Skip to content

Tag: carjacking

The Crook County Pirates

This should be the new Cook County Flag

Man, you have to love those inauthentic, low-frequency lame piles of redundant protoplasm, the Cook County Board of Commissioners, AKA the Cook County Board of Omissioners. Their leader, Machine Boss, Toni Preckwinkle, finds ways to prioritize the most trivial and irrelevant issues.

What is their latest act of wastrel stupidity? Choosing a new design for the Cook County flag. Why? What is wrong with the current flag? It is perfectly acceptable. It is simple and reflects the simpletons running the county and our city into the ground while taxing us to death for their perfidy.

They had a contest among high school students to design the new flag. The finalists are ready to be considered.

In celebration and recognition of more than 190 years since the founding of Cook County, Commissioners will choose a new flag that is an inclusive representation of Cook County, the rich diversity of its residents, the beauty of its landscape, the innovation of its institutions, and the pride of its history.(Cook County Government)

I have a design. The Jolly Roger, AKA, the pirate flag. It is fitting since Cook County is being run by pirates, who rape, pillage, and loot the populace with high taxes in return for poor service. They are led by a pirate queen, Chicago Machine Boss Toni Preckwinkle.

The Jolly Roger is historically and culturally appropriate because thanks to Cook County Government, Chicago is being victimized by murderers, shootings, armed robberies, carjackings, looting oops, smash and grabs. Can’t offend the over tender sensitivities of looters, can we?

I do not know what innovation of its institutions or pride of its history means. The only innovative institutions in Cook County are in Chicago. The only notable and rich history is Chicago history. The county itself is not known for anything worth writing about or commemorating.

Chicago’s flag represents the city’s rich history. The current Cook County flag represents its bland, almost non-existent history.

Cook County is doing a great disservice to the people of Chicago. Under the guise of criminal justice reform- whatever that means- criminals are let out on low or now bail, felonies are rarely prosecuted. If you are a celebrity, you get the red-carpet treatment by our star-struck prosecutor.

Criminal justice reform is anything but. It is budget reform. The county is paring down costs by keeping the jail as empty as possible and not prosecuting cases. This is Machine Boss Preckwinkle’s- AKA Theftwinkle- revenge for the drubbing she took over her ridiculous soft drink tax for “public health purposes.” She would create havoc and chaos on our streets if she could not loot our pockets just like pirates did on the high seas.

Here is another design idea. A plain white flag of surrender with four bright red bloody handprints. Each would represent Toni Preckwinkle, Kim Foxx, Tom Dart, and Tim Evans. They have blood on their hands, and it should be commemorated. Their innovations killed, wounded, and terrorized the citizens of this county. They surrendered to the criminal element.

The people should have a vote on this stupid idea instead of the Crook County Board of Commissioners. We are paying the price for their pillaging our pockets. We pay the price in blood, lives, and terror for their “reforms.” We are paying the price because the Cook County Board of Assessors still uses Tarot Cards and Ouija Boards to make property tax assessments.

Here is a novel idea. How about we vote out each and every county elected official in the next election. But that will not happen. It is the reason I gave up on the human species in Chicago. The voters of this city are chromosomal defects. They are zombie cultlike, uneducated, unlearned, and devoid of intelligence. They march on the polls on election day and keep voting for the people who are killing them softly with their policies and robbing them blind.

We should officially change the name of Cook County to Crook County. It is historically and culturally appropriate to celebrate their innovative institutional and historical thievery through taxation and other financial scams.

The Grades are in Fs Across the Board

Image: PV Bell
  • Mayor Lori Lightfoot- F
  • Chicago City Council- F
  • Cook County Commissioner Toni Preckwinkle- F
  • Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx- F
  • Chief Judge Tim Evans- F
  • David Brown, Superintendent of Chicago Police- F
  • Chicago News Media/Editorial Boards- F

If you get an F in public safety, you have no business holding elective or appointed office or publishing or airing news.

One of the nice things about being an elected official in Chicago is never having to take responsibility for your failures. Elected officials are not responsible for anything. It is always someone else’s fault. They keep coming up with systemic lame excuses instead of effective solutions. Yet, you gullible voters believe their logomachy and keep reelecting them.

There were over 1000 homicides in Cook County this year, with one month left. 803 homicides were committed in Chicago. In Chicago, 4304 people were shot, and 3549 were wounded this year. Over 80% of the victims were African American. Over 14% were Hispanic. 3.9% were white or of other races. Add to those numbers the 1444 carjackings this year, most of them armed. (Cook County Medical Examiner and HeyJackass)

There is a daily spate of armed robberies in various entertainment neighborhoods. High-end stores are being burglarized and robbed by groups who steal thousands or tens of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise while traumatizing the employees. Flash mobs are causing havoc, injury, and shootings downtown and along Michigan Avenue near Grant Park.

Chicago witnessed out-of-control violent crime in every neighborhood for over one year. No area of this city is safe. Any citizen is at risk of becoming an innocent victim of violence or a shooting. Even children, toddlers, and infants are innocent victims.

Our elected officials are silent over the unrelenting violence in Chicago. The Mayor, Cook County Board President, State’s Attorney, and many Alderpersons and Cook County Commissioners are mute. When and if they do speak, it is word soup and jabberwocky.

Everyone keeps seeking the causes for this rampant criminality. Experts with no expertise are brought in and paid to give their reasoning and solutions through their narrow-minded mercenary lenses. The Chicago Police Department continues with its merry-go-round of plans, strategies, contingencies, and realignments. The politicians come up with solutions based on their communication spoke’s weasels. They toss around systemic this or that. They are not seeking effective solutions.

We are beyond looking for causes. We are witnessing the effects- death, wounding, and traumatization. We need effective solutions to curb this criminality. Effective being the operative word. The politicians threw effectiveness out of the window in their quest for the “why.” The most compelling question is “what.” “What” is a direct question that yields specific effective solutions. “Why” gives us more logomachy, nonsensical word soup.

There is a total lack of empathy and sympathy for the victims and their families. Our politicians are cold-hearted, devoid of pity, mercy, and basic humanity. The only time they display emotion is when they are harshly criticized. Then, after their faux over emotional Academy Award appearance before the news cameras, critics are slapped down and silenced. 

The Chicago news media goes right along with this. It appears they are working hand in hand with the politicians’ spoke’s weasels. The news media in Chicago is no longer courageous. The editorial boards are silent on the rampant violent criminality. They, like the gullible voters, believe whatever the politicians tell them. Like well-trained parrots, they repeat it.

We no longer have the luxury of time to figure out the causes- the “why”- of this criminality. We need to find effective solutions to curb it. We can figure out the why later. How many more people must die, suffer, or be traumatized before our elected officials start caring?

We do have one stubborn verified systemic problem in Chicago. It is the systemic stupidity of the voters. They keep reelecting the same people who are responsible for the criminality. Public safety is one of the most important, if not the most important, government responsibility. The voters keep voting for failures.

Public safety is not even a consideration to the politicians. They are all talk and no action. The county and city elected officials are gearing up for their next re-election cycle. They will tout their various supposed successes. There is only one solution. Shed the mantle of systemic voter stupidity. Embrace Critical Election Theory. Do not reelect anyone who did not and will not keep us safe. Throw all the bums out. Bring in new people who believe in public safety.

Maybe some long ago pundit was right. One of the most profane, obscene, and vulgar terms in our language is “career politician.”

The Rittenhouse trial is a nothing burger

Image: PV Bella

The numbers in Chicago year to date:
• 719 people shot and killed
• 3385 people shot and wounded
• 4104 total people shot
• 764 total homicides (As of this morning/HeyJackass!)

Those are the numbers. Dry, hard, cold numbers. Those are people, human beings. People who suffered wounds, death, grief, and mourning. Families whose lives were shattered. The numbers go on day after day, violence, death, and bloodshed.

Every neighborhood in Chicago is experiencing violent crimes. Nowhere and no one is safe in this city. There is the looting of high-end stores on the Gold Coast, stealing tens of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise from each. Stores are looted in some of the neighborhoods. There are daily armed carjackings, terrorizing people.

As the daily violence goes on, the city is supposedly preparing for the outcome of the insignificant Kyle Rittenhouse trial in Wisconsin. This headline from the Chicago Tribune proclaims, “Kyle Rittenhouse case goes to jury in Kenosha as polarized nation awaits verdict.”

How does the Chicago Tribune know the nation awaits this verdict? Did they send reporters across the country to interview people? Did they make phone calls to thousands or millions of people? Did they even stop for a minute to check if their mothers really loved them just because they told them so?

I do not get it. I do not give a rat’s rear end about the Rittenhouse trial. The incident happened someplace else. Where are our local media’s hormonal panting headlines and extensive compelling coverage of the murder and mayhem occurring daily in Chicago?

Where are editorials and columns about the violence and the innocent victims? Where is the media outrage over children- toddlers and infants- being shot? What makes the Rittenhouse trial worthy of tabloid-style reporting ala the National Enquirer?

There are murder trials every day in Chicago, and they get little gripping coverage, with headlines- “A city awaits the verdict…” All we get from our local news media is crickets.

Why should Chicago await a verdict in a trial that has nothing to do with Chicago? It Is a trial in Wisconsin. There is nothing special about it. It is being sensationalized for one reason, money, kachingos. The news companies want those clicks and viewers to drive ad revenue. They use propaganda- they call it a narrative- to get people to watch or click on their articles.

Where is the tabloid-like headlines and reporting of the violence and bloodshed here? Why are our local news media, editorial boards, and columnists dead silent on the daily violence?

If Chicagoans care about an insignificant trial in Wisconsin more than they do about the murder and mayhem at home, then we have a real problem in this city. Why? Because these are the same people who vote for the incompetent elected officials who are doing little to curb the violence. They vote for the mayor, alderpersons, State’s Attorney, Cook County Board President, Sheriff, and judges. These are the people who control the criminal justice system and are responsible for public safety.

We see the results of those votes in the numbers of dead and wounded people. We see the results of their votes in the lives shattered by violence. We see the results of those votes in the lives of people living in fear.

If you care more about a trial in Wisconsin than violent crime in your hometown or neighborhood, then you are part of the problem. We deserve better from our local news media and elected officials. It is past time to hold their feet to the fire and demand better.

Shh it’s a secret

Image: PV Bella

The driver pulled up to a nice house on the Southside. He escorted me to the large basement. It was dark, barely lit by candles. The Boss sat in front of a table. The committeemen sat in chairs on either side of me. My committeeman brought me before the Boss. On the table were a letter and a knife. The committeeman pricked my finger with the knife and smeared the bloody finger across the letter. He placed the folded letter in my hands and lit it on fire. The Boss recited the oath. “You are now a member of the Chicago Machine. When called, you will immediately respond, even if you are at your mother’s death bed. If you reveal the secrets of the machine, may your career burn in Hell as this letter in your hand.” I vowed to obey. She came from behind the desk and hugged me. Then all the committeemen, one by one, hugged me. I was now a made member of the Chicago Machine. (The Godmother)

“A Chicago Police Department spokesperson said the case report is restricted, and they are not authorized to look at it. Records show CPD classified the case as an aggravated assault of a police officer with a handgun. Another source said a Chicago police internal affairs unit that handles police-involved shootings joined violent crimes detectives at the scene.” (CWBChicago)  (Empahsis mine)     

CWBChicago scooped the politically compliant Chicago news media by reporting on a shooting incident in front of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s home last month. Allegedly, one of her bodyguards was sitting in a car, guarding her home. Someone tried to carjack him. The bodyguard fired shots. Nothing much is known except what Preckwinkle wants to be known.

But wait, there’s more. Unknown to all but God, another Preckwinkle bodyguard was robbed near her home in July. The offender took his firearm. Once again, CWBChicago scooped the friendly compliant Chicago news media.

So much for transparency from the notoriously secretive Toni Preckwinkle. Something stinks and stinks to high heaven. Preckwinkle did what she always does, bobbed, weaved, and dodged. And, as usual, she got away with it. The news media gave her a pass like they always do. She is beloved by them and their editorial boards. Noting to see here folks, just keep moving along.

The Chicago Machine has two things in common with the Mafia. It has a boss, and it is a secret organization. Toni Preckwinkle is the Boss, and everything is a secret. No hint or whiff of scandal shall be reported. She evaded accountability for the scandals of other county officials.

One would think with all the violent anarchy in Chicago and hitting so close to her person twice, Preckwinkle would have a response besides saying the incidents are under investigation by the Chicago Police Department.

Preckwinkle is directly responsible for the violent anarchy plaguing every neighborhood in Chicago. Her “reform” policies are fueling the murder and mayhem. She controls the State’s Attorney and the Courts. They do what they are told or else. If you disagree or editorialize, you are tarred and feathered as a racist. The truth is racism in Chicago.

Why didn’t Preckwinkle issue a press release or hold a press conference on these two incidents? Why all the secrecy around them? A stolen Sig-Saur pistol is on the streets of Chicago, and we are not supposed to know. It’s a secret. Even after being exposed, she is still using the veil of secrecy. The compliant news media is aiding and abetting her. 

What other secrets is Preckwinkle hiding? These two incidents were not scandals. They were street robberies. Plainclothes and off-duty police officers can be crime victims, like the rest of us. 

One would think these incidents would be major news in this city, considering the continuing Olympic Games of Violence affecting every neighborhood. One would think wrong. Secrets must be kept.

The Stroger Machine replaced the Daley Machine. Preckwinkle dethroned the Stroger’s. Now it is the Preckwinkle Machine. Nothing changes. There is no reform. There is no accountability or transparency. There are only secrets, just like the Mafia.

Don’t go out at night

Image: PV Bella

This was updated. I found a video to download and it runs faster. See below.

Downtown Chicago used to be safe at night. From the Loop to River North, Gold Coast, and beyond, you could walk down State Street or Michigan Avenue in relative safety. You could even walk on the lakefront until closing hour.

The street lights, store windows, neon, and other attractions lent a romatintic atmosphere. The crowds were gone. People were out enjoying themselves. You could go to the movies, walk to dinner, then just wak. Maybe you would stop into a watering hole for a drink, or two or three. There were clubs with all kinds of entertainment.

During the Christmas season, there was a festive air. Christmas lights, street decorations, store window decorations, and Sal Army Santas ringing their bells. There was a festive athmosphere. People were in a happier mood.

No more.

Criminals own the night. Bands of violent criminals attack, and brutalize people for no reason, or violently rob them. No one steps in to stop them. No one steps in to help.

The video below shows two men attacked, brutally beaten, and robbed on the 400 block of Noth State Street.

https://vimeo.com/594283524

For over four minutes,, two men were robbed and brutalized while bystanders shot phone videos, celebrated, danced, and twerked. Motorists kept driving by, trying to avoid hitting anyone.

Nowhere is safe in this Mad Max era of Chicago. Michigan Avenue, River North, and the Gold Coast, are no longer safe at night. The romance and festivity turned into a nightmare. Even the parking lots are not safe.

People used to be able to go out to dinner, walk, stop in one or two places for a late-night drink or two or three. There are clubs for entertainment. Now, people are the entertainment for criminals and their bystander fans.

Downtown, North and South Michigan Avenue and River North turned into violent crime-ridden areas. There are roving bands of robbers, thieves, groups wilding, and other violent actors. Even during the day, bands of thieves invade designer stores, stealing thousands or tens of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. They will pummel anyone who tries to stop them.

Nighttime is the worst. The night is when there is no value for human life. The night is when you are most vulnerable. The night is when you could be beaten, shot, wounded, or killed. Areas once known for safety are now dangerous.

The revitalized gem, Grant Park turned into a staging ground for wildings, groups of young people running amok, terrorizing the area because they can. The Magnificent Mile is no longer magnificent. River North and River West are dangerous. The night turns these neighborhoods into the Wild West.

It is a pity our city came to this. The places we should be proud of are turning into violent,, crime-ridden battlegrounds at night. This criminality is not new and has been building up over the past few years. It started to get worse last year and is worsening this year.

The alderpersons representing the wards are complaining. Their complaints land on deaf ears. One alderperson was the victim of a battery while waiting for friends outside of a restaurant. Mayor Lightfoot is trying to please everyone and is pleasing no one. The citizens, news media, and City Council cannot figure out what she is doing.

Thanks to City Hall, an incompetent Superintendent of Police, a State’s Attorney who cares more about coddling criminals than prosecutions, and a court system that enables a revolving door of catch and release, the Loop, Mag Mile, and River North went from being attractive, safe places to visit or walk around to places to fear.

Nowhere is safe at night in those areas. The criminals know there are cameras all over the place. They do not care. They do not fear arrest or imprisonment if, by fat chance, they are prosecuted. This is not just criminality. It is a culture of violence. Violence is acceptable and expected behavior.

Criminals are waging war. There is no rhyme or reason for their actions. They do it because they can. They do it because they want to. They do it for fun. They do it because no one will stop them. They do it because they know there will be no consequences.

Don’t go out at night.