Chicago -
By Natasha Julius
We’d like to take some time out from the key stories of the week to watch some frivilous military maneuvers, but as always we’ll stay on high-alert for you.
Market Update
Markets reacted with guarded optimism to the latest reports of a rise in short-term stability. Analysts cautioned that, once the initial euphoria wears off, investors will realize long-term returns still look pretty fuckin’ bleak.
Posted on August 18, 2006
By Steve Rhodes
1. It’s true that the minimum wage provisions of San Francisco and Santa Fe differ in a signficant way than Chicago’s big-box ordinance – in those other cities, the measure is for all businesses, not just businesses of a particular size and nature. But when Mayor Richard M. Daley’s reaction to their testimony at a City Council hearing is that “We’ve got more work going [on] downtown in one block than . . . those cities combined,” and “They should get back and help their own cities” and “I will compare my record to Santa Fe anytime, and San Francisco,” it just makes me wonder: Is Daley a child?
2. “Meanwhile, another alderman who voted in favor of the big-box measure said Thursday that he could change his mind if Daley exercises his veto power.
“‘I am going to study it more,’ said Ald. Ray Suarez (31st). ‘I just don’t want to see us get hurt. I don’t want to see people lose their jobs. I don’t want to see companies move out of the city.'”
Apparently Suarez prefers to study the issues after he votes.
3. If the City Council backs down on the big-box ordinance, will they also rescind the pay raises they voted for themselves at the same time in a political maneuver designed to hide their greed? Or was this the plan all along?
4. A reader responding to the ‘N’ word commentary yesterday (last item) from Hermene Hartman’s N’Digo column that approvingly mentioned Richard Pryor’s use of the word points out this factoid from Pryor’s Wikipedia entry
“Comfortably successful and into the zenith of his career, Pryor visited Africa in 1979. Upon returning to the United States, Pryor swore he would never use the ‘N’ word in his stand-up comedy routine again. (His favorite epithet, ‘motherfucker,’ remains a term of endearment on his official website to this day.)”
5.Open beer bottles with your hat.
Posted on August 18, 2006
By Steve Rhodes
Last April, the Associated Press reported the following:
“Exxon Mobil Corp., the world’s largest oil company, reported Thursday the fifth highest quarterly profit for any public company in history, posting gains from higher oil prices that were likely to stoke the furor over outsized oil company earnings.”
The AP went on to note that “In January, Exxon posted the highest quarterly profits of any public company in history: $10.71 billion for the fourth quarter of 2005 and $36.13 billion for the full year.”
But to hear the industry talk, these are the worst of times to be oil and gas bidness. Seems the greatest beneficiary of high gas prices isn’t the oil industry, but government.
Posted on August 17, 2006
By Steve Rhodes
Average ACT scores for Chicago and Illinois high school students edged up again this year, according to data released on Tuesday. The Sun-Times focused on the city results, in a story that more closely resembled something coming from a beginning journalism student than a veteran reporter at a major metropolitan newspaper, while the Tribune focused on statewide results in a much more sophisticated, but still unsatisfactory, examination.
Posted on August 16, 2006
By Steve Rhodes
Average gas prices in Chicago are the highest in the nation.
But don’t blame the oil companies, the Sun-Times helpfully advises us this morning. In a news story. Instead, blame taxes.
Even though it’s not taxes that are rising. It’s gas prices.
But then, what do you expect when you build a story around a spokesman from the Illinois Petroleum Council?
Just the latest Sun-Times story that wouldn’t have met the standards of my high school paper.
Posted on August 15, 2006
By Steve Rhodes
The mayor’s media team got exactly what they wanted this weekend by putting a warmer, fuzzier Richard M. Daley on The Crazy Howard McGee Morning Show on WGCI-FM on Friday and inviting local TV “news” crews into the studio to film the breaking “news” for their “newscasts.”
McGee proved to be the friendly “interviewer” they sought and the station dutifully screened out controversial questions from callers so as to not upset the mayor. And the local news shows ran with it – great video!
Nice job. After 17 years in office, the tough Chicago media finally found out the mayor’s favorite cereal is Cheerios and his favorite cartoon character is Bugs Bunny.
What a bunch of chumps.
Posted on August 14, 2006
By Natasha Julius
Is that a tube of contraband toothpaste in your pocket, or are you just glad to see us?
Market Update
For some bizarre reason that no one can figure out, share prices in personal care manufacturing giant Proctor and Gamble had a sudden spike on Thursday. Analysts expect the trend to continue for the foreseeable future.
Posted on August 11, 2006
By Steve Rhodes
1. Isn’t “New Fright Plan” a bit flip?
2. The Tribune editorial page predictably tried to use news of the foiled terrorist plot to justify the alarmist coverage of incidents such as the arrest of those bozos in Miami who fantasized about blowing up the Sears Tower.
“This was real,” the editorial said. “‘This is not a circumstance where you had a handful of people sitting around coming up with dreamy ideas about terrorist plots. They were well on their way.’ [Homeland Security Secretary Michael] Chertoff said.
“That remark may have been aimed at those who have been quick to dismiss a series of other thwarted plots in recent months.”
Or that remark might have been Chertoff’s way of telling us that this wasn’t a circumstance where you had a handful of people sitting around coming up with dreamy ideas about terrorist plots.
3. The Tribune ends its editorial on this impertinent note: “Why do they hate us? What difference does it make? They do.”
4. “If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
– Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Posted on August 11, 2006
By Steve Rhodes
I’m going to ease back into the papers after my brief absence so I don’t get the bends. Let’s start with what I’ve missed in the Sun-Times‘s groundbreaking, six-part series into Chicago’s changing kitchens.
Posted on August 10, 2006
By Steve Rhodes
Editor’s Note: Sorry, one more day of conducting business. The Papers will return on Thursday. But Tuesday’s links still work.
Posted on August 9, 2006
