My Sentiments

St. Louis is full of politicos who speak in half-truths and tread far too lightly. We have people who are unwilling or unable to name the 800 lb gorilla in the room ever so afraid of the consequences. Why the hell did he buy the Clemens Mansion? Did he plan on bulldozing that building along with the newer housing surrounding it? Politically that is probably unlikely. McCormack Barron probably would have a few choice words. Given not only the residents, but their density, that would set off such a storm that he would instantly be outed.

So why did he purchase the Clemens Mansion? Was it done as a front in order to pacify preservationists in a form of pathetic placating co-option? That is unlikely given it's collapsing. I cannot fathom what he could have wanted with the Clemens Mansion, except perhaps, like many of his buildings, they give him a strong hand at the decision-making table. However was this building itself necessary?

Regardless, its wholly unacceptable to work with such an individual. This is why I cannot abide alleged preservationists and urbanists, or even generic city boosters, who claim we must "work" with McKee, as if they are Neville Chamberlain placating Adolf Hitler. Like Hitler, McKee is not some rational human being where a meeting of the minds can occur. McKee wants nothing but land banking and wide scale demolition for his warehouses and residential, which will be served by his Chinese deal, as well as the new Mississippi River Bridge. With his tax credit, absent of eminent domain or a law suit, he has all the tools necessary for such a plan. The only caveat being the approval of Aldermen. Yet what faith can we reserve for their integrity?

If McKee was framed in the appropriate manner, being the racist pirate that he is, then politicians would have had no rational reason to render support. But like McKee I also question if they are rational, while their issue framing tact is certainly lacking. If they are unable to mobilize African American public opinion against a white St. Charles cornfield aficionado then perhaps some shouldn't be in office. But I'm speaking inherently in the normative and what should be, rather than what is.

Yet I'd rather criticize the process and integrity of those involved as opposed to having gasoline and blood on my hands. I'd rather be outside with my self than being involved, co-opted, losing my identity and the respect of my peers and community.

McKee

Don't think I can't see through you
Don't think you would ever fool me
I'll get what's coming to me

From the womb unto the tomb
The stagnant air that fills the room
Into the shrine where you have knelt
You felt the buckle now feel the belt

Your deepest cut will leave no mark
This sceptic skin will never scar
Come breathe some light into this dark

Be penitent and penetrate
Between the liquor and all these lies
See past the bruises of this hate
Come face to face and meet your fate

The weak will walk the sick will see
Caress my cursed soul for me
These begging hands will prey with glee
Upon your blackened fists and knees

This sleuth hound is the Lord lies
This boiling pot will draw the flies
Write one more check before you die

The weak will walk the sick will see
Caress my cursed soul for me
These begging hands will prey with glee
Upon your blackened fists and knees

Be penitent and penetrate
Between the liquor and all these lies
See past the bruises of this hate
Come face to face and meet your fate

The weak will walk the sick will see
Caress my cursed soul for me
These begging hands will prey with glee
Upon your blackened fists and knees

Don't think I can't see through ya
Do ya think I'd ever fool ya
You'll get what's coming to ya
You'll get what's coming to ya
You'll get what's coming to ya
The weak will walk the sick will see
Caress my cursed soul for me
These begging hands will prey with glee
Upon your blackened fists and knees

Blairmont Properties

From Barbara Manzara a list of Paul McKee's 725 properties.

This list is excellent for a Sunshine Request, although apparently a Freedom of Information Act is required. Not sure how that is correct procedure, given DALTAC is a state law and this involves the City of St. Louis, not the Federal Government.

College

Is done like a motherfucking turkey with magna hotness! I learned all about the difference between rivalrous and public goods, as well as Section 203 of the National Housing Act.

A gross oversimplification, but now I'm going to dance tonight @ Urban, 3125 S. Grand.

I love Obama!

Times are bad but it's great to see a leader who eloquently expresses that things can get better. And it's not simply fluff, he has public policy backing his positive ideology. I wasn't even a zygote during the times of RFK, but I wonder if this is how I would feel.

"I trust the American people to recognize that it is not surrender to end the war in Iraq so that we can rebuild our military and go after AL-Qaeda leaders...I trust the American people to realize that while we don't need big government, we do need a government that stands up for families that are being tricked out of their homes by Wall Street predators...security and opportunity, compassion and prosperity are not liberal values, they are not conservative values, they are American values and that's what we are fighting for in this election!"

"...while we may have different stories we hold common hopes...that's why I'm in this race...I love this country too much to see it divided and distracted at this critical moment in history. I believe in our ability to perfect this nation, because it's the only reason I'm standing here today. I know the promise of America because I've lived it...it's the simple truth I learned all those years ago when I worked in the shadow of all those shuttered steel mills on the South Side of Chicago, that in this country justice can be won over the greatest of odds...when we are told that we cannot bring about the change we seek, we answer with one voice yes we can!"

Not only is he great at issue framing, he's a flawless orator, a real Cicero, and again he's spot on regarding public policy. I believe he will actually do something for cities, instead of the token Enterprise Zones that Clinton copied off the Chinese or some Jim Jones quackery vis-a-vis Blairmont. Perhaps his usage of pathos and logos are too overpowering, but I'm confident that McCain is finished and Obama is our next President!

Blairmont Arson

Courtesy of Old North St. Louis resident Barbara Manzara, a Google map of Paul McKee's properties which were set ablaze.

Regardless of what the police determine, I find this beyond a simple coincidence. The LRA alone owns some 10,000 properties and yet these fires occurred in such a concentrated area. Believe what you will but the best way to spur a forced exodus, in a close tie with brick rustling, is arson.

Larry Rice: Charlatan, Slave Driver

I've always known the Rev. Larry Rice is a Leper Messiah. I think I came to the conclusion when I saw his Hoover Towns in the Gateway Mall right around the 4th of July. An ironic way to celebrate our independence: showcasing your exploitation of the most vulnerable within our society.

Well he apparently isn't paying his homeless "employees." They're working 12 hour shifts and only one day per week off. More at Fox, Channel 2:

Larry Rice told us, "A paycheck does not solve people's problems." Reverend Rice said he's not taking advantage of his clients because they choose to work for him as volunteers in a television training program.

A paycheck certainly makes them less likely to panhandle. I'd love to see the results of this training program. How many actually enter the labor force working in some capacity with the media? The article mentions one employee took a job with Larry's Channel 24. I wonder how his salary compares to the mean market wage for that position?

Reporter Chris Hayes asked, "Wouldn't a paycheck give them a sense of what the working world has to offer?" Rice responded, "I don't know. I haven't gotten one for 36 years okay. This is a calling okay."

A calling to have the homeless broadcast your tax exempt propaganda, get in knife fights, and piss in Lucas Park? I don't think the homeless felt the "calling" you speak of, rather they have limited choices and you're not providing them alternatives except as your political tool and servant.

Rev. Rice said, "There has to be the sense of calling, the sense of purpose and each person asking what am I living for, where am I going with my life? I had to do this at the beginning of my ministry." Reporter Chris Hayes asked, "Doesn't the time come at some point where someone might feel used?" Rice Responded, "Anytime that person -- and I am very sensitive to that. If it feels like somebody is being used, my goal is I don't want people to become bitter. I want people to become better."

I'm sure they're better people all around working in chattel slavery for your political agenda. I would endow Mayor Slay with Richard J. Daley power if only for one single solitary act: evicting this fraud.

North Side Burns. McKee Plays Banjo, Slaps Knee, sees Dollar Signs

The rhetoric surrounding the whole Blairmont conspiracy has always intrigued me as McKee has always been translucent. Yet I wasn't sure of our elected official's intent until some time last year. McKee has always been obvious, but as Kinder and Slay spoke of an investment for North St. Louis, I believed that perhaps they hadn't seen the brick rustling and subsequent demolition. I thought that perhaps they weren't aware of McKee's blockbusting: that all of his acquisitions were through duress thus illegal. Last year I had a small amount of somewhat positive doubt regarding their agenda, that perhaps my cynicism was misplaced. Maybe these individuals simply didn't know what's going down on the street? Do they drive through these areas every day after work and on the weekend? Do they take pictures, walk around, and talk to people?

But slowly I came to understand that the intent of this project is the fulfillment and continuation of precedent: Negro Removal. I always knew this was McKee's goal, yet now it's obvious that economic development for 1200 Market means the same thing. We can speak of the Team Four Plan and spatial deconcentration/triage method. Either nefarious theory fits ideally with McKee's eventual homogeneously white residential project. If the removal of African American residents wasn't City Hall's intent then this wouldn't be allowed.

As McKee's "investment" burns, and is rustled block by block, land once occupied by lower income African Americans becomes available for redevelopment. Like Emperor Nero, we will never know if McKee started the fires. Through inaction they might as well have lit the fires themselves.

Keep your eyes peeled for a fat white man with a gas can.

Money

KMFDM is about the greatest band in the universe. We're talking heavy industrial beats with an obvious left oriented political slant. Check out the early 90's video of "Money," shot on the streets of Chicago, regarding drug dealing and the gov't.




Another good video "Vouge" also in Chitown.

Operation Wetback

An official mass deportation government program conducted during the 1950's by the INS.

Then Senator Fullbright:

The rise in illegal border-crossing by Mexican wetbacks to a current rate of more than 1,000,000 cases a year has been accompanied by a curious relaxation in ethical standards extending all the way from the farmer-exploiters of this contraband labor to the highest levels of the Federal Government.

Interesting how we have still not solved the immigration "problem" while similar rhetoric exists to this day. However Bill O'Riley and others can't use the term Operation Wetback, but it's one in the same.