Mary, Mary, why you buggin'

Today I was reading one of my favorite Chicago Suntime's Columnist Mary Mitchell and was taken aback by her assertion that "it should come as no surprise that all hell is breaking loose in the West Side's Austin community."

Having been born and raised in Chicago's Austin community now a entrepreneur in my community and the recipient of constant critique of how much badder the west side is than the south side. I must admit I immediately went into defense mode. Nobody like to hear someone talk about their home in a unfavorable light.

"Austin's No. 1 nothing to be proud of" The headline says. Well, I haven't seen any celebrations, parades or commemorative event planned to mark this milestone. Austin residents aren't proud of this achievement and I'm not sure what led Ms. Mitchell to this conclusion.

Austin is number one in Weapons violations and homicides in the past 3 months, she says in her article so I fact check on the CPD's Clearmap and sure enough there we are #1. It dawned on me that Austin's also #1 in population of Chicago's neighborhoods. Could this be why I perceive Austin as less likely a place than Englewood to be sitting at home doing nothing and getting shot. So I got out the Excel Spreadsheet and began to crunch numbers.

Weapons Violations

Austin	76
West Englewood	59
Roseland	57
Englewood	53

Population

Austin	117,527
West Englewood	45,282
Roseland	52,723
Englewood	40,222

Weapons Violation Per 10,000 residents

Austin	6.466599
West Englewood	13.02946
Roseland	10.81122
Englewood	13.17687

Murders

Austin	15
West Englewood	6
Roseland	4
Englewood	9

Murders Per 10,000 Residents

Austin	1.276302467
West Englewood	1.325029813
Roseland	0.758682169
Englewood	2.237581423

Ok, so I over did it on the decimal points, but when you balance out these stats on population, Englewood and West Englewood have over twice as many weapons violation per 10K than Austin.

Englewood has a mudrer rate almost twice that of Austin's.

"We've gotten used to hearing about the carnage on the South Side."

Yes Mary because there's twice as much of it happening in Englewood versus Austin.

Don't let Daley use Afrika to get the Olympics

From the Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago 2016 bid team in Nigeria to lobby for summer games

BY LISA DONOVAN Staff Reporter

A delegation from the Chicago 2016 bid team is in Nigeria as part of an ongoing lobbying effort over the next few months to bring the summer Olympics here.

Chicago 2016 Chairman and CEO Patrick G. Ryan will be among those making a presentation before the National Olympic Committees of Africa General Assembly, which meets Monday and Tuesday. More than a dozen members of the International Olympic Committee — the official body that selects a host city — will be on hand at the event.

The 100-plus member IOC will travel to Copenhagen in October to pick a city for the 2016 Olympics. Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo are also finalists.

Officials say they’ll hammer home Chicago’s $4.8 billion Games plan: a compact venue whose backdrop includes Lake Michigan, a dozen museums, public transit and a bustling downtown.

And they’ll tout the proposed Olympic Village, which would be built on the site of Michael Reese Hospital. Olympic boosters have repeatedly said the village’s location would put 90 percent of athletes within 15 minutes or less of their competition venues.

Mayor Daley is attempting to use the the vote of the Afrikan nations in the ANOCA to vote in favor of the Olympics in Chicago.

It's a numbers game. When the IOC meets to vote it's likely that the the European Countries votes will go to Madrid, the Countries on the Asian continent may lean Tokyo, the South American countries should lean toward Rio. Then there's the North America, we're kind of lean on countries so Daley and his gang are hitting up the Afrikan Continent for some votes.

Contact the Association of National Olympic Committees of Afrika and tell them why they should not vote for the 2016 games in Chicago.

Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa
6, Lasale Street
Off Shehu Shagari Way
Maitama, Abuja
NIGERIA

acnoa@creolink.net

Listed Below are links to all of the individual African National Olympic Committees

Nation	Code	National Olympic Committee	Created	Ref.
Algeria	ALG	Comité Olympique Algérien	1963/1964	[1]
Angola	ANG	Comité Olímpico Angolano	1979/1980	[2]
Benin	BEN	Comité National Olympique et Sportif Béninois	1962	[3]
Botswana	BOT	Botswana National Olympic Committee	1978/1980	[4]
Burkina Faso	BUR	Comité National Olympique et des Sports Burkinabè	1965/1972	[5]
Burundi	BDI	Comité National Olympique du Burundi	1990/1993	[6]
Cameroon	CMR	Comité National Olympique et Sportif du Cameroun	1963	[7]
Cape Verde	CPV	Comité Olímpico Caboverdeano	1989/1993	[8]
Central African Republic	CAF	Comité National Olympique et Sportif Centrafricain	1964/1965	[9]
Chad	CHA	Comité Olympique et Sportif Tchadien	1963/1964	[10]
Comoros	COM	Comité Olympique et Sportif des Iles Comores	1979/1993	[11]
Congo	CGO	Comité National Olympique et Sportif Congolais	1964	[12]
Côte d'Ivoire	CIV	Comité National Olympique de Côte d'Ivoire	1962/1963	[13]
Democratic Republic of the Congo	COD	Comité Olympique Congolais	1963/1968	[14]
Djibouti	DJI	Comité National Olympique Djiboutien	1983/1984	[15]
Egypt	EGY	Egyptian Olympic Committee	1910	[16]
Equatorial Guinea	GEQ	Comité National Olympique Equato-Guinéen	1980/1984	[17]
Eritrea	ERI	Eritrean National Olympic Committee	1996/1999	[18]
Ethiopia	ETH	Ethiopian Olympic Committee	1948/1954	[19]
Gabon	GAB	Comité Olympique Gabonais	1965/1968	[20]
Gambia	GAM	Gambia National Olympic Committee	1972/1976	[21]
Ghana	GHA	Ghana Olympic Committee	1952	[22]
Guinea	GUI	Comité National Olympique et Sportif Guinéen	1964/1965	[23]
Guinea-Bissau	GBS	Comité Olímpico da Guiné-Bissau	1992/1995	[24]
Kenya	KEN	National Olympic Committee Kenya	1955	[25]
Lesotho	LES	Lesotho National Olympic Committee	1971/1972	[26]
Liberia	LBR	Liberia National Olympic Committee	1954/1955	[27]
Libya	LBA	Libyan Olympic Committee	1962/1963	[28]
Madagascar	MAD	Comité Olympique Malgache	1963/1964	[29]
Malawi	MAW	Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association of Malawi	1968	[30]
Mali	MLI	Comité National Olympique et Sportif du Mali	1962/1963	[31]
Mauritania	MTN	Comité National Olympique et Sportif Mauritanien	1962/1979	[32]
Mauritius	MRI	Mauritius Olympic Committee	1971/1972	[33]
Morocco	MAR	Comité Olympique Marocain	1959	[34]
Mozambique	MOZ	Comité Olímpico Nacional de Moçambique	1979	[35]
Namibia	NAM	Namibian National Olympic Committee	1990/1991	[36]
Niger	NIG	Comité Olympique et Sportif National du Niger	1964	[37]
Nigeria	NGR	Nigeria Olympic Committee	1951	[38]
Rwanda	RWA	Comité National Olympique et Sportif du Rwanda	1984	[39]
São Tomé and Príncipe	STP	Comité Olímpico de São Tomé e Príncipe	1979/1993	[40]
Senegal	SEN	Comité National Olympique et Sportif Sénégalais	1961/1963	[41]
Seychelles	SEY	Seychelles Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association	1979	[42]
Sierra Leone	SLE	National Olympic Committee of Sierra Leone	1964	[43]
Somalia	SOM	Somali Olympic Committee	1959/1972	[44]
South Africa	RSA	South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee	1991	[45]
Sudan	SUD	Sudan Olympic Committee	1956/1959	[46]
Swaziland	SWZ	Swaziland Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association	1971/1972	[47]
Tanzania	TAN	Tanzania Olympic Committee	1968	[48]
Togo	TOG	Comité National Olympique Togolais	1963/1965	[49]
Tunisia	TUN	Comité National Olympique Tunisien	1957	[50]
Uganda	UGA	Uganda Olympic Committee	1950/1956	[51]
Zambia	ZAM	National Olympic Committee of Zambia	1964	[52]
Zimbabwe	ZIM	Zimbabwe Olympic Committee	1934/1980	[53]

Sucker for love

Some people go around the world for love
But they may never find what they dream of
What you won't do, do for love
You've tried everything but you don't give up
In my world only you
makes me do for love what I would not do
From "What you won't do for love" by Bobby Caldwell


I gotta admit after reading Gov Mark Sandford's email's to his mistress, I kinda felt sorry for the guy. He was cakin' hard in those letters.

He wasn't running off to get his dick sucked by an intern he only conversed with when he wanted some, He wasn't blowing 5 G's on hookers, or sexting with his chief of staff or congressional pages, he wasn't even playing footsie in a public bathroom.

Although I hope it's the end for him politically(not solely because of the affair), I hope he doesn't lose out on his chance at love because of his career politics.

...we are in a hopelessly — or as you put it impossible — or how about combine and simply say hopelessly impossible situation of love....I have thought about it and in some ways feel I let you down in letting these complications come into a friendship that I hope will last till death. In all my life I have lived by a code of honor and at a variety of levels know I have crossed lines I would have never imagined. I wish I could wish it away, but this soul-mate feel I alluded too is real and in that regard I sure don’t want to be the person complicating your life.

Well Mark shit just got really complicated now. I know you're in love and shit, but your also the Governor of SC you can't just go hopping flights half way around the world to be with your mistress and don't nobody know where you at. In doing so, you...

...shitted on your sons on Father's Day
...negated any progress you were making with your wife
...threw away any chance at 2012.
...betrayed your staff and constituents.
...deepened the tailspin the GOP is in (YEAH!)
...embarrassed all of the aforementioned

...I better stop now least this really sound like the Thornbirds — wherein I was always upset with Richard Chamberlain for not dropping his ambitions and running into Maggie’s arms. The bottom line is two fold, my heart wants me to get on a plane tonight and to be in your loving arms — my head is saying how do we put the Genie back in the bottle because I sure don’t want to be encumbering you, or your options or your life. Put differently, given I love you, I don’t want to be part of the reason you are having less than an ideal week in what sounds like a cool spot.

You started following your heart, don't stop now. You've got no ambitions to drop, not anymore. So resign from the governorship, divorce your wife, commit to being a father to your boys and be with the love of your life.

That's all you got left.

Happy Father's Day...Penis Required

Happy Father's Day to all the dad out there.

Dad's with penises that is.

I was out shopping for a card for my dad when I came across the card pictured, it was in Hallmark's Mahogany section.

"With thanks Mama on Father's Day?"

Can the men have their day?

I'm not a father, but my dad has been a constant presence in my life and I appreciate him and everything he's done to provide for his family and raise his children to ensure that we became productive citizens. I appreciate him being my role model for manhood and shaping my concept of brotherhood.


Single Mothers have a tough job, but they're not Fathers. There are unique life lessons that we learn from both our parents. When one of those parents is missing the child is going to have a void, if 1 parent were completely capable of performing the roles of man and woman the conditions of our communities probably wouldn't be as they are. Instead, you got boys running around trying to find out how to be a man and girls trying to find out how to be loved by a man because dad isn't a round.

1 can do the job of 2 but that don't give you both titles, like when you get promoted and you do 2 jobs till they backfill your old job.

Women shackled during childbirth sue Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart

That's the image that popped in my head when I heard about women who were being held at the Cook County Jail having to give birth while shackled to the bed now suing Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart

Tom Dart was the guy who halted foreclosures on rental properties, due to unsuspecting renters being evicted without notice because the landlord let the property fall into foreclosure.

That was an unfair practice.

This is an inhumane practice.

When labor begins, deputies unhook the leg shackles but keep the woman handcuffed until delivery, when the shackles are fully removed and then replaced after the baby is born, Patterson said.

What the fuck is this "Roots"?!?

Well the 13th Amendment does say...

"Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime where of the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

And that's what they're treating them like, some damn slaves. Handcuffing during childbirth?!? Who does that shit? I've always had a problem with that "except" bullshit in the 13th amendment, it's like they were saying "Black people, y'all is free, but in case we change our mind..." It's the slavery loophole that created the Prison Industrial Complex.

Mannn they criminals, if you don't want to get treated like that don't do crime some might say. The Cook County Jail is where people are held prior to and during their trial if they are arrested and don't post bail so their guilt or innocence hasn't been adjudicated in most of these instances. I don't think any woman deserves to be shackled during childbirth guilty or innocent. A woman in labor poses minimal risk to fleeing and shackling them only servers to demean and dehumanize them. I get it that people often use hospital visits to escape but what woman is capable of breaking for the door and overpowering security and hospital staff before or immediately after childbirth? Granted I'm not capable of having a baby, so maybe I just don't know.

I know they need to stop shackling women during childbirth and find another means of securing inmates.

The 44 Presidents GOP style

What's wrong with this picture?

See those 2 eyes, that's the GOP's representation of President Barack Obama's portrait.

That picture was e-mailed by a legislative staffer for Tennessee GOP state senator Diane Black named Sherri Goforth.

When asked her if she understood the controversial nature of the photo, Goforth said she felt very bad about accidentally sending it to the wrong list, but did not apologize.

I'm glad she didn't apologize, I tired of people saying something racist and then apologizing for it. Shit, don't say sorry, Thank you for outing yourself as contributing to lingering legacy of racism in America. People like that should be marginalized and that's the problem with the GOP's whole minority out reach campaign. You can't continue to harbor these kinds of people and expect non-whites to embrace the GOP. By not purging themselves of these kinds of racist they are causing their party to be marginalized which is why only 27% of Americnas identify themselves as Republicans.

Just yesterday another GOPer was outed for his racist comments about Michelle Obama.

Michael Steele must have self-respect the size of a mustard seed.

Banking While Black

Driving While Black, Shopping While Black and now Banking While Black.

Police in Skokie respond to what officers say was a suspicious situation at a Bank of America branch.

Bank employees called police for what they said was two men behaving very strangely.

When the men exited the bank, officers held them at gunpoint while questioning them.

It turns out no crime was committed and the men were allowed to leave without charges.

I fear the above scenario everytime I have to go to my bank's branch in the upscale suburb near my job. I'm unfamiliar to them and I'm black and those 2 qualities can easily be grounds for characterizing anything I do as "suspicious behavior".

I wonder what suspicious behavior did these guys exhibit.

Judging by a soundbite from one of the guys, walking though the door was their suspicious activity.

If I were them my next visit to Bank of America would be to close my account.