In late January, I tried to come up with a list of the nation’s “10 Most Dangerous Cities,” based on different lists I’d read over the past year or two, and my own knowledge base. I came up with 40, without even counting these two. Chester, Harrisburg: Way to represent!
Harrisburg, which is the state capital, has been celebrating ever since electing its historic first black and first female mayor, the racist, corrupt, crazy as a loon, Linda Thompson, in 2009. (It is Thompson herself who continually uses the term “historic” to describe her election.) Thompson won based on the city’s racist black majority voting for her, based purely on her race, and they have remained unwavering in their support of her.
Except for the top six or so entries, the order in the following list is arbitrary. Indeed, the list itself is arbitrary, in that the compilers of the “10 Most Dangerous Cities” lists used a good deal of caprice. America today has hundreds of diversitopian hellholes on a par with Springfield (MA or IL, take your pick), Lakewood, N.J., St. Petersburg, Lansing, MI, or Stockton, CA. Denizens of these locations will cry that they have suffered from “racism” and “neglect,” but in fact while they are all relentless tax-eaters, they are all net producers of murderous racism, and have soaked up trillions of dollars from the white tax base over the past 50 years. Indeed, it is their concomitant rise as centers of black and/or Hispanic racism, ability to run whites out of town, terrorize those who remained (what I call Left Behind Syndrome), and suck the white state and federal tax base dry, which made them what they are today. In many of these cities, the police are themselves merely instances of organized crime.
The 10 Most Dangerous Cites in America
(Many of the links that follow lead to articles containing lists of my sometimes voluminous files on the city in question)
In response, Mayor Linda Thompson has asked county officials and the district attorney's office for $500,000 to hire more police officers. District Attorney Ed Marsico pledged $25,000 for police overtime and said he will begin the process of installing cameras in high-crime areas throughout the city.
The Patriot-News Editorial Board met Thursday with City Controller Dan Miller [white], Council President Wanda Williams [black] and City Treasurer John Campbell [white]. Below is an excerpt of the conversation.
Q: Where do things stand in the city now?
Dan Miller: We’re going into bankruptcy. The question is will we have the assets or won’t we have the assets [when we do]. Just because we adopt a plan, that’s not going to solve the problem. I think [receiver] David Unkovic knows the same thing.
Wanda Williams: I had an opportunity to talk to Jefferson County, Ala., officials last weekend. They tried to derive a plan there similar to Unkovic’s, but the people were up in arms and they said no, we are not going to allow you to sell our assets. What you’re going to do is sell our assets and we’re going to be left with nothing, and we’ve been telling Unkovic that. Where do you derive the revenue from after you sell all our assets? Now Jefferson County has filed bankruptcy, and the judge is making that determination.
Their assets are safe for the time being. I see this as a ploy — Gov. Corbett has asked [Unkovic] to come in and do a plan, but in the interim, we’re going to be selling assets and filing for bankruptcy.
Q: How significant was the city’s general obligation default on March 15?
Miller: I suspect we’re not paying any more debt for the rest of the year. I’m not the decision maker, but if you’re not going to pay it now, you’re not going to pay it anymore. Unkovic is projecting a $9.5 million deficit. I’m calculating $15 million. We’re both acknowledging it’s a big deficit for this year. Our general debt service is about $11 million a year. Even if you sell the assets, it’s not going to impact the budget. We’re out of money.
John Campbell: We were projected to potentially run out of money by June or July. Since we’re missing this bond, that pushes us forward in the year, but there’s no guarantee we’ll make it to the end of the year, but there’s no guarantee unless we miss the second bond payment.
Q: Is it your belief that there is a receiver in Harrisburg right now so Wall Street gets its money?
Miller: I believe it’s completely about that. They and the county have hired lobbyists, and they know we’re going bankrupt, too. That’s why they’re pushing so hard to sell assets so who gets the money — their friends on Wall Street.
Q: What do you do about the fact that the governor and state Legislature are preventing the city from filing bankruptcy and they may extend that moratorium?
Miller: Unkovic will be able to sell the assets and ultimately we will run out of money, and what else do we do? The only way the [Unkovic’s] plan works is if there are massive concessions from the creditors, AGM and the unions. The only way we’re going to get that is in bankruptcy court because Dave Unkovic doesn’t have the power to do it.
Williams: We are going to challenge July 1 if they try to extend. We need to challenge it again.
Miller: Our lawsuit was “dismissed without prejudice,” so we’ll definitely be back. At the end of the day, the judge said we did make a point — that if the plan is going to ultimately fail, it doesn’t make sense to sell our assets. I wanted to stand up and cheer.
Williams: Everywhere I go ... when I went to a conference, for example, a guy from Minnesota asked me how Mayor Thompson is doing and he said to me, “I follow Harrisburg.”
Your whole conversation centers around this woman. For some reason, she is not popular at all. And she brings religion into it. You don’t want to bash your mayor, but ...
Miller: We are sitting here together ... council, treasurer, controller. We all talk to Unkovic. We all get along. We are not a dysfunctional government. With one exception, and that’s really the issue.
Q: One of the major frustrations with Council is that you don’t have a plan. What’s your plan?
Miller: I just get frustrated why people don’t want to go into bankruptcy. It’s such a logical situation ... here’s what would happen in bankruptcy: All the union contracts would be set aside. All the debt payments would be stopped. Then we would take what our revenue is and ask what can we afford? That’s where a plan would come together that is affordable based on the facts. It can only happen in bankruptcy. To say we don’t have a plan ... that’s where it’s developed: in bankruptcy.
Full disclosure: “Federale” is not one of my many pseudonyms. I say this because he’s a man after me own heart. Unlike Republican writers, who speak of “liberals,” he calls communists, “communists.” And unlike Republican and supposedly conservative writers, he recognize that men and women comprise different sees, not “genders,” which is a feminist construct.
How many times have I read this or that Republican blogger decry “political correctness,” while savaging English, as per feminists dicta, writing “they,” when referring to an individual? His sort of feminazi usage has even infected the post-E.B. White, fourth edition of The Elements of Style, which was destroyed by Roger Angell.
People and animals have sex. That is what gender means. The left however in the tradition of 1984 has manipulated it so as to replace sex. It is an aspect of their power to change the meaning of words. The typical RINO falls in line. It is sad to see the stream of so-called conservatives use gender as they are instructed from the radical left, led by homosexual groups.
And speaking of homosexuals, they are at it again in the immigration arena. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency charged with ferreting out fraud during the application process for benefits, such as legal permanent residency, citizenship, refugee, and asylum status, has adopted the radical left's re-definition of words to suit not only the demands of homosexuals, but will be assisting and encouraging fraud in asylum and refugee applications....
My Kind of Town: Shooting victims who refuse to give their own names, let alone name shooters, a “gang-related” killing of a man with no criminal history or gang membership, and vehicles whose primary function is to convey assassins By Nicholas Stix
No matter how many people get shot in the Windy City, the Chicago PD claims that crime is falling. The Department has been doing this for three years, despite the fact that not a single soul in the city, in or out of uniform, believes it.
Even if the CPD did, with the help of divine intervention, bring down crime, after so many lies, no one would believe it. The Chicago Police Department is the boy who didn’t cry wolf.
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Crime Scenes
5200 S Damen Ave, Chicago, IL 60609, USA 6300 N Oakley Ave, Chicago, IL 60659, USA 7700 S Essex Ave, Chicago, IL 60649, USA 11800 S Sangamon St, Chicago, IL 60643, USA 2100 W Fletcher St, Chicago, IL 60618, USA 5200 S Troy St, Chicago, IL 60632, USA 7400 S Blackstone Ave, Chicago, IL 60619, USA 5100 S Maplewood Ave, Chicago, IL 60632, USA 6400 S Normal Ave, Chicago, IL 60621, USA 1400 S Pulaski Rd, Chicago, IL 60623, USA 5700 S Lowe Ave, Chicago, IL 60621, USA 7800 S Langley Ave, Chicago, IL 60619, USA 4100 S Rockwell St, Chicago, IL 60632, USA
One man was killed and 15 others wounded by gunfire across the city Friday night and Saturday morning, according to authorities.
A 42-year-old man died after getting shot in the head on the 5200 block of South Troy Street in Gage Park about 12:15 a.m. Saturday. He was a passenger in a car and after he was shot, the driver drove to 59th and Sacramento Avenue and alerted police, police said.
The man was in the front passenger-side seat of a black Lincoln Navigator, being driven, along with other family members, by his son when they came onto the South Troy block, and a group of young men or boys began shouting gang slogans at them, police said.
Someone from the group of people apparently then began firing a gun, shattering the back window of the Navigator and hitting the 42-year-old, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli, citing preliminary information.
The driver continued on until he reached 59th and Sacramento and flagged down a police squad car on patrol. The officers summoned Fire Department paramedics, and the man was was taken to Stroger Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 1:02 a.m., a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office said.
Police are seeking any information about the shooting. Although it appeared gang-related, the victim does not have any serious arrests and is not believed to have been the target of the shooting, police said.
Other circumstances surrounding that shooting weren't immediately available. Another shooting a couple hours later and a few blocks away prompted a car to flee police from near 51st Street and Maplewood Avenue in Gage Park, police said.
A 21-year-old man standing with a friend was shot there about 2:15 a.m., police said. Someone fired at the two from inside a passing black car and police noticed a car nearby that matched that description. The car fled when police started following, police said.
The car wrecked near 44th Street and Wasthenaw Avenue, prompting the Chicago Fire Department to summon six ambulances to the scene.
Four people inside were taken to area hospitals in serious-to-critical condition, according to a spokesman for the Chicago Fire Department, but police said a woman and two men were taken from the scene.
The man shot was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he's in stable condition, police said.
The shooting appears gang-related, police said. Nobody has been been charged. About 6:15 a.m. a man was shot in the back on the 4100 block of South Rockwell Avenue in Brighton Park, Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Amina Greer said, citing early reports from responding officers. No other details were available.
A 35-year-old man was shot in the Chatham neighborhood about 5 a.m., police said. He was walking on the 7800 block of South Langley Avenue when someone in a light-colored car pulled alongside and opened fire, police said. He's in critical condition at Stroger Hospital, police said. The shooters fled the scene.
Two women, 30 and 33, were shot in the legs on the 5700 block of South Lowe Avenue in the Englewood neighborhood about 2:45 a.m., according to police. They were taken to Stroger Hospital and are expected to be released after getting treated for their wounds, police said. Someone fired at them from down the street and fled on foot, police said.
A 20-year-old man was shot in the pelvis on the 6400 block of South Normal Boulevard in Englewood about 1:50 a.m., police said. A friend drove him to St. Bernard Hospital and Health Care Center – about three blocks east – where he is in stable condition, police said.
Two men in their 20s were standing on the 7400 block of South Blackstone Avenue in the Grand Crossing neighborhood when someone emerged from an alley and opened fire, according to police. One, 22, was shot in the chest. The other, 21, was shot in the right leg, police said.
They arrived at Jackson Park Hospital about 1:30 a.m. and police think the shooting happened about 1:20 a.m. They "self-transported" to Jackson Park Hospital from the scene of the shooting, police said. The 21-year-old was transferred to Stroger Hospital, police said.
Police said the two both initially refused to give their names to responding officers and described the pair as "uncooperative."
A 36-year-old man was shot on the 2100 block of West Fletcher Street in the Lakeview neighborhood about 11:20 p.m., police said. The man was shot in the face by someone inside a passing white pickup truck, according to police.
The victim was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in stable condition, police said.
A 19-year-old man was shot about 9:45 p.m. on the 6300 block of North Oakley Avenue in the West Rogers Park neighborhood, Greer said. Someone called the man over to his vehicle and opened fire as the victim approached, hitting him in the head, according to police. He's in critical condition at St. Francis Hospital. A 40-year-old woman was shot in the buttocks on the 1400 block of South Pulaski Road in the Lawndale neighborhood about 10:10 p.m., police said. She was driving south when a bullet came through the door of her vehicle, police said.
About 40 minutes before that, a 22-year-old man was shot in the chest on the 11800 block of South Sangamon Street in the West Pullman neighborhood. He was sitting on his porch with a friend when they heard gunfire, police said. The man's relative drove him to Roseland Hospital, and he was transferred to Stroger Hospital, police said, where his condition is "stable."
Two people were shot about 5:30 p.m. Friday on the 7700 block of South Essex Avenue in the South Shore neighborhood. A 17-year-old girl was shot in the hand and a 20-year-old woman suffered a graze wound to her nose. The circumstances surrounding the shooting weren't available from police but one person is in custody. Both victims treated at South Shore Hospital, police said.
About 5 p.m., a 34-year-old man was standing in front of a store on the 5200 block of South Damen Avenue in the Back of the Yards neighborhood when someone shot him in the ankle. He went to Holy Cross Hospital without help from the Chicago Fire Department, police said.
In our Irish neighborhood, it is currently St. Patrick’s Season. While Manhattan and the rest of the world celebrate St. Patrick’s Day on March 17, we on “the Irish Riviera” celebrated our own St. Patty’s Day last Saturday, and the celebrations will continue on the 17th. What that means, practically speaking, is that there are two nights here on which it is impossible to get a taxi, because the drivers are all drunk.
While I am one-quarter Irish, via my paternal grandmother, on St. Patty’s Day, everyone is Irish! However, I don’t drink on St. Patty’s Day.
I have become, for the most part, a blue-nose, the high point of my drinking life having been when I was 13-15 years old, and could drink half the ex-cons in my neighborhood under the table. Since I will be celebrating my annual 21st birthday this spring, that period would have been … um … er … six to eight years ago!
(My sobriety has gone to such extremes that when my boy was born, I didn’t touch a drop for over a year, so afraid was I that I might drop the lad. [Postscript, St. Patrick’s Day, 2012: When I told this to a friend with a healthy taste for Scotch, and more children than me, he responded, “They bounce, you know.”]
My boy and I attended the local parade, which is the second biggest St. Patrick’s Day parade in New York, if not in America.
And the weather played along. Though the day wasn’t as stunning as last year, at least the rain held off. The march was a little shorter this year, because Mayor Bloomberg cut the amount of overtime for the cops working it. Since Hizzoner didn’t show up, I was unable to engage in my annual practice of turning my back on him, as he passes. Apparently, Bloomberg, who has never been kind to this working-class and middle-class community, was afraid of quite a few of my neighbors doing likewise. (According to the MSM, there are no white working-class New York neighborhoods, only “solidly middle-class” and “affluent” ones. That would mean that our neighborhood is full of “solidly middle-class” and “affluent” garbage men, cops, and firemen.)
All sorts of Irish pipe and drum bands groups march, playing Irish and Scottish folk songs, representing labor unions, workplaces, Catholic schools and Irish fraternal organizations, their members wearing kilts in the colors of the Irish county from whence their groups’ founders came.
Kilts? Bagpipes? Scottish folk songs? Well, both peoples are Celts, but beyond that, explaining the Scottish roots of much Irish-American folk culture is way above my pay grade, and would take a James Fulford, or even a David Hackett Fisher.
There were fewer Irish and Scottish folk songs than usual: No “Wild Colonial Boy,” no “Danny Boy,” and some of the traditional Irish songs that I heard every year in my childhood, such as the tune played at the end of The Quiet Man,* have completely disappeared. In their place were endlessly repeated versions of the Army and Marine Corps hymns. Not that I have anything against the Army or the Marines, but as my boy observed, it wasn’t “St. Army or St. Marine Day.”
My son confirms that there were two rounds of “The Minstrel Boy” and one of “Tunes of Glory,” the latter a one-time staple that had been MIA in recent years.
An óg-Laoch/The Minstrel Boy (Colm Meaney and Bob Gunton in Star Trek: The Next Generation)
Lyrics by Thomas Moore To the tune of “The Moreen”
The minstrel boy to the war is gone, In the ranks of death you will find him, His father's sword he hath girded on, And his wild harp slung behind him.
“Land of Song!” said the warrior bard, “Tho’ all the world betrays thee, One sword, at least, thy rights shall guard, One faithful harp shall praise thee!”
The Minstrel fell! But the foeman's chain, Could not bring that proud soul under, The harp he lov’d ne’er spoke again, For he tore its chords asunder.
And said: “No chains shall sully thee, Thou soul of love and brav’ry! Thy songs were made for the pure and free, They shall never sound in slavery!”
An emotionally stirring and inspirational song, the “Minstrel Boy” was written by Thomas Moore (1779-1852) who set it to the melody of “The Moreen”, an old Irish aire. It is believed by many that Moore composed the song as a memorial to several of his friends he had met while a student at Trinity College and who had participated in the 1798 rebellion of the United Irishmen. One died in prison, another was wounded, and a third captured and hung. The song originally consisted of two verses. Due to its popularity, a third verse was added by unknown authors at the time of the US Civil War…. [NS: And the fourth?]
“The remarkable thing is that such Moore Melodies were rousingly sung around the piano in Victorian English drawing rooms oblivious of the fact that ‘the foeman’ and ‘slavery's chains’ referred to the English yoke.”…
The immediate origins of the 1798 Rebellion in Ireland can be traced to the setting up of the Society of United Irishmen in Belfast in October 1791. Inspired by the French Revolution, and with great admiration for the new democracy of the United States, the United Irishmen were led by Theobald Wolfe Tone, Thomas Russell, Henry Joy McCracken and William Drennan. They came together to secure a reform of the Irish parliament; and they sought to achieve this goal by uniting Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter in Ireland into a single movement.
I first heard “The Minstrel Boy” sung by Sean Connery and Michael Caine at the climax of The Man Who Would be King, John Huston’s 1975 comeback masterpiece, based on the Kipling short story.
I have never been a fan of science fiction in general, or of the Star Trek spinoffs, but the power of the scene in which Colm Meaney and Bob Gunton sing “The Minstrel Boy,” to chords of mystic memory, cannot be denied.
Tunes of Glory (Scotland the Brave): The Marching Dukes of Marlington
I’m including this bagpipe-free performance because the Marching Dukes of Marlington, who play the song with such passion and precision, are an excellent high school marching band in Alliance, Ohio, and out of gratitude to TheBatDEWde, who posted the performance under both titles.
Nowadays, if you seek at Google or Youtube for “Tunes of Glory,” you either get videos of the popular, eponymous pipe and drum band, or excerpts from the classic, 1960 Ronald Neame movie, starring Alec Guiness and John Mills.
But I grew up on “Tunes of Glory” as a St. Patrick’s Day staple. I’d never heard of the title, “Scotland the Brave,” which it turns out, is one of Scotland’s “unofficial” national hymns, until producing this virtual parade.
Granted, I’m hopelessly ignorant, but until now, I shared my ignorance with 200 million or so of my fellow Americans, who enjoyed hearing “Tunes of Glory” every year. See my previous remark about the Scottish roots of Irish-American culture.
Tunes of Glory (Scotland the Brave): Pipe and Drum Band
The last minute or so is another tune.
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The Wild Colonial Boy: Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers
The Wild Colonial Boy By Francis McNamara (Many variations, but this is the one that Makem and the Clanceys sing here.)
There was a wild colonial boy, Jack Duggan was his name, He was born and raised in Ireland, in a place called Castle Maine, He was his father’s only son, his mother’s pride and joy, And dearly did his parents love the wild colonial boy.
At the early age of sixteen years, Jack left his native home, And to Australia’s sunny shores he was inclined to roam, He robbed the rich, he helped the poor, he shot James McEvoy, A terror to Australia was, the wild colonial boy.
One morning on the prairie, as Jack, he rode along, And listening to the mockingbird sing it’s joyful song, Up came a band of troopers, Kelly, Davis, and Fitzroy, They’d all set out to capture him, the wild colonial boy.
“Surrender now Jack Duggan, for you see we’re three to one,” “Surrender in the Queen’s high name, for you are a plundering son,” Jack drew two pistols from his belt, and proudly waved them high, “I'll fight but not surrender!” said the wild colonial boy.
He fired a shot at Kelly, which laid him to the ground, And turning ‘round to Davis, he received a fatal wound, A bullet pierced the fierce young heart, from the pistol of Fitzroy, And that was how they captured him, the wild colonial boy.
How are Things in Glocca Morra?: Kate Baldwin in Finian’s Rainbow
How are things in Glocca Morra? Music by Burton Lane Lyrics by E.Y. “Yip” Harburg
How are things in Glocca Morra? Is that little brook still leaping there? Does it still run down to Donny cove? Through Killybegs, Kilkerry, and Kildare?
How are things in Glocca Morra? Is that willow tree still weeping there? Does that laddie with the twinklin' eye Come whistlin' by, And does he walk away, Sad and dreamy there, not to see me there?
So I ask each weepin' willow, And each brook along the way, And each lad that comes a-whistlin,' Tooralay.
Oh, as I went out one mornin’ – It bein’ the month of May – A farmer and his daughter, I spied upon me way.
And the girl sat down quite calmly, To the milkin’ of her cow, Sayin,’ “I will and I must get married, “For the humor is on me now.”
Oh, the humor is on me now, The humor is on me now. Sayin,’ “I will and I must get married, “For the humor is on me now.”
So, at last the daughter married – She married well-to-do – And loved her darlin’ husband, For a month, a year, or two.
But Sean was all a tyrant, And she quickly rued her vow, Sayin’ “I'm sorry I ever got married,” “For the humor is off me now.”
Oh, the humor is off me now. The humor is off me now, Sayin,’ “I’m sorry I ever got married, “For the humor is off me now.”
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Danny Boy: The King Singers at the Salt Lake City Olympics, 2002
Danny Boy Irish folk melody, lyrics by Fred E. Weatherly
Oh Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling, From glen to glen, and down the mountainside, The summer’s gone, and all the flowers are dying, ‘Tis you, ‘tis you, must go, and I must bide.
But come ye back, when summer’s in the meadow, Or when the valley’s hushed, and white with snow, ‘Tis I’ll be there in sunshine or in shadow, Oh Danny Boy, oh Danny Boy, I love you so.
But if ye come, and all the flowers are dying, And I am dead, as dead I well may be, Ye’ll come and find the place where I am lying, And kneel and say an “Ave” there for me.
And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me, And all my dreams will warmer, sweeter be, And you’ll not fail to tell me that you love me, I’ll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.
Lyrics used in the film: (by John Ford, Charles Fitzsimons and Maureen O'Hara) Oh, Inisfree, my island, I'm returning From wasted years across the wintry sea, And when I come back to my own dear Ireland, I'll rest a while beside you, gradh mochroidhe.*
I've met some folks who say that I'm a dreamer, And I've no doubt there's truth in what they say, But sure a body’s bound to be a dreamer, When all the things he loves are far away.
And precious things are dreams unto an exile, They take him o'er the land across the sea -- Especially when it happens he's an exile, From that dear lovely Isle of Innisfree.
And when the moonlight peeps across the rooftops, Of this great city, wondrous though it be, I scarcely feel its wonder or its laughter, I'm once again back home in Innisfree.
I wander o’er green hills through dreamy valleys, And find a peace no other land could know, I hear the birds make music fit for angels, And watch the rivers laughing as they flow.
And then into a humble shack I wander -- My dear old home -- and tenderly behold, The folks I love around the turf fire gathered, On bended knees, their rosary is told.
But dreams don't last -- though dreams are not forgotten -- And soon I'm back to stern reality, But though they pave the footways here with gold dust, I still would choose the Isle of Innisfree.
Although Victor Young is credited with the score to The Quiet Man, he used an extensive amount of traditional Irish music throughout the film, most notably the Richard Farrelly-penned, “Isle of Innisfree.” So, on the 60th anniversary of the movie, I thought this might be a timely tribute.
“The Isle of Innisfree,” by Richard Farrelly was a big hit for Bing Crosby in 1949, but today is known as a recurring tune without words, in John Ford’s The Quiet Man.
For over 60 years, lovers of the song and the movie have asked to which Innisfree the song refers.
One hears of an island in the lake in County Sligo.
The mystery has been cleared up by the songwriter’s son, who wrote that the Innisfree of the song is the Emerald Isle, itself!
“In Dick’s own words, ‘I used Isle of Innisfree as another name for Ireland, and it was Ireland I had in mind when I wrote the song.’”
When John Ford was setting about to make The Quiet Man, he heard the song, immediately fell in love with it, and had composer Victor Young weave it into the picture. This makes perfect sense, as Ford would hear der Bingle sing of “exile,” and think of himself.
Thanks to Frank Warner, and at least one other writer, whose name I could neither recall nor hunt down.
The 7th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment, whose lineage traces back to the mid-19th century. Its official nickname is “Garryowen,” in honor of the Irish drinking song Garryowen, that was adopted as its march tune.
Lyrics
We are the pride of the army, And a regiment of great renown, Our names on the pages of history, From sixty-six on down.
If you think we stop or falter, While into the fray we’re goin,’ Just watch the step with our heads erect, When our band plays “Garry Owen.”
In the Fighting Seventh’s the place for me, It's the cream of all the cavalry, No other regiment ever can claim Its pride, honor, glory and undying fame.
We know no fear when stern duty, Calls us far away from home, Our country’s flag shall sagely o’er us wave, No matter where we roam.
‘Tis the gallant Seventh Cavalry, It matters not where we’re going, Such you’ll surely say as we march away, When our band plays “Garry Owen.”
Then hurrah for our brave commanders! Who lead us into the fight, We’ll do or die in our country’s cause, And battle for the right.
And when the war is o’er, And to our home we’re going, Just watch the step, with our head erect, When our band plays, “Garry Owen.”
Let Baccus’ son be not dismayed, And join with me, each jovial blade, Come, booze and sing and lend your aid, To help me with the chorus:
In place water, we'll drink ale, And pay the reck’ning on the nail, No man for debt shall go to jail, If he from Garryowen hail.
Oh we can dare and we can do, United men and brothers too, Their gallant footsteps do pursue, And change our country’s story.
Our hearts so stout have got us fame, For soon ‘tis known from whence we came, Where ‘ere we go they dread the name Of Garryowen in glory.
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At the top, I referred to the tune played at the end of The Quiet Man, which had completely disappeared from the local parade. Well, in the course of putting together this little parade, I finally learned that the name of that music, which is inseparable from St. Patrick’s Day, is indeed, “The St. Patrick’s Day March.”
I usually pass on watching the official parade on TV, where all of the organizations that march in my neighborhood parade also march, but this year, I plan on watching, to see if they do it right in Manhattan.
The St. Patrick’s Day March from John Ford’s Fort Apache (first 1:26)
Outside Apple's flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York City, a black iPad customer is cheered by Apple employees, and shot by white photographers, for buying the first new iPad; March 15, 2012. Emmanuel Dunand, AFP/Getty Images.
By Nicholas Stix
Because, as everyone knows, all racial groups behave the same, and are of equal intelligence, they all behave the same way at the rollout of a new product. That’s why so much bloodshed attended the unveiling of the new iPad. But since the "news" (read: marketing) reports say nothing about the anarchy, they must have covered it up! That's the way the media is, always trying to paint black folks in a negative light, and make white folks look good!
(Editor: But I thought that no racial groups existed. N.S.: Never mind.)
The following USA Today promotion for Apple has been supplemented with a running, scholarly commentary.
Since some of the people who stood outside in the cold for hours, or even days, had already pre-ordered, they didn’t have to stand in line at all. They could have waited for the lines to vanish, and gone and picked up their contraptions at their leisure. They waited on line as an experience that was valuable in itself, something they could later brag about, and/or as a way to meet like-minded people. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Thousands of eager consumers braved long lines across the globe in hopes of securing Apple's highly-anticipated new iPad.
Apple stores in 10 different countries including the U.S. opened their doors at 8 a.m. local time, clapping and cheering for customers as they walked out with one of their third-generation tablets.
"It's no fun to order online," says Chan Park, 48, of Fairfax, Va., who waited in line at an Apple store in Tysons Corner, Va., to snag an iPad for his 16-year-old son. "There's some excitement waiting in line." [If excitement is what you want, Pally, there’s a lot more of that waiting in line to see who gets trampled to death, trying to get the new Nikes.]
Skerdi Kostreci, 38, of Vienna, Va., also braved the early morning lines to scoop up his third iPad. "I had the first iPad. I have iPad 2. Now I have to get the new one," Kostreci says, adding he's giving his iPad 2 to his wife.
Brendan Marnell, 28, from Arlington, Va., who works for a software company, says the iPad 2 "didn't have quite enough for me to plunk down the cash," but is excited about the upgraded display and plans on "using this as a digital sketchpad." Among those waiting for the new iPad: Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who was first in line at a store in Los Angeles, Mashable reports.
"It's become a ritual," says Wozniak. "Because I've done it so many times, I'm doing it again." He was also one of the first people in line to snag the iPhone 4S last October. [As if he hadn’t already gotten one through his own company, genius!]
Interview with Apple Cult Co-Founder Steve Wozniak, Who is the World’s Biggest Bore
Lizandra Osorio, 23, of Bridgeton, N.J., first tried a New Jersey Walmart at midnight, but the store had only a few iPads, so she drove to a shopping mall in Delaware at 2 a.m. Hundreds of people were ahead of her.
"I was planning to be first in line, but that plan failed," Osorio laughed, wrapped in a fleece blanket outside the mall. "If I can get one in my hands, it'll be worth it."
Sam Fong, 37, and Jimmy Koo, 27, drove about three hours from New York City to Delaware -- which doesn't charge sales tax -- by about 3 a.m.
"I want the new one," said Fong, who has an iPad 2.
About 80 people lined up outside the Apple store in Freehold, N.J., Thursday morning to take their bite out of Apple's iPad.
At the head of the class was Arthur Nazarov, 29, of Brooklyn. He and a few others had been standing outside the mall since 3 a.m. "freezing our butts off," Nazarov said.
"I stood still and tried to keep my feet moving," he said, sipping a cup of Starbucks coffee handed out by Apple staff from a mobile cart.
At least 30 blue-shirted staff lined up and applauded as Nazarov and a few others who had pre-ordered their iPads were allowed to enter the store.
He said he made the hour-long trip to New Jersey because "New York is New York -- it's overcrowded. I figured here the lines would be a little lighter."
Margaret Gordinier of Palm Springs, Calif., was at a Starbucks across the street from an Apple store in Palm Desert when she saw the line and remembered the new iPads were going on sale.
She started heading over to purchase one, then wondered if she should check with her husband Richard first, she said.
She placed a call and "he was already inside" the Apple store. "Good thing she checked or we would have two," her husband Richard Gordinier said.
Apple also launched the new iPad in nine other countries: Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
In Australia, dozens waited in line outside an Apple store in Sydney to snag their device. As BusinessWeek reports:
Employees in blue T-shirts cheered and counted down the 10 seconds until doors opened at 8 a.m. A queue of at least 200 people snaked 100 meters around three sides of the city block.
In Japan, more than 450 people waited at an Apple store in Tokyo in hopes of getting an iPad, the Wall Street Journal reports.
One student, Ryo Watanabe, tells the Journal he and a friend took turns waiting in line for 37 hours to be first in line. "The fact that the display has gotten better is a big enough reason for me to get it," Watanabe tells the paper.
Meanwhile, iPad mania appears equally powerful in London, according to the Telegraph. Among consumers waiting for the tablet was a 21-year-old who had camped out for the past five days.
"The iPad is the best product of the year and there won't be any more until 2013 so I am happy to queue," Zohaib Ali tells the Telegraph.
As for the iPad's U.S. release, don't expect every person to flash smiles at Apple stores. The Los Angeles Times reports dozens of protesters are expected to show up at locations in New York, San Francisco and Washington to "bring attention to concerns about the welfare of the Chinese factory workers who churn out the devices to satisfy a growing global demand."
"It's great to see Apple taking important steps like auditing its factories and paying raises for factory workers," said Mark Shields, who launched a campaign through Change.org protesting work conditions in China, in a statement. "But Apple hasn't crossed the finish line yet. New product releases, like the iPad 3 this week, have typically been the most dangerous for workers because of the incredible pressure they are under to meet release production deadlines."
The device includes a Retina display, faster processing chip with quad-core graphics and an iSight camera.
Contributing: Lindsay Powers in Tysons Corner, Va.; Mike Chalmers, The News Journal, Wilmington, Del.; Alesha Williams Boyd, Asbury Park (N.J. ) Press; Keith Matheny, The Desert Sun, Palm Springs, Calif.
The 7th Cavalry Regiment is a United States Army cavalry regiment, whose lineage traces back to the mid-19th century. Its official nickname is “Garryowen,” in honor of the Irish drinking song Garryowen, that was adopted as its march tune.
Lyrics:
We are the pride of the army, And a regiment of great renown, Our names on the pages of history, From sixty-six on down.
If you think we stop or falter, While into the fray we’re goin,’ Just watch the step with our heads erect, When our band plays “Garry Owen.”
In the Fighting Seventh’s the place for me, It's the cream of all the cavalry, No other regiment ever can claim Its pride, honor, glory and undying fame.
We know no fear when stern duty, Calls us far away from home, Our country’s flag shall sagely o’er us wave, No matter where we roam.
‘Tis the gallant Seventh Cavalry, It matters not where we’re going, Such you’ll surely say as we march away, When our band plays “Garry Owen.”
Then hurrah for our brave commanders! Who lead us into the fight, We’ll do or die in our country’s cause, And battle for the right.
And when the war is o’er, And to our home we’re going, Just watch the step, with our head erect, When our band plays, “Garry Owen.”
OLNEY - January 20, 2012 (WPVI) -- A 15-year-old boy has been arrested in the beating of a 64-year-old Vietnam veteran while other teens are being cleared.
64 year old Edward Schaefer has been released from the hospital.
Schaefer, a Vietnam veteran, suffered a broken jaw and fractured eye sockets when he was attacked Tuesday night on North 5th street in the Olney section of Philadelphia.
A 15 year old boy was arraigned on attempted murder charges Friday.
The 15-year-old is charged with Attempted Murder, Assault, Recklessly Endangering Another Person, Terroristic Threats, and Conspiracy.
Police said another 15-year-old is expected to be arrested in this case.
On Friday, new details about that surveillance video emerged. While six teens were seen in the video, police now say it was not one group, but two groups of three boys that happened to be walking nearby.
Action News spoke with Cassandra Pressley, the mother of one of the boys in the group that was not involved in the attack.
"I just want my son's name cleared," Pressley said.
She said her son, 14-year-old Andrew Henlon and two friends, had been heading to a nearby Chinese restaurant Tuesday evening near North 5th Street.
Andrew said he and his friends were joking with his barber at his shop. It was at that time, he said, that a second group of three boys happened to be walking nearby.
Police say one of the teens in Andrew's group knew someone in the second group- but confirmed this was a chance encounter. Police say Andrew and several other boys had nothing to do with robbing and beating of Schaefer.
"He is not one of the suspects who beat this man. Him and two other boys were just walking to the store. They're just a victim of circumstance," Pressley said.
"We were in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Andrew.
Police had released surveillance video in an effort to track down the people who robbed and attacked Schaeffer. The footage generated a number of tip calls and led to the arrest of a 15 year old boy.
While the video helped identify the suspects, Presley wants to make sure it's clear her son is not one of them. The 8th grader is an honor roll student who loves skateboarding and, in past years, shoveled snow for the victim.
For Andrew's part, his thoughts are with Schaeffer.
"I really do hope that he gets better," Andrew said.
Schaeffer is set to undergo surgery for his facial and skull injuries.
“Authorities say that this case demonstrates to the American public how someone involved in terrorist activities could be living right next door.”
Of course, but only if the authorities let Moslems into the country, in the first place
“No one in the neighborhood was aware of the suspect's activities, and had it not been for the diligent work of federal authorities in Philadelphia and Colorado lives could have been lost.”
Had the federal authorities “diligently” done their work, he could never have moved in “right next door.”
PHILADELPHIA - March 15, 2012 (WPVI) -- Federal authorities have arrested a Port Richmond resident and charged him with providing material support and resources to a terrorist organization based in Uzbekistan.
Bakhtiyor Jumaev, 45, of the 3100 block of Richmond Street, is charged with funneling money to the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), a fundamentalist group opposed to the secular government in Uzbekistan, and is said to be responsible for attacks on Americans in Afghanistan.
The group has been linked to the 2004 suicide bombing attacks on the U.S. and Israeli embassies in Uzbekistan. The U.S. government designed the IJU a terrorist organization in 2005.
Jumaev's arrest Thursday morning follows the January 21st arrest of an alleged co-conspirator, Jamshid Muhtorov, at Chicago O'Hare International Airport.
In court documents, the FBI says it monitored mobile phone conversations between Jumaev and Muhtorov between February 2010 and January 2012.
The authorities have charged the Philadelphia man with conspiring with Jamshid Muhtorov to provide material support to a known terrorist group in the former Soviet Republic of Uzbekistan.
The FBI says the men discussed planned terrorist attacks in Uzbekistan, code named "weddings." The conversations also allegedly included references to money raised and funneled overseas in support of attacks.
A federal affidavit states that after Jumaev sent $300 to support the group's activities. He asked Muhtorov if he received "The Wedding Gift". And when, the terror group expressed concern that he had not yet arrived with the gifts, Muhtorov told them not to worry, he will come to "The Wedding".
Court documents also describe terrorist videos and other incriminating material found on Jumaev's computers, which were seized from his Port Richmond home last month.
If convicted, Jumaev faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, and up to a $250,000 fine.
Jumaev made his initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia, where he was advised of his rights and the charges pending against him.
Authorities say that this case demonstrates to the American public how someone involved in terrorist activities could be living right next door.
No one in the neighborhood was aware of the suspect's activities, and had it not been for the diligent work of federal authorities in Philadelphia and Colorado lives could have been lost.
The row home in the 3100 block of Richmond where 45 year old Bakhtiyor Jumaev lived looked innocuous enough not to arouse suspicion of any terrorist activity. But then again neighbors say, neither did the suspect.
"This guy if you saw him looked very normal. You wouldn't even have thought anything. You'd walk by he'd say Hi, never even know it," said Debbie Pellegrino.
"I'm really shocked cause I thought the guy was a nice guy, always used to talk to me, always social to me, and it's hard for me to believe," said neighbor Bob Ross.
"What we have again is an example of the use of the internet, use of coded messages and material support on behalf of terrorist's activities supporting the activities in another country connecting back to here in the United States," said Rep. Pat Meehan.
Muhtorov was arrested at O'hare Airport in Chicago carrying $2,800 before boarding a plane overseas.
Jumaev was arrested at his apartment Thursday morning by federal agents. His computer and other material were seized.
"You never know whose going to be living next door to you," said Debbie Pellegrino. "It does bother me a lot. It's scary, it really is."
Jumaev appeared in federal court Thursday morning. If convicted he faces a maximum of 15 years in federal prison and up to a $250,000 fine.
Eric J. Smith/ Minnesota Department of Corrections. Don't worry--his ex inssits that he is incapable of rape, so we can just forget the whole matter, the DNA be damned.
By Nicholas Stix
I found out about this story via the amazing, new crime blog, Black racism and race hatred of non blacks. (I think it would catch on much quicker, if its owner shortened its title to simply, Black racism.)
In any event, the story has fallen off the radar, or rather the Minneapolis media refused to continue covering it. I tried every possible combination, but could not find a single follow-up story on this case. There are other “stories” from the period of circa November 12, 2010, but they’re all the same story.
One suspect is a felon. Police say he and another man kidnapped a woman on a Minneapolis street in April and raped her in their SUV.
A DNA match has led to charges against a convicted felon suspected of being one of two men who took turns raping a college student in their SUV in April after they kidnapped her off a south Minneapolis street before dawn.
Eric J. Smith, 27, of Minneapolis, was charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct and kidnapping, according to a criminal complaint. Smith was brought to the Hennepin County jail Monday and held in lieu of $300,000 bail.
A sexual assault examination at a Minneapolis hospital led to a DNA match with Smith, who is registered with the state's Convicted Offender Database, the charges said.
Smith denied to officers that he had anything to do with the rape of the woman, 20, who attends Augsburg College. The attack occurred early on April 25 near Lake Street and Bloomington Avenue S.
A third man was driving the SUV at the time, the charges said. Police could not say Thursday whether the others have been arrested or charged.
Tavielle Williams, a former girlfriend of Smith's and mother of his two children, said on Thursday that "it's impossible" that he could have committed the rape.
"I know Eric, and I know Eric didn't commit this crime," said Williams, adding that they are no longer a couple but continue to "have each other's backs."
The student's boyfriend at the time said the woman was walking to a supermarket that was open that Sunday morning. The boyfriend, who lives in Chicago, said that "as soon as it happened I came up."
The man, who is not being named to protect the victim's identity, said he still keeps in touch with her. "She's doing OK. She said she just wants to get the thing behind her," he said.
According to the complaint and police records:
The woman left the Augsburg campus about 5 a.m. on April 25. The SUV pulled up next to her near Lake and Bloomington. Two men in the back seat "began imploring her" to get in. She refused and kept walking.
The two men got out, grabbed her and forced her into the SUV. She was held down and stripped below the waist. One of the men raped her and then the other for "an extended period of time," the complaint said.
The woman was dropped off in southeast Minneapolis.
Once investigators identified Smith through the DNA match, the woman identified him as one of her attackers during a police photo lineup, the complaint said.
At the time of the rape, Smith was on supervised release in connection with a felony forgery conviction in Ramsey County.
His criminal record also includes convictions this year for misdemeanor domestic assault and gross-misdemeanor domestic abuse for violating a no-contact order. He also was convicted of misdemeanor theft in 2006.
"Texas A&M student Jose Luis Zelaya, a native of Honduras, speaks during a demonstration in support of legalizing undocumented students on the campus of Texas A&M University Friday, April 15, 2011," in College Station/Photo: Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
By Nicholas Stix
Thank goodness, the Aggies lived up to their reputation of being more patriotic than your average college student.
Note that the headline for the Houston Chronicle story below is misleading: “Undocumented immigrant out as A&M student president.” It suggests that Jose Luis Zelaya had been student president, and had either lost re-election, or been stripped of his office. What the story does not tell you is that just-retired Texas A&M registrar Donald Carter, Pres. R. Bowen Loftin, and every other administrator and professor who knew about Zelaya’s status as an illegal is guilty of the federal felony of harboring an illegal alien, not to mention that Zelaya is illegally attending Texas A&M, and should be immediately removed from its campus.
Some Chronicle readers noted that Zelaya looks much older than his professed age of 24 (make that likely 23, since the picture is almost a year old), but that since he is “undocumented,” no one knows his true identity or age for sure.
As I wrote a couple of years ago in the context of affirmative action, things aren’t going to start improving at our nation’s colleges, until we start seeing administrators and professors perp walked on TV for crimes such as fraud, for falsifying the grades of failing students, in order to rip off the taxpayer. (Although the elimination of all federal financial support for higher ed wouldn’t hurt none.)
An undocumented immigrant fell short in his bid to be the next student body president at Texas A&M University.
Jose Luis Zelaya, a 24-year-old graduate student who came to the United States illegally at age 14, said he finished fourth of six candidates, failing to earn enough votes to qualify for the runoff election scheduled for later this week.
Zelaya said that despite the loss, he won by having a chance to share his story of overcoming poverty, abuse and homelessness to graduate from a Houston-area high school and earn his undergraduate degree from A&M.
"Most importantly, we inspired a lot of people," he said.
"I don't need a title to make a difference," he added. "I don't need a title to serve this university."
In a sad and disquieting note, the new head of the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) has announced an upcoming new enforcement strategy, a risk-based strategy rather than a resource-based strategy. For the uninitiated, that means that the once formidable USBP, with decades of its own enforcement culture, will be adopting the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) non-enforcement policy.
I am a dissident journalist, whose work has been published in dozens of daily newspapers, magazines, and journals in English, German, and Swedish, under my own name and many pseudonyms. While living in internal exile in New York, where I am whitelisted, I maintain NSU/The Wyatt Earp Journalism Bureau and some eight other blogs (some are distinctive but occasional venues, while others are mirrors), and also write for stout-hearted men such as Peter Brimelow and Jared Taylor. Please hit the “Donate” button on your way out. Thanks, in advance.
