By Steve Rhodes
I haven’t even gotten to today’s papers yet so let me just catch up with the weekend and cover today tomorrow. Just like print editions do!
Blago’s Next Moves
What sources tell the Beachwood.
Why Lou Really Left Early
What sources tell the Beachwood.
Water Waste
“Working for the public agency that handles Cook County’s storm water and wastewater often involves unglamorous trips into the cavernous Deep Tunnel or to the malodorous sewage treatment plant in south-suburban Stickney,” the Chicago News Cooperative reports. “But duty has also called district employees on trips to Thailand, Denmark, the Greek islands and some of Chicago’s nicest steakhouses – all at the taxpayers’ expense.
“An investigation by the Chicago News Cooperative found that 40 employees at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago charged about $1 million on the district’s credit cards in the last three-and-a-half years. Most of that money was spent on travel to professional conferences, with employees sometimes staying at such luxury hotels as the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.”
Can you imagine water reclamation district employees in Vegas? Put it all on black – just like our sewage!
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Too easy? I’ve been tired lately. But I can see the film trailer now . . . and the voiceover . . . “Take three parts sludge, two parts junket, one part politics and a million parts zany and you’ve got . . . Sewer Rats in Vegas . . . starring Adam Sandler, David Spade and Jenny McCarthy.”
Or something.
Thank You . . .
. . . Tribune, for this.
Every media appearance Blago makes should come with instant fact-checking.
. . . Sun-Times, for this.
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But even journalists believe a lot of things that aren’t true.
For example, this appeared in the Sun-Times
But LBJ never said “If I’ve lost Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America.”
Just like Al Gore never said he invented the Internet or that he was inspiration for a character in Love Story, despite what you are still being told.
Maybe not the same as believing in ghosts, but a lot of people believe in ghosts.
And after all, are birthers any worse than truthers- or maybe less worse, I happen to believe their ridiculous position is actually more plausible.
My guess is that a certain number of birthers just don’t know any better or say Yes if asked if Obama is a Muslim because they figure he is if they’re being asked. Yes, far more birthers are conspiracists, among other unpleasantries, but being a truther requires a more active conspiratorial mind; you aren’t a truther by accident.
But let’s take a more rudimentary example: The recent Tribune poll showing that nearly half of Chicagoans wrongly believe crime is up.
Now where would Chicagoans get that idea? What a head-scratcher!
And yet, the Tribune set out to track every shooting in July because, um, crime is down? Or to ride the meme?
The Trib’s findings over the weekend must have disappointed editors and reporters:
“Crime has been holding steady in Chicago in recent years. Through July, there have been 1,089 shootings in the city, a 2.4 percent decrease over last year. This July, police counted 221 shooting incidents, compared with 229 in July 2009. A review of seven years worth of shootings showed similar numbers.
“In other words, this was a typical July.”
Breaking news!
Cliche Replay
Look, the New York Times accidentally republished a story from 1991 . . .
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Next: Why aren’t college students protesting like they did in the 60s?
And: Why don’t twentysomethings just get jobs? Like we did in the 60s?
Jock Straps
“I do know it is a great deal more satisfying taking Alana to see the Red Stars than the Bulls or Blackhawks,” our very own Jim Coffman writes in SportsMonday. “The dreadful Luvabulls and Ice Crew girls are the only women in the spotlight at those events and Alana notices – big time.
“Do the guys who run these teams have daughters? And are they happy to continually send them the message that their place at sporting events is on the sideline, leading cheers or skating around in slutty outfits for the enjoyment of the boys in the spotlight?”
Blame Game
The White Sox should look in the mirror, not at Joe West or Delmon Young.
Smells Like Shaving Spirit
A correspondence about PR and passion.
Unfinished Business
Didn’t even come close to dealing with all the material at hand. The news is killing me. More tomorrow.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Like a gateway drug.
Posted on August 23, 2010