Thoughts & Musings
Another Deadly Weekend
It started out peaceful enough. So much so that Drudge reported, "Only 1 Dead, 5 Wounded in Chicago." A woman was killed and four men wounded in five separate shootings between 11:30 p.m. Friday and 4 a.m. Saturday. via Chicago Tribune. It wasn't even that warm. But...
Worst Housing Market Is In?
New data out of Standard & Poor's this morning painted a somewhat mixed picture of the U.S. housing market: showing home prices may have hit bottom. via Business Insider. Hit bottom? Unlikely. But what I really wanted to show what this chart: Looking at the...
Another Easter Egg Hunt Cancelled
Another traditional Easter egg hunt has fallen victim to aggressive parents, with event organizers in Macon, Ga., forced to cancel this week amid fears greedy moms and dads would become violent and trample on kids to grab eggs. ... He said that a woman was hurt and...
Derrick Smith Using William Beaver’s Defense
Today's Story: Victor Henderson, the lawyer for accused Illinois State Representative Derrick Smith tells "The Don and Roma Show" on WLS, that the reason federal authorities charged Smith with bribery, was because they wanted him to give up information about possible...
Chicago Teachers Union Wants to Strike
The Chicago Teachers Union says internal polling shows there is support for a strike if contract talks with Chicago Public Schools break down. A new state law requires the union to get approval from 75 percent of its members before a strike, leading many to question...
How to Make More ‘Makers’
Joey Hudy, a young "maker" from Phoenix went to the White House this week to show off his project, the "Extreme Marshmallow Cannon." When President Obama saw it, he told Joey: "Let's try it." Joey set up the air cannon, which uses a bicycle pump to build up air...
Fioretti: Not So Fast Rahm
Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s plan to have five financing giants bankroll $1.7 billion in Chicago infrastructure projects ran into opposition Monday from aldermen concerned about “hidden fees” and long-term leasing of city assets. During closed-door briefings with aldermen,...
Illinois Teachers’ Pension Troubles
It's important to note that this fund do NOT include CPS teachers. Illinois public school teachers and retirees could have reason to worry about the kinds of pension checks they will be getting down the line. ... The Springfield State-Journal register reported over...
Chinese Driver’s Test — Really!
If you have ever thought of cruising on the freeways of Shanghai, think again. Beside being considered one of the deadliest countries for drivers, China also appears to have some of the strangest questions in the written test that people need to pass in order to have...
Bogus Chicago-area Jobless Rate Dips
Lies... Damn Lies... and Statistics: The February unemployment rate in the Chicago area dropped to 8.9 percent from 9.6 percent a year ago, according to preliminary data released Thursday by the Illinois Department of Employment Security. The Chicago area, which...
Clout Boosts Ex-Police Chief $30k per Year
The Machine taking care of its own: At first blush, a pension bill adopted by the General Assembly in 2007 seemed to have a laudable goal: extending retirement benefits to local police force employees’ widows after they remarried. But buried within the legislation was...
WI Billboard: Truth to Power on Teachers’ Unions
This is an idea I've discussed with CTU reps at a meeting one time. CTU cannot represent "the children." The truth is that CTU, WEAC, and all other teacher's unions have a fiduciary duty to the union members. The union cannot do anything which would advance the...
Chicago Business Round-Up
Cruising the local business section I found the following: Caterpillar Opening Facility in Mexico Peoria-based Caterpillar said Friday it is building a parts distribution center in Mexico that will employ up to 150 people. ... The 500,000-square-foot facility will be...
McCarthy (Rahm) Shakes-up Police Brass (Not Really)
This past week Rahm launched an ambitious plan to revitalize the city. However in order to make that work, he must first prevent Chicago from becoming Gotham. The post below talks about how the lack of enough police officers is causing a false reduction in the...
Crime? What Crime?
Crime is out of control. It's not reported because in this town No Report = No Crime. And because we have so few police -- who are constantly running from call to call -- a LOT of crime is going unreported. Sometimes you can call 911 and wait 30-40 seconds before...
CPS Teacher’s Union Fights Everything
Having absolutely no logic to defend their position: With a 90-day deadline on negotiations with the teachers union having passed, Chicago Public Schools can implement a teacher evaluation system that will see student performance count for 25 percent of an elementary...
Building a New Chicago
I was skeptical of Rahm coming in as mayor. But as time goes by I'm getting more and more impressed by his ability to take on the unions, manipulate the media, get things done, outmaneuver worthless alderman, and most importantly develop and articulate his vision for...
WI State Rep. Wants to Repeal Castle Doctrine
Sounds to me like Rep. Tamara Grigsby is too dumb to understand the difference between the Castle Doctrine and Self Defense. While related, they are not the same. Just another Milwaukee liberal trying to make sure that a criminal has more rights than a victim.
#KillZimmerman: The Left is Silent
On March 24 a “KillZimmerman” Twitter account began publishing calls for violence against George Zimmerman, the self-appointed neighborhood watch captain who shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26. Five days later, the account is still on its crusade to...
Spain – The New Greece (and we’re next)
Spanish trade unions are holding a general strike across the country today to protest new labor reforms, and by all accounts it has been a largely peaceful protest. While for the most part conditions on the ground are relatively normal, photos from Madrid, Barcelona,...