Events

The Associated Press has obtained the latest edition of the Chicago Crime Commission's "Gang Book." It shows the turfs claimed by 59 gangs, including many small areas formed as groups split off from other groups after top leaders go to jail. The book also highlights how social media make gang disputes worse: Gangs put a premium on retaliation for perceived disrespect. In the past, insults rarely spread beyond the block. Now, they’re broadcast via social media to thousands in an instant. “If you’re...

Chances are, that bourbon you're drinking came from an industrial distillery in southern Indiana: In just the last 10 years, the number of craft distilleries in this country has ballooned from around 100 to more than 1,400. That growth is a product of consumer demand, but it’s also due to the easing of state distillation laws and the availability of sourced whiskey from suppliers like MGP in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Templeton Rye — marketed as Al Capone’s favorite whiskey and proud product of Templeton...

Every time the Supreme Court votes 5-4 in favor of a conservative policy initiative, remember that Merrick Garland would almost certainly have voted the other way, and that the Republican Party essentially stole a Supreme Court seat. They got away with it because 48% of the country voted for Donald Trump in 2016. Take voter rights, for example. The Court this morning ruled, 5-4, that Ohio's method of purging its voter rolls does not violate Federal law: Beyond the prohibition on removing voters because...

It's gloomy, foggy, rainy, and not all that warm today, so I'm doing very little of value. I'll probably do something of value tomorrow, though.

Ah, Ribfest. The bane of my diet. This year I went back to a couple of old favorites and tried a couple of new ones: Chicago BBQ: Smoky, a little tug off the bone, tangy sauce. 3½ stars. Mrs. Murphy's Irish Bistro: Like last year, they glooped on a lot of (delicious) sauce. But the meat tasted better this year, and I got a bit of a lagniappe. 3 stars. Old Crow Smokehouse: I haven't tried them before. They were decent. Good smoke taste, but a little fatty and not a lot of sauce. 3 stars. Fireside...

Way back in my first day of law school, Prof. Neil Williams exclaimed that the basis of contract law was "the totality of the circumstances!" Meaning, when evaluating a contract (from whether it exists to whether it's enforceable), you have to look at the context, the facts, the intentions of the parties—everything. Take, for example, former National Security Adviser Susan Rice's description of the following circumstances: If Mr. Putin were calling the shots, he would ensure that America’s reliability...

Total Daily Parker bait: At the start of the last ice age, 2.6 million years ago, a sheet of frozen water formed atop North America that kept expanding and thickening until it reached a maximum depth of roughly two miles. At its southern edge, the vast body deposited tons of rocky debris — from sand and pebbles to boulders the size of school buses. Then, some 18,000 years ago, the planet began to warm and the gargantuan sheet of ice began to melt and retreat. Today, the southernmost edge of that frozen...

Tim Jones, writing in Crain's for the Better Government Association, says the experiences of Minnesota and Kansas put the lie to claims that people are leaving Illinois because of taxes: The scapegoat nominees include not just high taxes but House Speaker Michael Madigan, Gov. Bruce Rauner, government regulations, financial chaos and uncertainty from a two-year budget stalemate, not to mention old standbys greed and corruption. That's where Minnesota looms as a spoiler of the tax-cutting political...

Stuff that landed in my inbox today: Illinois has secured a $132 m grant to fix one of the worst rail bottlenecks in the state. Crain's Greg Hinz sort-of compliments Illinois governor Bruce Rauner for finally making a budget deal...in his 4th year as governor. Meanwhile, the administration's trade war will hurt Illinois harder than most—a feature, one suspects, and not a bug. WaPo's Amber Phillips lists the winners and losers from yesterday's primary elections in California and other states. New...

One of my Facebook friends just posted a photo of our high school graduation program—from 5th June 1988. Thirty years ago. I am screaming in my head, not just because I missed the anniversary yesterday, but also because 30 YEARS.