Santa Cruz votes to keep abandoned rail line
In what one Daily Parker reader describes as "a Twitter fight come to life," the city of Santa Cruz, Calif., voted to keep an abandoned, unusable railway through its downtown because of the possibility...
View ArticleHigh temperature record and other hot takes
Chicago's official temperature at O'Hare hit 35°C about two hours ago, tying the record high temperature set in 1994. Currently it's pushing 36°C with another hour of warming likely before it finally...
View ArticleTheft of the commons
Writer Eula Biss essays on the disappearance of common grazing lands through enclosure laws as part of a larger pattern of class struggle (and no, she's not a Marxist):In the time before enclosure,...
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Ffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuu
I guess it was inevitable:So far, I have what feels like a mild cold: sniffy, stuffy, and tired. But my temperature was 36.3°C a few minutes ago, which is perfectly normal for me, and I don't appear to...
View ArticleSan Antonio loses an orchestra
The San Antonio Symphony dissolved itself yesterday, to howls of anger from its musicians:The board of the Symphony Society of San Antonio cited stalled negotiations with the Musicians’ Union and the...
View ArticleDay 2 of isolation
Even though I feel like I have a moderate cold (stuffy, sneezy, and an occasional cough), I recognize that Covid-19 poses a real danger to people who haven't gotten vaccinations or who have other...
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It's like a mild cold that can kill your neighbors
On day 3 of my symptomatic Covid-19 experience, I feel about the same as I did yesterday, but more annoyed. It's exactly the kind of day when I would meet friends at a beer garden or outdoor restaurant...
View ArticleThe resolution of constitutional crises
Max Fisher outlines how constitutional crises resolve, and suggests we should look at Latin America, not Europe, for insight into our own potential upheavals:Such crises, with democracy’s fate left to...
View ArticleMain battle concluded; mop-up skirmishes continue
A little more than four days after I first noticed Covid-19 symptoms, my body appears to have won the war, with my immune system putting down a few rear-guard actions in my lungs and sinuses quite...
View ArticleHottest day in 10 years–almost
Chicago's official temperature last hit 38°C (100°F) on 6 July 2022, almost 10 years ago. As of 4pm O'Hare reported steady at 37°C (98°F) with the likelihood of breaking the record diminishing by the...
View ArticleA quick dictionary of political terms
Back in February, Tom Nichols published a short primer on what political terms actually mean, in hopes of more reasonable and accurate discussion:There was a thing, years ago, called The Handbook of...
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Covid recovery, graphed
I've written often enough about wearing a fitness tracker, and I've been pretty happy with my Garmin Venu. The device has a feature called "body battery" which uses heart-rate variability and other...
View ArticleThursday afternoon round-up
A lot has happened in the past day or so:The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 down partisan lines that everyone can carry a gun anywhere they want to, because they had guns in 1791 and so we have to live by...
View ArticleThomas and Alito unchained
As everyone expected, the Supreme Court today overturned Roe v Wade, ending Federal protections for abortion rights until we find a political fix to the reactionary Court supermajority. (We will; it'll...
View ArticleThe fantasies of the Christianist Right
Mark Thiessen took a victory lap in the Post this afternoon, congratulating himself and his fellow travelers for succeeding in their 50-year project to make abortions illegal in most of the...
View ArticleOne bit of good news
About an hour ago, President Biden signed the first significant gun safety law we've passed in 30 years:The bill provides grants to states for “red flag” laws, enhances background checks to include...
View ArticleThe illegitimacy of the Supreme Court
Some fun facts about the Justices of the United States:Five were appointed by presidents who took office despite losing the popular vote. All 5 voted to overturn Roe.Three of the Republicans on the...
View ArticleMissed anniversary, weather app edition
I've been a little busy this weekend so even though I remembered that yesterday was the 25th anniversary of Harry Potter's publication, I forgot that Friday was the 25th anniversary of Weather Now v0....
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Flatter than Chicago
I forgot that this part of Texas had less topography than Northern Illinois:Yesterday I had one of the most annoying travel experiences I can remember, which I will relate after lunch. And maybe, just...
View ArticleThe successes of Frances Willard
David Frum argues that anti-abortion organizers have a lot in common with the prohibitionists of the early 20th century—and have similar prospects for long-term success:The culture war raged most hotly...
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