Events

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.

"President Barack Obama." "Former President George W. Bush." Ahhhh.

Or, at the very least, to the reality-based world. And look at all of those people...I'm now totally happy not to be on the National Mall today. More later, sometime in the next Administration.

Only hours remain until the End of an Error.

Illinois' governor is William J. Le Petomane.

Crain's Chicago Business crows that Chicago businesses will enjoy happy times now that so many political appointees in Washington will be from Chicago: [F]or Chicagoans hoping to do business with the federal government or influence U.S. policy, the key won't be a high-level connection to the White House. It will be the ability to get a call back from the staffers who have direct lines to the powers that be as well as, in some cases, authority over bureaucratic functionaries. So while being from Chicago...

Via long-time reader SP, Bob Woodward's musings in today's WaPo concerning lessons we should learn from the last 8 years: 3. A president must do the homework to master the fundamental ideas and concepts behind his policies. The president should not micromanage, but understanding the ramifications of his positions cannot be outsourced to anyone. For example, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the commander of the U.S. forces in Iraq in 2004-07, concluded that President Bush lacked a basic grasp of what the Iraq...

The legal team representing the only governor Illinois has quit this afternoon. More precisely, they stuck their collective tongue out at the legislature because impeachment is just so unfair: Blagojevich's lawyers believe the process has become "fundamentally unfair" because they have had too little time to prepare for the Senate trial and have been denied subpoena power to call their own witnesses. The governor's lawyers had been asked to file an appearance on his behalf by Monday. The Senate trial is...

The Chicago Tribune can turn off its clock; Chicago officially hit -17°C a few minutes ago.