Senate Democrats Fear Arlen Specter To be Mole Man! Go with the Feeling Lads!

"His actions over this past week have done nothing to curry favors with either party," said Penny Lee, a former senior adviser to Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell (D) and now a Democratic consultant. "He needs to show some willingness to be a Democrat."

Another Democratic strategist who follows Senate races closely was more blunt about the damage Specter has done to himself over the last week. "Do you think that any right-minded local Democratic elected official is going to stick his neck out for Arlen?" the source asked rhetorically. "Or any member of the Democratic Senate caucus?"

The People Who Get into Public Service - John Daley Showed the Way and So Did Forrest Claypool!

Conclusion: We can all whine about Stroger and the board and taxes until our skin is wrinkled and we're ready for diapers and the old folks home.

If you don't like the direction of your government, run for office and change it. K. McQueary

Kristen McQueary in today's (click my post title) Southtown Star gives a blunt summary to all the beefing about our political Straw-Persons in public life, be it Blago, Burris, or Todd Stoger.

Doing something for other people, whether you are a nurse, cop, firefighter, teacher, priest, rabbi, soldier, or government official puts a target on your back. Hell, you get the same troubles in the private sector, but public service folks get the infamy of Media second-guessers and stooges with barrels of ink.

There truly is no good deed that goes unpunished. However, the only option is to turn-up the music, drink more, sedate yourself, golf, play X-Box and expect a paycheck.

In public life the majority works hard. In public life cheats, bullies, clowns, thieves, sexual predators, and morons blend in because they too are the public.

Policy often dictates that we suffer the useless gladly even when they are stealing, preying on people, screwing up the works, or just collecting a paycheck. They are the reason for Political Action Committees. The stronger the policy the more cover for the dopes.

Getting the job done requires more work these days because of false tickling Policy.

He/She/It are a mandated quota numbers; cousins need work too; the odd clouted prince or princess; and the all too human 'What are going to do? Sure they can not read a spreadsheet or a blueprint or draft a lesson plan but they are dues paying members. We must follow policy and policy requires seven written notices and severance package.'

To stick your neck out and seek the vote to genuinely make things happen takes a special click in the heart.

John Daley sparked this challenge by confronting Todd Stroger! The members of the County Board ( politically ambitious and also drifters) challenged poor Todd to do something. That is the glory of our Republic. People elected by us are doing exactly what we bid them to do.

I can criticize Forrest Claypool but I must admire his courage to take his fight into the public arena. God Bless Him!

Kris McQueary gave us a nice sound byte. Teddy Roosevelt draws blood:

Shame on the man of cultivated taste who permits refinement to develop into fastidiousness that unfits him for doing the rough work of a workaday world. Among the free peoples who govern themselves there is but a small field of usefulness open for the men of cloistered life who shrink from contact with their fellows. Still less room is there for those who deride of slight what is done by those who actually bear the brunt of the day; nor yet for those others who always profess that they would like to take action, if only the conditions of life were not exactly what they actually are. The man who does nothing cuts the same sordid figure in the pages of history, whether he be a cynic, or fop, or voluptuary. There is little use for the being whose tepid soul knows nothing of great and generous emotion, of the high pride, the stern belief, the lofty enthusiasm, of the men who quell the storm and ride the thunder. Well for these men if they succeed; well also, though not so well, if they fail, given only that they have nobly ventured, and have put forth all their heart and strength. It is war-worn Hotspur, spent with hard fighting, he of the many errors and valiant end, over whose memory we love to linger, not over the memory of the young lord who "but for the vile guns would have been a valiant soldier."

http://www.theodore-roosevelt.com/trsorbonnespeech.html

John Daley Tries to Talk Sense to Todd Stroger -Good Luck With That

I always liked John Daley. I still do. John Daley is a gentleman. John Daley is loyal. John Daley is a very, very, very smart man.

Yesterday, he tried to talk sense to County Board President Todd Stroger who is the best friend Forrest Claypool has in the world, now that Quigley is in D.C. and out of his way.

Claypool has friends in WTTW,NPR and the Chicago Media.

That is about it. Forrest Claypool is friends with folks who can appoint him to a government spot, or manage to get others to build votes for him.

He pretty much shot his wad. Now, with all Progressive forces dancing the Dionysian jig no one is paying Forrest much attention. Vallas is coming back. Peraica won a Pyrrhic victory in the Repeal. That is as good as it will get Tony.

John Daley tried to talk sense to Todd -do not challenge the vote and give Forrest his wiggle room - 'We can not all be Elizabeth Brackett for Crissakes.'

Welp, Todd don't hear so good. Forrest will gump it up on Public TV and Airwaves. The tin-foil hat crowd will get all knit cap and soul-patch hot for Forrest.

He will lose, mind you, but we will have Claypool white-noise for the next few months.

Thanks Todd.

You tried John Daley. My God how you tried.

John Daley sparred with Stroger during a debate that turned angry at times, telling the president he "might want to listen for a change." Daley said a Stroger veto "would be a mistake, because of the strong vote of the board."

The Daley family backed Stroger in his 2006 run for the spot once held by his father, John, but Daley on Tuesday said Stroger has "been wounded" and might not get his support for his anticipated re-election effort.

In changing his stance, Daley cited the lousy economy and said the county had "to make adjustments." At least one commissioner, however, clearly acknowledged a desire to distance himself from a tax vote that was widely panned by civic groups, editorial pages and suburban leaders. "We've been getting beaten up, and I'm tired of it," said Commissioner Joseph Mario Moreno (D-Chicago), who voted for the tax hike but supported the effort to repeal.

What the GOP Needs to Do!

Wait. Chill. Chow Down. Cracka Rack. Dip the Line! Q. Quaff. Chill!

Supremely Courting Empathy!

J.D. Trout ( Doctor of Law Trout?)at Loyola University Law School wants our next Supreme Court Judge to empathize!

I feel your pain.

Really.

I care.

Alot.

No Kidding.

Really.

On the Square.

Empathetic imagination isn't as necessary when you are looking at the real thing. So, high-minded theoretical debate can be window dressing. The real question is why injustice, suffering, illness and indignity has to touch us personally before we take it personally?

Let's have a Supreme Court Justice who was a police or fireman passed over on an exam because of Affirmative Action, or a middle class tax-payer saddled with three Catholic school tuitions.

Think that'll happen?

I feel not.

David Brooks Gets the Wrong Westerner - 'That's My Ruling!'

Judge Roy W. Bean: Shad Wilkins, you've been tried and found guilty of the most serious crime west of the Pecos, to wit: shooting a steer. Do you got anything to say for yourself before the sentence of the court is executed?
Shad Wilkins: I told you they shot at me first. I didn't mean to kill that steer on purpose. I was aiming at the man.
Judge Roy W. Bean: It's your bad luck you missed him. That's the trouble with you sodbusters...you can't shoot straight. Shad, may the Lord have mercy on your soul.

Yep, that's what happens when grassroots meets the citizen.

David Brooks is one of those really smart guys who writes about politics and how 'real folks' need to listen to him.

Brooks got his start by writing fan mail to William F. Buckley at an age when he might have done better to learn how to crack a rack of eight-ball, smoke Luckies with the guys in front of Kiley and Kalina's drug store, and figure out how to lure Tess McGuffins into the balcony of the Highland Theatre - but that's just me.

David Brooks was a huge help in getting President Obama elected, while pretending to be a rock-ribbed conservative at the very core of his manly essence. Kind of like George Will and baseball, as genuine as the lard transplants in middle aged women's lips.

Today, Regular Guy Dave goes to the Classic Western for his lessons to the GOP, now dog-paddling at the bottom of Davy Jones' Locker.

Today, if Republicans had learned the right lessons from the Westerns, or at least John Ford Westerns, they would not be the party of untrammeled freedom and maximum individual choice. They would once again be the party of community and civic order.

They would begin every day by reminding themselves of the concrete ways people build orderly neighborhoods, and how those neighborhoods bind a nation. They would ask: What threatens Americans’ efforts to build orderly places to raise their kids? The answers would produce an agenda: the disruption caused by a boom and bust economy; the fragility of the American family; the explosion of public and private debt; the wild swings in energy costs; the fraying of the health care system; the segmentation of society and the way the ladders of social mobility seem to be dissolving.

Dave looked at My Darling Clementine by John Ford:

For example, in Ford’s 1946 movie, “My Darling Clementine,” Henry Fonda plays Wyatt Earp, the marshal who tamed Tombstone. But the movie isn’t really about the gunfight and the lone bravery of a heroic man. It’s about how decent people build a town. Much of the movie is about how the townsfolk put up a church, hire a teacher, enjoy Shakespeare, get a surgeon and work to improve their manners.

Nope. Regular folks liked William Wellman's The Westerner*
and took more notice of the theme of an entrenched political infrastructure that doled out money to political action committees - Judge Roy Bean ( read the Democratic National Committee) robbed farmers and bribed the Cattlemen ( read ACORN/SEIU/MOVE0n Dot Org)to maintain political hegemony.

In this film the Regular Guy Cole Hardin (Gary Cooper) does Okay so long as he sucks up to Judge Roy ( Walter Brennan) and when he runs afoul of the Judge and his Grassroots PAC guns start a blazin'!

In the end the PACS prove no match for common sense and the American Work Ethic. We'll get there, again.

Until then Dave Brooks needs to bone up on his studies. As the Judge told Cole,

Judge Roy W. Bean: Don't spill none of that liquor, son. It eats right into the bar.


*Cole Hardin just doesn't look like a horse thief, Jane-Ellen Matthews tells Judge Roy Bean as she steps up to the bar. Cole says he can't take it with him as he empties all of his coins on the bar to buy drinks for the jury. He notices two big pictures of Lily Langtry behind the bar. Sure, Cole has met the Jersey Lily, whom the hanging judge adores, even has a lock of her hair. Hanging is delayed for two weeks, giving Cole time to get in the middle of a range war between cattlemen and homesteaders and to still be around when Lily Langtry, former mistress of Edward VII who became an international actress, arrives in Texas. Written by Dale O'Connor {daleoc@interaccess.com}

Mr. Spec-tater Spies a Specter

Specter added: "If we had pursued what President Nixon declared in 1970 as the war on cancer, we would have cured many strains. I think Jack Kemp would be alive today. Fox News

Thus is Fame a thing difficult to be obtained by all, but particularly
by those who thirst after it, since most Men have so much either of
Ill-nature, or of Wariness, as not to gratify sooth the Vanity
of the Ambitious Man, and since this very Thirst after Fame naturally
betrays him into such Indecencies as are a lessening to his Reputation, and is it self looked upon as a Weakness in the greatest Characters.

In the next Place, Fame is easily lost, and as difficult to be preserved
as it was at first to be acquired.

And so this Tribe of Rakehells who gambol and cavort upon the Tidal Basin that is this Republic's Capitol, is thickened by the aged presence of a Silkie, who knows no Shame and has trod the halls of Senate among the Conscript Fathers, who daftly pen away the expected entitlements of babes and conjoined cytoplasms yet wombed in Mother's Loins for genrations to come and then some.

This Methusalan Specter can be seen hopping the Lily-Pads of Talk-Fests Broadcast by the Peacock on the Sabbath!

Who this Priest of Apollo, Casandra in Reverse, prophesied that Kemp might yet live had the Patricians been Plebs! Eutychia be with us!

The Tribe of Worthies welcomed Hypnos to Dionyisan Rites! This Carbuncle will Lance Itself!

Paul Vallas Calls for Front-Loading Political Accountability

The Progressive Think Tank!

Paul Vallas will be a great County Board President - you can be sure of it by this sign - all the goofs are lining up against him! To Nuance Old Jackie Swift.

"In the absence of a viable two-party system, the only accountability you have rests in the U.S. attorney's office. That's accountability at the back end," Vallas said. "No one is ever held politically accountable."

'Accountable? Accountable, Sir?!! Why I am an elected Official in the Land of Lincoln and Should be for life!'

Accountable. Yep. Meant something back in the day - even with political jobs. A guy would reach out and seek help to get a job and then his clout, or Chinaman, or Rabbi was held accountable for his work ethic and value to commonweal. It was up and down.

Then, along came the Whistleblower Culture. A goof could not or would not fulfill his vocational obligations and got in the jackpot with his supervisor - Voila! Pam Zekman appears and questions get asked like . . .'Mr. Polecatz, why was Mergatroyd Fuzzdyke required to sell Ward tickets?' Mergatroyd spent the previous twenty four months sleeping off hangovers in a nice, quiet cemetery, during his work hours for which he was handsomely paid, but failed to bring that to Pam's attention. The bigger the skunk shooting the eau d'cologne the better the 'Investigative Journalist' embraces the tale.

Accountability is a chimera.

Now Paul Vallas comes up from the Swamps and Bayous to the Cess-pool that is Cook County and brings back that old world notion of Accountability - People Actually doing the work for which they are paid.

Believe it or not . . .some kind soul who listens to Zanfir CDs? . . .please wake Forrest Claypool up . . .County Supervisers and most workers actually work hard.

It is the doughy dreamboats like Forrest, who was appointed to 90% of the jobs he has held in government, who get the Camera Face-time and play Atticus Finch for the nit-wits in the political audience who stir up the cess that has killed Accountability.

True facts. Old School Accountability in County and, yes Muriel, City government as well, rows hard against the Progressive currents, roiled by the oars of Reform Coyotes like Claypool and Preckwinkle and the now Congressional Quigley.

I needed some County work done to help kids here in Auburn Gresham at Leo High School and went to the right guy, and he introduced me to the righter guy, who had just the right guys and things got done - no quid pro dough; for which no moolah or services were exchanged; no grease; no trouble and I ain't sayin' nothin'!

I did not seek the help of Cook County Board President Todd Stroger. Please. The Wee Lad is busy enough with Kin. I would have reached out to his Pop. That gent was a master of grace and accountability. Guys that Stroger Pere trusted? You bet. I explained what was needed and with three conversations and follow-up. Things are moving.

Ask the help of a goof like Claypool and he would trot out the swell study done for Mike Quigley at the University of Chicago. Nope go to the hard-working people in government who actually perform and always seem to be the first people smeared by Pam Zekmans or have their jobs cut by the people doing the real stealing in the name of Reform.

That is Accountability. Not a Press Conference, or a WTTW Gush Glamorama with Phil Ponce by a self-absorbed flannel mouth who never does one thing to make government do anything for anyone. If the poor kids at Leo needed anything to make their lives better, safer, or more accountable, the last person one should ever see is a Reform goof like Claypool at County or Progressive Pirate like Preckwinkle.

Paul Vallas has it right front-load accountability. Paul Vallas ( GOP or Dem) is the right guy for the Cook County Presidency, because he is always accountable. Everything Old is New Again!

Catch Amanda Crumley at The Drake's Coq d'Or!

This south side kolbold was transformed into a sensitive urban sophisticate by a young girl and a guitarist at the Cog d'Or in the Drake Hotel last night. Amanda Crumley and guitarist Kregor are two young artists with a powerful understanding of artistic intent - they actually honor the songwriter.

The Beautiful Woman, who allows me to carry her books, was delighted to see her date not play with the silverware, the candle wax, or trowel handfuls of the peppery snack assortments from the bowl into his chop hole and instead morph into a Brooks Brothers jacketed gent - all due to Amanda Crumley's and John Kregor's respect for lyrics and lines of notes formed by Brazilian genius Jobin, Cole Porter, or Crumley herself.

Amanda Crumley is a soprano. She can coax a note into the empyrean without drawing attention to herself as most singers seem to do - the Jennifer Hudson 'it's all about me' quality that has destroyed the National Anthem and most liturgical music as well as the Great American Songbook.

John Kregold takes a standard solid-body Parler guitar and delicately shapes chords and notes into a framework of musical gossamer for Crumley.

Get to the Drake's Coq d' Or on Sunday nights and catch these artists.

Amanda Crumley's manner and caressing voice could make a warehouse full of Trappist Monks give a second look at their vows.

Born in Los Angeles and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Amanda grew up singing in school choirs, writing songs on piano from a young age, (forming a short-lived but prolific rock band in the 3rd grade), and doing anything musical she could get ears on. She was formally introduced to jazz when she first attended the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in music education. While studying classical voice, she performed in the school’s top vocal jazz ensembles and was exposed to several master artists who came through town. Around the same time, she became captivated by Brazilian music, and has continued to cultivate her understanding of the music, the language, and immerse herself in the gorgeous sounds of the culture as much as possible. Before she finished college it became clear where her heart was and this beautiful, spontaneous element of improvisation that had always been part of her made her desire to pursue jazz a natural one.

Amanda moved to Chicago in 2003 upon receiving a scholarship to study jazz voice with Patricia Barber at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University from where she now holds her Master’s degree. New to the Chicago jazz scene, she feels privileged to make music with some of the greatest musicians in the city. Having cultivated a unique repertoire of Brazilian music, jazz standards and original arrangements, Amanda can be seen at many fine venues in the Chicago area. She performs every first Friday of the month at Katerina’s in Chicago. Other venues Amanda has performed at include Pete Miller’s Steakhouse, Gigi’s Jazz and Supper Club, the Smoke Daddy, Uncommon Ground, Wise Fool’s Pub, the Heartland, and the Drake Hotel.

Click my post title and link to each of these songs by Amanda!

mp3s:

Vivo Sonhando (Jobim)
I Loves You, Porgy (Gershwin, piano arr. by Jarrett)
Retrato em branco et prieto/ Pictures in Black and White (Jobim, arr. AC)
I Didn't Mean to Turn You On (Harris/ Lewis; arr AC)


Sunday, May 10, 2009
The Coq d'Or @ the Drake Hotel w/ guitarist John Kregor
Chicago, IL 8:30 PM
140 E. Walton Ave.
18:30-12:30pm
no cover or minimum
http://www.thedrakehotel.com

Sunday, May 17, 2009
The Coq d'Or @ the Drake Hotel w/ guitarist John Kregor
Chicago, IL 8:30 PM
140 E. Walton Ave.
8:30pm-12:30am
no cover or minimum
http://www.thedrakehotel.com

Friday, May 22, 2009
Mandy & Bandit(s) @ Lizard's Liquid Lounge
Chicago, IL 6:00 PM
6-8pm
no cover + fantabulous drink specials
3058 W. Irving Park Rd.
http://www.lizardsliquidlounge.com

Polska ! Polska Jest Pobłogosławione Przez Boga!

The Chicago Tribune tucked a burp of information in a weather report. Thousands of Chicago's Poles celebrated their love of Freedom in Grant Park and the Chicago newspapers ignored them.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-kc-kite-festival-03may03,0,2185910.story

The Chicago Sun Times tucked news and reportage in with a 'What to Do' weekend and beyond guide along with Cinco De Mayo and news about the Kingston Trio.

http://blogs.southtownstar.com/entertainment/2009/05/this-weekend-
beyond-cinco-de-m.html

As of the 2007 Census Poles constituted the third largest portion of Chicago's non-minority populations -

As of the 2007 US Census American Community Survey the largest white ancestries were:

Irish: (201,836)
German: (200,392)
Polish: (179,868)
Italian: (96,599)
English: (60,370)

Culturally the Polish form a bed-rock Chicago's identity in labor (real labor), education, civic and religious life and in the performing and literary arts. Mike Royko would never have allowed such slight by the onion-skinned scions of his trade and it sure as hell seems to be that every Royko wannabe ink-slinger coos, gushes and cuddles to that Polish American Chicago icon.

The Nuance in this town is hip deep and smelly.

ABC Channel; 7 TV did its usually fine bit of coverage.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=resources/inside_station/station_info&id=6786985

I saw thousands of proud, sober, patriotic and dignified Polish Americans and Polish immigrants celebrate their love of freedom all along the Grant Park public peninsula.
No drunks, no idiots, no incidents, no Prgressive polemics and no News Coverage. If three gay bias loudmouths or one recognized Advocacy Activist shows up anywhere, Chicago newspapers shout a gathering of thousands.

The Newspapers of Chicago offering their steady platefulls of cant and advocacy nuance is a disgrace. But as I learned, you can not shame the Fourth Estate.

In 1788, the Polish Parliament began its deliberations to create a government that would defend and honor the rights of its people. The Constitution was then approved by King Stanislaw August Poniatowski on May 3, 1791. Although the Polish constitution did not last due to occupations by Russia, Austria and Prussia, the Polish Constitution of 1791 is commemorated today because it represents justice and freedom.

The State of Illinois shares a longstanding partnership with the Republic of Poland under the auspices of the State Partnership Program. For example, the military forces of the Illinois National Guard and Poland have cooperated in numerous training events, exchange programs, and training exercises.

Polish Constitution Day festivities will continue on May 2, 2009 with a parade at 11:30 A.M. on Columbus Drive, followed by a festival at Navy Pier. For more information on Polish Constitution Day events, please visit Polandonthepier.com.

Click my post titel for more from the Illinois News. You'll get sweet bugger-all from the Chicago papers.


Shëndet Poloni! Mie Sto Lot!

Sto Lot!
Your Pal Irlandisht Hickey

Sears Tower Glass Bottom Deck? Not Gonna Happen! I'm Satisfied Down Here On the Ground -Tell The Truth on 'Em Lou Rawls!

Click My Post Title for the Great Lou Rawls at the Hollywood Palace - 'I'm Satisfied'& 'Down Here on the Ground' - Get the whole Truth from Lou.

Sears Tower, or the Buddy Hackett Pavilion, or the Buck-Up-And-You-Name-It Obelisk, is putting in some kind of a see through plexi-glass Test Your Nuts for Money Gizmo.

Pass. The last time this Daisy went up over eight(8) stories over the concrete was in 1969 when janitor superintendent Art Fry sent my seventeen year old ass up the unprotected ( flat,rusted iron ladder with nothing behind) fire escape -last resort access - on the front of Orchestra Hall ( Now Symphony Center) at 220 South Michigan to pull wet bunting off the front of the building when the elevator system broke-down, to clear off the debris after the ticker tape parade for the Apollo 11 Crew on Michigan Ave. It rained like a cow peeing on a flat rock after that parade and every bit of paper in Chicago seemed to stick to the front of Orchestra Hall -'Get Your skinny Mick Ass Up There! It'll only hurt once.'

I cried and blubbered like Kanye West in a good mood the entire time - got it done though.

Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins I am not!

I was, and continue to be, as Yellow as a Duck's Foot!

Banking ATM Crisis - County Kerry Pintless!

'Tis Dry, Paddy-Mike.' - ' 'Tis so, Mossy-Teague!'

Ripped - From the Pages of The Kerryman!!!!
By SIMON BROUDER sbrouder@kerryman.ie


Wednesday April 29 2009

PUBLICANS were left nursing huge losses and revellers were left with empty glasses on Saturday night after a computer glitch shut down ATMs across the county.

For four hours on Saturday night and Sunday morning, from about 10pm to 3am, the entire ATM network in Kerry was shut down leaving people across the county unable to withdraw any money.

In Tralee the situation led to huge losses for pubs with many publicans reporting that penniless revellers had simply opted to go home.

Long lines could be seen at ATMs with frustrated customers loudly venting their anger.

Taxi drivers too will have been hurting with the number of people seen walking home in the early hours testament to just how many people had been left with empty pockets on what's usually the busiest night of the week for pubs and restaurants in Kerry towns.

There were also numerous stories of revellers from outlying areas who were effectively stranded in Tralee until the banking system rebooted. The Kerryman met one couple from Castleisland who had found themselves with no money and no way to get home.

For drinkers with regular haunts the situation wasn't as bad as it might have been with most publicans running tabs for regular customers. Many publicans who spoke to The Kerryman said they were furious that their takings had been slashed by a banking glitch.

The problem has been traced back to Bank of Ireland who apologised to customers on Monday and blamed the situation on new software installed into its ATM system over the weekend.

A glitch in the software had caused an unforeseen error and BOI ATMs across the country had to be shut down as it was repaired. The problem was made greater because ATMs from all Irish banks are interlinked meaning the problem with the BOI system led to ATMs operated by AIB, Ulster Bank and some building societies also suspending services.

A BOI spokesman on Monday apologised for the inconvenience caused.

- SIMON BROUDER sbrouder@kerryman.ie

Pooh! Swine Flu.

Burge Tosses A Great One Into Flint-Locke Lawsuit Lotto Empire

G.Flint Taylor wrestled Gator Bradley for the last scoop of Benjamins a judge tossed to G. G.Flint is all about the Benjamins ($100 in thick packaging or wire transfers -matters not).

To amass said Benjamins, G. Flint Taylor has played the the goof-ball Media like a Stradivarius. However, it might be Jon Burge, the disgraced former homicide detective, who goes to Carnegie Hall.

G. Flint and his sorcerers apprentice Locke Bowman have played a symphony from a One Note Samba concerning the alleged torture of black criminals, primarily murderers, and the Media has gone all Jonas Brothers for the Flint-Locke Group.

Burge has become the poster boy for police abuse/torture/systemic racism/ the heartbreak of psoriasis/plaque build-up/ and Jan Schakowsky. You name it Burge did it. However, again, Burge has not once been indicted for the things that he is said to have done. G.Flint is 0 for You Name It against Burge.

Now, the lawyers for Jon Burge are demanding that Jon Burge be tried out of this Land of I Believe!

Lawyers for former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge have asked to move his trial from Chicago, arguing that news reports have made it impossible for him to be treated fairly by a jury here.

The attorneys contend that "pervasive, prejudicial pretrial publicity" has damaged Burge's ability to get a fair shake. On Wednesday, the lawyers gave U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow a sampling of news accounts they say demonstrate the point.

Burge has been charged with perjury and obstruction of justice for allegedly concealing his involvement in torture. He has pleaded not guilty.

G.Flint will be gobbling up NPR and WTTW air-time like Ms. Pac-man on steroids! G.Flint'll be bouncing around the Federal Building like Yosemite Sam with a huge burr in his tighty whities! Justice? Wait until you hear the convoluted presentation of law and Justice from G. Flint! Mama Mumia!

Justice? G.Flint Taylor tells the very lazy Media what is Justice. Maybe a judge will try and remember what exactly that happens to be.

Nick Novich - Entertainment Empire -Educated Entrepreneur

Nick's on Halsted and Armitage was a breakthrough saloon in 1977. While Disco lounges proliferated in the suburbs and on the urban fringes, and faux cowboy barns lured in the Urbane Cowboys ( why is it that only lawyers seem to wear the goofball cowboy hats while wearing Hickey-Freeman suits and Johnson-Murphy tasseled loafers?), Nick Novich - English Teacher, Football Coach, Serbian-American Jazz Cat - established what would become the 'spot' for the hep and those who have the good sense to listen to the hep.

Nick was my mentor as a baby teacher at Bishop McNamara High School in Kankakee, Illinois. Nick established the football program that Rich Zinanni would drive to five State Football Championships, following Novich's foray into Liquid Refreshment and Alternative Conversation Entertainment.

Nick Novich is one of those people that God blesses all of us with by putting his/her talent, soul, intesity, courage, confiction,humor and loyalty into our paths at times in our lives. I have been blessed to meet many such talented people - Max Weissmann, Terry Sullivan, Mike Joyce, Boz O'Brien, Bernard Callahan, Carlos Nelson, Mike Holmes, Marquis Ball, Thomas Hayes, Lonny Newman, Tom Kotel, Billy Higgins, Marty Tully, Jack Higgins, Rose Keefe, Richard Lindberg, Steve Rhodes, Jim Frogge, Paul Tutt, Willie Winters, and Terry McEldowney to name just a few. Nick Novich could command this regiment of talented people - singers, writers, coaches, artists, boxers, pipe-fitters and saints.

The original Nick's Place had been a bust-out joint of the filthy Old Style sign variety, where gents in full need of an alcoholic topping off could be assured of Sunnybrook and ten ounce domestic beer. Physics teacher and football coach Jim Frogge and I took a trip up to the DePaul area one Saturday and helped Nick toss some of the old fittings and were rewarded with cold Ale at Glascott's Grogery.
It was here that Nick laid out his strategies for alternative entertainment - "Music - the jukebox can not be dominated by what WLS tells people to listen to - I am the Captain of my bar and we will listen to Dr. Horse, Etta James, Sun Ra, Stanley Turentine, Blossom Deary, Curtis Mayfield and the Impression, anything that Jerry Butler sings, piano concerti by Glenn Gould, . . ."

I asked, "Any Planxty, or the Dubliners?" Nick, looked at me with hopeful tolerance, " In time, my Son, you will grow into the man I hope you can become. Eat your vegetables and read your Yeats."

Nick's was not a 'Fern-Bar' it was a clean, well-lighted place where actors, artists, politicians like the great and visionary Danny O'Brien who would die in a Michigan accident, and school teachers with nickels and dimes could congregate, converse, consume Imported Beer on tap, as well as hand-crafted Wisconsin ambrosia's like Point and the absolutely heavenly Eau Clair All Malt - from the Chicago Keeley's Half & Half recipe.

Nick commanded a welcoming house of Hep. Bigots, loud-mouths, louts, skanks, pests and sharks were solidly shown the door.

Ten Years ago Nick moved to his current Milwaukee Ave. location and has opened a wonderful place in Uptown.

This past December, Nick hosted a gathering of writers Richard Lindberg, Rose Keefe and others for a talk about Chicago Crime figures and Nick was thick in the soupy mix of facts and legends concerning Big Mike McDonald, Bathhouse John Coughlin and the legendary Paddy Bauler. Nick knows the 42nd and 43rd Ward histories. Nick lives literature and history.

Last night, Nick and I caught up on the phone to discuss the sorry state of American Education, how bullies flourish in an institutional setting like Notre Dame, and the power of music to sensitize and spark the best in the human species. "Have your boy lie on his back with eyes closed and listen to Coltrain, or Miles Davis and he will emerge a different person."

Nick could lead people to a great watering hole but getting a horse of a former St. Rita football player who has subsisted on a diet of LaLaPalooza?'

Go to Nicks! Go to Flat-Iron! Go to Nick's in Uptown! Get better.
Entertainment.

Contact - Nick!
Nick's Beer Garden
1516 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL 60622 773-252-1155 http://www.nicksbeergarden

http://www.nicksbeergarden.com/

Hickey Family and Obama Administration 100 Days Timeline

Some key actions since President Barack Obama was sworn in Jan. 20: Key moments in the effort of Pat Hickey to provide our sagging economy with much-needed infusions of cash! I would have just spent it on food anyway.

Day 3: Signs an order to close Guantanamo Bay.

Emerald Plumbing's Brian Dalton comes out in -25 Below Zero to chop and dig out the City Parkway Tree Roots Blocking the access pipe to my sewer line. $$$ , but the heroic plumber dug out the source of water in the basement. Brian Dalton did this in a blizzard!

Day 10: Signs a bill making it easier for employees to sue for work/pay discrimination.

Roto -Rooter Comes out to clear the City Parkway Tree roots that clogged my sewer line thirty feet from the access pipe on my sewer line - The access pipe would not allow the foam Root-killer to take effect. Yikes, $ 275.00

Day 16: Extends health coverage to 4 million uninsured children.

Clare is accepted at Mother McAuley! Tuition $ 8,000 and change - $575 registration fee due immediately.

Day 25: The House and Senate pass his economic stimulus bill.

Clare registers at Mother McAuley - School Belles Uniform Fee $$$$.

Day 29: Approves sending 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan.

Clare makes the St. Rita Cheer leading Squad! $$$$
Day 39: Sets Aug. 31, 2010, as the end of the U.S. combat mission in Iraq.

Wind blows gutters off! Followed by an ice-storm due to Global Warming! Gutters replaced $$$

Day 47: Says he is open to approaching moderate Taliban in Afghanistan.

Nora comes home from Boston when her job ended! Welcome back home Baby! Welcome to the American Job Market! $$$$

Day 49: Lifts restrictions on the use of federal money for stem cell research.

Clare is Confirmed in the Faith by Bishop George Rasseas ( Best Homily Ever)! Clare is a Soldier of Christ! Hickey/Demateo/Gunkel/Holm/Cleary/Winters Confirmation Party for Clare at Traverso's $$

Day 56: Calls $165 million in bonuses paid by AIG to employees "an outrage."

Hickey fires Orkin after the ants proliferate having paid beau coup bucks to the Orkin Man! Buys Tero Ant Preventers for $8 at True Value and no ants!

Day 60: Tells Iran he wants to end differences between the two countries.

Sump pump dies a noble death and Hickey goes to Sewer and Plumbing Supplies at 90th & Green and buys a cast-iron "2 Zoeller ejector Pump* and replaces the pipe and flanges. One third of his Tax Return!

Day 69: Forces out GM Chairman Rick Wagoner.

Hickey gets the tires rotated!

Day 74: Calls for a world without nuclear weapons during a speech in Prague, Czech Republic.

After years of service the Hoover High end Dirt Destroyer burns out and Hickey replaces the old sucker! $$$

Day 77: Tells the Turkish parliament that America is "not at war with Islam."

Conor's Transmission drops and Dad helps $$$!

Day 84: Lifts restrictions on Cuban Americans' visits to the island; drops limits on remittances.

St. Rita Cheerleader Fees and uniform fitting $.

In my 100 Days, I have been told. 'Hey, Hickey! You losing weight? You ain't such a fat-ass these days!'

Tonight, President Obama will share it with us all!

*

The powerful, rugged Zoeller M53 Sump Pump has sufficient power to drain flooded excavations, basements, window wells, construction sites, and swimming pools. The single-phase motor on this pump is permanently-lubricated for continuous use and hermetically sealed to ensure a long service life and dependable operation. Features include a nonclog vortex impeller and a screenless suction inlet, enabling the Zoeller M53 to be used in areas where conventional sump pumps would clog or freeze up due to the accumulation of light debris. This pump also has a convenient carrying handle for easy transport. A powder-coated green epoxy finish and stainless steel screws, guard, and switch arm limit rust and corrosion.

Only use the Zoeller M53 Sump Pump with nonflammable liquids that are compatible with pump component materials and in nonflammable/nonexplosive atmospheres.

product specifications:
Amps
9.6
Base Material
Polypropylene
Cord Length (Ft.)
9
Dia. (In.)
10 3/32
GPM of Water @ 10 Ft. of Head
34
Height (In.)
10 1/16
Housing
Cast Iron
HP
3/10
Impeller Material
Polypropylene
Item
Submersible Sump Pump
Max. Dia. Solids (In.)
1/2
Max. Head (Ft.)
19
Off Point (In.)
3 1/4

On Point (In.)
8 1/2

RPM
1550

Switch Type
Vertical

Thermal Protection
Yes

Top Material
Cast Iron

Voltage
115

Weight
22.00

Arlen Specter Joins the 19th Ward Regular Democratic Organization . . .or not.

So, you wanna be a DemAcrat,Arlen? Ain't that nice.

AS - Good afternoon, I have become a Democrat. I am here to speak with the Top Democrat.

Sec. Matt O'Shea is on an important teleconference with Jackie Casto, Ed Carroll, and Mike Houlihan - the Movie Star -at the moment. Please take a seat and would you care for coffee?

AS - No thank you. I have some great ideas for . . .

Sec. -That's nice. Matt O'Shea will be with you in . . . well, after the conference, sir.

AS- Matt O'Shea? I expected to meet with Senators Burris and Durbin.

Sec.- Ain't that the way? (Ring,Ring, Riii. . .)

Sec.- Just a minute - Hello! Good Morning! 19th Ward Regular Democratic Org . . .Hey, Frannie! The corner of 108th and Rockwell - that's Hickey's house. What's that goof want? Tell him that the sewer line is his from the parkway to the street. He knows that - he's a damn pest. That and 'who trims the Trees - I'did'n' plant 'em' What a pain in the ass Hickey has been and continues to be - He's three votes anyway. Goofball and his son and daughter. They ain't nothing like the Old Man, but then who is? Yeah, Homer Simpson. Listen, tell him that Matt knows. Everyone in the damn 23rd Precinct knows. I'll call you back Frannie. I got this guy from Pennsylvannia was sent in to register. Republican. Looks like it. Bye,Bye! . . . I am sorry, Sir, now take these forms and write in your address - you'll need a valid Illinois Driver's License and two utility bills addressed to you.

AS- Madame, I am here to speak with a Top Democratic Operative. I am Senator Arlen Specter!

Sec.- Well, Arlen, take the forms and fill them out.

AS- I am not a resident of Chicago, Madame.

Sec. - Well . . . Arlen, I guess you can not register to vote then.

AS -I am here to meet with . . .

Sec. You did not have an appointment, . . . Arlen.

AS - I am a United States Senator . . .

Sec. - And . . .Arlen, . . .Mr. Matt O'Shea is the Democratic Ward Committeeman.

AS - This is ridiculous!

Sec. - What is, . . . Arlen?

AS - Good Day!!!!!

Sec. - Bye,Bye . . . Arlen! . . . ( shouts) Matt, he's gone!

Former President 'W' ( pronounced 'Dubyah') - Flew Air Force One over New York!

When President Obama learned of the episode on Monday afternoon, aides said, he, too, was furious. Senior administration officials conveyed the president’s anger in a meeting with Mr. Caldera on Monday afternoon.

New York Times 4/28/2009


Mr. Caldera - "Ladies and Gentlemen, President Obama knew nothing of the fly-over that frightened thousands of New York residents as well as milions of Americans. The former President, who tortured sweet guys from the Mid-East and invaded Iraq without provocation was a member and a pilot of the Texas Air National Guard. Former President Bush is responsible for the current economic crisis, eats Tex-Mex, and regularly coughs without following the directives issued by the Secretary for Homeland Security, Janie Walnuts Napolitano, and lives in a State that has threatened secession. Also there had been a second set of keys to Air Force One, prior to The 100 Days! - MSNBC has done the math for all of us! Thank you!"

Mark Brown's 'Field of Dreams' - How Long -Oh, How Long?

"Waiting three more days didn't seem so bad after all. It made me wonder how much longer Illinois gay couples will have to wait." Chicago Sun Times Mark Brown



The idyllic fields of conjugal corn are not yet. How long? Oh, how long?

'Walp! First there's the disc-in' Gotta get the Deere out in the fields and turn up the mud. Too wet to plow most days here's about - with all this Global Warming back-lash and what-not. Then the seeding - it's all natural. Then good manure to heep on things and soon, very soon the corn will be as high as Mark Brown's eye!"

Ray Kinsella's Field of Dreams is shooting up in Iowa. Same Sex couples can marry-up and build a life and spread their seed, just as their oppositional breeding fellow citizens can do -hogging the bliss.

Neighbors laughed at Ray and said the Hawkeye Farmer was daft! Daft.

The Field is set and now coming out of the tall corn are the ghosts of those denied their human right to have joyous and bountiful sex.

Ray told me, 'Look There! Build and they will come!'

Out of the green stalks minced the greats of the past!

King James Charles Stuart and George Villiers!

Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas!

Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas!

Jane Addams and Ellen Starr and Mary Rozet Smith!

J. Edgar Hoover and Clyde Tolson!

and on and on and on and on they tripped through the tall corn!

I said, Ray, 'Oh, it isn't heaven! It's Iowa!'

Ray thumbed up his worn and mud caked Dekalb Seed Corn Cap, "Try and keep it Civil, Hickey!"

I will, Ray. I will.

Governor Lisa Madigan - and not because of her Dad. Read Tom Roeser and Steve Rhodes

Even The Hoods like Lisa Madigan.

Mr. Tom Roeser and Master ( He's Way Younger than Tom and much younger than me) Steve Rhodes are two very sharp Chicago political observers and clear political journalists.

They are poles apart politically and pols mean very little to them personally.

Today both gents treated the discerning reader to the expected arrival of Governor Lisa Madigan (D.IL).

First the insight and judgment of Tom Roeser. After giving Rep. Mark Kirk (R.) a tune-up over his Pro-Choice on Abortion -a Woman's Right to Kill Her Kid - Tom Roeser nails it:

At this writing no one has heard from Kirk about his plans. But this is just to say to the party’s financial leaders who are planning that double-digit budget: it will all go to waste and be lost in the election of Lisa Madigan (likely to be the Dem gubernatorial nominee) if you don’t consider conservative grassroots people in the gubernatorial selection. Madigan is a veritable pinwheel of grassroots movement support: pro-aborts, feminists, labor, gay rights. You name a nice little guy with a cute button nose and smile but no grassroots and you’ll once again have to relearn what you should have learned when you nominated Judy Baar Topinka: a Republican nominee for governor with no grassroots conservative support can’t make it.

http://www.tomroeser.com/

Attorney General Lisa Madigan has performed as a solid Attorney General for Illinois and has made that Office her own and no adjunct to her Dad, Speaker Michael Madigan's adult direction of Springfield. Governor Pat Quinn is a lovely guy, who made a career as the earnest clean-government hobby-horse rider in the sky. He's is Governor of Illinois because Illinois wanted Rod Blagojevich and gave that goof enough gas in his Mo-Ped to ride all over that desire. Why to go Land O' Lincoln!

Governor Pat Quinn wants to shoot Illinois' feet off with a tax from hell. Alpha Mike Foxtrot, as Marty Tully would say. Marty did a bunch of tours in Vietnam before becoming one of the two best homicide cops in Chicago.

Mr. Roeser, the Illinois Samuel Johnson, picks up the Governor Madigan specimen with the delicacy of a Loyola University Medical Center Neurosurgeon. This Butterfly Lives! Lisa Madigan flies on gossamer-like wings made of a cotton and linen blend, with red and blue minute silk fibers running through it -dollar bills miles of them.
Those dollars come from real Labor Unions and also PACS -ACORN/SEIU/Planned Parenthood & etc.the Democratic Party Astro-turf. The GOP tends to draw dough from businesses and rich guys.

Lisa Madigan will be the governor of Illinois.

Then, at the NBC website, the brilliant and witty Steve Rhodes with more pithy prose and Progressive sympathies states the glaringly obvious -

Madigan can always change her mind, or opt to run for another office, but right now she - or somebody on her behalf - is raising money in preparation for something, and seeing as how the e-mail references a poll that looked at a match-up with Quinn, there is no other conclusion to draw at the moment.

That poll, sponsored by the Service Employees International Union, showed Madigan with a 48-24 lead over Quinn in the city of Chicago, with 28 percent undecided. An early poll like this has limited value, but its portentous that Madigan is raising money off it.

The path to Springfield is paved with dough - that is nothing new, nor is something to pull your skirts up and shriek like a fair, fat and fifty something Maiden Aunt.
There is a right way to raise money and the Blagojevich way - 'Hey, I'm gonna be Governor . . . know what I mean? That's some wallet you got there. Gimme it!'

All the Campaign Reform nonsense comes from losers who could not get anyone with the pilot light going to drop them a nickel. That is why SEIU and Planned Parenthood shower dough on Forty Watt Howlers like Jan Schakowsky. I could care less if anyone financed his own campaign or had the backing of Uncle Moneybags. The smart money goes on the horse with the best blood, feed, trainer and record.

Lisa Madigan is the Class of Field. The Oat-blowers of the Democratic Party and the Glue Bottle-Aspirants of the GOP should be aware of the very sound drubbing they will get from Lisa Madigan.