A Brief History On January 11. 2003, Governor George Ryan took the extraordinary step of commuting the sentences of 167 Illinois Death Row inmates to life in prison due to the scandal that had rocked the Chicago Police Department, in which Detective Jon Burge was accused of torturing confessions out of over 200 arrestees. Burge was convicted of obstruction of justice and perjury, later serving 3 years in jail for his crimes. Digging Deeper Burge, a Vietnam War veteran, had earned a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart while in combat. After leaving the Army, he had joined the Chicago…
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A Brief History On January 8, 2018, we look back to only one day ago, yesterday, when we listed 10 of the Jerks of the Year for 2017. We quickly realized that our list was not long enough! So today, we list 10 MORE Jerks of the Year for 2017. Digging Deeper 1. Madonna, singer/revolutionary. While women across the US were getting all upset over Donald Trump becoming President, Madonna made a rash remark about blowing up the White House, a terribly poor choice of remarks. (Dishonorable mention: Meryl Streep who foolishly dissed fans of MMA and football.) 2. Hillary Clinton,…
A Brief History On January 7, 2018, we look back at the tumultuous year of 2017 and the jerks that made the year so interesting. Politics, sexual harassment, crimes, terrorism, and general buffoonery ruled the year, and we now recognize 10 of the most egregious offenders of 2017. Digging Deeper 1. Stephen Paddock, Mass Murderer. This guy has to come first. He holed up in the Mandalay Bay Hotel of Las Vegas and opened fire on a large crowd attending an outdoor country music concert, killing 58 people and wounding another 546. At this time we still are not sure what…
A Brief History On January 5, 1066, Edward the Confessor of England died, setting the stage for what became the Norman Conquest. On January 5, 1500, Charles the Bold also died, killed in battle. Of course, this guy is not to be confused with Charles the Bald, although he was also known as Charles the Rash, but not because of a skin condition! In the past we have pointed out the odd names bestowed upon historical figures, and today we speculate about what names our current crop of luminaries would be called if people still were named according to a…
A Brief History On January 2, 1991, Sharon Pratt Kelly became the first African American woman mayor of a large American city when she was sworn in as mayor of Washington, D.C. Only the third mayor of our nation’s capital, Kelly served until succeeded by Marion Barry on January 2, 1995. In fact, it was the same Marion Barry that Pratt had succeeded as mayor herself! Digging Deeper Born in the capital in 1944, Sharon went on to graduate from Howard University and continued her education there until she earned her Juris Doctor degree in 1968. While at Howard, she…