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Food In Chicago ? A Gastronomic Paradise

Street Food Stall

Image by teamshaw79 via Flickr

Many persons visit Chicago for its beautiful natural attractions, skyscrapers, or merely to enjoy the pleasure of living in the big city. However, those who love food have a special reason to visit Chicago. Chicago boasts of certain dishes that cannot be found anywhere else in the country. Further, there are certain restaurants in this city that have their own unique signature dishes that will not be available even in the best restaurants and hotels outside the city.

Those who love food will be overwhelmed by the sheer choice available in the city. Chicago is one big city that has retained a small town love for street food. You will come across many vendors offering a variety of street food consumed by a large number of individuals. Unlike other cities, street food is not considered suitable for poor people alone. There are many persons who can afford the most expensive restaurants but find it impossible to escape the lure of street food of Chicago.

If you love a fine dining experience, Chicago is the place to be. There are numerous festivals and events that are planned around the different popular cuisines in the city. Make sure you research on the internet and plan your trip in such a manner that you enjoy these festivals at zero extra cost.

Whatever you do, do not make the mistake of thinking that you can explore the gastronomic delights available in the city in a single trip. You will have to repeat your visits again and again to explore all that the city has to offer.

 

 

 

 

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Top 5 Family Entertainment Destinations in the Chicago Area

Kids viewing a turtle at the Shedd Aquarium in...

Image via Wikipedia

If you’re looking for family-fun adventure, then the “windy city” of Chicago will be sure to take your breath away. You will enjoy scenic views and unforgettable attractions. Here are the top five family entertainment destinations in the Chicago area.

1. Shedd Aquarium

Located in the Museum Campus in Chicago, this aquarium in 2011 was rated the top 10 best aquariums in the U.S. by MyTravelGuidePost.com. The aquarium features aquatic shows with dolphins, seals and penguins, exhibits of coral reefs, jelly fish and mysterious Amazon creatures like crocodiles and anacondas.

2.  Adler Planetarium

Housed along Chicago’s scenic Shore Drive, this planetarium has family-fun activities like interactive space shows, moon exhibits, sky watching and science activities for kids. Your family can save money with the Go Chicago Card that’s accepted at this planetarium and other area attractions.

3. Lincoln Park Zoo

This wildlife oasis in Chicago is opened 365 days a year and has free admission. Top exhibits at the zoo includes the Regenstein’s African Journey and Center for African Apes. These exhibits feature giraffes, elephants, rhinos and families of apes.

4. LegoLand Discovery Center

This children wonderland is located in Schaumburg 45 minutes outside Chicago. Legoland features a factory that displays colorful buildings created from plastic, a jungle adventure, rides and an area where kids can build and test their own creations.

5. SkyDeck Chicago – Willis Tower

This skyscraper is dubbed one of the “7 Wonders of Chicago” and is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere. The SkyDeck has 103 floors and daring visitors can step into the glass-box ledge that extends four feet outside the building.

 

 

 

 

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New Disinfecting Equipment Next on Chicago EPA’s Agenda

 

Chicago River, IL, USA. 

Image via Wikipedia

The city of Chicago spent millions of dollars and ten years putting in walkways, parks and boat ramps, drawing citizens to the banks of the Chicago River. But, even after holding public events to promote the new amenities, nothing has been done about the dirt
y water. 

 

“…Now, we need to make sure the water is safe,” the US EPA’s regional administrator, Susan Hedman, said. The Chicago River and it’s connecting waterways aren’t monitored because they are exempt from the city’s otherwise tough clean water provisions, and Chicago is the only US city that doesn’t disinfect the wastewater it dumps into the river. So it’s really dirty. It’s exempt from the clean water laws because it was always assumed that the waterways would not be used for recreation. 

 

The Federal EPA Threatens State EPA 

The US office of the EPA sent a letter to Illinois EPA with strong suggestions for cleaning up the water “as soon as possible.” The letter threatened that if the state of Illinois didn’t adhere to strict clean water laws soon that it would enforce them itself. It demanded that more strict standards be enforced in parts of the Chicago River, the Little Calumet River and the Cal-Sag Channel. 

 

Chicago residents are likely to see raises in their sewer bills to pay for the work needed to upgrade two water treatment plants to disinfect the waste water it treats. 

 

A spokesperson for the Illinois EPA said that the state is already trying to get disinfection equipment for the sewage-treatment plants and hopes to have them in operation within three years.

 

 

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Double Standards are Dangerous

Chicago isn’t the first place to have a teacher-student sex scandal blow up in the media, but it is unique in that their coverage has asked people to consider whether there is a double standard in the way the public reacts depending on the sex of the accuser.  In this case, the woman, a teacher named Ashley Blumenshine, was accused of having sexual relations with one of her students.

Would public reaction be different if the teacher was male?  The answer is a resounding yes!  For some reason, an act that labels one person a sex offender renders another person the best teacher ever.  How is that possible?  Perhaps because when boys have sexual relations with an older woman, they are viewed by their peers, and even older males, as being lucky.  Conversely, when an older man who sleeps with a young girl, he is thought to have stolen her innocence, thus making her the victim.

This mindset is wrong for more reasons then there is time to delve into here, but the resounding one is that it’s an abuse of power.  The teacher, regardless of sex, who engages in this deplorable conduct is guilty of grossly abusing his or her power, and breaking the trust that was given to them by the school, the parents, and society.  For that alone, they should be condemned.

Then there is the ick factor to consider.  The same ick response that a priest molestation case elicits should apply here.  Have you ever spent time with a high school boy?  Can you imagine engaging in sexual relations with him?  If that doesn’t make you say ick, then something is definitely wrong with you, and that’s another part of these cases that the authorities don’t seem to be dwelling on.   These adult women having sex with young boys in their care are sick.  Moreover, they are unstable, and that emotional instability and the desire to enter a relationship with the cruelest animal known to man, aka the teenage male, is evidence of their psychosis.  There should be some real concern, as emotional instability has the potential to manifest itself in many ways, some being dangerous.

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Why Can’t I Have a Criminal Mind?

If only these criminals would do something other than, you know, be criminals.

These guys (and gals) are smart. Have you ever watched prison shows?  These guys make MacGyver look like a chump.  They can make a serious weapon out of a few discarded pieces of plastic, wires, tape, and rubber bands. I can barely work my coffee maker. Why aren’t they making the next IPhone, or better yet, finding a cure for cancer?  So what do we, as a society, decide to do with them?  Put them in prison.  With other, even smarter prisoners.  Is that really a good idea?  Consider the character Johnny Deep played in the movie Blow, which was based on a real character.  After his first stint in prison, he comments, “Danbury wasn’t a prison, it was a crime school.  I went in with a Bachelor or Marijuana, came out with a Doctorate of cocaine.”

That’s the least of our problems.  Unfortunately, not all techie people join the Geek Squad or work at Computer City.  Some of them use their powers for evil, as evidenced by the recent rash of brazen robberies in hotels off of Michigan Avenue in Chicago. No hold-ups, no threats, just a lot of know-how employed the wrong (or right) way, depending on your perspective.

Over $140,000 has been stolen since December of 2010 from private cash machines.  How did they do it? They used special codes to reprogram the machines to spit out more money than they should in a single transaction.  They would leave the machine as they found it, so there was nothing to indicate anything was wrong.

Authorities say that these robberies are most likely an inside job.  Does that make it better or worse?  On one hand, it’s disconcerting that someone on the outside could be that clever, but on the other, it’s alarming to think your friendly neighborhood teller could be taking you to the cleaners.

One thing is certain.  Technology, for all its advantages, creates opportunity for crime.  Be careful when shopping or paying bills online and monitor your spending so you can alert your bank to fraudulent activity if they don’t catch it first. All you can do is be as vigilant as possible, because sadly, no matter what you do, the criminal is always one step and at least two brains ahead of you.

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