6-28-13 EAGNews.org Updates

EAGNews.org Updates

By Kyle Olson

Socialists honor the Chicago Teachers Union for walking out on students last fall

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis recently claimed she isn’t politically “radical." Tell that to the Democratic Socialists of America. The DSA recently honored the CTU and various activists for their work on left-wing causes at its 55th Annual Debs-Thomas-Harrington Dinner in Chicago. The socialist group recognized the CTU for "consistently stand[ing] for education and professionalism." The union "has shown that organizing is more than just mobilization and that defending a public good requires an organized public," the socialist group said. [more...]

Portland principal slams $2.4 million 'investment' in cultural sensitivity training for staff

Spending problem or funding problem? That’s the legitimate question facing public schools these days. Some might suggest that the Portland, Oregon school district spends far too much for the services of a left-wing organization that promotes some pretty silly ideas about race relations. Last fall, EAGnews revealed Portland Public Schools had paid Pacific Educational Group $526,901 to conduct "cultural sensitivity training" for school leaders in 2011. PEG’s mission is to "enlighten" educators about how public schools promote "white culture" and "white privilege" to the disadvantage of minority students. [more...]

Chicago’s Karen Lewis: We’re flying the 'Common Core' airplane as we’re building it

Despite all of her nutty racially-charged rhetoric, when Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis speaks, people listen. So they should be interested in what she has to say about the national Common Core initiative. Lewis is a vice president of the American Federation of Teachers and a member of its executive council. Despite the AFT’s solid support for Common Core national standards, Lewis says she’s "not a personal fan." [more...]

The Conservative Plan for Immigration Reform

By Wayne Allyn Root

The Obama socialist cabal and mainstream media frame the immigration debate as having only two options: the Democrat way (let everyone in and put them all on welfare)... or the supposed Republican way (keep everyone out and send those already here, home). That is a blatant lie.

The second Obama lie is that there is only one definition of compromise - agree with Democrats on everything! How absurd. How is that "compromise?" If the GOP agrees to this Democratic version of "compromise," the U.S. economy will be damaged beyond repair.

We are already a bankrupt nation with over $100 trillion in debt and unfunded liabilities. Letting in millions of new immigrants who are poor, uneducated and low skilled in the middle of an economic depression and jobs crisis, as well as giving them access to welfare and Obamacare, can only be described as "the end of America." It is a disaster for the middle class in terms of jobs competition, the lowering of wages, and the cost of taxes to pay for the new entitlement bills.

But, there is a simple and truly fair compromise that is based on the practical advice from my latest book, The Ultimate Obama Survival Guide: How to Survive, Thrive, and Prosper During Obamageddon. Republicans, Conservatives and Libertarians would have to be blind or idiots not to support it. [more...]

Mayors Against Illegal Guns?

By Rob Olive

Michael Bloomberg's group, "Mayors Against Illegal Guns," issued an apology for his group's characterization of Boston Marathon Bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev as a "victim of gun violence." The group says he shouldn't have been included on the list of victims. They claim Slate.com provided the list and it wasn't properly scrubbed. Slate is unapologetic, however, saying that, of course he was included on the list, since it is "a pure accounting of deaths... regardless of cause and without comment."

The list also included "wrongdoers killed by law enforcement," according to Slate. This "accounting" of ALL deaths involving the use of a firearm reveals the mindset of Slate, Bloomberg, and the rest of the control-freak community: If there wasn't access to firearms, society would be much better off, and that we should pass all of the bans and registration schemes proposed by Bloomberg.

Inconvenient little examples such as Chicago would tend to argue against that mindset, however, since gun control in the Windy City is some of the strictest in the country and it happens to be the murder capital of the U.S (in total number of murders committed). Bloomberg and his ilk would like to make this a "gun problem." In reality, however, we have a "gang problem" in some U.S. cities and those of us who do not contribute to that problem should not (and WILL NOT, in my case) be held responsible for it. Welfare states have been created in many of the most violent cities in the U.S., including Bloomberg’s own NYC. That’s something that many liberty-minded people have argued against for decades and now the welfare state creators (and those who derive their power from that dependency) want to use the results of their folly to deprive us of our liberty? I don’t think so. [more...]

6-25-13 Great Guests for Your Show

1. Dave Bego: Desperate SEIU Resurrects Persuasion of Power

2. John LeBoutillier: The Continued Deterioration of Obama, the Latest on the Scandals and the GOP Response

3. Rabbi D. B. Ganz: Dealing with Iran - When Noble Principles Become Monsters

4. Doug Johnson: Government's Answer to Fix Unemployment: Fire You, Hire Illegal Immigrants

Desperate SEIU Resurrects Persuasion of Power

By Dave Bego

Once again the SEIU is utilizing its patented persuasion of power to achieve its political goals and to boost its dwindling membership. Over the past two weeks, the SEIU has aired television commercials to support President Obama's immigration policy, to initiate a living wage attack campaign against McDonalds and Wal-Mart, targeting home health care workers and to attack conservatives working to balance the liberal media. The SEIU's "insidious tentacles" are reaching far and wide to achieve one simple goal - to increase its membership, thereby resulting in increased revenues and political power! The SEIU and this Administration are tethered at the hip in this venture. [more...]

The Continued Deterioration of Obama, the Latest on the Scandals and the GOP Response

By John LeBoutillier

The POLITICAL INSIDERS examine the decline in President Obama's approval ratings; his $100 million Africa trip; the contempt D.C. has for the American people; the burgeoning IRS, NSA and Benghazi scandals; the weak/non-existent GOP response; and the Special Senate election in Massachusetts. Here are our shows: Sunday: Part 1 - Part 2 - Monday [more...]

Dealing with Iran - When Noble Principles Become Monsters

By Rabbi D.B. Ganz

For decades, Muslim Iran has been the world's foremost sponsor of terrorist murder. The hideous marks of its bloodstained hands have been left wherever civilized people live. Now Iran is building nuclear weapons that will enable it to further threaten and wreck mayhem upon the planet. Clearly, both negotiations and economic sanctions have done absolutely nothing to stop its bomb building. Seemingly, the U.S. is repeating the same catastrophic 1930s mistake made by England when dealing with Adolph Hitler. In the interest of "peace," it is allowing Iran the years needed to arm itself with the weapons it seeks. Repeating this same colossal error in the case of Iran could lead to infinitely more human death than even the Nazis ended up causing. What is the U.S. waiting for? It should utterly destroy all of Iran's nuclear facilities and end that threat to all of us while it still can - not tomorrow, but today! [more...]

Government's Answer to Fix Unemployment: Fire You, Hire Illegal Immigrants

By Doug Johnson

The Gang of Ocho's immigration deal just keeps on giving with its latest revelation. It seems that part of the deal would give incentive to American employers to get rid of American citizens and hire illegals (we're supposed to call them amnestied immigrants).  It's a simple plan and, as usual, does nothing for hard working Americans who are struggling to survive these days. [more...]

'World War Z' Suffers from Reshoots, Rewrites & Redos

By James Hirsen

With a $66 million take, zombie movie "World War Z," starring Brad Pitt, did reasonably well at the box office in its opening weekend. However, the film still faces challenges to its profitability, due to the movie’s swollen production and marketing budget.

The movie is based on the 2006 book of the same title, written by the son of Mel Brooks and Ann Bancroft, author Max Brooks. China was the country of origin for the zombie virus in Brooks' book, related to the segment in the novel that involves a black market trade in human organs. However, Paramount executives, like so many others in the industry, are afraid to upset the film gatekeepers since China now ranks as the second biggest film market in the world. Consequently, the film's story line was altered to have the virus originate in the country of North Korea, a place with an inconsequential movie market. [more...]

6-21-13 EAGNews.org Updates

By Kyle Olson

Labor boss: Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU should decide school budget

The controversial claim by Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis that “rich white people” are to blame for the school district’s woes earned much attention this week, but another doozy from her appearance at the City Club of Chicago was equally humorous. Lewis was asked if Chicago Public Schools’ $1 billion budget deficit was “real or illusionary,” she first replied that it wasn't her call, that “you’d have to ask the [school district] CEO who prepared that budget.” [more...]

Feds announce ‘redesign’ of public high schools as Obama attacks Catholic education

To all conservative Common Core supporters who claim the initiative is state-led, please pay attention. And to all liberals who support parochial schools, you might want to pay attention, too. On June 7, the federal Department of Education announced its plan to “redesign” all government high schools in America. Creating yet another federal enticement program - this time called the “High School Redesign Initiative” - the feds will offer “competitive grants to local educational agencies” to do such things as “redesign academic content and instructional practices” as well as “strategically use learning time in more meaningful ways,” whatever that actually means. [more...]

School official goes to absurd lengths to keep outsiders and ‘thugs’ out of the district

In at least one school district in Michigan, officials make it illegal for students to enroll if they live on the wrong side of the tracks. And they go to absurd lengths to enforce that policy. Leaders of Grosse Point Public Schools, located in an upscale community northeast of Detroit, regularly engage in spying on students to make sure only those living within the district’s boundaries attend their schools. [more...]

Entitled to Entitlements?

By Rabbi D.B. Ganz

Is it ethically proper for a government to tax those who work in order to give to others who are less fortunate? Even if in theory it is morally correct for a government to take one person’s earnings and donate it to others, should entitlements be curtailed or eliminated since the U.S. is now approaching bankruptcy?

Liberals generally support ever-greater entitlement spending (think of the budget-busting Obamacare program). They feel that a prosperous country such as the U.S. must do more to help the unfortunates in its midst.

My recently released book Uncommon Sense takes issue with this approach. It advances the overarching Talmudic principle that the primary roles of government are providing infrastructure such as roads, bridges and sewers and protecting its citizens. What it should NOT be doing, though, is interfering with the personal morality of the citizens and distributing charity for them.

Accordingly, a government should not be determining how much soda people may drink, who may be in one’s bedroom, which museums advance the cause of culture and should therefore be funded, and so forth. Politicians are elected to govern, not to serve as the guiding moral beacons of the citizenry.

As for charity, the Judeo-Christian tradition has always esteemed mercy and charity when willingly extended with a generous heart. But people should not be taxed against their will so that government charity can be given to causes chosen by politicians. In a free country, people should have the right to either not give charity at all or to donate exclusively to a favorite cause, be it a hospital, church, symphony orchestra, or the Girl Scouts. [more...]

'Man of Steel' Cloaked in Christian Metaphors

By James Hirsen

"Man of Steel," the first blockbuster of the summer movie season, is based on the origin of the DC Comics character, Superman. Interestingly, the film also features imagery and metaphors that evoke the earthly life of Christianity's most central and revered figure.

The superhero movie is directed by Zack Snyder (“300” and “Watchmen”), produced by Christopher Nolan (“The Dark Knight Trilogy”), and scripted by David S. Goyer (“The Dark Knight Trilogy”). In addition to the darker themes for which Nolan is famous, he and his creative collaborators have included in “Man of Steel” a significant degree of Christian symbolism.

The beginning scenes of the movie convey the miraculous birth of Kal-El on his home planet Krypton.  Father Jor-El declares that his newly born son is the first natural birth in centuries, and as Superman’s dad sends his son to Earth to save humanity he proclaims that “he [Kal-El] will be like a god to them.” Kal-El’s adoptive father Jonathan is a character that is reminiscent of the biblical figure Joseph, the foster father of Jesus. [more...]

6-14-13 Excellent Guests for Your Show

1. Dave Bego: Is the IRS Employee Union Part of Obama's Ground Game?

2. Joseph Klein: Mideast Red Star Rising

3. Rob Olive: Why Do You Need 'Assault Rifles' or 'High-Capacity' Magazines?

Is the IRS Employee Union Part of Obama's Ground Game?

By Dave Bego

It is largely accepted that President Obama’s re-election was in a large part due to the efforts of big labor and its foot soldiers. Apparently, the number of union foot soldiers utilized in big labor’s overwhelming ground game was even greater than initially realized. The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), an organization which can be fairly characterized as the "anti-Tea Party," has played a prominent role in utilizing coercive tactics during investigations into Tea Parties and other Conservative groups in an effort to intimidate them and their members into staying out of the 2012 election campaign. Two high level meetings at the White House with big labor bosses from the NTEU and other unions occurred prior to the 2012 Election. [more...]

Mideast Red Star Rising

By Joseph Klein

According to reports, last weekend’s California summit between President Obama and his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, focused on subjects such as North Korea, cyber security and areas of potential cooperation between the two world powers. President Obama said that "we're more likely to achieve our objectives of prosperity and security of our people if we are working together cooperatively, rather than engaged in conflict." However, as President Obama tries to pivot away from his disastrous Middle East-North African policies to focus more on Asia, and China in particular, he finds himself faced with China’s increasing presence in the chaotic region he is leaving behind. Conflicts developing between China and the United States over Middle East interests on diplomatic, economic and even military levels are inevitable, made more imminent by Obama's reckless policies and shift in priorities. [more...]

Why Do You Need 'Assault Rifles' or 'High-Capacity' Magazines?

By Rob Olive

President Obama‘s twenty-three executive actions and the deluge of gun control legislation are focused on the way those innocent children and teachers died at Sandy Hook. The worst school massacre in U.S. history did not involve firearms. In 1927 in Bath Township, Michigan, Andrew Kehoe set off three separate explosions, killing a total of 44 people, 38 of which were children. Evil is evil, and it must be guarded against and dealt with severely whenever it rears its ugly head. The question we must ask ourselves is this: In a free society, does the presence of evil justify the abrogation of individual liberty? [more...]

6-11-13 Great Guests for Your Show

1. Carl Schramm: Barack Obama's Scandals Confirm that He's Not a CEO

2. Wayne Allyn Root: Ghost of Columbia Part II: Legendary Columbia Professor Never Heard of Obama

3. Rabbi D. B. Ganz: Today's Politics Getting Too Personal

4. Lex Levinrad: Why You Should Stop Renting and Buy a Home Now

5. John LeBoutillier: Are All the Scandals Creating a New Politics?

Barack Obama's Scandals Confirm that He's Not a CEO

By Carl Schramm

Every CEO is a politician. Not every politician is a CEO. The current set of messes that President Obama faces makes the point. They are as much management failures as they are political/legal nightmares. There is a price for having no market-facing executive experience. Indeed, Mr. Obama’s first cabinet had almost no private sector management experience. Most of our better presidents have had business or military leadership experience. This is of tremendous value when running the world’s largest organization. Those who haven’t, like Bill Clinton, himself tested by failure as a politician and familiar with the executive role governors play, knew that private sector executives have a different view of what successful management is and kept a few close at hand. [more...]

Ghost of Columbia Part II: Legendary Columbia Professor Never Heard of Obama

By Wayne Allyn Root

Something about "the Obama at Columbia story" has always bothered me. Earlier in the week right here at The Blaze I wrote about having just returned from New York, where I attended my 30th Columbia University reunion. I celebrated with my esteemed classmates - everyone except Barack Obama. As usual, he wasn't there. Not a trace. Not a video greeting. Not a letter. I could not find any classmates who knew him. I called Obama "the Ghost of Columbia University." I pointed out (as I've said in the media for many years now) that Obama may have been registered at Columbia, may have graduated from Columbia, but he was rarely (if ever) seen for the two years in-between. It's a strange and mysterious story. [more...]

Today's Politics Getting Too Personal

By Rabbi D.B. Ganz

Who can recall when three different stories or scandals were breaking all at the same time, any one of which could cost the President his job? Hence, for those who speak and write about these issues, it is the absolute best of times. But sadly, the disrespect and vindictive personal smears emanating from both sides of the political spectrum appear to have hit a new all-time low. To illustrate, almost all of the advertising during the previous presidential election entailed trashing the other candidate rather than promoting anybody’s own position. The level of mean-spiritedness was positively vulgar. [more...]

Why You Should Stop Renting and Buy a Home Now

By Lex Levinrad

Are you currently renting the home that you live in? We recently analyzed data on historical pricing for existing home sales of single family homes in the U.S. We looked at historical price data for single family homes from the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) going back to 1970. We applied historical real estate data to today’s real estate market in order to compare and analyze how a typical first time home buyer today could benefit by purchasing a home similar to the one that they are currently renting. Based on historical data, along with current home prices and mortgage rates we believe that if you are currently renting and you have decent credit then you should really think about buying a home right now. [more...]

Are All the Scandals Creating a New Politics?

By John LeBoutillier

This week the POLITICAL INSIDERS explored the underlying result of the NSA, PRISM, IRS, AP and Benghazi scandals: a deepening alienation by the American people from the self-elected, elitist political class which may alter our politics in upcoming election years. Sunday: Part 1 - Part 2 - Monday [more...]

Google Data Achieved 94% Accuracy in Hollywood Box-office Predictions

By James Hirsen

Digital information is virtually unlimited in the ways in which it can be applied to predict future human behavior. Search information provides data that can be used by sophisticated software in supercomputers to make predictions on all sorts of things, ranging from items that consumers are most likely to buy to how citizens will ultimately cast their votes in a political election.

Hollywood executives have been paying close attention to the whole subject of search information data, particularly with regard to potential applications within the entertainment industry. Google, in fact, has been out touting its ability to utilize the information that it has collected to make predictions about which movies are going to be top box-office draws.

According to a recently released Google research paper that was posted on the Google Think Web site, the number of Google and YouTube searches of a movie has the capacity to provide the film industry with a highly accurate predictor mechanism - one that is able to act as an indicator of whether a movie will turn out to be a blockbuster or a bomb. [more...]

6-7-13 EAGNews.org Updates

By Kyle Olson

Did Tennessee poll ask participants about Common Core data mining?

The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE), a group headed by former U.S. Sen. Bill Frist, released a poll showing voters' support for the controversial Common Core national standards in the state. The poll found more than “4 in 10” strongly support the national standards after being read a description of them. The exact question posed to participants was not provided by SCORE, the polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, nor the newspaper that wrote a story, DNJ.com. [more...]

North Carolina student takes a stand against Common Core

A North Carolina sixth grader was told to leave school after she refused to take new state tests which are related to the new national Common Core standards. Zoe Morris, a student at a Chapel Hill middle school, and her father, Charlie, began researching Common Core after Zoe became increasingly frustrated in class, reports the Heartlander. Charlie said he became alarmed about the new national standards after he realized “teachers were teaching from scripts.” [more...]

Illinois taxpayers have been paying teachers union officials to attend union events

Illinois taxpayers are footing the bill for teachers to attend union conferences every year, and for the substitutes who cover in their absence. The Chicago Daily Herald reports Illinois schools spent at least $200,626 for 276 public school employees from 57 school districts to attend the Illinois Education Association’s two-day April conference. Substitutes covering for the absent employees – mostly classroom teachers – cost taxpayers an additional $41,752, although local unions supposedly reimburse schools for all but $13,799 of that expense, the news site reports. [more...]

6-6-13 Expert Guests for Your Show

1. Joseph Klein: Susan Rice's Prize for Lies

2. Lex Levinrad: Finding Bargain Priced Foreclosure Properties

3. Wayne Allyn Root: Barack Obama - The Ghost of Columbia University

Susan Rice's Prize for Lies

By Joseph Klein

President Barack Obama's foreign policy is in shambles all over the world. On his watch, the Middle East is crumbling into sectarian violence, not only in Syria but in Iraq where Obama has squandered the victory over Islamists achieved during George W. Bush's administration. The Muslim Brotherhood has taken over Egypt and turned it into an autocratic Islamist state. Violent Islamic jihad has spread way beyond Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Middle East and Africa. Iran is closing in rapidly on achieving a nuclear arms capability, while its ally North Korea is moving ahead with its nuclear program and advanced missile systems capable of delivering nuclear payloads to attack our allies and the United States itself. China is pressuring Japan and other neighboring countries in a strong hegemonic move to expand its sphere of influence, while Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is working to recreate the vestiges of the old Russian empire.

Yet, in the midst of this morass, to whom does President Obama turn to succeed Tom Donilon as his chief adviser on national security? To Susan Rice, the same woman who agreed to front and blatantly lie for him and Hillary Clinton on national television last fall, delivering the Obama administration's false narrative about the causes of the Benghazi attack that left four Americans dead. [more...]

Finding Bargain Priced Foreclosure Properties

By Lex Levinrad

Real estate investors looking for a good investment opportunity in real estate should learn how to invest in bargain priced properties that are in some stage of foreclosure or have already been taken back by the bank via the foreclosure auction. If you have access to cash and are willing to understand how the foreclosure process works then you can find great deals in today’s real estate market. The biggest challenge for new investors is how to find bargain priced properties. One readily available source of properties is bank owned properties but it is important to understand that this is not the only source of discounted properties. [more...]

Barack Obama - The Ghost of Columbia University

By Wayne Allyn Root

I am a graduate of Columbia University, Class of 1983 - the same class Barack Obama claims to have graduated from. We shared the same exact major - Political Science. We were both Pre-Law. It was a small class (about 700 students). The Political Science Department was even smaller and closer-knit (maybe 150 students). I thought I knew, or met at least once (or certainly saw in classes) every fellow Poly Sci classmate in my four years at Columbia... but not Obama. No one ever met him. Even worse, no one even remembers seeing that unique memorable face. Think about this for a minute. Our classmate is President of the United States. Shouldn't someone remember him? Or at least claim to remember him? [more...]

6-4-13 Excellent Guests for Your Show

1. Carl Schramm: Detroit Sells Off All Evidence of Its Once Prosperous Past

2. Wayne Allyn Root: Obama White House Met with the IRS Chief Every 5 Days?

3. John LeBoutillier: Are the Three Scandals Beginning to Hurt President Obama and the Democrats?

4. Rabbi D.B. Ganz: A Deadly Assault on Americans

5. Doug Johnson: The Chicago Machine in D.C.

Detroit Sells Off All Evidence of Its Once Prosperous Past

By Carl Schramm

Roughly a decade ago it became fashionable in urban planning circles to see the establishment of downtown "arts" districts as an effective strategy for restarting a city’s economy. Detroit has had an arts district for over a decade. Has it sparked the new creative economy that some saw as its promise? The city is still losing people and jobs. It is estimated by the city itself that the population, now roughly 700,000 (down from over 2 million people in 1960) will be around 600,000 in a few years. Detroit has one of the lowest jobs to population ratios in the nation that has not improved in recent years even with all the efforts to bring back the auto companies. [more...]

Obama White House Met with the IRS Chief Every 5 Days?

By Wayne Allyn Root

The news is not good for Obama. It turns out that the IRS Commissioner visited the Obama White House 157 times during Obama’s first term. Yes, I said one hundred and fifty seven. Since there are only 5 working days in a week and Obama enjoys a record-setting number of vacation weeks and golf days, in four years there were only about 800 working days. That means Obama and his socialist cabal met with the IRS Commissioner once every five days in his first term. That’s far more than any Obama cabinet member. So the question is why would the President meet with the head of the IRS more than any cabinet member? More than his Secretary of State? More than his National Security Advisors? More than his economic advisors (during the worst economy since 1929)? What was so important? [more...]

Are the Three Scandals Beginning to Hurt President Obama and the Democrats?

By John LeBoutillier

This week on POLITICAL INSIDERS, Pat Caddell, Doug Schoen and I explore the erosion in the President's ratings and the sudden change in perception that the GOP has undergone since the scandals unfolded. We also look at the Eric Holder problem: Does the White House want him gone? And, if so, how to do it? On the IRS Scandal, should there be a Special Prosecutor? And should Speaker Boehner seize the initiative and name Select Committees for both Benghazi and the IRS? Sunday: Part 1 - Part 2 - Monday [more...]

A Deadly Assault on Americans

By Rabbi D.B. Ganz

A great deal of the news coverage is now riveted upon the trifecta of scandals engulfing the Obama Administration - Benghazi, the IRS, and press interference. What happened at the IRS seems the most troubling of the three issues. Using the U.S.’s ostensibly even-handed tax enforcement powers to crush politically unfriendly elements is something one would expect from a Third World tin-pan dictatorship – not a democratically elected government. It is a deadly assault on the freedom Americans have always cherished. [more...]

The Chicago Machine in D.C.

By Doug Johnson

Anyone who is paying the slightest bit of attention and is the least bit honest with themselves has to be facing the realization (if they didn't already know it) that this administration is filled with lies, hypocrisy, and deceptions that underlie both the scandals we are now seeing and the huge number that haven't even been discovered yet. If you think these are the only scandals, then you exceed even the most naive who supported this president from the beginning. Clearly these are only the tip of the iceberg. What most people haven't faced to date is the fact that Obama not only came to Washington from Chicago, but he also brought with him the entire sordid and scandal-prone ways of the Chicago political machine. Chicago Mayor Daley built what is known as the Chicago Machine and Obama has imported the entire system into our nation's capital. [more... ]

Did Alleged Scientology Messages Cause a Box-office Downturn for Will Smith?

By James Hirsen

A number of prominent critics have been savaging Will Smith’s post-apocalyptic film, "After Earth," resulting in the movie garnering an abysmal 12 percent rating on the Rotten Tomatoes film critic Web site.

What may be important to the film’s public standing is the fact that many critics have cited several similarities in the movie to the precepts of the Church of Scientology, and a possibility exists that it may be being perceived as a vehicle of propaganda for L. Ron Hubbard's teachings.

The Wall Street Journal’s Joe Morgenstern referred to "After Earth" as a "sermon" that "echoes a central theme of Scientology." Through a line of pointed questioning, the critic ponders whether the focus on Scientology might explain why "humor and humanity have been essentially banished; why everyone looks pained; why the very notion of entertainment has been banished in favor of grinding didacticism, and why Mr. Smith, who has been such a brilliant entertainer over the years and decades, looks as if he has undergone a radical charismaectomy?" [more...]