Archive for December 28th, 2020

“What you gonna do when you get out of jail?…” part 272

Monday, December 28th, 2020

“Why don’t we roast chestnuts anymore?”

I remember trying to roast chestnuts on an open fire in our fireplace when I was really young. Frankly, I didn’t care for the taste: I remember finding them really bitter and unpleasant. But: I have also found that my tastes have changed a great deal as I have aged.

(On a side note, I strongly suspect that is one thing many parents do not understand about children. I firmly believe that things parents like the taste of now, actually taste acutely unpleasant to their children. I suspect there is scientific research that will back me up on this. Main point being, back off on micro-managing your children’s eating. As long as they aren’t developing scurvy, I don’t think you need to worry. Nor do I think you need to cook second meals just for your children, to be clear.)

Bonus: I have a doctor’s appointment today, so you’re getting a sampler platter. Hope that’s okay.

“Neuschwanstein: Secrets of a Castle”, a documentary from Deutsche Welle. (Don’t worry, this is in English.)

Just going to add here: this is one of my desktop backgrounds when I’m using multiple monitors.

An air-to-air formation of four fighters participating in REFORGER ’82 fly over the cloud shrouded Neuschwanstein Castle on the German/Austrian border. The flight of three F-15 Eagles from Eglin Air Force Base, Florida is lead by a German Air Force F-104 Starfighter.
Exact Date Shot Unknown

Bonus #2: Ordinarily I would not link to Babish, but since I mentioned this at dinner Saturday night: Babish makes Eggs Woodhouse from How to Archer: The Ultimate Guide to Espionage and Style and Women and Also Cocktails Ever Written (affiliate link: as I’ve mentioned before, this book is a lot better than it has any right to be).

Bonus #3: a short one. Insufferably cute baby possum.

Posted in Food, History | 2 Comments »

Higher education.

Monday, December 28th, 2020

Today’s NYT has a long piece on how the pandemic is impacting Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

I have a personal interest in IUP. But there’s something noteworthy about this story: it’s all the Republican’s fault.

After years of Republican-led pressure to reduce state spending, Pennsylvania gives nearly 34 percent less support per pupil now than it did in 2008, forcing students to pay a growing amount of tuition. This has further discouraged enrollment, causing a downward financial spiral, experts say. Now the pandemic has jolted the system.

Except:

Before there was an outbreak of Covid-19 at I.U.P., there had been an outbreak of Steinway pianos.
Ninety uprights, grands and other Steinways started showing up in rehearsal rooms and recital halls after a 2006 agreement between the school and the piano maker. Cost: $2.6 million.
Around the same time, nearly $250 million was invested in new dorms. “Suite-style housing — that’s what college students of today are looking for,” said Tony Atwater, the university’s president at the time. I.U.P. also broke ground on the 148,500-square-foot Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex, which cost more than $50 million.

…

To some at the college, the investments were ill-advised because enrollment trends seemed poised to fall, partly because of falling birthrates years before. That meant resources would become more precious.
“The faculty was yelling up and down, ‘This is not a good idea,’” said Jamie Martin, a professor of criminology at I.U.P. and the head of the union representing the faculty for all 14 schools in the state system. “You could see the demographics coming.”

But it’s the Republican’s fault:

When the 2008 recession hit, many states decimated the budgets for regional campuses of state schools. From that point through 2018, Pennsylvania’s funding per student for higher education fell 33.8 percent, among the steepest declines in the country. In inflation-adjusted terms, the state gives these schools about $220 million less annually than it did in 2000-1.

…

In a nutshell, the burden for supporting the system shifted sharply — from the state to the student. In the 1980s, the state paid 75 percent of a student’s load. Now the student pays nearly 75 percent.

But:

Tuition is only about half the cost of attending one of the system’s 14 schools. At I.U.P., the new dorms led to a stiff hike for residents; the old dorms in 2007-8 cost a student $1,670 per semester, while the new suites ranged in cost from $3,000 to nearly $4,000 per semester.
By last year, the cost for the least-expensive living situation, least-expensive meal plan and tuition exceeded $21,000 a year.

But:

The budget numbers tell a complex story. By some measures, the system is not particularly unhealthy.
For 2019, the last fiscal year available, the entire system lost just $1 million, out of $1.6 billion in expenses. Depending on the accounting method used, I.U.P. itself might have made money, according to a union official.

There’s more to the story, of course, and I’m just hitting the high points. I’d suggest you go check it out for yourself.

Posted in Clippings | 1 Comment »

Obit watch: December 28, 2020.

Monday, December 28th, 2020

Phil Niekro, noted knuckleballer.

A right-hander, like his brother, Phil Niekro (pronounced NEEK-row) threw a total of 5,404 innings, placing him No. 4 on the major league career list, without ever incurring a sore arm, allowing him to endure in Major League Baseball far longer than most other players.
He tied Andy Messersmith in the National League for the most victories in 1974, when he was 20-13, and he tied Joe for the most wins in 1979, when he went 21-20 (also losing the most games in the league). Joe was 21-11 that season with the Houston Astros.
Phil, who retired after the 1987 season, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997. But for all of his achievements, he never made it to a World Series, his Braves teams reaching only the National League Championship Series twice, losing both times. Phil pitched for four teams and Joe for seven. They were teammates with the Braves in 1973 and ’74 and briefly with the Yankees in 1985.

Barry Lopez, noted writer.

Reginald Foster, a former plumber’s apprentice from Wisconsin who, in four decades as an official Latinist of the Vatican, dreamed in Latin, cursed in Latin, banked in Latin and ultimately tweeted in Latin, died on Christmas Day at a nursing home in Milwaukee. He was LXXXI.

Finally, Michael Alig is burning in Hell. He was one of the late 80’s NYC “club kids”. But he’s burning in Hell because he killed Andre Melendez.

Mr. Melendez, who was also known as Angel, was missing for months before his dismembered corpse washed up on Staten Island, which is when people began to believe Mr. Alig’s frequent claims that he had killed Mr. Melendez.
They had argued about money one night and, prosecutors and investigators said at the time, Mr. Alig, while under the influence of heroin, had murdered Mr. Melendez and dumped his remains in the Hudson River.
Mr. Alig pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in 1997, as did an accomplice, Robert Riggs. Mr. Alig served 17 years. He was released from prison in 2014 at the age of 48 and was met by friends and supporters.

Posted in Books, Law, Obits, Sports | 1 Comment »