"In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But, in practice, there is."—Jan L.A. Van De Snepscheut

The designer that I've hired a few times for Inner Drive projects will be on VH-1's World Series of Pop Culture tomorrow night. If she's as knowledgeable about pop culture as she is about XHTML, her team should kick butt.

The New York Times on Tuesday ran an excellent summary (sub.req.) of what we know about global climate change. Strange that they put it in the Opinion section.

Also, a thought cheered me this morning: throughout history, political groups have always seemed strongest right before collapsing. I believe there is a correlation between effots to appear strong and a loss of true strength. I'll have to think about this some more.

At the moment, I'm experiencing the weather of Chicago's future. I'm sitting outside at a St. Louis Bread Co. (aka Panera) in St. Louis while Anne does a 10 km (6 mi) run at Forest Park. The temperature has risen 2.8°C (5°F) in the past hour and promises to rise another 5°C (9°F) in the next two. It should hit 32°C (90°F) today, as it does most days in the summer down here, with the possibility of cooling down to 27°C (80°F) by bedtime.

St. Louis is warmer than Chicago, and will probably always be. But the weather people find normal in St. Louis (mild winters, hot summers) is becoming normal in Chicago. By 2050, St. Louis may have frost-free winters, and Chicago may have double or triple its current number of 32°C (90°F) days every summer.

At least Chicago has the lake, which helps.

I think smacking Ann Coulter because of plagiarism is almost the same as getting rid of Al Capone because of tax evasion. It rather misses the point, and it takes her way, way too seriously.

Better: let's all ignore her, the way we would ignore any other clown or annoying child. Commenting on Coulter wastes air. Figuring out what she plagiarised wastes time. Paying any attention to her at all wastes brain cells, and has the unwelcome side-effect of making her seem worth the trouble.

Not that I'm drawing any meaning from it, but today is the birthday of a famous entertainer who realized early on that he could make a fortune through bamboozlement. Tomorrow is the birthday of a famous person with a nearly-identical philosophy. P.T. Barnum was born 5 July 1810, and G.W. Bush was born 6 July 1946.

I love meaningless coincidences, don't you?

Ken Lay is dead.