Chicagoania

Chicago Tribune on Gun Control

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While individuals can have various opinions on the topic of gun control, “independent” or “neutral” journalists should (theoretically) keep an open mind.

Over the years I have pilloried the Chicago Tribune not for being pro-gun control but for NOT EVEN MENTIONING THE LACK OF GUN RIGHTS WHEN DISCUSSING MURDERS. For example, if a woman is gunned down by an ex spouse who violates a protection order, it is never discussed that she doesn’t even have the right to defend herself which may have contributed to her death. Given that Chicago leads the nation in murders on a total basis (even though we are far behind NYC and Los Angeles in population), this is not an irrelevant criterion.

In a recent article by John Kass, one of their columnists, discussing a police officer who was killed in the line of duty

Just two weeks before young Chicago Police Officer Alex Valadez was shot down on the edge of a vacant South Side lot, his alleged killer, Shawn Gaston, was in court, accused of another probation violation on a felony gun charge.

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High Definition Radio

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If you are interested in high definition radio, which is a relatively new service that is covering the major cities and is free, read on below. If you are thinking of purchasing a table radio or getting a new car, you might want to spend a bit extra and get a radio that is “HD Ready”. More below if you are interested…

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Gun Control Works!

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Another pleasant weekend in the City of Chicago.

Less Is More

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I remember reading stories in the 70’s and 80’s about defectors from the Soviet Union that were brought to the United States (notably Victor Suvorov who wrote a series of books I liked a lot as a kid, including “Inside the Soviet Army”). The Allied handlers would take the defectors from the Eastern Bloc to grocery stores in the United States and they would gawk at the massive abundance of items for sale, since there were very limited quantities of consumer goods available in the USSR at this time.

I can empathize with those defectors nowadays when I go to a “suburban sized” food store. I shop at a local “city sized” Jewel which has tiny aisles that are usually packed with customers (I waited until it was empty to take this photo) and the store only has a few aisles so you can navigate through it quickly. However, the local Jewel seems to have pretty much everything I am looking for; I rarely have to go anywhere else to find something for a recipe. Since I am also carrying my food a few blocks back home, I can’t impulse buy like you would at a local Costco because it is no fun to lug that all back home (especially if it is raining and you can’t carry an umbrella because your hands are full – you are like a wet dog when you get home).

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Living Large as a Representative

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Last Friday night I was walking through the Gold Coast near Hugo’s Frog Bar when I noticed a large black SUV with congressional license plates so I snapped a photo.

I wasn’t sure which of our illustrious Illinois congressmen this was – I assumed it was our local Danny Davis (who doesn’t even pretend to represent the prosperous downtown, as I note here) – but in fact I did some digging on the internet and according to this post it is Jesse Jackson Jr. who is leasing a Lincoln Navigator at taxpayer’s expense at over $1100 / month (a new one retails for over $50,000).

I wonder what Jesse Jackson Jr. was doing up here? Based on a link to his 2nd congressional district map he is FAR from his hometown – he should be hanging out in Harvey or in nearby Calumet City (home of the Blues Brothers) if he really wants to go out for a good time. Why would he want to venture so far from his constituents? According to a simple google map he is about 25 miles out of his district on a Friday night.

Isn’t it amazing – the hypocrisy – of a “stone” democrat like Jesse Jackson Jr. driving a giant, gas-guzzling, environmentally destroying SUV like a Lincoln Navigator? Shouldn’t he paint it white so it at least reflects sunlight like a “green” roof, at the very least? Why isn’t he driving a Prius or something like that, or perhaps is it because he believes that conserving energy and leaving a smaller carbon footprint is for those that he taxes, not himself?

I won’t even pick on Mr. Jackson Jr. for his “alleged” attempt to raise money for Blago for a senate seat… we know that he is above suspicion, of course, since he is obviously a man who sticks to his principles.

Cross posted at LITGM