For Immediate Release
Contact: Jason Tai
November 10, 2008
Brian Oszakiewski
REP. Lipinski Calls on Congress and President Bush to pass Economic Recovery Package with infrastructure investments
[Washington, D.C.] Today Congressman Dan Lipinski (IL-03), a member of the powerful House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, released the following statement urging President Bush and Members of Congress to put aside partisan differences and swiftly pass an economic recovery package that creates new job opportunities through investment in critical infrastructure projects:
“America faces very difficult economic times; middle class families are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet with many suffering terrible hardships. More than 1.2 million jobs have been lost over the past year, including 240,000 last month. In Cook County, the unemployment rate has soared above the national average to 6.8 percent and the number of people looking for work in Illinois has approached 500,000.
“At the same time, it is estimated that the United States is in need of a $1.6 trillion investment in the next five years to replace or restore old infrastructure. From aging highways and bridges, to antiquated railroads and water infrastructure, to inadequate mass transit alternatives and airport capacity, the needs are many and the current amount of investment is seriously lacking.
“Investment in transportation and infrastructure boosts our future economic growth, ensures our competitiveness in the world, and improves the quality of life in our communities. It means jobs, time, and money, and it is directly linked to our future. In Illinois – America’s transportation hub – our nation’s infrastructure needs are especially great.
“That is why for the past year I have made the case that an economic recovery package should include investments in public infrastructure and mass transit. Investment in infrastructure is a win-win for all Americans—funding is spent on projects that are desperately needed and good-paying jobs are created that cannot be exported to places like China. In fact, every $1 billion invested in American infrastructure creates and supports 47,500 American jobs.
“In September my calls for an infrastructure spending bill were heeded by the House of Representatives with the passage of H.R. 7110, the Job Creation and Unemployment Relief Act of 2008. This legislation would provide $61 billion to help restore the economy, including $30 billion for investment in infrastructure and mass transit. I would have preferred a much larger infrastructure investment – especially in light of the willingness of Congress and the President to provide $700 billion for the financial industry bailout – but this was a good start. Especially important in this bill was the provision that a local match to federal dollars would not be needed, allowing projects to move forward immediately regardless of a state’s budgetary issues or the political climate. I fought hard for this provision because it is critical for the state of Illinois.
--Continued--
“For Illinois, H.R. 7110 would invest an additional $436.8 million for highway infrastructure, $271.6 million to expand accessibility to mass transit, and $290.3 million for sewer and water treatment projects over the next year. Unfortunately, the White House threatened to veto H.R. 7110 and Senate Republicans blocked movement of the bill prior to the September congressional adjournment.
“Next week, Members of Congress will return to Washington to begin administrative and legislative planning for the 111th Congress beginning in January. The economic news has only gotten worse in the past two months since H.R. 7110 was passed by the House, increasing the need for an economic recovery bill. Now that the presidential election is over, we have the critical opportunity to put politics aside and thoughtfully work together to put people back to work and invest in our long-term economic future and well being.
“Congress must come back into legislative session and pass an economic recovery package that includes spending on infrastructure and transit. The infrastructure and transit investment must be at least the $30 billion provided in H.R. 7110, but it should be even more. Once Congress passes this legislation, President Bush must sign it into law.
“Since I was first elected to Congress I have made the needs of middle class Americans my top priority. There is much work that must be done and we have a great opportunity to do it in the next Congress. But we must start putting middle class Americans back to work immediately. We need to pass an infrastructure investment stimulus bill, and we need to do it now. I look forward to working with President Bush and my colleagues on a bipartisan basis to pass an infrastructure spending package this year. We can’t afford to wait.”
###
Brian Freedman
Legislative Correspondent
Office of Congressman Dan Lipinski
1717 Longworth H.O.B
Washington, DC 20515
(202) 225-5701
Fax (202) 225-1012
Please sign up for E-News updates at www.lipinski.house.gov
Monday, November 10, 2008
Inundated with letters and thanks ...
I am humbled by how many people now read this blog in Orland Park and by all the email letters I am receiving. Thank you.
I try to reply to every email. I know that Orland Park is run by a vindictive dictator so I am careful when I do post a letter I will not post your name to protect you from Mayor McLaughlin's wrath. The guy is just mean.
But clearly, from the emails from within the and from the employees, there is a LOT of dissastifaction in Camelot.
Residents are upset about the rising fees, and the taxes, and the mayor's broken promise on the tax rebate. You should be. You deserve better.
If Orland Park is going to be the great town all the fluff and PR claims it already is, the mayor will have to do a better job of managing the excess waste in government and trim the fat, starting with his office.
It is amazing how the Mayor is responding directly to this little blog by pushing fluff press releases in the local newspapers that talk about how great he is and how great his programs are and how great everything he does is.
Congratulations Your Greatness!
-- Ray Hanania
http://www.orlandparker.com/
Also, sign up for my new newsletter for my radio show, columns and blogs. Go to
http://www.TheMediaOasis.com/tv/Newsletter.htm
I try to reply to every email. I know that Orland Park is run by a vindictive dictator so I am careful when I do post a letter I will not post your name to protect you from Mayor McLaughlin's wrath. The guy is just mean.
But clearly, from the emails from within the and from the employees, there is a LOT of dissastifaction in Camelot.
Residents are upset about the rising fees, and the taxes, and the mayor's broken promise on the tax rebate. You should be. You deserve better.
If Orland Park is going to be the great town all the fluff and PR claims it already is, the mayor will have to do a better job of managing the excess waste in government and trim the fat, starting with his office.
It is amazing how the Mayor is responding directly to this little blog by pushing fluff press releases in the local newspapers that talk about how great he is and how great his programs are and how great everything he does is.
Congratulations Your Greatness!
-- Ray Hanania
http://www.orlandparker.com/
Also, sign up for my new newsletter for my radio show, columns and blogs. Go to
http://www.TheMediaOasis.com/tv/Newsletter.htm
Keeping up with the technology and the letters ...
I get so many emails but I do my best to answer everyone of them. I appreciate your writing and sharing your views. I will try to regularly post the best on the blog to share. Make sure to let me know if you do not want to share a view, although I leave out last names.
My new newsletter went out this week. Better design but complicated and difficult to use -- Constant Contact is not all it is cracked up to be. It's amazing how difficult some software companies make their product. Theya re written by geeks and never use the system in practical ways, so the systems often lack the fundamentals that are most wanted by the public. Theys hould hire normal people to test these systems out and make the changes to make the programs better.
Still, my biggest challenge is proofing the newsletter before it goes out. Some typos get in and I HATE typos ... but, what can you do?
Never let a typo trip you up from a great idea or thought. But I'll do my best to nail and then correct them.
I'm only going to send the newsletter out once each week. I'll update the web site with new guests and changes. State Sen. Mike Jacobs will be joining the show today to talk about possibly running for governor. And Thursday's guest looks like it's going to be Ray Long, the veteran Springfield correspondent now with the Chicago Tribune.
Anyway, I also lightened up a bit this week with interviews of guests from the theater and also some book authors. Not all politics. But politics is important.
-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com
My new newsletter went out this week. Better design but complicated and difficult to use -- Constant Contact is not all it is cracked up to be. It's amazing how difficult some software companies make their product. Theya re written by geeks and never use the system in practical ways, so the systems often lack the fundamentals that are most wanted by the public. Theys hould hire normal people to test these systems out and make the changes to make the programs better.
Still, my biggest challenge is proofing the newsletter before it goes out. Some typos get in and I HATE typos ... but, what can you do?
Never let a typo trip you up from a great idea or thought. But I'll do my best to nail and then correct them.
I'm only going to send the newsletter out once each week. I'll update the web site with new guests and changes. State Sen. Mike Jacobs will be joining the show today to talk about possibly running for governor. And Thursday's guest looks like it's going to be Ray Long, the veteran Springfield correspondent now with the Chicago Tribune.
Anyway, I also lightened up a bit this week with interviews of guests from the theater and also some book authors. Not all politics. But politics is important.
-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Letters to the Editor: On the huffingtonPost column on Obama MidEast Peace, and on the USS Liberty murders
ON BARACK OBAMA, HIS APPOINTMENT'S AND HOPES FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ray-hanania/obamas-growing-pro-israel_b_141964.html
Dear Mr. Hanania,
I just want to thank you so very much for your article, "Obama's Growing Pro-Israel Cabinet Should Not Worry Allies of Just Peace." I know President Obama and First Lady Obama are surely the smartest people in the White House certainly in decades, probably centuries, and perhaps ever -- and at a time when we need it most. So I trust them. Even so, I really found your logic extremely helpful in showing the wisdom of these choices, which can look so "un-change" or change resistant. It looks as if he's surrounding himself with so many of the old, white, Beltway, male guard (and I'm white). I voted for him and worked for his election here in Minnesota precisely to get a different experience in the White House and leading the country and world. So what you wrote and the fact that you wrote it as a Palestinian is really, really valuable for me -- so very helpful. I will watch for your articles as we go along with this incredible new era.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Denise
Dear Ray
I just read your column on Huffpost and was rather heartened by it. I am British but have been living in the US on & off for nearly 10 years. I was delighted by Obama's victory, but I must admit I was quite disheartened when I discovered on another blog last night that Rahm Emmanuel has very close connections with Israel & pro-Israel groups. Although I follow American politics to some extent I hadn't known anything about him before. I hope you're right, and I think you are, that he is a very different creature from the awful Jewish neocons who to some extent shaped Bush policy (Perle, Frum & the rest). Personally I would like to see the US put more pressure on Israel to remove the settlements & work towards a peace that would be at least reasonably fair & durable even if not entirely just (that's probably not possible).
Your strong faith that Obama's heart is in the right place with respect to the Israel/Palestine problem, is very reassuring. Some of the bloggers commenting on your column were much more cynical. I tend to be a bit sceptical about what Obama can achieve, much as I admire his charisma & intelligence. So, despite the cynics & sceptics, let's hope you are right. Anyway, thanks for a very useful column.
Geoff C
For the record, I'm Jewish, I'm pro-Israel, and I agree with you.From a purely pro-Israel point of view I want a just settlement in the middle east. First because Jewish ethics do not allow any Jew to condone the plight of the Palestinians. And second because there are just so many times Israel can win a war against its neighbors. Unfortunately, you are correct in your fear of Benjamin Netanyahu. He is crazy. Unlike Sharon, he is neither able to see the big picture nor listen to anyone who does not agree with him. If he is elected batten down for further struggle.The most important thing Arabs could do to promote the type of just peace you support would be to say they supported peace -- in Arabic, on the Arab street. Netanyahu loves Hamas and Hezbulla because they give him a raison d'etre. Every time someone in the Arab world (and most Israelis understand that Iran is not Arab) threatens to destroy Israel, Netanyahu wins support. When someone talks about a just peace in Arabic, it wins support for Livni and the Peace Now community which the war in Lebanon has almost destroyed.Keep up the just struggle!By the way.
I do have one picayune quibble about your article. You began by saying, "Like all Arab Americans, I was disturbed when Barack Obama selected U.S. Senator Joseph Biden as his running mate." I agree that many were concerned, but not all. Because I live in Canada I do not know many Arab Americans, but I do know a lot of Arab Canadians, and I doubt they are all that different from there southern counterparts. Just as there are lots of Jews who support Hamas and the PLO, there are Arabs who support Israel, and even Isrrael's right wing. Perhaps both groups are fanatics, but they serve a valuable purpose by reminding others that this dispute is not really just about religion or ethnicity.
Sincerely,
Robert K
Dear Ray,
A cousin of mine, Jeff Baloutine, just forwarded your latest piece on the Obama emerging cabinet. I, too, was worried, at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I came into your line of thinking, one you explain with excellent detail in contrasting what Obama is arming himself with vs. the nuts Bush had in his tree.
I think you are right. You leverage a stubborn root with a shovel whose handle is made from the same wood.
As thanks, I'll send you a link for a long piece, "Obama and the Middle East" I just published in the Antioch Review in Ohio.
http://www18.georgetown.edu/data/people/gmo4/publication-37377.pdf.
Cheers,
Greg O.
ON THE USS LIBERTY ATTACK AND SEN. JOHN MCCAIN"S RESPONSIBILITY"
http://www.arabisto.com/p_blogEntry.cfm?blogEntryID=1318
Great article about senator McCain and killing of liberty.
WALID M.
Editor: I thank Ray Hanania for a great column on the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty in 1967. The government wants us to forget parts of our history, in which some of our sons died in the hands of some of our "allies." This has been hidden and covered up for years and years. It is time to know the truth.
Mahmood M
Temperance, Michigan
Dear Hater:
Stop supporting bin laden and hamas. Stop supporting stoning of rape victims, strapping bombs to babies, non education of women and honor killings and people won't have a problem with you.
You have made it clear you support killing all jews by your support of Holocaust deniers and the leader of Iran who is Osama Bin Laden's closest friend, a child molester and leader of the 1979 taking of the american embassy.
you want all jews dead. You have made it perfectly clear.
The difference between you and civilized people is best exampled in what you'd do if your daughter came down in the morning wearing something inappropriate. to you anything short of a head to toe burqa is in appropriate of course.
Civilized people tell her to go up and change her clothes.
you take her upstairs rape her and chop off her head.
If someone like you has a child (by rape of course) you hold that child and say "My greatest hope is someday you'll blow up a schoolbus full of jewish preschoolers"
Civilized people want their children to grow up to be lawyers, doctors or maybe the starting QB for the Chicago Bears.
I do not hate all muslims. I hate terrorists and anyone who supports them by supporting Palestinians and Holocaust denial.
UNSIGNED
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE
Your article (and underlying point) was excellent. I lived through the
period in question, was aghast at the obvious cover-up, and have many
friends in the Navy who consider the ship and her crew's heroic resistance a
legend. Would that this episode with its heroism and villainy was better
known. Then we might also better discern what real support for the troops
is all about.
Regards,
Frank P
Ray,
Good job on the article the truth will over come the lies I was on C Span after the debate last night until they cut me off say the word USS Liberty and you are gone.
Thanks for keeping the story alive. Phil
Thank you Ray for the article that included the USS Liberty in its
body. As a survivor and the officer in charge of the body recovery
and identification I would love to see an investigation happen. I do
have some interesting information for you from my own senator. I will send in a separate email.
Ron K
Sheridan, Wyoming
Have been listening to your programs on the USS Liberty attack by Israel, particularly those with my friend, Phil Tourney as a guest. Many thanks to you for helping to publicize this massacre by Israel and the cover-up by two countries of the attack.
Just read your outstanding article on the SW News Herald web page:
http://www.swnewsherald.com/news_inside/2008/10/101708cs_rh_liberty.php
I made a tiny URL of the one above and am passing it around to my friends.
http://tinyurl.com/54y542
McCain's activities and support of A. Jay Cristol's book of lies really ought to be brought to the attention of the public... alas, the mainline media apparently is bought and paid for and congress damned sure won't help.
Thanks again,
John G
(ex-crew member of the Liberty, was
transferred just prior to the attack.)
END
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ray-hanania/obamas-growing-pro-israel_b_141964.html
Dear Mr. Hanania,
I just want to thank you so very much for your article, "Obama's Growing Pro-Israel Cabinet Should Not Worry Allies of Just Peace." I know President Obama and First Lady Obama are surely the smartest people in the White House certainly in decades, probably centuries, and perhaps ever -- and at a time when we need it most. So I trust them. Even so, I really found your logic extremely helpful in showing the wisdom of these choices, which can look so "un-change" or change resistant. It looks as if he's surrounding himself with so many of the old, white, Beltway, male guard (and I'm white). I voted for him and worked for his election here in Minnesota precisely to get a different experience in the White House and leading the country and world. So what you wrote and the fact that you wrote it as a Palestinian is really, really valuable for me -- so very helpful. I will watch for your articles as we go along with this incredible new era.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Denise
Dear Ray
I just read your column on Huffpost and was rather heartened by it. I am British but have been living in the US on & off for nearly 10 years. I was delighted by Obama's victory, but I must admit I was quite disheartened when I discovered on another blog last night that Rahm Emmanuel has very close connections with Israel & pro-Israel groups. Although I follow American politics to some extent I hadn't known anything about him before. I hope you're right, and I think you are, that he is a very different creature from the awful Jewish neocons who to some extent shaped Bush policy (Perle, Frum & the rest). Personally I would like to see the US put more pressure on Israel to remove the settlements & work towards a peace that would be at least reasonably fair & durable even if not entirely just (that's probably not possible).
Your strong faith that Obama's heart is in the right place with respect to the Israel/Palestine problem, is very reassuring. Some of the bloggers commenting on your column were much more cynical. I tend to be a bit sceptical about what Obama can achieve, much as I admire his charisma & intelligence. So, despite the cynics & sceptics, let's hope you are right. Anyway, thanks for a very useful column.
Geoff C
For the record, I'm Jewish, I'm pro-Israel, and I agree with you.From a purely pro-Israel point of view I want a just settlement in the middle east. First because Jewish ethics do not allow any Jew to condone the plight of the Palestinians. And second because there are just so many times Israel can win a war against its neighbors. Unfortunately, you are correct in your fear of Benjamin Netanyahu. He is crazy. Unlike Sharon, he is neither able to see the big picture nor listen to anyone who does not agree with him. If he is elected batten down for further struggle.The most important thing Arabs could do to promote the type of just peace you support would be to say they supported peace -- in Arabic, on the Arab street. Netanyahu loves Hamas and Hezbulla because they give him a raison d'etre. Every time someone in the Arab world (and most Israelis understand that Iran is not Arab) threatens to destroy Israel, Netanyahu wins support. When someone talks about a just peace in Arabic, it wins support for Livni and the Peace Now community which the war in Lebanon has almost destroyed.Keep up the just struggle!By the way.
I do have one picayune quibble about your article. You began by saying, "Like all Arab Americans, I was disturbed when Barack Obama selected U.S. Senator Joseph Biden as his running mate." I agree that many were concerned, but not all. Because I live in Canada I do not know many Arab Americans, but I do know a lot of Arab Canadians, and I doubt they are all that different from there southern counterparts. Just as there are lots of Jews who support Hamas and the PLO, there are Arabs who support Israel, and even Isrrael's right wing. Perhaps both groups are fanatics, but they serve a valuable purpose by reminding others that this dispute is not really just about religion or ethnicity.
Sincerely,
Robert K
Dear Ray,
A cousin of mine, Jeff Baloutine, just forwarded your latest piece on the Obama emerging cabinet. I, too, was worried, at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I came into your line of thinking, one you explain with excellent detail in contrasting what Obama is arming himself with vs. the nuts Bush had in his tree.
I think you are right. You leverage a stubborn root with a shovel whose handle is made from the same wood.
As thanks, I'll send you a link for a long piece, "Obama and the Middle East" I just published in the Antioch Review in Ohio.
http://www18.georgetown.edu/data/people/gmo4/publication-37377.pdf.
Cheers,
Greg O.
ON THE USS LIBERTY ATTACK AND SEN. JOHN MCCAIN"S RESPONSIBILITY"
http://www.arabisto.com/p_blogEntry.cfm?blogEntryID=1318
Great article about senator McCain and killing of liberty.
WALID M.
Editor: I thank Ray Hanania for a great column on the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty in 1967. The government wants us to forget parts of our history, in which some of our sons died in the hands of some of our "allies." This has been hidden and covered up for years and years. It is time to know the truth.
Mahmood M
Temperance, Michigan
Dear Hater:
Stop supporting bin laden and hamas. Stop supporting stoning of rape victims, strapping bombs to babies, non education of women and honor killings and people won't have a problem with you.
You have made it clear you support killing all jews by your support of Holocaust deniers and the leader of Iran who is Osama Bin Laden's closest friend, a child molester and leader of the 1979 taking of the american embassy.
you want all jews dead. You have made it perfectly clear.
The difference between you and civilized people is best exampled in what you'd do if your daughter came down in the morning wearing something inappropriate. to you anything short of a head to toe burqa is in appropriate of course.
Civilized people tell her to go up and change her clothes.
you take her upstairs rape her and chop off her head.
If someone like you has a child (by rape of course) you hold that child and say "My greatest hope is someday you'll blow up a schoolbus full of jewish preschoolers"
Civilized people want their children to grow up to be lawyers, doctors or maybe the starting QB for the Chicago Bears.
I do not hate all muslims. I hate terrorists and anyone who supports them by supporting Palestinians and Holocaust denial.
UNSIGNED
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE
Your article (and underlying point) was excellent. I lived through the
period in question, was aghast at the obvious cover-up, and have many
friends in the Navy who consider the ship and her crew's heroic resistance a
legend. Would that this episode with its heroism and villainy was better
known. Then we might also better discern what real support for the troops
is all about.
Regards,
Frank P
Ray,
Good job on the article the truth will over come the lies I was on C Span after the debate last night until they cut me off say the word USS Liberty and you are gone.
Thanks for keeping the story alive. Phil
Thank you Ray for the article that included the USS Liberty in its
body. As a survivor and the officer in charge of the body recovery
and identification I would love to see an investigation happen. I do
have some interesting information for you from my own senator. I will send in a separate email.
Ron K
Sheridan, Wyoming
Have been listening to your programs on the USS Liberty attack by Israel, particularly those with my friend, Phil Tourney as a guest. Many thanks to you for helping to publicize this massacre by Israel and the cover-up by two countries of the attack.
Just read your outstanding article on the SW News Herald web page:
http://www.swnewsherald.com/news_inside/2008/10/101708cs_rh_liberty.php
I made a tiny URL of the one above and am passing it around to my friends.
http://tinyurl.com/54y542
McCain's activities and support of A. Jay Cristol's book of lies really ought to be brought to the attention of the public... alas, the mainline media apparently is bought and paid for and congress damned sure won't help.
Thanks again,
John G
(ex-crew member of the Liberty, was
transferred just prior to the attack.)
END
Friday, November 7, 2008
Running for local office -- How to do it right
1 -- Hire an attorney. There is a good chance the incumbents are going to challenge your petitions for office and you will end up spending money later when the local office holders challenge you to kick you off the ballot. A lawyer can help you from square one to prevent that.
2 -- You must file a committee if you raise or spend $3,000 on your campaign ...
3 -- You also need to start the process NOW ... don't wait until it's too late or the elected officials start talking about the election. In most cases, the elected officials don't want you to know and hope you miss the filing deadlines so you can't run. Or, they hope you will rush to run at the last minute making a mistake that they can challenge.
Start now, go to our election help web page linked on www.RadioChicagoland.com
Call our election law specialist Dennis Brenna and visit his web site at www.DennisBrennanLaw.com
-- Ray Hanania
www.radiochicagoland.com
www.OrlandParker.com
2 -- You must file a committee if you raise or spend $3,000 on your campaign ...
3 -- You also need to start the process NOW ... don't wait until it's too late or the elected officials start talking about the election. In most cases, the elected officials don't want you to know and hope you miss the filing deadlines so you can't run. Or, they hope you will rush to run at the last minute making a mistake that they can challenge.
Start now, go to our election help web page linked on www.RadioChicagoland.com
Call our election law specialist Dennis Brenna and visit his web site at www.DennisBrennanLaw.com
-- Ray Hanania
www.radiochicagoland.com
www.OrlandParker.com
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Fun watching FOX Network News holding Shiva for McCain and the GOP
Fun watching the FOX Network News anchors trying their best to keep up a strong front as the GOP Titanic starts to sink and crack in half. It may not go all the way down, but it will float like flotsam and jetsam wreckage.
Brit Hume looks particularly pathetic. You could almost feel sorry for him if you were suffering from alzheimers and didn't remember his years of hatemongering and demagoguery.
And it will be fun to hear Sean Hannity explain the election results. Talk about a loser squirming.
Are they stuttering?
-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com
Brit Hume looks particularly pathetic. You could almost feel sorry for him if you were suffering from alzheimers and didn't remember his years of hatemongering and demagoguery.
And it will be fun to hear Sean Hannity explain the election results. Talk about a loser squirming.
Are they stuttering?
-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com
Chicago's free trolley service will come to an end
One of the great things about Chicago was the trolley system. You could get on downtown and ride to Navy Pier, where you could be insulted by employees at Navy Pier's many concession stands. But the paid trolleys will continue and although they are expensive, it was well worth the time and money to ride.
Sunday, I took my son downtown where I did an interview with Canada's CBC TV. Afterwards, we wandered around to Michigan Avenue and decided to grab one of those double decker buses. The one we picked was the Chicago trollye double decker service. The service makes about 13 stops throughout the downtown region using the double decker buses or the single deck trolleys. The cost was $29 for adults and I think $17 for children. (My son is 7.) Still, for $46, I figured, he would enjoy it and enjoy it he did. It was great. The drivers are well-informed about the city's history. I had forgotten much of the trivia about the city, like Michigan Avenue had once been a gravel street lined by posh homes that was designed to be a major shopping center. Michigan Avenue was rebuilt to specifically look like the Champs e lyse in Paris. It ended on the south end at the Chicago River.
Wolf Point, the intersection where the Chicago river divides into two legs of the river, is one of the city's most recognized symbols.
And, why do they bother to dye the Chicago River green on St. Patrick's Day when the Chicago River is already green?
It was a great trip. We got off at Navy Pier to eat. You can get on and off the trollers and the double decker bus at each stop and hop back on another trolley or doubledecker bus that comes by later. They run about 15 minutes to 20 minutes apart. Every other one is a trolley and a double decker bus. Sunday was warm so we sat ont he upper deck.
Grant Park has a prohibition to prevent any buildings there not because it was intended to preserve the park for the benefit of the public, but because the owner of one of the major stores -- was it Fields? -- didn't want a competitor to open a shop there and got the city to pass the law.
It went on and on, far better than I can do. (Although every May I lead four tours for the City (free as a volunteer) of Arab Chicago, based on my book "Arabs of Chicagoland" -- which is available at all major book stores including Borders and Barnes and Noble. (Ding. Ding. Ding. -- A plug for myself.)
At Navy Pier, though, we went to America's Dog where I bought some Chicago hot dogs -- no one puts ketchup on a Chicago dog, I was reminded during the tour. And Gyros is not a Greek invention but an invention of Greek Americans in Chicago. Created right here by Greek immigrants. (In Arabic, it is called a shawerma sandwich and they were invented in the Middle East and copied by Greek immigrants, renamed and sold in Chicago -- that's the real history but people hate Arabs so much we don't get any credit.) -- (By the way, November is Arab American Heritage Month but you wouldn't know it from the absence of any mention of it in the Chicago media -- further proof that the mainstream media is biased, bigoted and racist. But I digress.)
Anyway, when we went to get the hot dog order, the clerk at the concession hit the Sprite my son ordered an dspilled some of it. He just grabbed the top, slapped it back on and they swore using the F-word. In front of my 7 year old. he didn't care, of course. He was joking around with a female co-worker. I told him to keep the Sprite and I bought my son a drink someplace else. but I doubt I'll ever go back to America's Dog again, considering they have no class.
Really, the f-word in public? Pathetic.
The three hotdogs cost me $18 anyway. So it wasn't worth it.
Next week, I'll have a Chicago trolley guide on my radio show talking about Chicago's great history. No politics. Just trivia.
Despite the bad experience at Navy Pier -- maybe they should move the Children's Museum to Grant Park just to get away from the x-rated language at America's Dog -- I highly recommend the Chicago trolley tour. It's costly but it is well worth the time.
-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com
Sunday, I took my son downtown where I did an interview with Canada's CBC TV. Afterwards, we wandered around to Michigan Avenue and decided to grab one of those double decker buses. The one we picked was the Chicago trollye double decker service. The service makes about 13 stops throughout the downtown region using the double decker buses or the single deck trolleys. The cost was $29 for adults and I think $17 for children. (My son is 7.) Still, for $46, I figured, he would enjoy it and enjoy it he did. It was great. The drivers are well-informed about the city's history. I had forgotten much of the trivia about the city, like Michigan Avenue had once been a gravel street lined by posh homes that was designed to be a major shopping center. Michigan Avenue was rebuilt to specifically look like the Champs e lyse in Paris. It ended on the south end at the Chicago River.
Wolf Point, the intersection where the Chicago river divides into two legs of the river, is one of the city's most recognized symbols.
And, why do they bother to dye the Chicago River green on St. Patrick's Day when the Chicago River is already green?
It was a great trip. We got off at Navy Pier to eat. You can get on and off the trollers and the double decker bus at each stop and hop back on another trolley or doubledecker bus that comes by later. They run about 15 minutes to 20 minutes apart. Every other one is a trolley and a double decker bus. Sunday was warm so we sat ont he upper deck.
Grant Park has a prohibition to prevent any buildings there not because it was intended to preserve the park for the benefit of the public, but because the owner of one of the major stores -- was it Fields? -- didn't want a competitor to open a shop there and got the city to pass the law.
It went on and on, far better than I can do. (Although every May I lead four tours for the City (free as a volunteer) of Arab Chicago, based on my book "Arabs of Chicagoland" -- which is available at all major book stores including Borders and Barnes and Noble. (Ding. Ding. Ding. -- A plug for myself.)
At Navy Pier, though, we went to America's Dog where I bought some Chicago hot dogs -- no one puts ketchup on a Chicago dog, I was reminded during the tour. And Gyros is not a Greek invention but an invention of Greek Americans in Chicago. Created right here by Greek immigrants. (In Arabic, it is called a shawerma sandwich and they were invented in the Middle East and copied by Greek immigrants, renamed and sold in Chicago -- that's the real history but people hate Arabs so much we don't get any credit.) -- (By the way, November is Arab American Heritage Month but you wouldn't know it from the absence of any mention of it in the Chicago media -- further proof that the mainstream media is biased, bigoted and racist. But I digress.)
Anyway, when we went to get the hot dog order, the clerk at the concession hit the Sprite my son ordered an dspilled some of it. He just grabbed the top, slapped it back on and they swore using the F-word. In front of my 7 year old. he didn't care, of course. He was joking around with a female co-worker. I told him to keep the Sprite and I bought my son a drink someplace else. but I doubt I'll ever go back to America's Dog again, considering they have no class.
Really, the f-word in public? Pathetic.
The three hotdogs cost me $18 anyway. So it wasn't worth it.
Next week, I'll have a Chicago trolley guide on my radio show talking about Chicago's great history. No politics. Just trivia.
Despite the bad experience at Navy Pier -- maybe they should move the Children's Museum to Grant Park just to get away from the x-rated language at America's Dog -- I highly recommend the Chicago trolley tour. It's costly but it is well worth the time.
-- Ray Hanania
www.RadioChicagoland.com
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