Tag: politicians

Chicago-Area Democrat Alderwoman Arrested For Casting Ballot on Behalf of Her Deceased Mother

A Chicago-area Alderwoman was arrested for casting a ballot for her deceased mother.

Waukegan Ald. Sylvia Sims Bolton was arrested and charged with a felony after she voted on behalf of her deceased mother.

Prosecutors say Bolton, 67, filled out a mail-in ballot for her mother, Mary Sims, who passed away on January 12.

The clerk’s office issued Sims a mail-in ballot on February 5, three weeks after she passed away.

The mail-in ballot was filled out and returned on February 26.

“Our system of checks and balances worked as intended,” County Clerk Anthony Vega told the Chicago Tribune.

“Our staff followed established protocols. They identified the irregularities, and our office coordinated with our law enforcement partners. This is exceedingly rare, but if someone games the system, we will hold them accountable,” he added.

The Chicago Tribune reported:

Waukegan Ald. Sylvia Sims Bolton, 1st Ward, is facing a felony charge after, authorities say, she falsified election material in the March primary contest by casting a ballot on behalf of her dead mother.

Bolton, 67, was charged with felony mutilation of election material and disregarding the election code, a misdemeanor, on May 19, and appeared Wednesday in Lake County Court in Waukegan.

Though the irregularity was discovered on Feb. 26 by the Lake County Clerk’s Office, the investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office did not start until March 27 — 10 days after the March 17 primary election — when the clerk’s office confirmed it.

After the clerk’s office issued a vote-by-mail ballot to Mary Sims on Feb. 5, the office cancelled Sims’ voter registration after learning of her death on Feb. 12 from the Illinois Department of Public Health through the Illinois State Board of Elections voter registration system, according to a joint news release from the offices of the county clerk, sheriff and state’s attorney.

Sims died on Jan. 12 and is Bolton’s mother, according to Richard Bradshaw, a licensed funeral director with Bradshaw and Range Funeral Home in Waukegan.

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Western Democracy?

Two pronounced — and inverse — trends in Western societies have long been observable, and yet they are rarely noticed or discussed.

There is a reason for that. These trends tell us something deeply revealing about how our societies are shaped by structural forces — forces that individual office holders can do little to shape through their own values or personalities.

These forces operate rather like laws of nature — though there is nothing natural about them. They are the very opposite of how most Westerners imagine power works — that is, that it derives from the will of the people and is democratically accountable.

The first trend is this: the nearer to power a politician or official gets, the more their behaviour has to align with the structural interests of the billionaire class. Or put another way, the only route to power for any individual in our societies is by subordinating their personal beliefs and values to the interests of a rapacious, predatory class of capitalists.

The second trend illuminates the first. The further a former office holder moves away from the centre of power, the more room there is for their humanity to resurface — assuming they were not a hollow vessel for power to begin with, or turned permanently sociopathic through years of service to elite interests. (Yes, Tony Blair — I’m looking at you.)

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Cartel-Linked Mexican Senator Enrique Inzunza Cazárez ARRESTED in San Diego – Conspired with Sinaloa Cartel’s Los Chapitos to Flood America with Deadly Fentanyl and Drugs in Exchange for BRIBES and Political Protection

Sinaloa Senator Enrique Inzunza Cazárez, a high-ranking member of Mexico’s ruling socialist Morena party, has been ARRESTED in San Diego after turning himself in to U.S. federal authorities.

The cartel-connected politician, 53, was taken into custody by the Drug Enforcement Administration on charges of narcotics importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess the same, according to multiple Mexican news outlets and U.S. court documents.

Inzunza Cazárez was one of 10 current and former Sinaloa officials hit with a massive federal indictment unsealed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York back on April 29.

US prosecutors allege the defendants conspired with the Sinaloa cartel to import narcotics into the United States in exchange for political support and bribes.

“The Sinaloa Cartel is a ruthless criminal organization that has flooded this community with dangerous drugs for decades,” said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton.

“As the indictment lays bare, the Sinaloa Cartel, and other drug trafficking organizations like it, would not operate as freely or successfully without corrupt politicians and law enforcement officials on their payroll. The support of corrupt foreign officials for deadly trafficking of drugs must end. Let these charges send a clear message to all officials around the globe who work with narco-traffickers: no matter your title or position, we are committed to bringing you to justice.”

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Former Kansas Mayor Detained by ICE After Guilty Plea for Illegally Voting

A former Republican mayor of a small Kansas town has been taken into federal immigration custody after pleading guilty to illegally voting as a non-citizen.

Jose “Joe” Ceballos-Armendariz, 55, a Mexican national who has held a green card since 1990, turned himself in to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials at their Wichita office on Wednesday.

Ceballos is now being held at the ICE-contracted Chase County Jail in Cottonwood Falls and faces potential deportation proceedings.

The green card holder served two terms as mayor of Coldwater, Kansas, a conservative Comanche County town of fewer than 700 residents.

Ceballos was first elected in 2021 and won re-election in 2025 with 83% of the vote.

The charges surfaced the day after that re-election when Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach announced felony election fraud charges.

Court records show Ceballos illegally voted in multiple elections despite knowing he was not a U.S. citizen. He also admitted during a January citizenship application that he had falsely claimed U.S. citizenship.

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Father of ‘Missing’ GOP Congressman Says He Is Under Doctor’s Care, Remains Vague About His Return

Further details are emerging about the disappearance of New Jersey Rep. Tom Kean Jr. from Congress for over two months.

In an interview with CNN, former New Jersey Gov. Tom Kean Sr. said his son is receiving medical treatment and is expected to make a full recovery.

“He’s hopefully coming back soon, and he’s under the care of a doctor,” Kean Sr. said, adding that his son had been evaluated by multiple physicians.

“They all agree he’s going to be fine. He’s under a doctor’s care.”

“It took a real illness to knock him out,” he added.

“This won’t linger. It’s not some kind of disease that’s going to incapacitate him in the future. The consensus is that he will be 100% OK.”

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Two House Members Remain MIA with Unexplained Health Issues, Missing Dozens of Votes

Concern is mounting in Congress about the status of two lawmakers absent from Washington because of mysterious health issues as both a Democrat and Republican have missed weeks of votes.

Reps. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ) and Frederica Wilson (D-FL) have been missing in action — and not voted — in more than a month.

Kean, 57, has not cast a vote since March 5 because of what his campaign called a “personal medical issue” without further elaboration, the Hill reported.

Wilson, 83, has not voted since April 17, though she is expected to return to the Capitol next week.

“The absences come as leaders in both parties are encouraging full participation from their members, given the razor-thin margins in the House,” according to the outlet.

Kean’s absence could impact his reelection campaign, which, if unsuccessful, could alter the balance of power in Congress next year. He represents a swing district.

A statement issued April 27 said the New Jersey lawmaker is expected to “return to a full schedule and be at 100 percent” in the “near future,” but Kean was still absent as the House returned this week.

Meanwhile, his website has been highlighting various community projects, including  announcing on May 11 the winners from his district of a Congressional art competition.

Wilson’s four-week absence went unnoticed until reporter Jamie Dupree noted it in a post on X this week, leading reporters to question House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) about it.

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Senate approves resolution to withhold senators’ pay during future govt. shutdowns

The Senate unanimously adopted a resolution on Thursday sponsored by Louisiana GOP Senator John Kennedy that mandates a freeze on senators’ pay during any future government shutdowns.

By making federal closures financially uncomfortable for lawmakers, the bipartisan measure aims to create a more urgent incentive for Congress to pass funding bills before critical deadlines.

This agreement follows a period of increasingly frequent and record-long shutdowns, reflecting a growing consensus that legislators should face tangible consequences when they fail to fulfill their core responsibility of funding the government.

The resolution was passed via a voice vote and is scheduled to take effect immediately following the general election on November 3, 2026. Because of this specific implementation timeline, the new rules could be enforced during potential funding lapses at the end of the calendar year, though they would not apply to any shutdown occurring before the current fiscal year expires on September 30th.

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Soviet Style Trial in Michigan for Criticizing a Politician – A Horrifying True Story

There is an ongoing case in Michigan that should terrify everyone. Marc Aisen was arrested near his home in December of 2023, extradited to Michigan, and has been held pretrial for over two and a half years.

Most Americans don’t believe the system can be weaponized against ordinary citizens. Judges and prosecutors are given the presumption of innocence and good faith, while criminal defendants are given the presumption of guilt because, “if the government went after them, they must have done something wrong.”

The case of The People of Michigan v. Marc Aisen demonstrates just how far the system can crush a person with the process.

Marc Aisen was gainfully employed and lived independently in Massachusetts. In his spare time, he did what countless Americans have done for generations: he wrote messages to politicians, nonprofit boards, and charity officials, on behalf of himself and others, calling them out for what he sincerely believed was complicity in crimes, immorality, and threats to public safety. He volunteered with various organizations within his religious community and the parents’ rights movement to advocate for policies.

On July 26, 2023, from his apartment in Massachusetts, Aisen sent an email to Bloomfield Township, Michigan, Treasurer Michael Schostak. The subject line was: “Michael Schostak Covered Up Child Sexual Exploitation in Jewish Nonprofit.”  The email was not posted on social media. It was sent directly to 56 email addresses, including 23 official local government emails, 14 officials from community boards and homeowners associations, and 19 private individuals. Here is the full text of that July 26 email:

Michael Schostak’s pedophile buddies are recommending child sex “change” experiments to kids and their parents, bespoking their tiny bodies with genital mutilation to make them more sexually appealing to the gay predators they are introducing them to. Michael Schostak is personally complicit in this evil scheme through his role at the “Secure Communities Network”. He doesn’t deny it. They advertise it on the JewishBoston.com website. “Jewish?” No. Faggotry is against the Jewish religion and this is precisely why.

Schostak received the email and forwarded it to Bloomfield Township Police Chief James Gallagher with the message: “Another email this morning. What are my options here?”

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Canada House of Commons Tracks Online Posts About MPs

The House of Commons in Canada is keeping a database of what Canadians say about their elected representatives online and officials are sorting those comments by category, including the tone and identity-based content of social media posts about MPs.

That admission came from Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Mellon at a parliamentary committee, where he described the operation as a “very robust records management system.”

According to Blacklock’s Reporter, the system catalogues incidents involving MPs and allows staff to sort and analyze posts, including those deemed “misogynistic” or otherwise “abusive.”

Mellon told MPs the database tracks “every single incident” and can break complaints down by category, including gender-based harassment.

What the records contain, why they are kept, and who has access to them, none of that was explained. Mellon offered few details. A spokesperson for the Office of the Sergeant-at-Arms said files may include both criminal and non-criminal complaints, but declined to disclose specifics, citing security reasons.

So the Commons is logging non-criminal speech about politicians. Citizens posting opinions about their representatives are being filed away in a government system, sorted by category, and held for purposes the government will not describe. The line between a threat and a sharp comment is being drawn by people who answer to the institution being commented on.

The testimony came as MPs pushed for the system to track speech in more granular ways.

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