I recently read a thoroughly enjoyable piece by Mike Caulfield at Hapgood.US on the first use of “conspiracy theory” that he discovered in a letter from the English press, published in the New York Times on January 4, 1863. In a nutshell, the letter was a critical commentary on American intrigue relative to English aristocracy interests, and expressing disdain for America as a formidable foe, therefore anxious to see our ruin. This predates all other claims of the first use of “conspiracy theory,” and as Caulfield points out, “You’ll note too something that is almost too delicious: the first use of conspiracy theory is about a conspiracy said to involve the press.”

An "experienced analyst" at the National Security Agency ran an illegal surveillance project that involved "unauthorized targeting and collection of private communications of people or organizations in the U.S." The agency's inspector general concluded that the analyst "acted with reckless disregard" for "numerous rules and possibly the law." This happened 10 years ago. The inspector general's report was issued six years ago. But the public is just now learning about it, courtesy of Bloomberg. After some intrepid Freedom of Information Act work, we can now see a highly redacted version of the IG report.

My mentor was Dr. Walter Bradley, a giant of a man, who rose from humble beginnings, completed medical school, earned an MBA, and became an emergency-room director locally for many years. Before my first interview with Walter, my wife and I had decided that the Quad Cites was too far from our families in Chicago and that the interview was merely practice after so many years of medical school and residency. But then I met Walter.

When Emerson College unveiled its latest Illinois poll last week, its press release included three “Key Takeaways.” At the very top of its list was this: “Fifty-two percent (52%) majority of voters think things in Illinois are on the wrong track, while 48% think things are headed in the right direction.” The college is based in Massachusetts, a liberal state with a popular Republican governor. A recent poll taken in Massachusetts by Suffolk University found that 59 percent believed their state was on the right track while 33 percent said it was on the wrong track.