Tag: certified

DAILY HERALD
— Roskam meets in closed-door session with students on gun issues – Scott C. Morgan (DIERSEN: If you were one of Roskam’s constituents and you had a closed-door session with him, what would you urge him to do? I would urge him to introduce, advance, and pass legislation that would promote:

– individual responsibility,
– traditional marriage and traditional family,
– homeownership,
– right to life,
– compliance with America’s immigration laws,

– public safety,
– First and Second Amendment rights,
– equal opportunity (no race, gender, or age based preference giving),
– avoidance of booze, gambling, pot, and other vices, and

– all the planks in the Illinois Republican Party platform.)

http://www.dailyherald.com/news/20180505/roskam-meets-in-closed-door-session-with-students-on-gun-issues
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Among the issues discussed were universal background checks, whether teachers should be armed in classrooms and mental health issues. Since media were not invited, some of the six students who originally requested the meeting with Roskam held a media conference call afterward. “What we were looking for from Mr. Roskam was to basically get an insight of whether he had taken any action on school safety and common sense gun reform,” said Jeromel Lara, a junior at Glenbard North. “It wasn’t very politically divisive,” said Caleb Laschinski, a Carol Stream senior at Wheaton Academy who found out about the Saturday meeting from a friend who was a former Roskam intern. “We all saw that there definitely should be reform and laws passed and we need to see some action on the part of lawmakers — whatever those actions should be is where we differed.” Contacted by phone after the meeting, Laschinski said he was surprised by Roskam’s reluctance to support arming teachers — though Roskam did clarify that he wanted individual school districts to make the call on that issue. “I hope the students left the meeting knowing that we found common ground and feeling like the meeting was as productive as I believe it was,” Roskam said in a prepared statement. “I encourage these students to stay engaged and informed on issues that they are passionate about like gun safety and am pleased that we were able to connect on such an important subject.” While many of the students were glad that Roskam agreed to the Saturday meeting, they still wished he would have done so in a more public forum. “It’s an issue that affects the whole community,” Lara said. “Not just students going to school, but all of us.”)
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD: HARD COPY ARTICLE TITLE: Trump at play in 4 states Tuesday primaries focus on forces for and against – AP (DIERSEN: To help them win the November 6, 2018 election, will Republicans Rauner, Sanguinetti, Helland, Harold, Senger, Dodge, Shimkus, Roskam, Hultgren, Kinzinger, Davis, Bost, LaHood, Brady, Durkin, etc. ask Republican Trump to campaign for them?)
http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20180505/news/305059967/
— TRAGIC: Mormon support for gay marriage gradually grows – AP
http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20180504/news/305049886/

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— The hunt for Pancho Villa in Mexico — and the massive deployment of National Guard troops – Ron Grossman (DIERSEN: What do today’s citizens of Mexico, many millions of whom are in America legally or illegally, say about Pancho Villa and America’s response to Pancho Villa?)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-perspec-flash-pancho-villa-mexico-border-troops-0506-20180430-story.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: But each of those actions was small potatoes compared with what happened in 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson mobilized more than 100,000 National Guard members for duty on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande — plus 14,000 more regular U.S. Army troops ready to serve as a mobile strike force in Mexico. The Mexican Revolution, which had begun in 1910, had lapped over to U.S. soil, and on March 9, 1916, Gen. Francisco “Pancho” Villa attacked Columbus, N.M., burning the town and killing 19 Americans. The Tribune reported that, after the battle, a copy of a letter was found that Villa had sent to a rival revolutionary leader. “I shall not expend another shell on brother Mexicans,” Villa wrote in the letter, “but will prepare and organize to attack Americans on their own soil and let them know that Mexico is a land of the free and the tomb of thorn less crowns and traitors.” The incident and the letter put enormous pressure on Wilson. The president had been tiptoeing through the tangled web of Mexican politics, but the press demanded action. The New York Times thundered: “We cannot afford to make this latest Mexican outrage a matter for extended parley and negotiation.” The St. Louis Post-Dispatch seconded the motion: “Hesitation in this crisis would be fatal.” The Philadelphia Inquirer crowed: “President Wilson’s pet bandit is not at all grateful.” In fact, Wilson had momentarily backed Villa during the incessant power struggles of the Mexican revolutionary leaders. “Why has never been explained adequately,” the Tribune noted, adding its own theory. Wilson’s secretary of state, William Jennings Bryan, being an evangelical Christian, favored Villa “after being informed, though incorrectly, that the bandit neither smoked or drank.” In the face of the public outcry, Wilson authorized “a punitive expedition” to pursue Villa, who had crossed back into Mexico. In the deployment that followed, the Illinois National Guard was the first to reach the border. Its mobilization mirrored the social order of the day. A North Shore artillery unit was known as “the millionaire battery,” having been formed by members of the swank University Club. Noting its initial encampment en route to the border, a Tribune headline read: “University Men Members of National Guard Will Take Cannon Through Evanston To Golf Club.” Robert McCormick, the Tribune’s publisher, was a major in a National Guard cavalry unit and wrote to a U.S. senator from Illinois pleading for better pay for the soldiers, many of whom he said were “working for the government for criminally small compensation.” “Isn’t it about time to bring up in congress the question of adequately paying our soldiers?” he wrote. Rich or poor, Illinois citizen-soldiers arrived in Texas inadequately equipped, as one guardsman wrote in a letter passed on to the Tribune. “The tentage was not complete,” he noted. “Some tents were unserviceable. The poles did not fit.”)
— HARD COPY ARTICLE TITLE: Pesky fact-checkers are ruining Trump’s greatest talent: Lying – Rex Huppke (DIERSEN: What are your fact checking qualifications? While I worked for GAO 1980-1997, the last 11 years of which at GS-13 Step 1-10 levels, currently $96,403-$125,325, I increasingly worked as a referencer, that is, as a fact checker. That work required assuring the accuracy and support for each and every word, number, table, graph, chart, conclusion, opinion, and recommendation in GAO reports. I worked for IRS 1971-1980, the last 5 1/2 years of which at the GS-12 Step 1-5 levels, currently $81,071-$91,880. My other fact checking qualifications include my becoming a Forensic Accountant in 1997, a Certified Fraud Examiner in 1990, a licensed CPA in 1981, a Certified Internal Auditor in 1981, and a CPA in 1979.)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/huppke/ct-met-trump-giuliani-stormy-huppke-20180503-story.html
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD: HARDCOPY ARTICLE TITLE: Chicago falling short in attracting black officers Push for 1,000 new cops draws applicants, but many don’t take the test – Dan Hinkel and Jennifer Smith Richards (DIERSEN: My critics/opponents, their operatives, and their dupes have always hinted/implied/argued/shouted a) that instead of me, the Post Office should have hired a Black in 1966, b) that the Post Office should gotten rid of me much sooner than it did so that a Black could have my job, c) that instead of me, IRS should have hired a Black in 1971, d) that instead of me, IRS should have promoted Blacks in 1972, 1973, and 1974, e) that instead of me, GAO should have hired a Black in 1980, f) that instead of me, GAO should have promoted a Black in 1986, and g) that GAO should have gotten rid of me much sooner than it did so that a Black could have my job and my preferred corner office. I should write a book about my critics/opponents, their operatives, and their dupes who make it clear that they believe a) that all government employees are lazy, stupid, and even worse things, b) that minorities and females are inferior and therefore need preferential treatment, c) that government is the “employer of last resort,” and therefore, d) that all government employees should be minorities and/or females.)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-chicago-police-hiring-20180503-story.html
— As a grad student and a mom, I can’t find affordable child care – Lakrista Cummings, student, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (DIERSEN: Raising children is tremendously time-consuming and expensive. According to my critics/opponents, their operatives, and their dupes, I have had a tremendous unfair advantage in life because my wife and I gave up trying to have children, we did not adopt, and we did not become foster parents. According to them, if my wife and I had gotten married sooner than we did and if we had children, I never would have been able to earn a) a job-related bachelor’s degree when I was 21 in 1970 and job-related master’s degrees when I was 27, 31, and 48, b) job-related professional certifications when I was 30, 32, 41, 45, 47, and 48, and c) a job-related professional license when I was 32. We never would have been able to buy new cars, buy real estate, go on vacations, buy collector cars, save for retirement, etc.)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/letters/ct-childcare-graduate-school-uiuc-work-requirement-20180504-story.html

WBBM NEWS RADIO
— Revelers Pack Columbus Drive For Polish Constitution Day; Rauner Teases Business Potential In Poland
https://wbbmnews.radio.com/articles/news/revelers-pack-columbus-drive-polish-constitution-dayrauner-teases-business-potential

CHAMPAIGN/URBANA NEWS GAZETTE
— State senator Sam McCann’s lawsuit alleges facts that are in serious dispute – Jim Dey (DIERSEN: Undisputed facts in Diersen v. GAO included a) I charged that my Democrat GAO superiors threatened to take serious adverse action against me if did not take their early retirement “offer” in 1997 when I was 49 years old, b) I charged that my Democrat GAO superiors gave me unfair performance expectations and appraisals, c) they always ranked me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance purposes, d) they did not promote me beyond GS-13, e) they got rid of my mentor in 1987, d) they kept me off audits of IRS for all but 3 of the almost 18 years that I worked for GAO, and e) they forced me to take an $19,203 pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS to GAO in 1980.)
http://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/columns/2018-05-06/jim-dey-state-senators-lawsuit-alleges-facts-are-serious-dispute.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: For instance, Statehouse officials say that McCann only forfeited services available to GOP caucus members, like assistance with communications and photography and staff analysis of pending legislation. They say he retains office funding and other legislator rights, including voting, representing constituents and seeking assistance from offices that write bills and perform research. That led to the following exchange this week between McCann and a TV reporter. Reporter: “You still have the right to vote. You still have the right to debate on the (Senate) floor. You still have the Legislative Reference Bureau. How is your power as a legislator in any way void from what it was two weeks ago?” McCann: “I think the way you phrased that question shows me you are not an honest arbiter in this process. Obviously, you’re with the other folks in this process.”)
— Davis must be willing to listen – JOHN MURPHY (DIERSEN: “Listening to” is code for “surrendering to.”)
http://www.news-gazette.com/opinion/guest-commentary/2018-05-06/guest-commentary-davis-must-be-willing-listen.html

QUAD CITY TIMES
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Your past predicts your future. I you came to America illegally, if you stay in America illegally, and/or if you have brought others to America illegally, you have demonstrated gross disrespect for America, for its citizens, and for the rule of law.
http://qctimes.com/opinion/columnists/cepeda-immigrants-don-t-drive-crime/article_e7d23c44-4161-566d-adc9-69aff7535073.html

QUAD CITIES ONLINE
— Sen. Anderson says pay raises are immoral for lawmakers – SARAH HAYDEN (DIERSEN: Have you gotten pay raises? While I worked for the federal government 1966-1969 and 1971-1997, because of COLAs, step increases, and promotions, my pay increased every year except 1980 when I took a $19,203 (26%) pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS to GAO. In my defense, I earned a) a job-related bachelor’s degree when I was 21 in 1970 and job-related master’s degrees when I was 27, 31, and 48, b) job-related professional certifications when I was 30, 32, 41, 45, 47, and 48, and c) a job-related professional license when I was 32.)
http://qconline.com/news/local/sen-anderson-says-pay-raises-are-immoral-for-lawmakers/article_2b6e41a6-fe16-596e-9296-bc05097e607f.html

BREITBART
— Republican Gubernatorial Showdown Reveals Popularity of Opposing CA Sanctuary State Laws – MICHELLE MOONS
http://www.breitbart.com/california/2018/05/05/republican-gubernatorial-showdown-reveals-popularity-of-opposing-ca-sanctuary-state-laws/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Republican candidates battling it out in the race to become California’s next governor may have provided insight at their spring convention into the enthusiasm among California Republicans for opposing “sanctuary” laws. Opposition to California laws that protect illegal aliens. “Sanctuary” laws, brought out vibrant energy from the crowds as Republican gubernatorial candidates John Cox and Travis Allen both espoused support for ending the new law. Cox went so far as to say it was the issue he would make a priority on his first day in office.)

HOT AIR
— Why Are Attempted Border Crossings Spiking Again? – JAZZ SHAW
https://hotair.com/archives/2018/05/05/attempted-border-crossings-spiking/

NBC NEWS
— McCain doesn’t want Trump at funeral, friends tell White House McCain, who has been battling brain cancer, and Trump have had a turbulent relationship. The senator wants Vice President Mike Pence to attend instead. – Rebecca Shabad
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/mccain-doesn-t-want-trump-funeral-friends-tell-white-house-n871641

NEW YORK TIMES
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Ever-increasingly, anti-Republicans promote promiscuity, abortion, and LGBTQ activity.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/05/opinion/sunday/the-new-era-of-abstinence.html
— The Upside of Envy – Gordon Marino (DIERSEN: My Democrat superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates in the federal government promoted envy big time. They stressed to my superiors, supervisors, coworkers, and subordinates a) who were veterans that I had avoided the draft; b) who had not been promoted to GS-9, GS-11, GS-12, or GS-13 that I had been promoted to GS-9 in 1972 when I was 23 years old, to GS-11 in 1973, to GS-12 in 1974, and to GS-13 in 1986; c) who had less Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS) credit than I had that I already had almost 3 years of CSRS credit in 1969 and that I had almost 30 years of CSRS credit in 1997; d) who had not bought new cars that I had bought new cars in 1966, 1967, 1968, 1971, etc.; e) who had not bought real estate that I had bought real estate in 1972, 1974, 1976, 1978, and 1984; f) who were not married that I got married in 1978; g) who had spouses who did not have income that my wife did; h) who did not have good health that I did; i) who were saving little or nothing for their retirement that my wife and I were saving a lot for our retirement; j) who had children who were causing them problems that my wife and I did not have children; k) who stated that they could not afford to buy computers that I had bought many computers; l) who did not have the option to retire until they were 55, if not 62, that I had the option to take early retirement in 1993 when I was 45; m) who did not have the option to take many vacations with their spouse in conjunction with their business trips to luxury resorts that I did 1978-1992; n) who did not have job-related master’s degrees that I had earned job-related master’s degrees in 1976, 1980, and 1997; o) who did not have any job-related professional certifications that I had earned job-related professional certifications in 1979, 1981, 1990, 1994, 1996, and 1997; p) who did not have any job-related professional licenses that I had earned one in 1981; q) etc.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/04/opinion/upside-envy.html
— FRONT PAGE WITH PICTURE OF MCCAIN & BIDEN: At His Ranch, John McCain Shares Memories and Regrets With Friends – Jonathan Martin  (DIERSEN: I should write a book about all things that my critics/opponents want me to regret.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/05/us/politics/john-mccain-arizona.html

LOS ANGELES TIMES
— ‘Dreamer’ sues Bank of America after he was denied a wealth advisory job – KARTIKAY MEHROTRA (DIERSEN: What factors have discouraged employers from hiring, retaining, and/or promoting you? For me they include a) my being draft bait until I was 22 1/2 years old in 1971; b) my not being a Democrat or a RINO; c) my not being a minority; d) my not being a female; e) my not being a veteran; f) my not painting myself as being a yes-man; g) my complaining about political affiliation discrimination; h) my complaining about reverse discrimination; i) my complaining about age discrimination; j) my becoming an active member in a class action lawsuit that charged my employer with reverse discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation in 1988 when I was 40 years old; k) my Democrat GAO superiors forced me to take their early retirement “offer” in 1997 when I was 49 years old, gave me unfair performance expectations and appraisals, always ranked me in the bottom half of my coworkers for pay-for-performance purposes, did not promote me beyond GS-13, got rid of my mentor in 1987, kept me off audits of IRS for all but 3 of the almost 18 years that I worked for GAO, and forced me to take an $19,203 pay cut in today’s dollars to transfer from IRS to GAO in 1980; l) my Democrat IRS superiors did not promote me beyond GS-12, disallowed my education deductions in 1978, got rid of my mentor in 1975, and disallowed my partial day per diem claims in 1974; and m) my Democrat Post Office superiors forced me resign in 1969 and disallowed my sick leave requests in 1969 and 1968.)
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-daca-dreamer-discrimination-20180503-story.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Daniel Marques had hoped to parlay his “Dreamer” work permit into a job with Bank of America Corp. Instead, he’s suing the firm for discrimination. Marques, who is from Brazil, claims his application to work in the bank’s wealth management department in New Jersey was denied after he told a vice president who interviewed him in 2016 that he’d be required to renew his work authorization under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Bill Halldin, a spokesman for Bank of America, said the company would be reviewing Marques’ claims as the bank “does not have any prohibition on hiring individuals with DACA status.” The complaint was filed Thursday as a class action by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), which said it seeks to represent other immigrants nationwide with renewable work permits rejected for jobs with the second-largest U.S. bank. Marques has a similar complaint against Allied Wealth Partners, which also declined to hire him while he was hunting for a job in the spring of 2016. MALDEF separately sued Procter & Gamble Co. on behalf of another so-called Dreamer. A company’s refusal to hire a candidate because their work authorization papers will ultimately expire “may constitute illegal discrimination,” according to the Department of Homeland Security.)

POST AND COURIER
— Consultant: Look for dual-income, college-educated homeowners as a fast-growing group – Jim Parker
https://www.postandcourier.com/business/real_estate/jim-parker/consultant-look-for-dual-income-college-educated-homeowners-as-a/article_dc018e00-4ccb-11e8-ba4b-3f7d01667d35.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: According to the six-year-old NAR survey, 65 percent of all buyers are married couples. That was up from 58 percent for married buyers. Meanwhile, Brookings last year noted income and graduation rates in an article on the “new face of American homeownership.” The writer Jenny Schuetz says new homeowners outstripped renters in educational attainment and income. New homeowners’ $69,000 median income was close to double that of renters and slightly higher than established owners. Also, nearly 40 percent of owners have a college degree, compared with 26 percent for tenants. “These differences are not surprising, given that households with higher, more stable incomes and more assets can more easily accumulate down payments and qualify for mortgages,” she says.)

METRO WEST DAILY NEWS
— Are you worried about DNA privacy? – Erika D. Smith (DIERSEN: What is your national origin? During the 1840s and 1850s, all my ancestors immigrated to northeast Illinois from what is now Germany. Of course, needless-to-say, my critics/opponents, their operatives, and their dupes have always used that against me. In my defense, I stress that my grandfather on my father’s side fought the Germans during WWI, that my uncles on my mother’s side fought the Germans during WWII, and that my father would have fought the Germans during WWII if he had not been 4-F. Further, according to http://dna.ancestry.com, my ancestry is 33% Europe West, 28% Scandinavia, 24% Great Britain, 11% Ireland, 2% Europe East, 1% Finland/Northwest Russia, and 1% Italy/Greece.)
http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/opinion/20180506/smith-are-you-worried-about-dna-privacy

QUATZ
— Does it make financial sense to get married? – Preeti Varathan (DIERSEN: Government should encourage marriage and homeownership. Roskam should increase the $10,000 SALT cap to $20,000 for married filing jointly.)
https://qz.com/1262993/does-it-make-financial-sense-to-get-married/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Should you marry when you’re young or old? Keep your marriage open or closed? Change your name, or not? Should you marry at all? (Oprah doesn’t think so.) These are questions many couples grapple with, but marriage also comes with financial consequences. It can significantly alter your taxes, student loans, and chances of getting a mortgage, among other things. So don’t wait to think about “for richer, for poorer” until it’s time to take the vows. Here are three key financial factors to consider when you’re deciding whether to tie the knot. Taxes There’s a widely held belief that marriage comes with tax perks: namely, that a married couple’s combined tax bill will fall. But it’s also possible that you and your partner could face a marriage penalty, paying more in taxes on your combined income than if you both stayed single.)

CHEAT SHEET
— The Vast Differences Between Donald Trump and Barack Obama’s Marriage Reveals More Than You Think – Meg Dowell
https://www.cheatsheet.com/health-fitness/the-vast-differences-between-donald-trump-and-barack-obamas-marriage-reveals-more-than-you-think.html/

TORONTO STAR
— Too many men: Examining the gender imbalances of India and China Decades of selective births have left the two countries with a delicate issue: What to do with 70 million lonely men? – SIMON DENYER and ANNIE GOWEN
https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2018/05/05/too-many-men-examining-the-gender-imbalances-of-india-and-china.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Stagnant lives: Village life and mental health. Among men, loneliness and depression are widespread. Villages are emptying out. Men are learning to cook and perform other chores long relegated to women. The desperate effort to land a bride: Housing prices and savings rates. Bachelors are furiously building houses in China to attract wives, and prices are soaring. But otherwise they are not spending, and that in turn fuels China’s huge trade surplus. In India, there is the opposite effect: Because brides are scarce, families are under less pressure to save for expensive dowries. Importing a bride: Human trafficking. Trafficking of brides is on the rise. Foreign women are being recruited and lured to China, effectively creating similar imbalances in China’s neighbors. Taking a stand over harassment: Public safety. With the increase in men has come a surge in sexual crime in India and concerns about a rise in other crimes in both countries. Harassment of schoolgirls in India has in some towns sparked an effort to push back — but at a cost of restricting them to more protected lives.)