Events

As the New York Times' Freakonomics column pointed out yesterday, the appointment of Kirsten Gillibrand to the U.S. Senate means only 1/3 of New York's statewide officers were actually elected: There are six positions in New York State for which statewide elections are held: governor, lieutenant governor, the two U.S. senators, attorney general, and comptroller. But at the moment, only two of the six officeholders were actually elected to their positions. ... [T]he next time some cranky writer/economist...

He got a treasury secretary. Barely. And I have to agree with Russ Feingold (D-WI), that one might prefer the head of the IRS to have paid all his taxes (or at least not lied about it when caught). Can you believe it's been a week? Remember where you were eight years ago? I was back from London, which is where I watched the previous occupant being sworn in live on the Beeb, embarrassed for my country. Things have changed. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the soon-to-be-former Governor of Illinois continues...

I think the only governor we have (until Thursday, apparently) has less resemblance to a cuckoo than a dodo, but even that analogy isn't quite apt. Cuckoos, recall, are parasites, hijacking the nests of other birds, killing their hosts' chicks, and taking heavy losses themselves when their hosts discover their predations. Dodos, on the other hand, were inoffensive, peaceful birds who had no defenses against the rats and pigs who ate their eggs with reckless abandon, causing the birds to go extinct...

When the temperature falls below -5°C, practicing landings increases the risk of frosted spark plugs and other cold-weather engine failures. So why not go sightseeing instead? Especially late afternoon in the dense, calm winter air? I mean, it's not like there's a baseball game: Having the President out of town does make it easier to fly in the area, however. With him in town we have to stay about 3 km off the lake shore near Hyde Park, making it very tricky to thread the airspace restrictions to get up...

The only governor we have takes his fight to the air in a self-parody so pathetic it made his lawyers quit: Edward Genson, Blagojevich's lead criminal defense attorney, announced he was quitting hours after his client smeared the impeachment trial as a "sham" in a series of radio interviews and a nationally televised news conference. Blagojevich said the criminal case was being used as a pretext to impeach and remove him by fellow Democrats who have a vendetta against him for his independent political...

Via The Atlantic's James Fallows, a report that Microsoft's latest round of layoffs means the end of Flight Simulator: [A]s of yesterday, it's the end of development for the venerable FS franchise (and probably the associated Microsoft ESP, the new commercial simulation platform based on FS), one of the longest-running titles in the history of the PC. Sigh.

Trib headline: "Gov. Rod Blagojevich's lawyers expect his removal from office": "As far as I know, the people in the Senate are more likely than not to convict him, and he will be removed from office," Blagojevich attorney Edward Genson told the Tribune. "I don't welcome it, but I expect it." Genson also said Blagojevich won't mount a defense during the impeachment trial. Duh. Everyone in Illinois knows the Governor will lose his job next month. Everyone, it seems, except the Governor: "What the Senate...

The President has ordered the military prison at Guantánamo Bay closed within a year, directed intelligence services to abide by the Army's interrogation standards, and directed Justice to review an important terrorism case with an eye towards giving the defendant actual Constitutional protections. If he keeps this up, we could restore our standing in the world in less than 20 years, perhaps. In local news, the Chicago Tribune has picked its favored bidder in the upcoming Cubs sale (without revealing...

Yesterday was also a National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation, which is as good a reason as any to republish this photo:

Life goes on: The Chicago Tribune says farewell to Kerry Wood, who has left the Cubs; Meanwhile, the Cubs have gotten into a shouting match with priest who blessed the dugout to remove the Curse of the Billy Goat (it didn't work); Twenty six people have filed papers to run for Rahm Emmanuel's House seat, primary to be held March 3rd; and Almost as exciting as yesterday's events, Lost returns tonight. Now I'm going back to the NPR story about all the stuff we're not shipping from our major ports.