MAKING OUR WAY TO THE NEW YEAR

 YOWSA!! The Chicago White just pulled into the fast lane and passed a few MLB teams this week as they have clearly stated their intentions to play deep into October this year. After hiring TONY "just one more" La RUSSA to lead the ball club, the Sox obtained power pitcher LANCE LYNN in a trade with the Texas Rangers and re-signed right fielder ADAM EATON, a free agent from the Washington Nationals.  

Lynn is a 'give me the ball' type of pitcher who rarely starts less than 30 games in a season and has a 3-1 strikeout/walk ratio while winning 60% of his decisions. Eaton will fill a hole in right field that was created when they booted the overpaid and disappointing Nomar Mazara. 

Eaton is just an average fielder but with a lifetime batting average of .282 and a guy who works the count and sees a lot of pitches, the left hander should be an excellent #2 man in the lineup and he'll probably platoon with ADAM ENGEL. The Sox still need a back-up catcher but they're looking good. Six starters and a very nice bullpen.

                                                             ******* 

On the other side of Chicago, the Cubs aren't hiding the fact that they're dumping salary in anticipation of a total rebuild next year by releasing one of their best defensive players in ALBERT ALMORA, who also hit .270 on an offensively challenged team and only made 3 million.

 They followed that by dumping outfield mutt KYLE SCHWARBER and his $8 million dollar salary but no worries.....Mr. Schwarber is going to sign somewhere and make a whole bunch of money. 

Combine these two transactions with the earlier parting of JON LESTER and they've already saved $25 million dollars. Now all they have to do is figure out what to do with BAEZ, BRYANT & RIZZO, who all become free agents in 2021. Any bets on who goes first in a trade? I'll take Bryant.

                                                            ************

Hopefully, the 4th quarter collapse of the BEARS will seal the deal as far as the futures of both GM ADAM PACE and head coach MATT NAGY, who have dragged this franchise down and taken the 'juice' out of this football town. Nagy's incompetence is shown to you every Sunday but here's a quick reminder of Pace's repeated draft day/free agent signings that have doomed the immediate future for the Bears.

MITCH TRUBISKY (you knew that he was going to be 1st)

ADAM SHAHEEN

HIRANIS GRASU

LEONARD FLOYD

JIMMY GRAHAM (world's slowest tight end)

TREY BURTON

ROBERT QUINN

NICK FOLES

KEVIN WHITE

COACH JOHN FOX

COACH MATT NAGY

and on and on and on and on.............

Failure to draft even one offensive or defensive lineman with a first round pick. EVER.

"I plan on drafting a quarterback EVERY year because you never know."  He's only drafted one and you know that mistake by now. 

                                                      ADIOS, JERKOFF

                                                                 ***********

BIG TEN basketball is the real deal and they're demolishing the ACC in their annual crossover tournament and ILLINOIS also looks like the real deal after crushing DUKE, despite a hiccup last week against Baylor.

                                                  ***********************

NO OHIO STATE in the BIG TEN championship football game? Falling short of six wins because of covid cancellations, the buckeyes either have to find a replacement game by Saturday or keep their fingers crossed that the league changes the rules....quickly.

It would be a shame for them to be eliminated by Michigan's carelessness.

                                                      ************

Are the BULLS going to be competitive? They certainly have the right coach in BILLY DONOVAN, who made his bones in the coaching world by blending good basketball players into team players without a superstar...and that's exactly the situation he has now. Good luck.

                                                         *******

JOAKIM NOAH announced his retirement. I thought he quit years ago but good luck to him.

                                                          ********

Godspeed to DICK ALLEN, who turned the south side on it's head with excitement for three years back in the 70's and won the MVP in 1972 with .308 and leading the AL with 37 homers, 113 rbi's and 99 walks. His on base was .420 and slugging was .603 while swinging a 40 ounce bat. Simply put, he was awesome. RIP, my friend.

                                                          *******

Which brings to the part where we say our final good-byes to sports legends who passed in 2020. Soccer superstar DIEGO MARADONA died recently and he was one of the greatest. We say adios to him and:

DON LARSEN

CHRIS DOLMAN

HENRI RICHARD

BOB ARMSTRONG

PAT PATTERSON

TONY FERNANDEZ

KOBE BRYANT

ROAD WARRIOR ANIMAL

ROCKY JOHNSON (the Rock's dad)

TAVARIS JACKSON

KAMALA

WES UNSELD (no, this is MY rebound)

JOE MORGAN

BOB GIBSON

LOU BROCK

GALE SAYERS

TOM SEAVER

MICKEY WRIGHT

AL KALINE

This list gets longer & longer for me every year but just typing their names brings back good memories for me.

         *********

That's it for now. Enjoy the weather today & tomorrow !!              

A LOT OF THIS AND A LOT OF THAT

 BAM! The Supreme Court ended the trump nonsense today with a denial of his ridiculous attempt to overturn Pennsylvania's election results. His legal team presented their writ today and in just 35 minutes, SCOTUS dismissed the suit with a terse, one sentence:

 "The application for injunctive relief presented to Justice Alito and by him referred to the Court is denied."  Simply put?...Don't bring that bullshit to us. 

Right to the point with NO DISSENTERS. GAME OVER, donnie. Time to start packing.

                                                        *******

KUDOS to 90 year old MARGARET KEENAN for being the first person in the world to receive a covid vaccine injection yesterday in London. Hopefully, this is the start of something good because we can all use a break.

                                                         *******

As we all know, 2020 has been a royal screw job and it's been tough to find humor and laughs anywhere............BUT........... my prayers were answered when "key witness" and certified blonde ditz MELLISSA CARONE became instantly famous world-wide for her 'expert' testimony on election fraud in Detroit. 

This is the absolute truth...........I was channel surfing when i came upon her speaking at the hearing and after 15 seconds, i was convinced i was watching a SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE rerun! I laughed out loud until i saw Rudy Giuliani reach over and touch her arm.  wtf? It's not SNL but another farcical attempt by the guy in the white house (TGITWH) to overturn the election and the part of the carone testimony that i will take to my grave, was "I saw dead people vote."   

I watch it every day and if you missed it, just google her name. all she needs is a chain for her glasses and a pencil stuck in her hairdo. The clip is less than two minutes. no popcorn needed.

                                                           *******

To be fair, there was a small problem discovered in Chicago as the much maligned post office failed to deliver 37 ballots by the November 17th deadline despite the ballots having been scanned or postmarked BEFORE November 3rd but for whatever reason, the post office failed to deliver them in a timely manner. There were 554,000 requests for mail-in ballots and only 20% of those trusted the post office while the rest cast their votes at official drop boxes.

                                                            *******

Let me preface the next segment by saying I don't ever want anyone to get sick but when giuliani came down with covid, it's hard to do anything but shrug your shoulders and sarcastically state, "Gee, what a surprise."

Giuliani has toured, WITHOUT MASKS, four states over the last week with his circus act while working for TGITWH and trying to get Biden ballots tossed out and never once putting on a mask. While he has become the laughing stock of the nation and tossed out of every hearing, I wish him a speedy recovery. 

And to think this guy was once a feared federal prosecutor who struck fear in the hearts & minds of the mafia and sent many members of organized crime to prison. So sad.

                                                       *******

Hey, I've got a new series for you to watch but you have to watch it from episode 1. "BIG SKY" is a combination of several Hitchcock films (with a large dose of 'PSYCHO') decent acting plus incredible scenery and good writing. 

No spoiler here: two sisters disappear in an extremely remote area. truck stops? local bar? prostitutes? where's the car? It's only 3 episodes in with one to go before the Christmas break so you can catch up easily.

                                                             ******* 

Before you start ragging about First Lady MELANIA TRUMP re-doing the tennis court at the white house, remember that Barack Obama had turned the tennis area into a basketball court when he was president and all she did was return it to it's original use and the blue prints were presented back in 2018.      P.S...........She did it all with private donations and didn't spend one tax dollar so leave her alone on this one because JOE BIDEN just might turn it into a dog walking track and he has every right to do so.

                                                            

Some would argue that it's insensitive to be involved with a tennis court project while the corona virus is running rampant but sensitivity to the human race in general has never been a strong point of this administration. However, each administration has the right to redecorate both inside and out and they all do it.  next subject.

                                                            *******

Do any of you know anything about football? ANYTHING? if so, please contact the Chicago Bears immediately and put in your application for either coach or general manager because there's a very strong rumor those two positions will be available in about a month. What a train wreck.

                                                             ******* 

OMG, he strikes again. trump, thru Texas, files ANOTHER suit with the supreme court regarding the vote totals in four states (but NOT Pennsylvania). Does he think the justices are going to rule any different? I get a very strong feeling that somewhere in this great nation of ours.......a village is missing their idiot.

                                                                  ******* 

Speaking of village idiots, 33% of Americans believe that the virus statistics are inflated by including homicides, suicides and auto fatalities. You can hazard a guess from which political party the majority of those 33% belong.   wow.

                                                                *******

The list of people in the entertainment world who have died from covid is staggering. Just a few from a list i read today include members of the FOUR SEASONS, the TEMPTATIONS, Roy from SIEGFRIED & ROY, singer TRINI LOPEZ, actor NICK CORDERO and many more. 

                                                                 *******

Enough for now. Enjoy the weather today & tomorrow.

Better late than never

 Mea Culpa! I meant to post this on the tuesday after Thanksgiving but forgot to hit 'send.' So here you go a week late with more coming later. Just think only 44 more days....... and SMILE!

This year,  I decided to shut down watching or listening to the news over the four day Thanksgiving weekend and try to purge my brain. I spend the weekend eating, drinking and watching football and movies and enjoyed every minute of it. On Monday, I turned the 5 o'clock news on and watched the following topics:

 

Trump claims election was rigged

Wisconsin recount yields nothing to trump

Pennsylvania dismisses trump lawsuit

36 of 36 lawsuits have been dismissed

More murders in the jungles of Chicago

Local priest calls for peace in the jungle

Long lines for food

Long lines for covid testing

Covid out of control

People ignoring medical advice & traveling

NFL covid getting worse

Games canceled

 Nothing seems to change so i switched over to a movie.

                                                                *******

CONGRATULATIONS to HIS EMMINENCE, CARDINAL WILTON GREGORY, who was recently promoted from archbishop to the highest ranking in the church other than the pope himself. Cardinal Gregory was raised by a working mom and grandmother in Chicago and becomes the first African-American to wear the red biretta. Good for him.

                                                              *******

If you're a baseball or history fan, KEN BURNS' ten chapter history of the game is must see tv. Originally produced in the 90's, it starts with the advent of baseball in the 1880's and brings it into the 21st century. The black & white film is awesome and I was able to record every chapter during November from the MLB channel.  More popcorn!

                                                                  *******

And why do you want to live in Chicago? Thru November, the jungle has produced 3800 shooting victims which were responsible for the majority of 716 murders. For those without a calculator, that's about ELEVEN PEOPLE PER DAY!!!

Chicago is a cesspool and has been for a few decades, with the above stats reflecting an almost 60% increase from the year before in both categories. Why on earth would you want to live there when it's a daily coin flip as to whether you'll be a victim of a crime?

                                                                   *******

I realize that a weather forecast is a crapshoot after five days but the December outlook is for moderate temperatures thru the third week of the month before night time temps fall into the teens as they should at that time of the year. (hard freezes are great for killing various insect populations such as fleas & ticks) Moisture will be continue to be very limited. Sounds like a good month to me. (p.s.  A hard freeze is 5 degrees below freezing for at least 5 consecutive hours)

                                                                     *******

Trump's personal choice as white house liaison to the Justice Department has been banned from the building after pressuring staffers to give up sensitive information regarding ongoing cases. Ah, another pardon?

                                                                *******

The thing that sucks about the possibility of trump having the power to preemptively pardon himself and other white house people before they are charged is that all future presidents would be able to run amok as trump has done and simply pardon everyone the last day of his or her term. And that's just wrong.

                                                                *******

Short & sweet, that was my holiday weekend! Now back to work!!

THANKSGIVING THOUGHTS

 Like many of you, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and even with the virus raging, I know I have a lot to be thankful for this year. Just of few thoughts to share with you.

I am deliriously happy & THANKFUL that the vaccine is almost here and hopefully by next fall, we will have this pandemic under control. And yes, I will take the vaccine.

I'm thankful that I'm healthy and Molly the Maggot is getting better.

I am so happy and thankful for all members of the military, past & present.

I'm thankful every time I look at the American Flag blowing in the wind. There is no sweeter sight.   

I'm happy and thankful to know Bob & Laura.

To DANNY PRETZEL , I'm thankful you're home for the holiday. Enjoy.

I'm happy that Nephew Frank gave me a ride in his Tesla and also that he's entering the countdown to retirement.......and planning it with a professional this time.

I am ecstatic over the election results.

I am also very thankful that Keefer is on the road to recovery.

I'm happy that Cookie & Mike are doing well and enjoying their retirements as well as enjoying the video of Cookie running down the neighborhood streets banging pots & pans to celebrate Joe Biden's crushing victory over the guy who won't admit he lost.

I still believe what attorney Michael Cohen believes......that the guy in the white house (gitwh) will head to Florida over the extended Christmas break and then not return plus not attending Biden's inauguration. He'll leave the packing to Melania but I don't know if she'll have the time because she'll be looking for a good divorce attorney. 

To my friend Joe, who's been under the weather for a couple of months.......don't make me come over and kick your ass at gin rummy. Now eat some turkey and watch a lot of football and i guarantee you'll feel better. ENJOY YOUR RETIREMENT!

I'm very thankful that the gitwh loses his presidential protection in January regarding prosecuting a sitting president. And I'm pretty sure the IRS and the State of New York are also thankful because their wait is almost over.

I was very happy & thankful to watch demented 'attorney' Rudy Giuliani's head melt under the hot lights of a press conference, It was actually cheap hair dye but funny none the less. I'm really curious as to what he charges per hour.

I happy that my niece Andrea is doing better after having both knees replaced.

I'm very happy to let you all know that i am once again a gazillionaire thanks to the Benin Republic and Nigeria, who are both sending me a lot of money..........as soon as i send them $49.00 to cover the export taxes from their country. As soon as the thirty million arrives, I will share it with all of you.

Ya gotta be happy for my lifelong friend Patti, who traded in her van for a..............................CADILLAC! I almost fell over when she texted me the photo. LIVING LARGE and good for you !!

I'm very thankful to have watched another member of his crack legal team, 'attorney' Sidney Powell, blame his defeat on money coming from Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. Unfortunately, Chavez died 7 years ago. WTF? These are the best lawyers he could hire? 

You have to be happy & THANKFUL that people like GSA administrator Emily Murphy will no longer be in a position of power in washington. She stands in front of a camera with a straight face and tells America that the gitwh had nothing to do with her holding up transition benefits to President-elect Biden. But moments after that bald faced lie, we received a tweet from him that stated "I am recommending to Emily to do what needs to be done with regards to initial protocol." What a bunch of lying scumbags and i am VERY HAPPY they will all be exiting soon.

I am very thankful to have watched STACEY ABRAMS rally the troops in the state of Georgia and get out the vote to win the state for Joe Biden and also force two senate runoffs in January. Keep your eye on her.

I'm happy to be watching sports, even the Bears.

I'm thankful for sweet potatoes covered in melted baby marshmallows.

ABOVE ALL, I'm thankful & happy to know all of you. We don't always agree nor should we because that would be pretty boring. So whether you live here in Illinois or in Wisconsin or Florida or Canada or Arkansas or California or Kansas or Utah or Nevada or Minnesota.......or even if you're a cubs fan....................stay safe, wear a mask and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 

AGAIN & AGAIN & AGAIN

A potpourri of odds & ends.

First of all, the virus that donald trump let run amok in this country by ignoring the advice of medical professionals has now directly touched my family. I'm healthy but i want to send my love and a big uncle dan hug out to the family member and wish a speedy recovery and to let you know that i'm here if you need anything. Get better.

                                                           *******

Also on the 'get well' list is my friend ANDI in Antioch who i've know since she was 10 years old and she is just about done with her treatments and Dad says she's doing well so a big hug to you from DAN THE BUG MAN and remember that your future is extremely bright because fighters like you make it happen! Enjoy your holiday!

                                                         *******

I always keep a mental list of people who need to be punched in the mouth and just generally need to get their ass kicked and trump is, of course, #1 on that list and solidified his position when i got the above noted family health news but i do have a new #2 .......... that smarmy, smirking secretary of state MIKE POMPEO. 

And i also have a question. Why is that mealy-mouthed jerk visiting 7 countries on our dime when he has less than 10 weeks left on the job? He says the purpose of the trip is to 'shore up' the policies of the trump administration. WHAT??? The policy of the trump administration appeared to be pissing off every country NOT run by a dictator. 

The interesting part is that all 7 nations have already reached out to congratulate JOE BIDEN on winning the election. We will see shortly if pompeo has any cojones......Will he take questions from a notoriously frank foreign press???

                                                          *******

And no, it's not just me railing about trump. Former Republican National Security Advisor JOHN BOLTON stated over the weekend that "it's time for the GOP leadership to reject trump's baseless claims and PUBLICLY acknowledge that joe biden has won the election." Just some background on bolton for you, he hates democrats with a passion and has repeatedly said that "the only good democrat is one that loses an election" but donald trump's 'pitching for pennies' is distasteful even to him. THANK YOU FOR BEING HONEST. Good for him.

                                                          ******* 

I think there's a pretty easy way to get trump to vacate the white house. Simply disconnect the cable. When he finds out he can't watch ANIMAL PLANET, he'll be out of there in a flash.

                                                          *******

CONVICTED FELON MICHAEL COHEN, trump's personal attorney for 10 years, thinks that trump will head to Florida for the Christmas holidays and simply not return. "No way he can face saying good-bye because that would be admitting he lost."  

                                                          *******

Another subject for conversation at the dinner table. (please invite me so i can listen) 

I don't think there's much of an argument that trump is a racist and a bigot so if you support him, which of those labels belong to you?

I've had several people answer that they support trump 100% but they're not racist or bigoted. How can that be? That's like supporting HITLER but saying that you really like Jews. YOU CAN'T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS! (and i haven't even mentioned the pathological lying and respect of women)

If you want to have a little fun, after you ask the above question, trumpty-dumptys will almost always dodge the bigotry question by telling you what a great president he is. Now here's where the fun really starts. 

Ask them what trump has accomplished in his 4 years but they can't use executive orders because a monkey can write those. Now stare at their blank faces and listen for sounds like....."ahhhhh" and "wellllll" and "hmmmmmmm" before they mention the famous wall, of which just 16 new miles have been built since 2017......and the cost of those miles?? $500,000,000.00 per mile and that's a fact. FIVE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS PER MILE. damn, that's a lot of zeros. 

                                                               *******

A very sad goodbye to Jeopardy master of ceremonies ALEX TREBEK, who ran that quiz show like a lovable but stern father for 37 years. A natty dresser who won 7 emmys for best game show host plus he's listed in the GUINESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS for most days hosting. He still recorded shows up to a week before losing his battle with cancer and those episodes will be broadcast before they and end on Christmas day. ANSWER: He's a real classy guy and will be sorely missed. And the answer is.......ALEX TREBEK.  adios amigo.

                                                          *******

CHICAGO MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT is higher than a kite after finding out that major increases in pot purchases have resulted in enough extra tax money to eliminate the planned massive layoffs due to the pandemic. I know there's a joke here but it's escaping me for the moment.

                                                            *******

Monday night is sink or swim for the Chicago Bears. They need this game as badly as any team in the league, other than the Minnesota Vikings. The loser will be in serious trouble regarding the playoffs and the Bears still have to play the Packers twice and Minnesota one more time. Buena suerte, osso de chicago!

                                                          *******

I'm outta here. ENJOY YOUR WEEK!!! 

HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN!!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS 

TO 

JOE BIDEN!!!

*******

As the ballots continued to be counted at a snail's pace, you had to love the theatre of the moderators who build the tension over and over and then revealed another 1,285 votes have been counted and 'only' 223,000 remain to be tabulated. I don't know if those guys get overtime but they were worth every penny. Good stuff.

                                                            *******

As expected, classless donald trump refuses to concede and is suing everyone from the individual states to the governors to the volunteer vote counters in an effort to stay on the pony for 4 more years. A sad trivial human being.  P.S.   as quickly as the courts receive the litigation papers, they are being dismissed because they are "without merit." enough said.

                                                           *******

Demagogue: one who appeals to ordinary people and their prejudices by telling them what they want to hear, without factual information. This is EXACTLY what trump did to the American people in 2016 and they swallowed it. Now hopefully, they have learned a valuable lesson and won't repeat their mistake.

                                                    *******

Remember these classics? "Mexico is going to pay for the wall, Obamacare is gone, my insurance plan is bigger and better, insulin will be a cheap as water, the virus will just disappear, the doctors don't know what they're talking about, covid was no worse than a bad cold".............everything you wanted to hear. The problem was that donald trump is a pathological liar and quite frankly, more than a little on the stupid side. Good riddance to bad garbage.

                                                         *******

I very recently made my next set of donald trump wagers. 1) within two years after leaving the white house, Melania files for divorce and 2) he gets indicted by the IRS.

NOW THAT would be fun to watch!

                                                           *******

Are your brains as fried as mine with all the political commercials? geez louise. Ok, my idea is a simple one.  you get two weeks and only two weeks to air your commercials and perhaps we can regain a little normalcy.

                                                        *******

And while i'm throwing out ideas, how about we copy Mexico where you can only be elected president one time but your term is 6 years? That way, the president doesn't have to waste his time on re-election hoopla and can keep working without interruption because part II of that rule would forbid him from campaigning for ANYONE. No pep rallies, no zooms, no phone calls, no town halls, NOTHING. Just keep working.

                                                        ******

Everyone's favorite james bond, SEAN CONNERY, passed away at the age of 90 following a long illness. Suave, debonair, polished and deadly....all while wearing a tuxedo, he was the perfect anti-hero who took no prisoners.   FYI  You've probably seen all his Bond films but if you haven't seen his oscar winning role in "The Untouchables," take a night and enjoy watching the ultimate Irish beat cop JIMMY MALONE in a very crooked Chicago. Godspeed 007.

                                                          *******

Please explain to me in this day and age how your phone goes dead? Home chargers normally come with the purchase of the phone and car chargers are relatively inexpensive. You can plug in a charger while working at your desk or driving down the road or just chatting while sitting in your recliner at home. It makes no sense for your phone to go dead.

                                                        *******

And while i'm railing, how is it that people run out of toilet paper...... EVER??? Let me help you out on this one. You're going to use toilet paper EVERY DAY OF YOUR LIFE so get your dead ass to Costco or Sam's Club and buy the big box with 48 or 96 rolls and you're good for at least 6 weeks.

                                                               *******

You gotta love the election networks on tv with their high tech boards and outstanding visuals and gimmicks. Sure beats the hell out of the 'old days' when local stations used a chalk board and just erased the previous number of votes when new tallies arrived. NO, i'm not kidding. that's how they used to do it!

                                                             *******

Another sad goodbye to CONCHATA FARRELL, who played the wise-ass housekeeper on TWO AND A HALF MEN. She always made me smile and when she would say to charlie's brother, allen, "Careful what you say next, ZIPPY" that would always make me laugh.  R.I.P. BERTA.

                                                             *******

Finally, THANK YOU for voting responsibly and getting that jerkwad out of office. Now let's hope that president-elect JOE BIDEN can begin to heal all the damage that trump did to this country. 

ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND!!!!!!

NOTHING BUT POLITICS !!!

As the electoral world closes in on donald trump, he is in full panic mode as evidenced by his attacks on EVERYONE....... from the world's top infectious disease expert Dr. ANTHONY FAUCI........... to all of the "idiot" doctors dealing with the pandemic..........to JOE BIDEN because biden says he will listen to the medical people on how to handle the virus..........to the REPUBLICAN senator from nebraska, BEN SASSE, who openly criticized trump for turning his back on the medical advice to fight the pandemic and accused trump of "kissing the butts" of the world's dictators......and he finished up by walking out on an interview with LESLIE STAHL of 60 minutes, saying that she had asked him harder questions than she did joe biden. wow. I wonder if he held his breath and stomped his feet.

Trump's attack on fauci has drawn condemnation from both sides of the aisle and his response to sasse was so juvenile that it made me laugh out loud. "He's stupid & obnoxious and needs to be replaced. He's the weakest of all of our senators." FYI--sasse is currently ahead in his re-election race 66%-33%. Doesn't look weak to me.

November 3rd can't get here fast enough.

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Mayor LORI LIGHTFOOT is in a no-win situation with her budget shortfalls caused by the pandemic. The city is chasing 1.2 BILLION in lost revenue so......

1) the gas tax is going up 3 cents a gallon

2) increasing property taxes by $94 million (if you own a 250,000 house, you would pay $56 dollars extra a year)

3) Eliminating 450 police jobs that are currently vacant due to retirements 

4) Eliminating 550 city jobs that are currently vacant

5) Laying off 500 active city employees

6) Requiring all non-union employees to take 5 unpaid days off

7) A hiring freeze

On top of this, lightfoot has to find a way to come to an agreement with the police department on a new contract because the boys in blue have been working without a contract for over 3 years. Every city department has a new contract except the police and her recent, very generous agreement with the fire department raised eyebrows at the FOP. The new budget year is not going to be pretty.

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Democratic state's attorney KIM FOXX, who lost favor with law enforcement when she let actorJESSE SMOLLETT walk away without a conviction is facing a stiff campaign challenge from Republican PAT O'BRIEN, a former judge and prosecutor who has twice as much money to spend on his campaign. Can he win? probably not but he's cut the polling margin down to 6% with 9% still undecided. Foxx makes my skin crawl.

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Back to little donnie for a moment. Former New York Mayor MICHAEL BLOOMBERG has donated $100 MILLION DOLLARS into the Florida democratic coffers which has forced trump to re-direct money from other states in order to offset the media blitz caused by bloomberg's contribution. trump absolutely needs florida if he has any chance at re-election so he was basically forced to abandon his media budget in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota because his campaign is running low on cash, which is real bad news for him with just two weeks until election day.  

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Here's your scoop on the election. The democrats are going to retain every state they won in 2016 so they need to find 43 electoral votes in the SIX battleground states that trump won in the last election, winning 304-227. 

MICHIGAN, WISCONSIN, ARIZONA, NORTH CAROLINA, PENNSYLVANIA & FLORIDA. As of today, JOE BIDEN has comfortable leads in michigan (16) & wisconsin (10) which gets him to 253 of the 270 needed and reduces trump to 278.

Biden has a 6% lead in pennsylvania (20) and that would seal the deal at 273 for biden and drop trump down to a non-winnable 258. Remember that these are all states that trump won in 2016 so every loss subtracts from his 304 winning total, which is exactly why trump is pouring money into florida because he needs that state if he is to have any chance and polls indicate that he is also in a real dog fight in Arizona, Iowa and Ohio, three states he won handily in 2016. 

And a little treat....if biden wins wisconsin, michigan, north carolina and arizona, then little donnie can have florida AND pennsylvania and biden would still have 279 to win the election. sweet.

AND DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME !!

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Remember to vote responsibly on November 3rd. Just take a minute and think about everything that's gone on during the last 4 years and i think your decision will be pretty easy. STAY SAFE and i'll see you next time

Just sports

Man, this has been a tough 6 weeks in the sports world, losing numerous HALL OF FAME players including TOM SEAVER, LOU BROCK, GALE SAYERS, BOB GIBSON, WHITEY FORD and today, we mark the passing of the great JOE MORGAN. 

I understand if you're under the age of 50, these are just names to you but i watched them growing up and they were all great at their respective positions.

                                                           

 I can remember sitting in the left field bleachers at Wrigley for a 1:30 game and watching Gibson duel another hall of famer, Fergie Jenkins, watching all nine innings and still catching the 3:45 Addison bus and heading home.  They were all business.

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Congrats to the LA LAKERS and Lebron's resume just got a little bigger but 4-6 in the finals isn't 6-0.

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Adios to RICK RENTERIA, who was fired by the WHITE SOX today after leading them to the playoffs for the first time in 12 years. Management feels a different type of manager (AJ HINCH) would be better to take them to the top of the mountain, just like when PHIL JACKSON replaced DOUG COLLINS as the Bulls' head coach. Good luck to you, Rick, because you are truly a nice guy.

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LSU is finding all about losing 15 of 22 starters plus 4 main coaches and having to rebuild. Going 1-2 and playing no defense is sending shudders throughout Tiger land. But it will change.

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The DODGERS & THE BRAVES.  whoyagot? I hope that TAMPA sends the astros home in quick fashion although a dodger/stros rematch would be must see.

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Bears? the worst 4-1 team in NFL history. They remind me of the autumn colors on the trees so enjoy it while you can.

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Tom Brady, follow closely. 1st down, then 2nd down, then 3rd, now fill in the blank.

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wide receiver Anthony Miller? disappointment.

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GOAT in tennis? not even a debate. RAFAEL NADAL. 20 grand slam titles. wow.

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Bam! NFL coach #1 bites the dust. Atlanta Falcons coach DAN QUINN is shanghaied after starting the season 0-5. He should have been fired after the super bowl when he pissed away a 28-3 halftime lead.

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And how about that WNBA???  hah! just kidding

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Gotta run.  later,

EMPTYING THE GUNNY SACK

After watching a common house fly become famous world wide, it's time to empty the gunny sack of facts, figures and opinions once again.

The week became even better with all the cartoons and memes that popped up within 24 hours. Pence, who will never have the nickname of "Mr. Excitement" will now go down in history. Your grandchildren will be shown this video in history or civics classes.

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I touched briefly on this last time but FARGO is a great watch this season. Taking place in 1950 Kansas City, it pits the black mafia against the Italian boys for control of the vices that infest this cow town. The clothes are great and the cars?? wow. Other than one technical slip-up when a radio is broadcasting a baseball game just before Thanksgiving, this FX series is well worth your time. Sundays at 9 and reruns are available at ON DEMAND.

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I realize he was medically cleared this weekend but would someone please explain why his doctors won't state when trump's last NEGATIVE covid test was? Trump is planning parties and receptions and does NOT plan to wear a mask. He also says that covid is coming to an end but EVERY doctor interviewed disagrees with him because the virus has been rising for the last 3 weeks. He just doesn't get it. now or ever.

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I went 160 miles north into Wisconsin over the weekend and saw minimal trump signs in farmer country. Four years ago, i took a similar ride and there was non-stop trump signs.  Discuss.

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I think debates are a waste of time unless you have a neutral 'fact-checker' on site who can refute any lie that is thrown out during the discussions. I say blue and then you say red but only one of us can be correct, right? How much fun would that be if the professional fact checker raised a "BULLSHIT" flag EVERY time a candidate lied and then we got to watch him walk his statement backwards spittin' & stammerin' the entire time. I think Americans would like to know who the liars are.

Also, all microphones other than the person answering the question should BE MUTED until the speaker has used up the two minutes. In addition, microphones should be cut off at the two minute mark after the speaker is advised that only 15 seconds are left in their time.

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Almost everyone watches the Bears if it's a prime time game and it was no different Thursday night and the reaction after they beat Tom Brady (for the first time ever) was basically, "I don't know how they did it but we'll take the win." I say again....the worst 4-1 team in the HISTORY of the NFL. The waters get much deeper in the coming weeks.

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R.I.P. to rock superstar EDDIE VAN HALEN, who was the fastest guitarist on the planet and you have to google his almost two minute riff from the song 'Eruption' to appreciate the master. I'm not a fan of heavy metal but his "Jump" was a fun song and if you've ever attended a Wisconsin Badger football game, you heard that song at the end of every third quarter.  

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The backlog of criminal cases in Cook County is embarrassing. It is common practice for a defense attorney to request a continuance in hopes of witnesses dying, moving away or changing their minds and dropping the complaint. IT'S THE DUTY OF THE JUDGE to not let that happen but the average murder case gets 65 continuances.

One judge, Joseph Clapps has granted 180 continuances in a SINGLE murder case with two defendants, who have been in cook county jail since 2011!!! And the cost to taxpayers is $190 PER DAY for each inmate. So each defendant in the murder case has cost the county about $625,000.00 and there is no end in sight.

Chief Judge Leroy Martin must be held accountable for not re-assigning judges who constantly slow down the legal process.

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R.I.P. to MARGARET NOLAN.  name not familiar? She was the beauty who got painted gold in Goldfinger for helping 007 catch the bad guy cheating at cards.

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Mattress sales are wayyyyyyyyyyyy up since people have had to stay at home and actually spend time together. your thoughts on that?? ......................

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Make no mistake about it. The PROUD BOYS and the WOLVERINE WATCHMEN are far right supporters of trump who believe violence is the answer to everything and the WW states there will be a civil war if trump loses. The WW are the ones recently arrested for plotting to kidnap the Democratic governor of Michigan.

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The doctors say to treat subway cars as covid hot zones and to avoid them at all costs. How in the world do New Yorkers handle going to work every day? prior to covid, 4 MILLION people rode the subway every day and now it's still 1.7 daily because there is no parking in manhattan which is why the subway is crucial. talk about being screwed.

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Finally, it looks like the weather will remain seasonal and mostly dry until the middle of November when the bottom is scheduled to fall out. I'm pretty sure we won't have to shovel 6" of snow on Halloween like we did last year so open the windows and enjoy the fresh air while you sleep.

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Just 22 days left.  VOTE RESPONSIBLY.   adios for now.