Texas: where the 1860s meets the 1960s?
Today's head-scratcher comes from Loving County, Texas, population 57, where state authorities have arrested the county judge for—wait for it—cattle rustling:Judge Skeet Jones, 71, the top elected...
View ArticleTheocratic rumblings in America
Two stories that bear connecting. First: the Southern Baptist Convention found in an internal investigation that its leaders had covered up sexual assaults and other bad behavior throughout the...
View ArticleRuling seasons begins
The Supreme Court began its early-summer ruling season a bit early this year, starting with an opinion from Justice Thomas (R) that will make it easier for the state to kill innocent people:[The]...
View ArticleAmerican exceptionalism in the worst way
Three reactions to this week's school shooting, the 27th of the year (despite this being only week 22 on the calendar). First, from Josh Marshall:The “good guy with a gun” theory was always absurd....
View ArticleWe know how to prevent mass murder
Australia, Canada, and the UK managed to prevent mass shootings in the aftermath of horrible crimes. And as The Onion reminded people again this week—for the 21st time since 2014—the United States is...
View ArticleChicago's great sports teams
Chicago's two baseball teams gave up a combined 36 runs yesterday, with the Cubs losing to the Reds 20-5 and the Sox losing to the Red Sox 16-7. Perhaps the bullpens could use a little work, hmm?In...
View ArticleRemember those parking meters?
In 2008, Chicago gave up its parking meter revenue for 75 years in exchange for $1.16 billion, which made no sense at the time and got widely criticized by everyone who knows what "Net Present Value"...
View ArticleThe price of too many guns
We're still grappling with the horror of last week's mass murder in Uvalde, Texas. Nick Meyer, a retired lawyer who grew up there, shares our horror but not our surprise:First, you would be challenged...
View ArticleChicago in June
The outside temperature when I went to sleep last night was around 29°C, so I had the air conditioning on. It's now about 20°C and falling, so I have the windows open—and I'm wearing a sweater.Today is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sticking with the good news for now
Because it's the first day of summer, I'm only posting fun things right now. First, I'd like to thank Uncle Roger for upping my egg fried rice game. Here's my lunch from earlier today. Fuiyoooh!Around...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Regulate crypto! And guns, too
Even though it seems the entire world has paused to honor HRH The Queen on the 70th anniversary of her accession, the world in fact kept spinning:Blogger Moxie Marlinspike wrote about their first...
View ArticleCriticizing the police response hides the real issue
David Graham argues that emphasizing the bungled police response in Uvalde "risks eclipsing the bigger picture, which is that the gravest failures happened before the gunman arrived at the school and...
View ArticleFriday, already?
Today I learned about the Zoot Suit Riots that began 79 years ago today in Los Angeles. Wow, humans suck.In other revelations:Service and restaurant workers in Chicago have accelerated their pushes for...
View ArticleThe clusterfuck of Cluster B
Via Andrew Sullivan's Dish this week, I came across a pair of articles by art critic Christia Rees about the horrors of dealing with cluster-B personality disorders:Cluster Bs are probably somewhere...
View ArticleBruce Schneier on how the Internet broke bad
The security guru just posted a video he presented in November 2020:
View ArticleWoodward and Bernstein on Nixon and the XPOTUS
Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, the reporters who followed the money to expose President Nixon's corruption 50 years ago, compare the corruption that brought down Nixon's presidency to the corruption...
View ArticleAmerican Airlines brings the HEAT
The most interesting (to me) story this afternoon comes from Cranky Flier: American Airlines has a new software tool that can, under specific circumstances, reduce weather-related cancellations by 80%...
View ArticleAbout the Acme products on my street...
National Geographic examines the growing number of large carnivores moving to urban areas, including Chicago's coyotes, who have nearly doubled their numbers in the last 8 years:While black bears have...
View ArticleMy houseguest has departed
After four nights, five puddles, four solid gifts, and so much barking that the neighbors down the block left a note on my door, Sophie finally went home this afternoon. I also worked until 11:30 last...
View ArticleThe decline and fall of San Francisco
Journalist and author Nellie Bowles, a San Francisco native, looks at the defenestration of Chesa Boudin as part of a larger pattern of progressive San Franciscans coming to their senses:San Francisco...
View Article