A convenient burglary?

Is there such a thing?  I would never have thought there was, until I saw this report from WBZ in Boston (via Drudge).

Police are investigating a burglary at the Boston offices of the community activist group ACORN.

Boston police told WBZ Friday that three Dell laptop computers were stolen from the group’s Dorchester office around 10:15 p.m. Wednesday.

…

A representative from the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now said he did not know if the break-in was politically motivated, but called the timing “suspicious.”

Oh, I agree fully, these break-ins ARE awfully suspicious.  Laptop computers being stolen from an orginization being investigated by the FBI for national voter fraud?  Like the title of the article says, this seems like an actual case of a “convenient” crime.

Not that I’m a conspiracy-theory subscriber or anything, but I do find it rather interesting.  So these computers? You think they’d be something the FBI would have liked to get their hands on in order to conduct their investigation?  There couldn’t possibly be any emails or other documentation on those machines that they could use to prove the intent to commit nation-wide voter fraud is there?

I guess we’ll never know.

It finally happens: Democrat vs. Republican violence (but not what you think)

Well, it looks like they were right.  McCain and Palin’s campaign speeches and political rhetoric have caused their supporters to cross the line and physically attack Obama supporters.  Except…it’s actually the complete opposite case.

Via PajamasMedia

While the Democrat-leaning media continues to scare undecided voters with bedtime stories about some mythical angry McCain supporter whom nobody has seen, here is a real district attorney’s complaint documenting an unprovoked assault by an enraged Democrat against a McCain volunteer in midtown Manhattan: “Defendant grabbed the sign [informant] was holding, broke the wood stick that was attached to it, and then struck informant in informant’s face thereby causing informant to sustain redness, swelling, and bruising to informant’s face and further causing informant to sustain substantial pain.”

Don’t worry, the good news is that they chased the him down and police arrested the guy.  I wonder if he’ll be investigated vetted with the same fervor as Joe the Plumber?  I’ll expect to see his personal information and voting record up on the web within a couple days. 

It’s an interesting story, but not for the reasons you think.  I’m sure most conservatives who read this blog, aren’t exactly suprised that the first actual proven incident of violence (not the unsubstanciated kind you’ve been hearing about).  Just take a gander at DemocraticUnderground and DailyKos to find out where the real rage is coming from.

Who says conservatives aren’t funny?

I’ve finally stopped laughing enough to post this.  From the people over at The People’s Cube, it’s “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Earned” Wealth Spread!!  Take the time to head over there and look at the full-sized image.  I kept finding new things to laugh at, right down to the image of Obama with the chef’s hat on.

"Made with 100% pure American taxpayer sweat"

If you don’t get what all this is about, there’s a video of Obama’s advising a tax-burdened plumber about his tax-plan.   I’ve embedded it below.  Obama is finally telling it like it is, and it’s quite frightening that a candidate is talking like this about someone’s “fair share”.

Understanding Obama’s Tax Plan; It’s already happening here in Chicago

To start off, I’d like to review some elements of the Obama tax plan, with a specific focus on what Senator Obama plans to do with corporate tax rates. You can view his actual plan here on his own website (page 4).  All of the steps Obama proposes would increase the amount of taxes corporations pay, not necessarily the tax rate, but it would eliminate things corporations currently do to lower their tax bill.  Democrats call this “making sure corporations pay their fair share”…nuance.

Many people are arguing on how this would affect those companies, their employees, and their customers.  Predicting the outcome of such a change can prove rather difficult.  However, here in Chicago, there’s a perfect example brewing of the effects of Obama’s tax increase on corporations.  CBS 2 reported today on Mayor Daley’s proposal to raise taxes on parking.

The parking industry says taxes have been raised six times in the past 12 years, and they have no choice but to pass that cost onto the drivers. They said the expenses incurred from the new tax could price some motorists out of parking at all.

As motorists entered the Lake/Wells Self Park Facility, 175 W. Lake St, workers handed out flyers and encouraged them to call their local aldermen and fight the increase. They say Chicago has the second highest parking tax in the country, and with the new proposal it could rise from 27 percent to 33 percent.

(emphasis mine)

So the Chicago government wants to increase the tax rate on parking garages and lots located in the city, sounds simple enough.  However, the parking lot owners are arguing that if their tax rate is increased, they will have to pass along this expense to their customers. Let me repeat that, in bold.

…if their (parking lot owners) tax rate is increased, they will have to pass along this expense to their customers.

The tried and true liberal defense against criticism; play the race card.

Given enough time and effort, I could write an entire flow-diagram to tell you exactly how liberals will react in given situations. Earlier this week I posted a link to a Chicago Sun-Times columnist, Mary Mitchell. In her short article she called for the censurship of Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin. For a refresher…

Palin’s pit-bull mentality has not only set a negative tone, but a dangerous one. She should be censured.

(Emphasis mine)

Rush Limbaugh also read her short column and discussed it on his show. Fortunately, an exact transcript of what he said on his show is available, even to non-members of his site. I make a lengthy quote simply because what Mr. Limbaugh is saying is right-on.

Mary Mitchell, a wuss, wimp columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times says that Sarah Palin should be censured. She says that “Sarah Palin should apologize to the Obama campaign and the American people for her role in bringing out the worst in her supporters.” This is laughable. Come on, Mary. Grow up. This is the big leagues. How about the people in your party? I know you’re a Democrat, Mary Mitchell. You can’t deny it, all you liberal media people are Democrats. What about the incitement of this whole country that you and your fellow journalists have engaged in along with the Democrat Party? You have gendered up hate for this president. You have ginned up a despise for the US military. You have sought to convince the American people their country is worthless and sinking into an abyss. You have been doing it for six years. And you dare say Sarah Palin should be censured for bringing out the worst in her supporters. How about the worst in your readers that you bring out, Mary Mitchell?

Mitchell decided to write a very long response to Mr. Limbaugh. Not surprisingly, her entire rebuttal was an assault on Limbaugh and his “white privilege”. There’s so much here, you really should read her entire response, just to get the full experience of her hate and spite towards Rush Limbaugh.

When you step on a pig’s tail, it squeals. Rush Limbaugh is a squealer.

And why is he squealing? Because John McCain and Sarah Palin are losing ground in a contest that they thought was theirs.

And they are losing it to a black man.

Of course, Limbaugh won’t say that. Instead, on Thursday he spent his time berating me for saying Palin needs to apologize for inciting crowds that hurled racial epithets at black members of the press.

So much to cover, so much to cover, and this is only the beginning of her rant…

Wow…just…wow

In this election, I honestly like to listen to both side’s arguments.  I don’t just dismiss Obama’s views simply because he’s a Democrat.  I don’t wholeheartedly embrace McCain’s views simply because he’s a Republican.  I think it’s my responsibility to listen to both sides, and make a decision.  It just so happens I strongly disagree with a lot of the core ideas/themes of the Democratic party.

Now, there’s been many arguments saying that if Obama doesn’t win, it’s simply because Americans are still racist.  We’re not going to vote for Obama because he’s “got a funny name” or “he doesn’t look like the Presidents on the currency”.  I say this is utterly ridiculous, and I’ve often said in political conversations that Obama is probably getting a BOOST because he is black.  On November 4th, I’m confident we will see African-Americans come out to vote in record numbers.  Most polls I’ve seen show the 95% of the African-American population voting for Obama.  Obviously, this suggests that Obama actually has an advantage in the election due to his race, not the opposite.

Are African-Americans simply voting for Obama because he is black? Personally, I think a lot of voters don’t really listen to the issues, don’t do their due dilligence in researching the candidates positions, and simply accept any tidbit of news they hear about the candidates as fact.

Of all people, I never expected Howard Stern to be the one to provide evidence in support of my theory.

Apparently Stern had a man out on the streets in Harlem, asking people who they were voting for.  He then asked them why they were voting the way they were.  As expected, all the people featured in the audio clip on Stern’s show were voting for Obama.  However, when the interviewer asked them what stances of Obama’s they supported, he used McCain’s positions instead of Obama, even asking voters “If Obama wins, would you be ok with Sarah Palin as the Vice President?”.

Shock-jock delivers something…not entirely shocking.

(Credit to neveryetmelted.com)

Need a Limo? Please, use these guys

This is not an advertising blog.  I don’t currently pull enough visitors to have ads on this site.  However, I want to do everything I can to advertise for Any Time Limo in Addison, IL.  Naturally, you want to know why.

Yesterday, an article appeared in the Chicago Tribune about Leonel Cesar, a driver for Any Time Limo, and his recent encounter with some High School students who rented his limo for their Homecoming night.  The article explains the course of events.

Limousine driver Leonel Cesar says he was just doing his job when he called police to report that a group of Highland Park teenagers tried to smuggle booze into his “party bus” on homecoming night.

One of the North Shore teens offered Cesar money to look the other way, told him that a paper bag containing liquor “was none of his business” and begged him not to call parents, police said.

At first glance, it seems like a fairly straight-forward story.  The Limo driver does the right thing, and calls the parents first, and then the police after being unable to get in touch with the parents.  The kids beg and plead him not to do it, even offering bribes. All together, a non-story really.  However, things do get a bit interesting.

The recent evening ended with 13 underage drinking citations and a slew of angry parents—some directing their wrath at Any Time Limo in Addison. One threatened to sue, saying the driver should not have involved police, said Alex Mich, the company’s general manager.

Growing up, my father was a teacher at a nearby private High School.  Not only was he just a teacher, but he also happened to be one of the few who actually enforced the various rules such as eating in the hallways, dress code, checking students for hall passes, etc. etc.  A real stick-in-the-mud if you asked most students.  However, he was consistent and fair. He was also easy to avoid.  Just make sure you’re not eating when he walks by and you’d be fine.  He didn’t purposefully walk the hallways just to bust students breaking rules.  It was part of his job.

The reaction of some of these parents is absolutely disgusting. Let’s not even consider the fact taht both students AND parents were forewarned that drinking, smoking, and sex are not allowed in the limo. 

Mr. Cesar has a job. I’m not a lawyer, nor do I know every single law in Illinois, but I feel fairly confident in saying that he would have been held responsible if something would have happened to these kids while they were intoxicated.  The same parents who are threatening to sue, are also the same parents who would run to their lawyers to blame Mr. Cesar for not watching over their kids and making sure they didn’t drink.  What he did was responsible and smart.  If anything, Mr. Cesar was just covering his ass.  Had he not said anything and one of these kids died from alchohol poisoning, it’d be the parents and public screaming at Mr. Cesar, blaming him for just standing by when he saw the kids drinking.  THEN it would have been his responsibility to stop them.  Mr. Cesar’s life and future would be ruined and the kid would still be dead. Hypocrits.

Free speech for me, but not for thee…

Not even hiding it anymore.  Just plain ridiculous.  Mary Mitchell of the Sun-Times thinks Sarah Palin should be censured because a few of her supporters at a recent rally didn’t treat the media with the kindness and respect they deserve (seriously, I tried as hard as I could to type that sentence without laughing).

According to a published report in the Washington Post, Palin reporters turned on the press after she blamed the media for her inarticulate interviews. Some supporters used racial slurs, and at one point someone in the audience yelled: “Kill him.”

Palin’s pit-bull mentality has not only set a negative tone, but a dangerous one. She should be censured.

I figure she meant “supporters” instead of reporters.  Assuming this actually took place, I don’t agree or condone what the attendees of the McCain-Palin rally said, nor do I feel Gov. Palin or Senator McCain do either.  However, I would like to direct Mary Mitchell over to the DailyKos or Democratic Underground and ask her what she thinks about censurship then?

She also says what’d she’d like to see Gov. Palin do to rectify this,

Sarah Palin should apologize to the Obama campaign and the American people for her role in bringing out the worst in her supporters.

I’ll be waiting for the apology from Barack Obama for the behavior and actions of his supporters…

A Case Study in Government Run Programs: Part II

I think this is a theme/topic I will cover on numerous occassions throughout the life of this blog.  Privitization of government-run programs/departments is something I believe strongly in and I always want to bring attention to situations where I see privitization being a benefit.  I wrote in a previous post about the Chicago CTA and the poor job that the Illinois State Government was doing running it.  Well, this week it’s a new government-run program that I’d like to draw your attention to…the sanitation department.

An article in today’s Sun-Times reports the results of a city-wide surveillence study that ended in September.  I can’t really say the results are suprising.

Laborers and truck drivers whose movements were eyeballed by undercover investigators and tracked by GPS were found to be in bars and restaurants, relaxing at home, sitting in their cars or standing around drinking and, in some cases, urinating on the street when they were supposed to be hard at work.

So your local garbagemen have been lazy on the job, and even throwing back a few cold ones while they were supposedly on the clock.  Ok, big deal, even white-collar workers in the private sector waste time browsing internet sites (like this one, perhaps?), sending personal e-mails, etc. etc.  However, there is one major difference here.  These are city employees.  They are paid using taxpayer money.  So naturally, as a resident of Chicago, you should be concerned with how much this slacking off is costing you…

When the cost of employee benefits and the pricetag for maintaining and fueling trucks is factored in, the annual waste citywide approaches $21 million, the inspector general found.

The malingering is so pervasive, the city could literally pick up the same amount of garbage with 25 percent fewer employees, provided the survivors worked a full 8.5-hour shift with 30 minutes off for lunch.

Not only is it costing us $21 million in waste, but the same amount of work could be completed with 25% fewer people.   So why isn’t there a streamlining of the business?  Well, frankly, there’s no need to.  Why should the sanitation department be required to streamline when they keep getting a check from the city government for the work they’re doing now?  If the big boss isn’t looking over your shoulder, who cares how long it takes you to do your job, just as long as you get it done on time, right? Sure, but it won’t get you anywhere.

Everyone else is posting it, I might as well too…

I have an idea for a non-election related post tomorrow. In the meantime, I’ll post this video since every other conservative blog seems to do so, and I don’t want to be left out of the “cool kids” crowd.

This is a response to the “Why I’m Voting Republican” video. Pretty clever, I laughed.