Trans fat "ban" not a ban
Here are the facts about NYC's new proposed trans fat policy:
I can't believe how worked up restaurants are getting over this. Trans fats are as deadly as food poisoning, it just takes longer to kill you. Are people complaining that restaurants get health inspections? Since we have no control (or knowledge) over what kind of oil restaurants use, this is ripe for regulation.
mike sold out at - 17:26
9.27.2006
Woo-Hoo! L train work almost done!
AM NY: L train back on track
There will be no more weekend shutdowns between Manhattan and Brooklyn on the Canarsie line, the MTA says. And there's more good news: the long-promised information system that will give real-time arrival times of trains will be running within eight weeks.
Now if they can only add two more cars to the G train, I'll be set.
mike sold out at - 10:48
Credit where credit is due
9.26.2006
Boratage
Totally looking forward to this movie. And the reality-bending by Baron Cohen is always great, exemplified in this news article:
The Kazakh government is protesting the movie's release, yanked the website http://www.borat.kz and has threatened to sue Baron Cohen, who grew up in Wales in an Orthodox Jewish family, for his portrayal of Kazakh life.
Responding in character, "Borat" disavows any connection with Baron Cohen and "fully supports my government's decision to sue this Jew."
But of course, Borat goes further, saying reforms instituted in 2003 means "women can now travel on inside of bus, homosexuals no longer have to wear blue hats, and age of consent has been raised to eight years old. Please, captain of industry; I invite you to come to Kazakhstan where we have incredible natural resources, hardworking labour, and some of the cleanest prostitutes in whole of central Asia."
Update: Look at The Official Borat Homepage. It will not disappoint.
mike sold out at - 13:51
Credit where credit is due
Danger Man!
mike sold out at - 11:09
9.19.2006
Movin' Ole Miss
This is a pretty amazing article. I've kind of known about this in one way for a while since Katrina, but it lays it out in a neat way. Dr. P had told me about how the leveeing of the Mississippi and the urban drainage systems helped cause the 1993 flood, but this is a new twist on the unexpected consequences of engineering the Mississippi.
Don't miss the graphics and slideshow - I didn't know that the sediment actually falls off the continental shelf at the end of the delta!
NYT Science: Time to Move the Mississippi, Experts Say
"Scientists have long said the only way to restore Louisiana’s vanishing wetlands is to undo the elaborate levee system that controls the Mississippi River, not with the small projects that have been tried here and there, but with a massive diversion that would send the muddy river flooding wholesale into the state’s sediment-starved marshes."
mike sold out at - 22:35
Credit where credit is due
9.13.2006
Traffic & NYC
...New York's approach to transportation - like most cities - has been described as first making sure that "all the cars are happy." That should change.
The priority should be making sure that New Yorkers, and the people who spend their days here, have a safe, clean, and efficient environment for going about their business and recreation. If that means burdening cars, that's what should be done...
Read the whole thing
mike sold out at - 23:53
9.12.2006
Are you powerful?
Today is primary day in NYC and many other places around the country. As many of my friends have moved to NYC in the past few years, they are registered out of state. Some haven't switched their registration over yet because they haven't gotten around to it and others want to preserve their vote in a swing state.
While this highlights the absurdity of the electoral college, it also highlights a way that young, mobile people are cheating themselves of power. The smaller the pool of voters, the more your vote counts. In Democratic primaries where 5%-10% (in non-presidential years) to 20-30% (in mayoral elections) of registered voters turn out, voting in primaries gives you a disproportionate say in the governing of your every day life.
For example:
If you have to go to housing court, do you want a judge who is in the pocket of the landlord-friendly Brooklyn Democratic machine or a, fair independent-minded judge?
If the state is about to approve a ridiculous development project across the street from your house, do you want a state assemblymember who is going to do everything to stop it or do you want one who will take a campaign contribution and roll over?
Primaries are where these questions are decided.
Please vote today. And if you're not registered in your home town, please do so. You know you're not going to vote absentee in Salt Lake City.
mike sold out at - 15:28
TV References
Those who know me know that I overly reference TV episodes, centering heavily on the Simpsons, Seinfeld, SNL, and Mr. Show. If I grow up to become a judge (which I won't), my legal opinions might look something like this:
Indianapolis Star:According to court records, Harper sold cigarettes at his BP Amoco station in Hammond to partners who then illegally resold them for profit across the state line in Chicago, where taxes were as much as 75 cents higher.
Appeals court Judge Michael Kanne noted in his ruling the conspiracy's resemblance to a 1996 episode of the television series Seinfeld.
"Kramer and Newman devised a similar scheme to capitalize on Michigan's higher deposit for soda bottles and cans by using a postal truck to transport recyclables gathered in New York for return in Michigan," he wrote. "Alas, the plan was foiled by a fanatical auto mechanic in possession of Jerry's car and JFK's golf clubs."
Appeals court Judge Michael Kanne noted in his ruling the conspiracy's resemblance to a 1996 episode of the television series Seinfeld.
"Kramer and Newman devised a similar scheme to capitalize on Michigan's higher deposit for soda bottles and cans by using a postal truck to transport recyclables gathered in New York for return in Michigan," he wrote. "Alas, the plan was foiled by a fanatical auto mechanic in possession of Jerry's car and JFK's golf clubs."
