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What We're Reading: Chicago's Flag Is MUCH Better Than Boston's (Duh)

CHICAGO — Here's what we're reading while getting all jittery about the Blackhawks game tonight.

Flag envy: Poor Boston — its flag is SOB (Seal On Bedsheet, as flag experts call it.) Senior editor Andrew Herrmann is reading a story in the Boston Globe about different characteristics that make up a good flag (no seals, for one.) The piece notes how "the Internet is filled with examples of the Chicago city flag being used as a template for body art." Says flag expert Ted Kaye: “When the flag becomes used as a tattoo, you know its become part of the civic fabric. I can’t imagine Boston’s flag being used that way.” 

For those wondering, the Chicago History Museum has an explainer on what the pieces of Chicago's flag mean. The white stripes represent the North, West and South Sides; the blue stripes represent Lake Michigan and the Chicago River; and the four stars are for Ft. Dearborn, the Chicago Fire, and the worlds fairs of 1893 and 1933.

Chicago's got the muscle. 

The Most Expensive Place on Earth: Reporter Heather Cherone is reading the Washington Post's examination of the high cost of childhood magic at Disney's theme parks. In 1971, admission cost "$3.50, about as much then as three gallons of milk." This year, tickets blasted past the $100 mark — leaving many middle-class parents locked out of the Magic Kingdom. And ticket prices won't be coming down anytime soon, with Disney recording record attendance — and pocketing massive profits — by forcing parents of Princess-obsessed kids to pay the piper.

That's not ice, its diamonds. [Disney]

Who's To Blame For Our Packed Jails? Mick Dumke of the Chicago Reader spoke with Cook County Board president Toni Preckwinkle, who believes the Cook County Jail needs major reform — and a new state's attorney. "We ought to be trying to figure out why it is that a handful of communities in the city generate so much of our violent crime," Preckwinkle told Dumke. "... we've got some real challenges, and I don't think the state's attorney's vision is broad enough."

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