The City of Chicago Declared War on Cop Bloggers!

Chicago, IL—Over the last seven years blogging has become popular with many Americans including Windy City cops. Blogs have broken news that media organizations simply wont report.

Having spent the last 24 years as a freelance TV news producer I learned the primary reason that important stories go untold and published. Journalists all think they need cooperation from politicians, bureaucrats and government in order to report news. In fact journalists beg for exclusive tips on government activities like police crackdowns, raids and important crime stories. The payoff for the tips comes in important exposure and glad-handing for certain self-serving accomplishments real or imagined. That, along with killing any unflattering stories.

Reporters can’t seem to develop independent information sources and wrongly think without government official’s help they would be unable to report on government at all. Very few reporters have the courage to become persona non-gratia with any government agency. The unwritten rule is to never make the government Gods angry. If you make them angry you must be able to destroy them or they will punish you for eternity.

Bloggers have little to lose especially ones run by anonymous writers. They can say nearly anything they like without interference or repercussions. Mainstream media types can only dream about having such freedom to report whatever they chose.

Chicago’s politicians and bureaucrats have suffered many embarrassments at the hands of cop bloggers. A WBBM-TV reporter caught the public cowardice of former Superintendent Jody Weis on tape by accident. The cop bloggers and others commenting on these sites were unmerciful and unforgiving as they exploited this story.

Second City Cop had already named Weis, J-Fed because of his past employment with the FBI. After the incident he was quickly renamed J-Fled for his lack of valor. How embarrassing is that? The real problem was that SCC get’s well over 10,000 hits per day but that includes nearly every cop, crime reporter and the others involved in any form of public safety.

Detective Shaved Longcock is another wildly popular cop blogger here that has been absolutely fearless in his open discussions of the out-of-control Black on White crime. He like SCC has ridiculed department brass for their ineffectiveness and incompetence.

The identities of these two bloggers have not been publically established and if they were unmasked they would quickly be made to disappear by their victims.

Personally I share the disdain for the criminal mob running Chicago’s government. I’ve long ago parted ways with the Chicago Police Department and am totally free to blog under may own identity. Any current department members would be crazy to reveal themselves. They would be framed, fired and destroyed at a minimum.

The Chicago Police Department just promulgated a new General Order to its membership regarding blogging or posting on Social Media. It effectively outlaws posting anything not officially approved by the department. The penalty for disobedience is termination from employment. I guess the First Amendment has passed away in my hometown.

This action against the bloggers is the greatest compliment because had they been insignificant and ineffective they’d not have been outlawed.

I’d like to hope that the First Amendment would prevail and the slime running the city would behave themselves a little better. They have targeted the bloggers for total elimination with the new anti-blogging edict.

I’m here to say if my cop blogging colleagues somehow vanish, there will be many more to take their place. Chicago cops know that I will be happy to expose waste, fraud or mismanagement by any Chicago official. They also know that I will relentlessly attack the monster until it’s dead.

Department members have spouses and children that use the Social Media too. The department can’t also claim any jurisdiction over those close to cops that dare to blog.

Update: SCC has hit a speed bump and has gone dark for 24 hours, but that turned out to be a personal issue and not an end to the flow of information. Welcome Back SCC!

The General Order is Below:

The City of Chicago Declared War on Cop Bloggers

Self-Defense Shooting and Your Choice of Ammunition.

Phoenix, AZ—I went to my favorite gun dealer in Arizona, Legendary Guns to purchase some new ammunition for my primary protection.

I asked Paul the salesman who I have known for over two decades, for some decent hollow-point ammunition. Paul asked me with a smile if I wanted the “Zombie Killers”. I thought he was kidding me and I told him I needed them to stop vampires, werewolves and space aliens too!

He handed me a box of Zombie Max bullets! All I could think about is some prosecutor in a self-defense case telling some jury that the defendant had purchased and used bullets called, Zombie Killers. Yikes! I thought, but how will your lawyer explain this?

I looked carefully at the box and could see that it came from the very old and reliable Hornady Manufacturing Company. I looked at the specifications and what was important they matched what I wanted and the Zombie Max rounds did.

In any shooting you must think of public safety as well as your own. You need bullets that will use all of their energy inside your intended target and not cause injury or death to innocent bystanders.

Police agencies use hollow-point rounds for that very reason. It’s not critical that your assailants die but be quickly stopped from killing you and others. The reality is that over 60% of people shot survive anyway.

Should you be charged with a crime or be sued your defense lawyer needs to know exactly why you obtained the ammunition you used. The reality is hype is used to sell everything including ammunition. It’s the technical specifications rather than the name used to promote the product.

Take a look at the webpage and video promoting Zombie Max. http://www.hornady.com/ammunition/zombiemax

Verdict reached in LAPD Detectives Murder Trial

Los Angeles, CA—In a story of love gone wrong, jealousy and death a career LAPD cop's life hangs in the balance.

What ever happened between Stephanie Lazarus and Sheri Rasmussen remains a secret. Lazarus did not take the stand and the case was reduced to a DNA sample that was kept in exposed and insecure conditions for two decades. There is no living witness to the event that killed Rasmussen.

A jury empaneled has made their guess and announced that they reached a unanimous verdict that will be released at 1:30 PM Pacific Time.

I don’t feel good for the defense and believe this should have been tried as a self-defense case. The larger and more athletic Rasmussen may have begun a fatal fight. There were problems with that because if this was a self-defense case a frightened, young policewomen covered up the event.

If it was self-defense, fleeing the scene and not telling anyone is no crime. However, any jury would frown upon rearranging the scene to make it look like a burglary.

Second guessing the defense lawyer is always easy when he loses a case. Right now we will just have to wait for the verdict to be read.

I hate human lives being saved or destroyed by a guess. That’s exactly what this verdict will be. I wish Lazarus and her family luck.

Update: Lazarus was convicted of 1st Degree Murder and use of a gun. She is facing 25 years to life with a chance of parole. Had she taken the self-defense route it would have been much better. At worst she would have gotten a 2nd degree conviction...

Having Fun at Winter Range In Phoenix, AZ

Phoenix, AZ—Every year at this time at the world class Ben Avery Shooting Range operated by the State Game and Fish Department is an event called Winter Range. This is for shooters and fans of the old West.

There are shooting events for both mounted cowboys and everyone else. The rules are you must be dressed properly and use firearms for the 1800’s and early 20th century.

What I do there is hang out with my friends at Eagle Grips that are show vendors. I see and socialize with lots of friends for this weeklong event. I shot a little video of a tiny portion of what’s there but it will give you an idea what its like.

Prison Inmate Media Interviews and Government

Phoenix, AZ—It should be obvious that with changes in laws, technology and court rules we have become a Police State. If you don’t think that’s the case look at those thousands of surveillance cameras or try to bring your own into a Federal building.

A genuine sign of this is how accused people and the media is obstructed from communication with each other.

We arrest and imprison people and sequester them from the prying eyes of the media. What it’s really about is preventing inmates from telling their troubles to the media. Government bureaucrats have clearly facilitated and enabled cover-ups by preventing the media from interviewing prisoners face to face.

The bureaucrats know that television won’t do a telephone interview because that media can only operate effectively with video. With a ban of face-to-face interviews the public will only see what these penal institutions want them to see.

From a simple human rights and fairness issue prisoners should be allowed access to the media to, express remorse, ask for forgiveness or to challenge the accusations made against them. In death penalty cases those condemned to die should have the ability to fight for their lives through video interviews.

Arizona and California precludes television interviews however Texas does not.

It’s really not much to ask for and claims that there is a security risk are purely bogus. If they were that concerned they could facilitate Skype.com interviews. The bureaucrats are afraid of exposure for their own deeds and nothing more.

The last issue here concerns crime victims. Not every crime victim is a victim. Many people are designated as victims simply because they successfully misled authorities and gave false testimony against people they accused. The claim of protecting victims from reliving their bad experiences watching prison inmates in news programing is pathetic to say the least.

Is anyone somehow damaged if we allow some condemned soul to beg for their life in a broadcast video interview? Must we be void of any humanity?

All prison and jail inmates deserve the right to have total voluntary access to journalists of every medium.

Chicago is Spared! The G-8 Summit has been moved to Camp David!

Chicago, IL—Chicago was preparing for an epic battle between demonstrators and police at the upcoming G-8 Summit.

It would have been expensive, ugly and perhaps very bloody. Businesses expected to be firebombed or at a minimum suffered lots of broken glass and looting.

The cops I know had little interest in doing anything but worrying about self-preservation. Protecting businesses on behalf of city officials loathed by the cops during this circus generated little interest and a lot of resentment. Why risk suffering injuries, bogus brutality allegations and criminal Indictment at the hands of that total douchebag State’s Attorney, Anita Alvarez?

My guess was the undermanned, outgunned and demoralized Chicago cops would have simply stood by and watched the city burn.

It’s obvious that Rham Emanuel and Barack Obama knew this would become a public relations disaster and jointly moved it to the more easily protected rural area of Camp David.

This planned fiasco would have cost Chicago taxpayers untold millions.

William Heirens, is Near Death Today in a Chicago Hospice

Chicago, IL—Most of my readers know that I hate the death penalty and consider the American criminal justice system deeply flawed. Either the innocent are convicted or dangerous criminals are given freedom far too early endangering society. My personal quote is, “If justice happens it’s usually by accident and for all the wrong reasons.”

A single mother, who was most of the time only one step ahead of the Sheriff’s eviction team, raised me on Chicago’s North side. Just two years before I was born there were three ugly murders. My mother warned me about strangers and a man named William Heirens. Heirens was the proverbial boogyman.

Two adult women Josephine Ross, Frances Brown and six year-old Suzanne Degnan, were murdered. The Degnan killing was unusually depraved because she was cut up and her body parts dumped in various catch basins in the neighborhood.

William Heirens confessed to these crimes and entered a Guilty Plea in court avoiding Cook County Jail’s busy electric chair. The way that happened is shameful in a civilized nation that claims to be fair and just.

There were also incredible similarities between the Degnan murder and the Lindberg kidnapping murder decades earlier. A ladder was found leading up to her window at her North Kenmore avenue apartment and police found a poorly drafted ransom note.

William Heirens was a juvenile serial burglar. He was also a genius who went from a Catholic reform school to the prestigious University of Chicago. He became one of many suspects.

Three men were hauled in for the Degnan murder in series of dreadful arrests. A janitor, Hector Verburgh, 65 was arrested, beaten until he confessed, smeared in the press as a deranged killer and soon released when it was learned he was unable to write English. He sued the cops and was awarded a money judgment.

Sidney Sherman was a recently discharged WWII marine living in the South side Hyde Park YMCA, who became the next subject of a nationwide dragnet for the Degnan murder. He was hauled in, took and passed a polygraph test and had an alibi. They released Sherman.

William Heirens, was soon bagged by the cops, beaten and forced to confess to the Degnan murder. The incredible film noir photographs of Heirens above speak for themselves. Over the years Chicago cops gained a reputation of being proficient medieval torturers who could get anyone to confess to anything.

Heirens was subjected to the unprecedented forced administration of the drug sodium pentathol and interrogated under its influence. The drug was debunked as a “truth serum” many decades ago. Police also compelled Heirens to recreate the crimes for press photographers.

At the apartment of Frances Brown there was a bloody fingerprint left behind that was the subject of mixed opinions as to being left by Heirens. He was excluded initially and later implicated by latent print examiners. The Brown apartment was also where that infamous message written in Brown’s lipstick, presumably by the killer, “For heavens sake catch me before I kill more I cannot control myself.” The media used that passage to call Heirens, The Lipstick Killer.

There was yet another confession however there was no beating or coercion involved. That came from a convicted child molester, Richard Russell Thomas. Thomas was a Chicago musician, nurse and a song-writer who was in custody of the Phoenix, Arizona police for an unrelated crime. Thomas freely confessed to the Degnan murder and it was learned he was a regular at a used car lot very close to Degnan’s home at the time of the murder.

About fifteen years ago ABC World News Tonight asked me to track Thomas down if I could for a story they were doing about Heirens. I soon leaned that Thomas had passed away in Austin, Texas. I located living family members that confirmed the confession and were actually convinced Thomas, not Heirens killed the little girl.

On an interesting side note, Thomas’ family members told me that he wrote the song that became a hit record for Les Paul and Mary Ford called, Vaya Con Dios My Darling. Thomas sold the song to the person now credited for its origin.

At the time of the ABC News request, the renowned death penalty lawyer, Jed Stone, represented Heirens. I called Stone who was very busy working on clemency for Heirens for information for our story. Later I found myself blessed to be working as Stone’s investigator on important cases and today we are good friends.

I learned that Heirens was recently given a medical furlough from the Dixon Correctional Center medium security prison in Dixon, Illinois. I know he was blind, in a wheelchair suffering from diabetes. Today Heirens 83 years-old and has served more time in prison that any other inmate in Illinois to date.

I contacted Stone who sadly told me that Heirens was sent to the hospice, is receiving a morphine drip and is not expected to survive the week. Stone gave me the following statement:

“Bill Heirens has spent over six decades behind bars for crimes he did not commit. And yet it cannot be said that Bill's life was wasted. He earned a college degree and learned to paint. He worked within the prison walls and earned the respect of wardens and guards, chaplains and inmates.

Bill became skilled as a prison lawyer and has written more winning briefs than most lawyers I know. At his 1995 clemency hearing the audience contained many men, once prisoners, now free, there to express gratitude for Bill Heirens.

As a boy growing up on Chicago's North side, I was told that Bill Heirens was the boogieman. Many years later when I became Bill's lawyer, he became my friend. We have exchanged birthday and holiday cards. One of his watercolors hangs prominently in my office library. I am saddened by the thought that I could not win his freedom.”

Update, I woke up to the news that William Heirens died hours after I posted this article. He died at Chicago’s UIC medical center. This morning he is at the Cook County Morgue. I suspect that there will be a memorial service of some type and we will all learn about positive contributions to society by this man. Heirens was 83.

That watercolor Painting:



Click here for more information...

Hate Mainstream Media Propaganda? Getting the Truth Out has Never Been Easier.

Los Angeles, CA—With the death of that young Internet giant Andrew Breitbart people are discovering what gave this genius the power and those financial rewards.

At a young age Breitbart began with two startup blogs, The Drudge Report and The Huffington Post taking them to incredible heights and readership. Those sites are user friendly, technical marvels that have all but destroyed TV news and mainstream paper publications. They began with the printed word, then soon added photographs and now there are significant amounts of quality video.

Those wonderful flat-panel TVs we own can now deliver Internet content that’s far more diverse and reliable than what CBS, NBC or ABC brought us. Unfortunately there are still not enough ordinary folks have the equipment and skills to deliver video content. That’s rapidly changing.

All that’s needed is someone with minimal skill, $5,000.00 worth of equipment and a decent broadband Internet connection. Now that really enables and facilitates democratization of a truly magical form of mass media. Yes, even you can do this.

Cameras are smaller, better and cheaper than ever. That creates vast opportunities to locate, document and expose government abuse and corruption. Government workers are in a position to see how billions of dollars are wasted and can pull a really tiny camera out, shoot it and and show the world once the video is uploaded.

Need training you say? There’s lots of it out there free on YouTube. There is hardly a piece of equipment in existence that someone has not created a tutorial to help you learn. There are schools that offer both classroom and on-line instruction such as the New York Video School.

Andrew Breitbart was a Conservative political bomb thrower that was either loved or hated. There was no middle ground with this icon. No matter your political beliefs you can learn from Breitbart’s accomplishments. Breitbart should be an inspiration to everyone that they too can have a voice.

If you want to avoid that political intrigue, conflict and discord you can help the world master skills that have benefitted you. Of course you can develop your skills as an entertainer too.

Age is a huge issue with the Internet since millions of older people don’t think they can learn. They’re dead wrong. They can overcome technophobia if they bother to try. They include too many doctors, lawyers and other educated professionals. They are our parents and we need to help them with this aspect.

Here is a video about video production equipment I put up a while ago...

The African-American Culture of Violence Explodes in Arizona as 13 are shot at Rapper Venue

(Nipsy Hussel is the fellow pictured smoking the roach)

Tempe, AZ—In this suburb of Phoenix, rapper Nipsey Hussle was set to perform when a dispute escalated into gunfire. It apparently began within the large crowd of African-Americans that were waiting to enter, The Clubhouse.

During the shooting witnesses say a stampede broke out as people panicked. The wounded began appearing at local hospitals. At least two people are in serious, but stable condition.

A Tempe police spokesman says they don’t yet know what sparked the violence but say they are searching for two African-American male suspects that fled the scene.

Andrew Breitbart was an Internet Genius

Los Angeles, CA—They either loved or hated Andrew Breitbart subject to their particular political orientation.

Breitbart began as a behind the scenes creative force behind both the Drudge Report and the Huffington Post.

Soon it was his very own Big Government and Big Hollywood. Breitbart was a master at throwing hot blog content bombs and making waves on the World Wide Web.

Breitbart rallied against the formerly all-powerful liberal and politically unified mainstream media in America.

Breitbat made a huge difference in the information world during his short life.

When you create an Internet news site the most difficult task it to publicize your offering so that the visitors learn of your existence. That can be painfully slow process.

I’ve watched great writers and reporters come and go that could only establish double digit hits per day. I have watched less talented quickly gain tens of thousands of hit per day.

It’s all about figuring out old-fashioned publicity stunts or for that matter any method that will get you noticed. Breitbart knew where and how to generate viral content. That is the secret to success publishing on the Internet.

Phone calls and mouse clicks made by a web promotion expert like Breitbart make some bloggers rich. If you can garner 300,000 hits a day you can quit your day job since advertisers will support you.

I’ve not figured out how to do that yet. There are millions of people out there that would love my content but they don’t yet know I exist. Of course if I break news rather than just report it that’s always helps because others will point the way to me.

If the masses either love you or hate you it will bring success in blogging. The expected relative safety of measured and moderate blogging is a guaranteed slow and painful Internet death.

My readers tend to be either cops, gun rights advocates, lawyers and some TV news folks I’ve worked with over the years.

I’d love to have the funding to travel to where news and history is being made. That’s just not happening for me yet. But I continue forward every day. I will continue as long as it's fun.

An Eyewitness Speaks Out About Andrew Breitbart’s Death Scene.

Los Angeles, CA—It was just after midnight when Christopher Lasseter was walking his little dog in Brentwood. He watched a man he now knows to be Andrew Breitbart crossing Barrington from The Brentwood.

Beritbart was walking without apparent distress in the direction of the Starbucks across the well-lit street. Once Breitbart stepped up on the curb, as Lasseter put it, “He fell hard like a sack of Potatoes.”

A man unknown to Lasseter called 911. The 911 operator told them to begin chest compressions on Beritbart until the police and paramedics arrived.

The very top photo shows where Breitbart died on his back with his head close to the lamp post on the left and his feet under the newspaper vending machine to the right.

Lasseter described Breitbart’s skin color as bright red.

I obtained the interview on video but it’s now property of TMZ.com so look for it over there. I will post a link here once it’s available.

We will be waiting with bated breath for the Medical Examiner's and the Toxicology Reports to know exactly what cut a young man's life short.

Update:  This video investigative report was requested from me by WND and was posted on May 9, 2012:

Did an ACORN Operative Murder Andrew Breitbart?

Los Angeles, CA—Conservative blogger, Andrew Breitbart cost ACORN as much as $1 billion after exposing this criminal enterprise organization’s activities.

ACORN was mired in massive vote fraud shenanigans in their successful-win at any cost effort to elect Barack Obama.

Obama directed massive taxpayer handouts to ACORN in return. However Congress obstructed that effort when Andrew Breitbart published hidden video of routine government loan fraud by ACORN staffers.

ACORN wound up shuttering offices and quickly restructuring their assets.

The former community organizer, Barack Obama and ACORN were always joined at the hip. Obama is vital to ACORN’s survival.

Andrew Breitbart was reportedly only hours away from releasing embarrassing videotapes of Barack Obama. The timing of Breitbart’s death is beyond suspect.

That kind of money in the hands of the ACORN criminal enterprise can easily facilitate an assassination of nearly anyone. Breitbart had to be at the very top of their enemy list.

Now the political extreme Left in America is desperate as their Messiah has an approval rating far below that required for reelection.

ACORN has redundantly proven that they will resort to major felony crimes in the course of their business. What’s a little murder?

It was beyond laughable when authorities quickly branded Breitbart’s death as “natural causes” without an attending physician’s statement. Breitbart's body had not yet cooled before they passed judgment.

The LAPD and the Medical examiner must look carefully at the facts here and look for any signs of foul play.

There are drugs available to mimic more than one natural death. Some of those drugs escape detection of the normal toxicology examinations. ACORN has nearly limitless assets for their nefarious activities.

Americans must make sure that this death is properly investigated and cover-ups are not tolerated.