Saturn devouring his Son-Goya (Wikipedia )

Veterans day

Spend some time today thinking about those who served and are serving. Getting them back home is Priority One. Once they're home we need to make sure there's a place for them. Keep faith with the young people who've shed their blood for stupid old men who can see no way to peace without sucking the life blood out of young men and women of their nations.

Uh-oh...veterans and OCW and Occupy Chicago?!

From the Chicago Tribune:

Occupy Chicago, anti-war veterans' group hold demonstration

Occupy Chicago protesters joined forces with an anti-Iraq-war organization Friday afternoon to honor former soldiers and to advocate for the end to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Occupy Chicago, anti-war veterans' group hold demonstration

Hallelujah- We are saved! The CTA will ride again! Finally the the scions of the Cook County Democratic machine were able to conspire and collude to do something other give each other fat contracts. There's still time though there is still plenty of legislative session left to screw something important up.

Eve of Destruction

As we sit on the precipice of a massive though modified tax increase it is useful to look at what "brung" us here to begin with. Big dollars for settlements on lawsuits against police misconduct, that's one! Municipal contortion to get the 2016 Olympics, that's another! A mayor who never met a TIF he didn't like, whew - it's gettin' hot in here! Let's not forget that old standby, City Hall corruption - you name the department and they got goin' on, know what I'm sayin'?! Lucky for us all, that at this particularly providential moment in time that at the state level there is a crack group of leaders whose special skill is infighting and insufferable pouting. Oh how I miss Romper Room! And the mayor has the clear unyielding vision to place at the mouth of the Chicago river, which of course runs backwards, a giant and great symbol of what every taxpayer will be getting over the next decade. They call it a "Spiral" but we all know what it really is... and what is really being done to us.

The Creepier Family Secrets

Are the revelations about the Chicago Outfit the real secret? Or is it the close ties between the Outfit and the family that has dominated the 5th floor of City Hall? Which is worse the private (the Outfit) scheming to squeeze money out of a hapless populace or the public (the Mayors office with help from Don Timoteo Degnan) scheming to squeeze money out of a hapless populace. See John Kass' recent column about the intersection between the mob and the 5th floor. The cast of characters siphoning money out of the public trough is just dizzying. Not only are Chicagoans footing the bill for dazzlingly overwrought downtown development while regular neighborhoods lay fallow but we're also paying for hissy fits between felonious frat boys. You have to wonder, if your ALIVE and BREATHING instead of doing crystal latte while speeding to your condo along LSD, why city hall engages in so much sub rosa activity. Why do they protect police officers who abuse the public (see Michael Miner' Chicago Reader article here)?

I guess we're not in Kansas any more!

Not to say I told you so, but I told you so. This week an article by Andrew Herrman came out in the Sun Times about how shenanigans (I call it so whenever anythings rigged in your favor, legally or not) by Pete "Super Red" Ueberroth to maintain USOC's lion share of Olympic revenue. It's obvious the 2016 Olympic Chicago Boys, all pals of the Mayor, think they're still in munchkin land with their Olympics bid but the world is a big place. Not until President Obama and Vice President Bill Daley can help salvage the reputation of the US by appointing David Axelrod Secretary of Good Publicity and Only Good Publicity (Rezko who?) will Chicago have a clear shot without troubles. And of course people across the world are ticked off at the US for a few other things too... what were they so upset about? I can't remember... I must be getting Reaganesque in my old age.