Always that one kid who spoils recess for everyone else
Because of Chicago's weather yesterday (14°C and sunny), a ton of Gen Z kids broke quarantine and headed to the lakefront. This has now had entirely predictable consequences:Multiple aldermen along and...
View ArticleNever miss an opportunity to take what you want
Welcome to 2020, the year when the GOP says the quiet things out loud. In the middle of a pandemic, the Environmental Protection Agency has given every polluter who wants one a get-out-of-jail-free...
View ArticleBack when we sabotaged an empire
People who don't study history tend not to understand why our foreign allies and adversaries behave the ways they do. Case in point: the Soviet Union, of which the largest part lives on as the Russian...
View ArticleThe next plague
Passover starts next week, but in no small irony, most seders have been cancelled because of plague. It would have been enough if we just had covid-19; but we also get thunderstorms, hail, and...
View ArticleCovid-19 corporatism
A Tweet is making the rounds right now:The Covid corporate bonus bailout costs about $18,000 per citizen.So Congress is taking $18,000 from you, giving $16,800 to corporations and giving you back a...
View ArticleLife on Mars
At some point, we will probably settle on the red planet. In a fascinating article from 2018, The Atlantic wondered how we'll police it:Consider the basic science of crime-scene analysis. In the dry,...
View ArticleSome are flattening, some are not
Subway ridership numbers for New York City show a slower-than-expected drop-off. Still, IHME has New York Covid-19 cases peaking April 7th, while Covid Act Now says April 28th. Florida, where idiots...
View ArticleA little book to brighten your day
And now, Adult Storytime brings you Brenda's Beaver Needs a Barber:
View ArticleAround the world in coronavirus today
Just a few articles of note today:The City of Chicago urges residents to call 311 to report non-essential business remaining open.President Trump admitted on "Fox & Friends" this morning that...
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The economy and what I'm doing about it
Goldman Sachs released an economic outlook this morning predicting GDP growth of -9% in Q1 and -34% in Q2, along with 15% unemployment by June 30th. Both Calculated Risk and Talking Points Memo believe...
View ArticleYour apocalypse today
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker extended the state's stay-at-home order through April 30th, which came as absolutely no surprise, as the state nears 6,000 total COVID-19 cases. Rush Hospitals predict...
View ArticleA to Z postponed for coronavirus
I had plans to do the Blogging A-to-Z challenge this year as I've done the last two, but reality intervened. In theory I have more time to write than last year. In fact I didn't have the energy...
View ArticleSomething to do when the sun's out
Chicago Tribune architecture critic offers an alternative to sitting on your couch and bingeing Netflix:Here’s a suggestion: Go out for a stroll and take in some architecture.Walks are allowed under...
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Ten million unemployed
More than 6.6 million Americans filed for unemployment insurance last week (including 178,000 in Illinois), following the 3.3 million who filed the week before. This graphic from The Washington Post...
View ArticleHow's that open-plan house these days?
The Atlantic's Megan Garber looks at how the popular floorplan can make people crazy, which is what you get when architecture follows dudes liking TV shows with sledgehammers:The popular open layout,...
View ArticleAnniversaries
I missed an important one yesterday: on 2 April 2000, I moved back to Chicago from New York.And a less important one, but interesting nonetheless: On this day in 1860, the Pony Express started...
View ArticleToday in your ongoing horror story
Oh, where to begin? I'll start with the article of most use to actual people:Bruce Schneier outlines Zoom's sloppy security, bad privacy, and questionable labor practices that might make these things...
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Self-absorption
I suppose, given how long I've lived in the United States, the inability of my fellow Americans to understand anything not happening directly to them should no longer surprise me. And yet it does.Even...
View ArticleHow the right-wing rulers of the world's largest democracy screwed their...
Man Booker-prize-winning author Arundhati Roy ("The God of Small Things") slowly immolates the Indian government for its unconscionable mishandling of the Covid-19 pandemic:On March 24, at 8pm, [Prime...
View ArticleLoyalty above all else
The President continues to fire anyone suspected of disloyalty despite the ongoing national emergency:The president’s under-cover-of-darkness decision late the night before to fire Michael K. Atkinson,...
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