Tuesday afternoon blahs
I thought I was done with last week's cold, but no, not entirely. So I'm spinning my wheels looking at code today. I want to be writing code today, however. My brain wants to be three meters west and...
View ArticleDurbin does the right thing
We start this morning with news that US Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), for whom I voted all 5 times he ran for Senate, will not run for re-election in 2026. He turns 82 just after the...
View ArticleWhat kind of a week has it been
Well, mixed, really. It turns out Cassie isn't entirely healthy, though at the moment she's fine and will remain so for a few years at least without intervention. (I'll get that sorted in a couple of...
View ArticleExhausting Saturday
Taking 90 minutes to finish a novel this afternoon doesn't seem to have lessened my fatigue from the last couple of days. And now I'm off to a "friend-raiser" for an organization I've supported in the...
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He just can't win
Not a lot to post today, as the weather is nearly perfect (for April) and I need a nap.First, let's take a moment to acknowledge that the OAFPOTUS has the lowest approval rating (39%) of any president...
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Canada votes
As I'm not at all expert on Canadian election law, and I have readers in Canada, I will refrain from making any political commentary until tonight. I should note that Canadians really do not like the...
View ArticleI got 99 problems, but a b- ain't one
The OAFPOTUS took office for the second time 99 days ago, which means we already have a few 100-days stories to mention.First, from Canadian prime minister Mark Carney (Lib.–Nepean), whose party won...
View ArticleGrifting with a soupçon of Big Brother
Happy May Day! In both the calendar and crashing-airplane senses!We start with two reports about how the Clown Prince of X has taken control over so much government data that the concepts of "privacy"...
View ArticleGeorge Ryan dead at 91
Former Illinois governor George Ryan (R) died earlier today in hospice. He, like half of the Illinois governors who served in my lifetime, spent time in prison for corruption, stemming from a time...
View ArticleIt's the budget, stupid
The world has rightly reacted in horror to the OAFPOTUS's self-defeating tariff regime. But as economists Paul Krugman and Bobby Kogan point out, the tariffs are distracting us from the even more...
View ArticleWho holds the leash?
Radley Balko, who has spent his career examining police policy and law-enforcement mission creep, elucidates the latest authoritarian trolling from the White House:Donald Trump says he wants to...
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Why they do controlled burns
The Chicago Park District periodically burns conservation areas throughout the city because the prairie we built the city on evolved with fire. Last fall, they burned some of the prairie-reclamation...
View ArticleI'll drink to that
The Economist is kidding only a little bit by pointing out that creativity and moderate drinking correlate strongly:Today the world sees fewer breakthroughs. Hollywood sustains itself on remakes or...
View ArticleA better definition of "classical" music
Conductor and composer Matthew Aucoin suggests we call it "written music:"The unruly and elusive entity known as classical music does not sound like any one thing, and the sheer abundance of the...
View ArticleWas it the endorsement?
Cincinnati mayor Aftab Pureval (I) will face Republican Cory Bowman in the November election after the two won 83% and 13%, respectively, of yesterday's primary vote. Bowman is the half-brother of Vice...
View ArticleD'eyve gotta new Pope
As a devout atheist, I'm not especially concerned with the election this afternoon of Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV, though I am tickled he's a South Sider from Chicago. (Next up: Malort for...
View ArticleShifting gears after a morning of meetings
Just queuing a few things up to read at lunchtime:From tavern-style communion pizza and Malört to the horrific discovery that the Pope is a White Sox fan, Chicagoans have gone nuts for Leo XIV....
View ArticleAnother busy day
I had a lot going on today, so I only have a couple of minutes to note these stories:Not only is the OAFPOTUS's "new" (actually quite well-used) Qatari Boeing 747-8 a huge bribe, it will cost taxpayers...
View ArticleThings should calm down next week
As Crash Davis said to Annie Savoy all those years ago: A player on a streak has to respect the streak. Well, I'm on a coding streak. This week, I've been coding up a storm for my day job, leaving...
View ArticleQuick hits before it starts to rain
Just a couple of eye-rolling stories. First, Charlie Warzel mocks the OAFPOTUS's "tactical burger unit:"We now inhabit a world beyond parody, where the pixels of reality seem to glitch and flicker....
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