Andy Shaw's BGA Bullshit Boulevard:Chuck E Cheese Deserts Lead to DWB?

BGA Andy Shaw and the his usual cast of numbers-numbing deep thinkers (Fox-32 Dane Placko and University of Chicago professor of race-baiting Craig Futterman) always take a short-cut to Bullshit Boulevard. In this particular case, that would be a stretch of US Route 20 commonly known on the southwest side of Chicago, Evergreen Park & Oak Law as 95th Street.

This week Andy Shaw's BGA/FOX/University of Chicago's Bullshit Boulevard mapped Evergreen Park as ground zero for race-hate while driving.

More than 93,000 minority drivers, mostly blacks, were stopped in Evergreen Park from 2004 to 2011, compared to 41,331 whites during the same period, according to Illinois Department of Transportation data analyzed by FOX 32 News and the BGA.
What’s more, as the total number of traffic stops in Evergreen Park increased over that eight-year span, the number of whites who were pulled over remained flat at about 5,000 a year, while the number of minorities rose sharply to 14,656 in 2011 from 9,600 in 2004, according to IDOT.“The data shows some real red flags,” said University of Chicago law professor Craig Futterman, an expert on civil rights and police accountability. “Unlike the rest of Illinois, racial disparity (in stops) is going up in Evergreen Park.”FOX 32 News reported last month that Evergreen Park police were engaging in a controversial and possibly dangerous practice — offering drivers a break on traffic tickets if they helped cops find illegal handguns. The motorists who were interviewed believed they were singled out because of race.

That would and will be compelling to simple folks who like their high dudgeon served up smoking hot and tasty and lawsuit spicy.

The hard question neglected in this latest dodge goes unasked, " Why are there no Chuck E Cheese outlets in under served communities?"

Chuck E Cheese is a handy haven for busy families with legions of young ones who might become a bit uneasy while waiting for mom and pop to make purchases ( Aunt Gert can take the wee bairns in to Chuck E Cheese for fun and fast food, while Mom and Dad get the shopping done) , as well as a festive place for wholesome family fare and fun.  It is the venue for choice for many struggling families seeking a birthday, anniversary, graduation or family reunion .  In these hard economic times, families must be as accountable for budget as our government. Chuck E. Cheese means value. The company mission statement Promise states just that.

OUR PROMISE
KID CHECK®
Every member of a party – adult and kid; family or group – who enters Chuck E. Cheese’s gets a unique hand stamp that is verified upon their exit to assist in our objective that families who come together leave together.
CLEAN, OPEN ENVIRONMENT
We clean and sanitize the bathrooms, showroom, gameroom and other areas of the store throughout the day. If you see a table or bathroom that needs attention, let one of our managers know. We’ll get right to it.
WHOLESOME FAMILY FUN
We are very choosy about which games are allowed into Chuck E. Cheese’s. Whether it’s a video game or a game that encourages physical activity, like our Skytubes®, we believe all our games should be fun to play and fun to watch.
FOOD MADE FRESH
When it comes to food, our priorities are freshness and high-quality ingredients. Every pizza is made to order, fresh (never frozen), and we use only 100% real mozzarella cheese. Our salad bar is always full of fresh items prepared by hand daily.
WE BELIEVE IN FUN – FOR ALL AGES
We have different games for different ages. But if a grownup wants to have a turn, we promise not to make fun of you. 

 95th Street is a commercial zone linked to traffic exits for 1-57, I-94/90 and Interstate 294.  Running east/west, 95th provides goods and services to a number of communities: auto dealers, medical hugs, pharmacies, eateries, Mega-stores, malls, insurance and two hospitals.  One hospital is a major trauma -center, Christ Advocate, home to treatment serious automobile and gunshot injuries, as well cut and abrasions from a visit to Chuck E Cheese at 95th & Cicero.

Chuck E Cheese is located at Cicero Ave. & 95th St.; in order to go and return from Chuck E. Cheese, as well as patronize the hundreds of other fine commercial venues on this thoroughfare, requires passage through Evergreen Park, Illinois.

Is is possible?  Is it plausible, that many motorists making this east/west 95th street odyssey just might be distracted by the joyful noise of youngsters within the SUV, sedans and coupes en-route to this mecca of wholesome family fun?

I would venture to say, most definitely.  The sober exercise of good-motoring and attention to the traffic signage is an Augean task on a solo trip, but in vehicle packed with happy campers a soul- crushing crucible.

Taking Prof. Craig Futterman's time-line of 2004-2012, I have Googled reports, tales, stories, yarns investigative series related to Chuck E Cheese, Oak Lawn. This poor man's Disney World and Lou Malnati's is the only game in town.  There is a vast Chicagoland Chuck E Cheese Desert!

Chuck E Cheese is not located in Englewood, Robbins, Hazel Crest, Gresham, Deering, Grand Crossing, Canaryvile, Bridgeport, Chatham or South Shore.  There is no Chuck E Cheese in Hegewisch!  It is located in Oak Lawn on 95th Street and it has a flourishing revenue stream seven days a week.


Andy Shaw, Dane Placko and Craig Futterman, ask the hard question - Would more Chuck E Cheese venues in under served communities help us all avoid charges of racial insensitivity, provide more wholesome fun and food close to home and ease the flow of traffic on this busy commercial thoroughfare?




OR, are you more content with driving your BGA clown car along Bullshit Boulevard??

Hmmm? Find that Microphone, Andy!

Hold Me Closer, Tiny Dancer BroMance in the Moment

“Those who are most moral are farthest from the problem.” 
― Saul D. Alinsky, Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals

Rahm Emanuel May Be Toying With 2016 Presidential Runby Lloyd Grove Feb 14, 2013 5:15 PM ESTObama’s former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel might make a go for 2016, two well-connected Democrats tell Lloyd Grove—as long as Hillary doesn’t. And the potty-mouthed Chicago mayor could win.

This just in:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama will spend the long holiday weekend in Florida, relaxing with friends.

The White House said this week that Obama would head to the West Palm Beach area on Friday, after a stop earlier in the day in Chicago, his hometown, to discuss economic proposals in his State of the Union address.Spokesman Josh Earnest said Thursday that Obama would spend a few days on Florida's Atlantic Coast relaxing with friends he did not identify. No public events were scheduled.

"The president of the United States is the president of the United States 24 hours a day, and will fulfill his responsibilities as president even while he's getting some well-deserved downtime with some friends this weekend," Earnest told reporters traveling with Obama. "I don't think the American people will begrudge him that."

And so saga plays on!

John Coltrane's Son- Isaiah Collier of Chicago High School for Arts

One of my early morning stops is Bronzeville, where I pick up three Leo students Johnny, Joe and Daylon.  Daylon is a 6'4" freshman who has slimmed down from his doughy 340 lbs. football heft to a trim and fit 315.   Daylon lives on 35th Street in an apartment complex conveniently located across the street from a Dunkin Donuts.  I meet Daylon there at 6:30 AM.  As I tend to early for any and every occasion I enjoy some quality Me Time with the working folks,cops, trades folks, EMTs and two high school students from the Chicago High School of Arts.

Festooned in my Leo habiilments, people easily fall into the trap of making eye-contact and conversation with this most garrulous of gents.  One of my salon now is young master Isaiah Collier who asked me if I knew his cousin who attends Leo.  This was before Christmas.  We are now daily communicants of Dunkin Donuts products and conversant on matters Leo/local/and lyrical.  Isaiah is a gifted, but more importantly hard-working musician.  He is a jazz student and saxophonist of great gifts.

This past weekend, Isaiah played in a jam session at the Fine Arts Building on Michigan Ave. and last week at live performance at the school. The Chicago High School for the Arts is a credit to public schools.

Here is a fine young man perfoming with a quintet of like-souled young gents performing Wood and Mellin's My One and Only Love ala Coltrane..  Isaiah Collier is a credit to his craft. Coltrane has son and his name if Isaiah




Every day on this earth is a blast!  How one could whine, " I'm bored........."  remains beyond me.  I remember one of my teaching mentors,  American philosopher restrauteur,  chick magnet and jazz scholar, Nick Novich's reply to whining high school kid beefing about how boring her life in Kankakee happened to be, Nick pulled himself to his fullest height and asked, " And what, exactly, are you doing about that Miss Mope?" Indeed.

Every morning, Isaiah is pouring over his notes, his charts, or reading thick novels. He could never be bored.
I am never bored, but I am huge sap.  Here is voice of America singing this beautiful song.

State Senator Bill Cunningham Voted Yes on Gay Marriage

My State Senator, William Cunningham, entered the Illinois Legislature as a replacement for Illinois State Representative Kevin Joyce who represented the voters of the our district with courage, integrity and profound commitment to fighting abortion, the American Holocaust.  Our Senator retired and William Cunningham moved into that position.

Kevin Joyce was a rarity, an elected official who actually listened to voters, but voted his convictions.  More so, Kevin Joyce was very upfront and honest about legislation that he would support, or oppose.  No one knows what position William Cunningham holds on anything. My State Senator voted with the herd.

Mr. Cunningham voted for the Religious Freedom and Gay Marriage Bill, which overwhelmingly passed the Senate -34-21-2 .

I am a Catholic.  I believe that this legislation is political theater of the absurd.  It is power politics playing at social justice.  I guess Mr. Cunningham disagrees with the Catholic Church and saw nothing wrong the civil union aftermath. William Cunningham voted for Gay Marriage.

State of Illinois

98th General Assembly

Senate Vote

___________________________________________________________________

Senate Bill No. 10

THIRD READING

Feb 14, 2013

34 YEAS 21 NAYS 2 PRESENT

 . . . Y Cunningham Y Koehler Y Muñoz Y Trotter

Y Delgado Y Kotowski N Murphy P Van Pelt

N Dillard N LaHood Y Noland Y Mr. President

N Duffy Y Landek N Oberweis . . .

I wrote several notes to Mr. Cunningham expressing my concerns that Gay Marriage Illinois would become a political weapon against my Church, as the Religious Freedom and Civil Unions law proved to be just that -immediately upon Gov. Pat Quinn's signing that bill into law Catholic Charities was bullied out of decades of care for families wanting to adopt children.

Mr. Cunningham, to my knowledge, has never stated his position on Gay Marriage publicly or privately.  In fact, my notes to him were merely acknowledged by his secretary without comment, or an attached position of this important legislation.

Mr.Cunningham has made a career in public service, rather he has had political jobs. I will not vote for or support Mr. Cunningham, or any of his political allies.  He has a right to his vote and I still have a right to my own.

Happy Ballantine's!

Carl Ballantine of McHale's Navy

Thank God It's Lent! The Burial of Mrs. Teddy Lent

Mrs. Theodore Lent (1834–25 March 1860) buried just the other day.

Now, I have done some rotten $hit in my life. Deeds that make me shudder with humiliation.  I pray on me knees each morning never forgetting the mean, shabby and thoughtless acts words and deeds and in the hope for grace to avoid any such repetitions.

But like a chubby guy at the beach who pals up with a morbidly obese behemoth, Man I am stripping off my shirt and soaking up the rays!

Folks Meet Lewis B. AKA Theodore "Ted" Lent!!!!

Born in Mexico in 1834, Julia Pastrana suffered from hypertrichosis and gingival hyperplasia, diseases that gave her copious facial hair and a thick-set jaw. These features led to her being called a "bear woman" or "ape woman".
During the mid-1850s, Pastrana met Theodore Lent, a US impresario who toured the singing and dancing Pastrana at freak shows across the United States and Europe before marrying her.
In 1860, Pastrana died in Moscow after giving birth to Lent's son, who inherited his mother's condition. The son died a few days later, and Lent then toured with the mother and son's embalmed remains. After changing hands over the ensuing decades, both bodies ended up at the University of Oslo in Norway.

Finally, the poor woman was laid to rest in her native land 150 years after her sad death 

Odd, with this day being the start of Lent, a dead SOB named Lent should give us all pause in our conduct through this vale of tears.  I usually feel very remorseful, but the saga of Old Ted Lent's misdeeds and malevolence put a spring in my step and song in my heart!

Now, Lewis B. AKA Theodore "Ted " Lent was what being an a$$hole is all about!!

Bring on that Judgement Day, Oh, Lawd!  Ted step over and tell St. Peter about yourself! Yes,Sir its Ash Wednesday!!!!!!!!!!

So, To the SOTU . . .6,500 Words and no mention of Benghazi, or Ambassador Chris Stevens

I watched the President give a State of the Union (SOTU) address again last night.  It was pretty much what I had expected:

1. The President really enjoys his own company: "Just three weeks ago, she was here, in Washington, with her classmates, performing for her country at my inauguration.  And a week later, she was shot and killed in a Chicago park after school, just a mile away from my house."  - Now, you tell me what you think of me!
2. Congress is Bi-Polar
3. There are some really homely elected officials
4. Standing ovations at each preposition uttered by Our President, Commander-in-Chief
5. It is what it is; it is what it is ; it is what it is
6. And there is President Barack H. Obama

I was a bit dismayed that the President never addressed the issue of Religious Liberty in connection to his HHS Mandates, nor did he mention any on-going problems with his Administration: Solyndra stuff, Eric Holder's gun-running operations and that sort of stuff. Nothing is his fault. Catholics must be paranoid, or something. Shucks he didn't even give Pope Benedict XVI a shout-out on upon his announced retirement.

Our President is a Progressive and a Progressive is prickly.  President Obama was prickly.  

I thought that at the very least the President's SOTU might mention the murder of Ambassador Stevens and three other Americans by terrorists in Libya - not a chance.

6,500 words of self-praise, threats and padded rhetoric.  It was a stump speech. A very long, dull, embarrassingly egocentric stump speech.

He will pay back GE Green Energy for its long and tireless support of his perch in the White House - by Executive Order.

The President stuffed his box with victims of gun violence and paid fair and moving tribute to the slain and how much each victim meant to him personally:


I remember how much murdered Ambassador Chris Stevens meant to the President, his Administration and his Re-Election Team - The formerly-mustachioed David Axelrod gave it to Chris Wallace when Wallace asked him about the President's run to "about the president’s decision to fly to Nevada for a campaign event “within hours” of the Sept. 11 attack – compared to the decision late last month to suspend campaigning for three days to deal with superstorm Sandy" upon learning of the massacre:

“Chris, as I said, immediately when word of the attack came, the president was meeting with his top national security folks. He was talking to them well into the night. He was in touch with them during the day, as – during the next day as well. So, there is no question about the fact that he was focused on this.”
“But, why did he feel he could campaign within hours after a terror attack?” Wallace asked.
“Well, everything – everything was put in motion that he could put in motion,” Axelrod replied. “Everything – every conversation that needed to be had was being had between him and his top national security officials.. . . The president has said, we want to get to the bottom of it. We want to share it with the American people. We want to get it right,” ”

Really?

Bringing it all back home to gun violence, President Obama neglected four victims of gun, RPG and mob terrorism in Benghazi:

Hadiya’s parents, Nate and Cleo, are in this chamber tonight, along with more than two dozen Americans whose lives have been torn apart by gun violence.  They deserve a vote.

Gabby Giffords deserves a vote.

The families of Newtown deserve a vote.

The families of Aurora deserve a vote.

The families of Oak Creek, and Tucson, and Blacksburg, and the countless other communities ripped open by gun violence – they deserve a simple vote.

No votes, mention, or responsibility for

The Family of Chris Stevens
The Family of Sean Smith
The Family of Tyrone Woods
The Family of Glen Doherty

SOTUS 2013 is what it is -

The President Obama is coming home to Chicago on Friday to do exactly what I have not a clue.  I know this, I would not walk across the street to listen to him even if he were announcing my appointment to some ghost pay-rolling job, like Valerie Jarrett's gig.

Three more BHO SOTU to go. Unless of course . . . His gang manages to give him President for life . . .could be; MSNBC and GE are all over it.

Martin Marty's Fedora “How can Catholic education be saved?” - Play Small Ball

I read an interesting article by University of Chicago scholar Martin E. Marty. The article rather whimsically treats Catholic Schools as reified artifacts - a fedora e.g.  things that fade out of fashion and necessity.   I'm no scholar, but I have taught and worked in Catholic high schools since 1975.  So, since we are doing metaphors, Catholic schools remain the Cadillac of American education; back in 1975 more Americans could afford a Caddy.

I taught at Bishop McNamara High School in Kankakee, Illinois. The Clerics of St. Viator(CSVs) operated this co-educational high school under aegis of the Joliet Diocese.  There were five Viatorian priests in the Administration and teaching staff and there were also nine Sisters of Notre Dame(CNDs)  in teaching and clerical positions.The balance of the faculty were lay persons.  Together we served the 400 young men and women from diverse backgrounds.  The school was mirror of Kankakee County - heavily French with African Americans and Dutch Protestants filling out the demographic.  The students were the sons and daughters of farmers, factory workers, tradesmen, white collar workers, doctors, lawyers and a couple of bankers.

1975 saw the fall of Saigon and my baby steps in teaching.  The American economy began to tip due to OPEC and Jimmy Carter responded by manfully donning a sweater.  Kankakee had been home to many big sized businesses, Roper, AO Smith, Armstrong Tiles & Pharmeceuticals.  These operations as well as the foundries, metal fabrication and pallet operations provided a robust employment.  Tuition, which would be considered invisible by today's Catholic school prices, was set at $ 787 per year, sans fees and books.

I was paid a salary of $ 6, 800, with medical and allowed to pay into a retirement plan.  My salary every two  weeks amounted about $ 264.00 every two weeks.  I paid $ 225 a month for an apartment near the school, as I did not own a car.  I walked for two years.  Things were good. I received a modest raise each year according to the Levels and Steps Salary Scale of the Joliet Catholic Schools.

The economy broke bad. The Shah was bounced, America held Hostage, OPEC kicked sand in our eyes and Jimmy Carter paddled away from a rabbit.  Malaise.



AO Smith and Roper went to Mexico and so did the secondary industries.  Our parents were laid off.  One gentleman, Mr. W, had three kids in Catholic schools and was a shift manager at Roper in 1977.  In 1979, he was bagging groceries at Grocery World and Mrs. W. babysat. The kids all graduated, but they had moved from four bedroom bi level home in the  the very upper middle class west  side  Kankakee Parish of St. Martin of Tours to rental slab home in Bradley, IL. The W Family were heroic.

Other families just could not hack it and parted for the Kankakee, Bourbonnais, Momence, St. Anne and Herscher School districts.  The enrollment and the tuition revenue plunged. The faculty went without raises, but kept the school operation first rate. The athletic and academic programs blew away the competition from the tax-fueled public schools all over the county and beyond.

In 1981, due to declining vocations, the CSVs ended their operational ties to the school.  Shortly thereafter the CNDs did the same.  More lay persons swelled the salary slot in the budget ledgers.  That same year the school and the parents initiated the Negotiated Tuition program to keep as many of the students in the school.  Parents agreed to bring in their W-2 forms and negotiate tuition, or opt to meet the $1,400 tuition.

Regardless of the struggle, Catholic families sent their sons and daughters to Bishop McNamara.  The school held on.  After three years, the negotiations ended and tuition was set once again.  No miracles.  This was small ball*.

The faculty was an immensely talented body of teachers who sent Kankakee kids to Yale, Brown, Rutgers, University of Chicago, West Point, Annapolis, and the Air Force Academy, as well as Illinois, Purdue, DePaul, Loyola, ISU, EIU and Olivet.

Graduates stood out - Lori Hoekstra became a producer for Saturday Night Live, Letterman and now manages Norm McDonald, Kara Zediker is a movie star, America's first Casualty in the Operation Iraqi Freedom was Capt. Ryan Beaupre USMC (dec.) and there are so many more like  Napoleon Harris and Ron Young in civil and public service. There is also a thick handful of Catholic priests brothers and nuns who graduated from Bishop McNamara at the end of the last millennium.

No miracles.  This was small ball played out with huge sacrifices.  In piece linked to Marty Marty which uses the metaphor of Fedoras for Catholic schools misses a point. I continue to work in Catholic schools; did I mention I work at Leo High School?

Fedoras can still be purchased at vintage boutiques and they tend to cost a hell of lot more than the original price.  Fedoras might not be worn by a huge male demographic anymore.  Some folks worry that a Catholic education might become available only to the elite, the affluent and label conscious - like Notre Dame University. Catholic schools exist because of Catholics.  Catholics who take of precious things - faith, family, and freedom are not fads.

Fashion - even grown men wearing bow-ties- fades.  Fads even faster.  Catholic education is no fad; no matter how much public school educators try ape the school traditions - a Cadillac is no Prius. Catholic schools like the Dodo bird?  Like the Fedora, Marty?

I don't believe that to be the case at all.  I work at a school that 'smart' people insisted would close 'next year' with the same passion and precision that a Cubs fan sees a Cub World Series trophy.  The Cubs won one in 1908; Leo has been closing since 1967.

Here's your Fedora; see you next year Marty!.

* Catholic League football is remarkable for slugging it out yard for yard and eating the clock as well pounding to the goals.  However, small ball is more of a  baseball term:"When Paul Richards took over as the manager of the Chicago White Sox in 1951, his team had few power hitters, so he decided that he needed to manufacture runs by emphasizing speed as well as a strong defense.^[6] The White Sox became a contender and eventually, the team known as the Go-Go Sox won the American League championship in 1959 by relying on speed and defence."

Eric Zorn calls the Papacy Dysfunctional Institution

In less time than it usually takes for Eric Zorn to say something really stupid, quicker than a Forrest Claypool job- hop and faster than a Tony Preckwinkle denunciation of some dead white man from Western Culture, EZ beat the Las Vegas Odds Makers with his latest Anti-Catholic musing on the occasion of the Pope's retirement announcement:

I was shocked to learn that he's the first to resign rather than to die in office (is office the right word?) since 1415. And I would think that Catholics would be glad, at least in general terms, at the violation of this dysfunctional tradition. Not only does it seem to increase the likelihood that the Pope will rule with clarity and vigor, but also the likelihood that the transitions will be smoother.

I am not shocked to learn that Eric Zorn is shocked. Eric strikes me an opinionated opinion-slinger whose sum total understanding of history and culture is gleaned from PBS premium gift discs of Ken Burns and Bill Moyers lectures, rounded out with solid HBO viewing.

Not having had the pre-packaged melange of intellectual stuffing gobbled up by the Chicago Tribune's editorial cabal and its house mice (EZ & Scmich), another person with a robust appetite for learning might counter with this -" well Eric, I mean Mr. Zorn, you may be interested to learn that while the Pope is bishop of Rome, he is also the Head of State and the last Pope to call it quits did so to end the Avignon Schism. That was a dispute with real political repercussions like war and stuff.  Gregory X!! resigned and the Council of Constance ( a place not a girl) selected Martin V over the three contestants Gregory Benedict and John. There was Teutonic issues and Hussite heresy as well as the vote for Marty.

Subsequent Popes, likewise had all of this historical stuff too - alliances with Austria ( Holy Roman Empire) against Italian States, and Norman Naples and Spain and Reformation Protestants and Enlightenment goofballs like Rousseau who begat Italian secularists of the 19th Century who attacked and sacked Rome, and later Bismark who hated Catholics like a Medill and more sieges and riots and then the Nazis and Joe Stalin kind of kept Popes busy.  Too busy to think about retirement.


Manya Brachear The Seeker is an adept at hooting off her anti-Catholic bazoo only seconds after she chips the china along with "journalists" of her gender in the Cardinal's parlor.

The dysfunctional tradition????  You mean like the Supreme Court, or being Andy Shaw?

Naw, Popes stay on the job because they have quite a bit to do. The Popes I knew Pius XII, John XXIII ( for real one; not the anti-Pope of Council of Constance), Paul VI, Pope John Paul and Pope John Paul II  all displayed remarkable wit, charm and intelligence all the way to the end. Benedict XVI resigned a step or two ahead of "the Final Call."  None displayed the ravages of senility so evident in Congressman Jan Schakowsky, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, or Richard Roeper.


To mime Eric, "Dude, Popes don't have an Illinois Pension."

Monstrous Handsome Basketball Manifesto

Had a bit of ague over the weekend. Thought I'd whine a bit, as is my wont.  I'm a male, you see and, by Jove's huckle, I'll vent splenetic to all and sundry my aches, pains, slights, disappointments and missed opportunities. 'Tis what we do!  I had the flu, dammit!

Woman!  Childbirth?   My eyes are rheumy and my joints ache! I have an elevated temp!  How can I recover worrying about other people?

With those wholesome thoughts, my umbicular vision curled natal-ly self-satisfying!  Now to my Basketball Manifesto!

Due this weekend's endothermic mishap,  I missed Friday's basketball game and hibernated away with Encore Western Channel Leo Sweats, toddies of Barry's Irish Tea laced with Lemon and honey, and a solid contemplation of my own

You see, early in my career as a Corinthian, a willful young colt was I, my dreams of becoming a 3-point dagger shooting, sky-high Prince-ling of Mid-Aire and backboard shattering hoop hanging Converse-All-Star Titan of the hard wood were dashed by one Coach Elmo Dolan.

We had "try-outs" in those halcyon days of yore and the twined oak branch coronas were doled out to not one and all, but those given the starting nod -A baker's dozen of 11/12 year old striplings adept with Naismith's leathery- orb.

Be-decked in T-shirt and baggy shorts and shod with Chuck Taylor Black High Tops I sprinted after a fashion ( dead last) and calisthenic-ly challenged my Temple of Christ with twists and turns and bends and stretches.

(Whistle)  Line-up, Gents! Here's Five balls!  They go in the baskets up there,  Take these balls . . .one at a time . . .and run as fast as you can shile dribbling the ball.  This is how you dribble the ball.  Set your feet so you are balanced  hold the ball even with your hip . . .drop the ball and pat it back down. . .. the length of the gym.

We lined up and counted off 1-2-3-4-5; 1-2-3-4-5;1-2-3-4-5; 1-2-3-4-5; 1-2-3-4-5 . . .I was in the first set of # 3's and each tossed a ball and asked to dribble the length of the court without fumble-tumbling or killing ourselves.

I took the leather orb and bounced it far above my hip and lost control of the ball and knocked two other guys out of their sync.

Use  the hand you usually  use, for Chrissakes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Jesus, Mary and the Lather!   Try again.  Try again.

The set of three contained three of my peers who would not only make the cut, but go on to high school fame and glory, win basketball scholarships at Loyola, Loras and Illinois State and go ont to achieve acclaim as civic and business leaders.

After all sets of candidates had been tested and tempered on the hardbood griddle with feats of passing, catching and shooting the basketballs, it was annoumced that thirteen names would be posted on the gym door - the following day.  Always, a ready welcome the good news, I immediately asked rhetorically, " So, the name Hickey gonna be on that list Mr. Dolan?"

Did you have polio a couple of years ago, Hick?

No, Mr. Dolan.

Spend a few weeks in an iron lung?

No.

You boinking Vicky Carr?

No.

Any more questions?

Did I make it?

Let's see . . .No Polio . . .Lungs Fine . . .No attachment to Vicky Carr . . . Nope.




Alas, it was not to be Vicky, or Hickey of the Hardwood and my interests require no hip or knee prosthesis, unlike the limber lads whose names adorned the list on the gym door at 81st & Honore in 1964.  I have that going for me.

However, I has the ague this weekend and it was really awful and . . .

Charisms in Catholic Schools: Keeping Important Instruments in the Orchestra

“Knowledge and wisdom seek a covenant with holiness.” Pope John Paul II alluding to St. John Cantius

In the introduction to John Sullivan's 2001 study of Catholic schooling Catholic Education: Distinctive and Inclusive the author developed a metaphor that struck me as profound.   The book discusses the polarities of Catholic education as distinctive from the other educational paths; public and independent as well as other denominational schools, while inviting all to participate. In Chapter One, Sullivan notes the diminished influence of religious orders on Catholic education and remarks "The 'orchestra' now plays without benefit of some interesting 'instruments.'  By that he mean the charisms that marked the educational methods which distinguished the religious orders operating individual schools.

Vatican II ( 1962-'65) seemed to accelerate the growing secularism in America. Post-WWII GI Bill Catholics viewed themselves more American than Catholic, especially those with college and post-graduate educations. By the 1970's Catholic education, in particular religion departments, adopted more Clown Jesus Superstar undercoating than the more durably simonized protective coatings of a Jesuit, Augustinian, Carmelite, or Dominican education.  Ask too many Catholics today what is the different and you would most likely be answered, "Hey, they're all the same."  

Religious discernment and judgement in general has suffered from an almost universal dumbing down.

What has occurred through vocation decline and the Catholic-lite religious education dynamics is the absence of charisms that marked, distinguished and glorified Catholic education. Religious Orders have distinct charisms. An example, noted in a recent monograph by a member of the Congregation of Christian Brothers (Irish Christian Brothers) notes the crisis that order has faced - "The charism usually proposed for Edmund Rice is that 'he heard the cry of the poor' and there has been a stress on his clothing, feeding and teaching the extremely poor and marginalised urban underclass to assist the condemned, the gaoled, the deprived, the oppressed and the desperate. While true as far as it goes, 'he heard the cry of the poor' has tended to be interpreted in an increasingly secular world in an increasingly secular way. It is true that the poor need bread (or rice!) or the skills to plant better grain, but, In fact, the desperately poor need Christ. The increasingly marginalised require salvation as much as the rich, the middle-class or anyone else. This tends to be obscured."  The article concludes - The charism of Edmund Rice was to instruct ignorant boys and young men in the Catholic faith - Gerald Kilmartin, c 1989

Brother Kilmartin seems to be addressing the diluting of the charism during the 1960s.  Ignorant boys can have Dads with comfortable bank accounts as well as boys who come to school without a square meal in their bellies or two nickels in their jeans.  The charism was stretched by some in the Congregation in order to avoid the classroom and opt to be Junior Joseph the Workers, living in a monastery with three hots and cot, while working at a factory in Clearing as a personal ministry.  A teaching order teaches.  When the mission statement gets skewed, why bother?  Vocations plunged.

All Catholic schools and especially the first Irish Christian Brother school in Chicago, Leo High School, operate like vineyards: grapes differ.  A connecting branch must get the operating growing and eventually the finished products flowing. There are no brothers at Leo and there has not been one teaching, coaching or administering since the death of Brother Francis R. Finch in 1999 and the Congregation's forced retirement of Brother John Steve O'Keefe in 2005. The brothers withdrew from Leo as a congregation in 1991. Leo High School remains a Catholic school of the Archdiocese of Chicago and managed to maintain something of the charism of the Irish Christian Brothers.  Alumni who were educated by the brothers make up a good portion of the faculty.  Alumni support for the school is robust.  Most encouraging is the presence of former Brother Peter W. Doyle.

Peter Doyle, now married, began his teaching career at Leo in 1967 and served many years as an English teacher, religion teacher, coach and was hired by Leo President Bob Foster as a principal. When Mr. Foster retired Pete Doyle returned to serve as teacher, coach and campus minister.  The Alumni are delighted.  The older silver maned contemporaries of mine still call him Bro Doyle and the young gents Mr. Doyle. Mr. Doyle is a an important cut of the vine, because he is a direct link to the charism that sparks Leo's mission.  He still reads the Divine Office daily and generated great interest in the rosary, especially among the non-Catholic African American students.

Catholic schools were built in order protect the faith of children from the radical Protestant, now Progressive secular, doctrines imposed on students.  Catholic schools developed within a tradition of scholarship and methodology - in fact many methodologies - with the result of training the children of the faithful enact the rituals, immerse themselves in the stories and traditions of the Catholic faith, and live the learned virtues as adults.

It matters that there are distinctions.  A Jesuit education is different from the one a Leo Man received, all the while both are powerfully Catholic.  When distinction is obscured, diluted, neglected, or ridiculed, the whole is diminished.  Catholics who accepted anything will swallow anything.  If that is the case, why bother?

Catholic schools must strengthen identity through the distinctive and inclusive qualities of the many charisms.
The orchestra needs the right instruments. 

The Sad State of the State Stem-Winder:Pat Quinn's Bartlett's Moment- "Hard is not impossible,"

"Hard is not impossible,"  Next, Gov. Quinn gave the old defilbrillator a go and the dummy died.

Charles Alexandre de Calonne (1734-1802), appointed finance minister by Louis XVI in 1783: si cʾest possible, cʾest fait; impossible? cela se fera, if a thing is possible, consider it done; the impossible? that will be done (quoted in J. Michelet Histoire de la Révolution Française (1847) i. ii. 8).

And then there is the Governor of Illinois!  Old Squeazy Himself!  Pat Quinn, ladies and gentlemen, he'll be here for a while and boy is he ever winded after today's State of the State stem-winder!  

Here's some highlights:

“Do we want, in the years to come, a prosperous Illinois where working people continue to have good jobs, where businesses thrive, and where all our children have a world-class education?” Quinn told the House and Senate. “Or do we want to stop the progresss (sic) and watch our economic recovery stall?”

Well????  Waiting for answer, Here! Oh, Rhetorical Question.

Like this dandy, ". . . doing what's hard isn't always what's popular at the moment, but we must remember that hard is not impossible." 

How about these? -"$10 is the new 25 % . . . .I mean $ .25 " - Why should only big industry move to Wisconsin and Indiana?
                    "Squeazy is the new Caterpiller!"                   
                   " LaShawn Ford is the new Dawn Clark Netsch!"
                   " Pensions is the New. . . Catholic Doctrine."
                   "Gay is Black; Marriage is Selma"
                   " I am Dr. King and Dan'l Webster!"
                   

Billy Gibbons - Sharp Dressed Man in 1966

 Above: Bill Gibbons and the Coachmen V, working the teen circuit in Houston, late 1965 or early 1966. From the great Texas website 1966

 Here is handsome young lad ( lower left) with Jimi prior to teaming with Dusty Hill and Frank Beard.

The man in full!!!!
Every Girl Crazy 'Bout a Sharp Dressed Man!

Hey Johnny Cope: A Sound Manvotional

The legendary Irish band Planxty took this Scottish ballad into the 21st Century as a Manvotional.
A Manvotional is an unambiguous male reflection - an examination of conscience.

Today, we bear witness to savagery on our streets with cries and threats of legislation to come.  Violence is not new, but violence has lost meaning.  Politicians use bombast and rhetorical hectoring, but few go in the way of hazard to make things right.  The young, especially of my gender are taught to shrug and turn to Halo-4 heroics fueled by Doritos and Big Gulp Mountain Dews.

The strenuous life is now on Playstation.  Poetry, music and literature can, if taught well, get the young lard-asses out into the fresh air and eventually into purposeful living.

The Jacobite hopes were dashed on Culloden Moor in 1745 and Bonnie Charlie scampered off to France where the Stuarts remain.  However, the romance of the 'lost cause' is eternal in the novels of Walter Scott, the poems of Robbie Burns and the drones of pipes.




Cope Sent a challenge tae Dunbar
Said; 'Charlie meet me if you daur,
'And I'll learn you the arts of war,
'If you'll meet me in the morning'

Chorus:
Hey Johnnie Cope are you wauking yet,
Or are your drums a- beating yet?
If you were wauking I would wait,
Tae gang tae The Coals in the morning

When Charlie looked this letter upon,
He drew his sword the scabbard from,
Come follow me my merry men,
And we'll meet Johnnie Cope in the morning.

When Johnnie Cope he heard o' this,
He thought it wouldna be amiss,
To hae a horse in readiness,
To flee awa' in the morning.

Fye now Johnnie, get up and run,
The Highland bagpipes mak a din,
It's better tae sleep in a hale skin.
For 'twill be a bloody morning.

When Johnnie Cope tae Dunbar came,
They spiered at him, 'where's a' your men?'
'The Deil confound me gin I ken,
For I left them a this morning.'

Now Jonnie troth, ye were na blate,
Tae come wi' news o' your ain defeat,
And leave your men in sic a straight
So early in the morning.

'Faith', quo Johnnie, 'I had sic fegs,
Wi' their claymores and their philabegs,
If I face them again Deil brak ma legs,
So I wish you a' good morning.'

The Battle of Prestonpons:

On 25th July 1745 Prince Charles landed near Moidart in the Highlands of Scotland with seven companions. He raised his standard at Glenfinnan and assembled an army from the clans that supported his bid for the throne. This army marched into Edinburgh on 17th September 1745. The two royal dragoons regiments fled at the highland approach in the infamous “Colterbrigg canter”.

General Sir John Cope, the commander of the small royal force in Scotland, had marched to Inverness with his four regiments of foot. Cope brought his troops south to Dunbar by sea and met up with the dragoons. None of his troops, dragoons or foot, were experienced or even adequately trained. Cope’s artillery can only be described as a “scratch” force comprising invalids and seamen under headed by one aged gunner. Cope marched North along the coast road towards Edinburgh.

The cavalry found the rebel army to be inland and to the south, causing Cope to form his army against the sea behind a marsh. During the night of 20th September 1745 the rebels made use of a path through the marsh to come up on the left flank of the royal army. . . . .On being threatened the dragoon regiments also fled and the foot began to give way. Finally under the impact of the highland attack the whole royal army, other than small groups of men under officers such as Lieutenant Colonel Peter Halkett, fled the field. Only the dragoons were able to get away in any numbers. All the foot bar some 170 were killed, wounded or captured. The injuries inflicted by the highlanders using broad swords and bill hooks are reported to have been horrific.

Live Jazz at Pleasant Home The Terry Sullivan Trio with virtuoso guitarist Zvonimir Tot and Renowned Bassist Rich Armandi

"All men are created free and equal, so it says in the books. Who am I equal to? Nobody. Throw away the books, Honey. " _ Ms. Terry Sullivan a tough but big-hearted dame with great pipes

Sunday, February 17th and April 21st, 4pm

 

A rare, intimate jazz performance. Vocalist Terry Sullivan, whose style is influenced by Anita O’Day and Blossom Dearie, sings in small nightclubs and concert venues in the Chicago area. Guitarist Zvonimir Tot has performed around the globe and has recorded with many world-renowned musicians. Bassist Rich Armandi, one of Chicago’s busiest jazz musicians, completes the trio. Tickets $35 or $50 per couple. For reservations and information call 708-488-1701.

Rev. Jesse Jackson - Homeland Security for Chicago?

" ICU!!!!!! - Next!  I see You; ICU!!!!  . . . Next!"

“A totalitarian state is in effect a theocracy, and its ruling caste, in order to keep its position, has to be thought of as infallible. But since, in practice, no one is infallible, it is frequently necessary to rearrange past events in order to show that this or that mistake was not made, or that this or that imaginary triumph actually happened.” 
― George Orwell, Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell Volume 2 My Country Right or Left 1940 - 1943

"We cannot continue to rely on our military in order to achieve the national security objectives that we've set. We've got to have a civilian national security forcethat's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded." (emphasis added) Barack Obama 2008

Chicago, IL (Friday, February 1, 2013) — Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. and
Rainbow PUSH Coalition call for immediate Federal Intervention and Homeland
Security in Chicago as January homicide totals exceeded 45. This morning, in Chicago,
a woman’s van was riddled with bullets as she was executed on a major highway. Two
days ago, a 15-year-old Dr. Martin Luther King College Prep honor student, who had
recently performed as a majorette at the President’s inaugural ceremony, was killed
after trying to seek shelter from the rain less than a mile away from the President’s
home. Another student was shot but survived. The gunman is still at large. Days before
these tragedies, seven people were killed, 6 from gunshots, all in one day; most of
their murders have been unsolved. Reverend Jesse Jackson reaffirms that gun control reform is critical and the ban on assault weapons paramount. The REV.

With Junior set to attend Federal 'college,'  the 7th Ward up for grabs and unhappy fact that Rev. Al Sharpton is more cuddly to MSNBC, Rev. Jesse Jackson is thinking outside of the box again.
The same crowd of deep thinkers and civil libertarians who have destroyed any and all public support for Chicago Police officers will love this idea!  They also loved Rahm's gift to the Gang-banger pensioners of CeaseFire and Calypso Louis' March of the Bow-Tied Brothers all over Gresham and the Englewood.  Murders spiked, but that's Okay.

Now, the REV. doesn't draw an un-calculated breath on-camera or within range of audio reception and it makes perfect sense that he had cleared his latest "Stop the Madness" gambit following a call to Slum Dog Billionaire Real Estate Mogul and Presidential Ramrod Valerie Jarrett and the lads at the Obama Aeterna Stipendium eodemque Consule Vita  headquarters.

Imagine, DHS security forces in thick competition, not with Chicago Police Department professionals, but the Millions Dollar Ceasefire  Quartet ( Gary Slotkin, Tio Hardiman, Wesley Skogan and Dan'l Webster) and perhaps the contracted players of Rainbow Putsch Coalition's Community For State Security.

Anyway, the good REV tossed that trial balloon out there.

On Raglan Road - The Incomparable Luke Kelly Sings Patrick Kavanaugh's Poem

Raglan Road is named for a 'hero' of the Crimean War - FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan.  Dublin is loaded with British identity.  A great poet from County Monaghan Patrick Kavanaugh wrote one of the great love poems about a gent who met a girl on the Raglan Road in Ballsbridge Dublin. The poem's voice recalls the choice of engaging love and being shattered in the heart by taking the plunge. or retreating like sniveling craven and risking nothing. The lad went at it!

Here is the great Luke Kelly's version.

 

On Raglan Road

On Raglan Road on an autumn day I met her first and knew
That her dark hair would weave a snare that I might one day rue;
I saw the danger, yet I walked along the enchanted way,
And I said, let grief be a fallen leaf at the dawning of the day.

On Grafton Street in November we tripped lightly along the ledge
Of the deep ravine where can be seen the worth of passion's pledge,
The Queen of Hearts still making tarts and I not making hay -
O I loved too much and by such and such is happiness thrown away.

I gave her gifts of the mind I gave her the secret sign that's known
To the artists who have known the true gods of sound and stone
And word and tint. I did not stint for I gave her poems to say.
With her own name there and her own dark hair like clouds over fields of May

On a quiet street where old ghosts meet I see her walking now
Away from me so hurriedly my reason must allow
That I had wooed not as I should a creature made of clay -
When the angel woos the clay he'd lose his wings at the dawn of day. 

Patrick Kavanagh

This Dude was Hacked - Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered

Yep, I was hacked.  The other day I received a note from a Leo Alumnus, close of the heels of a legitmate inquiry from the man himself.

Hey, PATRICK!
Check this out! http:/SOMEBSOROTHER.com

The Dude abides.  Mr. "Hey- I-Read Old Anglo Saxon Poems in OE " took a peek.  The link was for some job opportunity site run by the clowns at MSNBC. SPAM!

Within a few hours, I received a flood of notes from contacts universal asking if I had sent them a note - I had not.

The missive they received was signed by PATRICK.  I never use that cognomen and tend to sign notes:

Pat, or Hickey, or Numbnuts,  or Mr. Light Green Smith, The Anaconda of Affection, Prince of the Mid-Air, Pale Rider, The Forgotten Cough-Drop in the Bottom of Your Purse, Audie Murphy's Side-Kick, Mr. Johnson, Cole Younger, Simon Stylite's Cousin Eddie, the Man Who Cuckholded Manti, Just Plain Bill, Scorch, or the Earl of Rockwell . . .Never PATRICK.

Patrick - is the prelude to an ass-kicking; a Duke's Nancy Boy, a morbidly obese Persian Cat; the last one picked.

I blame Yahoo and this Yahoo.

Mea Culpa, for my unwitting part in this dastardly breach of world-wide-web  privacy willing compliance to an imperative sentence.

hack ¹  (hk)v. hacked, hack·ing, hacksv.tr.1. To cut or chop with repeated and irregular blows: hacked down the saplings.2. To break up the surface of (soil).
3.a. Informal To alter (a computer program): hacked her text editor to read HTML.b. To gain access to (a computer file or network) illegally or without authorization: hacked the firm's personnel database.4. Slang To cut or mutilate as if by hacking: hacked millions off the budget.5. Slang To cope with successfully; manage: couldn't hack a second job.v.intr.1. To chop or cut something by hacking.
2. Informala. To write or refine computer programs skillfully.
b. To use one's skill in computer programming to gain illegal or unauthorized access to a file or network: hacked into the company's intranet.3. To cough roughly or harshly.
n.1. A rough, irregular cut made by hacking.
2. A tool, such as a hoe, used for hacking.
3. A blow made by hacking.
4. A rough, dry cough.

Did He Ever Return?

Charlie and the Old Lady on the . . .Tube.
Let me tell you the story 
Of a man named Charlie 
On a tragic and fateful day 
He put ten cents in his pocket, 
Kissed his wife and family 
Went to ride on the . . .(MTA ) Public Transportation


I'll bet Charlie and the Duchess took one long-assed bath in Hand Sanitizer after that particular roll on the rails.

My Son Has More Money in Beverly Bank Than the Nation of Zimbabwe

 My Son Conor on the Far Right with Two Boon Chums, celebrating Conor's Bank Account!

There are cash-strapped governments and there are broke governments. And then there's Zimbabwe, which, after paying last week's government salaries, has just $217 left in the bank. No, we didn't forget any zeroes to the end of that figure. Zimbabwe, the country that's home to some of the world's largest platinum and diamond reserves, literally has the same financial standing as a 14-year-old girl after a really good birthday party. The country's finance minister admitted as much in a press conference on Tuesday. "Last week when we paid civil servants there was $217 [left] in government coffers," Tendai Biti told reporters. "The government finances are in paralysis state at the present moment. We are failing to meet our targets."

Tendai, old son, them  targets must be the size of a gnat's nuts.  If all you got $ 217 in the old cartera.

My son is 22 years old.  Conor is a big strapping handsome guy ( Mom's DNA) with a ready smile and , in the manner Hickey,quick with a buck!  Nevertheless, the lad has some fundamental thrift.  An apprentice tradesman, Conor is doing alright.  He is on the path to a debt free young manhood.  No college debt.

An apprentice does not make a great deal of money, but Conor lives at home and only needs to pay his union dues, class fees, car insurance and car payments. Of course, there is dispensable capital.   Like most of his contemporaries, the lad has few cares and fewer sleep-depriving responsibilities.


Zimbabwe* is an idiotic piece of Africa that stands as a metaphor of liberal thought.   It is nation run by a blood-thirsty idiot, Robert Mugabe, and for idiots - only people like Bill Ayers, Jimmy carter, Rammsey Ckark, Rev. Al Sharpton, Bill Moyers and MSNBC have deep admiration for this folly on wheels of a nation.

To quote Conor Oliver Hickey, "Hey, You can't spend everything!"

Not so, says Old Bob Mugabe!



Zimbabwe is nine years older than my son Conor, but it has only $ 217 left in its bank account.  Conor could buy three Zimbabwe's and have enough to buy a round at Dubliner, Keegans and Cork & Kerry. Beverly Bank and Trust is a neighbor friendly institution.

Stout fellow and sound dollar husbandry, my son!

If an old guy named  Bob Mugabe tries to put the bite on you for a touch, my son, explain that you give only to Catholic Charities.


*

WELCOME TO ZIMBABWE

The country of Zimbabwe is 390,580 sq km and is bordered on all sides by other countries. Zambia lies to the northwest with the Zambezi river and its Victoria Falls forming the border. Mozambique lies to the northeast with its border formed by the Eastern Highlands. Botswana lies to the southwest and South Africa to the south (its border formed by the Limpopo River)