A ceasefire is a temporary stoppage of a war or any armed conflict, where each side of the conflict agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions.
An oddity, the organization who refers to itself as CeaseFire, actually translates into a temporary suspension of aggressive action. The media attempts to show a Friday thru Monday upsurge in violence, by both combining the city and suburbs then highlighting a promotion of various types of crime which occurred. These four roughly estimated days of an alleged spike in violence, entailed the usual gang related shootings, along with stabbings, which may or may not have been gang related, and per media reporting. One homicide of a drowned 62 year old man.
CeaseFire is now asking or maybe its actually flexing its political muscle in Chicago, for the Mayor to take action and assist them in getting their cut funding back. This is all due to the state of Illinois cutting their funding, after the State of Illinois audit showed a large portion of missing cash. Which in our opinion is not so surprising.
Auditing done on ceasefire's record keeping, turned out sloppy at best. The audit examined CeaseFire's finances from 2004 to 2006 and found that the group was slow to start up promised programs and didn't adequately account for about $371,000 it paid to community partners. Ceasefire had this to say. "There's nothing illegal. There's no misspending. There's no trips to the Bahamas, no $50,000 toilet," said Gary Slutkin, founder and executive director of the organization at UIC. He further related they had receipts but uses the above excuse of. "There were no trips taken or a toilet bought nor was their misspending." Well then, if none of this occurred where is the missing cash you claim you have receipts for?
Exactly, what does this translate into? Ceasefire is sloppy at best with their record keeping and apparently also have an accountability problem, in handling hard earned taxpayer's funded monies. Were of the opinion, no one should have to pay to negotiate street gangs in reduction of their violence by paying out, that's called extortion. Of course we will always get the rhetoric of the poor communities, and their inabilities of providing jobs, activities, etc. Which are supposedly, causing a good portion of the spiral of gangs growth in their long standing recruiting tactics. While true Prison incarcerated inmate control for turf is part of the overall problem. The strong hold from within prisons perpetuates, the violence for control of turf. Which then feeds on the affected communities. Causing these numerous communities nationwide, to be held hostage to gang violence. Were led into believing, these problems are combined. With the majority of the problem, emulating from the so called social ills of societies, and our lack of attention to these programs. Lack of jobs and training is whats said to be actually feeding into these ills, of gang violence.
Ceasefire is a political band aid, put in place in an attempt to quell public out cry, that were actually dealing with the severe violence and crime problem. A problem that is not only national but a problem that has also continued to grow. In spite of the enormous Federal dollars, which have been thrown towards these programs like CeaseFire, in their so called combating of gang crime violence. There's still huge profits in the sub culture of drugs and that's exactly what gangs are about. Pushing drugs for profit and controlling the turf by providing street selling and look out jobs. Should profit coming from taxpayer's also be in the combating of these gangs holding communities nationally hostage, we think not.
As far back as 1986 under Harold Washington as Mayor, there was another program known as Chicago Intervention Network (CIN), also a program designed to combat gangs. Where over $4 million was appropriated to also battle gangs. This occurred after two events, the media highlighting of the story about the death of Ben Wilson, a 17-year-old high school basketball star who was being recruited by major colleges across the country. He was shot to death in a sidewalk confrontation with a gang member on the city’s South Side on November 20, 1984 and the highlighting of the 669th killing of that same year. At that time a campaign to fight gang crime was also mobilized. Some of the names involved back then were, Dr. Irving Spergel professor at the School of Social Service, University of Chicago (UIC), Commander Edward Pleines, Chicago Police Department, Father Lawrence Craig, director of Kolbe House and the Archdiocesan Gang Education Teams, and Jaime Rivera, an administrator of the Youth Guidance Program at Roberto Clemente High School. Looks like the same players as CeaseFire, only names have changed.
If jobs were actually important, we wouldn't be allowing under cutting by corporations, in their pursuit of hiring illegals for lower wages and corporate profit. We also would not be involved in allowing corporations to hire immigration attorney's in their endeavor of denying jobs to citizens, by placing scam ads of employment opportunities and the need for a high educational degree to obtain the job, along with the said need for prior work experience in a particular field. Requirements not even required of the corporations for these actual jobs. Since were now fully aware, the corporations are actually providing the short on job training to outsiders with little education and work experience. Whether their hiring here, or in their under cutting of exporting millions of our jobs out. So we can take the no job equation out, and the job equation is the biggest component because it relates to a feasible and attainable income in order to survive. So we agree on a major issue. Jobs are vital.
Here's an option. How about putting our money where it really counts. In maintaining our jobs, as a real starter. Or we could actually penalize employers and denounce, the Department of Labor in assisting Corporations and their high priced Immigration attorney's. In their alarming profits in selling off of our jobs, along with their illegal conduct of hiring illegals to work for lower wages. Better yet, here's an arcane idea. How about giving our communities the same ability for all, to obtain the six month on job training, with little education needed opportunity in securing those jobs your taking away from us. While were at it, we could actually demand, that our government provide the added security and secure our borders, where all those drugs are profitably flowing through and creating the gang wars and the upsurge in violence, that just happens to be effecting everyone nationally.
No, our Municipal, State and Federal government, Church and their Community partners, would rather support and promote, extortion of a politically profitable, social thought band aid. That's never going to cure the social ills, of lost opportunities. See how we saved the taxpayer, no extortion here and our intervention didn't even cost a dime. Of course our intervention reduces Politicians from Corporate fan fare donations and money going into all those immigration attorney's pockets. CeaseFire is a political diversion and not the solution they claim.
