Events

Jeet Heer says no: [T]he very nature of our modern world, and the United States’ supremacy, makes it impossible to dismiss an American president’s word. The U.S. is a nuclear-armed superpower, with a commander in chief who presides over the world’s largest economy. Millions of people all over the world pay careful attention to what a president says, making their own plans based on the words coming out of the White House—and they will continue to do so whether or not the press corps and political class...

It looks more and more like the Republican Party created a trap for itself in its hysterical opposition to the Affordable Care Act, making the (I am not kidding) "World's Greatest Healthcare Plan of 2017" a non-starter for clear majorities in Congress: Josh Marshall explains why "Repeal and Replace" is going very, very badly. WaPo says President Trump may try to steamroll movement conservatives, which won't help the cause. Brian Beutler makes it clear the Republicans brought this on themselves. If the...

Chicago is experiencing sustained 48 km/h winds with gusts up to 68 km/h, which has a noticeable effect on the building I work in. Sears Willis Tower was designed to sway in high winds. Over the years, however, material and building techniques have changed, so occasionally windows blow out of our upper floors. Fortunately this hasn't happened in almost 7 years, but these winds are high enough today that we may have to close the upper floors. I may pop up to 66 today just to feel it. At that floor, the...

Every night, I throw my excess pocket change into a bag. Sometimes I remember to empty the bag, as I did today. Total haul? Six dollar coins, a half-dollar, 648 quarters, 364 dimes, 220 nickels, and 664 pennies, summing up to $222.54. And no fee if you apply it to a gift card.

Several reactions to President Trump's bizarre accusation that the Obama administration ordered an illegal wiretap on Trump Tower last year, from left to right: Brian Beutler thinks Trump's weird tweets "royally screwed" the Republicans in Congress.  Josh Marshall says the claims are just ridiculous, and Trump kneecapped himself doing it. Jennifer Rubin wonders whether Trump is "bonkers, paranoid, or trapped?" The Chicago Tribune agrees that Trump essentially asked Congress to investigate himself, with...

The Finnish manufacturer is bringing back their 2000-era 3310: Given the rising angst of a society run by technology, Nokia might have picked the perfect time to introduce an antidote to the smartphone. But even under today’s conditions, it is tempting to see the new Nokia 3310 merely as another example of retro nostalgia. Ha-ha, what if you could get a dumbphone instead? It would pair perfectly with a milk crate full of vinyl albums. But it’s also possible that the 3310 marks the start of a new period...

A 2015 theft of a gun shipment from a railroad yard in Chicago continues to plague the city: The guns had been en route from New Hampshire weapon maker Sturm, Ruger & Co. to Spokane, Washington. Instead, the .45-caliber Ruger revolvers and other firearms spread quickly into surrounding high-crime neighborhoods. Along with two other major gun thefts within three years, the robbery helped fuel a wave of violence on Chicago's streets. The 2015 heist of the 111 guns, as well as one in 2014 and another last...

And in honor of his birthday, one of my all-time-favorite riffs on his style from the 1980s TV show "Moonlighting:"

The analyses of the President's speech to Congress last night split down partisan lines, if you divide the world into the alt-right and everyone else: Josh Marshall isn't impressed. Nor is Brian Beutler. Jim Fallows neither. WaPo? Oh no. Krugman? No, man. But Scott Adams thinks anyone who didn't like the speech is hallucinating. (He says that about anyone who dislikes Trump for any reason, of course.) My take? I haven't heard all of the speech. But I think highlighting people who were victims of crimes...

It's official: for the first time in recorded history, Chicago had no snow on the ground during the last two months of meterological winter (January and February): Because the snow measurement is taken at 6 a.m. at O'Hare International Airport, small amounts of snow that may have fallen later in the day and melted were not recorded, said Amy Seeley, meteorologist with the National Weather Service. This occurred Feb. 25 when there was a trace of snow and Jan. 30 when there was 2 mm. The weather service...