Mosquito Spraying tonght

If you live in Wilmette, you might want to close your windows tonight despite the cool weather. The North Shore Mosquito Abatement District will be conducting "adult mosquito control operations" (i.e. spraying)on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 between 8:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m, weather permitting.

The portion of Wilmette being treated on Wednesday is the Peter Jans Golf Course from Isabella to Sheridan Rd, bordering Girard Avenue on the east. Additionally, the Gillson Park area bounded by Harbor Drive, Michigan Ave, Lake Ave and Lake Michigan, will be treated on Wednesday.

For more information and a detailed map of the treatment areas, visit the North Shore Mosquito Abatement District's website.

Got Wine but No Corkscrew? - Use Your Shoe!

No corkscrew? Remember those frustrating times you've been on vacation with a bottle of wine just tempting you? The solution is simple, use your shoe! Just think  of how many times could you have used this knowledge if you only had it!  And can you imagine the wow factor at Ravinia? Well, maybe not "wow," but a curiosity that's sure-to-impress none the less.

Sorry that the video's in French if thats a problem for you, but the pictures tell the story!

h/t Taran

The New American Dream

Priceless.

h/t MB, via email

Summer TV Line Up -- The Chicago Network

Looks as if Chicago will enjoy great TV all summer long!

Oh Welcome Summer, Our Longest Day

Welcome Summer! If not for America's Puritan past, we might be gathering to celebrate the year's longest day today--known as the Summer Solstice--like the estimated 20,000 revelers, pictured above, who gathered this morning at Stonehenge in England. This week will see much of Europe celebrating with maypoles, bonfires, and other memories of the pagan past. In Sweden, it's a national holiday, and in Europe this week marks the celebration of the Feast of St. John the Baptist.

With perfect temperatures and the longest days of the year, surely all of us can find something to celebrate this week!

Israel: The Treason of the Left

In an excellent editorial, former New York Mayor, Ed Koch, marvels that it is the Republicans, not the Democrats, who currently are standing up for Israel, and points out the growing liberal sentiment to object to anything having to do with that small mideast country. Starting with the viewpoint that Liberals support  freedom and individual rights, Koch terms this anti-Israel sentiment as the "treason of the left," saying

A year ago, at AIPAC's conference in Washington, I asked the following questions: Why don't we see demonstrations in Europe against the Islamic dictatorships? Why are there no demonstrations against the enslavement of millions of Muslim women? Why don't they declare against the use of bomb-carrying children in the conflicts in which Islam is involved? Why is the left only obsessed with fighting against two of the most solid democracies of the planet, those which have suffered the bloodiest terrorist attacks, the United States and Israel?...Because the left no longer has any ideas, only slogans. It no longer defends rights, but prejudices. And the greatest prejudice of all, is the one it has against Israel. I accuse, then, in a formal manner: the main responsibility of the new anti-Semite hatred, disguised as anti-Zionism, comes from those who should have to defend freedom, solidarity and progress. Far from it, they defend despots, forget their victims and remain silent before medieval ideologies which aim at the destruction of free societies. The treason of the left is an authentic treason against modernity."

Mayor Koch has done an excellent analysis of the current situation, and you might want to read his op-ed in its entirety. His call to action should be heard by all, "Those who pride themselves on fairness and conscience, Christians and Jews, must rise up and be heard. Their protests must ring throughout the world. There is no time to waste." I am going to send the article around to my email correspondents in hopes they, too, will pass it along.

Missing my Old Blue Vuvuzela

Today I am really missing my old, blue Vuvuzela, which I haven't seen since back in the last century. I remember that I bought it at the Stadium-Formerly-Known-as-Dyche Stadium back in the day when it actually was Dyche Stadium, and I had some fun with it at football games. When I got rid of it, I didn't even know it was a vuvuzela, thinking that it was just a bright blue plastic stadium horn. It was difficult to blow anyway.

With the World Cup underway, the stadium horn has an exciting new name and new notoriety. Of all the no longer needed stuff I've gotten rid of over the years, it never occurred to me that my vuvuzela would be missed, but with endless stories in the press of the vuvuzela in Africa, I'm feeling sentimental. My vuvuzela was, after all, pretty fun.

Mark Kirk is a Good Congressman and Will Make a Good Senator.

I've been a little bored by politics lately, but really have to say something about the character assination recently attempted against Mark Kirk by his political opponents. You would think from the never-ending propaganda emenating from the Alexi Giannoulias campaign, that Congressman Mark Kirk was right up there with the witch from Hansel and Gretl in evilness. That, of course is a crock, and designed to keep your mind off the millions spent by the FDIC in bailing out the Giannoulias family bank where Ginnoulias took out 10's of millions of dollars over the past few years. I liked the following letter that Mark Kirk wrote, and I wanted to share it with you:

Dear Friend:

The negative campaign being waged against my 21 years of service in the United States Navy Reserve turned from dirty to ridiculous. Yesterday, WFLD allowed a partisan surrogate for Alexi Giannoulias to make ludicrous accusations without challenge or correction.

According to Giannoulias’ surrogate State Representative Linda Chapa LaVia (D-Aurora), I should “apologize to all the veterans especially the veterans during the Vietnam era because that’s when he supposedly served.” I was 13 years old when the Vietnam Paris Peace Accords were signed in 1973.

Rep. Chapa LaVia was on a roll. She also said “allegations are starting to come out where he falsified that he served in Iraq and Afghanistan too.” I served over Iraq as part of Operation Northern Watch in 2000 and twice served in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Watch the clip below:

These are just two of many misleading assertions now emanating from Alexi Giannoulias’ campaign. At this point, it’s hard to take what he or his representatives say seriously.

Our state and this nation face serious issues: high unemployment, a soaring federal debt and the tragedy in the Gulf. After Broadway Bank’s collapse and massive losses in the Illinois Bright Start college savings program, Treasurer Giannoulias and his campaign surrogates will tell you anything to change the subject.

In the end, we will win this election because our ideas are better. We want a brighter future for Illinois families based on lower taxes, less spending, clean government and private sector job growth. We also want a brighter future for America with a strong national defense and unwavering support for democratic allies like Israel. And the people of Illinois do too.

I want to thank you all – especially my fellow veterans – for standing with me. Working together, we will return this Senate seat to its rightful owners – the people of Illinois.

Very truly yours,

Mark Kirk

Member of Congress

Have a Wonderful Flag Day

I hope you have a nice Flag Day! This morning I am going to jumble around in my car trunk and see if I can find a flag to attach to the car window; there are so many foreign ones on cars, I'd like to score one for the home team.

The original U.S. flag was authorized by Congress on Saturday, June 14, 1777, but Flag Day didn't take place until 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed 14 as Flag Day. It wasn't until after world War II, however, that President Harry Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14 of each year as a National Flag Day. With showers predicted, it's likely you will have to haul in Old Glory by lunchtime, so raise your flag early for maximum enjoyment.

Thank You Blackhawks!

It's time to stop saying "Go Hawks!" and just go to this morning's Blackhawks Stanley Cup Winners parade! Here are the details. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it, but I am bearing up and doing my best to cope with the stress of a winning Chicago team!

June 6, 1944: Remembering the Invasion of Normandy

When you look out over Omaha Beach today, it is nearly impossible to envision the chaos and confusion that existed on Normandy's beaches on June 6, 1944. Hitler knew there would be an invasion, but Allied plans remained secret. When General Eisenhower gave the "go" signal on June 5, 1944 for the invasion of Normandy, France, 18,000 allied paratroopers were on the ground by dawn. The land invasion began at 6:30 am, and Gold, Juno and Sword beaches--lightly defended--fell rapidly into the hands of the British and Canadians. At Utah beach, control was quickly taken by the Americans. 2,000 American troops were lost at Omaha Beach--pictured above--in a terrible battle. By the end of the day, 155,000 Allied troops were in Normandy, and the first of the battles to break the Nazi War Machine in the deadliest war in history had been a success.

Today, over a half century later, anti-semitism is again on the march. The defenders of the Gaza flotilla will be happy to tell you that there is no evidence that a wide scale holocaust took place in Germany, and their companions sponsor "freedom of expression" contests with "humorous" cartoon contests starring the Nazi Fuhrer. General Eisenhower foresaw this day and ordered photographic documentation of the horrors of the Nazi death machine and the concentration camps. Those same people who support the Gaza flotillas will tell you all those photos are faked. There are even more non-official pictures of the camps than official ones. I imagine there are those who believe those were faked, too.

There still are plenty of Americans who remember World War II. If you have any question about the rightness of America's cause or the price that America paid for right to prevail, seek out an older person who remembers World War II today, and have them tell you their story. Then, make the resolution to pass that story on to a younger generation yet to be born so they can understand America's greatness.

UPDATE: Blogger Thunder Pig has embedded a one hour radio program from June 6, 1944 covering the invasion on his blog. The CBS News report is noteworthy as it is one of the earliest accounts of the invasion, recorded about 2 hours after the invasion was reported by German sources and before any US (or Japanese) announcement was made.