Posted on 12/19/2008 12:25:19 AM PST by hoosiermama
Edited on 02/09/2012 7:04:21 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
Crime in Chicago has been in the news lately, but it is nothing new. Historically it dates back over a hundred years. From the tale of the Gray Wolves
http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/540.html
The 1890s Chicago City Council was notorious for corrupt political practices orchestrated by a faction of its aldermen known as the Gray Wolves. So named because they were viewed as preying upon the defenseless public, the Gray Wolves were led by First Ward aldermen “Bathhouse” John Coughlin and “Hinky Dink” Mike Kenna, and Johnny Powers of the Nineteenth Ward. These elected officials were not only skilled at trading votes for favors, but once in office they excelled in making municipal decisions to profit themselves financially.
TO the present, it is a compelling historical subject.
“Please post links and information, or connections of dots to this thread. Keep chit chat to the minimum or in Freemail. THANKS!”
FROM:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2261448/posts?page=2
HI FREE PRESS ARTICLE.
The Auchi-Rezko-Obama connection came to public attention with federal marshals pounding on the door of Tony Rezko’s Wilmette Chicago mansion in the early morning of January 28, 2008. They hauled Rezko to jail after his bail was revoked for concealing a $3.5 million Auchi loan from the court. The Times outlines the story in two sentences. It should be of tremendous interest to the American public and the world.
But there is more to this story than run-of-the mill political corruption. Nadhmi Auchi is alleged to have a long affiliation with Iraqi Baathism and Saddam Hussein—which his attorneys deny. How close were they? According to a 1960 US Embassy report, Auchi was convicted along with Saddam by an Iraqi court for his part in a failed 1959 assassination attempt against then-Iraqi Prime Minister Qassim. For his crime, Auchi earned a sentence of “three years rigorous imprisonment.”
BO better watch his back:
More from the Free Press:
The UK Guardian, in an article still posted on their site, directly contradicts Auchi’s claim to have left Baath, writing:
Nadhmi Shakir Auchi was born in Baghdad on 11 June 1937. As a student he was involved in the campaign which culminated in the uprising of 1958 against British rule. After the Baathist coup in 1963, Auchi came into the open as a supporter of the pan-Arab party and built a career in the procurement department of the Iraqi Oil Ministry. Over a decade he built up a vast network of contacts within Europe and the Far East. In the mid-1970s this allowed him to set up his own business, working as an intermediary for Western companies wanting a piece of Iraq’s lucrative oil action.
In Republic of Fear, Kanan Makiya points out that there were only 830 “active” members of Iraq’s Arab Baath Socialist Party in 1963. In The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movement of Iraq Hannah Batatu points out participants in the Qassim assassination were privileged within the 1960s Baathist hierarchy. Moreover there were two Baathist coups in 1963. February 8, 1963 against Qasim—and November 18, 1963 by Baathist Army officers against the Baathist militia. Saddam’s rise to power began in 1964. After insinuating his control throughout the security apparatus of the Party and State he would finally take full control 15 years later in 1979.
There are claims that a brother, a cousin, or two brothers of Auchi were killed by Saddam. This story is difficult to pin down but may refer to Saddam’s final 1979 coup which was accompanied with the videotaped purge and execution of 66 top Baathists in order to ensure the loyalty of the remainder. Auchi left Iraq about 1979.
Forty-three years after his conviction in the Qassim assassination attempt, Auchi was convicted of a different type of crime. A French court in 2003 convicted Auchi of taking kickbacks in the Elf-Aquitane bribery scandal. The Guardian –in an article Auchi’s lawyers take credit for forcing off the web under threat of litigation — called the scandal: “the biggest fraud inquiry in Europe since the Second World War... Elf became a private bank for executives who spent £200 million on political favours, mistresses, jewelry, fine art, villas and apartments.” BBC described the case as exposing “a moral vacuum…at the heart of France.”
lot’s more at website including:
A February 28, 2008 Sun-Times article describes another part of Auchi’s 2004 Chicago visit:
On a spring day in 2004, Nadhmi Auchi, one of the world’s richest men, flew in to Midway Airport on a private jet. Met by a welcoming party that included Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn (there at the request of the Blagojevich administration) and businessman Tony Rezko, Auchi was brought to a downtown hotel where he was the guest of honor at a reception hosted by Blagojevich.
The Iraqi-born billionaire — who lives in London — had come to Chicago on business. He would go on to invest nearly $170 million in a prime piece of vacant land in the South Loop — 62 acres along the Chicago River that Rezko wanted to develop….
Auchi has sought to distance himself from Rezko — but still plans to develop the 62 acres at Roosevelt and Clark. Asked about the project, Pepper referred questions to a Feb. 12 story posted on the Web site Newsmax.com.
“As negative information about Rezko came to light last year, GMH moved to buy out Rezko’s interest” in the project, Newsmax reported. “In July 2007, Rezko sold the majority of his interest.”
That is how Newsmax reports on Auchi since Ruddy’s 2005-2006 “conversion.” But the office of US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald sees it differently. In their Motion for Issuance for an Arrest Warrant against Rezko, prosecutors argue:
“(a)ccording to Northern Trust bank records, on April 4, 2007, a bank account, (the ‘MMDA account’) held at Northern trust by the law firm of Freeborn and Peters (Freeborn) received an incoming wire transfer of approximately $3,499,471 from a bank in Beirut, Lebanon. The originator of the wire transfer was identified as General Mediterranean Holdings.…”
Prosecutors consume the next 10 pages detailing the various persons, many with criminal ties, to whom Rezko transferred the money. They then write:
“Of the remaining money from the $3.5 million wire from Beirut, Lebanon, nearly all of it went to Rezko-related lawyers.”
Prosecutors also detail another GMH wire transfer for $200,000 on July 25, 2007 which they indicate “was also apparently for Rezko’s legal fees….”
Newsmax somehow missed all of this.
6) Carter-Ruck asserts: “Our client flatly and categorically denies any wrong doing in relation to matters that led to his conviction in France. Our client has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights for a ruling that the trial resulting in his conviction breached his fundamental right to a fair trial. He is also suing Elf Oil for dragging him unwittingly into the scandal.”
C-R thus confirms Auchi is a convicted criminal in the eyes of French law. The astute reader will note that challenging the fairness of a trial is different than proclaiming innocence. The challenge to Elf also implies an admission that Auchi was dragged “into the scandal” albeit “unwittingly”.
Here’s how the UK Independent May 4, 2008 describes it:
A legal battle between the two erupted after Auchi, an Iraqi-born British citizen, received a 15-month suspended sentence and a £1.5m fine after being convicted of corruption. French investigators found that he had received $2m (£1m) in illegal commissions in the Elf Aquitaine oil scandal.
Several senior executives of the company were jailed over their part in the affair. The investigators claimed that Auchi had paid bribes to Elf. As a result of the ruling, Total took legal action against him in France.
Then C-R closes by reiterating several of the points it has already made:
7) Carter-Ruck asserts: “With regard to the article by Nick Cohen of the Guardian, following legal action taken by our client against Guardian News and Media Limited also agreed to pay a substantial sum in relation to our client’s costs. In particular:
(a) Carter-Ruck asserts: “as stated above, it is untrue that our client had any involvement with Saddam Hussein.”
If so, then Auchi’s lawyers would logically have to claim:
· The 1960 US Embassy report: “untrue.”
· Numerous reports that Auchi was involved in the purchase of Italian frigates for the Iraqi Navy during the Iran-Iraq war: “untrue.”
· Money laundering: “untrue.”
Who is to be believed? A twice-convicted criminal and ex-con whose lawyers shout “untrue” and attempt to silence those who say otherwise— or the dozens of investigative journalists, European and American government officials, and UN investigators who have dug into aspects of Auchi’s story.
(b) Carter-Ruck asserts: “it is untrue that our client was involved in bribing ‘fabulously corrupt leaders of postwar Italy.’”
In 2003, in one of the articles forced off the Internet by Carter-Ruck’s threats, Nick Cohen of the UK Guardian wrote:
“Allow me to introduce you to Nadhmi Auchi. He was charged in the 1950s with being an accomplice of Saddam Hussein, when the future tyrant was acquiring his taste for blood. He was investigated in the 1980s for his part in alleged bribes to the fabulously corrupt leaders of post-war Italy.”
Under threat of litigation, the Guardian admitted to “inaccuracies” in the articles. But is it an “inaccuracy” to acknowledge that the twice-convicted criminal and ex-con Auchi was indeed “investigated in the 1980s”?
Lucy Komisar details the contents of “a confidential 2001 report by Kroll, the international investigative agency…commissioned by Kuwait after the Gulf War in an attempt to locate Iraqi assets it could claim as compensation.”
Komisar explains:
Same source, too relative,must copy this too:
British-Iraqi billionaire lent millions of dollars to Barack Obama’s fundraiser just weeks before an imprudent land deal that has returned to haunt the presidential contender, an investigation by The Times discloses.
The money transfer raises the question of whether funds from Nadhmi Auchi, one of Britain’s wealthiest men, helped Mr Obama buy his mock Georgian mansion in Chicago.
A company related to Mr Auchi, who has a conviction for corruption in France, registered the loan to Mr Obama’s bagman Antoin “Tony” Rezko on May 23 2005. Mr Auchi says the loan, through the Panamanian company Fintrade Services SA, was for $3.5 million.
Three weeks later, Mr Obama bought a house on the city’s South Side while Mr Rezko’s wife bought the garden plot next door from the same seller on the same day, June 15.…
Mrs Rezko’s purchase and sale of the land to Mr Obama raises many unanswered questions.
It is unclear how Mrs Rezko could have afforded the down payment of $125,000 and a $500,000 mortgage for the original $625,000 purchase of the garden plot at 5050 South Greenwood Ave.
In a sworn statement a year later, Mrs Rezko said she got by on a salary of $37,000 and had $35,000 assets. Mr Rezko told a court he had “no income, negative cash flow, no liquid assets, no unencumbered assets [and] is significantly in arrears on many of his obligations.”
Asked if she used money from her husband to buy the land next to Mr Obama’s house, she said: “I can’t answer these questions, I’m sorry.”
Asked how long she and her husband had known Mr Auchi, she replied: “I will not be able to answer this question.”
Mr Auchi’s lawyer, asked whether the Fintrade Services loan was used to buy the land which became Mr Obama’s garden, stated: “No, not as far as my client is aware.”
Although the Carter-Ruck letter did not touch on the issue, Auchi is also alleged to have involvement with several questionable business deals in the new Iraq. A 146 page report to the Pentagon Inspector General posted on Wikileaks is described by Washington Times investigative journalist Bill Gertz who writes:
A 2004 Pentagon report obtained by The Washington Times identified Auchi as a global arms dealer and Iraqi billionaire “who, behind the facade of legitimate business, served as Saddam Hussein’s principle international financial manipulator and bag man.”
The report to the Pentagon inspector general stated that “significant
More:
Human Events reports that Auchi’s General Mediterranean Holdings financed a 250 megawatt power plant in the Kurdish town of Chamchamal, Iraq along with Rezko and Iraq’s former Minister of Electricity (and Chicago resident), Aiham Alsammarae.
Returning in 2003 to post-Saddam Iraq, Alsammarae had been made Minister of Electricity under the occupation government of Paul Bremer. Alsammarae escaped “the Chicago way” from the Green Zone in December, 2006 after being held for four months in relation to a $2 billion Iraqi reconstruction corruption case. He returned to his Chicago mansion.
Writing March 3, 2008 in Human Events’ John Batchelor reports on the Alsammarae-Obama-Rezko connection:
“…in April 2005, one month before Mr. Alsammarae left his post, his Ministry of Electricity signed a contract for $50 million with Companion Security to provide training to Iraqis to guard electrical plants by flying them to Illinois for classes.
“Companion Security was headed by a former Chicago policeman with a troubled history, Daniel T. Frawley, in partnership with Mr. Rezko and in association with Daniel Mahru, the lawyer for the original contract and Mr. Rezko’s former business partner. In April 2006, Mr. Frawley entered negotiations with Governor Rod Blagojevich’s staff to lease a military facility in Illinois to be a training camp. In August 2006, Mr. Frawley started negotiations with Mr. Obama’s U.S. Senate staff to complete the contract….
“The timeline of Companion discussions in 2006 is important to note: April 2006 Frawley speaks to governor’s office; August 2006 Frawley speaks to senator’s office; October 2006 indictment of Rezko revealed; October 2006 Rezko arrested upon return from Syria; October 2006 Alsammarae convicted in Baghdad and makes his first escape attempt; December 2006 Alsammarae escapes from Baghdad. …
“(In 2004) Mr. Auchi traveled by private aircraft to Midway Airport in Chicago and then to a fete at the Four Season Hotel, where he met with his business partner in Chicago real estate, Mr. Rezko, as well as with Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Also present that night, according to a fresh report by James Bone and Dominic Kennedy of the London Times, was State Senator Barack Obama, who had recently won the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate seat….”
Jay Stewart of the Better Government Assn. in Chicago told the LA Times: “Everybody in this town knew that Tony Rezko was headed for trouble. When he got indicted, there wasn’t a single insider who was surprised. It was viewed as a long time coming. . . .Why would you be having anything to do with Tony Rezko, particularly if you’re planning to run for president?”
How much could a US President be influenced by his dealings with Rezko and his associates?
If you have any other info you feel you can share post sent it to me and I'll post it anonymously.
FROM:
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=297588&;
n 24 hours this weekend, and police say they have no suspects in custody.
All seven victims were men in their 20s or 30s, and all were shot to death.
The shootings occurred between 6:15 a.m. Saturday and just before 6 a.m. Sunday.
Got it...Movin on up....to Chicago! IIRC you’ll find that the “progressive democrats” is the name that the communist in Chicago took to sound more respectable and electable.
FROM
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2262476/posts
Ex-congressman’s brother tasted political victory behind the scenes
by Gordon Russell, The Times-Picayune
Saturday May 30, 2009, 10:56 PM
At first glance, Mose Jefferson embodies an archetype of American politics: the man who makes a living, and a life, by attaching himself like a parasite to a famous and powerful relative fortunate enough to win office. The truth is more complicated. While his once-formidable stroke was derived from the political success of his younger brother, former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, the reverse was true as well.
For it was Mose Jefferson, 66, who cut his teeth on politics first, learning the tricks of the trade as a Democratic Party field lieutenant in one of Chicago’s most storied — some would say notorious — political operations before returning to steer his brother’s campaigns in New Orleans.
He learned the craft well. Detractors and admirers alike agree that from the xearly 1980s until Hurricane Katrina, Mose Jefferson was one of the city’s premier political tacticians. The organization he ran, the Progressive Democrats, with William Jefferson as its standard-bearer, grew into one of the city’s most potent forces.
Alinsky NTIC to pay $550K to settle Fed claim
Chicago business powered by Crains ^ | 6-3-09 | Lorena Yue
Posted on Wednesday, June 03, 2009
FROM:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2264218/posts
The National Training and Information Center was accused by the U.S. attorney’s office in a 2006 federal lawsuit of violating the federal False Claims Act when it used some of the millions it received from a division of the U.S. Department of Justice to lobby members of Congress with hopes of securing more grants. Federal law prohibits the use of federal funds to curry favor with congressmen or congressional employees in connection with a grant.
NTIC, 810 N. Milwaukee Ave., did not admit liability as part of the settlement, which was reached on May 29 and announced Wednesday by the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago.
“We didn’t think we violated (federal) regulation,” said Tom Geoghegan, NTIC’s lawyer. “We just determined it was better to resolve the matter now and move on.”
The group, founded by the late legendary grass-roots activist Gale Cincotta, was instrumental in the creation of the Community Reinvestment Act (1977), which required banks to lend in disadvantaged neighborhoods. It still lobbies on behalf of those areas, but also promotes and supports the creation of grass-roots organizations throughout the country.
NTIC was given more than $3 million between 2000 and 2002 in federal grants that were to be used in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice’s community justice empowerment program. That program was to help community-based groups revitalize and redevelop neighborhoods by combating crime, violence and drug use.
The U.S. attorney’s office claimed in its civil lawsuit that NTIC spent $207,131 of that federal grant money for staff and others to attend mandatory training conferences in Washington, D.C. A March 2008 report from the Office of Inspector General on NTIC’s activities during those meetings claims that the group attempted to conceal that it was holding lobbying-related sessions instead of general training.
“Although the activities on the official agendas for these conferences appeared legitimate and reimbursable under the terms of the grant, our review of internal documentation, such as preliminary agendas, planning notes and post-event evaluations, revealed that these events focused on planning and conducting prohibited lobbying activities and that NTIC officials attempted to hide this from” the U.S. Department of Justice, the report said.
Got it attached: LIST OF CHICAGO ISLAMIC CENTERS
10-4
Mag, It looks like you’ve got her number...Wish fox news would pick this up, Try sending it to special@ foxnews.com Bret Baier seems to be listening.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CORRUPTION & CRONYISM
................
(no link)
DALEY SETTLES ON GHOST CHECK STORY - MAYOR SAYS COUNSEL FIRST TOLD HIM ABOUT REPAYMENTS LAST WEEK
Chicago Tribune - Wednesday, January 29, 1997
Author: Jacquelyn Heard, Tribune Staff Writer.
Mayor Richard Daley said Tuesday that he did not know until last week that a former alderman had repaid the city $91,000 he had obtained as a ghost payroller on three City Council committees, including the Finance Committee led by Ald. Edward Burke (14th).
Daley said City Corporation Counsel Susan Sher did not notify him of the reimbursements from former Ald. Joseph Martinez (31st), even though they were accompanied by letters addressed to Daley
Sher has said that she was so alarmed by the payments that she immediately contacted federal authorities.
“Last week, Susan Sher came in and mentioned it to me when I got back from Washington,” Daley said.
Sher could not be reached for comment.
(snip)
//
(no link)
CITY’S TOP LAWYER LEAVING POST TO BECOME U. OF C. HOSPITALS VP
Chicago Tribune - Tuesday, February 11, 1997
Author: Jacquelyn Heard, Tribune Staff Writer.
Having informed Mayor Richard Daley that she will soon be leaving his administration, City Corporation Counsel Susan Sher said Monday that she will miss what she called the toughest job she has ever held.
As an 8-year veteran of the city’s legal department and its top lawyer since 1993, Sher, 48, oversees a staff of 160
But on May 1, Sher said she will begin a new job as vice president and general counsel at the University of Chicago Hospitals, where she will supervise a legal staff of four.
“Most jobs are slower-paced than City Hall,” said Sher, whose bid to become a federal judge in 1995 was backed by Daley, but failed to attract the backing of U.S. Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun.
While not ruling out another bid for the federal bench at some point, Sher said she took the post at the hospital because, “I think the hospital is a wonderful institution. It’s a great opportunity.”
It doesn’t hurt that the job also comes with tuition breaks for her two sons, ages 11 and 15, to attend the University of Chicago Lab School.
Sher is paid $112,000 a year as corporation counsel and declined to comment on her new pay, except to say it represents a “substantial pay increase.”
Sher maintains that it is “pure happenstance” that her decision to leave City Hall coincides with the current federal ghost payrolling investigation and the controversy involving Ald. Edward Burke (14th), chairman of the City Council Finance Committee.
(snip)
//
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0704220038apr22,0,3860794.story
Barack’s rock - Obama ‘s blunt, tough partner Michelle helps shape her husband’s politics and life and is integral to his campaign
Chicago Tribune (IL) - Sunday, April 22, 2007
Author: Christi Parsons, Bruce Japsen and Bob Secter, Tribune staff reporters
EXCERPT
At City Hall, Michelle Obama forged close and lasting friendships with Jarrett and many other top Daley aides, including former Corporation Counsel Susan Sher and David Mosena, who was the mayor’s chief of staff when Michelle Obama first joined his administration. She left in 1993.
All have long since left the city payroll as well, but are loyal to the mayor and now the Obamas. Their careers also have frequently overlapped, and together they make up a network that reaches into virtually every aspect of Chicago politics.
After leaving City Hall, Jarrett went on to lead the Chicago Transit Authority. She recruited Michelle Obama to the transit agency’s citizen advisory committee. Mosena, who now is president of the Museum of Science and Industry, served with Obama on the Commission on Chicago Landmarks.
Currently, she works as the $273,618-a-year vice president for community and external affairs at The University of Chicago Medical Center. Her boss there is Sher.
City Hall records show Michelle Obama , then still named Robinson, began work as a $60,000-a-year mayoral assistant in September of 1991. She didn’t stay long in the mayor’s office. Within weeks, Daley promoted Jarrett to run the new Department of Planning and Development. Obama followed.
//
Susan Sher, associate counsel to the president and counsel to the first lady, previously brought home $718,477 from the University of Chicago Medical Center, where she was general counsel and vice president for legal and governmental affairs.
“Like many Arab Americans, Rezko had close ties to the Nation of Islam, which sympathized with the Palestinian and Arab causes. He became close to the inspiring icons like Muhammad Ali and even young Obama, a little-known state legislator who later rose to stardom.”
Rezko is representative of a recent trend in Chicago politics: the rise of Arab wheeler-dealers as corruption catalysts.
The elites of the African-American and Arab communities may tend to agree on foreign policy. But down on the street, relations are hostile. The Arab immigrants, who are best known in Chicago as middle-man merchants operating liquor stores and the like in the ghetto, much like the Koreans in South Central Los Angeles at the time of the 1992 riots, are too hated by black voters to win political power for themselves through the ballot box. Hence their leaders tend to play shadowy roles in Chicago politics.
Rezko kept a sharp eye out for upcoming black political talent who could provide a politically correct front for him. Rezmar offered Obama a job in 1990. He didn’t take it, but that was the beginning of a long and mutually beneficial friendship between Rezko and the man who is now the Democratic Presidential nominee. Rezko paid for 15 percent of Obama’s first campaign, and Obama looked out in the state senate for Rezko’s interests in low-income housing and in packing the state’s hospital construction board.
Contract set-asides for minorities provide a lucrative opening for crooks like Rezko. The demand for “diversity” provides an excuse for a thumb on the scales, a justification for diverting the contract from the lowest bidder to a political ally who employs a minority frontman. Most of America’s pundit class hasn’t figured this out yet, but Rezko grasped how “diversity” works soon after getting off the plane. (Indeed, multicultural America is becoming ever more like the Ottoman Empire, giving an advantage to immigrants from old Ottoman mercantile minorities.)
Chicago explained: “Rezko ran Jabir Muhammad’s firm, Crucial Concessions. Under Mayor Washington [remember that fundraiser?], Crucial won the concessions to sell food at city beaches.”
Now I know why Chicago beach concession food in the 1980s was so untasty. The municipal hot dog stands were managed by the Nation of Islam and Tony Rezko!
Muhammad and Rezko worked the same minority set-aside scam with several high-grossing Panda Expresses at O’Hare airport. The Chicago Sun-Times reported on March 17, 2005:
“Two restaurants at O’Hare Airport have been allowed to rake in millions of dollars, even though the Daley administration learned back in 2002 that the company running them was probably a phony minority “front” for Panda Express and Antoin “Tony” Rezko, a top fund-raiser for Gov. Blagojevich. Crucial Inc. won the O’Hare concessions in part because it was certified as a minority-owned business. Its largest shareholder was listed as Jabir Herbert Muhammad, son of the late Nation of Islam founder, Elijah Muhammad. … The [Chicago minority contractor] program has been tarred by a relentless string of scandals…”[City ignored possible O’Hare ‘front’ for years, By Chris Fusco, Fran Spielman And Michael Sneed]
Jabir and Tony also got a $10 million affirmative action contract from SBC, the giant phone company whose president was William Daley, Mayor Richie Daley’s brother, to run the payphones at the Cook County jail. Their designated owner-operator was a twofer under the quota of 35 percent of contracts reserved for minority and women-owned businesses: a black woman named Deloris Wade, although she happened to be dead.
Building on these black Chicago roots, Rezko eventually became the statewide power behind the throne when the Democrats swept to victory in the 2002 elections. Chicago Magazine reported:
“Rezko became a virtual one-man headhunting firm for staffing the Blagojevich administration, sending along recommended candidates, many of whom ended up getting appointments. … (The U.S. attorney here has charged that Rezko schemed to pack the government with his cronies so that they could peddle their influence.)”
Diversity sensitivity also provides a convenient justification for corruption:
http://www.vdare.com/sailer/080901_chicago.htm
MORE at posts:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2268284/posts?page=1
Meet America’s first Muslim: It’s a real scream
canadafreepress ^ | June 8, 2009 | Paul Williams
Posted on Tuesday, June 09, 2009 4:51:43 PM by givemELL
Timothy Drew is not a subject of black history month. He has not been the subject of a PBS documentary nor a critical biography. Most history professors, even at prestigious black universities, know little about him. But few African American leaders have cast a larger shadow. Without Drew, there would be no black leaders such as Elijah Mohammed, Malcolm X, Mukasa Dada, Stokely Carmichael, H. Rap Brown, or Louis Farrakhan; no organizations such as the Black Power Movement, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Death Angels, or the New Black Panthers; no rap and hip-hop artists such as Public Enemy, Ice Cube, KRS-One, X-Clan, or Lauryn Hill; and no Barack Hussein Obama.
By 1913, Timothy Drew, now known as Noble Drew Ali, managed to convince hundreds of Newark Negroes that they were not the descendants of African slaves, but the sons and daughters of Berber Moors, the very Moors who had introduced slavery to the Ivory Coast. In 1913, he opened what is reportedly the first mosque in America - - the Holy Moabite Temple of the Science of the World, also known as the Canaanite Temple. “The Moors were living up and down the Mississippi River before the European man came to them,‚” Drew told his flock. “The bananas were large and the grapes were four-in-hand. It took two men with hand sticks to carry a bunch of grapes.‚”1
No one within the Moorish Science Movement came to realize that the
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2270054/posts
Political consultant John Ruff dies in auto accident (Key Figure in Burris Perjury Trial)
Chicago Sun Times ^ | June 9, 2009 | DAVE McKINNEY
Posted on Thursday, June 11, 2009 7:54:47 PM by callisto
SPRINGFIELD — A key figure in the perjury investigation of U.S. Sen. Roland Burris died in an automobile accident Monday, authorities in far west-suburban Kendall County confirmed Tuesday.
John Ruff, of Sandwich, Ill., was killed shortly before 3 p.m. when his 2001 BMW convertible crossed an oncoming lane of traffic and collided with a tree while he was driving eastbound on Rogers Road near Oak Brook Road in unincorporated Plano, said Kendall County Sheriff’s Deputy Richard Pearson.
John Ruff, a key figure in the perjury investigation of U.S. Sen. Roland Burris was killed in an automobile accident Monday in Kendall County. He was 42-years-old. (Jean Lachat/Sun-Times)
Police have ruled out alcohol as a cause of the crash, but toxicology results won’t be known until a coroner’s inquest in mid July.
Pearson said there were no witnesses to the crash nor was there evidence of any other vehicles involved. There were no skid marks on the road.
“We have absolutely no idea what caused Mr. Ruff’s vehicle to veer off the roadway,” Pearson said.
Deputy Kendall County Coroner Jacquie Marcellis told the Sun-Times that Ruff died of blunt head and chest trauma. No autopsy is planned.
Marcellis said that a friend of Ruff’s indicated to her that he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor, though it was unclear whether that had any bearing on the crash.
“Obviously, one of the effects of a brain tumor is you have seizures. It could have been an issue for him,” she said.
Ruff, 42, was the subject of a March 6 front-page story in the Sun-Times in which he issued an apology for being a co-plaintiff with Burris in a lawsuit seeking to force Secretary of State Jesse White to certify Burris’ controversial late-December appointment by impeached ex-Gov. Blagojevich.
Ruff, a health-care and political consultant, raised the prospect of a possible quid pro quo between Blagojevich and Burris, recounting a telephone conversation with Burris’ business partner Fred Lebed, who allegedly told Ruff on the date of Burris’ appointment, “We’ll have to do some things for the governor.”
Ruff also said he recalled Lebed telling him he’d had discussions about Burris’ interest in the Senate appointment with Blagojevich representatives — lobbyist John Wyma, now-indicted chief of staff John Harris and former chief of staff Lon Monk — as early as October.
...snip...
STOLEN: It’s the Chicago way......Trying to keep all the dots together in one place...SO folks can connect them at their leisure....anything else you want to add to the site would be appreciated.
Veeery nice place to have an ‘accident’. The middle of freaking NOWHERE! Its no wonder there were no witnesses. I looked this location up in Google Maps and its alllll farmland & woods. But the article is slightly wrong, the location is in Newark, IL 60541, not unincorporated Plano. But it IS ‘near’ the Plano School Dist 88.
But the *odd* things about this are:
He was going eastbound on Rogers Rd - away from his house in Sandwich, IL.
Going East on Rogers @ Oakbrook Rd is approaching a Main Cross Intersection, Whitfield Rd.
He should have been slowing down or getting ready to, depending how close he was to Oakbrook Rd. As Whitfield is the ‘main road’ and he’d have to stop. Rogers Rd dead ends shortly after Whitfield Rd.
If he was going the speed limit, hitting a Tree Head on should NOT have killed him, especially in a BMW. Seat belt or not.
Another ‘funny thing’ is in the ‘good old days’ The Chicago Outfit would (cough) ‘get rid of’ people in this type of area. One couple who crossed the Mob were chased down in their car and shotgunned to death right in this area, again, no witnesses. And the Spilotro bros (Tony & Michael) were found in a Farm Field straight east of here in Indiana, as replayed in the movie Casino(1).
Now I’m not saying this was a Hit but this thing smells of dead fish.
(1) Except in real life they were killed in a Chi suburb (Elmhurst) house basement. And the Mobsters who botched the burial were also whacked. (sigh.... I love the old Mob, they had scruples)
[I always wanted to be a Wiseguy]© Goodfellas
65 posted on Friday, June 12, 2009 8:41:57 AM by Condor51 (The difference between
Great post, Have stolen it to try to keep all the CHicago Crime material in one place.(It’s the CHicago Way!)....
Feel free to connect some dots or add other material to the site. (More material on Daley, Alderman and Obama early in the thread.)
FROM:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2271104/posts
More comments there.
Obama Learned Power Politics From The Daleys
American Thinker ^ | June 13, 2009 | Lee Cary
Posted on Saturday, June 13, 2009 11:25:55 AM by Reagan Man
Old guard Beltway politicos marvel at Obama’s skill at concentrating power. He learned it from the Daley’s.
Chicago is nicknamed “the City that works.” The Office of the Mayor, where power has been centralized, sees to it that it “works.”
“More recently, decentralization has been mitigated by the informal concentration of power and influence in the person of the mayor. This is commonly recognized as the Chicago political machine, founded by Mayor Anton J. Cermak (1931–1933), developed by Mayor Edward J. Kelly (1933–1947), and perfected by Mayor Richard J. Daley (1955–1976).
Daley’s control of Democratic Party ward organizations permitted him to dominate the city council and thereby expand his authority. In 1956, state legislation removed the responsibility for initiating the city budget from the council and placed it in the mayor’s office. This allowed the mayor, rather than council politicians, to establish the city’s financial priorities. Daley also began to whittle away at independent sources of aldermanic authority, by, for example, taking over the “driveway permit” power (each minor construction permit required an individual bill passed by council) and professionalizing and centralizing ward services under his office. New state legislation also increased the mayor’s authority over departments and the various urban renewal agencies dealing with city planning and construction.
Later mayors, however, were less able to usurp the official power residing in the city council. Jane M. Byrne (1979–1983) was elected as a reformer but quickly recognized the need to ally with regular party leaders in the council. In Harold Washington’s [first African-American mayor of Chicago] first three years of office, city council opponents marshaled a majority of votes to stymie his policy objectives and usher in the paralyzing “Council Wars” Only his veto power kept the council from completely ignoring his agenda until his supporters won a majority in special council elections in 1986. Mayor Richard M. Daley (1989–) has continued a functional aspect of his father’s machine politics, using his campaign organization and network of fundraisers to offer advantages to selected aldermanic candidates.” (Source)
The Chicago City Council is the Mayor’s rubber stamp – a brokerage house for distributing patronage and favoritism that masquerades as bad legislative theater. The Mayor runs the whole show.
Similarly, up until now the U.S. Democrat-dominated Congress has been subservient to the President. We’ll watch the Health Care decision to see if that relationship continues. Obama’s reliance on “czars” accountable only to him is akin to the functioning of the City of Chicago Departments.
Now that he’s inside the Beltway, instead of dealing with lethargic career bureaucrats ensconced in the assortment of Cabinet Department silos – like herding cats – Obama is establishing his own parallel bureaucracy answerable only to him. Hence the platoon of czars. Daily, many Cabinet positions are becoming merely ceremonial.
So where did he learn about the inner workings of the Mayor’s Office?
Barack Obama was a law student at Harvard in 1990 when Rezko’s low-income housing development company offered him a job. He declined. Two years later he returned to Chicago to work on a voter registration drive while he figured out what to do next.
Next came in 1993 when he joined a law firm that represented subsidized housing developers eager to tap into government funds available to reconstruct public housing. Mayor Richard M. Daley planned to tear down Chicago’s old, dilapidated public housing stock and build new units. It promised government housing renovation on a massive scale.
At Davis Miner Barnhill & Galland, Allison Davis was Obama’s boss and tutor in the legalities of government subsidized housing. (Source)
Obama learned much from Allison Davis.
He also learned from Michelle Obama. She once worked in the Office of the Mayor. Her boss was Valerie Jarrett, today a senior advisor in the White House, and the one who was favored by Obama to follow in his senatorial footsteps, until Blago went off the reservation.
So it helps to understand the functioning of the Office of the President today if we view it through the Office of the Mayor of Chicago. Similarities abound.
FROM:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2271291/posts?page=1
Chicago) Mayor Daley Nephew Linked to Warehouse Lease
CBS 2 CHICAGO ^ | 13 JUNE 2009 | AP
Posted on Saturday, June 13, 2009 7:25:21 PM by Extremely Extreme Extremist
A published report says a company co-owned by Mayor Richard Daley’s nephew used Chicago pension funds to buy a warehouse that was later leased by the city for nearly $500,000.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports in its Sunday editions that Robert Vanecko’s company, DV Urban Realty Partners, invested $4.2 million of pension funds in a southwest side warehouse in November 2007. The newspaper says that ever since, the city has leased the facility to store dump trucks.
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