Max Weismann's Letter to George - Orwell

Letter to George Orwell

RE: Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)

Dear George,

Many of us Americans scoffed at your book when it came off the press in 1949. Now 60 years later, events are occurring that sadly give us pause and respect for your early vision.

Alas, your terms "Big Brother" and "Newspeak" reflect the direction of our current society of excessive governmental paternalism, control and the dangerous absence of a real press.

Unless we wake up as citizens, I'm afraid we will end up as your Winston Smith.

Best regards,

Max Weismann

Swiss Frank Nofsinger's "The Irish Confessional"

It is Saturday. Get to Confession,after Playing for Maeve at Beverly Park! Click my post title, Sinners!

This cautionary tale comes from the Connectict Yankee, Patriot, Beer Quaffer and Mule Skinner -Swiss Frank Nofsinger.

Irish guy goes into the confessional box.

He notices on one wall a fully equipped bar with Guinness on tap.

On the other wall is a dazzling array of the finest Cuban cigars.

Then the priest comes in.

"Father, forgive me, for it's been a very long time since I've been to
confession, but I must first admit that the confessional box is much more inviting these days."

The priest replies "Get out, you're on my side.

Pat Hickey's Labor Confessio -Why I am Not in the Trades - It's Work!

Behold His Handiwork! Things Pat Hickey Fixed: He is no plumber, no engineer, no electrician, no mechanic and certainly no cosmetic surgeon!

Do click my post title for the link to the great caveat to Labor and Joel Kotkin's Politico piece. H/T - Max Weismann & There I Fixed It!

Why Skilled and Industrial Trades Languish at 12-19% UnEmployment - Read Joel Kotkin's Real Teachable Moment

My family is comprised of very skilled trades workers ( men and women) who voted for Barack Obama. I am the only Hickey to back McCain. I did so because I did not and do not believe that Barack Obama was up to the job as President and that he had some very dicey people pouring poisonous ideas into his very willing ears.

I am a school teacher. I read and my relations work with their hands, heads and hearts. They are stationary engineers, electricians, carpenters, plumbers and pipefitters. Even the Hickey's( Brennans, Walshs, Winters, & etc.)with law degrees hold union cards.

When I work with tools bad things happen - to me and others. Hence, there is an ideological Mason/Dixon line drawn between me and my kin folk born of an inability and avoidance of genuine work on my part.

Hickeys are union people. I am as well - real unions. Politically, the skilled trades unions have historically made pacts with the devil in order to advance the prospects for workers to live with dignity and in safety.

In last forty years, politics betrayed the workers more than any Pinkerton agent or capitalist goon. Political Action Cadres (PACs) masquerading as Labor have co-opted Labor with sheer numbers.

Skilled Trades and Industrial Trades became enthralled by and to tax-payer salaried unions most notably Services Employee International Union (SEIU) which dictates policy to the National Democratic Committee ( Howard Dean) and the White House ( President Obama).

Our economic turmoil is not some glitch, but a planned operation - witness the recent remarks on Health Care by the daffy dimwitted Rep. Jan Schakowsky -

SCHAKOWSKY: “I know many of you here today are single payer advocates and so am I … and those of us who are pushing for a public health insurance don’t disagree with this goal. This is not a principled fight. This is a fight about strategy for getting there and I believe we will.” ( Emphasis my own -You got that right, Jan.)

Single payer ( The Government) Health Reform is the stated end game.

Likewise, One Big Union is the end game for SEIU. Skilled Trades will lose all autonomy and influence, as the jobs continue to disappear. Joel Kotkin a Social Demographer who trained under Michael Harrington and learned the dangers of creeping socialism has long been a critic of the economics of modern Progressives.

His article in Politico is a must read for all Labor People. Click my post title for the full article. Here is a bit of it.

This is Kotkin's genuine teachable moment. Real Labor might learn something.

As a recent New America Foundation report makes clear, precious little has gone to the productive side of the economy that determines the country’s competitiveness and creates many high-paying blue-collar jobs. Infrastructure, a critical component of any productivity-enhancing strategy, has accounted for barely 10 percent of the package.


The results have not been pretty for the productive sectors of the economy. Construction workers now have higher than 19 percent unemployment; jobs in this sector have fallen during the past year in 333 out of 352 metropolitan areas, with more than 200 plunging by double digits. Meanwhile, the hard-pressed manufacturing sector suffers more than 12 percent unemployment.


Why this disinclination to fund the tangible parts of the economy? One reason may be that those working in construction and manufacturing — both blue-collar workers and white-collar professionals — do not wield the same influence in this law review administration as college professors, Service Employees International Union-organized workers or unionized teachers.


One also senses that some militant environmentalists in the administration may be less than enthusiastic about anything associated with the entire carbon-creating part of the economy. Certainly, new factories, natural gas facilities, roads, ports and waterways don’t fit the professed passion of the president’s own science adviser, John Holdren, for the gradual “de-development” of the U.S. and other advanced economies.

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Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/25636.html#ixzz0MqRrJpSt

Rose Keefe's "Bate Auto Murder 1904" - The First 'Taken-for-a-Ride Murder' in Crime History

Crime biographer and historian Rose Keefe has just written the account of the first automobile facilitated murder ( Okay, Pal! You're Goin' Fer a Ride) in our history.

In 1904, shortly after the Chicago Stockyard Strikes of that summer, a young man from Racine,Wisconsin, William Bate, who was working in a Chicago hotel, became the first victim of an automobile facilitated murder out in then rural Lemont, Illinois.

Rose Keefe has written a twelve page study of this ground-breaking and fast-getaway murder that you can access by clicking my post title.

From Lulu the instant download publisher:

On November 19, 1904 in Lemont, Illinois, Chicago chauffeur Billy Bate was found slumped behind the wheel of his Toledo touring car. He'd been shot in the head execution-style, making him the first recorded victim of the now-infamous one-way ride. Although the authorities launched a nationwide manhunt for 'Mr. Dove', his last known passenger and probable killer, their efforts were unsuccessful and the Bate Auto Murder remains unsolved. This 12-page ebook includes photos of the victim and the death car. It's a story of big city violence in rural surroundings, and marks a trend that continues to this day.

Rose Keefe and Richard Lindberg of Chicago write the best studies of American Crime in the context of the American Experience. Rose Keefe's The Starker is a magnificent study of Big Jake Zelig the New York Jewish Gangster and Richard Lindberg's Gambler King of Clark Street links the roots of the Chicago Political Machine to Big Mike McDonald.

Rose Keefe CV

Published Books:

Guns and Roses: The Untold Story of Dean O'Banion, Chicago's Big Shot Before Al Capone. Cumberland House Publishing (Nashville, TN) 2004
The Man Who Got Away: the Bugs Moran Story. Cumberland House Publishing (Nashville, TN) 2004
The Starker: Big Jack Zelig, the Becker-Rosenthal Case of 1912, and the Advent of the Jewish Gangster. Cumberland House Publishing (Nashville, TN) 2008
Professional Affiliations:

Member, the Writer's Union of Canada
Radio, Television, and Film Appearances:

"Talkline with Zev Brenner", WSNR 620 AM(NY) (November 2008)
"Dave Gordon Radio Show Show", ThatRadio.com (October 2008)
"Our Gotham",www.monk1903.com (June 2008)
"Bulldog and The Rude Awakening Show", WOCM-FM 98.1 (June 2008)
"Mobs In America", Abu Media Ireland (August 2007)
"Man, Moment, and Machine" History Channel televised special (November 2006)
"Young Indiana Jones" DVD Series- consulting expert (July 2006)
"Paddy Whacked": the Irish Mob History Channel televised special (March 2006)
Dave Strauss Radio Show, KTRS St. Louis (February 2006)
The Radio Detective, with Jerry Pearce (March 2004)
WBIG AM with William Kelly (March 2004)
Web and Magazine Articles (author) :

"Max 'Kid Twist' Zweifach - Leader of Monk Eastman Gang ." J*Grit- the Internet Index of Tough Jews, January 2009
"Big Jack Zelig - Lower East Side Gang Leader." J*Grit- the Internet Index of Tough Jews, January 2009
"Rose Rossi- First Victim of the One-Way Ride?" On The Spot Journal, Fall 2008
"The Fighting Parson: Remembering the Reverend Leslie Spracklin, Canada's Elliot Ness." On The Spot Journal, Volume 1, Issue 5, Winter 2007
"A Buck A Fist: Dopey Benny Fein and New York's Labor Wars". On the Spot Journal, Volume 1, Issue 3, Spring 2007
"Labor Pain: Mossy Enright and Chicago's Labor Wars". On the Spot Journal, Volume 1, Issue 1, Fall 2006
"Mary Ward: The First Fatal Automobile Accident". History Magazine, Volume 8, Number 2, December / January 2007
Personal Appearances:

Golden Age of Gangsters Convention, Itasca, Illinois, September 2004
Contributing Author / Expert:

The Most Evil Mobsters in History, by Lauren Carter. Michael O'Mara Books Ltd, London, England, UK 2004
Public Enemies: America's Criminal Past 1919-1940, by Rick Mattix and William J. Helmer. Cumberland House Publishing, (Nashville, TN), 2007
Bad Seeds In The Big Apple, by Pat Downey

Beer Summit- Duck Jimmy! "Not Bud White! I Said Bud Light!"

President Obama will drink Bud Light at the Thursday meeting with the African-American professor and white police officer who got in a dust-up earlier this month. Press secretary Robert Gibbs just made the announcement to the press pool on Air Force One

Absolute crap beer for an absolute Bullshit moment. This fine Teaching moment on race( brought to you by the Jackson Family Budweiser Distributorship) , like Obama's Philadelphia Thigh Tingler, where Reverend Wright's idiocies became America's problem, because Young Barry dug his creed, is pure bullshit and yet another nuanced way to avoid a problem of his own making for Barack Obama - not President Obama - Barack Obama - the guy who can not admit a mistake.

Picking Bud Light over a real classy American beer is a just and fitting metaphor. Sgt. Crowley is toast going into, quaffing Bud Light* and coming away from this Race Baiting Tune-up. Sgt. Jimmy Crowley is no Bud White** . . . and I kind of liked that character; so would Professor Gates, when bad guys come a calling.

* Bud Light would gag a maggot.
http://lovegoodbeer.com/2009/06/bud-light-lime-is-an-abomination/
**http://www.sheilaomalley.com/archives/008861.html

Mayor Mike Bloomberg's Remake of "Stagecoach?"

1939 Trailer of John Ford's Classic StagecoachDanger holds the reins as the devil cracks the whip ! Desperate men ! Frontier women ! Rising above their pasts in a West corrupted by violence and gun-fire !

or.

2009 Trailer for New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg's Stagecoach . . .

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg defended a city program to send homeless families out of New York on planes, trains and buses on Wednesday, saying it “saves the taxpayers of New York City an enormous amount of money.”

Speaking in the Blue Room in City Hall to announce a new finance commissioner, Mr. Bloomberg was asked if the program simply shifts the homelessness program to a different place, as some critics of the program have suggested.

“I don’t know, when they get to the other places, whether they find jobs,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “It may be an easier place for them. If we don’t — we either have two choices. We can do this program or pay an enormous amount of money daily to provide housing.”

It costs the city about $36,000 a year to provide shelter for a homeless family. The average stay in shelter is about nine months.

This bothers me no end. John Donahue died caring for Chicago's Homeless. Leo Boxing Coach/Lawyer Mike Joyce took in an aged, homeless black WWII hero and Boxing Legend Herman Mills to keep him from the street. Big Shoulders Fund targets scholarships for homeless kids. Catholic Charities is open on 79th Street Streeet & Racine providing food and supplies to homeless and impoverished families. Catholic Mercy Homes care for kids no else will care for and I have taught and worked with homeless kids all of my career as a teacher.

The ACLU hates the American Catholic Church to the marrow and takes every legal twist and turn to undo all the good that American Catholics provide to America's poor. The ACLU no doubt is thighs a tingle over Mike The Progressive Bloomberg's new production of Stagecoach.

If this is the New Empathy - Progressive Program Driven - God Help this country. Oh, that's right, the New Empathy is Godless.

One Night on MSNBC - Howard Dean Became Mel Brooks

Last Night on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann but actually Governor Howard Dean!


Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland: Meeting adjourned. Oh, I am sorry, sir, I didn't mean to overstep my bounds. You say that.
Governor Howard Dean: What?
Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland: "Meeting is adjourned".
Governor Howard Dean: It is?
Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland: No, you *say* that, Governor.
Governor Howard Dean: What?
Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland: "Meeting is adjourned".
Governor Howard Dean: It is?
Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland: [sighs, then gives the governor a paddleball] Here, sir, play with this.

Gay Give Aways, Alderman Tunney?

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the rights of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.” C.S. Lewis.

Identity Politics and Victim Agendas are played out. Alderman Tom Tunney's nod to the Gay Lesbian Bi-sexual and Transgender (GLBT) cadre is the latest such nonsense with his attempt to define GLBT as a minority in order to gain capital perks from tax-payers.

Thus:

Chicago’s first openly gay alderman today re-opened the volatile debate about whether City Hall should establish contract set-asides for businesses owned by lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgendered residents.

Six years after raising the issue only to drop it like a hot potato, Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) brought it up again during a Budget Committee hearing called to extend until 2015 a construction set-aside ordinance for minorities and women. Today, Tunney was hardpressed to explain how someone would prove they’re gay to qualify for a city set-aside — especially after the seemingly endless string of stories about minority business fraud.

“Qualified domestic partners. That could be one factor,” the alderman said.

He added, “That’s why there’s nothing passed yet in any municipality. We still need to work on the definition.”

Let's say I were a larcenous Blackguard. Recent history has taught us that there have been one or two. As a single man, a father of three children and home owner, might I not qualify? Were I to apply and say that I was, though a widower, a Proud Gay Man, would I need a like-gendered domestic partner? Or, merely the will, as Andre Malraux might to opine 'to feel Gay?' What's the test? Would I need to graphically prove Gayness? Or, might there be a more dignified loophole for this breeder Gay Wanna Be entrepreneur? T'would shock the kids and the woman I am dating, but, then again, I am a larcenous Blackguard.

Tom Tunney is a very successful business person and a very hard-working Alderman. His openly Gay tenure as Alderman has been pretty much marked by success and garnered Tunney praise from the Majority Breeders who seem to be the oppressors in this rosier shade of Identity Politics.

Gay businesses flourish. Chicago Gay Pride loudly sings that verse. Gays add to Chicago's diversity. Set-aside means a fixed game by Identity politicians. The level playing field is a field of in your dreams.

Let Gay Pride retain its proud and somber boast of its forthright and hard-working contributions to Chicago.

What is the difference between a Minority set-aside and rigged game in Commerce? Only the packaging and the editorials.


Huge thanks to Steve Jordan, banker, writer, wit and quaffer of fine Ale for the C.S. Lewis quotation in the most well-met and timely of manners!

The World's Greatest Deliberative Body Sheds Its Mortal Husk!

Chris Dodd? Dithering Dick Durbin? Al Franken?

Giants they be not.

Max Weismann of the Center for the Study of Great Ideas passed along the above cartoon. Thanks Max!

Goose Island's Matilda Could Save American Race Relations, or not.

Three great Americans are about to 'tamp down' the Race Mess!

The Beer Summit! This will be dead serious and once again, President Obama will put Race behind us all. Until, about two minutes after the Beer Summit when Robert Gibbs blows off more toes than the Italian Army after El Alamein.


I do not see this as an evening of 'three guys' looking at albums and cranking up Dr. Horse and Mitch Ryder, until Mrs. Obama calls the President into the kitchen and says, "That is about enough. Tell your Buddies good night. The girls have school and you have Health Care Reform."

Nope. This frothy confab may be just as frosty as a mother-in-law's kiss. So, why not have a great Chicago beer make its way into American History.

Might I suggest Goose Island's Matilda!




Matlida - Gooseisland Brewmasters Notes:
Wild in character, with a slightly fruity aroma and a spicy yeast flavor that is as unique as it is satisfying – Matilda is an intriguing choice for beer and wine lovers alike. Dry and quenching, it’s the perfect accompaniment at the dining table or for casually socializing at the bar.
Recipe Information:
Style: Belgian Style Pale Ale
Alcohol by Volume: 7%
International Bitterness Units: 32
Color: Golden Sunrise
Hops: Styrian, Saaz
Malts: 2-Row, Caramel

Serving Suggestions:
Preferred Glass: Wide Mouth Glass
Preferred Serving Temperature: 40º

Food Pairings: Matilda pairs with many foods. Its spicy yeast flavors compliment fresh mussels and contrast rich pork belly.

Pork Belly - Please!

Cheese Pairings: Camembert, Washed Rind Cheeses ( ditch the cheese)
Cellaring Notes: Develops in the bottle for up to 5 years

Play for Maeve at Beverly Park - Saturday, August 1, 2009

5th Annual Play for Maeve - The date for this year's event has been set. Please check back as we get closer for more information.

Save The Date to Play for Maeve McNicolas*!~
Saturday August 1st , 2009

1-6 at Beverly Park
2460 W 102nd St, Chicago, IL‎ - (312) 747-6024‎




Admission

(Includes: Food, soft drinks, T-Shirt, activities and games for the kids, entertainment)

$50 for a family ticket

$30 for an individual ticket

**New this Year a Family ticket will also include special “Maeve” string backpacks for the kids, as well as a raffle ticket to be used for an item TBA soon.


*Maeve's Story



Maeve McNicholas was born on a cold, rainy day in May, 2002 which was so opposite of what her personality turned out to be. Maeve became our sunshine. She was a sweet, calm baby that grew into an even sweeter toddler. She was extraordinary in ways that are hard to describe to those that didn't know her. She had an amazing capacity to make us smile and always shared hugs and kisses with those she loved. Even those that didn't know her well would comment on her kindness. In March of 2004, our family grew by two with the addition of Maeve's new siblings, twins Billy and Nora. Maeve, who at that time was not even 2 years old, took the major change in her life in stride. She showed little jealousy and constantly gave her new brother and sister kisses. She was going to be the best big sister ever. Our family was on top of the world – little did we know that soon it would change.

From the time she was born, Maeve was a very healthy child. She suffered from relatively few colds and seemed to be spared many of the common childhood illnesses. Occasionally she had episodes of vomiting, but these episodes would be brief. She would get sick for a day and then she wouldn't throw up again for another 6 months or so. There always seemed to be a reason. She ate too much junk or she was at the babysitters with another child that just got over the stomach flu, etc. All in all this probably happened only 3-4 times over a year and a half. There seemed to be no reason for concern.

On July 25th, 2004, Maeve vomited when we got to a family party. We attributed it to car sickness, because she had been in the sun in the car for almost an hour. She then appeared to feel better and played the rest of the day. The next day she vomited a few more times. We contacted the doctor who said to monitor Maeve’s condition and call back the next day if she wasn't better. She got worse during the night so we brought her to the doctor the next day. The doctor said to take her to the ER to be treated for dehydration. That's all they thought it was - dehydration. When she didn’t “perk” up in the ER, they decided to keep her overnight for observation. Soon after, she had a seizure and then a few minutes later another one. Maeve looked at my husband and myself and said "It's okay". Those were the last words we would hear Maeve say before they sedated her. A few hours later we were informed by the doctors that there was a "significant" mass in her brain. We still had hope, Maeve had a lot of spunk, we could fight this. After waiting through an agonizing night, we met with the neurosurgeons the following morning. They planned on performing surgery to remove the tumor; however that was not to be. Maeve's condition never became stable and the swelling in her brain, despite the placement of a shunt, caused too much damage. She went to Heaven at 4:37 am on July 29th, 2004, less than 36 hours after being diagnosed with a brain tumor. Maeve was only 26 months old.

Rick Kogan Hosts Newberry Freedom Fest in Bughouse Square

Abraham Lincoln mopped the street with Judge Stephen Douglas. Two great actors, in 19th Century dress, reenacted the The Fifth Debate(Galesburg) of the Great Lincoln Douglas Debates.

The McCormick Foundation ran a Freedom of Speech Booth.

Amnesty International offered literature to Chicagoans, about political abuse of prisoners.

Illinois Atheist Pontifex Maximus, Rob Sherman walked around with a giant plastic Dill Pickle and proved that his arms are too short to box with God. The Dude is passionate and intense - really intense. God love him! Mr. Sherman had an Atheist tour bus that would have been the envy of Madonna . . . or the Madonna!

Check it out on Rob Sherman's site - It was parked on La Salle across from the Library - Ten-4, Rollers! Atheistical Mystery Tour is East Bound and Down!
http://www.robsherman.com/

Chicago writer, WGN radio host, golfer and Patriot, Rick Kogan directed the public speaking events made moving eulogies form Bughouse Square heroes the late Alderman Leon Depres and Studs Terkel. The always classy Rick Kogan asked for a moment of silence and Rob Sherman loudly objected to amusement of all.

Hey, Speak on it Brother! This was celebration of America at its Best in place that is a temple of Free Speech.

The Newberry Library hosted the 25th Annual Book Fair and it was a great success. The staff of the Newberry took care of browsers and buyers with speed and efficiency.

All around the park, preregistered speakers took to the soapboxes and gave out like Americans! Rick Kogan and I chatted about the power of the two actors who portrayed Lincoln and Douglas( with Michael Krebs taking the part of Lincoln, and Larry Diemer that of Douglas), as well as the intrinsic power of the words of Galesburg Debates themselves.

Douglas was a Democratic Party line, save the union orator with unhappy task of defending slavery.

Lincoln was the sharp, homey Illinois Central lawyer who bobs and weaves with the geography of Illinois. Douglas complained about Lincoln's feckless abuse of the Truth over the issue of slavery - saying one thing in Charleston and another in Freeport. Lincoln cleaned his clock with this!

When the Judge says, in speaking on this subject, that I make speeches of one sort for the people of the northern end of the State, and of a different sort for the southern people, he assumes that I do not understand that my speeches will be put in print and read North and South. I knew all the while that the speech that I made at Chicago, and the one I made at Jonesboro and the one at Charleston, would all be put in print, and all the reading and intelligent men in the community would see them and know all about my opinions. And I have not supposed, and do not now suppose, that there is any conflict whatever between them. But the Judge will have it that if we do not confess that there is a sort of inequality between the white and black races, which justifies us in making them slaves, we must then insist that there is a degree of equality that requires us to make them our wives. Now, I have all the while taken a broad distinction in regard to that matter; and that is all there is in these different speeches which he arrays here; and the entire reading of either of the speeches will show that that distinction was made. Perhaps by taking two parts of the same speech he could have got up as much of a conflict as the one he has found. I have all the while maintained that in so far as it should be insisted that there was an equality between the white and black races that should produce a perfect social and political equality, it was an impossibility. This you have seen in my printed speeches, and with it I have said, that in their right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” as proclaimed in that old Declaration, the inferior races are our equals. And these declarations I have constantly made in reference to the abstract moral question, to contemplate and consider when we are legislating about any new country which is not already cursed with the actual presence of the evil,—slavery. I have never manifested any impatience with the necessities that spring from the actual presence of black people amongst us, and the actual existence of slavery amongst us where it does already exist; but I have insisted that, in legislating for new countries where it does not exist, there is no just rule other than that of moral and abstract right! With reference to those new countries, those maxims as to the right of a people to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” were the just rules to be constantly referred to. There is no misunderstanding this, except by men interested to misunderstand it. I take it that I have to address an intelligent and reading community, who will peruse what I say, weigh it, and then judge whether I advance improper or unsound views, or whether I advance hypocritical and deceptive, and contrary views in different portions of the country.

Thanks Rick Kogan and thank you to the folks at Newberry Library!