The [Tuesday] Papers

Making sense of the tweets of Ald. George Cardenas often requires special decoder glasses, and this one is no exception:

These particular jobs require lots of training and def more experience than a year on the job! Trains are no joke http://t.co/Ru0BJt6AY2

— George Cardenas (@georgeacardenas) March 25, 2014

I don't get it. You should have more than a year on the job before getting the job? Training should last more than a year?

This particular operator was working the graveyard shift, which I'm guessing is what happens when you start out. Seems like an appropriate training ground for newbies. You've gotta get your own train sometime. And experience does not appear to be a factor in the investigation - unless the driver hasn't learned the tricks to staying awake on the job.

There is this, however.

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See also: Off The Rails: A Recent History Of CTA Screw-Ups.

Kirk Shirk
"Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., is ruling out campaigning for longshot GOP Illinois U.S. Senate nominee Jim Oberweis, saying Monday he would rather 'protect' his relationship with Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and not launch a 'partisan jihad,'" the Sun-Times reports.

"With politics so bitter in the Capitol and the partisan divide often so wide, voters like pols who can work together."

I don't think Kirk should be made out to be a bipartisan hero on this one. If he's uncomfortable with Oberweis, he should have thrown his weight behind primary challenger Doug Truax.

It's also possible to campaign against Durbin in a respectful manner - Kirk must in his heart prefer a Republican colleague, no?

Voters may like pols who can work together, but voters don't like cynical, selfish and opportunistic pols, which is how Kirk is behaving.

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In addition, Kirk pretended he wasn't endorsing in the Republican gubernatorial primary even though he loaned staffers to Bruce Rauner and then showed up at Rauner's Election Night party (before the outcome was decided).

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"Last Nov. 7 at an Illinois 'coffee' in Washington hosted by Durbin and Kirk, a man in the audience said he appreciated their cooperation."

Durbin held regular "coffees" with Peter Fitzgerald too; his relationship with Kirk isn't necessarily unusual.

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Durbin should be challenged just like anyone else. This is exactly the kind of thing that creates Tea Party caucuses and right-wing challenges to moderate Republicans of the Establishment. Giving Durbin a free ride is an abdication of Kirk's responsibility. And if the party is embarrassed by Oberweis, which it ought to be, it shouldn't have given him a free ride in the primary.

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Will Durbin support a Dem challenge to Kirk in 2016? He better.

Sister Act
"Chicago could look to impose its own kind of sanctions on Russia amid the Crimean conflict," the Tribune reports.

"The city's Committee of Human Relations will listen to testimony today on a resolution that would ask the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events to suspend the Sister City agreement with Moscow until Russia withdraws troops from Crimea."

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I wrote about the city's Sister Cities program for the Tribune in 1993: Sister Cities Cash In On Family Ties.

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GWAR's Frontman Rocked Chicago
Remembering Dave Brockie.

Don Lemon Is At It Again
Bill O'Reilly and black holes.

In Support Of Joe Hosey
Journalism in America under attack.

The White Sox Report
Giddy in Glendale.

The Hippest Trip In America Is Now A Book
Nelson George does Soul Train.

49% Believe U.S. Government Trying To Kill Them
What the MSM won't tell you: They're right!

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BeachBook
* Marfa Public Radio Benefit At Longman & Eagle Tonight.

Marfa Public Radio is a friend of the Beachwood; it was founded by Chicago-expat Tom Michael, of the late great radio show Tom's Town.

* 100 Years Of Railroad Progress: Chicago Railroad Fair 1948 Educational Documentary.

Alternately called Wheels-A-Rolling.

* Unless Companies Pay, Their Facebook Updates Reach Only 6 Percent Of Followers.

Which is one reason why I've started posting some (not all) of our Facebook links here, because our Facebook page really rocks and it needs to reach more people.

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TweetWood

$9.5 million for new office furniture: CPS says to retrofit new offices at 1 N. dearborn for nov. move. money already budgeted.Stay tuned

— Noreen Ahmed-Ullah (@nahmedullah) March 24, 2014

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Microsoft and Google reserve the right to read journalist's emails when necessary to protect their products (1/2) http://t.co/2pxkhwrkgl

— ashkan soltani (@ashk4n) March 24, 2014

12 of the top 25 news sites (incl. @washingtonpost) rely on Microsoft or Google for hosted email services (2/2) pic.twitter.com/Dgio3KITJo

— ashkan soltani (@ashk4n) March 24, 2014

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@wjk1971 asks question about school cuts on Sen. Cullerton town hall. Answer punts to development of the budget. Wish dialogue was 2way.

— Raise Your Hand (@ILRaiseYourHand) March 25, 2014

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So Snowden was right RT @amnesty: BREAKING: Obama to Propose Ending NSA Bulk Collection of Phone Records http://t.co/wj2UMQvyKV via @NYTimes

— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) March 25, 2014

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Promises not to turn them into charters | "Walgreen's To Close 76 Unprofitable Stores." #chicago

— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) March 25, 2014

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