By Steve Rhodes

The trial of Bill Cellini, The Consigliere of Illinois, begins today. Cellini is the ultimate guy behind the guys.
“Cellini never wanted publicity. Instead, he prided himself on ‘flying under the radar,’ and for decades, the news media in Illinois accommodated his desire to remain in the shadows,” John Kass writes.
“There’s another reason Cellini isn’t very well-known: He had no real title, except maybe Combine Boss. But that’s something I gave him. It’s not official. It doesn’t come with a blue sash and gold braid.”

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Posted on October 3, 2011

By Natasha Julius

The Weekend Desk: Now banned in Maastricht.
Market Update
Economists this week struggled to interpret Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan after the candidate’s surprise win in Florida. Most agree the proposal is a cut above some of Cain’s rejected policies, including:

• The 8-8-8 Plan, which is actually toll-free
• The 7-7-7 Plan, which is no longer state of the art
• The 6-6-6 Plan, which is possibly quite apt

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Posted on October 1, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

1. Tickets for TeaCon 2011, which will be held at the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel & Convention Center this weekend, are sold out. Just FYI.
2. United CEO Says Boeing 787 ‘A Game-Changer’.
Plane flies totally on instruments.

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Posted on September 30, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

1. The Real Walter Payton.
2. All-Lego Ford Explorer Rolls Off Chicago Assembly Line.
3. Bill Kurtis Keynoter for Meat Industry Hall of Fame Ceremony.
Stick around for the meet-and-greet with lobbyists and then an evening Q&A on media ethics.

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Posted on September 29, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

MythBusters Exhibit Coming To Chicago.
What, the one about Daley being a great mayor? I think that exhibit has already been on display since Rahm Emanuel took office and learned what a mess had been bequeathed to him.

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Posted on September 28, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

The Beachwood will return on Wednesday, unless I either die of exhaustion or the congestion in my sinuses finally blows my head off. Either would be fine with me.
(Also: fire sale!)

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Posted on September 27, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

“Seven-year-old Aaron Pointer spoke his last words from the back of an ambulance,” Natasha Korecki writes for the Sun-Times today.
“‘I . . . am . . . tired . . . of . . . breathing,’ the asthmatic boy gasped, taking breaths between each word, according to a nurse’s report.
“From the front seat of the ambulance, worried mother Sharese Pointer waited and waited, hoping at any minute they’d arrive at the hospital.
“It would be the third hospital in 11 hours that her son was taken to after he suffered an asthma attack at home early in the morning of Sept. 13, 2010.”

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Posted on September 26, 2011

By Natasha Julius

We’ll be doing a lot of things this weekend, but this sure as hell isn’t one of them.
Market Update
Well, take heart. The next time the market decides to plummet there’s only a 1-in-22 trillion chance that it will crush you to death.

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Posted on September 24, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

1. Block Party Returns To Hideout After Two-Year Hiatus.
2. “The regulatory agencies in charge of finalizing some of the most controversial rules mandated by the financial reform law are leaning toward making them looser and more favorable to banks and other traders,” ProPublica reports.
Obama’s real class war.

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Posted on September 23, 2011

By Steve Rhodes

“Most city workers spend decades in public service to build up modest pensions. But for former labor leader Dennis Gannon, the keys to securing a public pension were one day on the city payroll and some help from the Daley administration,” the Tribune reports.
“And his city pension is more than modest. It’s the highest of any retired union leader: $158,000. That’s roughly five times greater than what the typical retired city worker receives.
“In fact, his pension is so high that it exceeds federal limits and required the city pension fund to file special paperwork with the Internal Revenue Service to give it to him.
“Gannon’s inflated pension is a prime example of how government officials and labor leaders have manipulated city pension funds at the expense of union workers and taxpayers.”

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Posted on September 22, 2011