QUINN ON PRECKWINKLE VS. EMANUEL

3/20/14

All this talk about Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle successfully challenging Rahm Emanuel in 2015 is silly.   The analogies to 1983 fall apart on several fronts.  Ms. Preckwinkle is smart enough to know that, so don’t look for her to waste time, energy, and money or to antagonize the Mayor.

TONI PRECKWINKLE AND THE RAHM EMANUEL JUGGERNAUT

http://www.rantlifestyle.com/2014/03/20/tony-preckwinkle-rahm-emanuel-juggernaut/

That’s all I’ve produced, writing wise, in the few days since we last communicated due to the crush of other business.

Au revoir, Hawkeyes.  Go Illini!  And I’ve picked the Spartans to win it all.

Have a great weekend.

Mark

mightydad@att.net

QUINN ON THE ILLINOIS PRIMARY, ST. PATRICK’S DAY, ET. AL.

3/18/14

While time has been tight of late, how could I not write about yesterday’s Illinois primary…and St. Patrick’s Day?   On the former, don’t expect things to change in Illinois as a result of this, or any, election, primary or general.  It’s just a matter of choosing which charlatan you detest less than the other charlatan.  This state is as surely headed to hell in the proverbial handbasket as the sun is destined to rise tomorrow.  To put that observation in perspective, perhaps it is fair to note that after Bill Brady was defeated soundly in the GOP gubernatorial primary, his wife said that she was married to the most optimistic guy in the world…but my wife has never uttered those words.  

This week’s musings include

THE ILLINOIS PRIMARY:  POLTROONS, POPINJAYS, MOUNTEBANKS…AND A DEAD MACHINE

http://www.rantlifestyle.com/2014/03/19/illinois-primary-poltroons-popinjays-mountebanks-dead-machine/

Was Bruce Rauner channeling his inner Howard Dean in his acceptance speech?  And a state rep election shows just how dead the Chicago Machine is.

WHY I HATE ST. PATRICK’S DAY

http://www.rantlifestyle.com/2014/03/16/hate-st-patricks-day/

Okay, so this is essentially the same thing I say every year at about this time.  But nobody says it better.

NEW RULES FOR OVERTIME EXEMPT EMPLOYEES:  GOOD, BAD…OR SIMPLY WORTH IT?

http://www.rantlifestyle.com/2014/03/15/new-rules-overtime-exempt-employees-good-bad-simply-worth/

President Obama’s critics (and I am one of them) need to take a deep breath once in awhile lest we lose our credibility.

FORD, GM, MASSIVE RECALLS, AND MARKET EFFICIENCY

http://www.rantlifestyle.com/2014/03/15/ford-gm-massive-recalls-market-efficiency/

A little something for you market aficionados.

Have a great week, everybody.

Mark

mightydad@att.net

QUINN ON MICHELLE OBAMA, RICK PERRY, NEW PLANETS, UKRAINE, AND THE OLYMPICS

2/28/14

Years ago, someone described one of my earlier blogs as being “eclectic,” which is a great word and ideally suited to describe the range of topics I tend to cover in my writing and in the course of my daily discourse.  I try to remain interested and conversant in a number of subjects, and this is one of the few endeavors in which I have largely succeeded in my life.

Now that yours truly has nearly broken his arm patting himself on the back, here is evidence of my eclecticity…this week’s posts on Rant Lifestyle (a site, I suspect, most people “read” for the pictures, as many of you have observed):

SAME SEX MARRIAGE IN TEXAS AND THE TYRANNY OF THE MAJORITY

http://www.rantlifestyle.com/2014/02/27/sex-marriage-texas-tyranny-majority/

Contrary to popular belief, the essence of the Constitution is not “majority rules.”   At least in America, we believe, or at least used to believe, that rights are given by God and therefore are not subject to revocation by the voters.

NASA FINDS NEW PLANETS:  ARE THE ALIEN INVADERS ON THEIR WAY?

http://www.rantlifestyle.com/2014/02/27/nasa-finds-new-planets-alien-invaders-way/

As many of you know, I am a lifelong devotee of The Twilight Zone, simply the best series in the history of television.  Admittedly, this is a low bar, but I digress.  At any rate, this enthusiasm for TZ shows in this post.

MICHELLE OBAMA TO KIDS:   YOU’LL GET WHAT I SAY YOU’LL GET…AND LIKE IT!

http://www.rantlifestyle.com/2014/02/26/michelle-obama-kids-youll-get-say-youll-get-like/

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it forever:  a politician with a messianic complex is far more dangerous than a pol with his hand in the till.

A UKRAINIAN SPRING? 

http://www.rantlifestyle.com/2014/02/23/ukrainian-uprising-earmarks-arab-spring/

Sadly, this one’s coming true even as I write this.

2014 SOCHI WINTER OLYMPICS:  WE OWE THE RUSSIANS AN APOLOGY

http://www.rantlifestyle.com/2014/02/23/2014-sochi-winter-olympics-owe-russians-apology/

Given my recent surfeit of Olympics posts, I was concerned about what I’d do for material when they ended.  Judging from this week, my fears were unfounded.

Have a great weekend, everybody.  More snow and it looks like more futility from the Hawkeyes, but maybe a resurgent Illini.