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Ask Amy
Prospect of birthday splurge causes angst - February 5, 2013 - Dear Amy: For my 50th birthday my parents are going to give me a large sum of money. I have a passion for Indian food, culture, history and art and have dreamed of visiting India. I have looked into tours before and I know I...
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Christopher Borrelli
Author George Saunders maps the origins of his writing - February 1, 2013 - We sped south on Cicero Avenue. Through Oak Lawn, Alsip, Crestwood, a flat, aging strip-malled landscape of crumbling pizza joints and ancient tanning parlors, fast-food chains, tile-supply stores and —
Barbara Brotman
Talking birds at the bar - February 6, 2013 - The owl pellets were being passed around like hors d'oeuvres, albeit highly inedible ones.
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Steve Chapman
A game the NFL can't win? - February 3, 2013 - Professional football is the most popular spectator sport in America, which is one reason the Super Bowl is expected to draw 110 million viewers. With its famous athletes, storied franchises and lucrative TV contracts, it's an industry whose future...
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Mark Caro
Lyric Opera fire victim Wesley Daniel recovering - February 6, 2013 - Having trained in theater and circus skills at Roosevelt University, Wesley Daniel is known as a jack-of-all-trades type among his theater community colleagues. One role may require you to wear a dress and lift the leading man in the air. One...
Bill Daley
Rice flour switcheroo - February 5, 2013 - Q: The recipe for "KFC" Korean fried chicken wings from this week's (Jan. 30, 2013) Good Eating sounds very good, and I'd like to try it. Can you tell me if sweet rice flour is the same as non-glutinous rice flour? I have the former if that will...
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Julie Deardorff
One minute with pushup champ April Calderon - September 18, 2012
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Teddy Greenstein
Die-hard NU fan keeps the faith - December 22, 2012 - Kevin F. Sherry witnessed Keyshawn Johnson knifing through the Purple in Pasadena, UCLA scoring 36 straight points in El Paso and Auburn appearing to win the Outback Bowl three times before it was official.
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David Haugh's In the Wake of the News
NU makes commitment to integrity - February 6, 2013 - College football coaches often try to impress recruits by wearing pieces of jewelry that commemorate a championship. Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald makes a strong recruiting statement with his wedding ring.
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Melissa Harris' Chicago Confidential
Henry Paulson turns career adviser at U. of C. - February 3, 2013 - Former U.S. Treasury Secretary and former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson worked as a career coach Friday for University of Chicago MBA students.
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Globetrotting by Philip Hersh
Vonn's bad spill raises doubts about Olympics - February 5, 2013 - In recent weeks, the big unanswered question about skiing superstar Lindsey Vonn as she headed toward the 2014 Winter Olympics was whether the rumors about her dating Tiger Woods were true.
Jon Hilkevitch: Getting Around
Commuter savings on the rise - February 4, 2013 - Savings have been kicked up another notch for participants in the commuter benefits program, which can put hundreds of dollars back in your pocket each year in connection with the costs to ride the CTA, Metra,...
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Ask Rex Huppke: I Just Work Here
How to connect with your employees - February 4, 2013 - When I see a companywide email from the boss, I, like most employees, assume it's an announcement of a promotion —me to senior vice president of awesomeness.
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Chris Jones
Play about India call center never makes a connection - February 5, 2013 - THEATER REVIEW: "Disconnect" at the Victory Gardens Theater ★ ... "Disconnect," the aptly named new play by Anupama Chandrasekhar, is set in a collection agency in Chennai, India.
Gregory Karp
Financial guidance vs. folly - February 1, 2013 - Whom can you trust for money advice?
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John Kass
Kass: Symbolism buried with an imperfect shooting victim - February 6, 2013 - Norman Dumone "Mone" Stokes wasn't the perfect poster child for victims of violence in Chicago.
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Rick Kogan's Sidewalks
Forgotten Chicago keeps city's bygone parts alive - February 1, 2013 - A building is not, of course, a living thing, and so, unless it's the one you work in, live in or visit with some regularity, you probably take most of the city's thousands of other buildings for granted.
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Greg Kot
Album review: My Bloody Valentine, 'm b v' - February 4, 2013 - 2.5 stars (out of 4)
Gail MarksJarvis
MarksJarvis: Investors nervous at peak but keep investing - February 6, 2013 - It's not unusual to lose your balance while standing on a peak.
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Nina Metz
'Divergent' to hold casting call for extras - February 4, 2013 - Atmosphere Casting is looking for extras and background players for the upcoming film adaptation of Veronica Roth’s sci-fi novel “Divergent,” which will film in Chicago from April through July and star Shailene Woodley ("The...
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Josh Noel
Go find your mountain - January 29, 2013 - By the time you read this, I hope to have completed something as absurd as it is ambitious: climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
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Clarence Page
Family breakdown goes biracial - February 6, 2013 - I know from past experience that I'm going to upset some folks by saying this, so brace yourselves: Marriage is very important and beneficial to the raising of children, but there's little evidence that it fights crime.
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Michael Phillips
'A Man Vanishes': Director ahead of his time ★★★ 1/2 - January 31, 2013 - "I want to capture this new reality," says the filmmaker behind the camera, Shohei Imamura, in his cunning 1967 riddle "A Man Vanishes." Imamura, who devoted his creative life to both fiction features and documentaries (he died in 2006), is the...
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Mike Mulligan
For better or worse, coach and GM tied together - January 17, 2013 - Bears general manager Phil Emery and new head coach Marc Trestman celebrate birthdays just a day apart from one another. That's one of the nifty — dare we say synergetic? — connections between the two men. Sadly, they weren't born in...
Mary Ellen Podmolik
Apartments get energy makeovers - February 1, 2013 - In the past four years, about 10,200 Chicago-area apartments have been made more comfortable and energy-efficient as part of a unique partnership designed to trim utility bills and preserve affordable rental options in the area.
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Dan Pompei
It's John over Jim in HarBowl - February 3, 2013 - NEW ORLEANS — What happened Sunday on the world's stage has been going on between John and Jim Harbaugh for many moons.
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Howard Reich
Music + Movement Festival to bow at city's stages - February 5, 2013 - A new festival celebrating music and dance will launch Feb. 28 under the auspices of the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University and run into June in venues downtown and across the city.
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Phil Rogers
Latest PED revelations no real surprise to MLB - February 2, 2013 - A reputation is a bad thing to lose. Just ask Manti Te'o.
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Steve Rosenbloom
Bears soap opera: All My Hesters - February 5, 2013 - Jay Cutler and Devin Hester: Can this marriage be saved?
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Phil Rosenthal
Rosenthal: U.S. lawsuit against S&P carries risk - February 6, 2013 - Lady Justice is famously blind, a scale in one hand, a double-edged sword in the other.
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Mary Schmich
Stores, as well as gyms, need to turn down the volume - February 6, 2013 - The reader signed herself, "Losing my hearing yet hoping to hang on to my job."
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Dawn Turner Trice
Dawn Turner Trice: Lester and Nancy McKeever's South Shore legacy - February 4, 2013 - Meet the McKeevers.
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Phil Vettel
Sepia's lunch menu too short, but satisfying - February 6, 2013 - If I were to gripe about the Restaurant Week lunch menu at Sepia (123 N. Jefferson St., 312-441-1920), it would be a mild complaint that the $22 menu has only two choices in each of its three courses.
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John von Rhein
Fleming, Graham charm Lyric audience with rare duo recital - January 25, 2013 - Lyric Opera patrons attending the duo recital by soprano Renee Fleming and mezzo-soprano Susan Graham Thursday night at the Civic Opera House probably did not expect they would be getting a guided tour of belle epoque Paris along with an...
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Ellen Warren
'As seen on TV' or too good to be true? - February 1, 2013 - Why doesn't somebody invent a …?
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Jen Weigel
Commuting trends in the 21st century - February 5, 2013 - Commuting is a big part of the day for the American worker. According to Thomas Tiemann, the Jefferson Pilot professor of economics at Elon University, we're changing how we get to work in the 21st century.
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Jon Yates' "What's Your Problem?"
Problem Solver: 1 infraction, 2 tickets, 2 rulings - February 5, 2013 - It was late in the evening of Nov. 30 when Michael Plantz realized his license plates were set to expire the next morning.
Eric Zorn
Set Daniel Taylor free - February 6, 2013 - I'd like to wish Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez a happy first anniversary on the announcement of her Conviction Integrity Unit, a task force created to re-examine controversial cases where plausible claims of wrongful conviction have...
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Other columns
Matt Bowen
Signing day something for recruits to cherish - February 6, 2013 - My mom was sold on coach Gary Barnett. And that meant she was sold on Northwestern.
Dennis Byrne
If we open up the Illinois Constitution … - January 30, 2013 - It takes special gall to raise taxes for some Illinoisans so soon after they were hit with a massive increase in state income tax rates.
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Steve Dale
Dog's urgency to urinate at night points to physical problem - January 31, 2013 - ORLANDO, FLA. -- These reader questions were answered at the North American Veterinary Conference Jan. 19-23 in Orlando, FL. Nearly 6,000 veterinarians, and a grand total of nearly 15,000 professionals -- from veterinary technicians to...
Howard Dakoff
Dog double standard is against condo act rules - February 1, 2013 - Q. Our condo association allows dogs up to a certain weight and count. We also have leased units in the building and we, the board, want to restrict renters from keeping dogs but allow unit owners to keep dogs in their units. Can we do this by...
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Meghan Daum
Hillary Clinton's next drama - January 11, 2013 - Watching Hillary Rodham Clinton's exit from the State Department is a little like watching the season-ending episode of a popular television series that may not come back the next year. As loyal as its viewers are, there are always wary network...
Leah Eskin
Finding a pocket of calm - February 3, 2013 - The sky faded to white, clumped and hurtled toward the windshield in the first fat flakes of winter. Thrilling the back-seat crowd and petrifying the car. It flatly refused to roll. We abandoned it curbside, ran home, and switched to a camel.
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Jonah Goldberg
Can GOP's local success translate to federal level? - February 1, 2013 - The Republicans are doomed. Conservatism is over. President Obama is conducting a mop-up operation at this point.
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Ilyce Glink & Samuel Tamkin
Getting a builder to honor warranty problems - February 3, 2013 - Q: We bought a house two years ago. Our purchase included a one-year warranty on the home. We have yet to get our one-year home fixes done. Some of our repair requests have been blatantly ignored and some have been only partially done.
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Victor Davis Hanson
War is like rust - January 31, 2013 - War seems to come out of nowhere, like rust that suddenly pops up on iron after a storm.
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Arianna Huffington
Worldwide resilience key to our future - January 23, 2013 - DAVOS, SWITZERLAND -- The weather here is crisp and snowy, but the global outlook heading into the 43rd World Economic Forum is decidedly more overcast. With the main engine of the world economy -- the United States -- still barely limping along...
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Benny Kass
Steps to protect condo funds from embezzlement - January 25, 2013 - Q: I have just been elected president of my 200-unit condominium association and have heard that some property managers throughout the country have embezzled association funds. How can we protect ourselves and our money?
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Joyce Lain Kennedy
Best sports careers for non-players - February 3, 2013 - DEAR JOYCE: My 18-year-old sister is never going to qualify for pro baseball but she's a rabid fan and won't consider looking in other places for her career. She starts community college this year, and as her older brother, I keep telling her she...
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Robert Koehler
Controlling Lucifer - January 31, 2013 - The president negotiates our withdrawal from Afghanistan, proclaims mission accomplished -- and the wars of the last decade continue winding down to nothing.
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Charles Krauthammer
A new strategy for the Republicans - January 20, 2013 - — It has become conventional wisdom that Republicans are suffering an internal split that President Barack Obama is successfully exploiting to neuter the Republican House. It is not true, however, that the Republican split is philosophical...
Dan McNeil
Super Bowl Sunday is time to take chances - January 31, 2013 - How many times have you returned from Las Vegas with more money than when you left?
Pamela Dittmer McKuen
Getting a handle on winter safety - February 2, 2013 - Winter weather is especially hazardous to community associations, which are responsible for keeping their residents and property safe. Boards need to enact proper safety measures. If they don't, small mishaps can quickly turn into big insurance...
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Robert Pagliarini: Your Other 8 Hours
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...
Kathleen Parker
Print's longtime passing - January 2, 2013 - — It is comforting to think of death as a passing rather than an end. In that vein, I prefer to think of Steve Jobs' final words as editorial commentary: "Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow."
William Pfaff
Military interventions rarely fulfill their goals - February 5, 2013 - PARIS -- Military interventions by powerful nations into lesser ones, such as now continues in Mali (and Afghanistan), and is being urged by many into the Syrian civil war, are inherently reckless since even the most powerful states can have the...
Leonard Pitts, Jr.
Calling out bugnut idiocy - February 3, 2013 - Rush Limbaugh thinks John Lewis should have been armed.
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Janet Portman
Security deposit at risk if guest damages property - January 25, 2013 - Q: I own a town house that I rent out. The rules of the association make owners responsible for damage that is done by themselves, guests or renters. Our renter had a guest who was involved in a robbery attempt at the complex. He damaged...
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Bill Press
Ronald Reagan's lead on immigration - January 31, 2013 - Yes, good things still happen in this country. They just don't happen overnight.
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Mary Sanchez
Republicans make nice, but are their hearts true? - February 1, 2013 - With Valentine's Day approaching, I thought I'd give the GOP a little friendly advice on avoiding the missteps of courtship.
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Daneen Skube
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...
Rick Steves
European art beyond museum walls - February 5, 2013 - Europeans love to dress up the settings of everyday life, from their piazzas to their back lanes -- and they've been doing it for centuries. Climbing the Acropolis, communing with the druids at Stonehenge, strolling the Croatian shore in the shadow...
Cal Thomas
Government shouldn't define 'church' - February 5, 2013 - Under pressure from religious and conservative groups, the Obama administration has offered another compromise on the issue of birth control coverage within the Affordable Care Act. While exempting churches and some religiously affiliated...
Joe Trost's Corner Kicks
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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Mary Umberger
Simplified approach to home design - February 1, 2013 - LAS VEGAS — If you're planning to build or remodel a kitchen, you'll be right on top of the trends if you choose white cabinets. No, wait, make that dark brown.
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Bob Weber: Motormouth
Car's seat belt loop safe - February 2, 2013 - Q: I have a 2005 Chevy Cavalier two-door. The seat belt runs through a loop and when I pull to connect it, it comes out of the loop. I have to slip it back in before I drive. Would this come out in the event of a collision? GM says it is...
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Jules Witcover
Why annihilate the GOP? - February 1, 2013 - WASHINGTON -- Still reeling from the Republican defeat in the 2012 presidential election, House Speaker John Boehner warned in a Ripon Society speech the other day that the re-elected Obama administration is now out to kill off their party.
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