Politicians

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery? More like, try again, copycats. A controversial new ad campaign from the Benetton group was making the rounds online this week. It's on par with the fashion house's past attempts at using their ads to communicate a wider, more "wordly" message, and it is certainly hard to miss. The ad, which is a slideshow of various international politicians shown engaged in faux lip locks, has a message of "Unhate" attached. Scrolling through smooches between opposing political leaders is bound to attract attention the company is seeking, no doubt, but exactly...

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery? More like, try again, copycats. A controversial new ad campaign from the Benetton group was making the rounds online this week. It's on par with the fashion house's past attempts at using their ads to communicate a wider, more "wordly" message, and it is certainly hard to miss. The ad, which is a slideshow of various international politicians shown engaged in faux lip locks, has a message of "Unhate" attached. Scrolling through smooches between opposing political leaders is bound to attract attention the company is seeking, no doubt, but exactly...

If someone would have walked up to Jay-Z on the day he started his rap career and said, "One day, the president of the United States will introduce you at your own music festival," I am sure Young Hov would not have believed it. Yet nobody seemed to find this surprise unusual when it happened in Philadelphia during Labor Day weekend. Well, except the angry folks who vented online about President Obama "hanging out with an ex-drug dealer. " Those folks seem to have forgotten that George H.W. Bush once invited the "original gangster," Eazy-E, to the White House for grub back in 1991.

I've been mulling over a recent column by Gawker's Hamilton Nolan in which he excoriates politicians and pundits over their cowardice. He uses the examples of Democratic and liberal support in the lead-up to the Iraq war (Here on its tenth birthday! Happy birthday, colossal strategic blunder and waste of human life and treasure!) and the decades-long refusal of left-leaning politicians to support gay marriage. The calculation of politicians makes for an easy target, and in the case of the Iraq war, I could not agree more.

What started as a way to highlight a neighborhood's liberal, artsy atmosphere 30 years ago has turned into one of the city's biggest street festivals. Northalsted Market Days, taking place Saturday and Sunday, celebrates three decades this year. Organizers expect a crowd of more than 100,000 to converge on Halsted Street, ground zero for the fest that features three stages and more than 40 musical acts, food and arts and crafts vendors. Mickey Hornick, owner of Chicago Diner in the Halsted business district, has been part of the fest since the beginning.

What's really going on at the Republican National Convention? John Giokaris, political director of the Chicago Young Republicans, is in Tampa, Fla., and giving RedEye a behind-the-scenes peek at the event. Hurricane? What hurricane? While our thougths are with the communities in Isaac's path, Tampa barely was touched. As it turned out, there was really no need to cancel Monday's events. It just gave everyone an excuse to party. Ybor City and The Cuban Club are the hot spots around Tampa Bay. Anyone who wasn't working was drinking and socializing there - not just...

Is there anything more darkly amusing than how Americans think and talk about gasoline prices? It's a discourse that rarely attains the sophistication of a toddler who's dropped a candy bar. From our politicians to news networks to your average consumer at the Shell station, the collective wisdom of this country when it comes to gas prices still seems to be, "I want magic juice! Make vroom-vroom box go fast!" Whenever gas prices begin to tick up, we have to put up with the same moronic pontificating on how it will affect an incumbent...

*** (out of four) Citizens, politicians: Lend Eugene Jarecki your ears. In his exceptional 2005 documentary “Why We Fight,” Jarecki explored dubious political agendas and financial interests that drive the military-industrial complex. In “The House I Live In,” he's still questioning why we fight and finding similar answers. This time, however, Jarecki looks not at war in Iraq but a war on American streets. Anyone with even a vague sense of current events recognizes the number of arrests for...

Just to be clear, the epic classic of campaign literature "The Great Dysmorphia: An Epistimelogical View of Ingesting Hallucinogenic Mushrooms at a 2012 Republican Presidential Debate" is available now for Kindle, iTunes, and Nook. You should buy it. We had the launch party the other night, and if you were there, thank you so much for your attendance, throwing your panties, and dropping multiple roofies into my drinks throughout the night. Much appreciated. More importantly, you need to watch the YouTube trailer for the...

Mayor Rahm Emanuel will join journalists and policymakers for a discussion about guns hosted by the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics on Tuesday night called "The Politics of Guns in America. " The university's Institute of Politics, directed by political adviser and U. of C. alum David Axelrod, event is a response to last month's mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newton, Conn. The panel will be moderated by NBC correspondent Tom Brokaw, who is an avid hunter, and will include Mayor Emanuel; Steve Chapman, editorial writer for the Chicago Tribune; former U.S....