Events

The 7:00 am (13:00 UTC) temperature at Chicago O'Hare was -22°C (-7°F), the coldest temperature recorded there since 1 February 2004. Yes, this is Chicago, where you can see wacky temperatures like these: Feb. 2006 Max temp Min temp Sat 11th 1.7°C -3.3°C Sun 12th -1.1°C -5.0°C Mon 13th 3.9°C -8.9°C Tue 14th 13.3°C -4.4°C Wed 15th 5.6°C 0.0°C Thu 16th 2.8°C -5.6°C Fri 17th -4.4°C -15.6°C At least we're not in Douglas, Wyo., where they're waking up to -36°C (-32°F) this morning.

Software security expert Bruce Schneier reports on a database error in nearby Porter County, Ind., that has cost the county millions of dollars, and what that means to software design: A house erroneously valued at $400 million is being blamed for budget shortfalls and possible layoffs in municipalities and school districts in northwest Indiana. [...] County Treasurer Jim Murphy said the home usually carried about $1,500 in property taxes; this year, it was billed $8 million.

Two days ago it was 13°C (56°F) in Chicago. Yesterday a storm dumped 28 mm (1.1 in) of rain on us before the cold front behind it dropped us below freezing. This was the largest temperature drop in 42 years here. Here's our street after the storm: Today we're looking forward to overnight lows around -18°C (-1°F). Fortunately, the local El stop has heat lamps to stand under when it gets cold. Sometimes, though, you have to share them with these guys: In related news, scientists report that Greenland's...

Some items in the news today that probably should go without comment: Spotsylvania County, Va., sheriff's deputies tried a novel approach to catching prostitutes: having sex with them. British scientists hooked a robot up to slime mold to model the mold's behavior. The British newspaper The Economist pointed out that hardly anyone mentioned Cheney's bird-killing as an issue in itself this week. The Washington Post has a lengthy analysis of the Danish cartoons and why they became the focus of such...

...even if she doesn't need men. In her column today (sub.req.) she pulls no punches with two men no one needs: As the story of the weekend's bizarre hunting accident is wrenched out of the White House, the picture isn't pretty: With American soldiers dying in Iraq, Five-Deferment Dick "I Had Other Priorities in the 60's Than Military Service" Cheney gets his macho kicks gunning down little birds and the occasional old man while W. rides his bike, blissfully oblivious to any collateral damage. Shouldn't...

Anne made me watch the Westminster Kennel Club Show yesterday and Monday. OK, she was right. I found myself rooting for Shaka the Rottweiler, but Rufus the Bull Terrier won instead. Photo: AP

The Ohio Democratic Party has honked off Paul Hackett, because they believe another Ohio representative has a better chance of getting elected to the Senate this fall: "It boils down to who we think can pull the most votes in November against [incumbent GOP Senator Mike] DeWine," said Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party. "And in Ohio, Brown's name is golden. It's just that simple." They're nuts. And now we've lost exactly the kind of person we need in the party. And we look like idiots....

Vice President Cheney has been cited for not having a hunting stamp required for non-residents to shoot birds in Texas. One assumes he didn't have the proper license to shoot people, either, but that bit is still under investigation. Also of interest: The Cheney supporter and fund-raiser who owned the property he was hunting on, Karen Armstrong, got a call from Karl Rove less than two hours after the accident: "Chief of Staff Andy Card called the president around 7:30 p.m. to inform him that there was a...

Josh Marshall wonders about Dick Cheney's hunting accident Saturday: At a minimum it seems a tad ungentlemanly to put out word through your media operation that the guy you just shot was at fault for getting shot. But I don't know. Tom Lehrer wrote a song about it many years ago: I always will remember,'Twas a year ago November,I went out to hunt some deerOn a mornin' bright and clear.I went and shot the maximum the game laws would allow,Two game wardens, seven hunters, and a cow. Anyway, this flap...

Washington today is getting its biggest snowstorm in three years: A major snow storm pounded the Washington region overnight and this morning, dumping 20 inches of heavy wet snow in some locations and 8 or 9 inches elsewhere, causing power outages for nearly 200,000 consumers and disrupting travel by road, air and Metrorail. And in a later story: The snow swept in lazily yesterday afternoon and was expected to depart by midday today, giving residents ample time to dig out before the start of the...