CBS2 News can find no Obama critics in Chicago

As Economy Struggles, Confidence In Obama Wanes - Jay Levine, cbs2chicago.com:

You wrote, "[People] understand President Obama didn't create the crisis; he inherited it..." Nothing like unbiased journalism!

This article acknowledges the Chicago public's decreasing confidence in our president's policies, but seems desperate to conceal just how pervasive and deep is the discontent. You claim he enjoys a 51 percent approval rating in Chicago, yet quote only Obama supporters and reluctant critics, and say, "it's hard to get people here to criticize him". That's ridiculous! With only 51% approval in the Chicago area there are no critics to be found? You’d be more truthful to write, "it's hard to get the media here to criticize him." Your article is a case in point.

This article isn’t serious journalism. It's apologetic fluff, the sort of softball propaganda that merits little but ridicule, and a search elsewhere for some real news coverage.

Christopher Hitchens: I'm sorry that I probably won't live to see the death of 'elderly criminal' Benedict XVI

Christopher Hitchens: I'm sorry that I probably won't live to see the death of 'elderly criminal' Benedict XVI

The bitter figs that fall from Mr. Hitchens' branches may be a sign that the harvest is near. I pray that this tree bears more happy fruit before it's too late.

Ahmadinejad's favorite hits

"Ring of Fire", from Ahmadinejad's favorite hits

Verse 1:
War -it's a lovely thing,
and it makes a fiery ring.
I can start one, watch me try.
Then, watch my enemies cry.

Refrain:
I will set the mid-East on fire.
My enemies will burn while I climb higher.
And Iran will rule from amidst the pyre,
Amidst the pyre.

Verse 2:
The race for nukes is sweet
With centrifuges beneath my feet.
Lots of uranium I've refined
For the holy war I have in mind.

Verse 3:
The Zionists will soon be gone,
Just as I've promised all along.
America will not defend,
and both will come to a fiery end.

Final Refrain:
I will set the whole world on fire.
The mushroom clouds will go high, high, higher.
And soon you'll know I ain't no liar,
I ain't no liar.

(-thanks to Johnny Cash)

Kim Jong-il ...a saber-rattlin' man

Refrain:
I was born a saber-rattlin' man.
Tryin' to be a tyrant and doin' the best I can.
When it comes to diplomacy I hope you'll understand
I was born a saber-rattlin' man.

Verse 1:
My daddy was a commie down in Chŏnju.
He traded in his Bible for a gun.
And I was born in the backseat of a Pyongyang bus
rollin' down Highway Mao Tse-Tung.

Verse 2:
I've purged the country of my adversaries,
all troublemakers and their friends and sons.
My only enemy is every country in the world,
my hobby is provokin' them for fun.

Verse 3:
I've rockets I can launch when I get angry,
I've nukes in case they make me really mad.
My people might be starvin' but they love me.
I'm sure they'd let me know if times were bad.

Verse 4:
My Taepodongs have better range than ever.
I aimed one over Japan and let it fly.
Their knees down south were knocking when they saw it overhead,
I laughed so hard I swear it made me cry!

Verse 5:
I'm itchin' for a war, there's no mistakin',
Four million hungry troops at my command.
The imperialists have lots to lose, I'm thinkin',
and bad boys always get what they demand.

Ramblin' Man, Allman Brothers Band

How Mayor Daley's administration contributes to the killing

Latest police slaying under investigation - chicagotribune.com

God bless and comfort the families of these murdered, heroic officers.

Mayor Daley, however, should be called to account for how his administration and policies have contributed to Chicago's ongoing orgy of murder.

• Many areas of the city need more police protection, protection the city can not financially afford. Yet millions of dollars are wasted by this corrupt political machine, dollars that are badly needed for additional police and other vital services.
  
  
• Mayor Daley has armed police guards to protect him, and even the police are not safe from murderers. Most citizens don't have such protection. Yet the mayor has been a constant enemy of the constitutional right of citizens to own handguns to protect their families and homes.
  
  
• The mayor's support for elective abortion, and his big government, tax-more spend-more policies have cultivated an anti-life atmosphere corrosive to families, hostile to hope, and conducive to violent crime.

Abortion protest set at Aurora clinic following free speech victory

Abortion protest set at Aurora clinic following settlement - Chicago Tribune

It's OK to kill babies inside the Planned Parenthood chop shop, but for some reason the company doesn't like demonstrators displaying pictures of what actually happens to the babies.

Blood, guts, and the truth... can't be good for business.

Busting out the economy -since 1934

 

1934 Cartoon from Chicago Tribune

"What's past is prologue." -William Shakespeare

Mother and baby dead: abortion clinic says everything went "well"

Queens clinic A1 Medicine probed after Alexandra Nunez is fatally injured while undergoing abortion

Detectives are investigating a Queens clinic where a 37-year-old woman was fatally injured while undergoing an abortion, officials said Tuesday.

Alexandra Nuñez began bleeding heavily during the procedure at A1 Medicine in Jackson Heights on Monday, officials said.

One of Nuñez's arteries was inadvertently severed and she went into cardiac arrest, according to police sources.

She was taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where she died a short time later.
...
An employee at the clinic - a one-stop gynecology and plastic surgery clinic that was still seeing patients yesterday - insisted that everything had gone well at the second-floor medical facility.

"The patient was transferred to the hospital, she didn't die at the clinic," said the woman, who refused to give her name. "Nothing happened here."

And what is the clinic's concern after evidently causing the death of a patient? ...that they're not to blame. "Nothing happened here."

ABC happy to insult Jesus and His followers

All Hail? Apple Expected to Unveil 'Jesus' Tablet Today - ABC News

All Hail? Apple Expected to Unveil 'Jesus' Tablet Today
...Though Apple has been characteristically quiet on details, industry watchers say all signs seem to point to the announcement of a device so hyped it has been dubbed the "Jesus" tablet...

The casual use of the name of Jesus is scandalous to many Christians, who love Jesus and worship Him as God.

It's one thing to acknowledge within the article that some have referred to the new Apple device as the "Jesus tablet". But to make that the focus of the article's title is unnecessary and truly in bad taste.

ABC is displaying a crass insensitivity toward the religious sensibilities of many individuals. Would ABC insult Islam in this way?

Wael Farouk -the art of doing one thing well

Egyptian Piano Phenomenon Studies at Converse College -Connections Online Magazine (October 2007 issue)

Converse graduate student and pianist Wael Farouk was turned away from the Cairo Conservatory of Music when he was seven years old.

It wasn't because of his grades; they were exceptional. It wasn't because of his age; young students are not unusual. The reason? His small hands. But Wael and his father managed to convince the administration to just give him a chance. They did, and Wael began what would become a 15-year tenure of studying at the conservatory with consistent high marks.
"Ever since I was a boy, I have had to prove that I can play piano no matter what people say," said the 23-year-old. "People do different things well, and piano is the only thing I do well -even with my small hands. I do it through faith, will, and my trust in God."

Wael became the first Egyptian to ever play the Rachmaninoff's Third Concerto, and debuted the piece with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra in 2002. "That moment was the highest and happiest in my life," said Wael. This piece is extremely demanding for any pianist, and it has the longest stretch at the keyboard ever recorded. Wael debuted the piece in Russia in 2003, and he was invited back to play it again this March...

I had never seen Wael Farouk before his recital at Steinway Pianos in Downers Grove, Illinois, on April 18, 2009. When he took the stage, I couldn't help but notice his very small stature and similarly small hands. I confess I felt a little disappointed, my expectations diminished, for the Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff on his program -as well as the Steinway Model D- promised to demand more power than Mr. Farouk could possibly be expected to deliver.

Never will I forget my astonishment, which remains vivid today, ten months later. Mr. Farouk's performance of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition was bold, exciting, full of color and power.

The Rachmaninoff Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 36, was unfamiliar and new to me. But Mr. Farouk did not simply play the piece so much as conjure a hurricane, an impassioned and unstoppable force that burst from the piano and unleashed its fury on all present.

I couldn't have been more wrong when I expected a pint-size performance from this physically small man. I thought I knew better than to judge a book by its cover, yet I misjudged this artist before hearing him. Wael Farouk helped me to see more clearly that making the piano speak to the heart depends much more on the heart than on the hands.

Wael Farouk delivers Chopin

Chopin Preludes, Opus 28


Op 28, No. 3,4


Op 28, No. 13


Op 28, No. 14


Op 28, No. 15, "Raindrop"


Op 28, No. 24

Wael Farouk brings Pictures at an Exhibition to life

Mussorgsky Pictures at an Exhibition

Wael Farouk in Las Palmas, Spain (date?)

Mr. Farouk delivers a blazing and colorful performance!

Wael Farouk -a Category 5 storm at the Steinway

Wael Farouk's Rachmaninoff Sonata No. 2 begins with a caress, then erupts with breathtaking ferocity and passion. Mr. Farouk clearly is much larger on the inside than his appearance suggests. 

How does he do it? And why isn't he better known?

Solomon Mikowsky, student Wael Farouk, and conductor Philippe Entremont following a performance of the Rachmaninoff Concerto #3 at Manhattan School of Music, 2008. (*)

Got Hope? The change will cost us another $1.9 trillion

Democrats propose $1.9T increase in debt limit -Yahoo! News

"WASHINGTON - Senate Democrats on Wednesday proposed allowing the federal government to borrow an additional $1.9 trillion to pay its bills, a record increase that would permit the national debt to reach $14.3 trillion.

The unpopular legislation is needed to allow the federal government to issue bonds to fund programs and prevent a first-time default on obligations. It promises to be a challenging debate for Democrats, who, as the party in power, hold the responsibility for passing the legislation."

The Democrats' insatiable appetite for spending exceeds even the Republicans of the previous administration, who became intoxicated with the vision of a federal government as a limitless source of cash and solution to every problem.

But the Republicans apparently were Small Potatoes compared with the current Democrat administration, whose desire to control and consume All Things reminds me of a python preparing to swallow a goat.

Republican gives "Kennedy's seat" back to the people... White House yawns

White House: Mass. Vote Won't Change Anything -Newsmax

"One reporter suggested the political blowback in Massachusetts might indicate the administration was out of step with the American people.

[White House Press Secretary Robert] Gibbs replied: 'I think, according to any reasonable measure, the answer to that is, of course not.'"

While many democrats begin to abandon the burning ship of the Obama agenda in order to save their own skin, a few will remain defiant to the end, determined to carry on their course against a rising sea of popular opposition. Public opinion, outcry, and outrage will not deter the diehard radicals. No matter the cost, they will blindly pursue the most radical -and increasingly hated- elements of the Obama agenda, even if it brings about catastrophic losses for the Democratic Party.

For the radicals, it's not about the public good, and it's not even about their own party. It's about power, personal political power, the power to tear down and rebuild according to their own statist vision. To hell with democracy: they're in charge.

Democrats pull all stops to pass Senate health care bill

Senior Dem: Kill the Senate health reform bill and start over - The Hill's Blog Briefing Room

Democracy? Representative government? Apparently things of the past. The ruling Democrat party will take power of the medical industry in any way it can, despite strong public opposition.

How many U.S. citizens think their senators and congressmen are representing their wishes in this matter?

Abortion rights group endorses Quinn, Schillerstrom

Abortion rights group endorses Quinn, Schillerstrom -Chicago Tribune

...On the Republican side, Schillerstrom, the DuPage County Board chairman, is the lone abortion-rights supporter in the Feb. 2 primary contest for governor. Cosgrove said the group sent questionnaires to all of the governor candidates, but Schillerstrom was the lone Republican to return his and seek the endorsement.

"We’re comfortable with his positions on the issues," Cosgrove said of Schillerstrom.

In a statement today, Schillerstrom’s campaign said Personal PAC’s support "distinguishes him as the only moderate Republican running for governor and positions him as a centrist with the best chance of winning the general election."

Anyone who supports the "right" to legally kill unborn children is not "moderate", and is not fit for public office.

Caritas Internationalis clamors for climate control?

Caritas charges Japan, Russia attempting to subvert climate talks -Catholic Culture

Caritas Internationalis-- the consortium of Catholic relief agencies-- has charged that Japan, Russia, and other wealthy nations are attempting to subvert climate negotiations in Copenhagen by sidelining the controversial Kyoto Protocol. Referring to poorer nations' "fear that rich countries are trying to kill the strongest legal climate agreement we have," an Irish Caritas representative said, "As heads of state come to Copenhagen in this second week, it's up to rich countries to get the talks back on track by re-committing to the Kyoto Protocol."

"Abandoning the Kyoto Protocol would be a step back for all countries, but especially for the world’s poorest. For them the negotiations are a matter of survival," added a Caritas representative from Scotland. "Vulnerable communities across the world need a fair, ambitious and binding climate agreement, of which the Kyoto Protocol is an essential element."

Caritas is pushing for the Kyoto Protocol? How will the world's poor be better off if the world's largest wealth-producing economies are strangled to death? Who, then, will provide the goods, services, and consumer markets that developing nations need in order to develop and prosper?

The worst scientific scandal of our generation?

Climate change: this is the worst scientific scandal of our generation - Telegraph

...Perhaps the most obvious [revelation]... is the highly disturbing series of emails which show how Dr Jones and his colleagues have for years been discussing the devious tactics whereby they could avoid releasing their data to outsiders under freedom of information laws...

The second and most shocking revelation of the leaked documents is how they show the scientists trying to manipulate data through their tortuous computer programmes, always to point in only the one desired direction - to lower past temperatures and to "adjust" recent temperatures upwards...

The third shocking revelation of these documents is the ruthless way in which these academics have been determined to silence any expert questioning of the findings they have arrived at by such dubious methods...

...Our hopelessly compromised scientific establishment cannot be allowed to get away with a whitewash of what has become the greatest scientific scandal of our age.

Whoops! It looks like the Warmers have been caught with their temperatures down. See who's feeling warm now.

But the Warmers are still after the greenbacks, so they won't easily be dissuaded from yoking the world to their Gospel of Warmth. To save the world, we and our children's children will have to give, give, give until it hurts.

Illinois bureaucrats above the law

Abortion foes upset over delay in parental notice law - Chicago Breaking News

What authority does the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation have to "delay the enforcement" of a law that has been upheld in federal court?

This law has been on the books for 14 years. Hasn't it been delayed enough?