Chicago MMXII

I guess I am very clear about what the union side is; I don't understand what the other side is. The union side is not particularly convincing to me so I'm just curious what the other side is suggesting.

It seems to me the other side is suggesting that if govts were able to more easily rewrite contracts & pension arrangements that money would be saved and the pension system made more sustainable.

Yes.

And let's be clear - the problem with the pension system is not that people have pensions. It's that the state govt has used the pension fund as its own personal payday loan provider for years, to the point that they cannot pay it back. So their solution is to erase their pension obligations, thus erasing the debt. It's ugly.

here's a mobile page with the recommended judge votes, copy the link into your phones

http://www.mobilejudges.com/

Ok that last part is what I've been missing. Thanks!

Oooo nice. xp

The counter argument is that since the state govt cannot pay back their pension obligations, the only hope is to hardman the pension fund and get the state out of the hole. Breaking eggs for omelettes, etc.

HELLO. I am here to tell you about voting for judges. The mobile page Nick posted is awesome, and if you want a little more info, here it comes.

First, for a handy chart of various bar associations' "JUDGES: C or D" list, see here: http://voteforjudges.org/2012_GENERAL_ELECTION_RATINGS_from_the_Alliance.pdf
For detailed information about the evaluations conduced by the Chicago Council of Lawyers, see here: http://voteforjudges.org/State_Judicial_Evaluations_for_November_2012_final.pdf

Or, if you want Carl Agatha's Judge Voting Cheatsheet, read on.

Supreme Court
Vote for Mary Jane Theis
She's rated as highly qualified, and while her opponent, James Gerard Riley, doesn't sound like a bad guy, he lacks the breadth of experience that you really want in a supreme court judge. These are the big leagues so you want your best people on the bench. Also, let's be real, Theis is a Democrat and Riley is a Republican and with my fundamental right to bodily autonomy somehow still under debate, I don't want any conservatives anywhere near any high courts, and you probably shouldn't either.

Appellate Court
Every appellate court judge is running unopposed, and they are all democrats (HI CHICAGO), and nobody seems to have any problems with them, so you can save your poor fingers and just skip this part.

Circuit Court
If you happen to live in the 8th Judicial Circuit and want to make a statement, you can vote for all of the qualified candidates and skip the one candidate rated as not qualified. That's Elizabeth Mary Hayes and she's a political hack with no judicial experience who got the nomination because of who she knows and not because she is going to be a good judge. If you don't live in the 8th Judicial Circuit, you're on your own.

Retention Elections
Based on unanimous or near-unanimous "no" votes from the afore mentioned bar associations, vote NO on the following judges:
Cynthia Brim
James Egan
Joyce Marie Murphy Gorman
Gloria Chevere
Christopher Donnelly (he has a few "yes" votes, but he's rated as "Not Qualified" by the CCL because he's reported to be a demeaning, mean-spirited bully with a bad temper and an "unabashed" pro-prosecution bias, and fuck that.)

I'm also going to vote "no" on Lisa Ruble Murphy even though she's rated as qualified because she's a family court judge and discourages people with "irreconcilable difficulties" from going to trial, which to me is code for "makes people in abusive relationships sit through mediation with their abusers," and I think that's terrible. The CCL rated her as qualified, so YMMV.

Also, just some straight up polliticking: Mike Quigley and Anne Williams are AWESOME and if you are in their districts, you should vote for them. Like, I actually feel good and excited about voting for them. And if you're in Jan Schakowsky's district you already know how amazing she is, probably.

Anybody have any input on the freaking Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioners? I swear to god, I can't vote for where to eat lunch without having to vote for a water reclamation commissioner.

Oh, here. They candidates filled out questionnaires for the Trib. I don't know where the main page is but you can get to each candidate's page from the links on the right of this one: http://elections.chicagotribune.com/editorial/debra-shore/

http://elections.chicagotribune.com/editorial/nasrin-r-khalili/ - the only one with an applicable advanced degree

I forgot Pamela E. Hill-Veal on the NO list. She's got all "no" votes because she didn't submit materials for evaluation, but failure to submit materials says something about a judge. At the least, they think they shouldn't be held accountable, or can't get their shit together in time to submit them, neither of which are qualities I want in a judge.

Kathy Flanagan is a weird one because the CCL finds her not qualified because she has a bad temper and makes her court a hostile place, but all of the bar associations voted yes for her.

Phew. I'm ready to early vote now and will stop publicly talking to myself about my ballot.

You forgot to talk about the prez candidates.

voted

used some of carl's advice but forgot some of it and just left some stuff blank
used voteforjudges/gay lawyer guide for seat retention

And if you're in Jan Schakowsky's district you already know how amazing she is, probably.

casting a vote for this woman genuinely makes me happy
i love her

That's how I felt when I lived in her district! It's how I feel about Mike Quigley and Anne Williams now. It's such a rare and wonderful feeling.

GIS for "sexual harassment" reveals that stock photo companies are real creeps.

Thus I am punching up my Power Point presentation with photos of Mari Matsuda, Catharine MacKinnon, Kimberle Crenshaw, and Anita Hill.

The Chicago Bar Association gave Not Recommended ratings to Rodney Hughes Brooks and Loretta Eadie-Daniels, but I've seen positive ratings for them elsewhere. Know anything about them? (NB I don't even know if the CBA is generally trustworthy or what.)

Also learned today that the last time a judge wasn't retained was 1990.

Kathy Flanagan is a weird one because the CCL finds her not qualified because she has a bad temper and makes her court a hostile place, but all of the bar associations voted yes for her.

So this is the one we want to watch if we go see a day in court.

Whigs show was outta this world y'all. Unholy Week has been a success.

That band is so ridiculously good live they make you believe that no band has ever been that good.

Cross-posting, sort of, with the politics thread, I highly recommend Chicagoans spend a day canvasing and ringing bells out of state in these waning days of the campaigns. It's sort of dispiriting, being the hassler instead of the hassled, but you get to see what life in a battleground state is like. The folks I talked to told of non-stop phone calls, TV ads and radio ads, porches littered with pamphlets, people knocking on the door every day, sometimes multiple times a day (sorry). I told a few of them that in Chicago there is literally nothing at that level. It was surreal to witness.

we went to carmax today to start looking at cars but apparently all dealerships are closed on sundays in illinois? i had no idea

With Rodney Hughes Brooks and Loretta Eadie-Daniels, I'd look at the chart of bar associations and see which bar associations give them a Y and which give them an N. I tend to trust the LAGBAC and the CCBA the most because they tend to be pretty progressive.

The folks I talked to told of non-stop phone calls, TV ads and radio ads, porches littered with pamphlets, people knocking on the door every day, sometimes multiple times a day (sorry).

Yeah, in 2008 I canvassed in Iowa and kind of felt bad when I knocked on someone's door and they told me that someone had already been there earlier in the day.

anyone read any good nonfiction recently? i'm in a reading rut

Never too late for "Nixonland." Lots of people like that book "Wild."

maybe i'll try nixonland. i want to read nate silver's book but the library won't have it forever and i can't put anything on hold because the three books i've had on hold forever are still "request pending." maybe i should just buy it.

'spillover' supposed to be rly good, just got from cpl but i'm not in nonfic mood lately, too unfocused.

i am reading about accusations of satanic abuse in day cares, so i can't really recommend that. Are you looking for fun, historical, or alarming nonfiction?

yes

though spillover sounds a little too alarming

how about a biography?

ok.

No wait, have you ever read Studs Turkel's Division Street?

nope

Then you should consider reading that. I read a really interesting book a while ago about Russian organized crime too, I think it was called Red Mafiya. You might like it. You can read about how Taylor Dayne got her start.

I just finished Daniel Okrent's Last Call (about Prohibition), which I thought was pretty good. It took me a while to finish it, but it takes me a while to finish everything.

It isn't non-fiction, but I finished The Fountain Overflows by Rebecca West a couple of weeks ago and it was remarkable, best book I've read in ~10 years.

thanks guys!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il5y3xfvEtQ

Hat tip to La Lech for letting me know about the 101.1 FM format change -- been enjoying WYQI or whatever they're now calling themselves. Driving around this weekend, I heard Jesus Jones, Coolio, Eve, The Fray, Everything But the Girl, Robyn S., etc., alongside the odd current hit by Taylor Swift or Ellie Goulding.

Yes.com shows they recently went from Adele into Heavy D: http://www.yes.com/#WIQI

(Not a fat joke -- just saying I like the variety.)

Holy crap - the new Mariano's by my work that is opening tomorrow has search lights flashing on dancers in party dresses inside each of the four landings of its glass stairwell.

I heard Pump Up the Jam on that station and it made my day. They seem a little heavy on the Third Eye Blind though -- I've heard them at least 4x, including that "I will under-staaayeeeyaaaaaaaaaand" song.

I *thought* I heard "Pump Up the Jam" the other day but it turned out to be "100%" by Crystal Waters.

@WGNTV: Freak 25 ft waves on Lake Michigan. Skilling's not-so-usual forecast coming up at 9:30. Via @WGNNews #chicago #weather