Knowledge and Wisdom - What to do with a Tomato

Et tecum sapientia tua, quæ novit opera tua,
quæ et affuit tunc cum orbem terrarum faceres,
et sciebat quid esset placitum oculis tuis,
et quid directum in præceptis tuis.

(And your wisdom with you, which knows your works, and these things, and then was present with you made the world,and knew what was pleasing to your eyes, and what was right in your commandments.)

Initium sapientiae timor Domini. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom

Knowing a lot of stiff is nice - Trivial Pursuit, Jeopardy, Game Shows and Post Graduate degrees. I got letters after my name - BA, MA -BFD.

I know some Latin, some Anglo Saxon, some Spanish, less French and German.

Knowing stuff is good but wisdom is better.

Knowing the speed limit is good, but driving the speed limits is wise. Knowing the calories in a Whopper with Cheese is most impressive, but forgoing the ingestion of six of the big boys followed by a two hour nap is wisdom itself.

Knowing about Charlie Sheen might be of some help, and knowing to avoid eye contact with the gent is most helpful.

Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

Rahm Ready - Policy Power! There Should Be “No Petticoats in Politics.”

Date night for Jane Addams and Ellen Starr -Progressive Icons

From the moment that manly Miss Jane Addams stabbed her political sponsor*, Alderman Johnny Powers, in the back ( repeatedly by the way) and managed the media of her day, people who could never manage to get three people to vote for them in a public election have driven Policy. Policy is the governmental Yin to the Yang that is Politics.

Policy is cooked up by academics. Politics is the response to life's practical necessities. Policy is Progressive and Politics is practical government's hand maiden. However, the 19th Century Short-Haired Women and Long-Haired Men are today's Progressive. When policy purges politics, Progressives retain Power.

When a popular vote on public policy is an impossibility, Policy gets worked through a compliant legislature or at best the courts. Polling is applied and pie-charts spice policy. Today in Kristen Mack's fine Chicago Tribune caveat Chicago nonprofits fund Emanuel team's transition:Leading foundations agree to cover $200,000 in costs, we get a glimpse into the progressive policy wheel being set up. Qui bono? Not us helots that's fer dang shure! The usual 1960's SDS crowd of Cadillac Commies and real estate moguls will do handsomely.

Rahm Emanuel is going to cut aldermen from 50 to 25 and the media shouts up high Hosannas! Rahm Emanuel's transition will be funded not out of 'political coffers,' but from 501(c)3's dodging the political restrictions of federal laws under the camoflage of 'Policy.'

"There must be a constructive structure to develop policy priorities so that the next mayor enters City Hall with a plan to address a slew of pressing problems — an annual $500 million budget deficit, a $600 million pension shortfall, a public schools system in need of reform, depressed morale among the police force, and public transit infrastructure that requires massive capital investment," the proposal reads.

Each committee is staffed by a consultant with the Civic Consulting Alliance and a transition team employee, who will be primarily responsible for a final public report.

Between now and April 15, the committees will meet, identify candidates for key appointments and develop an initial approach for the budget, according to the proposal. By May 2, Emanuel's transition team will prioritize initiatives and publish a transition plan, including a 100-day road map and long-term policies.

E.g. - here is sample mission statement for the Harris Public Policy Institute at University of Chicago:

Our Mission
To understand and influence public policies by conducting policy-relevant research and preparing talented individuals to become leaders and agents of social change. To serve as a liaison between the academy's research on public policy questions and practitioners in the field.

This Policy gambit has been a long time cooking with many chefs ( activisits, distinguished professors, gutless political hacks, lawyers and opportunists) and has stripped the power of politics locally and nationally. There is much more on the way - what we eat, what we drink, how we worship, what we are allowed to read, what is taught, who goes to jail and who is bullet-proof is determined by Policy.

*Removing Alderman Powers from office, Jane Addams told the sober gentlemen of the Society for Ethical Culture, would be no simple task. It would require a fundamental change in the ethical standards of the community, as well as the development of a deeper insight on the part of the reformers. These latter, she pointed out, with all their zeal for well-ordered, honest politics, were not eager to undertake the responsibilities of self-government 365 days a year. They were quite willing to come into the nineteenth ward at election time to exhort the citizenry, but were they willing to make a real effort to achieve personal relationships of the kind that stood Johnny Powers in such good stead?

Policy and Progressives - grab your hat and put both hands in your pockets and reach around for that wallet! That will be impossible.

For Progressives who would not part with a personal penny to a pan-handler, nothing is impossible - once you ditch original thought, quit reading, and accept the doctrines policy will hand down. We are going to pay plenty.

The Great Rick Kogan's Hand is Flush With Green Queens

Rick Kogan* has a voice like a Gothic cathedral's pipe organ. My God, the man has pipes! His Sidewalks feature on WGN amasses a loyal following of listeners not only for the pitch and timbre of Kogan's majestic voice, but also the high quality of the narrative. As a journalist and word sketcher, Rick Kogan is the equal of Dan McGrath, a sportswriter/editor of national renown and the leader of Leo High School's institutional advancement efforts.

Today, Kogan treats us all with wonderful portrait of Chicago's ethnic royalty - the St. Patrick's Day Queens. Interestingly, in Kogan's print basso susurrations for the Sunday Tribune links us with another voice Catherine O'Connell**.

Cathy O'Connell is the 1976 St. Patrick's Day Queen Emerita and one the most gifted singers in this town. Cathy sang at Leo High School for the November Veterans Observances in tribute to all who serve America.

It is a great kind of a sorority," said O'Connell. "I feel like a den mother. We have so much fun together."

Gorecki said, "I probably didn't realize it until the luncheon, but this honor and these women who came before me are part of me forever."

The 21-year-old Gorecki — "Polish on my dad's side and Irish on my mom's side," she said — is a freshman at DePaul University majoring in international studies, having taken a break after high school to explore a musical career on the West Coast. But she is determined that music stay a part of her life.

If she needs a role model, there is not far to look. O'Connell has made a fine career as a singer, first in taverns and cabarets before quitting to start a family. For the last decade or so she has been drawn to more intimate and less raucous spaces, such as churches, cathedrals and theaters.

O'Connell will be performing with longtime pals Kathleen Keane and Jimmy Moore on April 16 at the Skokie Theatre.

She used to characterize her career by saying, "I marry 'em, and I bury 'em" but since expanding her realm to include performing at baptisms, she said playfully, "I'm hatchin', matchin' and dispatchin'." She has also made five wonderful CDs, survived a horrific car crash, raised three fine young boys and still proudly wears, but once a year, the yellow sash she received long ago when she was a queen.

The Queen of St. Paddy's Day is the subject of Mount Carmel's Pride and Chicago Renaissance Man Mike Houlihan's*** charming film Her Majesty, 'da Queen, which Rich Kogan mentions with unparalleled prose bass-baritone.

Chicago has many people to treasure.

Time to get ready for Mass!

*

Rick Kogan:Born and raised and still living in Chicago, Rick Kogan (left) has worked for the Chicago Daily News, Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune, where he is currently a senior writer and columnist. Named Chicago's Best Reporter in 1999 and inducted into the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame in 2003, he is the creator and host of WGN radio's "Sunday Papers with Rick Kogan" and the author of a dozen books, including "Everybody Pays: Two Men, One Murder and the Price of Truth" (with Maurice Possley), "America's Mom: The Life, Lesson and Legacy of Ann Landers," "A Chicago Tavern," the history of the Billy Goat, and "Sidewalks I" and "Sidewalks II," collections of his columns embellished by the work of photographer Charles Osgood

**

Singer Catherine O'Connell grew up in Chicago and in love with Chicago. Her affection for performing was nurtured by her parents, James and Mary, who shared with her their passions for music and theater. Her father, a talented amateur singer, gave her this early advice: "Tell the story and sing the song with a tear in your voice. Her mother, an accomplished actress, offered this: "Enunciate or no one will understand you."
Catherine, who was the St. Patrick Day Parade Queen in 1976, later developed her distinctive style and dramatic stage presence by performing in dozens of pubs, saloons and cabarets in Chicago, New York and the Caribbean.
Leaving the club scene to raise three boys, she switched direction in her career to focus on more intimate spaces in the city and suburbs, where the emotional impact of her singing has gathered her a large and devoted following. Bill Fraher, director of music at Old St. Patrick’s Church, calls her "the best communicator" he has ever worked with and one friend said "I never thought I could live through my mother’s funeral and you made me sing."
The Chicago Tribune's and WGN's Rick Kogan says, "Catherine is an original, as gifted a singer and as sensitive a performer as I have ever heard and seen. She might easily have become a star in the New York scene but, God love her, she's tied to our town."
March 2002 Catherine released her CD entitled 'I Arise Today' and December 2003 released 'Songs From My Father' available at Irish shops around the city and catherineoconnell.com.
From saloons to Symphony Center, chapels to cathedrals, funeral homes to festival halls, Catherine has touched the hearts and lifted the spirits of thousands of Chicagoans. She is currently working on a Christmas CD.

***Mike Houlihan

Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world
Like a Colossus, and we petty men
Walk under his huge legs and peep about
To find ourselves dishonourable graves.

Tommy Z Fights in AC tomorrow night on HBO - Leo Boxing Coach Mike Joyce is in His Corner!

Leo Boxing Coach Mike Joyce will be in Tommy Z's corner tomorrow night at Caesar's Palace in Atlantic City, NJ. Tommy will be fighting for another victory in his professional boxing career that paralles his NFL career as a safety for the Baltimore Ravens.

Baltimore Ravens safety and former Notre Dame captain Tommy Zbikowski*, Chicago wishes undefeated WBA/IBF featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa, Miami, Florida good luck during media day in Atlantic City Thursday. Gamboa gets set to battle challenger Jorge Solis, Guadalajara, Mexico on Saturday, March 26, at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. Zbikowski will also take on Caleb Grummet in a special attraction heavyweight bout. Highlights from Zbikowski’s fight will be shown during the telecast. Gamboa vs Solis is promoted by Top Rank, in association with Arena Box and Caesars Atlantic City and will be televised on HBO’s Boxing After Dark.

*

Thomas Michael Zbikowski was born on May 22, 1985 in Park Ridge, Illinois, the youngest of four children born to Edmund Richard Zbikowski and Susan Lois (née Schatz) Zbikowski. His siblings are Kristen Nicole Zbikowski, Edmund Joseph "E. J." Zbikowski and Stephen Zbikowski, who died in infancy in 1980. He is of Polish descent on his father's side of the family and of German descent on his mother's side of the family. He grew up in Arlington Heights, Illinois. He attended Greenbrier Elementary School and Thomas Middle School in Arlington Heights, Illinois and then high school at Buffalo Grove High School in Buffalo Grove, Illinois. He graduated from Buffalo Grove in 2003. He played youth football with the Buffalo Grove Bills during elementary and middle school. At Buffalo Grove High School, he played quarterback where he set the school records in scoring (202 total points), and rushing (2357 yards, 7.4 average, 32 tds) before becoming a defensive back as well.

[edit] College careerHe went to the University of Notre Dame. At Notre Dame, he had a very productive collegiate career. He was an all-independent safety for 2 of his 4 years.

[edit] BoxingOn June 10, 2006, Zbikowski made his professional boxing debut at Madison Square Garden in New York City, beating his opponent, Robert Bell of Akron, Ohio, by TKO within 49.0 seconds of the first round. The fight was compliant with NCAA guidelines.[citation needed] Bell, who is an Ohio State fan, wore an Ohio State football jersey into the ring. He signed a three-fight contract and has one fight left. Zbikowski boxed a three-round exhibition fight against Ryan St. Germaine on March 2, 2007 at the Belterra Casino & Resort, Belterra. After the 2008 NFL season he decided to put his boxing career on hold to focus on football.

On March 12, 2011, Zbikowski returned to the ring for the first time since 2007, taking on 1-2 35-year-old Richard Bryant in Las Vegas, amidst ongoing NFL labor contract discord.[1] Zbikowski won by TKO after 1 minute 45 seconds in the first round of the scheduled four-round fight.[2]

[edit] Professional boxing record2 Wins (2 knockouts), 0 Losses 0 Draws 0 No Contest[1]
Res. Record Opponnent Type Rd., Time Date Location Notes
N/A N/A Caleb Grummet - - (4) 2011-03-26 Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Win 2-0 Richard Bryant TKO 1 (4), 1:45 2011-03-12 MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win 1-0 Robert Bell TKO 1 (4), 0:49 2006-06-10 Madison Square Garden, New York, New York Zbikowski's Professional debut.

Another knockout!

Leo High School Shareholders Rally - March 24, 2011

Leo High School has been serving Chicago since 1926. The first applicant to Leo High School is Francis O'Neill of Visitation Parish. Mr. O'Neill of the Charter Class of 1930 retired as a City of Chicago Bridge Tender and on February 26, 2011 turned one hundred years young.

Leo High School Ready for Future With or Without Father Michael Pfleger : MyFoxCHICAGO.com

Yesterday, Mr. O'Neill's younger brothers* gathered to Celebrate Leo High School - Gene Earner was the first man in the gym and had managed to arrive before the always early Frank McDermott. Decorated Vietnam Veterans Jim Farrell and Rich Doyle, retired Fire Commissioner Jim Joyce and CFD Deputy Chief Jim Corbett, Chicago Bulls officer Curtis Cooper, legendary teacher and coach Jack Fitzgerald, Professional Elevator Services President & CEO Ken Mason, Dr. Jack O'Keefe, retired Boeing Corp. officer Rich Finn, retired Secret Service agent Larry Lynch, Larry Banamann, Bernie Pepping, Mike Anderson - black and white Lions all - mingled and greeted students Hakim Chatman, Keith Harris, Thomas Finezzy, Lawrence Littlejohn, Eder Cruz, Jovan Lewis, Jeremy Stewart, and Alumni faculty Noah Cannon, Bill Tomaka, Mike Holmes, and President Dan McGrath and our Superintendent of Catholic Schools Sister Mary Paul McCaughey, our parents, and Alumni parents like the great Lloyd Fuller N.B. Mr. Fuller is one of the leading black contractors in Chicago and Leo gets in Lloyd's wallet almost as often as it gets him to drive vans and buses for out of town basketball games.

Many thanks to the officers of the Sixth District, especially Sgt. Parker! The Sarge keeps an eye on the young Lions, as well as all the over-tasked officers of the Fighting Sixth!

Let it be known that Leo Advisory Board Member, attorney, journalist and Fox TV legl analyst Tamara Holder was the first to push for this rally. Tamara Holder wanted Leo's great work to eclipse any bad press,

Eighty Five years of success is taken one day at a time. Deeds not Words ( Facta Non Verba) is Leo's Motto. The Lion Roars!

* I will miss some great Leo Man - remember, I am but a Little Flower Lancer, a worker-bee, and an epic-ly flawed individual.

Another Presidential Teaching Moment - Always Carry Your Keys

Dang! This happens. You're on vacation. You come home. You rememeber - the house keys are in the change dish, right below the kitchen window. You locked up before you left. That is the right thing to do, but only after you stick the house keys in your jeans.


Well, that crumb George W. Bush never told President Obama about the spare set under the lawn gnome.

Today is the Feast St. Caiman - Founder of Schools Would Celebrate Leo High School

Saint Caimin
(Seventh century)

Caimin (or Caminus) was the son of Dima. He came from the race of Hy-Kinselagh and the noble stock of the Kings of Leinster. Caimin was half-brother of Guare, king of Connaught. Their mother was Cuman or Cumania, also known as Mumania. She was the daughter of Dalbronius. Little is known of Caimin's early life but considering his lineage it is certain that he was educated. The Parliamentary Gazeteer of 1845 writes that on Inis Cealtra (Holy Island) "he led a life of contemplation and austerity, the fame of which attracted to its shores numbers desirous of imitating his virtues and receiving instruction. The concourse of these disciples became at length so great that the holy man was compelled to found a place for their reception and shelter, and thus originated a monastery which, in after times, enjoyed a far-spread reputation."

It is actually unclear as to who founded the monastery of Inis Cealtra, St. Colum, St. Stellan or St. Caimin. However, St. Caimin is celebrated in local lore and legend for his many miracles and for his saintly life. It seems certain that he either built or rebuilt a monastery on Inis Cealtra and it is said that he had a reputable school here. There is evidence that a lay community and many monks resided here. Samuel Lewis writing in 1837 says that Caimin "is said to have written a commentary on the Psalms, which he collated with the Hebrew text." It is known as "St. Caimin's Psalter" and is ascribed to him by tradition. However, though it possibly originated on Inis Cealtra, it is far too late for Caimin. It dates to the eleventh or twelfth century.

St. Caimin was Bishop Abbot of Inis Cealtra and some accounts claim he was the first Bishop of Killaloe. He died probably in 644 or 652, though the Annals of Inisfallen claim that he died in 654. St. Caimin's feast day is on March 24th.

By the way, a great Catholic School on 79th Street Celebrates 85 Years of "Untroubled' Success - One year at a time.

Come Celebrate Leo High School – Our Shareholder’s
Meeting: You are the Shareholders of a Very Successful School- We Celebrate You! – Thursday March 24 at 11:30 A.M.

Leo High School invites parents, Alumni, neighbors, pastors, benefactors, and partners to a Celebration of Leo High School

Leo High School is a Blessed School – 85 Years in Christ’s Service

Leo High School is a Successful School – 85 Years of Academic Achievenment

Leo High School Moves Ahead– 85 Years of Generous Alumni Support is Good Start

Come Celebrate Leo in the iconic Brother Finch Gymnasium on the third floor of Leo High School –Thursday March 24, 2011 at 11;30 AM – The Leo High School National Honor Society will escort all shareholders and visitors from 79th Street to the gym via the gymnasium entrance.

Leo High School
7901 S. Sangamon Street
Chicago, IL 60655


11: 30 AM in Leo Gym Principal Phil Mesina – Sister McCaughey – President Dan McGrath will celebrate


The secured the support of a prominent retired contractor who gave the school an immediate $50,000 and a pledge to repair the long closed swimming pool
NFL legend Gale Sayers’ partnership with Leo High School in order to allow his Foundation capacity to launch an after school mentoring, computer skills and public speaking class.
Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity grant of $ 300,000 for the acquisition of land near Leo HS for future development – gym and facilities
Solid Campaign Leo support and on-track foundation support in a poor economy
Major gifts by Leo Alumni in the amounts of $150,000, $100,000, and $ 50,000
Increased ACT scores by a full percentage ( Hat –tip to Alums Dr. O’Keefe and Mr. Conway
The success of the Freshman Academy – Highest GPA in School
Impressive College Placement – Too numerous to detail here
Ongoing and solid support from the Office of Catholic Schools
Record Incoming Freshman entrance exam numbers – Highest since 2007
On-going enrollment boost including Hispanic and white students
On-going enrollment boost
On-going competitive extra-curricular athletic and academic programs – football, boxing, track & field, basketball, baseball, bowling, chess
Looking to launching a Major Capital Campaign with Latz and Wall to further advance Leo’s Mission and future

Feast of St. Nicholas Owen of Oxford - Architecture's First Principle

Architecture is based upon three principles: Shelter, Efficiency and Human Expression. According Matt Taylor in his Philosophy and Practice of Architecture write "Architecture shelters human life ; produces an efficient arrangement of space and utilities; and expresses the best of human life (the values that make life possible and worth." My domicile on Rockwell Street in Chicago is a raised ranch; has bedrooms, baths, kitchens, a living room no one in my house uses and storage; and reflects my social and economic status as an American helot. It works for me, the kids and the cat.

Today, we praise St. Nicholas Owen of Oxford, England 1550? - 2 March 1606 in the tower of London) St. Nicholas Owen was a Jesuit lay brother and is one of Great Britain's Forty Martyrs of the Penal Times 1559 -1829.

Owen was a little guy - here on the south side, he'd be called a "Halfie." Hey, Nicky Boy, step up out of that hole, Son! The Rims is shaking and quaking up at the park in expectation of of your arrival!

However, like all of us little men, Owen rose to life's challenges with skills and gifts God gave him. Nicholas Owen became a skilled carpenter and crafted hiding spaces in the homes of Catholic gentry during the persecution of Catholics by the Tudors. So inventive and imaginative were the designs of Nicholas Owen in helping Catholics escape the clutches of Lusty Hank and Bloody Bess ( she was not played by Helen Mirren) that Sir Robert Cecil, a skunk of the first order, remarked upon the capture of Nicholas Owen,"It is incredible, how great was the joy caused by his arrest... knowing the great skill of Owen in constructing hiding places, and the innumerable quantity of dark holes which he had schemed for hiding priests all through England."

Owen took the First Principle of Architecture to its height - sheltering human existence. Nicholas Owen took the protective womb of motherhood and fashioned his own design to preserve life.

Owen was horribly tortured to death in the tower of London.

. . . the Keeper of the Tower, appreciated the importance of the disclosures which Owen might be forced to make. After being committed to the Marshalsea and thence removed to the Tower, he was submitted to most terrible "examinations" on the Topcliffe rack, with both arms held fast in iron rings and body hanging, and later on with heavy weights attached to his feet, and at last died under torture.

This little guy did alright.

Saint Nicholas Owen was canonized as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales by Pope Paul VI on 25 October 1970. His feast day, along with that of the other thirty-nine martyrs, is on 25 October. Catholic stage magicians who practice Gospel Magic consider St. Nicholas Owen the Patron of Illusionists and Escapologists due to his facility at using "trompe l'oeil" when creating his hideouts and the fact that he escaped from the Tower of London.

60 Minutes - A Great Profile of a Genuine Priest - Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York

This guy is the real deal. The Catholic Church in America seems to have a real leader in Archbishop Dolan. New York Archdiocese has a "Dagger John" Hughes again.

Timothy Michael Dolan was named Archbishop of New York by Pope Benedict XVI on February 23, 2009. He was installed as Archbishop of New York on April 15, 2009.

He had served as Archbishop of Milwaukee since he was named by Pope John Paul II on June 25, 2002. He was installed as Milwaukee's 10th archbishop on August 28, 2002, at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, papal nuncio to the United States, installed Archbishop Dolan.

Born February 6, 1950, Archbishop Dolan was the first of five children born to Shirley Radcliffe Dolan and the late Robert Dolan. In 1964, he began his high school seminary education at St. Louis Preparatory Seminary South in Shrewsbury, Mo. His seminary foundation continued at Cardinal Glennon College, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy. He then completed his priestly formation at the Pontifical North American College in Rome where he earned a License in Sacred Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas.

Archbishop Dolan was ordained to the priesthood on June 19, 1976. He then served as associate pastor at Immacolata Parish in Richmond Heights, Mo., until 1979 when he began studies for a doctorate in American Church History at the Catholic University of America. Before completing the doctorate, he spent a year researching the late Archbishop Edwin O'Hara, a founder of the Catholic Biblical Association. Archbishop O'Hara's life and ministry was the subject of the Archbishop's doctoral dissertation.

On his return to St. Louis, Archbishop Dolan served in parish ministry from 1983-87, during which time he was also liaison for the late Archbishop John L. May in the restructuring of the college and theology programs of the archdiocesan seminary system.

In 1987, Archbishop Dolan was appointed to a five-year term as secretary to the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, D.C. When he returned to St. Louis in 1992, he was appointed vice rector of Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, serving also as director of Spiritual Formation and professor of Church History. He was also an adjunct professor of theology at Saint Louis University.

In 1994, he was appointed rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome where he served until June 2001. While in Rome, he also served as a visiting professor of Church History at the Pontifical Gregorian University and as a faculty member in the Department of Ecumenical Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas. The work of the Archbishop in the area of seminary education has influenced the life and ministry of a great number of priests of the new millennium.

On June 19, 2001 – the 25th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood – then Fr. Dolan was named the Auxiliary Bishop of St. Louis by Pope John Paul II. The new Bishop Dolan chose for his Episcopal motto the profession of faith of St. Peter: Ad Quem Ibimus, "Lord to whom shall we go?" (Jn 6:68).

Archbishop Dolan served as chairman of Catholic Relief Services from January 2009 – November 2010. He is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of The Catholic University of America. He is also a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization.

On June 29, 2009, Archbishop Dolan received the pallium, a symbol of his office as an archbishop, from His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, at St. Peter's Basilica.

On November 16, 2010, Archbishop Dolan was elected president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. He succeeds Cardinal Francis George of Chicago.

Eyeless on Gaza - Israel Mills it Alone. God Help Us.

. . .Promise was that I
Should Israel from Philistian yoke deliver!
Ask for this great Deliverer now, and find him
Eyeless in Gaza, at the mill with slaves,
Himself in bonds under Philistian yoke.
Yet stay; let me not rashly call in doubt
Divine prediction. What if all foretold
Had been fulfilled but through mine own default?
Whom have I to complain of but myself,
Who this high gift of strength committed to me,
In what part lodged, how easily bereft me,
Under the seal of silence could not keep,
But weakly to a woman must reveal it,
O’ercome with importunity and tears?
O impotence of mind in body strong!

Samson Agonistes ll.39-52 John Milton (1608–1674).

All eyes are on Libya - for now. All eyes were on Tunisia, Eygpt and other Iranian backed satrapies in the womb. All eyes are on the gas pumps. All eyes are on Charlie Sheen, Michael Moore and the race to the Final Four. Soon all eyes on Rio.

Israel is being shelled from Gaza - again.

Civilian areas in southern Israel were heavily shelled by Palestinian terrorists in Gaza on Saturday morning, when more than 50 mortars were fired at the regional councils of Sha'ar Hanegev, Eshkol and Sdot Hanegev.

There is a push to force the new government in Eygpt to further lift the blockade of weapons to Gaza. The hand-wringers and do-gooders call that humanitarian aid.

I read. I read the news. I read the New York Times and posts from NPR, as well as foreign press. I also read literature. John Milton is one of those Dead White Men that Noam Chomsky and other fashionable academic nut-bags have managed to purge from textbooks. Milton is tough. He was tough in Cromwell's time and he is tough to read now. Toughness is endurance.

Israel is tough. By south side Chicago standards, toughness is measured by how much one can endure. Like Samson in Milton's epic poem Samson Agonistes ( Agonsistes is Greek for 'struggle,' or even 'athleticism'), Israel is a flawed hero.

Milton, according to the dictates of epic form - begins his poem In Medias Res - in middle of the action.

Samson has been blinded and forced to push a mill stone and grind for his enemies - this hero wonders if his sins have brought him to this low work, when he was to be the source of liberation for his people. Israel is not blinded but it mills for civilization,surrounded by enemies and worse -feckless allies.

Samson fights despair. Samson fulfills the will of God, in a manner unforeseen. That's how God rolls.

Israel fights annihilation, while the world goes dark.

Milton was no Noam Chomsky. Milton understood God's will. Milton endures. Israel endures. Let's see if the rest of us get our sight back.

In The Long View of Things - Post St. Paddy's and Other Things

NEW SOUTH WALES
cho: Here we are in New South Wales Shearing sheep as big as whales, with Leather necks and jaggy tails And hides as tough as rusty nails.When shearing comes, lay down your drumsStep to the boards you brand-new chumsWith the rattum-rattum-rub-a-dub-dubWe'll send you back on the lime juice tub.The brand new chums and cappy sonsFancy they're the greatest guns.Fancy they can shear the woolBut the beggars can only tear and pull.[ From: http://www.elyrics.net/read/l/lloyd-lyrics/new-south-wales-lyrics.html]Though you live beyond your meansYour daughters wear no crinolines;Nor are they bothered by boots or shoesBut live wild in the bush with the kangaroos.Oh it's home I'd like to beFar from the bush and back countrySixteen thousand miles I've comeTo spend my life as a shearing bum.

Well, if you've got a wing-o,
Take her up to Ring-o
Where the waxies sing-o all the day;
If you've had your fill of porter, And you can't go any further
Give your man the order: "Back to the Quay!"

And take her up to Monto, Monto, Monto
Take her up to Monto, lan-ge- roo,
To you!

Have you heard of Buckshot Forster,
The dirty old impostor
Took a mot and lost her, up the Furry Glen.
He first put on his bowler
And buttoned up his trousers,
Then whistled for a growler and he said, "My man!"

Take me up to Monto, Monto, Monto
Take me up to Monto, lan-ge- roo,
To you!

You've seen the Dublin Fusiliers,
The dirty old bamboozeleers,
De Wet'll kill them chiselers, one, two, three.
Marching from the Linen Hall
There's one for every cannonball,
And Vicky's going to send them all, o'er the sea.

But first go up to Monto, Monto, Monto
March them up to Monto, lan-ge- roo,
To you!

When Carey told on Skin-the-goat,
O'Donnell caught him on the boat
He wished he'd never been afloat, the dirty skite.
It wasn't very sensible
To tell on the Invincibles
They stand up for their principles, day and night.

And you'll find them all in Monto, Monto, Monto
Standing up in Monto, lan-ge- roo,
To you!

Now when the Tsar of Russia
And the King of Prussia
Landed in the Phoenix in a big balloon,
They asked the police band
To play "The Wearin' of the Green"
But the buggers from the depot didn't know the tune.

So they both went up to Monto, Monto, Monto
Scarpered up to Monto, lan-ge- roo,
To you!

The Queen she came to call on us,
She wanted to see all of us
I'm glad she didn't fall on us, she's eighteen stone.
"Mister Me Lord Mayor," says she,
"Is this all you've got to show me?"
"Why, no ma'am there's some more to see, Póg mo thóin!"

And he took her up Monto, Monto, Monto
He set her up in Monto, lan-ge- roo,
For you!

Jim Tyree - A Shining Star

James C. Tyree, chairman and CEO of Mesirow Financial and the chairman of Sun-Times Media, died Wednesday afternoon after battling cancer for several months. He was 53.

So much more . . .




God Welcome Jim Tyree!

Leo High School and God's Works - How He Goes About It? Get A Load of a Platypus

The bizarre appearance of this egg-laying, venomous, duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed mammal baffled European naturalists when they first encountered it, with some considering it an elaborate fraud. It is one of the few venomous mammals; the male platypus has a spur on the hind foot that delivers a venom capable of causing severe pain to humans. The unique features of the platypus make it an important subject in the study of evolutionary biology and a recognisable and iconic symbol of Australia; it has appeared as a mascot at national events and is featured on the reverse of the Australian 20 cent coin. The platypus is the animal emblem of the state of New South Wales.

Until the early 20th century it was hunted for its fur, but it is now protected throughout its range. Although captive breeding programmes have had only limited success and the platypus is vulnerable to the effects of pollution, it is not under any immediate threat

Platypus -Wikipedia

Lord Have Mercy! There be some strange things.

We had an Advisory Board sub-Committee meeting here at Leo High School last night. The seven Leo Alumni and Principal Phil Mesina and I, talked for hours about recent college admissions of Leo seniors to Marquette, University of Illinois,Valparaiso, Ripon, Iowa, De Paul and twenty other great schools, the testing of the largest incoming freshmen class including white and Hispanic students, new patrons, and engaging the great Leo Latz - the absolute best friend maker and institutional advancement wizard in America.

As Al Swearingen, CEO and President of Gem Saloon and Cat House in Deadwood remarked, "announcing your plans is a good way to hear God laugh." We are not tipping our hands at all. God has plans for Leo High School that reach back to Chicago's greatest Archbishop - Cardinal Mundelein. That far-sighted German-American ordered that a Catholic high school for boys be established at 79th & Sangamon. It is and it is here to stay.

God works 24/7. I work because I enjoy it. What I accomplish often looks like the dog's dinner, or has an emetic effect on many people. Trying does not get it done and you do not get atta-boys for doing your job.

Thanks to the great Bob Foster and the wildly great hearted Leo Alumni, Leo survived the wrecking ball of Hennighan Demolition that took down the Irish Christian Brother Monastery on the west side of Sangamon Street. Leo became the fortress for success to African American young men like Lt. Mario Bullock, USA ( West Point Grad), Lonnie Newman, head pipe-fitter at O'Hare Airport, Jelani Clay, rocket scientist, and hundreds of others. Leo High School held its ground.

Now, Leo High School is bolting out of the blocks and down a bright path behind President Dan McGrath. I love the work!

God's plans are worked out somehow by the fat fingers of mopes like me following the vision, authority and concern of many people aiming at the same goal. We will see this work through according to God's Will.

God's Will includes many strange sights along the bright path to His Kingdom. Get a load of the platypus - it is there for a reason, beyond eating crayfish, worms and other Australian goodies.