Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Dog rescued from Jackson Harbor after chacing a Canadian Goose

A dog is stranded at Jackson Park Harbor this morning. Marine Unit officers were called to the 6700 block of South Lake Shore Drive to attempt to rescue it.Chicago Police try to rescue a dog stranded on the frozen pond at the Jackson Park Yacht Club on Chicago's South Side.A dog is rescued from a frozen pond at Jackson Park Yacht Club on Chicago's South Side.A stray dog apparently hankering for a Canada goose for breakfast found himself on thin ice in the middle of Jackson Harbor Tuesday.

"The dog was sitting kind of nice and peaceful but he was far out," said Marine Unit Police Officer Nial Funchion, who helped get the pooch to safety. "I was amazed he was lasting so long. . .He was out there for hours."

The dog, a 1-year-old shepherd mix, was about 300 yards out into the harbor when he caught the eye of someone on shore around 7:30 a.m., police said. A team from the Chicago Police Marine Unit arrived in minutes, soon joined by media trucks and helicopters.

The animal seemed unfazed by the subzero temperatures as he laid claim to a patch of ice that was only about 2 inches thick, Funchion said. But the dog did seem wary of the growing number of people lining up on the shoreline, he said.

The officers initially tried to corral the dog to one side of a pier to keep it from moving toward open water, Funchion said. "That's where the geese were. We were trying to keep him from going that route."

When the dog stubbornly stayed in the middle of the harbor, Funchion gingerly stepped out on the ice in his cold weather gear. He and other officers tried to shoo the dog toward the shore several times, only to have him veer back toward the geese.

"He got close a couple times but we were trying to nudge him the rest of the way," Funchion said.
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Shouth Shore on fire

Two men died and a woman was seriously injured when an extra-alarm fire broke out in a high-rise on South Shore Drive this morning.

All three victims suffered full cardiac arrest, apparently from breathing in smoke, according to Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.
One of the men was in his 30s and the other was in his 40s, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. The first man was pronounced dead at 9:54 a.m. at the University of Chicago Medical Center and the other was pronounced later at Jackson Park Hospital, officials said.
Their names were not being released pending notification of family, according to the medical examiner's office.
The men were found on the seventh floor and the woman was found in the lobby of the building in the 6700 block of South Shore Drive, also in full cardiac arrest, Langford said. Paramedics were able to revive her with CPR and took her to the University of Chicago Medical Center, Langford said.
To Read More Click Here   Photos supplied by reader that works the 71st Street Area

Confident Obama lays out battle plan as he launches second term

A confident President Barack Obama kicked off his second term on Monday with an impassioned call for a more inclusive America that rejects partisan rancor and embraces immigration reform, gay rights and the fight against climate change.

Obama's ceremonial swearing-in at the U.S. Capitol was filled with traditional pomp and pageantry, but it was a scaled-back inauguration compared with the historic start of his presidency in 2009 when he swept into office on a mantle of hope and change as America's first black president.
Despite expectations tempered by lingering economic weakness and a politically divided Washington, Obama delivered a preview of the priorities he intends to pursue - essentially a reaffirmation of core liberal Democratic causes - declaring Americans "are made for this moment" and must "seize it together."

His hair visibly gray after four years in office, Obama called for an end to the partisanship that marked much of his first term in the White House in bitter fights over the economy with Republicans.

"We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate," Obama said from atop the Capitol steps overlooking the National Mall.

Looking out on a sea of flags, Obama addressed a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people that was smaller than the record 1.8 million who assembled on the mall four years ago.

Speaking in more specific terms than is customary in an inaugural address, he promised "hard choices" to reduce the federal deficit without shredding the social safety net and called for a revamping of the tax code and a remaking of government.

The Democrat arrived at his second inauguration on solid footing, with his poll numbers up, Republicans on the defensive and his first-term record boasting accomplishments such as a U.S. healthcare overhaul, financial regulatory reforms, the end of the war in Iraq and the killing of Osama bin Laden.

But fights are looming over budgets, gun control and immigration. Obama, however, has sounded more emboldened because he never again needs to run for election.

SECOND TIME TAKING OATH

When Obama raised his right hand and was sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts, it was his second time taking the oath in 24 hours - but this time with tens of millions of people watching on television. As he spoke, the president beamed as chants of "Obama, Obama!" rang out from the crowd.

Obama had a formal swearing-in on Sunday at the White House because of a constitutional requirement that the president take the oath on January 20. Rather than stage the full inauguration on a Sunday, the main public events were put off until Monday.

It was another political milestone for Obama, 51, the Hawaiian-born son of a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas.

During a triumphant parade down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, the president and first lady Michelle Obama thrilled cheering onlookers by twice getting out of their armored limousine and walking part of the way on foot, as they had done four years ago. Secret Service agents kept close watch.

In the evening, the couple visited the two formal inaugural balls - down from 10 in 2009 - to celebrate with supporters. At both, Obama and the first lady danced to Al Green's "Let's Stay Together," performed by singer Jennifer Hudson.

In his 20-minute inaugural speech, Obama sought to reassure Americans at the midpoint of his presidency and encourage them to help him take care of unfinished business. "Preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action," he said.

The crowds on the National Mall were enthusiastic, but the euphoria of 2009 was gone.

"Four years ago, it was the first black president," said local resident Greg Pearson, 42. "It doesn't have the same energy. It's more subdued. It's not quite the party it was four years ago. Our expectations are pretty low (this time): let's not default on the national debt, keep the government running."

Organizers had given various estimates of the number of people they expected would jam the mall for the ceremony. An inauguration official estimated the crowd at about 1 million

Unmediated Psycho shoots up College


One person was being detained and another sought after an argument escalated into gunfire at a Houston-area community college on Tuesday, injuring at least three people.
Barely six weeks after an elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., revived the political fight over gun control, the nation on Tuesday again had to deal with reports of gunfire at an educational institution and watched televised images of students running in fear.
Rescue workers and police rushed to Lone Star College’s North Harris campus at approximately 12:30 p.m. amid reports of shots having been fired. The campus was on lockdown for at least an hour before officials began evacuating the campus
At least three people were taken to two area hospitals, officials told reporters. One person was being detained as a person of interest, according to Harris County Sheriff's Maj. Armando Tello.
Authorities said they were looking in the surrounding woods for another person, also described as a person of interest. It was unclear if the person being sought was armed.
Although details remained confused, witnesses interviewed by local television stations said the incident began in the library area of the campus, about 20 miles north of Houston, with about 18,000 students.
Lone Star College student Brittany Mobley said: “I saw two dudes basically get into an altercation and the dude that shot, he basically got angry and started shooting the other guy,” Mobley told TV station KHOU. “A lot of people heard a lot of shots.”
Mobley said the suspect had the gun hidden in his clothes.
“Basically, I seen the dude that shot him and as soon as I heard the bullets flying and the gun being fired off, then everyone started running and it was a hint for me to start running as well,” Mobley said.
Sheriff officials told reporters that they had confirmed three injuries at the scene. The injured were taken to Harris Health Ben Taub Hospital Emergency Center and Houston Northwest Medical Center.
Cody Harris, 20, he said he was in a classroom with about six or seven other students waiting for a psychology class to start when he heard eight shots. He and other students looked at each other, said, “I guess we should get out of here” and fled.
“I was just worried about getting out,” Harris told the Associated Press. “I called my grandmother and asked her to pick me up.”
Bruce J. Martin, an assistant professor at Lone Star College, tweeted that he had heard six to eight shots downstairs in the library and had taken cover for 20 minutes.
“Most students have been evacuated,” he wrote, adding in another tweet: “2-3 people shot, blood on library floor as we were escorted out by police.”
In addition to the college, four nearby schools in the Aldine Independent School District went into lockdown, a district spokesman said.
The shooting follows the Connecticut attack where a gunman invaded an elementary school, shooting 20 children and six adults. That attack has sparked a push by the Obama administration to increase gun control by banning assault weapons and limiting the size of ammunition clips.

Sarge's History

We noticed after picking apart video's we have determined that the first lady is an idiot as well as bored with her husband's decision in politics. To point out Mrs. Obama this year at the inaugural rolled her eyes during speeches as she has heard them before. I truly wounder what is done in the White House. Hubby is at work kids are at school and she is servicing the senators and congress maybe never know I mean since Clinton did service Monica and Kennedy serviced Monroe. But 4 years ago Mrs. Obama asked Mr. Obama why do you have to salute the military. Really Mrs. Obama um it's cause he has to. Later that year they went to ground zero and and as it has been done the last 7 years, she asks why are they reading the names or even better why do we have to be here. We also noticed that 4 years ago promises were made which only one was kept Obama care. The video will show you how disrespectful Michelle really is when she states all of this for a flag. Excuse me Michelle people died and bled for that flag so please for give me while I give you a one finger salute but knowing you, you'd want in your ass while you use a miniature hot-dog in the other hole since your mouth is full of shit and have no where else to put it bitch.
The president never put his hand over his heart 4 years ago while campaigning nor did he salute military personnel until his 4th month in office. The Obama's have taken more vacations then any sitting president. Every time the Obama's go on vacation it costs tax payers 500 thousand. Ronald Regan took 112 days in 8 years, George H.W. Bush took 38 days in 4 years, Bill Clinton took 28 days, George W. Bush took 180 days in 8 years, Barack Obama has taken 61 days after the first 31 months and since Obama spent 16 days in the gulf, 90 days with fundraisers and 180 days in Hawaii. At that cost they should pay for it. It is no wounder the debt ceiling keeps going up because they keep going on vacation. Mrs. Obama is board of the presidency.