Bad News on Health Care

Remember that raise? Guess where it's going?

• Individual insurance premiums would increase by an average of 10 percent or more, according to an analysis of the Senate healthcare bill.

  The long-awaited report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) also concluded that subsidies provided by the legislation would make coverage cheaper for those who qualify.

That's from the Congressional Budget Office, the number crunchers who work for Congress. Even they know Obama-care is going to bankrupt the country.

But Obama isn't going to raise taxes on anyone making under $250,000 a year. He'll just raise everything else.

One Weis Down

Someone in the comments said, "One Weis down, one to go." We couldn't stop laughing.

We don't have any particular fondness for college football. Games are all about the money, not the scholar-athlete. One of the better books on the subject is "The Hundred Yard Lie" by Rick Telendar.

In any case, there's some really bad news attached to this event - the Bears are rumored to be looking at Charlie Weis to take over for Lovie Smith.

Remember, Don't Park There

The over/under is 100 tows:

• Chicago's overnight winter parking ban goes into effect at 3 a.m. Tuesday, meaning you need to be careful where you park tonight.

  Those prime spots on the city's main arterial streets could turn into parking ticket/tow truck hazard zones.

  If you get towed, it'll cost you $50 for the parking ticket, $150 for the towing fee and $10 a day for storage in the impound lot.

Shortshanks needs money, so we're taking the "over" this year.

Can Anyone Verify?

From the comments:

• They City needs the money to pay for the $10,000 damage that Simeon Football team and coaches did to the locker room at Soldier Field after the Prep Bowl. We need to pay their parents to escort them to and from the locker rooms. What a joke.

Maybe someone needs to change on the buses from now on?

Messi balón de oro 2009

Bronce en 2007, plata en 2008 y Balón de Oro 2009, Lionel Messi fue proclamado en la 54º edición que otorga France Football en la votación final con récord de unanimidad (96 miembros votantes y 473 sobre 480 puntos), superando a Cristiano Ronaldo (233), Xavi Hernández (170), Iniesta, Samuel Eto´o, Kaká, Ibrahimovic, Rooney, Didier Drogba, Gerrard,  Torres, Fabregas, Dzeko, Giggs, Henry, Luis Fabiano, Vidic, Casillas, Forlan y Gourcuff (top 20) en ese orden.

GOLES DE MESSI EN LA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2009

LOS DIEZ (10) MEJORES GOLES DE MESSI

Huckabee Pardon (Suspect Still at Large)

Suffice it to say that Huckabee's political career is probably toast.

What should also be toast is early parole and pardons for those found guilty of violent offenses involving weapons, peace officers, senior citizens and domestic related. The Arkansas legislature looked into curtailing the governor's power after 74 of Huckabee's 77 clemency recommendations were rejected as being "without merit."

On a better note:

• A suspect in the slaying of four police officers who were gunned down in a suburban coffee shop was surrounded by police at a Seattle house early Monday, wounded and possibly dead, police said.
  
  Negotiators were trying to communicate with Maurice Clemmons, 37, using loudspeakers, explosions and even a robot to try to prod him from hiding. At one point, gunshots rang through the neighborhood, about 30 miles from the original crime scene.
  
  "We have determined that in fact he has been shot," said Ed Troyer, a spokesman for the Pierce County Sheriff. "He may be deceased from his gunshot wound."

Hopefully, this is so.

UPDATE: Suspect still on the loose, although reports are he is wounded and seeking medical assistance from friends. Hopefully, each and every one of them is charged as a accessory after the fact. It's probably too much to hope that Washington state executes a few of them, too.

Rácing bajó a Bánfield: TAPA Nº 124

Street Cleaning Tickets

Evidently, Shortshanks's people ran out of money in the street cleaning budget, so all those blocks that have permanent signs (No Parking Tuesdays for Street Cleaning) are NOT to be ticketed from this point until next year sometime. When the Department tells you NOT to enforce posted signs, something must be seriously out of whack.

Which is fine and dandy if they're really out of money - Daley's spending habits seem to belie this crying poor all the time. But not having street cleaning done during the fall? When leaves are thickest in the street gutters? And over the sewer caps?

Does anyone recall anything that usually happens around this time of year? White stuff? Falling from the sky? And what happens to this slushy mess after plowing and salting? And if the gutters and sewers are clogged, what happens the next time it drops below freezing? Or it snows again?

It's going to be like last winter, but on an even more massive scale. Better make sure your car suspension is up to snuff.

Not Good News

Spending down 17% for Black Friday:

• Bargains proved to be the key to luring shoppers into stores over the Black Friday weekend.

  According to a survey by the National Retail Federation, 195 million shoppers visited stores and websites over the holiday weekend. The number is up 13.4 percent from last year’s 172 million shoppers.

  But while the number of shoppers was up, average spending was down over last year. It’s estimated that dollars spent per person dropped 17 percent from a year ago’s $372.56 to $343.31.

Even Reuters is pessimistic:

• U.S. consumers spent significantly less per person at the start of the holiday season this weekend, dimming hopes for a retail comeback that would help propel the economy early in 2010.
  
  The lackluster spending could pressure retail stocks on Monday as some investors were looking for a stronger showing compared with a year earlier, when consumers were being hammered by the recession and credit crunch.

And Obama wants to nationalize one-seventh of the national economy after spending almost $2 trillion dollars in 10 months?

Furlough Calendars and More

The boys over at FiveFrank.com have updated their tool section. They even have a calculator available to figure retro wages which, based on the way Daley is acting lately, are a foregone conclusion.

Their link is in the right hand margin.

And all comments saying "no retro" will be deleted. You can say "we told you so" at a later date.

Global Warming - Still Dead

And as predicted, the lame stream media is still doing just about everything in it's power to ignore the events of the past few days. This story has Europe in an uproar and most of the info is filtering out through the British press:

• The Times Online - all of the scientific data, you know, that stuff they collect and then are supposed to submit for "peer review" to see if it stands up? Destroyed.
• The Telegraph UK - scientists refusing to release any data so others can set up models and see if the results track across alternative theories.
• The Telegraph UK again - the "climategate" e-mails, all discussing how to get around FOIA requests and how best to destroy incriminating e-mails and files. The writers have already admitted the e-mails are genuine.
• The Guardian (UK) reveals the BBC had the e-mails for a month - and didn't do anything with it until other news outlets started asking questions.
  
• New Zealand had uncovered it's own falsification of scientific data.

Can someone stuff a sock in Al Gore now? He's made millions on bullshit scientific data, won an Oscar for a movie based entirely on falsehood, and is attempting to force everyone to buy CFL light bulbs that can't even light a room and necessitate an EPA Superfund response should you break one in the living room.

The science isn't "settled." Global warming isn't a foregone conclusion. Global warming may in fact be a good thing as more land becomes livable and farm capable. Carbon dioxide isn't a "poison" as so many greenies want you to believe - plants needs it to create (tada!) oxygen and plants are thriving as never before.

We know a bunch of people are going to give us flak for writing about this. But this is directly related to Obama's "Cap and Trade" effort that would have gutted an already hurting US manufacturing sector and stopped a weak economic recovery in it's tracks. It also would have been overly intrusive into everyone's lives by forcing you to buy certain products solely because the government decided "it's the right thing for you to do."

Rumor Has It...

...that City Hall is abuzz with the sound of Xerox machines running off hundreds of copies of amended IRS tax returns:

• The Internal Revenue Service is looking for nearly 3,600 Illinoisans — but not for the reasons they probably think.
  
  The IRS owes those folks money, on average more than $1,000 apiece.
  
  Sue Hales is spokeswoman for the IRS in Illinois. She says the postal service has returned almost 3,600 refund checks to the agency as undeliverable.
  
  Those undelivered checks are worth more than $3.6 million.

We heard Shortshanks himself is filing an amended tax return next week along with all of his staff, family and at least 1,000 registered voters from various cemeteries. All of them will donate their windfalls to the Machine of course.

Barcelona 1 Real Madrid 0

Con gol de Ibrahimovic (´56), Barcelona gana un derby complicado para ponerse en la punta de la Liga española.

En un Nou Camp repleto y un juego reproducido en 51 salas españolas, el Barcelona se llevó tres puntos cruciales en la pelea por la Liga ante un Madrid que jugó como pocas veces en su casa.

Empezaron como decía el libreto: Barcelona de toque corto y grupal dominando el terreno y Real Madrid más intempestivo e individualista. Pero con el correr de los minutos pudo verse un merengue hiper concentrado que supo cortar el circuito de juego catalán y tuvo las opciones más peligrosas para marcar.

Una extrema superpoblación del mediocampo y un juego más friccionado e interrumpido que de costumbre hicieron visible una notable diferencia de velocidad entre el juego blanco y el blaugrana que no terminaba de cuajar y sufría el adelantamiento general del rival: la línea ofensiva presionaba delante del círculo central y la defensiva se adelantaba sincronizada para dejar fuera de juego las diagonales catalanas.

Pero una se escapó: Ibrahimovic (sustituo de Henry ´50) pescó una exacta de Alves y de aire venció a Casillas para abrir el partido y sellar el resultado antes de las expulsiones de Busquets (B, ´55) y Diarrá (RM, ´89).

Pocas veces se vio a la última línea barcelonesa despejar sin destino y enhebrar tan pocas avanzadas de riesgo. Quizás por eso, y a pesar de las discusiones sobre el presunto penal (no cobrado) de Piqué a Cristiano (´62), Pellegrini declarara: “El resultado no corresponde a lo que fue el partido” y Valdano dijera que “esto servirá para que no nos castiguen tanto”.

Parkland, Washington Ambush

Four cops killed in a coffee shop before their shift started. One report says all of the officers were Pierce County Sheriffs. This would probably be a sizable percentage of their watch if true.

• King5.com News has the most info so far

Prayers only in this thread. We will update if and when possible.

Bears & Vikings

Do we even dare to hope?

By the way, we're going to stop posting about Blackhawks games since they lost their winning streak after we praised the ownership.

Favorite Time of Year

No, it's not the Christmas music - that becomes grating after a while.

It's Winter Parking Time!

• The city's Winter Overnight Parking Ban begins Tuesday.

  There are 107 miles of city streets [..] considered "critical arterial streets." Beginning at 3 a.m. Tuesday, there's no parking on those streets from 3 to 7 a.m. The ban ends April 1.

  There are 107 miles of city streets [...] considered "critical arterial streets." Beginning at 3 a.m. Tuesday, there's no parking on those streets from 3 to 7 a.m. The ban ends April 1.

This year promises to be especially entertaining with all sorts of "pay boxes" cutting into neighborhood parking and the new overnight bans here and there. Expect the TMA's, Streets and Traffic Units to be out in full force with tow trucks galore.

Daley Lied?

Again? Still? Continuously?

• Mayor Daley is going on the offense in arguing for his beloved Tax Increment Financing program — but experts say he is being less than truthful about what critics dub a “shadow budget.”

  Daley has held news conferences and conducted radio interviews about “TIF”s in recent weeks. But in just 2 1/2 minutes during one radio interview, experts say Mayor Daley told a number of falsehoods about the controversial economic development tool.

And the article points out the most egregious lies. It's a great read. Shortshanks is rapidly losing his grip on reality.

Go read it all.

Héctor Souto.

El primer documento donde se hizo pública en la Argentina la existencia de barras bravas...

El primer documento donde se hizo pública en la Argentina la existencia de barras bravas organizadas, con informes sobre su accionar, sus conexiones y su estructura interna, fue el expediente de la causa judicial a cargo del juez de menores Jorge Moras Mom acerca del asesinato del adolescente Héctor Souto por la barra de Huracán.

Fue un crimen particularmente brutal; el barrabrava apodado “Cinco Dedos”, obrero mecánico de 23 años y unos 80 kilos, lo aplastó, presionando rítmicamente con un pie en el pecho y otro en el abdomen mientras los compinches lo alentaban con sus gritos: “Dale, matalo…”.

Héctor Souto tenía 15 años, cursaba el 3º año industrial en el Otto Krause y asistió al Tomás Ducó en la tarde del domingo 9 de abril de 1967 a ver a Racing contra Huracán. Para la hora del comienzo del partido su cadáver yacía en la enfermería del club.

Cuentan que había osado resistirse a un acto de bravuconería de la barrabrava local y lo había pagado con su vida. Carlos Babington, entonces en sexta división y espectador, cuenta que “la hinchada visitante pasaba por abajo de la popular local, una locura, y justo este Souto mostró la remera de Racing”.

Los ánimos estaban caldeados: un rato antes un grupo de la barra de Rácing había robado un paraguas pintado con los colores de Huracán y lo había quemado. Souto quedó cerando la marcha por debajo de la popular local y fue atacado: lo golpearon de todos los ángulos, cayó de bruces, lo dieron vuelta y “Cinco Dedos” llevó a cabo su obra.

Los diarios hablaron de “un muerto y un herido en una avalancha”. El médico de Huracán (el 1º profesional en examinar el cuerpo) estimó que la muerte podía haberse producido por un “síncope cardíaco”.

A medida que la declaración de testigos del crimen cometido ante la vista de miles de personas fue dejando en claro que no había ni avalancha ni síncope cardíaco, empezó la comedia. Huracán condenó el bárbaro crimen y ofreció todo tipo de colaboración moral y material para los familiares de la víctima que nunca llegó.

“No estuve en el partido. Además, soy el interventor de la AFA. Si desean información remitan sus inquietudes al ámbito policial”, dijo Valentín Suárez, interventor de la AFA que suspendió el estadio por 5 fechas.

La Razón publicaba los lamentos dirigenciales de Huracán y Clarín le sugería al club que apelara ante los estrados judiciales la suspensión aplicada para “quitarse el cartel de cómplices de asesinos que le ha colocado” la sanción. Souto, su familia y el accionar dejaban de ser noticia. De todos modos, no le hizo falta a Huracán llegar al reclamo judicial: la A.F.A. le levantó la suspensión.

Para ver extractos del expediente click aquí.

Cop Injured by Squad

Whoops:

• A Chicago police officer chasing a shoplifting suspect on foot was injured by a police vehicle responding to the scene on the Northwest Side tonight.

  The officer was being treated for non-life-threatening injuries and the suspect was being questioned after being captured by other officers tonight, police said.

  [...] One officer who began pursuing the shoplifting suspect on foot was struck by a police vehicle that responded to the scene [...]. The suspect was arrested, and the officer was being treated at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center...
  

The officer is expected to recover. Careful out there.

Dorothy Brown Told "No"

Shortshanks's lap dog and voter splitter, Dorothy Brown, was told to drop her challenge to Toddler's petitions:

• Cook County Board President Todd Stroger will stay on the ballot for the Feb. 2 Democratic primary election after rival Dorothy Brown’s campaign dropped a challenge to Stroger’s nominating petitions.

  The embattled incumbent filed fewer signatures than his challengers, and it took him longer to collect them.

So one of the Daley's has something up their sleeve by allowing Stroger to remain on the ballot so far. Either they're going to allow three black candidates to fracture the minority vote so O'Brien gets the nomination or someone else will be told to drop out before the ballots are printed.

We can't imagine they're going to let the republicans win.

Dumb Luck

Sometimes, luck is just being in the right place at the right time with a little helpful geography.

• It took Google Earth, a little deer psychology and a freak shot.
  
  But bow-and-arrow hunter Joe Graber's persistence may have won him a coveted Boone and Crockett Club trophy for killing one of the largest deer this season in Illinois - a 25-point buck.
  
  The 35-year-old Edwardsville construction worker had caught glimpses of the monster whitetail in Madison County for years. And recently, he used Google Earth to map likely paths it used.
  
  It wandered down one of those paths as Graber waited on Oct. 26. His shot deflected and the arrow ended up going through the deer's ear. The startled animal slipped off a cliff, into a creek and drowned.

We might be a little embarrassed to be telling that deer story at the bar this winter.

Un caño #20

Se viene Un Caño (#20) de diciembre.

Black Friday Specials

Shortshanks specials this Friday:

• One "bean" - scrap metal value $43.12
• One airport - $1 billion or best offer
• Park land, open and free (museum optional) - best offer
• "merit" promotion of your choice - see Rugai for price list

What's left to sell?

Hawks on a Tear

Eight in a row?

Four-for-four on the circus road trip so far?

Three shorthanded goals against San Jose on the way to a 7-2 pasting?

Hossa gets two goals in his first game of the season following surgery?

Thank you Rocky Wirtz.

Chicago Unemployment

We're sure conventions fleeing the city aren't helping matters any:

• The jobless rate in the Chicago metropolitan area rose to 10.4 percent in October from 10.1 percent in September and spiked from 6.1 percent in October 2008, the Illinois Department of Employment Security reported Wednesday.

  The area shed 178,600 jobs over the year, the biggest of all metropolitan areas, followed by the Lake County-Kenosha area, which lost 12,300 jobs.

And mortgages?

• Twenty-one percent of homes in the Chicago metropolitan area were underwater -- worth less than the mortgages being paid on them -- at the end of the third quarter. That is according to a report from California-based First American CoreLogic.

  A total of 324,448 properties in the Chicago area had negative equity.

Still a long road ahead. Maybe too long.

Why Truth in Sentencing Matters

Served half his sentence, then took under a month to find a gun on parole and shoot at the police:

• Charges have been filed against a parolee police called a "possible suspect" in a police involved shooting at a hot dog stand Monday afternoon on the Far South Side.
  
  Kenneth Brown, of the 7100 block of S. South Chicago Ave., who police said was a "possible suspect" in the incident that occurred Monday at 3 p.m. at Jim's Original hot dog stand, 16 E. 95th St., was arrested because he fit the general description of the offender.
  
  
• Police said Brown was convicted in 1994 for an armed robbery, sentenced to 30 years and was on parole for it at the time of his arrest Tuesday at 9337 S. Wabash Ave.

Someone e-mailed that this was one of Governor Quinn's "early parolees" but we can't locate any evidence of that. He doesn't fit the profile of a "non-violent" offender, but appears to have served 15 years of a 30 year sentence. At this point we're assuming he's just a regular piece of shit criminal who should have served something a lot closer to the 30 year sentence rather than 15 years.

"Reduced Service" Day

Which is code for "don't expect anything much from the City"

• Friday is scheduled to be a "reduced-service" day in Chicago, where as a money-saving move the city will shut down most city services, leaving only a skeleton crew to handle emergencies and conduct necessary business such as collecting revenue.

  About 11,000 workers are expected to stay home the day after Thanksgiving and again on Christmas Eve. The first of the three reduced services days in 2009 was Aug. 17.

  City workers also have been taking furlough days throughout the year to help reduce payroll costs.

For some reason, this includes shutting down half the fueling stations in the city so squads and fire equipment have to travel miles out of their areas to refuel, contributing to backlogs, increasing response times and reducing backup. We thought the automation of the fueling stations would have eliminated the need for shutting them down at all (it's automated, see?) but that doesn't seem to be the case.

On a brighter note, about three-quarters of the exempt staff are taking their mandatory furlough days this long holiday weekend and for some reason, the Districts and Units are operating seamlessly. Useless meetings are down, reductions in paperwork are reported and somehow, operations continue without a hitch.

Next year, mandatory furlough days are going from 12 to 24 for exempts. We'd propose expanding that to 48 days at a minimum. It seems to be working wonders.

Riquelme en su lugar.

No es objeto de esta nota juzgar ni evaluar la eficacia o vigencia del juego de Román Riquelme. Sabemos que tiene sus detractores y aduladores, pero ahora lo miramos, aunque no demasiado lejos del fútbol, desde otra óptica, la del “lugar”.

Quizás una carrera profesional pueda reflejarse observando el sentido de ubicación o relevando el azar “oportunoso” que coloca a alguien en determinado lugar y en determinado momento; y es aquí donde encontramos – reiteradamente – a Román Riquelme en el lugar equivocado.

Las últimas noticias no hablan de fútbol sino de su posible pase a Corinthians, en vísperas de su centenario y la próxima Copa Libertadores. Después de tentar a Zidane y a Guti y enterado de la complicada situación financiera de Boca, Luis Paulo Rosemberg (encargado de marketing) asociado con el grupo SONDA, trabaja para llevarse a Riquelme a Brasil.

Pero la negociación – comenzada tibiamente en julio - está plagada de peros y el último fue más que mediático: "En las negociaciones con (Matías) Defederico no se filtró nada, con Ronaldo negociamos cuatro meses y nadie sabía nada" – dijo Rosemberg al negarse a subir al avión que lo traía a Buenos Aires, como si no supiera que cada gesto de Riquelme es fotografiado y hasta relatado por ciertos medios.

Su desafectación de la selección – por propia decisión – también se disparó por una cuestión de lugar: “Riquelme sacándole la pelota a Demichelis no me sirve” – supo decir Maradona.

Su lesión en la planta del pie que en tantos entrenamientos y partidos lo tuvieron ausente también responde a infortunios de lugar: pisar brasas descalzo no pasa todos los días.

Su participación mundialista (2006) lo tuvo retrasado, casi como incógnito doble cinco, dejando en Cambiasso la tarea de verticalizar pases.

Su salida de Villarreal – entre otros motivos – también se disparó desde su alargada estadía en Buenos Aires cuando debía estar en España.

Su traumática llegada al Barcelona (¿por qué no es seleccionado?) lo encontró frente a Louis Van Gaal que le dijo, francamente, que él no lo había pedido; el equipo llegó a estar a menos de 5 puntos de los puestos de descenso y una gran crisis se desató en Cataluña.

Sus inicios en Boca no fueron fáciles, cuando Mauricio Macri, a puro ensayo y error, probaba con Bilardo y Veira que no le daban continuidad.

Y sus inicios en Argentinos Júniors tampoco fueron sencillos. Empezó de volante central y se le vieron cualidades pero tuvo problemas para conseguir una titularidad definitiva a raíz del desgaste físico que su puesto requería.

Hoy, este jugador de técnica exquisita, se encuentra en un club que históricamente acompañó la garra de su team, vistiendo la número 10 cuando sus ídolos no fueron ni Maradona ni Zidanne sino Galetto, Villareal y Marangoni y a cobrar un dinero que Boca no le puede pagar.

¿Es un circunstancial de lugar?

Chicago Christmas Tree

Was that about the lamest Daley Plaza Christmas Tree lighting last night or what?

Happy Thanksgiving

Sure, we complain on this site a little bit. And our readers complain a bit.

But we have some semblance of health, the checks are still clearing the bank, Daley is on the ropes. There's plenty to be thankful for.

Don't let your guard down as shorthanded as we are. Have a safe holiday.

Arizona Common Sense

How about exporting this to the rest of the country?

• On Tuesday, the Department of Economic Security began requiring urine tests for adult welfare recipients whom officials had "reasonable cause" to believe were illegally using drugs.

  The tests are mandated by a new state law that prevents DES from giving cash assistance to adults who test positive for illegal-drug use. Officials believe the bill, which the Legislature passed during its third special session, could save the state $1.7 million a year in cash assistance.

It might save $1.7 million a year? Anyone have the rate of drug usage in Chicago? Because we imagine testing here could save $1.7 million A DAY.

Asshat of the Week

Once again, Bobby Rush is a moron:

• “Justice has not prevailed and justice has not been done,” U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) told reporters after the sentencing.

  [...] Rush questioned the emergency response to the incident, which authorities say began with a security guard using pepper spray in the crowded club. That triggered a rush to the front exit of the building that left the victims trapped on the stairwell.

  Rush also wondered “if this [club] had been predominated by white citizens whether or not riot police would have been called rather than rescue police.”

Could someone let us know what rescue police are? Or riot police for that matter? Is this some heretofore undiscovered clout unit of the Chicago Police Department we are unaware of?

One could also wonder what all those black politicians and businessmen were doing covering for an illegal club that operated under their protection for months, maybe years without permits, licenses, insurance, evacuation plans, inspections, etc.

But that would be racist according to Bobby Rush.

Blogger Problems & Blogger Milestone

Evidently, e-Blogger has been having a couple of issues we're discovering via trial and error. Some comments are being deleted, lost in cyberspace or listed as published when in fact, they aren't. Furthermore, if you closely read the time stamps on comments, they are out of whack badly in places. These are all things we can't control, so we're all going to have to wait for the Blogger people to fix it. Last time this took a few weeks.

On a happier note, we passed 16 million page views Wednesday. And if traffic holds up over the weekend, we'll pass 8 million visitors sometime Friday, Saturday at the latest. Thanks for everyone's visits and contributions. We couldn't do it without you.

Passarella de Boca.

No son exclusivas de la provincia de Buenos Aires ni de la República Argentina. Las campañas sucias invaden el mundo pero aquí, en Latinoamérica, parecen algo menos limadas, como si le faltara al producto un estricto control de calidad antes de salir al mercado.

En Bolivia, Evo Morales sale a decir con la mirada puesta en los estados norteños (USA); en Uruguay José Mujica se queja de algunos trabajos sucios de campaña y en México tuvimos el escándalo protagonizado por Carlos Ahumada - ex presidente de Talleres de Córdoba -, preso más de 1000 días por aceptar filmar el propio pago de coimas al PRD de López Obrador.

Acercándonos geográficamente, no hace mucho Pino Solanas captó una red de mails que lo tildaban y etiquetaban.

Y acercándonos al fútbol ya leímos sobre la publicación de Marca que ligaba comercialmente a Maradona con Heinze un día antes del duelo España – Argentina.

No vamos a decir que estos mecanismos son nuevos en nuestras democracias. Podemos, incluso, ir más atrás que el estimado y fraudulento Agustín P. Justo – quien paradójicamente pusiera la piedra fundamental de la “popular” Bombonera en los años de su década infame.

Pero en los últimos años, podemos recordar el recrudecimiento de estas maniobras durante los gobiernos del ex fallecido Carlos Menem, donde cada crítico de la gestión gubernamental aparecía inmediatamente publicado con currículums personales non sanctos en un sencillo blanqueamiento del mecanismo de destrucción de la imagen pública del crítico en reemplazo  del rebatimiento conceptual de los argumentos (críticos).

Comprobado el fracaso de la tesis de Fukuyama – la muerte de la historia y el progreso acompañado con el de las ideologías – la cuestión se vuelve menos descifrable cuando se trata de la disputa por el lugar de “limitado administrador” de bienes.

Los estadios, las pinturas, las canteras, los juveniles, las universidades y los museos ya no cuentan en Ríver: el bacalao se corta en el unánime sillón. Después de Caselli vs. Avila,  ahora le toca a Passarella.

Premios Estimulos 2009.

Asistimos -nominados-  a la entrega de premios Estímulos 2009 de TEA y DeporTEA a quienes agradecemos la invitación y felicitamos a Fuebuena.com.ar, ganador en la categoría Blogs y Sitios de Internet.

Además, en el rubro deportivo, fueron ganadores Ayelén Pujol (Perfil) en la categoría Diarios; Mariano Przybylski (Noticias) en la categoría Revistas; Matías Canillán (Continental) en la categoría Radio-Producción Periodística; Ramiro Penas (ESPN) en Televisión-Tarea Periodística; Equipo de ESPN Recuerda (ESPN) en Producción periodística TV y Federico Kotlar (Clarín.com) en Peridositas en Medios Digitales.

Pasamos un grato momento, charlamos con Fabbri, Ulanovsky, conocimos gente linda y nos llegó el estímulo para mejorar LPND.

Aprovechamos para invitar a quienes quieran sumarse: caligula_festh@yahoo.com.ar

Pension Board Meeting

Anyone have the info on Tuesday's meeting?

An entry in the comment section states that the retiree rep Hauser and the Lieutenant rep Maloney sided with the City appointees on a number of procedural motions:

• Today at the Pension Board Meeting PO Mike Shields and Sgt. Mike Lazarro made 2 motions. 1 was for a vote of no confidence against John Gallagher, and the 2nd was to put a letter of admonishment in John Gallagher’s file for playing secret squirrel regarding Weis and Co. and our Pension Fund. All 4 of our ELECTED TRUSTEES were present, only 3 of mayors appointed trustees were present. Both motions were voted down because RETIRED PO KEN HOUSER AND LT. JIM MALONEY sided with Gallagher and the city’s trustees with a 2-5 vote denying the motions.

We also heard a rumor that the head of IPRA is in our pension somehow? Supposedly, Gallgher refuses to release any sort of list of who is actually paying into our pension and stunts like J-Fed and Co. sneaking in the backdoor demonstrate a definite need for absolute transparency regarding Pension Board dealings. These cockroaches have been operating in the dark for far too long and something needs to change in light of the sad state of our underfunded pension.

And evidently, Hauser and Maloney need to be removed by their respective voting blocs, too.

$1 Million - and More?

One of the amusing things about being the police is how some people treat you like you aren't even there. If they're in a car, they stop 10 feet before the line, they signal lane changes a block away, they pause at green lights. They aren't ignorant of your presence - they're trying to be nonchalant.

But sometimes, people really don't see you, don't think you have ears, or maybe they don't care if you overhear something they figure you must already know because, hell, you're a cop, you know everything already.

First, you have Sneed's column Tuesday:

• Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez is seeking to raise the $250,000 bail of Sgt. Pallohusky to $1 million "because it's thought Pallohusky, who was a big gambler, stole a lot more money than the original report of $600,000," said a source.
• Sneed is told 38 "hefty-sized" trash bags filled with financial documents were seized indicating the thefts "may have exceeded $1 million," the source added.

Coincidentally, a cop is on an upper floor of 26/Cal after reading this very article. Two individuals in suits are in the elevator with him chatting about the "nine years worth of Time Due slips seized at Pallohusky's home." They see the cop with a slip and joke, "You better make sure you turn that in."

Obviously, they were a little ignorant of the fact that you always turn in OT slips. But one has to wonder about the "nine years" worth of slips seized by the State. This is getting uglier by the minute.

Oh God No!

A Reprimand? Oh, the humanity!

• A Chicago police spokesman said two officers have been reprimanded after an investigation into an Internet video of behavior at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh in September.

  Chicago police spokesman [...] said reprimands were issued to a department chief as well as a commander. Police wouldn't release their names.

Two officers? That's a bit misleading.

How about "two gold star exempts who should have known better if they had actually read the General Order about Processing Persons Under Department Control and gotten a promotion based on a test containing that order."

A bit wordy, but a lot more accurate. And once again, two completely different systems of accountability.

"Shortshanks" Custer

Where did all these Indians come from?

• Nebraska and 37 other states are supporting a challenge to Chicago’s ban on handguns.

  The U.S. Supreme Court said earlier this fall that it would hear the lawsuit four people filed challenging the city ban.

  One of the plaintiffs, Otis McDonald of Chicago, said he wants to own a firearm within city limits so he can protect himself in his home.

Daley is going to lose this one and lose it badly. But by golly, he's going to spend tax money defending this hill until the very last Indian scalps his still twitching corpse.

Actually, that's kind of a pleasing image.

Casinos Bankrupt?

Can this really happen?

• Don Barden said he's planning no layoffs at his two Majestic Star Casinos in Gary following his company's filing Monday for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

  Majestic Star Casino LLC claims in a petition filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware to owe Gary $7.45 million, naming the city as its 10th largest creditor. The filing also arrives while state lawmakers are considering a move to land-based casino gambling in Indiana.

On one hand, this gives pause to the push for a casino here in Chicago as the solution to all of Shortshank's money problems.

On the other, it's a great opportunity for a professionally run organization to step up and open a legit casino that is a model for casinos world wide.

Hahahahahahahaha. Professionally run casino in Chicago? We amuse ourselves sometimes.

Los feos del fútbol argentino.

[Nanu Bauzá]

Nobleza obliga, después de los lindos, esta vez el ranking apunta a la fealdad.

Globalmente hablando encontramos a: Franck Ribery, Oliver Khan, Michael Reiziger, René Higuita, “La vieja” Patiño, Pibe Valderrama, Puyol y Ronaldinho.

Pero si nos volvemos introspectivos y acechamos nuestras pampas podemos encontrar ejemplares como:

 

 

 

 

 

Vale opinar...

Renunció Angel Cappa.

"No puedo decirle adiós a Huracán. Tampoco a ustedes. Por eso hoy lunes, quiero despedirme de todos con la esperanza de volver algún día. Dije y repito que a este club llegué como director técnico y me voy como un quemero más, porque ustedes me hicieron sentir así. Y es un orgullo para mí. Vivimos cosas inolvidables. Tuvimos el privilegio de asistir al nacimiento y breve desarrollo de un equipo que seguramente pasará a la historia de este club y posiblemente ocupará también un lugar importante en el fútbol argentino que encontró en él una esperanza. Y sufrimos juntos la desintegración de esa ilusión, antes inclusive de que alcanzara su pleno rendimiento. El final fue el peor de los posibles, pero estoy seguro de que pasado un tiempo quedará para siempre en el recuerdo el equipo del clausura. Seguramente esta decisión que hoy tomo tendría que haberla tomado mucho antes, pero el cariño de toda la gente y el compromiso con los jugadores, hizo que la retrasara. El lìmite fue excedido y hoy es el punto final. Muchas gracias por el respeto y el cariño que me dispensaron siempre y hasta el último momento. Seguiré en Buenos Aires y me verán en la cancha como un hincha más. Un abrazo y otra vez hasta pronto. El blog seguirá abierto mientras ustedes tengan interés. Nuevamente muchas gracias".

Fuente: cappadt.blogspot.com

Easy Question

No wonder the people are pissed:

• You could call it a tale of two streets. One of them is perfect; freshly resurfaced with nice sidewalks and curbs. The other is a mess.
  
  They're just a block apart in the same ward in the Beverly neighborhood. As 2 Investigator Pam Zekman reports, residents in the 19th Ward were pretty angry over how their alderman has been spending a special fund intended for ward improvements.
  
  They wanted to know why does one street get help and not the other?

We know! We know!!

• So what's the difference between Bell Avenue and Leavitt Avenue? The local alderman, Virginia Rugai, lives on Bell.

We saw that answer on Final Jeopardy the other day!

$2.1 Billion?

Shortshanks is missing out on a great opportunity. Toddler, too:

• Governor Pat Quinn helped launch the Illinois firearm deer hunting season and promoted the economic and quality-of-life benefits of nature-based tourism and outdoor recreation during a visit to Pike County Saturday.
  
  
• Tens of thousands of deer hunters were in the field in West-Central Illinois and throughout the state Friday through Sunday for the first three days of the firearm deer season, the release said.
  
  
• There are more than 1.1 million hunters and anglers in Illinois, according to the release. The two sports provide a statewide economic impact of $2.1 billion annually and support more than 22,000 jobs.

Open up some of these Forest Preserves in the city and surrounding suburbs to hunting so the deer aren't running into traffic or starving to death. Bow hunting at the least.

Caught on Camera

Twinsburg, Ohio.

The suspect is removed from a vehicle, searched and his pockets emptied onto the hood of the squad car. About 12 seconds into the video, he eats what is thought to be the hold up note:



Funny stuff.

Fake Signatures?

Toddler barely got enough signatures as it was. Now Fox32 finds out a bunch are fake?

• There's a long history of "ghosts" populating political payrolls in Illinois. But a Fox Chicago News investigation has found another political phantom at work-- writing phony signatures and addresses on nominating petitions for Cook County Board President Todd Stroger.
  
  The questionable signatures are among nearly 200 collected by Cedric Giles, a friend of Stroger's who holds a $111,000 management job at the Cook County Bureau of Health.
  
  Fox Chicago News found vacant lots at some of the addresses of listed on Giles' petitions. In other cases there was no one matching the signature living at the given address. At 3740 West Douglas there was no Linda Henderson. Instead, there is a Revolutionary War statue in the middle of a boulevard.

Sounds like an ACORN-type scandal. Maybe Toddler can be knocked off the ballot before he even gets to the primary?

Yet another example of the media doing the job they should have been doing 20 years ago.

Vélez 4 Rácing 2

Cuenta la leyenda que se cerraba la fecha 15º en una húmeda noche de lunes, que relampagueaba y hasta corría un rocío imperceptible...

Qué Rácing empezó ganando por un gol en contra (otro en aquellos días en que estaban de moda)...

Qué Vélez lo dio vuelta y le hizo 4 a Rácing... Que De Olivera fue el perfecto y patético manual de lo que un arquero no debe hacer... Que después del partido una caravana de coches y ómnibus pobló la avenida Juan B. Justo en dirección al río y atestaron el instituto oftalmológico Lagleyze (sobre la misma Juan B. Justo a la altura de San Martín).

La leyenda dice que los relámpagos cesaron y que al final no llovió más que en las lacrimógenas caras de los espectadores.

NOTA: EN ESTA SINTESIS DE GOLES SOLO LLEGA A PERCIBIRSE UN PARCIAL DE  LAS  DESDICHAS CONCEPTUALES DEL ARQUERO DE OLIVERA.

AdMin Fax Screwup

As most coppers know, every month openings are posted to Districts and some Units where spots are available for bid. Bids are open for a few days, closed, then successful bidders move around on Change Day. Most times the bids are 3 pages - rules on bidding, openings, and a signature page. On rare occasions it runs to a fourth page. But the fourth page was never like this.

Here's the cover sheet - note that the AdMin Fax was originally supposed to be three pages long:

And here's page four, a memo (that probably wasn't supposed to see the light of day) listing what openings are to be posted for bid and what we can only assume is an actual real number of how many openings the district is short:

In case you can't read it, the list is as follows:

• 004 District 5 (openings) -41
• 005 District 3 (openings) -13
• 006 District 3 (openings) -14
• 014 District 2 (openings) -29

The first question we have is did they manage to fill all 40 openings in 003 last month since they don't even have a single opening listed? We didn't see 40 transfers headed that direction.

The next question is if 004 has 5 spots open for bids but they're really 41 officers short, wouldn't it follow that if 003 had 40 spots open for bid, they were actually 328 officers short? Parking must be easy as pie in 003!

In any event, the four districts listed are a combined 97 officers short and the Department is only letting 13 officers move around? And expanding those numbers, the entire "600 officer shortage" must be concentrated in the Patrol Division. So what about the Detective Division? We heard they're short a few hundred. Sergeants are short a hundred, lieutenants are short almost 50 and captains are around a dozen.

That "600 short" is looking more and more like a slight "miscalculation." And the shortages are a safety issue - not just for cops, but citizens, too.

PB&PA Officials Resign

Statement on the Sergeants Union website:

• On 22 November, 2009, the Board of Directors of the Chicago Police Sergeant’s Association held a special meeting to discuss recent events effecting the organization. At the meeting the board took the following action:

• The Board accepted the resignation of John Pallohusky effective immediately.
• The Board accepted the resignation of Mary O’Toole effective immediately.
• Vice President Robert Kirchner has assumed the office of President immediately.
• Sgt John Stahl from the Inspection Division, who worked as an accountant before joining the Police Department, was appointed as Treasurer.

We know we have a lot of sergeants (and lieutenants, captains, gold stars and Mike Masters) reading the blog and we are as sickened as they are that fellow cops could even be accused of perfidy like this.

We also stand by our previous statement that J-Fed's comparison of the accused as "Bernie Madoff" is misguided at best...

• Madoff stole around $18 billion from ten or more thousand people, ruining countless lives. This sergeant stole dues money from 1,200 fellow cops, not retirement nest eggs

...and prejudicial to a potential jury pool at worst...

• Madoff ruined lives from coast-to-coast and was rightly painted as a monster.

Those commentators ripping us for making part of this story about J-Fed's inappropriate statements must not remember he is supposed to be the Superintendent of Police, not the State's Attorney, not the Judge and certainly not the jury. Even Shortshanks has had sense enough to keep his mouth shut about this one.

Ha Ha Ha!

Now this is some funny stuff, we don't care where you live:

• The folks in Canaryville love red light cameras during the Holidays. All you got to do is put the family in the back of the pick-up truck, run the red light at 47th and Halsted and you got yourself a Christmas card picture. Cheaper than going to Sears.

We're loading up the pick-up now with the kids dressed in their Christmas finest.

Olympic Candles?

Is it true that the candles passed out at the "2009 Festival of Lights presented by Mayor Richard M Daley" had stickers strategically placed over "Chicago 2016" logos?

It would truly be amusing if so.

Bánfield gana: TAPA Nº 123

INDEPENDIENTE 1 BANFIELD 2

Exercise in Futility?

Bears are three-point dogs at home tonight and pretty much 100% pooches with the offensive line.


The Blackhawks on the other hand are looking pretty sharp the past few weeks, winning 6 in a row including the first two of their Circus road trip by convincing 7-1 and 5-2 margins.

They're playing tonight on the west coast, so after the Bears dig themselves a hole at halftime, we'll be switching over.

Independiente 1 Bánfield 2

Persistente la lluvia, persistente Independiente, persistente Bánfield, persistente Silva.

Independiente estudió para jugar su final en su nuevo estadio, porque del resultado del partido dependía el resto de la ahora pálida suerte anual. Y salió a complicar a Bánfield tomando el terreno, la iniciativa y presentando un aceitado sistema defensivo de off side.

Tomando nota de las debilidades del taladro (3 de los 6 goles que recibió fueron de larga distancia) y aun más bajo la lluvia, los locales probaban de lejos y Luchetti respondía en uno y dos dudosos tiempos.

Así, sin salidas de libreto, Independiente aparecía dominador hasta tres cuartos y Bánfield (bicho) más esporádico y punzante mientras el adelanto defensivo de la última línea roja surtía efecto: Silva quedaba colgado y protestando una y otra vez en un partido especulativo y lejos de una apertura.

En el segundo tiempo Independiente encontró la conocida llave: Darío Gandín tomó una pelota en ¾ y le dio de aire para embocarla ante un estático Luchetti (´3). El estadio se encendió y apagó en instantes: tres minutos después (´6) Lucas Mareque, emulando a Alayes, cabecea hacia su arquero errando el cálculo y dándole el empate a Bánfield.

El juego siguió del mismo modo hasta mediados del segundo tiempo, cuando en cancha pesada las piernas rojas aguaron el plan. Entonces Bánfield retrajo a James Rodríguez (salida durante el 1º tiempo) y liberó a Quinteros por derecha, marca que jamás fue tomada.

Silva seguía insultando al aire y acariciándose la calva: se comió un pelotazo al arco de su compañero Battión y rozó el palo en un cabezazo de córner (´63).

Pero a los 76, cuando Quinteros se despegaba solo por tercera vez, (Silva) la recibió en el área y le cambió el palo a Gabarini.

Y fue un merecido premio para Bánfield, puntero invicto, que no juega al off side, que es más sencillo, que regula, muerde, nunca desespera, parece tener la cuota de suerte necesaria y, sobretodo, persiste.

OFF TOPIC: TUVIMOS EL ACIERTO DE VER EN VIVO TOTTHENHAM 9 WIGAN 1

We Can Only Hope

Please let it be so:

• Mayor Daley's decision to blame the media for Oprah Winfrey's career-altering choice to pull the plug on her syndicated talk show after her 25th season is preposterous. But it's also incredibly revealing.

  When the mayor said, "You keep kicking people, and people will leave," he just might have been talking about himself. Daley has been on the warpath about the media in recent months -- to the point of aggressively challenging reporters.

Challenging? Here's a mayor, born into privilege, silver-spoon and all, never had to dirty his shoes walking to school, barely passed, may not have even passed the bar exam without a bit of "help," moved from one political job to another, never on his own achievements but on the backs of others' skills, jumps into the mayor's job because someone died and gets an almost free ride for two decades and then some from the media.

Now he's pissed because some people are finally noticing the emperor has no clothes and hasn't had any for twenty-plus years? Get over yourself Shortshanks. Has anyone seen the Tribune advertisements about how they're "keeping an eye" on the political class? If the Tribune and it's ilk had been keeping an eye on Daley for the past twenty years, we wouldn't be in this cesspool we're currently drowning in.

Any halfway decent politician can sweep into the 5th Floor next election. We only hope Shortshanks is giving serious thought to leaving. Maybe even in handcuffs.

What Did He Say?

How many years was this doofus with the feds? And he said what?

• Police Supt. Jody Weis labeled Pallohusky the "Bernie Madoff" of the sergeants' association, referring to the New York financier sentenced to 150 years in prison for stealing billions of dollars from investors.

Huh? Madoff scammed tens of thousands of people out of billions of dollars in a Ponzi scheme of epic proportions. This is an alleged theft of $600,000. A largish amount by regular folks standards, but only two years salary for J-Fed.

You'd think he'd have learned the difference working with the feebs. They're mostly accountants nowadays. The only thing J-Fed seems to have learned is how to (A) go for the flashy statement, (B) get the soundbite on the news, and (C) listen to what Masters says because he's the guy the mayor sent over to keep an eye on shit.