Studs Terkel by a mile for the most beloved Chicagoan. I met him twice and he was everything he appeared to be from afar. He was a truly genuine, lovely man. A writer who listened to everyone and retained a humanist optimism despite all. The best of the best.
I’m sitting in a rural diner with a bronze plaque stating the building dates 1892. Pictures of miners, farmers and military—all using horses. Do urbane urbanites ever get out in the country? If there was Metra, BART or CTA around here at least riders could drive the crime off the cars and platforms.
This seems like voters’ broad political judgments – as pessimism, optimism, and realism – may come from within the character of the candidates as expressed in past professional achievements: Johnson seems inclined to emotional pie-in-the-sky campaigning as a utopian appeal to voters who largely want a whole fairytale remake of the City; Vallas has been level-headed and pragmatic, rational in his past administrative work and his current campaign speaking. Aside from other things, this difference may appeal to voters within a broad range of separate views -- including the sophisticated -- but considering both candidates' personas, which approach is best for the City as a whole in 2023 and why?
Eric, your analysis of the flaws in the pro-charter position on education, and your critique of Vallas's position on education, is Spot On. Highly informed and very in-depth, especially for someone who is not an education specialist, as such. There are important provisions in the education positions of both candidates that are worth delving into and discussing, too, but on this important provision -- the impact that privatization has on education, and the re-direction of charter schools away from their original intended purpose to be laboratories to improve public education for all -- you nail it, in my view.
In my opinion, we the people are our own worst enemies. We bemoan the mud slinging, distortions and negative ads by politicians. Yet polls show that kind of advertising works. The voting public buys into it. So if a candidate wants to win, he must resort to it or go down in defeat.
The same applies to our demand for cars, gas stoves etc. we fail to react to the long term i plications, and insist on short term gratification.
I was listening to a podcast a few weeks ago (maybe NPR’s Planet Money?) where the observation was made that cars came along just in time to keep cities from being buried in horse poop. The ecological savior of one generation becomes the scourge of the next. Wonder what will happen when all those wind turbines reach the end of their service life. .
I can't read the Picayune without having a comment box open. You list several good thoughts for readers to ponder regarding do we really want Vallas to lead the city. Then regarding Johnson - you hit the money mark - "double talk." If I look at the run off as Vote for "Mr Have you consider his plan" vs "Mr Double Talk" - Vallas is the choice. You may or may not like what he plans - but you at least get a sense that he won't say something one day and try to recant from it later (Johnson). 2. Sarcasm Alert: How far we've come from identifying others with yellow stars to identifying ourselves with a blue check mark. 3. Classic Edits Novels: I guess we can take the next step. A gallery for the David (Original) and a gallery for the David "covered up" for the squeamish.
Regarding "updates" to Christie and Dahl books: sorry, but I smell a PR stunt. Reminds me of sports teams that come out with a new take on a jersey/sweater/uniform every two months to goose sales. What better way for Puffin to revive old titles then to throw them into the cultural war turmoil and then come up with a "solution" (to a problem they created) that placates both sides? Call me cynical, but I think we're being played. And they've won because of all the free publicity.
EZ, i don't know where to begin to address your attack on charter schools and other variations on school choice, w/o writing an essay as long as yours. so i will limit my rejoinder to three elements. 1] you question 'how much choice will there really be for the poor?' well, how much choice do they have in your ideal system? i know that my kids have a choice as to where they send their kids to school. i had choice of where to send my kids to school, back in the day - my guess is you and your wife did, too. why? because we had income and/or assets that put us in a position to choose. don't like your kids' school? move somewhere else, where the school[s] is[are] better. w/o charter schools and other schools of choice, poor people don't have choice - they're stuck with their attendance area public school. - the vast majority of which in big cities fail to educate children at a basic level.
2] you suggest we should get the best and the brightest working on improving public education. let me clue you in - the best and the brightest have been working on improving public education for decades. and the current public education system? WYSIWYG. public education in big cities has been a gross and egregious failure, also for decades. we can discuss/debate the reasons - but it's not due to a lack of effort by concerned citizens, grantmakers and many others to develop models that work, including and specifically for minority children from low income families. there is one answer that is a total non-starter: more money. the real [not just nominal] per-pupil expenditure for public education in big cities has far outpaced inflation over the course of many years. academic achievement is no better, maybe worse - far too high a percentage of kids in those schools can't read even close to grade level, can't write literately, can't do even basic math.
3] last, having known many parents of low income families over the years, almost all people of color, i know that they want school choice for their kids. and i know that they are competent to make that choice. will some make a mistake of choice? of course - the upper middle class and wealthy sometimes make bad choices for their kids' education. but, as i stated earlier, people with income and/or assets always have choice.
I think updating her books to remove casual racism from another era is fine. It's not as though they're literary masterpieces. Perhaps the books should come with a little addendum at the end explaining the change(s). Christie began writing in England in the '20s when antisemitism and racism were very much in vogue among the cool kids.
On the subject of cars and climate change, my mileage per year has decreased significantly since the onset of the pandemic three years ago. I used to average about 19,000 miles per year. The last three years, the average mileage per year is about 6,300. I am an attorney, and this decrease in mileage results from the fact that I have been working from home, and court status hearings, which used to be in person, are now conducted by Zoom or WebEx. I spend a lot less on gas, and my car will last longer before it has to be replaced. I’ve been monitoring the debate about whether workers outside of manufacturing and retail should return to the office, and it seems to me that those who are advocating a return are trying to hold on to the past.
Fortunately cars aren’t going away. We’re entering a new golden car age. Zero emissions, fewer accidents, self-driving for old and handicapped and impaired people, less maintenance, self-parking after dropping you off at home, work, wherever... And, in a decade or so, private car tunnels as an alternative to clogged roads.
It will be glorious, and just in time for me to enjoy it.
When I hear Branden Johnson say that he wants to end the shot spotter technology and thinks "community policing is code for targeting black and brown communities", or that he wants to spend our limited funds on targeting the root causes of crime and mental health, it reminds me of the Republicans that that say they do not want to take AR-15s away from law abiding citizens and that more money for mental health will solve all these mass shootings. Meanwhile, average people all over Chicago are nervous to walk or drive in their neighborhoods for fear of shootings and car jackings and people all over America are afraid to go to a theater, church, or send their children to school. The far left and far right are denying the rest of us safety and security. We can't wait for all the underlying issues that might cause street crime and mass murder to be solved.
I don’t see that “chaotic” differences in how families choose and manage their kids’ schooling is a problem. If that bothers you, how do you make peace with the fact that almost anyone can have and raise their own personal humans? Does that whole chaotic situation suggest any default public solution, like collective parenting?
"You Didn't See Nothin'" was an excellent podcast for 6 episodes. Compelling, nuanced and creatively produced. Then came the last episode, which was disappointingly loaded with the typical anti-productive overreach rhetoric on matters of race. Anyone comparing this case to Michael Brown clearly isn't following along.
It may not be so obvious what was in the heart of Rev Martin and others. Growing up on the south side, abuse came both ways. In one episode of many, a friend of mine was jumped by a group of black kids, skull cracked, and put into the hospital for about a week. His response was "they probably had a rough childhood, I'm not mad at them."
Regarding "too many cars". Advocacy for high density seems to be having a moment. The Wall Street Journal has and article citing economists who claim cities have long had too much parking (https://www.wsj.com/articles/parking-problem-too-much-cities-e94dcecf?mod=hp_lead_pos8). "Transit oriented development" has been tried out of the last several years, which is where apartment buildings near built near mass transit have less of a parking requirement than zoning codes would otherwise require.
I am all for it. Build neighborhoods for people who live in them rather than people who drive into them. Also high density makes mass transit more efficient.
Studs Terkel by a mile for the most beloved Chicagoan. I met him twice and he was everything he appeared to be from afar. He was a truly genuine, lovely man. A writer who listened to everyone and retained a humanist optimism despite all. The best of the best.
Daniel,
I’m sitting in a rural diner with a bronze plaque stating the building dates 1892. Pictures of miners, farmers and military—all using horses. Do urbane urbanites ever get out in the country? If there was Metra, BART or CTA around here at least riders could drive the crime off the cars and platforms.
This seems like voters’ broad political judgments – as pessimism, optimism, and realism – may come from within the character of the candidates as expressed in past professional achievements: Johnson seems inclined to emotional pie-in-the-sky campaigning as a utopian appeal to voters who largely want a whole fairytale remake of the City; Vallas has been level-headed and pragmatic, rational in his past administrative work and his current campaign speaking. Aside from other things, this difference may appeal to voters within a broad range of separate views -- including the sophisticated -- but considering both candidates' personas, which approach is best for the City as a whole in 2023 and why?
Eric, your analysis of the flaws in the pro-charter position on education, and your critique of Vallas's position on education, is Spot On. Highly informed and very in-depth, especially for someone who is not an education specialist, as such. There are important provisions in the education positions of both candidates that are worth delving into and discussing, too, but on this important provision -- the impact that privatization has on education, and the re-direction of charter schools away from their original intended purpose to be laboratories to improve public education for all -- you nail it, in my view.
In my opinion, we the people are our own worst enemies. We bemoan the mud slinging, distortions and negative ads by politicians. Yet polls show that kind of advertising works. The voting public buys into it. So if a candidate wants to win, he must resort to it or go down in defeat.
The same applies to our demand for cars, gas stoves etc. we fail to react to the long term i plications, and insist on short term gratification.
I was listening to a podcast a few weeks ago (maybe NPR’s Planet Money?) where the observation was made that cars came along just in time to keep cities from being buried in horse poop. The ecological savior of one generation becomes the scourge of the next. Wonder what will happen when all those wind turbines reach the end of their service life. .
I can't read the Picayune without having a comment box open. You list several good thoughts for readers to ponder regarding do we really want Vallas to lead the city. Then regarding Johnson - you hit the money mark - "double talk." If I look at the run off as Vote for "Mr Have you consider his plan" vs "Mr Double Talk" - Vallas is the choice. You may or may not like what he plans - but you at least get a sense that he won't say something one day and try to recant from it later (Johnson). 2. Sarcasm Alert: How far we've come from identifying others with yellow stars to identifying ourselves with a blue check mark. 3. Classic Edits Novels: I guess we can take the next step. A gallery for the David (Original) and a gallery for the David "covered up" for the squeamish.
Regarding "updates" to Christie and Dahl books: sorry, but I smell a PR stunt. Reminds me of sports teams that come out with a new take on a jersey/sweater/uniform every two months to goose sales. What better way for Puffin to revive old titles then to throw them into the cultural war turmoil and then come up with a "solution" (to a problem they created) that placates both sides? Call me cynical, but I think we're being played. And they've won because of all the free publicity.
EZ, i don't know where to begin to address your attack on charter schools and other variations on school choice, w/o writing an essay as long as yours. so i will limit my rejoinder to three elements. 1] you question 'how much choice will there really be for the poor?' well, how much choice do they have in your ideal system? i know that my kids have a choice as to where they send their kids to school. i had choice of where to send my kids to school, back in the day - my guess is you and your wife did, too. why? because we had income and/or assets that put us in a position to choose. don't like your kids' school? move somewhere else, where the school[s] is[are] better. w/o charter schools and other schools of choice, poor people don't have choice - they're stuck with their attendance area public school. - the vast majority of which in big cities fail to educate children at a basic level.
2] you suggest we should get the best and the brightest working on improving public education. let me clue you in - the best and the brightest have been working on improving public education for decades. and the current public education system? WYSIWYG. public education in big cities has been a gross and egregious failure, also for decades. we can discuss/debate the reasons - but it's not due to a lack of effort by concerned citizens, grantmakers and many others to develop models that work, including and specifically for minority children from low income families. there is one answer that is a total non-starter: more money. the real [not just nominal] per-pupil expenditure for public education in big cities has far outpaced inflation over the course of many years. academic achievement is no better, maybe worse - far too high a percentage of kids in those schools can't read even close to grade level, can't write literately, can't do even basic math.
3] last, having known many parents of low income families over the years, almost all people of color, i know that they want school choice for their kids. and i know that they are competent to make that choice. will some make a mistake of choice? of course - the upper middle class and wealthy sometimes make bad choices for their kids' education. but, as i stated earlier, people with income and/or assets always have choice.
Is there a word for when you were once impressed with someone but not anymore (like Zorn with Johnson)? Not unimpressed. Dis-impressed?
Re Christie, you don't want to know the original title of her classic "And Then There Were None."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/And_Then_There_Were_None
I think updating her books to remove casual racism from another era is fine. It's not as though they're literary masterpieces. Perhaps the books should come with a little addendum at the end explaining the change(s). Christie began writing in England in the '20s when antisemitism and racism were very much in vogue among the cool kids.
On the subject of cars and climate change, my mileage per year has decreased significantly since the onset of the pandemic three years ago. I used to average about 19,000 miles per year. The last three years, the average mileage per year is about 6,300. I am an attorney, and this decrease in mileage results from the fact that I have been working from home, and court status hearings, which used to be in person, are now conducted by Zoom or WebEx. I spend a lot less on gas, and my car will last longer before it has to be replaced. I’ve been monitoring the debate about whether workers outside of manufacturing and retail should return to the office, and it seems to me that those who are advocating a return are trying to hold on to the past.
Fortunately cars aren’t going away. We’re entering a new golden car age. Zero emissions, fewer accidents, self-driving for old and handicapped and impaired people, less maintenance, self-parking after dropping you off at home, work, wherever... And, in a decade or so, private car tunnels as an alternative to clogged roads.
It will be glorious, and just in time for me to enjoy it.
When I hear Branden Johnson say that he wants to end the shot spotter technology and thinks "community policing is code for targeting black and brown communities", or that he wants to spend our limited funds on targeting the root causes of crime and mental health, it reminds me of the Republicans that that say they do not want to take AR-15s away from law abiding citizens and that more money for mental health will solve all these mass shootings. Meanwhile, average people all over Chicago are nervous to walk or drive in their neighborhoods for fear of shootings and car jackings and people all over America are afraid to go to a theater, church, or send their children to school. The far left and far right are denying the rest of us safety and security. We can't wait for all the underlying issues that might cause street crime and mass murder to be solved.
I don’t see that “chaotic” differences in how families choose and manage their kids’ schooling is a problem. If that bothers you, how do you make peace with the fact that almost anyone can have and raise their own personal humans? Does that whole chaotic situation suggest any default public solution, like collective parenting?
"You Didn't See Nothin'" was an excellent podcast for 6 episodes. Compelling, nuanced and creatively produced. Then came the last episode, which was disappointingly loaded with the typical anti-productive overreach rhetoric on matters of race. Anyone comparing this case to Michael Brown clearly isn't following along.
It may not be so obvious what was in the heart of Rev Martin and others. Growing up on the south side, abuse came both ways. In one episode of many, a friend of mine was jumped by a group of black kids, skull cracked, and put into the hospital for about a week. His response was "they probably had a rough childhood, I'm not mad at them."
Regarding "too many cars". Advocacy for high density seems to be having a moment. The Wall Street Journal has and article citing economists who claim cities have long had too much parking (https://www.wsj.com/articles/parking-problem-too-much-cities-e94dcecf?mod=hp_lead_pos8). "Transit oriented development" has been tried out of the last several years, which is where apartment buildings near built near mass transit have less of a parking requirement than zoning codes would otherwise require.
I am all for it. Build neighborhoods for people who live in them rather than people who drive into them. Also high density makes mass transit more efficient.