Philly to Chicago to DC

I thought of this hokey 1970's tune while considering the state of our nations arbitrary regulators.

Paper Lace-The night Chicago died.

Will our  Govt really hit the delete button after  a gun background check? Toomey/Manchin proposal attempts to make that mandatory.  I doubt bureaucrats will obey this if it becomes law.

 An IRS that states it has a right to read our emails- no matter where your politics are -that has to shake you up.

Gang violence rules Chicago, a town  with some of the strictest gun laws in the country. Gun laws didn't stop Capone's crooks, and  they're not limiting today's gangsters.

Send Bloomberg, the head of the menu police in with paper doilies blazing, and the hoodlums will cower in corners. :wink:

Now turning to Philly where nanny statists  want to regulate everything but abortion doctors .
Gosnell, an abortionist on trial for murder joked,:

'This Baby Is Big Enough to Walk Around With Me or Walk Me to the Bus Stop'

Add Missouri to the list:

 The Missouri State Highway Patrol acknowledged Thursday that it has twice provided a list of 163,000 Missouri residents with concealed gun permits to a federal investigator.

Missouri

4/18/13:

 And our president blames the GOP for not passing background checks . His own party could have pushed this measure across the finish line. However, he isn't pushing for any measures to deal with  Gosnell-like abortion murders.

Is this  the message  from the nanny -statists:

9/20/13

Pope Francis  wants to ease off on the abortion debate. Is he a religous leader or a secular politician.

13 people shot in a Chicago park last night. Yep, tough gun laws work. :wink:

1/14/14

MSM  embraces Obama's Chicago style but pounces on Christie Chicago style

2/4/14

BO tells O'Reilly that he's not a nanny statist and that policies that were once called sensible are now called liberal.  The Prez is living in his own private Chicago.

6/17/14

Donald Trump is a bit of an a-hole , but he went through all the legal channels to put his name on a Chicago building  he owns, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel still wants it removed. Obviously obeying the rules is not enough for Rahm, and he wonders why folks call his town ChIraqi.

6/24/14

All the scandals in the BO's White House and MSNBC focuses on  Christie and another bridge. But they have no agenda?

6/25/14

At least  the Morning Joe co-host , Joe Scarboro, blast his bosses for their news selection.. Joe it's time to step up in the pre-show meetings.

8/12/14

Ferguson. Mo, about 300 miles from Chicago,  chose looting  convenience stores as the target  in response to alleged wrong shooting of a black youth by the police. Instsantly the FBI are dispateched to investigate the police. This is a local issue and no federal laws have been broken.

8/13/14

Ferguson PD is wise to withhold the cop's who shot Michael Brown but only for awhile. Full disclosure is necessary.

8/14/14

 Al Sharpton and his cronies need to protest in Chicago

8/18/14

Federal autopsy  on Michael Brown.. What is Eric Holder trying to find and is he making things worse?

10/3/14

Holder exits.politicians, not citizens,  are quiet on the Ferguson front. Makes one wonder

11/7/14

I suspect Ferguson, MO is bracing for no charges against the cop who shot Brown

11/25/14

Nov 7 suspicion correct. Maybe a grand jury shouldn't have been  called?  Obama &Holder did nothing to ease the tension and may have thrown gas on the fire back in August.

12/5/14

Somewhere along the line I learned if stopped by a cop, comply. Young males throughout history  tend to find this difficult, but it's a cold hard fact of life.

2/25/15

How wild is Chi-town? Rahm Emanuel faces a primary run-off. Both want to hire more cops but don't have a way to pay for. Believe it or not Rahm may be the lesser of two evils.  

3/13/15

BO still can't support our cops. Does he realize he's the President?

4/7/15

Runoff  mayorial vote today. Emanuel is favored over Garcia.  Chicago loses either way. 

5/1/15

Chicago will be the home of the Obama Presidential Library. I wonder if precious police resources will be re-directed there.

5/27/15

Rahm wants more gun control to curtail the escalating murder rate. I'd laugh if  this wasn't a serious matter.

7/7/15

Gun control works---right?  

When a city has eight killings in two days, including the death of a 7-year-old boy, something is seriously wrong with the system.

Take, for example, the death of 7-year-old Amari Brown. McCarthy said the boy was the unintended victim of a bullet meant for his father, a ranking gang member.

8/9/15 

If you're shooting at cops in Ferguson- does anyone's life matter?
 Does the group Black Lives Matter listen? Shouting down Bernie Sanders in Seattle, do you have a clue?

8/20/15

Some of the crime uptick in ST Louis before the latest riots. link

A member of the Tuskegee Airmen, a black aviation unit from the Second World War, was robbed and hijacked in the neighbourhood on Sunday.

10/19/15

Hey President Obama how's strict gun control working in your hometown ?

10/27/15

Inconvenient truth for the BO propaganda machine from FBI director Comey:  

far more people of color are being killed in America's cities this year. And it's not the cops doing the killing," Comey said.

12/16/15

Will the Dems renounce Rahm Emanuel? I doubt it, but it's worth watching. Rahm

1/6/16

One more  time , BO, Chicago has very strict gun control. Spare me your new-found tears.

1/9/15

 Perhaps , Philly Mayor Kenney  has a severe case of denial or mental retardation. He firmly believes the shooting has nothing to do with being a Muslim. Edward Archer, the suspected shooter of Officer Hartnett , claims he did it for Islam and Philly police commissioner  Ross verifies it.

6/3/16

Chicago shootings up more than 88% then you discover : The department said  gun arrests have increased significantly since less complicated forms were put in place. When laywers are  running the game paperwork rules.

8/3/16

Last weekend in 

8/30/16

August 2016- most violent month in Chicago in nearly 20 years. I keep banging this drum :Chicago has strict gun control laws. Also, gun  violence in Chicago has been concentrated on the South and West sides that have been losing population .

10/16/16

Another current  reminder of how well strict gun laws work in Chi-town:

7 killed, 22 wounded in Chicago weekend shootings

11/10/16

just shaking my head at the comment of  an anti-Trump protesters in Chicago:

"I think it's our constitutional duty to not to go quietly and accept that," 

Maybe he should read a dictionary and a history book?

12/2/16

#chicago 's strict guns laws and nanny statist Mayor #rahmemanuel =   another grim milestone, exceeding 700 homicides for the first time in nearly two decades,

1/4/17

Will #rahmemanuel maintain Chicago as a sanctuary city or go begging for federal funds? He can't have it both ways but he'll try.

1/18/17

Will Obama spend much time at his Chicago house. 

2/20/17

Can #chicago make this claim: El Salvador has first murder-free day (1/13/17) in two years.

4/10/17.

If you're entering high school in Chicago as part of the class of 2020, your Mayor #rahmemanuel wants more than passing grades for you to receive a diploma. The Little dictator on wants to run your life.
"to present a letter of acceptance, either to a four-year college, a community college, the military, or a trade. Without a “post-high school education plan,” they won’t graduate, he said."

4/18/17

#Obamas are in no hurry to reach #Chicago.  They're renting a mansion in DC and yaching with #sprinsteen and #geffen near #tahiti.

6/8/17

#rahmemanuel address crime situation by claiming all  city's public buildings will be powered by renewable energy by 2025. Meanwhile  shootings were down, murders in April were up

6/13/17

same old story in #chicago: 43 shot in Chicago, 6 of them dead, this past weekend

7/20/17

Philly crime rate is up  and #Philadelphia police spokesman Capt. #SekouKinebrew. simplifies it (perhaps too much) “The highest motive we’re seeing is arguments between people … which can be difficult to anticipate,”

9/29/17

#obamafoundation hosts a global summit  in #chicago in October. Will that area be a sanctuary from crime? Yep

11/17/17

Sometimes, robbery and murder boils down to the gut screaming you got more than me so I'm taking your sh^t.

12/17/17

Pretty sad  when Chicagoans  are dropping like flies, and the best  your mayor #rahmemanuel can do is boast we're a trump free zone.  Bullets fly, folks die , and rahm recites from the #DNC playbook.

12/30/17

#rahmemanuel 's poll numbers rise, while Chicago gets worse daily. I guess Chicago ,  a #trumpfreezone , has accepted that a high murder rate is Ok as long as its elected leaders detest trump.

5/18/18

Protect Our Parks Inc. filed a suit in U.S. District Court on Monday, alleging that Chicago Park District and the City of Chicago lack the power to move #jacksonpark , government-owned parkland, to the #obamafoundatiion , a nongovernmental organization. #rahmemanuel ruffians are at it again

5/23/18

The Obama center plan for #JacksonPark is set to come up for a vote- can #rahmemanuel get this done?

7/8/18

Never trust #rahmemanuel who backed out of a deal on the protesters route with Gov #Rauner who tweeted. “We had clear parameters that allowed the protestors to be heard while respecting law and order. Instead, they chose instead to cause chaos.”

7/29/18

I saw this OP ED title by Gianno Caldwell : "Chicago's gun violence is intolerable -- Trump should provide help" and I could do was chuckle. Mayor #RahmEmanuel views Trump ( remember  trump- free zone) as Satan and believes Sanctuary is the answer.

8/3/18

Another protest in #chicago . This time they blocked trafffic on Lake Shore Drive on their way to #wrigleyfield. What's amusing is Mayor Rahm Emanuel embracing a protest in which #resignrahm signs were prominent.

4/13/19

#smollett case has created quite a rift in the  Democratic Party hierarchy in Illinois.  Chicago has filed a lawsuit against Jussie Smollett, seeking130k  it said it ran up while investigating the actor, and newly elected Mayor #LoriLightfoot chimed in, "We cannot create the perception that if you're rich or famous or both that you get one set of justice," .  This ain't going away!

4/18/19

Chicago's metro area population, particularly #CookCounty , continues to decline.  Sanctuary status  ain't helping those areas.

5/24/19

 A bit surprised: A Chicago judge issued a ruling to unseal the arrest records and  case dismissal for #JussieSmollett

8/29/19

 A state prosecutor is investigating the decision to drop charges against #smollet  while #smollet 's people insist that he didn't stage the attack. The saga goes on and on.

jan 5, 2020

 #Danielle Outlaw, the new Philly Police Commissioner, defends her interaction with ICE and HSI when she was in Oakland, and when didn't play nice with ICE while in Portland. She's the fourth non-PPD veteran to serve as commissioner. Good luck dealing with Mayor Kenney

jan 17

Judge Michael toomin has ordered Google to turn over all of #Smollett ’s emails and phone records and also ordered the release of the same records for the actor’s manager.

feb 12

 Special prosecutor #DanWebb stated  #Smollett now faces six counts of disorderly conduct.

march 18

 Cook County, Illinois State’s Attorney #KimFoxx , who protected Smollet, prevailed in Tuesday’s Democratic primary,and it's not likely she'll lose to Patrick O'Brien, the GOP candidate, in the general election.

march 25

 Chicago Mayor #LoriLightfoot reversed her  automated "NO" to FOIA requests and said she would follow the Illinois attorney general’s guidance on the issue. She's been the Mayor for less than a year, and her first reaction is to use a health scare and be secretive.

april 26

#Smollet , the hoaxster, got more bad news:  Smollett’s counter-suit against the Chicago PD for “malicious prosecution” was thrown out by a federal judge Virginia Kendall last week on the grounds that the actor lacks the standing to counter-sue while he has outstanding proceedings against him.

May 28, 2020

While Mayor Lightfoot  hunted down folks attending church, 50 people were shot in Chicago over the Memorial Day weekend. The next day, another 23 were shot. Do you think the shooters practiced social distancing?

July 1, 2020

Cook County, Illinois State’s Attorney #KimFoxx , who protected Smollet  a few years ago,won’t prosecute "justice" protestors for minor offenses.

July 30, 2020

This blog has been getting a lot of hits . Chicago Police Superintendent David Brown added an additional 200 officers to the downtown hoping to curb crime. So you're thinking  same old stuff. In an interview with The Ringer, Aaron Rodgers didn't nix the idea that one day he could end up playing QB for the Bears.

Aug 11, 2020

Someone woke #JesseJackson up from his nap: "Chicago looting is 'humiliating' and does not represent 'quest for social justice'

Aug 17, 2020

 At least 200 people were gathered together Saturday night at a Philadelphia block party when two separate groups opened fire into the crowd, hitting  five people.The number of gunshot victims in Philly is up 55% this year.

 

Sadly, nothing new about Newtown

What to write?  Kids killed in a CT school and universities breaking conference contracts.
 I'm blurring my literary tablecloth with lines from two old tunes, one from Grandmaster Flash and one from Warren Zevon, . Ain't a damn thing funny, it's all about lawyers, guns, & money.

If I could trust government , I'd be tempted to say, tighten the gun laws a little. It's clear that criminals have and always will be able to acquire guns so making  it tougher for law abiding citizens to carry will not clear the streets of  lunatics and terrorists.

The old adage of do as I say not as I do: Hollywood heavyweights and gun grabbing lawmakers have armored guards and special gun permits while waving  more alleged common sense restrictions  at the common folk.

News networks , please leave the citizens of Newtown, CT alone. We know what happened and how horrible it was . Get the cameras out of their faces and let them deal with their grief.

The University of MD violates the MD sunshine laws  while breaking it's contract with the ACC, and then says we won't pay the exit fee. I wonder what the pre-law students think about that. Then I just have to laugh as big time universities proclaim their admiration for the student athletes while breaking contracts and loyal connections in pursuit of the almighty $$$.

Let's see if I can  return to a sunny outlook for the rest of Sunday.

6/14/13

The gun grabbers are bemoaning the lack of federal action six months after Newtown. Obama and crew have proven that your privacy is not sacred and Nixonian enemies' lists are back in vogue. Bloomberg, the #1 nanny statist, is bent on hurting Dems in red states. Keep the hits coming.
Plenty of gun laws on the books: ENFORCE them

8/16/13

Request for gun permits doubles in Newtown

9/11/13 

Colorado  recalls to Dem state senators for their gun votes and sends a message to the nannies from New York and elsewhere.  link
"In Colorado, we don't need some New York billionaire telling us what size soft drinks we can have, how much salt to put on our food, or the size of the ammunition magazines on our guns," he said.

9/23/13

After the Naval Yards shooting in DC, our Prez mentions more gun laws not better base security. One note Johnny

 10/13/13

I was surprised this week that Ed Brown, the California Governor, veteoed some gun control bills push by his Dem  buddies in the Cali legislature.

1/27/14

MD is one of the toughest gun control states and yet the shooting occurred at Columbia Mall on Saturday 1/25. Many of these shooting occur in the burbs

6/2/15

DOJ tough gun restrictions.  Another end run around Congress.

“The Obama administration is trying very hard to disqualify people from owning a gun on the basis that they are seeing a psychologist,” Hammond argued.

4/7/16

There has to be more to  this story: "Jason M. Adams, a teacher at Newtown Middle School, was carrying a concealed firearm for which he had a permit, .............. Due to staff meetings, none of the Newtown schools were open to students when the arrest occurred, the paper reported. " newtown arrest

2/4/18

Hey #gungrabbers: How about charity funds  to domestic abuse and to suicide hotlines to combat  violence, particularly involving the use of guns. 

3/25/18

My response to the latest gun protests: Obviously high school teachers in the USA are not instructing students well on history and civics. Thank God we live in a Republic which requires 38 states to repeal an amendment. Plus, I'm still looking for proof that the #NRA has been using guns to kill high school kids. 

5/17/18

It's disturbing to hear the  Las Vegas police chief  #Lombardo whining that his Dept was forced to turn over documents  relating to the 10/1/17  mass shooting at a country music concert . Plus, they haven't turned  over all the requested documents . Apparently he doesn't grasp that the lack of any transparency breeds distrust across the political spectrum. More and more public officials are using labor costs as an excuse to not  inform the public. 

11/16/18

News from #browardcounty and it isn't about  poor vote counting: Former Broward County deputy #ScotPeterson, who retired and is enjoying a pension, failed to appear before the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission to answer questions on why he did not enter the building to try to stop the gunman who killed14 students and three staff members on February 14.

june 6, 2019

You can describe  #scotpeterson 's inaction  many ways but calling it a crime is a head scratcher. 
He was arrested on felony and misdemeanor charges on Tuesday for his lack of response to the 2018 mass shooting at #Parkland .

june 29, 2019

 I suppose it was inevitable: #newzealand police have "some concerns" about people trying to "illegitimately" access the city's victim fund, Victims Support #Christchurch, which began distributing its final payments to mosque shooting victims on Thursday.

aug 9, 2021

#JarrodRamos was found criminally responsible last month in the legal case stemming from the June 28, 2018, murders of Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith and Wendi Winters in the Capital Gazette newsroom.   Circuit Judge Michael Wachs is required to sentence Ramos to some type of life sentence for first-degree murder, but he can offer the possibility of parole. We'll know sometime in September, 2021.

Dec 4, 2021

 Nevada’s Supreme Court ruled gun manufacturers cannot be held responsible for the deaths in the 2017 Las Vegas Strip mass shooting because a state law shields them from liability unless the weapon malfunctions. Wow, the NVSC stuck to the law.

A follow-up to Aug 9 post: #jarrodRamos got sentenced to five life terms, no parole for the 2018 Capitol Gazette shootings in MD. 

April 7, 2022

Sacramento shooting: California has stringent guns laws. 

Two(not named) gangs were involved in this melee. 

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg has “serious questions” about why two of the combatants, the Martin brothers, were out on the streets.

Feb 15, 2024

Shooting at KC Chiefs parade. the gun control freaks are preaching again.

Mauling the late Norman Mailer

Wonder if  Norman Mailer ever stopped looking for the White Negro, ever questioned that his search appeared to be academic not serious--claiming to venerate while  sneering. He wasn't a hip or hep cat.

Deer Park to Barbary Coast, . tough guys don't dance to Hitler's childhood in the Forest. As I look back, I probably shouldn't have made Deer Park my senior high school term paper topic.

I liked some of his writing but always felt the presence of the boulder on his shoulder.

11/27/12

The movie version of tough guys don't dance was mediocre, but it was cool seeing Lawrence Tierney, a 1940's Hollywood tough guy, as the character Dougy. He stole the film.

2/22/13

 The Castle in the Forest, his final novel, which covered Hitler's childhood was amusing and interesting at times, but bordered on being repetitive and overly didactic. It was as if he was on a word count.

6/7/13

 If Mailer were here today, his acid tongue would  be wagging about how a fellow lefty, Barack Obama, has let us down. Maybe he would call him Bush-Lite

10/4/13

One of Mailer's early published works was Advertisements for myself, a title Obama will likely borrow for his autobiography.

11/16/13

I knew that feeling:

“You know,” he laughed easily, “with all the goddam drinkin’ Ah’ve done, Ah still can’t remember the taste of it unless Ah got the bottle right with me.” 
― Norman Mailer, The Naked and the Dead

12/08/13

Can you envision the responses today to this  section from Mailer's, The White Negro, published in 1957?

Hated from outside and therefore hating himself, the Negro was forced into the position of exploring all those moral wildernesses of civilized life which the Square automatically condemns as delinquent or evil or immature or morbid or self-destructive or corrupt. 

1/11/14

 “You don't know a woman until you've met her in court.” 

10/15/14

Thought this was an amusing Mailer quote:

Once a newspaper touches a story, the facts are lost forever, even to the protagonists.

11/13/14

another smart-ass quip from Mailer's White Negro

 “In such places as Greenwich Village, a ménage-a-trois was completed–the bohemian and the juvenile delinquent came face-to-face with the Negro, and the hipster was a fact of American life. … marijuana was the wedding ring.”

2/7/15

I saw this Mailer quote

Giving a camera to Diane Arbus is like putting a live grenade in the hands of a child.

Her photo of a kid with a toy grenade is the likely basis for the quote

3/19/15

Mailer was a well-documented lefty and he said:

The function of socialism is to raise suffering to a higher level.

10/7/16

A generalization from the late Norman Mailer that may have a nugget of validity and a load of crap:

 "What characterizes a member of a minority group is that he is forced to see himself as both exceptional and insignificant"

1/21/17

For some perspective on current political events let's replay the #Buckley #Mailer debates of the early 60's .  Buckley Jr noted in  an obit on Mailer that he  created beautiful metaphors.

9/22/17

#mailer co-founded the #villagevoice which printed it last edition this week.. I had a subscription for a few years in the late 1970s and hardly looked for the paper by the late 80's. My favorite columnist was #nathentoff.

2/17/19

While reading more on the #buckley / #mailer  right/left debates, I came across this nasty comment from #gorevidal on  the Catholic Buckleys.  “the sick Kennedys.” Who knows, maybe he hadn't met Teddy K or Joe Sr at the time.

june 8, 2019

 Whatever your view of #normanMailer, his candor was refreshing: " I always start a book for money. If you're married five times you have to."

august 9

  Something to consider: #williambuckley 's comment on #normanmailer ,his debate partner.  Mailer "epitomized a certain species of macho, adolescent radicalism that helped to inure the wider public to displays of violence, anti-American tirades, and sexual braggadocio."

nov 3,2019

In the early 1950's William Buckley Jr was a CIA agent stationed in Mexico. In 1980 Buckley was seated next to the former president of Mexico who asked him what he had done during his time in Mexico?
Buckley's answer: "I tried to undermine your regime, Mr. President."

July 12, 2020

 "They told me if I voted for Goldwater, he would get us into a war in Vietnam. Well, I voted for Goldwater and that's what happened." quote from William Buckley Jr

Since so many folks in 2020 need a history lesson or two, Goldwater lost to LBJ in November 1964.

Feb 15, 2021

I watched some old video clips of an inebriated #jackkerouac and Buckley doing a verbal dance  over  adamite/atomite,  and it reminded me of what a damn shame it was that Jack drank himself to death. I'm uncertain if Mailer and Kerouac ever met.

Oct 22, 2022

"You cannot paint the Mona Lisa by assigning one dab each to a thousand painters."  quote from William F. Buckley, Jr.