City - Friday, November 20, 2009 10:30 - 1 Comment
Thanksgiving Cider
I’m not going to lie: the cider cocktail requires time and effort. However, next week is Thanksgiving and this drink is made in batches, which I guess implies sharing. I think it’s a pretty insidious way to contribute to a holiday about goodwill and gratitude, plus it is a great holdover while you wait for the damn turkey to roast. The weather has been pretty mild recently, but it’s useful to have a couple of winter cocktails like this one in your arsenal to help you (and those you love) keep warm.
Ingredients (serves six)
National - Thursday, November 19, 2009 11:45 - 5 Comments
Proposed Senate Health Care Bill Ditches Stupak Amendment. Kinda.
Vexing conservatives, pacifying liberals and clearly telling moderates to strap on a pair, the proposed Senate health care bill revealed last night is a favorably nuanced version of the House bill passed earlier this month to “save lives, save money and protect medicare,” in the words of majority leader Harry Reid (D-NV).
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the plan will cover 94% of Americans and cost $849 billion, which will reportedly reduce the number of uninsured by 31 million and the budget deficit by $127 billion in the first 10 years. The bill also allows States to pass legislation to opt out of the public option.
The proposed Senate bill also relaxes the stringent limitations imposed on abortion coverage by the Stupak Amendment. Federal funding for abortions remains forbidden, but women on the public option could conceivably receive insurance for abortions as long as the Secretary of Health and Human Services verifies that Federal money doesn’t contribute to the particular payment plan for it.
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National - Tuesday, November 17, 2009 11:30 - 1 Comment
NYU Prof. Roubini Predicts More Economic Woe
Likening our fate to one of the apocalyptic films on Dan’s list is probably a more optimistic outlook on the future of civilization than NYU Stern Professor Nouriel Roubini’s latest column about the economic crisis for NY Daily News.
He predicts unemployment will rise throughout 2010 and plateau at 11% for at least two years. Roubini cites the weak labor markets as a possible catalyst for a (terrifying) double dip recession. To avoid imminent doom, he advocates “a bold prescription that increases the fiscal stimulus with another round of labor-intensive, shovel-ready infrastructure projects, helps fiscally strapped state and local governments and provides a temporary tax credit to the private sector to hire more workers.”
What’s he basing all this off? Well, I’ve hidden the facts listed in his article after the jump to give fair warning to anyone who isn’t a freshman: it’s grim reading if you plan on entering the job market before 2013.
National - Monday, November 16, 2009 14:30 - 1 Comment
Obama Champions Uncensored Internet in China
Pleasing both civil libertarians and nerds alike, President Obama told a town hall in Shanghai packed with Chinese youths that an uncensored internet is a good thing. He called access to information “a universal right,” that should be available indiscriminately, “because then citizens of countries around the world can hold their own governments accountable, they can begin to think for themselves.” Not exactly the best sales pitch to the Chinese government, but I hope it got the general population there thinking.
Granted, the “Great Firewall of China” will not tumble just because Obama says he hopes it will, but it took balls to highlight China’s horrendous record on censorship while actually visiting the country and speaking to the age demographic most inclined to rebellion. (Perhaps this defiant move in China will appease neocons after bow-gate in Japan.)
Also, revelation: Obama has “never used Twitter”? Despite that fact, he certainly does well for himself on the medium with his 2,668,863 followers.
On Campus - Monday, November 16, 2009 13:40 - 4 Comments
NYU Trans Week Celebrates Joys of Gender Bending
NYU’s LGBT office never runs out of things to celebrate. After NYU’s Pride Month festivities in October, the LGBT Office is dubbing November 16th-21st Trans Week, dedicated to “Gender Benders, Breakers, Revolutionaries, Non-Conformists, and Awesome People.”
There are a mix of midday and evening events to enjoy. Note that many, if not all, of the programs are open to the public and include free food (sometimes even Twister!). Check out the full list on the Trans Week facebook page, but here are some highlights with the event descriptions:
Gender Fabulous! Trans Week Kick-Off Performance!
7pm – 10pm Monday 11/16, E&L Kimmel 4th Floor
“Come start the week off right with GENDER FABULOUS, a group featuring the World Famous *BOB*, Glenn Marla and Dave End! This performance promises to be a hysterical and heartbreaking journey through the minds of three of NYC’s most endearing performers.”
Unpacking Gender: Intersections of Gender & Mental Health
7pm Tuesday 11/17, Kimmel 905
“Co-sponsored by Campus Icarus Project: Thinking about gender a little too much? Come talk about how mental health and gender intersect in a workshop that is all about YOU! Attend this workshop to explore what gender is and how it affects everyone daily. FREE FOOD!”
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City - Monday, November 16, 2009 10:15 - 1 Comment
Stay Up Late and Witness a Meteor Shower
Take Tuesday off work, skip classes and sleep in after witnessing the Leonid meteor shower that will grace North American skies between tonight and tomorrow morning. Thanks to a coincidence of overlapping paths, from earth it will look as if Mars is spitting out the meteor shower. Trippy, to say the least.
New York City’s nocturnally-enduring illuminated nature will most likely mask the meteor shower, but apparently you should be able to get a clearer sight of it from Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. If you do find somewhere with an unobstructed view, expect to see a peak of 20 to 30 meteors per hour.
The best time to watch the meteor shower is between 2am and 5am, early Tuesday morning. The best state of mind in which to watch the meteor shower is entirely at your discretion.
Photo from Flickr user jshyun under the Creative Commons License
City - Monday, November 16, 2009 7:45 - 5 Comments
NYC Shows of the Week
Monday
Part-time member of The New Pornographers. Soul with a country twang.
Legendary hardcore ensemble.
Tuesday
No words (except that he is playing a Thursday show, too)
A supergroup consisting of members from The Kills, The Racontours and Queens of the Stone Age. Jack White included.
Wednesday
Bed-Stuy based experimental rock from a Yale-dropout.
Punk from Ohio. ‘Nuff said.
City - Friday, November 13, 2009 12:00 - 0 Comments
White Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitans have a bad reputation. I blame the magazine and Carrie Bradshaw. I’ve had some nauseatingly sweet Cosmos at bars in New York (lowbrow ones, admittedly) that you’d probably be safe serving to a kindergartener. But when made correctly at home or at a bar for more than $10, Cosmopolitans actually taste quite sour.
This is a slight variation on the traditional Cosmopolitan, using white cranberry juice instead of the regular red. I’m not a fan of colored cocktails, because I have a tendency to stain (read: drench) my clothes with drinks as I make them.
On Campus - Thursday, November 12, 2009 11:00 - 10 Comments
Stern Professor Perpetuates Anti-Muslim Rhetoric
In an infuriatingly parochial column for Forbes.com, NYU Stern professor Tunku Varadajaran coins the term “going Muslim” as the successor to the phrase “going postal,” in light of the recent shooting at the Fort Hood military base.
While “going postal” simply implies violence that results from “snapping psychologically,” Varadajaran describes “going Muslim” as a “calculated discarding of the camouflage of integration.” He recklessly speculates that Muslim-Americans, like “a friendly donut vendor in New York, say, or an officer in the U.S. Army at Fort Hood,” could decide “to vindicate his religion” by committing mass murder. Varadajaran goes on to argue that the military should be a politically-correct-free zone with rampant racial profiling, because we “cannot stand civic piety in the face of the murderous kind.”
I know Major Nidal Malik Hasan is a Muslim. I know he reportedly shouted, “Allahu Akbar,” before opening fire on innocent Americans. I know there are stories circulating that he corresponded with some radical Muslim cleric in Yemen. But someone teaching at the NYU School of Business really should know that correlation does not establish causation.
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National - Wednesday, November 11, 2009 12:30 - 0 Comments
Mormons Support Gay Rights. Kinda.
Salt Lake City passed ordinances on Tuesday making it illegal to discriminate against the LGBT community in housing and employment. A surprising endorsement by the Mormon church virtually guaranteed the passage of the measures by Utah lawmakers, who tend to heed the wishes of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
While still catching up with the rest of the country, Salt Lake City is actually the first community in Utah to proscribe prejudice against gays. It is unclear whether this win for LGBT rights will set a trend for similar legislation across the state. Earlier this year, Utah Governor Gary Herbert said, “We ought to just do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do and we don’t have to have a law that punishes us if we don’t,” in explaining why he doesn’t believe in anti-discrimination legislation (or incentive structures).
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