A new investigation is expected to be launched into the criminal activities of Chicago Alderman Edward M. Burke and his wife, Illinois Supreme Court Justice, Anne M. Burke. The Burkes are accused of fixing murder cases and at least one high profile child molestation case. There are some serious issues involving statutes of limitations that won’t affect State Bar and judicial conduct matters. There are plenty of matters recent enough to bring indictments. Payoffs in the form of contracts awarded for Chicago’s legal work, Chicago Mob ties, new ghost pay-rolling allegations, along with fixing a court appeal to help the Emerald Gambling Casino regain their revoked license will all be under a new government microscope. Alderman Burke was the son of a politically appointed Sheriff’s Deputy who rose through political ranks. Burke became a Chicago cop in 1965 and worked his way through DePaul Law School. When Burke’s father died in 1968 the younger Burke took a leave of absence from the p...

It’s very difficult to find success as an actor in Hollywood. First you have to be able to perform before cameras and audiences without looking like a deer caught in the headlights of a speeding car. As far as acting skills go I will point you to two multi-millionaire stars, Steven Segal and William Shatner. The reality is that the Hollywood gate keepers are the established agents. Agents can make nearly any homeless man or woman an instant millionaire if they simply are able stand still and talk. Usually its relatives, bed-mates or close friends of Hollywood powerbrokers that are made into stars. Of course there are those very talented exceptions that can do things like sing, dance or act better than anyone who make it on their own merits. If an agent drops an actor and he’s not picked up by another he will be waiting tables as soon as the money he or she already earned runs out. An agent-less actor is an unemployed actor. Producers and their casting directors rarely audition unrepres...

Los Angeles--Lois Nettleton was a terrific actress who was believable in any role she ever played. She was captivating in early and memorable episodes of the Twilight Zone and hundreds of significant roles on stage, screen and television. In Recent years Nettleton had a recurring role in Crossing Jordan. Today she’s been reported to have died of Lung Cancer. Nettleton was born In the Chicago Suburb of Oak Park, IL. She competed in beauty contests becoming both Miss Chicago and a runner-up in the Miss America Contest. Along the way she attended and graduated from my own Alma Mater, Senn High School on Chicago’s North Side. Nettleton gained her acting chops at the prestigious Goodman Theater of Chicago’s Art Institute. I’ll never forget Nettleton's role opposite Maximilian Schell in that great film, Man In The Glass Booth in 1975. She played Miriam “Mimi” Rosen, an Israeli prosecutor on a mission to hang a wealthy Jewish-German-American immigrant who orchestrated the theft of the ide...

You’ve heard it said over and over that we have the very best criminal justice system in the world. Best perhaps but far from perfect as we keep changing the rules to make convictions easier for prosecutors to win. Take young Alton Logan. Did I say young? Today Logan is 54 years-old,and languishing in an Illinois prison cell for more than half of his life. Logan was young when he arrived on that prison bus, but that was 26 years ago. Logan became a convicted murderer, doing life for killing a security guard at a McDonald’s restaurant on Chicago’s South Side. During the January 11, 1982, robbery at the McDonald's at 11421 S. Halsted St., security guard Lloyd Wycliffe was killed by a shotgun blast and another security guard, Alvin Thompson, were wounded. The gunmen got no money, but stole the guards' handguns. Just one month later, another man Edgar Hope, Killed one Chicago cop and wounded another aboard a CTA bus Hope used a McDonald’s guard’s stolen handgun to do the deed. Soon...

Imaging being cast in movies as the cool and suave spy, 007. Then you meet really sexy girl and you marry her. Later, after having children and the yummiest food in your refrigerator your wife begins to change. That’s bad enough but TMZ roving photographers will share your wife’s new figure with the world. Stop with those whale jokes already! Harvey, you’re a son of a bitch!

Okay, there were some very serious incidents and corruption within the ranks of Chicago cops in recent times. City politicians sacked the 32 year old, civilian run Office of Professional Standards in favor of a new, Independent Police Review Authority. Now because of a backlog of investigations the city has turned to outside lawyers and private investigators to work these cases. At first blush I want to condemn this idea as insane. But then I have to say that rotten departmental politics and associated outside political corruption have destroyed the careers of many fine officers. The department rigged results in too many cases rather than conduct fair or impartial investigations. The backlog of cases needs to be addressed another simple and inexpensive way. All complaints would be reduced by 70% by just doing the following: 1. Require all complaints to be made under oath. 2. Every case of a false report should be prosecuted. Sending these cases to outsiders is unprecedented in any...

GRAYSLAKE, Il. Christopher Berger, 18, is an honor student at Grayslake Central High School who faces an adult criminal record for the rest of his life. Why you ask? It seems that school officials found the lad’s jacket on school property, searched the pockets and found a small multi-tool that contained a knife blade. Police were called and in addition to school punishment Berger was charged with Reckless Conduct and now needs a lawyer. Illinois is one of those states that have written law after law banning every possible type of instrument that could be used to inflict harm. When I was a Boy Scout attending Catholic school, on meeting days we proudly carried our Boy Scout knives on a chain from our belts. No, we did not arrange West Side Story style rumbles nor did any animals suffer because of our “Reckless Conduct”. That of course was long before the Uber Liberals had total control of Illinois state and local government. Berger is clearly the victim of yet another insane Zero ...

It was closing time at the San Francisco Zoo and three young fellows were at or near the tiger exhibit. The actions of the trio are subject to speculation but the results were not. An obviously agitated tiger found her way out of the enclosure and began to dine on the three visitors killing one. No, I can’t blame the tiger for being a large carnivore and stepping out for a little snack. But there must have been a lot more than hunger involved. How many thousands of visitors could visit these magnificent creatures without such a mishap? I can’t help but believe that the lads were mean spirited and taunted the tiger causing the event. If that was the case I think that was another example of Darwin’s law and some truly poetic justice.

Miguel Pereira, the owner of You Ring We Spring bail bonds arranged to get O.J. Simpson released for bragging rights and to see himself on TV. Pereira also waived Simpson’s premium payment of $18,000.00. When Pereira’s publicity ran out he saw the opportunity to personally take Simpson into custody and grace TV sets worldwide with his own image. Pereira saved Simpson’s November rambling recorded telephone message for a second wave of publicity where he could be the star. Plain and simple, Miguel Pereira is a big fat rat who sought fame at Simpson’s expense. Did Simpson’s phone call really amount to an attempt to influence or intimidate a witness? The answer is clearly, no. Had that been the case prosecutors would have convened a grand Jury and Indicted Simpson on new charges before sundown. Bail is our Sixth Amendment Constitutional right should we ever be accused of a crime. The purpose of bail is to insure the appearance of the suspect in court. Courts have later ruled that in additi...

I was drafted for that war and was sent to be a medical corpsman in Germany somehow avoiding the death and destruction in Viet Nam. I watched the total sellout of the people we promised to protect from the yoke of Communism. Many soldiers returned who like Green Beret Sergeant Barry Sadler never had their name inscribed on the Viet Nam War Memorial. A wounded Sergeant Sadler returned home and would later die at his own hands in 1989 despite the achievement of his hit song, and some minor publishing success. In a side drama, Sergeant Sadler was arrested, tried and acquitted for the 1978 murder of Nashville song writer Lee Emerson. Watch as Sergeant Sadler sings his hit song, The Ballad Of The Green Beret.

For those old enough to remember, our politicians assured us that Social Security numbers would only be used for benefits and not identification. Okay their lied. Our Social Security number became our number one identification landmark. Now Secretary Michael Chertoff, head of the Department of Homeland Security has told us that we need to adopt the REAL ID program or we will all die from terrorist attacks. Real ID is the back door attempt at creating a National Identity Card from all the driver’s licenses and state issued ID cards made uniform, secure and tamper-proof loaded into a single BIG BROTHER database. You can always argue the benefits to public safety of total government control over all Americans. I'd argue government only need register, identify and keep tabs on criminals, foreigners and terrorists. They’ve never done that very well and now they demand total control over all of us. Chertoff claimed only terrorists and enemy agents would object to REAL ID. I think...

We all know about On Star service offered with today’s automobiles. It’s designed to help you in emergencies and lots of good things. There is also a huge Big Brother aspect that could even allow the remote monitoring of your conversations as you drive the streets and highways. That takes me to the latest service I’m offering to my clients, MOM STAR! When I think of a composite American mother I think of the role model for all times Mrs. Cleaver. She of course was the mother of Wally and Theodore Beaver” Cleaver on the 50s TV show, Leave It To Beaver. Any good mom is slow to cut the apron strings to her children and continue to worry about their well being for the rest of their lives. Moms specialize in keeping us all from engaging in risky behavior. It may well be true that none of us would have lived without our mom’s protection. We all have to allow our children to learn how to drive and somehow provide them with safe and secure basic transportation. Our kids all want the fas...

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge, Tia Fisher exemplifies why gun laws hurt rather than help public safety. Convicted felon, Curtis Harris, 34 could not possess a weapon because of state and federal gun laws that even the National rifle Association support. Nobody wants convicted criminals running around with guns except maybe Judge Fisher. You see this felon Curtis Harris was not a model citizen or husband. He had used duct tape, handcuffs and a stun gun to kidnap his wife, Monica Harris, 37. This miscreant had a previous felony conviction and later reoffended in two incidents in which he kidnapped his wife over a three-day time span in November. Harris’s lawyer worked out a deal for him to plead guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and was waiting for his sentencing to a new 16 month prison term. Harris waited not in jail but out on the street without any bail requirement, courtesy of Judge Fisher. Curtis Harris was free to do what was next. Curtis Harr...

Conservatives loathe this divisive, Left Wing lighting rod that reeks of deception and tired Karl Marx Bolshevism. Mrs. Clinton targeted and tried to turn American’s gun owners into criminals. She sought to bring welfare mothers and their children into America’s Veteran’s hospitals under her first un-American healthcare plan. Bigger taxes, bigger government and less freedom, was and is Clinton’s hallmark. Whitehouse scandals during the last Clinton administration all included questionable conduct by this former First Lady. Her husband has the distinction to be only the second American President to be impeached. Her husband was the only president caught lying while under oath. You may argue that she should not pay for her husband’s wrongs but she never condemned them either. Iowa voters have spoken well. Mrs. Clinton, stop wasting our time, you’re not wanted. Please just go away!

More than two decades beyond 1984 the Thought Police have a huge presence and demand unlimited access inside our heads. Nonsense you say? Just ask Michael T Arnold. He returned from the Philippines to the LAX Airport with his laptop computer and U.S. Customs during a routine search read his mind or in this case his computer hard drive. Unfortunately Arnold’s thoughts about children engaged in sexual activity. Child pornography was located on the computer’s hard drive and now Arnold faces years in prison. Los Angeles Federal Judge, Dean D. Pregerson granted a defense motion to suppress the hard drive evidence from court proceedings. The government lawyers appealed and we now will wait for the courts to speak about this issue. The prognosis for Mr. Arnold and the privacy of the rest of the nation is not good. The Fifth Circuit Court Of Appeals seems to think a hard drive that contains financial, reminder memos, lawyer client, doctor patient, and trade secret information deserve...

We all know Britney Spears was sent against her will for a mental evaluation that was interrupted well short of the normal 72 hour period. It was cut short for one reason and one reason only the physicians at Cedar Sinai Hospital felt she was not a danger to herself or others. Sure Spears has done some nutty things but the diagnosis for mental illness is the within the province of medical experts examining Spears not the exaggerated media reports or the public’s conjecture and gossip. I have to ask what prompted this LAPD SWAT standoff. I suspect I know the answer. Spears’ ex-husband Kevin Federline called the cops and suggested that Spears was drug intoxicated, insane and armed with a handgun. Yes, Spears owns at least one handgun and that troubles the LAPD enough for them to error on the side of taking Spear’s gun away from her even absent any evidence of a crime. If that’s the case I understand why Spears refused police demands. Her rights were violated. What about the unwant...

Los Angeles—The very troubled Britney Spears is in Cedar Sinai Hospital for a much needed mental health evaluation. Police responding to a custody dispute found the irrational singer in a state where she may pose a danger to herself or others. The standard protocol for police and paramedics was followed by signing Spears in for mental health observation and treatment. Spear’s behavior for the past couple of years seems to be influenced by the scandal sheets and TMZ.com. Spears has become sad caricature of a circus performer dancing at the direction of the likes of cruel paparazzi photographers who are laughing at this suffering creature rather than with her. It’s only a matter of time before police or paramedics find this once vibrant, talented and beautiful young woman dead, perhaps after she hangs herself or intentionally ingests a lethal drug overdose. The public’s morbid need to consume the fringe media products should be listed as the cause of death for Britney Spears. I ha...

Dublin, CA—One of Gerald Ford’s Would-be killers walked out of prison today after spending over 32 years behind bars. It was September 22, 1975 when Sarah Jane Moore raised her five shot .38 caliber, Smith & Wesson Model 60 revolver, aimed and got one round off as a disabled former Marine interfered with Moore’s attempt grappling with her. Secret service agents quickly took Moore into custody. Mooer hated Ford for his pardoning of former President Richard Nixon. Moore was influenced by far Left political idealisms. Less than three weeks earlier, a Charles Manson follower, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromm tried killing Ford with a Model 1911 Colt .45 semi-automatic pistol. Thankfully Fromm was unfamiliar with her weapon and secret service agents stopped her before she could fire any rounds. Fromm is still in prison today. Sarah Jane Moore is 77 years-old now and has denounced her actions long ago. My bet is that Moore lives her life out peacefully. After spending so long in prison ad...

I can only imagine the huge hullaballoo that would result in Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago or Los Angeles if cops saw this vehicle in those jurisdictions. News helicopters would be flying overhead as the big city cops arrest the vehicle’s driver at gunpoint. Prosecutors in those places would be demanding a very stiff prison sentence even though this gun nor any like it have ever been used in a crime in America. The sight of this vehicle on a public street would put most big-city Liberals into cardiac arrest. The fact is this .50 caliber machinegun is perfectly legal in a lot of states. Who owns this little toy you ask? An outfit in the Denver area called Machinegun Tours . I spotted this little gem outside a gun show in Denver while on an assignment there yesterday. They use this Hummer to promote their business. It pays to advertise.

I’m about to expose “classified information” about some internal workings and policies of the Transportation Security Administration. This is being written with the hope that the Flight Deck Officer (FDO) program will be taken away from the TSA and placed where it belongs, under a real law enforcement agency such as the United States Marshall’s Office. Classifying government information was intended as a way to safeguard vital information from falling into the hands of our enemies. The TSA seems to only classify information to cover up their own ineptitude, ignorance and incompetence. As a certified law-enforcement firearms trainer I have more than a passing interest in this type of activity, laws and policies. The FDOs are airline pilots who have been specially screened and trained so they can carry firearms in order to protect the cockpits of their aircraft. Under TSA rules the FDOs are forbidden to take any action outside of the cockpit to protect passengers and crew. Limiting the F...