THE 'IN' BASKET

A collection of assorted thoughts to clean out the 'in' basket before i head south for a couple of months:

RAHM EMANUEL, who has just short of a gazillion dollars in his campaign war chest, will CRUSH his four opponents in the upcoming primary.

broadway star JOEL GREY has admitted that he's gay. REALLY? 

think people in the southwest have problems with drought? brazil is 80% under the normal rainfall amount and turns the water on for residents just TWICE A WEEK. yes, that's the same brazil which is hosting the summer olympics next year. what a picture. maybe BOSTON can sell them some snow.

how about the cat in tampa that rose from the dead? gets hit by a car and the owner is so distraught that the neighbor has to dig the grave and deposits BART, hereby known as BART THE WONDER CAT into the hole.  five days later, bart digs himself out of the shallow grave.

Just when i thought that cuba would be in my travel plans, PRESIDENT RAUL CASTRO grinds everything to a halt by DEMANDING  the return of guantanamo bay and financial compensation for damages from the united states. raul needs to learn that hotels, tourists and a more lenient trade agreement would revive his country. don't kill hte goose.

want some good tv?  watch "EMPIRE" on wednesday night. most of the characters are black and they take you into the realm of black music, street slang, bad fashion, worse makeup and excessive alcohol and drug fueled behavior. not to mention a whole bunch of gold jewelry.  it's well written and is episodic in nature so try to catch the first three episodes. COOKIE is my absolute favorite.

former governor PAT QUINN dropped the ball when at the last minute, he decided to not issue medical marijuana licenses to a list of approved companies because he felt the issue was 'too hot' and instead left it on incoming governor BRUCE RAUNER'S  desk. "a stunning change of heart" by quinn, said one of his cronies.

the official snow measurement out of CHICAGO O'HARE is about 15 inches for the winter but LAKE VILLA has only recorded half of that. a far cry from last year. 

DRONES have created a whole new set of problems for security teams protecting world leaders. one was found on the lawn of the white house this week and it's only a matter of time until drones lose their innocence with some type of explosive attack.

UBER, the world wide company offering on-demand taxi service is in more hot water. a woman in INDIA has filed suit alledging she was raped in an uber cab. she joins other victims in LOS ANGELES, CHICAGO & SAN FRANCISCO.

MEASLES!!!!! i thought that disease was long gone but apparently not.  a thousand reported cases with the majority in ARIZONA & CALIFORNIA.

it looks like MITT ROMNEY has finally run out of gas.  it seems former supporters are now throwing their weight towards JEB BUSH.

finally, it's time to make your pick for the SUPER BOWL.  WHOYAGOT??????

adios for now and we'll talk in the spring!