Brian Mackey

it does feel like a rubicon being passed today but does anyone remember the arson at the house of the most prominent jewish elected leader in america

like

two months ago

Tuned into the White Sox game in the bottom of the 8th. Score was 2–2, and within a few minutes the Sox were up 7–2.

Last night I tuned into the end of the NBA Finals, and Indiana went up for the first time in the entire game with 0.3 seconds to go.

Any other sports teams I can help out tonight?

This is shocking.

I directly worked on designing the integration and protections of CityKey. It was designed to provide an ID, be a transit card, library and discount card.

It was to *never* create a digital record while being compatible with state and city laws. Subpoena-proof.

The sole question presented here is whether Petitioners, as federal candidates, have pleaded sufficient factual allegations to show Article III standing to challenge state time, place, and manner regulations concerning their federal elections.

And finally (for now), SCOTUS will consider Bost v. Illinois whether federal candidates have standing to challenge state laws that count late-arriving ballots postmarked by Election Day. Not the merits (yet), just the standing question. www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/24...

This is such a good example of "turn every page" journalism - nothing less fun/glam than clicking through every footnote.

And it's roughly 10,000x more newsy than the thumbsucker RFK profiles reported with big travel budgets.

A New Yorker cartoon by Bruce Eric Kaplan shows a man alone in a living room, talking on the phone. The caption reads: “Just sitting here waiting for Facebook to go away.”

Update: Journalism has been purchased by a hedge fund which announced multiple amputations

Good question and fair points. Thanks for the detailed (and sincere!) response.

No Evidence Rahm Emanuel Covered Up Police Murder of Laquan McDonald: Former Watchdog The full U.S. Senate is set to consider Rahm Emanuel’s nomination to serve as President Joe Biden’s ambassador — but if the former Chicago mayor is confirmed, it will happen without the support of at ...

Sincere question: Do you think former Inspector General Joe Ferguson lied to the Senate on behalf of Emanuel?

“There is a complete absence of factual basis to support the claim that Mayor Emanuel was involved directly or indirectly in a ‘cover-up’ of the McDonald shooting videos,” he wrote.

Pope Leo spotted on the 2005 World Series broadcast

So the pope is a White Sox fan - Sox Machine In his autobiography, Bill Veeck wrote, “If there is any justice in this world, to be a White Sox fan frees a man from any form of penance.” Now that a White Sox fan is literally the pope, I guess we’...

Great short essay on Pope Leo, the White Sox, and the Beatitudes, by @soxmachine.com:

"While I'd known at some level that every pope is a person [...] it didn't resonate like seeing a picture of the person who is now pope wearing a White Sox jersey in the stands of U.S. Cellular Field."

So the pope is a White Sox fan - Sox Machine In his autobiography, Bill Veeck wrote, “If there is any justice in this world, to be a White Sox fan frees a man from any form of penance.” Now that a White Sox fan is literally the pope, I guess we’...

Wrote about the pope being a White Sox fan. It's pretty crazy! soxmachine.com/2025/05/so-t...

Cardinal Robert Prevost (center, blue shirt) visited the flagship @AureliosPizza location in Homewood in August with friends and family. Who could've imagined what would happen less than a year later! wgntv.com/news/robert-...

"This is Hawk Harrelson with Ed Farmer and the Pope at US Cellular and this is the 2005 World Series..."

The White Sox, Aurelio's Pizza and St. Mary's Mass: A South Sider becomes pope Robert Prevost’s Catholic roots were planted in Chicago’s south suburbs, where he lived in Dolton and attended St. Mary’s parish before becoming Pope Leo XIV.

Please have your first draft of history here, via half the Tribune and captained by @stacystclair.bsky.social
That was a fun day at work. www.chicagotribune.com/2025/05/08/r...

Anyway, Illinois' only statewide public radio talk show will be talking about Illinois' only pope — so be sure to join us at 11 a.m. Friday on the @21st.show (or wherever you get your podcasts).

And here I thought Chicago media reached peak “area man” stories in the Obama era.

YouTube video by AuswaertigesAmtDE Shortfilm Wim Wenders: The Keys to Freedom

"It is now up to us to take the keys to freedom into our own hands."

Implement a 100% tariff and ruin a movie.

The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, Her Lover, Their Accountant, His Shipping Agent, Our Trade Representative, & an Unemployed Longshoreman (1989)

Also worth noting the wisdom in one of the comments:

“Don’t accept criticism from someone that you wouldn’t accept advice from.”

‘I Have Cancer,’ the TikTok Star Said. Then Came the Torrent of Hate. Sydney Towle’s videos have drawn an enormous audience on TikTok, where her followers praise and support her. On Reddit, an army of skeptics was determined to paint her as a fraud.

One heck of a fact-check story by @katierosman.bsky.social. Somehow manages to be heartwarming, heartbreaking, affirming and dispiriting — often in adjoining paragraphs. Be prepared for a rollercoaster.

Driver of deadly crash at after-school camp is a former State Police employee Four children died and six were injured after a car crashed into a Chatham after-school center on Monday.

Thorough follow-up reporting from @capitolnewsil.bsky.social.

Illinois State Police says “this does not appear to be a targeted attack,” but we’re still waiting for an explanation of what it was.

Update from the Illinois State Police, 5:16 a.m.:

“The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle was uninjured and transported to an area hospital for evaluation. ​ Toxicology reports are pending. ​ The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but this does not appear to be a targeted attack.”

Update from the Illinois State Police, 5:16 a.m.:

“The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle was uninjured and transported to an area hospital for evaluation. ​Toxicology reports are pending. ​The cause of the crash remains under investigation, but this does not appear to be a targeted attack.“

A look at vehicle ramming attacks across the globe An SUV crashed into a crowd at a Filipino heritage festival in Vancouver over the weekend, killing 11 people and injuring dozens of others in the latest vehicle attack around the world.

Disturbing context in the story above:

“Monday’s crash is the latest instance of people driving vehicles into groups of people across the globe. Only two days earlier, a car plowed through a crowded street during a Filipino heritage festival in Vancouver, British Columbia, killing 11.”

Vehicle smashes through Illinois building, killing 4 young people and injuring others Illinois State Police say a car smashed through a building during an after-school program just outside Springfield, Illinois. The four people killed were between the ages of 4 and 18, Illinois State P...

“CHATHAM, Ill. (AP) — A car smashed through a building Monday afternoon, killing four young people and injuring several others during an after-school program in a small city outside of Springfield, Illinois, police said.”

Pritzker calls for mass protests and disruption - “Republicans cannot know a moment of peace,” he says, swaying their portraits will one day be put in museums “reserved for tyrants and traitors”

The Missteps That Led to a Fatal Plane Crash at Reagan National Airport New details revealed by The Times show that the failures on Jan. 29 before an Army helicopter crashed into a jet near Reagan National Airport were far more complex than previously known.

“I think what we’ll find in the end is there were multiple things that, had any one of them changed, it could have well changed the outcome of that evening.”

The decision of whether to run for re-election has not been easy. I truly love the job of being a United States Senator.

But in my heart, I know it’s time to pass the torch.

So, I am announcing today that I will not be seeking re-election at the end of my term.

This video shows the fire damage inside the Pennsylvania Governor’s mansion.

Governor Shapiro’s reaction to the arson attack is on my timeline.