Roland Burris

What is missing in today's world are all those fabulous old sayings that the old people would mutter about the young. It appears that Roland at age 71 didn't listen when he as a young man was probably told; "IF YOU LAY DOWN WITH DOGS, YOU'LL COME UP WITH FLEAS". No matter how innocent and honest Mr. Burris was, his association with the disaster known as our governor is making all those who maintain contact with Blago to come up smelling as bad as he does. (Kind of like accepting a date with OJ Simpson or Drew Peterson. No proof that they killed their wives, but still there's something about them that folks with common sense would know to avoid.)

What is it about some blacks who were once in politics that they worry so little about their legacy that they would be willing to sell their souls to the devil for an ounce of further political success?

At the end of a career, which from all accounts has been stellar, Mr. Burris' response today on TV about accepting the appointment and I paraphrase was "it's nothing illegal that the governor has done". But no mention of the morally wrong asthetics.

Poor Mr. Burris. So warped and wrapped up in himself that he can believe that the taint of Blago won't affect him. But the reality is that it does. Everything that he does will contain a whiff of possible impropriety.

Now on to Bobby Hush. Is there a pay-for-play motive in his new found support for Blago? Could it have anything to do with his son the ex-prison guard sentenced for having sex with a female inmate?


I was disappointed when I saw the black preachers falling all over themselves to get in thru Blago front door to "pray" with him. Now this?

Danny Davis gave an interview where he says he turned Blago down for the job. That means that Roland wasn't even a first choice. How come they couldn't get the entire IL house to agree on Roland being an interim senator until the 2010 elections?

Lastly can't wait for Patrick Fitzgerald to release the tapes. I still want to know who UNDERCOVER BROTHER Jesse Jackson Jr's embassary was. For the life of me, what person could be so familiar with the governor that he could walk into his office and speak so openly????????????

Victory or defeat? The battle rages on in 2009

The ending of an old year brings about reflections of all that has happened, and 2008 will go down in history for a multitude of historic events that each outshone the other.

There was no bigger event in 2008 than the historic winning of the presidency by Barack Obama. In many ways, his win fulfilled my favorite African Proverb: On the day of victory no one will be tired. Nothing proved that more than the sight of millions of people going to vote who would not let a wait in line prevent them from performing their civic duty.

However fantastic Obama's win may be, the reality is that it's just one in an endless list of victories that need to occur. For example, the verdict in the case of R. Kelly was not a victory for young girls who are victims of sexual predators. The continued murder of young black men means we have not overcome the violence that permeates our communities.

There has yet to be a victory over the AIDS epidemic in the black community. Here in Austin, the opening of Food for Less is one more step toward a victory over the lack of quality grocery stores in this community. Yet the trash that litters our streets means we have failed to be victorious in getting a "do not litter" message out as well as a lack of sanitation enforcement by all three of the Streets and Sanitation superintendents in Austin. It would be nice to see the city put the same vigor into ticketing an overflowing dumpster as it does in ticketing a car whose meter has run out of time.

In Chicago, every parked car is seen as a source of revenue for the city. Yet more than 48 hours after the last snowstorm, businesses that occupy major corners as well as those along our avenues still hadn't cleared the sidewalks in front of their stores. Considering all the anger car owners exhibited over the lack of plowing of the city's sidestreets, pedestrians should show the same outrage about the city not fining those businesses and homeowners who are too trifling to shovel the sidewalks. A double fine should be given to corner businesses and homes who fail to shovel on all sides. We taxpayers have been funding the city's program to put disabled access curbs at every intersection only to have those same sidewalks impassible during the winter months when irresponsible people choose not to shovel.

Crime is still an issue we need to become victorious over. Our community will never get the business community that we desire if shoplifting is portrayed and glamorized as an acceptable behavior pattern. Drug dealing on the streets is another scourge in our community as some residents choose the lazier method of selling drugs over the diligence of becoming legitimate entrepreneurs. We have unsolved murders and drive-by killings and worst, we have those who created that havoc living among us.

Politics is another area where we lack true victory. We continue to re-elect the worst representation and then wonder why our community gets so little. When we take more interest in a presidential race and pay no attention to the mayoral race, we have our priorities backwards. The mayor affects our daily lives a lot more than the president does.

We watch silently and get no victory from the city leasing out every available taxpayer-funded entity to patch a budget shortfall without ever fixing the root of the problem. Nor do we question how money is always found for any pet project the mayor wants for the downtown area while those of us living in the neighborhoods are ignored like uninvited guests at a party. We pay the highest sales tax in the nation-including a nickel a bottle tax on bottled water-while politicians continue with their failed ideology that everything can be resolved by increasing taxes. Those politicians fall short of taking into account human nature and the ability of many Chicagoans to avoid the taxes by refusing to shop within the city and county limits. I confess to being one who buys the majority of my gasoline in Indiana and all my bottled water outside of the city limits.

In 2009, let us all remember that we can never be too tired to strive for victory.

Obama Raffles Off Inaugural Tickets - Guess He agrees with me!

Arlene --

Barack Obama will be sworn in as President of the United States of America on January 20th, 2009.

It will be an unprecedented event in the history of our country, and hundreds of thousands of people will come together in Washington, D.C. to share the moment.

Supporters like you made this happen. You know that real change comes from the bottom up, not from the top down, and Barack and Joe want you to join them on this historic day. They want to start off this administration with the people who worked so hard and will continue to fight for change with them.

Between now and January 8th, 10 supporters and their guests will be selected to join the Inaugural activities.

If you make a donation -- in any amount -- to make the Inauguration a success, you and a guest could be flown to Washington, D.C., put up in a hotel, and be there as Barack is sworn in as the 44th President.

Make a donation of $5 or more right now. You and a guest could receive your ticket to history.

Unlike past inaugurations, this year's event will not be paid for by Washington lobbyists or corporations.

This campaign was funded by 4 million ordinary people giving only what they could afford, and Barack and Joe are counting on you again. Help start this administration off right -- independent of the special interest donors who have shaped Washington for too long.

This Inauguration will be open to as many Americans as possible. We'll all come together to celebrate the hope and optimism that define this movement for change.

But you could be one of 10 selected to join us in Washington for all Inaugural events. Any donation you make between now and January 8th counts -- whatever you can afford.

Show your support for a different kind of politics and a different kind of inauguration with a donation of $5 or more today:

https://donate.pic2009.org/tickettohistory

The Inauguration will be a once-in-a-lifetime event. I hope you can join us.

Thank you,

David

David Plouffe
Campaign Manager
Obama for America
could still be selected to receive your ticket to history.


P.S. -- If you cannot make a donation, you and a guest

Why Black People Don't Feel The Republican Party

The Democracts take black people for granted and the Republicans spew racism: What's a black voter to do?

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(CNN) -- A candidate for the Republican National Committee chairmanship said Friday the CD he sent committee members for Christmas -- which included a song titled "Barack the Magic Negro" -- was clearly intended as a joke.

"I think most people recognize political satire when they see it," Tennessee Republican Chip Saltsman told CNN. "I think RNC members understand that."

The song, set to the tune of "Puff the Magic Dragon," was first played on conservative political commentator Rush Limbaugh's radio show in 2007.

Its title was drawn from a Los Angeles Times column about President-elect Barack Obama's appeal to those who feel guilty about the nation's history of mistreatment of African-Americans. Saltsman said the song, penned by longtime friend Paul Shanklin, should be easily recognized as satire directed at the Times.

The CD sent to RNC members, first reported by The Hill on Friday, is titled "We Hate the USA" and also includes songs referencing former presidential candidate John Edwards and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, among other targets.

According to The Hill, other song titles, some of which were in bold font, were: "John Edwards' Poverty Tour," "Wright place, wrong pastor," "Love Client #9," "Ivory and Ebony" and "The Star Spanglish Banner."

Saltsman was national campaign manager for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's presidential bid in 2007 and 2008. Before that, he held a variety of posts, including a number of positions under former Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee.

All AboutRepublican National Committee • Barack Obama

Let's Raffle Off the Vacant Senate Seat of Barack Obama

“I will fight. I will fight. I will fight.” So proclaimed our Gov. Rod Blagojevich is his only official press conference since being arrested. The charges against him are for criminal conspiracy. The conspiracy includes his alleged attempt to sell the vacant senate seat as well as getting campaign contributions in exchange for other official actions.

Now I don’t know if Gov. Blagojevich’s fight is one of his innocence or the fight coming out of someone who is guilty as heck and is fighting to draw attention away from the guilt. But what I do know is that we have a vacant senate seat that needs to be filled. A seat that if filled before Congress reconvenes after the holiday would give our senator seniority over those who are seated later. And in the U.S. Congress, seniority matters.

Now Illinois is not the only state where the Governor gets to fill the vacant senate seat. The Governor of Delaware has already filled the vacant senate seat of Joe Biden. The Governor of New York is soon to appoint a replacement to the senate seat of Hillary Clinton. So why can’t Gov. Blagojevich still appoint a replacement for the vacant senate seat of Barack Obama? Some people are claiming that the arrest of Gov. Blagojevich has tainted the process. Some are even calling for a special election that could cost us taxpayers 35 or more millions of dollars.

I for one, still feel that Gov. Blagojevich should still get to appoint the replacement senator even if he is under a cloud of controversy. The controversy shouldn’t be in who Gov. Blagojevich appoints to the seat. The controversy is how that decision is made. That where I’d like to offer a suggestion. Let’s just pull the name out of a hat. Because in truth, whenever someone has been appointed to a position, none of us have ever known the logic or illogic behind that decision.

For example, Mayor Daley has appointed a number of aldermen to replace other aldermen who have gone to jail in scandal after scandal. Even though those individuals affected us a lot more than a replacement for a senator, many of us have gone along with the process with very few complaints. There has never been any transparency in the mayor’s choices. And had Gov. Blagojevich not gotten arrested, there wouldn’t have been any transparency in his process as well.

So let’s make the senate seat that was available “for sale” to the highest fundraiser for the governor a “for sale” fundraiser for the State of Illinois in the form of a raffle ticket. Let those who wanted the seat purchase blocks of tickets and then the governor can pull the winner’s raffle ticket out of a hat on live TV. Those individuals who were willing to raise hundred of thousands of dollars for Blagojevich’s campaign fund can raise the same hundred of thousands of dollars for raffle tickets for their favorite candidate.

Heck, even some of us who want our own candidate to be the one to get the seat can contribute to their chance by purchasing tickets for them. Forget the instant tickets for the lottery. We can go and purchase ten dollars worth of Jesse Jackson, Jr., tickets, five dollars worth of Tammy Duckworth, twenty dollars worth of Danny K. Davis tickets, etc. Whenever someone buys a raffle ticket for their candidate, the proceeds from that purchase can go into the state’s coffers. The state can make money on the deal and the selection of the replacement will be open and honest to the public. And for once voters can finally benefit in the “pay to play” world of Illinois politics!

Interestingly - This Is The Story We Didn't Hear This Year....

Last year we have several news stories regarding some churches who claimed that thieves broke into the church and stole all the gifts. The economy is now worst this year as opposed to last year. So one would assume that we would hear numerous cases of Grinches who stole Christmas.


Yet this year, that hasn't been the story. Now the cynic in me last year didn't believe some of those store front churches had the money to have one single present. So the claims of lost of thousands of dollars in gifts made me skeptical. But no stories this year mean either the thieves have changed, there weren't any gifts being bought this year or the bad economy would have made a made-up story a waste of time.

How Come Sarbane Oxley Didn't Prevent the Wall Street Crisis

Several years ago, Congress implemented Sarbane-Oxley (SOX).

In a nutshell and according to Wikepedia, "The legislation establishes new or enhanced standards for all U.S. public company boards, management, and public accounting firms. It does not apply to privately held companies. The Act contains 11 titles, or sections, ranging from additional Corporate Board responsibilities to criminal penalties, and requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to implement rulings on requirements to comply with the new law. Debate continues over the perceived benefits and costs of SOX. Supporters contend that the legislation was necessary and has played a useful role in restoring public confidence in the nation's capital markets by, among other things, strengthening corporate accounting controls. Opponents of the bill claim that it has reduced America's international competitive edge against foreign financial service providers, claiming that SOX has introduced an overly complex and regulatory environment into U.S. financial markets.

The Act establishes a new quasi-public agency, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or PCAOB, which is charged with overseeing, regulating, inspecting, and disciplining accounting firms in their roles as auditors of public companies. The Act also covers issues such as auditor independence, corporate governance, internal control assessment, and enhanced financial disclosure."


So can someone tell me why SOX didn't prevent what happened on Wall Street? Is the outsourcing of so many IT jobs the reason that many foreign programmers do the work but not being US citizens they care less about our regulatory laws?

Art in the Eye of A Needle

Incredible Art Smaller Than The Eye Of A Needle!

Senate Seat For Sale

CAPTION SHOULD BE: So How Much Do You Think I can Get For Barack's Empty Seat?

Rumor Has It .....

That Oprah Winfrey may be offered the empty Senate seat previously held by Barack Obama. Any opinions? I'm not feeling it personally because I think Oprah has gone too "new wave" lately. But I understand daley is supporting the idea.

Christ Child House

Thank God for them. Christ Child House.

Drive Drunk - Crash into Truck - Sue Truck Driver!

Convicted last year of intoxication manslaughter for the death of her boyfriend, the 21-year-old daughter of a state district judge is suing the truck driver she ran into during a drunken driving crash.

Elizabeth Shelton, the daughter of juvenile judge Pat Shelton, is accusing truck driver Lance Bennett of negligence in the Oct. 23, 2007, wreck that killed her boyfriend Matthew McNiece.

Shelton had a blood alcohol concentration more than three times the legal limit, two tests showed. She was sentenced to eight years' probation and had to serve four months in jail.

Shelton, her family and the family of the boyfriend who was killed are suing for $20,000 for the destruction of the Lexus SUV she was driving and an undetermined amount for mental anguish, pain and suffering.

Bennett was driving the box truck that Shelton rear-ended on the Southwest Freeway near Kirby around 2 a.m.

Bennett's attorney, John Havins, said the lawsuit, filed in October, was the last chance to make a claim before the statute of limitations ran out.

He noted that Shelton named 16 defendants, including insurance companies and banks. "They're just throwing everything against the wall to see if anything sticks," Havins said.

During Shelton's trial, an expert for the defense testified there was evidence that Bennett swerved into Shelton's lane. An expert for the prosecution, however, said there wasn't evidence that Bennett got in her way.

Testimony also showed that the company Bennett was working for let the insurance on the truck lapse.

"The injuries and property damage sustained by (Shelton and her family) were not the result of intentional acts, but were accidental and caused by the negligence of the uninsured/underinsured driver," Shelton's attorney Mark Sandoval wrote in the lawsuit.

Play By The Dead - End Up With Them!

The parents of a 2-year-old boy who was crushed to death by a headstone at a funeral last week have filed a lawsuit against the Pearland cemetery.

Giovanni Rodriguez died Dec. 13 when police say a group of children may have been playing on the headstones at the Southpark Funeral Home-Cemetery-Crematory at 1310 North Main in Pearland. The lawsuit alleges the funeral home operator was negligent for not making sure the headstones were more stable.

"Giovanni died shortly before turning three," said John Padilla, the Houston lawyer representing the parents. "To me, it's intuitive. You shouldn't have these headstones around loose."

Padilla said his clients were too distraught to talk about their son's death Friday. He said parents Francisco Rodriguez Cardenas and Maria De Los Angeles Yanez Laura filed the lawsuit Tuesday so the court could make sure evidence was not altered at the cemetery.

"We feel strongly the evidence will show there were numerous other headstones there not affixed to a base. Loose headstones pose an extreme risk to children, older people, even praying people who could reach up and touch one," Padilla said.

John Shipp, the Dallas-based lawyer for the Southpark funeral home and cemetery, said his client works to provide caring, quality service. "We're deeply saddened by this tragic accident and offer the family our sincere condolences," Shipp said on behalf of Southpark, which is a part of Stewart Enterprises Inc.

Shipp would not comment specifically on the death since a lawsuit is pending.

Patty Goolsby, of the Pearland Police Department, said emergency crews were dispatched to the cemetery after receiving a 911 call. Goolsby said the family was at a funeral service and "kids were jumping around on" the headstones nearby.

But Padilla said he has no evidence kids were playing on the headstones. He said the boy did not die at the cemetery, but later from injuries sustained there.

Padilla said he filed the lawsuit under a Texas law which requires reasonable care be taken to make a premises safe. But he said, the United Kingdom and some other European countries have separate laws addressing headstone safety though he didn't find anything like that in the United States.

Donald Burger, a Houston lawyer who lectures on Texas cemetery law, said the state has many regulations about health and safety at cemeteries. "Some are even bizarre like that you can't bury a murderer near his victim if you have notice. But I have not come across cases on headstone liability in Texas," Burger said.

Bob Fells, general counsel for the Virginia-based International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association, said he has seen a few cases involving children harmed by headstones in his 25 years with the group.

He said American privately-owned cemeteries generally have insurance and know that checking headstone stability is part of maintenance. He said cases like this may be won or lost based on the maintenance record and habits of the cemetery involved.

Sarah Palin's Grandbaby's Daddy's Mama Arrested on Drug Charges!

WASILLA -- A 42-year-old Wasilla woman was arrested Thursday at her home by Alaska State Troopers with a search warrant in an undercover drug investigation. Sherry L. Johnston was charged with six felony counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance.

Johnston is the mother of Levi Johnston, the Wasilla 18-year-old who received international attention in September when Gov. Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, announced their teenage daughter was pregnant and he was the father. Bristol Palin, 18, is due on Saturday, according to a recent interview with the governor's father, Chuck Heath.

Troopers served the warrant at Johnston's home at the "conclusion of an undercover narcotics investigation," said a statement issued Thursday by the troopers as part of the normal daily summary of activity around the state.

Troopers charged Johnston with second-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance -- generally manufacturing or delivering drugs -- as well as fourth-degree misconduct involving controlled substances, or possession.

Troopers released no other information, including the kind or amount of drugs, because details could jeopardize an ongoing investigation, spokeswoman Megan Peters said.

Asked how long the investigation had proceeded before Johnston's arrest, Peters would only say "a while."

The Palmer District Attorney's office had no comment.

Sherry Johnston was arrested around noon and booked at Mat-Su Pretrial Facility, according to a booking officer there. She was released on a $5,000 unsecured bond just after 2 p.m.

No charging documents had been filed at Palmer courthouse by the end of the day, a clerk said.

Levi Johnston sat with Bristol and the rest of the Palin family in St. Paul, Minn., during Gov. Palin's speech to the Republican National Convention, and he joined the family on the stage afterwards.

When asked about the arrest, Palin's spokesman, Bill McAllister, issued the following statement by e-mail: "This is not a state government matter. Therefore the governor's communications staff will not be providing comment or scheduling interview opportunities."

Johnston didn't come to the door of her home on Caribou Loop Road outside Wasilla on Thursday afternoon. A teenage boy who answered the door said he couldn't provide any information.

Why Are Black Preachers The First Ones To Be Called When White Politicians Gets Busted?

I don’t know which was more embarrassing. Hearing U.S. Attorney General Patrick Fitzgerald read what Gov. Blagojevich was alleged to have said on secret tape recording or hearing what black folks actually said over the air while listening to WVON 1690AM.

True, at the point that the press conference was held, Gov. Blagojevich wasn’t being indicted. But a warrant for his arrest had been issue based on those recordings that the government had been authorized to hear and make. The recordings according to Fitzgerald, show our governor’s willingness to not only offer to sell the vacated U.S. Senate seat previously held by Barack Obama to the highest bidder, but the governor was also willing to hold up funding to Children’s Memorial Hospital unless those in charge of it gave to his campaign. Every citizen of the State of Illinois should be offended that the governor’s displayed a willingness to put sick kids at risk for his political gain.

The governor’s arrest and the release of what is purportedly on the recordings became the talk of WVON. What I was most amazed to hear were callers acting as if it was a guarantee that an African-Americans would get and keep the vacant senate seat. One caller said, “its ours (the senate seat) and ain’t no one else going to get it…”. Huh? “Ours” as if black people were the majority in this state. “Ours” as if no one else could possibly run an election and win it. “Ours” as if the senate seat was a “legacy” to be passed from person-to-person -- the rest of the state population be damned!

If what was said on WVON had been said on any white radio station, the same people would be screaming racism at the top of their lungs. Yes it was good to have the U.S. Senate which is now currently 100% white to have a person of color in there. But there is no guarantee in any state that just because your skin has melanin that you can win and keep a senate seat. Did those callers on WVON forget that it was because the republicans had put up a carpetbagger by the name of Alan Keyes as Obama’s opponent that also led to Obama’s win? The choice in 2004 was between two black men. That is not guaranteed to be the case in the event of a special election or the regular election scheduled for 2010.

I am also perplexed by when it became “de rigueur” for some white politicians to call on black preachers whenever they find their butts in trouble for doing something that is scandalous. From Bill Clinton after his Monicagate to now Blagojevich with his allegations, why are black preachers the first ones to flock following the sins? No other ethnic or racial group seems to have ministers who come to the aide of sinners as quickly as those in the black community. Do those ministers have a better hot line to God than the pastors of the churches those sinners regularly attend? And if so, can some of those prayers be first for those sick children at Children’s Memorial whose health the Governor put at risk playing political games with their healthcare!

When the governor cares so little for the feelings of the black community and especially the Westside by helping to feed the homeless with Congressman Danny K. Davis for Thanksgiving while referring to him as Senator only to find out Congressman Davis wasn’t even on Blagojevich’s short list, then those ministers have no regards for the fools that the governor played many of us for. When talent and service by an elected official isn’t taken into account unless there is money to be paid, our governor is sounding like a political version of Rev. Ike. Those minister need to remember that Rev. Ike was famous for telling people when it came to his offerings, he didn’t want anything that jingled. He didn’t take change.


PS: An update on the story I wrote about concerning Taneka Talley’s death and Dollar Tree. Dollar Tree has now agreed to pay the death benefits to Taneka’s son.

Jesse Jackson Jr - 007?

If Jesse jr was working with the feds, then why did his embassary offer money? The more I hear of this "version" of the story, the fishier it smells!

And does the "perceived corruption" include his father?

===================================================================

Jackson Jr. went to authorities about Illinois governor
Story Highlights
NEW: Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. rejects use of word "informant" regarding his role

"We're going to fight this case," Gov. Rod Blagojevich's attorney says

Illinois House panel discusses whether basis for impeachment exists

Illinois governor arrested last week on federal corruption charges

CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who was cited in a criminal complaint against Rod Blagojevich, went to the U.S. Attorney's office about alleged wrongdoers, including the Illinois governor, a Jackson spokesman said Tuesday.

Jackson rejected being labeled with the term "informant" in a message to CNN contributor Roland Martin.

Spokesman Kenneth Edmonds described Jackson's interaction with federal authorities this way: "As a responsible citizen and elected official, Congressman Jackson has in the past provided information to federal authorities regarding his personal knowledge of perceived corruption and governmental misconduct.

"This was completely unrelated to the current investigation regarding the U.S. Senate appointment. And it is absolutely inaccurate to describe the congressman as an informant," Edmonds said in a written statement.

Jackson, a Democrat, has given information regarding the embattled Democratic governor of Illinois, though not in the case currently under investigation, Edmonds said.

In addition, two sources close to Jackson told CNN that, in 2002, Blagojevich -- then running for governor of Illinois -- solicited a $25,000 campaign donation from Jackson, which he did not get.

At the time, Jackson's wife, Sandi, was a candidate for the job of director of the state's Lottery Commission, a post she did not win, the sources said.

After Blagojevich took office, in early 2003, he told Jackson something to the effect of, "You see what $25,000 would have done?" the sources said.

In 2006, Jackson reported the incident, which he believed to have been an attempt at a shakedown, the sources said.

The report, the sources said, came three three years later because Jackson's memory was jogged by another case -- that of developer Tony Rezko, whose fraud and corruption trial included testimony about $25,000 donations to Blagojevich.

Jackson did not endorse Blagojevich in his initial campaign and tried to stay on the sidelines during the governor's re-election bid, one of the sources said.

Blagojevich's office did not return calls seeking comment.

The comments by Jackson's spokesman come on the same day members of an Illinois House of Representatives panel met to determine whether there is a basis to impeach Blagojevich.

Federal prosecutors accuse Blagojevich of trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama's former Senate seat.

The governor was arrested December 9 on federal corruption charges and has since ignored calls to resign.

Although Blagojevich, 52, has not commented publicly on the charges, his lawyer Ed Genson said the governor had done nothing wrong and does not intend to step down.

"We're going to fight this case," Genson said.

The 21-member panel is "not a committee to impeach the governor, but rather to investigate whether or not there exists a basis for the drafting and consideration of an impeachment motion by the full House," said Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, the majority leader and chairwoman of the committee. Watch as panel begins its work »

The proceedings will be fair, Currie said.

"Many Illinoisans today, including some of the lawmakers chosen to sit on this committee, have strong feelings about the governor and the crimes of which he's been accused," she said. "But let us remember that we are not 'Alice in Wonderland.' We're not the Red Queen; we do not sentence first and then do the verdict." Watch as panelists debate governor's capacity to serve »

The committee, which includes a dozen Democrats and nine Republicans, was meeting to discuss its investigation and procedures.

Currie said she met Monday with U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the lead prosecutor in the case, to ask for help and information as well as "to make sure our investigation doesn't trample on his."

Fitzgerald had asked the committee put its request in writing, and Currie said the committee planned to do that.

Currie adjourned the hearing until Wednesday so Genson could attend. She said she had also written a letter to Blagojevich, inviting him to participate in the proceedings.

She said that on Wednesday, members will probably examine the 76-page federal criminal complaint, which includes transcripts of several expletive-laced taped phone conversations the governor had, in which he allegedly tried to personally benefit from the Senate vacancy.

Many members said Tuesday they regretted having to call impeachment proceedings but said it was necessary.

"It's unfortunate we're here," said Republican Rep. Jim Durkin, "but we have responsibilities."

Democratic Rep. Frank Mautino added, "No one takes any joy in watching someone stumble, but in the course of going forward, we all have a job to do."

On Monday, Obama said a review of his transition team's activities showed that he and his staff had no inappropriate discussions with either Blagojevich or Blagojevich's staff about filling the vacant Senate seat.

"There is nothing in the review that was presented to me that in any way contradicted my earlier statements that this appalling set of circumstances that we've seen arise had nothing to do with my office," Obama said.

Obama noted that Fitzgerald has requested a week's delay of the public release of the review so that it would not "interfere with an ongoing investigation" of the governor.

On Sunday, the governor spoke briefly to reporters.

"There will be an appropriate time to talk about this, but let me just wish everybody happy holidays," he said. "Things will work out just fine."

Blagojevich and his former chief of staff, John Harris, 46, were each charged with a count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and a count of solicitation of bribery, authorities said. iReport.com: Do you trust your leaders?

Harris has since resigned but has not commented on the charges.

On Friday, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan petitioned the state Supreme Court to temporarily remove Blagojevich from office or, at least, strip him of some of his authority. Madigan says that Blagojevich is "disabled" and cannot carry out the functions of his office.

"We are not looking to try to convict him criminally with the pleadings that we brought to the Illinois Supreme Court," she said Sunday. "We're simply recognizing that these are extraordinary, unprecedented circumstances and that we need to have a governor who can actually use the powers of that office and govern our state, or else our state becomes paralyzed."

"There is also this serious concern that absolutely everything that he does from here on out is going to be tainted," she said. "It's going to be illegitimate. And so we think it is absolutely obvious that he is incapable of governing, and the best thing to do is to move aside."

Taneka Talley's Son To Get Benefits Previously Denied by Dollar Tree

From the Mercury News:

FAIRFIELD, Calif.—Retail discount chain Dollar Tree has agreed to pay death benefits for a Fairfield employee who was stabbed to death at work, after the company initially denied the claim.
Tommy Joe Thompson is facing trial on charges of killing 26-year-old Taneka Talley in March 2006 while she was stocking shelves at a Dollar Tree store.

At a pretrial hearing, a psychiatrist said Thompson admitted he attacked Talley because she was black. Thompson is white.

The discount chain's insurer used that statement to deny benefits under California's workers' compensation laws, saying the killing was motivated by race and not work-related.

But Chesapeake, Va.-based Dollar Tree reversed course Monday, saying it would pay the full benefits—a minimum of $250,000.

Talley's mother said the change was motivated by public outrage over the initial denial.

———

Thank You Andre Johnson!

Not only does this video say a lot, of all the gifts one little girl can get, it appears to be an inexpensive jewelry set that has made her the most happy!

Anti-Kidnapping Expert KIDNAPPED in Mexico

Sometimes you just don't need to say anything more:

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MEXICO CITY — An American renowned as an anti-kidnap expert has himself been abducted in northern Mexico after several days of seminars in which he was teaching police and citizens how to deal with kidnappings.

Felix Batista, 55, is a senior consultant with ASI Global, a Houston-based firm that assists clients with security issues, including both preventing and resolving kidnappings. He was taken Wednesday evening outside a restaurant in the industrial city of Saltillo in the state of Coahuila, which borders Texas.

A former U.S. Army intelligence officer, Batista has worked for nearly two decades as a security consultant in Latin America from his base in Miami. He has become a frequent source for journalists writing about security issues in the region and has often lectured industry and citizens groups in the United States and Mexico.

Charlie LeBlanc, ASI Global's president, told the Houston Chronicle that Batista was "not there on ASI business."

Local press in Saltillo reported that Batista had given security seminars to local police and citizens groups last week.

Batista, in a bio for a recent conference, said he had successfully negotiated the release of nearly 100 kidnap victims, including with Colombian leftist guerillas and some of Mexico's more notorious kidnapping gangs.

LeBlanc declined to comment whether the company or anyone else had received ransom demands from the kidnappers. The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City also declined to comment on the case.

Although often overshadowed by narcotics-related violence, kidnapping has become a scourge in Mexico.

Kidnappings have hit upper and middle-class civilians hard. Even poor families have been targeted. Hundreds of new cases are reported each year, with still more going unreported for fear of endangering the victims.

Just last summer, the 14-year-old son of one of the Mexican capital's wealthiest merchant families was kidnapped and slain. And police last week identified the remains of the 19-year-old daughter of Mexico's former top sports official Nelson Vargas. She had been kidnapped on her way to school in Mexico City 15 months ago

Jesse Jackson Jr - Snitch?????

Working with the Feds - by choice or forced to because of what they caught on tape? BTW, imagine the debt the state would be in if we had gone ahead with the third airport in Peotone? And last but not least, since the black westside sits directly in between O'Hare and Midway, why have we never benefitted from those airports?????

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Jackson has been fighting for his reputation since the federal complaint revealed his supporters were willing to raise money for the governor, if Jackson was appointed to the Senate.
The new information appears to support Jackson's claim that he was not involved in a scheme to buy a U.S. Senate seat.
ABC7 has learned that since late last summer, the congressman has worked with federal prosecutors, informing on an alleged Blagojevich administration scheme two and half years earlier.
The meeting in June of 2006 at a Gold Coast hotel included Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. and Blagojevich fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko.

The topic was a proposed third airport at Peotone, Jackson's pet project which needed more state money. Rezko allegedly demanded that the governor be given control of the airport's board. Jackson refused and state support for the project stopped.
Then last summer, weeks after Rezko was found guilty of un-related corruption, the U.S. Attorney's Office interviewed the congressman as a possible witness against the governor in the Peotone matter.
And sources tell ABC7 that Jackson has been in regular contact with the feds and has told the government that in 2003 Blagojevich denied the congressman's wife Sandi an appointment as Illinois lottery director because Jackson would not donate $25,000 to the governor's campaign fund.
Hours before Blagojevich and his chief of staff John Harris were arrested, Jackson says prosecutors gave him a 'courtesy call' to let him know he was mentioned in the criminal complaint.
The U.S. attorney may have been referring to Jackson when he issued a warning to reporters last week.
"There may be people who had no idea what was going on...who had no idea they were being discussed," said Patrick Fitzgerald, U.S. attorney. "We ask that the press in particular not cast aspersions. This complaint is only about the two people who were charged."
A U.S. attorney's spokesman said of Jackson's role months ago in the Blagojevich case: "We don't confirm or deny the contacts. We have consistently refused to comment on the status of any individual not charged in this investigation."
Jackson supporters ABC7 talked to on Monday want the U.S. attorney to give the congressman a clean bill of health so to speak.
In1998, then U.S. Attorney Scott Lassar did that for Republican gubernatorial candidate George Ryan. Ryan was eventually convicted of corruption and now sits in a federal prison.

What's in a Name?????

To all the folks who get upset with the names black folks come up with, check out this article taken from the Detroit Free Press:

UPDATED AT 9:44 PM: EASTON, Pa. — The father of 3-year-old Adolf Hitler Campbell, denied a birthday cake with the child’s full name on it by a New Jersey supermarket, is asking for a little tolerance.

Heath Campbell and his wife, Deborah, are upset not only with the decision made by the Greenwich ShopRite, but with an outpouring of angry Internet postings in response to a local newspaper article over the weekend on their flare-up over frosting.


“I think people need to take their heads out of the cloud they’ve been in and start focusing on the future and not on the past,” Heath Campbell said today in an interview conducted in Easton, on the other side of the Delaware River from where the family lives in Hunterdon County, N.J.


“There’s a new president and he says it’s time for a change; well, then it’s time for a change,” the 35-year-old continued. “They need to accept a name. A name’s a name. The kid isn’t going to grow up and do what (Hitler) did.”


Deborah Campbell, 25, said she phoned in her order last week to the ShopRite. When she told the bakery department she wanted her son’s name spelled out, she was told to talk to a supervisor, who denied the request.


Karen Meleta, a spokeswoman for ShopRite, said the Campbells had similar requests denied at the same store the last two years and said Heath Campbell previously had asked for a swastika to be included in the decoration.


“We reserve the right not to print anything on the cake that we deem to be inappropriate,” Meleta said. “We considered this inappropriate.”


The Campbells ultimately got their cake decorated at a Wal-Mart in Pennsylvania, Deborah Campbell said.


About 12 people attended the birthday party Sunday, including several children who were of mixed race, according to Heath Campbell. “If we’re so racist, then why would I have them come into my home?” he asked.


The Campbells’ other two children also have unusual names: JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell turns 2 in a few months and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell will be 1 in April.


Heath Campbell said he named his son after Adolf Hitler because he liked the name and because “no one else in the world would have that name.” He sounded surprised by all the controversy the dispute had generated.


Campbell said his ancestors are German and that he has lived his entire life in Hunterdon County. Today, he wore a pair of black boots he said were worn by a German soldier during World War II.


He said he was raised not to avoid people of other races but not to mix with them socially or romantically. But he said he would try to raise his children differently.


“Say he grows up and hangs out with black people. That’s fine, I don’t really care,” he said. “That’s his choice.”

JESSE JACKSON Jr PRESS CONFERENCE

No wonder JJ jr didn't take any question during his press conference where he strongly denied any wrongdoing in the "pay to play" scandal. Here the youtube video. Go to around minute 4:00 thru about 4:35 and see if you notice what I did.


Hint: Pay attention to the day of the week mentioned.

No Taxation By Misrepresentation

Where will you be in 75 years? I will be dead and most anyone reading this column will be dead. I will even guesstimate that the majority of children living today will be dead and for the most part, it will be our great-great-grandchildren who will be the ones living and paying taxes when the lease of the Chicago parking meters finally comes to an end.

In just the past couple of years, we taxpayers have, for the most part, stood silently by while the mayor and the city council have leased out infrastructure work that was originally paid for by our parents and grandparents. The mayor and his band of 50 cronies have leased the Skyway, the Chicago parking garages, Midway and now the parking meters. Each time a city entity was leased, it was done with the tale that it would solve a "current economic crisis." I won't even begin to write about the money the city lost when Daley ordered Meigs Field destroyed in the middle of the night.

Only two of the three Austin aldermen, Ed Smith (28th Ward) and Emma Mitts (37th Ward) were present and voted to lease the parking meters. Alderman Ike Carothers (29th Ward) was absent. I looked up the number of parking meters in each ward and according to published reports, the 28th Ward has 196 meters, the 29th Ward has 110 meters and my ward, the 37th, has 18.

The city will get $1.2 billion for leasing the meters. The company giving the city that money plans to not only recoup their $1.2 billion over the next 75 years, but they also will make a profit. And that is where most Chicagoans should focus their thoughts. How much profit?

We know the amounts to feed a meter will go up. And if the higher amounts the meters earn will cover the amount of the payout on the lease and the profit back to the company, I guess we all have to live with that. But what we shouldn't have to live with is the city installing one new meter anywhere. Because any new meter installation will mean that the money from it will go back to the leasing company and theoretically would be an additional tax on the citizenry of Chicago by forcing us to pay profits to a company above and beyond what they should be earning.

We as citizens need to be very vigilant when Daley leases a city property and then the proceeds don't ever seem to fix the budget problems. There is a finite number of things in the city that can be leased. There is also a finite amount that a budget can maintain.

For example, recently the city's budget director, Bennett Johnson III, resigned his $163,656-a-year job after it was revealed he had spent $5,000 to have a shower installed in his office-so that he could clean up after biking to work. Huh? In today's economy, the city can cut that salary in half and find hundreds of applicants among all the people who have been laid off from companies all over the city.

By the way, when the new CTA headquarters was built, they too had showers installed in the building at Clinton and Lake so that workers who biked to work could shower. That sort of irresponsible leadership and corresponding lack of public outrage is why the budgets for the city and other agencies are so out whack. Taxpayers are seen as an endless ATM machine that can be tapped whenever there is a nickel needed for this or a dime needed for that. All the while the economy is tanking, people are out of work and it may take years for us to recover.

The Boston Tea Party took place on Dec. 16, 1773 because of "taxation without representation." Now 235 years later, we need to protest because of "taxation by misrepresentation."

Can Murder By A Stranger be "Personal"?

Thanksgiving weekend officially began the Christmas shopping season. In our tough economic times, many of us will be shopping at the dollar stores in order to save money while buying items that give us a good value for an inexpensive price. As each and every one of us makes the decision to shop at one store or another, I want to bring to your attention the death of a young black woman named Taneka Talley and the dollar store where she had worked.

Taneka was employed at a Dollar Tree in Fairfield, Calif. In March, 2006 while on the job, she was stabbed to death by a white male customer who reportedly wanted to kill the first black person he saw. Taneka, who was a single parent, left behind a then 8-year-old son who is now being raised by Taneka's mom.

The travesty of Taneka Talley's death doesn't just end with her murder. In California, there is a state law that says if a worker is killed on the job, Taneka's son would be eligible to file for state workers' compensation benefits. But according to media accounts, Dollar Tree, via its insurance company, Specialty Risk Services, is fighting the payout. Why? Because there is another caveat to that California law, which states if the person who was killed had a "personal" relationship with the killer, then the workers' comp benefits aren't payable. The intent of that law was to prevent payouts when a worker is killed on the job by someone they know.

So did Taneka Talley have a relationship with the white man who killed her? No, she didn't. So how is it that the insurance company is now denying her heir the money to which he should be legally entitled if the man who killed his mom didn't even know her? Well, it seems a lawyer who represents Specialty Risk Services has managed to come up with a "personal" connection between the victim and her killer. The alleged killer killed Taneka Talley because she was black. Therefore the murder was a "racially motivated crime" and as such, then the "crime" was "personal," and therefore they don't have to pay the claim.

Huh? A woman is at work doing her job and is subsequently killed at work by a customer who is a complete stranger, but because that stranger hated black people, the crime is now "personal" and therefore the insurance claim benefits can be denied. Does everyone who reads this story understand the implications of this? A woman can be murdered by someone she didn't know and, according to former chief judge in the state's Division of Worker's Compensation, Steven Siemers, "this would be the first case where a hate crime, in and of itself, established a personal connection."

Taneka's family, after learning of the denial of the benefit payout, is reportedly using their legal options against Dollar Tree. But the legal implications of this case are far-reaching. The "alleged" killer was only charged with murder and not a "hate crime." But the "hate crime" aspect is the reason the attorneys for Dollar Tree have used the logic to make the crime "personal." The killer was not charged with a "hate crime," but rather the charge against him was simply "murder."

As the final outcome of this case evolves, I will keep you informed either via this column or my blog. In the meantime, people should think twice before giving Dollar Tree another dollar.

What Wild Animals Are Living In Your Neighborhood?

For at least the last six years, I have had a Possum living somewhere near my home. The other night my son came running into my room and told me to follow him. We went out on the balcony and walking my neighbor's back sidewalk was a huge white possum with a long pinkish -rey tail. The possum is huge - so it is obviously able to feed quite well in my neighborhood.

A few years back I was driving west on a sidesteet near my home and saw an animal crossing the street. Wow, rats I thought. But upon closer inspections, it was a family of brown bunnies.

What have you seen in your neighborhood?

How Much Did This Cost The City of Chicago?

It was about a year ago a woman in the south suburbs left her daughter in the car to walk her other children to make a donation at the Salvation Army kettle. She was charged with child endangerment and arrested.

Yesterday we had the story of the little boy left in the van while the parents picked up newspapers. Unable to speak English, I wonder if they had a license to drive and if they are in this country legally. Never the less, the car was stolen with the young baby inside. All day I saw the messages over the TV. Thankfully the baby was found safe, but those parents should be arrested and charged with child endangerment.

Will The Obamas Spark An Insurgence Of Marriage In The Black Communiyt

It was just about 25 years ago that the Bill Cosby Show first aired. Who amongst us can remember the controversy that that show caused? Why? Because we had a successful married couple (doctor and lawyer) who led a very upper middle class life and after the black community only knowing shows like Good Times or Standford and Son or if middle class then there had to be an element of ignorance like in The Jeffersons. So Cosby came forth with a comedy that wasn't the head rolling and booty shaking.

Now fast forward and we have two successful lawyers, although one has spent most of his time as a politician becoming the new first family. They married FIRST, then waited a number of years before they had a child and then four more years later a second child.

We are seeing a married black couple, in love and one that unlike some previous presidential families, really in love with each other. Now there were other first families where I have no doubt the husband loved the wife, but those couple were so much older that if they had their own bedrooms in the white house, it seems understandable.

While watching the Barbara Walters interview, the love between Michelle and Barack is quite obvious. But going even younger, I was watching the Beyonce video Single Ladies and to hear a hit song telling men "IF YOU LIKE IT YOU SHOULD HAVE PUT A RING ON IT" is quite refreshing.

Only time will tell if there is going to soon be an insurgence of marriages, but I hope there will be.

Is Michelle Obama Pregnant?

When she sat down for the interview, her stomach was looking a little plump.

How will Comedians Make Comedy About the Obamas?

That has been the source of numerous discussions around the web. It is going to be interesting what perspectives are taken.

I think we might finally see some true comedic genuis come out. Especially in light of the fact that Barack Obama isn't the jive-talking, angry black man. He's cool, educated and extremely well spoken.

In fact, Barack talks like "a white man". OMG, after all the years of blackfolks running around claiming that some black people were "talking white", who is the first person that they all ran out to support? A man who "talks white, was raised by whites, and is half white".

Ha Ha Ha!

HAPPY TURKEY DAY

I'm going to grill mine. It's been brining for several hours and the results should be wonderful once I put it on the Weber grill.

Who Should Replace Barack Obama in the Senate

Now that Louie Gutierrez has taken himself out of the running (and trust me I've been ROFL at the though that he even considered himself near the race) who would or should be the replacement senator.

Congressmen Danny K. Davis or Jesse Jackson Jr? I'd take Danny Davis on Jr. There's an old saying that "if you lie, you'll steal". His push for the Peotone airport while dismissing advocating the building up of the Gary airport, his lies about his weight loss (remember he claimed he got a shot in the butt) then was forced to admit he had some sort of gastric bypass for barely being 50 - 60 lbs overweight all lead me to not have a very high opinion of him.

Now there are those who criticize Danny Davis. But every Sunday you can call in to the radio station 1450AM from 10 - midnight and confront him over the air. That alone says to me he has been and would continue to be a very accessible senator.

I don't know much about Tammy Duckworth. But her name has positive name recognition.

Any suggestions?

The Power To Influence The Youngest

In my prior post, I mentioned implementing O.B.A.M.A Day. After watching the video below, the power of this one man to get children that excited says alot about the possiblity of what he can influence over the next four years.

LET'S MAKE JANUARY 20 THE OFFICIAL O.B.A.M.A DAY

O.B.A.M.A. Now most folks looking at that word would assume it's just the last name of our president-elect. Jan. 20, 2009 will not only be my speed limit birthday (55), it will also be the day President Barack Obama is officially sworn into office.

As I was thinking about how President Obama and I will share a momentous day that will go down in history, it would be nice if the day was also officially known from that day forward as O.B.A.M.A. Day. O.B.A.M.A. stands for Our Brothers Aren't Murdering Anymore.

One thing the black community can do as its tribute to a president who looks like us is to end the murders that occur daily in our community. If we can cut the murder rate in our community to zero, we can honor him and his presidency. As a community, we cannot ask a leader to take us on a journey if we are not willing to take a stand and prepare for that journey. And a major part of that preparation is to respect life and not make the journey any harder than it needs be.

Every day one only has to read the headlines in most local papers to learn of the carnage going on across this country-from Los Angeles to New York, Chicago to Miami, New Orleans to Houston, we are a country whose young men are being killed off one at a time by other young men. We are losing our future, our civility and our culture to a devil known as "senseless murders." Plus "brothers" are not just limited to black men. "Brothers" are all men-white, Asians and Hispanics alike.

I'd like to see the O.B.A.M.A. Day initiative take off right here in Chicago. Because of the world-wide interest in our 44th president, Chicago could become an even greater tourist attraction. But the black community, which needs to benefit the most from an Obama presidency, may lose out if people are scared to death when they read and watch stories of shooting and mayhem occurring on our streets. Just this past weekend, a young teenage mother was shot in the neck leaving a party just a mile from Obama's house.

Over the next six weeks, from Thanksgiving through New Year's, each and every one of us will see or hear from family members. It is time for each of us to be pro-active in talking with our young people regarding conflict resolution, gang violence and gun violence. And talking with them should be an ongoing conversation and not just a single question or comment.

We need to end that hideous practice of "no snitching." To date within the black community, we have at least three killers still walking the streets among us. First is the killer who shot the women at the Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park; next we have the killer who brutally stabbed and murdered 9-year-old Mya Lyons; and the killers who murdered the family members of Jennifer Hudson. Those individuals will be at someone's house for Thanksgiving and will be buying or wanting presents for Christmas. Someone, somewhere knows who the people are who committed those murders and should drop a dime on the crime.

Those individuals who committed the aforementioned crimes are the poster children for why we need an O.B.A.M.A. Day.

Obama's Aunt Zeituni - Will this illegal alien get to stay or have to go?

Just days before the presidential election, one of the least talked about subjects during all the presidential debates made headlines. Illegal Immigration has been a very contentious issue in this country over the past few years. The most famous illegal immigrant, Elvira Arellano was deported back to Mexico in August, 2007. This year’s illegal immigrant marches have paled in comparison to those of years gone by. Most of the news regarding illegal immigration has been stories about workplace raids and the arrest of hundreds of people who were using false identities while working in this country. So it was very interesting to hear about our latest and probably soon to be most famous illegal immigrant.
In Boston, living in public housing, Barack Obama’s aunt Zeituni Onyango (a half-sister to his father) was found to be living here illegally. Although Ms. Onyango had entered the country legally at some point in the past with a tourist visa, she had decided to try and stay here by seeking asylum. That request was denied and she was ordered by a judge to leave. Rather than obey the laws of this country and leave, she did what millions of others have done. She jumped the line and decided to stay.
When many of the pundits learned about Obama’s aunt, they loudly decried her and him. There was outrage that Ms. Onyango was living in public housing on the backs of American taxpayers while Americans and especially our veterans live in homeless shelters or on the streets. Obama’s aunt rather than face the media critics and defend her position has since fled Boston to stay with relatives in Cleveland. Media reports out of Cleveland says that she has hired an attorney and will fight the deportation order.
What was most interesting to me was the response from Obama. I don’t doubt him when he says that he hasn’t been in touch with his aunt for a number of years. But he also stated that if his aunt was violating the law, she should obey the law just like anyone else. Barack Obama will be sworn in as president on January 20, 2009. The next day on the 21st, a massive demonstration is being planned by at least thirty immigration rights activist groups to call on our new president to end the workplace raids, arrests and deportations of those here illegally. Their stance is that immigration should be one of the top ten agenda items on President Obama’s list.
The question of immigration and who has the right to be here and not be here will come at a very pivotal point in this country’s history. We are currently suffering an economic failure that has led to historic drops in the stock market, we hear daily about thousands of Americans losing their jobs, we have the possible collapse of the big three automakers and added into the mix will be those whose are here illegally.
Now I have never hidden the fact that I am not a supporter of illegal immigration. No country can afford to take in an uncontrollable number of people and expect to not suffer some consequences. So as we watch what will unfold with immigration under a Barack Obama administration, we will watch as tough decisions will have to be made about people who are here illegally and that will include Obama’s own Aunt Zeituni . Yes, those who come here illegally or stay here illegally have compelling stories. But there are Americans who have compelling stories as well. Tough times call for even tougher decisions.
The Obama administration is going to have the deal with the biggest catch-22 of all times when it finally begins to deal with illegal immigration. If his aunt can be deported, then others who are here illegally can be deported as well. If his aunt is allowed to stay, then others can stay as well. But no matter what, this issue will not be one where anyone in America can remain neutral. The final decision is going to make some people very happy and others angry. The question remains as to which side each of us ends up on when the time comes.

BackStage Pics From the Obama Win

Here are some fabulous pictures from backstage at the Obama Win.

The Most Fascinating Reality Show

I am not a big TV person. In truth, I've never even had cable. I have over the years enjoyed several reality shows. The Apprentice gave everyone a look into the creative world of business. America's Next Top Model showed the world that modeling is a lot more than just being a pretty face. But for the past few days I have set transfixed in front of my computer watching what for me should me mandatory for every young man in America who longs for the Gangsta lifestyle. The series, From G's to Gents at first appeared to be another silly reality show. It revolves around 12 G's (gangstas) who want to change their behavior and become gentlemen. But as the series progresses, the raw emotions and truths that come out is fascinating. Not only for the individual members, but the relationships between the men.

So check out: G's to Gents

Tell me what you think after watching a couple of episodes.

To The Black Community - What Excuses Now

What excuses now? For years, some have made their living by being the ones that people looked to for answers for the underlying causes of certain things that happen in the black community. Most of the responses would be that the residuals of having once been slaves in this country, followed by Jim Crow laws and then the fight for Civil Rights had led to this or that type of behavior. And for the most part, I have agreed with that analysis.

But now we have a biracial man who is now the President of the United States and he has been embraced by the black community as one of our very own. We now have someone as the leader of the free world who looks like us, whose wife and children are the descendants of enslaved Africans. Barack Obama who didn’t come from that mold still managed to break the mold and for that, all of America, no matter your ethnic or racial background can be proud.

America has always been seen in terms of black or white, especially thru the eyes of black Americans. If you are not black in this county, you are given the “token white pass” by this country. I am always amazed at other ethnic groups who proclaim themselves to be a minority, yet they move freely in the white world. When the City of Cicero was known as a place that didn’t take kindly to black people, other “minorities” lived, worked and played there.

Black people have watched as every other ethnic group arrived at our shores, stood on our backs and climbed the ladder to the American dream. For many of those individuals, commonality with language and culture has played a role in their being able to navigate the American experience. They used those bonds to build themselves a common dream and hope without regards to America’s racism.

For black Americans, our common language and culture was based on our shared history of slavery. That experience of the many different African tribe members being merged into one group called Negro while simultaneously separating those members into segments known as house Negro and field Negro. Add into that mixture an identity based on skin color and hair texture, our history has not been one of a unified people. But what we did manage to do in spite of everything was to unify. We had light-complexed blacks who fought for the rights of their darker skinned brothers. We had dark-complexed blacks who have accepted lighter ones without question.

Every ethnic group that has come to this country has establish their own neighborhoods and businesses overcoming the majority of roadblocks that black Americans always seem to encounter. Perhaps it was their “No Speak English” response or closed society that allowed them to prosper. Whatever the secret, black America which at one time knew how to prosper in spite of, now seems lost, since the passage of the Civil Rights Act which has cause us to lose in terms of the black business community than what we gained.

But getting back to the question that I started this column with. As we embark into the era of Obama, a man whose father abandoned him at an early age, who was reared by grandparents, who grew up being the “only” black kid and yet managed to overcome because he subscribed to the audacity of hope even before he knew what it was, at what point does the rest of the black community look at his accomplishments and begin to ask of ourselves, “what excuses now”?

From young black men walking around with their pants beneath their butts, to the profanity laced speech of many individuals in public, what are the excuses for the behavior now? Every morning when I read the paper, I am assaulted with another story of a young person murdered on the streets of Chicago. What excuses now?

Want to be embarrassed by the behavior of our young people? Just drive past many public schools as the children are released at the end of the day. What excuses now? Or the continuous filth up and down the streets here on the Westside. What excuses now?

We have all voted and put our lives and the ability to launch a nuclear attack that could end the world in the hands of one black man. Yet as I drive around the black community, we won’t establish and support businesses owned by black people. What excuses now?

We have put the entire economic future of this country into the leadership of one black man. Yet how many of you refuse to use black owned banks? What excuses now?


As we traverse our future with our new president, the black community has overwhelmingly supported President-Elect Obama message of change. We know that Obama’s election doesn’t mean that it is the elimination of racial problems. But for the black community, let us make the changes that will make a brother proud.

Allhtught Julia Huson MySpace Profile is Private...

She logs on almost every single day since her child went missing. At first she claimed it was because she wanted to send a message to whoever had her son. BUT, now that her child has been found DEAD - SHOT TWICE IN THE TEMPLE, she continues to log on even after her child is DEAD and barely cold in the ground. But strangely, now that she had a new man, she also has a new mood - CONFIDENT.....

I'm more inclined to feel it should be ....SICK!

Julia Hudson- What's Wrong with these pictures

I have for the past few days been blogging about the Hudson murders. My heart has been heavy over the death of a 7-yr-old who was brutally murdered by some morons.
f I also have been critical of Julia Hudson. From her "if you have a beef with me" speech at the press conference about her missing son to her tell them (as if she knew it was more than one who did it) to drop her son off on a curb, she has been the poster child for what a mother should not be.

I had heard from a friend that they heard from a relative who had a relative in the Trump Towers that when they called to the suite of rooms, there was a party going on. I didn't want to publish hear say, but once I was told about another blog site with pictures and captions from Julia's MySpace page, well you all just be the judge.

Note the TV screen in the background on one of the pictures. Sure looks like Sunday November 2. And the photos with Fantasia are before the funeral?????


By the way, the captions are from the poster who we believe is Julia from her myspace page.

At What Point Do We Drop Nicknames?

I was reading the details of the Hudson family funerals. In the casket for Julian King, the ribbon read, "To Our Juicebox, Love, Mom and Dad".

Am I being elitist, but the use of nicknames seems to me to make the individual less than the name we gave them at birth. Rather than their homecoming be a somber and momentous occasion, it's now reduced down to whatever saying we can come up with. It's not like the nickname for John = Johnny or Robert = Bobby. We're talking about "juicebox". Yuck!

When we take the time to name our children, why then do we go out of our way to rename them after inanimate objects? Anyone else feel strongly about this?

The American Flag

I love my country and my flag. But at the same time, I didn't like them. Far too often, I saw people who wrapped themselves in the American Flag as the ones who would quickly negate me of my rights to this country. My vision was of white Americans wrapping themselves in the flag and shouting "Go Back to Africa".

Starting this summer with my realization that Barack Obama would win the election to the presidency, I began looking at the U.S. Flag with a different eye. I understood completely what Michelle Obama meant when she mentioned about feeling proud of her country for the first time in her adult life.

I found myself finally feeling like a "REAL" American for the first time in my life. Many whites don't understand the concept of blacks who are a part of this country but have always felt like an outsider to it. Now in black and white, we see that the America we thought we knew is now the America we actually know and that a lot of us were so wrong about this country and all the potential in it.

This summer after having lived in this country for 54 years, I BOUGHT AND DISPLAYED MY FIRST U.S. FLAG. Not only did I display the flag, I was actually proud of it. For it was saying to me that the America of the past has been replaced by a new, smarter America full of hope and potential and one that I hope to know better in the future.

I Wonder....

Barack Obama is biracial. The son of an American white woman and an African black man.

His winning the presidency yesterday brings this thought to my mind. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, many black social workers were against white people adopting and rearing black children.


Yet as we celebrate the election of Barack Obama to the presidency, doesn't he represent the very thing that black social workers opposed?????

Gay Marriage Vs. Gay Civil Unions

I need help from the homosexual community on this. Since "GAY" un and to itself signifies a lifestyle that is apart from the majority heterosexual one, why must a union between homosexuals be marriage and not something completely unique to homosexuals like ____fill in the blank ______________?


Would places like California (extremely liberal arena) have been more receptive to a goverment sanctioned union so long as it wasn't called marriage?

BARACK AND ME FROM 2003

THAT'S ME ON THE FAR LEFT!

Barack Obama - America's Pride

This is a column dedicated to “pride”. American Pride in a candidate who offered a message that is as American as Apple Pie. A candidate who told us that there was no Red States of America or Blue States of America rather we were united as the United States of America. A candidate who has transcended racial politics so much so that he made all of us feel good about politics and the joining of people from all walks of life under the bandwagon of “Obama 08”.

I first met Senator Obama while volunteering for WVON 1690AM radio. I was seated on the floor doing something when he walked into Kennedy-King college’s lunchroom. As he entered, Melody Spann-Cooper the CEO of WVON warmly greeted him. When she saw me seated in the corner, she walked him over and introduced him to me. She told him I was from the Westside and someone he should know. That brief encounter will forever be my most precious memory of having met a president when he was just an average citizen and before he became a mega media political star.

Now as I write this column early in the morning of Tuesday November 4, 2008 before the election results have come in, all I have is pride for a man who built a campaign machine so well organized and coordinated, that for years to come it will be the model that all others follow. A man whose face and name have taken on near mythical proportions as his image became a fashion statement worn by both young and old throughout the black community.

I had heard news reports on TV about the lines forming at some polling places that were already nearly a block long. I early voted this year and wondered if my regular polling place would have a long line of voters as well. So I walked around the corner at 6:05am and the line was already out the door and down the street. In an era where we often are dismissive of the political process, people were happy to stand in line bright and early to make history. I have long ago proclaimed back in May of this year that Senator Obama would become the next President of the United States. But to see it to actually come to fruition, is more powerful than any words I can ever write. I, a child of the Civil Rights movement, who grew up seeing it and then later becoming a recipient of it, never imagined that I would live to see the day that this country would begin to embrace the idea of a change to the status quo as it applies to the presidency. Part of the reason for that belief is that as a community, young black people are forever given the speech which on the positive side is meant to prepare us for our eventual collision with racism but also has the effect of giving us a “no we can’t” mentality. That mindset has contributed to many people not going for the gusto when it comes to anything they want to do in their lives. So having watched Barack Obama campaign and begin to win over the minds and hearts of all of America has been a reality lesson like no other.

One of the earliest comments that Barack Obama made when speaking of his candidacy was that if he lost the election, he didn’t feel race would play as large a role as many in the black community would believe. Many blacks on talk radio took issue with his comment. But Barack has proved them wrong.

As the black community moves on with this final frontier boundary coup, let us as a community take heed that Obama victory was the result of hard work, a first class education and the ability to dust off what people tried to sling at him in order to keep his eyes focused on the prize.

www.arlenejones.blogspot.com

Can Obama Do A Special Message To School Children?

For the next few months, President-elect Barack Obama will be very busy picking and finalizing those who will run certain positions during his presidency.

One of the things that is most needed considering President Obama's ability to attrack the attention of young people is to give them their directives. Primarily and foremostly being that they need to begin focusing on their education - right now!

As anyone who has followed this blog or my column in the Austin Weekly News knows, I believe in education. But what I don't buy into are those who first whip the black community up into a frenzy and then deflate us like the air leaving a balloon so that we sputtered in all different directions, sometimes landing safely on the ground, but more often than not hitting every obstacle along the way while they themselves safely parachute to land.


When Barack Obama tells the story of his mother waking him up at 4:30am to go over his lessons, I wonder how many parents really hear the message he sent. That is THEIR RESPONSIBILITY to add to the education lessons of their children. CPS cannot along do it all.

ISN'T IT INTERESTING????

Of all the things that they have thrown at Barack Obama to discredit him, I haven't seen a single woman stand up and claim to have had a relationship with him.

I don't know how much Obama dated prior to meeting and marrying Michelle, but it is refreshing not to have the "ex" anything speak out.

Is Mother Nature Sending This Weather For Obama?

I just stood out on my balcony and the weather felt like Spring! Now if the weather is the same tomorrow, which is being predicted, then voter turn out will be off the chart,

Who could have predicted except for God that temperatures in Chicago would be so mild that if you have to stand in line for hours, it won't be a problem.

I voted early this year and it took me less than five minutes total.

BARACK THE VOTE.

Speaking of My Alderman Emma Mitts

Hmmm, since she couldn't afford to move to the safety of the new gated community, perhaps she can now spend time cleaning up the problem in the 4900 block of west Rice where she lives!

Congressman's $200,000 loan
U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez's loan from a developer who contributes to his campaign raises questions about how clout drives the city's zoning system
By Robert Becker, Todd Lighty and Dan Mihalopoulos

Tribune reporters

October 29, 2008

U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez personally lobbied Mayor Richard Daley to back a controversial multimillion-dollar development for a campaign contributor who had just lent the congressman $200,000 in a real estate deal, a Tribune investigation has found.

Now the congressman's unusual gesture of support is under federal scrutiny as authorities investigate how developers overcame city planners' objections to convert the West Side industrial site into a more profitable residential and commercial development.

Authorities have obtained Gutierrez's July 7, 2004, letter to Daley—written on U.S. House stationery—as part of their grand jury investigation into how zoning works inside City Hall, sources told the Tribune.

Gutierrez said there is no connection between the loan and his letter of support for the Galewood Yards project, which is not in his district. In a written statement, the congressman said his involvement was "extremely minimal" and "entirely appropriate."

He said he has not been contacted by federal authorities.

The federal investigation comes as the Tribune's "Neighborhoods for Sale" series documents an insiders' game in which politicians rake in millions in campaign cash from developers and other real estate interests while often overriding concerns of homeowners and city planners. It is a system that has fundamentally reshaped the character of city neighborhoods.

Calvin Boender, the developer of the Galewood Yards project, has been a longtime campaign donor to Gutierrez and a major contributor to Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th). As part of their investigation, federal authorities have subpoenaed city records related to Boender's project and three others that Carothers backed in his West Side ward.

Gutierrez, an eight-term Democrat, was elected to Congress in 1992 and is seeking re-election in November against little-known Republican and Green Party challengers.

Boender did not return messages requesting an interview.

Gutierrez sent the letter of support after buying a vacant lot from Boender at 1007 W. Fulton St. with the help of a $200,000 loan from him. The congressman provided the Tribune with bank documents stating he repaid the loan at an above-market interest rate.

It is not unusual for one party to lend the other money to complete a land deal, Gutierrez said, adding he got no unfair financial advantage and actually lost money in the 2004 investment. He praised Boender as a reputable businessman.

"I know him and I know his good work," Gutierrez said.

Over the years, Gutierrez has enjoyed a close relationship with several developers. He has entered into real estate deals with them, and they have helped finance his re-elections.

Gutierrez said there is nothing wrong with such relationships, in part because he has never used his public position to help developers who do business with him. In an interview last year, Gutierrez emphasized that he never gets involved in local zoning matters.

"One of the reasons that we're very careful about our real estate investments is that I don't have anything to do with zoning changes. I don't write letters of recommendation; I don't have a vote on the zoning committee. . . . I've done nothing using my official capacity as a [congressman]," Gutierrez said.

Boender of Elmhurst has developed projects throughout Chicago and has donated generously to local politicians—particularly to Gutierrez and Carothers.

Through interviews and records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the Tribune pieced together how Boender found success at Galewood Yards, where previous owners had failed. It took Boender years of haggling with reluctant city Planning Department officials, even as he enlisted the support of Gutierrez, Carothers and other aldermen.

City Hall rejected a previous proposal to build houses and commercial businesses on the property, citing the Daley administration's policy of preserving scarce industrial areas to promote manufacturing jobs. Boender bought the property from CMC Heartland for $6.9 million in July 2000. In the following year, he and his companies contributed $18,000 to Gutierrez and donated to Carothers, giving him more than $13,000. To date, Boender and his associates have given $41,000 to Gutierrez and more than $55,000 to Carothers.

Boender initially worked with the city's plans to attract industry, including an agreement to build at least one heavy-duty truck ramp from the rebuilt Central Avenue Bridge that spans the site, records show.

But over time it became clear that Boender had different ideas. After suggesting numerous industrial firms to the developer, city planning staff noted in memos that he "was unwilling to work with them."

Eventually Boender told the city he wanted to build homes and a commercial development instead.

Planning Department staff resisted, and the behind-the-scenes battle over Galewood Yards culminated in a summer 2004 meeting where city planners told Daley they opposed Boender's changes.

After that meeting, Gutierrez faxed his letter to Daley's office. In it, Gutierrez said he understood a planner had told the mayor Boender was a "bad guy of sorts." "I absolutely refute this characterization," he wrote.

He reminded Daley that the mayor was particularly "delighted and supportive" of Boender's redevelopment of the Illinois Bell building in the late 1990s.

"I would ask for any support that you can give him at this time," Gutierrez wrote. He noted Carothers and Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) backed the project, which is split between their wards.

Over the next 18 months, Boender and the city reached a compromise. Land west of Central Avenue would be sold—with the help of city tax breaks—to the laborers union for a training center. The land east of Central Avenue would be rezoned to allow construction of a 14-screen movie theater and nearly $60 million residential development of 187 single-family homes, townhouses and condos.

Boender's project reached the Chicago Plan Commission in March 2006, where he was represented by lawyer James Banks, whose uncle chairs the City Council's Zoning Committee.

Carothers and Mitts praised it.

Carothers compared the economic impact of the Galewood project to architect Santiago Calatrava's proposed lakefront Spire, which the commission approved the same day.

"It took a long time to bring this together," Carothers told commissioners. "I think when it's done, that it will be said that this is one of the greatest projects you've seen in Chicago in some time."

Mitts took a more personal approach: "I'm really excited and trying to see my way through [to] acquiring one of those homes."

Mitts, however, never moved in. In an interview Tuesday, Mitts said she made a down payment last year on a Galewood Yards home but backed out of the deal because she "could not swing it" financially.

Countdown Until the End of The Year

I fear my taxes this year for a variety of reasons. But as I start to get ready to do them, I am going to make my visit to the Salvation Army a twice-a-week one to drop off so much stuff that permeates my house that I no longer need.

Years ago when I did my addition, I bought about 25 plastic bins and filled them with stuff. Over the years, I have slowly gotten rid of those bins, but the ones I still have are filled with things that I need to make a decision about. To keep or not to keep. At this junction, the not keeping will be the winner.

Todd Stroger Must Be Starting His Reelection Campaign

This man who helped usher in the highest taxes on goods in the country is now concerned about taxpayers loosing their homes? BS!

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger spoke at Rainbow/PUSH headquarters, 930 E. 50th St., Saturday, standing with the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the Rainbow Coalition in the face of a Wall Street financial meltdown, trying to help homeowners stay in their homes and keep communities stabilized.

Stroger and Jackson lead participants in a petition signing that calls for a statewide moratorium on home foreclosures. Stroger has been co-sponsoring and promoting workshops across the county to offer counseling and mortgage help to homeowners at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure, an effort he expects to continue for as long as homeowners need assistance during the housing crisis.

Obama Relative In The Country Illegally

Obama Aunt


I am not a proponent of Illegal Immigration or a supporter of Illegal Aliens. The story regarding a distant relative of Obama, a half-sister to his father who he only saw for 30 days as a child, is not one that changes my mind.'

In a time where we have seen our entire banking system almost go under due to short-sighted and irresponsible loans in the housing market, can this country absorb illegal aliens who on top of everything else go on the public dole?

I wonder what American citizen didn't get the chance to live in Public Housing while this woman did? I feel no morale or legal obligation to have her remain here while I watch Seniors and especially elderly veterans who gave this country their all and they don't get a public housing unit.

I am especially hard on people who came into this country on a tourist visa and then stayed. If this continues, many countries will soon send their elderly here and then want us to nurse them or care for them.

Zeituni Onyango should do us all a favor and self-deport!

Should The State Of Illinois Remove the Moritorium on the Death Penalty

I am haunted by the death of Julian King, a 7-yr-old who I never met but fell in love with looking at his photos, his eyes so wide with wonderment of a world that he has yet to explore.

That image is then juxtaposed with the absolute horrific fear that that child must have gone thru in the moments before his death. His crime? To be caught in the middle of adult mess and to have his life stuffed out by PUNKS who cared enough about their own butts so as to not want to get caught, but didn't care enough about a child to let him live.

Currently in Illinois, our death penalty is on hiatus after too many men on death row were found to be innocent of the crimes for which they were convicted. But as we sanitize our criminal justice system with "phony judge shows" on TV, our legal system is becoming more and more a joke as people believe they can go into court and have their say with the same sassiness that is displayed on Judge David Young, or Judge-this-one or Judge-that-one.

I for one am a proponent of resuming the death penalty so that the FOOLS who killed the Hudson family can meet their maker thanks to the State. I want revenge and I want blood. I want them taken to Daley Plaza and hung from a noose until they are dead. I want public executions, because the electric chair and gas chambers are giving too much humane treatment to those who have shown their inhumanity.

We are raising a generation of young people some of whom have the most warped perspective on life. They don't plan on living beyond 25 and therefore are willing to do and act anyway, because in their young and ignorant minds, they have nothing to lose. How else can we explain the type of animal that would kill a little boy by shooting him twice in the head? I give all honor to God to send those fools to purgatory. I just want to be part of the group that make sure they meet their maker.

HUSON FAMILY MURDER TIMELINE

Source - Chicago Tribune Report

FRIDAY

8-9 a.m.—A gunman fires through a door at singer-actress Jennifer Hudson's mother's home in the 7000 block of South Yale Avenue, striking the actress' brother, Jason, 29, and her mother, Darnell Donerson, 57. Neighbors said they heard the shots but did not call police.

3 p.m.—A family member walks into the home and discovers Donerson's body, then immediately leaves and calls police. Sources say Hudson's sister, Julia, went to police to report her 7-year-old son missing. Police found Hudson's body in a bedroom.

5:52 p.m.—Chicago police issue an Amber Alert for Julian King, 7. The alert names William Balfour, 27, who family members say was Julia Hudson's estranged husband, as a suspect in the slayings. Police say Julian may be with Balfour and ask people to call police if they see a white Chevrolet Suburban or a teal/green four-door Chrysler Concord.

6 p.m.—Police arrest William Balfour at his girlfriend's home on the Southwest Side, but the missing boy is not with him. Police take Balfour to a station to interview him. Authorities continue to search for the boy.

SATURDAY

1:30 a.m.—Jennifer Hudson identifies her brother and mother at the Cook County medical examiner's office.

At some point Saturday morning, the FBI is called in to help. Police say the teal vehicle has been located but continue to search for the white Suburban.

5 p.m.—Family members of the boy make a public plea for his return.

SUNDAY

1:06 a.m.—Jennifer Hudson appeals in her MySpace blog for help in finding Julian, her nephew.

Also Sunday—Balfour is transferred to the Illinois Department of Corrections for violating his parole after he stopped cooperating with police in the investigation of the killings, authorities and law enforcement officials say.

11 a.m.—Around this time, Chicago police also begin distributing "High Risk Missing Child" alerts with a picture of Julian to businesses and residents near Hudson's family home in the area near 74th and Halsted Streets. Police, the FBI and residents continue to search.

7 p.m.—Jennifer Hudson offers a $100,000 reward for the return of Julian.

MONDAY

Reports start coming in that police had found a white Suburban with a body inside in the 1300 block of South Kolin Avenue.

8:30 a.m—Around this time, the Cook County medical examiner confirms that the body is that of a boy.

9 a.m.—The license plate of the Suburban matches the Amber Alert issued for 7-year-old Julian King. Police tow the vehicle. News outlets report that the child found inside is African-American.

1:30 p.m.—Law enforcement sources said that the body in the SUV was shot multiple times in the back of the vehicle. Police were testing the clothing of a man in custody for gunshot residue.

2:15 p.m.—Jennifer Hudson and family members are expected to go to the Cook County medical examiner's office by 3 p.m., according to a spokesman for the office. Hudson's security detail informed the office that a group would be headed there from a downtown hotel.

4 p.m.—Police confirm the identity of the boy as Julian King.