I’m going to start a new segment today called “Occupy-related media found on Facebook.” There’s really no way to tell if this stuff is real or taken out of context, so I preface my new segment with a disclaimer: This was found on Facebook. So take that with a grain of salt.

I saw this on a friend’s post - a letter thrown out the window from the Chicago Board of Trade. This person doesn’t like the protesters and has something to say about it (and the state of our economy). I linked it back to Reddit where it has 400+ comments, mostly arguing about how much teachers actually make.

So Occupy Chicago marched on City Hall yesterday to deliver a petition to Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The petition is all about letting Occupy Chicago set up in Grant Park without being arrested. The mayor didn’t come out, but a spokesperson did. If they don’t hear anything from the mayor’s office in two weeks, the protesters are threatening to come back again. I wasn’t there yesterday, but did the protesters hit drums in that cavernous hallway? God that would have been annoying. I’m sorry, I’m down with protesting City Hall, but that’s like honking your horn in Loop rush hour traffic. It may be justified, but that doesn’t mean it still isn’t super annoying. 

B story: The state legislature got to work yesterday and overrode the Governor Quinn veto on the ComEd smart grid. What’s that, you say? Well, ComEd wants state money to create a better grid for delivering electricity. They want to raise your rates per month for the next 10+ years to pay for it. They claim the smart grid technology will allow them to better deliver electricity - and allow consumers to better monitor its use. Quinn vetoed the bill this summer because he felt the legislation was just a way for the utility companies to raise rates on Illinois consumers. Critics believe that ComEd will never bring the rates back down once the smart grid is in place. I don’t know.  If there is one thing I believe Governor Quinn is experienced in, it’s fighting the utility companies. That’s really how he made his name. So if he can’t win on this, what does that mean for legislation he isn’t strong on? In this case, I believe in Governor Quinn’s track record. And he was joined by our State’s Attorney Lisa Madigan. They were trounced in the veto vote. That’s why this might be a tough day for Illinois. Energy lobbyists: 1, Quinn/Lisa Madigan: 0.

C story: The Chicago Childrens Museum’s move to Grant Park has been officially ‘scuttled.’ I thought that was already a given? Is there a new editor in Chicago news who hasn’t been paying attention during the last year? Did they transfer someone from marketing who is taking press releases or budget proposals as first time news? This is a footnote story, not a headline. Sorry, but when the museum said they were going to propose expanding at Navy Pier, what did you think that meant?

D story: I didn’t know that Alderman Dick Mell was an avid reader of this here blog. Yesterday, he recalled a post I did earlier (not by name) suggesting we license bikes. If he starts fact-checking Wikipedia pages to the stars, then we might have a problem. For the record, I agree with the alderman. License bikes and ticket them if they don’t stop at red lights and stop signs. Done. A trillion dollars and a city surplus. Glory days are here again. What can I say? I’m a taste maker.

E story: Alderman Tunney wants to ticket you if you don’t shovel your snow. You’ve been warned, deadbeat! Now, license dibs.

F story: Zorn is covering the Cellini trial. Wants to know the right spelling and meaning of wack job. Or is it whack job?

Weather: Ah, the end of October. It’s sideways rain time!

Sports: The Bears released Safety Chris Harris today. Yikes, that’s the end of the line for a guy who experts and fans believed was the permanent fix. Harris came in last year and solidified a position that was constantly underachieving. He started this year but got hurt and came back tentative. He must have had it out with coaching or something because he went from a leader of the defense to being cut in a matter of weeks. Ah, football. Lovie and Jerry Angelo seem to be very bi-polar with their players. Is Bears management disloyal? Last year, the Bears fell out of favor with their prized defensive tackle Tommie Harris. They unceremoniously cut DE’s Alex Brown and Mark Anderson. Before that, they shipped their workhorse running back Thomas Jones and demoted and released star cornerback Nathan Vasher. This year, they balked on paying Olin Kreutz, Lance Briggs and of course, Matt Forte. Interesting picture.

Also, wasn’t Chris Harris rather outspoken (via Twitter) during the lockout? Payback.

Hey, if you want a great summary of the Bears vs. Bucs game from someone in attendance, check out W Shane Oman’s take. He left a comment this morning on last week’s wrap-up. Great read about experiencing football abroad.

Kicker: Did you see the performance of JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound in our studios? Great song and video, edited by Andrew Gill: