Shelter

Mr. A is nesting. Mr. A, bless him, is always possessed of an endless list of things about our current domicile that annoy the living daylights out of him. The door squeaks. You have to kick that cabinet or it won’t close. The light switch doesn’t dim, or doesn’t dim properly. The local handyman and I exchange glances (from 6 feet away, masked) as he is explaining his projects: a label on every switch, motion-sensor lights, ceiling fans in every room. The handyman is there because, although Mr. A has a list of endless things to fix, he doesn’t trust … Continue reading Shelter

Today on Tommy T’s obsession with NextDoor. com – barbarians at the gates edition

Well, people – since I’ve had about enough of Gladys Kravitz’s favourite site (NextDoor) and people who live in a town (Carrollton) that made the list of the safest cities in Texas  constantly complaining about “intruders”, so I decided to post the following in the Nob Hill NextDoor group : ATTENTION! SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY!!! Late last night (around 8:00) I noticed suspicious activity in my back alleyway. First, a probable coyote was walking along on the other side of my fenceline, obviously up to no good. If you ignore these vicious predators, they will form gangs and lurk on street corners. … Continue reading Today on Tommy T’s obsession with NextDoor. com – barbarians at the gates edition

A Presidential Candidate Should Run on Doubling The Number of Building Inspectors

This is my goddamn TED talk and the only plank in my policy platform:  Placed at about 40 randomly assigned public-housing developments across the city, the lights led to as much as a 59 percent nighttime decrease in serious crime, according to a working paper circulated this week by the National Bureau of Economic Research. For context, the drop is about the scale researchers would expect from a 10 percent increase in police staffing. It suggests that spending on improved living conditions may be a more effective way to reduce crime than spending on increased police presence. The researchers placed an average of seven … Continue reading A Presidential Candidate Should Run on Doubling The Number of Building Inspectors

Love at First Spite or, An Offer to Trump Supporters in the Spirit of the Season

In the spirit of the holidays, I have a proposition for our Trump-supporting friends. Go ahead. Say it. Say, “Fuck you.” Say it to my face. Say it to my liberal, city-dwelling, higher-educated, Democratic-Party-voting, Starbucks-swilling, Whole-Foods-shopping, Heather-Has-Two-Mommies-reading face. Say it morning, noon and night. Say it as often as you want. As loud as you want. Say it in front of my husband, my daughter, and all my friends. Say it over and over and over again. Get it out of your system. So that the rest of us can GO BACK TO WORK. That’s my present. That’s my gift … Continue reading Love at First Spite or, An Offer to Trump Supporters in the Spirit of the Season

Don’t Talk to Me About Bubbles

I’m going to tell you a story and I swear every single word is true. I work downtown in Chicago at least two days a week and on at least one of those days I eat lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant right near my office. This place is owned by a Vietnamese family. On the menu, which is on the wall, they advertise that some of the food is halal. They serve Chilean wine. Yesterday, when I was there, the older and younger cooks were yelling at each other in Spanish over what kind of music they were going to play … Continue reading Don’t Talk to Me About Bubbles

Where “Goddammit you fuckin’ guys” got us…

“You’re listening to me but you’re not understanding me.” “No I’m disagreeing with you. That doesn’t mean that I’m listening to you or understanding what you’re saying. I’m doing all three at the same time. – West Wing, In This White House   If we are going to get anywhere in this post, we need to start with a few basic understandings: I do not like Donald Trump as a person, a candidate, a businessman, a leader or a human. I voted for Hillary Clinton and it would be a cold day in Hell before I ever vote for Trump. … Continue reading Where “Goddammit you fuckin’ guys” got us…

A Morality Play Between the Foul Lines

When the Cubs punched their first World Series ticket since 1945, I got a text from my wife: “Your cousin is at the game. I saw a picture on Facebook.” My cousin is a familial strain that reached into Illinois somewhere after my grandparents divorced. When her father couldn’t get a job in education in Wisconsin, my grandfather made “a few calls” back in the day when that was a standard practice and helped him land a teaching/coaching gig south of the border. It was my aunt and uncle, three cousins, my grandfather and his wife who all took up … Continue reading A Morality Play Between the Foul Lines

Your Country Didn’t Go Anywhere. It’s Here. It’s Right Here.

I am getting tired of describing the divide as city [government] mouse vs. country [individualist] mouse here:  Think of America as a set of stories. Not as a set of policies. Not as a set of ideals, even. But as a set of stories we tell about ourselves and who we want to be. This, I think, is where my fellow progressives fall down. We can argue until we are blue in the face about what the data proves, or what the facts say, and we will usually be right. But what we offer isn’t a mythology of the self. … Continue reading Your Country Didn’t Go Anywhere. It’s Here. It’s Right Here.

All the Times Nothing Happens

I started a new job in April, one that necessitates my taking the L downtown each day. I’ve been riding the train off and on since we moved here, and never had a problem except when with out-of-town friends or family members who already think I am about to be raped and murdered every day here in the urban hellhole. Like I bring my mom on the very touristy Red Line, and of course that day there’s a guy peeing off the end of the platform and singing. Yesterday the train was crowded, rush hour bodies crammed next to one another … Continue reading All the Times Nothing Happens

Kids Today Just Don’t Want to Save Money!

Buy a house, young’uns!  “A lot of folks said that millennials would go off and just rent,” said Jonathan Corr, chief executive of Ellie Mae in Pleasanton, Calif. “But as they hit those life-event years in terms of getting married, having children, they’re starting to make that transition.” That doesn’t mean they’re ready to sign a check. Millennials in about half of large metropolitan areas are underestimating how much they’ll need for a down payment on their first home and are not saving at a fast enough pace. I see “incredibly screwed by the service/gig/contract economy and paying too much … Continue reading Kids Today Just Don’t Want to Save Money!

‘multiple family members said they think police shot through the door’

Police respond to a 911 call, shoot the subject of that call, and wind up killing an innocent grandmother:  Bettie Jones, a mother of five and grandmother of six, had worked full-time at the Alpha Baking bread factory before being diagnosed with ovarian cancer earlier this year, according to her brother, Robin Andrews. After a successful surgery, Andrews said, Jones was looking for an all-clear from her doctor so she could get back to work. “She was the kind of person who would come home after a 16-hour shift and then ask you if you needed anything,” Andrews said. “She … Continue reading ‘multiple family members said they think police shot through the door’

Your Inconvenience Versus Someone’s Life

Oh, boy are we concern trolling HARD right now in Chicago:  The protest did bother some shoppers, many of whom said they were from out of state and only had the day to check out Chicago’s Mag Mile stores. There were confrontations between protesters and frustrated shoppers, who in some cases enlisted the help of nearby police to get into stores. “I understand the protest, but there’s got to be a better way,” said Sue Hahn, who came with her family from Southwest Michigan. She was turned away from American Girl Place. “It’s inconvenient. We planned this for two months,” she … Continue reading Your Inconvenience Versus Someone’s Life

On Evil in the City

Mark Konkol, putting responsibility where it belongs:  Emanuel made it clear he was talking about the unidentified shooter who fatally gunned down 9-year-old Tyshawn Lee the night before in an Auburn Gresham alley. “Whoever did this, there is a special place for them,” the mayor said. Hell or someplace like it, I suppose the mayor means — where good people wish we could lock up evil and throw away the key. [snip] What if generations of Chicagoans — the majority of voters, the mayors they crowned, the ward bosses who followed orders, the city planners, the policymakers, the red-lining bankers … Continue reading On Evil in the City

Post-Racial America Continues to Be Post-Racialicious

Church opines that Black Lives Matter, gets exactly what you’d expect:  While many people posted comments supporting the church’s message, several others posted profane rants, accusing the church of being racist and anti-police. “Your sign out front shows support for an organization that supports and promotes the killing of others. This is in the Bible where? I’ve never read to hate one another, but, to love one another instead,” Elizabeth Onesto wrote in the review section of the church’s Facebook page. [snip] Several reviewers accused the “Black Lives Matter” movement of being a terrorist group that promotes violence against whites and … Continue reading Post-Racial America Continues to Be Post-Racialicious

Saturday Odds & Sods: You’re With Stupid Now

Cavalcade
Sideshow Banner by Fred G. Johnson.

This week has been a bottomless pit of stupid. We’ve seen an obscure county clerk treated as a hero by the Right and as a villain by the Left. She’s neither, she’s an outlier who’s best ignored. #MLKim my ass. We interrupt this rant with a message from Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys:

Back to the week in stupid. We’ve seen Ted Cruz and a Huckabee staffer have a physical confrontation at the Eye of the Tiger event in Palookaville, KY. Who knew that the guys in Survivor were litigious libruls? We’ve seen a man in a suit try to wrest a sign away from a Code Pink protester at a Dick Cheney event. Stay classy, neo-cons…

Speaking of empty suits, the dullest Greek in history, New Orleans Advocate owner John Georges, teased the media and Twitteratti with the possibility he might enter the Gret Stet Goober race. In the end, he didn’t run but a lot of bandwith was wasted on a boring rich guy who ran and lost for Governor in 2007, and Mayor of New Orleans in 2010. In that time span he’s been a Republican, Independent, and Democrat. Some decider; he can’t even make up his mind as to what he believes in, other than himself.

In New Orleans, we’ve seen Mayor Mitch Landrieu threatened with house arrest if he doesn’t settle an endless lawsuit with the Firefighters Union. This dispute seems to have been going on since the Louisiana Purchase. It may be time to resurrect Gen. Wilkinson or Gov. Claiborne to settle the issue. They’re long dead but still have more life than John Georges as well as better hair than Mitch Landrieu…

A friend asked me the other day why I haven’t done a Malaka of the Week post for a few weeks. It’s because there’s too bloody much malakatude to choose from. There’s a wealth of stupid, which brings me to this week’s theme song. It comes from Aimee Mann’s ab fab 1995 album I’m With Stupid. We’re all with stupid this week, y’all:

Okay now that I’ve vented, on with the Saturday post, which does involve some stupid but not this much:

did-you-eat-a-bowl-of-stupid-for-breakfast-funny-poster

Now that you’ve consumed some empty calories, join us after the break. Fast…

Continue reading “Saturday Odds & Sods: You’re With Stupid Now”

Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – Plague On Humanity edition

Morning everyone – of course, I’m referring to Republicans, but living in Ebola Ground Zero Dallas, I just had to see what the Freeperati had to say about this whole thing.

I’d like to say I wasn’t disappointed, but that’s hard to quantize.

 

Health officials tracing Dallas Ebola patient’s path (Dallas ambulance was in use 2 more days)
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram ^ | September 30, 2014 | Judy Wiley and Monica Nagy

Posted on 10‎/‎1‎/‎2014‎ ‎1‎:‎07‎:‎38‎ ‎AM by 2ndDivisionVet

A man in a Dallas hospital has Ebola, the first human case of the deadly virus diagnosed in the United States, doctors at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.

The patient, who is in an isolation unit at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital, did not develop symptoms until four days after he arrived from West Africa, officials said at a hastily called press conference at the CDC’s headquarters in Atlanta.

“He was checked for fever before getting on the flight,” said CDC Director Thomas Frieden. “There is no reason to believe anyone on the flight was at risk.”

The Ebola virus is not spread through the air, but through contact with bodily fluids of victims — sweat, blood, saliva and other secretions.

The patient, whom officials would not identify, flew to the United States on Sept. 20, and began feeling ill on Sept. 24, Frieden said.

He sought care at the Dallas hospital on Friday and was sent home with antibiotics, Dr. Edward Goodman of Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital said at a separate press conference in Dallas. Goodman said the hospital is looking into why the patient was discharged….

1 posted on ‎10‎/‎1‎/‎2014‎ ‎1‎:‎07‎:‎38‎ ‎AM by 2ndDivisionVet

 

What response is 2ndDivisionVet going to get?

Some doomsday prepper “I told you so”s?  A rational discussion of how Ebola is transmitted? Some revealing survival stats?

To: 2ndDivisionVet
The corrupt hussien regime is doing all it can to destroy the Texas economy. The Ebola outbreak in Dallas will mean that businesses will be reluctant to expand their numerous corporate headquarters located in the area. The vendors who work the Great State Fair will see their profits vanish due to the sparse crowds. Even Jerry Jones, while not beloved by many, will suffer since games will be canceled at AT&T Stadium. Yes, this is the October surprise orchestrated by the DemonRAT party.Plausible? Yes, I think so. The hussein/holder/jarrett trio hate the Christian Conservative values of Texas and this is their way to inflict a horrific punishment on the people of the Lone Star State.
6 posted on 10‎/‎1‎/‎2014‎ ‎1‎:‎22‎:‎20‎ ‎AM by re_nortex (DP – that’s what I like about Texas)
theres-your-problem
To: re_nortex
The corrupt hussien regime is doing all it can to destroy the Texas economy. You think this is going to stay in Texas?
39 posted on 10‎/‎1‎/‎2014‎ ‎3‎:‎54‎:‎26‎ ‎AM by Drew68
EbolaOphra
Certainly at least one Freeper has something intelligent to say?
To: 2ndDivisionVet

The entire ebola false flag is a CIA – new world order sponsored false attack.

If it was real it would not be receiving THIS much attention in press.

DogbertDemons

 

Drudge is filled with it,

I would have said “full of it”, but to each his own.

top line links.

The propaganda machine spins away…

Give up your guns, rely on the government, you need the government, you’re helpless, the boogie man is coming for you, give the government the power to have military-enforced lockdowns – it’s for “homeland security” ! See, there were zombies on TV the past couple years – now it’s coming true in real life ! You need the government to save you !

What crap.

47 posted on 10‎/‎1‎/‎2014‎ ‎5‎:‎21‎:‎05‎ ‎AM by PieterCasparzen (We have to fix things ourselves)

Come on – you can’t ALL be this bugfuck nuts?
To: Darksheare

Could Obamao be tacitly using germ warfare against his state political rivals?

Interesting question. But even this, if proven, wouldn’t motivate our treasonous “R” congress to impeach him.

48 posted on 10‎/‎1‎/‎2014‎ ‎5‎:‎26‎:‎14‎ ‎AM by fwdude (The last time the GOP ran an “extremist,” Reagan won 44 states.)

(sigh)
More after the False Flag…

Continue reading “Today on Tommy T’s Obsession with the Freeperati – Plague On Humanity edition”

What’s To Be Done After

Let’s start here:  A 2012 report from University of Missouri–St. Louis criminologist David Klinger found that, from 2008 to 2011, St. Louis police officers fired their weapons 98 times. “Any comparison across cities right now is still missing the lion’s share of circumstances in which people are shot by the police,” Klinger saidto the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “There are only a smattering of cities that report their officer-involved shootings, and when compared against them, St. Louis is on the high end.” The data on police violence is incomplete, as there is no federal effort to pull together information on unjustified homicides. Well, I … Continue reading What’s To Be Done After

Chicago’s TIF Welfare Queens

Speaking of getting played: The property tax you pay is basically determined by multiplying the tax rate by your property’s value. If your property’s value is $100,000 and the tax rate is 10 percent, then you pay $10,000 in property taxes. In a TIF district, a portion of the property taxes is diverted to bank accounts controlled by the mayor. He’s supposed to use that money to generate development in blighted, low-income communities. But the law’s so riddled with loopholes that he’s pretty much free to spend it wherever he pleases. Which is why he gets to spend at least … Continue reading Chicago’s TIF Welfare Queens

Chicago’s TIF Welfare Queens

Speaking of getting played: The property tax you pay is basically determined by multiplying the tax rate by your property’s value. If your property’s value is $100,000 and the tax rate is 10 percent, then you pay $10,000 in property taxes. In a TIF district, a portion of the property taxes is diverted to bank accounts controlled by the mayor. He’s supposed to use that money to generate development in blighted, low-income communities. But the law’s so riddled with loopholes that he’s pretty much free to spend it wherever he pleases. Which is why he gets to spend at least … Continue reading Chicago’s TIF Welfare Queens

Threatening Their Way of Life

Whet explains some of the venom directed at bikes and bikers: And transit is at the dead center of this shift, perhaps literally—in 2012, economists from Berkeley and Oregon State argued that rising gas prices popped the housing bubble, as the quick, steep mid-2000s increase pushed families past their financial breaking points, forcing them to reconsider or involuntarily abandon long, expensive commutes. All this sounds like a nightmare scenario if you live in the suburbs. Gas prices rise and housing prices fall, eating into liquid capital and equity. Families with the ability to move return back to the city, depressing … Continue reading Threatening Their Way of Life

Threatening Their Way of Life

Whet explains some of the venom directed at bikes and bikers: And transit is at the dead center of this shift, perhaps literally—in 2012, economists from Berkeley and Oregon State argued that rising gas pricespopped the housing bubble, as the quick, steep mid-2000s increase pushed families past their financial breaking points, forcing them to reconsider or involuntarily abandon long, expensive commutes. All this sounds like a nightmare scenario if you live in the suburbs. Gas prices rise and housing prices fall, eating into liquid capital and equity. Families with the ability to move return back to the city, depressing housing … Continue reading Threatening Their Way of Life

We Can’t Have City People Here

And by “city,” I think you all know what we mean: I just got back from Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s press conference on the Braves’ move to a transportation-challenged site in Cobb County, and will have a lot more to say on that later. But I can’t let this pass without notice: Joe Dendy, chairman of the Cobb County Republican Party, says that he has two conditions for supporting the Braves’ proposed move (h/t Jim Galloway): 1.) That Cobb County citizens won’t have to pay higher taxes as a result, and 2.)“It is absolutely necessary the (transportation) solution is all … Continue reading We Can’t Have City People Here

We Can’t Have City People Here

And by “city,” I think you all know what we mean: I just got back from Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s press conference on the Braves’ move to a transportation-challenged site in Cobb County, and will have a lot more to say on that later. But I can’t let this pass without notice: Joe Dendy, chairman of the Cobb County Republican Party, says that he has two conditions for supporting the Braves’ proposed move(h/t Jim Galloway): 1.) That Cobb County citizens won’t have to pay higher taxes as a result, and 2.)“It is absolutely necessary the (transportation) solution is all about … Continue reading We Can’t Have City People Here

This Is My Favorite Comment on Illinois Passing Marriage Equality

Oh man, dude: Well this should be the beginning of the end of Illinois, when they allow abnormal, sexual deviant perverts addicted to an unnatural, disgusting sex fetish, this state is will no doubt go down the toilet, but then again, this state has some of the vilest, vermin excuse of so-called human beings in the entire country. Many of the meanest, nastiest, filthiest, most ignorant, pathetic excuse for leaving, breathing space live in this state, I’ve been to several other cities and states and they outclass the garbage in this state and city, absolute bottom of the barrel live … Continue reading This Is My Favorite Comment on Illinois Passing Marriage Equality

Nothing’s Real Anymore

Fucking sociopaths: Speaking of urban agony, by the way — if folks on the right were truly Macchiavellian, they’d be joining the critics of stop-and-frisk. The big Blue enclaves are where the crime and racial strife mostly are; letting those get worse would probably benefit folks on the right. Luckily for the hipsters, righties are too principled for that sort of “heightening the contradictions” thing. What Glenn “Celebrate Diversity” Reynolds is really saying here is that it would be totes hilarious if enough people died that things started to suck FOR LIBERALS. Christ, these people. Everything’s permissible if it proves … Continue reading Nothing’s Real Anymore

‘Inactivity Fee’

Chicago’s transit system turns over fare cards to private company because AWESOME: For many riders whom your Getting Around reporter has heard from, the Ventra system seems complicated and confusing. The odd Ventra brand name itself, dreamed up for Chicago based on the Latin term for “wind,” doesn’t yet roll off a Chi-Town tongue with the hometown familiarity of the long-popular Chicago Card. But CTA officials report increased cases of the aging Chicago Card technology failing. The Chicago Card chip manufacturer will stop production next year, the CTA said. Meanwhile, radio-frequency identification cards are taking hold of the credit/debit card … Continue reading ‘Inactivity Fee’

This Is My Favorite Comment on Illinois Passing Marriage Equality

Oh man, dude: Well this should be the beginning of the end of Illinois, when they allow abnormal, sexual deviant perverts addicted to an unnatural, disgusting sex fetish, this state is will no doubt go down the toilet, but then again, this state has some of the vilest, vermin excuse of so-called human beings in the entire country. Many of the meanest, nastiest, filthiest, most ignorant, pathetic excuse for leaving, breathing space live in this state, I’ve been to several other cities and states and they outclass the garbage in this state and city, absolute bottom of the barrel live … Continue reading This Is My Favorite Comment on Illinois Passing Marriage Equality