I Hate the M.T.A.

Excerpts from an article in today's New York Times:

"Buoyed by an unexpected surge in tax revenue, the
Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced yesterday that it would have
a
surplus of $833 million this year and that it would consider using the
money to
create a giant platform over its West Side railyards, which it
could then sell
to developers for office and apartment towers.

Despite the surplus, the authority indicated that it still
planned to raise fares and tolls in 2007 and 2009. ......

The windfall represents a remarkable - but probably
short-lived - reversal of fortunes for the authority, which in February had
projected a tiny surplus for the year and large deficits starting next year.
It
now predicts that a combination of soaring tax revenue and low interest
rates
will add $493 million, all of it not previously anticipated, to its
coffers by
December.

Now, instead of looking for a developer with the resources
and confidence to invest an estimated $350 million and nearly three years to
build the platform, the authority is looking to do the job itself. Doing so
would attract more bidders for the property and, presumably, a higher
price....

Neither phenomenon is expected to last, and the authority
projects that its revenue from taxes and subsidies will be largely flat
through
2009. "These transactional taxes are extremely unstable," said the
city's budget
director, Mark Page, who sits on the board. "These things
historically are
always cyclical. It is extremely hard to predict when the
cycle is going to turn
down on you."
The authority expects a deficit of
$194 million in 2007, rising
steeply to $1.5 billion in 2009 without planned
fare increases and budget
cuts......

In 2003, the authority raised the cost of a base ride to
$2 from $1.50, and this year, it raised the price of unlimited-ride fare
cards.
Asked if any part of the surplus should be used to avoid future fare
increases,
the authority's chairman, Peter S. Kalikow, was noncommittal.
'There are 25
things we're talking about, that possibly being one of them,"
he said, referring
to the proposal. "The plan is just for
information.'"

Judge-ment Day

Last week, President Bush nominated John Roberts to the Supreme Court of the United States. I think he managed to dissapoint both the far right and far left and made a pretty good choice, all things considered. (Both sides seemed to be somewhat looking forward to a good brawl played out on cable news stations and I think that is part of the dissapointment).
I'm a pretty liberal person, in general, I think. I don't really want to see Roe vs. Wade overturned and generally fall on the 'left'ish side of things that come before the court but what you have to remember is that Bush was elected not once, but twice being pretty much open about his pro-life stance and although he didn't say it, it was pretty clear he wanted a pro-life judgeship. OK, maybe he was only elected once but whatever, you know I mean.
This guy is a solid upstanding citizen. Top of his class at Harvard and, by all accounts, a good person. I haven't heard a word to the contrary.
Yes, he is a 'conservative' in that he reads to the letter of the law in most cases - but he doesn't seem like an unreasonable idealogue. Many of the things liberals are going to throw at him will be stances he took when he was working for the solicitor general, so he was really voicing someone else's opinion. He also said in his confirmation hearings for his judgeship he now holds that he accepts Roe vs. Wade as the 'law of the land' or something to that effect. He doesn't really seem to blindly follow an agenda, he seems to really think about each case and take rulings seriously. Not like a Scalia, who is a 'strict constructionist' except not always.
I guess I think he seems like a conservative, thoughtful, good person and that's not really a reason to deny him a place on the court if nominated by the President who, quite frankly, probably would have gotten away with a more right wing person. Also, I hear mad people on the left complaining that they don't know enough about this guy but that also means people on the right don't either. It's a bit of a risk that Bush is taking because if he ends up voting, say, to uphold Roe vs. Wade (which, in the Casey case, by the way was upheld with a 6-3 vote anyway), Bush's right wing constituents are going to go apeshit and Bush can kiss his spot on Mount Rushmore in 2058 goodbye. I mean, if he hasn't totally made up his mind on some issues that's a good thing. There are 'activist' judges on both sides of the spectrum but he doesn't seem to be one.
Roberts should undergo some grilling and then be passed by the vast majority of Senators. To filibuster would be ludicrous. I applaud President Bush for finding an option that won't divide the country, (for once).

Estoy Sin Una Computadora in Mi Apartamento

For the last year or so, Dave, Chris and I have been using a dated yet serviceable computer at our place. It was actually Jerry's computer from college - circa 1998. It was a bit slow, froze at times and was generally quirky but it served its purpose (and thanks for the computer, Jerry). About two weeks ago it froze and when i restarted it it went to the DOS program where it informed me that 'windows' did not exist (or wouldn't open or something). What a frustrating moment, there was nothing I could do. I tried to think back to my PC Junior days of elementary school, immediately remembering one command, DIR. This is roughly what followed:

DIR: (all the programs show up)
DIR WINDOWS: DID NOT UNDERSTAND COMMAND
RUN WINDOWS: DID NOT UNDERSTAND COMMAND
HELP WINDOWS: DID NOT UNDERSTAND COMMAND
DIR WINDOWS: DID NOT UNDERSTAND COMMAND
PLEASE WORK: DID NOT UNDERSTAND COMMAND
FUCK YOU: DID NOT UNDERSTAND COMMMAND
WHAT THE FUCK: DID NOT UNDERSTAND COMMAND
BITCH: DID NOT UNDERSTAND COMMAND
DIR: (all the programs again)




After a few rounds of the above, I resigned myself to the fact that the computer was finally dead. I mean, we knew it was coming, it was like when my friend Lilah's dog, Molly, was mad old and deaf and fucked up and stumbling around. We all knew it was going to die but she was still bummed when it finally happened (actually, Chris, Dave, Jerry and myself actually found the fucked up dog kind of funny, but, hey, we were like 12 or 13).
So now, we are without a computer. I could bring back my work laptop to the apartment but that's kind of a pain, especiall if I have a gym bag too.

If you have been wondering why I haven't been writing much, now you know. Hopefully, we'll get a new one soon, but you're talking about three guys who took the better part of this century to buy a new stereo.

Isiah, Please Hire Larry Brown

There seems to be mixed sentiments on this, but I think the Knicks DEFINITELY need to hire Larry Brown.

I like Herb Williams, he seems like a good guy and I'm sure he's a good coach, but Larry Brown is arguably the best coach in basketball right now. Certainly the best available one.

He'll come in and teach these guy how to play defense and how to play 'the right way'. He'll give the Knicks heart and toughness, something they haven't had since the Jeff Van Gundy years.

They'll be in a much better position as a franchise when he quits in two or three years, too.

Yea, he's kind of a jerk (talking to Cleveland in the playoffs and basically telling people about it was very unprofessional) and he always bounces after a few years (although, coaches do get fired all the time so I don't think quitting before you get fired is necessarily that bad) but let's face it, the Knicks are awful and desperate. They can't afford not to jump at an all-time coaching great if he's available.

What a Nice Day

It makes me think of the 'Hello Song' from Ms. Clatworthy's music class in grades 4 & 5. It's a call and response song and at he beginning of music class, she'd pick one person to sing the call and the rest of the class would respond. This was one of the more terrifying things about 4th and 5th grade for me. I had to sing the solo part in fourth grade, although in fifth grade I dodged the bullet. Anyway, without further ado - here's the song (with solo on the left, chorus on the right and the parts where everyone sings to gether in the middle):

Hello

Hello

How d'you do?

How d'you do?

How are you?

How are you?

I'm fine

Me too

I'm happy

I'm happy

Seeing you

Seeing you

Been a long time

Been a long time

What's new?

What's new?

It's a beatiful day

A beautiful day

To take a walk

To take a walk

A beautiful day

A beautiful day

To sit and talk

To sit and talk

Hello

Hello

How are you?

How are you?

I like you!

I-like-you!

It's a beautiful day

To take a walk

To sit and talk

And say

Hello

Hello

Heeeeellllllllllllllloooooooooooooooo!