By Steve Rhodes

This is really good:

Chicago still “fixing” the potholes though. #chicagoproblems pic.twitter.com/GLZoGwX6H8

— chicago problems (@chicagoproblem) March 7, 2014

But given the media coverage and complaints around here you’d think Chicago was unique – and Rahm Emanuel uniquely to blame – for the massive pothole problem we’re facing.
Reality check: The rest of America also suffered through a heinous winter, and potholes the size of Kanye West’s ego are what you get. To wit:

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Posted on April 30, 2014

By The Miami Herald

“This video report summarizes the experiences of four Miami Herald journalists in a four-day visit to Guantanamo in March.”

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Posted on April 29, 2014

How Far Would You Go To Tell The Truth?

“That is the question posed by the new documentary Silenced, which follows three national security whistleblowers who fight to reveal the darkest corners of America’s war on terror while enduring the wrath of a government increasingly determined to maintain secrecy,” Democracy Now! reports.
“The three are former Justice Department lawyer Jesselyn Radack, former senior National Security Agency official Thomas Drake, and former CIA officer John Kiriakou.
“On the heels of the film’s premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, we speak with director James Spione about the extraordinary lengths the government has gone to in order to wreak havoc on the whistleblowers’ personal lives through a sustained campaign of intimidation and harassment.”
Here’s Democracy Now!’s interview of Spione, including a trailer of the film. A transcript of the interview is here.

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Posted on April 28, 2014

By Bob Angone

A recent Tribune editorial asked the question most of us Chicago residents would like an answer to: Is Chicago helpless?
The headlines! Nine dead, 36 wounded on Easter weekend with very similar numbers for the previous week. Some Chicagoans are thinking, Wow! It’s here, Chicago’s rite of spring, gang violence, scores of our youths gunned down in our neighborhoods.
Then comes the usual outcry.
It’s the guns!
It’s the cops!
It’s the judges!

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Posted on April 27, 2014

Another Beachwood Special Report

“A new selective-enrollment high school named after President Barack Obama is coming to the Near North Side, CPS officials announced Thursday.”
As we are wont to do, we have the scoop.
The Beachwood I-Team has learned the following about Obama High:
* Bruce Rauner’s daughter already enrolled.
* If you like your homework, you can keep your homework.
* Detention will be held offsite and last indefinitely.
* Kids will be told the H. in Barack H. Obama High School stands for Harold.
* Taco Day is every day. Only they’re not tacos, they’re kale burgers.
* The school’s position on admitting gay students is evolving.
* 30% of the school’s seats will be reserved for neighborhood kids, but they’ll only get a Bronze education.

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Posted on April 25, 2014

By Kara Brandeisky/ProPublica

On Wednesday, the Department of Justice outlined expanded criteria that could allow prisoners convicted of non-violent crimes to win early release from prison.
Under the new initiative, the Office of the Pardon Attorney will fast-track commutation applications from inmates who have served more than 10 years for non-violent offenses and who were well-behaved while imprisoned.
As part of the shift, the department is replacing Pardon Attorney Ronald Rodgers. Two years ago, we reported that Rodgers had failed to provide critical information to the White House in urging denial of a commutation for Clarence Aaron, a model prisoner who served nearly 20 years for a small role in a drug deal.

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Posted on April 24, 2014

via Human Rights Watch

Dear Minister,
On April 8, 2014, former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden testified before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) via video-conference that the NSA and the United Kingdom Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) have used their surveillance capabilities to spy on the communications of human rights organizations and civil society groups, both domestically and internationally.
Snowden did not reveal which groups the NSA or GCHQ have spied upon, but indicated that the types of organizations whose communications had been compromised included major global organizations similar to Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and other NGOs.
Snowden explicitly told PACE members that the NSA had “specifically targeted the communications of either leaders or staff members in a number of purely civil or human rights organizations . . . including domestically, within the borders of the United States.”
If Snowden’s assertion is accurate, such facts would not only point to fresh dimensions of the overreach of NSA surveillance, but also would constitute an outrageous breach of the US government’s stated commitment to human rights and freedom online.

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Posted on April 22, 2014

By Steve Rhodes

“The Cook County Democratic Party on Wednesday re-elected Joseph Berrios to a fifth term as its chairman,” the party has announced.
Unanimously. Yay, Democrats!
“In addition, the party unanimously re-elected its executive committee – Toni Preckwinkle, executive vice chairman; Lou Lang, executive vice chairman; Tim Bradford, first vice chairman; Carrie Austin, city vice chairman; Don Harmon, suburban vice chairman; Robert Martwick, secretary; Antonio Munoz, treasurer, and Karen Yarbrough, sergeant-at-arms.”
Bringin’ in Joe to share the lettuce.

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Posted on April 18, 2014

By Julia Angwin/ProPublica

The Heartbleed computer security bug is many things: a catastrophic tech failure, an open invitation to criminal hackers and yet another reason to upgrade our passwords on dozens of websites.
But more than anything else, Heartbleed reveals our neglect of Internet security.
The United States spends more than $50 billion a year on spying and intelligence, while the folks who build important defense software – in this case a program called OpenSSL that ensures that your connection to a website is encrypted – are four core programmers, only one of whom calls it a full-time job.

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Posted on April 17, 2014

By The Electronic Frontier Foundation

A federal appeals court overturned the conviction of Andrew “weev” Auernheimer, the computer researcher who was charged with violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act after he exposed a massive security flaw in AT&T’s website.
In an opinion issued Friday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, judge Michael Chagares wrote that the government should not have charged Auernheimer in New Jersey, which had no direct connection to AT&T or Auernheimer.
Auernheimer was represented on appeal by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, professor Orin Kerr of George Washington University, and attorneys Marcia Hofmann, and Tor Ekeland.
“We’re thrilled that the Third Circuit reversed Mr. Auernheimer’s conviction,” EFF staff attorney Hanni Fakhoury said. “This prosecution presented real threats to security research. Hopefully this decision will reassure that community.”

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Posted on April 15, 2014