Foreign Grocery Stores and the Ugly American
During my travels abroad, I was obsessed with supermarkets. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t shake my deep-seated Ugly American tendencies, making the names of products on shelves endlessly amusing. I got so carried away that a suspicious security guard in Hanoi escorted me and my camera out the door. Eventually, Sarah forbade me to bring the camera in, and I was forced to do actual shopping rather than snicker at the tiny cultural differences that bring out the 19-year-old boy in me...
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On the Way
Sitting on a small campaign jet during Barack Obama's 2004 race for the U.S. Senate, I found myself lost in thought. The candidate, dressed in a crisp white shirt and striped tie, sat a few feet in front of me and to the right. I was staring ahead without realizing that I was looking directly at Obama himself, until the aspiring U.S. senator interrupted my rambling thoughts: "Hey, Mendell, what are you looking at?" he asked with a puzzled look...
Read more »The Worry
In the formative stages of Barack Obama's fame, no topic would make him or his aides more uncomfortable than his personal safety. When I first broached the subject, in July 2004, it was uncharted territory for the then-candidate for the U.S. Senate. Obama had just returned from the Democratic National Convention in Boston, where he had catapulted overnight into the zeitgest of Democrats across the country with his stirring keynote address...
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The BreakawayBy the time Bill Wirtz died last fall, his once-proud Chicago Blackhawks had turned into perennial losers playing before dwindling crowds. His son Rocky took over and quickly opened a new era for... |
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The Obama BounceWill Obama create a coattail effect for the rest of the Democratic ticket in Illinois? |
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Outside InfluenceThe money funding Illinois candidates for the U.S. House doesn't all come from Illinois |
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The Air Up ThereDerrick Rose made a dramatic leap from inner-city baller to the NBA. His story starts in Englewood, one of Chicago's most dangerous neighborhoods, where, as an athletic prodigy, he was shielded... |
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The Adventures of Steak ManWho can protect us from substandard meat? Steak Man! |
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Double DownPoliticians seeking new revenue without raising taxes are fond of the old adage that the gambling industry is recession-proof. Wanna bet? |
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Portrait of a LadyBetween the world wars, a beautiful, artistic woman named Bobsy Goodspeed stood at the heart of Chicago's social and cultural scenes. Now, prompted by a salacious if glancing remark in a recent... |
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