Chicago News Bench

Neal Boortz's Fake Commencement Speech

2012-05-29T20:27:00.001-05:00

Neal Boortz Faux Commencement Speech
Click here to watch the video

Conservative radio talk show host Neal Boortz does not mince words, but some of his words have been given myth status by some bloggers who apparently never attended a journalism class.

When Boortz delivered the "commencement speech" to the graduating class of Texas A&M... wait, wait, hold one.

Seems a lot of websites, including Radio Patriot and The Ghostfighters, believe it's real and are causing many readers to also believe, falsely, that Boortz actually gave this speech at Texas A&M recently. (This is why some bloggers do not deserve the title "citizen journalist.")

Boortz did write a killer commencement speech, but the truth is that he has never delivered it at Texas A&M or anywhere else during a graduation ceremony. It was a real speech, and he really did deliver it (once), but it was never given as an actual commencement speech. Confused? Sure you are, and it's okay.

Boortz himself explains it best: "The speech was actually delivered one time .. but not at a commencement. A few years ago we filled up an auditorium at Kennesaw State College to give me the chance to don a robe and just … pretend. We made a video of the presentation which you can see here."

That video, which Boortz himself titled his "Faux Commencement Speech," is making the rounds on Twitter and Facebook this week.

The fact that Boortz never gave this speech to a graduating class in no way diminishes its power. Boortz is a brilliant writer and a talented speaker. Enjoy the speech, and share it, but please don't spread the myth that he gave it to a bunch of Aggie graduates. Read the full text of the Boortz Faux Commencement Speech here.

U.S., Russia and Norway Plan Joint Naval Drills

2012-05-27T17:20:00.000-05:00

May 27, 2012 - Norway and Russian recently completed a big joint training exercise called "POMOR-2012." It ended on May 17.

The U.S. will join both nations in a three-way exercise in August in what is called "Northern Eagle 2012." Naval officers from Norway and Russia recently with their U.S. counterparts in Murmansk, Russia (map) to make preparations for Northern Eagle 2012.

Russian destroyer "Admiral Chabanenko"
Udaloy II class destroyer (newest Russian destroyer class)
Photo: Trude Pettersen

"The exercise will start from Bodø in Northern Norway on August 18," according to Barents Observer. "The Russian side will participate in the exercises with the same vessel as in POMOR-2012, the destroyer 'Admiral Chabanenko'....The exercises will also include use of Russian Su-33 jet fighters and Ka-27 helicopters, American Sea Hawk helicopters and Norwegian F-16 jet fighters and Orion surveillance planes, the Russian Defense Ministry’s web site reads."

Northern Eagle 2012 also include a U.S. Arleigh Burke class Aegis destroyer, reports AvioNews. Aegis destroyers are "the most balanced surface warships ever built, with the weapons, electronics, helicopter support facilities, and propulsion, auxiliary and survivability systems," says GlobalSecurity.org.

They "are equipped with the MK-41 Vertical Launching System (VLS), GlobalSecurity says, "which fires a combination of up to 96 Standard surface-to-air, Tomahawk surface-to-surface missiles and VLA antisubmarine missiles; and AN/SQQ-89 Undersea Warfare System, with a bow-mounted AN/SQS-53C sonar system."

The Norwegian Navy will play a Nordkapp frigate in the naval games, "as well as hosting naval aircraft and helicopters from the three navies." The Admiral Chabanenko returned at Russia's Northern Fleet (NF) main base at Severomorsk (map) on May 23.

Happy Memorial Day! Here's a Free U.S. Flag Photo For You

2012-05-27T13:32:00.002-05:00

God Bless America! Click to go to Flickr

Happy Memorial Day 2012!

This U.S. flag photo was taken by me in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin in September, 2011. I thought I would release it to the public domain for Memorial Day.

God Bless The U.S.A. and the members of our great U.S. Military, past and present.

This photo's original size is 2048 x 1536 (pixels). You can download different sizes at Flickr. Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial.

UPDATED: Watch the Trayvon Martin Fight Club Video Here

2012-05-26T11:30:00.000-05:00

Punk

UPDATE, MAY 26, 2012 - You can STILL watch the Trayvon Martin "fight club" video here (below). For how much longer, we don't know. The cowards at YouTube seems to have finally pulled all of the copies that were posted there, including the one we posted on May 22. However, we found it still up at LiveLeak.com and you can see it below. The Leftists have been working overtime to scrub any trace of this video, which does nothing to help advance their agenda of convicting George Zimmerman without a trial in a court of law.

An example of the Left-wing media spin is an article at USA Today with the absurd headline, "Trayvon Martin's friends say he never picked a fight." But, as you see in the video, Trayvon seemed to enjoy fighting, and wasn't half bad at it. Martin, in the gray shirt, is encouraged to fight by a crowd of his friends. The load of crap presented by USA Today is, well, a load of crap.

Multiple postings of this video have been scrubbed from YouTube, and subsequent copies were also scrubbed, including the one we posted here on May 22. Relentless, we found another version still up at LiveLeak.com (as of 11:30 a.m.CDT, May 26); you might want to download it now if you can before it and all other copies are scrubbed from the web. Thanks to LiveLeak.com for keeping this video up:

Just another now-scrubbed video at YouTube:

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald To Quit On June 30

2012-05-23T12:35:00.002-05:00

May 23, 2012 - U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald will step down on June 30, reports CBS2 Chicago. "He took over on Sept. 1, 2001, making him the longest-serving U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. He became a national celebrity for going after political corruption in Illinois. Most notably, he led the prosecutions of both Gov. George Ryan and Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who are both serving time in prison."

Fitzgerald is, until June 30, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

This morning's official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice said, "Mr. Fitzgerald notified the White House, Attorney General Eric Holder, and U.S. Sens. Richard Durbin and Mark Kirk this morning of his decision to step down from the presidentially appointed post that he has held since Sept. 1, 2001, making him the longest-serving U.S. Attorney ever in Chicago. Mr. Fitzgerald, 51, has no future employment plans and will take time off this summer before considering career options. Including his tenure as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in New York, Mr. Fitzgerald is leaving the Justice Department after nearly 24 years." See the entire statement here (pdf).

The release also noted that Fitzgerald served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, where he took part in the prosecution of United States v. Osama Bin Laden, et al., "involving the August 1998 bombings of the United States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and the trial of United States v. Omar Abdel Rahman, et al., involving the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and a plot to bomb other New York landmarks." You can see Fitzgerald's official biography here.

"Fitzgerald has been the longest serving U.S. attorney in Chicago history," says the Chicago Tribune today, "holding the office for more than 10 ½ years."

Greg Hinz at Crain's Chicago Business makes a good point about Fitzgerald's departure: The political games that will surely be played in the effort to replace the irreplaceable crime fighter:

"The question now," ponders Hinz in his column today, "is who President Barack Obama will select for this extraordinarily sensitive job — and whether Senate confirmation will come before the November election."

More Obama Biogragphy Fraud: Obama's Mama Revealed (Literally)

2012-05-21T18:32:00.000-05:00

Is this Obama's Mama?

May 21, 2012 - Some incredible sleuthing by our friends over at The Astute Bloggers has turned this up: Obama's mama has nearly as many holes in her past as does the First Usurper himself.

It's not just his mother whose past is questionable. We now have reason to wonder who Obama's real father was. Here's an excerpt from this bombshell of a blog post from 2008 that they have recently updated:

"It's amazing what there is on the internet. A genealogical researcher has emailed me with three pictures of Obama's mother in the nude. That would be of trivial interest except for the setting in which the pictures were taken. They were clearly taken in a sophisticated mid-century apartment and my correspondent suggests that the apartment details could be used to identify the photographer." Full post at The Astute Bloggers...

So, why is this important? Simple: Obama is the freeking president of the United States, that's why, and he has yet to release his college transcripts, show us his real birth certificate, and ... well, and so much more, including the fact that through 2007 those close to Obama repeatedly referred to him as "Kenyan-born." That's why.

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2012-05-21T18:03:00.002-05:00

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Chicago Media Flummoxed by Anti-Fascist Mob Attack In Tinley Park

2012-05-20T20:37:00.000-05:00

May 20, 2012 - A bizarre attack in a restaurant left ten people injured after they were attacked by a group with baseball bats and hammers. Three people were hospitalized, but other victims declined treatment, according to Oak Lawn Patch. Tinley Park, Illinois is a normally quiet suburban town about 30 miles southwest of downtown Chicago (see map), but at 12:45 p.m. yesterday all hell broke loose at the Ashford House Restaurant at 7959 W. 159th Street.

The apparent reason for the attack: The victims are neo-Nazis. The attackers are "Antifa," or Anti-Fascists. The meeting that was attacked was the annual White Nationalist Economic Summit and Illinois White Nationalist Meet-and-Greet.

Antifa is a brutal international Marxist group that has "staged violence attacks all over Europe. Antifa targets members of right-wing groups and its member frequently go from country to country to beat the hell out of people they don't like. "One of the ongoing projects of the gang in Germany is to vandalize Thor Steinar clothing stores," says Council of Conservative Citizens. "The group claims that the Arab-owned clothing line caters to 'Nazis' by putting Viking/Norse imagery on some of their t-shirts." In other words, Antifa is a composed of hypersensitive commie thugs who love to bang hammers over peoples heads.

Editor's Note: Before we continue, I want to make it clear that I am no fan of neo-Nazis or fascists. However, I am also no fan of violent leftists who take it upon themselves to beat people up as self appointed vigilante posses. The White nationalists were not attacking anybody; they were dining and discussing. The attackers were not acting in self defense, and their actions are inexcusable. In short, the "anti-fascists" were acting very much like fascist SS troopers.

Cute logo for vicious vigilantes

The white nationalist group numbered about 12 to 15 people. Witnesses say there were about 15 to 18 attackers, who wore hooded black jackets. The attackers wore black hoods and masks. The incident itself is confusing, but the media response to it, and coverage of it, is also confusing. None of the local media explained what Antifa is or mentioned that this was not the first time that Antifa has acted violently in Chicago.

MEDIA CONFUSION:

Amazingly, the Chicago Tribune story on May 19 made no use of the words "fascists," "antifa," "racist" or "Nazi." Perhaps reporters Dennis Sullivan and Dawn Rhodes just completely missed this important aspect of the story or, perhaps, the Tribune's editors decided it would be safer to simply omit it.

Weird logo for weird assholes

Fox Detroit did a lot better. They led a May 20 report about the incident with reference to an "anti-racist organization," which they identified later in the story as a group that calls itself "Anti-Racist Action (ARA)," which claimed credit for the horrible attack. According to the Fox report, "ARA claimed that the activists were privy to "anonymous inside information" about the meeting, which it said was organized on the White Nationalist website Stormfront. The ARA website published photos of the alleged organizers and their contact information." (The ARA website is http://antiracistaction.org)

One of the more confusing reports came in waves from Patch. Their initial headline on May 19 was "Mob Attacked Specific Group of People Inside Tinley Park Restaurant." The story appeared under the same headline in several local Patch sites, all near Tinley Park. With the recent spate of black-on-white mob attacks in the wake of the Trayvon Martin case, such a headline was immediately confusing to readers. "Specific Group?" What the hell does that mean? To Patch's credit, they did break the story. However, it was other news outlets that sorted out the facts and present them in a cohesive, easy-to-read manner. While Patch mentioned an "anti-racist website," they did not give the name of that website or a link to it, nor did they identity the ARA as the owner of the website - or as the perpetrators of the violence. The Patch team talked to people at the restaurant and to police, but did not do any very basic research on the Internet to learn anything - or tell anything to readers - about the ARA.

Patch logo: P in the grass

Palos Patch's story on May 19 started with, "At this time, it has been reported that a group of 15 to 18 people dressed in black entered the establishment and began an altercation with a specific group of people dining in the restaurant." However, Palos Patch gives no indication as to what was meant by "this time." Their story had no time stamp. They offered a link to "real time updates" from other Patch reporters at the Tinley Park Patch. While there is some good information there, it is a difficult read because the updates are in little chunks and in reverse chronological order, like a disjointed email conversation. It was, to put it crudely, a clusterpatch.

The absolute worst report, in my opinion, has to be from NBC Chicago. They completely missed the reality of the story, as indicated by their headline: "Men With Bats, Hammers Invade Wedding Shower." Wedding?!? Hey, NBC, this was not about a wedding shower. Sure, there was one going on at the Ashford House Restaurant, but the ARA was not there for that. NBC made no mention of the white nationalists, either.

Let's go back to Patch, this time the one in Oak Forest, Illinois. They posted an update on May 20 at 5:32 p.m. with the headline "Target of Saturday's Attack Believed to be White Supremacists, Mayor Says." Okay, fine, Patch has acknowledged the white supremacist angle of the story... more than 24 hours after most other reports did. In fact, Oak Forest Patch got that from the Chicago Tribune, in the story referred to above. The Trib posted that story at 1:16 p.m. today, four hours before Patch's update. Sadly, that Tribune story, as I already pointed out, made no mention of the ARA. Neither did the Patch "update."

Bottom line: All of the attackers are white. All of the victims are white. Police were holding five people as of the afternoon of May 19. For the best coverage of this Chicago-area story, go to Fox News Detroit.

Black Bloc Tactics Exposed: Yes, Anarchists Really Are Violent

2012-05-20T16:12:00.000-05:00

INSIDE LOOK AT ANARCHIST TACTICS: "BLACK BLOC" AND VIOLENCE

"Black Bloc" Tactics are used by anarchists in the United States and worldwide. Dressed in all-black "uniforms," the black bloc thugs are out to vandalize and destroy both private and public property. Here is a look at how black bloc anarchists operate, with excerpts from a self-professed anarchist's online "pamphlet" that gives how-to advice to his violent comrades.

If somebody gets hurt by their tactics, they feel no guilt. They advocate the injuring and even killing of police officers. While the majority of "Occupy" movement people do not support such tactics, the black blocs are tied to Occupy. Black bloc goons are in Chicago for the NATO Summit.

There is simply no equivalent of black bloc activity within - or even loosely associated with - the Tea Party movement. Although many Occupiers are peaceful protesters, videos show again and again that plenty of them join the black bloc thugs in their destructive actions, or simply stand aside and allow them to freely throw their Molotov cocktails, rocks, and whatever else is at hand. Some Occupiers, like those in the videos here, openly say that they support the "right" of some to use black bloc tactics.

A GUY NAMED MIKE CASTLE has a lot of insider info about black bloc tactics on his website. Castle, a self-described "technologist," says of himself, "I make software, mostly for the web and Android, as Roasted Vermicelli. I talk about stuff on Off the Hook. I also bike, cook, and agitate for a better world."

I suppose Castle's idea of a "better world" is one in which self-appointed SS-wannabe amateur storm troopers use anarchist methods to trash innocent merchants' storefront windows.

Typical black bloc "uniforms"
Source: http://exile.wordpress.com/tag/black-bloc/

Of black bloc, Castle says that "The Black Bloc has gained alot of publicity in the past two years. What people dont understand is that the Black Bloc is not an organization or a group. It is a tactic. It helps reinforce security and execute our goal in the presence of high-profile demonstrations. From Seattle WTO to the most recent action in Genoa, the Black Bloc has certainly been the main focus by the media and the police in major demonstrations. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce newer and better tactics into the struggle." That, and more, can be found at one of Castle's web pages, where he presents "a pamphlet" for his fellow anarchists.

"In it's essential form," he wrote, "each participant of a Black Bloc wears somewhat of a uniform.... The idea of wearing this uniform is that if every single person in the Bloc looks relatively alike, it is hard for the police to determine which individual did what."

Typical black bloc behavior
Source: www.revleft.com

"For instance," Castle advised, "if a Black Bloc participant throws a brick at a store window and runs into the Bloc, she will easily blend in with everyone else. However, if a person wearing normal street clothes happens to throw a brick and run into the Bloc, chances are that she will have been filmed or photographed and later caught by the police."

Anarchrists are violent. Castle admits this. He advises his fellow black bloc'ing anarchists to "wear the uniform" to keep them from being identified by police.

Typical black bloc attitude
Source: TheBlaze.com

"Law enforcement has been known to film and take photos of random activists and keep files on those individuals," wrote Castle. "This can lead to problems in the future. It's better to be safe than in jail."

"Be creative," he urges his fellow black-clad thugs. "Build off the info on this site and never give up."

Still not convinced that these people are bent on being destructive?

"This pamphlet is essential reading for anyone who is associated with groups that advocate and/or utilize sabotage, theft, arson and more militant tactics," Castle's "pamphlet" says. "The advice herein also applies to anyone who is associated with groups that practice civil disobedience, especially since membership often overlaps and gossip travels freely between groups."

I'm all for civil disobedience, as long as it is actually civil. Castle and his fellow hoodlums, though, don't seem to understand that utilizing sabotage, theft and arson is not civil. In case you're still not convinced that these people are dangerous - very dangerous - you need to read Castle's section about weapons.

"Homemade explosives work very well in riots," he noted. "There is a huge history of the military using homemade explosives in war, so if it works for them, it can work against them. Click on the links for construction methods." Those links lead to details about how to make the following items (descriptions are Castle's):

Molotov Cocktails-The most popular choice in street fighting weaponry. A very useful and effective explosive, made purely of house hold items.
Smoke Bombs-These easily attainable or homemade items are great when dealing with illegal situations. It can shield any media or police cameras from catching anyone on film participating in an illegal act. It can also disorient the police when they are advancing on the crowd. For construction methods, click on the link.
Fuel-Fertilizer Explosives-These will create an overwhelmingly large explosion and should be practiced in large faraway places like the desert before using. Make sure that you will not injure anyone that you do not intend to injure.
Pipe Bombs-Not really the best explosive to use in a street fight but it still works. Causes lots of good damage.
Draino Bomb-A small bomb that is very risky to use. To be used on cars only. Be careful!
Soda Bottle Bomb-A somewhat biowarfare bomb made from aluminum foil and pool acid. The fumes should not be inhaled by anyone you do not want to inhale them.
Match Head Bomb-A small bomb of match heads. Not too fabulous.

Mr. Castle is a compassionate advocate of terrorism, so he gives this loving advice to his readers: "Remember: Be careful and responsible with these explosives. Dont blow yourself up, or any of your comrades! Dont get caught!"

Related Reading: "The Emergence of The Black Bloc and The Movement Towards Anarchism"

Occupy Movement Not The Same As Tea Party Movement

2012-05-20T15:03:00.003-05:00

Let's flashback to October, 2011. Obama The Dunce said that the Occupy "movement" is pretty much the same as the Tea Party movement.

“I understand the frustrations being expressed in those protests," the First Imbecile told ABC News's Jake Tapper.

"In some ways," Obama said, "they’re not that different from some of the protests that we saw coming from the Tea Party. Both on the left and the right, I think people feel separated from their government. They feel that their institutions aren’t looking out for them,” he said.

REALLY?

What Obama misses in saying such a stupid thing is this: Just because two very different groups have a common complaint does not mean that "they're not that different" from each other. You only need to look at present-day Europe to see what I mean.

Take Greece, for example, where extremists on both the Left and the Right are very unhappy with the present leadership. That mutual dissatisfaction with the sitting government is hardly reason to say that the communists in Greece are "not that different" from the fascists there.

Except for the use of anarchy tactics, rape, public urination and defication, constantly shouting obscenities, blatant and unabashed anti-Americanism, destruction of storefronts and so much more, perhaps Obama is right.

In the second video here, you'll see and hear Occupiers in Chicago using foul language. That's what many of them use in place of intelligent argument. The video, by Marathon Pundit, shows behavior that is simply never displayed at Tea Party meetings, rallies and gatherings. For the liberal Occupiers, it is normal speech.

Three NATO Protesters Charged in Chicago Terror Plot, PLUS Special Insider Info About Black Bloc Anarchists (UPDATED)

2012-05-19T22:36:00.000-05:00

See special section below about "black bloc" anarchist tactics

May 19, 2012 - Three anti-NATO protesters in Chicago, arrested on Wednesday, have been formally charged with providing material support for terrorism, conspiracy to commit terrorism and possession of explosives.

Prosecutors allege that the trio was planning to attack Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel's home, Barack Obama's campaign headquarters and more. The three men are Brent Vincent Betterly, 24, of Oakland Park, Fla.; Jared Chase, 24, of Keene, N.H; Brian Church, 20, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Mugshots courtesy of Chicago Police Department
Left to Right: Brent Vincent Betterly, 24, of Oakland Park, Fla.;
Jared Chase, 24, of Keene, N.H; Brian Church, 20, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

"The suspects were each being held on $1.5 million bond," reports USA Today. "They apparently came to Chicago late last month to take part in May Day protests. Six others arrested Wednesday in the raid were released Friday without being charged. Chicago police Lt. Kenneth Stoppa declined to elaborate on the case beyond confirming the charges against the three who were still in custody. Police identified the suspects as Brian Church, 20, of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida; Jared Chase, 24, of Keene, New Hampshire; and Brent Vincent Betterly, 24." UPDATE, MAY 20: Fourth person arrested: Chicago-resident Sebastian Senakiewicz, 24, was arrested Thursday and charged with one count of terrorism/false threat...

video platform video management video solutions video player

Chicago Police say the three men are self-described anarchists, members of the "Black Bloc" movement, which, says The Guardian (UK), "that has disrupted international gatherings in the past, were arrested on Wednesday and charged on Friday with conspiracy to commit terrorism, providing material support for terrorism and possession of an explosive incendiary device."

"The men had been making Molotov cocktails out of empty beer bottles filled with gasoline and fitted with cut bandanas for fuses," Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said in a press conference. [See video, above.] "It is pretty clear from the evidence they were making the bombs," Alvarez said. "There was a lot of discussion about making these Molotov cocktails and what they were going to do with them."

However, The Guardian and many other media are getting the Black bloc (small "b") wrong. It's not a movement, it's a method of protest.

The Chicago Sun-Times got it right. They accurately reported that "Participants wear black clothes, bandanas, masks and anything else to conceal their identities from police. Black blocs first drew the attention of mainstream America in 1999 during demonstrations against the World Trade Organization in Seattle. A black bloc went on the offensive, bashing windows of many businesses in downtown Seattle including Starbucks, Gap and other businesses with a global reach. Black bloc vandals also damaged property during the 2010 G-20 meeting in Toronto."

Black Bloc Tactics:

Typical black bloc "uniforms"
Source: http://exile.wordpress.com/tag/black-bloc/

A guy named Mike Castle has a lot of insider info about black bloc tactics on his website. Castle, a self-described "technologist," says of himself, "I make software, mostly for the web and Android, as Roasted Vermicelli. I talk about stuff on Off the Hook. I also bike, cook, and agitate for a better world."

I suppose Castle's idea of a "better world" is one in which self-appointed SS-wannabe amateur storm troopers use anarchist methods to trash innocent merchants' storefront windows.

Typical black bloc attitude
Source: TheBlaze.com

Of black bloc, Castle says that "The Black Bloc has gained alot of publicity in the past two years. What people dont understand is that the Black Bloc is not an organization or a group. It is a tactic. It helps reinforce security and execute our goal in the presence of high-profile demonstrations."

They are worldwide, these destoyers. "From Seattle WTO to the most recent action in Genoa," said Castle, "the Black Bloc has certainly been the main focus by the media and the police in major demonstrations. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce newer and better tactics into the struggle." Still not convinced that these people are bent on being destructive? READ MORE about Black Bloc here...

Updated: Where Was Obama Born? "Birther" Issue Heats Up With New Evidence Of Lies And Coverups

2012-05-18T20:19:00.000-05:00

The "birther" issue of Barack Obama's actual place of birth rages on, getting hotter this week. In fact, the Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett has threatened to keep Obama's name off of Arizona's presidential ballots if Obama does not provide birth certificate verification from the State of Hawaii. That's where Obama claims he was born. Bennett said that "if Hawaii can’t or won’t provide verification of the president’s birth certificate, I will not put his name on the ballot."

'Kenyan-born' before 2008

Well deal with the present in a moment, but first a flashback to June 27, 2004, when a newspaper in Kenya published a story with the headline "Kenyan-born Obama all set for US Senate."

"Kenyan-born US Senate hopeful, Barrack Obama, appeared set to take over the Illinois Senate seat after his main rival, Jack Ryan, dropped out of the race on Friday night amid a furor over lurid sex club allegations"....

The source of that quote is a cached page of the Sunday Standard, published by the Kenyan Standard Times. And where did the Standard get this story? At the end of the story is "-AP," designating the original source as the Associated Press. Surely the AP did not get something as important as Obama's birthplace wrong.

But did it? Well, no, and here's where I will head off critics by saying that the AP did not actually call Obama "Kenyan-born." This does NOT change, however, the fact that a Kenyan newspaper did.

Snopes.com claims to debunk the Sunday Standard story, but they do so by emphasizing the AP angle of the story. Here's what Snopes wrote (with my emphasis added):

"Surely, claimed birthers, such an august news agency as the Associated Press would not have identified Barack Obama as 'Kenyan-born' if they did not have ample evidence to support its use of that term. However, the Associated Press made no such reference; the identification of Barack Obama as 'Kenyan-born' was added to the Sunday Standard's version of the AP story by someone else (who misspelled the politician's given name as 'Barrack' in the process) and is apparently unique to that publication."

But so what? A Kenyan newspaper felt that they had "ample evidence" to support the use of the term "Kenyan-born." Snopes may have debunked the AP part of this, but they did nothing to show that the "Kenyan-born" claim made by the august Kenyan Standard Times was inaccurate. The Kenyan Standard Times, by the way, is not the only source - either in Kenya or elsewhere - to claim that Obama was born in the African nation.

Image from Breitbart.com

For example, this from May 18, 2012: A story by Dylan Stableford, Senior Editor at Yahoo!:

"Obama's former literary agency misidentified his birthplace as Kenya while trying to promote the then-Harvard Law grad as an author in 1991. According to a promotional booklet produced by the agency, Acton & Dystel, to showcase its roster of writers, Obama was 'born in Kenya and raised in Indonesia and Hawaii'."

Stableford notes in his article that Miriam Goderich edited the Obama biography. She is now a parnter at the Dystel & Goderich agency, of which Obama is currently a client.

"This was nothing more than a fact checking error by me--an agency assistant at the time," Goderich wrote in an emailed statement to Yahoo News. "There was never any information given to us by Obama in any of his correspondence or other communications suggesting in any way that he was born in Kenya and not Hawaii. I hope you can communicate to your readers that this was a simple mistake and nothing more."

Riiiiiii-ight, sure. A "simple mistake." Let's imagine the process: A sharp, outstanding literary agent is hard at work editing a biography of Obama. Obama, claims the literary agent, never indicated to her or her agency that he "was born in Kenya and not Hawaii." That was back in 1991.

So what the hell happened? A typo? A drunken session on the keyboard? Total fabrication? Seriously, think about it. If Obama had "suggested" that he was Hawaiian-born, why wouldn't that have been written? Of all the nations on Earth, the literary agent just randomly picked Kenya as Obama's birthplace? This story stinks and Goderich insults all of us by even hoping that we could believe such a tale. Does the literary agent's alleged "simple mistake" explain the many other examples of Obama being referred to as "Kenyan-born" prior to 2008?

Obama may have written the bio himself - which, if true, means he lied. Sounds crazy? Yes, but consider this theory put forth by The Astute Bloggers:

"[The biography] was probably penned by Obama – as was the custom at that agency and most agencies. Obama probably LIED in his agency bio when he claimed to be born in Kenya and did so because he probably LIED in his Columbia College and Harvard Law School applications – and claimed to be Kenyan, in order to enhance his likelihood of admission --- like his crony Elizabeth Warren. We ought to demand Obama release his complete college and law school applications and grades in order to determine the truth."

Surely, to paraphrase (and mock) Snopes, an august news agency such as Yahoo! News would not misquote an august literary agent such as Miriam Goderich. Surely not, and the stench of a coverup by Obama, the White House and the Obama re-election campaign is nearly overwhelming. If Obama would just show us his real birth certificate - rather than a badly produced copy - this issue might be resolved.

World Net Daily noted today that "while some quickly dismissed as an anomaly yesterday’s explosive revelation that Barack Obama’s former literary agency billed him as 'born in Kenya' back in 1991 in connection with a book he never wrote, WND has discovered much later published references – some dated as recently as 2007 – used to promote his highly touted book 'Dreams from My Father'."

There's also the case of James Orengo, a Kenyan lawmaker who declared to his own parliament in March, 2010 that Obama was born in Africa and is therefore “not even a native American.” A must-read article by World Net Daily on April 11, 2010 detailed the Orengo statement.

WND's article also noted that they previously reported "several other sources – including National Public Radio – have claimed Obama’s birthplace as Kenya prior to his election as president. WND also reported when a video appeared in which Michelle Obama said her husband’s “home country” was Kenya, though her comments didn’t specifically suggest his birth there. The video, posted April 3 on YouTube and forwarded by a score of Internet e-mails, shows Michelle Obama saying, “When we took our trip to Africa and visited his home country in Kenya, we took a public HIV test."

There are many other examples of Obama being referred to as Kenyan-born before he was elected president in 2008. All have been dismissed by the Mainstream Media. They nervously laugh at the possibility that Obama is holding the office illegally. The bizarre statements by literary agent Miriam Goderich, however, is forcing the media to actually acknowledge this topic, which is very uncomfortable for them.

We do not expect an explanation about all the pre-2008 references to him as Kenyan-born, of course. Heck, we're still waiting for an explanation of this story from August, 2007: "Are Obama and Emanuel Members of Gay Club in Chicago?"

Dance Clubs In Heaven Are Playing Donna Summer Songs

2012-05-18T17:32:00.000-05:00

May 18, 2012 - The great Donna Summer passed away yesterday in Florida. Lung cancer took her from us. She was 63. She will always be the 23-year old Queen of Disco in my heart, though. Her real name was LaDonna Andrea Gaines. She was born on December 11, 1948 in Boston. Her stage name "Summer" was inspired by husband of two years, Helmut Sommer, an Austrian actor.

Image: Mark Mainz /AP Images for Fox via CS Monitor

Sure, some of you tough guys will laugh at me for admitting this, but I adored Donna Summer. I am rarely moved by the death of a celebrity, but the loss of this magnificent voice and spirit has saddened me in a way that I would not have expected.

I made a living as a "disco d.j." from 1978 through 1984, and Donna Summer was an essential part of the scene. I first heard disco in 1974, when I was a student in Munich, Germany. I would listen to Armed Forces Radio to get news from back in the States, and to hear American music at night. There was a new kind of music being played there. It was called "disco."

2008 album cover of 'Crayons,' Summer's first studio
album after a 17-year break: frugalcafe.com

Munich was vitally important to her early career, as The National Post reported:

"At the age of 18, she left her native Boston after being cast in a Munich production of the musical Hair. She remained in Germany for several more years, becoming fluent in German and performing in the musicals Godspell and Showboat. In the early 70s she married and divorced Austrian actor Helmut Sommer, with whom she had a daughter Mimi, anglicizing his name to Summer and keeping it as her own even after their split. It was also during her time in Germany that she met Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, two producers who would have a major impact on the future of her career." More at The National Post...

When I returned to the U.S. in January, 1975, I went to record stores (vinyl!) and asked them if they carried any disco. The universal response was, "What's disco?" I remarked to one of the clerks that his store would probably have an entire section devoted just to disco music by Christmas. He stared at me blankly. I was right, as history shows, and it was due in large part to the irresistible force of artists such as Donna Summer. I was blown away when I first heard her 1975 hit "Love To Love You Baby."

Well before she became the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer's voice was impressing people. She recorded some songs for the Philips label under the name "Donna Gains." The song "Can't Understand" was co-written by her and H. Hammerschmied (listen to it).

As a child of the 1960s, I also love rock (I had an album-oriented rock show on a small station outside of Madison, WI in the early 1980s), I was instantly infected by disco.

You could not avoid Donna Summer in the 1970s and 1980s. If you liked disco, you did not want to avoid her. If you were a disco fan, you couldn't get enough of her powerful voice and infectious spirit. Now, after her passing, I know that her tens of millions of fans around the world still can't get enough.

It was only back in February that I wrote that Donna Summer was a better voice talent than the late Whitney Houston. Whitney was great, but for vocal strength Donna was greater.

Few could belt out a song with the velvety force that Summer could. While many people hated disco and mocked Donna Summer, she was highly respected among her peers in the music industry.

Elton John told E! Online, "I'm so sad. This woman was the queen of disco and so much more." Elton said that her music still sounds good today, and said she deserved to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He called it "a total disgrace" that she has not been inducted, "especially when I see the second-rate talent that has been inducted." Elton called her a "great friend" and said, "I will miss her greatly."

Beyonce wrote a very touching letter in memory of Donna Summer. "Donna Summer made music that moved me both emotionally and physically to get up and dance," wrote Beyonce. "You could always hear the deep passion in her voice. She was so much more than the queen of disco she became known for, she was an honest and gifted singer with flawless vocal talent. I’ve always been a huge fan and was honored to sample one of her songs. She touched many generations and will be so sadly missed."

Donna Summer may have left this world, but she is not dead. Her spirit lives on here and on that Other Plane. If there is a dance club in Heaven, they're playing Donna Summer songs.

My favorite cover of "I Feel Love," by Venus Hum with The Blue Man Group:

Lonely Commie Protests In Chicago Ahead of NATO Summit

2012-05-18T16:23:00.000-05:00

Click image to enlarge it

May 18, 2012 - I spotted this commie moron in downtown Chicago ("the Loop") yesterday afternoon. A picture is worth a thousand words, and even moreso when there are words in the picture.

The lonely anti-capitalist drove two hours from his home in Indiana just to stand by himself on the corner of Jackson and LaSalle, across the street from the Chicago Board of Trade to the south and the friendly local Federal Reserve Bank to the west. I didn't even try to engage this useful idiot in conversation. I knew, and you know, what he would have said anyway. I snapped the photos and moved on. The Loop was quiet yesterday. The only other real protest action of note was a bunch of fools who spewed lies about the petroleum industry in front of the Canadian consulate.

War On Women? Really?

2012-05-16T20:38:00.000-05:00

May 16, 2012 - Here is a powerful new video by none other than the Small Business Association (SBA), posted to YouTube on May 16, 2012.

The description posted on YouTube:

If it feels like 1984 in real life, it should. The threats to our religious liberty and conscience rights are very real. The question that needs to be asked of this president is "who decides"? Time and time again, President Obama has affirmed that it is the government who decides -- government who decides what women want and think.

John Edwards, Democrat

Monika Lewinsky, Woman

President Obama and his allies in Congress and the abortion lobby must stop the "War on Women" who don't agree with them!

It's President Obama's job to protect the freedom of all women and men to practice their beliefs. Yet, an all-out assault has been launched by this administration on people of faith and conscience. Our rights are at stake and we must do something to stop it now. We must expose him! Learn more at www.respectmyvoice.com

Of course, the Republican Party is not waging "war" on women. The notion itself is ludicrous, and a group of Republican members of Congress said so publicy this week.

"Democrats’ attempt to paint themselves as defenders of women," reported NewsMax today, "and Republicans as insensitive to female concerns has no basis in reality, 14 GOP congresswomen write on Politico."

The charge that the GOP is waging a "war on women," opined a reader in in a letter to The Washington Times today, "highlights just how contemptuous the political left is of voter intellect. Only someone with an IQ three points above a rock or a Democratic Party ideologue would believe Republicans are actually conducting any sort of war on women’s rights."

Wisconsin Democrats Get No DNC Support For Walker Recall

2012-05-16T17:08:00.000-05:00

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker

May 16, 2012 - The Democrat National Committee (DNC) is not giving enough financial support to Wisconsin Democrats' effort to recall Gov. Scott Walker.

The recall election will be held on June 5th. In addition to the DNC being MIA in the Badger State, Walker is polling better than his Democrat challenger, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. A poll released today by Marquette University Law School shows Walker ahead of Barrett by 50 percent to 44 percent "among likely recall voters," as reported by NationalJournal.com.

That's according to a report by the Washington Post earlier this week. Henry D'Andrea analyzed the lack of national support in his Washington Times Communities column today.

"In an exclusive report by the Washington Post," wrote D'Andrea, "top Wisconsin Democrats are furious at the DNC for not helping to fund Barrett’s gubernatorial bid against Walker."

D'Andrea notes that the DNC is all talk and no bankroll in the Recall Walker effort.

It's so desperate, it would seem, that Barrett out an odd email on May 8, asking ordinary folks for donations of $12.00. That's an odd number, as pointed out in a great column today by Bill Lueders at WisconsinWatch.org. "Between March 20 of this year, just before launching his campaign, and May 7," wrote Lueders, "the eve of the primary, Barrett raised $1.1 million, including reported late contributions, state Government Accountability Board records show." Walker, in contrast, has garnered more that $25 million in contributions since taking office on January 3, 2011.

According to the Washington Post report on May 14, a "top Wisconsin Democratic Party official said that they are "frustrated" by a lack of support not only by the DNC, but by the Democratic Governors Association (DGA). “Scott Walker has the full support and backing of the Republican Party and all its tentacles. We are not getting similar support,” the Post quoted the official as saying.

That Wisconsin Democrat official (who is apparently too cowardly to allow the Post to use his name), said that the state part requested the DNC for $500,000 to help finance its statewide campaign against Walker. "While the DNC has made generally supportive noises," said the Post, "the money has not been forthcoming, the official says — with less than a month until the June 5th recall election."

Even if the DNC did suddenly infuse half a million dollars into Wisconsin tomorrow, there is not much time left for it to make much difference. "The DNC," said the Post, "did not immediately respond to a request for comment."

Wisconsin Dems are worried about the consequences of their recall effort failing. It could, after all, have national repercussions.

The unnamed Wisconsin Democrat official also told the Washington Post that if Walker survives the recall election next month, "he will turn his victory into a national referendum on his ideas about the middle class. It will hurt Democrats nationally. The fact that [national Dems] are sitting on their hands now is so frustrating. The whole ticket stands to lose."

"Though DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is supposed to host a fundraiser for Barrett," wrote Jonathan S. Tobin in Commentary Magazine today, "the party has yet to respond to a request from Wisconsin Democrats for a quick half million, but the check is apparently still in the mail. The Democratic Governors Association has already spent $2 million helping their union allies to push for a recall, but it’s not clear if they’re going to be throwing more good after bad."

The situation is so bad, noted Tobin, that some Democrats may be just giving up - including the White House. As pointed out above, the recall is just a few weeks away. "If, as now seems likely, Walker survives the recall," Tobin wrote, "it will do more than just strengthen the rising GOP star. It will be rightly seen as a harbinger of other, even more significant defeats for the Democrats later this year. That’s why the DNC and the president are now bailing out of a Wisconsin fight that may turn out to be a huge mistake for the left."

Man Charged With Spanking His Monkey in Oak Lawn, Illinois

2012-05-12T17:55:00.001-05:00

Don't let the kids read this: Let's say you're a young man living in Oak Lawn, Illinois, a suburban town on Chicago's southern border near Midway Airport. It has more than its share of taverns and sports bars, big car dealerships and cheesy bridal shops. It's Friday afternoon and your girlfriend is not with you. You're bored. What to do?

The obvious answer, of course, is to do what any creative future sex offender would do: Spank your monkey in a parking lot. You know, play with your ding-a-ling where other people might see you.

In related news, by the way, this May is the 17th annual "National Spank Your Monkey Month." It was started in 1995 in San Francisco and inspired - at least in part - by none other than a U.S. Surgeon General. (More on that below.)

On the afternoon of Friday, May 6, 2012, Mr. Jonte Jamal Spane, 18, of Oak Lawn, allegedly chose to entertain himself by loafing his mule - in his car, in a busy shopping mall parking lot. He was charged with public indecency that evening. According to a news report in Oak Lawn Patch, "Oak Lawn police tracked down an 18-year-old man after a woman said he exposed himself to her in a parking lot, reports said." The "reports," I can report, are the police blotters themselves.

The woman, reported Patch, "was walking back to her car in the Target parking lot at 4120 W. 95th St. when a dark colored Chevy Impala with a spoiler drove past her sometime after 3 p.m." Again, this is from the police report as reported by Patch.

A search for the car led police to Spane's home on South Tripp Avenue in Oak Lawn. There, police spoke with Spane's father.

During that conversation, says the Patch report, Jonte came out to talk to the officers. They took him in for questioning and he allegedly admitted that he had been choking his chicken in his car in that parking lot.

Let's have a big group "Eeeeeeewww!" now, shall we?

Spane meant no real harm, the Patch report said, which noted that he "told police he did not mean for the women to see his [ding-a-ling]," according to the police report. Police say there were two large empty bottles of baby oil inside of Spane's car. Spane is scheduled for a court appearance on June 8 in Bridgeview to address charges of public indecency.

Jonte Spane might want to tell the judge that he was just following the advice of former U.S. Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders. If the charges against him are true (and we believe in innocence until guilt is proven in court), then he might say that he was inspired by Elders.

Elders was forced to resign as Surgeon General after she gave a speech at the United Nations World AIDS Day in 1994. Someone in the audience asked her if waxing one's dolphin could help to discourage sexual activity in young people. Elders answered, “I think [that] is something that is part of human sexuality and a part of something that perhaps should be taught.”

The prospect of teachers teaching kids the fine art of wanking freaked out parents and politicians all over the country, and Elder's early retirement came quickly. You can read more about this great moment in U.S. history here.

Masturbation does not have to be taught. It just comes naturally (pardon the expression). What does need to be taught to young folks, however, is the etiquette of pleasuring oneself. For starters, you should not do it in a car in the middle of the afternoon in a parking lot that has security video cameras rolling. Don't do it anywhere in public, thank you please. If you feel that you just can't control the urge to do so, please turn yourself in to the local police and just voluntarily list yourself as a future sex offender. It will save everyone a lot of trouble.

Angry Black Man to Obama: "We Gonna Get You Outa Office, Bastard!"

2012-05-12T15:41:00.001-05:00

This must scare the hell out of Liberals

May 12, 2012 - Elmer Thomas Williams, Jr. is a black man, and he's angry. In fact, he's known as "The Angry Black Man" to thousands of similarly angry Americans. Williams is a passionate conservative who happens to be Black (a difficult concept for Liberals to grasp).

Williams makes no bones about his distaste for Barack Obama in his video rants and on his website, What Ever Happened To Common Sense. He pounds his political feelings like a blunt instrument on YouTube Channel.

In a video uploaded May 11, 2012 (see it here, at left), Williams gives notice to Obama: "We gonna get you outa office, bastard!"

Williams"Angry Black Man" persona usually talks to us through a dashboard-mounted video camera. He delivers his messages while he drives, and he always drives his point home.

He also calls himself "The Doctor of Common Sense," and he hawks t-shirts and his book, "Whatever Happened To Common Sense? Just Tell It Like It Is" on his website. The book, published in January of this year, is also available on a few other online venues, including CreateSpace.com. The review of "Whatever Happened..." begins with this:

"If you are interested in reading a book that deals with many of the ills that are plaguing our society, then Whatever Happen To COMMON SENSE is your book. The Author Elmer Williams shoots from the hip on so many issues. He says things that most are thinking, but do not have the courage to say it. From the time you pick the book up, you will not want to stop reading it until you have finished the last chapter."

I suspect that the review was written by Williams himself, but that shouldn't count against it. It's obvious enough from his videos that he "shoots from the hip." A brief bio is next to the CreateSpace book listing, and includes this:

"I don't mind standing along on issues, and I don't mind speaking my mind when I feel that I am absolutely right. I like to get along with people but not at the expense of compromising my core beliefs. I liked to think that those core beliefs are grounded and rooted in truth."

Elmer Thomas Williams, Jr.,
aka "The Angry Black Man"

Like the subtitle of his book, Williams does indeed tell it like it is. In his May 11 video "Obama, God, & The Constitution," he says that Obama "has made up his mind that he's smarter than all the Founding Fathers" and that "he's made up his mind that he's gonna rewrite the Constitution" and "he don't give a damn what you think." He asks his viewers what it will take before they get fed up enough "to say 'hell no,' we not gonna take it no more?" Obama, he says, is "out of control"

Williams is not just a ranting author. He's well read. "Back in 1787," Williams says in the video, "Thomas Jefferson said, 'What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?'"

That was off the top of his head, spoken while driving. He nailed the quote by Jefferson, with was in a letter to William S. Smith in 1787. (Taken from Jefferson, On Democracy 20, S. Padover ed., 1939) The rest of that Jefferson quote, by the way, was "Let them take arms.... The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants."

He has a message for the Tea Party in his video, too. "Tea Party movement," he says, "to all the true conservatives out there....are you gonna get mad enough and get pissed off enough to say, 'Hell no, we ain't gonna take it no more?'"

That message, that question, could not be more timely. Nor could the videos of "The Angry Black Man," Elmer Thomas Williams, Jr.

The Pending Socialist Servitude Life of Julia

2012-05-11T14:43:00.003-05:00

May 11, 2012 - Comrade Supreme Leader Barack Obama's re-election campaign posted an incredible slide show of unabashed socialist propaganda on its website last week. Called "The Life of Julia," it claims to illustrate "how President Obama's policies help one woman over her lifetime—and how Mitt Romney would change her story."

Of course, Julia's life under Obama's policies is all hunky-dory and fairy tale-perfect. Under Romney, however, we are told that poor Julia might as well be doomed to a lifetime of working in a rice field with untreated chronic illnesses and festering whip scars on her back. Okay, I exaggerated a bit there, but Obama's information gurus clearly want us to believe that Julia - and, by extension, you - should depend upon Mother Government for help with everything in your life. Without that help, you and Julia would not be able to fend for yourselves because... well, because you're just too stupid and incapable. A more apt title for the slide show would be "The Life of Comrade Julia."

There is so much wrong with "The Life of Julia" that it is hard to know where to begin. For one thing, it is based entirely on absurd assumption and speculation. We begin to follow the life of the fictitious "Julia" at the age of three. The piece spans Julia's life from age three to age 67. The really disturbing thing is how Obama's propaganda goons chose to word this thing.

If Obama wins a second term, he would leave office in January of 2017. However, Julia's life is presented to us as though she will always live "under President Obama."

Creepy, and reminiscent of the of communist propaganda. By the time Julia is 67 years old, Obama should have been out of office, theoretically, for at least 60 years. Yet we are told that "Under President Obama: Julia retires. After years of contributing to Social Security, she receives monthly benefits that help her retire comfortably, without worrying that she'll run out of savings. This allows her to volunteer at a community garden."

Aside from the sad fact that Social Security will likely go bust 50 years before Julia's 67th birthday, and that her dream retirement will be limited to kibbutz-like work in the "community garden," it's rather creep to think that 60-some years from now Julia will still be living "Under President Obama" Is that a Freudian admission that Obama does not intend to relinquish the Oval Office?

Click image to enlarge

There has been a lot of criticism of "The Life of Julia" - from both the Left and the Right.

Conservative author William J. Bennett rips the pipe dream saga of Julia. "Julia's happily-ever-after tale is remarkably void of reality," he wrote for CNN.com. "Nowhere in her fictional life is it mentioned that Head Start has done little, if anything, to improve elementary education, that she will likely graduate with $25,000 in student loan debt, that she has a 50% chance of being unemployed or underemployed after college, that Medicare and Social Security are headed toward insolvency, and that her share of the national debt is $50,000 and growing."

Over on the Left, the crew of MSNBC's "Morning Joe" pondered what the Obama campaign people were thinking. Willie Geist noted that "They did lob this up as a softball for Republicans, one conservative saying, 'Who the hell is Julia and why am i paying for her whole life?'" Geist also said, "No one wants to think that from the age of three they are going to need the government to take care of them."

Scott Brown Challenges Elizabeth Warren's Native American Ancestry; PJTV Calls Her Out For Hypocrisy

2012-05-08T15:27:00.002-05:00

May 8, 2012 - American Indian Princess Elizabeth Warren is skewered by PJTV's Zonation in a wicked new video. Writes PJTV on their video post, "Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren held herself out as a Native America, even though she has difficulty identifying actual Native Americans in her family tree. Was she taking advantage of employment programs meant to help minorities, or is Elizabeth Warren entitled to different treatment based on a very distant relative?" The whole ugly flap started when Warren claimed that she was 1/32 Native American (Cherokee), which resulted in Harvard University Law School promoting her as a minority hire. At the time, said The Boston Globe, the law school faced criticism for not having enough minority members in its faculty.

Check out the video:

Meanwhile, an ABC News report today says that Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown (R) is calling on Warren "to release her law school applications in response to the questions about the recent revelations that she self-identified as Native American based on her tenuous Cherokee bloodline." Warren and Brown will probably face each other in a "hotly contested" race for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts.

“Serious questions have been raised about the legitimacy of Elizabeth Warren’s claims to Native American ancestry and whether it was appropriate for her to assume minority status as a college professor,” Brown's statement said.

Warren - and Harvard - have been harshly criticized for the hypocrisy of the minority status assigned to her for claiming 1/32 Native American ancestry. "Senatorial wannabe Elizabeth Warren, aka Fauxcahontas," wrote Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa with Megan Johnson in a scathing op-ed in The Boston Herald, "said she listed herself as a minority in law school directories because she was hoping to meet others with Native American roots. So isn’t it a shame that Liz took a pass on last weekend’s 17th annual Harvard Powwow????"

"Blogs4Mitt" Unites Anti-Obama Bloggers

2012-05-04T19:09:00.000-05:00

May 4, 2012 - Our friend Rusty Shackleford, Ph.D., blogmaster of The Jawa Report, an influential conservative blog, has put the long and sometimes ugly Republican primary slog behind him. Looking forward, he has created another blog site specifically to promote the election of Mitt Romney. Although he is not yet the official nominee of the Republican Party, it seems all but assured that Romney will be crowned.

Rusty's new site is called "Blogs4Mitt" and is an attempt to bring conservative bloggers together in a common cause. That cause, of course, is the defeat of Barack Obama in November.

Rusty discusses his new site:

"The primary season is all but over and Mitt will be our nominee," wrote Rusty. "In 2004 bloggers rallied around George W. Bush and I was part of that movement. Together, we helped President Bush beat the challenge by John Kerry. It’s time for us to do the same for Romney. Can we really afford four more years of Obama’s failed economic policies? The legacy he is leaving our children is one of perpetual debt to China and dimmer job prospects to be able to pay off that debt."

"The site will aggregate pro-Romney, anti-Obama blog posts," wrote Rusty, "It will also serve as a traffic driver to bloggers who have important / interesting things to say about this election. If you would like to join the Blogs4Mitt.com webring and be added to the blogroll, please email me."

Blogs4Mitt has some widgets, too, that bloggers can place on their own websites. The originals were jpeg images created by Reliapundit of The Astute Bloggers. I made one, too, and then turned his and mine into easy-to-use widgets. It is my hope that bloggers will put the widgets on their websites.

You can find the widget codes below, and instructions for using them here. You can preview the widgets by copying the codes and pasting them into an editor, for free, at To preview these, copy and paste them into the free html code editor at www.w3schools.com.

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New Poll Asks How The World Will End (Obama Getting Re-Elected Maybe?)

2012-05-03T15:56:00.000-05:00

'Earth Exploding" by Rufus Gefangenen

May 3, 2012 - Our friends over at UFO Pundit posted a poll that asks people how they think the world will end. One of the possible answers is "Obama is re-elected president." Just to be fair and balanced, of course, they also offer the answer "Romney gets elected president." More serious answers include "comet or asteroid," "World War III," "Magnetic pole shift," "massive solar flare" and "hostile alien invasion." Here's your chance to vote in this earth-shattering poll. Earth-shattering. Get it?

Fearing Dirty Bomb Attack: NATO Summit Includes Mass Evacuation Plan and Deadly No-Fly Zone

2012-05-02T21:12:00.000-05:00

Preparations for the upcoming NATO Summit in Chicago includes preparations for possible mass evacuation of Chicagoans, and a no-fly zone over the city. Pilots who violate the no-fly zone might face deadly force.

At least 10 area hospitals held dirty bomb response drills last week. To prepare, of course, for a local dirty bomb attack. The only conclusion possible is that authorities fear a large scale terror attack, possibly with nuclear material.

But don't worry, Chicago, this is a great opportunity to show off your city to the rest of the world. Assuming, of course, that anarchists and/or terrorists don't turn your city into a war-torn heap of smoldering rubble this month. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit will be held from May 20th to 21st.

In a stunning report on April 25, CBS 2 News in Chicago reported that the Wisconsin Red Cross notified its volunteers in the Milwaukee area to be ready to receive evacuees from Chicago. CBS 2 says it learned of this when it received a copy of the email.

According to CBS 2, the Red Cross email said that the NATO summit “may create unrest or another national security incident. The American Red Cross in southeastern Wisconsin has been asked to place a number of shelters on standby in the event of evacuation of Chicago.” The CBS 2 report noted that the Red Cross is acting in response to official requests, and they quoted a Red Cross spokeswoman as saying that, "Our direction has come from the City of Chicago and the Secret Service."

QUESTION: The extraordinary measure of preparing shelters in Milwaukee, so far north of Chicago, raises a lot of red flags.

It's not a bad idea to be prepared, certainly, but why not place those shelters closer to Chicago. Why not move them instead to a neighboring county?

"They're planning ahead," said CBS 2, "they don't want to be surprised." Fine, but why Milwaukee? What possible need is there for moving people more than 90 miles away from the city?

SPECULATION: Law enforcement authorities fear the possibility of a massive terrorist attack on the City of Chicago, possibly a dirty bomb or two. Why else would evacuees need to be moved so far away?

DIRTY BOMB THREAT? The New York Post reported on April 27 that "Chicago's suburban hospitals are preparing for a worst-case scenario during next month's NATO summit. At least 10 Chicago hospitals performed drills this week, including Evanston Hospital, simulating a radioactive dirty bomb explosion." Fox News Chicago covered the story, too. (Learn more about dirty bombs at GlobalSecurity.com and in this video by ABC News.)

The no-fly zone, issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a no-brainer issue. There will be hundreds of diplomatic personnel from dozens of countries in Chicago, not to mention a lot of high-level military officials from the same. "In all," says NATO's own website, there will be "several thousand dignitaries" in town. To impose a no-fly zone for the NATO summit just makes sense. While most of us can envision a need to shoot down a threatening airplane, what if it went down in flames in the middle of downtown Chicago? And suppose the pilot just wasn't aware of the no-fly zone or misunderstood instructions? Shit happens, you know.

The no-fly zone advisory, said CBS 2 in a separate report, "bans non-commercial aircraft from flying within 10 nautical miles of downtown Chicago at altitudes below 18,000 feet." The FAA advisory says that the U.S. Government "may use deadly force against the airborne aircraft, if it is determined that the aircraft poses an imminent security threat."

The plans for mass evacuation to a neighboring state were made public a week ago. Even so, Chicago officials continue to urge business owners to remain open during the week of the summit. They keep telling people who live and work in the area to not worry, and to not take the week off to leave town. The schizophrenic nature of the messages - let's be prepared to evacuate but stay put until disaster happens - is bizarre and frightening.

QUESTION: What to the local and federal authorities know about threats to Chicago? Evacuation after a dirty bomb goes off will not help those who are killed by the initial blast or receive a fatal and untreatable dose of radiation. If a disaster does happen, and people are killed because they were urged to keep their shops open and go to work, will the government accept the liability? If someone had not shared that Red Cross email with CBS 2, we would not know about the evacuation plan. The government is not talking.

Crazed Black Mob Attacks White Man, Woman, Media Ignores Story

2012-05-01T18:37:00.000-05:00

May 1, 2012 - Yet ANOTHER brutal attack by a black mob - most or all of which were Democrat voters - has slipped under the radar of the Mainstream Media. The victims - a white man and a white woman - are reporters employed by The Virginian-Pilot newspaper, which actually avoided the story for two full weeks. No other local media reported the story either, although they were all aware of it. Once again, the mainstream media and so-called leaders are not addressing the current rash of attacks by black hate mobs.

The Virginian-Pilot ran the story today. Editorial writer Michelle Washington's column included this:

Wave after wave of young men surged forward to take turns punching and kicking their victim.

The victim's friend, a young woman, tried to pull him back into his car. Attackers came after her, pulling her hair, punching her head and causing a bloody scratch to the surface of her eye. She called 911. A recording told her all lines were busy. She called again. Busy. On her third try, she got through and, hysterical, could scream only their location.

Washington noted that neither reporter was seriously injured. She noted, almost in passing, that the story had been ignored by her own paper for half a month:

Two weeks have passed since reporters Dave Forster and Marjon Rostami - friends to me and many others at the newspaper - were attacked on a Saturday night as they drove home from a show at the Attucks Theatre. They had stopped at a red light, in a crowd of at least 100 young people walking on the sidewalk. Rostami locked her car door. Someone threw a rock at her window. Forster got out to confront the rock-thrower, and that's when the beating began.

Washington went on to give some details about the encounter that Forster and Rostami had with the police after the attack, and noted the frustration that local police have in dealing with such savagery.

Then, however, Washington veered back to the two-week delay in acknowledging the attack on two of its own. What she wrote sounds, at first, reasonable, but in fact it amounts to a lame avoidance of fully accepting journalistic responsibility:

Here's why their story is in the paper today. We cannot allow such callousness to continue unremarked, from the irrational, senseless teenagers who attacked two people just trying to go home, from the police officer whose conduct may have been typical but certainly seems cold, from the tweeting nitwits who think beating a man in Norfolk will change the death of Trayvon Martin. How can we change it if we don't know about it? How can we make it better if we look away? Are we really no better than this?

Marjon Rostami

Dave Forster

She never does say why the Forster-Rostami story "is in the paper today" and did not appear there two weeks ago. Washington tried to divert the blame onto the attackers ("senseless teenagers"), the police ("cold") and idiots on Twitter ("tweeting nitwits").

While all of those are certainly factors, Washington neglected to mention another factor: She and her fellow writers and editors at The Virginian-Pilot are a bunch of gutless politically correct cowards. To their credit, they did finally publish the story, but only after it became clear to them that they could not keep it hidden forever. But the vast majority of other mainstream media outlets are in the habit of avoiding and ignoring stories like this one because it does not fit their politically correct agenda or paradigm.

As Washington herself asked, "How can we change it if we don't know about it? How can we make it better if we look away? Are we really no better than this?" While Washington deserves some small credit for even asking the question, the rest of the media is, sadly, no better than that.

Perhaps the most bizarre aspect of this whole story is the omission of any direct quotes from either Forster or Rostami. Both are capable writers and reporters. It is odd that they, rather than Washington, did not write about the attack.

Black Mob Attack on Matthew Owens Caused by Theft, Not Basketball

2012-04-26T18:19:00.000-05:00

April 26, 2012 - Matthew Owens was savagely attacked and nearly killed by a group of about 20 black people on Saturday, April 21 in Mobile, Alabama. Previous reports said that Owens, 40, was targeted for brutality after he asked some neighbor kids to keep the noise down as they played basketball around 8:30 p.m. However, a report today on dailycaller.com says that Owens's sister tells a different story.

Owens suffered severe head trauma and remains in the hospital. His sister, Ashley Parker, told Daily Caller that one of her own kids saw something being stolen from a neighbor's porch on Delmar Drive. Ms. Parker says that the alleged thief was also one of the people who attacked her brother moments later. From Daily Caller:

Ashley Parker, whose brother Matthew Owens is clinging to life after the assault, said Owens was attacked after her 21-year-old daughter witnessed a group of African-American youth moving from yard to yard in the neighborhood and taking something that didn’t belong to them. She told Owens, who confronted the youths. She “saw one of them take something off a porch,” Parker said, “and that is when Matthew approached them and told them they need to go home.”

Terry Rawls on April 25, 2012. Rawls was arrested for
taking part in the beating of Matthews Owens.
(Press-Register/Victor Calhoun)

After they beat the living hell out Matthew Owens, the mob walked away. One of them called back, "That's justice for Trayvon," a reference to Florida teen Trayvon Martin, fatally shot by George Zimmerman in February. The Owens beating is just one of many vicious and hateful attacks by blacks against non-blacks in the wake of the ongoing Martin-Zimmerman case.

One arrest was made in the case. Terry Rawls, 44, surrendered to Mobile police on Wednesday and was charged with first-degree assault. His bail was set at the remarkably low amount $7,500. Alabama Live reports that "records indicate" that "Rawls is scheduled for a May 10 court appearance."

As noted in our previous report about the Matthew Owens beating, no civil rights "leaders" have bothered to speak out against the obviously racist attacks by blacks. Jonathan Capehart has a short roundup of some of the more notable black-on-white attacks in his column at the Washington Post today.

Hot Video Attacks Obama's Celebrity Status. Cool? Fool.

2012-04-26T16:44:00.002-05:00

Video by AmericanCrossroads; Frame art by T.Mannis

April 26, 2012 - A new video asks, "After four years of a celebrity president, is your life any better?" The answer is clearly "No."

The video (see below) is from the American Crossroads, a conservative super-PAC. In a fast moving montage of images, the video asks young voters if they think their lives are better today after three years of having the "biggest celebrity" as our President.

The sad truth is, points out American Crossroads, is that today half of recent college grads are jobless or underemployed, 85% of them are moving back in with their parents, and the student loan debt is today more than one Trillion dollars.
Got it? Great. Now watch another cool video from American Crossroads...

White Guy Savagely Beaten by Crazed Democrat Voters

2012-04-24T20:06:00.002-05:00

Matthew Owens in critical care: WKRG

April 24, 2012 - A crazed mob of 10-15 vicious racists in Mobile, Alabama beat a man to within inches of his life last Saturday night.

The victim, Matthew Owens, is white. The attackers are all black. The motivation was clearly racial, but reports now say that the brutality is not being investigated as a hate crime.

Owens, 40, was brutally beaten after he ~~asked some neighbor kids playing basketball to keep the noise down~~ (see Update here). A report at Fox News sums it up:

Matthew Owens, of Mobile, Ala., was assaulted with baseball bats, paint cans and other weapons at about 8:30 p.m. Saturday after telling a group of children to stop playing basketball in the middle of Delmar Drive, according to Ashley Rains, public information officer for the Mobile Police Department. After the children left the area, a group of adults armed with weapons returned and confronted Owens, 40, in his front yard, where he was assaulted. Owens' sister, Ashley Parker, told WKRG she witnessed the attack and that there were as many as 20 assailants. Parker said she overheard one of them say, "Now that's justice for Trayvon." More at Fox News...

"That's justice for Trayvon" can mean only one thing: The mob felt that beating the crap out of a white guy was - in their sick and feeble minds - "justice" for the killing of Trayvon Martin, who was black, by George Zimmerman. Zimmerman is Hispanic, not Caucasian, but apparently beating up anybody who is not black is "justice" to Owens's attackers.

Owens’ sister told WKRG-TV that about 20 black people attacked him on his own front porchusing “brass buckles, paint cans and anything they could get their hands on.” Parker says as the attackers walked away, leaving Owens bleeding on the ground, one of them said “Now, thats justice for Trayvon.” One witness who wants to remain anonymous said: ”I saw about 10 to 15 people from little kids and women with dresses to adult men, just flooding onto the property, surrounding the car, hollering and screaming." More at OpposingViews.com...

The insane attack on Matthew Owens comes in the wake of thousands of Democrat voters publicly advocating the murder of George Zimmerman, as noted previously on Chicago News Bench.

Yes, those calling for "justice for Trayvon" by means of killing a man, Zimmerman, without even a trial, are Democrat voters - if they vote at all, that is. Matthew Owens last Saturday, too. What, you thought they might be Republicans?

"A growing digital lynch mob of Twitter users," reports The Daily Mail (UK), "is calling for street justice against George Zimmerman and advocating he be murdered since his release from jail on $150,000 bail early this morning. Some have even threatened to kill the neighborhood watch volunteer themselves."

Again, how many of those rabid tweeters do you think are registered Republicans?

With all of this violent hate and calls to vigilantism, we've heard not a peep from the likes of Jesse Jackson, Sr. or Al Sharpton or any other "black leader." We've heard nothing from Barack Obama. In fact, we've heard nothing from any Republican leaders either, for that matter. As noted, the Matthew Owens beating is not being looked at by authorities as a hate crime. But what if Matthew Owens had been a black man, and his attackers had been white? Do you think this would be a hate crime investigation? See "Black Mob Attack on Matthew Owens Caused by Theft, Not Basketball."

No, Really, Pat Quinn Still Sucks More Than Scott Walker. Really.

2012-04-20T19:45:00.000-05:00

April 20, 2012 - There are a lot of news reports out there today claiming that the jobs and unemployment situation in Illinois is better than Wisconsin. Nearly all of them are wrong.

That's not my opinion, it's fact. The numbers in the table below prove it. In what seems to be a conspiratorial attempt by the leftist mainstream media to discredit Wisconsin's Governor Scott Walker, a Republican, the employment numbers released today are being spun so much that heads are spinning.

Two quick examples of the liberal media's spin come from NBC Chicago and Bloomberg News.

NBC's Edward McClelland wrote an op-ed piece published today titled "Illinois Beats Wisconsin In Job Creation." McClelland quoted Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn (a Democrat) as saying earlier this week that “Since Governor Walker took office, Wisconsin is dead last among the 50 states in job growth.”

Bloomberg's headline today, "Republican Whipping-Boy Illinois Beats Wisconsin on Jobs," caps a piece written by Tim Jones. Jones quoted Quinn as saying this about Wisconsin and Gov. Walker: "“They have the worst job record in the whole country, dead last,” and “We certainly don’t want to follow his [Walker's] prescriptions when it comes to economic growth.”

Both Jones and McClelland were, of course, referring to today's jobs numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But let's look at those numbers. They are not difficult to understand, unless you're a liberal buying into the lies of the Democrats and their allies in the media. Here are the unemployment rates (as percentages) for Illinois and Wisconsin for March 2012, February 2012 and March of last year:

Illinois
March 2012 .... 8.8
Feb. 2012 ....... 9.1
March 2011 ....9.3

Wisconsin
March 2012 .... 6.8
Feb. 2012 ....... 6.9
March 2011 .... 7.6

Look at the numbers. Both states have had a decrease in unemployment. Illinois went from a nightmarish 9.3 percent a year ago down to a still-nightmarish 8.8 percent, a decrease of 0.5 percent. In the same period, Wisconsin went from an awful 7.6 percent down to a still-bad 6.8 percent.

Compare Wisconsin's lowered unemployment drop of 0.8 to that of 0.5 percent in Illinois and you have to wonder what the hell the media - and geniuses like Gov. Quinn - are talking about when they say that Wisconsin is sucking tailpipes. Wisconsin's drop in its unemployment rate has been, over the past 12 months, faster that in Illinois (0.8% versus 0.5% as shown above). The latest numbers show that Wisconsin's unemployment rate is a full two points lower than in Illinois. Illinois is called "the Greece next door" by it's neighboring states. Nobody is comparing to Wisconsin to Greece. Not yet anyway.

BLR Does Joe Biden - New From Bad Lip Reading!

2012-04-16T21:01:00.001-05:00

April 16, 2012 - Hot off the press, it's the newest political hit video from Bad Lip Reading (BLR). This time, they hit Vice President Joe Biden.

BLR hit Biden good, just below his IQ, which is not easy. Biden is a natural moron, so saying stupid stuff is just his way. BLR ingeniously managed to make our dumbest VP ever sound even dumber than he really is.

Exclusive "Arizona Gadsden" Flag Design

2012-04-12T20:58:00.003-05:00

Get yours today at Zazzle.com

We're proud of our newly designed "Arizona Gadsden" flag!

We took the snake from the historic "Dont Tread On Me" Gadsden Flag and put it onto the beautiful state flag of Arizona.

Are you cool enough to wear one?

OneSight's Vision For The World

2012-04-09T01:53:00.000-05:00

The gift of sight is precious indeed, but many people around the world, including North America, do not have access to eye clinics or to needed glasses. In some countries, a pair of eyewear costs more than a month’s salary.

OneSight has helped more than seven million people on five continents and in hundreds of communities across North America see clearly." A friend of mine is an optometrist in Chicago. His name is Time, and he will travel to India this month to join with others in his profession to help people in a remote area with free eye exams and eye glasses.

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://onesight.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;participantID=3356"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Make a Donation!&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Tim and other eye care professionals are trying to raise funds for the trip (see the handy donation widget, left, or go Tim's donation page). "Your support," says OneSight, "helps us deliver clear vision. Ninety-two cents of every dollar you donate goes directly to delivering glasses to those in need."

You can see what OneSight's "Team India" did in February of this year at their blog. Check in after April 15 to see what Tim's group is up to.

More about OneSight:

OneSight, a Luxottica Foundation, is a family of vision care charities dedicated to providing healthy vision, eyewear and sun protection to those in need worldwide. Since 1988, these charitable efforts have provided free vision care and eyewear to more than eight million people and have granted millions of dollars towards optical research and education. Please read more at OneSight.org...

Why I Removed Intense Debate Comments From This Blog

2012-04-08T23:29:00.001-05:00

April 8, 2012 - The website of IntenseDebate is down today with no explanation. IntenseDebate is a widely used commenting system used by many websites and blogs. It was working for me last night, but tonight neither their login page and home page are not reachable. Although other parts of the website are available, bloggers who use IntenseDebate cannot log in to repond to, or moderate, comments on their own sites.

There is no message about this from IntenseDebate anywhere on their website, not even on their own blog, where the last post was on February 23. As of 11:00 PM CDT tonight, their most recent post on Twitter was made on February 22.

Chicago News Bench has been using it for a couple of years instead of Blogger's own commenting system. There are a number of reasons why some bloggers choose third-party commenting systems, which I am not going to go into here except to say that they all offer more control and information about comments than does Blogger's own system.

However, because IntenseDebate has shown itself to be unreliable, I felt there was no choice but to uninstall it. I don't know why IntenseDebate's website is having problems, but this seems like the tip of the iceberg. I have had IntenseDebate on another blog, Homeless Patriot, but will remove it from that as well.

Consider this: No tweets on Twitter since February 22. No post on their blog since February 23. This says to me that they are either not aware of the problem with their own website, or they don't care enough to communicate with people who use their commenting system. Or, both may be true. This is not acceptable. Some blogs have IntenseDebate installed as a simple widget, as do I on some of my blogs.

On Chicago News Bench, though, I had it integrated in the html code of the template. The current problems that IntenseDebate is having were causing the load time of this website to be annoyingly slow. "Waiting for IntenseDebate" was the message. Fortunately, IntenseDebate's instructions for a manual uninstall were still online. Unfortunately, they were not completely accurate and it took me more than an hour of editing and testing to fully delete their code from mine. However, as soon as I successfully cleaned out all remnants of IntenseDebate, this blog loaded normally.

Another blogger posted briefly about earlier problems with IntenseDebate.

"Once again," wrote IslamInEurope on March 22, "IntenseDebate, my comment system, is acting up. This includes comments disappearing, or appearing only when the posts are viewed from the comment link. I'm debating what to do about this. Meanwhile, I have notified IntenseDebate and am waiting for their fix. Please let me know if you see any problems."

I noticed that IslamInEurope dropped IntenseDebate since that post and is now using Disqus, another third-party commenting system. By the time you read this, Chicago News Bench might have done that too. Then again, I'm in no hurry.

Web Site Helps Students Find Study Partners For College Entrance Exams

2012-04-06T22:45:00.000-05:00

Knowledge is good

This is a great idea, and a clever use of the Internet: MyStudyPartner.com is a new website (still in Beta) for students and professionals looking to communicate with those in similar situations.

For a student, it's a virtual group study session for those trying to quality for college admission. They have a good Facebook page, too, where people can further enhance their cooperative efforts. "We are 100% free to use," says the MyStudyPartner FAQ, "No strings attached."

By the way, this is NOT an ad for MyStudyPartner. Really. I stumbled across them while searching for something else, and I was impressed.

MyStudyPartner.com says that they "cater to individuals who are trying to pass college admission exams including GMAT, SAT, GRE, ACT, LSAT, TOEFL, MCAT, IELTS, USMLE, SAT - SUBJECT and PLAB."

You are not alone

That's a lot of tests - and a lot of pressure for anyone studying for any of them. A service like MyStudyPartner makes it possible for somebody to reach out at any time and find someone who is studying for the same test.

"After studying with your partners for however long it takes," says MyStudyPartner's website, "you’ll find that the exam you were once worried about taking is no longer a threat. Studying in groups of 2 or more has proven to increase your odds of success while taking any type of test or exam."

Misery loves company, after all, but commiseration - and the sharing of knowledge and common goals - can make a task less miserable.

"It also helps professionals," MyStudyPartner says of its website, "aiming to excel in Microsoft, CISCO, CPA, PMP, ITIL, CompTIA, IIBA and Red Hat Certifications. Studies show that professionals who obtain additional certification or continuing education courses typically increase the number of opportunities available for career advancement." Source: PRWeb.com

If you're facing the grind of prepping for a college entrance exam, and you cannot find a study partner nearby, try MyStudyPartner.com. They serve students all over the world, not just the U.S. Who knows? After you've aced that exam, you might find yourself with a bevy of new pen pals.