By Steve Rhodes
Nothing clangs when they walk. Plus: Slowing Rauner’s Endorsement Roll, Anatomy Of A Tribune Editorial, RahmNation, and CPD Swabbies On The CTA.
Posted on October 26, 2014
Anatomy Of A Tribune Editorial
By Steve Rhodes
The Illinois Rauner Republican Party sent this Tribune editorial out Saturday morning via its e-mail account that uses a Quinnochio header, but it’s the paper’s editorial board that is being dishonest.
To wit:
“The race for governor is about whether incumbent Pat Quinn or challenger Bruce Rauner will be Illinois’ CEO for four years.”
No it’s not. It’s about who will be Illinois’ governor for four years. A governor is a chief executive, but one whose job is wholly different than that of a corporate CEO. If you don’t understand how, you don’t deserve to be writing editorials for a major metropolitan daily.
Though relatively trivial, this is just the first example of how the Tribune puts its thumbs on the scale. (Yes, an editorial is an opinion, but it’s supposed to be an honest one, arrived at through factual argument, not sleight of hand.)
Posted on October 25, 2014
The Beachwood Radio Hour #28: The Sun-Times Is A Hot Mess
By Steve Rhodes
Fear And Loathing On The Campaign Trail And In The Newsroom.
Posted on October 20, 2014
Democalypse 2014: Funding Or Die
Oh Dear God, The E-Mails . . .
Not being the change you want to see.
Posted on October 17, 2014
The NSA’s “U.S. Corporate Partners”
By Jeff Larson and Julia Angwin/ProPublica
Newly disclosed National Security Agency documents suggest a closer relationship between American companies and the spy agency than have been previously disclosed.
The documents, published last week by The Intercept, describe “contractual relationships” between the NSA and U.S. companies, as well as the fact that the NSA has “undercover” spies working at or with some U.S. companies.
While not conclusive, the material includes some clear suggestions that at least some American companies are quite willing to help the agency conduct its massive surveillance programs.
Posted on October 16, 2014
I Fight Surveillance
By The Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has launched IFightSurveillance.org, a new site showcasing digital privacy advocates from around the world who are leading the fight against mass surveillance. The site includes figures from the organization’s growing list of Counter-Surveillance Success Stories, a set of guides showing how individuals and organizations have taken on state and corporate spying in their own countries – and won.
Translated into 16 languages, IFightSurveillance.org highlights images and quotes from activists, business leaders, lawyers and technologists. Examples include:
Posted on October 15, 2014
The Beachwood Radio Hour #27: Endorsements Are Bullshit
By Steve Rhodes
How editorial boards invalidate their own newsrooms. Plus: Debates Are Bullshit; Bruce Rauner Hates Homework; The Guns That Didn’t Smoke; Red-Light Rahm’s Yellow Lights; How To Become A Judge In Chicago; Fight The Power Of The Storyline.
Posted on October 11, 2014
Onward Internet’s Astroturf
By Robert Faturechi/ProPublica
On a recent Monday evening, two bearded young men in skinny jeans came to a parklet in San Francisco’s trendy Hayes Valley neighborhood and mounted what looked like an art installation. It was a bright blue, oversized “suggestion box” for the Internet.
The boxes, sometimes accompanied by young people in futuristic costumes, have been popping up on both coasts for weeks, soliciting messages of support – but their sponsor has been a mystery. The website for the campaign, Onward Internet, does not say. Their domain registration is private. And the site includes no contact information, only an animated video heavy on millennial lingo: “The internet was made to move data . . . we got blogs, likes, selfies and memes, OMG, BRB and TTYL.”
The lone hint at a larger message is oblique. “The Internet is a wild, free thing,” the site says. “Unbounded by limits, unfettered by rules, it’s everyone’s responsibility to ensure that the Internet continues to advance.”
Turns out Onward Internet may be the latest stealth entrant in the increasingly nasty battle over net neutrality, which will determine how the government regulates Internet providers.
Posted on October 9, 2014
The Beachwood Radio Hour #26: Raunocchio & Rahmocchio
By Steve Rhodes
Phoney balonies. Including: Brother Oberweis, Olympic Bid Hangover, Rahm’s Rigged Red-Light Refunds, and The Age of Chicago’s Poverty.
Posted on October 4, 2014
The Age Of Chicago’s Poverty
By Kiljoong Kim
Despite decades of effort – including declaring a war – to alleviate poverty, the struggle to survive day-to-day with low wages and unemployment persists for millions of people.
And though medical advances and the wider availability and lower cost of food have extended the lifespan of even those who struggle financially, this means that many individuals simply live poorly longer, given the lack of economic mobility in our society.
The result is an intersection of poverty with age that shows us not all poor neighborhoods are created equal and, perhaps more importantly, should force us to rethink how we deal with poverty.
Posted on October 2, 2014