Giuseppe Arcimboldo-Painter

I just read about this painter the other day. He was born sometime in 1527 and died in July 11, 1593. What he is know for are his portraits of his famous/powerful/wealthy that are composed of flowers and fruit. His "normal" art was never really appreciated but time as proved his "food" art.

I am consistently amazed that talent in whatever the form and in whatever the era is almost always rewarded. Here is a painter that uses fish to create a portrait and he gains as patrons Ferdinand of Vienna, Maximilian II and others of the same caliber.

We are all marvelously and wonderfully made.

Random Things.

Random stuff for a random day...

1.  Alex Brown's photograph, "Sad Vader."

2.  A Video..."A Dad's Life"

3.  Random event in HISTORY (Snopes Checked...True)

Back in the 50's there was a well known radio host/comedian/song writer in Hollywood named Stuart Hamblen who was noted for his drinking, womanizing, partying, etc.

One of his bigger hits at the time was ---

"I won't go hunting with you Jake, but I'll go chasing women."

One day, along came a young preacher holding a tent revival. Hamblen had him on his radio show, presumably to poke fun at him.

In order to gather more material for his show, Hamblen showed up at one of the revival meetings.

Early in the service the preacher announced, "There is one man in this audience who is a big fake."

There were probably others who thought the same thing, but Hamblen was convinced that he was the one the preacher was talking about (some would call that conviction) but he was having none of that.

Still the words continued to haunt him until a couple of nights later he showed up drunk at the preacher's hotel door around 2 am demanding that the preacher pray for him!

But the preacher refused, saying, "This is between you and God and I'm not going to get in the middle of it."

But he did invite Stuart in and they talked until about 5 am at which point Stuart dropped to his knees and with tears, cried out to God.

But that is not the end of the story.

Stuart quit drinking, quit chasing women, quit everything that was 'fun.' Soon he began to lose favor with the Hollywood crowd.

He was ultimately fired by the radio station when he refused to accept a beer company as a sponsor.

Hard times were upon him. He tried writing a couple of "Christian" songs but the only one that had much success was "This Old House", written for his friend Rosemary Clooney.

As he continued to struggle, a long time friend named John took him aside and told him, "All your troubles started when you 'got religion,' was it worth it all?"

Stuart answered simply, "Yes."

Then his friend asked, "You liked your booze so much, don't you ever miss it?" And his answer was, "No." John then said, "I don't understand how you could give it up so easily."

And Stuart's response was, "It's no big secret. All things are possible with God."

To this John replied, "That's a catchy phrase. You should write a song about it."

And as they say, "The rest is history."

The song Carl Stuart Hamblen wrote was "It Is No Secret."

"It is no secret what God can do.
What He's done for others, He'll do for you.


With arms wide open, He'll welcome you.
It is no secret, what God can do....."
----

By the way .... the friend was John Wayne.

And the young preacher who refused to pray for Stuart Hamblen? .... That was Billy Graham.

2 Kings 2:23-24
NKJV

Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” So he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the LORD. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.

I Wonder When It Stops?

Politicians from both sides have raided the social security funds for small wasteful politically motivated pet projects to obtain and maintain local voter support, till there is nothing left except a huge I.O.U..  Medicaid and Medicare underfunded to the point of insolvency.  States years behind in payments, so that their friends and family can get rich on easy and fat contracts that would have cost anyone in the private sector their job.  I wonder when its going to end?  The fees that Illinois is paying to maintain a fund that is loosing money can only make sense if the lawmakers and fund managers are together getting rich.  Illinois is taxing itself to death and yet there is no cuts or the end to the friend of the program deals.  It is quickly running to catch up with Detroit and New Orleans in quality of living and financial stability.  They are almost maxed in taxes and yet each day there is another proposal to either raise or create another.  The politicians and the friends and family of the politicians will walk away millionaires but the teachers, Policemen and firemen will just come up empty handed and working till their eighty.  That old man greeting people at Wal-Mart in ten years, just ask him which Police department he retired from, I am sure he will be happy to tell you.

The article's link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/25/illinois-pension-idUSN2523235020110125

  

US SEC probes statements on Illinois pension-report

Jan 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has started an inquiry into public statements by Illinois officials about the state's underfunded pension fund, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

The state's governor's office confirmed the SEC inquiry late on Monday, the newspaper reported.

It quoted the governor's spokeswoman, Kelly Kraft, as saying the inquiry is focused on public statements concerning a measure passed last year intended to shore up the retirement system.

"We are fully cooperating" with the inquiry, it quoted her as saying. "We feel our disclosure was always accurate and complete."

The newspaper, citing Robert Kurtter, a managing director in the public finance division at Moody's Investors Service, said as issue being examined is whether Illinois was taking future savings and treating them as current reductions in the cost of the pension fund.

A measure Illinois took to save costs was to raise the retirement age for newly hired Illinois workers.

The newspaper said Kurtter mentioned the inquiry in a report released on Monday evening.

The SEC informed the state about the inquiry in September, the newspaper quoted Kraft as saying.

She said Illinois has included mention of the SEC inquiry in documents being prepared for the sale expected in the next few weeks of an approximately $3.7 billion bond, the newspaper said.

Illinois' underfunding of its pension system is one of the worst among U.S. states.

The second article...link http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/publius-forum/2010/11/carnival-shell-game-with-illinois-state-pensions.html

 

Carnival Shell Game with Illinois State Pensions

On November 4, 2010, all State Senators were called to Springfield ostensibly to vote on a $4B proposal to pay into state employee pension plans. The Democrat leadership had a political caucus off-site, but no vote was taken on the important fiscal matter, nor any other substantive issue.

Last year I believed Governor Quinn's promise that he would spend approximately $3.5 Billion in borrowed funds wisely and, incredibly (for me), I voted "yes" to give him broad borrowing and spending authority. Unfortunately, that promise was broken and nearly all of that debt was used to pay for public employee pension deposits, while our schools languished and social service agencies were decimated.

Fool me once, shame on you - - fool me twice shame on me.

Two days after the election, Governor Quinn was back again to squander another $4 Billion of debt on a desperately bankrupt pension system. He still has not presented a comprehensive plan of real cuts nor even tax increases that will restore solvency to Illinois--despite the false statements he made regarding the budget during the campaign.

If you believe, as I do, that the pension promise made to public employees represents a real financial obligation, then creating new debt to pay off this existing debt is like borrowing on your Visa at a higher interest rate to pay off your Discover credit card. It's an unfortunate carnival shell game being played with important pension obligations... shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic as it slips beneath the frigid waves.

What makes the credit card analogy even worse for Illinois is that the guy holding both credit cards is bankrupt. If you don't believe me, look at four pieces of evidence:
Unfunded liabilities exceed assets by $80-100 Billion where the State's entire annual general revenue is a bit over $25 Billion.
To pay that amount back over a 30-year mortgage with no interest cost, it would take more than $200 million every 30 days over the next generation of years.
Crain's Chicago Business reports that the state pensions are "eating their seed corn" selling assets to pay current benefits, i.e. a forced liquidation of assets in a bankruptcy.
To issue the last set of state bonds, taxpayers were penalized an extra $550 Million in interest cost over the life of those bonds.

Folks, you just reelected the leaders who produced this mess over the past eight years to another four years under their direction.

At least three reasonable reforms that must be implemented to close and seal the holes in the leaky bucket before we start pouring more money into these pension funds are:

Ask state employees, including teachers, to please work until 62, rather than the current 55 years old, which is early retirement under Social Security that our neighbors receive.

Cap the maximum pension pay at a whopping $120,000 annually, or $10,000 per month for no longer coming in to work. (It takes $3 Million of assets at 4% safe return per year to produce that $120,000 for every single retiree. Staggering!)

Eliminate "double-dipping" multiple state pensions.

Without these commonsense reforms, I will not only vote "No", they'll have to add a new button to my voting console that votes "Heck No".

Governor Quinn has not produced a comprehensive budget plan in two years including repayment of our enormous debt. It looks like voters have sided with the public employee unions and voted themselves a stiff tax increase in Illinois. My guess is that Chicago Democrat leadership will implement what they can claim is the majority will of the people by the end of January.

The really sad part of all this is that this pension borrowing won't solve the fundamental spending binge, and it will accelerate the exodus of employers-with-jobs and seniors-with-assets from our state. Pensions seem to be a higher priority to the current and newly-elected Springfield Democrat one-party leadership than paying the bills for local schools and social service agencies.

I hope I'm wrong, but it appears that Illinois is in a comparative economic death spiral. I will continue to give the best recommendations that I can think of to the Chicago Democrats who are still in total charge of Springfield (Quinn, Cullerton and Madigan), but hope for much different results.


And the third and last...link http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2010/02/a-modest-proposal-on-public-pensions.html

SEIFFE: A MODEST PROPOSAL ON PUBLIC PENSIONS
by Ralf Seiffe

There’s a lot of talk about increasing income taxes in Springfield. Democrats, and even rubbery Republicans, confess they have no other idea on how to fix the giant hole in Illinois’ fiscal situation. What appears to be missing is any nexus between the cause of the problem and the possible solutions. Until that connection is made, any tax increase will simply increase state spending without remedying the causes of the problem. Smart Republicans and Democrats who can spell “Michigan” should insist the General Assembly make that connection before voting for any tax increases.

The Pew Center for the States has investigated some 400 pension and healthcare funds operated by the states and found these plans had actuarial underfunding to be at least $1 Trillion. Their report is here. Of the financial disasters exposed by this report, Illinois has the dubious distinction of being one of the worst with only about half its pension fund promises actuarially funded. Indeed, of the total debt Illinois faces, pension underfunding explains 91% of it, according to a chart based on data from state’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. All tolled, the state’s obligations will reach $130 billion by this year’s fiscal year end, according towww.illinoisisbroke.com.

There’s a difference between short-term budget shortfalls and long-term structural imbalances. Considering only the long-term, it seems to me that the problem Illinois faces are its pension obligations. Even our leaders seem to have come to the same remarkable command of the obvious; our stern-faced governor has proposed that we stop accruing lavish pensions for new state and municipal employees who enjoy much higher career earnings, have near-certain job security and retire much earlier than the taxpayers who fund these benefits. The governor makes this bold and timely proposal secure in the knowledge that his pension(s) are safe from reduction.

He’s also proposed that we increase taxes by 66% to pay for these obligations and for other spending priorities. He justifies this proposal on the Democrat mantra of “shared sacrifice” spiced by the notion that “ability to pay” is the way to apportion the new levies. To meet this objective, he’s proposed very large personal and family deductions that create at least two tiers of taxation. So, despite the Illinois Constitution’s prohibition against progressive income taxes, the governor’s appears to have found a novel way to achieve one of the great aims of all socialist philosophers.

As he is the governor, one must assume this is a constitutional approach, vetted by the phalanx of lawyers at his command. What it fails to accomplish, however, is either linkage to the problem of out-of-control pensions or to accurately assess those with the ability to pay. It also fails to take responsibility for the root causes of the problem.

Starting with the root causes, Illinois taxpayers have every right to be miffed at the management of state and municipal workers’ compensation packages. Our leaders have not resisted their workers’ demands in the fiduciary fashion that the concept of honest services demands. They allowed the formation of public sector unions and then colluded to raise compensation and benefits well beyond those available to taxpayers. Without the countervailing force of the profit motive that exists in the private sector, our leaders have treated themselves and their workers to salaries and benefits that have literally bankrupted Illinois. Now, they expect Illinois taxpayers to pay for their conspiracy with massively higher taxes. This is immoral, it should be illegal and there should be some penalty for letting it happen.

One of the ways the governor and the general assembly have been able to skirt the state constitution’s requirement that it only spend funds available is through accounting gimmicks that are felonious in the private sector. The most evident is the failure to report or consider the current service costs of pensions. Each year, state workers earn a fractional part of their eventual pension. Truthful accounting demands that the amount earned be charged to this year’s operations and accumulated through the career of the employee. Then, when the worker retires, funds will be available to pay the promised benefits. These costs are simply ignored by the general assembly which spends the dollars that should have been reserved on current projects. Were it not for the state’s sovereignty, this practice would be indictable.

So, as one great socialist philosopher once said “What’s to be done” about pensions? Why not adopt the governor’s theories on taxation and link the solution to the problem? First, let’s consider the notion of “ability to pay”. If that’s a legitimate basis for taxation, why not recognize that the lavish pensions the governor and other state workers receive are so much better than the average private sector pension that they literally define the ability to pay. So, using the governor’s logic, why not create a pension tax for public sector pensions? Then, connect that with the average pension in the private sector and make that average the “personal pension tax deduction”. In that way, only the excess benefits--that portion that collusion produced--would be taxable.

The future pension obligations would be directly reduced by the rate of taxation imposed by the public sector pension tax. The higher the tax, the greater the reduction in future pension obligations. And there’s no reason to not to tax the plan heavily because turnabout is fair play. Whenever the politicians talk about “taxing the rich”, there is always a subtle undercurrent that the rich got their wealth in some underhanded way and have some duty to pay it back. In the case of public pensions, there is actual collusion between the parties designed to hurt a third party, in this case the taxpayers. Under these circumstances, the opprobrium politicians have for the rich—and for taxing them--should be liberally turned towards a public sector pension tax in the form of a very high rate.

Given the sneaky way the governor has sidestepped the prohibition on progressive income taxes, a public sector pension tax would be an analogously clever way to comply with the constitutional pension guarantees yet solve the problem. The benefits would be paid, fulfilling the contract and extinguishing any constitutional attack. Then, in a method unrelated to the benefits, a tax would justifiably tax excess benefits.

Finally, the accounting mess. One is reminded of the folks who worked for Enron and invested their 401(k) money in Enron stock. Then, they proceeded to swindle the stock price up from its fundamentally worthless value to a huge number. All along, the workers thought they were getting rich, based on the rising price of their Enron shares. Eventually, the market detected the lie that was Enron and marked the shares down to pennies. The workers felt they were damaged because they “lost” all their gains. But, these were ill-gotten gains based on lies about the company’s financial condition which were passed off on the public. Their gain was illusory.

Similarly, public pension benefits at the state and local level have been based on a lie of the same character as in the Enron situation. The state did not accurately report its true financial condition and the benefits were created only because of this falsity in accounting. Public sector employees knew, or should have known, that the prolific benefits they anticipate are based on this lie and were also illusory. If the system explodes, they will not have lost any real value because, just like the Enron employees, there was no real truth in the plans, there was only the state’s empty promise. Public sector workers had and have a duty to complain and complain loudly when the general assembly created the pension fiction. That they did not makes them just as complicit as our leaders—or the Enron employees—when these plans come apart.

Readers might consider this a rant, and in some ways it is. The facts, as I see them are these: the politicians swindled the public and the rank and file state workers to make themselves more electable. That they take no responsibility now, and tell us that the private sector must now make up for their deceit is not only maddening, it’s unfair. It demands some penalty and taxing their excessive pensions is just one thought.


Proverbs 13:11

Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.

Police as victims

I ran into this article in the USA Today the other day.  Link http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-01-26-copshootings26_ST_N.htm

I believe it is needed. I always find it interesting that the Officer that is injured or murdered is always perceived to have a share of the blame for their injury or death (see paragraph 2 of following article). What happens to victim's rights when the Police are the victims? Where is the outrage? If the victims were not Police, there would be a number of people screaming in the press about blaming the victims.


Maybe it would be better to study the criminals that committed these crimes against these Officers to see if their behavior is the pattern and not ours. I have a couple of ideas on why this is happening but will wait for this study to come out to see if I am on the right track. Further in my experiences the violent attacks on Police is not the only thing on the up swing but I bet you will find more "obstructing justice" "resisting arrests" charges and non-life threatening injuries to police then ever before. They do not get the same press but it will show that while crime itself is still going down or at least staying at the same level, these incidents have been rapidly increasing.

The Article

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is preparing to review a rash of deadly attacks on police following the fatal shootings of 10 officers since Jan. 1.


Bernard Melekian, the Justice Department's Community Oriented Policing Services director, said analysts would study whether deficits in training, resources or officer behavior may have contributed to a troubling series of violent attacks in at least five states.

"I think it is too early to tell if there is an underlying theme here," Melekian said Tuesday. "The fact is that police work is an inherently dangerous business; very often you don't know where the danger is coming from."

The Justice review comes after two officers were shot to death in St. Petersburg, Fla., Monday while police in Miami were mourning the murders of two officers there.

POLICE: 2 Fla. officers slain, suspect dead

"I have never seen anything like it," said Craig Floyd, chairman of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, which closely tracks officer deaths. "We must do everything in our power to stop these senseless and heinous crimes against our law enforcement personnel," he said in a statement.

The January shootings follow a year in which overall police deaths increased 40% from 2009, including a 20% spike in the number killed by gunfire.

Less than a week before the end of the month, the 10 firearm-related police deaths mark the third-highest January total in the past 20 years, according to the police memorial fund.

"Coming off 2010, my gracious, it's a really bad way to start a new year," said Mark Marshall, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Marshall, the police chief in Smithfield, Va., said the association is just beginning to assemble a national database, tracking assaults on police that result in serious injury and death.

The database, part of the Center for the Prevention of Violence Against the Police, will be used to help determine whether new training or resources are needed to better deal with violent confrontations.

"Clearly, there must be some common denominators out there," Marshall said. "If we can identify some of them, we can do some good, even if it means one less officer is killed. This is of great concern to us."

In recent years, police officials, including former Miami police chief John Timoney, have identified several factors contributing to the violence. Among them:

•More desperate offenders who are increasingly willing to target police.
•Officers' inconsistent use of body armor. Some, including the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association, have suggested that up to half of all police do not wear armor regularly.
•Offenders' access to high-caliber weapons.

"In some of these recent shootings in St. Petersburg, Miami and Detroit, it seems like these people were ready and willing (to target police)," Marshall said.

Four officers were wounded Sunday in Detroit when a gunman entered a neighborhood police precinct station and opened fire.

DETROIT: Police ID gunman who shot 4 officers at precinct

Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a law enforcement think tank, said many of the violent encounters have pitted police against high-risk offenders being sought by police in more focused efforts to combat crime in their communities.

"In these high-risk encounters, we need to take a hard look at how police are approaching these situations," Wexler said.

In the Detroit attack, officers barely had a chance to respond. Police Sgt. Eren Stephens said the gunman, Lamar Moore, entered the station at 4:25 p.m. and began blasting away with a shotgun.

Two of the four wounded officers remain hospitalized. Moore, the subject of a sex crime investigation at the time, was killed in an exchange of gunfire.

In the aftermath of the attack, Stephens said metal detectors and or officer-screeners have been positioned at the entrances to all nine police buildings in the city as a precaution.

"We really don't know (what drove Moore to attack)," Stephens said.

Melekian said he hopes the Justice Department review of the shootings will be instructive.

"We'd like to produce a document about what occurred that addresses the issues of training, equipment and the state of mind of the officers," Melekian said.

"A lot of what happens is in the hands of the suspect. As an officer, you don't know who you've talked to today who could have killed you but decided not to."

Exodus 20:13

You shall not murder.

Random Event Part 2

I know that no one cares, but in the spirit of the look at me culture that America is turning into where fame is based not on accomplishment but on notoriety, I give you another random event.

Last Wednesday while I was at the Dupage Airport I ran into Bruce Weber, the head basketball coach for the University of Illinois.  He had on an orange sweater and everything.  Nice guy, he posed for a picture with one of the random workers at the airport with no hesitation and with a smile.

Random

Just a random event.

Just road the elevator with Fox news reporter Larry Yellen and his cameraman on their way to cover some more Chicago board of election briefing about the order to keep Rahm Emanuel on the ballet even though he has been declared a "non-resident" by the appeals panel.

BEARS and packers...Go Bears

The key to the game. 

If the packers defensive front three can put pressure on Cutler and make him move around they will win.  If the BEARS offensive line can hold up and force the packers to use different blitz packages to put pressure on Cutler then the BEARS win.

Prediction:  BEARS by 10.

What you say...hurts.

One of the mysteries that is attached to my wife, is how can such a beautiful, smart, funny, loving, fun and artful woman be so insecure about herself.  My wife's self evaluation about anything that she has accomplished boarders on self-loathing to the point of self deception about her true talents and abilities.  (I do have to note that when I first met her back when she was 14 years old she was much more extreme than now, nearly three decades later.  We are all works in progress and she is mastering this hurtle as time and success is mellowing her negative insights.)

I have always wondered about the genesis of this problem.  She came from an intact family with plenty of positive interactions for most of her life and when there was a family crisis or problem to solve she was assigned the task above her other two sisters and she got it solved.  There is no negative school history or an issue that she has failed to overcome to lower her perceived self value. Her parents were not hypercritical.  There has been no negative traumatic event or a foundation of unresolved guilt.

But something that happened the other day has enlightened me on how she became to have this self image.  It is an example, though minor in nature, that provides an insight on what probably has been happening to her since the beginning and started her on this path.

She was asked to give a short speech about her mother at her mother's birthday party that was to be given after her older sister's speech but before her younger sister's speech (crazy that organizational method).  This being a milestone birthday for her mother, a hall had been rented and a large number of guests had been invited.  My wife agonized over this speech and still could not come up with a topic or structure even days before the event, other than to express the desire to anyone within earshot that she would rather be driven through a bed of broken glass then give this speech.  But when the time came she knocked it out of the park, she got genuine laughs, kept it clean and precise and basically made a great speech about her love and respect she had for her mother.  When she returned to our table, everyone at our table complimented her on the speech and I told her she hit a home run.  Her younger sister then went up and gave a muddled "look at me speech" and then sat down.  At this point her father got up and started his speech by saying, "Well you all know who the public speaker in the family is",  and nodded to my wife's younger sister.  Immediately my wife's face sagged and she just quietly put her note cards away.  I, as is usually the case, made matters worse when I said with some bitterness, "I guess you shouldn't of wasted everyone time, with your poor public speech".  Then everyone at the table, including me, told her she had the best speech and not to worry about what had just been said.  My wife responded that it was fine, she was not angry and had not expected anything different.

Here is the lesson I learned from this admittedly minor, but painful occurrence.  Words hurt.  I have always tended to shoot from the hip, say what I want and not care how anyone took it or who I hurt.  Now, being a father and trying to raise my children in a Godly home I now see that I need to make sure my words are a positive influence on my children and not seeds of future injury.  My wife's father was not trying to make my wife feel bad or even make an evaluation about her speech but his poorly chosen words and the fact that he did not address his other two children's speeches like he did the third, created a situation where my wife's old wounds were opened again.  I even believe that if he read this blog entry he would immediately call my wife and apologize and try to make it better (unfortunately that horse has long been let out of the barn) for something that he said that he had never intended to hurt her.  But his words supported how she felt about her performance and all of our table praise could not change it nor his apologizes.  It was just another cut in an already begun ritual of the death of a thousand cuts.

This is an area that I have always been challenged with and my big mouth has gotten me into more trouble than a flaming rat at a fireworks factory, but it took a speech at a birthday party to really send the message home.  I hope that you are doing better at this task than me, but I hope to do better.



Proverbs 12:18

The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

A Second Chance-Part 2

I was talking to a Officer friend of mine about my earlier post about "The Voice" Ted Williams.  I pointed out that the arrests and personal conduct that tends to go with drug addiction and homelessness, that I was sure he had committed, had not, as of yet, come out in the press.  America loves a good underdog, second chance story until they find out about all the poor choices and victims (family, friends, society) the person conducted/created before their "second chance".

Ted Williams is no exception.  But second chances are not about giving someone a new opportunity to turn their life around, rather its two opportunities; one to get their life fixed and the second to rectify all the damage they perpetrated.  Its still a great story, its about beginning the process of personal redemption  and public reconciliation.

Here is what is on the plate for Ted:
1.  With money coming in again and life stress-ors building find another way to deal with life other than drugs and alcohol.
2.  Reestablish connection with children and family-both personally and financially.
3.  Become a life lesson and show others that you can go from the top to the bottom to the top again.

Life is about making mistakes and turning around and fixing them.  Undue the damage that has been done, as much as possible.  Its not about turning your back on the past and only walking forward its about stopping and reaching out one hand to recapture the past and the other hand into the future and pulling yourself along following a positive path.


PS
You know, the straight and narrow path created by Christ and led by the Holy Spirit.  If you are on this path and led by the Holy Spirit then the above is already being done.

Search ReReconciliation

Search ResultsReconciliation

A Second Chance

I hope everyone is having a blessed New Year with their family and friends.

The New Year is about getting  a new start and a second chance.  The same "second chance" that Jesus give us in forgiving our sin, his is a permanent second chance.

I ran into this video on the web and it just strikes a chord with me...a real second chance.  Watch the following video and then read the article from the New York Post.

 

The article from the New York Post.

Homeless man with 'golden radio voice' gets his chance

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/homeless_man_with_golden_radio_voice_91PQ3yMBa58vOf1n4MuToJ#ixzz1AJUBuh5R



The homeless man with the "golden radio voice" wanted a second chance -- and did he ever get it.

As soon as Ted Williams, a panhandler who became an online hit after video of him begging on an Ohio roadside was posted to the Internet, appeared on a local radio show this morning the offers began pouring in -- including a dream job with the Cleveland Cavaliers and a free house.


"The Cleveland Cavaliers just offered me a full-time job and a house! A house! A house!," repeated a stunned Williams, 53, on local radio station WNCI.

A caller to the show who said she represented the Cavs offered Williams, who shot to stardom after local newspaper the Columbus Dispatch on Monday posted video of his perfectly-pitched panhandling, a full-time job doing voiceover work for the team and parent company and a free home in Cleveland.

The Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, native trained to be a radio announcer before drugs and alcohol ruined his chances at a career, and he was reduced to begging on the side of a road in Columbus, Ohio, before the newspaper found him.

Local police would refer to Williams as "Radio man," when chasing him from his usual begging spots, Williams said.

"I've been out there about a year; I just didn't know anything like this would ever happen," an overwhelmed Williams said earlier in the show. "There's so many words. I've already been characterized to [Scottish singing sensation] Susan Boyle ... I'm just so happy."

Before the Cavs made their bid, the station said a group of credit unions offered Williams a contract worth up to $10,000; a caller claiming to rep MTV expressed interest in having him guest-announce a show; and callers who said they were the voiceover actors behind plugs for "The Simpsons" and "Entertainment Tonight" said they wanted him to compete on their upcoming "America's Next Voice" -- where the prize includes a home studio.

For a man suddenly thrust from an Ohio roadside into the hearts of the world, Williams set his sights low.

"Just to get back to some normalcy and responsibility -- If I can a job, whether it's a twenty-five or even $18,000, I'd be happy," he said. "At least I know God has me where he wants me."

A second chance.  I have dealt with the homeless on multiple occasions (as all who are in law enforcement do) and they are usually addicted, mentally ill and hopeless.  The best that we can do 90% of the time is just get them to some place warm-outside the city.  Its good to see that there is hope for the hopeless, after seeing so many un-savable ghosts wonder into and out of our lockup.

Gothic New Years Eve

In 2007 I was in the basement of Macy's walking through their wine department looking for something different to bring over to a friends house for their New Years Eve party.  I stumbled into a section and discovered a sparkling Shiraz.  It is a traditional bottle fermented sparkling wine ( Champagne is a sparkling wine from a specific region of France).  Since most people's experience with anything red and bubbling is a super sweet wine they are always taken aback by it bold and very dry flavors.  It is a tradition in Australia and now in our home.

I do have to admit it feels a little like Gothic New Years Eve when I put up my glass to toast everyone in attendance and their clear little yellow wine is off set by my dark red bubbling glass.

Cheers, to a new year.  May God continue to bless you and your family in 2011.

Jeremiah 29:11 
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Fellowship of Christian Police Officers-Elgin Chapter

I am a member of FCPO and used to attend the Elgin Chapter.  I really didn't know a lot of people there but I attended a number of times over the course of the year so they did know who I was and my department.  A scheduling conflict then came up and I missed a number of meetings.

Here's what bothers me a bit...I am on their email distribution list so I am notified about the meetings and coming events so they have my contact info...no one followed up about my missed meetings.  I started thinking that really no one at that chapter really cared if I attended or did not attend.  It was a little click-y and I was a new comer with limited or no professional contact with the other members and they had a lot in common but I did think at the time they wanted me there.  So I decided to wait it out and see what happens, because I could really be over reacting or just being selfish about my feelings.

My hypothesis became conclusion when I was serving at the Greg Laurie Chicago Crusade.  I happened to run into another member of the group, and he even remembered my name.  But, no how have you been, thinking about making another meeting or anything at all about the FCPO.  I had to bring it up and just gave him an excuse about why I was not currently attending just to see what he said.  What I got was a nodding of the head and nothing more.  So clearly they did not want me at the meetings...and with that I never went back, even though that scheduling conflict has since resolved itself.

Now the point of all of this is not to place blame since I could have been the cause of the problem and unintentionally alienated everyone and no one wanted to confront me on it.  I have just closed that chapter and moved on.  But the point is, please, if you are in a leadership position in church or Christian organization make sure you check in and reach out to the marginal people in your group.  It is easy for new Christians or people with problems or whatever to flow right out of church and right back into the evil of this world.  You need to always be holding that hand out to bring them back in.  One call, one coffee, may be all thats needed to shine a little of his light into another's life.

By the way a friend of mine went to the Chicago chapter of FCPO a couple of months ago and the first thing they mentioned after they had caught up with her was to ask how I was doing and see if I would be attending again any time soon.  Guess which group I will be going back to...

Here we go again...this time an injury with a holiday theme

I had to visit the emergency room again Sunday...this time I tried to put a screwdriver through my hand while shucking oysters for our holiday dinner.

When it slipped and then hit, I yelled, "Shuck!  What the shell!  Clam-it!"  Or something similar.  Two hours, an ER visit, three sutures, one superglued thumb and a tetanus shot later I was able to eat the oysters I shucked.  I knew that things were bad when I looked into the wound, it had not started bleeding and the edges were white which meant I had cut through the fat layer.

Have a happy new years and stay safer than me.

Funny thing, the injury that hurts the most is the site of the injection.  The revenge of the eaten.

The Christmas Work Party.

Been posting this a lot but here we go again...been neglecting the blog. Well I hope to end this year with a ton of posts to put a better cap on the blog for 2010 than how I started it. Plus I need to start using “you are” when appropriate.


Anyway I am in the midst of the office Christmas party season as is everyone else.  It’s a strange dance between drinking enough to appear social and not so much that you say or do something antisocial.  Think drunk guy stumbling through the different circles of conversations and knocking over the gift table to get back to the bar or worse.

The open bar has been the death of many a career and the ascendant of very few. What I always find interesting is that what was said that I am sure will cause a painful career backlash for the parties involved comes to nothing, but the off hand iniquitous remark becomes the ball affixed to the leg of ones career.  Then add to the fun that everyone in the room is a cop and trained to notice the smallest detail and commit them to memory...the party may be for one night but the legend lives forever.

So, be careful, not only to avoid the drunken driving crash but the drunken career crash as well.

Cheers.

P.S. stay with beer, the others are killers.  Or well...moderation but that seems to run away before I could ever have a chance to catch it.

Surveillance-Hours and Hours of Waiting for Something to Happen.

I created this on a recent surveillance.  Hours go by and nothing happens...wish it was more like the movies and the second you get there the target incriminates himself/herself.

As you can see I am a doodle-ninja.

Feeling the Heat-Police Laid off

Laid off Prospect Heights Officer

When I became a Police Officer fourteen years ago I knew that my employment was going to have a large trade off. I was going into a field that would be exciting, offer opportunities to enrich people’s daily lives and have a standard of job security not offered anywhere in the private sector. The trade off was I would not be able to take advantage of the economy when times were good and I would not be individually rewarded for my performance. The worst officer on the force makes the same as the best, even more if the worse has more time on. The promotions are not based on your performance but rather on your ability to answer a written test and your answers before an oral panel made up of the chief’s law enforcement’s friends, once every three years.


When times were good I would receive calls from my college buddies calling me stupid and lazy while their stock soared and they drove high-end BMW’s. When times were bad they would call and express their collective jealousy that they had been laid off while I was in no danger whatsoever of loosing mine. The trade off worked. Till Now.

Hoffman Estates-Laid off 4 Officers

Prospect Heights-Laid off 6 Officers

Naperville-Laid off 6 Officers

Other cities that have laid off police: Barrington, Calumet City, Downers Grove, Fox Lake, Highwood, Hinsdale, Hoffman Estates, Lake in the Hills, Lakemoor, Mundelein, Park Ridge, River Forest, Wauconda, Worth.

Story about Police Officers Laid Off

There have been over 300 officers laid off in Illinois this year alone.  That number does not include support staff who are easiler (due to lack of contact, no negative PR problems for the cities, etc)to lay off and their numbers easily are three times the number of police laid off.

So one of the major features of working in local law enforcement is slowly going away.
 

It has gotten so bad that even one of the major police academies The University of Illinois Police Training Institute (PTI) will be closing.  I never thought that would happen it has been a cash cow for the school for years.  But if no one is hiring police no police need to be trained. 

News Story About Closing of Institute.

I would not recommend anyone seek a career in law enforcement unless they would be going to the Federal level-they have not let anyone go...as of yet.  Why take a reduction in salary and the lack of opportunities for advancement if you are going to be subject to the swings in the economy equal to the private sector?  While I have loved this job if I was just entering the job market I would have sought opportunity elsewhere.

Wow if only these Municipalities had done this:

 Genesis 41:34-36

 

34 Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. 35 They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh, to be kept in the cities for food. 36 This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.”


Christian cop, Christian law enforcment, Christian police, Christian Officer

Another Blow to the Mexican Cartels-The Pig Captured

I try to keep up with the Mexican and American law enforcement responses to the danger that are the Mexican Drug Cartels.


I find our war with these criminal organizations analogous to the FBI’s war with the Chicago/ Philadelphia/New York Mafia in the post world war two era. The criminal organizations became violent over territory and profits and eventually law enforcement stepped in. It took a long time but eventually law enforcement took out all the major heads from all the competing families. The result was a neutered Mafia but one that still exists in a stunted form. That’s the future for these Mexican crime syndicates.

The Pig (Manuel Fernandez Valencia) has now been captured. A man that had direct connections to El Chapo, Mayo and ABL.

In the last three years, A.B.L.(Arturo Beltran Leyva) and Nacho (Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel)--killed.

VCN (Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla) , The Flores’ Brothers, Alfredo Beltran Leyva, La Barbie (Édgar Váldez Villarreal) and now The Pig --captured. Their talent pool is drying up, one man at a time.

ABL Killed, The Pig Captured, Nacho Killed, VCN Captured, The Flores Brothers, La Barbie Arrested

The Story - the link first http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1327974/Alleged-drug-dealer-Manuel-Fernandez-Valencia-The-Sow-arrested-Mexican-police.html


Bringing home the bacon: Alleged drug dealer nicknamed 'The Sow' arrested by Mexican police
By Daily Mail Reporter

A drug kingpin nicknamed 'The Sow' has been arrested after a stand-off with Mexican federal police.

Manuel Fernandez Valencia is linked to the notorious Sinaloa cartel and is suspected of plotting with one of Mexico's most wanted drug lords to smuggle eight tons of marijuana into the US.

Seven other men suspected of working for the cartel were detained with Valencia.

The drug dealer worked closely with cartel capo Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman smuggling drugs into the United States.

He has been wanted for extradition to the US since 2009 on charges of trafficking heroin and cocaine, and the two met at least five times recently, police said.

Guzman and Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, who authorities say control the Sinaloa cartel, are Mexico's two most notorious fugitives, with a $2 million reward offered for information on their whereabouts.

Fernandez Valencia was courted by the leaders of the rival Beltran Leyva cartel in 2007, but he chose to remain with Guzman, police claimed.

In August, his son Marcial was slain in Culiacan, apparently because the killers mistook him for Guzman's son.

One drove a white Ferrari and the other a white Lamborghini

Police said intelligence indicated Guzman called Fernandez Valencia personally to apologise and vow to find the killers.

Monday's arrests come on the heels of the death of reputed Gulf cartel leader Antonio Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen, also known as 'Tony Tormenta' or 'Tony the Storm,' one of a string of high-profile kingpins who have been captured or killed by security forces stationed throughout the country to battle drug traffickers.
2 Samuel 23:6But evil men are all to be cast aside like thorns, which are not gathered with the hand.

Christian Police Officer, Christian Cop, Christian Law Enforcment, Christian police

Crisis-provides proof of who you really are

I was randomly watching the TV the other day to burn up some time before I had to pick up my kids from whatever they were doing (their so busy that I can not remember what it was) when I came across a History Channel show about the Battle of  Fredericksburg.  The battle that turned into a meat grinder for the Union Army as they vainly tried to take a hill that the confederates were holding from a sunken road and a stone fence.  It’s a story that concerns heroic bravery, inept military leadership, an essay of the temporal nature of life and the mercy of one man.

It got me thinking about the nature of war and the basic nature of a true life and death crisis.  A number of people around me have stated at one time or another that they do not know or really understand who they are, what abilities they have and what is inside their core being.  All people wear masks, whether Christian or secular, we all try to hide who we really are.  We try to minimize our flaws, our base carnal nature, and over promote our gifts.  We get so good at masking who and what we are loose the sense of our true selves.  We end up wearing a mask to disguise us from ourselves.

Life and death crisis strips away our masks and reveales our true nature not only to ourselves but to all of those around us.  There is no time to carry all the layers of lies around when survival is at stake, we just have time to react as we are.

I have been in this situation a number of times and the results have been, at best, mixed.  There have been times when I have shown what the light of Christ in a life can produce and I have also shown what a flawed sinful person can produce.  It has always been eye opening.   

I am a work in progress, taking guidenence from the Bible, daily prayer, accountability to fellow Christians, to hopefully improve the core of the true me to come one tiny bit closer to God’s own heart.

I want to be Richard Kirkland, The Angel of Marye's Heights.  Not the Richard Kirkland that fought for the wrong side of the Civil War which fought for evil ideals, but the Kirkland that found himself in crisis at the Battle of Fredericksburg.  I want to be Kirkland at that one place at that one time.  I want my core to be this believer's heart of mercy that day for that reason.

His Story:

December of 1862, Kirkland had become a combat veteran, having seen action at 1st Manassas, Savage Station, Maryland Heights and Antietam. He had also witnessed the death of several of his best friends.

During the Battle of Fredericksburg on Dec. 13, 1862, Kirklandâs unit formed behind the Stone Wall at the base of Maryeâs Heights and helped slaughter the Union attackers. After a day of severe fighting, the scene shifted from severe fighting to tremendous suffering.

After dark on the 13th, doctors and soldiers began caring for the injured. The walking wounded made their way to the rear while those with disabling wounds remained on the field.

Daylight on the 14th revealed a ghastly scene to the Confederates behind the Stone Wall. About 8,000 Union soldiers had been shot in front of the wall and many of them remained where they had fallen. As hours went by without food, water or medical treatment, their suffering increased.

Nearby soldiers from both sides listened to the painful cries and pleas for help. While the suffering emotionally moved many, none dared face almost certain death to provide help.

At some point in the day, Kirkland could no longer bear listening to the pleas, so he walked over to the home of Martha Stevens. He went upstairs and told General Joseph Kershaw, his brigade commander, that he would like to try and help the wounded Union soldiers.

The surprised general at first refused the request, but he later relented. Kirkland gathered all the canteens he could carry and filled them at the near by water well. Then, at extreme risk to himself, he ventured out to help the Federal soldiers. He carried water and warm clothing to the suffering Federal soldiers.

He ventured back and forth several times, giving the wounded Union soldiers water, warm clothing, and blankets. Soldiers from both the Union and Confederate armies watched as he performed his task, but no one fired a shot. General Kershaw later stated that he observed Kirkland for more than an hour and a half. At first, it was thought that the Union would open fire, which would result in the Confederacy returning fire, resulting in Kirkland being caught in a crossfire. However, within a very short time, it became obvious to both sides as to what Kirkland was doing, and according to Kershaw cries for water erupted all over the battlefield from wounded soldiers. Kirkland did not stop until he had helped every wounded soldier (confederate and federal) on the Confederate's end of the battlefield. Sergeant Kirkland's actions remain a legend in Fredericksburg to this day.

I want to be Kirkland, a heart for at least one day that was the heart of Christ, the heart of mercy, the true light of the Divine out the core of himself.  So far I am far short.

Matthew 20:31
The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, havemercy on us!”


- Christian Cop - Christian law enforcement - Christian Officer

Baylor Bears Beats The Texas Long Horns at Austin!

My Baylor Bears have actually beat Texas at Austin.

Since the two teams have been playing football against each other (1901) Baylor has managed to beat Texas in their home stadium eight times.  A Chicago Cub like record.  The last time they beat Texas at Austin was in 1997, the year I started on the job, a long long time ago.

We are now bowl eligible for the first time since 1995.

We are ranked in the top 25 (25) for the first time since 1993.

Baylor has never beaten more than two Big 12 teams...EVER...(Baylor has wins over Texas, Kansas, Kansas State, Colorado).

Aaahhhh so this is what it feels to be a fan of a winning collegiate football team.  Been a long while.





A Christian Police Blog

Good Police Work Nets Good Results

Police Work really is about keeping your mind open, observations sharp and your work ethic up.  I think its like any job in that the tasks become repetitive over time but a good Officer does not allow one incident to slip into the other and stays aware.  The big case or the treat to your life could come from your first traffic stop, the fiftieth, the hundredth and so on.  Here is a case of excellent police work by an officer that was aware and scored the big hit doing an mundane police task.

First the Link: http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/article_3b0ebd48-bec0-5b62-83d0-3cd13c6381fc.html

Indiana State Police find $1.6 million in cocaine hidden in car

By Sarah Tompkins sarah.tompkins@nwi.com, (219) 836-3780 | Posted: Saturday, October 23, 2010 12:00 am |(11) Comments

Two Chicago residents were charged Friday October 21, 2010 with dealing cocaine after an Indiana State Police drug bust the night before revealed more than a million dollars worth of cocaine in a hidden compartment of their car.

Driver Doris Reyes, 40, and passenger Carlos Lopez, 20, could face between 20 and 50 years in prison if convicted, authorities said.

Trooper Jerry George pulled over Reyes' vehicle about 9 p.m. Thursday for unsafe lane movement on the Indiana Toll Road in Portage and noticed some "indicators of criminal activity" that led to a search, authorities said.

Details of the indications were not released, though an officer said the individuals' stories did not match up. Police were told the car was heading to Maryland from Chicago for a family visit.

Portage police brought a drug-sniffing dog to the scene that identified narcotics were present.

"A vehicle search located an odd piece of metal at the rear of the vehicle with what appeared to be hinges," Trooper Jason Carmin said. "Further examination under the vehicle showed aftermarket work that appeared to be a hidden compartment. "

Two mechanical arms lifted the rear floor of the 2004 Ford Expedition, revealing about 14 kilograms of cocaine. Fourteen kilograms of cocaine equates to about a $1.6 million resale value on the street.