No WAY!

Way, Dude.

Former Ill. Gov. George Ryan found GUILTY on 22 counts, including racketeering, mail fraud and influence-selling conspiracy.

I mean DUH! No Illinois politician can live on $77 a month* and Ryan withdrew just over $6,000 in 9 years from personal accounts.

"As the two men stood in the bathroom of the Dirksen Federal Building, former Gov. George Ryan told CBS 2’s Jon Duncanson what he’s really disappointed with is the media."
I suppose a big DUH to that too. I mean if you have to do your interview in the bathroom I can see why you’d be disappointed. I am glad he didn't say he was disappointed in the media’s handling.

The News has taken an interesting angle on this. Maybe CBS 2’s Jon Duncanson was just trying to get the jump on all the female reporters, maybe he was trying to make a statement about this story, or government corruption, but other than that the news reporting seems lack luster. I mean to show surprise in the verdict????
Hmmm, Ryan left office in 2003 amid a corruption scandal, a truck driver with a purchased license killed people, the 8yr investigation continued into an Illinois politician who learned at the knee of the best machine in the country. Seventy-nine former state officials, lobbyists, truck drivers and others have been charged in the government's Operation Safe Road investigation. Before Ryan and Warner's trial, 74 had been convicted and none acquitted. Really why the shocked looks. Even Ryan wasn’t shocked.
According to Duncanson interview of the bathroom news:
“What bothers [Ryan] is the media’s portrayal of the trial.
They were going after all of the people, but there's so much more to this issue and they didn't dig deep enough, Ryan said.
He said he is disappointed in that.”


Ryan, 72, was found guilty on all 18 charges against him by a federal court jury in Chicago. Larry Warner, 67, a lobbyist and friend of Ryan, was convicted in the same trial on 12 charges

Ryan faces a maximum of 95 years in prison and $4.5 million in fines on the charges of racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, false statements and tax fraud.



*Ryan withdrew a mere $77 in 1997 from his checking and savings accounts.


for full bathroom coverage by JON

Adventures in house hunting

So we’re moving? We’re not moving? We’re in a bit of limbo and that’s all we know. The new owners may let us stay for a while, while they continue buying up the whole block. Then again, they may not. But banking on either (or neither) doesn’t let me get proper sleep.
I can’t remember the last time my brain was overloaded with information, my body so stressed out and my fretting so useless. Maybe it was when I was attempting the last job hunt/ city move/ divorce combo.

Suburbs have reasonably priced houses (sort of) with yards, high taxes, long commutes, improbable public transit, and adorable little downtowns that make me want to vomit. R says I say “Adorable” like Homer would say “Flanders” It is a Flanders feel.

City houses with yards seem to be hell and gone from anywhere we really want to be north, south, east or west sides. So far, while finding these little “Gems in the rough” we have been asked what we were doing in the neighborhood, offered drugs, money for the white girl or a combination of both and R was bitten by a damn dog that got away from the owner.

I just got an email between R and the current LL about the buyers and the only line I could focus on was
“they want to close the deal probably on April 27 which is 2 weeks from today....”
It’s just so Über-real.

Truth in Art

Irony

Irony is that the guy who made humor seems to have a skewed sense of it.


This weekend was a family weekend. We spent going through R’s moms stuff. She is getting remarried after 10 years and they will be moving into her house. She finds herself needing to get rid of some things to make room for him. So the 4 of us, R, his brother, sister in law and myself went through the items discovering the only real items of contention were a large chair and a very old, very nice roasting pan. With R’s urging we let the roasting pan go and took the chair. He did have to promise to buy me a Dutch oven. There was some furniture we didn’t take because we would have no room for it. We said we would have to find a bigger place as it was.

The larger furniture went into storage till we rent a truck, and the rest came back with us. Our house looks like we let another roommate move in. I have been trying to figure out where everything will go. We’ll need new shelves, we may have to get rid of this chair and move the TV. I can take the leaves out of the dining room table… R caught me staring at the open cabinets and informed me staring at them would NOT make them smaller, unless I backed away and then it would only appear smaller not actually make space in the cabinet.
We had the energy to unload the car on Sunday but not the energy to put anything away. It’s just as well. Last night we got a call from the landlord. They are selling the house.
Next month.

To be fair we have joked since we first moved in we should be looking for another place. Not because we didn’t love it. I love that I have a fenced in yard where I can plant flowers and a little vegetable garden while my puppy runs about. I love the hard wood floors of this 100 year old house. But we knew when we moved in that the businesses had been pressuring homes and other businesses to sell. We knew it was just a matter of time before someone offered the right price.

R: Our lease runs out in June and they have to give us 60 days notice so the can’t throw us out till the beginning of August…I think

Me: Some how that is not as reassuring as I’m sure you intended it to sound

R: Well our current landlord’s think the business isn’t in a hurry to tare it down so they may keep it as a source of revenue. If so hopefully they would let us do a month to month lease so we don’t have to find a sub leaser when we do find a place

Me: Again, not as reassuring as I’m sure you intended

R: Well we don’t have to worry about it right now

Me: (pointing to myself and shrugging) HELLO?! Who do you think you are you talking to?

R:Your right I shouldn’t have mentioned it

Me: (5min later) Well, I guess I can quit trying to figure out where to put everything.

Now if only the California job would call. But that probably won’t happen till we buy a house.

Chicago

Two men were driving through Chicago when they got pulled over by a Chicago Police Officer. The cop walked up and tapped on the window with his nightstick.

The driver rolled down the window and "WHACK," the cop smacked him in the head with his nightstick.

"What the hell was that for?" the driver asked.

"You're in Chicago, son," the officer answered. "When we pull you over in Chicago, you better have your license ready by the time we get to your car."

"I'm sorry, officer," the driver said, "I'm from Wisconsin and didn't know your laws here."
The officer runs a check on the guy's license--he's clean and gives the guy his license back.

The officer then walks around to the passenger side and
taps on the window.

The passenger rolls down the window and "WHACK," the officer smacks him on the head with the nightstick.

"What'd you do that for?" the passenger demands.

"Just making your wish come true," replied the officer.

"Making WHAT wish come true?" the passenger asked.

"Because I know you Cheesehead types," the officer says, "two miles down the road you're going to turn to your buddy and say, 'I wish that asshole would've tried that shit with me"