Thoughts & Musings
ThyssenKrupp (w/ 100 jobs) Coming to Chicago
We actually rock (and we kinda know it.) Germany-based ThyssenKrupp, a diversified manufacturing company that makes elevators, auto components and carbon steel, will establish a regional headquarters for North America in Chicago this summer.... The company did not...
Illinois, the Greece of America
It all started with this story: Even though the legislature and Gov. Pat Quinn last year imposed a temporary 67 percent state income tax increase, Quinn's office expects to have a $500 million budget deficit this year. Quinn is calling for a 9 percent cut in most...
Occupy Chicago Gets a Home
Occupy Chicago has secured a new home base to coordinate its winter activities. The group is leasing two units on the fifth and seventh floors of Riverfront Work Lofts at 500 W. Cermak Road. ... The fifth-floor unit is nearly 3,400 square feet, while the...
Ward Remap: Round Two
Alderman Bob Fioretti 2nd Ward, one of eight alderman to vote no on the map, stated in his email newsletter on Thursday that he has no intentions of dropping the issue. "I believe that new map breaks up communities of interest and includes deviations in population...
Ron Paul Predictions from 2002
http://youtu.be/zGDisyWkIBM
Church Groups Getting Public Money
Here's something: Faith-based groups that have become the face of community support for Mayor Rahm Emanuel's controversial plans to lengthen the school day and close failing schools also receive millions of dollars in grants from his administration. ... One of the key...
#OCCUPYCHICAGO
I found a post on Second City Cop about the madness coming this spring. SCC was concerned that the kids were going to "live without dead time for a month in May and see what happens." Hardly a threat. What I found interesting was their claim that: On May 1, 50,000...
Illinois Unemployment vs. The Media
Good News!! CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Unemployment dropped to 9.8 percent in Illinois in December, state officials said Friday, a second straight monthly decrease that capped a year in which the jobless rate fell almost a full percentage point from 2010. via Chicago...
Who’s Pro Business?
Recently published is a series of stories on where it's easier/better to start and run a business. Whether we like it or not, businesses employ people; people do not employ businesses. Creating and maintaining a pro-business environment is not easy. But sure...
Worst Schools Ever
Six of every 10 Illinois public schools failed to meet federal test targets this year and risk federal sanctions as a result, according to information released Thursday by the Illinois State Board of Education. High schools fared the worst. Statewide, 656 of the 666...
Occupy The Courts
Now this I have a problem with: Lawyers representing about 800 Occupy Wall Street protesters arrested in the past month demand that prosecutors drop the charges. If not, they say they won't deal and will insist on going to trial - putting pressure on the already...
Residents Flee St. Louis
Does this sound familiar? St. Louis is losing residents, according to U.S. Census figures released Thursday, and the population decline goes deeper than being another blow to the proud city’s image. The drop will mean a financial loss that could cost the already...
CPS racial disparity grew under Daley
A study by two University of Illinois at Chicago professors Thursday dumped on the idea of a Chicago Public Schools “miracle’’ under Mayor Daley and pushed for an elected — rather than appointed — school board to move city schools forward. The disparities between...
Tomorrow’s Email Today
The following email is scheduled to go out at 5:00AM CT 02/09/2011 Dear Friends and Neighbors, I don't like being over-dramatic but this may be one of the most important emails you'll read this month. Please give me 1 min of your time on two topics concerning the...
The Supreme Court Decision
I realize this is now old news but it is worth mentioning that the decision of the Illinois Supreme Court placing Rahm on the ballot is going to have far reaching consequences. Justices Freeman and Burke appear to be the only members of the court with any vision:...
Yes it’s been a few days
Yes, I realize that it has been several days -- and a lot has happened -- since my last posting. About a week before snowpocalypse I ran into a buzz saw and I'm just getting caught-up. Everyone gets busy from time to time and this blog on occasion takes more time...
The Rahm Situation, Part II: The Sword
He who lives by the sword dies by the sword. -- Matthew 26:52 Surely it is folly to suggest that Rahm is getting any less than he fully deserves. When you live your life in politics and have so playfully toyed with so many peoples lives as he has, things just have a...
The Rahm Situation, Part I: Enforce the Law
The surest way to get a bad law repealed is to enforce it strictly. -- Abraham Lincoln While editorial boards, talking heads, and policy wonks from near and far are condemning the recent Appellate Court decision removing Rahm from the ballot based on emotion, there...
Wall Street Partying in Davos, We Suffer
I realize this is not a local issue but I can't help myself: JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s profits last year were the highest in the bank’s history, and Citigroup Inc. returned money to the U.S. Treasury and reported its first full- year profit since 2007. Governments...
SEC Launches Inquiry Into IL Pension Fund
The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an inquiry into public statements by Illinois officials about the state's underfunded pension fund, the state's governor's office confirmed Monday night. (Full story here.) Well it's official! The Springfield cabal...