Rod Blagojevich - Slimely - Sleazy

Anyone watching the TV news programs this past Monday was sure to have seen our Governor Rod Blagojevich on TV from morning until night.

On ABC alone, he started his media blitz with Good Morning America, ended it with Nightline and even went on The View in between. Not only was his face and hair all over the place, even his name was properly spoken since he has now become an infamous household word.

Now I don’t admit to being a fan of the governor. I never voted for him and never liked him as a politician. And I am not a constitutional expert, so I can’t say whether or not the impeachment hearings currently going on in the Illinois General Assembly are fair or not. But what I do know is this. In an earlier appearance on TV in regards to the allegations against him, Governor Blagojevich said, “I will fight, I will fight, I will fight.” Apparently his fight includes being out of the state on the day of his impeachment and preferring instead to go on a number of interview shows where the hosts look like they were on steroids in their questioning of Gov. Blagojevich.

Even Barbara Walters got so exasperated by the governors continuous line of,“They won’t let me bring witnesses” and not answering the questions, that she remarked to him “Why are you wasting our time?” And waste a lot of time he did.

In every interview, besides the “not allowing witnesses” accusations, the governor said in essence that without him at the helm, our evil state legislators were mad because he, Gov. Rod R Blagojevich was putting thru legislation that would create job, give health care and prevent them from increasing our taxes. To hear him make those statements that he alone- was our superhero in a suit- was astonishing. All he was doing was “leveraging the seat” in order to serve the people of Illinois.

He even admitted to having considered Oprah Winfrey as a replacement for Barack Obama. To toot my own horn, most readers of my blog know that I reported on that information over a month ago. Anyway, Governor Rod also lauded himself for going around the legislators to get free rides for seniors and free medical screenings. But as anyone knows, there is nothing “free” in this society. Somebody is paying the cost for those “free” rides, either in the form of higher fares for non-senior riders and through additional taxes. The same with the medical screening.

On all of the interviews I saw with Blagojevich, the one question he successfully tapped dance around was the one about his “selling the vacated senate seat” of Barack Obama. No matter how he tried to paint that the conversations were taken out of context, he couldn’t exactly paint a clear picture of what the context could be for him to say what he said.

Most amusing to me was his explanation of the foul mouth language that was captured on tape. He grew up in a tough neighborhood. You didn’t say those kinds of words around your mother. But you did in the schoolyard, playing basketball or hanging out with the guys. What a message to send. And just where did Blagojevich grow up? Cicero and Armitage, attending Foreman High School where he graduated in 1975.


I can see all the schoolchildren now responding to anything said to them in the schoolyard with “effing” this or “effing” that and all because our governor who is trying to save his butt has come up with the most lamest of excuses.

How low can our governor go? Well he somehow managed to bring the names of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi into this debacle. As he sat in a cell in the federal detention center, he thought of them because he is an “innocent man-wrongly accused”. Now I don’t know about his guilt in regards to selling the senate seat, but as to his personality, he is a “snake oil salesman- properly exposed!”

I'm Glad Daley Picked Huberman

When the mayor of Chicago feels that he is an annointed king, free to do whatever he wants, then he cares less about the voters and is content to do what he pleases, residents be damned - because he is the KING OF THE CITY.

To all Chicagoans, Don't get mad, JUST VOTE HIM OUT OF OFFICE!!!!

Oprah Winfrey for Senate Seat - OLD NEWS TO ANYONE READING THIS BLOG

Just check my archieves for December 2008! If I know it, you'll know it!

Cash Station Machines Accepting Cash Deposits

I sent the following to the Trib, Sun-Times and Defender: Has anyone else experienced those new ATMs. I have never been as scared as knowing that I had a large amount of cash to deposit and the machine opens because of a malfunction displaying my deposit.

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

Dear Editor,

There are times when technological advances are great. But late on Friday night as I attempted to deposit cash into an ATM at a local Chase branch, all I could find were the ones where the machines wanted me to feed the cash directly into it as opposed to accepting the money inside a deposit envelope.



As I attempted to put several thousand dollars into the machine, the dollar feeder area suddenly opened and all my deposit was exposed and the ATM screen displayed a message that the machine was unable to accept a cash deposit. As I took my money back all I could think about was that any criminal watching that area could see me depositing large amounts of cash and kill me for it.



Plus, the dollar feeders, similar to an automatic feed on a photocopy machine, didn't like it when one of the bills didn't get sucked in properly. For a second time that night at a different Chase location, my deposit was exposed for anyone to see. If banks want to use those types of machines during regular banking hours to give customers an option of not needing a teller, then I support it. But ATM locations where the entry is based on swiping your debit card and is viewable to anyone passing by because of the huge expanse of glass windows and doors is not the place to offer that type of an ATM. I don't mind it accepting a check. But cash - no way.



Those type of machines should be immediately outlawed before someone loses their life in a robbery attempt.



Arlene Jones

Yes Virginia, If Something Cost Six Cents There Is A Tax!

Have you ever gone to a party or event and enjoyed yourself so much that later on, when talking to others about the same event, you are shocked to learn that so much other stuff occurred at the same time? Stuff you weren't even aware of? For example, I was reminiscing about a previous family reunion with my cousin when he told me of some things that occurred during the party.

I was shocked that I had been completely unaware of some of the drama others had pulled while I sat in a corner enjoying myself with other relatives, completely oblivious to our surroundings. I feel that this is the same thing that happened Tuesday with many of us in Chicago. There is so much euphoria over President Barack Obama's inauguration that we are blinded to some of the things our local politicians have been up to-like with our mayor and his city council. They recently voted to make us, the taxpayers, liable for the 2016 Olympic bid and all the costs associated with it.

Those costs will include added police protection, streets and sanitation maintenance, and who knows what other services. This is the same city that just told you it didn't have enough money to plow snowy side streets until someone whispered in the mayor's ear and reminded him that former mayor Michael Bilandic lost a re-election bid because of snow. So, after promising that his desire wouldn't affect the average taxpayer's pocketbook, our current mayor and his aldermen have now placed us on the hook for the cost of his Olympic dream. Costs from overruns that will surely come from the 2016 Olympics the majority of us never told him we wanted in the first place.

Over the past decade, the mayor has privatized everything he could, claiming it would save the taxpayers money. The schools lost cafeteria workers as food handling was outsourced to his suburban buddies. Still, the budget increased. The mayor has leased the Skyway, all the city's parking garages, destroyed Meigs Field and leased Midway airport. Most recently, he's leased the city's parking meters and still the budget has a shortfall.

But as the mayor has deemed his legacy incomplete without an Olympic event, amazingly, there is money to be found for it. Money hidden away in TIF (tax increment financing) funds that can legally be transferred from one city parcel to the next if they are linked. Most of those links are done by drawing a "TIF" line down the middle of the street. So TIF monies paid in Austin are transferred to TIF districts downtown.

One bit of good news is something that didn't happen. In a desperate move to find any new source of revenue that he could tax, the mayor lost his bid to levy your satellite dishes. Apparently, the federal government is not too keen on allowing cities to tax broadcast satellite services. Yeah! But had he been successful, you would have received a new tax bill owed to the city for 9 percent of your satellite cable bill. This is one of the few times your mayor failed to dig deeper into your pockets to take your last dime, and maybe even some of the lint coating in it as well.

Even our beloved county board finds itself in the news. Those commissioners just last year voted to make our sales taxes the highest in the country. Meanwhile, they make $85,000 a year in salary for a job that's more part time than that of an alderman. And they have a sweet little perk-an additional $1200 a month to cover out-of-pocket expenses.

But guess what? They barely document what they use that money for, but when given the chance recently to show some frugality with our tax dollars, they avoided that responsibility by failing to pass a county board motion to abolish the perk. Ain't they sweet? Should we be sensitive to how we are taxed? Hell yeah we should. I recently bought one single hex nut at Home Depot to replace a missing bolt on my snow-blower. The hexnut cost six cents. Then the register added a penny for sales tax.

Yes, the Barack Obama inauguration party is fun and we enjoyed ourselves. But don't party so hard that you're not paying attention to the separate parties our mayor and country board commissioners are having. They are all up for reelection soon-the county board in 2010 and the mayor and aldermen the following year. Let us take Barack Obama's message of change and apply it to them.

Then we'll have the last laugh at the party.

Betcha' Can't Guess What My Next Column Will Be About?

Will Barack Obama Wear A Hat Tomorrow?

I hope so. A top hat to boot. It would be so formal and so elegant. So I'm making my prediction tonight 01/19/09.

Selling Our Country Out To Illegal Aliens

Wonderful News Opinion from Barbara Simpson - WorldNetDaily www.wnd.com:

San Francisco politicians have no connection to reality.

In the midst of huge financial struggles for the city, the Board of Supervisors began issuing municipal identification cards last week to anyone who provides an ID and a utility bill with a local address or evidence of a child in local public schools.

It sounds innocuous except that the main, and likely only, true beneficiaries of the cards, are illegal aliens.

Again: what is there about the word "illegal" the supervisors don't understand?

In a case of unintended consequences, this all ties into the national financial crashes.

California is on the ropes financially as is virtually every city in the state. Real estate is tanking, banks are failing, credit is virtually nonexistent, businesses are folding right and left, hiring is at a standstill, unemployment lines get longer and people are finally getting the message that the bubble has burst and reality is settling in with a vengeance.

We're in trouble financially and struggling to survive.

It's clear San Francisco doesn't care. Estimates are that the card program will initially cost nearly $900,000 on top of an unbalanced city budget.

Hundreds lined up last Thursday to get their IDs. Reservations were made to handle the applicants; it's estimated when the system gets rolling, they'll give out 50 every day.

The idea is that the cards will make it easier for people to do business with banks and other businesses, to get credit, to take advantage of city services including health care and even – to check out library books!

They'll also make it easier for illegals to get jobs – work that should go to American citizens. – and it doesn't hurt to have an ID card when the cops stop you.

The fact that the information on the card could be totally false doesn't seem to bother anyone.

For years, Mexican consulates across the country have been handing out "matricular consular" cards to any Mexican who wants one. They're supposed to identify the individual by name and that they're a Mexican citizen. That's it. There's nothing about immigration status or even identity verification.

Illegals can use these cards as part of their "proof of residence" to get the San Francisco ID. The whole scheme creates a fake, paper trail toward amnesty for illegals.

San Francisco supervisors approved the card idea in 2007. There was a huge uproar when word got out, but they ignored it.

Then came the murder in broad daylight of a father and his two adult sons by illegals who were gang members and who, it turned out, were being protected from deportation by San Francisco's Juvenile Department with the tacit blessing of Mayor Gavin Newsom and the supervisors.

A series of scathing articles in the San Francisco Chronicle, which exposed the extent of the city protecting supposedly juvenile, illegal felons, caused Mayor Newsom to shelve the ID card program temporarily.

Several city residents sued, claiming the ID cards helped and encouraged illegal immigration. But in October, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Peter Busch threw the case out.

With that, up popped the plan again, and this time they're doing it. Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, who as supervisor wrote the card law, was on hand to get his own card, as were other Board members.

Ah, the symbolism!

Speaking of symbolism, Mayor Newsom wasn't there. According to the Chronicle, Newsom's aides "… alternately said (he) was running late or was busy in a meeting upstairs."

Wiser politicos surmised the mayor avoided being there because of concern negative connotations would hurt his run for governor next year.

He got burned for approving "gay" marriage despite the state constitution. Apparently, he doesn't want Californians to know he supports illegal immigration, which violates federal law and the U.S. Constitution.

But this story connects directly to the recession/depression.

Since 2002, Mexico has pushed issuing "matricular consular" cards to Mexicans living in this country – most illegally, but they didn't ask.

Then in 2006 and 2007, U.S. banks, smelling new business, got in on the action and began accepting the matricular cards as ID and allowing Hispanics to get credit cards. Bank of America started a pilot program in Los Angeles followed by national expansion. They said they wanted to help people lacking solid credit histories and had nothing to do with immigration.

Wells Fargo & Co and Citibank launched similar programs. In 2006, Wells Fargo began offering home mortgages to "immigrants" who lived in the U.S. for two years and who didn't have a Social Security number.

But Wells Fargo offered bank accounts to foreigners with Mexican consulate ID cards as early as 2001. They were the first; others followed. None questioned immigration status. Scores of banks across the country did the same.

Am I the only one to see a relationship between the bank crisis/mortgage meltdown and this rampant giveaway of money to people who should never have such access? How many of the bank problems and foreclosures are results of such lending policies to illegals?

The Los Angeles Times, in 2007, quoted Bank of America spokeswoman Alexandra C. Trower as saying they complied with all laws.

The same article quoted Wells Fargo spokesman Mary Trigg. Wells Fargo, which opened more than a million Mexican accounts, also accepts ID cards from Guatemala, Columbia and Argentina.

Trigg said it's assumed most card users are illegal but that the bank doesn't ask.

Citibank and other banks did the same.

Do those bank names sound familiar? Is anyone paying attention to the billions the government has given to bail them out and how many billions more they want?

Am I the only one to ask why this connection to illegal aliens hasn't been part of the discussion?

Maybe I'm the only one with the guts to ask, but we still need answers.

BOY IF THE CLINTONS HAD FOUND HIM BEFORE THE ELECTIONS ...

He does look like Obama. Imagine the phony pictures that could have been made to hijack the elections!

Are the Trail Maids a Problem

I saw this news report and thought that if colthing is now representative of slavery (ESPECIALLY CONSIDERING THAT MOST WERE MADE BY SLAVES) then some folks are pushing for any issue. It's clothing. EVERY WOMAN WOULD HAVE WORN THE SAME TYPE OF FASHION!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.

The goverment can may make the celebration of your birthday as the third Monday in January. But today is the actual day. I wish that you could still be here although I am sure if you were still alive, yoiu would be very unhappy with the state of black America.

We have gained so little when compared to what we lost.

Suffer the Children because of "Adult Mess"

Adult Mess. That is the reality that is forced upon many children because of the actions of the so-called “adults” in their lives. They become part of situations and actions that they had nothing to do with nor ask for. This has angered me as I watch the daily new stories where children lose their lives or their lives are put in danger because of the choices the adults make for their own lives.

Last year I became enrage upon learning of the death of Julian King, the 7-yr-old nephew of Jennifer Hudson. From the interview where his mother made statements that made me question her culpability, to the photos she posted on her MySpace page, to the monsters that took Julian from his house and put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger, everything that Julian suffered was due to “Adult Mess”.

Or just before Christmas when two children, 9-year-old Carla and 6-yr-old Perla Gonzalez burned to death in the basement of their Southside home while their mom had her butt out somewhere watching her boyfriend play pool. Adult Mess!

Or last week when in the 600 block of North Spaulding three young children under the age of 18 months were found living in an unheated, lacking water, dressed in just coats and basically abandoned building, all that they suffered was because of their parents decisions to put them in that situation – ‘Adult Mess’!

Or turn on The Maury Show any day of the week and children are the intended victims of their parent’s stupidity as the public watches the whose-your-baby’s-daddy show. In X number of years, every one of those children will be the fodder for jokes as people play the recordings of those shows for the ‘children’s benefit’!

Adult Mess is not limited to Chicago. In New Orleans, we have the case of Ja' Shawn Powell whose sin was to be born to a mother who used poor judgment in picking a sperm donor for a father. The father rather than pay $4000 in back child support picked two-yr-old Ja' Shawn up for the “weekend” and then is alleged to have slit the 48 pound boy’s throat and let him bleed to death. “Adult Mess!!!”


Or little Caylee Anthony who for weeks was the subject of numerous cable shows wanting to know where she was only to have her head found by a cable repairman who went into the bushes to relief himself. A baby dead not given the benefit of a decent burial soon after her death because of “Adult Mess”!

While watching Family Court with Judge Penny the other day, I watched as a man waited until he was 60-years-old and was the father of two boys ages 12 and 7 to decide to have a sex change. His children’s world was rocked. A family broken up by divorce, loss of a “dad” replaced by his new identity “Aunt Emily”. As their young minds had to deal with trauma at all levels, all I could do was watch in bewilderment and think - Adult Mess!


Just this week as I was writing this column, we had another story of a young child Alex Angulo, 4, who was mauled to death by a Rottweiler. Alex was at the home of his foster family. His death was caused by a multitude of failures. His birth parents who created a child that they lost seven days after he was born, the foster family that kept dangerous dogs that eventually killed him and the DCFS system that put him there – Adult Mess!

We have grown into such a “me” society that adults seem to be oblivious to their role in raising and caring for children. Raising children is a JOB. It is a JOB that parents undertake when they partake in sex with no regards to birth control. It is a job, an adventure, an obligation and a morale responsibility. It is not a “when I feel like it” position!

Roland Burris "Left Turn" to the Senate - Has He Made a Deal With The Devil?

If there is one lesson my children have had to listen to over the years, it is the one about doing the "right" thing. I would give my son this analogy all the time as we maneuvered his teen years. "You come to a fork in the road. You know you should make the right turn, as in doing the right thing. But when you look down the right road, you see a huge mountain in the distance right in the middle of that road. You then look at the left road. It looks so smooth that you could probably land a plane on it. Now you know you should take the right road, but that mountain in the distance is a challenge. The road also looks bumpy. So knowing what you should do, you go ahead and choose the left road because it appears to be the easier and smoother route to take. You speed down that left road at 100 mph oblivious to the fact that it will soon take you off a steep cliff. Had you taken the right road, you would have found that the bumps you thought you saw were mere rolling hills along that road. And the mountain in the middle? Well, when you got to it, you would have found a tunnel going straight through it."

I'm feeling like I want to offer that same lesson that I gave to a child to Roland Burris in his quest to be seated as the replacement junior senator from Illinois. Why? Because Roland Burris came to the same fork and chose that left turn. He looked at the bumpy right turn road which would have meant getting the senate seat through an honorable method and then chose the left turn because he saw it as his smoother road to the senate seat.

The right turn would have meant being the consensus candidate that the majority of the Democrats in the Illinois General Assembly had chosen. It would have meant he would have been supported by his true peers rather than just the community activists that I have been seeing on TV. It would have meant not having to watch a former Black Panther, Congressman Bobby Rush, try to change his spots by proclaiming our need for a "black" senator now in Roland Burris-but who four years ago told us that the white candidate Blair Hull was the only one qualified to hold that position.

Burris would have had the support of all the people creating a true "rainbow coalition" as opposed to what I see. Now those fighting for him to get the seat look like the Republican National Convention only in converse. Instead of all white people, all I am seeing are black people. And unlike Barack Obama who once said that if he lost the presidency race wouldn't be the major factor, Roland Burris on the other hand, is choosing to become the "black" senator as opposed to an Illinois senator who happens to be black.

Burris' decision to accept an appointment by a tainted governor has now tainted him as well. Burris has shown he is not concerned about how the governor's tarnished reputation could tarnish his own. Burris reminds me of the stories of people who make deals with the devil as if the devil won't come back one day to get his due. And to all the black folks who are being Roland Burris' biggest supporters, what will you say on the day when, as with all politicians, he will have to make a choice to pick between supporting the black community or stepping on us. If we are to learn anything from history, it is that a politician who used black folks to get where they are going isn't going to give a damn about us once they get there.

The way I see it, not only was Roland Burris looking to add more grandiosity to his resume, he claims he is doing this because of his commitment to the people of the State of Illinois. Well to the unemployed folks here in Illinois, we see him as another retired politician looking to sock the taxpayers for an even larger retirement pension at a time when many in this country have lost employment. Plus am I the only person disturbed when Roland Burris alternates between "I" and "we" when he speaks? "We are the senator" Burris says. With whom does he share that senate seat?

Lastly if the residents of the State of Illinois deserve anything, then we deserve to hear the Blagojevich tapes. All of them. Unfiltered and unedited. Maybe even sold as a 24 CD set. As always, profits going to offset all the costs this debacle is costing the Illinois taxpayers.

Roland Burris Still in Limbo

As I watched Roland Burris yesterday in the rain attempt to enter the Senate and then after being rejected, do a press conference in the rain, it struck me that his voice didn't sound as strong as it should have.

Now I don't have any bad feelings for the man, but if the current Senate-Select candidate were to succumb, our legislators have yet to put into motion any legislation that would prevent Blago from appointing someone else.

Our politicians get so caught up in the response that they have yet to put into law a safety net so that no governor ever again with such a cloud over their head could do what Blago has done.

What is wrong with this picture?

January 6, 2009 (SPRINGFIELD, Ill.) -- In a formal affidavit, Roland Burris says he had only one limited conversation with Governor Rod Blagojevich before accepting his appointment as a U.S. senator.
Burris submitted the affidavit to the Illinois House committee considering impeachment of the governor. He's supposed to testify before the committee on Thursday.
Burris says he was approached by a Blagojevich attorney about taking the Senate post on Friday, December 26. Two days later, he accepted the appointment in a phone call with the governor.
The 71-year-old Democrat says the two didn't discuss anything beyond whether Burris would take the job and how it would be announced.
That statement appears to rule out any discussion of a deal or of what Burris would do as a senator.

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


Maybe it's just me, but wouldn't or shouldn't there have been some sort of vetting process? You know - asking lots of questions so that as a governor your appointment won't come back to further bite you in the butt? Something like; "So Roland tell me everything you've been doing since you retired. Any scandals? Any possible dubivious business dealings?" And on and on. Or is this a case of calling every Negro until you find one that would accept?

I have to let my imagination go wild on this: (IN OTHER WORDS I AM MAKING THIS UP JUST FOR THE LAUGHS!!!!!)

Blago: Well I can't count on my top three Negro choices, Jesse, Jr. Valerie Jarrett or Emil Jones to take the seat. Let's see who else I can call. I'll call Danny Davis.

Danny: Sorry Rod. Won't look good for me to take the seat now. I do have to run for re-election every two years and if the citizens of Illinois don't reelect me, I'll be out of a job. You know ...THAT ONE aka Ike Carothers considers himself to be my heir and he will be on my congressional seat in no time flat if I give it up.

Blago: Ok Dan. I understand. Let me see who else I can call.
(ten seconds later)

Blago: Hey Rickey Hollywood Hendon. Would you like the senate seat?

Rickey: Are you out of your ****effing mind? I was the number two man to Emil Jones. Now I'm out the box. Hell No!

Blago: Ok Rickey. I'm gonna call Bobby.

Bobby: Hello? (in an extreme hush tone)

Blago: Yo' Bobby Hush oooops I mean Rush. Do you want the Obama seat?

Bobby: Well IT IS a black seat. I was once a black panther. Yeah, I'll take the seat. I'll get my son.....Oops....sorry Rod - no can do. My son is in jail after being found guilty of having been a prison guard who had sex with the female inmates. Plus I did kinda tell everybody that only a white man .... Blair Hull could be senator - You know Rod-Man, I've been changing my spots a little too much lately. I'll pass. But tell you what. If you find a Negro to take the job, I'll do the "only black man in the senate" and "lynch" speech to help you out.

Blago: Ok Bobby. Take care bro'. I will need that speech ASAP. I don't understand. I keep trying to give you black people the chance to be in the senate and you all keep looking the gift horse in the mouth. What is wrong with you people? Well I still gotta keep going down the effing list. It's 9:00pm now. Can you start writing it so we can have it tomorrow by noon?"


6 hours later............... The phone rings somewhere on the southside of Chicago..............

Roland: Who in the hell is this calling my my house at 3:00am? I ain't the president!

Blago: It's me ...Rod.

Roland: Rod who?

Blago: Rod Blagojevich. The governor! You want the senate seat?

Roland: YEAH BABY. WOOOO. I'm feeling like Mel Reynolds right now. Like I just won the lottery!

Blago: Ok, then meet me at the State of Illinois Building tomorrow at 2:00pm for the press conference. Bye.

Alderman's Father Found Guilty of Supply ID Fraud To Illegal Aliens

A sad day when one is given the gift of citizenship and goes for the money and the illegal activity portion. I wonder how much of the money went into his son's campaign?

And who can forget that when the raid took place, Mexican activists took to the streets in protest??????

=================================================================================
Elias Munoz, father of Chicago Ald. Ricardo Munoz, was sentenced today to four years in prison for his role in a fake ID ring.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer called his role as a photographer in a Little Village fake ID ring "pretty significant."

During a two-hour hearing, government attorneys linked Munoz's pictures to other ID scams in Chicago.

"He took those photos knowing or just recklessly disregarding that they would obtain, by those photos, illegal documentation," Pallmeyer said.

Munoz, 63, who owned a photo studio inside a Little Village outdoor mall where the international ring was based, pleaded guilty last year to charges of criminal conspiracy.

After an additional two years probation, Munoz, a legal Mexican immigrant, is likely to be deported, Pallemeyer said.

Federal prosecutors estimated Munoz earned $180,000 a year through the illegal photos. They also revealed IRS reports showing Munoz failed to report his income from 2001 through 2006, avoiding taxes for those years.

"He was up to his eyeballs in this for years and years and years," argued Assistant U. S. Attorney Andrew Porter.

Munoz, frustrated by the portrayal, fumed to reporters during a hearing recess that he was being treated unfairly.

In a statement to Pallemeyer, he wept openly, pleading for forgiveness, before being allowed to leave the federal courthouse and report to prison voluntarily in the next few weeks.

"If I did something wrong, I'm sorry. Forgive me," Munoz said in a mixture of English and Spanish. He claimed he ran a legitimate business.

The photo studio, Nuevo Munoz Foto, shut down shortly after federal agents broke up the fake ID ring during an April, 2007 raid.

The ring's leaders are being tried for murder for allegedly ordering that a competitor be shot to death in Mexico.


--Antonio Olivo

Thie Is Guaranteed To Put A Smile On Your Face

It is a dream that has been shared by lovers across the centuries – the chance to elope to exotic lands. But few would have been as bold and spontaneous as six-year-old Mika and his five-year-old sweetheart Anna-Bell who, after mulling over their options in secret, packed their suitcases on New Year's Eve and set off from the German city of Hanover to tie the knot under the heat of the African sun.

The children left their homes at dawn while their unwitting parents were apparently sleeping, and took along Mika's seven-year-old sister, Anna-Lena, as a witness to the wedding.

Donning sunglasses, swimming armbands and dragging a pink blow-up lilo and suitcases on wheels packed with summer clothes, cuddly toys and a few provisions, they walked a kilometre up the road, boarded a tram to Hanover train station and got as far as the express train that would take them to the airport before a suspicious station guard alerted police.

"What struck us was that the little ones were completely on their own and that they had lots of swimming gear with them," said Holger Jureczko, a police spokesman. He described Mika and Anna-Bell as "sweethearts" who had "decided to get married in Africa where it is warm, taking with them as a witness Mika's sister".

Anna-Bell told the German television station RTL: "We wanted to get married and so we just thought: 'Let's go there.' "

Mika said: "We wanted to take the train to the airport, then we wanted to get on a plane and when we arrived we wanted to unpack the summer things and then we wanted to go for a bit of a stroll in the sun."

Mika and Anna-Lena's mother, who was not identified, said she had known nothing of her children's plan. "I'm still in a state of shock. I thought 'I'm playing a part in a bad movie.' When we realised the kids were missing we went looking for them." But only when the police called did they realise what had happened.

Asked why they failed to let their parents know, the children said they thought they would not be gone for long.

Mika told police he instigated the plan having been inspired by a winter holiday with his family in Italy. "Based on this the children began to make plans for the future," Jureczko said.

To allay their disappointment at being caught, Hanover police gave them a tour of the police headquarters. Jureczko said: "They'll have the chance to put their plan into action at a later date".

Sadly, they didn't have to look far to find this sister

I must confess. I watched the latest reality show from Tyra Banks & Aston Kutcher. True Beauty is the name. As expected, they had their token black man and black woman.

It's rough on reality shows when they only have one. The sister is very pretty. But unfortunately, she was the epitome of a beautiful black woman with an attitude.

Now all of her vane behavior was "understandable" to me. She was no different than any of the other female "beauties". But when the last challenge came and she failed it, that was hurtful. The challenges are unbeknownst to the contestant, because what the contestant are vying for is inner beauty.

So what was the last challenge that she failed? Well she had to enter a building to hear her results, but as she arrived at the front door, there was a delivery guy with about 8 cups of coffee in holders trying to get through the door. Did sista girl open the door for the delivery guy? Yes she did. But she also walked in first and didn't bother to try and hold the door open for the man, a basic common curtesy.

As we watch the Obama take the white house with class, I hope it spreads to a lot of young people. Especially our young black men and women who just one generation away from me seem to need a lot of the manners that their parents probably failed to instill in them.

Where Do They Find Them?eh

WestSide House of Squalor or Just Poverty?

I was very suspicious in my first reading of this story. I posted at Sun-Times website. Now Trib shows photo and yes, there isn't much, but calling it a house of squalor is very much a stretch. My wood floor when I pulled up tile and carpeting looked just like that. But one pass with a sander and the entire floor looked brand new.

We are going to find a lot of poor people today. You all remember they were the ones no one talked about during the presidential campaign. But with a city, county and state that is doing nothing but coming up with a way to tax us more, I am hopeful that real patriots will do like those at the Boston Tea Party.

Now I am not excusing or condoning anything that those parents did that were wrong, but I don't believe the police report. No running water, well yeah the toilet won't be flushed. But where is all the squalor the police claimed?

And if all my taxes don't solve the problem, then stop taxing me for it. Better I give my money directly than allow the state morons known as our Ill General Assembly to get their grimy paws on my money.

Now Comes The News....

Now comes that news that even Harry Reid added his two cents to Blago as to whom should replace Obama in the Senate.

All I can say is that is that those tapes should be put on a 12 disc set and sold to offset ALLL MONIES BLAGO HAS COST THIS STATE, ESPECIALLY THE ONE TO ERASE HIS NAME FORM ALL STATE SIGNS.

We now need a binding vote on a referendum to make it so that no governor or mayor or any other elected official can put their name on any sign unless they pay for it out of their own pockets.

SHOULD WE MANDATE A LAW THAT EVERYONE RUNNING FOR OFFICE RELEASE THEIR HEALTH RECORDS?

It was kept very quiet how sick Bobby Rush was in his run for re-election as Congressman from the 1st Congressional District. His appearances on TV during this Roland Burris fiasco has him sounding sicker and weaker. In light of the current controversy involving the governor having to name a replacement for the US senate and now Illinois has to pay to have a new congressman for the vacated seat of Rahm Emanuel, should we at least be assured that anyone taking a congressional seat is at least healthy enough to serve?

On below post, Bobby Rush shows up at minute 4:49.

Pandering to Those who would support him

I found this video disturbing. It's our gov (someone I never voted for thank goodness) press conference naming Roland Burris our new state senator. Why the bilingual start to the press conference?

Blago panders to everyone, but why at a press conference for a UNITED STATES SENATOR? Blago shows utter disregard for this country in order to try to gain a few points from people who for the most part aren't US citizens. He didn't do it in Croatian or Serbian, Chinese, or even offer a Kwanzaa greeting.

Alledged Transcript Between Rahm and Blago

Updated 01/02/09 - transcript is A hoax. I'm leaving it but adding this disclaimer.


I received this from a very reliable source. Interesting reading.
================================================================================
THIS IS THE TRANSCRIPT BETWEEN EMANUEL AND
BLOGOJEVICH THAT FITZGERALD HAS ON TAPE.

Beware. There is lots of profanity. But it will
make you feel good.

Here is the transcript:

FBI File #9536B
Wiretap on line 312-XXX-XXXX -- November 10th,2008
12:42 PM Eastern Time
Rush transcript:
RAHM EMANUEL: This is Rahm.
ROD BLAGOJEVICH: Hey Rahm, yeah it's Rod.
EMANUEL: Uh-huh. What's going on governor, I'm busy.
BLAGO: Well, it's about that Senate appointment...
EMANUEL: We already gave you the list of people
we like.
BLAGO: Yeah, I been looking the list over.
Interesting names. Good people. How's the transition
going?
EMANUEL: It's going fine, governor. Are you
calling to fucking tell me anything, or what, cause I--

BLAGO: No no, I'm just wondering if you
have all your picks already made. I heard something about
Dashle for HHS--
EMANUEL: I'm not gonna discuss ongoing
deliberations, gov, you know that.
BLAGO: Hey, come on Rahm, let's not act
like I'm a stranger here.
EMANUEL: Did I call you a stranger? If I
thought you were a stranger, you think I'd be
interrupting my important fucking business to take this
goddam fucking phone call?
BLAGO: Hey you don't have to get curt with
me, Rahm.
EMANUEL: This isn't me being curt, Gov,
this is me being fucking busy. Now what did you call about?
BLAGO: I'm just feeling you out, seeing if
Valerie [Jarret] still wants that Senate seat, just
wondering what kind of priority that is for the
President-Elect.
EMANUEL: Actually, it's not a priority.
Valerie's had second thoughts about the job.
BLAGO: What, she doesn't want it anymore?
EMANUEL: She's having second thoughts. You
want more details, you ask her.
BLAGO: She won't take my calls.
EMANUEL: Big fucking surprise.
BLAGO: What's that supposed to mean?
EMANUEL: Um, I don't know, what's it
supposed to mean governor? A.) You're a fucking crook.
B.) You're a fucking asshole. C.) All of the above.
BLAGO: I'm clean Rahm, you know this. You
think that fucking Fitzgerald would being twiddling his
fucking thumbs if he had shit to go on?
EMANUEL: I gotta go, Gov. You appoint who you
want, we don't really give a shit.
BLAGO: What if I appoint Valerie, what if she
takes it?
EMANUEL: What do you want me to say? We'd
appreciate it, I'm not gonna fucking kiss your ring over
it.
BLAGO: "Appreciate it"? Come on, this
is a senate seat we're talking about. It's worth a
fuck of a lot more than appreciation.
EMANUEL: You asked us for a list, we gave you a
fucking list, you want to make your own list then make your
own fucking list. [Raising voice] But if you're asking
for anything else from me, or Barack, or Valerie, then you
can fucking stop talking right now Rod.
BLAGO: Wait a sec there Rahm. Wait just a
fucking minute. Who are you to talk to me like that? I
fucking made you.
EMANUEL: You made me? You made me? Tell me
you're fucking joking.
BLAGO: No no no, you listen to me shit-face.
You see this list I got, the names motherfucking Obama
fucking wants for the Senate. I just ripped it in two. How
you like that? Oops, Harris just dropped it in the shredder.
Harris?
HARRIS (muffled): Yes sir?
BLAGO: Did you just drop that list in the
shredder?
[Whirring, shredder noise]
HARRIS (muffled): I did.
EMANUEL: Do you have me on fucking
speakerphone?
BLAGO: It's in the shredder, Rahm. The list
is bye bye.
EMANUEL: Hold on a sec -- you got me on fucking
speakerphone? Who the fuck do you think I am?
BLAGO: Who are you Rahm? Who are you?
You're shit, you hear me? Don't come back to Chicago
Rahm, it's not your town any more.
EMANUEL: Pick up the phone Rod.
BLAGO: I'll put someone in the senate who
will fucking fuck you. I might even put myself in there, how
you like that Rahm? How you gonna explain that to fucking
Barack, every time he's gotta call me up for my fucking
vote. He'd have to take my calls then, wouldn't he?
EMANUEL: [Screaming] I said pick up the FUCKING
phone!
BLAGO: [Picks up phone, speakerphone off] I got
your attention now, didn't I?
EMANUEL: Shut the fuck up and listen to me for
one second Rod. And I want you to listen carefully, because
this is the last time I'm ever going to talk to you. You
are fucking dead to me. You been fucking dead to Barack
since '06, now you're dead to me. Know what that
means? That means you're dead to my people in Chicago,
Daley on down, and all these friends you think you have
aren't gonna touch you with a ten foot fucking pole.
BLAGO: Oh now you're the fucking Godfather?
Fuck you.
EMANUEL: No fuck you. Fuck you. Fuck you.
BLAGO: Fuck you!
EMANUEL: Listen up asshole. The shit's
gonna hit the fan, maybe tomorrow, maybe next month, and
when Fitz finally brings down the hammer it's gonna be
my name that's going through your head. You won't
know the hows or the fucking whys, but it's gonna have
my fucking fingerprints all over it. Have a great life
fatso.
BLAGO: Hey fuck--
EMANUEL: [Click.]
End of conversation
End transcript.

Lead Base Paint Vs. Lead In Cheap Toys From China

I was watching a report right before Christmas about the led in toys. In the back of my mind, I recall someone telling me about a friend or cousin who got a huge settlement out of a landlord because they claimed their child ate "lead based paint".

Is there a way to tell the source of lead? Do we need to change the law about the paint seeing that most of the lead probably came in the form of cheap toys from China?

Will insurance companies and landlords start fighting lead-base paint claims?