Chigaco Teachers Strike

400,000 kids are now, on an extended vacation, due to the teachers strike.
With parents at work and cops in the street, the good times are sure to roll.

:30 a.m. 'What am I supposed to do with my kid?'

Parents started arriving at Disney Magnet School shortly after 8 a.m. Many were from nearby Nettelhorst Elementary. They walked their children past protesting teachers as security guards directed them to an area in back of the school across a parking lot.

Some parents said they found the situation awkward.

"It's really awkward. We support the teachers but, on the other hand, what am I supposed to do with my kid? I have to go to work," said Antonia Hernandez, holding the hands of her 5- and 7-year old children, both students at Nettelhorst.

On the other hand, she said, the teachers are invaluable. "If we don't have them, who will teach our children?" she said. "It's time to have their demands met, every single one of them."

School bus hit by gunfire on far south side

Thank God, none of the kids got hit.

A bus transporting students to a Far South Side parochial school was believed to have been hit by gunfire this morning as the vehicle was picking up children in the South Deering neighborhood, authorities said.

Neither the driver nor any of the students on the bus at the time were injured, police said.

Police were called to Our Lady of Guadalupe School, 9050 S. Burley Ave., about 7:50 a.m., following a report of criminal damage to a bus there, said Chicago Police Department News Affairs Officer Jose Estrada. Police found that a gunshot appears to have entered one of the windows of the bus, traveled through a seat, then exited another window, in the incident in the 10600 block of South Calhoun Avenue, said News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak.

The bus was hit about 7:40 a.m. as it was picking up children about two miles away from the school, said Ryan Blackburn, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Chicago's Officer of Catholic Schools. About 30 students, ranging from kindergarten to 8th grade, were on the bus at the time, he said.

"Gratefully none of the students were harmed, and this

Muslim woman teacher sues U.S. school after being denied three weeks unpaid leave to make pilgrimage to Mecca

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1338512/Muslim-women-sues-denied-weeks-unpaid-leave-make-pilgrimage-Mecca.html

Oh hey, now I see why the Investment Bankers crime spree have been overlooked by the Department of Justice.
I mean, this woman's religious rights to walk with a million people, are so much more important to represent than investigating real criminals.
Oh wait, I seem to recall something about separation of church and state.
Oh well rules no longer count here in the United States and if they do count, they change daily. Maybe I missed a change.
But in any case it really does piss me off they way the taxpayers money is wasted on this kind of crap. I mean it's not like the pilgrimage is a once in a life time thing, there is always next year.
But I guess in this instant gratification world, she didn't want to wait, and the DoJ thought her cause was important enough that she shouldn't have to.



A school district is being sued for not allowing a Muslim teacher to take unpaid leave to make a pilgrimage to Mecca.
The Federal Government has brought the case on behalf of Safoorah Khan, claiming that it is a violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
It is the duty of every Muslim to join the million of pilgrims at the Hajj in Mecca at least once in their lifetime - and the middle school teacher had hoped to go in 2008.

Chicago sheriff says no to enforcing foreclosures

http://www.cnbc.com/id/39745284

The nation needs more people like Thomas Dart.

Two of the largest U.S. mortgage servicers have said they will resume home foreclosures, but a big-city sheriff has news for them: he won't enforce their foreclosure evictions.

The sheriff for Cook County, Illinois, which includes the city of Chicago, said on Tuesday he will not enforce foreclosure evictions for Bank of America Corp, JPMorgan Chase and Co. and GMAC Mortgage/Ally Financial until they prove those foreclosures were handled "properly and legally

Goldman Joins Race to Save Chicago Bank

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703950804575242772016889464.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection

Lol is this Goldman's attempt at philanthrope?......LOL yeah right...like that's believable on any level at this point.
So what's the catch.......political persuasion?
Or is there something more serious hidden that the average person can't see upfront?
Enquiring minds definitely want to know, or at least I do anyway


ShoreBank's Distress Galvanizes Wall Street; Blankfein Works Phones to Raise the $125 Million


Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has jumped into an effort to save a Chicago bank whose efforts to expand lending in poor communities have high-profile supporters in Washington and Chicago.

Goldman Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein has discussed the Wall Street bank making an investment in ShoreBank Corp. with Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair, according to people familiar with the situation. He has also telephoned other bank executives as ShoreBank tries to raise $125 million it needs to forestall a possible takeover by the FDIC, people familiar with the discussions say.

Chicago CFO Taking Orders From Daley Increases Taxpayers’ Costs

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a5mSw6gETimU

Just another one of the many perks of "The good ole boy's club" that the taxpayer gets to foot the extra bill for.


Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. investment banker Gene Saffold and gave him a simple order: protect the taxpayer.

“During these tough times, when people are hurting, this is more important than ever,” Daley said in introducing the city’s new chief financial officer in March 2009. “We must be creative and bold in our thinking as we better manage government.”

Not much has changed. Saffold is sticking with the city’s more than two-decade tradition of shunning open bidding for Chicago’s long-term debt, selling $2 billion in bonds through private negotiations with banks. Arranging competitive auctions instead would save taxpayers millions of dollars, according to internal documents and a review of bond sales by the country’s third-largest municipality.

Efforts to introduce competition fail because the city and its aldermen want to reward those who support public officials and politically connected charities, said a former investment banker in Chicago.

“Firms get chosen to be negotiated underwriters as payback,” said J.B. Kurish, now an associate dean at Emory University’s business school in Atlanta.

The city, which requires public bids for any other purchase of more than $100,000, faces the worst financial crisis of Daley’s 21-year tenure. He closed a $520 million deficit in the current budget by tapping a reserve fund from a 75-year lease of parking meters, putting workers on unpaid furlough days and eliminating funding for civic traditions such as Venetian Night, a lakefront festival Daley’s father started as mayor more than 50 years ago.