Back from an extended blog hiatus

Blogging was on the very very back burner of my life for the last couple of months, but I am now back with the intent to make an occasional post. Please do not expect me to be as prolific as Suchita, Eli, CB, or Alec.

My brief blurb for now… Significant information about the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) came out today:

The Obama administration had estimated the cost to taxpayers of the $700-billion Troubled Asset relief Program, or TARP, would be $341 billion but now says it can cut that by $200 billion.

In part because:

“Total bank investments of $245 billion in FY2009 (the U.S. tax year that ended September 30) that were initially projected to cost $76 billion are now projected to bring a profit of $19 billion,” the official said.

This is marginally good news for the federal budget this fiscal year (FY2010), which will probably run a deficit well over $1 trillion as happened in the last fiscal year (FY2009).

Suicide at Historical Society

I just heard today that a 51-year-old man committed suicide at the Wisconsin Historical Society Monday.  The only press coverage the incident received was a brief in the Wisconsin State Journal that said simply that the man had died in a fall.  In fact, the man deliberately fell to his death from the fourth floor of the stairwell after staff attempted to restrain him.

Suicide is a notoriously difficult subject to cover, but given past reportage of suicide on campus, you would think at least a short, carefully written news piece would run, especially in the campus newspapers.  It seems the difference this time was that the suicide occurred at the Historical Society, which is not part of the university.  Capitol police responded to the incident, and local and state officials kept a lid on the story.

The argument can be made, of course, that publicity might give other suicidal people “ideas.”  The argument can also be made that this view is patronizing and denies the fourth estate its duty to inform the populace of news events.  Thoughts?

How desperate is the New York Times?!

Yesterday afternoon I was wandering around the Union Square holiday market and walked by the NY Times subscription stand.  Here’s how the conversation went:

Salesman:  “I’ll offer you 50% off the home delivery price and give you a free gift!”

Me:  “Oh, no thanks.”

Salesman:  “I’ll give you 3 free tchotchkes…”

Me:  “Nah, I read it online.”

Salesman:  “Well they’re going to start charging this month for the online articles.  You might as well subscribe right now.”

Me:  “I didn’t know that.  But I’ll stick it out another month online, thanks.”  [and walk away]

I dashed off a quick text to a Badger working at the Times, and he confirmed my suspicions that the paper had no plans to charge.   This salesman was desperate, so desperate that he would blatantly lie.

Ah, dear Gray Lady…has it really come to this?

Matt Drudge, don’t be a tool

Love the website, but this is bullshit.

His line:

Cadet read 'Kill Bin Laden' book during Obama speech...

The caption of said photograph:

A U.S. Army cadet reads a book entitled “Kill Bin Laden” as he waits with other cadets for U.S. President Barack Obama to deliver an address on U.S. policy and the war in Afghanistan at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York

Come on.

Vocab lesson

Over Thanksgiving, I was going through old boxes of stuff from grade school that I had hoarded for some now-inexplicable reason.  I came across an interesting handout that I had gotten sometime in high school (maybe 9th grade English class?):  “100 Words Every Graduate Should Know,” put out by the Houghton Mifflin Co.  As I skimmed the sheet, I was distressed that there were words on the list that I didn’t truly understand, words I had heard or read but never defined.  And these are words that *high school* grads “should” know.

So how many of these 100 do you college grads know?  My count was 91…though I’m about to head to a dictionary to rectify that.  (Full list after the jump)

Herald seeking diversity columns

Shortly after those dedicated kids down at the Badger Herald put the back-from-Thanksgiving issue to bed this morning, the newspaper sent out a mass email soliciting letters and columns to answer the question, “What does ‘diversity’ at UW actually mean, and how should we address it?”

Although minority enrollment is up since UW officials infamously photoshopped a black face into a picture on an admissions brochure in 2000, UW was still lagging behind all Big Ten schools besides Iowa and Indiana as of 2006.  The percentage of black, Asian, American Indian and Hispanic UW-Madison students was at 12.9 percent in fall 2008.

The Badger Herald is tackling a great issue and hopefully they catch students in an non-stressed and loquacious mood before finals. If the response is measly, the paper might direct its call for submissions toward specific programs that bring together minority and white students, such as Undergraduate Research Scholars or even the athletic department.

Waiting to ride off into the sunset

Yesterday afternoon (Sunday, the end of the Thanksgiving holiday), I took NJ Transit as usual back into NYC after visiting family in Jersey.  This was the scene at the platform:  haggard travelers ready to be back home after a brief respite.  It was the most crowded NJ Transit platform I had ever seen.  Though it didn’t even come close to how packed the train itself was.  My station was the last one where the conductor could actually maneuver through the aisles to punch tickets.  Those who boarded on the 7 or so stations after mine got a free ride, though they did have to jostle their way into any empty space they could find.  Every vestibule, each aisle, even the lavatories were stuffed with passengers and baggage.  The Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving – even during rush hour out of New York – paled in comparison.

I always wondered why trains haven’t entered into the 21st century and done away with the odd system of having conductors punch passengers’ paper tickets.  NJ Transit ridership may have been up on Sunday, but it didn’t seem like public transportation was reaping the financial benefits of having more riders, at least not on my train.  In fact, ironically, the increased traffic hindered ticket collectors from doing their job.

There’s got to be an allegory about some aspect of America in here somewhere…

Spotted Cow spotted…and confiscated

Oh so sad!

Non-criminal charges could be coming against a New York City bar that reportedly was selling a craft beer that isn’t licensed to be sold outside Wisconsin. Officials with the New York State Liquor Authority say that on Nov. 6, their investigators confiscated 50 cases of Spotted Cow from the Mad River Bar & Grille on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

The beer, brewed by New Glarus Brewing Co. in Green County, is not licensed for sale outside Wisconsin, said brewmaster Dan Carey.

Many a fun times at Mad River with Spotted Cow… It was part of the whole “Wisconsin Experience” on game days.  I hope the Big Apple Badgers don’t have to find a new bar. 

(H/T RM)

Linkage Analysis

The “this reminds me of Madison” edition.  Maybe you can follow along with my tangential train of thought.

The 911 system – epic fail.

Too fat to graduate.

Budget woes.

The Wisconsin Idea continues on after death.

USDA exterminated the black farmer

So you think all the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture does is (not) protect Fido from killer Chinese pet food?  Actually, the USDA has its grubby little fingers in plenty of other pies (mad cow?), but I only had to write a paper about racial discrimination at the department, hence today’s topic:

The USDA exterminated the black farmer.

Before the First Great Migration, blacks (then almost all rural-dwelling) had made considerable headway in getting out from under the sharecropping system’s thumb and buying their own farms, with black farmers owning over 925,000 farms in 1920. After Pigford v. Glickman, a class action lawsuit (and largest civil rights lawsuit ever) alleging USDA discrimination toward thousands of black farmers between 1983 and 1996, was settled for $400 million in 1999, it was estimated only 20,000 black farmers remained.

Causes are, of course, legion, but I argue that the single greatest was discrimination by USDA farm reform programs designed to create a weed- and small farmer-free South starting during WWII:

In 46 days…

Another decade slips past.  Remember when 2000 came and you ran around in the backyard shooting off fireworks listening to Prince?  Well, at least I do.  I would have never thought of this unless it was discussed here.  Some banter about naming the 00s.

Any ideas?  

O, and I’m going to start posting again.

Like the Phoenix

A meeting of the minds took place last night in Madison. University and State was discussed. More posting, changes coming… hold tight.

U.S.S. New York

The U.S.S. New York has been docked on the Hudson River for the past several days, having been commissioned on Nov. 7 after arriving from New Orleans.  Today was the last day for public visitation as she leaves the dock tomorrow for duty.  Luckily my exams eased up just enough this morning for me to go explore this historic ship.

The sizable crowd – teens stopping by with their skateboards tucked under their arms, an array of veterans from all branches and all conflicts, tourists who stood in line simply because there was a line and not knowing what the line was for, businessmen who managed to take an afternoon off despite complaining that “corporate America doesn’t celebrate this holiday,” lifelong New Yorkers who gasped when they glimpsed the bow of resurrected WTC steel, middle schoolers on a class assignment for extra credit, and children exclaiming “Look! A soldier!”

Maybe because it was Veterans Day…or this ship herself evoked compassion and memories of togetherness and service…or maybe it was the sense of transparency around this military marvel open to the public…or the prowess exemplified by the behemoth…or the opportunity to climb inside amphibious assault vehicles and hoist bazookas.

Whatever “it” was, it was undeniably a boon to the military’s public image.  I overheard 3 conversations in the hour that I was aboard about enlisting – 2 were teenagers speaking with the Marines scattered throughout the ship (one being told to wait 2 years until he was old enough) and the third was a child asking her father, very much a civilian, if she could be a soldier when she grows up.

I listened with baited breath for the father’s answer, certain that he would caution her against it dismissively.  He took a moment, surveyed the tanks and assault weapons around the deck, pausing to look a Marine in the eye, nodding slightly.  And then he answered.  “Yes, of course.  I would be so proud of you.”

Thank you to all of our men and women in the military on this Veterans Day.  The U.S.S. New York is a functioning reminder of all you do.

Into the Wild Blue Yonder

No, I didn’t join the US Air Force, but I did get to spend a day as a copilot of a Piper Twin Comanche.  We flew from just north of New York City to Houston for the AMA convention. (Oh and btw health care reform…yay.  I guess I should talk about that at some point…)

I had never flown a plane before, nor had I ever really had it on my list of things to do.  It was on a whim (and with blind trust) that I squeezed into that tiny plane for a 9 hour trip last Wednesday.  And strapped myself in, triple-checking that the door was secured.

Of course I brought my camera, but it’s a little difficult to take clear pictures through the windows of a plane as you’re moving at 165 nmph and climbing to 8600 ft.  So I understand why the Air Force One and the Statue of Liberty pictures were pretty terrible.

Minus the takeoff and landing, flying is remarkably simple.  It was completely different from what I had expected.  I felt like it was a video game, with GPS and computers doing the difficult work and all I had to do was nudge the controls back and forth every so often to line up the red line with the blue line on the screen and make sure the wings were level with the horizon.  That’s it.  Of course I played around a bit and maneuvered some deep turns to see how that worked…but stopped after the Washington DC area air traffic controllers warned us that we should stay on course while we were in restricted air space.

Most of the flight we spent on autopilot.  I took a nap, the pilot finished the New York Times crossword.  It’s not so hard to understand how being on a laptop could distract you enough to miss your destination.  But it was a little more difficult to see how the skies could function without the air traffic controllers.  We were in constant contact with them, reporting our existence as we entered one airspace and saying goodbye as we exited, affirming when we had a visual on a plane off to our right and climbing when they gauged we were in another plane’s path.

Being in a small plane, we were buffeted by the upward winds and rain showers as we coasted over Appalachia.  The barriers that come with commercial flights were removed as we had nearly 360-degree views and were essentially part of the sky, with a lot more turbulence.  Commercial flying – being sealed into a tube and shot across the country – had jaded me and I had lost the wonder and amazement of the feat of flying… but this time I found myself imagining if this was what the Wright brothers had felt, if this is why Lindbergh and Earhart dared what they did.

As we flew into the sunset during our approach into Houston, red rays of light washed over us in the cockpit.  I felt a little like Tom Cruise in Top Gun, coming out of the mission successfully.

Linkage analysis

World Series edition.  The Fall Classic.  Because the Yankees rock, and I love baseball.

Yesterday’s winner Cliff Lee was unfazed by NYC traffic and hopped into the subway to get to Yankee Stadium.  He probably took the C train to the D, neither of which get the fancy technology that the Hipster Express does.

ARod, who has finally not choked in the postseason for the Yanks (though he hasn’t been stellar in either game of this series yet), is a philanthropist in my/his old neighborhood of Washington Heights.  Maybe money can solve some other problems en mi barrio?

The series now takes the show to Philly.  It makes leaving the Bronx look easy.  If they return to Yankee Stadium for game 6, fans might be surprised if the overpriced bottles of water just got a little more expensive.

As the batters scout the stats of pitchers Andy Pettite and Cole Hamels for Saturday’s game, those statisticians are probably feeling pretty good about the economy.

I’m hoping for championship number 27 this season…and maybe this dynasty will get to keep the castle (another Red Gym lookalike).

And, oh, did I mention that I can see Yankee Stadium from my window?  I’m calling it my box seat.