American's Austin ground ops
My flight into Austin on Monday took two extra hours after landing—not counting the 45 minutes returning to the airport to get my bag—thanks in part to piss-poor ground operations. Yesterday, we sat at...
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One good thing about Texas
I did enjoy the barbecue:That's a bit of brisket and accoutrements from Stiles Switch BBQ, and it was so good. We also got some from Black's BBQ, which might have actually been better. Of course, even...
View ArticleLazy holiday weekend
I'm spending today finishing a couple of books and season 3 of The Umbrella Academy on either side of hauling down to Bloomington, Ill., for a friend's birthday/housewarming. Tomorrow I intend to...
View ArticlePlug-in hybrid car + city living
Many people, particularly in the US, have suffered recently because of their choices to live in places without meaningful alternatives to driving, their neighbors' choices not to fund meaningful...
View ArticleSix murdered in Highland Park
A "well-regulated militia, being necessary for the security of a free State" just killed 5 people (update: now 6 confirmed dead) for no discernable reason in Highland Park, Ill., the next town over...
View ArticleJohnson resigns
In what The Economist calls "Clownfall," UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson (Cons) this morning resigned as Conservative Party leader and will leave Number 10 as soon as the party chooses his replacement....
View ArticleResponses to taxing ammunition and magazines
On Tuesday, when my white-hot rage at right-wing gun nuts and the politicians that support them had cooled a little, I proposed taxing ammunition and magazines as one of a set of options available to...
View ArticleMeanwhile and elsewhere
In case you needed more things to read today:Have we become a nation of hostages?Impeach Justice Thomas (R) if you want, but that won't solve the real problem with the Court.European leaders will miss...
View ArticleThe weather is too nice to stay indoors
So I have queued up stuff to read later:How can anyone believe the Republican Party's "freedom" rhetoric in light of their current behavior?Millions of Canadians have yet to regain Internet and...
View ArticleBusy day = reading backlog
I will definitely make time this weekend to drool over the recent photos from the James Webb Space Telescope. It's kind of sad that no living human will ever see anything outside our solar system, but...
View ArticleNorthwest Ordinance, 235 years on
On this day in 1787, the Continental Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance, dividing up all the land west of Pennsylvania, north of the Ohio River, and east of the Mississippi River, into those...
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Et tu, Sterling? Then fall euro
The euro has fallen below parity with the dollar for the first time since 2003:Sterling has fallen to $1.18, just days before I fly there. The pound dipped down to this level briefly just as the...
View ArticleThe world Clarence Thomas wrought
Writing in The New Yorker last week, Corey Robin argues that the violent and authoritarian world-view of Justice Thomas (R) has much more internal consistency than we on the left usually ascribe to it,...
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Dog beach redux
To Cassie's great joy, we went back to the Montrose Beach DFA this afternoon:She is now asleep on the couch, where I expect she will remain until dinner time, which is imminent.
View ArticleUK sets all-time heat record
The Met Office has provisionally recorded the UK's first-ever above-40°C (104°F) temperature:🌡️ For the first time ever, 40 Celsius has provisionally been exceeded in the UKLondon Heathrow reported a...
View ArticleStuff to read tomorrow morning
In just a few minutes I will take Cassie to boarding, then head up to Northwestern for a rehearsal (I'm in the chorus at Ravinia's upcoming performances of La Clemenza di Tito.) I'll then have to pack...
View ArticleNot 100% according to plan...
With an 8:30 international flight and great uncertainty in airport/airline operations these days, I thought it prudent to haul my ass out to a hotel by the airport last night.Well, it worked, in that I...
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Just a walk in the woods
I exhausted myself yesterday with a walk from Otford to Shoreham, in Kent, along the Kentish Downs. I'll have photos after I get home, but until then, here's the Garmin plot:The bit right around 4km...
View ArticlePractical advice on getting narcissists out of politics
This evening I finished psychologist Bill Eddy's Why we elect narcissists and sociopaths and how we can stop. It turns out, we just need to be rational!OK, so, that's not likely. But Eddy does lay out...
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Friday's hike (and pubs)
I started Friday by having lunch with a colleague in the picture-perfect Hare & Billet in Greenwich:After lunch I hopped a Southeast service to Otford, Kent, where I embarked on the 6.5 km hike I...
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