Media Gives Shelter, Aid and Comfort to Slum Lord Valerie Jarrett

Former longtime Chicago Tribune editor Mark Jacob remarked on Twitter: "One of the weirdest things about this Roseanne fiasco is that she went after Valerie Jarrett, who was probably the least controversial big shot in the Obama administration, a consummate technocrat, comfortable in the background, someone who tried to stay above the fray." Natasha Korecki's Illinois Playbook in Politico

 Grove Parc is one of the outstanding examples of this problem. It sits on the border of Obama's district. It is 504 apartments of subsidized housing, fully renovated in the early 1990s, that have fallen into such disrepair that the plan now is to demolish them and start all over again. It was built by a nonprofit led by a number of Obama's supporters. It was managed during the period of its greatest decline by a company called The Habitat Company, which is led by Valerie Jarrett, who is the senior advisor to Obama's presidential campaign, and it is, as I said, in his district, so it struck us as sort of emblematic of the issue that we wanted to write about. NPR 2009

Roseanne Barr is paying for her remarks.

Valerie Jarrett remains shielded by the Hopium Smoking Media Chiefs in Chicago and around the nation.

From the moment that Democrats like former mayor Richie Daley learned by public housing/public lands and Federal Dollars was the Comstock Load of the New Millenium, Valerie Jarrett has made millions of dollars for herself and  the Cook County oligarchs who have destroyed the City, County and State, but are no where near done.



Long after the smoke concerning Valerie Jarrett's nefarious abuse of poor people in Chicago's most under-served communities wafted out over the lakefront, the fire burns in Altgeld Gardens, Parc Grove and along Chicago's south shore lakefront neighborhoods, but the Watchdogs of Chicago, the invested political news media has yet to present the true nature of Ms. Jarrett's larcenous investments.

The woman who acted as the White House shadow governement for eight years and engineered the disasterous Iranian payoff of pallets of billions of dollars continues the grift and oozes nonsense on CNN, MSNBC and in the pages of Chicago's two daily propaganda rags.

I never saw the new Roseanne Show.   Hardly recall her old show.

I have witnessed the Valerie Jarrett Media Circus for far too long. When does the real 'teaching moment' begin on this powerful grifter and slum lord?

Hickey's Hesychasm - Let's Guard Our Hearts, Unlike Ireland

               

                Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. The Jesus Prayer

I say the Memorare about twenty-five to thirty times a day  - more when I am feeling particularly oafish, vain, self-pitying and ungrateful. 

This week I was disappointed but not surprised to learn that Ireland voted over-whelmingly to promote and pay for the slaughter of unborn children.   Ireland has wanted to become England ever since Eamon De Valera* fell out of fashion and historical memory.   The Catholic De Valera became less culturally attractive than did the secular Marxist pro- terrorist personalities who dominated the Republican zeitgeist in Ireland from the 1970's to the Repeal of the 8th Amendment to the Irish Constitution that protected human life from conception to expiration.  

55% of Ireland's population voted for abortion.  Only County Donegal shouted for 'No' to abortion and repeal of the 8th Amendment. 

Yes voters celebrated the birth of Modern Secular Ireland - a highly educated and intrinsically stupid nation of BBC-Euro go-alongs and alcagüetes. In short,  Gypo Nolan was a more steadfast stalwart than RTE viewers, or readers of the Irish Times. The lives of unborn children were to 'Shove Wesht' from Cork and Kerry and Wexford to Mayo. 

This horror comes as no surprise, anymore than one watching the Triumph of the Will in 1935 could see that big things were happening in Germany.   Ireland is no longer your grandfather's Emerald Isle - its will has triumphed over God's will. 

In deserts of Egypt, Syria and Gaza around 219 AD, very educated and cultured people left the sophisticated and evolved world of the Roman Empire for caves, trees and pillars out where Christ lost His Sandals and found the means to overcome the very psychological worms that eat at our souls to this day. 

According to the Desert Fathers, uncontrolled thoughts are the origins of some of the sicknesses of the soul. They identified eight non-psychological sicknesses of a spiritual origin, classified by the monk Evagrius as: greed of any sort, a pathological relationship to sex, a pathological relationship to money, sadness, aggressiveness, acedia (an illness of the soul expressed by listlessness, boredom, laziness – a precursor to slothfulness) vanity, and pride. These eight generic diseases have a pathological source: narcissism, which the Fathers called   philautia, excessive self-love. . . .

Today cognitive sciences are in agreement with the diagnosis established by the Desert Fathers concerning the illnesses of the soul, which are growing rapidly today, along with the therapies which they had already recommended nearly 2000 years ago. It is recognized that today we are all suffering from countless and continuous demands no our attention, and that this trend disturbs our interiority. Xerri lists a variety of areas in which we are over-stimulated, thanks especially to digital media: food, material goods, sex, leisure, self-image, superficiality, criticism…

No one is asking anyone to sit on the Balbo obelisk at Soldier Field, or take up space under the Jane Byrne Interchange and begin a life contemplative, but we can begin to emulate the Greek Fathers of the Desert and guard our hearts.

Guarding the heart, in Greek nepsis (vigilance), is being attentive to everything that happens in our heart. It is a spiritual method which aims to free man of bad or passionate thoughts. It invites us to observe the thoughts which penetrate our soul, and to discern between the good and the bad. Evagrius said: “Take care of yourself, be the gatekeeper to your heart and don’t let any thought enter without questioning it.” As Xerri points out: “The elders noticed that holy thoughts led to a peaceful state, the others to a troubled state.”
The indispensable means of guarding the heart is paying close attention to thoughts and discerning between those which are good and healing, and those which are a source of distraction or obsession. The aim is to gain freedom, and to reach indifference, the ability to not be dominated by our thoughts.

Ireland's collective imagination was Greek Christian before it was Roman Catholic.  The Synod of Whitby put an end to Hellanized Celtic Church in favor of the episcopal over-lordship, still extant in that unhappy nation.  The secular bishops of the BBC and the state religion of Great Britain   has exorcised truth along with 8th Amendment.

America did that in 1973 with Roe v. Wade - more shame on us, Yanks.

Ireland is woke and countless children will be slaughtered for some time to come.

These day, repentance is only a three syllable word.   I know I am a sinful louse and work on it daily.

For those who feel they are woke and evolved, maybe The Memorare and the Jesus Prayer might be helpful.   A start anyway.

We are never evolved, by the way.






* Under de Valera's rule, the cultural identity of the Irish Republic as Roman Catholic and Gaelic was asserted. Complete independence was secured, but a lasting accommodation with the majority Protestant and British Northern Ireland receded as a result. BBC

The Old Ranger - A Catholic High School Teacher on the Open Driving Range

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Matthew 6: 26-7

My job for the last month has been as a ranger - an Evergreen Park Recreation Driving Ranger.

This work for the Village of Evergreen Park is a huge help to me, as I have been out of work since January 26th.

During my search for work, my high school and Loyola University classmate, Evergreen Park Mayor James Sexton offered me this posting, God Bless him!

He made me a Driving Ranger at the glorious 50 Acre Park located at 2701 West 91st in the western half of the legendary Evergreen Park Country Club.   This south side jewel of a park includes

• One of the best  disc golf courses in Illinois
• A state of the park dog playground
• Walking paths over a pond with a fountain
• A beautifful concert gazebo
• A mini - farm and stable exhibit with three horses and squad of goats
• A golf putting green and driving range

Mayor James Sexton is the real deal -   a Democrat with the brains to be honest, faithful and not beholden to big money, or trends.  Evergreen Park sits next to Chicago, but is not a homicide blood sponge. 

The media beefs about traffic stops on 95th street ( a vast commercial stretch of road with more shopping malls than a John Hughes movies), but never asks why, "Chicago has more killings, violence, robberies and burglaries" than the village that is wedged on three sides within its own borders. Evergreen Park is not Chiraq, let alone Chicago.

• Evergreen Park pensions are fully loaded. 
• Evergreen Park Police and Fire Departments have high morale. 
• Evergreen Park schools are successful and peaceful
• Evergreen Park cares for its residents
• Evergreen Park love its Mayor

I became a Ranger on April 16th and proud to say so.

My obligations are these: 

In The AM shift 6/7AM - 3 PM:

Start, drive and attach the Kubota vehicle to a a ball rake that resembles a farm disc-ing tractor attachment at the front the of vehicle.  The rake is left far out on the range and requires a great deal ingenuity and luck to attach. That is most difficult task of the day - attaching the rake.

Then I spend two hours collecting range balls -in and out of the Kubota.  Using a handy device that pops balls into a canvas bag.   I wear a stout pair of Wellingtons, as the ground is always swampy due to our May Monsoons and the regulated sprinklers.  My first AM shift, I thought that I was in the movie The Birds.  I was being strafed by flights of birds the minute I shifted the Kubota into gear. 

  The disc-rake agitates the grass  sending millions of tiny winged insects out  of their morning ground-lairs and into the beaks of squadrons of Blue Jays, Finches and Robins. Jesus, I am St. Francis!  Well, not so much to the bugs. 

The range balls are disc-ed into four baskets on the rake and when full I transfer the balls to 5 gallon buckets with holes punched in the buttons to allow water to drain.  I carry fifteen buckets in the bed of the Kubota. 

Once all buckets are full, I detach the rake and head for the barn and begin washing the balls.   This is an easy task thanks to Wittek 50 G Superbowl washer.  I put in a scoop of Borax ( the product sold by the real Old Ranger on Death Valley Days) and fill the tanks with water. I turn on the agitators and cleaning wheels and in fifteen minutes thousands of balls are as clean as a Lithuanian sidewalk. 

I then take the fifteen buckets of cleaned balls and re-load the token operated ball machine. 

Now, I set up the range 

• Old Glory is unfurled and placed
• Umbrellas are placed at the tables
• Yellow flags go in the holes of putting green
• Heavy Green Ball basket stand placed near the edge of the parking lot
• Roadside signs are adjusted to open

At this point, I return to the office and count the bank drawer, count 59 tokens, sign the work shift's work sheet, open the windows and serve the public.

Then I restock water, beer/wine and pop; put out the candy and Slim Jim displays and get the hot dog steamer ready. 

On the PM shift, I begin where the AM shift ends.   I sell tokens and comestibles -eats and drinks. Clean counters and tables.  The only difference is closing out.  

We sell small baskets of balls (45) for $ 5.00 and large (90) for $10.  

This is a great little job and very well-suited to a Catholic high school teacher, who is finished with Catholic high schools.

I did not know what I would do, other than work again.

But, God and Jimmy Sexton taught this Old Ranger a lesson that he had forgotten.  The lesson I witnessed on the Kubota and in Matthew's gospel - “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air . . ."    Look outside the cab of the old Kubota!

Will the Skilled Trades Once Again Go 'All-In" for Rahm Emanuel ?

How 'Proudly Union' are the skilled trades leaders, the rank and file and their families about the re-election of Mayor Rahm Emanuel 2019?

I will be bet one out of the above three are wildly happy to re-endorse the Nine Digit Midget for Mayor.  The other two demographics might be problematic and look to Paul Vallas, Garry McCarthy, Willie Wilson, Bridget Gainer, or Ja'Mal Green.

Rahm's O'Hare Expansion means millions of dollars to electricians, operating enginers ( indoors and out), pipe-fitters, plumbers, carpenters, tile setters and laborers.  Much prevailing wages are on the table.

In any case, Rahm seems poised to be a Turd-Term Mayor and once again wear the Corona Triumphalis. 

The mad Roman emperor Caligula declared war on Poseidon, the God of water, and marched his legions to the sea and told his troops to attack the waves.  Rahm did the very same thing. 

The Chicagoland Pipe Trades were out early and often for Rahm Emanuel in his last go-around.  Your Water Bill reflects, the debt paid promptly by Rahm upon his re-election. 

The Public Sector Unions ( SEIU 'nuff said) were with Chuy Garcia.  They will grudgingly back Rahm this time. 

The Pipe Trades were paid handsomely upon Rahm's re-election, Chicago tax-payers not so much.

Rahm, like JB Pritzker, will count on voter apathy and the lock-step support of the Black Ministers and Cardinal Cupich.

But Skilled and Industrial Labor is the wild card for Rahm Emanuel's continued oligarchy.

Here are some nuggets of Skilled Labor's Fealty to Rahm Emanuel in 2015.

• Rahm Emanuel is a good friend of organized labor and Chicago’s working families. He’s been behind us the wholeway. “Now it’s time to get behind him,”said Business Manager James Coyne. Join a political rally to reelect Rahm Emanuel at the Feb. 10 union meeting.Local 130, UA will also support his campaign on three Political Action Saturdays on February 7, 14 & 21.Pick up your Plumbers for RahmEmanuel sign at the February 10 rally and proudly display it on yourfront lawn
• The mayor received $53,900 from the Illinois Pipe Trades political action committee
• Rahm Backed by Labor: International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (representing two locals) Laborers District Council (represents eight locals) International Union of Operating Engineers (represents two locals) Ironworkers District Council (representing three locals)• Painters District Council 14 (representing 13 locals) 
• Why is Rahm Emanuel the best choice for our union?
• FIRST CHICAGO MAYOR TO MEET WITH LOCAL 1 MEMBERSHIP
• BROUGHT THE LIVING WAGE TO CHICAGO’S AIRPORTS, and made sure our 1750 members at O’Hare and Midway will be covered.
• RAISED THE MINIMUM WAGE
• BRINGING MORE HOSPITALITY BUSINESS: McCormick Place is now the #1 convention center in the country! That means more jobs for our members.DSC_0076
• Under Rahm, City Council passed an Airport Labor Peace Law that we supported, covering thousands of airport jobs.
• Mayor Emanuel has supported our union organizing. We have more union agreements since he became Mayor – the Marriott Marquis is just one example.
• Money for city projects – TIF – has been allocated for future projects like the arena at McCormick Place. TIF funds helped build Blackstone and Allegro Hotels.
• On April 7th, let’s keep winning.  

Unless someone, not currently in the race for mayor, announces a genuine challenge that will excite voters to oust Chicago's Caligula, Rahm will wear the Corona Triumphalis, yet again.