Thomson's LiteMo, or Gitmo Lite, Lures Melonaires!

O Beloved one, How did you manage to, so heartily eat those slices of melon ? Just one slice of the melon had such an effect on me, then how did you manage to eat so many slices ?" Luqman(A.S.) replied: "O Friend, from your hands I have received hundreds of gifts. The burden of thanks upon me is so great, that my back has gone crooked. Hence, I felt ashamed that the hand that had granted me so much favours, if one day some distastefulness or bitterness should come, how can I turn away from it ? O Friend, the pleasure of knowing that it comes from your hands has changed the bitterness of the melon to sweetness." Luqman Servant of Allah

Thanks Illinois Former Elected ( well not Pat Quinn of course) Officials for making Thomson Illinois the Epi-Center of Illinois Melonaires!


Former Governor Pat Quinn and Former Senator Dick Durbin are True Men of Genius!

Thomson, Illinois is the Melon Capital of the World. Some argue that Illinois will become more of a Terrorist Epicenter - Well, Never Pass Up a Catastrophe! Gitmo North will attract Terrorists You Say? Bring 'em on! They Gotta Eat and No one can pass up a delicious Thomason Melon!

Thomson, IL will become the World Melon Market. Melons Rock the Casbah and the Thompson Center and soon the White House!

Dig into the Melon groove! Futures and Commodities Melons ain;t no Oddity!

From High Plains Midwest AG Journal no less!


Time to thump the melons

Watermelon is no longer just the stuff of barbecues and seed spitting contests. It is all grown up and playing a sweet note in dishes, not just dribbling juices down your face.

The first problem one encounters when face-to-face with a melon is how do you tell when it is ripe. You can always cut a plug and taste, providing the melon is in your own patch, (for some strange reason purveyors of the juicy fruits frown upon plugging).

Thumping is fun, but it doesn't work for me. Sniffing, does however. Just go nose to nose with the fruit and if you can smell the taste of the melon, it is ripe. Some people push a bit on the stem end and if it gives a bit that is another indication of ripeness. Pay no attention if a melon has a light colored area on its fat body, that merely marks the part of the melon that was lying on the earth and out of reach of the sun. It has nothing to do with ripeness not with sweetness.

Sweetness is what most people enjoy about melons. The higher the fructose content the better we like it. The darker the meat of the melon, the more sugar it holds. If you are buying by the slice or the wedge, you can eyeball the color and pick accordingly. Avoid mealy melons as they are the old guys who lounged around in the sun too long. All melons and most fruits take kindly to salt and to lemon or lime juice as they enhance flavor and makes the melon taste sweeter.

Watermelon & Goat Cheese Salad

Red and yellow watermelon (or a combination of different kinds of melon) when served together make a colorful salad, but you can use just one kind if you like.

1 1/2 pounds red watermelon
1 1/2 pounds yellow melon
6 oz fresh goat cheese, cut into cubes or crumbled
1/2 cup hazelnuts (or other nuts), toasted and chopped*
8 fresh mint leaves, julienned
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Pinch salt

Cut rinds off melons, leaving fruit intact. Remove any seeds. Slice melons into 1-inch thick slices. Cut slices into long fingers or triangles. Place melon on a chilled platter. Intermingle goat cheese with melon pieces. Sprinkle hazelnuts, mint, olive oil and salt over the top. Makes 4 servings. *Note: Spread nuts on a baking sheet. Toast 10 minutes in a 300 F oven.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Watermelon & Cherry Tomato Salsa

Serve with grilled fish or use the salsa as a salad.
1 1/2 pounds red watermelon
1 1/2 pounds yellow watermelon or other melon
1 1/2 cups red and gold cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup tightly packed cilantro or parsley leaves
2 teaspoons minced shallot or scallions
Salt, to taste
3 tablespoons pure olive oil
1 tablespoon wine or raspberry vinegar, more to taste

Cut both melons into 1/2-inch cubes, remove seeds and place in a large bowl. Cut tomatoes in half or quarters and add to the bowl. Lightly chop cilantro or parsley, add to the watermelon, along with shallot, salt, olive oil and vinegar. Mix well. Depending on sweetness of melons and acidity of tomatoes, adjust seasoning with salt or vinegar, if needed. Serves 6 to 8 as a salad.


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Watermelon & Summer Berry Gazpacho

Berries of any kind can be used in this refreshing malange. It can be served for dessert, or as a first course or as a lunch.

6 1/2 cups cubed watermelon, to yield 4 cups puree
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons raspberry vinegar
10 mint leaves, finely sliced
1/2 cup raspberries
1/2 cup blueberries
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarse cracked black pepper
Pinch cayenne, optional

Seed melon cubes, if necessary. Put cubes in a blender and process until smooth. Pour puree through a strainer, pushing gently. Discard pulp. The remaining puree will be very thin, almost like juice; set aside in refrigerator. For gazpacho: To 4 cups of puree, add the lemon juice, vinegar, mint, onion, berries, salt, pepper and cayenne; mix well. Chill at least 2 hours to allow the flavors to blend. Serve in chilled bowls. Makes 4 servings.


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Watermelon Agua Fresca

This bright red and refreshing strained drink can also be made with yellow watermelon, honeydew or other varieties of melon.

3 pounds ripe watermelon
1 1/2 cups cold water
2 to 4 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
Squeeze of lime

Remove any seeds, then cut all but about 1 cup of melon into chunks and place in blender or food processor. (It's okay if a few seeds make it into the blender.) Add enough water to blend, sugar and lime juice; blend until quite smooth. Strain through a fine strainer, pressing solids to get as much liquid out as possible, and add remaining water, plus more sugar and lime juice to taste. Cut remaining melon into small dice and add to the agua fresca. Chill until cold or serve immediately over ice. Makes 4 glasses.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chunky Cataloupe Agua Fresca

This unstrained agua fresca has chunks of melon and more water than the strained version. Pick the ripest melon you can find. You can also use honeydew or specialty melons. This will hold in the refrigerator for a day or two.

1 1/2 pounds cantaloupe, about 3 cups chopped
2 cups cold water
2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
Squeeze of lime or lemon

Scoop out the seeds, then cut the melon into large chunks and place in the blender. Add enough water to blend, sugar and lime juice and blend on "liquefy" until quite smooth, up to a few minutes. Add remaining water and more sugar and lime juice to taste, if you like. Chill until cold or serve immediately over ice. Makes 4 glasses.

It's easy to see where watermelon got its name!

Date: 8/22/06

Thomson - More Than Gitmo-Lite It's America's Melon Bite!
http://www.hpj.com/journal/news/search2_VSearchResult.cfm



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomson,_Illinois

A Real Nobel Winner -Sgt. Gebhardt - Merry Christmas!

John Gebhardt's wife, Mindy, said that this little girl's entire family was executed. The insurgents intended to execute the little girl also, and shot her in the head...but they failed to kill her. She was cared for in John's hospital and is healing up, but continues to cry and moan. The nurses said John is the only one who seems to calm her down, so John has spent the last four nights holding her while they both slept in that chair. The girl is coming along with her healing.

He is a real Star of the war, and represents what America is trying to do.

This, my friends, is worth sharing. Go for it!! You'll never see things like this in the news. Please keep this going. Nothing will happen if you don't, but the American public needs to see pictures like this and needs to realize that what we're doing over there is making a difference.. Even if it is just one little girl at a time.

James Gates U. S. Navy

Thanks to patriot soldier in Iraq, Chad Longell, for this heartwarming material. God bless America's soldiers. And . Dr. Steve Maloney!

UK Man Delivers Baby Using Blackberry ! Google, We Have a Baby!

A gent in Britain helped bring a child into the world by Google-ing instructions from his Blackberry.

This Brave New World can be Child Friendly. Planned Parenthood will no doubt seek damages through an abortion friendly anti-trust litigating Federal Judge like Judge Posner.

Until then, Joy to and In The World!

When Emma Smith of Leytonstone, UK, went into labor, her husband Leroy realized that they wouldn’t be able to get to the hospital in time. He then used his BlackBerry to find instructions online on how to deliver a child:

So the 29-year-old grabbed hold of his BlackBerry, accessed the internet and sought help from search engine Google for step-by-step instructions.

And after following the detailed guide on the internet’s wikiHow Emma safely gave birth to daughter 6lb 11oz Mahalia Merita Angela Smith.

Five minutes after the delivery the midwife arrived to cut the umbilical cord of their fourth child.

Well done, Leroy!

Quinn and Durbin Open Thomson Al Qaeda B & B!

Former Governor Pat Quinn and Former Senator Dick Durbin Sing Be Our Guests to Gitmo Illini!

Sing it Voters! Then Laugh these two out of Office!

Quinn, Durbin at White House today for Thomson briefing
December 15, 2009 6:44 AM | No Comments
Gov. Pat Quinn and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois meet with Obama administration officials at the White House today to be briefed on the federal government's plans to buy Illinois' little-used Thomson state prison in the northwest corner of the state for use housing federal prisoners and some of the detainees from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Read more in Clout Street

Pat Quinn:

Ma chere Mademoiselle, it is with deepest pride
and greatest pleasure that we welcome you tonight.
And now we invite you to relax, let us pull up a
chair as the dining room proudly presents -
your dinner!

Be our guest! Be our guest!
Put our service to the test
Tie your napkin 'round your neck, cherie
And we'll provide the rest
Soup du jour
Hot hors d'oeuvres
Why, we only live to serve
Try the grey stuff
Chip:
It's delicious
Lumiere:
Don't believe me? Ask the dishes
They can sing, they can dance
After all, Miss, this is France
And a dinner here is never second best
Go on, unfold your menu
Take a glance and then you'll
Be our guest
Oui, our guest
Be our guest!

Quinn and Progressives:

Beef ragout
Cheese souffle
Pie and pudding "en flambe"

Quinn:
We'll prepare and serve with flair
A culinary cabaret!
You're alone
And you're scared
But the banquet's all prepared
No one's gloomy or complaining
While the flatware's entertaining
We tell jokes! I do tricks
With my fellow candlesticks

Chorus:
And it's all in perfect taste
That you can bet
Come on and lift your glass
You've won your own free pass
To be out guest

Quinn:
If you're stressed
It's fine dining we suggest


Durbin:

Be our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest!
Get your worries off your chest
Let us say for your entree
We've an array; may we suggest:
Try the bread! Try the soup!
When the croutons loop de loop
It's a treat for any dinner
Don't belive me? Ask the china
Singing pork! Dancing veal!
What an entertaining meal!
How could anyone be gloomy and depressed?
We'll make you shout "encore!"
And send us out for more
So, be our guest!

Quinn:
Be our guest!

Obama:
Be our guest!

Mrs Schakowsky:

It's a guest! It's a guest!
Sakes alive, well I'll be blessed!
Wine's been poured and thank the Lord
I've had the napkins freshly pressed
With dessert, she'll want tea
And my dear that's fine with me
While the cups do their soft-shoein'
I'll be bubbling, I'll be brewing
I'll get warm, piping hot
Heaven's sakes! Is that a spot?
Clean it up! We want the company impressed

Big Ed Schultz
We've got a lot to do!

Mrs Schakowsky:
Is it one lump or two?
For you, our guest!

MSNBC:
She's our guest!


Mrs Schakowsky & Billy Ayers:
She's our guest!


DNC:
She's our guest!
Be our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest!


Pat Quinn:

Life is so unnerving
For a servant who's not serving
He's not whole without a soul to wait upon
Ah, those good old days when we were useful...
Suddenly those good old days are gone
Ten years we've been rusting
Needing so much more than dusting
Needing exercise, a chance to use our skills!
Most days we just lay around the castle
Flabby, fat and lazy
You walked in and oops-a-daisy!

Quinn, Durbin, & President Obama:

Be our guest! Be our guest!
Our command is your request
It's been years since we've had anybody here
And we're obsessed
With your meal, with your ease
Yes, indeed, we aim to please
While the candlelight's still glowing
Let us help you, We'll keep going
Course by course, one by one
'Til you shout, "Enough! I'm done!"
Then we'll sing you off to sleep as you digest
Tonight you'll prop your feet up
But for now, let's eat up
Be our guest!
Be our guest!
Be our guest!
Please, be our guest!

Brit Hume Mops the Floor with Durbin - The Murderer of School Reform

Senator Dithering Dick Durbin is beholden no principle. The Thompson Gitmo Guest Haus Developer, Abortion Industry Baby-Daddy and SEIU Towel Boy is also the School Reform Child Molester of America.

Sen. Dick "American Troops are SS" Durbin does what he is bidden to do by SEIU, Planned Parenthood and the Education Lobby. Durbin has been caught strangling the baby of Reform in the cradle. This fatuous and mealy-mouthed dope is a parser for Abortion and then passes around his 1st Communion Photos to the voters.

Last night Brit Hume pasted this time serving dope -

The real reason seems to be that the program works and thereby threatens the monopoly the public schools and their unions now enjoy. So language to end the program was quietly inserted in that massive trillion spending bill now working its way through Congress.

Fingerprints are hard to find, but the point-man against the program has been the Senate's No. 2 Democrat: Dick Durbin of Illinois. The AFL-CIO's most recent rating of his support was 100 percent — small wonder.

To think that I vote for this amoeba Durbin makes my skin itch. He makes Roland Burris look like Curley Dirksen.

Pour it on him, Mr. Hume!

Toni Preckwinkle's Buying the Rounds At Keegan's Pub! Terry O'Brien Who?

Here's a question - How do you get Alderman Toni Preckwinkle off your front porch?

Answer: Pay for the Pizza!


Yep, Progressive Panjandrum Preckwinkle is Movin' On Up! - To the 19th Ward! The brilliant Laura Washington, a graduate of Academy of Our Lady on 95th Street and one of Chicago's most accurate political journalists - Washington predicted the defeat of Barack Obama by Bobby Rush years ago - sees hope for the 4th Ward Alderman.

Toni Preckwinkle just might be in the mood to drop by Keegan's Pub and announce - "Bernard! Get a round for the folks from the Street to the Shithouse! How's about some Bumps and Beers? Who's up for some Shooters? Come on, you Coppers like nothing better than that - Shooters? Just kiddin'!"

Today, Laura Washington decided to test the waters around my raised ranch on Rockwell, after seeing a Poll conducted by the Tribune that puts the Honaorable Dorothy Brown -Pearls and All at Number one and Toni "Two Shoes" Preckwinkle at Numero Dos.

White voters, particularly along the lakefront, are ripe for Preckwinkle's 21st century-style "Washington coalition." She has picked up nods from progressives such as U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Evanston and officeholders such as Aldermen Helen Shiller, Joe Moore and Mary Ann Smith.

Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), the city's first openly gay alderman, is still on the fence, but he says voters in his Lake View ward are split 50/50. "If the election were held today, the race would be between Toni and Terry," he told me Wednesday. Tunney adds that Stroger has gotten an unfair rap on the county tax issue, but concedes "people want to see a change from Todd."

Talk about change. Another reality check: A recent Chicago Sun-Times report that Preckwinkle may be breaking ground in -- gasp -- the white ethnic enclaves on the city's Southwest and Northwest sides.

Matt O'Shea is an O'Brien backer and committeeman in the "heavily Irish" Southwest Side 19th Ward. "Everybody thinks that if the ballot remains the same, it'll be a walk for Terry O'Brien, but I don't think so," he told the Sun-Times. "Toni Preckwinkle has the ability to reach out to a lot of white voters."

Toni might do a Western Avenue Death March and announce naming a street after Saul Bellow.

Losers have potential! Keep Hope Alive and watch out for open manholes!

Sun Times Demands Eddie V Do-Over"" Let's Find a Judge Who Will Do What We Want!"

Months ago Judge Shadur sentenced Edward R. Vrdolyak and the Sun Times Editorial Board screamed like Rag Sheenies. They fully expected Eddie V to go to the Guillotine!

They screamed the same way about George Ryan.

They Scream about everything, They are screamers.

Judge Richard Posner is a scream. He looks like Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm and from everything that I've read about and by him over the last thirty years, I'll bet he is as about as warm and as genuine as that character. Take a look at this - right out of the HBO script -

Posner noted that anyone once prominent in government can gin up a lot of letters.

"The business with the letters? It's ridiculous," he argued. "You have a person like this, he could generate a thousand letters."

'Letters????!!!! Anyone can get letters! You gotta write letters to get letters! I got Letters! Track, Glee Club! Alger Hiss Society! Letters? What's Letters?'


Posner's the appeals judge, anti-trust litigation game setter ( Founder of Compass Lexecon* - the Dictionary of getting, acquiring or keeping your billions of dollars), University of Chicago Professor, Abortion Friendly Judge, Dope Friendly Judge and Sun Times Editorial Board friendly judge.

I have always liked and admired Eddie Vrdolyak.

Judge Posner is a Protected White Elephant - 'Oh so, thoroughly above reproach, Me Lawd!'

I am thoroughly unimpressed by Appeals Judge Posner. He's an Ayn Rand character in the flesh. Posner plays with Microsoft and Fast Eddie does deals for people. I'll cotton to Alderman Vrodolyak any day.

Judge Posner screams that Eddie Vrodolyak should be sentenced in a judicial do-over.

The Sun Times Mensa Our Gang Comedians scream along with the Judge. Hell, I'll bet they asked the Judge to do the screaming.

I would love to see Sun Times pitbull journalist sink is buckers into the career and cases and confederates of Judge Richard Posner. They won't take the leash off of Novak because he'd tear buttocks -cheek to cheek - off of Posner and Pals. They'd make fast Eddie seem like a stylite.

It is interesting what Judge Posner screamed, when damning the already tried, convicted and sentenced Edward R. Vrdolyak: - "If you get old enough, you can commit a white-collar crime, and nothing's going to happen to you,"

Sic em, Novak!

Founded in 1977, Compass Lexecon's Chicago office pioneered the application of economics to legal and regulatory matters. We currently have a professional staff of more than 200 individuals, including 60 highly skilled Ph.D. economists and econometricians and more than 60 other individuals with advanced degrees located in seven offices.

Our practices are led by some of the most recognized and respected economic thinkers in the world including six former chief economists of the Department of Justice Antitrust Division. We maintain relationships with numerous high-profile academic affiliates, including Nobel Prize winners.

Antitrust, our founding practice area, remains a central part of our business. Our practice areas have expanded to include other areas of litigation including securities, intellectual property, accounting, risk management, valuation, corporate governance and employment matters. In all these areas, we often provide detailed damages analyses. Our non-litigation-related practice areas include matters such as business consulting, regulatory policy and public policy.

Compass Lexecon is a wholly owned subsidiary of FTI Consulting, Inc., a global business advisory firm.

http://www.compasslexecon.com/about_us/Pages/default.aspx

Bob Herguth and Sister Mary Paul McCaughey Nail It - Catholic Schools Must Target Mexicans and Latinos.

The PC all-inclusive Hispanics is a dodge. The vast majority of Catholics swelling the population of Chicago are Mexicans. Mexicans have a family and work ethic that runs counter to contemporary American Poser outlooks - " I won't do that type of work; I'll stay unemployed and live with Mom and Dad until I get a reality show,"

Yesterday was the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, one of the signal cultural events in Mexico and with her children Del Norte.

Mexicans are as wildly jingoistic about their Motherland than any Pole, Lithuanian, Jew, or Mick.

Mexicans, as an American demographic, are as yet untoxified by the victimhood that required in the welfare culture - government operated which helped to destroy the African American Family and semiotic media developed Mom and Dad welfare provided to white "I wont do that type of work;I'll stay with Mom and Dad until I get a reality show."

The Si Se Puede Lefty Activists have yet to enthrall the Mexican families in America.
Mexicans cling to the Faith - Catholic or Evangelical Protestant; Mexicans , especially men, would rather string fliers together in an icy warehouse than take the dole or depend upon the charity of others; they abhor Abortion no matter how much perfume is squirted on that pig; they do not embrace Gay Marriage; they take care of their elderly with a grace and affection that should put all other Americans to shame and they love America. Mexicans are fearlessly courageous, loyal, generous and loving.

Mexican young people are attracted to gangs and are singularly violent practitioners of Gang Doctrine; however they do, it seems to me, exhibit the nihilistic and maniacally senseless violence that marks Black on Black Homicide and Assault and Battery.

Mexican Americans have cohesive community sensibility that was smothered out of the African American Family community through sixty years of government plantation servitude to the Welfare God.

The one area where Mexicans and other Hispanic Catholics cleave to the Welfare State is its attraction to Public Education. I dare say that one might map any and all aberrant behavior and associations ( Gang Membership, Teen Pregnancy & etc.) in the Mexican Community to that choice in Education. Perhaps that choice by Mexicans for Public Education over Catholic Schools stems from the fact that government pays for the Church and education in Catholic Mexico is homogeneous. For whatever reason, Mexicans need to choose Catholic Education over Public Schools, because Public Schools encourage Teen Pregnancy, Abortion, and viewing the actions of one's life -" Forget to learn English ! Forget your Abuelos - Government has their backs! It's All Good! America is Racist and Imperialistic."

Likewise, the Catholic Church and especially Catholic Schools must attract greater participation and commitment from Mexican Families. Bob Herguth of Chicago Catholic News .Com provides a great story about this initiative and Sister Mary Paul McCaughey, Catholic Schools Superintendent, is just the person to clearly define the benefits of Catholic Education to Mexican Families. Click my post title for this great story

The evidence that Public schools are a danger are as clear as the headlines in every Chicago newspaper and on every radio and television broadcast.

Sauger Fishing the Illinois River - Beer Drinking with Patriots

Waters of the Illinois River are colder than a mother in law's kiss and with this year's snap from God's Freon Lines (aka -Global Warming) YEOW! I read a scrotum shrivelling saga in this morning's Tribune. God be praised a gent knocked from his barge after a collision with a bridge was pulled from waters near Coal City* - a town I love so well. The Illinois River is formed by the mighty north flowing Kankakee and Des Plaines Rivers and pushes west through Morris and Ottawa where it picks up the Mazon and Fox Rivers and later the Vermillion and eventually spikes southwest to the Mississippi River. That's a hell of a lot of water to all you hydrology fans.

The waters are damn cold. Colder than the reception too many south side gents will receive, following the their decisions to cap off the office Christmas Party with a nightcap and a nightgown at Franklin Tap before boarding the Metra (Rock Islands). Frigid, Bridget!

The Illinois River is the Sauger Capital of the World. The Sauger is a Pericidae ( Perch family and great eating) and the smaller more athletic cousin of the Noble Walleye. There have been some instances where Sauger and Walleye mate and a spawn hybrid freak -Dysfunctional Walleye - the Saugeye appears. I believe that to be more agrarian legend, like the Yellowhammers of Custer Park - folks said to be so in-bred that they live along the banks of the Kankakee River along Route 113. Oh, they be there, Meryl.

Sauger fishing, in late November and early December, requires a genuine Illinois River Scout - a man steeped in River Traditions, Folkways and a River Piety toward the piscene quarry and also a man thoroughly marinated in Peach Schapps and Pabst Blue Ribbon - or, if unavailable, Blatz. I like Drewrys.

I had the honor of teaching with such an Illinois Voyageurcoureurs des bois - Jacques Martain**! Clam! Jack was known by that apellation following his capture of an Illinois Clam the size of a hubcap - Baby Moon Buick Sized.

Jack lived in Streator and drove to Kankakee Bishop McNamara High School ( distance of about sixty-five miles each way) and never was late nor missed a day of teaching History.

Voyageur Martain introduced me, Charlie Olson and Dead-eye Brett Fraser to the delights and dangers of Sauger fishing. The Key- don't get so brain-boiled on beer that you end up the main course for Mr. Gar under the river bed.

The absolute best time to take Sauger is in February prior to the spawning run near Starved Rock, IL. The next best is November and December when the shad take to depths of eight to twelve feet. To quote River Reporter Dan Vinovich:

" As late November and December arrive, water temperatures drop into the 50 degree range. This drop in water temperature seems to merge the smaller schools of fish into large wolf packs interested in one thing, eating! Fall, in my judgment, is one of the best times to catch full stringers of big fish. Locating these packs of hungry walleye and sauger is fairly simple. When you find the food, you find the fish. Shad is the main forage base in many of our midwest lakes and rivers. In the fall, millions of shad move onto shallow mud flats to feed on the remaining invertebrates in the water column. As the invertebrates in the water column start to deplete, the shad start sifting through the silt on these flats for the remaining food, much like the American Indians followed the buffalo across the plains. The walleye and sauger follow the shad, stopping to gorge themselves on the plentiful food supply before moving into deeper holes to hold up during winter. So for fantastic fall river fishing, look for shallow flats in the 10 to 12 foot depth range. "

This is all too true and Dan's simile is dead-on! Saugers form wolfpacks like the Nazi Subs off the Atlantic Coast in hunt of shad rather than Allied shipping.

In 1984, at about this time of year, Jacques "Clam" Martain lured Charlie, Brett and me out to Streator and off to the Illinois River in pursuit of of these Sauger wolfpacks. We took off from Triple K in Brett's tan Chevy van armed with Zebco's, Illinois Fish & Game Licenses, Peach Schapps and a case of Blatz cans ( 'Outta Pabst Boys! No More 'til Monday. Hickey - You gotta be Some Kind of Mutant - Drewrys!') from Box & Norm's Liquors on Station Street.

The Kankakee Trio ( Olson,Fraser & Hickey) picked up Clam in Streator at 5:30 A.M. and drove to Starved Rock - the site of the Illinwek Masada - the Illinwek tribe murdered a great number of Potowatommi and their Chief Pontiac in 1760': a bit of Advocacy History painted over by Ward Churchills. Genocide has nothing to do with honkies - this was Injun on Injun****. Starved Rock is an Illinois Treasure - get thee there!

We did and there was a beautiful blanket of snow - the temperatures were 25 Degrees. The swift waters of the Illinois River confluence and wet-confederation fired coal black swirls and ripples that caressed rock and bridge pilings, as we wadded, very carefully, in spots that Clam Martain had scouted and was sure that no shifts in the river bedding of limestone would snag his three colleagues.

Jacques (Jack) "Clam" Martain was a riverman - any and every River. Clam waded and so did we. With good rubber waders and thick thermals grabbing our butts, nuts and uppers. Clam was our coureur des bois! There are many of my generation and younger who learn to steep themselves in the better nature of man by respecting and tussleing with Nature. No WIs or Nintendos for such Patriots! Clam was no armchair historian either - he waded into history!

In the classroom he never once raised his voice which had a four generation Illini French tang of Gascony yet. Mr. Martain taught Illinois History and made it come to life -especially the French Heritage. Parts of Northern Illinois are remarkable for the Gallic magic that inflects the speech of people in Papinueau, rural Kankakee, Martinon, St. Anne, L'Rable, Hennepin, Minooka, Peru, and Ottawa. Clam liked nothing better than teaching history and then popping open beers while he fished and his three pals were devout communicants of this church as well.

Clam is convinced that somewhere in his French lineage is some Pontiac blood. He ordered each of us to sacrifice a lure of some value by tossing it into the Illinois river. "Before we take from the waters we must give to the waters!" Brett Fraser was passing some steaming used Blatz and Peach Schapps into the Illinois from the bank, but Clam said that was not a fitting gift.

Into the River we tossed, twister tails, hulu poppers and silly shads.

Charlie, Brett and I were told what crank baits to use and where to toss and how to play them -" Take 2 & 1/2" dull color shads -pop them out about fifteen past your target beyond the flow and play it fast -Sauger get pissed when shad dart by. Shad are bony cousins of the Atlantic or the river herring. Saugers love them.

My take for the day was four two and two and half pound Saugers. All were under the "14" limit and I had to let them go. As I mentioned, I like Drewrys and therefore was skunked. Blatz lovers Charlie, Brett, and Clam had stringers full of wiggling and pissed off Saugers. We cleaned, cooked and ate the fish and wrapped some for our wives when we made room in the coolers as good husbands by draining them of cans of Blatz.

I took a pass on the Peach Schnapps as did Charlie and we took turns driving back to Clam's house in Streator.

When we hit Route 113, we noticed a rainbow behind us in the side door rear view mirrors. Charlie Olson, 6'4" Black Haired Viking who taught Business and coached Tennis, took this as an omen. I concurred and we pulled into Custers Last Stand for Drafts, Darts and demitasse du jour
. We took much from the Illinois River. It was cold and warm at the same time.

The barge men pulled a fellow crewman from the icy Illinois River waters. I hope the rescued bargeman returns to that bridge and tosses in something of value. Jacques "Clam" Martain would demand no less .



*

December 12, 2009 6:07 AM | No Comments | BREAKING STORY
An unidentified man was rescued from the icy waters of the Illinois River near Coal City Friday night.

At about 9:30 p.m., a barge traveling on the Illinois River struck a Canadian National Railway bridge pier about a half mile from the Dresdon Lock and Dam. The collision caused a man working on the barge to fall overboard into the river, according to Coal City Fire Chief Harold Holsinger.

The barge crew lost contact with him in the darkness for approximately 45 minutes until he was found about a half mile downstream, Holsinger said. After about a 15 minute rescue operation he was pulled from the water by personnel from the Dresdon Lock and Dam.

The man was transported to Morris Hospital, his condition is unknown. Chief Holsinger indicated that the man was alert, conscious but very, very cold. The Coast Guard is investigating the incident.



John Loboda, WGN-TV

**

Voyageur strength hauled more than goods; it also allowed explorer Louis Joliet and missionary Father Jacques Marquette to search for a route to the Gulf of Mexico. These men became the first Europeans to see and map the Mississippi River along with many other natural landmarks. As they returned northward through the Illinois Territory, news reached them of a faster route back to the Great Lakes: the Illinois River. Joliet and Marquette would continue to the current site of Chicago, and Father Marquette would return to start the first Christian Mission in Illinois near Starved Rock. Today you can follow the strokes of Father Marquette when you paddle into the Illinois River at Starved Rock State Park.


The Illinois River retains the trade value and adventurous spirit from the Voyageur days. If you get the opportunity to travel this river or the byway that follows its shores, consider how the work and sweat of the Voyageurs helped shape Illinois history.

***
T

he Illinois Natural History Survey Mollusk Collection contains over 105,400 catalogued specimens, most of which were collected in Illinois and the southeastern United States. The collection is 90% freshwater species (mussels, fingernail clams, and snails) and 10% terrestrial species (snails). Most of the specimens were collected as a result of various faunal surveys conducted by INHS biologists from the late 1800's until the present. The early collections were made by such naturalists as John W. Powell, Robert Kennicott, Richard E. Call, William A. Nason, Frank C. Baker, Robert E. Richardson, and Charles A. Hart.

The snails are divided between terrestrial (13%) and freshwater (5%) species, most of which were collected more than 50 years ago. The largest and best documented collection of snails at the Survey was compiled by Thural D. Foster and organized by Frank C. Baker as part of his study on the "Landsnails of Illinois" published in 1939. The Baker snail collection numbers 1632 lots containing 11,970 specimens.

**** From a paper written by a high school teacher -

"In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue" . . . and made the first contact with the "Indians." For Native Americans, the world after 1492 would never be the same. This date marked the beginning of the long road of persecution and genocide of Native Americans, our indigenous people. Genocide was an important cause of the decline for many tribes.

Lord Stern's Diet No Meat and No Cheese? Lord ! Haw, Haw, Haw

The English Peerage is always good for gut busting, pew splitting fart launched laughs! Flatulent Lord Stern the Climate Change Half-Wit whelping the Copenhagen still-born ruse of International Environmental Fascism, has blasted a hole through his britches with this one!

"Meat is a wasteful use of water and creates a lot of greenhouse gases. It puts enormous pressure on the world's resources. A vegetarian diet is better," Stern said.

To fight climate change and tackle the growing crisis of diet-related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer, British consumers must cut down on meat and dairy produce, reduce their intake of processed foods and curb waste.

I say, Old Cock, drop that saddle of mutton,Wot?

Roast Beef of England? Nay More,Rupert! Stilton? Scat! Nicholas Herbert Stern, Baron Stern of Brentford, Kt, FBA Farting Nick Knows Nothing Nourishes Naughty Nitrates! Bacon Begone! Chops? Decamp, Scat! Shoo! Take it on the Heel and Toe!

Sing it Sinners!

When mighty Roast Beef was the Englishman's food,
It ennobled our brains and enriched our blood.
Our soldiers were brave and our courtiers were good
Oh! the Roast Beef of old England,
And old English Roast Beef!



But since we have learnt from all-vapouring France
To eat their ragouts as well as to dance,
We're fed up with nothing but vain complaisance
Oh! the Roast Beef of Old England,
And old English Roast Beef!



Our fathers of old were robust, stout, and strong,
And kept open house, with good cheer all day long,
Which made their plump tenants rejoice in this song--
Oh! The Roast Beef of old England,
And old English Roast Beef!



But now we are dwindled to, what shall I name?
A sneaking poor race, half-begotten and tame,
Who sully the honours that once shone in fame.
Oh! the Roast Beef of Old England,
And old English Roast Beef!



When good Queen Elizabeth sat on the throne,
Ere coffee, or tea, or such slip-slops were known,
The world was in terror if e'er she did frown.
Oh! The Roast Beef of old England,
And old English Roast Beef!



In those days, if Fleets did presume on the Main,
They seldom, or never, return'd back again,
As witness, the Vaunting Armada of Spain.
Oh! The Roast Beef of Old England,
And old English Roast Beef!



Oh then we had stomachs to eat and to fight
And when wrongs were cooking to do ourselves right.
But now we're a . . . I could, but goodnight!
Oh! the Roast Beef of Old England,
And old English Roast Beef!

President Obama Takes the Nobel Prize

President Obama, not yet a year into his term of Office, takes home the Nobel Prize.

I heard his speech this morning - it was nice.

The President should order Air Force One over to where the American Kids are keeping the Peace -in Afghanistan and Iraq. That would would be the heroic act of a good a man.

It is one thing to accept the Prize and it is another make good on its worth.

More from the Great Eye of Chicago Artist Araceli Arroyo

I noticed the great photography of Chicago Artist Araceli Arroyo a couple of weeks ago. I really like her take on the working class streetscapes around Midway Airport and her shots of kids at play.

Most telling are her winter images especially the one above that captures Chicago's Hawk in full flight.

Click my post title for more of Ms. Arroyo's work.

Kevin Myers: Gallantry and Grace/Orange and Green

"You don't consciously set out to do something gallant. You just do it because that is what you are there for."
Richard Todd

"I don't subscribe to murder" - Liam Clancy

Two Irishmen - Actor Richard Todd and Singer/Guitarist Liam Clancy- died last week. Kevin Myers wrote an essay today on the nature of gallantry and grace.

Tuesday December 08 2009

TWO Irishmen died last week. They both seem to have been good men, their lives crossing only as vapour trails from different flight-paths might mingle. Each provided a different kind national stereotype -- one for Ireland, the other for Britain -- and the myths they helped create still live on in the imaginations of those outside their respective countries.

Richard Todd was born in 1919 in Dublin to Irish loyalists who were not about to remain in a state run by Sinn Feiners. He was raised in England and India before becoming an actor. With the outbreak of the Second World War, he joined the British army, later becoming a paratrooper. He was among the first allied airborne soldiers to land in Normandy, before the sea-borne invasion hit the beaches. His own diffidence about this time matched his natural heroism. Later, as a film actor, he was to play in war scenes in which he had participated -- even watching other characters play the part of himself.

Two films defined him, and the mythic "Britishness" which he came to embody. The first, 'The Dam Busters', remains one of the finest British war movies ever made. It is successful partly because it conforms so totally with the requirements of myth, particularly in his portrayal of the legendary RAF Wing Commander Guy Gibson. Time has not been kind to either the dam-busting bombing raid, nor to its hero. The attack on the Ruhr dams in May 1943 could not possibly have succeeded in its stated objective in paralysing the German hydroelectric power systems. No measurable reduction in German industrial output was achieved.

The loss of aircrew -- eight out of 19 aircraft were shot down, with 56 men killed -- was quite shocking. On the receiving end, the result was even more terrible: more than 1,000 people -- more than half of them slave-workers and allied prisoners of war -- were killed.

History is only tangentially related to myth. And the legend of 'The Dam Busters' took flight with the film about the operation, with Richard Todd playing Gibson to perfection as the "typical" English officer. It is irrelevant that Gibson was, in addition to being a man of spectacular personal courage, actually a bumptious, insensitive and insufferable bully. The British people needed a hero, and Richard Todd's Guy Gibson provided it.

The second archetypal British character Todd played was Major John Howard in 'The Longest Day', the leader of the famous glider-borne assault on Pegasus Bridge in Normandy. Extraordinarily, Todd the soldier was actually a paratrooper in support of that operation. But John Howard once told me how he hated Todd's upper-class portrayal of him, which was utterly unlike the real John Howard; a working class boy, with a strong London accent, who had been commissioned from the ranks. This (to my mind) would have been a more compelling story; but to the American mind behind 'The Longest Day', and to the British also, British officers should always be toffs.

The real Guy Gibson was killed in action in 1944.

Two of the aircrew serving with the RAF at that time were the Waterford brothers, air-gunners Paddy and Tom Clancy. Only one-in-four of Bomber Command survived a tour of missions, and they both did; going on, in a second exile in the US, to form the Clancy Brothers. The youngest and last of the Clancys, Liam, died last week, just hours after Richard Todd.

The Clancys became an Irish caricature, but a wholly benign one, and only the too-sensitive worry about these things.

For those of us in the great Irish diaspora, the Clancy Brothers lit a torch of creative and cultural certainty. That it might have been largely mythic is irrelevant.

They also inspired many American folk artists, including Bob Dylan, and, of course, uncountable numbers in Ireland. But they were largely responsible, too, for the English folksong revival, the main protagonists of which -- Martin Carthy and the Watersons -- not merely followed their example, but were themselves of Irish extraction. A cliche is only tiresome to those who are too familiar with it.

The Clancys brought joy to millions, and made simplicity pleasurable. There was the darker side, of course; the fights and the booze, and so on. But they had their limits.

And whereas the Clancys revelled in 19th century ballads about the '98 Rising, they were uncomfortable with the gruesome musical lore of more recent vintage. John Boland's story on Saturday of Liam's rebuttal of an 'An Phoblacht' seller -- "I don't subscribe to murder" -- pretty much sums up the brothers' politics. Liam was the last of them to go, and I greatly regret never having met him.

NOT merely do the bawneen stereotypes of the Clancy cliche live on: so do its disciples. Children who never heard of the brothers live richer, better, happier lives today because of the music they helped save.

And another thing, equally relevant and always worth remembering: Europe is free today because of the likes of Richard Todd, and Paddy and Tom Clancy, and John Howard, and Guy Gibson. For behind all great myths are usually great truths.

The problem is that we usually don't know what they are.

- Kevin Myers

Irish Independent

Araceli Arroyo's Sober Eye Captures Winter's Bender

Que Ojos!
Click my Post Title for Araceli Arroyo's Wonderful Chicago Photos - from which I posted three great shots of Chicago Winter in Full Force and Fury.

In honor of this Artist's Cold Eye Cast on Winter's Chill, I add the overlooked Dead White Man of the Yukon!

The Ballad of Blasphemous Bill
by: Robert W. Service

I took a contract to bury the body
Of blasphemous Bill MacKie,
Whenever, wherever or whatsoever
The manner of death he die --
Whether he die in the light o' day
Or under the peak-faced moon;
In cabin or dance-hall, camp or dive,
Mucklucks or patent shoon;
On velvet tundra or virgin peak,
By glacier, drift or draw;
In muskeg hollow or canyon gloom,
By avalanche, fang or claw;
By battle, murder or sudden wealth,
By pestilence, hooch or lead --
I swore on the Book I would follow and look
Till I found my tombless dead.

For Bill was a dainty kind of cuss,
And his mind was mighty sot
On a dinky patch with flowers and grass
In a civilized bone-yard lot.
And where he died or how he died,
It didn't matter a damn
So long as he had a grave with frills
And a tombstone "epigram".
So I promised him, and he paid the price
In good cheechako coin
(Which the same I blowed in that very night
Down in the Tenderloin).
Then I painted a three-foot slab of pine:
"Here lies poor Bill MacKie",
And I hung it up on my cabin wall
And I waited for Bill to die.

Years passed away, and at last one day
Came a squaw with a story strange,
Of a long-deserted line of traps
'Way back of the Bighorn range;
Of a little hut by the great divide,
And a white man stiff and still,
Lying there by his lonesome self,
And I figured it must be Bill.
So I thought of the contract I'd made with him,
And I took down from the shelf
The swell black box with the silver plate
He'd picked out for hisself;
And I packed it full of grub and "hooch",
And I slung it on the sleigh;
Then I harnessed up my team of dogs
And was off at dawn of day.

You know what it's like in the Yukon wild
When it's sixty-nine below;
When the ice-worms wriggle their purple heads
Through the crust of the pale blue snow;
When the pine-trees crack like little guns
In the silence of the wood,
And the icicles hang down like tusks
Under the parka hood;
When the stove-pipe smoke breaks sudden off,
And the sky is weirdly lit,
And the careless feel of a bit of steel
Burns like a red-hot spit;
When the mercury is a frozen ball,
And the frost-fiend stalks to kill --
Well, it was just like that that day when I
Set out to look for Bill.

Oh, the awful hush that seemed to crush
Me down on every hand,
As I blundered blind with a trail to find
Through that blank and bitter land;
Half dazed, half crazed in the winter wild,
With its grim heart-breaking woes,
And the ruthless strife for a grip on life
That only the sourdough knows!
North by the compass, North I pressed;
River and peak and plain
Passed like a dream I slept to lose
And I waked to dream again.

River and plain and mighty peak --
And who could stand unawed?
As their summits blazed, he could stand undazed
At the foot of the throne of God.
North, aye, North, through a land accurst,
Shunned by the scouring brutes,
And all I heard was my own harsh word
And the whine of the malamutes,
Till at last I came to a cabin squat,
Built in the side of a hill,
And I burst in the door, and there on the floor,
Frozen to death, lay Bill.

Ice, white ice, like a winding-sheet,
Sheathing each smoke-grimed wall;
Ice on the stove-pipe, ice on the bed,
Ice gleaming over all;
Sparkling ice on the dead man's chest,
Glittering ice in his hair,
Ice on his fingers, ice in his heart,
Ice in his glassy stare;
Hard as a log and trussed like a frog,
With his arms and legs outspread.
I gazed at the coffin I'd brought for him,
And I gazed at the gruesome dead,
And at last I spoke: "Bill liked his joke;
But still, goldarn his eyes,
A man had ought to consider his mates
In the way he goes and dies."

Have you ever stood in an Arctic hut
In the shadow of the Pole,
With a little coffin six by three
And a grief you can't control?
Have you ever sat by a frozen corpse
That looks at you with a grin,
And that seems to say: "You may try all day,
But you'll never jam me in"?
I'm not a man of the quitting kind,
But I never felt so blue
As I sat there gazing at that stiff
And studying what I'd do.
Then I rose and I kicked off the husky dogs
That were nosing round about,
And I lit a roaring fire in the stove,
And I started to thaw Bill out.

Well, I thawed and thawed for thirteen days,
But it didn't seem no good;
His arms and legs stuck out like pegs,
As if they was made of wood.
Till at last I said: "It ain't no use --
He's froze too hard to thaw;
He's obstinate, and he won't lie straight,
So I guess I got to -- saw."
So I sawed off poor Bill's arms and legs,
And I laid him snug and straight
In the little coffin he picked hisself,
With the dinky silver plate;
And I came nigh near to shedding a tear
As I nailed him safely down;
Then I stowed him away in my Yukon sleigh,
And I started back to town.

So I buried him as the contract was
In a narrow grave and deep,
And there he's waiting the Great Clean-up,
When the Judgment sluice-heads sweep;
And I smoke my pipe and I meditate
In the light of the Midnight Sun,
And sometimes I wonder if they was,
The awful things I done.
And as I sit and the parson talks,
Expounding of the Law,
I often think of poor old Bill --
And how hard he was to saw.

Kathleen Kennedy Crows on Her Dungheap of Entitlement - Abortion Kills Children, Moron.

Why is it that the bishops are more concerned with restricting millions of American women from making health care decisions that are best for them and their families than they are with ensuring that millions of Americans — women, men, children, immigrants, the poor, the middle class — get much-needed health insurance?


As a Catholic, I dare say it’s because the Conference of Catholic Bishops has lost its way. For example, in Missouri, the Catholic Conference issued an e-mail alert urging “those who are opposed to health care reform but are also pro-life” to “stay focused on the abortion issue and get the Stupak-like amendment adopted in the Senate.”

Kathleen Kennedy Townsend

The Public Kennedy Family Members are indebted to Planned Parenthood. They owe nothing to the Catholic Church and requite the Faith with Thick Dividends of Contempt.

One Kennedy, Patrick, whined that he was being taught by Bishop Tobin what exactly a public smear of Doctrine is all about and its consequence. Kennedy barked that the bishops were wrong on Abortion. Kennedy wants to go to Communion - receive the sacrament of the Eucharist. Bishop Tobin explained that Catholics who hold beliefs outside the Faith should not receive Communion.

Kennedy pissed himself over the thought that Catholic Rhode Island might agree with Bishop Tobin and took his whine National. He outsourced his complaint to the ever compliant Media. MSNBC, New York Times, you name it, all oiled Kennedy's complaint. Bishop Tobin remained tough.

Now, another Kennedy, Kathleen Kennedy-Townsend, a former Lt. Governor - akin to being named Kentucky Colonel - takes pen in hand to ensure that more babies get a surgical probe in the noggin. She sells books that smear Catholics.

Hey, it's Family Thing! Old Joe lobotomized a daughter whom he deemed not worthy to be a Kennedy due to mental challenges. The Kennedys seem to fully understand and embrace the Planned Parenthood disgust with Governor Sarah Palin's motherly caress of her Downs Syndrome child.

The Kennedy Brand is bloody. Abortion is the killing of a baby. Drop the Catholic bullshit and dance with WHO brung you. The Kennedy Family can embrace any imbecilic stand that they choose. They will make fine Christian Non-Sectarian leaders - or Non-Christian Secularists.

Choose. It's all about choice. I choose to be a Catholic American. I will not support Abortion, nor any parser who plays with Planned Parenthood.

The Public Kennedy Loudmouths can do with out communion - as they are not clearly in Communion with the rest of us. These morons believe it is all dress up - make-believe. Faith has no requirements.

John F. Kennedy and Bobby Kennedy were the last Catholic Public Kennedys. Old Ted played at it, when convenient and bullied and bribed the cowarldy Catholic clergy.

The rest of them, the Public Kennedys ( who hold for Abortion and want things their own way) can just hop up and kiss my broad manly Irish ass!

Winter Nights Enlarge - Make Straight The Path of the Toro!

Winter's allure to delicate and romantic individuals who delight in the miracle that is snow is magic!

Click my post title for such scenes as to delight the delicate heart!

Thus!

Now Winter Nights Enlarge

by Thomas Campion (1617)


Now winter nights enlarge
The number of their hours,
And clouds their storms discharge
Upon the airy towers.
Let now the chimneys blaze,
And cups o’erflow with wine;
Let well-tuned words amaze
With harmony divine.
Now yellow waxen lights
Shall wait on honey love,
While youthful revels, masques, and courtly sights
Sleep’s leaden spells remove.

This time doth well dispense
With lovers’ long discourse;
Much speech hath some defence,
Though beauty no remorse.
All do not all things well;
Some measures comely tread,
Some knotted riddles tell,
Some poems smoothly read.
The summer hath his joys
And winter his delights;
Though love and all his pleasures are but toys,
They shorten tedious nights.

Then there's me -
The Toro Snow Thrower

2

50cc Briggs & Stratton OHV 4-cycle engine
28" Clearing Width
Up to 45' Throw Distance*
Up to 2,000 lbs. per Minute*
6 Forward, 2 Reverse Speeds

Poetry!
Learn More

Tiger! Dawg! Seven?

Like most American males, having time to play golf is a challenge; Not that were I given the time, would I play golf. I look ludicrous in Golf togs and the duds I'd choose for a round would be unacceptable on the links - you know - from the toes to the crown: Converse All-Star Black Chuck Taylor's Leo football sweats or old cut-offs, Bass Pro T-shirt and La Lumiere Blue pith helmet.

The pith helmet was from cutting the grass on the fields at La Lumiere and it lends a genuine Frank Buck aura to my usual Walter Mitty-ish mien.

I just read that Golf Wiz and snappy dresser Tiger Woods is believed to have dallied with Seven (7) extra-Matrimonial Doxies. (Rachel Uchitel, Jaimee Grubbs, Kalika Moquin, Jamie Jungers and Porn Auteur Holly Sampson.) One for each of the Seven Deadly Sins, Tiger? Positively Old Testament there Tiger.

Dawg! = as my younger colleagues and charges at Leo High School might offer.

He did after all nail a Fire Hydrant and a Tree as well as the Concupiscent Seven!

North Korea Has G.I. Divas and We have Desiree Rogers.

The North Korean goofball Kim Jong Il has him an Army of leggy G.I.'s - no Sad Sacks They.

We have Desiree Rogers. Hey, my fault, I know. I am posting almost exclusively on the Desiree Rogers Agonistes. It keeps me from going to Lardo's Scottsdale Hobby Shoppe and buying kits of Schooners and Galleons in bottles, or waiting for my Green Chicago Parkway trio of trees to insinuate their roots deeper into my sewer egress lines -Both wonderful ways to pass my quality time.

One has only a thin wedge between the window and sill of opportunity to place a thorn in the thong of a self-absorbed Thimble-Rigging Job Jumper like Mardi Gras Chicagoan Desiree Rogers. As I noted, my animus stems from, but certainly not limited to, Ms. Rogers' revelation of character when she scooped Corporate Contributions form Peoples Energy Corporation's annual education grants to poor Black Kids attending Leo High School in Auburn Gresham and plumping up her Fash Bash - Fashion Show featuring Desiree Runway Rogers.


I liked this Rockefeller Center photo rendition of North Korean Military Hi-Jinks that came from my pal Mr. G of Chicago: http://superdadspeaks.blogspot.com This put me in mind of the New York Times piece I read before Mass this morning by Maureen Dowd - the bottled Mick Red-head wit and harridan.

Crazy Aunt Maureen Dowd - the bitter and marinated fifty and change spinster aunt who has given up meeting a nice man at St. Patrick's Novenas - has linked Desiree Rogers and Tiger Woods. Aunt Mo is generally all "Hey You Bitch Get Over Here!" about Sarah Palin, who could kick Mo's Rump from here to Nome and Back, in her cocktail and Virginia Thins Menthol throaty skirl*.

Both Tiger and Desiree hid and stayed silent because they mistakenly thought they were protecting the Brand. But despite their marketing savvy, these two controlling players spiraled out of control. They made the same colossal error in opposite ways.

She mistook herself for the principal, sashaying around and posing in magazines as though she were the first lady, rather than a staffer whose job is to stay behind the scenes and make her bosses look good. (Even if Barack Obama is a brand, Desiree shouldn’t talk like the First Marketer or call him a brand — and she definitely shouldn’t refer to it in a proprietary way as “we.”)

He is the principal. But he forgot that he’s no longer a solo brand. He has been marketing himself since he turned pro and 21 in 1996, becoming a billionaire with endorsement deals with Nike, American Express, Titleist and the two Generals, Mills and Motors.

Tiger has abilities -tons - not as a husband,or father mind you (Real Men Don't Tom Cat- my neighborhood? Not Done -Everyone is married to his/her high school pal until the trip to Sheehy's Funeral Home.) Desiree?

Give me these North Korean Gorgeous Grunts any day.


*skirl (skûrl)
v. skirled, skirl·ing, skirls
v.intr.
To produce a high, shrill, wailing tone. Used of bagpipes.
v.tr.
To play (a piece) on bagpipes.
n.
1. The shrill sound made by the chanter pipe of bagpipes.
2. A shrill wailing sound: "The skirl of a police whistle split the stillness" (Sax Rohmer).
[Middle English skrillen, skirlen, probably of Scandinavian origin.]

Lynn Sweet Flaks for Flake - Defense of Desiree Rogers?

Let's be clear - I learned what a self-absorbed dim-witted Diva Desiree Rogers happens to be years ago. When Desiree Rogers was ushered away from her post as Illinois Lotto Ball watcher and seated in position at People Gas that oversaw corporate citizenship by the utility the Diva turned that citizenship ( Corporate Charity) on herself.

Desiree Rogers ended Peoples Energy Corp.'s long standing annual grants to the Black kids at Leo High School.

Leo High School received $ 3,000 annually following a formal written request ( all that 501(c)3 stuff) to help families in need of financial assistance. Desiree Rogers ended that and told me that she going to do "more systemic good."

That year Peoples Gas funded a Fashion Show that featured Desiree Rogers. It was in ALL the columns, Magazines, Janet Davis & Features and Mary Cameron Frye stuff! Desiree was said to be Gorgeous! The Fash Bash did more "systemic" good for the kids from Englewood, Gresham and Brainerd who wanted an education in a high school where they could avoid getting Lit Up. That is Desiree Rogers, Boys & Girls! Leo Alumni many of them Peoples Gas workers themselves made up the grant - thank God.

Oh, so that's what clouds my opinion of Ms. Rogers? Yep.


Lynn Sweet* has a reputation for being a serious reporter. Today she writes, "The Rogers I know is down-to-earth. She grew up in New Orleans, graduated from Wellesley College, picked up a MBA from Harvard, and then built a successful, lucrative business career in Chicago, starting at AT&T. I met her around 1991, when she was the director of the Illinois State Lottery." Pravda?

Today Lynn Sweet offers a flak-catching puff piece on Desiree Rogers - the Diva with a Government Job.

President Obama was put in harm's way, not because of the Secret Service, but because Desiree Rogers' ego can be powered by her limited mental capacities and moral compass.

Two goofballs crashed America's 1st State Dinner in Honor of the Indian Prime Minister at the Obama White House.

Rogers' Social Secretary Policy placed President Obama in danger of harm and the Secret Service has been ordered to wear the jacket.

Chicagoans know Desiree Rogers. Chicagoans continue to be asked to 'really admire' Desiree, even though the pretty, wealthy and protected dimwitted woman can not handle a simple task - Rogers left a simple job at Illinois Lottery under cloud, at Peoples Gas, Rogers oversaw gas-shut offs to the elderly, explosions in Mount Greenwood and insulted skilled tradesmen. Rogers holds appointed positions on charities, business and civic boards and tax-funded sinecures, due to the authority of her ex-husband John Rogers.

Lynn Sweet is giving Desiree Rogers cover that she neither deserves nor appreciates.
It appears in Politics Daily and not in The Chicago Sun Times.

Maybe the Sun Times should hire April Ryan, who seems to ask real questions concerning the very limited capacities of Desiree Rogers and her responsibilities to our President.

What is sad is that Lynn Sweet's flack-jacket woven for the Dimwitted Diva appears only out of town. Chicagoans should read this. Click my post title.


* No Defense of Desiree by Lynn Sweet here in Chicago! Blackout?

LYNN SWEET ::


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Friday, December 4, 2009
Party crashers Salahis face subpoenas Desiree Rogers does not
WASHINGTON -- Reality TV show wannabees Michaele and Tareq Salahi face a subpoena from the House Homeland Security Committee after skipping Thursday's hearing on how they passed through Secret Service checkpoints to crash President Obama's Nov. 24 state dinner and ended up shaking hands with him.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
State delegation divided on Thomson
Members of the Illinois congressional delegation -- after an unusually long meeting Wednesday -- were divided over the possibility of the Obama White House transferring inmates at the Guantanamo Bay military prison to a nearly vacant prison in northwestern Illinois.
This D.C. invite turned down
The Obama White House on Wednesday blocked social secretary Desiree Rogers from testifying today before the House Homeland Security Committee hearing on how wannabe reality TV stars Tareq and Michaele Salahi whizzed by Secret Service agents and crashed the Nov. 24 state dinner.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Obama's friends on left wrestling with policy
Lynn Sweet: President Obama's decision to escalate the war in Afghanistan by adding 30,000 U.S. troops -- at the same time announcing an exit strategy to start in July 2011 with no firm end date -- was clearly difficult for many of his most ardent supporters. This is not a popular policy with an important segment of Obama's base.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Rogers asked to testify about party crashers
WASHINGTON --White House social secretary Desiree Rogers has been asked to testify at a Thursday hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee about how wannabe reality TV stars Tareq and Michaele Salahi crashed the Obama's first state dinner last week.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
State dinner gate-crashers met Obama
WASHINGTON -- The White House confirmed Friday that President Obama met the couple who crashed Tuesday's state dinner --wannabe reality-show stars Michaele and Tareq Salahi -- releasing a picture of Michaele Salahi shaking hands with the president in a receiving line that included first lady Michelle Obama, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife, Gursharan Kaur.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
State dinner, Obama style
WASHINGTON--President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama hosted their first state Tuesday night, including their closest friends from Chicago among the guests honoring India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharon Kaur, with Chicago songsters Jennifer Hudson and Kurt Elling performing.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Burris heads for Iraq in wake of panel's rebuke
WASHINGTON -- A day after the Senate ethics committee handed him a stinging rebuke, Sen. Roland Burris on Saturday voted to advance the Democratic health-care bill to the Senate floor and then departed for an official visit to Iraq.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Illinois' Gitmo could bring 3,000 jobs: White House
Lynn Sweet: A White House analysis of a federal purchase of the nearly vacant northwestern Illinois prison to house Guantanamo detainees and other federal prisoners, obtained by the Sun-Times on Saturday, concludes that in the first year 2,290 to 2,960 jobs would be created, and local residents would be "excellent candidates" for 1,240 to 1,410 of those jobs.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Senate ethics panel admonishes Burris, but no charges coming
Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) was admonished today by the U.S. Senate ethics committee over his testimony in Springfield concerning how he got appointed to Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat. But his actions following his appointment by then Gov.-Rod Blagojevich did not rise to level of pursuing ethics charges against Burris, the committee ruled.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Trials: 'Failure is not an option'
WASHINGTON -- Trying terrorist suspects now detained at Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba in U.S. federal courtrooms -- rather than military tribunals, which operate under different rules -- met with skeptical questioning by some senators at a Wednesday Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
If you like Sarah Palin, you’ll like 'Going Rogue'
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's Going Rogue is really two books: about half an interesting telling of growing up in Alaska, an outdoor and sport-filled life -- and a good chunk of the second half whacking her McCain campaign crew of handlers.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Dems at risk of losing Obama's old Senate seat
WASHINGTON -- About a year ago, thousands jammed Grant Park in Chicago to celebrate Barack Obama's election to the White House, a communal civic defining moment. But those giddy days are long gone as Democrats in Illinois face the potential of losing the Senate seat President Obama once held next November.
Durbin, Quinn see economic boon
WASHINGTON -- Detainees at the Guantanamo Bay military prison in Cuba may be transferred to a nearly vacant maximum-security state prison in northwest Illinois, the Obama White House said Saturday.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Exclusive interview with Sam Kass White House chef
WASHINGTON -- A lot of lives have changed since Barack Obama won the presidential election one year ago last Wednesday, none so much as the life of Chicago's Sam Kass, the engaging, shaved-head assistant White House chef and food initiative coordinator, a crusader for healthy eating who has shot to fame in the almost 10 months the Obamas have been in the White House.

New York Post Quotes Desiree Rogers -'All right, come on in. It's no use kicking you out.' The Peoples Gas White House Has Been Open

" Dude, THIS is So Awesome! Desiree Said it was cool. Got any snacks?"





President Obama's social secretary quipped that she regularly let event crashers into White House gatherings -- months before two reality-TV wannabes waltzed into last week's state dinner.
Desiree Rogers claimed in an interview with the trade magazine BizBash at the Creative Coalition's annual meeting in June that she had added extra tables and benches at every event to accommodate uninvited guests.
"Lots of people just come anyways," she said. "They won't take no for an answer. Finally, I just said, 'All right, come on in. It's no use kicking you out.' "
But an administration official yesterday insisted that Rogers "was clearly making a tongue-in-cheek comment about White House staff, already cleared to be on the complex," not about the general public.
Tareq and Michaele Salahi crashed last week's White House gala and were photographed with the president and Vice President Joe Biden.


Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/aide_crasher_confession_H3KDTbOhqGxAzmiomqV2MO#ixzz0YopN3CVm

Could Palin Unleash a "Schooler" Movement - Over the President's Invisible Academic Records?

I hope to see her on fire swinging like a boxer seeking blood.If she demands his university records are made public,and goes to the offense this will be a great battle.I like her energy, if she can pivot to an all out attack she can push this on his lap effectively.His BC is not the issue,she and everyone knows he is American.This is her moment for a cuda attack to force his university records into the public eye.He must be hiding his Marxist thesis or something of that nature, to keep hiding these records.Its time she goes after the issues Mccain didn't and calls him on his records, all of them.That includes the campaign donations list of those under 200 dollars.Mccain released there list so should Obama.

from Politico

I have yet to meet a Birther - I only hear about Birthers on Cable TV - usually after someone with the Obama White House screws up - so I hear Birther on an almost daily basis. President Obama is the POTUS.

I believe that his Campaign to make it to the White House provided Barack Hermeneutics Obama ( That Hussein stuff is SO offensive) with wonderful camouflage, while MEDIA slept all through the Campaign anyway.

President Obama may have had Combover Dave Axelrod and his network of propagandists take one too many kicks at Sarah Palin.

My God - they are deathly afraid of this woman. I like her and her husband.

Now it appears that a comment about the Birther Movement ( people who believe Obama is foreign born) might lead to real scrutiny and demand a peek at President Obama's Academic Records. Yikes!

We are all told at every possible waking moment that President Obama is brilliant. However, all of his glittering prizes remain locked up like Keith Olbermann's bowels.

Americans are told that President Obama is 'the smartest man since Jefferson flunked Anglo Saxon' in much the same way that my precinct captain tells me about a candidate for judge -" She's really a terrific gal and one of the nicest persons you will ever meet." Tommy I went to high school with her Hyphenated-Highness and she was a gold-plated bitch back then - long before she went to Haymarket House in order to get her law license back. I hear that she has family of five in her deep freezer in the basement. " Naw, Come on! Hickey! She's great! She's humble, Hickey." She should be.

Sarah Palin might be well served to demand that these records be made public. I'd like to sneak a peek at the President's GPA and have the same giggles as did when President GW Bush made his public. C students run the world. Let's see some of the young Mr. Obama's work.

The Schoolers are Afoot!

Dave - You Sound like Steam Escaping!

Dave Hoffman for You Esssssssssss Sssssennnnate. Click my post title - it sounds like steam escaping from a hole in a pipe.

Dave Hoffman - you approved this one? Yikes. You sound like my prissy old Aunt Bridget - whom we refered to as Aunt Bird$hit. "F'what Did Ye Say?" Aunt Bridge It.

Dave you ain't Errol Flynn on this one. Get a good sound guy.