It's My Mind

I haven't covered the Black Hawks here in their playoff run...

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Tue, 21 May 2013 21:27:34 PDT

It's been three years since the Black Hawks won the Stanley Cup. This blog followed them every step of the way in 2010 however in the two years since well I've neglected to follow their playoff performance. They hadn't fared two well last year I believe they were eliminated in the first round.

This year in a lockout shortened season the Hawks were hot and so hot they were at the top of the NHL's Western Conference and breezed past the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the playoffs in five games. After three games in the second round the Black Hawks are down by one game against the Detroit Red Wings.

This year's playoffs are interesting in that I read that this is the first time in a long time that all of the Original Six franchises made the playoffs. The Original Six in addition to the Hawks and Red Wings are the Boston Bruins, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, and New York Rangers. The Bruins and Rangers are facing each other in the second round of the playoffs.

In any event in covering the Black Hawks during the course of their Stanley Cup winning run, it's now time to cover them. I'm not going to show highlights of the last series, however, what we can see here are the highlights of the last three games against the Wings.

Game 1 Wings v. Hawks in Chicago - Hawks win [VIDEO]

Game 2 Wings v. Hawks in Chicago - Wings win [VIDEO]

Game 3 Hawks v. Wings in Detroit - Wings win [VIDEO]

The next game is in Detroit on Thursday starting at 8 PM Eastern. Alas I won't be able to watch, however, it will be my goal to watch the highlights and of course share them with you when the game is over!

President Obama speaks to the Morehouse College class of 2013

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Tue, 21 May 2013 06:00:03 PDT

[VIDEO] Here is the President's address to the class of 2013 at Morehouse College. All 32 minutes and while I'm aware of how the President is portrayed by those who oppose him it's certainly great to have the leader of the free world speak at a graduation especially if it just so happens to be my own alma mater. I'm looking forward to seeing the full ceremonies as it's not the President who's important here, it's the graduates as they worked very hard to see this day come!

Alas, the past week haven't been very good to the President. We have the story regarding the IRS targeting Tea Party groups come out. Also the Benghazi is still in the news, that was where an US Ambassador was killed in Libya by insurgents.

I also found that someone threw politics into the momentousness of President Obama coming to Morehouse to speak to the graduates. Here's the title to an article from the New York Daily News: "As President Obama tells Morehouse grads he strives to be ‘a better man,’ Republican critics suggest he ought to". Although the article itself mentions some of the commencement address it says very little about Republican critics connecting some of what he said which some of the bad press he's been receiving as of late.

I do believe, however, that most of this criticism you may have seen in a variety of quotes seen on TV. Perhaps even FOX News it seems although I would have to corroborate this will actual videos. That's something I'm not prepared to do at the moment.

All the same, I still view the President coming to Morehouse as a positive. It causes me to cringe when anyone event the President himself referring to himself in the same vein as Dr. Martin Luther King because Obama is more of a political leader than Dr. King. King himself was certainly more of a religious or moral leader than Obama can ever hope to be. Although perhaps King's vision of a Black person or anyone becoming President of the United State by the content of his character but not because of the color of his skin is something that we could get out of this comparison.

In spite of his current problems, it was great to see Morehouse College get some international attention and hopefully this could mean that more people will see the primary mission of Morehouse in a good light. Especially to see the positivity of mostly Black males completing their college education!

My weekend at the movies: "Star Trek Into Darkness"

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Mon, 20 May 2013 21:04:24 PDT

This past weekend I finally had the opportunity to see the latest entry in the Star Trek franchise entitled Star Trek Into Darkess at the Chatham 14 theaters. There were some unexpected surprised in this movie some plot points that were inserted into the story that's as much part of this universe even if this is an alternate reality. The antagonists of this film are muddled but still clear and as always our heroes win the day. The ending could've easily resembled Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan but thankfully they didn't stay that course and of course it's an action packed film.

As seen in the trailer or even in some promotional materials the USS Enterprise takes a serious beating in this movie. We already saw Spock in a volcano and jumping from a skyscraper in addition to him running around. Also the Klingons make a brief appearance and they look much more menacing than usual. I could see them as the universe's answer to biker gangs!

Overall a great movie, it has me thinking about seeing it again because usually once I see it at the show it's not likely to be viewed again until it's on sale as a DVD.

I noted not long ago on Twitter that when Star Trek was released in 2009 I was graduating from Star Trek. My graduation occurred on May 17, 2009 and it had premiered on May 8, 2009. And looking at my stubs that I've been collecting for years it appears I went to a show on May 10, 2009, a Sunday.

Finally a shoutout to the Morehouse College class of 2013 who had President Obama as a commencement speaker. It's something I hope to share with you as soon as I see any video of it in the next few days although I see it has been politicized already. That will be shared here as well.

Sorry for veering a bit off topic, however, the Star Trek franchise remains in good hands and hopefully we will see more Klingons in the next movie! Also even more better, now I have possession of two posters for this movie and certainly something you'd expect to have seen before this film was released. A wonderful treat for myself that excites me even more! :)

ALSO, in a recent post in showing a new trailer for Into Darkness, I referred to this film as Star Trek 13. That was incorrect as the current installment is in fact the 12TH Star Trek film. I would correct it in that post but then I figured just let it be. When the next movie is released and this blog continues that will certainly be correct! :P

Mayor Emanuel and CTA Launch Train Tracker

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Thu, 16 May 2013 10:43:34 PDT

I think they changes they recently unveiled for the train tracker I have used frequently since it was created close to two years ago are quite nifty. Alas by Sunday, I will have to be concerned about the fact that they will shut down the Red Line South. Then again because of some of the changes that they're making should help with the frustration of the commute.

USA Today: Obama critic to deliver sermon at Morehouse after all

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:00:05 PDT

The Morehouse alum who had been removed from his role during the course of commencement weekend is back in action just days before the class of 2013 walks across the stage to become Morehouse Men. Of course this will be with President Obama as their commencement speaker:

[Morehouse College PresidentJohn Silvanus Wilson Jr.] said in a statement on Wednesday that [Kevin Johnson] will deliver the sermon and two recent alumni would deliver baccalaureate hermeneutics to the graduating class.

"The focus of commencement weekend should be on the graduates, their families and the historic visit by the president of the United States," Wilson said.

The Philadelphia Tribune op-ed by Johnson ran with the headline "A President for Everyone. Except Black People." Johnson wrote, "When one compares the first African-American president to his recent predecessors, the number of African-Americans in senior Cabinet positions is very disappointing."

In a statement issued by Morehouse on Wednesday, Johnson said he was humbled by the opportunity.

"I commend President Wilson and his administration for continuing the Morehouse traditions of free thought and free speech," he said.

Previous post here!

Sun-Times: IRS, civil liberties scandals could cloud Obama’s second term

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Tue, 14 May 2013 21:25:39 PDT

It's easy for me to cite FOX News to talk about some of the shortcomings of President Obama's administration. Right now I'm watching Hannity where the theme of tonight's program was Obama's "credibility crisis". Many would dismiss anything shown on FOX so instead let's read this article from the Chicago Sun-Times:

As the nation’s first African-American president and a liberal Democrat who promised change, Barack Obama was expected to emerge as a world leader who would break new barriers when it came to civil liberties.

Five months into President Barack Obama’s second term in office, scandals involving the erosion of Americans’ civil liberties are dominating headlines and threatening to dictate the narrative of Obama’s presidency for weeks, if not months, to come.

As the administration was reeling from a swelling scandal in which the IRS under Obama’s administration admitted it had targeted conservative groups for investigation, including those with the words “Tea Party” or “patriot” in their names, a new revelation emerged that the Justice Department secretly obtained two months of telephone records belonging to Associated Press reporters and editors.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced Tuesday that the Justice Department and the FBI launched a criminal inquiry into allegations against the IRS.

“The FBI is coordinating with the Justice Department to see if any laws were broken in connection with those matters related to the IRS,” Holder said. “We are examining the facts to see if there were criminal violations.”

Lately he's seemed to have been beaten up a bit for Benghazi, and now these scandals have come to the surface. What's going on here?

Via Newsalert!

Another trailer for "Star Trek" 13

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Sat, 11 May 2013 17:00:01 PDT

[VIDEO] This trailer looks great and I'm even more pumped to see this latest adventure of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701. It looks like it takes a beating in this movie. If this preview doesn't get you excited for this one what else will. It's premiere is a week away and I anticipate seeing it next weekend at least!

This preview was uploaded onto YouTube, however, it was published on April 16 and I'm just now seeing it. I first saw this in the previews for Iron Man 3 when I saw it at River East.

Man sues Morehouse College after they say he never graduated

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Fri, 10 May 2013 07:51:22 PDT

They may have done things differently in the 1980s, but when I got my degree four years ago I picked mine up the same day as commencement. If this guy got a diploma that he didn't actually earn that's terrible that at the last minute something happened where it turns out he didn't actually graduate.

A man who said he graduated from Morehouse College more than 30 years ago is suing the school because the college said he never met graduation requirements. And now Morehouse is countersuing to get him to return the diploma it gave him 33 years ago.

"They can't have it back, I earned it," Terry Boyd told Channel 2's Tom Jones outside the southwest Atlanta campus.

Boyd's attorney wonders why the school gave him the diploma if it believed he hadn't met the requirements

"How do you mail something like this to someone you're professing did not complete you're requirements for graduation?" attorney Marsha Mignott said.

This all began two years ago after Boyd applied for a job paying nearly $150,000 a year and the company checked his background.

"They said they had a problem verifying my graduation from Morehouse," Boyd explained.

Discrepancy?

Morehouse said he failed an Organic Chemistry class. His transcript shows he made a D.

Boyd said he passed the class. His attorney said it appears someone changed his grade from a C to a D.

Mignott finds it odd the college would let him take Chemistry 2 if he failed the prerequisite Chemistry 1 class.

As a result, this is going to court and Morehouse wants their diploma back and understandably Mr. Boyd doesn't want to let it go. Let's hope Brother Boyd gets to keep his degree and is not forced to give up his diploma and as a result return to school again to re-earn his degree.

What's going on with the state Republicans?

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Thu, 09 May 2013 21:38:15 PDT

Well now the coverage over what's going on in the state GOP here in Illinois turns to who will replace Pat Brady who resigned Wednesday. The Chicago Sun-Times Natasha Korecki gives us the rundown and an unscientific poll where the people can decide who should be the new chair of the IL Republican Party. Earlier today the CapFax posted an FB from a potential IL GOP chairman - one Ron Sandack who currently serves in the Illinois ~~House of Representatives~~ Senate (he was incorrectly noted by Korecki as a state representative) is noted for his support of gay marriage in this state. Ironically this was one reason the conservative faction of the state party wanted Brady gone!

Conan provides a "Star Trek Into Darkness" spoiler???

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Thu, 09 May 2013 21:40:03 PDT

[VIDEO] On Tuesday's edition of Conan there was a sketch that involved the coming new movie Star Trek Into Darkness (STID) and done the way Conan O'Brien would do it. The thing is this sketch came with some phony credits and I'm sure Trekkies such as myself did some digging on who plays who in the coming film.

Anyway, the sketch showed an edited clip of the film's villain Benedict Cumberbatch talking to his co-star Chris Pine who plays Captain James T. Kirk. Cumberbatch's character has often been referred to as John Harrison, however, the credits used for this sketch shows Cumberbatch playing a character with a different name and certainly one familiar to Trekkies.

So on Wednesday's edition of Conan it was noted that a genre news website has picked up on this sketch and reported on the spoilers. I can only see one potential spoiler, the true villain of STID. There had always been rumors of who the antagonist of the next Star Trek film would be and it could've been anyone from Khan (who appeared in the original series episode "Space Seed" & film The Wrath of Khan) or Gary Mitchell from the Star Trek pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

As for the possibility that Conan has nothing but spoilers for the 13th installment of the Star Trek film franchise you can watch his answer to that right here. That's what we get for taking that above sketch very seriously. I suppose if nothing else we shall have to wait until the movie comes out to know for certain!

Another piece of big news the date for STID's release was already set as May 17th, but it has recently been pushed up a day to May 16th.

Illinois Republicans will soon have a new chair...

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Wed, 08 May 2013 21:08:06 PDT

This actually is yesterday's news, but something that is the result of something that I have been following for a while. The chairman of the Illinois GOP Pat Brady has resigned. This had been expected in the last month or so in light of attempts to remove Brady from his position as chair. The main reason to oust Brady was his public support for gay marriage in Illinois.

As to who would take on the position as state GOP chair Brady would like for a woman to succeed him, however, a former Congressional and Lt. Governor candidate would like to succeed him as well. After the last meeting to consider ousting Brady, it was agreed that there would be a formal process to appoint a new chair of the state GOP.

Time will tell I suppose!

Illinois Issues: Old, but still Grand?

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Sat, 04 May 2013 14:30:01 PDT

Sometimes I peruse the articles of Illinois Issues especially the archives starting in about 1975. It's a great window into the political climate of roughly the last 40 years here in this state. Then I find this article from this month's issue asking a question about how Republicans are faring in the current political climate.

The issue we see here is about how social issues fit. Republicans can't seem to adjust on this issue as much as the Democrats have even in this state. Some Illinois Republicans would dare say it's even difficult nationally. I must disagree with this however:

“If it turns out to be such a popular thing with exactly the constituency they need to appeal to — young people, Libertarians — the problem is that it violates the [Republicans’] whole family-values thing. The Democrats have this problem, too, but they’ve hung their hats less on social issues than the Republicans have. So it’s tough.\

Someone explain abortion to me! I consider myself pro-life, however, I do understand that people support Democratic candidates depending on the issue of abortion. Just as easily as people would support Republicans depending upon their stance on abortion. Is it that Democrats find this issue more tolerable than most. It's really the same way with gay marriage one party may support it more than others. This statement is quite agreeable however:

One significant difference between Republicans and Democrats is that Republicans have a point of view and have always stood for something — limited government, lower taxes and the like. The Democratic Party is more of a composite of interests. That’s why the electorate’s evolving view on social issues has been so difficult for Republicans, Mooney says.

Some people may have a problem with the Democratic Party for that reason. If you ask me, I would blame the fact that the Democrats constituency is urban and urban areas have so-called political machines. In order to secure votes they really did have to cater to different groups of people if you want to see an example look no further than the book American Pharaoh which is the biography of Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley.

BTW, this gives me an opportunity to knock the idea of a "RINO". I like to often say if you live in a state like Alabama, Utah, Texas, or I would even dare say Pennsylvania or Ohio that's something that would hold water. However in a state like Illinois or others that have weak Republican organizations the last term that should be thrown about is RINO if you're already having trouble winning elections. Of course that's not to say they should accept anyone into their fold.

Anyway, the focus is on the next gubernatorial election next year. Who knows if the GOP can win that race and it certainly boils down to the right candidate. And it's often been stated that Democratic governance of this state has been abysmal starting with Ousted governor Rod Blagojevich and up through Gov. Pat Quinn. Somehow in both 2006 and 2010, Blago and Quinn were able to retain the Governor's office in their respective elections. Many people are still trying to figure out what the deal was.

Was a commencement speaker at Morehouse College disinvited?

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Fri, 03 May 2013 10:00:02 PDT

While it's great that my alma mater was able to get the President of the United States to speak at this year's commencement ceremonies it's unfortunate that it's hit the press that there's some controversies around one of the other speakers.

A prominent pastor was allegedly disinvited from speaking at Morehouse College’s baccalaureate service this week after he criticized President Barack Obama, who will deliver the school’s commencement address.

The Rev. Kevin Johnson, a Morehouse alumnus and the senior pastor of Bright Hope Baptist Church in North Philadelphia, Pa., wrote an opinion column earlier this month in the Philadelphia Tribune accusing Obama of neglecting the black community in his cabinet picks–they’re overwhelmingly white–and broader political agenda.

The day after the article ran, Johnson said, Morehouse President John Silvanus Wilson, Jr. phoned to express reservations about his “untimely” comments regarding President Obama. Johnson asked administrators to honor their invitation, but learned days later he had been replaced by three alternate speakers.

Now, a group of two dozen pastors who lead churches across the country are demanding Morehouse re-invite Johnson.

As always, I realize there are always two sides to every story and the current President of Morehouse denies that Rev. Johnson had been disinvited:

That being said, I pause to write to you now regarding a related matter that is germane to our educational mission, but one that has regretfully generated quite a bit of distraction in recent days. In brief, I extended an invitation to a distinguished alumnus to speak at our upcoming Baccalaureate service. I subsequently made a decision to adjust the format of the Baccalaureate program and opted for a more creative, multi-speaker approach that is used by many leading institutions. This sharing of the stage comports with the spirit of upholding democratic ideals, including freedom of speech and expression, and is entirely consistent with the spirit of camaraderie that Morehouse holds dear.

As president, I believe this is in the best interest of the college. In this instance, I decided to ask this invited speaker to share the Baccalaureate stage with two other speakers so as to reflect a broader and more inclusive range of viewpoints.

To my chagrin, my decision has been wrongly construed by some as an effort to “disinvite” this individual. He was not disinvited, but rather declined to participate in the format. Worse yet, this decision has led to allegations of censorship, which of course has no place in any viable academic institution. These allegations are fundamentally deleterious and are undeserved.

I first got wind of this story via Instapundit earlier this week. Just to note it's considered a right-wing blog!

AP: Arizona returning to gold rush roots with bill making gold legal tender

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Wed, 01 May 2013 22:30:03 PDT

Arizona

I have worked as a cashier and have ran into people who preferred crisp, fresh bills. It's easy to just want to tear into them and say it doesn't matter, but often it's better to let it go and move on. One point to make is that well someone out there could say American currency isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

One state at least is attempting to create a currency that is truly worth something. Worth something meaning that legal tender could be precious metals such as gold & silver.

Arizona is returning to its gold rush roots with a bill that would make precious metals legal currency.

The GOP-led Senate gave final approval Tuesday to the bill that could make Arizona the second state in the nation to recognize gold and silver as legal tender. If signed into law by Gov. Jan Brewer, the measure would take effect in 2014.

The state Department of Revenue opposed the measure. It passed in the House only after an amendment was added to exempt the department from having to accept gold or silver as tax payments.

The measure reflects a growing distrust of government-backed money amid the declining value of the dollar, according to proponents. Republican Rep. David Livingston of Peoria, a financial adviser who ushered the legislation through the House, said his clients were eager to tap into their gold and silver reserves.

According to this article Utah was the first to approve such a measure in 2011. I've learned that in theory each state can determine their own legal currency. Probably more accurately each state could have their own central bank. As a matter of fact one state does have their own statewide central bank of sorts, North Dakota.

Morehouse athletes accused of rape

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Wed, 01 May 2013 22:15:48 PDT

I'm not sure what to say to this. I remember when I was still attending school there, a march occurred where students from Spelman College marched on campus to draw attention to a sexual assault incident. My understanding of this case was that incident was proven to be false. In this incident with several alleged incident of sexual assault and with four Morehouse College students charged this is difficult to sweep under the rug! Hopefully all the necessary facts will come out and hopefully the ones who are innocent aren't forced to suffer if they had no part in these allegations!

Politico: Black pols stymied in Obama era

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 22:30:02 PDT

A much more cynical older friend who I have talked to over the years, has a much more negative answer to this question. The question being will there be another Black President of the United States, his answer is no. Let's hope that's not the case, but at least for the foreseeable future there aren't many who are able to make that leap. Another thing to possible consider, does anyone think the President has done enough to help other Blacks get to about the same position he's in? You should read this article from the Politico and tell me what you think.

What's going on in DuPage County?

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 10:30:01 PDT

DuPage County is directly to the west of Cook County (and yes this is being written for those who may not be from the area who aren't familiar with Chicago area geography). If you take I-290 - a highway I also know only as the Eisenhower Expressway - this road will take you into DuPage which turns into I-88 that will take you towards Aurora, Illinois.

It was noted by Rich Miller in his Sun-Times column for today that in both elections for President Obama he carried DuPage. Why is this significant? Well it's significant because DuPage has historically been a reliable Republican county and Miller notes that things are changing there and it's not as solidly Republican as it used to be. He checks out a poll that shows where DuPage residents are on the burning issue of gay marriage:

The We Ask America poll I wanted to talk to [former IL state Senate President James "Pate" Phillip] about found that a plurality of DuPage County’s likely voters support gay marriage.

According to the poll, 49 percent of DuPagers say lawmakers should pass legislation to allow gay marriage while 45 percent oppose it. The poll of 1,052 likely voters taken April 22nd had a margin of error of plus/minus 3 percent.

The poll found that 62 percent of people aged 18-24 support gay marriage. In fact, every age group backed gay marriage except for senior citizens, who opposed it 55-40.

If you had told me a year ago that a poll could turn up these sorts of results in DuPage, I would’ve thought you were dipping into your medical marijuana stash.

The comments at the link are interesting. Makes the case of ceasing the need for determing a "true" Republican vs. "RINOs". At least as far as this state's concerned as the state GOP is struggling at the moment.

Here's some history Republicans took control of the state legislature in the election of 1994 - the same election that saw Republicans take control of both houses of the US Congress. Republicans already had control of the state Senate and for two years following the 94 elections Republicans snatched control of the state House of Representatives from the "dreaded" Michael J. Madigan. After the 96 elections the IL General Assembly was a divided legislature where Democrat Michael Madigan regained control of the House and until 2003 the Senate was still held by Republicans.

Everything changed in 2003 when the Republicans lost the state Senate, it's 25 year dominance of the Governor's mansion to none other than Rod Blagojevich. Also until the 2006 elections there was only one Republican who held statewide office. Well you could say two as Peter Fitzgerald was a Republican member of the US Senate although he eventual didn't seek re-election in 2004 and was replaced by none other than our current President.

All the same, Republicans in this state has been struggling ever since 2003. There were two good state elections in 2006 and 2010, but neither Republican nominee was able to edge the incumbent Governors (Blagojevich & Pat Quinn). The question we have to ask is will 2014 - that's next year - be any different?

Took a stroll through Hyde Park earlier this week...

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 06:00:12 PDT

Wednesday I paid a visit to the President's Chicago neighborhood Hyde Park and snapped a shot of this restaurant Park 52. I was here last fall for a political fundraiser hosted by "SWIPO". SWIPO stands for the Seventh Ward Independent Political Organization and it was headed by 7th ward alderman Sandi Jackson who is also the 7th ward Democratic committeeman.

Little did I know attending this fundraiser that Ald Jackson was about to wind down her career as a Chicago Alderman. When I attended this fundraiser she was being interviewed by Chicago news anchor Cheryl Burton. After arriving we saw various local news vans staking this place out possibly looking for her husband then Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. to surface after having been absentee since it was revealed that he was under medical leave from the House of Representatives.

Congressman Jackson had resigned his congressional seat not long after winning another term to the "People's House". Since he had been on medical leave since last June he didn't even campaign. Ald. Jackson also resigned her Chicago City Council Seat almost two months after her husband resigned from Congress. They both have since pleaded guilty to misusing campaign funds in Jesse Jr's case and in Sandi's case tax evasion. It appears we'll hear more about this case on Friday as their lawyers are due in federal court.

Until doing a Google search I just found out that Park 52 was closed permanently. The signs were still up when I took my stroll through Hyde Park, however I wasn't certain that this was remodeling or what. Having done the Google search and finding this article via Crain's there's certainty that this restaurant isn't coming back at all!

Park 52 itself was located at 52nd & Harper.

Also I have to figure out how to edit some of the video I shot along Lake Park Avenue in Hyde Park

Reason: How Medicaid & Obamacare Hurt the Poor - and How to Fix Them

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 21:35:35 PDT

[VIDEO] Reason argues why Medicaid & "Obamacare" in fact hurts the poor. Here's a brief description:

"Most physicians can't afford to accept Medicaid" patients, says Dr. Alieta Eck, a primary-care physician based in Piscataway, New Jersey. "If you're getting paid about $17 per visit, it won't be long before you can't pay your staff or pay your rent."

Medicaid is the nation's health care system for the poor. It's funded jointly by the federal government and the states. Medicaid is either the first- or second-largest budget item in all 50 states and the program is slated for a massive expansion under President Obama's health-care reform law. Despite the program's huge and growing overall cost, reimbursements to medical providers are so low that many practices refuse to accept Medicaid patients, causing long waiting periods for treatment.

Is it better to come up with something that's expected to keep health care affordable than to just work on why health care costs are high? Or should we ask why Medicaid reimbursements are so low for doctors who serve low income patients?

Update on conceal carry in Illinois

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 08:31:00 PDT

From yesterday's syndicated column from the CapFax's Rich Miller. Talks about the conceal carry debate that's raging in Springfield:

During the Illinois House’s floor debate last week over the concealed-carry bill backed by the National Rifle Association, I was told by an intimate of House Speaker Michael Madigan that Madigan wanted to make sure the bill received no more than 64 votes.

Because the bill pre-empts local government home-rule powers, the bill required a three-fifths majority of 71 votes to pass.

The anti-gun forces were demoralized the day before when their highly restrictive concealed-carry proposal got just 31 votes, so Madigan (D-Chicago) wanted to do the same to the NRA’s version, I was told.

The idea, the source said, was to show both sides that they couldn’t pass their bills on their own and needed to get themselves to the bargaining table and work something out.

Right now the discussion is over a bill blogged about earlier here about having Cook County become a may issue county while the rest of the state is shall issue. It's possible this bill won't be successful either as indicated this morning at CapFax:

And [Steve Brown, IL House Speaker Michael Madigan’s spokesman] comments about not finding consensus on concealed carry may be telling. Could they be waiting until after the June 9th federal court deadline to act?

As stated earlier any restrictions on carrying in this state will be null & void after this date as per a federal court ruling last year. Illinois is currently the only state that doesn't allow for conceal carry permits. A bill to consider such a practice had been vetoed by Governor Pat Quinn long before that ruling!

Illinois Senate OKs bill to regulate use of drones

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 22:00:09 PDT

I can see all the conspiracy theories coming about on this. Although hey direct it at alleged criminal activities it sounds reasonable. You must have a warrant and therefore probable cause.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Daniel Biss, would require authorities to obtain a search warrant before using a drone to collect information. Lawmakers voted 52-1 to send the measure to the House. Biss, an Evanston Democrat, said his proposal will help maintain people’s reasonable expectation of privacy.

The legislative measure also prohibits law enforcement agencies from using armed drones.

The Champaign County sheriff has already experimented with using a drone, and the Cook County sheriff has expressed enthusiasm about the technology. But civil rights groups and lawmakers worry that the technology could be used to subject people to unwarranted intrusion.

“It’s all about this new technology, that if it’s not restricted in some way, enables government and law enforcement to have a completely unprecedented level of knowledge of what people do, where they go, and frankly therefore, what they think,” Biss said following the debate.

Drones are already flying in America’s skies. But more widespread use is expected to begin in 2015 because of federal regulations.

It's best to start asking questions about this now than to just go forward and realize that we may be overstepping some legal boundaries here. I wonder how effective such drones would be in urban areas anyway. I can see such tools being used in rural areas. All the same time will tell how useful they could be or even how useless.

Marvin Gaye - What's Going On + What's Happening Brother

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 14:26:09 PDT

[VIDEO] The late great Marvin Gaye performed this song live and was part of this 1973 film Save the Children. More recently it was part of a DVD that contain some of Gaye's performances from Real Thing: In Performance 1964-1981.

I'm posting this now because I saw this video on on CAN-TV show and it contained scenes of Chicago from the past. Some of what's seen isn't much different than what many of us would see today in many of our violent neighborhoods. Because of the issues of the 21st century, some may say this song is still relevant today!

Second City Cop: Screw Chicago

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 10:00:02 PDT

Well the rest of the state is going to have "shall issue" conceal carry permits. Cook County/Chicago on the other hand has the ability to deny conceal carry permits. Needless to say 2nd City Cop isn't happy and throws their ire at a state Senate Republican who helped write this bill with a state Senate Democrat. In fact that Democrat, succeeded President Obama to his old state Senate seat.

All the same, there was a bill in the state House that would have made the whole state "shall-issue" but it failed there. It was because of the compromise bill that was revealed during the course of the house vote that caused that bill to fail.

June 9th is an important date as far as conceal carry goes. The rush is thanks to an earlier federal ruling that deemed unconstitutional the state's ban on conceal carry. The ruling that came down in February gives state lawmakers 180 days to craft a constitutional law permitting conceal-carry with some restrictions.

This AP article aptly puts the issue in perspective in this state:

Gun laws have long divided Illinois along geographical lines, not necessarily political ones. Democrats in Chicago worry about street violence, while Democrats and Republicans in other parts of the state stand by the 2nd Amendment.

And of course, there are the avid hunters and sports shooters.

And another perspective from the Capitol Fax:

Nowhere has it been shown that violent crime increases after concealed carry laws are passed. I wish opponents would start arguing facts instead of emotion here. The liberals are guilty of doing precisely what they constantly accuse conservatives of doing on things like climate change.

You know what's also correct, both sides are able to block the efforts of the other side. This is where this state is at as far as conceal carry:

That’s pretty much where the gun votes are right now. Both sides have enough votes to block what the other side wants. So, either we’ll get a negotiated solution, or it’ll stalemate. It’s likely that the Democratic leaders will try to ram something through that neither side will love. We’ll see.

Well, making Cook County a "may-issue" county and allowing the rest of the state to be "shall-issue" may be something that no one is happy about. It may make some of the legislators from Cook County/Chicago very happy however!

Update on the Boston Marathon bombings

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 20:05:47 PDT

Looks like we now know who did the Boston Marathon bombings from earlier this week. One of those suspects are dead, but a press conference was recently held where another suspect has been apprehended. The suspects were from Russia and apparently Chechen refugees. Chechen as in Chechnya which has been mired in warfare against Russia for many years. Now the next question is why did they target the Boston Marathon, I had to think that they wanted to take the issues of Chechnya and take them out on a nation that has little to do with the warfare there.

Also friend of this blog Gerard at American Rattlesnake has been following the story himself. Surely there's an immigration component to this!

Texas is coming for Illinois...

noreply@blogger.com (Levois) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 22:03:14 PDT

Recently followers of Illinois' political scene discovered that Texas Gov. Rick Perry is attempting to poach businesses from this state. He even has an ad for his efforts. This poaching as other Republican governors from mainly Wisconsin and New Jersey have also came knocking on the door of this state seeking to bring businesses from this state to their state.

You know sometimes I like to point out that in the case of Wisconsin a small bank from Milwaukee was essentially taken over by another small bank from this state. Granted these are black-owned banks we're talking about that devoured each other that is one bank failed and the other bank purchased most of that bank's assets still score one for Illinois!

In any event, it's great to see some of the state's leaders speaking against Gov. Perry. Most of us aren't likely impressed with our Governor's response to this. However, the best response to Perry comes from our embattled state GOP Chairman:

llinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady said he’d welcome Perry if he wanted to offer support to Republican gubernatorial candidates. But a recruiting trip, he can do without.

“I like Gov. Perry, he’s been a good leader for Texas, but I don’t think it’s productive for him to come in here and do this so publicly,” Brady said. “Stealing jobs from Illinois is not going to help.”
…
If Perry’s strategy is in part political, Brady said, it’s not a good one.

“I don’t think it’s a great way to impress Republican donors,” Brady said, adding that even a harsh critic of Illinois’ current leadership like himself wants the state to succeed. “We live, work and pay taxes here.”

BTW, I say embattled because Brady successfully beat back a challenge to his leadership of the state GOP. However that doesn't mean that at some point Brady won't be forced to step down in the near future.