ODDS & ENDS

This Friday would have been my father's 100th birthday and recently, i spoke with my childhood friend Patti and we laughed about her dad & mine (Ray & Bill were buddies) and how they would have handled computers, cell phones, texting, bottled water and the language on cable tv channels. Not to mention the current salaries in the sports world plus the hairdos and tattoos of the ball players along with wondering why there were no more phone booths or hard wire home phones. And this list goes on & on.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

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The Queen is dead and millions of loyal subjects mourned her as she made her final trip through the streets of England. Although mostly ceremonial, she was revered in most of the world for 70 years and no matter how you cut it, that's a long time to be in power . R.I.P.

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Another trump supporter from Illinois has pleaded guilty to a felony related to the attempted overthrow of the government so he's looking at 5 years plus fines. Over 800 have been charged and almost 400 have either pled guilty or been found guilty at trial. NO ONE has been acquitted. Gotta love it especially when they're stupid enough to post their illegal activities on video and various social media outlets which makes it a slam dunk in court.

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How do you feel about prisoners getting their college degrees including masters, at Northwestern University? They benefit from a grant not available to you or me so a hard working law abiding student can only go part-time because that's all he can afford but murderers, armed robbers and major drug dealers get a free ride to that diploma. And exactly what are they going to do with it upon release? Discuss.

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R KELLY?   BOOM!   GUILTY AGAIN.

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Jay Halstead leaving Chicago P.D.?? Say it ain't so. This is his tenth and final year on the highly rated police drama and actor Jesse Lee Soffer says that it's been an honor but it's time to try something else. Good for him and safe travels.

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Traffic fatalities in Illinois are up 24% and distracted driving appears to be the main cause. "One eye on the road and the other on their phone is a recipe for disaster and when you combine this with impaired driving, it's no wonder that deaths are spiking," according to the Urban Transportation Center. 

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Are the Bears going to screw up the new stadium in Arlington Heights? I certainly hope not but there's an awful lot of negative comments coming from different meetings and organizations. This is a ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNIY for long suffering Bears fans to be elevated from that current hell hole situated on the lake. And no, Mayor Lightfoot, a coat of paint won't make everything all better at Soldier Field.

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What to do with homeless people? Discuss.

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Texas Governor Abbott has now been elevated to the '5 people I want to punch in the face' list. You made your point by sending the first bus of immigrants to Chicago but now stop. Using these people as political pawns is disgusting.

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the list? Ok, here is the current list.

GREG ABBOTT

DONALD TRUMP

JAVY BAEZ

MATT NAGY

ALEC BALDWIN

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I thought I saw the top of my desk but maybe not. More later. Have a great week!

 

NOTHING BUT GOOD NEWS

 Hey, it's been awhile so let's clear up the pile of news collecting on my desk and give you something to think about and discuss.

This is NOT the sports blog but how can you not feel good when both the Packers AND Notre Dame lose on the same weekend?    😃

Ok, now real stuff that makes you feel good. R. Kelly's Chicago trial will go to the jury soon as the defense has rested it's case. Kelly already has 30 years to serve in New York and that might be matched in Illinois courts but then it's on to Minnesota for more charges. Perfect.

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The struggle over what statues to save and which to take down has re-kindled with the upcoming Columbus Day holiday. over Christopher Columbus. We all know the good stuff about Columbus but he also dealt in slavery and kidnapping. I understand the negative thought process but I just finished a book on General Grant and his wife's family had MANY slaves that waited on her and the kids hand and foot while the big guy was off fighting wars and Grant himself was a guest several times at the in-laws house and also received attention from the slaves also. Sooooooo, do we take down the statues in Grant Park???

And while we're on the topic, Mary Todd's family also had many slaves and her husband, Abe Lincoln stayed there 3 weeks in 1847 after his marriage to Ms. Todd and "was treated like a king" during his stay. I think the Lincoln Memorial is toast.

Let's not forget our first president George Washington bought his first slave at the age of ELEVEN and had dozens and dozens of slaves until he released all of them via his last will and testament but he enjoyed their services while he was alive. So I think that shoots Presidents Day all to hell.

My point is a simple one that I've made before. Keep the statues and LEARN from them. Teach students that Robert E Lee was a great general as was Grant but also teach them about how people had slaves to run the plantations and farms. Was slavery wrong? ABSOLUTELY. Is it a part of history? again, Absolutely. You can't erase what happened by throwing statues into the lake but you can learn from history to make sure it never happens again.

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Do you understand the current craze of "drifting?" It's when young people block off streets and then high powered cars 'light them up' by doing wheelies at the intersection, resurrecting what we used to call 'burning rubber.' 

Now the city police and Mayor Lightfoot don't take these type of shenanigans lightly but initially, they would just arrive and send the 'yutes' on their way, no harm no foul BUT recently the moron faction has taken over the drifting and when the police arrived two weeks ago, bottles and rocks were thrown at the squad cars and one future convict jumped on the hood and kicked in the windshield of the squad. And then the nice police disappeared.

Enter new rules and regulations featuring 'zero tolerance' that saw the arrest of 3 drivers two weeks ago and the impounding of 5 cars at $300 per day plus $65 a day storage. Amazingly, I haven't read or heard of any more drifting events since then.

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I don't have monkeypox or covid. Hooray for me.

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R.I.P. to Mikhail Gorbachev, the President of the former Soviet Union who was responsible for ending the cold war and tearing down the Berlin Wall, for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. "Gorby" was 91.

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Hard to believe but Sir Paul McCartney is 80 years old. So are Simon & Garfunkel, Carole King, Harrison Ford, Barbra Streisand, Brian Wilson (beach boys), Wayne Newton and Chubby Checker. Admit it. Reading that list made you stop and think for a second.

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Average cost of yearly college tuition and mandatory fees? $17,000 but that doesn't include room & board. ouch.

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600,000 electric vehicles were sold in the U.S. last year and California has announced that beginning in 13 more years, gas powered cars will not be allowed in the state. My nephew drives a Tesla and I absolutely love it. Quiet and powerful with plenty of leg room because there's no engine to take up space. 

Expensive? Initially, it took $70k to bring one home but now that other makers are involved, they're getting much cheaper. Chevy has an SUV coming out in 2023 for 30k, the Nissan Leaf is 27k and the Mazda MX-30 sells for 33k.

Now some of these models only have a range of 150 miles BUT your average car trip is just 15 miles so as long as you plug it in at the end of the day, you'll always be good to go.

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The shortages of police officers in Chicago has reached emergency status. They are currently short 1,400 sworn vacancies and 1,000 retirements this year will be the most in history but the academy is only graduating about 600 new officers this year which means the deficit will continue to grow despite a starting salary of $54,000 that increases to $82,000 after your 18 month probation is over.

Not a bad paycheck but working in an understaffed department can be VERY hazardous to your health with forced overtime, cancelled days off and postponed vacations. The citizens should be screaming about this because it's their neighborhood that will be lacking in patrol with increased response time and nobody wants that.

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Enough for now. Enjoy the fall weather and the FIRST PLACE CHICAGO BEARS. 😵