Events

Citylab has a must-read on Spiro Agnew and the legitimization of right-wing suburban fears that led to the current policing crisis in America: Initially, Governor Agnew offered a rather moderate response to the riot. But he soon took the lead of a conservative backlash that blamed radical agitators (that should sound familiar) and liberalism for nurturing black misbehavior. Agnew's pivot to the right came as the riot subsided, on April 11, when he met the state's mainstream black leaders and accused...

Apparently cheese grease contaminates the cardboard: Paper is particularly susceptible to food and beverage contamination, and it "ends up suffering the most from getting mixed with other materials," says [Natural Resources Defense Council Senior Research Specialist Darby] Hoover. The culprits: gooey cheese and oil stains. Even if you remove the crusty cheese and sauce the slices leave behind, grease will have already soaked into the cardboard, ruining it for recycling. In a single-stream system (where...

It's 15°C and sunny outside; why am I inside? Right. Work. I did get a 5 km walk this morning, but somehow I think I'll need more steps today. The nearest Whole Foods is 1500 m away, for example. I feel a walking lunch coming on. Still, though. Work.

Color me excited: Aerican Airlines will use a Boeing 787 Dreamliner on a regular route between Chicago and Japan, the airline told employees Thursday. It will be the first U.S. airline to use the highly touted aircraft on a regular route at O'Hare International Airport, although some foreign airlines use it. American will start daily service Aug. 18 from O'Hare to Narita International Airport near Tokyo, according to a memo Thursday to Chicago employees from Franco Tedeschi, an American Airlines vice...

We've got a pair of fun concerts coming up. Friday we're at 4th Presbyterian in Chicago at 7:30pm, and Sunday we're at the Elmhurst Christian Reformed Church at 3pm. (This is one of the reasons posts have been less frequent and pithy.)

Sir Terry and Neil Gaiman have a joint cameo in Episode 1 of BBC4's radio adaptation of the funniest book ever. I'm trying to sneak a listen to it in my office. Hurry: it's only free until next Wednesday.

A massive effort to rebuild the hundred-year-old El tracks between Howard and Lawrence moved forward this week with the CTA's announcement that work will start in 2017: Construction will be divided into two segments: The first is expected to keep the Lawrence and Berwyn stations closed for about 18 months; the second will involve closing the Berwyn, Argyle and Lawrence stations and restricting the Bryn Mawr station to southbound boarding only for 18 months to two years. The station redesigns are...

I had my office door open most of the day and people kept walking in and speaking before I could acknowledge them. Hilarity ensued. Then I closed my office door and people who had appointments to talk to me simply walked away without knocking. While that fun was happening, I didn't read any of these: Baltimore violence has a long fuse Don't travel with this stuff Internet security marketing is crap Josh Marshall's brush with greatness incarnate Azure service monitoring and diagnostics in depth Baltimore...

To read: Pepsi is dropping Aspartame, which, by the way, doesn't stop obesity. Bad urban planning exacerbated the destruction in Kathmandu and puts other Asian cities at risk. Indian food is delicious, and now we know why. (My bet was on turmeric.) American Airlines rejiggered its operations in Chicago and Dallas in March, which is a good thing. The Economist reports that Chinese scientists have changed the genome of 86 zygotes, which, had the zygotes been viable, could have resulted in...

Yesterday, owing to having a dog and not passing out from exhaustion after writing a blog entry, I blew out my Fitbit steps so far past my old personal record that I'm not sure I'll surpass it for a very long time. Yesterday's total was 30,496 steps over 27.7 km. Apparently I drank enough water yesterday that I'm not a raging ball of sore muscles today. And so far today, I'm over 8,000 steps, with another few thousand pretty much guaranteed before dinner.