Blogger and internet radio host Hal Turner, arrested in June for calling for the murder of three federal judges, has been on the FBI payroll since 2003. According to The Record of Bergen County, Turner was approached by the FBI in 2003 to become an informant. Since then, he has reportedly received thousands of dollars from the feds to report on various white supremacist groups. FBI memos indicate as much as $100,000 were appropriated for Turner’s work. more ›

We've disagreed with a lot of judicial decisions and passed laws and City Hall decrees over the years but you'd be hard-pressed to find anything in our archives quite like what blogger and internet radio host Hal Turner pulled. Upset over the recent decision to uphold handgun bans in Oak Park and Chicago, Turner went on an internet tirade which included, "Let me be the first to say this plainly: These Judges deserve to be killed." To take the threats to another level, he listed the "photos, phone numbers, work addresses and courtroom numbers" of the judges involved: Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook and judges Richard Posner and William Bauer of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Turner, described by media reports as a white supremacist, was subsequently arrested yesterday at his New Jersey home. While Turner's website has no reference to the Illinois-related arrest, it does contain a post about his arrest earlier this month in connection to similar charges from the state of Connecticut stemming from the same tirade, though the original offending posts are no longer available online. [CBS 2] more ›

It's a bit of a sad day as Chicago loses one of its excellent bloggers, FiveThirtyEight's Nate Silver, to the East Coast. In an announcement posted on the political site yesterday, Silver said: more ›

Funny Ha-Ha is a guaranteed good time. Tonight's edition at The Hideout features a host of writers, but seems to be "headlined" by Eric Zorn. We love Zorn, but find it kind of funny his credit is "Chicago Tribune Columnist & Blogger" while Claire Zulkey's is "Blogger & TV Critic for The Onion & Los Angeles Times." more ›

Courtesy of the TOC blog, we've learned that on February 27 (his 65th birthday) Jonathan Rosenbaum will retire as senior film reviewer at the Reader. Blogger Hank Sartin swears that it's not "one more sign of new Reader owners Creative Loafing trimming the budget. In fact, Rosenbaum tells us that his new bosses at Creative Loafing will be setting him up with a website of his own so that even in 'retirement' his writings on film will continue to be part of their franchise." more ›

There's a fun little story that's been making it's way around the internet over the past few days. Blogger Rob Donaghue went to hear bigtime Chicagoist crush Anthony Bourdain speak last week in New York. Bourdain, ever-wry, suggested that the best way to find a great restaurant in today's internet savvy age, is not to read Zagat or Michelin guides, but rather, to provoke the nerds. He writes, His answer was to take the city... more ›

Everyone knows the Internet can be a nasty place. From bloggers who bore their readers and wage war on grammar to commenters who spend their entire day viciously tearing others to shreds under pseudonyms, most of the opinions being touted aren’t always taken seriously. But how will this lovably effed up relationship evolve if the legal stakes are raised? We’re interested to see what will happen with the suit brought against an anonymous blogger in... more ›

Blogger Brad Flora left a comment on our recent post about Doc Films to let us know that the student-run film society’s costume contest was filled with homages to genre films and amusing puns. We’re known for taking the piss out of University of Chicago students, mainly because we are jealous of their brains and high-paying, post-graduate jobs. But we’re giving credit where credit is due for getups like a White Russian, Shaun of... more ›

On the days when Chicagoist indulges the little ten-year old boy inside of our collective self (we call him Renaldo), we like to pretend that we have a secret identity that allows us to roam the city at night and fight crime. We put on a cool mask and cape to hide our alter ego and run around our apartment yelling “Have no fear, citizens! The Blogger-er is here!” until our significant other gets home and tells us to cut it out or there will be a revocation of carnal privileges. more ›

Hi. These letters from the publisher will be very infrequent on Chicagoist. We plan to use them to let you know what is going on with the site, and solicit feedback about ideas we are planning. more ›