South Park, CO -- Greetings From a Quiet Little Podunk Mountain Town
Seriously! It does exist! South Park City is a small rebuilt 1880s mining town within Fairplay, CO.
The REAL South ParkJust to reconfirm my dorkiness, I drove an hour and a half southwest of Denver to see the real South Park. It's really just a tourist attraction, but it's fun... most of it is only open May-Oct, but I got to check out a couple of antique shops.
I also drove high up near the mountain peaks. Before I came to Denver, several people had fed me horror stories about the elevations outside of Denver -- nosebleeds, headaches, even hospitalization! -- so I planned to avoid going up the mountains. However, I didn't realize that South Park was at a significantly higher altitude than Denver... in fact, there's a baseball stadium here called TWO Mile-High Stadium! I even went higher than that... I made it to about 12,000 feet before hitting an area restricted to four-wheelers.
I'm having lunch at a chic little cafe called the Front Street Cafe. I mention that because it needs to be said that I'm in South Park, eating fish tacos.
Kenny: "Mmm mmm mm mm mm mm mmm!"
Kyle: "What do you mean not as fishy as Cartman's mom's?"
Kenny: "Mmm mm mm mm!"
Stan: "Sick, dude!"
Cartman: "HEY!"
No shit...Tags:
South Park,
Colorado
Denver, CO -- A (Petri) Meat Dish
I think all the time about the possibility of some sort of device that could rearrange atomic particles in any way we'd like. It'd have amazing practical applications. It could be the ultimate in recycling -- in theory, we could turn a tin can into filet mignon or our CO2 and methane emissions into water vapor.
This is a start:
Scientists can grow frog and mouse meat in the lab, and are now working on pork, beef and chicken. Their goal is to develop an industrial version of the process in five years.
If they succeed, cultured or in vitro meat could be coming to a supermarket near you. Consumers could buy hamburger patties and chicken nuggets made from meat cultivated from muscle cells in a giant incubator rather than cut from a farm animal.
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In 2001, U.S. researchers, funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, grew muscle tissue from a goldfish -- a kind of carp -- as part of an experiment on whether it is possible to grow fish for astronauts on long space journeys. Morris Benjaminson and his colleagues at Touro College in New York bathed pieces of goldfish muscle in fetal bovine serum -- which contains growth factors that spur muscle growth.
The fish muscle grew nearly 14 per cent over a few weeks. It smelled normal, the researchers reported. But they didn't taste it.
NASA, however, has decided against space burgers -- fish or beef -- for astronauts on long missions.
This has cut off an important funding source for U.S. researchers interested in cultured meat, said Vladimir Mironov, a tissue engineer at the Medical University of South Carolina.Imagine not having to waste precious resources on farm animals... Somebody fund this guy!
I wonder what the kashrut ramifications are on this...
Chicago, IL -- I Wanna Go Home!
For the first time ever, I missed a flight today. Just plain overslept it. Forgot to set my alarm to go off at 5:30 AM, so I ended up taking an 11:30 flight. I'm on my way to the Jewish Funders Network conference in Denver. Should be hectic.
I wish I were staying home; I'd like to spend new time with my new toy, a Lexus ES 300 I bought on a whim two days ago. I'll post a couple of photos later tonight.
Binghamton, NY -- Final Israeli Election Results
With the absentee ballots counted (read IDF soldiers' votes), the final results are in:Kadima 29
Labor 20
Likud 12
Shas 12
YB 11
NU-NRP 9
Pensioners' 7
UTJ 6
Meretz 5
R-T 3
Hadash 3
Balad 3
The way a Prime Minister is elected is by forming a coalition government that includes parties willing to always vote the same way in order to get things done. That means the Prime Minister must get more than 60 seats in the 120-person Knesset. To get smaller parties into a coalition, the big party generally has to give up valuable seats in the cabinet. That's why housing development in Sharon's government was actually a Labor Party endeavor.
Right now, Labor's trying to get Peretz enough of a coalition to make him Prime Minister. However, that's pretty unlikely since it's technically against election rules because Kadima finished with 9 more seats than Labor. But in the off-chance that Olmert is unable to form a coalition, the task would pass onto Peretz. A possible Labor-led coalition would probably include Shas, Meretz, the Arab parties and NU-NRP (a nationalist religious group) -- for a total of 62 seats.
Meanwhile, Eli Yishai, head of Shas, has made some outrageous demands for cabinet seats and is thus unlikely to be included in the coalition. Kadima, Labor, Meretz, and Pensioners add up to 61 -- enough for a majority. But Ehud Olmert really wants a coalition of at least 80 seats which means the nationalist group Yisrael Beitanu (Israel - Our Home) might get an invite if they accept the withdrawal along with one or two of the religious groups. What's with the coalitions including the far-right? Essentially Olmert wants to show Labor that he can form a coalition of 60 without Labor, but that will be tough without getting Shas on board. A 60-person coalition without Labor would allow Kadima to hold onto all of the big three cabinet positions (finance, foreign affairs, and defense).
Oh and the chances of a purely right-wing coalition are pretty much dead now with the right, religious, and nationalist groups only totalling 50 (or 57 including Pensioners).
Binghamton, NY -- Excellence in Teaching
Guess all those extra office hours finally paid off:
Go me!
New York, NY -- Jack Bauer Gets Played By No Man
(Thanks,
Swiftthinker):
- The reason why terrorists attacked New York City was because Jack Bauer was in LA.
- You can lead a horse to water. Jack Bauer can make him drink.
- Jack Bauer let the dogs out.
- If Jack Bauer was in a room with Hitler, Stalin, and Nina Meyers, and he had a gun with 2 bullets, he'd shoot Nina twice.
- If you wake up in the morning, it's because Jack Bauer spared your life.
- Colin Farrell smokes a pack of cigarettes a day. Jack Bauer smokes a pack of terrorists anytime he feels like it.
- Deaf people listen to Jack bauer.
- Upon hearing that he was played by Kiefer Sutherland, Jack Bauer killed Sutherland. Jack Bauer gets played by no man.
- Jack Bauer killed 93 people in just 4 days time. Wait, that is a realfact.
- Jack Bauer has been to Mars. Thats why theres no life on Mars.
- Jack Bauer cannot stick his elbow in his ear, but he can stick your elbow in your ear.
- Jack Bauer once forgot where he put his keys. He then spent the nexthalf-hour torturing himself until he gave up the location of the keys.
- 1.6 billion Chinese are angry with Jack Bauer. Sounds like a fair fight.
- Osama bin Laden's recent proposal for truce is a direct result of himfinding out that Jack Bauer is, in fact, still alive.
- Jack Bauer was never addicted to heroin. Heroin was addicted to Jack Bauer.
- Jack Bauer's favorite color is severe terror alert red. His second favorite color is violet, but just because it sounds like violent.
- Jack Bauer doesn't miss. If he didn't hit you it's because he was shooting at another terrorist twelve miles away.
- Superman wears Jack Bauer pajamas.
- If Jack and MacGyver were locked in a room together, Jack would make a bomb out of MacGyver and get out.
- Jack Bauer got Hellen Keller to talk.
- The quickest way to a man's heart is through Jack Bauer's gun.
- Jack Bauer once told God he needed access, the event has since been referred to as "The Big Bang."
- Lets get one thing straight, the only reason you are conscious right now is because Jack Bauer does not feel like carrying you.
- When you open a can of whoop-ass, Jack Bauer jumps out.
- When life gave Jack Bauer lemons, he used them to kill terrorists. Jack Bauer frigging hates lemonade.
- Did you know there was a national disaster last night while you were sleeping? Of course you didn't, Jack Bauer was on duty.
- When the boogie man goes to sleep, he checks his closet for Jack Bauer.
- Jack Bauer played Russian Roulette with a fully loaded gun and won.
Binghamton, NY -- Is Kadima Secure or Could the Right Take Over?
With 99% of the votes counted, the final results look like this:Kadima 28 seats
Labor 20 seats
Shas 13 seats
YB 12 seats
Likud 11 seats
NU-NRP 9 seats
Pensioners' 7 seats
UTJ 6 seats
Meretz 4 seats
Arab parties 10 seats
The Arabs had a pickup over what the polls suggested, implying a big Arab voter turnout.
With Kadima falling far below expectations but still in the lead, it will be Olmert's responsibility to put together a coalition. He plans on including Labor, Shas, Pensioners, and possibly Meretz.
But what if the right wingers and the religious parties band together? What if Shas or YB form a 60-person coalition and effectively block Kadima? YB, Likud, and National Union combine for 32 seats (the right-wing nationalist groups). Include Shas and UTJ (the religious groups) and you're up to 51 seats. If they promise the Pensioners a nice social welfare program, that's another 7 seats for a total of 58. And a possible split of the most right-wing Kadima members due to dissappointing results could lead to a small 2-3 person breakaway party (it wouldn't be the first time, would it?). That would be 60-61. Scary...
Binghamton, NY -- Exit Polls
The
three television news stations each just released their exit polls. Not surprisingly, Kadima "won" the election by taking somewhere between 29 and 32 seats according to the poll. However, I'm not so sure it was a win. Kadima was expected to win 36 seats. This seriously casts a blow against a Center-Left-only coalition. Now it must be made broader. Hopefully that only means the Pensioners' Party (6-8 seats) gets added in. But you never know.
Channel 1: Kadima+Labor = 51 seats
Channel 2: Kadima+Labor = 54 seats
Channel 10: Kadima+Labor = 51 seats
Meretz (the peace party) took 5 in each channel's poll.
The now-far-right-wing-former party of Sharon -- Likud -- took just 11-12 seats which puts it no higher than a tie for third place which essentially makes them irrelevent in the government.
Oh and by the way, final voter turnout: 63%.
Binghamton, NY -- Lowest Voter Turnout Ever In Israel
With six hours to go in the election, only 39% of registered voters have voted. Last election, at this time, 44.2% of voters voted (out of 68% total that ended up voting). If the trend continues, this will be the worst voter turnout ever for an Israeli election. That bodes well for smaller parties who won't need as many votes to get elected. Right now it looks like a small party only will need around 56,100 total votes to get the minimum 2 seats in the Knesset. If Yossi's party can get 85,000 seats he's in.
However, my girlfriend, who is an Ethiopian Jew, also known as a Falasha, told me that a lot of Falashas don't usually vote for Atid Echad. Of the 90,000 Falashas expected to vote, figure that at most 2/3's of them will vote for their party. That means Yossi probably won't make it but the party will indeed reach the Knesset.
On the other hand, large parties are going to be negatively affected. Labor could drop to 18 seats, Likud could wind up at 14. And 32 could be a longshot for Kadima... Hopefully Kadima and Labor can still combine for around 55 seats alone so they don't need to add any small parties aside from the leftist Meretz party. When small parties are needed to form the government, then their issues take center-stage because without them the government won't have a majority. And while that's not always a bad thing, it can detract from the bigger picture -- such as improving socioeconomic welfare and coming up with an endgame to the conflict.
Binghamton, NY -- Do you believe yet?
The cover story of
TIME magazine this week warns, "Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid." Global Warming is upon us and there's really not a thing we can do about it any more. We blew it.
Polar ice is so reflective that 90 percent of the sunlight that strikes it simply bounces back into space, taking its energy with it. Ocean water does just the opposite, absorbing 90 percent of the light and heat it receives, meaning that each mile of ice that melts vanishes faster than the mile that preceded it.This is what scientists call a feedback loop, and a similar one is also melting the frozen land called permafrost, much of which has been frozen -- since the end of last ice age in fact, or at least 8,000 years ago.
Sealed inside that cryonic time capsule are layers of decaying organic matter, thick with carbon, which itself can transform into CO2.And that's why Greenland's Ice Shelf is receding at a rate that's roughly two and a half times faster than it was just ten years ago.
It's really too bad that only Northeastern states (and McCain) seem to give a crap.
Albany, NY -- Yossi Abramowitz for Knesset
Yossi Abramowitz, the quintessential Jewish idealist who's been mentioned in this space a couple of times before, is
running for Knesset with his new party, Atid Echad (thanks, Adrien):
The strange tale of his candidacy began in October, when Abramowitz introduced two of his Israeli friends, one an Ethiopian-born activist, the other a teacher. In the vacuum created by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke, the two decided to create a party addressing their two main concerns: education and immigration.
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As the number-three candidate, the possibility of winning a seat seems reachable, because of the way Israeli elections are structured. Voters cast a single ballot for one party, which runs a slate of candidates. If a party gets a minimum of 2 percent of the total vote, the top two names on the party's slate get seats in the 120 member Knesset. The number of additional votes the party receives determines the number of additional seats the party is awarded.
''We'll need about 70,000 votes," Abramowitz predicted. ''It's like filling up Fenway Park twice."
Shai Feldman, director of the Crown Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Brandeis University, said the chance that Atid Ehad could pick up three seats is ''unlikely." No poll has Atid Ehad at 2 percent, but if there was ever a year for a dark horse, this is it.
''You can't exclude the possibility that such a party can make the threshold," Feldman said. ''But the idea that it would get more than two seats -- it really stretches the imagination."
That said, polls are notoriously fuzzy when they are trying to measure the strength of the smaller parties, Feldman said. This election is unusual because, with just a week to go, nearly 20 percent of the electorate is undecided.
In a society as polarized as Israel, that's practically unheard of, and it leaves the door open for single-constituency parties like Atid Ehad.More power, and good luck, to him! Oh, and check out the snazzy suit...
Albany, NY -- Background on the Israeli Election
Thanks, Ari for
finally posting something today ;)...
His post on Israel was pretty good; I like the idea of Arab states chipping in for a West Bank withdrawal, especially given that the settlers did legitimately buy a lot of that land in the first place.
For a bit more background on the upcoming elections, visit my site,
MyJewishLearning.com There's an informative piece on the rise of the Kadima party.
Also, to add to my list of professional accomplishments, we've now made MyJewishLearning.com
available for handhelds, cell phones, PDAs, etc... Pretty handy when you need Jewish info on the road.
Binghamton, NY -- Israel's Election is tomorrow
Kadima still has a sizeable lead in the polls at nearly twice the parliamentary seats as its nearest competitor (Labor). A Center-Left coalition of Kadima-Labor-Meretz is possible if the election plays out according to polls.
In today's Ha'Aretz opinion question,
a question was raised as to how Olmert expects to pay for the unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank. And that really is a good question. The total cost of the move including reimbursement payments for lost property will likely total around $15 billion (or 60 billion shekels) to move the 70,000 settlers that are on the wrong side of the fence. Considering Israel's GDP is around $70 billion, that's a good chunk of change.
Even if the withdrawal wasn't unilateral, but was achieved through negotiations, the cost would still remain $15 billion.
The US will likely chip in around $5 billion in loans and another $2 billion in grants. The EU will probably chip in another $1 billion. So that leaves about $7 billion for Israel to come up with (of which Israel can probably afford about $3 billion). Where's the rest of the money going to come from? Here's a radical idea, how about the Arab World chips in? After all, they keep saying that they want a Palestinian state. Let them chip in for the costs. It can be run similarly to what happened in Gaza. Wealthy investors can buy up Israeli property in the West Bank. Israel can use that money to pay off the debt that will be incurred. Palestinians can move into the evacuated Israeli settlements (or torch them like they did in Gaza if that brings them more utility).
Albany, NY -- West Wing Spoilers
I'm not going to reveal it on my site, but if you want to know how the West Wing ends, including who wins the election and who fills Leo's spot on the Democratic ticket after he dies, visit
West Wing News. Its writer spent time on the set while filming the last episode.
Albany, NY -- Totally Missed...
In the West Wing preview... Josh and Donna in bed naked next week? Kickass. (thanks, K-Hole)
Albany, NY -- "You Think We're Gonna Win?"
I have no frickin' clue... that's what's making this West Wing election so great. We're all asking the same question Matt Santos is about his campaign. With four days to go, we still have no idea who's going to win.
Another excellent episode.
Albany, NY -- A Twist for Toby
It's really good seeing a Toby-centric plot with a few episodes to go on the West Wing... I wish that we'd get a plot twist like the one we just got in the midterm elections... message to Patrick Fitzgerald? Please?
Albany, NY -- The Last Five Days...
The Vinick/Santos race is coming down to the wire on the West Wing... should be good.
I keep having to ask myself, over and over and over, while I watch the each episode -- why is this show failing and being taken off the air rather than top-rated? How many better shows on TV are there these days? 24 and what else?
Binghamton, NY -- O.A.R. Concert
[Photo not yet available]
O.A.R. played an afternoon show today at Binghamton bringing their usual funky-reggae-sax style to campus in front of what could hardly be called a crowd. Roughly 1,400 tickets were sold but O.A.R. didn't really seem to mind -- in fact they joked about opening for The Sopranos later on tonight. Their opening act meanwhile, The Format, was something like a teeny-bop version of Ben Folds, i.e. perfect Jason music. Good times.
I'll try to get a real post up tomorrow afternoon. I finally got my methodology done so I have a chance to get a breath of air until Tuesday. Oh and I'm getting an award for Excellence in Teaching on Wednesday. Such excitement in my life...
Albany, NY -- Quick, Tasteless Bush Joke
"The President, First Lady and Dick Cheney were flying on Air Force One. George looked at Laura, chuckled and said, "You know, I could throw a $1,000 bill out of the window right now and make somebody very happy."
Laura shrugged her shoulders and replied, "I could throw ten $100 bills out of the window and make ten people very happy."
Cheney added, "That being the case, I could throw one hundred $10 bills out of the window and make a hundred people very happy."
Hearing their exchange, the pilot rolled his eyes and said to his co-pilot, "Such big-shots back there. Hell, I could throw all of them out of the window and make 56 million people very happy." (thanks, Ted)
