January 4 Evening Edition

DAILY HERALD
— OUTSTANDING: Hundreds of Trump supporters rally in Algonquin – Joe Lewnard
https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20200104/hundreds-of-trump-supporters-rally-in-algonquin
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Burt Constable discusses using pot. I have never used an illegal drug and I never will. I passed the CPA examination on my first attempt in 1979 when I was 30 years old and I passed the Certified Internal Auditor examination on my first attempt in 1981. Only about 20 percent of those who take those examinations pass them on their first attempt.  I wonder what percent of the 80 percent of those who failed to pass those examinations on their first attempt were booze drinkers and/or pot smokers.) 
https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20200104/constable-after-decades-of-abstinence-i-gave-pot-a-try
— How to get marijuana convictions expunged – Barbara Vitello (DIERSEN: If you smoked pot in the past, you demonstrated your disrespect for the rule of law. Your past predicts your future.)
https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20200104/how-to-get-marijuana-convictions-expunged
— Past marijuana convictions can be erased, but it could take years And it might depend on where you live – Barbara Vitello (DIERSEN: If you smoked pot in the past, you demonstrated your disrespect for the rule of law. Your past predicts your future.)
https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20200104/past-marijuana-convictions-can-be-erased-but-it-could-take-years

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Ever-increasingly, Democrats promote LGBTQ activity.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2020/1/4/21048772/transgender-childen-kimberly-lightford-heather-steans-laura-washington

NBC5
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Democrats glorify and praise Pritzker.
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-politics/after-successful-debut-pritzker-has-work-on-ethics-taxes/2196452/

FOX NEWS CHICAGO
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Trump-haters use Trump’s action in Iran to promote hatred against Trump. 
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/thousands-protest-in-chicago-and-across-country-against-trumps-actions-in-iran
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/trump-threatens-to-destroy-52-iranian-locations-including-cultural-sites-if-iran-retaliates

ALTON TELEGRAPH
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: DISGUSTING, TRAGIC: Pot pushers push pot. If you want to destroy an individual, organization, company, government, or country, push pot on that individual, organization, company, government, or country.
https://www.thetelegraph.com/news/article/Illinois-shops-excited-to-sell-bongs-as-pot-law-14949278.php

PEORIA JOURNAL STAR
— ‘Don’t drive while high’: Illinois officials ramping up cannabis education with billboards, social media advice
https://www.pjstar.com/news/20200103/dont-drive-while-high-illinois-officials-ramping-up-cannabis-education-with-billboards-social-media-advice

PEKIN TIMES
— State law now requires workplace harassment-prevention training – Abdel Jimenez (DIERSEN: What about training to prevent harassment of those who are Trump supporters, Protestant, conservative, patriotic, Republican, American, White, male, older, non-poor, gun owners, German American, draft avoiders, past/present union members, and/or those whose ancestors have been in America for a long time?)
https://www.pekintimes.com/news/20200104/state-law-now-requires-workplace-harassment-prevention-training

DANVILLE COMMERCIAL NEWS
— Be careful if, when you consume – Bloomington Pantagraph 
https://www.commercial-news.com/opinion/guest-editorial-be-careful-if-when-you-consume/article_e15ac0f4-2e2b-11ea-85e9-af355ebfbac3.html

DEKALB DAILY CHRONICLE
— Health departments remind public about health effects of marijuana – Mark Busch
https://www.daily-chronicle.com/2020/01/03/health-departments-remind-public-about-health-effects-of-marijuana/az0fud1/

KANKAKEE DAILY JOURNAL
— Immigration attorneys urge caution with new marijuana law – AP
https://www.daily-journal.com/news/local/immigration-attorneys-urge-caution-with-new-marijuana-law/article_73acc29c-da2a-5410-8315-0eaa359784ab.html
— Black market impact – John Dykstra
https://www.daily-journal.com/news/local/black-market-impact/article_744cd334-2bf7-11ea-bc34-034ac3583740.html
— Pot is now legal, but ramifications still exist – Lee Provost
https://www.daily-journal.com/news/local/pot-is-now-legal-but-ramifications-still-exist/article_1726313e-2d7b-11ea-82da-4f87348e40d7.html
— Know your limits when it comes to driving and cannabis – Jeff Bonty
https://www.daily-journal.com/news/local/know-your-limits-when-it-comes-to-driving-and-cannabis/article_3a6693c8-2b55-11ea-94c4-fb91a52f0a2f.html
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: DISGUSTING, TRAGIC: Pot pushers push pot. If you want to destroy an individual, organization, company, government, or country, push pot on that individual, organization, company, government, or country.
https://www.daily-journal.com/guide-to-illinois-dispensaries/article_f73b5270-2e59-11ea-a2d9-affcb768d6cf.html

KCRG
— DISGUSTING, TRAGIC: With recreational marijuana legal, Iowans wasting no time traveling to Illinois – Aaron Scheinblum
https://www.kcrg.com/content/news/With-recreational-marijuana-legal-Iowans-wasting-no-time-traveling-to-Illinois-566700321.html

MCHENRY COUNTY BLOG
— Estimated 500 at Algonquin Trump Rally
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2020/01/04/estimate-500-at-algonquin-trump-rally/ 
— Shallow Thinking Evident about School Consolidation in Property Tax Relief Draft Report
http://mchenrycountyblog.com/2020/01/04/shallow-thinking-evident-about-school-consolidation-in-property-tax-relief-draft-report/

WASHINGTON TIMES
— What is the future of the Republican Party? Republicans dismiss Trump’s resurrection of the party at their peril – Dennis Lennox (DIERSEN: How supportive of Trump are the Republican leaders in your county, in your township/ward, and in your municipality?) 
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jan/4/where-will-republicans-with-or-without-trump-go-th/

AMERICAN THINKER
— Why was it OK for Obama to kill so many with drones? – Jack Hellner
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/01/why_was_it_ok_for_obama_to_kill_so_many_with_drones.html
— The death of decorum – Dexter Wright (DIERSEN: The more of the following that you are, the more that Trump-haters demonize, denigrate, and condemn you: Trump supporter, Protestant, conservative, patriotic, Republican, American, White, male, older, non-poor, gun owner, draft avoider, German American, and/or if your ancestors have been in America for a long time.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2019/12/the_death_of_decorum_.html

THE HILL
— Trump threatens hit of Iranian sites if country retaliates for Soleimani killing – BRETT SAMUELS 
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/476794-trump-threatens-to-hit-iranian-sites-if-it-retaliates-over-soleimani

CBS NEWS
— DIERSEN HEADLINE: Trump-haters use an “Iran expert” to promote hatred against Trump. 
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/qassem-soleimani-iran-expert-calls-strike-that-killed-iranian-general-stunningly-stupid-and-counterproductive-2020/

WASHINGTON POST
— JUNE 6, 2019 FLASHBACK: In Va. GOP primary for legislature, a candidate’s criminal past becomes an issue – Laura Vozzella (DIERSEN: Needless-to-say, candidates should fully disclose all the skeletons that they have in their closets BEFORE they enter primaries. SEE Jack Ryan at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Ryan_(politician) )
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/in-va-gop-primary-for-legislature-a-candidates-criminal-past-becomes-an-issue/2019/06/06/51c83ab0-87c4-11e9-98c1-e945ae5db8fb_story.html
(FROM THE ARTICLE: Former Stafford County supervisor Paul Milde, who is challenging Del. Robert M. Thomas Jr. in Tuesday’s Republican primary, has a criminal record that hasn’t stopped voters from electing him three times in the past. But it has emerged as an issue in the hotly contested race between Milde and Thomas in the 28th District, which includes parts of Fredericksburg and Stafford County. In 1986, when he was 18, Milde was convicted of possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute — a felony — in Prince William County. He was sentenced to six years in prison, with five years suspended. Nine years later, Milde pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to an attempted burglary in Fairfax County — a misdemeanor for which he was sentenced to 360 days, all but 20 suspended. . .Milde has responded with a flier with a photo of a skeleton looming behind a rack of dress shirts. “Bob Thomas says I have skeletons in my closet,” it begins. In it, he explains his cocaine conviction, though not the burglary. He suggests voters should care more about recent behavior, including Thomas’s decision in early 2018 to vote with Democrats to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Thomas had run for office on a pledge to oppose expansion.)

FORTUNE
— Amazon Is on a Collision Course With Employee Activists Outraged by the Climate Crisis – Alyssa Newcomb
https://fortune.com/2020/01/04/amazon-employee-activist-climate-crisis/

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.