Illinois Denied FEMA Aid for Torando Devastated Towns - Thanks, Obama, Durbin and Quinn!

Washington Illinois Denied FEMA aid - You Didn't Bill That!

The Illinois GOP is a congress of losers - has been so ever since Honest Abe's funeral and always will be. The reason for this being, the Illinois GOP is deathly afraid mopes, stooges, mealy mouthed creeps and grifters.

When Bill Brady allowed Roe & Roeper to bully him into turning over his taxes on demand, in last Guv-Go-Around, he was toast. Brady allowed others to define him and his candidacy.  Just the other day Roe and Roeper pulled billionaire Bruce's flannel lined, relaxed-fit Carhartt britches over the minimum wage nonsense.The FEMA story is tailor-made to nail Pat Quinn's purple tie to the donkies who work for him - they screwed up the FEMA application:

Damage was assessed from Dec. 2 to Dec. 6 and an application was sent by the state of Illinois to the federal government asking for public assistance in effected communities.
Washington Mayor Gary Manier said in the month that’s passed since that assessment, the perception of damage has only escalated.
“Unfortunately, sometimes you have to turn these applications in earlier than before you’ve done due diligence to the entire process and know what your numbers really are,” Manier said Thursday. “Debris removal is probably one of the biggest as far as man-hours and taking debris to the landfill. Everything comes at a cost.
“There’s a lot of unknown costs. We’ve got a little bit better understanding of what we’re going to be facing in the spring, in the next six months or even a year or two out. … It’s an ongoing learning experience for all of us.”
The preliminary damage assessment conducted jointly by federal and state emergency management agencies was $6.1 million in costs in nine counties affected by the storms, far short of the threshold for federal assistance in Illinois of $17.8 million, but an appeal could include costs that weren’t on the original application.

Read more: http://www.mortontimesnews.com/article/20140109/NEWS/140109188/1001/NEWS#ixzz2q673gwDa

Instead, Rauner and the three other'victims' for Governor will mouse out answers prefabbed at Trib Tower and WTTW about Wage and Income Inequality and 'Aren't You Ashamed to be You?'

I have yet to read or hear of one GOP gubernatorial hopeful raise the issue of FEMA's repeated denials of disaster relief aide to Illinois.

• The White House is stuffed with Illinois (read Hyde Park) career grifters, as is the Federal Government itself.

• Senator Dithering Dick Durbin and his stooge GOP lap-dog Marque Kirque are all fired up to rename the ATF Federal Building the Eliot Ness Building - We have waited far too long! -, but they can not get FEMA to come up with the trump to help Washington, Illinois.

• The most unqualified man to ever occupy the White House, Barack H. Obama, spends more time in his native Hawaii, than he does in the Land of Lincoln and writes idiotic Executive Orders to make sure abortion and Trojans are keeping women healthy quicker than 10:30 Mass at Sacred Heart.

• Governor Pat Quinn found his brief case Betsy and a puppy, Rosie, but remains the most inconsequential person in Illinois History.

Worse than my bullets above remains the Illinois GOP.  The only shots they manage to fire are aimed directly at their own toes.

Rauner, Rutherford, Bill 'Loser' Brady, and Dillard are as much the reason for the Illinois Endless Season of Stupid.

Christie and Bridgey

October 2012 - Mitt:'Governor Christie, if I can ever . . .ever do anything . . .to help you as much as you helped me . . .don't even ask.  BTW - I had the dog-gonedest time of a time getting here on that George Washington Bridge . . .only one lane was open outside of this little town. . . can't recalls the name . . .Husky, or Portly? Ask Bridgey, your aide.'

The Guv: ' Bridgey. . .Bridgey.  Yeah, Thanks.'







August 2013 -' Bridgey, Romney gave me a great idea. . . .get this. Put the book down and snap them molars tight . . .Now, Listen.  I am not a bully.''

Beanie Babies, Leo High School and Main Street Entrepreneurship

"It is clear that the quantity of product or of merchandise offered for sale, in proportion to the demand or number of Buyers, is the basis on which is fixed or always supposed to be fixed the actual market prices.. . .  It often happens that many things which actually have this intrinsic value are not sold in the market at that value: That will depend on the humors and fancies of men and on their consumption." Richard Cantillon (168?- 1734)  Irish Father of Modern Economic Theory

Notes from Chiberia - The Big Chill 2014.  I read about Ty Warner's legal problems and thought about the hundreds of dollars spent by the Family Hickey on Beanie Babies and my happy life.

In the mid to late1990's, I lived in Griffith, Indiana. My wife and I were blessed with three children, two girls and a boy and had a very modest bungalow one alley away from main street and three blocks from our parish of St. Mary's church and grammar school.   Mary worked as an art teacher in Hammond and I commuted to Leo High School in Chicago. Every morning we awakened to the great smells of Patty Cake Bakery and Dave & Lee's diner.  I made the trip through the alley to the back door of Patty Cake a couple of days a week and to Dave & Lee's with the Mary and the kids on the weekends.  I love main streets.

The main street of Griffith had an Italian Imports store, a drug store, music store, two insurance agencies,a sporting good store and a barber shop, as well as the municipal center with police and fire.  In nearly every business there began to appear displays of hand sized plush toy animals crafted from bean bag sacks.  Each had a name like Zippy the Zebra, or Bob the Baboon.  They were modestly priced and sold out quicker than an NSA tech aide with a GED.

Word of mouth and niche marketing made this juvenile necessity the commodity of the next ten years.  By the time, we moved to Chicago in 1999 I had baskets of Beanie Babies.  A remember going to a florist on Ridge Road in Highland, Indiana to order flowers for a wake and going with carefully written note to purchase three distinct bean bag toys.  I followed hand written notes and grocery lists from my wife to the letter,   "Don't ask why a purchase is necessary, just get it." Not only were kids buying Beanie Babies, but also adults.  Ladies and some guys collected the plush toys in the same manner as my Irish aunts did Waterford Crystal and Belleek china.

Later, Beanie Babies were modified and stuffed into Happy Meals at McDonald's.  As the kids grew up the Beanie Babies were given away to neighborhood youngsters here in Chicago, donated to St. Vincent De Paul Society, or Vietnam Veterans Charities.  I still shop main street which is Western Avenue between 111th & 99th Streets.  I don't see too many Beanie Babies these days. I learned that the guy who marketed these toys made billions.

He made billions of dollars because he was an entrepreneur - Ty Warner understood the difference between wealth and money.  Wealth is a condition of being; money is a medium of exchange. In the 17th Century an Irish ex patriot by the name of Richard Cantillon crafted the model of entrepreneurship. " Cantillon held that market prices are not immediately decided by intrinsic value, but are derived from supply and demand . . ."

- 
What would you pay for a bean bag shaped like a jackass?   What the market ( happy household full enchanted kids) will bare.  Each Beanie Baby was marketed by a time table and number of the individual species.  They would be available only after an announced date and only in a limited number. You snooze; you lose.

We teach opportunity at Leo High School in Chicago.  We teach the guys who attend Leo that many, many people are backing their play so long as they meet our expectations as students and most of all as men.  College is promoted, but so are the skilled trades and public service and safety vocations. I take some of our more . . .obstreperous young gents for a visit to the boiler room and show them a rudimentary course in heat conduction and tell them what a steam fitter, pipe fitter or stationary engineer can make in a year.   All they need to do is develop a work ethic and learn some math and graduate with level of skill and commitment to be accepted as an apprenticeship.  They are always impressed.  Each day is a Beany Baby.  Leo has been a school of opportunity from the day it opened its doors in 1926.  Leo was a main street school located on 79th Street where every need "from obstetrician to undertaker" was filled according to the orders of its denizens.

Leo High School was considered a business entity as well as a school for young men. Though most of the neighbors living along the main street of 79th street were Roman Catholic, many of businesses were operated by Jewish entrepreneurs - Siegel's pharmacy, Blackman's Jewelry, Morris B. Sachs' Clothing for Men.  These entrepreneurs put skin in the game and were as much a part of the life of the Catholic high school for boys as they were in the community at large. They invested time, treasure and talent in the operation of Leo High School and were rewarded with the patronage of a vast Catholic army of consumers.

Maurice Blackman not only provided rings for Championship Leo football and basketball teams, but hired Hylands, McKeevers, O'Briens and Gerritys to work in his store for tuition and pocket money. The late Jim McKeever ( Leo '54) said the Blackman's were like family to him and taught him as much business and ethical lessons as the Irish Christian Brothers.  The entrepreneur sees wealth, while a hustler sees money.  Wealth is found in values and values create wealth.  Leo students were active in Catholic Action, a social justice club that helped the infirm, the indigent and the incarcerated.  Also, Leo students built aircraft identification models for the War Department through WWII.  Students and main street worked together.

As main street died, so too the wealth of wisdom and community.  CVS, Walgreens and banks with ever changing titles seem to dominate main street.  Corporations sole without a soul.  Schooling has become as blandly faceless as business - Algebra, Geometry, History, Physics, English, Spanish.  Teaching to the tests and aggregate scores now pass for 'education.'

I'd like to see our guys have an opportunity to experience the joy of a sale.  Imagine a 17 year old kid making a close, even if it were a Beanie Baby crafted to look like the Leo Lion at $ 5.75.  The founder of Beanie Babies used shoe leather to place his products in stores and businesses in Griffith Indiana in the early 1990's. 

Man up, Neighbors! We Got Doug Kershaw!

That You Whining Out There!  Look'ee Hyar!



Lo-T, Dude?  Snow too Much, Bub?  Bills to Pay, Cupcake?  Hell, Boy!  We got Doug Kershaw!



Buck Them Blues and Whiney Ways! Ragin' Cajun Show Us the Way!




Let's show 'em Men Are Back, Girls and Boys!

Get over Ourselves! Happy New Year!

Claypool Wouldn't Know the Truth Unless It Came With a Government Paycheck

DNA Erica Demerest photo

Forrest Claypool - say it with me, please " Forrest Claypool."  There; isn't that like a Yoga moment, or cucumbers on the eyelids?

For most Chicago journalists, just saying " Forrest Claypool" is a tonic akin to a seventh grade fat boy getting a Saint Valentine's Day card from a tween stunner - the Hope, Oh the Hope!

You see over the last forty years, Chicago newspapers gave up integrity for access.  Columnists and Editorial Boards care more about the news morsels tossed by a Daley, a Blago,  an Obama, a Rahm, a Mike Quigley, or a Pat Quinn than it does about getting out the full story. Public television and radio, WTTW& WBEZ share the agendas of the elected Progressives who run this city, county and this state and the activists and PACs who help keep them in power, They feed at the same tax-funded trough.

I'm just a working stiff, with a mortgage and a new tax on something I own or don't own every sixty seconds in Cook County. To me, the name " Forrest Clayyyyyyyyyyyypoooooooooool " portends a looming grift - a government sanctioned pinch of my wallet.  Forrest Claypool to my waxless ears is akin to the names of great grifters, cads, bounders, cut-purses and ne'er-do-wells of common culture Reese Kilgore, Butch Cavendish, Velma Valento, Bill Sykes and of course Galworthy's hideous Soames Forsyte. .  Uriah Heep is Congressman Mike Quigley's sole property, though Forrest Claypool would give Wee Mike a run for his money.

Thanks to the capriciously snorting snouts of Chicago's iconic news hounds, Forrest Claypool does not get away with murder, only character assassination of better persons -Amalgamated Transit Union Local #308 Bob Kelly.  Why only yesterday, Forrest Claypool celebrated the continued employment of 65 felons turned CTA apprentices with this -"Despite Mr. Kelly's commitment to end the rail car servicer apprentice program and put his own union members out of work, we've been able to work with Local 241's leadership to find a place for these individuals, guaranteeing them the opportunity to work and put food on their families' tables for another year," CTA President Forrest Claypool said previously." And often.

Robert Kelly has been portrayed in our collective Chicago media as cross between Simon Legree and Sir Percival Glyde, from the moment that the doomsday clock on the Forrest Claypool, Rahm Emanuel, Michael Pfleger CTA School for Felons was announced last March. Though the ex-cons were placed in rail cleaning posts, no one bothered to let the union governing such labor in on the plans.  Kelly wanted the workers placed in the jobs at the Local 308 recommended salaries, but Rahm Pinchpenny Savior and Forrest Claypool chained the workers to Micky D salaries in the name of Saul Alinsky.

But Kelly has said he wanted the CTA to pay the rail workers more money. The 65 rail apprentices are dues-paying union members, but they’re paid a considerably lower wage than their union counterparts, and they don't get benefits.
“What do I say to people when I say you’re going to do the exact same work next to a guy making $25 an hour and benefits, and I'm not going to pay you benefits?" Kelly asked on "Chicago Tonight" recently.
"They're using these people to save money. Give them the right wages, health, pension, benefits. Let’s give these people a real second chance. Let’s do it. I will sign that deal tomorrow, turn these people over, and give them a real shot at life,” Kelly said.

The SPIN fed to the gaping maws of the Chicago news hounds avoids the facts, minutes, calendars and records of Forrest Claypool.  No one from WTTW to Chuck Goudie to Eric Zorn will bother with the facts missing from a good Claypool news feed.

Claypool is such a gutless, sniveller that he and Rahm hired Citizen Michael Pfleger to perform the character hit on Bob Kelly.  Michael Pfleger wrote a Jeremiad on the alleged nasty nature of Bob Kelly in the always complicit Chicago Tribune, followed by an idiotic smear piece about Kelly's daughter winning a scholarship in the Sun Times.  Pfleger led a December protest that included accomplished grifter and activist Rep. Bobby Rush and a score of Pfleger acolytes at the offices of ATU 308, during the Local's Christmas Party. Now, Michael Pfleger has issued a Fatwa on Kelly via one of his FaceBook pages.

Post by Father Michael Pfleger.

Claypool knows enough to duck a working man in an honest forum.  I have never met Bob Kelly, but I have had more than enough personal contact with Forrest Claypool for one lifetime - usually at political fund-raisers for good people in public life who must admit Claypool on the guest list or near their coat tails.  Usually those same people find themselves subject to scurrilous charges on TV or in a column, later to be dropped.

Claypool would not know the truth if it came with a government check.  He does not need to know it.  Forrest Claypool is fine. Rahm Emanuel is fine.  Michael Pfleger is fine.

Chicago?  Not so good.

Robert Kelly?  We shall see.

Don't Be a Butt Flicker; Be A Butt Picker! Show 'Em Your Butts, Illinois Smokers!

Few things make me more astonished to be a resident of Cook County, Illinois than the lengths to which intellectually challenged and socially retarded individuals manage to find huge paying government jobs, especially with the Illinois General Assembly.

I have taught many young people to be good and sober minded citizens in classrooms from Kankakee to Auburn Gresham, even though my humanly flawed soul strays from the path now and then.  I am proud to say that a number of my students have gone on to careers in business, the church, government, the entertainment industry and the arts.  A few have even thanked me for my small part in their achievements and vocations.

A very few have gone on to unhappy lives of missed opportunities and disappointments public and private. One poor chap became a legislator in another State and ended up going to prison for violating the public trust.  He was always a sneaky little bastard.

As the new year dawned, I was compelled to think about the new punitive law in effect at midnight last.  This is the Deb Mell Butt Flicker Public Act:

Cigarette butts
HB 3243, PA 98-0483 Some Illinois residents will likely pledge to quit smoking cigarettes as a New Year’s resolution. Those who don’t may want to resolve not to flick their cigarette butts on the ground, or they could face a hefty fine. Cigarette butts have been added to the litter control act, and those who toss them on the ground could be charged with a Class B misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of no less than $50 and up to $1,500.

Now, with advent of the Medical Marijuana Law Illinois ( " . . . Patients must be at least 18 years old to apply for a medical marijuana card through the Illinois Department of Public Health and must prove they have one of 33 serious or chronic conditions specifically listed in the bill. They must have an established relationship with a doctor who approves their use of the drug. Successful applicants will be allowed 2.5 ounces of marijuana per a two-week period. Patients, caregivers, owners and employees of growing operations and dispensaries will all be required to pass background checks Owners of growing operations or dispensaries will be banned from making campaign contributions. "), is a Joint to be considered a Butt?  Is there a The Dude's Exempt Clause?  You know like that compelling scene from Big Lebowski?



( sotta voce - Can't hate Creedence and you can't stop bullshit, in my considered opinion. )

There's more.  A triple- repeat offender could go away to the Iron Hilton and pay up to $25,000 for the crimes committed against Mother Earth, Sanitary Issues, Public Safety and Deb Mell.

I smoke, or did, having resolved with my usual steely will to quit the foul talon-clutch of the Marlboro Man.  Through  my years as a tobacco weed fiend, I managed by dint of good manners and an expansive heart to deposit ciggy refuse in a proper receptacle ( ashtrays public and private, empty beer cans, or field stripped in the manner of a Forest Ranger).  I tended not to smoke in restaurants over the last thirty years and have never once lite one up in the house that shelters my bairns.

Like jaywalking, traffic scofflawing, toxic dumping, drug trafficking, or murdering for hire, I never needed a law or ordinance to know what I should or should not do.  That is because I was not educated in public schools (K-20).  Rather, I was taught by Catholic scholars to be a modestly Catholic scholar - Esse Quam Videre.  

Last spring, while suiting up for the Gay Marriage Warfare and Victory, Deb Mell took the time to amend legislation in the Illinois General Assembly to make sure that butt flickers, a particularly nasty breed of Eco-Vandals, got it good and hard.  Governor Pat Quinn who is always quick to sign his name to any and all idiotic legislation crafted with polling and pie charts from the Paul Simon Institute and fashioned by thought challenged activists and deep feeling snitches like Deb Mell signed this latest law against common sense by Cook County Progressives.

Cook County Progressives awe me.  I have yet to encounter one ( male, female, breeder, LGBTQ, hyphenated Irish, Swede, or Proud Black Brother) that was in any way shape or form an admirable, self-reliant, or nice person.  Yet, otherwise admirable, self-reliant and nice persons who take public office allow them to control Illinois.  Awesome.

That said,  Be not a Deb Mell Law Scofflaw.  Flick no butts from a fixed position, or, God Forefend, moving vehicle.  Don't be Flicker, not for fear of Law's Majesty and Might, butt, because it is the right thing to do.  Be a Butt Picker.  If you, or I, continue to absorb the fumes made fashionable by Walter Raleigh, pick the butt, strip the butt and save the butt for future use -recycle.

Illinois Butt Pickers might want to show Deb Mell and her cosponsors the fruits of being concerned Illinois voters, taxpayers and citizens.

Save your butts and show your butts! Collect your butts in gallon sized zip lock bags; drop them off at Alderman Deb Mell's office, or the offices of Bill's co-sponsors. My own Representative Fran Hurley jumped at the chance to savage butt flickers.

Show them your Butts!  Obey the Law with all of the intelligence and mutual respect it deserves.

Here's who want to see your butts: Show 'Em Your Butts!  It's the Law!
Representative Deborah Mell (D)
Represented the 40th District

Alderman Mell's 33rd Ward Service Office 3649 North Kedzie Chicago, Illinois 60618 Office Hours Monday-Friday 8:00 AM - 5:00PM Ward Night: Wednesdays 5:00 PM - 7:00PM The Ward Office is also open the first Saturday of every month, 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM. Please call ahead to confirm office hours.  Former Springfield Office: 247-E Stratton Office Building Springfield, IL   62706 (217) 782-8117 (217) 558-4551 FAX Former District Office: 3657 N. Kedzie Avenue Chicago, IL  60618 (773) 267-2880 (773) 267-2840 FAX

Email: staterep40@gmail.com

Years served: January 2009 - July 2013 Committee assignments: Biography: Full-time legislator; B.A. Political Science and History, Cornell College; California Culinary Academy; Mayor Rahm Emanuel Advisory Council for Human Relations; Award for Activism, National Organization for Women; Howard Brown Cornerstone Award for community excellence. Representative since 2009. Representative Frances Ann Hurley (D) 35th District Springfield Office: 252-W Stratton Office Building Springfield, IL   62706 (217) 782-8200 District Office: 10400 S. Western Chicago, IL  60643 (773) 445-8128 (773) 672-5144 FAX Additional District Addresses Email: repfranhurley@gmail.com Years served: January 2013 - Present Committee assignments: Appropriations-General Service; Cities & Villages; Health Care Licenses; Transportation, Regulation, Roads; Public Safety: Police & Fire Commit. Biography: Full-time state legislator and lifelong resident of the southwest community; graduate of Saint Barnabas Elementary School, Mother McAuley High School, and Saint Xavier University; former aide to Alderman Ginger Rugai and Matthew O’Shea; member of the Saint Christina Parish, Mt. Greenwood Civic Association; former director of the Saint Christina Manna Program and volunteer for Christ Hospital’s Ronald McDonald House, Misercordia, American Cancer Society Yme softball tournament, Bucks for Burn Camp, PADS, Marist High School, Mt. Greenwood Party in the Park, and Merrionette Park Youth Softball; lives in Mt. Greenwood with her three children (Nate, Nick, and Emily).

Representative La Shawn K. Ford (D)
8th District

Springfield Office: 239-E Stratton Office Building Springfield, IL   62706 (217) 782-5962 (217) 557-4502 FAX District Office: 4800 W. Chicago Ave. 2nd Floor Chicago, IL  60651 (773) 378-5902 (773) 378-5903 FAX Additional District Addresses

Email: repford@lashawnford.com

Years served: January 2007 - Present Committee assignments: Appropriations-Human Services; Health Care Availability Access (Vice-Chairperson); Health Care Licenses; Small Business Empowerment & Workfo (Chairperson); Restorative Justice (Chairperson); Tollway Oversight (Vice-Chairperson); Veterans' Affairs. Biography: Real estate entrepreneur and founder of Ford Desired Realty, Inc. Received his B.S. in Education from Loyola University in Chicago. Former history teacher and basketball coach for Chicago Public Schools. Licensed Illinois real estate broker, member of the Chicago and National Association of Realtors, board member of the Austin YMCA, board member of Circle Family Care, board member of the Austin Chamber of Commerce, founding organizer of Zawadi Youth Group, and member of St. Martin de Porres Catholic Church Parish Council and Finance Committee. Representative Elaine Nekritz (D) 57th District Assistant Majority Leader Springfield Office: 245-E Stratton Office Building Springfield, IL   62706 (217) 558-1004 (217) 558-4554 FAX District Office: 830 S. Buffalo Grove Rd. Suite 120 Buffalo Grove, IL  60089 (847) 229-5499 (847) 229-5487 FAX Email: enekritz@repnekritz.org Years served: January 2003 - Present Committee assignments: Environment; Judiciary (Chairperson); Personnel & Pensions (Chairperson). Biography: Attorney; Law Degree from University of Michigan. Her experience includes working as a real estate attorney, later becoming partner, with the law firm of Altheimer and Gray. A community activist, she was chairperson of the Village of Northbrook's Community Relations Commission from 1997 to 2002. A member of the National Council of Jewish Women. She resides in Northbrook with her husband, Barry.

Representative Emanuel Chris Welch (D)
7th District

Springfield Office: 266-S Stratton Office Building Springfield, IL   62706 (217) 782-8120 (217) 524-0448 FAX District Office: 10055 W. Roosevelt Rd. Suite E Westchester, IL  60154 (708) 450-1000 (708) 450-1104 FAX

Email: repwelch@emanuelchriswelch.com

Leo High School Rookie Teacher/Coach Kimberly Hickey 5'/100lbs of Heart

Lisa Black of the Chicago Tribune visited Leo High School before the Christmas break and witnessed what I have been blessed to see every day - a school that matters to the students it serves.  Leo High School's eighty plus years of service to Church, city and country matters, because the focus is always on the young men who come here to learn.

Leo has been home to legendary teachers like Brothers Finch, O'Keefe, Birmingham and Coogan of the Irish Christian Brothers ( 1926-1990) and lay men and women like Jimmy Arenberg, Bill Hession, Bob Foster, Bob Swazt, Tom Joyce, George Cummings, Nancy Finn, Jay Standring, Jack Fitzgerald, Tom O'Malley,  Aurora Latifi and Mike Holmes.  There are hundreds of others, but I feel safe in saying the people listed are legends. A legend is someone who comes to work for the sake of other people.

Lisa Black spent a great deal of time in the halls of Leo where the unfiltered opinion of young men rings the truth of the old school's motto - Facta Non Verba.  Leo High School, from days of Bob Foster's leadership, never puts on a dog and pony show for visitors, much less for the probitive eyes and clear hearing of a professional news reporter.  In the words of President Dan McGrath, "Leo is what it is."  Leo is a home thick with family.  Dan is the Patriarch, Mike Holmes the protective older brother, Aurora Latifi the matriarchal Lion Queen, Board Member and boxing Coach Mike Joyce The Consigliere and Leo's Director of Development, the proud but crazy uncle who sleeps on the fold-out couch.  Well, I do get here early.   Our students spend the happiest hours of their days here at school.  I open the doors for many of them hours before the start of the class day.

Into this close-knit family stepped a pretty little girl at the end of last July.  Kimberly Hickey is all of 5' tall and weighs-in at a romping stomping 100 lbs,  after a George Foreman All You Can Eat breakfast. Miss Hickey teaches math and coaches boxing with Mike Joyce.  Read Lisa Black's story about a legend in the works.

Lisa Black's wonderful story of Leo's Miss Hickey will appear in the Chicago SundayTribune print edition in the Chicagoland section ( Dec. 29,2013).

Merry Christmas (prote egeneto) !!! While Quirinius Was Governor in Syria and Then Some

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.   (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius (Quirinius) was governor of Syria.)3   And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.” Luke 2: 1-3 (emphasis my own)

Merry Christmas!  I am at the age . . .no this is not a Viagra commercial . . .of grown kids at Christmas.  On Christmas Eve the oldest child was with her in-laws to be; the male child was at work and the baby child went out to dinner with her gentleman caller's Mom and Pop.  I had taken my lady love to O'Hare Airport for her flight to Florida and Christmas with her family.  I hit the early Mass.

I love the Christmas Gospel of Luke, always have, from the time that I was able put words together.  I had hours of time to enjoy the quiet and peace of Christmas Eve having already spent more than was prudent on gift cards and gift certificates for loved ones - also one of those 'You are at the age of . . .getting things done' harbingers aging male mandates - get something they will like.

Luke got me at Quirinius this year.  I recalled a social gathering a few years back that was peopled by folks of diverse opinion - out of the comfort zone one might say.  Such occasions test ones moral mettle with statements so outrageous that one feels compelled to respond, but decorum dictates a conversational moderation that would flummox St. Francis of Assisi.

As it was a Holiday gathering,  edgy wags found it necessary to challenge the spirit of the season.  A Cliff's Notes Know It All took to harping that Luke's gospel was a key contradiction in the synoptic gospels and further proof that Christianity, faith, the Bible, the Vatican, The Vienna Boys Choir and God His Own Bad Self are fabulous yarns crafted for squares, rubes, dummies and helots.  This particular tweedy-loud mouth exercised his gums with factoids gleaned from other clever agnostic Volvo owners - "If Quirinius ruled Syria in 6 AD, Hooowwwww does one explain the Nativity after the birth, marked by the Census of Augustus sooo necessary to the proof demanded by believers that the historical Jesus must be accepted?"

I knew about Quirinius, Publius Sulpiciius Quirinius.  He was a favorite of Emperor Augustus and distinguished Middle East hand for the Empire.  He served in Syria for many, many years and conducted not one census, but two.

I was under the very strictest of orders commanded by a diminutive woman of great charms and manners not to engage any person on any subject of a controversial nature . . .whatsoever.  My three score and change in size tens treasures readings of not only scripture, but also Tacitus, Suetonois, Dio Casius, Horace, Virgil, and the I Clausius novel of Robert Graves.  So, I had some ammo.  All of my bullets remained in my mental magazine on this occasion and I offered, " Hey, I like Christmas. You try these phlyo doughed shrimps?"  Q.E.D.

The tweedy goof held the floor. I take a back seat to no man, in being a confrontational pain in the rump, but I managed to choke down my prideful bile as well as a number of phylo dough wrapped goodies in deference to the season and the orders from herself.

 I got me a huge thank you for allowing an opportunity to conversationally yank down the britches of a snotty dope.  Quirinius stayed in my guns.  You see, Luke was no slouch. Not only had the physician who attended to St. Paul written the gospel, but also the Acts of the Apostles, in which Luke clearly presents his knowledge of the Roman tax and census table of organization ( Acts 5:37).  It was also clear from my reading of scholars like Dave Miller, PhD, that Luke's use of the phrase prote egeneto (first took place) indicates that there was another census by Publius Sulipicius Quirinius in 6AD - there was a second census. Professor Miller's 2003 essay on the contradictions surrounding Quirinius concluded

In addition, historical sources indicate that Quirinius was favored by Augustus, and was in active service of the emperor in the vicinity of Syria previous to and during the time period that Jesus was born. It is reasonable to conclude that Quirinius could have been appointed by Caesar to instigate a census-enrollment during that time frame, and his competent execution of such could have earned for him a repeat appointment for the A.D. 6/7 census (see Archer, 1982, p. 366). Notice also that Luke did not use the term legatus—the normal title for a Roman governor. He used the participial form of hegemon that was used for a Propraetor (senatorial governor), or Procurator (like Pontius Pilate), or Quaestor (imperial commissioner) [McGarvey and Pendleton, n.d., p. 28]. After providing a thorough summary of the historical and archaeological data pertaining to this question, Finnegan concluded: “Thus the situation presupposed in Luke 2:3 seems entirely plausible”  (emphases my own)

Getting in the last word sure does stroke the old ego, but it sadly affirms the Viagra advertisement's  'this is age of getting things done' . . .artificially.

This is the Season of being better than we usually are three hundred and sixty four days of the yowling year.  Merry Christmas!!! Prote Egeneto - it was the First, but it certainly will not be the last.

Makepeace for Men of Gentle Will

My song, save this, is little worth;

I lay the weary pen aside,

And wish you health, and love, and mirth,

As fits the solemn Christmas-tide.

As fits the holy Christmas birth.

Be this, good friends, our carol still—

Be peace on earth, be peace on earth,

To men of gentle will.

            William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863)

Old Bill was the best of men. He died on December 23rd hours short of Christ's birth and the season for which he lived all year.  He was the single parent of two daughters and a very busy gent, but managed to maintain a kindness and genuine humanity every day of the year.

Gentleness is a tough commodity.  Sharp words, cross looks, snortin snouts seem our only responses to the current tempus et mundi.  The sleep of children, the warmth of the stove and the best blood coursing our hearts can reset our human thermostats. I'll give it a go.

Progressive War on Labor: Now, The Creeps Go After a Union Man Personally

“It’s a widely-accepted concept that you’re paid for work performed. It’s only in the Alice in Wonderland world of these crazy work rules that people are paid millions of dollars to do nothing,” Claypool said.

Gutless little twerp Forrest Claypool has Michael Pfleger and Dane Placko beat up a family man labor leader who actually can do his job.

Robert Kelly was elected as President/Business Agent of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308 in 2008. Mr. Kelly is responsible for protecting the collective bargaining rights of over 4000 active and retired Chicago Transit Authority workers who work on the rail side. Mr. Kelly serves as a Vice President of the Illinois AFL-CIO and is President of the ATU Local 308 Scholarship committee. He is the proud father of 11 children.

Fox 32 ran another in a very long string of nasty caricatures of citizens.  Dan Placko, is the Ron Burgundy heir to the throne once occupied by Andy Shaw ( ABC clown emeritus and BGA Boss).  Placko gets spoon fed stories by leaders if agendas - in this case Michael Pfleger acting as the sword and shield of Forrest Claypool's CTA.

Over the last few weeks the President of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 308 has been the target of activist preacher Michael Pfleger.  Pfleger is the priest who answers only to the cameras and his legion of media elves, who owns plenty of Progressive political juice.  Forrest Claypool is the job hopping career grifter who presently draws a tax-funded salary in a political appointment at CTA President.  Claypool by my calculations has not held a political gig longer than five years.

Dane Placko of Fox 32 couldn't find a donut in a police station, but answers the call of his masters:

CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
The powerful head of Chicago's largest transit union, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), is coming under fire Thursday after FOX 32 learned his daughter won the union's top scholarship prize last year.
In addition to his daughter, the children of three leaders of the ATU local 308 won union scholarships worth up to $5,000 apiece.
Normally that wouldn't attract much attention, but in light of the fact that the union is now trying to kill a popular program that gives ex-offenders a second chance some African-American political leaders are incensed.

Incensed, I tells you! 

Now, Dane is only a highly paid suit who reads anything put under his nose, remember,  Placko is to reporting as marshmallows are to Kimchi.

Bob Kelly's daughter won a union sponsored scholarship, because Bob Kelly is and has been a member of the union for decades -

Robert Kelly has been a member since October 1, 1986. Employed by the "Authority" on August 27, 1986. Robert has worked the classifications of Conductor, Motorman, Flagmen, Foot Collector, Switchman and Towerman. Appointed a steward in 1997 until he was elected as President/Business Agent on December 16, 2008. Robert demonstrates vision, insight and tenacity in representing Local 308's priorities. Re-elected to a second term on November 15, 2011 winning over 55% of the votes against 4 other candidates

Bob Kelly has fought Forrest Claypool and best the job hopper, since Claypool's appointment (not election, mind you) by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2011.

• Pee Breaks 
• The Bombardier Wheel Scandal -now swept under the media rug
• Ventra
• The Elves crashing the Transit Car in Forrest Park
• CTA Seniority Rules slashed by Claypool
• More Ventra

Now, Michael Pfleger is doing his patented Hillary Clinton speech on the head of a genuine labor union leader.

Dane Placko is always handy.  I remember a few years back when  tried to ambush the Cardinal on his little Sunday chat show, when he made a BS report on two political enemies of Toni Preckwinkle that proved to be nonsense and now going to work for Pfleger Industries Coalition, LLC.

Fox 32 has learned Kelly's daughter was awarded the $5,000 union scholarship in 2012 for an essay she wrote on funding mass transit.
In addition, three other children of top union officials won scholarships in the past three years.
The union represents a total of about 3,500 CTA rail workers
In a phone interview, Kelly told FOX 32 he didn't even know his daughter had entered the contest.
"I was shocked (when she won). But I have no problem with it. I think it's a witch hunt they're engaged in," Kelly said.
He continued saying the essays are submitted without names to an outside panel for judging.
He said only 11 essays were submitted the year his daughter won, and all of those who entered got some scholarship money.
Kelly makes $134,000 a year as union president. The average CTA union worker makes about $60,000.
"She may be very, very smart and very, very talented, very gifted in writing essays and deserved to win. But monetarily, there are probably people more deserving to win," Trotter said.
But it's the 65 ex-offenders about to lose their jobs that has inflamed the situation.

" Fox has learned,"  because Pfleger wrote your copy, you mope. This has nothing to do  with jobs for felon emeriti otherwise Forrest would have placed them in high paying jobs by appointment - like his own bad self.

The only reason Mr. Kelly is taking any heat is because Claypool can't make change, let alone provide change. Nothing that goof has done in his career as grifter has saved a nickel or benefited anyone but Claypool.

Dane Placko slings out more crap than a backed-up Kohler.