Happy With NBA West Semifinals

The National Basketball Association playoffs have unfolded in a very favorable way me this year. For my three favorite players are still in the playoffs, two of them currently squaring off against each other.

For quite a while my three favorite NBA players, all point guards playing for Western Conference teams, have been Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns), Deron Williams (Utah Jazz), and Tony Parker (San Antonio Spurs). Nash and Parker showcased their incredible talent last night in the opening game of the conference semifinal series between Phoenix and San Antonio (won by the Suns 111-102). Williams and his Utah team began their series against defending NBA champion Los Angeles Sunday, losing the close, hard-fought game 104-99.

One reason, I suppose, that I like to watch point guards is that they tend to have the ball more, so following the game means following them. They are usually the ones who set up offensive plays, are the best ball-handlers, make the best passes, and shoot the ball the most accurately. All qualities are very much in evidence with the aforementioned athletes. Plus, I tend to feel, correctly or not, that guards, being generally shorter than forwards or centers, rose in their profession more through hard work and skill than by mere physical stature.

So this will be a lot of fun during the next few days. Usually, there is a game still going on by the time I get home from work around 11:30. Tonight the Jazz and the Lakers will be on TV with their game #2. Hooray!

Gulf Oil Spill Disaster: My Take

As anyone who has been paying any attention to the news for the past several days already knows, the Gulf of Mexico and the surrounding states are in the midst of an severe environmental crisis due to uncapped oil spurting through an ocean-bottom opening caused by an oil rig explosion off the Louisiana coast. The accident and all of its ramifications should put to death the lie being spread for the past few years that Florida was somehow being "selfish" by not allowing off-shore drilling near its own coastline. The irony is that Florida beaches, heavily dependent on tourism, along with its seafood industry, will still drastically suffer economically from another state's decision in this regard.

I understand, I think, the apparent paradox that high energy demand presents for the public. On one hand, we want energy for transportation, heating, electricity, and a variety of other reasons. And that requires an enormous amount of energy that has to come from somewhere. On the other hand, the very nature of high energy production is dangerous and messy. It matters not where it comes from or how it is converted into a usable form: there are hazards with all kinds of mass-produced energy. Some may argue that this is not the case with wind or solar energy, but I would counter-argue that this is because those forms are not yet being used on a large enough scale to make but a tiny dent in satisfying energy demands. I predict that, once means to greatly enhance energy production from those "clean" sources are developed and implemented, we will discover some nasty side effects from them as well.

Barack Obama, sensing the high demand for energy in America, launched on a policy of encouraging energy from a variety of sources, including nuclear, "clean" coal, and yes, more offshore drilling. It is inevitable that, from time to time, accidents will happen, some of them being disastrous. This Louisiana spill looks to be the worst oil disaster in this country's history. And who will ever forget the consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown in USSR in 1986? Energy is volatile, pure and simple. If you want to use it, sometimes it will bite back. Sometimes very, very hard.

Since I don't see energy demand dwindling at any point in the foreseeable future, I can only see us continuing along our president's vision about exploring and developing all feasible possibilities for producing and supplying energy for America's needs, while learning from accidents and instituting safeguards to help prevent others in the future. Only now I wonder whether that same president has the political will left to continue on this ambitious quest. Only time will tell, I suppose. In any event, maybe the rest of the country will finally get off Florida's back (although by now this may be a moot point anyway).

Attempted Bomb Attack Near Times Square

The news is a little unclear at this point, but apparently late Saturday night someone tried to set off a bomb in a parked van full of inflammable material in Manhattan near Times Square, on 45th Street between 7th and 8th Avenue. In other words, right next to the Marriott Marquis hotel we stayed at last month and very close to Junior's Restaurant and two Broadway theatres (currently running The Lion King and Billy Elliot). This hits way too close to home for me.

According to NY Senator Chuck Schumer in a CNN interview speaking from Times Square, two pedestrians happened to notice some smoke emanating from the van and the police and bomb squads were quickly summoned and arrived, completely evacuating the area for several hours. Thankfully, no explosion occurred. Of course the feds were brought in and a full-scale investigation is under way. I am earnestly looking forward to seeing the culprit(s) caught and brought to full justice under the law.

Two observations: One, this is a sign of our current times that public opinion is divided on whether the botched attack was by Al-Qaeda and/or its sympathizers, or by a domestic party more in line with militias and hate groups here in the good old USA. Schumer thinks the perpetrator was a "lone wolf", although he has no way of knowing that for sure. But in pre-Obama days, before paranoid anti-government sentiments were whipped up by demagogic Republican politicians and irresponsible media talking heads, almost everyone would have immediately pointed their accusing fingers at Al-Qaeda. Unfortunately, almost no one thinks this will be the last of this kind of incident. And sooner or later, we'll see a truly tragic outcome.

Observation number two: I was looking forward, following my stay in Manhattan, to seeing many visual references to its many different and interesting locales on TV and in movies (and saying to myself, "Yes, I was there"). But I could very easily have done without this brand of reference, thank you.

Lest those responsible for this act think they have intimidated anyone, I say in response, "Screw the bastards!"; I'm not going to change any of MY plans one iota because of this: I plan to return and have plenty more good times in NYC!

**********
(later revision)
Well, now that I've heard more about this incident, I should correct myself on a couple of items. It was a tee shirt vendor, not a pedestrian, who discovered the SUV (not a van) and notified a policeman. It also occurred early in the evening, not late at night as I first reported. As for who is responsible for the attempted bombing, although the Taliban has claimed responsibility, nothing of substance has yet been released to the press by the authorities to confirm this or establish a different agency. So right now, there is just a lot of speculation going on. ---WM Irwin, May 3

Immigration Reform and Arizona's Law

President Obama has decided to avoid tackling the sticky immigration reform issue this year before the 2010 midterm elections. While this may not sit very well with many within the Latino community, it is nevertheless probably a savvy political move. As I have stated before, it will be the issues being debated just before the election that will most intensely galvanize various interests into disproportionately going to vote on Election Day. The calculation is that the Democrats would lose more by appearing to be opening up the borders for a mass influx of Mexicans, even though the proposals circulating around so far seem more in line with the previous Republican Bush administration, supported then by (never really was a maverick) senator John McCain. Having already seen how the GOP is so willing to blame the Democrats for their own proposals (in health care reform, Republican Senator Johnny Isaakson's living will amendment was the source of the "death panels" and "killing grandma" hysteria last summer), it is no surprise that the elected majority party may not want to confront another legislative behemoth reminiscent of the recent struggle to get health care reform passed through Congress.

Regarding the newly passed law in Arizona giving that state's police officers much greater personal latitude in selecting individuals out of the general population to demand "papers" documenting their legal status in the U.S., it should be noted that Rachel Maddow showed the connection with racist white supremacist groups and this new law. And why not? If I'm walking the streets of Mesa or Flagstaff, the cops aren't going to bother me because, to them, it's clear that I obviously look like an "American" (i.e. I'm white). It doesn't matter that those who support the new law say the police won't be profiling people "waiting outside for the bus". If they are ignoring people who don't "look" like they might be illegal immigrants, than that constitutes an unacceptable racial profiling in itself. So that's why I oppose this law, although I do understand the concerns of legal residents in the region about the recent rise in violent crimes. There has to be another way.

I have a suggestion: you don't need another bill to more aggressively enforce the immigration laws we already have on the books. Our president should quickly act to assert as much federal authority into this matter as legally possible, both to protect legal residents from crime and to ensure that people won't be persecuted by the state and its police force because of their appearance. Arizona, as far as I know, is not an independent country. Its border with Mexico is not only its state border: it's our NATIONAL border. And thus this a national issue on which our federal government, under our president's executive power, has the legal right and responsibility to assert itself for the NATIONAL interest. So Arizona can take its precious new state law and stuff it, as far as I'm concerned.

My Circle Lines Harbor Lights Experience

At the end of our rushed day in NYC on April 9, we finally had an opportunity to relax. After walking the short distance down 42nd Street to Pier 83 on the Hudson River, we exchanged our vouchers for tickets and then stopped off at the adjacent P.D. O'Hurley's restaurant to enjoy a light supper. Then we got in line at Circle Lines, boarded the boat, and waited for our Harbor Lights cruise around Manhattan.

Our tour guide told us that the January '09 incredibly soft crash landing on the Hudson River of US Airways Flight 1549, with Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger at the controls, occurred very close to our starting point. As a matter of fact, no one there, including the guide, had heard any sound indicating the landing (which was out of sight around the corner) until they heard approaching sirens. The firefighters and related disaster teams boarded the Circle Lines boats (including the one we were riding), went to the plane and rescued its passengers. So that injected an interesting bit of recent history into our tour.

We first went south on the Hudson River, with New Jersey to our right and the Manhattan skyline to our left. The guide pointed to the World Trade Center construction site, where a new, much taller building than the original WTCs is currently being erected where the North Tower stood. On the original South Tower site, a memorial will be built to all of those who perished in the abominable terrorist attack on September 11, 2001.

The Statue of Liberty came up on our right, and naturally many of the passengers got up to take pictures. We took a few, but the boat didn't really get close enough to do the Statue justice. Circle Lines does provide a separate tour specifically designed for those who want to visit the Statue of Liberty, but we opted instead for the Harbor Lights tour with our City Pass.

Going around the southern tip of Manhattan, we saw Battery Park again on the left (we rode by it the previous afternoon on top of a Grayline bus) and Governor's Island on the right. The guide pointed to a ferry boat, informing us that it was the Staten Island Ferry and, believe it or not, it was still FREE to ride it!

Around the east side of Manhattan up the East River, our guide pointed out that no one is known to have ever successfully swum across the swift, strong currents of the East River all the way between Manhattan and Brooklyn. He identified the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg bridges connecting the two boroughs. We passed an extremely long section of large apartment dwellings, built around 70 years ago on a tract that Peter Stuyvesant once had his farm on. And as the boat turned around to make its return in the opposite direction, we noted the United Nations buildings.

For most of the tour, I stayed seated indoors, where it was warm and there were big windows everywhere to look out at the sights. But going back, I decided to step outside onto the deck, where it was pretty chilly and windy. Whoa! What a different experience! I thoroughly enjoyed standing there as the lit up Manhattan skyline (or Brooklyn's, depending on where I was facing) dazzled me. Quite an unforgettable experience, something I would recommend to anyone interested in visiting this area.

Crist to Run as Independent for Senate

Today Florida's Governor Charlie Crist announced that he would leave the Republican Party to run for the U.S. Senate as an Independent. Crist, trailing badly in polls of statewide Republicans to right wing tea party darling Marco Rubio, realized that his own political appeal was to the political center, not among the ideologues. By running nonaligned with either party, he has put himself in the only position he could to win the Senate race. Recent polls put him essentially even in a three candidate race against Rubio and Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek.

A few days ago, I had expressed my intention to switch my party affiliation to Republican in order to vote for Crist (and against Rubio), but now this won't be necessary. Who will finally receive my vote in November? It depends on the public opinion polls. If, in late October, they show Meek ahead or in a close race with a chance to win, I'll support him. But if those polls show Meek hopelessly behind but have Crist with a reasonable chance of victory, I'm pulling for our governor instead.

Hopefully, should Charlie Crist manage to win that Senate seat, he would be a truly independent voice representing his state's best interests, as well as those of the country as a whole. The last thing we need is another stonewalling, just-say-no party hack. Which Rubio would be.

Gainesville's Public Radio: Talk or Classical Music?

A year after the Gainesville Sun newspaper featured a letters-to-the-editor drive to change local Public Radio station (and University of Florida-owned) WUFT-FM from classical music programming to all-talk, which succeeded when the UF College of Journalism dean made the switch, the push is now on to reverse that decision and bring back classical music. And the vehicle for that drive is none other than the Gainesville Sun, again demonstrating its capacity and willingness to manipulate public opinion and events through its selection and publishing of editorial letters to fit its agenda.

I was initially opposed to the switch from classical music to talk, but realized that some of the programs (especially the morning Diane Rehm Show and Fresh Air) were quite informative and interesting. So l have now come around to the "talk" faction. Besides, as I have said before, classical music is readily available through my fine public library, the Internet, and even my cable TV. And, hey, I can still go to concerts and buy CDs.

I used to enjoy the music on WUFT, but I think that broadcast radio needs to have some kind of talk radio programming illustrative of a truly balanced discussion of issues, something woefully lacking in our age of right wing extremist commercial talk radio. I still would like for something like Air America to get on the air to provide at least one venue for partisan liberal talk. Of course, the right wing talk wackos claim that Public Radio is slanted to the left. Which shows how skewed their viewpoint really is.

In a manner of speaking, though, WUFT technically didn't drop classical music from their programming: they just switched it over to an HD channel that requires the purchase of a special (and relatively expensive) radio. And these radios are not portable. And certainly not available in headsets or MP3 players. So I foresee HD only declining, eventually joining quadraphonic sound as an extinct technological dinosaur.

One writer in the Gainesville Sun mentioned that UF already owns another station: the commercial giant WRUF-FM, which plays generally lousy rock selections as well as the grossly offensive Lex and Terry talk show. I agreed with this writer as he suggested that UF should replace that garbage (my depiction) with classical music. But it'll never fly, and everyone knows it. Besides, haven't listeners been conditioned over the years to expect commercial radio to be full of unpalatable trash? But Public Radio is a different matter, still subject to high scrutiny. Well, I guess I should be glad that at least something is.

NYC Museum Rush

On the last full day of our tour through Manhattan (April 9), we had a crowded itinerary, although it contained only three planned destinations: the Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Circle Line's Harbor Lights evening cruise. That's a shame, in retrospect, because I found both museums to be extraordinarily interesting. You don't really want to walk through either of them without giving yourself plenty of time to take in the enormous quantity and quality of exhibits. But we did, nevertheless, rush through them, at least providing us with some ideas about how better to spend our time in NYC the next time we're there. Not only didn't we have adequate time to explore the places we visited, but we also missed out completely on a plethora of other museums, most notably the Museum of Modern Art.

Here are some photos from the Museum of Natural History (the first four) and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the remainder):

Friends of the Library Book Sale

Yesterday I went with Melissa to the semiannual Alachua County Friends of the Library book sale, held each April and October at its warehouse on North Main Street. This sale is a major event in Gainesville, to the point where it is a featured front page story in my local newspaper and police officers are stationed in strategic points around the site to redirect traffic and allow customers to cross Main Street.

Saturday and Sunday were the opening days, and naturally the busiest. It was very crowded in the place, which had the smell of a old, dusty library. Old books: yuck! Still, as I looked around at some of the people there, I noticed a few with an almost manic look about them, as if they were beside themselves with excitement at the prospect of buying boxloads of ultra-cheap books. And cheap they mostly were, with sticker prices ranging from 25 cents to a dollar per book (there were some sections where the books were higher-priced). They also sold old CDs, cassettes, records, VHS videos, DVDs, and jigsaw puzzles. For my part, I picked up a 1992 Manhattan guidebook that showed the buildings on its maps for 25 cents. And I bought some old VHS movie favorites (The Maltese Falcon, Doctor No, and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) for a buck apiece. Although I had been to the Friends of the Library sale a number of times in the past, this was the first time that Melissa had ever been there. She enjoyed the experience and purchased a few items as well.

One significant thing that I noticed from this experience in a very crowded, noisy, and jostling public place was that, unlike in previous years, I was not bothered by the crowds and noise. This is something that I began to notice in myself during my recent New York trip and will be the topic of a forthcoming article.

Running Amuck With the Duck

Yesterday morning I decided I had better run in whatever race was still available for April if I really wanted to stick with my goal of running at least one race per month. I had already copped out of the midnight run at UF last Wednesday night, so I was running out of time. But there were a couple of races being held in Gainesville this weekend and I decided on the Saturday event.

I ran the 5K Run Amuck With the Duck race to benefit research into lung cancer. This illness has hit home in my family, as it was a contributing factor in my mother's death in 2002. A lot of emphasis is being (correctly) made on its prevention, as the chief cause of lung cancer is smoking. Stop the smoking and you cut way down on this usually fatal disease's occurrence. Still, the pre-race speaker pointed out that, compared to other cancers, lung cancer research is not very well funded by the federal government. Hopefully, this will change in the future.

The race was held around North Florida Regional Hospital, the neighboring medical offices, and a stretch of an old and isolated semi-country road with old, big houses (along with old people outside walking their old dogs). The terrain was relatively hilly, which to me was a plus as I needed a break from my flat neighborhood running course.

This event was more focused on the cause than the race itself. Most of the participants were walkers and many of them were in teams, much like last October's Heart Walk that Melissa and I participated in. Those of us who were runners had to time ourselves, as only the top three finishers would be timed and receive prizes. But they did provide a funny tee shirt (featuring "Crackers the Duck, MD") and plenty of water, apples, bananas, and other treats. Since my overriding interest was just to run in my monthly public race and enjoy the experience, the race's few drawbacks meant little to me.

I discovered during the race that the hills were almost enjoyable to run up, since with each climb I passed a few more tiring runners. I pushed myself harder than usual throughout the race and finished with a personal 5K record time of 23:05. I was very satisfied with this event and plan to run in it next year (this was its first year).

Also, since I had decided that I wasn't ready to run in Cincinnati's Flying Pig Marathon on May 2, running in Gainesville's Run Amuck With the Duck event gave me another chance to run in a race with an especially goofy name!

Tebow Drafted by Denver, Situation Promising

Now that the first round of the NFL draft is over, we know that star University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow is headed for the Denver Broncos. Since the Broncos already have an established, successful first-string quarterback in Kyle Orton, this should give Tebow some needed time for development. Also, he may resume his freshman role at UF of a short-yardage quarterback in third and fourth-down situations. When a team possesses that kind of offensive weapon, they can go far. Just ask those on the 1972 "perfect season" Miami Dolphin team, which featured Hall of Fame running back Larry Csonka as the epitome of a third-and-short success story. By consistently being able to sustain long drives by converting on third down, Miami was not only more likely to score; they kept the other side's offense off the field and controlled the tempo of the game this way. Since Denver just traded their franchise wide receiver Brendan Marshall to the Miami Dolphins ("my" team), Tebow's presence in their offensive lineup may be much more significant in the long run than anyone had imagined.

I haven't been much of a Denver Broncos fan, instead having supported their divisional rival San Diego for the last couple of seasons. Which is good for me, since Denver has choked as a team each year, finishing out of the playoffs both times after earlier leading their division by wide margins. Tim Tebow is only one player, but his positive, tough pro-team attitude and work ethic can help to sustain them through that trying period in the late season. We'll see; I'll be pulling for them this year (when they're not playing against Miami, that is).

Drinking Starbucks on the Hudson, Going to Work in Brooklyn

Anyone who visits Manhattan comes away with the impression that it is a very, very compressed urban area. But how compressed it really was I was unaware until I actually went there in person. So after I got back home I tried a simple little project.

I set two Google Maps to the same scale, with my home neighborhood in one (my house being at its center) and Midtown Manhattan in the other (and the Marriott Marquis hotel I stayed at in its center). I then superimposed one map onto the other, the two maps' centers aligned as well as the cardinal directions. The results were revealing to me, to say the least.

--Rockefeller Center would be at the entrance to my humble little subdivision onto NW 34th Street (Gainesville grid).

--The NE corner of my neighborhood running course would be precisely at that traffic circle (containing the beautiful giant globe) at the SW corner of Central Park.

--I'm sitting in the Magnolia Parke Starbucks writing this. But were I in the corresponding point in Manhattan, I wouldn't actually be in Manhattan: I would be "sitting" in the middle of the Hudson River halfway between 14th Avenue on the east side and Hoboken, New Jersey on the west. And this Starbucks is within walking distance of my house.

--The Empire State Building and Macy's would lie in the subdivision just south of my extremely close YMCA.

--The Williamsburg Bridge to Brooklyn would begin right at the Solar Walk, an outdoors planetarium running along Gainesville's 8th Avenue. It would then head toward the UF campus as it approached the Brooklyn side.

--New York's Chinatown roughly corresponds to Gainesville's Westside Park, which is located near the Solar Walk.

--Gainesville's Oaks Mall (our big shopping mall) would be in Paulus Hook, New Jersey.

--My workplace, situated on the southern end of Gainesville, corresponds to an area in western Brooklyn, near 2nd Avenue and 9th Street ( a few blocks from the end of the Brooklyn Bridge).

Superimposing maps is a cool idea that can also be used to compare the relative sizes of political entities from various distant parts of the world . I'll be using it from time to time in the future.

My Running Update

Since my vacation began earlier this month, my total running mileage output has diminished, although I have consistently maintained my workout routine. Part of the reason was that I traveled to New York and was distracted by the itinerary of the trip as well as by the fact that it was hard to pile up miles will all of the people in the streets mulling around. But the main reason I have not been running the longer distances I had since January is simply that the weather here in north central Florida has warmed. I think it's getting close to night-running time!

Last night, the University of Florida sponsored, for purely recreational purposes, not charity (how refreshing), a midnight 5K run around campus. I intended to work my shift, get off at 11, and head on down to UF to sign up and run it. But I was too tired and my right calf felt a little stiff (I had run 5.58 miles earlier in the day). So I passed up on this opportunity. I'm not sure that races this short are really what I want to be involving myself with, anyway. The only problem is, at this time of the year in Florida, they tend to be the only available races.

Still, I'm happy with my simple running routine. But since the temperatures are certain to skyrocket in the next few weeks, I need to get some night gear like reflective tape and a headband flashlight. Running around my own familiar neighborhood regularly at night, I suppose, is the next step. But running through the more hilly UF campus late at night also carries its own appeal. Ultimately, with whatever course I choose, my goal is to run my longer distances again, this time at night. At least until the cooler temperatures come back in late fall.

After all, I want to be in good shape to tackle my primary running goal for the remainder of this year: enter, run, and finish a full-length (26.2 miles) marathon race somewhere.

I'm thinking, though, that running after sunset or around midnight may not be suited for me. I work evenings and am usually tired late at night. Better to rise early in the morning around 4 or 5 and try my night running then. The temperatures are almost always the coolest at that time, anyway.

Where Have All the Alleys Gone?

Over the course of my lifetime, I have unconsciously developed a sense of what being in the great city of New York must be like. I constructed much of this from watching television shows and movies set there. And one of the recurring features that I looked forward to investigating (from a safe distance) on my recent trip was the back alley.

In shows and movies, characters are always stepping in and out of alleys. Alleys are where many great fights and chase scenes take place. I’m thinking about that great original Star Trek episode The City on the Edge of Forever, where Kirk and Spock chase down McCoy through the streets and alleys of thirties New York. And about The Matrix, where alleyways abound and are integral to the plot. So as I walked down Manhattan streets throughout my four-day visit, I kept asking myself, “Where are the alleys?”

The rule there (without exception) seems to be that you cross a street, come to the corner of the first building you walk up to, and that building runs right into the next without any gaps. And then that building is right next to the following one, all the way to the next street. No gaps, no alleys, just seemingly fused buildings.

Not that the others in my visiting party were objecting. After all, aren’t alleys where all the criminals hang out? Well, if there aren’t any alleys, then maybe we’re somehow safer. Right?

Truth be told, I felt very safe no matter where I walked in the city. One reason for this was that I always seemed to be around other people, often in large numbers. Another was the large presence of police and security.

I really don’t think I would have ducked into a back alley had I seen one. Maybe the parts of the city I walked through just didn’t have them, while others did. I bet Brooklyn is loaded with them!

Pedestrians Rule in Manhattan

Manhattan is definitely a special place regarding its system of traffic. Because of its cramped nature with so many buildings and destinations per square mile along with its population density and focus on tourism and business travel, it is unfeasible for motorists to drive their own cars down its streets. For one, parking is very short in supply, and two, I challenge anyone to find me a public-use gas station anywhere in town. So instead, people either walk, take the subway, ride buses, or use one of the 13,000-plus taxis in town. On our stay, we either walked or rode a bus (we chose Grayline, which also provided tours of the city).

There is a knack to walking Manhattan streets that is easy to pick up on, making the prospect of crossing busy intersections no big deal. You walk up to a crosswalk. If the signal says “walk” or a blinking “don’t walk”, you cross. If it is a solid “don’t walk”, look where the traffic is coming from (most streets are one-way) and cross against the light if it looks clear. And if you misjudged a vehicle and it's coming right at you, don't worry; you're sure to get a nice, big warning blast from its horn as it bears down on you.

Regarding the reputation of NY taxis for aggressive and rude driving, it is important to note that, at least as I experienced it, they are UNIFORMLY aggressive and rude. So they are hence predictable, and I (and all of the other pedestrians) can handle that. Now, back in Gainesville, I sometimes experience overly-aggressive drivers around me and wonder to myself whether they had some roots in New York. Still, I had the distinct impression that those aggressive professional New York drivers knew what they were doing, while here in Gainesville I’m not sure that some of my fellow drivers are even aware of what planet they’re on!

I miss the streets of Manhattan, although I was disappointed with my early discovery that it was impracticable for me to try to jog on them. The big barrier is not the motorized traffic; it is the crowds of people everywhere!

Strategic Party Affiliation Switch

In a commentary appearing in last Saturday’s Gainesville Sun, St. Petersburg Times columnist Sue Carlton suggested that those 170,000 Florida teachers whose careers may have been saved by Republican Governor Charlie Crist’s recent veto of a sweeping anti-teacher bill passed by his own party’s state legislature may want to return the favor by voting for him in his senatorial campaign against current GOP front-runner Marco Rubio. And why not? Rubio supported the bill, which would have ended teacher tenure in Florida, a state already greatly suffering in its public education system largely because its citizens don’t want to foot the necessary bill to have an effective system. The only problem is that, for those many already-underpaid teachers who happen to be Democrats, they can’t vote in the August 24 Republican primary pitting Crist against ultra-conservative tea party hero Rubio. So Ms. Carlton suggests…

Since voters can switch their party affiliation up to 29 days before a primary, why can’t those Democratic teachers grateful to Crist simply become temporary Republicans in order to vote for him? They can all still support whomever they want in November and can switch back later to the Democratic Party later if they wish. Frankly, the thought appeals to me as well, since I can handle a reasonable human being like Charlie Crist being my senator while Marco Rubio makes me cringe. So I’m considering switching my party affiliation to Republican in order to vote for Crist in the primary. Only I think I’ll just wait a while (but not TOO long) to make the switch.

I remember Rush Limbaugh in 2008 urging conservative Republicans to vote for Hillary Clinton in those presidential primaries that allowed party crossover voting. His goal was to prolong the race between Clinton and Barack Obama, hopefully resulting in an irreconcilable division between the two and their supporters. Well, Rush, ol' buddy ol’ pal, the other side can play at this game too!

Manhattan’s Transformation

Now that I have visited Manhattan, I feel a twinge of regret at not having seen how it was twenty to thirty years ago. I know that crime was much more rampant there and that there was an almost omnipresent adult industry, especially in the Times Square area. But, if I am to believe the story about how Rudy Giuliani rode into town and as mayor cleaned it all up in the late 1990s, this area has undergone a very dramatically quick and sweeping transformation.

In all of the miles of walking down street after street, I saw nothing remotely resembling a porn shop or an adult cinema; neither did I see anyone resembling a prostitute. Not that I was personally interested in doing business with them; I just knew of the reputation for these places that the area had built up over the years. Still, I wonder which of the many “wholesome” businesses I passed by (or entered) had earlier been the sites of adult-oriented establishments. Because, you see, I am a big stickler for historical comparisons.

And now I wonder: what will the area be like twenty years from now? My gut instincts tell me that it will be pretty similar to the way it currently is. What happened in the late sixties and the seventies may end up being viewed in history not as a cyclic period, but rather as a kind of disruptive discontinuity. And that includes the promotion of explicit sexuality that was part of that era. I don’t see it making a comeback anytime soon.

But then again, a big transformation could take place along lines that no one can as yet fathom. Will such a transformation affect how visitors can travel through Manhattan? Probably. After all, the World Trade Center attack on 9/11/2001 caused a drastic stepping up of security. And we may not have seen the end of such terrible things.

But things being what they are, I was quite content with my Manhattan experience in 2010. After all, it might have been a bit embarrassing to walk past adult business after adult business alongside my wife and teenage daughter!

Obama Misses Wide on Moon

President Obama Thursday visited the Florida Space Coast to deliver a speech that would supposedly alleviate widespread concerns that he was acting to diminish our manned space program after he decided to end the Constellation mission to return to the moon, begun by the previous Bush administration.

In his speech, the president delineated several areas that made sense. He wanted NASA to concentrate on developing the science and technology that would allow us to more effectively explore deep space, which he said should be its mission. The Constellation program was running over budget, another concern. He wanted NASA to set its vision on going to Mars. All valid points. But...

In expressing his desire for us to go to Mars, Obama derided the Constellation goal of returning to the moon because "We've been there before." This is a thoroughly asinine, ignorant statement of the type I would have expected someone like Sarah Palin to make. "We've been there before." Hmm...is that what we should do after we do (if ever) land on Mars? Just declare it "conquered" and never go back? The moon is a very strategically located satellite to us. It is full of natural resources, has no atmosphere, and one fifth of our gravity. Pardon the relevant cliche here, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that setting up permanent bases with research facilities on the moon would greatly enhance the ability for us to develop the very science and technology for deep space travel that our deluded (in my opinion) president thinks we can more feasibly accomplish earthbound or in low earth orbit.

And speaking of low earth orbit, we won't even have a rocket capable of delivering astronauts into space, not even low earth orbit, for several years without depending on other nations for the service. Goodbye American leadership in space! And another thing...

Moon pioneer Neil Armstrong, in his objections to the president's decision about the space program, expressed grave concern about the impending loss of our specialized scientific and engineering talent without a discernible project to employ them here. They, in all probability, will either divert their careers away from space to other areas or will leave the U.S. to work for other countries and their space programs (which their political leaders truly support). And that will only accelerate America's fall from the worldwide leadership it has enjoyed in space since the mid-1960s.

When Barack Obama took office as president, he made the decision to keep as much continuity as reasonable regarding our military adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan, choosing to honor the previous Republican administration's timetable for "stepping down" in Iraq and even keeping General Robert Gates on as his Secretary of Defense. When pushing for the recently signed health care reform legislation, he welcomed GOP input with open arms, with scores of their amendments incorporated into the bill with his approval. He also did not insist on the public option feature that his political adversaries were so opposed to. And he assured pro-life Democrats that he would personally see to it that abortions would continue not to be funded by federal dollars. But our space program?

Since NASA is simply a federal agency, each president can do pretty much what he (or she) wants to do with it. Sure, there is the general NASA funding that Congress has to approve. But it is ultimately the president who decides what the emphasis will be in this agency. So here, Obama did not really need to work with others, be they Democrat or Republican, to exert his will. And he was brutal with his power.

So does Barack Obama, after simply trashing the previous president's carefully weighed out plans for manned space exploration, really expect those following him into this office to keep HIS plans in effect? Really? Rather I see our space efforts being chronically hindered when each new president comes up with a "great new idea" while canceling whatever the ongoing projects are because they are running over budget. And be assured, our current president's vision of the future WILL experience budget overruns as this is simply the result of normal technological design, testing, and improvement.

Finally, the "capper" to President Obama's recent drastic change to our manned space efforts has been to leave us without any sort of tangible vision in the near future. He speaks of adapting the Orion rocket that was going to send us to the moon for low earth orbit missions in the ensuing years. He speaks about the distant future of landing on an asteroid and orbiting Mars, even landing there sometime in the next few decades. And that he plans to live to see a landing on Mars.

Mr. President, that is not the kind of vision that people need. They need tangible, specific goals with names, a vivid presentation, and real timetables. All Obama has done is to put NASA in the murky background of relevant events in our world. We are all supposed to just sit back and assume that they are "taking care of business", doing their science stuff, and almost magically, we'll see these great events happen (if we're still alive by then). But let me tell you, it ain't gonna happen that way!

Junior’s Restaurant near Times Square

After we checked into our Manhattan hotel Tuesday evening April 6, we decided to go down to the street level and see where we could get a bite to eat. My daughter had seen a place right across the street called Junior’s, so we experienced our first Manhattan pedestrian street-crossing (comments coming in a future article) and went inside. Junior’s is a large casual restaurant of American-style food that touts its cheesecake desserts, and it was packed with customers. As we entered it, I went through my own customary “inner groan”, expecting a long wait to be seated. But no, they sat us right down, not to mention in a seat where I could follow the Yankees’ season opener against the Red Sox on TV. I had one of their half-pound hot dogs with sauerkraut and fries. And topped it off with one of their plain cheesecake slices, as did my wife and daughter.

Now I enjoyed the cheesecake, to be sure. But the others in my party thought it was easily the best cheesecake they ever eaten. For me, I remembered the cheesecake being just as good in several other places, even the product that my local Publix grocery store makes (after the trip I ate some Publix cheesecake and reaffirmed my opinion). But I will say that I have never received such a HUGE portion of cheesecake as that which Junior’s provided.

Since Junior’s was so convenient to our hotel, we ended up closing out two of the following three evenings of touring by stopping off there before heading up to our room. With all three of us indulging in different varieties of cheesecake each time (my favorite was their pineapple cheesecake). The last time I was there, I also had a bowl of their baked onion soup. Now that WAS special, something I would definitely recommend to anyone who visits Junior’s (I dug that earlier half-pound hot dog, too).

Junior’s has its own historical narrative that it promotes on its menu. Apparently, in 1981 at its original location in Brooklyn, the restaurant caught fire. In the panic, shouts could be heard, “Save the cheesecake!” Junior’s was rebuilt and the following year, NY Mayor [I mean Governor, thanks Barry for the correction] Mario Cuomo (whose greatest political mistake was in not running for president in 1988, giving us "Poppy" Bush by default) declared May 27 as Junior’s Restaurant Day in New York. So this establishment does carry some weight with cheesecake enthusiasts.

I liked all of the food I had at Junior’s, but I was the most impressed with the bustling, quick, efficient, and friendly service its employees provided us. Each time we went there, the restaurant was packed solid with customers, but we never had a long wait to be seated. They also provided a choice of indoor or outdoor seating and piped in oldies music as a pleasant background ambiance.

I wouldn’t necessarily recommend Junior’s over the other Manhattan eateries, as my experience with them was rather limited. And I don’t want to give the impression that we just ate at Junior’s and nowhere else. But if you happen to be in the area around Broadway and 45th Street (y’know, Times Square country), why not give it a try?

Lowe Wins Nail-Biter for Gainesville Mayor

Yesterday the runoff election for Gainesville's mayor was held. The contenders were sitting city commissioner Craig Lowe on the liberal side and repeat contender Dan Marsh on the conservative side. Usually, city-wide elections in Gainesville tend to favor the liberals by about a 57-43 percent margin, but last night's results were telling: Lowe beat Marsh with only a 35 vote margin, 6098 to 6063, automatically setting in motion a required recount this Friday. Why so close?

Dan Marsh has been an unapologetic panderer to the tea party movement that has infected this country as self-righteous, holier-than-thou people angry at our democracy for electing "foreign, Muslim, socialist, terrorist, grandma killer (and black)" Barack Obama as president try to shout down the 2008 results. I find this movement personally repulsive, very reactionary, and rooted in prejudice and irrational fear. Now combine this with the revelation that Commissioner Lowe is gay (not that he ever made an issue out of that fact) and we suddenly see certain people becoming energized with an opportunity to make their homophobia and paranoia count for something besides hot air. And voila...we end up with this nail-biter of an election result. These things can happen when you have only a 16% voter turnout: a mobilized section of the electorate can rise up and drastically affect the results.

I don't particularly like Craig Lowe myself. He comes across to me as a self-important, condescending elitist, something I don't dig in my elected public servants. On the other hand, I couldn't care less about his sexual orientation one way or another. His opponent essentially campaigned on it, though, making this the dirtiest mayoral campaign yet in our sometimes not-so-fair city. Hopefully, the recount results will confirm Lowe as the winner.