Instead of writing a banal post about American Airlines' changes to their million-mile program, here's something one of my co-workers just brought to my attention. A woman is on trial in Illinois for secretly recording a conversation with a cop she alleges was trying to get her to drop a harassment case against another cop. Because the person she recorded was a police officer, however, the crime is a Class 1 felony—the same class that includes second-degree murder[1], rape[2], and carjacking[3]:
Tiawanda Moore, 20, is charged with two felony counts of eavesdropping on a public official for allegedly recording a four-minute portion of the Aug. 18, 2010, interview on her BlackBerry, which she had hidden in her lap.
Moore, of Hammond, Ind., was being interviewed at police headquarters about her complaint that a patrol officer had grabbed her breast and given her his phone number when he came to her boyfriend’s South Side apartment on a domestic disturbance call.
The American Civil Liberties Union has worked for years to get the law overturned. Their case against the Illinois States Attorney seeking to overturn the law is currently before the 7th Circuit. Updates as warranted.
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[1] i.e., unintentional homicide or manslaughter; see 720 ILCS 5/9-2(d)
[2] 720 ILCS 5/11‑1.20(b)(1)
[3] 720 ILCS 5/18-3(c)
More from Sunday's air show:
Canon 7D at ISO-400, 1/2000 at f/8, 250mm, here.
Bonus shots:
The USAF Thunderbirds performed today at the Chicago Air and Water Show:
Canon 7D at ISO-400, 1/2000 at f/7.1, 250mm, here.
Two more:
From the World's Greatest Newspaper, aka WGN-Chicago:
We're still three weeks from meterological autumn and we've already had the wettest summer in 54 years and the second-wettest ever:
The new rains are to fall in the midst of the Chicago area's wettest meteorological summer (the period which began June 1) in 54 years. A total of 420 mm has occurred to date which makes this the second wettest summer to date since the official observational record began here in 1871. That amount is nearly twice the 140 year average to date of 219 mm.
And what do we have in today's forecast? Yup. Rain.
At least it's only getting up to 26°C this weekend. I have my windows open for only the second time since July 7th.
Last night, after getting back from San Antonio, I opened the windows for the first time in nearly six weeks. We had, I believe, one of the hottest and stickiest Julys I've ever experienced. But yesterday when I got home the temperature was 23°C and dropping—finally cooler outside my air-conditioned apartment than inside it.
Unfortunately for my colleagues down in Texas, it's no cooler there:
| Day | San Antonio | Chicago |
|---|
| Sun Aug 7 | 38°C | 30°C |
| Mon Aug 8 | 38°C | 27°C |
| Tue Aug 9 |
39°C | 27°C |
| Wed Aug 10 | 39°C | 25°C |
| Thu Aug 11* | 40°C | 24°C |
* forecast
I understand, however, that they have beautiful winters....
Two more photos from yesterday. First, my hat's off to this guy, who has suffered more than most of us will ever know:
And Carlos Zambrano rounds the bases after his solo home run in the 3rd:
This was Zambrano's 23rd career home run making him one of the top-10 homer-hitting pitchers, and a solid argument against the hated designated hitter rule that afflicts some of the minor leagues.
Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano warms up before yesterday's game at Wrigley Field, Chicago:
Canon 7D at ISO-400, 1/800 at f/5.6, 171mm, exactly here.
In this shot, I corrected the color to 7500K (based on a gray card reading), pushed the contrast, and desaturated. Later today I'll have another shot of Zambrano in which I did almost the opposite.
I like afternoons like this one. Yes, it was a little warm, and yes, a little sticky. But I had seats in aisle 10, row 6 at Wrigley, which failed to suck:
Zambrano pitched, with a few walks here and there but mostly nothing for Cincinnati to hit:
And you know? I always like seeing things like this:
More photos later. Right now, I need about five showers, three for the sunscreen and two for the hot weather.
Six months ago, at North Avenue Beach in Chicago:
2 February 2011, Canon 20D at ISO-100, 1/250 at f/11, 27mm, near here.
I should have posted this photo a couple of days ago, when Chicago baked in near-40°C heat. Today's forecast calls for a mostly-pleasant 27°C under sunny skies.
Go back and relive those few days last February when it gets hot again.