Stressed Priorities

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

-- from "Leisure," by W.H. Davies

So, a coyote walks into a...

No, it's not the beginning of a "the bartender says..." joke. Yesterday a coyote walked into a sandwich shop down the street from my office. Yes, into a Quizno's in downtown Chicago.
We certainly aren't used to thinking that wildlife more typically found in the country might still inhabit the city. The coyote was an easygoing fellow and proceeded to lounge in the drinks cooler while the customers finished up their sandwiches. Sadly, he didn't find what he was looking for.


Apparently in the spring when it's mating season, the male coyotes are prone to wander around a bit in search of that special someone. Anyone observing partiers at spring break probably would note that the coyote isn't the only species prone to such desperate efforts.

Black exodus?

In today's Chicago Tribune, a side article on the feature story about the typical migration from city to suburb to exurb had a bit of interesting information.

You may or may not have heard that recently the Census Bureau released data saying that Cook County lost the third most population in the first five years of the decade (behind New Orleans' and Detroit's counties). But as it turns out, this is not white flight from the city. In actuality,

African-Americans, once constricted by racism to certain areas within the city, now are leaving Chicago for the suburbs and beyond, in numbers double those of whites.

Is this a positive sign? Are suburbs becoming more welcoming to minorities? According to the authors, it would seem so. They note,

African-Americans are accepted today in many more suburbs than in the past.

They do observe, though, that continued change is needed.

But not everywhere. When...settlement patterns [are mapped] across the region...about a third of all suburbs have fewer than 25 African-American households each -- and, in some cases, none at all.

"Things aren't as bad as they used to be," notes Northwestern University geographer John C. Hudson. The authors conclude,

However, the remaining effects of racism, less overt than they once were but present nonetheless, continue to limit African-American housing choices. As a result, blacks, particularly working-class and low-income families, still don't have the same freedom of movement as whites.

Burger Bests

If you know me, you know I love burgers. A movie I want to see is the documentary by George Motz called Hamburger America. To be honest, I would be happy eating a burger almost every time I go out to eat. That being the case, my wife and I when eating out are almost always on an unofficial quest to experience Chicago's best burgers. And Chicago has a lot of good options.

Now Time Out Chicago has helped us along in that process by releasing their list of Chicago's 55 best burgers: It's patty time!

And wouldn't you know it, I guess I'm too late, because someone's already made it their goal to eat all 55. Where's your favorite burger found?

March Madness Prediction

I think I have a love-hate relationship with politics. On one hand, I undoubtedly hate the bad side of politics. But on the other hand, I do enjoy watching the execution of clever campaign strategies, consolidation of power, mud-slinging, betrayal, and promises of a better tomorrow play out before my very eyes in the media. In truth, national politics is my favorite bloodsport.

This time around, the race for president is historic in the sense that it's the first time in 80 years that neither an incumbent president nor vice president is seeking the office. So in that sense, the race is wide open.

However, for the purposes of this post, I'm going to focus on the Democratic Party. (I might analyze the Republican field later in the year.)

For the Dems, the field really only has two serious candidates at the moment: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

For Hillary, her biggest positive is that she's got the best political machine in place. In fact, one of her key strategies is to give the sense of "inevitability" that she will win the nomination. Her fundraising so far has been stellar, and no Democrat will come close to raising as much money as she will this year. When you have the most powerful contacts and are raising the most money and lead in the national polls, people tend to start falling in line. For a politician, that's a good place to be.

However, money isn't quite everything in politics. People, to some degree, care about where you stand on the issues. For Hillary, many Democrats aren't happy that she voted for the Iraq War Resolution in 2002. In reality, that vote is one of the biggest obstacles she has to winning the Democratic nomination.

Enter Barack Obama. He's youthful, smart, and charismatic. For people who want a fresh start, he's "the next big thing." He's drawing crowds, raising money, and gaining momentum. In contrast to Hillary, he will argue that his view on Iraq has never waivered. Furthermore, being from Illinos, he will challenge Hillary on turf that she had hoped to claim as her own.

But Obama has a big hill to climb. His resume is thin, and he's up against an establishment political machine that will eat him for lunch if it has to. I think his best chance is to keep the race close through December and January and hope things break his way when people actually start casting votes in the primaries.

I do think Obama would have an edge in the debates with Hillary, but that point could be moot. Hillary will at least do one debate before Iowa, but it's hard to say if there will be any others. If she gets through that debate okay and maintains a safe lead, then why debate further? (Remember, Jimmy Carter strongly considered not debating Ronald Reagan at all. In the end, Carter agreed to one debate--and it resulted in Reagan leap-frogging him in the polls and into the White House.)

Some of you reading this might be wondering how much longer I can type on this subject without mentioning "The Bill Factor." Well, wonder no further. Honestly, I think Bill Clinton was a Catch-22 for Al Gore in 2000, but he will be a positive for Hillary in 2008 if he wants to be. My theory here is one that you probably haven't heard bef0re--I call it "The Grandpa Clinton Theory." In short, I think enough time has passed that people's view of Bill has changed to where he's not quite as polarizing. He's older, had major heart surgery, and reminds many Democrats of a simpler time. If he chooses to campaign hard for Hillary, he'll be an asset in the primaries.

As for John Edwards, I've always viewed him as a long shot in this race. His only hope was (and still is) to win Iowa and catch fire from there.

And then there's Al Gore. Will he or won't he run? Well, in some ways, I think that he's already running. He's gotten great publicity for winning an Oscar earlier this year, and he has a new book about his current political views coming out in May. My guess is that his people are constantly doing internal polling and if Gore thinks there's any chance of him competing for the nomination, he'll jump in the ring.

So what if Gore officially runs? What then? Well, I think Hillary's path to the nomination would become a tougher row to hoe. After all, if Gore's internal polling shows that he would make it easier for her to win by him jumping in the race, then he's not going to do it. (Remember, back in 1993 Hillary took Al's White House office for her own. There's a lot of bad blood between those two.)

My gut tells me that Hillary will effectively minimize the political damage of her 2002 Iraq vote and hang on to win the nomination by emphasizing past achievements of which she's proud and the ideas she has for the future. For her V.P. choice, she won't pick anyone who challenged her in the primaries, so you can forget Obama and Edwards. I'd bet on New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson--he's a trusted Clinton person who would balance out the ticket geographically and demographically quite well.

Racial Relations

This spring, I have the opportunity to participate in a class called BUILD (Breakthrough Urban Institute of Leadership Development) offered by Breakthrough Urban Ministries in Chicago. A majority of the class is based on discussion of topics facing urban areas today on which we read. Obviously much of the discussion touches on the challenges of seeking racial reconciliation and looking at the systemic injustices contained within the city. One of the great things about the class is that the members are truly racially and economically very diverse and therefore the discussion is rich.

As a result of taking part in this class, my antennae have been tuned even more than usual towards interesting items covered by the media that directly or indirectly focus on these issues of social injustice. So, partly in order to help myself keep track of them, I thought I'd plan on sharing some of these as I come across them. I hope you also find them fascinating.

the story of Mary Smith: On March 10, a blaze on the north side of Chicago killed three young men and a woman who was the mother of a 4-year-old boy. It was set by Mary Smith, a homeless woman. How did her life unravel to the point she caused the deaths of these young people? Which system failed her?

Black immigrants: Which ethnic immigrant group do you think average the highest educational attainment? African-Americans.

Answering the Big Questions

A fascinating online feature from Wired magazine asks and attempts to answer some of the "big questions" buzzing around the world today.

Have you ever wondered why we sleep or whether mathematicians can solve the Riemann hypothesis? If so, go no further.

The Achievement Gap

Why aren't African-Americans achieving all that they could? American blacks are twice as likely to be in poverty as non-blacks, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and they make nearly $5,000 a year less, on average. What exactly is standing in their way?

Thus begins a fascinating article by Tim Harford, auther of The Undercover Economist. Delving into research by Roland Fryer on 'acting white', some very interesting tidbits are contained.

What do you think is to blame? Lack of education? Lack of personal responsibility? Discrimination?

The Benefits of an Urban Life

Say one empty-nester couple who find urban life an improvement over their former suburban one:

This has had a profound effect on how we interact with people. We realize now that the cocoons of our cars kept us well insulated from the people around us. Our genuine interactions were with family and coworkers, the only people who saw us stripped of the metal that clothed and protected us. Our neighbors, we discovered, were virtually strangers. Now, we stand face-to-face with people in our building's elevators, at our corner hangouts, and on the sidewalks. We chitchat and pet our neighbors' dogs. We exchange 'good mornings' with the people we pass everyday on our way to work. We've developed friendships with several proprietors and servers at our favorite restaurants.

Granted, I'm biased--and of course, your relational networks are somewhat what you make them--but I have to agree that my impression is that urban life fosters increased interaction.

(ht: Kottke)

Link of the Day - The Town The Law Forgot

From "Boss" Tweed to Al Capone to today, the days of cities being run by gangs are undoubtedly far from over.

For a fascinating description of the chaos that results, I'd point you towards this column from the LA Weekly.

Why are Vladimir Putin’s opponents dying?

Having studied abroad in Russia during college, I have continued to pay attention to the politics in Russia. In the last five years, there is no doubt that control of the nation is being tightened within the Kremlin.
What Putin's plans are for next year after he is supposed to leave office are a mystery. But for now, this fascinating article called Kremlin, Inc. does a great job of running down the status of Russian politics. Worldwide consequences based on the leadership of that nation are certainly at stake.

The Black KKK?

Multiple people have pointed out that this past weekend's NBA All-Star game was surrounded by a chaotic scene in Las Vegas. More and more in recent years, it has become almost as big an excuse for celebrities of all sorts to gather and party as is the Super Bowl. This year, it was noted that police simply seemed 'overwhelmed'. Bill Simmons described it as the "Hip-Hop Woodstock".

Reaction to the presence of this criminal element has brought about an interesting article by sportswriter Jason Whitlock. In a piece entitled Time to Stop Looking Past Black KKK: Denial Only Empowers Negative Forces in Community he writes the following:

We have a problem in the black community, and it didn't make its debut at All-Star Weekend Vegas. What was impossible to ignore in Vegas was on display in Houston, Atlanta and previous All-Star locations.

With the exception of Louis Farrakhan's 1995 Million Man March, it's been on display nearly every time we've gathered in large groups to socialize in the past 15 or so years.

The Black Ku Klux Klan shows up in full force and does its best to ruin our good time. Instead of wearing white robes and white hoods, the new KKK has now taken to wearing white Ts and calling themselves gangsta rappers, gangbangers and posse members.

Just like the White KKK of the 1940s and '50s, we fear them, keep our eyes lowered, shut our mouths and pray they don't bother us.

Our fear makes them stronger. Our silence empowers them. Our lack of courage lets them define who we are. Our excuse-making for their behavior increases their influence and enables them to recruit more freely.

We sing their racist songs, gleefully call ourselves the N-word, hype their celebrity and get upset when white people whisper concerns about our sanity.

And whenever someone publicly states that the Black KKK is terrorizing black people, black neighborhoods, black social events and glorifying a negative, self-destructive lifestyle, we deny and blame the Man.

I don't want to do it anymore.

We can immediately observe that this is an article that will no doubt be controversial. In the same vein as Bill Cosby and Juan Williams, Whitlock will likely face outrage from within even his own friends.

He raises a valid question, however. What is the answer to the violence that has become ingrained within inner-city black culture?

On being an engineer...

Do you have 'the knack'?

Interstates Simplified

Chris Yates has created a fantastic map version of the American interstate system.

You may buy print versions here.

Decision Time

Okay, so I've heard a lot of talk about the Chicago Bulls possibly trading for Pau Gasol. At first I didn't know how serious the rumors were, but now it seems that Bulls' GM John Paxson is seriously considering a deal. Here's a passage from a Sam Smith article that sums up the dilemma:

Drew in Chicago asks, "Could you give me your list of Bulls, among Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Andres Nocioni and Tyrus Thomas, whom you would trade?"

This is a great question I'm sure John Paxson is asking as well now that there's talk the Bulls could get Pau Gasol. Ben Gordon is invaluable with his scoring, but doesn't do that much else. He doesn't really run the offense, pass or defend. But they do count the points at the end of the game and no one on the Bulls does it better. Hinrich isn't quite the scorer, but is a better defender but probably doesn't quite have the point guard mentality of Duhon. Deng is the most consistent, able to do a little bit of everything. I know I still haven't answered. Nocioni is a nice specialist, tough guy and good shooter and Thomas is the best athlete of all but a bit away in skills.

I'd put Hinrich, Gordon and Deng together at the top and find them almost inseparable in value. If I had to I'd probably keep Gordon because of his unique scoring ability and Hinrich because he defends the best and can play point and score, though he's more an old-time guard like Danny Ainge. Good guards are harder to come by than good small forwards, which makes it tough because Deng might have a higher ceiling than Hinrich and Gordon and could improve the most...

Personally, I think the Bulls absolutely have to hang onto Luol Deng. He can do a little bit of everything and is fast improving... we really don't know what type of player he'll be in two years. There's a chance the Bulls could package Deng with another player and a first round draft pick for Gasol, only to find out that Deng was the best player in the whole deal.

Of course, if Chicago's goal is to be a serious championship contender in 2008, then I don't like the idea of parting with Hinrich or Gordon either. It's a tough call though because they need to add somebody like Gasol to even have a chance at getting to that next level. Right now I think the Bulls could squeak into the NBA Finals, but then they'd be roadkill for whichever Western Conference team they faced (barring injury).

John Paxson has a tough decision to make. We'll see what happens.

Seeing the forest for the tree

the Swedish picture of the year 2006

Hoop Dreams

For a mere $25,000 a night, you can stay at the Hardwood Suite in the Palms' new Fantasy Tower. Now, you might ask, "Where's that?"

Only in Vegas.

You think Rex had a rough day at the office?

Well, at least it wasn't as rough as this guy's...

Inequality

Gregg Easterbrook cites research showing that, "Among native-born...African-Americans...family median incomes are currently rising twice as fast as family median income for the United States as a whole." He goes on to show via many more statistics that "typical Americans have become steadily better-off [than their parents]."

Despite that, Easterbrook later notes, "To say that most aspects of American...life are getting better for most people should not be misunderstood as claim that all is well... Deep, structural faults exist exist in...the United States, and the persistence of deep faults in a wealthy, successful nation like America deserves the world's opprobrium." He goes on to note, "One person in six poor, in the most affluent nation in world history, would be a shocking indictment of American society. It is America's current condition." He summarizes, "The United States...possesses sufficient wealth and power as to have no excuse for not addressing its faults. History may judge America harshly if its extraordinary combination of affluence and freedom is frittered away..."

Last Friday, ABC's 20/20 gave us a glimpse of some of the inequality in our own society. They follow a group of three children for a year and a half in Camden, NJ, which is called America's poorest and most dangerous city, asking, "What's it like to grow up in poverty and fear in the richest country in the world?" I would encourage you to watch this video (really, watch all the videos from the segment available). I cannot imagine seeing these stories and remaining unmoved. I challenge all of us to begin to reach out to bridge the gaps in our society.

Urbanism

Who said this:

I’m not interested in the suburbs. The suburbs bore me.