Not that it is OK to arrest people for having criminal records.

16 out of 614. They arrested ~16 people with criminal records. They terrorized thousands, brutalized protesters, destroyed families, cratered businesses, tear-gassed a Halloween parade, traumatized kids in a day care, killed a man, & pepper sprayed a baby… for 16 people with criminal records.

Because international student enrollment is so often used as a cudgel in discussions about immigration, this is a good time to remind people that international students aren't taking up spaces for US students at state schools, they are paying full tuition that FUNDS SCHOLARSHIPS FOR US STUDENTS.

Biden didn’t release the Epstein files because Merrick Garland was actively investigating Epstein/Maxwell co-conspirators all the way up until January 2025. Then Trump shuttered the probe. www.cbsnews.com/news/jeffrey...

Reader founder Mike Lenehan honors the memory of Tony Adler: chicagoreader.com/performing-a...

If you were planning on doing some record shopping, may I suggest doing it at Torn Light? After busted plumbing flooded the store in October, it's made no money at all for a month. That's rough for a small business. With any luck it's reopening this weekend! chicagoreader.com/music/gossip...

Even after the passage of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act, local officials and everyday people resisted the legalized abductions of Black Chicagoans. https://bit.ly/4oHpDVu

Rest in peace to former Reader theater critic and editor Tony Adler. This piece dates from his departure from the paper in 2018, but today he left us in a more final way. I worked alongside him for 22 years, and I will always miss his clear eye and terrible jokes. chicagoreader.com/blogs/goodby...

NEW from me: CO2 emissions in China have now been flat or falling for 18 months, the first time that energy demand growth at or above historical averages doesn't drive emissions up, thanks to the clean energy boom. 🧵👇

I just checked, and tickets are still available for tomorrow night's one-of-a-kind Tortoise concert with the Chicago Philharmonic at the Auditorium Theatre! chicagoreader.com/music/concer...

Wait, I thought Senate Democrats were caving on the shutdown so SNAP benefits could resume, but they’re not even getting that. They’re getting nothing for their surrender except lasting enmity from their own voters.

How about we shut down the government for this very popular and specific goal and then, hear me out, we hold out for like a month and a half and then, ok this part is important, after a watershed election where we ran the table, ONLY THEN, fold and don't get the one thing we said we wanted.

Vibes among House Democrats and activists, "The Senate is the enemy"

“I want you to understand what it is like to live in Chicago during this time.” aphyr.com/posts/397-i-...

There are many songs about this city, but Tom Waits wrote one of the best, simply titled "Chicago." Out today, Mavis Staples' new album kicks off with her fantastic version of the song. I'm so glad to hear this quintessential Chicago singer putting her own stamp on it.

Other outlets: Travis Scott sampled Pixel Grip Me: NIN hung out with Pixel Grip

Saturday night, Cole's Bar hosts a free night of dungeon synth, and appropriately enough, it's gonna be gray, dark, and rainy. If only chain mail were waterproof! chicagoreader.com/music/concer...

CHICAGO! We are getting the band back together for ONE NIGHT ONLY to celebrate Sinéad with words, music, and cake. Dec 17 at the Hideout. Proceeds go to @icirr.bsky.social

This might be one of the most monumentally insane things a government has done

"Europeans recognize his vision about free public transit and universal childcare. We expect our governments to make these kinds of services accessible to all of us,” said Verbeek. “We pay higher taxes and get civilized societies in return."

This is the kind of thing that can't just be let go. To really move past the Trump era, a future admin is going to have to make them hurt over this, like "triple the merger deal value" hurt. And it's going to have to be like that for everyone who bribed the admin.

Since 2022, Horsegirl, Lifeguard, and Friko have gone global—but what happened with the teen scene they grew out of? I talked to 18 different people about the Hallogallo scene now chicagoreader.com/music/music-...

new: at least 26 unhoused chicagoans have been abducted since the start of "operation midway blitz." the full scope of people disappeared is likely much larger but is obscured by heavy criminalization, social stigma, and fewer eyes and phones around to bear witness. via @katieprout.bsky.social

The long-running ideological war on libraries, education, and government workers is not separate from AI boosterism. It is the same ideological war on human knowledge and expertise. In some cases AI is being used to directly supercharge this effort: www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...

I'm not sure when this happened, but I'll take any little bit of good news I can get: Glass Eye have posted their 1986 breakthrough album, Bent by Nature, on Bandcamp. When people used to say "Keep Austin Weird," this is what they meant. Or should have meant. glasseye1.bandcamp.com/album/bent-b...

By this time next week, the estimated deaths due to the illegal destruction of USAID and the shuttering of its aid efforts will breach 400,000. More than 260,000 will be children. Source: www.bu.edu/sph/news/art...

Goddard spacecraft engineer: "I think it just kind of speaks to the atmosphere of the agency and the nation, where people are like, 'Well, laws don't matter for the people at the top anymore.'"

i’m at damen/belle plaine in chicago’s north center neighborhood for an emergency anti-ice rally. around 7 a.m. this morning, masked federal agents chased a preschool teacher *into* nearby rayito del sol and abducted her—in front of traumatized children, parents, and coworkers.

The police are defunding Chicago.

On Sunday, Japan's wizards of heaviosity BORIS play @metrochicago.com to celebrate 20 years of their scorching album PINK. Here's how excited I was when they toured Chicago behind that record in 2005: chicagoreader.com/arts-culture...

HoZac just released a live LP of Teengenerate's gig at the Empty Bottle 30 years ago today. They were absolutely the greatest band of the 90s garage-punk revival—fight me! hozacrecords.bandcamp.com/album/teenge...

new: federal agents have targeted rideshare drivers at o'hare on at least ten separate days since october 10. in some cases, agents returned to abduct drivers multiple times in a single day, taking as many as ten to 20 people each time. via @dmbrown-tboy.bsky.social:

The Chicago Asian American Jazz Festival starts on Friday! Bobby Conn celebrates both halves of his new album with separate sets on Thursday! And that's not even half of what Gossip Wolf gets into this week. chicagoreader.com/music/gossip...

Illinois now is the time to try for a progressive tax again

Elected Democrats spending more time today praising Dick Cheney than Zohran Mamdani is a great case study in abject fucking moral failure.

learning nothing at this point is an intentional choice

The fact a *single* Amazon full-time employee requires SNAP benefits should be a crime. The fact Amazon is the largest employer of SNAP recipients is a disgrace. Jeff Bezos shouldnt be that rich; he should be in jail.

I was laid off from Teen Vogue today along with multiple other staffers, and today is my last day. certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.

I am continually baffled by the idea that an employee who inserts plausible but false information into everything they do is still an asset to the company if their pay is small enough. It’s like “yes, it’s sabotage, but it’s sabotage at less than minimum wage.”

Reminder! The Bottle Tapes release celebration is this afternoon. Music starts right at 5 PM, and the surprise set comes first!

Famine is a choice now, just as it was a choice in Ukraine under Stalin.

Can't overstate how fucked up it is that unraveling what is arguably the greatest achievement in the history of humanity is now a motivating issue of one of the two dominant parties in the U.S.

The Empty Bottle Jazz & Improvised Music Series—a key driver of Chicago's ongoing creative-music renaissance—ended 20 years ago. But on Saturday it returns to celebrate a new live box set with performances by Joe McPhee, Ken Vandermark, Dorothy Carlos, and more! chicagoreader.com/music/gossip...

got to Target minutes after ICE kidnapped someone. Spoke to people otg who said they were probably staging at Rosehill. Drove over to Rosehill, another patroller I saw was talking to an employee. Patroller said ICE was using A CEMETERY AS A HOME BASE for kidnapping people in our neighborhood.

Awful news: employers are about to have to reluctantly fire 10s of thousands of workers going into the holidays for no good reason. Trump 2.0's record for intentionally doing as much harm as possible to our economy as quickly as possible remains undefeated www.federalregister.gov/public-inspe...

Two ICE vehicles were confirmed to have been at Leland and Damen about ten minutes ago, according to rapid responders. White Jeep Wagoneer - MO Plate - WM8VG5 Red Jeep Wagoneer - IL FP Plate - 325975

Even if this lawsuit succeeds (and even if the regime actually obeys the court), that likely won't happen before the cliff on November 1. So this would be a good time to donate to the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Your money goes further there than almost anywhere else. www.chicagosfoodbank.org

Gonna do a quick thread of Halloween-ish stories I’ve written for the Reader, beginning with my latest one:

In case facts still matter

Whenever people complain about the number of folks relying on food stamps, it is worth reminding them that SNAP is, by too large of a degree, a subsidy for corporations that refuse to pay a living wage and their political allies who reject public policy prescriptions to reduce income inequality.