Today's Knowledge: Michigan's Agriculture

Actually, this is last month's knowledge, but I wanted to revisit in time for Thanksgiving. Michigan's Department of Agriculture head, Don Koivisto, says that Michigan's agriculture industry is the nation's 2nd most diverse. That means that this Thanksgiving, Michiganders should tap its own bounty and buy local.

An October article on Michigan.gov also said that if each Michigan family spent $10 a week on local foods, that would keep $37 MILLION dollars in the state. How about that for food for thought?

The economy explained...in an unnaturally huge nutshell

This blog is about a great article I read regarding the economy. Check it out. It gets deep, but there's knowledge in them there words!

Probably my favorite publication ever is The New Yorker. The cartoons are witty and wild sometimes. The poetry is great. The features are marvelous. One of my personal favorites was A Better Brew, but The New Yorker is filled with so many stories about a vibrant, diverse world. The writing is tremendous. These people have the craft down. I mean, seriously, I was engrossed in an article about Alec Baldwin, for crying out loud. It was that good.

I digress. I found another favorite article, one that has helped me better understand this financial poo storm. It's the grandest poo storm in my adult life. The article is Anatomy of a Meltdown: Ben Bernanke and the financial crisis and it's written by John Cassidy. Like many of the New Yorker's material, it's comprehensive (read: long). I actually started writing this blog halfway through the article. I wanted to get my thoughts out while they were still around for the harvest.

The article pulled me two emotional directions. On the one hand, I felt bad for Bernanke, the Fed chairman. He really is a brilliant dude, one that can think on levels that few can even fathom. The worldwide recession was an avalanche. Once a little turned into a lot, no one man was going to stop it.

Bernanke thought that the Fed should stick to a traditional role and if a bubble (.com bubble, housing bubble, etc.) burst, then the Fed could bring down rates to ease the blow to the overall economy and the system would self-regulate. The article mentions an M.I.T. professor who said this model didn't take into account the possibility of credit running dry. Credit running dry. Hmmm.

The economic avalanche is bigger than any one person, but Bernanke's decision to not rescue Lehman Brothers is being dubbed the breaking point for the downturn. Here's a taste from the article:

"Between October 6th and October 10th, the Dow suffered its worst week in a hundred years, falling eighteen per cent. As the selling spread to overseas markets, the Fed’s failure to save Lehman Brothers was roundly condemned. Christine Lagarde, the French finance minister, described it as a 'horrendous' error that threatened the global financial system. Richard Portes, an economist at the London Business School, wrote in the Financial Times, 'The U.S. authorities’ decision to let Lehman Brothers fail will be severely criticised by financial historians—the next generation of Bernankes.'"

Ouch.

A little later Cassidy wrote that in 2005 Bernanke denied that the global troubles were from excess spending in the U.S., but instead were caused "excess saving in China and other developing countries, where consumption was artificially low."

Excessive saving was the problem, eh? Really, Mr. Bernanke et al., you're going with that? I'm just saying that "excessive saving" sounds like a pretty sweet problem. Sign me up for that one.

Sometimes I think this article depicts Mr. Bernanke as one step behind everything - the warning signs, the trends and he was behind on admitting that there were problems festering. The way I interpret the article is that Mr. Bernanke is dealing with some denial. Great big eff ups on his part. He's not alone, but he's a player.

Bernanke is exhausted. The article hints at that subtly, but enough for me to notice. He's got quite the job ahead of him. This is where, for all his faults, I really do start feeling bad for the man (again). And even though there's a major transition going on in the country, he's not home free. He's been appointed to serve until January 2010.

If you want to curl up by the fire and understand this big ol' financial fecal-fest, I'd once again recommend John Cassidy's article Anatomy of a Meltdown Ben Bernanke and the financial crisis. Yes, it is kind of a Ben Bernanke beat-down, but it's not completely undeserved. It's very informative. You just have to be ready for a bunch of information. This article, much like this financial crisis, is going to be long.

[Sigh]

And for some reason, this still feels like the first act in a tragic play.

Meals on Wheels program needs your help!

From Detroit Free Press (11/14/08):

COUNTY-WIDE: Meals on Wheels help is needed

The Detroit Area Agency on Aging Holiday Meals on Wheels program is seeking volunteers to pack, distribute and deliver fresh-cooked meals to homebound seniors in metro Detroit.

Volunteers are needed from 8 a.m. to noon Nov. 26 to assemble the cold portion of the meals, and from 6 to 10 a.m. on Thanksgiving to package the hot portion of the meal for distribution to 11 sites.

Volunteers will work out of Valley Services, 1980 Bagley in Detroit, which is at the corner of Rosa Parks, south of Michigan Avenue near Tiger Stadium.

To volunteer call 313-446-4444, ext. 5857.

Cornell West is awesome

I know that there's quite a few Cornell West fans that read this blog, so check out this interview from the Nov. 19, 2008 episode of Democracy Now! Great show, for one. Great interview, for two. Wise man, for three.

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/11/19/cornel_west_on_the_election_of

Detroit, I shall love you

Recently I went to Providence, RI for a conference. Whenever my colleague and I mentioned we were from the D, people's visages softened with pity and they all made a similar comment, "Tough times in Detroit." Time and time again people voiced their concerns and always looked like they wanted to give us some change or an extra blanket. Some resentment developed, but I understood where this was all coming from.

My perspective on this atrocious situation that Detroit and Michigan have been in for the last two years or so has vastly changed from about three months ago. Three months ago I was barely scraping by with intern wages. My mood was foul. My hope bank was empty. My despair was so great that I no longer bothered to worry about the future. As far as I was concerned, there was no such thing, not for me, not for Detroit, not for Michigan.

After getting a position at Wayne State University's Development Office I pulled out of my funk and adjusted my attitude. There is hope - for me, for Detroit, for Michigan. I'm sure a couple of eyes have rolled at that due to the hope hype created by our President-Elect (which I'm a firm believer in, by the way). My hope that this is going to turn around is founded on facts. The job that I have has enlightened me to this: very powerful people still care about the City of Detroit.

This point hit home yesterday when I read an article about how Peter Karmanos, a true champion for the city of Detroit, laid a very professional, but strong smack down on U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, a Republican that is against giving Detroit a piece of the bailout pie. The article,which includes some of Mr. Karmanos' remarks, is worth a read: Compuware chief takes on Detroit Three senate critic. It made me cheer on the inside.

A quick word on the bailout...the opposition says that the car companies did this to themselves and that's why they shouldn't be bailed out. I agree that the car companies made their own bed. However, I wonder why the banks and financial institutions that sh*t the industry bed get bailed out for their humongous mistakes, but the rules change when talking about automobile companies. That's unfair and ridiculous on so many levels.

About a year ago, I was trying to claw my way out of Detroit. I thought I hated it. I thought it a miserable place of wretchedness and filth. I wanted to go to New York, to Chicago, to Washington D.C., basically a slightly classier place of wretchedness and filth. My boyfriend set me straight. My job set me on the right path. My attitude headed in the direction of "take action" rather than "whine and run."

Detroit's motto is: "Speramus Meliora; Resurget Cineribus." That is Latin for, "We hope for better things; it shall rise from the ashes." So, while people have abandoned the city because they cannot find opportunity or hope here, I will stay. I have found both. I will stay as the fire burns, while the ashes form and while the smoke clears. When the city finally rises from the ashes, I will be here. I will be a part of its rebirth.

And when that time comes, the city and I will open our arms and welcome those who have abandoned us. We will welcome them home.

Natural Disasters: Fires

The Santa Ana winds are assisting blazes in the destruction of homes in Los Angeles County (read AP story HERE). Back in May, I started a post about wildfires and the latest fire news coming out of Southern California made this a good time to revisit these hot natural disaster.

The first thing I wanted to look at was the Santa Ana winds. Those are dry drainage winds that develop from high air pressure in higher altitudes. In this case it's the area of the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. When upper level winds are favorable, these built up air masses spill out of the Great Basin and zip toward the southern California coastline. A lot of times the reason that the winds are dry is due to their descent from the higher desert elevations to the lower coastline elevations, not because they're coming from the desert per se.

These dry winds plus the cause of the fire (arson, lightening, etc.) are what essentially plagues the Los Angeles region on an annual basis. I found a couple of interesting resources.

• First, there's this active fire map PDF of California that you can check out. Be patient because it takes a while to load. This is a neat map because although it shows you the current fires, it also shows you areas where fires have burned in the past. I thought that was telling. Before seeing this map I never realized quite how many fires burn in northern California, too.
• There's also an active fires map from the Forest Service's Remote Sensing Applications Center. This is cool because it gives you updates on how big the fire is, how many acres it has destroyed and what percentage of it has been contained. It's updated every Friday.
• For the absolute latest news on wildfires all over the United States, check out the National Interagency Fire Center. They have the latest news, maps and images on wildfires all over the nation.
• Finally, there's a whole boatload of resources from ye ol' Resource Shelf. Looks like a lot of the stuff was from last years wildfire debacle.

Be safe out there!

U.S. Elections: my observations

This time last week, I was waiting in line to vote for Barack Obama. Later that night, I listened to his speech. The next day, I started writing observations about the election. Today, I'm finally going to share some of those observations.

November 4, 2008 - 6:45 am
The Lord blessed Michiganders with a mild, sunny day. I rode my bicycle up to my polling location and arrived before the polls opened. I knew I was in for it. There were already at least 150 people in line. Cars were quickly filling the church's parking lot. I parked my bike and got in line. No on in the line was upset about the wait. We all knew how important this was. You could feel the determination in the air.

How I found out about our new President
I was watching Indecision 2008 coverage on Comedy Central with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. At the end of the show, they announced Obama had won. I wasn't watching real news, so I wondered if the news was real. I switched it to MSNBC. The news was real.

McCain's concession
I continued to watch MSNBC and heard McCain's concession. He admitted that the people were clear, congratulated Obama and gained some of the respect I lost for him before this election. I did not regain respect for the bunch of losers in the crowd, who booed and jeered at the mention of Obama's name. Sore losers, that bunch.

Grant Park speech
Barack Obama's acceptance speech was not all giddy. Although he pulled of a most historic victory (and a solid political beat down), he remained very poised, sober and serious as a heart attack. A tear (or ten) popped out of my eye when he mentioned the lines that people endured to vote. I was in one of those lines. Those lines mattered.

November 5, 2008
The next day I went to the airport, bought a New York Times and hopped on plane. I was heading to an APRA seminar in Rhode Island and had a layover, of all places, in Washington D.C. When we landed, I didn't realized we were going to be at Reagan, which is right next to downtown and all the treasures I love most in D.C. I looked over at the towering Washington Monument and the Capital Building. I longed to accidentally miss my flight and spend the rest of the week in our nation's capital. Love that city. LOVE IT.

I had a burger and a brewski and watched CNN at the airport while waiting for my flight to Providence. It was the first time I watched television since the speech the night before. Again a tear jerked out of my eye. I tried to keep it together, but it was quite emotional. I overheard an airport employee telling the bartender that he couldn't find a single copy of the Washington Post, not at the airport, not on the Metro, no place. I used my BlackBerry to check out people's reactions online. Most Facebook people loved it. MySpace people seemed to lean toward disappointment. Finally, I had a conversation with a man about beer. I hesitated to ask, but I pointed at my beer and asked him, "Are you celebrating, too?" He nodded, "Oh yeah."

November 6, 2008 - APRA New Researchers Seminar
At the seminar, we all stood up and introduced ourselves. An African-American woman struggled to introduce herself because she had lost her voice, a sign that she had been celebrating the night before. "I'm from Chicago and that's why my voice is raspy." She had been at Grant Park. We all cheered.

Since then...
I have been enjoying conversations with my friends who voted for Obama. We are relieved. We were those who were mega-grumps four years ago when our current abortion of a president was reelected. We knew there was a chance something could go horribly wrong, but the anxiety lifted at the announcement.

The scrambling of Republicans has been most amusing. After years of thinking the Republican machine was indestructible, I finally have hope again. There is hope that we can get some integrity and dignity back into Washington D.C.

And just like I saw before Election Day, I saw all types of people adorning Obama gear: buttons, stickers, t-shirts, baby jumpers, hats. I also saw people with simply the date 11-4-2008. That will be a day I never, ever forget.

Book Review: Bright Shiny Morning

Bright Shiny Morning
by James Frey

I always like to drop the bottom line in my book reviews. The bottom line for Bright Shiny Morning is that it was fantastic. This book is EXACTLY what I was looking for. It looks long, but reads fast. It's in a city I'm not privy to (Los Angeles), but I'm completely fascinated with this great American city. I loved the characters. I loved the pace. This book had the whole package.

First off, let me begin by saying that I was not expecting anything amazing, because I didn't like James Frey. I had two reasons. As a writer, I am suspicious of other writers that have been caught with their writing pants down. James Frey was one of those writers. He embellished parts of his book Million Little Pieces and lied to The Oprah about it. Normally upsetting The Oprah is career murder, but Frey bounced back.

I had the chance to hear a podcast interview with Frey. He was totally unapologetic, kind of whiny and frankly, the interview did not boost my optimism about the book. Then I heard an excerpt from Bright Shiny Morning and decided that the book would stay on the "To Read" list. It was well worth it. Bright Shiny Morning was Frey's first full fiction novel. He should have started with fiction, because he's got amazing talent and is a natural at storytelling.

The other reason that I wasn't entirely thrilled about the book was that I'm not too into L.A. It is a place that seems superficial, dirty, crowded and nowhere near the cultural center that New York City is. Bright Shiny Morning was going to be the last city-based book I was going to read for a little while. I had read about Chicago - Boss, Jungle, Devil in the White City - and I just finished a few about NYC - New Yorkers, Lush Life, Motherless Brooklyn. The Chicago books were all amazing, but historical in nature, so I didn't get a contemporary picture of the city. The New York books were okay, with the exception of Motherless Brooklyn, which was very entertaining, but I did not feel the city. I enjoyed the plot, the characters, the dialogue, but I did not feel the city.

My opinion on L.A. changed after reading this book. Frey really plops you right in the middle of things. He introduces you to the poor, the rich, the unknown, the famous, the gay, the straight. It is such a beautifully crafted cast of characters that it teaches you about the inner workings of L.A. I learned about the city's freeways, it's gangs, it's ethnic makeup, it's art community, it's flawless weather, it's plague of natural disasters. I'm not hopping on the next train west, but I am certainly much more intrigued with the city and it's living, breathing society.

There were two things about the book that I thought would piss me off, but neither did. First, I hate it when there's dialogue and no quotation marks! Frey did a great job with the dialogue. It was very different and very well done. Second, he used NO indents, which took a second of getting used to and then was not a problem. I loved how quickly each story moved. Frey manages to keep you on edge, but then progresses the storyline quickly. No build up, no BS, just life moving at the speed of life.

Loved this book.