A Chicago Blog

Julie Keller has a terrific column in today’s Tribune. I don’t often gush about anyone over at the Trib, but this is perhaps the most intelligent article I’ve read since I moved to Chicago nine years ago. Keller explores both the vacancy and the potency of the concept of “change.” She closes on the eternal [...]

I received this press release yesterday. Incidentally (or maybe not), Drew Edmondson is the guy who is trying to lock up Paul Jacob for exercising his first amendment rights.
Southwestern Oklahoma State University Bans The Word “Christmas”
Weatherford, OK – Southwestern Oklahoma State University (SWOSU), has issued a disturbing policy which requires all employees to refrain from [...]

Big surprise. The Illinois Policy Institute has finally documented what most of us thought was common sense. 4 out of 5 registered voters would NOT send their kids to public school if they had other options (i.e. private schools, charter schools, etc).
Also check out the State Journal Register’s coverage.

Rapist is convicted and serves time for his crime. Rapist is released. By law, Rapist’s name ends up in public database of “sex offenders.” Angry parent reads database, finds Rapist’s name, kills Rapist.
It’s a tough one, but a very important one.

The man who invented Gatorade passed away. He died of kidney failure.

Stephen Green and Ed Christie are complaining about Kindle, the new eBook device from Amazon. Green writes:
One of the reasons ebooks have yet to take off is, they just aren’t comfortable. And I mean to read, not to hold. (Although there’s certainly nothing about the Kindle that makes you want to reach out and hold [...]

They’re recalling aqua dots! Damn! Apparently the toy was somehow infected with a “date rape” chemical that can kill kids if ingested. What are Aqua Dots? Hundreds of small beads that you arrange into shapes and spray water on to make them stick. Yeah, totally safe for small children. If I didn’t know any better [...]

The wife says this is why we can’t have kids:
BANGALORE, India - Doctors in southern India completed a grueling 24-hour operation Wednesday on a girl born with four arms and four legs that surgeons said will give the 2-year-old a chance at a normal life.
ADVERTISEMENT
The surgery went “wonderfully well,” said Dr. Sharan Patil, who led [...]

On a side note, apparently they have a problem with drunk voting in Utah.

So the wife and I went to New Glarus, WI for a relaxing weekend away from the chaos of the city. It was much needed. Here are the pictures: