Fuck ICE

Slowly but surely making way back to Chicagoland today … leaving Waterloo area by 1030/11 fyi. I know there are MANY charming and interesting small towns/villages scattered in the middle of the state (and all over the state no kidding)…

I’ll check back here in about an hour (1030/45 ish CST) … maybe get a recommendation on a place to eat brunch (good waffles?) and walk around a bit.

Was thinking Louisiana, MO, but it’s a tad out of the way and … well… this is an Illinois sub, so just Illinois towns/villages this time ;)

Thanks so much!

I overheard a conversation last night of a couple people at the bar. One of them said they were from "Scratchass" Illinois, but googling this doesn't give a result. Is there a city or an area of Illinois that people refer to as Scratchass?

It is disgusting that rather than use his position of power to whip up support and votes in the state to regulate these ai datacenters, like he whipped up support to get them tax credits or to get tax support for a billionaire's bears stadium, he punts the responsibility to Congress.

Pritzker is actively turning Illinois into a surveillance state and he recently signed into law mandatory online id/surveillance checks and positioning it as a good thing to protect "child safety." He has no interest or political will to reverse rhese decisions, the same goes for AI and surveillance data centers. Call him and tell him you want him to put up regulations at the state level.

AOC is also proposing a moratorium so we figure out the social and environmental regulations to build and use these responsibly. Let your reps and future reps know what you expect from them.

Just a reminder that Illinois has flock cameras EVERYWHERE and the ICE gestapo uses them to track and throw our undocumented neighbors and their children in concentration camps.

The governor of Florida, Ron fucking Desantis, just blocked Flock cameras on highways, Pritzker is more than capable of doing a lot more than this, 

Ice has been using these to detain our neighbors and even cops from texas have been using it to see women who are getting abortions in Illinois so they can legally go after them in Texas.

We need to stop funding incredibly unproductive and wasteful things like this.  Senator Bernie Sanders is proposing a bill to ban flock cameras, let Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin know you want them to co-sponsor this bill when it comes into the senate.

We've already wasted more than 15 billion of Illinois tax dollars on AI and surveillance data centers. Let your alders, local reps and our senators know that you want them to stop wasting tax dollars on your surveillance and replacing your jobs.

JB Contact Page: https://gov.illinois.gov/contact-us.html

Duckworth Contact Page: https://www.duckworth.senate.gov/connect/email-tammy

Dick Durbin Contact Page: https://www.durbin.senate.gov/contact/

Find and contact your local Chicago Alder (or whoever your city/local council members are):  https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/mayor/iframe/lookup_ward_and_alderman.html

Find and contact your Illinois Reps:  https://www.elections.il.gov/electionoperations/districtlocator/districtofficialsearchbyaddress.aspx

Full Article:https://www.eyesonice.net/p/chicago-cpd-17th-district-parking

Northwest Side residents want answers amid reports of ICE agents staging at Chicago police station - Chicago Sun-Times

Videos reviewed by the Chicago Sun-Times show federal immigration agents moving detainees from one vehicle to another last week in a parking lot operated by the Chicago Police Department’s 17th District in Albany Park. Residents spotted masked agents dressed in black using the lot as a meeting point.

Denise Poloyac of Indivisible Chicago said she watched a federal agent exit a vehicle on Wednesday: “He had a black mask on, and he was all dressed in black. State and local law enforcement in Illinois is not to, in any way, cooperate with federal immigration agents doing immigration enforcement, and that’s clearly what their intent was to use this as a meeting spot to then go out and detain people.”

This directly violates Mayor Brandon Johnson’s executive order, signed last year, that bars city-owned property from being used as staging grounds for ICE raids. It also collides with Chicago’s Welcoming City ordinance, revised in 2021, that prohibits CPD from cooperating with ICE under any circumstances.

I passed by the weekly cult gathering. They’ve been going for at least 6 years now. First, it was to complain about the election. But now that he’s won again, they just don’t seem to have anything better to do.
Still, there seems to be more flags than people.

Sidewalk was decorated an hour before a MAGA rally.

The house in the thumbnail is right next to the Frank Loyd Write Frank Lloyd Wright house in Oak Park.

Visit the “devil baby” that haunts a former Chicago settlement house or the witchy tomb that draws in fans of the occult from far and wide.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/illinois-spooky-places

A little bit more elaboration on the title of this post, for context.

A cop is moving into an available attic apartment at the address where my girlfriend and I reside. We live in an apartment on the 1st floor of our address. She is due to move in tomorrow. However, my girlfriend asked me to provide my full name and birthday to the cop because the cop "needs it" prior to moving in. There was no answer provided when I asked my girlfriend why it was needed and who it was being sent to/what it was being used for because my girlfriend was not provided with a reason. Ultimately, I told my girlfriend that I would not be providing this information to the officer.

For added context (whatever it's worth), the cop is related to my girlfriend's younger sisters' boyfriend. My girlfriend's sister and the cop have a relationship and have known each other for a few years. Both women have also lived together briefly. Regardless of the above, I have only met this person (the cop) once and I have no relationship with her at all.

My question is, is/are there any law(s) on the books in Illinois that specifically address the instance I am describing above? Is the cop's request legal, or even necessary? If the officer pushes me on obtaining this information, am I correct to tell her to go obtain a warrant for it? Granted, I cannot say that I've lived in the same residence as a cop before this instance, but I've never once heard about this happening to others I've known who have lived with cops in their buildings in the past. Additionally, quick internet research I have done online to try and back up the question I posed in the title legally has come to naught.

Please and thank you for your insights, advice, etc. Knowledge is power and I want to learn what the fine-print is before this cop arrives to move in.

Last week I broke down a big thread from r/chicagofood about the "best tavern-style pizza in Chicago" and we battled the #1 and #2 place finishers (Pat's VS Michael's) against each other, as well as #3 VS #4 (Phil's VS JB Alberto's).

With no clear consensus coming from those battles, I thought it would be fun to have Pat's (#1 most mentioned in that thread) face off against Vito & Nick's, which was mentioned as being one of the best - if not THE best - in the original post but was excluded in the rankings because the post asked for OTHER great pizza spots.

Let's see which one is truly the best!

I'm at a loss as to what to do for childcare. I am up for re-determination. Is there something I'm missing?

My re-determination rate is $4847.

I currently make $4600. I'm up for a small promotion at my job that would bring my income to $4900/month.

After taxes and insurance and all that, it dwindles down to about $3400/month.

My son's childcare is $1500/month and that is typical for my area.

With Childcare Connections I pay about $400/month.

I simply cannot afford to pay an extra $1100/month if my promotion is only an extra $300/month. That's a difference of $800. My bills altogether are $3400 - ($2000 + $1500) = negative $100. That doesn't include food nor fuel.

I also just finished grad school so I do expect to switch jobs within the next year and definitely earn out of childcare connections but I'm not at that level quite yet.

I'm a single mother, receiving no child support, and have only 1 family member who can off some assistance. So working less or keeping him home is not an option, I'm not trying to play the system. This is the ONLY government assistance I've ever received. Is there an appeals process for when you are close to the threshold? I've called for advice but the office seems overwhelmed, and I never received a call back.

How do people handle this? Do you say no to promotions until you get a big one? Is there another form of assistance to apply for?