" The purpose of this (rhetorical?) strike would be to deter Assad from using chemical weapons, to degrade his regime’s ability to use them, and to make clear to the world that we will not tolerate their use.That’s my judgment as Commander-in-Chief. But I’m also the President of the world’s oldest constitutional democracy. So even though I possess the authority to order military strikes, I believed it was right, in the absence of a direct or imminent threat to our security, to take this debate to Congress. I believe our democracy is stronger when the President acts with the support of Congress."
Back to the issue - President Obama drew a red-line ( several) against Assad, people were horribly gassed, Congress was tossed the ball, the Administration twisted the need like a Hanover pretzel, 70 % of the public are against any intervention tiny pin-prick or not and Vlad Putin caught John Kerry's Inner Biden. Now, Putin has brokered a deal what to do . . .""I have, therefore, asked the leaders of Congress to postpone a vote to authorize the use of force while we pursue this diplomatic path. "( emphases my own) Really? Like HHS mandates, EPA weapons, IRS shenanigans?
For its 15th installment, Chicago's World Music Festival has recovered from its nadir last year—a hastily assembled and underwhelming lineup that was just one by-product of a clumsy administrative overhaul that left the city's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events basically rudderless at the start of 2012. . . .Chicago Reader
As first General Counsel for the Illinois Racing Board in the 1970s, Oberman investigated corrupt racing interests. From 1975 to 1987, he was known as a voice of independence in the City Council and opponent of Machine regulars during Council Wars.
Oberman also served as chairman of the Mayoral Commission on Labor and Management under Mayor Jane Byrne; as chairman of the Shoreline Protection Commission under Mayor Washington, and, more recently, as a member of Emanuel’s Midway Airport Advisory Council.
In Palau, the non-governmental organization Cleared Ground Demining (CGD) operates a program centered on the island of Peleliu, where for 74 fierce days in late 1944, American forces battled the island’s Japanese defenders. The scorched earth, and the charred remains of trees and vehicles have long since given way to lush greenery on Peleliu. A few pillboxes and artillery emplacements still stand, and oil drums, canteens and other war relics still litter the jungle. However, ERW remain the most dangerous reminders of the fierce combat that swept over the island. Loose bullets, machine gun bands, mortars and large aerial bombs contrast with the beautiful scenery on land and in the waters around Peleliu, making this picturesque landscape dangerous for the locals, for development and for tourists. U.S. funding helps CGD to build local capacity to deal with the negative effects of ERW by training Palauan teams to conduct battle area clearance, explosive ordnance disposal spot tasks, and risk education campaigns. U.S. funding has supported the clearance of suspected hazardous land adjacent to Peleliu’s only power plant, and this coming year, CGD will clear unexploded ordnance (UXO) along a planned pipeline that will supply the residents of Peleliu with running water. -
The awful struggle was a testament to the skill and bravery of the Marines against a tenacious foe. But our division intelligence section lacked critical information regarding:
There had never been anything like Peleliu in the Pacific. It set the stage for the bloodbaths of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. But they had strategic significance. As it turned out, MacArthur walked into the Philippines with little opposition. I shall always harbor a deep sense of bitterness and grief over the suffering and loss of so many fine Marines on Peleliu for no good reason. It was my privilege to fight alongside them, fine, courageous, loyal and dependable men who filled the ranks of the finest division in World War II.
- The large coral ridge complex, containing more than 500 connecting caves.
- The enemy plan to conserve manpower and fight a battle of attrition.
- Enemy plans for intensive night infiltration, greater than Marines had previously experienced.
We must never forget them. (emphasis my own)
And she means it!The men may only be allowed €20 to €30 a week as an “allowance” and must survive on the money, leaving them demoralised and unable to put petrol in their car.No kidding. Men, of whom I number myself, should only in the last circumstances of necessity be allowed a free hand on the wallet, credit card, ready cash, candy dish change, or negotiable bonds, mortgages, agreements and codicils. Good God, were it not for the superior gender the unevolved heterosexual male would have reduced the economy of every civilization to that of the Arab League, or the more remote quarters of New Guinea with cash spent on lap-dances, the great smell of Brute, Marlboro lite 100s, Chivas, Hennesy, crafty beers, bling as well as property damage and all levels of lien and liability.
Their hidden plight ( Oh NOW it can told, Dear Reader!) is revealed in the annual report of the support group Amen which is seeing a rise in demand for its services.
One in four men who is contacting the service say they are being physically abused by their partner or wife.
I am not an education policy wonk: I’m just judgmental. But it seems to me that if every single parent sent every single child to public school, public schools would improve. This would not happen immediately. It could take generations. Your children and grandchildren might get mediocre educations in the meantime, but it will be worth it, for the eventual common good. (Yes, rich people might cluster. But rich people will always find a way to game the system: That shouldn’t be an argument against an all-in approach to public education any more than it is a case against single-payer health care.)
So, how would this work exactly? It’s simple! Everyone needs to be invested in our public schools in order for them to get better. Not just lip-service investment, or property tax investment, but real flesh-and-blood-offspring investment. Your local school stinks but you don’t send your child there? Then its badness is just something you deplore in the abstract. Your local school stinks and you do send your child there? I bet you are going to do everything within your power to make it better. . . .( YES WE CAN!!!! SI! SE PUEDE!!!!!) . . .Sorry but I could help myself.Now here comes the payoff! . . .
There are a lot of reasons why bad people send their kids to private school. Yes, some do it for prestige or out of loyalty to a long-standing family tradition or because they want their children to eventually work at Slate. But many others go private for religious reasons, or because their kids have behavioral or learning issues, or simply because the public school in their district is not so hot. None of these are compelling reasons. Or, rather, the compelling ones (behavioral or learning issues, wanting a not-subpar school for your child) are exactly why we should all opt in, not out.
Ms. Benedikt notes that she is fine ( perfectly content) with her ignorance of history as well as other public school education afforded gaps in her intellectual capacities. Catholic schools teach that Ignorance is human, but Stupid is forever. Ignorance needs to be corrected. Human aspiration is the result. A stupid person does not care a whit about what she/he does not know. Back to paragraph # 1, parenthetical close:
(Yes, rich people might cluster. But rich people will always find a way to game the system: That shouldn’t be an argument against an all-in approach to public education any more than it is a case against single-payer health care.)
I believe in public education, but my district school really isn’t good! you might say. I understand. You want the best for your child, but your child doesn’t need it. If you can afford private school (even if affording means scrimping and saving, or taking out loans), chances are that your spawn will be perfectly fine at a crappy public school. She will have support at home (that’s you!) and all the advantages that go along with being a person whose family can pay for and cares about superior education—the exact kind of family that can help your crappy public school become less crappy. She may not learn as much or be as challenged, but take a deep breath and live with that. Oh, but she’s gifted? Well, then, she’ll really be fine.My spawn all attended Catholic schools Pre-12 because we are Catholic. However, were I Wiccan my spawn would have donned Catholic schoolyard jumpers, or Virgin Mary blue polos and navy strides from Zemskis anyway. I love my children, but more than that - I am obligated to their development as Americans. Americans are not moral relativists, but committed citizens who know that they are not the center of the Universe. To that end, I must do for my children from conception until I shed my mortal husk.
P-8 $ 26,000 in Tuition* Two Parent Income 1988-1998 ( widowed 1/14/1998 all kids received Social Security Death Benefits monthly and socked away; plus generous gifts from family members in Memoriam)- Single Parent 1998-2013.
P-8 $ 6,400 in Books and Fees
9-12 $ 75,000 in Tuition
9-12 $ 9,450 in Books and Fees
Spawn Total $ 116,850
My salary range between 1988-2013* Before Mortgage/City/County/State/ Federal Taxes & my Social Security Payments
1988 - $ 22,000
2013 - $ 71,000
George expressed his opinion that the funding cutoff “wouldn’t have been an issue if we weren’t in a campaign for governor.”You see, Cardinal; George is not only an episcopal and evangelical leader of the Catholic Church in Chicago, but he also happens to be a Chicagoan and someone who can and does read print.
That confused me a little, because I certainly would have raised the issue whether there was an election next year or not. The cardinal reiterated that his understanding is that some people want to use gay marriage as an issue in the governor’s race.
I suggested it was his decision to halt funding from the Catholic Campaign for Human Development to the immigrant groups that made this an issue. He rejected that assertion, arguing that the leaders of the Illinois Coalition of Immigrant and Refugee Rights in effect cut off funding to their own member groups with the decision in May to endorse gay marriage.
The cardinal acknowledged his own characterization of the pope’s comments on gays may have been “jarring,” as I put it, but he said he was frustrated by journalists missing the pope’s point.
“In our culture, ‘Who am I to judge’ means nobody has the right to distinguish right from wrong,” which wasn’t what the pope meant, the cardinal said.
“He was saying that a person who has given up their sinful ways, you don’t judge them. You accept them,” George said. “. . .He started out saying: gay sex is wrong.”
I told the cardinal I never believed for a moment that the pope was changing church policy toward gays, only setting a different tone that was missing from his own approach.
The cardinal expressed frustration that, in the current political climate, Catholics can’t express their opposition to same-sex marriage without being regarded as bigots.
“”When that becomes the criterion for accepting gay and lesbian people, then we’re in the bind we’re in now, which is a real bind,” he said.
* Francis Cardinal George, OMI Education** Mark Brown
Bachelor in Theology, University Ottawa
Master in Theology, University Ottawa, 1971
MA in Philosophy, Catholic University America, 1965
PhD in Philosophy, Tulane University, 1970
STD, Pontifical Urban University, Rome, 1989
Career
Ordained priest Oblates of Mary Immaculate, 1963, provincial central region, 1973—1974, vicar general, 1974—1986; coordinator Circle of Fellows Cambridge Center for Study of Faith & Culture, Massachusetts, 1987—1990; ordained bishop, 1990; bishop Diocese of Yakima, Washington, 1990—1996; archbishop Archdiocese of Portland, Oregon, 1996—1997, Archdiocese of Chicago, 1997—; elevated to cardinal, 1998; cardinal-priest S. Bartolomeo all'Isola, 1998—
Career Related
Vice president US Conference Catholic Bishops, 2004—; chancellor Catholic Church Extension University St. Mary of Lake, 1997; member Congregation Divine Worship, Discipline of Sacraments, Congregation for Oriental Churches, 2001—, Congregation Institutes, Consecrated Life, Societies Apostolic Life, Pontifical Commission for Cultural Heritage of Church, 1999—, Pontifical Council Cor Unum, 1998, Congregation Evangelization of Peoples, Pontifical Council for Culture, 2004—, Catholic Commission on Intellectual & Cultural Affairs
Creative Works
Author (pastoral letter): Becoming an Evangelizing People, 1997, Dwell in My Love, 2001
Memberships
Mem.: Am. Catholic Philosophical Association, Am. Society Missiologists
Religion
Roman Catholic
Address
Office: Archdiocese of Chgo Pastoral Ctr PO Box 1979 Chicago IL 60690-1979
Brown grew up in central Illinois, graduated from Northern Illinois University in 1977 and then attended the Public Affairs Reporting program at University of Illinois-Springfield, then known as Sangamon State, where he was a Sun-Times intern. Brown worked four years at the Quad-City Times in Davenport, Iowa, before joining the Sun-Times full-time in 1982.
At the Sun-Times, Brown worked mainly as a general assignment reporter specializing politics and government, which led him into investigative reporting. In September 2000, Brown began writing his column, which currently appears Tuesday through Thursday and Sunday. One of his strengths is that he has experience covering not only Chicago City Hall, but also Cook County government and the Illinois Statehouse.
Brown, a third-string high school basketball player, grew up obsessed with St. Louis Cardinals baseball, Chicago Bears football and Bradley basketball. Only Bradley has moved down on his radar, replaced by the Bulls.
I am a
Canna
What Flower
Are You?
