Tuesday, August 30, 2011
As If Parking Wasn't Bad Enough...
...now the powers that be are going to fine people for feeding the meter?
Kids, I'll be honest. I was going to make this a rant about how effing stupid the City Council is this town can be- and how our economic development policy- such as it is, seems to consist of drenching everything in gasoline and playing with a zippo lighter. But I've decided not to do this- I've decided to take a good, hard look at the arguments for an against this foolishness.
For: people should do their shit and move the eff along. That seems to be the general notion behind this- they want to try and free up short term meters on the street so that more people can get in and out and this, numerically speaking, I suppose would get more people into downtown Iowa City. Really and truly, the Court Street and Chauncey Swan Ramps are cheaper and really not that far from downtown when you think about it. People could actually, for a refreshing change of pace walk one to two blocks to their destination.
Or people could use mass transit. Iowa City does have a good bus system- if you really want to avoid the hassles of parking downtown (which are numerous) take a bus.
Against: Seriously? This is how we're going to scrape something out of what's left of downtown- by making it harder to park on the street? How has it come to this? A decade of gentrification has left downtown Iowa City essentially a smoking hole in the ground. No retail chains are going to want to move to a downtown where you have to pay for parking and where the rent is so astronomically high. No small businesses in their right minds would locate to downtown Iowa City for the same reason. Somehow, somewhere along the way the powers that be got this picture in their heads of a swanky, pricey downtown full of glass and steel condos and high end restaurants and thought it would be a good idea- but Iowa City has a shitload of restaurants downtown already and any Doctors here for the longterm will pick Walnut Ridge over Plaza Towers any day of the week.
So how do we square the circle? How do we begin to reverse a decade of foolishness? It won't be easy- it might take another decade or more, but we've got to seriously ask the question: what's going to bring people back downtown? Given a choice between driving to Coralville and parking for free or driving downtown and spending 20 minutes looking for a parking spot that you then have to pay for, people will pick Coralville every time. Free parking on weekends! Sure, you could argue that the City will lose revenue if they go that way- but if we can't bring people back downtown then the City will be losing revenue anyway because no one will be shopping in downtown Iowa City.
There's more to the story than just free parking on weekends though. We need more parking as well- and this is where the University comes in. Lot 11 is a massive waste of space. Take it, add one level to the whole damn thing and you've increased parking for University staff, students and employees in a big way. Add 2 levels and there's even more space. If you move the WRAC house, you can dynamite that festering turd of a parking ramp opposite the IMU and build a bigger one over there. (Which if they put a future Art Museum either in Halsey Hall or on top of it or some weird combination of both- thus putting the main entrance on the Anne Cleary Walkway, would benefit the IMU and any new UIMA that's built.)
We also need more bike racks downtown and bike lanes on Burlington. If we really want to encourage people to use alternative means of transportation, we've got to make room for cyclists on Burlington. To me, it's the biggest downside to biking downtown. Even with a helmet, pads and all the protection in the world, do you want to ride down Burlington?
Downtown has a myriad of problems that need to be addressed- but the basic question we need to be asking ourselves is a simple one: what's going to bring more people back downtown?
Making parking more inconvenient isn't going to do it.
Kids, I'll be honest. I was going to make this a rant about how effing stupid the City Council is this town can be- and how our economic development policy- such as it is, seems to consist of drenching everything in gasoline and playing with a zippo lighter. But I've decided not to do this- I've decided to take a good, hard look at the arguments for an against this foolishness.
For: people should do their shit and move the eff along. That seems to be the general notion behind this- they want to try and free up short term meters on the street so that more people can get in and out and this, numerically speaking, I suppose would get more people into downtown Iowa City. Really and truly, the Court Street and Chauncey Swan Ramps are cheaper and really not that far from downtown when you think about it. People could actually, for a refreshing change of pace walk one to two blocks to their destination.
Or people could use mass transit. Iowa City does have a good bus system- if you really want to avoid the hassles of parking downtown (which are numerous) take a bus.
Against: Seriously? This is how we're going to scrape something out of what's left of downtown- by making it harder to park on the street? How has it come to this? A decade of gentrification has left downtown Iowa City essentially a smoking hole in the ground. No retail chains are going to want to move to a downtown where you have to pay for parking and where the rent is so astronomically high. No small businesses in their right minds would locate to downtown Iowa City for the same reason. Somehow, somewhere along the way the powers that be got this picture in their heads of a swanky, pricey downtown full of glass and steel condos and high end restaurants and thought it would be a good idea- but Iowa City has a shitload of restaurants downtown already and any Doctors here for the longterm will pick Walnut Ridge over Plaza Towers any day of the week.
So how do we square the circle? How do we begin to reverse a decade of foolishness? It won't be easy- it might take another decade or more, but we've got to seriously ask the question: what's going to bring people back downtown? Given a choice between driving to Coralville and parking for free or driving downtown and spending 20 minutes looking for a parking spot that you then have to pay for, people will pick Coralville every time. Free parking on weekends! Sure, you could argue that the City will lose revenue if they go that way- but if we can't bring people back downtown then the City will be losing revenue anyway because no one will be shopping in downtown Iowa City.
There's more to the story than just free parking on weekends though. We need more parking as well- and this is where the University comes in. Lot 11 is a massive waste of space. Take it, add one level to the whole damn thing and you've increased parking for University staff, students and employees in a big way. Add 2 levels and there's even more space. If you move the WRAC house, you can dynamite that festering turd of a parking ramp opposite the IMU and build a bigger one over there. (Which if they put a future Art Museum either in Halsey Hall or on top of it or some weird combination of both- thus putting the main entrance on the Anne Cleary Walkway, would benefit the IMU and any new UIMA that's built.)
We also need more bike racks downtown and bike lanes on Burlington. If we really want to encourage people to use alternative means of transportation, we've got to make room for cyclists on Burlington. To me, it's the biggest downside to biking downtown. Even with a helmet, pads and all the protection in the world, do you want to ride down Burlington?
Downtown has a myriad of problems that need to be addressed- but the basic question we need to be asking ourselves is a simple one: what's going to bring more people back downtown?
Making parking more inconvenient isn't going to do it.
Lost In Translation
Saw this on the FB feed this morning... I'm no fashionista by any stretch of the imagination, but this article reads like a slap-dash, who gives a shit type of an article all because the author in question wanted to find some relevant to say about Iowa and fashion.
Epic fail. Like I said, I'm no expert, but the epitomy of Iowa isn't to be found at the State Fair. Shitloads of people go, yes, but I think our fair state is defined by something more than our state fair. Perfect example of coastal close-mindedness getting lost in translation out here in the boonies...
Epic fail. Like I said, I'm no expert, but the epitomy of Iowa isn't to be found at the State Fair. Shitloads of people go, yes, but I think our fair state is defined by something more than our state fair. Perfect example of coastal close-mindedness getting lost in translation out here in the boonies...
Thanks For The Heads-Up, Canada
The Great White North has issued this public health warning.
I don't know whether to laugh or just furrow my brows in bewilderment... people actually buy this stuff online? Can't you just go down to your local watering hole, find a friendly man and get some for free? (Oh, and just incase you were wondering, there's the answer to this itching, burning question as well.)
I don't know whether to laugh or just furrow my brows in bewilderment... people actually buy this stuff online? Can't you just go down to your local watering hole, find a friendly man and get some for free? (Oh, and just incase you were wondering, there's the answer to this itching, burning question as well.)
Friday, August 26, 2011
Pataki Waves Off
Thank God.
Not that I had anything against George Pataki, per say- but if things keep going then we're going to get Al Smith and Wendell Wilkie throwing their (probably somewhat decomposed) hats into the ring. Ironically, the way the economy and President Obama's numbers are trending a Wilkie/Smith ticket might actually win in 2012.
Not that I had anything against George Pataki, per say- but if things keep going then we're going to get Al Smith and Wendell Wilkie throwing their (probably somewhat decomposed) hats into the ring. Ironically, the way the economy and President Obama's numbers are trending a Wilkie/Smith ticket might actually win in 2012.
Man's Best Friend
I go back and forth on the age old issue of dogs versus cats. Cats are smaller, more independent minded and can survive on their own without too much trouble. They can be friendly, loving and affectionate- but only when they want to be. They gotta pencil you in.
Dogs... dogs are different. They take more management- but they are, without fail going to be happy as all git out to see you when you walk through the door after work. Cats might wander over- but only to see if they can make a break out the front door so they can roll around in the grass and stuff. Dogs are loyal and they're always there for you...
It's an age old debate- dogs versus cats. Personally I think there are pluses to both animals- which is why I several of both. But then I saw this...
Wow. I don't care if you're the most hard-bitten, dead-inside, souless son of a bitch on the face of the planet. If this doesn't make you tear up a little bit, then we've found the Terminator sent back in time to kill us all.
Cats wouldn't do this, that's for sure.
Dogs... dogs are different. They take more management- but they are, without fail going to be happy as all git out to see you when you walk through the door after work. Cats might wander over- but only to see if they can make a break out the front door so they can roll around in the grass and stuff. Dogs are loyal and they're always there for you...
It's an age old debate- dogs versus cats. Personally I think there are pluses to both animals- which is why I several of both. But then I saw this...
Wow. I don't care if you're the most hard-bitten, dead-inside, souless son of a bitch on the face of the planet. If this doesn't make you tear up a little bit, then we've found the Terminator sent back in time to kill us all.
Cats wouldn't do this, that's for sure.
1 More Crazy Thing From Libya
The Golden Fist is down... and, you know the daughter of Gadafi's that we supposedly killed during our brutal, imperialistic attack on his humble Presidential palace?
Yeah, she's alive, I guess.
I have to admit, when I heard the story about how our bombing raid had killed the Colonel's six month old daughter back in the day I have to admit, I kind of understood why he didn't like us so much. Could you blame the guy- his six month old got killed be a stray bomb. That doesn't excuse his tyranny or his general craziness- but I could kind of see a solid reason for why he might resent us a little bit.
But now-- yeah, now he's just a tool that faked the death of a baby to score political points in his creepy cult of personality. May he be found- and soon!
Busy Week For The East Coast
First there was shakin and quakin... now there's a Hurricane to worry about.
Stay safe, everyone!
Bonus For Us Midwesterners: If it can happen on the East Coast, it can happen here- gonna have to remind the wife to check on adding an Earthquake rider to the home insurance- don't think it's all that pricey.
Stay safe, everyone!
Bonus For Us Midwesterners: If it can happen on the East Coast, it can happen here- gonna have to remind the wife to check on adding an Earthquake rider to the home insurance- don't think it's all that pricey.
2 Things From Libya
At a certain point, I think I'll have something more detailed to say about what's going on in Libya- but events are moving way too fast- but as of this morning, there are a couple of things worth mentioning...
First, Colonel Nutbag was really worried about a full US Invasion. I don't think he should have been- even if McCain would have won, only the most idiotic politician would have put boots on the ground for a full-scale third land war in the Middle East. I think McCain would have been less wishy-washy and more unilateral about our involvement- and certainly more forceful, but Obama deserves credit for getting behind British and French efforts to intervene and giving the whole thing a much needed shove in the right direction. Had we stayed in, we could have wrapped this thing up real quick- but that's another story.
Second, apparently Colonel Nutbag had a thing for Condi Rice. Who knew?
At this point, I'd have to say it's looking increasingly like a done deal for the Libyan NTC- there's Sirte, but things in Tripoli are looking increasingly stable by all reports.
But watch AJE, Al-Arabiya and the Beeb- just in case things change on us again.
First, Colonel Nutbag was really worried about a full US Invasion. I don't think he should have been- even if McCain would have won, only the most idiotic politician would have put boots on the ground for a full-scale third land war in the Middle East. I think McCain would have been less wishy-washy and more unilateral about our involvement- and certainly more forceful, but Obama deserves credit for getting behind British and French efforts to intervene and giving the whole thing a much needed shove in the right direction. Had we stayed in, we could have wrapped this thing up real quick- but that's another story.
Second, apparently Colonel Nutbag had a thing for Condi Rice. Who knew?
At this point, I'd have to say it's looking increasingly like a done deal for the Libyan NTC- there's Sirte, but things in Tripoli are looking increasingly stable by all reports.
But watch AJE, Al-Arabiya and the Beeb- just in case things change on us again.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Hooch, Man #2: Templeton, Iowa
I'm a huge fan of whiskey- including Iowa's very own homegrown 'good stuff'- so, being the wonderful wife that she is, the Missus suggested we take a mini-vacay to take a tour of the Templeton Rye distillery in Templeton, Iowa. Needless to say- it was awesome! I got a free shot glass and a lot of insight into the history and process that goes into making 'the good stuff.'
...standing outside the Distillery.
...a barrel outside the Distillery.
...on the production floor. (Templeton Rye's comeback went big-time real fast, so they eventually went into partnership with a distillery in Indiana, where the majority of the work is done now- but they do specialty spirits and some of the work here at Templeton still. They don't have the space to do the mass production the demand calls for these days- but the Templeton Distillery is where it all started.)
...bottling the glorious liquid!
...getting the labels on there!
...trusty volunteers hand labeling each bottle with the batch number and the date it was bottled. Then boxing them up for shipment!
Don't know much about Iowa's shady Prohibition history? If you look carefully at the center panel of the headstone where the name of the local Catholic Priest is written, you might notice some screws. That's because the center of this headstone is hollow- and was used during Prohibition as a pick up/drop off point for illicit booze. (Templeton Rye has long cultivated a reputation as Al Capone's favorite hooch- and sure enough, local lore has it that he came to a nearby farm to check out the operation, back in the day.)
All in all, it was pretty damn cool. Iowa doesn't have a lot of distilleries- but Templeton Rye is a high quality whiskey and an operation that seems intent on always honoring and remembering its Iowa roots. If you're not a fan of whiskey and you stumble across a bottle of this stuff in a store and if you've got cash in your pocket, snag a bottle and try some. If you don't develop a taste for the stuff, then you'll know somebody else who'll take it off your hands- because everybody loves, 'the good stuff.'
...standing outside the Distillery.
...a barrel outside the Distillery.
...on the production floor. (Templeton Rye's comeback went big-time real fast, so they eventually went into partnership with a distillery in Indiana, where the majority of the work is done now- but they do specialty spirits and some of the work here at Templeton still. They don't have the space to do the mass production the demand calls for these days- but the Templeton Distillery is where it all started.)
...bottling the glorious liquid!
...getting the labels on there!
...trusty volunteers hand labeling each bottle with the batch number and the date it was bottled. Then boxing them up for shipment!
Don't know much about Iowa's shady Prohibition history? If you look carefully at the center panel of the headstone where the name of the local Catholic Priest is written, you might notice some screws. That's because the center of this headstone is hollow- and was used during Prohibition as a pick up/drop off point for illicit booze. (Templeton Rye has long cultivated a reputation as Al Capone's favorite hooch- and sure enough, local lore has it that he came to a nearby farm to check out the operation, back in the day.)
All in all, it was pretty damn cool. Iowa doesn't have a lot of distilleries- but Templeton Rye is a high quality whiskey and an operation that seems intent on always honoring and remembering its Iowa roots. If you're not a fan of whiskey and you stumble across a bottle of this stuff in a store and if you've got cash in your pocket, snag a bottle and try some. If you don't develop a taste for the stuff, then you'll know somebody else who'll take it off your hands- because everybody loves, 'the good stuff.'
No More Back In Black?
I recently read an impassioned letter in the Daily Iowan proposing that AC/DC's 'Back In Black' be replaced as Herky's entrance song at football games by English Rock Band Slade's song 'Run Runaway'... the writer urged students and fans to venture to YouTube to check out the song- a song he thought could eventually be as iconic As Virginia Tech's use of Metallica's 'Enter Sandman.'
Well, I took his advice and went to Youtube and listened. Upon some reflection, I would have to admit, it'd be an out of the box choice for the Hawkeyes. The bagpipes bring to mind a foot stomping, raucous, booze-fueled atmosphere- which is what usually prevails at football games. It speaks of good times and fun- but I gotta say, it's kind of cheerful. When you think of football teams and the songs some of them use, you want a certain amount of hardcore badassery on tap to get everyone psyched up. While fun, Slade doesn't really do badass all that well. They do rock pretty hard in a 70s kind of way, but the badass factor is lacking...
But I sort of agree with his sentiment- sometimes, traditions do need to be freshened up- and embracing a new one might not be that bad of an idea. Take basketball for instance- while Herky's traditional entrance to the theme from Superman might be familiar to fans, it's hardly the badass tune you want to get fans pumped up. Why not continue with the AC/DC theme and use 'Thunderstruck'?
Or why mess with tradition at all...
Challenge Accepted, Quiet Man...
(And yes, I totally stole your pic.)
So, I noticed that Rick's Grill on 1st Avenue had been replaced by 2 Dogs Pub a couple of days ago in the Press-Citizen and the thought came to me... has anyone actually done a comprehensive review of Iowa City's Townie Bars? All we hear about in our fair city is the vomit encrusted menace of the binge drinking culture downtown. We tend to overlook the watering holes at our periphery- the ones safely out of reach of the college students- so Quiet Man, I say let's saddle up and do this thing!
Personally, I would say any bar outside the accepted boundaries of downtown would probably safely qualify. Socio-economic status to me is irrelevant- and while I hadn't thought to include Coralville and North Liberty, a truly thorough examination should probably include our neighbors. The real question we've got to wrestle with is an interesting one: what actually defines downtown Iowa City?
I think (roughly) everything south of Iowa Avenue and north of Burlington Street- but this poses a problem. I've never really considered the bars in the North Side Neighborhood (The Foxhead, IC Ugly's, George's) to be 'downtown bars.' They weren't totally Townie Bars, but they were, I don't know- 'frontier bars' on the border of downtown and Townie-land. And I guess if those bars aren't 'downtown bars' then what I've decided to dub 'The Gilbert Street Experience' (Sanctuary, Orchard Green, Sam's Pizza, The Piano Lounge, Hawkeye Hideway and Old Capitol Brewworks) fell into the same category. We'll have to see if The Quiet Man agrees, but perhaps 'frontier bars' could be reviewed as their own groups- or perhaps a starting point?
Off the top of my head, in Iowa City we've got:
Blackstone
Wildwood
Hilltop Tavern
Shakespeare's
2 Dogs Pub
American Legion
Eagle's
Caliente
...any more?
I'm not all that familiar with Coralville and North Liberty- but I know Red's Ale House in North Liberty gets a lot of positive buzz.
Let's do this thing!
How To Solve The Debt Crisis, Step 1
Apparently Ben Bernanke and the Fed lent the banks up to 1.2 trillion dollars of public money to keep them afloat. Step one to getting us out of this mess should therefore be obvious:
Make them pay it back!
Then we'll only have 12.8 trillion dollars of debt to worry about.
Make them pay it back!
Then we'll only have 12.8 trillion dollars of debt to worry about.
Take Me Home Tonight-- A Review
This was an oddly impressive movie. Most of the time, when you see raunchy sex-comedies with that certain neon, dayglow aura about them, you expect them to be half-assed rip offs of the 80s teen sex comedy genre (if that can actually rise to the level of a genre) but Take Me Home Tonight achieved the rare feat of actually seeming less like an homage to the glories of 1980s cinema and actually seeming like it was elbowing its way into the genre itself- albeit 2 decades after the fact.
The plot is, of course, totally familiar. Mid-20s burnout Matt Franklin (Topher Grace) went to MIT, but hates engineering and winds up working at Suncoast Video. His parents- especially Dad (played by Michael Biehn! Awesome to see him again in something) are pressuring him to actually get off his ass and do something with his life. His twin sister Wendy (Anna Faris) is on the verge of either marrying her longtime boyfriend or potentially getting into graduate school in England and even best friend Barry (Dan Fogler) despite losing his job as a car salesman seems to have it more together than Matt does. Enter high school crush Tori Fredreking (Teresa Palmer) whom Matt has harbored a longtime, unrequited crush on since high school.
Because this is essentially an 80s Comedy released in 2011, we all know what happens next, right? There's a wild party- Matt tries to make himself cool by saying that he works at Goldman Sachs to try and get the girl There's cocaine, booze, boobs, wacky hijinks involving a gigantic metal ball and a stolen Mercedes-Benz and in the end, everyone discovers their zest for life and Matt, while he might not actually get the girl- at least gets her phone number and a little bit of courage to go out into the world and try to make something of himself. In other words, pick your heartwarming ending to any 80s comedy and insert here.
I know, I know- this seems like it should be totally unbearable. And yet it's not- the soundtrack kicks some major ass (any movie made after 1989 that includes 'The Safety Dance' on its soundtrack automatically kicks ass!) and all in all while it doesn't manage to be as original as it tries to be, it certainly is original enough not to seem like a total rip-off or lame homage to the 80s comedy genre.
Overall *** out of ****: An amusing trip back to the glories of the late 1980s. Funny- and while I might not plonk down 15 bucks to buy this thing, it's worth a buck to snag it from a RedBox if you're looking for a movie to watch.
Puttin' The Royal Back...
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's recent decision to add the word 'Royal' back to the official titles of the Canadian Armed Forces isn't going over all that well in many quarters. French Canadians are upset because of it's ties to the British Monarchy. Liberal Canadians are upset because it's a reversal of a decades long policy of promoting Canadian independence and nationalism.
The original policy dated back to 1968 when the Liberal Government removed the Royal label and merged the military commands into one, joint command- the Canadian forces- even putting all the services in the same green uniform. That wasn't wildly popular in the military ranks- at the uniform policy was eventually reversed by Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in the late 80s- Harper's change seems to be aimed at a couple of things- one is a nod to history. Canadians that fought and died during WWI and WWII didn't do it under the moniker of the 'Canadian Forces' they were the Royal Canadian Armed Forces. Second, he also seems to be intent on rolling back decades of Liberal rule and destroying the notion that the Liberals are 'the natural party for government' in Canada.
Which is why I'm cautiously in favor of this. Yes, really, at this point, Canada should be more Canadian and the Queen should be an afterthought if anything at all- but there's a growing distance between Ontario and the rest of Canada that could be redressed somewhat by Harper's (albeit ideologically and politically motivated) moves. Ontario has all the money and the population and has been giving gobs of money to Quebec for decades now. The Western Provinces (more Conservative, funnily enough) hate that. Adding the 'Royal' back may piss off Ontario Liberals- but if it convinces Conservative more traditional minded Canadians that someone in Ottawa gives a damn, then Canada as a whole, I think benefits.
And you know what- I'm a little biased, I'll admit, but I'm down with monarchies and Parliamentary democracies. The best argument in favor of both supposedly antiquated institutions: the United States Government. (Seriously- I don't understand when various people in the UK, Canada or Australia bitch about not getting to pick their head of state. We do that every four years and always fuck it up. And if you think an American style Presidential system is more fair, more democratic and more representative of the people- please stop thinking that. History and tradition exist for a reason. Symbols exist for a reason. Someday they might have run their course, I'll grant you that- but it ain't today and you shouldn't throw 'em away on a whim.)
The original policy dated back to 1968 when the Liberal Government removed the Royal label and merged the military commands into one, joint command- the Canadian forces- even putting all the services in the same green uniform. That wasn't wildly popular in the military ranks- at the uniform policy was eventually reversed by Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in the late 80s- Harper's change seems to be aimed at a couple of things- one is a nod to history. Canadians that fought and died during WWI and WWII didn't do it under the moniker of the 'Canadian Forces' they were the Royal Canadian Armed Forces. Second, he also seems to be intent on rolling back decades of Liberal rule and destroying the notion that the Liberals are 'the natural party for government' in Canada.
Which is why I'm cautiously in favor of this. Yes, really, at this point, Canada should be more Canadian and the Queen should be an afterthought if anything at all- but there's a growing distance between Ontario and the rest of Canada that could be redressed somewhat by Harper's (albeit ideologically and politically motivated) moves. Ontario has all the money and the population and has been giving gobs of money to Quebec for decades now. The Western Provinces (more Conservative, funnily enough) hate that. Adding the 'Royal' back may piss off Ontario Liberals- but if it convinces Conservative more traditional minded Canadians that someone in Ottawa gives a damn, then Canada as a whole, I think benefits.
And you know what- I'm a little biased, I'll admit, but I'm down with monarchies and Parliamentary democracies. The best argument in favor of both supposedly antiquated institutions: the United States Government. (Seriously- I don't understand when various people in the UK, Canada or Australia bitch about not getting to pick their head of state. We do that every four years and always fuck it up. And if you think an American style Presidential system is more fair, more democratic and more representative of the people- please stop thinking that. History and tradition exist for a reason. Symbols exist for a reason. Someday they might have run their course, I'll grant you that- but it ain't today and you shouldn't throw 'em away on a whim.)
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Intriguing
I guess there's a 'sports pub' opening up on the SE Side of Iowa City where the old Rick's Grill and Spirits used to be. It sounds intriguing and brings to mind an interesting idea. Has anyone actually done a comprehensive review of the townie bars of Iowa City? Everybody has their favorite downtown haunts- but out in the boonies, there are some gems as well.
Perhaps someone should do that.
What say you, Quiet Man?
Perhaps someone should do that.
What say you, Quiet Man?
Well, It Would Have Been Nice...
...if I could have done all this when I was a freshman at Iowa. I guess Mary Sue Coleman wasn't down with the solidarity, 'let's all explore our identity as the Class of 2015' type of thing. It kind of blew my mind last year when they started doing this On Iowa! business (or upping the Weeks of Welcome stuff- I don't know if they were calling it On Iowa! last year) that they made all the new frosh go. It's required. The wifey mentioned that they needed a medical excuse to get out of it!
Isn't that wild? We were all kind of dumped into the college experience and left to fend for ourselves in the brutal realities of the cold, hard world. We all figured it out- and I took advantage of the excellent Courses In Common option for the first semester to make a few friendships that still stick with me today.
I guess this is that writ large- especially since it was in Kinnick. It's not the worst idea in the world- and as Iowa and the rest of the state universities are seeing upticks in enrollment, they have the luxury of doing whatever the heck they want, I guess.
The cynic in me has to point out that 10 years from now, higher ed is going to be- or should be a lot leaner, meaner and more to the point, cheaper for people- whether it's through draconian cuts when the costs of college crash the 'market' for higher ed or whether it's through forward thinking schools trying to stay ahead of that curve, change is coming. Some conversations on how to hold down costs would be nice to hear from Our Glorious Leader and his Republicrat Minions in Des Moines. Not to mention dear old Sally and the Board of Regents.
Isn't that wild? We were all kind of dumped into the college experience and left to fend for ourselves in the brutal realities of the cold, hard world. We all figured it out- and I took advantage of the excellent Courses In Common option for the first semester to make a few friendships that still stick with me today.
I guess this is that writ large- especially since it was in Kinnick. It's not the worst idea in the world- and as Iowa and the rest of the state universities are seeing upticks in enrollment, they have the luxury of doing whatever the heck they want, I guess.
The cynic in me has to point out that 10 years from now, higher ed is going to be- or should be a lot leaner, meaner and more to the point, cheaper for people- whether it's through draconian cuts when the costs of college crash the 'market' for higher ed or whether it's through forward thinking schools trying to stay ahead of that curve, change is coming. Some conversations on how to hold down costs would be nice to hear from Our Glorious Leader and his Republicrat Minions in Des Moines. Not to mention dear old Sally and the Board of Regents.
Good Features, P-C...
Is it me, or is the Press-Citizen upping it's game a little bit? I suppose that's relative, depending on how you look at it- but first they had Iowa City Off Limits and now they're doing 3 Days On The Iowa River.
Fascinating stuff- though I do think City High's belltower should have gotten more than like 3 measley pictures and they missed out on some interesting opportunities- like City High's rifle range or the Penthouses on top of Slater and Rienow... and I love how the first picture the photog took at Hancher was of a Women's Restroom. Hahahahahaha!
Fascinating stuff- though I do think City High's belltower should have gotten more than like 3 measley pictures and they missed out on some interesting opportunities- like City High's rifle range or the Penthouses on top of Slater and Rienow... and I love how the first picture the photog took at Hancher was of a Women's Restroom. Hahahahahaha!
Republicrat Rant #1: On Evolution
Just in time for election season, I'll be sounding off on the more irritating aspects of the two party system every so often. Enjoy- and please, disgree with me!
Evolution. Can't we all just agree that it's a theory and understanding how theories work is an important concept for our children to understand- especially if our goal is a scientifically literate workforce for the 21st Century?
You would have thought that this would be a no-brainer, but apparently politicians love to pander to the Christian fundamentalists that still have issues with evolution, even after all this time. Rick Perry, newly minted upper tier front runner for the Republican nomination waded into this mess saying:
It's time to stop pandering to religious Fundamentalism sit down and have the following conversation:
Evolution is a theory and not a fact. (Those damn stickers that Republicans put on textbooks make me absolutely insane with rage. It's called the effing THEORY of evolution! Not the FACT of evolution! Grrrrr...) If any science teachers in any school of any kind in this country are saying otherwise, they should be fired. And you know how many science teachers you will find saying that? Absolutely none. (I'm willing to bet money on it.)
Theories are when people look at all the available evidence and say 'this is the best we can come up with.' Science- or more specifically Charles Darwin looked at this question and came up with the theory of evolution which was the best science could do at the time and nothing has beaten it since! My limited crude understanding of the scientific method is that any theory, in order to be rigorous must be able to be tested. In other words- for any given theory, scientists have a duty to try and prove it wrong! (If they care too...) So all the religious fundies out there freaking out about this- stop undermining science education and tell your kids to say their prayers, read their Bible and study hard in science class because you want a better explanation for how we all got here.
Evolution and belief in God are not mutually exclusive. Like Governor Goodhair (bless the late, great Molly Ivins for that excellent nickname!) said- God could have done over a long period of time or in the blink of an eye. Anything is possible. But that also said- intelligent design does NOT belong in a science classroom. Faith cannot be subjected to the scientific method- nor should it be, since such examination would ultimately undermine faith itself. Leave creationism (because let's not fool ourselves, that's what ID is) in the Bible. You can be a fantastic Christian with faith that will move mountains and still be scientifically literate and accept the theory of evolution. It's time to stop pretending otherwise.
Evolution. Can't we all just agree that it's a theory and understanding how theories work is an important concept for our children to understand- especially if our goal is a scientifically literate workforce for the 21st Century?
You would have thought that this would be a no-brainer, but apparently politicians love to pander to the Christian fundamentalists that still have issues with evolution, even after all this time. Rick Perry, newly minted upper tier front runner for the Republican nomination waded into this mess saying:
Rick Perry continued to voice skepticism about evolution during a campaign stop in South Carolina Friday, telling a supporter "God is how we got here."And while there's nothing technically wrong with what he said- or theologically either- I myself tend to view the Higher Power as the prime mover in the evolutionary process it's the wishy-washy pandering that makes me crazy. Evolution is a theory that 'has some gaps in it?' Are you serious? Are you an evolutionary biologist now? Are you remotely qualified to say that?
On Thursday, in New Hampshire, Perry told a woman and her son that he regarded evolution as "a theory that's out there" and one that's "got some gaps in it.”
When a woman in South Carolina congratulated him for his remarks Friday, Perry replied “Well, God is how we got here. God may have done it in the blink of the eye or he may have done it over this long period of time, I don't know. But I know how it got started."
It's time to stop pandering to religious Fundamentalism sit down and have the following conversation:
Evolution is a theory and not a fact. (Those damn stickers that Republicans put on textbooks make me absolutely insane with rage. It's called the effing THEORY of evolution! Not the FACT of evolution! Grrrrr...) If any science teachers in any school of any kind in this country are saying otherwise, they should be fired. And you know how many science teachers you will find saying that? Absolutely none. (I'm willing to bet money on it.)
Theories are when people look at all the available evidence and say 'this is the best we can come up with.' Science- or more specifically Charles Darwin looked at this question and came up with the theory of evolution which was the best science could do at the time and nothing has beaten it since! My limited crude understanding of the scientific method is that any theory, in order to be rigorous must be able to be tested. In other words- for any given theory, scientists have a duty to try and prove it wrong! (If they care too...) So all the religious fundies out there freaking out about this- stop undermining science education and tell your kids to say their prayers, read their Bible and study hard in science class because you want a better explanation for how we all got here.
Evolution and belief in God are not mutually exclusive. Like Governor Goodhair (bless the late, great Molly Ivins for that excellent nickname!) said- God could have done over a long period of time or in the blink of an eye. Anything is possible. But that also said- intelligent design does NOT belong in a science classroom. Faith cannot be subjected to the scientific method- nor should it be, since such examination would ultimately undermine faith itself. Leave creationism (because let's not fool ourselves, that's what ID is) in the Bible. You can be a fantastic Christian with faith that will move mountains and still be scientifically literate and accept the theory of evolution. It's time to stop pretending otherwise.
Friday, August 19, 2011
Speaking Of Tone Deaf
...an uber-ridiculous wedding... or, a Martha's Vineyard Vacation in the middle of a horrible economic recession?
Which is more tone deaf?
(Now, I'm not trying to judge- but when the Royal Family of all people is making an effort to cut back, fly coach, trim budgets and lead by example- as much as they can, might it not be an idea for celebrities/politicians on this side of the Atlantic to do the same.)
Which is more tone deaf?
(Now, I'm not trying to judge- but when the Royal Family of all people is making an effort to cut back, fly coach, trim budgets and lead by example- as much as they can, might it not be an idea for celebrities/politicians on this side of the Atlantic to do the same.)
2 Awesome Science Links
First: courtesy of- who else, the Great Guru Instapundit- PopSci's 25 Most Awesome Science Labs. (I like #1, 24,21,16 and 7.)
Second: because you've always wanted to know... how to survive an accidental trip over Niagara Falls.
Second: because you've always wanted to know... how to survive an accidental trip over Niagara Falls.
Syria Still Aflame
President Assad was unmoved by yesterday's calls from the United States, Britain, France and Germany for him to leave power- though he did claim that all military action against his people had ceased- only to turn around and shoot 14 of them dead today. And that toll has probably gone up since I first read the article earlier this morning...
The jury is still out on the Assad regime. The latest sanctions will pinch and the fact that the opposition looks to be trying to unite into a broad coalition against him- but the pressure is growing. Gadafi looks to be crumbling fast and Saleh isn't even in Yemen anymore- so maybe Assad just think's he's doing OK, when in fact, he's not.
The jury is still out on the Assad regime. The latest sanctions will pinch and the fact that the opposition looks to be trying to unite into a broad coalition against him- but the pressure is growing. Gadafi looks to be crumbling fast and Saleh isn't even in Yemen anymore- so maybe Assad just think's he's doing OK, when in fact, he's not.
Bigger Bang (Not As Dirty As You Might Think)
The US Military has developed a 'bigger bang.'
Insert any dirty jokes you would like here.
Insert any dirty jokes you would like here.
West Memphis Three Are Free
Apparently this is a big deal. (And reading the article it really does sound like a very big deal- DNA testing is a wonderful thing.)
Something New Downtown
Someone in Iowa City is actually thinking. I'm surprised... I guess there's a burger joint opening upstairs in the Old Capitol Mall. It's got it's eyes on franchising if successful- and I guess they steam the meat in a closed griddle? Oh, the weirdness!
And they don't have fries, apparently. Just chips. So I don't know what to think about that. But either way- it's a strangely intelligent move by someone- and hopefully Iowa City gives it a big vote of confidence. Although Shorts Burger and Shine will always serve the needs of a great burger, Iowa City hsa been without a good old fashioned fast food type of burger joint for far too long. (Burger King is now D.C.'s and Hardees- which I have to admit was a shitty Hardees was replaced by Brothers). Anyway, they're keeping it a big old secret b/c I didn't hear about it until today- and then, it was random happenstance that I did so...
I found some vague details on the web (seriously people, get wise to the interwebs- fast!) and will for sure give it a go when I get the chance. It's nice to see new businesses open up downtown that there's actually a little bit of room for.
(Editor's Note: lest some wrathful townie object, I know George's Burgers are supposed to be the BEST burgers in town- but I haven't gotten to try them yet and really, George's is in the Northside Neighborhood, not downtown. That might be splitting hairs- but that's the way I'm going to define it.)
It's nice to see, but let's follow it up with tangible progress. There's space down here for the development of shopping and a touch of retail if they play it right. Free parking on weekends would be a damn good start- ramps and meters- but I've heard whispers of chains like Urban Outfitters- that would be a nice, hip choice for downtown. Chains that are a little more counter-culture and not quite so plastic would fit in well- and retail that Coralville doesn't have, we should agressively try and get down here.
The key word there of course is agressively- and if they don't do the free parking on weekends, it'll all go to shit in a handbasket- because given a choice between paying to park and shop or driving to Coralville and parking for free, people will park for free.
And they don't have fries, apparently. Just chips. So I don't know what to think about that. But either way- it's a strangely intelligent move by someone- and hopefully Iowa City gives it a big vote of confidence. Although Shorts Burger and Shine will always serve the needs of a great burger, Iowa City hsa been without a good old fashioned fast food type of burger joint for far too long. (Burger King is now D.C.'s and Hardees- which I have to admit was a shitty Hardees was replaced by Brothers). Anyway, they're keeping it a big old secret b/c I didn't hear about it until today- and then, it was random happenstance that I did so...
I found some vague details on the web (seriously people, get wise to the interwebs- fast!) and will for sure give it a go when I get the chance. It's nice to see new businesses open up downtown that there's actually a little bit of room for.
(Editor's Note: lest some wrathful townie object, I know George's Burgers are supposed to be the BEST burgers in town- but I haven't gotten to try them yet and really, George's is in the Northside Neighborhood, not downtown. That might be splitting hairs- but that's the way I'm going to define it.)
It's nice to see, but let's follow it up with tangible progress. There's space down here for the development of shopping and a touch of retail if they play it right. Free parking on weekends would be a damn good start- ramps and meters- but I've heard whispers of chains like Urban Outfitters- that would be a nice, hip choice for downtown. Chains that are a little more counter-culture and not quite so plastic would fit in well- and retail that Coralville doesn't have, we should agressively try and get down here.
The key word there of course is agressively- and if they don't do the free parking on weekends, it'll all go to shit in a handbasket- because given a choice between paying to park and shop or driving to Coralville and parking for free, people will park for free.
Methinks You Doth Protest Too Much
OK, Republicans- you can't have it both ways. You can't rail against government waste and then get your panties in a bunch over frankly useless air subsidies that bankroll flights to rural airports- flights that, in many cases, don't have any passangers on them. Yea, verily, children this is what had kept the FAA shutdown for a few weeks until they did a deal on it.
Off with their heads! We can have government or less government and either way no cow is sacred and people are gonna have to get off their respective horses. Peeps in D.C. gotta worry about more than CYA, ya dig?
Off with their heads! We can have government or less government and either way no cow is sacred and people are gonna have to get off their respective horses. Peeps in D.C. gotta worry about more than CYA, ya dig?
Cy-Hawk Fail (Epic, Epic Fail)
The new Cy-Hawk Trophy has been revealed and kids, it's worse than we thought. It's this- a sculpting of a family talking together after a long day of work- a tribute to the citizens of Iowa.
It's a nice sentiment, I suppose- but I wonder who's coming home from work? Dad I'm guessing. And Mom will be waiting with their 2.5 children to greet them at the door and then they'll laugh and laugh and talk and talk and then sit down to a ridiculously large home cooked meal and it won't be until after Bobby and Janey are safely in bed that Dad will look around and wonder how he ended up in a bad episode of 'The Donna Reed Show.'
What does a nauseating Norman Rockwell ripoff have to do with Iowa? I think Iowa and I think corn, dammit. I don't think cliched Americana represents Iowa all that well and as a citizen of this state, I'm not feeling the love at all. Why can't anyone make a decent trophy anymore? Why does they always suck? Trophies should be iconic- a pitchfork for Iowa-Nebraska instead of this silly-ass Heroes Game nonsense. A bronzed ear of corn for Iowa-Iowa State instead of this ridiculously staged acid trip to Pleasantville. Maybe The Quiet Man is right- maybe trophies should happen organically, overtime- and not be auctioned off to the best contributer.
It's a nice sentiment, I suppose- but I wonder who's coming home from work? Dad I'm guessing. And Mom will be waiting with their 2.5 children to greet them at the door and then they'll laugh and laugh and talk and talk and then sit down to a ridiculously large home cooked meal and it won't be until after Bobby and Janey are safely in bed that Dad will look around and wonder how he ended up in a bad episode of 'The Donna Reed Show.'
What does a nauseating Norman Rockwell ripoff have to do with Iowa? I think Iowa and I think corn, dammit. I don't think cliched Americana represents Iowa all that well and as a citizen of this state, I'm not feeling the love at all. Why can't anyone make a decent trophy anymore? Why does they always suck? Trophies should be iconic- a pitchfork for Iowa-Nebraska instead of this silly-ass Heroes Game nonsense. A bronzed ear of corn for Iowa-Iowa State instead of this ridiculously staged acid trip to Pleasantville. Maybe The Quiet Man is right- maybe trophies should happen organically, overtime- and not be auctioned off to the best contributer.
Not A Persuasive Argument
Aliens may destroy us because of our greenhouse gas emissions... when I read this headline I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, quite honestly. First off, we need to determine if there are aliens out there. Secondly, if they are out there, why would they destroy us if we're doing a fantastic job destroying ourselves.
I remain unconvinced.
I remain unconvinced.
Monday, August 15, 2011
The Mainstreaming of Ron Paul
I'm not sure if I entirely buy the premise of this article from HuffPost. I think Paul is probably mainstream in the context of the Republican Party of today- after all, he's the standard bearer of the Party's Libertarian wing even as Romney represents the fiscal conservatives and Perry/Bachmann are competing for the social conservatives. Granted, there's a certain amount of crossover between these three 'wings' and certainly the Libertarian wing of the Republican Party has got to be feeling a certain amount of smug vindication, given the fact that a lot of Paul's views have proven correct.
But to me, 'mainstream' means 'electable' and I'm not yet convinced that Paul could win the election- or get the nomination. I think his views on foreign policy are archaic and not in our nation's best interest- and returning to the Gold Standard might make our current economic situation worse than it is already. The economics (of which I know very little, I'll freely admit) might say otherwise, but the market will freak on a return to the Gold Standard and given the fact that the United States, despite the current economic mess is still the world's premier economy, our return to the Gold Standard would send shockwaves world wide.
However, Paul is better organized, more mobilized and more mainstream than he was in 2008. If the Republican Party's mood shifts away from a three sided battle between Perry, Bachmann and Romney Paul could be the last man standing and if he out-organizes the other 3 (which he's capable of) then he could spring a surprise or two.
But to me, 'mainstream' means 'electable' and I'm not yet convinced that Paul could win the election- or get the nomination. I think his views on foreign policy are archaic and not in our nation's best interest- and returning to the Gold Standard might make our current economic situation worse than it is already. The economics (of which I know very little, I'll freely admit) might say otherwise, but the market will freak on a return to the Gold Standard and given the fact that the United States, despite the current economic mess is still the world's premier economy, our return to the Gold Standard would send shockwaves world wide.
However, Paul is better organized, more mobilized and more mainstream than he was in 2008. If the Republican Party's mood shifts away from a three sided battle between Perry, Bachmann and Romney Paul could be the last man standing and if he out-organizes the other 3 (which he's capable of) then he could spring a surprise or two.
LIbya On The Brink
The Libyan Rebels are on the verge of putting Gadhafi into a serious chokehold. In the west, they're fighting hard for the key town of Zawiya- if they can take it completely and more importantly, hold their gains, they'll have cut off Gadhafi's only supply line and if the oil terminals at Brega fall in the next couple of days, the capture of both towns will cut Gadhafi off from a fuel source as well.
Al-Jazeera is reporting that the Libyan Interior Minister has arrived in Cairo with his family members- and was not greeted by a member of the Embassy staff, which has rumors swirling that he's defected...
And now new rumors are flying that the rebels have been negotiating in secret with the government and that quite possibly, Gadhafi is ready to take a bow and head into exile. Whether that means he risks criminal prosecution by the ICC or not is something that has yet to be determined.
Barring a total rebel collapse in the west (Zawiya is do or die for the regime- I'd hope the rebels are expecting a heavy counterattck) which seems unlikely at this point, I think we can safely say that we're reaching an endgame to this conflict.
UPDATED: Eeeeesh... Gadhafi has fired a scud missile towards rebel territory. Fingers crossed that those rumored negotiations in Tunisia are more than rumors- and more to the point that the Colonel is looking for an exit strategy.
Al-Jazeera is reporting that the Libyan Interior Minister has arrived in Cairo with his family members- and was not greeted by a member of the Embassy staff, which has rumors swirling that he's defected...
And now new rumors are flying that the rebels have been negotiating in secret with the government and that quite possibly, Gadhafi is ready to take a bow and head into exile. Whether that means he risks criminal prosecution by the ICC or not is something that has yet to be determined.
Barring a total rebel collapse in the west (Zawiya is do or die for the regime- I'd hope the rebels are expecting a heavy counterattck) which seems unlikely at this point, I think we can safely say that we're reaching an endgame to this conflict.
UPDATED: Eeeeesh... Gadhafi has fired a scud missile towards rebel territory. Fingers crossed that those rumored negotiations in Tunisia are more than rumors- and more to the point that the Colonel is looking for an exit strategy.
Albums2010 #47: Tapestry
I have a confession to make, kids: my knowledge of Carole King is limited to the theme song for 'Gilmore Girls' and her guest appearances as the somewhat irritable owner of the Star's Hollow Music Shop, Sophie. But there's much more to Carole King than meets the eye. Take every female sing songwriter you've ever heard of and the Mother Guru of all them would be Carole King, the first, the original, the pioneer of the idea of the solo female singer-songwriter- and Tapestry is probably her finest hour.
But, before she got to Tapestry, she had already built a long and impressive resume as a songwriter, as one half of the writing team of Goffin and King- churning out her first number one 'Will You Love Me Tomorrow' at the age of 18 in 1961 (it was sung by The Shirelles) she went on to write for bands like Strawberry Alarm Clock and The Executives and having a fruitful working relationship with James Taylor who encouraged her to record her own album.
Tapestry... wow. I don't even know where to begin- I literally logged into Spotify, started from the top, turned up the volume and just relaxed to it. I'll be honest- I fell asleep it was such a beautiful, mellow, jazzy pieces of piano driven pop. From the word go to the end of the album, there's nothing out of place, not one clunker of a song or anything that doesn't sound, well, pretty damn good to the ear.
It opens with 'I Feel The Earth Move' followed by the melancholy 'So Far Away' and the blues infused piano perfection of 'It's Too Late.' Fans of James Taylor will recognize 'You've Got A Friend' a few tracks later and fans of Gilmore Girls will recognize the track after that, 'Where You Lead' and of course an entirely different take on 'You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman'- so much different from the Aretha Franklin version that I had heard. There's also another version of 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow'... This album turned out to be one of the most successful albums of all time- and there's a very good reason for that.
Overall **** out of ****: One talented woman and a piano take on the world and succeed! This is piano drenched songwriting goodness at it's best.
Mind The Map
Apparently, they're rethinking the classic map of the London tube... to be totally fair about it- they do have a point. The classic map (see above) doesn't really conform to the actual geography of London itself and apparently that's started to confuse some foreign visitors. (God knows why- I took a look at the new one and found it to be bizzare. The new one would be a lot more confusing to me.)
Normally, I'd be all for this. Inaccurate maps bother me (Google Maps, I'm still waiting for you to put South Sudan into your database! Get on that!) and I'm incapable of picking up a globe without examining it in great detail to figure out just how old and inaccurate it might be. But this, I'm going to take a pass on- everybody knows what the map looks like. I don't see how people could get confused by it. If it were the London ABOVE-ground, I could acknowledge how peeps might get confused- but given the fact that you're in a tube underground, it really doesn't matter whether the Tube map conforms to above ground geography or not- as long as it gets you to your destination.
The Super-Conferences are coming...
According to Scout.com. Their prediction for the Big 10, five years (their predicted timeline for the emergence of the Super Conferences) from now:
Whether it comes true or not, we'll have to wait and see and I hope that they're right and it preserves the bowl system while creating a monster elite 8/final 4 to battle it out for the national title. That's always been my major concern about the playoff idea- I think we sacrifice tradition and history way too quickly in this country and throwing out some of the old bowl classics in the name of a money making playoff would be stupid. (Though limiting the number of bowls might not be a bad idea. Do we really need a Meineke Car Care Bowl? At what point does a Bowl game stop being a post-season reward for a school and become a ridiculous, universal thing that basically rewards mediocrity in a lot of cases?)
But I think Scout.com hit the nail on the head: we may had dodged a bullet for now, but this is exactly where it's heading. So get ready.
LeadersCuriously, I don't hate this. I'd prefer that college football not be about money and media markets, but in a perfect world, I'd piss whiskey and shit solid gold bricks. I can see this actually going down. I know the Big 10 wants Notre Dame. They want to create more natural rivalries for Penn State (see: Pitt, Syracuse and Rutgers) and Illinois (see: Mizzou.) About the only afterthought in all of this is poor Iowa State- but they've got to go somewhere and the Conference has, thankfully, been pretty good about wanting to stay in their geographic footprint.
Indiana, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, Pitt, Purdue, Rutgers, Syracuse, Wisconsin
Legends
Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska
Whether it comes true or not, we'll have to wait and see and I hope that they're right and it preserves the bowl system while creating a monster elite 8/final 4 to battle it out for the national title. That's always been my major concern about the playoff idea- I think we sacrifice tradition and history way too quickly in this country and throwing out some of the old bowl classics in the name of a money making playoff would be stupid. (Though limiting the number of bowls might not be a bad idea. Do we really need a Meineke Car Care Bowl? At what point does a Bowl game stop being a post-season reward for a school and become a ridiculous, universal thing that basically rewards mediocrity in a lot of cases?)
But I think Scout.com hit the nail on the head: we may had dodged a bullet for now, but this is exactly where it's heading. So get ready.
10 Ways To Fix The Budget
A not-too bad looking list from Robert Samuelson in the Washington Post. I pretty much agree with most of his suggestions but the trick is going to be getting Congress to agree to anything remotely resembling this. The White House is apparently floating a 'Department of Jobs' (party like it's 1933, biatches!) and commentators are already predicting gridlock on the ridiculous Super Committee they set up.
I'd be OK with this list though...
I'd be OK with this list though...
Sunday, August 14, 2011
America's Supercop...
...should probably stay in America. But nooooo, Bill Bratton- who, I admit has an impressive resume, having been Chief of Police in Los Angeles, Boston and New York is continuing to insist that he can 'lead the British police out of a crisis.'
Call me crazy, but can you really lay this mess at the feet of the police? It's hard to wrap your heads around sitting over here in America, but in Europe- the United Kingdom included, welfare benefits are generous enough that you can live comfortably off them (as in get a house and feed your family, not some cruddy apartments, powdered milk, malt-o-meal and Wild Turkey from the local supermarket). As a result, a whole culture of not working or even bothering to work has sprung up. So when the government runs out of other people's money, those people get a little pissed off...
And it's fundamentally contradictory what happens as a result. As one of the fam pointed out via Facebook rant, the rioters were burning down the businesses of taxpayers that pay the taxes that fund the welfare benefits they take advantage of. Britain's police force is more than up to the task- it's Britain's politician that have some work to do. Some radical notions:
First of all, recognize that individuals have a right to defend themselves, their families and their properties by deadly force if necessary- it's time to loosen the gun restrictions. As a member of the generation that grew up during the Columbine era here in America, I'll admit that my stance on gun rights is an ever evolving position, but I think Britain is in a better position to loosen their laws than America is to tighten theirs. Rifles, shotguns and handguns- all limited by barrel length and caliber could all be legalized. Everyone would need to go through a background check (responsible gun ownership means proving you're not crazy) and if someone suggest importing that fine, loony tradition of gunshows and their loopholes, tell them no.
Think I'm crazy- look at what happened in Koreatown during the 1992 LA Riots... the community and the business owners went out in force to defend their property from looters- packing such wonderful things as Ar-10s and Uzis reportedly. That might be overkill, but it's a rock solid guarantee that if those London looters had run into a store only to be confronted with the barrel of say, a shotgun, you might well have seen less looting- once word got around.
Second of all, Britain, like all the industrialized nations is standing on the edge of a demographic disaster. If David Cameron really wants to be a great Prime Minister, reforming the welfare state should be his target and he shouldn't be shy about it. Go big or go home- because wishy-washyness is unlikely to be respected by voters (as President Obama has been finding out lately) and it's better to reform now when you've got wiggle room than do something truly harsh when the money finally does run out.
Finally, Bratton might have a resume as long as your arm- but law enforcement is facing a new challenge that's going to take a lot of creativity to solve. How do police respond effectively to riots that are fast moving and mobilized via Blackberry or other forms of social media? If the primary concern of law enforcement is ensuring officer safety- how do you mobilize enough officers, equip them properly and get them to where they need to go before the rioters have dispersed and moved onto a new target? There's been a rise in flashmob attacks in America's inner cities this past summer that seems to indicate the trend of fast moving, internet directed riots isn't confined to either the UK or the US. And if the riots of the future are going to be fast moving and fluid- how can law enforcement mobilize and respond even faster?
Might be my piss-poor, distant view from the peanut gallery across the Atlantic, but from the sentiments I'm seeing on Facebook, from the stuff I'm reading in multiple press sources- from the uber-left Guardian to the uber-right Telegraph, this is about more than the police. It's about more than budget cuts and more than welfare- Britain's welfare state has served it well for the 20th Century- but now it needs a social contract that can benefit all of its society for the 21st.
Don't worry- you're not alone in this. America needs to have this conversation as well- and I don't know what the right answers are- but for sure, voters need to send a message to the politicians on both sides of the Atlantic: you're out of touch, entitled and failing us. It's time to end business as usual and do what needs to do be done: go big or go home.
Call me crazy, but can you really lay this mess at the feet of the police? It's hard to wrap your heads around sitting over here in America, but in Europe- the United Kingdom included, welfare benefits are generous enough that you can live comfortably off them (as in get a house and feed your family, not some cruddy apartments, powdered milk, malt-o-meal and Wild Turkey from the local supermarket). As a result, a whole culture of not working or even bothering to work has sprung up. So when the government runs out of other people's money, those people get a little pissed off...
And it's fundamentally contradictory what happens as a result. As one of the fam pointed out via Facebook rant, the rioters were burning down the businesses of taxpayers that pay the taxes that fund the welfare benefits they take advantage of. Britain's police force is more than up to the task- it's Britain's politician that have some work to do. Some radical notions:
First of all, recognize that individuals have a right to defend themselves, their families and their properties by deadly force if necessary- it's time to loosen the gun restrictions. As a member of the generation that grew up during the Columbine era here in America, I'll admit that my stance on gun rights is an ever evolving position, but I think Britain is in a better position to loosen their laws than America is to tighten theirs. Rifles, shotguns and handguns- all limited by barrel length and caliber could all be legalized. Everyone would need to go through a background check (responsible gun ownership means proving you're not crazy) and if someone suggest importing that fine, loony tradition of gunshows and their loopholes, tell them no.
Think I'm crazy- look at what happened in Koreatown during the 1992 LA Riots... the community and the business owners went out in force to defend their property from looters- packing such wonderful things as Ar-10s and Uzis reportedly. That might be overkill, but it's a rock solid guarantee that if those London looters had run into a store only to be confronted with the barrel of say, a shotgun, you might well have seen less looting- once word got around.
Second of all, Britain, like all the industrialized nations is standing on the edge of a demographic disaster. If David Cameron really wants to be a great Prime Minister, reforming the welfare state should be his target and he shouldn't be shy about it. Go big or go home- because wishy-washyness is unlikely to be respected by voters (as President Obama has been finding out lately) and it's better to reform now when you've got wiggle room than do something truly harsh when the money finally does run out.
Finally, Bratton might have a resume as long as your arm- but law enforcement is facing a new challenge that's going to take a lot of creativity to solve. How do police respond effectively to riots that are fast moving and mobilized via Blackberry or other forms of social media? If the primary concern of law enforcement is ensuring officer safety- how do you mobilize enough officers, equip them properly and get them to where they need to go before the rioters have dispersed and moved onto a new target? There's been a rise in flashmob attacks in America's inner cities this past summer that seems to indicate the trend of fast moving, internet directed riots isn't confined to either the UK or the US. And if the riots of the future are going to be fast moving and fluid- how can law enforcement mobilize and respond even faster?
Might be my piss-poor, distant view from the peanut gallery across the Atlantic, but from the sentiments I'm seeing on Facebook, from the stuff I'm reading in multiple press sources- from the uber-left Guardian to the uber-right Telegraph, this is about more than the police. It's about more than budget cuts and more than welfare- Britain's welfare state has served it well for the 20th Century- but now it needs a social contract that can benefit all of its society for the 21st.
Don't worry- you're not alone in this. America needs to have this conversation as well- and I don't know what the right answers are- but for sure, voters need to send a message to the politicians on both sides of the Atlantic: you're out of touch, entitled and failing us. It's time to end business as usual and do what needs to do be done: go big or go home.
Bookshot #29: The Next 100 Years
Well, this was a pleasant surprise. I go from an uber-utopian, yet interesting vision of the future courtesy of Ray Kurzweil in The Singularity Is Near to the nicely earthbound predictions of another futurist, George Friedman, the found of STRATFOR, the strategic forecasting firm. Friedman takes a long hard look at the geopolitical trends over the next 100 years as well as trends in technology that will impact the shifting sands of world geopolitics over the next century.
What does Mr. Friedman see when he gazes into his crystal ball? Well first off, Russia gets big again- not full on Soviet Union, but it seeks to return to it's original sphere of influence encompassing the former Soviet Republics- the traditional Russian desire for a buffer zone to ward off invaders holding strong. Things go well to a point, but the United States (pegged as the preeminent superpower for the vast majority of the century) draws a line when it comes to the Baltic Republics- Western Europe is fading, so Poland springs to prominence- for strategic reasons of it's own- namely, Russia being huge and well, Russian, they don't want to be steamrolled again. Poland serves as a counterweight to Russia until in the mid 2020s, they collapse again.
There's a lot of hype surrounding China when it comes to 'who is the next Superpower game' but Friedman isn't buying it. China is too geographically isolated (the coast from the interior) and the social and economic gap is growing wider by the day. Friedman predicts that China fragments- perhaps not as badly as it did at the end of the 19th Century, but coastal regions will grow increasingly distant from Beijing and seek to maximize their own economic benefits without toeing the government line. Chaos results.
In the Middle East... well, Iran doesn't get anywhere and Friedman picks Turkey to emerge back into prominence as a major power, recapturing much of it's former sphere of influence. Friedman predicts Japan will rise again as well- being the only nation to challenge the US for technological dominance in space- the key military battleground for the 21st Century. A coalition between Turkey and Japan makes a play to grab what they can mid-century, taking on Poland and surprising the United States initially- before the United States gently, but firmly pushes them back ending Friedman's predicted conflict more of a superpower than ever before.
Basically, by the end of the century, North America is the center of gravity of the world geopolitical system- and whomever controls North America becomes the preeminent power in the world. And here's where Friedman really shoots the moon- he picks Mexico to emerge as a serious challenge to the United States by 2080.
That seems completely loopy, but Friedman points out that Mexico has plenty of time to get its house in order- which it does- and some of it's inherent instability right now can be marked down to the fact that it really only emerged as a multi-party democracy barely a decade ago. There are going to be some very messy growing pains. But by the end of the century, Mexico will be increasingly influential on both sides of the border- a population slowdown (another surprising prediction by Friedman) will means that the 2030s see a huge demand for immigrants, but by the 2080s, advances in robotics will make a lot of those job outdated- and in the meantime, the Southwest- especially Arizona and New Mexico will be overwhelmingly Mexican-American- citizens who have more in common with Mexico than the United States and political tensions will start to ratchet up as a result.
Who wins the battle for control of North America? That, Friedman says is a question for the 22nd Century...
Overall **** out of ****: fascinating and believable I hope I can keep this book until the year 2100 and then compare notes. It'd be interesting to see how right Friedman actually is. Or was. Or will be... hmmm...
Albums2010 #46: Feed The Animals
Girl Talk was down at the IMU probably about a year, maybe 2 years ago now and seemed to be wildly popular. I never knew exactly what Girl Talk was all about, but in the spirit of adventure, I figured 'what the hell' and dug up one of his albums on Spotify and gave it a whirl.
The result was... strange. But not in any way bad. That may seem odd, but if you take into account the fact that Girl Talk is in fact, a dude with a laptop and an active imagination that pretty much dabbles in mash-ups more than anything else, it makes sense. I'd heard of mash-ups before, of course- I doubt many people in the digital age haven't heard of the phenomenon, but I'd never actually stumbled across an artist dedicated to them so entirely.
And it's... a strange experience. But kind of fun, the more you listen to it. It's tailor made for a fast moving, ass kicking game of music trivia- can you name all the artists he uses? (Right now I'm working my way through the track 'In Step' which has just jumped from the Travelling Wilburys to Nirvana and then to The Gap Band and a weird blend of the Black Eyed Peas and Earth Wind and Fire. All within about 20 seconds or so.) Despite the weirdness, it works. It reads like a techno album in many ways, just one song seamlessly blending into another and so on and so forth.
I wish I could add more. It's not like there's one song that stick outs above the others- the sheer joy of this music is that it's every possible song you could imagine all smashed together and turned into something new. A little strange, perhaps, but still enjoyable.
Overall ** out of ****: Perhaps a little avant garde for my taste, but it's an interesting experience.
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Politics Live Blog: The Straw Poll Edition
12:26 PM, CST: Perry is in.
Just caught a tiny bit of his announcement and it's way too early to tell, but he looked passionate, vigorous and yes, even Presidential. I have a feeling his numbers are going to go through the roof- and fast.
I think this effectively means Palin is not running for President- or if she is, then this is going to move up her timetable. (Please Mrs. P: if you're going to do it, then do it already. Stop flipping your hair and being all firty with the voters...)
1:56 PM, CST: Straw poll is underway... found a Liveblog over here and then there's Twitter. #iastrawpoll seems to be providing pretty good up to the minute coverage of the latest. The general feeling is that Pawlenty might scrape into 3rd place behind Paul and Bachmann but there are whispers that the lines to get into Bachmann's tent are insanely long. (Further whispers are that Bachmann has sold 4k in tickets already.) Hmmm...
The more I think about it, the more I think Bachmann needs this win. Sure, if Paul wins it, she can shrug it off and say 'he was better organized' but with Perry in the race, she needs to up her game and fast if she's going to emerge as a serious challenger. Pawlenty, if he gets into 3rd Place, stays alive. Santorum and Cain are probably dones-o if they don't crack the top 3.
4:41 PM, CST: Now it's all over but the waiting... I'm thinking Bachmann, Paul, Pawlenty in that order. Probably followed by Romney, Cain, Gingrich, Santorum, Huntsman, McCotter. We'll see how right I am in a little bit.
5:42 PM CST: Bachman first. Looks like Ron Paul and T-Paw in 2nd and 3rd.
5:44 PM CST: then Santorum, Cain, Romney, Gingrich... Huntsman and McCotter round out the field.
5:47 PM CST: The Breakdown... the big winners are obviously Pawlenty (he stays alive) and Santorum (bleck!) who also, unfortunately stays alive as well. This is an excellent result for Bachmann- granted 152 votes isn't exactly a huge margin, but if she had been beaten into 2nd Place by Ron Paul it would have raised a lot of questions about her viability which she doesn't need now that Perry has jumped in.
He timed this perfectly- because he stole a lot of Bachmann's thunder and went straight to South Carolina. He can make up ground in Iowa and New Hampshire- but if Perry gets a good ground game in South Carolina strong finishes in both of those states could translate into momentum for a South Carolina win. That could propel him all the way across the finish line. I'm thinking Cain and McCotter drop out after this- Huntsman is throwing everything at Florida and Gingrich is too weighed down by ego to drop out just now. I think Santorum will stick around for awhile but I don't see him getting anywhere after this- and now that Perry's in, Romney is about to turn into a pumpkin.
10:17 PM, CST: Hold the phone... Perry- who got in TODAY and hadn't even been to Iowa yet much less invested time, money and energy into the straw poll managed to scrape up 718 votes- or 3.8% of the straw poll vote. More than Romney, Gingrich, Hunstmen and McCotter...this changes things radically. I agree with Obradovich's basic thesis- this may be Bachmann's moment in the sun, but it'll be a short one. If a guy who got into the race officially only today can pull 3% of the vote without even trying? Imagine if he would have made a serious play for it.
We need poll data!
7:52 AM, CST: The Straw Poll has claimed it's first victim- Tim Pawlenty is dropping out. This, I didn't call. I would have thought 3rd Place would have kept him alive for awhile longer but he must have put a lot of cash into the Straw Poll which got him a poor third place showing. It could have been worse- could have been 4th or 5th, but if you put your eggs in one basket and get third? Evidentally not good enough.
I think there's also an outside chance we could lose one or two more over the next week or so. Santorum is pretty low budget so he could hang for awhile. Cain is trooping on- but McCotter? Huntsman? Probably not so much... though to be fair, Huntsman is reportedly putting everything into Florida of all places. There's also (lest we forget) Fred Karger, Gary Johnson and Buddy Roemer...
Just caught a tiny bit of his announcement and it's way too early to tell, but he looked passionate, vigorous and yes, even Presidential. I have a feeling his numbers are going to go through the roof- and fast.
I think this effectively means Palin is not running for President- or if she is, then this is going to move up her timetable. (Please Mrs. P: if you're going to do it, then do it already. Stop flipping your hair and being all firty with the voters...)
1:56 PM, CST: Straw poll is underway... found a Liveblog over here and then there's Twitter. #iastrawpoll seems to be providing pretty good up to the minute coverage of the latest. The general feeling is that Pawlenty might scrape into 3rd place behind Paul and Bachmann but there are whispers that the lines to get into Bachmann's tent are insanely long. (Further whispers are that Bachmann has sold 4k in tickets already.) Hmmm...
The more I think about it, the more I think Bachmann needs this win. Sure, if Paul wins it, she can shrug it off and say 'he was better organized' but with Perry in the race, she needs to up her game and fast if she's going to emerge as a serious challenger. Pawlenty, if he gets into 3rd Place, stays alive. Santorum and Cain are probably dones-o if they don't crack the top 3.
4:41 PM, CST: Now it's all over but the waiting... I'm thinking Bachmann, Paul, Pawlenty in that order. Probably followed by Romney, Cain, Gingrich, Santorum, Huntsman, McCotter. We'll see how right I am in a little bit.
5:42 PM CST: Bachman first. Looks like Ron Paul and T-Paw in 2nd and 3rd.
5:44 PM CST: then Santorum, Cain, Romney, Gingrich... Huntsman and McCotter round out the field.
5:47 PM CST: The Breakdown... the big winners are obviously Pawlenty (he stays alive) and Santorum (bleck!) who also, unfortunately stays alive as well. This is an excellent result for Bachmann- granted 152 votes isn't exactly a huge margin, but if she had been beaten into 2nd Place by Ron Paul it would have raised a lot of questions about her viability which she doesn't need now that Perry has jumped in.
He timed this perfectly- because he stole a lot of Bachmann's thunder and went straight to South Carolina. He can make up ground in Iowa and New Hampshire- but if Perry gets a good ground game in South Carolina strong finishes in both of those states could translate into momentum for a South Carolina win. That could propel him all the way across the finish line. I'm thinking Cain and McCotter drop out after this- Huntsman is throwing everything at Florida and Gingrich is too weighed down by ego to drop out just now. I think Santorum will stick around for awhile but I don't see him getting anywhere after this- and now that Perry's in, Romney is about to turn into a pumpkin.
10:17 PM, CST: Hold the phone... Perry- who got in TODAY and hadn't even been to Iowa yet much less invested time, money and energy into the straw poll managed to scrape up 718 votes- or 3.8% of the straw poll vote. More than Romney, Gingrich, Hunstmen and McCotter...this changes things radically. I agree with Obradovich's basic thesis- this may be Bachmann's moment in the sun, but it'll be a short one. If a guy who got into the race officially only today can pull 3% of the vote without even trying? Imagine if he would have made a serious play for it.
We need poll data!
7:52 AM, CST: The Straw Poll has claimed it's first victim- Tim Pawlenty is dropping out. This, I didn't call. I would have thought 3rd Place would have kept him alive for awhile longer but he must have put a lot of cash into the Straw Poll which got him a poor third place showing. It could have been worse- could have been 4th or 5th, but if you put your eggs in one basket and get third? Evidentally not good enough.
I think there's also an outside chance we could lose one or two more over the next week or so. Santorum is pretty low budget so he could hang for awhile. Cain is trooping on- but McCotter? Huntsman? Probably not so much... though to be fair, Huntsman is reportedly putting everything into Florida of all places. There's also (lest we forget) Fred Karger, Gary Johnson and Buddy Roemer...
Friday, August 12, 2011
Hold Tight!
College football might not be done shifting, sliding and shaking- rumors are starting to take shape that the SEC has it's eyes on Texas A&M and either one or two ACC schools (the likely candidates there are VaTech and FSU.)
Listen, I know Texas is big, bad, Leroy Brown on the Big 12 block now, but a Longhorn Network? Seriously...? Did they learn nothing from losing Colorado and Nebraska? Apparently not. The Big 12 is even more out of balance than it was a year ago and I think the final dissolution of the Big 12 might be imminent.
The question is... then what?
Iowa State
Missouri
Kansas
Kansas State
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Texas
Texas A&M
Baylor
Texas Tech
I don't know why peeps gotta get greedy, but it's probably the way cash money works! Personally, I think the Big 12 goes big and grabs SMU, Houston and Boise State. Or even TCU if they want to reconsider their frankly weird move to the Big East.
UPDATE: I just had a random freaky crazy thought... if A and M goes, what would be the 2 weakest conferences in the BCS? Frankly, it'd be the Big East and the Big 12- or what's left of it. Why not merge them? Travel costs might go up, it's true, but the Big East would be seen as credible at least in football in a way that's not currently. Plus, it would have the added benefit of hemming in the Big 10 and the SEC geographically and since there's no Big East FB school that could challenge Texas in terms of influence and heft, you'd create a hefty super conference with Texas as its center.
UPDATED AGAIN: So now the word is that the SEC is set to accept A&M and invite Mizzou, Clemson and FSU to join the fold as well. This would push the Big 12 down to 8 teams and the SEC up to 16. If this pans out to be true, then the next move would be up to the ACC.
If we're real about it, the Big 10 is done expanding for now. If they can get Notre Dame they'll add another to get to 14, but they're not going to go buck wild unless they have to. However if the ACC wants to get back up to 12 and preserve its divisional split and money making title game, the logical place for it to go shopping would be the Big East. (The smart money would be on Syracuse and UCONN I think- who, b-ball wise might relish the chance to dance with Duke and UNC every year.) If that happens, then we've got a BCS Conference with 6 teams in football- so the Big East could well then decide to form a basketball only conference. Either way Notre Dame will feel the pressure to come down off its horse at that point.
Another wild card to consider is Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott's wild crazy dream of the Pac-16 or possibly the Pac-18 or (what the hell, right?) Pac-20 if there's another round of shopping to be done he could throw some sweet lovin' Texas' way. (I don't see the Big 10 making a play for Texas. Newbies Nebraska would throw a fit and I really think the rest of the Conference just doesn't want to deal with their shit. They went 5-7 last year, lost to Iowa State of all people AT Austin, no less and think they deserve a Longhorn Network? Shiiiiiit... rebrand that sucker. And fast.)
All of this could be totally moot if Mizzou, Clemson and FSU decide not to jump ship (but seriously now, if invited into the warm, loving, money drenched embrace of the SEC who wouldn't jump ship?) but if it is true, then the ACC is going to have some thinking to do...
UPDATED AGAIN: Whoops! Guess the SEC thought about it and blinked.... now, the Big 12 needs to get proactive and get it's behind up to 12 again. Take the year to do it, but I'd say BYU plus either Boise State or Air Force would do you proud. Of course, if the Mountain West gets added as a BCS conference in the next year or so, suddenly the motivation to jump ship loses its luster.
Listen, I know Texas is big, bad, Leroy Brown on the Big 12 block now, but a Longhorn Network? Seriously...? Did they learn nothing from losing Colorado and Nebraska? Apparently not. The Big 12 is even more out of balance than it was a year ago and I think the final dissolution of the Big 12 might be imminent.
The question is... then what?
Iowa State
Missouri
Kansas
Kansas State
Oklahoma
Oklahoma State
Texas
Baylor
Texas Tech
I don't know why peeps gotta get greedy, but it's probably the way cash money works! Personally, I think the Big 12 goes big and grabs SMU, Houston and Boise State. Or even TCU if they want to reconsider their frankly weird move to the Big East.
UPDATE: I just had a random freaky crazy thought... if A and M goes, what would be the 2 weakest conferences in the BCS? Frankly, it'd be the Big East and the Big 12- or what's left of it. Why not merge them? Travel costs might go up, it's true, but the Big East would be seen as credible at least in football in a way that's not currently. Plus, it would have the added benefit of hemming in the Big 10 and the SEC geographically and since there's no Big East FB school that could challenge Texas in terms of influence and heft, you'd create a hefty super conference with Texas as its center.
UPDATED AGAIN: So now the word is that the SEC is set to accept A&M and invite Mizzou, Clemson and FSU to join the fold as well. This would push the Big 12 down to 8 teams and the SEC up to 16. If this pans out to be true, then the next move would be up to the ACC.
If we're real about it, the Big 10 is done expanding for now. If they can get Notre Dame they'll add another to get to 14, but they're not going to go buck wild unless they have to. However if the ACC wants to get back up to 12 and preserve its divisional split and money making title game, the logical place for it to go shopping would be the Big East. (The smart money would be on Syracuse and UCONN I think- who, b-ball wise might relish the chance to dance with Duke and UNC every year.) If that happens, then we've got a BCS Conference with 6 teams in football- so the Big East could well then decide to form a basketball only conference. Either way Notre Dame will feel the pressure to come down off its horse at that point.
Another wild card to consider is Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott's wild crazy dream of the Pac-16 or possibly the Pac-18 or (what the hell, right?) Pac-20 if there's another round of shopping to be done he could throw some sweet lovin' Texas' way. (I don't see the Big 10 making a play for Texas. Newbies Nebraska would throw a fit and I really think the rest of the Conference just doesn't want to deal with their shit. They went 5-7 last year, lost to Iowa State of all people AT Austin, no less and think they deserve a Longhorn Network? Shiiiiiit... rebrand that sucker. And fast.)
All of this could be totally moot if Mizzou, Clemson and FSU decide not to jump ship (but seriously now, if invited into the warm, loving, money drenched embrace of the SEC who wouldn't jump ship?) but if it is true, then the ACC is going to have some thinking to do...
UPDATED AGAIN: Whoops! Guess the SEC thought about it and blinked.... now, the Big 12 needs to get proactive and get it's behind up to 12 again. Take the year to do it, but I'd say BYU plus either Boise State or Air Force would do you proud. Of course, if the Mountain West gets added as a BCS conference in the next year or so, suddenly the motivation to jump ship loses its luster.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Screw Y'all. Let's Just Kill Everyone.
That pretty much sums up Syria's response to a storm of global criticism at the Assad regime's brutal crackdown against protestors there... America's response? Crickets I guess.
Should Bert and Ernie Be Allowed To Marry?
Obvious response: Only if they love each other.
Sesame Street, however, declined... say that the ambiguously gay duo did not, in fact, have a sexual orientation. Probably a good thing as there are uber-crazies out there convinced that gay marriage will eventually lead to incest, polygamy, beastiality and pedophilia being social accepted. Same sex puppet marriage would only convince them that the avalanche down the slippery slope of moral turpitude had begun...
Sesame Street, however, declined... say that the ambiguously gay duo did not, in fact, have a sexual orientation. Probably a good thing as there are uber-crazies out there convinced that gay marriage will eventually lead to incest, polygamy, beastiality and pedophilia being social accepted. Same sex puppet marriage would only convince them that the avalanche down the slippery slope of moral turpitude had begun...
Corporations Are People Too!
So sayeth Mittens Romney at the Iowa State Fair.
Reason 1,543,234,567 why I despise the slow-motion trainwreck that is our two party system.
Reason 1,543,234,567 why I despise the slow-motion trainwreck that is our two party system.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Sour Milk in America's Dairyland....
Democrats up in America's Dairyland tasted some sour milk last night as they came up 2 seats short in their efforts to oust the GOP from their control of the State Senate so they can start blocking GOP Governor Scott Walker's legislative agenda.
Granted, they snagged 2 seats from the Republicans- but the Cheeseheads get to go to the polls AGAIN next week for 2 more recall elections, this time 2 Democrats (part of the original Gang of 14 that fled the state in an attempt to block Walker's union busting bill.) So any optimism Dems might be feeling this morning might evaporate quickly as of next week.
Ultimately, things are going to change- in Wisconsin and across the nation and as I was telling The Quiet Man last night it would help enormously if the 'Left' came down off it's horse a bit and plugged into the cold hard reality of the situation. Not everyone's going to retire at 65, not everyone gets free health care and everyone needs to stop feeling so damn entitled to things. Especially when no one is willing to pay the taxes to get them. I don't care how progressive and 'selfless' you are, you know damn well that if there's a way for you not to pay as much, you'll take it.
Money talks, kids. That's how America works today.
Granted, they snagged 2 seats from the Republicans- but the Cheeseheads get to go to the polls AGAIN next week for 2 more recall elections, this time 2 Democrats (part of the original Gang of 14 that fled the state in an attempt to block Walker's union busting bill.) So any optimism Dems might be feeling this morning might evaporate quickly as of next week.
Ultimately, things are going to change- in Wisconsin and across the nation and as I was telling The Quiet Man last night it would help enormously if the 'Left' came down off it's horse a bit and plugged into the cold hard reality of the situation. Not everyone's going to retire at 65, not everyone gets free health care and everyone needs to stop feeling so damn entitled to things. Especially when no one is willing to pay the taxes to get them. I don't care how progressive and 'selfless' you are, you know damn well that if there's a way for you not to pay as much, you'll take it.
Money talks, kids. That's how America works today.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Bookshot #28: The Singularity Is Near
Sorry about the glare kids, but doesn't it make the book look creepy and futuristic?
I'm now fully prepared to embrace the cyborg future that awaits us all. That's right, we're all going to be cyborgs someday. Or some other non-biological form of life- at least according to the author of this doorstop, Ray Kurzweil.
Kurzweil is a futurist who made his bones studying trends in technology- which is how he came up with his theory on the Singularity. Basically, he says that technology is accelerating so fast that at a certain point (he says 2045- pretty ballsy of him to put a date on it) artificial intelligence will surpass human intelligence and take over technological development and after that, things will change so fast that our ultimate future will be beyond anything our imagination can conceive of right now.
So how do we get to this magic moment? Kurzweil's theory hinges on a process that's already begun- first, decoding our biology and launching a biotechnology revolution that will eventually lead to us reverse engineering the brain so we can more completely understand how it works. Once that happens, artificial intelligence that can actually pass the 'Turing Test' (have a 30 minute conversation with a human and pass for a human) becomes a lot more conceivable. These advances, combined with perfecting nanotechnology for any number of uses eventually lead to Kurzweil's Singularity moment.
As for the future? Well, we're essentially going to be able to live forever and transfer ourselves to various non-biological platforms ranging from mind up loading to total body replacement to being made entirely of 'foglets' or nanobots that instantly change form. It's going to mind-blowingly cool, according to Kurzweil.
Well, color me unconvinced. First, there's the dicey problem with predictions- especially about the future. More often than not, they fall short. I can conceive of medical breakthroughs that would significantly extended our lifespan and breakthroughs in nanontechnology that allow us to move away from fossil fuels and generally make life better all around, but living forever? Mind uploading? Artificial intelligence? Hmmm... not sure I buy into that.
But I will acknowledge that this book isn't exactly written for 'non-majors' either. That long, long chapter about reverse engineering the human brain? Total gibberish to me- and I free admit I skimmed through it. However, Kurzweil does deserve a lot of credit for kickstarting some really deep philosophical debates- ones that, whatever the future may hold for technology we're going to have to confront as things like biotechnology and nanontechnology and potentially even some form of artificial intelligence emerge- what does it mean to be human? If there is nothing biological left, are we still human? If we upload into a new body or onto a computer- are we still human? Do biological ties define us as human or can we transcend them and truly change what it means to be human?
Overall: Crazy heavy reading but incredibly thought provoking and well worth a read if you want to know what a big, wild, optimistic vision of the future looks like. It may be fundamentally utopian in nature, which to me casts doubt on it's overall veracity, but that doesn't mean it's not interesting.
Fuel Standards For Fire Trucks?
Please, God, No... why is this administration hell bent on making me agree with Republicans? Why? Why? WHY? Seriously now- there are more cars on the roads than fire trucks, work trucks, heavy duty pick-up trucks and semis. I get fuel efficiency standards for cars- but given the fact that the economy is tanking hard and fast right now do you really want to saddle trucking companies with more regulations that are going to cost them more money to implement? That's money they could be using to hire people.
Idiots.
I'm not totally unsympathetic to the idea, I'm just surprised that trucking companies haven't come up with something on their own. Semis, after all, must use a helluva lot of gas and I'm sure fuel costs are a hefty chunk of change for these companies. I think it's in their interest to cut costs where they can... and as for fire trucks- the only fuel I want fire trucks using is the fuel that gets them to my house faster if I need them. Doubly so if my house happens to (unfortunately) be on fire.
Idiots.
I'm not totally unsympathetic to the idea, I'm just surprised that trucking companies haven't come up with something on their own. Semis, after all, must use a helluva lot of gas and I'm sure fuel costs are a hefty chunk of change for these companies. I think it's in their interest to cut costs where they can... and as for fire trucks- the only fuel I want fire trucks using is the fuel that gets them to my house faster if I need them. Doubly so if my house happens to (unfortunately) be on fire.
To Waive Or Not To Waive?
The Obama Administration has announced it will allow states to apply for waivers to No Child Left Behind. (Related articles here and here.)
I don't know what I think about this- to me, what's the point of having the law in the first place if you're just going to allow states to opt out of it? This is where I think the 'government is evil' Republican crowd actually has a point to make- if education is local, do we need Federal mandates? Do we even need a Federal Department of Education? The overriding principle in education in this country has been that of local control- making a Federal law and then essentially saying 'oh, that's ok, you don't have to if you don't want to' pretty much undermines the legislation in the first place and as I'm sure writing the law, passing the law and setting up the standards demanded by the law all cost money, it also wastes more money.
I'll be blunt: when it comes to education, it's time to shit or get off the pot. If we're going to have a national system, let's go all in and do it. If not, then let's get the Federal Government's role in education down to tracking and rewarding innovation and success by individual states and school districts.
I don't know what I think about this- to me, what's the point of having the law in the first place if you're just going to allow states to opt out of it? This is where I think the 'government is evil' Republican crowd actually has a point to make- if education is local, do we need Federal mandates? Do we even need a Federal Department of Education? The overriding principle in education in this country has been that of local control- making a Federal law and then essentially saying 'oh, that's ok, you don't have to if you don't want to' pretty much undermines the legislation in the first place and as I'm sure writing the law, passing the law and setting up the standards demanded by the law all cost money, it also wastes more money.
I'll be blunt: when it comes to education, it's time to shit or get off the pot. If we're going to have a national system, let's go all in and do it. If not, then let's get the Federal Government's role in education down to tracking and rewarding innovation and success by individual states and school districts.
What Started It All
Riots continue to spread in the UK and the Independent has a piece on the shooting that sparked the violence- here.
Meanwhile, I'm just hoping that all the family over there stays safely out of the way!
Meanwhile, I'm just hoping that all the family over there stays safely out of the way!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Albums2010 #45: Third Eye Vision
Props to The Quiet Man for introducing me to the awesomeness that is the hip-hop collective, Hieroglyphics. Their debut album, Third Eye Vision, grabs you by the scruff of the neck, shakes you around a bit then invites you to sit back down, pack a bowl and smoke up with them. And it's glorious. I'm not usually one for hip-hop, to be totally honest with you. I know all the major titans that storm across your local radio station but have never really attempted to explore the full range of the genre, including the more underground, independent hip-hop artists, such as Hieroglyphics.
I'm happy to report, the decision pays off in spades. This is hip-hop that I can get behind- nice beat, smooth flows and oh so mellow. It's not loud or angry or self-indulgent. It's just rap over a jazzy, funky-fusion type of a beat and it makes for great listening and more to the point, it leaves you wanting more.
The album opens with a great track, 'You'll Never Know' and seems to blend seamlessly into a smooth mellow ride for the rest of the album- tracks like 'Dune Methane' and 'Oakland Blackouts' also standout. And the great music only overshadows the group's fiercely independent commitment to their music, launching and releasing their albums from their own record label to building a following through live concerts and podcasts (Hierocasts)- as well as their super cool three eyed, straight lipped smiley face type logo, that I'd really like to find on a t-shirt someday.
There are also associated acts that you can check out as well- Souls of Mischief and Extra Prolific are two of the associated acts of the group and while I've never heard Extra Prolific I have heard Souls of Mischief and their great album '93 Til Infinity (which I have on CD somewhere, also courtesy of The Quiet Man- am going to have to dig that up so I can review that as well) and it's just as good as the original Hieroglyphics.
Special Bonus: Check their website out- http://www.hieroglyphics.com
Overall **** out of ****: I don't know what the epitomy of West Coast hip-hop is, but if it's smooth, funky, jazzy and as mellow as Hieroglyphics is, then I gotta find me some more of this stuff, because it just kicks ass, hands down, no question. This is raw, amazing hip-hop at its finest.
Sexism and Newsweek
What is it with Newsweek and female politicians? Lest The Quiet Man's radar for my supposed Bachmann loving start beeping again, I'd like to preface this by pointing out that Newsweek has done the same thing to Hillary Clinton- and Sarah Palin and now they've given Michelle Bachmann crazy eyes for their cover. And a somewhat unflattering headline: 'The Queen of Rage?' Makes it sound like she's leading a death metal band.
I find Bachmann's views detestable and I won't vote for her in either the caucuses or a general election, should she get that far- but even if you don't agree with people, I still think sexism is sexism no matter how you put it and whether you agree with the views a politician holds are not, they all deserve to be treated the same way. Male politicians would get a dignified patrician like pose of some kind. Newsweek seems to think that all female politicians are worthy of bad photoshop jobs.
And that's sad, because it's just another sign of Newsweek's sad decline in recent years. I remember when I actually looked forward to getting that magazine in the mail and waiting until my Dad had released it from his clutches before I could snatch it up and absorb the political cartoons or the Conventional Wisdom each week. Now it's just a shadow of it's former self. (And eventually my now uber-Conservative Dad moved onto US News and World Report which is such a crap news mag it isn't true and I fell in love with The Economist.)
(And yes, I did use a Michelle Malkin link. I'm sorry.)
I find Bachmann's views detestable and I won't vote for her in either the caucuses or a general election, should she get that far- but even if you don't agree with people, I still think sexism is sexism no matter how you put it and whether you agree with the views a politician holds are not, they all deserve to be treated the same way. Male politicians would get a dignified patrician like pose of some kind. Newsweek seems to think that all female politicians are worthy of bad photoshop jobs.
And that's sad, because it's just another sign of Newsweek's sad decline in recent years. I remember when I actually looked forward to getting that magazine in the mail and waiting until my Dad had released it from his clutches before I could snatch it up and absorb the political cartoons or the Conventional Wisdom each week. Now it's just a shadow of it's former self. (And eventually my now uber-Conservative Dad moved onto US News and World Report which is such a crap news mag it isn't true and I fell in love with The Economist.)
(And yes, I did use a Michelle Malkin link. I'm sorry.)
Job Perks
This is cool.
Boeing workers will actually fly to the ISS aboard their company's new space capsule... like the article says, right at the top. That's a helluva job perk.
Boeing workers will actually fly to the ISS aboard their company's new space capsule... like the article says, right at the top. That's a helluva job perk.
Optimism On The Rocks, Please
Bartender, I'd like an optimism on the rock with a double shot of hope and float just a dash of energy on the top for a little added kick of excitement.
After today, I sure could use it. I'm pretty young and spry, so I don't have a lot banked in the stock market as of yet, but I have to feel for anyone who does, especially after the 634 points the Dow dropped today. There is chaos in the Middle East- Syria gets worse by the day and Libya creeps forward hopefully before suffering some setback that seems to doom any hope of success. There are riots in London- and now apparently Birmingham, there were some ugly incidents at the Wisconsin State Fair of all places and now... now the US has lost its AAA credit rating and the economy is taking a swan dive straight down the toilet.
So, some optimism would be nice. A bold statement by someone in Washington D.C. would be wonderful. Something radical and revolutionary, something to convince people that's it not a load of bunk and that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Unfortunately, we're witnessing the twilight of the 20th Century Liberal Welfare State. It's coming apart rapidly and as people realize just how much they've been swindled, people are going to be pissed. You think riots in London are bad- wait until they get over here. And the politicians are steering us straight towards the iceberg of doom in the middle of a Category 5 Hurricane with no inclination to change course whatsoever.
Time to turn into the wind and fight the storm. Fight for something, some new paradigm, some new evolution, some new anything!
If not, things are only going to get worse before they get better.
After today, I sure could use it. I'm pretty young and spry, so I don't have a lot banked in the stock market as of yet, but I have to feel for anyone who does, especially after the 634 points the Dow dropped today. There is chaos in the Middle East- Syria gets worse by the day and Libya creeps forward hopefully before suffering some setback that seems to doom any hope of success. There are riots in London- and now apparently Birmingham, there were some ugly incidents at the Wisconsin State Fair of all places and now... now the US has lost its AAA credit rating and the economy is taking a swan dive straight down the toilet.
So, some optimism would be nice. A bold statement by someone in Washington D.C. would be wonderful. Something radical and revolutionary, something to convince people that's it not a load of bunk and that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Unfortunately, we're witnessing the twilight of the 20th Century Liberal Welfare State. It's coming apart rapidly and as people realize just how much they've been swindled, people are going to be pissed. You think riots in London are bad- wait until they get over here. And the politicians are steering us straight towards the iceberg of doom in the middle of a Category 5 Hurricane with no inclination to change course whatsoever.
Time to turn into the wind and fight the storm. Fight for something, some new paradigm, some new evolution, some new anything!
If not, things are only going to get worse before they get better.
Burlington, Not Gilbert
Cycling advocates are proposing to reduce Gilbert Street from 4 lanes to 3 and add bikes lanes to either side of the road. Needless to say, the reaction on the comments section of the Press-Citizen website have been amusing to say the least- but most running against the notion.
Listen, I've been rediscovering the joys of cycling lately- but if there's one major road through town that needs well-defined bike lanes, it's Burlington Street. It's packed with traffic and cyclists are included in that- they could use their own lane.
I'd also like to see more sidewalk expansion to the point where sidewalks along some of these streets could be considered bike capable. It's kind of a jackass move to ride your bike along a regular sized sidewalk in this town- but if you're along places like Scott Blvd, where the sidewalks are wider (and I believe are actually dual-designated as bike-pedestrian) it's OK to ride on the sidewalk, which given how busy that street is, is nice.
Plus, the cynic in me has to note that it's pretty damn convenient that both World of Bikes and Geoff's Bike and Ski just happen to be on what street? Oh that's right: Gilbert.
(I can't wait until they get the trail to North Liberty done- I wonder how far the network actually goes? Cedar Rapids? Waterloo? Might have to look into that.)
Listen, I've been rediscovering the joys of cycling lately- but if there's one major road through town that needs well-defined bike lanes, it's Burlington Street. It's packed with traffic and cyclists are included in that- they could use their own lane.
I'd also like to see more sidewalk expansion to the point where sidewalks along some of these streets could be considered bike capable. It's kind of a jackass move to ride your bike along a regular sized sidewalk in this town- but if you're along places like Scott Blvd, where the sidewalks are wider (and I believe are actually dual-designated as bike-pedestrian) it's OK to ride on the sidewalk, which given how busy that street is, is nice.
Plus, the cynic in me has to note that it's pretty damn convenient that both World of Bikes and Geoff's Bike and Ski just happen to be on what street? Oh that's right: Gilbert.
(I can't wait until they get the trail to North Liberty done- I wonder how far the network actually goes? Cedar Rapids? Waterloo? Might have to look into that.)
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Lawsuit Over Wigga Wednesdays
Apparently Red Wing High School would have impromptu 'Wigga Wednesdays' during homecoming week to celebrate/mock/denigrate/disrespect African-American culture- and now a former grad is suing the school.
It's important to note right off the bat, that this was in no way, shape or form a school sponsored event. Kids just did it- just because teenagers can be idiots that way but the lawsuit is contending that the school should have intervened to stop it and claiming it caused the plaintiff emotional distress and severe depression.
I don't think I'll surprise anyone by revealing that I'm not, in fact, African-American. (Shocker, I know) so it's hard to wrap my head around what that might feel like, seeing people mock and make fun of an entire culture- especially if it were my own. I can imagine it could feel pretty damn shitty and honestly, the school should have been more sensitive to the issue and actually done something about it.
That said: the old saying is that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and if you're white and genuinely like baggy pants and do-rags and hardcore gangsta rap more power to you. But if you're doing it because you think it makes you cool, if you're doing it to mock African-Americans, if you're doing it because you want to prove how 'gangsta' you are, please stop. It's more than a little insensitive and makes you look like a damn fool.
It's important to note right off the bat, that this was in no way, shape or form a school sponsored event. Kids just did it- just because teenagers can be idiots that way but the lawsuit is contending that the school should have intervened to stop it and claiming it caused the plaintiff emotional distress and severe depression.
I don't think I'll surprise anyone by revealing that I'm not, in fact, African-American. (Shocker, I know) so it's hard to wrap my head around what that might feel like, seeing people mock and make fun of an entire culture- especially if it were my own. I can imagine it could feel pretty damn shitty and honestly, the school should have been more sensitive to the issue and actually done something about it.
That said: the old saying is that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and if you're white and genuinely like baggy pants and do-rags and hardcore gangsta rap more power to you. But if you're doing it because you think it makes you cool, if you're doing it to mock African-Americans, if you're doing it because you want to prove how 'gangsta' you are, please stop. It's more than a little insensitive and makes you look like a damn fool.
Don't Know Much About Kazakhstan?
Because I know- I just know that you kids have a burning desire to find out more, because really, who wouldn't? Check this four part series out courtesy of Slate.com
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Required Reading #2
The always intelligent and thoughtful Walter Russell Mead critiques another thoughtful discussion of just what's wrong with the Democratic Party written by Stanley Greenberg.
I tend to lean more towards Mead's line of thinking, because he's right- passing some kind of comprehensive campaign finance reform is going to be next to impossible with the Supreme Court we've currently got. I don't agree with Republicans who whine about having to disclose their donors- sunshine is the best disinfectant after all and if you're running for the highest office in the land, damn straight I and every other voter have a right to know who's renting you for 4 to 8 years. What Greenberg however misses- and Mead doesn't touch is the rise of the small dollar model- Ron Paul and Buddy Roemer are champions of this- though Paul probably has more success than Roemer with it at this point and if the small dollar model starts winning elections, then suddenly masses of ordinary, non-wealthy voters could potentially have a real way to take on the entrenched special interests in Washington.
But enough of me... read for yourselves, kids!
We've also got fighting philosophers from the Punjab...
And Ricky Schroeder's contribution to science for any NYPD Blue and/or Silver Spoons fans out there...
Slate.com has a look at the Khan Academy- with a Q and A with the man himself. (If you don't know what this is, go here. And sit back and marvel in the knowledge-y goodness.)
Yes, this lawsuit against Nutella is bunk. (I mean, it's Nutella! Delish stuff!)
Add this to the list... The Man Who Would Stop Time. (From Popular Science, courtesy of the Great Guru Instapundit.)
I tend to lean more towards Mead's line of thinking, because he's right- passing some kind of comprehensive campaign finance reform is going to be next to impossible with the Supreme Court we've currently got. I don't agree with Republicans who whine about having to disclose their donors- sunshine is the best disinfectant after all and if you're running for the highest office in the land, damn straight I and every other voter have a right to know who's renting you for 4 to 8 years. What Greenberg however misses- and Mead doesn't touch is the rise of the small dollar model- Ron Paul and Buddy Roemer are champions of this- though Paul probably has more success than Roemer with it at this point and if the small dollar model starts winning elections, then suddenly masses of ordinary, non-wealthy voters could potentially have a real way to take on the entrenched special interests in Washington.
But enough of me... read for yourselves, kids!
We've also got fighting philosophers from the Punjab...
And Ricky Schroeder's contribution to science for any NYPD Blue and/or Silver Spoons fans out there...
Slate.com has a look at the Khan Academy- with a Q and A with the man himself. (If you don't know what this is, go here. And sit back and marvel in the knowledge-y goodness.)
Yes, this lawsuit against Nutella is bunk. (I mean, it's Nutella! Delish stuff!)
Add this to the list... The Man Who Would Stop Time. (From Popular Science, courtesy of the Great Guru Instapundit.)
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Bangladesh, 40 Years On
The Economist has an interesting piece on Bangladesh coming to grips with it's War of Independence 40 years on... take a peek.
Hmmmm....
A former Prof of mine posted an article about this on her Facebook feed this morning and captioned it the same way I am. Hmmmmmmmm... basically, Missouri has passed a law which bans teachers from friending/talking to students on Facebook.
The aim of lawmakers (laudable if slightly misguided in this case) is to protect students from creepy inappropriate teachers that Facebook stalk students. I don't have hard data in front of me, but I'm willing to bet that there are a lot of inappropriate student-teacher relationships that never get reported- but then again, there's a lot of sexual abuse, rape and other horrible crimes that don't get reported either. Singling out teachers is fundamentally unfair and stigmatizing all of them as potential sex offenders is horrible.
A far better idea would be to have school districts produce policies for their employees on the use of social media and guidelines for proper, professional behavior when using it- this would at least mandate that schools have policies in place governing what's OK versus what's not OK and more to the point, would allow teachers to use the increasingly important realm of social media to connect with students and parents.
So while I'm glad that policymakers are taking a hard look at things like this, this law needs to be redirected towards making sure schools have standards of behavior in place for using social media rather that penalizing behavior that has yet to happen and might not even happen.
The aim of lawmakers (laudable if slightly misguided in this case) is to protect students from creepy inappropriate teachers that Facebook stalk students. I don't have hard data in front of me, but I'm willing to bet that there are a lot of inappropriate student-teacher relationships that never get reported- but then again, there's a lot of sexual abuse, rape and other horrible crimes that don't get reported either. Singling out teachers is fundamentally unfair and stigmatizing all of them as potential sex offenders is horrible.
A far better idea would be to have school districts produce policies for their employees on the use of social media and guidelines for proper, professional behavior when using it- this would at least mandate that schools have policies in place governing what's OK versus what's not OK and more to the point, would allow teachers to use the increasingly important realm of social media to connect with students and parents.
So while I'm glad that policymakers are taking a hard look at things like this, this law needs to be redirected towards making sure schools have standards of behavior in place for using social media rather that penalizing behavior that has yet to happen and might not even happen.
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