quote:

I don't need any more pregnant shoes.

Who does? Besides, you gotta closet full of 'em. Face it: hanging around me's an upgrade.

Roof!!!Roof!!!Roof!!!

I'm not sure, but I think I just might me metastasizing me a sig...???

quote:

I was 17 yrs old during the convention. I believe my dad was stationed at the house across the street from the Cabrini Green projects at that time. He would have been off the engine and working as a "paramedic" by then.

Gotta run but remind me, please, to tell you a sotry about housing projects calls. Also, firemen and racism.

Eh, your shoesssssssssssss, they are not so sexy as before. The thrill is gone.

Ah-WOOOOO! Shoe-wolves of London...

Conned my wife into making dinner. Ha!

Dad told me that when they would go on calls into the housing projects, and some young 'bloods ('bruthahs', he called them) would go all Black Panther on them and obstruct them in their work because they were just another pawn of white oppression, standard op procedure was to drop the heavy fire extinguisher they carried on one of the brother blood's feet.

Any more trouble, they opened fire with the other fire extinguishers.

Sudden super-cold cloud of CO2 in your face, up your nostrils, and down your lungs...

Racism. Dad grew up in 20s/30s south side Chicago, first generation Irish immigrant. Neighborhoods stricly racially/ethnically demarcted. Go into the Polish neighborhood, bring a few buddies otherwise you;d get your ass whupped.

So prejudice against non-Europeans was only logical.

But his experience with black neighborhoods only added to it. He did building inspections for insurance companies for awhile. I went along on some. I was in, like, 2nd grade.

I remember seeing the most sadly run down, rickety old houses, and a naked Negro boy about my age standing on the porch looking at us, kinda chewing his thumb nail...

...the it all got brighter 'cuz he always took me for burger and shake at this restaurant made of an old DC-something or other cargo plane set about 15 feet above the ground, mounted on a stand containing the entry stairway.

How cool is that, sitting at a table next to a porthole window?

Only a submarine eatery could've been cooler.

I understand there are still a few old Polish gentlemen who will pay you a visit if you decide to open a crack house in Bucktown. They knock on the door and politely explain how it would be a real shame if your new home burned down one night, and you were innit. But gentrification has generally swept that aside in Bucktown. The outer rings have already overlapped the neighborhood I'm in now, which used to be the front lines of a battle between Mexican and Puerto Rican gangs, not so long ago.

But Chicago's still self-segregated like that on the South Side. Closest I got to it was living in East Pilsen, right beside the railroad tracks that marked the boundary between the black neighborhood on one side, and the barrio on the other. Whenever someone crossed the border, they had to make all kinds of deferential gestures to show peaceful intent. "Yo, Marcos! I know you! T'sup bro! ... Arty! Hey, Arty!"

quote:

Whenever someone crossed the border, they had to make all kinds of deferential gestures to show peaceful intent. "Yo, Marcos! I know you! T'sup bro! ... Arty! Hey, Arty!"

YOu gots street cred. Me, I grew up in the quiet remnants of Little Israel, Alabany Park, the bulk of its Jewry having performed an exodus to Devon Avenue (quaintly called the Gaza Strip in those days) and northly beyond.

Worst I knew was Latin Kings moving in late 70s/early 80s. Then the Korean migration occurred, largely along Lawrence Avenue, and promptly squashed those pissant Puerto Ricans FLAT, even with all the Middle Easterns around Kedzie and Lawrence selling the 'Ricans all kinds of nifty weapons.

By then, I was a fruit tramp in Yakima, WA, and on my way to renouncing 9 years of more or less hobodom.

Bucktown!?! (Had to lookit up.) I grew up from toddler to age 5 in the projects on Clybourn Avenue just north of Diversey! Big old factory 3, maybe 5 stories tall, on the SW corner of the Clybourn/Diversey/Damen trisection, burned down one cold winter night. Amazing sight. I was probably 4 years old.

I work a few blocks from that corner.
And thank God I missed all that insanity in the '70s and '80s.

No. No street cred. Just try to be a good neighbor. The block I moved into was the agreed upon party block in the neighborhood, where you could use but you weren't supposed to sell. This was enforced by some of the older guys who didn't bother to brandish weapons; some of whom didn't even live there anymore, but still came back to hang out. So it was a pretty friendly vibe for the most part. Although I did eventually move out because of all the drama.
____
Back on topic:
I've already expressed some apprehension about Clinton as the first woman president. At least in her election campaign she responds to the chip that places on her shoulder in terms of defense. She hasn't presented herself as any more cognizant of the difference between conventional warfare and counter-insurgency, or it's analog, counter-terrorism, than Donald Rumsfeld turned out to be. She was also the only Democrat in congress to step up and echo Bush's specious innuendo about a link between Baathist infidel Saddam and AQ. Do we really want a first woman president who chooses Mars over Athena when she goes to war?

Obama, on the other hand, I've heard say some pretty stupid things, "I don't know what to do about Iraq, but I know one thing, when your opponent is messing up - stay out of the way." My hypothesis about Obama is that his appeal is largely telegenic. He's the idealized black president, straight from central casting, that you see in any number of sci-fi projected Americas.

But by the same token, I think it would be great propaganda in the so called "Clash of Civilizations" to have a US President with the middle name, Hussein. And I think he could grow into the job. Hillary beats the pants off him as a politician, but if she provokes backlash from the Bible-belt, just wait til the mullahs get an eyeful. Not that I would be against any woman for president, under the circumstances - she just hasn't convinced me she's the one.

quote:

"I don't know what to do about Iraq, but I know one thing, when your opponent is messing up - stay out of the way."

Can you tell me where I'd find this statement? I'd like to grok its context. First stupid thing I've heard the man say.

One really stupid but very clever thing I'd love to hear him say: 'I'm not black; I'm Barack.'

Fun with usually exceptionally intelligent and erudite and funny mostly-liberals regarding Barack and foreign policy:

Obamaing Pakistan # 1

Obamaing Pakistan # 2

Yes, it's in an article linked to this board. I'll have to hunt around a little.


Yo mamma?

No... Obama!

yeah, and for me, Hillary's a non-starter. For my money, voting for a Mormon Republican is every bit as ground-breakingly weird as voting for a woman who's wife of a former president technically impeached for fucking around on her in the Oval Orifice.

She gets the nod, I might seriously vote for Romney (yeah, I know he's sick and wrong on most of the important issues from torture to civil liberties to making sense of foreign policy) just to shove it up the cosmos' ass.

I'd rather be raped by a known muthafuckah than Joe Lieberman's female equivalent.

Besides, Romney looks so much Like Bob Dodds, y'know? Pre-assassinated. Fully piped. Meerschaum ready. OBVIOUSLY Sub-Genius, to say the most.

But then, maybe I'll wimp out and vote Dem-Hillary because she supposedly is a progressive, even though doing so will likely only degrade and weaken what's left of the Democratic party that much more.

Why not cut to the chase and vote for Chelsea Clinton as prez and Jenna Bush as vp?

Like Nixon said, "Bring us together."

Ai-EEE!!!

From artificialintel to you.

Just so's ye know:

"Several elements of Jonny Quest have become parts of American pop culture. The original 1960s series is notable as being representative of the Cold War, with most of the villains being of Eastern European or Asian origin. When said villains are defeated, they, more often than not, scream a heavily accented "Aiieee!" as they fall to their deaths, a scream that has been heavily parodied since [citation needed]."

Obama quote:

“There’s an old saying in politics: when your opponent’s in trouble, just get out of the way,” Senator Barack Obama, the Illinois Democrat, told me. “In political terms, I don’t think that Democrats are obligated to solve Iraq for the Administration.” He added, “I think that, for the good of the country, we’ve got to be constructive in figuring out what’s going to be best. I’ve taken political hits from certain quarters in the Democratic Party for even trying to figure this out. I feel that obligation. I’ll confess to you, though, I haven’t come up with any novel, unique answer so far.”

Makes sense to me. Big over-stuffed elephant starts staggering around the room trying to prove it isn't out of its mind, get out of its way.

And get elected.

Yeah, well, in Clinton's defense, no one has put forward any novel ideas about a responsible course of action in Iraq, much less countering terrorism. The field is still wide open for that.

I just hope, behind the rhetoric, she's as smart a statesmen as she is a politician, because she'll probably win the nomination.

quote:

Yeah, well, in Clinton's defense, no one has put forward any novel ideas about a responsible course of action in Iraq, much less countering terrorism. The field is still wide open for that.

Well, it's like the surgical team confronted with The Man Who Stuck His Dick in a Whirring Blender and Left It in There for a Very Long Time, Even TOO Long.

It's not like they can sew it back on; it's not like there's anything left to cut off, either. Somewhere else, I said:

'Instead of being a central contagion site for the seeds of western democracy, or, conversely, a fracture zone by which the Middle East will collapse (the two prevailing views of the past several years), Iraq may prove to be a force for bringing together the Middle East (although in so doing, it will likely have to collapse itself and be absorbed into surrounding nations along mostly sectarian and racial lines).'

Is there any responsible or constructive way to walk away from a patient dying from the results of your attempts to save it from something it didn't have in the first place?

Just get elected, man.

quote:

Well, it's like the surgical team confronted with The Man Who Stuck His Dick in a Whirring Blender and Left It in There for a Very Long Time, Even TOO Long.

Not big on understatement, eh?

quote:

'Instead of being a central contagion site for the seeds of western democracy, or, conversely, a fracture zone by which the Middle East will collapse (the two prevailing views of the past several years), Iraq may prove to be a force for bringing together the Middle East (although in so doing, it will likely have to collapse itself and be absorbed into surrounding nations along mostly sectarian and racial lines).'

Is there any responsible or constructive way to walk away from a patient dying from the results of your attempts to save it from something it didn't have in the first place?

Just get elected, man.

This is why I like talking to you, ken, but I have to say, you're like a loose bottle rolling around on the floor of a bus. If you don't sit down and behave yourself (respecting the communal wa), I'm afraid you're going to rattle the other passengers. No offense, but I can't defend you if that happens. This is a self-policing community.

Quote: I wouldn't have wanted to be across the street from Cabrini Green that night (massive understatement). Did you know they tore it down a few years ago?- Etruscan.

Yeah, I knew that. Those buildings were shitholes when they were new. And never maintained.

The firehouse across the street had so many bulletholes from snipers, that the entire second floor was abandoned quickly after initial occupancy. They basically moved the second floor bunkhouse down to ground level, dragging the mattresses down and laying them between the firetrucks on the floor.

When it rained, the roof leaked like mad and no-one would go up on the roof to try and fix the holes.

Don't know if that firehouse is still there or not.
Maybe with the projects gone they got the roof fixed, and reclaimed the second floor.

This is supposed to be an election thread, and it's turning into old home week.

I feel a little guilty about that.

Did some reading and alls I can say is that HHT sucks doorknobs. That's a shitty break.

Anyway, I'm gonna go study my maps, before I do anymore reminiscing.

quote:

you're like a loose bottle rolling around on the floor of a bus

(Lauren Bacall voice): "What a lovely sentiment. You know, if you blow the hole atop my neck, I'll whistle. You *do* know how to blow, don't you?"

Ai-EEE!!!

quote:

Waiver: I am not US citizen, so I shall stay out of it from now on.
I just think that charisma is overrated, and that a woman should win. OK?

Here's but a single reason why you should join in.