Photo gallery of Sagrada Familia from AP.
https://apnews.com/photo-gallery/sagrada-familia-gaudi-barcelona-aae21510cd85f7a79df324a2e8cb8eae
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wtg
@wtg
Posts
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Antoni Gaudi -
No good solutions in IranOn April 8, Nick Catoggio, my Dispatch colleague, dubbed an earlier stoppage with Iran “Schrödinger’s ceasefire.” This was a reference to the famous thought experiment by the physicist Erwin Schrödinger, who was trying to explain the weirdness of “superpositionality” in quantum physics.
A cat in a box is both dead and alive at the same time until you open the box. Schrödinger meant to illustrate the absurdity of the idea that particles aren’t any one thing, but a “cloud of probabilities.”
The Trump administration is stuck in a word cloud of probabilities of Donald Trump’s own making. The war is over. The war is on. The war isn’t a war. We have a deal, but we don’t have a deal, but we’re about to have a deal. We destroyed Iran’s military. No, we left it intact. We want regime change. No, we don’t. We already accomplished it. We “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program a year ago. We had to go to war in February to prevent nuclear war. The Strait of Hormuz is open, closed, or something in between. No deal without “unconditional surrender.” Let’s make a deal!
This everything-all-at-once vibe can be disorienting, particularly since most Americans didn’t have a war with Iran on their bingo cards until the shooting had already started. Trump didn’t prepare the country or consult with Congress beforehand because he thought it would all be a smashing success in a matter of weeks.
The miscalculation that started it all: killing Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and much of Iran’s senior leadership on the first day of the war. To “the great proud people of Iran, I say tonight that the hour of your freedom is at hand,” Trump announced on February 28. “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations.”
https://thedispatch.com/article/trump-iran-strait-of-hormuz-boxed-in/
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The ‘Gary Bears’ has a nice ring to itTHEY'RE MOVING TO HAMMOND!!!!
NFL insider Adam Schefter reported a source told him that “barring anything very strange, it’s a done deal.”
Much rejoicing and happy dancing in the wtg house....
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Bit of excitement in the neighborhood -
Bit of excitement in the neighborhood -
Bit of excitement in the neighborhoodI went out in the screen room this afternoon and caught the smell of natural gas. Turns out a construction crew working on a village project to replace water mains managed to hit a gas line around 2 pm. Took Nicor (gas utility) almost two hours to get here and as far as I can tell they still haven't figured out how to turn off the gas. A consulting engineer who is on the water main project said that a) the gas line was unmarked and b) the fact that it was pretty windy is working in our favor, dissipating the gas.
Looks like they won't be shutting off our gas (the break is apparently on the other side of the still-to-be-located shutoff valve) so they won't be pounding on our door in the middle of the night to come and re-light the pilot in our water heater. At least that's what the Nicor guy said. I hope he knows what he's talking about. Given that they can't figure out where the valve is, my level of confidence in their abilities is not real high right now.
(tried to post some pics but postimages is misbehaving right now)
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WWJD? -
WWJD?What would Jesus drink? Welcome to the age of Christian energy beverages
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/jun/04/jesus-christian-energy-drink
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GCA Giant Cell Arteritis@chas I pinged my eye researcher friend Dr Mary (PhD, not MD, but she regularly saw patients in the eye clinics at the universities where she worked). Hopefully she'll get back to me soon!
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60 MinutesSteve Kroft weighs in:
Former 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft calls the changes under Bari Weiss "disastrous." He adds: "This is journalistic interference. It makes no business sense whatsoever. It's the highest rated news program on television, and it has been that way for more than 50 years. The audience was up about 9% last year. Why would you mess with that?" Our conversation airs tonight on the
@newshour
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60 MinutesThe exchange between Pelley and Bilton:
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Antoni GaudiOne hundred years ago, on June 10, 1926, Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí tragically died in a tram accident in Barcelona. In his 73 years of life, the designer left his mark on the Spanish city, from his emblematic basilica, the Sagrada Familia, to Casa Batlló, Casa Vicens, Park Güell and numerous other sites.
Has anyone visited any of his buildings?
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Ötzi the Iceman and his microbiomeResearchers at Eurac Research have obtained a detailed picture of the microbial community associated with Ötzi, Europe's oldest known natural human mummy. The study provides insights into a complex microbiome, ranging from the gut flora of a Copper Age human to cold-adapted yeasts.
Using a variety of samples and methods, the researchers were able to differentiate which microorganisms were already present in the body during his lifetime and which only colonized it after his death—both during the time in the glacier and over three decades of preservation. In samples of internal tissue, the team was able to detect genetic material from bacteria belonging to Ötzi's original gut flora.
https://phys.org/news/2026-06-tzi-iceman-microbiome-year-relationship.html
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Hay Mary AnnaThat's quite an assortment!
I feel your pain on the critter front. It's a never-ending battle.
Potatoes are really easy to grow in pots. Critters seem to pretty much leave them alone, though a couple of years ago my neighbor found a bunch of his potatoes harvested by some enterprising chipmunk and hidden in its den under the front porch, quite a distance away from the pots in the backyard where they had been growing.
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EvanescentTowering among vibrant summer blooms, monumental iridescent bubbles transform the natural landscape of the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe, forming an immersive world of light and reflection as part of the newest seasonal exhibit.
“Evanescent,” the centerpiece installation series of the garden’s “Shimmering Summer” exhibit, will be open to visitors beginning June 6, and running until Sept. 20.
The large-scale bubble sculptures are designed to be an immersive experience for visitors of the 385-acre garden, capturing the “ephemerality and fragility of life” through the form of a bubble, according to the installation’s designer, Australian art duo Atelier Sisu.
“The installation emulates the ethereal quality and magic of bubbles, and our summer programming extends that playfulness for visitors of all ages,” said Jodi Zombolo, associate vice president of visitor events and programs for the Chicago Botanic Garden.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/03/chicago-botanic-gardens-shimmering-summer-exhibit/
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Hay Mary Anna@mary-anna It looks lovely! Lots of personality in those old homes. Not cookie cutter!
I know you're are super busy with other projects, but the "g" in "wtg" is wondering if you are planning a veggie garden.
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60 MinutesI hadn’t been following what has been happening at CBS. What a cluster.
Scott Pelley, one of the most well-known and respected journalists in broadcast journalism, has been fired by CBS News after clashing with network brass over last week’s severe round of cuts at 60 Minutes, the show he has worked on since 2004, the Guardian confirmed.
While changes were long expected at 60 Minutes, CBS News management shocked staffers last week by firing the network’s executive producer, executive editor and two correspondents, Cecilia Vega and Sharyn Alfonsi, without giving a specific reason for their terminations.
During an extremely heated meeting on Monday morning with the show’s newly appointed executive editor Nick Bilton, along with another CBS News executive, Pelley rebuked Bari Weiss, the longtime opinion commentator who joined the network in October as editor-in-chief.
“She’s murdering 60 Minutes,” Pelley said, as first reported by the Guardian. “She does not love this place. She was brought in to kill it and is doing exactly that.”
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/jun/02/scott-pelley-60-minutes-cbs-news
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What do chefs cook at home? -
ICE and DHS strike againHere in Chicago.
Federal agents chased and detained a man Tuesday morning in Albany Park, crashing into a woman’s car during the pursuit and threatening residents who gathered at a chaotic scene.
A Sun-Times reporter witnessed the scene and its aftermath.
The arrest comes amid a continued effort by federal immigration authorities to carry out arrests in the Chicago area, months after the end of Operation Midway Blitz — the Trump administration’s pummeling deportation campaign that led to thousands of arrests.
Tuesday’s incident started at 8:07 a.m., when a black Nissan SUV carrying one agent turned east onto Lawrence Avenue from Kedzie Avenue, chasing a shirtless man. A second black Nissan SUV carrying more agents then pulled out of a nearby parking lot and hit a woman’s car in an apparent effort to block the man from running.
The agents were wearing Department of Homeland Security badges and patches associated with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Three agents ultimately wrestled the man to the ground as he screamed for help, asking agents to get off him as he was held under the front bumper of one of the SUVs. One agent then shocked him with a Taser.
The agent also aimed the weapon at bystanders and a journalist. Another agent pulled out a can of pepper spray and pointed it at the crowd as he waved away passing vehicles.
During the scuffle, an agent dropped a fully loaded bullet magazine onto the street. A supervisor picked it up minutes later, after other agents had left.
As the man was being detained, agents threatened to arrest the woman whose car had been struck. She had been stopped at a red light.
A few dozen people showed up and faced off with the seven federal agents who arrived in five unmarked vehicles equipped with emergency lights. Onlookers filmed on their cellphones, blew whistles and screamed at the agents.
One agent had a Jerusalem cross sticker on the back of his phone, a Christian symbol dating to the Crusades that more recently has gained popularity among the far-right and white supremacist groups. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was criticized for having a chest tattoo of a Jerusalem cross in the weeks before President Donald Trump’s second inauguration. He countered with a since-deleted post on X, saying, “Anti-Christian bigotry in the media on full display.”
Chicago police officers who arrived minutes after the arrest spoke to witnesses and made a report. An officer and said detectives would take over the investigation if the crash was deemed a hit-and-run.
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For our train buffs
