Doug Ross @ Journal

The Chicago Sun-Times ("Obama's goodie bag") has produced a laundry list of State Senator Obama's grants during his brief tenure. Among the suspect donations: a $75,000 grant to a group called Fulfilling Our Responsibility Unto Mankind in 2001 (FORUM, a "21st Century e-family.com initiative").

In 2007, The Los Angeles Times offered the back-story behind the grant.

...In Springfield he once directed state funds to a nonprofit group headed by a Republican and former ballot foe, Yesse B. Yehudah... Yehudah barely registered a ripple of meaningful opposition, drawing only 10% of the vote in his 1998 challenge of Obama.

The following year, a nonprofit run by Yehudah, a social services organization called Fulfilling Our Responsibility Unto Mankind, began seeking state support. At the same time, Obama was considering mounting an ambitious challenge to U.S. Rep. Bobby L. Rush, a fellow Democrat.

Former foe Yehudah stepped up early to help. In November 1999, five people who worked for the Republican's nonprofit organization each gave $1,000 checks to Obama's congressional campaign committee. Yehudah [made] no secret of his goal...

...Obama lost his congressional bid [and was] left with a $40,000 debt.

Later that year, Yehudah associates pitched in an additional $5,000 to help retire Obama's debt. The contributions were recorded on Oct. 7, 2000, three days after the Illinois Senate, at Obama's behest, approved a $75,000 state grant to Yehudah's nonprofit, state records show.

In 2002, the Chicago Tribune ("2 Accused in Scheme at Pork-Rich Charities") noted the depth of suspect behavior related to FORUM and other "charities".

The head of a South Side Chicago group that has received millions of dollars in state contracts and special pork-barrel grants from top legislators was sued by the state Friday for allegedly siphoning funds from two charities... [the suit] accuses Yesse B. Yehudah... of misusing or failing to account properly for hundreds of thousands of dollars from FORUM and Elmhurst-based Life Education Center.

Also named in the suit is David S. Noffs, the former head of Life Education Center and a longtime friend of Lura Lynn Ryan's, the wife of Gov. George Ryan. Until last year, she served on the anti-drug charity's board along with Yehudah.

The suit charges that Yehudah and Noffs washed money between the two charities and companies they controlled, in the process converting accounts of the non-profit groups into personal piggy banks. They diverted state money intended for anti-drug programs to personal travel, health club memberships, auto repairs, dental work, phone bills and college tuition costs, the lawsuit charges.

...The so-called member initiative grants total more than $750,000, records show. All were sponsored by Democrats, including one by state Sen. Barack Obama of Chicago... Additionally, FORUM holds a $538,000 per year contract for drug-prevention and health programs funded by the Illinois Department of Human Services. The agency's payments to FORUM have exceeded $500,000 for the last four years.

Life Education Center leveraged its political ties to obtain more than $4 million in state grants since 1996, even though a 1995 state audit of earlier grants found "serious and significant" violations of state accounting rules. The governor's son, George Jr., once served as an assistant national director for the group and its insurance broker... More than $500,000 of the group's funds can't be properly accounted for, $180,000 of which appeared to be used for personal purposes, the suit alleges.

All of this stink hasn't stopped FORUM.

As recently as last month, the organization received $200,000 from the Illinois State Board of Education (PDF).

Images via: MyDD: Obama - the candidate of change - Chicago-style.

Labels: Crime, Democrats, Obama

The Gwinnett Daily Post reports on a "Waffle House Wedding" (via Visual Consumer):

As the famous twang of Hank Williams Jr. blasted from an SUV stereo Friday afternoon, about 30 folks socialized, sipped soda and puffed on cigarettes... No, this wasn't a Fourth of July backyard barbecue. It was the run-up to a wedding... In a Waffle House parking lot.

The lucky couple, George "Bubba" Mathis and Pamela Christian - both 23 and employees at the Dacula diner located at the Ga. Highway 316/U.S. Highway 29 interchange - wouldn't have it any other way.

Check out the whole slide show at the Daily Post. I was moved to tears by the sheer beauty of the event.

Labels: Water-cooler

From (who else?) Chart of the Day:

How well (or poorly) has the stock market been performing? It all depends on how you measure. When measured in US dollars, the Dow currently trades 19.2% off its all-time record highs of October 2007. However, when measured with that other world currency (gold), the picture is more dismal. To help illustrate the point, today's chart presents the Dow divided by the price of one ounce of gold.

This results in what is referred to as the Dow / gold ratio or the cost of the Dow in ounces of gold. For example, it currently takes 12 ounces of gold to 'buy the Dow.' This is considerably less that the 44.8 ounces back in the year 1999. When priced in gold, the US stock market has been in a bear market for the entire 21st century.

Labels: Economy

Tom sends us today's winner.

Subject: Amish Farmer

An Amish farmer walking, notices a man drinking from his pond, with his hand.

The Amish man shouts: "Trink das wasser nicht. Die kuhen haben dahin gesheissen."

Which means: "Don't drink the water, the cows have pooped in it."

The man shouts back: "I'm from Chicago and just down here campaigning for Obama, I can't understand you. Please speak in English."

The Amish man says: "Use two hands, you'll get more."

Labels: Water-cooler

"Mick Danger" -- one of Donald Luskin's contacts -- wonders about Chuck Schumer's relationships with certain hedge fund operators. You may recall that Schumer touched off a bank run at IndyMac by releasing a letter that questioned the viability of the bank.


The director of the OTS noted that the letter frightened depositors, who withdrew funds at a catastrophic clip: "In the ...11 business days [following Schumer's letter], depositors withdrew more than $1.3 billion from their accounts." This Schumer-induced run proved fatal for the bank.

The SEC is investigating hedge funds to see if they circulate rumors, knowing they are false, and trade on them, manipulating the market... Someone -- with an interest -- brought Schumer information on IndyMac. Who? When? Why? What are the chances that Schumer was looking into irregularities into IndyMac because some hedgie with a big short position turned him onto it?

Well, they ain't zero.

What are the chances Schumer was "investigating" IndyMac because the Senate Banking Committee assigned that case to him? Zero.

What are the chances the SEC enforcement guys will get very shy, very fast if they pick up a trail leading up the Hill? Close to 100%. (Note, Senators have a constitutional shield against certain prosecutions of actions taken in the course of their work as Members of Congress.)

Most likely result? The SEC staff will pluck a few hapless hedgies out of the middle ranks and shoot them in the public square.

Is Schumer correct? Or did Schumer break a law by leaking his letter? What if he were a research director at a hedge fund and told people what he suspected? Would that be the kind of rumor the SEC is hunting?

Think there might be a clever hedge fund which might use Schumer to leak info so they can trade on it without fear of prosecution? Uh, yeah.

Jerry Bowyer also has a take on "how Schumer set off a bank panic":

Well, they went after Indymac, and the result is the second largest bank failure in US history. Of course, we’ll hear a lot about ‘greed’ this week, and we should. But whose greed? Schumer’s greed for power? Community activists' greed for shakedown money? Trial lawyers greedy for huge class action settlements?


Hedge fund managers who write big checks to these groups and the Democratic Party (including Schumer’s Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee) and then turn around and make mountains of money shorting mortgage paper? No, we’ll hear about none of the above from most in the media. The real culprits will have gotten away with it, and the victims will bear the blame.

Labels: Crime, Democrats, Schumer

ZDNet offers a relatively compelling list of things they'd change on the iPhone 3G:

1. No keyboard...

2. The camera needs more megapixels...

3. Still no cut and paste...

4. You can't use the 3G iPhone as a modem...

5. SMS/MMS...

6. Where's the video record?...

7. Non-removable battery...

8. No pay-as-you-go iPhone--yet...

9. No built-in VoIP client...

10. Give us more colors--and more storage...

Boy Genius Report matched up the new Blackberry Bold with the new iPhone. Those are two niiiiiiiiiiiiice phones.

But a battery you can't remove or replace without paying Apple an exorbitant fee? I'm sorry, but that's just freaking unacceptable.

Labels: Mobile

Idea: Reliapundit

Labels: Democrats, Obama

Spotted this at Flopping Aces:

That's a damn good ad.

Labels: McCain

Describing Barack Obama's magical mystery tour to Iraq, John McCain observed:

"He would be going to a very different Iraq had we done what he wanted to do. There would be chaos, there would be sectarian violence, and there would be increasing Iranian influence."

That's gonna leave a mark.

The runner-up? Charles Krauthammer:

If we had listened to him, we'd be looking at a strategic calamity.

Update: The Weekly Standard's Obama, Democrats, and the Surge (They were against it before it worked.):

Obama, then, was not only wrong about the surge; he was spectacularly wrong. And he continued to remain wrong even as mounting evidence of its success gave way to overwhelming evidence of its success.

But Obama is not alone. Virtually the entire Democratic party, including every Democrat running for president, opposed the surge.

Not to worry. The American Left has been spectacularly wrong on slavery, Nazism and Communism as well.

Labels: Democrats, Masterline Theater, Obama, War

In a major announcement yesterday, Al Gore challenged Americans to switch from "carbon-intensive fuels to renewable energy" by 2018. Gore called for a multi-trillion dollar upgrade to the electric grid paid for, in part, by a colossal taxpayer ripoff in the form of a "carbon tax."

A film crew from Americans for Prosperty happened to be on the scene when Gore and his family arrived.









Oh. And more bad news for the global warming climate change scam artist formerly known as the vice president.

The American Physical Society, an organization representing nearly 50,000 physicists, just reversed its position on climate change.

Hat tips: Michelle Malkin, Gateway Pundit and Larwyn. Linked by: Denny and LawHawk. Thanks!.

Labels: Climate, Democrats, Gore, Obama

Based on a true story.

The time has come, young Skywalker.

***ZZZZZZZZHHHHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMM***

Look, Lord Vader: I promise to cut the rebels' investments in unproven missile defense systems...

Eh?

...I will not weaponize space...

...

...I will slow development of future combat systems...

...and I will institute a "Defense Priorities Board" to ensure the quadrennial defense review is not used to justify unnecessary spending...

...I will set a goal of a world without any advanced weapons...

...and to seek that goal, I will not develop advanced weapons...

...

...I will seek a global ban on the development of light swords...

...and I will negotiate with the Emperor to take our starship fleet off of its hair-trigger alert.

So, Lord Vader. What say you to peace?

Let me consider your offer for a moment.

***SNICK***

***Thump***!!!

You'd think several millenia would have cured the "progressives" of their appeasement mentality. But nooooooooooooooooooo...

I wonder what the specials are in the cafeteria?


* * *
So that's why Obama didn't get the part. The movie would've been over faster than Michael Moore can down a bag o' sliders.

Related: If Barack Obama starred in Raiders of the Lost Ark and If Barack Obama starred in The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. Inspired by: Barry Rubin.

Labels: Democrats, Obama, War

Ride Lust offers a tribute to legendary car designer Giorgetto Giugiaro.


Giugiaro was, without question, sufficiently ahead of the mainstream that he lapped his competitors by decades. His influential, gorgeous vehicles continue to inspire designers to this day.

American muscle cars, the Mazda Miata, the Pantera, and multiple Ferarris and Lamborghinis owe their lines to Giugiaro. People toss around the word genius far too freely, but that's not the case when discussing this man.

Image: 1966 DeTomaso Mangusta

Labels: Autos

Jim Geraghty (via LGF):

From the Chicago Sun-Times article on grants distributed by then-state-legislator Barack Obama.

(Records from 1997 to 2000 weren’t available.)
There’s a shock.

His state legislative office records may have been thrown out, he told us.

He’s never released a specific list of law clients, instead giving a list of all of his firm’s clients, numbering several hundred each year. His campaign will only confirm representation when the media comes to them with a specific case.

He won’t release his application to the state bar. He’s never released any legal or billing records to verify that he only did a few hours of work for a nonprofit tied to Tony Rezko.

He’s never released any medical records, just a one-page letter from his doctor.

Barack Obama seems to have a lot more in common with Richard Nixon than simply running to the center during the general campaign.

Labels: Crime, Democrats, Obama

PUMA is an organization of Hillary backers who have swung their support to John McCain.


And now they're receiving death threats.

Yes, this is just another example of the famed tolerance and fairness of the "progressive" left.

A note to maniacs who make death threats: They don’t work. They harden the opposition to your cause because they expose your true nature as a homicidal bully. They also rally the support of the vast majority of decent people who are outraged by the tactic. You turn your target into a hero, and if you succeed in either murdering or inciting the murder of your victim, you turn her or him into a martyr. Not the best plan.

I’m a grown woman and I’m not afraid of bullies — never have been, never will be. But I do have children, and anyone who has lost their mother at a young age understands the profound and long-lasting grief that flows from that. Anyone who threatens me or any of the the other women in this movement with death for expressing our political views peacefully and lawfully will fail at frightening me — but he will succeed at terrorizing innocent children. And THAT makes me angry.

HillarysMyGirl and GiggleChick have also publicly blogged about receiving death threats from Obama supporters.

Update: NotFallingInLine.org publishes an open letter to Nancy Pelosi.

Linked by: Gateway Pundit, Macsmind, Parkway Rest Stop and Wake up America. Thanks!

Labels: Democrats, extremism, Hillary, Obama

Don Surber: Obama knows oil like he knows bowling

American Thinker: The Party of Defeat

New York Sun: Obama's redivided Jerusalem

STACLU: Brit Hume stepping down. *Sniff*

Ask the Scholar: Is it haram for me to receive life insurance money?

New Editor: Barack Obama will forge a partnership between Washington and Detroit.

National Review: Michelle Obama -- Americans spending their $600 stimulus check on earrings.

People's Cube: The Magical Properties of Certain Nuts.

Labels: Linkfest

Based on a true story.















The essence of this tragedy, it seems to me, derives from a fundamental absence of empathy on the part of the violent...



...an inability to imagine, or connect with, the humanity and suffering of others.



Such a failure of empathy, such numbness to the pain of a child or the desperation of a parent, is not innate; nor, history tells us, is it unique to a particular culture, religion, or ethnicity...



It may find expression in a particular brand of violence, and may be channeled by particular demagogues or fanatics...



Most often, though, it grows out of a climate of poverty and ignorance, helplessness and despair.

**KA-BLAMM!!** **KA-BLAMMM!!!**



**KA-BLAMM!!**



Why'd you kill him? He was just talking... and talking.

You see, in this world there are two kinds of people, my friend.

Those with loaded guns. And those who talk.

* * *
Related: If Barack Obama starred in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Linked by: Gateway Pundit and Sondrak. Thanks! Inspired by: Barry Rubin.

Labels: Democrats, extremism, Obama, War

Mixed-martial arts star Clinton ("Rampage") Jackson lived up to his nickname yesterday. TMZ reports:

...the just-defeated UFC champ was busted yesterday afternoon for alleged felony hit and run... Rampage was on the 55 Freeway in the O.C., hit two cars and got off the freeway. The chase was on.

Rampage then began driving on the center divider. But it gets worse. According to the police report, Jackson then drove on the sidewalk, "causing pedestrians to flee for their lives." He started driving the wrong way on a crowded street, colliding with yet another car in an intersection. As he continued on, running several red lights, his tire disintegrated and he began driving on the rim...

Eventually, his car came to a stop and he was taken into custody at gunpoint.

UFC president Dana White is rumored to have bailed Jackson out.

Labels: Workouts

The Daily Show's Jon Stewart (via The Weekly Standard and Larwyn):

Barack Obama is in no way upset about the cartoon that depicts him as a Muslim extremist.

Because you know who gets upset about cartoons? Muslim extremists!

Of which Barack Obama is not. It's just a f-----g cartoon!

Labels: extremism, Masterline Theater, Obama

Yesterday the New York Daily News reported that Barack Obama's website had been purged of any documents that referred to the Surge's failure. However, Gateway Pundit noticed that at least one key anti-military document remained on Barack Obama's website.

It took all of about 30 seconds to find other major gaffes by Obama's crack webmasters. Some of the items they forgot to scrub include:

• Barack Obama's current news page (yes, the current news page):

Leaving Iraq will make America safer

In recent weeks, I've been asked if the "surge" is working, and if we should continue to fight the war in Iraq. The answer is decisively no. Those who support the surge are making the same mistakes that war supporters have made all along: They fail to understand how the Iraq war sets back our security, and they fail to understand that there is no military solution in Iraq. I am the only major candidate for president who opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning, before it was politically popular.

• Interview with Barack Obama:

Q: On Iraq, some people have been saying our only two options are all in or all out. Obviously you don't see it that way.

A. Here's my view on the situation. There are two indisputable facts, and then there's a choice. Fact No. 1: the surge is not working. It has not changed the dynamics on the ground. It has put more U.S. troops at risk. It has not strengthened the Iraqi government. It has not quelled the antagonism between the various factions, and it has not lessened the strength of the insurgency.

• It is time to bring our troops home:

"It is time to bring our troops home because it has made us less safe," said Obama, an Illinois Democrat running for president. "This has been a distraction from the real war on terrorists, and the fact of the matter is that al-Qaida, we know from the national intelligence reports, has gotten stronger."

..."[Senators Gregg and Sununu] have said that they recognize the surge is not working the way it should and it is time for us to have a change of course..."

Let the scrubbing begin...

Now that's change you can believe in!

Update: Voila! -- ***poof*** -- No more civil war!

Labels: Democrats, Obama, War

Curmudgeonly & Skeptical offers this quick 'n' easy instruction sheet.

HOW TO INSTALL THE NEW HOME SECURITY SYSTEM:

1. Go to a second-hand store and buy a pair of men's used size 14-16 work boots

2. Place them on your front porch along with several empty beer cans, a copy of Guns & Ammo magazine and several NRA magazines.

3. Put a few giant dog dishes next to the boots and magazines.

4. Leave a note on your door that reads: 'Hey Bubba, Big Jim, Duknd Se alim, I went to the gun shop for more ammunition. Back in an hour. Don't mess with the pit bulls -- they attacked the mailman this morning and messed him up real bad. I don't think Killer took part in it but it was hard to tell from all the blood.'

PS - I locked all four of 'em in the house. Better wait outside.'

INSTALLATION COMPLETE!!!!

Labels: Firearms

Rick Moran, writing at American Thinker:

After denigrating the surge for more than a year, according to the New York Daily News Obama's minions have been busy scrubbing his website of any criticism the candidate made of the surge.

..."Campaign aide Wendy Morigi said Obama is 'not softening his criticism of the surge. We regularly update the Web site to reflect changes in current events.'"

And if you believe that, I have a bridge over the Chicago River I can sell you.

Or some apartment buildings in Englewood.

Update: Dinocrat covers the Great Inconsistenator and Don Surber describes Chicago-style energy policy.

Labels: Democrats, Obama, War

Based on a true story.

What the... ?

**Whish**

...

**Whhooossshh**

**Whhhhish-whhishh**

...

Look, we haven't exhausted the non-violent options in this little dispute...

Conflict should never be the first answer.

Saber-rattling is pointless and I will firmly support any resolution that outlaws armed conflict.

I support tough, direct diplomacy with you... without preconditions.

And, if you continue this troubling behavior, I will seek to isolate you furth--

**Swwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssssshhh**

* * * Thump * * *

Linked by: Barcepundit. Thanks! Idea: Barry Rubin via Larwyn

Labels: Democrats, Obama, War

From December 2005 -- Bush is depicted as a dowdy housewife to Cheney's beer-guzzling, sedentary husband.

I recall with stunning clarity the astounding publicity that arose as a result of this Barry Blitt cover.

Hat tip: Ben, who whines, "do I have to do all of your work for you?"

Labels: MSM

Here are a couple that didn't make the cut.


Go figure. They don't look very controversial to me, at least given Obama's statements.

Labels: Democrats, Obama

From February 2006 -- Bush and Cheney are depicted as lovers in an homage to Brokeback Mountain.

We all remember the maelstrom of controversy that arose from this fateful cover.

Update: Rants and Refinements reminds us of "the controversy":

Ulriksen’s cover for the February 27, 2006 edition of The New Yorker won the 2006 American Society of Magazine Editors award for Best News Magazine Cover.

Linked by: American Thinker and TigerHawk. Thanks! Hat tip: Ben

Labels: MSM

Bumped and updated to include uproarious comments from outraged progressives and amused conservatives. See Update VI for liberals' live-blogged panic attacks.

The Politico's Jonathan Martin says "Ya can't make it up":

The New Yorker says it’s satire.... [Sunday Afternoon, Obama was asked] “The upcoming issue of the New Yorker, the July 21st issue, has a picture of you, depicting you and your wife on the cover. Have you seen it? If not, I can show it to you on my computer. It shows your wife Michelle with an Afro and an AK 47 and the two of you doing the fist bump with you in a sort of turban-type thing on top. I wondered if you’ve seen it or if you want to see it or if you have a response to it?”

...I’m sure Senator Obama is oh-so appreciative for The New Yorker’s help.

It would've been even better had Rezko, Wright, Ayers, Dohrn, Farrakhan, Khalidi and Said been depicted.

As for the much-ballyhooed "politics of fear" charge, exactly who is culpable now?

Update: Commenting at Politico, Midas notes:

... and they're in the oval offi