THINGS IN GENERAL

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! Rambling Ray would have been 99 years old today although he be bitching and moaning if he had watched the Bears game last Sunday. He's been gone for a while now but he was one of a kind, for better or worse.

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A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT to my good friend ASHLEY, who's recovering from surgery and obviously trying to duck out on the fact that it's her turn to buy lunch. Get well soon red!

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I don't normally hand out stock market advice but I'm pretty sure you should sell all of your R. Kelly shares. This maggot finally got caught and justice was served. Being 53 years old and with additional cases looming in Chicago and Minneapolis, this 'tough' guy' should die in prison. As an old friend of mine used to say. "good riddance to bad rubbish."

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Has Mayor Lori Lightfoot lost her mind? She's going to sue gang members??????????? Lori, just a heads up before you start the litigation. When a gang member starts making a lot of money, all of the houses and cars they buy are in grandma's name and unless you can prove that grandma is part of the gang, you can't punish an innocent third party. I think you have more important things with the violence climbing everyday. Over 2100 shootings and homicides approaching 400 for the year. The city has turned into a total cesspool and you are part of the problem because you've had the cops back off the poor little darlings and do you see the results? Shame on you.

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This particular column isn't about sports but HOORAY FOR THE CHICAGO BEARS for exercising the option to purchase the land in Arlington Heights and now I hope they follow through and build a state of the art RETRACTABLE DOME stadium that can be used year 'round for concerts, tractor pulls, tournaments, super bowls and anything else plus the trains, buses and interstates all lead to Arlington Heights so the location is perfect. Now if we can just have the McCaskey family stand down and just enjoy the ride until kickoff 2026!

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FINALLY, the Haitian problem at the Texas border has divided the country yet again. Some feel that we should welcome them all and others say ship them back and to be honest, I think I'm in favor of sending them back. How do you investigate these immigrants? Are they good people running from oppression or criminals on the run? But read on.....

 I'm reminded of one of the early scenes in 'SCARFACE' starring Al Pacino in which he tells a bald faced lie about his criminal past so he'll be admitted after escaping from Cuba. The actuality of that flotilla  in 1980 was that Castro emptied the prisons of all the undesirables and made them our problem PERMANENTLY by letting them "escape" to the U.S.

But now let's flip the coin. 32,000 Afghans have recently been embraced by this country and flown to America away from the danger of that country. How is that different? I really don't have the answer but I'm a little put off by 15,000 people trying to barge into our country and we don't know who the hell they are.

Mexico was helping by letting the immigrants camp on their side until their name was called but no more and that's the problem. I want to help those who need help but it has to be done in an orderly fashion so everyone can be protected in the long run.

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Stay safe and stay well. Enjoy this beautiful fall weather.

THINGS IN GENERAL

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL???

Man, it seems like it's been forever since we watched the BEARS and it's nice that they open up in prime time so I can watch it in the gazebo with my buddy Jim, smoke cigars and yell all we want because the graveyard citizens across the street never complain. Good neighbors.

Eventually, we'll get JUSTIN FIELDS at quarterback but with that offensive line, he better have his 'run fast' shoes on. I see the Bears at 7-10.  Very tough schedule.

NOW LET'S TAKE A RUN AROUND THE BLOCK WITH SPORTS IN CHICAGO.

Speaking of across the street, I'm whistling past the graveyard with the WHITE SOX because having three of your starting pitchers on the IL at the same freaking time is not a recipe for post-season success. They'll play HOUSTON in the first round and best record gets home field in the final game of the series. Sox currently trail the ASTROS by one game and have only played .500 baseball since the all-star break. Just a bad feeling.........

The BULLS have shaken up their roster with the hopes of being competitive for a playoff spot and have at least five new rostered players and apparently, if you've ever dribbled a basketball, they will sign you as a free agent. COACH BILLY DONOVAN got the most out of that dead weight roster last season so now let's see what happens with an energized team that can actually play defense.

I have no idea what the BLACKHAWKS are doing but with aging superstars and an average roster, times will stay tough. New goalie MARC-ANDRE FLEURY will face more rubber than a cat on the Dan Ryan if the Hawks don't find some more defensemen. Still a great game to watch in person.

The CHICAGO SKY have clinched a playoff spot........................

And you know things are bad when I put women's sports above your team. But for obvious reasons, the Cubs are last. Exactly what do you say about a team when they gut their roster over a 7 month period and then deny that it's a rebuild?? And before any of you boot licking sycophants start celebrating their recent winning streak, please note that they played the last place team in both central divisions for six of those wins....so slow your roll and try and remember the following regarding 'superstars' PATRICK WISDOM & FRANK SCHWINDEL.

There's a reason that 30 years old guys are making their debut in the majors right now. They are simply journeymen who have ridden the buses in the minors for ten years BUT the cubs needed players right now after gutting their roster so welcome to the show!

You think I'm just talking smack?  Read on, lemmings.

Schwindel had a total  of 43 appearances in the majors before this year and he's 29. A lifer in the bushes and why do think that is? You'll find out next season when 'the book' on Schwindel is in every dugout so enjoy the next couple weeks of schwindel-mania because he ain't hitting .350 next year. 

Patrick Wisdom is 30 years old and also a ten year minor leaguer and his early season magic has totally disappeared into a .238 batting average. Look for him to be part of a trade and NOT win rookie of the year. 

This team is going to be ashes for a few years but the betting window opened regarding their future yesterday when one of the north side sewer rats bet me fifty bucks that the cubs will be in the playoffs by 2023. I suffered a severe paper cut getting my money out before he changed his mind but I'm ok.  Anyone else?

That's a wrap. Enjoy this beautiful weather and GO BEARS!!

LARRY'S FINAL THOUGHTS

 First off, I'm sorry for the delay in posting Larry's final thoughts but incredibly, the night before we were supposed to do the final editing of this post, his cousin was shot and seriously wounded in Garfield Park on the west side of the city. It was touch & go for a while but he will recover in time. FYI--Larry's cousin is a church deacon and was walking his dog when he was shot along with two other members of the church.

"I've gone over our last two transcripts and I realize that some of the language was harsh but there will be no apology from me. If you live inside the city of Chicago, you live in a coward's world where the police are outnumbered 10 to 1 and they have about a 20% chance of solving any homicide or shootings committed on these streets and the fucking animals will eventually rule the city.  Recent news events indicate that it doesn't matter where you live, north, south, whatever. Even the Gold Coast and Michigan avenue are fertile hunting grounds for these jackals.

I was born and raised in Chicago and I have spent my entire life inside these boundaries but recent history has prompted a decision that will affect three generations of my family. As the de facto patriarch of the family since my father died years ago,  I have decided to leave the city and take my mom and grandmother with me to the western suburbs along with two sisters and their husband and kids and although grandma will leave her house kicking and screaming, it's best for her and everyone else plus we already have a solid offer for her house.

I was at gramma's house the other day and she had her usual stack of Sun Times sitting next to her recliner and while she was doing her in-home therapy with the nurse, (recovering from a minor stroke) I went thru 17 days worth and EACH DAY had a shooting story within the first five pages but the stories that really grabbed my attention were the ones where innocent people were shot at and wounded but not seriously. Those stories were on page 18 or 19 and consisted of two or three sentences because non-life threatening shootings apparently aren't important anymore. That's when I made the decision.

I called a family meeting and attendance is always MANDATORY for all concerned in our family because these meetings don't happen very often. The last one was 4 years ago when we met to help my sister, who was struggling to pick a college. Gramma was not happy at missing Wheel of Fortune but she knew it was serious after my cousin's shooting. 14 members attended and my cousin zoomed in from Ohio where he attends the seminary.

I quickly reviewed the incidents of the last two years and told them I was afraid for the safety of EVERYONE in our family and that I thought it was best to relocate out of the city. We took a vote and it was 12-3 to head west. Gramma snorted but understood the rules of a family meeting because she ran them for years.

 I have quit my job in the city and accepted a new position 5 minutes from our new house. My sister is a manager at a nation wide company and she is transferring to a suburban location. The nephews will transfer to a new high school and their mom has quit her nursing job at Stroger hospital and has already been hired at a suburban hospital. We'll be fine once we settle in.

My family has been in this city since 1909 when my great grandfather moved her from Alabama and we have always been proud to say 'we're from Chicago' when we were on vacation but after 112 years, I hate to say it but the bad guys have won.

My final thoughts are simple and to the point. The police aren't perfect but you have to let them do their jobs and convince the bad guys that their way of life has consequences. In my neighborhood, EVERYONE knew officer Murphy when we were growing up and when you got in trouble, he basically kicked you in the ass and made you do clean-up work at the local park as your penance. He didn't call your parents or make a report....he just adjusted your attitude right there in the alley and life went on. And you'd better show up on your assigned clean-up day.

But God forbid if you lay a hand on these gang-banging niggers or assign them clean up duty because you will have a lawsuit handed to you within 48 hours and be suspended from the force so as a result, the officers now have taken a hands-off attitude and the animals run crazy. 

I have loved Chicago my entire life but the it's time to say good-bye. I have tears in my eyes as I write this but it's better than tears of despair, anger or sorrow which I know will happen if we stay. God bless and thank you for listening.