Flush with Success: Chicago's Field Museum Wins 'Best Restroom' Title

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A front view of the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois

Raymond Boyd/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

Put your hands together: the Field Museum has been awarded the prestigious title of America's Best Restroom. Just make sure you wash before applauding.

For those of us who thought that a visit to the museum was boring an opportunity to enrich one's mind, think again. Believe it or not, this is the 10th annual contest to uncover the finest restroom in the U.S.

When you enter their restroom, be prepared for an experience simply unmatched at any of the Field's rivals. They were praised for two sizable break rooms which showcase artwork of the night sky. According to sponsor Cintas Corp. (which knows a thing or two about this area, as they design and manufacture restroom supplies), it results in "a calming image that also absorbs sound."

(LIST: Top 10 Famous Toilets)

Other touches include eco-friendly automated faucets and hand dryers, a "tot area," nursing room (with sofa in the women's) and the bathrooms are cleaned every hour, which certainly seems laudable.

For the record, the Field defeated the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts in Arizona, which came in second. The Scottsdale Center was able to offer terrazzo floors in its restroom and a lighting system that moves from blues to greens and golds. Even though that sounds incredibly pleasant, it couldn't land the top spot.

On their heels was the awesomely named Presidential Luxury Restroom Trailer in Chantilly, Va., which was created in honor of President Obama's inauguration in 2009. It's surely win-win for Obama as, being a former Senator for Illinois, he can still bask in the Field's triumph.

As for the winning museum, its VP of finance, Jim Croft, said that the Field "strives to give visitors the best service and exhibitions; we also feel this about the amenities." You don't say, Mr. Croft. (via the Chiacgo Tribune)

MORE: 10 Things to Do in Chicago

Glen Levy is an Executive Producer at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @glenjl. You can also continue the discussion on TIME's Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.

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Mika on <em>Morning Joe</em>: GOP Field Stinks

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Home > Politics & Policy > Mika on Morning Joe: GOP Field Stinks

September 27, 2011 Print

The morning TV boxing battle between MSNBC Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough and co-host Mika Brzezinski is turning brutal over the Republican primaries, especially now that some in the GOP are begging New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to jump into the race.

On Tuesday Brzezinski didn't mince words, telling Scarborough that the only reason Christie was being wooed was because the "Republican field is so bad..."

Scarborough shot back that Mitt Romney will be there at the end and crush President Obama in the general election next year. "I would bet my house on that fact," he said.

See the clash here:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Tags:MSNBC, Mitt Romney, 2012 presidential election, republican party, Chris Christie

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Washington state gunman shot dead after firing near school field

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SEATTLE | Sat Sep 24, 2011 11:07pm EDT

SEATTLE (Reuters) - A man armed with two rifles opened fire on Saturday near where parents and students were gathered at a middle school football field in a Seattle suburb, before he was shot dead by police, authorities said.

The 51-year-old gunman abandoned his Kia sedan in the center of Issaquah, Washington, blocking traffic, King County Sheriff's Department spokesman Sergeant John Urquhart said.

He then walked a few blocks to an area with several schools and, once there, opened fire without hitting anyone as people took cover, Urquhart said.

"Several Issaquah police officers caught up with him as he was firing, both randomly and at them," he said, and the man was shot and killed by police.

Police said they have no idea what motivated the gunman, whom they did not immediately identify. Issaquah is located 15 miles east of Seattle.

(Reporting by Nicole Neroulias: Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Cynthia Johnston)

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What's Wrong With the 2012 Republican Presidential Field

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I remember watching The Dating Game as a kid in the 1970s, the show where the bachelorette asks questions of Bachelor No. 1, Bachelor No. 2, and Bachelor No. 3, all separated from her by a screen and all sitting in groovy director chairs. Most of the contestants were average guys, but every once in a while the producers would sneak a celebrity in, like actor (now director) Ron Howard or singing sensation David Cassidy.

That's how it is right now with Republican voters. It feels like we're in the middle of the dating game, asking questions of the contestants while time is running out, hoping to pick the right one before the end of the show. And what we're really waiting for is the secret celebrity to walk out at the end. We need the secret Lee Majors or the secret Farrah Fawcett—both of whom were contestants early in their careers—to appear now.

But one candidate who would have had conservatives swooning like bachelorettes: Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, who announced last week that he's definitely not running. Other secret Lee Majors are sitting it out as well, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, and former Florida governor Jeb Bush. [See a slide show of who's in and out for the GOP in 2012.]

We thought maybe Texas Gov. Rick Perry was the secret Six Million Dollar Man, but he seems more like the secret Bill Bixby—a supporting actor in the sitcom My Favorite Martian rather than a leading man. The first week of his campaign didn't go so well, as he made headlines with his comments on everything from a "treasonous" Fed chair to climate change to evolution. Before he entered the race, Perry had the potential to carry both fiscal and social conservatives. Now maybe not.

Why are so many of my fellow conservatives dissatisfied with the Republican field? It seems the only ones who are happy with the current crop of candidates are the people who work at the White House and the Democratic National Committee. That's because they see what we see: Each of the Republican contenders is flawed in their own way and could easily be defeated. One's too inexperienced, another's famous for flip-flopping, several of them just come across as very angry people. Most important, none of them seems to have a detailed plan for turning the economy around, reining in entitlements, reforming the tax code, or cutting specific spending programs. [See a collection of political cartoons on the 2012 GOP hopefuls.]

For example, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann recently said that if she were elected president, she'd bring back $2-a-gallon gasoline. But that was all she said about it. No discussion of how she'd lower energy prices. She just threw it out there, forgetting that the kind of conservatives who think our dependence on foreign oil is a national security problem aren't the kind of people who think paying $2 for a gallon of gas is a good idea. She needs to put out some serious economic blueprints, and maybe even a domestic energy strategy, and more than the one-pager she's got on her website.

Like President Obama, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney has announced that he will make a major "jobs" speech in September too. That's good. But why wait until September? Why mimic, as New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd put it, the president's "fierce urgency of next month"? All of the candidates should be staking out their detailed positions on the economy, and they should be doing so right now. They risk looking indifferent and unconcerned about the heartbreaking pictures of thousands of people lined up at job fairs in various cities, the nightly graphics of the stock market hitting lows, and the growing unrest in Europe caused by the debt crisis there. People want clarity and certainty in volatile times. They're not getting it from Obama, and they aren't getting it from the Republican candidates either. [Check out editorial cartoons about the economy.]

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