Illinois Review

Paul Harvey: One of Chicago's Great Broadcasters

By Mark Rhoads

Three years ago I posted an short tribute to Paul Harvey here on Illinois Review as part of the Illinois Hall of Fame series I was then writing often.  Mr. Harvey died on Saturday, Feb. 28 at the age of 90. In the post I tried a little to immitate the way Paul sounded on radio but without much success in matching his distinctive style.  CLICK HERE to read that IR post from 2006.

One story I can share just for fun comes from my friend James R. Evans who was President of L.G. Evans Machine Tool in Lombard and was president of the Illinois Conservative Union from 1974 to 1981.  Jim and his wife Dori knew Paul and Angel Harvey as social friends through the Chicago Golf and Country Club.  I told Jim that I expected Sen. Paul Laxalt (R-Nevada) to come to Du Page County in the fall of 1975 and Jim suggested we invite both Laxalt and Harvey to lunch at the Country Club and they both came. 

Innumeracy in American Journalism

By Mark Rhoads

Social psychologists often bemoan the dangers of illiteracy or semi-literacy in America.  Its true that the ability to read and write and understand English is critical to getting a good job and making a living.  But few people talk about the dangers of "innumeracy" or the lack of ability to use and understand math and numbers at a basic level.  It does not matter if you are left brained or right brained, basic understanding of numbers is a necessary skill that too many lack starting with journalists. 

Chicago Tea Party starts to simmer

Go to Chicago Tea Party on Facebook.com

Freedom Folks' take Chicago protestors' pulse

Freedom Folks Jake Jacobson did an incredible job on this video from yesterday's Chicago Tea Party..  This is a must see and something you need to share with everyone you know.

Chicago News Bench photo journals Friday's Tea Party

Chicago News Bench's Tom Mannis has put together a terrific slideshow of 164 photos taken at Friday's Chicago Tea Party.  The protest, organized by don'tgo.com and the United Republican Fund, was a huge success and unveiled a growing number of unhappy taxpayers.  Great job with the photos, Tom ...

Take a moment to check out the attendance, enthusiasm on a 25 degree gray Chicago day. 

The signs say it all... Chicago News Bench

More from Chicago's Tea Party

Hill Buzz photos HERE

Marathon Pundit photos and thoughts HERE

Forty cities hosted Chicago Tea Parties yesterday throughout the nation...HERE

Chicago Tea Party featured on Fox News' Neil Cavuto

The first of several more posts coming over the weekend about this growing movement ... Were you at Chicago's Tea Party? Are you mad as hell?

Do we need a Senate quota?

by Sam Pierce

Are Senator Roland Burris’ supporters actually supporters of the senator? Not if they share the opinion of his media consultant, Delmarie Cobb.

From AP News via: TheTelegraph:

CHICAGO (AP) — The black community should help rehabilitate U.S. Sen. Roland Burris’ battered image so he can be elected to a six-year term, then work to find an African-American successor, according to talking points prepared by the senator’s new media consultant.

In a note sent to a member of the City Council’s Black Caucus and later posted on an Internet blog, Delmarie Cobb made it clear she believes the main objective of the black community, regardless of how some might feel about Burris, should be to keep a black person in President Barack Obama’s former Senate seat.

Burris is the only black U.S. senator.

Remembering William F. Buckley, Jr. - 1925-2008

Sadly, it was one year ago today that the man who played such an instrumental role - if not the ultimate role - in the building of the conservative movement passed away at the age of 82.

That man is, of course, William F. Buckley, Jr.

It might have been George Will who said it best of Buckley's vital importance as the impetus of the modern conservative movement:

"All great biblical stories begin with Genesis,” George Will wrote in National Review in 1980. “And before there was Ronald Reagan, there was Barry Goldwater, and before there was Barry Goldwater there was National Review, and before there was National Review there was Bill Buckley with a spark in his mind, and the spark in 1980 has become a conflagration.”

Giving Drunken Sailors a Bad Name

By Matt Gauntt

A few days ago, the US House of Representatives passed a $410 Billion spending bill on top of the roughly $800 Billion "Stimulus Bill" that they passed a couple weeks ago.  I spent some time going through the earmarks that are listed.  Taxpayers for Common Sense has a set of downloadable files that outlines the various earmarks.  I only went through two of the eleven files, but here are a few of the gems that I found.

• $1,088,000 for the Animal Waste Management Research Laboratory in Bowling Green, KY

• $638,000 for Foundry Sand By-Products Utilization Research, Beltsville, MD.

• Sorghum Research, but not just one location.  We are funding $246,000 in Lubbock, TX, $452,000 in Bushland, TX and $135,000 in Little Rock, AR.  Is it too much to ask that worthless research only gets conducted in one location?

• Senator Harkin in Iowa got $1,791,000 for Swine Odor and Manure Management Research.  I wonder if this research will help get rid of the stench coming out of Washington DC with all of the pork in this bill.