My Blog

Author: Jimmy

  • Aldermen Push For What?

    This is just insane: On Sunday, Aldermen Deborah Graham (29th), Robert Fioretti (2nd), and Toni Foulkes (15th) joined members of the Chicago Teachers Union, Action Now, and a group of parents and community safety advocates for a press conference urging Mayor Rahm Emanuel to make the Vacant Property Safe Passages Ordinance a priority. If approved,…

  • No Tax Refund if You Owe Parking Tickets

    Really? Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday referred to people and businesses with unpaid city debts as “the deadbeats and the delinquents” after winning City Council approval to intercept their state income tax refunds to collect millions of dollars.  … At every level we have protected the taxpayers of the city of Chicago by not raising…

  • New Ward Map Confusing? Try Getting a Garbage Can

    Excellent points raised by Greg Hinz over at Crain’s. Ask folks at City Hall whether new or old wards apply for purposes of voting, zoning and distribution of services and the like and, after a couple of shrugs, you’ll get a multipart answer fit for an SAT test.  … “We’re dealing with the old aldermen,”…

  • Athens Burns

    [B]uildings burned across central Athens and violence spread around the country. Cinemas, cafes, shops and banks were set ablaze in central Athens as black-masked protesters fought riot police outside parliament. State television reported the violence spread to the tourist islands of Corfu and Crete, the northern city of Thessaloniki and towns in central Greece. Shops…

  • Athens: Our Future?

    BBC News has a few shots of Athens.  On one of the photos there’s an interesting quote by on of the protesters. “Even if they eat the flesh of the people, bankruptcy will not stop.  It will just get worse.  That is why we support a write off of the whole debt and to be…

  • Himalayan Glaciers Lost No Ice in 10 Years

    The authors of the U.N.’s climate policy guide were red-faced two years ago when it was revealed that they had inaccurately forecast that the Himalayan glaciers would melt completely in 25 years, vanishing by the year 2035. Rajendra Pachauri, head of the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and director general of the Energy…

  • Rahm Wants Handgun Registry

    Stupidity in human form. Mayor Rahm Emanuel today said he wants state lawmakers to approve a statewide handgun registry.  … Rep. Brandon Phelps, who has championed efforts to pass a concealed weapons bill in Illinois, said the mayor’s office called him Thursday morning to let him know the registration proposal would be introduced. “Number 1,…

  • Traveling to Mexico?

    “Gunbattles have occurred in broad daylight on streets and in other public venues, such as restaurants and clubs. During some of these incidents, U.S. citizens have been trapped and temporarily prevented from leaving the area,” the travel advisory said.  … More than 47,500 people have been killed in Mexico since late 2006 when President Felipe…

  • Speed Cameras Save Children

    Quinn pulls out an old line: Gov. Pat Quinn gave Mayor Rahm Emanuel something he wanted Monday: the power to use cameras across nearly half of Chicago to nab speeding drivers and fine them as much as $100.  Questions linger about the effectiveness and scope of the speed camera plan, but the governor sought to…

  • Picketers Demand Local (Union) Labor at Costco

    Seems like the Gazette’s missing the real story here: A group of unemployed tradespeople, many with union cards, have been picketing Near West Side construction sites for more than a month, demanding that community workers get a share of both local building jobs as well as permanent retail positions. via Gazette Chicago. From what I…