Time to Make 4th of July Plans

What, no plans for the fourth of July yet? Better get on the phone! You wouldn't want your guests to accept other invitations, would you? They might just give up on you if you don't hurry up and make a call! Small fourth of July celebrations aren't the most fun, and it's time to decide where to see fireworks, if you are going to a parade, what you're eating, and with whom. (Personally, I have gotten lazy and gone to Hackney's the last couple of years, a solution I highly recommend: no clean-up!)

I updated all the local information on North Shore Fourth of July parades, fireworks, and other festivities on a post I did a couple of years ago, so just click here and choose the 2009 info.

CLICK HERE FOR JULY 3, 2009 WILMETTE ROAD CLOSURES

The Skunks are Doing Well

From the smell of things, I am pleased to report that the skunks that have lived around my yard for the last few years appear to be alive and well. They really aggravate my neighbor, which makes me very happy, because he has been aggravating me for years. The lawn company is always trying to sell me a grub treatment, but I am not too much for putting poison around my house. Among other things, skunks like to eat grubs, so I happy to see that the skunks have not moved away. The only problem is, that they dig holes in the lawn looking for the grubs, which makes for unsightliness. Since I would rather have unsightliness than poison, I can accept the trade-off. The only reason I know we have skunks is the smell, although I saw a skunk one or twice when taking out the garbage at night.

I found a really interesting video on PBS about skunks, but it really is too much information. A few years ago, our outside cat had a tangle with the skunk family, and it was a very bad week, indeed.

Update: This post on skunks is not a backhanded comment on our Congressman (who runs under the Republican banner) who voted for Cap-and-Trade, but it is okay if you think it is. I am not a happy camper.

Iran: They Don't Care About Us

RIP Michael Jackson; he was a bizarre guy. This is a pretty interesting montage of photos from Iran set to one of Jackson's songs that I thought was worth sharing. Who knows about Iran and it's future? Could there be any serious chance of a free, modern state existing there? I'll reserve comment.

h/t ac

Dan Proft Announces Run for Governor of Illinois

Governor Quinn has unfortunately disappointed with his big government view. Dan Proft has announced his candidacy for Governor of Illinois. Since he always has something interesting to say, and is a smart and thoughtful guy, I thought you would enjoy this.

News Grows Sadder from Iran

The situation in Iran is very bad, and it's a sad backdrop to the time of year when we start making our plans for the Fourth of July. Above is a picture of protestors being tear-gassed. It's hard to think that this is the regime that our President was going to sit with for tea. The pictures and the stories are heartrending.

Sometimes people forget what early Americans went through to obtain freedom for our country over 200 years ago; it was not so good for them, either.

Obama Governing Chicago Style

"From Chicago, he [the President]brings the assumption that there will always be a bounteous private sector that can be plundered endlessly on behalf of political favorites. . . .While promising a politics of mutual respect, he peppers both his speeches and impromptu responses with jabs at his predecessor. . . . Those who stand in the way, like the Chrysler secured creditors, are told that their reputations will be destroyed. Those who expose wrongdoing by political allies, like the AmeriCorps inspector general, are fired." - Michael Barone

Mihael Barone has a very interesting column called Dodge Facts, Skip Details, Govern Chicago-Style which you might enjoy reading. If you have ever spoken to anyone about Barack Obama's time in the Illinois Senate, it looks as if he is yet again bored . . .

Post Election Update in Iran: It's All Online

It's day five of post-election protest activity in Iran, where (take your choice) civil unrest, a revolution, or a government crackdown is taking place, possibly all three happening at once. In a country where the vast majority of the population is young, it appears that the "revolution" will be blogged, vlogged. Youtubed, Flickred, Twittered, Picfogged, and wikied all by citizen reporters (and foreign commentators), and even--in a nod to yesterday's technology-- faxed and message boarded. In fact, Twitter is so popular, at one time yesterday over 200,000 "tweets" were measured in one hour, although many of those posts are by revolution sympatizers outside the country. Foreign reporters have been expelled from the country, but the New York Times Lede blog is attempting to put the information together in a journalistic fashion with frequent updates as is the Atlantic's Andrew Sullivan. Do take a look at some of the links; it is pretty interesting!

ABC News Sells Out

"[T]he healthy and routine skepticism that is a normal part of the relationship between a free press and the president is wholly absent when it comes to a critical examination of the Obama Administration."
- John Kinsellagh

One of the hallmarks of a repressive society is the hand-in-glove symbiosis between the government and the media. Rather than serving the people, the media presents and promotes the agenda of the government.

It is with great sadness that I note that just a couple of weeks following Brian Williams' servile bow to the Commander-in-Chief while presenting a White House lovefest as news, that ABC news will be presenting a free informational for the White House on health care on June 24, 2009 . Saddest of all is the fact that a popular president, rather than doing the right thing, is willing to sacrifice the traditional values of a free nation on the altar of popularity, and that Charlie Gibson, who I thought to be a serious journalist, is willing to be an accomplice to such action.

As Robert Samuelson notes, Obama's health care initiative is "naive, hypocritical or simply dishonest. Probably all three." It is a shame to see ABC abandon journalistic integrity and desperately try to gain ratings by acting as the shill for the Obama administration.

Holocaust Survivor to Speak at NTRO

In April, I reported on my trip to the Grand Opening of the Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie, with great hopes their agenda of addressing human rights abuses will improve our future. Apparently, the Museum is moving forward with its agenda and doing some outreach beyond the Center's walls. The Museum's Vice President, Aaron Elster, a was a child survivor of the holocaust, will tell his story and also take questions and answers from the audience on Thursday, June 18 at 7:00 pm at the New Trier Republican Organization on Park Avenue in Kenilworth.

This is a non-partisan presentation, and all members of the community are invited to attend.

Try Home Remedies First

So, we hear that in Washington they are working hard on healthcare which will be passed soon. Since the USA is now dead broke, they won't count healthcare as a cost in the federal budget, or some other poppycock. Michelle Malkin has been running a healthcare poster contest, and the above is my favorite. You can hop on over to her blog to see some more!

Wisdom: When Riding a Dead Horse, Dismount

This is really old. In fact, it's an email that I printed out back in 2001 that I found while straightening my office. Since I enjoyed reading it again, I thought you might like it, too.

According to the ancient tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed on from generation to generation, when you discover you're riding a dead horse, your best move is to dismount. However, many of us in today's government and business world seem reluctant to acknowledge that our plans and strategies aren't working. Instead of dismounting, we try a variety of tactics in an attempt to breathe some life into those dead horses, including the following:

1. Buying a stronger whip.
2. Changing riders.
3. Threatening the horse with termination.
4. Appointing a committee to study the horse.
5. Visiting other sites to see how they ride dead horses.
6. Lowering the standards to include dead horses.
7. Reclassifying the dead horse as "living-impaired."
8. Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse.
9. Harnessing several dead horses together to increase speed.
10. Providing additional funding and/or training to increase the dead horse's performance.
11. Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders would improve the dead horse's performance.
12. Declaring that the dead horse requires less overhead and therefore contributes more to the bottom line.
13. Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses.
14. Promoting the dead horse to management.

D-Day Remembered: Omaha Beach

Pictured above is Omaha Beach, where tourists now visit in remembrance of D-Day, 55 years ago today. On June 6, 1944, 160,000 allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy, beginning in the early morning hours, in the largest amphibious invasion in history. Casualties were high and fighting was fierce. The goal was the destruction of the German war machine and the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed people of Europe.

Politicians also visit here; the statesmen at the helm of the Allies during World War II now all gone. Only one head of state has military experience in World War II, the Queen of England, and to her dismay, she was not invited to this year's commemoration, having been snubbed for political consideration. This year, at the American Cemetery, the name of the beach below was tripped-over, mis-stated. Every year there are fewer veterans of D-Day, and it will not be long until none are left. The world is changing.

You can learn more about the D-Day invasion; view videos, pictures and posters from history; read further information; and listen to audio files at a special Web Page that is a virtual museum from the US Army, where you will learn that there were so many ships in the English Channel, that one soldier said it would have been simply possible to walk from England to France.

GM Obamamobile Folkscar: Living Large on CAFE Standards

Sneak peak! Yes, this is it, the new Government Motors (GM) Obamamobile "Folkscar!" With review mirrors that look suspiciously like teleprompters, tongues are wagging that President Obama himself had a hand in its design. The right-hand drive is the dead giveaway that the Folkscar has been under development in England to keep it safely under wraps. There, our sources reveal, high administration officials have also been studying car manufacturing.

What a wonderful way to show hope and change!

From Congressional Motors: A Car to Dream About

h/t Iowahawk

Letter Making the Rounds

This letter is making the rounds . . .

LETTER TO AMERICA FROM A DODGE DEALER George C. Joseph
Thursday, 21 May 2009

My name is George C. Joseph. I am the sole owner of Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu, a family owned and operated business in Melbourne, Florida. My family bought and paid for this automobile franchise 35 years ago in 1974. I am the second generation to manage this business. We currently employ 50+ people and before the economic slowdown we employed over 70 local people. We are active in the community and the local chamber of commerce. We deal with several dozen local vendors on a day to day basis and many more during a month. All depend on our business for part of their livelihood. We are financially strong with great respect in the market place and community. We have strong local presence and stability. I work every day the store is open, nine to ten hours a day. I know most of our customers and all our employees. Sunshine Dodge is my life.

On Thursday, May 14, 2009 I was notified that my Dodge franchise, that we purchased, will be taken away from my family on June 9, 2009 without compensation and given to another dealer at no cost to them. My new vehicle inventory consists of 125 vehicles with a financed balance of 3 million dollars. This inventory becomes impossible to sell with no factory incentives beyond June 9, 2009. Without the Dodge franchise we can no longer sell a new Dodge as "new," nor will we be able to do any warranty service work. Additionally, my Dodge parts inventory, (approximately $300,000) is virtually worthless without the ability to perform warranty service. There is no offer from Chrysler to buy back the vehicles or parts inventory. Our facility was recently totally renovated at Chrysler's insistence, incurring a multi-million dollar debt in the form of a mortgage at Sun Trust Bank.

HOW IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CAN THIS HAPPEN? THIS IS A PRIVATE BUSINESS NOT A GOVERNMENT ENTITY. This is beyond imagination! My business is being stolen from me through NO FAULT OF OUR OWN. We did NOTHING wrong. This atrocity will most likely force my family into bankruptcy. This will also cause our 50+ employees to be unemployed. How will they provide for their families? This is a total economic disaster. HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN IN A FREE MARKET ECONOMY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ? I look forward to your reply.

Thank you.
Sincerely, George C. Joseph
President & Owner
Sunshine Dodge-Isuzu
Melbourne, Florida

Nader Speaks Truth on the GM Bankruptcy

With America's turn toward the left, I believe we would have had a far better President at the helm than the incumbent with principled leftist Ralph Nader. Today, Nader weighed in on the GM bankruptcy, saying, "Today's bankruptcy declaration in federal court by General Motors is an avoidable, crude weapon of mass devastation for workers, dealers, auto suppliers, small businesses and their depleted communities. For GM's voiceless owners -- the common shareholders -- it is a wipeout. . . .

"[L]late last week, the bondholder problem was moving toward rapid resolution, and was clearly resolvable. Why then are GM and its multibillion government financier proceeding with bankruptcy?

"The bankruptcy and the GM restructuring plan are the product of a secretive, unaccountable, Wall Street-minded government task force that assumed power because of a Congressional abdication of historic magnitude."

You might want to read the entire statement.