At last, 2024 is almost here!

Strap in, everybody - it's going to be a bumpy ride!

Illinois Ban On Book Bans Takes Effect Jan. 1

Illinois will withhold funding from schools and libraries that attempt to ban books. It’s the first state in the nation to enact such a law.

As cities take down Confederate memorials, Florida bill seeks to stop them -- and put the statues back up

Where is the trans pride flag emoji?

I just noticed tonight that it's missing.

Sure hope we can get it back!

38 migrants dropped off in Fox River Grove after being told they were in Chicago

There was a thread earlier this evening about a bus load of migrants being unceremoniouly abandoned in Kankakee, IL, which is about 60 miles south of Chicago. Now it's happened again, this time in Fox River Grove, IL, about 40 miles northwest of Chiago, and practically in my backyard!

I finally got one of those scam phone calls about supposed viruses on my computer.

I don't usually answer calls from unknown callers, but I made an exception this afternoon. The caller was a woman with some kind of thick accent who sounded like she was reading from a script.

After saying she was calling from ? (I couldn't understand her accent and didn't bother to ask her to repeat), she asked me how my computer was working. I was immediately suspicious but decided to play along for a little bit.

After I replied that my computer was doing just fine, she moved to the next step, saying that a report had been received that some virus software had been downloaded on my computer. My suspicions now fully confirmed, I let her finish, and then said in the cheeriest of voices, "Oh yeah! I've heard about that scam! *chuckle* Have fun!" and clicked off.

She sounded like she was quite new at this, and I'm sure that's not the reaction she was expecting!

I was quite amused by the whole conversation, but I hate to think how many people fall for that kind of thing and give out information that allows the scammer to hack into their computer and get into their bank and credit card accounts. Be careful, everyone, and be safe. Never take the word of an anonymous caller for anything, especially where access to your computer is concerned!

Any glassware collectors here?

My husband has been collecting glassware for years. We met in college, and he had 3 pieces of glassware at the time. It became a lifelong passion for him, and 50 years later, we have a ridiculous amount of it.

He collects stuff from the 50s and 60s on, he loves clear glass in bright colors and has got every color of the rainbow. Lots of Blenko and Viking pieces, in particular, including stoppered bottles and tons of glass birds and animals. I'm not nearly as knowledgeable about it as he is, but I really enjoy looking at it.

I would be glad to share more about it, including some pics, if anyone here is interested in that sort of thing.

Don and 'Dolf: two peas in the same putrid pod!

What GOP politicians need to do is stop trying to practice medicine without a license.

When Roe was struck down, Republicans in red states got all excited and rushed to pass laws banning abortion without bothering to consult anyone with actual expertise in the field of obstetrics about the ramifications of the wording of their billls. I don't think they deliberately intended to endanger women's lives or their fertitlity; they ended up doing that because they were abysmally uinformed about all the things that can go wrong in the course of a pregnancy and didn't bother to seek any input from experts. Some of them don't really care if women die, but a lot of them simply refuse to believe that's a real possibility.

The typical forced birther mindset includes the following set of beliefs (sarcasm alert!):

1. ABORTION BAD; MUST BE OUTLAWED.
2. Women who get abortions are shameless hussies who want to be able to sleep with an endless succession of men without producing any children and regard abortion as a convenient form of birth control.
3. Pregnancy and childbirth are never dangerous for women, because it's a "natural " process that our bodies are "designed" for. Abortion is "unnnatural" and therefore much more risky and dangerous.
4. Being pregnant, even with a rapist's baby, is a gift from God and should be always be welcomed as such.
5. Women who have abortions are heartless monsters, killing their own children for the sake of covenience. (See also no. 2, above.)
6. If you're pregnant with a child you don't want to raise yourself, that’s not a problem: adoption is easy peasy! Your child is guaranteed to be adopted by wonderful, loving parents, and the idea that you will be traumatized by giving it up is just silly!
7. Terminating an unwanted pregnancy instead of carrying it to term and either raising the child or giving it up for adoption is seen as a refusal to take responsibility for one's actions. (I can't get my head around this one at all; bringing an unwanted child into the world sounds pretty irresponsible to me.)

The list goes on and on. As outrageous as some of these beliefs sound, I guarantee you will encounter all of them and more, if you hang around "prolife" message boards for a while or read "prolife" websites and blogs.

People in this frame of mind are the ones who advocate for and write these draconian laws. They are quite confident in their assumptions and don't feel any need to consult any experts on the matter. The result is laws that are completely divorced from reality. Being confronted by stories of women like Kate Cox throws all of their assumptions into disarray, and they don't like it one bit!

That's basically how we got here. Getting back to sanity in states like Texas is going to be a herculean task.

Here's A Look At The Thompson Center's New Design

This popped up in my news feed today. Thought some in this group might be interested.

THE LOOP — Google unveiled plans Wednesday for its new offices at the Thompson Center, including a new glass facade that changes the look of the often-disparaged Loop centerpiece.

The tech giant worked with architecture firm JAHN, which designed the Thompson Center, on the redesign. Google plans to maintain the center’s iconic 17-story atrium but will replace the facade with a new glass exterior.

Karen Sauder, Google’s Chicago site lead, said the center will be more energy efficient with new windows and heating and cooling systems. The company also aims to have the building run entirely on electric energy, she said in a statement.

Critics have long complained about the look of the exterior of the postmodern building. And the soaring interior has been plagued with heating and air conditioning issues for decades. But the threat of demolition rallied supporters for years to preserve a building that’s drawn strong opinions ever since famed architect Helmut Jahn unveiled it in 1985.

Lots more details in article: https://blockclubchicago.org/2023/12/13/google-unveils-plans-to-redevelop-the-thompson-center/

Here's what it's going to look like:



I haven't really been following Chicago news closely, so this took me by surprise. What do you all think?