Events

No real entry today and no entry at all yesterday because I was helping my mom move. However, all of the pieces of the Inner Drive Technology Comprehensive Testing Facility are in, so we should complete construction tomorrow morning or, possibly, on Saturday. Photos will follow.

The Inner Drive Technology Testing Lab at IDT World Headquarters is nearly complete. Today we have a fully-functional, multi-computer testing lab. We'll be moving some computers around probably next week, and we expect to add a chair or two. We may also put some maps up on the wall, because we love maps. Here's the nascent facility:

From the Associated Press (published in the Chicago Tribune): Vincent Schiavelli, 57 Actor Was Known for Creepy, Eccentric Roles ROME — Vincent Schiavelli, the droopy-eyed character actor who appeared in scores of movies, including "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Ghost," died Monday at his home in Sicily. He was 57. He died of lung cancer, said Salvatore Glorioso, mayor of Polizzi Generosa, the Sicilian village where Schiavelli lived. As I'm never one to rise below a little morbid humor at the...

If you're Christian, merry Christmas! If you're Jewish, happy Chanukkah! If you just want to be with your family and share the joys of the holiday season, happy holidays! Finally, if you believe we athiests have declared war on Christmas, read Michelle Goldberg's column in Salon, then Frank Rich (reg.req.) in the New York Times, then reflect on why any majority group in a democracy, who control the government and the press, would persist in believing that the minority were oppressing it.

The saga of the Webcam continues. At least it's back on its perch. Here's what I found when I got to my office a few minutes ago: And here is what the Inner Drive Webcam saw as it teetered, tottered, and tumbled to the floor of the office. At 5:53pm Central time, all was fine: Then, suddenly, the mounting began to give way. The first shock came at 5:54; the second, at 5:57: The mounting held for a while; here are shots at 6:15 and 6:30: The end, when it came at 6:33, came swiftly. A jolt at 6:31...

Yesterday I posted about news articles I found funny, that included a Chicago Tribune report that Mayor Daley was musing about hosting the 2016 Olympics. Today the Tribune's architecture critic wrote a surprisingly detailed column about it, offering a list of pros and cons. Now, forgetting for a second that just a moment ago I posted about the U.S. paying Iraqi media paid to run news stories, what do people think? Should we try to host the 2016 Olympics in Chicago?

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...