I attempt to read as much as possible. Over the past few months, the bulk of that has been limited to mainly pixels, but like the month two years ago I spent hold up using a corporate bookstore as a library (which I highly recommend), I’ve decided I need to get back to reading ink [...]

Sometimes, people come so close to hitting the mark but miss big.

Mark Dice, conspiracy theorist and Alex Jones acolyte, would like people to boycott the Super Bowl on Sunday and “read a book.” On the surface, I both understand and to an extent, completely agree. Before unweildy mobs of football fans show up at my [...]

Our very own Aaron Cynic will be reading at this fantastic event. If you’re local to Chicago, please come check it out!

The Liquid Burning
of Apocalyptic Bard Letters

Chicago, IL - Chicago writers Aaron Cynic (Chicagoist, Diatribe Media), Jeff Phillips (Whiskey Pike, Turban Tan), Kevin Robison (Chicagoist) Ian Randall (Farmers Tan Market, slam poet), [...]

Every time I log in to the site to do maintenance and add posts, I get a bit excited when I see I have pending comments. “Wow! Not only is someone reading, but someone has something to say about it!” Unfortunately, this usually isn’t the case. That someone turns out not to be exactly human [...]

Celebrity deaths don’t often phase me, as I find it (however callous sounding) somewhat difficult to mourn for someone I’ve never met or feel like I haven’t known. I can recognize a tragedy when I see one and it’s certainly sad to see someone who brought joy or happiness into someone’s life [...]

On Thursday, the Supreme Court handed electoral politics over to corporations, who will undoubtedly spit in the court’s face and sue it for not giving them their right to blatently buy elections sooner. In a 5-4 decision handed down by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and backed by five Republican presidential appointees, the court [...]

I’ve been reading Nick Turse’s “The Complex: How the military invades our everyday lives” today, which is a fascinating look at just how many corporate entities and products we consume on a daily basis have ties to the military, mostly through contracting with the DoD. More on that at a future date. Something struck me [...]

Once again, the government is finding a way to use Twitter and other social networking platforms as tools to curtail civil liberties. Elliot Madison and Michael Wallschlaeger of Queens, New York were arrested on charges of hindering apprehension, criminal use of communication facility and possessing instruments of crime. The charges stem from Madison and Wallschlaeger [...]

Chicago used to be the city that works. Like much of America these days, much of Chicago isn’t working. We’ve hit the international news scene for terrifying violent crimes as much as our failed Olympic bid. Our mayor is a caricature of himself, a cartoon lampooning patronage that’s part diamond Joe Quimby. A mere two [...]