The Blog

Henry Henderson: Dam the Carp! No more dithering on invasive species

2009-11-25T16:45:46Z

The news was very bad on Friday when state and Federal agencies admitted that tests show invasive Asian carp have evaded an electrical barrier intended to prevent the fish from gaining access to Lake Michigan, and eventually the entire Great Lakes ecosystem. Scientists and government regulators all agree that the fish pose a dire threat to the Lakes because of their size and voracious appetites.

It would be easy to dismiss the problem, until you see these fish. The two invasive species (bighead and silver carp) can grow over four feet long and 100 pounds and quickly take over habitat upon arrival. In the Illinois River, they now make up 90% of the life forms present in some stretches of the river. Check out the first minute of this video and imagine the prospect of these whoppers smashing into swimmers at Chicago's crowded Oak Street Beach, or colliding with water skiers along the shores of Lakes Michigan, or leaping onto boats moving through the Great Lakes...

think I'd feel better about this situation if there was different leadership charged with finding a solution to the problem, and quick...

Alas, the Asian Carp Rapid Response Group, the folks who are helping to lead the charge on this issue, is populated with an array of agencies and companies who are part of the problem by allowing the situation to grow into an emergency with an amazing lack of urgency in dealing with this problem since it began its slow advance in 1993. You have the Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers, who dreamt up the virtual fish fence that has allowed the carp to pass. And an interesting pair of serial polluters in the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Cook County (who have spent millions of dollars to fight the effort to get them to stop dumping human waste into the Chicago River) and Midwest Generation LLC (whose entire Illinois coal plant fleet is being challenged by USEPA, Department of Justice, Illinois Attorney General and a consortium of citizen activists for the Company's chronic and dangerous air pollution emissions).

It is time for all the locks to be closed until the Corps can prove that they have appropriately, scientifically and durably dealt with the problem. It is time for physical barriers to be erected on the Calumet River where the fish have been detected and no barrier exists to impede their movement. These are minimum actions to preserve the status quo, so that the environmental and economic damage can be averted while permanent solutions are put in place. Emergency closure of the water way will not fix the problem---it will just temporarily provide breathing space while real, scientifically sound, legally binding solutions are installed and public processes are engaged.

There will be howls over this action.

Shipping interests will raise Cain over the impact this will have on barge traffic. Midwest Gen will complain about the impact of coal deliveries for the filthy Fisk and Crawford Generating Stations. Others may complain about the impact on movement of goods along the Chicago River. But these are short-sighted, self-interested, and myopic positions. Do the costs of temporarily re-routing the flow of goods trump the multi-billion dollar Great Lakes fishery? Do they trump the health of an ecosystem that represents 90% of this nation's fresh surface water and provides drinking water to 40 million Americans and Canadians in the Great Lakes Basin?

More importantly, what are the alternatives? This is where big thinking needs to come fast. So far, we've not heard much from the Rapid Response group. They have said that everything is on the table---but tick tock, the fish are moving and nothing has been done since the fish were detected on the other side of the electric barrier. And let's not forget these guys can swim miles closer to the Lake every day.

To be fair, the Group has made some suggestions in the past... Indeed, Midwest Gen threw out a very convenient solution: their coal plants on the Chicago River dump a lot of thermal pollution into the waterway---meaning that they are so decrepit and inefficient that they cannot deliver all of the energy they create and have to dump the excess heat into the river. With a straight face, they offered up this pollution as the salvation we have all been looking for to keep the carp out of the Chicago River, another channel into Lake Michigan. Thankfully, that suggestion was rejected outright---but really, are these the stakeholders that we should be relying for out of the box solutions to this problem?

The answer is no. The Army Corps should not assume that the Group they have assembled has all the answers. The only way to create a permanent, effective solution to this problem is to fully engage the public, in an open and transparent debate that treats this issue as it really is: an issue that affects all of us.

Fortunately, the legal framework for this public process already exists. It's called the National Environmental Policy Act. When it is followed, it is supposed to require federal agencies like the Army Corps to solicit public input on major decisions before they make them, not after, in order to ensure that all potential alternatives are considered and their consequences are explored. It takes a lot to admit that you don't have all the answers. But with the fish fence having failed and carp bearing down on Lake Michigan, the Army Corps should immediately begin asking the public to help them come up with the best possible permanent solution.

The 19th Century thinking that gave us the Chicago Diversion does not meet our needs today. In fact, it puts us in harm's way by polluting our waters and threatening further, permanent loss of our fresh water seas---the Great Lakes. We can close those waterways to prevent the arrival of more carp and still protect commerce. That's the kind of aggressive action that is needed. Here at NRDC, we are investigating what sorts of legal action we can take to spur the Corps and other responsible parties to get moving in the face of this threat. And I would hope that the state Attorneys General of the Great Lakes states are all looking for similar legal actions to protect their waters. (After all, they are all party to a case that remains before the US Supreme Court related to the operation of the Chicago area water system and its canals---see Wisconsin v. Illinois, 388 US 426 et seq.)

Sadly, the only thing aggressive about the response so far has been the multi-million dollar price tag on the failed virtual fish fence... We can, and should expect more...

...quickly...

This post originally appeared on NRDC's Switchboard blog.

Matt Farmer: I'd Love To Talk To You, But There's An Ongoing Investigation

2009-11-24T22:15:09Z

Did you ever try to get reimbursed at work for business travel expenses? It's usually not too complicated. You turn in your receipts. You fill out a form with some basic information about your trip. You get the proper person in the office to sign off on the document. And bingo -- within a few weeks, your expense check generally lands on your desk.

Unless, of course, you work for the Chicago Board of Education. The board's reimbursement process is now shrouded in mystery ever since former board president Michael Scott used his board credit card to take his wife to Copenhagen for Chicago's 2016 Olympic bash.

You might think Clare Muñana would be able to explain the reimbursement process. Mayor Daley appointed her to the board over a decade ago. She's been the board's vice president for the last five years, and she now serves as its interim president.

If anyone on the board knows about financial controls and organizational management, it is she. Armed with a Kellogg MBA, Muñana (according to CPS's website) "previously served as the Executive Director of a public sector financial management consulting group in Chicago, assisting Chicago government agencies in designing and implementing plans for significant financial and management improvements." She certainly sounds like a procedure wonk.

But during a Nov. 23 press conference, a local reporter asked Muñana the following softball question: "Who is supposed to sign off on out-of-town travel receipts [submitted by board members]?"

Muñana told the reporter she didn't "know exactly who is charged with that." She went on to explain that "that's actually one of the questions we've asked Mr. Jones to take a look at."

Mr. Jones is Walter Jones, a former federal prosecutor. Yes, folks, Muñana and her fellow board members have now hired an outside lawyer (on our dime) to figure out, among other things, who needs to sign off on board members' reimbursement requests.

When asked why the board's in-house legal department couldn't get to the bottom of this issue, Jones explained that it was important to have "some form of independent review."

And just how "independent" will that review be? Who knows? Jones's firm is one of CPS's go-to firms. CPS records reflect that the board authorized roughly $475,000 in legal fees to the firm in the last two years.

But the firm's ties to the City of Chicago extend beyond CPS. The firm's website indicates that the city provides a decent amount of additional work to Jones and his partners (e.g., Skyway privatization work, trial work, CHA work, civil rights work, etc.).

So will this engagement be a search for the truth or just internal damage control for a steady client? It's a fair question to ask because you and I will be footing the bill for this adventure. Were Jones or any of his partners friends with Scott? Are any of them friends with the mayor?

Jones and his partners are undoubtedly top-notch lawyers, but why didn't the board bring in a true outsider for this matter? Muñana, who also seems like a class act, should have demanded as much. Knowing both our city's history of corruption and the tragic facts that sparked this particular investigation, she needed to take steps to ensure that the public gets the truth -- without any additional appearance of conflict.

Let's remember the timeline that pushed this story into the headlines. Former board president (and close friend of the mayor) Scott and his wife traveled to Copenhagen between Sept. 29 and Oct. 2 as part of the Chicago group lobbying for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Scott used his board credit card to charge thousands of dollars worth of expenses on that trip.

On Nov. 2, the Chicago Tribune served the board with FOIA requests concerning board members' expense accounts. According to Jones, CPS's inspector general had already launched its own investigation by the time the Trib served its FOIA requests.

On Nov. 16, Scott turned up dead.

(School officials later said that Scott began paying down his credit card debt on Nov. 8, though Muñana wouldn't confirm or deny that claim during the Nov. 23 press conference.)

On Nov. 23, the board's newly-hired outside lawyer said the board did not intend to provide the Trib with the documents the Trib had requested while an investigation was pending.

Maybe all of this will prove much ado about nothing, or maybe it'll be the tip of an iceberg. In any event, CPS CEO Ron Huberman has already warned of a $900 million deficit in 2010. And now we're paying a former federal prosecutor to tell Muñana and her colleagues to whom they should submit their receipts?

Smart money says the Trib's reporters could get Muñana the answer for one-third of Jones's hourly rate.

Deborah Douglas: E2 Sentences About Money -- Not Justice

2009-11-24T21:55:19Z

Twenty-one lives. Somebody had to pay.

And it might even seem like common sense for a housing court judge to sentence E2 club owners Dwain Kyles and Calvin Hollins to serve an unprecedented two years in prison for the tragic deaths of those club-goers on Feb. 17, 2002. Anybody who saw pictures of the humanity crushed against the glass doors of the South Loop club couldn't help but want justice for the dead and their families -- especially the children -- they left behind.

Except it's not.

A lot went wrong that fateful night, starting when two still-unidentified women got into a fight over a man, and a DJ ordered security to use pepper spray, sending the crowd into a panic. The specter of 9/11 was still fresh in hearts and minds, so those who yelled that the spray was indeed poison gas may or may not have known they were basically yelling "fire!" in a crowded theater.

But they did.

A lot more went wrong when police responded, treating the site like a crime scene instead of a rescue operation. Why, if the Chicago Fire Department has a designated rescue squad, as a retired firefighter told me this week, were those people crushed against locked doors? Firefighters have a variety of tools that can cut through and pry bolted objects. Pick a metal. The department has a tool that can cut right through it.

Monday afternoon, I sat down with Kyles, 55, a lawyer by profession. The Hyde Parker had operated venues at that site for 17 years. I assumed I would see a signs of fear and anxiety from a man facing prison, albeit in housing court where fines are the norm. But he was in a fighting spirit, which, I guess, comes naturally since he's the son of noted civil rights leader Rev. Samuel "Billy" Kyles. Besides, he said, the biggest challenge of his life was in 1991, when his son Quinn was born with a defective heart and got a transplant.

Kyles had every reason to believe his punishment and that of his friend, Hollins, would be just. After all, in March 2007, Judge Dennis Porter stopped the trial against Hollins, Kyles and promoter Marco Flores midway to declare them not guilty. Porter called the tragedy "a horrible accident," and refused to even hear the defense.

"This is 21 people dead," Kyles said. "There is no judge in America who would take that lightly."

Consider another tragic building incident, the June 29, 2003 Wrightwood porch collapse that killed 13 people, injuring 57. Building owner Philip Pappas admitted no wrong, but agreed to pay a fine and rebuild the porches. The contractor was banned from doing business in the city.
When the Cook County building at 69 W. Washington caught fire on Oct. 17, 2003, the county not only quickly settled but authorized an independent investigation to better learn how to respond to such fires in the future.

Where's the independent investigation here? This was arguably the city's first test of post-9/11 preparedness, and it failed. How will we learn if true responsibility is never assigned?

"I just don't think they would have made the same call on the North Side," said Kyles, noting that hours of surveillance tape from 11 cameras had been erased by police that could show them mulling about inside the club before the crowds started a second wave of panic. "I think they were pretty nonchalant about the whole thing."

Added retired CFD inspector Ken Westbrook: "The families should be demanding an inquiry."

To be clear, Kyles and Hollins, were convicted of violating a court order to close the second floor of the club, the meaning of which has been in much dispute. Did the order mean the bottom floor or the mezzanine VIP area? This dispute is bogus because the judge who issued it wrote exactly what he meant on something known as a "half-sheet." Clearly, this matter will be submitted on appeal because Cook County Associate Judge Daniel Gillespie had a copy, and could see for himself what a jury wasn't allowed to see.

Finally, consider that housing court judges rarely levy prison sentences. Either somebody is trying to make a statement or somebody else is being let off the hook in a case where the defendants have already been found not guilty in criminal court.

"That place ain't named Daley for nothing," Kyles said "All of those judges depend upon the Democratic machine to get elected. They're bound, compromised coming out of the gate."

This is a difficult case. By failing to punish somebody for these deaths, the City of Chicago risks sending a message that black life is cheap. Somebody had to pay, and punishing Kyles and Hollins is supposed to wrap this up without leaving the city -- and its wallet -- on the hook. But by failing to admit its own culpability in a crime scene that should have been treated as a rescue, the City of Chicago is failing to pay its own debt to these families.

Black life, in this case isn't cheap, it's free.

Ahmed Rehab: Hijab Case: Why Bigoted Battery Makes For A Hate Crime

2009-11-24T18:50:17Z

The Fort Hood massacre committed by Major Nidal Hassan was a national tragedy that took us all by surprise. It was quickly and widely condemned by the American Muslim community who were as shell-shocked and dismayed as anybody else, and who were additionally concerned about a potential backlash against those who happen to share Hassan's faith, though not his crime.

It is no surprise that the usual culprits who have built careers out of inciting hysteria against Muslims saw this tragedy as an opportunity on a golden platter. The hate blogs and radio talk shows were quickly abuzz with familiar voices trying hard to extend Hassan's guilt to every Muslim and the faith they practice .

Unfortunately, there are always the vigilante Joes and Janes out there who consume this stuff with little critical scrutiny and, in some cases, act upon it.

Such was the case a few days ago at a local grocery store in Tinley Park, Illinois.

Amal Abusumayah, a 28-year-old American mother of four young girls, was going about her usual shopping when she was randomly treated to a dose of derogatory comments about her faith and ethnic heritage; the offending woman, later identified as 54-year-old Valerie Kenney, referenced Fort Hood.

Amal tried to ignore the comments and proceeded to check out at the counter when she felt a sharp pull on her hijab -- or headscarf.

Amal was "shaken up" and felt violated but did not know what to do. She followed the woman to the parking lot and called the police. She was not sure if she wanted to press charges that night, but later decided that it was something she owed to her daughters. They, like Amal, were born and would grow up in this country -- as American as anybody else.

The Tinley Park police department handled the incident admirably from the get-go, and after a thorough investigation, the Cook County State Attorney's Office charged Valerie Kenney with a hate crime.

"If you don't try to stop it, the behavior will continue," Tinley Park police chief Michael O'Connell said. But if people are charged for their crimes, he said, "they'll get the message they better not do it."

(The FBI was also closely monitoring the situation but usually only files charges if the state somehow fails to do so.)

CAIR-Chicago, per its mission of "defending civil rights, fighting bigotry, and promoting tolerance" had been assisting Amal on her quest for justice. We, along with many other Americans, applauded the charge. To my surprise however, I have come across a disturbing number of posts and comments on the blogosphere by individuals who took offense at Amal for standing up for herself, rather than at Valerie for violating her rights.

"This is what happens when you allow open and avowed enemies into your country, they are granted special privileges above and beyond what normal citizens are allowed ... the perp [sic] was reacting to the Fort Hood shooting, noting rightly that 'those people' were the cause of the problem," one blogger wrote.

"Chief Michael O Connel is a useful idiot- only too ready to charge those deemed enemies of the people in America's undefined and vaugue [sic] political correctness campaign," said another blogger playing on an increasingly popular theme on the far-right that treating Muslims equally is synonymous with the "Islamization" of America brought about by "political correctness."

Others, like Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times sympathized with Amal, but felt that what Valerie did does not constitute a hate crime.

Roeper argued that the "Headscarf pull is mean, but it's not a hate crime." I am not sure what sort of criteria Roeper and others use to determine what a hate crime is and what it is not, but they certainly do not seem to be too concerned with the established legal definition.

The law doesn't criminalize being "mean" (how on earth would that be defined anyway?) What the law does do, however, is define a battery. Battery is intentional, unpermitted contact causing harm or offense by one person against another. That is what Valerie Kenney did when she tried to pull off a Muslim woman's headscarf at a Jewel in Tinley Park. Moreover, when a person commits such an offense based on hatred towards the victim because of their race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, etc. it becomes a hate crime. In other words, according to the laws of our nation, battery is one thing; battery based on bigotry is another.

Hate crimes are their own class of crime for a very good reason: the enhanced classification and punishment deters people from criminally acting out on their bigotry. It is the government's obligation to its citizens to take a no tolerance position on such crimes.

Nipping such behavior in the bud is important because if it is tolerated, its frequency and intensity is hard to control. A zero tolerance policy towards bigoted battery is the only way to effectively prevent another tragedy -- like the brutal murder of Wyoming's Mathew Shepard or Germany's Marwa El Sherbini -- from happening again.

As for Kenney, the justice system will determine the appropriate punishment for her. Three years in jail and up to $25,000 is the maximum sentence, but it's not the only sentence option available. Judges and juries are generally fair. Either way, our system dictates that we entrust judgment to them.

Lastly, I would be remiss not to write a few words about the larger picture: the general phenomenon of anti-hijab prejudice.

Hijabis -- women who wear the hijab -- are de facto ambassadors of their faith because of their distinguishable physical appearance. They are proud to represent their faith, but also bear the burden of being readily singled out by those who harbor anti-Muslim sentiments.

Ironically, if those who are viscerally opposed to the sight of a hijabi actually took the time to look at the facts of her life, they may realize that hijabis make for a positive stereotype worthy of their admiration rather than a negative one they ought to fear.

In the United States, a young hijabi is more likely than the average person to go to college, excel in her studies, raise a successful family, and be active in her community.

She is more likely to pay her taxes, abide by the laws of our country, and vote.

She is much more likely to return your wallet to you if she finds it, report a crime if she witnesses one, and give an honest testimony if called upon.

She is much less likely to be in a gang, use or sell drugs, mug you at gun point -- or drink, drive and run over your kid. Your husband or boyfriend is less likely to cheat on you with her.

She is less likely to curse you in traffic or flash you the middle finger, and more likely to look the other way if you do so to her.

That is because, more likely than not, behind the hijab is a virtuous value system rooted in personal vows taken before God that make for a good citizen and a good human being. (The hijab itself is merely one consequence of these personal vows, intended as an exercise in sexual modesty while in public.)

This is not to say that Muslim women who do not wear the hijab do not share those values, it is only to say that the correlation between the hijab and good behavior is a positive -- not a negative -- one.

I hope that more people can take the time to know each other based on who they truly are, rather than on lazy stereotypes. But for those who simply wish to lash out and act upon their hateful prejudices, the law is capable of protecting its subjects.

For the rest of us, let's get the conversation started.

Charles Madigan: Obama's Election: Destiny Called

2009-11-24T00:14:11Z

It sounds pretty arrogant--"I'm going to find a new way to write about politics" -- but that was my objective with Destiny Calling: How the People Elected Barack Obama. My sense was that the old hierarchy -- newsroom elites deciding what was important, reporters following orders and each day filing dozens of very similar stories from the campaign trail -- was melting away.

I was out of the game, one of a small army of veterans who either chose to leave the Chicago Tribune or were invited to leave to cut costs. But I wasn't done with politics yet, particularly in light of Obama's campaign, its epicenter in Illinois, and an awareness that a new kind of history was being written. Media may have been in collapse, but I wasn't. I needed to find a better (and frankly, cheaper) way to do it.

I concluded that what was most important was the condition of the nation after eight years of George W. Bush. What a disaster the man created! -- from Hurricane Katrina (the natural catastrophe he couldn't handle), to a pair of badly managed wars, to ethical behavior that recalled 19th Century politics, to a shattering economy with all its consequences still to play out. It seemed clear to me that the story of this campaign would not be told in an airplane flying over the nation. I wanted to find the people who reflected the problems I identified.

That took me to Mississippi to talk with a Katrina victim; to North Carolina to watch a campaign play out through the eyes of a political veteran; to Maryland, where a valiant retired army colonel told me about the price of war and why he would vote for the first person who promised to bring the troops home; and lots of other places to talk about the fissures of the economy.

There is nothing traditional about the book I wrote. It is defined by special people who reflect on the state of the nation. One of the most interesting pieces, to me, played out in Evanston, Illinois, where I spent some time with a woman I have known for years, Birch Burghardt. She did a big favor for me: she watched the Republican convention on television and set down her thoughts for me. Here is how I told her story in Destiny Calling.

Giving people are hard to find. Some people just send money. Some people send their concerns or their wishes for the best. Some people send their prayers. Birch Burghardt does all of that, but she also sends herself, which makes her unusual in the firmament of givers. Whether it's supporting after-school programs for disadvantaged children or tackling that biggest of all challenges, teaching in the Chicago Public Schools, somehow she has been there. There are people like this all over the North Shore of Chicago, folks who could sit comfortably back, send a check now and then, and feel just fine about it. But they don't. The place fairly buzzes with do-gooders, many of whom actually do good instead of just talking about it.

Burghardt lives in a couple of places, one of them Evanston and one of them an island off Seattle where she and her husband Galen have constructed a dream house for themselves and their children. A strong singer and lover of folk music, she is frequently seen in the company of her daughter, a tall blond like herself with blue eyes and the gift of a strong alto. It is a very musical family.

I asked her to watch the Republican convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul and tell me what she thought of the performances. I believed she would be particularly astute at this assignment because, first of all, she is fair-minded, and second, she is very smart, with a master's degree in economics from Georgetown and a doctorate in education from Northwestern.

She has an interesting background. Burghardt was born in New Haven, Connecticut. She went to public schools in Farmington then shifted to private schools. She spent her childhood in such a Republican family that she would be sent to school wearing a little gold elephant pin that said GOP on it, or "I Like Ike" buttons. All of that changed in the 1970s and 1980s, when her family abandoned the GOP and became activist Democrats in the wake of the Nixon administration and Watergate. They were inspired by Jimmy Carter.

Burghardt wants the next president to be careful about balance on the Supreme Court. She hopes he will not be so partisan when it comes to filling high court vacancies. She wants serious action on the environment -- not that she believes the nation can turn back the clock, but it has to make a commitment "to reduce our negative impact on the environment." Having taught school in Chicago, she knows "the immensity of the challenges faced by the schools," so federal funding efforts are important.

Then she pops up with an issue that sounds classically conservative to me: "balance the budget." But she adds that she would support tax increases to do that, which sounds Democratic again. She does not like the fact that the Chinese hold so much of America's debt.

Put it all together and you end up with a voter who looks a lot like many independent voters across the country -- concerned about social issues like education and improving living conditions around the world, a little conservative on budget questions, and an advocate for public schools. It's healthy that her positions are not predictable, because most people don't fit handily into the boxes created for them. There are gun-owning liberals, for example, and conservatives who deeply oppose the death penalty. There are libertarians who feel pot smoking is just fine, and Democrats who support strong enforcement action on all drugs.

Simple categories are just not broad enough for people like Burghardt. Because of her background as an economist, she has an inherent distrust of big government and what it can do. At the same time she liked the description "compassionate conservative" when it appeared in Republican circles in 2000 because it sent the message that you could be conservative and also care about the well-being of your fellow man. "It really made me think that people do care," she said. "They want there to be goodness. They want there to be kindness. They want there to be relationship and caring. They want to help people who need help, but they are still conservative." She hastened to point out that she believed President Bush was disingenuous and never voted for him.

By the time of the Republican convention, with its faux start because of Hurricane Gustav, she had been following both sides of the contest closely and was eager to see what the Republicans had to say. My sense was that even though I thought of her as liberal, she could be swayed by a good argument to do an about-face. Her comments on the convention indicated that was likely true, up to a point -- the point being the arrival of Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

"I thought that at the beginning, McCain and Fred Thompson were incredibly eloquent. And they said what was most important. The most compelling thing about McCain, I think, is that he has, in the past, been really open and really productive, often working across the aisle. He has that experience of being a prisoner of war and being very loyal to the United States. I think that's compelling. Whether it's important or not, I don't know. When I watched those speeches, I thought, 'Huh, maybe I'd vote for McCain. Too bad I don't agree with him on some points.'"

"When Sarah Palin gave her speech, I hated it. She was so sarcastic. I thought she was playing herself up as a great person, really spunky and neat, right? But not really a person of substance so much as a person of punch and power. And then this nastiness that came out, I was very sad ... Then [Rudy] Giulani's speech -- same thing. I thought he was unpleasant ... I mean, when he smiles it looks strange. So anyway, I thought, 'Okay, good. I don't have to vote for McCain.'"

As the convention progressed, Burghardt thought it was clear that the Republicans were still working on the party base, very late in the game. All the speeches seemed aimed at convincing the party faithful they had nominated the right candidate, even though his conservative credentials were hardly sterling. And the more she found out about Palin, the more concerned she became that the Alaska governor was unprincipled.

Palin's problem with the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere" got Burghardt's attention. The Alaska governor claimed she had canceled the project, a pet project of Alaska senator Ted Stevens, but that happened only after she first supported the construction project, then nixed it and used the money for other highway construction.

"There's that," she said. "I mean, the New York Times has biases, but they probably don't report falsehoods. Then there's the trooper story, which just makes me think, 'I want a slime ball like that as president?' Inexperienced and a slime ball. An emotional slime ball. Oh God!"

McCain put the deal breaker on the table for Burghardt when he chose Sarah Palin as his running mate. Burghardt is not a vulgar woman, so when a "bitch" slips out, she gets a little pink and apologizes. It's a fetching gesture, but not a good sign for the McCain-Palin ticket.

In making her decision, true to form Burghardt didn't just send money or offer lip service. She gave herself to the Obama campaign.

Johnathon Briggs: Chicago's Public Health Budget Gets The Flu

2009-11-23T19:04:25Z

By Johnathon E. Briggs and John Peller

With the ongoing economic recession, Mayor Richard M. Daley and City Council members unquestionably face agonizing choices to balance the city's 2010 budget.

While funding cuts and other budgetary reforms will undoubtedly be needed, some essential city services are too important to do without. Alarmingly, Mayor Daley's 2010 budget plan calls for a $2.1 million funding reduction (6.7% cut) for public health. This doesn't account for the $2.5 million budget transfer for information technology to a different city agency.

These reductions could have a far-reaching and detrimental impact on the health of Chicago residents and the quality of life of our city, worsening the health of individuals and increasing health disparities.

In past years, Mayor Daley has championed public health, and particularly HIV prevention and care funding. Most recently, the Mayor and City Council increased HIV prevention funding by $500,000 in 2006, and AIDS housing funding by $250,000 in 2007.

The recent H1N1 vaccination drive has shown the nation the importance of public health. Unfortunately, it has not slowed a severe divestment in public health across the country. The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials reported in October that two out of three jurisdictions saw public health budget cuts this year. Services were reduced, programs eliminated, and staff laid off.

HIV programs have faced similar cuts . Three-quarters of state HIV programs saw their prevention dollars reduced this year, with $167 million axed from programs in 2009 alone.

Chicago's own Dr. Will Wong, who directs sexually transmitted disease (STD) and HIV prevention and control for the Chicago Department of Public Health, noted this week that STD prevention resources are strained nationally. Sixty-nine percent of STD programs surveyed experienced budget cuts, and 39 STD clinics around the nation shut their doors.

The tangible impact of funding cuts for STD control programs is being felt across the country. STD data released this week by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that STD rates in the U.S. are at an all-time high. CDC estimates that approximately 19 million new STD infections occur each year, at a cost of up to $15.9 billion. Chlamydia rates increased 9.2%, while syphilis rates rose by a staggering 18%.

"The burden of STDs is becoming worse in this country at the same time that the resources we need to fight these illnesses continue to shrink," Dr. Wong noted. "None of this bodes well for the future health of our nation and our communities."

In fact, Cook County has the highest number of gonorrhea cases in the nation, according to CDC. Cook County ranks second for chlamydia cases, second only to Los Angeles, and third for syphilis, a disease that not too long ago was nearly eliminated in the United States.

Chicago's health disparities are staggering, and funding reductions are likely to make them only worse. New statistics released by the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) earlier this year indicate that 30% of young African-American men who have sex with men (MSM) are HIV-positive, a rate that is seven times higher than among their white counterparts. Eleven percent of Latino MSM are living with HIV, a rate that is almost three times higher than their white peers. If Chicago is to make any progress against health disparities and the HIV epidemic in the most impacted populations, including African-Americans, Latinos, and gay men and MSM of all races, the city must continue to invest in HIV prevention and other programs.

So what do proposed budget reductions mean for Chicago? A 6.7% budget cut for public health would mean fewer city services for an array of essential health activities. Here are just four examples:

• Substance abuse treatment services would need to eliminate $500,000 in services (a 12-15% reduction);
• Sexually transmitted disease treatment clinics would lose four staff positions, straining already overwhelmed city clinics;
• The city's maternal and child health program would conduct 1,000 fewer home visits for vulnerable mothers and children.
• Essential HIV services would receive $175,000 less for HIV prevention and care programs. While lower than the cut for other sections, the 4% reduction comes on the heels of an $800,000 funding loss to Chicago from the state needed to keep the AIDS Drug Assistance Program afloat.

Since 2006, the Chicago Department of Public Health has lost 176 staff positions, or 39% of its staff. The additional proposed reductions this year are likely to further erode Chicago's ability to keep residents healthy, reduce chronic and infectious diseases, respond to outbreaks such as H1N1, and protect Chicago's most vulnerable residents.

Chicago's health doesn't have to be another casualty in a bad budget year. Seventy-four organizations wrote Mayor Daley and City Council members earlier this year urging them to restore funding for public health. Concerned Chicagoans are also calling on their aldermen to restore public health funding.

The moment of truth may come on Nov. 25, when the mayor is likely to introduce amendments to the introduced budget that could restore funding. Public health is an essential city service, just like police, fire and education, which should not be shortchanged when economic times are tough.

Johnathon E. Briggs, a former "Chicago Tribune" urban affairs reporter, is vice president of communications at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.

John Peller is director of government relations at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.

David Ormsby: Dan Seals, Ann Williams And Jacob Meister Have A Tip For Dan Hynes -- "It's Jobs"

2009-11-23T16:31:53Z

"I was walking last week in Arlington Heights, and the first three homes I visited had at least one family member unemployed. At one home, both the husband and wife were unemployed and couldn't find work. She was so upset that she could barely talk about their situation," wrote Dan Seals, a Democratic candidate seeking the congressional seat being vacated by Mark Kirk, in an e-mail on November 19.

Seals hit a political nerve.

Seals, who is facing State Rep. Julie Hamos (D-Evanston) in the Democratic primary, is among a small but growing circle of Illinois candidates knocking on doors who grasp that jobs -- not our famed and ballyhooed corruption scandals or income tax plans -- are the key issue to win the 2010 elections here.

Additionally, on Thursday, the Illinois Department of Employment Security announced the Illinois unemployment rate zoomed from 10.5% to 11.0% -- the highest in 26 years.

Seals notes that the unemployment rate in the tony 10th Congressional District has increased from 5.7% to 8.9% in the last year, a 56% a jump.

And Seals is not the only candidate to figure out that jobs are issue number one.

Ann Williams, a Democratic state legislative candidate seeking the House seat being vacated by John Fritchey on Chicago's North Side, has knocked on 1,500 doors and gets virtually the same jobs message from voters at each door.

"The people at the doors tell me they have either lost their job, their neighbor has lost a job, or they fear they will lose their job because of downsizing," said Williams. "Jobs emerge in all conversations."

Illinois Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Jacob Meister, who is running for Barack Obama's Senate seat, is already airing television ads on broadcast television downstate focusing on -- jobs. In fact, Meister says in his ad that it's "jobs, jobs jobs not corruption" that is the subject on voters' minds. He's right.

And national and local polling backs up Seals, Williams and Meister.

According to a recent Gallup poll,

After several months of decreased concern, Americans in November are more likely than last month to cite economic concerns as the most important problem facing the country. Now, 31% mention the economy in general and 20% mention unemployment as the top problem.

Illinois Republican Governor candidate and former business man Adam Andrzejewski just released a poll that, among other points, notes that the economy and jobs are top issues for Illinois Republican primary voters at 39%. Political corruption ranks at a measly 3%.

If Andrezjewski was smart -- if -- he would ditch his nickel-and-dime campaign slogan of "Every Dime Online in Real Time" regarding Illinois budget transparency as means to save money. We'll see. Once a campaign has a slogan it is hard to rid itself of the warm, snuggly feeling that its familiarity breeds.

Another gubernatorial candidate who would benefit from a shift of focus -- who is indeed a smart guy -- is Comptroller Dan Hynes, trailing Gov. Pat Quinn 2 to 1 in some polls. Hynes has made his progressive income tax plan -- "to fix the budget mess" -- the centerpiece of his campaign against Quinn.

"I ... support jobs and better education, but until we have a plan to pay our bills, balance our budget and emerge from the fiscal hole that is threatening the future of Illinois ... ," Hynes stated on Oct. 22. He's right. The fiscal hole does threaten the future of Illinois. But jobless Illinoisans threaten it more.

When Hynes announced his gubernatorial campaign intentions on Aug. 6, the most recent Illinois unemployment rate known stood at 10.3% for June. It's 11% in October.

Whatever political sense a progressive income tax to fix the Illinois budget made in early August, it no longer makes political sense in November. The climate has shifted.

If Hynes has any doubts, perhaps he should join Seals or Williams and knock on a few higher-income, unemployed doors and pitch his progressive income tax to fix the "budget mess" as the number one problem -- and hope the door misses his backside on the way out.

Let the gear shifting begin.

Byron Williams: People Of Illinois Should Get The Facts From California About Recalling Governors

2009-11-23T15:50:25Z

Dear good people of Illinois:

I understand that you will have a measure on the ballot next year for your approval that would give you a process for recalling a governor.

Given that your last governor was arrested on federal corruption charges and his predecessor is serving time in federal prison, it makes sense that you would entertain any proposal that would seemingly put power back into your hands.

But take it from someone who remembers the last time a governor was recalled: Having the power to recall the governor might feel empowering, but that feeling is temporary at best.

I realize your current governor, Pat Quinn, is responsible for this proposal. He has framed recall as the "ultimate ethics measure for the people of Illinois," based on having two bad governors -- one from each party.

For Quinn, the recall proposal is a no-brainer. He carries the populist banner running against one person who's incarcerated and the other who's indicted. In light of recent history alone, simply putting recall on the ballot makes Quinn appear as the personification of good government.

Eighteen states have the power to recall a governor, but it is rarely used. In 2003, we in California recalled Gray Davis. Before that, the last governor to be recalled was in North Dakota in 1921. Any feeling of elation that you have must be tempered by the rarity of such an occurrence.

Moreover, the Illinois recall measure sets an especially high bar. Thirty state legislators, 15 from each party, would have to sign affidavits to start the process. Proponents would then need to get hundreds of thousands of signed petitions by voters before a special recall election could be set.

The other cautionary point is recall tends to be marked by emotion, which can blind one to judicious reasoning. The political climate that shaped the California recall was the state's energy crisis, which caused energy bills to triple in some cases.

Many of the players responsible for the partial deregulation in 1996 were no longer in office when the crisis occurred.

Californians were justifiably angry and we needed someone to blame. Davis became the convenient fall guy. But Davis was also a key ally in his own demise.

Davis was viewed rightly or wrongly as not fighting for Californians. He was also seen as spending more time fundraising than governing the state.

Davis accepted $2 million from the California Correctional Peace Officers Association and used his political connections to pass an estimated $5 billion raise for the association over the coming years. Though he was not guilty of anything illegal, he was guilty in the court of public opinion on charges of corruption.

This led to Davis' recall and the election of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who defeated a plethora of candidates that included Hustler magazine Publisher Larry Flynt and former child actor Gary Coleman.

There's clearly nothing in the Illinois proposal that could rival the circus atmosphere of California's recall. But I do offer a cautionary note based on the perfection of hindsight.

For all of the emotion and frustration that led to the recall, I cannot say it was a net positive for the state. Tens of millions were spent and California today makes the Davis years look like "good old days."

Economically, the state is worse off. Davis was also recalled in part for the Vehicle Licensing Fee (VLF), which would have reduced the current projected deficits.

Many of those who cheered as Schwarzenegger announced that his first act after his election in 2003 would be to cut the VLF are now the primary obstructionists to any proposal that seeks to close the state's annual budget gaps by increasing revenues.

Would California have been better off not recalling Davis? The facts on the ground suggest probably.

The other thing to keep in mind is that part of your frustration is the result of the system working. Neither George Ryan nor Rod Blagojevich got away with their misdeeds.

It was a system based on judicious reasoning and evidence, and it requires time. Don't replace that with the emotion also known as the "will of the people." Trust me, it may feel good in the short-term, but it is hardly a long-term solution.

I wish you the very best whatever you decide.

Sincerely,
A Concerned Californian

Byron Williams is an Oakland pastor and syndicated columnist and blog-talk radio host. He is the author of "Strip Mall Patriotism: Moral Reflections of the Iraq War." E-mail him byron@byronspeaks.com or visit his Web site: byronspeaks.com.

Zondra Hughes: The Shameful Shaniya Davis Saga

2009-11-23T03:18:20Z

My former journalism professor would be disappointed in me right now.

Mr. Jensen taught us to separate the emotional self from the story and/or its subjects. You are on the scene to report, to relay the pertinent facts, to practice the ABCs of journalism -- Accuracy, Brevity and Clarity -- you're an unbiased eyewitness for those not on the scene.

But the news of Shaniya Davis'journey from childhood to the sex trade to death makes me so angry.

Shaniya's mother, Antoinette Davis, 25 has been charged with felonious child abuse and human trafficking. The alleged John, Andrette McNeill, 29, faces kidnapping charges after he was reportedly spotted carrying the child at a hotel.

The child's funeral, follow by the news of her mother's new pregnancy has sent my emotions into a tail spin.

But the comments on Twitter are downright scary.

Deeceevoice wrote: "Short eyes. I don't expect Mario McNeill or Antoinette Davis, if convicted, 2 survive long n the prison population. They're already dead." Adds commenter ladysexxy1: "I hope ANTOINETTE DAVIS BURNS!!!!"

Justice -- via the U.S. court system -- is due.

I hope these cyber-expressions of vigilance manifest in a more positive manner, that is, in a collective effort to watch over the children, and to protect them even if it's from their own mothers.

Hell, especially if its from their own monstrous mothers.

This tragedy has really opened my eyes to the sex trade on America's soil. No longer is it a problem reserved for the so-called Third World underground economy.

It's our problem too.

Edward Lifson: Chicago Tears Down a Mies

2009-11-20T21:26:44Z

And so it will happen. This week, powers that be in Chicago will demolish a little work by Mies van der Rohe. A small part of his extraordinarily important campus for the Illinois Institute of Technology will bite the dust.

Another small piece of when Chicago ruled the architecture and planning worlds will be gone forever. In the hopes that maybe we will save the next small piece of our history to be threatened with sacrifice in the name of progress (see Stock Exchange, Chicago, Louis Sullivan; Arts Club Chicago, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe...) I send this open letter to a friend, the architecture critic of the Chicago Tribune, Blair Kamin.

Dear Blair,

You know I respect you immensely as an architecture critic, but I must differ with you for accepting without loud cry the unnecessary demolition of a work in Chicago by the great modernist architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

We speak of what is called the "Test Cell," at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) on the south side of the city. It will come down this week, maybe even today, because nearby -- not even directly on its site -- the commuter rail line Metra will erect a new station on its Rock Island District Line which chugs through Chicago's South and Southwest Sides to the Southwest suburbs. The station will be used by local residents of Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood and also by fans going to White Sox park right across the Dan Ryan expressway and by IIT faculty, students and staff. That's all good -- no one is more in favor of train stations and public transportation than we are.

But honestly, Blair, wouldn't it be easy to have the train station on site it is planned for and to not touch a brick of Mies's building and adjacent walls? You don't address how easy that would be. Look -- here's the Test Cell, in the lower left corner:

Test Cell and walls to be demolished- bottom left. -Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

And here is a rendering of the planned station:

The lower left corner is basically -- empty! Couldn't the existing works by an acknowledged master have been easily incorporated into the new station? Wouldn't that make the site more interesting, not less? It seems to the Test Cell and its adjoining walls could easily be saved and incorporated into the station project.

Is there some other force at play here? Some antipathy to Mies or Modernism or as sometimes happens in Chicago, antipathy to anything that strives to be a little better, a little more designed, thought through and significant.

Blair, in your most recent writing on Mies's Test Cell you cite another excellent critic, Richard Lacayo of Time Magazine who wrote about the Test Cell issue: "Buildings occupy land, and in a densely settled city every acre is contested ground." This makes it sound like the Test Cell is in mid-town Manhattan, standing in the way of some great development with no alternative but to remove it. The truth is that near the Test Cell are many lots that look more like Detroit -- not so "densely settled," not so contested, not so desired even. You and I know that much land to the south and to the west stands vacant and with a little creativity, vision and sensitivity the station could be built on any of those three sites. Here's the view directly across the street from the Test Cell.

A densely settled city?

Chicago -- a Midwestern city in a tough climate -- ignores the lessons of Detroit at its own peril. By destroying heritage buildings and making the place less interesting the city alienates and risks losing the creative class. Tearing down an asset such as a part of a masterpiece campus by Mies van der Rohe -- one of the most important architects in history -- is short-sighted and will lead to more blight, not less. A Google Earth photograph already shows desolate land by the Test Cell.

Figures from the year 2000 put population density for Chicago at about 13,000 people per square mile. But the area around IIT housed only about 4,000 people per square mile. That is hardly "densely settled."

Berlin, Germany has about 10,000 people per square mile and they manage to preserve their minor and major works by Mies. Berlin officials are now trying to rebuild a brick monument Mies designed.

Monument to Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht, Berlin, 1926
-Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Unappreciated and torn down by the Nazis.

Rather than demolishing works by the masters who made Chicago great, the city ought to preserve and project the greatness of this legacy to the world. Sadly at the same time we lose a part of Mies's IIT campus we also lose important works nearby co-designed by another Bauhaus master Walter Gropius.

Chicago tried to take a world stage with an Olympic bid and it failed. In recent memory it has gone from being the city internationally famous for Al Capone to being more famous for Michael Jordan of the Bulls and then of giving the world Barack Obama; but now Chicago seems to be slipping backwards, enduring slurs about "the Chicago Way" in politics. The great Mayor Daley sees his power and his popularity dissipating, after his triumph of imperial proportions at Millennium Park. Financially the city is doing the equivalent of tearing down the Test Cell by mortgaging its future for short term "gain" however it can, such as by leasing out its parking meters and maybe also its water supply.

This week, the best news for the state of Illinois, seems to be that the Feds might use an Illinois prison to house terrorists. Is that Illinois' future? We need to support what is great in Chicago, which includes the incredibly important work of Mies van der Rohe. We should work together to have all of the Illinois Institute of Technology designated a World Heritage site.

We all know that at fifty or sixty years old buildings go through a phase where they have aged and are decrepit and look ugly and are under-appreciated. They are "your father's buildings" and we want new. History teaches us that that is not the time to pass final judgment.

By the way, we know the Test Cell is by Mies. The work is listed in his published archives.

The Museum of Modern Art which holds his archives contains dozens of pieces of documentation of Mies's firm working on the building.

I advocate a sort of "Hippocratic Oath" for architects, one tenet of which would be: if you must tear down something of value, you must replace it with something of equal or superior value.

From renderings the new Metra station and plaza by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill looks rather bland as seen above and here:

Images Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, LLP

More uninspired infrastructure, from a design point of view. This is worthy of its place along the Dan Ryan expressway. It's far inferior to, for example, this more exhilarating work by SOM Chicago for China (Ross Wimer - SOM Design Partner for the project). Why is that? Are Chinese cities today ambitious and experimental in ways Chicago was when Mies was around?

Blair -- when you write of the Test Cell you do not write of it as part of the Mies van der Rohe-designed IIT campus. You consider it in and of itself. But you have written eloquently in the past of how individual buildings make a fabric. You have written well of how not every building should stand out, how some should be background players; and that's what the Test Cell is. In my opinion what is important there are the brick walls that extend from it, and connect Mies's IIT campus to the city around it.

I know you and I agree that Mies is one of the most important architects who ever lived, and certainly who ever built anything in Chicago. Mies is the man who said, "Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. There it begins." There are several important words in that quote. One is that you must work and think "carefully." We are not doing that by tearing this down. The word "Architecture" is important -- he does not mean building, he means Architecture. There is so precious little of it in all the buildings we put up today, but the campus of IIT is one of the most important Modern Architecture sites in the world; why are we altering it, desecrating it? And finally, it is important that Mies is talking about bricks.

The Test Cell offers those who will listen a quiet message of doing much with little, of not wasting, of honesty, of each American citizen being like a brick- our common material- and when you arrange them into a wall, each supports the other and you create a society, a self-reliant society that does honest work and stands on its own. Each building at IIT is like a state, made of citizens. Together they make a nation. E Pluribus Unum. Each part is important, each brick is important. Mies, coming from post-Enlightenment Berlin was impressed with Karl Friedrich Schinkel's neo-classical buildings that also sought to build strong, enlightened, progressive citizens .

Only when you have enough little buildings like the Test Cell are you perhaps ready for a masterpiece such as Crown Hall - Mies's great "temple" just around the corner. The one needs the other. And if we can not value the Test Cell, then we can not fully appreciate the masterpiece. The Test Cell is your foot soldier, your pawn, your second baseman (turning a corner), your factory worker, your proletarian. It exudes decency. Are we so besotted with spectacle that we no longer value decent, little honest "supporting actors" of buildings?

Mies is one of Chicago's great triumvirate -- Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies van der Rohe. We've lost so much of their work. Perhaps it was a fluke that they built there at all. The U.S. was a different place then -- in their time, Chicago was the center of the architecture and urbanism world. Since then, Los Angeles and other cities have siphoned off much of Chicago's creative talent. New York developed a super-rich architecture scene, the warm southwestern cities grew in population at Chicago's expense. By chance, I write this from Las Vegas of all places, where life has taken me for a few days. I would argue that Mies's little Test Cell is worth more than just about every building here.

I wrote that tearing this down is like destroying forever a minor work by Mozart. You support the counter-argument that sheet music can be stored in a drawer. I counter that with this: architecture can only truly be experienced by walking up to it around it and through it. No photograph, computer or drawing can completely convey the architectural experience. By tearing down the Test Cell -- when it does not need to be in order to build the station -- we are depriving all future generations the chance to experience a progression designed by Mies van der Rohe. No one will be able to walk underneath that bridge at 35th street, see that thin brick wall reaching out, forming a plane in space, just beginning to form an ensemble, becoming something great and historically important, making a turn to reveal to the viewer a great Modernist street and cathedral-like power plant -- to herald a new world and a new way of life. A democratic way, a technological way but one with art -- technology and new materials through sensitive artistic handling to help to give us dignified lives -- that is Mies's lesson for us.

Why not clean up these nice yellowish bricks and turn this into a kiosk dispensing information to all who pass on the importance of the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology? It's hard for many to see it now, but people always come around to appreciating quality. Unfortunately, that's often not until it's gone.

David Murray: Studs Terkel, On His Dance With the FBI: 'Oh Well'

2009-11-20T15:53:21Z

I read with interest all the stories this week about the late Studs Terkel and his FBI file. To my dismay, they pretended to discover the ironic revelation that Terkel actually applied to work for the FBI in the early 1930s.

I scratched my head, waiting for someone to remember that Terkel wrote about his attempt to catch on with the FBI -- and about his subsequent unhappy experiences with FBI agents -- in a book first published in 1973, called Talking to Myself.

But no one ever did. Terkel didn't call this the "United States of Alzheimer's" for nothing.

"You see, I was unhappy at law school," Terkel writes. "My one ambition, at the time, was to get a civil service job. That's what I really wanted. Something steady. Something not too exciting or exacting. So that I might, without too much on my mind, see movies and plays and weekend baseball games and attend concerts. I felt I had the makings of a good spectator."

He explains that he'd taken a civil service exam and scored well enough to be invited for an interview by the FBI's Chicago Bureau chief, Melvin Purvis. The position: fingerprint classifier, $1,260 a year.

"Melivin Purvis was friendly enough; though I was aware he was studying me. ... I remember his neatness, his diminutive size, and his soft Southern accent. It was a year or so before he would achieve renown as the FBI man who did in John Dillinger."

He asked me about myself. He was curious: Why should a University of Chicago Law School student seek so modest a job? I tried to explain. He didn't appear too impressed. What kind of books did I read? he asked. I told him Ring Lardner and Mark Twain. What else? Well, it happens that a month or so before, Professor Morris Raphael Cohen of the City College of New York had lectured at the university. So I said Morris Raphael Cohen, though I had read none of his writings. Mr. Purvis asked if I was of Hebrew extraction. I told him yes. I don't remember much else of the conversation, though it was polite. He thanked me and said he'd let me know. I never heard from him again. What did I do wrong? To think that I might have been a member of the FBI. Oh well.

Later, he describes visits to his home from FBI agents, in the 1950s, as they built their dossier on him. In gleeful hindsight, he says his wife Ida treated the agents with contempt and tried to shoo them out. "I, of course, was terribly embarrassed," Studs twinkles. "I myself was hospitable at all times."

I seated them. I offered them choices of Scotch or bourbon. I had triple shots in mind. Invariably, they refused. Once, I suggested vodka, making it quite clear it was domestic. I thought I was quite amusing. At no time did our visitors laugh. Nor did my wife. I felt bad. I did so want to make them feel at home. I never succeeded. [...]

After several such visits, with a notable lack of response on their part, my patience, I must admit, did wear thin. On one occasion, a visitor took out his notebook and studied it. Our son, five years old at the time, peered over his shoulder. The guest abruptly shut the book. The boy was startled.

"Why did you do that?" I asked.

"He was peeking in my book."

"He's five years old."

"This is government information."

"Is it pornographic?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Isn't it fit for a child to see?"

"This is serious."

"Does it have dirty words or dirty pictures?"

"What??"

To what he calls his last run-in with the FBI, he brought none of his elfin charm. "It was a telephone call. I was not in the best of moods," Terkel writes.

In sorting through my records, preparing for my disk jockey program, I had dropped a 78 rpm. It smashed into a million pieces. It was a collectors item: "Joe Louis Blues." Lyrics by Richard Wright. Vocal by Paul Robeson. Accompaniment, Count Basie and his band. I was furious as I answered the phone.

"Are you Louis Terkel, known as Studs?"

"Yeah!" Damn my clumsiness.

"This is Martin Shea, FBI." It was a rich, stentorian bass. Strong, firmly American.

"Cut the shit. Who is it? Eddie?" I was in no mood for badinage.

"Shea of the FBI." A note of uncertainty. An octave higher than before. A baritone.

"Fer Chrissake, don't fuck around! Jimmy, ya sonafabitch!"

"I'm Shea of the FBI!" Another octave up. A mezzo-soprano. I was quite certain it was he. My fury, though, was uncontrollable. All the more so because he was he.

"Look, fucko. Keep this up and I'll kick the shit out of ya!"

Really! I'm so flabby I can't swat a mosquito.

The voice was higher now. It was a countertenor. No, it was a despairing falsetto. A castrato, that was it.

"I'm Shea of the FBI!"

"You prick ..."

A click. He had hung up. From Feodor Chaliapin to Alfred Deller. It was a remarkable piece of virtuosity, surpassing even Yma Sumac. That was the last I heard from the FBI. Oh well.

Oh well.

David Murray blogs regularly at Writing Boots.

Henry Henderson: The Value of Water

2009-11-20T15:42:24Z

We have been awash with an array of unhappy water stories in this region of late. On the surface they are unrelated ... scary fish ... E. coli contamination ... improperly regulated pesticides ... intentionally poisoned waterways ... But if you scratch below the surface there's a problematic narrative developing: the water rich communities of the Great Lakes region do not understand the nature, function and value of their most precious resource.

For starters, there was Charles Duhigg's devastating series in the New York Times about the state of water policy in the United States. His stories included the on-going poisoning of our waters with pesticides, manure from agricultural operations, and the water pollution coming from coal plants. The articles are full of shocking failures of state environmental officials to enforce the requirements of the Clean Water Act within their jurisdictions against the polluters who are destroying our waters. But what is also clear is that no one has fully quantified the burden that the public and our water resources take on as a result of this pollution.

There is also the continuing, wild tale of the slow and inadequate efforts of federal, state and local authorities to protect the Great Lakes from imminent destruction by voracious, invasive Asian Carp that have been making their way up the Mississippi and its tributaries since 1993. We know the value of the aquaculture industries that introduced this dangerous fish. And we know the ludicrous costs associated with the Army Corps of Engineers Rube Goldberg fish fence that might repel them -- as well as what it will cost to intentionally poison a five-mile stretch of the Chicago Sanitary Ship Canal to kill off the carp (and any other fish actually native to the waterway) when they take the fence offline for maintenance next month. But we don't know the real, full value of the already damaged Great Lakes ecosystem, and so an array of agencies dither and delay in taking action that would actually end this threat and protect the ecosystem permanently.

And now this week we saw a front-page Chicago Tribune article on city officials contemplating privatization of the municipal water system. The value of water is at the center of the issue -- but not the real, full value of water as a public trust asset requiring stewardship and protection. The article treats the question of privatizing water as a limited inquiry into a "dollars and cents" revenue and service issue. It is as if such a decision is actually analogous to leasing toll bridges and parking meters -- which are exclusively part of the man made, civic economy, bought and owned by a municipal corporation. In focusing narrowly on the per gallon costs that might be associated with the mayor selling our water supply, the Tribune presents no discussion of what the water is actually "worth" or the many services it provides to the web of life that depends upon it. And who can blame them? We don't look at that issue anywhere in this region. Water is treated as an abundant resource that we assume will always be there when we need it.

An aide to Chicago's Mayor Daley said that, though the mayor has said that "all things are on the table," the issue of privatization was being "blown way out of proportion." I hope that is true and that before there is any proposal to privatize Chicago's Lake Michigan water, there will be a full review and transparent discussion of the key issues at stake. We don't have all the answers to the relevant questions; the problem is the key questions themselves have not been recognized by many of the region's stakeholders. The issues of infrastructure, cross-community water sales and pricing, and constraints on access to Great Lakes water are complicated here. But smart questions have to be raised, probed and addressed transparently, not simply raised in order to derail the conversation and protect the unacceptable "business as usual" exploitation of our resources. At the heart of the discussion must be the recognition of the nature and value of water, framed by an understanding that water is a public trust asset.

All of these news stories, coupled with some of the other cases that NRDC is working on in the region, spell out the wasteful way that the Great Lakes region treats its water. The stories and cases include the ongoing fight over ballast water laws to prevent the spread of invasive species which have already fundamentally changed the ecology of the Great Lakes and our ongoing fight to force an end to dumping of "un-disinfected" human sewage (that's intestinal miasma, folks!) into the Chicago River by the government body with oversight of the issue.

It is time to get re-acquainted with the fundamental value of water as an irreplaceable, essential resource, and support the services it provides: sustenance, beauty, indeed life itself.

This post originally appeared on NRDC's Switchboard blog.

Paras Bhayani: Will Illinois Education 'Race to the Top'? There's Hope on the Horizon

2009-11-20T15:23:17Z

For some reason, the State of Illinois thinks I'm qualified to teach history.

I didn't major in history, or even political science. Though I did take a couple history courses in college, they had titles like, "The History of International Institutions" and "The Hindu Novel in the 20th Century" -- not exactly the surveys of American or European history that would qualify me to teach high school.

Instead, I majored in economics -- a field of study that entails heaps of algebra and calculus (both single and multivariable) and a fair bit of statistics and econometrics. In high school, I took BC calculus junior year before moving on to multivariable calculus and differential equations as a senior.

Yet -- and you can probably see where this is going -- the State of Illinois thinks I'm not qualified to teach math.

This bizarre situation is a result of the Illinois State Board of Education's certification requirements, which put in place significant coursework hurdles that bar a number of potentially qualified teachers from the classroom. I personally know dozens of teachers like me -- graduates of top schools who did tons of math in college -- who are unable to teach the subject anywhere except at charter schools (as I do).

Sure, the state's requirements stem from a desire to ensure that teachers know their subjects. But in reality, they are extremely attenuated from this goal. Consider the following:

1.) The state classifies undergraduate coursework in strange ways. The reason I am qualified to teach history is that my quantitative economics classes are classified as social science rather than math, even though most of them were essentially applied math courses.

2.) The coursework requirements greatly advantage education school graduates who take courses in fields like math education, even though they rarely do math coursework beyond single-variable calculus. I went as far as linear algebra -- three or four courses beyond single-variable calculus -- but soon found myself surrounded by Good Will Hunting types who permanently disabused me of the notion that I could major in math. The reason I can't teach math at a traditional school is not due to deficiencies in my education coursework, but because, according to the state requirements, I lack content knowledge.

3.) The coursework requirements don't actually mean that teachers know their content. Because the state has high coursework requirements, it compensates by putting in place extremely easy content tests -- a prospective teacher can pass the test in secondary math without knowing any calculus at all.

Thankfully, this system might soon see some major reforms, as the state board of education is in the midst of developing legislation that would do two things.

First, it would create a "test in" system that would allow people with strong backgrounds in their subjects to pursue certification by demonstrating their knowledge on a test. This is the system that many states use; in Indiana, for example, teachers who wish to be certified have to achieve a certain score on the Praxis, a nationally-recognized test that dozens of states use to certify teachers. To have truly high content standards for teachers, Illinois could require a high passing score on the Praxis or write its own, tougher version.

Second, the legislation would expand the cap on the number of teachers that each alternative-certification program can license. Currently, the alt-cert programs that operate in Illinois -- the Academy of Urban School Leadership, Teach for America, and Chicago Teaching Fellows, to name a few -- can only enroll 260 to 300 teachers per year.

Removing the cap on their enrollment would allow these programs to draw in more qualified teachers, particularly working professionals (like accountants and engineers) qualified to teach hard-to-staff areas like math and science. These programs -- particularly AUSL, whose one-year teacher residency pairs each novice teacher with a mentor who gives him or her a detailed evaluation of every lesson -- do an impressive job of preparing their teachers for the classroom, especially compared to education schools that are heavier on theory than practice.

These bold strokes are part of an effort by Illinois to win a share of the $4.3 billion Race to the Top fund, which is designed to reward states and school districts that make progressive reforms to their education systems. Illinois has already taken some steps to put itself in better position to win Race to the Top money, most clearly by moving decisively to lift its charter school cap: Chicago will now have 75 charter schools and the rest of the state will have 45, compared to 30 apiece beforehand.

During the November veto session, when the concept behind the licensing and alternative certification legislation was discussed with a number of key stakeholders, the Illinois Federation of Teachers expressed hesitation about the proposal. This effectively put off consideration of the bill until the spring.

As the legislation comes up again, it is imperative that the state's teachers unions work constructively on the bill, just as they did with the bill that lifted the charter cap. Not only could expanding access to the teaching profession help Illinois win hundreds of millions of dollars in federal money, it would help the state tear down the artificial walls that, for too long, have kept qualified instructors from the classroom.

Paul Klein: Thankful for Good Art

2009-11-20T15:13:04Z

It's always rewarding to see a rock solid painting exhibit by one of Chicago's finest artists. Jim Lutes' exhibition of new work at Valerie Carberry is refreshing after having seen a survey exhibition of his work at the Renaissance Society, which was solid, but by definition, backward looking. This show looks like a bit of a breakthrough with fewer paintings executed in egg tempera -- a painstakingly slow medium -- in favor of more oil paintings. Not only that, there are strong moves into new a new, more figurative direction, overlaying abstract strokes on quirky representation compositions. This is really good work that makes me want to pay attention to see where it's taking us.

Corey Postiglione has been a mainstay of Chicago's art community for decades -- as an art maker, a teacher and a critic. Through all means he has left an imprint. His art, at Thomas Masters, is thoughtful, meditative, formal and slow. Slow in that his art takes time to decipher. It's damned hard for a lot of artists who teach to have the energy to focus on their own aesthetic and not have it compromised by their "straight" job. Impressively, Postiglione succeeds on both counts.

Congratulations to Julie Walsh and her eponymous gallery and her 16 years of presenting fascinating, insightful art that offers us an insight into Asian cultures and provides a foil for us to better understand our own taste and visceral responses. Her new exhibit features just about every artist she has ever worked with in a celebration. As hard as it is for any gallery to succeed, it's got to be a lot harder for someone constantly presenting art to an audience that hasn't quite experienced anything like it before. Thank you Julie for the didactic, creative contribution.

Sad to say I Space's tenure as the University of Illinois' Chicago gallery outpost is over -- a result of cost-cutting. One exhibit features the late works of David Bushman who educated perhaps 1,000 artists over his long career. Also on view is Architecture of Crisis, which moves beyond the desire to be green and highlights the vast amount of forsaken buildings and projects that lay fallow and suggests the need to recycle and reuse existing materials. Provocative and timely. Over the years I Space has presented a lot of great art and provided a significant service to their school, its artists and teachers and Chicago. Logic indicates that they'll be back. I hope it's soon.

The following two exhibitions open Saturday. Patience.

James Welling's innovative and seductive photographic works open Saturday at Donald Young's beautifully situated gallery across from the Art Institute. To say that Welling works in photographic media is to limit him. Over half a century ago Ansel Adams created the 'cookbook' that almost all photographers still pay allegiance to. By tossing the book and working with lensless cameras, or even film without a camera, he explores the medium -- or anything at all -- pushes beyond the limits of "normal" and makes some really beautiful work.

Apartment galleries come and go; typically because they were never intended to be a long term project. Some mature and move on to greater legitimacy than they anticipated, but many are a short term exercise for artists or curators in training. Coming up with stimulating group exhibits is hard for museums and galleries. Too often the curators think they are artists and try to make an artistic statement instead of serving the interests of the artists themselves. The new Concertina Gallery is getting it right in their new exhibit titled Party Crashers, which considers the role of artists in their documentation of family matters. Innovative, insightful, intrusive and fun.

That's some damned good art and solid exhibitions opening this weekend.

Let's go!

Paul Klein

Esther J. Cepeda: Terror Fears Scarier Than Guantanamo Bay Suspects in the Heartland

2009-11-19T21:14:17Z

What's far scarier than the thought of Guantanamo Bay terrorism suspects cooling their heels behind maximum security bars in Thomson, Illinois?

Fear-mongered people -- already stretched to the limits due to the ravages the economy has inflicted -- acting out against anyone who looks like a foreigner because the TV and newspaper headlines are hyperventilating about terrorists living among us.

There is no doubt that the recent Fort Hood Massacre left the country wondering where they can feel safe from terrorism. If the young men and women who have pledged to protect the good old U-S-of-A can't be kept from being slain in the name of Islam on a military base filled with their peers, the dark thought goes, then what level of safety can the average Joe hope for?

I won't deny that the concern does give one pause, but honestly, I'm less scared of the possibility of an armed Islamic radical coming into my life than I am about the everyday bigots.

Take Valerie Kenney, resident of Tinley Park, which was just named by BusinessWeek Magazine the "Best Place in America to Raise Kids." She is accused of yanking off a Muslim woman's headscarf at the checkout counter of the neighborhood Jewel.

Two days after the Fort Hood shootings Kenney, 54, allegedly walked up to a woman in a hijab -- who was almost certainly loading sugary all-American kiddie cereal and milk onto the conveyor belt to take home to her four young daughters -- and shouted "That guy that did the Texas shooting, he wasn't American, and he was from the Middle East." Nidal Malik Hasan was born in the United States, in Virginia, to Palestinian parents.

Gee, I wonder how those four daughters -- or the other families who have reported derogatory terrorist-related terms graffitied on their Tinley Park property -- feel about Tinley being the "Best Place in America to Raise Kids."

Speaking as someone who has actually been slurred a terrorist in public -- dark skin, hair and eyes makes for a great many terrorist suspects -- I can tell you that the shame and humiliation of the words alone are painful enough, I can't imagine how devastated the young woman was to be violated publicly in such a religiously-offensive way. Just think about someone ripping a shirt off a nun and you might get how serious that is.

So we were already on "high" for terror alert when the Thomson, Illinois situation reared its head. Last Saturday the White House floated the idea of holding terrorist suspects who are currently in Guantanamo Bay in rural Western Illinois. Never mind the Thomson facility is a maximum security prison and the prisoners in question would be held to military detention standards which precludes all but the essential legal or enforcement visitors. Still, the fear mongers would have us believe that -- I'll quote running-for-Senate U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk -- "If we transfer al-Qaeda terrorists to Illinois, the Chicago area will receive increased attention from the jihadist world. As home to America's tallest building and her busiest airport, this is not a risk we should impose on Illinois families."

Really? Kirk wants to run for Senate to represent all of Illinois in Washington and the best he can do to whip up votes is dissuade potential economic development for a rural area -- and state -- that badly needs it is because otherwise, scary terrorists will have never heard of the Willis-formerly-Sears Tower and O'Hare?

Please! That's crazy talk coming from someone who should just know better for all sorts of different reasons. And it puts Kirk in the same class as Valerie Kenney: frustrated, scared, and just plain wrong about credible terrorist threats to Illinois' residents.

Esther J Cepeda writes about terrorism, politics, and much, much more on www.600words.com