Change of Subject

Sunday links

Eric Zorn — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:44:02 -0600

Following up on `Call Northside 777 The Hannah Eschrig challenge Which GOP gubernatorial hopeful deserves the nickname, "Mr. Tea"?The Fake AP Stylebook Apostrophe abominations

More follow-up on `Call Northside 777'

Eric Zorn — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:28:05 -0600

Earlier this week I blogged on the movie "Call Northside 777" and touched on the true story behind the 1948 film classic shot in Chicago. On that post, the son of the real-life prison inmate on whom the story turns,...

Dugan punts

Eric Zorn — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:03:23 -0600

Evidently serial sex killer Brian Dugan is taking a pass on the opportunity to testify at his own sentencing hearing. Tsk. After he tried so hard to speak out at one of his court dates, after he had a note...

Still harboring doubts about the mysterious stroller incident

Eric Zorn — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 22:25:22 -0600

Shameful. A mother reports undergoing an unimaginably traumatic experience: Watching her child in a stroller being dragged by a departing CTA train, her little head bouncing along the "L" platform until the stroller strikes a guardrail and flings the child...

Fine line

Eric Zorn — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 21:31:04 -0600

Stop watching cable TV news and listening to politicians. Using them as a gauge of how divided we are is like using the National Hockey League to estimate the level of violence in America.... Steve Chapman

Sweet

Eric Zorn — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:42:59 -0600

This short video's going around. If you can watch it without getting a tear in your eye, you're made of sterner stuff than I: The story behind this video is here (San Antonio Express)

CTA Tattler readers don't believe Stroller Mom

Eric Zorn — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:50:39 -0600

The CTA Tattler at ChicagoNow asks What's your opinion on what happened in the stroller accident? and posts the poll below showing (at the time of this posting) only 3 percent of 245 respondents saying they believe the mother's story:...

We do not look good here

Eric Zorn — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:23:55 -0600

Illinois is mentioned far too often in The Impact of State Income Taxes on Low-Income Families in 2008 While some working-poor families get help lifting themselves out of poverty through exemptions from state income taxes, in many states they continue...

Narrow escapes

Eric Zorn — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:18:18 -0600

Good fortune: A reader reminds me that the last one (above) is from a TV commercial. Here's the famous baby/stroller video from Australia: And a couple more compilations. Some repeats here:

Tax Increment Financing -- A webliography

Eric Zorn — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:10:25 -0600

A collection of online resources to deepen your understanding of the TIF issue. Neighborhood Capital Budget Group -- a TIF primer & Who Pays for the Only Game in Town? Tax Increment Financing (TIF) -- a 97-page Civic Federation Issue...

Fine line

Eric Zorn — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:28:33 -0600

Inasmuch as this is an incident I did not personally witness, between colleagues I do not know very well, over a matter that remains partly conjecture, it would be inappropriate and irresponsible for me to comment on it. I will...

Putting a little rat into Mickey Mouse

Eric Zorn — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:58:14 -0600

In After Mickey’s Makeover, Less Mr. Nice Guy, the New York Times reports today that the Walt Disney Company is finally planning to restore some definition to the Mickey Mouse character. Thirteen years ago, during what must have been the...

World's Greatest Podcast -- Sexy acccents, the feel-good bakery & Stroller Girl

Eric Zorn — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:19:37 -0600

I called in sick today yet, somehow Mary Schmich and John Williams carried on without me. They did not mention my name for fear, I suspect, that it would cause them to burst into tears:

Doubts about the `Stroller Girl' story

Eric Zorn — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:03:40 -0600

OK, I believed this story at first but the more I hear it the stranger it gets...A commenter on the story "CTA and baby stroller: Questions arise after mother says girl thrown from stroller at Morse "L" platform -- Stroller...

Saturday will be another, far worse date to hate for phone users

Eric Zorn — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:39:06 -0600

It was a more innocent time nearly 20 years ago when I wrote a column that began "We hate 708." The metropolitan region was about to split into two area codes -- the classic, familiar, time-honored 312 for thr city...