Mary Mitchell on Jena 6

Did Civil Rights movement pass Louisiana by?
Racist incident leads to harsh justice for black students

August 30, 2007
BY MARY MITCHELL Sun-Times Columnist
When I ran across a tale on the Internet about six African-American teens from Jena, La., who are facing decades of prison time for allegedly beating up a white classmate, I couldn't believe their ordeal started with a tree.

A tree holds powerful symbolism for black people. While traveling in the South, legendary singer Billie Holiday saw a tree that inspired her to write "Strange Fruit," a song which contains references to lynching.

Still, it is difficult to comprehend that in 2007, black students at any high school in America felt compelled to go to a school official and ask if it would be OK to sit in the shade of a tree usually enjoyed by white students.

There's no dispute that is what happened on Aug. 31, 2006 in Jena, a town with a population that is about 85 percent white and 12 percent black.

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Roeper calls out Ted Nugent

Here is the video that Roeper discusses in his column mentioned below:



Facing a draft, Nugent bravely wet his pants

Rocker is all talk as he calls Obama, Hillary vile names

August 27, 2007
BY RICHARD ROEPER Sun-Times Columnist
So Ted Nugent roams a concert stage while toting automatic weapons, calls Barack Obama "a piece of -----" and says he told Obama to suck on one of his machine-guns. He also calls Hillary Clinton a "worthless bitch" and Dianne Feinstein a "worthless whore."

That Nugent, he's a man's man. He talks the talk and walks the walk, right?

Except when it was time to register for the draft during the Vietnam era. By his own admission, Nugent stopped all forms of personal hygiene for a month and showed up for his draft board physical in pants caked with his own urine and feces, winning a deferment. Creative!

Ah, but that was a long time ago. Nugent isn't just a washed-up rocker -- he's a right-wing madman who's not afraid to call out some of the leading Democrats in language so vile it makes the Dixie Chick Natalie Maines' comments about President Bush sound like a love poem.
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CelebTV covers Brangelina at Air and Water Show

BRAD AND ANGIE CRUISE LAKE MICHIGAN

August 20, 2007

The Jolie-Pitts got cozy in Chicago this weekend while Angelina had a break from filming her latest thriller, "Wanted." The photogenic family was spotted all over town, from their temporary home at the Peninsula Hotel to Lake Michigan, where the whole family watched the city's annual Air and Water show on Saturday.

On Friday evening, Jolie filmed an action scene on Chicago's El train, where oldest son Maddox stopped by to visit his mom. On Saturday, the Jolie-Pitts hopped aboard a boat cruise on Lake Michigan. Like responsible parents, Jolie and Pitt bundled the kids in life jackets. Paparazzi on a nearby boat along with bursts of thunder showers eventually drove the whole clan below deck.

Pitt left Chicago on Sunday morning, reportedly en route to New Orleans, where he's been involved in environmentally friendly post-Katrina rebuilding efforts in the past.
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Roeper: Don't blame Brangelina

Famous family not cause of 3-ring craziness
Mom just here to work, hang out with husband, kids

August 14, 2007
BY RICHARD ROEPER Sun-Times Columnist

A lovely actress is in town with her children and her movie-star significant other. They are world famous for their movies and their dramatic love affair and their causes and their growing family.

She's here making a movie.
On her time off, the actress and various members of her immediate family have had breakfast at Tempo and dinner at Japonais; they've shopped at Borders on Michigan Avenue and a toy store in Lincoln Square, and they've visited the Field Museum.

The actress is not crashing into light poles at 3 o'clock in the morning. She is not exiting limousines sans underwear. She is not dancing on the bar at Level or the Underground or Enclave. She's not getting into scrapes with the paparazzi or issuing insane and rambling statements via her blog. She's working and doing regular stuff with her family.

She is not the circus. We have met the circus, and it is us.
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Mark Brown on Chicago's embarrassing reaction to Brangelina

Let's behave, now, in front of our guests
Chicago should know better than to gawk when company comes over

August 14, 2007
BY MARK BROWN Sun-Times Columnist
Leave them alone. You know who I'm talking about. I'm not going to mention their names.

Just leave them alone.

Yes, they're movie stars. Glamorous movie stars. Attractive, glamorous movie stars.

So what?

This is embarrassing. Let them breathe. Let them see the city. Let their children go to the zoo.

Let them do their jobs, make their movie, spend as much money as possible in a short time and get out of here.

This isn't who we are.

We're Chicagoans. Nobody is supposed to impress us that much.
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Jesse Jr. fighting for children's healthcare. . .literally

The Omaha World Journal is reporting that Chicago Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. got into a heated exchange with Nebraska Congressman Lee Terry Tuesday night:

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It started when Democrat Jackson said, during a contentious floor debate, that Republicans can't be trusted.

Republican Terry responded by telling Jackson to "shut up," then walked over to add that he had found the Illinois lawmaker's comment inappropriate.

Terry said Jackson let loose a profanity-filled tirade.

"I'm not going to turn with my tail between my legs," Terry said, "so I just stood there."

Then Jackson asked Terry if he'd care to step outside the chamber.
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The debate that brought Terry and Jackson to the brink of fisticuffs came out of a dispute over the process that Democrats are using to push through proposals on children's health insurance. Republicans decided to vent their frustrations Tuesday night by holding up legislation on agriculture spending.
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John Kass on an interesting Viagra Triangle tale

Tavern feud brings out rich, connected

John Kass

August 1, 2007

Tavern on Rush, one of Chicago's most popular and profitable high-end nightspots in the heart of the city's Viagra Triangle, is suffering from a terrible case of ED:

Ego Dysfunction. It's so bad that a doctor might soon make emergency house calls on Rush Street.

The Tavern's two well-known managing partners -- Phil Stefani and Marty Gutilla -- are at each other's throats in a lawsuit filed last week, with Phil accusing Marty of conspiring with the building's new landlords to squeeze him out of the Tavern's $10 million a year business.

Stefani's lawsuit identifies the conspiring landlords only as Rush & Bellevue Property. But according to sources, the landlords include two guys from the 11th Ward who know guys, including Mayor Richard Daley:

* Fred Bruno Barbara, the wealthy trucking boss and mayoral fashionista who was recently named in testimony in the Chicago Outfit's Family Secrets trial as taking part in the early 1980s bombing of an Elmwood Park restaurant with late Outfit boss Angelo "The Hook" LaPietra.

* Tommy DiPiazza, the Bridgeport neighborhood real estate developer who in another, unrelated lawsuit, is alleged to have demanded $1.3 million in consulting fees, and more in kickbacks, to allow developer Thomas Snitzer to prosper in the ancestral mayoral homeland of Bridgeport.
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