprompter and he's all over the map. Sarah Palin is a can-do person, she talks in bullet points, sound bites. She's an honest person and says what she thinks--that's why she's such a threat to the Dem elitists, why they attacked her so viciously. She does not engage in double-speak like our let me be clear president.

John has it right.

Nothing to write about Mark?

Whatever Sarah Palin chooses to do, she has a great future.

P.S. More recognition of double-speak from The One--in the Washington Post.

Why the rush?

Why indeed.

UPDATE. Costs of The Chart are quantified. Bureaucracy drives up health care plan's costs. And Dr. Obama's Tonsillectomy. WSJ.

More: Obama's Misleading Medicine. Robert Samuelson, WaPo.

911 Tapes Released on Gates

Listen. More.

P.S. The President's Accidental Gift on Race. Andrew Breitbart. Our Postracial President? Victor Davis Hanson.

And Ramirez.

U.S. of A-CORN

In charge of vote fraud, uh voter registration, census and housing fraud, uh community stabilization, Obama's mob operation ACORN is getting some unwanted attention in D.C. Matthew Vadum, The American Spectator looks closely at the Congressional report, "Community-Organized Crime".

More ACORN news: ACORN angst--Tea Partiers outnumber them in NY. Baton Rouge. Guess they really want those ObamaCare veggie-nazi jobs:

The bill specifically directs organizations receiving the grant money that they must “with respect to residents in the community, measure -- (i) decreases in weight; (ii) increases in proper nutrition; (iii) increases in physical activity; (iv) decreases in tobacco use prevalence;(v) other factors using community specific data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey; and(vi) other factors as determined by the Secretary.”

P.S. Hmmm, these ACORN people are paid--where are all the fresh-faced Obama volunteers?

UPDATE: Related Sun Times story today--One man, two "affordable" homes--and he doesn't live in either one of them. Oops, one more, he lives in a 3rd subsidized condo. (Maybe he got a tip from Valerie Jarrett.) Oh, another story--the Sun Times asks, Is Illinois the most corrupt state?

Previous posts:Lefty Robber Barrons, ACORN Again,ACORN Docs, NY Times Killed ACORN story, At Least ACORN Getting Jobs, ACORN in a nutshell, Alexi, you thug,ACORN on the take, ACORN on the rack,ACORN Charged with Fraud,ACORN Chicago Coup?