This is an outstanding quote that I came across in the excellent 1998 book on USMC Boot Camp training by Thomas Ricks, titled, MAKING THE CORPS:

"Starting in the mid-1960's, we have thrown away the values, morals, and the standards that define traditional Western culture. In part this has been driven by cultural radicals, people who hate our Judeo-Christian culture. Dominant in the elite, especially in the universities, the media, and the entertainment industries ( now the most powerful forcein our culture and a source of endless degradation ), the cultural radicals have successfully pushed an agenda of moral relativism, militant secularism, and sexual and social 'liberation.' This agenda has slowly codified into a new ideology, usually known as 'multi-culturism' or 'political correctness' that is in essence Marxism translated from economic into social and cultural terms." -William S. Lind

Semper Fi, Everybody,
BlackScorpion

I have been unable to post any blog material for the past couple of weeks, but the world continues to evolve without me, so I have decided to sit down this afternoon and log in some comments about goings on in Chicago and around the nation / world that spark my interest.

Since I last posted a blog entry Jesse Jackson has "hip-hopped from photo-op to photo-op" like a publicity hungry jackrabbit. He was in Jena with (?) the Jena 6 "lineup" (those kids are thugs no matter what incited them to jump and brutally beat on that white kid) in Louisiana, and then back up here in Chicago to spend the night in an apartment in a Southside of Chicago Housing Project (with resident who has chosen to live in that terrible place since 1973!!!). Jesse claimed that he was protesting police abuse of building residents. Uh-huh, Jesse, how about the abuse on our entire society that many of the residents, gangbangers, thugs, punks, pimps, and others in that community dole out every day of the week year round? Oh, well, you got your picture in the paper, and those who follow you like sheep have another clipping to justify their continued support of the tired horse that you have been riding since the sixties. Beats working if you can get away with it...and you have.

Right behind Jesse was the unflappable con maestro, Al Sharpton, who is currently in town doing what he does best-rabble rouse! His purported "targets" of protest are Mayor Daly and the Chicago Police Department. Gee, Al, I have no problem with you bringing your NYC bull show into Chicago...it is a land of free speech even for traveling clowns like yourself, but could you take some time while you're here to do some explaining and some repenting for your disgraceful Tawanna Brawley crapola fest, and, more recently,  your loudmouthed, vile, despicable, and flat out wrong condemnation of the Lacrosse players at Duke University who were falsely accused of rape and a host of other crimes by a black "exotic" dancer? *By the way, I recall Jesse Jackson proclaiming that his Operation Push was going to pay for the college education of that poor, black "exotic" dancer who was "brutalized and demeaned" by those white lacrosse players. What's up Jesse? Are you still going to pay for her education? Or did you get "schooled" by her (pun intended)? My personal advice is for Sharpton to just get out of Chicago and let us Chicagoans take care of our problems, you neo-carpetbagger! And while you're on your way out of town, see if you can take Jesse Jackson with you.

This past weekend there was an overnight prayer vigil in Humboldt Park on the northwest side of town to protest the recent shooting of a 10-year old caught in gang crossfire on the southside in particular, and the urban bloodshed that goes on daily all over town on an almost daily basis. If you are among those who really believe that prayer and protests will stop gangbangers and thugs from brutalizing and killing law abiding citizens and our youth, I have a bridge on Michigan Avenue that I would like to sell you. The solutions to urban bloodshed caused by criminals are not going to be found in churches or at protest marches. The evil that currently hovers over us all here in Chicago, and all across the nation in urban communities, goes much deeper than something prayer can solve (miracles not withstanding, but I haven't seen any urban miracles during my 60 years of living in Chicago, so maybe God is just bidding his time on this urban violence thing....riiiigggggghhht!). It is a sociopathic thing that has been spawned by at least three generations (and counting) of parents who are children themselves attempting to raise children. That is the root of the whole evil tree of urban violence. It is not the whole tree or all of the branches, but it is the root of it. The "ministers" and the so-called "community leaders" can harp about it 24/7, but the truth is that the horse of violence has been out of the barn since the early seventies. And the horse is galloping away, far, far away, right now. There are so many illiterate, semi-literate, malcontented, foul-mouthed, government assistance and affirmative action dependent inner city youth, adults, and seniors in our urban cities now that it is a virtual country within a country or nation within a nation as it were. Which leads me to the recent comments by ace hate-monger Louis Farrakhan's recent comments in Atlanta, Georgia (10/16/2007) where he urged black Americans to "separate for mainstream culture to establish and support their own community." Only a moron would be able to be non-cognizant of the tact that an huge percentage of American blacks (the youth from grade school to high school, the  Hip-Hop "followers" and entertainers(???), the rappers, the gangbangers, the petty criminals, the sexual deviants, and the outright black bigots and racists among others with similar convictions (pun intended) have already long since separated and made radical social diviations from American society and its values since the early seventies. Can anyone with a single function brain lobe not recognize that do-rags, faux earrings, oversized athletic jerseys, baggy pants hanging below the butt line and crotch at knee level or below, oversized cheap jewelry, thug posturing, glorification of violence, total disrespect of females, and a scowl-faced outright hatred of everybody and everything that is not "in orbit" around those things, has created a cultural jihad here in America that is is as loathsome and dangerous as that presented by the fanatical islamic jihadism that Osama bin-Laden and his ilk espouse? Urban America is sick and getting sicker by the hour. Don't think so? Think that the Jackson's and the Sharpton's, and the Pflager's can turn this mess around? O.K., keep the faith baby, keep the faith. However, I notice the following in a loca paper a few days ago...I hope Jackson and Sharpton read it, though I doubt that it would get them to clean up their personally profitable "acts" simply because they realize that the "pot filled with gold" is big enough to keep their coffers filled even with disagreement...but what I read paints a bleak picture for black  Americans of all political and social bents...read on;

RAPPER "NAS" WILL BE NAMING HIS UPCOMING ALBUM, DUE DECEMBER 11, AFTER THE "N-WORD." ACCORDING TO "NAS," PEOPLE SHOULDN'T TRIP OFF THE ALBUM'S TITLE; THE SONGS ARE CRAZIER THAN THE TITLE." "NAS" CLAIMS THAT HE IS TAKING POWER FROM THE USE OF THE WORD..."NO DISRESPECT TO NONE OF THEM WHO WERE PART OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, BUT SOME...IN THE STREETS DON'T KNOW WHO (CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST *WHO WAS SLAIN BY RACISTS IN THE SIXTIES ) MEDGAR WAS, THEY KNOW WHO "NAS" IS.


"AND TO MY OLDER PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW WHO "NAS" IS AND WHO DON'T KNOW WHAT A STREET DISCIPLE IS, STAY OUTTA THIS F------ CONVERSATION. WE'LL TALK TO YOU WHEN WE'RE READY. RIGHT NOW, WE'RE ON A WHOLE NEW MOVEMENT. WE'RE TAKING POWER FROM THAT WORD."

*Comments by "NAS" from an interview posted on MTV's web site.

Sounds like outright nihilism to me folks! Sounds like the "angry young blacks" don't give a damn about what their elders, or black leaders (???), or the black clergy, or the police, or society in general thinks. Sounds to me like a "black Lord of the Flies" taken to an absurd and dangerous "extreme" that will require equally extreme measures to curb and turn around. The only things that interest todays punks are "funky" flash, sex, drugs, guns, chrome (cars, teeth, and jewelry), and flaunting their ignorance of meaningful and productive social values. You can call it what you want, but I call it nihilism, and radical anarchy is the only belief that they hold high.

How do you deal with ever burgeoning communities of evil like that? I have no idea. Just look at what is happening in Philadelphia, PA, where the police chief gave up and made a public plea for "10,000 black men to come out on the street and help the police department take back the streets from the criminals."Whappened was that this past Sunday, October 21, there was a gathering of (reportedly) several thousand concerned Philadelphia black males of varying age groups who lined up for several blocks to register to become part of organized street patrols under the aegis of  "CALL TO ACTION: 10,000 MEN, IT'S A NEW DAY!" the registrants will not carry weapons or make arrests, but will instead be trained in conflict resolution (Pardon me while I hold back a ton of laughter.....). "Nobody else is going to magically come into this community and get it done," said real estate developer (hmmm, real estate developer...my, my, my, the open hearted sincerity and aboveboard straightforwardness) Abdur-Rahim Islam, a lead organizer. Philly Mayor John F. Street, music producer Kenny Gamble, and other black activists (where were Jesse and Al???) joined Police Chief Sylvester John for the kickoff rally. Non-blacks were also extended a welcome to attend (ha, ha, ha), but organizers stressed the need for blacks to solve their own problems (at least there is a smattering of "verbal responsibility" for the cesspool that the Philadelphia black community has "de-evolved" into over the past 35 years or so...you can't blame this mess on "white people" as is usual par for the course in American urban chaos dictums put out by angry blacks claiming continual discrimination and disenfranchisement no matter what the scenario...I guess you can call that some sort of progress, but Martin Luther King is spinning in his grave at this very moment over the current "state of disarray the black community has created for itself, by itself, today...it isn't a very pretty picture, and I have my personal doubts about it getting better anytime soon).

Do I think that the current scenario in Philadelphia will blossom into a better Philadelphia, or a better black America? Not really. My personal answer to the urban black punks and criminals and so-called community leaders is simply, "don't bother me with your degeneracy, your handshakes, your "whats happening brothas's," your "funky" hip-hop music, your "faux dreadlocks (who in their right mind would feel comfortable wearing what amounts to a "rug" on their head from dawn to dusk every day of the week except a bald person who wishes he or she had a full head of hair...for that matter, who in their right mind would want to wear "dreadlocks" except Jamaican ganja fanciers who are welcome to their fashion by me, but I draw the line at seeing all of the current spate of black and caucasion wannabe rastas.)," and your myriad of other false, empty, and, at the end of the day, regressive, fashions, styles, and attitudes. I don't need, support, or have any praise for any of that degenerate fashion, entertainment,  and personal social commentary. But I will say this...I have a love and respect for old-fashioned American values that will see me through the crap that we read about and see in todays media and on our city streets. In a sense I can say that "I love the America that was" back in the 50's and 60's (social warts and all) when I was growing up. Sure, America wasn't perfect back then, but it was a lot better than today's society where massive numbers of those who live in the black community are trying to either get a handout from the government (to supplement what they make from jingling coins in empthy McDonalds soft drink cups on the corner, or hitting saying the hell with school, I'm not gonna get an education because I don't need a formal education to become a rapper or a criminal. Those people disgust me to no end. I cannot stand derelicts and social hangers-on. That's the way I'm wired folks. Those who choose not to take advantage of the many opportunities for success available in this society should scrounge up enough money to buy a plane ticket to some place on the planet where their "total social support" mentality will be lauded ( hint...there is no such place, my friends ). Between the do-rag thugs and the Mcdonalds cup beggars, I have had it up to my nose. To all of them I plead, "Go away, go far away, ...and don't come back." Join Louis Farrakhan's "Nation" and get with that program. Do something, but go away!

Ah, it felt good to lower that boom, but the crap doesn't end with inner city punks, hip-hoppers, and beggars; there is Mayor Daly, City Hall, the Cook County Board, the constantly conniving and thieving aldermen, and the Mayor of this town. They are like the cream on top of the crap sundae! More on all of them when I get bak to the keyboard this evening.

Bye!

P.S. You might wonder why I am not raging on the cops here in Chicago. I like Chicago cops, with the obvious exception of the bad ones. Check out my favorite blog on the internet "http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com" and you might have a bit more respect for them as well. I have been unable to psot any blog material for the past couple of weeks, but the world continues to evolve without me, so I have decided to sit down this afternoon and log in some comments about goings on in Chicago and around the nation / world that spark my interest.

Since I last posted a blog entry Jesse Jackson has "hip-hopped from photo-op to photo-op" like a publicity hungry jackrabbit. He was in Jena with (?) the Jena 6 "lineup" (those kids are thugs no matter what incited them to jump and brutally beat on that white kid) in Louisiana, and then back up here in Chicago to spend the night in an apartment in a Southside of Chicago Housing Project (with resident who has chosen to live in that terrible place since 1973!!!). Jesse claimed that he was protesting police abuse of building residents. Uh-huh, Jesse, how about the abuse on our entire society that many of the residents, gangbangers, thugs, punks, pimps, and others in that community dole out every day of the week year round? Oh, well, you got your picture in the paper, and those who follow you like sheep have another clipping to justify their continued support of the tired horse that you have been riding since the sixties. Beats working if you can get away with it...and you have.

Right behind Jesse was the unflappable con maestro, Al Sharpton, who is currently in town doing what he does best-rabble rouse! His purported "targets" of protest are Mayor Daly and the Chicago Police Department. Gee, Al, I have no problem with you bringing your NYC bull show into Chicago...it is a land of free speech even for traveling clowns like yourself, but could you take some time while you're here to do some explaining and some repenting for your disgraceful Tawanna Brawley crapola fest, and, more recently,  your loudmouthed, vile, despicable, and flat out wrong condemnation of the Lacrosse players at Duke University who were falsely accused of rape and a host of other crimes by a black "exotic" dancer? *By the way, I recall Jesse Jackson proclaiming that his Operation Push was going to pay for the college education of that poor, black "exotic" dancer who was "brutalized and demeaned" by those white lacrosse players. What's up Jesse? Are you still going to pay for her education? Or did you get "schooled" by her (pun intended)? My personal advice is for Sharpton to just get out of Chicago and let us Chicagoans take care of our problems, you neo-carpetbagger! And while you're on your way out of town, see if you can take Jesse Jackson with you.

This past weekend there was an overnight prayer vigil in Humboldt Park on the northwest side of town to protest the recent shooting of a 10-year old caught in gang crossfire on the southside in particular, and the urban bloodshed that goes on daily all over town on an almost daily basis. If you are among those who really believe that prayer and protests will stop gangbangers and thugs from brutalizing and killing law abiding citizens and our youth, I have a bridge on Michigan Avenue that I would like to sell you. The solutions to urban bloodshed caused by criminals are not going to be found in churches or at protest marches. The evil that currently hovers over us all here in Chicago, and all across the nation in urban communities, goes much deeper than something prayer can solve (miracles not withstanding, but I haven't seen any urban miracles during my 60 years of living in Chicago, so maybe God is just bidding his time on this urban violence thing....riiiigggggghhht!). It is a sociopathic thing that has been spawned by at least three generations (and counting) of parents who are children themselves attempting to raise children. That is the root of the whole evil tree of urban violence. It is not the whole tree or all of the branches, but it is the root of it. The "ministers" and the so-called "community leaders" can harp about it 24/7, but the truth is that the horse of violence has been out of the barn since the early seventies. And the horse is galloping away, far, far away, right now. There are so many illiterate, semi-literate, malcontented, foul-mouthed, government assistance and affirmative action dependent inner city youth, adults, and seniors in our urban cities now that it is a virtual country within a country or nation within a nation as it were. Which leads me to the recent comments by ace hate-monger Louis Farrakhan's recent comments in Atlanta, Georgia (10/16/2007) where he urged black Americans to "separate for mainstream culture to establish and support their own community." Only a moron would be able to be non-cognizant of the tact that an huge percentage of American blacks (the youth from grade school to high school, the  Hip-Hop "followers" and entertainers(???), the rappers, the gangbangers, the petty criminals, the sexual deviants, and the outright black bigots and racists among others with similar convictions (pun intended) have already long since separated and made radical social diviations from American society and its values since the early seventies. Can anyone with a single function brain lobe not recognize that do-rags, faux earrings, oversized athletic jerseys, baggy pants hanging below the butt line and crotch at knee level or below, oversized cheap jewelry, thug posturing, glorification of violence, total disrespect of females, and a scowl-faced outright hatred of everybody and everything that is not "in orbit" around those things, has created a cultural jihad here in America that is is as loathsome and dangerous as that presented by the fanatical islamic jihadism that Osama bin-Laden and his ilk espouse? Urban America is sick and getting sicker by the hour. Don't think so? Think that the Jackson's and the Sharpton's, and the Pflager's can turn this mess around? O.K., keep the faith baby, keep the faith. However, I notice the following in a loca paper a few days ago...I hope Jackson and Sharpton read it, though I doubt that it would get them to clean up their personally profitable "acts" simply because they realize that the "pot filled with gold" is big enough to keep their coffers filled even with disagreement...but what I read paints a bleak picture for black  Americans of all political and social bents...read on;

RAPPER "NAS" WILL BE NAMING HIS UPCOMING ALBUM, DUE DECEMBER 11, AFTER THE "N-WORD." ACCORDING TO "NAS," PEOPLE SHOULDN'T TRIP OFF THE ALBUM'S TITLE; THE SONGS ARE CRAZIER THAN THE TITLE." "NAS" CLAIMS THAT HE IS TAKING POWER FROM THE USE OF THE WORD..."NO DISRESPECT TO NONE OF THEM WHO WERE PART OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, BUT SOME...IN THE STREETS DON'T KNOW WHO (CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST *WHO WAS SLAIN BY RACISTS IN THE SIXTIES ) MEDGAR WAS, THEY KNOW WHO "NAS" IS.


"AND TO MY OLDER PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW WHO "NAS" IS AND WHO DON'T KNOW WHAT A STREET DISCIPLE IS, STAY OUTTA THIS F------ CONVERSATION. WE'LL TALK TO YOU WHEN WE'RE READY. RIGHT NOW, WE'RE ON A WHOLE NEW MOVEMENT. WE'RE TAKING POWER FROM THAT WORD."

*Comments by "NAS" from an interview posted on MTV's web site.

Sounds like outright nihilism to me folks! Sounds like the "angry young blacks" don't give a damn about what their elders, or black leaders (???), or the black clergy, or the police, or society in general thinks. Sounds to me like a "black Lord of the Flies" taken to an absurd and dangerous "extreme" that will require equally extreme measures to curb and turn around. The only things that interest todays punks are "funky" flash, sex, drugs, guns, chrome (cars, teeth, and jewelry), and flaunting their ignorance of meaningful and productive social values. You can call it what you want, but I call it nihilism, and radical anarchy is the only belief that they hold high.

How do you deal with ever burgeoning communities of evil like that? I have no idea. Just look at what is happening in Philadelphia, PA, where the police chief gave up and made a public plea for "10,000 black men to come out on the street and help the police department take back the streets from the criminals."Whappened was that this past Sunday, October 21, there was a gathering of (reportedly) several thousand concerned Philadelphia black males of varying age groups who lined up for several blocks to register to become part of organized street patrols under the aegis of  "CALL TO ACTION: 10,000 MEN, IT'S A NEW DAY!" the registrants will not carry weapons or make arrests, but will instead be trained in conflict resolution (Pardon me while I hold back a ton of laughter.....). "Nobody else is going to magically come into this community and get it done," said real estate developer (hmmm, real estate developer...my, my, my, the open hearted sincerity and aboveboard straightforwardness) Abdur-Rahim Islam, a lead organizer. Philly Mayor John F. Street, music producer Kenny Gamble, and other black activists (where were Jesse and Al???) joined Police Chief Sylvester John for the kickoff rally. Non-blacks were also extended a welcome to attend (ha, ha, ha), but organizers stressed the need for blacks to solve their own problems (at least there is a smattering of "verbal responsibility" for the cesspool that the Philadelphia black community has "de-evolved" into over the past 35 years or so...you can't blame this mess on "white people" as is usual par for the course in American urban chaos dictums put out by angry blacks claiming continual discrimination and disenfranchisement no matter what the scenario...I guess you can call that some sort of progress, but Martin Luther King is spinning in his grave at this very moment over the current "state of disarray the black community has created for itself, by itself, today...it isn't a very pretty picture, and I have my personal doubts about it getting better anytime soon).

Do I think that the current scenario in Philadelphia will blossom into a better Philadelphia, or a better black America? Not really. My personal answer to the urban black punks and criminals and so-called community leaders is simply, "don't bother me with your degeneracy, your handshakes, your "whats happening brothas's," your "funky" hip-hop music, your "faux dreadlocks (who in their right mind would feel comfortable wearing what amounts to a "rug" on their head from dawn to dusk every day of the week except a bald person who wishes he or she had a full head of hair...for that matter, who in their right mind would want to wear "dreadlocks" except Jamaican ganja fanciers who are welcome to their fashion by me, but I draw the line at seeing all of the current spate of black and caucasion wannabe rastas.)," and your myriad of other false, empty, and, at the end of the day, regressive, fashions, styles, and attitudes. I don't need, support, or have any praise for any of that degenerate fashion, entertainment,  and personal social commentary. But I will say this...I have a love and respect for old-fashioned American values that will see me through the crap that we read about and see in todays media and on our city streets. In a sense I can say that "I love the America that was" back in the 50's and 60's (social warts and all) when I was growing up. Sure, America wasn't perfect back then, but it was a lot better than today's society where massive numbers of those who live in the black community are trying to either get a handout from the government (to supplement what they make from jingling coins in empthy McDonalds soft drink cups on the corner, or hitting saying the hell with school, I'm not gonna get an education because I don't need a formal education to become a rapper or a criminal. Those people disgust me to no end. I cannot stand derelicts and social hangers-on. That's the way I'm wired folks. Those who choose not to take advantage of the many opportunities for success available in this society should scrounge up enough money to buy a plane ticket to some place on the planet where their "total social support" mentality will be lauded ( hint...there is no such place, my friends ). Between the do-rag thugs and the Mcdonalds cup beggars, I have had it up to my nose. To all of them I plead, "Go away, go far away, ...and don't come back." Join Louis Farrakhan's "Nation" and get with that program. Do something, but go away!

Ah, it felt good to lower that boom, but the crap doesn't end with inner city punks, hip-hoppers, and beggars; there is Mayor Daly, City Hall, the Cook County Board, the constantly conniving and thieving aldermen, and the Mayor of this town. They are like the cream on top of the crap sundae! More on all of them when I get bak to the keyboard this evening.

Bye!

P.S. You might wonder why I am not raging on the cops here in Chicago. I like Chicago cops, with the obvious exception of the bad ones. Check out my favorite blog on the internet "http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com" and you might have a bit more respect for them as well. I have been unable to psot any blog material for the past couple of weeks, but the world continues to evolve without me, so I have decided to sit down this afternoon and log in some comments about goings on in Chicago and around the nation / world that spark my interest.

Since I last posted a blog entry Jesse Jackson has "hip-hopped from photo-op to photo-op" like a publicity hungry jackrabbit. He was in Jena with (?) the Jena 6 "lineup" (those kids are thugs no matter what incited them to jump and brutally beat on that white kid) in Louisiana, and then back up here in Chicago to spend the night in an apartment in a Southside of Chicago Housing Project (with resident who has chosen to live in that terrible place since 1973!!!). Jesse claimed that he was protesting police abuse of building residents. Uh-huh, Jesse, how about the abuse on our entire society that many of the residents, gangbangers, thugs, punks, pimps, and others in that community dole out every day of the week year round? Oh, well, you got your picture in the paper, and those who follow you like sheep have another clipping to justify their continued support of the tired horse that you have been riding since the sixties. Beats working if you can get away with it...and you have.

Right behind Jesse was the unflappable con maestro, Al Sharpton, who is currently in town doing what he does best-rabble rouse! His purported "targets" of protest are Mayor Daly and the Chicago Police Department. Gee, Al, I have no problem with you bringing your NYC bull show into Chicago...it is a land of free speech even for traveling clowns like yourself, but could you take some time while you're here to do some explaining and some repenting for your disgraceful Tawanna Brawley crapola fest, and, more recently,  your loudmouthed, vile, despicable, and flat out wrong condemnation of the Lacrosse players at Duke University who were falsely accused of rape and a host of other crimes by a black "exotic" dancer? *By the way, I recall Jesse Jackson proclaiming that his Operation Push was going to pay for the college education of that poor, black "exotic" dancer who was "brutalized and demeaned" by those white lacrosse players. What's up Jesse? Are you still going to pay for her education? Or did you get "schooled" by her (pun intended)? My personal advice is for Sharpton to just get out of Chicago and let us Chicagoans take care of our problems, you neo-carpetbagger! And while you're on your way out of town, see if you can take Jesse Jackson with you.

This past weekend there was an overnight prayer vigil in Humboldt Park on the northwest side of town to protest the recent shooting of a 10-year old caught in gang crossfire on the southside in particular, and the urban bloodshed that goes on daily all over town on an almost daily basis. If you are among those who really believe that prayer and protests will stop gangbangers and thugs from brutalizing and killing law abiding citizens and our youth, I have a bridge on Michigan Avenue that I would like to sell you. The solutions to urban bloodshed caused by criminals are not going to be found in churches or at protest marches. The evil that currently hovers over us all here in Chicago, and all across the nation in urban communities, goes much deeper than something prayer can solve (miracles not withstanding, but I haven't seen any urban miracles during my 60 years of living in Chicago, so maybe God is just bidding his time on this urban violence thing....riiiigggggghhht!). It is a sociopathic thing that has been spawned by at least three generations (and counting) of parents who are children themselves attempting to raise children. That is the root of the whole evil tree of urban violence. It is not the whole tree or all of the branches, but it is the root of it. The "ministers" and the so-called "community leaders" can harp about it 24/7, but the truth is that the horse of violence has been out of the barn since the early seventies. And the horse is galloping away, far, far away, right now. There are so many illiterate, semi-literate, malcontented, foul-mouthed, government assistance and affirmative action dependent inner city youth, adults, and seniors in our urban cities now that it is a virtual country within a country or nation within a nation as it were. Which leads me to the recent comments by ace hate-monger Louis Farrakhan's recent comments in Atlanta, Georgia (10/16/2007) where he urged black Americans to "separate for mainstream culture to establish and support their own community." Only a moron would be able to be non-cognizant of the tact that an huge percentage of American blacks (the youth from grade school to high school, the  Hip-Hop "followers" and entertainers(???), the rappers, the gangbangers, the petty criminals, the sexual deviants, and the outright black bigots and racists among others with similar convictions (pun intended) have already long since separated and made radical social diviations from American society and its values since the early seventies. Can anyone with a single function brain lobe not recognize that do-rags, faux earrings, oversized athletic jerseys, baggy pants hanging below the butt line and crotch at knee level or below, oversized cheap jewelry, thug posturing, glorification of violence, total disrespect of females, and a scowl-faced outright hatred of everybody and everything that is not "in orbit" around those things, has created a cultural jihad here in America that is is as loathsome and dangerous as that presented by the fanatical islamic jihadism that Osama bin-Laden and his ilk espouse? Urban America is sick and getting sicker by the hour. Don't think so? Think that the Jackson's and the Sharpton's, and the Pflager's can turn this mess around? O.K., keep the faith baby, keep the faith. However, I notice the following in a loca paper a few days ago...I hope Jackson and Sharpton read it, though I doubt that it would get them to clean up their personally profitable "acts" simply because they realize that the "pot filled with gold" is big enough to keep their coffers filled even with disagreement...but what I read paints a bleak picture for black  Americans of all political and social bents...read on;

RAPPER "NAS" WILL BE NAMING HIS UPCOMING ALBUM, DUE DECEMBER 11, AFTER THE "N-WORD." ACCORDING TO "NAS," PEOPLE SHOULDN'T TRIP OFF THE ALBUM'S TITLE; THE SONGS ARE CRAZIER THAN THE TITLE." "NAS" CLAIMS THAT HE IS TAKING POWER FROM THE USE OF THE WORD..."NO DISRESPECT TO NONE OF THEM WHO WERE PART OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, BUT SOME...IN THE STREETS DON'T KNOW WHO (CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST *WHO WAS SLAIN BY RACISTS IN THE SIXTIES ) MEDGAR WAS, THEY KNOW WHO "NAS" IS.


"AND TO MY OLDER PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW WHO "NAS" IS AND WHO DON'T KNOW WHAT A STREET DISCIPLE IS, STAY OUTTA THIS F------ CONVERSATION. WE'LL TALK TO YOU WHEN WE'RE READY. RIGHT NOW, WE'RE ON A WHOLE NEW MOVEMENT. WE'RE TAKING POWER FROM THAT WORD."

*Comments by "NAS" from an interview posted on MTV's web site.

Sounds like outright nihilism to me folks! Sounds like the "angry young blacks" don't give a damn about what their elders, or black leaders (???), or the black clergy, or the police, or society in general thinks. Sounds to me like a "black Lord of the Flies" taken to an absurd and dangerous "extreme" that will require equally extreme measures to curb and turn around. The only things that interest todays punks are "funky" flash, sex, drugs, guns, chrome (cars, teeth, and jewelry), and flaunting their ignorance of meaningful and productive social values. You can call it what you want, but I call it nihilism, and radical anarchy is the only belief that they hold high.

How do you deal with ever burgeoning communities of evil like that? I have no idea. Just look at what is happening in Philadelphia, PA, where the police chief gave up and made a public plea for "10,000 black men to come out on the street and help the police department take back the streets from the criminals."Whappened was that this past Sunday, October 21, there was a gathering of (reportedly) several thousand concerned Philadelphia black males of varying age groups who lined up for several blocks to register to become part of organized street patrols under the aegis of  "CALL TO ACTION: 10,000 MEN, IT'S A NEW DAY!" the registrants will not carry weapons or make arrests, but will instead be trained in conflict resolution (Pardon me while I hold back a ton of laughter.....). "Nobody else is going to magically come into this community and get it done," said real estate developer (hmmm, real estate developer...my, my, my, the open hearted sincerity and aboveboard straightforwardness) Abdur-Rahim Islam, a lead organizer. Philly Mayor John F. Street, music producer Kenny Gamble, and other black activists (where were Jesse and Al???) joined Police Chief Sylvester John for the kickoff rally. Non-blacks were also extended a welcome to attend (ha, ha, ha), but organizers stressed the need for blacks to solve their own problems (at least there is a smattering of "verbal responsibility" for the cesspool that the Philadelphia black community has "de-evolved" into over the past 35 years or so...you can't blame this mess on "white people" as is usual par for the course in American urban chaos dictums put out by angry blacks claiming continual discrimination and disenfranchisement no matter what the scenario...I guess you can call that some sort of progress, but Martin Luther King is spinning in his grave at this very moment over the current "state of disarray the black community has created for itself, by itself, today...it isn't a very pretty picture, and I have my personal doubts about it getting better anytime soon).

Do I think that the current scenario in Philadelphia will blossom into a better Philadelphia, or a better black America? Not really. My personal answer to the urban black punks and criminals and so-called community leaders is simply, "don't bother me with your degeneracy, your handshakes, your "whats happening brothas's," your "funky" hip-hop music, your "faux dreadlocks (who in their right mind would feel comfortable wearing what amounts to a "rug" on their head from dawn to dusk every day of the week except a bald person who wishes he or she had a full head of hair...for that matter, who in their right mind would want to wear "dreadlocks" except Jamaican ganja fanciers who are welcome to their fashion by me, but I draw the line at seeing all of the current spate of black and caucasion wannabe rastas.)," and your myriad of other false, empty, and, at the end of the day, regressive, fashions, styles, and attitudes. I don't need, support, or have any praise for any of that degenerate fashion, entertainment,  and personal social commentary. But I will say this...I have a love and respect for old-fashioned American values that will see me through the crap that we read about and see in todays media and on our city streets. In a sense I can say that "I love the America that was" back in the 50's and 60's (social warts and all) when I was growing up. Sure, America wasn't perfect back then, but it was a lot better than today's society where massive numbers of those who live in the black community are trying to either get a handout from the government (to supplement what they make from jingling coins in empthy McDonalds soft drink cups on the corner, or hitting saying the hell with school, I'm not gonna get an education because I don't need a formal education to become a rapper or a criminal. Those people disgust me to no end. I cannot stand derelicts and social hangers-on. That's the way I'm wired folks. Those who choose not to take advantage of the many opportunities for success available in this society should scrounge up enough money to buy a plane ticket to some place on the planet where their "total social support" mentality will be lauded ( hint...there is no such place, my friends ). Between the do-rag thugs and the McDonalds cup beggars, I have had it up to my nose. To all of them I plead, "Go away, go far away, ...and don't come back." Join Louis Farrakhan's "Nation" and get with that program. Do something, but go away!

Ah, it felt good to lower that boom, but the crap doesn't end with inner city punks, hip-hoppers, and beggars,  not at all because there is still Mayor Daley, Todd Stroger, Ron Huberman (Frank Kruesi's doppleganger?),City Hall, the Cook County Board, the constantly conniving and thieving aldermen, as well as Governor Elvis, whoops< I meant Governor Blago'. They are like the cream on top of the crap sundae! Daly's proposed budget for 2008 would hike property taxes more than in his previous 18 years in office combined. Stroger wants to triple the county's share of the sales tax, increase the gas tax, and add more than 1,100 new jobs to a payroll that even an idiot could see is infested with Stroger's family members, political cronies, and a historical legacy of inefficiency and ineptitude that is appalling. As for Governor Blago', what can I say? The man knows how to inject "fair share" and "for the children" into every paragraph he speaks these days. That takes a gift of gab. Unfortunately, Governor Blago' want to tax anything and everything short of the air we breathe here in Chicago ( yeah, I know, Daley wants to tax bottled water...it figures). J. Thomas Johnson, president of the Taxpayers' Federation of Illinois, put it best when he stated that "...there seems to be no coordination of governments taxing the same people or prioritization of what's important." A leader of the Civic Federation stated cogently that, " these government officials think their role is to oversee the expansion of government rather than the management of government." Right on! for more on the scoundrels who infest our Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois political scenario, I suggest you check out the Chicago Tribune's excellent analysis of Chicago's and Cook County's budget plans for 2008 at "chicagotribune.com/budgets." .

Bye!

P.S. You might wonder why I am not raging on the cops here in Chicago. I like Chicago cops, with the obvious exception of the bad ones. Check out my favorite blog on the internet "http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com" and you might have a bit more respect for them as well.

I was perusing the Wednesday, October 10, 2007 edition of the Chicago Sun-Times the other day, and on page five I cam across an article about Jesse "Action" Jackson's latest photo-op ploy-staying overnight in the home of a longtime resident of the Harold Ickes housing project  ( aka the Harold Ickes Homes public housing project ) here in Chicago.

Jackson was quoted as saying that "The people down here (down here???) are looked down on-dismissed and discounted (except of course when photo-ops or votes are needed, eh, Jesse). They are not afforded equal protection under the law. Their human rights and constitutional rights are being violated. So we have to come and stand with them today."

Wow! Jesse spent the night there in the apartment of a woman who has been living in that housing project since 1973! Yes, that's righ, 34 years in the projects along with her brother and four grandchildren! She claimed to have been harassed in the past by Chicago cops. Maybe some of them may have been insulting her by asking why any intelligent and upward social status individual would choose to live in a housing project for over three decades. I know I wouldn't.

Jackson, along with 20 other ministers handed out turkeys (how symbolic, don't you think...or is that "ironic?"). He also passed out voter registration materials (par for the course), and he brought alon some of his "Operation Rainbow/PUSH (I can hear the late Curtis Mayfield singing "Keep on pushin' " in the background) employees to spread the word about HIV testing (AIDS is an epidemic in the black community, with 50% of all new cases being black according to government statistics).

Jackson claimed that he went to the Ickes Homes because of numerous complaints of police harassment by the residents there. Jackson was quoted as saying that "We intend to break up the Gestapo-like techniques used in this area (hmmm, I wonder if the Reverend Jackson would ever consider asking some of Louis Farrakhan's FRUIT of ISLAM come in an solve the many problems in the Ickes Homes??? We all know that the Black Muslims wouldn't ever stoop to Gestap-like techniques, even though Louis F. sometimes sounds like Hitler in some of his speeches, uh huh, uh huh!).

It turns out that what really got the residents of that housing project riled up was the police use of "contact cards" that were used for compiling information on individuals who were stopped and questioned when the police were checking to see whether or not some of them were either residents or trespassers. It seems that many of the residents objected to the police doing their job. One woman was quoted as saying that "there are a lot of drugs here, but some police harass residents instead of protecting them (???)." Yeah, right! And there was a long line of residents standing outside the apartment that Jackson was going to sleep overnight in. They all voiced similar opinions.

One thing that sort of made me scratch my head while reading the article was a quote in which Jackson said, "If they are skilled enough to work in Iraq and Vietnam, they should be skill enough to have a job back here at home." Did Jackson think that he had wandered into a military veterans home? Are a large percentage of the Ickes residents former militarry personnel? Did Jesse just blurt that one out because it was an easy way to cover the gap between the Vietnam war and the current Middle East "policing" actions?

According to the article, Jackson hit the sack at 11:30 p.m.. It goes without saying that at least some of the many problems at the Harold Ickes Homes could be alleviated or solved if more of the residents would get in bed around the same time.

You can't help people who can't help themselves. You could pour 5 million bucks into the Harold Ickes Homes and the results would be the same as time went on...an ever enlarging sea of human failure and despair that is a subculture of a subculture of a national culture. What do you call it when a con man hands out "turkeys" to the ignorant? I call it bad news.

A short comment on the ridiculous situation that the Ridgeland School District #122 ( five schools in the Oak Lawn community) has found itself in recently. Santa Claus and Halloween  festivities may be given the boot because some Muslim parents are miffed at the fact that Muslim holidays are not given equal representation in the districts scheduled festivities throughout the year. It turns out that the number of Muslim children enrolled in many of those schools has risen to 30% or more, so the Muslim parent are feeling a bit feisty about promoting "their" religion in those schools. It nothing more than "multicultural political correctness" blown up to absurd proportions. Liberal Americans are siding with the Muslim parents and bending over backwards to their demands without stopping to consider exactly whee their decisions might lead. Can you somehow sense that there may someday be situations like one finds in the suburbs of France where an "overabundance" of Muslim youths who refuse assimilation into the French culture has resulted in nightly riots spearheaded by unemployed, disaffected, and often religiously fanatical Muslim teens who believe that fire and brimstone on earth 24/7 is the norm?

Personally I would have listened to the parents complaints, and then told them that I would review their points. Then I would tell them that they are in America...AMERICA! This is not Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, or, god forbid, Palestine. It is AMERICA! If you don't like the way we do things, pack your bags and go someplace else on the planet...anyplace on the planet. Just go away! If you want to instigate rather than assimilate (help me here Reverend Jackson...its time for a rhyme), then get out of the USA.

I am not a fan at all of so called multicultural enthusiasts. I believe that we in this great country are Americans first, and the "hyphen-nates" (african-american, italian-american, polish-american, etc) second. Many years ago Teddy Roosevelt stated that the only thing that could shatter this great country was a rise in "hyphen-nated" groups whose goals were exclusion and seclusion from the American society as a whole. I agree with that belief. There is a basic American culture that binds us all together...although you would not know that if you listen to the leaders (???) of certain ethnic communities who get wide media and press coverage every single day in this country. This is AMERICA, and it is not some rabid dictatorship like those overseen by Mullahs, Ahminijad, Chavez, Kim Jong Il, or other monsters of today.  GOD BLESS AMERICA...the greatest place on this planet for people who cherish freedom and opportunity.

It boggles my mind to whenever I hear local news outlets announce that Jesse "Action" Jackson is actually present here in Chicago and doing his rabble rousing thing for some local individual or social group, so you know that I was astonished the other day when I heard that HE WHO MUST BE LISTENED TO ( The, uh, "Reverand" Jackson was joining in with residents at a southside housing project who claim that they are being harassed by the Chicago Police Department in an effort to ( in the residents opinion, supposedly ) get them move out of the project so that it can be torn down so that "white folks" can grab the land and build condos and businesses after tearing down the housing projects. Here it is 2007 and you still have certain segments of our society that are somehow "proud" of the fact that many of them have gone through a number of familial generations that have gone through the entire "cradle to the grave" cycle several times over and are still esconced in public housing that was origionally created as  "stopgap" for low income residents of Chicago who were trying to work their way up the social ladder slowly but surely. My parents used the Chicago Public Housing system as a "stepping stone" for a three year period in the late fifties while my dad was working numerous jobs while raising the money necessary to put a down payment on a west side three flat in the "K-Town" area. We lived there only as long as was necessary, and left just befor the "projects" began to become the ratholes of crime, drug usage, perversity, and despair that they were to become in the mid-sixties. My parents alwasy told us kids that we were "movin' up and movin' out" asap! And we did. Ah, but many CHA residents never did. They simply dug in deeper with each passing year, and with each passing generation. So much so that even though many of the really bad projects have been torn evacuated and torn down, there are still a few that remain as blights on the local landscape. The people who live in them are "locked in" by their own lack of initiative, education, and willingness to do whatever it takes to "get up off their collective knees." That is not to say that they are bad people, but rather that they are people who have long ago given up and settled for the lowest common denominator in terms of social existance. Many will say that it is the lack of good schools, community programs, more government givaways and whatnot, but the simple truth is that they are a community which has chosen to stay settled in enclaves that are nests of crime, depravity, and hopelessness. They are the antithesis of what Martin Luther King saw for african-Americans when he was marching back in the sixties. Ah, but they have Jesse"Action" Jackson to lead them, and infuse them with the "spirit" of the late Dr. King as he ( Jackson ) thrusts his fist in the air and blathers something about " power to the people," or some other outdated and meaningless "code words" that, if nothing else, will give him an excellent phot op and press space here in Chicago. I believe some folks call it the "same old, same old, doing the same old." And, Jesse leads the "community" in blaming everyting on the cops rather than the gangbangers, the drug dealers, the drug users, the bums, the pimps, the prostitutes, the deviants, the foul-mouthed and perpetually grumpy and scowl faced youth ( and their sdcowl faced parents ). It is all so patently ridiculous. Wake up people! Jesse Jackson has no real interest in either changing you or your community in a really meaningful way...hell, if he did you wouldn't be living in a housing project in the first place. It ain't the city, the mayor, the white people, etc....no it is YOU that is holding YOU back. It really is that simple. 

I have been putting off writing a third blog entry for the past seven days because of all the mindboggling news that has been popping up in the local papers. So much to comment on...so little time in which to do so...but I'll try.

For those of you intrigued by the internecine daily killings that are routinely written up in the Chicago Sun-Times "24/seven" column, and that I mentioned in the previous blog entry, the body count continues to mount daily. On Monday, October 1, 2007, there were the following listings (in brevis):

Sunday / 3:39 A.M. / Auburn Gresham District / Man killed, but gunman, motive a mystery

Sunday / 3:56 A.M. / Washington Park / Man standing in street shot to death

Sunday / 10:06 A.M. / South Side / Man shot, killed in apparent domestic dispute

Sunday / 7:48 P.M. / Little Village / Men (2 brothers, believe it or not) critical after stabbing each other

Oh, yeah, there was mention of a taxi running a stop sign and hitting a motorcyclyist at 1:35 P.M. on the NW Side of town, but the motorcyclist survived with cuts and a broken wrist. I wonder if the cab driver is a U.S. citizen and literate.

I wonder where "Action" Jackson was while that bloodletting was going on. Probably in Jena Louisiana huddling with his advisors and plotting how to wring as much publicity as he can after doing his FREE THE JENA SIX tap dance. And where was Mayor Daley? Somewhere trying to figure out how the public caught on to his condescending "put the children's museum in Grant Park for the children" primo obfuscation line. I suppose he thinks that the citizens of Chicago can't "smell what the Mayor is cookin'!" ( namely a first step towards getting a gambling casino on the lakefront sometime in the future to cement his, uh, legacy??? ). And what about our newest "immigrant to Chicago," the inemmitable "reverand" Al Sharpton. Who knows? Who the hell cares? (he is probably checking in with Tawana Brawley to see if she might want to reveal the name of some Chicago cops who may have "tortured" her "once upon a time"...Sharp Al would go bananas ( no pun intended ) if she would suddenly recall that in a dark room she heard someone call out, "Burge, its your turn."

I recommend that you readers check out page 17A / METRO of the Sunday, September 30, 2007 edition of the Chicago Sun-Times. Read the article titled, "I DIDN'T WANT TO LIVE THERE ANYMORE," which is the story of 27 year-old Carolina Aguilar who (with her three children) moved from the barrio in little Village to a "quiet apartment in Arlington Heights...because I didn't want to live like that anymore ( boyfriend prison-bound, out of wedlock, and losing her nephew and brother to gang violence )." She stated that, "All my life, I was in a loud place with all the people and cars blasting music, and it's so quiet here ( in Arlington Heights ), but we love it." If nothing else, Ms. Aguilar's story refutes the usual lip service you get about how cool it is to live in the hood. If the truth be told, an intelligent person gets out of the hood, the ghetto, the barrio, or urban hell, and never looks back if he or she wants to become all that they can be in this life. Why saddle yourself with the baggage and problems of those who share neither your vision or work ethic? Live amongst likeminded people and you will grow and evolve and prosper. Live with those who scheme and plot and deal dope and adopt thuggery or panhandle on a daily basis, and you will be wearing shackles of your own making. The choice is yours.

New GALLUP POLL results:

31% of white Americans who are satisfied with "the way things are going in the United States at this time."

30% of Hispanic Americans who are satisfied.

11% of African-Americans who are satisfied.

If nothing else, that poll is proof positive that there is nothing, NOTHING, that can satisfy some people in this great land.

Look at it this way, if you could wipe out all racism and bigotry overnight in America, you would still have millions of dissatisfied African-Americans who would then press the government even more for that old "reparations "canard." And, what if the government gave in and rewarded every single African-American in America $5000, forty acres in the Nevada Desert ( former nuclear testing grounds???), and a mule? Well, then the African-Americans would jump back on the affirmative action bandwagon. I could go on, but it is obvious that some people (especially the ones who are dependant upon the government from cradle to grave) will always have grievances that will give them cause to be dissatisfied no matter how good things might really be in this world. I wonder how many Asian Americans are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the USA today? Not many, I would think. I pray for the day when "African-American people wake up and look in the mirror to realize that "we have seen the enemy, and he is us!" Until such a time, weasels like "Action" Jackson will always be around to stoke the fires of dissatisfaction and sow the seeds of impossible to meet demands for as long as the phot op present themselves, and as long as the corporations exist who are more than willing to "pass along" some cash and disposable "empty suit" jobs to get Jackson to quit huffing and puffing and just go away!"

Hey, more Chicago Sun-Times 24seven...this time Wednesday, October 3, 2007:

Monday / 8:05 P.M. / Princeton Park / Man stabbed to death in his apartment.

Tuesday / 12:05 A.M. / Roseland / Man shot, drives to hospital

Tuesday / 11 A.M. / Austin / Man shot on sidewalk

And the beat goes on....

Last week there was a latino teen who was shot by police after he ran from police and then stopped an pointed a "big, chrome, pistol at the police, and refused to drop the gun. He was shot. His parents claimed that he was watching television with his girlfriend and some friends around 1 A.M., and decided to go out and get some orange juice from the corner store. Riiiiiiiiiiggght! Oh, and the police found a nearby dead man who they belive that the "orange juice" kid probably shot befor the cops came upon the scene. No big outcry from the latino community or "Action" Jackson because the kid was probably a gangbanger doing what gangbangers do from time to time. He, shall we say, "paid the price, for not being nice?"

On the national scene I felt proud to be an American when I heard Erik Prince, the head of BLACKWATER USA, fend off the pompous and self-serving battery of indignant questions and mini-"holier than thou" speeches from democratic members of the House Oversight and Government Reform (ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,) Committee. I say Go Blackwater USA, All The Way! The real story is that the US and Iraqi politicos are all circling Blackwater USA like sharks hoping that they can get a cut of what Blackwater USA is getting paid for their ( in my opinion ) stellar and superlative services. For those who wring their hands and moan about the "loss of civilian Iraqi lives," all I can say is go back and find a copy of that video shot several years ago when Iraqi civilians shot, mutilated, and hung from a bridge four BlackWater USA employees who were ambushed in their car in broad daylight. I like to think of the occasional Iraqi civilian wounding or killing as collateral damage that is part and parcel of being in a war zone. Those of you who disagree with me can go over to the middle-east with your flowers, smiles, and words of eternal loving brotherhood between cultures, and see how long you will last when some less enlightened shiites and sunnis decide to remove "the infidel" (you) so that they can go about doing what they have been doing best for the past 1,000 or more years...MAIMING AND KILLING ONE ANOTHER OVER RELIGIOUS DIFFERANCES. Those evolutionary retards need a Blackwater USA to keep them from making Iraq worse than it already is...especially since our US military is essentially emasculated by the politically correct rules of engagement that makes them cops rather than soldiers in a war zone.

Note to George Bush-What you should have done. The hell with Rumsfeld's neauveau blitzkrieg tactics. You should have flattened the entire country with air power, then moved in a huge army to exterminate the remaining "insurgents" before rebuilding the entire country with western style housing projects. Then you could have left the damn place unless, of course, Iran wanted to become the next glass plate in the desert on our USA ALL THE WAY Middle-East Tour ( in memory of the US Marines who were slaughtered in the barracks bombing that Hezbollah pulled off when Reagan was in office...we owe Hezbollah and the Palestinians something with a mushroom cloud exclamation point, but the Israelis will probably beat us to that deal ).

Back on the Chicago scene, Mayor Daley wants to raise property taxes again. The Mayor is "full of it" and he knows it, but with the city council ( a group of overpaid alderman whose incompetancy is only matched by that of Todd Stroger who heads the Cook County Board ) in Daley's back pocket, and Daley seemingly immune to the criminality of seemingly all of those who surround him, he is going to eventually do to our pocketbooks and wallets what he did to Meigs field a while back. Todd "The Village Idiot" Stroger wants to raise the county sales tax (while he continues to hire his relatives and friends to big bucks county jobs). And governor "Blago" is doing his "for the children" health insurance shuck and jive act while also continuing to bring up his "big corporations must pay their fair share" spiel" to all who will listen. None of these men has any shame or respect for the average hard working citizen of this city and county.

If Daley and Stroger get their tax increase wishes, and they probably will, we will be paying 11% sales tax...the highest in the nation. And there is no end in sight to further tax increases. Yeah, and they intend to tax the bottled water another 10% too. Haven't they learned from their cigarette tax fiasco (most people go to another state to buy cigarettes now), and their other taxation boondogles of the recent past?

Hey, the Cubs are in the playoffs. The team is mediocre as a whole. The MIGHT beat the Diamondbacks, but I don't see them getting to the World Series. In another year or two Lou Pinella will really have the team he wants, and they will seriously contend. As for the present...this team is so-so at best. Hey, I'm a Sox fan and a realist!

Before I sign off...I heartily recommend that you visit the following blog written by a Chicago Cop...It is superb!

http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com