Author: pvbella

I was working on the first phase of a project, which for a few weeks turned into a full-time job. This project required intense concentration. I usually work in an independent coffee shop, one of two bars, or outdoors using a hot spot.

I discovered that there are people who are annoying as f**k. Some so annoy me that I daydream about throttling them. Some are pests. Some are a pestilence.

Last week, in the coffee shop, a woman was talking business on her phone. She was loud and, on the speaker, so everyone heard both sides of the conversation. This went on for about a half hour. Why would anyone do that in a public place? I almost went to say something to this less-on, but fortunately, she ended the call.

In one of my local watering holes, I was working. A guy strikes up a conversation. He just never shut up. Yak, yak, yak. I kept staring at my laptop, trying my best to ignore him. He pointed to a young woman at the bar, working on something too. The guy said something about hitting on her. He went over and she tried her best to ignore him.

After several minutes, he went to the restroom. She shot me a dirty look. I told her I never saw this guy before. He came back to pester her, then went outside for a smoke. She came to sit near me, hoping the less-on would leave her alone. The bartender had to intervene. He paid his tab and left. He made a big scene, saying he was going down the street to the Greek restaurant for a drink. The next day, I heard the Greek owner kicked him out after about five minutes and another bar in the neighborhood kicked him out.

Last week, I was sitting at the bar, working. An acquaintance was there working. He works for a major corporation. Someone he knew came in and sat between us. He started loudly telling him a tale of woe about dealing with his landlord. My acquaintance told him to ask me. I told him how to find the ordinance covering landlords and tenants, hoping he would shut up.

No such luck. We had to listen to the story of his life, issues with drugs, drinking, women, family, on and on. After a while, he finally left. My acquaintance apologized, saying he was a good guy, he just has issues.

I swear, sometimes I think I have “Shit Magnet” tattooed on my forehead in neon colors. The pestilence just cannot understand why I do not want to be bothered. They can see I am working, yet, they feel the need to pester me.

Worse, they ask all these questions. What’s your name? Where do you live? What do you do or what are you working on? Are you married? Do you have kids? Geeze, do these people work for the F.B.I? Why do they want to know so much? Can’t they see people are working and do not want to be bothered?

Maybe I should just have a sign made to wear on my front and back, “Leave me the f**k alone.”

Let’s have a conversation about the 175% rise in shootings in the River North/Near North neighborhoods. Oh, wait we can’t. According to Superintendent of Police, David “Tex” Brown, discussing violent crime in those areas is a divisive issue. He shut down reporters for bringing the issue up three times during a daily press conference last week. Evidently questioning or publicly discussing violent crime in specific neighborhoods is inappropriate in our city.

Since when is discussing violent crime in any of the 77 neighborhoods in Chicago “divisive?” Inquiring minds want to know. Most of the other alderpersons are silent on violent crime in their neighborhoods. They do not care about their constituents.

Aldermen Brendan Reilly and Brian Hopkins are not happy about the lack of police resources in their adjoining 2^nd and 42^nd Wards. For fourteen years, Alderman Reilly complained to three Chicago mayors, Daley, Emanuel, and Lightfoot about the “lawless zone” on a two-block section of State Street between Kinzie and Illinois. Little was done.

Brown used the word “divisive” as a pathetic excuse to cover for his total incompetence and lack of knowledge about Chicago neighborhoods. He is a disgrace. Every one of his plans, strategies, deployments, and responses has been and continues to be epic failures.

But, hey, let’s bring a NASCAR race to the streets of Chicago. Maybe the mayor can label next summer as the Summer of Giddy Glee. Before that happens, she better order Tex Brown to giddy up and ride his high horse back to Texas.

The Good Book says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Tex Brown is haughty. His pride in his know-nothingness has no bounds. Human lives are being destroyed. How long is Mayor Lori Lightfoot going to allow Brown to keep riding his high horse? When will he fall? Yesterday is not soon enough.

When will more alderpersons like Reilly, Hopkins, Lopez, O’Shea, and too few others get serious and rebel against the failure of Brown and Lightfoot to keep Chicago safe? When will the mayor realize Brown is a failure? Or is she, like most of the news media in this city, overly impressed by his daily recitation of meaningless manipulated metrics, data, and data analytics?

When will people start speaking up? There should be a hue and cry from every neighborhood in this city. A loud verbal revolt is the only thing politicians understand. It puts fear in their hearts. They fear not being reelected and forced to actually work for a living.

It is pathetic that people in Chicago can be outspoken about incidents that happen in other cities or states yet remain mute about the killing fields on Chicago’s streets. They are silent on the chaos, anarchy, and havoc, especially on the weekends. There should be mass protests demanding change in front of City Hall. There should be scorching editorials in the news media. Oh, never mind. They are the PR weasels for this administration. They should be reporting their PR work as in-kind donations to the mayor to the Illinois State Board of Elections.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot made history as the first Black, gay woman to be elected mayor of Chicago. She will go down in history as one of the worst, if not the worst, mayor in the history of Chicago. That will be her legacy.

The teacup lap dog Chicago news media is celebrating Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s securing a NASCAR street race in Chicago next year. It is one of the dumbest, if not the dumbest, idea to come out of the Fifth Floor of City Hall.

Lightfoot is proving to be Richie Daley light, all bread and circuses with no substance. Crime and lawlessness are out of control. No one or neighborhood is safe. Her Texas cowpoke police superintendent is a total incompetent disaster. The Chicago Police Department is in crisis mode with suicides, consistent days off canceled, overworked, and low morale.

But the cheerleaders at Chicago’s news media are celebrating with her royal mayoress. What a bunch of poltroons, jamokes, mooks, and mamalukes. The news media should be required to wear cheerleading uniforms and carry pom-poms. That is how useless they are in this city.

There should be editorials scorching this ridiculous event. It does nothing to improve the deteriorating inferior quality of life in this city of criminality. The only people who will benefit from this idiocy are the ones who live or transit along the racecourse. In those areas, the city will fix all the potholes.

The city cannot control the illegal racing, drifting, or whatever it is called. It is happening on our streets every weekend. The city cannot keep us safe from criminals. Public safety is a joke. We have a homeless crisis in Chicago and the city is doing next to nothing about it. But, hey, we have a Summer of Joy, right? Maybe next summer we can celebrate the Summer of NASCAR.

Yes, let’s take a victory lap for NASCAR. Geez, the news media is suffering from a terminal case of that brain-eating STD, clownmydia. They no longer report on the important issues afflicting this city. They just cheer for the mayor. She is historic; you see. That is more important than murders on our streets.

Hip hip hooray, the mayor scored a stupid event not meant for city streets. Rah, rah, sis boom bah, the Chicago news media shouts while shaking their bums and pom-poms. All praise Lori Lightfoot for this “major coup.” Hail Lori? WTF?

We, the people, should shut this fiasco down to show Lightfoot who really rules this city. We should protest at City Hall. Maybe the Feds can find a reason to shut this down.

Alderpersons, especially in the wards affected by this fiasco, are complaining the mayor left them in the dark about this. Lightfoot does whatever she wants. City Council? What City Council? “I don’t need no stinking City Council.”

What is even worse, this is a three-year deal. Lightfoot has lost her mind and so has the Chicago news media. This teacup lapdog cheerleading must stop. Lightfoot is proving to be the worst mayor in modern history. Soon she will surpass Big Bill Thompson as the worst mayor in two centuries.

We no longer have fearless and courageous journalists, editorial boards, and publishers in Chicago. We have empty-headed cheerleaders. All boolah boolah, hail to the chief, hosanna, hosanna to the highest, Lori Lightfoot. She, who can do no wrong, because she does nothing.

What will she do next? Ride an ass, maybe a member of an editorial board or a publisher, down State Street while the members of the news media wave palms?

Folks, Lightfoot is one of the best con artists to hold office in this city of scoundrels. She is ridiculous and Chicago mayors are not supposed to be ridiculous. Hopefully, she will be run out of office on a rail in February and the new mayor can cancel the NASCAR stupidity. Hopefully, the new mayor can make Chicago safe again.

The Chicago news media is pathetic for cheering, hyping, and publicizing the NASCAR deal. They are nothing more than the PR weasels for the mayor. My apologies to weasels. The public is being dis-serviced by the Chicago news media. The media are no longer the junkyard watchdogs. They are Lori Lightfoot’s house pets.

“After the recent suicides of three Chicago police officers, the city’s top cop on Monday fended off rising criticism of his policy of routinely canceling days off, insisting the controversial practice is tightly controlled and has been common for decades… He claimed superintendents over the past four decades have made similar staffing decisions.” (Sun-Times/Emphasis Mine)

Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown told one whopper of a lie. A big, bold, beautiful lie. A shining bauble of prevarication.

I spent almost thirty years as a Chicago Police Officer, joining over four decades ago. Canceling days off was a rarity. The Police Department did not cancel days off on the scale that Brown is torturing our police officers and their families. The exception was during the social unrest and riots of the 1960s, over five decades ago.

Yes, during the mass protests, violence, and looting of the past two years, it was necessary to cancel days off. That was then and for short periods of time. But the cancellations week after week are unheard of.

David Brown should either resign or be fired immediately for lying to the news media and the public. We do not need a big, bold, beautiful liar as the Superintendent of police. It is bad enough our politicians lie to us. If the news media believed him without verification, it proves they are useless lap dogs.

I was a Chicago police officer over four decades ago, he was not. He was in that suburban-like city of Dallas. I hear from police officers daily. They are exhausted. They have family issues. A few weeks ago, I was talking to a detective sergeant. He unloaded all the personnel issues he was having. Some nights all his detectives are out on shootings. If another one came in, he would have to handle it. Worse, they are so busy, that they cannot keep up with the cases, which means investigations take longer and are harder to accomplish.

Superintendent David Brown and First Deputy Superintendent, Eric Carter, took a wrecking ball to the Chicago Police Department. They are enabled in razing the department by our out-to-lunch mayor, Lori Lightfoot. The media believes her lies too. They destroyed morale. They are probably the most hated police leaders in the history of the Chicago Police Department.

Mayor Lightfoot is either being played by Brown or does not have the fortitude to fire him. The City Council is useless, as most are silent on Brown’s total incompetence and apathy about his personnel. They are silent on the recent police suicides. They are silent on the justified complaints of officers being overworked and exhausted or the issues with their families. Those police officers are their constituents, yet they do not have a voice in the City Council.

Mayor Lightfoot once bragged she has the biggest d**k in Chicago. It is evident she does not have the b**ls to do what is right for the people and the police department.

The level of lawlessness, as evidenced by the constant crime waves, is unprecedented in over five decades in this city. The city was safer during the Capone era.

Chicago needs immediate change. All we are getting is a steady stream of manure from the city through the pliable and gullible news media. It is a sad state of affairs.

Brown, his executive staff, and all the commanders should have their days off canceled every time officers do. They should be on the streets on their days off handling calls to supplement the troops. They should lead by example. Pigs will fly and hell will freeze over before that happens.

“Take pictures with the camera of your heart.”

“I’m faithful to my purpose, my mission, my assignment, my work, my dreams. I stay focused on what I’m doing and what’s important. And I keep in flight—I spread my wings and do it.”

Chicago is a city of hard work and hard-working people, blue and white collar, past and present. Time is money. Money is time. Chicago artists are known for their hard work, prolific output, and search for excellence. The list of legendary artists is long. Some are still producing prodigious output.

I am working on a future photo project. While doing some research, I came across the great Chicago photographer, John H. White.

John H. White is a Chicago journalism legend. He was a United States Marine Corps photographer, receiving many awards for his work, and reaching the rank of sergeant. He started work at the former Chicago Daily News and moved to the Chicago Sun-Times in 1978. In 1973-74, the Environmental Protection Agency asked Mr. White to photograph Chicago’s African American life for its DOCUMERICA project.

Mr. White was selected as one of fifty African American photographers for the book, “Songs of My People,” documenting African American life. Mr. White taught at Northwestern and Columbia College. John H. White received over 300 awards during his long career, including the Pulitzer Prize for Photojournalism in 1982 for consistent excellence in a wide range of topics.

He won three National Headliner Awards, was awarded the Chicago Press Photographer Association Photographer of the Year five times and was the first photographer inducted into the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame. Mr. White also received the Chicago Medal of Merit.

Photography for me is a daily love affair with life; it puts me in touch with the heartbeat of humanity. Through my photographs, I’m able to speak a universal language every human understands, rich or poor, educated or uneducated. My work in photography is like the sun, moon, air, or water—I’m part of everything, and I strive to keep my photography not only on the same page in the lives of others, but also on the same line.” (John H. White/Adorama 42 West)

Mr. White is an artist, teacher, mentor, deeply spiritual man, and one of the nicest people in the news business you will ever meet. I met Mr. White at a photography seminar some years back. We discussed the reportage of violence in Chicago. His lecture was informative, but you could feel there was an element of love in what he was saying. He is a man who truly loves his craft.

After 35 years, the Chicago Sun-Times saw fit to reward John H. White’s career by laying him off with all their other photographers. Chicago journalism started its death knell that day. It is now almost dead as a profession. There are few true journalists and photojournalists left in this city that is starved for true honest and accurate news.

“It was as if they pushed a button and deleted a whole culture of photojournalism,” White says. “I never heard the two words, ‘thank you,’ that day. I never heard that. I didn’t need to hear it, but… it saddens me.”

Mr. White has something missing in too many people, artists, and non-artists alike. Mr. White has a work ethic, faith, and class. They are part and parcel of his moral code.

Another famous photographer, Gordon Parks, described freedom as, “Not allowing anyone to set boundaries, cutting loose the imagination, and then making the new horizons.” 

John H. White had no boundaries and always made new horizons. After a few exhibitions, Mr. White disappeared and is forgotten except by those who know him or remember his work. That is also the Chicago Way. Once you are gone from the picture, you are gone forever. John H. White should not be forgotten.

“I like to think that all of creation had a role in designing this life path for me. I think God had a moment of concern about our hearts and made all these wonderful things. He must have said, ‘How can I get a child in Chicago or Cambodia to see Saratoga Falls,’ so he created photography and gave me the assignment to be a picture taking man… I feel like I’m fulfilling my destiny when I’m out there in the midst of life, the fleeting moments of life, and I see and feel all the elements like light working toward something transcendent.” (John H. White/Adorama 42 West)

A group of over 300 “fun-loving” people blocked the intersection of Monroe and Clinton early Sunday morning for a sideshow- watching cars perform donuts. The fun lovers and racers blocked traffic in four directions. When police arrived, they could not get close as participants assaulted them with fireworks. It took over 30 minutes for enough police to arrive to address the issue.

With traffic blocked, emergency vehicles, like Fire and EMTs, could not get through if there was an emergency or fire in the area. People will suffer or die in the name of people having fun. Emergency utility workers will not get through to make repairs or restore service.

https://youtu.be/jXOrGy8LIRA

These street sideshows are becoming a regular occurrence. There does not appear to be a plan or tactic to halt these dangerous races or the traffic congestion they cause. City Hall and the Chicago Police Department are asleep at the wheel, so to speak.

If the police try to break up these events, there is a potential for a mini riot. Of course, the “fun-loving” people will not be blamed. The riot will be called a “police riot”, as the police “caused” it. There will be questions, like why can’t people just go anywhere they want to have fun, even if it is illegal? What right does the police department have to keep people from having illegal fun?

Over the 4^th of July weekend, there were three incidents at sideshows where Chicago police officers and an Illinois State Trooper were attacked, their cars damaged, and in one incident fun-lovers shot fireworks and incendiaries at officers.

These illegal sideshows are more proof the city is out of control. City Hall does not care. The mayor proclaimed a “Summer of Joy.” A Summer of Joy the people will have, no matter how dangerous.

If one of these racers loses control of the vehicle and the person hanging out of the passenger window is injured or killed or it strikes onlookers, a tragedy will occur. The mayor will palaver. Superintendent David “Tex” Brown will give a presser, looking suave and debonair in his body suit fitting uniform, citing meaningless statistics.

Activists will demand the city enact Midnight Sideshows and demand the city order large parking lots to “safely” hold them. People deserve to have fun in the “Summer of joy.” Having fun is a civil and human right in Chicago, no matter how dangerous or illegal it is.

Nothing will change. The lawlessness will continue. Numbers will be collected, crunched, manipulated, and spewed by City Hall and the police department like dog treats to a drooling obedient press. Nothing will be done.

Nothing and failure are business as usual in Chicago.

“But to the people who have been so ignorantly silent let me just tell you….YOU STICK OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB…and honestly I pray for your clarity in life. I don’t care how much money you have or how many lies you have to feed yourself to justify what happened to Danny. I can sleep better at night knowing that I actually am a human being and you have no morals in your life…shame on you… But it sickens me at the same time to know for 100% fact that a so-called “leader” Lori Lightfoot and @Superintendent David Brown have not even acknowledged the fact that my husband literally almost lost his life protecting and serving his community.

His life has changed FOREVER and you both don’t even have the decency or respect to acknowledge that?! Wish I could say I’m not surprised at this point but I was hoping you had some sort of heart.

Normally I could care less with these useless politicians have to say. I won’t even type the name of the true problem in our city (cough cough ) because she’s not even worth my breath! but like I said this is personal and I want answers I want to know why I have not heard one single word about this hero and why you are in the positions you are in if you do not have the full support of the Chicago police department?!?

You have divided and separated and ripped away the city more then ever in the history of Chicago!

DO SOMETHING!

There needs to be a change!

This is just the beginning.” (Casey Szaflarski/Facebook)

Casey Szaflarski is the fiancé of Police Officer, Daniel Golden, who was shot in the back on July 9^th after breaking up a fight in an Mt. Greenwood Bar. He is paralyzed from the waist down and may never walk again.

Mayor Lightfoot and Superintendent of Police, “Tex” Brown, never acknowledged his act of preserving the peace and protecting others on his day off. They never once referred to Golden as a hero. They never referred to his attackers as cowards.

There is no leadership in the Chicago Police Department. There is no leadership in City Hall. Daniel Golden did something he did not have to do. Golden did it because it was the right thing to do. A coward shot him in the back after he restored the peace. He served the public on his own dime. Yet, he is merely just another victim in this city of scoundrels. He is just another meaningless statistic to “Tex” Brown. Brown will forget about him at the next daily press conference- excuse me, press availability- when he tells his lies. The dutiful press will ask softball questions as City Hall ordered them to.

Casey Szaflarski is not the only family member to scorch the leadership of the Chicago Police Department. The Brother of Officer Patricia Swank, who committed suicide, scorched Brown and the leadership of the Chicago Police Department during his sister’s eulogy.

Brown and his First Deputy Superintendent do not care about their officers. The officers are nothing more than the equivalent of cannon fodder. The dynamic dumb duo does not care about the officers’ emotional or mental health. The police officers are overworked, with days off being canceled on mere whims. Their families are worried and suffering. Brown and Carter do not care about the officers’ families.

We need a change in police executive leadership. Brown should be fired as soon as yesterday. Eric Carter, the First Deputy Superintendent, should be demoted yesterday.

None of that will happen. Our mayor is out to lunch. Most of the City Council is silent. Chicago is a city in chaos. The city is a foundering ship in a sea of incompetence.

My friend, D.E.S. posted the following on Facebook. He gave me permission to use it. I was a Chicago Police Officer for almost thirty years. I could not have written this better.

“I am a Retired Chicago Police Detective sergeant that has spent most of my adult life working in law enforcement in several most dangerous and violent communities in America.

During that time, I have taken part in countless felony arrests and followed them through to successful prosecution. I have listened to the bagpipes play at more funerals for my fallen comrades than I care to remember. I have completed hundreds of hours of training in every aspect of criminal justice. Including a tremendous amount of training on the justified use of lethal force, as well as taught this in the police department as a training officer.

However, with all of my training and experience, I am not equipped to make a judgment call on the justification of a police action from a few seconds of a cellphone video with no supporting facts.

Fortunately, I have Facebook friends who have never worked in law enforcement in any capacity that are absolute experts on the subject, especially lethal force. With any controversial police activity, they’re able to sit safely behind their smartphone, Starbucks in hand, and conjure all of their enlightened brainpower to pull all the right answers out of their ass. They know exactly what that unenlightened, bigoted police officer should have done in that split-second life or death situation.

Thankfully, the Chicago police department is very short-handed and can use your help! Head on down to your local Police District and fill out an application. Please make sure to put me down as a reference, because I can vouch for your unbelievable wealth of knowledge and expertise about all things law enforcement.”

I am lazy, today so, I will just leave this here.

Man in custody after climbing into CTA Blue Line train conductor’s seat at Cicero stop, CPD says. Suspect climbed through open window, CPD says. (ABC Chicago)

You know we live in a city of crisis due to all the violence, especially carjackings. But, when a person attempts to EL-jack a CTA train, it proves this city is out of control and on a path to self-destruction.

Last night, a man jumped through the window of a CTA Blue Line El car at 700 S. Cicero. The operator powered down and secured the train before escaping with the keys. The man could not move the train. Police captured him nearby.

Another gleeful incident in Mayor Lightfoot’s Summer of Joy. The question is, What if? What if the operator just fled in fear without securing the train? What if the offender could move the train? What if, because of his lack of knowledge, he derailed or crashed the train? What if there was a tragedy, people were severely injured or loss of life?

The bigger what-if question is, will thrill-seeking copycat criminals attempt to El-jack trains or bus-jack buses just for the joyriding thrill of it? Do not think it cannot or will not happen.

We saw last week how thrill-seekers started mini-street racing riots. So, what is to stop thrill-seekers from hijacking an El train or bus? Nothing. Nothing stops robberies or other violent crimes on CTA platforms and trains, despite all the cameras.

Street robberies, shootings, mass shootings, and murders are the norm in Chicago. Now, we must fear being hijacked on public transportation.

While the city is in crisis, Mayor Lightfoot is touting all the Summer of Joy bread and circuses in the city. She is off on a junket with her family and some staff to Europe to hype Chicago as a joyful economy and a gleeful place for business and tourism.

Some neighborhood organizations hired private security agencies to patrol their business and entertainment areas because of crime. That is something that would be unheard of in the near past.

This article shows just how bad Chicago really is- New 2021 Chicago data shows 400,000 high-priority incidents where dispatchers had no police available to send – Wirepoints. During 2021 The Office of Emergency Management received 780,000 high-priority calls. 52% of those calls had no police available. Chicago police handled over 1,000,000 911 dispatched calls for service per year between 2019 and 2021. 60% were high priority.

If the police cannot handle high-priority assignments in a timely fashion, the public is not safe. Something is terribly wrong and that something is on the fifth floor of City Hall and the Office of the Superintendent of Police, David “Tex” Brown.

The leadership in this city is asleep at the wheel and more tragedies are waiting to happen. There is no level of competence or leadership. Few Chicago elected officials in this City of inept scoundrels are voicing concern and demanding better or a total reset.

The tame news media only reports the problems. Unlike, in the past, when the news media cared, there are no scorching editorials demanding better. The Chicago news media is just as irresponsible as the elected officials and their appointments.

Happy Summer of Joy and Bon Voyage Lori. Have a wonderful time. We wish you were here.