Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Thursday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

“Annapolis Police Chief Michael A. Pristoop thought he came prepared when he testified before a Maryland state Senate panel on Tuesday about the perils of legalizing marijuana,” the Washington Post reports.
“In researching his testimony against two bills before the Judicial Proceedings Committee, Pristoop said, he had found a news article to illustrate the risks of legalization: 37 people in Colorado, he said, had died of marijuana overdoses on the very day that the state legalized pot.

“When he said it, everyone in the room dropped their laptops,” Sen. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Montgomery) said in an e-mail.

“Trouble is, the facts were about as close to the truth as oregano is to pot. After a quick Google search on his laptop, Raskin – the sponsor of the legalization bill that was the subject of the Senate hearing – advised the chief that the Colorado overdose story, despite its deadpan delivery, had been made up for laughs by The Daily Currant, an online comedy magazine.”
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Yes, but how many Chicago aldermen still believe it? To wit:


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See also: Here’s An Updated Tally On Everyone Who Has Ever Died From A Marijuana Overdose.
Obama’s Lab
“In 2008 the Obamas spent $24,317 for fifth grade for Malia at Lab, and $23,171 for second grade for Sasha, according to the family’s Illinois tax return for that year,” Steve Bogira reports for the Reader.
“And Illinois saved the Obamas a few dollars with the $500 education expense credit, which the Obamas claimed in full.”
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Also noted:

When I called Lab with questions about its enrollment, I was directed to Jeremy Manier, news director for the U. of C. I said I wanted to interview someone at Lab about the diversity of its enrollment. I told him I wanted to know, among other things, what proportion of Lab students is from low-income families.
Manier sent me a PDF with a demographic profile of Lab’s student body. It said the enrollment was: 51 percent Caucasian; 19 percent “multi-ethnic”; 14 percent Asian; 9 percent African-American; 4 percent other/not defined; 2 percent Hispanic; and 1 percent Middle Eastern.
There was no socioeconomic data. Manier told me in his e-mail that the proportion of low-income students was “similar to the levels at peer independent institutions.”
I asked Manier what that proportion was. I also asked him if the proportion of Hispanics at Lab was really only 2 percent, as the profile indicated. (As of 2010, according to that year’s census, Chicago’s population was 33 percent African-American, 32 percent non-Hispanic white, and 29 percent Hispanic.)
Manier’s response: “There’s no additional comment from Lab beyond the original statement we gave.”
I reminded him that I hadn’t been after a statement; I’d wanted to talk with someone at Lab about the school’s diversity – a board member, perhaps. Diversity was integral to Lab’s educational mission, according to the school’s website. Wasn’t anyone at Lab willing to discuss the subject? Manier said the school wouldn’t go beyond its statement.

Manier is a former Tribune reporter, which makes him a doubly awful person.
Chicago Stategate
“A Cook County jury has awarded a former Chicago State University employee $2.5 million in damages and back pay after deciding he was fired in retaliation for reporting alleged misconduct by the university president and other top officials, an amount that a judge could further increase at a hearing next month,” the Tribune reports.
The university says it’s planning to appeal. Good luck with that:
“A 14-member jury deliberated for less than an hour before delivering the verdict Feb. 18.”
Less than an hour!
You can’t get 14 people to agree on lunch in less than an hour.
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Also a bit curious why it took eight days for news of the verdict to reach a Chicago newsroom, but I’ll just let that be.
The Boeing Boing
“Boeing Wins $2.1 Billion Contract For 16 More P-8 Spy Planes.”
Or, to be more clear:
“Boeing Wins $2.1 Billion Tax-Free Contract From Taxpayers, Who Will Also Kick In Tax Rebate On Those $0 Paid In Taxes.”
(See the item In America, Boeing Taxes Us.)
Fab Fraud
“Former Goldman Sachs banker and securities scammer Fabrice Tourre has landed a new gig: teaching an honors economics class at the prestigious University of Chicago,” the New York Post reports.
“‘Fabulous Fab,’ as the 34-year-old famously called himself in e-mails to his girlfriend, was found liable by a federal-court jury last August on civil securities charges that were brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“While Goldman settled with the SEC for $550 million, Tourre decide to leave his fate to a jury.
“The jury found Tourre liable on six charges of fraud for perpetrating the $1 billion deceptive sales of a complex array of mortgage securities to institutional investors in 2007.”
If he has kids, they’ll fit right in at Lab.
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Chicago Is Mentally Ill
Starving clinics a sure sign of pathology.
Chicago Soccer Player Had CTE
Former UIC Flame died at 29 of ALS.
Spider Eating Preacher
And Sideman To The Stars.
Jesus Lizard And The Pope
Chicago tag.
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BeachBook
* Chicago Family Pouring Root Beer For 90 Years.
* Thomas Frank Teaches Rachel Maddow And The New York Times How To Talk.
* No Defamation In Calling Foul On Chicago Police.
* A $14 Million Whistleblower Award Last Year Exposed A Chicago-Based Fraud.
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Weird and Al.

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Posted on February 27, 2014