thought i'd give the keyboard one more exercise before we close out 2015.
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FINALLY. after four years of being in charge and terminating pregnant teachers, MARY WEAVER was ousted on monday. you read that right. a female principal was firing teachers for becoming pregnant......and not during the 1950's but rather during the last four years.  weaver was the main defendant in a federal lawsuit settled last week for over a half million dollars and although the school district admitted no wrongdoing, weaver got whacked just a few days after the settlement. 

BUT, in all fairness, some pieces to the puzzle are missing. weaver was told by officials to go home where she will CONTINUE TO COLLECT HER $147,000 SALARY............for staying home and doing nothing. "don't report for work and stay off school property" said the officials to weaver but she wasn't served termination papers or suspended....just 'reassigned' to her house. 

so stay home, watch tv and eat bon-bons for three thousand dollars a week. where do i sign up? stay tuned on this one.
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and so once again, a black shooting victim is being hailed by his family as someone "who never got in trouble" and "all he did was study" and apparently was just one step away from sainthood before the police "messed up" and shot this poor boy.  but let's dig into QUINTONIO'S recent past just a little bit.

a student at NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, 'q' has been arrested or investigated for the following incidents in dekalb during the past year: 
1) a fist fight in the dorm 
2) resisting arrest
3) punching a female cafeteria worker in the chest
4) shouting obscenities at the cafeteria staff
5) arrested for battery
6) chasing a woman bicyclist and arrested for assault
7) another resisting arrest charge

and to add to that this disagreement between parents: his natural father said that q had an emotional breakdown at thanksgiving and was hospitalized but foster mom says no, it was just a reaction to synthetic marijuana. oh, that's better. 

does this sound like maybe he strayed a little bit from his studies?

so lets study the pattern: when the cops shoot, the 'victim' is immediately elevated to citizen of the year status but the cop is downgraded to a lowlife scumbag who shouldn't be wearing a badge.  and please be careful.........don't get run over by the family members as they stampede to the DIRKSEN BUILDING to file the federal law suit. think i'm kidding?? 

well, q was shot at 4:30 saturday morning and his father, who had almost nothing to do with his son since he was 5,  filed a wrongful death lawsuit at 9:30 a.m. monday morning.  how the hell do you find a lawyer on a weekend and have all the papers drawn up in time for the opening of the clerk's office on monday? don't you think the father should have taken a minute or two to mourn the passing of his son?

are there bad cops? absolutely. do some of them abuse their powers? no doubt and those bad apples should be removed just like any other corporation gets rid of bad workers.

but don't act like q and all the other 'victims' are angels and never did anything wrong. post shooting investigation normally finds a long history of violence and gang activity and a general disregard for authority in any form and generally reveals that the 'victim' is a lowlife animal who ignored a lawful order, carried a weapon or ran from the police.  wrongful death, my butt.
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now if you want to read a legitimate wrongful death suit, just read the one that was filed on behalf of LAQUON McDONALD after he was murdered by officer JASON VAN DYKE in october of 2014. that incident couldn't be any more wrong. mcdonald's mother quickly settled for five million dollars. most legal beagles say the suit was worth far more.
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MAYOR RAHM EMMANUEL was already banging his head against the wall with the police problems but recent findings that most major cities have had a reduction in crime and police shootings has to have him reaching for the maalox. he cut short his christmas vacation to return to chicago but exactly what is he supposed to do?
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looking for a prime piece of california real estate? MICHAEL JACKSON'S 2700 acre property called 'neverland' can be yours for a cool one hundred million dollars. 12,000 square feet of living space in the main house with six bedrooms & seven bathrooms should fit your daily needs nicely. you are not allowed to rename it 'pedophile junction.'
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time flies.  jackson died six years and a half years ago.
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the BEATLES are now fully released on ITUNES and the #1 song is.....................COME TOGETHER. thought you wanted to know.
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go see STAR WARS. pure fun & ga reat musical score.
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my new year's wish is a simple one: may the healthy stay that way and remember to count their blessings while i hope those who suffered some bad luck this year sit down at the poker game of life and draw nothing but aces. and i truly mean that!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

THINGS I REMEMBER ABOUT THE HOLIDAYS AS A KID

THINGS I REMEMBER ABOUT THE HOLIDAYS AS A KID

I REMEMBER.......

thinking GRANDMA HATFIELD'S christmas tree was the biggest one in the world and having to be lifted by an adult just to hang an ornament mid-tree on christmas eve.

thinking MR. BOYD was very religious in our neighborhood because he only used blue christmas lights on the outside of his corner house.

writing out my list from the SEARS WISH BOOK and making sure i included the page number so it was crystal clear to santa.

always choosing the latter when SANTA gave you the choice of singing, dancing or telling a joke in order to get your present at grandma's house. i would rehearse for a week and always got a laugh.

laughing hysterically when my SISTER PAT tried to sing 'SILENT NIGHT' for her gift and then getting a stern look from grandma, who always whispered to me, "be nice, she tries hard."

seeing my first 'flock tree' and my DAD telling me that only jewish people bought those kinds of christmas trees.  i didn't get his joke. (what's a flock tree?--google it)

always hoping for a red SCHWINN bicycle.

being disappointed when we got an AMERICAN FLYER train set and not a LIONEL.

burning my hand when i decided to touch the color wheel for our aluminum tree.  i blamed my sister.

wondering why AUNTIE ALMA always bought me shortie pajamas. no one else i knew had them. i hated them and never wore them. pajama shorts & a short sleeve top. really?

when the only time you heard the word 'gay' was when somebody sang a christmas carol.

EVERY STORE being closed on christmas day. EVERY STORE.

the lines at LARRY'S GAS STATION (later john's marathon) on christmas eve. if you needed gas for christmas day, you had no choice but to get it then because they closed at 3:00 and didn't re-open for two days.

running out of batteries and having to wait until the NEXT day to get more. my god, the agony.

hanging out by MRS. CERVONE'S kitchen because the stay at home mom cooked christmas treats all day long and all month long.  you never said 'no' when she invited you to stay for dinner.

having to listen to RICHIE CRAWFORD telling us about how great his gifts were....the 'best' baseball glove, the 'best' toys....blah blah blah. you probably knew someone like that.

watching the LAFAYETTE TWINS, bobby & louie, walk out of their house on christmas day dressed exactly alike. they hated it but their mom loved it.

keeping an eye out for FRANK LUCENBACH because he'd steal whatever you left laying out in the yard on christmas day. my dad was indifferent to our situation.......until one day he left his new wrench & hammer outside after fixing our new bikes.......and frank lucenbach just happened to be in the immediate area when they disappeared. frank then became that 'miserable bastard' who lived down the street. TRUE STORY---to this day, frank lives in a van with his dog and drives the country doing odd jobs. wonder if he still has dad's wrench?

getting a new sled but NOT having snow on christmas.

watching bubble light ornaments with all the lights off.

rough housing with my BROTHER TERRY and breaking one of mom's GLASS ornaments. it was always his fault.

crying because we didn't get a christmas present for SPORTY, our sex crazed mongrel. my brother told me that sporty got enough presents every night when he wandered the neighborhood. i didn't get it.

crawling under the tree to water it every day after school.

cleaning up the fallen pine needles by hand because the vacuum 'would clog up.' (when mom wasn't home, we vacuumed anyhow and just unclogged the clog)

having to write 'thank you' notes to relatives who gave you clothes for a present.

finding out the mom & dad hid our presents in the 'junk' closet under the stairs and then having to work at looking  'surprised' on christmas morning.

always being happy when i got a book for a present or anything related to sports.

getting to play cards with the adults christmas night and watching UNCLE OLIVER'S nose because the more he drank, the more his nose twitched. true story.

lying in bed reading that new book until i fell asleep. who turned the light out?

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

BITS & PIECES

just some thoughts rolling around in my head.

Let me see if i have this straight.  a white officer shoots a black thug in ferguson, missouri and the locals riot and burn out their own neighborhoods and even though the officer is cleared by both state & federal authorities, the protest & rioting continued.

In chicago, a black commander was accused of sticking his gun down the throat of another black thug but there wasn't a single protester outside the police station. and when that black officer was acquitted yesterday.............nothing. zip. nada.  so black on black crime isn't worthy of protest? and they say it's not about racial hatred when they protest?  please.

what the hell was WHEATON COLLEGE thinking about when they suspended tenured associate professor DR. LARYCIA HAWKINS for declaring on social media that MUSLIMS and CHRISTIANS worship the same God. "the POPE said the same thing last week and i support that statement but apparently the college doesn't."  stay tuned on this one.

JEB BUSH proved at the las vegas debate that he needs to drop out NOW before he's embarrassed any further. DONALD TRUMP chewed him up and spit him out and no matter what you think of trump, if that's the way bush reacts to pressure, he needs to say good-bye.  i'm amazed he has 3% in the polls.

The CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOL system agreed to pay more than a quarter million dollars to eight teachers who were fired for becoming pregnant during the school year. the teachers will split $222,000 in compensatory damages and also receive their back pay.  worse yet, all 8 teachers were fired by the same principal at the same school.......and she's still employed.

and speaking of the CPS, the teachers have overwhelmingly voted to strike in the spring if negotiations continue to break down.  they needed 75% to strike and they got 96.  great news for MAYOR EMMANUEL who got his chops busted by the union the last time they walked out and already has a lot on his plate.

my head is now back to being a perfect vacuum.  adios for now.

WHAT I THINK & WHAT I KNOW

I think if you want to close the borders for SYRIANS, then we should close the borders to EVERYONE for the next five years. the government could then use that time to ferret out the bad guys living under our roof and take care of business.

i think DONALD TRUMP is a loud mouth bully.

I think PETE ROSE should be allowed into the baseball hall of fame but i also KNOW he shouldn't be allowed anywhere near major league baseball in an official capacity. i can see him now.....selling strip cards in the locker room on total amount of runs scored.

i KNOW the republicans are in big trouble again.

I know that EMPIRE is one of the best written show on commercial television.

i know that i don't understand hip-hop.

i know it's good for every motorist when gas is under two bucks.

i think that dogs are cool and cats are not.

i know that reading a printed newspaper is much better that reading it on line.

i think that the CHICAGO CUBS have stocked their roster with quality players and are ready to make a run at the world series.......in 2016.

i also know that WRIGLEY FIELD is and always will be a dump.

I know that flying first class is great.

i think the death penalty is good and a woman's right to choose is even better.

i know that nice calves and a pretty smile on a woman score points with me.

i know that coffee & beer taste bad.

i know that baseball is great to watch.....in person.

i think chicago police officers are screwed no matter what they do when making an arrest.

i know that riding my lawn tractor while smoking a swisher sweet is very relaxing.

i know i can beat almost anyone playing gin rummy except my brother-in-law roy.

i think roy cheats. 

i think winter snow should be limited to january & february and spring should be a slow season starting at the end of march and lasting at least six weeks with gradual warming.

i think it should be eighty five degrees every fourth of july with no rain.

i think people who are convicted of abusing children in any way should be sterilized as a mandatory part of their sentence.

i think drug users shouldn't go to prison. i think more rehab centers are needed in america and they should be free to first time offenders. 

i also think more prisons are needed and gang related activity needs to be harshly treated by the courts. street gangs are this country's version of ISIS.

i know that when i was a kid, paging thru the sears 'wish book' was always a highlight of the christmas season and so was the colored wheel rotating on the aluminum christmas tree.

i think state's attorney ANITA ALVAREZ will be out of a job come election time.

i think mayor RAHM EMMANUEL won't resign but probably won't run for re-election in 2018.

i know that drones scare the crap out of me.

i know that christmas decorations make me smile.

i know that mexico relaxes me.

i think that summer nights in the gazebo with an amaretto, a cigar and listening to hall of fame broadcaster VINCE SCULLY call a dodger game on the radio is pure heaven.

i think non-lawyers should be allowed to be associate judges and handle simple traffic, parking tickets and local misdemeanors to free the real associate judges to help unclog the felony court rooms. i KNOW i could handle a courtroom.

and finally, i know it's the holiday season so i wish everyone a SAFE & HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON AND AN OUTSTANDING NEW YEAR!

MOSTLY CHICAGO SPORTS

"STARLIN CASTRO isn't going anywhere. he fits in just fine on this team and will for years to come."--joe maddon  august, 2015.

well, i hope that castro didn't believe anything that joe gasbag said to him. the cubs, with a long history of lying to their fans and the media on a regular basis, pulled the carpet out from under the simplistic (and uncoachable) castro and to be perfectly honest, filled a couple of holes with a utility pitcher and a backup infielder and then added BEN ZOBRIST as their regular second baseman.   psssst, javy baez......leave your suitcase packed and ready to go. and JORGE SOLER, same to you.

the white sox? well, they're offering an auction to win lunch with HAROLD BAINES but the only problem with that is that baines has only said about a dozen words the last ten years. i bid two bucks.

and ROBIN VENTURA says he's not looking past 2016. trust me, that jerkwad should be in prison for stealing his paycheck from the sox for the last 4 years. my boycott continues..............

PATRICK KANE keeps right on rolling with an open netter tonight to extend his scoring streak to 23, not quite halfway to WAYNE GRETZKY'S record of 51.  whaddyathink?

i don't know if he's the best goalie in the league but COREY CRAWFORD is in the conversation. single handedly, he kept the hawks alive tonight against nashville. same two teams thursday night in music city.

as written here years ago, the CHICAGO BEARS will never win with JAY CUTLER under center.  never. he never won in high school, college or the pros. everyone talked about how well he was managing the team but he still sucks when they need him most.

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS.........72-0? they are something to watch and STEPH CURRY is like a hot knife through butter.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS took control of the NL WEST this week by signing pitcher ZACH GRIENKE and then trading for right hander SHELBY MILLER and when combined with the healthy return of all-star PATRICK CORBIN, it looks like the snakes now have pitching to balance out their tremendous offense. 

i see where relief pitcher AROLDIS CHAPMAN stepped in it big time by choking his girlfriend and then firing eight shots from a handgun. once MLB gets done with it, he'll be suspended 50 games which will kill the pending trade to the DODGERS plus affect his free agency next year, costing him MILLIONS of dollars.......plus he'll have to face legal charges. the morons keep marching on.

adios for now

JUST SPORTS

Would someone please call a surgeon so the GREEN BAY PACKERS can arrange to have the horse shoes removed from their collective rear ends? absolutely incredible.  i've seen miracle finishes before but after being down 20-0 I thought they were toast. and then the LIONS detroited all over themselves........again.  the stupidest organization year after year in the NFL.  can you imagine the celebration last night for the urine & green???? I bet those unemployment checks were being cashed left and right at the local taverns up north and there was probably a run on hard boiled eggs and pickled pigs feet.  yah-hey-dere.

are the CUBS just stroking their fans once again? as recently as last month, THEO EPSTEIN was quoted in VINE LINE magazine  "we need impact pitching. we've developed and obtained position players over the last few years but now it's time to get quality starters to fill out our rotation." whoa. look out, national league. and the impact pitcher will be.......................JEFF SAMARDZIJA ???????????????????????????  you have got to be kidding me.

it didn't surprise me when the cubs failed to get top shelf pitcher DAVID PRICE at 31 million a year but when second tier pitcher JORDAN ZIMMERMAN was signed by the tigers for 22 million a year, I became curious as to what the cubs meant by impact and then I heard JOHN LACKEY and the shark.  lackey is freaking 37 years old and samardzija is a sub-.500 pitcher for his career.  what kind of impact is that?????

cub fans should be really pissed if that's who they sign.  raise your ticket prices 10% and then give you discount pitchers. nice.  but typical.

kudos to TIGER WOODS & KOBE BRYANT on their announcements this week. kobe is retiring from the game and woods acknowledged that seven surgeries have eliminated him from the chase to catch JACK NICKLAUS' record of 18 majors. no one beats FATHER TIME. just ask MUHAMMAD ALI and  WILLIE MAYS, both of whom stayed too long in their respective sports and were embarrassed at the end. enjoy your new life, gentlemen.

FINALLY! the WHITE SOX said goodbye to TYLER FLOWERS, arguably the worst catcher in the American league.  couldn't hit, couldn't throw anyone out, had limited power and couldn't run. other than that, he was perfect. god, what a mutt.  but he'll get snatched up as a free agent and make millions because "he handles pitchers so well."  gag me.

you a football fan? go see the new movie CONCUSSION with WILL SMITH in the lead role. then see how quick you sign your kid up for football next fall.

IOWA has been complaining all year that no one respects them. well, they get their chance to show the world how good they are on Saturday night when they play MICHIGAN STATE for the right to compete in the national championships new year's eve.

want a head banger game this sunday? SEATTLE visits MINNESOTA at high noon. the stakes are very high for both teams. now this game will have real impact.

later, dude.

THIS WORLD SUCKS

due to computer issues, this blog was delayed and originally delivered via e-mail.

 

There was a time in America when you could drop your kids off at school or church and know that they were safe and when you dropped them at the movies or the mall, maybe you kept your fingers crossed that you wouldn't get a shoplifting call from mall security or the manager of the cinema for throwing popcorn but at the same time, you knew you'd see them in a couple of hours and all would be well.

 

You might have crossed your fingers a little tighter and exhaled a little harder when they finally arrived home from a concert but attending musical events was part of growing up. after all, we did it and we're ok, right? 

 

For the adults, what could possibly go wrong when you and your friends stop at a small café for drinks and snacks and talked about the upcoming company Christmas party and all you had to worry about was your husband having too much to drink and telling the boss what he really thought about his management style. Or maybe you discussed going to an upcoming sporting event to cheer on your favorite athlete as he runs the local marathon. Small concerns for everyday activities.

 

But no more. the psychos and zealots have taken to the streets and mass murders have begun on what seems to be an almost weekly basis and it's painfully apparent that there is no safe place anymore in this great country of ours or for that matter, any place in the world.

 

I don't have children but I worry and pray everyday about the safety of my brother & sisters, my girlfriend & her daughters, my pain in the ass nephews and their families along with my nieces and their loved ones, not to mention my close friends. During 20+ years in law enforcement, I saw my share of tragedies but not to this level and certainly not this often and I'm struggling to find the words to explain the world to my friends and even to myself.

 

What drives two brothers to plant bombs at the Boston marathon ? What political symbol could 10,000 racers, most running just to run, possibly possess to drive those madmen to make that decision? or to open fire at an outdoor café in Paris and kill at random?

 

How does a guy in his 20's decide that it's ok to massacre first & second graders while they sit in a class room on the east coast? or open fire in a Colorado movie theatre and kill 12 people and wound 58 others watching the premier of the new Batman movie and bring ten full magazines of extra ammo with him? he obviously didn't have one specific target but just random killing in mind.

 

recently, we had a psycho open fire at a prayer meeting HE attended but to what end? and of course, we're all still reading about yesterday's carnage at a California Christmas party.

 

there is a temptation to just shake our heads when the bad guy is from the middle east and say "of course" or when the shooting involves the military, we tend to accept it as one of the hazards of the job but the sad part is we're becoming numb to the killing because the shooting sprees are just piling up and they tend to blur together. 

 

 here's a test for you: Blacksburg, Virginia,......Newton, Connecticut....Fort Hood, Texas......I bet you got at least two of those as sites of killing sprees but how about these?

 

Binghamton, NY..... Atlanta, GA.....Kinston, AL.....Roseburg, Or..........Red Lake, MN.......Seal Beach, CA....

Carthage, NC......Appomattox, VA.........

 

how did you do with those cities & towns?

 

those were all locations of shooting sprees that killed at least eight people and they all occurred within the last six years but unless you have family or friends living there, I doubt that you remember anything about them. one after another after another....the beat goes on.

 

there is some validity to the argument about closing our borders but even if you do that, how do we stop our home grown whack jobs?

 

most times, their own parents have no idea as to what they were up to and I'm going to spit the next time I hear a parent say "I had no idea he had so many guns" or "he was just a quiet boy who had no friends so most of the time he stayed upstairs in his room playing on his computer" or "he had problems holding down a job because his bosses would always pick on him because he was different."  hello? FYI--if he lives in YOUR house, you have right to know what he's doing so get your head out of the sand. but personal freedom and civil liberties is a discussion for another day.

 

I'm sad & frustrated and I don't know how to help other than to protect my own but I wish your kids and their kids a lot of luck in the future and they're going to need it because evil answers to a different god that has no morals and knows absolutely no boundaries. 

 

Hug them every day because you never know. 

 

sorry for the content but I had to get this off my chest.

 

 

SUPER THANKSGIVING!

HOW ABOUT THAT FOR A SPECIAL THANKSGIVING TREAT?!?!?!!! the BEARS go up to green bay where they normally can't win a one man race and stop the puke green & urine yellow packers 17-13. made that pumpkin pie taste reallllllllll good.

did you notice the early 'home cookin' by the officials in an effort to get the home team over the hump? and tell me you didn't hold your breath waiting for a flag on the last pass into the end zone. a perfect end to the holiday on brett favre night. screw him too.

COACH JOHN FOX has done a great job of getting the bears competitive with a dearth of talent on his roster but they keep things close in almost every game.  since starting 0-3, the bears are 5-3 and those three games have been lost by a TOTAL of 8 points, which should give you great hope for the future.

I just noticed that the RUSSIANS were suspended from future track activities when it was discovered they had used performance enhancing drugs in the Olympics.  what a shock.

showtime for NOTRE DAME this weekend. they need to beat favored STANFORD and then pray that OKLAHOMA COACH 'BIG GAME' BOBBY STOOPS gags it up again against oklahoma state. if the sooners win and everyone else holds serve, it doesn't matter what the irish do, they're toast.

are the WHITE SOX doing this just to piss me off? they've signed some interesting free agents including an outfielder with a lifetime average of .208, a sore knee catcher who hit .191 last year, an outfielder coach who ended his career early because he kept running into walls and finally, in a trade, a relief pitcher with an e.r.a. of almost 5.00 who walked three batters for every four he struck out last season. wonderful.

and I hear nothing from the north side. just what are those sneaky bastards up to?

the BULLS have the fourth best record in the NBA but it sure doesn't seem like they're one of the four best, does it? JOAQUIM NOAH doesn't seem to fit in with this offense and might be done for good. look for him to be traded to a team that runs a set offense where noah can handle the high post. a good test for the bulls will be Friday night at INDIANA.

and the BLACKHAWKS keep amazing me in a year that was supposed to be a rebuild due to salary cap issues. PATRICK KANE is playing like a man possessed with 34 points in just 22 games and left wing ARTEMI PANARIN is now the favorite for rookie of the year with 23 points in twenty-two games. after a slow start for the team, the return of DUNCAN KEITH has propelled the hawks to fifth in the conference and when JONATHAN TOEWS & MARION HOSSA get untracked, the sky's the limit.

all the rivals play this weekend in college football. OHIO STATE/MICHIGAN............OREGON/OREGON STATE............ALABAMA/AUBURN............MISSISSIPPI STATE/MISSISSIPPI & USC/UCLA......whoyagot??????

later, dude.

ALL SORTS OF STUFF

I wonder how convicted pedophile JARED FOGLE will fare in prison over the next fifteen years. the former long-time spokesman for SUBWAY pleaded guilty of traveling across state lines to have sex with minors along with possession of child porn and got whacked by the judge, who gave him three more years than the prosecution asked for and fined him $175,000.  

last time i checked, pedophiles don't win any popularity contests in the big house.  maybe he can make friends with convicted illinois governor ROD BLAGOJEVICH, who is also a resident of the littleton, colorado federal facility. fogle will be eligible for parole in 2028. enjoy your time, jared.

still nothing from the jungle regarding anyone coming forward to point the finger at the murderer of TYSHAWN LEE. even rewards totaling more than $55,000 gets no response and don't tell me that a nine year old shot in broad daylight has no witnesses to the crime. the residents won't talk to white cops, black cops or any cops at all but they 'want justice' for the killing.  shut up.

and now the black alderman are calling for the resignation of SUPERINTENDENT GARRY McCARTHY. why, because your constituents won't EVER cooperate with the police??? what the hell are the officers supposed to do without hard eveidence? they need testimony and some finger pointing to get the job done. so get out on the streets and talk to your voters. somebody either knows or heard something by now.

i think GOVERNOR BRUCE RAUNER stepped on his penis the other day by announcing he was closing the borders of illinois to all syrians. what kind of a moron are you?

an interesting race has developed in the democratic primary for the u.s. senate seat currently held by republican MARK KIRK. there are now three candidates: war hero TAMMY DUCKWORTH, former federal prosecutor and corporate c.e.o. ANDREA ZOPP and the latest entrant, former NFL player and current state senator NAPOLEON HARRIS.

duckworth has the most money, zopp has some money but controls the south & west side black vote and harris might be entering too late to have any impact but could hurt zopp with black voters. kirk has over 3.5 million in his war chest and understands all about tough political races. 

presidential hopeful and proven liar BEN CARSON is toast. 

DONALD TRUMP is scary.

HILLARY CLINTON gives me the creeps.

but i hope all of them and YOU 
have a safe and HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 

take a minute and nineteen seconds (1:19) and enjoy the song below..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUGaaYKAagU

JUST SPORTS

Congratulations to the CHICAGO CUBS for their post season trifecta of cy young, rookie of the year and manager of the year to top off a 97-65 regular season record. 

it reminds me an awful lot of the 1984 season when they took mvp, cy young and manager of the year with a 96-65 record and according to all the 'smart' people in baseball, that team was also destined for long term greatness. the next year they finished 77-84.  just sayin'.

FYI....one other similarity of those two teams is that neither won anything.  just sayin' again.

think PEYTON MANNING carries some weight with the bookies? the line for this sunday's game between denver  & the bears was the broncos favored by 5 1/2 points IN CHICAGO. then they announced that manning wouldn't play and the bears are now favored by 2. over a touchdown swing because one player went down. unheard of to date.

speaking of the bears, what do you do with the running back position when MATT FORTE is healthy again? twenty three year old JEREMY LANGFORD is running like a man possessed and makes 450,000 per year while forte is thirty and makes eleven million. langford is your future but how do you sit forte when he makes the big bucks?

MR. SOFTEE goes down again! driving to the hoop, softee rolled his ankle and according to the man himself, wasn't supposed to miss any time at all but he sat for the phoenix game and is now out for the game against the world champs.  hmmmmmmmmmmm...maybe softee wasn't looking forward to league MVP STEPHAN CURRY lighting him up.  

the NHL has awakened! in a sport that struggles for viewership, the league has decided to make their all-star game a series of twenty minute three-on-three contests with the winning team taking home a million dollars.  the league instituted the same format for their overtime periods this year and it's been a rousing success. welcome to the millenium.

a monster game this week in the NFL.  the reeling GREEN BAY PACKERS try to right the ship when they visit MINNESOTA in an nfc north showdown.  the game is rated even and the packers will either cut the vikings two game lead in half or let everyone know that the nice run they had is over. hard to believe the vikings are that good so gun to head, i would take the packers. prime time at 3:15 on television.

the WHITE SOX? still hibernating on the south side with the somnambulant robin ventura at the helm. they signed thirty-five year old outfielder SCOTT HAIRSTON to a minor league contract. and why not? he's a career .208 hitter and hasn't played baseball in two years. what's not to like?

have a good weekend!

AS THE WORLD TURNS

the ISIS story is not going to go away. PARIS is reeling just like we were after 9/11 and have responded in a like manner by attacking the enemy by air but just like osama bin laden, exactly where are the leaders?? ISIS has threatened an attack on washington d.c. so now look for special forces to be involved soon on the ground in an effort to take out the bosses in their hiding places.

CHARLIE SHEEN has rocked the hollywood world with his admission that he's hiv positve and was diagnosed FOUR YEARS AGO. sheen, who has long been known as a 'player' with a variety of sexual tastes, made a strange confession to MATT LAUER on the today show. 

sheen stated he was diagnosed four years ago and informed all of his partners of his condition and that he always wore a condom "except with two people and they were aware of my condition."  excuse me?   why would he endanger those two who then might get infected and pass it on because they're not as 'truthful' as sheen?

sheen has always been a loose cannon who plays a little loose with the truth and i just have a hard time believing him but i guess will see who turns up infected down the road.

AND IN BREAKING NEWS........ sheen's ex-fiance porn star BRETT ROSSI calls him "a f------ liar. he never told me while we were living together and then offered me a hundred grand hush money.  i guarantee you his virus has infected hundreds if not thousands of people. he's a piece of s---!"

current information has it that sheen has settled with at least a dozen people who found out he knew about the infection and failed to tell them.

and with more testimony like that, i believe sheen could be charged under the felony C.A.R.E. statute for 'failure to disclose his condition to any sexual partner.' now let's see how far ms. rossi wants to take it.

and while we're talking about screwed up actors from 'two and a half men',' it appears that ANGUS JONES, who played jake on the show, is in the process of giving all of his money to a 'pop up' church called forerunner chronicles with which he's associated. jones made $300,000 per episode the last couple of years on the show but that money appears to be long gone. jones has dropped out of acting, calling it 'hypocritical' to his values.

the saga continues in fox lake. investigators have discovered past withdrawals from the police explorer account by JOE GLINIEWICZ and a day later, the same amount deposited in a personal account by his wife, MELODY.

 it's over, melody. if you were smart (and i probably just answered my own question) you'd sit down with investigators and empty your gunny sack of lies & excuses and tell them everything you know.  you can't stop the upcoming indictment but you might get some leniency from the judge if you cooperate and tell all.

i hear that the gliniewicz son is thisclose to being released from his remaining time in the army and could face a court martial for his involvement in the phony marriage for money scam. i guess the apples really don't fall far from the tree.

it's a nasty world in which we live.  hug the people in your life that you care about.                         later.

JUST SPORTS

Is this the real JAY CUTLER or an imposter left over from halloween? other than the pick six he tossed last week, he's been the best 'game manager' in the nfl this year. he seems calm & efficient and his qb rating of 95.3 has never been higher. let's get one thing straight...he's never going to be AARON RODGERS or TOM BRADY but this version of jay eliminates most of the angst from previous seasons. stay the course, jay.

the CHICAGO CUBS are listed as the favorite to win the 2016 world series with the DODGERS, ROYALS, BLUE JAYS, METS and NATIONALS right behind,  11-1 on your money. feeling lucky, north side sewer rats? take some of the money you normally spend on cocaine and twelve dollar beers in wrigleyville and invest in your boys in blue.

but beware the ugly monster known as supply & demand:    cub fans were ecstatic over their success this past season but the season ticket invoices arrived last week and the rats learned all about the price of that success.  TEN PERCENT was the average bump but most fans are going to shrug their shoulders and write the check because they think ten percent isn't too bad. well, not so fast, loyal fan.

imagine that you've been a long time ticket holder with seats in the reserved terrace down the left field line by the bullpen. totally crappy seats as are most at wrigley BUT the cubs have decided to designate those as CORNER BOX SEATS so your invoice went up 40% !!!!  that's like buying a chevy neon and then getting billed for a corvette except NOTHING CHANGED on the car.     ah, the friendly confines.

the cubs are also now figuring the secondary resale market as part of their formula on what to charge the regular season ticket holders. "tickets are being sold for four & five times their value so we take that into consideration," said COLIN FAULKNER, vp of sales.

so SCALPERS are determining your everyday prices. just curious....if you never scalp your tickets, do they give you a discount? how bad are ticket prices for real?  wellllll, a bleacher seat is now averaging forty bucks and on "premium" games (designated by the cubs) you'll pay SIXTY FIVE DOLLARS to sit in the bleachers.        WHAT????????

don't like that cubs bet at 11-1? how about the CHICAGO BEARS at 115-1 to win the super bowl THIS year. ten bucks gets you back over eleven grand.

what the hell is wrong with the green bay packers? three bad losses in a row including yesterday to the lowly lions IN green bay.

say good-bye to first ballot hall of famer PEYTON MANNING, who tore the plantar fascia, which is the ligament that connects the heel to the toes. already slow as a sloth, manning now has to think seriously about hanging them up rather than risk major injury by returning as a sitting duck.  big guy, you have nothing left to prove.

moving along.....now DERRICK ROSE (aka MR. SOFTEE) says it might be three more months of double vision that conveniently 'comes and goes' while he's playing.  talk about covering your butt for the many bad nights to come from a fading superstar. but if that's the case according to rose, then a 35% shooter shouldn't be on the floor at crunch time, right?

and finally.......is it just me that thinks the government has bigger problems than wasting their time & money investigating fantasy football companies like DRAFT KINGS? it seems like such a waste. tax it and move on.

ok, that's it for now.  have a good week.

NOTHING BUT GOOD NEWS

There's so much nasty going on that i thought i would ease into the holiday season with a short column featuring nothing but good news in the world.

Ya gotta love it when technology works to clean up the world. "jihadi john" was lit up by a united states drone in syria and sent to the promised land thursday night. you might remember john as the isis terrorist who cut the heads of numerous jounalists and media members from around the world and recorded the executions before releasing the video on the internet. "a direct hit and no one else was injured" according to a government official. have a nice day, john.

you like country star DIERKS BENTLEY? well, you'll like him a lot more now. while dining at a local restaurant in chicago wednesday night, he noticed a young woman sobbing at one of the tables in the corner.  the waiter explained she worked there part-time but was being forced to drop out of school because of the budget deadlock in illinois and wouldn't be able to finish her last three semesters and get her teaching degree.  bentley went over and introduced himself and sat with her for a half hour and then provided tickets & limo service for his veterans day concert. and just to make her day even more, he paid her tuition at the college she's attending for the next year.  nice guy.

here's a holiday gift for the family (but probably not for pre-high schoolers. "A CHRISTMAS CAROL" arrives at the goodman theatre on november 14 and runs thru december 27. the classic about ebenezer scrooge runs less than two hours and the goodman is a very nice theatre to watch a play.  tickets start at just twenty-five dollars.

medical marijuana became legal in illinois on monday and all day,  i thought it was smoke from burning leaves in the air all day.

how was that?  did you smile in your heart at least once? then the column was worth it! have a good weekend.

THE JUNGLE ROARS AGAIN

I just don't understand. no matter how bad your life is going, no matter how angry you are and no matter how much you hate a rival gang member...........what kind of animal lures a nine year old boy into an alley and assassinates him? nine years old. TYSHAWN LEE was a third grader. exactly how dangerous was he to the other gang? well, he wasn't dangerous at all but his gang banging father is very active in gang activity and the jungle gangs have now declared 'open season' on rival gang members AND THEIR FAMILIES.  doesn't that send a shiver down your spine?

and there's no doubt that the neighborhood would band together and point out the shooter, right? sorry, suburban folks but that's not how it works in the jungle.  everyone has become a turtle or an ostrich and didn't see anything. even a $35,000 reward hasn't been enough to bring a turtle out of it's shell. FYI--a chicago p.d. friend of mine says that MOST of the offered rewards go unclaimed which is incredible when you figure the average family income in the jungle is less than $10,000 per family. (not counting welfare benefits).

but surely the father, gang member PIERRE STOKES would help the police find the killer or at least give them a likely shooter from the other game. uh, no. stokes' response to two requests for interview was EXACTLY as follows: "why dey got to do me like dat? i got nuttin to say to da po-po. i ain't no banger. why dey wastin time talkin to me when dey could be lookin for da killers my son."

two days after the murder, police executed a search warrant at a south side apartment where stokes, currently out on bond for a gun charge, was found eating pizza and smoking marijuana with friends. and i quote again: "so we smokin dope and chillin. waddup with dat? i got court in the morning and now dey rassin' me instead of gettin the killers. dey got to loosen up wid me and pull da noose tighter on someone else cuz i got nuttin to say."  

now if this is the attitude of the father and the neighborhood together, is it any surprise when non-jungle people just turn the page of the newspaper without reading the murder stories? they see the headline, shake their head and turn the page. again and again and again.

the next day a neighborhood shrine to the slain child was burned down by an unknown arsonist.  ready to talk yet, folks? this is getting closer & closer to your homes and families.

just to wrap it up for this round, here are the stats from the last 5 days in the jungle:

8 dead, including tyshawn lee and an 89 year old woman 

who was set on fire when she walked in on a burlgary at her home.

13 wounded, ranging in age from 17 to 48 including 3 females.

they live by and die by different rules. violence solves everything. if you're in the city and you're not sure of your non-stop destination, then MADISON STREET should be as far south as you go. don't become a victim of the jungle.

SPORTS ODDS & ENDS

Do you think NEW YORK METS second baseman DANIEL MURPHY understands now what a fickle mistress major league baseball is? murphy was king of the world during the NLCS sweep over the hapless cubs, hitting .529 on 9 for 17 with four homers, a double and six ribbies which brought him a well deserved MVP award for that four game series.

and then the worm turned and the world series madam made murphy look like a little leaguer as he garnered just 3 singles over five games and batted .150 with zero rbi's plus two HUGE errors on simple ground balls to turn the tide of two games in favor of the royals. and that's what makes baseball the game that it is.

DERRICK ROSE (aka mr. softee) has come up with the PERFECT EXCUSE for poor play and the excuse is good for the entire season. "i have double vision.... sometimes" said the master of candyassdom.  how perfect is that? if he scores 29 points like he did thursday night against OKC, then "i was feeling good and had no problems" is the statement from his camp but if he scores less than ten points three games in a row?  "my vision isn't perfect so i try to contribute in other ways." WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP.  

but the worst part of this is rose's MONSTER CONTRACT so he's untradeable. a declining former superstar who's not even ranked in the top 15 guards in the NBA making TWENTY MILLION a year. and we have him for two more years. yay!

the WHITE SOX made the final move to say good-bye to that piece of garbage JEFF SAMARDZIJA by offering him a one year contract in the hope that he turns it down so they can get a compensatory draft pick.  with the sox luck, the shark will say yes to the offer.

and finally, PATRICK KANE is off the hook and the case is closed.  no, kane won't be suing his accuser for slander because that would mean that kane would be subject to a deposition UNDER OATH and the opposition attorneys can pretty much ask you anything they want about your past life including sexual experiences, drunken behavior, arrests, complaints, rehab and and all sorts of good stuff.  and that's why this matter is done and will stay done.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

my thoughts

I really don't know what to say about the mess in fox lake but as someone who worked the streets as a police officer for twenty-five years, i can tell you that words like 'betrayed' 'disgusted' and 'embarrassed' come to my mind frequently. a lot has been written about joe gliniewicz and and his family but believe me, there's more to come so i'll leave that to the daily scribes

i was no saint patrolling the streets and i did what i had to do dealing with the maggots who ruined honest people's lives on a daily basis but as i saw it, my job was to protect the law abiding citizens of the town from that element. period. 

did people complain about me? absolutely. did the bad guys say i was too physical with them? yep. did i put resisters in need of medical attention? most certainly.  did i tell the habitual criminals that it would be in their best interest health wise to move out of town? right again BUT i never asked for or received anything from a local business person and i can honestly tell you i never took a dime from anyone. NOT A DIME. and i'm proud of that because being an honest cop is sometimes all that keeps you going when things get bad on the job.

in closing, i want to offer my condolences to all of the honest police officers in lake county who put their lives on the line every day because what's been printed this week has cast an unwarranted shadow on them and will for years to come. 

memo to the newer officers in fox lake: move on. take a job with another department because the stink from this incident will never wash off and you'll be constantly reminded of how dishonest you are, how you shake down business owners, how you drink & drive,  how you steal money and take bribes and how you're a dirtbag just like the criminals. get used to it.

now, none of that will be true but you'll never be able to defend yourself in your own town because PERCEPTION IS REALITY to many people. and in this case, you can thank joe gliniewicz for that. that's his legacy to law enforcement.

CATCHING UP ON EVERYTHING

congrats to the KANSAS CITY ROYALS for a great run to the world championship. coming from behind EIGHT times in the playoffs showed heart and talent, which is a combination only owned by the blackhawks in chicago but sorely missed in all the other venues in the windy city. the royals are a fun team to watch and they don't seem to have any weaknesses so look for them in october for a few years. (p.s.  their normal closer was out with an injury but their bullpen was still lights out.)

and special props to ALEX RIOS, who after 12 years of playing on some pretty bad teams finally grabbed the brass ring. enjoy.

historical note: the most dominant post season performance this century is still the 2005 CHICAGO WHITE SOX, who steamrolled the opposition and went 11-1 on the way to the WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP. just sayin.......

the story of DON MATTINGLY is a confusing one. he takes over a bad dodger team in 2011 and during his five year tenure was never under .500, won three consecutive division titles and had an overall winning percentage of 55% but gets dumped. why? read on.

there's a very strong story going around that mattingly's decision to pitch CLAYTON KERSHAW instead of fully rested cy young candidate ZACH GRIENKE in game 1 against the mets sealed his fated. greinke was apparently livid at the snub and the waters were muddied even more when kershaw lost his game and greinke won game 2.  a baseball lifer said, "mattingly's decision changed the entire dynamics of the series because if your strongest pitcher wins the first game, all of the pressure falls on the mets and not kershaw. the fans would have been revved up and kershaw has great killer instinct."

after the dodger elimination, greinke immediately opted out of the final three years of his contract and became a FREE AGENT plus there was a 'him or me' conversation with the dodger brass. the opt-out was expected for business reasons but turning in your papers 45 minutes after elimination sends a message.  so mattingly goes bye-bye and the dodgers can only hope that greinke calms down and re-signs because losing the best pitcher in the national league would not sit well with the fans.

it's hard to even talk about the bears.  they may have a great coaching staff but when most of your roster is filled with cast offs from other teams, you're looking at a minimum of three years to throw out the garbage and rebuild your team. eventually, you'll have enough draft choices and free agent signings to right the ship but it ain't happening overnight. p.s. coach JOHN FOX turns 61 during the off season and has a history of heart problems. how much coaching time does he have left?

is this the week PATRICK KANE begins to breathe normally again?

gotta run.  have a great week

NOTHING BUT CUBS

Full disclosure. I drank the cubs kool aid in early august and made a large bet on them to win the NL pennant. I thought the cubs were under priced at 8-1 and one day after making the move, the line fell to 7-1 and a week later 5-1 until the cubs settled at 3-1 in mid-september.

 I thought i was in good shape after they handled the pirates and cardinals and then i got bit in the ass by the dark cloud that has hung over this franchise for over a hundred years. THEY SUCK when the spotlights go on, plain & simple. they melted like cheap candles in 2003, 2008, 2009 and again this year, with the last three being sweeps despite being heavy favorites in all of those series.

 they're a nice young team that's going nowhere. i hate them with every fiber of my being and wish them nothing but the worst. stupid baseball fans, a park that smells like piss and unlimited frustration. couldn't happen to a nicer organization.

CAREER YEARS for jake arrieta, anthony rizzo, carlos rodon and justin grim. do you honestly think they'll all be that good next year?

does anyone still think kyle schwarber is a left fielder? he proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he belongs in the american league where his defensive buffoonery will be hidden by being the designated hitter on a permanent basis. he's not playing third or first on this team and he's way too awkward to be a full time catcher. soooooooooo, hello american league.

twelve players become unrestricted free agents including austin jackson, dexter fowler, chris denorfia, clayton richards and trevor cahill.  they're in dire need of bullpen help and they lack pitching in the minors so it's time to play 'let's make a deal' with some of their prospects.

they obviously need a stud starter and those available are free agent pitchers david price, zach greinke (who's really pissed that kershaw got the ball instead of him in game 1 against the mets) jordan zimmerman and yovani gallardo. if you want to play with the big boys, you'll need 200-250 million for david price but after blowing 155 on 12-10 jon lester, the cubs might think twice.

good riddance to the 2015 cubs.  and kiss my ass.

THE WORLD IS CRAZY

Kentucky county clerk KIM DAVIS got a five day stint in the slammer courtesy of federal judge DAVID BUNNING but apparently, ms davis is a slow learner. after being instructed not to interfere DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY with marriage licensing in ANY way, she goes about removing her name and other information from the licenses issued to gay couples and then states the licenses "are not legal because they're altered."  ok, maybe i'm missing something but didn't she admit that she's interfering with the licensing procedure?? 

can she be fired by the governor? no.  can she be impeached by the state legislature? yes. but EVERYONE is hoping that she just steps down.  are there forums for religious extremists like davis? there certainly is but a county clerk's office is not one of them.
DO YOUR JOB or quit.

judge bunning has an interesting decision to make and has the added pressure of the AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION filing suit against davis and her county because she's created a "two tiered system" of marriage licensing.  Bunnig stated earlier that "public officials are not allowed to pick & choose which laws and court orders they want to enforce. At the end of the day, i expect the court's orders to be obeyed because that's how things work in America." davis has now started receiving AND ACCEPTING awards for "breaking the law" and upholding predjudice against gay couples. i think that will also get bunning's attention.

a little personal FYI for you---ms. davis, who apparently is a pillar of morality, has been married four times and was impregnated by her eventual third husband while she was married to her first husband. yowsa! where is MAURY POVICH when you need him?

davis has now switched over to the republican party (big surprise there) although she says the issue is not about politics. she has also allied herself with two far right politicians in MIKE HUCKABEE and TED CRUZ, who both believe that rape victims made pregnant during the assault should carry that child full term. enough said there.

finally, davis now teaches a bible study class at the local jail.  i'm thinking that pretty soon she won't have any travel expenses to teach that class.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

A LITTLE OF EVERYTHING

KIM DAVIS, the county clerk from kentucky is really getting under my skin with her refusal to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. i wrote this before but it bears repeating: if your religious beliefs get in the way of doing your job, then resign.  it's a pretty simple solution but she has grown more obnoxious by the day and hopefully, the supreme court will find her in contempt of their DIRECT ORDER and send her to jail soon.  i think her refusal to resign will change course quickly when she's sitting behind bars.

speaking of goofs, RACHEL DOLEZAL, the white woman who claims she's black despite her WHITE parents coming forward, has announced her pregnancy. 37 and unmarried, dolezal says she's having a boy.................... but even if it's a girl, she'll say it's a boy. what a piece of work.

did you know that actresses/comediennes JENNY McCARTHY & MELISSA McCARTHY are first cousins? true story.

did you know that over three thousand americans gave up their citizenship last year and moved to a different country? apparently, taxes & crime are the two biggest reason and NEW ZEALAND is a popular relocation country because the language is the same as here.

did your mom smoke while she was pregnant with you? if she did, you have a 1 in 3 chance of having atrial fibrillation, a condition that makes your heart race and could lead to heart attacks and strokes.  so if you're thinking about having kids, "kicking the squares" should be first on your list of things to do BEFORE getting pregnant.

my personal opinion for the last twenty years............ knowing what we know about the health risks of smoking, i strongly feel that any pregnant woman who smokes should be arrested and at the very least, charged with 'endangering the life of an unborn child.'  other people have recommended much stronger penalties, including sterilization, but i think everyone agrees that it's bad for the child and something should be done.

doesn't DONALD TRUMP remind you of the playground bully?

how happy do you think HILLARY is about JOE BIDEN thinking about joining the presidential race?  i think biden will take a pass because of their long friendship.........but maybe not.

finally, GODSPEED to JOE GLINIEWICZ, the fox lake police officer who was killed in the line of duty on tuesday morning.  i first met joe when we both served as public information officers for our respective departments back in the 90's. prompt & professional, he always brought something positive when we had area meetings and was always the first to volunteer assistance in times of need. i didn't know his family but i can tell them that the greatest compliment an officer can get is when another officer says, "that guy can be my partner anytime"  and i heard that more than once about him.  rest in peace, joe.

bye for now