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Judges in Cook County

2008-10-17T16:34:26Z

With the start of Early Voting, here are some guides on voting for judges. It's a bit of a pain to print these out and remember to bring these to the voting booth, but better than voting for people are unqualified.

http://www.voteforjudges.org/

http://www.chicagobar.org/AM/NavigationMenu/Home/Files/2008JECNOVpocketguide.pdf

http://www.illinoisvotersguide.org/2008/links.php

New Trib?

2008-08-27T19:47:05Z

I saw this on Romanesko. It's the possible redesign for the Chicago Tribune and it looks snappy. I'm pretty sure it'll be a little thinner too. I'm also pretty sure they can't redesign themselves out of the trouble. Never a bulky paper to begin with I have never thought that the Trib represents Chicago particularly well. The monopoly is over but there's not much else to replace it.

Holy Cow -Tim Russert Dead at 58

2008-06-13T20:39:15Z

Unbelievable. He was good. Sad day for his family and news junkies.

Say what?

2008-06-09T18:08:11Z

I can't believe that the Bulls hired Vinnie Del Negro as head coach. He's got no coaching experience and is has started within the last couple of years getting involved with the Suns. This sounds like a terrible mistake. With the number one pick, they had a chance to put something attractive for a top coach, but this is just dumb.

Dont' you love Chicago Politics?

2008-05-20T13:48:02Z

Ald. Dick Mell, Governor Blago's Father-in-law, screwed up. What's a man to do? Suck it up and pay the fine? Why waste all that "hard earned" dough, when you can change the law? I love this line, "When we looked at the law, we saw the possibility of winning [the appeal] wasn't gonna happen," he said. No wonder why people think the Aldermen are a joke. Let's pass laws on Foie Gras, Stop invading Iran, and so I personally don't have to pay a fine. No wonder the mayor walks over them like astroturf they are. Let's have a little TIF money oversight. Or maybe let's try to get a plan together for music venues. How about some ethics rules concerning secondary employment? What about trying to get some business development outside of downtown? There are too many of them and they are too ineffective. You wonder why apathy reigns?

Young Liberals Shocked by Racism against Obama

2008-05-13T14:06:34Z

This article might be the most Onion-like I have read in a long time. This article highlights the divisions in this country, especially when it comes to class. All I know is that Obama better be up by 15 points to counter any Bradley Effect. The Dems losing this election might break the party in half. I know that limousine liberals mean well, but people are proud and don't like to be talked down to. I think many in the Obamarama land miss this point. Sure you're pretty and young and seem to love that dude, but I am worried about college for my kid and the 'fridge broke down so I have to worry about that. This inability to "get" folks will hurt him badly in the Fall. Hopefully I'm wrong and the kids will show up. Obamarama will change the game forever. Hopefully, but I'm not so confident.

Flickr Pro Account

2008-05-06T19:19:57Z

Does anyone use Flickr or Flickr Pro? I just got back from China and have a ton of pictures that I want to post. I have a free account already, but want to know if it's a better deal, easier to organize, with the Pro account. Thanks in advance!

Lawyers

2008-04-03T20:49:48Z

I know picking on lawyers is too easy, but they keep doing stuff like this. What are you supposed to do? What are the consequences for being a sub human piece of garbage like John Yoo? We reward them with nice perches in Academia (In Berkeley of course!). I'm am proud to be American, but sometimes I feel like we are losing what makes us great.

Democratic Race

2008-03-13T13:40:59Z

I'm more an agnostic Democrat and not committed to either candidate; I just like to see the GOP lose. Anyways, besides the obvious, is anyone worried that the Democrats have a serious race issue. Obama is winning a huge percentage of black voters and well educated people. Hillary is winning big majorities of whites, catholics and non college especially. It seems like there is a division where neither candidate is able to break through to the others base. This hurts Obama more because his message has been that he can break barriers and represents a New Politics. It's not crossing over.

I'm really worried about a Bradley Effect occurring the general. It's difficult to measure the effect of race; imagine stranger with a clipboard or on the phone asking you "how do you feel about race?" All the pundits say that this isn't going to happen, but I think it is. My bet is that if Obama wins the Dem nomination on Election Day he will come in ten points below the polls. Any generic Dem should run up 15 point win anyways, but it will be closer than anyone thinks.

It is probably good that this is happening now and that the Party and the American people have some time to digest this. It not a simple or easy issue and America has been "dealing" with it since the first colonists.

Pickle sicle?

2008-03-12T20:51:35Z

This is why I love the Washington Post. Who in their right mind would eat these? Well I would, but then again I'm hungry all the time. Pretty cool idea if you ask me though. I'm not sure I'm willing to shell out out $18 bucks for these, I do have a hankerin' for pickles and pickle juice.

Eliot Spitzer Linked wiht Prostitution Ring

2008-03-10T19:14:31Z

Say What?

Gary Gyax Dead

2008-03-07T15:31:47Z

I didn't see this till today. Really geeky , but a little sad that someone from our youth dies. Must be getting old.

Another Literary Hoax

2008-03-05T14:47:12Z

Has anyone heard about this? It shocking how bad the fact checking is getting. To get a review and a feature write up in the NY Times before being revealed to be a hoax is terrible (see sidebars). I'm especially shocked about the feature piece that got through. the editor and the writer are in deep dog doo. I love this line from the editor:

Mr. de Kay said that ultimately, “I was to some degree trusting that the vetting process of a reputable book publisher was going to catch this level of duplicity.” But, he added: “Do I wish in retrospect that we had called L.A. child services and tried to run down the history of this person? I certainly do.”

I also wished that I picked the winning numbers from last weeks Lottery.

PS - I found this blog off of Romenesko. Apparently the editor of the book is the daughter of the editor emeritus of the Times Book Review. Wonder how she got all that great coverage ...

Chicago Restaurant Week (Finally)

2008-02-22T22:06:21Z

Cheapish eats at some fancy restaurants. $22 for lunch and $32 for dinner at some fancy places. TimeOut put a list of the menus and they look delicious. Check out Open Table for the specific dates and to make a reservation. It starts tonight, but some places start on Sunday night. I hope that we can go to Aigre Doux again and maybe Primehouse.

I don't know if this is PC ...

2008-02-19T20:05:22Z

Has anyone heard of this site? I saw the posting for Wrigley Field and almost fell out of my chair. You need a sense of humor, but I think it has its moments.

Monk and Green make the Hall of Fame

2008-02-06T14:56:03Z

Finally!

Yahoo Microsoft?

2008-02-06T14:18:29Z

Here is a fantastic article by Allan Sloan on the attempted Microsoft purchase of Yahoo. I didn't look at it that way, but it seems that it would be a terrible return on investment for Microsoft to buy Yahoo. It looks like they would be better off buying bonds than getting Yahoo. There are some benefits that are hard to monetize, but I don't think that the article is too far off. Microsoft should stick to rebuilding its core competences in making Office and the OS better. Although I think they see the writing on the wall with Linux, Open Office and Google docs. There is something disrupting their profit model and they should adapt rather than messing around in somebody else's garden.

Pregnancy and Vice

2008-01-30T17:06:58Z

I don't know if anyone cares, but one my new pet peeves is the whole Pregnancy/martyr thing. Last night someone explained it to me that the pregnant mother doesn't want to do something (smoke, drink, eat fish, soft cheese, etc.) that screws up their baby. While that certainly makes sense and anyone can understand that position. The preciousness of the baby is very high, especially as we have fewer and fewer of them.

I have a couple of problems with this line of logic. First, where is this all going to lead? Are we reverting to some sort of Victorian thing where pregnant women go straight to bed for nine months? It seems like a bleak existence eating nothing and staying away from baby killers like cars and trains.

Second reason I don't like it is that the science is crap. Slate does a better job of taking apart this story, but it is terrible science. If you look at outcomes and the like, it looks like people can eat a lot more fish, mercury or not. Probabilities say that you can do a lot of stuff while pregnant with no effect on the baby. Obviously avoid gut punches, death, and car accidents for they kill more fetuses by orders of magnitude compared to mercury. If you're worried about autism or brain damage, also avoid those things :) Maybe we should outlaw umbilical cords, they cause more brain damage in babies than a ton of soft cheese.

Finally, what does this say about our society? Are we fragile flowers that need the nanny state? What about our brothers that live in places that don't care about smoking or mercury? Are they bad people and morally corrupt? Obviously we don't care that much about babies on the Seychelles. I believe it's middle class angst about the things we cannot control versus the things that we love. If we're rational and look at the numbers, it probably doesn't matter. If it makes mom feel better it should be OK, but it shouldn't be built up into something that it isn't

Illinois Cook County Judges

2008-01-23T21:33:03Z

While not a huge fan of voting for judges as a rule, there's nothing more frustrating than being in the voting booth and seeing the many many pages of judges to vote for. Here's a voter's guide put out by the various legal societies.

http://www.voteforjudges.org/

Sorry I didn't get this up earlier for the Early Voting folks. It at least gives you an idea of the truly incompetent.

David Simon and Newspapers redux

2008-01-23T19:48:28Z

Slate writer Jack Shafer replies to David Simon's tirade against the newspaper business and the decline of his beloved Sun. I'm not sure that I agree with what Shafer has to say, but I have to emphasize to Simon that all things change. The newspaper business will change and that maybe things will be different. Maybe we want things at a slightly less in-depth look at certain subjects. The lack of a poverty writer may not be the worst thing since I'd rather read about what color to paint my house. I like the idea of the EPILIT and that media is the thing between you and the events. That lens is what we want as consumers of media right?

Media and David Simon

2008-01-21T18:58:40Z

I don't know how many of you are huge Wire fans, but series producer David Simon has a rant on the decline of the newspaper business. I hope Zell reads it and see how things were done in the past. I'm not a good ole days kinda guy, especially when it comes down to the media, but maybe a little history would be instructive and temper the future.

I love newspapers and as a business they are still, for the most part, throw off a lot of cash. Ads are down, and the big stock behemoths have declared them unsexy. In the long run there will be a newspaper. Check out the morning news and see what percentage is not in the morning edition of the paper. There's not too much original reporting that Lisa Labuz does. The Tribune and Sun-Times used to have a daily calender that every reporter, print, radio and TV would use to cover what's going on in the City. It has been downsized. The city desk has been cut dramatically.

What's next? The real question is do people even care anymore? Do you want to know what's going on in the City? My bet is a lot of people care less and the cynicism, especially among the hip, makes for a poorer city. Who's you State Senator? Do murders count if they happen in Harvey? How good of a job does CPS educate our kids?

Thomas Mapother

2008-01-18T23:12:26Z

I usually try to avoid celebrity culture, thinking that I have slightly better things to do (my toenails grow fast). I do have a soft spot for Tom Cruise. Something to do with my sister and all her friends being obsessed with Top Gun. Although as I have aged I have come to the conclusion that the man's a freak. Here's the weird video from Gawker. It's the darling of the East Coast media. It's boring Scientologist crap, but the last minute is a must see. The other thing is the book from Di Biographer Andrew Morton. This one says he's not gay and weird. I think I'm getting sick of this story.

Copyrights and Flickr

2008-01-09T19:53:52Z

Be careful on what you post online. I'm sure many of you have heard this already, but this Post article illustrates a few more examples of corporate greed. Basically Fox, Virgin Mobile, HBO, etc have stolen photos off of Flickr or other posting sites for a more authentic look. Not only did they do this, but did so without attribution or any of the other stuff that makes your wedding photographer so expensive.

CTA Embarassment

2008-01-07T21:46:03Z

More bad press, now from our friends across the pond. The Economist has written about our CTA woes. CTA Tattler is all over the governor about taking responsibility. Will the Governor be embarrassed and actually do something? I doubt it. If you look at the issue, all the Governor does is ask for a plan. The legislature comes back with a plan that would pay for the RTA through increases in sales taxes and Real Estate transfer tax in Chicago. The Governor says no. They came back with a Chicago casino and some accounting tricks. The governor says no and sends his Senate lap dog, Rickey Hendon out to fight about minority representation for gambling (which BTW has nothing to do with CTa or mass transit funding). If Mike Madigan is looking like the respectable, responsible, progressive law maker then that is scary. Write your State Reps and Senators. Make sure they know that this is a disaster and that you will hold them accountable. Sorry to go on a rant, but this whole thing just pisses me off.

Travel Fog

2007-12-21T16:06:16Z

I heard this a couple of weeks ago , but we're having another batch of bad weather her in Chicago. I'm eating my oatmeal and watching the Channel 9 news. Robin Baumgartner (anchor person) says, go to the airport early, there may be DELAYS due to the weather (my emphasis). Maybe the producer/writer is overworked and doesn't see the conundrum this presents. Being a mostly rational person, I think I'd want to call ahead and or go later so I can wait/sleep in comfort. Just a thought for the weekend.