Archive for the ‘politics’ Category

Best of Baldilocks at DTGB in 2019 — With a Workaround

Posted: December 31, 2019 by julietteochieng in dablog, elections, News/opinion, politics, Uncomfortable Truths
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Happy New Decade!

by baldilocks

I would share excerpts from all of the most popular posts of mine from this blog, but Peter’s old site bought the farm in August. Therefore, I will share the most popular posts from that point in time to today.

However, I do have access to the posts from the dead site, so I’m going to re-post at least one from each month — January to August —  at baldilocks. I will post those in full and they won’t necessarily be the ones which received the most traffic.

Here we go!

*****
Impeachment Strategy

[President Trump] knows that the Democrats have been after him since he announced his candidacy; they pre-conjured a reason for his impeachment, for Heaven’s sake. Therefore, he is forcing an impeachment at the time of his choosing rather than theirs.

More on the Hollowing Out of California

Good and sweet things out, bad and smelly things in.

Gang Warfare

One of President Trump’s missions is to expose the various means which the political gangs have of enriching themselves on monies gotten from the pockets of the tax-payers. Ukraine seems to be both a means of thievery and a huge storage space for the loot.

The Pentagon’s Vast All-Wing Conspiracy: Plunder

In 2018, the Pentagon conducted an audit; it was the first time Department of Defense had ever done so since its 1947 creation, even though an annual audit for the Department has been legally required since 1990. The audit failed – an insufficient description.

The Pentagon cannot account for $21 trillion. TRILLION. Times 21.

That Such Men Lived

What I love about Doris Miller’s existence is that the man was here for only a short time and was merely playing the cards that life dealt him when he performed the action that will long outlive him. When the challenge came, he stepped to it and met it — something intrinsic in heroes and heroism.

It’s Almost Showtime

I wish I were surprised at how many people think that when the House votes on formal impeachment articles that the president must be removed from office right then and there, but I’m not. Even some of those who were around when it happened to President Clinton will not bother themselves to understand the process.

My Vox Problem

On January 1, 2020, it will severely limit all of my gigs. In short, California AB5 limits me to 35 pieces of freelance work per year for an individual recipient.

Pelosi Plays Her Role

Speaker Pelosi is correct in observing that President Trump will have the distinction that only two other presidents have. But I bet he will also have the distinction of showing the entire world how crooked those who claim to lead us and represent us have been for decades. If he does that, he’ll be by himself in history.

More to come at baldilocks blog!

And don’t forget about this.

Juliette Akinyi Ochieng has been blogging since 2003 as baldilocks. Her older blog is here.  She published her first novel, Tale of the Tigers: Love is Not a Game in 2012.

Follow Juliette on Facebook, Twitter, MeWe, Patreon and Social Quodverum.

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Feds have their net out for Illinois’ kraken monster, Boss Michael Madigan

Posted: December 29, 2019 by John Ruberry in crime, News/opinion, politics
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia

By John Ruberry

The new year isn’t here yet but 2020 is shaping up to be the Year of Many Political Indictments in Illinois.

Three months and a day ago I posted this story at Da Tech Guy: Feds setting up a massive corruption net in Chicago area. In that entry I gave a summery of the recent raids on offices of several politicians, all with ties to Boss Michael Madigan, the kraken monster of Illinois. As I’ve explained numerous times in this space, Madigan is the most powerful pol in the Prairie State. He has been speaker of the state House for all but two years since 1983. He’s served as chairman of the Illinois Democratic Party since 1998. He’s been committeeman of Chicago’s 13th Ward since 1969. It was from that perch in 2007 that Madigan nominated Joseph Berrios to be the chairman of the Cook County Regular Democratic Organization, better known as “the Chicago Machine.” Three years later Madigan greatly assisted Berrios in his election of the seemingly obscure post of Cook County Assessor. That office determines how much your property is worth in Crook County–and therefore how much it will be taxed–and it’s a position that has long been associated with graft.

Like the legendary kraken, Madigan has very long tentacles and of course a large reach.

Among the updates I have for you today is that Berrios, who was–gasp!–ousted by a reformer last year in the Democratic primary for assessor, is now under federal investigation. With his power base gone, Berrios stepped down as party chairman shortly after his well -deserved defeat.

Madigan is the senior party in the tiny law firm Madigan and Getzendanner, which specializes in corporate property tax appeals.

Hmmm.

Also in that September DTG post I reported on the indictment of Ald. Ed Burke of Chicago. He represents a ward that borders Madigan’s. Burke has been an alderman since 1969 and is the longest serving Chicago alderman in history. Burke’s a lawyer too. His specialty? Property tax appeals. 

In May, federal authorities raided the home former Commonwealth Edison lobbyist Michael McClain. ComEd is the electrical utility for northern Illinois and the utility, which is owned by Exelon, seems to be a major focus of the corruption probe. And that’s a big problem for Madigan and other Illinois politicians. Exelon is a public corporation and it’s difficult for it to hide its dirty laundry. And ComEd is subject to local government regulation, which of course is why the utility cozied up to Madigan and other big shots. And customers, such as myself, have to pay a ComEd bill every month. And every ComEd user believes they are paying to much for electricity. Now they have another reason to hate ComEd.

Clearly the feds are in the midst of a far reaching corruption investigation in Illinois, its target appears to be our kraken, Madigan. But Madigan has been under federal investigation before and the tangible results of those probes were as elusive as those efforts by photographers trying to get a clear photograph of Bigfoot, or a real kraken. 

Madigan infrequently speaks to the media and he never uses email.

Let’s take a look at where one of those tentacles reached. The City Club of Chicago is a tweedy, or seemingly so, good government group, dismissed as “goo-goos” by the cynics. It’s known for its weekly luncheons featuring prominent public officials. For years its president was Jay Doherty, a lobbyist for ComEd. He resigned earlier as head of the group after the feds raided the City Club offices and he no longer lobbys for Commonwealth Edison. Among the speakers at the City Club during Doherty’s tenure were ComEd reps–and Lisa Madigan, Michael’s daughter, who spoke to them in 2009. At the time Lisa was the Illinois attorney general and her office was investigating Doherty and the City Club.

The focus of this part of federal probe appears to be handing out of ComEd jobs for the politically connected in exchange for state actions favorable to the utility.

Last year a study by the University of Illinois at Chicago named Illinois the second most corrupt state. Louisiana was tops. 

Man oh man, Louisiana must be horrible. Illinois surely is. 

Here at Da Tech Guy Pat Austin regularly reports on Louisiana.

John Ruberry blogs at Marathon Pundit from Illinois, where is not under federal investigation.

Why I Stayed in California

Posted: December 28, 2019 by julietteochieng in economy, personal, politics, Uncomfortable Truths
Tags: ,

by baldilocks

Two reasons: family and church. One reason remains.

I wanted to leave California in 2006, but I didn’t because I couldn’t convince my then 85-year-old great-aunt to sell her home of 50 years and move to New Mexico, where the majority of our family lives.

My aunt passed away in 2012 and it’s easy to place “blame” on a person who isn’t here to give her side of the story, but I’m not the lone person who was trying to convince her to move. Neither of us couldn’t convince my aunt that California was sliding down the tubes, or that it would be tough for one person to take care of her if/when her health begin to fail. It lead to a lot of familial acrimony for a number of years.

In the end, I did take care of my great-aunt – mostly by myself – in her declining years. And yes, it was tough. But I’m glad I did it.

My aunt left her house to me, but she had taken out a reverse mortgage on it, so you can guess what happened. I tried to keep the house for two years, but I couldn’t.

So, when the time came to leave the house – in December 2014 – I had a choice to make: move to NM or stay. But if I stayed, where would I live? That was a question for God to answer, so I asked Him. Right afterward, the pastor at the church I’ve been attending since 2003, made this general plea to the congregation: “I know what’s happening with the economy, especially here in California, but I need you to stay and help this church get the Word out.”

There was my answer.

I knew then – at the beginning of 2015 – that this would involve homelessness. So, I said to God that if He wanted me to stay and be homeless, I had some requests: that I would not be on the street or be hungry, and that I would have a clean, safe, and temperature-controlled place to sleep, shower, and you know the rest.

In my nine months of homelessness during 2015, He held up His end of the bargain and continues to do so.

Should I stay any longer? Here’s the thing: we conservative Californians who stayed let this happen to our state. Others got out early and who can blame them? I wanted to do it, too. But it seems to me now that running away is a two-edged sword. We did nothing and now we will continue to do nothing and are slinking away.

I still want to have the option of leaving here in 2020, but not without putting up a fight. Simply, I want to be able to throw my belongings in my 18-year-old car and bounce on cue, but until I’m able to do that, I don’t want to sit here and just take it while California’s Organized political Left continues to herd the state’s middle-class resisters to its borders.

Also, I really don’t want to leave my church. I could still be a member via the magic of the Internet, but it won’t be the same.

One might say that I didn’t get wound up about California’s plight until it affected me personally, and one might be correct. But that means that it’s time to change. If there are only a few left in California who are willing to speak for me, it is what it is. And I can still speak — and take action — for myself.

Also, as we know, California’s Organized Leftism is spreading to other states, often riding in the car with former Californians as they take their liberal political mindsets to places like Colorado and Texas. It’s like an airborne pestilence.

So, for now, in spite of California Assembly Bill 5, I’m going to continue my regularly-scheduled posting here at DaTechGuy Blog – Tuesdays and Saturdays — until I can’t.

I do have a fund-raising campaign going on Facebook: Prep for Possible CA Exit.

You’ll note that I left open the possibility of staying and I’m doing that because I think that 2020 will be a year of big surprises for the entire country. California may be one of those surprises and if I can be a part of the change in direction for California at least for a few months of the upcoming year, I’m going to do what I can. I’ve been stagnant for too long.

If you’d like to help me be ready for mobility, you can contribute at the Facebook link or below at my Paypal link. But even if I don’t get another dime in this campaign, I’m done sitting around waiting for my beloved home state to fall.

And I know for a fact that God rewards action.

NECESSARY READING: My Vox Problem

Juliette Akinyi Ochieng has been blogging since 2003 as baldilocks. Her older blog is here.  She published her first novel, Tale of the Tigers: Love is Not a Game in 2012.

Follow Juliette on Facebook, Twitter, MeWe, Patreon and Social Quodverum.

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Pelosi Plays Her Role

Posted: December 21, 2019 by julietteochieng in Always look at the bright side of Trump, elections, News/opinion, politics, war
Tags: , , , , ,

Who will gavel who?

Nancy Pelosi during less stressful times — at least for her.

by baldilocks

Finger pointed forever.

“He just got impeached. He’ll be impeached forever. No matter what the Senate does. He’s impeached forever because he violated our Constitution,” she said.

Trump doesn’t care about the stigma of impeachment. He knew they were planning it before the election and, once he got elected, it was on.

Some of them even said so in public on Inauguration Day.

So, after the Mueller investigation came up empty, President Trump goaded them into doing it; he was the one who made sure that the second Ukraine call got into the hands of the “whistle-blower.” I theorized about this weeks ago.

He did it so that there would be a trial and, of course, during the trial, all eyes will be watching. That’s when all the things that our government has been doing to us will come out and those things will come out of the mouth of the President of the United States.

That’s when we’ll find out the height, weight, breadth and time length of all the graft and money-laundering that has been going on in the US government at least for the last 50 years, perpetrated by all three branches of government and by both parties.

Pelosi knows this and it’s why she’s holding up progress. The House voted in favor of impeachment and then promptly departed for Christmas break without sending the articles of impeachment to the senate, as is necessary for a true impeachment to occur.

She didn’t want the impeachment at all for this very reason. But her caucus is much dumber and more vocal than she is, so she had no choice. So, now she’ll play the role of Grand Impeacher of Trump and avoid sending the articles of impeachment to the senate for as long as she can. She knows it won’t last, but she’ll play Trump-slayer — figuratively speaking — while she can.

Her caucus and her constituency will buy this because they, too, care more  about looking tough against Trump, even while barely knowing anything about how the process is supposed to go. Fun fact: many Democrats thought that the House impeachment meant that President Trump was supposed to be immediately thrown out of office.

So, Pelosi will bask in the sunlight as Anti-Trump Champion while she can because she knows it will end soon.

How could she not know what’s coming? Thomas Wictor has been pointing out for months that President Trump plans to be the lone witness for the defense during the senate trial and once you see that and listen to what the president says about it, you’ll discover that he has warned the Democrats over and over again that this is what he will do.

But they are blind and deaf to their own error.

And here’s something interesting: the State of the Union address is coming up in February. On her way out the door for Christmas break, Speaker Pelosi invited President Trump to the House to give it, as if everything is normal.

Will that be the grand collision of powers? Will President Trump decide to spill the beans then?

This SOTU address will be an all-eyes-on-Trump affair, too, and I suspect that there will be a lot of misbehavior by the audience-in-attendance during that speech. The Speaker may be setting the President up for that, but I bet his set-up for her and for the rest of the Democrats will be grander, not to mention more effective than, say, Rashida Tlaib leading a screeching chorus of “IMPEACHED MOTHERF*CKER!!” (I hope they try that. Heh.)

Speaker Pelosi is correct in observing that President Trump will have the distinction that only two other presidents have. But I bet he will also have the distinction of showing the entire world how crooked those who claim to lead us and represent us have been for decades. If he does that, he’ll be by himself in history.

I think that he’ll do it and so does Madame Speaker, as do many of the other beak-wetters, past and present.

It’s why they have hated him from the beginning.

Juliette Akinyi Ochieng has been blogging since 2003 as baldilocks. Her older blog is here.  She published her first novel, Tale of the Tigers: Love is Not a Game in 2012.

Follow Juliette on Facebook, Twitter, MeWe, Patreon and Social Quodverum.

Hit Da Tech Guy Blog’s Tip Jar !

Or hit Juliette’s!

Update DTG: Instalanche, thanks Glenn. Nice to have you here, check out my five thoughts on impeachment, plus five key quotes from the Dem debate, let Jon test your knowledge of the Bill of Rights and let RH explain why we should call out Russia.

If you’re free Sunday from 6 AM to 8 AM EST listen to me guest host the Joe Mangiacotti show on the 50,000 watt WCRM AM 830 in Worcester MA and if you have any info on shoulder surgery either if you had surgery or used therapy instead let me know here.

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