Our Illinois friends and family asked us: “Did you hear about the Governor?” The short answer is “Yes.” I’d like your help in getting the long answer just right.
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19 December 2008
One request regarding Blago
10 December 2008
Universal Declaration of Human Rights: 60 years
I hope that your news source of choice has a piece on the 60th anniversary of adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This statement is almost certainly the most important text of the 20th Century. (more…)
9 December 2008
Caption This! Round 3
Good job to all who participated in Round Two. Click to see the next photo: (more…)
8 December 2008
Rating the Unexplained Bacon
Okay, Farmer Billy’s slow killed bacon, Farmer Billy’s bacon fed bacon, Farmer Billy’s travel bacon. Mr Simpson if you really want to kill yourself I also sell hand guns. — Apu
I was about fifteen. I stood in front of the pantry, hanging from the door and staring into shelves devoid of anything that a teenage runner’s body needs. I just ran ten miles and what, I’m supposed to heat up some Cream of Mushroom soup?
My eyes scanned side to side, back and forth, looking for a genuine snack. Something processed, something salty and oddly, slightly, sweet, something crunchy and immediately satisfying.
Bac-Os. That would have to do. I upended the little bottle and bit down on a mouthful. The chemical taste wasn’t repulsive so much as off-putting. The texture of the bits was hard and gritty at first, and then broke down into a featureless mush.
I wasn’t going to do that again. Even my adolescent hunger wouldn’t drive me to chugging Bac-Os. I’d eat an apple or something, first.
The BB Procurement department recently returned from the supermarket with two products that attempt to improve on that formative experience. (more…)
3 December 2008
Kenosha and Dublin: financially bound
I started listening to NPR’s Planet Money podcast to understand why The Reserve money market fund broke the buck. I’d read several recommendations for the Planet Money’s analysis, but the financial crisis didn’t shock me until a major money market fund failed to meet my lowest expectations.
My second shock came when I heard a collaborative investigation by NPR and the New York Times that focused entirely on one link in the world’s economic mesh: between Kenosha and Dublin. The story was compelling and illuminating, aside from its personal relevance. It was also riveting to hear how millions of dollars (on paper) moved in 2007, along with me, from the northernmost suburbs of Chicago to the city of Dublin. (more…)
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