Events

The Washington Monthly makes a case for it being a disaster for the medium markets: St. Louis, for example, has seen “available seat miles”— an industry measure of capacity—fall to a third of their 2000 level, following the American Airlines takeover of TWA and Lambert International Airport’s subsequent downgrading as a mid-continental hub. Two of Lambert’s five concourses are now virtually empty, and another, which housed the TWA hub, is only partially used. A third runway—the building of which...

I mentioned getting a list of recommendations for things to see in Marylebone. La Fromagerie was one of them: Also, I did stop and notice other artwork in the Louvre; here's one of them, by Botticelli: I really need to go back to both.

Oh, my, where to begin? Former vice president and war criminal Dick Cheney now has a heart. Here's video from the hospital: Of course, we have to consider the donor: And the long-term implications:

Via reader DB, a report of a coyote captured in downtown Boston: At about 3 p.m., the 40-pound animal was finally located by Animal Rescue League workers. It was found cowering next to a downtown building near the corner of Lincoln and Summer streets, surrounded by a crowd of curious onlookers and police. Using teamwork, a large net, and a catchpole, the rescue workers were able to catch it. [A Boston Animal Rescue League spokesman] suspected that the animal most likely was able to enter the city by...

The New Yorker takes a look at why Mitt Romney seems so out of touch: in the nineteen-seventies and eighties consultants tended to figure employees as simply part of a firm’s costs. In the whirlwind of creative destruction, employees are subject to the “churn”—the turnover that is an inevitable by-product of the struggle among firms to compete. [O]f the approximately one hundred deals that Bain Capital made during Romney’s tenure there either lost money or only broke even, the successful deals were...

The hits just keep on coming as Chicago hits yet another new heat record (28°C): In Chicago...prior to this year there had only been 10 days in March with highs in the 80s [Fahrenheit, 26.7°C], which means on average, Chicago only sees an 80 degree high in March once about every 14 years. Already this month, there have been seven [now eight—db] days at or above 80. Including the [eight] days at or above 80 this March, there have now been a total of [18] March days at or above 80 in Chicago. This means...

Researchers at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station have been watching the sun set for weeks. At the poles, the sun traces an excruciatingly slow corkscrew between equinoxes, first spiraling up to a point 23° above the horizon (only about as high as the sun gets in Chicago around 10am on December 21st) on the solstice, then slowly spiraling back down to the horizon over the next three months. In about an hour from now, the last limb of the sun will slip below the south polar horizon, the twilight gradually...

First, just a nod to the eighth record temperature in a row that Chicago just set. Tom Skilling's blog entry this morning maps out the carnage, including record pollen levels, the hottest lake temperature readings ever for this time of year, and a forecast for above-average temperatures going into April. Let me tell you how thrilled I am that we've skipped spring and gone straight to July. As my servers start to melt and I lose sleep because the house is too hot, I find myself wishing for autumn the day...

I don't want to lose these things: The Economist hosted an online debate about aviation security between security expert Bruce Schneier and TSA director Kip Hawley. The Atlantic explains why conservatives are afraid of cities. a la card Chicago, which sells a deck of 52 $10-off coupons to area restaurants, has a one-day promotion today for 50% off. (Enter code "SPRING2012" in the appropriate box. That is all. More UK and France photos later today.

Happy Spring. The equinox happened less than 11 hours ago, which usually means Chicago has another six weeks of cold and damp weather. Not this time. Trees have buds and flowers, insects have started buzzing around, and as of about an hour ago, we've broken (or tied) our seventh consecutive heat record. This, by the way, is also a record (greatest number of temperature records broken consecutively), breaking the record set...yesterday. Here are the temperature records we've set so far this month: Date...