Real Housewives, Moms, Lovers, Best Pals, Body Guards of the Faith of Morgan Park

I never saw one episode of Desperate Housewives, Sex in the City, or any . . .any Reality TV Show.

I was dragged to see first wave feminist movies back when I was a student at Loyola, right after Dewey took Manila from Spain. I went along to those strident 'woman must liberate herself!' soft core porn films - where some babe skanks around with pipe smoking professors from whom they learn secrets of sex and Blake's Poetry and then toss off the Jugs Harness and run through New York with other mini-skirted Feminists.

I dated a 'Dip-stick in Lip-stick' who thought Abortion was the signature of real Feminism . . .once.

Hell, I am a sucker for babies and detest the thought of murdering an innocent. I'm a Caveman.

The family is mocked in the film arts as well as plucked brow literature.

Women are never happy in these films unless they are slapping the mattress with a young Che Guevara wannabee and ditching their kids and their Old Man. Romantic Forbidden Love That ALWAYS ends tragically is the ideal.

I'm a hand-holder. I come from the very same place where I happen to live right now.

Last Night, my Daughter Nora and I ( Conor was frying fish at DiCola's) watched Clare receive the St. Cajetan's Computer Science Award at the 8th Grade Honors Ceremony. All the girls, text-message-ing little women who play basketball, volleyball, softball and work service hours at the two nursing homes in Morgan Park looked like run-way models and the fourteen something young men, looked like their Dads . . . sad to say.

I looked around at all the Moms, because Clare's Mom, my Bride, is an angel. Mary died when Clare was two and a half. However, Mary would have fit in nicely with Anne, Collette, Darleen, Sheila, Peggy, Kerry, Jennifer, Linda and all the rest.

Happy women. Not Cosmo guzzlers. Real women and not poor confused victims. Knockouts and most of them could care less. They are married to 'older versions' of the boys who struggled into an actual tie that you need to tie for the first time: Pete, Desmond, Declan, Jake, Jack ( about four by my count), Sean, Danny, Ray and Nick!

Their Moms are married to their Dads, their best pals. Their Moms don't need Botox. These are Real Women and they do not buy obscene numbers and qualities of shoes, read How to Be Happy Manuals by Skank Head-Cases, pop pills, 'take time for themselves,' wallow in self-pity. They are Happy Women. They have no tolerance, let alone capacity for Bitching. They are the Women that Feminists hate to the very marrow of their beings!

They are women of Faith, who do not seek some stupid alternative life-style, pierce their beautiful bodies, or Tattoo their limbs, or sculpt their personal destinies with Dr. Gaddam Gupta. They have it all. They have borne the pains of child birth and nurtured babies to a point where these babies too can become Real Men and Women.

They are the Breeders. They are the Real Family Core. The makers of tortilla roll-ups with lime and jalapenos! They know how to 'Work a Beer Glass' and a Mikita Power Drill. I love each and every one of these women.

The love of my life, lives in Chicago's Gold Coast and my Morgan Park neighborhood is familiar to this elegant and beautiful woman who sings at the Pump Room, because she grew up among Real Women in Chagrin Falls, Ohio as well.

I am a thrice blessed man. My love Mary went home to Christ. Not my call. I had a huge hole in my heart that Christ allowed me to patch up with my mistakes and stupidities, but allowed me to realize the majesty that is Woman. For better or worse I too am a Mom. A homely, lumpy, Mom, but a Mom nevertheless. I buy the Feminine Hygiene products in this house! Yet, I am blessed with the love and affection of another Real woman.

Whenever, I see the vapid, self-absorbed, shallow, and indulgent clothes horses portrayed in film and on TV, I click on Paula Deen on the food Channel. That is a Woman! Women make the home and in so doing create the world where kids do not need to take Zoloft, or fill their hours on the internet. The daughters of the Housewives of Morgan Park are women.

These Real Little Women play sports, play with make-up, but they also have learned to be friends and best pals with Ray, Pete, Jake, Jack (our by my count), Sean and Danny.

The Women of Morgan Park make a happy world. Thanks Be to God.

Today in Chicago Tribune, the sun dial for the changing times, there is another stupid couple of paragraphs about some stupid reality show that wants to further insult Women and the Family.

A show revealing the lives of upper-echelon housewives -- Botox parties, tennis matches and all the drama in between -- is coming to Chicago.

Towers Productions is casting for the Midwestern premiere of a housewives show similar to Bravo's "Real Housewives," which has focused on Orange County, New York, Atlanta and New Jersey.

The producers are searching for "a dynamic group of women" who have a unique connection to one another, whether through their lifestyles or social network, casting director Becky Cattie said.

Interested women can e-mail casting@towersproductions.com (a date for auditions has not been set yet). Include your name, age, the area where you live, contact information, a photo and some personal background information.

Reality my Broad Manly Ass!

Guam Honors Two More Heroes Killed Defending America and North Korea Fires Another Missile

In the black and white photos above - Two Woman display an American Flag kept safe from the Japanese from 1941 until July 21, 1944 and another shows a memorial by Chamorros of Guam for their families and neighbors murdered by the Japanese during the Occupation of Guam. The People of Guam remain the most loyal Americans.

Ceremony Held In Honor Of Two Fallen Guam Soldiers
Written by Nick Delgado, Pacific News Center - Guam, Saipan, CNMI, Asia-Pacific

Friday, 29 May 2009 17:04
Guam

Guam - The Guam national guard held a formal banner unfurling ceremony this morning at the Guam international airport to honor two of its fallen soldiers.

Sergeant Brian Leon Guerrero and sergeant Samson Mora were killed while deployed to Afghanistan in support of operation enduring freedom in July of last year. The banners were added to the recently displaced-but restored memorial in the airport's east ticket lobby.

Earlier this year, the banners were removed and replaced with painted sea turtles. The displacement of the banners raised concerns from many of Guam's veterans. In response, the airport put the memorial back up.

Meanwhile, the airport continues to work with the national guard in creating a permanent brass memorial plaque in honor of the fallen.

The Obama Administration sees no 'imminent threat' to the American People. Guam is America's foreward base in Harm's Way. Guam has lost more of its sons and daughters defending America per capita than any Territory or State. Guam is being targeted by North Korea.

North Korea in complete mad-dog unwillingness to 'listen' fired another missile.

North Korea has fired another short-range missile off its east coast, the sixth such launch since it tested a nuclear weapon on Monday, South Korea's Yonhap news agency has reported.

Friday's reported test-fire followed a statement from North Korea's foreign ministry pledging to respond if the UN Security Council agreed any fresh sanctions over the tests.

"If the UN Security Council provokes us, our additional self-defence measures will be inevitable," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"Any hostile acts by the UN Security Council will be tantamount to the demolition of the armistice," it said in a reference to the truce that ended the Korean War in 1953.

The North has previously test-fired short-range missiles into the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan, often during periods of tension in the region.

North Korea conducted its second nuclear test on Monday and followed it up with a series of short-range missile launches, all in violation of a UN resolution.

No reinforcements

But despite the growing tensions, the US defence secretary has said that Washington is not planning to add to the 28,000 US troops already stationed on the Korean peninsula. . . .

Robert Gates said that the situation had not yet reached crisis levels and there had been no unusual moves by the North Korean military since its carried out the nuclear test.

"I don't think there is a need for us

Pakistan is going Taliban. Iran is doing as it pleases. North Korea is dominating the world stage and threatening Peace on the Planet. I am getting reports that warn of this threat from Al Jazeera, while MSNBC worries about Gay Marriage, CNN milks Roland Burris, and the news papers cover Susan Boyle.



President Obama is making Jimmy Carter look like Chesty Puller.

Guam Targeted by North Korea - from our friends at Al Jazeera

Al Jazeera - the Islamic News Agency notes that North Korea targets Guam.

Guam is America.

Guam voted for President Obama.

Guam has a United States Congresswoman, Madeleine Z. Bordallo .

Guam is America's strategic front-door to Asia,

Get this:

North Korea missile 'can hit Guam'

Inter-Korean relations have deteriorated as both countries warn of military action [AFP]

A South Korean report claims that North Korea has deployed a new type of ballistic missile capable of reaching the US Pacific territory of Guam.

The defense ministry report, released on Monday, said the new missile has a range of at least 3,000km and has been deployed "recently".

The reported striking range of the missle would reach Guam, the northern tip of Australia, much of Russia and India.

The ministry report also said the North began developing the missile in the late 1990s, but did not offer further details, including how many have been deployed.

The report comes as the North is believed to be preparing to test-fire its most advanced missile, the Taepodong-2, which is allegedly capable of reaching Alaska.

South Korea also claims the North is "presumed" to have secured about 40kg of atom bomb-making plutonium from reprocessing spent nuclear fuel rods from its Yongbyon reactor.

Pyongyang carried out its first atomic test in October 2006, but it is not known whether it could manufacture a nuclear warhead.

Army size 'increase'

The report also claims that the size of the North Korean military had grown to 1.19 million, an increase of 20,000 from 2006, while the number of its lightly-equipped special forces trained to infiltrate South Korea had increased 50 per cent to 180,000.

Monday's published assessment came amid mounting tensions between the two countries, which are still technically at war since the 1950-1953 Korean conflict ended only in an armistice.

The North is angry with the government of Lee Myung-Bak, South Korea's president, who has scrapped a policy of largely unconditional aid and engagement.

It has cancelled all military and political agreements with Seoul, including one recognising their disputed sea border as an interim frontier.

Click my post title for the Al Jazeera story.

Guam Needs the Bush Proliferation Security Initiative- Guam is America

Apra Harbor - Guam
With North Korea's mad-dog missile moves, America's strategic home territory, Guam, again sits under the threat of attack.

Before World War Two, America decided to stake Guam's loyal people out as bait. America refused to develop Guam's harbors, build airstrips, strengthen the troop presence beyond a ship's guard of Marines and leave the fortunes of the Chamorros to fate and Japan's designs. We did this in order to 'talk to' our enemies.

Guam was taken in hours and its people were subjected to years of murder, rape, and forced labor by the Japanese. Guam was retaken at a great cost in American lives - servicemen and Chamorros.

Guam will become the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet Marine Force when Okinawa closes its bases completely by 2014.

Guam is within easy striking distance of North Korean missiles.

The Bush Administration and UN Ambassador John Bolton crafted the Proliferation Security Initiative in order to protect our planet from rogue nations like Iran and North Korea.

The Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) is a global effort that aims to stop trafficking of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), their delivery systems, and related materials to and from states and non-state actors of proliferation concern. Launched by President Bush on May 31, 2003, U.S. involvement in the PSI stems from the U.S. National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction issued in December 2002. That strategy recognizes the need for more robust tools to stop proliferation of WMD around the world, and specifically identifies interdiction as an area where greater focus will be placed. Today, more than 90 countries around the world support the PSI.

The PSI is an innovative and proactive approach to preventing proliferation that relies on voluntary actions by states that are consistent with national legal authorities and relevant international law and frameworks. PSI participants use existing authorities -- national and international -- to put an end to WMD-related trafficking and take steps to strengthen those authorities as necessary. UN Security Council Resolution 1540, adopted unanimously by the Security Council, called on all states to take cooperative action to prevent trafficking in WMD. The PSI is a positive way to take such cooperative action.

http://www.state.gov/t/isn/c10390.htm
President Obama inherited this initiative and seems to want to undo it. He wants a Nuke Free World.

You can not talk to North Korea, that much is eminently clear.

Guam is America. Guam is staked out once again.

Proliferation Security Initiative

MISSION - To stop trafficking of weapons of mass destruction, their delivery systems and related materials to and from states and non-state actors of proliferation concern through voluntary actions by states consistent with national and international laws and legal frameworks.

HISTORY - Launched by U.S. President George W. Bush on May 31, 2003, based on U.S. National Strategy to Combat Weapons of Mass Destruction issued in December 2002 as part of a U.S. response to threats highlighted by the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.

EXERCISES - More than 30 exercises were held between September 2003 and January 2008. Some were led by the United States but most were directed by other PSI participating nations.

PROMINENT MEMBERS - Argentina, Australia, Britain, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mongolia, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, Yemen. (Sources: U.S. State Department, Pentagon) (Reporting by David Morgan and Paul Eckert; Editing by John O'Callaghan)

American Guam! Heads Up! North Korea Called President Obama's Hand.

I have never been to Guam but I immersed myself in its history to write a novel. The Hafa Adai Spirit* of the Chamorros ( the heroic People of Guam) translates to American Patriotism. Guam lost more men per capita in Vietnam and in the Wars in Iraq than any other American State or Territory.

Guam has been America's strategic chip since the Spanish American War.

Guam will become the home of the Marines in the Pacific, when the forward bases on Okinawa are closed.

Guam is in striking distance of North Korean Taepodong missles.

Last November, Ambassador Bolton warned the empathetic and elegant Obama Team:

Will North Korea -- whoever is in charge -- now kick back and wait for Jan. 20? The list of questions is far longer than the list of Mr. Obama's answers.

To repeat, it is much too early to draw larger conclusions from this one episode. On the existing postelection evidence, we cannot tell whether Mr. Obama will govern on the left or the center-left, or whether he is simply passive and risk-averse. But on balance, his conversation with Mr. Kaczynski points toward a weakening of the U.S. defense posture, indifference to allies under duress, and the need to satisfy his natural constituency within the Democratic Party. Let us now await the next pieces of evidence.

I do not believe that North Korea will attack South Korea or Japan. I believe that they will strike a crippling blow to America at Guam.

President Obama! Get smart on missle defences! The People of Guam have sacrificed enough for our country. Let's start doing something for them - ahead of the clock.

*http://members.tripod.com/Pereda-Family/id92.htm

Tamara Holder Goes For Big Game - Ambassador to the UK - in Illinois Pay to Play!

While this tiny brained guy was packing empty thought calories from the Roland Burris Stimulus Snack Pack ( today's offal), Tamara Holder was scooping the media!

President Obama's choice for Ambassador to the Court of St. James, Louis 'The Vaccum' Susman -

All of this hype about Roland Burris and his recorded talks about how he was going to attempt to attempt to do something for Gov. Blagojevich in exchange for the Senate seat has me laughing. What a great deflection of the same exact situation in the White House. Last week, President Obama picked former Citigroup VP and Democratic uber-fundraiser Louis Susman as the next Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Article here. Really? What the heck does Mr. Susman know about British diplomacy? Well, I guess it does not matter WHAT you know, it matters WHAT you give. And it does not matter WHO gives the money, it matters WHO hears you talking about giving the money. Louis Susman was so good at raising money for Obama, he was nicknamed by the Chicago Tribune "the Vacuum Cleaner" for his ability to suck-up donations for Democratic politicians." He raised over $500,000 for Obama.

Apparently, the British are not super stoked about the appointment of Susman either. According to Anorak News, "Soon Susman will be living in a big house by London’s Regent’s Park, learning all about diplomacy as he counts the geese…"

Ms. Holder's set of lamps certainly requires no trip to the Lasik Clinic - this old fat boy, on the hand . . .

Jim Durkin Had Burris Pinned to the Mat - Was it Empathy That Let Roland Up?

"The more I look at it, it looks like he perjured himself before the Illinois House of Representatives and withheld important information," said Rep. Jim Durkin, (R) Western Springs.
Durkin says the perjury investigation could potentially lead to third degree felony charges against Burris. Burris' attorney says he believes the transcripts should help vindicate Burris in all the

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/politics&id=6833175&rss=rss-wls-article-6833175

Now, There's a Distraction! Roland Burris was bouncing and wiggling within Jim Durkin's cradle move and Durkin was tipping Roland's tiny shoulders to the mat for a pin, back in January*.

The Ref wanted Roland Burris to be confirmed and lob President Obama's Stimulus Birdie over the sway-backed net of good government. Click my post title for more Illinois Cartoons from Tamara Holder. It seems that Blago and Obama use the same play book!

But, Roland was let up! It's not fair! Have Some Empathy!
You see Durkin is a wrestler and Burris a badmiton player.

Roland boinked for Obama. Jim Durkin continues to grapple for Illinois.

ROLAND BURRIS TIMELINE

09/22/08 - campaign fund-raising document entitled “Call List” that included a list of more than 100 potential contributors. Burris' direct law office number is beside his name with a note: “Will talk after Nov. 4 election.”
11/13/08 - conversation between Rob and Burris - Burris says, “I will personally do something OK? And it will come to you before the 15th of December."
12/09/08 - Gov. Blagojevich arrested
12/30/08 - Gov. Blagojevich appoints Burris to Senate seat
01/05/08 - Senator Burris submits sworn affidavit - “Prior to the December 26, 2008 telephone call from Mr. [Sam] Adams, Jr., there was not any contact between myself or any of my representatives with Governor Blagojevich or any of his representatives regarding my appointment to the United States Senate.”
01/08/09 - Senator Burris testifies before impeachment committee
02/04/09 - Senator Burris submits amended sworn affidavit to IL House Panel - “I recall that Governor Blagojevich’s brother, Rob Blagojevich, called me three times to seek my assistance in fund-raising for Governor Blagojevich.

*“An army of asses led by a lion is better than an army of lions led by an ass” George Washington

Here in Illinois the public imagination is too often overwhelmed by the number and quality of asses in public service. Mindless trimmers and fatuous dummies flock to elected office and seek out the news media.

Most public servants are solid women and men. The best of them appear in crises and get things done.

Republican James Durkin is one such Illinois Representative. When he picked apart Roland Burris and his three attorneys during the Impeachment hearings of Rod Blagojevich, Roe Conn and his posse laughed at Durkin on WLS. 'I can not believe this guy is lawyer!'

However Durkin was the only serious challenge to Burris by any political Party's official.

Today, it appears that Jim Durkin is a the lion among the asses.

"I can't believe anything that's coming from Mr. Burris, at this point," said State Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs). "... I think it would be in the best interest of the state if he resigned."

"If you have that much of a memory problem, maybe you shouldn't be in the United States Senate, on a capacity basis," added state Republican leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego.)

The comments come in the wake of the Feb. 5 amended affidavit that Burris, a Democrat, quietly sent to Impeachment Investigative Committee Chair Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago.)

In the new affidavit, Burris said that former governor Rod Blagojevich's brother, Robert Blagojevich, called him three times seeking fundraising assistance.

In addition, Burris said he spoke with three other close associates of the governor and a labor leader with ties to the Blagojevich administration about being appointed to the Senate. Burris previously acknowledged only having spoken to one such friend.

"We talked about transparency, we talked about ethics," Durkin said at the downtown Chicago news conference Sunday afternoon. "The fact is, we're getting a continuously changing story from Mr. Burris."

Durkin said he would ask the now-dormant impeachment committee to refer the matter to Sangamon County State's Atty. John Schmidt, a Republican. Durkin and Cross said that if the committee does not seek the criminal investigation, they might ask for one themselves.

Posted by pathickey at 1:30 PM

http://hickeysite.blogspot.com/search?q=jim+durkin

Meet Chicago Media Religion Op Eder :Manya False Decretals

Meet Chicago's Two Published Religion Thinkers who are One Person in the Same! The Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun Times Really, really care about Religion - not Catholics or Jews or Moslems - real religion. Like Dr. Phil.

Meet Manya False-Decretals -The Quester:

Boy did the life spiritual get a boost this weekend! The Germans are thinking about banning Red Bull and That's Just Mean.

Mean People Suck. don't you think? I do. God means alot to me as long as she's not judgmental and stuff. Who's to say?

I went to Obermann University and smoked alot of hemp which helps old people with bad eyes and really cool people. I read all the stuff in the text books about the Scrolls an Arab boy found in the desert and they were Essenes* and Jesus was probably an Essene, unless you think otherwise. My coolest Prof was kicked out of the Air Force and went to Cuba to cut Cane and he said that Jesus was an Essene - they're like monks, but Jewish.

Madonna is like 50 and still so Hot, because she is spiritual. In a good way and not all doctrine icky.


My boyfriend, who was gay, but is so cool about it and not braggy, says all religion is about power. He's right. What would happen if we had a Civil Union? Not mean or nothing, but civil; that would be so chill. Cats are chill.

I like the way cats don't worry about going to church - but are soooo spiritual and Egyptian-like.

That made me think about what Bono said to Oprah -"Our generation will be remembered for the Internet, for the war against terror, and for how we let an entire continent burst into flames while we stood around with watering cans—or not,"

That was so cool I could not finish my Big Gulp. That's why I am no longer a Lakota Sioux. They are too bound by rules and they called me Thasintkala waksu
So I thought, Judas was probably doing the right thing because after all, with Jesus getting busted by the 'Garlic Noses' as Pastor Wright so rightly said, we would not have Jesus as a God and stuff. Atheist Bus Companies are Nice.

I don't think people need any more Memorial Day stuff, because it is about War. Don't you think? We should not encourage War by Honoring Baby Killers - so we won't. I like Peace Heroes, like Judas. He got Jesus where he is. And - Good Women Kill Babies before they are babies and Good Men help them.

Judas was an activist. He was really helping people and really cared about people.

That is all that matters

*http://www.essenespirit.com/

Click my post title for a genuine atrocity.

"Let me get through today, and I shall not fear tomorrow." - St. Philip Neri

The Roman Catholic Church was on the canvass in the late 16th Century, because the clergy had become secularist - priests, bishops, and even Popes more interested in promoting political action than in Doctrine.

Martin Luther threw the hay-maker when he challenged the Church theologically by nailing his 95 theses for debate on the Church door of Wittenberg.

All of the smart money was on the Protestant reforming factions and the Islamist threat posed by Suleiman the Magnificent.

The Catholic Church was not knocked out, but it did hear the ref doing the counting.

Before the ten count, it got off the canvass. The Church went back to its corner, swished some holy water around its choppers and spit the bad blood in the bucket - at the Council of Trent. The Church returned to its roots.

However, Catholics more so than the Red Hats seemed to make the practical difference - Ignatius Loyola - a Dog Faced Wounded Vet - formed the Jesuits and set about actually doing what the Apostles were told to do.

Another gent, Philip Neri worked up the lay people.

Neri was a rich kid from Florence. He decided to put business aside and work to help the Church and moved to Rome. For three years he toyed with idea of being a priest, but determined to work with lay people.

He amassed a group of like minded lay people and through conversations during the business day sought to live lives that would strengthen the Church. It worked. He developed a concept called the Oratory - a place where lay people could pray and discuss their Faith.

Philip Neri's Oratory became so popular that Neri's Confessor urged him to get himself ordained a priest - he did.

Neri used humor to poke fun at false assumptions doctrine and the practical life of most people.

There are Catholics out there concerned with the sad state of Church and continued lap-dogging of some in the clergy - like the President of that PR Driven School in Indiana, gutless 'catholic' politicians who go to Pancake breakfasts with the Knights of Columbus and then do the bidding of Planned Parenthood to kill more kids.

John Powers and Tom Roeser are two of the most public Philip Neri's in Chicago.

My neighborhood is packed with people who live the Gospel, while the chaps being paid to say Mass act like bitchy little girls.

There are priests like Father C. Frank Phillips,C.R. of St. John Cantius Parish at Chicago Ave. & Sangamon on the north side who have sparked devotion through the beauty, grace and dignity of the Traditional Latin Mass ( Novus Ordo & Tridentine) and he has helped attract more Americans to Holy Orders than any seminary. Go to St. John Cantius and witness a Church alive! Packed. Every Mass.

http://www.cantius.org/

The Catholic Church has been on canvass many times in history.

There always seems to be a Philip Neri to help the Church spit out its busted teeth and get back in the fight.


http://stbarbara.blogspot.com/

http://tomroeser.com/

Tales of the South Side - Bubs Murtaugh's Shrimp Snack

"Hey, Hickey! What's going on there, son? I hear you been hitting the 8:30 Masses with the roll-outs from Wrong's Tap*. Last time I was in that bucket o' blood was after Janey graduated from Queen of Peace. I was in there with three guys from the Assessor's Office and was still handcuffed to Mr. Booze. Twenty years. I miss it not. Saw your cousin Willie at that benefit for the Madden kid that got hit on his bike over by Monroe Park. Tommy, the fourth grader at St. John Fisher - he's Okay but he has to wear that Halo Gizmo for his neck. Willie's boy is in Paraguay with the Peace Corps, I hear . . ."

Mass on Sunday, coffee salons at Kean Gas Station on 111th, grocery stops at County Fair on Western Ave, Kennedy Park softball, and Mount Greenwood Hardware trips invariably get sauced by piquant tales that eventually and satisfyingly meander to a point. Yesterday, at 10:30 Mass on the Feast of the Ascension provided this yarn from a former Cook County insider, Vietnam War hero, member of AA, and practitioner of the dying art of south side giggle weaving. Allow me to pick up the thread. I merely punctuated the yarn with nods of assent or stutters of laughter; therefore, this should be taken as a soliloquy.

". . . Big Boy. Hell, of a football player and I can not understand why he did not get a ride somewhere, but his brain works OK, I guess. I'll bet the CIA or NSA is grooming the kid to be spook. True. That's why all the spooks doing the spy stuff seem to come from the Peace Corps. Didn't know the kid had Spanish. Like I was saying, the last time I was in Wrong's Tap was twenty-five, or thirty years ago. Remember Bubs Murtaugh? Murtaugh with U. He was a few years older than me, when you and Willie and Terry played Irish tunes in Sons of Reilly's Daughter at Boz's joint? Bubs went to St. Lawrence and played with Neusback. He was from St. Dennis Parish and lived near the tracks on 83rd and the Southwest Highway.

Bubs got full ride to St. Procopius, well it was St. Procopius and it's now Benedictine out in Lisle. He was an animal; started boozing in 5th Grade and sniffing Bell's Cleaning Fluid. His Old Man threatened to send him back to the Old Country and work the farm and shit. Bub's finally got tossed in his senior year at Proco and his Dad got him on Streets and San. Old Man Murtaugh was a Raw Jaw from Mayo, who had some drag with Jackie Daley and Kellam when he was alderman in the 18th.

Bubs was a good earner for the Ward and got a job after a few years in Finley's Office, just when all that money grabbing crap hit the papers. Bubs had only been on the job for year or so and G had eyes on him and three others and it looked like he might get tagged and have to sit for a few semesters up in Club Fed, Wisconsin. We went out to forget his troubles and Bubs marinated his brain, along with the rest of us Mike Quinlan, Traffic Cosgrove, Bubs and me.

We're at Wrongs after closing Touch of Green and Chez Joey and I got polio of the brain from the pitchers and the Happy Cossack shooters, so Mike Quinlan takes me home . . .I think. Quinlan could have taken me back to my old house in Visitation and I would of woke up to breakfast with the Washington family, but he was not yet the mean bastard that he is today. Quinlan goes back to Wrong's, after slowing down to thirty and dumping me on the lawn and Bubs is blubbering to Traffic and Q-Dog, like a fat girl not going to prom.

'I ain't took a dime! I woulda. . . but them tight, fixed bastards that is . . . never gave me chance a the gelt and, now, my Old Man is pissed at me for killing a good job and I told him I DIDN'T DO NOTHING!' And on and on, I guess, . . .like I said, I'm at home sleeping in my clothes on the basement couch and awaiting the for-sure execution from Marnie, when she sees the cut of me in the morning.

Now, Bubs has been named on TV by Ron Magers and his name was even mentioned in Royko and he's a public figure now. He's an innocent, drunk lard-assed public figure. A giant sized Victim and Patsy all set for the shafting to come.

So Bubs, a practiced Drunk Driver, who has taken out more than several sections from the fence that eats cars on 111th over by Mount Olivet, gets in his Pontiac and listens to the little wizard in the brain control tower telling him it's a great idea to go buy a dozen shrimp and off he goes to the Calumet Shrimp Shack on 95th & Chicago Ave**. by the bridge on the Harbor.

The Angel F#$%ing Gabriel takes the wheel for Bubs and drives the Ponty over east without killing anyone.

Bubs and the Guardian angel drive the shrimp back, somehow, back to the neighborhood to dine je suis ivre behind the steering wheel and Bubs shoves the greasy catfish bait loaded with coctail sauce into his hole and tosses the sauce heaped tails!

Now, Bubs has gallons of Old Syle, about a pint of vodka shooters and a good pound and change of sauce-soaked shrimps packed into him and he goes 'night-night' with his giant buffalo head on the driver's side window.

'OH SWEET MERCIFUL MOTHER! He's BLOWN HIS BRAINS OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There's about ten neighbors and his Old Man yanking Bubs out of the drivers seat.

It's Daylight and Mrs. Higgins was walking her dog Chappie over to the tracks on Southwest Highway for his morning constitutional and sees Bubs' Giant Head covered in red! With Red smeared all over the driver's window, because Bubs never opened the window while tossing his shrimp tails! There's cocktail sauce all over the window and bits of shrimp! They thought Bubs pulled the Dutch Act because of the spotlight on him!'

Never, was charged. His Old Man beat the living shit out him for the scare he tossed into him, and he had a hangover that would kill a Polish girl. Bubs retired two years ago and still lives in his folks' house over in St. Bede's near Durkin Park.

Yeah, I stay out of Wrongs Tap. How's your kids, Hickey?'

* Click my post title for Wrong's Tap

**
http://www.centerstagechicago.com/restaurants/calumet-fisheries.html

Pentecost,Memorial Day and a Young Man's Death

Veni, Creator Spiritus is the hymn that Terry McEldowney will sing at today's 10:30 Mass for Sacred Heart Church at 116th & Church here on the south side.

Terry McEldowney has one of the most powerful and rich baritones in Western Civilization - he is especially poignant when remembering our Fallen Veterans and in reminding weak Catholics like me of the power of the Holy Spirit.

Max Weissmann is the Director of the Center for the Study of Great Ideas at University of Chicago. Mr. Weissmann, an architect and philosopher, helped Mortimer Adler develop the Center. Max sent me the photos posted above.

Terry and Max know loss. Terry and Max know the power of Faith. I am proud to call each man my friend.

This is the Feast of The Ascension of Christ.

Next Sunday is the Feast of the Pentecost, which memorializes the Descent of the Holy Ghost upon Mary the Mother of God and the Twelve Apostles. This might be considered a more powerful Feast than Christmas or Easter to Christians, as it recounts the sense of loss experienced by the Apostles and Christ's Mother following the Ascension of Christ. All of us lose those we love. The saddest of us are the ones who lose themselves - forget our roots, our family, our obligations and our place in God's Hands.

Tomorrow, we also celebrate the loss of men and women who have given their lives for our Country. My Dad was a seventeen year old who went to the Solomon Islands in 1943 with the 3rd Marines, and then fought at Bougainville, Guam and Iwo Jima and mopped up Guam some more until he was mustered out of the service. He is now a seventeen year old octogenarian, who has witnessed the ascension of his mother, father, brothers and sisters, friends, and daughter in law ( my wife Mary). He will be at 9AM Mass in Orland Park with his bride. He will hear Veni, Creator Spiritus

A family near me, lost their baby. Jack Callahan was a big strapping eighteen year old Marist football player who died following a seizure hours before his graduation from high school. ( click my post title for Mark Konkol's touching story)

My baby son, who worked at Di Cola's Fish Market until late last night, is sleeping. My baby girls are sleeping.

On the Pentecost, God sent his Spirit to revive us. On Memorial Day, we as a nation recall the babies who sacrificed themselves for Liberty.

Tell me God does not know what He is doing. Tell me that God not only sent the Holy Ghost, but also Terry McEldowney and Max Weissmann, outside of His Plan. Faith happens, when we let go of what is meant to return to Him according to that plan and also, when we try to make sense of the beautiful, as well as the terrible, sent as a gift to each of us.

Veni, Creator! We'll remember.

Veni, creator Spiritus
mentes tuorum visita,
imple superna gratia,
quae tu creasti pectora.

Come Holy Spirit, creator, come
from your bright heavenly throne,
come take possession of our souls
and make them all your own

Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. Was Right to Pay His Wife - Sandi Jackson is Smart, Experienced and a Winner.

Congressman Jesse Jackson has enemies. Many of them hate his Old Man. Some of them see Jackson as a political threat. A few of them fear his motives. Rahm Emanuel wants to send a message. Jan Schakowsky is Samantha's Mom.

Hell, I have given Congressman Jackson a few tickles - called him Kid Staples over the Tummy Tuck Nuance, but he has kept the lard off. I think his Pops is an Old Timey Stick-Up artist. I think that Congressman Jackson is dead wrong on the Peotone Airport. Hey, big deal. I got McCain three votes - unless Conor and Nora fibbed and went for Obama. What the hell do I know? I know this about Congressman Jackson - I like him.

Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. knows history and is a serious student of 19th Century American History -especially the Civil War. He was member of the board of a Holy Cross Brothers school in Indiana back in the late 1990's and brought a tough-minded eye to the school's future that eventually closed after Jackson helped keep the school viable long after it became evident that it's days were numbered.

The Chicago Media has been pipe-lined a story that adds fresh manure to the growing desire of some political sneaks to end Jesse Jackson's career. News creatures are the pets of political wizards who toss them nuance like Bits of Ritz to squirrels in the park- e.g Burge Sank the Lusitania! or TIFS IS BAD, rolled out when Mike Quigley fed his University of Chicago crafted policy study du jour to Ben Joravsky at the Chicago Reader and Mark Brown at the Sun Times and still rolling for the Granta and Redaction Readers of Hip Chicago. These niche story lines become the shingles on the political roof that covers Chicago. A story becomes a paradigm in Nuance ( BS ) Chicago, where every reporter thinks he's Emil Zola and every columnist firmly believes that every reader is a dope with no memory. However, there are more than a points of view in every circumstance. Life is NOT poetry ( not neat and tidy and brief); Life is Prose ( messy, quotidian) and as long as a Studs Terkel anecdote.

Tamara Holder* and I agree on a few things and one of them is that Congressman Jackson seems to be getting smeared by political hacks, their pet Watchdog groups and the compliant purse-puppies in Chicago's Media. Ms. Holder and I have had a few tussles over the Ickes Riots last summer when Pops Jackson had his Rainbow Jammies Sleepover and recently over my misunderstanding of Parole Violators and the Expungement work being done by Tamara Holder. I tend to believe Cops work to protect and serve the public and Ms. Holder, as criminal attorney, might be advocate for some bad guys. She is stuck between two immovable forces - Legal Louses like Flint Taylor and oafish Law Enforcement. There is a wide field in between and sometimes I miss that fact.

Criminal Attorney and Record Expungement expert Tamara Holder, with whom I have crossed thoughts ( she was classy and I was my Mick-minded Jerk Self, of course) questions the charges against Jackson - He paid His Wife out of His Campaign Funds!
Merciful Maxwell House, Murial!

Tamara Holder, who has had her battles with the Congressman's Pa herself, sees the same nuance that I see in the attacks on Jesse and Sandi Jackson -

The witch hunt against Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. must come to an end. Today, it was reported that Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. has paid his wife approximately $250,000 for her assistance in his campaign. Article here.

Most importantly, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee states that at least 40 members of Congress, from both parties, employ spouses or family members in their campaigns. As for Illinois, the practice is very very common.

This is issue spinning at its best.

1) The reason for the Congressional Ethics inquiry into Jesse Jackson, Jr. was specifically to determine if he was involved in any quid pro quo with then-Governor Rod Blagojevich for the Obama's vacant senate seat. Congressman Jackson was not the subject of an inquiry for any other reason.

2) The Congressman's wife, Sandi, has been his #1 supporter. She is not a stay-at-home wife but instead a highly educated lawyer with real practice experience. She brings great talent and expertise to the campaign.

3) The amount he has paid his wife, has been for real consulting work. She has been at the forefront of his campaigning and her work has always been publicly known.

4) All payments to Sandi have been pre-approved. Congressman Jackson never paid her without full disclosure of his intent to do so.

5) Congressman Jackson fully disclosed to the Ethics Committee all payments to Sandi upon their request of his financial records.

6) From Rick Bryant at Congressman Jackson's office:

"There is nothing wrong and nothing new here.

"The fact is the Congressman sought and received written permission from the FEC to pay Sandi as a consultant. He also sought and received written FEC permission to contribute to her campaign. They both honor the practice of transparency.

"Sandi was paid on average $27,400 a year to regularly file FEC reports and advise his campaign. She has enormous experience -- a lawyer, former congressional chief of staff, former vice president of the U.S. Export/Import Bank, a former deputy director of the DNC. She's paid fair market value for bonafide services as the FEC stipulated eight years ago.

There are some real beauts doing the chumming for the lazy ink-sharks here in Chicago. I suspect Rahm Emanuel and Jan Schakowsky, because Rahm wants Fitzy to quit looking at ANYTHING that could tar-brush his boss. SEIU Illinois was all over the Criminal Complaint against Blagojevich, but that has been quieted up. Rahma -Lama Dang Dong would have no problem getting Chicago Dems give him a hand in tossing poop Jackson's way. As for Jan Schakowsky, the Congress Critter who looks like the Mamma Witch on the Old Bewitched Show, Jan was whining for the Obama Senate Seat from the day that Obama announced Change We Can Believe In in Springfield. Not only that, Jan Schakowsky knows all about the jackpot that can be tossed on spouse. Hubby Bob Creamer kited 501(c)3 checks and Jan, it seems helped blow the ink dry.


The thing is Jesse Jackson, Junior married the right girl. Not only is Sandi Jackson a beyond fetching young lady, she happens to be political professional with more of resume than the current Commander in Chief.

Early in Jackson's political career she served as press secretary for United States Congressman Mickey Leland. After the 1988 Democratic National Convention, she began working for Michael Dukakis who had become the Democratic party's nominee for United States President in the 1988 United States presidential election.[9]

Jackson's political career prior to her election as 7th Ward Alderman included the following positions: Deputy Director of Training for the Democratic National Committee, Director of Scheduling Operations for Rev. Jesse Jackson, Vice President of Congressional and External Affairs for the Export-Import Bank of the United States (appointed by Bill Clinton), Director of VIP Relations for the Presidential Inaugural Committee, National Outreach Coordinator for the Clinton/Gore 96 Campaign, and campaign manager and chief political strategist for many other politicians.[6]

"If Bill Clinton's wife can run for the U.S. Senate, if Bob Dole's wife can run for the Senate and for president, then why can't my wife be an alderman?"
——Jesse Jackson, Jr.[25] (December 2002)

While Jackson was serving as the Export-Import Bank's director of congressional affairs, she lobbied in opposition of her husband's proposal to tighten the restrictions on the activities in Africa of the Export-Import Bank. She did so successfully, as her husband's amendment failed.[26]

Jackson considered running for public office during the 2003 Chicago municipal elections.[25] At the time, Jackson, Jr. discouraged his wife from running for public office.[27] However, he felt his wife should be eligible to run for Alderman, despite the controversy surrounding such a candidacy.[25]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandi_Jackson

* Click my post title for Tamara Holder!

BGA - Tell Andy Shaw What Floor You're On!

Sneed hears former Channel 7 political reporter Andy Shaw is this/close to becoming the new head of the Better Government Association, an independent government watchdog group.

This is now a twice told tale -

True story, this one! Remember Terry Teele, Mayor Daley's go-to-guy on all things Planning and Development? Get this.

When Terry Teele was forced to resign from his position in Daley's Office, I happened to be sitting in the Planning and Development waiting room - a breathless Andy Shaw Charged In - 'The Teele resignation - I'M here!'

The lovely middle aged black woman informed this Profound Newshound - 'Fifth Floor, Sir. Mr. Teele works on the Fifth Floor. We are on the 10th Floor?'

http://hickeysite.blogspot.com/2008/11/abc-7s-andy-shaw-takes-stupid-national.html


So the Better Government Association is giving Andy Shaw a job! That's Great!

Now Here's a D'Andy Shaw Yarn ripped from the pages of Chicago Police Homicide sheaves of wholesome potboilers!

I recall an account by a famous Chicago Homicide Detective who encountered the Truth Bloodhound Shaw at a crime scene in Chatham.

It seems that a gang-banger had run afoul of some like-inclined chaps who decided to 'Ride the 9 Down on the . . .' mmmm . . . Oedipal Fellow!

The 'victim' was 'broken up' so to speak due to the proximity and impact of the 9mm calling cards tossed his way. The victim was in about eight pieces truth to tell.

Ignoring police protocol and warnings Andy persisted in jamming the microphone under the nose of the lead detective -'I Demand to Know What Happened! The People Demand it, Detective!'

To which the world weary investigator responded to the not-to-be-ignored Andy Shaw,
'We suspect foul play, Andy.'

Yes, Yes! Andy Shaw will have the Truth!

Thus one might say - Andy Shaw meets Doyle Brunson and Phil Helmuth at the World Series of Poker -'Playing Cards, Fellows?'


Again from Sneed

-• • Background: Shaw, who was once an education reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times, retired earlier this year after 35 years in Chicago television and print. Congrats Andy!

Scoop 'em!

SEIU Lobbyists Stuff The Lobby of Illinois Capitol

I was in Springfield on school business and took a stroll over to the State Capitol. The joint was jumping!!!

I ran into Terry Peterson, my old Alderman and the guy who managed Mayor Daley's last landslide and my State Representative Kevin Joyce both grinding the stone in the People's Interest! These two gents are what public service should be all about!

Stuffing the halls were the heavyweights of the SEIU Purple Gang!

I saw Progress Illinois poster boy Keith Kelleher, looking svelt in SEIU ppppp-purple! But the rest of SEIU crowd? Man! Eat a salad at Augie's Front Burner folks!

I gotta ask. Who has the concession for the Triple X and Up -Purple T-Shirts?

That Dude could buy a Kennedy.

Interesting to note that SEIU leadership tends to be Imperially thin almost emaciated and dues paying folks seem to fill out the Purple T's hugely. Keith and the Council must spring for some heavy lunch-boxes on Lobby Day.

A.P. Chicago Media, Ron Howard, Bill Maher, MSNBC,Hollywood and Progressives Agree - Stomp Catholics and End Abuse!

Let's see:

1. Catholics should not be offended that America's most strident Abortion Advocate in History received an award from a PR Driven School in Indiana.

2. Catholics and the Catholic Church do not care for Opie's new movie

3. Catholics and Catholic Church make a regular habit of abusing children, horses and baby ducks.

4. Police Officers accused of Torture look like, walk like, talk like, and worship, like . . .Catholics.

5. The South Side Irish Parade ( now closed) was begun because Catholics are Racists ( STNG - Columnist Phil Kadner)

So with Opie's new movie about how the Catholic Church hides the fact that Jesus was a secret member of Father Perez Council Knights of Columbus 1444 and played 16" softball, when he was under-age and drinking beer ( purchased by Jon Burge) at O'Halleran Park, while leaving a trail of Cheese Cheetos ,in HIS Image and Likeness, at historically significant places in Rome ( because HE is Omnipresent)in order to unearth the Popish Plot to Assassinate JFK and 'fix' the Florida Ballots, so that George W. Bush could win ( Brother Jeb is a . . .Catholic), the A.P. and it's outlet The Chicago Tribune needed an extra Catholic pile on.

Time to Gin Up some real oooooooold fashioned Anti-Catholic Hate! There is no end of the possiblities here in Chicago, with its great Catholic demographic.

There are enough gutless Catholic lick-spittles ( politicians, academics and journalists) who will agree whole-heartedly with people like Bill Maher, Planned Parenthood, MSNBC and the editorial boards of Chicago's papers.

It is easier to develop a go-along attitude than it is to nurture a sense of history.

Lawyers sue Catholic dioceses all over the country, because it is easy to do. More stories about horrible Catholics and their close-knit atttitudes will follow.

Today, there is a story about abuse in Ireland that occurred as the result of the Irish Christian Brothers and the Sisters of Mercy operating homes for thousands of orphans and children of parents who could not care for them. Click my post title and get that story.

It seems that so long as the Catholic Church and Catholics remain true to their Faith, they can expect a regular landslide of abuse from Progressives and their Media Mopes.

Progressives Hate Catholics - always did and always will - From Thoreau to Jane Addams to Roger Baldwin to Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann to Bill Maher to Bill Ayers, Catholics - American Catholics are a halt on their march of Nuance ( Bullshit).

I would stack the charity and giving of those Catholic Orders over the myths about Jane Addams Settlement House with the odds given any day. DCFC in Illinois is responsible ( or should be) for the deaths of more children than any Catholic institution - no big outrage there. What was it a few years back? How many deaths? No prosecuation of the Executive Director. What is old Bryan Samuels** doing these days? Somnething Progressive, no doubt.

In the late 19th Century, 19th Ward Alderman John ( Johnny De Pow) Powers did more for the improvement of lives of Italian, Jewish and Greek immigrants, in the most densely populated Ward in Chicago, than the crop-haired Sapphist Jane Addams, who at most sold baloney sandwiches and put on amateur productions ..

It was Alderman Powers who appointed Addams to her post in government as Health Officer, which Addams returned with Progressive Courtesy by having Powers ( Horrors! A Saloon-Keeper!) with corruption - which he beat. Addams stole the Sttelement House concept, already up and running from the Sisters of Mercy and the Daughters of Charity, but credited British twit Toynbee with the idea. Don'cha Know.

In the last century, there were Chicago Tribune 'hints' at horrific treatment of kids and tale that grew into a Chicago Legend*.



*THE DEVIL BABY OF HULL HOUSE

Hull House received its greatest notoriety when it was alleged to be the refuge of the Chicago "devil baby". This child was supposedly born to a devout Catholic woman and her atheist husband and was said to have pointed ears, horns, scale-covered skin and a tail. According to the story, the young woman had attempted to display a picture of the Virgin Mary in the house but her husband had torn it down. He stated that he would rather have the Devil himself in the house that the picture. When the woman had become pregnant, the Devil Baby had been their curse. After enduring numerous indignities because of the child, the father allegedly took it to Hull House.

After being taken in by Jane Addams, staff members of the house reportedly took the baby to be baptized. During the ceremony, the baby supposedly escaped from the priest and began dancing and laughing. Not knowing what else to do with the child, Jane kept it locked in the attic of the house, where it later died.

Rumors spread quickly about the baby and within a few weeks, hundreds of people came to the house to get a glimpse of it. How the story had gotten started, no one knew, but it spread throughout the west side neighborhood and was reported by famous Chicago reporter Ben Hecht. He claimed that every time he tried to run down the story, he was directed to find the child at Hull House. Many people came to the door and demanded to see the child, while others quietly offered to pay an admission. They believed the wild story to be absolutely true!

Each day, Jane turned people away and tried to convince them that the story was fabricated. She even devoted 40 pages of her autobiography to dispelling the stories. Even though most of the poorly educated immigrants left the house still believing the tales of the Devil Baby, the stream of callers eventually died out and the story became a barely remembered side note in the history of Hull House.

Or did it?

As the years have passed, some people still maintain the story of the Devil Baby is true... or at least contains some elements of the truth. Some have speculated that perhaps the child was actually a badly deformed infant that had been brought to Hull House by a young immigrant woman that could not care for it. Perhaps the monstrous appearance of the child had started the rumors in the neighborhood and eventually led to Hull House.

Regardless, local legend insists that at some point, there was a disfigured boy that was hidden away on the upper floors of the house. The stories also go on to say that on certain nights, the image of a deformed face could be seen peering out of the attic window.... and that a ghostly version of that face is still seen by visitors today!

( Emphasis my own)

Nuance! Go to the old Chicago Tribune archives and get some real historical context.

Jane Addams does not come off all that great.
http://www.prairieghosts.com/hull.html


**The decision comes three weeks after DCFS Director Bryan Samuels placed [Robin Staggers] and two of her aides on paid leave after reports said Staggers was under investigation in a federal grand jury probe of potential wrongdoing in state government hiring. The two aides also will return to different jobs.


http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/2007/01/22/news/news02.txt
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/927471941.html?dids=927471941:927471941&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Nov+17%2C+2005&author=John+Chase+and+Ofelia+Casillas%2C+Tribune+staff+reporters&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=Suspended+DCFS+exec+reinstated+in+new+job+%3B+Department+chief+told+removal+wasn't+legal&pqatl=google

Friday Night Feature With Mike Houlihan -Tapioca at Beverly Arts Center May 22nd

'I took my gal to the picture shows and pleasure I was seekin'/I went for her mouth, but kissed her nose and the Goddam thing was Leakin'!'

The art of the Friday Night Show with your best honey is lost on America, given the sorry state of CinaPlex Movie Ikeas. However, you and your Steady Betty can link arms and glide to the Beverly Arts Center and thrill to Renaissance Man Mike Houlihan's Comic Opus Tapioca.

Beverly Arts Center
2407 W. 111th St.
Chicago, IL 60655
773-445-3838
www.beverlyartcenter.org

Contact: Grace Kuikman, 773-213-7531 or grace@beverlyartcenter.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Beverly Art Center to Screen Mike Houlihan's Indie Film 'Tapioca'

(CHICAGO, Apr. 29, 2009) -- Emmy and Tony Award winner Ben Vereen and Saturday Night Live alum Tim Kazurinsky headline a Chicago cast of comic characters in Mike Houlihan's independent feature film "Tapioca," screening at the Beverly Arts Center, 2407 W. 111th St., Chicago, on Friday, May 22, 8 p.m.
The film also features Second City veterans Greg Hollimon, Jimmy Carrane, David Pasquesi, as well as the entire Houlihan family. The screening marks a homecoming for many of the cast members. Back in March of 2004 the Houlihans presented their "sketch comedy experiment" on stage at the Beverly Arts Center. "The stage show was the mustard seed which became this independent feature film," Houlihan said. Most of the performers from the show have roles in the film.
"Tapioca" the movie premiered in Park City, Utah during the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and was also screened at the Texas Black Film Festival, First Take Film Fest, and The Other Venice Film Festival. It won "Best Feature Film" at the Geneva Film Festival.
The film features an original score by Chicago jazz composer Ryan Cohan, with additional music from Gospel legends Lena McLin and Otis Clay, as well as cartoons by Chicago Sun-Times Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Jack Higgins.
Titled for the Chicago slang for being broke, "Tapioca" tells the story of Pipes McGonnigle (Mike Houlihan), a bigoted blowhard who makes the mistake of abusing a Streetwise vendor named Nuts (Ben Vereen). Nuts puts a hex on Pipes, rendering him homeless and turning his world upside down.
Local performers featured in the film include comedians Paul Kelly and Bill Brady, John Spellman, Frank Moran, and rapper E.J. Hott. The film was shot at locations around the south side including the Cork & Kerry Tavern, St. Margaret of Scotland Church and the Barrel of Laughs comedy club.
Tickets for the May 22, 8 p.m. BAC screening of "Tapioca" are $7 ($5 for Beverly Arts Center members). Cast members will be on hand for discussion and a reception after screening. For tickets call the BAC box office, 773-445-3838.


For more information visit www.TapiocaTheMovie.com or www.mikehoulihan.com.

George Ryan Should Come Home!

George Ryan has served time in Federal Prisons -in Oxford, Wisconsin and Terra Haute, Indiana -because people wanted him to be guilty and Federal Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was specifically tasked with putting George Ryan in Federal Prison.

It seems to me that that was his job description and mission statement - later nuanced into 'giving the citizens what they were told to want.'

The Media tried Ryan and Judge Pallmayer seemed to follow their script.

I like and admire George Ryan as a man and I love his wife Lura Lynn.

I never voted for George Ryan, as I tend to vote Democrat.

George Ryan served his time - much more than too many much more larcenous villains and sneaks. His Party was defeated by the wildly corrupt Blagojevich who made Illinois the National Poster Child of political corruption. George Ryan, as pointed out in his trial, never took a nickel. He was convicted of being an 'old time politician.'

Dollar for tax-wasted dollar give me that old time corruption, because the Reform Version represented by Blago and his troops is a Tsunami compared to a fart in a bathtub.

Governor Jim Thompson, for whom I never cast a vote, is a good friend to the Ryans and he is hammering at George Ryan's cell door, until a right-minded person swings it open. Godd for you Big Jim!

"Frankly, I think, there's nothing gained by requiring him to stay in jail," said Thompson. "He's been there for almost two years now. He's been punished. He's lost his office. He's lost all his means of support. He's not a completely well man. ... A merciful president would let him come home."

"President Obama knows Governor Ryan, worked with Governor Ryan when the president was in the General Assembly, and my hope is that this fall if we file a petition to ask the president to commute the sentence to time served, that we could get a favorable answer," said Thompson.

1998 - Illinois Governor
George Ryan (R) 51%
Glenn Poshard (D) 47.5%
Lawrence Redmond (Reform) 1.5%
1994 - Illinois Secretary of State
George Ryan (R) 61.5%
Patrick Quinn (D) 38.5%
1990 - Illinois Secretary of State
George Ryan (R) 53.5%
Jerry Cosentino (D) 46.5%

Israel is No Golden Dome - Bibi WILL ' Shake Down Some Thunder'

There will Thunder A'Plenty when Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu gets intimate with President Obama and opens his heart about Iran's plans to 'wipe Israel from the face of the earth.' Should be some OT lightning coming along with that thunder.
Netanyahu lost a brother (Yonathon) to terrorism. President Obama reads talking-points about 'man-made disaster events.'

Unlike the Cottage Cheese Spined P.R. Driven School in Indiana, Isreal will be here long after President Obama makes a Jimmy Carter-ish exit from history.

Prime Minister Netanyahu will take care of Iran.

America, eventually, will take care of Abortion.

Alright! President Got His Honorary Degree -No Sweat - From PR Driven School! No Thunder Shaken Down!

A Public Relations Driven School in Indiana gave President Obama an Honorary Law Degree yesterday.

The leader of the PR. Driven School greased the way. The Media Loved it and got their collective undies in a twist when American Catholics objected to giving such an honor to the most strident abortion advocate in American History.

The grease is nuance.

The President got his trinket.

The PR Driven School shook down no thunder.

It never will.

The Divine Comedy of Steinberg's Shallow Mind -'Why Abortion Frenzy?' Read More Than Dante's Cliff's Notes, "Sprite."

Sun Times "Sprite" Neil Steinberg has the giggles - the rubes and helots are upset about the renewed anger over abortion. It brings out the Sprite ( "Hey, It's a Joke!") in Neil.

The sprite in me is tempted to focus on something, anything, else -- bottled water, what SHALL we do about it? -- but the abortion issue seems to be heating up in a way beyond the flap of a prominent Catholic school conferring an honorary degree upon a president who supports a woman's right to end her pregnancy.

According to the latest polls, suddenly more Americans call themselves "pro-life" than "pro-choice" -- 51 percent vs. 42 percent -- a dramatic shift from just last year, when 50 percent were pro-choice and 44 percent pro-life.

What does this mean? Well, I suppose if you are pro-life, it means the nation has had an unexpected moral reassessment. As if waking from a dream, it gazes down and suddenly sees the blood on its hands, and recoils in moral horror.

For a gent who flashes Dante, like a Visa Gold, Steinberg might have . . .might have, mind you, . . .realized that Dante ( the 13th Century Italian poet) was disgusted by the Catholic Church that turned secular during the late Middle Ages. This is the Catholic Church trotted out by the American Media and Progressives as the Scarlet Whore of Babylon - the one where priests became political hacks and stooged for the secular powers.

Yep, old Neil, it seems is pie-tin deep reader who does not drink too deep from the Pierian Spring ( that's an allusion there, Son!).

Well, Neil, Old Dante's epic takes a dim view of a Church that turns a blind eye - like our hot-topic PR Driven University taking up real estate in Indiana.

Except the soul divine.
Place in this Heaven is none; the soul divine,
Wherein the love, which ruleth o`er its orb,
Is kindled, and the virtue, that it sheds:
One circle, light and love, enclasping it,
As this doth clasp the others; and to Him,
Who draws the bound, its limit only known.
Measured itself by none, it doth divide
Motion to all, counted unto them forth,
As by the fifth or half ye count forth ten.
The vase, wherein time`s roots are plunged, thou seest:
Look elsewhere for the leaves. O mortal lust!
That canst not lift thy head above the waves
Which whelm and sink thee down. The will in man
Bears goodly blossoms; but its ruddy promise
Is, by the dripping of perpetual rain,
Made mere abortion: faith and innocence
Are met with but in babes; each taking leave,
Ere cheeks with down are sprinkled: he, that fasts
While yet a stammerer, with his tongue let loose
Gluts every food alike in every moon:
One, yet a babbler, loves and listens to
His mother; but no sooner hath free use
Of speech, than he doth wish her in her grave.
So suddenly doth the fair child of him,
Whose welcome is the morn and eve his parting,
To negro blackness change her virgin white.

Canto XXVII


Yep, them Old Timey Popes and Bishops got a good tune-up from Dante. Progressives ( Huge Sanger Fans) like to pick at scabs and keep the bleeding going . . .except when it comes to a person's Right to Murder a Kid -Reproductive Health Issues and such.

Dante excoriated ( kicked their fat asses in poetry so to speak) Popes and Bishops and corrupt clergy, because they kissed-up to politicians and turned a blind eye to abortion and every other manner of sin.

It is much more honest to just come out and say that you hate Catholics and their Church. H.L. Mencken would have done that and I believe that he often did so.

Neil, you little Sprite, it is easier just to bad mouth people you don't like and then you can toss that heavy Italian poetry - for all the good it seems to do for you.

Illinois Rep. Kevin McCarthy (D.37th Dist.) -Profile in Courage

Il. Representative Kevin McCarthy is taking a heroic stand to stop the bleeding of Illinois tax-payer money in the face of a Tsunami of Teacher Unions' ads on all media outlets.

Kristen McQueary writes:

The Illinois Education Association, Illinois Federation of Teachers, American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees and dozens of smaller unions represented by AFL-CIO oppose the most comprehensive pension reform proposal the legislature has seen in at least 20 years.

McCarthy - a former Chicago Public Schools teacher who chairs the House Pensions and Personnel Committee - is the bill's chief sponsor.

Under his bill, that 55-year-old retired neighbor earning full pension benefits would be a perk of the past.

Today, McCarthy will try to get the bill voted out of committee and poised for the House floor, its first major challenge.

The bill represents weeks of negotiation between McCarthy, Gov. Pat Quinn, members of organized labor and House and Senate Democrats. House Amendment No. 1 to Senate Bill 1292 would combine state workers, university employees, teachers, judges and General Assembly members under one pension system rather than the five separate systems operating currently.

Labor unions are squawking for two main reasons. The bill reduces retirement benefits for new entrants to the system, and it does not address the state's enormous unfunded liability toward its pension obligations.

http://www.southtownstar.com/news/mcqueary/1573558,051409mcqueary.article

The Teachers Unions have flooded the air-waves with a whiny voiced 'Hush-talker' posing as a teacher -" it's a bad idea, Governor Quinn!" The ads beg for more revenue - more taxes.

If not -Illinois will lose quality teachers! Non Sequitur! The ad also whines that Illinois Public School teachers 'only qualify for Partial Social Security Benefits!!!!' Why is that Murial? Could it be that Illinois Teachers opted out of 'paying into Social Security' - their fair share - in order to allow tax-payer to buck up for their retirement? Hmmmmmm.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy is a solid guy. He is one of the quiet heroes who actually make Reform - the old fashioned way - by doing what the voters have tasked him to do.

Rep. Kevin McCarthy stick to your guns. Your constituents are much smarter than the goof whining on the radio.

Surfing? Nice for Girls. Give me Calumet River Bullhead Riding Any Day!

Chicago's Park District will open five (5) Beaches to Surfing.

That will be swell and gratifying for the girls, daisies and dandies. However, real men -19th Ward Variety will continue to make their own Tsunami's on the Cal-Sag Canal and the Mighty Calumet River riding the back of the noble bullhead fish (photo above).

With decades of toxic wastes invigorating the species, men and more than a few lesbians have harnessed the power of Darwinian Increase by leathering up a harness for mansized rides on hungry bullheads. The torpedo has not been built to match the full dorsal power this Fin-Igan's Wake!

Charlie Olson and I tried Bullhead Riding on the Kankakee River but the damn water was too clean and fresh and we crushed the life out of the poor fish by hopping on - that's no sport. Nope, the Calumet or the Cal-Sag are the only toxic water rodeos for real men with a lust for danger, yet see the spark of loving grace in Nature's Bounty - no matter how filthy that Bounty gets to be!

I have gotten away from the cares and woes of this Vale of Tears for a few precious hours by taking the old harness down to the Calumet River, when I lived in Griffith, Indiana and now the Cal-Sag.

I bait up liversausage and onion sandwich onto the lure pole and off we go - Just me and and Old Ameiurus Melas knifing a causeway of water down the center of Cal-Sag that washes over the docks and levies! Wetsuit Be-Damned and Hair ( widow's peak really) awash in the browney foam of the Cal-Sag!!!!

Let the girls surf! The Men will be BullHeading the Cal-Sag!

National Public Television Devastated by 1st Celebrity Swine Flu Death

The Serial Whisperers of Public Television were confronted with the Grim-Reaper! Younger than Pete Seeger and with more spring to his step, Sesame Street's iconic frog appears to have had a much too fatal attraction.

Question would this be considered an STD by CDC? That was piggish of me.

WLS News Man -Bill Cameron! You Can Bank What He Tells You.

The radio, especially News Radio, is tailor made for urban driving. You never get lost in the delicate "Le Portrait musical de la nature," of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony ( Sixth Symphony) or the sweep and majesty of Hayden's Quartet 62 in C Major. Likewise, I will not drop my Dunkin' Donuts 20-Load from Karim's Western Ave., poured will delicacy and grace by the beautiful women who lilt -"Hars Paht-reek of Leo! Get EeeksTrah Large! Good Mornin' Hickey!" in order to crank up Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels when the first chords of Devil With the Blue Dress counterpoint the drum-time!

Nope, mostly you here -"Healthy Trinity - The Triun ( Confounding Arius at Nicea) God's Way to Say Good morning to your Colon - Don and I Cannonball a Quart of Healthy Trinty every morning!" Followed by rants, raves and more "HEALTHY TRINITY!"

Into this static-thick wildness, comes a reporter's voice that sounds like exactly like two guys with whom I had just jostled our loads with out of the doors of Karim's Dunkin' Donuts on Western Ave. - " The IRS has placed a lien on the home of Todd Stroger for his failure to pay $12,000 in back taxes."

Now, that is news. That is Bill Cameron. I met Bill Cameron during Alexi Giannoulias' Campaign and we shared stories of the life political from the 'regular guys' vantage point. Bill Cameron is a Yeoman Professional. He is like Gino Ford the ComEd High Wire Artiste, Capt. Eddie Ryan,CFD, Det. Billy Higgins, CPD (ret.) and Eddie Carroll, The Roofing Contactor to the Stars of Gentleman's Entertainment Venues.

WLS AM - The Big 89 has had 'personalities' - many of them with the personalities of dial tones - come and go but Bill Cameron, like a afore-mentioned professionals is necesary to the safety, surety and sustaining of this Great Republic.

Bill Cameron makes all of the News Posers pale with hard, factual, and honest reportage. Thanks, Mr. Cameron!

Bill is the winner of two Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio & Television News Directors Association, shared in a Peabody, and has received numerous AP, UPI, and Gabriel awards for his work.

He has a BS in Broadcast Journalism from Indiana University. He's the son of an Illinois High School Hall of Fame football coach, Fred Cameron, and has called football and basketball games on radio in addition to working as a trainer and referee in sports.

Bill's daughter Elizabeth is the principal flutist of a symphony orchestra, and son Matt is a nationally-ranked athlete in the sport of fencing.

Detective Commander Jon Burge (CPD ret.) Talks! - The Movie:Starring Aaron Patterson as Jon Burge

Detective Commander Burge (CPD ret.): Friends, I'm going to to tell you of the great mysterious wonderful continent known as Africa. Africa, God's country. And he can have it...Well, sir, we left New York drunk and early on the morning of February second. After fifteen days on the water and six on the boat we finally arrived on the shores of Africa.
We at once proceded 300 miles into the heart of the jungle where I shot a polar bear. This bear was 6 foot 7 in his stocking feet and had shoes on. This bear was anemic and couldn't stand the cold climate. He was a rich bear and could afford to go away in the winter. From the day of our arrival we led an active life. The first morning saw us up at six, breakfasted, then back in bed at seven. This was our routine for the first three months. We finally got so we were back in bed at six-thirty.
One morning I was sitting in front of the cabin smoking some meat There wasn't a cigar store in the neighborhood. As I say, I was sitting in front of the cabin when I bagged six tigers. I bagged them, I bagged them to go away, but they hung around all afternoon. They were the most persistant tigers I've ever seen. The principal animals inhabiting the African jungle are moose, elk and Knights of Pythias.
Of course you all know what a moose is, that's big game. The first day I shot two bucks that was the biggest game we had. As I say you all know what a moose is? A moose runs around on the floor, and eats cheese and is chased by the cats. The elks on the other hand live up in the hills, and in the spring they come down for their annual convention. It is very interesting to watch them come down to the water-hole; and you should see them run when they find it is only water-hole. What they're looking for is a elk-a-hole. One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I'll never know. But that is entirely irrevent to what I was talking about. We took some pictures of the native girls, but they weren't developed.But we're going back again in a couple of weeks...