Three-term New York Mayor Ed Koch died today at the age of 88. Though a lifelong (and larger-than-life) Democrat, in 2004, he vigorously endorsed George W. Bush over fellow Democrat John Kerry because he felt everything was "trumped by the issue of terrorism."

Koch will be laid to rest at Trinity Church Cemetery, where a marker has stood since 2009. On it is the Star of David, a Hebrew prayer, and this inscription:

"My father is Jewish. My mother is Jewish. I am Jewish."

(Daniel Pearl, 2002, just before he was beheaded by a Muslim terrorist.)

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Happy Friday!

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This email cannot be verified by any means because it is a complete fabrication, but why let that stop me.

Hi Rev Al,

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Neil Heslin is the parent of a child killed at Sandy Hook elementary school. His call for additional gun control laws--made during a Connecticut hearing on gun violence prevention--received lots of attention after some news outlets claimed he'd been heckled.

Heslin was never heckled. He also wasn't the only parent who testified this Monday. Mark Mattioli, whose six year old son James was killed in the shooting, offered a very different perspective on gun laws.

"I don't think the gun laws are protecting the people. What have those gun laws done to make Chicago a safer city? I want responsible legislation. It needs to be simple and it needs to be enforced.

"We need much stricter enforcement. I believe in a few simple gun laws. I think we have more than enough on the books. We should hold people individually accountable for their actions."

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The Washington Post Fact-Checker, Glenn Kessler reported that 'a number of readers have raised questions about the president’s statement that he goes skeet shooting “all the time.”' So he thought some fact checking might be in order.

He actually did a pretty thorough investigation of the last four years: "We searched high and low through hundreds of news reports to see if there was ever any other mention of Obama engaged in skeet shooting."

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In response to Porn Stars In The News:

Javier, where have you been???  The most famous (former) porn star of all time is on our side.  Jenna Jameson's endorsement of Mitt Romney was lukewarm at first, but once she took to Twitter and saw all the negativity from the Left it pushed her over the edge and she became a lot more vocal about her political beliefs.  Twitchy has documented much of the hate she gets for daring to criticize the President.

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In response to Can a City Like Chicago be Saved?:

I don't think Chicago can be saved...I believe the people in Chicago must save themselves.  And Capitalism and Free Markets are the only answer. Hey wait, I'm on #TheConversation, so let me state it like this....

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In response to In Honor Of School Choice Week:

Sonnie, one Governor missing from that list is Pat Quinn of Illinois, and there's tons of support for school choice in his state because of Chicago's failing public schools. A recent study by the IL Policy Inst. found that charter schools held the top nine spots for 2012 ACT scores for open-enrollment, non-selective public high schools in Chicago. 

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