In the Dexter Reed case, I believe the cops are lying to protect a confidential informant. I have a sneaky suspicion that a CI gave them info that reed had gotten a gun & was going to kill his uncle, who for some unknown reason had shot Reed several months before. So the cops had his car's make & license number & they went to stop him & get the gun away from him before he could kill his own uncle. My guess is they might have to identify the CI in court, so they all got together & came up with this bizarre lie.
The results of the question of the political leanings were not in the least surprising. One question remains--what does "conservative" mean? Does it means that you believe in strong defensive alliances, balanced budgets, free trade, the rule of law, public rectitude, and the preservation and strengthening of time-tested institutions? Or does it mean that you are a member of the nihilistic, financially reckless, amoral, lawless MAGA cult?
trump heads a party that calls itself "conservative." I agree it is not. Shall we assume that the % of Mr. Zorn's readers who checked conservative are not MAGA or, perhaps, even part of the Republicans of today?
As for the fat fascist traitor's desire for his obscene birthday parade, if a million or more people went to DC that day & lay in the streets to prevent the parade from proceeding, there aren't enough cops & soldiers to pick them all up off of the streets. There wouldn't be enough jail cells or judges to try them.
I guarantee you, the fat fascist traitor would order the soldiers to drive over them, but I also know, they would refuse that absolutely illegal order. The US military drills into everyone, not to obey illegal orders, so they won't act like the Nazi Wehrmacht in WWII!
Never forget the one man in China who stopped a tank & was then arrested & most likely shot & his family sent a bill for the bullet used to kill him.
I thoroughly enjoy the Mincing Rascals and encourage all PS readers to try it. It needs more "conservative" representation. I will say the Jon Hansen, John Williams and Austin Berg are fair and open minded.
Argh — I had fixed that during the editing process but because another version of the file was open on another computer the change didn’t take. Have corrected it online.
I will say about the demographics...my 16-year-old reads you every week (twice a week since I am a plus subscribers) after I forward the email to both her and my wife. But I did fail to forward the survey to her. So count one more under 40.
She is, I think, more engaged in both political and social issues than others her age, or at least engaged in a way that doesn't involve Tik Tok or Instagram, etc.
On the NCAA tournament combo proposition, I struggle with the marketing of it. It's not really the same game. Sure, the rules are largely the same, but the presentation of it is very different. I like to watch it sometimes at the highest level because it is slower and less athletic. That makes the playmaking stand out . There's a beauty to that aspect of the game, like watching North Carolina men play in the four corner offense before the shot clock was introduced.
Even so, the average game doesn't thrill me. The men play in what I perceive to be a more urgent game. Even with the barrage of threes spoiling it, there is much more uncertainty about the outcomes. And the sheer ballet like movement delivered with force in a Giannis Antetekompo move to the hoop astounds me.
So tying the two together seems like a forced combo to me. I see the AD and other university support systems as a genuine issue that would be better solved by separating the seasons entirely, similar to the WNBA. Market the sport as "the way the game was meant to be played " and not as a companion piece.
I'm glad the women's game is growing in popularity, but I don't really like being told that it should be on a par with that of the men. It is like justifying pollution in third world countries because the US built itself up with no limits on pollution and other countries should have that right too. The fact is real, but the conclusion isn't. Keep building it up as different and as better in the way that is evident. And when the next phenom comes that changes the game, celebrate that migration to whatever is next.
And since we are talking about this, why do news articles about the WNBA refuse to refer to the teams with the city attached? I still can barely remember these connections, and the city matters. I don't care about the Sky until you remind me that they are the Chicago team (I think that's right). The Storm and The Dream are meaningless without the geography. I see this trend in other sportswriting as well, but given that they are trying to move this sport to another level, perhaps the PR folks should be more aggressive with the writers.
I agree with you about Jr on the back of jerseys. Or Jone III. You should have put a poll. I assume the vast majority would agree. (The rest would be wrong)
Dexter Reed: I am also glad that city council rejected the settlement and agree it is good to get testimony out in public. I would add that even though the total cost to defend the case will be more than the settlement cost, settling too much shows plaintiff attorneys that the City is an easy target.
Samantha Steele: If her peripheral vision was effected by medication, then she was under the influence of drugs. Prescribed medications are drugs. If I were stopped by police and asked if I were on drugs, I would politely state that I prefer not to answer any questions. I take blood pressure medication, so I am always on drugs, and I would not want to provide evidence for lying to the police.
On the Dexter Reed story I was floored by the corporation councils claim that millions had already been spent and millions more would be required to go to trial. I can only presume that the city contracts a huge portion of the legal work to outside firms. Seems like a stupid way to spend money for a city that has such a huge demand for legal services.
Seems like the city currently has a very expensive settlement machine.
A medication like that should be treated just like a DUI. When commercials mention that people should not operate heavy machinery while taking a particular drug, they are referring to cars. I know they are so ubiquitous we don't think of them as such, but they are! She put people in danger and is now arrogant about it.
If you are a CDL holder (commercial drivers license) you cannot be under the influence of any narcotic, even with a prescription. Also, no amount of alcohol can be in your system. a trace will put you out of service. Above 0.04 is a DUI in a commercial vehicle.
Haven't heard the Rascals take yet but I sure hope the home schooling bill becomes law. It is shocking how little accountability there is for home schoolers. It's a huge loophole for uncaring or abusive parents to not send their kids to school. I'm all for the parents who do it right but all home schooling parents should be required to "show their work".
I sort of agree. Less than 5% of Illinois students are homeschooled. But the notion that a large percentage of those students are being abused and neglected is unsupported by anything other than anecdotes. Particularly when we have DCFS specifically to address that issue. And also, since the public school system has a chronic absentee rate of over 28% which it does nothing to address. Not sure where those diligent truancy officers are.
The bill also offers no assessment or corrective actions, if they don't get a syllabus or don't like what they get.
It seems easier and more direct to require annual standardized testing for all students, regardless of where they are schooled.
We need Republicans in office to start pushing back to Trump. I know that's a fantastically tall order, but there really isn't any other countermeasure left. He is using the Garcia case as a test of the fundamentals of our system of government - what happens if the President simply ignores the Supreme Court? If Republicans don't meaningfully act to subdue him, he will keep escalating. If he gets away with Garcia's rendition, next time it will be a journalist, then a political opponent, then a judge, then a drastic increase in the numbers. Then an election declared void or cancelled (remember he also said his followers need not worry about voting). Who knows what else.
The cost of stopping a dictator always goes up. When they get away with something they always escalate, become bolder. It would take maybe 20 Republican Senators and a dozen House members to stop this now. If they don't, we may be seeing the beginning of the end of the American Experiment.
It's good that you mention being in favor of ADUs. Housing affordability is the #1, #2 and #3 biggest issues our country is facing and has fueled a TON of the resentment that has led to our current political culture.
That said, this line is BAD: "And yes, with increased density can come parking shortages, and an increase in the number of renters can change the character of a neighborhood of single-family homes."
This is usually a line used by old people stopping even modest apartment buildings in their single family home neighborhoods and well, uummmm....to keep the Blacks out. Single family zoning has its roots in segregation/racism. And, renters are people too, they generally are good neighbors just like owners.
One need only look at San Francisco, where two-thirds of residential properties are zoned for single-family housing and housing costs are through the roof.
Housing and transportation! They are the same pie, though (drive till you qualify!) We need to make it easier and cheaper to live where people want and need to and we need to provide alternate forms of transportation. Forcing cars into every aspect of life and denying housing is slowing down the overall economy.
Re men's and women's NCAA tourneys: The NCAA and women's hoops fans like that the women's Final Four is in a separate city. It makes them the star of the show, not second-fiddle to the men.
Also logistics and lodging would be tough in one city, with thousands more fans coming in and competing for flights and hotel rooms.
Yes. I don't even follow basketball (although I'm always very happy to see female athletes get their due) but my mind immediately when to logistics. Combining would be horrible and I'd assume city convention bureaus would strongly oppose it. Whatever city is lucky enough to host such tournaments gets a huge economic and promotional boost. As soon as the location(s) are announced, I'd bet all available hotel (and Airbnbs) sell out very fast. Combining such big events would *reduce* the number of fans for each one. Very bad idea in my mind.
Love this newsletter. But I am confused by the quips and visual jokes sections. I thought it would be new stuff; it's mostly memes and Tweets from years ago. In some cases like 10+ years ago.
In the Dexter Reed case, I believe the cops are lying to protect a confidential informant. I have a sneaky suspicion that a CI gave them info that reed had gotten a gun & was going to kill his uncle, who for some unknown reason had shot Reed several months before. So the cops had his car's make & license number & they went to stop him & get the gun away from him before he could kill his own uncle. My guess is they might have to identify the CI in court, so they all got together & came up with this bizarre lie.
The results of the question of the political leanings were not in the least surprising. One question remains--what does "conservative" mean? Does it means that you believe in strong defensive alliances, balanced budgets, free trade, the rule of law, public rectitude, and the preservation and strengthening of time-tested institutions? Or does it mean that you are a member of the nihilistic, financially reckless, amoral, lawless MAGA cult?
I’m one of the conservatives. And no, I am not in that cult.
Same here
Trump is not a conservative he is a populist. He has no coherent political ideology. I can't remember if I checked Conservative or Libertarian.
trump heads a party that calls itself "conservative." I agree it is not. Shall we assume that the % of Mr. Zorn's readers who checked conservative are not MAGA or, perhaps, even part of the Republicans of today?
I continue to wish there were separate liberal vs conservative polls for social issues vs fiscal issues.
A similar confusion exists on the other side. There is been some discussion on the internet on the distinction between Liberal and Leftist.
As for the fat fascist traitor's desire for his obscene birthday parade, if a million or more people went to DC that day & lay in the streets to prevent the parade from proceeding, there aren't enough cops & soldiers to pick them all up off of the streets. There wouldn't be enough jail cells or judges to try them.
I guarantee you, the fat fascist traitor would order the soldiers to drive over them, but I also know, they would refuse that absolutely illegal order. The US military drills into everyone, not to obey illegal orders, so they won't act like the Nazi Wehrmacht in WWII!
Never forget the one man in China who stopped a tank & was then arrested & most likely shot & his family sent a bill for the bullet used to kill him.
But, but...I don't want to go to El Salvador.
Regarding the demographics of your readers, assuming I’m still subscribing next year your % 65+ will increase. Sorry.
And I don’t read the Mincing Rascals preview, because I listen to the podcast itself and don’t need to.
Maybe. New people come in and current people drop out.
I thoroughly enjoy the Mincing Rascals and encourage all PS readers to try it. It needs more "conservative" representation. I will say the Jon Hansen, John Williams and Austin Berg are fair and open minded.
I have a question: Is “How to Live with Questions” a work of fiction (as it currently is labeled)? It doesn’t sound like it…
Argh — I had fixed that during the editing process but because another version of the file was open on another computer the change didn’t take. Have corrected it online.
I will say about the demographics...my 16-year-old reads you every week (twice a week since I am a plus subscribers) after I forward the email to both her and my wife. But I did fail to forward the survey to her. So count one more under 40.
She is, I think, more engaged in both political and social issues than others her age, or at least engaged in a way that doesn't involve Tik Tok or Instagram, etc.
Another under 40er! There must be at least 8 of us by now!
On the NCAA tournament combo proposition, I struggle with the marketing of it. It's not really the same game. Sure, the rules are largely the same, but the presentation of it is very different. I like to watch it sometimes at the highest level because it is slower and less athletic. That makes the playmaking stand out . There's a beauty to that aspect of the game, like watching North Carolina men play in the four corner offense before the shot clock was introduced.
Even so, the average game doesn't thrill me. The men play in what I perceive to be a more urgent game. Even with the barrage of threes spoiling it, there is much more uncertainty about the outcomes. And the sheer ballet like movement delivered with force in a Giannis Antetekompo move to the hoop astounds me.
So tying the two together seems like a forced combo to me. I see the AD and other university support systems as a genuine issue that would be better solved by separating the seasons entirely, similar to the WNBA. Market the sport as "the way the game was meant to be played " and not as a companion piece.
I'm glad the women's game is growing in popularity, but I don't really like being told that it should be on a par with that of the men. It is like justifying pollution in third world countries because the US built itself up with no limits on pollution and other countries should have that right too. The fact is real, but the conclusion isn't. Keep building it up as different and as better in the way that is evident. And when the next phenom comes that changes the game, celebrate that migration to whatever is next.
And since we are talking about this, why do news articles about the WNBA refuse to refer to the teams with the city attached? I still can barely remember these connections, and the city matters. I don't care about the Sky until you remind me that they are the Chicago team (I think that's right). The Storm and The Dream are meaningless without the geography. I see this trend in other sportswriting as well, but given that they are trying to move this sport to another level, perhaps the PR folks should be more aggressive with the writers.
Aren’t the 3 point lines different? Hard (or confusing) to switch back and forth.
I googled it. It appears that the three-point line is in the same location for men’s and women’s NCAA games.
https://fansided.com/comparing-ncaa-3-point-line-distance-to-nba-wnba-ahead-of-march-madness#:~:text=The%20college%20basketball%20three%2Dpoint%20line%20is%20the,professional%20ranks%20a%20little%20less%20intimidating%20as
I agree with you about Jr on the back of jerseys. Or Jone III. You should have put a poll. I assume the vast majority would agree. (The rest would be wrong)
Dexter Reed: I am also glad that city council rejected the settlement and agree it is good to get testimony out in public. I would add that even though the total cost to defend the case will be more than the settlement cost, settling too much shows plaintiff attorneys that the City is an easy target.
Samantha Steele: If her peripheral vision was effected by medication, then she was under the influence of drugs. Prescribed medications are drugs. If I were stopped by police and asked if I were on drugs, I would politely state that I prefer not to answer any questions. I take blood pressure medication, so I am always on drugs, and I would not want to provide evidence for lying to the police.
On the Dexter Reed story I was floored by the corporation councils claim that millions had already been spent and millions more would be required to go to trial. I can only presume that the city contracts a huge portion of the legal work to outside firms. Seems like a stupid way to spend money for a city that has such a huge demand for legal services.
Seems like the city currently has a very expensive settlement machine.
A medication like that should be treated just like a DUI. When commercials mention that people should not operate heavy machinery while taking a particular drug, they are referring to cars. I know they are so ubiquitous we don't think of them as such, but they are! She put people in danger and is now arrogant about it.
If you are a CDL holder (commercial drivers license) you cannot be under the influence of any narcotic, even with a prescription. Also, no amount of alcohol can be in your system. a trace will put you out of service. Above 0.04 is a DUI in a commercial vehicle.
Haven't heard the Rascals take yet but I sure hope the home schooling bill becomes law. It is shocking how little accountability there is for home schoolers. It's a huge loophole for uncaring or abusive parents to not send their kids to school. I'm all for the parents who do it right but all home schooling parents should be required to "show their work".
I sort of agree. Less than 5% of Illinois students are homeschooled. But the notion that a large percentage of those students are being abused and neglected is unsupported by anything other than anecdotes. Particularly when we have DCFS specifically to address that issue. And also, since the public school system has a chronic absentee rate of over 28% which it does nothing to address. Not sure where those diligent truancy officers are.
The bill also offers no assessment or corrective actions, if they don't get a syllabus or don't like what they get.
It seems easier and more direct to require annual standardized testing for all students, regardless of where they are schooled.
Sometimes an attempt at humor is rejected, not because it's too dark, but because it's not funny.
Yeah. Reminds me of shock jocks and mid-2000s edgy humor
"I wish I had more younger readers."
There's a get off my lawn joke in there somewhere.....
Probably hard to find any that have heard the word picayune. I think I first heard it in a Bullwinkle cartoon.
Bullwinkle! Takes me back.
We need Republicans in office to start pushing back to Trump. I know that's a fantastically tall order, but there really isn't any other countermeasure left. He is using the Garcia case as a test of the fundamentals of our system of government - what happens if the President simply ignores the Supreme Court? If Republicans don't meaningfully act to subdue him, he will keep escalating. If he gets away with Garcia's rendition, next time it will be a journalist, then a political opponent, then a judge, then a drastic increase in the numbers. Then an election declared void or cancelled (remember he also said his followers need not worry about voting). Who knows what else.
The cost of stopping a dictator always goes up. When they get away with something they always escalate, become bolder. It would take maybe 20 Republican Senators and a dozen House members to stop this now. If they don't, we may be seeing the beginning of the end of the American Experiment.
It's good that you mention being in favor of ADUs. Housing affordability is the #1, #2 and #3 biggest issues our country is facing and has fueled a TON of the resentment that has led to our current political culture.
That said, this line is BAD: "And yes, with increased density can come parking shortages, and an increase in the number of renters can change the character of a neighborhood of single-family homes."
This is usually a line used by old people stopping even modest apartment buildings in their single family home neighborhoods and well, uummmm....to keep the Blacks out. Single family zoning has its roots in segregation/racism. And, renters are people too, they generally are good neighbors just like owners.
One need only look at San Francisco, where two-thirds of residential properties are zoned for single-family housing and housing costs are through the roof.
Housing and transportation! They are the same pie, though (drive till you qualify!) We need to make it easier and cheaper to live where people want and need to and we need to provide alternate forms of transportation. Forcing cars into every aspect of life and denying housing is slowing down the overall economy.
Wanna fix Chicago? Build housing
Re men's and women's NCAA tourneys: The NCAA and women's hoops fans like that the women's Final Four is in a separate city. It makes them the star of the show, not second-fiddle to the men.
Also logistics and lodging would be tough in one city, with thousands more fans coming in and competing for flights and hotel rooms.
Yes. I don't even follow basketball (although I'm always very happy to see female athletes get their due) but my mind immediately when to logistics. Combining would be horrible and I'd assume city convention bureaus would strongly oppose it. Whatever city is lucky enough to host such tournaments gets a huge economic and promotional boost. As soon as the location(s) are announced, I'd bet all available hotel (and Airbnbs) sell out very fast. Combining such big events would *reduce* the number of fans for each one. Very bad idea in my mind.
And the NCAA doesn't even know what teams will be in the Final Four until 6 days before.
Love this newsletter. But I am confused by the quips and visual jokes sections. I thought it would be new stuff; it's mostly memes and Tweets from years ago. In some cases like 10+ years ago.