Condoleezza Rice grew up in the highly segregated neighborhood of Titusville in Birmingham, Alabama, where she and her family put up with the sort of bald discrimination it’s hard to imagine today. Discrimination, and real danger: one of her playmates was killed in the KKK’s 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church. Against this backdrop, her parents—Angelena, a high school teacher, and John, a guidance counselor and Presbyterian minister—gave her the confidence and ambition that helped her achieve what she did, and Condoleezza says you must know her parents to know who she is. That’s why she wrote Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family (Crown, October 2010), which tells the story of her upbringing, and which she’ll be discussing at BookPeople tomorrow. more ›

Flood waters threaten thousands in southern Mexico. Hurricane Noel will bring heavy rainfall to the East Coast. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice begs U.S. Diplomats to serve overseas. NASA plans a risky spacewalk to save a ripped solar wing at the international space station. Hollywood writers are set to declare a strike sometime today. Get ready for a reality television blitz! NBC Anchor Brian Williams is hosting SNL this week. The reunion show... more ›

Chicagoist is gearing up for this weekend's annual Air & Water Show along the lakefront. In what's becoming an annual tradition around there, staff member Todd McClamroch even got to fly with one of the participants. Chicagoist's decidedly opinionated readership was also appalled that one of their staffers found a popular local brewpub to be a great place to bring a kid. They also think that an unlikely activist for immigration rights should just take... more ›

Bush's approval ratings have hit a new low, but Paula Abdul's star rating is still rising. A local Senate bill is asking that the revenue from red light cameras be transferred into a state fund to support trauma and emergency medical care. This is better than not knowing where the added revenue will go, but we still do not like the idea. Austin City Council members have approved a resolution to get $30 million... more ›