| Good morning after a beautiful October weekend and, if you have the day off, rest yourself. No such luck here. You likely have heard of the Chicago Machine but writers Dominic Pacyga and Bob Dolgan have an interesting take on that history, looking at the political structure through the lens of the Catholic education church with its tenets of loyalty and hierarchy being the basis, they argue, of the machine. It's an apt piece to read during the election cycle. We're written before that, whether you admire it or not, the Chicago Teachers Union is a contemporary equivalent of the machine. On that note, the editorial board continues its endorsements today. We're committed to sharing with voters our opinions of candidates statewide. We hope to be complete in another week and able to help all Illinoisans at the polls. One piece this weekend, by the longtime Chicago historian Tim Samuelson, has been attracting a lot of readers. It's about the proposed architecture and visitor-centered changes at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry and Samuelson is howling mad. Sheila Voss of Edwardsville is mad too. She's upset about the coming of roads to pristine areas of national forest thanks to the federal government's proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which she calls "an under celebrated piece of federal legislation that has protected about 58.5 million acres of roadless areas across our National Forest System." Frequent contributor Storer Rowley also had an interesting piece this weekend, noting the 25th anniversary of the so-called war on terror: "the overall lessons of the war on terror are that military force alone cannot guarantee the success of U.S. policies or the safety of Americans," he writes. "It must be combined with engagement, economic power and diplomatic leverage." Our letter writers are especially interested in two hot topics; The NIMBY reaction to the proposed express airport train to Chicago's O'Hare airport and the coming (or not coming) of data centers, the bogeyman of our moment. Enjoy. — Chris Jones, editorial page editor Submit an op-ed | Submit a letter to the editor | Meet the Tribune Editorial Board | Subscribe to this newsletter | 
