LA Dodger Pitcher John Ely Coached by Leo Lion Tom "El Flamingo" Brennan -Leo '70

Leo Lion Tom Brennan* of the Leo High School Class of 1970 coached John Ely of LA Dodgers.

The Southtown Star tells the story of Leo Man Tom Brennan!

Watching from afar has been Ely's one-time pitching coach, Brennan.

Brennan, 58, a former Lewis University All-American, knows what Ely must be thinking. Brennan enjoyed two "hometown" major league moments in 1982, during his second season of a five-year major league career.

A first-round draft pick (fourth overall) of the Cleveland Indians in 1974, Brennan, who grew up at 82nd and Racine and graduated from Leo High School, needed seven years to work his way up the Indians' minor league ladder. Along the way, he picked up a nickname in winter ball: "El Flamingo," for the momentary hesitation in his delivery, when he held his left leg waist high before throwing the ball sidearm.

On May 21, 1982, Brennan made a memorable first appearance at old Comiskey Park. Entering the game with two outs in the second inning, Brennan retired 12 straight Sox hitters before allowing a single to Tom Paciorek. The latter was then caught trying to steal second base and Brennan left the game.

"I was nervous when I went out there," Brennan said. "But I tried to block out who was batting and just focused on trying to throw strikes. It took everything in my power to throw strikes."

When the Indians came back to Chicago that August, Brennan was summoned from the bullpen in the sixth inning to face Harold Baines, Greg Luzinski and Carlton Fisk.

He struck out all three.

Before he retired, Brennan appeared in four games with the Sox in 1984 and 12 games with the Dodgers in 1985.

"I ended up living in 26 different cities and played baseball in six countries," he said. "Playing for Tommy Lasorda and wearing the Dodger blue was really special. Dodger Stadium is a beautiful place to play baseball. We had Hollywood stars at the games. You'd be sitting in the locker room and Don Rickles would walk in.

"I wasn't there very long, but the Dodgers treated me like a Hall of Famer."

After his playing career, Brennan became a youth pitching coach at numerous Southland facilities, a side job he still does today.

He even took time out to appear in the 1993 movie "Rookie of the Year." Brennan is the home-plate umpire in the final baseball scenes.

Brennan's first meeting with Jack Ely and his 8-year-old son, John, came when Brennan was teaching pitching at the old Grand Slam in Glenwood.

"I liked Tom's easygoing manner," Jack said. "He didn't scream or yell. We would see Tom every Saturday morning, whether he was in Glenwood, Lockport or Chicago. John learned a lot from Tom. I think we spent about $4,000 over the years, which has turned out to be a very good investment."

"Jack is extremely dedicated to his son," said Brennan, who has raised two children with his wife, Bridget. "He never got in the way of John's development. John has always had good mechanics and a strong follow-through coming off the mound. He hasn't had a sore arm and has been a winner at every level of baseball. He is a great competitor.

"I've always been impressed with John's work ethic," Brennan added. "After having a good year, he would then work twice as hard in the offseason. Mentally, he is very strong. He has a balanced attack of pitches, whether it's a fastball, curve or changeup. You must have a balance when pitching in the major leagues.

"I just tried to tell John and his father what they needed to do and know. I have a great deal of respect for what John has accomplished."

Thursday, Tom Brennan will be applauding from a distance.

Facta Non Verba!

*

Thomas Martin Brennan (born October 30, 1952 in Chicago, IL) is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched from 1981-1985 for the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Brennan was known for an unusual right-handed pitching delivery. From the set position, he would lift his left leg, bent at the knee, and hold it in the air for several seconds. Then, he would quickly uncoil into a side-arm, "submarine-style", delivery.

Tom Brennan
Pitcher
Born: October 30, 1952 (1952-10-30) (age 57)
Chicago, Illinois
Batted: Right Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 5, 1981 for the Cleveland Indians
Last MLB appearance
May 27, 1985 for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Career statistics
Win-Loss 9-10
Earned run average 4.40
Strikeouts 102
Teams
Cleveland Indians (1981-1983)
Chicago White Sox (1984)
Los Angeles Dodgers (1985)

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/pics/tom_brennan_autograph.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php%3Fp%3Dbrennto01&usg=__sx_cSVqaeRGFv8EcszoFiQzPfXE=&h=300&w=214&sz=12&hl=en&start=1&sig2=5Rik8a1f2vk1ys-BqDjl9A&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=5VHo-Jj3X4HL3M:&tbnh=116&tbnw=83&prev=/images%3Fq%3DTom%2BBrennan,%2BCleveland%2BIndians%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1T4GGIH_enUS268US331%26tbs%3Disch:1&ei=LSP9S-OzM5ruMuq-jTk

Chicago Catholic School Test Scores Soar - No Chicago Newspapers Carry the News?

Yesterday, on the way home from Leo High School at about 4:20 P.M. I heard Chicago Catholic School Superintendent Mary Paul McCaughey announce that Chicago Catholic Schools ( elementary and secondary) posted their best standardized test scores in years. That was on WIND. I like Michael Medved.

Sister Mary Paul credited good parents, good teachers and solid no-nonsense curriculum in a values-based setting as reason for the success.

I turned to the Chicago Newspapers on-line at 4:00 AM and found . . .Zip, Nada, and Zilch. Try and Google something. The editorial boards do not want their agenda (Progressive/Tax Funded Special Interests/LGBT/Secularist) countered in hard copy.

Every scrap of bad news and any rumor of possible allegations of imagined bad news about Catholic schools, Catholic priests, Catholic beliefs get front page howler monkey fanfare from Chicago's editorial boards and iconic self-promoting columnists.

A poor delusional woman who believed herself to be an ordained priest ( there are no ordained Catholic Women Priests) was denied Catholic burial and the Tribune is still running her death notice - or at least it was still running yesterday ("Ordained against all odds" - nope still there) -in the attempt to make the Catholic Church appear at fault, when in fact the poor woman had self-excommunicated. Manya Brachear, the loopy religion Blogger/Columnists who invites every shaman and witchdoctor to pontificate on matters contrary to Catholic Doctrine, will no doubt have a hugely dismissive piece on Catholics and their mean spirited Faith.

Chicago Tribune -Ordained against all odds The Poor woman* is not and was not ordained! What a bunch of smug, self-righteous dip-sticks comprise the Tribune Editorial Board!

Chicago News Media is the captive of Progressive Agenda.

Only weeks ago, the Chicago and Illinois teachers unions succeeded in making Republican State Legislators go as yellow as a duck's foot and vote down Senator James Meeks' legislation that would offer inner city parents vouchers to attend inner city private ( read Catholic) schools. School Reform is lip-service. Columnists and editorial boards are controlled by the special interests with only the Progressive Secularist Agenda's hand on the joy-stick.

Catholic Schools save Illinois taxpayers millions of dollars and succeed in providing the education that the news media shoots its collective mouth off about every time a CPS kid is gunned down by a savage, or every time CPS test scores cork-screw lower in the achievement loam.

The News Media is a captive of special political interests.

*The excommunicated woman who imagined herself to be an ordained priest had a partner. The obituary caused a bit of talk among lawyers ( I had occasion to speak with several in my neighborhood). They believe that the "Nancy Katz" listed in the column as the next of kin or whatever the hell they want to be is actually the lesbian activist judge appointed to the Circuit Court of Cook County. Why would gay activist, or an editorial seek to advance its agenda with smear at the Catholic Church? Practice.

http://www.glhalloffame.org/index.pl?todo=view_item&item=143

No Chicago Journalist ( Hack) Will Take on SEIU, or Will No Chicago Journalist Take on SEIU?

Dithering Dick Durbin is a sausage made by Progressive politics - an expensive, bland and largely indigestible sausage. Not every politician is a sausage but Progressive politics is a policy-sausage manufacturer that employs smarmy pie-chart cutters like Ralph Martire for Tax Increases every hour on the eights and 40Watt Intellect columnists. The sausage casing is provided by Teachers Unions, Planned Parenthood, SEIU and the corporate media. No elected official dove into the casing like Dick Durbin.

The guy, as far as I can tell having spent several hours in his company when he needed a photo op with black kids, does not strike to be as impressive as melba toast and has the personality of a dial tone. Dick Durbin is a sausage.

Today SEIU's Comic Book -Progress Illinois - praises Dithering Dick for this bon mot- "BP no longer stands for British Petroleum. It stands for Beyond Patience."
Dithering Dick!!!! Positively Shavian! Clubs and clubbable swains will echo that one!

How about this BP - Before Planned Parenthood ( $$$$$$$) -Durbin was Pro-Life - Better Payday? Brighter Possibilities? Big Payday? Berry Progressive?Before Planned Parenthood; Bought Politicians . . . yeah, that works.
http://www.progressillinois.com/

SEIU owns Durbin, Schakowsky, and so many others. Well they co-own Durbin and Schalowsky and so many others.

SEIU was at one time the old Janitors Union ( Local 25)- The Building Theatres and Amusements Janitor's Local # 25. They had Universal Family Health Care for all union members and their families, before Andy Stern sold off the assets to turn the union into a Marxist Political Action Committee.

This powerful PAC owns columnists and websites and refuses to feed any hand that bites them. Capital Fax has long had a warm and mutually gushing relationship with Progress Illinois and SEIU, as far as I can see.

SEIU is all about power - Gays, Immigrants, Sick Folks, Victimhood Capitalists, and Academics are the spice that flavors sausages like Dick Durbin, Jan Schakowsly and so many others.

No Chicago columnist will ever take on SEIU. However, remember that a Conservative is merely a Liberal who has been mugged. Witness a journalist who witnessed SEIU at their worst and most thuggish:

What's interesting is that SEIU, the nation's second largest union, craves respectability. Just-retired president Andy Stern is an Obama friend and regular White House visitor. He sits on the President's Fiscal Responsibility Commission. He hobnobs with those greedy Wall Street CEOs -- executives much higher-ranking than my neighbor Baer -- at Davos. His union spent $70 million getting Democrats elected in 2008.

In the business community, though, SEIU has a reputation for strong-arm tactics against management, prompting some companies to file suit.

Nina Easton - Fortune Magazine

Andy Stern is part of Blago scandal and also a member of the President's Council on Deficit Reduction.

Gee, call me cynical.

Keeley Smith - Sunny Side of the Street -Best Version Ever~

On The Sunny Side Of The Street lyrics


Dorothy Fields / Jimmy McHugh

Grab your coat and get your hat
Leave your worry on the doorstep
Just direct your feet
To the sunny side of the street

Can't you hear a pitter-pat
And that happy tune is your step
Life can be so sweet
On the sunny side of the street

I used to walk in the shade
With those blues on parade
But now I'm not afraid
This rover crossed over
If I'd never have a cent
I'd be rich as Rockefeller
Going to set my feet
On the sunny side of the street

Herscher, Illinois - Farmer Saved in Grain Elevator Nightmare

Farming is a dangerous livelihood. Several years ago my late wife's uncle was killed in a farming accident in Herscher, Illinois. In my many years in Kankakee County as a high school teacher, I learned to respect and admire the courage and conviction of America's farmers. Many of my colleagues, Jim Frogge, Jerry Krieg, Terry Granger and others were farm boys. I de-tasseled corn and walked beans with them. I have been inside grain elevators and respect the inherent danger of flash fire and worse - the shift of product.

Today, a farmer in Herscher, Illinois was rescued from a grain elevator accident.

May 24, 2010 (HERSCHER, Ill.) (WLS) -- A farmer who was rescued from a grain bin is going to be OK, according to Herscher fire officials.

The farmer became trapped in the bin and surrounded by grain while emptying it. Other farmers and emergency crews from the small town and other community agencies responded. They were able to pull the farmer from the bin.

Herscher officials said they have trained for the situation for many years and that training led to the man's rescue. The man remained awake and talking throughout the ordeal.

He is now being checked out at a local hospital, but is expected to be OK.

Neighboring farmers are helping clean up the grain.

(Copyright ©2010 WLS-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

God Bless the Volunteers, and neighbors! God keep safe all who work the soil.

Pudgie the Duchess -Author of Budgie the Helicopter - Who Could Count to £500,000

I am completly charmed and captivated by the Duchess of York's attempted shakedown of the ink-slinger who posed as a capitalist.

There is a mixture of sympathy and horror here in Great Britain for the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, whose financial situation, in her own words, “is under stress.” She was caught on camera by an undercover reporter for the News of the World offering to sell access to her ex-husband, Prince Andrew, for £500,000, which would be approximately $750,000. The reporter who did the sting posed as a businessman.

Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, has a lot of business connections. He is the UK’s Special Representative for Trade and Investment. He travels the world meeting royalty, heads of state and businessmen, greasing the wheels for business deals to be done by British companies all over the world, and courting investment here. We followed Prince Andrew on one such trip to North Africa. His position as a member of the royal family does afford him incredible access, which he uses, not for his own enrichment, but to help British business. It is a job, from what we could tell from our contact with the Duke, he takes very seriously.

£500,000? That's all? Passio Domini nostri Jesu Christi!!! Hell, if I was gonna toss the embrace of the Empire and its fine Family of Free-Loaders, I'd ask for a Million - for staters.

Milton's Myopia!

This winsome tale of a winning Fergie, who charmed the pants off of lard ass lay-abouts everywhere, is just another in the jackpot of hits to The Family Royal of Perfidious Albion.

I see a feature-length 3-D animation epic by James Cameron with an anti-Bush subtext and a foot-taping score and libretto by Sir Elton John and the Duchess Her Own Bad Self!




The duchess is the author of children's picture books that featured Budgie a PC little gobshite of a helicopter.

ACLU -Catholics May Not Enter Into Business Agreements -Ed Yohnka

ACLU and American Progressives have hated Catholics and the Catholic Church from the get-go - that's okay; nothing new. However, for the last forty years the American corporate media have sucked- up to the ACLU on every instance of opportunity to impugn Catholics and undermine any all moral authority of the Catholic Church.

Folks still take the sacraments each Sunday and many people continue to convert to the Roman Catholic Faith. Nevertheless, NPR, the newspapers, Public Television ( WTTW) and new internet Progressive flagships like Huffington Post offer the ACLU full forum. Ed Yohnka of ACLU availed himself of an opportunity to make such that the Abortion Industry keeps the dollars flowing to Planned Parenthood and the ACLU, by denying the Catholic Church the right to enter into contracts.

Voila!

In a little reported local move, Resurrection Health Care, a Roman Catholic health system, is seeking to sell two of its suburban Chicago hospitals to the nonsectarian Vanguard Health Systems. As part of the deal, Resurrection has demanded that Vanguard maintain the religiously-based health care restrictions Resurrection instituted when took control of the hospitals a number of years ago--and Vanguard has agreed to do so.

These restrictions are embodied in the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services ("the Directives"), promulgated by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, and are imposed on all Catholic-owned institutions and the employees who work in those institutions. The Directives prohibit many critical health services--particularly in the area of reproductive health end-of-life care. Under the Directives, patients are denied tubal ligations and vasectomies as well as contraception. In fact, the Directives prohibit many women who have been raped from accessing emergency contraception, which could, if taken promptly, prevent an unwanted pregnancy. Patients' end-of-life wishes are only respected if they are consistent with "Catholic moral teaching." Elective abortions are forbidden, as are abortions that are necessary to preserve the pregnant woman's health. In cases where a pregnant patient's physician believes that she will die if her pregnancy is not immediately terminated, the physician may seek approval from the hospital's ethics committee, who will decide whether the Directives permit termination in that case. Only if that committee allows it, can the life-saving measure be taken.

These restrictions endanger women across the nation . . .

Eddie Boy, women who get abortions are just fine and dandy. Unborn Children? Not so hot.

The Catholic Church will not yield on abortion, as it did not yield on Fascism and Communism. That really puts Progressive panties in a tight twist.

Ed, name ONE istance where the ACLU Ever helped Catholics. Name one Aborted Child, Ed.

Huffington Post, NPR, WTTW, the corporate editorial boards and amoeba spined hacks like Dick Durbin will help you huff and puff about "American Values."

American People know the smell of dead skunk and the themes of the ACLU.

Hey, how about them BlackHawks!

Richard Blumenthal Comes Clean!

Indict Them Ideas! Paul Begala and Why President Obama Is Not Doing Very Well

I am a Democrat. President Obama did not get my vote in 2008, because I thought that he was no where near ready and that he was handled by some very dicey people. He is.

Things are going very badly in foreign policy, the gulf of Mexico, the Mexican border, Afhghanistan, Iraq, of the streets if Chicago and in the national economy. Things are going badly because the dicey folks are the only voice forcing issues and circumstances.

Here is a prime example - Paul Begala. This guy is about as impressive as any American Idol participant. Hey, thanks for playing; there's the exit.

President Obama has people even less impressive than Paul Begala in his Administration - Eric Hoder, Janet Napolitano e.g. and conducting American Foreign Policy - Ms. Rice and Master Michael Posner e.g.. Every week there is new disaster and shift in the 'compelling narrative,'

Here is a bon-bon from Begala.

"The president needs to indict not simply Bush or even Republicans. He is a visionary thinker, and his rhetoric should reflect that,” said Democratic strategist Paul Begala. “I want President Obama to make a consistent, compelling indictment of conservative ideas.”

Politico

Good Lord. Time, get a-moving!

Mustang Sally -"It's Froi-deh!"

"As Kingfishers Catch Fire" - Anti-Religion Bigots and PC Nitwits in Academia

Be the Difference?

As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame;
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell's
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves - goes itself myself it speaks and spell,
Crying What I do is me: for that I came.

Gerard Manely Hopkins S.J.

Marquette University is embroiled in a controversy over the hiring of wildly Gay feminist and edgy polemicist Jodi O'Brien -

In less than a week, sociologist Jodi O’Brien has become a household name in Milwaukee.
O’Brien, currently the chair of the Department of Anthropology, Sociology and Social Work at Seattle University, was offered the position of dean of the Klingler College of Arts and Sciences at Marquette University. O’Brien accepted. Then the offer was withdrawn.
O’Brien just happens to be an out lesbian and feminist who studies gender, sexuality and religion, among other subjects.
Many faculty members, students and alumni are defending O’Brien and questioning whether Marquette is truly a top-notch academic institution that takes seriously its Jesuit mission to “search for truth.”

Marquette University like almost every other nominally Catholic college ( Loyola, DePaul & etc.) twists into a pretzel to be media friendly and 'intellectually free.'

No less a Jesuit than poet Gerard Manley Hopkins was wildly orthodox. Hopkins is one of the greatest late 19th Century poets and its best imagist.

Hopkins is a dead white man.

Jodi O'Brien is a lively lesbian and a loud Abortion advocate. So the Marquette University hires this edgy loudmouth and expects absolutely no blowback from donors who were educated in a Catholic Marquette and might be a tad uneasy about paying someone to deconstruct the foundations of faith.

Get this there was blowback and instead of poop-can-ing the contract with O'Brien, Marquette's amoeba spined Dr. Danny Maguire spouts this -the controversy has made Marquette look like a “cult school.” over the University deciding to rescind the offer to make the O'Brien the Dean of Arts and Sciences.

A Cult School, Danny Boy?

Really?

Here's a different thought - A Catholic University has a Right and an Obligation to be Catholic.

This is exactly what is occurring with the recent case of Marquette University rescinding its dean job offer to Jodi O'Brien. She made use of her rights to be a lesbian and to promote the lesbian lifestyle. She has written about this way of life and has no problems admitting who she is and is willing to stand up for her rights.

Marquette University has the right to its identity, to its system of beliefs and to promote its Catholic way of life. Both the professor and the university have the right to be who they are, to promote who they are and to have acceptance for what they choose to be.

It was decided that O'Brien's personal choices and her way of life and subsequent teachings would cause conflict with the original intent and mission of Marquette. Marquette has the right to provide its students with professors, deans and classes that fall into the particular mission statement or goals of the university.

O'Brien may feel that her rights were violated and that the university's actions were discriminator, which is where the problem comes in. An institution has the right to decide who teaches and leads and who does not; it's a basic freedom.

Now if Marquette had said no women or no Jewish teachers or no African-Americans, that would be wrong and the proper actions should be taken to correct the problem. But that is not the case here.

Ask yourself, if someone openly denied the Holocaust and spoke out about it but then wanted to join a Jewish committee and was denied, would anyone raise an eyebrow? If someone was openly racist, wrote books about it and then wanted to join the NAACP but was denied, would it be an issue?

What we can learn from this episode is this: We in America have rights and freedoms and privileges, which most of the rest of the world does not have. With these rights and freedoms come responsibilities and consequences.

If you are a known alcoholic, which you can choose to be if you want to drink your health away, you might not be given that school bus driving job. If you are a known racist and you promote it openly, you might not get that NAACP position. If you are a lesbian and openly promote it, you might not get that position at Marquette University. Just as O'Brien has the right to be a lesbian and to promote it, so does Marquette have the right to promote a Catholic lifestyle and way of life.

Freedom works both ways.

Brian Brehmer of Milwaukee in an Op Ed piece - Click my post title.

Religion is not a bad thing, unless of course you begin and end your day without a thought of your own and get your ideas only from NPR, Bill Maher, Sex in the City, Will and Grace ( that still on?), Sir Elton John, the subtext of Billy Elliot, and Wildebeests of the View.

Our music, architecture, literature, science, philosophy and diets are rooted in religion . . .until we got too comfortable to really care.

The Bronte Press of Bourbonnais, IL - A Thing of Beauty

I have always been uncomfortable around things of beauty - I tended to break them, get my soiled mitts and finger prints all over them and await the fell swoop of hand to the back of my noggin.

Thus my aestheic point of view was rudely - albeit prudently - stamped at an early age. Hence, my aesthic appreciations found safe ground on the less tangible arts - words, ideas and music. The plastic arts had a much more Pavlovian impact upon me. Touch it and get whacked. Things of beauty are meant to be touched - but by graceless boy, or clumsly adult.

Books are beautiful in themselves. Hand printed minature books are a treasure.

In my salad days as a baby teacher, I had the great good fortune to meet Suzanne Granzow-Pruchnicki and her husband Paul. Suzanne was my late wife Mary's Art Teacher at Bishop McNamara in Kankakee and later her professional mentor. Mary followed Suzanne as Art teacher for that great Catholic high school. Paul taught Theology, Philosophy and English and served as link to Catholic aestheics. Paul and Suzanne married.

Suzanne's family were Manteno, Illinois gentry and Suzanne and her sister Elmira were steeped in culture and the arts. They founded the Bronte Press, which produced minature books -not for the filthy fingers of young Paddy Hickey, but for a carved black walnut tri-pod stand which would adorn a mantel.

Take a slide down I-57 to Kankakee County and visit the Bronte Press in Bourbonnais* - which I continue to prounce like a Townie - Burr-Bonus.

Bronte Press:
Phone: 815-932-5192
County: Kankakee
Manufacturing Firm: Are you looking for Bronte Press offers and services?
Year Established: 1977
Exec: Paul Pruchnicki

* I arrived in Kankakee County in the fall of 1975, just before the great "Say Bour -Bo-Nay" Campaign by the Franco-phone Fascists. Townies always say BURR-BONus. Even my wife's Frog-eating side of the family.

Click my post title for more on the Bronte Press of Bournonnais

Dr. Horse -Because He Can and is Sorely Needed.

NPR Approves Catholic Women Wiccan Worship as Wonderful

The Archdiocese of Chicago is denying burial in a Catholic cemetery to a woman ordained as a priest.

Chicago Public Radio May 18, 2010

Question why don't Catholics name their male children Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli?

Because they were not Catholics! They ( above named) jumped ship; Quit; Heroically departed; caused Schism; split; took it on the heel and toe; bounced; caught the fast train on a slow track; took a powder; took the air. . . I could go on, but then I'd be quilty of being a Progressive Pain in the Dupa. Can't have that. I must get to the point - something Chicago Public Radio and every Progressive never seems to do.

Chicago Public Radio is not a friend of Catholics, nor is NPR, nor is WTTW.

Public Broadcasting in all of its manifestations is cozy with Abortion/Gay Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender stuff/ Reversing the Chicago River/Lawsuit Lotto Lawyers like G. Flint Taylor, Jon Loevy and Catholic Bashing Ambulance Chaser Jeff Anderson.

Chicago Public Radio huff and puffed about a poor woman who died of cancer and believed hersel;f to be an ordained Catholic Priest. At best she was delusional as worst a schismatic. I am a prosaic man. I believe that the poor thing took Progressive nonsense to heart. Chicago Public Radio is a humorless joke - always was and always will be.

Here is the NPR Propaganda piece which should be entitled - Damn Those Catholics! We Do!

And I'm Steve Inskeep.

Outside Washington, D.C. in a suburb called Falls Church, Virginia, about 40 Roman Catholics gathered this week to hear mass. They were not in a church and the person delivering the sermon was not a man. Fifteen American women claim they were ordained as Catholic priests this summer. Church leaders say the women are heretics and may be excommunicated.

NPR's Rachel Martin reports.

RACHEL MARTIN reporting:

The congregants mill around the driveway at the home of Bridget Mary Meehan. They sip iced tea and make small talk. Some wear gold cross pendants. Others carry well-worn bibles. When it's time to start, they walk two by two into the backyard accompanied by Meehan's 81-year-old father on the saxophone.

(Soundbite of song, Amazing Grace)

MARTIN: As insects buzz in the trees, 58-year-old Bridget Mary, wrapped in white robes, delivers her message to the ad-hoc congregation.

Ms. BRIDGET MARY MEEHAN: Jesus was a rule-breaker. Jesus challenged the religious leaders, so do we. All are welcome at this table.

MARTIN: She says a prayer over a plate of bread and a glass of wine, then issues a sacramental blessing to each person who comes forward. Meehan and fourteen other women say they were ordained as priests or deacons through two ceremonies earlier this summer, one in Europe and another in Pennsylvania. The women say their ordinations were conducted by three European women and these women were ordained in a secret ceremony by male bishops who are in good standing with the Vatican, which makes all their subsequent ordinations legitimate. For Bridget Mary Meehan and the other self-described priests this is the realization of a lifelong calling.

Ms. MEEHAN: I feel called to be a Roman Catholic priest. It's in my DNA. I'm Irish born, Irish Catholic. We're here because we love the Catholic Church and we're called to make it a better church, to make it a church where we're all equal, women and men. So we are really practicing holy disobedience to an unjust law.

MARTIN: According to canon law, only men can be ordained as priests and conduct the primary rituals of the Catholic Church. Phil Lawler, an editor with Catholic World News, says the women's claim to ordination makes a mockery of Catholic doctrine.

Mr. PHIL LAWLER (Editor, Catholic World News): They do tremendous harm, first of all to themselves and to whatever people are following them into this sort of break from the church. And they do a tremendous harm in terms of muddying the water and confusing people about what the Catholic Church is and does.

MARTIN: Three of the women received letters from their bishops saying their actions are grounds for automatic dismissal from the church. Archbishop Timothy Dolan of Milwaukee wrote a letter to the Vatican suggesting all the women be excommunicated. Bridget Mary Meehan has written several popular books on religion and spirituality. Her Catholic publisher has now dropped her, saying Meehan's actions put her at odds with the church.

Dolores Leckey is with the Woodstock Theological Society at Georgetown University. She says the women have not only distanced themselves from mainstream Catholicism but their actions undermine real improvements in the church on women's rights.

Ms. DOLORES LECKEY (Senior Fellow, Woodstock Theological Society, Georgetown University): Twenty-five years ago, women were not in the positions of leadership that they are today. And they have a voice and an influence on what happens in the actual day-to-day life of the church.

MARTIN: But for many at this backyard mass, like Barbara Fiske(ph), the all-male priesthood is the last front in the fight for gender equality in the church.

Ms. BARBARA FISKE: It's a day of rejoicing. I never thought I'd see it in my lifetime, but I am happy to be able to rejoice today.

MARTIN: Her friend, Mary Lou Sleevey(ph), shows off her t-shirt emblazoned with the word heretic and a list of names including Joan of Arc and Galileo.

What does that mean?

Ms. MARY LOU SLEEVEY: That means some of us are considered fringe.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Ms. SLEEVEY: You know, you...

MARTIN: Is that a bad word?

Ms. SLEEVEY: Not for me it isn't.

(Soundbite of laughter)

MARTIN: A study out of Georgetown University in 2000 showed that 70 percent of American Catholics surveyed would support women priests if the church approved. Religious scholars say that's not likely to happen anytime soon.

Rachel Martin, NPR News, Washington.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5662518

Steve Rhodes - The Only Liberal Who Calls Out the Universal Hypocrisies on Sarah Palin

I am as proud of Steve Rhodes as any man can be and I am as sexist as I am allowed to be.

Steve Rhodes publishes, contributes to and edits what I believe to be the finest Chicago clearinghouse on news, sports, culture, poetry and common sense on the Information Superhighway invented by Al Gore, who also invented Global Warming - The Beachwood Reporter.
Steve Rhodes is a journalist in city where most columnists come off as suck-ups and snitches in a classroom dedicated to suck-ups and snitches.

Steve Rhodes and I share a love of the written word and a reverence for - at least a nod to truth and common sense.

Today, as he does most days, Steve Rhodes holds the Diogenian Lamp over the suck-ups and snitches in the classroom over the treatment of the Thrilla from Wasilla - former Alaska Governor and GOP V.P. candidate Sarah Palin.

I like Sarah Palin. On my basest level ( one to which I cling in spite of my better angels), I think that she is very easy on the eyes. I am a sexist - devout, drooling, but not without shame. I love women almost as much as Rachel Maddow and much more than Sir Elton John. Gee let's see which person would I enjoy hanging around with . . . weepy Joan Walsh? . . . Rep. Rosa DeLauro? . . .( both of whom would sicken a billy goat raised on barbed wire and broken beer bottles) or Sarah Palin?

Jeepers.

I also like Sarah Palin as a person - she seems like a fine mother and seems very happy. Happiness really upsets American Progressives - unless of course they happen to be burning witches at the stake or engaging in universal self-loathing.

Voila! Rhodes on Truth!

The Palin Exception
By Steve Rhodes
One thing I learned this week - well, I re-learned, I've faced it before - is that sexist coverage of female politicians is an awful thing unless the pol is Sarah Palin. Then it's perfectly acceptable to at least a certain number of progressive feminists in and out of the media.

Why? Because if you despise someone's politics, they apparently no longer can be defended on any other grounds. Apparently it was always about politics, not principle.

So when I posted Reporting Palin, I shouldn't have been surprised by the depressing responses I got from some quarters.

As I've written before, the whole of America seems to need a civics lesson in how to carry on political discourse, decipher the media, and learn to think for themselves like the actual, independent citizens that democracy calls for.

And much of the media still needs lessons in how to do their jobs.

Here is the simple proposition I was operating under:

"Sexist coverage of Sarah Palin is every bit as despicable as sexist coverage of Hillary Clinton, which is every bit as despicable as sexist coverage of Laura Bush, which is every bit as despicable as sexist coverage of Michelle Obama, which is every bit as despicable as sexist coverage of Kay Bailey Hutchison, which is every bit as despicable as sexist coverage of Nancy Pelosi."

How silly of me. Haven't I learned by now of the Palin Exception?

Her politics are so despised - in part justified in my view, but also in part based on a lot of debunked nonsense akin to Al Gore's never-made claim to have invented the Internet - that certain principles go out the window.

But she has a right to her politics. She also has a right to covered fairly - even if she, like many other politicians, including our president, doesn't always play fair. Make that part of the reporting, but don't demean her because of her gender.

Just to reiterate, here is just a slice of the record.

1. "From Ferraro to Palin: Sexism in Media Coverage of Vice Presidential Candidates." By Caroline Heldman, Occidental College.

"We find persistent gender differences in mention of dress/appearance, mention of candidate family, gendered policy coverage, and negative tone that disadvantage female candidates. Additionally, female candidates are four times more likely to receive sexist media coverage, and the intensity and volume of sexist coverage increased dramatically from Ferraro's run in 1984 to Palin's run in 2008. We also compared Palin's coverage in Old Media (print) and New Media (blogs) and found that sexist coverage and negative coverage are more pronounced in this new medium."

2. "Like Hillary, Sarah Faces Media Sexism." By Marie Cocco.

"[T]he media will continue to subject Palin to the unapologetic sexism that has been directed at her since the very first hours after John McCain announced that she was his pick to be the Republican vice presidential nominee - and which continued to animate coverage of her, right up through a lengthy political profile in the current issue of Vanity Fair.

"Almost as certain, my colleagues will seek to defend the indefensible as something Palin brought upon herself - by being too ignorant, too unpredictable, too touchy, too hypocritical, too loose with facts, too inept at governing, too flirty, even too obviously fertile. Yes, this is one of the assertions made in the Vanity Fair profile . . .

"Almost as soon as she'd finished her breakthrough speech at the Republican National Convention, one columnist for the liberal online magazine Salon called Palin a 'dominatrix' and a 'pinup queen,' referred to her 'babaliciousness' - and described her convention address as having been charged with enough sexual energy to give the partisan crowd a 'collective woody.' Another Salon columnist described Palin as a 'Christian Stepford wife in a sexy librarian costume" who was, for the most ideological Republicans, a 'hard-core pornographic centerfold spread.'

"Palin early on was called 'Stepford Barbie' and 'Caribou Barbie' - terms used even by highbrow commentators, who find it acceptable to liken Palin to the impossibly proportioned fashion doll. The Barbie epithet marked Palin as an object of sexualized fashion fascination well before it came to light that the vice presidential nominee had used Republican Party funds to buy an expensive campaign wardrobe."

3. "Media analyst sees racism, sexism in election coverage." By Holly Jackson.

"Audible gasps filled Ellis Auditorium at MU on Tuesday night, as Pozner played a clip featuring CNBC talk show host Donny Deutsch saying Palin was a woman he wanted to lie next to in bed and Clinton should have put on a skirt."

4. "Geraldine Ferraro Accuses Media Over 'Sexist' Scrutiny of Sarah Palin." By Tom Baldwin.

"Ms Ferraro remains angry at the 'sexist treatment' of Mrs Clinton by the media. 'In New Hampshire, someone put up a sign saying Iron My Shirt. Nobody spoke out. Imagine if Hillary's supporters had said [to Obama] Shine my shoes. Everybody would quite rightly have been jumping on it. Women in politics should not be treated better than men, just fairly.'"

5. "Estrich On Sexist Attacks On Palin." By Jim Lindgren.

"Susan Estrich, former Dukakis campaign manager, just said on Fox that she was appalled by the attacks on Palin [and called them] 'really unfair' and 'really sexist.'"

6. "Juan Williams: 'Centerfold' Palin Successful Because She's Attractive." By Lachlan Markey.

"Fox News contributor Juan Williams, also a reporter for NPR and the Washington Post, was at a complete loss when Sean Hannity told him last night that he would rather Palin be president than Barack Obama. 'Your libido is getting in the way of your thinking,' Williams told Hannity . . . 'I think she is a superstar centerfold for conservative men.'"

7. "Clinton Aides: Palin Treatment Sexist." By John Harris and Beth Frerkring.

"Sarah Palin found some unlikely allies Wednesday as leading academics and even former top aides to Hillary Rodham Clinton endorsed the Republican charge that John McCain's running mate has been subject to a sexist double standard by the news media and Democrats.

"Georgetown University professor Deborah Tannen, who has written best-selling books on gender differences, said she agrees with complaints that Palin skeptics - including prominent voices in the news media - have crossed a line by speculating about whether the Alaska governor is neglecting her family in pursuit of national office.

"'What we're dealing with now, there's nothing subtle about it,' said Tannen. 'We're dealing with the assumption that child-rearing is the job of women and not men. Is it sexist? Yes . . . '

"* Liberal radio host Ed Schultz used the words 'bimbo alert' to refer to Palin, and the Huffington Post featured a photo montage of Palin with the headline, 'Former Beauty Queen, Future VP?'

"* CNN's John Roberts recently pondered on air: 'Children with Down's syndrome require an awful lot of attention. The role of vice president, it seems to me, would take up an awful lot of her time, and it raises the issue of how much time will she have to dedicate to her newborn child?'

"This line of inquiry was echoed by writer Sally Quinn, who in her 'On Faith' column for washingtonpost.com agreed that Palin is a 'bright, attractive, impressive person," but also asked, "is she prepared for the all-consuming nature of the job?'

"'Her first priority has to be her children,' Quinn wrote. 'When the phone rings at 3 in the morning and one of her children is really sick what choice will she make?'"

8. "'No One Will Ever Be Able to Take Your Place' as a Mom." By Richard Prince.

"'My question to Sarah Palin is this. Who is going to lead your children?' Sidmel Estes-Sumpter, a media consultant and former president of the National Association of Black Journalists, asked on her blog on Friday.

"'I get it when you say you have a supportive husband who is always there for you. I get it when you complain that men aren't subjected to the same kind of questioning as women when it comes to family values. Been there . . . done that . . . got the t-shirt. But Sarah . . . GET REAL. No one will ever be able to take your place as a mother. I'm telling you this not because of what I have heard. I'm telling you this because this is what I know.

"'More than 17 years ago, I was elected the national president of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). . . the first woman in our organization to accomplish that. The biggest heartstring pulling at me was how it would affect my two year old son. That consideration almost forced me not to run.'"

9. "Newsweek Cover Races To The Bottom With Old Photo Of Palin." By Glynnis MacNicol.

"The weekly magazine, which since its relaunch has opted for increasingly blogosphere-like headlines to generate readers, apparently has decided that the best way to cover Sarah Palin's reemergence on the national stage is with an old photo from Runner's World . . . But resorting to a photo like this (and yes I realize she posed for it, though in an entirely different context) to illustrate such a condescending headline forces me conclude that Newsweek thinks Palin is an annoying little problem because she looks good in runner's shorts, and not a problem because, as both the magazine's articles suggest, she is the 21st century's version of Barry Goldwater, and has broad national appeal for a whole slew of reasons, very few of which having to do with how she looks in runner's shorts."

10. "Biden's Gloves Come Off . . . Against 'Sexist' Media." By Matthew Jaffe.

"[T]he truth is, some of the stuff that the press has said about Sarah, and that others have said about the governor, I think, are outrageous," Biden said. "I just think some of the stuff said has been over the top, totally unfair, and has been sexist, and I think the way the governor has handled it has been admirable."

11. "Matthews: Palin Like A 'Mail-Order Bride.'" By Ed Morrissey.

"No one will be surprised to see Matthews do this, but having Newsweek's Howard Fineman busting a gut and joining in the fun may be a bit of a surprise."

12. "From Gloria Steinem to Norah O'Donnell, Misogyny and Sexism Are Fine if the Target (Palin) Is on the Right." By Julia Reed.

"Blogs accused her of faking her own pregnancy with a Down syndrome child to cover up for her daughter. Mainstream journalists - female mainstream journalists - like Norah O'Donnell questioned whether a mother of five could effectively function as vice president. More piled on about her irresponsibility in accepting the nomination with five children, including one with special needs. Alan Colmes suggested on his blog that her airplane travel had possibly contributed to the fact that her child was born with Down syndrome. It went on and on and on. Where was the feminist outcry?

"Plenty of Republican women were sickened over the treatment of Hillary Clinton (hell, even I cried at the video that introduced her convention speech), but there has been no reaching across party lines to defend Palin. Not even when Martin Peretz dismissed and demeaned her by saying, 'I give [Palin] her due: she is pretty like a cosmetics saleswoman at Macy's.'"

13. "Eric Zorn's Sexist Folly." By Steve Rhodes.

"The Tribune columnist today retells the jokes of late-night comics about Sarah Palin without any recognition of how offensive many of them are."

14. "Palin as Pinup." By Steve Rhodes.

"I'm not sure what to do first, re-read Freud or call Susan Faludi."

*

Again, my simple proposition is this:

"Sexist coverage of Sarah Palin is every bit as despicable as sexist coverage of Hillary Clinton, which is every bit as despicable as sexist coverage of Laura Bush, which is every bit as despicable as sexist coverage of Michelle Obama, which is every bit as despicable as sexist coverage of Kay Bailey Hutchison, which is every bit as despicable as sexist coverage of Nancy Pelosi."

But when it comes to Palin, well, a lot of "progressive" women (and liberal reporters) simply don't care.

-

Steve remember what the poet and philosopher Al Sweringen from Deadwood told his minions - "You want a donkey's attention, you bring a #$%king pole down between his ears."
Yes Sir!

Knockout! Not Mike, Jamillah - A Marriage of True Minds!

I met Mike Joyce when I went to work here at Leo High School in 1995. Mike helped coach football and served on the Leo Advisory Board.

He developed a Boxing Program here at Leo that has produced half a score of Golden Gloves Champions, Heavyweight Pro Thomas Hayes ( 27-1) and the Captain of Team U.S.A. Lamar Fenner. More importantly, hundreds of young men developed confidence and dignity in the Square Ring.

Mike Joyce cared for an octogenarian boxing legend, Hermann Mills. Mike took the fighter into his home; bought his clothes, food, medicine and drove him to and from American Legion bingo three nights a week. As a lawyer, Mike helped every person in a jackpot out of the particular jamb. When my wife died in 1998, Mike Joyce helped me through years of self-pity, grief, and folly.

He is the smartest person I have ever met and that includes Steve Allen.

Somehow, this great hearted pug, who used to pull neighborhood kids through Morgan Park streets who attached ropes to the bumper of his car while wearing roller blades, met a stunningly beautiful and gracious girl -Jamillah Ali. Talk about beauty and the beast.

These two talented and generous people bonded in marriage. God bless them!

From Sneed's column:

" 'The Champ' said, 'Yes,' and so did Jamillah," said Joyce's brother, Kevin, who told Sneed: "No one ever thought Mike would get married. For the last two years, he's been the happiest anyone has ever seen him. At the wedding, Mike said, "Muhammad, you'll always be 'The Champ,' but 'The Greatest Ever' is my mother, Mary Joyce, and she's going to pass that title on to my wife, your daughter."

Ali, who suffers from Parkinson's disease, was able to walk his daughter down the aisle at the beachside wedding before 140 friends and dozens of onlookers at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Naples. The wedding was performed by the Rev. George Clements.

"Muhammad Ali sat throughout the whole reception and invited people to come up and take pictures with him," a wedding source said.

Joyce, a former prize fighter known as "Irish Mike Joyce," promotes young boxers and opened a boxing club at his alma mater -- Leo Catholic High School in Auburn Gresham.

"Mike has always been consumed in helping others and has been the best man in at least six weddings," Kevin Joyce said.

Jamillah, one of Ali's family of seven daughters and two sons, works at the Secretary of State's office. Joyce's dad, Jeremiah, was a Chicago alderman for four years and an Illinois state senator for 14 years.

Whether it be a matter of personal relations within a marriage or political initiatives within a peace process, there is no sure-fire do-it-yourself kit.
Seamus Heaney

They'll be fine Seamus!

Michael Posner's American Foreign Policy Gallery

North Korean and Progressive Point of View on American Exceptionalism: Catholic Priest and Military Doctor Torture Asian Baby - probably not historically accurate but really high-minded.

"Part of a mature relationship is that you have an open discussion where you not only raise the other guy’s problems, but you raise your own."
Michael Posner - over matriculated stiff, fawning boot-licking jackass and State Department Chinaman's Pal! Judge Richard "Curb Your Enthusiasm" Posner must be related.

Autre!

"There are not enough Chinamen in the world to stop a fully armed Marine regiment from going where ever they wont to go"- Lewis B. "Chesty" Puller

Chicago's Own Fawning Boot-Licker Michael Posner - Your State Department in Action!

Even MTV is smarter than Michael Posner ( this guy has GOT to be related to Judge Larry David Posner - the guy who doubled down on Ed Vrdolyak). The Hemp smokers at MTV announced this last month -

Ever since MTV finished filming The Real World DC last fall, Housing Complex has wondered what would become of the beautiful red-brick mansion that hosted it. Well, first HealthHIV took the top two floors. Then, it sounded like owner Doug Jemal was wooing a restaurant for the ground level. Today, Bisnow is reporting that the former home of Josh, Callie, and Mike will soon be occupied by a museum devoted to the ongoing horror of forced labor camps in China.. . . The Laogai museum, underwritten by the Yahoo! Human Rights Fund, chronicles the experience of some 40 million people who have passed through the Communist regime’s labor camps since the 1950s, millions of whom have died. Kempton likened it to the Holocaust, which already has a museum in D.C.—except the persecution continues.

“Our museum really should be in Beijing or Shanghai, but can’t be,” Kempton says. “This is a system that is still going on.”

Well, this way, they’re only a few blocks away from the Chinese Embassy.

Crist on a Crunchable! Michael Posner is the Chicago born child of privilege who attended every toney college he could find and mapped out a career of high-moral-indignation at American History i.e. He is a Progressive Darling!!!! Posner is the State Department Jackass who boot-licked the Red Chinese and grovelled out apologies for the State of Arizona.

I wish the over-educated -rather, this over matriculated stiff could have some quiet quality time with the Korean War Veterans of the Burbank Marine Corps League and at the Oak Lawn VFW - open his smarmy yap and then sit back and watch the show. "The Chosin Resevoir was a shameful Trail of Tears for the Heroic Peasant Peoples Army against the running Dog Mercenaries of Capitalism. I'm a Torture Expert, People stop tickling me!!!!!!"

Shorebank Checks for Jan Schakowsky's Hubby - Bob Creamer

"I'm in sort of hour-by-hour contact with them. It's still a bit of a nail-biter, but it's very, very active and they're getting closer to where they need to be," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D., Ill.), who has been lobbying for assistance for ShoreBank.

Shorebank - formerly South Shore Bank - did not invest in inner city Catholic high schools: this I know.

Congressman Jan Schakowsky is going flat-out to bail out Shorebank. That's nice. I'll bet it is to say 'thank you.' Maybe Shorebank gave Jan's ex-Con Hubby Bob "The Shank" Creamer check writing privileges. That's pretty tough to get following a stretch in Club Fed for Check Kiting, but, then again, Bob "The Shank" Creamer can waltz into the White House.

What's wrong with that?

Tom Roeser Speculates Specter's Chair

"I sorta kinda hope Specter wins so as to make it easier for Pat Tooney to defeat him in November—but I don’t think that’s possible so we’ll be saying farewell to the biggest phony who ever inveigled the two party system… "

- Tom Roeser

Chilling - not stirred.