Wow, is this what passes for television these days?

WTF?

Police Draw Guns on Men Opening Bank Account NBC Chicago

"Skokie police drew their guns and surrounded a Bank of America Monday morning because two 'suspicious' men wanted to open an account.

The two men describe what happened and tell NBC Chicago they were unfairly singled out by bank employees and police because of how they look.
Oops."

Way to go Bank Of America employees.

I guess I can't really harp on the police here, I mean, they did get a call the bank was being robbed, what else are they supposed to do.

So yeah, it's Bank Of America's problem. Knowing BoA branches in Skokie though how much do you want to bet no one working in that branch could be described as a white caucasian?

(Via NBC Chicago.)

Suspect Identified in Tiller Assassination

Suspect Identified in Tiller Assassination: "So a bombmaker, tax protester, member of the 'sovereignity' movement, anti-abortion zealot and Operation Rescue member: the arrested suspect manages to fit every stereotype of right-wing militia teabagger."

(Via Daily Kos.)

Hamas backers jailed in Texas

"Two founding members of what was once the biggest Muslim charity in the US have each been jailed for 65 years."

(Via BBC NEWS | Americas | Hamas backers jailed in Texas.)

Suburban Cook County assessments to be lowered

May 11, 2009
By KAREN BERKOWITZ kberkowitz@pioneerlocal.com

Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan announced plans today to adjust suburban home assessments downward to reflect the drop in home values without waiting for the next reassessment.

The drastic move -- a first for the Assessor's Office -- comes as high foreclosure rates and sluggish sales are driving home prices downward.

Assessments will be lowered in each of the 30 suburban townships to reflect specific market conditions in that township. Houlihan predicted the reductions likely would range from 4 to 15 percent.

"The situation we are facing is extraordinary," Houlihan said in announcing the move. "After careful analysis of market sales and foreclosure data, we determined these townships should not have to wait until their next reassessment for the impact to be reflected."

The adjustments won't kick in for the tax bills homeowners receive later this year, but will show up on second-installment bills in 2010. The blanket reductions won't be applied in the city of Chicago, which is being reassessed this year.

Under the ordinance, the assessment level of residential properties will be lowered to 10 percent of market value. For industrial and commercial properties, the new ratio is 25 percent of market value.

Color me stunned! But I'll believe it when I see it. The taxes on my home from 2000 to 2009 have tripled.

(Via Pioneerlocal.)

Warrantless GPS Tracking Is Legal, Says WI Court

'A Wisconsin appeals court ruled Thursday that police can attach GPS trackers to cars to secretly track anybody's movements without obtaining search warrants. As the law currently stands, the court said police can mount GPS on cars to track people without violating their constitutional rights — even if the drivers aren't suspects. Officers do not need to get warrants beforehand because GPS tracking does not involve a search or a seizure, wrote Madison Judge Paul Lundsten.'

(Via Slashdot.)

Much longer article from Chicago Tribune here.

What If Energy Were Free?

Reading this article today about Evanston thinking of installing wind turbines in Lake Michigan made me giddy. The feeling is short lived however after seeing how reluctant we are to just "go for it" anymore.

The city is thinking of installing 10 wind turbines 4 miles off shore. It would take approximately 7 years to complete and when activated it's estimated to supply 1/3 of the energy for all of the city's homeowners.

But why stop there? Why shoot so low? Doesn't anyone see what can happen here?

How about we install 300 wind turbines off the shore of Lake Michigan, or better yet, 3000 covering 40 sq. miles! Perhaps then it would supply enough energy to power all of Chicago and the surrounding suburbs (maybe even the whole state of Illinois!). Total cost? $700 billion? $800 billion? $1 trillion? We'd pay it back through taxes and run it as a state utility. Free electricity for all citizens. Next to drinking fountains we could install outlets to charge electric scooters and cars. All gas stations could be replaced with public charging lots for electric cars which would now cost nothing to run.

I'll tell ya what, it sounds a helluvah lot better than spending $800 billion killing Iraqi's or subsidizing the lifestyles of failed bank executives.

Oh, and before you tell me that the turbines would be an unsightly mess to the beautiful shore line; you didn't seem to have any problem creating this mess on what was once a beautiful prairie:

From Blogger Pictures