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Intellectual Conservative PoliticsIowa.com Weekly Weblog No Runny Eggs
This is the personal weblog of Aakash Raut, established Sept. 2002. It will cover current affairs, worldwide & national topics, local & university events, and provide insight and commentary on contemporary issues and the news from his perspective. Enjoy! --------------- ARCHIVES Sept 2002 - Now -------------
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E-mail - uisconservative-at-yahoo About Aakash 
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Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Happy New Year!! Update (11:12 PM CST): Like in 2003 (and probably last year... Though not as much in 2004 and 2005 and 2006, since I wasn't at home in Springfield*), I am in panic mode right now. This caught my eye from our new friend Jack Hunter (the Southern Avenger*), but I know I must immediately post it now, after reading that blog entry's opening:  Watch “New Year’s Revolution” at Takimag.com I have never liked New Year’s Eve. Americans might have voted for “change” recently, but I’ve rarely desired it, always finding the same-old, same-old to be as bright or brighter than any new horizons... [Full entry] How does the Southern Avenger know me so well?! ;-) * In 2004 and 2006, not only was I not at home** on New Year's Eve, I was in Jack Hunter's region of the country! On December 31, 2004, my cousin got married, in West Palm Beach, Florida. And on December 31, 2006, I was visiting family in Georgia... And I called State Rep. Katie Dempsey (R) some time after 11:00 PM eastern (I think); she did call back! On the night of December 31, 2005, I was at home, but thought I shouldn't be, so I went to campus (to the previously-mentioned Marigold 22), from where I think a bunch of people had left, to go to the State Capitol, to watch the fireworks display (part of the annual "First Night" celebration here in Springfield). I had started watching a marathon of a past season of 24 on A & E... I hadn't been a watcher previously, but had started watching an earlier season (Season 3) on Christmas Day that year, and had then started watching this other Season (I think it was Season 1) on New Year's Eve, before going to campus. I used Mark Yakey's television, which was in their main townhouse living room, to continue watching, that night/morning; Mark did come in, during that time, and I could tell he was also a 24 viewer, as he asked about what Season that was. ** Despite having a bunch of things I had wanted to get done, before the year changed (like format and share more of those Roland Burris articles... See my entry below, which I did go ahead and publish this afternoon, but with only one article; I really want to follow through this time, unlike in the past! ;-), I am going to go ahead and go over to John Minick's house, to attend the West Side Christian Church Young Adult group's New Year Eve's party; the last time I went to this New Year Eve's party was on December 31, 2002 (and didn't end up leaving the Lashes house in Chatham till like 3 AM - because Patrick and I started a chess game! ;-) - that was when I was more active in the Young Adult group at West Side. Those were much happier times! Tuesday, December 30, 2008
More Blast-the-Backlog, Blago [now Burris!] Blogging First off: I posted in my Facebook Status update, and latest "Tweet," that I was wondering if this blog was loading properly, as the hit total for the past 2 days had been unusually-low (even for this blog ;-), despite having a large amount of fresh content. After trying to IM people who weren't there/responsive, our old friend Ken Talton was kind enough to check this evening, and reported that this weblog was loading fine, in both AOL and Mozilla Firefox... which is a good thing, but also kind of negative, considering that now there is no excuse. So, if you will, please link to University Blog... I'm not going to try any of the other 102 approaches, as of now (though maybe I'll have to resort to that later, if y'all don't add this back to the blogrolls! ;-). Now, for the main purpose of this post: I wanted to, before any more time passed, provide some [quite-rare] newspaper articles, which I've retrieved tonight, and formatted for the web. These are full articles (provided under "fair use" principles), from my state's newspapers and wire services (including the excellent State Journal-Register daily, from right here in Springfield!). From the archives: Roland Burris  03/21/2002: Roland Burris says he won't run again, Bernard Schoenburg, The Hotline (National Journal) & Chicago TribuneFrom The Hotline: Roland Burris "may have finished dead last" in the Dem primary, but "at least he's used to it." Burris has lost "six times in 10 attempts" since '76, and he said this was his last race. Burris: "I'm done, and it's very easy to say that." Burris said he was "relishing the thought of leaving the rigorous campaign trail." Burris: "It's unbelievable what you go through, what you put your family through ... I'm just going to go on with my life and enjoy what little life I have left" (Mihalopoulos/Becker, Chicago Tribune, 3/21). Update (1/4/08): Though it was one of those that I first came across (via Lexis-Nexis), I waited until this evening to put it up. Later tonight however, I just noticed this pertinent item (via 'Stop the ACLU')... It seems that Roland Burris was thinking of, and planning for, more than just retiring from elections. I also forgot to note that I remember, after she was [thankfully!] defeated by us 1998, outgoing U.S. Senator Carol Moseley-Braun said that she was also finished with public office, for good. Before long though, she was in the spotlight again, being nominated for an Ambassadorship (I remember watching those hearings in my dorm... they were indeed ridiculous - I'm glad that at least one principled liberal exists; I guess Salon is better than The Octopus [at least in 1999]! ;-). And five years later, she decided to toss her hat in the ring, for the highest office in the land. (And tossed herself onto the Howard Dean bandwagon not long after... I guess there's more than one principled liberal; but we already knew that CounterPunch was strong, in that respect.) I guess when Chicago Democrats decide to retire from public servanthood, something just keeps drawing them back in! -------------------------------------------------- 01/18/2007: Vegas probe casts doubt on county deal, Steve Patterson, Chicago Sun-Times, January 18, 2007 06/16/2004: Roland Burris' consulting firm awarded $150,000 contract by IDOT, Doug Finke, State Journal-Register, June 16, 2004 06/05/2003: Ex-attorney general Roland Burris to lobby for Indian casino, Eric Peterson, Chicago Daily Herald, June 5, 2003Article list via: "Burris' pay-to-play political history" ---------------------------------------------- 03/03/1998: Burns: Burris part of problem, not solution, Bernard Schoenburg, State Journal-RegisterNote: The Hon. Jim Burns was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois in October 1993, by President Bill Clinton, at the recommendation of both of our state's U.S. Senators, Paul Simon (D) and Carol Moseley-Braun (D). [Slick Willie and his Attorney General had promptly fired all 93 U.S. Attorneys, upon assuming office (all at the same time, which was unprecedented) - something that should have been more of an issue, when President George W. Bush was criticized last year for the supposed "scandal."] Burns is a former star for Northwestern University's basketball team. [Chicago Sun-Times news article on his appointment]. Burns resigned from his position 4 years later, to run for Governor. Still in progress was the "Operation Silver Shovel" investigation of Chicago [Democrat] political corruption [yes, another one of those ;-] that Burns was leading. As might be expected however, certain people (like Jesse Jackson ;-) complained that the bribery investigation was racially-motivated, despite Burns have received praise from blacks and Latinos for his solid efforts against both gang violence and police corruption. In 1990, he was the Democrat nominee for Lt. Governor (with Neil Hartigan). He might have done better, for the 1998 Democrat gubernatorial nomination, if he had left his U.S. Attorney post sooner, rather than delaying, and letting the other candidates get support, in both downstate and the Chicago area. Contrary to earlier pronouncements by the Clinton administration, he was offered a second term (re-appointment) as U.S. Attorney, something that is exceptionally rare, for that District. (At least it was then; now, the great Patrick Fitzgerald - who I plan to deal with in another entry ("Fitzmas!") has been in that office since 2001.) In 2000, Secretary of State Jesse White [who is African-American], chose Burns to be his Inspector General (IG), so he could continue "to root out corruption." [Developing...] 03/08/1998: Front-runner Burris no longer above the primary fray, Bernard Schoenburg, State Journal-Register 03/08/1998: Burris failed his only major test in office as Attorney General, Eric Zorn, Chicago Tribune (re: the Rolando Cruz case)
02/02/1992: Burris borrowed $28,000 from campaign fund, Chuck Neubauer & Mark Brown, Chicago Sun-Times, February 2, 1992- - - - - [More archived press items will be added soon... Like the award-winning 1993 series from the State Journal-Register, discussed here at the Illinois Issues blog, and raised by rival Democrat, U.S. Attorney Jim Burns, which inspired the book Illinois for Sale - on the relationship between $tate contract$ and campaign contribution$ ] 05/02/1985: Blacks concerned Democratic Party will leave them behind (Roland Burris selection a frustration factor), Luix Overbea, Christian Science Monitor 03/19/1985: Burris selection creates controversy: Black Leaders Seek Candidate Control, Juan Williams, Washington Post 02/11/1985: Jesse Jackson Rips Democratic Chiefs: Blacks Urged to Reassess Loyalty to the Party, Juan Williams, Washington Post[More Blast-the-Backlog, Blago Blogging] Note: Christian Hartsock has been home for the holidays, and may not be back yet... In any case, being a Springfield, Illinois blogger, and a [somewhat-] veteran politico in this state, this is something that I need to blog on. Breaking news [not-so-"breaking" anymore, since I was too tired (or eye-strained) to go to my keyboard; hopefully, the bigger bloggers are at the office still! ;-] - Blagojevich to appoint (now, has announced his appointment of), Roland Burris to the U.S. Senate seat vacancy of Barack Obama After catching the WICS ABC NewsChannel 20 news at noon, I learned that our Governor, Rod Blagojevich [sorry, unable to think of a pejorative right now], will be holding a press conference this afternoon; it wasn't known whether he would announce his resignation. When I logged into my Yahoo! Mail, to send an e-mail to the current Executive Board of the UIS College Republicans, regarding this, and other Blagojevich matters, I saw the Yahoo! News featured item, reporting that Governor Bolshevik was going to use that press conference to name former Illinois public official Roland Burris to Senator Obama's vacant seat. After flipping through some channels, and not knowing the time of the press conference, I tuned in to WICS NewsChannel 20, in time to catch the end of the press conference; I was relieved to have seen before that, on Fox News perhaps, that the Senate Dems were going to refuse to seat Governor Blagojevich's appointment. At the end-portion of the press conference that I saw, there was an African-American Democrat speaking (perhaps Emil Jones... I should know him from sight, at this point - it's quite a relief that he's retired as Illinois Senate President)**, with Governor Blagojevich on one side, and Roland Burris on the other, talking about how there are no African-Americans in the U.S. Senate, and how Roland Burris needed to be appointed, and how utterly horrible it would be if the U.S. Senate refused to seat an African-American. He said that he would be contacting the Congressional Black Caucus about this, and would also be in touch with his good friend, U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) [who by the way, lives right here in Springfield, Illinois - unlike the Governor (whose house is here)!!*** ;-)]. Update: It was former Black Panther, U.S. Congressman Bobby Rush (D-IL) who made those race-bating remarks. [Hat tip: Michelle Malkin] *** I saw on the news last night that Blago's lawyer mentioned that (ha ha!) he isn't going to stay at the Governor's Mansion, here in Springfield, after all (like he said he would... but what's new?! ;-). He's going to commute, or something like that. They ought to make him serve his prison sentence here in the capital city! :-)  I remember that Roland Burris had to drop out of the 1998 Illinois Democrat gubernatorial primary (actually, I don't think he dropped out, he was just defeated), after he referred to his three Democrat primary competitors as "immature* white boys." * Update/Correction (10:26 PM): While I think I remember, from when it actually happened, hearing on the Illinois television news that he said it as I've quoted above, looking through the print news archives from that time (February 1998), quotes him as having said "non-qualified (or some say it was "unqualified...") white boys." I don't know if that makes it much better, though. Also, I have been using Lexis-Nexis to look up some of the newspaper articles and news wire stories, from the 2002 and 1998 elections, with respect to then-gubernatorial candidate Roland Burris. I will have a new entry started, which will be published right above, compiling some of that material; it will be published some time tonight/tomorrow morning... I need to go to the kitchen for some Red Bull (or at least Pepsi) at the moment, though. I remember the Illinois gubernatorial primaries of 2002, in which there were 3 candidates, on each side. I backed Patrick O'Malley [along with Erika Harold, who would later that year become Miss America - which would help me launch my blog!], but on the other side, Paul Vallas would have been the best option. If only he had prevailed, in that primary!! (Or if only the Democrat primary winner in the prior election, the pro-life, somewhat-pro-gun Glenn Poshard of southern Illinois, had beat our candidate, the currently-imprisoned ex-Governor George Ryan.) [Update (1/3/09): I still say that, despite the recent plagiarism controversy!] Roland Burris was the other Democrat candidate; he, Vallas, and Blago all finished close together. Earlier last decade, Burris served as the Illinois Comptroller, and Attorney General.  I remember that, when the Rolando Cruz controversial conviction case arose as an issue, to be used against Jim Ryan in the Republican gubernatorial primary, against Attorney General candidate Joe Birkett - perhaps in the primary, by rival Republican Bob Coleman, but definitely in the general election, by party-boss daughter Lisa Madigan [Update (01/03/09): ...as well as in the following (2006) elections, by rival Republicans in the primary, for Governor and Lt. Governor, and up through the present time, by others], it was also mentioned that Roland Burris was involved in that problematic prosecution.In the decade before the decade before last, Burris served as the Director of [Illinois] Central Management Services (CMS), based right here in Springfield. The Governor who appointed him, Democrat Dan Walker, also served time in prison [Update (1/3/09): See this, by our old friend Cal Skinner, and this topic was also featured (with a "graphic warning"!) on Chicago Public Radio]; he is one of 4 Illinois governors, in relatively-recent times, who's been sent to the slammer. Hopefully before long, our current Governor will be the 5th!! Thursday, December 25, 2008
- Isaiah 9:6  Update: Please check out the poem, 'Twas the Night Before Jesus Came (via Joel Comm)-------------------------------------------------------- I hereby declare that, in the Blogosphere at least (and perhaps the entire WWW, and beyond!), Christmas shall be continued through tomorrow (December 26th), and potentially for a little time after that as well. Whereas this year (as has been the case, in prior Christmastimes***), so many of those in the United States, and elsewhere, have been juggling various life (and life-altering/threatening/shaking/etc...) situations, while trying to remain sane and secure, and Whereas political and economic situations, domestically and worldwide, have created problems that exceed the normal amount of stress, anxiety, depression, and nostalgia that typically accompany this time of the year, and Whereas these unfortunate situations have affected those from Main Street to Wall Street, and Whereas only limited supplies of Lipitor, Lorazepam, Lithium, Valium, Anacin, antacid, aspirin, Tylenol, Tums, and Red Bull exist, and Whereas no method of turning back time currently exists... Be it resolved that, December 26, 2008 A.D. shall remain Christmas Day, And that: Christmas shall continue thereafter, for several [an indeterminate number, as of now] days to come. ***For more information see: December 31, 2003: Christmas continued... December 25, 2003: Merry Christmas!! January 6, 2005: Merry Christmas!! **** Explanation by Bill Federer, of "American Minute"January 2006: MERRY CHRISTMAS (2005-2006) Please help out this blogger by doing your shopping at Amazon.com! [Or now, you can help out the College Republicans by doing your shopping at the most popular online stores.] [Or if you don't feel like buying anything right now, you can help out that organization, each time you simply search the internet!] Blast the Backlog Welcome back, Christian Hartsock It really sucks that, even with the Rod Blagojevich shenanigans - and the whole country focused on this state [and with the national news being right here, in the capital city] - that I have still been too busy/tired/indolent/undercaffeinated/etc..., to exploit this situation, through blogging here, and commenting/trackback pinging elsewhere in the Blogosphere, as I've been known to do. I do have one entry on Governor Blagojevich saved as a draft below - not to mention all the other bloggage that I've wanted to publish... Fortunately, I added the current leaders of the UIS College Republicans to that organization's blog, which is at www.uisgop.com, and as you can see, they have taken that up; I need to "open trackback"-ping Ryan's (one of the Ryans, at least) entries, from there. I was just thinking of Christian Hartsock's guest-blogging here, and his first entry here being published on Christmas Day, three years ago. I was on IM with him last night (actually, it was this morning here, but still Christmas Eve in Cully-Fone-Ya... wait, no - It was slightly past midnight there [slightly past 2 AM here], but still Christmas Eve, where Governor Sarah Palin or our President-elect are from); I have resumed IMing some, and re-added some people, who had been accidentally-deleted from my AIM Buddy List (that happened around this time of the year, two years ago, when I was out-of-state). Christian read my mind, as I was thinking of how it would be nice for him to resume posting here. I am thinking that perhaps this will give me an opportunity to go back, and publish some of those drafts - not only here, but at the UIS College Republicans blog as well. [Based on my track record though, don't count on it... ;-( ]. Note: In doing a web search [using GoodSearch, of course, see below!], to obtain some Christian-Hartsock links, I was surprised to discover that Chris, like our friends Kyle Williams and Ben Shapiro (and Hans Zeiger, I think as well), has now written a book! [This is great, but it makes me feel even more behind... Then again, maybe when I was younger, I could've pulled this off! ;-) ] IN THE NAME OF "PROGRESS" THE LIBERALIZATION OF CHRISTIANITY About the Author Christian Hartsock is a young filmmaker and political commentator. An affiliate of MoveOff.us, he has written for several websites including Alan Keyes' RenewAmerica.us, TownHall.com, NewMediaJournal.us and IntellectualConservative.com among several others. Christian is the writer and director of a feature, The Ministry of Absence, a short, The Life & Love of Monte Callaghan as well as a political documentary entitled Separation, among others and is the cousin of Tom Nunan, executive producer of Oscar-winner Crash. He was born in 1986 in Oakland, California, where he grew up and currently resides in Los Angeles.  I knew that Christian was attending film school, and must have created a few films by now... But I did not know about the book. I'm glad that Christian is back here. In addition to possibly-completing prior blog entry drafts, I will use this time to possibly-find some good ways of making money online, through the computer, or through work-at-home opportunities. (In addition to Christian's book, I need to purchase Twitter Power, which I just found is a new book by the amazing Adsense and internet expert Joel Comm.) I am still looking for a good full or part-time job position, something that may be achieved, once the new year begins. || Google Adsense Referral News || 'Inside AdSense' Blog: Warm wishes || How to Get Motivated, to make money online || ----------------- To my (remaining ;-) readers: MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU AND YOURS!! Also: From Gospel.com: Presents. Decorations. Cards. Family gatherings. Shopping. These are the modern signs of the Christmas season--and for all the happiness they might bring, they can also weigh us down with holiday stress and exhaustion. But there's a deeper meaning to Christmas, one that brings true joy and peace. On Christmas we ponder the most important event in all of history: the birth of Jesus Christ. Join us this Christmas season as we explore the glad tidings of Christmas. We need a little Christmas!! (Right this very minute... And later on, as well!!) Continuing my Facebook feed, from last night/this morning [i.e. - Christmas Eve/Christmas Day]: POSTED ITEM: Mame- we need a little christmas 12:04am Source: www.youtube.com Lucille Ball is playing the role of "Mame" in this clip. She sings "we need a little christmas" This is something that I'll "need" - even after December 25th!! Re: http://atruett.blogspot.com/2004/01/merry-christmas-someone-should-have.html The last time Jeff Black's Christmas EXPLOOOOOSSSION!!! (sp? ? ?) was held at M22 (they should have an M22 on every college campus - and every year!), and they put on a "Muppets Christmas Carol" (I think it was)**, and this song came on, I mentioned to Jeff that I liked this song - because it mentioned growing "a little older" and growing "a little colder"... things that I could definitely relate to (and still very much can!!). Add Comment - 0 Comments - Share ** Update: Apparently, it was A Muppet Family Christmas (1987 - TV movie). My Christmas Eve Facebook feed (see the entry before the last one, for more), continued... I wanted to have this Facebook "Note" published, before midnight (though it was published before midnight, California time... see that entry, below the last one, for more on Pacific Standard Time ;-) - Actually, it would have been good to have had this published, like a month ago. WICS NewsChannel 20 did a story on this program, but most people are still unfortunately not aware of this... A lot of money that could have been easily given, to charities and political organizations, has not been contributed. This Facebook Note was started before midnight, but apparently wasn't published until 1:10 AM (that doesn't seem right... Maybe they're on Eastern time): Who did you GoodSearch/GoodShop for?? ;-) Share Today at 1:10am | Edit Note | Delete  I should've posted a Note about this earlier... By now, it's too late to do your Christmas shopping (then again, for some people, that might not be the case - especially those of my gender, according to observations verified in this evening's Christmas Eve-ning TV 20 news - and I saw that our friend, Alderman Debbie Cimarossa, was one of the other gender's members who they interviewed). In any case, when you shop at Amazon.com, or Walmart.com (you can order online, and pick it up at the store, for FREE), or BestBuy.com (same deal - free shipping), Circuit City, iTunes, or a TON of other stores, please DO NOT go to the website directly. Instead, please go through the GOODSHOP referral link for the charity or organization of your choice. I "GoodShop" for the organization I used to lead - the UIS College Republicans: http://uisconservative.googlepages.com/support.html#goodshop Who do you GoodShop (or GoodSearch) for? ------------------------------------- Aside from the issue of buying something - every time you simply search the web, you can contribute a little, to an organization of your choice.... ----> Note continued on Facebook: www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=41546937210 December 24th: Spurgeon's Evening Devotional As mentioned in my last entry, here is Pieter Friedrich's Christmas Eve 2003 entry from the now-retired 'Deux Ego' weblog: 12/24/2003: "December 24th: Spurgeon's Evening Devotional" "'The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.'--Isaiah 40:5 "We anticipate the happy day when the whole world shall be converted to Christ; when the gods of the heathen shall be cast to the moles and the bats; when Romanism shall be exploded, and the crescent of Mohammed shall wane, never again to cast its baleful rays upon the nations; when kings shall bow down before the Prince of Peace, and all nations shall call their Redeemer blessed. Some despair of this. They look upon the world as a vessel breaking up and going to pieces, never to float again. We know that the world and all that is therein is one day to be burnt up, and afterwards we look for new heavens and for a new earth; but we cannot read our Bibles without the conviction that- "'Jesus shall reign where'er the sun Does his successive journeys run.' "We are not discouraged by the length of his delays; we are not disheartened by the long period which he allots to the church in which to struggle with little success and much defeat. We believe that God will never suffer this world, which has once seen Christ's blood shed upon it, to be always the devil's stronghold. Christ came hither to deliver this world from the detested sway of the powers of darkness. What a shout shall that be when men and angels shall unite to cry 'Hallelujah, hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!' What a satisfaction will it be in that day to have had a share in the fight, to have helped to break the arrows of the bow, and to have aided in winning the victory for our Lord! Happy are they who trust themselves with this conquering Lord, and who fight side by side with him, doing their little in his name and by his strength! How unhappy are those on the side of evil! It is a losing side, and it is a matter wherein to lose is to lose and to be lost for ever. On whose side are you?"--Charles Spurgeon My Facebook Status, after arriving home Christmas Eve night: Aakash attended the Christmas Eve service at West Side, and then went to Denny's. Needs to update blog(s) quickly... 10:33 PM Twitter post: Attended Christmas Eve service at WestSide; then went to Denny's. Need to update blog(s) quickly... http://uis.blogspot.com www.uisgop.com ------> Follow me on Twitter! Facebook posts from Christmas Eve: December 24, 2008, 10:57 PM CST (8:57 PM in Cully-Fone-Ya ;-), on Pieter Friedrich's "Wall": Pieter... I remember realizing, in the second-to-last post I ever did at 'Deux Ego,' that since you were two hours behind us (here in Illinois), I could do something, that I couldn't otherwise do (a.k.a. "The Little Frummer Boy" ;-) :-) ;-) . Calling you, when it's 10:45 PM here, is another of those things. I tried your home number as well, and no one answered. Oh well... I hope that you, your mom, and yours have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!! Posted item: web.archive.org Source: web.archive.org [Previous entry: "December 24th: Spurgeon's Evening Devotional"][Main Index][Next entry: "Wishing You An Austrian Christmas"] Weblog Entry - December 24, 2003 (Pacific time!! :-) "The Little Frummer Boy" In the following entry, I will post a pertinent Christmas Eve item, that preceded that guest-post of mine, at 'Deux Ego' in 2003. This one was done by Pieter himself, and features Charles Spurgeon. Tuesday, December 09, 2008
There is, once again, an ever-growing list of entries that need to be published here; I saved drafts for Thanksgiving, which weren't published (as of yet!), and nor was I able to publish anything, for Pearl Harbor. I have been exploring employment options, during the past few days as well... That is still ongoing. I just have to interrupt this life situation however, to post something on this; it would be wrong for someone like myself not to! ;-) Our GOVERNOR (Rod Blagojevich) has been arrested!! When I heard that Governor Blago was supporting clemency for his predecessor, George Ryan, I thought to myself - why alienate someone who could be your cellmate!* This is something that has been a long time coming; it was surprising though, how it just suddenly happened, triggered by a new issue (the filling of the vacancy of outgoing U.S. Senator Barack Obama). Blago is currently in federal custody, along with his Chief of Staff. The U.S. Attorney will be holding the press conference, regarding this, at the top of the hour (in about 10 minutes). This will be an interesting situation to watch (as Illinois politics oftentimes is! ;-)... *That line of thought was taken from Jay Leno, in reference to then-Congressman Gary Condit's (D-CA) vote against expelling Congressman James Traficant (D-OH). I am skeptical of those charges however; he was one of my favorite Democrats in Congress [the latter, that is]. No skepticism, of course, is warranted, in regard to this latest news. Thursday, October 23, 2008
28 Minutes Late When pencilling (or penning) in the appointment I just scheduled tomorrow, to get my car's exhaust and muffler system looked at (and replaced, if necessary... cc: Lexi, Kelsey, Ryan R. ;-), I saw that today is 10/23. I realized I needed to do my annual "Mole Day" entry, and I thought to myself that it might be good to do it at 10:23... I know the regular observance begins at 10:23 AM - that's when people would be in school - but when Mr. Szabo did it, there was no time contraint, on this day. I had wanted to post this year's "Mole Day" tribute at 10:23 PM [my IRS entry was at 10:40 PM ;-)], but The Sims 2 (one of those "game challenges" - the Orphans one [rules link]) kept me behind the laptop too long [this one has 4GB of RAM, so it can run this game... At least for now, you never know these Windows machines - Once again, I wish I'd been able to afford a MacBook. Those ads are true, by the way... They hit the nail on the head]. I need to get a recommendation letter completed, for one of our former UIS College Republicans officers, who is about to get admitted to West Point. (Sorry, Josh, for not having done so yet!!) A 'family emergency'-type situation unexpectedly (very unexpectedly!) arose today, and we are dealing with that, as I type this; tomorrow will be a full day (not to mention the election-related activities and events... with the big day looming). I honestly don't know if I will get that bloggage I wanted to have published, actually published. Oh well. (Though this sucks, since much of it is election-related, and won't be as relevant, after November 4th.) I need to get back on the Red Bull. In the meantime, here is the MOLE DAY tribute, for 2008. Wow... I was just wishing that there would be an SHS/Szabo-created video, for this purpose; last time, I included a video from... I don't know whom (nor have I even watched it, I think!). I decided to go to home page of my alma mater high school's website [SHS Online we helped create that ground-breaking intranet/internet website and web system, by the way... that was during Junior and Senior year], and voila - It is indeed featured, on the front page! International Mole Day Join Mr. Szabo's chemistry students as they celebrate International Mole Day in these videos. That saves me the trouble of having to compose anything more for this, but I will post the song... Well, maybe I won't. Gotta go... Saturday, October 11, 2008
Note: I apologize for the 'stream of consciousness'-like nature of these entries, not to mention the typos, and/or incoherencies that have resulted. I tried to be more professional, when I just posted at the weblog of the UIS College Republicans:  www.UISGOP.com As I mentioned there, it is quite a challenge, trying to live-blog all that is happening, as things are happening so quickly!! I've said before that I don't know how some of these people do it (succeed in regularly, coherently, and professionally publishing new content, multiple times a day, on a daily basis, often about events that have just happened - like almost in real-time!). Seeing the way people are seamlessly working away here could be inspiring (as has been witnessing other prolific individuals in the past), but as of now, I find it discouraging. Then again, maybe I'd be able to be up to par, had I had time for the Gourmet Roast at the hotel, or at least something more powerful today than half a wine glass of Coca-Cola. I did not, as mentioned over here, have a chance to go to lunch... But John Fund of the Wall Street Journal, who seems to be experiencing some of these same issues (as likely are many of us), kindly gave me an apple. (I looked to see, which commentator it was, who had infamously stolen a Bloggers' Row's member's laptop, at CPAC 2005... I remember the Blogosphere being on top of that, when it happened. I thought it would be funny, if that was John Fund. Indeed it was. Well, at least he asked, this time!! :-) I am off to attend one of the sessions... I was planning on going to the: SESSION H - RightOnline Old Media vs. New Media: How Ordinary Citizens Can Make Their Voices Heard Dan Gainor, Director, Business and Media Institute Maggie Thurber, Blogger & Radio Host John Fund, The Wall Street Journal Don Irvine, President, Accuracy in Media The blogger who is now next to me, in this corner of Bloggers' Row, said that this session, when she saw it in New Jersey, provides beginning technical information, and may not be best, for those who are more advanced. (That was the issue with the Leadership Institute class on blogging, at CPAC 2006... I had said that I hoped they would create a "Part II" of that class.) There was a "for advanced bloggers" session, sponsored by [ ], but it unfortunately took place yesterday morning. [Update: It's at least a bit refreshing to have found out that we weren't the only ones absent, at that point of the Summit!] Off to Salon K, for Session H... "Defending the American Dream" Summit, Day 2 We were running late somewhat, but were up and ready this morning, with time to get the free breakfast from the Holiday Inn Express, though I did not get a chance to drink even a sip of that Gourmet Roast coffee. Due to the fact that I haven't had my 'daily dose', and didn't have a chance to see if my official beverage is available, my live-blogging abilities are going to be hampered. (Also keep in mind that we had no sleep, the night before last, and we had to use planes, trains, and automobiles... and shuttles, ferries, etc... ;-) The Illinois presentation (Joe Calomino speaking) has just started... I clapped, from here on Bloggers' Row; Mark Johnson joined the applause a little. I also saw Alex Brunk, right before coming in here... I was glad yesterday to see that 'Save the GOP' is here; it was frustrating last evening, as it seemed that with that exception, all of the bloggers and blogs here were those which I had never even heard of.** Langley Perry - or perhaps it was [Dial 7 for...] mentioned to us that they had posted photos, from the AFP rally at the Capitol ("angry capitalists storm Capital Hill!!" - as we saw it was referred to, on the television news, which they showed clips of, at the great "Tribute to Ronald Reagan" Dinner last night). I see the wonderful Fran Eaton here as well... Will be checking Illinois Review shortly (still haven't had a chance to check the Washington Times, to see if I was mentioned, by that Business Section reporter. I am glad to have met Joey Dauben in person... I had IMed and e-mailed with him before; he was running for the U.S. Congress, as a traditionalist and constitutionalist conservative, in the mold of U.S. Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX). Publishing now... Will continue this entry. ** In addition to Save the GOP, I did of course know about TownHall.com... But as I mentioned to "Dial 7 for Celtic," I don't consider that a blog, as I have been using it since the 1990s, and it's a web publication I mentioned, at their table at CPAC 2008, that their links, to past columnists' articles, have changed more than once, and no redirect service has been set up, which can drive some of us crazy (linkrot really sucks!). World Net Daily, when they recently changed their url format, still supports the old links (then again, they didn't do redirect forwarding when they changed from those long "bluesky" urls, some years earlier). When I tried talking to them at CPAC 2008, they seemed clueless... That TownHall.com staffer, behind their table, didn't even know what "Soapbox" was. (These guys didn't seem to know that much either; then again, the main TownHall guy I spoke to was in charge of their magazine, rather than the website. I doubt that TownHall.com will correct the old column links, which have changed at least twice... But I mentioned that the Washington Times website has now done so... The old links now re-direct, to the same articles at their new site, which I'm thinking is WordPress-supported.) And Rachel Another of those whose blogs I recently came across, and is still in my Mozilla Firefox web browser's memory (though this one, it seems that I must have visited, in prior years - as it has been around since 2003), is Conservative Pulse. Austin Cassidy kindly set up at this same table, and we are here again... It's right in front of the big screen, with the live feed. Joey Dauben is to the right of me, and I have found that he is now the editor of the Ellis County Observer. [Saturday morning’s General Session at the Defending the American Dream Summit] [TomCox: Defending Free Markets, one rally at a time] [Update: Just found out about Jason Pye, who seems to be a libertarian conservative (or perhaps Old Right? - That would be great...) via our friends at PeachPundit - that NRA entry explains the statement Joey made about a possible proposed resolution in the Libertarian Party; I was just at the GOA site earlier today. And then I found that he has a current weblog, and seems to have done a good job, of live-blogging from the Summit. | Day 2 | Day 1 | I don't think I had so far come across any bloggers for Bob Barr. I was wondering the other day however, what impact he would have, on McCain's chances in the Peach State. Maybe Erick would know about that; there were also a lot of Georgia CRs and YRs, at the Republican National Convention.] I also see someone who has inserted himself onto the side table, which was where Save the GOP, along with another weblog that I hadn't heard of, which is authored by that " [Update (10/16/08): Along these lines, I noticed, when reviewing the commentary from other bloggers who were at this D.C. Summit (something that I still need to look more into), this entry, from the weblog of Doug Welch, from nearby St. Louis. As mentioned in my other commentary about these experiences, Mr. Welch was also at our UIS College Republicans experience the prior week, as was Gateway Pundit - especially since that Vice-Presidential Debate, Debate Watch Party, and Post-Debate Sarah Palin Rally (rock concert?) were in the great city of St. Louis. Doug points to Lisa Schiffren's (she must bet new - then again, for my situation, "new" is relative...) entry at NRO's Corner blog: Teenagers Acting Better Than Their Elders, and Doug's Stix 1972 blog entry also reprinted the entire, uplifting and reassuring, article. The kids do seem to be alright, after all!] John Fund is speaking now, after the great Grover Norquist (who all of the UIS CRs here got to meet yesterday, as I may have mentioned last evening). I am glad that he is addressing the "motor-voter" issue... I remember when that proposal came up, in the mid-1990s. Illinois was one of those states which challenged the constitutionality of that bill, as did California (back when our states had Republican leaders... Then again, Cully-fone-ya now again has a "Republican" governor - the CA AFP chapter criticized him, during their state report; I was glad to see that). My state of Illinois was therefore sued by Attorney General Janet Reno, for challenging this National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). Mr. Fund just mentioned the 2000 election. One of my fears, in the aftermath of that election, is that Republicans and conservatives would turn against recognizing the reality of voter fraud (since it was the Democrats who were so emphatically alleging it). One reassuring article I printed out was this one, by Michelle Malkin: Who cares about election fraud now?, November 10, 2000 [Note (10/13/08): In addition to the fact that they changed the past-column urls at least twice, another bad thing that happened, when they changed TownHall.com, is that those past columns were posted, without proper [without any, in fact] paragraph spacing. I see that that is still the case, even at this point. I really like the Jewish World Review (NewsandOpinion.com) conservative columnist archives, as they go back to the 1990s, and the urls still haven't changed, after all this time! (I like things that don't change...)] Check out: Michelle Malkin column archives There was likely vote fraud, which resulted in the great U.S. Congressman Bob Dornan (R-CA) losing his seat to the supposedly "conservative" Democrat Loretta Sanchez... The U.S. Congress held hearings, for quite awhile, on this controversy. The same is true for the Louisiana U.S. Senate race in 1996... Woody Jenkins would have made a great United States Senator (or a great U.S. Representative... too bad he lost again, earlier this year). I remember that the superb magazine Readers' Digest had an article expose on that Landrieu-Jenkins race... I think that I linked to it, in an entry here, about Mary Landrieu's 2002 election run-off, against Suzy Terrell. I was just remembering another Reader's Digest article, from years before [or perhaps this was a section of that same piece], which mentioned vote-fraud issues, with the "motor voter" law [National Voter Registration Act of 1993]. [Update (10/16/08): As mentioned above, the Landrieu-Jenkins race was brought up, in one of my entries on Pearl Harbor Day 2002. It doesn't include a link to the RD piece, but I remember it was on "brasscheck.com" (I think it was) - A search of that, in this blog's archives, also yields nothing. I was afraid that Brasscheck.com would no longer be up; I didn't know much about the site at that time, either. It seems that parts of the site do not appear to be reputable, but since the article in question was from Reader's Digest - a very reputable (and very excellent!! :-) magazine - here it is: They're Stealing the Election!, Trevor Armbrister, Readers' Digest, August 1997, p. 91 I will try to put it online myself, with annotations. (The journalist who authored that excellent expose passed away in 2006.) Here is the Wall Street Journal's perspective, also from 1997, shared by FreeRepublic (which has also become a problematic website... but that's for a future discussion). [Update update (12/24/08): I have now put that Readers' Digest article online, retaining some of the annotations from the brasscheck.com page, but also modifying it. At the bottom of that article, I included a couple of other articles, on the Landrieu-Jenkins 1996 U.S. Senate controversy in Louisiana. They're Stealing the Election! - Trevor Armbrister - Readers Digest, August 1997]Just found this: POLITICO MAFIOSO: How Democrats Steal Elections - Top 10 Methods of Liberal Vote Fraud, Tony GOPrano Also, I would strongly recommend the work of Jim Condit, Jr. and Vicki Collier (daughter of the late James Collier, who with his brother Kenneth Collier authored VoteScam), who are with Network America and Citizens for a Fair Vote Count. As I've mentioned before, they helped uncover computerized vote fraud against Pat Buchanan in the 1996 Arizona GOP primary - and possibly in the 1996 Iowa Caucus as well - which stopped him from beating Bob Dole for the Republican presidential nomination. Even Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and Governor Fyfe Symington, Jr. (R-AZ) believed that Pat had won the Arizona primary, and that Dole was done for.] "I'll be out there signing my book!" - John Fund (after the post-speech applause had begun :-) ... Erick Erickson has now begun speaking. I was walking fast, through the Metro stations today, as I mentioned to Brandon, I missed seeing his speech when we were at CPAC; I did not want to again. While I do not like some of what takes place at RedState.com (it has unfortunately started taking on some bad qualities... as happens to some sites), Erick-Woods Erickson and Mike Krempasky are great people. At the same table, at last night's Reagan Dinner banquet, which myself and the new CR Chairman went over to, so that I could get a photo with Dinesh D'Souza, and so Brandon could meet John Tsarpalas, I was surprised to see Erick Erikson also there... I would not have recognized him, if it wasn't for the name plate that some of the people here are wearing. (That's what can happen, for people who you know primarily through the Blogosphere.) Dr. Samuel Prescott... He was one of the three people who attended that "midnight ride" of Paul Revere. I remember that in 5th grade, it just referred to a "doctor" that accompanied them; I did name him however, in an AOL Trivia Forum (or perhaps it was Triviana) message board though. [Publishing now, but will need to do revisions and hyperlink annotation, above] John Stossel has begun speaking now; he is the closing speaker. I cited him the other day, in regards to Erin Brockovich. He is making some great hyperbolic comments about mass hysteria and junk science. "Crisis is the friend of the state?" I guess, but War is the health of the state. I remember earlier trying to figure out whether John Stossel opposed the Iraq war. I remember an excellent 20/20 piece, in which he attacked big government, as well as liberal interventionism abroad... Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) was featured in that segment, in which they mentioned that people refer to him as "Dr. No." I remember thinking that it would be great to get a transcript of that, and that it might not be too difficult with Lexis-Nexis, as I remembered that Professor Tibor Machan was also one of those interviewed, so a search query sort may not be too difficult. It is very rare that a pro-liberty, anti-state advocate would be given a regular spot, on such a major show as 20/20 on ABC. As things are, once again, moving rapidly... This is where my recap from yesterday afternoon will go. Friday, October 10, 2008
 (And connected to the internet... finally!!) I mentioned, at the bottom of my last entry, that I would be attending the 2nd-annual "Defending the American Dream" Summit, in [suburban] Washington, D.C. defendingthedream.org We unfortunately were not able to send anyone last year (though I did go to D.C. shortly afterwards, for a Robert Taft Club event, and other purposes). While the speaker line-up this time around is not like last year's, this should turn out to be a great event. (I hope and pray!... Past D.C. experiences have been mixed!) I was wanting to quick-blog a note, before I was leaving from Springfield, but that wasn't done. The Illinois chapter of Americans for Prosperity thankfully funded the flight costs for 4 of us (via Southwest Airlines), and the new Chairman of the College Republicans at the University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS CRs), Brandon Guiliano, was able to find a very-affordable hotel (the Holiday Inn Express), with a shuttle to the Metro line.  Unfortunately, the flights left from the St. Louis airport (STL) at 6 AM [then again, that could also be considered "fortunately," as Lambert International is MUCH closer than the Chicago-area airports... And while the 6 AM thing was problematic, I did let myself sleep in quite a bit, yesterday afternoon. And we actually all carpooled to the airport, and despite arriving kind of late, were able to park, get the bus to the East Terminal (for Southwest Airlines), wait in line, check in our bags, get our boarding passes, go through security, and get to our Gate, with time to spare! :-)Once getting to our hotel [in Springfield, Virginia], we had time to freshen up and rest a bit, and in this case, they do provide FREE wi-fi (I'm talking about at the Holiday Inn Express... see below, for more on wireless connectivity issues). I posted Facebook Status and Twitter updates, saying that I wanted to know what other bloggers were going to be covering this Summit. I tried calling Erick Erickson [who I saw is in the line-up of speakers... like he was at the last CPAC - but whose speech I unfortunately missed! :-( ], but his phone is continuously busy. The same was true at the Republican National Convention [see below]... When I finally found [what may have been] Bloggers' Row, there in St. Paul, I was told that I could not go any further, unless someone invited me; I just wanted to visit, and say hello to those there. The same thing happened the second evening I tried... I had seen several other bloggers earlier that day [Stephen Green of VodkaPundit, Mary Katherine Ham, who I was on Bloggers Row with, at CPAC 2006 [when they did let me on!], Roger L. Simon, and "Gay Patriot West"... But they were actually in the Pajamas Media section [actually, "Pajamas TV" (PJTV - which I just found out about)], and not on Bloggers' Row, so would not have been able to assist. [I should note however, that on the last day of the Convention, GayPatriotWest was kind enough to give me a "COA Operations" badge pass, but the closing of the Convention was going on, so I had to hang around the arena... Unfortunately, the Convention Floor was the one place the "COA Operations" credentials badge did not grant one access to.] I did get ahold of Marcus Epstein this morning, while we were taking the Metro from our hotel to the Crystal City Marriot, where the "Defending the American Dream" Summit is being held. When I asked about Leadership Institute CLP people, like Craig Burgers and Kevin DeAnna, he told me that both of them would be there, and that Craig would be speaking... I called Craig, and he did pick up, and I think that he will be speaking tomorrow, in the breakout session on campus activism, as part of a panel. I started to tell him that I think that the new leaders of the UIS College Republicans would attend that one, but I might attend the one on the new media, as at this point (of my life/career/whatever), that would be more relevant to me. However, we went under a tunnel, when I started to say that [something that also happened, when on the phone with Marcus, but the signal came back]. I saw Craig speak at the first-ever CLP Activism Conference however, something that I was just talking to Ben Wetmore about the other day, in connection to the Flickr/recapping needs mentioned below. We quickly grabbed a bit to eat at the Crystal City Food Court, and then went to meet the AFP-IL people... a bus was going to arrive soon, to take us to the U.S. Capitol, for a rally and media event. We spoke to Jim Raftis and Joe Calomino, and another one of the staffers (I think) mentioned the issue of live-blogging this event... I was glad that that was brought up, because I was hoping to do the same - If there was a "Bloggers' Row," I wanted to be a part of it this time. Mr. Calomino knew what was on my mind, and took me upstairs, to where the main registration was... I saw Grover Norquist there (again - see below). I quickly signed up to be on Bloggers' Row, and was given a "BLOGGER" credential pass... I was told that they have a room for us, next to the main room where the program will be held, on which we will have a live feed, and will also be able to interview prominent individuals, involved with this year's Summit. Though I had to wait a bit (I was afraid of missing the bus), I spoke to Mr. Grover Norquist... He remembered seeing me, but did not remember where. [It has now been several occasions, and he is one of the most influential leaders in the United States.] In the process, someone came by, with a cap that I was surprised (!!) to see... It was Palin/McCain - Hey, that was my idea!! ;-) Mr. Norquist put it on, and I mentioned that I was needing to catch that bus to the Capitol... he nodded in recognition, and I asked if he was going there as well; he said he was going to a separate rally - But this worked out well, because the other three in our UIS CR crew, were right by the escalator. I told him who our new UIS College Republicans Chairman was, and everyone got to meet. I also mentioned that I was just added to Bloggers' Row (after not being able to live-blog from the Republican National Convention, due to wireless issues), and after not being allowed onto Bloggers' Row at CPAC 2008 [due to more-stringent notification restrictions]. (I am mentioning this, because he asked about it. I am in the Bloggers' Row room right now.) Speaking of Bloggers' Row at the 2nd-Annual "Defending the American Dream" Summit, and the wi-fi problems from the Republican National Convention last month, I was glad that we were being given free wireless access, in this room. However, when trying to connect, I ran into problems... I was able to obtain the Conference code, for connecting. However, the iBahn screen then said: The maximum number of concurrent conference users are already connected. You may try again at a later time. If you continue to experience this error, please contact your conference planner for additional connections. This was getting frustrating. After getting this opportunity to finally be at the center of Bloggers' Row, in the key period of a presidential election year, it seemed that a wireless-less problem may derail us, once again. Thanks to Erik Telford of Americans for Prosperity (and its project, RightOnline), for having the Marriott boost the allowed bandwidth, to accommodate more of us. Now, if only I could find where the Red Bull is!! (Even if I had gotten a wink of sleep last night, or on the plane/shuttle/hotel room, etc.., it has been quite grueling today, considering that we went from: Chatham/Springfield to St. Louis Airport (STL) Intermediate Parking [by car] STL Intermediate Parking to STL East Terminal [by airport shuttle - we're fortunate it came on time, as walking there would have been about one mile] St. Louis to Baltimore Washington Airport (BMW) [by plane] BWI Airport to the Holiday Inn Express (in Springfield, VA) [by cab... a long and very-expensive taxi ride!] Holiday Inn Express to the Metro Station (Franconia-Springfield, Blue Line) [by hotel shuttle] Metro Station to Crystal City Metro stop Crystal City Metro stop to the Crystal City Marriott [by foot] Crystal City Marriot to U.S. Capitol [by bus] U.S. Capitol to Crystal City Marriot [by bus] [[for me]] OR U.S. Capitol to Metro Station to Franconia-Springfield Metro stop to Holiday Inn Express [after calling the hotel shuttle to come pick them up], to get ready for the Reagan Dinner, back to... [[for Brandon, Braxton, and Sam]]. That's a lot of traveling, in a very little time, with very little (or in my case, none) sleep. But I would actually say that things have gone rather well today. You will find out why, in my follow-up entry ;-) (And this is one that I really think I'll have to follow-up on, unlike before...) As for now, though, it seems like the Reception is well underway, and I'm going to go over, to sample some of the food, and perhaps conversation. But the conversations earlier today [with some great people, who I had communicated with online before, but only now met in person!! :-) ] have already made this trip worthwhile [well, that, and what will transpire tomorrow]. Going over to the ballrooms (or banquet halls, right now...) - Actually, was just talking to another person who has come in here; this Bloggers' Row room is becoming increasingly populated. He is the Editor-in-Chief of a conservative student publication in Oregon. Saturday, October 04, 2008
As the Homecoming game is likely well-underway, and there is no space remaining at this year's Springfield Right to Life annual dinner (this evening), but since I am going to try to make at least some of the game [for which I have to leave now], I am simply going to copy-and-paste the entry that I just published, at the UIS College Republicans weblog [www.uisgop.com]. I am really sorry I was not able to get those entries, that I had "hoped" for, posted. This new exciting event [the Vice-Presidential candidate debate, in St. Louis, followed by the Post-Debate rally (or rock concert? ;-) featuring Governor Sarah Palin!!!], was the day before yesterday, and I just have to say something about it here... Even if it is just a brief overview. I wish I had time to do an analysis of the debate itself, like so many others have been able to do [I have NO IDEA how some of these people continuously do things like that, so quickly, easily, seemlessly, and frequently!!!], but this will have to do for now. From UIS College Republicans... ------------------------------ Note (10/5/08): I am not an actively-enrolled Graduate student right now, and am only tagentially involved in campus affairs, so my awareness of what is going on, with respect to all of that, is often only indirect... [and I have to be careful of how involved I get, due to the emotional baggage attached...] I sometimes still help coordinate some regional and national events, though. The new leaders of the UIS College Republicans should be posting at that blog soon. I will also be able to rest easier, once the Flickr and YouTube stuff is completed - since most of it was from when I was leading the organization. In St. Louis, to see Governor Sarah Palin beat Senator Joe Biden Quite a few things have happened, even in the short time since I last posted. At least week's College Republicans meeting, the new UIS CR Executive Board created and appointed four new positions. One of those is Web/Com - After having so many experiences, from Sangamon County, to other parts of Illinois (Springfield to Chicago), to elsewhere in the Midwest (Missouri, Minnesota, Iowa, Minnesota again, Missouri again (!!!!)** etc..., to Washington, D.C., multiple times***, and having plenty of photos from these national, regional, and local events, as well as some video clips, including newscasts on which we were featured, it has been very frustrating not having them compiled, in a display-sharing format - especially since there are now so many widely-used services, that do this for you (Flickr, YouTube, Picasa, Google Video, etc...). We hope to have new web pages and recap compilations up soon. ** When I was Chairman in the Fall 2004 semester (the last time we had a presidential election), I remembered us attending the rallies (through Illinois "Victory 2004") in St. Louis, surrounding the Bush-Kerry debate. When I heard the news about another upcoming debate there, this time around, I thought we should look into possibilities, regarding rallies and attendance at the historic Vice-Presidential Debate, between Governor Sarah Palin and Senator Joe Biden.  Early this week, I received notice, from Jeremy Hagen (Chairman of the Missouri College Republicans), of the three events planned for Thursday, surrounding this debate. There would be a rally for Governor Palin at the debate site (Washington University in St. Louis), followed by the huge Debate Watching Party, at Chaifetz Arena in Saint Louis University (SLU), at which 10,000 people were expected, and after which Governor Sarah Palin would be speaking to us.Despite the uncertainty of ticket availability (so no all-group e-mail was sent out), and despite these events being during work and class times, we made arrangments the prior day (Wednesday) - as well as on Thursday morning - and attended these events. Those UIS College Republicans who were able to attend, and for whom we obtained tickets, included myself, Matt Mau, Braxton Denton, Ryan Melchin, Lexi Kirschbaum, Kelsey Quinn, and Ryan Roth. Matt and Braxton were admitted into the Debate itself (at Washington University in St. Louis) and Lexi and Kelsey got to be on the Arena floor, right in front of the podium, when Governor Palin gave her exciting and motivational Post-Debate Rally address. (That was preceded by a talented country singer [trying to find the name - It sounded like "Sarah Maran"... But we weren't sure exactly], and then, the actual "Straight Talk Express" bus drove into the arena!!) I am going to try to make the trip to campus right now, for the remainder of this evening's Homecoming events. [Our entries in the UIS Homecoming Parade had to be cancelled, as probably did the other political-related* entries, due to very-unfortunate - and very troubling!! - developments... Though that is a topic for another time (though that time will likely have to come soon, due to the problems our crazy Governor continues to cause everyone)... It's neat to see F.I.R.E., the ACLU, the Obama supporters, and the Republicans all on the same side, though!] Our new College Republicans Chairman, Brandon Guiliano, will be sworn in as Vice-President of the Student Government Association at the University of Illinois at Springfield (UIS SGA) at halftime, during the Homecoming game. *Update (10/05/08): I should have said "campaign-related" parade entries... I am not on campus much, nor that involved in university affairs anymore, but from what I have heard, there were political candidates and issues represented in the Parade. However, I do not know of any campaign organizations that had entries, like was done in prior years. (And the College Republicans did not "drop out" of the Parade... Our members were planning to walk in the entries for the candidate campaigns, but those entries had to be cancelled yesterday morning, due to the controversy regarding Governor Blagojevich.) I hope that we have some recaps, photos, and video posted here soon, regarding our recent experiences in Saint Louis... and perhaps some commentary and analysis of the VP Debate itself as well. I am sorry I was not able to post much, in the way of recaps, regarding our experiences at the Republican National Convention, a month ago, in St. Paul, Minnesota. We hope to have those services mentioned above (photo and video sharing) implemented soon. *** Unlike last year (when we almost did, but didn't), we will have a delegation this time, at the "Defending the American Dream" Summit, in Washington, D.C., later this month. This will be our organizations 10th trip to the Washington, D.C. area within about a four-year time period. www.DefendingTheDream.org ----------------------------------------  |
