Brava, Ladies!Mother McAuley Spring Instrumental Concert

My beautiful red-headed baby Clare and the String Ensemble of Mother McAuley!

Gershwin, Chopin, Severn, Handel, and Oskielunas were all terated royally by the musicians of Mother McAuley High School. Oskielunas? That's Mother McAuley Senior Sarah Oskielunas; who presented Opus One for piano and string. It was wonderful and it followed the most heroic young woman who coaxed the audience into Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" with what might be one of the most difficult clarinet introductions in any composition - Senior Mighty Mac Mary Claire Reynolds.

My daughter Clare and her pals bowed through three compositions with the beginning strings ensemble.

Mother McAuley is doing it right!

Here is by far one of this low-brow's favorite pieces. I met Leonard Bernstein three times ( 1970,'71, & '73) and each time he acted like a bigger doofus than the year before, but that lad could conduct. I think this version is almost as good as the Chicago Symphony's under Henry Mazer.

The Ascension Sunday with Jazz Great Wes Montgomery and St. Luke

. . . Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.
While he blessed them, he parted from them, and was carried up into heaven.
And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy,
and were continually in the temple blessing God. Luke 24: 46 - 53

Down here on the ground, we tend to dart our glances and concerns at eye-level -rarely tracking above the horizon. "Nothing down here, folks; it's all about above and beyond."

Faith moves our eyes away from ourselves and somehow carries along with that change in perspective the people we are meant to love.

Happy Ascension Sunday! All the saints who were keeping their eyes locked on the quotidian and the trite are up above the weather and the silliness down here on the ground.

Betty Loren Maltese Should Host Chicago Public Radio

Updated: Friday, 14 May 2010, 9:39 AM CDT
Published : Friday, 14 May 2010, 8:44 AM CDT

FOX Chicago News

Chicago - Former Cicero Town President Betty Loren-Maltese says she wants to pursue a career as a radio talk show host.

Betty Loren-Maltese — the former Cicero town president recently released from prison — is scheduled to co-host on WVON radio Monday. Whatever you think of the idea of yet another felon behind a Chicago radio mike, there's a bright side:

At least she's a woman.

Mary Schmich Chicago Tribune



Agreed! More woman felons are needed on our Chicago airwaves = Fresh Air! NPR for Betty Loren Maltese. I get a huge kick out of Betty! Hell, I'd even drop an envelop stuffed with nickels to support "Listener and Federal Government Sponsored Radio! WBEZ!"

Shoot, Mayor Betty was an employee of the Federal Government and has been thoroughly vetted. She knows the works and I'm not talking about a Palermo's thin Crust - Insider Politics, Systemic Racism, Gay and Lesbian Life Issues, Convicted Radio Hosts

Imagine - if you will:

BLM- "This is ( cough) Fresh Air with Betty Loren Maltese, with my guest WVON Host and former Club Fed Alum Cliff Kelley - Chicago's Gay and Lesbian Friend of the Community Hall of Famer. First off Cliff, I need to ask you this question - it is standard NPR policy and practice - Studs Terkel? Wasn't he a Treasure?"

CK- "That he was, Betty."

BLM- ( Cough, hack) Cliff, ( cough) disgraced Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich gets on WLS every hour on the eights - what's with that? He has not even been convicted and yet a Chicago Radio Station has given him a spot when he wants it -when he wants it."

CK- " Betty it makes you wanna holler and go Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm."

BLM- "Cliff, ( cough, cough, hack) I see see this as an affront to the Gay Lesbian Community, the African American Community, and to women everywhere. Now, I am a breeder, but I stand in solidarity with every oppressed minority.( cough, cough, cough hack) I gotta lay off these Ginny Slims. (cough)

CK -"Betty, I stood the time for doing the crime and there were plenty of others that should have put on DOC jumpsuits, but for race, gender and lifestyle hegemony controlled by whitey."

BLM - "We'll be back ( hack, hack, cough) with more Fresh Air!"

Sponsor Voice Over - "If you are making that first uncomfortable and life-changing move and suing the Chicago Police Department and the Cook County States Attorney because you are in Pontiac State Prison and you'd really like that new Mercedes-Benz G-Class 'an all the Trim that it can hold,G'- speak to the Law Pros at G. Flint Taylor's Peoples Law Office - You will be two-thirds on the way to your Jackpot! Urban Translator available upon request - and a substantial fee."

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-04-23/news/ct-met-schmich-0423--20100423_1_radio-host-car-radio-older-women

http://www.glhalloffame.org/index.pl?item=114&todo=view_item

Top Illinois Democrat Tells Scott Lee -"Scat!"

"And then I was told, if they couldn't find anything to put me in jail over, they would still put me in jail. They would make something up to put me in jail. They did not want me on that ticket," Cohen said.

No, it was not party Chairman Michael Madigan or Gov. Quinn, he said.

Sheila Simon*!

Abner Mikva!

Chris Kennedy!

Jan Schakowsky!

Muriel Abbot?

Mae Kennedy Kane!

Wee Michael Quigley!

Wally and the Fat Boys!

Mr. Light Green Smith!

John From Over By Wendy's on Western!

Marvin Muckinfuch!

This be a head scratcher, Y'all! Scott Lee, spill it, Dude! You're killin' us!

*

Ms. Simon, who had been endorsed by Mr. Quinn on Friday, won a vote of the state’s central committee, made up of 38 top Democratic leaders.

Voters selected a Democratic nominee for the lieutenant governor in February: Scott L. Cohen, a pawnbroker and political unknown who had spent $2 million of his own money on his campaign. But, within days of the election Mr. Cohen resigned under pressure from party leaders after questions emerged over a domestic battery charge, unpaid child support and steroid use.

Democratic leaders, who have battled a reputation for cronyism and back-room deals, announced that Mr. Cohen’s replacement would be picked in a manner that seemed to turn its old reputation on its head. All who wished to apply should do so. Résumés would be posted online. Interviews would be done in public.

Among the applicants was an array of expected candidates — state lawmakers, mayors, county board members, convention delegates and former political candidates, including Ms. Simon.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/us/politics/28illinois.html

Epithalamion - For Jamillah and Mike: May 15, 2010

Our mortal path only becomes solid and sure footed when another person bonds to us - marriage. Man was meant to travel with a woman; set a path for children. Each of us finds the chemistry sparked by another's love to be the only real purpose that the parade of experiences that strings behind our steps allowed to somehow ignite. I believe that it is God's hand and delicate fingers that crafted this event. Let no man put asunder.

In 16th Century, Ireland an English civil servant met and bonded with the daughter of an aboriginal Irish chieftan - Edmund Spenser and Elizabeth Boyle. All around them the Irish and English were slaughtering one another - yet, marriage elevated the world's most beautiul poetry above the prosaic.

Here are Spenser's beautiful words for tomorrow's bride and groom - my friends Jamillah Ali and Mike Joyce*.

My love is now awake out of her dreame,
And her fayre eyes, like stars that dimmed were
With darksome cloud, now shew theyr goodly beams
More bright then Hesperus his head doth rere.
Come now, ye damzels, daughters of delight,
Helpe quickly her to dight.
But first come ye, fayre Houres, which were begot,
In Joves sweet paradice, of Day and Night,
Which doe the seasons of the year allot,
And al that ever in this world is fayre
Do make and still repayre.
And ye three handmayds of the Cyprian Queene,
The which doe still adorne her beauties pride,
Helpe to addorne my beautifullest bride:
And as ye her array, still throw betweene
Some graces to be seene:
And as ye use to Venus, to her sing,
The whiles the woods shal answer, and your eccho ring.

Now is my love all ready forth to come:
Let all the virgins therefore well awayt,
And ye fresh boyes, that tend upon her groome,
Prepare your selves, for he is comming strayt.
Set all your things in seemely good aray,
Fit for so joyfull day,
That joyfulst day that ever sunne did see.
Faire Sun, shew forth thy favourable ray,
And let thy lifull heat not fervent be,
For feare of burning her sunshyny face,
Her beauty to disgrace.
O fayrest Phoebus, father of the Muse,
If ever I did honour thee aright,
Or sing the thing that mote thy mind delight,
Doe not thy servants simple boone refuse,
But let this day, let this one day be myne,

From The Western People - Ballina County Mayo

MAKING the right impression on your prospective father-in-law is always a daunting task, but when the woman of your dreams is a daughter of boxing legend Muhammad Ali it must seem like the bar is set extra high.

Nevertheless, Chicago man Mike Joyce proved himself a heavy-weight in the romance stakes when he whisked Jamillah Ali to Ballina during her trip to Ireland with her father last week where he had co-ordinated a surprise marriage proposal.


Mike, whose grandmother Mary Carey (nee Higgins) hailed from Swinford, had commissioned a stunning white gold diamond Claddagh-themed engagement ring as a surprise for Jamillah, from Ballina jeweller, Joseph Winters, of The Hazel jewellery shop.


Joseph became acquainted with Mike Joyce some years ago through mutual friends in the USA. Mike is a partner in Chicago’s Celtic Boxing Club along with Rossport native Terry Cox. Muhammad Ali also has an interest in the club and Mike has known his daughter, Jamillah, for many years. He always told Joseph Winters that he would one day buy a ring for Jamillah from him. Last week the Ali family travelled to Ireland where Muhammad was made honorary freeman of his ancestral homeplace, Ennis. For Mike it was the perfect opportunity for a marriage proposal. He had been liaising with Joseph for some time in advance of the trip about a ring and Joseph suggested the Claddagh theme because of its Irish associations and the fact that it is the emblem of the Celtic Boxing Club.


Jamilla knew nothing of the conspiracy until Mike brought her to Ballina where they made a very low-key visit to Joseph in The Hazel on Wednesday afternoon, last.


Following some general chit-chat with Joseph, Mike told Jamillah that he wanted to show her something nice whereupon the ring was produced, with Jamillah immediately consenting to be engaged.


Afterwards the happy couple posed for exclusive photographs by photographer Henry Wills for the Western People and met with some of Joseph’s acquaintances in Ballina. The Hazel Jewellers on Tone Street in Ballina is probably the oldest jewellers in the west of Ireland, having been established in 1938 by Joseph’s parents, William and Mary Winters.


Now, Joseph has been joined by his son William who represents the third generation of the family involved in the business.

Honest Ward Healer and the Phony Reformers - John Powers and Jane Addams

I am no fan of Jane Addams. Hull House? Nice. However, I have much greater regard for the man who cared for more Jewish, Italian, Greek and Irish families who lived in the most densely populated Ward in America - the 19th Ward.

The 19th Ward today comprises stately Beverly, as well as working class Morgan Park and Mount Greenwood neighborhoods. In the 19th Century, the 19th Ward took in the near west side where Jews, Greeks and Italians crowded out the Irish around Taylor, Congress, Roosevelt with Halsted as the axis.

Halsted Street is thirty-two miles long, and one of the great thoroughfares of Chicago.... Hull-House once stood in the suburbs, but the city has steadily grown up around it and its site now has corners on three or four foreign colonies. Between Halsted Street and the river live about ten thousand Italians—Neapolitans, Sicilians, and Calabrians, with an occasional Lombard or Venetian. To the south on Twelfth Street are many Germans, and side streets are given over almost entirely to Polish and Russian Jews. Still farther south, these Jewish colonies merge into a huge Bohemian colony, so vast that Chicago ranks as the third Bohemian city in the world. To the northwest are many Canadian-French, clannish in spite of their long residence in America, and to the north are Irish and first-generation Americans. On the streets directly west and farther north are well-to-do English-speaking families, many of whom own their houses and have lived in the neighborhood for years; one man is still living in his old farmhouse.

Jane Addams - Twenty Years at Hull House

Hull House is accepted to be the be-all-and-end -all in Chicago's Social Justice Olympus - it is the Progressive St. Peters.

Hull House at that time it served some impoverished people by offering staged productions of Aeschylus, readings of William Lloyd Garrison, tips on grooming and Bologna sandwiches for pennies a day.

The Alderman of the 19th Ward was John ( Johnny De Pow) Powers, a saloon keeper grafter.

At the time John Powers held its aldermanship, the 19th ward included the area between Van Buren and 12th (now Roosevelt Rd.), and between Loomis and the south branch of the Chicago River. Always a poor immigrant neighborhood, it was adjacent to “Bloody Maxwell,” the famously crime-ridden district just to the south. The Tribune described conditions in the 19th graphically in 1897:

Do the drivers on the wagons indulge less freely in profanity? Do the workmen in the street show love and peace? Halsted street betrays it not. Ewing [now 12th Pl.] and Forquer [now Arthington St.] streets look otherwise. Bunker [now Grenshaw St.] and De Koven streets hide it well. Soiled children play upon the walks. The tin can travels on its endless way. Girls bend low over their work in the sweatshops making shirts at eight cents apiece. Six hundred saloons, twenty for each church in the ward, cast their exhilirating influence over the scene. The only thing bearing indisputable marks of a celestial nature is a Chinese laundry.

When Powers was first elected in 1888, the ward was almost entirely Irish, but in the 1890s and 1900s, Italian immigrants flooded into the neighborhood, and by 1910 the voting population was over 80% Italian. The savvy Irishman Powers managed to hold onto his seat, however, by assiduously incorporating potential Italian rivals into the lower levels of his political organization, who then promoted him to their fellow countrymen, even giving him quasi-Italian names like “Johnny de Pow” and “Gianni Pauli”.

Johnny (Powers) provided more fundamental aid, too, when a breadwinner was out of work. At one time he is said to have boasted that 2,600 men from his ward (about one-third of the registered voters) were working in one way or another for the city of Chicago. This did not take into account those for whom the grateful holders of traction franchises had found a place. When election day rolled around, the returns reflected the appreciation of job-holders and their relatives.

American Heritage
http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1960/1/1960_1_12.shtml
This paragon of sin (mortal and venial) also cared for a "Diverse" population of many tongues, diets, historical/political contexts, and aspirations. It was Powers who designated Ms. Addams and her gal pal Ellen Starr as part and parcel of the 19th Ward - Addams was appointed to a very lucrative and important position as Ward Garbage Inspector. Jane Addams returned this gesture* with contempt and two decades of insurrection.

John Powers had the support of the population and especially parish priests. That sticks in the craw of Progressives always - then and now.

Mother Cabrini worked the same side of the streets as Jane Addams and long before the Cedarville, IL failed medical student and her girlfriend Ms. Starr arrived on Halsted Street, the Sisters of Mercy were doing the work that did not begin and end with Jane Addams.

First to arrive, in 1846, the Sisters of Mercy were soon operating three schools, running an employment bureau for working women, volunteering at a free clinic, and teaching literacy classes. Attending to many non-Catholics during the cholera epidemics of 1849 and 1854, they also took over what was to become Mercy Hospital.

Nuns and other Catholic women attended to the needs of wave after wave of immigrants. They ran orphanages, hospitals, housing for the elderly, and day care centers. They worked with unwed mothers and tried to “rescue” female prostitutes. While almost never publicly challenging the male authority system—although some did not shrink from doing so privately—these religious women created for themselves an enormous sphere of autonomous or semiautonomous activity within the confines of an extraordinarily patriarchal ecclesiastical structure.

Above all, nuns taught school: without their labor and devotion, the Catholic school system would not have existed.

Powers served for 39 years - from 1888-1927 - that is a 19 year jump over the twenty at at Hull House.

Powers took care of thousands more people than Jane Addams and 'the short haired women and long-haired gentlemen' of Hull House, but there are no tributes, ket alone kind words allowed in our milky Progressive conversations.

The Democratic Ward bosses did more for the indigent and immigrant that the apostles of reform. A newpaper man of time understood that, Finley Peter Dunne. His Mr. Dooley offers this honest assesment.

"Whin Jawnny Powers wint into th' council I don't suppose
he had anny idee what a gr-reat man he'd make iv himsilf. He
thought iv most all th' wurruld except th' nineteenth as honest.
He believed that th' la-ads that presided over th' municipyal purity
meetin's was on th' square en' he hated th' ladin'mimbers iv
churches an' th' boys that gives money to home missions an'
thrainin' schools because he thought they were inhumanly honest.
It didn't take long f'r to make him see diff'rent. Inside iv his
first term he begun to undherstand that they was rare, flesh-an'-
blood, bribe-givin' men. They was good fellers, th' same as Chick
McMillan, an' betther to dale with because if things didn't go
right they'd not be apt to come down an' shoot bullets through th'
sawdust ham in front iv a man's grocery store. An' whin wanst he
got their measure he knew how to threat shim. He's quick to lam,
Jawnny Powers is. None quicker. But I wudden't iv had his expeeryence
f'r twict his money. I'd rather set back here en' believe
that whin a man dhresses dacint he's respectible an' whin he has
money he won't steal."
"Somethin' ought to be done to rayform th' rayformers," suggested
Mr. Hennessy.
"Thrue," said Mr. Dooley. "I'm thinkin'iv gettin'up an organization
to do th' wurruk. I'd attimpt to put a branch in ivry church
an' charitable society in Chicago an' in ivry club. An' whin anny
man that abuses Jawnny Powers an' Yerkuss while buyin'th' wan
an' guaranteein' th' bonds iv th' other'd come up f'r Main Shepherd
or Chief Angel I'd agitate again him. I wudden't let him set
by while Jawnny Powers was bein' done up en' portend he was In
on th' pray; I'd get afther him.
"Thin I'd put up a social colony like Hull House down town
near th' banks an' th' boord iv thrade an' th' stock exchange. I'd
have ladin' citizens come in en' lam be contact with poor an'honest
people th' advantage iv a life they've on'y heard iv. I think th'
Hull House idee is right, but I'd apply it diff'rent. A man wurrukin'
in a bank all day thryin' to get money anny way he can,
how's he goin' to know anny diff'rent? What he needs is to be
cheered up, have th' pi-anny played to him be nice-lookin' girls,
an' find out somethin' iv th' beauties iv honest poverty be convarsin'with
poor en' honest people."
"But where'd ye get th' la-ads to rerun it?" asked Mr. Hennessy.
4
"That's easy," said Mr. Dooley. "If ye'll get th' bankers I'll get
th' others. I know thousands iv poor but honest men that ar-re
on'y waitin'f'r th'chanst to get wan crack at a banker."

Finley Peter Dunne, MR DOOLEY AND THE CHICAGO IRISH: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A
NINETEENTH-CENTURY ETHNIC GROUP, ed. Charles Fanning (Washington: Catholic
University of America, 1976), pp. 220-22, 242-44


*http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=9E04E5D81039E433A2575AC0A9679C94699ED7CF

All Carol Marin Needs to Know About "Fair"- Camera One, Carol!

Fair is fair. I don't think government prosecutors are being fair to Rod Blagojevich.. . .No surprise there.But it still doesn't feel fair.

In between there are a couple of hundred words or so that say not much.

C. Marin - See Marin on WTTW and NBC 5.

Carol Marin helped ruin the lives of Chris and Mary Fogarty. Once it seemed clear that George Ryan was going to be hammered by hack Judge Pallmeyer, Carol decided to mock Lura Lynn Ryan. Carol Marin worries about fair.

Fair enough! Tutorial time: Carol, Rod Blagojevich will not spend a day in jail. That might not be fair, but you will be cool with it. Actually, Carol Marin wouldn't know "fair" if it jumped up and bit her on the ass.

Okay, Kagan Ain't Gay - Is That a Problem for Who?

My Grandma Donahue could not imagine why Liberace, Rock Hudson and Charles Nelson Reilly never seemed to have a blond on the arm. "They're good-looking gents with wads of spending loot; what's the matter with some girls?"

Grandma, they bat from the other side of the plate, they like Tyrone Power as much as you do; . . . more.

The fact remains that Liberace, Rock Hudson and Charles Nelson Reilly were good-looking gents with wads of spending loot and heaps of talent. They never seemed to want for work, despite LGBT Victim hood doctrine that demands that they wore pink stars on their clothing at all times and slept on straw in between beatings.

Grandma Donahue and Grandpa Donahue were dragged up in the 'Ville - Canaryville, which is not exactly Boystown, but many boys spent their youths between Wentworth/Halsted; 39th & 47th Streets.

Elena Kagan is President Obama's choice for the Supreme Court seat vacated by Justice John Paul Stevens. The White House and everyone that they can find are jumping on the Oprah Coach - "She's Not Gay!!!!" Politico which gets fed directly everything coming out of the White House has a full-court Press denial about Elena Kagan's mysterious inclinations

Walzer, a former aide to Senator Joe Lieberman and a lawyer in Bill Clinton’s Department of Health and Human Services, now lives on Long Island, N.Y., and runs a non-profit that helps low-income parents prepare young children for school.


At the time, though, the two lived the life of single, straight young women, with a bit of a Harvard Law twist.


Walzer recalled “discussion about who she might be interested in – the usual girl talk stuff-- talk about how to get his attention.”


This was “less along the lines of how to wear your hair,” Walzer said, than how to avoid intimidating men with an intellect and confidence that weren’t always seen as attractive traits

Okay, so what? Who asked? Remember how the tightly closeted Rosie O'Donnell used to swoon at the mention Tom Cruise? Jesus, you could have knocked nearly every I.Q. above room temperature over with a sledge hammer blow between the lamps, when Ellen DeGeneris, Rosie O'Donnell and Melissa Etheridge announced that they like Babes too!

Watson, the game's afoot!

I could care less. Can Elena Kagan do the job? Tom Tunney, is openly gay and is one of the few Chicago Alderman who is not a hair-trigger for bladder spilling laughter. Tom Tunney is gay and happens to be a great public servant. Congressman Barney Frank is openly gay and is a sputtering arrogant train wreck.

Get to the issues. Define the Constitution, Ms. Kagan. Give the right answers and become Justice Kagan.

Okay, you ain't gay.

Happy FeastDay Neighbors at St. Walter's and the Great Clark Woodard!

Clark Woodard with his GrandMa and Mom.

My neighbors in the parish south of St. Cajetan's celebrate the Feast of St. Walter today.

What better way to celebrate the Sainted Walter than by linking a tale of a son of St. Walter -young Clark Woodard. I got this wonderful story in the pages of the Villager - a feature of the Beverly Area Planning Association (BAPA)

Generous St. Walter Student Also a Hard Worker!

St. Walter School 3rd grader Clark Woodard is quite an entrepreneur. When It was announced in church that funding was to end for the sign language interpreter during weekend Masses, Woodard decided to raise some funds.

Over the summer, the boy started his own dog-walking business, Clark Cares –which he even trademarked! A successful young business person, he earned almost $1,000 and decided to split it three ways: 34% to his college savings fund, 33% to an animal shelter, and 44% to St. Walter Church.

When he presented the donation the pastor asked why he made such a generous contribution. “I wanted to help the hearing impaired and it’s good to give back to the church,” was the boy’s reply. St. Walter School is located at 11741 S. Western Ave. for more information call 774-445-8850.

St. Walter would agree Clark.

Augustinian abbot of L'Esterp in the region of Limousin, France. He was born to a noble family in Conflans Castle in Aquitaine, and studied under the Augustinians at Dorat, where he entered a monastery. Then when he returned to Conflans Castle, he was elected the abbot of L'Esterp. He held the post for thirty-eight years and was famed as a confessor.

St Walter Parish & School‎
11741 South Western Avenue, Chicago, IL 60643-4789
(773) 445-8850‎

For All Moms and Moms to Be -" Something Else"

“When I was a kid, I found out about Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent through the Beatles and the Stones doing covers of rockabilly songs,”
Brian Setzer

Happy Mothers Day! The Memorare

This 15th Century Prayer is the perfect Mothers Day Gift - to everyone.


MEMORARE, O piissima Virgo Maria,
non esse auditum a saeculo, quemquam ad tua currentem praesidia,
tua implorantem auxilia, tua petentem suffragia,
esse derelictum.
Ego tali animatus confidentia,
ad te, Virgo Virginum, Mater, curro,
ad te venio, coram te gemens peccator assisto.
Noli, Mater Verbi,
verba mea despicere;
sed audi propitia et exaudi.
Amen.

Remember, O Most Gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known that anyone who fled to Thy protection,
implored Thy help or sought Thy intercession,
was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence,
I fly unto Thee, O Virgin of Virgins, my Mother;
to Thee do I come, before thee I kneel, sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions,
but in Thy clemency, hear and answer me.
Amen.

Forrest Claypool -Our Rula Lenska for Assessor

Carol Felsenthal wrote a nice piece about the Rula Lenska ( the person who claimed and everyone believed to be 'Somebody') of Illinois - Forrest Claypool. Back in the 80's Rula Lenska was believed to be a celebrity - the commercials for hairspray said so; these days, Forrest Claypool is believed by similar folks to be a Reformer and political genius, because Carol and Walter and the editorial clown operas say so.

Carol Marin, Walter Jacobson (homeless street cred dude) and every other goof with a column or a 30 second TV Feed perch are loudly smearing Joe Berrios and blowing smooches to Forrest Lenska - the guy that John Stroger defeated while on life support.

Ms. Felsenthal and the redoubatble John Kass know that Forrest Claypool is a public relations manufactured product. So do voters.

So who is Forrest Claypool?

A native of Southern Illinois (St. Elmo, population 1,300) and son of a man in the oil-drilling business, he graduated from Southern Illinois University and then the University of Illinois Law School. He lives in Ravenswood and has three children, all of whom were educated in private schools.

Claypool twice served as chief of staff to Mayor Richard M. Daley and ran the Chicago Park District in the ’90s. Like politicians at every level, he’s a mix of reformer and—Kass had it right—conventional party loyalist.

He’s in good company, as the record shows.

Claypool’s loyalist side comes out in the race for Barack Obama’s old U.S. Senate seat. I interviewed him just hours after the feds took over Broadway Bank. He told me that he backs Democratic candidate Alexi Giannoulias, Broadway’s former VP and senior loan officer, and has done so from the start—even after the squeaky-clean Inspector General David Hoffman entered the primary.

In the Democratic primary for county board president, Claypool did not endorse Ald. Toni Preckwinkle, the candidate with whom the good-government types were most comfortable. He offers a lofty explanation: he was not persuaded that Preckwinkle or any of her opponents would repeal “the hated [Todd] Stroger sales tax.” (Claypool didn’t endorse any candidate in that race.) He now says that he’ll support her in the general election.

Preckwinkle has said publicly that she’s supporting Berrios, a man Claypool describes as “exhibit A of how the insider culture works, where the people who have clout make out and the rest of us get higher taxes.” Claypool told me that he made his decision to run after the primary, when Berrios defeated Raymond Figueroa—a former alderman “who has independent ties that go back to Harold Washington.” When asked if he considered supporting the Republican candidate, former Evanston assessor Sharon Storbeck-Eckersall, he said, “No, no. I don’t really know enough about her, but I do think [Cook County assessor] is a very, very big job.”

Claypool has known Rahm Emanuel for 30 years and is close friends with David Axelrod, and he has visited the White House several times—most recently on March 28, according to visitor logs. He also claims a friendship with the President—he was chairman of then-Senator Obama’s transition committee in 2004-05—and, during those White House visits, he “chatted” with the President in the Oval Office.

In 2006, Claypool lost in the primary for county board president to incumbent Democrat John Stroger—after Stroger had already suffered a debilitating stroke. Obama—then a senator—didn’t endorse Claypool. “Why?” I asked. “You’ll have to ask [the President],” Claypool said. I already knew the answer: Obama, for all his idealism, is a politician.

Why, Carol, Forrest Claypool is Rula Lenska!


Forrest Claypool is as genuine as Rula Lenska. Complete Rules available wherever this fine product is sold -WTTW, CBS-2 and Chicago Sun Times.

Baroque Maestro Nicholas Kraemer Premiers Tellemann Concerto - at least in the last 400 years

Chicago's Harris Theater was packed with music lovers especially the beautiful woman who deigned to attend last night's performance with me. The diminutive angel with whom I am allowed to visit my better instincts is a gifted Alto choral director and singer and has performed with most of Chicago's Baroque Chorus and Orchestra - Soprano's Laura Amend and Maire O'Brien, and a Bass named Hoss.One of the soloists was Alto Nina Heebink who doubled as a mezzo soprano.


I knew Conductor Nicholas Kraemer as I had watched his athleticism and buoyant grace charge the atmosphere at Chicago's Symphony Center two years ago. With the body of a wrestler or a gymnast, Kraemer brings full-contact grace to music. More importantly, the man is intelligent, witty, gracious and warm.

Last night, Maestro Kraemer performed a Lazarusian miracle on Cantatta: "Nun ist das Heil und die Kraft" by George Phillip Telemann which had only been performed once since its composition in 1726. Telemann, Maestro Kraemer told us, wrote more than 1,000 Cantatas. The score for the text was found in Belgium.

Baroque music is from the age when Fredrick the Great was bullying Europe and Marlborough was slaughtering Frenchman at Blenheim - when the House of Hanover (Windsor) were still working on their resumes to get England to replace poor old Queen Anne. Baroque is ornate, intricate, diverse and humorous - combining peasant motiffs with court hubris. Bach, Tellemann, Hayden and the lads knew that the world was Vanity itself and that all things must look back to God and maybe people would eventually shake off some of their nonsense.

Nicholas Kraemer is a Scot and a harpsichordist

holds the positions of Permanent Guest Conductor of the Manchester Camerata and Principal Guest Conductor of Music of the Baroque, Chicago.

Kraemer’s recent highlights have included acclaimed débuts with The Chicago Symphony, Detroit Symphony and Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra. He enjoys frequent collaborations with the BBC Philharmonic and BBC National Orchestra of Wales; the Northern Sinfonia, Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Musikcollegium Winterthur. Other major ensembles with whom he has conducted include The Hallé, Berlin Philharmonic and Rotterdam Philharmonic

Opera engagements have taken him to Paris, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Geneva and Marseilles. Amongst recent projects have been The Magic Flute and Handel’s Jephtha for English National Opera, Agrippina for Theater Aachen and L’Incoronazione di Poppea for Central City Opera, Colorado.
Nicholas Kraemer’s 09/10 plans include début appearances with the South Jutland and Colorado Symphony Orchestras as well as Le Nozze di Figaro with Den Nye Opera.

http://www.caroline-phillips.co.uk/artists/CPM_NK.htm

Kraemer seems like an absolutely wonderful gent! Two years, ago there was an in cocert screw up by a stage hand at Orchestra Hall, during a Hayden presentation and Kraemer erased any and all unease. He is the anti- George Solti. That Magyar egoist would have had the stagehand's job and guts for garters. ( click my post title for that story)

In a genuine act of grace during the final concert applause, Maestro Kraemer gestured our applause toward the Angels, or The Saints - the great volunteers how ushered the performance standing at the wings of audience - Non Nobis Sed Te Deum et Angeliis!

Maestro Kraemer warmly and genuinely highlighted all musicians and singers individually and en masse. Kraemer is Baroque itself he turns attention away from himself and reminds us of God's hand in all things.

Maestro, I would love to buy you a pint of Belhaven Ale ( or Fuller's London Pride) at Duke of Perth! Bravo!!

Beer Here! Beer Here! Boz O'Brien Brings Brew Midway Oasis in Brew Desert

". . .a woman is like beer. They look good, they smell good, and you'd step over your own mother just to get one!" Homer

From Ceapflights via the Dethronner comes this tribute to an American Hero - James "Boz" O'Brien

This gentleman scholar-athlete opened Reilly's Daughter Pub in 1975 ( full disclosure: I was one of the original bartenders, while teaching at Bishop Mac) and moved the pub from 111th Street to Midway Airport.

Boz featured Imported and Hand-crafted brews when most Chicagoans thought Andecker was an Import. I was a dedicated Drewry's man myself - loved the Mountie!

– With a name like Boz O’Brein you know the guy has got to run a bar. And he does. It’s in the postsecurityfood court at Chicago Midway (MDW)
www.flychicago.com and it’s called Reilly’sDaughter. The first thing you’ll want to
know about this cozy enclave is thatthe bar, and all its furniture, was
crafted in Ireland. The second thing you’ll want to know is that much of
the beer is Irish – Guinness, Harp,and Smithwick’s – and all on-tap.
When O’Brien first opened the place,“I didn’t think people would be interested
in Irish beer,” he said. So, O’Brien stocked up on mass-produced American brands. He was wrong.

Guinness is his best seller. Now, the brew matches the ambience. If you’re stuck at Midway waiting for an airplane, this is where you’ll want to be.
– Go goose hunting at Chicago O’Hare (ORD)
www.flychicago.com. The Goose Island Beer
Company www.gooseisland.com recently set up
shop in Terminal 1, Concourse C between Gates 8
and 10. The Goose Island enclave is a contemporary
brasserie affair. Lots of ambience –lots of good beer.
Try Honker Ale – blessed with a spicy hop aroma

Well Done Boz!

Kevin Myers on the Nature of Most Politicians re.The British Election or any Race in Illinois

Roland Burris: "Well, ain't you gonna press the flesh, Pappy? Do a little politickin'?"

Dithering Dick Durbin: "I'll press your flesh, you dimwhitted sumbitch. You don't tell your pappy how to court the electorate. We ain't on-at-a-timin' here. We're mass communicatin'!"

Harry Reid "MmmmmmHmmmm."

Irish Independent's Kevin Myers on the British Cluster Cluck!

The three main contenders are personally no more substantial than fifth-formers at a third-rate public school, and with brains to match

The British general election campaign, now breathing its last, has been about as fascinating as a local government contest in Oslo. Even now, I'm unaware of any real difference between the candidates, and assume their promises are as genuine as a whore's orgasm. What's left, after such tissues of persiflage and deceit? Not much.

Outsiders glimpse voting statistics, but they do not know why people vote, not least because voters themselves probably don't. Electorates are like luminous molecules in a stream. The molecules usually don't understand the dynamics of the surrounding liquids, but merely obey the strange compulsions of mass-movement.

This is true of all electorates, everywhere. . . .No result today, thank God, is likely to be part of such a comparably malevolent cycle. For the three main contenders are personally no more substantial than fifth-formers at a third-rate public school, and with brains to match.

Brown is an obsessive control-freak, a scowling, bullying stamp-collector. Clegg is the annoying, smirking twerp who sits at the top of the class, hogging teacher's attention. And Cameron is the first trans- sexual head-boy, an insincere, sermonising and simpering hermaphrodite.

Who will win? And who cares? After all, politics is perhaps best left to the mediocre charlatans whom it usually attracts.

Happy Birthday Johnny Brahms

For Brahms, you have to deliver differently with your right arm than with any other composer, because of the musical sentence structure. When you have a phrase, it’s usually long, and more connected. We need to know exactly where to use different styles of bowing.

Jaap van Zweden Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Happy Birthday, Johannes!
Click my post title for Brahms' Hungarian Dance #5

1833 -May 7th
Birth of Johannes Brahms, German composer and pianist. Johnny Brahms composed the Lullaby that is the gold standard for musical slumber impetus! Sleepy already.

Johannes Brahms -

Brahms was born in Hamburg. His father, who gave him his first music lessons, was a double bassist. Brahms showed early promise on the piano and helped to supplement the rather meager family income by playing the piano in restaurants and theaters, as well as by teaching. Although it is a widely-told tale that Brahms had to play the piano in bars and brothels, recent research, for example that by Kurt Hoffman (1), suggest that this is probably false. For a time, he also learned the violoncello, although his progress was cut short when his teacher absconded with Brahms's instrument.

The young Brahms gave a few public concerts, but did not become well known as a pianist (although in later life he gave the premieres of both his Piano Concerto No. 1 in 1859 and his Piano Concerto No. 2 in 1881).

He also began to compose, but his efforts did not receive much attention until he went on a concert tour with Eduard Reményi in 1853. On this tour he met Joseph Joachim, Franz Liszt, and later was introduced to the great German composer Robert Schumann. Reményi was, however, offended by Brahms' failure to praise Liszt's 'Sonata in B minor' wholeheartedly on a visit to the Court of Weimar where Liszt was the court musician. Many of Brahms' friends cited that Reményi, being the polished courtier, had expected the younger Brahms to conform to common practice of politely applauding a celebrity's piece which Brahms either failed to do or did not appear to do so with condescending compliment. He told Brahms that their friendship must end although it was not clear as to whether Liszt felt offended or otherwise. Joachim, however was to become one of his closest friends, and Schumann, through articles championing the young Brahms, played an important role in alerting the public to the young man's compositions. Brahms also became acquainted with Schumann's wife, the composer and pianist Clara, 14 years his senior, with whom he carried on a lifelong, emotionally passionate, but always platonic relationship. Brahms never married.

In 1862 he settled permanently in Vienna and began to concentrate fully on composing. With work such as the German Requiem, Brahms eventually established a strong reputation and came to be regarded in his own lifetime as one of the great composers. This may have given him the confidence finally to complete his first symphony; this appeared in 1876, after about ten years of work. The other three symphonies then followed in fairly rapid succession (1877, 1883, 1885).

Brahms frequently traveled, both for business (concert tours) and pleasure. He often visited Italy in the springtime, and usually sought out a pleasant rural location in which to compose during the summer.

In 1890, the 57-year-old Brahms resolved to give up composing. However, as it turned out, he was unable to abide by his decision, and in the years before his death he produced a number of acknowledged masterpieces, including the two clarinet sonatas Op. 120 (1894) and the Four Serious Songs (Vier ernste Gesänge) Op. 121 (1896).

While completing the Op. 121 songs Brahms fell ill of cancer (sources differ on whether this was of the liver or pancreas). His condition gradually worsened and he died on April 3, 1897. Brahms is buried in the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna.


Works
Listen to Brahms' Intermezzo, from opus 76, no. 7
Problems listening to the file? See Wikipedia audio help

Brahms wrote a number of major works for orchestra, including four symphonies, two piano concertos, a Violin Concerto, a Double Concerto for violin and cello, and the large choral work A German Requiem (Ein deutsches Requiem). Brahms was also a prolific composer in the theme and variation form, having notably composed the Variations and Fugue on a theme by Händel, Paganini Variations, and Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn, along with other lesser known sets of variations.

Brahms also wrote a great deal of work for small forces. His many works of chamber music form part of the core of this repertoire, as does his solo piano music. Brahms is also considered to be among the greatest of composers of lieder, of which he wrote about 200.

Brahms never wrote an opera, nor did he ever write in the characteristic 19th century form of the tone poem.

For a list of works, see List of compositions by Johannes Brahms.


Influences on Brahms
Brahms venerated Beethoven, perhaps even more than the other Romantic composers did. In the composer's home, a marble bust of Beethoven looked down on the spot where he composed. Brahms's works contain what some of his contemporaries considered to be outright imitations of Beethoven's work, including the Ninth Symphony (regarding the similar - only in form - themes found in the last movements of Brahms's 1st and Beethoven's 9th symphonies) and the Hammerklavier sonata.

Brahms also loved the earlier Classical composers Mozart and Haydn. He collected first editions and autographs of their works, and also edited performing editions.

Brahms's affection for the Classical period may also be reflected in his choice of genres: he favored the Classical forms of the sonata, symphony, and concerto, and frequently composed movements in sonata form. In general, Brahms can be regarded as the most Classical of all the Romantic composers. This set him in contrast to the acolytes of the more progressive Richard Wagner, and the divide between the two schools was one of the most notable features of German musical life in the late 19th century.

A quite different influence on Brahms was folk music. Brahms wrote settings for piano and voice of 144 German folk songs, and many of his lieder reflect folk themes or depict scenes of rural life. His Hungarian dances were among his most profitable compositions, and in orchestrated versions remain well known today.

Brahms was almost certainly influenced by the technological development of the piano, which reached essentially its modern form during his lifetime. Much of Brahms's piano music and many of his lieder make use of the deep bass notes and the pedal to obtain a rich and powerful sound.


Brahms's personality
Like Beethoven, Brahms was fond of nature and often went walking in the woods around Vienna. He often brought penny candy with him to hand out to children. To adults Brahms was often brusque and sarcastic, and he sometimes alienated other people. His pupil Gustav Jenner wrote, 'Brahms has acquired, not without reason, the reputation for being a grump, even though few could also be as lovable as he.1 (http://members.aol.com/abelard2/jenner.htm)' He also had predictable habits which was noted by the Viennese press such as his daily visit to his favourite 'Red Hedgehog' tavern in Vienna and the press also particularly took into account his style of walking with his hands firmly behind his back complete with a caricature of him in this pose walking alongside a red hedgehog. Those who remained his friends were very loyal to him, however and he reciprocated in return with equal loyalty and generosity. He was a lifelong friend with Johann Strauss II though they were very different as composers. Brahms even struggled to get to the Theater an der Wien in Vienna for Strauss' premiere of the operetta Die Göttin der Vernunft in 1897 before his death. Perhaps the greatest tribute that Brahms could pay to Strauss was his remark that he would have given anything to have written The Blue Danube waltz. An anecdote dating around the time Brahms became acquainted with Strauss is that the former cheekily inscribed the words 'alas, not by Brahms!' on the autograph score of the famous 'Blue Danube' waltz.

Starting in the 1860's, when his works sold widely, Brahms was financially quite successful. He preferred a modest life style, however, living in a simple three-room apartment with a housekeeper. He gave away much of his money to relatives, and also anonymously helped support a number of young musicians.

Brahms was an extreme perfectionist. For instance, it is thought that the symphony we know as the First may not have been the first he composed, since Brahms very often destroyed completed works that failed to meet his standard of quality. Another factor that contributed to Brahms's perfectionism was that Schumann had announced early on that Brahms was to become the next great composer like Beethoven, a prediction that Brahms was determined to live up to. This prediction hardly added to the composer's self-confidence, and may also have contributed to the delay in producing the First Symphony. However, Clara Schumann noted before that Brahms' First Symphony was a product that was not reflective of Brahms' real nature as she felt that the final exuberant movement was 'too brilliant' as she was encouraged by the dark and tempestuous opening movement when Brahms first sent to her the initial draft. However, she recanted in accepting his sunny Second Symphony and was a lifelong supporter of that famous work in D major, one of Brahms' rare key usage.

http://www.8notes.com/biographies/brahms.asp

Rep. Kevin Joyce (D, 35th) - Powerful Statement on School Reform and Legislative Responsibility

This is a solid man at work. School Reform can not depend on a political party; only on great people. Shoo the mice away!

Sun Times NewsPro Natasha Korecki Covers Burge Trial as it Should - Facts, Nothing But the Facts

The Chicago Sun Times has the best reporters and worst columnists in Chicago.

Mark Konkol, Tim Novak, Chris Fusco and sometimes Abdon Pallasch are strong and honest. My favorite read is Natasha Korecki she slides a sentence with the grace of sportswriter Dan McGrath and avoids the posing and posturing of the would be Menckens and Divas.

Paddy Fitz the Fed needs Media Points after his Blago Blunders and here he is playing to his orchestra. The Burge Trial will be a Circus and the Feds will play to the folks who only read what Carol Marin, Mark Brown, Mary Mitchell, and the Sun Times' weak-ass editorial board writes. The Sun Times has talent like Ms. Korecki who will report and not fabricate. BTW- The Sun Times Editorial Board is 10X better than the Chicago Tribune's.

Jon Burge has been convicted by the media and the media never checks its own sources - they are in agreement with all the nonsense that the Burge Industry ( Peoples Law Office, Mr. & Mrs. Ayres-Dohrn, Northwestern Law, CPUSA) have provided the lazy and the wildly ambitious columnists.

Thank you Natasha Korecki! This is a good read and a fine report.

Dressed in a black suit, tie, and blue shirt, former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge on Thursday spun around in his chair and seemed to struggle a bit as he stood up.

"Morning, ladies and gentlemen," said the man who for decades has been accused of torturing murder suspects.

» Click to enlarge image

Former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge as he leaves the Federal building for a lunch break Thursday.
( Brian Jackson/Sun-Times)


Burge was briefly inside a courtroom addressing the potential jurors who will judge his fate in his trial that starts later this month on obstruction of justice and perjury charges. A pool of jurors were summoned today to fill out a questionnaire but jury selection in the case doesn't begin until May 24. After court, a slow-moving Burge, who lives in Tampa, Fla., said he felt "terrible," physically and that it was "not unusual," to be back in Chicago.

Nearly 80 potential jurors were handed questionnaires in preparation for the upcoming selection.

U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow told the ethnically and racially diverse panel not to read or listen to any media coverage of the case.

While Burge and his underlings have long been accused of torturing suspects into giving confessions, he is not on trial for those actual acts. Burge is accused of lying on a sworn questionnaire that probed him of the alleged practices.

Read This Story to a Liberal & Twice to a Progressive - Verrrryyyy Sloooowwwwwly! Harrison Bergeron

I taught this wonderful short story to my students at Bishop McNamara High Schoolin Kankakee, Il in the early 1980's. They got a huge kick out of it - "No way that can Happen!!" Boys and girls, it can and pretty much did happen here!

I also taught Sinclair Lewis.

HARRISON BERGERON
by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

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

THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th Amendments to the Constitution, and to the unceasing vigilance of agents of the United States Handicapper General.

Some things about living still weren't quite right, though. April for instance, still drove people crazy by not being springtime. And it was in that clammy month that the H-G men took George and Hazel Bergeron's fourteen-year-old son, Harrison, away.

It was tragic, all right, but George and Hazel couldn't think about it very hard. Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn't think about anything except in short bursts. And George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times. It was tuned to a government transmitter. Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains.

George and Hazel were watching television. There were tears on Hazel's cheeks, but she'd forgotten for the moment what they were about.

On the television screen were ballerinas.

A buzzer sounded in George's head. His thoughts fled in panic, like bandits from a burglar alarm.

"That was a real pretty dance, that dance they just did," said Hazel.

"Huh" said George.

"That dance-it was nice," said Hazel.

"Yup," said George. He tried to think a little about the ballerinas. They weren't really very good-no better than anybody else would have been, anyway. They were burdened with sashweights and bags of birdshot, and their faces were masked, so that no one, seeing a free and graceful gesture or a pretty face, would feel like something the cat drug in. George was toying with the vague notion that maybe dancers shouldn't be handicapped. But he didn't get very far with it before another noise in his ear radio scattered his thoughts.

George winced. So did two out of the eight ballerinas.

Hazel saw him wince. Having no mental handicap herself, she had to ask George what the latest sound had been.

"Sounded like somebody hitting a milk bottle with a ball peen hammer," said George.

"I'd think it would be real interesting, hearing all the different sounds," said Hazel a little envious. "All the things they think up."

"Um," said George.

"Only, if I was Handicapper General, you know what I would do?" said Hazel. Hazel, as a matter of fact, bore a strong resemblance to the Handicapper General, a woman named Diana Moon Glampers. "If I was Diana Moon Glampers," said Hazel, "I'd have chimes on Sunday-just chimes. Kind of in honor of religion."

"I could think, if it was just chimes," said George.

"Well-maybe make 'em real loud," said Hazel. "I think I'd make a good Handicapper General."

"Good as anybody else," said George.

"Who knows better then I do what normal is?" said Hazel.

"Right," said George. He began to think glimmeringly about his abnormal son who was now in jail, about Harrison, but a twenty-one-gun salute in his head stopped that.

"Boy!" said Hazel, "that was a doozy, wasn't it?"

It was such a doozy that George was white and trembling, and tears stood on the rims of his red eyes. Two of of the eight ballerinas had collapsed to the studio floor, were holding their temples.

"All of a sudden you look so tired," said Hazel. "Why don't you stretch out on the sofa, so's you can rest your handicap bag on the pillows, honeybunch." She was referring to the forty-seven pounds of birdshot in a canvas bag, which was padlocked around George's neck. "Go on and rest the bag for a little while," she said. "I don't care if you're not equal to me for a while."

George weighed the bag with his hands. "I don't mind it," he said. "I don't notice it any more. It's just a part of me."

"You been so tired lately-kind of wore out," said Hazel. "If there was just some way we could make a little hole in the bottom of the bag, and just take out a few of them lead balls. Just a few."

"Two years in prison and two thousand dollars fine for every ball I took out," said George. "I don't call that a bargain."

"If you could just take a few out when you came home from work," said Hazel. "I mean-you don't compete with anybody around here. You just set around."

"If I tried to get away with it," said George, "then other people'd get away with it-and pretty soon we'd be right back to the dark ages again, with everybody competing against everybody else. You wouldn't like that, would you?"

"I'd hate it," said Hazel.

"There you are," said George. The minute people start cheating on laws, what do you think happens to society?"

If Hazel hadn't been able to come up with an answer to this question, George couldn't have supplied one. A siren was going off in his head.

"Reckon it'd fall all apart," said Hazel.

"What would?" said George blankly.

"Society," said Hazel uncertainly. "Wasn't that what you just said?

"Who knows?" said George.

The television program was suddenly interrupted for a news bulletin. It wasn't clear at first as to what the bulletin was about, since the announcer, like all announcers, had a serious speech impediment. For about half a minute, and in a state of high excitement, the announcer tried to say, "Ladies and Gentlemen."

He finally gave up, handed the bulletin to a ballerina to read.

"That's all right-" Hazel said of the announcer, "he tried. That's the big thing. He tried to do the best he could with what God gave him. He should get a nice raise for trying so hard."

"Ladies and Gentlemen," said the ballerina, reading the bulletin. She must have been extraordinarily beautiful, because the mask she wore was hideous. And it was easy to see that she was the strongest and most graceful of all the dancers, for her handicap bags were as big as those worn by two-hundred pound men.

And she had to apologize at once for her voice, which was a very unfair voice for a woman to use. Her voice was a warm, luminous, timeless melody. "Excuse me-" she said, and she began again, making her voice absolutely uncompetitive.

"Harrison Bergeron, age fourteen," she said in a grackle squawk, "has just escaped from jail, where he was held on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government. He is a genius and an athlete, is under-handicapped, and should be regarded as extremely dangerous."

A police photograph of Harrison Bergeron was flashed on the screen-upside down, then sideways, upside down again, then right side up. The picture showed the full length of Harrison against a background calibrated in feet and inches. He was exactly seven feet tall.

The rest of Harrison's appearance was Halloween and hardware. Nobody had ever born heavier handicaps. He had outgrown hindrances faster than the H-G men could think them up. Instead of a little ear radio for a mental handicap, he wore a tremendous pair of earphones, and spectacles with thick wavy lenses. The spectacles were intended to make him not only half blind, but to give him whanging headaches besides.

Scrap metal was hung all over him. Ordinarily, there was a certain symmetry, a military neatness to the handicaps issued to strong people, but Harrison looked like a walking junkyard. In the race of life, Harrison carried three hundred pounds.

And to offset his good looks, the H-G men required that he wear at all times a red rubber ball for a nose, keep his eyebrows shaved off, and cover his even white teeth with black caps at snaggle-tooth random.

"If you see this boy," said the ballerina, "do not - I repeat, do not - try to reason with him."

There was the shriek of a door being torn from its hinges.

Screams and barking cries of consternation came from the television set. The photograph of Harrison Bergeron on the screen jumped again and again, as though dancing to the tune of an earthquake.

George Bergeron correctly identified the earthquake, and well he might have - for many was the time his own home had danced to the same crashing tune. "My God-" said George, "that must be Harrison!"

The realization was blasted from his mind instantly by the sound of an automobile collision in his head.

When George could open his eyes again, the photograph of Harrison was gone. A living, breathing Harrison filled the screen.

Clanking, clownish, and huge, Harrison stood - in the center of the studio. The knob of the uprooted studio door was still in his hand. Ballerinas, technicians, musicians, and announcers cowered on their knees before him, expecting to die.

"I am the Emperor!" cried Harrison. "Do you hear? I am the Emperor! Everybody must do what I say at once!" He stamped his foot and the studio shook.

"Even as I stand here" he bellowed, "crippled, hobbled, sickened - I am a greater ruler than any man who ever lived! Now watch me become what I can become!"

Harrison tore the straps of his handicap harness like wet tissue paper, tore straps guaranteed to support five thousand pounds.

Harrison's scrap-iron handicaps crashed to the floor.

Harrison thrust his thumbs under the bar of the padlock that secured his head harness. The bar snapped like celery. Harrison smashed his headphones and spectacles against the wall.

He flung away his rubber-ball nose, revealed a man that would have awed Thor, the god of thunder.

"I shall now select my Empress!" he said, looking down on the cowering people. "Let the first woman who dares rise to her feet claim her mate and her throne!"

A moment passed, and then a ballerina arose, swaying like a willow.

Harrison plucked the mental handicap from her ear, snapped off her physical handicaps with marvelous delicacy. Last of all he removed her mask.

She was blindingly beautiful.

"Now-" said Harrison, taking her hand, "shall we show the people the meaning of the word dance? Music!" he commanded.

The musicians scrambled back into their chairs, and Harrison stripped them of their handicaps, too. "Play your best," he told them, "and I'll make you barons and dukes and earls."

The music began. It was normal at first-cheap, silly, false. But Harrison snatched two musicians from their chairs, waved them like batons as he sang the music as he wanted it played. He slammed them back into their chairs.

The music began again and was much improved.

Harrison and his Empress merely listened to the music for a while-listened gravely, as though synchronizing their heartbeats with it.

They shifted their weights to their toes.

Harrison placed his big hands on the girls tiny waist, letting her sense the weightlessness that would soon be hers.

And then, in an explosion of joy and grace, into the air they sprang!

Not only were the laws of the land abandoned, but the law of gravity and the laws of motion as well.

They reeled, whirled, swiveled, flounced, capered, gamboled, and spun.

They leaped like deer on the moon.

The studio ceiling was thirty feet high, but each leap brought the dancers nearer to it.

It became their obvious intention to kiss the ceiling. They kissed it.

And then, neutraling gravity with love and pure will, they remained suspended in air inches below the ceiling, and they kissed each other for a long, long time.

It was then that Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, came into the studio with a double-barreled ten-gauge shotgun. She fired twice, and the Emperor and the Empress were dead before they hit the floor.

Diana Moon Glampers loaded the gun again. She aimed it at the musicians and told them they had ten seconds to get their handicaps back on.

It was then that the Bergerons' television tube burned out.

Hazel turned to comment about the blackout to George. But George had gone out into the kitchen for a can of beer.

George came back in with the beer, paused while a handicap signal shook him up. And then he sat down again. "You been crying" he said to Hazel.

"Yup," she said.

"What about?" he said.

"I forget," she said. "Something real sad on television."

"What was it?" he said.

"It's all kind of mixed up in my mind," said Hazel.

"Forget sad things," said George.

"I always do," said Hazel.

"That's my girl," said George. He winced. There was the sound of a rivetting gun in his head.

"Gee - I could tell that one was a doozy," said Hazel.

"You can say that again," said George.

"Gee-" said Hazel, "I could tell that one was a doozy."


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"Harrison Bergeron" is copyrighted by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., 1961.

Burge Trial - "Call Bernardine Dohrn to the Witness Stand!"

Jon Burge grew up in the working class Irish communities of southern Chicago. A red-head with a pugilist's frame, he served as a military policeman during the Vietnam War. That's likely where he first came into contact with tools of the trade such as the electric shock-producing "Tucker Telephone," as well as psychological torture methods such as meticulously staged mock executions.

Sasha Abramsky -Mother Jones

Sasha Abramsky, as I recall, was introduced to the electric-testicle torture theory from Bernardine Dohrn based on fact that Jon Burge -
1. was in Vietnam
2. a telephone torture device was used in Vietnam
Therefore Burge used electric testicle torture

Bernardine Dohrn is far more credible and an authority on terror than the records and the facts of the case. Theory always precedes Truth in Dewey/Hegelian thought.
You see G. Flint Taylor keeps most of the real facts of his twenty years of Burge Bucks out of the media - like a witness who had been tortured by MI-5 who stated "these people were not tortured - I was tortured by Mossad and MI-5" or the medical professionals - those tiny issues, as I recall.

I recall Fahey and O'Brien. They were tortured and murdered . . .but they were police officers.

G. Flint Taylor has been at bat in the Burge Circus, ever since convicted terrorist and Norghwestern Law School Marxist Diva had her record laundered by the fat-cats and 501(c)3 Brie Eaters.

Bernardine Dohrn, who may not hold an Illinois Law License, was given a Northwestern Law School sinecure and grand platform to "Off the Pigs!" via death by a thousand cuts.

I credit the odious Ms. Dorhn, the smarter and far more dangerous half of Billy Ayers, with G. Flint Taylor's media stink bait to lure the press and mythopoeically create the Burge Torture Narrative - the electronic testicle zapper that G. Flint Taylor had built and was allowed to bring to court. Who built that goofy gizmo for G. Flint anyway - it was not Urban Translator Wally Gator Bradley. Shoot, he and G. Flint were last seen wrassling on the court house floor for nickels and dimes.

Call Ms. Dohrn to witness and back track on the journalistic break crumbs leading to Dohrn's early posit that torture was systemic.

G. Flint Taylor will swing and miss again . . .but that is exactly what this Commie Cadillac Lawyer wants. No closure brings more fee

Click my post title for my Burge fil

Il Rep. Kevin Joyce - A Man Stands for Kids and Reform-12 House Mice Republicans Scurry to Their Holes

"Think back to why you ran for office," said sponsoring Rep. Kevin Joyce, D-Chicago. "Was it for a pension? I doubt it. Was it to protect the leadership of a union? I doubt that. Actually in all cases, I believe each and every one of us here got involved to try and make a difference in the lives of our fellow man."

I have known Kevin Joyce, my State Representative and neighbor, for many years. He is Anti-Abortion and has seven children; He is for School Reform and sends his children to Catholic Schools.

He is tough man of a tough breed. Kevin Joyce is an example why I still tend to vote Democrat -locally. Kevin Joyce takes a hard look at the issues that face our community and votes his heart and well-tuned mind in the best interests of the people who vote for him.

I voted for one Republican in last thirty years, John McCain, and am sorry that I did so.

I get asked by some doctrinaire Republicans and Democrats why I remain a Democrat, given my social conservative views and the gimlet eye that I cast on the leadership of the publicly funded PACS that masquerade as Labor ( SEIU, Teachers Unions & etc.). I can vote for a Republican like Rep. Jim Durkin ( Western Springs) or the only real talent in the Illinois Republican field , Dan Proft. These are men.

Twelve ninnies of the GOP betrayed the taxpayers and children of Illinois - the Twelve Apostles of PACs- Brady, Brauer, Cavaletto, Cole, Eddy, Kosel, Mathias, Bill Mitchell, Jerry Mitchell, Moffitt, Mulligan, Pihos, Poe, Pritchard, Ramey, Reboletti, Reis, Rose, Sacia, Saviano, Tracy, Watson

These goofs do rise the level of arch-rodent - they are mice. They are enthralled to the PACS - Planned Parenthood, SEIU and all the rest.

Learn from Kevin Joyce and grow a metaphorical pair.

"Think back to why you ran for office," said sponsoring Rep. Kevin Joyce, D-Chicago. "Was it for a pension? I doubt it. Was it to protect the leadership of a union? I doubt that. Actually in all cases, I believe each and every one of us here got involved to try and make a difference in the lives of our fellow man."

The Twelve GOP Mice ? Save your parsing and the compelling narratives for WTTW fanny smoochers and editorial board mopes.

I am proud of State Senator James Meeks and Representative Kevin Joyce. They are why I remain a Democrat - locally.



http://www.cdobs.com/

Viva Puebla! Viva Juarez! God Bless America!

I am for immigration amnesty. Many of my family were Irish wetbacks, or two boaters -one to Canada and one across the St. Lawrence River. We ( Hickey/Sullivan)have only been here since the late 19 Teens. My mom's family were Back of the Yards Irish - 'Who the hell knows when they got here?'

I watch immigrants every morning at Kean - Mexican, Irish, Polish mostly. Hard working and proud young people and whether they have cards, or papers or not; Who Shives a Git? As far as I am concerned, they are Americans. I get a coffee refill at the 7-11 on Kedzie after I dump the girls off at Mother McAuley and every morning the parking lot looks like the Gdansk Shipyard and huge tough looking Polish kids, maybe a few semsters out of the Polish Army crowd around their trucks getting ready for a huge day of backbreaking work. I have never seen an immigrant kid leaning on a broom, shovel, or his foreman - I have witnessed American born slackers describe jobs that they would never be caught doing. Too proud to work? America?

The Arizona Law seems tailor made for Arizona. I do not get my righteous panties in a twist over a law that almost exactly mirrors the U.S. Code on Immigration. The media is making the issue uglier than it is and race baiters and phonies are getting their games on. Calm down. Illegal immigrantion can only be arrested by sealing the border and offering a genuine, serious and cold-blooded Amnesty to good people. That means giving up the thieves, murderers, drug merchants, gang-bangers and deadbeats. Toss them - out of immigrant communities and this great and generous country. Immigrants become Americans - learn English. Respect its customs and traditions. Stay away from Commies and their stooges. They blew immigration reform for good people two years ago. If you here some pasty skinned, pencil-neck geek shout about 'Workers and Students!' ask you his Union Card. Reds don't actually do a lick of work. That is only in movies and 1940's novels.

That said - Viva Mexico! Viva Puebla! Viva Poblanos!

Cinco De Mayo marks the anniversary of great fight of a proud people - Mexican defeated the French Armies of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte in 1862. Proud people make proud Americans.

I hope an Amnesty is declared with the criminals sent home. Seal the borders. Prosecute the immigration mules.

Viva Mexico! God Bless America!

Carol Marin - Send a Mess-enger to be Campaign Manager of Forrest Claypool?

Yesterday, Eric Zorn Chicago Tribune's Voice of the Tofu and Whey Political Progressives demanded that we Lower the Bar - void the petitions ( or allow Millions to Pay-to-Play)for Independents, Bullmooses, and Loyal Order of Racoon Candidates in Illinois. I blog a few giggles Eric Zorn's way and noted that his cover on this issue is all for Forrest Claypool against Joe Berrios. I also mentioned that, in no time at all, Carol Marin would gin-up a collage for Claypool!

Voila! Here 'Tis -

What does matter, way down the ballot, is who is Cook County assessor.

Until a few weeks ago, Joe Berrios was considered the odds-on favorite.

Berrios is the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party and Madigan's political pal. A guy with a lot of sympathy for Madigan's law firm clients in search of property tax reductions.

With nominal Republican opposition, Berrios was coasting, until another -- and proven -- independent, retiring County Commissioner Forrest Claypool, announced an independent run.

If voters want to send a message to Madigan and Springfield, this is the race in which to do it.

The Corporate Media ( editorial boards and iconic columnists) gave us our political landscape - Fight the Power of the Machine; Scoop Taxes to Every Bug-eyed Mob of T-Shirted Shouters; however, they blame the 'stupid voters' for Todd Stroger and Scott Lee, when they themselves are the puffed-up watchdogs of the life political. Our gutless, or just dumb as dirt elected officials play ball these Blue Light Beauties.

I get my politics from people who have slowly and carefully 'put skin in the game.' Politics is an Art. Sometimes the Artist does not tell all about his craft -that makes it art. Carol, Eric and Mark Brown do not like Rembrandt Mike Madigan or any skilled elected official. They like street mimes like Forrest Claypool, Shelia Simon and Chris Kennedy. They are cute.

Carol Marin smiles at these same people all the time. That should give anyone with a lick of sense a very long pause.

Chicago's Tom Roeser - Renaissance Man and Christian Gentlemen - Gets Attention

I love this Wildly Talented and Good Man. He does scare up an epithet . . . from some.

Tough Times Ahead for Forrest Claypool - Just Like Romeo and Juliet -Hey,Hey, Hey!

Let me not to marriage of two-timers admit . . .I was with him . . .I was with her ... I think you're swell well you can go to Hell.

Shucks, Forrest Claypool a career political appointee is running as an Independent.

Seems to me he called in the compliant corporate media ( today, I played in Eric Zorn's sand box for giggles - I was up early and later waiting for a confirmation on a grant) and Eric Zorn provided a thick porridge of tofu and whey about the UnFairness of the Petitions Needed by Independents in Illinois. I think its swell. Makes for a muscular Grassroots Army of the Willing! Builds Character and what-not.

You see, Forrest is running against Joe Berrios for Cook County Assessor and Joe Berrios happens to be a grand guy and genuine political servant. Forrest Claypool pops up when a spot opens, or gets appointed. He can be seen almost nightly chatting up Cheshire-Grinnin' Why Ain't Forrest Winnin' Carol Marin on WTTW. The last few elections Forrest got all timid and loped off to the woodland glades and glens. Forrest Claypool has miles to go before he sweeps . . .any votes. He needs scads of signatures and that requires folks armed with clipboards and pens. No Fair. Tough.

That is why there are farm teams in baseball and amateur flying clubs. Independents demand that be treated like Boys of October when they have not yet hefted a wiffle ball bat and Ace Jet Jockeys because they para-sailed. Politics is an art and not finger painting. Sad, to be sure. Tragic?

Well, Romeo and Juliet had their troubles but they were a beautiful couple. Forrest Claypool is the man he is today thanks to his long and lucrative association with the Regular Democratic Party Organization of Chicago and Cook County.

Joe Berrios can get signatures . . .Oh, that's right. He does not need them.

Big Shoulders and Reilly's Daughter Nudge Skinny and Houli at Avenue 950

Tomorrow on AM Radio 950 6-8 P.M. ...........................Do NOT miss the Skinny and Houli Show!Special guests this week include Joshua Hale from the Big Shoulders Fund, which provides support for inner-city Chicago Catholic schools. 100% of the funds raised by Big Shoulders goes directly to students and schools for scholarships, special education programs, instructional materials, facility improvements and faculty support. In the second hour, we'll be interviewing Boz and Brendan O'Brien, owners of Reilly's Daughter Pub in Midway Airport. Plus, hear what's coming up in Chicago this week... don't miss a minute of this great show!

Well you can miss it . . .like if something comes up . . . like your draft number, or you get called in to work . . .or you forget . . . you the owner is buying at your corner saloon . . . I mean Mothra won't get into the City or squirrels in your ComEd Box and gnaw out all your wiring . . .but it will be a great show!!!