Chicago Way w/John Kass: A Thanksgiving need for a warm cup of Midwestern common sense

If you're purchasing a new home or refinancing your existing home, then you need to call Team Hockberg, your trusted local lender, 855563-2843, or visit 56 David.com. Atlantic Coast Mortgage, Equal Housing Lender, NMLS, 643-114. I've got the perfect thing for the Chicago Way leftover sandwich. Slice some turkey. A piece of toast, good toast, good bread. Drizzle it with gravy. Douse it with gravy actually. And turkey. Peas on one side. Mashed potatoes on the other. And there you have it. Salt and pepper to taste. Mmm, mm. And it all begins with Joseph's finest meats. USDA prime aged beef. homemade sausages and only the finest meats. It's 7101 West Addison Street, Chicago. I grew up. with a demanding boss, my father, in our butcher shop on the south side. And these guys, Sal and Ben Camarda of Joseph's finest meats, are just as demanding of quality, just as exacting. They're all about the quality of the product. There's no filler. There's no dye. There's nothing but USDA. prime dry-aged beef, homemade sausage, and only the finest meats. Take it from the butcher's son. For the holidays for Christmas, I'm driving across Indiana, into Chicago, and only one place. Joseph's finest meats, where I'm getting my beef for that beautiful, standing rib roast for Christmas. Mm-hmm. Joseph's finest meats. A family tradition since 1977. 7101 West Addison Street. Chicago, Illinois, at the corner of Addison and Nordica. Proud sponsor of John Cass News and the Chicago Way podcast. Well, there's nothing like Thanksgiving to think about, you know, the Indians bringing pasticho and Saginaiki to the pilgrims, which they did. My historians tell me. And, uh... We can't forget, this is one of the great holidays. Really, I mean, next to Christmas and Fourth of July, I can't think of a better holiday. And I want to thank some people, too. I want to thank George Soros, the Tribune Union, betraying me, and bring me to leave and createjohncastnews.com, where you always get a good cup of Midwestern Common Sense. And I'd like to also thank all the people in law enforcement who have to deal with all the heat that they're getting now, their families. And I think of those paramedics and police officers who had to pick up that young woman on the L state and lake right in front of the state of Illinois building where.

The girl was burned. She was riding a CTA train, and a guy came up to her arrested 70 times. And Cook County Judge Teresa Molina Gonzalez, I'll never forget her. And I'm not thinking her, but she's the one who said, I can't keep everyone in jail because the state's attorney wants me to, like she's doing somebody a favor. The state's attorney asked her to keep the alleged Lawrence Reed in jail because if she let him out, they reasoned. He would attack someone else. He was before Judge Molina, after he'd beaten unconscious, a psychiatric nurse. And you know what? She said, well, I can't keep everyone in jail because the state's attorney wants me to. Lawrence Reed, who was arrested somewhere between 50 and 72 times, he was on electronic monitoring, something Jeff Carlin and I have talked about forever on this podcast. He was the responsibility of outgoing chief judge. Timothy C. Evans, and they asked her, Judge Molina Gonzalez, they asked her, please keep them in here, keep them in jail. And she said, well, I can't keep everyone in jail because the state's attorney wants me to. Is that what you do? You apply the concept of doing favors to people in the judiciary? Is that why you're a judge to broker favors? enforce and uphold the law. I think of many judges I know who are groaning, thinking of her. And there's Brandon Johnson brushing it off saying it's isolated. It's isolated. This is an isolated incident. I mean, I don't see this as some sort of trend. And again, you know, the level of accountability that has to happen in this moment, you know, I trust that the federal level will do his part. It's very sickening. And then like another story. So let's relax. Put that aside. Think of Christmas cheer downtown and people going downtown to gather and have a Christmas parade and so forth. And that's when a gangs of 300 Utes took over downtown began smashing stuff. And seven people, at least seven people, were shot. I saw some of the video of an elderly couple trying to hobble out of there. Terrified. I thought of my poor Betty, because I'm too old to protect her. And all the people. that loved Chicago like I did, but the video there is vivid proof that we can't enjoy our city anymore. Curfews, root cause, parental responsibility, said my friend Tom, who texted me on this? I don't know. I'm not going down there. I don't want anyone I know getting burned alive. I don't want people I know being shot when they're going to Chris Kindle market.

I don't think you do too. You know, I started this by thanking George Soros and the Jacobin Chicago Tribune Union for stabbing me in the back, forcing me out of the Tribune, so I had to make my fortunes elsewhere. But I'm really not thankful. I've seen what... George Soros and the millions of dollars he gave Democrat politics in Chicago and Cook County did when they, when Tony Prickwickle created Tim Fox and elected her with that money. Well, this is all about Tony Prickwinkle, a city dying. We've seen a woman burned alive on CTA by the career criminal who was enabled by. Judges, as the mayor brushes it off, everything isolated. You know what he won't say? He won't say the judges did it. But we've got three judges, including Ralph Metchik, who was a Clinton pardoned. He was a Grey Lord crook who was pardoned by Clinton for stealing tax money. In Cook County in Illinois, and you were made a judge, and you were part of the string of incompetent fools like Teresa Molina Gonzalez and others who allowed this to happen, who allowed Lawrence Reed to fill a gas can and pour it on a woman. and lighter on fire. So when you're sitting there on Thanksgiving Day and you're sitting at your in-laws house or maybe you're hosting it yourself and you're thinking about all the hints that I've given you and Jeff Carlin have given you for good Thanksgivings and maybe enjoy the Southside Delicacy, Mrs. Grass Onion Soup Dip Mix. Just something my brother's, my brother's Nick and Pete the man on our Thanksgiving. And where are you? As your Joseph's finest meat turkey, fresh turkey is brining, as your kids are saying, Mom, Dad, is the turkey going to be ready? As your brother shows up and asks, where's the Mrs. Grass Onion Dip? You're on the Chicago Way podcast. John Cass, Jeff Carlin on WGN Plus. So this is a guy who lives high on the hog, and he has this Tammany Hall style attitude to power. And it is, it's the Chicago Way, absolutely. The Chicago Way is a deep cultural phenomenon. It's the Chicago Way. The Chicago Way, that's the focus. In a tower by the river. There lived a man. There was a man who took a stand. With pen and paper in his hand, defeating foes in every ward with a pen more mighty than the sword. No escape from his ink lasso in a tower by the river.

you'll get cred. You'll get creed from Tony Preckley. And we have noticed that in our interviews with Heather, I was writing a piece for this week. And in it, I mentioned one of our interviews with Heather McDonald's. Remember her from the Manhattan Institute? Yeah. And she was a great, great guest. And we were talking about if you don't put people in jail who are violent, What happens? And what you get is what we get. What you get is the girl burning on the street and the burning on the L. That's what you get. That's how the city dies. Merry Christmas. Happy Thanksgiving. Yeah, it's all, there's no good way. And again, this is somebody who is repeat violence, has displayed, I'm sure, plenty of mental issues over the years that had been flagged and I'm sure identified on paper somewhere along the line. And it's just a broken system. And they're using. They, them, the progressive left in Coch County and the Coch County Democrats, led by Tony Preckwinco, and of course, the Kim Fox effect, which is, we're seeing being undone to an extent. And then the judge saying, oh, well, you know, they want this type. Well, you know, if the, if to roll back on this, you know, if the county, the state's attorney wants this guy to be held, that's kind of a big deal because as of late, it's been felt the other way. So they're actually. trying to get somebody stuck in jail, especially with the laws, though, where they are, if they're pressing. Well, she was one. Well, but, yeah, wait, hang. So the judge, the judge should take that in consideration and say, hey, well, then maybe this guy should stay in jail because the law is clearly lilted. to let somebody out pre-trial and on their own reconnaissance. However, how can a judge sit there and say, well, I'm only doing it because they're pressing, you know, because they're putting pressure on me. I'm going to say, well, no, I don't want to be pressured, so I'm going to do it the opposite. Well, that's not right. That's not your job as a judge. You're not supposed to be, you know, tabbing personal nitpicks or being being bothered because I told you what to do. You should look at the fact that this guy's been freaking arrested and incarcerated. over decades for violent things and not let him out on the street to do violent things. I mean, this woman's family is going to sue the county for so much money for letting this jackass out in the street and to let him do this. I mean, it's insane. But Molina, Judge Molina, Judge Teresa Molina Gonzalez, and Judge Mechick, who was Clinton pardoned. How does a Clinton pardon, a guy who was convicted? of tax fraud, get in gray lord, for God's sake, become a judge. How does that happen? Because the Supreme Court, the Illinois Supreme Court, the one that had Ann Burke on it, Illinois Supreme Court said, okay, Mr. Metcich, you can become a judge now.

Are you kidding me? Jeff, you're a man of science. Explain this to me. There's no science involved. This is all coming. I don't know. This is one of those things, you know, the pardon conversation we've always had about what does that even mean? You know, how should we react to that? And it's clearly in this case, it's just, well, yeah, you got pardoned. You do it was, you know, no problem. It's a Chicago way. What about those 300 Utes? Well, yeah. That's another one of those things where it's the, you've had this just destruction of standards and opportunities for the schools that leave us with these kids who had. get together and to do crazy nonsense, something like this. And they feel like they can do it because the police aren't going to do anything because the police are pretty much handcuffed because if you arrest somebody under 18 and the way the system works, it's just a lot of paperwork and there's nothing happens, you know, it's a... Oh, wow, it's their first time. Or, oh, it doesn't. Or, yeah, somebody got shot. Eh, you know, hey, they were, they're a kid. No gun charge, probation. No blood, no foul. Right. Right, exactly. That's what happened. You know, there's seven people shot, but out of the thousands that were down in the loop, seven people get shot by thugs, by a crowd. Yeah, it's, they feel like the audacity to do that when it's something that. an event like that just shows that they're not, there's no... No discouragement by the police that they've, not that the police aren't doing anything, but these kids, these youths, right, don't feel discouraged because there's what's going to happen. The system is leaned away from them. But first offense, underage, these kids aren't going to spend much time in lockup. They're going to be, see a judge, judge and say, oh, well, back on the street for you. And we'll see in a couple months and don't do anything stupid. I remember. You know, the one of the unfortunate aspects of being a writer is that I remember things, unpleasant things. And one of the unpleasant things is the Tribune's Tribune Guild and all the leftist journalists in Chicago screaming that I had written a column, lawlessness grows in Democrat cities. And it was about Soros. funding all these progressive prosecutors. They didn't like that. They had to get rid of me. They defamed me, forced me. I had no other way to go. I had to create a new thing that I did with your help, even though you don't want to be blamed for me, but I mean, you know, in a sense, we created a new thing. And, you know, I keep saying that

John Cass News is your place for a Midwestern cup of common sense. But where does that start? It starts with the coffee that I drink when I sit down and write the column. And that means cribby coffee. One thing about cribby coffee, it's not only delicious, they're setting out to do some good. In the roasting and the establishment of their roasting venues, it's a force for good. And it's set up to establish and benefit the farmers of Cameroon who grow the delicious coffee that I love in the morning. Jim Barker and Beth Horatzai are here from cribby coffee. to talk about what they're doing to improve the world a little bit. One Midwestern cup of common sense at a time. Well, let me ask you the question. Jim Barker, I'm the chief operating officer of cribby coffee company. Hi, Beth Ritz. I, VP of business development at cribby coffee. Like any good reporter should. How do you make a good cup of coffee, the best cup of coffee? The best thing is actually start from whole bean. I am not a person who typically does that, but I do know that that is the best way to get the freshest cup of coffee to your liking. And because cribby coffee air roasts our beans, which is different than traditional drum roasting where it can burn the outside of the bean, ours is always smooth and it's never bitter. So we do get a nice, clean cup of coffee, a really pure... flavor no matter what setting you choose at home. And building off of that, this is Jim again, I'm a huge coffee drinker. I drink eight to 12 cups of coffee and have since my dad turned me on to Dunkin' Donuts 46 years ago. When I go into our two cafes, I do believe it is a better cup of coffee because it is smoother. And I know that translates to home because of that air roasting that Beth spoke about. And the other thing that really sets our coffee apart is we are Cameroon origin. And that is a underrepresented origin of coffee in the coffee category, whether you go into a coffee shop or whether you go into any of the food stores from Costco down to your local grocer. And at one point, Cameroon was a top 10 exporter of coffee over the years because of political instability. some unrest and also some choices by the farmers to plant cocoa and other crops, it did diminish. And that's, you know, part of our, you know, brand strategy is to rejuvenate the Cameroon coffee origin. And that resonates with buyers. And I believe it's going to resonate with everyone in Chicago. And we do have big pockets of... people from Cameroonian descent. All right. Can I offer something to you? Because I love your coffee and I love a good Maduro cigar. And Cameroon makes this coffee and also the wrapping for my favorite cigar. Yes. And, you know, I don't think you can distribute Maduro cigars with your coffee, but it really is a good idea. Oh.

ATF may have a little issue with that, but yeah. Right. There could be a cross-promotion in there because, you know, sometimes you can do that if you find the right people at the cigar company. You can do unpack coupons or different things like that potentially. That's all you guys need is a bunch of cigars coming in and surrounded by coffee. It's not going to raise anybody's suspicion. No, not at all. How do I get my hands on it? Well, right now, we do have two cafes in the Forest Park and Oak Park areas. So if you're in that area, it's a perfect place to stop by. But we also are in your local retailers like Pete's and Tony's. Tony's Fresh Market, 21 locations. It's Fresh Market. 20 locations. We are in six gas and wash. Sea stores on the south side or across the south side. Riverside foods, happy foods, carnival foods in Oak Park. We are in 40 acres market. South Side Market, Prairie Foods Market. Anything in Northwest Indiana? Not yet. We're working on it. Right now we have an agreement to go into Strackinventil stores sometime at the end of the year or beginning of the next year when we get set up with their distributor. There you go. And we also will be going into the 23. Chicago Land Markets for Meyer in February. Okay. And we're working on other placements as well. You can also find our whole menu of product online at creepypathy.com. K-R-I-B-I-C-O-F-F-F-E-E.com. And you can actually customize. To the exact setting that you want. Interesting. And the roast level that you want. So the grind and the roast, whole bean, whatever you'd like, you can get it right there. So I could get a dark roast from you and have it delivered or have it at the store? Yes. Because I'm one of these guys who loves coffee, but I don't have, I'm not like my cousin Vasili or Jeff who are like, you know, they're like scientists in the coffee making. And I. kept a burr grind it and I can't, I need a burr grinder. So I want to just, I just want the coffee and scoop it out, put it in the coffee maker. How can I do that? We can do that for you. Just go to cribby coffee.com and you can shop right there for anything you want. And it'll deliver to your doorstep within, I think it's five days, isn't it? You'll deliver it to my house? Yes. Wow. You can get a subscription, so you never have to go back on again. We'll just automatically deliver it to you. I've canceled all my other subscriptions like from or the paper, but I will subscribe to cribby coffee. Yeah, because I've had your product. And if I'm going to subscribe to something, I want some value for it.

You don't get value from the paper, but you do get value from cribby coffee because it's rich, it's tasty. It's really good, and it's not like that crazy mushroom nonsense. It's real coffee. It is real coffee. Yes, it is. And I couldn't agree with you more on cribby, the paper, and mushroom coffee. Okay, can we just, can I ask one question? I mean, is that night soil that's going into the thing that people are drinking and paying money for? I don't even know what night soil is. Night soil is what comes from... That's what you grow mushrooms in. Yeah. Oh, that's Clarkson's Farm. Yeah, it's nice. Yes, Clarkson's Farm. Lions Main, I think, is a big deal. Yeah, that's one of them. It's antioxidants. They think that there's like free radicals and mushrooms that, you know, make you live forever and have, you know, vital something or other. We talk about gourmet coffee, fancy coffee, and it's always the same neighborhoods. The thing about cribby coffee, it's ecumenical. It's all over the place. Everyone is, they're offering it to everyone. But I hear that you guys are also opening a roastery in North Laundale, yes? On the west side. That's correct. So effective January 2nd, we're going to be moving from our current roastery located in Elmhurst. to the North Laundale area. And this has been a long-term goal of the company to be a good corporate citizen and reinvest in, you know, underserved, underprivileged or troubled neighborhoods in Chicago by providing good paying jobs, not at the Chicago minimum wage, but the minimum living index wage. And we're doing this in partnership with the Staines Foundation. They're a partner and an investor in cribby coffee, and this has been a long-term vision, so that we could move the roastery in to a building that they've re-gentrified or taking over, I believe Beth, it's the entire second floor. Yes. Where we're going to roast, grind, and package our coffee and distribute from there and have our first corporate office. And we're going to be hiring from the neighborhood so we can give people. you know, a hand up with the minimum living index wage and good paying jobs as we continue our growth trajectory, you know, with the brand either online in our retail store partners or on our direct-to-consumer website. That is really something I like that a lot. I really do. You're really going out of your way to help people and you're providing them a chance at an income and you're not reducing the quality of your product. But you're producing excellent product that I've had and really I enjoy. And I think that's a great thing that you're doing. And you get a cup of coffee with that. And in fact, right there in the area, there's a business Belove Cafe that actually does sell our product to the neighborhood or people that come through. Cool. When I was a young man, I was on a merchant marine.

We were passing on the way to Nigeria. We came through the Atlantic Ocean, and there was a rainforest. I didn't know that it was great for coffee. I just knew that it was an amazingly... dark and rich place. Well, actually, that area is ideal for cocoa and for coffee. And actually, the founder of Cribee Coffee was born on a Cameroonian coffee farm and always had the dream of bringing the coffee out to the world to enjoy. And he also was very concerned about the farmers in the area and formed the Cameroonian Coffee Collective, which is comprised of over 3,000 farmers in the region. And this helps them. ensure fair trade. And we definitely support all of the endeavors on their behalf. So how did he make it from a Cameroonian coffee plantation to owning and distributing coffee? In the United States. Hard work. I know that he came to the United States and went to college here. Met and married his wife, started his family. His son, Jeremiah, is the president of Cribby Coffee. And I know that it was just always Jacques, that's our founder, Jacques Chalo. I know it was always his dream to bring the coffee over. So when he found that it was the appropriate time to get this started, he worked with his family at home, formed the collective, and started a lot of fundraising to help get the money together to be able to start the process. And since then, you know, he's... done amazing things, building the business here, and then Jim and I came in to help build and spread the brand and get it out for everyone. You know, Thanksgiving is coming, and you're going to need a good cup of coffee. After that pumpkin pie and Joseph's finest meat, turkey, fresh turkey, never frozen, and you're going to need a coffee to match up with the pumpkin pie, the stuffing. There's nothing like it. For Thanksgiving, cribby coffee, pour some out, enjoy a cup of common sense. Talk to your guests, your family.

Sit around the fire even, the fireplace, and talk about it and think about where it comes from, from Cameroon, from the dream of a young man who grew up on a coffee plantation in Cameroon and always dreamed of having it here in America, providing coffee for people in America. And there's nothing more American than Thanksgiving. So for Jim Barker, and Beth Haritzai at Cribby Coffee, and for Sal Kamarda and his brother Ben at Joseph's finest meets. And for Jeff Carlin and me, John Cass, at John Cass News and the Chicago Way podcast. And our families and friends, have a safe and happy and joyous Thanksgiving holiday.