Chicago - A message from the station manager

The [Tuesday] Papers

By Steve Rhodes

A postscript to Monday’s lead item about the University of Illinois introducing beer sales to Memorial Stadium’s general seating areas, via Food Dive:
“In search of sales growth, Big Beer has begun partnering with college football programs, where alcohol sales have long been banned inside stadiums, the Wall Street Journal reported.


“The football program at the University of Arkansas recently signed a $400,000 sponsorship deal with Anheuser Busch.”
That’s nice, but everyone knows when you’ve said Wisconsin, you’ve said it all.
Mondo Krafty
“The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Thursday Kraft Heinz Co and Mondelez International Inc will have to pay $16 million in penalty regarding a wheat manipulation case that dates back to 2015,” Reuters reports.
“Kraft Heinz, which was Kraft Foods until 2015, and Mondelez bought $90 million of December 2011 wheat futures, which gave the companies a dominant position in the market, even though they never intended to take possession of the grain, the CFTC said.
“The move sent a false signal that the companies had demand for wheat and caused an artificial price fluctuation that earned them more than $5 million in profits, the CFTC said.”
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I tried several punch lines to this item, mostly involving the Sex Pistols and Natasha Bedingfield, but to only poor results.
Across The Pond
“U.S. Steel reported a discharge of oil Tuesday from its Midwest Facility into the Burns Waterway, the second discharge from a Porter County steel mill into the ditch in two weeks, officials said,” the Northwest Indiana Times reports.
“News of the discharge from U.S. Steel came less than a week after ArcelorMittal, another steelmaker along the waterway, took responsibility for the release of higher-than-permitted levels of cyanide and ammonia. The release by ArcelorMittal led to the death of some 3,000 fish, beach closures, precautions at a Region drinking water facility and the threat of a group lawsuit.”
Future Shock
“Between record heat and rain, this summer’s weather patterns have indicated, once again, that the climate is changing,” the Guardian notes.
“U.S. cities, where more than 80% of the nation’s population lives, are disproportionately hit by these changes, not only because of their huge populations but because of their existing – often inadequate – infrastructure.”
I know y’all already know that, but click through on this one because disaster is upon us and it’s important to know all the ways our doom will unfold.
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“What will the US climate feel like in 60 years if high current emissions continue? Winter in Phoenix could feel 12.4°F (6.9°C) warmer in 2080 while summer in Anchorage could feel 9.6°F (5.4°C) warmer . . . Chicago’s climate in 2080 will feel most like today’s climate near Lansing, KS.”
Lansing has a “humid subtropical climate,” fyi.
Daddy Issues
“Ford Motor Co. for decades has been defending a series of lawsuits alleging sexual harassment and racial abuse in the automaker’s plants. The company has paid more than $30 million to settle some of those cases and CEO Jim Hackett in 2017 issued an apology to employees after scathing reports of rampant on the job abuses,” Bloomberg Law reports.
“Since at least 2007, the company has leaned heavily on Eugene Scalia, the Trump administration’s pick to run the Labor Department, and a team of other high-powered attorneys to defend it in the most significant lawsuits at the federal appeals level.”
Well, Ford is certainly entitled to defend itself.

The lawsuits Ford has settled with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission involved allegations ranging from exposure to pornographic images and demands for sex in exchange for career benefits, to actual sexual and physical assault.
Women were allegedly called degrading names and groped by coworkers. Those who complained were allegedly harassed even more in retaliation, told to forget the incidents, or subjected to increased scrutiny.
“Ford has a history of this. In the two plants located here in Chicago there’s been a long pattern and practice of sexual harassment of women, especially toward women of color,” said Antonio Romanucci, a partner at Romanucci & Blandin and Ward’s co-counsel in one of the lawsuits against Ford.
One ongoing class action, Martin Chaidez v. Ford Motor Company, alleges that Ford’s hiring practices systemically discriminated against Latino and Hispanic job applicants.
Scalia argued that the suit should be dismissed on technical grounds. That pitted the nominee against the Trump administration’s EEOC, the federal agency that combats workplace discrimination.

Oh.
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#PortlandStrong
Proud Boy-In-Chief Threatens To Make Antifa A Terrorist Organization After Weekend Protests In Portland.
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New on the Beachwood today . . .
The Importance Of The 1619 Project
“Often referred to as America’s original sin, slavery is so pervasive that its residual effects can be found in everything from the stock exchange to our prison system. Slavery was instrumental in the formation of the United States. It’s crucial that we understand its inner workings and aftereffects; only then can we create a moral, economic and social roadmap to achieving our democratic ideals.”
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The Right-Wing’s Love Affair With One Of America’s Most Disturbing Serial Killers
“To nearly everyone, Hickman was a monster. The year of the murder, the Los Angeles Times called it ‘the most horrible crime of the 1920s.’ Hickman was America’s most despicable villain at the time. But to a young Russian idealist just arriving in America, Hickman was a hero.”
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Coming Music Movie Attractions
Us, Them & the Holy Trinity.
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Tribune Tower’s Timeless Luxury Living
One of the saddest architecture and newspaper developments in Chicago history.
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The Ex-Cub Factor
From the Shark to the Snake.
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ChicagoReddit

Are there underground fights in Chicago? from r/chicago


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ChicagoGram


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ChicagoTube
Neurosis at Thalia Hall on Saturday night.

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BeachBook
What Fareed Zakaria Gets Wrong About Afghanistan: Everything.

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Mars, Nestle, Other Food Companies Face Complaints Of Forced Labor At Palm Oil Supplier.

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Websites That Peddle Disinformation Make Millions Of Dollars In Ads, New Study Finds.

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Travel Sites Mislead By Falsely Declaring Few Rooms Remain.

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This Street Artist Transforms Cement Blocks into Mind-Blowing Illusions.

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TweetWood
A sampling of the delight and disgust you can find at @BeachwoodReport.


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Comments, tips, suggestions, corrections, jokes, pleas and pledges welcome.

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Posted on August 20, 2019