Archive for the 'Real Journalism' Category
Compared to Florida, Chicago not all that bad
Kwummy October 12th, 2007
I browse Fark.com on a regular basis because it’s my idea of the perfect news site. I hate reading or watching the news because it’s always the same bullshit. With Fark, they only report the most ridiculous news.
Take for instance these news stories about Florida all from today’s news.
- City of Orlando recommends that homeowners walk around their houses much more carefully after discovering that there may be World War II era rockets and grenades under their houses
- Man attempts to snatch boy from school. Boy reports incident to school officials. Officials don’t bother to inform parents or cops. Boy informs parents after school. NOW it’s serious (with creepy sketch of man)
- Mother arrested for holding 5-year-old son outside moving SUV window to pee (With me-happy mugshot goodness)
- If your neighbor proudly displays hangman’s noose from his Confederate battle flag out on his front yard, he might be a Floridian. (With video goodness)
And that’s just from this morning. Imagine what goodness we will grace us with by the afternoon.
Oh Florida, I wish I could quit you.
2007 MLB Playoff Predictions
Kwummy October 2nd, 2007
Now that the MLB regular season has come to an official close, I figured I’d pull some predictions out of my butt and see how well they do.
Regardless of what happens I think the winner comes out of the AL East. The ALCS between the Yankess and Red Sox will be the “real” World Series and would be one hell of a series to watch.
NLDS
Phillies vs. Rockies: Rockies in 4
Cubs vs. Diamondbacks: Diamondbacks in 3
ALDS
Angels vs. Red Sox: Sox in 3
Indians vs. Yankees: Yankees in 5
NLCS
Diamondbacks vs Rockies: Diamondbacks in 6
ALCS
Red Sox vs. Yankess: Sox in 7
World Series
Diamondbacks vs. Red Sox: Sox in 6
And as the final out is recorded in the World Series, Cubs “fans” realize their team has gone 100 years without winning a world series.
And I laugh.
Meteorite or Missile: What caused a mysterious illness in a Peru village?
Kwummy September 24th, 2007
I have my first real post up over at AltGN. It’s about a supposed meterorite that landed near a Peru village and caused illness in over 600 locals. Hop on over there and check out the story and spend some time on the site browsing the other stories as well.
Oh, Pittsburgh
Kwummy September 19th, 2007
Erech, what is wrong with your city?
Santa Claus he’s not, but it didn’t stop Alejandro Valencio from trying to surprise the woman he called his girlfriend.
Yup, you guessed it. The dude was drunk and got stuck. Firefighters had to “rip open the wall” to get him out.
Oh, and it’s also September, not December. Dude’s about three months early.
His girlfriend got so pissed she hit him and even said to the firefighters:
I told them to leave him in the chimney and let him die
Make sure you go to the story to check out the awesome video of his girlfriend hitting him with a trash can and beer bottles.
A winner is you, Pittsburgh!
Family Guy Live Review
Kwummy September 17th, 2007
Wow, I don’t even know where to begin. Katie and I both really enjoyed the show. Overall, I think it was completely worth the price of admission and definitely an awesome experience, especially for any Family Guy fan. This was only the fourth or fifth time they’ve put this show on for the public.
Read my complete thoughts after the jump.
Don’t piss off the disabled
Kwummy September 12th, 2007
As a follow-up to the pictures I posted about what I thought was a protest against the CTA; it appears that the protest aimed to get federal legislation to provide more access to community based services. From what I understand, currently those that are disabled, regardless of their overall health, are required to live in a nursing home.
On Monday, the day I took the pictures, the protest blocked four entrances and a lower-level parking garage at the AMA building.
From the story:
About 1:30 p.m., police issued 42 tickets and removed protesters from the building’s north entrance to allow for office employees to leave. About 2 p.m., the group ended its blockade of the other three entrances and the garage entrance.
The protesters held signs that read (among others), “Now you know what it’s like to be stuck in a nursing home.”
They didn’t stop there. On Tuesday they focused their efforts on the State of Illinois (emphasis mine):
About 3 p.m., approximately 200 protesters from the advocacy group ADAPT blocked the three main entrances and exits at the Thompson Center, wedging their wheelchairs into revolving doors. Earlier, they blocked escalators in the building and turnstiles and vending machines at the Clark/Lake Chicago Transit Authority station in the center.
Several state employees trapped inside the center looked over balconies to watch the protest. Meanwhile, people outside couldn’t get in to shop, eat at the food court in the basement or visit any of the state agencies in the 16-story structure.
These people don’t mess around.
I think we can officially kiss the Olympics goodbye
Kwummy September 11th, 2007
It’s been a Tuesday full of CTA bashing. Why stop now?
According to an article on the Chicago Tribune homepage, the CTA has been “slammed” in a report that began after a derailment and subsequent fire on the Blue Line injured more than 100 people back in 2006.
Here are some of my favorite pieces of information from the article. All are direct quotes from the article. I added nothing.
Gerald Weeks, the chief of the board’s human performance and survival factors division, said the CTA is:
…a case study in organizational accidents.
Missing records were rather frequent:
More than 80 percent of inspection records were missing for the Blue Line, the board’s report noted. CTA tracks are supposed to be inspected twice a week, but one track inspector told a safety board investigator that he had inspected his assigned area only once in five months, the report said.
Details of the CTA outright lying in said reports:
In many other instances, investigators found that inspection reports were falsified to indicate that track was inspected when in fact it was not, the report said.
CTA the “worst [of] any U.S. transit agency”:
“The track had clearly been deteriorating for a long time. It did not happen overnight,” said Bob Chipkevich, director of the safety board’s office of railroad, pipeline and hazardous materials investigations. He said the conditions found at the CTA were the worst he has seen at any U.S. transit agency.
CTA too lazy to care about how their tracks are inspected:
…CTA employees were required to pull double-duty–working as both track maintainers and track inspectors, creating a conflict of interest.
I’m not one to typically get fired up about something like this, but who is going to take accountability for this? The entire city, especially those that ride public transportation should be outraged. Where has all the money gone that they’ve received in the past either from the government or tax payers? It obviously hasn’t gone to fix tracks or improve service. And now they want to moan and bitch about not having enough money? No wonder no one wants to give them a dime. They don’t do shit with the money they already have.
Kiss the Olympics goodbye, Chicago. I don’t really know who is to blame here, but this city doesn’t deserve to host a little league baseball game, let alone the summer Olympics.
And people wonder why Chicago is shit on when “Best U.S. Cities” are announced.
I’m also tired of people saying, “it’s public transportation, get used to it because it’s like that everywhere.” Well, when someone says
…the conditions found at the CTA were the worst… seen at any U.S. transit agency
I think it’s safe to say you’ve been proven otherwise.
Chicago: the city of a thousand excuses.
Top 10 ICHC posts of the week (9/3 - 9/9)
Kwummy September 10th, 2007
Wow, this was a tough week. Maybe doing this wasn’t such a good idea. You could almost make an argument that most of these could be #1. I also had to leave a few good ones out of the top 10 as well.
Anyway, I’ll try to break down teh kittehs after the jump.
Hot country star a slut?
Kwummy September 10th, 2007
I stole this from the boards because it’s just so outrageous. I’m surprised Fark hasn’t gotten a hold of it, yet.
This hot country star:
is accused of having 11 affairs. Here’s her rumored scorecard:
- Members of her band
- Members of 3 Doors Down
- Kenny Chesney
- Richard Marx
- Tony Dovolani
I want to know if the encounter with 3 Doors Down was just a big orgy or if she tapped them all individually. Either way, country music just got interesting.
Protester pictures
Kwummy September 10th, 2007
I don’t know if this is an actual “protest” but I looked out the window at work (I’m on the third floor) and I see hundreds of people, mostly in wheelchairs, coming from the corner of Washington and LaSalle, moving North on LaSalle and then turning east on Randolph. There was also a mixture of those on canes or walkers and those being led by dogs.
They blocked traffic for almost 45 minutes and at one point, even with traffic directed, it was backed up over 6 blocks. It appears to be very organized, but I looked on Tribune’s website and didn’t see anything.
If I had to guess, they’re going to Chicago City Hall (that big slanted building in the picture with all the glass) to protest the upcoming CTA tragedy in which over 20 bus routes will be eliminated, fares will increase and almost 1,000 people will lost their jobs.
It never occurred to me that such a cut in service would affect those who are disabled. While their fares won’t increase, cutting bus routes, which leads to the overloading of other buses and trains, will deeply affect those that don’t have the luxury of simply walking a little farther or taking other modes of transportation.
The CTA is just as guilty though as the state. Every year the CTA threatens layoffs, increased fairs and service cuts unless the state gives them money. Every year, at the last minute, the state comes through. Yet, the CTA has nothing to show for this. Service still sucks, it’s still slow and over-crowded and fares are among the nation’s highest. Seems like this time the CTA has finally pissed off the state to the point the government is telling the CTA to go eff themselves.
Awesome.
Oh, and yes: I fought with the notion of making some very bad jokes about how they’re not really “marching” in a protest they’re “scooting,” but I figured I’d save the jokes for those of you who have no soul.
Pictures after the jump.
Study shows 92% of Chicago is annoying
Kwummy September 7th, 2007
Sept. 7 (Chicago) - A shocking study just released by Kwummy Unified Neurological Testing (KUNT) shows that 71% of Chicagoans are stupid while 21% are considered ”yuppies.” Combined, the two groups make up more than 90% of the Chicago population.
Read the full story and see the poll after the jump.
- Real Journalism , Morans , Science , Life , Funnies
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