Middle of the day in the middle of the week

Lots of morning meetings, then stuff so far this afternoon, and now...a quick breath. Of course, given that it's still 2025, I'm not exactly breathing sweet summer air:

• The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has blocked the (obviously unlawful) Texas redistricting effort, using logic that would very likely bolster the way California passed theirs.
• Paul Krugman muses that the billions the cryptocurrency industry spent to "buy a president" may not be the winning investment they thought, perhaps because they got high on their own supply. "I don’t know how this ends, but all of a sudden a rapid implosion looks possible," he warns.
• Michelin has not explained why Alinea, Chicago's first 3-star restaurant, lost its third star.
• Baby Boomers piled up $85 trillion in assets while changing policies to make it difficult or impossible for their Millennial and Gen X children to follow them, writes Shannon Najmabadi and Frederica Cocco for the Post.

Finally, Wicker Park's Smoke Daddy, one of my favorite rib joints, will close January 4th after 31 years on Division Street. I admit, I haven't been there since March 2023, but that has more to do with my cholesterol than with my feelings about the place. The restaurant's Wrigleyville location will keep going, and the owners say they'll open something else in that spot sometime in 2026. There are only a few days between now and its closing that I'm able to get there, but I will. Oh yes. I will.