GRE PrepBook Offers Free Practice For Graduate Record Examination Takers

If you’re planning to attend business school, you will need to take (and pass) the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). It’s always a good idea to practice for any test, and one simple website offers you that opportunity at no charge. That’s right, free. Here is my brief review of that site, simply called "GRE Test," at GrePrepbook.org (GREPrepBook LLC). GrePrepook.org (formerly Dranb) has a very simple website that is at once easy to navigate and not intimidating. GrePrepook.org is not associated with ETS, which administers the GRE. GrePrepook.org offers the test site for free because, no doubt, they want users to also click through to their “GRE Prep & GRE Big Book – Store,” where you can buy their GRE preparation books for prices ranging from $19.99 to $500.00. There’s nothing wrong with this, however, because there is no pressure on the use to buy anything. No pop-up ads, nothing annoying, just a static link to the book store. I must assume that the website offers only a fraction of what their books offer. Why give it away when you’re trying to sell it? GrePrepook.org avoids bells and whistles and gets right down to business. While the site is good overall, I have a few minor criticisms, most of which are aesthetic. (Click image to enlarge.) The opening page says, “We provide you with GRE practice test and thousands of real GRE questions! Check out the following sections: GRE Analogy Practice Test GRE Sentence Completion Practice Test GRE Synonym Practice Test GRE Antonym Practice Test GRE Reading Comprehension Test GRE Analytical Writing Practice Test GRE Vocabulary Practice FREE GRE Practice Test Purchase GRE Practice Test” That’s fine, but there are confusingly similar links in the sidebar: GRE Test Practice GRE Analogy Practice GRE Sentence Completion Synonym Antonym GRE Reading Comprehension Test GRE Analytical Writing GRE Vocabulary Study Guide GRE Quantitative Practice Free GRE Practice Test GRE Prep & GRE Big Book – Store Some of the links are redundant between the two lists. GrePrepook.org should have combined the two lists into one. Another minor problem is the fact that practice tests must be printed out to be used effectively. In the multiple-choice “GRE Sentence Completion Practice Exam,” for example, you cannot select the correct answer by clicking on it. It would be great to be able to do that and then have the site compute your score. I admit that this is minor, but it would make the site easier (and more fun) to use. These minor criticisms should not deter you, however. As stated, the site is easy to use and would seem to be useful for test practice. I should also tell you that the GRE will be changing in 2011. If you want to take it in time to get the results so you can submit them to the school/s of your choice, writes Louis Lavelle at Businessweek.com on February 4, 2011, you should hurry. Lavelle wrote that “those who are taking the test either in addition to or as an alternative to the GMAT for b-school admissions, timing will be everything.” Lavelle wrote that a spokesperson for ETS, which administers the GRE, “says that students who need their GRE scores before November should take the old-style GRE no later than July, which means they should probably start getting ready now. If they take the newer version in August, September, or October, they won’t receive their scores until mid-November.” Read Lavelle’s full article here. Oddly, GrePrepook.org makes no mention of pending changes in the GRE, nor does it refer to ETS. It would provide a needed service to their visitors if they did so.

Finding a Good Mover a Hassle? Not In Chicago...

January 5, 2011 - Chicago - Moving to another home can be very stressful. One of the hardest things in the process is finding a good moving serving. Chicagomovers.org can help folks in the Chicago metro area do just that, thereby eliminating at least some of the stress in your move. On average, Chicagoans spend two and a half hours researching movers and getting moving quotes, and still feel unsatisfied they received the best deal. Chicagomovers.org solves this problem by allowing visitors to their website to fill out a short form and watch top-rated moving companies compete for their business. This can help people save over 30 percent on their move. (Plus, it sounds like fun.) There is no charge for price quotes. "It is a simple concept that people appreciate when they are moving," says Kyle Burback, Co-founder of Chicagomovers.org. Burback continues, "There are a lot of movers that are hungry for your business, but often these movers don't realize how many quotes you are actually getting so they offer you a retail estimate that is greatly inflated. We solve this problem because the movers know up front that they will need to sharpen their pencil and offer a real deal to get your business." Chicagomovers.org also tackles quality issues proactively by pre-screening movers. "Nobody has a problem with their mover early on, they all seem knowledgeable and friendly," says Burback, "The problems with movers usually start after you have committed to a mover and put down a deposit or on moving day when the mover doesn't show up on time. The movers we work with know that if they don't provide excellent customer service all the way through the moving process they will be cut off from a lucrative source of new business. They are extremely motivated to provide great value and service." The website offers some great moving tips and packing tips. Chicagomovers.org has a brick-and-mortar office at 1608 South Ashland Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60608. Their phone is 312-238-9210.

Advertising Deals, Tax Deductions at Chicago News Bench

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This great advertising opportunity offers you lowered pricing and last-minute tax deductions! You know this if you're a business owner. Put your ad here on Chicago News Bench now and you'll get great exposure on this popular blog (Page Rank 5; over 10,000 impressions monthly), plus discounted pricing, and it's tax deductible as a business expense! Hurry: The year is almost over and there's only so much space on the blog that we can sell. Contact us anytime at tmannis @ boxbe . com and find out how we can help your business. You can take a look at our demographics and more here...

Another Sneak Peek at Wilson Yard Target

This is a view through the front doors of the new Target store in Uptown, Chicago. Employees have been busy for weeks getting the shelving in place and, more recently, stocking those shelves with much-awaited-for merchandise. The two-level store at N. Broadway and W. Sunnyside will feature a limited grocery section and a Starbucks.

(Sneak Photos) Uptown Target Store Opens July 25

Will Target really come to Wilson Yard? I'm kidding, of course, but after years of wondering, and despite the obvious, I think a few people in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood were still not believers even after Target announced that they were hiring for the new store on Chicago's north side. In fact, even at this late date, some seem incapable of seeing what's before their very eyes. "Wilson Yard, located at the corner of Montrose and Broadway, is the largest parcel of undeveloped land on the North side of Chicago," says the website of FixWilsonYard.org. That group tried for years to stop the development. Now that's it's completed, they seem unable to cope with it. Look at the photos below. Does that look like "undeveloped land" to you? It's time to start believing: Target will open its new store on July 25 on N. Broadway, one block north of W. Montrose (see map) on a plot of land that used to be Wilson Yard. It was called that for years because it was a work yard for the Chicago Transit Authority, but now it's a big complex with both commercial and residential space. So, like, can we please stop calling it "Wilson Yard?" We don't still refer to the United States as "the Colonies," do we?

Obama's GDP Shell Game

Trouble is, it's a lie. Well, to be charitable, let's call it an exaggeration. The Obama Administration is bragging about a "5.7 percent growth in gross domestic production (GDP)," but skeptics abound. 

The so-called growth wasn't growth at all. Rather, the "improved" growth rate number was due largely to inventory adjustments. In other words, the Obama Administration is playing a slight of hand in a shell game of funny math. The inventory adjustment factor is important, as we will learn in a moment. As for "growth," employment is still over 10 percent nationwide, in no small part because businesses large and small are worried about the future. 

The Salt Lake Tribune states the frighteningly obvious in an article today: "The economy boomed at the end of 2009, growing at the fastest rate in more than six years. Now if only it could keep it up. The economy expanded at an annual rate of 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter, the second straight quarter of growth. But analysts warn it's unsustainable. Consumer spending, chilled by double-digit unemployment and scant wage gains, remains weak. Also, the benefits of government aid and higher company output to feed stockpiles will dwindle." Full Article... 

The numbers are as artificial as Michelle Obama's sudden adulthood pride in her country. Even the mainstream media - believed by many, included myself, to be sympathetic to Obama - is rather skeptical about the GDP growth. 

MSNBC is skeptical: "The U.S. economy turned in a surprisingly good performance in the fourth quarter, surging ahead by 5.7 percent on an annual basis, according to a government report released Friday. Or did it?" MSNBC continued: "Obama noted that last years’ massive economic stimulus program had also 'stopped the flood of job losses.' He also repeated his administration’s commitment to spur job growth to re-hire the 8 million workers sidelined by the worst recession in 60 years." 

About Those Inventory Adjustments: Sounds good, doesn't it? Sure does, until you understand that those are lies - excuse me, exaggerations - by Obama. Again, MSNBC (emphasis added): 

"But when you look a little more closely at the numbers, it quickly becomes apparent that it’s hardly time to start breaking out the champagne. A big part of the latest GDP gain comes from a statistical adjustment for changes in inventory levels that don’t reflect real growth. Over the past year, businesses cut deeply into those inventories — not wanting to get stuck with unsold goods. Now that they’ve cut them to the bone, the rate of inventory-cutting has slowed. The way the GDP is calculated, that slowdown adds to “growth” — even though it doesn’t reflect increased production or sales. If you back out that inventory adjustment, GDP grew only 2.2 percent." 

Wow! Obama is claiming a 5.7 percent GDP growth, but it was really only 2.2 percent? That's one heck of a difference. 

The Wall Street Journal's Market Watch offered analysis, too, and it was also skeptical: 

"Even with healthy growth in the second half of the year, the economy shrank 2.4% in 2009, the worst year for GDP since the 10.9% drop in 1946, when the United States geared back to a peacetime economy. Business investment fell the most since 1942. Read the full report on the government's website." 

What? Obama is saying that the GDP is just great, fantastic, but the experts at the Wall Street Journal - who eat, sleep and make love to these kinds of numbers - tell us that the economy shrank in 2009, and that business investment was the worst since World War Two? Is Obama exaggerating? 

The Market Watch report continued (emphasis added): 

"In the fourth quarter of 2009, about two-thirds of the growth came via the swing in inventories. Excluding the change in inventories, final sales increased at a 2.2% annual rate, a signal that the economy remained weak despite stellar topline numbers. Consumer spending increased at a 2% annual rate, down from 2.9% in the third quarter when the government's so-called cash-for-clunkers program boosted auto sales." 

Golly. Why is Obama not bragging about those numbers? Could it be because he knows damned well that they're a bit closer to reality - much too close - than he likes? Or could it be that he's so stupid that he doesn't understand Economics 101? Regardless of my opinion of Obama as a dishonest, socialist, self-hating American, I cannot believe that he's stupid. He's a very bright man, really. His exaggerations about the "growth" of the GDP, however, assume that you and I are not so bright. Fortunately, some of us are bright enough to understand that what may seem like innocent, over-eager exaggerations by Obama are really bald faced lies. 

RELATED: 

• Economy May Be Humming, But Can it Last? CBS News 
• Editorial: GDP recovers; if only job market would Scripps News 
• US stocks fall as GDP rises The Press Association 
• Merchants finally restock, boosting GDP Marketplace (publicradio.org) 
• Economy likely grew faster in 4Q, but fears remain BusinessWeek 
• Growth will tail off in second half: CIBC Advisor.ca 

Finally, We See Inside Block 37 (#fail)

Once known as "the world's most famous vacant block" and used as a public ice skating rink, Block 37 is now open for business. But it's a disappointing opening, apparently. YouTuber "YoChicago1" posted this inside view of the troubled "Block 37," a chunk of prime real estate in the middle of Chicago's downtown "Loop." Over the years, Block 37 has been profoundly screwed up as only Mayor Daley, the City Council and socialist meddling could. On Nov. 25, YoChicago1 visited Block 37 and writes: "The long-awaited opening of the shops at Block 37 has begun. Zara, Puma, Godiva and a few others have opened, but the mall was nearly barren of retail traffic when I visited at around noon the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I left thinking: Bleak 37; retail fail." Ah, and the drama continues as the Block 37 developer seeks investors as a receiver is appointed. Chicago: The city that works (kind of). Also See: Developer loses control of Block 37‎ Block 37 Mall opens…kind of Who's Daley supporting in the battle for Block 37? guest commentary: world's most famous vacant lot under development (2006) Leave a Comment Conservative T-Shirts Follow CNB on Twitter RSS Feed

Will Lloyds Enter the Equities Business?

Sarah Butcher at eFinancialCareers says "maybe." If true, this will come as quite a shock to financiers in the UK - and the rest of the financial world as well. Surprise, surprise – according to various headhunters, Lloyds, the doyenne of the nationalised banking sector, is said to be building an equities business. Rumour has it that the bank has brought in the services of Terry Murray, a former Bridgewell banker, as head of equity sales, and is looking to hire a team. Full Article... See more about Lloyds from Sarah Butcher. Eeeyipes. Chicago News Bench RSS Feed CommieBama Hats and More

Joe Moore, Inconsistent Restaurant Promoter

What's a guy gotta do to get a free restaurant review and plug from an alderman? I don't know. Why don't you ask 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore, who occasionally and very selectively promotes restaurants in Rogers Park. Some of them, anyway. The latest example is his shameless plug for the new Hop Haus in RP. It will be located in the Gateway Centre, at W. Howard and N. Clark. Grill Inn opened in October, 2007. It was immediately popular. On March 27, 2008, Chicago News Bench noted that Alderman Moore had just discovered the Grill Inn restaurant at 1422 W. Morse Avenue. So what? So, Grill Inn opened five months previously, and Moore was just discovering it. An employee of Grill Inn said that Moore asked him, "How long have you been open?" Moore pretends to be very interested in the development of troubled Morse Avenue and Rogers Park in general. Yet he was completely unaware of a new bright spot on the otherwise mostly dingy Morse Avenue. He never did send an email blast or post anything on his website that promoted Grill Inn. So here we are this week, with Moore sending an email blast out to promote the Hop Haus. The process, if there is one, by which Moore decides to promote a restaurant remains a mystery. Are campaign contributions a requirement? I don't know, I'm just asking. Back in November of last year, Moore published "Think Globally, Shop Locally: Local Gift Ideas" on his Ward49.com website and in an email blast. It included a list of 33 businesses in the 49th Ward that Moore encouraged residents to patronize. "Below are ten good reasons to shop locally," he wrote, "I've also provided a host of great gift ideas, all available here in the 49th Ward. Let's all spend the bulk of our holiday shopping dollars close to home!" Surely, there are more than 33 businesses in the 49th Ward that Moore could have listed. Why list any if you're not going to list all? Should the alderman show special promotional preferences for some merchants, while ignoring others? Is that fair? CenterStageChicago.com lists 97 restaurants and bars in Rogers Park, 16 "wine shops and groceries," five yoga studios, three bookstores, and more. The 49th Ward Alderman chose to highlight only 33 businesses as worth supporting. Why? The Hop Haus is owned and operated by the same people who own the Leona's restaurant chain. (My mini restaurant review of Leona's: Yuck. Overpriced. Too cutesy. Lousy service.) As you leave the Hop Haus and drive home, and as you pass other restaurants and bars and stores and businesses of all kinds in Rogers Park, ask yourself why they have not received free promotion from Joe Moore. Chicago News Bench RSS Feed CommieBama Hats and More

Fresh Harvest Market Uptown Opens Friday

Cook County Board President Todd Stroger would be happy to know that the intersection of North Sheridan & W. Leland in Uptown, Chicago will no longer be a "food dessert" after 7:00 a.m., Friday, March 6. (Click photos to enlarge) Stroger meant "desert," of course, as in arid region, not as in chocolate cake. Todd Stroger could have his desert and eat it too if he gets hip to Uptown's newest grocery destination. And I do mean destination. I took a train to Uptown to check the place out; lots of buzz in the hood about it already and as I paused to take pictures a number of locals peered through the big front windows. I think they were salivating. Fresh Harvest Market, 4650 N. Sheridan Road, is a beautiful new food store that looks very upscale. The owner is Roesheeda Oghefue, and the parent company is My Ranch, Inc. "Fresh Harvest Market" is the DBA. My Ranch was incorporated in Illinois in March 1998. The new store in Uptown received its retail food establishment business license on January 28, 2009. That being said, it's a bit jarring at first to run into this jewel (no pun intended) of a grocery store in this part of Uptown. It is in a very economically mixed neighborhood. A very modern, new condo building sits on the same intersection, while a block south of it is one of the roughest micro-war zones in Chicago (at Wilson and Sheridan). Nevertheless, it's a good thing to have a nice grocery store nearby for folks who live the area, and Fresh Harvest Market looks to be exceptional. Fresh Harvest Market - 4650 N. Sheridan Road (at W. Leland) (773) 516-4860 (no parking lot) Chicago News Bench RSS Feed Cool Stuff...

L3C's Won't Save Newspapers

Friend Sally Duros, with whom I've had a number of good natured, coffee-infused political arguments, has an interesting piece in the non-newspaper Huffington Post. Dated February 9, Sally proposes restructuring as the path to financial salvation. (We should define "newspaper" before we continue. "Newspaper," as I use the word, is a physical piece of paper or pieces of paper, upon which information about current events is printed. This is important, because it is the physical medium of a newspaper that has become antiquated. The same information is more easily and less expensively published electronically on the Internet. It is also faster and cheaper to distribute that electronic information. That being said, we should not confuse "newspaper" with "newspaper company" or "newspaper publisher.") Duros, a former Chicago Sun-Times Real Estate Editor, apparently did not get into the business end while she was there. To be fair, she was editing stories about the real estate market. (But would she propose L3C restructuring for Countrywide Finance as a solution to its problems?) Chicago's newspapers could find a lifeline to solvency and a return to social purpose in a new kind of business structure called an L3C, or low-profit limited liability company. Why is that? I respectfully disagree with Sally Duros. She attempted to explain why L3C restructuring is a the solution to the financial woes currently being suffered by the newspaper industry. Partial proof of this is the fact that Australian newspaper companies are faring well, thank you very much, unlike most of their counterparts around the world. Their success is due largely to their creative mixing of Internet presence with the traditional dead-tree publications, as well as a different model for advertising revenue. L3C status has nothing to do with the Australian newspaper publishers' recent gains in readership. Unfortunately, she barely even alludes to the root causes of the industry's problems. She wrote, for example: The low-profit, limited liability company, or L3C, is a hybrid of a nonprofit and for-profit organization. More specifically, it is a new type of limited liability company (LLC) designed to attract private investments and philanthropic capital in ventures designed to provide a social benefit. Unlike a standard LLC, the L3C has an explicit primary charitable mission and only a secondary profit concern. But unlike a charity, the L3C is free to distribute the profits, after taxes, to owners or investors. (Source: http://www.nonprofitlawblog.com/) Newspaper companies already have low profits, they don't need lower profits. Sally Duros proposes that they voluntarily lower their profits even more by transforming themselves into L3C entities. (Is she writing Barack Obama's "capitalism has failed" speeches?) Deliberately lowering profits is never a solution and would only ensure a faster path to bankruptcy. Any capitalist can tell you that. Duros dwells on the "social purpose" of an L3C: "The L3C is different from a typical nonprofit because it can earn a return, but the social purpose must trump the financial purpose," she wrote, but failed to note that a solid daily newspaper does have a social purpose, and that purpose is informing the public and stirring up debate about current issues. Furthermore, Duros (who admits to being a "progressive" liberal) can't seem to climb out of her neo-socialist mindset wherein "profit" is evil and, therefore, anything "non-profit" is "good" so "low-profit" must be "not so bad." That's just wrong. Newspaper companies are not losing money today because of the way their companies are incorporated. Rather, they are losing money largely because they are losing readers. That trend began well before the recession hit. Competition from the Internet and other distractions have taken "eyeballs" away from newspapers. That's one strike: Lowered profits from reduced subscription revenue. Strike two comes from lowered advertising revenue. Advertisers either decided to not adverstise in a paper that gets less readers than they desire, or they insist on lower ad rates. Add to that the fact that the newspaper industry still operates on a 19th Century basis in one important way. Although they use modern presses, they are presses nevertheless, and they need to be inked, maintained, fed dead tree byproducts (paper). Then, using technology that's as old as the human race, the papers are tossed by hand onto the dwindling subscribers' doorsteps, sometimes landing in puddles, dog poop, or the wrong yard. None of those problems - lower readership, high cost of production, inefficient delivery - would be or could be addressed by restructuring as an L3C corporation. Duros did not address any of those factors. The Internet, obviously, can put information "out there" instantly. You simply cannot do that with a newspaper. Many (most?) newspaper companies these days have their own websites and are updated regularly with breaking news. But that's not a newspaper, it's a website produced by a newspaper company. Newspaper companies' websites are not, literally speaking, newspapers. Duros did not address this, either. There is an interesting passage in the Duros column, which we'll deconstruct: The idea of the Newspaper L3C is to bring back those journalistic contributions like neighborhood reporting, music reviews and book sections and make them part of the community service. And ads are part of the mix too. As if it was an afterthought Duros wrote, "ads are part of the mix too." Wrong again. Ads are one of the two main ingredients, the other being content (reporting, music reviews, book sections, whatever). Regardless of how much profit a particular newspaper is making, that content is still "part of the community service" provided by the newspaper. "I think there is a lot of viability to newspapers still," [creator of L3Cs, Robert] Lang said. Back in the days when automobiles were still novelties, people and goods were transported largely by horse-drawn buggies and carriages. Imagine a buggy whip enthusiast 109 years ago saying something like, "I think there is a lot of viability to buggy whips." He would have been right for the moment, but that viability was waning and the buggy whip soon went the way of the brontosaurus. The difference between buggy whips then and newspapers now is that most people still needed buggy whips in 1900. These days, in America anyway, most people do not need newspapers. Yes, we need sources of news and information, but just as people in 1950 needed transportation just as much as people did in 1900, they no longer needed buggy whips. Or horses. Or carriages or buggies. Whereas the automobile gradually replaced horse-drawn transportation, the Internet is replacing newspapers at a far more rapid pace. Could the L3C save Chicago's newspapers? No, it cannot. Lowering the profits of an industry that is in trouble because of lowered profits is, well, crazy. It may fit into some pie-in-the-sky Utopian dream, but it's still crazy. You might as well ask whether the L3C could save Detroit's automobile industry, or any other troubled industry. "Somewhere you still need a newsgathering [sic] organizations," Lang said. Newspapers still drive much of the news circulating on the web, he added. True. There's no argument about the need for organizations that gather news. But what Lang and Duros both fail to point out is that there are many news gathering organizations do not kill trees or burn fossil fuels to produce and disseminate their information products. Associated Press and other wire services, for example, have driven much of the news circulated in newspapers but have not themselves printed newspapers. A growing number of websites (including bloggers) produce original news reports that are often picked up (almost always without attribution) by newspaper editors. The tail is beginning to wag the dog, and the dog is getting dizzy. The Christian Science Monitor, one of the world's most respected newspaper publishers, will go paperless and entirely online in April, 2009. When that happens, CSM will technically no longer be a newspaper publisher. They will, however, continue to "drive much of the news circulating on the web." The dinosaurs currently dominating the newspaper industry need to understand the new business model. They need to stop floundering around, hoping that L3C-style "fixes" will save them. Unless they evolve, and quickly, the bankrupt and extinct newspaper publishers will become zero-profit companies, not "low-profit" companies. That will provide no service to anybody, including the few subscription holders, the information hungry public, their shareholders, and their out-of-work employees. A final note: It is ironic that Sally Duros chose to submit her article to the Huffington Post, which is strictly online and does not publish a paper version. While she may hope for the salvation of the buggy whip, she does so in a V-8 roadster. RELATED: Dying big papers - The Tribune, TX Newspapers hold on in the online age - Stuff.co.nz, New Zealand CNB RSS Feed

(Updated) NHRP Still "Not Good Standing" With Sec. of State

Update, May 22, 2010: The entity known as "Neighbors For A Healthy Rogers Park NFP" went through an "INVOLUNTARY DISSOLUTION" on May 8, 2009, about three months after this post was originally published. (Click images to enlarge them)

Bittersweet congratulations to The Urban Coaster, Inc. Finally, as of today [Feb. 11, 2009], they can legally call themselves a corporation, after months of falsely claiming to be incorporated. However, another one of Ginderske's operations is still "NOT GOOD STANDING" with the Illinois Secretary of State.

UPDATE, May 22, 2010: The Urban Coaster went through an Involuntary Dissolution, on March 12, 2010.

Yep, The Urban Coaster is finally incorporated, but only after they paid the State of Illinois a $25.00 penalty for passing a bad check to them the first time they tried to incorporate.

Chicago News Bench spoke with the Secretary of State's office in Springfield today. We were told that The Urban Coaster's check for $200.00 "just cleared today" (Feb. 11, 2009). That check was for the initial $175.00 filing fee plus $25.00 to cover the bounced check penalty imposed by the state.

The initial filing attempt was in October, 2008. A Form BCA 2.10 Articles of Incorporation was filed on Oct. 27, 2008. The initial registered agent is James J. Ginderske (photo). For months, The Urban Coaster was not legally a corporation, yet deliberately passed themselves off as one. It was not until today that they could legally call themselves "The Urban Coaster, Inc."

Ginderske's other operation is "Neighbors For A Healthy Rogers Park NFP," also known as "NHRP." It is still not in good standing with the State of Illinois. Initial filing for that was in September, 2008. (Ginderske is misspelled as "Gindevske" on the Sec. of State's website.)

You can search for corporations and LLCs at the Illinois Secretary of State's website: http://www.ilsos.gov/corporatellc/index.jsp

RELATED PAST POSTS:
Urban Coaster: Non-Local, Non-Union
NHRP: Ginderske's Sham Organization
NHRP: Odd Man Out

Small Business Cheated by "Stimulus" Package

In this video, Congressman Peter Roskam (R-IL, 6th Dist) chides fellow members of Congress for giving only $40 Million of the $825 Billion "stimulus package" to small businesses for tax relief. Roskam quotes a colleague in calling small businesses the "risk takers, the doers, the makers of things," and notes that they, not the government, have carried the nation to prosperity and freedom. WARNING: This video contains language that may be considered obscene or hateful by some liberal progressive Democrats. Hat tip to Illinois Review! CNB RSS Feed

Circuit City Closing, 30,000 Will Lose Jobs

It's never good when anybody loses their job, so the closing of electronics superstore Circuit City is a very bad thing. From a Darwinian viewpoint however, it seems to have been an evolutionary inevitability. To be blunt: Circuit City sucked. Their selection was not as good as their better competitors, and their prices were often on the high side. Once great, Circuit City was a new kind of store, offering electronics ranging from computer equipment to vacuum cleaners to cell phones. Circuit City didn't keep up with the times, however, with a poor selection of items in every department. Let's hope that all of the 30,000 employees fare well, but let's bid good riddance to the badly run Circuit City Stores, Inc. NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- After failing to secure financing from creditors and lenders, bankrupt electronics vendor Circuit City Stores Inc. said Friday that it will liquidate, joining the list of retailers like Linens 'n Things that are closing up shop due to the economic downturn. The liquidation will affect more than 30,000 employees, adding to the rising number of U.S. job losses, which last year hit their highest level since World War II. As of Dec. 31, Circuit City had 567 stores in the United States and about 765 stores and dealer outlets in Canada. Full Article at MarketWatch... RELATED: Timeline of Circuit City Stores Inc. Circuit City Hires Liquidators to Sell Merchandise Electronics Retailer Has Nearly $2 Billion Worth of Inventory to Sell Electronics sales fell 5.7% over holidays Business isn't getting easier for Best Buy Sector Snap:Best Buy up as Circuit City liquidates Best Buy shall rule the land when it comes to retail electronics ... Subscribe to Chicago News Bench

Sun-Times Closing 12 Local Papers

The Chicago Sun-Times is on its death bed. Or, at least, it's doing a good impersonation of someone in their last throes. The Sun-Times Media Group will close 12 of its local newspapers and slashing wages of employees (the remaining ones, that is). The newspapers to close are the Algonquin Countryside, Arlington Heights Post, Cary-Grove Countryside, Des Plaines Times, Elk Grove Times, Hoffman Estates Review, Mount Prospect Times, Niles Herald Spectator, Palatine Countryside, Proviso Herald, Rolling Meadows Review and Wheeling Countryside. (Source: The Inquisitr) Those newspapers were part of the Pioneer Press publication family, which was acquired by the Sun-Times Media Group in 1989. Meanwhile, the Sun-Times announced today that they have hired Jim Dyer, 46, to be their new VP of Classified Advertising. A press release from the Sun-Times says, "Jim knows the classified newspaper and online advertising market inside and out. He is the ideal person to help leverage the strength of the Sun-Times News Group and navigate this challenging market, and help our advertisers better benefit from the Sun-Times News Group footprint in the Chicago area and Northwest Indiana," said Barbara Swanson, Group Vice President of Advertising and Marketing of the Sun-Times News Group." That press release, it should be remembered, comes from a company that reported a $168 million loss in the third quarter of 2008. Good luck, Mr. Dyer. Yer gonna need it. ALSO: Sun-Times Media Group to Close 12 Suburban Papers (Editor and Publisher) A history of newspapers in Chicago (Encyclopedia of Chicago) Subscribe to Chicago News Bench (unlike the Sun-Times, our subscriptions are free and we don't kill trees)

Obama Ditches Oil Tax, Breaks Campaign Promise

Not even sworn into office yet, Obama is already breaking a campaign pledge to raise taxes on oil companies. Now, people are asking whether Obama is in the pocket of Big Oil. (Is that the "change" you voted for?) During the campaign, Mr Obama repeatedly promised to submit oil and gas companies to a profits windfall tax, citing the disparity between their huge profits and the struggles of ordinary Americans. More at Telegraph.co.uk...

Internet Ad Revenue Keeps Growing

While newpapers and magazines suffer ad revenue losses and dwindling circulation, ad revenue for Web sites is projected to keep growing. That's essentially what Geoff Ramsey writes at eMarketer: In our latest projections, released in August, eMarketer saw online advertising growing from $24.5 billion in 2008 to $28.5 billion in 2009. eMarketer benchmarks its online ad spending projections against quarterly reports by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), which uses PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to conduct its surveys. For the first half of 2008, the IAB reported 15.2% growth for online ad spending, which is in line with eMarketer’s predictions. Ramsey correctly points out that not everybody is optimistic, but he does provide strong evidence and statistics that support the bullish outlook. Marketers should rightly ask, “What is behind the bullish projections for online ad spending, especially when most traditional media are taking the financial equivalent of body blows?” The seven reasons are as follows:... FULL ARTICLE at eMARKETER...

WLS and Mancow: WTF???

UPDATE, FEB. 11, 2010: Pink slip for Erich 'Mancow' Muller - Chicago Tribune Chicago talk show host Jerry Agar no longer has his Monday-Friday gig at WLS 890 AM Chicago. That's a shame. Agar, a native of Canada, has an all-American attitude and was a welcome voice of reasoned political critique on the local airwaves. WLS, however, seemed to thing differently. Agar, a smart, decent and funny man, is being replaced by a Mancow Muller, a guy who for years had a sidekick named "Turd." Mancow debuts on Monday, Oct. 27 in the 9-11:00 a.m. slot. Let us hope that Mancow - and WLS management - will keep "Turd" off the new show. But then, a turd by any other name... ChicagoRadio&TV.com wonders what the hell the geniuses at WLS were thinking, too. They present some of the back story: It was the rumor that wouldn’t die. For over two years, the rumblings within the Chicago broadcast community had been that Mancow Muller would be resurfacing on WLS after being unceremoniously bounced from Q101. The signs all seemed to be pointing to the certainty of such a move. After all, WLS PD Kipper McGee came to WLS from Talk Radio Network, where he helped launch the national syndication of Mancow Muller. At the same time, WLS was facing the prospect of having to replace its heritage morning show of Don Wade & Roma, who have held sway in morning drive for nearly two decades. FULL ARTICLE.... RELATED: The Bench: Jerry Agar, Regular Guy

Happy 85th Anniversary!

Happy 85th Anniversary to Business Partners, the Chamber for Uptown, the oldest operating neighborhood chamber in Chicago. I am especially pleased to see this fine group doing so well. I had the privilege recently to contribute to their 2008-2009 Uptown Community Guide, which will be online sometime in the near future. Working with Executive Director Christie Hahn and her staff was a real pleasure. Here's to many more years of growing success for Business Partners, the Chamber for Uptown! Next Thursday, Sept. 11, Business Partners, the Chamber for Uptown, in conjunction with Uptown United, will celebrate its 85th anniversary with a silent auction and sit-down dinner at the Saddle and Cycle Club. MORE INFORMATION from Lorrain Swanson... Also see: Business Partners, The Chamber for Uptown Uptown United - Business - Development - Community

JOE MOORE PAL MOCKS THEATER FIRE

This morning, after a fire was extinguished in the Morse Theatre in Rogers Park, one of Alderman Moore's buddies wasted no time mocking the entire situation - and once again take advantage of a sad situation to libel theater owner Andy McGhee. Thomas J. Westgard, a tragic, bitter and insane waste of protoplasm, wrote this: Venue owner Andy McGhee, who occasionally claims to be interested in improving the neighborhood, immediately cooperated with two local hatebloggers to promote the idea that this event is arson. This leaves me with so many unanswered questions. Above all, I'm amazed that it's possible to determine so quickly that it's an arson, and with the degree of certainty necessary to announce the fact to self-styled "journalists." Fact-checking, anyone? It was preceded by a tasteless post yesterday: "Photoshop Funnies," which, apparently, the tasteless Westgard thinks is funny. Note to Westgard: McGhee did not "cooperate" with the two citizen journalists that you so hatefully call "hatebloggers." He merely spoke to us about the situation. (Funny, we didn't see YOU on the scene, Mr. Know-It-All.) Before McGhee even arrived, Craig Gernhardt and I were on the scene and, although we are not experts, even a non-expert could see a pile of rubbish that had been set afire, the holes punched in the walls, the vandalized glass upstairs, and several large graffiti scrawlings. You're "amazed that it's possible to determine so quickly that it's an arson?" You stupid ass, Westgard, even a dumb, ignorant layman like me can read the writing on the wall - literally. You have not even looked inside of the theater. Where are your photos? Who did you interview? Fuck you and your dogs, Westgard.