Hoping for Storms Tomorrow?

We've heard that some people in Districts still haven't heard any plans about what's going on tomorrow. Everything seems very "seat of the pants" organizationally. As we aren't in the loop for such things, we end up listening to many different people with all sorts of disjointed info. As it is, we haven't heard anything concrete and our rumor mill is working overtime. No solid info, so we'll leave this post open for stories.

We did hear someone say that downtown was hoping for rain to keep the crowd size down and their prayers appear to be answered - although with Chicago weather, what they predict isn't what you get. Combined with the fact that rain keeps away the families and elderly that were expected to march, all you have left are the hard core types. We'll be keeping our ears to the radio all day.

Very Good Shoot

In our humble opinion, a Good Shoot is one where the bad guy gets shot. A Very Good Shoot is when the bad guy expires. A Very Good Shoot last night around 100th and Lowe.

Sun Times coverage.

Recommendations

Linking for fun - and because other people who write as well (or better) than we do deserve the visitors and eyeballs that we can steer their way.

• If you'd like to read some well thought out writing about current events, hop over to Rue-St-Michel's Bienvenue. His latest effort on the "translation" of the National Anthem is very good.
• A recent addition to our sidebar - The Other Side of Kim. Formerly from South Africa (where he served in the South African military) and former Chicago resident, Kim now lives in Texas with his wife and family. You want to read some good stuff? Check out his essay section in the left column of his blog - his rants about Mayor Daley are truly great writing.
• Another Texas blogger we will be adding to the right hand tool bar shortly - Espella Humanzee. Great writer and a stickler for pointing out liberal media hypocrisy.

Give them a try. You might like what you find.

2,000 Guns (UPDATE! 3,000!)

Posting late Saturday for Sunday.

Channel 2 is reporting 2,000 guns of all shapes, styles and states of functionality (is that a word?) were turned in today at locations all over the city. A lot of the pictures we saw on the news were pretty old and decrepit looking pieces (duct taped, rusted, worn), but if they could still fire, dangerous in the wrong hands. We doubt that any gangbangers saw the light though and turned in a boatload of their stuff - we didn't hear that the high powered rifle used in a recent west side drive by hit was recovered. Some of this crap people were bringing in though - they're lucky the guns didn't explode when they unloaded them.

More coverage at Channel 7.

UPDATE: Sunday morning 0645 hours: Tribune and SunTimes are now reporting 3,000 guns turned in.

Run John Run!

Of course, the Boston Globe is insisting that John Kerry not run for President in 2008. They don't think a bruising rimary fight would be in the best interests of thier party. It would play right into Republican hands - which is why Karl Rove must be planning it.

Kerry has even LESS of a record to run on now than he did in 2004, and in 2004, everything was pointing his way. He is actually on record this past week supporting CIA leaks. During a war. Against people who use planes as bombs, civilians as cover and religion as an excuse to murder anyone who doesn't agree with them.

Run John Run. Save the Republican Party!

A Raise?

For what is essentially a part time job that already pays over $98,000 a year. While the City bleeds red ink, sells anything not nailed down, fires 1,000 teachers, is short around 1,000 coppers, gives away countless millions in fixed contracts and phony land deals, can't collect parking ticket revenue from it's own Department of Revenue bosses, etc. etc. etc.

This list goes on. We think it's time to give serious thought to eliminating 10 aldermanic positions - minimum. What do we need for that? State Law or just an Ordinance?

Oil and Gas

Yes, gas prices are higher - or they are finally adjusting to reality?

• The reality that China and India are becoming economic powerhouses in their own right (read this Supply and Demand piece from RCP);
• the reality that 30+ years of liberal thought have gutted this country's refining capacity to the point that we are now IMPORTING gasoline from overseas (we haven't built a refinery in THIRTY YEARS!);
• "green" rules that require the creation of 30 or 40 different "summer blends" of gasoline that further erodes the ability of refineries to keep up with demand
  
• the reality of environmental overreaction keeps us from even exploring the possibility of building new nuclear reactors or drilling for new sources of oil in Alaska;

Can someone from the Left please tell us when and where all the oil BushCheneyHaliburton stole from Iraq in the "War for Oil" will finally make it here? Or are we finally admitting that it was nothing more than an election year lie?

That Damn Economy

Growing at an estimated 4.8% last quarter. And historically, that number is revised upwards after all of the indicators are determined. Think that the Liberal media will stop with the "jobless recovery" crap and stop spouting on and on about how poorly everything is doing?

Recent polls show that a majority of Americans think that the overall economy is doing poorly EVEN THOUGH the same majority says that they are doing well personally. How screwed up is that? The media pounds it into everyone head that the economy sucks, but most Americans feel pretty comfortable where they're at (and consumer confidence is at its highest in years).

An Open Post

Bringing back a feature we haven't used in a while. We used to use an Open Thread when we didn't have anything else to type about. We don't have an explanation about why we got out of the habit - maybe it just seems like a lazy way to blog. But a lot of people have been asking for an Open Thread every so often just so they can vent. We'll try to get back into the habit so that people who have information unrelated to the subject at hand have some place to post it. Regular rules apply.

Naked Man Shot By Police

Too bad, so sad (Channel 5; Sun Times). If you wrestle with the police, you ought to be shot as a matter of course. It sends a message to the rest of the jackasses out there that fighting with the police is wrong and carries with it extreme penalties. Here's what too many politicians, state's attorneys and (for lack of a better word) civilians forget about police calls for service:

On the scene of EVERY single call for police service is a firearm. And most times, probably 99% of the time, it is brought to the scene by the police officer. Should that officer lose control of that weapon, there is a MAJOR problem. Sure, in a perfect world, all officers maintain control of their weapon at all times, every officer is a big strapping John Wayne type, never intimidated, never backing down, always with the quick quip and quicker martial arts skills to successfully subdue and restrain violent subjects of all stripes in true Hollywood fashion.

Reality is a bit more unforgiving. Coppers aren't all supermen/women. Some are out of shape. Some are less than attentive or situationally aware. Some aren't that physically imposing. Some are (let's be brutally honest here) NOT cut out to be police. If you are confronted by a naked man, you might be a little disconcerted. If that man is attempting to drown himself and a child, you might be driven to act before backup arrives. And if a fight ensues and the naked man is slippery (no clothes equals a lot less places to grab) and getting the upper hand on you and your weapon, damn right he's going to get blasted.

Burge Investigation Nearly Ready

And not a moment too soon, what with City Hall reeling under so many Federal investigations and guilty pleas and scandals and sealed indictments and ... well, you get the picture. From the Channel 7 website:

• Special prosecutors Robert Egan and Robert Boyle say they are ready to release a final report. And they say they want to make public the names of all police officers subpoenaed in their investigation. The prosecutors' request to file a report with the Cook County Circuit Court next week suggests they will not seek criminal indictments in the case, which involves allegations dating from the 1970s to the early 1990s.

Name all those subpoenaed AND not seek criminal indictments? Get ready for a load of histrionics from the gallery. Just a thought, but how would Haithcock and Rush and "the Hat" Tillman react if Tom Allen proposed naming a street after Jon Burge? After all, Jon never killed anyone, he was trying to clean up the community, and he did have the best interests of the citizens at heart, didn't he?

Monday's Preparations

Evidently, there is some sort of "march" or parade planned for Monday? Well, we're sure all will be orderly and no lawbreakers of any sort will be found amongst the expected hundreds of thousands of participants. We mean, NO ONE in their right mind would hold a rally espousing some sort of blanket amnesty for people who break the law, would they? People who break the law ought to be punished - or so we were always taught in school.

Channel 7; Tribune; Channel 5.

Lieutenants List

Glenn EVANS - 005; John ANDERSON - 009
Gerald GANEY - 012; Patrick CONROY - 016
Carl RIGGENBACH - 022; Sarah McDERMOTT - 023
William KILROY Jr. - 059; John CONNELLY Jr. - 079
Kevin NAVARRO - 116; Kevin OAKES - 142
Karyn MURPHY - 170; Robert KONRATH - 177
Eric WASHINGTON - 189; James O'GRADY - 189
Leo PANEPINTO - 192; Anthony LIACE - 543
Michael DEJANOVICH - 545; John BALL - 610
John McMURRAY - 630; Thomas McGRATH - 630
Jeanette FLYNN - 640; Berscott RUIZ - 650

1,000 Posts

In a bit under 11 months, we have posted 1,000 threads for people to rant, rave, comment, commiserate, share info and fire broadsides at everything under the sun.

We'll pass 285,000 daily visits today and well over 1.3 MILLION page views. We've managed to attract a lot of notice from various elements within and outside of the Department. We've helped rally the troops to defeat a misbegotten proposal to name a street after a convicted felon, ripped the brass who stayed silent and hopefully kept alive the memories of a few coppers all but lost to history.

We're trying to be at the forefront of another charge for National Recognition for Al O'Connor; we're hoping for some nice coverage of Police Week in May; hopefully, we're around for another 1,000 posts, many of which will involve indictments of Cook County and City officials.

Thanks to everyone who visits, reads and posts. You are what makes us successful. You are what keeps us interested. You are the reason we're coming back for more. Keep spreading the word. On with the show.

Priorities and Cameras

Seems our old buddy Fran Spielman is taking a page out of the "Sarcasm and Silliness" handbook. Check out this article:

• Forget about skyrocketing gas prices, soaring property tax assessments and corruption that has federal investigators crawling all over City Hall. Chicago aldermen have a more pressing concern: foie gras.

Way to go Fran! It's easy to make fun of the big shots if you try.

And the City is getting 70 new cameras to monitor high crime areas. The cameras will replace about 350 police officers (OK, we made that part up). But Aldercreature Shirley Coleman is starting to see the limitations that most cops saw a long time coming:

• But Coleman was concerned to hear Daley say that only some of the cameras are monitored around the clock. "I don't want to see any dog-and-pony-show cameras in my ward," Coleman said.

Shirley? EVERYTHING with this political administration is a dog-and-pony show. There is no way that the mayor can hire enough people to watch every single camera every single minute of the day. What do you think this is - a casino?

Officer Wounded

73rd and Halsted. Preliminary reports say shot in the hand. Offender went barricade and SWAT was responding. Haven't heard anything since - post updates here.

Preliminary reports from the Tribune.

Yes, It's Dead

Until such time as some knuckleheaded aldercreature somehow sneaks it through attached to some other piece of legislation or some such nonsense. Maintain vigilance in the meantime.

Full coverage at all the media outlets: Channel 2; Channel 5; Channel 7; Sun Times; Tribune. Get a load of Dorothy "the Hat" Tillman's quote in the Tribune (as far as we can tell, the only outlet with the balls to print this quote):

• White figures "who robbed and ... raped black women have streets named after them," asserted an angry Ald. Dorothy Tillman (3rd), who gave no examples.

For attribution and publication in any media outlet that wants to quote us: Name them. Name them now and we'll be the first to raise hue and cry against any sign that honors a rapist. Otherwise Dorothy, you are a bigoted, worthless piece of garbage (but we repeat ourselves) and a poor representative for your constituents throwing around racial brickbats for the sole purpose of inflaming feelings with no basis in fact or reality. If you are that pissed about the Beale making a run at your "Stupidest Aldercreature" title, you've sure put him in his place.

Quick Hits

When you need a Quick post - Quick Hits covers the bill:

• Chicago Firefighter hits it big on NBC's "Deal or No Deal." $464,000 big. Not bad. And yes, he's going to Disney World - with his wife and three kids.
• Marine who survived two tours in Iraq falls victim to gangbangers here in Chicago. Channel 2; Channel 5; Channel 7.
  
• Short little piece on the Channel 7 website about what has been addressed in our comments section about the 3 lieutenants winning a lawsuit over retaliation for having the audacity to complain about business as usual.
• Gee, do you think this may have been an execution of sorts for dope money? They knew exactly who they were looking for and left him there dead, all while claiming to be the police. At least the media isn't claiming "suspected rogue police." They must realize that sort of thing went out of style after St. Valentines Day 1929.
• Two sets of rules - again. This time for boot eligible bosses in the Revenue Department.
• The Al O'Connor story hits the media. Be sure you go and vote for Al at this link here. Go! Now!
  

Bwahahahaha

This had to be one of the easiest search warrants in history. Hop over to Johnny Law Chronicles and read his latest post. Text messaging leads to bust. Too humorous.

Regnef / Fenger Blog Fallout

The teacher still hasn't returned, the blog is still gone and now the re-creation has disappeared, too. Hopefully, someone saved the postings (hee hee) as they were just too thought provoking to lose forever. Channel 7 has picked up coverage and has these priceless quotes:

• Those at Fenger High School are hurt and shocked by a blog that goes after teachers, parents and students, and shocked that someone apparently from within would make his criticism so public.

Well, we all know exactly how responsive the school system (and the City in general) is to private criticism. Change happens immediately when issued behind closed doors away from the public, doesn't it?

• People thought they were accused of saying there's a lot of people who, you know, will admit that some of the things in the blog are true, just wish they had gone about it a different way. But, in general, it has everybody talking and that is nothing but a good thing," said Matt Geesaman, Fenger High School teacher.

Wow. Is that statement English? Could you follow it? We speak both English and bad English and WE had trouble following that one - though one could blame the media for making a hash of it.

Blunt talk about "the elephant in the living room" shines a spotlight on problems that too many people and politicians just want to kick down the road. We're still waiting for a real journalist to do a little expose on the schools throwing away brand new unopened textbooks, hundreds of computers sitting unused in storage and tons (literally) of material going to waste every single year. We might actually get behind an effort like that. Here's to hoping a few more enterprising souls in the CPS start some blogs, this time about government waste.

Hampton Street Sign Dead?

Or just dead for the moment? Haithcock admits she doesn't have the votes to bring it to the floor and Ike Carothers (Chairman of the Police and Fire Committee) has indicated he will not vote to overrule the Transportation Committee lest it set a bad precedent. Bobby Rush even showing up for the meeting is in doubt due to last months debacle when he was chased from City Hall by construction protestors. Tribune article here (free registration may be required).

We are also told that Chicago Tonight (WTTW) had a pretty biased one-sided piece on the street sign controversy Monday - did anyone see it?

Have we killed it? Have we done it without a single exempt boss raising their voice in protest? Of so, good for us. But the next time ANY EXEMPT speaks at a funeral or memorial or remembrance of our fallen, we plan to turn our back on them, the same as they've done to us and the dead. Because you know and we know they are completely full of shit.

Sell Richie! Sell Sell Sell

Not satisfied with just selling the Skyway for $1.83 Billion, the City is about to open bidding on renaming the toll bridge to Indiana to the tune of $3 million a year. Here's the kicker to the story though:

• Beyond the possible benefit for taxpayers, it's money the city is already counting on for this year. "In 2006, the city will seek to procure a sponsor that will pay for the naming rights to the Chicago Skyway," reads this year's annual budget overview. "This initiative is expected to raise $3 million in 2006." [emphasis added - SCC]

That's right - the City has already counted the money in it's budget. Talk about your arrogance of immense proportions. They've drawn up a budget with this money already listed in it and spent it on their programs and the bridge hasn't even been put up to auction yet. What if the auction fails? What if they only get $1 million? Guess who makes up the difference? The taxpayers. For a City that's been bleeding red ink, jobs, population and is in the midst of the biggest federal investigation in recorded history, that is some arrogance.

Just for the record, we are planning the family budget this year and we've created a line item whereby we win $200 million dollars in the Mega-Millions by November. We will be buying a yacht, 2 mansions, 100,000 acres out west and a villa in Europe. We're sure all of our readers would love to pitch in should we fall a bit short. Thanks!

Heroin Deaths Climbing

Maybe it's not (as we supposed) a concerted effort to kill junkies. Maybe it's just a new mix coming out on the street and this is like a shakeout cruise? Bad measures? Poor formulas? We know they cut the junk with just about everything under the sun and there are hints that someone somewhere is manufacturing fentanyl in some sort of clan lab. But we are on a hard to maintain pace of killing junkies on the South and West sides (and the occasional suburban user found afterwards).

Channel 5 and Tribune reports.

Help Us Out Here

Posting early so we can get to bed - these are Tuesday posts, posted late Monday

We're reading this story on the Sun-Times website and these sentences just leap off the page at us:

• A suspect is in custody after two men were shot, one in the leg and the other in the stomach, on Monday afternoon on the Near North Side, according to police. The shooting was reported at about 1:20 p.m. in the 2700 block of West Monroe Street.

Since when has Rockwell and Monroe been the "Near North Side"? Correct us if we're wrong, but Monroe is 100 South, isn't it? And Rockwell is "Near West" if it's near anything. And if the shooting is in 011, it's west side, pure and simple.

Does anyone have it written down what the dividing lines are between North, South, West, Near North, Northwest, Far Northwest, Near West, Far South and Bumblefuck are? We're just curious.

And to keep it simple, assume Hegewich is in Indiana, Edison & Norwood Park are suburbs and Bridgeport & Canaryville are on Mars.

The Sopranos: Late Update

OK, the season's first quality whacking. Not bad.

But Ben Kingsley and Lauren Bacall? What is this, The Muppet Show? What's with the cameos? Granted, it sets up an interesting possibility of Hollywood being infiltrated by Organized Crime ... oh wait, that's already reality. Lauren Bacall getting popped was funny. But Artie falling apart and finding redemption in a dead rabbit?

Look like next week might be a bad one for Vito.

CIA Leak Links

If you would like a thorough going over of the entire CIA mole episode that is undermining the War on Terror, undercutting an elected government and endangering the lives of millions of Americans, go here to Ace of Spades and read his lengthy article.

Click on the links embedded within.

Go and find out things the media doesn't want you to know because it might stop further leaks from coming out of Langley.

The media and the left are not only dangerous hindrances to the Global War on Terror, they are actively working against America and the West. Just about the only democrat with any redeeming qualities whatsoever is Joe Lieberman. Especially read where John Kerry flip flops all over. It's stunning this guy even made it through the primaries.

Good Police News

Someone wanted some good news about the police posted here. Well, we got some today. How about this?

• On today's date, the 22^nd of April 2006, the first football team in the history of the Chicago Police Department took the field in the resort town of Wildwood, New Jersey. The Chicago Police Enforcers faced the New York Department of Corrections known as The Strongest. The team led by Head Coach Jim Ade (Brother Rice) left the field victorious with a 28-6 victory.

The Enforcers website can be found here. Their next two games are local affairs at St. Rita's High School in May. Surf over to their site and offer some support for our guys.

The Sopranos Update

Has been delayed due to unforeseen circumstances - we missed both showings tonight. Sorry. We'll update tomorrow. It happens - even to us.

John Hurley Fundraiser

A big fundraiser is on the horizon for one of our own, PO John Hurley. 29 April 2006 at IBEW (Electricians) Local 134 Hall; 600 W. Washington; 1600-midnight

This website has details. John died prior to the birth of his first child and his wife has been receiving tremendous support from John's old colleagues with unfinished construction, unpaid bills and straightening out the city bureaucracy. Lots of raffle prizes and good times. Swing by and lend a hand.

Big Oops

A very LARGE oops.

• Members of a South Side family said they were stunned, baffled and horrified when Chicago police raided their house and then ransacked it. Police said they were searching for guns and drugs. The problem is [...] they had the wrong house.

The Search Warrant reads 5621 S. Normal. The house that was raided is 5619. On one side is 5623 and on the other side 5617.

5621 doesn't exist.

As we understand Search Warrants (having done a few here and there AND having taken Chief Cline's class years ago - at least we think we might have), one of the first rules is verifying the address. Also, pictures of the house to be hit should be obtained. That way, everyone is on the same page. We have no idea how the SWAT Team is supposed to operate in conjunction with a District Warrant, but it seems there is a boatload of blame to be passed around on this one. The Affiant first of all. The Surveillance team second. The District Supervisor on scene and the SWAT Team leader. Get ready for some blowback AND some more training videos.

Another Non Story?

Remember Dana Priest? She was the reporter who won a Pulitzer Prize just last Monday for her reporting on the secret CIA prisons scattered across Europe that sent the Continent along with our own Leftists reeling in a frenzy of outrage, foaming mouths and all out Bush Derangement Syndrome.

Then came word that a CIA Officer had been fired for leaking information, specifically information directly related to the European prisons after the officer failed a polygraph test and provided an admission of guilt. Now comes word via the New York Times that European officials cannot find ANY EVIDENCE that these CIA prisons ever existed in Europe. Nada. Zip. Zero. Hahahaha!

Guess what just happened? Countermeasures! A sting operation! The prisons NEVER existed except as a ruse to tempt this CIA officer (who was a Clinton appointee and contributed the personal maximum to John Kerry) into giving out a non-story! It looks like the Washington Post ran with FAKE classified info AND the Pulitzer Committee gave a "prestigious award" to a story that has as much substance as to it as a cloud of vapor.

Hark! Hear that giant sucking noise? That's media credibility folks. All those layers of fact checking and responsible reporting? Hahahaha! (Thanks to CaptainsQuarters and Strata-Sphere.com for the coverage)

We're Doing a Great Job!

Just don't turn on the TV or radio this weekend. From Channel 7:

• At least 18 people were shot -- three fatally -- on the streets of Chicago overnight and early Saturday morning. The violence occurred less than 24 hours after the Chicago Police Department announced a drop in murders and other crimes.
  

Talk about a bad sense of timing, eh? Of course, the south side reverends have a solution close at hand:

• Religious leaders on the South Side are attempting to meet with gang leaders and figure out how to stop the violence. They are calling for a city wide gang summit, which is scheduled for next Sunday in Englewood.

We will offer a reward of ONE MILLIIIIIION DOLLARS for anyone who can figure out how to get a GBU-15, AGM-86C or similar device onto that city block on 30 April. As we are currently cash poor, the reward will be payable in monthly installments over the next 8,000 years.

Call us crazy, but we're thinking it's going to be a busy summer.

Blogging Claims a "Victim"

No, not us. Not yet anyway.

In the Tribune today, there is a story about a blog, created by a Chicago Public School teacher where he (or she) created an identity of "Regnef" (Fenger spelled backwards) and took the students, administrators, and co-workers to task. Unfortunately, he (or she) didn't have quite the number of readers that would make him (or her) happy, so he (or she) started mentioning it around the staff room that there was a blog online that they might find interesting. Boy oh boy, was that an understatement. The author was quickly identified (probably by co-workers) and the death threats, promises of revenge, etc., began in earnest. The teacher has not shown up for work since that day and the blog disappeared, until some enterprising soul recovered the posts and put them up over here. No, not us.

It's actually an amusing little insight into how screwed up the Chicago Public Schools truly are. If the media ever did an in-depth expose into how much money and manpower the schools piss away, they'd win half a dozen Pulitzer Prizes. But since it's just a teacher telling uncomfortable truths in a rambling sort of way (with little actual regard for spelling and punctuation), it means nothing. One should be careful of what one wishes for in terms of readership - you just might get it.

More Aldermanic Stupidity

FoxNews Friday night:

• A Chicago alderman wants police superintendent Phil Cline to step down following the shooting of another young girl on the South Side ‚— the third in less than two months. Two other girls died. The latest victim is in the hospital. The 11-year-old girl was shot in the stomach in front of a home in Roseland in the 114th block of South Prairie. Ninth ward alderman Anthony Beale says superintendent Cline has shown "ineffective leadership" following a rash of recent drive by shootings ... and he should resign.

Now, we've taken the brass of this Department to task on a number of issues, the largest of which STILL hasn't been addressed (Hampton Avenue). Aldercreaturee Beale must be trying for the title of "Stupidest Aldercreature of the Year." We didn't realize the title was up for grabs again (they were so close to renaming it "the Dorothy" for 12 time award winner Tillman) but someone must arise to challenge "the Hat." A few points:

• We can't confirm it 100%, but Cline doesn't appear to have been anywhere near 114th and Prairie. How Beale holds Cline responsible is beyond us.
• Despite Cline's past few New Year's Eves, we haven't seen the boss out there doing traffic stops and pulling guns out of cars.
• We stated this before, but any aldercreature who thinks the Superintendent actually wields any REAL power is probably smoking crack.
• Lack of Leadership? LACK of leadership? Ok alder-asshat. Why aren't you out there screaming for Daley's head? You want to see the primary emasculator of the entire leadership of the Chicago Police Department (not to mention every city department)? We don't have very many leaders anymore - we have managers - and BAD MIDDLE managers at that. You are a part of the most BALL-LESS City Council in recorded history. Why aren't you out there berating your constituency for resorting to firearms in populated neighborhoods to establish narcotics territory? Oh yeah! You have to get them to VOTE for you, so you find a convenient target and unload. How political of you.

You win Beale. YOU are the "Stupidest Aldercreature of the Year!" Congratulations!

Bad News for Some Cops

From the Sun Times:

• Chicago and two police officers -- the first to be called and the last to arrive at the home of murdered domestic violence victim Ronyale White -- can be held liable for her death, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

That's right - the COPS are going to be held liable. That means THEIR assets can be attached to satisfy a portion of any court judgment against them. Granted, it's still possible that they may win the case in court and not be on the hook for anything (their side of the story is that they were held up at the station for a vehicle inspection and after they heard the offender fled, they commenced a search for him before arriving on the scene).

The key words in this decision are "wanton or willful misconduct" can be proven. At the moment, we don't see "wanton or willful" in commencing a search outside the bounds of the original incident - we can relate a ton of stories about coppers flying to a scene and completely missing a suspect walking calmly away. An efficient search on the way TO an incident has caught many batterers, rapists and murderers. Hopefully, the coppers' story holds up to the point that they won't be losing houses.

Four words to live by if you intend on doing police work in Chicago - "Tenancy in the Entirety." At least it'll save your biggest asset.

Congrats to Al O'Connor

Al O'Connor is the 8th and last finalist in the "America's Most Wanted 2006 All Star" voting. We are sure all of the Finalists are decent human beings and all should be congratulated.

BUT - we'd like to see Al win it all. So, read carefully. We have one of the top three departments (manpower-wise) in the US. Everyone ought to go and vote for Al. Go to this link to vote in the Finals. We fully expect whoever forwarded that mysterious e-mail from the Department e-mail system to "borrow" our idea once again. The deadline for voting is May 8th, so vote. Soon. And have your spouse vote, too. Get the word out!

We also read in the comments section that Al O'Connor's mother was a Gilhooly and Al himself is the nephew of THE Gilhooly killed by the Black Panthers AND Al is up for the Lambert Tree Award next month for this same incident. If any of this is true, wouldn't it be FANTASTIC if Al is winning awards while exempts are cowering in the face of a portion of Monroe being named after someone who advocated the killing of Al's uncle? What a kick in the shorts to the brass and redemption of a sort for the Gilhooly family.

Only in Chicago

Once again, dumping good money after bad:

• More homes in Chicago soon could recycle with bins instead of blue bags, as Mayor Richard Daley's administration considers expanding a successful pilot program beyond the Beverly neighborhood.
  
  Daley has bristled at criticism of the troubled blue bag program. But the alternative approach now used in the 19th Ward could be offered in other sections of the city this year

A program (Blue Bags) that has been a failure of monumental proportions is on the verge of being replaced with an additional boondoggle that even the mayor admits is going to cost maybe TRIPLE. And to cover part of the cost, the mayor is proposing to sell the three major sorting centers (the subject of a media expose in that they didn't actually SORT something like 85% of the garbage).

What will the mayor sell next? And after he's finished selling everything he can to solve his short term problems, guess what happens to taxes? You think it's unaffordable to live here now?

The Official List

In case you missed it in the Comments Sections:

Minter-Edwards, Johnnie 002; Ruiz, Roxane 002
Marrella, Russell 002; Lambert, Issac 004
Ivory, Jerry 006; O'Connell, Moreen 007
Xanos, Nicholas 008; Johnson, Patrick 009
Mendoza, Joaquin 009; Servin, Dante 010
Pullappally, Jason 011; Kelly, Michael 011
Perez-Kubelka, Kimberly 012; Oswald, Eric 014
Nemickas, Vidas 014; Iser, Carrie 014
Moriarty, Kathleen 014; Moreth, Michael 015
Jacobs, Eli 015; Hunter, Jefrey 016
Ryan, Sean 018; Filbin, Michael 018
Rickher, Matthew 018; Lonski, Mark 018
Casey, Brian 019; Roth, Michael 019
Graves, Robert 019; Tedeschi, Brian 020
Cerveny, George 021; Barsch, Henry 021
Meister, William 022; Earnshaw, James 022
Czablewski, Stephen 024; Carr, Thomas 024
Leavitt, Marc 024; Ruck, Susan 025
Pritt, Daniel 025; Beltran, Eduardo 059
Szymanski, Douglas 121; Franco, Linden 189
Smith, Amanda 192; Garza, Robert 193
Medina, Debi 193; Chopp, Erik 253
Drees, Brian 253; Benigno, Matthew 253
Wood, Michele 253; Schaedel, Daniel 377
Krettek, Joel 477; Grzyb, Diane 606

What We Found in our E-Mail

From a reader who was kind enough to forward us his DEPARTMENT e-mail -

• Chicago Police Officer Al O'’Connor has been nominated for the Americas Most Wanted- All Star Award.He is asking for your assistance by voting for him in this event by visiting and voting for him at this site.Please do not respond to this email. Sent per the authority of the Bureau of Patrol.

It's addressed to EVERYONE and it even has the link in it that WE posted back on 14 April. We're trying to decide which is the most shocking:

1. The fact that someone high up in the Bureau of Patrol might be reading the blog and is stealing our material.
2. The fact that this appears to be a little bit of misuse of Department authorized e-mail.
3. The fact that someone is willing to e-mail this to every single member and boss with a Department e-mail or Blackberry, AND WE STILL CAN'T GET A SINGLE BOSS to say that awarding a street sign to a convicted felon who advocated killing police officers is WRONG (by boss we mean exempt and we mean publically for the media).
   

Ouch!

Bad collision - and a very big waste of the "other white meat."

• UNION, Ill. Two semi-trucks collided early Wednesday morning on Route 20, killing one driver, spilling tons of raw pork on the road and keeping a one-mile stretch of the highway closed for more than 12 hours.
  
  About 4:50 a.m., an eastbound truck filled with 42,000 pounds of unprocessed pork collided with a westbound truck filled with garbage near Beck Road, McHenry County Sheriff Capt. Glenn Olson said.
  
  No garbage was spilled, but Olson estimated about 14,000 pounds of pork was scattered as far as 150 yards from the scene.
  

Keep the comments clean please.

Republicans Racist? Not!

John Hawkins is one of the first - probably THE first blogger we ever read. We still use his blog as a primary access point for most of our political reading and linking. One of his posts on "How to Blog" was what made us give it a try. From the pages of RightWingNews.com:

• Let's see just how racist conservatives are...

  1. Emancipation Proclamation issued by...a Republican President.

  2. Slavery abolished under...a Republican President and a Republican Congress.

  3. Japanese interned under a Repub...no, wait...sorry, that was a Democrat.

  4. (Percentage wise), more Republicans voted for the Civil Rights Act than Democrats. They must've had some ulterior racist motive of which only they were aware.

  5. Affirmative Action implemented under a Republican President (Nixon).

  6. First black Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as well as first black Secretary of State, under a Republican President.

  7. First black woman named as Secretary of State...under a Republican President.

  8. Still, lots and lots of KKK members in Congress are part of the Republican Party. No...my mistake again - Byrd is the only one I found (and he's a Democrat).

  9. Republicans oppose the school choice and vouchers that the...majority of blacks support. Oops, my mistake again - Republicans support them while Democrats oppose them.

  10. Well, at least the majority of blacks are pro-choice, right? Nope, most are...pro-life.

  11. Well, at least most support gay marriage. Sorry, my mistake again. Once more, Republicans are more in line with majority black views than Democrats.

  12. Republicans throw Oreo cookies at...black people running for Congress. Darn, that's the Dems, too.

  13. Republicans enacted the Jim Crow laws. Nope, wrong again.

  14. Republicans are racist because the Democrats say we are. That's about as close as I can get.

More "Bad" Heroin

It's popping up everywhere!

• Chicago Police have issued a community alert to warn residents of the Wentworth and Englewood districts of potential dangerous narcotics being circulated in the community, according to a release from the Wentworth Area Detective Division. There have been several incidents involving people getting sick from a highly dangerous narcotic being distributed as heroin, police said. The Wentworth District incidents have occurred from King Drive to Cottage Grove between 37th and 39th, while the Englewood District incidents have occurred between Ashland and Wood, from 67th to 68th, the release said.

And rumors are that another 5 junkies were found unconscious in the 010th District Wednesday near 22nd and Pulaski where 7 other junkies ingested "bad" heroin a few days ago.

Call us suspicious, but this looks a lot like a concerted effort to kill drug addicts. Seriously. Or maybe a power play by some gang to label another gang's dope as tainted? Can anyone find a link? GD's? Souls? MC's? A new player? MS-13? Is anyone connecting any dots?

No One Wants to be a Fireman?

Sun Times:

• Chicago's first firefighters entrance exam in more than a decade has attracted 24,894 applicants -- down 26.7 percent from a disputed 1995 exam despite an unprecedented outreach campaign that targeted minorities.

What the article isn't telling you is that 12.5% of the applicants are Chicago Police Officers. Almost 3,000 cops have applied to take a job that's less stressful, more time off, better chances at promotion, etc. AND the dicks list is out today. AND they promoted Lieutenants. AND the Feds just released indictments on the mayor, his brother, Stroger and reverend Meeks.

Also, here's the newspaper follow up to the Gun Turn In program.

Quick Hits and Ryan Fallout

From various news channels:

• Channel 2: Federal prosecutors are pushing ahead with investigations of political patronage and payoffs at City Hall and in state government. Hey Lefty? Shady? You wanted Fitz-mas? Here's your Fitzmas! Ryan going down and Daley's machine on the ropes. Watch the County people next (John Daley anyone?)
• Channel 5: Less than a day after former Gov. George Ryan was found guilty of several corruption charges, questions have arisen over whether the jury forewoman withheld information on her questionnaire. Grounds for an appeal? Maybe, but we think not. If it was a State trial, maybe. Federal judges are smarter and less connected to local issues. Judge Pallmeyer seems to have done a good job here.
• Channel 7: The Chicago Police Department is teaming up with church and business leaders to get guns off the street in a program that offers cash for weapons -- with no questions asked. Whoopee! The churches will get a bunch of outdated, rusty, non functional guns that probably would explode if fired and the people will get $100 debit cards they can sell for 50 bucks to purchase a nice shiny new gun.
• Channel 7 again: Officers from the 10th District are pitching in to help some young ladies become Cinderella for a night. They have collected about 40 prom dresses to give away to girls who might not be able to afford the dress of their dreams. WBBM called this their "feel good story" of the day.
  

Bravado?

The Sun Times:

• Mayor Daley said today he has nothing to fear from the across-the-board conviction of his political cohort, George Ryan.

Oh, we don't know about that. John Daley and Richie have both been questioned by the Feds. John is the primary seller of building insurance to many downtown properties, politically connected businesses and others wishing to work with the City. It seems implausible that the Feds don't have something nailed down on the Cook County Board and John seems to be the likely candidate along with Stroger.

$6.74 Million Judgment

And the hits just keep on coming. From the Sun Times:

• After a monthlong trial that ended Feb. 17, a jury concluded that six Chicago Police officers acted with malice and found no probable cause for the charges of kidnapping and murder against the three men.

Big oops. The article doesn't say if the coppers are going to be on the hook for any of this - we'd imagine the City would refuse to indemnify the officers if they were "act[ing] with malice." Any word?

Killing More Trees

Now we're issuing Community Alerts warning of bad heroin:

• Chicago police on Monday issued a community alert to warn residents, especially those in the West Side Ogden District, against accepting and using free drugs they believe to be heroin.

This is wrong on so many levels. Most wrong of all is the name "Ogden District." Anyone who calls Marquette the "Ogden" District ought to be strangled with their own radio cord. 010 is and always will be Marquette, just as 011 is and always will be Fillmore (or "Fillmo" for you purists). What do they call 018 now? 015 got to keep their name.

Second of all, you get what you pay for in quality control issues with heroin.

And finally, we'd rather see them using the extra manpower to put up an extra wagon on the west side to pick up dead bodies than use them to pass out flyers and issue Community Alerts. Here's a news flash for the Department - ALL HEROIN IS BAD, no matter what corner it is sold or given away on.

SCC's Predictions for 2006 - Update

Someone was questioning the wisdom of SCC in predicting the future. Just a quick overview of our predictions we made on January 1st:

• Local Politics - more indictments - True!
• State Politics - Ryan convicted - True!
• National/International Politics - predictions of split decisions in Congress - open; poll numbers - looking wrong; terror apprehensions - open; Iran & China - looking true; Iraq calming - looking true; Syria - open; prep work for a new war - looking true; Europe burning - looking true
• Sports - Bears fall short - True!; Bulls make playoffs - True!; Blackhawks sink - True!; Cubs tread water - open; and Sox repeat - open
• Department - Starks gone and Grau or Maher taking over - open; Lieutenant test - to be announced; Noelle Brennan - mysteriously silent
• General - economy rolling - True!; GM losing money, jobs, DJI spot - 2 of 3 True!; Tookie still dead - True!; Hoffa still missing - True!; SCC Blog passes 1 million views - True!

So we're averaging, what? Sixty percent accurate with only 1 completely wrong predictions so far? Not bad. Not bad at all.

Guilty Guilty GUILTY!

Hahahahahahahaha.

Another prediction of SCC's comes true! We are truly greater than Jean Dixon!

We'll be posting links and commentary in a bit, so stay tuned or tune in later.

UPDATE: Well, evidently, we have a bunch of new people reading the blog. We've been called a number of names and they are asking if we're ashamed to be Republican and predicting that the Dems will take over the House in November. Listen up Asshats:

• We PREDICTED Ryan would be convicted. We cheered it. Ryan was no more a Republican than Daley is a Democrat - they are both CORRUPT scumbags who steered A LOT of business into the hands of connected poeple. You think Richie isn't sweating bullets right now?
• We are HAPPY Ryan got convicted. The Republican party has ceased to exist in Illinois as a viable entity. This may enable the party to move beyond business as usual now that it's over, but we aren't too hopeful. Maybe after a few more convictions come down or Meeks runs for office.
• Dems take over the House? Doubt it. All politics is LOCAL. Local issues drive House races. The Dems need 15 seats to take over the House and they aren't going to get more than 6 or 7. They have a better chance at the Senate and even that looks like only 3 seats are seriously in play. You're forgetting to look at the entire poll - Congress has lower approval ratings than Bush.

In the meantime - ALL of the Local News links in our right hand column are overflowing with Ryan coverage. We hope he is sentenced to a nice long stretch in the Federal pen. It is a happy day for Illinois.

Tax Day!

Do you know where your tax preparer is? Ours seems to be in the Bahamas about now spending our refund money. Does anyone know if the US has an extradition treaty with this Caribbean island? We'd like to get some of our money back.

We ARE Psychic!

Way back on January first, we predicted the Bulls would make the playoff. Once again, we are on the money. We've made probably half a dozen or more correct predictions in that first post of the year. We're probably going to bat over 60% correct. We really ought to try to predict the stock market and make some money.

Happy Easter!

Be sure you check out all of our weekend postings. We were awfully productive, posting at least 10 threads or so ranging on all sorts of topics - off duty shootings, evaluations, gun safety, Darwin Awards, etc. In the meantime, we present this short little Easter reenactment:

Matthew 28:1 - Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Mag'dalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulchre.

Matthew 28:2 - And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone:

Knock it off already! Geez. Next thing you know, she's going to see her shadow and we'll have six more weeks of winter. We are so going to hell for this. Someone pray for us.

Sopranos Update

Vito, Vito, Vito.

And Silvio bringing his "experience" with women to the table? Best line of the episode.

So is Vito going to make a new life for himself in the small town? Are Tony and the boys not going to track him down and whack him? We think if Vito doesn't end up causing himself harm, he might come back to whack Finn (Meadow's boyfriend) as the person to blame for his outing.

Undercover Officer Speaks

Rather than let this languish in the comments section, we decided to give it its own thread. It is from John Northern and an undercover officer who successfully infiltrated the black panthers during its violent heyday. For obvious reasons, he maintains his anonymity to this day.

Perhaps the most exasperating aspect of this media-generated controversy is the fact that the convicted Englewood arsonist son of the late Fred Hampton and most of the others who seek to memorialize a leader of cop killers were not even alive at a time when Panther violence was at its peak. Indeed, most active members of the CPD had yet to be born. The facts are available for research. Panther sympathizers and "historical revisionists" can not alter these facts.

Tyrone emphasizes that in striking out against "the establishment" or "the man", the Panthers target was BLUE--police officers, regardless of race. Nationwide, both white and black police officers were murdered in cold blood by the Panthers and black militant splinter groups.

Second Ward Ald. Madeline Haithcock is nothing more than a clueless tool for the widely-despised instigator of this brouhaha, Bobby Rush, the former "Minister of Defense" for the Illinois Chapter of the BPP and currently a congressman. Haithcock's preposterous proposal is both divisive and obscene. It denigrates the efforts of heroic civil rights leaders like Dr. King who advocated a strategy of non-violence in instituting long overdue sociopolitical reforms. It only reopens old wounds.

In the late 1960's, Tyrone was selected from his class at the CPD training academy to infiltrate the Panthers. Shortly thereafter, he "joined" the BPP and met Fred Hampton and others at their headquarters, 2350 W. Madison St.

According to Tyrone, in our conversations as recently as this afternoon, the Panthers were a group of extremely dangerous and "rotten gangbangers". They hated the police, brainwashing and inciting their members to "kill cops, break into cops' homes and autos" to steal "pig" weapons. They were "thugs, dopies, stick-up men and extortionists", constantly badgering struggling merchants along Madison Street. Their nominal "free breakfasts program for kids" was nothing more than a propaganda smoke screen for their criminal activities including the murders and attempted murders of police officers.

Hampton, Rush and the Panther braintrust would "play dress-up" with their trademark black berets and leather jackets, a primary benefit being widespread access to physically attractive, yet gullible young women who were seduced by the notoriety of the Panthers. They would also appear at Panther rallies, invariably being introduced by white activists. Then, they would incessantly incite those in attendance, including dull-witted fanatics to "OFF THE PIGS!" and "liberate the black community from the occupying pig armies." As documented history bears out, their incendiary words went far beyond mere "Maoist rhetoric".

Tyrone also bought guns from "mules" who brought the weapons up from the South, the sole reason: "to kill pigs!"

Both Tyrone and I agree that the eerie silence of both the Mayor and police brass on this issue is reprehensible and hypocritical.

After reading this, it's kind of depressing that no politician and no police brass has the guts to stand up and say this is wrong - aside from Alderman Tom Allen.

Another Off Duty Shooting

Wow. What's this - like 4 in 10 days? And that's only the ones where we've hit someone (B & A people shot at a few last week too, but no hits - or so we heard). Now we have another guy off duty confronting another subject that just shot a guy before getting into a running gun battle. Channel 2 and Channel 7 coverage.

Be careful boys and girls. It is a dangerous world out there.

Gun Safety (or Not)

We don't know how many of our readers have seen the video of the DEA guy shooting himself in the foot after telling a class of children that HE was the ONLY ONE in that room qualified to actually touch a firearm. We admit we laughed at his misfortune in public and then made DOUBLY sure our firearm was safe in private. His biggest mistake was (say it with us now) being videotaped.

Well, now he's suing the DEA for permitting the video to go public and making him "the joke of the Internet." WGN ran the clip on the news last night and there may have been more broadcasts of it after the suit became public. We probably would have let it die out - now everyone has an excuse to run the tape again and start to recycle all of the old punchlines. On the other hand, we're always thankful for an excuse to review gun safety tips.

Rule #1 - treat all guns as if they were loaded.
Rule #1A - especially if there is a camera running.

Performance Ratings

Sometimes, our readers are just too damn efficient. We didn't get around to reading the comments section until late this morning and then the Sun Times even later and - lo and behold! - our readers have already started commenting on the new Performance Rating System set to come on line shortly.

We were among those glad to see the old system go. It was ripe for abuses (not to mention ancient, outdated, overly subjective ... you get the idea) and was abused regularly. Now we have a new system about to come about and here's the kicker:

• The system will also help set benchmarks for successful performance, he added. Good numbers by "high achievers" could be used for better assignments, he said.

They always throw out this "carrot" to get us to accept programs or at least resist them less. Anyone remember the "$1,000 for 5 years" incentive to work in busy districts? They promised people who completed it first shot at better assignments. How about the "Furlough by Watch" proposal to get more vets to bid to busy districts? That has gone away. Or maybe the 10 hour work schedule? Snatched away by the City without so much as an explanation. Does anyone really believe that "choice assignments" are ever going to go to anyone who (A) isn't already impressing bosses with their work, (B) doesn't have a phone call or (C) (we'll let you imagine what (C) is).

As to the "not being used as a disciplinary tool" spiel, we highly doubt that also. Off the tops of our heads, we can name half a dozen people on this job right now who have been on the medical for over 250 days in the past 5 years of all ranks, races and genders. And what action has been taken against any of them? None that we've ever seen. Any situations revealed by this new system will be used selectively, unevenly and punitively.

They always have in the past - why believe they'll change now? Anyone want to bet against us?

Again - Can You Define "Good" Heroin?

Another batch of "bad" heroin turned up on the west side today (Channel 5 and Channel 7). Ambulances were called when 7 junkies were found unconscious near the scene of a free giveaway. At times like this, we can only say one thing:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Man, are we callous or what? Seriously, we would gladly remove dead bodies from the west side for a month if it cut down on the junkie population. HEROIN IS POISON! These people are voluntarily putting POISON in their bodies, placing enormous stresses on our already overburdened health care system, eating up monetary resources better spent elsewhere, and contributing to a skyrocketing property crime rate. Who cares if they kill themselves faster?

This is the second batch of "bad" heroin this week as we heard the 011th District had a bunch turn up near Adams and Cicero and about the fourth or fifth incident in the past 12 months. Maybe someone is TRYING to kill junkies? Just a thought.

Darwin Awards

Not quite:

• GILLETTE, Wyo. -- Police were called to the hospital to investigate the incident and later learned that the 17-year-old spilled gas on his pants while siphoning gas. He then used a lighter to try to determine how wet his pants were and set himself on fire, Hague said.

It's flammable for a reason kid.

And a nominee:

• PITTSBURGH -- A construction worker was decapitated by an elevator car Thursday as he peered into a freight-elevator shaft, police said. Massaro Corp. president Joseph Massaro III said the elevator operator did not know the man was peering into the shaft.

Oops.

Do You Know Where Your Children Are?

The Department is going to start emphasizing Curfew Violations as the summer months begin in an effort to cut down on minors as victims of violent crime. All well and good. A simple solution to what can be a huge problem (coverage here at Channel 2 and Channel 7).

But where is the manpower to enforce such an endeavor? Let's be realistic - we aren't going to be sending our fleetest of foot chasing after curfews when there are dope and gun calls all over the busy districts, many times perpetrated by these same minors. And in the slower districts, curfews are fewer because parents are more involved. Unless you can educate the parents and make them care about where their kids are and who they're with, this is quite a bit of smoke and a little bit of mirror.

And don't start with the race baiting - this is about parenting and we know PLENTY of minority parents who keep an eye on their kids and make sure they're home at reasonable hours and know their friends and such.

A National Award Nominee

How about trying for a little national recognition for a fellow officer? Over at America's Most Wanted All Star Board, Chicago has a nominee for the 2006 campaign. From the article:

• Officer Al O'Connor is proof positive that police are always ready to respond, whether they're on duty or not. In March 2005, he was driving through Chicago's Engelwood neighborhood on his way to work, when he came upon the scene of a shootout between a uniformed railroad police officer and a suspect. The railroad officer had been hit three times, and it wasn't looking good. Officer O'Connor leapt from his personal car and managed to fire a shot off at the suspect - fatally wounding him. Officer O'Connor then managed to get the railroad officer life-saving help before he lost too much blood.

What to do? Well, this is Chicago after all. And the rules clearly say you can vote once a week. So let's get voting (voting ends 21 April)! Go to this site and vote for Al. Then hit the "Tell a Friend" button and get some more people to vote for Al. The do it again before next Friday. If we were able to get a few thousand people to sign the Hampton petition, we ought to be able to get a few votes for a deserving nominee (damn, we sound like an old time Ward boss).

RMS Titanic

On the 94th anniversary of the sinking of the "unsinkable" ship, does anything really need to be said?

Well, the answer is probably "YES!" after seeing this photo. Have at it people.

Rumor Mill Activity

Rumor has it three (3) Captains are going to lose their bars today as the have not fulfilled the requirements to hold the position (i.e. four year degree). No word on where they're going or how it's going to come down. The only name we heard was a certain person who has been on the receiving end of merit promotions at least three times.

Body Snatchers Contract

GSSP Enterprises Inc has decided to let the City out of their current contract for removing dead bodies because the City used over inflated numbers for the bidding process and GSSP is losing money on every body they transport (Sun Times, Channel 5).

• "They quoted roughly 8,600 bodies [a year]. The actual number was 40 percent of that. You can't survive if you're getting paid per unit. Now, we're bidding on real numbers -- not on the city's fictitious numbers," Higgins said.

Imagine that. The City using fictitious numbers for a contract. Why would they do that? Why, to discourage other companies from bidding on a contract. Now GSSP can rebid the contract at their whim, raise their margins and truly clean up moving 3,440 bodies a year. All we wonder is if there will be any disruption in the body pickups? Because D-3 for removing sounds OK.

Light Blogging Today

At least, lighter than the past few days. Things to do, placed to go, people to see. We'll be in later.

In the meantime, anyone out there think an initiative against "drag racing" is coming soon? One child killed in Gary the other day and another killed between 010 and 011 this morning (Channel 2; Channel 7).

We've always wondered if the "de-emphasis" on traffic enforcement might have led to the upsurge in "impolite" drivers we see day in and day out. Kind of like how the lack of enforcement on moving to the right for emergency vehicles fell by the wayside until a firefighter got killed and the fine jumped up hundreds (or thousands) of dollars. Or how the "no chase" policy on motorcycles opened up a whole new culture of bikers who run at the drop of a hat. Just wondering.

Pictures

We've been dead set against naming a street for someone who advocated the killing of police officers. These pictures were e-mailed to us show just how depraved the entire black panther organization was AND how dedicated to the killing of coppers Bobby Rush and his ilk truly were. The pictures aren't the greatest quality - they're from the Tribune archives and almost 40 years old. But you can get the idea. First up, a wall covered with articles about the killing of police officers. Kind of a trophy type wall - a bragging board:

Next, a collection of rifles and ammunition stored at the address at which Fred Hampton met his demise. We are aware of the accusations made by various conspiracy types that the photo was staged and it may have been the ammo and rifles were gathered in one place to make for a better photo. But we don't subscribe to the moonbat theories that the State's Attorney and his men ran around with a load of rifles and ammo just to plant it somewhere:

And the Bobby Rush connection:

Victims Victims Everywhere

Once again, Channel 5 encourages the cult of victimhood infecting the Englewood community, aided and abetted by the mayor. From their website (bold is the article; italics are our comments):

• Mayor Richard M. Daley said on Wednesday the Chicago Police Department would use rookie police officers to canvass the Englewood neighborhood beginning next week. (So the PPOs who graduated Wednesday can look forward to a tour in the lovely 007th District. On the other side of the coin, anyone who doesn't go Englewood is obviously politically connected. Make notes.)
• "This is the mayor's idea, (obviously, as it seems to have little to do with police work) and I think what sparked it is the homicides of the two young girls," said Chicago Police Superintendent Phil Cline." (This is where we'll take issue with the Supe - this seems transparently sparked by the burgeoning Federal investigation that is coming into full bloom lately.) And seeing what more we could do in Englewood to help it. Because we know that the police alone can't solve all of the social issues." They also said they hope to determine residents' needs for such things as: housing, daycare, after-school programs, abandoned cars and buildings (Sorry, but isn't this the job of social services? What the hell do we pay taxes for? And how come we manage to do all this on our own?)
• "That's the first big step," said Quinile Hannon, one of Reed's brothers. "It shows actually that police department is actually doing something instead of harassing people. They're showing that they care by going house-to-house." (Ummm, Quinile? Fuck you. Really. Fuck you you absolute piece of shit. Harassment? Up yours jagoff.)

So it seems we are entering the age of the cop as a social worker. Oh boy oh boy!

A Couple of Quick Hits

For a nice Wednesday evening:

• Police shooting in 006 (Channel 2; Tribune). WGN News is already speculating that this may have been a dispute over a woman that ended in gunfire on the woman's front porch. We certainly hope not.
• Dick "Turban" Durbin is trolling for votes in Englewood (Channel 2). So are other politicians. See the next thread where we post about our opinion on this little stunt.
• The National FOP is encouraging the Capitol police officer who was struck by representative Cynthia McKinney to consider a lawsuit. They are also looking into McKinney's private security who is caught on camera threatening a member of the press with a "I'm the police" type comment.
  

D.C. Police Week

Last chance to book a room for the National Peace Officer Memorial Service. Police Week is May 13th thru the 16th and only a few rooms are available (see the flyer here!)

Further details are available from ChicagoDCTrip@aol.com. Contact them today if you're one of those last minute type travelers.

And if you see an exempt there, ask them to sign the petition. We haven't heard of any signing yet, but we haven't read it in a few days. Click here to sign.

Coyotes in the City

River North to be precise, near 84 brand new townhomes, filled with children and pets - well, one less cat now. From Channel 2 News:

• CHICAGO A pack of city-dwelling coyotes has a Chicago family worried about the safety of their children and pets. The coyotes were spotted in vacant lot behind townhomes on North Ogden in the River West neighborhood. CBS 2'’s Suzanne LeMignot reports the family fears the worst for its missing cat, which has been gone for about two weeks.

We're still pushing for the release of larger predators (lions, tigers and bears oh my) in various neighborhoods to keep down on the surplus of dope dealers, attorneys, college professors and other liberal types.

City Is Running Smooth

Smooth we tell you. SMOOTH!

Tribune; Sun Times; Channel 5; Channel 7.

Aside from the destroyed computers, shredded files, rigged interviews, fraudulent hiring, crooked contracting, unqualified promotions, "Hired Truck", questionable land sales, "Silver Shovel", guilty pleas left & right and a number of persons cooperating with the Feds. Otherwise, it's as smooth as high grade "Machine" oil can be.

Now the mayor is being touted as a potential witness and his lawyers have told him to go from "deny, deny, deny" to "no comment." Perhaps they have him on tape proving he knew something and the "deny, deny, deny" line ain't going to fly with the Feds? We can only hope.

Cop Cleared?

From the Comments section:

• SORRY for being off topic but this is the latest place to post before I hit the rack. PO Brian Van DerMay [sp?] was found NOT gfuilty today @ 26th/ California. [Alleged excessive force vs. Cabrini Green Gang Banger] While there was never enough evidence to convict him, a jury, as you may well know, may not have been so professional in their opinion. Just thought you'd like to know. Gotta hit the rack now. I have to get up early on my day off tomorrow and help OJ search for the 'real' killer(s). HAPPY AND SAFE EASTER! REMEMBER THE THIN BLUE LINE.
  

Confirmation? It hasn't hit the news sites yet.

CONFIRMATION: Sun Times article on Wendesday.

Are We Missing Something Here?

Fran Spielman's article in Today's Sun Times is headlined "Emergency Chief to Collect $281,280 a Year." The article goes on about how Cortez Trotter is in line to collect $131,280 in Firefighter pension in addition to his new salary of $150,000 as Chicago's "chief emergency officer." Here's the kicker at the end of the story though:

• Trotter's arrangement marks the first time in recent memory that a high-ranking city employee collected both a pension and regular paycheck from City Hall. [emphasis added - SCC]

Wow. Way to qualify a statement Fran. "...from City Hall." Amazing. Because we're sure that it isn't the first time that anyone has collected a pension and another City check (Townsend, Maurer, every formerly sworn supervisor working at OEMC, all the retirees currently working the Operations Center with the cameras). But Fran makes it seem that Cortez is doing something new. Correct us if we're wrong, but even the mayor's check is cut by the comptroller, so it doesn't really come out of "City Hall."

It sure is nice to take care of friends.

Behind the Curve

Hey Ma! Close the barn door! The horse got out again!

• The head of the Chicago firefighters union is calling for screening buyers of firefighters memorial license plates after learning two felons killed last week by a Chicago Police officer had them on their pickup trucks.

Frank Main and his editors continue to compound their new found policy of identifying police officers by publishing the name of the VICTIM, not once, twice or thrice, but FOUR times in two paragraphs. Of course, their justification this time will be "the officer is named in the civil suit" but if anything happens to this officer or his family from gang members bent on revenge, Main, his editors and the Slum Times should be held liable.

Note: fourth post already today! Read them all! Tell your friends!

Here Come the Lawsuits

Channel 5 and Channel 7 report that the families of the two dead gang members who drew guns on an off duty Chicago police officer have filed suit against the City for information regarding the shooting.

Please. Continue. We'd like some information ourselves. Please answer the following questions:

• Where did your husband/boyfriend/father of your baby get two handguns, especially considering their criminal records?
• Where were these weapons stored and for whom? Were they accessible to your children? Does DCFS know about this?
• What's with the Fire Fighter plates on the vehicle? Yes, we know they weren't firefighters and yes, we know the plates can be purchased by anyone, but why did they have them? Were they looking for a free pass when they committed traffic violations? Drug running? Drive by shootings?

Anyone else have info they'd like to get from this attorney before the City makes them an offer to settle a completely justifiable shooting?

The Washington Post Deserts Lefty

Liberal bastion of leftist thought, the Washington Post on Sunday ran the following editorial, excerpted here:

• PRESIDENT BUSH was right to approve the declassification of parts of a National Intelligence Estimate about Iraq three years ago in order to make clear why he had believed that Saddam Hussein was seeking nuclear weapons. Presidents are authorized to declassify sensitive material, and the public benefits when they do. But the administration handled the release clumsily, exposing Mr. Bush to the hyperbolic charges of misconduct and hypocrisy that Democrats are leveling.
• The material that Mr. Bush ordered declassified established, as have several subsequent investigations, that Mr. Wilson was the one guilty of twisting the truth. In fact, his report supported the conclusion that Iraq had sought uranium.

Gee Lefty, even YOUR newspapers are beginning to abandon the fever swamps of YOUR party. Karl Rove must have made them do it, right? (hat tip to AceofSpades)

One Week Down

Only 103 more weeks to go until the Dan Ryan construction project is completed. That means we're a little less than 1% of the way though. Time just seems to fly by, doesn't it? This time next week, we'll be just short of 2% of the way through.

When Life in Prison Isn't Enough

Floyd Durr, already serving a sentence of 125 years for numerous other sexual assaults, was given an additional sentence of life plus 30, which means his earthly remains ought to be seeing the light of day somewhere around the year 2132 when robot clone prison guards will dig a hole and finally bury this turd. Seriously, is there a purpose of life PLUS whatever? There's still nothing from stopping an asshat of a governor from pardoning Durr in 30 years or so.

But, it does look like the City got its wish. And anyone else who had something in the line of fire. No trial. And the only people who got hurt by it? The taxpayers who paid out millions to two most likely criminally liable juveniles, the detectives who got it right and paid a price with their public reputations, and a dead girl's family who knows something isn't right.

Perhaps one day, a full accounting will be made. Maybe Mrs. Harris's call for a special prosecutor will be taken up at a not too distant date. It would be interesting to see why the people who got it right were treated so wrongly.

Channel 7 & Sun Times coverage.