Theater of the Absurd or Dans Macabre: Deep in the Heart of the High School Application Process

At left, audition rehearsal night at MS 51 last week. Photo by Brooklyn Beat

Just a moment of acknowledgement, and sympathy, to other Brooklyn parents who, like we do, have kids in that transitional year from 8th grade to high school in the New York City public schools. Auditions, interviews, high school admission exams, the ordering of the high school choices, the open houses, the high school admission workshops over the summer in Manhattan, the mobbed school visits at some of the specialized and screened high schools, getting up extra early and getting to work extra late due to the morning visits to schools, and then having to leave work early to attend the evening visits to schools and open houses, sometimes on the same day.

Well, I feel your pain. Even though we have been through this twice before with our older kids, it seems to become more complex and fraught with tension each time as the high school admission rules changed. And, while private school was never really an option for us, now the economy appears to have driven even more families into the application and admissions mix. Some of the open houses have been literally jammed to the rafters.

One of our daughters was fortunate to be able to participate in the audition night at MS 51 last week, which seems to have a wonderful theater program. She had been working with a weekend and after school group at the Old Stone House. The number of kids -- really talented kids-- who are interested in one of the theater programs, and who are auditioning for LaGuardia, PPAS, TU, or Murrow, must be at some kind of all time high. I was chatting that evening with a wonderful actress and drama coach, who is herself the parent of an 8th grader, and who has worked with our daughter, and we were talking about how amazing it is that so many kids are interested in the arts today, especially drama, and how talented so many of them are. It made me think that, with this volume of interest, and the huge number of kids applying at LaGuardia, how do the screened theater high schools choose kids out of this pool of talent ? Very daunting. Although every parent hopes/thinks their kid who has an arts interest has "Talent," given the complications of this high school process, you never can predict the outcome, especially with the screened programs, and our daughters have expressed some frustration, and even shed a few tears, as we try to help them navigate these next few weeks and then the couple of months of waiting for the results.

So, anyway, parents, hang in there, it is coming down to the wire. The auditions are in full swing, maybe beginning to arc toward conclusion, the visits are beginning to wind down, and though the tension is still high, our school has a late November application due date in advance of the December 2nd official high school application date. So, by Thanksgiving, the die will have been cast (or the dice will have been rolled in the vernacular).

And then again, consider yourself lucky. In addition to finding high schools for our twin daughters, our older son is applying to college for the fall. For those of you who know, that is another story. So take heart, It Can Always Be Worse.

Post-Election Notes: Power & Magic - From Brooklyn & Beyond

Post-Election Note #1: My mom said she was in church this morning in Bensonhurst, at St. Athanasius on Bay Parkway to be exact, and a young professional woman she sees in church frequently, who is Black and has young kids said to her "What did you think about the election?" My mom said "Well, my guy won" and the woman was surprised and delighted that an elderly retired white Italian American lady had voted for Senator Barack Obama. You've got to love this country...our capacity to change and grow.

Post-Election Note #2: The Wall Street Journal reported that the Obama transition team, along with the re-energized Congressional Democrats, are leaping into action now. This is clearly an administration that has learned a lot from the past and is using the opportunities available in the transition to their fullest, rather than waiting until after the inauguration. Reviewing regulatory structures to better protect investors, while balancing the need to not over regulate. Seeking to invest in the US auto industry while encouraging fuel efficiency. Yes, the free market, having swung as far as it could, with some disastrous results, is now in its counter-swing, where some regulation and virtual-nationalization will be necessary.(Will this be the era of neo-nationalization, or neo-socialism, to balance the bankrupt and bankrupting era of neo-conservatism that has just concluded? ) Nevertheless, the internet is already reporting on "Impeachment" sites, http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=081105214913.k5rna1c2&show_article=1
and you can see that the lunatic, no-doubt nutty and racist fringe, is already sharpening their claws. Obama won by taking the high-road and avoiding election-trash talking. But clearly the new base of the Republican party, with Sarah Palin as their future standard bearer, no doubt, who could win election-after-election by brutal propagandizing and marketing through "527s" (i.e., Swiftboating), but who proved over the last 8 years that they could not effectively govern, will do everything they can to tear down the new administration before the inauguration and then fight it every step of the way. The 44th President's administration is going to have to stand tall and fight hard. They will have many enemies, both among the wealthy classes who will fight regulation, taxes on capital gains, etc, as well as among the disaffected, angry right wing base. Not to mention the always present possibility of enemies and terrorists, both foreign and domestic. The new administration will need to advance its initiatives boldly, to the greatest extent possible, while not disappointing supporters since it would appear that even with the best and noblest intentions, politics is not equivalent to magic and their are few quick fixes to our most vexing problems.

Off and Running: 44's Transition Team Announced

CNN Reports that President-elect Obama has announced this transition team. Brooklyn's Patrick Gaspard is right there in the thick of it.
CNN:
Chicago - For the past several months, a board of advisors has been informally planning for a possible presidential transition. Among the many projects undertaken by the transition board have been detailed analyses of previous transition efforts, policy statements made during the campaign, and the workings of federal government agencies, and priority positions that must be filled by the incoming administration.

With Barack Obama and Joe Biden's election, this planning process will be now be formally organized as the Obama-Biden Transition Project, a 501(c)(4) organization to ensure a smooth transition from one administration to the next. The work of this entity will be overseen by three co-chairs: John Podesta, Valerie Jarrett, and Pete Rouse.

The co-chairs will be assisted by an advisory board comprised of individuals with significant private and public sector experience: Carol Browner, William Daley, Christopher Edley, Michael Froman, Julius Genachowski, Donald Gips, Governor Janet Napolitano, Federico Peña, Susan Rice, Sonal Shah, Mark Gitenstein, and Ted Kaufman. Gitenstein and Kaufman will serve as co-chairs of Vice President-elect Biden's transition team.
Supervising the day-to-day activities of the transition will be:

Transition Senior Staff:

Chris Lu - Executive Director
Dan Pfeiffer - Communications Director
Stephanie Cutter - Chief Spokesperson
Cassandra Butts - General Counsel
Jim Messina - Personnel Director
Patrick Gaspard - Associate Personnel Director
Christine Varney - Personnel Counsel
Melody Barnes - Co-Director of Agency Review
Lisa Brown - Co-Director of Agency Review
Phil Schiliro - Director of Congressional Relations
Michael Strautmanis - Director of Public Liaison and Intergovernmental Affairs
Katy Kale - Director of Operations
Brad Kiley - Director of Operations




CNN Ticker:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/11/05/obama-transition-team-announced/#more-29462

YES WE DID: Change Has Come ----President-Elect Barack Obama

A visionary. Healer. Orator. A new generation moves onto the stage having defeated the politics of the past. Recognizing the necessity for a new politics and a new model of America, as Lincoln did, as FDR did, as JFK did, even, as Reagan did. A vision for change and the courage to pursue it.

What a remarkable time to be alive in this fantastic country. History unfolds. Promising a government that crosses party lines and creates something entirely new. We are at a time of promise and, yes, hope.

Electoral college and polls: http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/11/barack-obama-president-elect-of-united.html

The speech:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJBmpXyBGTE&eurl=http://www.breitbart.tv/?p=213563

Brooklyn on Election Day: Wake Up

Brooklyn Heights at noon on Election Day 2008 is quiet. I did a pass-by of the Brooklyn Municipal Building which was jammed with lines out the door this morning. Voters are lined up waiting patiently inside. Not as amazingly jam packed as the early morning voters, but there is a bit of a lunch-time line neverhteless. The Tuesday Greenmarket is in action. The Obama button and t-shirt guys are all out there selling their wares. Historic election art that I expect to see at the NY Historical Society (or the Smithsonian) some day, the way that we now see JFK, Thomas Jefferson, and other historic Americans.

An interesting sense of ownership about this process. A woman, African American, sitting in the park on Cadman Plaza outside the Supreme Court building, under the statue of Brooklyn's famed abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher, is exhorting passersby to vote. "You have til 9 PM tonite to vote, please don't forget to vote" she reminds us warmly. No candidate mentioned.

As I walked, another couple of young guys chatting, reflecting the hopes and the fears of this possibly historic day: "I'm just worried, man, they always go after the great ones." Reminded me of Rage Against the Machine's "Wake Up." Shake that off, time for faith and hope.


Abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher, Brooklyn Heights, Election Day 2008 Photo by Brooklyn Beat

Comes a Time

This is an historic day. The outcome of this election, in view of the last 8 years, will say a lot about where we go as a nation, and also a lot about where we are and who we are as a country. My daughter who is studying in Europe said the perception there is this is a chance for America to redefine ourselves. But the USA is a Big country, and our population and ideology is reflective of a lot more than the two coasts and the news media. Let's see what America believes early in the 21st century. It's a time for Hope, at a time when our country desperately needs Change.


"Comes A Time"

Comes a time
when you're driftin'
Comes a time
when you settle down
Comes a light
feelin's liftin'
Lift that baby
right up off the ground.

Oh, this old world
keeps spinning round
It's a wonder tall trees
ain't layin' down
There comes a time.

You and I we were captured
We took our souls
and we flew away
We were right
we were giving
That's how we kept
what we gave away.

Oh, this old world
keeps spinning round
It's a wonder tall trees
ain't layin' down
There comes a time.

--Neil Young

"Comes a Time" - 1987 Neil Young:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY78hECM8-0&feature=related

Metaphors for Living: The Marathon's End

Photos by Brooklyn Beat/TN

Get Ready to Rumble: No Electioneering Beyond This Point

Polling machines await at MS 51 in Park Slope.

What will the future hold?

Fouad Ajami in the Wall Street Journal, like much of the mainstream financial media, at least publicly, sees gloom and doom, in the Obama campaign's offers of Change. There will be no quick improvements. There may be more taxes. The country may be in for a realignment. But, while we await the Hope, and Fear, of Change, we need to acknowledge that, in view of 9/11. Iraq, Katrina, the severe economic downturn, health care issues, retirements, etc., things are not heading in the correct direction and new ideas are needed. That is the great secret of this election. We have nothing to fear but fear itself, but that is true everywhere -- People are willing to stick with the past, solutions that haven't worked, fear of elites, but also fear of the "GOP base", fear of religion, fear of losing my religion, fear of taxes, fear of financial derivatives of mass destruction...you get the idea.

The bottom-line: How can anyone be worried about Senator Obama, since look what a free-market oriented, neo-conservative, jingoistic President has unleashed. Damn, I don't expect miracles overnight, no one should or can, but at least there isa possibility of balance, a corrective to the 8 years of excess we have just experienced. The hope of this country is based on the potential of peaceful revolution and change. Think of these 8 years of radical neo-conservative realignment. The Marxists no doubt are viewing this as an inevitable ending to advanced capitalism. America needs to remain a democracy. That is in our soul, at the root of our being. But what the last 8 years have proven is that a country of our size and economic complexity cannot exist without a strong government to balance powerful corporations. Our social institutions will and must remain strong and democratic but economically, perhaps, we have unwittinlgly unleashed an economic explosion that has propelled our economis system, along with the rest of the world, through the looking glass and into a Brave New World.

America: 2008

Not sure of the source of these eloquent and poignant photos of an American candidate and a quintessentially American family. No matter how you cut it, we are living in interesting, challenging, yet very hopeful times. Wow.

Theater in DUMBO: Floating Brothel at Galapagos

The Galapagos Art Space, an intriguing space at 16 Main Street at Water Street in DUMBO, has a great program of upcoming events.

http://www.galapagosartspace.com/events.html

Of particular interest is "The Floating Brothel" on Monday October 27th, 8pm

A 1600 square foot indoor lake. Five actors telling the story of a ship full of convict women; the underbelly of London; unknown continents; all told within the confines of a 3'x6' platform that serves as the stage and world for this performance.

Ticket info here: http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showCode=FLO6

Sen. Chuck Schumer: Sees Huge Margin for Obama

Politico.com reports that Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) predicted Tuesday that Barack Obama will win more than 300 Electoral College votes when voters go to the polls in two weeks. (The Electoral College consists of 538 popularly elected representatives who formally select the President and Vice President of the United States.)

“I think this is one of those rare tectonic plate elections where the deep plates beneath our politics move. I think it's changing things not just for an election cycle but, perhaps, for a generation,” Schumer, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chairman, said during an appearance at the National Press Club.

Schumer, appearing with GOP counterpart Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, said he expects an Obama win to come with coattails, but would not go as far as to forecast that the Democrats will have 60 seats when the Senate convenes next year.


http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14798.html

The Electoral College consists of 538 popularly elected representatives who formally select the President and Vice President of the United States. In 2008, it will make this selection on December 15. The Electoral College is an example of an indirect election.

Rather than directly voting for the President and Vice President, United States citizens cast votes for electors. Electors are technically free to vote for anyone eligible to be President, but in practice pledge to vote for specific candidates[2] and voters cast ballots for favored presidential and vice presidential candidates by voting for correspondingly pledged electors. Most states allow voters to choose between statewide slates of electors pledged to vote for the presidential and vice presidential tickets of various parties; the ticket that receives the most votes statewide 'wins' all of the votes cast by electors from that state. U.S. presidential campaigns concentrate on winning the popular vote in a combination of states that choose a majority of the electors, rather than campaigning to win the most votes nationally.

Each state has a number of electors equal to the number of its Senators and Representatives in the United States Congress. Additionally, Washington, D.C. is given a number of electors equal to the number held by the smallest states.[4] U.S. territories are not represented in the Electoral College.

Watch Out What You Wish For: Senator Biden on "Augean Stables" and What Comes Next in This Brave New World

And, if the economy alone isn't bad enough, Senator Joe Biden is giving the dark low down on the likely crises faced by the next President. Whoever is lucky, or unlucky, enough to prevail in November faces an enormous load of issues, an "augean stable" of a mess to address, with the likelihood that the new President will have his mettle tested by international conflict. The fact that some view us as vulnerable at the moment suggests just how complicated things are:

Senator Joe Biden ABC :

Gird your loins," Biden told the crowd. "We're gonna win with your help, God willing, we're gonna win, but this is not gonna be an easy ride. This president, the next president, is gonna be left with the most significant task. It's like cleaning the Augean stables, man. This is more than just, this is more than – think about it, literally, think about it – this is more than just a capital crisis, this is more than just markets. This is a systemic problem we have with this economy."

Because I promise you, you all are gonna be sitting here a year from now going, 'Oh my God, why are they there in the polls? Why is the polling so down? Why is this thing so tough?' We're gonna have to make some incredibly tough decisions in the first two years. So I'm asking you now, I'm asking you now, be prepared to stick with us. Remember the faith you had at this point because you're going to have to reinforce us."

"There are gonna be a lot of you who want to go, 'Whoa, wait a minute, yo, whoa, whoa, I don't know about that decision'," Biden continued. "Because if you think the decision is sound when they're made, which I believe you will when they're made, they're not likely to be as popular as they are sound. Because if they're popular, they're probably not sound."

Biden emphasized that the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border is of particular concern, with Osama bin Laden "alive and well" and Pakistan "bristling with nuclear weapons."

One would hope that the next decade will pull Americans together into a post-partisan political partnership but Biden's comments suggest that the camps expect the US political scene to remain much as it has been in the past.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/10/biden-to-suppor.html

After the Fall: American Economics - Post-Boom, Post-Bust

I came across this article (from 1999) this weekend, by Dean Baker, written during the hey day of the first major dot.com bubble around the turn of the century (that has such a nice ring to it). It appeared in In These Times magazine, a publication that would best be described as progressive and might even have a little of the "S" word. I had printed the article out when it was first published, stuck it in a folder, and found it again in a box of clippings and stuff I was cleaning out at home. I know business cycles are structural, but Mr. Baker seems to have written the play book for the near future. The Wall Street Journal and much of the business press are not in the business of reality journalism. Oh, they report the economic news accurately, but in retrospect their whole worldview now appears to involve being cheerleaders from the sidelines as the spirit of the free market runs rampant across the land. We now seem to be about to reap a little of what we have sowed.

http://www.inthesetimes.com/issue/24/01/baker2401.html

A few excerpts:
Stock prices will plunge - it's just a question of when. Prices are determined by the psychology of investors. Their enthusiasm for stocks, no matter how irrational, may keep prices at inflated levels for six months, two years, even a decade. Economics and logic can't predict exactly when reality will catch up with this enthusiasm: They only assure that at some point it will.

Although the day of reckoning may be many years in the future, it is still worth thinking about what the post-crash world will look like. Most immediately, a large number of people will suddenly be far poorer. A 50 percent decline in the stock market will destroy more than $7 trillion worth of paper wealth. Some of the losers will be the Internet billionaires and other high flyers who richly deserve their fate. But most of the losers will be middle-income workers who were relying on the stock market to provide their retirement income.

A crash will also throw the economy into a tailspin. Currently the economy is being propelled by a stock-market-driven consumption boom. As people see the value of their stock portfolios rise, they go out and spend money. They are spending so much that the savings rate has actually turned negative in the last year, with people almost outspending their entire income. A stock crash will throw this pattern into reverse. As people watch the value of their stock portfolios shrivel, they will cut back their spending to try to rebuild their savings. This will lead to a large falloff in demand and almost certainly to a recession. A recession would likely raise the unemployment rate by at least 2 to 3 percent. Following historic patterns, this would mean an increase in the unemployment rate among African-Americans of 4 to 6 percent.

This new economic environment will require an entirely different political agenda. Millions of people will be desperate and angry. It will be important to be prepared to move forward with policies that address people's immediate needs and also set the path for an economic recovery on a more solid foundation. In the post-crash world, progressive ideas now seen as untenable suddenly will appear both reasonable and necessary."

Post-Debate Unease: Turdblossom on Barry O vs. All Forms of Whiggery

Senator McCain threw everything including the kitchen sink at Senator Obama last night and some of it may even have stuck but it didn't seem to matter..McCain may be misreading the temperament of the electorate. Is it possible people want a leader, not an angry Whig. While Sen. McCain was effective on the attack, it seems that among independents and people on the fence, those attack issues are just a distraction right now. No one cares about them right now (even the war is a distraction from the economy -- how bizarre is that?)

"Barry O" is taking his time, exercising care and all due diligence during the debate, since apparent frontrunners like to avoid being cast as "incumbents" so it is a slippery slope right now. And despite the apparent poll leads, and the desire for the American public to indeed make a swing away from the neo-con GOP ideologues to a more liberal-interventionist Democratic model with the Deep Pockets and Magic Money Machines that seem so essential at this moment, care must be taken not to overreach or over-assume by a campaign.

Meanwhile, Karl "Turdblossom" Rove states in the Wall Street Journal (will that paper soon need a new title ?) that perhaps Senator Obama hasn't yet closed the sale with the American electorate:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122411909182439021.html


There's hope, there's vision. And while Senator Obama seems to be running the only true, sane game in town, we can only pray that "We Don't Get Fooled Again"...

Go down, Moses...

Pre-Debate Chatter: Senator Obama's Campaign Issues Debate "Talking Points"

According to the Drudgreport.com, Senator Barack Obama's Presidential campaign has issued talking points to the media in adance of the debate. The email below was issued by Sean Smith, the Press Secretary to Senator Obama:

-------- Original Message --------
Date: Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:37:27 -0500
From: Sean Smith [****mith@barackobama.com]
To: Sean Smith [****mith@barackobama.com]

* This is John McCain's last chance to turn this race around and somehow convince the American people that his erratic response to this economic crisis doesn't disqualify him from being President.

* Just this weekend the weekend, John McCain vowed to "whip Obama's you-know-what" at the debate, and he's indicated that he'll be bringing up Bill Ayers to try to distract voters.

* So we know that Senator McCain will come ready to attack Barack Obama and bring his dishonorable campaign tactics to the debate stage.

Obama continues to lead on the economic crisis with a rescue plan for Main Street.

* Over the course of the campaign, Barack Obama has laid out a set of policies that will grow our middle class and strengthen our economy.

* But he knows we face an immediate economic emergency that requires urgent action - on top of the plans he's already laid out - to help workers and families and communities struggling right now.

* That's why Barack Obama is introducing a comprehensive four-part Rescue Plan for the Middle Class - to immediately to stabilize our financial system, provide relief to families and communities, and help struggling homeowners.

* This is a plan that can and should be implemented immediately.

* Obama has shown steady leadership during this crisis and offered concrete solutions to move the country forward - and his Rescue Plan for the Middle Class builds on the plans to strengthen the economy and rebuild the middle class that he's laid out over the course of this campaign.

* Already in this campaign, he's unveiled plans to give 95 percent of workers and their families a tax cut, eliminate income taxes for seniors making under $50,000, bring down the cost of health care for families and businesses; and create millions of new jobs by investing in the renewable energy sources.

* John McCain has been erratic and unsteady since this crisis began - staggering from position to position and trying to change the subject away from the economy by launching false character attacks.

END