Great visual jokes this week! I picked the Jaws one only because last week was the 50'th anniversary of the movie's release and it's one of my all-time favorites.
Regarding the two week thing, I'll admit I fell for it, whether it was intentional or not, I thought he would stay on the sidelines and wait for the whole thing to blow over. Whenever he says "two weeks" it reminds me of the classic scene from Total Recall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v-33jcEDk4
It was a close call for me between “Jaws” and “Violators will be fine”, but went with “Jaws” in part because it was the slightly more clever one, and in part out of nostalgic affection for K-Mart. It did have me wondering though, was that photo actually taken at a K-Mart? Are there any left?
Ha ha, great call with the “Total Recall” clip! Whatever AI-android-pod monster-infiltrator that lady is supposed to be, she seems to have the same mainframe as Trump.
The Jaws pic was great. I've been astounded by the huge attention to the film's 50th. Heard about it back in April when someone told me there'd be a thing in Martha's Vineyard to mark the date, which made sense. I thought that was clever and decided to host a screening of it to showcase shark research with local scientists. (JAWS.eventbrite.com if anyone cares). I thought it was just a fun, geeky, thing for shark/marine science buffs but I've been blown away by how much is being written and done for this 50 year old film! I had no idea the huge impact it had on Hollywood. Parties, screenings, lots of merch, and even entities like NY Yankees are creating Jaws tie-ins. It's wild!
Ugh, I wish I was anywhere close to Chicago, I would so be there for the screening. It's a monumental film, groundbreaking in so many respects, certainly "explores themes", and is just wildly entertaining. Spielberg was only 28 when he made it. It's like the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" of movies. It deserves all the acclaim and cult-like following it's getting.
Thank you! That interview was a great read. Speaking of science-focused shark movies, I'd mention Deep Blue Sea, from 1999 with Thomas Jane and LL Cool J, among others. It's far from Jaws, but it's an entertaining sci-fi that's a few step above Sharknado and the like. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Blue_Sea_(1999_film)
Regarding the bombing of Iran; I’ve been thinking that this will be compared to Bush’s attack of Iraq. The question that remains: Will it be Bush I or Bush II?
At least in both of those cases, the Bushes asked for and received Congressional approval before attacking. I see this more like Reagan invading Granada without seeking authorization, albeit a much more dangerous decision.
If I were a more magnaminous person, I would feel sorry for the MAGA believers who thought their idol meant any of his promises, principally no more wars and balancing the budget. It is evident that he does not give a tinker's curse about anything that he says and the promises he made to get their votes. This time, it was the lure of posing in the War Room and receiving the adulation of the neo-cons and religious fanatics who see him as the foretold Biblical figure who will facilitate the events leading to the Rapture.
I don't think they will see this as a problem - yet. The Air Force did such an amazing job, this could be a movie. And his dudes would all want to go see it - and so would I. It was a tour de force, and it makes us (and him) look really strong. I taught children of Air Force personnel on 3 different bases overseas. The planes always gave me thrills when practicing! It is possible that Trump could be president for a very long time if this type of action continues, however. He could run again, and many people would vote for whoever is in power - no one wants to change horses in the middle of a stream. I have seen this happen when even die-hard Democrats voted to keep the same person in power (and then, there was F. Roosevelt - 4 terms - remember? It will eventually dawn on some of his folks that he promised not to engage in war - and all the other broken promises. But if he pulls off a cease-fire that lasts, he may be able to address those other issues, too. I can't stand the guy, but I have to say that the 4 horsemen announcement looked GOOD (Vance, Rubio, Hegseth, and Trump - who left off his goofy hat and actually stuck to the script. Dangerous times.
Sounds like a fever dream to me. but then I am not entranced by scenes of killing, nor do I think that Agent Orange and the Three Stooges looked good. He looked sweaty and confused, they looked like soulless automatons. I remember when W was riding high in the polls after starting his shock and awe stupid war and how the public reacted when they saw the reality. Finally the idea of comparing FDR to trump ... lost for words.
You make a good point. War is never something to celebrate. Innocent people die. MAGAs celebrate Trump making them feel tough by exhibiting our military power against the ragheads. What a shame they can't experience just once being on the shooting end.
Agreed - but how many Harrison Ford movies have you watched - or all those movies that glorify how cool we are at finding out where the enemy is and then being the "the good guys" who bomb the hell out of the enemy? I am not saying it is right - I AM saying that those movies are some of the most popular ever made. And MAGA dudes and dudettes will be celebrating.
No argument from me. Watch some of the old John Wayne World War II movies. The enemies are cruel people that sneer and smile as they kill us. No one bleeds or gets a body part blown off. It is all about patriotism and the American way. One of the things that made Vietnam so unpopular was that for the first time, Americans could see real war on television, not just Hollywood movies or limited newsreel footage. My cousin is a rabbi, living in Jerusalem. Security and and avoiding trouble spots is a way of life for them. I live in a rural area away from the city. I can walk safely any time of day or night without worrying who's going to try and shoot me or fire a rocket at me.
I am sorry I was not more clear on the FDR reference. He was allowed to (and won) 4 terms, and had I been old enough to vote, I would have supported him without question. But then he died in office, and it was determined that no one person should ever have 4 terms, hence Amendment 22 which was ratified in 1951. (This idea of limiting the time frame for a President had been around for years and was often debated. But it never came to fruition until 1951.) Don't think for a second that Trump's minions are not thinking about doing this for him or his successors.
You left out a key point. MAGAs believe he is keeping his promises. Just ask them. When you hit them with facts, they either alibi for him, change the subject to a different issue where he supposedly kept his promise, or point out some Biden shortcoming.
My apologies. I sometimes fall in to the trap of forgetting about parallel universes, especially the one is which trump is a successful businessman, a happily-married committed Christian, a tough guy with real hair, and the best president we have ever had. Excuse me, I have to go off and make sunshine out of cucumbers.
Yeah, me too! - It feels too much like work to keep the Real World in mind all the time in the face of all the bombardment of the swirling fantasies of the MAGA crowd. It might take a bunker buster reality bomb to get through to the acolytes of The Orange Menace and the Muskovites.
Defending Trump by pointing out some Biden shortcoming. This has always stuck in my craw. Even if we are to accept the premise that the comparison is factual, I thought it is a universal truth that you do not defend bad behavior by pointing out bad behavior by another. But I guess my fault is I am trying to apply logic to a group that doesn't care about logic. It is as frustrating as talking with a flat earther.
A couple of thoughts about the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities. 1) We phrase it that way to ignore that human beings are being killed.
2) What if Trump isn't the one calling the shots? Sure he's sounding off on it, but what if someone in his administration is really doing the hard work?
I believe it is Netanyahu calling the shots, or at least playing Trump. As posited by commenter elsewhere, "He got Trump to use bunker-busters on Iran by making Israeli bombing look cool on Fox. Trump is a puppet, truly." I don't know if that's quite correct, but Netanyahu was pushing Trump to bomb Iran. And the bombing refocused Fox's attention back to Trump, the attention he craves.
There are three possibilities of who is really calling the shots: Trump himself, someone in the administration, or a foreign power. All three are downright terrifying.
Trump's only competence is populism, he has no expertise in any aspect of statecraft. His administration is full of unqualified incompetent sycophants. The Secretary of Defense is an alcoholic TV host, there is no NSA - Marco Rubio is filling that role on an interim basis, he is also the Secretary of State, head of USAID, and head of National Archives. He has zero qualifications for any of those jobs. The entire national security apparatus has been gutted of experts, first by Trump, then by DOGE.
This leaves the most likely scenario, which is that Trump is being manipulated by the likes of Putin and Netanyahu. Exactly who won out this time and why and for what purpose, we may never know.
One thing I can see happening: If Iran successfully chokes off the Straits of Hormuz, crippling oil exports, Putin will suddenly have quite a bit of leverage with the massive oil reserves he’s been unable to sell due to sanctions.
What I think is getting glossed over is the apparent fact that due to Trump's desire for everyone to "look at me" (him), he can't keep his mouth shut, which seems to have resulted in the Iranians moving all of the enriched uranium to other sites. (As no radiation appears to have leaked from the bombed sites post-bombing, it appears that none were actually bombed. Now the US (and the world) has no idea where Iran is now storing its enriched uranium.
Regarding school closings, I mentioned this back in February. When it comes to school systems, especially in urban cities where the neighborhood (default) school isn't exactly rated highly, many parents experience the following.
Broad strokes here but people w/out children generally don't care about the schools except to bitch about paying taxes for something they will never use.
Once you have kids, you have about 5 years to figure out if you are gonna live with it, pay for an expensive private school, or vacate to the suburbs. You might not have those choices or they certainly aren't equally obtainable.
Improving the school system in time for your little urchins to take advantage is a herculean or Sisyphean task, depending on the current status.
AND, once your kids are past school age, you stop caring and go back to bitching about property taxes.
I know this is a serious post, but it made me laugh. Going back to bitching about property taxes is, and I quote, " some real Boomer shit." (I was recently in the hospital, and was complaining about feeling old, when my favorite nurse ever said I wasn't old, Boomers are old. Thank you, my dear, but I am totally a Boomer.)
I would like to see interviews with people who get little attention but shape current events and how we understand them. For example:
--Josh Hoyt, a long-time organizer for progressive groups, including neighborhood coalitions and immigrants' rights organizations
--Sunny Fischer, a stalwart in the non-profit world whose latest achievement is the opening of the National Public Housing Museum
--Amy Stanley, a Northwestern professor who wrote a terrific book about a rebellious woman in 19th century Japan, Stranger in the Shogun's City, as that country was showing the cracks that would lead to dramatic, rapid changes (a process that I feel I am living through in today's United States)
I’m a music fan so I would love to read an interview with Tom Morello or Jeff Tweedy. I also loved the Jaws pic as it was one of the first scary movies I remember watching.
Tom Morello has a social studies BA from Harvard and has been advocating for social justice causes for 30+ years. Not to mention, you know, being a rock legend. It would be so amazing to get an EZ interview with him. I'll take Jeff Tweedy also :) Doesn't he have a connection to the Old Town School, maybe EZ could find an in that way.
CPS needs to find a balance between the desire for neighborhood schools and the need to consolidate resources. In addition to the money spent to keep open under-enrolled schools, the students are missing out on opportunities for sports and comradery with fellow students and diverse elective classes that just aren't possible right now. CPS needs to find a way to make it palatable to parents and students to travel a little further for more robust school populations. Besides providing safe reliable transportation, I'm not sure how you do that. In elementary, my own son traveled to a school that required him to be bused past 3 other elementary schools to get to his but I was fine with that because that school was just the right fit for his individual special needs. Other schools didn't have the special ed resources or were better suited to kids with more significant disabilities. I was delighted to have an option within the school district that was best for him. The school district we were in provided transportation that made it even easier for us to choose the far school. I probably would have driven him if necessary, because I was fortunate to be able to do that, but the school district made it easy by busing him.
CPS is the one closing the schools. It's the CTU and local parents demanding they stay open. Let's look at the big picture. I think it was about 20 years ago that I first heard the idea of each and every student having their own workstation in a properly controlled environment as opposed to neat little rows of desks with a teacher at the head of the class. Every school in the country wants the ideal educational environment for kids. I personally know of no public school district that has accomplished this, including the poshest suburban schools. No one has the financial resources to do what the latest research says would be best for kids. CPS isn't even in the same ballpark when it comes to what's best for kids. I don't want to ignite the debate over funding disparities and who's responsible. It's simply not getting done. I don't expect to see it getting done properly in my lifetime. All I know is this. It definitely won't get done with schools of 50-100 students. The curriculum choices will not be there, nor the various teachers needed. I understand some of the practical concerns. I once interviewed at a school that released at 2pm so that on winter days, kids could get home and off the streets before dark. In dangerous neighborhoods, parents don't want their kids walking to and from schools any farther than necessary and needing to cross gang boundaries. They want their kids near home and in school with other kids with whom they feel comfortable. Bussing in Chicago is historically unreliable. The downside is dispensing limited resources to undeserved schools. So what's the answer? CPS wasn't getting the job done properly when I was in my sophomore biology class with 42 students and PE classes with over 100 students and they aren't getting the job done now.
Safe transit for students has to be available for parents to buy into closing neighborhood schools, along with the other benefits to consolidated schools. If you get the parents on board, CTU will follow. Of course there could be benefits to teachers too - having more co-workers in the same building, ability to offer electives that would otherwise not be possible, perhaps more satisfaction in teaching more kids. Let teachers teach in their area of expertise, not just wherever they are needed in a woefully underpopulated school. CPS is spending far more per student than other districts - understandably so regarding special ed students and the need to support students who come from less than supportive physical, emotional, and financial environments - but the degree to which they spend more is insane. It's never going to get better with the current mayor, CTU's lapdog, in office. CTU seems to be more about volume of teachers employed than the number of teachers satisfied with their jobs.
Amen. It won’t happen under Johnson. But let’s not totally blame him. I started at Nansen Elementary in West Pullman in 1960. Which mayor fixed it? How would the fix come about with all the various ethnic and political entities that aren’t even on the same planet, much less in the same ballpark?
It’s a bit of a shame that, before the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government made a concerted effort to fix mal-translated signage, some of which was pretty amusing. My favorite, from a 1990s hotel visit, was: “Don’t use the lift if it is on fire!”
Headline or Rhetorical Question? Maybe "two weeks" is simply the news cycle to forgotten.
"Flag waving" poll was for pro-immigrant protests. What about the "No Kings Day" flying of flags - many locally with Palestine's flag - same with the Iran air attack protests. What's being protested or promoted - event "theme' or Flag wavers. AI - if you have a brown/black out - don't blame all the air conditioners running - it's all of those AI images being generated! Interviews: A few locals that have caught my attention: "77 Flavors of Chicago" I do not know who the person is behind the podcast and FB postings - but great Chicago information. Local artist: Zhanna Biletska Fine Art Local Photographer Barry Butler John Williams had someone on last week from DePaul? discussing Middle East issues and insights Heath - Heather - Heathest?
A couple of suggestions for interesting Chicagoans to interview: Steve Dahl (just to check in and see how things are going for a Chicago legend these days), and Pope Leo XIV (this would be the ultimate PS “get”).
My guess is Israel knew what it was doing when it attacked the Iranian nuclear facilities. For those “experts” who say Iran wasn’t close to creating nuclear weapons, are we supposed to wait until Iran has the weapons? At this point I’m in wait and see mode.
We don’t know how the situation is going to play out.
I guess you missed the part where Bibi has been saying the same damn thing for three decades. It’s also worth noting that the JCPOA that Trump abandoned was working to forestall Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions. What incentive do they have now to even negotiate when we scuttled the last plan for no reason?
That's exactly the logic we were sold prior to the 2003 Iraq invasion. "The smoking gun will be a mushroom cloud!" "Yellow cake!" etc. Nothing was ever found.
I believe Iran was letting inspectors in to see what they were doing pursuant to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Isn’t that how we knew they had over 400 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% U235. The concern is that Iran will pull out of the treaty now.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty requires nations who have signed the pact and wish to develop nuclear energy to permit inspections of their facilities. Do you think Iran will continue as a party to the treaty after these bombings? And, if not, are we better off?
Not only do I agree with you, but let me add something else. We have nukes. So do Russia, China, India, Pakistan, and others. Iran could ask why not them.
$93,000 cost per student at Douglas when the remainder of CPS's 325k students receive less than 30k seems unjustifiable no matter how it is looked at. Is there one solid reason for this imbalance? Sure, it might be nice for the chosen 27, but how is that good for the remaining 325k students? And in all reality, the chosen 27 are being deplived of a normal high school experience that such low enrollment cannot offer.
The sole beneficiary is CTU membership. The new contract requires the addition of a full-time nurse and a full-time librarian to the currently overstaffed location.
“Since when is journalism required to pretend that Trump’s MAGA movement is based on anything other than white male supremacy and hate?”, asks Joannie Wimmer. Maybe since responsible journalists starting paying attention to data that show, among other things, black voter turnout for Trump increasing from 8% to 20% between 2016 and 2024, and Hispanic support going from 28% to 43% in the same time frame. So, who’s pretending?
Joannie’s comment echoes a wishful thought that is perpetuated by Mark Jacob and others that if the media were just less nuanced and objective (read: professional) in their reporting on Trump, and given to more histrionic and inflammatory (read: biased) word usage when they report on him, then all of his followers would realize their folly and renounce their support, and the MAGA movement would just collapse like a Jenga tower. This is very naive.
And don’t forget there were Jews who supported Hitler. There was even an organization of them: the Verband nationaldeutscher Juden. So the fact that there were blacks and Hispanics who voted for Trump hardly refutes what I said.
Actually, it does. This simplistic contention that the essence of Trump’s appeal is based in racial hatred -and that the media should parrot that line of thought in the way that they report on him- may provide an endorphin rush for certain progressives, but it’s been debunked many times, most notably by the NYT’s David Leonardt, not exactly a Trump apologist. It’s also a monumental cop out, and a way for Democrats to absolve themselves of any culpability in their blowing of an election that they should have easily won.
Come on, you know better that that. Support for Trump from minorities was based on two things. Blacks thought that he would do better than Democrats on the economy. Are things getting better for them? We'll see if the support lasts. Furthermore their actually voting totals still lag far behind other demographic groups. Latinos thought he would handle immigration better. I'd like to see some up-to-date polls.
My point was that, despite a years long, protracted program of painting Trump as a virulent racist (and not without good reason), the net result has been that Trump’s popularity has INCREASED among minority groups. The reasons for that are open to debate, but to argue that the media should ratchet up this strategy is not likely to yield the results that you or I might hope for, as precedent proves.
What would you suggest? Ignoring his violating the Constitution, his blatant racism, his personal classlessness and insults against others, his total lack of regard for people with needs, his tossing of any type of environmental and consumer protections to benefit the rich, his insults against foreign leaders and our allies, his constant lying and rewriting of history, his inane promises that had no chance of being kept? Just ignore everything and all will be forgotten and Trump will treat all with respect? If you believe that, you are living in a bigger dreamworld than he is.
No, that it isn’t what I’m saying at all. Go back and read what I said at the top of the discussion. By all means report on all this stuff, but let’s not go to Terry Moran’s late night tweet as the preferred style and tone model in which this news should be delivered. Journalists who resort to loaded words and emotional plying in their reporting on Trump may make themselves and some of their readers feel good (like scratching an itch), but it isn’t professional, it’s a disservice to readers, and it isn’t going lure anyone away from the Dark Side.
There needs to be a white hat that says MAWA - Make America White Again. Except I would NEVER wear it, and neither would any of the guys and gals who really believe that - but can't say it. TRUTH!
Great visual jokes this week! I picked the Jaws one only because last week was the 50'th anniversary of the movie's release and it's one of my all-time favorites.
Regarding the two week thing, I'll admit I fell for it, whether it was intentional or not, I thought he would stay on the sidelines and wait for the whole thing to blow over. Whenever he says "two weeks" it reminds me of the classic scene from Total Recall: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v-33jcEDk4
I picked Jaws as well. WSJ bathing story is a runner up for me.
It was a close call for me between “Jaws” and “Violators will be fine”, but went with “Jaws” in part because it was the slightly more clever one, and in part out of nostalgic affection for K-Mart. It did have me wondering though, was that photo actually taken at a K-Mart? Are there any left?
KMart is HUGE in Australia but I think that's it. Only one or two left in North America.
I think it's just a random big box store name that was picked for the meme, I saw the same one on Instagram with "Target" used instead.
Ha ha, great call with the “Total Recall” clip! Whatever AI-android-pod monster-infiltrator that lady is supposed to be, she seems to have the same mainframe as Trump.
The Jaws pic was great. I've been astounded by the huge attention to the film's 50th. Heard about it back in April when someone told me there'd be a thing in Martha's Vineyard to mark the date, which made sense. I thought that was clever and decided to host a screening of it to showcase shark research with local scientists. (JAWS.eventbrite.com if anyone cares). I thought it was just a fun, geeky, thing for shark/marine science buffs but I've been blown away by how much is being written and done for this 50 year old film! I had no idea the huge impact it had on Hollywood. Parties, screenings, lots of merch, and even entities like NY Yankees are creating Jaws tie-ins. It's wild!
Aside from the quality of the film, Jaws is widely considered the first summer blockbuster movie.
Ugh, I wish I was anywhere close to Chicago, I would so be there for the screening. It's a monumental film, groundbreaking in so many respects, certainly "explores themes", and is just wildly entertaining. Spielberg was only 28 when he made it. It's like the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" of movies. It deserves all the acclaim and cult-like following it's getting.
Yeah, I had no idea of its significance! (Get to Chicago by July 19 and I'll reserve you a seat. :-) There's a small chance we might be able to tape our post-film discussion with the researchers; looking into costs). You might appreciate this piece on it. https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/06/a-shark-scientist-reflects-on-jaws-at-50/?fbclid=IwY2xjawLCy91leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFhRk40blY5SWlXYVNzbzdnAR73sfXw4-I4NOb_YYdcEq5b9q1Vbm1WHSYnfwZOSag6YtqMBLu3nxVQEIgGbw_aem_3Fpj1yioGdO5kDPXyRCYcg
Thank you! That interview was a great read. Speaking of science-focused shark movies, I'd mention Deep Blue Sea, from 1999 with Thomas Jane and LL Cool J, among others. It's far from Jaws, but it's an entertaining sci-fi that's a few step above Sharknado and the like. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Blue_Sea_(1999_film)
Regarding the bombing of Iran; I’ve been thinking that this will be compared to Bush’s attack of Iraq. The question that remains: Will it be Bush I or Bush II?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KjdKAYBbeZk&pp=ygUvVGhlIGJpZyBsZWJvd3NraSB0aGlzIGFnZ3Jlc3Npb24gd2lsbCBub3Qgc3RhbmQ%3D
At least in both of those cases, the Bushes asked for and received Congressional approval before attacking. I see this more like Reagan invading Granada without seeking authorization, albeit a much more dangerous decision.
If I were a more magnaminous person, I would feel sorry for the MAGA believers who thought their idol meant any of his promises, principally no more wars and balancing the budget. It is evident that he does not give a tinker's curse about anything that he says and the promises he made to get their votes. This time, it was the lure of posing in the War Room and receiving the adulation of the neo-cons and religious fanatics who see him as the foretold Biblical figure who will facilitate the events leading to the Rapture.
I don't think they will see this as a problem - yet. The Air Force did such an amazing job, this could be a movie. And his dudes would all want to go see it - and so would I. It was a tour de force, and it makes us (and him) look really strong. I taught children of Air Force personnel on 3 different bases overseas. The planes always gave me thrills when practicing! It is possible that Trump could be president for a very long time if this type of action continues, however. He could run again, and many people would vote for whoever is in power - no one wants to change horses in the middle of a stream. I have seen this happen when even die-hard Democrats voted to keep the same person in power (and then, there was F. Roosevelt - 4 terms - remember? It will eventually dawn on some of his folks that he promised not to engage in war - and all the other broken promises. But if he pulls off a cease-fire that lasts, he may be able to address those other issues, too. I can't stand the guy, but I have to say that the 4 horsemen announcement looked GOOD (Vance, Rubio, Hegseth, and Trump - who left off his goofy hat and actually stuck to the script. Dangerous times.
Sounds like a fever dream to me. but then I am not entranced by scenes of killing, nor do I think that Agent Orange and the Three Stooges looked good. He looked sweaty and confused, they looked like soulless automatons. I remember when W was riding high in the polls after starting his shock and awe stupid war and how the public reacted when they saw the reality. Finally the idea of comparing FDR to trump ... lost for words.
You make a good point. War is never something to celebrate. Innocent people die. MAGAs celebrate Trump making them feel tough by exhibiting our military power against the ragheads. What a shame they can't experience just once being on the shooting end.
Agreed - but how many Harrison Ford movies have you watched - or all those movies that glorify how cool we are at finding out where the enemy is and then being the "the good guys" who bomb the hell out of the enemy? I am not saying it is right - I AM saying that those movies are some of the most popular ever made. And MAGA dudes and dudettes will be celebrating.
No argument from me. Watch some of the old John Wayne World War II movies. The enemies are cruel people that sneer and smile as they kill us. No one bleeds or gets a body part blown off. It is all about patriotism and the American way. One of the things that made Vietnam so unpopular was that for the first time, Americans could see real war on television, not just Hollywood movies or limited newsreel footage. My cousin is a rabbi, living in Jerusalem. Security and and avoiding trouble spots is a way of life for them. I live in a rural area away from the city. I can walk safely any time of day or night without worrying who's going to try and shoot me or fire a rocket at me.
I am sorry I was not more clear on the FDR reference. He was allowed to (and won) 4 terms, and had I been old enough to vote, I would have supported him without question. But then he died in office, and it was determined that no one person should ever have 4 terms, hence Amendment 22 which was ratified in 1951. (This idea of limiting the time frame for a President had been around for years and was often debated. But it never came to fruition until 1951.) Don't think for a second that Trump's minions are not thinking about doing this for him or his successors.
You left out a key point. MAGAs believe he is keeping his promises. Just ask them. When you hit them with facts, they either alibi for him, change the subject to a different issue where he supposedly kept his promise, or point out some Biden shortcoming.
My apologies. I sometimes fall in to the trap of forgetting about parallel universes, especially the one is which trump is a successful businessman, a happily-married committed Christian, a tough guy with real hair, and the best president we have ever had. Excuse me, I have to go off and make sunshine out of cucumbers.
Please send me the recipe.
It's in the Laputan cookbook.
Yeah, me too! - It feels too much like work to keep the Real World in mind all the time in the face of all the bombardment of the swirling fantasies of the MAGA crowd. It might take a bunker buster reality bomb to get through to the acolytes of The Orange Menace and the Muskovites.
Defending Trump by pointing out some Biden shortcoming. This has always stuck in my craw. Even if we are to accept the premise that the comparison is factual, I thought it is a universal truth that you do not defend bad behavior by pointing out bad behavior by another. But I guess my fault is I am trying to apply logic to a group that doesn't care about logic. It is as frustrating as talking with a flat earther.
A couple of thoughts about the bombing of Iranian nuclear facilities. 1) We phrase it that way to ignore that human beings are being killed.
2) What if Trump isn't the one calling the shots? Sure he's sounding off on it, but what if someone in his administration is really doing the hard work?
I believe it is Netanyahu calling the shots, or at least playing Trump. As posited by commenter elsewhere, "He got Trump to use bunker-busters on Iran by making Israeli bombing look cool on Fox. Trump is a puppet, truly." I don't know if that's quite correct, but Netanyahu was pushing Trump to bomb Iran. And the bombing refocused Fox's attention back to Trump, the attention he craves.
There are three possibilities of who is really calling the shots: Trump himself, someone in the administration, or a foreign power. All three are downright terrifying.
Trump's only competence is populism, he has no expertise in any aspect of statecraft. His administration is full of unqualified incompetent sycophants. The Secretary of Defense is an alcoholic TV host, there is no NSA - Marco Rubio is filling that role on an interim basis, he is also the Secretary of State, head of USAID, and head of National Archives. He has zero qualifications for any of those jobs. The entire national security apparatus has been gutted of experts, first by Trump, then by DOGE.
This leaves the most likely scenario, which is that Trump is being manipulated by the likes of Putin and Netanyahu. Exactly who won out this time and why and for what purpose, we may never know.
One thing I can see happening: If Iran successfully chokes off the Straits of Hormuz, crippling oil exports, Putin will suddenly have quite a bit of leverage with the massive oil reserves he’s been unable to sell due to sanctions.
What I think is getting glossed over is the apparent fact that due to Trump's desire for everyone to "look at me" (him), he can't keep his mouth shut, which seems to have resulted in the Iranians moving all of the enriched uranium to other sites. (As no radiation appears to have leaked from the bombed sites post-bombing, it appears that none were actually bombed. Now the US (and the world) has no idea where Iran is now storing its enriched uranium.
Regarding school closings, I mentioned this back in February. When it comes to school systems, especially in urban cities where the neighborhood (default) school isn't exactly rated highly, many parents experience the following.
Broad strokes here but people w/out children generally don't care about the schools except to bitch about paying taxes for something they will never use.
Once you have kids, you have about 5 years to figure out if you are gonna live with it, pay for an expensive private school, or vacate to the suburbs. You might not have those choices or they certainly aren't equally obtainable.
Improving the school system in time for your little urchins to take advantage is a herculean or Sisyphean task, depending on the current status.
AND, once your kids are past school age, you stop caring and go back to bitching about property taxes.
I know this is a serious post, but it made me laugh. Going back to bitching about property taxes is, and I quote, " some real Boomer shit." (I was recently in the hospital, and was complaining about feeling old, when my favorite nurse ever said I wasn't old, Boomers are old. Thank you, my dear, but I am totally a Boomer.)
My typical response to people worried about calling me an old man is that it beats the hell out of the alternative.
Any day you're above the dirt (almost) is a good day.
I LOVE THIS!
I would like to see interviews with people who get little attention but shape current events and how we understand them. For example:
--Josh Hoyt, a long-time organizer for progressive groups, including neighborhood coalitions and immigrants' rights organizations
--Sunny Fischer, a stalwart in the non-profit world whose latest achievement is the opening of the National Public Housing Museum
--Amy Stanley, a Northwestern professor who wrote a terrific book about a rebellious woman in 19th century Japan, Stranger in the Shogun's City, as that country was showing the cracks that would lead to dramatic, rapid changes (a process that I feel I am living through in today's United States)
I’m a music fan so I would love to read an interview with Tom Morello or Jeff Tweedy. I also loved the Jaws pic as it was one of the first scary movies I remember watching.
Tom Morello has a social studies BA from Harvard and has been advocating for social justice causes for 30+ years. Not to mention, you know, being a rock legend. It would be so amazing to get an EZ interview with him. I'll take Jeff Tweedy also :) Doesn't he have a connection to the Old Town School, maybe EZ could find an in that way.
CPS needs to find a balance between the desire for neighborhood schools and the need to consolidate resources. In addition to the money spent to keep open under-enrolled schools, the students are missing out on opportunities for sports and comradery with fellow students and diverse elective classes that just aren't possible right now. CPS needs to find a way to make it palatable to parents and students to travel a little further for more robust school populations. Besides providing safe reliable transportation, I'm not sure how you do that. In elementary, my own son traveled to a school that required him to be bused past 3 other elementary schools to get to his but I was fine with that because that school was just the right fit for his individual special needs. Other schools didn't have the special ed resources or were better suited to kids with more significant disabilities. I was delighted to have an option within the school district that was best for him. The school district we were in provided transportation that made it even easier for us to choose the far school. I probably would have driven him if necessary, because I was fortunate to be able to do that, but the school district made it easy by busing him.
CPS is the one closing the schools. It's the CTU and local parents demanding they stay open. Let's look at the big picture. I think it was about 20 years ago that I first heard the idea of each and every student having their own workstation in a properly controlled environment as opposed to neat little rows of desks with a teacher at the head of the class. Every school in the country wants the ideal educational environment for kids. I personally know of no public school district that has accomplished this, including the poshest suburban schools. No one has the financial resources to do what the latest research says would be best for kids. CPS isn't even in the same ballpark when it comes to what's best for kids. I don't want to ignite the debate over funding disparities and who's responsible. It's simply not getting done. I don't expect to see it getting done properly in my lifetime. All I know is this. It definitely won't get done with schools of 50-100 students. The curriculum choices will not be there, nor the various teachers needed. I understand some of the practical concerns. I once interviewed at a school that released at 2pm so that on winter days, kids could get home and off the streets before dark. In dangerous neighborhoods, parents don't want their kids walking to and from schools any farther than necessary and needing to cross gang boundaries. They want their kids near home and in school with other kids with whom they feel comfortable. Bussing in Chicago is historically unreliable. The downside is dispensing limited resources to undeserved schools. So what's the answer? CPS wasn't getting the job done properly when I was in my sophomore biology class with 42 students and PE classes with over 100 students and they aren't getting the job done now.
Safe transit for students has to be available for parents to buy into closing neighborhood schools, along with the other benefits to consolidated schools. If you get the parents on board, CTU will follow. Of course there could be benefits to teachers too - having more co-workers in the same building, ability to offer electives that would otherwise not be possible, perhaps more satisfaction in teaching more kids. Let teachers teach in their area of expertise, not just wherever they are needed in a woefully underpopulated school. CPS is spending far more per student than other districts - understandably so regarding special ed students and the need to support students who come from less than supportive physical, emotional, and financial environments - but the degree to which they spend more is insane. It's never going to get better with the current mayor, CTU's lapdog, in office. CTU seems to be more about volume of teachers employed than the number of teachers satisfied with their jobs.
Amen. It won’t happen under Johnson. But let’s not totally blame him. I started at Nansen Elementary in West Pullman in 1960. Which mayor fixed it? How would the fix come about with all the various ethnic and political entities that aren’t even on the same planet, much less in the same ballpark?
It’s a bit of a shame that, before the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government made a concerted effort to fix mal-translated signage, some of which was pretty amusing. My favorite, from a 1990s hotel visit, was: “Don’t use the lift if it is on fire!”
I stayed in a hotel in Grenoble many years ago that had a sign reading "In case fire, avert the boots!!"
Headline or Rhetorical Question? Maybe "two weeks" is simply the news cycle to forgotten.
"Flag waving" poll was for pro-immigrant protests. What about the "No Kings Day" flying of flags - many locally with Palestine's flag - same with the Iran air attack protests. What's being protested or promoted - event "theme' or Flag wavers. AI - if you have a brown/black out - don't blame all the air conditioners running - it's all of those AI images being generated! Interviews: A few locals that have caught my attention: "77 Flavors of Chicago" I do not know who the person is behind the podcast and FB postings - but great Chicago information. Local artist: Zhanna Biletska Fine Art Local Photographer Barry Butler John Williams had someone on last week from DePaul? discussing Middle East issues and insights Heath - Heather - Heathest?
A couple of suggestions for interesting Chicagoans to interview: Steve Dahl (just to check in and see how things are going for a Chicago legend these days), and Pope Leo XIV (this would be the ultimate PS “get”).
My guess is Israel knew what it was doing when it attacked the Iranian nuclear facilities. For those “experts” who say Iran wasn’t close to creating nuclear weapons, are we supposed to wait until Iran has the weapons? At this point I’m in wait and see mode.
We don’t know how the situation is going to play out.
I guess you missed the part where Bibi has been saying the same damn thing for three decades. It’s also worth noting that the JCPOA that Trump abandoned was working to forestall Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions. What incentive do they have now to even negotiate when we scuttled the last plan for no reason?
That's exactly the logic we were sold prior to the 2003 Iraq invasion. "The smoking gun will be a mushroom cloud!" "Yellow cake!" etc. Nothing was ever found.
I get your point. Are they close to having nukes? They don't let anyone in to see what they are doing. Can we take their claims seriously?
I believe Iran was letting inspectors in to see what they were doing pursuant to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Isn’t that how we knew they had over 400 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% U235. The concern is that Iran will pull out of the treaty now.
It was a limited look. The inspectors were not allowed to see everything. And now they are not allowed even that.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty requires nations who have signed the pact and wish to develop nuclear energy to permit inspections of their facilities. Do you think Iran will continue as a party to the treaty after these bombings? And, if not, are we better off?
Not only do I agree with you, but let me add something else. We have nukes. So do Russia, China, India, Pakistan, and others. Iran could ask why not them.
I suggest you interview Laura Washington.
$93,000 cost per student at Douglas when the remainder of CPS's 325k students receive less than 30k seems unjustifiable no matter how it is looked at. Is there one solid reason for this imbalance? Sure, it might be nice for the chosen 27, but how is that good for the remaining 325k students? And in all reality, the chosen 27 are being deplived of a normal high school experience that such low enrollment cannot offer.
The sole beneficiary is CTU membership. The new contract requires the addition of a full-time nurse and a full-time librarian to the currently overstaffed location.
Teachers are not necessarily let go. They go into a pool waiting for reassignment.
Totally agree.
“Since when is journalism required to pretend that Trump’s MAGA movement is based on anything other than white male supremacy and hate?”, asks Joannie Wimmer. Maybe since responsible journalists starting paying attention to data that show, among other things, black voter turnout for Trump increasing from 8% to 20% between 2016 and 2024, and Hispanic support going from 28% to 43% in the same time frame. So, who’s pretending?
Joannie’s comment echoes a wishful thought that is perpetuated by Mark Jacob and others that if the media were just less nuanced and objective (read: professional) in their reporting on Trump, and given to more histrionic and inflammatory (read: biased) word usage when they report on him, then all of his followers would realize their folly and renounce their support, and the MAGA movement would just collapse like a Jenga tower. This is very naive.
Who is Joannie Wimmer?
And don’t forget there were Jews who supported Hitler. There was even an organization of them: the Verband nationaldeutscher Juden. So the fact that there were blacks and Hispanics who voted for Trump hardly refutes what I said.
Actually, it does. This simplistic contention that the essence of Trump’s appeal is based in racial hatred -and that the media should parrot that line of thought in the way that they report on him- may provide an endorphin rush for certain progressives, but it’s been debunked many times, most notably by the NYT’s David Leonardt, not exactly a Trump apologist. It’s also a monumental cop out, and a way for Democrats to absolve themselves of any culpability in their blowing of an election that they should have easily won.
Come on, you know better that that. Support for Trump from minorities was based on two things. Blacks thought that he would do better than Democrats on the economy. Are things getting better for them? We'll see if the support lasts. Furthermore their actually voting totals still lag far behind other demographic groups. Latinos thought he would handle immigration better. I'd like to see some up-to-date polls.
My point was that, despite a years long, protracted program of painting Trump as a virulent racist (and not without good reason), the net result has been that Trump’s popularity has INCREASED among minority groups. The reasons for that are open to debate, but to argue that the media should ratchet up this strategy is not likely to yield the results that you or I might hope for, as precedent proves.
What would you suggest? Ignoring his violating the Constitution, his blatant racism, his personal classlessness and insults against others, his total lack of regard for people with needs, his tossing of any type of environmental and consumer protections to benefit the rich, his insults against foreign leaders and our allies, his constant lying and rewriting of history, his inane promises that had no chance of being kept? Just ignore everything and all will be forgotten and Trump will treat all with respect? If you believe that, you are living in a bigger dreamworld than he is.
No, that it isn’t what I’m saying at all. Go back and read what I said at the top of the discussion. By all means report on all this stuff, but let’s not go to Terry Moran’s late night tweet as the preferred style and tone model in which this news should be delivered. Journalists who resort to loaded words and emotional plying in their reporting on Trump may make themselves and some of their readers feel good (like scratching an itch), but it isn’t professional, it’s a disservice to readers, and it isn’t going lure anyone away from the Dark Side.
There needs to be a white hat that says MAWA - Make America White Again. Except I would NEVER wear it, and neither would any of the guys and gals who really believe that - but can't say it. TRUTH!
Interview brainstorm ideas:
1) Juliana Stratton - she needs more interviews
2) Christopher Piatt - host and producer of Paper Machete, the "live magazine" at the Green Mill.
3) Mark Bazer - host of the Interview Show & podcast
4) Patti Vasquez - comedian and host of "Driving it Home" radio show.
5) The Old Irving Park people working on the proposed bike trail that would connect Bucktown to the Botanic Gardens
6) Mike Reed - Pitchfork co-founder, musician, composer, live music venue owner.
7) Arne Duncan - what has worked and not worked with CRED?
8) Jacoby Cochran - host of City Cast Chicago podcast
9) Terri Hemmert
10) Will Clinger