Quick Stops

Father Mike is being a douche bag and a passive-aggressive hypocrite:

"...Pfleger insisted that the only way he will leave St. Sabina is if he is thrown out or if he believes God wants him to go."

Man up, Father Mike, and quit trying to gain martyrdom by forcing Cardinal George to fire your flaky butt because you can't even zip your lip when you're on suspension for not being able to keep your big yap shut.

If you don't want to follow the doctrines of the Church you serve (and apparently you don't), just be honest and quit already.
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Well this is just scary:

At least four mail carriers have been robbed in Chatham and Englewood in the last month alone, two of them at gunpoint. Another was robbed at gunpoint in Englewood in February.

This follows a series of less violent thefts from mail carriers on the West and Northwest Sides last year.

Nobody can say whether the targeting of mailmen is just another sign of desperate measures in a bad economy or part of some criminal strategy, but it’s prompting the union that represents mailmen to appeal to the public for help in watching their backs.

The public may have a bigger stake in this than just receiving its mail on time. In at least two of the recent incidents, the robbers specifically targeted the carriers for their “arrow keys”—the master keys that not only give a mailman access to a bank of mailboxes or a collection box but also in some cases to the locked front doors of apartment buildings.

One arrow key could allow a criminal to get inside the front door of most apartment buildings in a given zip code — and inside all its mailboxes. But it’s the possibility of someone wanting inside a building for more sinister purposes than rifling through the mail that could be a real cause for concern.

Yikes.
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Those who do not learn from the past are apparently doomed to repeat it. Just what we need -- more credit to people who can't afford it.
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Drive-Bys

Giggle of the Day:

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Quote of the Day:

"China has produced a number of other elderly horny folks in recent years."

I can't believe this one slipped by a news editor!
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Yay!

The loudest noises heard in the lead car of Metra's Rock Island District train No. 416 this morning were from the train whistle.

Annoying phone conversations and loud chatter from passengers? Not any more, if all goes according to plan.

Today marked the inaugural run for Metra's "quiet cars," where cell phones, noisy electronic devices and loud conversations are off-limits in the first and last cars on trains during morning and evening rush hours.

Faster, please! Lately there's been a blowhard sitting at the far end of my usual train car. He pontificates loudly to his seat mate all the way in to the city, and he's never got one good thing to say about anything or anyone. Bleah.
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Oh, sure! Now use Rep. Giffords' attack as an excuse to make yourself better than the rest of us peons, will ya?

A top House Democrat said the attack on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) should change how members of Congress are screened at airports.

“We’ve had some incidents where TSA authorities think that congresspeople should be treated like everybody else,” he said. “Well, the fact of the matter is, we are held to a higher standard in so many other areas, and I think we need to take a hard look at exactly how the TSA interact with members of Congress.”

Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) Remember that name and vote the bum out next time he's up for reelection!
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You sure wouldn't hear this coming out of the black community here in Chicago!

Sure, immigration is an important issue to Latinos nationally, but it comes in well behind the economy, education and health care. In Chicago, it is at the bottom of a list that includes extreme poverty, gun violence and troubled schools.

Silly conversations about ethnic solidarity have distracted us enough.

Smart Chicagoans of all walks of life should look past skin color to elect the person best poised to lead this city out of the economic doldrums.

Well said, Ms. Cepeda.
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Fear of being a “bag lady” is the secret worry of every older woman. I’ve written and talked about this before, and the subject always gets a nod or a grimace of recognition.

No woman wants to be a burden on her children – or grow old alone, worry about money.

But the latest reports show we aren’t doing enough to deal with this fear — or the reality of the growing number of elderly women living in poverty. A new report by the Society of Actuaries states the case clearly: 92 percent of female retirees are not planning long-term for retirement.

The statistics are grim.

Cut this out and share it with every woman you know, regardless of her age or marital status.
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Ear Worm of the Day:



Yes. I do miss Ireland. Why do you ask?

Sunday Schedule

Quote of the Day:

" I think the best gift to a woman is a man who listens."

I think I just fell in love... with Common.

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Coming to Chicago any time soon? If so, bookmark this fabulous listing of loads of places to find dinner for two for under $20.

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Also, pump up your Chicago trivia knowledge by noodling around here. Lots of cool info that most of us who live here don't even know!

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Love Chicago style hot dogs? And a great love story? The Superdawg story has it all!

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With work sheets laid out on the tables, the 11 high school students looked ready to dive into their group projects.

But this exercise wasn't about trigonometry problems or physics theories. Instead, the teens were being tested on their financial smarts in a lesson called "good debt vs. bad debt."

The teachers who concocted the exercise were two financial planners who stood front and center in a personal-finance class.

This is developing not just personal finance knowledge, but also critical thinking skills. More, please!

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Hmmmm....

More than ever, consumer electronics -- particularly laptops, smartphones and Apple's new iPad -- are shining bright light into our eyes until just moments before we doze off.

Now there's growing concern that these glowing gadgets may actually fool our brains into thinking it's daytime. Exposure can disturb sleep patterns and exacerbate insomnia, some sleep researchers said in interviews.

This actually makes sense to me, as I fall asleep much faster if I read on my Kindle for half an hour or so before laying down than if I just switch off the laptop and try going to sleep.

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Here's a love story that'll break your heart... unless you've got no heart at all:

A cassette tape is waiting for me. It sits in a small bubble mailer on my night table. It stares at me when I walk in the room; it beckons to me as I walk out. But still it sits there and waits. It is the last thing. The last thing he sent to me from "over there."

There is no note inside, just a regular old-school cassette tape. The outside of the envelope is addressed in his handwriting. "Love, Poppa Bear" is written on the back. I've opened it to look inside, but I haven't yet drawn up the courage to listen.

And here's the follow-up:

Yesterday was pretty emotional. I had talked to some people in the morning and I realized that I needed to sit down and have a discussion with my husband. I talk to him all the time, but I think I let him know too often how angry I still am at the situation. So I sat and I talked with him. I really opened up my heart and reminded him how much I do love him and that no matter what, that will never, ever change. I laid on the floor and just talked and talked, and it felt so good to be openly communicating the way we once did. I then needed some music so I put on the playlist I had made for him and recorded on to a tape to send him to Afghanistan. I found that I needed more of him, I wanted to hear him too, so I did it... I listened to the tape. It was difficult, I cried through much of it. He talked about being so excited to come home and hold us and hearing those things after the fact is so hard. I had somehow forgotten how funny he was and found myself laughing through my tears. It was great hearing his voice, as emotional and difficult as it was, I enjoyed it. I am so thankful my mom had that idea to send tapes and we have this (albeit, old) piece of technology to keep him, and his voice, alive.

Cpl. Jonathan D. Porto - "Bringing Him Home" from DiamondFilms on Vimeo.

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