Were you among those scouting for bargains early this morning?

Big discounts lured shoppers in droves to the stores early this morning, evidence that the weak economy didn’t dampen consumer spirits for the annual Black Friday.
Whether this means that this holiday season will be a blessed event for retailers is another question. There is no telling to what extent people will be in the shopping [...]

Obama has his flaws, but he deserves all of our support and help

In last week’s edition of the Lombard Spectator, we ran a letter to the editor from Fran Dvorak of Lombard. She took exception to an editorial that ran in the paper the previous week. Here is Dvorak’s letter in its entirety:
“I am bothered by your editorial in the Nov. 14 Lombard Spectator. Within the guise [...]

Forget the Caribbean — Capt. Jack Sparrow can make killing near Somolia

Who would have guessed that as we approach the second decade of the 21st century, one international concern would be pirates?
And this has nothing to do with the bozos who illegally copy videos they haven’t purchased. I’m talking about the “Shiver me timbers,” “Walk the plank” pirates who menace the high seas.
More than a dozen [...]

Newspaper columnist/blogger plus mathematics simply doesn’t compute

Have I mentioned lately what a complete idiot I am?
A few days ago I left work really steamed about how Congress got suckered into forking over $700 billion through the economic bailout package. It’s become apparent that no one has any idea exactly what the banks and other financial services firms are doing with the [...]

Throwing cash at Detroit would be simply postponing the inevitable

With the possible exception of the makers of foreign automobiles, no one wants to see any member of the Big Three go under.
Such an event would decimate Detroit and further crimp our economy. The sinking of Chrysler, Ford or General Motors would be an outright disaster.
That being said, the federal government would be crazy to [...]

For conning us out of billions, Paulson should be Time’s Man of the Year

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is my candidate for Time magazine’s Man of the Year.
Sure, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama from Chicago defied historic odds by becoming the first black American to be elected president of the United States. While that’s an incredibly impressive feat, Paulson’s accomplishment is even more extraordinary.
He managed to con the U.S. [...]

Real world may not notice, but James Buchanan lives on in TV Land

I recently came across an item on my company’s Web site about an event to highlight the bicentennial of our 16th president’s birth.
For those of you who’ve lost track of which president came when, that would be Abraham Lincoln. Feb. 12, 2009, will mark Lincoln’s 200th birthday. Many groups are commemorating this landmark anniversary, and [...]

Republicans have much soul-searching to do in wake of election losses

Republicans across the country have been scratching their heads for the past week wondering what went wrong with their party.
The funny thing about this year’s election is what happened here in Chicago, Barack Obama’s hometown. If the GOP was to pay a price this year, you would have expected that it would be felt most [...]

Local GOP makes smart move in trying to recruit former Chicago schools chief

The biggest defeat of this election season came in the form of a lost opportunity.
Paul Vallas, the former CEO of the Chicago Public Schools system, recently announced he would remain in his position as head of the New Orleans school system for another year. He was being recruited for a possible run as governor by [...]

Longtime township supervisor, municipal prosecutor earns judge’s post

I generally don’t feel personally invested in any particular political campaign, but there is one case in which I’ll make an exception.
Pat Rogers, supervisor for Lyons Township, was elected a judge in Cook County for the 4th Subcircuit during this week’s general election. As the Democratic candidate, he received 65.13 percent of the vote to [...]