For those who knew him, the suicide of Chicago Public Schools board chairman, Michael Scott, came as a surprise. Earlier today, friends and colleagues remembered the dearly departed.

Those close to him have constantly called him a fighter. It is always expected of Scott to continue fighting. Instead, he has given up. During his day, he was one of the closest associates to the Mayor of Chicago, Richard M. Daley.

Michael Scott was last seen alive at 6:30 pm on November 15. He was reported missing by family members around midnight, coming into the 16th. At 3:15 on November 16, his body was found thirty feet away from his blue Cadillac. Apparently, he had plunged off a ledge into shallow water.

His death came as a shock to Mayor Daley, who said that there was not any prior indication that he was suicidal. He said that he had known Scott for 30 years and that he knew more about the school system than anyone else. Daley said that he never knew that Scott was having any problems, he spent his time solving problems.

Back in August, he had been subpoenaed to appear in court. Michael Scott has been accused of using his political muscle to gain favortism for his school system. Scott adamantly denied that he had ever done such a thing. While the situation may have been stressful, it is doubtful that this is the reason that he took his life.

Property values in my area went down last year. They went down quite a bit. Yet property taxes went up. How can that be? They raised the millage rate to make up for the lost revenue and they went a little farther. $15 – $20 in most cases. When I was a real estate investor that’s what we used to call a nuisance rent increase. Enough to make a them complain but not enough to make them move.

What do we get for our taxes? Does anyone really know? When I see them fixing a road or a bridge that’s something I can believe in. When I see a cop responding to a real crime that’s something I can believe in. When I see the fire department battling a fire that’s something I can believe in. These things are only a small part of the taxes we pay. I have no idea where the rest goes.

Accountability on this is terrible. Isn’t this supposed to be public record? Did you ever try to read that record? If you can find it it’s so convoluted that you can never figure out where the money went anyway. One thing you can find is salaries. Little two bit administrators knocking down six digit incomes. Some elected officials make all most as much as the President. Does that seem right to you?

The Mayor of New York City’s salary is $195,000.00 but Michael Bloomberg is doing it for$1. Richard M. Daley, the Mayor of Chicago, makes $216,210.00. The President of the United States makes $400,000.00. Joe Moore, an Alderman in the 49th ward of Chicago makes $98,125.00. David L. Brewer, superintendent of LA schools makes, are you ready for it? Are you sitting down? $300,000.00. Is running the LA school system that similar to running the United States? Are you starting to see where the money goes. I think Bloomberg has the right idea, the rest need to be voted out. When did getting elected become the path to wealth.

Masks that supposedly resemble the visage of Guy Fawkes, make popular in the movie V for Vendetta. (Photo from The Daily Blank)

Today I was published at The Daily Blank, Chicago’s only satire site that focuses on local issues.

For your enjoyment I’ll paste the entire article below, because their licensing allows it. Enjoy! …And I have one more piece in the queue, so look out.

Daley to ‘pull an Obama’ to fund CPS

In two about-face moves Tuesday, Chicagoans banded together to stand up to the Daley administration, and the Mayor decided to listen to the majority voice of the people.

Following a protest, Mayor Richard M. Daley issued an edict that every corporate executive who had received preferential treatment under the TIF program would voluntarily cut his or her income by 90 percent.

The mayor did not say what the consequences would be if said executives disobeyed, except that “the shit will hit the fan,” he told the throngs of cheering lower-middle-class people before him.

The Obama administration recently announced that top employees of the seven companies receiving the most bailout money would cut their cash pay by 90 percent. All would be forced to cut their total pay by at least 50 percent, several media outlets reported.

Prompted by recent news of extreme inequality in Chicago Public Schools, almost a million Chicagoans dressed in black and wore masks of Guy Fawkes, a British revolutionary, to march on City Hall Tuesday morning.

At press time it was unclear just how the masses coordinated the sit-in.

The mayor stood on City Hall’s green roof for much of the forty-two minutes during which protesters had the building surrounded. At the end of the standoff, Daley gave up and came outside with a laptop and projector.

“I hear you,” Daley said over the din. “This is your city, not mine.”

He proceeded to project a hastily-arranged PowerPoint onto the side of city hall, diagramming exactly what actions he would take, down to the dollar.

The program goes as follows:

• All CPS schools would receive equal spending-per-pupil. To accomplish this, the higher spenders’ budgets would be cut marginally, while the lower spenders’ budgets would be drastically inflated.

• Money would come largely from the $1 billion “shadow budget” of TIF money said to be in the hands of the Mayor. Any executive who refused to cut his or her pay will lose TIF support.

• Mick Dumke and Ben Joravsky of the Chicago Reader would become co-chairs of a new department, called the Department of Uber Accountability.

Once the throngs cleared from the downtown area, officials noticed they had left behind several items of mob paraphernalia, including torches, pitchforks and 800,000 plastic masks.

“You had better believe that we’re gonna recycle these,” said Suzanne Malik-McKenna, commissioner of Chicago’s Department of Environment. “Put the word down the chain,” Malik-McKenna told a woman to her left.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley speaks at a celebration for a building’s LEED certification. (Creative Commons-licensed photo from the Flickr account of the Center for Neighborhood Technology)

Move over, Tribune, there’s another watchdog in town. No one seems to follow the mayor’s corruption (yes, I said it) more intently than Mick Dumke of the Reader.

If you haven’t already read the cover story he wrote with Ben Joravsky, Chicagoans, it’ll blow your mind. And get you hooked on Dumke’s blog. And give you a reason to object when your friends say “I vote for Daley ’cause I don’t know why I wouldn’t…”

I wish I had done work like this at the two papers I’ve written for in years past. No regrets, though. After reading this article and archives of the blog “Clout City,” I’ve armed myself for next time: with source gumption and due persistence.

Maybe someday I’ll do my part to help edge representative democracy back into Chicago.

After listening to a week and a half of public debate, I’ve concluded that most people are wrong about why the International Olympic Committee awarded the 2016 Summer Games to Rio de Janeiro rather than to Chicago.

The conventional wisdom about Chicago losing the Olympics is that those pitching the campaign failed to do what a Chicago political machine has always done best: Make sure all the votes are there to ensure victory.

The problem with this theory is that the Chicago political machine wasn’t running the IOC election and had nothing to offer to the voters. Ward bosses usually pass out jobs to the faithful to make sure they get to the polls and put the right people into office. With the IOC, those pitching Chicago could only ask for their votes with no clue as to the outcome.

Many IOC members were determined to give the 2016 Olympics to Rio regardless of what campaign any other city made. Chicago was looked upon as the strongest contender, and perhaps that’s why European and Asian members of the IOC voted overwhelmingly against Chicago in the first round of the final vote. Why risk leaving Rio’s biggest competitor in the running when it could be elminayed off the bat?

So Chicago wasn’t going to get the 2016 Games, no matter what. In contrast to local elections where mechanics running the political machine could “fix” problems as they came up (e.g., ensure ballots from the stronghold of an opponent go missing), Chicago officials could only stand by and watch as their dreams were dashed.

All the promises they got from IOC members to support Chicago’s bid didn’t mean anything because there was nothing of value to swap. Precinct captains have the power to punish those believed to have failed in achieving the political machine’s goals. But even Mayor Richard M. Daley has nothing over the IOC, so this was an election he couldn’t control.

And the winner of the “Sir Richard Rich Award” for craven spinelessness… abject willingness to sell out his Church’s principles so that he can grub a little favor with the pro-aborts so as to make his reelections come easier… who else? Richard M. Daley, of course. And like the question Sir Thomas More asked Sir Richard Rich who has prostituted himself to continue in the King’s favor-and political power (dying as Lord Chancellor of England)-noticing by a medallion hanging from Rich’s neck that Rich has been made the crown’s attorney general for Wales:

You’re doing this-FOR WALES?

Truly nothing should be worth selling out one’s religious faith for political gain. In this case, Daley’s church grew from infancy in a Roman Empire where infanticide was practiced on a wide scale… unwanted live babies placed on one of the seven hills outside Rome, there to either starve to death or be devoured by wild wolves.

By the end of the 1st century infanticide was becoming a murder of the past but was supplanted by abortion for a practicable reason: Romans had decided to switch from murder they could see being carried out on the hillsides for what they inwardly knew was happening-but, as they were in denial, what they could not see.

It was then that the Church-Daley’s church-reacted by publishing the Didache which declared “You shall not procure abortion. You shall not destroy a newborn child.” It has continued throughout 2000 years. And its very condemning certitude must torture him now.

Read the whole article at Tom Roeser’s blog

Well, it was just announced about 20 minutes ago, Chicago (and Tokyo) lost the Olympics for 2016, BUT Madrid and Rio De Janeiro are still in the running.

Well, to be honest, I was kind of expecting this, but was also surprised at the same time. I think our mayor is a bit of an idiot. Our city is already in lots of debt, and the Olympic Games would cost us a TON of money. We would need the stadium, village, new train tracks, and Daley wanted to widen all of the streets. In 7 years? I’m not sure if that is possible, unless we pay workers more to work day and night. But, we did have a lot of support, both from the president and first lady, as well as sponsors that would have offered us a sum of money for the games. Either way, if you read my last blog post, you could see how I was 50/50 for the games, anyway, and I really couldn’t care less, though.

However, there are a lot of people that do care. I was watching a video from WGN’s website, and a man was saying how he was a construction worker out of a job, and how with the amount of contruction that would be required, he’d be working again. I felt a little bad for him, but, at least he accepted defeat. Hopefully, Daley can do the same (I’d like to hear what he has to say about it).

As for this lady…

Why cry about it? We lost. So what? I’ll bet she’s from the suburbs.

Anyway, the 2016 signs around town are being taken down, and upset people are leaving Daley Plaza (I guess I’m glad I decided not to skip school today and go there instead!).

-Tony

THE competition to host the 2016 Olympics will be decided on Friday but all four countries vying for the prestigious right are still fighting to the last.

Despite being against International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules the bidding teams are criticising each others bids in the hope to discredit them.

You would hope this would never happen and that the IOC is capable of making the correct decision but what is interesting is the fact both Chicago and Madrid have chosen to make sly remarks about Rio de Janeiro’s bid.

The Brazilian city was labelled as “the worst of the four candidates” by Spain’s Olympic vice-president Jose Maria Odriozola who also highlighted the its security issues as well as dismissing its marketing strategy to host “the first South American Games”.

These comments followed those made by Chicago’s mayor Richard M Daley, who said that hosting the 2014 football World Cup was a different thing altogether from hosting the Olympic Games.

Call me cynical but with Tokyo, the fourth city eagerly waiting the Copenhagen decision, favourites to miss out for being too similar to last year’s hosts, Beijing, Chicago and Madrid are attempting to make it into a two-horse race.

But what is it about Rio’s bid that has prompted these remarks?

First of all the carnival city was probably lucky to have made it to the last four after scoring below Doha in the IOC’s weighted-average score before it was eventually chosen.

Secondly there are concerns with the proposed $14.4 billion budget which is more than double that of any other bid city and whether it can actually raise the funds needed. This issue has been made worse after the city cancelled the swimming World Cup due to be held next month as well as events scheduled for the next three years, quite simply because it can’t afford it.

There is also a worry surrounding the non-existence of establish infrastructure with most of the venues still needed to be built.

And finally there is a big question mark over security and safety given the high levels of crime and the numerous gangs in operation in the city.

Rio’s Olympic bid team has lodged a complaint with the IOC against both the Chicago and Madrid teams but ultimately it is unlikely to make a difference.

Madrid believe it has an advantage having already gone through the bidding process in 2005 (it missed out to London) and have already built a significant number of venues.

While at 8/11favourites, Chicago probably thinks if it discredits the other team from the Americas then the IOC will pick it.

Although there is no official IOC continental rotation policy, a games in the Americas is thought to be favoured by members as previous Summer Games will have been held in Europe, Asia, Europe again and Australasia.

It is a cheap tactic used by Chicago and Madrid and the IOC must ignore them – Rio wouldn’t have gotten this far if it was really that bad. Surely?

This is the first of a two-part commentary on the beating death of Chicago teen Derrion Albert.

Imagine having to plan your child’s funeral.

Think about it. Let’s say you were the parent of a 16-year-old and his name was Derrion Albert. Let’s say this child was an honors student at his South Side Chicago neighborhood and was going places in life.

And let’s also say that he was a well-behaved teenager. His family adores him and they even said he stayed out of trouble.

Have all that in mind? Good.

Now, picture your child walking home from school. He’s an innocent bystander to what looks like a gang fight on his way back home and, all of a sudden, he becomes the punching bag of the neighborhood.

He’s stomped on.

Beaten on without mercy.

And, let’s imagine that these same ruthless, young adults have the nerve the knock your child upside the head with 2-by-4s. Repeatedly.

Now, you, the parent, get word that your wonderful child, the honors student, is dead. A promising future is gone. He could have been a doctor, a lawyer, a scientist or even a teacher. Not anymore.

If you can picture this in your mind, congratulations. You’ve done something that, apparently, most of Chicago’s politicians haven’t.

Instead, you watch the 9 p.m. news, only to see Mayor Richard M. Daley and friends partying it up in Copenhagen, Denmark. That’s where they’ll find out if Chicago will host the 2016 Olympic Games.

Yep, that’s right. Instead of confronting the sad fact that six teenagers, including Albert, were murdered in a four-day period, according to RedEye, and teenagers make up 30 percent of Chicago’s homicide victims in September (so far), Daley and friends are busy trying to secure a two-week sporting event.

To paraphrase a line from Marvin Gaye’s famous song, “Inner City Blues,” it makes you want to holler and throw up both your hands.

When will Daley and other community leaders address, in a serious fashion, this issue? It shouldn’t take a Ku Klux Klan-style beating death, to do something besides the usual “Chicago Police are stepping up efforts to address these crimes” press conference routine.

When are we going to see action from not only politicians and police, but also from parents and guardians? They’re your children, so why are you afraid to ask who their friends are, where they hang out, where they’re going, or, how about this, why they’re out at night when they should be doing their homework? (And if it’s during the summer, “parents,” ask why your child is out past Chicago’s mandatory 10 p.m. curfew for them).

To our children: Why are you all afraid of snitching on someone who just shot or beat someone to death? What’s more important: keeping your friends out of trouble or providing closure and justice to a family who just lost their child?

And despite what some bigots and racists may say, this isn’t a low-income, Black community problem. It’s everyone’s problem, from politicians and parents, to friends and neighbors.

After all, if something like this can happen in Albert’s neighborhood, it can happen anywhere.

Racism won’t solve anything, especially when… Oops! Sorry.

More on that tomorrow.

The Wikipedia page on the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition was repeatedly ripped out by an anti-gun cabal. I seems that Wikipedia has become politicized and manipulated by the Politically Correct.

Below is the content, minus all the references, about Mayor Bloomberg’s coalition. Please go to Mayors Against Illegal Guns Conservapedia page to see it all. http://www.conservapedia.com/Mayors_Against_Illegal_Guns

There are a lot of indictments and felony convictions for members of a “crime fighting” organization!

The Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition is a leftist political coalition of mayors from about 400 United States cities, with a stated agenda of “making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets.” The group was formed by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The coalition’s CEO is Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley.

The majority of members of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition are Democrats.

Criticism of Methods and Hypocrisy

Bloomberg has been sued for defamation by a Smyrna, Georgia gun dealer represented by former congressman Bob Barr.^[1][2]

Indicted, convicted, and scandalized members

A substantial number of member of the coalition have been indicted in recent months, on felony charges. Here in the US, conviction of felony means the immediate loss of both the right to vote and the right to own a gun for the rest of one’s life. This is an organization that espouses doing away with “illegal guns”, yet a surprising number of their members have made choices in their lives that have set themselves on the path to being disenfranchised from ever owning a gun.

Personal character and integrity are prerequisites for anyone entering public office, to serve in an elected position of “special trust and confidence”, such as a mayorship. Abuses of that trust, gross lapses of integrity, and forays into criminal conduct are not tolerated in our society. If anything, elected politicians are held to a higher standard than the general public, and their actions are closely watched. For an elected official to become a criminal, when they themselves are entrusted to protect us from criminals is nearly the most heinous and unforgivable thing imaginable in a democratically-ruled republic. For some of these same individuals to continue to be considered members in good standing of a “crime-fighting” organization–and not even censured by the organization–has been criticized as being hypocritical.

Four current and former members of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition are currently under felony indictments, five others were recently convicted of felonies, one indicted member died of a heart attack before completion of his trial, and one member was recently convicted of a violent misdemeanor. The indicted and convicted members and former members include:

• Former Mayor Gary Becker^[3] of Racine, Wisconsin is under five felony indictments for child pornography, attempted child sexual assault and child enticement.^[4] He resigned after pleading not guilty and being released on bond.^[5] His location is currently being monitored electronically, as he awaits a trial scheduled to begin in October, 2009.^[6]
• Former Mayor David Della Donna^[7], of Guttenberg, New Jersey was indicted under a Federal extortion and mail fraud charges.^[8] He was convicted in 2008^[9] and sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison.^[10]
• Mayor Sheila Dixon was indicted in 2009 on twelve counts^[11], comprising four counts of perjury, two counts of misconduct, three counts of theft, and three counts of fraudulent misappropriations.^[12] The felony theft charges stem partly from incidents in 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 in which she allegedly misappropriated gift cards intended for the poor and used them for personal purchases.^[13][14] Dixon’s trial, originally scheduled for September 8, 2009, was postponed to November 9, 2009.^[15]
• Mayor Jerramiah Healy was convicted for obstruction of justice in 2007^[16] and more recently was implicated in the corruption sweep in New Jersey involving the sale of body parts and money laundering. In all, 44 individuals were indicted. (Healy was named as “JC Official 4″ and implicated, but was not indicted, in the probe.)^[17][18][19]
• Former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was indicted, arrested, and convicted. and subsequently jailed for 99 days. Kilpatrick pleaded guilty to two felony obstruction of justice charges stemming from his efforts to cover up an extramarital affair. He also pleaded no contest to charges of assaulting a police officer attempting to serve a subpoena on a Kilpatrick friend in that case.^[20] The charges and allegations (not all against Kilpatrick himself) were of marital infidelity, conspiracy, perjury, corruption and murder.^[21] Following Kilpatrick’s conviction, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms called on Kilpatrick to resign from the Coalition.^[22]
• Mayor Larry Langford was investigated in 2007 by the SEC on corruption charges. In 2008 a lawsuit was filed against him for illegally accepting $156,000 in cash and benefits. On December 1, 2008, Larry Langford was arrested by the FBI on a 101 count indictment^[23] alleging conspiracy, bribery, fraud, money laundering, and filing false tax returns^[24] in connection with a long-running bribery scheme.^[25][26][27] His trial date was postponed to October 2009, and the trial venue moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama.^[28]
• Deceased Mayor Frank Melton at the time of his death was under felony indictment on civil rights charges.^[29] (He died before a scheduled re-trial, following a mistrial.) In 2006, Melton pled guilty to a firearms charge, stemming from a raid (in which he was armed with a concealed pistol) on a suspected crack house. Melton conducted the extra-official Buford Pusser-style raid without a warrant to “bust up” a duplex apartment, accompanied by a group of youths that were not sworn law enforcement officers. That same event led to Melton’s civil rights indictment. In November 2006, he pleaded no contest to three misdemeanor charges: carrying a gun in a park and in a church, and carrying a concealed weapon.^[30]
• Mayor Eddie Perez was indicted on bribery, fabricating evidence, and conspiracy to fabricate evidence felony charges.^[31] Perez turned himself in to state police, stating that he had a lapse in judgment but did nothing illegal, and vowed that he would not step down as Hartford’s mayor.^[32] He was arraigned on September 8, 2009.^[33] His trial date was postponed to November 2009^[34], and then to February, 2010.^[35] On September 2, 2009 Perez was again arrested, and additionally charged with first-degree larceny by extortion, stemming from a no-bid parking lot deal, unrelated to the other corruption charges.^[36] He again proclaimed that he would stay in office, despite these new felony charges.^[37]
• Former Mayor Samuel Rivera, of Passaic, New Jersey was convicted of corruption, influence peddling, and extortion charges.^[38][39] In August 2008 he pled guilty,and was sentenced to 21 months in prison.^[40]
• In 2008, former Mayor Will Wynn was convicted of Class C misdemeanor, for a choking assault on a man who had crashed a party.^[41]

Five current members of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition have been troubled by scandals that involved firearms:

• As New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg came into office, he inherited a chronic firearms permit favoritism scandal from his predecessors that still remains an unresolved issue. Writing in the New York Sun, attorney David Kopel observed: “The problem is acute in New York City. Celebrities, the ultra-wealthy, and the politically influential get carry permits. But many of the people who need them the most — such as stalking victims, or crime witnesses who have been threatened by the criminal’s friends — often do not.”^[42] There are currently only about 36,169 permits to keep firearms in private homes in New York City, with the majority issued to retired police officers. Of these permit holders, only 2,516 are more liberally licensed for concealed carry outside their homes. The issuance of permits is discretionary in New York City, per Penal Law 400^[43]. (It is considered a “may issue” locality, unlike the “shall issue” policy used for concealed carry in most other localities.) Despite “tight” restrictions on “demonstrated need or special danger”, a who’s-who list of celebrities, billionaires^[44], entertainers^[45], professional athletes^[46], and politicians^[47] has somehow managed to get firearms permits. This list includes New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, publisher Michael Korda, and talk show host Howard Stern.^[48] In 2007, The New York Post reported that gun license holders include financier Donald Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr., Queens district attorney Richard A. Brown, Westchester County district attorney, Janet DiFiore, music executive Tommy Mottola, chief executive of Marvel Comics, Isaac Perlmutter, radio show host Don Imus, lawyer Barry Slotnick, lawyer Raoul Felder; publisher Robert Forbes, the cab-driving political activist Fernando Mateo, former new York Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno (recently indicted for fraud), actor Robert De Niro, actor Harvey Keitel, film producer Martin Bregman, cosmetics heir Ronald Lauder, and Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler.^[49][50] All of these individuals have retained their gun licenses under Bloomberg’s “tough on guns” administration. The New York Post noted: “Television news anchor John Roland, who let his license lapse in 2006, got his gun permit back in 2007.”^[51] A surprisingly high number of celebrities have concealed carry permits, rather than the more common “keep at home” (premise) permits. According to The New York Times, “Mr. Bloomberg asked Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly to look at the issue, and added: ‘If you want a gun permit, you should have to really show that your life is in danger, and that having a gun will protect you, will improve the chances of you surviving.’”^[52] But despite Bloomberg’s publicly-stated concern, there have been no announcements of any celebrity gun permits being rescinded, or any reforms to prevent favoritism, cronyism, bribes, or other abuse of discretion in license issuance. With a city population of 8.3 million, the 36,169 gun permit holders represent just .043% of the population and the 2,516 concealed carry permit holders represent a scant .003% of the population.
• Mayor Richard M. Daley has been criticized for the city of Chicago’s long-standing practice of providing armed bodyguards for a number of city politicians, including city clerk James “Jim” Laski. In the city clerk scandal, Daley was shamed into removing the perk of the armed bodyguards for the clerk. The Chicago Sun-Times reported: “The decision was made almost immediately after Laski became the first elected official to be caught up in the Hired Truck scandal. But Daley insisted that the bribery and extortion charges against Laski were not the trigger. It was the fact that, until this week, Laski had not been showing up for work.”^[53] Laski was later convicted of taking $48,000 in bribes and received a two year sentence.^[54] Former Mayor Eugene Sawyer, City Treasurer Judy Rice and Alderman Edward M. Burke, chairman of the City Council’s Finance Committee still have armed bodyguards.^[55]
• Mayor Gerald Jennings of Albany, New York was implicated in a scandal regarding the alleged illegal purchase of 52 machine guns.^[56] It is unclear whether the weapons were purchased for departmental use or for the use of private individuals. Weapons were delivered to Police Department addresses but apparently paid for with private funds. The Department has not produced a list of weapons, their location, the names of the individuals who purchased them, or their disposition or destruction. At least one later turned up, illegally for sale to the public, in an area gun store. The police officer who sold the gun to the store has testified that he bought it from a Police Union official who was also the Department’s armorer.^[57] The current Chief of Police is the fifth appointed by Jennings.^[58] The case is still open.^[59]
• Following the illegal seizure of firearms in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Mayor Ray Nagin settled a lawsuit and had a permanent injunction issued prohibiting Nagin or any New Orleans employee from confiscating any lawfully possessed firearm and ordering the return of hundreds of illegally confiscated firearms. (They had been confiscated at Mayor Nagin’s order.).^[60] Nagin’s administration has also been troubled by reports of improprieties with the police department evidence rooms, where guns were stolen, guns were allowed to rust, and $200,000 in cash was stolen.^[61][62]
• Mayor Bill White’s administration has been embarrassed by an ongoing scandal involving guns stolen from the Houston Police Department’s evidence room. In January 2009, the Houston Chronicle reported: “For months, maybe years, people with criminal backgrounds had access to secure areas of the police station, including a property room from which 30 guns disappeared within six months, according to internal police documents. The documents, obtained by the Houston Chronicle, indicated that lax security created an environment ripe for theft. No one has been charged in the gun thefts, although police suspected telephone repairmen who admitted stealing other items, and a temporary employee who had access to the property room while awaiting trial on aggravated robbery charges.”^[63][64]

Resignations from the coalition

Announced resignations

Twelve mayors that had been members^[65] have withdrawn from the organization, claiming either that they were misled about the group’s anti-gun platform, or that they were enrolled in the coalition without their knowledge.^[66][67][68] They are:

• Idaho Falls, Idaho Mayor Jared Fuhriman^[69]

• Carmel, Indiana Mayor James Brainard

• Rio Rancho, New Mexico Mayor Kevin Jackson^[70]

• Anchorage, Alaska Mayor Mark Begich^[71]

• Oldmans Township, New Jersey Mayor Harry Moore^[72][73][74]

• Walton Hills, Ohio Mayor Marlene Anielski,^[75]

• Williamsport, Pennsylvania Mayor Mary B. Wolf^[76][77]

• Madeira Beach, Florida Mayor Patricia Shontz^[78]

• Knoxville, Tennessee Mayor Bill Haslam^[79][80]

• Warsaw, Indiana Mayor Ernest B. Wiggins^[81]

• Sioux Falls, South Dakota Mayor Dave Munson^[82]

• Houston, Texas Mayor Bill White^[83]

In her resignation letter, Mayor Patricia Shontz of Madeira Beach, Florida wrote, “I am withdrawing because I believe the MAIG is attempting to erode all gun ownership, not just illegal guns. Additionally, I have learned that the MAIG may be working on issues which conflict with legal gun ownership.” She added, “It appears the MAIG has misrepresented itself to the Mayors of America and its citizens. This is gun control, not crime prevention.”^[78]

In his resignation letter to Bloomberg, Mayor Harry Moore stated: “It is simply unconscionable that this coalition, under your leadership, would call for a repeal of the Shelby /Tiahrt amendment that helps to safeguard criminal investigations and the lives of law enforcement officers, witnesses and others by restricting access to firearms trace data solely to law enforcement. How anyone, least of all a public official, could be willing to sacrifice such a law enforcement lifeline in order to gain an edge in suing an industry they have political differences with is repugnant to me. The fact that your campaign against this protective language consisted of overheated rhetoric, deception and falsehoods is disturbing.”^[84]

The resignations of Kevin Jackson and Jared Fuhriman left the state of Idaho completely unrepresented in the organization, and Alaska with just one representative mayor. Since Mayor Rocky Anderson of Salt Lake City left office, it has also left Utah unrepresented. Mayor Kathy Taylor of Tulsa, Oklahoma has announced that she will not seek re-election^[85], and as of September, 2009, her name has been removed from the coalition’s roster. This also leaves Oklahoma unrepresented. According to the U.S. Conference of Mayors there are 1,201 cities in the US with a population of 30,000 or more that are headed by mayors.^[86] Several of the mayors in the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition represent even smaller towns and cities–particularly in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, which are disproportionately represented.

Legislative Initiatives

With the stated goal of reducing the number of straw purchase of guns, the coalition has favored new legislation to require mandatory reporting of lost or stolen guns.^[87] As of September, 2009, seven states (Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Rhode Island) and the District of Columbia have laws criminalizing failure to report lost and stolen guns to law enforcement. Several other states and local governments are working to pass similar laws.^[88] Critics counter that straw purchases are already illegal, and hence mandatory theft and loss reporting laws are redundant.^[89]

Former prosecuting attorney C.D. Michel analyzed mandatory reporting laws, using one in Ventura County, California as an example: “Ironically, the ordinance cannot be used against the real bad guys. No law can compel lawbreakers to report themselves. So a straw purchaser who legally buys a gun cannot be compelled to report that he resold it illegally. And since it wasn’t actually lost or stolen, he hasn’t violated the ordinance. Similarly, if a felon prohibited from possessing a gun illegally possesses one anyway, and it is lost or stolen, he can be prosecuted for having the gun in the first place, but cannot be prosecuted for failing to incriminate himself by reporting the loss. Enforcement of these ordinances places prosecutors in a precarious legal and ethical position. Say a straw-purchaser’s gun is recovered at a crime scene and traced back to him. If he lies to police claiming his gun was “stolen” when he really sold it on the black market, will we nonetheless prosecute him for something he did not do (fail to report the “stolen” gun — which wasn’t actually stolen) but to which he “confessed”? Ethics and legality aside, securing a misdemeanor conviction for failing to report a theft (that never occurred) likely prohibits prosecuting the straw purchaser for the more serious felony black market sale or for making a false statement to police. Perhaps worse, gun owners who truly are burglary victims must now hesitate to speak with police if their stolen gun is recovered at a crime scene. If the gun owner failed to report the loss at all, or on time, she faces possible criminal prosecution if she cooperates with police investigating the recovered gun. She should remain silent, get a lawyer and seek immunity first. Legal representation may also be appropriate when a gun is first discovered missing. The owner can be prosecuted if the theft is not reported within 48 hours of when the owner “should have known” the gun was missing. Proponents have made clear they believe “responsible” gun owners should know where their gun is at every single moment and “should know” a gun is gone immediately. And the fear of prosecution will encourage those who miss the 48-hour window not to report the loss at all. Effectively, these ordinances place the legitimate gun owner in jeopardy of prosecution for becoming a victim of a crime. In light of these liabilities, gun-rights groups and the criminal-defense bar have begun advising gun owners — who would ordinarily be happy to assist police with their investigation — that they need a lawyer if they are contacted by police.”^[90]

http://www.conservapedia.com/Mayors_Against_Illegal_Guns

City Hall, public libraries, healthclinics and most city offices will be closed today.  Emergency service providers including police, firefighters and paramedics are working at full strength, but most services not directly related to public safety will not be provided.

As part of the 2009 budget for The City of Chicago, three reduced service days were planned for 2009.  August 17th , November 27th, December 24th and December 30th.  However he City Council decided to move the December 30th closure for today.

The 3 day’s of closures anticipates a savings of $8.3 million for the city.

“Every dollar we save from these measures helps to save jobs, and in the long-term, maintain services for Chicagoans,” Mayor Richard M. Daley said in a news release. “This plan relies on most of our civilian employees to be part of the solution to our very serious budget challenges. I want to thank them again for their sacrifice.”

For over a year, I have been thinking that Ron Huberman will be the next mayor of Chicago.  I figured I’d write this up now so I can say “told you so” in 2011.

Here’s my logic.  Ron Huberman has been groomed by Richard M. Daley for several years now.  First Huberman was appointed to run the Office of Emergency Management and Communication (OEMC) in 2004.  That job gave him exposure to public safety.  This experience came on top of Huberman’s jobs as an officer and Assistant Deputy Superintendent in the police department.

Next, Huberman was tapped to be Daley’s Chief of Staff in 2005.  This immersed Huberman in the City Hall environment, where you would expect him to develop familiarity with the city’s departments and the services they provide.

Apparently Huberman proved himself in that position, as he was chosen to be President of the CTA in 2007.  The CTA was having financial issues at the time and the former president stepped down.  I guess Daley thought Huberman could fix the mess.

Having demonstrated his ability to run an agency, Huberman was then chosen by Mayor Daley to replace Arne Duncan at Chicago Public Schools.  Huberman lacked experience in education, but I guess Daley wanted a strong manager.

Ron Huberman has now served the city in the areas of public safety, administration, transportation, and education.  He has had a finger in pretty much everything the city government does.  If this kind of experience doesn’t prepare someone to become mayor, I don’t know what does.

How exactly did Ron Huberman get all this experience?  His appointments by Mayor Daley.  I get the feeling that Huberman isn’t a dummy either.  Mayor Daley, while not politically pure, would not appoint someone to all these varied posts unless he had faith in the person’s ability.  In fact, I came across a quote by Daley about Huberman:

I have utmost faith in him. I can go to sleep at night, and just close my eyes. I don’t have to worry about Ron Huberman.

As if that didn’t cement my theory that Huberman is Daley’s hand-picked mayoral successor, I offer one more thing to consider.

Chicago is in the running to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.  Mayor Daley is getting up there in age.  He is 67.  Despite being in decent physical condition and having a love for the City of Chicago, I don’t think he will be mayor when we host the Olympic Games (assuming our bid wins).  I think Mayor Daley might be in his final term, or his next-to-last term.  The latest I expect Daley to leave office is in 2015.  Should he choose to leave office in 2011 or 2015, it would still be before the start of the Olympic Games.  Who would Mayor Daley trust to lead the city through Olympic Games preparations?  Ron Huberman.

Lost somewhat in the shuffle of Illinois political news Wednesday was former Blagojevich chief of staff John Harris’s guilty plea that included a promise to be a government witness in the federal corruption case against the former governor.

Judging from what the Chicago Tribune reported about the 26-page plea agreement, Rod Blagojevich should be quaking in his boots.

John Harris, who was arrested with the former governor in December, is expected to detail for prosecutors perhaps the most stunning charge in the case: how Blagojevich allegedly used his power to appoint a successor to President Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate to barter to enrich himself.

In exchange for Harris’ testimony, prosecutors agreed to recommend he serve less than 3 years in prison. He pleaded guilty to a single count of wire fraud and is expected to be one of a series of former aides and confidants – fellow chiefs of staff Alonzo “Lon” Monk and John Wyma as well as fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko among them — to testify against Blagojevich.

The plea agreement alleges that the former governor viewed the Senate appointment as a unique opportunity to try to bargain with the new Obama administration, perhaps leading to a Cabinet or ambassador’s post.

But Blagojevich isn’t the only person who should be worried. As I suggested on this blog in early April, and Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass noted in his column today, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley might be quaking in his boots, too. If Harris has knowledge pertaining to any other federal corruption cases, he will be a government witness in those cases, too. And before he was Blagojevich’s chief of staff, Harris was Daley’s chief of staff and served in other high-ranking positions in Daley’s administration. If U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald is investigating anything related to the Daley administration, Harris is a go-to guy for inside information.

To drive home my point, read this quote from Harris’s attorney, Terry Ekl:

“I’ll tell you this: When John Harris began to cooperate with the government, he did not pick and choose the subject matters. He’s been questioned about a variety of subjects. He’s been truthful and honest about all of those, and I’m not going to have anything further to say about what he has talked about in terms of other investigations.”

Hopefully Ekl doesn’t need to say anything more in order for fear to be struck into the hearts of corrupt Chicago politicians. However, it is more likely they expect to beat the rap, as has often been the case when the Chicago political machine is involved.

But maybe this time will be different. At least we can hope so.

What a weekend: Caught dress rehearsal for Searching for SuperGirl Thursday, The Moving Architects’ Stops on the Line Friday, saw the AIC’s new Modern Wing and two works by Hubbard Street and heard Teddy’s kickass Orientale Saturday, and spent this morning and afternoon reviewing the first showings of eight works in progress at Thodos Dance Chicago, washed down by the surprisingly-engaging futbol flick Rudo y Cursi (which, I’ll admit, I walked into solely for the opportunity to gaze upon the face of Gael Garcia Bernal).

Reviews, impressions, blather and musing to follow in the coming days. In the meantime, enjoy the following two items: Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and Italian architect Renzo Piano photographed by yours truly, and Carlton Banks imploring tweens circa 1985 to bug their parents to buy them a book that will teach them how to King Tut.

Leon Despres, long known as the liberal conscience of Chicago's City Council, died last week at 101.

Today’s post is in honor of Leon Despres.

The late, great 5th Ward alderman and ardent opponent of the Richard J. Daley-era machine died last week at his home in Hyde Park, where he had lived since he was just a baby.

He was 101.

Despres’ term in the City Council coincided nearly exactly with Daley; both men arrived to their respective positions in 1955 and stayed there for the next two decades.  Both loved their city.  And both were dedicated to serving it in the way they thought was right and worked best.

There the similarities ended.

Many, many times Despres was on the losing end of 49-1 votes. 

His persistent advocacy of civil rights and open housing during a time when Chicago was even more segregated than it is now earned him the moniker, “the sole Negro on the City Council.”  This title came even when there actually were black councilmen who were part of what many called “plantation politics.” 

Despres’ persistence was even more impressive, given the constant badgering, hectoring, yelling and outright abuse he endured at the hands of Daley’s minions. 

 When the old man did not like what Despres had to say, he would simply have his microphone shut off.  Any effort to launch a proposal would be instantly countered by a Daley supporter making a parliamentary counter move that Daley invariably approved. 

Still, Despres persisted.

I had the privilege of meeting Despres in 2006, when I was working on a four-part series for The Chicago Reporter about Dr. King’s 1966 campaign in Chicago and where the city stood on the same issues King and members of the Chicago Freedom Movement worked to address.

Then 98, Despres was no longer able to do his customary swim and his beloved wife Marian’s health was failing. 

His mind was still razor-sharp, though.

We spent a pleasant couple of hours in his apartment on the 5800 block of Stony Island Avenue, sharing tea and cookies as we overlooked the Museum of Science and Industry standing against the magestic blue of Lake Michigan he had first seen nearly a century earlier.

Despres told me that he learned to make his proposals-90 seconds was best, he said, two minutes was the outer limits-before Daley’s supporters could turn off his microphone. 

I asked him if he ever got discouraged by encountering such stiff opposition.

He did, he said.  But then he thought about how he had felt after the times when he should have spoken up and instead was silent.

That memory kept him going. 

And, eventually, in many ways, he won.

While Richard M. Daley soon will have been in power for longer than his father, and while reports of city council independence, are, like reports of Mark Twain’s death, greatly exaggerated, many of the proposals for which Despres fought so long and so valiantly have come to pass in Chicago.

And, of course, the nation last November elected its first black president, who lived in the very same Hyde Park neighborhood in which Despres was raised, lived, loved so dearly and died. 

For those who want to learn more about this often lonely hero, I recommend reading  Challenging the Daley Machine: A Chicago Alderman’s Memoir, Despres’ account of his procedural adventures and public service.   An accessible and inspiring work, this slender book takes the reader through Despres’ early years, recollections of his struggles with the machine and thoughts about the city and the nation’s future.

He will be missed.

Do you have any Leon Despres stories?

Who inspires you through their persistence in the face of adversity?

How much has Chicago changed since the days of the Democratic machine?

Carl Smith gives an effective introduction to The Plan of Chicago, which celebrates its centennial this year.

It’s been a century since Daniel Burnham and other members of Chicago’s civic elite unveiled the Plan of Chicago that remade the city, and the plan is receiving renewed scrutiny and attention.

Burnham’s oft-quoted dictum to “make no small plans “has been repeated regularly in the press, and the Chicago Matters public interest collaboration between WTTW, WBEZ,  the Chicago Public Library and my employer, The Chicago Reporter is titled Beyond Burnham.

Northwestern University History Professor Carl Smith has written a concise illustrated history of the Plan’s precedents, members, substance and impact called The Plan of Chicago: Daniel Burnham and the Remaking of the American City.

An expansion of a project he did for the electronic version of the Encyclopedia of Chicago, The Plan of Chicago starts with a convincing description of Chicago’s sprawling and unurly physical, social and political character at the beginning of last century.  Smith then moves into a discussion and analysis of the plan’s antecdents in other cities like Paris-he is quick to note that the plan had its own distinct flavor-Burnham and the other Commercial Club members, their adherence to the concept of the City Beautiful, and their collective efforts to conceive, promote and implement the plan.

The Plan itself was a remarkably forward-looking document, and Smith notes toward the end of the book how its progressive ethos has been echoed in subsequent decades by the late Richard J. Daley, and, to a lesser degree, the creation of Millennium Park by his son, Richard M. Daley.

Smith includes and acknowledges Lewis Mumford and Jane Jacobs’ criticism of the plan as being excessively committed to monuments rather than shared civic space, and, generally, the work is a sympathetic appraisal of the plan and the men behind it.   As the title suggests, the project’s influence extended beyond Chicago into the nation as a whole. 

The Plan of Chicago has plenty of pictures, some of which are more useful than others.  Overall, the combination of words, images and a bibliographical essay is an effective introduction to a seminal effort to reshape Chicago that still has direct and indirect influence on how we live today and how we think of what the region should be like in the next 100 years.

Second City announced Friday it extended the run of its hit musical spoof “Rod Blagojevich Superstar” through Sunday, June 14, at Navy Pier’s Chicago Shakespeare Theater “due to tremendous demand and irresistible new source material provided daily by the former governor.”

I saw “Rod Blagojevich Superstar” last weekend and loved it. Writer Ed Furman and music lyricist T.J. Shanoff worked in numerous references from throughout the Blagogate saga, including the allegations that Blagojevich tried to sell a U.S. Senate seat and get members of the Chicago Tribune editorial board fired, Blagojevich’s media blitz (including his infamous comparison of himself to Nelson Mandela, Dr. Martin Luther King and Gandhi), Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s description of Blagojevich as “cuckoo,” and Blagojevich’s desire to be dropped into the heart of the Costa Rican jungle for a reality TV show. There also is a wonderful reference to his hairbrush, dubbed “the football” by the ex-governor, who breaks down during the show and proclaims, “Must brush hair for power!”

The breakdown leads into a gloriously profane song sung by Lori McClain as Patti Blagojevich, who in real life is heard swearing in the background of wiretapped phone conversations between her husband and his co-conspirators. Pottymouth Patti gets a laugh every time she swears, and sometimes she curses in shockingly funny ways. She also is portrayed as the brains behind Rod’s charmingly naive “scrapper,” who gets seduced into the Chicago political machine by his wife and her father, Chicago Alderman Richard Mell.

Of course, no Blagojevich spoof would be complete without somebody playing Roland Burris, who Blagojevich appointed to fill President Barack Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat after being accused of trying to sell it to the highest bidder. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan also are characters in the play, which, as you might expect, pretty much wrote itself as it unfolded in real life.

And it continues to. While “Rod Blagojevich Superstar” lasts only 55 minutes (one of my few complaints about the play), it is followed by a brief intermission and an improv session that fills out the rest of your 90-minute date with the Second City troupe. Beginning May 7, the improv segment will include a game called “Rod Island,” which Second City describes as “portraying a never-before-seen bootleg copy of the pilot for Rod Blagojevich’s new reality television show.” Too bad I missed that.

Here’s the Bread Line bottom line: If you find humor in the ongoing Blagojevich scandal – even if it’s a sad kind of gallows humor — you’ll enjoy “Rod Blagojevich Superstar.” Click here for more details.

Lon Monk, a former chief of staff to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, pleaded not guilty in the Blagojevich corruption case today. He is charged with one count of wire fraud.

However, federal prosecutors said Monk is cooperating with authorities and will take the stand as a government witness if the case goes to trial. Another former Blagojevich chief of staff, John Harris, is also known to be cooperating with the government.

I think Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass’s nickname for Blagojevich — “Dead Meat” — is pretty accurate if two of the former governor’s chiefs of staff are willing to testify against their former boss. The question is, will Harris be just as forthcoming with information from his days as Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s chief of staff? It seems logical for the feds to try getting it out of him as part of a plea deal.

It is also worth remembering that Roland Burris, who is a U.S. senator thanks to Blagojevich’s tainted appointment power, testified before the Illinois House impeachment committee that he approached Monk (who at that point was a lobbyist with close ties to Blagojevich) about getting more state business for his law firm and, oh yeah, he is interested in President Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat, too.

The bottom line is there are multiple people who ought to be squirming after hearing Monk and Harris are cooperating with the government. I can’t wait for all the dirty laundry to be aired. The day of reckoning approaches for at least some of the corrupt politicians in Illinois.

Zounds and egads! Chicago Shakespeare Theater and the city of Chicago have proclaimed today, the 445th anniversary of English playwright William Shakespeare’s birth, as “Talk Like Shakespeare Day.”

In celebration of Shakespeare’s contributions to language and literature, Chicago’s Mayor Richard M. Daley encourages us to use 16th century language, such as “prithee,” “thou,” “fie,” and “knave.” And the Chicago Shakespeare Theater asks us not to forget to use rhyming couplets, “thou” and “thee,” “sirrah,” and curses and insults like “poisonous bunch-back’d toads.”

“It’s not surprising that we remember Shakespeare today,” says Paula McQuade, associate professor and director of DePaul’s graduate program in English and expert on Shakespeare and Renaissance literature.  “His plays and sonnets have stood the test of time due to their beauty, intricacy and influence on modern literature and culture.”

Check out one of McQuade’s favorite Shakespeare passages, courtesy of Kenneth Branagh’s “Hamlet”:

McQuade breaks down the soliloquy for those of us who are rusty on our Shakespeare:

“The passage is an incredibly beautiful examination of what it means to be a human being, and more specifically,  a human being in Hamlet’s predicament. In this speech, Hamlet suggests that human beings are different from beasts because we do not live soley to satisfy our appetites. We have reason to guide us in our actions, but reason is a double edged-sword. It can prevent us from acting just as much as it might urge us to action. Hamlet concludes that in order to be fully human, we have to maintain this difficult balance: we must use reason wisely and not let our human habit of ‘thinking too precisely upon th’ event’ keep us from acting.”

Prithee, tell us how you are celebrating “Talk Like Shakespeare Day.” Don’t be a tongueless toad-spotted flirt-gill! (as Shakespeare’s contemporaries might say.)

To blog or not to blog in Shakespearean dialect, that is the question which preoccupies my mind at this early hour of Talk Like Shakespeare Day, as proclaimed by King Daley II to commemorate the Bard’s 445th birthday throughout Chicagoland.

‘Tis a simple answer, really: Of course I shall!

‘Tis my greatest desire not to embarrass the noble professor who instilled a semester’s worth of Shakespeare into my collegiate mind during a year now long past. Surely a thrill went up his leg when he heard the king’s proclamation! Thus I shall doeth my best to channel my inner bard with the words that draweth from my pen, er, computer keyboard, as I enter this brave new world of Shakespearean speak. Indeed, the game is afoot!

Methinks it is a foregone conclusion that an old collegiate acquaintance, whom I shall refer to as K.C., will not be participating in this wondrous celebration. K.C. felt a semester’s worth of Shakespeare lasted forever and a day, and thus played the Bad Examples song “Every Poet Wants to Murder Shakespeare” often during his campus radio broadcasts. He believed revenge was a dish best served cold over the airwaves.

For those who shall participate in Talk Like Shakespeare Day, the Chicago Shakespeare Theater provideth the following tips:

Instead of you, say thou. Instead of y’all, say thee.

Rhymed couplets are all the rage.

Men are Sirrah, ladies are Mistress, and your friends are all called Cousin.

Instead of cursing, try calling your tormenters jackanapes or canker-blossoms or poisonous bunch-back’d toads.

Don’t waste time saying “it,” just use the letter “t” (’tis, t’will, I’ll do’t).

Verse for lovers, prose for ruffians, songs for clowns.

When in doubt, add the letters “eth” to the end of verbs (he runneth, he trippeth, he falleth).

To add weight to your opinions, try starting them with methinks, mayhaps, in sooth or wherefore.

When wooing ladies: try comparing her to a summer’s day. If that fails, say “Get thee to a nunnery!”

When wooing lads: try dressing up like a man. If that fails, throw him in the tower, banish his friends and claim the throne.

Have fun talking like Shakespeare! And let us hope to see King Daley II dressed in proper Shakespearean attire during a City Hall news conference. Surely His Majesty wishes to look the part as he cries havoc and lets slip the dogs of war against the media and those opposed to the 2016 Olympics being held in Chicago.

That is all, for now. For all’s well that ends well — even concerning this blog post.