December 28 Morning Edition

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— You still can’t smoke weed and drive — but tests to prove impairment murky The state law legalizing weed authorizes a study to find the best way to enforce laws against driving while stoned. – Sam Charles
https://chicago.suntimes.com/cannabis/2019/12/27/21038162/pot-recreational-marijuana-illinois-driving-dui-pot-cannabis-impaired-police

CHICAGO TRIBUNE
— FRONT PAGE TOP OF FOLD WITH BIG COLOR PICTURE: DIERSEN HEADLINE: Ever-increasingly, Trump-haters promote illegal immigration, amnesty, and open borders. 
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-family-reunification-holidays-20191228-6j4lckt2mzc7tgupsagyue7o7q-story.html

ALTON DAILY NEWS
— Census Will Show Illinois Population Decline – Cole Lauterbach 
http://www.altondailynews.com/news/details.cfm?clientid=17&id=296357#.Xgde5SN_OM8

SUBURBAN LIFE
— Young political activists dedicated to understanding residents’ needs – F. AMANDA TUGADE
https://www.mysuburbanlife.com/2019/12/23/young-political-activists-dedicated-to-understanding-residents-needs/azbh1ey/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Cicero is an industrial neighborhood tucked at the border of Chicago’s West Side. It’s home to more than 82,000 residents, and almost 90% of the population is Latino. Rodriguez, 31, a Cicero native, said the town has undergone – and is still going through – many changes, from economic development to its demographics. And there are various issues that fall under these large umbrellas.)

NPR ILLINOIS
— In A Month, Michael Bloomberg Has Spent More Than $100 Million On Campaign Ads – ASMA KHALID
https://www.nprillinois.org/post/billionaires-bring-big-money-democratic-primary#stream/0

WJBC
— AAA: Driving high on marijuana is dangerous, illegal – Neil Doyle
http://www.wjbc.com/2019/12/27/aaa-driving-high-on-marijuana-is-dangerous-illegal/

MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— IL-14: Catalina Lauf Takes Aim at “deep swamp IL rivals”
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2019/12/27/il-14-catalina-lauf-takes-aim-at-deep-swamp-il-rivals/ 
— IL-14: Final Days of 4th Quarter Fundraising
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2019/12/27/il-14-final-days-of-4th-quarter-fundraising/ 
— IL-06/IL-14: Democrats Protection Plan for Impeachment Votes
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2019/12/28/il-06-il-14-democrats-protection-plan-for-impeachment-votes/ 
— Bob Miller’s Reply to Interrogatories at Odds with Patrick Kenneally’s Report
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2019/12/28/bob-millers-reply-to-interrogatories-at-odds-with-patrick-kenneallys-report/

ILLINOIS FAMILY INSTITUTE
— Did You Know? Pro-Family Trump Administration Victories – David E. Smith 
https://illinoisfamily.org/federal/pro-family-trump-administration-victories/

WASHINGTON TIMES
— Nearly all Illinois metro areas see lower unemployment – AP
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2019/dec/28/nearly-all-illinois-metro-areas-see-lower-unemploy/

WASHINGTON EXAMINER
— Elizabeth Warren’s fibbing is forming a pattern – Editorial
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/editorials/elizabeth-warrens-lies-are-a-pattern
— Michael Moore predicts 2020 Trump win because of ‘rabid’ supporters – John Gage
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/michael-moore-predicts-2020-trump-win-because-of-rabid-supporters

FOX NEWS
— Pelosi keeps hold on impeachment articles in hopes of leveraging more favorable terms in Senate trial
https://www.yahoo.com/news/pelosi-keeps-hold-impeachment-articles-154545245.html

AMERICAN THINKER
— Another lie: Elizabeth Warren called out by her own brother for claiming their dad was ‘a janitor’ – Monica Showalter
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/12/another_lie_elizabeth_warren_called_out_by_her_own_brother_for_claiming_their_dad_was_a_janitor.html
— Fake News at the OK Corral – Brian C. Joondeph
https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2019/12/fake_news_at_the_ok_corral.html

ADDICTION CENTER
— General Drug Slang
https://www.addictioncenter.com/drugs/drug-alcohol-slang/

ASK HEALTH NEWS
— ‘Marijuana is not harmless’ – Mariyam Tanveer
https://askhealthnews.com/5671/marijuana-is-not-harmless-a-new-campaign-about-the-weld-county-health-department-to-raise-awareness-about-marijuana-usage/

POLICE ONE
— Illinois officers undergo drug recognition expertise training ahead of new marijuana laws Specially trained officers, which make up 160 of the state’s 40,000 LEOs, use a 12-step evaluation process to detect intoxication not measurable on tests like breathalyzers – Megan Jones
https://www.policeone.com/drug-interdiction-narcotics/articles/ill-officers-undergo-drug-recognition-expertise-training-ahead-of-new-marijuana-laws-pYfhNeHJCmSmJ7FB/

BREITBART
— Republican Outreach to Black Community Must Be New Year’s Resolution – Charlie Kirk
https://www.breitbart.com/2020-election/2019/12/27/charlie-kirk-republican-outreach-to-black-community-must-be-new-years-resolution/

PJ MEDIA
— Germans Think Trump Is More Dangerous Than Kim Jong-Un – RICK MORAN (DIERSEN: Will anti-German Americans become less anti-German Americans because of this?)
https://pjmedia.com/trending/poll-tds-infected-germans-think-trump-more-dangerous-than-kim-jong-un/

NEWS BUSTERS
— ‘New Yorker’ Editor: Evangelicals Back Trump Due to ‘Xenophobia’ and ‘Nativism’ – Ryan Foley
https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/ryan-foley/2019/12/27/new-yorker-editor-evangelicals-support-trump-because-shared-cultural

TPM
— The Evangelical War Over Impeachment Has Been A Long Time Coming – Nicole Lafond
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/whats-going-on-evangelicals-impeachment-rift

NATIONAL REVIEW
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: A Trump-hater says “Trump Isn’t a Nazi. He’s a Failure.”
https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/12/trump-presidency-democrats-squander-case-against-him/
— Who Must Protect the Ukraine-Trump Whistleblower? – Stephen M. Kohn (DIERSEN: While I worked for the federal government for almost 30 years, I blew the whistle on political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation. My Democrat superiors took adverse actions against me because they knew that I was not “protected.” They knew that overwhelmingly, those who dominated the Illinois Republican Party (IRP) were anti-conservative and favored political affiliation discrimination, reverse discrimination, age discrimination, and retaliation. I should write a book about those who have dominated the IRP since 1966.) 
https://www.natlawreview.com/article/who-must-protect-ukraine-trump-whistleblower
(FROM THE ARTICLE: The ICWPA anti-retaliation law is not limited simply to preventing whistleblowers from being fired. The law defines the types of “adverse action” the President must shield whistleblowers from, including “any change in working conditions.” In the case of the Ukrainian “quid pro quo” whistleblower, the catastrophic impact on the whistleblower’s ability to perform his or her job duties that would be triggered by violating his right to confidentiality is obvious. This would include undermining his or her ability to work oversees, be promoted to a covert agent (if not one already), or effectively interact with employees in the White House. Furthermore, breaching the confidentiality of whistleblowers is well established as an “adverse action” under whistleblower law. Federal courts and administrative agencies as divergent as the SEC and Department of Labor have ruled that revealing the name of a whistleblower is an adverse action. Anyone with experience working with whistleblowers knows that once their identity is revealed, their working conditions will never be the same, and they will have a target on their back for the rest of their careers.)

THE HILL
— House GOP vows to use impeachment to cut into Democratic majority – JULIEGRACE BRUFKE
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/476037-house-gop-plans-to-use-impeachment-to-cut-into-democratic-majority

NEW YORK TIMES
— In the U.S., an Angioplasty Costs $32,000. Elsewhere? Maybe $6,400. A study of international prices finds American patients pay much more across a wide array of common services. – Margot Sanger-Katz
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/27/upshot/expensive-health-care-world-comparison.html

WASHINGTON POST
— America’s schools are more diverse than ever. But the teachers are still mostly white. – Laura Meckler and Kate Rabinowitz
https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/local/education/teacher-diversity/

LOS ANGELES TIMES
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Trump-haters want Latino evangelical voters to dump Trump.
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-12-27/latino-evangelical-voters-face-a-tug-of-war-in-the-trump-era

WALL STREET JOURNAL
— For the New Year, Say No to Negativity Bad experiences affect us much more powerfully than good ones, but there are ways to deal with this destructive bias and overcome it – John Tierney and Roy F. Baumeister
https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-the-new-year-say-no-to-negativity-11577464413
— Modern ‘Image Scrubbing’ Would Have Come in Handy in Centuries Past Too bad historical figures couldn’t use Google to clean up their bad press – Joe Queenan
https://www.wsj.com/articles/modern-image-scrubbing-would-have-come-in-handy-in-centuries-past-11577383386

DENVER POST
— Weld County launches “marijuana is not harmless” campaign. – SAM TABACHNIK (DIERSEN: When will your county, your township/ward, and/or your municipality launch such a campaign?)
https://www.denverpost.com/2019/12/26/weld-county-marijuana-campaign/
(FROM THE ARTICLE: County officials started brainstorming this summer after the health department noticed youth marijuana and vaping rates were increasing along with car crashes, Aakko said. Those factors, combined with what the county found to be a lower perception of risk around marijuana, helped convince health officials that something needed to be done. “We wanted to get out there that there are consequences to heavy marijuana use and certainly when you get behind the wheel and drive,” Aakko said. Marijuana industry experts said it’s true that there are some harms and risks to marijuana.)

GALLUP
— How Much Does the World Trust Journalists? – ZACC RITTER (DIERSEN: According to my critics/opponents, you can be a journalist or a reporter ONLY if you claim to be non-partisan. However, beyond overwhelmingly, those journalist and reporters who claim to be non-partisan promote the Democrat, Libertarian, and/or Green party platforms.) 
https://news.gallup.com/opinion/gallup/272999/world-trust-journalists.aspx

(FROM THE ARTICLE: Another potential source of distrust in journalists is political polarization. In the United States, trust in the mass media, broadly, has fallen from 68% in 1972 to 41% today. Similarly, a recent Gallup-Knight report found that trust in U.S. local media declines for people who perceive a large gap between their political ideology and the perceived ideology of local news organizations. While trust in the media and trust in journalists differ, the two concepts are related enough to suspect a relationship between political polarization and trust in journalists may exist around the world. Political polarization — measured as the extent to which differences of opinions on major political issues in society exist by country-level experts and part of the Varieties of Democracy project — is strongly associated with less trust in journalists. As the graph shows, the more politically polarized a country is, the less trust the public tends to have in journalists.)

Author: David Diersen

The opinions that I express in GOPUSA ILLINOIS emails are based on experience that I have gained doing many things since 1948. I base my opinions on what I learned a) working for the federal government for almost 30 years -- Post Office 1966-1969, IRS 1971-1980, and GAO 1980-1997, serving on the Executive Committee of the Association of Government Accountants Chicago Chapter 1983-1996, and being a union member while I worked for the Post Office and IRS; b) earning an MBA from Loyola in 1976, a masters degree in accounting from DePaul in 1980, and a masters degree in financial markets and trading from IIT in 1997; c) passing the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979 and passing the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt in 1981; c) serving as a Republican Precinct Committeeman since 1999, the GOPUSA Illinois Editor since 2000, the TAPROOT Republicans of Illinois Chairman 2005-2012, a member of the 2008 Illinois Republican Party (IRP) Platform and Resolutions Committee, a Wheaton Chamber of Commerce Government Affairs Committee member 2003-2011, the Milton Township Republican Central Committee webmaster 2008-2010 and 2000-2004, an Illinois Center Right Coalition Steering Committee member 2003-2007, and an American Association of Political Consultants Midwest Chapter board member 2001-2004; d) attending the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 IRP State Conventions as a delegate; e) being the subject of a nasty 4-page article in the February 1978 issue of Money Magazine; f) pursing litigation including Diersen v. GAO and Diersen v. Chicago Car Exchange; g) being married since 1978; h) living in Crete 1948-1972, in University Park 1972-1976, in Chicago 1976-1978, and in DuPage County, Milton Township, and Wheaton since 1978; and i) being baptized, raised, and confirmed as a Missouri Synod Lutheran.