Change of Subject

Things to do this weekend

Eric Zorn — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:10:59 -0600

1. Listen to Bill Leff Saturday 9 a.m. 1- p.m. on WGN AM 720 2. Watch Michigan pull off the upset of the century (so far) by beating Ohio State (11 a.m. Saturday, WLS Ch. 7) 3. Attend the Old...

Dispatch from the `War on Christmas'

Eric Zorn — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:14:09 -0600

This Gap commercial has the usual suspects worked up into their annual lather: The Los Angeles Times reports: The Mississippi-based American Family Association last week issued a fatwa against Gap Inc. -- the retailing giant whose brands include Gap, Old...

GOP now the Party of `Noooooooooo!'

Eric Zorn — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:01:00 -0600

Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is, well, yikes, where do I start?...How Rep. Mark Kirk might update Franklin Delano Roosevelt's first inaugural address A veritable caravan of terrorist sympathizers trooping across...

ACORN and the nuts

Eric Zorn — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:57:44 -0600

Public Policy Polling's newest national survey finds that a 52% majority of GOP voters nationally think that ACORN stole the Presidential election for Barack Obama last year, with only 27% granting that he won it legitimately....Public Policy Polling's report on...

I'll wager he has DarlingEvil's vote sewn up

Eric Zorn — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:47:46 -0600

Even some people in his own community are debating (Northwest Side state representative candidate Joseph) Laiacona's political viability. In the inaugural edition of DungeonPlace.com's FetishCast podcast, after a segment on whether sadomasochists should be considered experts on military torture, hosts...

Pat nap

Eric Zorn — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:27:13 -0600

Dan Hynes' campaign has produced this video of our governor apparently fighting sleep during yesterday's Campaign for Better Healthcare Candidate Forum at Chicago’s Holiday Inn Mart Plaza. The images are painfully familiar: The fidgeting. The yawning. The rocking in the...

Explain `Glee' to me

Eric Zorn — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 10:20:29 -0600

My wife and kids are fans of "Glee" so I sat and watched it with them last night. It was just one episode. And they said it wasn't a particularly good one. So perhaps this preliminary judgment is off base,...

Carrier harrier

Eric Zorn — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:16:27 -0600

New York Times tech columnist/blogger David Pogue is on the warpath against Verizon ... The more Verizon gouges, the worse it looks. Every single day, I get e-mail from people saying they’re switching at the first opportunity, or would if...

World's Greatest Podcast -- Blue Chicago?

Eric Zorn — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:29:44 -0600

How do you solve a problem like bad meter?

Eric Zorn — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:41:06 -0600

Is the current Newsweek cover shot of Sarah Palin sexist? Maybe. Trivializing, for sure. Had they asked me I'd have advised against using it if only for the reason that it doesn't really illustrate the story/series of essays in the...

A Song of Good Cheer

Eric Zorn — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:54:57 -0600

Will we be able to top Bob Dylan's version of "Must Be Santa"? We'll sure try, though the break-away chandelier may not be in our budget: Songs of Good Cheer 2009 tickets are officially sold out, but we expect a...

Hate speech straight from Bible to bumpers

Eric Zorn — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:55:15 -0600

There’s a new slogan making its way onto car bumpers and across the Internet. It reads simply: “Pray for Obama: Psalm 109:8”.... Christian Science Monitor Here's the verse you find when you consult scripture: Let his days be few; and...

Memo to Police Board -- Get cracking!

Eric Zorn — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:37:13 -0600

The one sentence that puzzles me in "Bartender beating: More video footage shown in Police Board hearing --Commission to decide whether Anthony Abbate gets to keep his job." The hearing was completed Monday, and the board is expected to make...

About last Sunday night...

Eric Zorn — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:38:34 -0600

Clinging to a six-point lead with a little more than two minutes to go and facing a 4th and 2 in their own territory, the New England Patriots went for it. Gained one yard. Then lost the game when the...

Come on, President Obama, show some spine

Eric Zorn — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:41:06 -0600

I cringe when I watch this video assembled after President Obama bowed like a suppliant when greeting Japanese Emperor Akihito at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Saturday. "Submission Accomplished," to quote Jon Stewart. Doesn't he have social and political...