Recently in Moral debates Category

Today's news: Waukegan to renew bid for 10th casino license.

Tomorrow's news, via the crystal ball of The Swami: Waukegan will be awarded the vacant casino license by the Illinois Gaming Board ... hmmm, let us see ... sometime between Halloween and Thanksgiving.

This forecast is based on, well, the visions seen in the crystal ball. But also on a logical process of eliminating the competition.

Rosemont won't get the license for the same reason it's up for grabs four years after Rosemont was (almost) awarded the license -- everyone from unpopular Gov. Rod Blagojevich to your next U.S. Senator from Illinois, Lisa Madigan, doesn't want Rosemont to get it. If they did, slot jockeys would be bleeding nickels on River Road as of this moment.

Country Club Hills, Summit and everyone else south of the Ike/Ron Reagan won't get a casino for five reasons -- Aurora, East Chicago, Gary, Hammond and Joliet, which between them have seven casinos to serve the Chicago Southland, as they call it down there.

Communities outside the Chicago metropolitan area? Don't even come to the table. The last time the license went up for auction, three companies put up a total of $1.5 billion worth of bids to put a casino north of I-80 and east of the Tri-State. The state is banking on more of the same action.

This brings us to Des Plaines, the sleeper candidate that, technically, finished ahead of Waukegan in the Great Casino License Fiasco of 2004. What will put Waukegan ahead this time around? Two things: First and foremost, Illinois has been leaking gamers into Milwaukee, and the Prairie State power brokers want this to stop.

And two, because this 11-year melodrama -- complete with court battles and multi-million-dollar auctions and allegations of mob ties -- has to have a more exciting ending than Des Plaines.

Dear "Swami":

I read last week where you were picking on Six Flags for putting those $1 lockers at ride entrances, and a little while back you were said the new Six Flags mascot is lame. What is your problem with Six Flags, anyway?

Ashley in Gurnee

Dear Ashley:

Rather than address the big picture here, The Swami is going to focus on a single hidden element in your complaint: your use of the term "Six Flags" to describe the amusement park that is now, always has been and always shall be GREAT AMERICA.

Evidently, seeing that your name is one of the most popular U.S. girl names from the 1990s, you are a member of this younger generation that calls our local theme park "Six Flags," as mandated by Madison Avenue. This is wrong on so many levels, not the least of which is the fact that the history behind the name "Six Flags" has everything to do with Texas (home of the original theme park under that banner) and nothing to do with Illinois, the Chicago Metro Area, Lake County, Warren Township or Gurnee.

Young lady, long before there was a "Six Flags Great America," it was known as "Marriott's Great America," and for a short time it was technically "Bally's Great America." At no time did anyone call the park "Marriott's" or "Bally's." It was simply Great America. That's all you had to say, and no one confused what you were saying with Kiddieland or Old Chicago. Or Six Flags Over Mid-America, as they used to call the one in St. Louis.

So join The Swami in a new and ambitious campaign to educate the current and coming generations on the proper name for that little corner of $54.99 heaven on Grand Avenue. It is called Great America -- just as it will be when, not if, Six Flags sells the naming rights to U.S. Cellular or WaMu.

Hey Swami:

Did you see where United Airlines is going to start charging $15 for every checked bag? Everyone's got their hands out for more, more, more. Where is the outrage?

Beside Myself in Bannockburn

Dear B.M.:

To answer your first question, yes, of course The Swami saw that United is going to take away a freebie -- The Swami sees all, usually before it happens. That's the definition of being a seer, after all.

As for your second question about The Outrage: there is plenty of it to go around in America, but it is reserved for things like politics, religion and recreational activities played by other people (a.k.a. professional sports). If there is any impotent rage left over for economic issues, it is used on the price of gas ... and, here in Lake County this summer, on the new policy by Six Flags Great America to charge customers $1 every time they want to check a bag, camera or other valuable that can't be brought on a ride.

That's right -- no more sticking that floppy hat or sandals in an open box before jumping on your favorite vomit rocket. Now you have to pay a buck for one of those tiny lockers with the key that works exactly once ... or you don't ride the ride.

Where is the outrage? There is the outrage. The Swami foresees that you will hear an earful about this from everyone you know who goes to Great America this summer.

Dear Swami, I don’t understand the “Profiles in Excellence” event they held this weekend in North Chicago. The lead speaker invents sneakers? Is this really considered being an inventor? Signed, Noogies in North Chicago

Oh, wise Swami, what does the crystal say about this weekend’s Super Bowl? Who wins and will Janet Jackson suffer another wardrobe malfunction? Signed, Hogtied in Hoboken .

Swami, our home town Waukegan baseball hero Gary Bennett admits he used Human Growth Hormone in 2003, used it only once to take care of an injury, admits it was a mistake and didn’t use it again. Do you believe him? Weepy in Waukegan.

Swami: People are always saying we should put Christ back into Christmas, but instead of seeking to put Christ into Christmas, we must acknowledge that He was never there in the first place! Instead of borrowing from the world around us, we ought to take our religious customs and practices directly from the Bible. Then we will be worshiping our Creator in spirit and truth Signed: Ms. Black Ice.

Dear Swami, Now that Mike Ditka has canceled his old charity trust and given all the money to charities, don’t you owe him an apology for piling on? Or are you against helpimg old time players who have been abandoned by the NFL? Signed - Irked in Ypsilanti

Dear Swami, Who would you nominate as the more tiresome, irritating blowhard in the Chicago area? Is there somebody you think talks a good game but never delivers the goods? Signed: Hiccupy in Highland Park

Swami, why should I listen to you? What makes what you say worth paying attention to? Why are you worth putting up with? And how can I write sentences without ending them in prepositions? Help me, Oh Wise One. Signed: Puzzled in Barrington.