32 Comments
founding

I'm wondering what is the status of Eric's appearance on Joan Esposito's WCPT show? I see that it is not being mentioned where it used to be.

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Why can't electric vehicle chargers be sold with built in meters that track the amount of energy that is used to recharge a vehicle? Electricity is already metered for billing purposes. Gasoline contains definable amounts of energy, and it is taxed on a per-gallon (amount of energy) basis. Why not do the same for EV chargers and electricity?

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I hate to say it, but I none of the alleged funny tweets got even a mild chuckle from me.

And why do we have to name a snow plow?

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Loved the piece from Chicago magazine about city names!!

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I respectfully disagree with my fellow Joan who didn't find any of the snowplow names funny. Plenty of decent puns on Chicago history (Jean Pointe Baptiste du Shovel), sports (Holy Plow!, whose spin on the great Jack Brickhouse's favorite exclamation is the only White Sox-related item among the finalists--yes, Cub fans, Jack covered the home games of both clubs), and celebrities (Chance the Scraper).

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I didn't think the Dave Mathews tweet was funny -- until I re-read it!!

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I could not agree more about that ghastly picture of the four pharisees seeking the mayorship flaunting their piety. I would not vote for any of them on that basis alone.

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re 'Shared a Story' - EZ, thank you, thank you for recognizing and publicizing this superb podcast. and props to you for owning your suspicions of phonics when [maybe still?] it was associated with conservative thinking and politics. i served on a local school board in the mid-'00s. the Supt wanted to implement Direct Instruction, to replace a cueing model [i've forgotten the name - it was mentioned in the podcast] for a subset of the student population. i acknowledge that the Supt mishandled the rollout - the teachers' union leaders immediately fought the decision with big-time opposition. unfortunately i didn't have enough understanding of phonics or cueing at the time. i supported the Supt, for a variety of reasons, other than an understanding of the issues. in retrospect, i wish i and my board colleagues knew and understood more at the time - a wholesale change to phonics instruction for pre-K-thru-3rd could have made a huge improvement in literacy for the district's students.

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As a "Bible guy" I support Eric's observation on the quartet praying at the mayor candidate event (though cannot be sure if they intended it to be photographed and publicized). I would also like to point out that in Matthew 18:20, Jesus says "where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them." So, it behooves those of us who gather in His name to make sure they are representing Him correctly (did those four mayoral candidates consider that fact?). I am sorry to say that on January 6th at the Capitol those "gathered in His name" obviously failed to hear Him shouting "STOP THIS" and listened to Trump instead!! :-(

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Soldier's Joy - love it, hadn't heard it for years. i bought that album a yr or 2 after it was released; and a friend transferred it for me from 'wax' to CD. i now want to go back and listen to the entire 'album' - both discs.

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I like BB King and all, but if going with a blues plow name, there are so many more options with a stronger Chicago connection. How about Big Bill Broomsy, Snow Diddley, Cocoa Taylor, Willie DigsIn, Buddy Plow Guy, Otis Slush, Howlin' Snow Wolf, Pineslop Perkins, Sonny Boy Chilliamson, Toronzo Snow Cannon, or Mike Broomfield.

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Jan 19, 2023·edited Jan 19, 2023

This snowplow thing looks suspiciously like some kind of "fun." I hate it. A snowplow is a snowplow. That said, I propose "Cheryl."

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Thanks for you reaction to 'pub lic piety'-exactly what we thought

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teaching reading: I thought phonics was what schools and gone back to-how my grandkids (4th grade) learned. Look see method has been debunked for many years. Guess it depends on the district.

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founding

I agree that the Lightfoot campaign attempt to recruit CPS students was wrong in so many ways. But I also have to wonder how they thought the request would not get a backlash from the CTU? I also find it pretty rich that the CTU, which routinely has members recruit students for their own political purposes should be so outraged. I wonder what they are doing for Brandon Johnson.

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The VMT could work as long as there are exemptions for government employees and friends of friends extending far enough for me to get one.

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