Events

Molly Ivins suggests in her latest column (URL to follow) that we can dtect American military interference in Iraqi news by headlines such as: "26 million Iraqis Unhurt in Latest Terror Blast." "Few Changes Needed to Turn Abu Ghraib Into an Applebee's." "Voting Machines in Upcoming Elections Donated by Florida." "New Automatic Citizenship Law Turns U.S. forces Into Crack Iraqi Army Overnight." And now for something completely different: Did you know pet pigeons are banned in Chicago? I didn't either.

Me engaged in my favorite activity that doesn't involve Anne, at Jack London's Pub, Carmel by the Sea, California:

MSNBC this hour: Alito argued Roe v. Wade should be overturned. Let the games begin...

For no reason that I can determine, an unusual number of today's Chicago Tribune headlines tickled my funnybone. (Registration may be required for some of the stories.) First, the editorial Religion, Science and Civility, which tells us: ...[S]cience and religion—evolution and intelligent design—can exist together; they are not mutually exclusive. This we call "equivocating." Science and religion can co-exist the same way Capulets and Montagues can co-exist, and when they try to get together in any...

Sigh. Astute readers will gather from the preceding post that I am out of the office for a couple of days. And pessimists will agree that, if something were going to go wrong in the office, it would go wrong the day I left. Pessimists: rejoice! The Inner Drive Webcam has decided to add a new page to its history: Now, as nearly as I can figure it, you're looking there at the back end of the computer that hosts the camera (highlighted below), upside-down. I'll have to review the archives on Saturday to...

Every day, my dad walks Reggie, his Austrailian shepherd, along the beach. Today, however, it rained. The humans had Gore-Tex® jackets. The dog didn't:

WLS-TV is reporting that the Chicago Sun-Times' Red Streak tabloid will end after the Thursday issue. According to WLS, the Sun-Times launched the infra-tabloid because the Chicago Tribune started publishing its own tabloid, RedEye. Now that Tribune has given up trying to charge money for RedEye, which probably didn't affect the its revenue at all since no one in Chicago ever paid for it in the first place, the Sun-Times is declaring victory. If anyone out there believes that either Red Streak or RedEye...

Kevin Drum of the Washington Monthly suggests that the wiretap scandal (reg.req.) may be worse than it appears: It seems clear that there's something involved here that goes far beyond ordinary wiretaps, regardless of the technology used. Perhaps some kind of massive data mining, which makes it impossible to get individual warrants? Stay tuned. Read the full story from Drum.

Praise be! MSNBC is reporting this hour that the judge hearing the Dover, Pennsylvania, school board case has ruled that Intelligent Design is not science. I think Doonesbury's strip last Sunday put the case into perspective quite nicely. Tell me: would it be an appropriate response to the neo-Creationists to demand that we preach evolution in their pulpits? Just wondering. Update: Full story from the New York Times (reg.req.)

Teran Loeppke, Boycott Organizer at UNITE HERE Local 1 in Chicago, sent us this information about the picket line at the Congress Hotel on South Michigan Avenue. As UNITE HERE says, Workers at the Congress Plaza Hotel have been on strike since June 2003, after hotel owners cut wages and benefits. Hundreds of customers complained of poor service and hazardous and unsanitary conditions. Dozens of groups and conferences have moved or canceled their events after learning of the strike. Yet, the Congress...