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Future mother-in-law casts shadow on marriage - October 24, 2012 - Dear Amy: I am getting married next month, but my future mother-in-law hates me. This is not a traditional "mother-in-law hatred"; it's the kind of hatred that is a deal-breaker. She doesn't invite me to family events, and I have...
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'Word Jazz' pioneer Ken Nordine's career gets a closer look at film festival - October 19, 2012 - Chicago's Oldest Living Hipster lives in Edgewater, on the North Side. He is 92 but looks 83. He lives behind a wrought-iron fence, surrounded on all sides by the drabbest of stone-colored apartment complexes.
Brotman: Chicagoans, cast your votes: Bears or debate? - October 22, 2012 - Chicagoans face a choice Monday night:
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Myths of Iraq and Afghanistan - October 21, 2012 - When Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the other day the U.S. war in Afghanistan is "succeeding" and "has turned an important corner," I could have sworn I had heard that before. Where could it have been?
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Divine new project for Britt Daniels and Divine Fits - October 23, 2012 - Britt Daniel hasn't said goodbye to his old band, Spoon, but he also doesn't consider his new one, Divine Fits, to be a side project.
Vegetarian meals: Ideas? - October 23, 2012 - Q: Hubby is dieting by eating vegetarian as often as possible. It's been a week, and he is getting bored quickly. Do you have any recommendations for some vegetarian dinner meals that are nutritionally complete, and are not simply variations of...
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One minute with pushup champ April Calderon - September 18, 2012
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Badgers' Ball back in running for Silver Football - October 23, 2012 - The accent has been removed from the second "e" in Montee Ball. Apparently it was slowing him down.
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Bears 'D' the real force to be reckoned with - October 23, 2012 - With the kind of viciousness Chicago would support if he were a Bear, Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh violently slammed Jay Cutler into the Soldier Field sod hard enough Monday night to shake a football city's fan base.
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WMS Industries places a bet on online gambling - October 21, 2012 - While Illinois officials remain mired in debate over all forms of gambling, WMS Industries is predicting that casinos will soon become ubiquitous — via your computer and cellphone, at least.
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In cycling's grand fraud, Armstrong not alone - October 22, 2012 - So many shoes now have dropped on Lance Armstrong he has enough stock to open an Infamous Footwear store.
Designers seek input of riders to develop useful transportation apps - October 22, 2012 - George Aye and Sara Cantor Aye want to help improve the experience of using mass transit in the Chicago area, and they are appealing for your participation.
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Nothing worse than office peppiness - October 22, 2012 - Every office has a person who has taken a few too many drags on the pep pipe. A manager or co-worker whose sunny disposition can cloud an otherwise delightfully pessimistic day.
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Chicago actors get to knock the stuffing out of 'Opponent' - October 23, 2012 - THEATER REVIEW: "The Opponent" at A Red Orchid Theatre ★★★½ ... "The Opponent" is one of those darn good, only-possible-in-Chicago kind of shows.
It pays to lay off the layaway - October 12, 2012 - Layaway is illogical. Almost nobody should use it for holiday gift purchases this year.
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Don't monkey around with Facebook - October 24, 2012 - There's nothing quite like a world-renowned neuroscientist Facebooking about the lack of hot chicks who study the brain.
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A razor-sharp barber, keen on magic - October 19, 2012 - Where exactly to start?
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Album review: Gary Clark Jr., 'Blak and Blu' - October 22, 2012 - 2.5 stars (out of 4)
Europe, China taking toll on U.S. corporate profits - October 24, 2012 - With U.S. stocks near five-year highs, the unmistakable reality of a sputtering global economy has hit home, stifling U.S. corporate sales and spooking investors.
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'Saving Hubble' shows off the stars - October 18, 2012 - As the avuncular host of "NOVA ScienceNOW" on PBS, Neil deGrasse Tyson is one of the few astrophysicists who is recognized outside of scientific circles. It's no accident that he has made so many appearances on "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert...
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Plane refund? If you're fast - October 23, 2012 - If you knew that you're entitled to a full refund on almost any plane ticket within 24 hours of purchase, congratulations. If you didn't know, you're not alone.
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Romney the chameleon debates himself - October 24, 2012 - President Barack Obama's final debate with Mitt Romney wasn't nearly as fascinating as the debate that Romney appeared to be having with himself.
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Viola Davis plots a career, not just for herself - October 19, 2012 - Viola Davis has won two Tony Awards for her Juilliard-trained stage work in the August Wilson plays "King Hedley II" and "Fences." She has been Oscar-nominated twice, first for a supporting role in "Doubt," more recently for a much larger role,...
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Some Bears great, but not Hall of Fame worthy - October 23, 2012 - Somewhere between Brian Urlacher pushing Charles Tillman for Defensive Player of the Year and Jon Gruden hailing a group of All-Time Bears currently on the defense, the thought occurred that something important is missing from the franchise. No,...
Foreclosure rescue scams add insult to injury - October 19, 2012 - In the three-month period that ended in September, mortgage foreclosure activity in Illinois rose 31 percent from its year-earlier level, jeopardizing homeowners, tenants and neighborhoods.
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Pompei's NFL power rankings - October 23, 2012 - 1. Giants (3 last week): Is there a better quarterback in the NFL in the final two minutes than Eli Manning?
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Sugar Blue a soaring voice for the blues - October 23, 2012 - Last May, during a conference on "Race, Gender & the Blues" at Dominican University, the master harmonica player Sugar Blue addressed the theme in an impassioned, unforgettable soliloquy.
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Melky Cabrera? Who's he? - October 23, 2012 - SAN FRANCISCO — I looked and looked for Melky Cabrera in the Giants' water-logged celebration, and never did find him.
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Saluting the Bears defense - October 22, 2012 - I can't describe how spectacular the Bears defense was in nearly shutting out the Lions. I don't know if anybody can. But running down that unit's heroics Monday night should be stunning enough.
Chanel No. 5's heavy notes of Brad Pitt tickling the wrong senses at the moment - October 24, 2012
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Chicago lawyer pleads guilty in tax shelter scheme - September 14, 2012 - The tax-shelter-fraud case against Chicago lawyers and accountants took another strange twist Thursday when one defendant pleaded guilty to criminal charges months after her conviction was overturned.
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Lance Armstrong's good name also gone - October 24, 2012 - On Tuesday, the day after he was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, Lance Armstrong swallowed another dose of punishment, a uniquely modern kind: He removed the references to his Tour titles from his Twitter bio.
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Language offers rare insight into ancient Egyptians - October 22, 2012 - Long before Facebook posts and tweets, long before letters with postage stamps, ancient middle and upper-middle-class Egyptians scrawled notes on pieces of clay pots and handed them to children who ran across the village to deliver the messages.
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Your tables are ready - October 18, 2012 - If we knew exactly what made restaurants successful, then there would be no unsuccessful ones. But the business is unpredictable and customers fickle; some mediocre concepts seemingly last forever, while genuinely worthy enterprises wither on the...
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Reissued recordings add luster to Georg Solti's legacy - October 23, 2012 - Georg Solti, whose 100th birthday the classical music world is celebrating this month, rose to international fame as a recording artist well before he became widely known in the concert hall and opera house. Indeed, the former music director of the...
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Here comes the tattoo ... er, bride - October 19, 2012 - Dear Answer Angel: My daughter, a bride-to-be, has found the gown of her dreams: scoop neck, off the shoulder and gorgeous. She looks like a million dollars in it and wants no other. The big problem: She has a very large —...
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Four outrageous items found on expense reports - October 23, 2012 - So you're filling out your expense report and you get to that part where you need to submit your receipts. Before you try to blame your co-worker for ordering all the chocolate martinis, know this: According to experts, a lot of people expense...
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Problem Solver: Chicago parking meter fast to take money, slow to refund - October 23, 2012 - By the time Dawn Benavides realized what had happened, it was too late.
New Romney gives 'peace' a dozen chances - October 24, 2012 - In some ways, it's encouraging that the Mitt Romney who boasted earlier this year about having been "a severely conservative governor" of Massachusetts morphed Monday into a serenely moderate presidential candidate.
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Joel Brinkley: Netanyahu foolish to take sides in U.S. election - October 10, 2012 - Benjamin Netanyahu is so eager to see Mitt Romney elected president that he's making a fool of himself.
Though battered and bruised, Cutler earned respect - October 23, 2012 - Is Jay Cutler really going to get up after that hit? That's exactly what I was thinking after the shot the Bears' quarterback took from the Lions' Ndamukong Suh on Monday night.
The problem with Duckworth - October 23, 2012 - Let's see, the reasons that you're supposed to vote for Democrat Tammy Duckworth and against Republican incumbent Joe Walsh in the northwest suburban 8th Congressional District are: He's a radical, "anti-choice," loudmouthed, wing-nut tea partyer....
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Don't risk TSA hassle for 'packing' catnip - October 18, 2012 - Q: We'll be traveling to the Miami area by plane to see relatives for Thanksgiving. My daughters are both cat crazy, so we bought some really potent catnip at a local cat show and would like to take it to them. We've been storing it in the freezer....
Bring in Obama the Hulk - October 12, 2012 - It's hard to say which is more cringe-worthy: President Barack Obama's debate performance last week or his efforts to control the damage by poking fun at himself. In Los Angeles on Sunday night, Obama recognized Stevie Wonder and Katy Perry as...
Chickpeas a lifesaver - October 21, 2012 - Girls want to have fun. And yet, they don't. What they have is laundry. And carpool. They have grocery lists, to-do lists, listlessness.
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A vote for Election Day - October 24, 2012 - I suspect most voters watching Monday night's debate found it pretty boring. President Obama wanted to force Mitt Romney into saying something stupid. Romney didn't take the bait. So pretty much nothing changed the dynamics of the race.
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Reverse mortgage aren't right for everyone - October 21, 2012 - Q: In a recent column, you attempted to help a retiree refinance his home. You gave him many ways to contort himself in order to become a square peg in a lender's round hole. However, if he refinances in the manner you suggested, he'd be...
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A bright and shining Libyan lie - October 18, 2012 - Almost everything we have been told about Libya over the last two years is untrue.
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Instead of debate zingers, how about serious proposals to boost employment? - October 4, 2012 - As the presidential debates begin, the focus shouldn't be on who is going to "win," but on whether we are finally going to get a serious debate on jobs and the economy. If not, then the real loser is going to be the American public. But I...
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Don't buy house without these 3 contract contingencies - September 27, 2012 - Q: I am in the midst of house hunting. Do you have an example of contingency language for financing and inspections that you have used in the past?
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Leverage crossover skills for new job - October 24, 2012 - DEAR JOYCE: In my younger years, I was a top producer at an automotive dealership where I started in sales and was promoted into middle management. Now, at 50 plus, my interest in the retail auto industry is exhausted. I can't get a nibble in...
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The moral equivalent of Nuremberg - October 18, 2012 - My favorite quote was from the British government spokesperson, who assured us: "All ammunition used by UK armed forces falls within international humanitarian law and is consistent with the Geneva Convention."
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Barack Obama: Drone warrior - June 4, 2012 - WASHINGTON — A very strange story, a 6,000-word front-page New York Times piece on how, every Tuesday, Barack Obama shuffles "baseball cards" with the pictures and bios of suspected terrorists from around the world and chooses who shall die...
Brenly-Kasper duo will be missed - October 18, 2012 - I don't blame any Cubs fan for being as disappointed in Bob Brenly's departure as in the 101-loss season the team just suffered. The latter was expected.
Placement of campaign signs stirs debate - October 11, 2012 - The presidential election is just weeks away, and campaign signs are proliferating like spring flowers. In neighborhoods that are governed by associations, the signs often are more divisive than the candidates they support.
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Top 5 personal coaching myths - December 24, 2011 - Personal coaching is all the rage. Harvard Business Review reports that coaching is a $1 billion a year industry, but just what is a personal coach, professional coach or life coach, and why are so many executives and individuals using them to...
Smile when you say that - October 15, 2012 - WASHINGTON — After two debates, one presidential and one vice presidential, we can fairly conclude that Barack Obama and Joe Biden are happy warriors.
Investment units hamper sales in building - October 19, 2012 - Q. I am the president of our condominium association with a great concern about the number of investment units in the building. I purchased my unit in October of 2007 and recently tried to refinance under the HARP 2.0 program. I found out that my...
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Romney's foreign policy a puzzle that doesn't fit together - October 10, 2012 - PARIS -- The principal problem with Mitt Romney's foreign policy statements is not that his position swings widely, or that he often reverses himself, according to the audience and the daily news. This is no surprise in American presidential...
About those binders... - October 24, 2012 - About those "binders full of women..."
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Evaluating a rental applicant based on ex-landlord's opinion - August 23, 2012 - Q: I have a policy of always talking to an applicant's current landlord. But an applicant whom I'll call Sue has asked me not to call her landlord. She is afraid that if the owner learns she is looking, he will terminate her tenancy. Sue says...
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First debate: Romney delights, Obama disappoints - October 5, 2012 - When Mitt Romney took the stage in Denver, he already had two strikes against him.
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Web companies need to step up on protecting kids' privacy - October 6, 2012 - Everybody can agree that the privacy of children needs to be protected when they use the Internet.
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Best advice of 2011 - December 19, 2011 - As many of you sit underneath brilliantly lit trees today opening gifts from "Santa," I'd like to add a few gifts for you to unwrap and launch you into 2012 with more peace, power and productivity. As my loyal readers know, I review my best...
10 great seaside escapes - October 23, 2012 - With all the intensity in our domestic and political worlds lately, it's a fine time for an escape -- sunset glinting through the drink in your hand. Let's fantasize about the 10 best seaside bars in Europe.
George McGovern: A conservative's appreciation - October 23, 2012 - Former South Dakota Democratic Senator George McGovern, who died Sunday, had all manner of evil said about him because of his opposition to the Vietnam War. He was called unpatriotic, disloyal, an appeaser and an enabler of communism. Those were...
Soccer | Joe Trost's Corner Kicks blog: Loyola to play in Naperville invite next season - May 26, 2012 - Loyola will play in the Naperville Invitational next season.
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Making your home accessible - October 19, 2012 - I wondered the other day how long it might be before I became the source of an unfunny lightbulb joke. With a certain amount of trepidation that I never would have had in younger days, I climbed a stepladder to change a ceiling fixture bulb and...
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Shock absorbers may improve rocky Dodge ride - October 20, 2012 - Q: I am an 81-year-old Dodge Caliber owner and this vehicle rides worse than an army truck. Every line and joint in the road sounds and feels like a mini explosion. I made a mistake not taking this vehicle for a ride before I bought it. I...
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Romney AWOL in foreign policy debate - October 24, 2012 - WASHINGTON -- In the final presidential debate Monday night, Mitt Romney emulated Barack Obama's disappearing act of their first encounter, benignly agreeing with the president time and time again on the foreign policy issues that were supposed...
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