How Do You Say 'Peace Out, Y'all!' In Latin?

Well kids, I, like the rest of the world woke up to news of the biggest resignation since Nixon's- if not the biggest resignation ever. Yes, Pope Benedict XVI (more affectionately known round these parts as Pope Skeletor I) officially gave his two weeks notice today- announcing that he is resigning effective February 28th and in doing so, he caught absolutely everyone by surprise.

For the record, he's not the first Pope to resign. There is precedent for this- but you've got to go all the way back to 1415 and Pope Gregory XII to get to the last Papal resignation. (And he only resigned in a massive complex deal designed to end the Western Schism which was going on at the time. Not that I'm rooting for the appearance of an Anti-Pope or two.)

So why the resignation? He says he couldn't keep up and there have been reports that his health was starting to fail in recent months but after the VatiLeaks Scandal last year, Der Speigel ran this fascinating article that gave a surprisingly frank look at the inner workings of the Vatican. The article makes clear the Benedict was surprised to be elected Pope to begin with and although he was a veteran of the Curia (the body that does the governing day-to-day in the Vatican) he didn't make any major moves to reform it or shake things up. Moves he did make didn't seem to go anywhere as the Curia seems to have rapidly split into competing factions as they struggle for control of the place.

This keeps in line with what most people already assumed: as a 78 year old Pope when he was elected, he was seen more as a Caretaker Pope than anything else. This wasn't a guy that was going to light up a Third Vatican Council anytime soon. After three decades of JP Deuce, they went with continuity and in Benedict they got a Pope that wasn't interested in rocking the boat all that much. And how could he? He was tasked with being the follow up act to JP Deuce who really was the first truly modern Pope- if such a thing could be said to have existed. At 78 he didn't have the time to get out of the shadow of his predecessor and I expect he knew that- which is why his resignation, so unexpected, so surprising might be the shrewdest and canniest move he's made over the entirety of his Papacy.

Traditionally, when a Pope dies, there's a 40 day mourning period before the Cardinals convene to elect a new Pope. That's been thrown out the window now because, well, Benedict didn't die. As a result, there's no obvious group of front-runners- this Conclave is going to wide open. And that could lead to potentially some very interesting results. While I get that Conservatives are holding a lot of power in the Church right now, what I don't like are these moves to roll back Vatican II and create a smaller, more doctrinally pure tent. No, no, no- the Church needs to be a BIG tent, a truly universal Church. I'm not saying you throw out the babies with the bathwater and start handing out condoms and performing gay marriages anytime soon but we need a Conservative (because barring a surprise, that's what we're going to get. The College of Cardinals is dominated by Cardinals appointed by Benedict and JP Deuce- both conservatives) that's going to be a leader for all Catholics, not an enforcer for conservative Catholic dogma.

Smart money says to bet on an Italian- they've had a lock on the Papacy, they're a sizable bloc in the College of Cardinals and it's been decades since there's been an Italian Pope. But, if the Der Speigel article I linked to above is to be believed, the mess of the VatiLeaks Scandal and in the Curia might have damaged their chances. An American Pope? New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan is mentioned but I don't think he's seen as a serious choice. A Pope from the Superpower might make more than a few people queasy- but there are choices all over the place from Latin America to Africa to even Canada.

I'm not that much of a Catholic anymore- I'm fairly lapsed to be totally honest about it. But Catholicism is in my DNA. The first months of my life were spent in a Dominican Priory, I went to Church every Sunday until I was 18 and once the habits and the smells and rituals get engrained into you, they're damn hard to completely let go of. But when the sexual abuse scandal hit and the Hierarchy chose obfuscation and cover up (and in the case of Cardinal Law, a promotion to a nice cushy job in the Vatican) I just couldn't stomach it anymore. By sitting in a Catholic Church, I felt like I was surrendering my faith to a Hierarchy that felt- and still feels that they are above the law and unwilling to submit to consequences for their sins. I felt like I was consenting to the cover-ups and the lack of accountability and as a lay person, I had no voice, no say and no leadership willing to hear my concerns. And at the end of the day, I couldn't let my faith be hijacked like that. My faith is mine- and although it's not something I talk about openly, it's a deeply personal thing for me and so when things like this happen, I care. I obsess slightly and I read everything I can about them.

Moments like this don't happen all that often but when they do, it's like catnip to me. The art of politics as practiced by the true masters of the art is going to be on display. No one plays politics like the Roman Catholic Church does- complexities and competing factions and power that's fascinating to watch. If you want to know why I have two degrees in political science, it's because I get to read about and watch moments like this. And it's amazing.

Food Adventures #20: Skinny Monkey Cookies

Well, these were my first foray into gluten-free baking and it was a good one, save for one little flaw in the recipe (that can be found over here, if you're interested.) I loved making these- they were easy and at 47 calories a pop they're healthy too. How to make them? Get all the ingredients, dump them in a big old bowl and mix them up- and there aren't too many ingredients- basically bananas, oats, peanut butter, cocoa, unsweetened applesauce, vanilla extract and a dash of cinnamon so these are relatively quick and easy to whip up.

I do have one little bone to pick with the recipe- it said to use an ungreased cookie sheet. Novice baker that I am, I tend to follow my recipes unthinkingly and obeyed that instruction. Big, big mistake- I ended up having to peel them off the cookie sheet.

But on the upside- everybody liked them! People did think they tasted a little like banana bread- but I'm not sure that's necessarily a bad thing either. I can highly recommend these cookies- they're easy, simple, quick and a lot of fun to make. (I'd say this is a must bake especially if you have kids- it'd be the perfect activity for the kitchen.)

This Week In Vexillology #15

Cook up some tapas, pour yourself a nice glass of red wine and get ready to get crazy like Ibiza on Spring Break- because this week, kids- it's Spain!

Red and yellow have been colors associated with Spain for centuries now- it was 1785 when the King of Spain adopted the colors to distinguish his shops from those of other countries- the present layout was adapted on July 19th, 1927 for national and civil usage and the colors were originally taken from the arms of both Castile and Aragón the two regions that were united by Ferdinand and Isabella to make the Kingdom of Spain.

Spain was a republic from 1931 to 1939 and the flag shifted from it's usual layout to an equal horizontal tricolor of red, yellow and purple. The purple is thought to have referred to either the arms of León or Granada. The original format was restored with the victory of the Nationalists in 1939.

The arms are set towards the hoist and reflect the regions of Spain. The first and fourth quarters of the shield represent Castile and León. The others recall Aragón and Navarre. The base is the pomegranate of Granada and the whole shield is supported by the Pillars of Hercules and the motto is Latin: 'Plus Ultra' which means 'above all.'

Ladies and Gentlemen- Spain! And remember, until next time keep your flags flying- FREAK or otherwise!

Braley Is In

Accelerating what's likely to be the biggest political story in Iowa for the 2014 cycle, Congressman Bruce Braley announced today that he would be running to fill the retiring Tom Harkin's Senate seat in next year's elections. Braley was initially making noise that he was considering taking on The Moustache in next year's gubenatorial match-up but once Senator Harkin announced his retirement, he switched gears pretty quickly and now has officially thrown his hat into the ring for the Senate.

This is kind of a big deal. For the first time in my lifetime and certainly in my time here in Iowa, we're getting a new Senator. It feels a little like when JP Deuce finally died and I got to see white smoke over the Vatican for the first time-- big, big, generational type of deal. (Though I was less than pleased at the election of Pope Skeletor that resulted from that- but that's another post entirely.) And an open Senate seat is going to attract national money and national attention.

There could also be some open Congressional seats as a result. The DM Register is reporting that Representative Steve King is the favorite of GOPers to take on Braley for the seat and 3rd District GOPer Congressman Tom Latham might also be mulling a run along with Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds. Of the three, I think Reynolds would probably be the best choice- but Latham would be the most pragmatic and probably has the best shot at winning, I think. He's got a rep for being a solid but not tin-foil hat wearing GOPer whereas Steve King, remains, as always, Steve King who would undoubtedly carry on the recent GOPer streak of picking the worst Senate Candidates possible. (There are whispers from the Medium White North that Michelle Bachmann might be mulling a run against Senator Franken next year. I don't know whether to shudder at the thought she might succeed or laugh hysterically at the possibility of her epic failure.)

I'd have to hear a little more from Reynolds before deciding whether or not she'd be a good candidate- as Chief Henchwoman to The Moustache, she's placed somewhat favorably in the irritating but moderately tolerable wing of the GOPers and one of these years Iowa is going to elect a woman to Congress or the Senate, so why not her? (Seriously: I'm really hoping that this is the cycle that does it. I'm tired of being in the same club as Mississippi- we're the two states that haven't had a woman governor, Representative or Senator. It's time.) And if Reynolds isn't up to it there are a few intriguing possibilities out there to potentially fill Congressman Braley's seat if needed, not the least of which is State Senator Liz Mathis. I don't know if she'd be interested or not but she's got name recognition, she's likeable and she seems to be doing a good job down at the Legislature. (Put it this way, I assume elected officials are doing a good job if I don't read about them in the news. Which might be a flawed assumption on my part, I'll grant you.)

Either way- it's interesting times ahead!

(Random Post-Script: I'm really getting tired of 2016 Crystal Ball Gazing by the media. It's not even 2014 for f--k's sake. Yes, we know Governor Jindal is probably going to run. Ditto Senator Rubio, Vice-President Biden and Secretary Clinton and I could give two shits about Governor Christie's weight. Reagen was old as dirt when he became President and managed to keep the place running and an overweight President would only be a reflection of the reality of American and Americans today. I don't care- though I suppose fans of President Taft might resent the possibility of Christie stealing their thunder.)

UPDATED: Well, this is interesting... DM Register published a poll tonight about which candidates Iowans found most appealing and it turns out that former Gov and current Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack takes top spot with 55% and his wife Christie Vilsack slides in just behind him at 42%- though she's saying she's for sure not running. Of the eight candidates on the poll only Vilsack, Braley and Latham were the candidates that Iowans liked more than they didn't. The trio at the bottom of the pile (more Iowans disliked them as candidates than liked them)- The Moustache's Chief Henchwoman, Congressman Steve King and Conservative Activist Bob Vander Plaats ranked at the bottom- 54% didn't like Vander Plaats which is nice.

Yeah. Interesting... Vilsack would be another good choice for Team Blue and it's way too early to start handicapping a Vilsack/Braley primary and it seems my initial instinct about Latham was right- he'd probably be the best candidate for Team Red. We'll just have to wait and see what Team Red comes up with to go for the Senate seat. (As a bonus- turns out KCRG had the same thought I did about Liz Mathis and it turns out she's already been approached about a potential Congressional run.)

This.

(If the embed is acting funny: http://youtu.be/C_0fyUYB3cA)

If it wasn't for Dikembe Mutombo, I would have blissfully sailed through childhood only dimly aware that there was an NBA. I don't remember if it was a trading card or some random magazine article but Mutombo was 7'2'' and from Zaire. (Which was a country back then, kids- I swear!) That was really, really cool to map obsessed, geography nut elementary/junior school me. (He was playing for the Denver Nuggets at the time, I believe.) So anything involving Dikembe Mutombo automatically has to be awesome.

Saturday's All Right For Fighting- But Not For Mail Delivery

The news story du jour has been the news that the US Postal Service is ending Saturday Mail Delivery-- this came as no surprise to anyone as I think the country has been waiting an announcement about this for what seems like four years now and it does precisely nothing to address the underlying problems of the Post Office itself. Not even The Royal Mail is wholly goverment-run anymore. The Germans privitized parts of theirs and that's how we ended up with DHL (something I didn't know until recently) yet the good old USPS just keeps lurching along from crisis to crisis trying to figure out what to do next- and I used to wonder why- until I read this article.

Turns out that the Post Office is overseen by the most competent body of fair minded sensible people in the United States today. Yes, I'm talking about Congress- and no, I couldn't write that last sentence with a straight face. Hahahahahaha! I'm not going to blame Congress for all the problems- things like email, social media and text messaging means that people just don't write letters like they used too and one of these days Amazon will figure out same day delivery and everything will just implode as we all bow down before our new Corporate Overlord Jeff Bezos and take our rightful places in the Amazon Distribution Centers of the Future.

In short, the modern world is not being nice to the Postal Service. It's bleeding a whopping $36 million a day- that's $25,000 per minute. That's insane. Ending Saturday delivery seems prudent, wise and all round step in the direction of fiscal sanity- and guess what? It's subject to Congressional approval. I can see this ending well for the Post Office already.

The other mind-blowingly weird thing about the Post Office is that they have to pre-fund all the costs for their future retirees. (Read about that glorious burden here.) Guess who saddled them with that? Go on, guess. If you guessed Congress- you'd be entirely correct!

Do I know what the future holds for the Post Office? No, I don't but I don't think it's good either. You could argue that maybe as snail mail finally dies off, you could focus on pacakage delivery but there are already a half dozen companies doing a better job than the Post Office in that business. You could say, just privtize it, trim the fight and get down and dirty with DHL, UPS and FedEx and start fighting it out. Great idea- but there are hefty pension obligations imposed by Congress that no private investor is going to want to deal with- which would undoubtedly stick the taxpayers with a hefty bill. Something no politician is going to want to do either.

But you've got to start somewhere and ending Saturday delivery seems like a decent enough place to start. I'm not at all upset about this- I was more upset when they first started raising stamp prices- but even that I've come to accept as inevitable.

'House of Cards' --A Review

It's been hailed as the 'future of television' and has lapped up critical praise across the board and kids, I've got to say House of Cards lives up to the hype and then some. An Americanized version of the British mini series, Kevin Spacey stars as Congressman Frank Underwood, the Majority Whip in Congress- who opens the season by approaching a dog who's been injured in a hit and run and promptly suffocates it to put it out of its misery, informing the audience in the first of many fourth wall breaking asides that he always does what has to be done. When he's passed over for Secretary of State in an incoming administration starts out on a deliciously machiavellian plan of revenge together with his wife Claire (Robin Wright) and an ambitious reporter Zoe Barnes (Kate Mara). Underwood might be ruthless, power hungry and willing to do anything to get ahead but he's matched and then some by his wife Claire (who's portrayal by Robin Wright just about steals the show from Kevin Spacey.)

In short order, Underwood spikes the President's nominee for Secretary of State, ruins his education plan and the muscles his way in to provide a solution (thus gaining importance influence in the White House) and then ties a young Congressman with a troubled relationship with drugs and booze to his cause, almost ruining him and then setting him to fall as he attempts to run for Governor of Pennsylvania. All of which, by the end of the first season (two are planned, I believe) leaves Underwood on the verge of ascending to a great deal of power indeed.

This was one of the few television shows that I managed to watch completely without seeking out spoilers- and, as such, I won't reveal anything beyond what I already have. This is something worth watching- and something worth seeing to believe. It might be a little extreme in it's portrayal of the power hungry ways of Washington but when Underwood approaches a mentally disturbed homeless man who's screaming wildly in the street and assures him that 'he doesn't matter and nobody can hear him' it's not hard to see the interesting parallels between Washington and the rest of the country. It struck me that in a very real sense, we are that crazy homeless man. Or at least it feel that way a lot of time.

The cinematography reflects this as well. Washington is not a shining, virtuous, lilly-white city. No, this is a dirty city, a city of shadows, dark corners, grungy and grimy which suits it well and is a perfect fit for the overall series as well.

Netflix threw some serious money at this and it paid off in spades for them. I don't know if they'll challenge HBO for quality cable programming but this was one hell of a way to start out. Releasing all the episodes at once could be something that might prove quite innovative in the future, though it might be too soon to tell if this is what could safely be called 'the future of television.' It might be a the beginning of the beginning of the future of television but only time will tell. The Netflix format frees the show from the strictures of commercials and time pressures. Each episodes is as long as it needs to be to tell the story it wants to tell- and without commercial breaks, the lack of artificial cliffhangers throughout the show makes for a very different viewing experience. It feels slower but in reality its more delicately crafted in a way and the gradual pacing in the early episodes quickens pace as more and more of Underwood's plan is revealed.

Overall: This is the best political television show since The West Wing. Can't wait for another season to see what kind of trouble, manipulation and power politics these characters get into next.

Food Adventures #19: The Super Bowl Trio

So yesterday was Super Bowl Sunday and my Mother had a gathering at the Parental's Casa to watch the big game and I volunteered to bring a few things just to contribute to the awesomeness. First up:

MAKER'S MARK RICE KRISPIE TREATS!

If you like bourbon, whiskey and all kinds of yumminess like that (I know I do) then fear not, you can find the recipe over here. I have to admit something maybe mildly shocking to y'all: I had never made regular rice krispie treats before much less ones with a helping of bourbon thrown in for good measure so I didn't know what to expect. (I've tackled Special K Bars- along with tater tot hot dish two culinary favorites I've kept making since my time in the Medium White North.)

Melting the butter went well. Mixing the cinnamon in went well. The marshmallows threw me for a bit but I stuck 'em with a spatula enough and they melted away so I threw in the bourbon and then the recipe said to throw the rice krispies into the sauce pan and mix until combined well before pressing into your 8x8 baking dish.

Silly me... I obeyed unthinkingly and found out what a mess 5 1/2 cups of Rice Krispies can be in a simple sauce pan- the whole damn thing almost went south on me but a large piece of tuperware was located, Krispies combined and they were safely pressed into a pan.

The taste verdict? Generally they were seen as awesome- though I think I sprinkled a little too much cinnamon on the top and I'm not really sure I could taste the bourbon in it but they took average, run of the mill, Rice Krispie treats to another level entirely. I can highly recommend them. Next up?

CRANBERRY GOLDSCHLAGER JELLO SHOTS!

Here's the thing: years ago- and it must have been years because I can't honestly remember when I purchased it, I snagged a bottle of Goldschlager and then it just hung around, hung around, hung around and just never got drunk so I was looking for a way to get rid of it and Jello Shots are a remarkably simple way to do such a thing. One box of Cranberry Jello later and I had a six pack of Jello Shots for the game.

I was a little afraid that the Goldschlager might overwhelm the Cranberry Jello but happily, I only had a third of a cup left so there was just enough to give them a nice Cinnamon kick that blended well with the Cranberry Jello- and the nice thing is that with just one box of Jello used, there weren't loads of excess Jello shots at the end of the night either. Finally...

SPICY PEPPER GOAT CHEESE BRUSCHETTA!

This was an awesome recipe which I found over here and I would happily do this again! We (Mother Cigar and I) put our heads together and transformed what was listed as a 'dip' into straight up bruschetta and it was fantastic! One thing that I would change is adding more Sriracha sauce- I threw a half tablespoon in there and I think I should have kicked it up to a full tablespoon to give it some real kick instead of the more subtle kick it ended up with. (The recipe also called for like a quarter cup of parsley but that seemed like a shitload of parsley to me and I don't really like parsley all that much so I skipped it.)

All in all, it was a slamming Sunday preparing all of this and I went for a bonus and made some Skinny Monkey Cookies- but those deserve their own post, so stay tuned.

This Week In Vexillology #14

Keeping with our theme of warmer, tropical places in these, our winter doldrums, we're taking a visit to the Caribbean- so grab a beach towel, get a mai tai, put your sunscreen on and prepare to relax- because this week, it's St. Kitts & Nevis!

Part of the Leeward Islands and a British Colony up until 1983 and the flag was the winning entry in a design contest that attracted over 258 entries- it was the work of a student named Edrice Lewis who gave the now official interpretation of the flag. It was adopted for national and civil usage on September 19th, 1983. The green is symbolic of the fertile land, red the struggle for freedom, the yellow reflects the sunny climate and black recalls the African heritage of the Islands. You might think that the two stars represent the two islands of St. Kitts and Nevis- but kids, you'd be wrong! They represent hope and liberty.

Not to let St. Kitts have all the fun, I thought we'd give Nevis a shout out too:

The yellow stands for year long sunshine (man, wouldn't that be nice.) The national flag is in the canton (flag talk for the upper quarter of the flag closest to the staff, though it can stand for any quarter of the flag). And finally, that mountain in the middle is a graphic representation of Nevis Peak, a cone-shaped mountain in the centre of the island.

Yes, kids, it's the dynamic duo of the Caribbean, so St. Kitts and Nevis, take a bow! And remember, until next time keep your flags flying- FREAK or otherwise!

2,906 Miles Update #3

As of 1/1/13: 59 miles in
Starting Weight: 251.1
Ending Weight: 240
Pounds Lost: 11.1
Miles Added: 40.13

So we're now 99.13 miles in, which means the map now looks like this:

So far, so good! I'm heading into Week 6 of Couch to 5k which is the furthest I've ever gotten so by the end of the month, I should be totally done with it which would be amazing- but then comes the hard part: transitioning from a treadmill to an actual track and then outside so I can maybe run an actual 5K sometime this year. My handy-dandy Fitness Pal App is making counting calories a breeze and so far I haven't given into my cravings yet and attacked a Thickburger at Hardees or a plate of chicken wings at The Vine so I'd say that one month in, 'So far, so good!' sums it up quite nicely.

One down, eleven more to go!

Idler Thoughts On Electoral College Apportionment

Shenanigans are afoot in Virginia and Pennsylvania and people aren't very happy about it- and nor should they be. Basically, Republicans in both states are seeking to apportion the state's electoral votes by Congressional District- like Maine and Nebraska do. (Basically, whoever wins a Congressional District gets a vote- whomever win the majority of them gets the two bonus votes that are the Senate seats. (Your state's electoral college total being number of House seats plus two Senate seats.)

Seems like a grand idea? I agree. I would encourage this- I think it would make the Electoral College very relevant again and, to some extent disperse the stranglehold that the usual group of swing states exercises over the Electoral College vote. I also think it would more accurately reflect voter preferences in the Electoral College. Just because people in Northern Virginia voted heavily Democratic and tipped the state to President Obama doesn't necessarily mean that the views of say, Southern Virginia were accurately displayed. The whole thing, overall would make for a more robust, democratic system I think.

BUT- (because there's always a 'but') In order for this to be truly effective, states have to have to HAVE TO go to an independent redistricting process and do their damndest to stick with it. Otherwise, whichever party has the redistricting reins is going to gerrymander the shit out of everything and rig the Electoral vote game in their parties favor for a decade. Which would produce entirely the opposite effect of what we should be going for... (hence the objections from some quarters in Virgina and PA.)

I don't hate this idea- I think if done right it could make any number of not-so-relevant states very, very relevant in the Electoral Process and it'd make the Electoral College more accurately reflect the true preferences of voters in each state. Short of abolishing the Electoral College altogether, this seems like the next best thing. But these reforms should go hand in hand with redistricting reform as well- if you pass laws like these and keep on gerrymandering, you do a massive disservice to the voters and do nothing but make the electoral vote in your state another cudgel to bludgeon the opposition with.

(The overall tone of the HuffPost article I linked too is a wee bit hysterical I think... and it doesn't necessarily mean that Republicans are up to no good. I looked at that map and I saw bad news for Democrats though because it showed that Mittens played better in states that went blue than Obama did in states that went red... do it right, it could be more a more democratic way of doing business but the proposal is also opening the door to a great deal of shenanigans that people should be wary of.)

Idle Thoughts On The RPS Vote

February 5th, the Iowa City School District is asking voters to go to the polls for what's called a Revenue Purpose Statement. Basically, they want to be able to borrow some money, taking advantage of the extremely low interest rates to help finance any number of projects for the School District.

And therein lies the problem for a lot of people, I think. There's no plan. There's no specifics. And there doesn't appear to be a lot of trust out there that the Board is going to do what they say they could do. Two East Side Elementary Schools, a new North Liberty Elementary and a New Comprehensive Third High School seems to be on the menu but the lack of specifics seems to be concerning a lot of people.

This being a School District issue, it's getting heated and there's a lot of east versus west, North Liberty/Coralville versus Eastside Iowa City rhetoric being flung around and I'll freely admit that not having kids in the school district I don't really have a lot of skin in this game, but being a product of Iowa City schools, I have a passing interesting in making sure they maintain their high standards and quality of public education. So I sort of care about this and will probably roll on down to the polls and cast a vote on it.

Supposedly:

1. This won't raise property taxes.

2. This will allow for the development of a long term plan for new schools/facility upgrades. (Basically School District is saying, give us the cash money and we'll give you the plan. Hmmmm...)

3. This will allow the School District to borrow on state sales tax revenue through 2029.

My concerns:

1. The lack of specifics.

2. The whole 'blank check' thing. Not really down with that...

3. Two new elementary schools on the East Side? Where? (This could be interesting to watch-- The Quiet Man and I discussed this a little on the drive back from Minnesota. There are periodic rumors that Hoover is going to close due to low enrollment- but I don't understand why you'd close one school and build two more. Surely you'd dicker with the boundaries to bring Hoover back up to full enrollment first? Anyway- we seemed to agree for sure that one would be out on Lower West Branch Road near St. Pat's somewhere. The other? That's trickier. I think the City wants to develop the areas south of American Legion between Taft and Scott Boulevard so a new school could be the ideal kick starter for that but putting it there would be really close to Lucas unless you pushed it further south towards the Highway- but there's a lot of industrial development already out there. The other possibility would be maybe more on the north side between Shimek and Lincoln- since a lot of growth is going to be coming out there. Either way, it'll be boundary hell.)

Normally, I'd be deeply suspicious of the School Board asking for a blank check but I think we're in something of a pickle here. East Side Elementary Schools need some love and some more space but we also need to at least start looking at land for a 3rd High School or something. Why the School Board hasn't been proactive on long term planning, I don't know- but it seems like we had triggers for a Third High School, they got thrown out and now suddenly we're building elementary schools, facility upgrades AND THEN a Third High School- which has some parents- especially on the West Side/North Liberty/Coralville Area understandably pissed off.

Separate from this- though sort of tied into it given the plans for new buildings is the scrap over the District's Diversity Policy. This, more than the RPS is going to be a lot more heated and a bigger scrap in the long run than anything else I can think of- but I tend to come down in favor of it. Maintaining some semblance of balance when it comes to kids who receive free/reduced price lunch (the marker de jour for measuring socio-economic status, I guess) is going to be gigantic pain in the ass but it must be done. Gotta try and find a balance to make sure some schools don't get short changed in resources/funding/parent involvement/teacher support- any number of things. Finding the right ratio is going to help everybody overall- I'll keep an eye on this and see what they decide, if anything.

But overall, reluctantly, with a disapproving eyebrow raised at the School Board's piss-poor lack of long term vision and planning, I'll vote yes for the RPS. Time to stop talking about projects and start doing some of them.

This Week In Vexillology #13

Turns out India and Australia have their National Holiday on the same day (January 26th) so I decided to throw another shrimp on the barbie, cook up some samosas and choke down a vegemite sandwich and have a holiday doubleheader for Australia Day AND Republic Day.

First up, The Land Down Under... Australia was unified in 1901 as a Commonwealth of six formerly separate British states. The flag was adopted on the May 22nd, 1909 for national and civil usage and according to my handy-dandy reference book, includes 'three motifs, celebrating key aspects of Australian statehood.' The Southern Cross is the first one- a constellation visible throughout the year in the southern night skies and has been used a navigational aid for centuries and became a popular emblem for settlers on the new continent. The constellation appears on the fly with seven points for the brightest stars and five for the lesser Epsilon Crucis.

The Union Jack is in the canton, denoting Australia's historical links with Great Britain. It was first flown in Australia by Captain Cook was the national flag from 1788 and remained the official flag for use on land by citizens until 1954.

The largest star is the Commonwealth Star which represents the federal nature of government in Australia. Originally there were only six points for the six Federal states- but a seventh was added in 1909 to represent to Northern Territory together with the six other external territories administered by the Australian government.

Australia Day commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet in Sydney Cove in 1788 and seems to be the rough equivalent of our July 4th holiday at least according to Wikipedia- and as it's summer down there and decidedly not up here, a summer BBQ sounds just about perfect right now. In fact, I think I might crack a beer to celebrate! Happy Australia Day to all the family and peeps down under!

Next up... INDIA!

Adopted for national usage on July 22nd, 1947. It was based on the flag of the Indian National Congress which was founded in 1885 to press for independence (it succeeded and then some- it's actually the ruling party in the government today.) The orange in the flag represents courage and sacrifice, the green in the flag is for faith and chivalry and blue represents the color of the sky and the ocean.

The wheel is a chakra or a Buddhist spinning wheel... the 24 spokes (because I know you're going to count 'em) correspond with 24 hours of the day implying 'that there is life in movement and death in stagnation.' (Not a bad sentiment actually. Something for our own sclerotic government to consider, perhaps?)

Republic Day celebrates the day in 1950 when the newly drafted Indian Constitution came into effect throughout the country, officially making India a Republic. (Fast fact for poli-sci nerds: the Indian Constitution is the longest in the world- it's got 22 parts, 12 schedules and a whopping 97 amendments.) The highlight of the holiday is the massive Republic Day parade in New Delhi along the Rajpath- though similar parades are held in state capitols as well. Other celebrations include the distribution of sweets in schools and cultural dances according to Wikipedia.

The Indian Constitution itself is a staggering achievement and one worthy of celebration in and of itself- probably one of the greatest achievements in democratic development since our own Constitution in 1787- just considering the number of languages and cultures in India it's really amazing and Indian democracy, messy as it can be sometimes is actually quite inspiring. (At least to me.)

So cook up some vindaloo have some samosas and pour yourself a dram of Amrut whiskey and celebrate Republic Day. I know I will. (I'm still drinking that beer for the Aussies...)

Yes, it's a holiday doubleheader this week in vexillology so have a great Republic Day and an amazing Australia Day and remember until next time- keep your flags flying- FREAK or otherwise!

'The Secret Life Of The Motorway' --Two Thirds Of A Review

Kudos to The Quiet Man for sending me some links to a fascinating documentary from the BBC on the history of the British Motorway system (the equivalent to our Interstate system over here.) It took the better part of three days for me to get through two parts but it sucked me right in and the result was a compelling, fascinating documentary on how the rise of the Motorway impacted and changed culture in the United Kingdom forever.

The first motorway opened in 1958 (the M1) and they took off from there- Part One mainly focuses on the development of them (the concept had been around since the 30s but the war and then the recovery from the war put them on the back burner- an interesting parallel to our own Interstate Highway system which developed over a similar timeline) and the massive construction efforts especially on the stretch of the M62 that goes over the Pennines in the north of England. A seven mile stretch (I think I remember driving this one vacation. Stunning landscape- one place in Britain I've seen that could be considered desolate) of the road had to be built at some of the highest elevations in Britain, parts of it were in a peat bog and the weather conditions were truly brutal- especially in winter. It took seven years to complete- and today traversing it takes about seven minutes or so. (They also spend time on the massive Spaghetti Junction, where three Motorways meet in Birmingham. It's not the only Spaghetti Junction out there- but a nice bonus was finally figuring out that the 80/35 and 80/235 interchanges in Des Moines were the 'Mixmasters' that the DM Register always refers to on their Twitter feed. I feel less stupid now.)

Part Two of the documentary focuses on how the culture changed because of the Motorways. The rise of commuting sparked an exodus of the middle class away from the cities, some to the specially constructed 'New Towns' like Milton Keynes but others to smaller towns and villages strategically located not too far from a Motorway. This in turn, helped to revitalize large swathes of rural England while in turn spurring businesses and shopping malls to spring up along Motorways as well.

The rise of commuting, of course, lead to a boom in radio culture (because what else are you going to do in a car for so long) which in turn lead to drive time radio, traffic information (now mainly handled via text, CCTV and the internet) and of course- because you need something to eat now and again, the service stations. Service stations are probably the most unique thing about British motorways- imagine if every rest area was a gas station/restaurant/truck stop- a little like the DeKalb Oasis outside of Chicago and you'd be getting close. But British service stations take pride in their food, cleanliness (they interview two toilet reviewers. Seriously- they hand out 'Loo Of The Year' awards) and generally wallow in British-ness. (It was a Motorway service station that I first encountered the phenomenon known as mushy peas. Needless to say, I wasn't impressed.)

Tragically, it seems that the copyright infringement police caught up with the wonderful YouTuber that posted the links to this documentary and it was removed before I managed to watch Part 3- which deals with the rise of the road protest movement in Britain.

But the two thirds I did see were AWESOME! It inspired me to do a little Wikipedia reading on our own Interstate system- and I think if the BBC is looking for a sequel, The Secret Life of The Interstate might be a great place to start. (Random facts I didn't know: the Eisenhower Interstate system took thirty five years to complete and cost $425 billion which makes it the most expensive public works project since Pyramids. I-80 was only completed in 1986, I-90 in 1991 and the whole darn thing wrapped up in 1992. Missouri, Kansas and Pennsylvania all lay claim to building the first interstate.)

I loved this documentary- sometimes it's the little things you take for granted that are the most fascinating to learn about... one of these days, I'm going to have to dig up the third part of this documentary and finish out my viewing experience.

'The Redbox Trifecta' --Some Reviews

The Missus had to work a twelve hour shift yesterday, so I took advantage of a day off to snag some movies from Redbox that I knew she wouldn't be down with watching. (We do this- she grabs rom-coms and girly movies when I'm at work from time to time, so I decided to grab a trio of science fiction movies that I've been jonesing to watch for awhile now.)

First up: JOHN CARTER
Infamous as one of the more epic box office bombs of the last year, I actually really enjoyed this movie. I kept trying to figure out just what had gone wrong with this movie and why it had bombed so badly but I couldn't for the life of me see what it was. Maybe it was the fact that we know so much about Mars now, the idea of a civilization flourishing there seems too unbelievable. Or maybe it was the fact that people expect Mars to be red and Mars in this movie looked more beige than anything else. And maybe a little like Arizona.

But even that didn't bother me. Granted I doubt Taylor Kitsch (playing John Carter) is going to win any Oscars any time soon but the rest of the cast held up well- from Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) to Tars Tarkas (Willam Dafoe). I think it was maybe an expectations game that doomed this movie. People hadn't read the books (Edgar Rice Burroughs is more known for Tarzan than his Chronicles of Barsoom in popular culture) and this entire movie was a classic science fiction movie start to finish and a remarkably faithful adaptation of the book. Kind of made me wish I would have seen it in theaters and this is a movie I'd happily own. Going on the Amazon Wish List right now, in fact.


Next up: DREDD
I should have gone to see this in the theaters. In 3D. In 3D this would have been even more awesome than it already is. Karl Urban takes the reins as the titular Judge Dredd, who acts as Judge, Jury and Executioner in the dystopian future world of Mega City One. Saddled with a rookie for the day (Olivia Thirlby) Dredd plays FTO as the two of them go up against drug lord Ma and her clan (the always awesome Lena Headey). Explosions, death, the usual shenanigans ensue. The ultimate dystopian science fiction cop movie, Dredd rocked my face off for a number of reasons- namely AWESOME FUTURISTIC SCI-FI DISPATCHERS! AND THEY USE TEN CODES TOO! It cheered me up to no end that if I managed to survive the nuclear holocaust and/or wasteland and make it to Mega City One I might actually have some useful job skills. Winning!

This one is TOTALLY on my Amazon Wish List. And I picked the 3D/DVD/Blu-Ray Combo just in case we find ourselves with a 3D at some point in the future.


Finally: TOTAL RECALL
I was dubious when I heard about this remake and I remain dubious having watched most of it. Colin Farrell takes over Ah-nold's role as Douglas Quaid with Kate Beckinsale picking up the nicely villainous role originally played by Sharon Stone. Even Jessica Biel carries her weight here as Quaid's spy partner/femme fatale. The plot sort of mirrors the original film- Quaid is a regular joe wanting a little more and pays a visit to Rekall which promises to give him memories of something fun- in his case, being a secret agent. From there, things go crazy and the line between what's real and what's not blurs and one heck of a ride ensues.

I'm honestly not sure how to feel about this. Yes, there is a triple breasted woman in here. But no little mutant dude? No 'get your ass to Mars?' No Mars? No eyeballs bulging and exploding with awesome bad effects? You can't remake a classic like the original Total Recall without Mars. I'm sorry, you just can't- and this felt a little too much like Minority Report with a shitload of lens flares more than anything else. Don't get me wrong- this is worth a rental and a watch. It was entertaining- but I'm going to get my ass to a $5 bin at Wal-Mart and wait for the original to show up. It might feel dated and schlocky now but a classic is a classic. This one doesn't make the Amazon Wish List- but hey, two out of three ain't bad.

Food Adventures #18: Vegan Blondies

I have never in my life cooked anything that could be considered vegan. But I saw this recipe and in the spirit of a new healthy diet and workout regimen, I decided I would go ahead and give it a try. Even weirder: the recipe called for chickpeas. Not chickpea flour- actual chickpeas. Like the beans they make hummus out of it...

At that point, I knew I had to try these things... after all, I'd never made straight up blondies- and these blondies were not only healthy, gluten-free, low in calories (the recipe says that a 'generous slab' has 70 calories. I see no reason not to believe that.) Anyway- I got the ingredients, mixed the batter:

Spread them in a pan- and cooked them!

This resulted:

Overall, I'd say these are worth another shot. I think the pan was way too big and as a result they were spread fairly thin and got a little overcooked. The other thing I did was that I substituted honey for agave nectar which I think impacted the taste a little bit. (The Missus thought there was a little bit of a bitter aftertaste- and I agree with that. It's not bad, but I'd chalk that up to either the agave nectar or the chickpeas.) I wouldn't do that again- and unless I read the recipe wrong, there was a lot of direction on the amount of chocolate chips to use. ('Lotta' is what the recipe says- so we kind of guessed on that. I'd maybe use just a touch more. Or maybe even a second banana...)

But these were good! I'd make these again.

This Week In Vexillology #12

In the spirit of thinking about warm, tropical places in the middle of January, I thought I'd go down to the South Pacific and check out the flag of Fiji. So get your party hats on if you get bored you can watch one of Fiji's many military coups- because this week, it's FIJI!

Adopted for national and civil usage on October 10th, 1970- once again, we find the Union Jack in the canton denoting the country's historical links to Great Britain. The blue represents what else? The Pacific Ocean. The arms on the flag are derived from the official coat of arms of Fiji, granted by Royal Warrant in 1908. The first quarter of the shield show sugar cane, the second a coconut palm, the third a dove of peace and the fourth a bunch of bananas. It's a white shield with a red cross and a red chief (the upper third of a shield for those of you that aren't up on your heraldry.) On this chief, we find a British lion holding a coconut between its paws.

Fiji has a population of 849,000 and since independence in 1970 has suffered through a Constitutional Crisis in 1977 and four military coup d'etats. (2 in 1987, which made Fiji a Republic, 1 in 2000 and 1 in 2006.) Feel free to add this knowledge to any useless trivia you might keep around for parties and trivia nights at the local bar and when it wins you that extra round of beer- remember Fiji and smile!

Until next time, keep your flags frying- FREAK or otherwise!

Instagram Food Wars: The Downtown Chai Trifecta

Well, it's January and apart from the occasional flirtation of warmth from Mother Nature, it's pretty damn cold outside. That, combined with a New Year's resolution that seems to be sticking around for once (I'm actually losing weight AND working out... we'll see how I'm doing at the end of February) I decided this month to feature not nice hot coffee, but the best chai tea that downtown has to offer.

Why downtown? Well, if I went after every place that served chai this would be very long post- but really, most of my coffee/chai drinking revolves around work and the places I could conceivably reach (or ask someone to fetch me some and bring it back while it remains relatively warm) are few. So, I limited myself to the downtown chai trifecta: Starbucks, Teaspoons and the Java House.

First up: MASALA CHAI TEA, The Java House.

I love the spice in this. It's just right and it doesn't hit you until it's on the way down and then it lingers in the after taste. It's smooth and smells amazing- and it tastes amazing as well. (They also offer just a plain old Chai Tea made from Republic of Tea Chai but I wanted to see how good the house chai was at the old Java House and it's good. Worth a taste.


Second up: SPICY CHAI, T-Spoons.

Well, there's spice and then there's spice apparently. T-Spoons gets some plaudits for having not one, but two options- a Sweet Chai- the more traditional variety and then a Spicy Chai, which has more nutmeg and apparently some ground pepper in there as well. Being adventurous, I went with the spicy option and I'm happy to report, I made the right choice. The nutmeg is palpable and there's just the faintest hint of pepper. As promised, there's also a KICK to it that warms you right up. In the words of Charlie Sheen: Winning.


Finally: CHAI LATTE, Starbucks.

The initial taste didn't impress me. It tasted soapy and slightly lukewarm- but it improved with taste as I drank it. The flavors were mild but the spicy aftertaste didn't kick in until the end of the latte- but overall I was left wanting more. I didn't feel like I was robbed- like a lot of times I get coffee and tea from Starbucks- but there was better tasting chai out there.

The Verdict: T-Spoons! Java House was in it right up until the end but only T-Spoons had the flavor and the kick that made their chai a real pleasure to drink. They are the winners of the first edition of Instagram Food Wars of 2013 and the Kings of the Downtown Chai Trifecta!

Because You Shouldn't Judge An Overly Hyped Sitcom By It's Pilot

Awhile ago, I decided to take the plunge and see what all the fuss about HBO's acclaimed show Girls was about. I watched the pilot episode and was less than impressed. I found it annoying, superficial and entirely irritating and slightly over my head- (a 'men are from Mars, women are from Venus' thing) and I honestly didn't know why there was such a large section of the commentariat swooning over it.

Turns out the Missus was curious too, so she bit the bullet, got the rest of the season on Amazon Instant Video (this was my first experience with Amazon Instant Video. It was a pleasant one!) watched 'em and liked 'em. She wants the Soundtrack (I've taken note of that for future holidays, special occasions, or random 'I love you' moments.) And then I felt slightly ashamed... one shouldn't judge an overly hyped sitcom by it's pilot episode alone, after all. So I sat down and began consuming the first season of Girls.

It's still irritating- but it's not rage inducing by the end of the season. That, I think is certainly worthy of some faint praise. All the characters evolve over the course of the first season- granted, some of them evolve more than others and by the first season finale, all of the characters are bearable- which is more than I could say at the end of the pilot episode. I have the least amount of sympathy for Marnie (Allison Williams). She basically takes her college boyfriend for granted, scorns him for actually being a somewhat decent guy and treats him like shit. He, in turn pulls a fantastically douchey move and they break up and most of the rest of the season is spent dealing with the aftermath of this.

Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) is probably my favorite character. She's a fast talking virgin (her particular cross to bear for the season) kind of neurotic but also the one speaker of unintentional truth that managed to make me laugh out loud- and there weren't too many moments in the dramedy that made me do that.

Hannah (Lena Dunham) remains annoying throughout the season. Like I said in my review of the pilot- I'm not going to lay claim to having all of my shit together even now and goodness knows getting your collective shit together is part and parcel of growing up but dear God, she's clueless. She seems to have an aversion for rolling up her sleeves and getting to work, has a frankly weird boyfriend (Adam Driver) whom she wants to commit to/have a relationship with and who in the end isn't that weird and actually commits which freaks her out.

And Jessa (Jemima Kirke)... well, Jessa just kind of floats around, almost sleeps with her married boss (a nicely post-Ally McBeal James LeGros) and then does something totally unexpected in the season finale that would seem jarring except that her character is so random, it's a totally credible WTF moment that actually makes for a brilliant end to the first season.

Does it live up to the hype? I don't know. I certainly don't think so but then again, I'm a dude and somehow I don't think a show entitled Girls is necessarily going to speak to me. I think it gets better as it goes along despite the fact that there's the obligatory ham-fisted touchstones of modern feminism they have to hit up- abortion, sexual harassment in the workplace and losing your virginity. The guys in the show? They kind of get a bum rap, I think but by and large aren't horrible people- they just have to have the patience to deal with all these self-absorbed, superficial women they're dating.

Is it the voice of a generation? I don't think so. It's got acres of potential to be a really, really good show- but do the travails of a group of mid-20s hipsters in NYC speak to a generation? I doubt it. The process of finding ones self is important, I suppose- but out here in the Boonies, there's a certain practicality that gets pounded into kids growing up, yea, verily even here in the People's Republic of Johnson County. Namely: self-esteem don't pay the electric bill. But what the hell, I guess even the privileged scions of the white upper middle class deserve their own sitcom too.

Whiskey Of The Month #4: Templeton Rye

Ahhhhhhh... the 'Good Stuff.' Templeton Rye is now happily far more prevalent on the grocery and liquor store shelves of the Midwest and it tastes amazing. Happily, I've been to Templeton and taken a tour of the distillery there. They don't produce much there anymore- the vast majority is produced by a distillery in Indiana and shipped to Iowa by tanker truck. (That would be a delicious and tragic tanker accidents...)

This is our first rye- so first, some definitions. Rye whiskey produced in the United States by law is made of a mash of at least 51% rye- the other ingredients are usually corn and/or barley. Canadian whiskey has a different definition- but we'll save our thoughts on the Canadian whiskey until we sample some good stuff north of the border. (I'm thinking Pendleton, but they're getting more and more maple infusions that are calling my name. Maybe Pendleton first though.)

(I believe there's also a way you can purchase a Templeton Rye barrel. Someday, when I have a living room big enough to support one and perhaps a humorous leg lamp like the one in 'A Christmas Story' I'm going to get one.)

Anyway to business...

Color: Light amber/golden

Body: There's a sweetness to rye that I enjoy greatly and a smoothness to it that really works. As for the nose of it that throws me a little bit. A lot of times, a good whiff of whiskey can singe your nose hairs clean off- but this one endears itself to me by keeping my nose hairs intact and bringing a nice scent of honey to the party. There's a smoothness to it that reminds me of vanilla and maybe cinnamon.

Palate: It's neither light not heavy- I've tasted whiskeys that are both watery and almost syrupy- this one seems to be a happy medium between the two.

Finish: Very, very, very nice. I can see why it's called 'The Good Stuff.' There's warmth but not a burn. The warmth is gradual and very pleasant.

Overall: Sour Mash Manifesto rates this as an 8.4 which is Very Good/Excellent. I'd drop the good and just go with excellent. There's a reason that Al Capone liked this stuff and it's because it's drinkable, tastes good going down and doesn't leave a good old whiskey burn behind. Interestingly enough, they tasted caramelized bananas in their tasting--- I either need to work on my nose or have some caramelized bananas because I didn't get that at all.

The Gun Thing

President Obama unveiled his gun control proposals today and I'm cautiously pleased. It's a mixed bag- but there are some fairly sensible things being proposed that I don't hate. A little taste from Huff Post:

— A focus on universal background checks. Right now some 40 percent of gun sales take place without background checks, including by private sellers at gun shows or over the Internet, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.

— A ban on assault weapons and limiting ammunition magazines to 10 rounds or fewer.

— A federal statute to stop "straw man" purchases of guns and crack down on trafficking rings.

— More anti-bullying efforts; more training for teachers, counselors and principals; and funding for schools for more counselors and resource officers.

Closing the gun show loophole is something I'd support. Though, it's worth noting that never having purchased a firearm, I have no idea what the current process is. Reading the Conservative interwebbles, it seems that it's kind of a pain in the ass to buy a gun already but I've never actually tested that myself/no idea how on the level these complaints are. Plus, I don't have $500-$600 in disposable income just laying around to buy a Glock. (If I ever do it might be interesting to find out just what the process is. Because I get the sensation that the media talks out of its ass pretty much most of the time when it comes to guns and gun control.)

Tightening federal trafficking laws is eminently sensible- it might even approach what could surprisingly be called, 'good public policy.'

What I'm dubious about is the assault weapons ban and the magazine limits. The last assault weapons ban was worse than useless. It's doubtful a meaningful one gets through Congress and if one does, it'll be a watered down cosmetic version of the last one. Magazine limits make no sense to me. You can kill plenty of people with ten rounds or less. And, at the end of the day, while I support sensible limits on the 2nd Amendment, flat out bans don't work because criminals don't obey laws. (If an effective ban is ever passed, I'd be interested to hear what gun control advocates say after the next tragedy.)

Anti-bullying efforts? In general, I think it's a good thing. But I'm also interested in knowing just what's changed in our culture that bullying has become as epidemic as it has... I mean, to a certain degree, I think kids can be real assholes to each other sometimes but it's also kind of the inevitable part of growing up- but it's a real problem now. How did our culture get so cheap and mean? And how has that infected kids as badly as it has? (But that's another post and probably a sociology class away, I think.)

There's real potential for sensible limits in some of these proposal and others are going to be non-starters. I expect that's why the Obama Administration cast it's net as widely as it did.

Cheerful Discourse, For Once

I was deep in the ashram of the Great Guru Instapundit when I noticed the headline: 'FRIENDLY TALK BETWEEN TEA PARTY AND MOVEON' That caught my attention right away- when I read the article describing the cordial discussion that took place in Berkley from the Tea Partiers point of view and then found the HuffPost Article that described the meeting from the MoveOn-ers point of view I was pleasantly surprised.

Basically, both sides found out they had a lot more in common with each other than they had previously thought. Following the basic structure of a Living Room Conversation (this is the first time I've heard of such things but I like what I'm hearing/reading about them, that's for sure) they discussed a wide variety of issues and made plans to discuss more (the Tea Partiers had to get home by 6 for a dinner engagement so they couldn't go as long as they wanted too.)

Could I just say: YES YES YES! I love this! Crossing ideological and party lines to discover that instead of yelling and talking past each other- as much of our political discourse has sunk too these days, people have more in common with each other than they think. Granted, this may be a tiny, tiny step (and I hope it's not the only one) in what I'm sure is going to be a long and painful road back to a more productive political discourse but I'm glad it happened. I hope more of them happen and both side can find common cause in the thought of making our democracy better and making our politicians more accountable to the people.

Seriously- this brightened up my entire day. And I was having a pretty good day to begin with!

This Week In Vexillology #11

Feeling the winter cold just a little bit too much? The long January arctic getting you down? Well, get your sun-tan lotion out and get ready to send in the Marines because this week... it's GRENADA!

Adopted for national and civil usage on February 7th, 1974 this flag flies over the Caribbean island of Grenada, which was invaded by Britain in 1762- who remained large and in charge until Grenada became an Associated State in 1967 and fully independent in 1974.

The nutmeg close to the hoist (the left side of the flag- the hoist is the area of the flag closest to the staff) represents well, nutmeg- Grenada's most famous product (it's known as the Spice Island.) The star in the center (and the disc) represent the capital St. George's while the six outer stars represents the other six parishes on the island. The red in the flag stands for courage and vitality, the yellow for wisdom and warmth and the green for agriculture.

Don't know much about history? Yes, the United States did invade Grenada in 1983- unsurprisingly, we won. So get your knowledge on over here and feel good about knowing something you didn't know before.

Until next time- keep your flags flying- FREAK or otherwise!

Late Night Chronicles 96: The Carbuncle Awaits

Way back in October, I wrote this, decrying the sudden rush to plant a high rise potentially up to 20 stories high on the edge of downtown and either I should stop writing these things or I need to get a pile of money like Marc Moen and start getting in on this action myself, because the City Council went all in and voted to accept the proposal for the 20 story monstrosity known as The Chauncey.

I hated this in October and I hate it even more now. 20 stories is just too damn high and it's complete with another swanky hotel, a bowling alley and what could be potentially pretentious and annoying but I'm desperately hoping will be really really cool, a movie theater- what it lacks, however, is the Co-Op.

Co-Op supporters are pretty pissed about this and I can't blame them. For a business that's been a staple of downtown for decades, who unlike for instance Von Maur didn't flee Iowa City for the potentially greener pastures of Coralville, you'd think the City Council would have done them a solid and found them a place in this new idiocy, but they didn't. They're all about 'mixed use' buildings and something called 'work force housing' whch is code for most of the City Council being driveling idiots again because no one in their right minds is going to want to live anywhere near downtown unless they're a student... and the Co-Op has been left out in the cold.

I hope they up and leave, I really do. Or maybe move into Von Maur's old space in Sycamore Mall (hey, that's an idea- there'd be TONS of parking then!) There's obviously no place for them in the shiny new steel and glass downtown that's being assembled, one gargantuan project at a time.

Now, leaving my luddite rant aside, let's get down to brass tacks: I don't hate high rises, provided they fit in and reflect the spirit of the community around them. This one doesn't- it's across my 'holy line of demarcation' (Gilbert Street) and is going to tower over the Rec Center and generally stick out like a sore thumb. The Plaza Towers? That fits into downtown. Whatever Moen's got going on in the Ped Mall? I dislike it- but that too fits into downtown. Whatever they're going to build in Hieronymous Square? Would also fit into downtown.

This doesn't. Period. It's too big, too huge and the City Council's track record on mixed use buildings and potential 'attractions' hasn't impressed me at all. (Remember Planet X in the Old Capitol Mall? That worked out well, didn't it?)

Then there's the matter of $13.5 million in TIF money to build this thing. Why? Why do we need it? Is there some desperate need for a 20 story ginormathon of a building downtown? No. There's not. While I don't want to argue about the ins and outs of TIF money I think it's incumbent on the City Council to get tax payers a good deal. We could have taken the 4 Zero 4 Proposal and probably been on the hook for less TIF money. Epic fail on that score as well.

I guess with age, I like to think I'm not becoming a bitter old townie but it might be inevitable (unless we move of course.) I'm not against development- in fact, I'd like more of it here and there with actual options for real live people like myself to shop downtown but it's becoming increasingly gentrified- and not the monocle wearing, caviar eating kind of gentry either, no it's the 'we should be driving Priuses' and 'don't you love this Faaaaaaaaaaaaabulous Beaujolais' and 'I liked that obscure indy band before they sold out and became famous' type of gentry and they're to a fault, fantastically, rage-inducingly annoying. I have less and less reason to go down there other than work, Prairie Lights, Daydreams and YoTopia.

I don't feel like I've got a downtown anymore sometimes and that annoys me. Guess there's nothing for it: I'll have to make a big-ass pile of cash and start building shit (though if my big-ass pile of cash is big enough, I'll make a point of doing it without TIF money) maybe the City Council will listen to me- because it seems like whatever Marc Moen wants, Moen gets.

#Cut4Bieber Is An Actual Thing Now

Honey Boo-Boo's Mom being afraid of mayonaise is also an actual thing apparently but this cutting for Bieber thing is disturbing. The apparent silence from Biebs of the matter (I really hope he's said something by now and I just haven't heard- if not, then duuuuuuuuuude, WTF?) is also disturbing.

Basically, the Bieb was caught smoking weed the other week and some asshole on 4Chan.org (which apparently is a site dedicated to being horrible human beings) started this:

The hashtag #Cut4Bieber began trending, suggesting that dedicated Beliebers engage in self-harm through cutting themselves in order to get Justin's attention in response to his recent alleged bad boy behavior.

"Lets start a cut yourself for bieber campaign," an anonymous user initially wrote before the thread was deleted, according to Billboard. "Tweet a bunch of pics of people cutting themselves and claim we did it because bieber was smoking weed. See if we can get some little girls to cut themselves."

The truly sad part about this is that it's working apparently.

Look, cutting is an incredibly serious thing. Back in the dark days when I was depressed I did it a time or two but I was never seriously into cutting because it didn't do much for me. All I got was a cut and some blood to clean up and it just seemed a little silly and counter productive after awhile so I got help, got anti-depressants, talked to a therapist and ten years later am worlds away from where I was then. My experience is limited and nowhere near as extreme as some people out there and this bothers the shit out of me. I can't imagine how much it would bother people who've had some serious battle with self-harm/cutting.

I think what's worse is that the onslaught of potentially real photos on Twitter could be just that- potentially real. And that disturbs me too- healthy coping mechanisms are important with dealing with stuff like depression- why would you want to cut yourself for somebody else? Why would you want to give that power to someone else?

Granted, this is a stupid and assholic interweb meme gone wrong- and I hope the vast majority of these photos that are floating around out there are just that: fake. But if they're not, then I'd like to wish that people learn a lesson about this- to never give anyone that power of you as an individual. We're all worth more than that, each of us in our own unique way.

I mean, look at Honey Boo Boo's mom. She's afraid of mayonnaise.

One TRILLION Dollars

So everyone's getting all riled up and ready to go for the next Fiscal Cliff (these things are starting to become like pay-per-view boxing... it's like Pacquiao and Marquez II but not at all entertaining.) This one should have a slightly different flavor... GOPers will argue that the tax stuff is done because they made a noble compromise and raised taxes on people earning more than $400K a year. Dems will say, no no no, we want more taxes on people making $200K a year.

GOPers will try to ignore them, fail and things will probably be just as tiresome as the last time but this time, they've got the debt ceiling as a cudgel to swing. Basically, they can refuse to raise the debt ceiling and all kinds of bad things (Default, economic collapse, etc) will happen.

There are a couple of things President Obama can do to get around this. One (the dodgier one) is to simply use the 14th Amendmant (how, I'm not sure exactly. The poor 14th Amendmant seems to get blamed for a lot of shit it probably doesn't deserve) to declare the debt ceiling unconstitutional and just raise it. (I'd like to try this with my credit card: 'Hey, Visa, I think your credit limit is arbitrary and stupid so I'm giving myself a limit of a MILLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLION DOLLARS!' Anyone think that would work?)

Option number two is to mint a $1 trillion platinum coin, run it down to the Fed and be done with it.

Oh yes, people, that's a perfectly serious option and there's a law out there that given the Treasury the power to mint platinum coins in whatever denomination the Secretary chooses. It was supposed to be for Collector's Coins and the like but the law doesn't rule out makin' legal tender. (Can we invent numbers too with this? A 1 Zillon Dollar Coin perhaps?)

Listen, I find both of these solutions inelegant and unnecessary. There are small fry things you can do right now to cut spending that would be incredibly popular with everybody right now (cutting Congressional salaries and benefits for instance) and you could push painful deeper cuts to the long term where they belong and get a plan together to get a balanced budget.

We do want to do that, right? Balance the budget?

Late Night Chronicles 95: Thoughts on Cliff-Diving

I remember in my Abnormal Psych class, senior year of high school watching a grainy, old school movie about a tribe somewhere in Polynesia that likes to do something almost, but not quite like bungee jumping. Basically, they erect a platform, tie a vine to their ankles and jump. But here's the kicker: they're supposed to hit their heads- not a lot- not like neck-breakingly, potential death hard but just enough to prove how bad-ass they are.

Needless to say, with the news cycle dominated by the mess in Washington over postponing the crisis for another couple of months with this so-called deal they passed, those crazy vine divers have been on my mind quite a bit. Congress, in it's wisdom, has built one heck of a platform of bloated government and debt over the years. Now the vine is around their ankles and they're too chicken-shit to jump.

But they may not have a choice for much longer. I'm not sure what postponing this Fiscal Cliff stuff is going to do. I mean, what do we call it then? Fiscal Cliff 2: THE SEQUEL? Fiscal Cliff 2: This Time, It's Cliffier? We've got to do something- and in the meantime, the polarization of our politics seems more entrentched than ever.

I blame everybody for this. It's a charming habit of mine even though some of my more liberal friends think it makes me sound a lot like a rabid, foaming conservative when I do it. But the fact of the matter is, we can't afford to keep going like this- we're out of control and lurching from crisis to crisis like a drunken sailor and I don't know about the rest of the country, but I'd like the bad bottle of tequila to run dry so we can go home and sleep this off, pretty please?

We're going to have to raise taxes. The Bowles-Simpson Commission recommended doing this through lowering taxes rates, cutting out loopholes and broadening the tax base. Seems pretty good to me. Republicans are going to have to get off their high horses about taxes and the defense budget if we want to fix this. We're in a total mess here and if they want to grab the whole 'fiscally responsible' mantle back in the eyes of the voters, they've got to be more flexible and less ideological on taxes.

But is raising taxes the only option? No, of course not- we're going to have to cut spending as well. Nothing irritates me more than when Liberals start whining about how the rich should pay their fair share. Sure, in a just society, those with more should kick in a little more but we've got a $14 trillion debt and a bloated government that we can't afford. A tax hike on rich people should be on the table, for sure but let's not act like it's a panacea for all our woes either. If we confiscated the networth of the ten richest Americans, we'd get $316 billion out of them. That's it. That's like a drop in the damn bucket.

The 'Deal' to get us passed the fiscal cliff, also included the following:

•$430 million for Hollywood through “special expensing rules” to encourage TV and film production in the United States. Producers can expense up to $15 million of costs for their projects.
•$331 million for railroads by allowing short-line and regional operators to claim a tax credit up to 50 percent of the cost to maintain tracks that they own or lease.
•$222 million for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands through returned excise taxes collected by the federal government on rum produced in the islands and imported to the mainland.
•$70 million for NASCAR by extending a “7-year cost recovery period for certain motorsports racing track facilities.”
•$59 million for algae growers through tax credits to encourage production of “cellulosic biofuel” at up to $1.01 per gallon.
•$4 million for electric motorcycle makers by expanding an existing green-energy tax credit for buyers of plug-in vehicles to include electric motorbikes.

And this just demonstrates the incredibly frustrating part of how our government works. Everybody wants something. Everybody has jobs or projects on the line and by golly, we the voters expect them to bring home the bacon. Well, I'm officially excusing Iowa's Congressional Delegation from bringing me any bacon. Don't need no algae and I sure as hell am not sure why we need $222 million for rum.

We're going to need to cut spending AND raise revenue- and reform entitlements too (though that's another issue entirely). Everybody in Washington knows it, so why don't they just get on with it then? Privatize Amtrak- hell, really make yourselves popular and privatize the TSA- or we could privatize the Post Office, since it's drowning in red ink anyway. (The Royal Mail is partially privatized I think- and when Germany privatized there's, DHL came out of some portion of that so it's not the worst idea I've ever heard.) There are plenty of small, sensible things we can do now that don't impact the lower or middle classes. It's just a question of political will to do that, which doesn't exist in Washington, I'm starting to think.

The fiscal vine around our ankles isn't growing shorter- it's growing longer. And the longer it gets, the more likely that when the big burly vine diver of reality pushes us off the platform we've created for ourselves, the more likely its going to be that we break our necks when we fall.

This Week In Vexillology #10

So where is the Central African Republic? Well, it's a Republic in Central Africa so get out the old atlas and find out what's kicking in the heart of Africa kids because this week- it's THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC!

The Central African Republic wins the award for coolest pre-independence name of any country in Africa- EVER. (Even more so than Nyasaland, Tanganyika, Zanzibar or Djibouti.) Are you ready for it? Are you sitting down? OK- here it is:

UBANGUI-SHARI!

That's right, the Central African Republic used to be known as Ubangui-Shari! (And for a brief, weird period as the Central African Empire. I think I read somewhere the Emperor in question was reputed to eat his enemies- but Emperor Bokassa is happily unemployed now and I'm honestly not sure how true that rumor is- and I guess he was acquitted of charges of cannibalism during his trial in 1987.

Adopted for national and civil usage on December 1st, 1958 and a lot of the colors in this flag symbolize the country's longstanding ties to France. The red vertical and the white and blue horizontal stripes are taken directly from the French Tricolore while the red, yellow and green are pan-African colors. The vertical stripe represents unity and the blood of humanity. (That's a little a dark, that last part- at least I think so.)

The star is probably the most interesting part of this flag- it represents a hoped for-talked about-but never achieved union with France. It's tucked away in the upper right corner because they were hoping more stars could be added as they went but so far- only one. (And interestingly, as rebels advanced towards the capitol, the C.A.R government was screaming for assistance from France. Which declined to help out- Gerard Depardieu's assets being a far greater enemy for the French to handle- at least for now.)

Ladies and Gentlemen: The CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC! (The country formerly known as Ubangui-Shari!)

And until next time, keep your flags flying- FREAK or otherwise!

I Miss Sim City 2000

I could have been a gamer. There was a window of time there between I'd say the 4th Grade and the 11th Grade when it could have happened. But I never owned a video game console of any kind (shocking, I know) and my promised Sega Genesis just wasn't worth the effort of paying attention enough to get those straight A's in 8th Grade (I think it was 8th Grade anyway) which is probably why my parents made that promise. They knew a safe bet when they saw one.

No, games passed me by. And then, damn it technology got too advanced and all the cool games became too much of a hassle to play. I mean, who wants to play Sim City when it's exactly like real life with sewer management and all the annoyances and headaches of a real city? You played those games to escape. You played those games to create something cool and futz with the budget to make yourself get unlimited money to do it. Sure, you tried to play it straight a few times but as soon as you found that unlimited cash trick with the budget in Sim City 2000, it was game on.

I had a Special Edition of Sim City 2000 at one point- with bonus disaster scenarios and a collection of cities from a design contest that you could play with including the coolest of them all, Egypt Falls. (At least that's what I remember this being called... not sure what the 2BILL business is.) I had sooooooooooooo much fun with that city. You could make more land by raising terrain, play with adding more water to the waterfalls- I kicked ass with this city.

But then it got all weird and crazy with The Sims and Sim City 3000 and Streets of Sim City. Really and truly, Sim City 2000 was that perfect balance between awesomeness and too much work. I've only found a few games like that since. Civilization was another kick ass one- the original one- maybe CivII as well. I tried the stupid Facebook Civ Game they have now and it just annoyed me. I also spent hours wandering through Escape Velocity and EV: Override (both AWESOME games...)

I dallied with the first-person shooter genre with Bungie's Marathon Trilogy but never really got into any subsequent follow-ups. I also managed to dodge Warcraft- though I did play it a little bit too.

Console games? I think the lack of a console hurt me there. I was OK at Street Fighter, never really got into Mortal Kombat and was crap at NCAA Football. Grand Theft Auto I rocked at it in college (oh those storied days and nights with the PS2). I tended to rock harder at the racing games than anything else- and while Goldeneye for N64 was a classic, one could only hide in the bathroom and waste people for so many rounds before everyone caught on and started throwing grenades in before they went to take a leak.

Now it just seems like the gaming world has passed me by. I don't know what Skyrim is. The one time I played Halo I was very very bad at it. So occasionally, I sit and think and get a little nostalgic for those by gone days of Sim City 2000.

(BONUS: Myst, Warlords, Lemmings, Worms, Command HQ... and so many more I can't even think of right now. All awesome and all sadly missed.)

New Year's Resolutions 2013 (13 Of Them)

13 For 2013... I'm not going to beat around the bush kids. I want to set myself realistic, achievable, concrete goals for the coming year. Here they are:

1. The usual: workout more, eat less, lose weight.

2. FINISH MY NOVEL. I'm closer than I was a year ago. This is the year it gets over the finish line- and I'm going to be happy with it. (BONUS: Get that collection of short stories beaten into shape and released too.)

3. Eat healthier. This may or may not involve purchasing and employing a juicer.

4. Learn how to play an instrument. (Thinking ukulele.)

5. Learn how to cook one new thing a month. (Meal, cupcake, whatever...)

6. Figure out where I'm going next, work-wise. (Apply for at least 2 adjunct teaching positions by May and have two more jobs in mind as well.)

7. I will give up caffeinated soda. Completely.

8. I will complete the ENTIRE Couch to 5K program. (I've started it like two times now and get bored by like week 4.)

9. I wanna get ripped. No idea why, really- only that I've never been ripped or toned in my life. Ever. And I think it would be nice to achieve that if only for a brief fleeting moment, so why not this year?

10. Figure out a new tattoo. And get it.

11. Start using Duolingo/Code Academy more to build my language skills and learn some coding. (Bonus: getting my 'Teach Yourself Hindi' Book out and working through that.)

12. Run a 5k. No point getting healthy unless you want to do something with it.

13. Go to work everyday I'm scheduled to work. (This is my safe resolution because I'm gonna do it anyway so if nothing else, I won't have a 100% failure rate.)