Friday, January 31, 2014

Al Filan R.I.P.

Filan Back To School Teaching
Al Filan was an outstanding teacher who served Brother Rice High School with pride and dedication for almost forty years.
During that time, he was always devoted to the young men he taught and coached, bringing great passion to all that he did. He was also an exceptional colleague who as a Department Chairman was a leader on our staff, and a mentor to many of our teachers.
Everyone that had him as a teacher reports that he was extremely dedicated to the highest standards and what was best for the kids. This is a man that devoted his life to the students at Brother Rice. This world needs more people like him. 

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Why isn't Quinn proposing this?

Madigan proposes cutting Ill. corporate income tax

Posted: Jan 30, 2014 11:45 AM CSTUpdated: Jan 30, 2014 11:55 AM CST

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - House Speaker Michael Madigan is proposing cutting Illinois' corporate income tax rate in half in an effort to improve the state's business climate.
The powerful Chicago Democrat introduced legislation Thursday that would cut the rate from 7 percent to 3.5 percent, effective Jan. 1, 2014.
In a news release, Madigan says he hopes the cut "will encourage CEOs to grow their work forces with good paying jobs."
Democratic lawmakers in 2011 approved a temporary tax hike as a way to address Illinois' fiscal crisis. It raised the corporate income tax from 4.8 percent to 7 percent. The increase is scheduled to be rolled back to 5.25 percent on Jan. 1.
Republicans have criticized Democrats for creating an unfriendly business environment, saying increased taxes have contributed to Illinois' high unemployment rate.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


Read more: http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/24590775/madigan-proposes-cutting-ill-corporate-income-tax#ixzz2ruXcUzXn

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

More Bad Weather

A computer model is predicting a "significant snow storm" for Chicago during the period February 3rd to 6th. Be prepared for this one. 

UPDATE: The computer model has moved up the date to Friday and Saturday. This is the same CM that on December 10th, predicted the heavy January snows. 

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Potholes


"The asphalt covering has failed". Those were the words of my engineer neighbor when we were discussing the conditions of the streets. He also said they should have lasted 12 to 15 years but that they are failing because of shortcuts in the asphalt mixture. This is a problem that goes way beyond Western Ave. It is citywide? What should be done about this? Should the city be holding the suppliers and contractors responsible? Should the city be filing claims with the bonding companies? 

Monday, January 27, 2014

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Snowflake Ball

Tonite

Pro Life

SCHILLING: I AM PRO-LIFE AND PROUD TO SAY IT

101207_schilling_family_courtesy_328
By Bobby Schilling - 
I am pro-life and proud to say it!
Today is the 41st Annual March for Life in Washington, D.C. As I like to do each year, I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about my principles and values on the issue of life.
I am a firm believer that life begins at conception and that our society has an obligation to protect the rights of the unborn. It's that simple. In fact, the right to life can even be traced to the Declaration of Independence—Thomas Jefferson wrote that the right to life is inalienable and endowed by our Creator. Unfortunately, the rights of the unborn are completely ignored in this country.
55 million lives have been tragically lost in this country since the Roe v. Wade decision. That amounts to more than 1.2 million lives lost each year.
Each one of those lives would have offered the world wonderful gifts—art, music, scientific discovery, invention. Instead, all of that was destroyed, and for what?

Imagine a world without these people: John Lennon. Nelson Mandela. Babe Ruth. Jamie Foxx. Nancy Reagan. Bill Clinton. Jack Nicholson. Dave Thomas. J.R.R. Tolkien. Faith Hill. Tim McGraw. Sarah McLaughlin. "DMC" McDaniels. Steve Jobs. Jesse Jackson. Willie Nelson. Eleanor Roosevelt.
Thankfully, all of these people were able to contribute to the world because their mothers chose adoption instead of abortion. They chose life.
There is a critical battle being waged for the heart and soul of this country. Will we value life? Or will we just let millions of lives slip away?
Radical pro-abortion groups, including EMILY's List—one of my opponent's top financial contributors—are fighting to not only protect abortion, but to grow the abortion industry by leaps and bounds. Apparently claiming 1.2 million lives each year isn't enough. EMILY's List is fighting to increase access to third-term abortions, strike down parental notification laws, and increase taxpayer funding for abortion.
Folks, when you stop and think about it, EMILY's List is downright disgusting. Their agenda is designed to promote young teenage girls getting third-term abortions paid for by the taxpayers without the parents ever finding out. That's as radical as radical gets, and my opponent has pledged to stand with them on each and every issue.
EMILY's List previously put me "on notice" because of my strong record on life, and that's a badge of honor I wear proudly! Sorry, EMILY's List, but genocide is not a right.
I stand with the unborn. I oppose all taxpayer-funded abortions, and I will continue to do everything in my power to protect life.
Bobby Schilling represented the 17th CD in the U.S. Congress from 2011 to 2013, and is running to take back the 17th CD seat in November 2014.

Friday, January 24, 2014

Pat McGann, Letterman Show, Tonite.

Comedian Pat McGann, a native 19th Warder and Marist graduate will be on the Letterman show tonight.

Meters

If you ask me, the parking meter deal was a shortsighted approach to shoring up city finances. In reality, it was a large tax increase which also had the effect of doubling downtown parking rates. It will have a negative effect on the quality of city living for years to come. To Mayor Daley and all the minions that voted for it without even a meaningful discussion, all I can say is dumb, dumb, dumb. 


Beating The Meter

Five years after city officials effectively sold Chicago's parking meter system to a private consortium at the urging of then-Mayor Daley, one neighborhood is realizing what this entails – aggressive ticketing – and is fighting back.
By the BGA and FOX 32
January 23, 2014 9:11 AM
beating meterBGAphoto600x450
Call it the parking meter squeeze.
Residents and businesses in Chicago's Edison Park neighborhood on the Far Northwest Side say they're under siege by enforcement workers writing parking tickets day and night.
Locals are trying to fight back, but because the city privatized the meters as part of a 2008 deal brokered by then-Mayor Richard M. Daley, there's not much they can do, the Better Government Association and FOX 32 found, in what's another cautionary tale about hasty privatization.

If you don't see the video above, click here and watch it on FOX32.
Edison Park's commercial district consists of about two blocks of bars, restaurants and retail shops centered on Northwest Highway. Otherwise the community is mostly residential, part of the Bungalow Belt called home by numerous cops, firefighters and other city workers.
It's an unlikely battleground. But lately, everyone seems to have a war story.
"I just stopped in the store to get a quick soda," one man says. "Came out and I had a ticket on my car."
Says another: "They're out here every day, up and down this stretch, total harassment."
One night earlier this week around 9 p.m., that meant three meter maids trolling the stretch.
In 2008, Daley and the City Council approved a deal to lease the city's 36,000 parking meters to a private consortium called Chicago Parking Meters LLC for 75 years. In return, the city received a lump sum payment of just over $1 billion.
But as details emerged, critics blasted the arrangement, claiming the city would have collected more cash had it simply held onto the meters, and asking why Daley and aldermen acted so quickly when such a large, lucrative city asset was at stake. Critics also questioned whether clout was a factor in the decision-making – since one of Daley's nephews worked at one of the firms comprising Chicago Parking Meters.
Much of the ensuing public anger focused on higher parking rates. But Edison Park residents and business owners are now experiencing another aspect of the deal: Increased enforcement.
laz parking meter firehydrant bgaphoto
LAZ vehicle parked in front of an Edison Park fire hydrant / Photo courtesy of 41st Ward Alderman Mary O'Connor
Chicago Parking Meters, through subcontractor LAZ Parking, gets to pocket parking fees, and is responsible for the maintenance of the meter machines and is allowed to roam the city and, where there are meters, ticket at will.
While the city gets to keep ticket revenues, the tougher the ticketing, the more likely drivers are to feed the meters.
That's what's apparently going on now in Edison Park – an attempt by Chicago Parking Meters to maximize revenues.
The venture said in a written statement to FOX and the BGA: "Compliance teams are dispatched throughout the city and to specific neighborhoods. As always, compliance officers only issue tickets to drivers who have failed to pay for metered parking and are in direct violation of the law. Under the terms of the concession agreement, the goal of enforcement is to drive compliance."
But a side effect, aside from enraging locals, is that the company's efforts could be chasing away customers from Edison Park businesses.
Melissa Panizzi of Edison Park's Chamber of Commerce said the parking crackdown is "gonna affect the small business owners. These aren't corporations. These are mom-and-pop businesses."
Panizzi said the crackdown has been going on for roughly two weeks, often from 8:30 a.m. until after 9 p.m. "They sit in there and they watch. And the minute they see someone get out of their car, if they don't go right to that meter box, they get out and ticket them."
It's gotten so bad, the chamber put information on its Facebook page advising people where to go for free parking, and the group has urged businesses to put up signs warning customers about the aggressive ticketing. Some businesses are also stopping customers at the door and urging them to feed the meter machines to avoid a ticket.
The owners of one local Italian restaurant, Nonno Pino's, has started offering diners $7 off their tab to help pay for the metered parking.
Mary O'Connor, the local alderman, says she's heard the complaints, but there's nothing she or the police can do because the enforcement agents are employed by a private company.
She's so frustrated she gave a reporter a photo she took of a LAZ vehicle illegally parked in front of an Edison Park fire hydrant recently.
BGA President and CEO Andy Shaw said this whole situation represents a "cautionary tale about the problem of privatization," and illustrates the importance of the city not being so quick to relinquish control over taxpayer assets.
"You turn over control of the asset to a private business, which is profit-oriented, so they don't care whether residents and businesses are upset."

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Dave Matthews Band - Time Of The Season [HD]


Passwords

The 25 most common passwords of 2013

          

More Durbin Soviet-Era Tatics

BOUGHT AND PAID FOR

In a 53-46 vote, the Senate narrowly passed a measure that will stop the United States from entering into the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty.  The Statement of Purpose from the Bill reads:  "To uphold Second Amendment rights and prevent the United States from entering into the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty."  The U.N. Small Arms Treaty, which has been championed by the Obama Administration, would have effectively placed a global ban on the import and export of small firearms.  The ban would have affected all private gun owners in the U.S. and had language that would have implemented aninternational gun registry, now get this, on all private guns and ammo.


Astonishingly, 46 out of our 100 United States Senators were willing to give away our Constitutional rights to a foreign power.


Here are the 46 senators who voted to give your rights to the U.N.

Baldwin (D-WI)

Baucus (D-MT)

Bennett (D-CO)

Blumenthal (D-CT)

Boxer (D-CA)

Brown (D-OH)

Cantwell (D-WA)

Cardin (D-MD)

Carper (D-DE)

Casey (D-PA)

Coons (D-DE)

Cowan (D-MA)

Durbin (D-IL)j

Feinstein (D-CA)

Franken (D-MN)

Gillibrand (D-NY)

Harkin (D-IA)

Hirono (D-HI)

Johnson (D-SD)

Kaine (D-VA)

King (I-ME)

Klobuchar (D-MN)

Landrieu (D-LA)

Leahy (D-VT)

Levin (D-MI)

McCaskill (D-MO)

Menendez (D-NJ)

Merkley (D-OR)

Mikulski (D-MD)

Murphy (D-CT)

Murray (D-WA)

Nelson (D-FL)

Reed (D-RI)

Reid (D-NV)

Rockefeller (D-WV)

Sanders (I-VT)

Schatz (D-HI)

Schumer (D-NY)

Shaheen (D-NH)

Stabenow (D-MI)

Udall (D-CO)

Udall (D-NM)

Warner (D-VA)

Warren (D-MA)

Whitehouse (D-RI)

Wyden (D-OR)

DURBIN DOES NOT SUPPORT THE BEST INTEREST OF AMERICANS. HE MUST BE DEFEATED.

Deep Purple - Smoke On The Water HD 1973 (Live in USA)


Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Global Warming Scam is Dead - Nation freezes, Idiot "Liberals" in denial...


TRUAX

TRUAX SCOLDS DURBIN AS THE ONE WHO'S REALLY "OUT-OF-TOUCH"

Th-11
DOWNERS GROVE — Tuesday, U.S. Senate candidate Doug Truax said Senator Dick Durbin is the one that's really out of touch with average Illinoisans.
"Career politician Dick Durbin has been a disaster for Illinois' lower- and middle-income citizens yet he recently tried to deflect that miserable record by launching into a tirade against a private sector Republican gubernatorial candidate," said GOP U.S. Senate candidate Truax Tuesday.
Durbin called that candidate - businessman Bruce Rauner - "out-of-touch." 
"That remark might rank as one of the most sadly ironic statements in 2014 thus far," Truax said.
"Dick Durbin is a master in the art of partisan political attacks and a disaster in the art of actually helping the poor- and middle-class, said Truax via press release. "His record speaks for itself loud and clear and we are going to hold him accountable for it."
Truax then pointed out several policies Durbin advocates which Truax says have been failing Illinoisans. The  statistics show:
  • Illinoisans are out of work. When Durbin last ran for re-election, Illinois' unemployment rate was 5.2% and 6,315,000 Illinoisans were employed. Today, the unemployment rate is 8.9%, the fourth highest in the nation, and 376,000 fewer Illinoisans are employed.
  • Job growth is anemicMoody's Analytics predicts Illinois to be 50th in job growth in 2014.
  • Poverty is skyrocketing. In the last 10 years, Illinois has added 1 million citizens to food stamp rolls and during that time has added only 10,000 jobs.
  • Obamacare is diminishing work hours. Many Illinois families trying to get ahead rely on part-time jobs. Since Obamacare became law, work hours have dropped significantly
  • Poor children are trapped in failing schools. In a recent national education reform report card, Illinois earned a "D+," helping ensure that lower- and middle-income families and their children will remain trapped in bad schools.
  • Families are fleeing Illinois. Those with financial flexibility are leaving Illinois in droves, according to a recent survey of a major moving company.This exodus continues the state's brain drain and accelerates the financial death spiral.
Truax said Durbin should stop deflecting blame and start answering questions why his policies have been such a failure for Illinoisans seeking to get ahead.

People Saved by Guns

25 Biggest Rip Offs That You've Probably Been Tricked Into Buying

Monday, January 20, 2014

Martin Luther King - I Have a Dream on August 28, 1963 Must Listen

Richard Sherman, not what Dr. King had in mind.




He made himself into an asshole on national TV. Everyone is talking about him and hoping for Denver. Can you get any more f---ed up that this guy?

MLK Day

"In honor of his memory, we are requesting that no shots be fired. Put you guns away until tomorrow morning."


If you ask me, the above is an insult to what Dr. King stood for.   

Sunday, January 19, 2014

While I was gone:
  • Rugai era streets deteriorated at an accelerated rate with potholes galore. Worst hit was Longwood Drive, 99th st. and 103rd st. City crews have been on them.
  • The Benny Baby founder was sentenced to probation after he was caught trying to evade income taxes.
  • The Cubs have a new mascot.
  • Duck Dynasty continued to be the hottest show on TV. 
  • There was a police chase in Mt. Greenwood after a carload of African men cut and ran.
  • There seems to have been a lockdown at Mt. Greenwood school after a man entered and began to remove his clothes, due to him being hot. The incident was at first called a "lockdown drill". Only to be called a "lockdown" after there were calls on social media for full disclosure. 
  • Bill Cunningham announced a Town Hall meeting for police on Jan 21, where he will again attempt to trick them into believing that he has their back. The event will not be well attended as the police now know that the only ones that have their backs are the other police (and a few firemen).
  • Seattle and Denver were favored to be in the Superbowl.
  • The principal at Sutherland found out her contract will not be renewed next year.
  • 5 people were injured when a shelf of 2X4's collapsed at the new Menards in E.P.
  • More snow and zero temps moved in just as I arrived back.