The Nooner | Chicago news and beyond | October 11, 2011

Did Beyoncé copycat some dance moves?

Beyonce

Photo: Tony Duran

The Nooner: Chicago news and beyond
Today’s news is about how the government is probably reading your email right now.

Money for After School Matters slashed
It’s been Maggie Daley’s pet program for years, but now that her husband is out of office, After School Matters is seeing major cutbacks. The program offers apprenticeships to needy schoolkids, where they can learn skills while getting paid for their time. The new cuts, however, mean that kids who previously got paid about $400 for spending ten weeks in the program will now get just $100.

In defense of that pregnant lady who ran the marathon
I’ll admit it: I was one of those people who said “What was that woman thinking?” when a superpregnant woman ran the marathon, started feeling contractions after she crossed the finish line and then went right to the hospital and had the kid. But Claire Zulkey over at WBEZ has changed my mind by pointing out that the woman’s doctor okayed the run, the baby’s perfectly healthy, and more to the point, most of us aren't obstetricians, and should just keep our mouths shut when we don't know what we're talking about. So: Run, pregnant lady, run. And congratulations on the new addition to your family.

The government doesn’t need a warrant to search your email
Well, sheesh. Because U.S. laws on electronic privacy mostly pre-date the invention of the internet, there are very few safeguards on the privacy of your cell phone records, emails and the like. This has come up lately because the government used a secret court order to seek information from the email service providers of WikiLeaks volunteer Jacob Appelbaum. The service providers fought the court order and lost. Appelbaum has not been charged with any wrongdoing, and if the issue hadn’t gone to court, he would never have known that his information had been seized by the government. There are many other instances in which the government is using outdated laws to commandeer private info sans-warrant. In August, the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of New York over-ruled a government request to obtain cellphone location records without a warrant, calling it "Orwellian." Judge Nicholas Garaufis wrote: "It is time that the courts begin to address whether revolutionary changes in technology require changes to existing Fourth Amendment doctrine." The government has appealed.

Marathon runner’s autopsy inconclusive
An autopsy was performed yesterday on William Caviness, the firefighter and father of two who collapsed just 500 yards short of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon’s finish line this past Sunday. The fit 35 year old was running to raise money for a burn-victims charity. The autopsy was inconclusive, however, and the Cook County medical examiner's office says they’ll need to do further tests to try to find the source of Caviness’ death.

Belgian choreographer to Beyoncé: You stole my moves
You’d think that Beyoncé wouldn’t need to cadge a single shimmy or shake from anyone. But Belgian dancemaker Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker is claiming that Bey stole her choreography for portions of the “Countdown” video. The similarities pertain to a short part of the video, but they are extremely striking, from the moves down to the set and costumes.