Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Thursday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

Hello, I watched part of the impeachment hearings this morning from a chair in a dentist’s office, how did your day go?


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Actually, I was only in emotional pain derived from a batshit, post-fact country falling into tyranny mixed with the sheer frustration of a state government that is finally run like a business. Unfortunately, that business is Comcast.


The dental part didn’t hurt at all. That part comes in a later procedure – and you’ll hear all about it!
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Friday Programming Notes
Me and Jim “Coach” Coffman are planning to record The Beachwood Radio Sports Hour on Saturday this week because I’ll be doing this on Friday morning . . .

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ISIS ISIS Baby
“He is the purported leader of the ‘AHK Street Gang,’ a gang in the Chicago area that traffics various narcotics throughout the city region, including heroin and cocaine, according to the Department of Justice,” CNN reports.
“But Thursday, Jason Brown stepped into a federal courtroom not on drug charges, but for allegedly attempting to provide material support to ISIS.”
I don’t have a particular reason to doubt this, but history tells us to be wary of DOJ overkill i these type of cases.
“Specifically, the Department of Justice alleges that on three separate occasions this year, ‘Brown provided $500 to a confidential source with the intent that the $500 be wired to an individual Brown believed was an ISIS soldier engaged in active combat in Syria.’ That individual was confidentially working with law enforcement, the DOJ says.”
So Brown is the purported leader of a Chicago street gang that trafficks various drugs including heroin and cocaine, yet he still mustered just $500 for his favorite cause? That’s an unpaid boot bill in Chicago; not exactly the stuff of worldwide domination.
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“While Brown was serving time for a previous arrest in 2016, the criminal complaint alleges, he was ‘radicalized in prison.'”
Now that I can believe.
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“Three days after the Department of Justice announced Brown’s arrest, federal authorities arrested 20-year-old Thomas Osadzinski, a student at DePaul University, for the same charge – attempting to provide material support to ISIS.
“The criminal complaint in Osadzinski’s case alleges he designed a process to make ISIS propaganda more conveniently accessed and disseminated by users on a social media platform.”
Hmm, that sounds a little loose.
“According to the complaint, Osadzinski designed a process that uses a computer script to make ISIS propaganda easier to access and disseminate on a social media platform, bypassing preventive code which routinely removes ISIS content due to the violent nature of the materials,” USA Today reports.
“The complaint, however, did not identify the social media platform, saying only that it was a mobile and desktop messaging application.”
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“In February, an information technology professional who had met Osadzinski through his computer science studies called the student under the guise of discussing computer science programs. The source befriended Osadzinski and falsely told him that he, too, was an ISIS supporter. The source met with Osadzinski in person five times.
“The two became close. Osadzinski told the source about his plans to meet up with his prospective spouse in Indonesia. He detailed his research into the FBI agent that he suspected was tailing him, revealing that he knew details about the agent’s father. Osadzinski also showed the source screenshots of messages he had sent to individuals in Chechnya, instructing them on how to use the code.
“The confidential source has been involved with multiple FBI investigations since 2013 and has been paid approximately $350,000, according to the complaint.”
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Vice Lord
“A former vice chancellor at the City Colleges of Chicago, along with his wife and other former City Colleges employees, were indicted in federal court for engaging in a $350,000 kickback scheme that awarded contracts to companies tied to the former official, his wife and other City Colleges employees,” WBEZ reports.
“Sherod Gordon, 45, of Oak Park, is charged with 16 counts of wire fraud. Gordon served as associate vice chancellor of community relations and student recruitment before serving as vice chancellor of legislative and community affairs until 2017. The alleged scheme took place between 2013 and 2017.
“According to the indictment announced Wednesday, some City Colleges employees and Gordon’s outside associates created companies to apply for community canvassing and flyer distribution contracts that Gordon oversaw. Sometimes, work was never performed even though City Colleges paid submitted invoices, the indictment alleges. In some cases, Gordon received payments from vendor companies, with some of those payments coming as kickbacks.”
A for effort!
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New on the Beachwood today . . .
The State Of Stop-And-Frisk In Chicago
“In his report, Keys lauded Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration for what he called ‘the sea change‘ he has seen in the city’s level of cooperation since she took office in May.”
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For-Profit Colleges Tap Fox News Host To Influence Trump
“[Pete] Hegseth refused to comment. ‘I can’t give interviews because I work for Fox News,’ he said before hanging up.”
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Bloodshot Records’ Defiant 25th Year In Review
Reasons to believe.
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Andy Warcrime’s Best Nonfiction Of The Last 25 Years
At least one author on the list is a Chicagoan.
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Studies: For Certain Sports, Concussion Rates Are Higher In Female Athletes Than Males
“The researchers conclude their findings demonstrate a need for further interventions to reduce concussion rates, such as the required use of protective head equipment in women’s sports, the adoption of neck-strengthening exercises and other prevention training, and greater enforcement of rules to decrease levels of contact in men’s sports.”
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ChicagoReddit

Ahead of move back to Soldier Field, Chicago Fire unveils new logo, color scheme, and slight change of name (Chicago Fire FC) from r/chicago


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ChicagoGram

View this post on Instagram

I feel my Zygomatic Bone when it rains. . . . #zygomaticbone #anatomy #skull

A post shared by Michelle Graves (@gravesmichelle) on


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ChicagoTube
Pete Yorn at the Metro on Tuesday night.

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BeachBook
An Unseen Victim Of The College Admissions Scandal: The High School Tennis Champion Aced Out By A Billionaire Family.

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Baltimore Museum Of Art Will Only Acquire Works From Women Next Year: ‘You Have To Do Something Radical.’

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Christie’s Joins The Race For Millennial Buyers With Its Own Sale Of Supreme Skateboards In Latest Validation That Some People Will Never Get It.

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Growing Up With, And Outgrowing, Elvis Costello.

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Veteran Minneapolis Music Writer Jim Walsh Digs Through His Wilco Archives.

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TweetWood
A sampling of the (non-impeachment) delight and disgust you can find @BeachwoodReport. You’ll have to go right to the source for the impeachment tweets.


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Well, one impeachment tweet. Gold.


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Preach.


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The Beachwood Holiday Train Tip Line: Chicago-style.

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Posted on November 21, 2019