What Would Have Happened If Chris Columbus Had Stopped to Ask Directions?

Once again it is Monday and here I am with my Views From the 14th Floor. Yes, boys and girls this is the blog that dares to ask the hard questions. "When have your t-shirts' underarms gotten so yellowed from sweat stains that you should throw them out? How many holes are allowable in your underwear and how large can they be before you throw them out? How long can a person reasonably wear a pair of gym shoes at a public gym before it is no longer socially acceptable?" Now, my readership is divided into two camps, male and female. I would be willing to wager that the female component is at this point thinking, "EWWWW!" Meanwhile, most of the males are thinking, "Good question. I've often pondered these issues as well." And no doubt they have. Trouble is I sometimes pose these great questions but have no real answers. If you have any, there is space at the end of each of these posts for commentary. Feel free. I may very well need to make a trip to Macy's to replace various undergarments, and possibly my running shoes. However, I have larger fish to fry today.

Today is Columbus Day and like many government employees that means a three day weekend. I read in the newspaper today that the modern version of Columbus Day was created during The Great Depression by FDR because he thought we needed another public holiday. October 12 is, ostensibly, the day on which Christopher Columbus first set foot in America. Of course we all know that Chris never actually set foot in North or South America, but on various islands south and southeast of North America. So really Chris Columbus really didn't discover America, as much as he discovered the gold mine that is tropical tourism in the Caribbean.

Chris Columbus was a very bad tourist, more like a forewarning of things to come, the Conquistadors. (And no Conquistadors is not the name of a punk band, although it might make a good name for one.) The funny thing is, when I was a child (Some, my wife for instance, might say that I have yet to emerge from childhood, but that's another issue.) I was taught that Christopher Columbus was a visionary, out there to prove that the world was round when ignorance of that fact abounded. He was a man with a vision and a quest to be quested.

Well, as it happens Chris Columbus, who sailed on Spanish ships for the Spanish crown, was an Italian, and he had a vision alright. He had a vision of great wealth. Trouble was, no one in Italy would invest in his vision, nor would anyone in France or Portugal or anywhere else but Spain. I don't know if Isabella thought he was cute or what, but she got talked into giving him a little cash and three ships. She talked Ferdinand into going along.

Off went Chris Columbus and crew in the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria, thinking they would reach Asia in a month or two. Boy was he lost. People used to think that he landed on the island of San Salvador. Current thinking is that he landed somewhere in the Bahamas. Apparently he couldn't afford a condo, so he took a bunch of natives prisoner and went back to Spain.

What we now know is that Chris, not only didn't discover America, but a bunch of islands off the coast, and the natives there seem to think that they discovered them first, but we also know that Vikings, not Minnesota Vikings, but Viking Vikings from Scandinavia (Now we know them as Norwegians, Swedes, and Danes.) landed in North America (Canada really) several hundred years before Chris Columbus even thought of sailing westward to reach the East. Trouble was the Vikings, being practical people decided that fighting with the natives all the time wasn't worth the effort, especially if you had to live in Canada. Had the Vikings discovered Martinique, say, they might have stayed.

At any rate, the important thing about Chris Columbus is that his arrival began the coming of the Europeans to America in droves, and not going away. They took over. It should be noted here that in some states with large Native American populations, they celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day and not Columbus Day. Columbus brought the priests and the soldiers, and America was never the same afterwards. "There goes the neighborhood," so to speak.

The thing is, the Europeans believed themselves to be superior. They were Christians and they believed that it was their duty to Christianize people with other religions. Some didn't really want to be Christianized. They died. They had superior technology. The Scientific Revolution had come to Europe. They thought it was their duty to civilize less advanced cultures. Some didn't really want to be civilized. They died. And then they had lots of diseases that indigenous peoples had never been exposed to. Nobody wanted those, and guess what? Millions of them died.

The Republican across the hall at work likes to remind me that it was not just the force of superior arms (Guns and cannons and stuff) that gave America to the Europeans. It was the fact that European nations had full-time armies. Most nations in those days had only citizen armies to protect themselves. The Native Americans often had to leave their farms and their villages and go to fight, leaving the villages to take care of themselves, or not. The Europeans had full-time farmers and businessmen and people back home taking care of the economy while full-time soldiers did their full-time jobs, conquering and killing people.

I got to thinking about this aspect, as described by the Republican across the hall, today. And it occurred to me that during the George W. Bush years, this nation was committed to one war in Iraq and another in Afghanistan. Both required thousands upon thousands of soldiers. The manpower needs of the war went beyond what was available in the full-time professional army that the U.S. had. More men were needed. In previous generations a draft would have been instated. Yet the lesson of the draft during the Vietnam War gave the nation's leadership pause and they opted to call up regiment after regiment of guess what? Citizen soldiers who had to leave their jobs and their families and their villages to go off and fight so there would be no draft to protest, as in Vietnam.

If one follows the logic of the Republican across the hall, we have made our nation more vulnerable to attack from the outside. We are not using a full-time professional army, but citizen soldiers who fight in a time of dire need. The best and the brightest are taken from their positions in the civilian world to fight and die. Are we turning ourselves into a nation ripe for the pickings by a nation with a full-time professional army who are trained to conquer and kill, while their industry and farms continue with full manpower? Oh, probably not. We have nuclear weapons and high tech stuff that is mind boggling. Yet still, it gives one pause. Perhaps we should not commit our country to military engagements that are so large that we do not have the available manpower, unless we are dead serious and willing to commit the nation to those engagements with the kind of manpower needed. That is to say, if you're not willing to draft the men and women needed to carry out such a mission, it's probably not worth draining our resources from home to meet those needs via a back door draft (Calling up the Reserves and National Guard).

Following the logic of that argument, then perhaps it's time to get the heck out of Iraq, (I believe the President is planning for that end sometime next year.) and plan for an end to the mess in Afghanistan without committing more troops. I believe the mess in Afghanistan has spilled over into Pakistan, and is a problem for a lot of nations, not just the U.S. Perhaps the Russians, the Chinese, the Indians could take an interest in stopping the spread of radical Islamic fundamentalism and all that it represents. Perhaps it is enough in their interest that they too will commit a few troops to put the kabash on this mess.

All of that being said, I had a very nice day off from work. I did not celebrate the beginning of the European invasion of the Americas, nor did I partake of a Columbus Day mattress sale. I did, however, take advantage of an extra day off from work. For that I have to thank Chris Columbus. So a Happy Columbus Day to you all.

A Nobel Peace Prize for the President. How About That?

On my way to work this morning I heard that the President of the United States, Barack Hussein Obama had won the Nobel Peace Prize. Upon arriving at work, I immediately sent Babs an e-mail and told her. I thought about it a moment and knew that I had to tell the Republican across the hall. He constantly regales me with his righty viewpoint and I just thought it would be fun to irritate him a little with the news that the man he would like to see fail is getting respect from the international community (Even if he didn't bring home the Olympics to the U.S.).

The somewhat amazed response to the news, from the Republican across the hall was something on the order of "Grumble, grumble, grumble, don't see a single thing he's done to deserve that. Are the troops out of Iraq? Afghanistan? Grumble, grumble, grumble." It should be noted that he could probably be a competent Republican candidate, as his response falls perfectly in line with what many of the GOP politicians around the country have said. Of course another portion of the GOP elected have taken the President to task as a pursuer of peace because he has failed to jump at the opportunity to build up our troop presence in the Middle East, or put massive numbers of troops on the Iranian border.

One conservative commentator, Erick Erickson on RedState.com went so far as to suggest that Obama won because he was black. His statement went "I did not realize that the Nobel Peace Prize had an affirmative action quota for it, but that is the only thing I can think of for this news." The underlying racism behind a great deal of the criticism of the President becomes ever more obvious.

Apparently the Nobel Prize Committee appreciates that the current President of the "most powerful nation in the world" is winding down the war in Iraq, has not caved into every demand for ever more troops in Afghanistan, and is speaking of focusing on al-qaeda and not the Afghan situation per se. They seem to appreciate that he is open to negotiations and international cooperation rather than sword rattling and "big stick diplomacy." Apparently they appreciate the fact that the world is, on the whole, a safer place with a thinking individual in the White House rather than a man with a cowboy mentality and the idea that America can dictate to the world down the barrel of a gun.

This group, who has chosen to bash the President's recognition in international circles is the same group who just last week waxed ecstatic because he failed to bring home the Olympics for 2016. It is mind-boggling that an honor for our country, and not just for its President, has been bestowed here and the President's detractors attempt to get some political capital from it by further bashing him. The world community has chosen to recognize that our President, and by extension the U.S. as a whole, is trying to make the world a better place to live in, and a safer place at that. And this is reason to criticize him? What planet are these people from?

Even if you believe in your heart of hearts that Mr. Obama has not done enough to deserve this prize, I have to ask you, "In the year 2009, who in the world deserves it more?" Even if you believe in your heart of hearts that he has not done enough to deserve this, isn't it still an honor for him and our country? Doesn't it suggest that the world, as a whole, is a little less hostile toward the U.S.? Doesn't that bode well for our interactions with the rest of the world? Isn't that good opinion from the rest of the world good for us?

To the President's detractors I have to say, "Get over it people!" The economy is better since he was sworn in. Our relations with the rest of the world are better. If those detractors had an ounce of shame in them they would humbly beg forgiveness and say loudly and clearly, "Congratulations Mr. President. We're very proud of you. Now help us show the world that we deserve this honor."

Youth and Violence and Schools, Part II

Let's see. The rain has stopped, at least temporarily. I survived another day with rooms full of smart aleck teenagers with no clue of how to behave appropriately in a classroom environment, in a job environment, in any environment that doesn't involve nonstop swearing, screaming at the top of one's lungs, and making sexual references out of any innocent statement. Ah, that's why I get paid the big bucks I tell ya. It's all about socializing them, and if I teach them anything along the way, that's a bonus. Most of them will, no doubt remember my Yosemite Sam impressions and the time I sang "Happy Birthday" to the little girl in the front row. History? What's that?

Yesterday I mentioned that Ron Huberman was being touted in the New York Times for his plan for dealing with violence among teenagers who happen to be Chicago Public School students. What I didn't mention was that last week he was mentioned in the Chicago Sun-Times for his fiscal management while he was the head of the Office Emergency Management and Communication (The 911 center.). Apparently his oversights cost the city of Chicago $2.25 million in contracts with Motorola for products that have never been seen. This does not bode well for a guy who is supposed to continue the improvement of the Chicago Public Schools that was started by a guy named Paul Vallas and continued by a guy named Arne Duncan, who is now the Secretary of Education for the nation.

Speaking of Arne Duncan, Mr. Duncan weighed in recently on the violence among public school students and some accused him of creating some of the violence by closing some schools and sending their students to other schools in the name of Renaissance 2010, his plan for improving the public schools by closing failing schools and creating new schools with a better plan and approach. The argument goes that closing some schools and sending the students to other schools cause students to cross gang territories and introduce new gangs from other neighborhoods into the schools and neighborhoods where the students have been moved. As a result, it is argued, the conflict between existing gangs and newly introduced gangs at a school cause serious outbreaks of violence that was not there before.

Mr. Duncan called the charge ridiculous. Mr. Duncan does not work in a school on the Southside or Westside of Chicago. In point of fact some violence and disruption of school environments does occur when attendance boundaries are changed for students. Mr. Duncan's denial of these simple facts comes across as the denial of a man on the hill, looking over it all and seeing what he wants to see. Real actions have real life consequences that are not dreamed of in middle class and upper class think factories.

In point of fact, the culprit is not attendance boundaries or school reform efforts, however. The culprit is a society that produces large pockets of squalor, poverty, and need where gangs breed and thrive. A society that does not recognize its inequities encourages reaction. A society that does not offer some solution to the underlying causes encourages the situation to boil over. A society where the wealthy wall themselves off from these problems and denies having caused them is asking for trouble. These problems cannot be dealt with through police and arms. These problems must be dealt with through education, counseling, mentoring, jobs, and putting some time, money, and effort into communities that is not police to lock up perpetrators.

I believe that with Barack Obama as President and clear Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress we now have the best opportunity in my lifetime to address some of our country's social ills, that contribute to the violence among teenagers. We just cannot continue to be in denial about the root causes. We have to recognize those causes. We have to come up with real solutions for helping kids avoid the pitfalls. I'm tired of kids in blue and black colors on one side of the street and kids in red and black colors on the other, looking across the street angrily at one another. I'm tired of wondering when this staring match will result in one side pulling out a 9 mm Glock and starting the carnage once again. I'm tired of reading about a mother being devastated because her child was the innocent victim of thugs who were bad shots and missed their intended targets.

I speak as a teacher from Chicago, but I know that this is a national problem. We all need to get on board with this. It is not a teacher problem. It is not a school administrator problem. It is not a police problem. It is not the Secretary of Education's problem. It is not the President's problem. It is a problem that belongs to all of us as Americans. It may cost a little in tax dollars to deal with it, but in the long run it will be a hell of a lot cheaper than incarcerating and/or burying another generation of our youth.

Help Kids Become Productive or Lock Them Up?

For the past six years I have worked in a Chicago Public School that is located in a neighborhood that is best known locally for being a place where there are a lot of gang-related shootings. My school has attendance boundaries that place it at the crossroads of five different street gangs, some primarily African-American, some primarily Latino, and at least one that does not discriminate. The latter accepts thugs of all races and ethnicities.

A great deal of attention has been brought to the Chicago Public Schools recently because of the continuing patterns of violence, student against student. Students have been shot on city buses. Students are regularly shot while walking down the street because they belong to a gang and another gang targets them. Last week a student was beaten to death outside a high school because he happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and two rival gangs were having it out after school was out. He belonged to neither gang.

Two years ago one of the students at my school shot another student from my school while he was walking the two blocks from the bus stop to the school. The shooter had just changed gangs for some reason and was proving his loyalty by shooting a member of another gang. As it turns out he was a lousy shot and the young man that he shot was a member of neither gang. The Principal and Assistant Principal were both gone to a meeting that day and as the third in command, I was in charge that day. The entire school had to be put on lockdown, and crisis management had to be put into place to reassure the students in attendance that there was not going to be a gang war in the school or out in front of the school that afternoon.

In the Chicago Public Schools, the best and brightest, the most promising students are siphoned off and sent to magnet schools, college preparatory schools, schools for the gifted and talented. The students who are academically challenged don't get into those schools and they go to neighborhood schools. These schools are full of kids from questionable homes, kids in special education, kids who belong to gangs and are more committed to the gang than school. An underlying current of anti-social behavior, larceny, and violence permeates many of them. It is the job of the staff at these schools to cull the ones who can be saved and give them the best education they can, to prepare them for some sort of productive future, hopefully involving post-secondary education. It's a difficult and often stressful job.

Amazingly, there are a lot of good kids who survive this environment and go on to live very ordinary lives as good citizens. We have to work at protecting them and guiding them. To do this we have to minimize the disruptive elements, the gang pressures, the disruptive behaviors in the classrooms, in the halls.

Today, at my school, there were a number of students who went on a field trip. As it turned out a number of the students who were gone were students who routinely add to the disruptive nature of the day. Another group of disruptive, anti-social sorts were just absent for whatever reason. There were maybe twenty-five or thirty kids absent from the mix, but the makeup of that twenty-five or thirty kids was such that today was a very peaceful, productive day in the life of the school. It made a difference.

Last week Marilyn Stewart, President of the Chicago Teachers Union, was quoted in the Chicago Sun-Times as supporting the funding of an alternative school where chronically disruptive students or those with criminal behaviors would be sent to receive appropriate counseling and behavior modification before being allowed to return to their regular schools. Apparently, some other cities have tried this approach with good results. The changed atmosphere in my school today because of the absence of a group of key troublemakers suggests that it would have a positive result in the neighborhood schools.

Meanwhile, on the front-page of the New York Times today, there was a very large article devoted to a program being advocated by Ron Huberman, the new CEO of the Chicago Public Schools. (The former CEO of the Chicago Public Schools is now the Secretary of Education, in Washington D.C.) Mr. Huberman commissioned a detailed statistical study to provide a profile of the most vulnerable students in this violence epidemic. Who are the ones most likely to be violent? Who are the most likely to be victims?

A plan, financed by $60 million in federal stimulus money is being started up to identify at risk students and provide them with adult mentorship, a paid job and a local advocate who would be on call for support 24 hours a day. This program would focus on mental health and prevention over security as has been traditional in efforts to deal with inner city violence among youth.

From a teacher viewpoint, I say "It's about time." I do not advocate lessening any police protection or security for the schools in question. This is still necessary. However, over time we may be able to ease up on the security efforts if kids get the counseling and assistance they need. Teaching and learning in schools goes only so far. Too many of our kids need something more. They need structure. They need socializing. They need counseling. They need nurturing that cannot come from an already overtaxed classroom. Our cemeteries and prisons are full to overflowing with those who did not get this assistance.

How do we go about helping the violent, the criminal youth? Do we use the methods advocated by the Chicago Teachers Union? Do we use the methods advocated by the CEO of the Chicago Public Schools? How about we get the two together and get them to jointly create a workable program. We're all here for the kids, and kids are the future of this nation. An investment in the counseling, the structure, the care will cost a lot less in the long run than the police protection and costs of incarceration for a large chunk of our population. And it will have long-term positive effects for our nation as a whole. Lower crime rates? Lower poverty rates? More productive neighborhood schools? Who can not get behind that? Invest in your country or risk seeing it become something less than a major world power, and good place to live.

The Amazing Adventures of Liberal Man

Last week I wrote about one-upping the Joneses and conspicuous consumption to the Nth degree. It was about AMEX black cards and the latest in "rubbing it in your face" just how wealthy you are. Well, as it turns out, not to be outdone by AMEX, Visa now offers a black card as well. It's not titanium like the AMEX card, but it's some kind of carbon compound, not plastic, or at least not wholly plastic. Today, one day shy of my 59th birthday, I received a pre-approved offer in the mail for a Visa Black Card.

This, to the guy who openly stated last week that he wished to downgrade to an ordinary green AMEX card and a plain old blue Visa. If there were a devil, this might be what he would do. "Just how serious are you Mr. Ray? Wouldn't you just like to flaunt how successful you've become to people? Don't you like having people look at you with that little extra bit of respect? How about it? The Black Visa is only $495 per year, $195 extra per year for the little woman. What do you say?"

I have one thing to say to that Devil. "What success? I'm a Chicago Public School teacher for goodness sakes, and I don't make a penny off this stupid blog. My wife is a writer. Think we're getting rich? The only way we live as we do is the fact that we don't have kids. And who are you referring to as 'the little lady' buster? And $690 per year for what? A credit card that has a higher credit limit and a couple of percs thrown in? Get thee out Satan!"

However, that's not really what I intended to write about tonight. What I really intended to blather on about is the fact that a friend (who shall remain nameless) observed that I've been spending an inordinate amount of time bemoaning the fact that Chicago lost the 2016 Olympics to Rio, or going on about Black Cards and stuff, and not spending nearly enough time taking right-wing nuts to task for making a big deal out of President Obama going to Copenhagen to pitch the Olympics bid in the company of Chicago Mayor Daley and Oprah and assorted others.

I thought about this and perhaps she was right. (Oops. Now you know the person in question was female, but still nameless. However, if you narrow it down to 35-40 of my closest Facebook friends, well you get the picture.) I may be guilty of dereliction of duty as a card carrying liberal blogger. You know what this means. Don't you? Really.

This is a job for Liberal Man! Faster than a speeding NRA bullet. More powerful than a right-wing talk radio host. Able to leap tall Republicans with the aid of a trampoline. It's Liberal Man! Stand in awe ye right wing cretins! Welcome to the Amazing Adventures of Liberal Man1

When last we left Liberal Man he was being beset by right-wingers claiming the President has better things to do than go off to Copenhagen and try to sell the IOC on Chicago as a site for the 2016 Olympics. "There is the National Healthcare debate. There is the War in Afghanistan. We still have troops in Iraq. Iran is building nukes. National unemployment is at 9.8%. The President has embarassed our nation on the international stage."

Liberal Man strokes his chin hairs in thought. "Well maybe you have a point...."

A voice is heard from the audience, "Wait Liberal Man. Don't waffle. You must be strong. Remember that seeing both sides is like kryptonite to all liberals. Step up. Show your cajones. Well, don't show them exactly. That would be gross, but let it be known that you have them."

Liberal Man hears the voice. He shakes off his revery. He speaks. "Where were you clowns when the previous President was clearing brush in Crawford, Texas? Where were you when Dick Cheney was busy selling the country to the corporate interests? Where were you when the government oversight of industry was being gutted and that led to the near collapse of the economy? Whap! Bam! Thwap! Besides, what's bad about the President trying to convince the world that the U.S.A. is a good place to hold the Olympics? Furthermore, I believe he conferred with several heads of state while he was there and spoke with NATO Generals about the war in Afghanistan. What have you done to help the country in the last couple of days?Had another affair with one of your campaign worker bimbos, much to the chagrin of your wife and supporters? Gotten yourself addicted to yet more prescription pain killers? Whack! Blammo! Pow!"

Liberal Man has them on the ropes ladies and gentlemen. It's looking good. No wait! The right has snuck up from behind and unleashed a sneak attack..."Take that Liberal Man! We know you once called yourself a Socialist. We know you once smoked marijuana at a party, and inhaled, (Gasp!)..."

Liberal Man is reeling ladies and gentlemen (No he hasn't been smoking marijuana. Hasn't done that in years and years.) Will he recover? Will he break the choke hold of Right Wing Nut? Stay tuned to this same channel to find out. This has been the Amazing Adventures of Liberal Man. And now for a word from our sponsor.

This program was brought to you by Cursory Cleaning Services, for those times when half-assed is good enough. Cursory Cleaning. "Nobody really looks that close, do they?"

Chicago: "I Don't Get No Respect, I Tell Ya."

Well the 2016 Olympics decision is over, and for whatever reason the games are going to Rio. Being a longtime Chicagoan, it is a little disappointing that Chicago lost out in the first round of voting. However, I, personally, and a lot of other Chicagoans are well prepared for such disappointments. We are Cubs fans. It's been over a hundred years since the Cubs played in the World Series and we have had our hearts broken over a hundred times. The Olympics? We'll get over it.

Indeed there is a lot to get over when you live in the City of Chicago. For over a hundred years we have been known as the Second City, as if there is a surprise inherent in being American that there is really more than one city in America. Ask any New Yorker what other real cities there are in America and you're likely to get a response that goes something like, "Well, there is Los Angeles, but that's really more like one big suburb, not a real city." While Chicago is indeed a "real city," to many East Coasters it's just one more of those towns firmly ensconced in fly-over territory.

To hear many people tell it, New York City is the home of sketch comedy. By now we are all familiar with, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night." Where do you suppose all of those people learned their comedy chops? Hmmm. By far the largest number of them rose through the ranks at Second City, the live improv theater company based in , you guessed it, Chicago.

For that matter, New York is usually thought of as the center of the theater universe in America. These days, however, when Broadway theaters aren't resurrecting some tired musical 20-30 years old, they are busy importing plays that were written and first produced in Chicago at Steppenwolf Theater. Ever hear of August Osage County? Superior Donuts? Steppenwolf as well. Steppenwolf trained actors include people from John Malkovich to Gary Sinise. The list is too long to go into the non-Steppenwolf actors who populate the big and small screen, though one of my faves has always been Jeri Ryan. She was great as the Borg Babe on Star Trek, The Next Generation. Hot! Hot! Hot! And her ex-husband, the aspiring Illinois politician, had his political dreams shattered because he was Kinky! Kinky! Kinky! Oh she got rid of him in big print in the papers. But that's a story for another day.

A few years back, Babs and I considered a move to Manhattan. Hey, it's the big stage. She was being considered for a job as the communications director of a think tank. I got certified to teach and to be an administrator in the New York Schools, and I interviewed for a couple of jobs. I was offered one of those jobs. Turns out though, the cost of living is outrageous and the pay scale is no more than it is here in Chicago. We stayed in Chicago and parlayed our stay into a view from the 14th floor of a place on Lake Shore Drive. Same money? Less cost? I'll take Chicago.

For that matter, there are a lot of other pluses in Chicago. We have 26 miles of uninterrupted lake front that is dedicated park land for the use of the public. We have alleys where the garbage is picked up, unlike New York where all the garbage is left out at the curb to stink and serve as an eyesore. We invented the skyscraper right here. We have more famous architecture than any other city in North America. We invented deep dish pizza. We are the honest to God home of the electric blues. Picasso gave us a 50 foot high sculpture because he loved the city. Can New York say that?

All in all, Chicago is a world-class city with more than its share of industry, art, and yes, urban grit. We love our city. We think the world should come and learn to appreciate it as well. A great many already do. Take a stroll down Michigan Ave. and the Magnificent Mile some summer day and listen to all the languages being spoken. Take a look out in front of the Mies Van der Rohe building where I live some Saturday morning and check out all the Japanese architecture geeks with their cameras. And yet the Olympics are going to Rio de Janeiro. We'll get over it. It's their loss.

Presidents, Olympics, and Picasso Sculptures

The President of the United States, the Prime Minister of Japan, the President of Brazil, and the King of Spain will all be at a meeting in Copenhagen tomorrow. But then their wives will all be there too, as will Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago and Oprah Winfrey. Man, they've brought out the big guns this time. What major world event is being brokered in Scandinavia? The Olympics for 2016, that's what.

It seems that the finalists for the 2016 Olympics are Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo, and Madrid. Seems like there were just recently in Spain and well who knows why, but Tokyo is kind of on the back burner in this one. The smart money is on either Chicago or Rio. Now I'm a little bit prejudiced in this matter, but I have to think that Chicago is getting the Olympics. By this time tomorrow I'll either be telling everyone I told you so, or I'll be telling everyone it was rigged.

Why would they go to Rio? Rio just had to cancel a World Cup Swimming Event because they couldn't come up with the cash to fund it. Every other day, I read something about crime in Rio. Brazil has come a long way economically, but they still have a small number of people with money and a whole lot of people in poverty. Then there is the pollution. Maybe if we could get the Brazilians to stop cutting down the Amazon Rainforest, it might be worth it to give them the games. Is that going to happen. Did I mention that it was in Brazil where a rancher killed a nun who dared to protest his cutting down of yet more rainforest?

Truthfully, there are some in Chicago who do not want the Olympics here. Just yesterday several protesters were arrested in a confrontation with the police at Daley Plaza. It seems that the promoters of the Olympics in Chicago had arranged for a huge Olympic medal to be hung around the neck of the 50 foot high Picasso sculpture in Daley Plaza. This sort of thing is a tradition here. Pictures of the Picasso with the big medal can be found in the Chicago Tribune, along with pictures of the same sculpture wearing Cubs hats, Sox hats, Bears hats, and assorted other indignities. As I recall, the lions in front of the Art Institute sported Chicago Bears helmets in honor of the Bears going to the Super Bowl in January 1986. Somebody stole the helmets, but they magically reappeared a couple of days later.

Anyway, several youths who looked like escapees from a G-20 protest were arrested while protesting the Chicago Olympics bid and trying to pull down the big medal from the Picasso. Maybe they were just mad that they couldn't make it to Pittsburgh to yell at the high level finance guys from all the biggest economies in the world and had to settle for this. At least one of them was chased down by one of those cops who patrol on bicycles. They were all charged with criminal damage to public property, blah, blah, blah.

At any rate, sending President Obama to Copenhagen has to play well. There are a lot of people in this country who seem to hate his guts. Some of them stand up during sessions of Congress and yell, "You lie!" Some of them post stupid things on Facebook like polls asking if people think he should be assassinated. It's amazing to me that after 8 years of George W. Bush, and his cadre of numbskulls who attempted to sell the entire country and all of its holdings to corporate America, that when we finally got an intelligent, competent, caring man who surrounds himself with other intelligent, competent, caring advisors, there are people in this country who think he is the worst thing to ever happen to the country. Meanwhile, most of the rest of the world is so damned relieved to have gotten rid of Bush and company and to have gotten a thoughtful, caring leader of the U.S., they are gushing their adoration. If anybody can sell the idea of an Olympics in Chicago, he's the man. In Washington, he has many enemies. In Copenhagen, they think he's just the cat's meow.

Did I mention that I have a 2 bedroom condo in downtown Chicago that just may be for rent in the summer of 2016? Go Chicago. Reasonable rates. Avoid the rush. Make your reservation now. Oh, and I really would like to see the Olympics in my lifetime. Chicago is a lovely city, really it is.