You know, it’s kind of funny. There is so much debate here about whether or not a particular neighborhood is safe. However, there seems to be no dispute that if you move to Englewood, you’ll probably be leaving in a body bag. Good to see we all finally agree on something.
Not exactly a glowing recommendation of the area in which Jennifer Hudson’s mother, Darnell Donerson, her brother, Jason Hudson and nephew, Julian King lived prior to being murdered. The quote from above is repeated over and over again by all involved with this particular post regarding the safety of Englewood.
Despite Jennifer’s success as an Oscar winning actress in Dreamgirls, an accomplished singer with a new debut album and a past American Idol favorite, her family decided Englewood is where they grew up and Englewood is where they would stay. My only question is why? According to the Chicago Police Department as early as 2000, Police District 7, which includes Englewood, was the highest crime area with rates of 3,360 Violent Crimes per 100,000, easily beating the next highest Police District. My conclusion, Englewood is very dangerous and everyone who lives there knows this.
Chicago Police Districts:
1. Central, 1718 S. State St.
2. Wentworth, 5101 S. Wentworth Ave.
3. Grand Crossing, 7040 S. Cottage Grove Ave.
4. South Chicago, 2255 E. 103rd St.
5. Calumet, 727 E. 111th St.
6. Gresham, 7808 S. Halsted St. 7. Englewood, 6120 S. Racine Ave
The man who allegedly committed these murders William Balfour, was a product of the violence which seeped out of every pore of the Englewood area, and Jennifer Hudson’s family, was yet another victim of violent crime. There is no fault in wanting to stay true to your roots, or to show people you haven’t ‘changed’ because of your success, but on the flip side it doesn’t make you a bad person if you move from an area as hostile as Englewood. Why else do we go to work everyday other than to better the conditions we live in and provide a safer environment for our family.
This isn’t to say if the Hudson’s moved to some high end neighborhood William Balfour wouldn’t have done the exact same thing, because if someone is intent on causing you harm, they will do so no matter where you are. With that said, why stay in Englewood? It makes absolutely no sense to me when you have the means to make a change, for instance living in a gated community, but rather you voluntarily choose to stay in a crime infested city like Englewood.
This is an unimaginable tragedy with innocent people being murdered, but I can’t help to think how different it all might have been had her family chose to live hundreds of miles away from all the violence and chaos which surrounded them everyday in Englewood.
I hate clowns! Anyone who dresses up as a clown is immediately suspect in my book. No normal man and they are always men, would dress up as a clown and have legitimate good intentions. I knew a girl who developed a phobia to clowns based on a bad experience she had as a child and though I don’t know the details I am sure it was sexual in nature.
It is surprising to me that one of the most visible corporations in America, McDonalds, is represented by a clown because let’s face it, clowns are freaky. One of the most notorious serial killers in all the world, John Wayne Gacy was a clown, actually performed at parties and made enough to make a living. Seriously, would you ever allow this man into your house to perform for your kids?
I make no apologies, I hate clowns and I always will, they are just plain freaky.
Sounds easy enough, live a life of simplicity and you will be happy. Don’t let your possessions own you. Only buy what you need, not what you want. Unfortunately as a race of people we have decided that simple isn’t good enough.
During the Great Depression which lasted roughly ten years, suicide rates increased from 14 to 17 per 100,000. To put this in perspective, a report was just released by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Injury Research and Policy which shows the U.S. suicide rate rose 5 percent, from 10.5 per 100,000 people in 1999 to 11 per 100,000 people in 2005. The difference between 2005 at 11 per 100,000 and 17 per 100,000 during the Great Depression years is remarkably high.
We are heading into what is arguable a global recession with implications not realized since the Great Depression years and possibly even greater. The biggest banks are failing at an alarming rate, unprecedented government bailout packages, corporate layoffs, skyrocketing foreclosures, drained retirement accounts, soaring energy and food costs, the result of years and years of living to excess. Now the stories of suicide are increasing from despondent people who see no other alternative.
Recently Karthik Rajaram who was jobless and felt hopeless killed himself and his entire family over his predicament. Carlene Balderrama became a symbol of the mortgage crisis when faced with foreclosure faxed her mortgage company blaming them for the loss of their home, then pulled out a high caliber rifle and killed herself. The mortgage company for Carlene Balderrama has since stopped the foreclosure and allowed her remaining family to own the home outright. It only took Carlene blowing a whole in her chest to get something worked out.
We are only at the surface of this economic crisis and undoubtedly more and more will choose the same path that Carlene and Karthik took. Suicide hot lines, psychiatrists, psychologists, bartenders, drug dealers and pharmacists will no doubt see a dramatic rise in business the longer this climate of crisis remains. Once you’ve already tapped into the system of consume, consume some more, is it even possible to revert back to a life of simplicity? According to Milton Friedman it’s not an option and I can’t say I disagree with him.
A difficult or precarious situation; a predicament.
I’ve always been a fan of animated series because I felt it allowed the creators to do even more than with live action people. Shows like the Flintstones, Scooby-Do (minus that little shit dog Scrappy), Underdog with that Sweet Polly Purebred, Yogi Bear with Boo-Boo, Starblazers, Tom and Jerry, Transformers, of the course Simpson’s, Beavis and Butthead, Futurama and Family Guy to name a few.
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One commonality amongst all the animated series was a side character who stole the show everytime he, or she appeared and for Family Guy that character is Glenn Quagmire. If you’ve not seen Family Guy, you’ve probably been kidnapped and frantically trying to Twitter someone, but instead you found my site. Sorry, I’m not Twitter enabled, but the Quagmire video will kill you (no pun intended).
Quagmire is always inappropriate, has a hysterical laugh (giggity-giggity) and absolutely no moral code. I hung out with a guy just like that when I was younger, would do anything to get laid, from impersonating a Doctor, to pretending to be his brother when the lights where out and banging the girlfriend. Yeah, that happened and while it was funny to me, not so much for the brother, or the girlfriend.
For some reason whenever I watch Quagmire, I think of Larry Dallas from Three’s Company, another great ladies man.
