My Blog

Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • Teens Employment Lowest Since WWII – Obama Not Helping

    This article was published yesterday about the same time that Obama was in the Rose Garden making the situation worse: Fewer than 3 in 10 American teenagers now hold jobs such as running cash registers, mowing lawns or busing restaurant tables from June to August. The decline has been particularly sharp since 2000, with employment…

  • MAP: CTA Trains and Drug Arrests

    This is from Windy Citizen, I wish I could find a story to go with it but someone just sent me the link to the map.

  • City Hall’s New TIF Troubles

    This story is actually from early April: According to a report issued today by Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson, a fluke of state law means that many neighboring business districts that collect an extra property tax to pay for security, advertising and the like actually have had to pay twice — once for security, et…

  • The ‘Wild, Wild Midwest’

    The city’s murder rate is quadruple New York City’s. Homicides since 2001 total twice the number of U.S. military personnel killed in Afghanistan in the same period. Police have moved to reduce the carnage, but activists say gun use must be reined in—and they will stage a peacemakers’ rally on Friday. via The Daily Beast.…

  • Obama’s Hand Forced on Illegal Immigration Issue

    Yesterday, a/k/a Thursday: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency charged with guarding the U.S. borders, has written a secret draft policy that would let its agents catch and release low-priority illegal immigrants rather than bring them in for processing and prosecution. The policy, which has not been signed off on, would be the latest…

  • Indicted Derrick Smith to Host Legal Clinic

    Derrick Smith, the indicted Near West Side state rep accused of accepting a $7,000 bribe, is organizing an event for locals who might need legal help of their own. In the first publically organized event for his 10th District constituents since being arrested and indicted on bribery charges in March, Smith is offering a free…

  • Strange Pelican Brewery Coming to the West Side

    For my local Chicago readers: Under the name Strange Pelican Brewing Company, McNeil will brew about 3,000 barrels a year in a 10,000-square-foot space near the intersection of Damen Avenue and Fulton Street. Strange Pelican’s philosophy evokes maritime history – in other words, strong beers that were made to travel. While McNeil is still experimenting…

  • John Wayne Gacy’s Other Victims

    Are there others? Bill Dorsch believes there are and he’s pretty sure he knows exactly where they’re buried. This site documents the efforts of Dorsch, a career Chicago homicide detective, to find and share new evidence in the case of the notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Gacy, who ran a small contracting company in…

  • Parents Not Happy with Blue School

    Back in April I wrote about the Blue School.  By some measure it’s not doing so well. Parents are yanking their kids out of the “progressive,” $32,000 per-year private school founded by the Blue Man Group — which has no books and no tests — because their kids are barely learning to read, The Post…

  • Personal Safety Demonstrated by Two Cases

    Two different stories in the papers recently on the same day (April 25, 2012.) The first: For nine years the “teardrop” rapist was one of Los Angeles’ most prolific serial predators, preying on women from Melrose Avenue to Manchester Boulevard. The assailant, sometimes described as having a teardrop tattoo below one of his eyes, targeted…

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