Hamilton effect

It's 3AM. In less than 4 hours I'm getting up to go on vacation. I've done no packing. Earlier I watched a movie where many, many people lost their jobs. I came back to the apartment for a brief Skype with a friend still teaching at Kaplan. The call lasted two hours. Listening to her depressing story caused a rock to grow in my stomach.

Two thoughts: 1. The little prayer I say every day that I am happy to be here needs to be doubled. 2. It all makes sense. Most people think that suicides reach a peak in December when depressed people choose to kill themselves rather than live through a period when everyone ELSE seems happy. Not true. The real high in suicides is the spring months of March, April, and May. Why? When the sky is dark and gloomy you don't realize how sad you are. It's only after the clouds have lifted and "spring is in the air" that people truly realize how much their life has turned to shit. Given the horribly abusive treatment at Kaplan they have no choice but to stick it out in today's job market. It takes an enormous toll on the body: Weight gain, anger, moodiness, depression... even irritable bowel syndrome.

I feel so much for my former colleagues. I've been through it. I lived it. My 2-3 year depression of 2006-08 cost me many friends. I had no idea how much I was affected until I was out. Seeing friends I care about going through the same thing is tough.

Oman

In the morning I am headed to Oman for a couple of days. On most days I drive right along the Oman border but in a year-and-a-half here I have yet to actually drive into Oman.

I will post if it is possible, but it is likely that the blog will go dark for a couple of days. I mistakenly thought we were leaving on Sunday, not Saturday. I have the mother of all weekend remainders that will now have to wait a few days.

What would you have done?

Tonight I saw the movie "Up in the Air." It's a very good, very depressing movie. Afterwards we stopped at a bar for a drink. When I paid my tab my change should have been $7. What I received was over $100.

Now in the US that would be a debatable topic: Do you take the money and run? I'm know my guilt complex is too high. I'm not saying I wouldn't because I'm ethical or moral; I wouldn't because as a child I remember MY heart beating faster when I read a Tell-Tale Heart.

In this country it goes beyond the ethical issue of taking money that doesn't belong to me. Here, that's the stuff that gets someone deported. Our polite Filipino waitress may have seen her career in the Emirates end as a result.

Two tables over from us a group was very agitated. I thought, "They just got $7 change..." The bills were exchanged and we all left peacefully.

There be POPCORN!

This well beaten box is a life line for me. It's Dad's popcorn When I left the US in August the popcorn was not ready to be harvested. So instead I brought over 20 pounds of popcorn from some guy in Indiana. His popcorn is OK, but it's not DAD's popcorn.

The woman at customs was quite rude. She couldn't seem to believe someone would spend so much money to ship popcorn. I explained, "This is not like any popcorn you've ever had..." Rather than being convincing it seemed to tell her there must be drugs in it. She sniffed the popcorn and even licked it! Her coworker was making fun - "It's just popcorn!"

Not entirely convinced I hadn't tried to ship in contraband, she was willing to allow me take it.

YIPPEE!!! I inhaled the first batch and ate the second batch slowly. For those of you who do know the joys of Dad's Popcorn... well, I pity you. Come and visit me and I'll be willing to share... but just a little.

Headline of the day

From the Village Voice:

Scott Brown wins Mass. Race, giving GOP 41-59 Majority in the Senate

Working vacation

Try to guess what this is...

For this break I planned to complete a major project: Rewrite the textbook Power Points for the introductory management class. It's not work I've been assigned but we're using a new textbook and the vocabulary is far above our students' comprehension. Power Points are often created by disgruntled Teaching Assistants who would rather be doing research. I think this textbook company must have paid them per slide because there's tons of useless material.

It's a sad fact that our students often study ONLY using class notes and the Power Points. The picture above is a textbook a student brought to the final... still in its plastic shrink wrap.

The task of converting the slides is not hard work, it's just tedious. Also, I plan to share with my colleagues teaching the class and I often think, "OK, will my they appreciate how much I've dumbed that down  brought that to the students’ level or criticize me for it?" In work avoidance mode I've cleaned my apartment beyond what is rational. Today I had nothing more to clean so I finally got to work. I completed two chapters. Eleven more to go.

Quote of the day

When people here see my autograph from Obama and my picture with Hillary they ask if it is photoshopped. "No," I reply, "It's the advantage of being from Iowa." (I also have the picture of me with Huckabee but nobody asks about that because I don't think they know who he is...)

After the grueling 2008 primary season Democrats are reviewing the process. The good news for us Iowans is that nobody is even remotely suggesting Iowa lose the number 1 position. I doubt the same would be true if Hillary had won. I think the party would have outlawed caucuses and Iowa would be assigned a date in early June.

In the comments section a person - who is clearly not a fan of Iowa - quoted Pat Roberston's Haiti Deal with the Devil and then wrote:

This man got more votes in the Iowa caucuses than eventual nominee George H W Bush. If this isn't reason enough to remove the 'first in line privilege from Iowa, I don't what is.

She's right: Pat Roberston did come in ahead of Bush Sr. in 1988 and religious nut Alan Keyes had a particularly strong showing in 1996... the year Pat Buchanan came in second and almost beat Bob Dole.

What she doesn't understand is that these are Republican caucus results. The Republican party in Iowa is loaded with the Bible thumpers. Supposedly they've been purged from the party leadership - and I hope that's true - but they still can give the wackos a nice finish in the caucuses.

As for Democrats: In 2000 Al Gore was polling behind Bill Bradley in New Hampshire. He won the Iowa caucuses and never looked back.

In 2004 John Kerry was running third in neighboring New Hampshire behind Howard Dean and Wesley Clark. Once Kerry won the Iowa caucuses he became the anti-Dean candidate and never looked back.

In 2008, Obama won Iowa and Hillary came in third behind Edwards. Hillary won New Hampshire but Obama held on for the nomination.

In other words, yes, Iowa Republicans tend to go for the crazy unelectable candidate, but Iowa Democrats don't. Sadly, the Romney people are already sending the signal that they will use this excuse to skip Iowa in 2012.

Governing in the 21st century

It is entirely possible that Democrats will lose their 60 seat majority after Tuesday's special election in Massachusetts. In a normal world 59/100 seats would be a fantastic advantage. Of course, that was before it was clear that Republicans would refuse to negotiate on anything. Now it requires 60 votes for each and every issue. Biden has a good quote on the issue:

This is the first time every single solitary decision has required 60 senators. No democracy has survived needing a supermajority.

California plays by the same rules. Republican governor Ahhnold and the Democrats in control of the legislature have come to agreement on reducing the massive California budget deficit. The problem? Minority Republicans in the Assembly are able to stop it.

Biden's right: No democracy can survive needing a supermajority.

Sometimes the comments on news stories are worth reading

Below a relatively benign story of a producer for Glenn Beck leaving for MSNBC came this comment:

you people leeve Glen Bek alone-thoze of us who didnot finsh hi skool need a leeder too

oh an Obama is a dummi

go Paylin 2010!

Martin Luther King Day memories

In working weather we'd get paid for all federal holidays (13). January was one of the nice months with two bonus days. January 1 and MLK. Since we still had to work those days it was simply bonus pay.

Kaplan is a notoriously cheap employer but they do give MLK Day as a holiday. Why? Kaplan is owned by the Washington Post. A newspaper located in a city where 55% of the residents are black is not going offend that base.

Only my friends at YellowBook also got the day off so on past MLK holidays we'd go to Riverside. On my last trip two years ago I came in second place in an Omaha tournament. Omaha high/low requires a lot of thinking and playing for five hours straight turned my mind to mush. By the time I was heads up against the last guy I should have just pushed my chips to him. Still, I was happy because I've only played in two tournaments and coming in second was not what I expected.

What did I do here for the holiday? Mopped my hallway and stairs. Something very odd has happened to me lately; I've turned into a cleaning machine. You could eat off of my toilets right now... not saying you'd want to, but you could...

Ukrainian elections

Ukraine is going to the polls today. Sadly, the pro-Russian candidate is considerably ahead. Who cares? The last election in 2004 was considered a fraud and the people took to the streets to protest.

It was called the Orange Revolution and it led to new elections where the pro-western candidate won. Unfortunately, fighting broke out among the two leaders of the pro-western side and not much was accomplished. Ukraine entered the recession earlier than the rest of the world and hit much harder - GDP down 10%, currency down 60%.

So the reforms never really happened and the economy failed. It's not surprising that a pro-Russian candidate is likely to win today.

It's sad. Although the people above won the battle to have a new election in 2004, they lost the war and now don't care. They'll sit idle while an evil pro-Russian leader takes over and things will undoubtedly get worse, but it's hard to blame them for not caring anymore.

Hmm. Kind of easy to see similarities to the US.

Satan's open letter to Pat Robertson

Lily Coyle of Minneapolis channeled her inner Satan and penned this letter:

Dear Pat Robertson,

I know that you know that all press is good press, so I appreciate the shout-out. And you make God look like a big mean bully who kicks people when they are down, so I'm all over that action. But when you say Haiti has made a pact with me, it is totally humiliating. I may be evil incarnate, but I'm no welcher. The way you put it, making a deal with me leaves folks and impoverished.

Sure, in the afterlife, but when I strike bargains with people, they first get something here on earth - glamour, beauty, talent, wealth, fame, glory, a golden fiddle. Those Haitians have nothing, and I mean nothing. And that was before the earthquake. Haven't you seen "Crossroads"? Or "Damn Yankees"? If I had a thing going with Haiti, there'd be lots of banks skyscrapers, SUV's, exclusive night clubs, Botox - that kind of thing. An 80 percent poverty rate is so not my style. Nothing against - I'm just saying: Not how I roll.

You're doing great work, Pat, and I don't want to clip your wings - just, come on, you're making me look bad. And not the good kind of bad. Keep blaming God. That's working. But leave me out of it, please. Or we may need to renegotiate your contract.

Best, Satan

Dawn Pettengill

This is the face of a very nice, yet deluded person. She was first elected to the Iowa assembly in 2004. Democrats from my home county donated tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of volunteering to make that election victory happen.

Dawn quickly became aware that being in the minority party meant she couldn't really do anything. In particular she cursed Iowa House Speaker Rants. She longed for the day when she could be in the majority and do some real work.

Her day came very quickly. In 2006 the Republican party threw everything they had at her - allegedly spending over $100,000 but the Democrats held Dawn's seat. Through hard work they picked up several seats and took a 4 seat majority.

On election night 2006 Dawn was relieved not only that she won but the Democratic majority was 54. "Some of those reps may flake off," she observed.

"Flake off." That's a direct quote and the term still rings in my ears.

Dawn's time in the majority was not pretty. She couldn't make up her mind on major legislation. She dreamed up fights with the Democratic leadership (fights that nobody but her seem to remember). At the end of the session in 2007 Dawn stood next to Minority Leader Rants and announced she was switching parties.

Once again back in the minority, Dawn has an easy life as a legislator. This week Dawn made news by pushing for a change in the oath that lawmakers take. She wants "so help me God" added.

At first I was angry when I heard the news. In these times her issue is a complete waste. I realized, however, that these are the only issues she'll ever be able to address. By switching from the majority party she relegated herself to these feel good, light substance issues.

And Iowa is certainly better for that.

Leno had Jimmy Kimmel on his show?

On Tuesday night Kimmel did his show in make-up to look like Leno. His entire show was mocking Leno. What does Leno do? Invite him on to answer ten questions. Kimmel had no problem hitting each softball.

It was fun to watch Jay squirm.

Yousef

Yousef grew up in Dubai with an Emirati father and an American mother (his parents met while his dad was studying at UNC.) I met Yousef in 2004 during his freshman year at Coe when he pledged Sigma Nu. Just before I met him Ann had told me that the revered leader and founder of the country had just died. When I passed along condolences he gave me a look of, "How in the hell would you know about that?"

Yousef transferred to Houston after one year. Part of it was the weather, part of it was missing the big city. Houston is the American city that is probably closest to Dubai in terms of climate and ridiculous traffic. He finished his undergraduate and is beginning work on his Master's. The Emirates pays for his education and provides a generous living expense check. It would be easy to say he's spoiled, but he's not. He's very well grounded with a healthy perspective of the pluses and minuses of the Emirates and the US.

I had hoped to gain some insight into Emirati thinking but found that we pretty much saw things the same way. Trying to have him explain my students would be like asking me what it is like to grow up in the Bronx. I have as much in common with a kid in the Bronx as Yousef does with my students. He went to an all English speaking school, spoke English in the home and his classmates all prepared for college overseas. None considered universities in this country.

He told me many great stories. My favorite (that I'm able to repeat on the blog) was that as a child he didn't like visiting his uncle's house because they didn't have any toilet paper. At an early age if the family would go there he'd insist on bringing his own.

Although I didn't walk away with any flash of insight I left with something far more valuable: Talking to someone who grew up here who sees the oddities the way I do. That did wonders for my mental health.

A year ago

A year ago right now I was somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. I was greeted in Iowa with a low of -29... a record low.

-29 was not just a record low for the day, it is the coldest temperature ever recorded in Cedar Rapids. (Trivia to tell at work today.)

While I'd love to be home again this winter I'll settle for the 80 degree weather here. It's rough, but somebody's got to do it.

Update: Peachie asks about the coldest day ever recorded for Cedar Rapids. Here's the monthly data. I see the lowest lows to be:

December 28, 1924 with negative 28

January 15, 2009 with negative 29

February 14, 2006 with negative 27

You can look up each month... December:

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/dvn/scripts/obsRecordsNorms.php?reportType=Data&site=CID&monthName=December&year=2009

January:

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/dvn/scripts/obsRecordsNorms.php?reportType=Data&site=CID&monthName=January&year=2010

February:

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/dvn/scripts/obsRecordsNorms.php?reportType=Data&site=CID&monthName=February&year=2010

______ Pizza

Take a good look and a good guess. If nobody guesses right I'll post the answer later.

Classic Conan and Letterman

As I’ve written before, I’m a long time fan of late night TV. I learned as much from watching Johnny Carson as I did watching MacNeil/Lehrer on PBS. In seventh grade Letterman started his Late Show and I don’t think I missed an episode in the first five years.

Now NBC has announced the Leno prime time show failure will end and he will go back to the 10:35 slot. Conan issued a classy letter to the people of earth explaining why he would not take the half hour demotion.

Dave seems to have returned to true form in his commentary on this matter:

As I said, I basically grew up watching Dave. His deadpan joke a minute into this clip is the Dave I came to know, love and attempt to emulate.

While this war is in its infancy it is already easy to spot the winners and losers. The clear winner is Dave. The NBC debacle clearly helps him and it seems to have given him a new energy. The other winner is Conan. His defiant letter is a rallying cry for his fans... now whether that will lead NBC to play nice and let him go off to Fox is unclear. Good politics says they should, but NBC has proven time and again that ego weighs more than logic. I wish Conan luck.

There are two large losers in this fight: 1. Leno. He never wanted to leave The Tonight Show. Now he's got it back but has successfully alienated a chunk of his audience. 2. NBC. Affiliates are very angry that Leno's prime time show killed their news programs by being a bad lead-in. Tack on the pissed-off Conan fans and it's quite hard to see how NBC could have played this all out any worse than they did.

This is the same network that went from first to fourth in the network ratings in four short years. Unbelievably, the top management has remained intact.

Where did I go wrong that I never landed a multi-million dollar job to run a network? No matter how hard I tried I couldn't have screwed up NBC this badly.

RIP Republican Party?

How does a political party go into oblivion? As a (geeky political) child I remember reading World Book Encyclopedia about the Whigs. I wanted to understand how a major political party could simply disappear. 100 years from now a fellow geeky political kid may be looking up "Republican Party."

When polled, more people support Tea Party than Republican Party and now a candidate for congress has unregistered as a Republican and has re-registered as Independent Tea Party. It would be one thing if the guy was running in a hopeless contest in the heart of San Francisco. The switch would be meaningless. No, this guy is running for an open seat in a conservative Tennessee district that should be an easy pickup for the Republicans.

As a Democrat I'm cheering this on. Watching the Republicans embrace the far out wackos of the Tea Party can only be good for my party. As a nation, however, it is scary. In 2009 we saw seasoned reasonable Republicans back away from long held positions because of fear from this lunatic fringe. There's nothing good about that.

Potluck

Tonight I invited friends over for a potluck. The food was great and we all had a lot of fun playing a game called "Man Laws & Woman Rules." This picture was taken at the end of the night as the group tried to show amazement at the vegetable beef soup I made.

And this was the reaction a second later.

Good times.