Crony Capitalism & Royal Bank of Scotland

The board of RBS, which is 83%‑owned by the taxpayer, is said to be considering a bonus of £1.3m to £1.5m for RBS Chief, Stephen Hester, on top of his £1.2m annual salary.  Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, told the Observer "that the public would not regard it as fair or right for the head of a company whose share price had halved in the past year, and which had missed its target for lending to small businesses, to cash in when so many hard-working people were struggling to make ends meet."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jan/21/miliband-cameron-stephen-hester-bonus?newsfeed=true 

Photo of RBS Chief Stephen Hester: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Here are The Beatles performing "Money (That's What I Want)":

Snowman

Here is a great photo of a former colleague of mine, Janos Simon, cross-country skiing by Lake Michigan in Chicago last weekend:

Photo: Hyde Park Herald

CTA Warrior @ Old Town

Reading a recent Chicago Red Eye article about the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) gave me an idea! I'm going to take different CTA routes over the next few months and hopefully have some great adventures. I'll be on the lookout for three interesting small businesses on each trip, and will report about them on my blog!  I've never understood why people would want to jostle with all the traffic on the Dan Ryan Expressway or Lake Shore Drive, not to mention paying 30 bucks to park in the Loop or just about anywhere downtown, when they could simply jump on a bus or the el....so let's go check out the CTA website: http://www.transitchicago.com/

Journey One - Friday, 20 January 2012 - OLD TOWN - Brown Line El
It was snowing heavily. I took the Brown Line el (towards Kimball) from Randolph and Wabash and got off at Sedgwick (9 minutes, 5 stops).  The journey was uneventful and cost $2.25.  From the Sedgwick stop I walked up North Avenue, turned right on Wells and my first stop was at a pet store:

Collar & Leash Pet Boutique @
1435 N. Wells St.

http://www.collar-and-leash.com/

They carried a nice selection of dog and cat food, treats, toys on the first and second floors but the third floor had puppies in small cages which freaked me out a bit. This is an affluent area so I'm hoping these puppies will go to good homes.

The Spice House@1512 N. Wells St.
http://www.thespicehouse.com/
Exotic spices from around the globe and very helpful staff. I bought some Turkish bay leaves.
"From Adobo Seasoning to Za'atar, we mix it up fresh at The Spice House. If you haven't used our spices before, you'll be surprised how intense the flavors can be when they're freshly ground."

The Twisted Baker@1543 N. Wells St.

http://www.thetwistedbaker.com/

Cozy bakery and cafe with brick walls and wooden floors.

I tried the hot apple cider and a trio of cookies: lime, molasses and tea cloud. Delicious!

Homeless people

Here are some haunting photos by Lee Jefferies, a photographer in Manchester, UK. He started taking photos of the homeless in 2008. http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2012/jan/20/big-picture-homeless-lee-jefferies#/picture=384706188&index=6

Not surprisingly, I've noticed a worrying increase in the numbers of homeless people in Chicago in the last few years. I mentioned this to one of the sisters of St. Paul at the Pauline bookstore on Michigan Avenue. I asked her what she felt was the best thing to do -- give them money or not? She said that she always carries granola bars in her purse to hand out to the homeless people in the Loop, rather than giving them money.

Here's a link to one of my favorite organizations: The Greater Chicago Food Depository, who always need donations and volunteers. http://www.chicagosfoodbank.org/site/PageServer

And the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless who "organize and advocate to prevent and end homelessness, because we believe housing is a human right in a just society.”  http://www.chicagohomeless.org/

All photos by Lee Jefferies

Lyvita Gomes starves to death

There is a sad, sad story in today's Chicago Tribune....an example of someone falling through the cracks. Lyvita Gomes was living in a hotel in Vernon Hills. When funeral home workers cleaned out her room, they found some jewelry, an image of the Virgin Mary, and photos that recalled her family in India and her days as a successful, sharply dressed airline trainer. According to the Chicago Tribune "Gomes grew up in a suburb of Mumbai, and her brother described her as optimistic, helpful and high-achieving. She studied biochemistry and education in college, wrote a math textbook and took a job as a Pan Am flight attendant in 1986. Later, after Delta took over Pan Am, she was promoted to in-flight training supervisor and in 1999 was nominated for the airline's prestigious Chairman's Club award."

The funeral home also found stacks of mail, much of it unopened, going back seven years. In that pile was a jury summons that marked the beginning of Gomes' fatal downward spiral...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-inmate-starves-20120120,0,717538.story

Photo of Lyvita Gomes in Chicago Tribune

The Flying Lizards - Money

I've been thinking about Greece renting out her historic and sacred sights...one wonders where this might end. Maybe Italy will rent out her Rome Colosseum as a Christian martyr or gladiator theme park....and Britain could rent out the Tower of London for Disney-style mock beheadings and executions? Any other suggestions?

The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer (left) by Jean-Léon Gérôme in 1883.

The Execution of Lady Jane Grey (right) is an oil painting by Paul Delaroche, 1833, currently housed in the National Gallery in London. She was also known as the Nine Days Queen. An English noblewoman and Queen of England from 10 to 19 July 1553 who was subsequently executed at the Tower of London.

Here are the Flying Lizards singing "Money":

Greece rents out historic sites

Photograph: Petros Giannakouris/AP

Greece plans to rent out iconic archaeological treasures to advertising firms and film companies. These include the Parthenon (above) which is the temple on the Athenian Acropolis dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena. Greek archeologists have long griped that using the historic ruins was blasphemous. I wonder what the Goddess Athena would make of it all?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jan/20/greek-ancient-sites-for-rent

"ATHENE (or Athena) was the great Olympian goddess of wise counsel, war, the defence of towns, heroic endeavour, weaving, pottery and other crafts. She was depicted crowned with a crested helm, armed with shield and spear, and wearing the snake-trimmed aigis cloak wrapped around her breast and arm, adorned with the monstrous head of the Gorgon."