By Steve Rhodes

I’m not sure if the city has a Ministry of Parks yet, but it’s getting awfully heavy-handed when it comes to its vaunted green space.
Consider this report in today’s Tribune:
“For more than 20 years, park volunteers have planted shrubs and weeded flower beds in the city’s more than 500 parks. They’ve shown up at park meetings and advised officials on how to fine-tune athletic programs and plan park improvements.
“But volunteering may not be that simple anymore.
“Proposed park guidelines would require volunteers to submit to background checks, supply three non-family references and agree to not grant media interviews.”

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Posted on March 27, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

“The Defense Department mistakenly shipped secret nuclear missile fuses to Taiwan more than 18 months ago and did not learn that the items were missing until late last week, Pentagon officials acknowledged Tuesday,” the Washington Post reports.
Somewhere in Changhua County a farmer is still wondering why the lights in his house are so bright.

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Posted on March 26, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

Here’s my first contribution to the latest national conversation about race: I truly believe one mark of progress is that African-Americans in cities like Chicago now have ample opportunity to ascend to the highest levels of government and rip us off, just like white guys have for . . . ever.
In fact, today’s news shows that women have also broken through the, um, the . . . corruption ceiling?
And that just expands the pool of targets for people like me. God bless progress!

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Posted on March 25, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

We shouldn’t be surprised that Todd Stroger is taking some of that taxpayer money he just raised and giving it to his cousin, Donna Dunnings. But I wonder how Larry Suffredin feels today.

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Posted on March 24, 2008

By Natasha Julius

While you’re hunting for Easter eggs, we’ll stay busy hunting the news.
Market Update
The United States Federal Reserve hit on a novel way to stabilize the plunging dollar: martyr the Son of God. Analysts warn the effect is likely to be temporary.

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Posted on March 22, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

First, some housekeeping.
1. My Facebook friends know that I snapped last night at all the Tribune and Sun-Times news stories (and photos) that have begun to clog my Facebook news feed, along with an increase in press releases and event notices. I love Facebook; it’s fun and powerful and I have yet to truly explore all it can do. But my Facebook page is a personal page and I’ve watched in annoyance as it has turned into a Chicago news service smothering what I’m really there for: updates from friends and acquaintances about the urgent, the quirky, the witty, the sad, and the trivial aspects of their lives.

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Posted on March 21, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

“You may be surprised to learn that, precisely five years ago, at least one-third of the top newspapers in this country came out against President Bush taking us to war at that time. Many of the papers may have fumbled the WMD coverage, and only timidly raised questions about the need for war, but when push came to shove five years ago they wanted to wait longer to move against Saddam, or not move at all,” Greg Mitchell writes at the Huffington Post.
Not so here in Chicago, where both the Tribune and Sun-Times supported the war. Nonetheless, a look at editorials from the time is fascinating. The Tribune, for example, was far more skeptical at first than I’d recalled in my own mind.

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Posted on March 20, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

UPDATE 5:58 P.M
From Chicago Tonight: “Senator Barack Obama’s impassioned speech in Philadelphia yesterday took on the issue of race. Carol Marin and her panel take a closer look at the speech and the concerns he raised.”
You can tune in, as always, at 7 p.m. on WTTW.
*
I didn’t get the chance to see Barack Obama’s big speech yesterday, though I saw the video clips that later ran most frequently on the TV news shows; I hope to catch up with the whole thing later this week. In the meantime, I thought I’d bring you what I thought was the most interesting local commentary in today’s papers.
Also:
– Our third annual Beachwood Brackets are here! A surefire way to win your office pool.
– Cate Plys has a new Open Letter that can neatly summarized as: Let my Cook County people go!
– “The [Rezko] Papers” has been updated to reflect the very interesting comments by reporters and editorial writers who met with Obama last Friday.
And now, compare and contrast.
*
“What I haven’t always been sure about is Obama’s wisdom,” writes Mark Brown, who notes that “despite some misgivings.”he voted for Obama in the Illinois presidential primary. “Is he a wise man, I’ve asked myself, the Tony Rezko business frankly having given me pause.

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Posted on March 19, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

As our very Natasha Julius wrote in this space six months ago, shit’s bad, people.
The economy is in deep doo-doo.
It’s worth noting that Natasha also wrote back in September that “Bank of Dad Chairman Ben Bernanke insisted he’s not bailing us out of this latest mess. Someday we’re going to have to learn to sink or swim on our own.”
And that’s just how it’s turned out. We’re sinking, and the bankers who created this mess are watching from the deck chairs on their taxpayer-subsidized yachts. Playing bridge.

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Posted on March 18, 2008

By Steve Rhodes

“Knowing the sadness that would surely accompany me on my trip, I expected to comfort myself with a 2,000-mile musical journey, led by Radiohead, Shawn Phillips, Pink Floyd, Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, and Wilco. Maybe a sprinkle of Neutral Milk Hotel around Montana,” writes our very own Leigh Novak, in the first of her Westward Ho! dispatches that will chronicle her transition from Chicago to Seattle.
“When my journey was said and done, though, I had spent about 25 of the 30 hours meditating solely on Wilco. Specifically, Wilco’s latest album, Sky Blue Sky. Sometimes albums just feel undeniable.
“The treetops nod, the rain applauds . . . “

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Posted on March 17, 2008