"This is who we should strive to be." from Chicago Tribune's Barbara Brotman
Few things escape my notice; that does not mean that I fully grasp their sense to some, nor their essential worth to me.
I dress reasonably well. Still the aging Joe College Look - Outlet Brooks Brothers or knock-offs. Subdued, yet grace-worthy, if I take the time to have daughters or companion to give me the once over.
This morning the Chicago Tribune's Barbara Brotman offered this New Export to the Midwest her daughter's gushing approval for a documentary on Stylish Women - photo above and the filial accolade. Here's more -
Admirers have been wearing down their exclamation point keys posting comments.
"I utterly adore these women ... they so ROCK!"
"OMG. They are so cool!!!"
"This looks GREAT! So excited to be an old lady!"
Among their fans is Tavi Gevinson, Chicago fashion blogger and editor-in-chief of the online magazine Rookie. A 15-year-old student at Oak Park and River Forest High School, she occupies the opposite end of the fashion age range, but has linked admiringly to the Advanced Style website. She joined Cohen in hosting a party for the Advanced Style women in New York during Fashion Week in September.
"I'm inspired by them, and I admire that Ari doesn't make them into a novelty, or talk about them like they're precious or cute," she said in an email. "Some of them have style you might call cute, but their ideas and personalities are so important when he writes about and photographs them, and they all seemed so present and lively at the party."
Cohen began the project when he moved to New York from the West Coast five years ago. "All around me were these incredible women who were so dressed up and, more important, were active — going to the opera, working, getting their groceries," he said.
Is it just me? I think all of these women have natural beauty and sport wonderful features. That said, I think their get-ups would sicken a billy goat raised on razor blades and broccoli.
Does age demand that one don glassesthat Harry Caray might deem garish, dye hair the color that Bozo thought extreme, and eschew the wooden, or peg-leg entirely, like the blue-hair second from right above? Is the sombrero a necessity for a night out with the grand kids at Billy Dec's, or Stations of the Cross?
Here is Nancy Kwan a contemporary of the ladies sporting the Dick Tracy look above:
Same age, wildly different approach to 'what works.' Though fourteen years my senior, I'd take a hard run at Nancy Kwan. Nothing is sexier than basic black and pearls.
Trader Joe's is nice. There is one in Oak Park on Harlem just a bit north of Lake Street. This is an exoctic country for me.
On Saturday, the woman I love needed to return to Trader Joe's as she had been charged twice for a pound of coffee. As a member of the superior gender this chic, lovely and thrifty woman kept hold of the receipt; something this impulse shopping Pater Familias fails to do. I have a cabinet full of unused Billy Bucks in $1 and $5 dollar denominations, because I invariably forget to bring those cost-cutters along with me on my many trips to pick up items needed and the cart load of "Ooooooo,Eddy's Lime Bars, Pan Color Pepper Crushers, Exotically Flavored Triscuits, and cheeses of Iceland." One day, I shall break the bank of the Baffes Family - eight legs of lamb, a week of porterhouses, Oberweiss Milk, and a gallon of designer olive oil.
Miss S, who is a frequent subject of my musings, but demands in no uncertain threats to leave her name out of my present and future pages, actually consults the receipt upon return from shopping and conducts a complete and thorough audit of purchases.
Saturday, she assessed Trader Joe's for the twice-priced coffee and while she presented the receipt to managers all and sundry, I parked the car in Mega-level lot and went up to Lake Street. I bought a hideously wonderful stuffed toy for my two-year old pal Emmett and met Miss S back at Joe's.
We returned to my car and pulled out on Harlem and headed north one block turned right and I told Miss S. about my purchase, " Emmett is gonna love it. It is a butt-ugly rag doll of some kind of monster . . ."
Miss S. Was delighted, "Where is it?"
"Jesus Chri. . ."
"Please."
"Sorry."
" Did you place it on the trunk, like you did with that wine we supposed to bring to Steve and Susan's last week? That went crashing onto the pavement, requiring another purchase? DO NOT swear or utter another mot juste from your arsenal of obscenities, please. And do calm yourself; it is not the end of the world."
"Close though."
Cowed and craven, I obeyed this tiny woman and the Illinois traffic dictates of sense and sensibility and right turned my way back to the chock-filled parking venue available at Trader Joe's."
First level - nothing.
"Did you park on this . . .?"
Second Level - ditto slowly pacing each parking spot and scanning with a hunter's eye for the plastic vanity bag with the Monster Doll.
Third Level
"Why did you not just place the bag in the front here with you?
Second Level Redux - I got out and belly-crawled under a few SUVs and Volvos. Nope.
Level One Yet Again!
Miss S. remained dignified and silent, fully cognisant of the boiling over of the once cheery good will and avuncular intent to make a child's day now a roiling pot of male peccadillo's souped up and ladled out. Remember, J.M. Barrie never created the Island of Lost Girls. I do. . . well, sometimes.
Details are made to be attended.
With the resignation and realization that fifty-nine years of such events as this, I determined to give the field to my folly this day and return better suited to the mortal combat involved in buying a two year old a surprise.
" I'll grab one of them monsters later in the week."
" That's nice."
Everything that exists is in a manner the seed of that which will be. Marcus Aurelius
Father Sammie Maletta, Jr. was assistant pastor at Notre Dame Parish in Long Beach, Indiana and served as chaplain for La Lumiere School in LaPorte, Indiana. I was proud to work with Father Sammie then and more proud of him for his courageous homily linked below.
For those of you who voted for I cannot believe you voted for this (referring to the mandate).
Let us be clear, President Obama let us be Catholic
The government wants to get in our business and tell us how to run our business, how to run our Churches.
I cannot make a decision about the Church without going through the government.
Why is the government so obsessed with reproductive services? And forcing us to go against our Faith to do what they want us to do
Father Sammie Maletta
If you are interested in knowing about my educational and various assignments then please scroll down to the Curriculum Vitae outlining my years as a priest.
I guess what I would like you to know about me is that I love the Lord Jesus and I am passionate about His Roman Catholic Church. I have been a priest for more than 25 years and the Church has made me what I am. I feel so incredibly honored and grateful to be living my life as a priest. I believe in striving for excellence and have found over and over again that apparent obstacles in life are really opportunities where our faith and character are tested and formed. So, for better or worse I regularly find myself challenging and motivating those around me to do one more thing for Christ.” Fr. Sammie Maletta
Curriculum Vitae
Reverend Sammie L. Maletta, Jr., was born in Gary, Indiana on March 9, 1953, the eldest of seven children of Sammie and Theresa Maletta. He was raised in Portage, Indiana and graduated from Portage High School.
After receiving a BA degree in English Literature from St. Meinrad Seminary and graduating with an M.Div and STB degree with honors from St. Mary of the Lake Seminary, Father Maletta was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Andrew Grutka on August 15, 1980, at the Cathedral of the Holy Angels in Gary, Indiana.
Upon ordination, Father Maletta was assigned to instruct religion at Marquette High School in Michigan City, Indiana. In the spring of 1981, he began graduate studies in business administration at Notre Dame University School of Business. In the fall of 1981, he was assigned as administrator at Sacred Heart Parish in Wanatah, Indiana and St. Martin Mission in LaCrosse. In 1982, he was assigned administrator of St. Theresa Parish in Shelby, Indiana. In the fall of 1982, Father Maletta was assigned to study canon law in Rome, Italy. While studying in Rome, Father Maletta was selected to serve on the staff of the United States Bishops Theological Consultation. In June of 1984, he completed canonical studies and received a JCL with high honors from St. Thomas of the City. In the autumn of 1984, after return from abroad, Father Maletta was assigned to the Marriage Tribunal of the Diocese of Gary and appointed Adjutant Vicar Judicial and Defender of the Bond. He was also appointed Assistant to the Chancellor, while serving as administrator of Ss. Monica & Luke Parish in Gary, Indiana. In January of 1985, he was appointed Director of the Marriage Tribunal for the Diocese of Gary. In May of 1987, he served as Judge for the Marriage Tribunal of the Archdiocese of Denver, Colorado.
Father Maletta was appointed Judicial Vicar for the Diocese of Gary in December of 1988. In 1989 Bishop Norbert Gaughan appointed Father Maletta to study civil law at Valparaiso University School of Law while continuing his diocesan responsibilities. He graduated with a Juris Doctorate in civil law from Valparaiso in May of 1992. Father Maletta received the prestigious Honors Award for Excellence in Trial Advocacy.
In July of 1992, Father Maletta was appointed pastor of St. Joan of Arc Parish in Merrillville, Indiana. Shortly after his appointment as pastor, he resigned from all of his diocesan appointments in order to focus on the parish. In October 1992, after successfully sitting for the Indiana Bar, Father Maletta was sworn in as a civil attorney. In August of 1993, Father Maletta was certified by the Indiana Supreme Court as a Civil Mediator. Father Maletta continues to maintain both his licenses to practice law and his certification as a mediator.
Bishop Dale J. Melczek appointed Father Maletta as Diocesan Legal Counsel in April of 1994. In January of 1995, Father Maletta was appointed Representative of the Bishop for Health Care Concerns. He was invited to serve as Canonical and Ethical Counsel to the international law firm of Mayer, Brown and Platt in Chicago, Illinois. While serving in this position, Father Maletta was given the opportunity to participate in the filing of an amicus brief before the United States Supreme Court in behalf of the Catholic Health Association of America in the Oregon Assisted Suicide case, Lee vs Oregon.
On February 1, 1997, Bishop Dale J. Melczek appointed Father Maletta Vicar General/Moderator of the Curia for the Diocese of Gary. In 1998, Father Maletta was appointed to the Catholic Health Association Canon Law Committee, an appointment that has recently been renewed. In January 2000, after successfully completing his term as Vicar General/Moderator of the Curia, Father Maletta requested not to be reappointed, but to return to parish ministry and to pursue other interests. In July 2000, Bishop Melczek released Father Maletta from his diocesan responsibilities. In August 2000, Father Maletta was appointed by the Provincial of the Congregation of Holy Cross ‚ Indiana Province, to serve on the Fatima Retreat Center Advisory Board at Notre Dame University in South Bend. In September 2000, Father Maletta agreed to serve as Project Manager for Catholic Health Association. In October 2000, Father Maletta assumed the position of Attorney Of Counsel for the Chicago law firm of Burke, Warren, MacKay and Serritella, P.C. In the fall of 2000, Father Maletta was named as one of the twenty most influential people in Northwest Indiana. In March 2001, Father Maletta agreed to serve as a Certified Instructor for the Napoleon Hill Foundation located at the Napoleon Hill World Learning Center, Purdue University Calumet. In June 2001, Father Maletta was invited and agreed to serve as a member of the Commission on Race & Gender Fairness for Lake County, Indiana. In July 2001, Father Maletta was appointed Pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in St. John, Indiana. In October 2006, Relevant Radio began broadcasting Father Malettaís homilies which can be heard on radio station 1270AM on Friday mornings at 9:00am. In February 2007, Father Maletta was appointed as Administrator of Holy Name Parish in Cedar Lake, Indiana, with all the rights and obligations defined for administrators in the Code of Canon Law. In January of 2003, Father Maletta was invited to attend the USCCB Committee on Canonical Affairs Seminar for Judges, Advocates and Promoters of Justice who will assist the Bishops to carry out the necessary penal processes which are called for in the Code of Canon Law, the Norms promulgated by the Holy Fatherís Apostolic Letter Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela and the ìEssential Normsî adopted by the Bishops to address the scandal of sexual abuse of minors by clerics. Since resigning from his diocesan positions, Father Maletta has provided organizational consulting for various institutions and businesses.
Father Maletta co-wrote Marital Failure: The Churchís Response for Chicago Studies in November, 1992. He was an editor of the Catechism Life in Christ, published by ACTA Publications in Chicago, Illinois (1993-1995). In August of 1994, he wrote a weekly column that was published in the Northwest Indiana Catholic newspaper on the New Catechism of the Catholic Church, which was also published by diocesan newspapers throughout the country. Father Maletta was a primary and contributing author of the Gary Diocesan Millennium booklets, Jesus, Holy Spirit, and God the Father.
Over the years, Father Maletta has been a popular public speaker, offering retreats and parish missions throughout the Midwest. Father Maletta has conducted numerous seminars on the relationship of canon and civil law to a life of faith. His seminars on sexbased differences have been well received by both local and national organizations. In recent years, Father Maletta has conducted workshops on the Catechism (as revealed in story).
Professional Memberships
Canon Law Society of America Indiana Bar Association Lake County Bar Association National Health Lawyers Association Catholic Health Association
" I wear the white socks only to hold down the smell from my gravel agitators, Baby. Glad you asked. The Catalinas are a band that counts. They're from over by Mendel. Play your cards right and I'll give you a tour of the wrestling mats."
Yes, Sir. In the words of a sage chum, " All that I can and the easy ones twice."
In 1967, a Cincinatti group The Casinos ( led by Gene Hughes included Bob Armstrong, Ray White, and Pete Bolton)released one of the all-time great two handers, probably the best - Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye - the was the same year as the Summer of Love and Sgt. Pepper. go figure.
A Two-hander was a slow dance. The one that was romantic to young ladies and an lascivious delight to hormone fueled dweebs and dudes.
July 10, 2006, USA Today op ed by then Senator Barack H. Obama:
… [W]e live in a pluralistic society, and … I can’t impose my religious views on another.
Democrat Presidential Candidate Barack (no H.)Obama to Saddleback Rick Warren August, 2008 - Asked at what point a baby gets “human rights,” Obama, who strongly supports abortion rights, said: “… whether you’re looking at it from a theological perspective or a scientific perspective, answering that question with specificity … is above my pay grade.”
Not these days:
Obama Chief of Staff Jacob Lew on February 13, 2012 speaking for the Obama White House:
"We have set out our policy," Lew said. "We are going to finalize it in the final rules, but I think what the president announced on Friday is a balanced approach that meets the concerns raised both in terms of access to health care and in terms of protecting religious liberties, and we think that's the right approach."
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius - “The reduction in the number of pregnancies compensates for the cost of contraception,”
Yesterday, I posted a medical paper advocating the post-natal murder of children deemed a threat to the physical and psychological well-being of the mother and her family. The paper pointedly considers Downs Syndrome children, like Trig Plain and the thousands of persons loved, nurtured and protected here in Chicago's Misericordia Home. Planned Parenthood, NARAL, ACLU, and NOW offer no such care.
Obama's political gambit to 'shore up the Greater Together base with a hard slap at religion and in particular Roman Catholics is a game of chicken. Obama and the Dowager Class of Abortion Happy Eugenicists have the media on their side along with General Electric, and George Soros. You can have them.
We have Cardinals George of Chicago and Dolan of New York. I'll take them.
Yesterday, the Democrats and one Republican defeated an amendment that would protect religious liberty and the Constitution itself. Barack Obama was an adjunct instructor at the U of C and taught classes in Constitutional Law, before he became President. Illinois Republican Senator Mark Kirk (absented by a stroke of luck) more than likely would also have voted with Dick Durbin and these Vichy Catholics more beholden to Planned Parenthood, NARAL, NOW, GE, MSNBC and George "Heart-breaker" Soros:
Senator Mark Begich (Alaska, D) – Opposed Senator Tom Harkin (Iowa, D) – Opposed Senator Richard Durbin (Illinois, D) – OpposedSenator Mary Landrieu (Louisiana, D) – Opposed Senator John Kerry (Massachusetts, D) – Opposed Senator Barbara Mikulski (Maryland, D) – Opposed Senator Claire McCaskill (Missouri, D) – Opposed Senator Robert Menendez (New Jersey, D) – Opposed Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (New York, D) – Opposed Senator Jack Reed (Rhode Island, D) – Opposed Senator Pat Leahy (Vermont, D) – Opposed Senator Maria Cantwell (Washington, D) – Opposed Senator Patty Murray (Washington, D) – Opposed
Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, like Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, is a Vichy Catholic. Vichy Catholics take the Dowager coin and are more afraid of the bad opinion of the clowns on MSNBC than they are of teachings they play at in front of Catholic voters and Catholic contributors. As far as Bishops go, they can live happily without them.
The DNC has crunched numbers and told Dithering Dick and other Vichy Catholics that they need not worry. The Catholic Demographic important? As if.
Push will come to shove. The Bishops will not blink first. Vichy Catholics will have a Canossa moment ( Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV v. Pope Gregory VII and all that German lay investiture stuff in the 11th Century). HRE Hank came up a huge loser in that one. Likewise, I believe we will see a few Vichy Catholics become Unitarians or join the Bill Moyers/Rev. Wright United Church of Christ -two very wholesome denominations for NPR/PBS minded coreligionists.
As to President Obama? He went all in on this one. He can't back down. Gotta Keep the Base and the Dough Ray Me!
Ed Morrisey wrote the other day in the Wall Street Journal:
Some may doubt that the bishops would create this kind of havoc and disruption, and perhaps President Obama believes Cardinal George and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to be bluffing. However, Obama may want to read St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, and his Principle and Foundation of faith, which informs Catholics on the priority of salvation. The first task of mankind, according to St. Ignatius, is to serve God and “save his soul,” and “other things on the face of the earth” should be used only as long as they serve that purpose. When they become a hindrance to salvation, St. Ignatius warns to “rid himself of them.”
Cardinals' George and Dolan and the Catholic Bishops of America have been pushed hard. If the Obama side wins, America loses Catholic Hospitals, Schools, and places like Misericordia.
What follows is a serious paper delivered by two very educated people. . .soul-less, anticeptically rational, progressive thinking scientists.
These people argue that not only is an unborn child disposable, but that a child born a fit subject for execution.
Our President owes Planned Parenthood. This is Planned Parenthood's endgame. This is what Planned Parenthood is all about.
Consider the icy words of his Health and Human Services Commissar Kathleen Sebelius only today concerning the White House's 'screwed up' contraception mandate and cost cutting,“The reduction in the number of pregnancies compensates for the cost of contraception.”
Newly obtained documents prove that in 2003, Barack Obama, as chairman of an IL state Senate committee, voted down a bill to protect live-born survivors of abortion - even after the panel had amended the bill to contain verbatim language, copied from a federal bill passed by Congress without objection in 2002, explicitly foreclosing any impact on abortion. Obama's legislative actions in 2003 - denying effective protection even to babies born alive during abortions - were contrary to the position taken on the same language by even the most liberal members of Congress. The bill Obama killed was virtually identical to the federal bill that even NARAL ultimately did not oppose.
Barack H. Obama supported live birth abortion as an Illinois State Senator, before he decided to be President, launder his past. parse his record and read what was put in front of him. He whines and cries about people who question the place of his birth and is not concerned a whit about the deaths of children not his own. He shudders at the thought of anyone asking for his birth certificate, while enforcing mandates that preclude the issuance of such to millions yet unborn.
I have never wanted to examine that dark documents. I would like to examine his academic records and written academic papers, in order to understand his agenda.
Now, consider the words and intent of the following. Here it is in full (emphases my own).
PAPER After-birth abortion: why should the baby live? Alberto Giubilini, 1,2 Francesca Minerva 3,4 ABSTRACT Abortion is largely accepted even for reasons that do not have anything to do with the fetus’ health. By showing that (1) both fetuses and newborns do not have the same moral status as actual persons, (2) the fact that both are potential persons is morally irrelevant and (3) adoption is not always in the best interest of actual people, the authors argue that what we call ‘after-birth abortion’ (killing a newborn) should be permissible in all the cases where abortion is, including cases where the newborn is not disabled. INTRODUCTION Severe abnormalities of the fetus and risks for the physical and/or psychological health of the woman are often cited as valid reasons for abortion. Sometimes the two reasons are connected, such as when a woman claims that a disabled child would represent a risk to her mental health. However, having a child can itself be an unbearable burden for the psychological health of the woman or for her already existing children, 1 regardless of the condition of the fetus. This could happen in the case of a woman who loses her partner after she finds out that she is pregnant and therefore feels she will not be able to take care of the possible child by herself. A serious philosophical problem arises when the same conditions that would have justified abortion become known after birth. In such cases, we need to assess facts in order to decide whether the same arguments that apply to killing a human fetus can also be consistently applied to killing a newborn human.
Such an issue arises, for example, when an abnormality has not been detected during pregnancy or occurs during delivery. Perinatal asphyxia,for instance, may cause severe brain damage and result in severe mental and/or physical impairments comparable with those for which a woman could request an abortion. Moreover, abnormalities are not always, or cannot always be, diagnosed through prenatal screening even if they have a genetic origin. This is more likely to happen when the disease is not hereditary but is the result of genetic mutations occurring in the gametes of a healthy parent. One example is the case of Treacher-Collins syndrome (TCS), a condition that affects 1 in every 10 000 births causing facial deformity and related physiological failures, in particular potentially life-threatening respiratory problems. Usually those affected by TCS are not mentally impaired and they are therefore fully aware of their condition, of being different from other people and of all the problems their pathology entails. Many parents would choose to have an abortion if they find out, through genetic prenatal testing, that their fetus is affected by TCS. However, genetic prenatal tests for TCS are usually taken only if there is a family history of the disease. Sometimes, though, the disease is caused by a gene mutation that intervenes in the gametes of a healthy member of the couple. Moreover, tests for TCS are quite expensive and it takes several weeks to get the result. Considering that it is a very rare pathology, we can understand why women are not usually tested for this disorder. However, such rare and severe pathologies are not the only ones that are likely to remain undetected until delivery; even more common congenital diseases that women are usually tested for could fail to be detected. An examination of 18 European registries reveals that between 2005 and 2009 only the 64% of Down’s syndrome cases were diagnosed through prenatal testing. 2 This percentage indicates that, considering only the European areas under examination, about 1700 infants were born with Down’s syndrome without parents being aware of it before birth. Once these children are born, there is no choice for the parents but to keep the child, which sometimes is exactly what they would not have done if the disease had been diagnosed before birth. 3.
ABORTION AND AFTER-BIRTH ABORTION Euthanasia in infants has been proposed by philosophers for children with severe abnormalities whose lives can be expected to be not worth living and who are experiencing unbearable suffering.
Also medical professionals have recognised the need for guidelines about cases in which death seems to be in the best interest of the child. In The Netherlands, for instance, the Groningen Protocol (2002) allows to actively terminate the life of ‘infants with a hopeless prognosis who experience what parents and medical experts deem to be unbearable suffering’. 4 Although it is reasonable to predict that living with a very severe condition is against the best interest of the newborn, it is hard to find definitive arguments to the effect that life with certain pathologies is not worth living, even when those pathologies would constitute acceptable reasons for abortion. It might be maintained that ‘even allowing for the more optimistic assessments of the potential of Down’s syndrome children, this potential cannot be said to be equal to that of a normal child’. 3 But, in fact, people with Down’s syndrome, as well as people affected by many other severe disabilities, are often reported to be happy. 5 Nonetheless, to bring up such children might be an unbearable burden on the family and on society as a whole, when the state economically provides for their care. On these grounds, the fact that a fetus has the potential to become a person who will have an (at least) acceptable life is no reason for prohibiting abortion.
Therefore, we argue that, when circumstances occur after birth such that they would have justified abortion, what we call after-birth abortion should be permissible. In spite of the oxymoron in the expression, we propose to call this practice ‘after-birth abortion’, rather than ‘infanticide’, to emphasise that the moral status of the individual killed is comparable with that of a fetus (on which ‘abortions’ in the traditional sense are performed) rather than to that of a child. Therefore, we claim that killing a newborn could be ethically permissible in all the circumstances where abortion would be. Such circumstances include cases where the newborn has the potential to have an (at least) acceptable life, but the well-being of the family is at risk. Accordingly, a second terminological specification is that we call such a practice ‘after-birth abortion’ rather than ‘euthanasia’ because the best interest of the one who dies is not necessarily the primary criterion for the choice, contrary to what happens in the case of euthanasia. Failing to bring a new person into existence cannot be compared with the wrong caused by procuring the death of an existing person. The reason is that, unlike the case of death of an existing person, failing to bring a new person into existence does not prevent anyone from accomplishing any of her future aims.
However, this consideration entails a much stronger idea than the one according to which severely handicapped children should be euthanised. If the death of a newborn is not wrongful to her on the grounds that she cannot have formed any aim that she is prevented from accomplishing, then it should also be permissible to practise an after-birth abortion on a healthy newborn too, given that she has not formed any aim yet.
There are two reasons which, taken together, justify this claim:
1. The moral status of an infant is equivalent to that of a fetus, that is, neither can be considered a ‘person’ in a morally relevant sense. 2. It is not possible to damage a newborn by preventing her from developing the potentiality to become a person in the morally relevant sense.
We are going to justify these two points in the following two sections.
THE NEWBORN AND THE FETUS ARE MORALLY EQUIVALENT The moral status of an infant is equivalent to that of a fetus in the sense that both lack those properties that justify the attribution of a right to life to an individual. Both a fetus and a newborn certainly are human beings and potential persons, but neither is a ‘person’ in the sense of ‘subject of a moral right to life’. We take ‘person’ to mean an individual who is capable of attributing to her own existence some (at least) basic value such that being deprived of this existence represents a loss to her. This means that many nonhuman animals and mentally retarded human individuals are persons, but that all the individuals who are not in the condition of attributing any value to their own existence are not persons.
Merely being human is not in itself a reason for ascribing someone a right to life. Indeed, many humans are not considered subjects of a right to life: spare embryos where research on embryo stem cells is permitted, fetuses where abortion is permitted, criminals where capital punishment is legal. Our point here is that, although it is hard to exactly determine when a subject starts or ceases to be a ‘person’, a necessary condition for a subject to have a right to X is that she is harmed by a decision to deprive her of X. There are many ways in which an individual can be harmed, and not all of them require that she values or is even aware of what she is deprived of. A person might be ‘harmed’ when someone steals from her the winning lottery ticket even if she will never find out that her ticket was the winning one. Or a person might be ‘harmed’ if something were done to her at the stage of fetus which affects for the worse her quality of life as a person (eg, her mother took drugs during pregnancy), even if she is not aware of it. However, in such cases we are talking about a person who is at least in the condition to value the different situation she would have found herself in if she had not been harmed. And such a condition depends on the level of her mental development, 6 which in turn determines whether or not she is a ‘person’.Those who are only capable of experiencing pain and pleasure (like perhaps fetuses and certainly newborns) have a right not to be inflicted pain. If, in addition to experiencing pain and pleasure, an individual is capable of making any aims (like actual human and non-human persons), she is harmed if she is prevented from accomplishing her aims by being killed. Now, hardly can a newborn be said to have aims, as the future we imagine for it is merely a projection of our minds on its potential lives. It might start having expectations and develop a minimum level of self-awareness at a very early stage, but not in the first days or few weeks after birth. On the other hand, not only aims but also well-developed plans are concepts that certainly apply to those people (parents, siblings, society) who could be negatively or positively affected by the birth of that child. Therefore, the rights and interests of the actual people involved should represent the prevailing consideration in a decision about abortion and after-birth abortion.
It is true that a particular moral status can be attached to a non-person by virtue of the value an actual person (eg, the mother) attributes to it. However, this ‘subjective’ account of the moral status of a newborn does not debunk our previous argument. Let us imagine that a woman is pregnant with two identical twins who are affected by genetic disorders. In order to cure one of the embryos the woman is given the option to use the other twin to develop a therapy. If she agrees, she attributes to the first embryo the status of ‘future child’ and to the other one the status of a mere means to cure the ‘future child’.
However, the different moral status does not spring from the fact that the first one is a ‘person’ and the other is not, which would be nonsense, given that they are identical. Rather, the different moral statuses only depends on the particular value the woman projects on them. However, such a projection is exactly what does not occur when a newborn becomes a burden to its family.
THE FETUS AND THE NEWBORN ARE POTENTIAL PERSONS Although fetuses and newborns are not persons, they are potential persons because they can develop, thanks to their own biological mechanisms, those properties which will make them ‘persons’ in the sense of ‘subjects of a moral right to life’: that is, the point at which they will be able to make aims and appreciate their own life. It might be claimed that someone is harmed because she is prevented from becoming a person capable of appreciating her own being alive. Thus, for example, one might say that we would have been harmed if our mothers had chosen to have an abortion while they were pregnant with us or if they had killed
2 of 4 Giubilini A, Minerva F. J Med Ethics (2012). doi:10.1136/medethics-2011-100411 L aw , e t h i c s a n d m e d i c i n e Downloaded from jme.bmj.com on March 1, 2012 - Published by group.bmj.comus as soon as we were born. However, whereas you can benefit someone by bringing her into existence (if her life is worth living), it makes no sense to say that someone is harmed by being prevented from becoming an actual person. The reason is that, by virtue of our definition of the concept of ‘harm’ in the previous section, in order for a harm to occur, it is necessary that someone is in the condition of experiencing that harm. If a potential person, like a fetus and a newborn, does not become an actual person, like you and us, then there is neither an actual nor a future person who can be harmed, which means that there is no harm at all. So, if you ask one of us if we would have been harmed, had our parents decided to kill us when we were fetuses or newborns, our answer is ‘no’, because they would have harmed someone who does not exist (the ‘us’ whom you are asking the question), which means no one. And if no one is harmed, then no harm occurred.
A consequence of this position is that the interests of actual people over-ride the interest of merely potential people to become actual ones. This does not mean that the interests of actual people always over-ride any right of future generations, as we should certainly consider the well-being of people who will inhabit the planet in the future. Our focus is on the right to become a particular person, and not on the right to have a good life once someone will have started to be a person. In other words, we are talking about particular individuals who might or might not become particular persons depending on our choice, and not about those who will certainly exist in the future but whose identity does not depend on what we choose now. The alleged right of individuals (such as fetuses and newborns) to develop their potentiality, which someone defends, is over-ridden by the interests of actual people (parents, family, society) to pursue their own well-being because, as we have just argued, merely potential people cannot be harmed by not being brought into existence. Actual people’s well-being could be threatened by the new (even if healthy)child requiring energy, money and care which the family might happen to be in short supply of. Sometimes this situation can be prevented through an abortion, but in some other cases this is not possible. In these cases, since non-persons have no moral rights to life, there are no reasons for banning after-birth abortions. We might still have moral duties towards future generations in spite of these future people not existing yet. But because we take it for granted that such people will exist (whoever they will be), we must treat them as actual persons of the future. This argument, however, does not apply to this particular newborn or infant, because we are not justified in taking it for granted that she will exist as a person in the future. Whether she will exist is exactly what our choice is about.
ADOPTION AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO AFTER-BIRTH ABORTION? A possible objection to our argument is that after-birth abortion should be practised just on potential people who could never have a life worth living. 9 Accordingly, healthy and potentially happy people should be given up for adoption if the family cannot raise them up. Why should we kill a healthy newborn when giving it up for adoption would not breach anyone’s right but possibly increase the happiness of people involved (adopters and adoptee)?
Our reply is the following. We have previously discussed the argument from potentiality, showing that it is not strong enough to outweigh the consideration of the interests of actual people. Indeed, however weak the interests of actual people can be, they will always trump the alleged interest of potential people to become actual ones, because this latter interest amounts to zero. On this perspective, the interests of the actual people involved matter, and among these interests, we also need to consider the interests of the mother who might suffer psychological distress from giving her child up for adoption.
Birthmothers are often reported to experience serious psychological problems due to the inability to elaborate their loss and to cope with their grief. 10 It is true that grief and sense of loss may accompany both abortion and after-birth abortion as well as adoption, but we cannot assume that for the birthmother the latter is the least traumatic. For example, ‘those who grieve a death must accept the irreversibility of the loss, but natural mothers often dream that their child will return to them. This makes it difficult to accept the reality of the loss because they can never be quite sure whether or not it is irreversible’. 11 We are not suggesting that these are definitive reasons against adoption as a valid alternative to after-birth abortion. Much depends on circumstances and psychological reactions. What we are suggesting is that, if interests of actual people should prevail, then after-birth abortion should be considered a permissible option for women who would be damaged by giving up their newborns for adoption. CONCLUSIONS If criteria such as the costs (social, psychological, economic) for the potential parents are good enough reasons for having an abortion even when the fetus is healthy, if the moral status of the newborn is the same as that of the infant and if neither has any moral value by virtue of being a potential person, then the same reasons which justify abortion should also justify the killing of the potential person when it is at the stage of a newborn. Two considerations need to be added.
First, we do not put forward any claim about the moment at which after-birth abortion would no longer be permissible, and we do not think that in fact more than a few days would be necessary for doctors to detect any abnormality in the child. In cases where the after-birth abortion were requested for nonmedical reasons, we do not suggest any threshold, as it depends on the neurological development of newborns, which is something neurologists and psychologists would be able to assess.
Second, we do not claim that after-birth abortions are good alternatives to abortion. Abortions at an early stage are the best option, for both psychological and physical reasons. However, if a disease has not been detected during the pregnancy, if something went wrong during the delivery, or if economical, social or psychological circumstances change such that taking care of the offspring becomes an unbearable burden on someone, then people should be given the chance of not being forced to do something they cannot afford.
Acknowledgements We would like to thank Professor Sergio Bartolommei, University of Pisa, who read an early draft of this paper and gave us very helpful comments. The responsibility for the content remains with the authors. Contributors AG and FM contributed equally to the manuscript. Competing interests None. Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed. REFERENCES 1. Abortion Act. London: Stationery Office, 1967. 2. European Surveillance of Congenital Anomalies. EUROCAT Database. http:// www.eurocat-network.eu/PRENATALSCREENINGAndDIAGNOSIS/ PrenatalDetectionRates (accessed 11 Nov 2011). (data uploaded 27/10/2011). 3. Kuhse H, Singer P. Should the Baby live? The Problem of Handicapped Infants. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985:143. Giubilini A, Minerva F. J Med Ethics (2012). doi:10.1136/medethics-2011-100411 3 of 4 L a w , e t h i c s a n d m e d i c i n e Downloaded from jme.bmj.com on March 1, 2012 - Published by group.bmj.com4. Verhagen E, Sauer P. The groningen protocoldeuthanasia in severely Ill newborns. N Engl J Med 2005;10:959e62. 5. Alderson P. Down’s Syndrome: cost, quality and the value of life. Soc Sci Med 2001;5:627e38. 6. Tooley M. Abortion and infanticide. Philos Public Aff 1972;1:37e65. 7. Hare RM. Abortion and the golden rule. In: Hare RM, ed. Essays on Bioethics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993:147e67. 8. Hare RM. A Kantian approach to abortion. In: Hare RM, ed. Essays on Bioethics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993:168e84. 9. Hare RM. The abnormal child. Moral dilemmas of doctors and parents. In: Hare RM, ed. Essays on Bioethics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993: 185e91. 10. Condon J. Psychological disability in women who relinquish a baby for adoption. Med J Aust 1986;144:117e19. 11. Robinson E. Grief associated with the loss of children to adoption. In: Separation, reunion, reconciliation: Proceedings from The Sixth Australian Conference on Adoption. Stones Corner, Brisbane: Benson J, for Committee of the Conference, 1997:268e93, 278.1 Department of Philosophy, University of Milan, Milan, Italy 2 Centre for Human Bioethics, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 3 Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 4 Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, Oxford University, Oxford, UK Correspondence to Dr Francesca Minerva, CAPPE, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia; francesca.minerva@unimelb. edu.au Received 25 November 2011 Revised 26 January 2012 Accepted 27 January 2012
Giubilini A, Minerva F. J Med Ethics (2012). doi:10.1136/medethics-2011-100411 1 of 4 L a w , e t h i c s a n d m e d i c i n e JME Online First, published on February 23, 2012 as 10.1136/medethics-2011-100411 Copyright Article author (or their employer) 2012. Produced by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd under licence. Downloaded from jme.bmj.com on March 1, 2012 - Published by group.bmj.com PAGE fraction trai
Marxist Brother Ralph Martire explains his latest budget wizardry to Groucho Quinn and Harpo Cullerton.
Ralph Martire of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability, is the only one Pat Quinn goes to for budget advise with the facts on saving us all some money
Get ready, friends and neighbors, Ralph Martire must have had snacks and punch with Dawn Clark Netsch because Ralph's Ist Term Snooze is over! Ralph Martire is the budget architect of Illinois. Splendid job, there Ralph. Ralph is the Chico Marx to Pat Quinn's Groucho. Ralph has been quiet of late, but he is not done. . .not by a Jug full! Nope Jackie Cullerton is fronting for Ralph with a GRADUATED ILLINOIS INCOME TAX!
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- An Illinois budget group wants to change the state constitution so that income tax rates can be based on wealth. The Center for Tax and Budget Accountability says a graduated rate would tax people more fairly and produce more money for the state's troubled budget. The liberal-leaning budget group also says it could stimulate the economy by offering tax relief to poor and middle class families.
The same splendid folks who made Religious Liberty a Civil Union are back!
Pat Quinn's budget is as sound as Illinois! But, that's not enough! There's More!
It is so keen that SEIU Illinois ( did they not help create our economic mess? Oh Hell Yes!) is all over it!
Still, Ralph Martire, executive director for CTBA, says that the graduated tax “actually has political legs.”
The reason is that the 2011 income tax increase from three percent to five percent expires in 2015. “They made it temporary and the state knows that they can’t afford to get rid of it,” Martire explains.
So it would be politically popular, Martire contends, to push for a graduated tax: The revenues would stave off painful cuts and the vast majority of citizens would still see an income tax cut.
“There is going to be a lot of organizing in the next couple of years over the need to do this from an economic policy, tax policy, and fairness standpoint,” Martire promises.
Perhaps the most powerful state leader for the graduated tax is Senate President John Cullerton. Cullerton spokesman Ron Holmes notes that the Chicago Democrat was one of 19 to vote 'yes' for a progressive tax in 2008 in the 60-person Senate.
Here it is - No more Flat Tax of 5%. Ralph taking page from our Class Warrior President, formerly Mr. Present of the Illinois State Senate, and offering a 3% to Illini making under $250,000 and a Taxing Something Else for everyone else. Do the Math as Ralph knows you will not - hence his pie-chart piracy, where numbers are a moveable feast.
1. Cut overall state income tax burden for 94 percent of all taxpayers—that means on average, taxpayers with under $150,000 in annual base income would receive a tax cut;
2. Despite shifting tax burden to affluent taxpayers, nonetheless keep the effective state income tax rate for millionaires at just 4.3 percent;
3. Raise at least $2.4 billion annually in new revenue to help eliminate ongoing structural deficits in the state’s General Fund; and
4. Stimulate the growth of at least 36,000 jobs in the state’s private sector through enhanced public and consumer spending. As of August, 2011, Illinois hasn’t replaced 342,000 non-farm jobs it lost during the Great Recession.
Sounds Great! It always sounds great. Trouble is Ralph Martire has masterminded the hole Illinois will be climbing out of until Forrest Claypool gets a job on his own hook.
Ralph operates on the premise that taxpayers never pay enough of the their fair share. Taxpayers are the only revenue Illinois legislators ever consider. The ever popular. . . More!
Leo Varsity # 13 -Sophomore Martez Hampton played last night like legendary Leo coaches Jimmy Arneberg, Tom O' Malley and Jack Fitzgerald were on his butt.
The Leo Lions
1 James Shields G Jr. 5-6 3 Tybias Scott G Sr. 5-8 4 Sean Moore Jr. G Jr. 6-3 5 Blake Wilson F Sr. 6-3 10 Marshon Tucker (C) F Jr. 5-9 11 Lantz Roberts G Sr. 5-9 13 Martez Hampton G So. 6-3 15 Luther Woods F Sr. 6-6 20 Jarrod Cooper G Sr. 6-1 33 Russell Woods PF Jr. 6-8 215 34 Karon Braggs (C) F Jr. 6-3 42 Kaylon Rimpson F Jr. 6-2 55 Lazarick Johnson F Jr. 6-4
Head Coach - Mr. Noah Cannon
Bishop McNamara Fighting Irish 2 Delano Samuels Senior G 5'10 155 3 Keyon Thomas Senior PG 5'8 155 10 Jonnie Evans Junior PG 5'9 165 12 Mitch O'Brien Junior G 6'0 165 14 Rashad Springer Junior F 6'5 175 20 Te'Andre Watson Junior G 6'2 155 22 Erron Hall II Senior G 6'2 170 24 Jamar Rivera Senior G 6'3 165 25 Luke Jarvis Senior F 6'5 175 32 Jay Slone Junior F 6'3 180 55 Michael Hoekstra Junior C 6'7 205
Head Coach: Justin LaReau
I picked up the Southtown Star a few minutes ago to see if they had a story on the great game played in Herscher, IL for IHSA 2-A Sectional between Chicago's Leo High School Lions and the Fighting Irish of Bishop McNamara Kankakee, IL.
Nope. Swell coverage of New Trier, which was located north of Madison Ave. last time I looked. New Trier, as I recall is in Winnetka, with a campus Northfield.
The Leo Scores were available.
I witnessed a great game in Herscher, Illinois last night. I taught at Bishop Mac from 1975-1988 and know many of the parents of kids on the Fighting Irish roster, having had the poor kids in my English classes. I saw the once beefy Kyle Turro, an outstanding football player, know lithe of frame due to parenting five bairns himself. I saw Julie Mowrey, now a teacher at MAC and the stunning Donna Douglas who continues to look like a prom queen/volleyball stand-out. Dave Hoekstra, who suffered my American and British Lit torments salved by my late wife Mary's art instruction in the 1980's, is the proud father of Mac's Center Mike Hoekstra who dominated the boards all night long. There was Scott O'Brien and his mom watching hot shooting Guard Mitch O'Brien. Scott was a great Mac player himself.
Bishop McNamara controlled the game under the boards and from the free-throw line, as well as outside shooting. Leo was plagued by the invisible cover over the hoops all night it seemed and our free throw shots were colder than a mother-in-law's kiss. Leo President and hardwood veteran of our three-floor gym, Dan McGrath kept the stats - " We are 2-10 in free throws."
Leo brought a Fan bus packed with kids and Leo Alumni and their spirited joyful noise got our guys to dig deeper and close the deficit with the fiery will of LION!
With two minutes to go, led by the outstandingly aggressive play of Kieron Bragg(34), Jarrod Cooper (20), Martez Hampton (13) and the star of the comeback Tybias Scott (3) Leo tied the Irish at the buzzer.
I missed most of the Leo dominated OT 4minutes, because one of our most loyal Alums lost a valuable item that fell under the Herscher bleachers. As Director of Development, yours truly crawled under the stands in a futile search and was joined by decorated Vietnam Veteran and Leo Hall of Fame-er Jack Farnan. Herscher High School football coach John Wakey and I shared remembrances of days past amid the gum, pop, popcorn and snot rags, " Hickey, you ever learn anything about football?"
Not a whit, John, but thanks for asking. Always a sound and healthful thing to be reminded of one's less than formidable gifts. John Wakey is a man and a half and credit to the teaching professional. We climbed out from under the stands without finding a very precious item lost. With prayers to St. Anthony it will turn up.
Leo controlled the OT. Bishop McNamara is a magnificent team and a great school. I spent some of the happiest years of my very happy life there. The Lions managed to score more baskets in the Over Time.
The Lions were tested by the Fighting Irish. The Finals are Friday in Herscher.
Remember when real estate agent and hausfrau Patty Blagojevich was named to the board of directors for a local charity? Thought so. Let me refresh you, dear reader.
CHICAGO — The wife of impeached Illinois Gov Rod Blagojevich was fired from her $100,000-a-year job as a Chicago homeless agency's chief fundraiser.
The Chicago Christian Industrial League's board exercised a termination clause of Patti Blagojevich's contract on Tuesday, the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times reported on their Web sites Wednesday.
Interim Executive Director Mary Shaver told the papers she could not discuss personnel issues. She did not return telephone messages from The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The poor girl went from bagging 100K to eating worms in Costa Rica - life's viscissitudes.
Mrs. Blagojevich was fired almost immediately after her husband was cuffed by the Feds; however, the same folks hired her for some reason at a husky salary, I might add. That is Charity these days.
I have been working in and around charity since 1991. Mostly, I work with private family foundations with, in charitable circles, modest piles of loot. They are not the Ford, Hearst, Joyce, MacArthur, Polk Brothers, or God forbid, the Woods Fund. There's charity . . . and then there's Charity.
I also have a great deal of luck taping local companies for support - Wells Fargo, The John Buck Company, McDonalds & etc. Law Firms with Leo Alumni are very generous, as well.
CHARITIES - Wood Fund, Joyce and MacArthur play big league politics. Those charities pay hugely and grant magnificently to connected and sanctioned entities.
It seems to me that since the early 1990's more of the Big Charities play politics rather than philanthropy. In fact, some family members of the MacArthur Foundation beefed to the press in the mid-1990s about the radicalization of their family fortunes by hand-picked boards of directors. I recall the Chicago Tribune running a series of such articles back then, but no such inquiry seems to arouse the tepid souls of editorial boards these days. The Annenburg Foundation, once a rock-ribbed conservative entity was handed over to the likes of Bill Ayers and folded into the Woods Fund Web. No story there.
Recently Hull House caved in under the burden of . . . well, someone is asking. Dennis Byrne, an old timey news guy, takes hard look at why that well-larded CHARITY went alewive.
Take Chicago's historic Hull House, the "crown jewel of settlement houses," which went belly up. A tragedy, indeed. The conventional, and correct, wisdom is that it became too dependent on government largesse. Yet, it's too easy to blame someone else, namely the stingy government.
The signs were there. The Better Business Bureau, in its last review of Hull House, found that it failed to meet some standards for charity accountability. It cited insufficient board oversight, lack of transparency in certain financial matters and inadequate reporting of its activities.
In 2009, the federal Pension BenefitGuaranty Corp.announced its takeover of Hull House's pension plan, whose liabilities for employees and retirees amounted to $11.1 million. Hull House Executive Director Clarence Wood at the time called the group's financial position solid, saying, "We are not about to close our doors."
And why would he want to? According to the last public disclosure I could find (2008), he was paid $283,000. As much as that might surprise many people laboring in the vineyards of public service for much more modest sums, it's not that unusual for nonprofit bosses. Scanning public records, I discovered top salaries and benefits in many Chicago-area nonprofits were in the reasonable, if not humble range. Then there were those that zoomed into the stratosphere, from $300,000 annually to a good deal more than $1 million. You can, and should, check out your favorite charity by examining its Internal Revenue Service Form 990 (Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax), available on the Economic Research Institute and other Internet sites.
Those high salaries rile Rick Roberts, who received from President George H.W. Busha Point of Light award for his work in the 1990s as CEO of the former Chicago Christian Industrial League, a social service agency serving the homeless.
"The CEO of any tax exempt charity must be held to a higher standard," he said. "With limited private dollars available and massive public budget deficits, why should any organization receive preferential tax treatment, let alone expect tax deductible private donations when the key people in that organization are enriching themselves, even if it's legal?
Roberts wanted to make clear that he wasn't indicting all nonprofits, naming Catholic Charities and the Salvation Army as examples of organizations serving the needy without enriching their employees or CEOs. Others may pay high salaries but do an especially good job, such as the Greater Chicago Food Depository. It's "doing not only a remarkable service but doing so to save money for hundreds of other nonprofits," he said.
Roberts sees too many nonprofits gaming the system, such as Illinois hospital executives plunging into debt to fund exorbitant expansions, and not incidentally to justify their plush salaries. He also warns about the increasing trend of nonprofits turning their operations over to for-profits so they can avoid the IRS' Form 990 disclosure requirements.
"If your goal in life is to help the poor rebuild their lives and heal their minds or bodies by working in a charitable endeavor, then accept the fact that you're not in the private sector where capitalist standards of compensation are an appropriate goal," he said. "It doesn't mean paying pauper wages. Just reasonable ones."
Today the belly-up museum and charity boasts the fine contributions to urban living by the Conservative Vice Lords. Charities -the bigger ones, always managed to attract program directors who spent far too much time with the Testors Glue tubes in youth. Thus, one can also understand its failure to attract any public willing to toss away a ten-spot, or more to honor gang-bangers, or other miscreants and perverts in a celebration of diversity.
Dennis Byrne, a Chicago writer, blogs in The Barbershop at ChicagoNow. dennis@dennisbyrne.net
Patty Blagojevich, briefly, received a pretty handsome pay package for her experience as a fund-raiser, but the board of CCIL took a real hard look at that salary once her hubby did the perp-walk.
Hull House was founded by Jane Addams and her special friend Ellen Gates Starr in 1889 with a donation of the mansion by the Hull Family and help from her Alderman Johnny Powers. Jane Addmas, as phony and homely an old broad as ever wore a page-boy, really saw her settlement house 'take off' after the 1904 Stockyard Strike. Jane and her short-haired activist intimates sold out the strikers - it's in the Chicago Tribune by the way.
Charity is good business. Dennis Byrne is doing a great job in calling public attention to the disconnect - philathropy and business . . .monkey business.
Leo High School won their latest track and field state title last May by one point. This marked the school’s sixth state championship. When Leo won its first state title in 1981, it became the first Catholic school to take the top trophy in track and field, and no other Catholic school in Illinois has done that since then.
But the biggest number for the Leo track team may well be zero. That is the number of indoor and outdoor practice facilities the team has–none at all–meaning one of the state’s top track teams trains by running laps and hurdles in the school’s hallways after class.
Leo is hardly the only school dealing with sub-par practice facilities: In fact, no Chicago public school has an indoor track. But Leo is the only Chicago school to win a state title in track and field in the last 15 years, a championship no Chicago Public Schools team has claimed since 1974.
“I think it would be easy to get a case of the poor-me’s based on a lack of facilities,” said Jim Prunty, president of the Chicago Catholic League. “But the fact of the matter is that in Chicago, you would be hard pressed to find a school with really great facilities. It’s a reality we’re all dealing with.”
The Illinois High School Association surveys high schools every year on its website regarding track and field facilities at state schools in order to determine postseason sites. However, many schools do not complete the survey, making it difficult to determine how many of the 777 IHSA schools have their own tracks.
“It’s not uncommon for teams all over the state to be running the halls or the stairs if they want to get started on conditioning early. Most schools in Illinois don’t have an indoor facility,” said Ron McGraw, an assistant executive director with the IHSA.
“Having facilities doesn’t make you a state champion and not having them obviously doesn’t keep you from succeeding.”
Track and field hit its peak in the U.S. almost three decades ago when American athletes consistently brought home Olympic medals for the sport. Its low visibility since then has been one of the reasons why fewer young athletes get involved with the sport. Funding for track and field programs also has dropped, said a spokesperson for USA Track and Field.
In 2010 CPS cut pay for assistant high school track coaches in an effort to save money in the district’s budget. According to information provided by CPS, there about 70 high schools with track and field teams. Eighteen schools have outdoor facilities on school property or at a nearby park, and four schools have stadiums with surrounding tracks that can be used for track meets.
At Leo–a Catholic school that is not part of CPS–the track and field team works on technique and conditioning in the school’s weight room, hallways and stairwell landings beginning in January. Any day that weather permits, they move practice outdoors to the sidewalks or nearby woods because almost any other surface, said head coach Ed Adams, is better on the athletes’ bodies than the hallway floors that have no give.
Adams has worked at Leo 17 years. Under his leadership, the Lions have won five of their six state trophies. He has done so despite a steep decline in school enrollment that finally leveled off in the last couple years.
Today, there are 148 students at the all-boys Catholic school that in its heyday enrolled more than 1,000. Chicago News Cooperative sports columnist Dan McGrath since the summer of 2010 has served as president of the school, which continues to face enrollment and financial challenges.
Adams, who has received a combined eight coach-of-the-year plaudits from the National Federation of State High School Associations and the Illinois Track and Cross Country Coaches Association, leads a team of 30–or about 20 percent of the school’s student body.
“Track and field relies heavily on individual talent available in your school,” Adams said. “It’s not easy to build, say, a powerhouse.”
Of the six students who represented Leo at the state track meet last year, five graduated and the other is now a sophomore. That athlete, Theo Hopkins, remembers spraying his teammates with water to celebrate the state championship.
“You know how teams in the pros do that with champagne? Well, we did it with water,” said Hopkins, 15. “Then we remembered we’re supposed to always be polite so we just got on the buses quietly and came home.”
The team is in a rebuilding year in a sport where success can be fleeting. Leo’s prior state win was in 2003.
“It doesn’t matter that we don’t have tracks or anywhere but the halls to practice on,” said Hopkins. “I want people to know that at Leo we don’t need a track because we work hard and that’s why we can win.”
Imagine what these tough and focused young gents could do with a fraction of the money tossed to any public school? Facta Non Verba - Deeds not Words!
Thank you Jim Warren, Jim Shea, Dan McGrath and Idalmy Carrera!
Dr. Gary Slutkin Ceasefire Founder: First Do No Harm; if You Can Get More Funding, PR, and a Movie Interrupt If You Must - The Hypocritic Oath
Inquiry. Homicide is a disease, but only in minority communities, where State dollars bandage cancer, therefore, inoculate that community with gangbanger viruses.
Why do I not get that? Probably because my education did not use John Dewey as a starting point.
Likewise, I am appalled by the complicity of WTTW, NPR and our supine media in touting the tax-payer funded boondoggle that is Ceasefire. Heck, even Stones Founder Jeff Fort's family are not happy with this symbiotic relationship - academia, media, and ambulance chasers. The Family Fort, I remember sued PBS for violating its privacy upon the death of Mrs. Fort when that shot footage of the poor woman's wake, in order to prove that Ceasefire is not waste of tax-dollars. It is, but that is not important. Ceasefire is the subject of a documentary - The Interrupters.
. Ceasefire:It was founded by an epidemiologist, Gary Slutkin, who believes that the spread of violence mimics the spread of infectious diseases, and so the treatment should be similar: go after the most infected, and stop the infection at its source. One of the cornerstones of the organization is the “Violence Interrupters” program, created by Tio Hardiman, who heads the program. The Interrupters — who have credibility on the streets because of their own personal histories — intervene in conflicts before they explode into violence.
WTTW did the PR work for the a film by the gentlemen who made the documentary " Hoop Dreams."
Ceasefire is an established tax-payer funded boon-doggle that only seems to show up, after the chalk outlines and yellow police tape and numbered sandwich cardboard markers cover the spot where 9mm shell casings had been collected. Like, yesterday afternoon near 155th & ADA. The young men were shot and one died.
Ceasefire is an academic exercise in looking the budget. It Ceasefire is merely continuation of the John Dewey fiction that human life is merely a biology lab. Gary Slutkin operates from the premise that homicide is a disease like swine flu and by injecting the thug A white administartor5 brings all of the resources necessary to build a case for funding and the data charts, evaluations, protestations and need assesment for more tax dollars and "former" gang members intervene. Ceasefire missed a spot in Morgan Park/West Pullman yesterday. Must not have seen that unresolved conflict a coming.
The program is race driven and race painted; therefore very sexy. PBS is all in with Ceasefire, as are the academics at University of Illinois, the news media, and the politicians. It is another in our race based cottage industries, like Peoples Law Office.
A writer with the Chicago Justice Project notes this -
Focusing on the existence of CeaseFire through a race lens reveals that prejudice plays a major role is why CeaseFire exists. Prejudice helps determine why a white academic institution is needed as a filter to determine who does and who does not get anti-violence funding from the state. Prejudice helps policy makers feel better about giving the money out because it is going to a White academic and not directly to some hoodlums in a community of color. Prejudice helps explain why a White academic with no background in criminology or criminal justice issues receives huge amounts of funding from the State for work in communities of color. It also explains why the media can explain away financial improprieties revealed in the audit by saying they are minor accounting errors.
Can anyone out there really tell me this would be the position of the major media in Chicago if the program were run out of neighborhood organization in Woodlawn or Auburn Gresham? The great sham! Does CeaseFire work? Well, I think I have put a few kinks in the armor of those that would claim they have social science research to verify the successfulness of this program. Why then is this program so widely acclaimed and what does that have to do with race? CeaseFire is a liberal's dream program because it pays ex-gang members to now work on the streets towards a noble goal, the reduction of violence. The problem is that there has yet to be created a way for us to determine with any validity that the program is successful in any of their efforts.
Now this being Chicago and Illinois this did not stop the program from growing handsomely. Why you ask? Because politicians who had it operating in their communities could use the program as propaganda. Politicians who received funding to have CeaseFire operating in their communities could claim success in reductions that CeaseFire would claim they made in the specific areas. See, both the politician and CeaseFire gained by these claims and the validity of the claims was not as important as the ability to claim it worked. See, it is a conspiracy, but one of like-mindedness and not of overt agreements to be dishonest. The politicians know that there is no way CeaseFire can be validated so all they need is to obtain the funding for the program in their area and they can claim victory because CeaseFire will always claim they have made reductions. CeaseFire, like any institution, could be counted on to propagandize their achievements or claimed achievements every year; thus, both the politicians and the CeaseFire would benefit from the claims of success without every having to prove if the program worked. Once a politician received funding for the program in their particular area the crime reductions were automatic; it is almost like they were purchased with the funding check.
The film The Interrupters did not make it to the Academy Awards 2012, but it picked up a loudly blared Indie Award, according to the Chicago Media.
The Interrupters are the Chicago Police Department. Academics, gang-banger thug emeriti, columnists, public radio and television are united in undermining any and all confidence in law enforcement. That is the plan.
Chicago and other big cities will eliminate Police Departments with its quasi-military chain of command, elan, and esprit de corps. Private security companies directed by policy set by the same network of academics, lawyers, journalists and politicians is the plan.
Liars figure and figures lie and chalk outlines, yellow tape and shell casing covers will be visited by Ceasefire operatives and film crews.
The filmmakers will do fine; Gary Slutkin will do fine; WTTW will do fine and remain unchallenged. The young man, woman or toddler waiting for the bus near Popeye's Chicken will never be quicker than a 9mm.
This CTA commuter is concerned about the motorcades attendant to the upcoming GN8TO Fest May 18-22. Gee N8To! -Tomato, Potato, V-8 O.
Sneedless to Say - Let's go to Chicago's Rumor Central Mike Sneed!
Float 'em!
Police Supt. Garry McCarthy’s plans for enlisting police security for the G-8/NATO summits this spring is so hush-hush, Sneed hears it’s got statewide security agencies in a swivet.
“It’s almost March and the two summits are in May,” said a top security source. “What’s up?”
“There is no way Illinois agencies outside Cook County have the manpower to help Chicago without the numbers the New York Police Department could provide,” said another source.
(emphasis my own)
THEN -Quote 'em!
Response: “We are assessing our needs as we plan, and that includes the use of in-state and out-of-state sworn personnel,” police spokesman Melissa Stratton said Saturday. “We are not limiting candidates to one state or agency. We don’t have the final footprint for the summits so we won’t be able to finalize the number of sworn personnel we will be utilizing from other agencies until closer to the event.”
Hope 'em!
◆Meanwhile: Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is this/close to President Barack Obama, was in Washington midweek to meet with Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano to discuss Chicago’s upcoming double summit and federal help.
'68 'em!
In the end, 10,000 demonstrators gathered in Chicago for the convention where they were met by 23,000 police and National Guardsmen.
2012 - Estimate range from between 12,000 and 35,000 Protestors. And then of course Old Mayor Daley was THIS Close to LBJ and trotted out the Illinois National Guard
Hickey 'em. G-8 Participant Nations Canada France Germany Italy Japan Russia United Kingdom United States of America European Union
Andy's Gang! The Peoples Protest Coalition
Almost 50 activist groups met in Chicago in August to start planning "large-scale protests" during the summits. Members of Occupy Chicago, a local off-shoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement, has also applied for protest permits during the summits. Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy has stated that his department is already preparing for "mass arrests."
Be Our Guests! Do.
Hotel Challenges for the G8 Summit
It's currently estimated that attendees of the G8 and NATO summits will take up over 10,000 hotel rooms -- almost a third of Chicago's entire downtown hotel inventory. This will create a tremendous strain on travelers coming to Chicago during the summits to find vacant rooms, and if travel plans cannot be changed it is extremely important to confirm a Chicago hotel reservation as early as possible. Hotel guests should also be aware that due to security concerns movement within some of the city's hotels may be limited at certain times. Hotels are also likely to charge premium rates during this week.
Ask 'em!
Andy Thayer of CANG8 pointed out that the business group that is the host committee for the NATO/G8 summit has been given $1 million in taxpayer money to prepare for the event. The representatives of the city wouldn’t even promise the activists that they would be permitted to gather in the Loop during the week of May 15-22, when the summit occurs.
In June when the summits were announced, a group affiliated with CANG8, the United National Anti-War Coalition (UNAC), submitted a permit application for Daley Plaza, one of the few large venues for protest in the Loop, as Chicago’s downtown is known. Last week, MB Real Estate emailed Joe Iosbaker, Chicago spokesperson for UNAC that, “Unfortunately we are not approving any permits for the use of the plaza May 15th-22nd." (SEIU and Hamas's Joe) Iosbaker responded that, “We have the right to march against NATO’s wars, such as Afghanistan and Libya, and against the G8 agenda of imposing poverty on working people from Greece to Chicago.”
Has Andy's Gang booked rooms yet?
Motorcade 'em!
Outside of Ruths Mini Club on Halsted I heard a drunk guy who commutes to and from the Loop at least three times a day on various CTA conveyances say that there will be "Bah-tween Fordee and Fidy Motahcades aDay, Mother#$%^er!" This same man predicted a warm winter and that we would dodge the blizzard predicted last Friday.
Everyday we can expect motorcades to and from McCormick Place. Let's say the Canadian delegates want to stay in Hyde Park, The Germans in Park Ridge, The Ruskies in Braidwood, The Japanese in Hammond near the Horseshoe, The assorted EU bankrupts in Posen and Hegewisch and the Oak Lawn Hilton & the balance at the cool places in the Loop. How's that gonna fly?
When over 2,000 foreign dignitaries converge on one city, it's no surprise that security levels in Chicago will be extremely high during the summit. The United States Secret Service will work with the Chicago Police Department to provide security during the event, which will include escorted motorcades. Transportation to and from Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports will result in numerous rolling street closures -- as many as 50 per day. Chicago public transportation will be the best way to avoid the major traffic snarls this will cause.
Greek Town? Taylor Street? River North? Wrigleyville? Boystown? The opening of Little League at Kennedy Park? Taste of Justice? Vont-ils être affectés négativement? Trouble, Bub?
Then we have the - "God Bless Them!" - Occupy Kids all rested from the mild winter and vacations on Padre Island and back home in Naperville linking up with Andy's Gang.
Sneedless to say -This will be like watching a score of monkeys get tossed a football. Then - NATO arrives. So, far the only explanation of the up-side to this Cluster-Flux was these nuggets panned from Laura Washington's fine column a few weeks ago -
A big upside is the chance to rehabilitate our image in foreign eyes, said Richard Longworth, a longtime foreign correspondent and now a senior fellow at the Council. Chicago “is still pretty much unknown in the world,” he said. “It’s still ‘bang, bang, Al Capone.’ ”
The old Big Shoulders Chicago of industrial might is gone, added Longworth, who has written extensively on globalization. “If we are going to play in this global league, there are lots of things that we must do to target our investments and resources.”
Chicago offers “amazing talent” steeped in global affairs, added Rachel Bronson, a Council vice president. Until now, “there has been no place to talk about global policy issues and how what’s going on out there is driven from here, and how it affects here. And I think we have a lot to say about it.”
Chicago will get to shed its Al Capone image? I thought Daley did that already; you know Paris on the Lake; City Sans Rubes with Big Shoulders and No Popery Here!.
Is it just me or do you folks think there is gonna be a real tooth loosener at the old Global Crossroads. Followed of course by a series of Peoples Lawsuites,naturalmente!
President Obama’s campaign has hired Oscar-winning director Davis Guggenheim to produce a short film chronicling the first three years of his administration, Julianna Goldman of Bloomberg reports.
The campaign paid more than $160,000 for the film, which is less than 30 minutes long and set to be released in the coming weeks, Goldman reports.
Guggenheim won an Oscar in 2006 for “An Inconvenient Truth.”
Dad always said that I couldn't find my butt with both hands. I can. Allow me to add this imperative -“Defend the unborn against abortion even if they persecute you, calumniate you, set traps for you, take you to court or kill you." - Pope Francis to celebrate Pro-life Mass, Vatican
"You stand up for what you believe in, even if it gets in the way of what other people think. You are proud of yourself and your accomplishments and you enjoy letting people know that."
A peach of a guy with all the sweetness one could expect from a life well-spent and in good company: short on brains but a terrific dancer!
Author:
Every Heart and Hand: A Leo High School Story
The Chorito Hog Leg, Book One: A Novel of Guam in Time of War
