Showing posts with label Bruce Dold. Show all posts

Friday, August 30, 2013

Don't Send Your Kids to a Private (read Catholic, or Religious) School; Save Your Money for Medicinal Marijuana and ObamaCare, and Don't Forget LaLaPalooza 2014!

Bad parents made their kids go here

Good Parents send their kids to public schools and save money for Medicinal Marijuana, LaLaPalooza, Pitchfork, Vegan Carry-outs and Indigo Girl Tix.

I read a really goofy Manifesto on Slate by Allison Bendikt and I knew that Bruce Dold of the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board could not wait to re-print it after Eric Zorn shoved it under his nose. The Tribune Editorial Board and its stable of quirky, edgy and too cool for Catholic school columnists has all the gravitas and discernment of MSNBC. Here is Ms. Benedikt's attempt at public discourse - premise - Parents who send their kids to private schools ( Catholic, Jewish, Lutheran, Muslim, Dutch Reformed and Suburban Secularist) are bad people.

Allison Benedikt is married to John Cook, who also writes for national Progressive publications like The Nation, Salon, The Republic. You magazines read by rich people who really hate rich people.

Allison is not as strident as her hubby, who demands that private schools be outlawed just The Reich did in the 1930's. Allison merely points to bad parents who send their kids to Catholic schools . . .private schools. She's not strident merely judgmental.

I am not an education policy wonk: I’m just judgmental. But it seems to me that if every single parent sent every single child to public school, public schools would improve. This would not happen immediately. It could take generations. Your children and grandchildren might get mediocre educations in the meantime, but it will be worth it, for the eventual common good. (Yes, rich people might cluster. But rich people will always find a way to game the system: That shouldn’t be an argument against an all-in approach to public education any more than it is a case against single-payer health care.)

So, how would this work exactly? It’s simple! Everyone needs to be invested in our public schools in order for them to get better. Not just lip-service investment, or property tax investment, but real flesh-and-blood-offspring investment. Your local school stinks but you don’t send your child there? Then its badness is just something you deplore in the abstract. Your local school stinks and you do send your child there? I bet you are going to do everything within your power to make it better. . . .( YES WE CAN!!!! SI! SE PUEDE!!!!!) . . .Sorry but I could help myself.Now here comes the payoff! . . .

There are a lot of reasons why bad people send their kids to private school. Yes, some do it for prestige or out of loyalty to a long-standing family tradition or because they want their children to eventually work at Slate. But many others go private for religious reasons, or because their kids have behavioral or learning issues, or simply because the public school in their district is not so hot. None of these are compelling reasons. Or, rather, the compelling ones (behavioral or learning issues, wanting a not-subpar school for your child) are exactly why we should all opt in, not out.

Ms. Benedikt notes that she is fine ( perfectly content) with her ignorance of history as well as other public school education afforded gaps in her intellectual capacities. Catholic schools teach that Ignorance is human, but Stupid is forever. Ignorance needs to be corrected. Human aspiration is the result. A stupid person does not care a whit about what she/he does not know. Back to paragraph # 1, parenthetical close:

(Yes, rich people might cluster. But rich people will always find a way to game the system: That shouldn’t be an argument against an all-in approach to public education any more than it is a case against single-payer health care.)

Rich people cluster, Catholics muster, but what about all those African American kids like the 90% here at Leo Catholic High School? They have bad parents, Aunties, Grandmas and GrandPappies? Bad Sponsors?

August 17

Ms. Benedikt admits to the sorry state of American public education in her Manifesto

I believe in public education, but my district school really isn’t good! you might say. I understand. You want the best for your child, but your child doesn’t need it. If you can afford private school (even if affording means scrimping and saving, or taking out loans), chances are that your spawn will be perfectly fine at a crappy public school. She will have support at home (that’s you!) and all the advantages that go along with being a person whose family can pay for and cares about superior education—the exact kind of family that can help your crappy public school become less crappy. She may not learn as much or be as challenged, but take a deep breath and live with that. Oh, but she’s gifted? Well, then, she’ll really be fine.

My spawn all attended Catholic schools Pre-12 because we are Catholic. However, were I Wiccan my spawn would have donned Catholic schoolyard jumpers, or Virgin Mary blue polos and navy strides from Zemskis anyway. I love my children, but more than that - I am obligated to their development as Americans. Americans are not moral relativists, but committed citizens who know that they are not the center of the Universe. To that end, I must do for my children from conception until I shed my mortal husk.

The total cost for the Catholic schooling of my spawn breaks out like this

Plutocrat Hickey Games the System, or From 1988 - 2014 for Spawn Total of 3

P-8 $ 26,000 in Tuition
P-8 $ 6,400 in Books and Fees
9-12 $ 75,000 in Tuition
9-12 $ 9,450 in Books and Fees
Spawn Total $ 116,850
My salary range between 1988-2013* Before Mortgage/City/County/State/ Federal Taxes & my Social Security Payments

1988 - $ 22,000
2013 - $ 71,000

* Two Parent Income 1988-1998 ( widowed 1/14/1998 all kids received Social Security Death Benefits monthly and socked away; plus generous gifts from family members in Memoriam)- Single Parent 1998-2013.

The Spawn Payoff - My oldest daughter and her fiance are going to close on house in Oak Lawn next month; my son is taking his Boiler Operations Class prior to his October journeyman's exam for IUOE Local 399 and my baby girl is engaged in the Freshman Seminar at Western Michigan University. All three Spawnies are committed voters ( Anti-Abortion Democrats) tax-payers and free of any criminal record.

That makes me a Bad Parent*.

Ms. Benedikt has cast her thoughts upon the waters of public opinion - good on you, Allison. The Benedikt Manifesto will aid the Public School Industry's propaganda machine and reach the eyes and ears of millions.

My tens of readers have been offered my homey homily.

So long as whack-jobs continue to be afforded the microphones, the air-time and print shoved in front of politely silent ( stunned?) audiences, what passes for American thought will continue to be as compelling as the Manifesto: Private School v. Public School in Slate, The New Republic, or The Nation.

Personally, I find more gravitas in periodicals like Jugs and Ammo.

* One of the most laughable memes employed by the Public School Propaganda Ministry Contra School Choice is tired old saw - " BUT, People, Catholic Schools can kick out kids and have done with them."
Here is an exchange with a young man who lost a brother ( CPS Alum) to gang violence last October and went into a tail spin of truancy - we could not have the young guy back unless he chose to live at Mercy Home for Boys and Girls. Posted to Facebook.

Conversation started Thursday
3:37pm

(PHOTO Name REMOVED) Thank you for everything you and Mr.Mcgrath did for me last Mr. H, Last year was the roughest year of my life and I'm glad you to (sic) we're there to support and motivate me.. I couldn't express that anymore! Thank You
Today
5:33am

Pat Hickey

You are a fine man, #$%%. God knows the troubles that have beset you in your young life, but He will help you over come anything. Dan and I both miss you. Stay strong. Old Man Hickey
5:37am

( PHOTO REMOVED )I'll try, that's the best thing I can do

Times are tough, but only tough people make it past hard times ..
7:10am

Pat Hickey

You got that right. Fight the goofy impulse and work with your strengths - you are wicked smart, witty and good-hearted - work with that. McGrath and I are here for you 24/7 - Dude.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Metra Board - If the Tribune Editorial Board Demands Your Resignation, It Is a Great Sign to Stay Put

Alex Clifford was plucked from sunny California and plunked down here in the Land of Lincoln where the weather and the politics shifts with the prevailing winds.

The Chicago Tribune Editorial Board would tell Newton that apples grow up from the rich and fertile soil, where toothsome maids gather up the fruity orbs with their delicate alabaster fingers and swaddle them in winsome aprons. Like the BGA, the Chicago Editorial Boards, are where clueless go to strangle common sense and abort the obvious.

The Metra Board, like other Illinois institutions fraught with problems that became editorial grist (CPS FAIL/Cop Bashing/ U of I Pay to Play & etc.) looked to a coast for a Champ. We got a Ruth Love and Jody Weiss and a Michael Hogan - ubi sunt? California Alex is yet with us. What passes for Illinois Intellectual Titans never stop to ask, " Will avocadi grow in Peotone; peanuts in Prospects Heights, or cranberries in Hegewisch?

Yesterday, Alex Clifford unleashed his Shakman Avocadonado on the Tribune Editorial and our Blue Ribbon Illinois Obtuse.

To say that California Al unloaded incontrovertible opinion is to do him damning praise. His opinion was monumental. The breaking of this wind no doubt sailed away the lithe, but singularly unpleasant husk that is Andy Shaw of the BGA clear in a popcorn field in Iroquois County, shook the mighty jowls of Thundering Dick Simpson.

The Tribune Editorial Board, captained by that former Wildcat disc jockey, Bruce Dold, went all Dutton Peabody in response to the Californian's allegations and imprecations of Shakman Sinning!

We've seen little to suggest ( apples growing out of the ground again!) they were unhappy with Clifford's job performance but plenty of evidence that they were aware of the behind-the-scenes acrimony involving O'Halloran and Huggins. One board member gave Clifford a heads-up that there weren't enough votes to renew his contract, then joined in the vote to send him packing.
Four of them have since written letters of recommendation to help him find a new job.
What good are any of them? They're supposed to be keeping the trains running, not taking care of politicians and their pals. But they're patronage employees themselves, handpicked by pols. They do what they're told in return for the paychecks they're clearly not earning. Getting rid of them is a nightmare; we learned that after the last scandal, which seems like yesterday. It takes eight board members to oust one, and it's not even clear whether the pols who appoint them can replace them mid-term. All of this is leading, once again, to talk about a legislative overhaul of the entire four-headed transit system.
Board members, save us all a lot of grief. Resign. Chicago Tribune Editorial

Well they have certainly gotten to bottom of things . . .as always. Mark Brown of the Sun Times and Phil Kadner of the Southtown Star (Liberals unencumbered by limited I.Q.s) ovver thoughtful insights on the Metra testimony of California Al: each linked above.

California Al could not blossom and grow in Illini loam. Andy Shaw of BGA, Mickey Shakman of Shakman Enterprises, and the Tribune Editorial board saw a mountain in this molehill, an opportunity bash somebody and apples growing up betwixt them beans and corn.

Hoooooooooooeeeeeeeey!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Media Mum on Protected Codes of Silence, But Can't Shut Up About Alleged Cop Omerta

Go You Northwestern, Bruce!

Once again the Medill Marxist Day Camp at Northwestern University, home of the MacArthur Center for Justice for Some and the Lawyers Who Shill for Them, Bernardine Dohrn's Ghost Payroll Gig, and The Fagin Dave Protess Buy a Cabbie School of Journalism, has coaxed Wild Kit Bruce Dold into another shameless plea for Lawsuit Lotto Lawyers G. Flint Taylor, Jon Loevy and their comrades with today's editorial -

Don't appeal Abbate verdict: Time for City Hall to eradicate the 'code of silence'

Gee, Bruce, this h'yar polemic makes me want to toss on my Atticus Finch Suit, but it is after Labor Day. Dold and Company's clownish offering is nothing but smoke screen for political power players, lawyers and the Medill Big Progresive Thoughts sausage works in Evanston.

The wake-up call came Tuesday when a federal jury ordered the city and former Officer Anthony Abbate to pay $850,000 in damages to bartender Obrycka. Abbate, off-duty, had beaten her in a bar attack caught on video that went viral.
The city — Chicago taxpayers — also must pay Obrycka's attorney fees dating back to 2007. Combined with what the city's Law Department already has devoted in resources, the tab is about $5 million and rising, . . .Lesson learned? No. City Hall intends to challenge the verdict through post-trial motions, which are standard in these cases, and if those fail, appeal.
Bad idea. Move on, Mr. Mayor. . . .Within a few weeks, an internal police agency reviewed the case — but not the video at first — and recommended a misdemeanor charge for Abbate. Investigators even took the unusual step of going to Obrycka's home get her to sign a misdemeanor arrest report. But once she realized he was about to get a slap on the wrist, she released the video publicly. It was seen around the world.

Suddenly, the department took her case very seriously. The state's attorney's office upgraded the charges to felonies. Her lawsuit alleged that cops protect cops — that, because of a code of silence, Abbate would have received minor punishment had millions not seen that video.
While the department has strict, written guidelines for cases of alleged misconduct, the trial proved those procedures weren't followed. Ekl argues they still aren't: A too-cozy relationship persists between the department and the Independent Police Review Authority, which handles misconduct allegations. . . .
But for the bad ones, the code of silence, he said, is "alive and well."

It's long overdue that the Chicago Police Department start abiding by its own rules when officers become suspects in criminal cases. As police misconduct expert Lou Reiter testified in Obrycka's case, the vast majority of Chicago officers are decent, moral public servants who never have cause to interact with the Independent Police Review Authority.

No cop ever said Abbate was 'one of their own,' Bruce. No cop ever demanded to give this vicious drunken whale a cintilla of support.

Ask this, Bruce. Who clouted Abbate onto the job, protected Abbate and gave him the comfort to besmear his profession? Who among the the Ward players and through the Merit bosses in the department and through"Merit" whispered the command? The guy on Floor # Five at the Time? I'm sorry I can not hear you. Please speak up.

How about the code of silence at Tribune Towers? How about the code of silence at Medill? How about the code of silence between the Progressive Power Players in academia? How did Bernadine Dorhn get her gig? Who hired Bill Ayers at UIC (I believe it was Stan Ikenberry ) . Is there a Code of Silence at Cease Fire which took a $ 1 million buckoons and did absolutely nothing - again?

Can you name one Chicago Police Officer ( Non-Merit Gold Braid types exempt of course) who thinks that Abbate is not a louse? I can not and I talk to scores of cops a week.

The Code of Silence meme in this case of Abbate and the tiny Polish bartender is a legal gambit to open the door even wider for the likes of Loevy and G. Flint and the Center for Wrongful Opportunities to Be Somebody at Medill. Is there a Chicago Police code of silence?

Not among cops; they'll tell you plenty. Is there a code of silence? Speak up.

The Code of Silence is another Code of Opportunity, like Systemic Police Torture.

There is a Code falsehood in the editorials in this city.

According to one 19th Century journalist thus always that be - "There is no such thing, at this date of the world's history, in America, as an independent press. You know it and I know it. There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinion out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone. The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. You know it and I know it, and what folly is this toasting an independent press? We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes." John Swinton 1829-1901)

Monday, October 29, 2012

Libya? Chicago Tribune Offers Nothing

Trib Editorial Board Offers Nothing . . . Once more . . .oodles of nothing.

Bengahzi? Nope. Libya? UhUh. Dead Ambassador? Zilch. Dead Heroes? Ditto. Questions for President Obama? Can't say.

One may expect news from a newspaper; but, then again, when a newspaper endorses four more years of nothing, nothing might seem like a real cool hand, from a practiced dispenser of nothing in the news.