By Steve Rhodes
“The fast-moving squall of severe thunderstorms that ripped through the Chicago area Monday is called a derecho,” Tom Skilling writes this morning.
“The high speed, bow-shaped line of storms left an astounding 1,400-mile trail of damage across sections of 17 states in 30 hours.
“Long-lived, especially fast-moving, squall lines have been dubbed ‘derechoes’ since the term was first proposed in 188[8] in the American Meteorological Journal by Gustavas Hinrich[s], a Danish born University of Iowa scientist.”
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“Hinrichs founded the first state weather and crop service in the United States,” according to Wikipedia. “He was the head of the Iowa Weather Service until 1886.”
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“While Hinrichs was a gifted teacher and internationally recognized chemist, he was also a volatile, abrasive, and sometimes a vindictive man,” according to the National Weather Service.
“Despite this success, or maybe because of it, Hinrichs’s arrogance made him no friends on the Iowa faculty. Some faculty even thought him egotistical, tactless, and mistrustful, but he had support for his efforts from his students and the local community.”
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Here’s that American Meteorological Journal article. Ain’t the Internet grand?
Karzai’s Chicago
“Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s half-brother, who was assassinated Tuesday, used to run a restaurant in Lakeview and spoke fondly of his days in the North Side neighborhood,” the Tribune reports.
“The Karzai family owned the Helmand restaurant at 3201 N. Halsted St., and Ahmed Wali Karzai ran it. Before it closed, Tribune critic Phil Vettel wrote in 1995 about its ‘slightly exotic’ Afghan cuisine.
“‘Elaborately framed photographs and pretty tapestries hang on the walls,’ Vettel wrote. ‘A large, graceful chandelier hangs from the pressed-tin ceiling. Service is attentive and well-versed on the menu.’
“In a batch of confidential documents released by the WikiLeaks organization last year, Ahmed Wali Karzai talked about how he loved the Lakeview neighborhood.”
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The Battle for Helmand.
Whip Inflation Now
“The Illinois Association of Realtors said Monday that the median price it reported for home sales within the city of Chicago was inflated in May and mistakes in its reports may go back more than three years,” the Tribune reports.
“Errors in the reports can wrongly inflate consumer confidence in a housing market that has been struggling to recover for the past 4 1/2 years. It also can undermine the credibility of the real estate organizations that compile and disseminate the statistics. The Tribune and other media outlets report that data as part of regular coverage of the housing industry because it provides a pulse of the market.”
Isn’t this sort of how we got in this mess to begin with?
Deng’s Deed
“As the people of South Sudan raised the flag of the world’s newest nation Saturday, the people of the war-ravaged region could finally exhale – at least for a moment – following 50 years of violence and turmoil,” the Washington Post reports.
“Now, as the newly-liberated South Sudanese people celebrate their freedom and leaders create a new currency and establish their new government, children can also embrace their new lifestyle.
“Chicago Bulls forward Luol Deng – a Sudanese refugee – was back home Saturday, joining the festivities and doing his part to help his homeland by hosting the country’s first basketball clinic.”
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“Deng was born in Wau, Sudan (current South Sudan) and is a member of the Dinka ethnic group,” according to Wikipedia. “When he was young, his father Aldo, a member of the Sudanese parliament, moved the family to Egypt to escape the Second Sudanese Civil War.”
Boeing’s Win Is Our Loss
“Boeing Co.’s winning bid for the U.S. Air Force’s fiercely contested tanker development deal means it likely will show no profit in the program’s first phase and shift $600 million in development costs to taxpayers, new government figures showed,” the Tribune reports.
“Boeing’s below-cost bid for the contract was part of a carefully crafted strategy to deny the deal to Europe’s EADS, parent of rival commercial jet builder Airbus SA.
“EADS was to have opened an assembly plant in Mobile, Alabama, to produce the tankers used to refuel other planes in flight.”
Uncool Crime Wave
“Across the country, in states like Illinois, Texas, Arizona, Georgia and Florida, there have been reports of thieves stealing unsecured air conditioning units weighing as much as 125 pounds,” the Huffington Post notes.
“This, one resident of Chatham, Illinois told CBS Chicago, has shocked effected communities. Some Chatham residents are even going as far as triple locking their A/C units in cages.”
Bird Beat
“A West Side family was reunited with its pet peacock Fluffy,” ABC7 reports.
United He Stands
“A businessman has reached a rare milestone after racking up more than 10 million air miles with a US airline,” Terminal U reports, along with many other news outlets.
“Thomas Stuker, a car salesman from Chicago, enjoyed a fleeting moment of fame after clocking up 5,962 flights with United Airlines and reaching 10 million air miles over 29 years – most of them visiting car dealerships in the US and around the world.”
Click through for photos and a video.
Rape Isn’t Entertaining
Pitchfork gets a clue.
Grape Man
Steve Albini, food blogger.
Green Scene
A Chicago Man’s Magic Recycling Device.
The Best of Vince Gerasole
Feature performances.
Match of the Week
Only in Chicago, baby!
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Take it or leave it.
Posted on July 12, 2011