The first American Pope, Leo XIV

Yesterday May 8 was a BIG day. UK and US celebrated the 80th anniversary of VE day (Victory in Europe) with a trade deal and the world has a new Pope, Leo XIV. Many are claiming victory, many on the fringes are rioting just because . . . and experts everywhere are left stunned and speechless. President Trump had been floating a tease about a "deal" but I think this unexpected appointment took some of the glitter off his big announcement. And this all happened on the day India and Pakistan conflict of many decades got much worse. India is now the country with the most population--over 1.4 billion.

I watched 2 interviews with his older brothers. Their shock was awesome. He will always be their "little brother." It seems from a small boy he'd wanted to be a priest. Since he's been in Peru for 40 years and is also a citizen there, I'm not sure how "American" he is by this time. Missing the 80s, 90s and the first quarter of the century means he's missed a lot of the chaos and disruption in our culture.

And also I found out 2025 is a Jubilee Year in the Catholic Church. This jubilee was announced by Pope John Paul II at the end of the 2000 Great Jubilee and is celebrated from Christmas Eve (24 December) 2024 to Epiphany (6 January) 2026, lasting a total of 379 days.
The theme for the 2025 Jubilee is "Pilgrims of Hope."


Leo XIV is the new Pope - Vatican News

Fact Sheet: U.S.-UK Reach Historic Trade Deal – The White House

India Pakistan War Breaking News 5 Pakistani Jets Down, Over 50 Drones Hit: What Happened On Thursday Night (May 8-9)? | Times Now

Let's FACE the double standard about demonstrations

The federal FACE Act prohibits “violent, threatening, damaging, and obstructive conduct intended to injure, intimidate, or interfere with the right to seek, obtain, or provide reproductive health services.” It was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1994.

 
So why are pro-Hamas terrorists allowed to do the same activities on college campuses, major hi-ways, and at the Democratic National Convention. That must be a dilemma for Democrats. Demonstrating in front of an abortion clinic can get you put in jail, but demonstrating that you hate Jews and want to destroy Israel is no big deal. 

So if you block an ambulance with a heart attack patient or block the entrance to the library it's OK in the USA as long as it's to "free Palestine." Just don't demonstrate you care about the lives of the unborn.

Office of Public Affairs | Six Defendants Convicted of Federal Civil Rights Conspiracy and Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act Offenses for Obstructing Access to Reproductive Health Services in Tennessee | United States Department of Justice

Photos show DNC protesters clash with Chicago police as convention kicks off (yahoo.com)

Some protesters tear down security fence as thousands march outside Democratic National Convention (wibw.com)

Act out in Chicago

I was reading an account of the teen "wilding" in Chicago where mobs of teens were being "rowdy" last night. I noticed this sentence:

"Around 8 p.m., the mob of teens attempted to storm into Millennium Park. However, people under 21 are not allowed access to the park without being accompanied by an adult."

So, children can decide about sex surgery to be sterilized, but people under 21 can't get in a park without an adult? What sort of dystopian world is this?

The Chicago Bungalow

 When I was a child and the family or school group or church group would travel to Chicago, I was always amazed by the vast neighborhoods of bungalows.  But I didn't know they were this popular, 80,000, or 1/3 of the single family housing stock.

http://zachmortice.com/2022/02/25/chicagos-bungalows-are-where-the-city-comes-together/

https://www.chicagobungalow.org/chicago-bungalow

Charlotte Austin's story of freedom after 20 years in prison--a sweet success

After being released from prison in Wisconsin after 20 years, Charlotte was accepted in a Chicago transitional program, North Lawndale Employment Network, NLEN, which helps the formerly incarcerated adjust and join society, then a position with Sweet Beginnings  https://www.nlen.org/sweetbeginnings  and BeeLove, https://beelovebuzz.com/ which sells products made from honey.  You can read her story here:  

 https://wordpress-670334-206764.cloudwaysapps.com/insidesb-episode3/     

and here, http://zachmortice.com/2022/02/25/the-north-lawndale-employment-network-sees-through-employment-barriers-for-the-formerly-incarcerated/

Charlotte: And then, working with people that walk the same steps I walked. Amazing. I don’t judge them. If they laugh, I laugh with them. If they cry, I cry with them. They got something going on, talk to me because I know how it is. I’m not finna judge you because you went to prison or you had this. I went to prison too!

Alice: Right. Right. And you’re very open about the fact that you have a criminal background. Why is that?

Charlotte: It make me feel free. If I hold it in, and somebody else – somebody need to hear my story. Somebody out there need to hear my story. So by me telling my story – yeah, I did twenty years straight, I was on drugs, I was a prostitute, I used to do this, I used to do that, I’m still on ten years paper, and it’s sad to say prison saved me. ‘Cause I could’ve been dead. I think I could’ve been dead."

A TED talk film about BeeLove and NLEN.  https://youtu.be/hXjcRnYv1iU

Childhood memories of traveling to Chicago, guest blogger

Dave Graf recalls: "When I was a kid (starting as early as age 5), I loved to take Route 64 to Chicago to visit my grandparents. They moved there when WWII was over. It was more fun than going into the Windy City by the Tollway. Names such as Sycamore, St. Charles, Itasca, Bensonville--(we turned off of 64 and took Rte 83 to Irving Pk)--were MAGIC names. Even Kings, IL was "magic" because as far as I was concerned, Kings was where we broke loose from our local area. The closer to Chicago we got, the more excited I was. I told you the story about when I went to Arlington Park with the Jewetts. We ate at the Hotel Baker, in St. Charles on that day (*)when Steve and I stared from outside the window, looking at, and smacking our lips at the people eating inside. Unfortunately, Norm caught us--but that's another story. Mom and Dad stopped at the Log Cabin, located right next to the Fox River. If I remember right, the Latrines were in the basement and there was a glassy area where you could see how the river looked at that level. I also remember a Wurlitzer Juke Box they had in the dining area at one time. I was fascinated by the way the colors in the tubes changed. Now Jim and I sat in the back seat on these excursions--and we would push, punch and pester each other much of the way in. The reason we behaved at the Log Cabin was that if we got TOO wild back there, Dad would pull over, off the road before we got to the Cabin. He would say something like this, Do you boys see those chimneys with smoke coming out of them? Those buildings are the Reformatory for Boys--and unless you promise to settle down, we will turn right now--and head over there!" The first few times we were afraid he would do just that, but later on we wised up, grinned at each other when the folks weren't looking--and were well behaved because it was nearing chow time. Somebody told me a couple years ago that their parents did the same thing!

We turned onto 83 at Montana Charlie's Steakhouse. I would have loved to have eaten a huge steak there later in life, but I suppose it's gone. We drove Past Kiddieland, in Addison, IL, a Seminary called "Our Lady of the Snows" I believe (that name rings a bell). Then right from (I think Harlem) onto Irving....and there it was! It used to scare the pants off of me--"Dunning Mental Health Facility!" Every so often, some of the patients would be right up to the iron fence that surrounded the place! The Reform School was nothing, next to Dunning!

On to Irving Park. The bus route ended at Narragansett, and returned to the run to the East, near the Lake. When I was about 12, I'd get onto that (electric) Irving Park bus and go from one end to the other. I memorized every stop and where it was: Calif (2000), Western (24), Cicero (48)., Austin 6000) etc. Past Nicky Chevrolet "With the Backward K". We'd go to Drake Avenue, turn North and head to my Nana's home at 4332 N. Drake, just South of Montrose (4000 W). And I was in Heaven. We would all sit on the 2nd floor on the porch, in the back by the alley, in the night and listen to the steam trains rattle by on an overpass about 6 blocks away. The RR was the "Soo Line". Nana's mother and father lived in the same "bungalow". We did this for years. I would sit up on that same porch with my Great Grandfather and listen to the Cub games. I learned OTHER "Magic Names"--Sauer, Rush, Baumholtz, Minner, Caveretta, Pafko etc. Magic names, and Magic Times--Trips to the City with the Big Shoulders. Maybe someday, God will return it to a wonderful city to visit--as well as a great place to live in!"

Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson thinks the President is a racist

So Supt. Eddie Johnson thinks President Trump is a racist and he won't attend the meeting of the Chiefs of Police in Chicago because Trump will address them.

• Racism as in record low unemployment for blacks?
• Racism as in renewed attention on unequal prison terms for black men and the First Step Act ?
• Racism as in commuting the sentence of Alice Marie Johnson?
• Racism as in bringing misbehaving black college athletes safely home?
• Racism as in trying to protect the jobs of low income blacks from illegal workers?
• Racism as in wanting safer streets and neighborhoods in Chicago?
• Racism as in wanting to reduce genocidal abortion rate for black women which is 4x that of white women?

Tell me, Superintendent Johnson, what exactly has the President done to offend your race sensitivities?

Tell me all the great things President Obama and President Clinton did for blacks, other than boosting your pride?

Illinois and Indiana budgets

I'm sure there is more to this story--cartoons and memes never tell the whole story. Perhaps someone from Illinois knows?  Is Illinois dying?  Is it Chicago mismanagement and corruption?

Juss-tice

I was listening to a Chicago talk show host in the car during the church mail run (didn't catch his name), and he'd done some research on hate crime hoaxes. It turns out, he said, it's not that unusual to be let off with a slap on the wrist. Don't know the source of his information.

But because our culture is fascinated by victimhood we reward the hoaxers. Because intersectionality outranks all the rest, the Chicago guy thinks the light sentences encourage this. (Intersectionality means a lesbian Hispanic with one leg who is also low income and working as a maid ranks higher in victimhood than an Appalachian straight woman who works in a coal mine and is abused.)

Even with a video of the 2 Nigerian guys buying red hats and ropes and their check from Jussie Smollett, the media want us to just say, "we'll never know" what happened.  This may be the first time I've ever agreed with Rahm Emanuel, the mayor of Chicago who says it's a complete whitewash. Kamala Harris "is confused," and although when the hoax first came out she said it was "a modern day lynching," now she says we don't have the evidence.

Jon Miller, talk show host, says its privilege.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgLNz4Y7jF4 

The Smollett crime

Project 21, a conservative black think-tank opined: "Washington, DC - After prosecutors dropped charges against actor Jussie Smollett in the case of an alleged Chicago hate crime hoax, members of the Project 21 black leadership network are condemning the situation as a crass display of "celebrity privilege" harmful to both race relations and the reputation of the law enforcement community. Project 21 continues to maintain that the NAACP should drop its nomination of Smollett for an honor at its upcoming Image Awards ceremony.

"This case stands for one clear proposition - regardless of color. In America today, people of wealth and privilege can escape accountability for the same acts that mainstream Americans cannot," said Project 21 Co-Chairman Horace Cooper. "This deal stinks, and it makes a mockery of the idea that all Americans are equal before the law." "

Heads up (or maybe down) northern Illinois and Indiana

Whatever happened to global warming?  They had to fix the wording: climate change because then it covers everything.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2019/01/26/polar-vortex-intrusion-dangerous-brutal-cold-aimed-great-lakes-by-tuesday/?

National Weather Service reports for Chicago: By Tuesday night, temperatures are expected to take another plunge, to 23 below zero, flirting with Chicago's coldest temperature ever: minus 27 on Jan. 20, 1985.

Monday Memories--Medical Library Association Meeting 1993 in Chicago

From May 16 to May 19, 1993, I was in Chicago attending the Medical Library Association then headed to Mt. Morris to work on my publication project. As usual, the Veterinary Librarians had a great meeting. As I hopped off the shuttle from the airport on Sunday, I made a mad dash to the Shedd Aquarium with Melinda Saffer from Tufts who had also just arrived. We met up with our group which was having breakfast courtesy of the Aquarium Library staff. Then we attended a public demonstration in their new Oceanarium, and toured the facility with their veterinarian, seeing many of the back room medical facilities--even had to walk through a special tub of water to disinfect our shoes. There are huge lines to get in Shedd, so we were fortunate to be able to by-pass all that. (I still have the Shedd Aquarium T-shirt I bought.)

After that the librarians gave us a tour of the Shedd library, the largest aquarium library in the country. It was a lovely facility, and I jotted down some disease titles with which I was unfamiliar. The aquarium is on the lakefront only about a 15 minute walk from the Palmer House, site of the conference, so several of us walked back to the fabulous beauty of the flowering trees, Buckingham Fountain and all the yachts against the blue sky and water. And of course, there was the fabulous Chicago skyline, where every famous architect since the great fire has plunked down a building.

Then back to the hotel, registration, (my key was stolen and I narrowly missed an assault) lunch with friends, and that evening, Faxon (book vendor) took us to the 95th floor of the John Hancock Building. It was dusk, and as the lights of the city came on it was one of the prettiest sights I've seen. To show how chocolate improves the memory--it's been almost 25 years--I think it was a Chocolate themed buffet.

On Monday the distributor Majors (library subscription vendor) gave us a walking tour of Michigan Avenue with free T-shirts and breakfast. The Executive Committee of the Veterinary Medical Libraries Section (I was treasurer) met for several hours hearing reports, discussing next year's meeting in San Antonio, what to do about journals from former Communist countries, etc. I attended a session after lunch, then walked down to view the new Washington Public Library, which is quite controversial, but was only two blocks from the Palmer House.

Monday evening Compact Cambridge, a company developing CD-ROM data bases (Compact Disk Read Only Memory) which were all the rage then, hosted an event at the Field Museum, and we toured many exhibits from Egyptian tombs to Guatemalan pottery. Between the time they had committed to this reception and the actual event, they had been bought out by SilverPlatter, another CD-ROM company, but the event was held anyway.

Tuesday the Veterinary Section had its Business meeting, and then its own programming. Two new products, one a prototype, were demonstrated. Tuesday was free day at the Chicago Art Institute, so David Anderson from California and I went together after lunch. There was a nice display on the 1893 Columbian Exposition, photos of its construction, "Constructing the Fair: Platinum Photographs of the World's Columbian Exposition" which I was very interested in. Grandma Weybright graduated from high school in June, 1893, so I'm guessing her trip there was a graduation present because there are some souvenir items in the Weybright collection from this exposition. Tuesday evening we had our section dinner at a Greek restaurant, Dianna's Opa, which I didn't think was very impressive, but everyone enjoyed it.

Wednesday morning I caught the shuttle back to O'Hare Airport, then the bus to Rockford where Mom and Dad met me at the bus, we had lunch, then went on to Mt. Morris. Thursday, Friday and Saturday were spent ferreting out missing titles, checking imprints, recording recollections, etc. for my personal library of farmers publication project.  Mom went to Washington to Julie Clark's graduation on Friday, so Dad and I did the Pine Creek tour and I recorded some of his stories--may call it "The Pine Creek Chronicles." (I wrote it up and distributed it with the cookbook I was preparing for the reunion that summer.)

On Friday I also had a three hour breakfast with Lynne and Sylvia. On Sunday we went to church and then out to eat with Aunt Marian and Connie Brebner. Dad drove me back to the bus on Sunday afternoon and I got home about 7:30 p.m. I returned to work on May 24th, and used two more days of research time entering data, making corrections in the data base and checking catalogs.

(Information taken from a letter I wrote to my parents June, 1, 1993,--and this is only part of it.  If you think this is long, imagine their boredom in reading it!  Somewhere I have photos.)

Chicago by Moses Lambert

"Chicago was a perfectly symbolic setting for Obama to give his last official speech; the city is a petri dish of the failed radical policies Obama attempted to impose on the country as a whole.

Of course, Chicago was an appropriate locale for the goodbye address. It’s a violent, one-party city that is collapsing under the weight of its own corruption.

Ruled by his White House chief of staff, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, in 2016 there were 762 murders in Chicago, more than all the murders recorded that year in New York City and Los Angeles combined.

There were 4331 people shot in Chicago in 2016, up from 3550 in 2015, in a city where politicians blame inanimate objects, instead of criminals, for homicides and work relentlessly to deprive helpless residents of their Second Amendment rights.

Chicago is a so-called sanctuary city that goes out of its way to shield illegal aliens from immigration authorities and make their lives as comfortable as possible at the expense of everyone else. Obama protégé Emanuel is a strident, in-your-face supporter of the sanctuary city movement that gave illegal aliens permission to rob, rape, and murder Americans.

Chicago’s debt has junk-bond status and residents are fleeing the city in droves in search of greener pastures.

It is home to failing public schools made worse by the militant, rapacious Chicago Teachers Union and spectacularly unsuccessful public housing complexes.

They should really just rename Chicago “Obama City.” "

From his Facebook page.

Derrion Albert

Seven years ago, on Sept. 24, 2009, Derrion Albert, a 16-year-old black student, was walking home from Fenger High School in Chicago and was beaten and stomped to death during a fight between 2 rival groups. The rest of the nation heard about it only because someone caught it on video. That put pressure on Obama, and later the President sent Holder and Duncun. Jesse Jackson also showed up. Then the money began to flow. Eventually, a $65 million dollar two year federal grant for "Safe Passage" was funneled to Chicago Public Schools to reduce youth violence. As I understand it grants went to local organizations and faith communities to hire and train people to ensure safety along the routes taken by school children. Kids in Chicago are still dying, but money was found to extend the program. The next year there were over 260 murders, but none on video. Eventually, Derrion's name was forgotten. Six young men over time were arrested, tried and sentenced in the Albert death, the last one in 2015. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/derrion-albert/

Politicizing the Orlando tragedy

If President Obama wants to politicize a gun tragedy in Florida, let him go instead to a Democrat city for 50 years, Chicago, his home town where he got his start, to give his speeches. About 75% of the victims are black and black lives matter.

"Chicago has been criticized for comparatively light sentencing guidelines for those found illegally in possession of a firearm. Most people convicted of illegal gun possession receive the minimum sentence, one year, a Chicago Sun-Tim...es analysis found, and serve less than half of the sentence because of time for good behavior and pre-trial confinement. The minimum sentence for felons found in possession of a firearm is 2 years. Those charged with simple gun possession had an average of four prior arrests. Those charged with gun possession by a felon had an average of 10 prior arrests. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has unsuccessfully pushed the Illinois General Assembly for tougher sentencing guidelines for gun possession." (Wikipedia.) 

After a 20 year decrease in crime, by about 40% after the 1994 omnibus crime bill, crime is on the upswing again in Chicago.
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When it was first revealed yesterday morning that a gay night club had been attacked by a radical, gay-hating Muslim, the left had a terrible conundrum. Two protected classes for Democrats (and he was a registered Democrat and abusive husband, but I think that doesn't mean much). No problem. Just attack Christians as the true perps. Works every time. The left is really that blind.

Black Lives Don't matter in Chicago

They can shut down the GOP convention, but they can't stop the killing in Chicago? 19 homicides and 116 shot just in March. A 98.6% increase since the Black Lives Matter movement.





Article from July. 


Ms. Perry hosted  the “Melissa Harris-Perry” show since 2012, focusing on the state of race, gender and social justice in America, but resigned/was fired on Feb. 28 because she didn't like it that her show was being preempted for political coverage, and she was too good to read the news.