Second City Sinners - True Crime from Historic Chicago's Deadly Streets #BookRecommendation

Countless crimes have riveted Chicago and its surrounding communities throughout history. Second City Sinners offers front-row seats to the Haymarket Riot that exploded across the city in 1886, then bleeds through the historic back alleys, skirting past a murderous butcher, the Black Hand, Tommy O'Connor's jailbreak, and John Dillinger's final flick at the Biograph Theater. In the courtroom, witness Clarence Darrow in 1894 as he defends the man who murdered Chicago's mayor, and then again in 1924 as Darrow attempts to save the young men who tried to plot the perfect crime.

Many of the voices of these historic characters come from the journalists of their era, reporting on life and death in Chicago. Chicago Sun-Times journalist Jon Seidel takes readers back in time to the days when H. H. Holmes lurked in his "Murder Castle" and guys named Al Capone and John Dillinger ruled the underworld. Drawing upon years of reporting, and with special access to the Chicago Daily News and Chicago Sun-Times archives, Jon Seidel explains how men such as Nathan Leopold, Richard Loeb and Richard Speck tried to get away with history's most disturbing crimes.

Second City Sinners: True Crime from Historic Chicago’s Deadly Streets, is published by Lyons Press and is available in hardcover, on Kindle or Nook, or as an audiobook.

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Mafia Boss Don Pauly Learns about being #Woke in Crime #BillBurr @SNL

A lot has changed in the organized crime landscape since a mafia don (Bill Burr) spent 20 years in prison, so much so that his loyal crew of capos and consiglieres have to spend their reunion dinner explaining just why, exactly, chastising his mafia family as “a bunch of queers” is grounds for swimmin’ with the fishes. But yeah, shooting people in their skulls is still totally fine and encouraged.

“Representation is very important, even in crime,” he’s advised about embracing a new Wokefather persona. “We got slammed on Twitter for our lack of diversity.” One of the capos, triggered by a comment, even gets so worked up that he leaves to “take a mental health day and work from home.” For his sake, we hope his home is adjacent to the Hudson River.

Thanks to Devon Ivie.

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Rage, the new book from @realBobWoodward, is an unprecedented and intimate tour de force of new reporting on the Trump presidency facing a global pandemic, economic disaster and racial unrest

Bob Woodward’s new book, Rage, is an unprecedented and intimate tour de force of new reporting on the Donald Trump presidency facing a global pandemic, economic disaster and racial unrest.

Woodward, the #1 international bestselling author of Fear: Trump in the White House, has uncovered the precise moment the president was warned that the Covid-19 epidemic would be the biggest national security threat to his presidency. In dramatic detail, Woodward takes readers into the Oval Office as Trump’s head pops up when he is told in January 2020 that the pandemic could reach the scale of the 1918 Spanish Flu that killed 675,000 Americans.

In 17 on-the-record interviews with Woodward over seven volatile months—an utterly vivid window into Trump’s mind—the president provides a self-portrait that is part denial and part combative interchange mixed with surprising moments of doubt as he glimpses the perils in the presidency and what he calls the “dynamite behind every door.”

At key decision points, Rage shows how Trump’s responses to the crises of 2020 were rooted in the instincts, habits and style he developed during his first three years as president.

Revisiting the earliest days of the Trump presidency, Rage reveals how Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats struggled to keep the country safe as the president dismantled any semblance of collegial national security decision making.

Rage draws from hundreds of hours of interviews with firsthand witnesses as well as participants’ notes, emails, diaries, calendars and confidential documents.

Woodward obtained 25 never-seen personal letters exchanged between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who describes the bond between the two leaders as out of a “fantasy film.”

Trump insists to Woodward he will triumph over Covid-19 and the economic calamity. “Don’t worry about it, Bob. Okay?” Trump told the author in July. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll get to do another book. You’ll find I was right.”

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The mafia has hijacked images of the Virgin Mary in an attempt to convince people that they are doing God's work

The Pope addressed a letter to a new Vatican think tank, which was launched by the Pontifical Marian Academy which was launched at a "Liberating Mary from the Mafia" conference on Friday, Sept. 18.

The mafia has commonly used images of the Virgin Mary due to its close ties with the Catholic Church. A number of mobsters also hijack images of Mary and other Catholic figures to claim that God is on their side.

Pope Francis, however, is attempting to put a stop to this and, speaking at Friday's conference, he said that religious and cultural images of the Madonna "must be preserved in its original purity."

The Pope additionally said that any displays of devotion to Mary "must conform to the message of the Gospel and the teachings of the church."

Francis said that mobsters simply can't live Christian lives because their lifestyles and their actions "blasphemes" God, according to the Associated Press.

Pope Francis's message to the think tank was dated Aug. 15, a major Catholic feast day devoted to Mary.

The recently-established think tank is made up of clergymen and law enforcement experts with experience fighting organized crime.

The Argentinian Pope is following the footsteps of Pope John Paul II, who previously tried to put an end to the mafia's associations with the Virgin Mary, warning mobsters that they needed to change their ways or face the wrath of God.

In 1993, John Paul II famously visited the island of Sicily after two highly-publicized killings of anti-mafia prosecutors.

The Catholic Church has historic ties with the mafia in Italy. Some priests have openly supported the mafia, facing criticism and police interest for holding elaborate weddings, funeral and celebrations of other sacraments for mafia dons in addition to accepting mafia donations. Other priests have publicly opposed the mob and paid for it with their lives.

The mafia reportedly exploits popular veneration of the Virgin Media to foster a culture of obedience to its own authority.

Mafiosos commonly fund huge religious processions where a statue of Mary is made to "bow" to a mafia boss.

This tradition is used to send a political message to local Catholics that the mafia is doing God's work and working for the good of the community.

The notorious ’Ndrangheta crime group in Southern Italy has also conducted councils at Sanctuary of Santa Maria di Polsi, in the Calabrian mountains.

Thanks to Shane O'Brien.

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Judge with Distinquished History, Including with Jeff Fort El Rukn Trial and Mob Hitman Harry Aleman Retrial, Denied Endorsement by Democratic Party, in Reputed Retaliation Over Jussie Smollett Fake #MAGA Attack Case

The Cook County Democratic Party on Monday voted not to endorse the judge who ordered a special prosecutor to investigate how State's Attorney Kim Foxx's office prosecuted charges that actor Jussie Smollett staged a hate crime against himself.

The Tribune reported Cook County Democrats led by Foxx's former boss, Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle, voted to not endorse Toomin, citing an investigation of his record on overseeing the juvenile justice division, and not the Smollett case.

Toomin cited "unprecedented irregularities" in Foxx's handling of the Smollett case. He appointed former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb as a special prosecutor to investigate. Webb found Foxx and her office abused its prosecutorial discretion and lied to the public, but didn't commit crimes.

On Monday, Toomin issues a statement saying the Democratic Party "ignored 40 years of distinguished service and sought retribution" related to the Smollett case, according to published reports.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a former federal prosecutor, said she was "deeply concerned" about the party's decision. "The optics of this are terrible it looks like retaliation. Not something we should have in this time and I'm deeply concerned about it," the mayor said at an unrelated news conference Monday.

Toomin has a long history handling high-profile cases. In 1988, he sentenced El Rukn gang leader Jeff Fort to 75 years in prison for murder. Toomin ordered a new trial for Chicago Outfit hitman Harry Aleman after it was determined he was acquitted on murder charges after a judge handling the case was bribed. Aleman was convicted and died in prison.

The Smollett case wasn't the first time Toomin ordered Webb to investigate whether political connections in the State's Attorney's office had stood in the way of justice.

In 2012, Toomin ordered a special prosecutor to investigate whether law enforcement officials suppressed evidence to impede the investigation of the death of David Koschman.

Ultimately, Webb indicted former Mayor Richard M. Daley's nephew Richard J. "R.J." Vanecko of delivering the punch that led to Koschman's death. Vanecko ultimately pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

The Cook County Democrats also decided not to endorse Judge Mauricio Araujo, who has been accused of sexual harassment.

Among the judges that did win the party's support was Judge Jackie Portman-Brown, who was caught on video locking up a 10-year old girl in a courthouse jail cell earlier this year to teach her a lesson. Portman-Brown was placed on administrative duty following the incident.

Thanks to Mark Konkol.

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