The Weekend Desk Report

"Good quest stories start at the beginning, so let us untangle all the various narratives about the improbable birth of the Tampa Bay Lightning and begin with the bold desire of one man, a man whose life was defined by hockey, a man who got emotional when he talked about hockey, a man who would let go of his wife before he let go of hockey.

"Phil Esposito wanted a hockey team.

"That's the beginning, a man with a wish. On May 1, 1990, eight months after the NHL announced its intentions to expand from 21 teams to 28 by the year 2000, Esposito told the hockey world he was interested in bringing a team to a place most unlikely: Tampa Bay. And he had a name: the Lightning."

The Beachwood Radio Sports Hour #55: Do The Blackhawks Suck?
No. Plus: Downstate Warriors; Canada's Plastic World Cup; The White Sox Are Still Playing; The Cubs' Buzzy Bullpen; Cappy & Pokey; and The U.S. Men's Soccer Team Has Its Best Week In History.

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This weekend's Beachwood Radio [News] Hour is in pre-production.

CPS: Lieraq
The graduation rate fiasco is even worse than we thought and it almost certainly involves fraud.

"The WBEZ and Better Government Association looked at only 25 of 140 high schools - the ones with the largest numbers of students removed from the graduation rate calculation. A request is pending for the remaining 115.

"The errors at that small sampling of schools would lower the publicly reported graduation rate from 69.4 percent to about 67 percent. It is a conservative estimate and would likely be lowered further when all schools are factored in."

And yet:

"Despite the errors in the underlying data, CPS Chief of Accountability John Barker insists the graduation rate is even higher than it's been reported and will continue to be."

The chief accountability officer!

Previously in John Barker:

Barker complaining about lack of media coverage about first day. @ChiPubSchools I HAVE BEEN ASKING FOR 1ST DAY ATTENDANCE SINCE THE 1ST DAY.

— Lauren FitzPatrick (@bylaurenfitz) September 24, 2014

So nothing today about #CPS first day attendance. I will not report their "best ever" numbers without data behind them.

— Lauren FitzPatrick (@bylaurenfitz) September 24, 2014

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BBB and John Barker said our accountability policy at CPS is a model across the nation. No joke.

— Raise Your Hand (@ILRaiseYourHand) November 20, 2014

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I'm told Barker knew about problems with the graduation rate numbers at least two years ago and blew it off.

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Back to WBEZ/BGA:

Elaine Allensworth, executive director of University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research said, "There's always doubt about what the exact number is, but that doesn't mean the trends in graduation rates aren't real."

I have said the same thing about crime rates, but the difference is that no one is contesting the long-term trend and now is not the time to come to the administration's defense when it's been caught red-handed fucking with data for the umpteenth time. Also: CPS refuses to correct its numbers even while admitting they are wrong. How can that ever be accceptable to a university research project?

(Bonus question: What would happen to a student who presented data the way CPS does and additionally refused to correct the data even after acknowledging it was false? I doubt they would get an editorial in the Sun-Times aiding and abetting their effort at damage control.)

Why I Hate MSM Political Journalism
It's full of stage managers masquerading as analysts and reporters.

So I guess the political media today has to go to Roosevelt Island & pretend this didn't happen 2 months ago. Got it. http://t.co/tzVqISqnNl

— David Sirota (@davidsirota) June 13, 2015

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Hillary 2.0! Via @GlennThrush https://t.co/JXHlHy08ml

— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) June 13, 2015

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See also:

* Bloomberg's Halperin Scheduled To Conduct "Sunrise Pilates" Session With Ann Romney At GOP Donor Retreat.

Halperin is just the worst.

Mark Halperin http://t.co/mmjbXJGP84

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) May 11, 2015

* Mark Halperin's Sad Little Crusade For Right-Wing Blessings.

* The Journalistic Mind: Mark Halperin provides some important insight into the behavior of his colleagues.

* "Political Reporting" Means "Royal Court Gossip."

There's lots more out there about Halperin epitomizing the worst practices of what passes for political journalism these days, if you bother to pay attention.

Oops!

An honor to meet @MarkHalperin tonight to talk #Hastert https://t.co/R4j1DC4z1u

— natasha korecki (@natashakorecki) June 9, 2015

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The Sound Opinions Weekend Listening Report: "The year is only half over and already there are too many great new records to keep up with. Jim and Greg take a breath and catch you up with the Best of 2015 So Far."

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BeachBook
* Obama's Rationale For War Against Islamic State Is Secret And 'Very Thin.'

* No Rainbow Cone At This Year's Taste.

* Indiana Has First Black Bear In 144 Years.

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TweetWood
A sampling.

Lawyer Will Do Your Divorce For #Blackhawks Tickets: http://t.co/6Msjm6xfuT

— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) June 13, 2015

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Tribune selling Grateful Dead merch: http://t.co/g47Qbt96SL

— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) June 13, 2015

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SeinfeldChicago: Newman hired to fix CPS grad rates; Kramer gets CPS janitorial contract; Jerry asks what the deal is with no-bid contracts.

— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) June 12, 2015

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Does she know Rahm's favorite Beatle is Ringo? https://t.co/BbfsN27xL5

— Beachwood Reporter (@BeachwoodReport) June 12, 2015

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