Month: July 2013

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Fly on the Wall: Another not so smart alderman

From an email sent by Jim Fruin, Bloomington alderman: From: Jim Fruin <[email protected]>  Date: 07/28/2013 8:07 AM (GMT-06:00)  To: ‘David Hales’ <[email protected]>,’Barb Adkins’ <[email protected]>,’City Council and Mayor’ <[email protected]>  Cc: ‘Bobby Kerns’ <[email protected]>,’Alex McElroy’ <[email protected]>,’Craig McBeath’ <[email protected]>,’Kathryn Buydos’ <[email protected]>  Subject: Transparency – section on website  I’d suggest that Campaign contributions be easily accessible on our website. We need to […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Why Are The Chinese Gobbling Up Real Estate And Businesses In Detroit?

Michael Snyder Activist Post July 30, 2013 Something very strange is happening to Detroit.  Once upon a time, it was the center of American manufacturing and it had the highest per capita income in the United States. But now the city is dying and the Chinese are moving in to pick up the pieces.  Lured by news stories […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Fly on the Wall: the black churches program

The program for troubled west-side youth is getting glorious reviews – by the organizers.  The council members who voted against it are getting vilified by none other than Rob Fazzini: The city council members who voted for the small financial investment should be proud of these impressive results.  Thanks to the Mayor and those who […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Hot weather and climate change–a mountain from a molehill?

Climatism: A Mad, Mad, Mad World by Steve Goreham CHICAGO, July 3, 2013 — On Sunday, Death Valley temperatures reached 129oF, a new June record high for the United States, according to the National Weather Service. Temperatures at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas reached 117oF, tying the previous record set in 1942 and 2005. National Geographic, NBC News, and other media […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

OUCH! SENATE GLOBAL WARMING HEARING BACKFIRES ON DEMOCRATS AND SENATOR BOXER

Expert witnesses totally dismantled warmism July 22, 2013 by Marc Morano http://watchdogwire.com/florida/2013/07/22/ouch-senate-global-warming-hearing-backfires-on-democrats-and-senator-boxer/   During yesterday’s Environment and Public Works hearings, Sen. David Vitter asked a panel of experts, including experts selected by Boxer,“Can any witnesses say they agree with Obama’s statement that warming has accelerated during the past 10 years?” For several seconds, nobody said […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Fly on Wall: How Obama won

From another email making the rounds: Subject: Prophesy Fulfilled H.L. Mencken (born 1880 – died 1956) was a journalist, satirist, critic, and Democrat.  He wrote this editorial while working for the Baltimore Evening Sun, which appeared in the July 26, 1920, edition: “As democracy is perfected, the office of the President represents, more and more closely, […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Congressional Liars Repeatedly Protect Obamacare

Published Mon, Jul 29th, 2013   Floyd Brown, Chief Political Analyst I love the Tea Party members of Congress. They’re courageous, principled and, at times, innovative in their use of legislative rules to make major statements about policy. It’s too bad they face a wily foe who poses as their friend. You see, the GOP leadership in Congress […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Liberals Unhinged!

by: Diane Benjamin There is nothing funnier than a liberal losing an argument.  Hard as they tried in the past to not reveal their political leanings, not getting exactly what they want brings out their true feelings.  Government and more government.  Government must fix all problems.  Government creates problems?  More government is needed to fix […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Why Rob Fazzini isn’t fit to be alderman

by Diane Benjamin If you haven’t kept up on the Schmidt-Fazzini racial rout, see this link:   http://blnnews.com/2013/07/25/racism-under-every-bush-if-you-want-it-there/ Fazzini couldn’t help but show his brilliance by responding again to the email: He is our President winning by a landslide, and he is a black man.  We need to accept and embrace both. Robert B. Fazzini […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Maybe Local Schools wouldn’t need tax increases if . . .

Illinois dumped Common Core! Georgia has now joined the states of Alabama, Utah, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania in withdrawing from the national Common Core tests. With this latest state withdrawal, the program appears to be in danger of unraveling. According to Politico, now that the new math and language tests that are tied to theCommon Core national academic standards […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Making the News, Not Reporting It – Why Did the Networks Ignore the Facts?

By Editor-in-Chief on July 24, 2013 The February 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin might never have happened if school officials in Miami-Dade County had not instituted an unofficial policy of treating crimes as school disciplinary infractions. Revelations that emerged from an internal affairs investigation explain why Martin was not arrested when caught at […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Illinois: I’m entitled!

Retired doctor earns highest public pension in Illinois history CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) – As the pension crisis in Illinois moves even closer to the tipping point, a milestone of sorts has been crossed without notice — until now. A retired doctor with big-time credentials will get a public pension of more than a half million dollars […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Will they investigate?

This post is a part of the investigation BlnNews, Edgar County Watchdogs, For the Good of Illinois, and other citizens have been jointly investigating concerning Illinois corruption with processing of Medicaid claims. http://edgarcountywatchdogs.com/2013/07/they-have-been-notified/ They have been notified! For over 7 months we have been investigating issues related to Health and Family Services and its relationship […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Racism under every bush-if you want it there

by Diane Benjamin First, I have two black relatives, but I had to think about it first.  Non-racists don’t think about people’s skin color.  They are relatives – not BLACK relatives.  Judge people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.  Evidently, only people who want to see racism still do, […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Obama’s Amnesty History

A JUDICIAL WATCH SPECIAL REPORT A Special Illegal Immigration Report Timeline to Backdoor Amnesty, 2009-2013 The conspiracy by the Obama Administration to grant amnesty to millions of   illegal aliens by whatever means, constitutional or otherwise, in the United States began within days of Barack Obama’s first inauguration. The following timeline outlines the extent of this conspiracy to […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Our taxes vrs others

by:  Diane Benjamin Since there are discussions about raising sales tax, it is worth comparing Bloomington – Normal to surrounding cities.  Then, since sales taxes aren’t the only taxes, let’s compare property taxes. Not only does a group of developers expect you to fund soccer fields and a Community Center, the local school districts are […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Think the world didn’t make sense before? See this: UPDATE

The amendment failed to pass.  This is a link to the vote:  http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2013/roll412.xml  134 Republicans think it’s just fine that the NSA is collecting data on all of us and storing it in Utah.  They include Adam Kinzinger, John Boehner, and Eric Cantor. Republicans voting to take away power from the NSA were:  Rodney Davis […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Conservatives sick of ObamaCare have a plan

GOP SENATOR SAYS COALITION TO BLOCK AND DEFUND OBAMACARE IS GROWING, NAMES NAMES U.S. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) told TheBlaze Monday he has recruited more than a dozen Senate Republicans to help him defund President Barack Obama’s landmark health care law. Fifteen Republican senators, including Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Ted Cruz (Texas), John Cornyn (Texas), […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Family wrestles with state Medicaid bureaucracy

by:  Steve Stout [email protected] 6/1/2013 http://mywebtimes.com/archives/ottawa/display.php?id=476510&query=Chalkey A Streator family, frustrated by the state’s constantly changing Medicaid rules and regulations, worries about the future well-being of their medically fragile son and other children like him as they fight the bureaucracy for help to keep his costly prescriptions within the family’s reach. Gary and Christine Chalkey’s son, Jacob, […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

‘Marriage Equality’ Isn’t the Only Goal

Written By David E. Smith  Illinois Family Institute In their efforts to redefine marriage, most homosexual activists become apoplectic at the suggestion that there is more to their efforts than just their  purported goal of achieving “marriage equality.” They dismiss the comments of homosexuals like lesbian journalist Masha Gessen who states that the institution of marriage “should not exist,” and that […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Does expanding medicaid mean better health care?

View from Michigan – nothing different than Illinois: Medicaid Recipient: ‘When I ask where I’m supposed to go, I’m told the hospital’ By ANNE SCHIEBER Julie Henry has been on and off Michigan Medicaid for more than 20 years. She knows about the difficulty in finding a doctor who will accept Medicaid and why the system routinely forces her […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Normal Property Tax Assessments

by:  Diane Benjamin As previously reported, the Town of Normal paid $725,000 for the Underwood House, at the time it was appraised for Real Estate tax purposes at $480,225.  (http://blnnews.com/2013/07/20/the-real-facts-on-the-normal-purchase-of-the-underwood-house/) Are the assessed values that bad in Normal?  I decided to look at some recent property sales in Normal to see.  Also included are a […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

U.S. FACES BRAND-NEW CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

Seizure of components reveals threat that could devastate American infrastructure By:  F. MICHAEL MALOOF The recent seizure of a North Korean freighter carrying Cuban, nuclear-capable SA-2 missile components for refurbishment has resurrected the spectre of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when another communist nation developed nuclear dealings with America’s island neighbor. Richard Fisher, a military […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

OBAMA CO-SPONSORED LEGISLATION STRENGTHENING ILLINOIS’ “STAND YOUR GROUND” LAW

From Illinois Review:  http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2013/07/obama-strongly-supported-stand-your-ground-when-in-illinois-senate.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+typepad%2FbYHz+%28Illinois+Review%29&utm_content=Yahoo%21+Mail CHICAGO – This past week President Obama publicly urged the reexamination of state self-defense laws (see remarks below). However, nine years ago then-State Sen. Barack Obama actually co-sponsored a bill that strengthened Illinois’ 1961 “stand your ground” law. The Obama-sponsored bill (SB 2386) enlarged the state’s 1961 law by shielding the […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

The Real Facts on the Normal purchase of the Underwood House

by:  Diane Benjamin The citizens of Normal are lucky that Koos has abandoned plans for the Underwood House.  The idea was to create a showcase of green technology so all citizens could see how to retro-fit their houses.  It would have cost you a fortune. Unlike what the Pantagraph reported today, there was no appraisal […]

Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

More low information media: Pantagraph again

by Diane Benjamin Reporter Phyllis Coulter did a story about Geothermal energy systems paying off big for local schools.  Yes, it does pay off big.  But, then facts got in the way of her ideology – or maybe she just isn’t that smart. Quote:  “The systems don’t use fossil fuels” .  That appears to be […]