A year of firsts...

So some blacks are attempting to move up in the political world.

In addition to Rep. Harold Ford in Tennessee, Lt. Gov. Michael Steele in Maryland, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell in Ohio, and Lynn Swann in Pennsylvania, there are two other individuals seeking a governorship or a US Senate seat. I just found this out in this recent video that I got from Yahoo.

In Massachusettes a black man might be elected governor. His name is Deval Patrick. In Mississippi a black man ir running for the US Senate named Erik Fleming. The video mostly focuses on Mr. Patrick.

Here's what bothers me about this article though, this is only minor but I'll mention it anyway.

Access to an Ivy League education

I just have to ask why this is considered important. Wealth OK, clout OK, or broaden appeal OK. Let's just state that an Ivy League education shouldn't be the one thing that will make you more electable. And that's not to say that I don't like those individuals who go to an Ivy League whether undergrad or for a graduate degree. Indeed more power to them if they can actually get accepted to such an institution.

They even interviewed the first black elected governor, Douglas Wilder of Virginia who is today the Mayor of Richmond. He did say about being the only black governor...

It's a distinction I'd like to lose.

Well I hope he does. I hope in their quests that Patrick, Blackwell, and Swann are sucessful in their bids.

Oh yeah by the way, about the dentist story...

It was on the national news because I like to listen to Larry Elder online from KABC-AM. It was reported by ABC Radio News that Diamond Brownridge has passed away after being in a coma since Saturday following her visit to the dentist. The family is said to be taking the necessary legal steps to be able to determine this case's eligibility for a malpractice lawsuit.

So it's around the country today. Still a very sad story.

Family of Girl in Coma Contemplates Legal Action from Chicagoist
Parents Of Girl In Coma Take First Legal Action from CBS2Chicago
Girl In Coma After Dentist Visit Dies from NBC5.com
5-year-old who went into coma at dentist dies from MSNBC.com

This makes no damned sense...

Remember the story I linked to yesterday. We know about the family's half of the story but what about the dentist. What I read in today's Sun-Times story is a little upsetting to me...

"I don't think I will ever go back to a normal life after an experience like this. The media attention I've been receiving -- the thought about Diamond and her family -- makes it impossible to go back," he said.

Riba has received five threats, including a threat to blow up his Little Village dental office. That office and his Addison home are mobbed by cameras. His wife and three children have moved to a friend's house. His practice is under a cloud.

What's the point of this need to blow up people and/or sending them threats? I don't get it. The man already feels bad enough. I highly doubt that the family really wants this to happen to this dentist.

PEOPLE NEED TO STOP!!!

Comatose Girl To Come Off Life Support

Read this story and watch the video on CBS2Chicago. And then remind yourselves of the risks involved in having your children sedated for medical treatment. All I will say is to be sure you children are being cared for properly in situations like this. A very sad story.

All this girl needed was to fill some cavities and some caps.

Different health care approaches

From a link on the Capitol Fax Blog I saw this Daily Herald article talking about the gubernatorial election. This piece was mostly about proposals for health care. Then I saw this about a plan in Massachusetts. I kind of question if this is the fair thing to do...

Earlier this year, Massachusetts became the first state to require all residents to buy health insurance. Starting next year, people who can afford health coverage but don’t buy it will be penalized on their state income tax. That state’s government will pick up the cost for working class families, and businesses that don’t provide coverage will pay a fee.

I don't think the state has a right to tell you that you must have health insurance. I know that this is an important issue these days but why should a state force you to get health insurance or otherwise face a penalty on their state income tax.

Thankfully though...

Neither Blagojevich nor Topinka favor the Massachusetts model for Illinois.

Whitney, the Green Party candidate, doesn’t like the Massachusetts plan either. He wants to switch to a state-run “single payer” system. He cited a Vermont study that showed a 5.8 percent payroll tax and 2.9 percent income tax in that state could replace insurance premiums and deductibles and provide health care to all residents. No such figures are available for Illinois, a state with 20 times as many people as Vermont.

Bill Clinton on FOX News Sunday...

I rarely even touch national events. I rarely even touch the Clinton Administration. But what I heard while listening to the Bears on WBBM and then looking at a transcript of his appearance on FNS as well as some video, got me to thinking.

What will the Clinton administration go down for? Bush's administration is very likely to go down thanks to Iraq. It will be a serious blemish upon President Bush. Whether we knew it or not back in January of 2001 Clinton was going down on terrorism as his blemish.

He can herald his achievements like for instance reducing the deficit, a balanced budget, a good economy, etc. Still despite all this there are historians and others who will still say that Clinton's accomplishments are relatively small and insignificant. I honestly don't know what determines that but one big issue that cropped up a lot during his administration, terrorism, seems to be the big blemish.

Because almost 9 months after he left office we had the terrorist attacks of 9/11. I won't try to blame him for that directly, but let's just say there were moments where some moments where some strong leadership and resolve could have helped to dampen the situation.

Still I think terrorism will be his policy failure. Iraq may prove to be Bush's. Indeed it might be more about why we went to Iraq that will prove to be a failure more than the results.

In any case Clinton's response to this question of what he could have done on the issue of terror proved itself to be a sore question for him. Unfortunately hindsight is only 20/20.

Boy, 2, dies in shooting at home

I'm not totally for gun control, but looking at the facts of this case I really would just as soon clamp down on irresponsible owners of firearms in addition to going after criminals with guns. This is really sad and no one had to shoot this kid. All this kid has to do is find the gun treat it like a toy and then the unthinkable happens. If what this article says is true, this individual is a coward if he ran away from the scene of the crime...

DaMarion Davis was a daddy's boy, a 2-year-old who cried when his dad would leave for the day, family members said.

"He cried to go to the store with him, cried to get in the car with him," his great-aunt Edna Anderson said.

Otherwise, the child they called "Baby" because he was the youngest of four boys was all smiles.

On Friday, "Baby" died from a gunshot wound in the middle of his forehead, a tragedy family and friends said accidentally happened when the boy found a gun in his West Pullman home.
...
Detectives, however, were still investigating the case and questioning a family friend who police say fled the home after the 10 a.m. shooting. Davis' relatives said the gun belonged to that man. Neighbor Dorothy Williams said the man had fallen asleep and the boy found his gun.

Police said they found one 9mm shell casing in the home. Authorities were still searching for the gun late Friday. They poked through bushes and brush and looked on rooftops between the Davis' home in the 11800 block of South Morgan and the auto repair garage where the family friend was arrested 15 minutes after the shooting.

An employee at the garage said the man, carrying a bag of fast food, apparently from the neighboring Wendy's, came in to the shop and asked about getting a transmission fixed. "He was inquiring about a car he didn't have," said the worker, who refused to give his name.
...
Not long afterward, an officer with his gun drawn came in, ordered the man out and arrested him, the worker said.

"At this point, it's unclear if it was accidental," police spokeswoman Monique Bond said of the shooting.
...
"She said the baby shot himself in the head," Williams said. "The guy whose gun it was had the baby in his arms, and he was bleeding. ... He said, 'Oh, my God, Baby, how could you do this?' Then he was saying, 'I'm going to kill myself. I'm going to kill myself.' "

This is always sad when a child is killed and in such a violent fashion whether someone was doing the shooting or it was an accident.

Have you burned a feed yet???

If you haven't subscribed yet I have a new reason to do so. I have a Digg account and I link to various stories of interest. Well hopefully they will be of interest to you too. In any event a new added feature to this blog's feed. I hope you enjoy.

Since this blog has under gone some facelifts all you have to do is click on this link Subscribe to It's My Mind, it's also in the sidebar under the Roll Call which has my blog & vlogroll. If you haven't please do so, today.

Thanks. :)

Vacant seat on Cook County board turns into controversy

When John Stroger retired from the county I decided to check up on the Cook County website to see what's up. At that time I saw Bobbie Steele's mug being that she's currently the county board president, but no one held Stroger's old 4th district commissioner's seat. And then I find this story from ABC7, I'm surprised it took this long.

BTW, there is Ald. Bill Beavers who is running for this seat but still Ald. Stroger's opponent has something to say about the fact that no one is in the seat right now...

Republican Tony Peraica says if his democratic opponent -- Todd Stroger -- really wants to learn about county government and give the South Side residents of his father's former county board district a voice in county affairs, then Todd should take over his dad's old district for the next few weeks -- instead of allowing the seat to remain vacant until December when Alderman Bill Beavers is expected to become the district's new commissioner.

"Todd Stroger has chosen to ignore the residents of the fourth district and has chosen not to educate himself about the county operation," said Peraica.

Now some one in the community disagrees especially Todd Stroger...

Stroger says he can't take over the county board district now because he is still an alderman. But he claims the employees of the district office are taking care of business so no one is losing out on services. One local community leader agrees.

"I feel like in his absence we haven't missed out on anything. I think that they have been on top of everything since he's been gone," said Michelle McCrimmon, Pill Hill Community Organization.

"People in the office have been there for a while. They know how to treat the residents, what the constituents need, and how to act on their desires," said Todd Stroger, (D) Nominee for Cook County President.

You know I hear little things about how Ald. Stroger isn't well liked in the surround community. That's not to say that the people who've worked for John Stroger all these years wouldn't know what to do. Do this necessarily reflect on Ald. Stroger? Hmmm.

Now check out what is said about him as far as knowing anything about Cook County...

"I do have knowledge of the county, and I will be working with presidents on the budget issues. She has told me she will help me," said Todd Stroger.

" Last night on a WLS radio program, Todd Stroger says he hasn't had the chance to look at the county budget. Last week, he couldn't name the county inspector general spite the fact he was calling for a new one," said Peraica.

I still don't know. I really don't think Ald. Stroger should have even tried this, but he's there and it seems to me that people will vote for him because of him name and his party. This is one tough election to even consider. Peraica is an unknown to plenty of people too and he's Republican.

What's Your Political Persuasion?

I don't consider myself a libertarian, but I like to think of myself as fairly conservative but really on some economic issues. I like to see what kind of replies I can from this. Let's be nice here people, ideology is not that serious.

You Are a "Don't Tread On Me" Libertarian

You distrust the government, are fiercely independent, and don't belong in either party. Religion and politics should never mix, in your opinion... and you feel opressed by both. You don't want the government to cramp your self made style. Or anyone else's for that matter. You're proud to say that you're pro-choice on absolutely everything!

What's Your Political Persuasion?

WVON's 1690 voice clearer, stronger

I didn't blog about this article when I first saw this in the news but I didn't know how to write it up. Now I do.

Remember my story about House of Kicks and how the company that was Soft Sheen once was headquartered there. Today it is a shell of it's former self until, I find out that not only is WVON is getting a stronger signal, but new headquarters away from their current Kedzie Avenue address.

That place was starting to have overgrown weeds and now it looks like someone will utilize the building imagine this a radio station in the heart of the black community. Of course guess how WVON got their stronger signal, an agreement with a radio giant, Clear Channel. And this opens WVON's General Manager Melanie Spann up to charges of selling out.

In any case I urge you to read this article and then you decide. BTW, I was never a listener but if I listen I hope for a good reason to continue listening.

It's never dull behind the scenes in Cook County politics

Here's an interesting story about Alderman Todd Stroger, the Democratic nominee for Cook County Board President and a Mary Mitchell's Crybaby award winner. He's getting some help from an unlikely source according to Carol Marin. He's gaining a worker from Cook County Board Member and reformer Mike Quigley...

If you had peeked into Quigley's office Tuesday over at the County Building, or looked on the floor of Tuesday's County Board meeting, you might have noticed that someone who is always there was missing. That someone is Quigley's longtime chief of staff, Jennifer Koehler.

Koehler, 36, has been given a two-month leave of absence from her $78,000 job with Quigley to become the deputy campaign manager for Stroger.

With Quigley's blessing? "Yes," said Koehler by phone from her new office at the Stroger for President headquarters at 35th and King Drive.

Would this be the same Mike Quigley who, beginning with his election in 1998, was the loneliest commissioner on the whole board? The guy crying for reform from a back bench? The lone vote for the longest time on cutting the bloated budget and confronting the endless corruption?

Yes indeed. It's the same Mike Quigley who took one for the team, squashing his own ambitions to run for County Board president this year so that fellow Commissioner Forrest Claypool could go head to head with incumbent President John Stroger. We all know the sorry storyline from there, don't we?

Ald. Stroger is now trying to be a forward looking progressive. In other words he's trying to change his image from that of being a machine annointed candidate that just so happen to be anointed under unusual circumstances. Check this out...

Quigley is traveling quite a different road. By lending Stroger his chief of staff, Quigley says he is taking the candidate at his word that "he is going to move the county in a different direction." Rather than just endorse Stroger, which Quigley readily admits would look "ridiculous," he has instead sent him "the best and brightest" of his staff, "one of the chief architects" of Quigley's reform agenda. Stroger, he says, has already adopted their proposal to install a new inspector general at the county, one with more independence and power.

Koehler, an attorney and a longtime activist for the National Organization for Women, argues that the social issues, including full access to abortion and family planning at county hospitals as well as a widening of gay and lesbian rights, are the kinds of things that separate Stroger's "progressive" agenda from the more conservative Peraica.

"Todd," said Koehler Tuesday, "is committed that things are fair for working minorities, for gays and lesbians and for women."
...
But for the moment, forgive me, I'm still struggling with the transformation of Todd Stroger from rubber stamp-political-progeny to forward-thinking-progressive. This might be a better "Extreme Makeover" show than any I've seen on TV.

I must admit though that I like the way Stroger's opponent Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica sees the state of Cook County...

Peraica, who has promised to enforce "the law of the land," including Roe vs. Wade, is personally opposed to abortion and did not vote for a domestic partnership registry. But he argues these are not major crises looming before the county, that corruption and taxes are the crucial issues of the day.

We'll have to see but this will prove to be an interesting election.

IL auditor finds Blagojevich drug program broke law

During the start of Blagojevich's term (this was back in 2003), there was a big press conference that interrupted regular programming on CLTV and maybe a few other local stations. During that period of time there was a debate raging regarding perscription drugs. Blagojevich who may have been grandstandin, was at least trying to address the issue of the cost of precription drugs.

That year having been listening to Rush Limbaugh the issue that came up the most was this legislation (a prescription drug entitlement) being pushed through Congress. It upset Limbaugh and other conservative because it wasn't being pushed by Democrats, but by Republicans. Especially President Bush who is said to be the biggest spendor in the US government since fellow Texan Lyndon Johnson was in the White House.

Then I find this in Crain's Chicago Business today about the Governor's drug program...

An Illinois program to import prescription drugs from Canada not only broke federal law but also failed to help many senior citizens, the state auditor reported Tuesday.

Auditor General William Holland reviewed the program and found that fewer than 5,000 people obtained medicine through the program in its first 19 months. That's about 65 people per week.

Holland also found incomplete state inspections of the foreign pharmacies filling the prescriptions and lax monitoring to ensure the medicine comes only from approved pharmacies.
...
Holland found that the state has devoted at least $488,000 worth of state employees' time to promoting the program. Some of them were paid with federal funds even though the program violates federal law.

State personnel also have accumulated over $111,000 in travel expenses related to the program — much of it not approved in advance — and $220,000 in legal fees.

Blagojevich disagrees though and he promises that the state of Illinois will not be bullied by the FDA...

"Broadening the scope of I-SaveRx will help the taxpayers save money by reducing the state's prescription drug costs. It will also help employees save money ..." he said in a letter to the federal Food and Drug Administration.

Blagojevich launched the program in October 2004 as a way for Illinois senior citizens to avoid the high prices for American medicine. Four other states ended up joining the program, although federal law bars the importation of foreign drugs.

So let's get into state politics here. As I've seem to have rarely done until just now. I don't like either of the candidates for governor. I really like the governor less than Topinka. So the question will have to be, could this hurt the governor.

Rude people getting you down? You're not alone

You know sometimes it's hard not to be rude today. Though it would be nice if someone appreciated some of the little things someone else did for them on this day. Even if it really wasn't very significant. What's touched upon in this article from the Sun-Times was people and their cell phones. I linked to another article about cell phones earlier this month. But this is what this article said...

"While there have always been rude people, I really believe that you began to see the decline of manners with the advent of the cell phone," says Leah Ingram, an etiquette consultant and author of The Everything Etiquette Book: A Modern Day Guide to Good Manners.

"Because people think that they can have phone conversations wherever and whenever they please, they assume that all other behavior that used to be private is fine in public, too," she says.

So not only is the problem getting worse -- it's getting louder.

I don't like it when people put some of their business out there on the phone on the train or anywhere for that matter. Some people need to keep that mess behind closed doors. Whatever is going on is not all that serious.

Oh man here is a good one, I really like this one...

"My personal peeve is folks who leave their shopping carts smack in the middle of parking spaces at Kramer's, our major in-town grocery," says Patti Davis of Hinsdale. "Though by no means a scientific survey, without fail the worst offenders are the people with the big Escalades, the prime BMWs, and the sleek Jags who dress to impress in Chanel or St. John to pick up their daily bread," she says.

I suppose having a few extra dollars to play around with doesn't exactly buy you class or good manners. Perhaps the people with the luxury cars and the designer clother really do think they're better than everybody. Well who knows what the reason for this is.

Now this I have ran into a few times sometime I can be guilty but sometimes even if you're able to do the right thing in this situation people can be straight nasty. Almost as if you did this on purpose and it was against them personally...

Eileen Oharisi of Chicago hates excuses. "I think it's rude how people misuse the words 'Excuse me,' " she says. "If you are standing in the way, I can say 'Excuse me' so to call your attention to the fact that I need to get by. If I step on your toes hard or use my bag to bump the back of your head on a train or bus, the words are 'I'm sorry,' not 'Excuse me.' I think people use the phrase to get out of being respectful or polite."

Here are some whys and what can be done about it...

"People are having fewer face-to-face conversations, so they are simply not as practiced in the techniques of civility," says Margaret Shepherd, author of The Art of Civilized Conversation.

"A culture of mass entertainment offers [children] talk shows and verbal slugfests as debased examples of conversation," she says. "Whole movie scenes are made up of action and repeated profanity instead of dialogue. ... Online chat is bereft of the voice tone, body language, touch, smell and facial expression of live conversation."
...
"As religious membership has dropped... the ability of religion to influence character has diminished," she says.

Parents aren't equipped to raise upstanding citizens, Alexander says. "We have little or no systematic parenting training in the country to teach basic skills, let alone teach parents how to build character in their children. As the divorce rates and single parenthood rates have gone up, children often don't learn character qualities from observing their parents interact. Parents are stressed and stretched thin trying to keep up with life in general."

Some kids just don't know any better, she says. "If you look at the messages in magazines, TV and movies that the children receive about behavior, is it any wonder that they are struggling?"
...
"You can always 'have it your way' at Burger King, but it doesn't work like that in daily life," say Amanda Cook and Bill Cessato. They were so appalled by the behavior they were witnessing that they started a "How Not to Be Dreadful" blog in July (www.notdreadful.com). "When people get all wrapped up in their own drama, they forget they are living in a community. Then the rudeness begins: storming around the grocery store, cutting in lines, honking incessantly in traffic, expecting others to clean up your mess and barking orders at bartenders and clerks while on the cell phone," they say in a joint e-mail.

To close this is something you can do about this problem. How do we stop this culture of rudeness...

Perhaps the answer is to look within. Yep, we're talking about you -- you may be part of the problem. Unsure (or in denial)? Check out www.emilypost.com, for starters, for all sorts of etiquette tips, like the list of top five mistakes men make: "Leaving the toilet seat up" isn't No. 1 -- but it should be.

If you're one of these people that are guilty of this you really need to make a change in your lives. Then be good role models for those kids who can use it. Our kids need to know better more than ever.

How about some pictures???

Maybe I'll post a few more later. These pictures was taken on the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. A small group of students honored the victims of 9/11 some made a statement regarding their reaction to that day and even their feelings today. It was a very emotional event at least for some of those involved.

This took place on the steps of King Internation Chapel on the campus of Morehouse College. I had to make sure I got a shot of Martin Luther King Jr.'s statue. If you see an object pointing and it looks like a statue that's it.


These last two pictures are of two young men who actually spoke.

The first picture the young man you see that appears to be pacing was talking about his family's reaction to the terrorist attacks. He said that his parents worked there, but they were still at home in bed when it went down. He was at school at that moment when the attacks unfolded.

He says that he can describe and recall the layout of the building because his parents took him to work with him. Particularly when he gets suspended from school in his younger day. So he had more concrete memories of the place than I suppose I would have.
Now this young man actually lost his father in the attack. Talked about how blessed he was to be going to Morehouse College to continue his education. So unlike probably most of us in the crowd he was very much directly affected by the terrorism of that day.
I may post a few more though they may not be much different than these, but at least you guys will have some idea of how 9/11 was honored on the campus of Morehouse College. 

Another big box point...

I've been very interested in this ordinance because I believed it would impact the job market. If forcing a company of a certain size to pay a certain amount of dollars causes said company to stay away from a town or to actually move away from said town that would be bad, right? Either was I was interested in how the black alderman would handle this. Besides some of them represent some very impoverished wards.

I found a post at Eric Zorn's blog about this and a commenter offer his two cents. I post everything in its entirety...

What was truly interesting yesterday was watching and listening to some of the Black Alderman who claimed to be the most impacted, of all, by the Ordinance. Keep in mind that the Black Alderman run there Wards as if they are feudal lords. He's a quick break down:

Coleman (16) has a much bigger box of problems on her desk in an election season. She is probably the most vulnerable of all of the Black Alderman (well Troutman (20) is probably the most vulnerable). As such, the good Reverend needs the Mayor now more than ever before. Defy the King when your subjects are potentially in a revolt? Think not. She would have been a fool not to "flip." She says that Wal-Mart has plans to come to her Ward. Understandable, but (1) when are they coming to Englewood; and (2) have they made a commitment in WRITING or is it just ... talk. I think the latter is true. She as to fear Daley more than the Unions.

Brookins (21) is no dummy. The most theatric of all (he's a lawyer). He was the champion from the beginning and was targeted by the lady Alderman in opposition (mainly Lyle (6)). He simply picked the right side ... early.

Lyle (6) is the real flipper. There is one Target on the South Side of Chicago. Guess where it is ... you guessed it ... the 6th Ward. If she feels so strongly about the issue, then why doesn't she start cleaning up her own backyard before she starts snooping around in others who simply want a chance. She has to be banking on the Unions to help her out. She is destined for a run-off (as usual) and will need the Unions big time.

Hairston (5) made clear that the jobs are needed in the Black community ... period. But, at the same, Wal-mart is not welcome in the 5th Ward.

Preckwinkle (4) did what she does best ... curry up to the White northside liberals (U of C is in her ward so she knows the drill) ... then "flip" back and say that she is concerned that the Black Alderman are at each others throats. Hogwash. She does not need the King ... she has her own King to answer to ... The U of C! Plus, she's in with the Unions. She's a lock.

Troutman (20) was the funniest of them all. She knows she is on her way out! She claims to have held "community meetings" etc. on the issue. Friends in 20, however, say that she is never in her office (just call for yourself and check), and have never heard of any community meetings on Big Box. She ranted and raved in Chambers yesterday welcoming all challengers saying she is "ready for them." They had better watch out becuase she probably does not have something waiting for them. Expect a gang war to break out in 20 during the election. Expect Troutman to use her gang connects to shut (or shoot) down any opposition. The Mayor can help also. But, if Leon Finney is not in support of her then neither will be the Mayor. Expect bloodshed.

Tillman (3) owns all of the land in her ward anyway. Why wouldn't she want a Big Box.

Austin (34) & Beale (9)need jobs ... period.

This person said a mouthfull to say the least.

A very good blog post about the big box ordinance...

From a blog called Global Cop. He lives in the 49th ward just like two Chicago blogs that are on my blogroll Broken Heart and Morose Hellhole. In any event this is something of a conservative blog that I've followed for a while now and it's great to see what he says about Ald. Joe Moore, the big box ordinace sponsor, it's not very flattering...

Moore's response to his bills defeat was to state that he will introduce a new bill, perhaps as soon as next Wednesday's Council meeting (20SEP06) that will expand his "living wage" to retailers with only 1000 employees. When asked by a reporter if the one thousand employee threshold covered only those employees within the city's borders, or would impact businesses who may only have a dozen employees in Chicago but 988 across the globe. The look on his face indicated to me that he hadn't thought much about that. Erring on the side of not offending SEIU, he went with the latter.

I called his office last night and left a message asking if this would cover employees at City Collegs of Chicago(CCC), a tax-payer funded institution that has many employees making less than Moore's "living wage."

Ald. Moore phone returned my call at 7:45 this morning and explained that his intention was that it only cover retail stores. With my face still buried in my pillow I thanked him for his prompt reply and muttered something like, "Ok, but don't forget those people too." He said he'd consider the idea; I said I'd keep an eye on the news for developments.

Mayor didn't play race card in Council's big-box dispute

This editorial was in the Chicago Sun-Times. My thoughts on the big-box ordinance veto are at Illinoise. Read that for a brief reference, but long story short Daley made come comments about his veto and why and it was taken as using the race card.

Well the next mayoral election is coming up and I at least know that Daley has two known challengers Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. Now I should have mentioned Rep. Jackson's rather socialist tendencies on this blog before as he was a supporter of this ordinance, but it is in full view here in this discussion over the big box ordinance. This Sun-Times editorial touches upon this.

Here in this editorial we see a discussion of the history of organized labor and their relationship with blacks...

Ever since 1925 -- when A. Philip Randolph had to wage a 12-year fight to have the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and Maids recognized as the bargaining unit for employees of the Pullman Company -- blacks have had a tenuous relationship with organized labor. It wasn't until 1935 that the union received a charter from the American Federation of Labor, making it the first labor organization led by African Americans to be granted that status.

Since then, the relationship between labor and blacks has been strained. African Americans in the city, for example, have long complained about being locked out of apprenticeship opportunities, a situation that continues to deprive them of high-paying jobs today.

Tensions also existed between blacks and the unions representing the city's fire and police departments to the degree that black employees felt compelled to form their own unions -- even though these unofficial groups have no bargaining status.

Given this sad history, it's little wonder that the battle over the big-box ordinance -- which gambled with the economic development in neighborhoods so blighted some are referred to as "food deserts" -- was seen as a matter of race.

More telling was a union move that went beyond threats when organized labor recently trained more than 250 aldermanic hopefuls -- seemingly to make good on its vow to target aldermen who opposed the ordinance, many of them black.

Did Daley play the race card?

We don't think so. The mayor played with the cards that were in the deck.

I could say that I was a supporter of Jesse Jackson Jr. for mayor. As much as I want to see the dawn of a new day in Chicago (that is without a political machine and without one man having a solid grip on a deliberative body), Daley I think took the right stand on this issue.

High definition Star Trek on Chicago TV...

Back in about 1993 when I first started watching Star Trek I was originally hooked on The Next Generation and I figured there had to have been a first generation. Well on WPWR channel 50 I found the first generation. At some point the original series aired on Saturday afternoons but eventually it settled in after a rerun of a first run Next Generation episode at 11:30PM.

Well after being seen only on the Sci-Fi channel since the late 1990s, Star Trek is coming back to local TV. This time on ME-TV which airs on channel 23 WWME-TV. ME-TV is already home to such shows as Perry Mason, Hawaii Five-0, Starsky & Hutch, Batman, The A-Team, The Wild-Wild West, The Blacksheep Squadron, and Mission:Impossible to name a few. Here's a little something from the Sun-Times article...

September 8 marked the 40th anniversary of the original "Star Trek" series (you know, the real "Star Trek").

This weekend, WWME -Channel 23 (check your cable/satellite provider for their listings), will begin airing digitally remastered and enhanced episodes of the classic series starting at 6 p.m. Saturday. It will be the first time in 16 years that the series has aired on broadcast television.
...
"Star Trek" will air on Saturday nights at 6 .pm. and on Sunday nights at 11 p.m. on ME-TV.

Oh yeah I forgot to mention that this is the digitally remastered version that you might have been hearing about if you've been following the Star Trek scene. Especially if you're looking at the Star Trek website. This is just in time for the 40 anniversary.

This article also contains a brief interview with Mr. Spock, Leonard Nimoy...

Q. Did you ever imagine the series would still be popular 40 years after its premiere?

A. Not at all. It doesn't seem like 40 years because some of the memories of that time are so brilliantly fresh and clear in my mind. It's amazing because people think it was on for years and years and we were only on for three seasons.

Q. What did you think of the "Star Trek" feature films?

A. All through the '70s there was talk from the studio about putting the series back on the air. And then "Star Wars" opened in theaters. I just knew I'd be getting a call from Paramount Studios very soon. [Laughing] And I did. George Lucas was a genius. He put science fiction on the map in a form that was pure mass entertainment. It made it possible for us ["Star Trek"] to come back in a new form.

Too bad I won't be able to enjoy this with you guys in Chicago, but I hope you guys have fun. Perhaps you should share this with those you love. :)

I just want to point this out...

The ideological nature of the Rush Limbaugh program is suspect but I like to point out some things he has said. Consider it food for the thought. Indeed that is only the point.

I've mentioned elections around the country that may see a black go at the head of a ticket particularly statewide. This was the case in the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Maryland. In Ohio and Pennsylvania blacks were seeking their party's nomination (Republican in these cases) for governor. In Tennessee and Maryland blacks were seeking their party's nomination for the US Senate (In Tenneessee the man in question is the Democratic nominee for US Senate, Harold Ford. However in Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele-Republican and former US Congressman Kweisi Mfume-Democrat was seeking their party's nomination). This leads me to the point of writing this post.

Well I haven't been following these elections very well. As I've state Rep. Ford has won his party's nomination, but in Maryland fellow Democrat Kweisi Mfume has lost his race for the Democratic nomination for Senate. And Rush Limbaugh said this about that...

RUSH: From Maryland: (story) "Representative Ben Cardin, veteran congressman who voted against the war in Iraq, won the Democrat nomination to replace retiring Democrat Paul Sarbanes. Cardin had edged out his closest competitor, the former NAACP head Kweisi Mfume and 16 other candidates. He will face Republican lieutenant governor Michael Steele. The race between Cardin, who is white, and Mfume, was amicable, neither man criticizing the other, and both voicing support for troop withdrawals from Iraq and universal health insurance. Democrats interviewed on Tuesday said they chose Cardin over Mfume because of Cardin's vote against the war in Iraq. Sarbanes also voted against the war. Mfume wasn't in Congress at the time."

You know what the untold story here is, is that the Democrats have once again said (raspberry) to a black. Mfume ran the NAALCP! Mfume was in Congress once as a Democrat, Kweisi Mfume, and wanted to be in the Senate -- and the Democrats are saying, "We've gotta stand up for more minorities in public institutions. There's discrimination out there, and there's radical racism on the part of the Republicans."

Here was a chance for the very liberal state of Maryland, as liberal as they are in Massachusetts, to show how they are not racists and how they are into diversity and rewarding people who have been discriminated against their whole lives, like Kweisi Mfume, a chance to vault to the top. Instead, Maryland liberals, as usual, chose the white guy.

I suppose what Rush is saying here is that the Democratic party isn't living up to what is supposedly their best ideas. They are the inclusive party the party of equality and yet they chose the white guy over a just as qualified black man. Well I may not exactly look at it that way but perhaps these are questions worth asking not just about Republicans but Democrats as well.

But these are historic elections we are talking about. Perhaps we will see two black get elected to the US Senate and/or for the first time since about 1990 a black (or in this case two blacks) might be elected governor of a US state.

Will history be made, we'll just have to see.

Did you guys miss me???

Well, I don't know if yo do or not, but I do know that I haven't been here too much since Monday. I seem to be taking a break away from here as often as every couple of days or so.

Either way I have been out there in the bloggosphere. At least among my Blogger network of blogs as well as the larger community known as Illinoize. Either way check out some of my handiwork.

BTW, I've been doing some work at my Blogger Beta blog It's My Mind in Beta. It seems more current than this blog.

Also check out these two fairly recent posts that I authored over at Illinoize.

The bix box veto and the aftermath also posted at It's My Mind in Beta
The conviction of George Ryan...

Five years after September 11, 2001...

Yeah so I already gave my account of that day last year on this very day so I will link to that and offer other links to things that commemorate that day. Also there will be a vigil on campus today so hopefully I might go and take a few pictures. I always dread this day because of the depressing nature, but we must not forget what happened and why.

takebackthememorial.org
Live stream of the original 9/11 coverage on FOXNews
From Brain-Terminal.com
Crystal Morning
9/11: Hell On Earth

Perhaps I'll come up with more but for right now this'll do.

Another facelift...

I've decided to give this blog another new look. I don't want this to become a frequent occurance unfortunately I tend to see something wrong and want to change it immediately. Hopefully this works a lot better than the other template.

This also means I have upgrade this template to what I had already on the blog before I changed the template again. I'll see what I can use on here again and what I can't. Perhaps the clock and weather can make their grand return.

This template is Beckett thanks to Blogger-Templates.

Pol's pal a 'very giving person'

Found this article on The Capitol Fax Blog. Alderman Shirley Coleman's dealings with a real estate consultant. An interesting article. They even bought a Christmas tree for her ward but the man who procured the tree didn't pay for it. Check this out...

Gonzalez had worked for Williams before, and he quickly found a 29-foot tree in Wisconsin and set it up at a prominent location in Coleman's ward.

The alderman was well aware of the tree because she helped arrange for electricity for its lights and told Gonzalez to take it down after the holidays, Gonzalez said.

But Williams never paid him for the tree, Gonzalez alleged. Williams had said she expected to pay him out of a $250,000 payment she was getting from a real estate deal, which she didn't detail, Gonzalez said.

Buying the tree and paying the labor to deliver it to Chicago, put it up and decorate it cost Gonzalez about $5,000, and he planned to charge roughly double for it, he said. He has tried to get Williams to pay him, with no luck, he said.

"It was a beautiful tree," Gonzalez said.

This consultant, Tracy Williams, has helped donate a piano to the alderman's church and even allegedly paid an interior decorator to work in Coleman's home. Unfortunately there is another problem...

Last year, Coleman vouched for Williams in a real estate deal involving a group of California investors buying 100 vacant city lots to build homes on in Coleman's 16th Ward. Now, the group has no lots, despite allegedly sending more than $500,000 to Williams' company, Flawless Financial. The group, Blythe Holdings Inc., plans to file a lawsuit soon, its attorney, Craig Tobin, said Monday.

Coleman wrote to the president of Blythe Holdings, Stephanie Hill, that Coleman's friend Williams was "an excellent consultant." The praise came in a letter last November on City Council stationery.

Williams faces a number of lawsuits in Cook County regarding her work in real estate. In one lawsuit, Park Federal Savings Bank has accused Williams and several others of engaging in $2.4 million in mortgage fraud on two apartment buildings.

Well Coleman wasn't to be reached for comment for this story and neither was Williams. Back in July though Coleman was said to be shocked about the allegations against Williams. She has said that at that time there was no financial relationship between them.

However Williams has donated money to the Alderman's church and, the ward and the Alderman herself. This is according to interviews with people who have firsthand knowledge of these dealings.

I've decided to take advantage of Blogger in Beta...

I've started another version of this blog over there. Consider it this blog on steroids. It has labels (you might have this feature on Wordpress, Moveable Type, or Type Pad). That what I'd like to use there. Hopefully the time will come when I can convert this blog to the new Blogger but I have to lay in wait.

Well check out It's My Mind in Beta and give me your thoughts.