City of Dreams

I have been in New York for a full year, and failed to blog about it once. Today, I change that.

Last night, I was at dinner with my fencing team at an amazing restaurant in TriBeCa. I ate to the point of gluttony, and was continually fed more. I was pleased. Afterwards, I went to a friend's place in the Financial District. Around 1 am, I left for home. I entered the Fulton Street subway station and found my way to the A-C line platform. I waited for a late night local A train. As I continued waiting, I learned from an MTA employee that the train should generally be less than ten minutes away. I checked my phone for the time uncomfortably frequently.

Upon entering the subway car, my first thought was "This smells like piss." I disregarded the thought as hyperbolic. Upon scanning my surroundings, I observed two homeless gentlemen sleeping at different points in the car. One had four black trash bags of possessions. The other had one red pushcart. I then noticed a gleaming trail of dried liquid on the floor. Looking at it for a bit, I noticed a clear yellow tint. I pushed the thought from my mind.

I noticed the train's agonizingly slow pace. It picked up a bit at Canal Street, and slowed once more along the journey.

I was ready to get off the train just before my stop at West 4th Street. I noticed that the man with the trash bags was waking up. He stood shortly before I did. I thought for a moment.

I walked over to the man. I said to him, "I'm Josh. I don't carry much cash with me, but I have this." I extended my hand, holding out a one dollar bill. He waved me off. "Take it." He refused again, almost violently. I backed off.

The doors of the subway opened. I left, and reentered my world of safety, the cocoon surrounding NYU that is known as "Greenwich Village."

This may be a quintessentially New York experience. I pass a man sleeping on subway vents on Greene Street between West 4th Street and Washington Place every few days. But this hit me today, for whatever reason.

I've met famous, interesting and brilliant people this year. I've attended cultural events, taken innovative classes, lived without a care. I have a room full of clothes, and books, and food, and a bed, and a personal bathroom. I sit and worry about how many minutes I'll need to wait for a train. In the meantime, there are two men sleeping in a subway car.

As I was first getting to TriBeCa, coming off an E train at Canal Street, I heard the public address system blare, "The next, and last, stop for this train is World Trade Center." Instantly, my phone started pumping 911 AM by MC Lars through my headphones while in "shuffle mode." This crazy random happenstance reminded me of how resilient New York City can be, and how well New Yorkers can work together for the benefit of all. In the week that the Freedom Tower has become the tallest building in the city, New York's potential and strength is on display.

Last night, I had a dream. Metaphorically, of course. I dreamt of a world in which we actually work to help one another. A world in which cries for help are answered by our collective efforts, going by the name of "Government." I imagined something even better than what John Lennon did decades ago.

Upon waking, I hear counter-productivity. I hear conservatives arguing against helping others and working together, claiming that the poor simply wish for handouts and charity. I've clearly seen that this is far from the case. I hear the reverberations of lefties occupying Wall Street, Washington Square, Union Square, Madison Square and everything in between during "May Day." These people protest the government which maintains the parks and streets they occupy, the universities which teach them the political and philosophical ideologies they espouse. These seemingly shortsighted perspectives pose a threat to our future.

Two men are sleeping on a subway car.

JBB's Annual Review: 2011 At A Glance

I forgot. I forgot to post my lists last year. I really forgot. I was a bit busy at this time last year, finishing up college applications due at midnight. But this year, the world has been working for me. So I can make this list.

To quote my past few years' lists, "Be prepared to be upset. It is [JBBdude] writing this, after all."

Best of 2011:

9. 11/11/11. It's a little bit rare, and it felt pretty cool. I'd been looking forward to it. Call me lame.
8. New Google products. Google+ and Google Music have already brought a lot to the tech landscape. Viable competitors to Facebook and iTunes, with Android integration and so cool new features being brought to the web. I want to see these grow. (I am a bit saddened by the elimination of a many previous products, but I'll live)
7. Necessary deaths. Muammar Gaddafi (or however it's spelled), Osama bin Laden, Kim Jong-il... these were some of the most dangerous men in the world. It's not the worst thing that they're dead.
6. Military victories. The Iraq War finally ended, as we we'd been on course for. Once again, we pwned Osama bin Laden. Don't Ask, Don't Tell ended. We kicked some ass in Libya. The US military continues to improve, and prove its strength. I'm proud of our fighting forces, our men and women in uniform.
5. Uprisings. For years, the West has been trying to impose democracy. Now it comes from the bottom up. It started in limited form in Tunisia in 2010. But in 2011 it grew, and spread to Egypt, Libya, Arab nations throughout the region. These Arab Spring protests prove that people of this region do want democracy, and it can happen there.
4. Israel. I went there. It was amazing. I can't wait to go back there. Possibly for graduate school, or some other sort of studies. Maybe with my family. I will get back. Birthright was an amazing taste, but certainly not enough.
3. Return of Gilad Shalit. Israel and the Jewish people have been waiting for years for the return of this soldier. Wars have been fought, rockets sent in both directions, all over a soldier. The prisoner exchange was uneven, and many protested the release of so many professed terrorists. However, the deal signified the importance of all Israeli and Jewish life to the state of Israel.
2. NYU. I got in. I started. I love kids I've made friends with in my school, my program, my dorm, my floor, my religion, my team, and the entire university. I did well this semester, academically, extracurricularly and socially.
1. Optimism. Life has been going well this year, at least for me. The country is improving, even if at a snail's pace. Hopefully, the upward trend continues.

Worst of 2011:

10. The death of Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs was an icon, a legend. Jobs introduced many great concepts and applications of computing. He had a hand in design and user interface advances that contributed to mass adoption of personal computers, MP3 players, smartphones, touchscreen tools, and other innovative technologies. He may not have personally invented much, but his contributions revolutionized the tech industry. We lost a visionary, and an inspiration to many. One can hope that his memory will continue to inspire American innovation.
9. Dying NASA. We ended our Space Shuttle program. This was supposed to be accompanied by the introduction of a new human spacefaring vessel, but these plans have been delayed due to a series of budget cuts. We need to continue to explore. If the purpose of humanity is continued improvement, we must continue to expand our reach outwards and learn about our universe.
8. The GOP. Come on guys, get it together. Your primary field is, as Andy Borowitz has put it, dangerously close to qualifying as a prank. Your best hopes to add to the group were a publicity-hungry tycoon and a dumb-as-a-post 2008 mistake. You voted against a tax cut. You started some fights you really shouldn't have.
7. The shooting of Gabby Giffords. I knew the political atmosphere was a bit toxic, quite violent. But I had no idea there were such terrible people out there. I'm so glad she's been recovering and doing well, but it's so sad that the world she's seen is more partisan.
6. Evidence of American Stupidity. Casey Anthony. Anthony Weiner and his wiener. "Winner" Charlie Sheen. The Royal Wedding obsession, more Twilight movies... enough to make any sane man vomit. Intolerable ridiculous stories I heard WAY too much about.
5. #Occupy. In short: STFU. To paraphrase Dr. Horrible, I'm all for some serious change... but this political dialogue is about realistic reform. With no clear point and no apparent understanding of reality, these groups are a counterbalance to the right's Tea Party.
   Oh, and by the way, the OWS folks have been annoying in New York. I don't like when they make my life inconvenient. Pragmatism.
4. Internet censorship. The government has been scared of the web since this year's continuation of the Wikileaks scandals caused by the release of diplomatic cables, as well as the Guantanamo files and the start of the "Spy Files." In the past months, the Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property (IP) Act (PIPA) have been moving through the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively. SOPA and PIPA would give the government essentially unchecked power to censor the Internet, in the name of stopping foreign piracy. This cannot be allowed. The Internet must remain free. It contributed to the Arab Spring uprisings, for God's sake. Freedom of information separates us from dictatorial regimes.
3. European debt. This shit scares me. I'll be searching for a career in a few years. As the European debt crisis unfolds, just after all the subprime and housing messes, and I see the potential for more global financial insecurity.
2. American debt. We need to clean up our own house. Between Chinese pressure, our ridiculous fights over the budget, and the S&P downgrade, a crisis is in the making. I don't blame this entirely on the Republicans, as some Democrats stood in the way of compromise. But the anti-compromising factions of the right have been more stubborn. We can't let our nation decline like this.
1. Deaths in the family. My grandmother Doris, my Aunt Sarah, and a number of others. These women in particular were strong role models. They believed in family, in helping others.

Tracking 2010 Resolutions:
(Based on completion since 1/1/2010, not between 1/1/10-12/31/10)

• ☑ Leave on a jet plane
• ☒ Get a driver's license already!
• ☑ Be happier
• ☑ Stay healthy
• ☒ Invent something and/or start a business
• ☒ Meta-Resolution: Complete all of my resolutions

Resolutions for 2012:

• Seriously, get a fucking driver's license
• Continue to kick ass academically in the next two semesters
• Get some great work next summer
• [redacted]

I'm sure there's stuff I had that you didn't, and vice-versa. This list does feel a bit lacking, and perhaps haphazard. What do you disagree with?
Happy New Year to all, and to all a good night.


My 2009/10 list is right here on my blog.

Another Day Older and Deeper in Debt

Lately, I've been feeling like a coal miner in the days of old. I live in a generation being saddled with many trillions in debt piled up by the generations before me. Some was reasonable, like recovery after the Great Depression, World War II, etc. I can appreciate much of our current spending. But as we've seen in the last weeks, our finances are unsustainable. We can't keep spending more than we tax.

This is where I see myself as more conservative than a liberal, but FAR more liberal than a conservative. I have no issue attaching the label "tax and spend" to myself, as I strongly support social welfare programs and higher taxation, plus I kinda thought "tax and spend" is the basic job of government. "Reallocation of wealth" and "socialism" don't scare me in the least, even if some of the wealth will be redistributed away from me.

Right now, I don't understand why we can't tax someone's two-hundred-fifty-first thousand dollars of taxable income. First, not all income is taxable, so with deductions, the number is closer to an actual income of $300k to hit $250k in taxable. Second, only the amount OVER the cap is taxed at a higher rate. Taxing at a flat rate means giving everyone a one percent tax increase, while you could give the richest one percent of the population a two percent increase and leave everyone else alone to the same net effect. How Fox News has managed to convince middle- and lower-class Americans to defend tax breaks to effectively hurt themselves continues to boggle my mind. I know plenty of people who earn well over $250k who would be fine paying a little more tax if they knew our nation was helping those in need and balanced fiscally. If they made an extra thousand, they'd save it. If someone making $30k/year keeps more of their income, they'll be spending it on food, services, clothing and other essentials, which will create jobs. Trickle up, I'd say. Henry Ford paid his employees more because he knew he'd build a bigger customer base for his cars. Now, with increasing income inequality, we need to realize you need a certain amount to live on, and those making a high power of ten more can contribute more to our communal services.
Oh yeah, and we should tax corporations more as we have one of the lowest effective corporate tax rates in the world. Don't care what the rates are, it's the deductions and benefits they get that brings their burden down. Close those damn loopholes.

That's not to say I love everything the Democrats bring to the table. We need to cut expenditures on entitlements. That's where the money is. We need to raise the retirement age, as people are living longer and pulling out of the pot for longer. If you are nice and healthy for longer, you should still be working. Yeah, I know, we've built a nice dream of living in a cottage, sipping iced tea by the waterfront with not a care in the world at age 65. Give it up. So you were promised money early. I've been promised a country. So please, liberals, let the old folk work some more and retire later. Then we can minimize actual benefit cuts. This will be much more efficient than readjusting how we calculate inflation, given that we haven't given beneficiaries COLAs in the last few years anyway.

Both parties are wrong on defense. We need to cut it more. There is more to do. I live in CT, and I know about how many jobs defense pork makes. We have the Groton Sub Base, GE, United Technologies (including Sikorsky Aircraft, Hamilton Sundstrand and Pratt & Whitney)... Hell, we were home to Eli Whitney, legendary in the history of the American military-industrial complex. Our representatives worked hard to save defense items like the F-22, the second Joint Strike Fighter engine and the sub base. We need to realize, though, that if we want to have any government, we need to cut back where we don't need it, even if we lose a few jobs. Granted, this isn't the right time for it at all, while the private sector stagnates and most job growth is public. But if we want to make this a fight right now, this has to be on the table.

Cutting social programs, like unemployment benefits, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting ($466 million), Planned Parenthood (about $70 million of a $1.1 billion budget), the National Endowment for the Arts ($161 million), education ($49.697 billion) or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ($8.132 billion to food assistance programs) is a ridiculous call. A miniscule fraction of our budget (of a total $1.415 trillion) goes to these programs. (Stats from here and here) Again, the vast majority of our budget is Social Security, Medicare and Defense. Hacking away at everything else will have almost no effect on our budget, but it will have massive consequences for our society, even beyond those who directly benefit from these programs. I prefer living in a country where people aren't left unemployed, hungry, poor and without any way to seek help.

Foreign aid seems to be the bastard stepchild that no one likes, but never gets cut. Americans don't understand why we keep doing it. In reality, while the numbers look big, it's still not much of our budget. It is a lot to many foreign countries. Even if it ends up with dictators or murderers, we need to at least try to help people not starve to death or die of curable ailments. Anyway, most of the aid is essentially bribery to keep countries from killing each other or us. Why aren't Pakistan and India waging all-out war against each other? How do we win over the less oil rich nations of the Middle East?

No one is claiming we need all tax increases, but the right says we need all spending cuts. No. Certainly, a reasonable deal will have much more in the way of spending cuts than revenue increases, as there's practically no way to increase revenue enough to balance out the spending. Maybe something close to 75% spending cuts, 25% tax increases. Honestly, I'm just cranky that the wacko Tea Party freshmen aren't ready to have an adult conversation about all of this.

For some good visualizations on how we spend, tax and make a budget work, check out some of these infographics.

I Don't Care

I've always been big on the social media bandwagon, even before it was called "social media." I was arguing for Wikipedia back when it was being attacked by librarians everywhere. But now, I think enough is enough. I simply do not care about most of the dreck being publicized via social networks.

Life was great with a few big social networks like Friendster and MySpace. Facebook became dominant soon after their launch. Then Twitter became a hot trend, prompting billions to scratch their heads to understand its appeal. Now, in addition to those, every major tech firm has their own offerings in this space. Google has persevered with Buzz, Latitude, Social Search and Orkut, along with a few other assorted services, many past failures and rumored future plans. IBM provides Connections software, also available as a component in their hosted LotusLive service. Even Apple has a social music project. Apps that used to be user-generated content (ie blog comments) are now adding communities with "likes," user profiles and integration with the major services. Anyone who doesn't over-socialize gets left behind.

I'm not the only one fed up with all this garbage. A while ago, GigaOM did a story on people who are unwilling to add to the perpetual din of the social web. RWW had a piece on people who unknowingly, or recklessly, share way too much online, potentially endangering themselves. There are efforts to solve this problem from both sides.
Many web services are dedicated to trying to filter one's updates by what is most interesting. There's a major open source effort to create a privacy-driven social network, albeit one that has been progressing sluggishly considering their funding. There was a huge Facebook shutdown drive a year ago. One interesting effort includes both control of data distribution and an "Interest Grid" to avoid information overload as part of their founding principles.

In part, I blame the social networks and content providers. It is in the best interests of Twitter and Facebook to nearly trick users to over-share, to better target ads and increase the quantity of content on the site. Site owners promote sharing to boost their social stats and get free exposure. All parties want to get users to post more, click more and think less. This mutual interest leads to the financially lucrative collaborations that drive our web. The theory is that this will incentivize the creation of "good" content. I find that this can happen, but can also drive over-sharing.

However, I believe that much of this responsibility lies with users. People post crap. Users play the game set out for them and post anything about their lives from any site with a "share" button. Granted, they will complain when their lives are shared without them knowing, like in the cases of Google Buzz and Facebook Beacon. However, when they have control, they will often do stupid things.

I doubt that any startup will be able to convince users that they are over-sharing, but they may be our only hope to regain control of our information. I will stipulate that one user's boring is another's riveting. However, I claim that much of what ends up online is either not beneficial for anyone, or has risks that outweigh the benefits of posting.

Results of War

Dear President Obama,

I've stood by you when others deserted. I stood by you on health care. I've repeatedly praised you. Now you turn around and make me start to cry. Why, Barack?

To clarify, my concern is with the element of your remarks yesterday in which you claim that Israel must return to its borders as of 1967, before the Six-Day War. This war, as a historical recap, began with an Israeli preemptive strike on the Egyptian Air Force as it was preparing to lead Syria, Jordan and the rest of the Arab world to war against Israel for the third time. In looking at the preemptive strike issue, it is important to recognize that the Arab nations were clearly preparing an attack and Israel had been aggressively attacked first upon its creation in 1948.

In the Six Day War, Israel conquered the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza from Egypt; the Golan Heights from Syria; and the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan. Let's run that list down.

• Israel has since returned Sinai to Egypt.
• Peace negotiators on both sides of this conflict tend to agree that Gaza and the West Bank would be a part of a Palestinian state in a potential two-state solution. Therefore, I think it's fair to call those regions "settled." 
• Expecting Israel to hand the Golan Heights over to Syria as it continues to fund the efforts of Lebanon's Hezbollah as they continue to fire rockets into Israel and murder civilians is ridiculous.
• As you point out, Israel will be hard to defend when split up. Giving up East Jerusalem, in addition to losing a site of major cultural significance, would serve as a major security problem.

Besides these points, there's one obvious one that few are willing to recognize: Israel has won every war they are pulled in to. Israel didn't just claim these lands, they fought hard for them. Men died on both sides. As has happened for millenia, the winner of the struggles took lands in the process of reaching victory. In the sake of peace, Israel has generously given up lands. However, I don't know of any serious voices trying to force the United States to give Texas back to Mexico or the original colonies back to England. Just because Israel's gains were more recent doesn't make them equally valid.

My greatest concern, Mr. President, is that you are giving in to terrorism. Israel has in the past offered compromises to various Palestinian authorities, and time after time they have been rebuffed. The loudest voices demanding border absolutes in the peace process have been terrorist organizations such as Hamas. It concerns me that as one side of the conflict has suicide bombers demanding certain territories, and sympathizers around the world shake their heads and mumble, "I don't condone their actions but I support their cause," my President may be giving in to the pressures of those antisemites both domestic and abroad.

To clarify, I have no issue with Palestinians. I have an issue with terrorists. I have an issue with Hamas. I have an issue with those who would destroy or dismantle Israel. I have no issue with those who may disagree with Israeli policy, or be upset about embargoes or economic conditions in the Palestinian Territories. However, when such concern is twisted to target the idea of Israel or the state's existence, instead of to attack the terrorists in the conflict or promote a fair peace process, I see this as disrespectful to all Jews and I will stand against you.

I applaud much of your speech. Calling out Fatah for working with Hamas as the terrorist organization continues to call for the destruction of Israel is appreciated, as making peace with a bilateral cooperation balancing the interests of peace and destruction is nearly impossible. I agree with your larger point about the revolutions in the region being in our long-term interests and those of Israel, as the Arab peoples will realize that collaboration rather than enmity with Israel produces superior results economically, politically and socially. I believe the same will some day be true for the Palestinians, and we will all realize that the idea of having "sides" when both groups are so intertwined is counterproductive. However, I hope you do not turn your back on Israel, and you recognize that Israel is the party that is searching for a willing peace partner.

Respectfully,

A Moderate Liberal, A Jew, A Supporter

Jew Power: The Tribe That Made Marvel

I just saw Thor yesterday and loved it. Marvel Studios continues to outdo itself. The acting was impressive, the dialogue and plot were properly Shakespearean and poetic for a Branagh piece, future films were set up well and Natalie Portman is ridiculously attractive.

As I sat thinking about the future of the Marvel film franchise, from Captain America to The Avengers to Iron Man 3 to even the possible Thor 2, I found myself remembering some interesting bits about Marvel's history. Specifically, how much of Marvel's history has been guided by Jews.

First, there are the oft-sung heroes of the golden age of comic books. Prolific artists including Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Joe Simon and Larry Lieber created the large bulk of Marvel's characters, series and other franchises. They wrote, illustrated and edited for years. However, they regularly receive credit for their contributions, including awards and Lee's running cameos in Marvel films.

More interesting to me is the crew responsible for the life of Marvel for more than the last decade (as documented in Dan Raviv's brilliant 2002 book Comic Wars). Marvel was floundering in the late 1980s. In 1989, it was purchased by Ronald Perelman, a Jewish financier. After a series of poor acquisitions, fellow Jewish corporate raider Carl Icahn attempted to take over Marvel by buying up bonds. To protect the company whose licenses made up a large part of their business, Toy Biz entrepreneurs Isaac Perlmutter and Avi Arad (both Jews) purchased the much larger Marvel with the help of bank financing. Avi Arad created Marvel Studios and is largely responsible for the success of the company's success in translating properties to the big screen. (Again, read Comic Wars for details on the saga)

Many of these tales are overshadowed by the much more recent news of Marvel's purchase by The Walt Disney Company. Remember, though, that Bob Iger, often credited with leading the deal as CEO of Disney both at the time of the purchase and at present, is a member of the Jewish Hollywood crew.

Beware the Buys of Microsoft

This morning, Microsoft announced an $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype. Around the web, there are analyses of who "won" or "lost" in this deal. This is seen as a largely strategic move for Microsoft, as they needed to keep Google, Cisco or Avaya from purchasing Skype and bolstering their enterprise collaboration platforms. Cell phone telcos, still decrying the use of their networks to compete with them with VoIP and slowing the networks with video calls, will supposedly change their tune overnight. Facebook users will likely gain video calling functionality in this deal given that they already integrate with Skype and Microsoft is an ally, yet they didn't have to purchase the company.

Who isn't discussed? The consumer.

Despite their protestations in this case, Microsoft's history of support for products on competing platforms is depressing. Internet Explorer was inferior and has been discontinued for years. Office is on a year-delayed release cycle. Microsoft Messenger, the equivalent to Windows Live Messenger, is stripped down and attached to the Office suite rather than an independent product line. OneNote is the only Office software for the iOS.

This is a serious issue as Skype's growth areas are outside of Microsoft's. The VoIP user bases on iOS- and Android-based devices is growing rapidly with the growth of mobile bandwidth and WiFi, much to the chagrin (as noted) of mobile operators. Now, in addition to carrier moans, mobile users will have to face poorly maintained software and begrudging support. Naturally, the argument is that this will help Windows Phone 7, but nothing can help Microsoft's mobile platforms. Besides the awful OS, I doubt that network operators will be any more likely to adopt this unpopular platform if it comes bundled with VoIP to compete with them.

A similar issue will arise on the gaming front. The Xbox 360 has video chat capabilities, and they will soon be extended to Skype's user base. However, the same cannot be said for the PS3 and DSi/3DS, which have the hardware capabilities but will doubtfully get any attention from Redmond. As home multimedia convergence rises, this is a major concern. Game consoles are in more houses than Google TV (another platform with a questionable shot at getting Skype).

I remember when Microsoft purchased Danger Inc., a cell phone designer and producer famous for the "T-Mobile Sidekick" line. Over the two years they continued services to Sidekick customers, service disruptions such as outages increased. Finally, they stopped producing the phones and cut new app distribution from the platform. This presaged the release of Microsoft's latest mobile blunder, Kin, from Danger's team. Now T-Mobile is forced to completely end service to all Sidekick owners. The kicker: T-Mobile will continue their Sidekick brand on the Android platform.

Perhaps my issue is that the intertwining of enterprise and consumer tech business units is hard to do. IBM recognized this a number of years ago when they sold their personal computers division to Lenovo to focus on enterprise services and servers. Cisco has faced this issue with both their Linksys and Flip acquisitions. Google seems to do well balancing their enterprise Apps offerings with consumer apps by keeping them both synchronized and parallel, but in Microsoft's case offering tools like Exchange and Lync, products likely to gain Skype integration, to consumers wouldn't make sense.

In the past, I have discussed the issues startups face when dealing with consumers. It is only more difficult for a subsidiary with a vastly different market than the parent to maintain their products and focus on their existing customer base.

There are other video chatting options that I will be investigating as this purchase nears completion. Tango and Fring bring cross-platform video chat iOS and Android (with Fring adding group video and Nokia Ovi support). Google Talk's video capabilities exist for PCs and Macs, are coming to the Android OS, and exist in an app for Android and iOS.
I guess I'll just have to start moving over to these platforms and try to convince friends to do the same.

Ode to a Teacher

As school years roll to a close, and students are leaving their school routine, I think about some younger students who are being deprived of an amazing experience I was fortunate enough to have. To celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week, recognized by the PTA and NEA, I will recognize Mr. Mark Tangarone, a man who tirelessly taught the Talented and Gifted program in Weston, CT for many years. Unfortunately, he retired on a sour note last year. I thought I'd share a few reminiscences about life in his class.

In TAG, we lived in a world of imagination and absurdity, called Tagsylvania. Everything was backwards. The ruler was Queen Invisibella, our currency was the Zollar, and the greatest piece of Tagsylvanian art could be seen on a piece of transparency film. The common people were royalty, while the elected official was the Resident (as opposed to President). A sign hung in the room reading "Ignore this Sign." Every Tagsylvanian statement required mental inversion, which exercised the young mind.
Beyond this world, we were regularly required to twist our minds to understand complex vocabulary, quotations, and playful word puzzles.

I was lucky to have TAG when I did. I had it during the 2000 election, when we were able to talk about the recount. And with that came the hanging chads, which became a form of currency in the classroom. We saw the story of a dead man who won a senate seat... and his clearly unqualified opponent who went on to become our attorney general.
I had this class on 9/11. Unfortunately, due to the decisions of some higher-ups in the district, that wasn't where I heard about it.

From this class I learned how to use many forms of media that present-day students call obsolete. From finding so many interesting facts in the copies laying around his room, I was inspired to purchase an almanac, and have half a decade's worth of World Almanacs. On a trip we made to the library to learn about the town's history, I discovered microfiche. Our predictions of who would be this year's Time Magazine Person of the Year inspired me to start reading the newsweekly, and eventually subscribed to the magazine for five years.

By completing my Type III independent research projects, I learned numerous vital skills. I learned how to prepare with notes, research and writing. I became acclimated with presenting and speaking in public, such that I can now, and have long been able to, do so both effectively and without fear. Doing all of this was certainly arduous and often unpleasant for a young child, but has since proven to be valuable.

This fall, I am off to college at NYU Stern studying Business and Political Economy. I first encountered the stock market in a simulation game in this class, where we "invested" and tracked weekly from information we read and stock prices printed in the newspaper. Much of my early exposure to politics, parties, elections and the democratic process was during the 2000 campaign cycle, largely in this class. Mark Tangarone has been so important to my educational journey that much of my college application essay was about him and the TAG program. As I was excited to be able to discuss at his University of Bridgeport graduate education course "Pyramid of Creativity," my passion for learning was fostered and fed in his classroom and his teaching has helped me carve my educational path ever since.

Presidential Progress

I thought I'd make my long-delayed return to blogging with this half-baked consideration of what President Obama has accomplished so far, just over halfway into his term.

As this post is precipitated by world events, I thought I'd start here. Our forces in Iraq have been significantly drawn down. We have increased our focus on Afghanistan and have been working to fight terrorism and build democracy there. We have stood behind the peoples of the Middle East as they rise up against their oppresive governments. Oh yeah, and Osama bin Laden is dead.

Obama's fiscal intelligence has also shined through. We have avoided complete financial chaos, and our economy is recovering. Jobs are picking up and home purchasing is improving. Our deficit is shrinking, even without the ridiculous cuts the Republicans propose.

Socially, we are on the right path. Health care reform passed, making health care and insurance more affordable for millions of Americans. Don't Ask Don't Tell has been repealed and is being reversed. Gay marriage and marijuana legalizations have been spreading across the states. and are not being overturned by courts. Abortion remains legal.

All of this progress counts "double" in my eyes given that every step along the way, Obama has faced conservative obstructionism. He's dealt with Palin, Bachmann, Beck, Boehner and the whole crew of counter-productivity.

Obama's doing a good job, and I look forward to the next two to (hopefully) six years.

What other things has he done that you like? What do you think about him? Shout out in the comments!

No Labels; Maybe Revolution

Today marks the official launch of a new movement: No Labels. No Labels is a new non-partisan/anti-partisan/bi-partisan political organization, basically saying we should solve our problems rather than continue our never-ending two-party pissing contest.

Some of my favorite moderate politicians, including Joe Lieberman and Mike Bloomberg (who is totally running for president, irrelevant of what he says in his speeches and Sunday morning appearances) are speaking at the launch ceremony for this movement as this post is publishing. We need voices from both sides to realize that screaming and obstructionism doesn't get us anywhere. I'm tired of Beck getting the limelight, while calm voices get pushed off-stage.

This is a particularly apt time for the launch to come around. The Republicans just voted down DADT repeal despite evidence it wouldn't be harmful (in a move led by John McCain), as well as a 9/11 first responders' health care bill (for the second time), since they have pledged not to let anything get done until the top 2% of American wage-earners keep their tax cut. After that, Obama tried to make a deal to save the other 98% as well as unemployment benefits, contributing to my claim that he is doing a good job. Yet his own party attacked him from the left, saying that the President should not have even considered this compromise.
My belief is that we need to continue these cuts for people who need, and thus will use (rather than save), this money. The top 2% can afford to survive without the cuts, and they'd just put them into savings which stimulate the economy much less than consumer spending.
However, that is not presently my point. My point is that I know I'm not going to get everything I want, as does our President, and compromise is essential to accomplishing anything.

What exactly this movement will become is not yet exactly clear, although hopefully more will be by the end of the launch event. It isn't a new party, or a specific platform of ideas. It is an attempt, like the Jon Stewart rally, at restoring (or creating) a sensible political dialogue in this country, so that we can solve problems rather than focus on ideological differences.

I urge you to participate in this movement to "restore sanity," if you will, to our political system. Join the No Labels action network, become their Facebook fan, follow them on Twitter... but most importantly, tell your friends, and be civil. Don't attack ideas because of who they come from, and try to understand the other side's perspective.