I come to you, my friends in the blogs a sphere, as a lapsed catholic.
Actually, sometimes, I know not what I am exactly. If I were to be
truthfully, I would call myself a religious free agent. Although, when
my mother was alive, I did have moments when I had to tip my cap to
whatever entity was smiling down upon her year after year until she was
finally called home. You know what..... I think I came to the conclusion,
long ago, that God or whatever is up there simply doesn't like me.
I can find no other reason to explain the numerous unanswered
voice mails I've left that have gone unanswered. I asked the
almighty to look after someone I loved, I came to this
mystical entity with my hat in my hand.... hell, I even went
into a church and lit candles and prayed.... well... I attempted
a prayer.... and like always... the mystical landlord high above
flipped me off. Maybe he or she or it is still smarting over the
fact that I denounced Catholicism for my own sanity. I
couldn't do it anymore. I don't believe in waiting to have sex
before I get married. Being the pain in the ass that I know
I am, perhaps it's best for a guy like me to speed things along
before sobriety sets in and the other person heads for the door
Ala The Flash. Besides, I couldn't, in good conscience,
pledge allegiance to a religion that trots out a Golim figure
as its voice of religious reason. See I question things.
I question things when a four foot leprechaun with a sixty
pound cross rides in in a pope mobile and tells
the flock that he opposes condom use during this tiny pandemic
known as AIDS. I have news for the leader of this three ring
carnival known as Catholicism..... I'm not abstaining
from sex and I'd dare say, neither are many other
disillusioned Catholics like me. Of course, if I did
happen to contract a lethal sexually transmitted disease
and I exited the earth via suicide.... the Catholics
wouldn't bury me anyway. One, because I fornicated
myself into oblivion and two, because I offed myself.
This is Catholicism, and this is why I am a lapsed
Catholic. Good night America.
Sunday, August 7, 2011
The Littlest Major Market In Sports
Let me ask you, mister and misses Chicago sports fan? Are we really a major
market kind of sports town? In light of the fiasco with the turf at Soldier Field
on Friday, I'm beginning to wonder. Only in the great city of Chicago is there
an entity like the Chicago Park District; A fiefdom that dictates policy
to a charter NFL franchise like the Bears. Where else in the NFL do you see
a set up like the Bears are in? The Bears pay rent to a city entity and don't
even have jurisdiction over the playing surface. An entity, that, by the looks of it,
seems oblivious to the wants and needs of their only high profile tenant.
This isn't a stadium deal or favor baking or quid pro quo style politics;
all the Park District had to do was water the very playing surface that they
won't let the Bears anywhere near. Are we to believe that a bloated municipality
with unchecked power can't find the time to execute a simple, common sense task.
Does it take horse trading and other forms of political shenanigans to get the Park District
to actually do its job? If you want to blame the Bears, blame them for not having
someone with the political savvy to get a real stadium built
in the first place. Only in the great city of Chicago does a
preservationist group dictate reconstruction policy to a football
franchise. Don't blame the Bears because Solider Field resembles
a toilet bowl, blame the bureaucracy that is afoot in the land of
Lincoln. God forbid if the Bears were actually permitted to
completely tear down an aging and financially obsolete relic.
No no, the colonnades had to stay. PRESERVATION PEOPLE.
Can you imagine this crap going on in say, Philadelphia? Can
you imagine if some preservationist group emerged and told
the Eagles that they had to refurbish the old Vet and keep
the old AstroTurf for preservation purposes? It wouldn't happen
in Philly and it wouldn't happen in Boston or New York because
it only happens here. The Cubs are trapped within a financial sinkhole
of a stadium because of an alderman with a god complex and a
neighborhood committee that needs a refresher course on the value
of the very ballpark they seem to view as a menacing eyesore.
Take the Cubs out of Wrigleyville and then we'll see what the
neighborhood committee and alderman Tom Tunney have
to say then. My guess is, they'll be to busy crying over the
decrease, across the board, of every one's property values
sans Wrigley. I wait for the day when a Chicago owner can
cut a check and buy the land and build a palace like new Yankee
stadium. I wait for the day when a guy like Tom Ricketts is free
to buy the necessary land to create extra revenue streams.
I wait for the day when a charter franchise like the Chicago Bears
will have a stadium to truly call their own. A stadium where
they can actually tend to their own playing surface, where
they aren't forced to live life in a space ship hovering above
the Lakefront.
market kind of sports town? In light of the fiasco with the turf at Soldier Field
on Friday, I'm beginning to wonder. Only in the great city of Chicago is there
an entity like the Chicago Park District; A fiefdom that dictates policy
to a charter NFL franchise like the Bears. Where else in the NFL do you see
a set up like the Bears are in? The Bears pay rent to a city entity and don't
even have jurisdiction over the playing surface. An entity, that, by the looks of it,
seems oblivious to the wants and needs of their only high profile tenant.
This isn't a stadium deal or favor baking or quid pro quo style politics;
all the Park District had to do was water the very playing surface that they
won't let the Bears anywhere near. Are we to believe that a bloated municipality
with unchecked power can't find the time to execute a simple, common sense task.
Does it take horse trading and other forms of political shenanigans to get the Park District
to actually do its job? If you want to blame the Bears, blame them for not having
someone with the political savvy to get a real stadium built
in the first place. Only in the great city of Chicago does a
preservationist group dictate reconstruction policy to a football
franchise. Don't blame the Bears because Solider Field resembles
a toilet bowl, blame the bureaucracy that is afoot in the land of
Lincoln. God forbid if the Bears were actually permitted to
completely tear down an aging and financially obsolete relic.
No no, the colonnades had to stay. PRESERVATION PEOPLE.
Can you imagine this crap going on in say, Philadelphia? Can
you imagine if some preservationist group emerged and told
the Eagles that they had to refurbish the old Vet and keep
the old AstroTurf for preservation purposes? It wouldn't happen
in Philly and it wouldn't happen in Boston or New York because
it only happens here. The Cubs are trapped within a financial sinkhole
of a stadium because of an alderman with a god complex and a
neighborhood committee that needs a refresher course on the value
of the very ballpark they seem to view as a menacing eyesore.
Take the Cubs out of Wrigleyville and then we'll see what the
neighborhood committee and alderman Tom Tunney have
to say then. My guess is, they'll be to busy crying over the
decrease, across the board, of every one's property values
sans Wrigley. I wait for the day when a Chicago owner can
cut a check and buy the land and build a palace like new Yankee
stadium. I wait for the day when a guy like Tom Ricketts is free
to buy the necessary land to create extra revenue streams.
I wait for the day when a charter franchise like the Chicago Bears
will have a stadium to truly call their own. A stadium where
they can actually tend to their own playing surface, where
they aren't forced to live life in a space ship hovering above
the Lakefront.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
The Curious Case Of Barack Obama
I remember when Barack Obama campaigned for the
highest office in our great land. The idealistic young senator
from the great state of Illinois promised that he would end
business as usual in Washington. Obama said that we would see
an end to the usual gridlock and partisan sniping that had become
the hallmark of presidential politics. Fast forward to late June
of 2011. While millions of disabled Americans waited with
baited breath to see if the debt ceiling crisis would cost them
their monthly checks, our president was engaging in the very
same political sniping that he had promised to avoid. Looking
at this whole debt ceiling as the true pessimist that I am, I see
now that the gentlemen from the land of Lincoln is in way over
his head. Perhaps Washington has sapped Mister Obama of
his ability to prioritize in times of great stress. To me,
a true leader ultimately picks their battles. Yet,
Obama stubbornly wants to go it alone most
times. That may work in Illinois but it will
not work in Washington. A president who
can't compromise won't make many friends and
and a sitting president needs all the back up he can get;
especially if the house and senate have been redecorated
mostly red. When outnumbered, a man in a precarious
position doesn't actively seek out conflict. Yet there
was Obama, playing the spin game. I'm not a Gop'er
per se, but how many times can he blame the Republicans
for the political gridlock? It takes two to tango Mister
Obama and last I looked, the Democrats weren't
exactly a shining example of political efficiency
in their own right. While the debt crisis has been
adverted, it should serve as a referendum on
Obama's overall capability as commander
in chief. As much as I want to see Obama's
lofty ambitions prove his naysayers wrong, I
can't in good conscience urge the American
people to re-elect a sitting president who
simply doesn't get it. At least, for now,
we won't have to endure another soundbite
about the evil GOP death star poisoning
liberty and justice and democracy and
whatever acts of malice Obama thinks
that they are ultimately responsible for.
Look inward Mister Obama, look inward.
Next time, you may not be lucky enough
to stumble your way past a fiscal crisis.
highest office in our great land. The idealistic young senator
from the great state of Illinois promised that he would end
business as usual in Washington. Obama said that we would see
an end to the usual gridlock and partisan sniping that had become
the hallmark of presidential politics. Fast forward to late June
of 2011. While millions of disabled Americans waited with
baited breath to see if the debt ceiling crisis would cost them
their monthly checks, our president was engaging in the very
same political sniping that he had promised to avoid. Looking
at this whole debt ceiling as the true pessimist that I am, I see
now that the gentlemen from the land of Lincoln is in way over
his head. Perhaps Washington has sapped Mister Obama of
his ability to prioritize in times of great stress. To me,
a true leader ultimately picks their battles. Yet,
Obama stubbornly wants to go it alone most
times. That may work in Illinois but it will
not work in Washington. A president who
can't compromise won't make many friends and
and a sitting president needs all the back up he can get;
especially if the house and senate have been redecorated
mostly red. When outnumbered, a man in a precarious
position doesn't actively seek out conflict. Yet there
was Obama, playing the spin game. I'm not a Gop'er
per se, but how many times can he blame the Republicans
for the political gridlock? It takes two to tango Mister
Obama and last I looked, the Democrats weren't
exactly a shining example of political efficiency
in their own right. While the debt crisis has been
adverted, it should serve as a referendum on
Obama's overall capability as commander
in chief. As much as I want to see Obama's
lofty ambitions prove his naysayers wrong, I
can't in good conscience urge the American
people to re-elect a sitting president who
simply doesn't get it. At least, for now,
we won't have to endure another soundbite
about the evil GOP death star poisoning
liberty and justice and democracy and
whatever acts of malice Obama thinks
that they are ultimately responsible for.
Look inward Mister Obama, look inward.
Next time, you may not be lucky enough
to stumble your way past a fiscal crisis.
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