Chicago MMXII

we were talking about people who were on the take, and that guy -- that guy has a son, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Schmitz

Joseph Edward Schmitz (born on August 28, 1956 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin)[1] is an American lawyer, former Inspector General of the Department of Defense and a former executive with Blackwater Worldwide, a private contractor providing security services to the U.S. State Department and the U.S. military.

So I was reading a book about Blackwater, and here comes Mary Kay LeTourneau! That was a great moment.

Anyway, I love all of these stories. You guys are on top of it.

LL, I have no idea who either of those people are. Or didn't until now.

We just got done suing a woman who embezzled $70K from her employer over 2 years. She did it by ordering an extra pay check for herself every pay cycle.

Our firm helped put together the the criminal case against the woman and the part that struck me the most about it was that the detective told us that when the time came to actually arrest her, the procedure was to call 911, not the cops we had been talking to for weeks.

I only learned who they were yesterday, don't feel bad.

Nhu Lan opened a location in Lakeview
http://www.yelp.com/biz/nhu-lan-chicago-2

Never heard of it

I've heard of it from jaymc and I think n/a.

nhu lan is great but now that they have a location in lakeview it's not special and cool anymore and so I won't go there

I was sad that it replaced an Asian tea bubble tea shop that also served shaved ice cream. That stuff was delicious. A serving in a regular size bowl was nearly a foot high, but it was not that much ice cream. So light and refreshing.

i like nhu lan, they have veggie banh mi that aren't just vegetables

for u podcast lovers (I dunno maybe you have seen this before?)

http://thetruthapm.com/The_Truth.html

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-south-side-man-scores-in-locker-auction-2-bulls-championship-rings-20120424,0,421039.story

LOL Todd Stroger can't pay his storage space bill.

Err I guess John Stroger's estate can't pay his storage space bill.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/12103989-418/council-overwhelmingly-approves-mayors-city-financing-plan.html

"HMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmeow." - je55e

the city of chicago, brought to you by ________________

That article was light on actual information. Great reporting suntimes.

Couple paragraphs of editorializing at the end, too.

I'm not opposed to the idea of privatization if it works and doesn't end up ruining everything.

Big if.

I wonder why Waguespack opposed.

From his website, he seems to have concerns about oversight and "key shortcomings." I'm inferring based on a post from Monday. He hasn't posted a response yet.

So vague.

I am v against privatization.

the city of chicago, brought to you by ________________

― Silky Slim (dan m), Wednesday, April 25, 2012 7:44 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

Welcome to Doritosburgh.

This trust thing seems ridiculous and awful, but the details are so vague that I can't really be sure.

that is exactly why i don't trust privatization ^^
details shadowy and vague, likely to remain so

That's also how our city government works. And they are corrupt, largely disinterested in impact on citizens, and they can't get anything done while infrastructure crumbles around us.

I don love privatization as a solution, but I don't think it's going to be any worse.

The lack of detail bugs me the most, but that's coming from our existing government.

At least there are rules in place (even if they're not applied) for oversight of govt abuse of power -- not so with these trusts, private companies.

Also please know that I am still slogging through that Blackwater book, so I'm comfortably seated in paranoid nutjob territory when it comes to privatization of public services.

I can't deny that it's troubling. I am coming from the "I have seen the inner workings of government and it's worse than you think" perspective.

A better government is obv the best solution but I don't even know how to make that happen.

And I'll admit that I will happily ride The Dorito's Cool Ranch Elevation Train if Doritos pays to make stations accessible to people with disabilities. (So they'd have to do better than Apple, those shitbirds.)

North & Apple Redline isn't accessible?? Is there not an elevator?

What if the Doritos train donates a portion of their hefty corporate profits to a super far right organization that you totally disagree with (for instance, one that limits reproductive rights), but you have no choice but to ride the Doritos train to go to work, so you are in effect contributing to the far right organization against your will?

This shit keeps me up at night! AGH

Also privatizing infrastructure funding is maybe not as problematic/murder-encouraging as privatizing police and law enforcement and military a la Blackwater.

xp NOPE. It's got half an escalator and then steps. You can't get to the surface without taking some steps. Basically Apple shined up the outside and left the rest as a filthy, inaccessible shitheap.

True, but man do I dislike privatization.

What if the Doritos train donates a portion of their hefty corporate profits to a super far right organization that you totally disagree with (for instance, one that limits reproductive rights), but you have no choice but to ride the Doritos train to go to work, so you are in effect contributing to the far right organization against your will?

This shit keeps me up at night! AGH

What if the government where I live passes laws that limit reproductive rights and I have no choice but to pay taxes and support their transit program?

Again I am not pro privatization. I'm mostly saying this is maybe not the worst thing. But kind of pointlessly since there are like no details of the whole plan. Maybe they are selling the CPD to Blackwater, in which case I would agree w/ you completely.

What if the Doritos train donates a portion of their hefty corporate profits to a super far right organization that you totally disagree with (for instance, one that limits reproductive rights), but you have no choice but to ride the Doritos train to go to work, so you are in effect contributing to the far right organization against your will?

I assume most of the companies I buy stuff from do this anyway. Eh, what can you do? Hopefully everything will cancel out and we'll all be deleted.

I don't wanna be deleted
I don't wanna be deleted
I don't wanna be deleted
I don't wanna be deleted

is that a fugazi ref?

yes

strange, cuz I listened to that album last week for the first time in a bunch of years. still awesome, obv.

If they privatize the El I will bike instead and that's no bull.

The private institutions that should be funding things like public transit are the companies who profit immensely by having workers that can travel to their offices downtown or elsewhere (relatively) quickly and safely on a publicly available system. They should fund that system by paying their fucking taxes instead of getting into bed with Rahm et al and putting more ads up with no other foreseeable improvements.

Or drive.

xp

okay that's old news now because look

http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2012/04/23/lakeview-starbucks-to-serve-wine-and-beer.php

Privatized infrastructure
Starbucks serving wine and beer
Cats and dogs living together

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y273/earthman606/MISC/Zuul.jpg

I am actually very excited about starbucks serving booze and I will frequent once they open. Chicago lacks cafes where I can get drunk and this always bother me, but I guess it takes someone with the $$$ of starbucks to get all the licenses and stuff.

It is pretty nice to have a place to stay a while and work or just hang out with a glass of wine that isn't a bar.

I doubt I will partake in starbucks beer. That starbucks is always stupid crowded anyway and the seats smell funny.

Why are you sniffing the seats?

It envelopes. It overwhelms.