Bears Ride Cowboys In Dallas

Posted on by TL

Let’s start at the beginning….

Da Bears Won!

Da Bears toppled the Cowboys! And Jay Cutler played one helluva game!

From the Sun-Times:

Before kickoff at Cowboys Stadium Sunday, Bears receiver Devin Hester wanted to clear the air with quarterback Jay Cutler.

“I went to Jay and told him, ‘Regardless of what anybody is saying, don’t force nothing to me,’ ” Hester recalled telling Cutler, who quipped on Wednesday that he would have gotten the receiver the ball more than once if “Devin would’ve gotten open.”

“ ‘If I’m not there, don’t throw me the ball,’ ” Hester said. “ ‘Let’s just go out and play ball and have fun.’ ”

After a shaky start, the Bears regrouped and celebrated a 27-20 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, thanks to outstanding efforts from numerous players, including Cutler and Hester. The defense forced three turnovers; Cutler completed 21 of 29 passes for 277 yards with three touchdowns (136.7 passer rating) and no turnovers; and Hester showcased his playmaking skills with a one-handed nine-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter and a 38-yarder that set up the Bears final touchdown.

“We’re going to hang in there, and take whatever flak or blame that comes our way,” Bears center Olin Kreutz said. “Really gratifying to watch Hester, just with the stuff he took last week. He just hung in there.

“But that’s kind of the identity of our offense.”

This was a statement game for the Bears and Hester.

The Cowboys were a popular pick to win the NFC, and they are an excellent team at home, especially in their beautiful billion-dollar gold standard of a stadium. Heading into the game, Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo earned three Pro Bowl selections largely with his play in Irving (Texas Stadium) and Arlington (Cowboys Stadium; he was 19-9 with a passer rating of 99.6.

But the Bears defense – just as they did against the Detroit Lions – made the Cowboys one-dimensional, stiflingly the three-headed running attack of Marion Barber (11 carries, 31 yards), Felix Jones (seven carries, seven yards) and Tashard Choice (one run, minus one yard). Romo attempted 51 passes, completing 34, for 374 yards, but he was twice picked off by third cornerback D.J. Moore, and he clearly struggled to adjust to the Bears’ zone.

Incredible.

More here at the Sun-Times.

Holiday Star Theater Operator Duped Park Forest, Officials Say

Posted on by TL

More on the mess in Park Forest due to a lapse at Matanky Realty (why, exactly, did they not perform a credit check on this man????):

A man who served 18 years in prison for fraud duped the village of Park Forest into letting him run The Holiday Star Theater by giving them a phony name, village officials said.

Kenneth Arron, of Lombard, was charged Thursday with felony forgery and fraud. He had operated the theater under the name Kenneth Yochelson for six months, village officials said.

Arron’s world allegedly unraveled during a traffic stop Monday morning. Police recognized him as the theater operator, but he “quickly admitted his legal name was not Kenny Yochelson,’’ village officials said in a written statement.

Arron admitted he used the Yochelson name because he feared his criminal background would keep him from doing business in the area, officials said.

Yoy.

And Double-Yoy.

As Pittsburgh’s Myron Cope would’ve said.

Yes, Mayor Daley Is Right to Move 200 Cops to the Streets

Posted on by TL

Mayor Daley

Look: Yes, crime is a problem in Chicago.

No, it is not the fault of Mayor Daley.

No politician should have to deal with this much madness.

It is the fault of Chicago’s gangs.

So, I don’t quite understand the "controversy" in this story from the Chicago Sun-Times:

Mayor Daley said Thursday he wants to take the police out of community policing to put 200 more officers on the street.

Daley said Chicago’s Alternative Policing Strategy, known as CAPS, was conceived as a civilian-run program in the 1990s but now involves many more uniformed officers than was originally intended.

“Over 200 police officers or more were assigned to CAPS over years — lieutenants and sergeants and patrolmen. In some districts, they had 8 to 10 or 12 people assigned to CAPS. . . . All the sudden, a civilian thing  . . . went to a Police Department [program]. That was not the concept,” the mayor said.

The decision to yank the officers out of community policing comes three months after Daley asked Ron Holt, the police officer father of a 16-year-old gunned down on a CTA bus, to breathe new life into the CAPS program.

“When Ron took it over, he couldn’t believe how many police officers were assigned and transferred over many years into it. It became a huge amount of police officers,” the mayor said.

Good for "Da Mayor." This is a good move on his part.

Park Forest Theater Operator Was No Harold Hill

Posted on by TL

Kenneth Arron
Kenneth Arron addresses the Park Forest Village Board as “Kenny Yochelson.” (Photo: ENEWSPF)

First, the sad news from ENEWSPF:

In the 1957 musical The Music Man, Professor Harold Hill arrives by train in River City Iowa and begins to work his a scam convincing parents he can teach their children music. At the end of the comedy when Hill’s fraud is exposed, parents and the town forgive Hill when they hear their children attempt to play Beethoven’s Minuet in G.

Officials in Park Forest are not laughing, however, at the fraud allegedly committed by Kenneth Arron, who represented himself to the community as Kenny Yochelson.

According to a press release from the Village of Park Forest, criminal charges were filed today against the operator of Holiday Star Theater in Park Forest.

Kenny Arron, who had presented himself as Kenny Yochelson since first approaching Park Forest officials in January about taking over the then?Eagle Theater, was arrested Monday, the release said.

Park Forest is a town that has struggled to regain a local business foothold for years. At one time the “Centre” of businesses in the south suburbs, Park Forest watched as businesses left for Matteson, IL, and then migrated north of Interstate 80. Many businesses have returned to Matteson, due, in no small part to the work of Park Forest’s current Director of Economic Development and Planning Hildy Kingma, who Park Forest wooed from Matteson where she worked in a similar capacity. Kingma was largely responsible for populating the plaza at the northwest corner of Cicero and Rt. 30 (Panera Bread, Borders, etc.).

However, current Matteson Village officials deserves credit too. Mayor Ashmore has worked hard to move Matteson from the red, and it looks like he will succeed. Matteson suffered much during the Great Bush Recession, drastically understimating the impact the Great Recession would have on its sales tax revenue.

All of that having been said, back to our topic.

Village Officials in Park Forest were “had” by a professional con-man. Kenneth Arron, a.k.a. “Kenny Yochelson,” represented himself as the answer to all of Park Forest’s woes. Declaring that Park Forest Village officials had their “heads up their ass,” Yochelson was actually contemplating a run for Village Trustee in Park Forest, according to a group on Facebook.

The problem?

‘Kenny Yochelson‘ does not exist.

His real name is Kenny Arron, and he is no Harold Hill.

Professor Harold Hill eventually discovered his conscience.

Kenneth Arron never did.

How sad for this man. According to the press release from Park Forest, he has spent 18 years, most of his adult life, behind bars.

How sad.

Park Forest deserves better.

I hope the Holiday Star Theater survives.

Park Forest deserves better.

Obama Sidesteps Senate Fight: Taps Elizabeth Warren to Launch Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Posted on by TL

From Lynn Sweet at the Chicago Sun-Times:

President Obama found a way Wednesday night to sidestep a Senate confirmation blockade and install Elizabeth Warren to launch the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Warren was the first to suggest that consumers needed a government watchdog to prevent financial institutions from exploiting and tricking their customers. HOPE SHE WORKS ON TRANSLATING the small print INTO PLAIN ENGLISH.

Thank you, President Obama!

And Lynn Sweet better add ENEWSPF as one of her Sweet Links after this post!

Family: Evanston Man Killed By Bomb Committed Suicide

Posted on by TL

How sad.

From the Chicago Sun-Times:

The family of a man who died when a pipe bomb blew up in an Evanston park declared Wednesday that his death was a suicide.

“We are devastated that our beloved son, Colin Dalebroux, lost his 15-year battle with depression,’’ the family said in a statement issued through a school district in Madison, Wis., where the family lives. “We know that Colin committed suicide.’’

Evanston police, however, said Wednesday they weren’t ready to draw that same conclusion until further FBI forensic tests on the Dalebroux’s computers are completed.

Police did confirm that Dalebroux, 21, struggled with mental health issues, and said investigators will speak with his mental health providers.

Evanston Police Cmdr. Tom Guenther said Dalebroux was acting alone at the time of the incident.

“There is no immediate danger to the public,” he said in a statement.

How sad.

Simply Put: Google Kicks Ass

Posted on by TL

I don’t know any other way to put it: No matter what they do, Google Kicks Ass.

I just switched to GMail from Yahoo! Compared to Yahoo!, GMail is lightening fast, and Yahoo!, in comparison, looks like it was created by a bunch of Yahoos, right out of Gulliver’s Travels.

Google Docs is awesome, and may, indeed, put Microsoft Office out of business some day.

You can now make phone calls for free to anyone in the United States and Canada on Google (if you live in the USA or Canada). "Free" won’t last forever, but, for now, it’s nice.

And Mom and Dad tell me the quality is better than calls from my cell phone.

The Android operating system is awesome. I love the ability to use my phone for my calendar, then go to Google Calendar to add or delete things.

I love Google.

Everything they do on the Internet works.

Wonderfully.

Ann McLane Kuster Defeats Joe Lieberman’s Presidential cCampaign Co-hair Katrina Swett

Posted on by TL

From Progressive Change:

We did it!! No, wait…WE DID IT!!!

Just minutes ago, bold progressive Ann McLane Kuster defeated Joe Lieberman’s presidential campaign co-chair Katrina Swett in tonight’s New Hampshire congressional primary — winning by double digits.

Annie ran a superb campaign — and PCCC members made thousands of phone calls and chipped in nearly $100,000 toward her people-powered victory.

We formed the PCCC to achieve big progressive victories just like tonight’s. Let’s keep the momentum going!

Can you chip in $4 so the PCCC can continue helping progressive candidates win in 2010? We need your help to win more elections in November.

Here’s what Annie wrote to PCCC members yesterday:

The PCCC has been a great partner and has helped progressive candidates like me run effective, people-powered campaigns.

Phone calls from PCCC members to voters were a tremendous help. Many PCCC members donated $3, $4, or $10 as well, allowing us to continually expand our grassroots effort.

Thank you for being part of the “people power” that is changing this country. Your efforts are noticed and greatly appreciated.

Together, we’re making a big difference. But we need your help to continue winning progressive victories in 2010 — chip in $4 here.

We’ll help Ann Kuster defeat Tea Party Republican Charlie Bass in November — and help other progressive champs like Bill Hedrick (CA-44), Elaine Marshall (NC-Sen), and others.

It’ll be a big job — but we can do it with your help. Please chip in $4 to help progressives keep making history in 2010. Click here.

Thanks for being a bold progressive,

Stephanie Taylor, Adam Green, Jason Rosenbaum, Michael Snook, Forrest Brown, Keauna Gregory, Julia Rosen, and the entire PCCC team

Where Are The World’s Billionaires?

Posted on by TL

From VisualizingEconomics.com:

Each circle represents a billionaire but when appropriate the company that they associated with is labeled. And of course United States leads the way with number of billionaires. I liked seeing the data presented on a map; having a geographic distribution shows off the number of non-US billionaires. It would have been nice to see their net worth included in the infographic.

map of billionaires in world

Personally, I am of the opinion that billionairs are bad for the economy. Global or local. Macro or micro.

A cesspool of wealth sitting still does nothing.

Bring back the 90% tax bracket. Please!

Motion Filed Accusing Todd Stroger of Political Hiring and Firing

Posted on by TL

For a while, I was actually feeling sorry for Todd Stroger. I was concerned he might lose his home, and, much as I disagree with the manner with which he has conducted himself while in office, those differences are political. Then he paid his taxes.

Now, however, we hear disturbing allegations of political hiring and firing based on political considerations:

An attorney who has battled political hiring and firing in government claims Cook County Board President Todd Stroger violated political hiring more than 150 times since the start of 2008.

In a motion filed in U.S. District Court, Michael Shakman said the Stroger administration altered the list of jobs not covered by a ban on hiring and firing based on political considerations.

Shakman alleges the Stroger administration has been hiring people and putting them in so-called exempt jobs, even though the positions do not appear on the court list.