elsewhere/grim amusements: daley decides not to seek re-election

Grim Amusements / September 7, 2010 / daley decides not to seek re-election:

...The cynical among us may say that this is coming in part because he and the city council and the recession have dug the city into an intractable budget hole. The city is facing three separate and very deep budget deficits: the main city budget itself, the Chicago Public Schools (which is primarily but not purely funded by the state, which is in a budget hole so deep it makes Chicago look like we've got hardly any problems at all), and the Chicago Transit Authority (again, largely but not purely state funded, but the state never gave it the capital budget that was promised in the last two state budgets). Privatization of services at O'Hare and Midway and, most particularly, of the parking meters has not worked out at all the way he'd planned -- the latter brought in a big windfall of funds that the city suddenly finds itself incapable of using, lest the bond rating agencies drop the city's rating even further because it will take the city's reserves lower than some pre-determined threshold. (Apparently, you're not actually supposed to use reserves; you're merely supposed to have them, just in case you want not to use them. Or something like that. But I digress.)

Honestly, I think it may be simpler than that. Or slightly simpler, anyway. Yes, having all those battles to fight might be part of it. But in the end, I kind of think that it's largely that he's not young, that he may not have the energy to fight the fights he must to do what needs to be done ... and finally, that his wife is very ill...

elsewhere/media relations: oh, danimal...

Media Relations / September 7, 2010 / Oh, Danimal...

I really have no words. Just follow the bouncing controversy, shall we? Let's shall. [...] No, no, wait, it gets better: [...] Wait, it gets even better (for certain values of "better" defined as "Dan Hampton loves the taste of his own foot"): [...] But it turns out that his foot was, as it were, pre-chewed, because either the day before or earlier in the the show than the Katrina remark (it's not exactly clear), there was this gem: [...] It's actually a toss-up as to who is more profoundly offended by Hampton's comment: Cowboys fans or gays (and gay Cowboys fans get the two-fer, of course)....