Chicago the city that works for some better than others....

This country was founded on a simple but ingenious plan. Minimal taxation provided for the needs of government, national defense and our basic infrastructure. Along the way, 12 years of free education was provided to every man, woman and child.

Our government was never intended to be a medical, charity or welfare provider. There was a “temporary” income tax to fund World War I that never went away. Politicians and their bureaucrats simply used American’s hard earned money like a narcotic and their habit would only increase in its thrust and hunger.

America became a welfare state not only taking care of Americans but every trespasser that could violate our borders. Our income tax system for collecting money also became a welfare system with every bogus kind of tax credits for those who were under or unemployed. A Social Security system was created for the retirement of the elderly. Instead it became a welfare program for narcotic addicts, drunks and malingerers.

Guess what folks? The bill is due and they have squeezed the very life blood out of Americans and they still want more!

The Liberal Governors are now demanding a $ trillion-dollar bailout behind all the failed banks, investment houses, auto makers and a never ending list of groups with their hands out.

As California hands out IOUs instead of tax refuund checks I’m wondering if I can use those IOUs as a form of payment for all the other taxes I’m required to pay? Can I use those IOUs for my mortgage lender, grocery store or dentist? I did not think so. Government simply refuses to downsize no matter what.

We used to have part-time legislators at the state and federal level but now they are all full time money wasters. I don’t have a clue what’s coming aside from a much weaker America and the welfare state will collapse. That makes it clear, that skyrocketing crime rates along with major disturbances are on the way.

Our founding fathers had it right the first time and if we are going to survive as a country we must return to our American roots. I don’t think we will do that so I can’t help but believe the American experiment is over. Say goodbye to freedom, prosperity and safety.

Chicago ..... Murder Capital

2008-12-21T13:11:00.000-08:00

Chicago police boss' 1st year saw major rise in violent crime

But Jody Weis says city's 2008 murder total will be among the lowest in decades

By Angela Rozas |Tribune reporter

December 21, 2008

Brought to Chicago from the FBI to improve the image of a scandal-plagued Chicago Police Department, Jody Weis instead saw his first year as superintendent dominated by a substantial rise in violent crime.

Since being hired in February, Weis spent much of the year fighting to improve officer morale, battling with aldermen who disapproved of his rapid overhaul of the department's command staff, and trying to develop new strategies—or revive old ones—to fight rising crime.

When arrest numbers went down, Weis ordered officers to be more aggressive. He created a Mobile Strike Force to fight gangs, promising tight oversight of the unit since a corruption scandal had shut down the similar Special Operations Section before his arrival. He also recently promoted a former commander of SOS to be head of patrol.

Still, the city is approaching 500 homicides for the year, a number the city has not reached since 2003.

In an interview, Weis acknowledged being disappointed in this year's rise in violence, admitted he made mistakes, but said he has never taken his eye off crime.

"We're certainly not pleased . . . and we're going to do whatever we can to bring those numbers down," Weis said.

Chicago is on track to end the year with a 16 to 17 percent increase in homicides and an overall increase in violent crime of about 3 percent. It's also in a tight race with New York City for the most homicides in the country. By Dec. 14, New York had 492 homicides, the same as Chicago's tally on Friday.

Still, Weis said Chicago's murder total for 2008 will be among the lowest in decades—the fifth lowest since 1965. He called the number 500 an "arbitrary bar" to which the department did not hold itself accountable.

"We didn't fit it as a goal when we ended this year," Weis said. "The goal is zero homicides."

Weis points to the usual suspects in rising crime: gangs, guns and drugs. Deputy Supt. Steve Peterson, the head of investigative services, said the dismantling of larger gangs may have contributed to more violence.

"Perhaps some of the violence has spiked because we've been successful at bringing down some of the leadership of the gangs, and now we've created infighting," he said.

In response, Weis has reorganized the gang units. Previously focused on districts, they now are based on larger areas so officers can respond to gang crimes that cross district lines.

He said he's also working on a "three-phase" approach: working with the community, denying gangs access to communities by aggressively stopping them, and making patrol and gang units work better together.

Weis said he hoped the shuffling of staff and jobs would bring reductions in crime in the new year.

"2008 was a year of transition, and 2009 is a year of results," he said. "There's no excuse next year for not knowing how your job works."

To deal with the department's image problem, Weis established an Office of Professional Standards to work on officer conduct and training, and brought in an FBI agent to lead it. Weis frequently says his standard for good conduct is that officers don't have to be right all the time, but they must be reasonable in their decision-making. Those who are, will have the department's support, he said.

Weis dumped nearly the entire district command staff within weeks of starting, then shifted commanders as the year wore on, and crime increased. Most recently he promoted Daniel Dugan, who worked as a deputy chief, to head of patrol. Dugan had been a commander of the Special Operations Section in at least part of the mid-2000s, when some wrongdoing is alleged to have taken place.

Weis said Dugan is a hard-working, dedicated leader, one of hundreds of SOS members who continue to work honorably as Chicago police.

"Dan Dugan is a solid leader; he has served this department for 26 years and, since becoming superintendent, I have seen his hard work and dedication to the men and women of this department," Weis said.

Dugan defended his time with SOS, saying only a handful of officers were accused of wrongdoing. He would not say whether he handled the complaints against those officers, citing their ongoing criminal trials.

"I've done a lot of soul searching. Was there something different or better I could do?" Dugan said. "I believe I made the best decisions I could at the time."

Dugan said a previous lack of oversight has been corrected, citing a new performance evaluation system that will "red-flag" officers with numerous complaints of abuse.

Weis declined to grade his first year in Chicago as the city's highest paid superintendent with a salary of $300,000.

He said his mistakes include not meeting enough police officers and not going out into the community more. He also said he had hoped to start a multicultural advisory committee, but it never got off the ground.

Plans for 2009 include working with the city to have patrol officers answer fewer non-emergency calls so they can focus on crime calls. Weis said he is pushing for more accountability in his new gang-fighting units, such as the Mobile Strike Force.

From Crime file news

2008-11-14T17:02:00.001-08:00

Friday, November 14, 2008

Cop Killing Weathermen Enjoying New Notoriety

Chicago, Il—I remember the Days of Rage and the enemies of freedom, The Weather Underground who were using force and violence to overthrow our government and way of life.

I remember the murdered and severely injured cops. I remember the bombings and the hate for freedom spread like a vile disease by founding members and unrepentant terrorists, William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn.

William Ayers is about to go on a book signing tour with his republished memoirs.

I can’t imagine there are any book stores that would dare place their employees and customers in real jeopardy of being targeted by revenge seeking relatives and partners of those murdered or injured by Ayers, Dohrn and their comrades. Somebody may well use the same kind of weapons favored by Ayers and Dohrn on them.

Anyone seeking revenge should not resort to injuring innocent people in public places.

Well wishers should send their greetings, cards and letters where they live:
WILLIAM C AYERS and BERNADINE R DOHRN
1329 50TH ST CHICAGO, IL 60615 (773) 924-8058

Label

Dear Senator Obama, Could you help me please find these things, sir?

2008-10-30T06:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Senator Obama, Could you help me please find these things, sir?

1. Occidental College records -- Not released
2. Columbia College records -- Not released
3. Columbia Thesis paper -- not available, locked down by faculty
4. Harvard College records -- Not released, locked down by faculty
5. Selective Service Registration -- Not released
6. Medical records -- Not released
7. Illinois State Senate schedule -- 'not available'
8. Law practice client list -- Not released
9. Certified Copy of original Birth certificate - - Not released
10. Embossed, signed paper Certification of Live Birth -- Not released
11. Harvard Law Review articles published -- None
12. University of Chicago scholarly articles -- None
13.Â Your Record of baptism-- Not released or 'not available'
14. Your Illinois State Senate records--'not available'

You couldn't get a job at McDonalds and become district manager after
143 days of experience.

You couldn't become chief of surgery after 143 days of experience of
being a surgeon.

You couldn't get a job as a teacher and be the superintendent after 143
days of experience.

You couldn't join the military and become a colonel after 143 days of
experience.

You couldn't get a job as a reporter and become the nightly news anchor
after 143 days of experience.

BUT....
'From the time Barack Obama was sworn in as a United State Senator, to
the time he announced he was forming a Presidential exploratory
committee, he logged 143 days of experience inÂ the Senate. That's
how many days the Senate was actually in session and working.Â
AfterÂ 143 days of work experience, Obama believed he was ready to
be Commander In Chief, Leader of theÂ Free World .... 143
days.

We all have to start somewhere. The senate is a good start, but after
143 days, that's all it is - a start.

AND, strangely, a large sector of the American public is okay with this
and campaigning for him. We wouldn't accept this in our own line of
work, yet some are okay with this for the President of the United
States of America ?

Come on folks, we are not voting for the next American Idol!

Sarah Palin responds to wardrope flap

2008-10-24T08:07:00.000-07:00

By Jill Zuckman |Tribune staff reporter

October 24, 2008

Sarah and Todd Palin sit with their son Trig during an interview with Jill Zuckman of the Chicago Tribune. (Photo for the Tribune by Jeff Swensen / October 23, 2008)

PITTSBURGH - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin insisted in an interview with the Tribune on Thursday that she did not accept $150,000 worth of designer clothes from the Republican Party and "that is not who we are."

"That whole thing is just, bad!" she said. "Oh, if people only knew how frugal we are.

"It's kind of painful to be criticized for something when all the facts are not out there and are not reported," said Palin, saying the clothes are not worth $150,000 and were bought for the Republican National Convention. Still, she has been wearing pricey clothes at campaign events this fall. She said they will be given back, auctioned off or sent to charity. Most of them, she said, haven't even left the belly of her campaign plane.

Thrust into the national spotlight as John McCain's running mate in late August from relative obscurity as governor of Alaska, Palin has found herself under the microscope ever since, accused of being inexperienced, a drag on the ticket and, most recently, the recipient of racks of expensive clothes.
Less than two weeks before Election Day, she will deliver her first major policy speech Friday, calling for full funding of special education, a subject that has suddenly become extremely personal. And that's not just because of the arrival of Trig, her 6-month-old son with Down syndrome. It's because families with children who have disabilities have been flocking to her campaign stops, looking to Palin and her family for inspiration.

Palin on Thursday granted one of her first newspaper interviews since becoming McCain's vice presidential nominee. She was joined by her husband, Todd, who cradled Trig, noticeably plumper since he was first introduced to the world two months ago.

Palin called the disabilities issues "a joyful challenge." Todd Palin showed off photos of people with Down syndrome who have come to campaign events, and the candidate said one advocacy group sent her a bumper sticker that said "My kid has more chromosomes than your kid."

"These children are not a problem, they are a priority," Palin said.

"We're on this journey with other families," she said. "We'll learn a lot from those other families, as they can count on us in the White House doing all that we can for them also. It's going to be a nice team effort here."

Still, much of the media attention Palin has received--on the issue of the clothes, for example--has decidedly not been about public policy issues. She points to that as evidence of a bias against women candidates.

"I think Hillary Clinton was held to a different standard in her primary race," Palin said. "Do you remember the conversations that took place about her, say superficial things that they don't talk about with men, her wardrobe and her hairstyles, all of that? That's a bit of that double standard."

Palin said she would rather talk about the Republican campaign's mission to reform government, get the economy back on track and bring opportunities to families, especially those with special needs.

I'm not going to complain about it, I'm not going to whine about it, I'm going to plow through that, because we are embarking on something greater than that, than allowing that double standard to adversely affect us," she said.

But polls suggest that McCain is in trouble, partly because of Palin, who has been criticized as lacking the experience to become president. This week's NBC/Wall Street Journal poll suggested more people now think that Palin is hurting McCain's chances of becoming president than President George W. Bush, whose national approval ratings are in the 20s.

Palin disputed such conclusions.

"I think that those reporters asking those questions should come to some of our rallies and ask some of those in the crowd why it is they are enthused," she said, adding that the crowds see her as representing "hardworking, everyday American families."

In her speech Friday, Palin will lay out the campaign's plans to fully fund the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, boost funding for special-needs children from birth to age 3 and allow parents to choose whether federal money for their child is used in a public, private, religious or secular school without navigating a cumbersome administrative process.

The federal government originally committed in 1975 to paying 40 percent of the cost of educating children with special needs, with the states paying the rest. But that has never happened; full funding would require approximately $26 billion a year, and the federal government currently shells out $10.9 billion.

The McCain campaign plans to phase in that money with an extra $3 billion a year over five years. McCain has called for a domestic discretionary spending freeze, but programs for disabled people would be exempt.

"It's not all about the money, it's not all about budgets," Palin said, adding vaguely that the money could come from "re-prioritizing" the budget. "It's about that spirit of acceptance and embracing that diversity that is in the world with children who are special, a little bit different from the norm."

Palin's eyes well up as she talks about her sister's son, Karcher, who has autism.

"My sister and I have talked a lot about this. It makes me cry thinking about it," Palin said. "She asked with tears in her eyes, she says, 'What happens when Kurt and I, though, are elderly, then what happens to Karcher?' "

Palin calls that the story of millions of Americans. Her hope is to strengthen the National Institutes of Health "to make sure we're researching everything about autism and make sure we find out what causes it."

jzuckman@tribune.com

From Detective Shavedlongcock

2008-10-21T17:47:00.001-07:00

If your white and not voting for Barack Obama you must be a racist or redneck!

Democratic Rep. John Murtha said Monday some of his constituents in western Pennsylvania are "rednecks" and the entire region just five to 10 years ago was "really redneck."

The comments come one week after he called his own constituents "racist" in an interview with his local newspaper.

"What I said, that indicted everybody, that's not what I meant at all. What I mean is there's still folks that have a problem voting for someone because they are black," Murtha said.

Murtha said the history of southwestern Pennsylvania is teeming with racism. "This whole area, years ago, was really redneck," he told WTAE-TV Pittsburgh.

Murtha, a Democrat, apologized last week for calling the area "racist," but challenger Bill Russell said it was a reckless insult to the people in his district and the "cheapest of cheap shots."

Russell, an Iraq war veteran, swiftly put out a 30-second Web video on Murtha's quote and plastered his Web site with references to it, using it as a fundraising pitch with 19 days to go until the Nov. 4 election.

"It shows once again how much he has lost touch with our constituents," Russell told FOXNews.com on Thursday. "A lot of people are ticked off. It's just one more issue that is ticking off a lot of our constituents and why so many of them feel it is time for a change."

Murtha has held his seat for 17 terms, and Democrats outnumber Republicans by two-to-one in the state's 12th District -- but Russell, a first-time candidate, said the latest development should give him a boost.

Russell, a 28-year Army veteran who recently retired, has been railing against Murtha, also a veteran, for calling for the withdrawal of troops in Iraq and for voting for the financial bailout package.

"We're very much running a race and it may or may not have occurred to him yet," Russell said.

Russell's been almost keeping pace with Murtha on fundraising. The latest finance reports showed Murtha raised $2.1 million for the race. A Russell spokesman said the GOP campaign pulled in $1.6 million in that period.

Murtha touched off the latest firestorm when he offered the possibility that his home base could reduce Barack Obama's margin in Pennsylvania by a few points, though he still expects the Democrat to win the state.

"There is no question that western Pennsylvania is a racist area," he told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, accounting for potential Election Day poll numbers.

On Thursday, Murtha said he was sorry.

"I apologize for making the comment that 'Western Pennsylvania is a racist area,'" he said in a statement.

"While we cannot deny that race is a factor in this election, I believe we've been able to look beyond race these past few months, and that voters today are concerned with the policy differences of our two candidates and their vision for the future of our great country," he said.

Russell said some voters will always hold "racist attitudes," but that voters in western Pennsylvania who break with Obama will mostly do so over his views on issues like abortion and gun control.

"To take that and apply that to the entire population itself in western Pennsylvania, as he did, is absolutely wrong," Russell said.

But Murtha's campaign chided Russell, who only recently moved to western Pennsylvania, for calling the Democratic veteran out of touch.

"Someone who has lived in Pennsylvania for less than three months can't possibly be an expert on the views and needs of Pennsylvanians," spokesman Matthew Mazonkey said in a statement to FOXNews.com.

_______________________________

How the hell do people like this get elected to federal positions?

What would be the outcry if a Republican Congressman said, Many blacks are racist and have a hard time voting for a white candidate?

Why is all of this going unnoticed by the media????

2008-10-19T13:58:00.000-07:00

FORWARD TO ALL YOU CAN

Why is all of this going unnoticed by the media???? They send 1000 reporters to Alaska to dig up something on Sarah palin and they have this right in front of their eyes!

From Dreams of My Father:'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.'

From Dreams of My Father : 'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race.'

From Dreams of My Father:'There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white.'

From Dreams of My Father: 'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.'

From Dreams of My Father:'I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa , that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself , the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.'

And FINALLY the Most Damning one of ALL of them!!!

From Audacity of Hope:'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.'

* If you have never forwarded an e-mail, now is the time to Do so!!! We CANNOT have someone with this type of mentality running our GREAT nation!! I don't care whether you a Democrat or a Conservative. We CANNOT turn ourselves over to this type of character in a President. PLEASE help spread the word

Secret Service Intimidates Private Citizen for Obama

2008-10-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

Secret Service Intimidates Private Citizen for Obama (Updated)

Posted by Jessica Hughes on Friday, October 17, 2008 2:12:51 PM

On Wednesday, the 1st of October, I received a call on my cell while in the car with my husband. It was a woman who identified herself as calling from the Obama Campaign. The phone # she called from was 903-798-6020 which I later discovered lists as "Obama Volunteers of Texarkana" (Texas).

She did not give her name that I can recall but identified herself as calling on behalf of the campaign and questioned “Will you be supporting Senator Obama on November fourth?”

I had just spent several hours in the Emergency Room with my son who had a mild concussion and the call was on my cell phone so I was doubly annoyed. I know for a fact that I have never given out my cell number to any organization that could remotely be construed as supporting Barack Obama’s campaign. As those who know me can testify I am quick with my words and I responded curtly:

"No, I don't support him, your guy is a socialist who voted four times in the State Senate to let little babies die in hospital closets; I think you should find something better to do with your time." I hung up. There was no argument or exchange of words. I simply stated my two biggest problems with the candidate this stranger was asking me to support and ended the call. Both my sons who are 6 and 9 and my husband heard the call.

We stopped soon after at a diner we frequent and I related the exchange to a few members of the staff including the owner’s son, who later told me that when he saw the story in the paper he recalled me as saying exactly what I stated above. In all honesty, I was proud that I had been able to give a quick and clear reason for not supporting her candidate. I half hoped it would give her pause and maybe she would think long enough to look into the economic policies and moral quandaries of Senator Obama. Often times we have a confrontation and think, “I wish I had said…” but in this case, I had said exactly what I wanted to and I recall the words quite clearly.

Thursday, October 2, I answered the front door to two suited individuals, a man and a woman. The woman flipped open a badge at about waist level. My husband later said he saw that it had the words “Secret Service” on it but I didn’t get a good look at it. They identified themselves verbally as being from the United States Secret Service. Immediately I thought of the call and was furious that apparently you are not allowed to call Obama a Socialist without the Secret Service coming to investigate. This was my thought pattern because in that instant it never occurred to me that someone may have lied about my statement. They confirmed that I had received a call from the Obama Campaign the previous day. I expected, frankly, to see them off my steps promptly as I had done nothing wrong. I was shocked when they asked me about the following comment, relayed by the Obama Volunteer of Texarkana who called me, unsolicited on my cell phone:

"I will never support Obama and he will wind up dead on a hospital floor."

My husband, who had come out the door with me sort of laughed, the whole thing being so unbelievable, and told them “No, she called him a socialist but she never said a word about him dying.” I gave them my actual quote and informed them that both my husband and my two sons had heard me take the call.

At this point I believe the female Secret Service Agent (later identified as D. Morris) began to overstep her bounds. She asked me in what I considered an accusing way, “Oh really? Well, why would she make that up? What would she have to gain?” As if it was so obvious that the caller was telling the truth and I ought to just admit it.

I replied that I supposed she wasn’t happy about my opinion of her candidate and the Agent said “That’s right, you were rude!” This is a ridiculous statement for a Law Enforcement Officer to make. The last time I checked being rude wasn’t a crime in America. Indeed, her phraseology suggests that she believed me in my statement of what I had said, and additional evidence to support this idea arose throughout the questioning.

I noticed that the female Agent was holding a file with my name outward and I commented on it, asking them if there was anything in my history to indicate I was some loon who would make a death threat.

They said no. At this point they are accusing me of a death threat in what could be at best described as a she-said/she-said situation. Indeed, I have on my side the presumption of innocence (or so I thought), two children, and my spouse, all of whom heard what I said. I expect them to leave. What more can they ask me than what I said? What my husband heard? I invited them to ask my kids what I said.

Instead, the male agent got out a pad and asked me what I thought of Obama, how I felt about him.

That was my limit. I told the Agent in no uncertain terms, “My thoughts are not pertinent to your investigation. This is America and the last time I checked I am allowed to think whatever I want without being questioned by the Secret Service.” I also stated that in fact, even if I had said what she claimed, that isn't a threat. She didn’t claim I said I would kill him. She claimed I said he would ‘wind up dead on a hospital floor.’ What kind of stilted, ridiculous threat is that? Some people have claimed that she perhaps misinterpreted what I said through a bad cell connection. Well I can state unequivocally that she did NOT repeat exactly what she heard since I never used the words ‘wind’, ‘up’, ‘dead’ or ‘floor’. At the very least she took a lousy connection and exaggerated and lied about what she did in fact hear.

The male agent attempted to disarm me so I would talk about my thoughts saying, “Hey, haven’t you ever been in a car accident? Didn’t the police officer ask you if you had been drinking or on your cell phone?” He wanted to compare those questions to his questioning my thoughts and feelings about a candidate. I replied, “Yes, he would, because those are questions pertinent to the event. He would not ask me what I think of red Chevies, or how I feel about speeding. He would ask me about facts, and I gave you the facts. I told you what was actually said; my husband told you what was actually said. That is pertinent. Not my thoughts.”

At this point, I started to think there must be a tape of the call that these agents simply had not bothered to listen to. In retrospect, it is unlikely since the Obama Campaign would have not made the call if they had proof of its illegitimacy. I now assume that if there was a tape it is long gone. In the moment however, I thought that of course the campaign must have at least claimed they had some evidence or else this interrogation would not be happening at all. I asked the agents, “Where is the tape of this call? Just listen to it and you’ll know I never said any such thing!” They told me that there is no tape. At this point the flimsy nature of the allegation which brought them to my home really started to sink in and I was completely outraged.

I said, "So on the word of a ticked off Obama supporter you are on my porch with no other evidence and you want to question me about my thoughts!?"

The female agent actually said “You have no evidence that the complainant is an Obama supporter.” This is insane. The woman called me from an Obama Volunteer center and this is not evidence that she is an Obama supporter, while the unsubstantiated word of a partisan is apparently enough evidence that I am a danger to Barack Obama to get me interrogated at my home in America.

The male agent tried to say they were trying to help me out and he alluded to the fact that they came to me first instead of asking all of my neighbors and family embarrassing questions. I take that as a not very veiled threat to humiliate me.

I told them to be my guest and talk to whomever they wanted but they weren’t going to investigate my thoughts on my porch.

I think it was at this point I went inside and got a notepad. As I said earlier, I had not actually seen their identification. I let that slide when I believed they were there about my actual statement, but now I felt the female agent was behaving very inappropriately and the man was making threats to humiliate me if I would not comply with answering questions about my thoughts. I came back out and said, “Okay, now I want to see your I.D. and I want your badge numbers or a card.” Both refused to show me their badges. The female agent rolled her eyes, shook her head and said, “You’re not going to get a card.” She laughed. The male Agent gave me a card and told me I could contact the Houston office with any questions.

I also said that I wanted to file a counter complaint against this person who had filed a false report, I have witnesses to what I actually said. This woman falsified a very serious charge against me but the Secret Service agents told me I can’t since I don’t know who the complainant is.

At this point I asked, “Don’t I have the right to face my accuser in America?” The male agent, I think trying to scare me said that we were not in a court of law and that’s a good thing. He asked me to agree with him saying, “Right?” I said no its not. I’ll go to court, I want to go to court. I have rights there. My accuser has to get up on a stand and take an oath before she lies about me, not just remain anonymous and send the thought police to my door.

The male agent was trying to be ‘good cop’ and said “Look, even my partner said on the way up here that this is a wasted trip.” He alluded again to the fact that they were well aware that I was no threat and this was a bogus complaint.

Finally they told me that the next time a volunteer calls I should say, “’Yeah Yeah I love him, count me in’, and hang up.” This way they don’t have to drive up from Houston again. I said, "Look, someone calls me unsolicited on my cell phone to ask me to support their candidate and I can't tell them why I don't?" I said I was sorry they made a wasted trip but if they had a problem with some made up lie they needed to go talk to her about it because it wasn't my fault they had to drive from Houston for nothing.

Later it occurred to me that if they had driven straight to me from Houston as they said, that means they never even spoke to this girl face to face. They had no idea whether she was a credible person, yet here they were, harassing me at my home.

The fact that the volunteer lied, the fact that the Secret Service came to my house to question me about my thoughts and feelings and threaten to embarrass me to my neighbors and go to court if I didn’t cooperate is not really the tragedy here. Because I don’t believe for one minute that girl on the phone has the pull to send the Secret Service to my home on her own. Someone higher in the ranks of a campaign working for a man who may be the next President of the United States of America felt comfortable bringing the force of the Federal Government to bear on a private citizen on nothing but the word of a partisan volunteer. The rude behavior of the female agent combined with their allusion to having known all along that this was a wasted trip leads me to two possibilities. Maybe she was an Obama supporter who knew I was innocent but didn’t like my views and welcomed the opportunity of an officially sanctioned harassment of me for them, or maybe they make many of these bogus trips and they’re sick of it. This whole episode has led me to question how many of the ‘death threats’ the Obama Campaign is publicizing are the sort of lies that this one was.

These things must be known. I want to file a counter complaint that false charges were made, that a false report was given to a peace officer. The Secret Service told me I cannot because they will protect the identity of the complainant. I have also heard from a friend that on the Federal level there is no charge to bring against this girl on my own behalf. Is this to say that anyone can sit around making up stories to the Secret Service to get the people they don’t like investigated and put on a watch list?

The reporter for the LDN said that when she called the head of the Texas Obama campaign, he had just replaced whoever was there last week when this happened. I don’t know if that has to do with this but I wouldn’t be surprised. Also, he told the reporter that the incident is still under investigation and he can’t comment which is disgusting. At this point, he ought to be saying, “I’m sorry, it was a misunderstanding”. The Secret Service is also still considering my case “Under Investigation.” What on earth is there to investigate?

I want this entire issue brought to court in order to expose it to the light of day. I want everyone: from the volunteer who took my call, the person who reported me, the agents themselves, everyone to have to account for the procedures followed. I want to know if they went by the book. Anywhere they did not, I want the violator to suffer repercussions for their fascist and un-American violation of my rights as a law-abiding citizen. If this is by the books, if this is how America runs today, then the book needs to be rewritten to comply with the Constitutionally guaranteed rights of the citizens of the United States of America.

Furthermore, if this campaign or any campaign wants to make unsolicited calls to citizens and reserve the right to bring government force to bear against those citizens as a result of their calls then they need to have a better documentation than some partisan campaign volunteer, they need to have a tape or a monitor on the other line, to ensure that these incidents to not occur.

From Det. Shavedlongcock

2008-10-18T07:00:00.001-07:00

A Det. Shavedlongcock editorial:

Not a real shocker at all, Chicago Tribune & Chicago Sun-Times endorse Barack Hussein Obama for the office of US President.

Both of these newspapers are in financial trouble. Both have laid off tons of employees as their sales drop daily. The Internet and cable TV news have basically replaced the old fashion way of learning the daily news.

As a young boy I delivered newspapers in Chicago. In the morning I delivered the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune. Right after school I then delivered the Chicago Daily News and the Chicago Today. During those delivery years I would read all four newspapers I delivered 7 days a week. During the early 1970's the newspapers were full of truth. It didn't make a difference how powerful you were or how "Chicago Connected" you were, everybody was fair game. The newspapers had real investigative reporters with confidential informants and insiders at City Hall. The newspapers sold more newspapers not by pandering to any persons or groups but by revealing real news and taking down big powerful people. Many of the customers on my paper route were waiting at the door to get their hands on the hot news of the day.

Well times have changed. Newspapers today are nothing more than a piece of paper with words and pictures that gentle report the news. The news editors censor and omit anything that may offend a gay, lesbian, black, Hispanic, animal rights activist, abortion rights activist, Democrat, Muslim, Jew and any other person or group connect to the left side of society. But the people of the right side, Christians, Catholics, whites and any other person or group connected to anything right of center is still fair game. It is all is based on the left willingness to boycott and protest if you are not on their side or you offend their quests. Where the right side usually just says, what do you expect... and keeps buying whatever they are hawking.

THE DECISION FOR BOTH MAJOR NEWSPAPERS TO ENDORSE BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA
I have fun on this blog and anybody who reads it all at knows full well that I am a person who believes in the conservative side of life. Where personal responsibilities go hand in hand with what one can expect to accomplish in their lifetime. I have voted for just as many Democrats as I have for Republicans in elections. I usually base my decision on who is going to do the best job and their past accomplishments.

Now comes an endorsement for Obama by both major Chicago newspapers. Not really a shocker. As a Chicagoan I fully know if both newspapers didn't do this both newspapers would of had the full force of every black community organization and church against them. From protests to boycotts, they would be relentless.

But let's look at this factually. Obama, a self admitted cocaine snorting and weed smoking man and as of yet there is nothing that says his admitted use to these drugs have stopped. A man who may have his finger on the button that can blow up the world is a drug user. He has no military background and a few years in the US Senate, much of this time has been used running for US President. The years spent in the Illinois elected positions are basically uneventful as for doing anything to better Chicago or Illinois.

There are tons of questionable associations with Obama. From 1960's terrorists, black power preachers (Rev. Wright & Louis Farrakhan) and many more people that none of us would even want to associate with.

World leaders such as Fidel Castro, Moammar Kadafi and Hugo Chávez all have expressed their support for Obama. Three world leaders that HATE America voice support for Obama!

Obama was quoted in "Sneed" today as saying that if he is elected President, Obama desires a black to replace him as Senator. Wow, a man who if elected President would have to have tons of white votes but only a black person should hold his former Senate seat. Amazing. Imagine if John McCain said, If I am elected President I want a white person to replace me in the Senate. I am sure nobody would say a thing about it if McCain requested that.

I won't go on about Obama but I could.

Now we have John McCain. He was far from my original choice for US President. But when it came down to Obama and McCain as candidates, McCain was by far the easiest choice for me.

We have a war hero. A ex-POW of war. A 30 year US Senator. A middle of the road Republican who has NO questionable terrorists pals, NO preachers speaking of WHITE POWER, NO enemies of the USA backing him. A man that leaders around the world would fear to engage any war with. No known cocaine use, no weed smoking and didn't come for the corrupt politics of Chicago. Now I am sure John McCain is no angel and I never would even apply that. But what he is, is a man you have known for over 30 years. No hidden background, no hidden birth certificate like Obama, 30 public years in the Senate.

But none of those accomplishments mean a thing to the Chicago newspapers. For one reason only. There is one thing McCain doesn't have that Obama has. It is the reason why Obama is where he is at with no real experience. McCain is WHITE. And there is no possible way that either Chicago newspaper will endorse a white over a black for US President. Especially when it is the first black man to be a candidate in a major party for that office. It would of been financial suicide for both newspapers.

But I can tell you this. If I was at the age I was when I was deliviery those newspapers today, today would of been my last day as a newspaper delivery boy. I couldn't delivery pieces of papers that weren't printed with what so many brave men and women have died for, the First Amendment Right of the Freedom of Speech and the ability of the newspapers in this country to print the truth at all cost. Funny that in the end it wasn't the government that took the freedom of speech away from these newspapers but it was the ones who never did anything but leeched off society and never bothered to lift a finger to help this country.

Sincerely,
Det. Shavedlongcock

Ochal resigns to probally a better job

2008-08-08T20:18:00.000-07:00

Aviation official resigns amid power struggle

By: Lorene Yue Aug. 08, 2008

(Crain's) — Embattled city Aviation Department official David Ochal resigned Friday, just days after drawing public criticism for allegedly using clout to provide electricity to his home when his Northwest Side neighborhood lost power in Monday night’s storm.

The Department of Aviation issued a news release stating that Mr. Ochal, who was first deputy commissioner, has left the department after eight years.

Mr. Ochal was the subject of a Chicago Tribune column by John Kass, who claimed he used his position to get Commonwealth Edison Co. to deliver a power generator to his home on Wednesday while his neighbors were still in the dark.

Mr. Ochal was also scrutinized in 2000 for having a backyard pool installed without obtaining proper city permits. Mayor Richard M. Daley's administration claimed Mr. Ochal did no wrong.

Former alderman confesses corruption

2008-08-06T16:51:00.000-07:00

(AP) — A 17-year veteran of Chicago's City Council has pleaded guilty to taking payoff money and cheating on her taxes.

Former Alderman Arenda Troutman acknowledged Wednesday that she'd taken money for helping real estate developers in her South Side ward.

She pleaded guilty to mail fraud and tax fraud charges. Eleven other counts were dropped in exchange for her plea.

U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo set December 3rd for sentencing the 50-year-old Troutman, who lost her re-election bid last year after the charges became public.

Defense attorney Sam Adam Junior says other than the payoffs, Troutman had "an impeccable record" of working her way up after a poverty-stricken childhood "in the coal fields of West Virginia."

Chicago Worst City for Personal Freedoms

2008-08-03T20:16:00.001-07:00

Chicago Worst City for Personal Freedoms

Sunday, August 3, 2008 3:37 PM

Article Font Size

Chicago is the worst �nanny-state� city in the U.S. � the metropolis with the most stringent regulations interfering with the exercise of personal freedoms.

That�s the finding of a survey by Reason magazine, a libertarian publication, which ranked cities according to the degree they treat citizens as a �nanny� might treat children incapable of making their own decisions.

The magazine ranked the 35 most populous American municipalities in eight categories: sex, alcohol, tobacco, guns, movement, drugs, gambling, and a catch-all category of food and �other.� The higher the score, from 1 to 35, the more restrictive the city.

In the sex category, for instance, Reason looked at such factors as the number of strip clubs per capita, gay-friendliness, and adult entertainment regulations.

For alcohol, it took into account restrictions on happy hours and operating hours, blue laws and excise taxes on beer, wine and liquor.

The movement category included laws governing seatbelt and motorcycle helmet use, and government-operated surveillance cameras.

And for the food/other category, Reason looked at menu-labeling laws, pet codes, bans on trans fats, cabaret laws and other regulations of �a paternalistic nature.�

Chicago finished in the bottom half of every category, including 34 for tobacco, 33 for guns and 28 for food/other.

Reason cited a ban on serving alcohol at all-nude strip clubs, restrictive gun control laws, a public smoking ban, and widespread use of surveillance cameras. It also noted that nearly a quarter of Chicago�s precincts are alcohol-free.

Not far behind in second place was Seattle, with 35 for both alcohol and smoking and 32 for food/other, although it did receive a 4 in the drug category for its permissive marijuana laws.

New York was next, with 34 for food/other, 31 for smoking and 28 for movement. The city banned trans fats in restaurant cooking oils and ordered fast food chains to show calorie content on their menus. Police have issued citations for infractions as minor as sitting improperly on a milk crate, and from 1997 to 2006 they arrested and jailed more than 353,000 people for possessing small amounts of marijuana.

At the other end of the rankings was, not surprisingly, Las Vegas, which in addition to 1 for gambling also got 1 for sex, 4 for alcohol, 6 for movement, and 7 for food/other.

Miami was next, finishing in the top half of all categories except drugs, with 1 for movement and 1 for food/other.

The city �melds Florida�s conservative guns �n� smokes freedom with the licentiousness you might expect from a cosmopolitan port,� Reason observes.

Three other Southern cities finished in the top 10 � Louisville, Jacksonville, and Atlanta.

Here are the rankings, from most �nanny� to least:

35. Chicago

34. Seattle

33. New York

32. Boston

31. El Paso

30. San Diego

29. Nashville

28. Houston

27. Los Angeles

26. Charlotte

25. Philadelphia

24. Indianapolis

23. Memphis

22. Columbus

21. Washington, D.C.

20. San Francisco

19. Baltimore

18. San Jose

17. Dallas

16. Cleveland

15. Phoenix

14. Austin

13. San Antonio

12. Oakland

11. Ft. Worth

10. Detroit

9. Atlanta

8. Jacksonville

7. Portland

6. Milwaukee

5. Kansas City

4. Louisville

3. Denver

2. Miami

1. Las Vegas

Crook County at its best

2008-08-03T18:35:00.000-07:00

Misspellings, grammar errors put county mag on ice

INDEPENDENT? | $24,999 for 'positive press' for Stroger

July 27, 2008

BY MARK J. KONKOL Staff Reporter/mkonkol@suntimes.com

Tired of getting "pummeled by the newspapers every day," Cook County Board president Todd Stroger's administration has decided to counter with a new magazine overseen by county officials.

Publisher/editor Theresa Tracy said Cook County magazine would be "independently published" and a "credible, compelling and valuable resource" for county residents.

But county officials have the final say on what's published. And Tracy accepted $24,999 from Stroger's administration last November to launch the magazine -- $1 under the amount that would have required the approval of the full Cook County Board.

Tracy said there should be no "perception that we were just a house organ."

But, according to an agreement between the Stroger administration and Tracy obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times, county officials were seeking a "non-threatening news environment that ensures regular, positive press -- to counter-balance negative press often found in the mainstream media."

Tracy also agreed to give the Stroger administration final say on whether to distribute the magazine.

County Commissioner Robert Steele, a Stroger ally who's listed on the masthead as "Cook County Board liaison," said Stroger's press office was instrumental in the creation of the magazine.

"The press office looks at it, reviews it and says whether it's the message we want to get out," said Steele, who added that he "referred several ideas to the editor and talked to the press office about whether that's the message we're trying to get out. I'm supportive of it."

Tracy said that initially she "wanted a whole lot more money" for putting out the 32-page glossy magazine but that the Stroger administration said $24,999 was the most it could provide at the time.

"They said, 'If we like the product, we might consider to give you more,' " Tracy said. She said she plans to make the magazine work financially by selling advertising, but the "Spring/Summer" edition includes only three ads.

The cover story is an interview with Stroger that starts by asking him, "How are you feeling these days?" There's also a short obituary for Stroger's late father and predecessor as county board president, John H. Stroger Jr., who died in January. It misspells his name.

The magazine also includes tips on gardening, planning a picnic and getting the proper permits, as well as a recipe for orange crab salad.

But don't expect to get your hands on a copy. Stroger spokesman Eugene Mullins said he has 5,000 copies of the issue in his office -- and that's where they'll stay.

"I was asked to review it and decided not to distribute it -- not because of content, but errors and omissions in the article" about John Stroger, Mullins said. "Judging on grammatical stuff -- something misspelled or that's not a complete sentence -- falls back on the president. And this is a Cook County magazine. I have to find a way to get rid of them. I'm not distributing them."

Aldermens War Chests

2008-08-02T04:25:00.000-07:00

http://www.suntimes.com/news/watchdogs/1083589,CST-NWS-watchlist31.article

Who's got what

July 31, 2008

Ald. Edward M. Burke has more money in his four campaign funds than the combined total of all 49 other Chicago aldermen, more even than Mayor Daley's $2.9 million, reports they filed this month show:

• Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th) $8 million

• Ald. Ray Suarez (31st) $913,834

• Ald. William Banks (36th) $853,007

• Ald. Gene Schulter (47th) $714,642

• Ald. Richard Mell (33rd) $391,118

• Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th) $381,105

• Ald. Manuel Flores (1st) $360,865

• Ald. Thomas Tunney (44th) $253,468

• Ald. Patrick J. O'Connor (40th) $226,783

• Ald. Ed H. Smith (28th) $180,799

• Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th) $136,784

• Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4th) $131,676

• Ald. Ariel E. Reboyras (30th) $125,045

• Ald. Vi Daley (43rd) $123,342

• Ald. Rey Colon (35th) $95,772

• Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) $88,942

• Ald. Sandi Jackson (7th) $87,382

• Ald. Joseph Moore (49th) $86,648

• Ald. Michael Zalewski (23rd) $59,924

• Ald. John Pope (10th) $59,067

• Ald. Robert Fioretti (2nd) $56,850

• Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) $46,986

• Ald. Patrick Levar (45th) $46,146

• Ald. Thomas R. Allen (38th) $42,215

• Ald. Helen Shiller (46th) $41,733

• Ald. Mary Ann Smith (48th) $37,030

• Ald. Lona Lane (18th) $35,723

• Ald. Bernard Stone (50th) $34,555

• Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd) $27,335

• Ald. Brian Doherty (41st) $25,607

• Ald. Danny Solis (25th) $23,803

• Ald. Howard Brookins Jr. (21st) $23,173

• Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd) $19,329

• Ald. Michelle Harris (8th) $19,108

• Ald. Willie Cochran (20th) $18,053.95

• Ald. Margaret Laurino (39th) $17,883

• Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th) $17,641

• Ald. Billy Ocasio (26th) $17,341

• Ald. Latasha Thomas (17th) $15,584

• Ald. Sharon Denise Dixon (24th) $12,094

• Ald. Ginger Rugai (19th) $11,078

• Ald. JoAnn Thompson (16th) $10,127

• City Clerk Miguel del Valle $6,287

• Ald. Carrie Austin (34th) $5,040

• Ald. George Cardenas (12th) $4,418

• Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th) $1,679

• Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) $1,302

• Ald. Toni Foulkes (15th) $1,017

• Ald. James Balcer (11th) 0

• Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd) -$5,236.45

• Ald. Frank Olivo (13th) has no campaign fund Related Blog Posts

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Toni Preckwinkle -- New Yorker Superstar

From Chicago Daily Observer

Gun Ban in Chicago

2008-08-01T13:32:00.001-07:00

Daley may abandon fight to uphold gun ban

August 1, 2008

BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter

Mayor Daley today cracked the door open to abandoning the costly fight to uphold Chicago’s 1982 handgun freeze—if he can fashion a replacement ordinance that protects the safety of first-responders.

Until now, Daley had emphatically promised to defend Chicago’s ordinance—all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, if need be—despite what he called the dangerous precedent set by the nation’s highest court.

On June 26, the Supreme Court overturned a Washington D.C. handgun ban on grounds that the 2nd Amendment guarantees the right to possess a handgun in your home for self-defense. Daley called it a “frightening” ruling that harkens “back to the Old West.”

Hours later, the National Rifle Association put Chicago, Morton Grove, Evanston and Oak Park directly in the crosshairs. The NRA filed lawsuits seeking to overturn handgun bans in all four places.

Wilmette pre-emptively repealed its handgun ban last week. Morton Grove did the same this week.

Now that both suburbs have thrown in the towel—and newspaper editorials have urged Daley to do the same to save millions in legal costs on a fight he cannot win—the mayor appears to be having second thoughts.

At a news conference called to tout the 6,848 guns collected at last week’s Gun Turn-In program, Daley was asked point-blank whether he would continue the legal fight to keep Chicago’s handgun ban.

“We don’t know yet. Let’s first work at one thing at a time…..They’re telling me to raise the white flag and run away. We’re not gonna run away. We’re gonna try to figure this out,” the mayor said.

Under further questioning, the mayor said city attorneys would simultaneously contest the law and work on a possible replacement.

“We think our law can be upheld. If not, so what?” he said.

Daley made no bones about it: It won’t be easy to craft a replacement ordinance that can pass legal muster and still protect first-responders.

Chicagoans who insist on having guns in their homes might even be required to have insurance to protect taxpayers from frivolous lawsuits, he said.

“We’re talking about putting first-responders in a very, very delicate position of people being armed without being notified how many guns they have in their homes…What is a handgun? Can you have unlimited handguns, unlimited ammunition?…What is a home? Is it the front porch. Is it the back porch? Is it the attached garage? Is it the garage in back? Is it their front and back yard?” Daley said.

“A lot of questions are gonna be asked in this legislation that we look at…We have to be able to fashion a law that truly protects first-responders and protects the citizens,” he said.

As for the fourth-annual gun turn-in, the lure of a $100 pre-paid Master Card was enough to draw 6,848 guns, 109 of them assault weapons. More than 1,100 of them were BB guns and replicas.

“This is a wonderful day, but it’s a tragic day for America,” Daley told a news conference at the Chicago Police Department’s Homan Square Facility, where the bought-back weapons were on display.

Denise Reed’s 14-year-old daughter, Starkesia, was shot and killed by a stray bullet from an AK-47 in March 2006 while looking out the window of her Englewood home.

On Friday, Reed urged Chicagoans to maintain the momentum generated by the gun turn-in program—without the $100 bounty.

“If you see a gun---parents, family, friends, community—it’s time for you to snitch…Think about our children. Think about…our babies that we lost innocently,” Reed said.

Obama from Newsmax

2008-07-28T17:52:00.001-07:00

Breaking from Newsmax.com

Obama's Trip: No Bounce, No Flags, No Wounded GIs
He didn't want the American flag shown at his speech in Germany and at his press conference in Paris. He canceled a trip to visit wounded soldiers when he was told the press couldn't take pictures of him. And the American public thought the press coverage of his trip was simply "excessive."
Get the Full Story — Go Here Now

An Open Letter of Apology to the Good Folk of Illinois From a Hoosier 66

2008-07-26T05:23:00.000-07:00

An Open Letter of Apology to the Good Folk of Illinois From a Hoosier

This has weighed heavily on my heart for years and now I finally must get it out into the open. As your direct neighbor to the east I must apologize for Indiana's part in helping to dramatically increase the incidents of crime in Illinois.

You see, for many years my state of Indiana has allowed law-abiding residents to carry concealed handguns, and criminals know it is a bad idea to attack a Hoosier.

Nothing says "no" to those intent upon doing harm to a citizen quite like a bullet hole in their chest.

Because of that, Hoosier criminals are quite aware that it is much safer to do their evil deeds in places where people like Chicago Mayor Daly, Gov. Blagojevich, and Sen. Obama prefer residents to be completely helpless.

This encourages our rapists, muggers, mass killers, thugs, white-sheeted bigots, terrorists, gay bashers and anti-Semites to leave Indiana and move to Illinois, one of the few states left where the "defenseless lambs" theory of self-defense still exists. The mass exodus of our criminals helps ensure the continued well-being of Indiana residents -- even those who choose not to carry a handgun.

It might not be of much comfort to you folk who will be victimized by these transplanted predators, but Illinoisians can find solace in knowing that we appreciate your willingness to make yourselves available as easier targets of opportunity.

If it saves just one Hoosier life, it is worth it.

Obama might be screwed

2008-07-19T13:25:00.000-07:00

Unstamped certificate suggests Obama may not be "natural born" US citizen

By Reuven Koret June 24, 2008

The "birth certificate" claimed by the Barack Obama campaign is not certified as authentic and appears to be a photoshopped fake.

The image, purporting to come from the Hawaii Department of Health, has been the subject of intense skepticism in the blogosphere in the past two weeks. But now the senior spokesman of that Department has confirmed to Israel Insider what are the required features of a certified birth document -- features that Obama's purported "birth certificate" clearly lack.

The image became increasingly suspect with Israel Insider's revelation that variations of the certificate image were posted on the Photobucket image aggregation website -- including one listing the location of Obama's birth as Antarctica, one with the certificate supposedly issued by the government of North Korea, and another including a purported photo of baby Barack -- one of which has a "photo taken" time-stamp just two minutes before the article and accompanying image was posted on the left-wing Daily Kos blog.

That strongly suggests that Daily Kos obtained the image from Photobucket, not the State of Hawaii, the Obama family, or the Obama campaign. Photobucket is not generally known as a credible supplier of official vital records for any of the fifty states, and the liberties that other Photoshoppers took with the certificates confirms this.

Some of these oddities surfaced in Israel Insider's previous article on the subject, but new comparative documentary evidence presented below, and official verification obtained by Israel Insider from a senior Hawaiian official, provides the strongest confirmation yet.

An authentic Hawaiian birth certificate for another Hawaiian individual has since surfaced which, using the same official form as the presumptive Obama certificate, includes an embossed official seal and an authoritative signature, coming through from the back. Obama's alleged certificate lacks those features, and the certificate number referencing the birth year has been blacked out, making it untraceable.

Janice Okubo, Director of Communications of the State of Hawaii Department of Health, told Israel Insider: "At this time there are no circumstances in which the State of Hawaii Department of Health would issue a birth certification or certification of live birth only electronically." And, she added, "In the State of Hawaii all certified copies of certificates of live birth have the embossed seal and registrar signature on the back of the document."

Compare the top image presented by his campaign as evidence of Obama's 1961 birth and the other certifying the birth of one Patricia Decosta.

Click for higher resolution image.

Click for higher resolution image.

So if he were registered as being born in Hawaii, Barack Obama -- because only he or another member of his immediate family could by law request a "Certification of Live Birth" -- must have a certified paper copy, with embossed stamp and seal, or he could request one. But what his campaign has put forward as genuine, according to the senior spokesman in the relevant department of the State of Hawaii, is not in fact a certified copy. It is not valid.

Whereas the uncertified Obama document provides the date "filed by registrar", the certified DeCosta document provides the date "accepted by the registrar." The difference between filing an application for a Certification of Live Birth and having it accepted may be key here.

The Obama campaign, however, continues to flaunt the unstamped, unsealed, uncertified document -- notably in very low resolution -- on its "Fight the Smears" website, with campaign officials vowing that it's authentic, sending the image around as "proof" to reporters, and inviting supporters to refer to it as they battle against supposed distortions and calumnies against their candidate. However, the campaign refuses to produce an authentic original birth certificate from the year of Obama's birth, or even a paper version with seal and signature of the "Certification of Live Birth." Nor has it even published an electronic copy with the requisite embossed seal and signature.

The failure of the Obama campaign to do so, and its willingness instead to put up an invalid, uncertified image -- what now appears to be a crude forgery -- raises the dramatic question of why the presumptive Democratic presidential candidate might have to hide.

Until now, it has been thought that there might be some embarrassing information on the real certificate: was the candidate's name something other than Barack Hussein Obama II, as it is claimed? Was no father listed because of the uncertainty over Obama's paternity? Was his father's race listed as Arab, or Muslim, rather than African? These revelations might be embarrassing, and further undermine his credibility, but he could disavow and downplay their significance. Would revealing such embarrassment outweigh the far greater risks involved in perpetuating a palpable forgery, or passing off an uncertified official document as being certified?

There is one possibility, however, which alone might justify the risk that Obama and his campaign seems to be taking in putting forward the uncertified document image: Obama was not in fact born in Hawaii and may not be an American citizen at all, or at least not a "natural born citizen" as the Constitution defines the requirement for the nation's chief executive. Real original birth certificates, circa 1961, have all kinds of verifiable information that would confirm Obama's origins, or throw them into doubt should they be lacking.

Research has since uncovered the law, in force at the time of Obama's birth, that were he to have been born in another country, his young American mother's youth extended time abroad would not suffice to make him a "natural born citizen." Even if he were naturalized later -- and there is no evidence that he was -- he would not be eligible to run for the office of president and -- if forgery or misrepresentation were involved -- he and his staffers might find themselves facing stiff federal and state charges.

But if, at this late date, Obama has no proof of being a US citizen by law, natural born or otherwise, then he or his advisers may be tempted to try to "tough out" the allegations about his "birth certificate" or the lack thereof. He and his campaign have gotten through other embarrassments: maybe this one will go away, too.

Because the consequences were he to admit, or should it come out, that he was not born in Hawaii would be so grave as to make it tempting to take the gamble and hope that no one dares call his most audacious bluff by demanding proof. Talk about the audacity of hope.

But now the State of Hawaii has dashed those hopes by clarifying that a certified birth certificate must have an embossed seal and signature, features his claimed birth certificate image lack.

The longer Obama waits, the graver grow the consequences of waiting.

There is one simple way for the candidate to clear up the issue once and for all: produce for public inspection and objective analysis the paper copy of his original Hawaiian birth certificate -- if one exists. If he's lost the original, he can request a certified copy. Ordinary citizens are required to produce one to get a passport or a driver's license. Surely it's not too much to ask from a man who aspires to hold the highest office in the land.

The issue is not whether Obama is black or white, Christian or Muslim. It is whether he was born in the USA and thus a citizen eligible according to the Constitution to run for President.

If proof of citizenship does not exist, then surely it would be wiser to admit it now.

Because if Barack Hussein Obama II does not produce definitive proof of his "natural born" American citizenship with original, verifiable documents, he will be setting the stage for a very public battle over his personal credibility, the basic legitimacy of his candidacy, and its possible criminality.

UPDATE 6/26:
Janice Okubo, in response to an Israeli Insider question on Tuesday, would not confirm nor deny whether she had told a St. Petersburg Times reporter whether she had said the birth certificate was "real", citing the statutory stipulation that "Hawaii state law (HRS §338-18) prevents disclosure of information contained in vital statistics records except to those people who have a direct and tangible interest in the record as defined by statute." This would, however, seem to negate the propriety of any disclosure by her of confidential information.

Jim Geraghty of The National Review Online, following up on this Israel Insider report, said he had contacted Okubo:

"I spoke to Ms. Okubo late Wednesday afternoon, and she said she had seen the version of Obama's certificate of live birth posted on the sites. While her office cannot verify the information on a form without the permission of the certificate holder (Obama), she said "the form is exactly the same" and it has 'all the components of a birth certificate' record issued by the state. In other words, she sees no reason to think the version posted on Obama's web site and Daily Kos is not genuine."

"The 'embossed seal' in question is, she said, probably on the back of the document provided to Daily Kos, but not visible (as in another certificate posted on Israel Insider for contrast). She thinks the difference in visibility can be attributed to the pressure used when applying the seal."

Geraghty's interpretation of Okubo's comments is inexact and tendentious. First, her observation that "the form is the same" is not contested, here or elsewhere. No one is doubting that the form that appears on the various websites (including this one) is a replica of that used for valid certificates. Therefore Geraght's interpretation that follows "In other words" is clearly his own conclusion, not hers.

Indeed, Okubo confirms to Geraghty that the image is lacking the "embossed seal" (and the official signature) that are required for the certificate to be valid. While "she thinks" that the difference in visibility might be attributed to varying "pressure," she admits that she does not know and has not seen the original.

Contrasting the purported Obama image with the DeCosta sample, it is hard to imagine the embossed seal and signature being of such light pressure that they would become completely invisible. An inked date of June 6, 2007, in reverse, does come through. But in any event, Okubo's confirmation that the premsumptive birth certificate is lacking the required stamps makes it all the more imperative for Obama to release the original paper certification, the only valid kind, and not an easy-to-photoshop electronic facsimile thereof. It should not be hard to produce, since Hawaii provides for family members to request them.

Even though Geraghy notes that Obama "initially refused to provide his birth certificate," he has suggested that it is "rather unlikely" that Obama was born in Kenya, since it would require that the candidate and his family do a lot of lying. In fact, there were reports of Kenyati relatives claiming he was born there, and there is the mysterious disappearance of his grandmother, who may indeed know something about this subject.

After all, being born in Hawaii is part of the "family legend" and it would be unreasonable to expect this to vary from interview to interview, especially when a non-Hawaiian birth would invalidate Obama's run for the presidency.

It is indeed hard to believe that Obama could have gone through his life without having to prove that he was an American citizen. But the credulity with which the mainstream media has automatically accepted as valid the image that appears on the radical left Daily Kos blog and on the Obama campaign's polemical "Fight the Smears" website makes it clear that many have been unwilling, now and in the past, to demand proof of an authentic document. They prefer to accept on faith that the candidate or his campaign would not lie about such a thing, assuming he has nothing to hide and no motive to lie.

But until the certified paper birth document is produced -- either by media pressure or a legal challenge in any state -- the fact remains that Obama has not proven that he is a "natural born citizen" eligible to be President according to the Constitution.

Chicago Fire Department Mess

2008-07-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

Chicago Fire Department to discipline 8 inspectors

Accused of taking cash for high-rise checks on weekends

Tribune staff report

12:45 PM CDT, July 18, 2008

Eight of the city's fire inspectors have been accused of taking cash from high-rise building operators to do weekend inspections that are more convenient for the operators, a Chicago Fire Department spokesman confirmed Friday.

"The investigation is complete," spokesman Larry Langford said, adding that the alleged offenses could lead to either suspension or termination. Outgoing Commissioner Raymond Orozco is weighing a recommendation from the Fire Department Labor Division, which will have the final say on any discipline, Langford said.

Orozco initiated the investigation, conducted by internal affairs, after documents indicated that inspectors were "being compensated for working on their days off," Langford said.

Those accused work for the Fire Prevention Bureau, which employs more than 100 inspectors. They focus on water-pump inspections at high-rise buildings and typically work Monday through Friday.

A tid bit from Crimefilenews.com

2008-07-09T19:48:00.000-07:00

Saturday, July 05, 2008

2016 Olympics In Chicago? Surely You Jest!

Chicago—These days Chicago can’t hold any public event without having Black on Black murders and shootings imported into these events from the ghetto.

Chicago’s gun laws only work to keep the law-abiding disarmed. The morale of Chicago’s undermanned and inadequate police department has never been lower. They would never be able to keep up with the tremendous crowds or the vast network of criminals preying on them.

Proper policing can only work as a partnership between citizens and police. Today there is no such partnership in Chicago. The law-abiding are unarmed and hiding in their bathtubs from the bullets because Liberal gun control never works.

Chicago’s corrupt politicians and bureaucrats can be counted on to play the extortion game against every business trying to get a piece of the huge financial windfall that comes with this event.

Holding the 2016 Olympics in Chicago will bring a violent crime bloodbath along with a huge public corruption crime wave that will begin right on the Fifth Floor of City Hall.

The Olympic Committee and the taxpayers of Chicago should say no thanks to having the games in Chicago.

I borrowed the clever homicide chalk graphic with the Olympic Torch from my friends at secondcitycop.com.

Illinois Gun Rally for the people

2008-07-08T19:58:00.000-07:00

There is a new wind blowing across the state of Illinois and it carries with it the fresh sweet fragrance of FREEDOM!

When?
July 11th, 2008
11am-1pm

Where?
James R. Thompson Center
100 W. Randolph St.
Chicago, IL 60601

The U.S. Supreme court is expected to announce a ruling any day which will officially recognizing the Second Amendment is an INDIVIDUAL right of the PEOPLE, and the Pro-Second Amendment Resolution continues to make progress across the state!

In light of that, The Illinois State Rifle Association and IllinoisCarry.com are sponsoring a Second Amendment Freedom Rally in the heart of downtown Chicago! This will be a historical event that any supporter of the Second Amendment will not want to miss! In the coming days please look for more details on transportation and parking options at ChicagoRally.isra.org. Please share this information with all your friends, family, and associates that support the Second Amendment.

Featured speaker:
Dr. Suzanna Hupp

The first rally of its kind in the history of Chicago

Join the grassroots movement that is sweeping the state of Illinois

A movement to restore the Second Amendment right of law abiding citizens to keep and bear arms!

Illegal operations

2008-07-08T19:41:00.000-07:00

as seen on http://www.shavedlongcock.blogspot.com/

Illegal Alien Man & Father To A Chicago Alderman PLEAS GUILTY TO MAKING FAKE ID'S FOR ILLEGALS & WILL PROBABLY GET DEPORTED BACK TO MEXICO

PHOTO: Chicago Ald. Ricardo Munoz - 22nd Ward

Alderman's father pleads guilty in fake ID case

BY NATASHA KORECKI Federal Courts Reporter
The father of Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd) pleaded guilty this afternoon to snapping photos used to make up fake IDs for illegal immigrants.
Elias Munoz, 63, of Bloomingdale, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring with others to make and sell phony driver’s licenses and other identification out of his photo studio, Nuevo Photo Munoz at 3105 W. 26th Street. Prosecutors say he was part of a $3 million annual fake document operation.
Prosecutors said he operated his business out of the Little Village Discount mall since the early 1990s, often trying to recruit customers by calling out random passersby.
Ald. Munoz has said he is estranged from his father, who has six children ranging in age from 13 to 46. Upon learning of charges against his father last year, Ald. Munoz stated: “Adults need to be held accountable for what they do.”
Munoz’s plea means he is now a convicted felon and will likely be deported after he serves out his sentence, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer said. Munoz, who faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 24.
Munoz was arrested in 2007 as part of a large-scale false document scheme that brought charges against 23 others.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle Nasser Weiss said Munoz ran his photo business seven days a week and collected $300 daily in cash on average to provide the photos for phony documents. He ran the scam from 1994 to 2007, she said.
At one point, he told Pallmeyer: “I wasn’t doing anything illegal because all I was doing was taking photos.”
But Munoz admitted he knew the photos were used to make up phony documents.
“It all depended on what the customer wanted,” he said.
Munoz refused to comment while walking out of the building alongside a family member.
But Munoz could be overheard lamenting about his sentencing date. “I have to wait until September?”

_____________________________________________

Making fake ID's for illegal aliens to rip off the government, this fake ID ring also was connected to murders and other crimes! Way to go Mr. Alderman! Your old man is just like you... a sneaky thief and crooked asshole!

Clinging To Our Rights

2008-06-29T18:42:00.001-07:00

Clinging To Our Rights

Thursday, June 26, 2008, will go down in history ... not as the day that the Supreme Court found a new right, but the day the Court recognized an ancient and unalienable right. The right to keep and bear arms has been with us since before the founding of this great nation. The dedication and perseverance of millions of American gun owners paid off when five justices agreed that not only does the Second Amendment protect our right to own and use firearms, but that we have a basic right of self-defense as well. The importance of the Heller decision cannot be overstated. Because of it, Americans across this country now know their right to own a gun is just as real and important as their right to speak freely or to worship God without government approval.

With the Supreme Court's monumental ruling in the Heller case, gun owners aren't going to rest. Armed with the judicial recognition that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm for any lawful purpose, we're taking the fight to the cities that have denied residents their Second Amendment rights. We're going after Chicago and those suburbs that have banned handguns. We're going after San Francisco and their laws that block Americans in poverty from owning a firearm. We're going after New York's licensing laws that allow the rich to exercise their rights, while telling working-class men and women that the Second Amendment is not for them.

We're not just going to cling to our recognized right to keep and bear arms, we're going to embrace it. We're going to make sure our right is strong, not out of arrogance, but out of concern that the fragile 5-4 decision could be ripped apart by lower court rulings, legislative overreach, and local politicians who put their elected office over the constitutional rights of their constituents.

We have to prepare for the other side to go after us, as well. The Court ruled that they may find some gun-control laws acceptable. Our opponents will try to exploit the language of the Heller decision for their own gain. Some are claiming that the court's decision was actually a victory for gun-control supporters. With our continued push, we'll make sure they're wrong ... again.

Reverse the players and see what happens

2008-06-21T18:07:00.000-07:00

http://www.shavedlongcock.blogspot.com/

Wonder what the outcry would be if the headline was BLACK WOMEN BANNED FROM McCain's Photo Shoot?

Muslims barred from picture at Obama event

Two Muslim women at Barack Obama’s rally in Detroit on Monday were barred from sitting behind the podium by campaign volunteers seeking to prevent the women’s headscarves from appearing in photographs or on television with the candidate.

The campaign has apologized to the women, both Obama supporters who said they felt betrayed by their treatment at the rally.

“This is of course not the policy of the campaign. It is offensive and counter to Obama’s commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. “We sincerely apologize for the behavior of these volunteers.”

Building a human backdrop to a political candidate, a set of faces to appear on television and in photographs, is always a delicate exercise in demographics and political correctness. Advance staffers typically pick supporters out of a crowd to reflect the candidate’s message.

When Obama won the North Carolina primary amid questions about his ability to connect with white voters, for instance, he stood in front of a group of middle-aged white women waving small American flags.

What would happen if roles were reversed?

2008-06-03T19:44:00.000-07:00

Let someone say something about a black candidate

St. Sabina pastor says he misspoke in sermon mocking Hillary Clinton

Pfleger: 'Greatest sin against God' is racism, not America

Rev. Michael Pfleger apologized to his parishioners Sunday at St. Sabina Roman Catholic Church for the controversy sparked by a recent sermon. (Tribune photo by Nancy Stone / June 2, 2008)

Rev. Michael Pfleger went on the defensive again Monday, saying his tongue slipped when he said "America is the greatest sin against God" during his headline-making guest sermon at Trinity United Church of Christ.

In the sermon mocking Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), he meant to say racism is the greatest sin, said the activist and Roman Catholic priest. Pfleger is pastor at St. Sabina, a mostly black South Side parish.

After his words began to circulate among conservative bloggers, Pfleger issued a statement Monday saying it's clear from the entire 58-second clip that the wording was an accident.

"I inadvertently inserted the word 'America' in the wrong place and was not even aware of it until right now," he said. "If you hear the whole phrase, it is evident what I meant and that it was a mix-up of words. Because things are so quickly judged right now and easily misinterpreted, I thought I would put this out to provide clarity."

annther part of Pfleger's sermon surfaced last week in which the priest suggested the former first lady is a white elitist who felt entitled to the Democratic nomination for president.

Pfleger's impersonation reignited a debate about Sen. Barack Obama's (D-Ill.) longtime church that had nearly quieted down after controversial remarks by now-retired Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr. made the rounds earlier this spring. Obama worshiped for more than 20 years at Trinity before terminating his membership over the weekend.

In the latest video clip, Pfleger calls racism "America's greatest addiction," then adds: "I also believe that America is the greatest sin against God."

The declaration generated confusion, including boos from the pews of Trinity, where Pfleger had been invited to speak on race.

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa," Pfleger said, clearly taken aback by the congregation's disapproval. "If the greatest command is to love, then a sin against love must be the greatest sin against God who is love and who calls us to love one another. So then, this greatest sin against God—racism—is as natural as the air we breathe."

mbrachear@tribune.com

Obama Uses Police Memorial for Porta Potties

2008-06-03T11:55:00.000-07:00

PORTLAND, OR – Police officers in Portland, Oregon, are still waiting for an apology from Barack Obama after campaign staffers of his recent rally in Portland, Oregon, setup porta potties directly on top of the Portland Police Memorial, which honors the agency’s 25 fallen police officers.

The Obama rally drew a crowd of over 75,000 people.

Officer Thomas Brennan, who was working overtime at the rally, took a picture of the offending toilets, with the American flag still at half mast because of Police Officers Memorial Day, directly behind them. The local law enforcement memorial service had been held at the site only five days earlier.

Despite a large amount of open areas in the vicinity, the campaign staffers claimed the toilets were placed on the memorial for safety reasons to accommodate wheelchair access.

The Obama campaign has not responded to requests for an apology.

Want to express your outrage and ask for an apology? Contact Senator Obama here.

Immigration prosecutions hit record levels

2008-06-02T17:39:00.000-07:00

http://www.shavedlongcock.blogspot.com/

Immigration prosecutions hit record levels

U.S. Border Patrol agents stand guard over immigrants taken into custody near Laredo, Texas, in January 2006. Under Operation Streamline, criminal prosecutions have risen.

Critics say increased use of criminal charges is straining legal system REALLY? Well I say strain it to the limit! Lock up as many as we can!

Federal law enforcement agencies have increased criminal prosecutions of immigration violators to record levels, in part by filing minor charges against virtually every person caught illegally crossing some stretches of the U.S.-Mexico border, according to new U.S. data.

Officials say the threat of prison and a criminal record is a powerful deterrent, one that is helping drive down illegal immigration along the nearly 2,000-mile frontier between the United States and Mexico. Skeptics say that the government lacks the resources to sustain the strategy on the border and that the effort is diverting resources from more serious crimes such as drug and human smuggling.

Before Operation Streamline, as the program is known, most Mexican nationals caught at the border were fingerprinted and returned to Mexico without criminal charges. Since 2005, people other than Mexicans are generally held until removed.

Posted by ShavedLongcock at 3:18 AM 0 comments

Chicago --Rev Michael Pfleger from crimefilenews

2008-06-01T16:37:00.001-07:00

Rev. Michael Pfleger And The IRS May Be Meeting Soon

Chicago --Rev Michael Pfleger has his political pulpit at Chicago’s South Side, Roman Catholic, St. Sabina’s Church. Pfleger has been arm in arm and lock-step with Mayor Richard M. Daley and other far Left politicians in the political arena. Pfleger’s agenda seems to be more about saving political candidates rather than the souls of his flock.

According to recent revelations in the Chicago Sun-Times, Pfleger gave Barak Obama's campaign $1,500 between 1995 and 2001, including $200 in April 2001, just three months after Obama steered $225,000 in grants to St. Sabina programs.

When tax exempt religions push political agendas and candidates the pirates at the IRS will simply take away their free ride.

Now Pfleger claims he’s received thousands of death threats in connection with presidential candidate Barak Obama’s latest pastor problems. Pfleger also got a well-deserved public spanking from Cardinal Francis George for his latest pro-Obama political antics.

Will Pfleger be killed and become a venerated Catholic martyr? We will just have to wait and see. Somehow I suspect Pfleger will just find himself defrocked and ignored for being the crackpot he is.

Business, Mall And Employer Rules On Concealed Weapons

2008-05-04T17:49:00.000-07:00

From crimefilenews.com

Gun violence and fears of armed confrontations inside businesses, malls and restaurants have caused massive private property gun bans in America.

At first blush this seems an issue of private property rights but it’s more about simple fear and a poorly thought out solutions.

Workplace violence was never a problem until our industries disarmed their security people. 45 years ago nearly every security guard in America was armed and crime was insignificant compared to today.

Many say that times have changed and they’re right. Changes were made in the way we deal with crime and gun rights.

As anti-gun rights hysteria spread in America the guards were slowly disarmed. Workplace violence became a new phenomena facilitated by that disarmament.

Las Vegas hotels and Casinos only had armed security until the corporations gained control from those so-called Mob owners in the early 1980s. Take-over robberies never happened and crime in these places was low.

Once the corporate bosses disarmed their security, tourists were being killed during brazen daylight take-over robberies. Casino crime in general was on a huge increase with unarmed security.

In recent years Las Vegas hotels and casinos have quietly rearmed their security staffs by significant percentages and the tourists are much safer.

We’ve learned that laws don’t disarm criminals and neither do the house rules of businesses, malls and restaurants. The house gun prohibitions do disarm the most respectful employees and law-abiding patrons.

Unarmed security officers easily become unarmed hostages and additional victims. Unarmed guards are of little or no value anywhere they are employed.

Among those respectful and law-abiding employees and patrons are well trained military veterans, former cops and experienced hunters and sports shooters.

Perhaps it’s time to change the odds in favor neutralizing deadly threats by ending the unenforceable and meaningless rules. Guns do save lives.

The Law says

2008-05-01T10:46:00.000-07:00

A person who enters and lives in a country in violation of that country's laws.

Illegal immigration refers to immigration across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country. Under this definition, an illegal immigrant is a foreigner who either has illegally crossed an international political border, be it by land, water, or air, or a foreigner who has entered a country legally but then overstays his/her visa. In politics, the term may imply a larger set of social issues and time constraints with disputed consequences in areas such as economy, social welfare, education, health care, slavery, prostitution, crime, legal protections, voting rights, public services, and human rights. Illegal emigration would be leaving a country in a manner that violates the laws of the country being exite

151 Congressmen Derive Financial Profit From War

2008-04-29T05:14:00.000-07:00

151 Congressmen Derive Financial Profit From War

Blood money stains the hands of more than 25% of members of the U.S. House and Senate

By Ralph Forbes

Who profits from the Iraq war? More than a quarter of senators and congressmen have invested at least $196 million of their own money in companies doing business with the Department of Defense (DoD) that profit from the death and destruction in Iraq.

According to the latest reports, 151 members of Congress invested close to a quarter-billion in companies that received defense contracts of at least $5 million in 2006. These companies got more than $275.6 billion from the government in 2006, or $755 million per day, according to FedSpending.org, a website of the watchdog group OMBWatch.

Congressmen gave themselves a loophole so they only have to report their assets in broad ranges. Thus, they can be off as much as 160 percent. (Try giving the IRS an estimate like that.) In 2004, the first full year after the present Iraq war began, Republican and Democratic lawmakers—both hawks and doves—invested between $74.9 million and $161.3 million in companies under contract with the DoD. In 2006 Democrats had at least $3.7 million invested in the defense sector alone, compared to the Republicans’ “only” $577,500. As the war raged on, so did the billions of profits—and personal investments by Congress members in war contractors, which increased 5 percent from 2004 to 2006.

Investments in these contractors yielded Congress members between $15.8 million and $62 million in personal income from 2004 through 2006, through dividends, capital gains, royalties and interest. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), who are two of Congress’s wealthiest members, were among the lawmakers who garnered the most income from war contractors between 2004 and 2006: Sensenbrenner got at least $3.2 million and Kerry reaped at least $2.6 million.

Members of the Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services committees which oversee the Iraq war had between $32 million and $44 million invested in companies with DoD contracts.

War hawk Sen. Joe Lieberman (IConn.), chairman of the defense-related
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, had at least $51,000 invested in these companies in 2006.

Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), who voted for Bush’s war, had stock in defense companies, such as Honeywell, Boeing and Raytheon, but sold the stock in May 2007.

Of the 151 members whose investments are tied to the “defense” (war)
industry, as far as we know, not one of them offered to donate their bloodstained profits to the national treasury to offset the terrible debt they have imposed. Has one of them even offered to donate one cent of their war profits to lessen the debt that increases more than $1 million a minute?

When our boys and girls are wounded the government bills them to return their reenlistment bonus. They have to return any pay they received while they were hospitalized. They have to pay for their helmets and uniforms that are destroyed in the hell of war. But they keep on fighting for these politicians’ right to keep their war profits.

• Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) $3,001,006 to $5,015,001
• Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) $250,001 to $500,000
• Rep. Kenny Ewell Marchant (R-Tex.) $162,074 to $162,074
• Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) $115,002 to $300,000
• Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) $115,002 to $300,000
• Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) $100,870 to $100,870
• Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) $65,646 to $65,646
• Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) $50,008 to $227,000
• Rep. Sam Farr (D-Calif.) $50,001 to $100,000
• Rep. Stephen Ira Cohen (D-Tenn.) $45,003 to $150,000

Contact freelance writer Ralph Forbes at justrite@ipa.net.

(Issue # 18, May 5, 2008)

MAYOR DALEY IS PISSED-http://rogersparkbench.blogspot.com/

2008-04-25T17:56:00.000-07:00

http://rogersparkbench.blogspot.com/

MAYOR DALEY IS PISSED

The mayor we love to call "Dick" will hold an "emergency summit" today to stop all those bad people from being bad.

That's right, Mayor Daley believes in magic. He thinks that getting a bunch of fellow magicians in the same room will magically slow down, or even stop, the violence that has been a part of Chicago's background for like, well forever. But don't worry. Dick's emergency summit today will undoubtedly be more effective and longer lasting than the last one he held in 1992.

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Mayor Richard M. Daley on Friday plans to convene a group of officials from schools, religious organizations, and social service agencies to talk about how to combat a wave of violence in the city that has been dominating the headlines throughout the past week. MORE at CBS2 Chicago...

ALSO SEE: WE NEED MORE GUNS, NOT FEWER

Couldnt have said it better..........................

2008-04-22T19:21:00.000-07:00

crimefilenews

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Daley Vows Enforcement Action To Curb Chicago’s Latest Gang Violence!

Daly told reporters he and his new Police Superintendent are going to take action to slow down the epidemic of shootings plaguing the Windy City’s Black neighborhoods..

What’s Daley’s plan? As usual Daley will have the cops out searching far and wide for more middle-aged, White, gun collectors who own handguns banned in Chicago for decades. Of course these collectors only crime is to collect firearms.

The usual result of Daley’s war on gangs is that the gangs win absolute dominance and control over the entire city since Daley does his best to make sure only criminals have guns.

Daley will never live long enough to learn the simple truth, that his gun control efforts only make the problem much worse.

Blaming Mexican Violence On America’s Second Amendment

2008-04-22T19:19:00.000-07:00

www.crimefilenews.com

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Blaming Mexican Violence On America’s Second Amendment

The same country that shamelessly exports their violence, drugs and poverty to America is now loudly whining. Mexico’s corrupt and vile government is blaming our freedom and liberty for their violent drug war problems.

They demand we do more to curtail smuggling of firearms to Mexico while they do nothing at all to curtail the smuggling of illegal immigrants, drugs and fugitives into our country.

It seems that a fence dividing our nations with 100% security cooperation between both our countries is the ultimate solution to everyone’s problem. Mexico’s criminals wouldn’t be able to smuggle anything in or out of the United States or back into Mexico.

Our own Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has chimed in with their own self-serving ideas for Mexico’s problems with gun violence. The BATFE solution is a blank check from our taxpayers to uncontrollably increase their powers, assets and manpower like every government agency that ever existed. The BATFE has wasted far too many tax dollars on their unconstitutional mission anyway.

The usual knee-jerk solution offered for every problem is to trash American’s rights to defend themselves, families and country.

America’s freedom is not the cause of Mexico’s violence problems. Mexico corrupt politicians have made sure only criminals have weapons long ago. The result of Mexico’s gun control is that their criminals easily dominate the entire country.

Another real and incredibly simple solution is for both countries to just get out of the drug enforcement business. Of course that would forever cut off the corruption Gravy Train for both of our nations. Peace and prosperity would return as the drug dealers, Lords and Czars all have to suddenly look for a career change.

All the laws in the world have not made a dent into drug abuse. Perhaps we can redirect some of the wasted enforcement money to the medical treatment of those addicted souls that really want it.

Ex-alderman, ex-con, ex-Dem, Jones seeks political comeback

2008-04-21T19:46:00.000-07:00

From http://www.chicagogop.com/

by Lorene Yue - ChicagoBusiness

Former Alderman Virgil Jones' latest attempt to reclaim public office after serving time in prison lasted about two weeks.

Mr. Jones, a former police officer who served as alderman for the city's 15th Ward from 1991 until he was convicted of extortion and tax charges in 1999, had attempted to fill the vacancy on the ballot for state representative in the 32nd District.

He had even switched parties, from Democrat to Republican.

State law does not prohibit convicted felons from seeking office - unlike municipal law, which prevented Mr. Jones from reclaiming his aldermanic seat, a move he attempted last year. He was rebuffed by the city Board of Elections, and when he took his case to the Illinois Supreme Court, the judges sided with the board.

Mr. Jones said Thursday he will withdraw his nomination to run on the 32nd District Republican ballot after conferring with the leaders of the Cook County and city Republican parties. His nomination application was filed 10 days ago with the Illinois State Board of Elections.

"It's what is best for the party," Mr. Jones said. "There will be another time (to run for office)."

Though he was a member of the Democratic Party for years, Mr. Jones said his switch to the Republican Party represents his true political ideology.

"When I was a younger man, I was a member of the Young Republicans," he said. "In the city of Chicago, you can only get elected (if you're a Democrat)."

His previous attempt to reclaim public office came earlier this year, when he tried to secure a spot as the Republican committeeman for the 15th Ward.

Mr. Jones' application, supported by two Republican committeemen, touched off a spate of infighting within the Cook County and Chicago GOP when his intentions were publicized.

"He was not a consensus pick of the Republican Party," said Lee Roupas, chairman of the Cook County GOP. "It was an unfortunate situation."

Mr. Jones' application was supported by longtime friends William Delay, who was recently elected Republican committeeman for the 18th Ward, and Jacoby Crutcher Jr., a newly elected Republican committeeman for the 20th Ward. Mr. Jones' criminal record should not be a factor, Mr. Delay said.

"I feel that everybody should have another chance," said Mr. Delay. "He's entitled to another chance, just like everybody else."

Mr. Jones spent three years in prison after being convicted of extortion in the 1990s' FBI investigation dubbed Operation Silver Shovel, which exposed political corruption. The probe ended with 18 convictions, six of them sitting or former aldermen.

Mr. Jones maintains his innocence. "I didn't take any money. That was a lie," he said.

He's also preparing to file an appeal to have his conviction overturned. "I want to serve the people. I know what the people need."

HDO info from Chicagoclout.com

2008-04-19T05:56:00.000-07:00

HDO Connections

How come somebody has not mentioned the fact that the recently indicted John Resa is Al Sanchez's Cousin?
Al Sanchez's mother maiden name is Mary Resa...The now Mary (Resa)Sanchez works in Alderman John Pope's office as a secretary and has been there for at least 5 years. I thought city employees have to live in the City of Chicago because Mary Sanchez lives in Hammond, Indiana?

The article came out about a city inspector who got indicted and was found guilty ? His name is Miguel Diaz! Nobody mentioned he is HDO?

One more important issue! An article came out it the paper last week about a principal from a southside high school! George Washington H.S. (10th Ward)! The name of the new principal is Florence (Flo) Gonzalez and she is Al Sanchez's fiance. She has been Al Sanchez's girlfriend for about 7 years.

Al Sanchez's son Mathew(Matt)Sanchez got a full scholarship from State Representative Eddie Acevedo... (each Rep. is given four full scholarships a year) Al Sanchez had Matthew Sanchez lye on his application by saying he lived in Eddie Acevedo's district...I believed he used the address of the now indicted Aaron Delvalle who lives in Pilsen?

What ever happened to the article about "votes for city services?"

Sheriff Joe Run Out Of Arizona

2008-04-18T18:53:00.001-07:00

From crimefilenews.com

Friday, April 18, 2008

Sheriff Joe Run Out Of Arizona Town Before Sundown--Not Quite.

Click On Picture To Enlarge.

Just a little Southeast of Phoenix Is the Town of Guadalupe. The town has a population of poor and ignorant Hispanic and Yaqui Native American Indians. Since America’s Drug War began there has always been an over abundant population of Illegal Aliens here along with a high crime rate.

Guadalupe has a local government with a history of corruption. They had their own police department run by criminals and the local magistrate could and would fix anything.

After a law enforcement crises in the 1980s they disbanded what was left of their police force and contracted for law enforcement services with the Maricopa County Sheriff.

Recently, Sheriff Joe Arpaio known for being America’s Toughest Sheriff has been attacked by town politicians, clergy and citizens for enforcing the law of the land. The town’s politicians want to select what laws will or won’t be enforced.

I have my own issues with the sheriff about the treatment of prisoners in his jails who have yet to be convicted of anything. That’s the people accused of crimes who are unable to post bail and be released during the one to three years it takes to get their day in court. Often the lies of supposed victims and witnesses are exposed at trials and the former suspects are set free. Sheriff Joe punishes everyone in his jails.

The other issue I have is Arpaio’s publicity stunts are often over the top. Examples are the pink underwear, prison stripes and chain gangs. Again being tough on innocents accused along with convicted criminals is wrong.

The latest rhubarb is over Immigration Law violations. Guadalupe’s politicians think Arizona is part of Mexico. Of course they demand welfare, education and medical benefits meant for American citizens and lawful aliens.

Guadalupe wants Sheriff Joe to turn his head and wink at the violations while taxpayers are soaked paying for medical care, schools, food and imprisonment of dangerous felons who sneaked across our borders.

Sheriff Joe has given the town 180 days to find alternative police services to their liking.

I’m firmly with Sheriff Joe on this one. Guadalupe deserves what they get.

The following is a press release from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office:

Recent actions and statements made by the Town of Guadalupe against the Sheriff's Office are unjust and ignore the professional law enforcement services provided by the Sheriff's Office for the past 30 years. These criticisms are not only a disservice to the deputies serving the Town but reflect poorly on the community as a whole. The current law enforcement contract provides 1.66 beats which includes patrol, responses to emergency calls, arrests of suspects, traffic enforcement and accident investigations, investigation of alleged crimes, property and evidence safekeeping, up to date reporting systems, dispatch and police communications services for a total charge to the Town of $1,186,000. At no additional cost, the Sheriff's Office provides canine, SWAT, posse and helicopter search and rescue. As with all law enforcement contracts, the Sheriff's Office only charges the Town for actual cost recovery. Neither the Sheriffs Office nor Maricopa County profit from the payment received for law enforcement services to the Town.

The Office has provided the community with proactive crime suppression enforcing all laws of the State of Arizona on a quarterly basis. These additional enforcement activities have been successful in reinforcing the safety of the community. Our recent activity resulted in 45 individuals arrested and booked. Of the 45 arrests, 18 individuals were warrant arrests (a total of 28 warrants were cleared); 6 individuals were arrested for drug violation; 9 individuals, after being interviewed, were determined to be illegal immigrants; 12 individuals were arrested for miscellaneous other charges. In addition, 22 misdemeanor citations and 120 traffic citations were issued.

The Sheriff's Office is not a sanctuary law enforcement agency. The Office does not pick and choose which laws it will or will not enforce. The Sheriff's Office is totally committed to enforcing all laws fairly and equitably. Statements made by you and the Phoenix mayor reflect a disturbing discrimination and selective enforcement agenda that certain laws passed by the legislature and voted upon by the citizens of Maricopa County should not be enforced. As the position of the Sheriff's Office is one of dedication to full law enforcement and the Town's position is one of selective and self serving law enforcement, the Sheriff's Office has decided to invoke the termination clause of its law enforcement agreement with the Town of Guadalupe.

This letter will serve as the 180 day written notice. This should give the Town sufficient time to study and research the law enforcement needs of the community and explore other law enforcement alternatives.

Sincerely,
Joseph M. Arpaio. Sheriff

Charlton Heston will be missed

2008-04-06T12:58:00.000-07:00

Charlton Heston, 84; Oscar-winning actor played larger-than-life figures

The Oscar winner played Moses and Michelangelo, then later became a darling of conservatism.

Charlton Heston, the Oscar-winning actor who achieved stardom playing larger-than-life figures including Moses, Michelangelo and Andrew Jackson and went on to become an unapologetic gun advocate and darling of conservative causes, has died. He was 84.

Heston died Saturday at his Beverly Hills home, said family spokesman Bill Powers. In 2002, he had been diagnosed with symptoms similar to those of Alzheimer's disease.

With a booming baritone voice, the tall, ruggedly handsome actor delivered his signature role as the prophet Moses in Cecil B. DeMille's 1956 Biblical extravaganza "The Ten Commandments," raising a rod over his head as God miraculously parts the Red Sea.

Heston won the Academy Award for best actor in another religious blockbuster in 1959's "Ben-Hur," racing four white horses at top speed in one of the cinema's legendary action sequences: the 15-minute chariot race in which his character, a proud and noble Jew, competes against his childhood Roman friend.

Heston stunned the entertainment world in August 2002 when he made a poignant and moving videotaped address announcing his illness.

Late in life, Heston's stature as a political firebrand overshadowed his acting. He became demonized by gun-control advocates and liberal Hollywood when he became president of the National Rifle Assn. in 1998.

Heston answered his critics in a now-famous pose that mimicked Moses' parting of the Red Sea. But instead of a rod, Heston raised a flintlock over his head and challenged his detractors to pry the rifle "from my cold, dead hands."

Like the chariot race and the bearded prophet Moses, Heston will be best remembered for several indelible cinematic moments: playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with Orson Welles in the oil fields in "Touch of Evil," his rant at the end of "Planet of the Apes" when he sees the destruction of the Statue of Liberty, his discovery that "Soylent Green is people!" in the sci-fi hit "Soylent Green" and the dead Spanish hero on his steed in "El Cid."

The New Yorker's film critic Pauline Kael, in her review of 1968's "Planet of the Apes," wrote: "All this wouldn't be so forceful or so funny if it weren't for the use of Charlton Heston in the [leading] role. With his perfect, lean-hipped, powerful body, Heston is a god-like hero; built for strength, he is an archetype of what makes Americans win. He represents American power -- and he has the profile of an eagle."

For decades, the 6-foot-2 Heston was a towering figure in the world of movies, television and the stage.

"He was the screen hero of the 1950s and 1960s, a proven stayer in epics, and a pleasing combination of piercing blue eyes and tanned beefcake," David Thomson wrote in his book "The New Biographical Dictionary of Film."

Heston also was blessed by working with legendary directors such as DeMille in "The Greatest Show on Earth" and again in "The Ten Commandments," Welles in "Touch of Evil," Sam Peckinpah in "Major Dundee," William Wyler in "The Big Country" and "Ben-Hur," George Stevens in "The Greatest Story Ever Told," Franklin Schaffner in "The War Lord" and "Planet of the Apes" and Anthony Mann in "El Cid."

"Four or five of those men would be on anybody's all-time great list," Heston said in a 1983 interview. "And if I picked up one scrap, one piece of business, from each of them, then today I would be a hell of a director."

John Charles Carter was born Oct. 4, 1923, in Evanston, Ill. His father, Russell Whitford Carter, moved the family to St. Helen, Mich., where Heston lived an almost idyllic boyhood, hunting and fishing.

He entered Northwestern University's School of Speech in 1941 on a scholarship from the drama club. While there, he fell in love with a young speech student named Lydia Clarke. They were married March 14, 1944, after he had enlisted in the Army Air Forces. Their union was one of the most durable in Hollywood, lasting 64 years in a town known for its highly publicized divorces, romances and remarriages.

Theatrical name choice

After the war, he went on countless auditions as a stage actor in New York. His professional name was a combination of his mother's maiden name, Charlton, and the last name of his stepfather, Chester Heston.

He made his Broadway debut opposite legendary stage actress Katharine Cornell in Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra" as Proculeius, Caesar's aide-de-camp.

Heston found steady employment in the new medium of television. His big break occurred in 1949, when he appeared in the CBS live "Studio One" production of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar."

In 1949, he attracted the attention of veteran film producer Hal Wallis. Without an audition, Wallis signed Heston to an independent contract for five pictures with the option he could accept other roles.

election 08

2008-04-05T12:46:00.000-07:00

Frank Coconate wins first round

2008-04-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

Ex-Chicago employee, alderman's son among Shakman claimants

Both said they came up against city's patronage system and lost

By Dan Mihalopoulos and Todd Lighty |Tribune reporters

9:52 PM CDT, March 28, 2008

A former city worker who lost his job after loudly criticizing Mayor Richard Daley is among the big winners in the $12 million settlement that City Hall must pay victims of its corrupt personnel process.

Frank Coconate, a 27-year city employee, learned Friday that he will receive $75,000 from the settlement fund established after federal authorities uncovered a fraudulent system of hiring and promotions that favored Daley loyalists.

The settlement fund was part of an agreement between the city and lawyer Michael Shakman, who has fought a decades-long legal battle against political hiring. The $12 million pot was divvied up among more than 1,400 claimants by Noelle Brennan, the lawyer appointed to monitor city hiring by the judge in the Shakman case.

Brennan said Coconate presented compelling evidence that the Daley administration denied him promotions over the years because of his political stance.

"This was linked to his refusal to drop out of elections when he was a candidate and his refusal to support those candidates backed by the regular Democrats," she said.

Brennan said Coconate also showed that the city started disciplinary proceedings against him, which ultimately led to his being fired, because he was outspoken about politics and hiring.

Coconate, who ran unsuccessfully for state representative, said the mayor's political operatives on the Northwest Side offered him a promotion to house drain inspector in the city's Water Department if he agreed to drop out of a race against a Daley-backed candidate. Coconate said he declined the deal and subsequently lost out on promotion to less experienced co-workers with clout.

"The punishment was because I was going against Daley's wishes," Coconate said.

The Daley administration fired Coconate in 2005, alleging he falsified reports of his whereabouts on the job. He appealed his firing to the city's Human Resources Board, but a hearing officer recommended in August that he not be rehired.

Another claimant who will get $75,000 from the fund is Jay Stone, son of Ald. Bernard Stone (50th). The younger Stone lost a 2003 City Council election in the 32nd Ward to Ted Matlak, an incumbent backed by a campaign army of patronage workers.

dmihalopoulos@tribune.com

tlighty@tribune.com

The Fox guarding the hen house?

2008-03-28T13:13:00.000-07:00

And we actually believe this BS

Fired city investigator cleared of shoplifting charge

She left store with groceries to get her debit card, lawyer argued

By Monique Garcia |Tribune reporter

12:21 PM CDT, March 28, 2008

A Chicago city employee who was fired from her job in the inspector general's office after being arrested for shoplifting was acquitted Thursday of the charge, her attorney said Friday.

Tracy Buckley, 36, who was an assistant chief investigator, was charged with misdemeanor theft after about $100 worth of merchandise was stolen from a Whole Foods Market, 6020 N. Cicero Ave., in January.

Her attorney, Ron Menaker, said Judge Stuart Katz found Buckley not guilty of the charge Thursday.

Menaker had argued that there was an "innocent explanation" for Buckley's actions. She had inadvertently attempted to leave the store with the merchandise to retrieve her debit card from her vehicle in the parking lot, he said.

Menaker said it was unclear if Buckley would try to get her job back with the office, which investigates misconduct by city workers.&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;Contacted Friday, Inspector General David Hoffman said he had no comment regarding the case.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/div&amp;gt;

Another Political hack gone

2008-03-28T13:11:00.000-07:00

Emergency director Ruiz moved to tech job

March 28, 2008

BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter

The $162,912-a-year executive director of Chicago's Office of Emergency Management and Communications was kicked upstairs Friday after only nine months on the job amid a blitzkrieg of complaints from disgruntled underlings.

Tony Ruiz, a former lineman for the city's Department of Streets and Sanitation, will now serve as the city's chief technology operations officer overseeing GPS, electronic inventory and biometric systems.

The surprise reassignment comes at a time when 911 center employees have been complaining privately to the Chicago Sun-Times about everything from broken chairs, job application tampering and promotions irregularities to excessive overtime and sexual harassment by 911 supervisors.

Morale reportedly took a further nosedive when Ruiz handed out uneven punishment to a pair of 911 dispatchers accused of failing to notify police about a brawl at a Southwest Side Park last summer. And underlings accused Ruiz of “giving” Ald. Sandi Jackson (7th) a $4,000 digital radio so she could monitor snow removal and emergency operations in her ward.

The radio was returned after the Chicago Sun-Times started asking questions.

Ruiz could not be reached for comment about his reassignment.

Hispanic aldermen who have complained about a shortage of Hispanics in the mayor's cabinet were taken aback by the reassignment to an obscure job.

Ruiz will be replaced on a temporary basis by 911 center veteran and technology expert Jim Argiropoulos.

“It bothers the community that we're putting aside talented [Hispanic] people without giving a good explanation. I don't know why he would take on that role when we need him as an individual who can handle so many emergencies we have at the 911 center,” said Ald. George Cardenas (12th).

The shake-up was announced in a press release distributed Friday, when bad news is traditionally buried. In it, Daley tried to put the best face on the cabinet shuffle.

“As part of our commitment to better manage government and protect taxpayers, we continue to identify ways to incorporate management efficiencies into our citywide operations. Having a point-person to coordinate operational uniformity across all departments will help us improve our processes and identify further economies of scale,” the mayor said.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported last month that a pair of police communications operators at the 911 center had raked in $114,591 and $113,136 in overtime last year — double their annual salaries — raising renewed questions about staffing levels that were supposed to be resolved two years ago.

As for the other complaints, OEMC spokesperson Jennifer Martinez said the chairs are being replaced, the radio has been returned and overtime is being reduced. She flatly denied the allegations about hiring and promotions irregularities and alleged sexual harassment.

From Crime file news

2008-03-27T20:30:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Help SECOND CITY COP Save The Chicago Police Department

I must say that the City of Chicago has lost most its luster. Crooked politicians and their contractors have bled the city bone dry as they magically escape criminal investigation or Indictment. . Chicago has become the most unattractive place to live and work for all but the super rich or government freeloaders.

The once proud police department has been decimated through affirmative action and the massive lowering of hiring standards. Clout provides sub-standard officers promotions and a job for life or at least until age 63. Clout always was a help but most officers needed at least a little of their own merits to succeed. Not anymore.

The morale of the department is reflected in the overall lousy appearance of the officers. The officer’s grooming and image today is beyond saddening.

The FOP is only a group of yes men for the politicians collecting inflated salaries forked over by working cops. The rank and file can’t seem to overcome residency requirements, mediocre pay and little hope for respect or any improvement at all.

One day along came an anonymous blogger who created a first rate communications system for all officers to be able to penetrate and expose corruption, favoritism and bad management.

Every boss knows that stepping out of line will get him or her some well deserved attention. Second City Cop has given the street patrolman real power. 7000 people a day visit the site to find out what what’s going on and just how they may be affected in their professional lives. Officers commenting can reveal things that their bosses seek to cover up.

If the rank and file officers are to ever have pride again in their city and job it will because of Second City Cop and the other likeminded officers.

A concerted effort to get rid of Ed Burke, his puppet mayor and a truly worthless city council has to begin. Next their political hacks, and their cronies need to be removed. If all the cops would follow their oaths and expose the politician’s deeds they know about a great change would take place and the city may be a place working people would want to raise their families again.

Robert Cooley was a cop turned crooked lawyer turned white knight. He brought down a lot of slimy officials. If there were only ten Robert Cooleys instead of just one, we’d still have Meigs Field, far lower taxes and money to improve life in a dying metropolis.

Second City Cop is a true hero.

Crime file news- Penn & teller tell it

2008-03-23T09:43:00.000-07:00

http://www.crimefilenews.com/2008/03/penn-teller-say-gun-control-is-bullst.html

http://cdn.liveleak.com/FLVPlayer.swf?xml=http://www.liveleak.com/play_flash_xml.php%3ftoken=409_1176853869%2526embed=1

False media story

2008-03-22T07:57:00.000-07:00

Monday, March 17, 2008

Los Angeles Times Runs Fake Photo As A Pro-gun Ban Propaganda Machine

In today’s L.A. Times they ran this inflammatory photo with a story about the D.C vs Heller case being argued before the United States Supreme Court. The photograph is a fake! The “illegal handgun” is no more than a toy.

The picture was credited to Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press. The caption is as follows: “A 14-year old who asked not to be named had this illegal handgun on him in southeast Washington on Tuesday, March 11, 2008. Under a 31-year-old law in the nation's capital, ownership of handguns is barred for nearly everyone except law enforcement. The ban is up for review in the Supreme Court.”

The picture is of a German made RTS tear gas delivery device that uses a small amount of gunpowder to deliver CN powder to an attacker. The gun and several like it were manufactured in the early 1960’s in Germany. These guns were no longer made or sold when aerosol spray cans were found to be far superior tear gas delivery system to these tear gas pistols.

The RTS was never considered a firearm by ATF It was freely imported, unrestricted and sold by mail and available in American novelty shops. Needless to say nobody made or sold the ammunition for this obsolete gun in several decades.

The RTS was far less capable of converting to fire ammunition then a ball point pen.

The whole L.A. Times Story can be found here.

From crime file news...............................

2008-03-20T15:26:00.000-07:00

The Supreme Court DC Gun Ban Arguments Were A lot Of Hot Air

The lawyers stepped up to make their arguments over One hour and 37 minutes. The Justices as always took the wind out of the lawyer’s sails by interrupting them with questions and stealing time from their arguments. We can only hope the justices are really reading the mountains of briefs filed in the case.

The pro-gun rights plaintiff’s lawyer arguments contained a message that the Second Amendment somehow meant the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be UNREASONABLY infringed. The pro-gun rights argument was far behind the tone of the published opinion of the DC Court of Appeals that upheld our Second Amendment rights.

As usual we really can’t draw conclusions as to the court’s direction based on today’s session. We have to rely on the usual benchmarks and hope we have a five to four split on the predictable political leanings of the justices themselves.

I can only see an opinion that says the Second Amendment is and individual right. I don’t see the court suggesting that the right is somehow limiting through 25,000 gun laws that are on our law books. Keeping and bearing of arms by the people is either a right or it is not.

Over the next three months we will hear the court speak.

Business as usual in Chicago

2008-03-20T08:23:00.000-07:00

Contract swindler James Duff is banned from Chicago business for only 3 years

Imprisoned businessman with Daley ties will be eligible to bid for city work before his prison term is up

By Todd Lighty and Laurie Cohen |Tribune reporters

12:07 AM CDT, March 20, 2008

Mayor Richard Daley's administration has banned the head of Windy City Maintenance and two others convicted of contract fraud from doing business with the city for three years, despite a recommendation from the inspector general that they never be allowed to do work for City Hall again.

James Duff, who cheated the city and insurance companies out of millions of dollars, should be subject to the stiffest penalty outlined in policies drawn up in 2005 following a series of contracting scandals, Inspector General David Hoffman said Wednesday.

Duff, a member of a mob-connected family with strong ties to the mayor, became the face of contracting fraud in Daley's administration after creating phony minority-owned and woman-owned businesses to get city work.

A federal prosecutor once called Duff "the epitome of greed" and a city official previously gave assurances that City Hall had no interest in ever again doing business with Duff-related companies.

After Duff was sent to prison in 2005 for racketeering and fraud, Hoffman recommended in late 2006 that Duff and two co-defendants, William Stratton and Terrence Dolan, receive lifetime bans.

Daley warns of 'Pandora's box'

2008-03-19T11:55:00.000-07:00

—Michael Martinez

March 19, 2008

LOS ANGELES — If the Supreme Court strikes down the ability of municipalities like the District of Columbia to regulate guns, Chicago and other cities with handgun bans would see a return of gun stores and an upswing in crime, Mayor Richard Daley said Tuesday.

"That would open a Pandora's box," he said following a news conference with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to promote federal legislation requiring microstamped identifiers on cartridges fired from semiautomatic handguns.

—Michael Martin

Supreme Court considers 'right to bear arms'

2008-03-18T20:42:00.000-07:00

Landmark case on D.C. ban expected to have major ramifications

WASHINGTON - In a landmark hearing on gun ownership, the Supreme Court appeared ready Tuesday to endorse the view that the Second Amendment gives individuals the right to own guns, but was less clear about whether to retain the District of Columbia’s ban on handguns.

The justices were aware of the historic nature of their undertaking, engaging in an extended 98-minute session of questions and answers that could yield the first definition of the meaning of the Second Amendment in its 216 years.

A key justice, Anthony Kennedy, left little doubt about his view when he said early in the proceedings that the Second Amendment gives “a general right to bear arms.”

Several justices were skeptical that the Constitution, if it gives individuals’ gun rights, could allow a complete ban on handguns when, as Chief Justice John Roberts pointed out, those weapons are most suited for protection at home.

“What is reasonable about a ban on possession” of handguns? Roberts asked at one point.

Justice Samuel Alito, who like Roberts was appointed by President Bush, cited another provision requiring rifles or shotguns be kept unloaded and dissembled or bound by a trigger lock, and said it did not seem as if they could be used as such for the self-defense of one’s home.

The court’s four liberals seemed most sympathetic to the law during the arguments. Justice Stephen Breyer suggested that the District’s public safety concerns could be relevant in evaluating its 32-year-old ban on handguns, perhaps the strictest gun control law in the nation.

“Does that make it unreasonable for a city with a very high crime rate ... to say ‘No handguns here?’” Breyer said.

Bush administration sides with partial bans
Solicitor General Paul Clement, the Bush administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer, supported the individual right, but urged the justices not to decide the other question. Instead, Clement said the court should allow for reasonable restrictions that allow banning certain types of weapons, including existing federal laws.

He did not take a position on the District law.

The court has not conclusively interpreted the Second Amendment since its ratification in 1791. The basic issue for the justices is whether the amendment protects an individual’s right to own guns or whether that right is somehow tied to service in a state militia.

The 27 words and three enigmatic commas of the Second Amendment have been analyzed again and again by legal scholars, but hardly at all by the Supreme Court.

The amendment reads: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

The court's ruling, expected by the end of June, could have a far-reaching impact on gun-control laws in the United States and could become an issue in the November election.

Wake up and smell the coffee......

2008-03-15T18:40:00.000-07:00

Its amazing how people don't see how phony these politicians are.

Obama spurns pastor's 9/11 jibe

Barack Obama has been a member of the church since the early 1990s

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama has denounced remarks made by his pastor that the 9/11 attacks were like "chickens coming home to roost".

The Illinois senator said the 2001 comments, which have resurfaced on the web, were "completely inexcusable".

Mr Obama said he had not been present during Rev Jeremiah Wright's sermon, at the Trinity United Church of Christ.

The black Chicago pastor brought Mr Obama to Christianity, officiated at his wedding and baptised his daughters.

Mr Obama, a member of the church since the early 1990s, posted a blog on the Huffington Post about his relationship with the pastor, who is now retired.

"I categorically denounce any statement that disparages our great country or serves to divide us from our allies," he wrote.

'God damn America'

Mr Obama, who conducted a number of media interviews on Friday to reject Mr Wright's comments, said he had looked to him for spiritual - not political - guidance.

In a sermon on the Sunday after the attacks of 11 September 2001, Mr Wright told his congregation: "We have supported state terrorism against the Palestinians and black South Africans, and now we are indignant because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back to our own front yards.

"America's chickens are coming home to roost."

In a 2003 sermon, Mr Wright said blacks should condemn the US.

"God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human", he said.

Mr Obama said he expects his political opponents will use videos of the sermons to attack him as the campaign goes on.

He is locked in a close race with New York Senator Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination, ahead of Pennsylvania's primary vote on 22 April.

Forgotten Chicago and clout

2008-03-14T07:02:00.000-07:00

http://www.forgottenchicago.com/bumpark.php

Most city parks consist of open land and facilities of some kind. They are administered by the Chicago Park District. Oscar D'Angelo Park is not a Park District park, and it has no facilities. It is not a park, it is a "park." Scare quotes and all. Actually, its more like a lame joke.

The most poorly located parks are wedged into otherwise unused expressway land. This "park" takes that to the extreme. It is located entirely in the middle of a ramp connecting the Eisenhower Expressway and Wacker Drive. There are no benches, no playlot, not even stakes for horsehoes. I would like to say that there is nothing at all in it, but I would be forgetting the trash cans.

I hate this thing. Can you tell? Part of the reason for this is the "park's" greasy namesake. I won't go into detail here. Read this article - Google the guy's name if you want to know more.

The picture of the plaque is unreadable. Sorry. It says: Oscar O. D'Angelo Park - This park is dedicated to lifelong Near West Side (Little Italy) resident Oscar O. D'Angelo for unselfish commitment, leadership and vision in the renaissance of his neighborhood, his city, and its parks. - Richard M. Daley, Mayor. October 24, 1990. Bullshit. Its named for him because he has clout. Nothing more.

Trash abounds. There always seems to be bum detritus in this "park."

Infact, the homeless seem to be the only people who use this "park". Nothing against them, the "park" is isolated and unwelcoming and probably provides a good refuge for those who do not necessarily want to be found.

Maybe I've been too negative about this place? How about I euphemistically refer to it as an "open-air restroom" - or an "alfresco room occupancy"? Yeah, sounds good.

Page authored 30 May 2007.
Written by Serhii Chrucky.

Doesn't this begin at home with parents being parents

2008-03-11T11:41:00.000-07:00

Hot Off the press....

Pfleger and crew had a press conference at the all holy Saint Sabina.

Tragically, this year 17 children have lost their lives in Chicago due to gun violence. We must demand common sense gun legislation and stop easy access to guns. We must also make sure we arrest the perpetrators who take the lives of our children.

Unfortunately, the coverage and community action often differ from incident to incident. Therefore, I am asking people to join with me in two efforts to demand common sense gun laws and to put together a reward fund so that every time a child is murdered in the city, each child's life will be addressed equally. We will immediately put a $5,000 reward (Bounty) for the arrest and conviction of the shooter, if there is no known suspect and we will gather at the state of Illinois building to demand stronger gun legislation.

Every time a child is murdered , within the next 24-72 hours we will rally from 11:00am to 12 Noon at the Thompson, State of Illinois building , 100 West Randolph, demanding the state legislators to pass gun legislation. If you are interested in becoming part of this team, please fill out the form and fax it to 773-483-7583 or mail it to St Sabina Church, 1210 West 78the place

What King Richard doesnt want you to know

2008-03-09T05:38:00.001-07:00

see it here http://www.illinoiscarry.com/GunFacts4.pdf

Firm lands 2-year deal to run Midway

2008-03-05T19:57:00.000-08:00

March 5, 2008

BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter fspielman@suntimes.com

The Daley administration has chosen a new manager for Midway Airport, signing a two-year, $21.2 million contract that will tide the city over until the airport is privatized.

Skyline Management Group has replaced a clout-heavy partnership that's held the contract since 2001 and includes former Illinois Gaming Board Chairman Elzie Higginbottom, Mayor Daley's chief fund-raiser in the black community.

The new manager is a joint venture of three equal partners: Chicago-based Diverse Facility Solutions, Florida-based AvAir Professional Services and Linc Facility Services of Houston.

Skyline principals have "experience working with Midway Airport Management," the terminal's current manager, "some going back to 1994," according to the company's proposal, posted on the Procurement Services Department Web site.

The new manager is also promising to "maintain an appearance equal to a five-star hotel at Midway's main terminal, concourse and maintenance complex" by retaining the existing work force of janitors, engineers and electricians.

The staff will be "mostly comprised of incumbent personnel who have firsthand knowledge of Midway Airport and a proven track record of quality service delivery," the company stated.

Two custodians will serve as "restroom patrols" to keep six public and four private restrooms at the Midway terminal spic and span. A full-day workshop will be held with the outgoing Midway Airport Management to ensure "minimal disruption of ongoing work," the document stated.

Midway Airport Management was a joint venture of Enron Building Services, Transportation Building Services and Higginbottom's East Lake Management and Development Corp.

In 2005, Higginbottom voluntarily forfeited the minority business certification that gives his construction companies a leg up on city contracts after acknowledging that his net worth was "a heckuva lot more" than the $750,000 ceiling at that time.

Last month, Mayor Daley put a "For Sale" sign on Midway, the landlocked airport that came back from the dead after the demise of Midway Airlines.

It happened after five of seven airlines signed on to the deal, the first of its kind in the nation.

The city's "request for qualifications" set in motion a yearlong process that could end with a $3 billion windfall to shore up city pensions and rebuild Chicago's aging infrastructure.

On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the city's office of budget and management said the new Midway contract could be "terminated for convenience" at any time. "Our time table for the long-term lease has not changed," said the spokeswoman, Wendy Abrams.

City bans plastic bags- feel good politics

2008-03-05T05:26:00.000-08:00

Tiny plastic bags used to sell small quantities of heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana and other drugs would be banned in Chicago, under a crackdown advanced today by a City Council committee.
Ald. Robert Fioretti (2nd) persuaded the Health Committee to ban possession of “self-sealing plastic bags under two inches in either height or width,” after picking up 15 of the bags on a recent Sunday afternoon stroll through a West Side park.

Ex-alderman Dorothy Tillman arrested in Ala

2008-03-02T15:40:00.000-08:00

The flamboyant former Chicago alderman and civil rights activist Dorothy Tillman was arrested Sunday in her native Montgomery, Ala., charged with criminal trespassing after a confrontation with hospital officials about Tillman's 86-year-old ailing aunt.

Tillman, best known for her work with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and for wearing vast array of hats, spent 102 minutes in the Montgomery city jail before a local pastor posted Tillman's $300 bond, officials at the jail said.

Tillman, 60, was headed back to Chicago on Sunday afternoon and said she planned to receive medical attention for injuries incurred during the arrest, she said.

They knocked me down on the ground. They knocked my hat off. One of them put his knees on my spine and threatened to Taser me," Tillman said during an interview before traveling to Chicago.

Tillman was charged with criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor charge, said Montgomery police Lt. Ron Cook. She was arrested at 6:32 a.m. and released at 8:14 a.m. Montgomery police officials declined to provide additional details.

The trouble began about 6 a.m. Sunday.

Tillman had taken her aunt, Mabel Barker, to Jackson Hospital the previous evening. Frustrated by what she described as her aunt's overnight stay that yielded little treatment, Tillman requested the medical records when hospital officials discharged Barker. Tillman said she was told the records would be mailed.

Unfazed, Tillman continued to request the records. Hospital security and police officials were alerted.

Jackson Hospital officials did not immediately return calls for comment.

"I don't think I was screaming. I didn't go like crazy, crazy," Tillman said. "My only concern was to get some treatment for my aunt."

Tillman said she was arrested and put in "leg chains and shackles."

"It was really something," Tillman said. "They did the real police thing."

Tillman traveled to Montgomery to attend the funeral of Johnnie Carr, who joined her childhood friend Rosa Parks in the Montgomery bus boycott and emerged as a prominent activist. Tillman plans to return next week to accept an award for her own civil rights work during the anniversary of the storied march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma.

Tillman lost her seat on the Chicago City Council after 23 years in a bitterly fought election last April. Pat Dowell elbowed out Tillman in representing the city's 3rd Ward, an area that became increasingly diverse when a 2001 remapping brought Hispanic residents from the Back of the Yards and residents of the trendy South Loup.

Tillman spent her career advocating for African-Americans in everything from campaigning for city contracts to passing a slave-reparations ordinance.

Tillman is scheduled to appear in court March 31.

tmalone@tribune.com

Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th), felon in training

2008-02-19T20:34:00.001-08:00

February 19, 2008
BY FRAN SPIELMAN AND CHRIS FUSCO Staff Reporters

Federal investigators have requested city records on four West Side zoning changes pushed by Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th), amid questions about Carothers' relationship with a Chicago developer who made secret recordings as an FBI mole.

Last year, Carothers' New 29th Ward Campaign Committee got $11,000 in contributions from Morgan Properties Inc., which lists FBI mole John Thomas as "manager."

The contributions came in payments of $9,000, $500 and $1,500, with the last one made on Feb. 23, 2007 -- four days before the aldermanic election, records show.

Last April 9, the committee returned all $11,000, offering no explanation in campaign records except "refund of excess contribution."

Carothers, the powerful chairman of the City Council's Police and Fire Committee, did not return calls seeking comment. He also declined to answer written questions.

Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th), felon in training

2008-02-19T20:34:00.000-08:00

More corruption

2008-02-10T05:57:00.000-08:00

A curious tale of two properties

One parcel was owned by friends of Mayor Daley. One wasn't. Guess which rezoning request was OKd?

Friends of Mayor Richard Daley made out handsomely when land they owned was rezoned in the 11th Ward, helping them sell the property for about $2.4 million more than they paid for it.

A critic of the Daley administration didn't do so well, however. He couldn't get a zoning change, and the value of his property diminished by about $4 million, according to court papers.

Both decisions were made by a Daley ally -- James Balcer, the 11th Ward alderman who calls the shots on zoning in his South Side ward.

Zoning is one of the last bastions of power left for Chicago aldermen, who have been marginalized under Daley's control. The Tribune has shown that many of Chicago's 50 aldermen rely on campaign contributions from developers whose projects, in turn, depend on zoning changes.

In the 11th Ward, the ancestral home and power base of the Daley clan, Balcer enjoys so much support from the Daleys that he is the only alderman who doesn't have to raise campaign funds.

To get a view of how he has wielded his zoning power, you need look no further than two parcels that have been swept up in a wave of development that has turned this gritty industrial district into a hot neighborhood for homes.

On Archer Avenue, a familiar cast of Daley insiders benefited. Over on Iron Street, a City Hall antagonist lost out.

The Archer Avenue deal began in March 2002, when Richard Ferro, a political supporter of Daley, bought the property for $325,000. He and his business partner, Thomas DiPiazza, also a Daley contributor, later applied to City Hall to rezone the land for town homes.

DiPiazza and Ferro hired Jack George of Daley & George, the law firm of the mayor's brother Michael. In the last five years, Daley & George has handled 60 rezoning applications -- half of all the applications in the ward that weren't filed by Balcer himself, city records show.

"Mr. DiPiazza has developed a number of projects in the 11th Ward and they have all been a credit to the community," George told the City Council's Zoning Committee at a December 2003 hearing.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-zoning_daley_bdfeb10,0,7037743.story

The city is for sale

2008-02-08T22:43:00.000-08:00

Lets sell the whole city!

Motorists would pay more to park at Chicago’s 36,161 metered spaces — and even higher prices during peak periods in congested areas — in exchange for more cashless payment and pay-by-phone options, under a privatization plan advanced Friday.
Buoyed by the $2.4 billion gravy train of revenue generated by privatizing the Chicago Skyway and downtown parking garages and the prospect of an even bigger windfall at Midway Airport, Mayor Daley on Friday moved to unload yet another city asset: Chicago parking meters.
City Hall and the Chicago Park District issued a “request for qualifications” from firms interested in operating what would be the nation’s “first major publicly-owned parking meter operation.”

Another Daley guy who knows nothing

2008-01-19T17:28:00.000-08:00

Little rich's only way to get out of being indicted is having troubles of his own.

Sun-Times Exclusive: Obama surfaces in Rekzo's federal corruption case

Source confirmed Obama is the unnamed "political candidate" referred to in document which outlines case against Rezko

January 19, 2008

BY DAVE MCKINNEY, NATASHA KORECKI, CHRIS FUSCO AND TIM NOVAK Staff Reporters

For the first time, Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama has surfaced in the federal corrupton case against his longtime campaign fund-raiser, Tony Rezko, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.

The Illinois senator isn’t accused of any wrongdoing. And there’s no evidence Obama knew contributions to his 2004 U.S. Senate campaign came from schemes Rezko is accused of orchestrating.

The allegations against Rezko that involve Obama are contained in one paragraph of a 78-page document filed last month in which prosecutors outline their corruption and fraud case against Rezko, who was also a key money man for Gov. Blagojevich and other politicians.

Rezko is set to go to trial Feb. 25. The revelation that Obama’s name could come up in court is a political headache he doesn’t need as he heads into a round of primaries that are likely to determine his party’s nomination for president.

Obama is not named in the Dec. 21 court document. But a source familiar with the case confirmed that Obama is the unnamed “political candidate” referred to in a section of the document that accuses Rezko of orchestrating a scheme in which a firm hired to handle state teacher pension investments first had to pay $250,000 in “sham” finder’s fees. From that money, $10,000 was donated to Obama’s successful run for the Senate in the name of a Rezko business associate, according to the court filing and the source.

Rezko, who was part of Obama’s senatorial finance committee, also is accused of directing “at least one other individual” to donate money to Obama and then reimbursing that individual — in possible violation of federal election law.

A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald declined to comment.

Obama — a state senator when he got the contributions in 2004 — has moved to distance himself from Rezko since his longtime friend and supporter was indicted in October 2006. After news reports that Obama had engaged in a real estate transaction with Rezko’s wife at a time Tony Rezko was known to be under investigation, the senator called the episode “boneheaded” and “a mistake.”

‘No way of knowing’

Obama campaign aides said Friday he was unaware Rezko was behind the contributions cited in last month’s court filing or that the document referred to the senator.

“We have no way of knowing he is the politician named here,” spokesman Bill Burton said, “but we returned this money months ago for other reasons.”

Obama donated more than $44,000 in Rezko-linked contributions to charity last year, including the $10,000 donation mentioned in the court filing.

That money was donated to Obama by Joseph Aramanda, a Glenview businessman and Rezko associate who, sources have said, is the “Individual D” prosecutors say received the $250,000 in finder’s fees demanded by Rezko. Individual D did nothing to earn those fees, according to prosecutors.

The $10,000 contribution to Obama was given in Aramanda’s name on March 5, 2004, records show. While Obama’s camp has said the senator did not know Aramanda, Obama’s office hired Aramanda’s son as an intern in 2005, at Rezko’s urging.

Repeated attempts to reach Aramanda, who was involved in pizza franchises Rezko owned, were unsuccessful. He has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

A longstanding relationship

Rezko is one of Obama’s earliest political patrons. Long known as a prolific fund-raiser, the Syrian-born businessman helped raise money for Obama’s political campaigns beginning in 1995, when Obama was running for the Illinois Senate.

In 13 years in politics, Obama has gotten at least $168,000 in campaign donations from Rezko, his family and business associates. The Sun-Times reported that figure last June. Obama’s “best estimate” seven months earlier had been that Rezko had raised no more than $60,000 for him.

When Obama ran for the U.S. Senate, Rezko held a June 27, 2003, cocktail party in Rezko’s Wilmette mansion, picking up the tab for the lavish event. Obama’s campaign staff has said it has no records to show who attended that party, or how much it cost.

Obama’s relationship with Rezko dates to 1990, when Obama, then a Harvard law student, interviewed for a job with Rezko’s development company, Rezmar Corp. Obama turned down the job, instead going to work for a small Chicago law firm — Davis Miner Barnhill. That firm did work on more than a dozen low-income housing projects Rezmar rehabbed with government funds.

Eleven Rezmar buildings were in the state Senate district Obama represented between 1996 and 2004. Many of the buildings ended up in foreclosure, with tenants living in squalid conditions, the Sun-Times reported last year. In one instance, Rezko’s company left tenants without heat for five weeks. Obama said he was unaware of problems with the buildings and minimized the legal work he’d done.

Obama’s relationship with Rezko grew closer in June 2005, when Obama and Rezko’s wife bought adjoining real estate parcels from a doctor in the South Side Kenwood neighborhood. Obama paid $1.65 million for the doctor’s mansion, while Rezko’s wife paid $625,000 for the vacant lot next door. Obama’s purchase price was $300,000 below the asking price; Rezko’s wife paid full price.

Six months later, Obama paid Rita Rezko $104,500 for one-sixth of the vacant lot, which he bought to expand his yard. In November 2006, he expressed regret about the transaction.

“It was a mistake to have been engaged with him at all in this or any other personal business dealing that would allow him, or anyone else,” Obama said, “to believe that he had done me a favor.”

Sen. Obama Presidential Campaign Q&A

A Chicago Sun-Times Exclusive: Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential campaign gave the following written responses to these questions about the Rezko court filing.

Q. What is Sen. Obama’s reaction to being referred to in the Rezko evidentiary proffer?
A. We have no way of knowing he is the politician named here but we returned this money months ago for other reasons.

Q. Was Sen. Obama aware that Rezko allegedly had directed at least one person to donate to the senator’s campaign and later reimbursed that person, possibly violating federal election law?

A. No.

Q. Has the Federal Election Commission or the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago contacted the senator or any of his representatives about these matters?

A. No.

Q. Why has the senator donated to charity campaign contributions from Rezko and Rezko-linked people?

A. In keeping with our practice of donating to charity donations from people who have been called into question through the legal process, when he was named in documents as potentially engaging in wrongdoing we thought it was appropriate to return his donation to charity.

Q. Does the senator think this development will have any impact on the presidential campaign or undercut the senator’s message that he is an agent of change?

A. No. In fact, Sen. Obama has been a champion of reforms that have made campaign finance laws more transparent so that the public can more closely follow the source of contributions to campaigns. As with any campaign, occasionally individual contributions are called into question. Sen. Obama’s policy in such instances is to donate that money to charity which is what he did in this case seven months ago when questions first surfaced.

Back to business as usual

2008-01-18T17:31:00.000-08:00

Judge allows City Hall official to oversee hiring system

By Laurie Cohen |Tribune reporter

4:06 PM CST, January 18, 2008

In a victory for Mayor Richard Daley's administration, a federal judge Friday approved a plan to allow a City Hall official—instead of the independent inspector general—to oversee the city's scandal-plagued hiring system.

U.S. District Judge Wayne Andersen acknowledged that critics have questioned whether the Daley administration ever will keep politics free from hiring after years of abuses. But he said the city's plan contains "important safeguards" to make sure jobs aren't awarded based on political considerations.

"The city will be given an opportunity to show that the skepticism is ill-founded," Andersen wrote.

The plan he approved puts oversight of hiring in the city's newly created Office of Compliance. The judge modified the city's plan slightly to require that the official who supervises compliance with hiring policies not be a current or former city employee and not have any connections to Chicago politics.

Critics, including court-appointed hiring monitor Noelle Brennan, had pushed for Inspector General David Hoffman to handle the job. Hoffman, a former federal prosecutor, is widely considered to be immune to political pressures at City Hall.

Hiring abuses under the Daley administration have led to the convictions of the mayor's former patronage chief and four others. The city has created a $12 million fund to compensate employees and job seekers who were discriminated against for political reasons.

There goes our pension .....

2008-01-13T05:50:00.000-08:00

Daley creates commission to confront choked pensions

BILLIONS UNDERFUNDED | Benefit cuts, 401(k) plans may be options

January 13, 2008

BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter/fspielman@suntimes.com

Mayor Daley on Friday created a commission drawn from labor, business and banking to confront a problem that threatens to choke future generations of Chicago taxpayers: underfunded city pension funds.

The comprehensive solution Daley is seeking within 18 months could include everything from benefit reductions and increased employee contributions to a shift away from "defined benefit" pension plans and toward the "defined contributions" or 401-K plans favored by private industry.

The city could raise the age for new employees to become eligible for full pension, as the CTA has done. If union leaders agree to make sacrifices, half the net proceeds from the proposed privatizing of Midway Airport could be pumped into the pension funds, under legislation approved by the Illinois General Assembly.

The only thing certain is that something's got to give. The city's four pension funds alone have $10 billion in unfunded liabilities to employees and retirees. If they run out of money, Chicago taxpayers get stuck with the tab.

"They need to reduce the benefits. They need increased contributions by employees and... benefits more in line with what's offered in the private sector," said Civic Federation President Laurence Msall.

The 32-member commission that will confront the pension fund crisis at the city, Park District, CTA, CHA, City Colleges and Chicago Public Schools will be co-chaired by Daley's Chief Financial Officer Paul Volpe and by Volpe's predecessor, Dana Levenson, who now serves as head of North American Infrastructure for the Royal Bank of Scotland.

"There are no easy answers," Levenson said.

Volpe stressed that the pension crisis is "not an immediate problem," nor does he view the commission as "a forum by which we reduce employee benefits."

But, he said, "The longer we wait, the harder this problem will be to solve."

At the end of 2006, the firefighters pension fund had assets on hand to meet just 40 percent of its liabilities. The ratio was 49 percent for police, 67 percent for municipal employees and 92 percent for laborers.

Fraternal Order of Police President Mark Donahue questioned why the city's two largest unions -- police and fire -- were not represented on the 32-member commission.

Donahue said his members are "realistic" and willing to consider increased contributions. But the FOP president said he would insist on maintaining defined benefits. And he rejected the widely held belief that pensions for city employees who get sharply reduced Social Security benefits are overly generous.

"Public service employees deserve better because of the sacrifice and commitment they make to the communities they serve. That's the trade-off. There are more opportunities in the private industry for advancement and greater wage earning," he said.

Last year, pension obligations cost the city $475 million -- more than 15 percent of Chicago's corporate budget.

The Chicago crisis mirrors the pension dilemma facing government agencies and private companies across the nation.

Levenson sounded the alarm about the pension crisis in June 2006, but his call for a dialogue with city unions went nowhere.

At the time, Chicago Federation of Labor President Dennis Gannon reminded top mayoral aides of what happened in 1997, when the city robbed Peter to pay Paul -- and made the pension problem worse.

With union consent, City Hall reduced its contribution to the well-funded Laborers and Municipal Employees pension funds and funneled $20 million of that money into the underfunded police and firefighters pension funds. The landmark deal also paved the way for a $20 million property tax cut and $200 million worth of neighborhood improvements.

"I read 'em the riot act. I said, 'You came to us 10 years ago and we gave you relief.' We saved them hundreds of millions of dollars. They took money out of two good funds and gave it to police and fire. Now, they're saying those two good funds are in the same mess. And I reminded them that early retirement [which made the problem worse] was their idea," Gannon said then.

City watchdog fired

2008-01-11T21:04:00.001-08:00

Inspector general fires employee for alleged shoplifting

January 11, 2008

FROM STNG WIRE REPORTS

Mayor Daley’s corruption-fighting inspector general fired one of his own employees Friday, six days after the $77,784-a-year assistant chief investigator was arrested for shoplifting at a Chicago grocery.

Fourteen-year veteran investigator Tracy Buckley was charged Jan. 5 with misdemeanor theft after Whole Foods employees watched her walk out of a store at 6020 N. Cicero with $131.43 worth of unpaid items.

Before deciding Buckley’s fate, Inspector General David Hoffman said he conducted interviews, read reports and viewed tape recordings made by Whole Foods security cameras.

They reportedly showed Buckley walking through several aisles, past a bank of cashiers and into an elevator leading to an underground parking lot without paying for a shopping cart full of food. Stolen items allegedly included a $44.84 boneless lamb stew and pork chops worth $21.17.

Buckley could not be reached for comment. She allegedly told police she was going to her car to get a different charge card that she intended to use upon returning to the store to pay for the items.

Hoffman apparently didn’t buy it -- and didn’t wait for the outcome of her criminal case.

“All city employees should be held to high standards of integrity, but these standards must be especially high for higher-ranking and prominent city officials. This higher standard definitely applies to employees of the inspector general’s office,” Hoffman said in a prepared statement.

Buckley is scheduled to appear in court Feb. 25.

Fox Guarding Hen House ?

2008-01-07T19:57:00.000-08:00

City misconduct inspector accused of shoplifting

By Jeremy Gorner |Tribune staff reporter

1:09 PM CST, January 7, 2008

An investigator for a City of Chicago department that probes misconduct by city employees has been charged with shoplifting.

Tracy Buckley, 36, an assistant chief investigator for Inspector General David Hoffman, was charged with misdemeanor theft after trying to steal about $100 worth of merchandise Saturday from a Whole Foods Market at 6020 N. Cicero Ave., police said.

"We just learned about this on Saturday and today were beginning our inquiry into the matter," said Hoffman.

In the meantime, Buckley, who has been working for the inspector general's office since 1994, has been placed on paid administrative leave.

Attempts to reach Buckley for comment were unsuccessful this afternoon.

Rumor has it, ...

2008-01-04T10:16:00.000-08:00

If you dont hear a good rumor by 11am start your own.

What City Commissioner will be moving to a new department due to him getting his secretary pregnant ?

More Crook County Taxes and fees?

2008-01-03T19:19:00.000-08:00

Stop the Cook County Phone Tax

Bad for Consumers.
Bad for Businesses. Bad for Everybody.

The Cook County Board of Commissioners has proposed a new tax of $48 per phone per year, which could raise some phone plans by as much as 131%! The proposed tax would apply to every phone – even to every cell phone and broadband line. If passed, this tax would hit the pocketbooks of all consumers and businesses in Cook County.

Click here to tell the Cook County Board of Commissioners to Stop the Phone Tax!

The new proposed tax would increase every year at the rate of inflation. This means that in five years, the total tax would be more than $250 per phone!

The County claims it needs the revenue from these taxes to save the health care system. We know that there are better ways for Cook County to save money, such as affordable technologies that can eliminate inefficiencies in our health care system and save millions of dollars.

Creating a new phone tax – on top of the many federal, state and local taxes that consumers already pay for each phone line – is not the answer.

The Feds are here....FRANK COCONATE

2007-12-31T11:58:00.000-08:00

Former City Employee Says He's Been Contacted Regarding Patrick Daley's Involvement In City Sewer Contract
Reporting
Dana Kozlov
A federal investigation is now underway over a city sewer contract that involved the son of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.

As CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports, Patrick Daley and the mayor's nephew invested in Municipal Sewer Services in 2003, but one former city employee says federal investigators are asking questions about it now.
A tearful Mayor Daley, responding to reports of his son, Patrick, and nephew Robert Vanecko's investment in a sewer company that did business with the city said, "I hope those people understand that Patrick is a very good son. I love him, and Maggie and I are very proud of him. I hope you respect I have nothing more to say on this."
Now, a former city sewer worker says the FBI wants to know more about those deals, and, through his attorney, asked to interview him.
"I believe there is definitely an investigation 'cause there is no way… I felt like them contacting me showed me they're pretty serious about getting to the bottom of this," said former city worker Frank Coconate.
Coconate worked for the sewer department for 27 years but was fired in 2005. Since then, he's been a vocal Daley critic. In this case, Coconate says Municipal Sewer Services, the company Daley and Vanecko invested in, was doing taxpayer paid work for the city, even though city crews could have done the work themselves.
"Here's this kid owning a company to clean sewers when we have the equipment and the manpower sitting in the yard," Coconate said.
Coconate says when he questioned those M.S.S. crews, his bosses told him they were Daley's people, and to leave them alone.
Better Government Association investigator Dan Sprehe says questionable contracts aren't the only concern. The timing of Patrick Daley's disclosure and who, with the city, knew about his connections and when are also potential problems.
"We just are continually hit with this barrage of things that stink," Sprehe said. "Of course, the question is, with M.S.S.'s business skyrocketing, what what was behind all that?"
In a statement to employees, M.S.S. Chairman Robert Bobb acknowledges there were "a number of mistakes or oversights with regards to filings," and that the person responsible is no longer with the company. He also states Patrick Daley and Vanecko's "investments were passive" and "made long after the company had been awarded city contracts."
Mayor Daley's spokesperson, Jackie Heard, says she's not aware of any federal investigation into the matter.
As for city workers and trucks sitting idle while the private, M.S.S. crews worked instead, Heard says she's still checking on that.
The FBI told CBS 2 the agency cannot confirm or deny the existence of any investigation until an arrest is made.

From Chicago Clout

2007-12-30T13:15:00.000-08:00

Neil Steinberg describes Mayor Daley exactly

Neil, your honest writing skills and perfect description of Daley is worth a second look by all Chicago Clout fans. I would not have been so nice. Mayor Daley's globetrotting is costing taxpayers money, trust me.

Daley a pitchman? Hardly December 30, 2007 BY NEIL STEINBERG Sun-Times Columnist So let me get this straight . . . the argument is that Mayor Daley is taking all these trips abroad, wandering the globe like a milkweed puff, all expenses paid by his rich pals, in order to improve the image of the city abroad and help promote business? "This builds on the marketing of Chicago," Jerry Roper, president of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, which has paid for some of the mayor's jaunts, told the Chicago Tribune. Ah, hahahahahahahaha. Does anybody really believe that? Or should I say, does anybody who has ever spent time with Daley really believe that? Chicago's mayor may have transformed the city into heaven on earth -- at least in certain spots -- but in person he's an overbearing, charmless, abrupt man who couldn't sell tuna fish to cats. Awkward in his own skin, squirming, sputtering, uncomfortable, poorly spoken, vindictive, bored, florid, disheveled, mean -- really, this is the face that Chicago is projecting to the world? At least gin up an excuse that makes sense -- he likes to be able to walk in public without people lunging to kiss his ring; Maggie likes to shop in Milan; he wants to relax in cities where he doesn't have to worry about being asked about his son Patrick's business dealings. Something plausible. But Richard M. Daley, Chicago's own Keebler elf, ringing the globe like Santa, bringing awareness of our great city to unwashed Parisians and unaware Berliners? That's a joke. Tough to buy explanation of mayor's travels -- or that he could sell city

Whistleblower files suit to get job back

2007-12-24T22:08:00.000-08:00

December 24, 2007

Sun-Times Staff Reports

Political activist, whistleblower and now-fired city employee Frank Coconate filed suit today in an effort to get his job back. Coconate, a former city water department employee since 1978, was fired in July 2005 for allegedly falsifying work sheets and related issues.

In November, a city board upheld his termination, leading to the lawsuit filed by attorney Frank Avila Jr. in Cook County Circuit Court.

Daley Corruption at it again

2007-12-13T20:11:00.000-08:00

Clockwise from bottom left: Joseph McInerney, Robert Vanecko, Mayor Richard M. Daley, the mayor's son Patrick Daley, and Robert Bobb. (Sun-Times files)

Sun-Times Exclusive: Daley’s son had secret deal Mayor Daley’s son Patrick had a hidden interest in a sewer-inspection company whose business with the City of Chicago rose sharply while he was an owner, a Chicago Sun-Times investigation has found. Patrick Daley invested in Municipal Sewer Services in June 2003, along with Robert Vanecko, a nephew of the mayor. The pair cashed out their small investment about a year later.

What about the deal with concourse communications. Pat Daley worked there and now they have the wireless contract at midway & Ohare

Reverends at it again

2007-12-09T16:04:00.000-08:00

Sharpton calls on Chicago to fix police brutality or he'll work against Olympics

By Karoun Demirjian |Tribune staff reporter

5:39 PM CST, December 9, 2007

The Reverend Al Sharpton has a message for the city of Chicago: do something about police brutality, or he'll work to ensure that the 2016 Olympics won't come to Chicago.

Sharpton is demanding that the city show evidence of "concrete steps" to address what he calls "rampant police brutality and misconduct" in the Chicago Police Department.

If it can't, Sharpton says, he is prepared to lobby the International Olympic Committee to take Chicago's bid out of consideration for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

Old broken down equipment

2007-12-07T13:58:00.000-08:00

Trucks clear streets before weekend storm

The city's Department of Streets & Sanitation needed only half its snow-fighting trucks Friday morning to finish clearing the snow from Thursday night’s storm. Another storm is expected to hit the Chicago area Saturday.

About 8 p.m. Thursday, the Department of Streets & Sanitation deployed 273 snow-fighting trucks to clear the roads. However, half the trucks were sent home about 1 a.m., the department said.

*******************

Many of the snow vehicles are in need of serious repair. I was listening to the scanner the other night and heard many downs due to hydraulic hoses and other mechanical problems

Does anyone else have any infromation.

What about phony Alderman ??????

2007-12-05T10:29:00.000-08:00

Alderman want to crack down on phony city stickers

December 5, 2007

BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter

Chicago aldermen were poised to move today to shut down a “widespread black market” in counterfeit city stickers to boost city revenues by as much as $5 million a year.

At the request of Inspector General David Hoffman and City Clerk Miguel del Valle, the City Council’s Traffic Committee was scheduled to approve an ordinance imposing stiff new penalties for those who sell and manufacture bogus stickers and against motorists who purchase and display them.

Manufacturers would face six months in prison and an unspecified forgery fine. Those who purchase bogus stickers for as little as $25 — compared to $75 for passenger vehicles and $90 for SUV’s — would face the same penalty as those who display a counterfeit temporary license plate. They would have their vehicles booted, then impounded and be slapped with a fine as high as $1,000, plus towing and storage fees.

The ordinance gives police officers and parking enforcement aides “probable cause” to believe a sticker is counterfeit “whenever the sticker is missing one of its visible security features or the emblem appears on its face to be counterfeit.” Impounded vehicles would be returned only after the owner presents proof that a valid sticker has been purchased.

Hoffman urged aldermen to tighten the noose after a yearlong investigation that identified 388 counterfeit stickers — 94 percent of them at city auto pounds and at least one on a car that belonged to a city employee.

“If this was a counterfeiting problem that appeared to be caused by one high-volume manufacturer, the best solution to this problem would be to catch and prosecute the manufacturer. But that is not the nature of the problem here,” Hoffman wrote in a report to Mayor Daley and 50 aldermen in early November.

“This is a counterfeiting problem apparently caused by a large number of small manufacturers using relatively unsophisticated equipment…In this age of Photoshop, widespread scanners and color printers, it is very easy to manufacture poor- or medium-quality counterfeits…Anyone with a color ink jet printer can make a bad quality copy of one. Apparently that is sufficient to avoid detection most of the time.”

Hoffman’s projection that a crackdown would generate as much as $4.7 million in new revenue could not come at a better time.

Daley’s 2008 budget was precariously balanced with $276.5 million worth of increased taxes, fines and fees, including a new, $120 sticker fee for SUV’s.

The inspector general launched his investigation in September, 2006 after an unidentified motorist attempted to reclaim a vehicle at a city auto pound by presenting a counterfeit sticker. An alert auto pound employee noticed that she had recently released another car with that same sticker number.

After perusing an internal database for all city auto pounds, she noticed that several other cars processed over the prior two months bore that same sticker number.

Investigators subsequently interviewed more than 50 people who came to city auto pounds to pick up vehicles bearing counterfeit stickers. A “large number” of them said they had gone to a currency exchange with the intention of buying a sticker at the full price of $75 for a passenger vehicle only to be confronted on the street outside with someone selling stickers for $25-to-$40. They bought the bogus stickers at 15 different locations.

The investigation struck paydirt at city auto pounds, but didn’t stop there.

In April, a parking enforcement aide found two cars parked on one block with the same sticker number.

“As the PEA was writing a citation on one of the cars, she was confronted by the car’s owner. The owner turned out to be another city of Chicago employee, who was off-duty and lived in the neighborhood,” Hoffman wrote. The employee’s title and identity were not revealed. A footnote states, “This matter is the subject of a separate IGO investigatory report.” Hoffman refused to elaborate.

In June and July, Chicago Police officers made two arrests for possession of bogus stickers. One of the men had 18 bogus stickers and was “in the process of selling them” near a flea market.

Corruption at its best

2007-12-04T05:53:00.000-08:00

Clout-heavy contractor got $45K for unauthorized job

O'HARE | Firm built 'break area' without official approval

December 4, 2007

BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter fspielman@suntimes.com

The Daley administration has launched an internal investigation to find out why a clout-heavy airport contractor was paid $45,000 to build a "concrete break area" for city employees at O'Hare Airport without contract authorization.

The work performed by Northlake-based Rossi Contractors became necessary after City Hall forgot something when it agreed to spend $22.5 million to convert a vacant military building at O'Hare into a new home for city employees to free up lucrative terminal space for new concessions.

Where are Aviation Department employees supposed to go to take a break, eat lunch or grab some fresh air?

The dilemma was quietly resolved this summer by building a patio-style "concrete break area" adjacent to the building at an additional cost of $45,000.

The work was performed by Rossi, whose owner Ronald Rossi has been described as the "best friend" of Christopher Kelly, a controversial fund-raiser for and top gambling adviser to Gov. Blagojevich.

City Aviation Department spokeswoman Karen Pride acknowledged that the $45,000 Rossi contract was approved unilaterally, without the proper authorization.

"A line-item modification [to an existing Rossi contract] was required, but not completed. We are investigating why this step was not completed and will take appropriate action," she said.

Rossi could not immediately be reached for comment.

Last year, the Chicago Sun-Times reported that a clout-heavy contractor who made millions from Mayor Daley's affinity for wrought-iron fences had been awarded a pair of contracts worth a total of $10.6 million to convert the vacant military building into a new home for city employees. That made G.F. Structures the big winner in the $22.5 million move.

The move to the military site shined new light on Daley's decision more than a decade ago to spend $104 million to acquire 359 acres of military land on the northeast quadrant of O'Hare for private development that has yet to take place.

In October, city Inspector General David Hoffman launched an investigation to determine whether a company that manages O'Hare's International Terminal got favored treatment because the terminal's operations chief had an alleged ethical conflict.

Chicago Department of Water Management Hero Michael McGann

2007-11-30T20:38:00.000-08:00

From Chicago Clout

Chicago Department of Water Management Hero Michael McGann

Excellent article by Fran Spielman of the Chicago Sun-Times. Michael McGann is one of the most intelligent Plumbing Inspectors in the City of Chicago. I read his report and he is 100% correct in his review of the troubled plumbing in the Chicago School. Read here: 'They're trying to make me the fall guy' SCHOOL'S WATER WOES | City inspector may be disciplined for faxing report on dangerous plumbing to principal

November 30, 2007
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter fspielman@suntimes.com
An $85,068-a-year city plumbing inspector who uncovered "two pages worth" of building code violations that left 1,100 children at Jose de Diego Community Academy without water for weeks is facing disciplinary acton for faxing a copy of his inspection report to the school's principal.
Michael McGann, a 14-year inspector assigned to the city's Department of Buildings, said he gave the Oct. 24 report to de Diego principal Alice Vera so she could use the information to try to expedite repairs that had languished for weeks, endangering students at the 116-year-old school at 1313 N. Claremont.
He can't believe he's being punished for it, simply because the embarrassing story of his bosses' bureaucratic bungling -- that prompted the school's 14 water fountains to be taped shut for weeks -- ended up in the Nov. 23 Sun-Times, with a copy of the inspection report posted on the newspaper's Web site.
The report contained two pages of code violations with "dead-ends everywhere ... uncirculated distribution lines that connected to and endangered" the integrity of the drinking water system, McGann said. It was faxed to Vera earlier this month.
"It's a disgrace. They're being exposed for not doing their job and, because I'm the one who made the inspection, they're trying to make me the fall guy, the scapegoat," said McGann, 52. "They should have processed the violation notice immediately . . . . Instead, they sat on it and did nothing."
Water reportedly back on
He added, "The principal was frustrated. . . . Nothing was happening. . . . She called me and we kept in communication. . . . It had gone weeks without any word from any of my superiors about getting the water back on in the building so the water was safe for the children. So, I sent her my report so she would know the severity of the violations and how they were to be resolved. . . . My motive was to protect the health and safety of the children of the school."
Buildings Department spokesman Bill McCaffrey said McGann faces disciplinary action -- to be determined after hearings that got under way Thursday -- for violating internal rules that prohibit preliminary inspection reports from being shared with outsiders until approved by higher-ups. "Inspection reports are subject to review by immediate supervisors and chiefs. Until the report is approved, it is still a draft document. Once it's finalized, it can be distributed outside the department," he said.
Vera could not be reached for comment.
Last week, de Diego officials told the Sun-Times they had been instructed to ration water since Sept. 14, when a water main broke outside the school in the Humboldt Park/Wicker Park area. That meant giving students as little as a half a glass of water a day for eleven weeks straight.
According to McCaffrey, the water was turned back on at de Diego on Monday after new "check valves that prevent water from flowing backwards through the system" were installed to remedy concerns about "dead-end piping."
The school is also planning to take other steps to "remove some of the pipes that just end," he said.

Sounds like whistleblower retaliation, and I know whistleblower retaliation.
But remember, dead ends must be removed, check valves do not correct dead ends, Patrick McDonough.
Photo by Jean Lachat, Patrick McDonough

Daley picks FBI agent to lead Police Department

2007-11-29T21:08:00.000-08:00

Look he even makes more legal money than our mayor

J.P. "Jody" Weis, 49, left, meets with reporters at City Hall on Thursday after being named as the new superintendent of the Chicago police department by Mayor Richard Daley. Thursday. (Tribune photo by Bonnie Trafelet / November 29, 2007)

Mayor Richard Daley today named a veteran FBI boss to become the city's top cop, saying he was the best choice to repair trust in a Police Department beset by problems of corruption and brutality.

Only if parents would have followed the rules

2007-11-25T16:44:00.000-08:00

Only if parents would have followed the rules

But now we lose a dedicated policeman

Hiding illegal status ruined cop's career

November 25, 2007

BY CARRIE ANTLFINGER

MILWAUKEE -- Oscar Ayala-Cornejo followed the path that leads many red-blooded Americans to law enforcement.

His family lived next to a crack house in Milwaukee, where he says he often heard gunshots and came home to find thieves had stolen the things that his father had worked hard to provide for his mother, older brother and sister.

So he got excited when two officers visited his high school to recruit police aides. The 15-year-old decided he wanted to become a cop.

''I wanted to change my neighborhood, to change other people's neighborhoods, so they could feel safe, you know,'' said Ayala, now 25.

He wanted that badly enough to break the law.

Although Ayala's family moved to Wisconsin in 1992 from Guadalajara, Mexico, he says he didn't realize until after he'd made up his mind to wear a badge that he was in the country illegally. He didn't know until his dad, Salvador, told him.

A few days later, his father helped him find a way around the situation -- one that would eventually cost him his freedom.

His father's cousin Carmen, who lived in Chicago, would allow Ayala to take the identity of her son, Jose Morales, who was born five months after Ayala in Illinois and died about age 7.

Before his junior year, Ayala, calling himself Morales, switched high schools. The 16-year-old cut his hair, replaced his glasses with contacts and got braces.

He was nervous that his true identity would be discovered when he applied to be a police aide at 17, but he had established a work history. After he graduated in 2001, he entered the police aide program and stopped looking over his shoulder.

''Everybody at work, people at school, everyone I met would call me Jose, so eventually that was me,'' he said.

He became an officer in December 2004, about 10 months after his father died. Eventually, he worked in the same district as his brother Alex, a fellow officer born in the United States. And he found it rewarding.

Ayala says he never told anyone about the switch, but on Feb. 20, an anonymous caller informed a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent of Ayala's true identity.

Ayala was arrested May 31.

''I thought I was going to retire and live happily ever after, pay my taxes and all,'' he said.

Ayala was charged with falsely representing himself to be a citizen. Two weeks later, he agreed to a plea deal. He could get a year in a federal prison when he is sentenced Monday, or he could get probation. After he leaves prison, he will be permanently deported.