When prohibition outlawed the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages in 1920, many enterprising residents of tiny Templeton, Iowa, population 350, came together to create an American classic known as Templeton Rye Whiskey, or "The Good Stuff" to those in the know. 

The Templeton Rye Whiskey website weaves a magnificent tale of intrigue and mystery through the bootlegging years of Al Capone and the speakeasies of Chicago, Des Moines and Denver.  “The Untouchables” movie immediately came to my mind as the era was filled with smoke, bootlegged drinks in hand and Elliot Ness in constant pursuit of Al Capone.  Capone eventually found himself behind bars, but the ban on rye whiskey and alcohol in general continued. 

Available legally for the first time, the infamous small batch rye whiskey returns.  Rye whiskey is stronger than bourbon, yet smoother in flavor.  While still relatively difficult to find, American rye whiskey is emerging slow and strong.  Aged in charred new oak barrels and produced from the original Prohibition Era recipe, Templeton Rye provides a smooth finish and a clean getaway.  However, to enter the Templeton Rye Whiskey site you still have to knock loudly, get the once over from the man at the door and prove you are of age. 

Set your sites on Templeton Rye Whiskey.  You may purchase Templeton Rye locally or online.  Check the official site for availability.  For a preview of the cocktails in line for sampling when my review gets underway, go to Templeton Rye Cocktails in the recipes section.

So you should watch it! And if you're in the area, you should visit, because the haunt is TRULY SPECTACULAR. And it keeps Al Capone's old cell from becoming a parking space that would do PRECIOUS LITTLE to alleviate Philadelphia's horrendous parking predicament.

PLEASE TO BE WATCHING THE VIDEO HERE.  Because apparently it's no longer available on youtube. It's about 8 minutes of your life, and it's worth it.

Soooo yeah. Go, do. Basically it's a historical site during the rest of the year. Honestly, I did the day tour before I did the Halloween thing, and it was one of the creepiest things I've ever done in my life. The headphone tour is narrated by STEVE BUSCHEMI for some reason, and he really adds to the ambiance.

I stumbled across the ad on Craig's List, and working there for two years was absolutely one of the highlights of my adult life. They hire two hundred or so actors and actresses in late August and we start like the second week of September, when Halloween isn't in any sane person's thought bubbles yet. I showed up to the audition, and almost turned back because the building was so intimidating, and I couldn't believe a structure like this could exist in the middle of a major city.  They said something like "Give us your best blood-curdling scream", which is not something you typically hear at a job interview.

We had to have a dress rehearsal before the haunt can open, because there is an ENORMOUS amount of setup that goes into converting the historical site into the haunted house each night, and it all has to be broken down so that the historical site can open the next morning. The dress rehearsal is run like a regular night, but with no customers. We went through makeup, set up, did a fire drill, and then broke down, so we could all get a good idea of how long it would all take.

 So, okay, the fire drill. We all have radios, so all the different areas of the haunt can communicate with each other. Someone calls the drill from inside, and all two hundred of us file out and down to the next corner. There is only one entrance to the building, so all of us are in one huge zombie-cloud while this is happening. Oh, and here's the catch - when you're in costume, you aren't allowed to break character if you're in view of the public. So here I am, I'm 20, I'm fresh to Philadelphia, this whole experience has already been the wackiest thing I've ever done. I'm shy and terrified, I don't really know anybody and I'm in a zombie hotcop outfit.

Somebody calls the drill. Suddenly I find myself with 200 people shuffling down Fairmont all acting like zombies, IN EARLY SEPTEMBER. Of course, in my head, I was so humiliated I wanted to run back to my car weeping, but not a single head turned. I miss big cities.

On one actual Halloween night Mimi made us up like Geisha dolls, and people were more scared of us than they ever were when we were in "Character".

The building had no running water, and I'm allergic to baby wipes, so I had no way to take my makeup off after the haunt closed. I remember one night I was walking to my car, and a woman thought I was really bruised and bleeding, and she screamed and offered to call the cops.

And working there is serious. People got punched in the face trying to scare somebody, guests would throw stuff at you, or otherwise sexually, verbally, or physically harass you... One guy out front once threw a cup onto the DAMN NEAR 200 YEAR OLD high wall out front (maybe.. 9' tall?), and I told him I'd take his ticket ($30) if he didn't find a way to get up there and get it down. He wound up having his girlfriend boost him up onto the wall, and he lost his place in the line he'd been waiting in for two hours. I neglected to mention I had no authority to take his ticket. A-hole.

We had someone poop their pants inside. People had seizures. Some people got so scared by the actors outside that they refused to enter, despite their non-refundable $30 ticket. Some friends of mine were too scared to EVER go in.......... but I can't remember who.  =)  There was at least one fight in the crowd per day. Drunk people puked and fell down and got lost and tried to have sex... the list is endless, and it grew each night the haunt opened. It was the craziest thing I've ever been involved in, with the craziest people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting.

I MISS YOU GUYS.

The forecast remains on track with rain likely on Wednesday. The Hydrological Prediction Center has a revised QPF (rain amount forecast) that is advertising a greater rain amount for our area. If it is correct, then some folks may get more than the 1/2 inch to an inch rain total. That is good news. If you are looking for cooler, more fall like weather behind the front, then move or go on vacation because the air behind this front is generally no different than the conditions that we have had of late.

Tropical Storm Marco: Tropical Storm Marco is one tiny little guy.  Its the little

blob on the above satellite photo at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.  Norbert in the Pacific looks much better.  You will find the National Hurricane Center Forecast Discussion for Tropical Storm Marco below.  The forecaster calls it "minature  Marco" and suggests it may be the smallest tropical cyclone that he has ever seen with but a single cluster of convection.  This thing started off at the end of last week over the western Caribbean and wandered across

the Yucatan.  Monday morning it appeared over the extreme southern Bay of Campeche as a small circulation area and developed some decent winds.  There's a big fat high to the north of the system so it shouldn't do anything but move into Mexico and then fall apart, though the spaghetti models suggest that whats left of it gets caught up in a frontal boundary and rotates around through the flow into west Texas.  Its so small though I suspect it will not be a significant player down the road.  Incidentally, Marco as a central pressure of 998 mb.  When the remnant of Hurricane Ike passed west of Louisville and kicked up 40-60 mph winds with gusts to 75 mph for 4 or 5 hours, the pressure was 997 mb.

On This Date In History: Everyone has heard of Al Capone. In fact, old "scarface" is one of those figures in history that is interesting in that he has been remembered long after his death because he did bad things. Some with Billy the Kid who would probably just be described today as a thug. But think of all of the law-abiding people who go unnoticed in the annals of history. That leads us to Al Capone's brother. On this date in 1952, Al Capone's brother died. Jim Capone was quite the opposite from his brother. While Al was making millions in the 1920's bootlegging whiskey during Prohibition, Jim Capone was a law enforcement officer specializing in violators of...Prohibiition!

When Jim Capone was a boy, he ran away to join the circus. He traveled about the country and throughout Central America before arriving in Homer, Nebraska. For some unknown reason, he thought that Homer was a great place to live. So, he stayed in Homer and changed his name to Richard Joseph Hart. One reference claims that he chose Hart in reference to his cowboy film hero, William S. Hart. A flash flood struck the town and "Hart" rescued a man and his daughter. He then married the daughter. One source claims he served in World War I while another says that he "invented a war record and became the head of the local American Legion. He became known as "two gun Hart" because he wore guns on each hip, like a cowboy, and was said to be able to hit a bottle cap with a single shot from 100 feet with either hand. He became the town's marshal and then the sheriff.

I gotta tell ya, the history on this guy is not consistent. What seems to be true is that he became a Federal Prohibition agent and busted a bunch of stills and gained a reputation for being a tough guy. He joined the Bureau of Indian Affairs as a Prohibition Agent and was said to be quite rough. One story is that he killed an Indian in a barroom brawl in a saloon in Sioux City, Iowa. He was acquitted of any charges after the jury found out the dead guy was a bootlegger. He was re-appointed Homer's town Marshal but was fired after he was accused of a petty burglary while on night patrol. Broke, he appealed to his family for money and his brother Ralph began sending him a monthly check. It was only then in 1940 that he told his wife that his brother was Al Capone.

As I said, the history written on James Vincenzo Capone is very inconsistent. Nevertheless, there is one truth out there that is quite ironic: Al Capone broke Prohibition Laws and Jim Capone served to uphold Prohibition Laws and the law breaker is the famous one while the law enforcer remains largely forgotten. Here is a biography about Two Gun Hart and here is another biography of both Jim and Ralph Capone, though I cannot vouch for the veracity of either account.

TROPICAL STORM MARCO DISCUSSION NUMBER 3

NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL132008

1100 PM EDT MON OCT 06 2008

MINIATURE MARCO HAS MAINTAINED ONE SMALL COLD-TOPPED THUNDERSTORM CLUSTER...ABOUT THE SIZE OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE...OVER THE LOW-LEVEL CENTER. THEREFORE...THE INITIAL INTENSITY IS BEING KEPT AT 55 KT IN LINE WITH THE LAST AIR FORCE RECON DATA...EVEN THOUGH DVORAK SATELLITE CLASSIFICATIONS ARE T2.0/30 KT FROM BOTH TAFB AND SAB. I HAVE WORKED SOME TINY TYPHOONS IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC BEFORE...BUT HORIZONTALLY-CHALLENGED MARCO COULD BE THE SMALLEST TROPICAL CYCLONE ON RECORD. INITIAL MOTION ESTIMATE 295/06. MARCO HAS REMAINED ON THE PREVIOUS FORECAST TRACK...SO THERE IS NO CHANGE SIGNIFICANT CHANGE TO THE PREVIOUS FORECAST TRACK OR REASONING. MARCO IS EXPECTED TO MAINTAIN A GENERAL WEST-NORTHWESTWARD MOTION TO THE SOUTH OF A STRONG MID-LEVEL RIDGE PARKED OVER MOST OF THE GULF OF MEXICO...AND MAKE LANDFALL IN 18 HOURS OR SO. THE OFFICIAL FORECAST TRACK IS ROUGHLY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NHC MODEL GUIDANCE SUITE. ALTHOUGH MARCO MAY BE SMALL IN STATURE...IT HAS BEEN ABLE TO MAINTAIN DEEP CONVECTION NEAR THE SMALL CIRCULATION CENTER THAT ONLY HAS A RADIUS OF MAXIMUM WINDS OF ABOUT 4 NMI. SMALL SYSTEMS LIKE MARCO CAN SPIN UP QUICKLY...BUT THEY CAN ALSO SPIN DOWN JUST AS FAST. VERTICAL SHEAR IS FORECAST TO REMAIN RELATIVELY LOW AND SSTS ARE EXPECTED TO BE ABOVE 28C UNTIL LANDFALL IN ABOUT 18 HOURS. THEREFORE...SOME SLIGHT STRENGTHENING IS POSSIBLE. THE SHIPS MODEL BRINGS MARCO UP TO HURRICANE INTENSITY IN 12 HOURS...AND UP TO 71 KT IN 18 HOURS...WHICH SEEMS A LITTLE TO AGGRESSIVE AT THIS STAGE. THE OFFICIAL INTENSITY FORECAST IS A BLEND OF THE STRONGER HWRF AND THE WEAKER GFDL...WHICH KEEPS MARCO JUST BELOW HURRICANE STRENGTH.

FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS

INITIAL 07/0300Z 19.8N 95.4W 55 KT

12HR VT 07/1200Z 20.2N 96.4W 60 KT

24HR VT 08/0000Z 20.7N 97.8W 25 KT...DISSIPATING INLAND

36HR VT 08/1200Z...DISSIPATED INLAND OVER EASTERN MEXICO

$$ FORECASTER STEWART

Plato

Pros: One of histories great thinkers, he lived over 2,000 years ago yet his name is still a household name. He has the one name recognition powers of Cher and Madonna. Many credit him as the founder of democracy which would make a pretty good platform. Studied under Socrates, which was sort of the Harvard or Yale of the time.

Cons: Believed that the highest power humans had to look to was "the form of the good," bye-bye red states. He did most of his writing in the form of a dialogue between his deceased teacher Socrates and various other characters. Also, like many at the time, would spend time courting young boys for sexual relationships. His name is easily parodied by his opposition by showing toddlers molding him into various objects

Political Outlook: Support from NAMBLA becomes too much for any national office. Probably weird enough to become governor of California.

Moses

Pros: Often spoke directly with God, hello red states. Turning the staff into the snake would gets him an environmentalist bump. He is a very experienced leader since he led God's people through the desert for 40 years. Probably gets support from the gun lobby because of his connection with the late Charlton Heston. He has legislative experience since he presented the Israelites with ten laws still practiced by many today. Natural comparisons arise between him and Abe Lincoln since he emancipated slaves thousands of years before Lincoln. Gets a war hero boost from his leadership of the Israelites against the Amalekites.

Cons: Democrats use the burning bush story to destroy his reputation as an enviromentalist. Beards that long don't look great on camera, no matter his answers he probably loses the televised debates. He has a bit of a temper since he smashed the ten commandment tablets. Opposition presents a 10 step plan and time table to try to prove he could have gotten the Israelites out of Egypt in 34 years max.

Political Outlook: Not born in America so he can't technically run for president. With the threat of God turning all the rivers to blood Moses becomes a lion of the senate.

Al Capone

Pros: Excellent leadership ability, very experienced commander and chief. He was even able to run his gang crimes from an Atlanta prison. He made an excellent living out of having people killed and taking money from others while leaving no paper trail linking to him. He has an intimate knowledge of underground criminal activity so he could most likely find Osama bin Laden in his first month.

Cons: He spent time on the FBI's most wanted list, did prison time and was the brains behind the St. Valentine's day massacre. Ran illegal prostitution, gambling and alcohol (during prohibition) businesses.

Political Outlook: The cons are actually just more pros, at worst vice president, but, most likely 2 term president.

Mohandas Gandhi

Pros: He promoted non-violent resistance to protest injustices. He was a true reformer which seems to be a hot word in politics these days. He was often called Mahatma which means "great soul" so he seems like a good guy. He opposed the British, America's oldest rivals. He was assassinated which translates to 100% approval ratings.

Cons: War is the best way to generate popularity among the American people, he would have real trouble "wagging the dog" if he started to loose popularity. Peaceful resistance technique could also make him look soft on crime/terror. Beliefs in Hindu and Jain traditions could hurt him with in the bible belt.

Political Outlook: His non-violent stance is too much for modern America, although his polite, peaceful attitude makes him an almost unanimous winner of the Canadian Prime Minister position.

R2-D2

Pros: It comes well supplied with an assortment of handy gadgets. It was inducted to the Robot Hall of Fame in 2003. It has already been parodied thousands of times, like most politicians. Seems unbiased but it has a knack for always helping out the good guys. It has great communication skills.

Cons: It seems to get easily flustered. Is it a Mac or a PC? The other side would invariably talk about how much better the alternative would be at running a country (It has trouble running more than 3 programs at once, how will it handle a nation). Also, if it ever breaks down, we would have to call India to fix it, leaves us vulnerable for a take over.

Political Outlook: It will almost certainly become the first president when the robots invariably take over.

[Source: Maria Konopken, Casa Grande Valley Newspapers, Inc.] -- The Westward Ho's pool, shimmering outside Reynaldo Torres' door, once was a place where Marilyn Monroe swam, Elizabeth Taylor sunbathed, and Paul Newman filmed a scene heaving a television from a balcony. The lobby of the former hotel still has grand touches, including tiled pillars supporting a soaring ceiling, from the days when Torres would see U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater and Valley socialites heading to events, dinners, or drinks.  "The hotel was always really busy with people coming in and out," Torres said.  "You never knew who was staying here; that was the exciting part."

Torres saw the Westward Ho's former glory from his position as a janitor here during the 1960s.  But the rich and famous have long since left, and now Torres is one of about 300 low-income senior citizens who call it home.  The Westward Ho, with its 268-foot television tower, which no longer is used, is an iconic part of the downtown skyline.  And it remains a place of memories for many Arizonans who came here for wedding receptions, fine meals, and entertainment before it closed in 1979.  "It was full of character, rich in history and rife with personality," said Marshall Trimble, Arizona's state historian.  "It is where the rich and the famous came to play."

At 16 stories, the Westward Ho was the tallest hotel in Phoenix when it opened in 1928.  At the time, it boasted a room rate of $2; most of its competitors charged 25 cents a night.  The hotel's stature and star-studded clientele have led to legends and ghost stories.  Trimble said he doubts a claim made by some that Al Capone's car was buried by a cave-in in the Westward Ho's now-closed underground parking garage and is still down there.  Another legend, Trimble said, has Monroe making late-night swims without a bathing suit.  Like other establishments downtown, the Westward Ho suffered as residents and visitors were attracted to other places in the Valley.  "People didn't want to be downtown so much anymore; the action wasn't downtown," Trimble said.  "You had golf courses and all of these things on these resorts.  There was just more to do."  [Note: To read the full article, click here.]

De Fotogramas antiguos:

En 1919 en EE.UU. entra en vigor la 18a.enmienda de la Constitución a partir de la iniciativa del congresista Andrew Volstead por la cual son prohibidas las bebidas alcohólicas, bajo la llamada Ley Seca; la medida, que se prolongará hasta 1933, tendrá como efecto un espectacular auge de los grupos mafiosos ligados al comercio clandestino del licor, lo cual motivará numerosas polémicas mientras se extiende la corrupción entre quienes deben combatirlos.

En 1933 en los EE.UU. es derogada la Ley Seca como consecuencia de la injusticia, corrupción generalizada y creación del crimen organizado que ha estado vigente durante catorce años. El tema más controvertido del periodo 1920-1932 fue la prohibición de la fabricación y venta de bebidas alcohólicas que dio origen a un periodo de violencia cuando bandas organizadas de criminales controlaron la venta ilegal de bebidas alcohólicas. En 1929, una comisión presidencial dictaminó que la puesta en práctica de las leyes antialcohólicas había constituido un fracaso.

Antes de 1890, debido principalmente a la anexión de varios barrios, la población de Chicago sobrepasó el millón de habitantes. Durante la época de la Ley Seca (1919-1933) Chicago se hizo famosa por el contrabando de licores y por los enfrentamientos entre bandas de gángsters, entre los que destacó la figura de Al Capone, protagonista de la matanza de San Valentín de 1929.

"Sono famosa!" avra` pensato E si chiede anche il perche` Ilvio non avesse un avvocato? Perche`? Perche` non gliene puo` fregare nulla del processo...neanche sta a 'investire' su qualcosa il cui risultato non gli interessa.

Si e` burlato e si burla tuttora della legge, novello Al Capone italiota.

E sotto di lui le starlette come Chiara che si godono il loro momento di pseudonotorieta`.

A quando il calendario?

"La spina che affligge Iddu è questa: è vero, dopo la vergogna del "lodo Alfano", Berlusconi non può essere processato, ma Mills sì. E se i giudici dovessero concludere che corruzione c'è stata e il testimone si è lasciato corrompere, chi volete che sia il corruttore in un processo che vede al banco soltanto due imputati (Mills e Berlusconi) e un unico fatto da valutare (i 600 mila dollari finiti nei conti dell'avvocato d'affari inglese)? Berlusconi si sarebbe salvato da una condanna, ma non salverebbe la faccia. Con tutto quel che potrebbe significare per il suo futuro istituzionale e per la sua immagine internazionale [commento mio: quale immagine?LOL)."
fonte:La giustizia creativa di Silvio

Ma Silvio nulla teme, e risponde:
"Berlusconi si è detto sicuro di poter "cambiare l'architettura dello stato" per velocizzare le riforme istituzionali. "Abbiamo la maggioranza per cambiare l'architettura dello Stato che è vecchia e per dare più rapidità alle decisioni del governo; e in Parlamento abbiamo i voti per fare le riforme, a partire da quella della giustizia"

[fonte: Repubblica]

Uncle Sam doesn't fool around when it comes to hanky-panky with tax dollar revenues!

No surprise, though.

Decades ago, everyone thought Al Capone was pretty much "untouchable" - a flim flam man - a teflon Don. In the final crunch, it was the undeclared ill-gotten gains - not the racketeering or the rum-running or illicit prostitution or slave trade - that done him in.

Even Leona Helmsley's mega millions couldn't save her from the slammer - and subsequently - daily stints in the head scrubbing out latrines and carting out the trash for allegedly writing off expenses which were disallowed.

Most are shocked by the severity of the Snipes sentence.

Mr. Swipes had no previous record (and no trouble with the Law previously) so - by most accounts - the star of a couple of blockbuster Hollywood films should have been given probation. After all, the felony charges were dropped, and lowly misdemeanours don't generally warrant such a severe slap on the wrist.

Was the bench-warmer who laid down the sentence a hangin' Judge?

Or, was Mr. Swipes another victim of a judicial system bent on sending a message to the American people: Don't cheat on your taxes?

On the other side of the coin, the prosecution and the government argued that Mr. Swipes was not just an "innocent" who inadvertently failed to report his earnings correctly or pay appropriate tax based on his earnings.

The lawyers who prosecuted the case stridently put forth the proposition that Swipes willingly got involved with a tax-deferral scheme which he knew was not legal or acceptable in the eyes of the IRS or the U.S. Tax Court.

In fact - Attorney General Nathan J. Hochman of the Justice Department - was quite emphatic in his statements to the press that Swipes was:

"A disciple of a tax defiance movement who understood his actions were illegal."

To add credibility to the Justice Department's argument, Hochman noted that the incidents of tax evasion did not occur in just one calendar year, but over several. And, that the failure to report earnings was not an "accident' - in the final analysis - in view of the documented evidence.

Swipes was not a victim of "jackals" who took advantage of his lack of knowledge about the intricacies of tax laws, he stressed to the swarming media who hovered in a fever frenzy outside the court environs this past week.

Although Swipes stated in a prepared release prior to sentencing that he was - idealistic, naive, passionate, truth-seeking, and a spiritually motivated artist unschooled in the science of law and finance - the comments fell on deaf ears.

In response to the criticism that the sentence was too harsh, Judge Hodges (who presided over the case) disagreed and noted for the record:

"He exhibited a history of contempt over a period of time for U.S. Tax laws."

"In my mind these are serious crimes," he concluded, as he passed the sentence.

After hearing the verdict, Swipes had no reaction.

Maybe, he saw it coming?

The crux of the case was a charge by the IRS that Snipes tried to defraud the IRS by by virtue of his deceitful efforts to collect 11.4 million in fraudulent income tax refunds. In addition, it was alleged (and proven) that he failed to file returns from 1999 through 2004, despite the fact he generated millions of dollars through career pursuits and investments during that time frame.

When Uncle Sam wants you - he gets 'ya - eh?

Happy Friday, y'all! I'm back from the gas lines to take you for a walk into the wonderful world of pop culture's WTF moments. Today we go back to 1986.

Reagan was in office. The Statue of Liberty reopened after a major renovation. Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, married Sarah Ferguson. I started second grade. In addition to that, I sat with my family one April night, watching this guy:

Yep, before Geraldo became a Fox News blow hard/joke, he was a "journalist," uncovering big stories, like The Mystery of Al Capone's Vault.

During the 1980s, the Lexington Hotel in Chicago, a former hideout of the notorious gangster, underwent renovations. Construction workers discovered an elaborate network of tunnels that once led from Capone's former room to taverns and brothels, giving him an escape route in the event of a police raid. Further research indicated Capone also had a vault beneath the hotel, which was rumored to hold riches, and possibly a body or two.

Fresh off a firing by ABC, Rivera hosted a live, syndicated special in which he revealed the wonders of the vault (complete with a medical examiner and IRS agents, should money or bodies lie inside). With more than an hour of build-up, the pivotal moment arrived, and Rivera and his crew opened the legendary vault. Inside, they basically found a bunch of garbage.

But don't feel too bad for Geraldo. The stunt actually seemed to help his career, and he's been on TV ever since. The Lexington Hotel, though, didn't fare as well--it was torn down in 1995.

Eu nu stiu daca pana si C.P.Tariceanu sau Troaca C. David sunt in solda acestor hahalere de nu se poate face CHIAR NIMIC PALPABIL, incapand cu coruptia din politica si terminand cu cea din strada, dar stiu ca orice tergiversare a procesul de combatere dura dar in spiritul legii a fenomenului, va avea ca efect pervers incurajarea migrarii si asocierii cetatenilor spre astfel de forme de "autoritate"... de aici si pana la latinizarea (America latina) societatii noastre fiind doar un pas.

Daca nu stiti sau nu aveti COAIE in dotare, numiti-ma pe mine seful unui task-force cu MI-ul si serviciile in subordine si sa vedeti apoi curetenie generala in maxim 30 de zile, altfel curand Romania va reitera epoca Al Capone a Chicago-ului anilor 30... Fara exagerare!

1= , SorinPLATON

What used to be a '34 Plymouth sedan became the stretch limo that escorted the lucky couple to the chapel on the wedding day.  Doug did all the work himself, including stretching the frame and splicing the body with sheetmetal and plate glass.  Power comes from a four-bolt Chevy 350 small block, mated to a Turbo 400 4-speed automatic and a Nova rearend.

Of course, limos are all about comfort, and this thing is no exception.  The fully-finished interior is covered in grey velour, with a bench seat for the newlyweds and buckets for the best man and maid of honour.  As a finishing touch, every bit of trim is brass-plated for that extra-classy touch.

Although nearly every car from the 30's has a certain degree of elegance, Dodges allegedly have one advantage over the competitors, albeit a notorious one.  "It's an Al Capone special" Doug exclaimed, as he waited to pick up his passengers after a Pony Corral cruise night.  "They used to say Al Capone's men used Dodges or Plymouths because all four doors are suicide (doors).  You know, so they could shoot out of them."

Like what you see?  All the images on this site are available as prints, T-shirts, coffee mugs, and more!  Click Here to find out more!

Required Reading for this week:

BBC Television's Top Gear Limo Challenge on YouTube

Limo King Enterprises: Builders of the world's largest limosine (and some of the weirdest, too)

'38 Limo Service:  A 1938 Plymouth stretch limo for your big days

The history of Al Capone's personal Cadillac

Barry Goldwater: Friends In Low Places

American Mafia- By John William Tuohy

July 2002

When Hensley strolled out of the joint, Marley bought his silence with a lucrative Phoenix-based Budweiser beer distributorship.

The mob has come close to setting up camp in the Oval Office more then once, through Truman, Kennedy and Nixon, but their ultimate dream never actually comes to fruition, for one reason or another.

But, I almost admire their tenacity. And I stress the word almost.

Take the recent example of Senator John McCann, [sic], Presidential candidate and Senator from Arizona.

Very few people outside the world of organized crime realize that the father of the Senator's second wife is James W. Hensley.

And who was James W. Hensley, you ask.

He was an Arizona businessman who fell in with the wrong crowd a while back, and ended up taking the rap for a wheeler-dealer named Kemper Marley, Sr. over a liquor violation case back in 1948.

Although Hensley was represented by the best defense Arizona cash could buy, the services of future Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, Justice William Rehnquist, he got slammed away for a whole year.

But it all worked out. When Hensley strolled out of the joint, Marley bought his silence with a lucrative Phoenix-based Budweiser beer distributorship.

So, who is this Kemper Marley Sr?

To answer that you have to go back to a sweltering summer day in 1976 when Don Bolles, a reporter for the Arizona Republican Newspaper, stepped into his Datsun, put his foot on the peddle and was blown to bits. Parts of the reporter's body were found ten feet from the burning car.

Bolles had been poking into Arizona's local and state governments and discovered a land fraud ring, influence peddling, and shady deals that appeared to lead to the very top of Arizona's power structure and to Senator Barry Goldwater's doorstep.

If the purpose of murdering Bolles was to cover a series of crimes, it was a big mistake. An enraged news media descended on Arizona, determined to uncover the facts behind the Bolles killing.

The investigation led to a Phoenix liquor magnate and one time Bookie named Kemper Marley Sr., who had ties to Arizona's resident Mafia Prince, Peter Licavoli.

Marley was a major financial and political power in the state and wanted to take back his seat on the Arizona Racing Commission. He had already been appointed to the post in 1976 by the Governor, only to resign several days later when his ties to organized crime surfaced.

The reporter who made the connections between the mob and Marley was Don Bolles.

Although never charged with the murder, most reporters on the scene believed that Kemper Marley ordered Bolles' murder. Their suspicions were confirmed when John Adamson, an alleged burglar and arsonist, confessed to blowing up Bolles.

During the trial, a witness named Howard Woodall testified that Adamson told him Bolles was killed because he'd uncovered evidence of a loan swindle involving Marley, Barry and Robert Goldwater and Harry Rosenzweig.

The Bolles-Marley connection to the Goldwater brothers was only one of the many associations made over the years between the Senator and the underworld.

Robert Goldwater, the Senator's brother, was a longtime friend of Moe Dalitz, the man who truly built Las Vegas.

Dalitz was present at the Atlantic City crime conference in 1929, and at the all important 1943 power summit at the Waldorf Astoria.

Dalitz was an early investor in Arizona real estate, with some of his first deals going back to 1933.

In 1943, it was Dalitz who introduced mob underboss Peter Licavoli, Sr. to the state.

Licavoli loved the place and purchased a massive Tucson ranch and he and Bobby Goldwater eventually went into the restaurant business, with Licavoli putting up the financing.

Another pal with a questionable background who was close to the Goldwater camp, was Willie Bioff, labor extortionist, paid goon, pimp and government informant.

In 1943, Bioff testified against the top leadership of the Chicago mob about their role in a massive Hollywood extortion scandal. That testimony resulted in convictions for mob boss Paul Ricca, Johnny Roselli and others.

In exchange for selling out his partners, Bioff walked away from prosecution a free man and got to keep the millions he had stolen as well.

Willie moved to Arizona, where he lived under the name Willie Nelson, Nelson being his wife's maiden name.

Contrary to what's usually written, Willie Bioff wasn't hiding out in Arizona. In fact, he worked at the Riviera Casino in Vegas as the entertainment director for Gus Greenbaum, Chicago's man in Nevada.

Outgoing, likable and very rich, Willie was a natural for politics, and was soon popular within the golden elite of Phoenix society, which is how he met Barry Goldwater, in November of 1952.

The two men became fast friends.

Goldwater, a brigadier general in the Air Force Reserve, flew Bioff and his wife all over the state to attend various parties, and Willie landed a steady flow of cash into Goldwater's political campaign chest.

Willie even loaned Bobby Goldwater $10,000 for a farming investment in Southern California.

They were close.

A month before the Mafia killed him, Willie Bioff and his wife, Barry Goldwater and his family, vacationed together in Las Vegas.

In 1955, Peter Licavoli, Moe Dalitz's old pal, and Paul Ricca, boss of the Chicago mob, started to shake Bioff down for cash.

Willie paid off for a while, but then he started making noise about going to the feds through his new pal, Barry Goldwater.

The next morning, Bioff stepped into his Ford pick up, stepped on the gas, and was blown to kingdom come.

Barry Goldwater showed up for the funeral and denied, with a straight face, knowing who Willie Bioff really was.

Later, when the pressure continued, the Senator justified his relationship with the onetime pimp by saying it was an attempt "to gather information about labor racketeering for a government study."

Yeah, Okay.

After that, came the Newman scandal.

Mike Newman, was a childhood friend of the Goldwaters and operated a huge gambling racket, completely unhindered by the law, in Phoenix.

Police suspected that Newman's money man was Gus Greenbaum, but the connection was never made.

The building he operated out of was owned by Harry Rosenzweig, who was a close friend of both Gus Greenbaum and Willie Bioff. Rosenzweig was also the state Republican chairman, Phoenix Man of the Year, and Barry Goldwater's financial and political mentor.

When Newman's gambling operation was eventually closed down and charges were brought against him, Barry Goldwater used his considerable political power to get Newman a lenient sentence and outstanding prison conditions.

Goldwater's troublesome brother, Bobby, was said to be Newman's best customer.

Another friend of Barry's was Gus Greenbaum, an old time Chicago hood who ran the Flamingo for the outfit.

Greenbaum hosted the Goldwaters at the Flamingo and Riviera casinos on a regular basis, and when Greenbaum and his wife were murdered, Harry Rosenzweig became the unpaid appraiser of Greenbaum's estate which was being held in trust by the Valley National Bank where Bobby Goldwater was a director.

That would have been all right, but Greenbaum was a hood who went back to the old Capone mob. The Chicago outfit had sent Greenbaum to Arizona in 1928 to manage the Southwest division of its wire service, Trans-American.

In the early forties, he was moved to Vegas where he took over the Flamingo after the Bugsy Siegel murder, and put the place in the black within the first six months of his management.

By 1950, Greenbaum was widely recognized as the driving force behind the success of the $50 million Tropicana, as well as being known and respected in the underworld as a reliable source of information on Las Vegas real estate.

Like Willie Bioff, Greenbaum lived in Arizona, part time, and was close to Barry Goldwater, then a Phoenix Arizona Councilman. In fact, Goldwater's family operated a branch of Goldwater's Department store inside the Desert Inn, which was the excuse Goldwater used for visiting Vegas so often.

After his phenomenal success at the Flamingo and the Tropicana, Greenbaum was called in to put the Riviera Casino in the black after the place lost five million dollars for its original investors.

Greenbaum didn't want the job, but, Tony Accardo and Jake Guzak, the Chicago mobs money manager, and technically, Greenbaum's boss, personally flew out to Phoenix to try to persuade him to take the position at the Riviera.

Greenbaum heard them out, but turned the job down, because, he told them, the strain of correcting the outfit's stupid mistakes was starting to take its effects on him. After seven years on the hot seat, he had enough. He was tired, he was rich and he wanted to retire away from Vegas to Phoenix.

Accardo and Guzak said they understood and returned to Chicago.

One week later, Greenbaum's sister-in-law was found murdered in her bedroom, her throat split. The message was received. Greenbaum moved back to Vegas to run the Riviera for a 27% interest in the place.

This time he lasted only three years.

In 1958, Johnny Roselli, who was close to Greenbaum, and knew Barry Goldwater as well, was told by Accardo to order Greenbaum to step down. He was addicted to heroin, drunk when he wasn't high, running around with women half his age who stole from him, and was deeply in debt from gambling at the tables, losing up to $20,000 a week. Worst of all, he was skimming from the joint "Beyond," said Roselli, "what the guys back in Chicago considered reasonable."

Roselli went out to Vegas and gave Greenbaum the order, he was to sell his share in the Riviera to one of the outfit's front men and leave town. Do that, he could live. All past sins forgiven.

But Greenbaum refused. "This town is in my blood, Johnny," he told Roselli, and went right back to stealing from the skim.

On December 3, 1958, the police found Greenbaum, dead, in bed, his throat was cut so completely that his head was almost falling off.

Down the hall, Greenbaum's wife's throat was cut as well. She had been knocked out with a heavy bottle which caved in the right side of her eye. Newspapers were piled around her to keep the blood from staining the carpet.

The Chicago outfit, which, by mob standards anyway, normally showed a loyalty to those who served it, would have let Greenbaum's sins go. After all, he had made them a fortune, but Meyer Lansky had a piece of the Riviera and pushed for Greenbaum's demise.

Or at least that's the official mob explanation for Greenbaum's murder.

The true story, is that when Paul Ricca found out that Greenbaum was stealing from the skim, a skim split between Chicago and the five New York Families, he sent word down to Greenbaum, that he expected a cut.

Like Willie Bioff, Greenbaum paid Ricca, about $300,000 in 1957, alone. Then he got stupid and stopped sending in his payment. That's when Marshal Caifano, Chicago's enforcer in Vegas, showed up.

Once again, Senator Barry Goldwater showed up for the funeral.

Special thanks to investigative writer Dan Moldea for his help in preparation of this story.

Mr. Tuohy can be reached by writing to MobStudy@aol.com

__________

Entran dos hombres en un apartamento pequeño, caliente y húmedo, arrastrando un muchacho flaquito y debilucho por los brazos.

Adentro está Big Leroy, un negro enorme, sudado, hediondo, con cara de mala gente, palillo en la boca, limpiandose las uñas con un machete de cortar coco.

Uno de los hombres dice:

-Oye Big Leroy, el jefe mandó que te cojas por el culo a este sujeto hasta que no pueda más... Dijo que es para que aprenda a no querer hacerse el valiente con la gente del barrio.

La víctima grita desesperada e implora perdón.

Pero Leroy apenas asiente con la cabeza, ignorando los lamentos del  hombre:

-Pueden dejarlo ahí en ese rincón, yo me encargo de ese hijo de puta dentro de un momento.

Cuando los dos hombres salen, el muchacho dice:

-Sr. Leroy, por favor, no me haga eso, déjeme ir que yo no le digo a nadie que Ud. me dejó ir sin castigo... no quiero que me lo rompa por favor le pido de rodillas encarecidamente el culo no nooooo el culoooo.. noooo.

Leroy dice:

-Cállate la boca y quédate quieto ahí!

Cinco minutos despues, llegan los dos hombres arrastrando otro individuo:

-Big Leroy, el jefe mandó que le cortes las dos piernas y le saques los ojos a este elemento para que aprenda a no llevarse el dinero del jefe...

Leroy con voz grave dice:

-Déjenlo ahí en ese rincón, que ya resuelvo ese asunto.

Poco después llegan los mismos hombres, arrastrando a un tercer muchacho:

-Big Leroy, el jefe dijo que le cortes el pito a este tipo, para que aprenda a nunca más meterse con la mujer del jefe; Ah!, y dijo que también le cortes la lengua y todos los dedos para que no haya la mínima posibilidad que pueda tocar otra mujer en su vida.

Leroy con voz mas grave aun:

- Ya resuelvo eso; ponlo alli en el rincón junto a los otros dos hijos de puta esos.

Cuando se retiran los tipos, el primer muchacho que había llegado dice entonces en voz baja:

- Señor Leroy, con todo respeto, solo para que Ud. no se vaya a confundir, yo soy el del culo, se acuerda, ¿no? .

__________

Se acabó la serie de los Soprano. Pero los amantes de las intrigas mafiosas están de suerte, porque tienen ante sí una saga con protagonistas de carne y hueso de las que inspiran muchos guiones y novelas. Los miembros vivos de los Outfit, la familia que ha venido controlando la mafia de Chicago, están calentando ya el banquillo del que se dice es el mayor juicio en Estados Unidos contra este tipo de delincuencia.

Es el último vestigio de la poderosa familia criminal descendiente de los Al Capone, y que popularmente se conocía como el Sindicato de Chicago. Se les acusa de numerosos crímenes que se remontan a hace más de tres décadas y que han sido llevados por Hollywood a la gran pantalla.

Los conocedores del morboso universo mafioso dicen que la investigación contra los Out-fit de Chicago representa el ataque más ambicioso contra la tradición familiar mafiosa desde el golpe al legendario Al Capone. La operación del FBI se bautizó como Secretos de Familia, y para apoyar su caso la fiscalía utiliza testimonios de informantes que integraron la empresa, que no dudan a su avanzada edad en arremeter contra las fechorías cometidas por sus hermanos de sangre.

La banda criminal se dedicaba a la extorsión, operaciones ilícitas de apuestas, hacía préstamos a individuos y negocios sujetos a suculentos tipos de interés de hasta el 520%, por no dejar de mencionar el recurso a la violencia y a la intimidación a la que sometían a los asociados a su esquema para que respetaran la disciplina. Y para obstruir el trabajo de la justicia, el clan mafioso amenazaba de muerte a potenciales testigos que pudieran largar sobre los intereses y objetivos de la empresa. Sus tentáculos llegaban a Nueva York, Detroit, Filadelfia y Las Vegas.

El proceso arrancó ayer en el Tribunal Federal Everett Dirksen en Chicago, con la selección del jurado y en medio de una gran expectación. El juicio podría durar cuatro meses y está llamado a convertirse en uno de los grandes seriales del verano. Al otro extremo de la sala se sentarán en el banquillo Joey Lombardo, conocido en el mundillo con el alias el Payaso, uno de los líderes del grupo. Lombardo, de 78 años, fue a prisión por limpiar el dinero generado por los casinos y por intentar sobornar a un senador en Nevada.

Junto a él aparecen los nombres de otros cuatro capos: James Marcello, su hermano Michael, y Frank Calabrese y su hermano Nicholas. En total, son 14 cabecillas de la popular empresa del crimen a la que se le atribuyen unos 15 asesinatos cometidos entre 1970 y 1986. Uno de los grandes momentos del juicio llegará cuando Nicholas Calabrese, convertido en informante, suba al estrado para declarar. Seis de los acusados ya se han declarado culpables para rebajar sus penas y otro no será juzgado por estar enfermo de cáncer.

Las fechorías de este poderoso clan se ramifican hasta el paraíso del juego. Entre los crímenes que quedan por resolver están los asesinatos de Tony Spilotro, el Hormiga, uno de los jefes del vicio en Las Vegas, y de su hermano Michael, que fue caracterizado en la película Casino por Joe Pesci. Tony estaba situado para ser uno de los líderes de Chicago Outfit. Sin embargo, los investigadores creen que la versión que hace Hollywood de su asesinato es equivocada y baraja otra teoría sobre la manera en la que ambos fueron ejecutados.

Otro de los potenciales testigos es Frank Cullotta, amigo de Tony Spilotro, que asegura que Joey Lombardo estaba al corriente de la suerte que esperaba a los dos hermanos. Cullotta cree que Lombardo tuvo que dar su visto bueno para el asesinato de Spilotro. El abogado del conocido mafioso dice que su cliente se apartó del clan hace muchos años y recuerda que ese asesinato se produjo cuando Spilotro estaba en la cárcel. "Hay que dejar que el jurado decida", insiste el letrado mientras en la calle vuelven a aflorar las conjeturas sobre la implicación de la mafia de Chicago en el asesinato de Robert Kennedy en el Ambassador Hotel.

__________

Información de los capos que fueron en juiciados:

James Marcello

Anthony Spilotro

Michael Spilotro

Fuente | El País

The fedora is a fashion classic.Please tell me what do you think about it and if you'd like to wear one.

"Sid was a true pioneer in the weight loss industry having been involved for over 40 years. Together, he and Jenny built the strong foundation of our Company's values, culture, and mission of improving people's lives by helping them lose weight and keep it off. I personally feel so very fortunate to have known such a talented and generous mentor and friend. He will be dearly missed," said CEO Patti Larchet.

Born March 22, 1932 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Craig came from a family of three children. His career began in the mid-1950s as a part-time instructor and entrepreneur at Arthur Murray Dance Studios, where Sid purchased five studio franchises over time. Upon the company's takeover, he was elected to the new Board of Directors.

In the 1970s, he would own a stake in a small chain of salons before forming a new corporation of ladies figure control salons, Body Contour, Inc. and positioned it for rapid expansion including the New Orleans market where he met Jenny Guidroz Bourcq, who would soon become his National Director of Operations and, in 1979, his wife.

In her 2004 autobiography, "The Jenny Craig Story: How One Woman Changes Millions of Lives," Jenny said, "Sid ... has the charisma of a Jack Kennedy, the intelligence of an Alan Greenspan, the creative mind of a Steven Spielberg, and the humor of a Jackie Mason, along with the good looks of a Clark Gable."

"I've learned that everyone has a soul mate somewhere, and if we're lucky enough to find them to share our life with, then we are more fortunate than most. I thank God every day for allowing me to find mine. Sid has enriched my life in more ways than I can count."

In 1982, the Craigs sold their interest in the 200+center Body Contour, Inc., moved to Melbourne, Australia, and developed Jenny Craig Inc., a chain of weight loss centres whose comprehensive approach emphasized health, moderation and long-term weight maintenance.

A marketing expert, Sid boosted the young weight management company into overnight success when he placed live advertisements on "New Faces," Australia's top talent show, earning Jenny Craig Inc. the 14th-highest company name recognition in the country.

Sid's leadership built Jenny Craig, Inc. from a small Australian company into a multi-national business with 655 Centres operating in four countries. In 2006, Nestle purchased Jenny Craig Inc. for $600 million.

An avid sportsman, Sid and Jenny Craig purchased a 237-acre thoroughbred horse racing stables, breeding operation and training center in Rancho Santa Fe, California in 1995. They also own a minority partnership in the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association. An active car enthusiast, Sid collected classic cars previously owned by high profile celebrities and political figures including Franklin D Roosevelt's touring limousine, Dean Martin, and Al Capone among many others. Sid especially enjoyed the history behind his cars, which was the prime motivation behind each purchase.

In April 2007, Sid and Jenny were awarded the Horatio Alger Award in Washington D.C. It was the first time in the organization's 60-year history that the award was presented to a couple. Sid considered that to be one of the highlights of his career.

Philanthropically, Sid and Jenny Craig have contributed their support to organizations such as San Diego Hospice, Easter Seals, United Way/CHAD, and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. In 1992, Sid Craig pledged millions to CSUF for the School of Business and Administrative Sciences, which was renamed The Sid Craig School of Business. In 1996, Sid and Jenny Craig committed another very large donation to the University of San Diego, which was used to build the Jenny Craig Pavilion, a multi-use sports pavilion that was dedicated in October 2000.

The Craigs were quick to come to the aid of Hurricane Katrina victims as one of the largest donors. They were among the first to respond to the needs of fire victims in San Diego, where they reside. Their support and concern for the disadvantaged was their way of giving back in appreciation for their many blessings.

SOURCE Jenny Craig Inc.

Chicago and the Chicago political scene have long been said to be the playground of an assortment of unsavory politicians, corrupt and crooked public officials, shady hustlers and Mafioso old school gangsters (e.g. Sam Giancana, Al Capone, Bugs Moran) and their modern day prodigy (crews that go by names like Latin Kings, Vice Lords and Gangster Disciples). However, the recent comments whispered by aging Civil rights leader and longtime activist Rev. Jesse Jackson into an open microphone, to another guest on a Fox network program, to castrate presidential hopeful Barack Obama was the epitome of Windy City gangsterism.

Far from being a simple case of individual jealousy between individuals, the Obama/Jackson differences signify a greater issue: generational disconnect and ego starvation. Age and experiences tend to affect the viewpoint of the human being. Across the United States and the world, as they always have, youth are re-defining their realities, perspectives, vantage points and world views via their music, clothing, mores, technological advancements etc. The Baby Boomer, Civil Rights and Anti-Vietnam War Homo-sapiens scarcely understand their text messaging, computer saavy offspring.

For the Rev. Jackson and his Civil Rights era cronies Barack Obama’s theme of non-racialist collaboration, racial reconciliation and content of character seems to threaten their hegemony as the leader/spokesmen of African Americans and lower class Americans; equally it could cut into the lucrative race-based lectures, seminars and Shakedowns that have been said to benefit Rev. Jackson and friends. Of course this also applies to those on the opposite side (e.g. Rush Limbaugh, David Horowitz, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly et. al) that have benefited financially from playing up racial differences and immigration issues.

For both sides (Conservative and Liberal) to expect today’s youth demographic to buy into their out of date manifestos and well worn truths, is analogous to the U.S. military in Iraq launching a ground offensive using Revolutionary War era muskets.

Amazingly, Rev. Jackson’s comments on Fox news that Obama was “talking down to black people” based on the latter’s Fathers Day sermon at a church, in which he asked African American men to be more responsible, seemed to be along the lines of comedia Bill Cosby’s much debated comments made in 2004 at an NAACP convention. Incidentally, several months later in July 2004, Jackson was on the stage beside Cosby at a fundraiser dinner for Jackson’s Rainbow/Push Coalition. At that time according to media sources Jackson defended a worked up and ranting Cosby by saying: “Bill is saying lets fight the right fight, lets level the playing field…drunk people can’t do that, illiterate people can’t do that.” Apparently Cosby’s ability to put large sums of money into the Reverend’s coffers far outweighed any comments the Cos had made that some took to be offensive and degrading when it came to African Americans.

Interestingly enough, for all of the Group Think-ism about black radicalism and extremism history points out the fact that African Americans, on the whole, tend to be pretty conservative when it comes to most issues of personal behavior. Even the Chicago based raconteur and Nation of Islam minister Louis Farrakhan seems to be speaking the same type of ultra-conservative, self-help message that sounds similar, at times, to that of Pat Buchanan, Jerry Falwell and Rush Limbaugh.

Many of the Clinton supported Old Guard Civil Rights activists like John Lewis and Andrew Young were not supporters of Obama during the Democratic primaries--(actually at times both were greater detractors than ardent Hillary supporters)--and attempted to rally African Americans behind Hillary Clinton, whose husband Bill was known to give numerous insider perks to certain people during his presidential days. The often beat up (during the Civil Rights protests and Freedom Rides) John Lewis eventually recanted his support for Hillary after black Georgians made overtures that he (Lewis) would not receive their electoral support in the future. The congressman and Super Delegate later retracted his support for Hillary and sputtered a new position: "The peoples of the 5th district have spoken!" Translation: Most of you (my constituents) are on the Obama change wagon, so I guess I might as well get with the program. His buddy in "Civil Rights redneck beat downs," Martin Luther King, Jr. confidant, former Atlanta mayor and Nigerian oil speculator Andrew Young was also heavily criticized by African American youth and hip hop generationalists that were born many, many years after the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Bill for his "bought and paid" attitude.

At the core of these generational divides is ego and what author Charles Johnson says may be the "end of the black American narrative". Or rather, according to Obama and todays color-blind youth, the forging of a new postmodern racial construct may not be in line with Rev. Jackson and the Old Guard Civil Rights outlook. Following a protest march in the nations capital several years ago, one seasoned Harlem activist was said to have commented to a local newspaper: "Well, they (the opposition and source of the protest) have something for marching feet these days--Scholl's foot pads."

Charles Johnson's narrative revision is not applicable to Rev. Jackson, Al Sharpton and his comrades alone, but also goes for Cold War ludites, rabid southern segregationists and that particular clique of citizenry that worship Rush Limbaugh, Jesse Helms and Ann Coulter as the coming of Jesus Christ. Problems of war, economic demise, food shortages and climate/ecological upheaval seem to be the issues on the radar of today's youth. Thus, the left and right rhetoric and ideologies, represented in the worldviews of Jesse Jackson and Jesse Helms, appear more increasingly as dinosaur fossils to youth seeking middle ground and equitable solutions.

It certainly appears as though the rise of Obama, and other post Civil Rights babes threatens the affluence of the older "shakedown" activists and the legitimate politicians, conscious clergyman and well-meaning change agents still ensconced in a mythical past. As some black youth have contended, "we appreciate and revere the contributions made by Rev. Jackson and the older Civil Rights leaders, but this is a new day."

Indeed it is. Indeed it is.