Maybe Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker thinks he hasn't pissed off enough First Amendment supporters yet. more ›

Karl interviewed Angie McMahon, local organizer for tomorrow's Rally to Restore Sanity, earlier this week, and McMahon listed the litany of struggles she's dealt with in organizing this, particularly with the city. more ›

Nationally-syndicated conservative radio host Dr. Laura Schlessinger announced Tuesday that she would not be renewing her show's contract, up for renewal at the year's end, following the media blitz surrounding her racist 11 "n-words" in five minutes on-air tirade last week. more ›

An interesting play was made by Blago's defense team as opening statements were scheduled to get underway this morning. In a last-minute, last gasp attempt to get the case thrown out, Team Blago claims that the FBI tapes that caught Blago discussing deals were just talk and that the trial is a violation of his First Amendment rights: "In this case, the defendant was engaged in political speech and expression. The government alleges that the political process in which he was engaged was criminal. This is a violation of the defendant's rights of freedom of speech and expression afforded him under the United States constitution." It's highly doubtful anything will come of it, though the Trib's Jeff Coen says we should look for Blago's lawyers to use the same line of thinking in their opening statements. more ›

A trio of media outlets are asking U.S. District Judge James Zagel to unseal the Santiago proffer, the document that outlines the feds' case against the former governor that prosecutors filed under seal earlier this week. The Tribune, Sun-Times, and Associated Press made the request, citing the First Amendment. Lawyers for those outlets said, "Those rights, and the public's interest in their vindication, are of paramount importance in this case. No one could question the public's interest in receiving information about a case alleging public corruption at the highest levels of state government, including the alleged ‘sale' of a United States Senate seat by a sitting governor." more ›

For the second time in a little over three months, a trial for blogger and Internet radio host Harold Turner has ended in a mistrial. Turner was arrested last year after an incident stemming from an appeals court's 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. more ›

The practice of posting nasty, anonymous comments on the Internet is as old as the Internet itself. We imagine the very first thing on the Internet ever went a little something like this: more ›

A quick head's up: the language in the below video is NSFW. more ›

• A First Amendment battle is brewing in Buffalo Grove where a village trustee is trying to track down an internet commenter who said something nasty about her teenage son.
• Alleged mobster Rudolph C. "Rudy" Fratto pleaded guilty to tax evasion.
• Chicago-based United Airlines is facing a fine of almost $4 million for a safety violation; specifically, "operating one of its Boeing 737 aircraft on more than 200 flights with shop towels covering openings near where oil collects in the bottom of the engine instead of using protective caps required by the carrier's maintenance procedures." Damn.

A Rolling Meadows jury recently determined whether kindergarten teacher and "cascade of golden blond curls" possessor Deborah Maybach should be found guilty of disorderly conduct for her June 1 protest of semi-nude art photography at the Promenade of Art festival in Arlington Heights. At issue was Maybach's manner of expressing her discontent with photos by Georgia photographer Jana Epstein, which Maybach worried were too provocative for children's eyes. In addition to raising First Amendment concerns, the case also focused on whether Maybach was "calm and reasonable" in her protest, as her attorney says, or "running back and forth like a goalie" in attempting to shield the photos from view, as asserted by the state. The jury, apparently sympathetic to Maybach's "what about the children?" stance, acquitted. more ›

Abal Zaidi, 31, was a corrections officer for the Kane County Sheriff's Department. He's also an observant Muslim, which he says requires him to have a beard. In December 2006, Sheriff Pat Perez announced that all officers had to be clean-shaven; Zaidi asked for an exception, and he says two days later, he was asked to resign. Zaidi filed a religious discrimination suit, seeking unspecified damages and an apology. more ›

"To be honest, the architects really drive this, because they talk about lead time on ordering steel, etc., and how this would all work," Kenney said. more ›

We’re usually level-headed about other people’s opinions even if they don’t correlate with ours, and normally hold a live and let live attitude. But then something like this comes along so foam-at-the-mouth-inducing that our fingers tremble with all the rage we must type out. more ›

With all the bad news out of newsrooms recently--and new Tribune owner Sam Zell not making any friends this week (unlike a few weeks ago)--we got a kick out of this email he sent to Tribune employees today: more ›

This week, Phillyist saw the waters of a landmark fountain run red for a Showtime marketing stunt, the Phils pull ahead, and some serious nostalgia. They also got a chance to review an awesome tribute album, reminded folks to see the King and appreciated their beautiful skyline. Chicagoist knows what it's like to like the Cubs. But naming your kid Wrigley Fields? At least they can breathe a little easier now that Grossman's out... more ›

As a boater on Lake Michigan, you're entitled to profanity-free air. At least that's what a group of 300 boaters and motorists, who came together to protest on Sunday night, are saying. They're, as the punny Trib puts it "honking mad" about the youth-infecting rap music that's been occurring at Northerly Island for the past two weeks. There were apparently complaints after the show on Aug. 26, which included Wu-Tang, MF Doom and Pharoahe Monch.... more ›

Chicagoist is a feminist. We make no bones about it and we've felt this way since we knew what one was. We're a staunch defender of women's issues and really aware of the subtle societal influences on women. However, we have never been a party-liner for anything and we may sound like we don't get where these women are coming from. We do. But the first amendment trumps nearly everything and at some point, there... more ›

Last month we told you about Heidi Zamecnik, the Naperville high-schooler who donned the "Be Happy, Not Gay" t-shirt at school in protest of homosexuality. more ›

This week, more than before, we have a veritable cornucopia of presidential news. After how many years of Southerners and Westerners in the White House, it seems only fitting that we dedicate this week's Hump Day Political News Roundup to all the cowboys that have ridden off into the sunset that is the Beltway. Let's take a look back: George W. Bush Is a Bad-Ass Cowboy. As his term dwindles away, his approval ratings circle... more ›

If you have any sort of familiarity with the Internet, you know that the tail end of internet addresses tell a little about the entity that owns the site. .com(mercial). .org(anization). .edu(cational). That sort of thing. Honestly, we never really thought a whole lot about it. We started to notice these things and realized they matched up and thought that was cool, but never knew much about it past that. more ›

Remember when G-Rod made it a crime to sell violent or sexually explicit games to minors in the state of Illinois? Bad move, Illinois still owes the video games industry $520,000 in legal fees for writing unconstitutional laws, and the judges say we have to pay, even though we don’t want to. Chicagoist imagines the time Illinois politicians spent dreaming up, researching, writing, and defending the restrictive legislation could easily add another $500,000 to the... more ›

On Tuesday, the American -ists will be celebrating democracy and hitting the polls, letting politicians know what they really think. It just made us wonder: if it were up to the -ist-a-verse, what would we be voting for? Londonist votes for better skincare, alternative spaces for art, cute little birds and the men who keep them, and concrete. Lots of concrete. Shanghaiist votes for one of the Bee Gees and Air Supply (it's a double-ticket),... more ›

Chicagoist nearly sprayed our coffee all over the living room this morning when we heard on the news that televangelist and former presidential candidate Pat Robertson is suing Governor Blagojevich. We were hoping the paler version of Alan Keyes would stay out of our state. And we’re surprised he has time to get involved here when he is so busy thanking Hurricane Katrina, anointing President Bush as God’s choice, calling for the assassination of... more ›

Three students at Taft High School on the northwest side were suspended Wednesday for posting threats and obscene remarks about teachers on their blog. The teens--all males--were 7th and 8th graders in an Advanced Placement program at Taft, leaving Chicagoist to wonder why they weren't smart enough to know better. more ›

Four panhandlers have filed a civil rights lawsuit saying Chicago police and the city violated their rights. They claim that the police, by enforcing an ordinance that prohibits people from congregating on or obstructing bridges, have unfairly singled them out as they solicited money and that the city ordinances are unconstitutional and violate their freedom of speech and other constitutional rights. more ›

The American Medical Association, holding its annual House of Delegates meeting in Chicago this week, is reviewing a proposal asking that they persuade the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to delay "direct-to-consumer" drug advertising for a period of time after a drug is initially approved. The delay would allow doctors to discuss a drug's safety and efficacy with their patients before ads hit the market. more ›

Yep, we've decided to add the nickname to our lexicon, but not without a proper nod to its originator. We were particularly partial to "Gov. BJ", but "Gov. Gonad" is just irresistible to us boors. So anyway, moving on... more ›

Here's some information on the race for Illinois' 4th congressional district. Incumbent Democrat Luis V. Gutierrez has held the seat for 12 years and looking at his competition, Republican Tony Cisneros and Libertarian Jake Witmer, he'll serve at least another two. Witmer is a classic Libertarian (everyone should own guns, the government is a thief, etc), but his rhetoric reeks a bit like Keyes'. He says our current drug policy "...makes us a society of... more ›

Chicagoist certainly agrees we as a nation could use some inspiration regarding freedom, its civic responsibilities and the necessity of progecting them. Can we book an opening day educational field trip for George W. Bush and John Ashcroft? more ›