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Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Eliminate Chapter 220? Bad idea.

The Wisconsin Joint Finance Committee is contemplating the elimination of the Milwaukee's Chapter 220 program that allows students (4,150 last year) from Milwaukee Public Schools to attend and graduate at suburban schools, where more resources are spent on each student.

According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
School districts that receive Chapter 220 students get as much aid per student as they spend on their own students. At the same time, Milwaukee Public Schools gets to keep three-fourths of the Chapter 220 students going to suburban districts on their books for revenue purposes.

There's also major tax benefits for hosting districts:

Without the revenue that comes with bringing Chapter 220 students into the district, homeowners in Wauwatosa could expect property taxes to increase by about 15.5% to make up for the loss of about $4 million, according to Wauwatosa School District business manager John Mack. To the owner of a $200,000 home, that's about $235 more a year, Mack says. There would be an additional property tax increase of about 7.2% the next year because Wauwatosa would lose another $2.8 million in revenue because of the loss of students counted under the state's equalization aid formula, he says. [Aid is based on a three-year rolling average, meaning cuts in aid three years running for participating districts.]

As a graduate of a suburban Milwaukee school, Nicolet, I saw first-hand the benefits that the Chapter 220 program provides students. These students get a chance to study in a district that has a standard of instruction near or equivilent to that of most private schools. Without the Chapter 220 program, suburban schools wouldn't be nearly as racially or socioeconomically diverse as they are now, a benefit of the program for students living in the district that is often overlooked.

Whitefish Bay High School senior Marcus Switzer, 18, explains the benefits of the program (from the JS article):

"A lot of (Milwaukee) high schools are not up to college-bound standards," Switzer says. "It's a sad fact. But for many kids, to get that type of education, you have to go somewhere else."

Since the lawmakers in Madison aren't willing to spend the money to raise MPS up to the standards of it's suburban neighbors (I concede that it would be A LOT of money), they need to continue funding the Chapter 220 program to at least give a handful of kids a decent shot at a better education, especially if any of them want to claim that they support public education come the next election.

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article
Jay Bullock's post on the subject

Sunday, May 29, 2005

What happens when you've got to sit at a computer for 8 hours with nothing to do...

Unless you're reading this via rss aggregator, you've noticed that The New Vernacular has a new look. I had a lot of extra time at work this week, so I decided to experiment with a three column layout that is a little crisper and more concise then the old template. It's difficult to find three-column layouts for Blogger and it took awhile before I found one to work with at Ruthsarian Layouts.

I've been having problems getting the new layout to work with Internet Explorer, but you should be using Firefox anyway, so I'm not too concerned. I'll be tweaking the site in the next couple of weeks as I find the time. As always, any comments or suggestions for improvement are welcome.

Friday, May 27, 2005

Only for the truly politically addicted

The Wispolitics Budget Blog written by Greg Bump covers the proceedings of the WI Joint Finance Committee and provides analysis of how they are adjusting Governor Doyle's 2005-2007 budget. It's been a great resource for me so far in my internship with the Governor's office, sharing information that would be difficult to obtain without actually being present at the committee meetings.

Bump provides every detail of the Committee's meetings:

The JFC Republicans have been accused repeatedly of breaking open meeting rules, most publicly by Assembly Minority Leader Jim Kreuser. The GOPers vehemently deny the charges, but hunger nearly drove them to a violation tonight.

During a break in the action, the Republican members had some pies delivered from Pizza Extreme to the conference room. Committee senators were already in the conference room, so when Assembly members stampeded in to grab a slice, they had to be held back by frightened but dutiful staffers to avoid a quorum.

“We averted it, so Rep. Kreuser can rest easy,” remarked one GOP staffer, still a little shaken by the memory of the horde of hungry lawmakers.

Pizza Quorum Narrowly Averted

Is this the way to Amarillo?

Alright, so The New Vernacular is slowly becoming a "Rocketboom" link blog, but that's because they're so damn funny.

Today, as a Memorial Day tribute, Rocketboom is featuring a spoof of the song "Is this the way to Amarillo?" created by the British Royal Dragoon Guards at Al Faw base in Iraq.

I've played it five times already and I'm still cracking up.

The "Armadillo" movie in every format imaginable

The Beach Boys "Kokomo", Kosovo spoof. Just listen to the lyrics in this one.

Thanks Rocketboom.

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Filibuster preserved, 3 nominees get vote, Feingold disappointed

7 Republicans and 7 Democrats in the Senate finalized a deal Monday evening to preserve the filibuster and come to a vote on 3 of Bush's contentious Judicial nominees: Priscilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown and William Pryor.
Cnn.com: The group's members also agreed that they would oppose attempts to filibuster future judicial nominees except under "extraordinary circumstances."
I'm thinking that the real weight of all this will come down if (more likely when) Bush selects nominees for the Supreme Court some time in the next three years.

Russ Feingold has come out against the deal, saying that it's bad for the Senate and the American people:
Democrats should have stood together firmly against the bullying tactics of the Republican leadership abusing their power as they control both houses of Congress and the White House. Confirming unacceptable judicial nominations is simply a green light for the Bush administration to send more nominees who lack the judicial temperament or record to serve in these lifetime positions. I value the many traditions of the Senate, including the tradition of bipartisanship to forge consensus. I do not, however, value threatening to disregard an important Senate tradition, like occasional unlimited debate, when necessary. I respect all my colleagues very much who thought to end this playground squabble over judges, but I am disappointed in this deal.
DailyKos Post

Full Cnn.com Story

Monday, May 23, 2005

Social Security alteration without representation

I'd love to attend a George Bush town hall meeting and ask him a couple of questions, but it doesn't look like that will ever happen.

During Bush's recent visit to Milwaukee to hold a town hall meeting promoting his social security plan, all of the attendees were hand-picked because they agree with Bush's policy and fit the demographics he wants to have in photos and articles about the event.

From the LA Times: The memo went on to solicit several types of people "who he would like to visit with" -- including a young worker who "knows that [Social Security] could run out before they retire," a young couple with children who like "the idea of leaving something behind to the family" and a single parent who believes Bush's proposal for individual investment accounts "would provide more retirement options and security" than the current system.

I understand that Bush is trying to convince America that his solution is best (a tough thing to do when the political climate is so antagonistic on this particular issue), but I fail to see how he is really benefiting from these meetings. Ok, so he's talking to a small group of people who already agree with him... not winning any converts there. This particular event goes on the news, mostly local news in Milwaukee, where people see Bush talking to people who agree with him (and they know this because this is how his town hall meetings have been run since before the election). The major stories being written on the event are about how Bush doesn't allow opponents, like this one from the LA Times(again, no benefit here).

I don't know, maybe preaching to the pre-screened choir really is the way to go. Bush did win the election. It doesn't seem very faithful to the idea of being a true representative of the people.

It definitely isn't the way the British do it. From a Daily Show report. (it's not real news, but say what you want... the Daily Show is basically the most honest representation of politics out there).

My question is, what were the town hall meeting policies of previous administrations? I don't remember how Clinton's meeting were set up, or anyone's before that. Did they even have town hall-type meetings?

Anyone care to share some insights?

Daily Kos: Under 30? Want to talk to the President? Only if you agree with him.

Wonkette: Town Hall Appointees Not Helping President

Conan and the future of television


First his show was broadcast in high definition, now Conan is using his superior knowledge of the television industry to predict what the future will hold for tv and the population of Earth.

Twenty-four-hour news channels, desperate for even more coverage, will conspire with NASA to alter Earth's orbit, creating a 25-hour day. Fox News's attempt to create a 26th hour will result in volcanic eruptions, and Bill O'Reilly will perish in a lava flow.
In an effort to bring Red and Blue states together, one giant plasma screen, four miles high, will rise from the central Plains, visible from both coasts. In accordance with the amended Constitution, the president will be the only one with the authority to touch the remote, which a nearby Marine will carry in a briefcase.

Newsweek Article: The Future of Television

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

My newest news obsession

Amanda Congdon, anchor of the internet Web video log "Rocketboom," holds her copy at her desk before taping the quirky news show on New York's Upper West Side, Sunday April 17, 2005. (AP photo/Joe Tabacca)

It's more witty, entertaining and concise than cable news, and I can watch it on my computer.

It's Rocketboom, a 3-5 minute video segment produced out an apartment in New York that provides a daily summary covering major (and minor) stories of interest to younger adults, technophiles and news junkies (their main demographic is... me).

Usually served with a healthy dose of sarcasm and humor, today's edition had a more somber tone, addressing the recent Newsweek story that incited riots and including footage of John Bolton dismissing any claims that the UN might be a legitimate body for international cooperation.

Some more "standard" (if there are any) editions of Rocketboom:
May 16th
May 11th

And an article from the Washington Post on Rocketboom:
'Rocketboom' May Be Future of TV News

Oh, and Amanda Congdon is cute.

The lameness of cable news

I was watching MSNBC this morning as I was eating breakfast and they broadcasting the trial of a man accused of opening fire in a courtroom and killing several people. Oh, and one of the pieces of the evidence from the case is video of the man engaging in the crime.

Headline-worthy news, yes. But I really don't need to know any more about the case than what he did and whether he was convicted. And, given that the guy was caught on video, I'm guessing he'll be found guilty. Basically, a waste of my time.

What the networks should be doing is showing this video of John Bolton talking about his opinions of the UN. He's going to have a tough job being an ambassador to an organization that doesn't exist. He's already said that the U.S. should just tell it what to do anyway.

Thursday, May 12, 2005

I don't want to ruin the punchline

Clip from the Daily Show:

" The White House shows it's independence from the powerful photosynthesis lobby."

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Better than "6 Degrees of Kevin Bacon"

We've all played the game where you try to connect one movie star to another in six co-stars or less. Omnipelagos.com takes the game to a new level and allows you to search any two people, places or things and find out how they're related.

For example, Omnipelagos can connect Kanye West to Dick Cheney in three steps:
Kanye West
which reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart. He also appears on Brandy's single, "Talk About Our Love"
Brandy Norwood
[Acting career / Afrodisiac (2004)] Jason Alexander, Whoopi Goldberg, and Bernadette Peters. The tele-film broke ratings records and garnered nine Emmy Award nominations
Whoopi Goldberg
" rally in which Goldberg repeatedly referred to President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney by pointing to her genital region.
Dick Cheney
or, The Muppets to Donald Trump
The Muppets
[Famous Muppets] newsmagazine 60 Minutes. Kermit the Frog was also interviewed early on in Jon Stewart's run on The Daily Show
The Daily Show
[The Daily Show as a "news source"] Interestingly, the National Annenberg Election Survey at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
[Noted alumni / Ivy Day] Donald Trump: Billionaire investor/financier
Donald Trump
As long as it's better than studying for exams, its good enough for me.

Customizing the web: Greasemonkey

Greasemonkey is a Firefox extension that enables users to download scripts that alter web pages to make them more accessable and useful. For example, you can download a script to add a "delete" button to Gmail, because it doesn't have one. Or you can get rid of Google AdSense ads. Or get rid of the ads to the right of articles on CNN.com.

Right now, most of the available scripts add or remove elements from Web sites, but Greasemonkey has the potential to be much more powerful, actually altering the appearance of web pages and moving elements around. Once content leaves the provider and enters individual computers, people can manipulate it however they want.

nivi.com describes it well:
Greasemonkey lets you mash-up websites. It lets you extend and script websites and integrate that script right into the original site as if the designers had intended it to be there. It lets you use their web site, their data, their servers, their work to serve your purpose and function. There will soon be an army of hackers enhancing every site you use. Whether that site likes it or not.

While Greasemonkey may not be the future of the Internet, it's a glimpse into the customization that users are going to be demanding. Companies are going to need to embrace increased functionality in order to keep users from simply taking content from the source and molding it to fit their own needs.

Download Greasemonkey

List of Greasemonkey Scripts

Greasemonkey screencast walk-through

nivi.com article

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Maybe I should start voting absentee from Milwaukee

Hopefully I'll have time to write more on this later, but for now all I want to say is that my Congressman sucks.

No Real Debate for Real ID

Hundreds of civil liberties groups, immigrant support groups and government associations oppose the Real ID Act, a piece of legislation that critics say would produce a de facto national ID card, cost states millions of dollars and punish undocumented immigrants.

Yet despite widespread opposition to the bill, it passed through the House last week and is expected to easily pass through the Senate on Tuesday.

The legislation is raising questions not only about privacy and costs but about the ways in which critical legislation gets passed in Congress.

Critics, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, say lawmakers slipped the Real ID Act into the relatively uncontroversial spending bill in order to avoid a congressional debate over the ID measure.

"The legislation was created in the backrooms of Congress without hearings and without any real understanding or thought about what was being created," said Barry Steinhardt, director of the ACLU's technology and liberty program.

The Real ID Act, sponsored by House Judiciary Committee chairman James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin), responds to recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission to make it more difficult for terrorists and undocumented immigrants to obtain legitimate identification documents and travel freely around the country. The bill also is designed to make it difficult for anyone to forge identification documents and use them for criminal purposes.

A spokesman from Sensenbrenner's office did not return a call for comment in time for publication. But proponents of the legislation say they are simply implementing recommendations that the 9/11 Commission wanted.

Full Wired.com Article

Thursday, May 05, 2005

Sweeeeep!

The Brewers extended their winning streak to seven today, sweeping the home series against the Cubs. Carlos Lee hit a looper just over the shoulder of the second baseman to drive in the winning run. The Crew looked downright giddy, coming out of the dugout to congratulate Lee with hugs and high-fives. It's great to win a home series against the Cubs, when there are more Chicago fans than Milwaukee fans at Miller Park.

Lately I've been reading Brew Crew Ball, a Brewers blog sponsored by SportsBlogs, a community of baseball blogs built by Markos Moulitsas Zúniga of DailyKos, a popular left-leaning political blog.

Wired News Story

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

The Colbert Report


Stephen Colbert, correspondent for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, is being given his own late-night show by Comedy Central. The show, titled the Colbert Report, will mimick other single-personality news vehicles such as The O'Reilly Factor and Hardball with Chris Matthews. The NY Times has a good article detailing the new project.

That "The Daily Show" has reached the point that it is considered ripe for a spinoff is something of a milestone for the program and for Comedy Central, which is owned by Viacom. But in moving Mr. Colbert off "The Daily Show" - he is expected to make only intermittent return visits - the network is also risking diluting a recipe that has made it so popular.

To that end, Comedy Central is considering ripping an actual page from the cable news networks it so often mocks, and having Mr. Stewart, at the end of his half-hour show, share a split-screen with Mr. Colbert, in what is known in the news business as a "throw" or "toss."

"It could be kind of seamless," said Doug Herzog, president of Comedy Central and Spike TV, who presided over the debut of "The Daily Show" in 1996. "It would have the effect of extending 'The Daily Show' to a full hour."

I'll be looking forward to "The Colbert Report". The Daily Show is actually one of the most honest critiques of politics and the media on television. Stewart shows the utmost respect for guests on his show, much more than most other television journalists. I was watching his interview Monday with Zell Miller and the two actaully had a civil and meaningful conversation, despite the fact that Stewart noted they disagree on pretty much everything. It seems as though Colbert will attempt to retain that sense of civility.

"We're going to deal with truth on my program," Mr. Colbert said. "We're going to catch the world in the headlights of my justice."

Full NY Times Article

The NY Times also features the author of the article, Jacques Steinberg, giving a short video report on the story.

Loud noises!

I've been browsing several soundboards, web pages with sound clips from movies or tv shows, and thought that I'd link to some of the best ones. In no specific order, here they are:

Animal House

Stewie from Family Guy

Darth Vader

Napoleon Dynamite (my personal favorite)

Office Space

Conan O'Brien

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

How Star Wars changed the world



Wired Magazine has an eye-catching layout that displays the impact Star Wars has had on people and culture since its initial release in 1977. This month's issue also has an in-depth on George Lucas that goes beyond his Star Wars ties and addresses his motives for making the prequels and new television projects. There's also an exclusive Q&A with Lucas that in which he discusses his own films as well as Fahrenheit 9/11 and the impact that films can have.

Playing catch-up

I've been working long hours on my journalism project (which I'll post a link to here when it's finally finished), so I haven't had the time to post everything I've wanted to lately. I've got some free time this afternoon, so hopefully I can post a few things I've been sitting on.

Mr. Baseball

An article from STLtoday.com on my favorite baseball announcer. Bob Uecker may not be the best baseball analyst, but he's definitely entertaining. I"m looking forward to grilling out on the porch this summer, listening to a Brewer game (they spanked the Cubs last night).

Monday, May 02, 2005

Bush playing Robin Hood?

The NY Times has an excellent article providing details of Bush's newly proposed plan to retain Social Security benefits for low-income workers while cutting benefits for the middle and upper class.

Under Mr. Bush's approach of "progressive indexation," a typical low-income worker who earns about $16,000 a year today would be entitled to retirement
benefits equal to about 49 percent of his or her wages, the same amount that is promised today. But those earning an average income, about $36,500 in today's
dollars, would see big changes. Instead of replacing 36 percent of that person's working pay, as promised under today's system, benefits would cover only 26 percent of pay by 2075. And people who earn $90,000 a year in today's dollars
would continue to pay as much as ever in taxes but would receive benefits equal to only 12 percent of their pay.

More on this later, hopefully. I've got to work on my J202 web site all week and start studying for finals. It's going to be a week. If I have time at some point, I'll write about Feingold's latest blog post.

Update: Paul Krugman of the NY Times criticizes the Bush plan and explains why it hurts the middle class and sets up benefits for the poor to be cut in the future. LINK

Krugman makes a good point that this plan would hurt the middle class, but he makes it seem as though a better program would actually hurt the rich in order to help the poor. Just because the rich wouldn't notice their Social Security benefits being cut doesn't mean that it's not a worthwhile part of the plan... in fact, that's exactly why it would be effective: cut benefits for the rich and they don't even notice. Sounds pretty good to me.

Update: Two Washington Post Op/Ed pieces about the new Social Security Proposal

President's Plan Shields Benefits of Low Earners

The Challenge to Democrats