Events

People in Los Angeles talk about the "June Gloom," a common weather pattern that makes L.A. weather gloomy in the late spring. We don't typically have this phenomenon in Chicago. This month, however, is the gloomiest June ever here, with only 45.7% of possible sunshine through yesterday, and clouds today and predicted for tomorrow. This month is already the fourth wettest month in Illinois history (and the wettest June in state history) with statewide average precipitation of 227.8 mm through Saturday....

The Chicago Pride Parade staging area is at the end of my street, so Parker and I had to at least see it. Money shot: That's the Stanley Cup, back in Chicago where it belongs. And just think of the hundreds of couples breaking up this weekend: "Honey! We can get married now!" "...um..."

Oh, shit. Tomorrow will be the most epic Pride Parade in Chicago's history. It starts four blocks from my house, and the staging area extends down Montrose past the end of my street. Good thing I'm not going to be exhausted from having a party tonight, or have anywhere to go tomorrow morning... On the other hand, this is the coolest map I've seen in a long time: States where Same-Sex Marriage is Legal Updated 26 June 2015 Know hope.

A trio of teenagers in the UK won a science prize for their concept of condoms that change color in the presence of sexually-transmitted disease pathogens: Their idea - which is still at concept stage - involves a condom covered with antibodies that would react with the proteins in bacteria, or antigens, found in STIs. Daanyaal [Ali, 14,] explained: "Once the [bodily] fluids come into contact with the latex, if the person does have some sort of STI, it will cause a reaction through antibodies and...

A few minutes ago, the U.S. Supreme Court announced their 5-4 decision in Obergefell v Hodges: Held: The Fourteenth Amendment requires a State to license a marriage between two people of the same sex and to recognize a marriage between two people of the same sex when their marriage was lawfully licensed and performed out-of-State. The entire U.S. is now a marriage-equality jurisdiction. The ruling will take effect in just a couple of weeks, when the Court issues its mandates. I'm glad this happened in...

Last night at the Chicago Theater:

A Facebook friend complained this morning that some of her friends had changed their profile photos to the Confederate battle flag, supporting what, no one seemed to know. My response: It's interesting. We're the only country in the developed world where it's all right for a sizable number of regional governments to put up monuments to a rebellion we put down 150 years ago at a cost of 750,000 lives. Keep in mind, these rebels expressly took up arms to defend one of the two worst atrocities ever...

TPM is doing a mitzvah in its coverage of the decline of Confederate memorabilia. Three articles published today: With states across the South removing the Confederate battle flag from official display, can we take the logic to its end and remove all public honors to the rebellion? What's the situation on the ground in Charleston? Just how did the Confederate narrative go on, anyway? Send to Kindle...

The Republican Governor of South Carolina today ordered the removal of the Confederate battle flag from the state capitol. Josh Marshall lauds the (overdue) move: [I]t is important to note that the incorporation of the Confederate battle flag into Southern state flags and flying it at capitol buildings isn't some relic of the post-Civil War days. It's quite new. In most cases it goes back a little over 50 years to the 1950s and early 1960s. In other words, the prominent public display of the flag (if...

The unpacking continues, but I still have too many boxes cluttering up the place: It is, however, a gorgeous day, and my office window is open to this: My goals are (a) do my work instead of going for a long walk in the perfect weather, and (b) finish unpacking my living room tonight. I may succeed in both. Updates as conditions warrant.