ChicagoBears (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
As the Chicago Bears virtual offseason continues, we look at needs they could address during the 2021 offseason.
For the Chicago Bears, 2020 is a unique year. If the team manages to have a winning season, they’ll be in a position where general manager Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy will return for 2021. That would mean that the current Bears brass would know what needs would have to be addressed next offseason. But if Pace and Nagy get fired, then a new regime will be tasked with turning the Bears into winners.
However, regardless of who’s in charge of the Bears once the calendar turns to 2021, there is one thing that we can do: We can begin looking at needs that the team will need to address during the 2021 offseason. Keep in mind that in the NFL, teams are always focused on the present but also looking ahead to the future.
When looking at the Bears roster, we know that needs such as outside linebacker, free safety, cornerback, and running back won’t need to be addressed. This is mainly because the Bears have future starters at each of the positions locked up until at least 2022 or 2023.
How about the positions that the Bears will likely need to address during the 2021 offseason? This is a tough question to answer since the Bears addressed a number of positions this offseason that they could have addressed in 2021. These include a variety of positions such as tight end, offensive tackle, right guard, and defensive end.
The needs listed above can be categorized into two types: Major needs and minor needs. While the 2020 offseason continues, it’s time to look ahead to 2021 and analyze needs that the Bears could have to address next offseason.
Five serious men who were never really President, and one who is. Which ones inspire you?
President James Marshall (Harrison Ford) Air Force One: Real peace is not just the absence of conflict, it’s the presence of justice. And tonight I come to you with a pledge to change America’s policy. Never again will I allow our political self-interest to deter us from doing what we know to be morally right. Atrocity and terror are not political weapons and to those who would use them: your day is over. We will never negotiate. We will no longer tolerate, and we will no longer be afraid. It’s your turn to be afraid.
“President” Dave Kovic (Kevin Kline) Dave: I think there are certain things you should expect from your president. I had to care more about you than I do about me. I had to care more about what’s right than I do about what’s popular.
President Thomas Whitmore (Bill Pullman) Independence Day: Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind. “Mankind.” That word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can’t be consumed by our petty differences anymore. We will be united in our common interests.
President Richard Dreyfuss) Fail Safe: Men are responsible for what they do. Men are responsible for what they make. We built those machines, your country and mine. We put them in place. Two *great* cities will be destroyed. Millions of innocent people will die because of us. What do we say to them? “Accidents will happen?” I can’t accept that. What do we do, Mr. Chairman? What do we say to the dead?
President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas) The American President: Being president of this country is *entirely* about character…That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections. You gather a group of middle-aged, middle-class, middle-income voters who remember with longing an easier time, and you talk to them about family and American values and character. And wave an old photo of the President’s girlfriend and you scream about patriotism and you tell them, she’s to blame for their lot in life, and you go on television and you call her a whore…We’ve got serious problems, and we need serious people, and if you want to talk about character, Bob, you’d better come at me with more than a burning flag and a membership card. If you want to talk about character and American values, fine. Just tell me where and when, and I’ll show up. This is a time for serious people, Bob, and your fifteen minutes are up. My name is Andrew Shepherd, and I *am* the President.
President Donald Trump (Donald Trump) The American Nightmare: We are building, right now, incredible military equipment at a level that nobody has ever seen before. We have no choice. We have to do it — with the adversaries we have out there. We have a — I call it the ‘super-duper missile.’ And I heard the other night, 17 times faster than what they have right now
Movie Quotes courtesy of IMDB
Trump Quote courtest of Donald Trump, the Republican Party, and 62,979,879 American voters.
Like what you read here? Add your name to our subscription list below. No spam, I promise!
___
Hi! I am Les, a practicing pathologist living in the North Suburbs and commuting every day to the Western ones. I have lived my entire life in the Chicago area, and have a pretty good feel for the place, its attractions, culture, restaurants and teams. My wife and I are empty-nesters with two adult children and a grandchild. We recently decided to downsize, but just a bit! I will be telling the story of the construction of our new home, but also writing about whatever gets me going on a particular day. Be sure to check out the “About” page to learn more about where we plan to go with this blog!
There’s a NEW Sheriff (TOP COP) in Town/ Fighting GANG VIOLENCE/ Cops Building Houses/Cops delivering food to the Elderly/Cops visiting Children in Schools AGAIN!
A few weeks ago Chicago’s new top cop David Brown stated to the press that he was trying to keep Chicago’s homicides under 300 in 2020. Yikes, I said to myself, surely he was misquoted. Chicago hasn’t seen 300 homicides or less since probably before Archimedes and Euclid began tampering with numbers centuries ago. For the record, Chicago has averaged 526 homicides the past 9 years and has had over 24,000 people shot. So far in 2020 the city is well on its way to match that average and then some.
Chicago so far in 2020, (lockdown notwithstanding,) is sitting at over 190 homicides as I write this, a 26% increase over the same period last year when the city was dealing with a Polar Vortex, which surely kept the killings down from the prior year. The number of people shot so far in 2020 is approaching 1,000. The level of violence always shows itself in the number of people shot. When the bangers take aim it is to kill not wound. Sometimes the paramedics, first responders, and emergency room personnel do remarkable jobs saving lives, and other times victims just bleed out or die from their wounds.
So it was quite a surprise to me that just a few days ago Superintendent Brown in an interview with Tribune reporter Jeremy Gorner doubled down on his keeping Chicago’s homicides under 300, so I can only assume he’s aware of what I’m aware of. I’m trying to tell myself that my 33 years working Chicago’s streets give me an advantage over the top cop. Maybe he doesn’t see or know what I do, PLEASE that’s not hubris it’s just fact. So I’m reminding myself that when the light bulb was first invented that nobody complained that it was too dim. I admit I was thinking maybe he was delusional, maybe the mayor is going to have buyers remorse but as the interview went on, he stated he had a plan. I’m glad for that, nothing wrong with optimism (at least to a point).
He said that he was THINKING about starting a new citywide unit devoted to FLARE UPS ( a bureaucratic word for spiraling violent crime ) its either that or SPIKE it sounds so much better than spiraling violent crime. He states he knows that it’s a controversial idea that has come and gone over the years ( he got that right, so many times I cannot count them) in order to combat the gang killings and shootings. Brown floated the idea, describing it as a significant community policing oriented unit that would be community-friendly. My first thought was does he know Chicago has a Community Policing unit already, that is led by a Deputy Chief and who knows how many Chicago cops? Now is where his idea got the attention of just about everyone who read Jeremy Gorner’s interview.
His new specialized unit of cops who no doubt will consist of (hopefully) experienced street officers and detectives who are familiar with the gangs and their affiliates. Aside from going against some of the most notoriously violent killers and shooters, he would have the officers maybe one day a week working with Habitat for Humanity to help build houses, deliver meals to senior citizens in need, and visit schools and interact with children. One can see why most of us veteran retired cops lost our breath when we heard this. Sometimes the reality of just what goes on in those gang-infested areas never leaves the thought process. My take on this is there will be no gang members waiting on a house to be delivered by Habitat for Humanity, there will be no gang members receiving food from cops who deliver, there will be no gang members in those schools to hear the feel-good exchange between cops and kids.
Will this be or is this going to be yet another Dog and Pony Show for the press? Does anyone in their right mind think this will have an effect on hardened gang thugs who are determined to carry on with business as usual? Even if it accomplishes the goal the Superintendent is intending, cops who are sensitive to the community, rather than every day, all day, everyday enforcement duties what will this accomplish as far as the gang violence is concerned? Make no mistake those folks in those neighborhoods would not cooperate with Jesus, or Mohammad and inform on those gangs no matter the sensitivity of the officers working those streets. Intimidation and fear for their loved ones and their own well-being comes first. The Treja Kelly murder was front and center for those who cooperate. The gangs put a $5,000 bounty on her life for cooperating in a murder case. Within weeks she and her unborn baby were murdered.
The gangs make no mistake are a powerful force and POWER CONCEDES NOTHING WITHOUT A DEMAND, IT NEVER DID AND NEVER WILL. Chicago’s cops and Federal authorities need to make that demand. The gangs are not sensitive and could care less about sensitive cops building houses and delivering food and interacting with children. They have an army of destruction in a civilized society and are like hardy weeds when you whack off one stalk another pops in its place, especially in Cook County’s system of caring more for vicious thugs that the victims they preyed upon. Remember during prohibition and the mafia underworld in the 20s 30s 40s and into the 50s and 60s all those gangland murders? We never called them White on White violence, so in my opinion, we have to drop this Black on Black violence we hear about so much and realize skin color has little to do with violence, and if a mayor or governor can shut down parks and an entire city and force people to stay at home and challenge people who are out and about, why can’t cops and federal agents employ the same tactics to save the precious lives of people who are just trying to survive the monsters among them. I mean it when I say I hope the new top cop achieves his goal, and doesn’t hear that familiar mayoral whisper that so many of his predecessors heard from a mayor ” I’m NOT SAYING IT’S YOUR FAULT, I’M JUST BLAMING IT ON YOU.” God speed David Brown.
Bob Angone is a Marine VETERAN and a retired Chicago Police Lieutenant. He worked his entire Career covering the streets of Chicago as a Tactical Officer, Tactical Sergeant, and Tactical Lieutenant. His last assignments were in special Functions, he was the C/O of the CPD Swat teams his last five years and was an HBT (Hostage Barricade Terrorist) Sergeant for 10 years.
The Democrats released a 1,700 page 3 Trillion-dollar stimulus plan that contains a lot of leftist crap that most of the country does not want, and with all that money only gives to the people a one-time payment of $1,200. With 2.8 Trillion dollars every adult in the country could get $1,000 a month for a year. Let’s do that. Republicans should counter Democrats with Andrew Yang’s UBI. We all know the economy will take a long time to recover from the pandemic. Imagine what $1,000 a month for each adult would do for the poor and population dense areas that need the influx of wealth the most.
James Kirk Wall is available for public debates and speaking in the St. Louis Missouri area. Jim was a speaker at the first ever Mythicist Milwaukee conference. This author, philosopher, and outspoken atheist can be contacted at [email protected].
A few screamers to get to, but first let’s make a little magic happen with Dion, Van Morrisson, and Joe Louis Walker. I have the blues this week, and “I Got Nothin'” is just the cure. It’s swinging, funky, and a bit dark. I picture myself in a small, dimly lit, Chicago club as the band opens their bluesy, intimate set.
Thao & The Get Down return with a nice piece of prog-rock called, “Temples.” This wasn’t actually in my RADAR, but SeriusXMU was debuting it and I thought, “It should have been in my new releases?” She’s always had an incredible knack for songwriting and her band gets what she is shooting for. I hear Florence and the Machine, I hear Kate Bush, and I hear the oddness of Bjork.
[embedded content]
While we are talking about Thao, check out this rad video dance she did for her single, “Phenom.” Interestingly enough, last year at Lolla, I saw several acts with interpretive dancers. I think this is a thing now, and I’m a fan. Any way of making live music more interesting is cool with me. For a moment I thought she was covering Cool J here.
[embedded content]
Charli XCX returns and I think I like the album cover better than the single, “Enemy.”
It’s catchy but it seems lackadaisical for somebody of her caliber. Good god is she sexy, though. It’s hard not to like anything she does.
[embedded content]
What a nice surprise, new Jayhawks music! It starts a bit slow but picks up pace, and they do what they do best, showcasing sweet harmonies and big choruses.
[embedded content]
[embedded content]
Some newer acts have returned to my RADAR and this is good news. Vacation Manor continues their consistent string of songwriting on “If Only For Tonight,” while Everything Everything gives us a groovy track in “Arch Enemy.” Both bands have caught my attention and kept it.
[embedded content]
Two Door Cinema covers John Lennon’s “Isolation,” which I surprisingly liked, and we get more San Holo.
For the last month, San Holo has been dropping track after track on us, and I can no longer ignore his genius. Last week, we got “We’re All Just On Our Way Home,” and it’s still blowing my mind.
[embedded content]
[embedded content]
Gizmo Varillas ended up in my Release Radar this week, and I’m not sure how? Though I’m glad he did, as “Born Again” is a fun song. It has a bit of a disco feel but sounds natural for his style.
[embedded content]
Jazz meets hiphop somewhere in the middle on “Push Right Thru,” and guess who’s right there? Maverick Sabre. Remember that name folks, he blew me away when he played Schubas this last time, and he’s always got his hand in every new project. Stay tuned.
A few months ago, reflecting on the problem we polarized Americans were having communicating with each other, I had the thought that it would take an attack by aliens from another planet to bring us together. While I’d had that thought before (and felt guilty), this time I was thinking it wasn’t such a bad idea. When the attack came from a small piece of RNA, I had the same hope that the small differences that tear us apart might be erased by a renewed appreciation that, in the words that have become a kind of mantra, we are all in this together.
Alas, that’s not the way it works. The questions of when and how to “open up” our city, our state and our nation have become become the latest battleground in between those who see “shelter-in-place” restrictions as an attack on the freedom from government control that we all hold dear, and those who see freedom without limits as a threat, literally, to the viability of our nation.
The stakes could not be higher. This virus kills lots of people, and the only effective way to stop it for now is to deprive it of a human home by keeping ourselves apart from one another. But by keeping ourselves apart from each other and depriving many of the freedom to make a living, we risk destruction of our economy and sacrificing individual livelihoods to “the greater good.”
In 1930, Sigmund Freud observed in “Civilization and It’s Discontents” that “The liberty of the individual is no gift of civilization. It was greatest before there was any civilization….. A good part of the struggles of mankind centre round the single task of finding an expedient accommodation—one, that is, that will bring happiness—between this claim of the individual and the cultural claims of the group; and one of the problems that touches the fate of humanity is whether such an accommodation can be reached by means of some particular form of civilization or whether this conflict is irreconcilable.”
The quintessential American question has always been whether government of the people, by the people and for the people is a pipedream or possibility. Covid has put that question front and center, and the way we respond to the health and economic challenges it presents us will be our way of answering it. Can a country of our size, a collective of individually and democratically governed states, find an accommodation between the pursuit of individual liberty and what is often referred to as “the greater good?”
As a psychoanalyst and psychiatrist, I am very familiar with the way that individuals struggle between the wish for personal freedom and the demands of authority. It starts when we’re children whose freedom to act collides with the rules and regulations provided by our parents. One task along the path to becoming a functioning adult is that of learning to reconcile these seeming opposites and coming to appreciate that they are really two sides of a coin. Control without freedom kills the soul. Freedom without control threatens the social order that benefits us as individuals. Growing up means learning to apply controls from within.
I wish that the vaccine we’ve all been waiting for had arrived yesterday, but it’s clear that for the forseeable future we’re going to be juggling the health risks posed by the virus and the damage done by preventing people from making a living. Up to this point most of this juggling has been done by those we’ve elected to govern us.
But in the not too distant future, I think it is most likely that l this balancing act will be a matter of individual decisions, not external restrictions that will be impossible to maintain in a society like our own, “conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” We will have to decide for ourselves when we feel safe to go about our business and return to our businesses, how to connect to others and how much distance to maintain to permit that connection. These are going to be hard decisions.
In “Civilization and It’s Discontents,” Freud suggests that our development as individuals may carry useful implications for our thinking about the way we come together and manage ourselves as a society. Societies, too, have the task of growing up. Psychological maturity is a prerequisite to being a successful democracy. But for some time now, well before covid, we’ve been living in a dysfunctional, polarized political environment where the qualities of maturity, self restraint and reflection have been undervalued. Covid has given America a new and pressing incentive to grow up, and I hope we can rise to the occasion.
Adoptable April is very sweet and tiny. She’s about 2 years old. Here she is settling into her newest foster home.
She can be reserved, but her new fosterers report that already they hear her playing with one of the jingly balls and find her batting at the rug tassels (wake up and find the rug moved).
She is not a cuddler (probably just not used to it) but coming around to being touched and petted.
She’s definitely building confidence, and she has been a pleasure to have around so far!
April has tested positive for FeLV in the past. Her most recent test was negative but that is not a conclusive finding.
FeLV cats cannot live with other cats unless they also have FelV or have been vaccinated against it. April can live safely with dogs, however.
Hyde Park Cats is a local, all-volunteer group dedicated to helping stray and homeless cats in and around Chicago’s Hyde Park. We received our 501(c)(3) status in 2014 and have had over 1,200 adoptions since our founding in 2008. See all our adoptable kitties on our webpage: http://hydeparkcats.org/adopt/
All of our cats are in loving foster homes, which means the cat you adopt will be familiar with the sounds, smells, and movements of life in a home and accustomed to living with humans. He or she has been interacting on a daily basis with people who know this particular cat intimately, and the foster mom or dad can tell you all about the cat’s individual personality, habits, preferences. You can’t judge a cat by its cover! And while we can’t predict the future or know everything about a cat, we can help you choose the cat who is right for you. We have an adoption application and an adoption fee, $125 for the adoption of one cat, or $250 for a pair. This fee goes towards covering their vet costs. All cats adopted out by us are neutered/spayed, micro-chipped, tested for FIV/FeLV, and treated with Revolution.
Hyde Park Cats is a local, all-volunteer group dedicated to helping stray and homeless cats in and around Chicago’s Hyde Park. We received our 501(c)(3) status in 2014 and have had over 1,200 adoptions since our founding in 2008. See all our adoptable kitties on our webpage: http://hydeparkcats.org/adopt/
All of our cats are in loving foster homes, which means the cat you adopt will be familiar with the sounds, smells, and movements of life in a home and accustomed to living with humans. He or she has been interacting on a daily basis with people who know this particular cat intimately, and the foster mom or dad can tell you all about the cat’s individual personality, habits, preferences. You can’t judge a cat by its cover! And while we can’t predict the future or know everything about a cat, we can help you choose the cat who is right for you. We have an adoption application and an adoption fee, $125 for the adoption of one cat, or $250 for a pair. This fee goes towards covering their vet costs. All cats adopted out by us are neutered/spayed, micro-chipped, tested for FIV/FeLV, and treated with Revolution.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Phyllis George, a former Miss America, television personality and ex-wife of Kentucky Gov. John Y. Brown Jr. has died in Lexington after an illness.
George, who had been hospitalized at the University of Kentucky Albert B. Chandler hospital, was 70.
She died Thursday from complications from a blood disorder she had developed in her mid-30s but had managed for many years, Brown told The (Louisville) Courier-Journal on Saturday.
“Phyllis was a great asset to Kentucky,” said Brown, who said he had maintained an amicable relationship with his ex-wife. He said he especially valued their four years as governor and first lady.
“We had a great partnership,” he said. “I think we enjoyed every single day.”
Brown said the couple’s two children had been with George in recent weeks providing care and support.
“We’re sorry to lose her,” he said. “She’s been a big part of our lives.”
A native of Denton, Texas, George was a student at North Texas State University when, in 1971, she won the Miss America title that would change her life, leading to dozens of national appearances during her one-year reign before she settled in New York to try to break into television.
In 1972, she joined the cast of The NFL Today, co-hosting pregame shows with Brent Musburger, Irv Cross and Jimmy “The Greek” (Snyder) for four seasons. She was one of the first women to have a national role in sports television.
“Phyllis didn’t receive nearly enough credit for opening the sports broadcasting door for the dozens of talented women who took her lead and soared,” Musburger said Saturday on Twitter. “Folks — men and women — were comfortable with Phyllis talking about their favorite sport.”
In early 1985, after her four years as Kentucky’s first lady, she became a co-host with Bill Kurtis of CBS Morning News, a disappointing run for George that lasted only eight months.
CBS Morning News anchor Phyllis George and cohost Bill Kurtis in March 1985Sun-Times
After taking off about 10 years to raise the couple’s two young children, Lincoln and Pamela, Brown would return to television and cable work, hosting interviews, shopping shows and promoting crafts.
In an 1998 interview with The Courier-Journal she said was happy with the new roles and her new life in New York, where she lived in an apartment overlooking Central Park.
“I’ve gone through a lot,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of life experiences. … From here on out, I want every day to count.”
She once said that her favorite place on Earth was “Kentucky in the fall” and had moved back to Kentucky in recent years, settling in Lexington, where John Y. Brown Jr. and their son, Lincoln Brown, a technology entrepreneur, also live. Their daughter, Pamela Brown, a CNN news reporter, lives in the Washington, D.C., area.
LOS ANGELES — An explosion Saturday at a hash oil manufacturer in downtown Los Angeles injured 11 firefighters who had gone inside the building after an initial report of a fire.
Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott said “one significant explosion” shook the neighborhood around 6:30 p.m., and as first responders arrived they saw firefighters emerge from the building with burns and other injuries. He did not provide conditions on the injured.
He described the business as a maker of “butane honey oil.” Butane is an odorless gas that easily ignites.
The process of making the oil involves extracting the high-inducing chemical THC from cannabis plants to create a highly potent concentrate also known as hash oil. The oil can be used in vape pens, edibles, waxes and other products.
Firefighters were initially called to 327 East Boyd St. in the city’s Toy District for a report of a fire at a one-story commercial building. Firefighters entered the building, and there was nothing unusual until the explosion occurred.
More than 200 firefighters rushed to the scene and dozens of engines, trucks and rescue vehicles clogged the streets. The fire spread to several nearby buildings, but firefighters were able to douse it in about an hour.
:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19982344/img0169AA.2086.jpg)
lesraff
January 17, 2020 at 12:00 am