Events

Even though Chicago's winters have gotten milder overall in the last 50 years, extreme temperatures like we had between Christmas and January 7th still kill people: Unlike other more dramatic types of weather, such as hurricanes, floods or tornadoes, the threat of extreme cold or heat tends to be overlooked, said Laurence Kalkstein, a University of Miami public health sciences professor who studies the effects of climate on human health. “People don’t think of it as much of a threat mainly because there...

Just a few things going on, not least of which was a 7-hour chorus board retreat on Saturday. Regular posting should resume this afternoon (or whenever the caffeine starts working).

Where to start? President Trump made 2,140 false or misleading claims in his first year in office—an average of nearly 6 per day. Meanwhile, his "cult of personality" is bringing fringe conspiracy theories into the White House itself. San Francisco has had three mayors in the last seven weeks, and it's getting even weirder. British journalist Cathy Newman did not seem to hear psychologist Jordan Peterson's answers to her questions. Lake Michigan is getting clearer, which is catastrophic for its ecology....

Writing for CityLab today, Richard Florida cautions that Republican policies will increase the wealth and political divides in the country (which, after all, may be their plan): [T]he declining parts of America now control our politics, and not just nationally, but also in the states. As Brownstein sums up: “The nation is poised for even greater tension between an economic order that increasingly favors the largest places—and a political dynamic that, for now, sublimates them to the smaller places that...

I'm temporarily on a new project to backstop a lonely developer. Getting ramped up on that today took all my time. Regular posting should resume tomorrow.

CityLab digs into "the strangest, happiest economic story in America:" In almost every economic sector, including television, books, music, groceries, pharmacies, and advertising, a handful of companies control a prodigious share of the market. The beer industry has been one of the worst offenders. The refreshing simplicity of Blue Moon, the vanilla smoothness of Boddingtons, the classic brightness of a Pilsner Urquell, and the bourbon-barrel stouts of Goose Island—all are owned by two companies...

After a really enjoyable trip, and even before I'd gone to get Parker from boarding, I discovered to my horror that my fridge compressor was making a godawful racket and the freezer door was just slightly ajar. This is what it looks like now: Welcome back to college. Really, I'm mostly bummed about all the cheese, not to mention the homemade turkey stock in the freezer and the mushroom tea in the fridge I was going to make rice with. Also note that the thermometer says -3°C. I've since adjusted the...

Things will be a little low-key today owing to the snow falling on London right now, even though the temperature is rising as a warm front pushes through. The forecast calls for rising temperatures and rain all day, which I guess isn't all bad. So I'm taking some time to do long-overdue chores for the Apollo Chorus (de-duping our master database, setting up ticketing for our next two concerts), and I've started yet another book (Harold Nicolson's beautifully-written 1939 polemic Why Britain is at War)....

On Thursday I hit all my (admittedly non-taxing) goals for the day. And yesterday, on into this morning, I almost did again, except that making three of the goals interfered with making the fourth. Goal #1: See the Churchill War Rooms. Having recently seen "Darkest Hour," I wanted to see the rooms where it happened. I did, and they were really cool. Goal #2: Visit three more pubs. I had planned to check in again at 214 Bermondsey, then head up to Ye Olde Mitre before stopping again at The Ship Tavern. I...

The U.S. government has shut down its nonessential functions (including the President's vacation travel) because the ruling party can't play nicely with others: The federal government shut down for the first time in more than four years Friday after senators rejected a temporary spending patch and bipartisan efforts to find an alternative fell short as a midnight deadline came and went. Republican and Democratic leaders both said they would continue to talk, raising the possibility of a solution over...