THE JUNGLE ROARS AGAIN

I just don't understand. no matter how bad your life is going, no matter how angry you are and no matter how much you hate a rival gang member...........what kind of animal lures a nine year old boy into an alley and assassinates him? nine years old. TYSHAWN LEE was a third grader. exactly how dangerous was he to the other gang? well, he wasn't dangerous at all but his gang banging father is very active in gang activity and the jungle gangs have now declared 'open season' on rival gang members AND THEIR FAMILIES.  doesn't that send a shiver down your spine?

and there's no doubt that the neighborhood would band together and point out the shooter, right? sorry, suburban folks but that's not how it works in the jungle.  everyone has become a turtle or an ostrich and didn't see anything. even a $35,000 reward hasn't been enough to bring a turtle out of it's shell. FYI--a chicago p.d. friend of mine says that MOST of the offered rewards go unclaimed which is incredible when you figure the average family income in the jungle is less than $10,000 per family. (not counting welfare benefits).

but surely the father, gang member PIERRE STOKES would help the police find the killer or at least give them a likely shooter from the other game. uh, no. stokes' response to two requests for interview was EXACTLY as follows: "why dey got to do me like dat? i got nuttin to say to da po-po. i ain't no banger. why dey wastin time talkin to me when dey could be lookin for da killers my son."

two days after the murder, police executed a search warrant at a south side apartment where stokes, currently out on bond for a gun charge, was found eating pizza and smoking marijuana with friends. and i quote again: "so we smokin dope and chillin. waddup with dat? i got court in the morning and now dey rassin' me instead of gettin the killers. dey got to loosen up wid me and pull da noose tighter on someone else cuz i got nuttin to say."  

now if this is the attitude of the father and the neighborhood together, is it any surprise when non-jungle people just turn the page of the newspaper without reading the murder stories? they see the headline, shake their head and turn the page. again and again and again.

the next day a neighborhood shrine to the slain child was burned down by an unknown arsonist.  ready to talk yet, folks? this is getting closer & closer to your homes and families.

just to wrap it up for this round, here are the stats from the last 5 days in the jungle:

8 dead, including tyshawn lee and an 89 year old woman 

who was set on fire when she walked in on a burlgary at her home.

13 wounded, ranging in age from 17 to 48 including 3 females.

they live by and die by different rules. violence solves everything. if you're in the city and you're not sure of your non-stop destination, then MADISON STREET should be as far south as you go. don't become a victim of the jungle.

SPORTS ODDS & ENDS

Do you think NEW YORK METS second baseman DANIEL MURPHY understands now what a fickle mistress major league baseball is? murphy was king of the world during the NLCS sweep over the hapless cubs, hitting .529 on 9 for 17 with four homers, a double and six ribbies which brought him a well deserved MVP award for that four game series.

and then the worm turned and the world series madam made murphy look like a little leaguer as he garnered just 3 singles over five games and batted .150 with zero rbi's plus two HUGE errors on simple ground balls to turn the tide of two games in favor of the royals. and that's what makes baseball the game that it is.

DERRICK ROSE (aka mr. softee) has come up with the PERFECT EXCUSE for poor play and the excuse is good for the entire season. "i have double vision.... sometimes" said the master of candyassdom.  how perfect is that? if he scores 29 points like he did thursday night against OKC, then "i was feeling good and had no problems" is the statement from his camp but if he scores less than ten points three games in a row?  "my vision isn't perfect so i try to contribute in other ways." WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP.  

but the worst part of this is rose's MONSTER CONTRACT so he's untradeable. a declining former superstar who's not even ranked in the top 15 guards in the NBA making TWENTY MILLION a year. and we have him for two more years. yay!

the WHITE SOX made the final move to say good-bye to that piece of garbage JEFF SAMARDZIJA by offering him a one year contract in the hope that he turns it down so they can get a compensatory draft pick.  with the sox luck, the shark will say yes to the offer.

and finally, PATRICK KANE is off the hook and the case is closed.  no, kane won't be suing his accuser for slander because that would mean that kane would be subject to a deposition UNDER OATH and the opposition attorneys can pretty much ask you anything they want about your past life including sexual experiences, drunken behavior, arrests, complaints, rehab and and all sorts of good stuff.  and that's why this matter is done and will stay done.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

my thoughts

I really don't know what to say about the mess in fox lake but as someone who worked the streets as a police officer for twenty-five years, i can tell you that words like 'betrayed' 'disgusted' and 'embarrassed' come to my mind frequently. a lot has been written about joe gliniewicz and and his family but believe me, there's more to come so i'll leave that to the daily scribes

i was no saint patrolling the streets and i did what i had to do dealing with the maggots who ruined honest people's lives on a daily basis but as i saw it, my job was to protect the law abiding citizens of the town from that element. period. 

did people complain about me? absolutely. did the bad guys say i was too physical with them? yep. did i put resisters in need of medical attention? most certainly.  did i tell the habitual criminals that it would be in their best interest health wise to move out of town? right again BUT i never asked for or received anything from a local business person and i can honestly tell you i never took a dime from anyone. NOT A DIME. and i'm proud of that because being an honest cop is sometimes all that keeps you going when things get bad on the job.

in closing, i want to offer my condolences to all of the honest police officers in lake county who put their lives on the line every day because what's been printed this week has cast an unwarranted shadow on them and will for years to come. 

memo to the newer officers in fox lake: move on. take a job with another department because the stink from this incident will never wash off and you'll be constantly reminded of how dishonest you are, how you shake down business owners, how you drink & drive,  how you steal money and take bribes and how you're a dirtbag just like the criminals. get used to it.

now, none of that will be true but you'll never be able to defend yourself in your own town because PERCEPTION IS REALITY to many people. and in this case, you can thank joe gliniewicz for that. that's his legacy to law enforcement.

CATCHING UP ON EVERYTHING

congrats to the KANSAS CITY ROYALS for a great run to the world championship. coming from behind EIGHT times in the playoffs showed heart and talent, which is a combination only owned by the blackhawks in chicago but sorely missed in all the other venues in the windy city. the royals are a fun team to watch and they don't seem to have any weaknesses so look for them in october for a few years. (p.s.  their normal closer was out with an injury but their bullpen was still lights out.)

and special props to ALEX RIOS, who after 12 years of playing on some pretty bad teams finally grabbed the brass ring. enjoy.

historical note: the most dominant post season performance this century is still the 2005 CHICAGO WHITE SOX, who steamrolled the opposition and went 11-1 on the way to the WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP. just sayin.......

the story of DON MATTINGLY is a confusing one. he takes over a bad dodger team in 2011 and during his five year tenure was never under .500, won three consecutive division titles and had an overall winning percentage of 55% but gets dumped. why? read on.

there's a very strong story going around that mattingly's decision to pitch CLAYTON KERSHAW instead of fully rested cy young candidate ZACH GRIENKE in game 1 against the mets sealed his fated. greinke was apparently livid at the snub and the waters were muddied even more when kershaw lost his game and greinke won game 2.  a baseball lifer said, "mattingly's decision changed the entire dynamics of the series because if your strongest pitcher wins the first game, all of the pressure falls on the mets and not kershaw. the fans would have been revved up and kershaw has great killer instinct."

after the dodger elimination, greinke immediately opted out of the final three years of his contract and became a FREE AGENT plus there was a 'him or me' conversation with the dodger brass. the opt-out was expected for business reasons but turning in your papers 45 minutes after elimination sends a message.  so mattingly goes bye-bye and the dodgers can only hope that greinke calms down and re-signs because losing the best pitcher in the national league would not sit well with the fans.

it's hard to even talk about the bears.  they may have a great coaching staff but when most of your roster is filled with cast offs from other teams, you're looking at a minimum of three years to throw out the garbage and rebuild your team. eventually, you'll have enough draft choices and free agent signings to right the ship but it ain't happening overnight. p.s. coach JOHN FOX turns 61 during the off season and has a history of heart problems. how much coaching time does he have left?

is this the week PATRICK KANE begins to breathe normally again?

gotta run.  have a great week

NOTHING BUT CUBS

Full disclosure. I drank the cubs kool aid in early august and made a large bet on them to win the NL pennant. I thought the cubs were under priced at 8-1 and one day after making the move, the line fell to 7-1 and a week later 5-1 until the cubs settled at 3-1 in mid-september.

 I thought i was in good shape after they handled the pirates and cardinals and then i got bit in the ass by the dark cloud that has hung over this franchise for over a hundred years. THEY SUCK when the spotlights go on, plain & simple. they melted like cheap candles in 2003, 2008, 2009 and again this year, with the last three being sweeps despite being heavy favorites in all of those series.

 they're a nice young team that's going nowhere. i hate them with every fiber of my being and wish them nothing but the worst. stupid baseball fans, a park that smells like piss and unlimited frustration. couldn't happen to a nicer organization.

CAREER YEARS for jake arrieta, anthony rizzo, carlos rodon and justin grim. do you honestly think they'll all be that good next year?

does anyone still think kyle schwarber is a left fielder? he proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he belongs in the american league where his defensive buffoonery will be hidden by being the designated hitter on a permanent basis. he's not playing third or first on this team and he's way too awkward to be a full time catcher. soooooooooo, hello american league.

twelve players become unrestricted free agents including austin jackson, dexter fowler, chris denorfia, clayton richards and trevor cahill.  they're in dire need of bullpen help and they lack pitching in the minors so it's time to play 'let's make a deal' with some of their prospects.

they obviously need a stud starter and those available are free agent pitchers david price, zach greinke (who's really pissed that kershaw got the ball instead of him in game 1 against the mets) jordan zimmerman and yovani gallardo. if you want to play with the big boys, you'll need 200-250 million for david price but after blowing 155 on 12-10 jon lester, the cubs might think twice.

good riddance to the 2015 cubs.  and kiss my ass.

THE WORLD IS CRAZY

Kentucky county clerk KIM DAVIS got a five day stint in the slammer courtesy of federal judge DAVID BUNNING but apparently, ms davis is a slow learner. after being instructed not to interfere DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY with marriage licensing in ANY way, she goes about removing her name and other information from the licenses issued to gay couples and then states the licenses "are not legal because they're altered."  ok, maybe i'm missing something but didn't she admit that she's interfering with the licensing procedure?? 

can she be fired by the governor? no.  can she be impeached by the state legislature? yes. but EVERYONE is hoping that she just steps down.  are there forums for religious extremists like davis? there certainly is but a county clerk's office is not one of them.
DO YOUR JOB or quit.

judge bunning has an interesting decision to make and has the added pressure of the AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION filing suit against davis and her county because she's created a "two tiered system" of marriage licensing.  Bunnig stated earlier that "public officials are not allowed to pick & choose which laws and court orders they want to enforce. At the end of the day, i expect the court's orders to be obeyed because that's how things work in America." davis has now started receiving AND ACCEPTING awards for "breaking the law" and upholding predjudice against gay couples. i think that will also get bunning's attention.

a little personal FYI for you---ms. davis, who apparently is a pillar of morality, has been married four times and was impregnated by her eventual third husband while she was married to her first husband. yowsa! where is MAURY POVICH when you need him?

davis has now switched over to the republican party (big surprise there) although she says the issue is not about politics. she has also allied herself with two far right politicians in MIKE HUCKABEE and TED CRUZ, who both believe that rape victims made pregnant during the assault should carry that child full term. enough said there.

finally, davis now teaches a bible study class at the local jail.  i'm thinking that pretty soon she won't have any travel expenses to teach that class.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

A LITTLE OF EVERYTHING

KIM DAVIS, the county clerk from kentucky is really getting under my skin with her refusal to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. i wrote this before but it bears repeating: if your religious beliefs get in the way of doing your job, then resign.  it's a pretty simple solution but she has grown more obnoxious by the day and hopefully, the supreme court will find her in contempt of their DIRECT ORDER and send her to jail soon.  i think her refusal to resign will change course quickly when she's sitting behind bars.

speaking of goofs, RACHEL DOLEZAL, the white woman who claims she's black despite her WHITE parents coming forward, has announced her pregnancy. 37 and unmarried, dolezal says she's having a boy.................... but even if it's a girl, she'll say it's a boy. what a piece of work.

did you know that actresses/comediennes JENNY McCARTHY & MELISSA McCARTHY are first cousins? true story.

did you know that over three thousand americans gave up their citizenship last year and moved to a different country? apparently, taxes & crime are the two biggest reason and NEW ZEALAND is a popular relocation country because the language is the same as here.

did your mom smoke while she was pregnant with you? if she did, you have a 1 in 3 chance of having atrial fibrillation, a condition that makes your heart race and could lead to heart attacks and strokes.  so if you're thinking about having kids, "kicking the squares" should be first on your list of things to do BEFORE getting pregnant.

my personal opinion for the last twenty years............ knowing what we know about the health risks of smoking, i strongly feel that any pregnant woman who smokes should be arrested and at the very least, charged with 'endangering the life of an unborn child.'  other people have recommended much stronger penalties, including sterilization, but i think everyone agrees that it's bad for the child and something should be done.

doesn't DONALD TRUMP remind you of the playground bully?

how happy do you think HILLARY is about JOE BIDEN thinking about joining the presidential race?  i think biden will take a pass because of their long friendship.........but maybe not.

finally, GODSPEED to JOE GLINIEWICZ, the fox lake police officer who was killed in the line of duty on tuesday morning.  i first met joe when we both served as public information officers for our respective departments back in the 90's. prompt & professional, he always brought something positive when we had area meetings and was always the first to volunteer assistance in times of need. i didn't know his family but i can tell them that the greatest compliment an officer can get is when another officer says, "that guy can be my partner anytime"  and i heard that more than once about him.  rest in peace, joe.

bye for now