Daily Caller - Outrage: Inner city parents protest NAACP, teachers’ union

[VIDEO] This is very interesting. Check out the video above of a union member mother fighting the teacher's union for her childrens' education:

In New York Monday, charter school parents staged another of several rallies to voice opposition to a lawsuit brought by the UFT and NAACP against the New York City Department of Education. If the organizations are successful with their suit, it would prevent enrollment or re-enrollment in 17 charter schools and stop the closure of 22 public schools.

The UFT and NAACP’s decision to sue has roiled inner city parents who depend on charter schools to ensure their children get a good education.

On Monday a slew of parents appeared before UFT headquarters to protest. Nearly a month earlier the NAACP felt their wrath when another estimated 3,000 people showed up at State Administrative Building in Harlem, carrying signs reading “NAACP don’t divide unite,” to protest the NAACP’s involvement.

“I am the product of the public school system that allows 70 percent or more of its black men to not graduate from high school,” said Candido Brown, a charter school teacher at May’s rally. “I could barely believe my ears when I found out that the NAACP was trying to shut down some of the most successful schools serving black and brown children in our city. NAACP, do not take away this awesome education from our children.”

Dr. Wolf on Obamanomics

This is a column worth reading. Dr. Milton Wolf just so happens to be President Obama's cousin and he has a blog at Wolf Files.

Mr. Obama, abandoning any pretense of economic literacy, has placed the blame for unemployment squarely on America's archenemy: the ATM. The jobless rate remains high, according to the president, because - it's hard to make this stuff up - "when you go to a bank you use the ATM, you don't go to a bank teller." Other Democrats share his ignorance. Recently, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. claimed that Apple's iPad was "probably responsible for eliminating thousands of American jobs." Mr. Jackson, an iPad owner himself, adds hypoc-risy to ignorance.

Mr. Obama, meet Ned Ludd. In the early 1800s, the Luddites - named for Ned Ludd, an alias used to conceal their leaders' true identities - sabotaged factories for fear of new technology. Their mistake was a belief that jobs themselves are prosperity when, in fact, it's the products and services of those jobs that create prosperity. The government could hire people to dig holes and other people to fill them back in, but America would be poorer for the wasted effort. In reality, new technologies, from the advent of the wheel to today's nanotechnology - including the ATM and the iPad - increase efficiency, which frees people for more important endeavors. This is the precise mechanism that improves mankind's standard of living.

I'm looking forward to the next music video from Russ Roberts & John Papola throwing this in their lyrics. :P

BTW, I heard about Congressman Jackson's comments about iPads, but I would like to know what lead him to that conclusion. How are iPads costing Americans their jobs?

Via Instapundit!

No more Unknown Chicago...

John Schmidt is calling it quits at his ChicagoNow hosted blog. Hopefully we will see his Chicago history posting elsewhere.

Former Illinois governors awarded pen names

It appears that the Chicago Reader is taking a page from The Onion when they give new names for Illinois' prisons. Even potential new majors at Governors State University:

Also, Governors State University announced it will be adding majors in bribery, conspiracy, perjury, and fraud. The school is retaining its motto (“unlimited opportunity”).

And even still changing many of Illinois' state symbols and slogan. Man this is what happens with such a high profile corruption case. Even a corrupt Chicago Alderman can't hold a candle to Blago.

Ousted governor is guilty...

Watching coverage of this case on TV right now. Former Governor Rod Blagojevich has more guilty verdicts beyond the the one charge he already has over him from the first trial. So it's guilty on 17 counts with one count not guilty and 2 counts where there was no decision:

Blagojevich was convicted on all 11 counts on the sale of the U.S. Senate and all three counts on the shakedowns of Children’s Memorial Hospital and a racetrack executive.

The jury acquitted him on one count and deadlocked on a second count accusing him of shaking down a construction executive. It also deadlocked on the one count alleging Blagojevich shook down then-U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel.

This marks the second time in less than a year that the 54-year-old Blagojevich, the onlyIllinois chief executive ever impeached and ousted from office, had been convicted of a crime. The jury at his first trial last summer found him guilty of lying to theFBI, though that panel deadlocked on all the other counts. That impasse set the stage for a retrial.

This time the verdict was unequivocal, with the jury of 11 women and one man finding Blagojevich guilty on 17 criminal counts he faced, including charges of wire fraud, attempted extortion, bribery and conspiracy. The marquee charge in the case involved an attempt by Blagojevich in late 2008 to cash in on his power to name a replacement in the U.S. Senate for newly electedPresident Barack Obama.

C-Span: Q&A about John Maynard Keynes and Frederick Hayek videos

[VIDEO] I'll post the Keynes-Hayek music videos after after the brief write up to introduce this C-Span program. Russ Roberts is an economic professor at George Mason University and hosts a weekly podcast EconTalk. He joined with filmmaker & entertainment marketing executive Russ John Papola to produce two music videos featuring actors representing economists John Maynard Keynes and Frederick Hayek.

Most of us are familiar in some respects with Keynesian economics which is more interventionist. That is government must intervene in certain aspects of the economy. While Hayek represents Austrian economics or mainly he basically defends classical liberalism and free-market economics.

The tune of these videos are catchy and you may need closed captioning to catch up to what they're saying in this video. Also it's more than time for me to consider reading up on economic thought. My first exposure to Austrian economics was not through economics courses at Morehouse but by a friend who more than introduced me to the subject. Videos are below!

Republicans courting the black vote...

field negro makes a statement that should apply to all Republicans courting the Black vote.

I see that Newt is courting the black vote for the "grand old party" these days. Memo to Newt: If you want to get black folks to vote for your party, tell us what you will do for us that will uplift our condition, not how bad Obama has been for us.

OK, I can understand that. Although there are those out there who just think we shouldn't cater a platform to one particular group.

What can the Republicans offer the Black community that the Democrats can't? Don't just think this is all about more welfare or anything like that. If Black folk has had it bad in this country and the "Great Society" and its successors didn't solve the issues it's time to think outside of the box!

Let's talk about guns...

Before the Illinois General Assembly ended their regular session last month one of the items considered was concealed carry. Alas, Illinois is home to Chicago which just so happens to be the state's largest city by a mile. Many of this state's most powerful politicians hail from the Chicago area. At that, many of those politicians are loathe to see conceal carry in this state.

There is a continued push for it and we can see how well that'll go in the future. Gov. Quinn who said he would veto any conceal carry legislation said recently he had little problem with Illinois being the only state in this union without any provision for conceal carry. Wisconsin recently adopted a law that allows dairyland citizens to conceal carry.

This time around in Illinois the push is to allow individual counties to decide whether or not they should allow for conceal carry.

Republican state Reps. Bill Mitchell of Forsyth, Adam Brown of Decatur and Chapin Rose of Mahomet held a news conference Thursday in Clinton about their proposed legislation. They also made stops Thursday in Decatur, Tuscola, Monticello and Mahomet.

The trio criticized Chicago politicians, especially Democrat House Speaker Mike Madigan, for blocking the passage this spring of House Bill 148, which would have allowed people to carry concealed weapons throughout the state.

The new proposal is the same as HB 148 except it would give each of the state’s 102 counties the authority to decide.

“Our ultimate goal is to have conceal-and-carry throughout the state,” said Mitchell.

He said he doubts the new bill will come to the House floor before January, however.

The law which failed in the recent legislative session was due to the fact that it would've restricted the regulatory powers of municipalities. Thus in the state legislature a "super-majority" is needed to pass a statewide conceal carry law.

In other news our new Chicago Police superintendent, Garry McCarthy, is making his rounds in our fair city. McCarthy a former NYPD officer and the former Newark Police Director was at St. Sabina Catholic Church (do I have to say who is the pastor of that church?) to talk about how gun laws are racist:

The pervasion of illegal guns in America's black and Latino communities is a result of "government-sponsored racism," akin to "slavery, segregation, black codes [and] Jim Crow," Rahm Emanuel's new police chief, Garry McCarthy, told parishioners at St. Sabina's Church earlier this month.

"This is sensitive. You know, because everybody’s afraid of race. Have you noticed that? Everybody’s afraid of race. I'm not afraid of race," said McCarthy, who told of growing up in the Bronx with guns, gangs and drugs plentiful.

"Let’s see if we can make a connection here. Slavery. Segregation. Black codes. Jim Crow. What, what did they all have in common? Anybody getting scared? Government sponsored racism."

"Now I want you to connect one more dot on that chain of the African American history in this country, and tell me if I’m crazy: Federal gun laws that facilitate the flow of illegal firearms, into our urban centers across this country, that are killing our black and brown children," he said.

WOW! OK well I don't necessarily disagree with him. Well there is an argument out there that suggest that during the time of Jim Crow and segregation and all attempt to keeps Blacks as 2nd class citizens one thing to do was to control their ability to own guns.

I wonder if it was OK to say this at an infamous Catholic Church in Chicago. I also wonder if the people either gasped at this assertion or believed it. Hopefully some of them will do some research on the history of racism and gun control and come to their own conclusion. Now in taking a shot at how illegal guns are coming into "minority" communities he takes a shot at gun-rights advocates.

Didn't McCarthy say that there needs to be a middle ground on the issue of guns? To me that means we can't keep honest citizen's away from guns no more than we need to gun-nuts to use over the top messaging to advance their cause.

So does McCarthy's statements help the cause to allow citizens in Chicago - especially in Black or Latino communities - to be able to own a gun for their own protection?

ajc: Historically black colleges discuss their role, challenges

I'm a graduate of Morehouse College and this article will concern not only the Atlanta University Center that hosts Morehouse, Spelman College & Clark Atlanta University but other HBCUs around the nation:

As the president of Clark Atlanta University, Carlton Brown knows the problems plaguing the nation's historically black colleges and universities.

Like other public and private colleges, these institutions, known as HBCUs, struggle financially because of drops in endowments, cuts in state funding and increased demand by students for financial aid. They also face unique challenges as black students enroll elsewhere and are recruited by colleges that once barred them.

Brown and five other college presidents spoke Thursday about these challenges and also the opportunities before them as universities work to reach President Obama's goal to have the world's largest share of college graduates by 2020. To reach that target colleges must reach out to students who think college isn't for them. HBCUs have long provided students with a nurturing environment and often teach those who are the first in their families to go to college, Brown said.

"Yes, we're going after the same high-quality students as Georgia Tech and Georgia State, but the beauty of higher education in this country is that there is an institution for everyone," Brown said in an interview. "Part of college is being somewhere other than where students have always been. For some students, we are the largest collection of black students they've ever seen. But some students says they've never seen so many white folks."
...

When HBCUs opened, they were the only option for black students. In 1960, 65 percent of black students attended historically black colleges. Today, only 12 percent do, although HBCUs award 30 percent of the baccalaureate degrees earned by all black students, federal data shows.

Walter Kimbrough, president of Philander Smith College in Little Rock, said there is potential to have a greater reach but HBCUs must be more aggressive in setting the country's college completion agenda. The colleges must be "on the offensive" by explaining and substantiating their success, said Kimbrough, who graduated from Atlanta's Mays High School.

To play a critical role several college presidents said they must convince governments and philanthropic groups to invest in their schools.

Historically black schools tend to have lower endowments than other colleges, making less money available for scholarships. This money is critical as the colleges serve many low-income and first-generation students who need more financial aid and academic support if they are to graduate.

Well other than filling a niche in the higher education realm, what should be the product put out by HBCUs? Are they still necessary in the 21st Century? Can they compete at the same level as many of the more mainstream universities in the nation?

My hope is that an HBCUs such as Morehouse can and should compete with other universities and for the top caliper student possible.

Detroit governance....

DDOT Directors Driving Shiny New Hybrid SUVs: MyFoxDETROIT.com

On this evening we're taking another virtual trip to Detroit with a hat-tip to Instapundit for this story.

Dealing with budget shortfalls, cuts to the Detroit Department of Transportation include laying off bus drivers, mechanics and cutting bus routes.

How is it then that DDOT directors get to drive home brand new hybrid SUV's and have the insurance and gas paid for them?

How is that DDOT employees 1300 people, but only 700 of them are drivers or mechanics, what do the rest of the employees do?

 Detroit is a struggling city as we know. How can they afford to get these new vehicles and yet be forced to reduce services that people depend on. Especially public transportation that can get people to where they want to be.

Chicago Tonight: Phunny Business

[VIDEO] This 11 minute interview on Chicago Tonight featured owner comedy club owner Raymond Lambert and John Davies who directed this documentary Phunny Business: A Black Comedy. It was the story of a Black-owned comedy club that once operated in Chicago's South Loop called "All Jokes Aside" that featured mainly Black audiences being entertained by Black comedians.

It was very successful while other comedy clubs in Chicago were closing for business. One thing that put this club on the map were the comedians who eventually went on to Hollywood such as Jaime Foxx or Steve Harvey. Will there be another incarnation of "All Jokes Aside" in the future?

It was mentioned that this film was screened at the Gene Siskel Film Center on the Saturday after this program aired on June 16th. I would've liked to check out this documentary!

Capitol Fax: Maybe one day

You know I sympathize with libertarians on some issues. The philosophy of libertarianism is to let things be. This post by Rich Miller (probably a long way from libertarian) makes sense to me. He writes about those people who are vehemently opposed to video gaming then turns to talking about drugs.

Basic argument with both, if you legalize video gambling and illegal drugs you may well take away the danger illegal element. The organized crime won't be as interested in video gambling when it's legal because while it's illegal they'll want a cut of the money. The same goes for drugs organized crime will do what it takes to makes its money.

Alas when either of these "vices" were legalized you have those who will insist it's bad. If video gambling is legal organized crime will really have a field day. If illegal drugs are now legal to consume it will be a public health nightmare.

Well I don't know about video gambling. As for legalizing those drugs that are currently illegal I do support legalizing the sale and consumption of some drugs. For example I have little issue with legalizing marihuana. And Miller is right when he says that "it’s a pretty darned safe bet that Walgreen’s and CVS employees aren’t going to be shooting at each other if their employers are the ones selling pot".

Perhaps the sale of marihuana is safer in a store than on a street corner. At that it's also safer if grown by a reputable producer of marihuana. If an honest producer wants to become weathly - and legally - quality control would have to be the key, right?

One day the public will understand the lessons of the prohibition era of the 1920s.

Prisons equals traffic accidents

[VIDEO] Well if you ran highways where you told people where to start and how fast they're supposed to go you are likely to get more traffic accidents. Stephen Cox says this about prisons and most of us have the same idea about prison about how tough prison is. If you designed general society that way perhaps there would be trouble. Posted here because it's a new thought to consider.

Can Obama's presidency be saved?

I suppose on a similar track to an earlier article from The American Interest. This could be a sequel to whether or not Obama is the next Herbert Hoover:

The President of the United States has two jobs: he is the head of government and the head of state. In British terms, he must do the jobs of both the Prime Minister and the Queen. The Queen sprinkles pixie dust; the Prime Minister does the dirty work of legislative sausage making. Presidents (like Ronald Reagan and FDR) succeed when they fill the job of head of state so well that they accumulate political authority which they can then use to run the government. The pixie dust they sprinkle makes the sausage look good. Presidents who fail to establish themselves as national leaders and symbols (like Jimmy Carter) end by losing their political authority as well.

President Obama started off with great advantages in the pixie dust department. As the first African-American president, he embodies important American qualities simply by being himself. Young, energetic, blessed with a stylish wife and a vibrant family, he holds Kennedy-class cards when it comes to touching enduring American themes and ideals. He was (and can still be) an ideal representative of America to itself and to the world, a symbol of hope for national and global reconciliation and renewal.

But the President has failed to meld that image and the symbolic weight of his office to a compelling policy vision. He takes strong individual stands — from support for health care reform to the bombing of Libya — but between the moves and the counter moves, the rhetorical claims and the policy reversals, the President’s image has become fuzzy and perplexing. Did he abandon the concept of stimulus and cast himself as a deficit cutter because he believes it, or was the shift a tactical calculation? What does he really believe will get the economy going again?

In particular, he has said nothing memorable about the crisis that is shaking the global economy and undermining the American middle class. The meltdown of the blue social model is the great and inescapable fact of our time. In what many voters will feel as a sign of financial apocalypse, the AARP has dropped its opposition to cuts in Social Security benefits. At home, Democrats like Andrew Cuomo and Jerry Brown are slashing budgets and attacking the perks of public sector labor unions almost as industriously as Republicans like Scott Walker and Mitch Daniels. Abroad, Socialists like Greek Premier George Papandreou is cutting as hard as the Conservative David Cameron. Germany has passed a balanced budget amendment; France is debating its own version. Economic turmoil is shaking the political foundations; rising food prices helped set off the Arab Spring, the price of gold has gone through the roof, and China and other foreign creditors are increasingly skeptical about the long term value of their dollar-backed assets.

President Obama’s predecessor made many mistakes, but something is at work here that is much bigger than the faults of the Bush administration. It is not just a US domestic problem, because we see it in the more-regulated European countries as well as in the less-regulated US.

I posted that "Progress" image by Shepard Fairey for a reason. His art worked for Obama's campaign in 2008. Well there is the more common "Hope" message as opposed to "Progess", but something was promised then. Many American's aren't seeing a whole lot of progress from that unfortunately despite the promises of an Obama presidency.

Well if the GOP fails to offer a solid message and candidate for 2012, what will make Obama's message and candidacy solid?

Via Instapundit!

FuturePundit: Olive Oil Cuts Stroke Risk?

Well I won't excerpt this one, but this is worth sharing. Cutting stroke risks is one thing, but I saw a news story on TV years ago that suggest that consumption of olive oil staves off some of the worse effects of aging. In fact this story had a 77-year-old man who said that he had taken up roller-blading. I just hope that we can all be so lucky and you out there as well!

Via Instapundit!

Obama, the new Herbert Hoover???

This article I'm sharing with you in in fact entitled "Is Carter a Best Case Scenario?":

I am not convinced that the President’s political goose is cooked — yet. For one thing, luck can never be discounted. Recessions don’t last forever, anymore than booms do, and American capitalism is strong enough to stage a recovery in the face of poor policy. But luck aside, the President can still avoid the great mistake that finally wrecked Hoover: the failure to learn.

President Hoover brought some convictions with him to office about how the economy worked, how government worked, and what his role as President should be. As the Depression deepened, he did the best he could within those limits, but nothing seems to have made him reconsider the mix of progressive ideas that he brought with him to the White House. As months of failure and disappointment grew into years, he doesn’t seem to have questioned those core ideas or to think about ways in which the economic emergency might require steps that in normal times would not be taken. He not only failed to end the Depression; he failed to give people a sense that he understood what was happening. Over-optimistic forecasts issued in part to build confidence came back to haunt him. To the public he seemed fuddled and doctrinaire, endlessly recycling stale platitudes in the face of radically new economic problems.

That’s beginning to sound a little like the current President’s predicament. Unless Lady Luck should emerge from retirement to sprinkle some growth dust on the economy, the President could find himself looking more Hooveresque by the day. Worse, President Obama faces problems that Hoover did not have — notably the five shooting wars on his hands in Afghanistan, tribal Pakistan, Iraq, Libya and now, apparently, Yemen.

At least Hoover in the beginning didn't have to deal with the Great Depression from the jump. Of course the Depression didn't just happen surely there were warning signs before the Stock Market Crash a few months into Hoover's Presidency. Obama on the other hand well the recession started just before he became President.

I made the comparison but only judging on how Obama dealt with the recession. He took a beating in the congressional elections last year. We'll see if the Republicans can give the nation what the Democrats had been able to in 1932. Hoover didn't have the charisma Obama does, that may make the difference. Perhaps we can see the Republican answer soon.

Crain's: 'Superman' summons extra actors for Chicago-area filming

By Alex Ross

Perhaps I should for my way onto the casting call for extras. It would be very cool to be part of the filming of the Christopher Nolan produced Superman movie that is to be filmed in Chicago.

“We're looking for all ages, all types,” said James McKay, background casting assistant in the studio's casting office in Aurora. “We're looking to meet as many people as possible.”

Warner Bros. is looking for men, women and children, particularly infant twins, and “military/athletic types,” according to an announcement of the casting call. The studio said it is looking for “paid extras, stand-ins and photo doubles.”

The film, with an estimated budget of $175 million, promises the Chicago area an economic boost like it got from last summer's filming of “Transformers 3” and the Batman movies shot here in recent years.

There will be an open casting call at the DePaul University Naperville Campus on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., followed by another one at the Chicago Academy for the Arts on June 25 during the same hours. The notice said, “Drop in anytime during these hours.”

A casting call for Plano residents only will be June 22 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Plano High School.

Directed by Zack Snyder, who also directed “300” and this year's “Sucker Punch,” the film is anticipated to reinvent the Superman genre.

It would be cooler if this was a Nolan film but he still has to direct the next Batman movie to start filming in Pittsburgh. Perhaps Pittsburgh will be made to look like Gotham like Chicago looked like Gotham in Batman Begins!

Two pictures of Amtrak locomotives

I was walking along Roosevelt Road and just so happen to see this Amtrak locomotive sporting an interesting livery. Then I saw the years 1971 and 2011 on the side of the locomotive with Amtrak's old logo. It hits me that Amtrak has been around 40 years already.

It was such a sight I only wish that Amtrak could have locomotives like this all the time. The current livery isn't as colorful but then again I do really like Amtrak's new logo. Still a fan of the old one and used to draw it all the time, but the new logo since the last decade is a really nice touch.

Let's hope Amtrak lasts another 40 years in some way!

GOP presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman hits town

Interesting that Republicans still do come to Chicago to tout their respective Presidential campaigns:

Jon Huntsman, the former Utah governor and U.S. ambassador to China, has scheduled a reasonably full day of get-together events, including a noon luncheon at the Casino Club, a Near North Side restaurant, with corporate CEO types. (I don't have a list yet, but am promised names after.)

Perhaps more significant, he's signed up one of Illinois' top GOP fundraisers, Lori Montana, which at least in theory gives him the ability to pull serious coin here.

Mr. Huntsman, 51, has a reputation for being a relative moderate, though like other GOP contenders he's recently moved to the political right, for instance backing off his support for a cap-and-trade pollution control system.

But as governor, he was known for slashing taxes and attracting jobs, while simultaneously backing gay civil unions and making it easier to get a drink in the heavily Mormon state. And he actually said some nice things about Barack Obama when the president named him ambassador — not a big plus with many Republicans, but potentially a bipartisan lure for independents.

Anyhow, Mr. Huntsman's name recognition has to be in the low single digits. But he's starting to attract some media attention, and it's shaping up to be a strange GOP race.

Well it's still early yet. No one has become the candidate to watch so far. Maybe we'll know by the time of the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primaries.

Gov. Huntsman says that the President is beatable...

[VIDEO] In this video we hear from former Utah Governor John Huntsman discuss his potential bid for President of the United States. It's that time again to talk about who might be in the running against President Obama. Alas I see no one standing out this time around, but there's some time yet to emerge.

I wonder about why he thinks China can beat America as far as economic output, but that's it's unlikely they can beat this nation economically per capita. If anyone can explain I would appreciate it. BTW, Huntsman under Obama was the Ambassador to China.

Huntsman thinks Obama can be beaten based upon the economy right now. There isn't a lot of traction with regards to growth and Huntsman said there is no plan. Let's hope that he can come up with one and other GOP candidates who want to run against Obama.

What do you think about Huntsman?

Looking at the BlackBerry Bold 9900

[VIDEO] Already it's time to start thinking new phone. My BlackBerry is a good device, however, there are some limitations. Especially as far as what I currently use it for which is to surf the web and check e-mail. So it's time to find a new device more to my liking.

I've even considerd an *gulp* iPhone. I hear the iPhone is a better device to surf the web, but  I don't want to fall into that iPhone craze. Who knows by the time the next version is available for consumption the iPhone 4 would be a much cheaper option than the "iPhone 5". :P

So this upcoming BlackBerry Bold 9900 has just kept BlackBerry in the game right now. A touch screen and much thinner this phone appeals not only to my own technical aspects but for style. I just as easily like a phone for what I want it for, just as much as how it looks.

The video above takes a look at the 9900 and compares it to a phone similar to mine the Bold 9780. It's a little wider and yet much thinner than the 9780. Hopefully this phone will get a trial in my hands at an AT&T store near me!

Well thankfully that decision won't be made for another year at least. That gives me time to evaluate not only the type of phone that I'd like, but also to determine the right price for the device.

Why Minimum Wage is Keeping You from Getting a Job

[AUDIO] First and foremost I don't oppose the minimum wage. My idea about the minimum wage is that politicians want to raise it every so often just to say their thinking very much about the working people. When they do raise it to score political point I just wonder if they're only hurting working people, especially the unemployed ones.

This is what this high school seminar out of Chicago courtesy of Mises Institute seeks to answer. Not that I believe minimum wage in and of itself keeps you from getting a job, but continuing to raise it will do the trick. Near the end of this half-hour presentation the lecturer, Walter Block, asks why the minimum wage isn't $700/hr as opposed to $7/hr?

Via Newsalert!

Capitol Fax: I’m just sayin’… He’s guilty

Rich Miller's Sun-Times column. He discusses why Blago's defense of his machinations were all just talk is bunk. Ousted governor's defense team had just wrapped up their case this week and the jury now has the case. Although his defense are still attempting to try for a mistrial!

AP: Mississippi Delta Farmers Suffer in Wake of Flood

[VIDEO] Well I know that there's been flooding along the Mississippi River although this video has little to do with covering the Mississippi. It mentions the Yazoo River especially! Here is an article on the Delta region of Mississippi!

Illinois Supreme Court denies former Sen. Burris' appeal

It would've been very messed up if this had actually went through. In fact while following a little bit the legal drama around Pres. Obama's old Senate seat I really thought it was settled when Mark Kirk won not only the special election to fill President Obama's full term, but also the general election for a full six-year-term. Had little idea former Sen. Burris wanted to overturn it all:

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the petitions of two former elected officials from Illinois in a legal fight spawned by the appointment of a replacement for President Barack Obama's old Senate seat.

After hearing the case in September 2010, the 7th Circuit rejected U.S. Sen. Roland Burris' bid to appear on the ballot in a special election for Obama's seat.

The fight stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Illinois voters Gerald Judge and David Kindler.

Shortly before the Chicago-based federal appeals court issued its ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Burris' bid to stop the special election from taking place without his name on the ballot.

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich had appointed Burris to fill Obama's vacant Senate seat until the state Legislature ordered a special election. That order never came, prompting the lawsuit in May 2009.

A federal judge ruled that the appointment was temporary, and that Burris would serve as Obama's replacement until the winner of the general election takes office on Jan. 3.

None of the articles I have seen so far had truly explained the issues of the case I was going to use this brief AP blurb that alerted me to this story:

Months after Illinois' new senator took office, the Supreme Court says it will not consider overturning the election of President Barack Obama's replacement in the U.S. Senate.

The high court on Monday turned away an appeal from former Illinois Sen. Roland Burris, who was appointed to the seat but did not get chance to run for a full term. The justices also refused to hear an appeal from state officials who objected to a court order to hold a special election as well as a regular election for Obama's old seat

When I first heard about this special election I was perturbed. I pretty much said let Burris serve out the rest of Obama's old term. It would simply be easier that way. And we also see how much time it takes for the courts to make a decision. It would've been terrible to overturn (if possible) what the people had chosen for the next 6 years.

I say all this with the idea that Blago appointing our former state Comptroller and Attorney General was a mistake and it was unfortunate that Bobby Rush latched onto this like it was the only chance we had to keep a black in the US Senate. No one seemed to scream when Burris wasn't going to be able to complete Obama's term.

Well that being said, I look forward to the future. A Black can be elected to the Senate one day. Two more serious candidates tried last year one here in Illinois didn't quite make it out of the Democratic Primary and the other in Florida lost last November. Hopefully we can find one who is not only electable but is able to maintain that seat.

I broached this subject once before, but it's time for an expansion of that particular subject.

American Artifacts Preview: Charleston, South Carolina in 1865

[VIDEO] Courtesy of C-Span a photo exhibit of this southern US city taken near the end of the Civil War. While part of the collection at the Library of Congress, the curator here notes the technical process to clean up some of these images. In addition they talk about they preserve them so that these photographs can be exhibited.

Prosecutors question Blago about convicted fundraiser Rezko

Like I said already I haven't really paid attention to our Ousted governor's retrial since it commenced. I just got to say this part of the trial which was before federal prosecutors cross-examined Blago was just bizzarre:

Defense lawyers are trying to thread a needle in their questioning of Rod Blagojevich, portraying him as at times extremely shrewd and at other times a loose cannon when plotting strategy to appoint a successor to Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.

“Did you discuss the idea of appointing yourself (to the Senate) and going to Afghanistan to hunt down Osama Bin Laden?” Blagojevich was asked by his attorney, Aaron Goldstein.

Blagojevich managed to answer yes before prosecutors could object and U.S. District Judge James Zagel sustained the objection. But the point was made for jurors: Blagojevich often rambled about ridiculous things when discussing the Senate vacancy.

Well that's what I wanted to get at in this post. As far as reading what happened at Federal Court in downtown Chicago, I need some time to digest this looooong report from the Tribune!

Illinois Democrat Slugs Republican on Senate Floor

Found out about this via Gateway Pundit. You know I never thought of the Illinois State Senate as a place for legislative fisticuffs. Here's another story that describes what happened:

State Sen. Kyle McCarter, R-Lebanon, accused state Sen. Mike Jacobs of "using profanity and pointing his finger before he punched me with his fist in my chest" following a heated debate.

McCarter said he gave a statement about the incident to the Secretary of State police.

Jacobs, D-East Moline, brushed off the incident as an emotional outburst common at the end of a legislative session when big issues are being debated and tempers are flaring.

At issue was electric utility rate hike legislation being pushed by Commonwealth Edison and Ameren Illinois.

The measure was sponsored by Jacobs, whose father, former state Sen. Denny Jacobs, also is a lobbyist for ComEd.

During the debate, McCarter highlighted the family ties, which triggered Jacobs to later walk across the aisle to confront McCarter.

There is no video of this incident, well unfortunate for those of you who want the entertainment, but FOX Chicago was contacted by the Illinois Secretary of State Capitol Police to request a copy of the aired story.