Illinois Review

Center Square: Pritzker must provide discovery in COVID-19 challenge or face sanctions

By Greg Bishop | The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Gov. J.B. Pritzker's administration has a Wednesday deadline to start turning over documents justifying why it ordered restaurants to limit their operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Attorney Greg Earl, with Myers, Earl and Nelson P.C., represents Geneva-based FoxFire restaurant, which sued the governor last fall.

“FoxFire is continuing this fight because what happens if another strain, that’s what we’ve heard of, another strain from Europe or South Africa hits and the governor decides to put in another 30-day window,” Earl said.

The governor has already issued 12 months of executive orders related to the pandemic. His most recent order issued Feb. 5 expires March 7.

Earl said his client is taking this case all the way to the state supreme court because the governor’s powers of issuing consecutive 30-day executive orders need to be clear.

The rest is HERE. 

Di Leo: Ten Indisputable Facts for March, 2021

 

By John F Di Leo - 

The following are facts.  There are innumerable issues in the world of public policy which are opinions, but there are also hard facts.

Society often does itself a great disservice by conflating the two. Treating a fact as if it were mere opinion can be even worse than treating an opinion as if it were fact.

• The earth is not a static planet; our climates change, our weather changes, from day to day, from year to year, and from century to century, through no fault or effort of our own.  Sunspots and volcanic activity have a great deal of influence on the earth’s climate.  Human activity has almost none.  The very idea of manmade climate change being substantial enough to be perceptible or even noticeable is hogwash.

•  Petroleum is one of the greatest gifts that Divine Providence bestowed on this planet for our benefit.  Petroleum provides us with everything from energy to clothing, from laundry detergent to eyeglasses.  Almost everything we live with is based on petroleum in some way; it should be championed, not demonized.

22-year-old arrested for inciting rioting last summer in Chicago

CHICAGO — A Chicago man has been charged in federal court with inciting rioting involving multiple incidents of property damage and looting in the city last summer, as statement from the FBI says.

James Massey, 22, is charged with one count of using a facility of interstate commerce to incite a riot.  According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Massey on Aug. 9, 2020, posted multiple videos and messages on Facebook calling for people to travel to downtown Chicago to engage in property damage and looting, the complaint states.  In the early morning hours of Aug. 10, 2020, numerous individuals damaged and looted retail stores, predominantly in downtown Chicago and the city’s Near North Side.

Massey was arrested Tuesday morning on the federal charge.  He made an initial court appearance this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sunil R. Harjani and was ordered released on bond with electronic monitoring and subject to a curfew.  A preliminary hearing was scheduled for March 18, 2021, at 1:30 p.m.

Biden’s Assault on Gun Owners

For the duration of his 2020 presidential campaign—which at first appeared to be a long shot, especially given the far left’s vocal disdain for “old, white men”—Joe Biden ran on the promise that he would unite the country.

He repeatedly spoke about the importance of America’s institutions and norms, and to the many who ultimately voted for him, those were the halcyon days of this country that they longed for and that Biden promised them.

Unfortunately, it seems that more and more of his supporters are still patiently waiting for him to make good on his campaign promise.

More HERE

Where’s Weyermuller? At CPAC 2021 with President Trump in Orlando

By Mark Weyermuller - 

“The reports of my demise are greatly exaggerated” is a quote from Mark Twain that comes to my mind in reference to Donald Trump and the Republican Party.

The Make America Great Again (MAGA) and Keep America Great (KAG) movements are alive and kicking. President Trump set the record straight Sunday while telling his vision for the immediate future. 

I attended the Conservative Political Action Conference commonly known as CPAC this past week in Orlando, Florida. The conference is billed as "the largest gathering of conservatives in the world." 

This year, the theme was “America Uncanceled.” Free speech have been under attack for conservatives.

The highlight of the week was a speech by President Donald J. Trump. The speech solidified the fact that President Trump is the head of the Republican Party. He discussed the future of the GOP, issues with the past election results, formation of a new super PAC and fake news. The speech was full of optimism for the future. The former president also confirmed there will be no third party but only the GOP, with him at the lead.

Trump discussed his many accomplishments while pointing out the failures of the new Biden administration. At one point during his speech, the enthusiastic crowded starting chanting, “WE LOVE YOU.”  President Trump was moved and went off script to point out he had never heard this chant for other presidential speeches.

The conference was attended by over 4000 people. Several hotel employees said the CPAC convention here at the Hyatt Hotel was the largest gathering in the past 11 months.  They were very happy to be back to work. There are heavy restrictions for fear of COVID.  Multiple safety precautions were taken at the convention center and hotel.

While Florida has lifted most restrictions, in Orange County (run by Democrats) they continued to impose many rules at the conference.  Most people I’ve interviewed have no fear of COVID and were very annoyed by the mask policy. 

CPAC is a major networking event bringing together conservatives from across the country.  For me I’ve informally interviewed hundreds of people on topics including direction of the Republican Party, thoughts on the vaccine, censorship, and reopening America.

More to follow on these topics in my next article. Part of my reporting including photos (selfies) with everybody I meet. Here are some if the 700 photos I took, not all selfies. 

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem

Texas US Senator Ted Cruz

Why This Pastor Faithfully Confronted California’s Governor Over Shutting Down Churches

His church building in Sacramento is little more than a mile from the California State Capitol, where stringent COVID-19 restrictions originate, so the Rev. Steve Meister easily could make it there and back on his lunch break.

Meister, a Bay Area native and lifelong California resident, has lived in various regions of the state but has called Sacramento home for 12 years, since he became a pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church.

“I love California,” Meister says.

But like many other Californians, and especially fellow Christians, Meister has struggled with the restrictions placed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on ordinary life during the pandemic. 

More HERE

Thorner: Global Currency Reset on the Horizon

By Nancy Thorner - 

(Ms. Thorner expresses her opinions in her editorials, not necessarily those of Illinois Review) 

The theory behind the Global Currency Reset is that the US Dollar (USD) would lose its position as a reserve currency because the US is overly leveraged and becoming less competitive compared to resource-rich emerging economies.

After all, the value of a currency is a barometer of people’s trust in the government and its ability to repay debts. If there is no trust, then you don’t have money. What you have instead is a collection of portraits of long-dead presidents.  

According to  James Rickard , via the Daily Reckoning in his article of 2/26/21, The Great Reset Is Here.

Rickards goes on to explain:

You’re Being Gaslighted Every Day, But Don’t Know It

Today, we are living in a perpetual state of gaslighting. The reality is that what the media tell us is at complete odds with what we see with our own eyes. When we question the false reality being presented by the elite and the media, a fiction that is often is contradicted by what we see on video clips, and in the real world, we are vilified as deniers, racists, or bigots, or crazy and ill-informed.

You’re not racist. You’re not crazy…You’re being gaslighted.

Ten examples prevalent in today’s politically-correct world: HERE

What Is Identity Socialism?

There’s a new socialism in town. Its foundations are more cultural than economic. Dinesh D’Souza explains this major development in leftist thinking and its impact on your life.

In Memoriam: Andrew Breitbart at Right Nation 2010

CHICAGO - In 2010, the United Republican Fund and Illinois Review worked together with dozens of other groups to host an array of conservative, Tea Party-type personalities with hopes of energizing the Illinois conservatives. Among those that were featured that night in Hoffman Estates' Sears Centre were Glenn Beck, Andrew Breitbart and Americans for Prosperity's Tim Phillips - at the time, just becoming household names. 

Eight years ago today, Andrew Breitbart died after suffering what his family said was a sudden heart attack. It was a devastating blow to conservatives nationwide. But Breitbart's confident persona, his in-your-face style, set up the nation for a similar personality to run for president in 2016 - Donald J. Trump. 

Rest in peace, Andrew. We miss you. 

Di Leo: Raising a White Flag Before the First Shot is Fired

By John F. Di Leo - 

A couple of largely unknown Congressmen from California – Rep Jimmy Panetta (D, Beijing) and Rep Ted Lieu (D, Tehran) - assembled a couple dozen fellow Democrats and issued a letter last week, proposing that the nuclear codes were too important to entrust to the President alone. 

Citing contemporary rumors and slanders about past presidents’ illnesses or incapacitation, this group declared that we should revise the whole approach America takes to the “nuclear football.” They posit that no nuclear weapons should be used without such democratic steps as a Congressional declaration of war, and such fail-safes as a requirement that a whole team of leaders, including the Speaker of the House and the Vice President, should make the decision, not the President alone. 

This probably sounds reasonable on its face, and some Republicans have jumped on it as an admission that even Democrats finally recognize how far gone Mr. Biden is.  But that’s really not the issue here at all; the apparent admission of Mr. Biden’s growing dementia is just a smokescreen. 

Rossi: Gender Confusion Is Killing Kids and It’s Getting Worse

By Randy Rossi - 

A recent Gallup poll combined with a John Hopkin’s Hospital scientific study together prove that promoting LGBTQ “gender confusion” to young people dramatically increases suicide rates and mental disorders and should scare the heck out of every parent of a child or teenager as more and more of our schools and the media bombard young kids with this LGBTQ gender confusion. First, let’s separate this LGBTQ discussion from children and adults. If an adult decides that they are LGBTQ, that is their right. Gallop polls report that today roughly 5.6% of all adults think that they are LGBTQ although that is increasing at an alarming rate. Per those Gallup polls, in 2012 only 3.5% of adults thought that they were LGBTQ. That is a 60% increase in just 8 years! What is really scary is that science shows that a huge percentage of young people who think that they are LGBTQ change their minds when they reach adulthood. Why is that important? First because hard data shows that gender confusion among young people is increasing at an alarming rate. Second it is scary because LGBTQ kids/teenagers commit suicide at significantly higher rates than kids and teenagers that do not think they are LGBTQ and most of them would not be LGBTQ if they had lived long enough to be adults. Knowing it can kill kids, why are our schools and the media bombarding them with this gender confusion before they even know what sex is? Especially now that we know that 70-80% of young people who think that they are transgender find out that they aren’t when they become adults.

Even Our Elite Private Schools Going Woke

Some parents are paying $50,000 a year for their kids to be indoctrinated.

Colleges have been fertile fields of woke craziness for years now. Just a few recent examples: Middlebury College Professor Jonathan Miller-Lane claims that “To preserve American democracy, Whiteness must be demilitarized so that bodies designated as ‘White’ might become human.” A Washington and Lee University law professor insists that votes of black Americans should be counted twice as a form of “voter reparations.” Not to be outdone, students, alumni, and faculty at Assumption University, a Catholic school in Massachusetts, have attacked the school’s promotion of Catholic social teaching on marriage and abortion.

It’s no secret that the wacky world of woke has also made deep inroads into our nation’s k-12 public schools. But what about private k-12 schools? Like Covid-19, the woke pandemic does not stop at the schoolhouse door – not even at the gates of the chichi private ones. For example, Brentwood School is a top-rated private institution located in a tony part of West Los Angeles. Parents of the 1,000 k-12ers who attend the school fork over – depending on grade level – about $37,725 a year. The school boasts that all its students who graduate go on to attend a 4-year college.

More HERE

Biden Dismisses China Questions, Backs WHO

In one of his first acts after taking office on Jan. 20, President Joe Biden announced the United States was rejoining the World Health Organization (WHO).

The following morning at 4 a.m., Dr. Anthony Fauci used Zoom in Washington to assure WHO officials in Geneva that the U.S. was looking forward to working with the United Nation’s body on a variety of global health issues.

Both Donald Trump’s withdrawal from WHO and Biden’s recommitment to the organization took place in the long shadow cast by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was WHO’s statement from mid-January 2020 that COVID-19 could not be transmitted from human to human and the organization’s close ties to China, the source of the virus, that prompted Trump to freeze U.S. funding for WHO and announce on May 29 that the U.S. would terminate its membership.  WHO also condemned Trump’s decision to slap a travel ban on China, a move later credited by Fauci with saving American lives.

More HERE

Texas’s Blackouts Are The Result Of Unreliable ‘Green’ Energy

The blackouts, which have left as many as four million Texans trapped in the cold, show the numerous chilling consequences of putting too many eggs in the renewable basket. Jason Isaac writes:

As Texans reel from ongoing blackouts at the worst possible time, during a nationwide cold snap that has sent temperatures plummeting to single digits, the news has left people in other states wondering: How could this happen in Texas, the nation’s energy powerhouse?

But policy experts have seen this moment coming for years. The only surprise is that the house of cards collapsed in the dead of winter, not the toasty Texas summers that usually shatter peak electricity demand records.

Thorner: The Gaslighting of Americans

Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman in 1944 movie "Gaslight" 

By Nancy Thorner -

Are Americans being "gaslighted" when told that the presidential election was on the up and up, that to question the results means you’re a Fascist who should lose your job if you happen to have one or if you happen to have one or be knocked off social media because you’re a threat to democracy?

The term "gaslighting" originates in the systematic psychological manipulation of a woman by her husband in Patrick Hamilton’s 1938 stage play Gas Light and the film adaptations released in 1940 and 1944.

In the story, the husband attempts to convince his wife and others that she is insane by manipulating small elements in their environment and insisting that she is mistaken, misremembering things, or delusional when she points out these changes. The play’s title alludes to how the abusive husband slowly dims the gaslights in their home each evening while pretending nothing has changed to make his wife doubt her own perceptions. The wife repeatedly asks her husband to confirm that the lights are dimmer, but in defiance of reality, he keeps insisting that the lights are the same and that she must be going insane.

What Are Your Kids Learning in School?

Has the leftist indoctrination so prevalent in college reached down into our elementary and high schools, too? If so, what can concerned parents do about it? Jill Simonian, Director of Outreach for PragerU Resources for Educators and Parents, has answers.

Biden Stealing Trump's MAGA Message

On those rare occasions in 2020 when candidate Joe Biden emerged from his basement to stumble through a campaign stump speech, a common theme was that his administration would do more to use the vast spending powers of the federal government to help American businesses.

According to Biden, previous presidents have largely failed to take advantage of existing laws meant to give preference to U.S. businesses in the federal procurement of goods and services.

The political advantages of Biden’s "Made in America" commitments were obvious. No president in modern U.S. history has done more than Donald Trump to make "America First" the standard upon which all policies should be judged.

More HERE

Six Principles for State Legislators Seeking to Protect Free Speech on Social Media Platforms

Political free speech in the United States is under attack. Tech media giants who own and control virtually all social media platforms available to Americans are working together to silence groups with whom they do not agree.

Read the Six Principles HERE

Liberal Magazine The Nation Calls Climate Poser Bill Gates a ‘Super Emitter’

Bill Gates is a “super emitter” of carbon dioxide, with one of the largest carbon footprints in the world, according to an article published yesterday by the liberal magazine The Nation.

The Nation article is titled, “Bill Gates, Climate Warrior. And Super Emitter.” The article observes, “According to a 2019 academic study looking at extreme carbon emissions from the jet-setting elite, Bill Gates’s extensive travel by private jet likely makes him one of the world’s top carbon contributors—a veritable super emitter.”

The Nation quoted the academic study: “‘Affluent individuals can emit several ten thousand times the amount of greenhouse gases attributed to the global poor,“ the paper noted. ‘This raises the question as to whether celebrity climate advocacy is even desirable. As some authors suggest, celebrity climate advocates contribute to controversy, undermining efforts to politically confront climate change.’”

More HERE