Michael Franzese on the NBA betting scandal arrests

 

[VIDEO] Former Columbo crime family captain discusses how the mob operates when it comes to athletes (college or professional) involvement in sports gambling. He illustrates how the mafia (perhaps any organized criminal organizations) are able to sink their teeth into these athletes.

Chicago Tribune: NBA’s Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups charged in sprawling sports betting and Mafia-backed poker schemes

Valuetainment: Confessions of the Mafia hitman for Tony Spilotro

 

[VIDEO] This interview was uploaded to YouTube in June 2019. Frank Cullotta was an associate of Chicago mob caporegime Tony Spilotro and was very involved in the criminal activity occurring in Las Vegas. That was until a botched robbery and fearing Spilotro would kill him led Cullotta to turn informant.

Cullotta speaks of his life how he met Spilotro, surely he speaks of his involvement in the film Casino. And his life after leaving the criminal underworld. His interview with Patrick Ben David was very interesting.

Cullotta died in 2020 of coronavirus and probably time to watch Casino again.

Al Capone

 The classic Chicago mob boss is getting recognition for his historical impact. He died 75 years ago, actually he died on January 25, 1947. The story goes that his mind was going bad due to syphilis. Aside from his rather outlaw reputation as a violent gangster he also had a side which was great for public relations.

Either way former mobster Michael Franzese did a video about highlighting primarily the good and does cover a lot of the bad. What he notes that in spite of being in the life Capone was a dedicated family man and was so until his untimely demise at the age of 48. [VIDEO]

And how about a local story. Believe it or not the gang that Capone was at the top of during the Roaring 20s actually still exists. Perhaps not what it was 100 years ago having been decimated by the legalization of some aspects of gambling also by aggressive federal prosecutions. The reporter you see here Chuck Goudie of the ABC affiliate in Chicago discussing what we call the Chicago Outfit and Al Capone's legacy he himself has done significant reporting on the Chicago mob. [VIDEO]

One could find this fascinating, however, remember one thing crime doesn't pay. You may have money, prestige, respect, fear or even women, however, it's still a violent lifestyle. And one concern ought to be not who might be coming for you, it should be whether or not you might spend a lifetime behind bars. Something to think about when we look at these crime figures.

Casino

 

[VIDEO] I saw the film Casino over the holidays. It's a Martin Scorsese picture which basically is about the story surrounding the skim of Las Vegas casino's.

In this movie, a man by the name of Sam "Ace" Rothstein arrived on the scene to take control of the Tangiers Casino. The mob put some money behind this casino as illustrated during the course of this movie. After seemingly being concerned about his role or having a license Rothstein who's known as a bookmaker that specializes in betting, takes to his role in the casino with vigor.

Of course there would be no mob movie with members of the Mafia. We get treated to the criminal exploits of Nicky Santoro who was sent by the Midwestern Mafia crime syndicates to Las Vegas to look over their interests. He quickly forms a gang specializing in burglary, the like to cut holes in the targets of the burglaries. In real life as this film's basis this gang was known as the Hole in the Wall Gang.

Anyway the train wreck begins when Rothstein marries a beautiful hustler named Ginger McKenna. He woos her with money, however, it seems she has issues that money just won't be able to solve. We see the marriage of Rothstein and Ginger unravel as we head towards the end of the movie.

Then we see Santoro meet his demise as his counterpart does in real life. We see the life that Rothstein enjoyed also unravel as he is denied his license so he can run the fictional Tangiers due to his own ties to organized crime. And worse still he becomes the subject of a very explosive assassination attempt.

The mobsters who were profiting from the casino skim in Las Vegas well they go under the scrutiny of federal authorities. We find out that Las Vegas has become more of a family friend town which is no longer funded by the illicit activities of gangsters. Rothstein survives living in a home in California back to what he does best being an odds maker for sports betting.

I enjoy this movie because in real life a lot of the characters with Rothstein and Santoro were actually Chicago based. I learned that one of the consultants for this movie was a Chicago gangster - though not a "made man" - named Frank Cullotta who you might have seen in a few brief scenes in the movie as a mafia hitman. His character was represented by Frank Vincent - Mr. "Go get your shine box".

Goodfellas

There are no specifics as far as which cities were involved with the skim. We know that this is primarily a Midwestern operation. Kansas City, Missouri is mentioned the most in this film though in real life Chicago and Milwaukee were noted as part of the casino skim in Las Vegas.

So basically the lights of Las Vegas is the most appealing part of this movie. Seeing a man grow into his role of running a casino being given the non-descript title of food and beverage manager. Then it all falls apart from the bedroom to the casino to even falling apart in front of the gaming commission. One scene was inspired by Lefty Frank Rosenthal (Ace Rothstein) and his confrontation of future U.S. Senator Harry Reid. And from the fallout with the mafia to ultimately a very explosive attempt on Rothstein's life just shows us the web that was tangled.

I can't wait for my next visit to Vegas which doesn't have as much organized crime influence as it might have in the 1970s. It's probably more family friendly relatively speaking, and if I wanted a blueberry muffin I hope chefs in casino kitchens use enough blueberries in each muffin. I probably won't be gambling, however, it would be cool to at least visit The Stardust which was one of the casinos that Lefty Rosenthal was charged with running at the behest of the Midwestern crime syndicates.

Beyond that it was great to finally see this movie again after so many years....

Mr. Beat's brief history of the Italian-American mafia

 

[VIDEO] I've been binge watching the many informative material of one Mr. Beat who is a legit social studies teacher sharing his knowledge to a YouTube audience. And just on Xmas eve I binged watched two mob movies such as GoodFellas & Casino. I tweeted about both when I was watching those films. Mr. Beat talks about the Italian-American mafia and how they became so big here in America.

Amtrak train shooting in Tucson, AZ

 

[VIDEO] If I have the time to do so I do like to watch Amtrak's Sunset Limited arrive in Tucson, Arizona. Usually like to catch the eastbound train stop in Tucson and it appears to be a very long layover ( about an hour). It appears that there is not only a stop to stretch your legs it's a servicing stop for the train.

Well, I didn't see the stream this morning and I'm glad I didn't. There was a shooting on the train and Virtual Railfan who operates the live webcam has since shuttered the feed for the time being. A DEA agent and a suspect were killed in the shooting about the train. What you see above is what you would've seen on the live webcam via Virtual Railfan.

I saw a condensed AP video that said this the shooting was as a result of a random search for contraband on board the train. The suspect was later found dead in an onboard lavatory on the train. [VIDEO]

I'm curious if they canceled the train so that the police can secure the crime scene and for Amtrak to later clean up the car for future service. I'm also curious if the train will remain in the Tucson area until the police is through with their work.

Looking forward to the Tucson feed being available again on YouTube especially. It was amazing last winter to see snowfall there in a desert city like Tucson, Arizona.

As always happy travels and be careful out there! 

TMZ: YouTuber Jake Paul raided by FBI

I just found out about this tonight, and confused Jake with is brother Logan who's a very prominent YouTuber who himself isn't a stranger to controversy. More on that in a minute, however, whats' going on with Jake Paul?

BREAKING: Jake Paul's Home Being Searched by FBI, Warrant Issuedhttps://t.co/O374YESUYg

— TMZ (@TMZ) August 5, 2020

3:06 PM PT -- It appears almost certain Wednesday's raids in Calabasas and Vegas have to do with Jake's Scottsdale arrest. Armani Izadi -- a longtime collaborator and former friend of Jake's -- owns the Vegas home that was raided by the FBI. Izadi was also arrested with Jake in Scottsdale.

2:08 PM PT -- The FBI has just played its hand -- partially -- and revealed the raid is somehow in connection with Jake getting arrested in Scottsdale during a George Floyd protest. The FBI tells TMZ, "The FBI is investigating allegations of criminal acts surrounding the incident at Scottsdale Fashion Square in May, 2020."

Jake was in the mall and arrested for trespass and was charged with a criminal misdemeanor, but the City Attorney has dropped the case -- it appears at the behest of the FBI -- and the more serious investigation has taken precedence.

I really don't follow Logan or Jake Paul's YouTube channels but it seems both of these young men have had some controversies as YouTubers. Indeed it was noted by TMZ that some of Jake Paul's stunts on YouTube had gotten him into trouble over the years.

As far as Logan Paul, Casey Neistat had a lengthy interview with him over two years ago which explains some aspects of his controversy. Logan paid a visit to a forest and recorded the remains of a person who committed suicide. I've never seen that video, however, Logan had to answer for that with Casey and its said that after that incident changed his strategy. [VIDEO]

I hope you enjoy yet another change of pace on this blog, although I'm sorry to have yet mentioned the name George Floyd once again on this blog. As you see from the above excerpt Jake Paul was arrested during a Floyd protest back in May.

Controversy around Nate Parker

I've struck out some factual mistakes and made some corrections on August 29, 2016. My apologies for them. - Levois
 
I've been hearing about this for a while now. Nate Parker who has a movie coming out in October - The Birth of a Nation. Lately he's been mired in bad press over a past rape charge for which he had been tried and convicted acquitted.

At Instapundit we see a rebuttal to this. Basically it's that men unfortunately have often been unable to shake any charge of rape even after they were found innocent or acquitted. The rebuttal is basally we believe the victim over the accused even if it turns out the accused may not have committed the crime after all.

This is what happened to Mr. Parker and is what's happening. Unfortunately the victim is not with us to tell us her side of the story, she killed herself in 2012. Her family continues to speak for her however and seems to still believe Parker and another young man assaulted the victim.

All the same the story behind the alleged rape is as controversial as the subject of the movie. The film essentially is about a slave rebellion led by one Nat Turner.

In the comments about this I find on social media it's always emphasized that being acquitted doesn't mean it didn't happen. Which is technically true and we have one case of that look at OJ Simpson and he's in prison right now. Not for killing his ex-wife and her male friend, but for something completely different. It's an example how his life unraveled after he himself was accused of a major crime and also acquitted. He later lost a judgement in a wrongful death civil suit.

But then having to say acquitted doesn't mean it didn't happen also bothers me. Because in our system we're innocent until proven guilty. For that trial Parker wasn't proven guilty and now this case is coming back out. Someone out there isn't going to let him shake it and will believe he did something. It won't even matter if he stayed on the straight and narrow after his release acquittal.

The need to restore order according to "Sicario"

Saw the movie Sicario on Thursday. It both spooked and depressed me. It wasn't about the body count as much as it was the methods used by law enforcement or the criminal side to combat each other.

An FBI agent (portrayed by Emily Blunt) was assigned to essentially independent contractors to fight a Mexican drug cartel. She had been spooked and depressed by some of their methods. Basically these independent contractors seeks to reassert some form of order to the drug trade that hadn't existed in years.

Then I thought about Chicago with the issues of gun violence. I understand that violence in Mexico makes our violence seem like childsplay. But all the same our city streets are plagued by those who aren't much different than those cartel enforcers.

A few years ago, I attended a neighborhood meeting with a featured guest Chicago police chief Garry McCarthy and one of the questions came up involving these gang's hierarchy. If each of them has a top guy to maintain some type of order would we see the violence we've been seeing in Chicago these days.

McCarthy didn't want to hear that considering that in the past the number of murders in Chicago approached almost 1000/year. So he questioned having a leader like Larry Hoover would truly calm the violence in some parts of Chicago.

In watching Sicario this aspect of city violence came to mind. Do we need people just like those in these criminal groups to restore some form of law & order in the world?

ABC News: Florida Cop Buys $100 in Groceries for Woman Caught Shoplifting Food

[VIDEO] I would consider this story a feel good story. People doing right by people even though they did wrong regardless we recognize why they're forced to do what they're doing. The police officer in question is defintiely who we need serving and protecting us.

When Miami-Dade Police Officer Vicki Thomas, 55, was dispatched to look into a shoplifting case at a Publix grocery store, a store manager led her to Jessica Robles.

“She was crying. I said, ‘Okay, what did she take?’ And he pointed to a grocery cart that was full of groceries,” Thomas told ABCNews.com. “I’ve been on [the job] 23 years, and I went, wow.”

“She just filled up the grocery cart and she just walked out, which shocked me and I asked her, ‘Why?’” Thomas recalled. “She said, ‘My children were hungry.’ And that immediately impacted me.”
....
“My grandchildren flashed before my eyes,” Thomas said. “I knew at that time what I was going to do. I knew I was going to buy her groceries.”

Thomas and her partner took the woman to their car, completed her paperwork and then Thomas asked her to wait a few minutes.

“I grabbed my debit card, ran back into the store and bought things that would sustain her for a week or so and when I walked out she saw that I had the cart of groceries and she burst out in tears and asked if she could hug me, which is kind of unusual for the suspect to be hugging the officer,” Thomas said with a laugh. “I let her hug me.”

Thomas made it clear that she technically arrested Robles. The woman had no priors for shoplifting and since the amount of goods she tried to steal amounted to just under $300, the cut-off for a misdemeanor, it was up to Thomas’ discretion whether to arrest her or give her the misdemeanor and get a promise to appear in court. She chose the latter.

The woman didn’t have a car, so Thomas loaded the $100 worth of groceries into the police car and the officers gave her a ride home.

#facepalm part 3

[VIDEO] Our esteemed State Rep. Monique Davis was on The O'Reilly Factor on Thursday to talk about her comments made on a Detroit radio station regarding cops shooting young people. She never walked back her comments and still maintains that she was only repeating what her constituents were saying to her. Bill O'Reilly was right to say that with her credibility as an elected official it was irresponsible to repeat such a statement unless there was evidence of such activity.

With that in mind, just because one is an elected official doesn't make them credible. For airing out such a statement is Davis more credible now than she was after making those statements, I would say unlikely. She does appear to be quite a spitfire over the years especially being named the worst person in the world after essentially attacking an atheist at a state legislative hearing years ago.

We have a member of the Illinois House or Representatives - who just so happens to be Davis' colleague whether I'm sure she likes it or not - who has been indicted for soliciting a bribe. Not only was he indicted but last year he was booted from the state House. However, he was re-elected last year to his old house seat because he refused to quit the race even after he had been removed from the house. Does anyone view him as credible now?

In any case another part of the discussion was the most important issue facing Black-Americans. O'Reilly wants to argue that it's the family, but Davis didn't really talk about that and stated that it was the lack of services, jobs, and education. It's hard to disagree with that to be sure, but Davis never talked about the family lives of many of these young people.

Speaking only for me, I never consider the family. I recognize that the family life of a lot of our young people are very imperfect. Would a father make more of a difference in the home? Haven't the slightest clue to be honest.

Personally I do believe before having children one should get married first. It doesn't always happen that way and there's nothing but evidence of that. However, I think anyone who has children should strive to create a nuclear family that includes a father at least.

Of course we could talk about the disintegration of the black family, but let's also recognize that having mother and father as head of a household could be a good thing. It's certainly excellent if mother and father were on the same page as far as what's in the best interest of the children. And hopefully that means at the very least the children go on and do something productive with their adult lives and stay out of trouble with the law.

Hat-tip The Blaze

Witness to lynching of Emmett Till has passed away

I just learned about another chapter in the sad case of Emmett Till. Until today I had little idea that there has been a witness to what happened to this teenaged boy in Money, Mississippi:

A key witness to the 1955 deadly beating of a black teen in Mississippi, a case that opened nation's eyes to the discrimination African Americans faced in the 50's, has died of intestinal bleeding, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Willie Louis, a Chicago resident, was 76 when he passed away from intestinal bleeding on July 18th, the newspaper reports.

After the trial in the murder of Emmett Till, Louis fled to Chicago in fear for his life, changed his name and slipped out of the public for nearly 50 years, according to the paper.

Louis was born in Greenwood, Miss., his wife, Juliet Luois, reportedly said he lived with his grandparents who worked as sharecroppers.

Mike Smalls, a teacher who has studied the landmark case, has told the Chicago Sun-Times that Louis was "one of the unsung civil rights heroes."

What happened to the young Mr. Till has still got to be the saddest case ever considered and unfortunately he wasn't going to get justice in 1950s Mississippi. And it took Mr. Lewis time to finally come out and tell his story as a witness to this unbelievable crime.

I would've like to see his interview on 60 Minutes!

#facepalm part 2

View more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com.

Well in response to the controversy that state Rep. Monique Davis stirred when she offered an unsubstantiated rumor that the police was behind some murders in her community. She discusses those comments made on a Detroit radio station in a press conference on Friday. Our local NBC affiliate has the video you see above. I'm sure there are still some who really see this as a farce.

An ya know other than the comments over at the CapFax, I should've known 2nd City Cop would have something to say as well.

#facepalm

Remember a few years ago that Keith Olberman listed a Chicago Democratic state Representative Monique Davis as the worst person in the world because she lit right into an atheist at a hearing. If only Olberman still had a TV program, if he heard about this story would she still be the worst person in the world?

“I’m going to tell you what some suspicions have been, and people have whispered to me: they’re not sure that black people are shooting all of these children,” Davis said.

“There’s some suspicion – and I don’t want to spread this, but I’m just going to tell you what I’ve been hearing – they suspect maybe the police are killing some of these kids.”

When WBBM asked Davis if she thinks it’s possible that police are killing children, she said, “I don’t know. I don’t know that they are, and I don’t know that they aren’t, since no one’s been arrested. We don’t know who’s doing it.”

Unbelievable! The police's response:

Chicago Police Department spokesman Adam Collins responded to Representative Davis’ comments:

“The men and women of Chicago Police Department work tirelessly every day to keep our city safe.

“These comments are so outrageous and baseless, that they do not merit any comment.”

I found this article via CapFax. The comments seems to be universal against Rep. Davis. They wonder why no one has either challenged her or defeated her. She's got a hold on her district in some way. Rich Miller himself noted that the powerful 19th Ward has attempted to move her but has had little success.

Just learned of a shooting involving a Morehouse College student

As much as people are worked up about what happened with Trayvon Martin last year, sometimes I wish that people could get worked up for incidents such as this. This time it involves a Man of Morehouse and this article from the AJC notes that this was the third arrest in the murder:

A third person has been arrested in the shooting death of a Morehouse College student, the U.S. Marshals Service said Friday afternoon.

Anthony Finley, 23, was arrested Friday morning in Shiloh, about 75 miles southwest of Atlanta in Harris County, according to Supervisory Inspector Gavin Duffy with the Marshals.

Finley is third suspect in the June 13 shooting death of Joseph Gibbs. Gibbs, 23, died in his driver’s seat after being shot inside his car near the intersection of Parsons and Webster streets. He died near the campus of Morehouse College, where he was a few credit hours short of his diploma.

Atlanta police previously said the shooting appeared to be the result of a drug deal, though investigators have not released information about what led to the shooting.

Investigators believe after the first two arrests, Finley left the Atlanta area to stay with family member and elude capture. The case remains under investigation.

It's very disappointing that it was also reported that this crime was as a result of a drug deal. It's sad that a young man was cut down early once again, however, please remember that it's risky to be involved with drugs at all.

Morehouse athletes accused of rape

I'm not sure what to say to this. I remember when I was still attending school there, a march occurred where students from Spelman College marched on campus to draw attention to a sexual assault incident. My understanding of this case was that incident was proven to be false. In this incident with several alleged incident of sexual assault and with four Morehouse College students charged this is difficult to sweep under the rug! Hopefully all the necessary facts will come out and hopefully the ones who are innocent aren't forced to suffer if they had no part in these allegations!

Ward Room: What $750,000 Can Buy

$750,000 is the amount of money former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. took from his campaign funds. A crime that he recently pleaded guilty for with his wife former Alderman Sandi Jackson who also pleaded guilty for filing a false income tax return in federal court last week.

This Ward Room posting by Ed McClelland discusses what Jackson could've done with all that money for his constituents. Starting off mentioning free breakfasts struck a nerve because Jackson had robocalls in the past advertising free turkeys at an event he hosted. With the cash he was spending on personal items he probably could have spent them on food for the neediest constituents.

Still I have to admit what a sad end to a potential dynasty. And all it all started when he got caught up in the scandal involving Rod Blagojevich. Last year I attended a fundraiser held in Hyde Park - President Obama's neighborhood - by Sandi Jackson ward organization although no funds came from me for her it was nice to be at a venue for a fancy restaurant.

In any event there was a lot of press there. Mrs. Jackson was being interviewed by a local news anchor and there were news vans outside of this particular establishment. You would've thought she would've been in office for years to come and as it turns out she didn't have long before her career as Alderman was over. Not only that, the feds would have their eye on her as well.

Very sad.

Medal stolen from Tuskegee Airman will be replaced

These criminals are looking for a quick buck and don't care what the value of these objects are to the people who possess them. At least for this WW2 veteran he will get a replacement, but hopefully Gary, IN police will find the original one that was given to him!

Officials are working to replace a Congressional Gold Medal stolen from the home of a 93-year-old man who was one of the Tuskegee Airmen, a unit of black fighter pilots who served during World War II.

The medal was stolen from Quentin Smith's home in Gary during a burglary last summer, but Smith says he was reluctant to report the theft.

"As time went by, I became even ashamed to even announce it or ask about it until my police friend came over, and he said, 'Well, let's take a shot at it," Smith told WLS-Channel 7.

Smith, who spent much of the war as a flight instructor with the unit, was among about 300 surviving Tuskegee Airmen to receive the award in 2007.

Gary Police Sgt. Freddie Cook said Smith was his high school principal and he couldn't believe anyone could be so disrespectful.

"It broke my heart because you have not just a veteran but you also have a 93-year-old man," Cook said. "And somebody has the audacity to break into his home and take things.

“They ransacked his home. The medal was in a drawer in the bedroom. They took miscellaneous items, some jewelry and alcohol. He doesn’t care about any of it, he just wants the medal back,” he said.

City officials contacted U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky's office about getting a replacement medal for Cook and the congressman hopes to present it to him soon, said Visclosky's spokeswoman, Sarah Olson.

The image in the corner is an example of a Tuskegee Airman gold medal issued to surviving members of this WW2 Air Force unit on March 29, 2007!

Boyz N the Hood

Another movie I haven't seen in a while. This is one of those message movies we hear about. This movie is about a group of friends two are fairly decent and the other had spent time in the pen. We start with them very young and then we see them later as a group of teenagers.

There are a number of issues present in this film. Teenage sex, gentrification, gang violence, father & son relationships, to name those that I can easily identify. But there is one issue that I'd like to talk about.

Doughboy (Ice Cube) and Ricky (Morris Chestnutt) are brothers. However, their mother had them by two different fathers. Because Doughboy's father wasn't liked much by his mother she doesn't like Doughboy much. She tells how he won't amount to nothing and he isn't going to be "shit". She talks him down good. When Ricky gets killed near the end she blames Doughboy. It may be as much about his criminal lifestyle but it may just be a symptom of how differently she treats her boys.

The best part of this movie was the relationship between Furious (Laurence Fishburne) and his son Tre (Cuba Gooding, Jr.). At the beginning he was living with his mother but as per a "contractual agreement" he acts up in class and gets sent to live with his father. The idea here is that only a man (preferably his father) can teach a young boy to be a man. The difference between Tre and say Doughboy was that he had a father to teach him some responsibility. And what this kid got from his father showed. Apparently he's the only man raising a child on his block in South Central Los Angeles.

I was astonished to find out on Wikipedia that Boyz N The Hood was deemed culturally significant by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in National Film Registry back in 2002. The director John Singleton did an excellent job in this film.