Events

The ACLU's case over AT&T sharing its phone records with the government got dismissed: "The court is persuaded that requiring AT&T to confirm or deny whether it has disclosed large quantities of telephone records to the federal government could give adversaries of this country valuable insight into the government's intelligence activities," U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly said. Any adversary of this country who can't figure out what phone records went to which agency is probably too stupid to be...

I don't know whether this is funny or sad. The Italian government is using the frequent-flier records of several CIA operatives to build their prosecution: It is unclear whether the operatives intended to take advantage of the free flights garnered at government expense—CIA personnel on such assignments are permitted to fly expensive international business class—or whether they simply were attempting to bolster their covers as private-sector executives. So keep this in mind, all you road warriors...

It's old news, but the President has frequently attached "signing statements" to bills he's signed indicating that, his signature notwithstanding, he won't enforce the law: Bush has vetoed only one bill since taking office, a bill approved by Congress last week relaxing his limits on federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research. But he has on many occasions signed bills, then issued statements reserving the right not to enforce or execute parts of the new laws, on the grounds that they...

Yesterday I rode 80 km (50 miles) in some of the most beautiful weather Chicago can have. It started off cool and got pleasant but not hot, with a light breeze and low humidity. If every day were like this, I thought, we'd be in Santa Barbara. It rained a little last night (here, anyway; a collossal thunderstorm charged through the Western suburbs), so new we have even better weather than yesterday, if such is possible. If my legs were not still rubbery right now I would go for a bike ride. Stupid post...

This will interest just about no one but those people who, out of blind love for me, set braverman.org as their home page. I've made a minor change to it, adding my biking stats. To save you the click-through, here they are:   2006 All-time Day (km) 61.3 Jul 15 117.9 2005 Sep 18 15km sprint 33:42 Jul 21 33:42 2006 Jul 21 20km 45:42 Jul 21 43:32 2005 Jul 2 1 hour (km) 25.1 Jul 19 26.4 2004 Aug 13 Speed (km/h) 42.1 Jul 12 49.0 2003 Jul 22 Season (km) 496.3 Jul 21 1212.1 2005 Oct 4 Convert km to miles Last...

A long-awaited report concludes that Chicago police tortured and brutalized suspects for decades, but the huge issue consuming the city council is: fat. It's like the U.S. Congress writ small. "If we don't do anything about this, it could be our next pandemic," [48th Ward Alderman Eugene] Schulter said, referring to widespread obesity. "No question about it, [fast-food chains] are causing a major health problem." (Heh. "Widespread" obesity. Heh.) Seriously, though: perhaps the obesity, um, pandemic...

Today was the hottest July day ever in London: 35°C (95°F). At this writing it has cooled somewhat, to 34°C (93°F)—but it's still 36°C (97°F) in Paris where the Health Ministry is blaming the heat on nine deaths (French). The Times of London reports: Today has been the hottest July day ever with temperatures eclipsing 36 degrees (97°F) in Surrey—surpassing the previous record which has been held since 1911. At 3pm, Charlwood in Surrey was the hottest place in the country, with Heathrow close behind...