Plus: Lies And Videotape
Privatizing schools, demonizing teachers and using political hackery to build resumes and make money. The kids get the shaft.
1. Part of a cynical story about how Chicago works.
Posted on February 6, 2012
The Week in Occupy Chicago
By The Beachwood Occupation Affairs Desk
And what a week it was.
1. Meet the new HQ at 500 West Cermak.
Posted on February 3, 2012
Six More Years Of Shadowy Government!
Oh, Who Are We Kidding? Sixty!
Illinois Groundhog Punksthetaxpayers Phil saw his shadow this morning, portending the following:
* Six more years of corruption. Oh, who are we kidding? Six more decades of corruption.
* Six more lies a day out of City Hall.
* Six references to the Land of Lincoln in every Pat Quinn speech. Wait, six more references to the Land of Lincoln in every Pat Quinn speech.
* Six more ways for Rahm to blame the city’s problems on teachers and librarians.
Posted on February 2, 2012
Will Rahm’s TIF Reform Go Far Enough?
By Celeste Meiffren/Illinois PIRG
Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced Monday that he will be immediately implementing some of the reforms proposed by his Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Reform Panel five months ago. All of the proposed reforms are necessary to fix TIF and need to become law before more of our tax dollars are wasted.
Every year, $500 million worth of property tax revenue collected from Chicago taxpayers flows into a funding pool that, up until very recently, has been completely off the books – allowing for an out-of-control spending spree to well-connected developers and other special interests.
Posted on January 31, 2012
Judges For Sale
By Dick Simpson
Hey bud, would you like to buy a judge?
Judges in Illinois can be bought by cash or votes. The Central Committee of the Democratic Party of Cook County buys judges with the promise of votes, naming them to the party’s official slate in exchange for implicit support. The key phrase at the slating session of prospective judges is “I am a lifelong Democrat,” which is code for saying, I’ll decide cases when I can the way the party wants.
Posted on January 29, 2012
Obama’s Gerrymander
By Lois Beckett/ProPublica
We’ve been following the ways that politicians and special interests try to influence the redistricting process for their own gain, often at the expense of voters.
An article this week in The New Yorker suggests that President Barack Obama’s own political rise in Chicago was partially the result of gerrymandering.
As The New Yorker’s Ryan Lizza reported, Obama worked with a Democratic redistricting consultant to draw a state senate district tailored for him.
Posted on January 26, 2012
Chicago Police Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Badges
By Anonymous Media
On Friday, January 20, Chicago police blog Second City Cop posted a blog entry entitled “Your New G-8 Best Friend” with an image of a roll of black electrical tape. The post stated, “Use as necessary,” followed by a series of updates that read, “It’s not for securing anything,” and “Hint – it covers things.”
Following this post, Chicago police officers, most of whom posted anonymously, weighed in on the suggestion. One commenter stated, “We should be able to cover up our names and badges with tape if our department is not going to protect us . . .” The officer expressed concern that the hacktivist collective “Anonymous” would release personal information on those identified.
Posted on January 25, 2012
Illinois Drinking Water Could Go Radioactive
By The Illinois Public Interest Research Group
(Links added.)
The drinking water for 652,000 people in Illinois could be at risk of radioactive contamination from a leak or accident at a local nuclear power plant, says a new study released today by the Illinois Public Interest Research Group Education Fund (Illinois PIRG).
“The danger of nuclear power is too close to home. Nuclear power plants in Illinois pose a risk to drinking water for more than 600,000 Illinoisans,” said Brian Imus, Illinois PIRG state director. “An accident like the one in Fukushima or a leak could spew cancer-causing radioactive waste into our drinking water.”
The nuclear meltdown in Fukushima last year drew a spotlight on the many risks associated with nuclear power. After the disaster, airborne radiation left areas around the plant uninhabitable, and even contaminated drinking water sources near Tokyo, 130 miles from the plant.
According to the new report, Too Close to Home: Nuclear Power and the Threat to Drinking Water, the drinking water for 652,000 people in Illinois is within 50 miles of an active nuclear power plant – the distance the Nuclear Regulatory Commission uses to measure risk to food and water supplies.
Posted on January 24, 2012
Oxymoron: Jobless Recovery
By J-Hustle
“Ten degrees out with an eight-below wind-chill and people have been camped out all night long just to get an application to work for Ford Motor Company. They turned people away and closed the doors.
“All these people praying for a job. Where are all the jobs, Mr. President, mayor, governor and crooked-ass aldermen and crooked-ass politicians?! Where the hell is the help you bastards promised the people for voting you assholes into office?”
Posted on January 23, 2012
The City Council Just Secretly Redrew Your Ward
By Steve Rhodes
“The run-up to Thursday’s City Council approval of a new ward map was quintessential Chicago politics,” the Tribune reports.
“The deal – if not the details – had been largely finished the night before behind closed doors in a third-floor City Hall room that’s no longer smoke-filled like it might have been a couple decades ago. Mapmakers pulled an all-nighter, tweaking the street boundaries to keep enough aldermen happy.
“As soon as the maps could be printed, aldermen were handed copies. Less than an hour later, as Mayor Rahm Emanuel led the proceedings, the map was rammed through 41-8. There was no public hearing on the final plan, and the lopsided vote followed a discussion focused far more on legal technicalities than impact on Chicago residents.
“Reform groups and opposing aldermen asked what the rush was, given that there’s no city election until 2015.”
Posted on January 20, 2012