By Steve Rhodes

Mayor Daley wants to know who’s afraid of a bunch of kids, as the Sun-Times approvingly puts it all over its front page today for a story about the Children’s Museum’s controversial proposed move to Grant Park.
I bet the answer is no one. Nobody is afraid of a bunch of kids. Except maybe the mayor. Remember when he insisted that movie theaters not be a part of a rebuilt Block 37? Guess why. And geez, just a few days ago he hinted at enforcing an earlier curfew in the city. So if anyone’s afraid of kids, it’s the mayor.
But fear of kids – and in particular, black kids – is not the point and the mayor knows it. So does the Sun-Times, though it saw the same opportunity as the mayor to exploit the fiction and friction to sell its product.
As Cate Plys points out in today’s Open Letter, the mayor and the museum are spinning a desperate narrative full of holes.

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Posted on September 18, 2007

By Steve Rhodes

A Tribune examination of thousands of documents in a federal investigative file adds ballast to those of us who have long thought the mayor’s fancy flowers and power-washed downtown streets were the perfect front for a city whose realities fail to live up to its picture-perfect postcards.
In this case, it’s the CTA – just the latest in a long line of city agencies and municipal projects riddled with incompetence and corruption that somehow fails to attach itself to the mayor who has overseen it for 18 years.

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Posted on September 17, 2007

By Natasha Julius

Don’t worry. Everything is still just fine.
Market Update
Markets soared this week on the unexpected news that, despite copious evidence to the contrary, we are totally winning. Just remember, success is always a little costly.

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Posted on September 15, 2007

The mayor pulled out one of his favorite tropes on Thursday to deflect criticism in a federal report of a CTA crumbling with incompetence, stupidity, and life-threatening shoddy maintenance complete with false and missing inspection reports.
It happened on Richard M. Daley’s watch. He’s been mayor for 18 years. But, as usual, his reply to questions about the report was to point a finger back at the media.

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Posted on September 14, 2007

By Steve Rhodes

Still slightly hobbled by my ISP issues, but I’m reporting live again today from the Beachwood’s Palmer Square bureau. Beachwood HQ should be up to full speed later today.
Nonetheless, we have a new Over/Under, the wildly popular football column by the wildly popular Eric Emery; and in case you missed it yesterday, a new Periodical Table featuring Rick Rubin, Tina Fey, loud eyeballs and the conservative U of C scholar who found the White House’s abuse of power too much to bear, as well as a 9/11 poem by our poet-in-residence, J.J. Tindall. Plus, the Beachwood debut of longtime local personality Chicago Ed Schwartz.
And now, on to the news.

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Posted on September 13, 2007

By Steve Rhodes

“Federal safety investigators blamed last year’s CTA Blue Line derailment on poor track conditions that grew out of faulty inspections, falsified reports and systematic failures in the transit agency’s management of track maintenance and inspection,” the Sun-Times reports.
Meanwhile, Mayor Richard (Manager of the Year) Daley is in Paris riding bikes.

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Posted on September 12, 2007

By Steve Rhodes

“The world is far less safe now than on September 11, 2001 due to US President George W. Bush’s reaction to the attacks, notably in Iraq, the general who led UN forces in Bosnia said Tuesday.
“British General Sir Michael Rose praised the United States’ invasion of Afghanistan in the immediate wake of the terror attacks in Washington and New York, saying the war on terror got off to a ‘brilliant start.’
“Instead of following up the military defeat of the Taliban with civil action and ensuring permanent security, President Bush, in his haste and ignorance, transferred his attentions to Iraq.
“The result is that the world is far less safe today than before he declared his war,’ he wrote in the Daily Mail, adding that Afghanistan remains unstable and the Taliban have regrouped.”
We blew it.
We failed these people, and we failed ourselves.

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Posted on September 11, 2007

By Steve Rhodes

1. The Bears.
“Based on the Bears’ performance against the Chargers, they have a defense that could carry them back to the Super Bowl and an offense that could prevent them from even making the playoffs.”
*
The view from Sports Illustrated.
2. The Cubs.
“The Chicago Cubs fell out of first place in the NL Central because they again couldn’t beat a team that’s spent most of the past month in last place.”
*
The view from The Cub Factor.
3. Rush.
“Having replaced traditional stage gear with cutting-edge digital amplifiers and in-ear monitors, Lee filled the space vacated by his own speaker cabinets with three rotisserie ovens packed with roasting chickens.”
*
The view from Rush.

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Posted on September 10, 2007

By Natasha Julius

Don’t worry. Enjoy your weekend. Everything is just fine . . .
Market Update
In a desperate attempt to calm a panicky market, the Federal Reserve is prepared to confirm that NASA miscalculated the most recent job figures. The data set released on Friday was actually from August 1937. Don’t worry; you totally still have a job. Everything is just fine.

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Posted on September 8, 2007

By Steve Rhodes

– Jim DeRogatis previews this weekend’s Hideout Block Party.
– He also recommends Saturday night’s Rush show.
– Eric Emery previews the life cycle of a Bears season.
Jerry Rigged
A Tribune investigation this morning examines the Nicaraguan land holdings of Illinois congressman Jerry Weller.
The two main points:
* “[H]e didn’t declare the extent of his holdings on his required congressional disclosures, and he indicated dramatically different purchase prices for the land in American and Nicaraguan records.”
* “His investment got a boost from the narrowly passed Central America Free Trade Agreement, which Weller pitched in 2005 as a tool to enable businesses in his hard-pressed district to sell tractors and food to Latin America. CAFTA also includes additional legal protection for American investors, including those who have purchased lots from Weller.”

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Posted on September 7, 2007