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March 30, 2005
Haus Research
All my notes thus far, a bit cleaned up, lacking recent discoveries re: the Sears house kit possibility.
My extended notes after the cut, not counting a lot of the recent stuff I've found about the Sears plans.
Built 1908-09
Appears to be a modified Fullerton “Sears Modern Home” 4-Square house kit, which would have been delivered to the train depot and then transported to site and built by the original owner.1910-11 (Earliest listed occupant) Carrol, Owen G, Teacher, TX school for the Deaf
1912-1916 Burleson, Mary (Miss) music teacher
Had her studio in the house 1916 Burleson, Mary and Jennie (Miss) Mary (b Jul 1885) and Jennie (b 1874 Death:11 Dec 1938) are both daughters of David Crockett Burleson (b 6 Sep 1837 in Texas Death:17 May 1911 in Texas), son of Gen. Edward BurlesonLouisa Weir (Wife) b. in Manchaca, TX. Marriage: 28 MAY 1861 in Travis Co., TX. Children:
1. Sarah Griffin Burleson
2. Jennie Burleson b. 1874
3. Martha J. Burleson b. Oct 1875 in Texas
4. Stephen Mack Burleson b. Dec 1877 in Texas
5. Lizzie S. Burleson b. Aug 1881 in Texas
6. Mary L. Burleson b. Jul 1885 in Texas
http://www.gencircles.com/users/belinda_pierce/12/data/3102
1910 Travis Co TX (TX,24,living w/father) -- http://www.gencircles.com/users/mickiewaldron/1/data/5346
Thelma loved her house on San Antonio Street. She could see the children on their way to school, and on the playground, at both the Elementary School and Church. Children were always special to her. Maybe that is what kept her so "young" for ninety years.
The Chambers house has a history of its own, a history she loved to tell. In 1899, Miss Jennie Burleson (a granddaughter of Gen. Edward Burleson) paid her uncle, Peter Weir, $1 for two and a half acres on the northwest side of Buda. Here Jennie built herself a house. Except for a little help from her sister, Jennie actually built the house herself. Although the Chambers added to the house as their family grew, Thelma always liked to remind people that their family's friend, Miss Jennie, really build it by herself.
http://www.buda.lib.tx.us/H11_2ThelmaChambers.html
Jennie Burleson was the second superintendent of the Waco State Home for Dependent and Neglected Children (founded 1919, currently, Waco Center for Youth) -- http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/WW/ynw1.html
1920 Samuel J (Fannie L) Smith Ranchman
1922 Mrs. Willie W Pryor
http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/PP/fpr18.html ? Maybe widow of disinherited son of William Pryor?1924 James, Jos F (Mint O) prop James & Co
1929-31: Waldemar Metzenthin, (Aileen also Aline (student) UT Professor
http://www.utexas.edu/faculty/council/2000-2001/memorials/SCANNED/metzenthin.pdfUT has original papers of the SongBook Committee he submitted; mostly submissions to his parody contest and some art for the cover, includes a version of “The Eyes of Texas” with alternate lyrics, and Annie Webb Blanton. He graded themm all... rather harshly...
mackbrown-texasfootball.com/pages/winningtrads/coach_index.html :
W. E. METZENTHIN
1907-08 (Record: 11-5-1)
The athletics family at UT was so impressed with the behind-the-scenes work of Waldemar Eric Metzenthin that they prevailed on him to become the head coach for the 1907 season. An energetic young language professor, Metzenthin accepted no additional pay to do the job. Born in Berlin, Metzenthin had attended public schools in Austin and in Lancaster, Pa., and had played quarterback at Franklin-Marshall and Columbia. Metzenthin did not inherit the best of worlds as Schenker’s successor. Freshmen were barred by the faculty from competing their first semester, and the program was in tough financial shape. But Metzenthin, who had been so successful in steering the program from behind the scenes the year before, came through. The first season ended successfully at 6-1-1 and the football program cleared more than $1,000. Metzenthin agreed to coach the team again, along with his professorial duties, in 1908. But his team struggled, and despite a spectacular 28-12 come-from-behind victory against Texas A&M — which allowed Texas to finish 5-4 and escape its first losing season ever — he quit after the season. Stating he was tired of the criticism, he returned to full-time professorship, and Texas began searching for a coach once again. Several years later Metzenthin would return to athletics, serving as athletics council chairman, or athletics director as it would be later known, in 1927.
1935 Harlow, Rex.F. (ruby w) student, UT (b 1892)
Wife, Ruby Daughter Esther FrancesBooks:
Social Science in Public Relations c1957
Practical Public Relations, with Marvin Black 1947, 1952
PR in War and Peace 1942
Trail of the 61st (A History of the 61st Field Artillery Brigade During the World War) 1917-1919 (pub 1919)
War history
Camp Bowie during its construction
sailed to France July 31st 1918
"Sea sickness became so universal on the first evening that rail space on the deck became entirely inadequate and conditions aboard the ships were far from desirable"
--73
Brest (landed, stayed at Napoleonic barracks)
Redon by train
"Many American boys and French girls became acquainted with each other in French cafes were lessons in both French and English were exchanged. The soldiers could learn French quite easily form attractive French maids, although they experienced great difficulty in acquiring any knowledge of the language from text books or regular teachers, and the same can be said of the French girls, who preferred to learn their English from jovial American soldiers"
--p121
C.R Revis (colored) of the 347th labor battalion is responsible for a little verse that aptly describes the bean situation in Brest and Redon:
"It was beans for breakfast; it was beans for dinner;
It was beans for supper time.
It was baked beans, stewed beans, fried beans;
Boiled beans,--beans rain or shine
Sometime is was lamb, chicken or ham,
A stranger you may have seen;
But the thing I mind was I got mighty dam tired
of eatin' just beans, beans beans."
--123-4
Camp De Coetquidan
quartered Napolean troops, used by his firing squads
"Practically the only source of amusement in Coetidan was that afforded by the "drag", as it was called. The "drag" was a series of stores and selling booths erected along the road leading to the main entrance of the camp. Almost all kinds of small articles could be purchased in these stores and the men frequented them freely to buy food and drinks. Because of the great number of potatoes served to the soldiers at several places along the road, the whole place was finally dubbed, "Potato Alley."
--141
{because of fighting and overindulgence in alcohol} "An order was therefore issues prohibiting all men of the 61st Brigade from spending any time on the "drag" unless they had business there and could show proper authority for being "out of bounds."
--144
1935
San Bjorn Fire Insurance Maps list it (1935) with an additional back porch which no longer exists1939 Dallas D. McLean and Waters Darmento, Margt. Mrs. (lawyer)
Waters (d) March 28, 1999 UT Law Degree Admission to Tx Bar in 1933 Clerked for law firm of ex-governor Dan Moody (1931-35?) before entering private practice Research Asst. to UT School of Law Left for US Dept of State in Mexico City Then a series of govt positions in Guam, Japan, France (post WWII?) Returned to florida Survived by husband Josef Darmento (married 1954) in Merritt Island, Fl and son Philip Waters in Dallas. Josef moved to Texarkana and died shortly after Margaret died.1940 Mclean, Dallas D (Gladys r;2) musician
Dallas: 1man band during wwii, flew around in south pacific with troup entertainment guitar, piano, violin, drums, qwhistle, all togetherThey rented rooms out to ut students
doctor calhoun acting pres ut next door
had a garden, McLean rooster dug for worms, Calhoun chased rooster with hatchet
Girl Living in boys rooming house, cooking for them, brothers
owners had to visit UT boarding as they were listed as a boys boarding house, but had a girl living there.
http://lonestar.texas.net/~mdmclean/MDM_BIO.html
4. Dallas Duncan McLean
Born August 28, 1890.
Died February 5, 1979, at 1501 S. Wall St., Belton, Texas, the home of his son, Dr. Sterling R. McLean. Buried in Jefferson Reed Family Cemetery, Joe Lee, Bell Co. TX.
Married May 1, 1911, Gladys Robertson. Born May 13, 1890, near Salado, Texas. They were married by Rev. Morphis.
Father of Texas historian Dr. Malcolm D. Mclean, Author of the 19-volume “Papers Concerning Robertson's Colony in Texas”
Died December 5, 1967, Kingsville, Texas. Buried in Robertson Family Cemetery, Salado, Texas.
Note: Gladys Robertson is a descendant of John Robertson and Mary (Gower) Robertson. For their genealogy, see Malcolm Dallas McLean (compiler and editor), PAPERS CONCERNING ROBERTSON'S COLONY IN TEXAS, Vol.XI, pp. 204-215.
http://lonestar.texas.net/~mdmclean/mcleanlines.html
http://lonestar.texas.net/~mdmclean/
I have located the recordings done by my Grandfather, Dallas McLean,
circa 1950. He had a personal record making machine and recorded his own records. One of them has written on the label "for Johnny" ... That would be me. I can recall his recording machine setup and him making recordings with it when I was maybe 6 or 7.
I have about 10 of them.... Size of 45's about, and a couple of old vinyl commercial recordings. Unclear to me if these are 16.5, 33.3 or 45 RPM. You know, this takes a device with a needle, rotating turntable, other stuff that one usually finds in museums (grin).
Dallas’ son Malcolm
1947-1951 Instructor of Romance Languages, The University of Texas at Austin.
1951-1956 Assistant, then Associate Professor of Romance Languages, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.
1956-1959 Director, Binational Center, Tegucigalpa, Honduras, for the U. S. Information Agency.
1959-1961 Director, Binatonal Center, Guayaquil, Ecuador, for the U. S. Information Agency.
1961-1976 TCU
1976-1983 Professor of History and Spanish, The University of Texas at Arlington,
phd ut
travelled to Honuras, Equador
Historian
Gladys Robertson-McLean is a descendent of
Sterling Clack Robertson was born on October 2, 1785, in Nashville, Tennessee. His father was Elijah Robertson, a brother of General James Robertson, the "Father of Middle Tennessee," and his mother was Sarah (Maclin) Robertson, for whom he later named the capital of his colony in Texas. His education was placed in the hands of Judge John McNairy, with instructions that he should have "as liberal education as the circumstances will admit of."
S. C. Robertson participated in the Battle of San Jacinto (April 20-21, 1836), and joined in the pursuit of the Mexican Army as it fled across country toward the Rio Grande. From the fall of 1836 to the spring of 1838 he served as Senator in the First and Second Congresses of the Republic of Texas, helping to lay the foundation for the new nation. During that time he served as Chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs, and as Chairman of the Committee on Roads, Bridges, and Ferries. This latter committee had to organize the justices' courts and create and define the office and power of the commissioners of roads and revenue. He was also a member of the Committee on Military Affairs, the Committee on Private Land Claims, the Committee on Finance, and the Committee on Naval Affairs.
1941 William G. Cannon (Vina H) (Not “The” William Cannon) 1942-1949 Wynn, Barbara MR (widow, gordon W) 1944-1945: W.T. Hendricks (fireman) Mattie 1952-Mrs. Edna Grey 1955 Palmer Lolete H, Mrs. (widowed) slsmn, Buttreys Inc 1960 Davis, Gale E, recpt, Christian Educ. Synod of Tx
1965 owner Francis Kelley Bldg permit 96444 July 14, 1965 Estimate 500
Contractor R.T. Davis Remodeled Residence
Probably closed in back porch to create kitchen areas.
Probably closed off internal stairway between bottom and top floors
[17:36] wonk: I suspect the unit 1 bedroom was the foyer with stairway access to the 2nd floor.
[17:36] wonk: The unit 1 bathroom was totally a closet.
[17:37] wonk: I believe the other 3 bathrooms are original.
1969: Jeremiah M. Shapiro; Mrs. Francis. W. Kelley; Yvonne Hunter; Bruce Fuller
1970 Francis Kelley
1975 Francis Kelly (Wid Henry R)
1975 Fuller, Bruce (Marie) Student
1977-80 vacant/no return
1979 Stemtong, Ann (1979 2807A) Banquet Mngr, G&M catering svcs
1985: Four-plex: 1-Vacant; 2-John Ratliff, 3-Mark Weber, 4-Jo Wagner
Ratliff is a writer for Texas Monthly, Texas Observer, and has also written for Nerve and covers SXSW every year
http://www.texasmonthly.com/mag/issues/authors/johnratliff.php
http://www.texasobserver.org/showAuthor.asp?AuthorID=213
http://www.austin360.com/music/content/music/sxsw/2004/sxsw_blog.html
http://www.nerve.com/regulars/lifeswork/kinkyfriedman/
Posted by griffjon at 10:59 PM | Comments (0)
GWU
So, I just accepted GWU. On top of the 5k, they offered me a 6 credit tuition waiver/yr (renewable), and I can attend classes at Gtown for the same price as GWU if they're not offered in any form at GWU.
So. Next decision?
Posted by griffjon at 07:50 PM | Comments (0)
March 29, 2005
More Haus
House Defense Detail!
So, we showed up early to sign up (but that's nowhere near as important as we'd been lead to believe), and sat through a huge amount of cases. This was actually a great thing, as we were able to learn from their mistakes and the reactions and deliberations of the committee, and modify our presentation along the way to better work with it. (That, and our house was going to be permitted to be demolished without comment had we not been there to speak for it).
Anyhow, we also got to see how other, more prepared neighborhood associations were organized to deal with it, and decided that while I'd present the main chunk (As it was all in my head better anyhow), blanu would also speak some, just to emphasize the strength in numbers effect. We had a total of 12 people including the 4 Haus residents present.
The city staff on preservation had done his standard review of ownership for major figures, but he didn't dig very deep, and as the architecture is evidentially not terribly outstanding, he'd OK'ed it for demolition or removal to another location.
We overwhelmed them with the amount of information, community support, and research effort we'd gotten together over Easter weekend. The chairwoman asked if I was available for hire, and I responded that only if I had more than a weekend to respond.
All night long, the 6-person council had been split over every single issue, for often very opaque reasons, but we got a unanimous pass in the motion. The next meeting is at the end of April, and we'll present again with more information on the historical and cultural significance of the Haus. Our presentation is at:
http://griffjon.com/dashaus/2807RioGrande.ppt , it has all the coolest information on the history and architecture of the house, lacking a few interesting details of Metzenthin (he graded Annie Webb Blanton very poorly on her submission to the UT SongBook Committee!)
The chairwoman ran after us in the hall to thank us separately for caring; the committee is all-volunteer, and I think we really impressed them by nothing more than caring. Of course we could shrug, accept the annoyance, and move somewhere else -- but the thing about DasHaus is, you don't really want to...
Anyhow, I'm not sure how many other people really believe this would work going into it, but now everyone's jazzed and promising to help me research! Yay!
Posted by griffjon at 08:14 PM | Comments (0)
Oh, yeah
MIT turned me down, but I got a nice letter from mres, the head of the LLK program that I applied to. I'd already pretty much decided not to go to MIT for various reasons that I've already discussed at length, but this at least removes the temptation for the crazy good stipend situation they have for their grad students.
Sorry, Bostonians, but I'll be not too far away, in "sunny" DC!
Posted by griffjon at 10:10 AM | Comments (0)
March 28, 2005
And the committee moves to...
...Initiate a historic zoning case.
We have to return next month with more research, we won a battle, not the war, but it was on the list for pass-without-comment had we not been there.
The Chairwoman worshipped us for our efforts at the end of the presentation. Literally. hands in the air style. Really. she also ran after us to the elevator to express her appreciation for our efforts thus far.
So. More work to do, but perhaps we can gather more residents who are still alive and nearby, and some more historical info on some of the more important figures. I'll post shortly with all my info thus far discovered notes in case anyone sees anything they can contribute to.
Posted by griffjon at 10:04 PM | Comments (0)
March 27, 2005
Terri Schiavo IS NOT AN ISSUE OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE
NEITHER IS MICHAEL JACKSON
WAKE THE FUCK UP AND SMELL THE OIL AND BLOOD
That is all.
Posted by griffjon at 12:16 PM | Comments (0)
March 25, 2005
Gah.
So. DasBlueHaus (where I live) currently has a sign outside of it. There's a bid to buy the property, and a hearing Monday with the Heritage Society of Austin whether it should be marked as a historical site...or OKed for demolition.
Any ideas?
Posted by griffjon at 04:43 PM | Comments (0)
March 22, 2005
Decisions, Decisions
MIT (Boston): Geeky, project-oriented, would have to fight pretty hard to get any policy/econ/dev studies out of it.
GTown (DC): Good mix of studying IT impact and various issues in globalization, media, and such, but it almost seems too "light," based on the classes I attended there. Too much on the facilitated-learning bandwagon.
GWU (DC): Hardcore policy wonkiness, with lots of tech, but most of it in more science/tech/patent stuff.
Evans (Seattle): Plain-Jane public policy, but a great center for Internet in development connected to the school.
These are my general choices, now to narrow them down... I haven't heard back from MIT, but am proceeding as if they accept me (if they don't, it makes my choice easier)
I think I'm currently leaning towards GWU, but the more new-media/Internet edge of CCT continues to be attractive. Media Lab is nice in the guaranteed-money effect, but I don't think it'll be that hard to get a decent-paying part-time job in DC that should let me squeak by or enter into a reasonably small amount of debt. Hell, I may even have an offer (long story that shouldn't be posted publically).
All cities are places I have visted at some point and like. Boston winters do scare me a bit, tho. DC is hands-down the place for international dev and non-profit work, tho. Seattle has a lot of pacific-rim dev stuff, and Boston has lots of educational tech work (and edtech is always going to be a big part of int'l dev).
I know cool people in all three cities and environs, and all three cities are a bit pricey in the living. There are a LOT of RPCVs in DC, and a huge chunk of my peeps from Ja (including K) are there.
I'd say right now, GWU is winning. I'm emailing GTown and GWU trying to feel them out a bit better, and digging through their websites to see which I like better. Hopefully, this will be an easier decision than Ghana/Austin was. (Which, I might point out, turned out to be the right decision, even if on some days I do wish I was being more helpful in my productivity).
Posted by griffjon at 09:10 PM | Comments (0)
March 20, 2005
Canada!
Link from DKOS, but wow, go Canada:
Dear Condi,I'm glad you've decided to get over your fit of pique and venture north to visit your closest neighbour. It's a chance to learn a thing or two. Maybe more.
I know it seems improbable to your divinely guided master in the White House that mere mortals might disagree with participating in a missile-defence system that has failed in its last three tests, even though the tests themselves were carefully rigged to show results.
But, gosh, we folks above the 49th parallel are somewhat cautious types who can't quite see laying down billions of dollars in a three-dud poker game.
As our erstwhile Prairie-born and bred (and therefore prudent) finance minister pointed out in presenting his recent budget, we've had eight years of balanced or surplus financial accounts. If we're going to spend money, Mr. Goodale added, it will be on day-care and health programs, and even on more foreign aid and improved defence.
Sure, that doesn't match the gargantuan, multi-billion-dollar deficits that your government blithely runs up fighting a "liberation war" in Iraq, laying out more than half of all weapons expenditures in the world, and giving massive tax breaks to the top one per cent of your population while cutting food programs for poor children.
Just chalk that up to a different sense of priorities about what a national government's role should be when there isn't a prevailing mood of manifest destiny.Coming to Ottawa might also expose you to a parliamentary system that has a thing called question period every day, where those in the executive are held accountable by an opposition for their actions, and where demands for public debate on important topics such as missile defence can be made openly.
You might also notice that it's a system in which the governing party's caucus members are not afraid to tell their leader that their constituents don't want to follow the ideological, perhaps teleological, fantasies of Canada's continental co-inhabitant. And that this leader actually listens to such representations.
Your boss did not avail himself of a similar opportunity to visit our House of Commons during his visit, fearing, it seems, that there might be some signs of dissent. He preferred to issue his diktat on missile defence in front of a highly controlled, pre-selected audience.
Such control-freak antics may work in the virtual one-party state that now prevails in Washington. But in Canada we have a residual belief that politicians should be subject to a few checks and balances, an idea that your country once espoused before the days of empire.
If you want to have us consider your proposals and positions, present them in a proper way, through serious discussion across the table in our cabinet room, as your previous president did when he visited Ottawa. And don't embarrass our prime minister by lobbing a verbal missile at him while he sits on a public stage, with no chance to respond.
Now, I understand that there may have been some miscalculations in Washington based on faulty advice from your resident governor of the "northern territories," Ambassador Cellucci. But you should know by now that he hasn't really won the hearts and minds of most Canadians through his attempts to browbeat and command our allegiance to U.S. policies.Sadly, Mr. Cellucci has been far too closeted with exclusive groups of 'experts' from Calgary think-tanks and neo-con lobbyists at cross-border conferences to remotely grasp a cross-section of Canadian attitudes (nor American ones, for that matter).
I invite you to expand the narrow perspective that seems to inform your opinions of Canada by ranging far wider in your reach of contacts and discussions. You would find that what is rising in Canada is not so much anti-Americanism, as claimed by your and our right-wing commentators, but fundamental disagreements with certain policies of your government. You would see that rather than just reacting to events by drawing on old conventional wisdoms, many Canadians are trying to think our way through to some ideas that can be helpful in building a more secure world.
These Canadians believe that security can be achieved through well-modulated efforts to protect the rights of people, not just nation-states.
To encourage and advance international co-operation on managing the risk of climate change, they believe that we need agreements like Kyoto.
To protect people against international crimes like genocide and ethnic cleansing, they support new institutions like the International Criminal Court -- which, by the way, you might strongly consider using to hold accountable those committing atrocities today in Darfur, Sudan.
And these Canadians believe that the United Nations should indeed be reformed -- beginning with an agreement to get rid of the veto held by the major powers over humanitarian interventions to stop violence and predatory practices.
On this score, you might want to explore the concept of the 'Responsibility to Protect' while you're in Ottawa. It's a Canadian idea born out of the recent experience of Kosovo and informed by the many horrific examples of inhumanity over the last half-century. Many Canadians feel it has a lot more relevance to providing real human security in the world than missile defence ever will.
This is not just some quirky notion concocted in our long winter nights, by the way. It seems to have appeal for many in your own country, if not the editorialists at the Wall Street Journal or Rush Limbaugh. As I discovered recently while giving a series of lectures in southern California, there is keen interest in how the U.S. can offer real leadership in managing global challenges of disease, natural calamities and conflict, other than by military means.
There is also a very strong awareness on both sides of the border of how vital Canada is to the U.S. as a partner in North America. We supply copious amounts of oil and natural gas to your country, our respective trade is the world's largest in volume, and we are increasingly bound together by common concerns over depletion of resources, especially very scarce fresh water.Why not discuss these issues with Canadians who understand them, and seek out ways to better cooperate in areas where we agree -- and agree to respect each other's views when we disagree.
Above all, ignore the Cassandras who deride the state of our relations because of one missile-defence decision. Accept that, as a friend on your border, we will offer a different, independent point of view. And that there are times when truth must speak to power.
In friendship,
Lloyd AxworthyLloyd Axworthy is president of the University of Winnipeg and a former Canadian foreign minister.
--Winnipeg Free Press
Posted by griffjon at 05:33 PM | Comments (0)
WTO slaps the US for a change
US loses cotton fight with Brazil Cotton pickers in West Africa Brazil said the US policy hurt other cotton-producing nations The United States has lost the final round of a high-profile dispute with Brazil over US cotton subsidies.A World Trade Organisation (WTO) appeals body on Thursday upheld an earlier ruling ordering the US to stop the payments to its farmers.
The organisation had found in its initial September ruling that the subsidies violated global trade rules.
Brazil said the US practice depressed world prices and hurt cotton producers both in Brazil and other countries.
Cotton growers in West Africa say that they have been especially hard hit by subsidies for US cotton farmers.
The US will now have to bring its cotton subsidies, which wrongly include export credits for producers, in line with global trade rules.
(BBC)
Now, if they could make that an across-the board ruling, or at least make us pay trade penalties for crops we subsidize, to lessen the impact of their deflated costs...
Posted by griffjon at 04:38 PM | Comments (0)
There goes Ecuador's rainforests...
One of South America's poorest countries, Ecuador, is believed to be sitting on huge untapped reserves of oil and gas.Much of it, though, lies beneath remote areas of the Amazon rainforest.
Now the indigenous people of the region are starting to organise themselves politically in a bid to keep the oilmen out of their ancestral homes.
In global oil terms, Ecuador is a relatively small player. But revenues from its existing Amazon oil reserves are critical in keeping the country's economy afloat.
Now, with the country sitting on huge potential new reserves, there is enormous pressure to expand production.
(BBC)
Posted by griffjon at 04:09 PM | Comments (0)
Goundspan day?
When Alan Greenspan takes his head out of his ass and sees a looming deficit, does it mean he'll urge the right thing?
Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan has warned that allowing huge US budget deficits to continue could have "severe" consequences.Speaking to the House Budget Committee he urged Congress to take action to cut the deficit, such as increasing taxes.
Crazy. (BBC
Posted by griffjon at 04:06 PM | Comments (0)
Americas
Uruguay elects a left/centrist who started with quite an impressive level of coolness: (BBC)
Vazquez welcomed "the Cuban people once again at this house" A day after his inauguration as Uruguay's first left-wing president, Tabare Vazquez has bolstered links with leftist leaders in the region.Mr Vazquez signed a deal for energy co-operation with his Venezuelan counterpart, Hugo Chavez.
He completed agreements on human rights with Argentine leader Nestor Kirchner and held talks with the Brazilian President, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.
(more after the break)
Uruguay is the fifth Latin American nation to move to the left recently.Venezuela, Chile, Brazil and Argentina also have left-wing governments.
The BBC's Elliott Gotkine in Buenos Aires says Mr Vazquez appears to be making good on his promise to put regional integration at the top of his foreign policy.
Meeting the left
President Vazquez restored full diplomatic relations with Cuba immediately after being sworn in.
Uruguay broke off diplomatic ties with Cuba three years ago under outgoing President Jorge Battle.
Cuban leader Fidel Castro accused him of being a traitor for supporting US efforts to condemn Cuba's human rights record in a United Nations vote.
President Vazquez said that ties should never have been broken off and he welcomed "the Cuban people once again at this house".
Crowds of supporters celebrate the inauguration of Tabare Vazquez
Vazquez's election brought to an end almost 180 years of two-party ruleThe Venezuelan leader and Mr Vazquez agreed to exchange Uruguayan food for Venezuelan fuel, and to work together on a state-run regional TV channel.
Mr Vazquez asked Mr Kirchner to help to look for the bodies of a reported 150 Uruguayans who disappeared on Argentine soil in the 1970s and 1980s, when both countries were under military rule.
After holding talks with President Lula, the new leader and his Brazilian counterpart inaugurated a Brazilian-owned brewery in the north of Uruguay.
Correspondents say that despite his warm meeting with President Chavez, Mr Vazquez's economic policy will be closer to the cautious centre-left approach of President Lula.
Posted by griffjon at 03:59 PM | Comments (0)
Political Strategy
So, the blogger types have uncovered the Republican playbook for media-spin, with fun tidbits such as using 9/11, and word usage:
NEVER SAY: Undocumented Workers
INSTEAD SAY: Illegal AliensThe Dems have adopted the phrase "undocumented worker" but you shouldn’t. Call them exactly what they are. In fact, instead of addressing "immigration reform, "which polarizes Americans, you should be talking about "border security" issues. Securing our borders and our people has universal support.
It gets pretty incriminating, so you won't actually see this in your normal media channels. Damn that liberal media, y'know.
September 11th changed everything. So start with 9/11. This is the context that explains and justifies why we have $500 billion dollar deficits, why the stock market tanked, why unemployment climbed to 6% and why we are still in a rebuilding mode. Much of the public anger can be immediately pacified if they are reminded that we would not be in this situation today if 9/11 had not happened, and that it is unfair to blame the current political leadership or corporate America for the consequences of that day.
Right. No blame. Right.
Posted by griffjon at 01:12 PM | Comments (0)
Grad School Ponderings
As I continue to wait MIT's decision, I increasingly find myself hoping to get turned down from there. The money is unbeatable, but yet, the program is simply not development-oriented. The dev classes and the Grassroots Invention Group that they had (and still advertise on their site) are gone, and the only thing left is the Lifelong Kindergarten / Educational Technology group, but even that is pretty scattershot.
I feel that if I went to MIT, I'd have to fight very hard to take the classes I feel I need to take, and burn some midnight oil to create a project that I could execute during the 2 year masters program to make the Lab happy.
Now, potentially, I could figure out a project that I'd want to burn the midnight oil on, but I get the feeling that MIT Media Lab is much more strongly concerned about far-flung ideas that practical realities, particularly in development projects; all of their programs are insanely well funded by Intel and other big names -- great, fantastic, for the insubstantially small percentage of beneficiaries.
Could I make it work for me? Possibly.
The CCT program is much closer to my interests, but I worry that, by the same token, if it becomes another Plan II -- great education, that you have to explain constantly. It's not a show-stopper, but it certainly gets frustrating. I served in PC/J with a graduate from the Elliot school at GWU, and he was under-impressed by it, but it is a normal master's / public policy program. The downside there is that while they're big on science and technology, they're kinda behind on Internet and communications tech. Potentially I can take some classes at CCT through a sharing program they have in place.
The downside of both DC programs is that they're expensive and didn't offer me much if any money. K made a very clear point the other day while we were chatting, that both CCT and GWU are used to and designed around their students working part-time; and there are lots of exciting positions around DC in IT/Dev/politics/non-profit work where I could go a long way towards balancing out the cost of school (in lieu of burning my time working on a Media Lab project), plus full-time over the summers, and a bit of loans. We guestimated that I'd end up taking out ~5000/year, which really isn't bad at all (based on attending school part time, working 20hrs/week for $20/hr, GWU scholarship, and full-time summer employment) -- that actually puts me in the black according to their costs, and $20/hr. If I only managed to get $15/hr, I'd be in the red $5k/yr. If I attend a full selection of school and still work 20hrs/wk, I end up 6k in the hole/yr at $20/hr, and 12k/yr at $15/hr.
Boston and DC both have lots to recommend their cities; I have good friends in both places (tho very few in DC with LiveJournals, it seems), both have good salsa scenes, night life (to the extent I want/will have time for/can afford one), both have very functional public transport, both are bright blue cities with lots of interesting cultural mixes.
DC is a lot less cold, and the place to be if I want to link with the international development crowd. And yes, K's there too.
So, basically, I've backed off from the "if MIT admits me I'm decided" step, and am now actually pondering my top choices, as with working I can pull through without too much debt.
Still no word from UT ;)
Posted by griffjon at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)
March 17, 2005
AdBlock Filters Updated
I went through and seriously cleaned and updated my AdBlock filters, you might want to merge them with yours, if you don't like seeing advertisements, and use FireFox.
Posted by griffjon at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)
GWU $
Their scholarship offer is $5000 for the academic year. Which is $5000 more than nothing, and 5k over what GTown is offering, but it still ain't much in comparison to their tuition, not to mention the cost of living in/near DC, and a lot more partial than the recruiter's "partial tuition scholarship" had gotten my hopes set on.
But hey, any money is good money if it's not coming out of my pockets.
Posted by griffjon at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)
March 16, 2005
Censors***
A retired Texas judge on the telecom bill banning "indecent" speech:
This is bullshit -- unconstitutional bullshit and also bad policy bullshit. To violate your ban on indecency, I have been forced to use and overuse so-called indecent language. But if I called you a bunch of goddam motherfucking cocksucking cunt-eating blue-balled bastards with the morals of muggers and the intelligence of pond scum, that would be nothing compared to this indictment, to wit: you have sold the First Amendment, your birthright and that of your children. The Founders turn in their graves. You have spit on the grave of every warrior who fought under the Stars and Stripes.And what mess of pottage have you acquired in exchange for the rights of a free people? Have you cleansed the Internet of even the rawest pornography? No, because it is a worldwide system. You have, however, handed the government a powerful new tool to harass its critics: a prosecution for indecent commentary in any district in the country.
Have you protected one child from reading dirty words? Probably not, if you understand what the economists call "substitution" -- but you have leveled the standards of political debate to a point where a history buff would not dare to upload some of the Federalist v. Anti-Federalist election rhetoric to a Website.
Since the lobby reporting requirements were not law when the
censorship discussion was happening, I hope you got some substantial reward for what you gave up. Thirty pieces of silver doesn't go far these days.
--Steve Russell, a retired Trial Judge and and Assistant
Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Texas
Posted by griffjon at 09:02 PM | Comments (2)
March 14, 2005
More Grad Schools
U. of Wash / Evans School has also accepted me, dunno yet if they have any financials for me, tho. Woot.
Posted by griffjon at 02:38 PM | Comments (0)
March 12, 2005
Doors
Hanging doors is deceptively complicated and hard.
That is all.
Posted by griffjon at 04:28 PM | Comments (0)
Ahhhh, spring!
Monitoring my general energy level and happiness when it's bright and sunny make me worried about moving north for grad school, but I'll adapt, or carry around a sun lamp and a car battery all the time.
I had an excellent night on the dance floor last night, went salsa'ing with a local theater-director friend from back when I was doing pro-bono websites around town. We went to a newish club on 7th in the scuzzy part of the 6th street area, but the DJ was good, and the club vibe was nice, lots of regular traffic, everyone seemed to know everyone (and yes, they played not only my favorite salsa, "La Vida es un Carnaval", but also the Gasolina song ;)
This morning I slept in until 9ish and lounged and breakfasted, and then cranked my music, pointed a speaker out the window, and turned the mulch pile, put my tomato seedlings in the ground, and cleaned up the yard a bit. Yay sun!
I'm now chillin' and hydratin', some partin' going on tonight.
Posted by griffjon at 01:16 PM | Comments (0)
March 11, 2005
Neighborhood Watched
A friend linked me to this, but it wasn't in a place I could link to, so here's a bit of info.
Homeland Security is in the process of co-opting the Neighborhood Warch program, and asking their members to help them update their databases of volunteers nationwide.
Check The 1984-esque Citizen Corps site for more info.
Edit: You can see the original info that turned my onto this at my friend's LJ
Posted by griffjon at 06:38 PM | Comments (0)
"w00t"
Well, things continue to come up roses;
I am very pleased to inform you that you will be offered admission and a partial tuition fellowship to attend the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University. Your admission packet, which includes your fellowship award letter as well as your official letter of admission and other relevant information, was mailed earlier today (March 11), so you should be receiving it very soon.Congratulations, and have a great weekend!
My decision just keeps getting more complicated. When I get around to complaining about this, please slap me and remind me of my incredibly good fortune.
Posted by griffjon at 03:07 PM | Comments (0)
March 08, 2005
Kansas leads the way
Kansas, which brought us past gems such as:
"Where is the evidence for that canine-looking creature that somehow has turned into a porpoise-looking creature, or that cow that has somehow turned into a whale, or that dinosaur that has somehow turned into a bird? I haven't seen that evidence"
--Linda Holloway, chair, Kansas Board of Education, 1999
Now has a new "first":
Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline has demanded that clinics hand over records of nearly 90 women who had abortions.He is seeking the women's names, sexual history and medical details, saying he wants to investigate possible child rape or illegal abortions.
But the clinics involved accuse Mr Kline, an abortion opponent, of trying to launch a "secret inquisition".
They say he is "fishing" rather than investigating a specific crime and want the state Supreme Court to intervene.Mr Kline began the inquiry in October but it only became public when the clinics filed an appeal against a court order to hand over the records.
In the appeal to the Kansas Supreme Court the two clinics, which have not been named, said the records contained "the most intensely private information a woman can disclose", adding that much of the information would be irrelevant in any criminal investigation.
If the records were disclosed, the claim continued, "the logical and natural progression of this action could well be a knock on the door of a woman... by agents of the attorney general who seek to inquire into her personal, medical, sexual, or legal history".
Mr Kline told reporters at a brief news conference that he requested the information to uncover evidence that could be used in investigations that could include child rape.
"When a 10, 11 or 12-year-old is pregnant, under Kansas law that child has been raped," he said.
"I have the duty to investigate and prosecute child rape in order to protect Kansas children."
Me, I'd like to see every instance of viagra/cialis prescriptions among the Kansas representatives.
Honestly, did we go through the administrative pain of the HIPAA to regulate and manage medical privacy only to have our most private details subpoenaed and made into public record?
Posted by griffjon at 08:37 PM | Comments (0)
March 06, 2005
New Reggae Tracks
shouts out to >Wayne&Wax and his new album based on his time in Ja, Boston Jerk. Check the falls on the CD art and the track, that's my own Gordon Town Falls. Blep! Blep! Blep!
Amusingly, in the small-world effect, his project (working with schools to teach computer literacy through music) came up multiple time with my MIT interviews; it's a small community up in Boston for that kinda fun, it seems.
Posted by griffjon at 10:17 PM | Comments (0)
March 04, 2005
Verified Voting Act
(Yeah, I'm catching up on my blog-news between interviews)
Sens. Boxer and Clinton have introduced a great law, if only it's been on the books this time last year, to require paper, voter-verified ballot reciepts for evoting machines. Read more about this sliver of good news on Boxer's website.
Posted by griffjon at 02:48 PM | Comments (0)
NYT on torture
Herbert interviews Arar on his US-sponsored torture in Syria:
...
In the fall of 2002 Mr. Arar, a Canadian citizen, suddenly found himself caught up in the cruel mockery of justice that the Bush administration has substituted for the rule of law in the post-Sept. 11 world. While attempting to change planes at Kennedy Airport on his way home to Canada from a family vacation in Tunisia, he was seized by American authorities, interrogated and thrown into jail. He was not charged with anything, and he never would be charged with anything, but his life would be ruined.Mr. Arar was surreptitiously flown out of the United States to Jordan and then driven to Syria, where he was kept like a nocturnal animal in an unlit, underground, rat-infested cell that was the size of a grave. From time to time he was tortured.
He wept. He begged not to be beaten anymore. He signed whatever confessions he was told to sign. He prayed.
Among the worst moments, he said, were the times he could hear babies crying in a nearby cell where women were imprisoned. He recalled hearing one woman pleading with a guard for several days for milk for her child.
He could hear other prisoners screaming as they were tortured.
"I used to ask God to help them," he said.
The Justice Department has alleged, without disclosing any evidence whatsoever, that Mr. Arar is a member of, or somehow linked to, Al Qaeda. If that's so, how can the administration possibly allow him to roam free? The Syrians, who tortured him, have concluded that Mr. Arar is not linked in any way to terrorism.
...
What a moral and christian thing for Bush to do, torture a father of two. (hey, that has a ring to it. K -- wanna make a rhyming couplet "children's book" on our current admininstration?)
Posted by griffjon at 02:22 PM | Comments (0)
MIT, Cont'd
A few more grad students, another prof, and on to dinner this evening with the LLK prof.
It's such an odd little program, in an odd university, in a cold and odd city. It's very, very project-oriented, and you only take 2 or maybe 3 classes max per semester. The MS program is 2 years, the second of which is mostly producing something as a project and a "contribution." The PhD program is 3-4 years on top of that, with more study at the front end continuing into a larger project in the second half.
I must admit, I'm questioning if this would be what I want or need even to move on. Not that I have a good idea of what I want or need to move on is, anyhow, but the project-oriented focus is a bit dismaying. I feel very uneducated on a vast many things that I care about around development, and would like a somewhat structured and guided environment to explore them with. Maybe I just suck it up, read some course description reading lists and play catch-up myself, maybe that'll be my bus reading this summer.
On a meta-note, I'm not overly concerned, as there are some serious financial factors to help tilt the scales if MIT accepts me, and I have GTown (and very serious financial difficulties to tackle) if they don't, so the decision I don't think will be terribly difficult.
It's so hard to continually remind myself that this is just a set of steps on a path, and nothing really ever absolutely locks me in to any one thing. This may open different doors than other paths open, but it doesn't set things in stone (that's what the Lab's laser-cutter is for).
I also can't quite shake the feeling that this is where I'd have ended up if I'd done a science undergrad instead of P2, and honed my geek-focus instead of gone about sharpening other blades of my mental toolkit.
Posted by griffjon at 02:04 PM | Comments (0)
Free WiFi. Or Not.
Ah, the promise of WiFi. Everyone connected, low-cost, instantaneous network rollouts. It's a nightmare that evidentially keeps the telecom industry up at night, to the extent of convincing a Tx republican to sponsor a bill prohibiting gov't support of such initiatives.
It's not the end of the world that many have been bemoaning, as far as I can tell it's not banning a coffeeshop from providing free connections, but it's certainly limiting non-profit and community organizations from getting the all-important city funding for their projects. Cuz, y'know, East Austin is going to bankrupt Ma Bell.
Posted by griffjon at 12:03 PM | Comments (0)
humming the wrong tune
There's an increasing body of evidence that we're going to war with Iran, possibly as early as June by some accounts.
Reading these recent essays, we're missing a very important cognitive note. The proper thing to say is not, "We're going to war with Iran" rather, it is "We cannot go to war with Iran." Otherwise, we're just humming along, off-key, to the neocon's tune when we should be shouting at them to shut it.
Posted by griffjon at 07:48 AM | Comments (0)
March 03, 2005
MIT Interviews, first round
Met with MRes (Lifelong Kindergarten/LLK) this morning at the Lego Lab and one of the research staff / former Media Lab grad student, so far things are going well; my prize skills (reading from my interviews) seem to be my Linux/Education experience (MRes was running off to meet with Negroponte about his idea for $100 laptops after my interview), and my appropriate technology geekiness, finding and exploring ways to hack things to work in odd situations (which is my geek lifeblood).
I'm meeting with Judith Donath (Sociable Media) tomorrow, and it's more along my line of web/media/blog/interaction line, connecting people through internet tools, much like what I did for PC/J with the intranet website. I'd love to end up working with both programs, tieing them together. LLK has a few projects (Computer Clubhouse, Youth Action Network) which are IT/Education/Development programs, and combining that with sociable media information/interaction tools... yay.
Overheard in the Media Lab: "...five lines and a forever loop"
I should add that I'm no longer suspicious that they had just saw this Texan who'd been living in Jamaica and the Carib. for 3 years and decided it'd be worth their time and money to see me freeze for amusement :)
Posted by griffjon at 10:22 AM | Comments (0)