Events

Jack Abramoff's right-hand man, David Safavian, was convicted today of lying and obstructing justice: Safavian was charged with lying about his relationship with Abramoff and his knowledge of the lobbyist's interest in acquiring properties from [General Services Administration], the property managing agency for the federal government. He was also charged with obstructing investigators looking into a golf trip he took with Abramoff in 2002. TPM Muckraker has a thorough dossier on this clown.

My dad has more tea tins for sale. A second lot. This time, 91 tins, weighing more than 10 kilos (22 pounds), which is amazing since they contain nothing but air at this point. And I can claim photo credit—along with counting credit. Ninety-one tea tins, how can you resist? Yes, in a short time, ten years of tea tins my father has carted with him up and down the Pacific coast will depart the family forever. Heirlooms lost. It's almost sad. Not that it's going to drive a lot of bids, but I need to point...

Krugman (sub.req.) hits it on the nose today: [I]f the real source of today's bitter partisanship is a Republican move to the right on economic issues, why have the last three elections been dominated by talk of terrorism, with a bit of religion on the side? Because a party whose economic policies favor a narrow elite needs to focus the public's attention elsewhere. And there's no better way to do that than accusing the other party of being unpatriotic and godless. Thus in 2004, President Bush basically...

Salon's "Ask the Pilot" last week argued that the U.S. should not look at El Al as the best example (for us) of how to run airline security: Why can't we, or why don't we, have a system like theirs? Unfortunately, that's a bit like asking why America's streets can't be as clean as Singapore's. Mostly it's a case of scale. The United States has dozens of mega-terminals, and hundreds more of varying sizes; the nation's top 25 airports each process more than 20 million people a year. Tel Aviv is Israel's...

It looks like Chicago may miss 32°C (90°F) ever so slightly. It's 31.7°C (89°F) officially right now. It's supposed to cool down on Sunday. I hope so, because I'm melting already. Update, 4:05p (21:05 UTC): We hit 32°C. But it's not the hottest day of 2006: that was May 28th, when Chicago hit 33.3°C (92°F).

The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation reminds everyone that today is the last day of Bike to Work Week. It's also going to hit 33°C (92°F), so don't bike too quickly.

I'm not sure what to make of an MSNBC report about a circumcision trial, except tasteless jokes: Groups opposed to circumcision are watching the case of an 8-year-old suburban Chicago boy whose divorced parents are fighting in court over whether he should have the procedure. The child’s mother wants him circumcised to prevent recurring, painful inflammation she says he’s experienced during the past year. But the father says the boy is healthy and circumcision, which removes the foreskin of the penis, is...

In the spirit of Harper's Index: Number of U.S. fatalities in Iraq as of yesterday: 2,500 Maximum remaining time in Bush presidency: 950 days, 3 hours Number of U.S. House seats Democrats need to win in November: 27 Number of U.S. Senate seats Democrats need to win: 6 Polls open in the East: 144 days, 20 hours

I meant to write yesterday about the Illinois Democratic Meetup I attended Tuesday evening. American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois Communications Director Ed Yohnka spoke, as did a staffer from the Rod Blagojevich re-election campaign and a spokesperson for one of the city's aldermanic campaigns. A group of Chicago democrats meets every Wednesday for Drinking Liberally. Beer plus politics? I am so there.

I'm a private pilot. Every two years, I'm required to go through a flight review with a flight instructor that, except for the absence of an FAA check airman, mirrors almost exactly what I had to do to get my certificate. So I've been studying the plane's manual and the regulations, and this morning I got a formal weather briefing and started planning the flight. It's a big deal: my last BFR was in June 2004, so at the end of this month, I'm not allowed to fly as pilot in command of any aircraft until I...