Noteworthy News in 2002

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Thursday, August 15th, 2002
More than three decades apart, two political riots influenced the outcome of U.S. presidential elections. In 1968, protests at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago hurt Democrat Hubert Humphrey and helped Republican Richard Nixon eke out a victory. On Nov. 22, 2000, the so-called “Brooks Brothers Riot” of Republican activists helped stop a vote recount in Miami -- and showed how far George W. Bush’s supporters were ready to go to put their man in the White House. [...more, compliments of The Consortium for Independent Journalism]

Easter Sunday, March 31st, 2002
Some key findings from a CBS-2/Sun-Times poll of Catholics in the Chicago area, conducted late in the week [Clergy Sex Scandal Shakes Catholic Faithful]:

• 1 of 4 Chicago area Catholics say their overall feelings about the church are mostly negative. 43 percent say their feelings are mostly positive.
• 39 percent say they have less trust in the church today than they had one year ago; 53 percent say their level of trust is the same; 8 percent have more trust today.
• 59 percent say the church has done a poor job of handling cases of sexual abuse by priests; 24 percent say the church has done a fair job; 11 percent say a good job; and 5 percent say an excellent job.
• 62 percent of Catholics in the Chicago area who attend mass say they have the same amount of trust in their priest as they had a year ago; 20 percent say they have more; 15 percent say less.

For the first three questions, 402 Catholic adults responded, and the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points. For the question about trust in your priest, 500 Catholics who said they attend mass were questioned, and the poll should be accurate to within plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.

Also read...
Mary McGrory [Washington Post]: Shadows On the Church
Gary Langer [ABC News]: Not Doing Enough
[CNN]: On Easter, Catholic Leaders Address Scandal
Mark J. Allman [Chicago Tribune]: . . . and sacrilege

Saturday, February 23rd, 2002
According to Chicago Tribune's John Kass [Ex-gang Leader May Get Booted Off DePaul Turf], Depaul University is considering the aid of a cop-killer to teach courses. Since the recent media attention regarding this venture, Willie Lloyd (known as 'Uqdah the Firm One' by his Vice Lord buddies) may or may not be allowed to take on the job.

If you think DePaul's curriculum should be complimented with Willie's assistance, feel free to drop DePaul University a line telling them so. If you are horrified by the thought, send a polite message. Here is DePaul's contact e-mail address: admin@depaul.edu

Sunday, February 17th, 2002
Big city mayors across the country have taken an unusual stand regarding the second amendment. In an effort to eliminate our right to own guns, shifty innner city mayors, like Mayor Daley of Chicago, have decided to attack gun manufacturers with comical lawsuits. It turns out that these lawsuits do not seem to have any merit. See The Atlantic Journal - Constitution for an update on one such failed attack on the gun industry.

When will these mayors realize that if they want to keep Americans from exercising their second amendment rights, they will have to amend the constitution. Let your representatives know that shifty backdoor methods are not going to work to deprive citizens from their second amendment rights.