Election Day

I voted for Hughes, Andrzejewski and Plummer.

National Shrine of St. Therese

Today I went to the National Shrine of St. Therese in Darien, IL.


































(My sister loves Japan stuff, but they had several cases full of different representations of Mary and Jesus from around the world)

New State Animal for Illinois

Move over white-tailed deer, Illinois is getting a new state animal... or at least it is in the mind of John Kass.

We taxpayers need a new state animal. Our old state animals are lame. So, as a public service, I am announcing our new Illinois mascot in today's column. It won't cost you a dime.

But first, let's acknowledge that our current official state animals—the whitetail deer, the tiny bluegill, the chirpy cardinal—are victims. These prey animals just wait until they're pounced upon by bloodthirsty carnivores.

Sort of like us taxpayers, getting socked with increases from politicians who make their friends rich, and who, upon retirement, will receive six-figure pensions for the rest of their lives. The rest of us will be so broke, we'll end up drizzling Worcestershire sauce on dog food for dinner.

So what animal could really fit the current state of Illinois politics?

What Illinois needs now is a mascot embodying our political spirit, a special creature that lives in the shadows and sidles up to victims and—before the prey truly comprehend what's happening to them—drains them of every drop of blood.

Such a creature, which should now become our new State of Illinois animal, is none other than:

The chupacabra.

In Spanish, chupacabra means goat-sucker, for its alleged habits of creeping up to goats, chickens, sheep (exactly!) and other barnyard animals, sucking out their blood. Its mythical range is said to extend from South America, into Mexico, even Crete. There have been recent unconfirmed sightings in the southwest U.S.

Sounds like a good match to me. Read the whole column at the Tribune: Chupacabra mascot: Illinois needs a new symbol, John Kass says

Chicago Tea Party

Lounge Daddy had a post the other day about the Chicago Tea Party movement. They are going to have demonstrations all over the country this Friday. I was disappointed at first. I don't work on Fridays, but this week I started working on my observation hours and wouldn't be able to attend. Yesterday I found out however, that the school I'm getting my hours at has Friday off.

So it looks like I will be able to attend the one at Daley Plaza. I'm planning on going barring any unforseen events. If I am able to go I will be sure to post photos of the event. According to the website Tony Peraica is supposed to be there, with perhaps other speakers to be announced.

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Official Chicago Tea Party

Date: Friday, February 27.
Time: 11:00 AM Central Time.
Start: Daley Plaza, 50 W Washington St..
End: Michigan Ave Bridge (Tribune Tower).

Speakers include Tony Peraica and more speakers TBA.

Republican Candidates for the 5th District

I'm Representive-less at the moment since Rahm Emmanuel took the job with Obama in Washington. We're having a primary election for the spot in March and the general in April.

There are 12 Democrats, 6 Republicans, and 5 Green Party Candidates. With the exception of a few signs in front of houses, I haven't seen a whole lot of info on these Republicans. So I'm taking a look at their websites.

Tom Hanson

This is the first Republican candidate on the ballot. I popped in on his website, and the first thing I see is "Liberal Republican". Well, I'll just say that if I wanted a liberal Republican I'd vote for a Democrat, even if a liberal Republican is the only one that had a chance.



I did take a look at his positions and I will be passing on him.

Abortion Debate
I favor the rights to abortion and will vote for restrictions that are permissible under Roe vs. Wade

Marriage Debate
I favor the idea that same sex couples should be allowed to enter into a legally binding agreement that guarantees them similar benefits as married couples.

The next candidate is Jon Stewart, well at least the first thing on his website isn't Liberal Republican even if there is a picture of him with John McCain.

I'm a little nervous with a couple of the bullet points he has on the front.

The Jon Stewart Guarantee:

• To work steadfastly with President Obama to change our country
• To be fiercely independent in Congress
• Eliminate any contact with lobbyists
• To help my constituents' voices be heard throughout Washington
• Lower taxes for the middle class
• To provide universal, affordable health insurance to Americans
• To change the way Washington works and operates

My fears seem to be justified, I go to his positons and there they are...

• Affordable health care for all Americans
• Protect a woman's right to choose
• End the war in Iraq
• Legalize ALL undocumented, law abidding immigrants

I'm going through these candidates as I write this, I hope that at least one will be worth voting for, even if he doesn't win.

Greg Bedell for Congress

This site is a little more difficult to navigate. It looks like the same format as Team Sarah, although I don't have a problem with Team Sarah's layout, I'm having a greater difficulty in finding out his positions. In his bio Bedell says:

Mr. Bedell, 49, said he is running for Congress to support a return to Republican fundamentals. His campaign is focused on developing creative solutions to the current challenges citizens face – solutions grounded in traditional Republican beliefs of fiscal responsibility and strong national security.

Sounds good so far, but what about the social issues? I had to do a search to finally get to where he stands on abortion.

Abortion:
Pregnancy is an extremely personal issue for a woman. I know the decisions relating to pregnancy and parenthood are rarely taken lightly. My wife and I have two children and I have witnessed the amazing changes, challenges and joys only she could feel. Seeing for the first time the ultrasound pictures of my daughter profoundly affected me; there, inside my wife, was another human being.

I understand that pregnancy forever changes a woman’s life. But, the change is the creation of life and I am opposed to ending it. We must educate to prevent unwanted pregnancies. We must recognize the real life difficulties and emotional dilemmas that woman face and with this understanding help them and provide assistance to those who want to have their babies but fear the costs and consequences of pregnancy and parenthood.

We must do all that we can to decrease the loss of this new human life. I will oppose any effort to permit the barbarous practice of late term abortions, except where the life of the mother is demonstrably at risk. And, I will oppose government funding of abortion.

But, in those instances where a family is faced with the horrible choice of saving the child or the mother, I can only stand by the choice I would make and that is to save the woman I love.

And on gay marriage

Civil Unions:
I am committed to Civil Unions and according to gay and lesbian couples the rights and responsibilities of two people united under the law. These loving relationships must be recognized. A compassionate society should do no less. I do not agree, however, that these unions should be called a marriage which, in our society, is the union of a man and a woman.

Well, he's better than the other two thats for sure, but still really not where I am.

Rosanna Pulido: Conservative for Congress: Common Sense for Illinois District 5

Well thats more along the lines of what I like to see. She doesn't have a lot of her positions up, but she is against illegal immigration and is pro-life.

Pro-LifePosted by tech On February - 8 - 2009One of the measures of a more highly civilized society, is its attitude towards its weaker members. If the poor, the sick, the handicapped, the mentally ill, the helpless are not protected, the society is not as advanced as in a society where they are protected. The more mature the society is, the more there is respect for the dignity and rights of all human beings. The function of the laws of the society, is to protect and provide for all members so that no individual or group of individuals can be victimized by another individual group. Every American has a vital stake in what value system is adopted towards its weak, aged, cripple, it’s helpless intra-uterine members; a vital stake in who chooses life or death.

Do we accept killing a human being because of a temporary, emotional upset? All obstetricians and gynecologists know of many cases where the mother, be her single or married, has spoken of abortion early in the pregnancy and later on, has confessed her gratitude to those who have not performed the abortion. On the other hand, we have all seen women what have been troubled, consumed with guilt and Depression following and because of abortion.

Abortion hurts women!

She is the best one for me so far.

Daniel Kay for Congress

His site is under construction right now, he has a bio page up with information about him, but not really his postions. He says:

With over 6,300 bills introduced to the 110th congress, it would be impossible to elaborate on enough issues. In a nutshell, the district is highly diverse and all parts of it need attention, not just those in the city limits as were the policies of the previous 2 5th district representatives in congress. Much effort had been placed to modernize O'Hare airport to bring in line with others around the nation, however, the majority of the airports viability is in freight and cargo. The infrastructure including federal highway US 12/45, which are vital to the success of the airport and surrounding rail yards, are in gross neglect. Recently the Mannheim Road bridge over the O'Hare rail yard was closed due to the frost heaves launching vehicles onto black ice and causing them to spin out. Because this road doesn't link the airport with downtown Chicago directly, the communities affected didn't have the ears willing to listen. Fairness to all is my basic doctrine. From Lake Shore Drive to County Line Road, and from Lake Street to Touhy Ave. all need their voices heard in Washington.

I will have to look back at him before the election to see what he has to say about the issues that are most important to me.

Finally, Dr. David J. Anderson

He is very outspoken about corruption in Illinois, which is admirable. My personal opinion of what he has written on his site is that he admires BO and agrees with him on various positions to different degrees. He really doesn't include any of his positons on the social issues. Like Daniel Kay I will have to look back before the election to see if he has added anything.

Based on what I have seen so far though, Rosanna Pulido is the best candidate for me.

Oh Kass, How I Love You

One of my favorite people on Earth has to be Mr. John Kass of the Chicago Tribune. When my Dad was in the hospital for most of December at the same time that then-Governor Blagojevich fell into legal problems, I often brought info and little sayings from Kass to Dad in the hospital to brighten his day.

I'd say that Kass leans conservative, but he is critical of the 'combine' in Illinois. The democrats and republicans who work with each other to take advantage of the rest of us. But the thing I mostly love about Kass is the creative writing that he injects into his columns.

The names he gives politicians:

Gov. Blagojevich: Governor Dead Meat or Governor Nosferatu
Rep. DeLeo: (D-How you Doin?)
Sen. Burris: Roland "Tombstone" Burris (D-Lying Weasel)
Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Tomczak)
Rep. John Fritchey (D-Pastries)
House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Lisa's Dad)

And terms like: feditis and hopium.

When I see some of his writing that really gets me going I should just post it, so I have it here for all of time. Today he was in form and really made me laugh.

Sen. Roland "Tombstone" Burris (D-Lying Weasel) hatches his lies by the minute; they bubble out of his mouth like insect larvae from the mud.

Once their wings are dry, they launch from our senator's lips and buzz. Yet with all the buzzing, let's consider a few things.

This was the part specifically that had me laughing, even though I'm in a quiet computer lab.

Even Mayor Richard Daley lies better than Burris. Years ago, when confronted by Tribune reporters about how he'd given $100 million in affirmative action contracts to white guys with Outfit connections whom he'd drink with every Christmas Eve, Daley developed his strategy.

He turned purple, the hair on his temples flying up like the wings of dark angels, and he released his terrifying Mayor Chucky persona. This so frightened timid TV political reporters that they wouldn't follow up on Tribune stories.

Burris is trying to do the same, but he can't intimidate the media, not with that ridiculous Please-Don't-Squeeze-the-Charmin mustache on his lip. He played the race card to get seated in the Senate, but the race card doesn't have muscle now that America elected a black president.

Speakout Illinois

I've posted these photos in previous posts, but now I will put them into context for the day. My Mom took some short videos from the conference which I will mix in.

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Saturday morning we got up early and made the trip out to Lombard for the 2009 Speakout Illinois Conference. When we arrived at the beautiful Westin Hotel, we joined hundreds of other pro-lifers. After checking in each person received a bag of materials including a Pro-Life Passport. At each table you visited you got a sticker, after filling up all the spots on the passport you turned it in and at the end of the day names would be pulled to win prizes. We walked around to different tables to see the different materials that the groups had available. In my experience Catholic groups are always heavily represented at pro-life events and this was no exception, but also in attendance were other religious groups including Lutherans for Life, Orthodox Christians for Life - Chicago, and others.

As I was walking around collecting stickers and I ended up listening to a representative from Word of Hope the post-abortion healing ministry from Lutherans for Life. She was saying that since Sarah Palin was chosen as John McCain's VP, and sshe was out front with her son Trig, they have received many more calls from women who aborted Down Syndrome children who were suffering.

I finished up my passport and went and sat down at the table. We were way in the back, which accounts for the number of heads you will see in my photos. The first speaker was Fr. Euteneuer of HLI. We saw him in the front getting ready so I went up and asked him to bless a few rosaries for me. He did, and even though he was busy it was still a very nice blessing. I've gotten a lot more rushed ones in the back of churches after mass than the one he did. I felt a little bad about it afterwards because I'm sure he was trying to prepare himself for the talk, but I am glad he did bless them.




Fr. Euteneuer gave his presentation. He spoke mostly about abortion throughout the world. He said that many times people think that either the whole world has abortion, or we're the only ones with abortion. Truly however it is a mixed bag. Most of Africa does not have abortion or abortion on demand. Most of Asia does. Most of Europe. South America is doing pretty good at the moment holding its own against abortion. He also showed the birthrates for the different continents around the world and he highlighted some countries specifically. Its shocking to see in Europe, particularly Eastern Europe, how many countries are not only below replacement levels they are far below. Some of the countries do not even have a birthrate of 1.


He also touched on how abortion is often brought into a country with a 3 prong approach. First birth control is brought in, however when some in the older generation resist it, the second step is to bring sex education into the schools and prepare the future generations. The next step is abortion when birth control doesn't work. At the end of his presentation he had this slide, which got a pretty good laugh from the crowd.






After a short break Alveda King came to give her presentation. She spoke about how her mother almost had an abortion when she was pregnant with her. She spoke about how she had two abortions herself, one voluntary and one involuntary, and the effects that those abortions have had on her life and relationships. She played for us a video that is still being edited but is a video letter to President Obama, with the causes that the group she is in is asking for him to enact. She also showed another short video of her explaining abortion, which will soon be up on the priests for life website.

She also spent some of her time taking questions from the audience. The questions ranged from what one woman who has written a book about her experience from abortion could do to get her message out there, to the eugenic nature of Margaret Sanger, Planned Parenthood, and abortion. It seemed to me from the questions that people were asking that many people are worried about where the pro-life movement can go with an Obama presidency.

Dr. King teaches us a new song for the pro-life movement.





After Dr. King finished we had to leave the room for a half hour for the staff to set up for lunch. On my way out I stopped to view the Little Soles display in front.







After we came back for lunch the Henry Hyde Leadership Award was presented to Phyllis Schlafly. She didn't speak very long because she had a flight she needed to catch, but she spoke about what the feminist groups want President Obama to do for them after all the support they gave him.





After her speech, the prizes were called for the passport contest. There was going to be a memorial for the unborn next, but we left. We wanted to go to 5pm mass at church and we needed to go home and get ready to do that. It was a really great experience. Its so easy in the pro-life movement to feel alone, so it was great to be there with 400 other people who are all in it together with you, and have had many of the same experiences as you.

The 2009 Speak Out Illinois Conference

I was going to wait until I could spend more time to make a full post on this, but I don't know if I'll have time tomorrow, so I'll post my photos now and pick up with a more detailed post when I have a chance.

I went to the 2009 Speak Out Illinois Conference today.

The 2009 Speak Out Illinois Conference, "Rekindle the Fire," will be held Saturday, January 31 at the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center. Our program will feature talks by Fr. Thomas Euteneuer and Dr. Alveda King, plus the presentation of the Henry Hyde Leadership Award to Phyllis Schlafly. The Master of Ceremonies will be Christian radio personality Sandy Rios. http://speakoutillinois.org/

Fr. Euteneuer of Human Life International





This was from the end of his presentation that made me laugh. :lol:



Dr. Alveda King of King for America and Priests for Life, and niece of Martin Luther King Jr.





Phyllis Schlafly who received the Henry Hyde Leadership Award.

Blagojevich

I haven't had a chance to write about Blagojevich on here before. I am obviously no fan of Blagojevich, he isn't just a standard Democrat, he has been very hard on the pro-life community here in Illinois. One of my favorite instances of the Bishops getting involved in current issues was when my Bishop, Thomas Paprocki, called out Blagojevich on legislation which would force pharmacists to dispense contraception even if doing so is against their conscience.

I think my family, like a lot of Illinoisans, has been waiting for the downfall of Blagojevich. There have been allegations of wrongdoing from Blagojevich for so long, it was only a matter of time. That being said, I find myself enjoying the show Blagojevich is putting on for the whole nation.

You'd think that I would be embarrassed by the spectacle that Blago is making Illinois into for the country and the world. But lets face it, I've already been thoroughly embarrassed for my state and the city of Chicago the whole time Obama was running for the Presidency. The thing about Blago is that he is being tossed under the bus by all the rest of the crooks in the state. This should prove the old adage that there is no honor among thieves. They've done everything they can to make old Blago go away, even calling him crazy. No way this guy is crazy, he's just a Chicago politician. The rest of the rats are trying to push him off the ship hoping that by dumping him over the edge they can stave off the sinking of the ship. Blago isn't going away easy though.

Some of the things Blagojevich has been accused of are just completely outrageous, the shakedown of the Children's Hospital I think ranks far above the allegations of selling Obama's senate seat. But I don't much appreciate all his old pals throwing him under the bus calling him crazy and saying they haven't talking to him in years. I don't buy it. My biggest hope, for better or worse, is that old G-Rod sticks around long enough to take down all the rest of them with him.

President Bush: Please Do Not Release George Ryan

I h ave always had a lot of respect for President Bush, even when I have disagreed with him on policy because I have felt that he is a good man doing what he thinks is right. I sincerely hope that he will not pardon George Ryan. I know the big shots in Illinois want him out such as Durbin and Blagojevich. That's the one thing about Illinois its less about Democrat and Republican, they all play in one big corrupt party.

John Kass has written about this several times in the past week or two. George Ryan's corruption didn't just enrich himself, it had very real effects on the people of Illinois, and most notably the Willis family. The Willis' lost 6 children in an accident, an accident that should not have happened because the driver of the truck who dropped the hunk of metal that pierced the gas tank of the Willis van should not have had his commercial license. We all know there is corruption in Illinois, but this time corruption had a price tag of 6 children who burned to death.

As I said Kass has been writing on this the past week or two, and I'm glad he has. As Blagojevich and Durbin try to make us feel bad for George Ryan, Kass reminds us of the pain felt by a family, victims of Ryan's corruption. I have some of the articles posted here. Today he has not written a normal column, but instead published a letter from Janet Willis. Here is the column.

Heartfelt words put Ryan release in context

John Kass
December 7, 2008

The Illinois Combine is pushing hard to have President George W. Bush release corrupt former Republican Gov. George Ryan from prison, though he's served only a little more than a year of his 6 ½-year sentence on corruption, fraud and other charges.

Sen. Dick Durbin has written Bush a heartbreaking letter on Ryan's behalf. Durbin's Democratic Senate colleague—now President-elect Barack Obama—doesn't think it appropriate to get involved in the matter.

But you can get involved. This time, you can act.

You can e-mail Bush at comments@whitehouse.gov, or write him at The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20500.

You might consider including this letter from Janet Willis to U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer at Ryan's sentencing in 2006. I published it then, but it's time to read it again. Janet's children were the casualties of political corruption. You may also go online and read all the Willis family letters to Pallmeyer at chicagotribune.com/familyletters. Here is Mrs. Willis' letter:

On Nov. 8, 1994, I voted to re-elect George Ryan as secretary of state to be in charge of road safety. I am a mother. I loved my children, home-schooled them and, with God's help, poured my heart into trying to be the best mother I could be. We were very close. A few hours after that vote was cast, I watched as my children were trapped in an inferno. I have had to ask God to help me to forget the sights and thoughts of that day and all that occurred. However, I think now maybe for this one time, if I would be willing to share some things, it might down the road benefit others.

That day I thought [death] was instant for the little ones in the back. It wasn't. An accident report delivered to our home some weeks later related that there was some evidence of a struggle. Months later, the fire chief who was at the scene told me as gently as he could, "In this type of case it's never really instant."

As the weeks and months passed, little by little other pieces of information about that day have come our way unbidden. One of the first persons on the scene happened to be the brother of the boyfriend of my husband's best friend's daughter. He related to me that he ran from his car and saw our 13-year-old son, Ben, climbing out of the van right after me, his clothes aflame. He ran in a panic, but this man ran after him yelling, "Stop, drop and roll!" He caught up with him and grabbed his hand, yanking him to the ground. Ben then began to roll.

I saw my son moments later lying on the street as people tried to help him. He hardly looked like my Ben. His hair and eyebrows were gone, his burned lips made it hard for him to talk. But I was grateful to be able to talk with him, a brief sentence or two. He asked about the others, then said, "My feet are hot." People were trying to quickly but gently pull off the remaining burned clothes. One man asked me if I would mind if he put his T-shirt over Ben's body. He had moistened it with a water bottle. As I stood there, I suddenly was aware of searing, blinding pain in my burned hands; I could not imagine what my son who was burned over much of his body was going through. Ben was put into a helicopter and the paramedic later told me our son was relatively calm and lost consciousness before landing.

Over a year later, I found out that Ben was very much alert in the emergency room. I had the opportunity to talk to the attendant who was at his side. In pediatric cases, she was in charge of simply being an emotional support to young patients who had no parent available. She told me, "I believe he knew he was dying. He asked me to pray with him. He asked if someone would hold his hand; I couldn't because of his burns."

I feel it is my obligation, on behalf of my children, to make these facts known to the court and to Mr. Ryan. Here was a violent end to a violation of the public trust.

In the years since, both my husband and I have struggled with depression. While my husband battled thoughts of suicide, I battled to keep my sanity. My parents have also had their battles. My mother taught the four boys piano, so we went to their house twice a week. She has battled depression ever since the accident.

My husband and I have prayed and asked God to keep us from bitterness and to help us be faithful to him and he has. We tried to honor God by not complaining.

But there is a time to speak. I am sharing these facts only because I believe if justice rules, wrongdoing will be deterred. I have learned "when [God's] judgments come upon the Earth, the people of the world learn righteousness. Though grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil." (Isaiah 26:9, 10)

That Election Day, in 1994, I was unaware that in 1993, dishonest and unsafe procedures in driver's licensing facilities had been reported. I was unaware that in spite of some investigations into those activities, Mr. Ryan had allowed illegalities to continue. I was unaware that Mr. Ryan had his sight on the governor's seat and was using these activities to build his campaign funds.

Incredibly, even after our accident, he permitted the fundraising scheme to continue. But I was fully aware of these things when Mr. Ryan ran for governor and won. It was extremely hard at that point not knowing whether justice would be served.

Although we are very grateful for the prosecution of Mr. Ryan, it must be said that he made our heavy grief even heavier. This has affected our whole family: a great-grandmother, three grandparents, three older siblings, our grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. Many of us have had to see our burned-out van on TV repeatedly over the past 12 years. Had there been an admission of guilt from Mr. Ryan right from the start, the air would have been cleared. All of us have waited patiently for justice.

Respectfully submitted,

Janet Willis

jskass@tribune.com

Link

Installation

Last night we had a mass in Illinois for the installation of our new pastor, Fr. Grob. He is the 8th pastor of our parish, and a familiar face to our parish as he had helped out around our parish for a few years. Bishop Paprocki was in attendance to do the honors. Afterward they had a party in the gym, but we didn't go to that.

Bishop Paprocki



Bishop Paprocki and Fr. Grob

Catholics in Illinois

H/T to Mary Martha at Back Home to Rome