Hard to believe it was just a few years ago when we first heard about Google Glass, the breakthrough in augmented-reality eyeglasses. And today — what a marvel! — millions of us wear this futuristic headgear to surf the Web, video-chat with mom and take hands-free photos.
President Barack Obama has spent the last few days previewing Tuesday night's State of the Union address to appreciative audiences. With such proposals as more aid for community college students, Obama and his speechwriters want to open the fourth quarter of his presidency with a show of...
The recent plunge in oil prices is great news for almost everyone. Motorists pay less at the pump for gas; airlines save money on jet fuel; retailers are likely to profit from the estimated $130 billion consumers will have to spend on other stuff. The economy should grow a bit faster, too....
"If I can get up there, I'll help change things down here."
Drivers, if we could change the subject from the low price of gasoline for a second, let's talk about electric cars. Two announcements by General Motors at the Detroit Auto Show demonstrate that automakers remain intensely committed to the future of electric vehicles. That's part of a wild,...
All Chicagoans, especially those who live in high-rise buildings, never should forget what happened to Shantel McCoy.
Frequent fliers offer up a silent prayer each time they board a plane: Please, God, don't let me be seated next to a gregarious blowhard or a crying baby. Soon enough, they might want to add, or a pig.
Public education in Illinois faces an array of long-entrenched challenges. Over the past year, some Democratic legislators have taken aim at one of those challenges, how state tax revenue is allocated to schools. That's a fine first step. With help from an education-minded Republican...
President Barack Obama floated an ambitious idea last week: No-cost community college.
People up in Minnesota have a reputation for being nice, so we had no idea they resent us so much down here. They're talking about leaving the Midwest. Oh, yah, you betcha.
Boko Haram, Nigeria's Islamist militants, got the world's attention last year after kidnapping 276 schoolgirls. The despicable group still holds most of the girls, is still untamed and now appears to control much of the remote north of the country.
Gov. Pat Quinn created all sorts of mischief in his final days in office, but he got one thing right: He didn't sign off at the last minute on licenses to grow and sell medical marijuana in Illinois.
More Illinois students have gulped hard at the rocketing cost of a University of Illinois diploma, which is up 71 percent in a decade. The number of accepted in-state applicants who decide to enroll at the university has declined. They're going elsewhere, including other Midwest colleges that...
Cassandra C. has a form of cancer called Hodgkin lymphoma that, left untreated, would most likely kill her. The good news is that with chemotherapy, doctors give her an 85 percent chance of surviving.
At prior Springfield inaugurals, many of Illinois' new governors have painstakingly pandered to this and that favored voter group, this or that band of crony insiders. As if to say between winks, "I made it, pal, and here's what's in it for you."
We don't mean to suggest that there's a smart way for one political candidate to steal the ideas of another. But there's definitely a dumb way.
You might say Raif Badawi got off easy. When the Saudi blogger was arrested, authorities charged him with crimes that included apostasy — which in Saudi Arabia carries the death penalty. In the end, he was convicted of setting up a website that allegedly undermined security and...
At 2:47 a.m. on Feb. 15 at an Atlantic City casino, a man and woman argued while walking to an elevator bank: The man spat at the woman, and once inside the elevator struck her twice, the second blow knocking her unconscious. During the remaining 10 seconds of the elevator ride, the man stood...
The unfolding saga of site selection for Barack Obama's presidential library has become more than a frustration.
On Friday came another dizzying blur of images from Paris under siege: Heavily armed and armored police kill two suspects in the Charlie Hebdo massacre when the terrorist brothers emerge from a printing-plant hideout, guns blazing. Separately, two terrorists linked to the Hebdo killers take...
The snow glows white on the mountain tonight, not a footprint to be seen. And the Midwestern kids can't wait till morning, when they can grab their sleds and wreck that pretty snowscape.
When we last visited the banks of the Charles River, MIT economist Jonathan Gruber, a key architect of Obamacare, was boasting about how supporters got that bill passed: They lied to Americans. They relied on what Gruber called "the stupidity of the American voter," knowing that most people...
The endless stream of new wearable technology at this year's Consumer Electronics Show tells us one thing: We are our own worst enemies, and we need technology to keep us in line.
With this week's vengeful attack, add one more entry — in French — to a terror timeline scripted in blood. For two decades these militant Islamist assaults on liberal Western lands and their freedoms have raged: The Paris subway bombing of 1995. The conscription of U.S. airliners as...
Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka's death left a void in Illinois beyond her colorful personality: She would have been sworn in Monday for her second term in the office. Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner has named GOP businesswoman Leslie Munger to fill the vacancy, but for how long?
President Harry Truman was once heard expressing an odd wish to meet a one-armed economist. Why? Because he tired of economists who provided explanations that included the terms "on one hand" and "on the other hand." He wanted simple, unequivocal answers, and in economic matters, those are...
Before Wednesday, most Americans had never encountered the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. But they know now that the magazine was fearless in the face of threats. Fearless to the death.
Even on days when the temperature is above zero, Illinois struggles to keep people here. They're leaving, in droves, for states with sunnier economic opportunities.
And now, with a new governor ready to take his oath, all eyes in Illinois turn to Springfield. That in itself is remarkable. One party has run state government for so long that many voters could spend less time brightly wondering "What next?" than nervously mumbling "How much?"
On Nov. 4, 2008, Barack Obama strode onstage to accept his election as the nation's first African-American president. His first words: "Hello, Chicago!"
Last week, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas signed papers to join the International Criminal Court in the Hague, the first step to seeking war crimes charges against Israeli leaders. Abbas did this one day after the United Nations Security Council defeated a resolution to set a...
For a long time, the Southeastern Conference has been to college football what Shakespeare's Julius Caesar was to ordinary humans: "He doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus." It often seemed as though it existed on a level all its own, below only the NFL.
The idea of a major employer coming to one of Chicago's poorest suburbs sounded too good to be true. And it might be.
"If half the animals died in London zoo next week it would be front page news. But that is happening in the great outdoors."
"By the law of nature these things are common to mankind — the air, running water, the sea, and consequently the shores of the sea."
The baby boomers are the biggest generation in American history, and the laws of nature dictate that they will make up the largest die-off in American history. With 77 million bodies that will sooner or later give up the ghost, they will fill up cemeteries the way they once filled up schools...
Until recently, we were blissfully unaware that the way some men sit on buses or trains — legs spread in a wide V — had earned its own separate category of rude and obnoxious transit behaviors. Now we know better.
"For an American in the 21st century, it is hard to imagine the world before antibiotics. At the beginning of the 20th century as many as 9 women out of every 1,000 who gave birth died, 40 percent from sepsis. In some cities as many as 30 percent of children died before their first birthday....
Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., the third-ranking Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives, says he made an innocent mistake in speaking to a white supremacist conference in 2002. How was he to know that the European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO) was a collection of racists...
The discovery of debris and bodies from AirAsia Flight 8501 in the Java Sea on Tuesday provided sad confirmation of the fate of 162 passengers and crew. Days after the plane disappeared en route to Singapore from Surabaya, Indonesia, there is no expectation of finding survivors.
Millions of Americans are mulling New Year's resolutions this week. Some will be made — and broken — before sunset. But thousands will resolve to quit smoking and ... stick to it.
So you just read a rave restaurant review, you have an anniversary approaching and that settles it: you'll splurge on dinner for two at RPM Steak. We're sure you'll enjoy the New York Strip, the risotto with white truffles and the romance … of a 4:30 p.m. Tuesday seating.
By the time 10 p.m. rolls around on New Year's Eve, the 8-and-under crowd (and their parents) are usually starting to get a little bleary-eyed. But the allure of midnight can keep little ones up for hours past their bedtimes.
We all know how the release of "The Interview" turned into a real-life Cold War thriller: North Korea hates the movie, lashes out at Sony Pictures by hacking its computers and threatens movie-goers, an act of state-sponsored cyber-aggression. At least that's the story from the U.S. perspective.
The data collection is not exactly like former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's "binders full of women." But it's similar.
This time of year, endless opportunities to overindulge can test the willpower of anyone who does not want to put on pounds. At the end of the holidays, some people will be congratulating themselves on their self-restraint, while some will feel guilty about giving in and resolve to do better in...
World Health Organization officials said Tuesday that the deadly Ebola virus could lead to 5,000 to 10,000 new cases a week in West Africa by December despite the global fight against it ..."
Congratulations on your raise! On Thursday, the four-year income tax hikes that Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law will begin to roll back. You'll keep more of the money you earn.
The native prairie tallgrasses look lifeless in late December. But even in the drab sepia of winter they promise the same vivid spring brilliance as when they covered 60 percent of Illinois, some 22 million acres. Today, owing to urbanization, agriculture, invasive species and suppression of...
Talk about poking the bear with a sharp stick. Ukraine's parliament overwhelmingly voted Tuesday to rile Russian President Vladimir Putin by moving to join NATO. If that happens, another of Russia's neighbors would come under the protective umbrella of the West.
Six months ago, Gov. Pat Quinn signed a bill that, when it takes effect next Thursday, will enrich every citizen of Illinois: It adds the black bear, gray wolf and cougar to the state's list of protected species. More on that smart move in a moment.
Oh, Chicago Park District. You've really stepped in it this time.
In holiday messages at this time of year, the boss usually musters the energy to say nice things to the people who work for him. Even if he's exasperated by the performance of his employees or beset by arrogant bullies on the corporate rungs above him.
Produce imported from Mexico is safe and attractive for a reason: U.S. laws dictate the cleanliness of farms, while supermarket produce managers demand an unblemished product. So no need to worry about the condition of your tomatoes. They're perfect. It's the Mexican farmhands growing and...
Too much spin, not enough win. That's the takeaway from a Chicago Tribune examination of the safety benefits of Chicago's red light camera program.
No, no, we aren't fussing over your credit card statement. We're talking about businesses that, as December expires, realize that they're doing the same.
Baby No. 1 was Matthew, a newborn whose overwhelmed birth mother handed him to nurses at Rockford Memorial Hospital more than a decade ago. He was safe. He was healthy. He was later adopted.
What is this day, this Christmas, that dawns with a chorus of joy? What river of love and magic speeds the message from that moment of wonder in Bethlehem across the cold darkness of centuries long forgotten? How does it warm us this morning as we awaken in a world the Wise Men could scarcely...
The death penalty has had a long run in America, but that run may not last forever. Though it's not on life support, it's definitely in serious condition. A form of punishment that was once widely used and highly popular has lost much of its allure.
Many of you have offered to donate money to help keep our office open. We are grateful for your generosity and will continue to serve you to the best of our abilities. Should you wish to make a donation, please call our office for further information at 312-744-2313. — Office of the...
Leave it to the British, those kings and queens of civility and politesse, to harness their mastery of understated eloquence in the service of reminding us there is always a right way to behave … and a dreadful way.
As South Korea buckles under the enormous financial pressure of hosting the 2018 Winter Olympics, the International Olympic Committee recently made a practical suggestion: Move some events to other nations.
