WHAT A WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE!

 The beat just goes on and on and on.......Finally clearing off the desk but this one will take some time to read.......

ANDREW LESTER of Liberty, Missouri pleaded 'not guilty'  to first degree assault, which is a fancy way to say attempted murder. Lester, 84, shot a black man, RALPH YARL, 16, in the head and then the arm for just knocking on his door. Yarl is making a miraculous recovery as only 15% of people shot in the head ever make a full recovery. Incredibly, Lester was released after posting just $2,000 in cash. A perfect example of a man who should never see the light of day again and die in prison, I wonder if he would have fired if the teenager had been white?

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Now on the flip side. actor ALEC BALDWIN had ALL charges dismissed in the accidental shooting death of cinematographer ALYNA HUTCHINS. Baldwin claimed from the beginning that he never pulled the trigger but those waters were initially muddied when the FBI lab results were that the gun wouldn't fire without the trigger being pulled but another testing agency reported that the gun was faulty in it's design and could indeed fire without the trigger being pulled. Time to buy a lottery ticket, Alec.

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Hey, if you used Facebook between 2007-2022, you have some money coming to you if you sign up at FACEBOOKUSER-PRIVACYSETTLEMENT.COM because Facebook was hacked by a company that turned over personal information of 87 million users to DONALD TRUMP'S campaign. Previous checks to Illinois residents have been for $397 and $30 but the total this time depends on how many people apply. It's free money so matter what state you reside, sign up.

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So when you were a 'yute' growing up, you got popped by the local police for possession of cannabis and you pled guilty and got fined and life went on BUT, as the nuns used to tell us, it became part of your PERMANENT RECORD! And the conviction did stay on your record until........NOW.   When Illinois legalized pot in 2019, they also provided an outlet to get your record purged FOR NO CHARGE.   Just contact the site at the end of this sentence with the particulars of your arrest and conviction and they will take care of the rest. FREE!!!  carpls.org

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EDWARD BURKE has been a Chicago Alderman for 54 years, the longest tenure in the history of city politics but he is retiring at the end of the month under the cloud of a federal indictment which ties him to the current trial of 4 members of COM ED, whose futures will be determined by a jury starting next week.

 Ironically, a fellow alderman tried to institute "ED BURKE DAY' for this week and that suggestion was met with raised eyebrows and an uproar from council chambers and the suggestion was quashed by Burke himself and the matter was dropped. Burke is 79 and even with a plea bargain, will probably die in prison. 

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McDONALD'S is making changes to it's hamburgers! STOP YOURSELF! And I quote "meltier cheese, white onions added to the burger while it's cooking for caramelized flavor AND a softer and more pillowy bun." And coming out of retirement to introduce the new changes will be none other than the HAMBURGLAR, who promises that there will be no increase in prices. We'll see on that one. Changes begin next year.

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So you like hamburgers? How about free hamburgers the for the next 25 years? Steak gurus at OMAHA STEAKS have created a contest which gives the winner two deliveries a year of 48 burgers for the next quarter century. What's the catch? If they pull your name, you have to get a LARGE full sized tattoo on your butt cheek which will be rendered by world famous tattoo artist STEVE BUTCHER. I think the contest is a bit cheeky.

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What goes around.......The FLORES BROTHERS were arrested for cocaine distribution in 2008 and in order to get lighter sentences, they agreed to testify against CHAPO GUZMAN, the Mexican drug kingpin who received a life sentence because of their testimony. The brothers each received 14 year sentences and they are already out of prison.

One problem.....Their wives were supposed to turn over ALL PROCEEDS from the Flores drug empire but they apparently 'forgot' almost 3 million dollars when the husbands went to prison and with no verifiable income, the women sent their kids to private schools, paid rent for an exclusive home in the high rent district and took private jet rides to go shopping. DUH! Both wives are facing 7 years in prison when sentenced in the fall.

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Need a job? Chicago is looking for someone to be the Superintendent of Police. No thank you. The time for a bleeding heart liberal has come and gone but the political "progressives" are not going to support a hard line boss who throws people in jail. A totally thankless job.

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Is ELON MUSK one of the strangest people you've ever met in your life? After dropping prices on the TESLA 4 times this year, Musk then threw it into reverse and raised prices $2500 on his four luxury models, making the bottom line $87,000-$97,000 and they are not eligible for the $7500 government credit because they are too expensive. What the hell is he thinking? The man has too much money and not enough brains.

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If things are really going bad for you, just be glad you don't live in JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI where the water system produces anything BUT clear water and they can't afford to fix the system plus they haven't had garbage pickup since April 1st because the village board can't agree on a garbage service and every vote ends up 3-3 and unlike Illinois, the Mayor does not have a tie breaking vote.  Pretty bad, right? But we're not finished because this city of just 150,000 has 100 homicides per year which extrapolates to over 3,000 murders if they had the same population as Chicago. The State Police have been ordered to the area because the city has no money to hire new officers. What a mess.

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A sad day in Chicago because of the passing of JAMES EISENBERG, 92, the CEO of Vienna Beef which also produces those great hot dogs. Eisenberg started with the company in 1954 and bought them out in 1982. Eisenberg always wanted people to know that Vienna introduced the world to hot dogs at the 1893 World's Fair.

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BITTERSWEET....The surviving families of the victims from the Las Vegas massacre of 2017 will each receive about $22,000 as the estate of the shooter was finally liquidated.

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You probably never heard of KEN POTTS but he died the other day at the age of 102. Mr. Potts was one of two living survivors of the USS ARIZONA, which was sunk at Pearl Harbor in 1941. He was shuttling supplies between buildings when the attack occurred  and he jumped into a small motorboat with another sailor and they spent the next two hours pulling survivors out of the water. It took just 9 minutes for the Arizona to sink and 1,177 crew members died with more than 900 sailors still entombed today and the ship still sits where it sank. LOU CONTER, 101, of California is the last living survivor.

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Finally, on a happier note, my brother is starting to heal as he enters his second week in the hospital after a toxic reaction following surgery on his foot. Still sedated but conscious, he has walked a few steps with assistance and the breathing tube has been removed. He's bitching about the hospital food so I know he's getting better and hopefully will head to a rehab center soon.

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THE DESK IS CLEAR!! Enjoy the winter weather. Be safe and stay out of Chicago.

IT'S TIME FOR SPORTS!

 First of all, good-bye and good luck to Chicago Blackhawks captain and future hall of famer JONATHAN TOEWS, who was a major part of bringing 3 Stanley Cups to the city after an almost 50 year drought. Toews will be moving on OR retiring following the Friday night game against Philadelphia in the United Center. CAPTAIN SERIOUS.....We wish you well!

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Memo to boot licking cub fans: remember all your angst when the club traded "the core" from the world series year....WHY? WHY? WHY? 'how could they trade them?'   Well, let me tell you why. JAVY BAEZ......batting average .100  WILLSON CONTRERAS....  .169 KRIS BRYANT .....played just 52 games and hit ONE home run in Colorado last year and Coors Field is known among the league as 'the launching pad'. Plus 2 of those 3 guys are me-me-me jerks.

Now nice guy ANTHONY RIZZO is doing just fine with the NYY and just signed a new 3 year deal so good for him and bad for the cubs. But for once I totally agree with the front office of the cubs on their decision to dump the junk.

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The BEARS finally rang the bell with off-season moves! While I was south of the border, they made a great trade to get out of the #1 pick and made some very nice acquisitions in the free agency period. NOW COMES THE DRAFT and 4 possibilities: 

OHIO STATE OFFENSIVE TACKLE PARIS JOHNSON       6'06"      313

NORTHWESTERN OFFENSIVE TACKLE PETER SKORONSKI   6'04     297

GEORGIA DEFENSIVE LINEMAN JALEN CARTER       6'03"    305 (if you can keep him out of prison, he'll be a good one)

TRADE THE #9 PICK FOR MORE PICKS

Any of those 4 moves is just fine with me but they will still struggle to win 8 games.

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I am the only WHITE SOX FAN who doesn't believe in the starting pitching, which is a key element in gaining the post season. DYLAN CEASE is one of the 5 best in baseball. LANCE LYNN is 30 pounds overweight and carrying a 7.3 ERA. Hello, dallas kuechel.

 LUCAS GIOLITO is 6.00 and has become a split personality. AND that brings us to the the PSYCHO TWINS......MICHAEL KOPECH at 6.75 simply sucks and needs to be traded. He is certifiable and you can see the petulant child arrive every time someone cranks one. That's right, ONE hard hit ball sends him into a funk. He stinks and one good outing out of four doesn't justify keeping him.  MIKE CLEVENGER may or may not be a major league pitcher or he might be a burnt out 50/50 journeyman. Have to keep an eye on him.

Relief pitching will be fine, the defense will continue to suck until they're healthy and realize that ELOI JIMENEZ & GAVIN SHEETS should never, and i mean NEVER, see the field except at first base in an emergency. The offense will eventually be fine but you have to pitch to win. case closed.

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HOW ABOUT THOSE BULLS???!!!??? and now on to Miami where it will be interesting to see if management stifles DEMAR DeROZAN'S daughter, who screamed every time the Raptors attempted a free throw which may have resulted in the junior high-like 50% from the line. And yes, in the NBA, management does have the right to control what you yell.

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BEST BASEBALL PLAYER IN MY LIFETIME. Slam dunk. SHOHEI OHTANI.

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And late breaking news.......My brother Terry is fighting complications from a total ankle rebuild and is currently on a respirator up in Milwaukee. Personally, I think it's a desperate plea to get more strokes on the golf course when he's better. GET BETTER!

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Ok, I can see a little of my desk. More later. Enjoy the weather.....until Saturday night. 

ALL SORTS OF STUFF

BRANDON JOHNSON was polling at just 2% a few months ago but when several Chicago mayoral candidates cancelled each other in the primary, it allowed Johnson to take advantage of a perfect storm and absorb the votes of the primary losers which gave him just enough votes to out distance PAUL VALLAS and win the seat at city hall so congratulations to him.

Johnson inherits a myriad of problems including rising crime, a short staffed police department and rising property taxes. The west and south sides are like the wild, wild west and Johnson plans to bring big businesses into those areas to provide stability and jobs to those beleaguered communities. Good luck with that.

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It seems that shootings have become a daily occurrence and we are becoming numb to them. Three shot here, six shot there and so on and so on and the shooters have no connection to the victims or their families. I just don't get it.     AND I HAD NO SOONER TYPED THIS when the news from Louisville broke with 5 killed and 8 others wounded inside a bank, which makes mass shooting #146 for this calendar year.  

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Ok, here's one for the smile department: Man walks up to the teller at a bank in Waterloo, Iowa and initially asks to cash a check and the teller requests his driver's license which he already has in his left hand but the man pulls a gun with his right and he quietly and politely tells her that it's a holdup and to fill his plastic bag with cash. She follows orders and hands him the cash.

He leaves quickly and leaves his driver's license on the counter.

 Local law enforcement was waiting AT HIS HOUSE when he walked up the sidewalk with the bag stuck in his shirt and twirling the gun like a cowboy. No bullets. Case closed.

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WALMART has decided to close 4 Chicago stores due to the stores losing "tens of millions" every year and the losses have doubled since 2018 as internal theft and people 'jobbing' the automatic checkout stands by only ringing up 40% of what they had in their baskets.

Pretty simple decision, right? But the corporation is being vilified by the affected neighborhoods for not 'trying hard enough' to overcome the problems. WHAT???? If you'd stop stealing in the first place, this wouldn't have happened. Reap what ye sow.

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So the Democrats will be in Chicago for their 2024 convention and the Republicans will be just up the north shore in Milwaukee. Great news for the local economies but the traffic will absolutely suck for at least a week. Gotta give to get.

Today's poll says that 34% of the people trust PRESIDENT BIDEN and 25% trust donald trump. But does trust convert into votes? We'll see.

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Is Justice Clarence Thomas as arrogant as I think he is??

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Done for now. Enjoy the weather.