Stuff to read:
- Forgetting (or just plain ignorant) that we have a Coast Guard better suited to the task of guarding our coasts, the OAFPOTUS has ordered the guided missile destroyer USS Gravely to the Texas-Mexico border.
- The OAFPOTUS and the Clown Prince of X, apparently not seeing the connection between weather forecasters and weather forecasts, have illegally fired 10% of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration staff just as a violent tornado outbreak killed 40 people in the Midwest and South.
- The administration's attacks on universities fit the Orban plan of creating a failed democracy, so naturally the OAFPOTUS has doubled down on them.
- Krugman points out that all of the above administration malfeasance has had a depressing effect on the US economy by reducing demand for our key exports, not least of which includes the $50 billion foreigners used to spend to get American educations. (He also has a good, long explanation of how inflation works, if you subscribe.)
- Surprising no one but still an illegally-targeted exercise of Federal power, the Federal Communications Commission has demanded to see the contracts between a number of National Public Radio and Public Broadcasting System stations and their acknowledged donors.
- The Waterbeach development outside Cambridge, England, has a new car-free housing complex—though it's still a 10 kilometer walk from the nearest railway station.
- Pilot Patrick Smith wishes the public would have a better sense of perspective about the safety of air travel, while acknowledging that it has seemed a bit rockier than usual.
Finally, thanks to reduced funding and deferred maintenance, the Chicago El has seen slow zones balloon from 13% of its tracks to 30% since 2019. Fully 70% of the Forest Park branch has reduced speed limits, making the trip from there to downtown take over an hour. But sure, let's keep funding below the minimum needed to function, and keep the CTA, Metra, and Pace all separate so they can each fail in their own ways.
Who doesn't like the fun and adventure of spring weather in Chicago? I mean, you don't see temperature graphs like this coming from Los Angeles:
At 5:07 pm on Friday—only about 40 hours ago—it was 23.3°C, I had all my windows open, and I had a polo shirt on when I walked Cassie a few minutes later. Now it's 1.2°C, the temperature has dropped steadily since 3pm yesterday, and I'm about to put on a winter coat because it's bloody snowing.
This week we'll continue to whipsaw around the freezing mark, with forecast high temperatures of 11°C tomorrow and 18°C on Tuesday, followed by forecast lows of -1°C Wednesday night and 0°C on Thursday night.
Eventually we'll have consistently warm temperatures, and in fairness the snow isn't sticking. But March really knows how to torture us.
As forecast, O'Hare had an official high temperature of 26°C yesterday, the warmest temperature recorded there since 4pm on October 30th and the normal high temperature for June 10th. Inner Drive Technology WHQ got all the way up to 23.3°C just after 5pm, so we had all the windows open until the squall line blasted through after midnight.
Today we have a lot of wind and a lot of dust blown up from storms in Texas and Oklahoma. Without the dust, we'd have clear blue skies right now:
Remember what I wrote Thursday about how the air usually looked this time of year back in the 1980s? Today is just a little hazier. Well, OK, quite a bit hazier:
Even Cassie is wondering what that scent is:
That's the scent of climate change, baby. Same as the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Fitting that we've got the resurrected zombie corpse of Herbert Hoover in the White House today.
It's 21°C at Inner Drive Technology WHQ and 22°C at O'Hare right now. In addition to being the normal high temperature for May 20th, that reading at O'Hare is the warmest since 11pm on October 30th. The forecast for O'Hare predicts a high near 26°C, which is normal for June 10th.
Which is all a long way of saying: I'm about to change into a polo shirt, take Cassie for a walk, and open every window in my house—not necessarily in that order.
By the way, the eclipse last night was really cool. I only wish I could have fallen back asleep more quickly after getting up to view it.
When the OAFPOTUS and the Clown Prince of X turned their attention to the Environmental Protection Agency this week, it hit Chicago almost immediately:
President Donald Trump this week ordered closures of offices at the Environmental Protection Agency that help low-income communities overwhelmed with pollution.
It’s unclear how many positions will be cut in Chicago, but union officials estimate it may affect 20 to 30 of the roughly 1,000 EPA regional employees. Most significantly, the order ends a practice of “environmental justice” at the agency that has responded to people threatened by pollution in urban and rural areas.
“Environmental justice simply means ensuring the communities most disproportionately impacted by pollution are protected,” said Nicole Cantello, president of the union representing EPA employees in Chicago and across the Midwest. “The core mission of the EPA is simple: Protecting human health and the environment.”
Of course the Republicans want to cut these programs: it will allow their friends in polluting industries to create more externalities. Or, rather, to return to the way it was before the EPA existed, when industries happily shifted their environmental remediation costs to the public.
As an illustration, here's a photo I took 40 years ago this week:
Notice the lovely, warm colors behind Lauren. That's not an artifact of Kodachrome or of the scan; that's what the air around Chicago looked like in 1985. Since then, those orange skies have completely disappeared (except when we get hit with wildfire smoke from out west), and we all breathe a lot easier. That's what the EPA and the Clean Air Act did.
When anyone lies that the EPA "costs too much," get the person lying to you to admit that deaths and illnesses that result from pollution cost a lot more in the aggregate. That's the whole point of externalities. And that's what the OAFPOTUS wants to bring back.
After our gorgeous weather Sunday and Monday, yesterday's cool-down disappointed me a bit. But we have clear-ish skies and lots of sun, which apparently will persist until Friday night. I'm also pleased to report that we will probably have a good view of tomorrow night's eclipse, which should be spectacular. I'll even plan to get up at 1:30 to see totality.
Elsewhere in the world, the OAFPOTUS continues to explore the outer limits of stupidity (or is it frontotemporal dementia?):
- No one has any idea what the OAFPOTUS's economic plan is, though Republicans seem loath to admit that's because he hasn't got one.
- Canada and the EU, our closest friends in the world since the 1940s, have gotten a bit angry with us lately. Can't think why.
- Paul Krugman frets that while he "always considered, say, Mitch McConnell a malign influence on America, while I described Paul Ryan as a flimflam man, I never questioned their sanity... But I don’t see how you can look at recent statements by Donald Trump and Elon Musk without concluding that both men have lost their grip on reality."
- On the same theme, Bret Stephens laments that "Democracy dies in dumbness."
- ProPublica describes a horrifying recording of Acting Social Security Commissioner Leland Dudek's meeting with senior SSA officials last week in which he demonstrated why the OAFPOTUS pulled him from a terminal job as "the ultimate faceless bureaucrat" to head the agency. (Some people have greatness thrust upon 'em?)
- Molly White sees "no public good" for a "strategic bitcoin reserve," but is too polite to call the idea a load of thieving horseshit.
- Author John Scalzi threads the needle on boycotting billionaires.
- Writing for StreetsBlog Chicago, Steven Vance argues that since the city has granted parking relief to almost every new development in the past few years, why not just get rid of parking minimums altogether?
Finally, in a recent interview with Monica Lewinsky, Molly Ringwald said that John Hughes got the idea for Pretty in Pink while out with her and her Sixteen Candles co-stars at Chicago's fabled Kingston Mines. Cool.
Welcome to stop #123 on the Brews and Choos project.
Brewery: Duneyrr Fermenta, 2237 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago
3 (of 5) stars
Train line: CTA Green Line, Cermak-McCormick Place
Time from Chicago: 10 minutes
Distance from station: 600 m
After five hours, four kilometers of walking, three pints of beer, two Lyfts, and an invitation to my Brews & Choos buddy's husband to meet us three blocks from his office, we made it to Duneyrr Fermenta in Chicago's historic Motor Row. If only we hadn't had a mound of cheese curds at Alulu, we might have enjoyed the BBQ pop-up. Instead, we each tried a small glass of beer (or wine, in one case), and decided to get dinner closer to home.
Duneyrr definitely has a point of view on fermenting. They seem only to use wild yeast in their beers and wines, which I appreciate but do not like. I tried a 150 mL sample of the Riwaka Raccoon New Zealand IPA (6.3%), which had a super-dank nose and even danker flavor, with massive fruit flavors from the Riwaka and Rakau hops that the wild yeast completely obliterated. My buddy tried the Wild Buri farmhouse ale (5%), which she liked enough, calling it "less like a farmhouse and more like a göze or a lambic. Quite sour." As one who appreciates but does not like any of those styles, I will accept what she said. Her husband had a glass of the Melodic Mosaic semi-sparkling red wine, and said "Actually, that's interesting. Maybe just don't think of it as a wine." I also found it...interesting.
The space is cool, though, and they do allow dogs. Their snacks looked pretty good too. So it's worth a second look, especially if I want to entertain friends who really dig wild yeast fermentation.
Beer garden? No
Dogs OK? Yes
Televisions? Avoidable
Serves food? Usually snacks, weekend pop-ups
Would hang out with a book? Maybe
Would hang out with friends? Yes
Would go back? Maybe
Welcome to stop #122 on the Brews and Choos project.
Brewery: Ramova Grill & Taproom, 3520 S. Halsted St., Chicago
3.5 (of 5) stars
Train line: CTA Red Line, Sox-35th
Time from Chicago: 15 minutes
Distance from station: 1.3 km
The Ramova Theater opened in 1929, showed its last movie in 1985, got taken over by the city in 2001, sold to Chance the Rapper and other Chicago celebrities in 2017, landed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021, and opened again on 31 December 2023. Sometime in there, they built a brewery and restaurant on the property. And on Friday, my Brews & Choos buddy and I walked down 35th Street from Marz to check it out. (The rain finally stopped.)
They've got a 1950s diner feeling befitting the history of the place. (Though I think most visitors in 1950 would have balked at the co-ed, European-style bathroom.) They brew some of their beers on site and others at partner facilities as far away as Brooklyn, and they have a full diner menu that looked pretty good to us.
We tried a flight and liked 75% of them.
I started with the 1929 American lager (5%), a flavorful and malty beer that was a bit sweet for my palate as lagers often are, about which my friend said only "It's a lager. It's a good lager." The Bubble Garten Berlinerweiß (4%, brewed on site) made my nose wrinkle and, upon tasting it, elicited a hearty "Nope!" My companion said it was "Nice. Light. The tangy finish is sorta there. Very drinkable." The Forever Ever hazy IPA (4.7%) had fruit notes that took a moment to build, with a nice balance of hops and a long finish. She: "I actually like it. More lactose than honey, soft finish." Our last one, the Simple Toast New Zealand IPA (6.8%) got the same reaction from both of us: "I did not like this" was all my friend said. I didn't either, as it had dank notes that don't work for me and a bit too much in the hop department.
Bridgeport has a lot of character, and would be worth exploring on its own. Stopping at Remova for a beer and a burger wouldn't be the worst end to the day.
Beer garden? No
Dogs OK? No
Televisions? Avoidable
Serves food? Full menu
Would hang out with a book? Maybe
Would hang out with friends? Maybe
Would go back? Yes
The temperature at Inner Drive Technology WHQ just hit 17.5°C, which it hasn't hit since 5:54pm on November 5th. That's almost 125 days, quite a while to go without wearing a jacket outside.
Unfortunately, spring weather isn't the only thing in the news today:
Finally, Metra is seeking public input on a plan to rename the heavy-rail lines around Chicago. Right now, each line has an historic name and a different color. The favored proposal would be to give each line a letter signifying the direction from downtown, plus a number. For example, the Union Pacific North line that goes by my house would be renamed N1. And all the lines departing from a single downtown station would get the same color (green in the case of the three UP lines). I think this is a good proposal, and would bring Chicago in line with international cities like Berlin and Paris.
Welcome to stop #121 on the Brews and Choos project.
Brewery: Marz Community Brewing, 3630 S. Iron St., Chicago
4 (of 5) stars
Train line: CTA Orange Line, Ashland
Time from Chicago: 11 minutes
Distance from station: 1.7 km
Continuing Friday's epic Brews & Choos adventure, my buddy and I decided to Lyft the 2.7 kilometers from Alulu, because (a) McKinley Park and the Lower West Side on either side of the Sanitary and Ship Canal aren't very pretty, and (b) it hadn't completely stopped raining. Even though Marz is a Brews & Choos eligible distance from the CTA, you will not enjoy walking down Ashland, 35th, and Iron Street to get there.
Marz is one of only two breweries on the Southwest Side between the river and 95th west of the Dan Ryan. It's by far the largest section of the city with no breweries. So Marz has quite a following and quite a good beer list—plus some other non-alcoholic beverages that will knock you on your ass.
Again, to ensure the longevity of the day's exploration, we limited ourselves to two 150-mL pours each. I started with the Synthesizer Showroom West Coast IPA (7%), a good, clean, uncomplicated hazy with a lovely hop balance. She started with the BFF Beer hibiscus pale (6%), which had a very light essence and a hoppiness we both liked. That said: we once again preferred our own choices. Next she tried the Jungle Boogie pale wheat ale with rooibos tea (5.5%), which I found too hoppy and then too fruity. She: "I like the full palette. The fruitiness blends well with the pale aleness."
Instead of beer, though, I finished with a can of their Wild Berries seltzer (3 mg THC/3 mg CBD). It comes with warning labels. It was delightful: very light berry flavor, very crisp, not sweet at all, and about an hour after drinking it, very relaxing indeed. Marz puts up to 25 mg of THC into some of their seltzers, so as tasty as the Cherry Sublime looked on paper, we had to say no. (I mean, maybe if we split the can 3 ways it might work. Hmmm...) In fact, we had originally planned to finish the day at Marz for just that reason, but not wanting to waste our entire Saturdays argued against it.
Beer garden? Yes
Dogs OK? Outside only
Televisions? One, avoidable
Serves food? Full menu
Would hang out with a book? Yes
Would hang out with friends? Yes
Would go back? Yes