A timeless hoax by a government agency
NPR and other outlets reported earlier this week that the far-north Norwegian island of Sommaroy planned to abolish timekeeping:If the 350 residents of Sommaroy get their way, the clocks will stop...
View ArticleLunchtime reading
Articles that piqued my interest this morning:O'Hare's on-time performance is slipping.David Ignatius thinks we're on a death trip as a country, while Dana Milibank reminds us that demanding...
View ArticleBest laid plans
My plan for an 8-hour drive from Chicago to Toronto yesterday did not survived contact with the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). It turns out, coming into Toronto from the west during rush hour on Friday...
View ArticleRecord heat in Europe
Significant changes in the northern jet stream has caused serious problems for Europe and South Asia:Unusual jet stream behavior has been recorded every three to five years since 2000 — in 2003, 2006,...
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Finally filled up the Prius
I bought my car, a Toyota Prius Prime plug-in hybrid, on December 23rd. It took almost 188 days—more than six months—before I finally put gas in the thing.Friday morning, on my way to Toronto, I put...
View ArticleNew taxes in Illinois
Starting today, my state has some new laws:The gasoline tax doubled to the still-too-low 10¢ per litre. Oh my stars. How could they. Ruination. (You will detect more ironic tone if you read my post...
View ArticleDid they find the Ark of the Covenant?
History buffs Daniel Pogorzelski and Jacob Kaplan got permission to enter a space previously occupied by former Chicago alderman. They discovered that no one had ever cleaned the space out after the...
View ArticleTrump's National Mall event is both better and worse than you think
That's what screenwriter Jeff Greenfield, writing for Politico, says:Celebrations of the Fourth do not tend to benefit both parties equally, and here, Trump may well be demonstrating his instinctive...
View ArticleIt's a world gone: Mad
Beloved humor magazine of my childhood and my father's Mad Magazine will effectively end its 67-year run with the August issue:Sources tell [The Hollywood Reporter] that after issue 9, MAD will no...
View ArticleToday in earth science
We woke up in the US to two major stories about the planet, one with a short-term effect and the other with a long-term effect.The acute problem: a 7.1 mw earthquake in central California caused only...
View ArticleBefore the Interstates
An army convoy left the White House on 7 July 1919 and finally arrived in San Francisco two months later:The Army’s road trip got off to a rocky start, with several vehicles breaking down that...
View ArticleSpecializing vs Generalizing
The US Navy's latest ship class, the triple-hulled Littoral Combat vessels, have small crews chosen for their adaptability. This has given the Navy insight into how people learn:The ship’s most...
View ArticleSpeculative fiction in the Economist
This week's Economist features a collection of "what-if" stories that attempt to present near-future events well within the realm of possibility. First up, what if an American destroyer were surrounded...
View ArticleA Chicago factory is making 3-flats
This is kind of cool, and could really help the city:Skender, an established, family-owned builder in Chicago, is making a serious play in a sector associated with young startups: modular construction....
View ArticleCapital flooding
Yesterday, Washington D.C. experienced its heaviest rainfall on record:In just an hour, about a month’s worth of rain drowned the District, a staggering 83 mm falling at Reagan National Airport.This...
View ArticleLunchtime links
Just a few head-to-desk articles this afternoon:Washington DC's mayor has informed the President that the city's special security fund has no more money in it, thanks to the 4th of July Trumpaganza and...
View ArticleYour morning Schadenfreude
The President's properties have fallen on hard times, thanks mostly to the President's politics and his childrens' incompetence:The PGA Tour pulled out of Doral during the 2016 campaign after the World...
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It's hot. Damn hot. Real hot.
The forecast for much of the US Friday calls for hot and shitty weather, with continued hot and shitty weather into Saturday:A heat wave featuring a life-threatening combination of heat and oppressive...
View ArticleWhat's the fastest way to O'Hare?
Four Chicago Tribune reporters had a race from Randolph and Michigan to O'Hare:We sent four reporters, with carry-on luggage, in a personal car, a ride-share, on CTA and on Metra, starting at 2:15 p.m....
View ArticleWhy can't we live on the moon?
As we approach the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing Saturday afternoon, CityLab asks the obvious question:Many experts say there was nothing stopping humanity from following the Apollo...
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